The Nature of Adventurers part II
Part 3
Meanwhile,
Zal was clutching his head and kneeling on the floor in pain, with Sandro, who was shaking with clenched fists, standing beside him.
“You…
fool…
I told you not to do anything conspicuous…
and now you’ve put a dragon in the dungeon…”
“Well, the other minions are resting!
And I wanted to level up this dragon too!”
Hearing Zal talked back, the harshness in Sandro’s glare intensified, Sal quickly silenced himself without needing further instruction from Sandro.
“Having a dragon here is too conspicuous…
It would be good if they didn’t start suspecting anything…”
Since there was nothing that could be done, Sandro could only watch the outcome,
Zal stood up to monitor the adventurers’ movements almost without remorse.
At the entrance to the dungeon’s final room, Reygard, peeking inside to make sure, said anxiously,
“Why is there a dragon here?
Even if it’s just a ‘hatchling’…”
The young warrior also peered into the room and speculated,
“Hmm…
from its color, it might just be a summoned monster.
I’ve never seen a dragon with that shade of scales like this before.”
Fina, particularly puzzled by this, expressed her concern,
“That’s still odd, though.
A summoned monster should resemble the environment of the dungeon.
It should be an earth dragon with brown or green scales.”
Reygard understood Fina’s concerns as the dungeon had exhibited strange characteristics from the start, but retreating was not on his mind.
“There are gray-scaled stone dragons, too, but let’s set that aside for now.
What should we do?
It’s not going to be easy with a dragon and two basilisks like this.”
Basilisks alone were dangerous enough, being level 4 monsters.
The room also contained four high-speed level 3 green lizards, and a dragon hatchling, which, although the lowest in the dragon lineage, was also level 4.
This made these monsters a perilous group, so they had to plan even more carefully.
The young warrior had no thoughts of retreat either.
Despite the room being filled with difficult monsters and his group having only three members, he was fully confident in their abilities.
After all, they were fifth-tier adventurers who had previously cleared a rank E dungeon with a level 6 boss monster, even though that was with a full team of four.
But for this dungeon, presumably rank F, he believed they could handle it even without a full team.
“We need to clear the smaller ones as fast as possible.
After that, I’ll try to kite the larger ones around the room to minimize damage.
Reygard, make sure you’re ready with the traps.
Fina, if you get a chance to pick off any that break from the group, take it immediately.”
Once they agreed on the plan, everyone took their positions.
Fina initiated the attack by casting ‘Circle of Frost,’ a spell to impede movement, right in the center of the monster group.
Although the monsters noticed the magic circle, they could not move out before the spell took effect, and the area quickly turned into an icy surface that immobilized them.
Reygard, already nocking his bow, launched a ‘Charged Shot,’ an attack that gained more power the longer it was charged.
The high-speed arrow, wrapped in yellow energy, struck the head of one green lizard with such force and accuracy that it impaled the monster’s head violently.
The two basilisks began to break free from the ice, but Zal’s dragon remained immobile.
“If I fire the next spell, they’ll break free!
Get ready!”
“Okay!”
Fina warned the young warrior before launching a ‘Chain Lightning’ at the monster group.
The lightning struck all the monsters, causing severe damage and breaking the ice at their feet.
At that moment, the young warrior dove in with a ‘Shield Slam’ right into the middle of the group of monsters, followed by an ‘Intimidate’ to capture their attention on him.
The monsters paused briefly, but now all were free from their bindings.
Reygard shot a second ‘Charged Shot’ at another green lizard.
Although it was not charged as long as the first shot, the already wounded creature was struck precisely in the head, rendering it motionless.
The remaining two green lizards charged at Reygard and Fina.
Sometimes monsters did not react to ‘Intimidate,’ especially when they were severely injured and frenzied, a common occurrences.
Though they ran fast, they did not reach the two before stepping on traps Reygard had set along the path.
Three ‘Explosive Traps’ Reygard had laid detonated simultaneously, sending the green lizards flying in opposite directions.
When they landed, they were motionless.
“That dragon is odd,”
Reygard noted, observing something unusual about it.
“Ugh, it’s even slower than the basilisks in breaking out of the ice.
Definitely a summoned monster, but its attributes are a bit too low.”
“Well, this is good for us…
Hey, Walker!
Deal with that dragon first!”
“Heh, I noticed it from the start too, this dragon is just weak.”
Walker’s comment irritated Zal.
Suddenly, the dragon that had been mindlessly pursuing Walker till now stopped and began to gather its magical power.
“What!?”
The three were stunned when the dragon suddenly spat out numerous small fireballs from its mouth, raining them down like a storm.
Walker, shielded by two basilisks, was only slightly singed, but the basilisks took the full brunt of the attack.
Basilisks, being earth-element monsters, detested fire intensely.
Due to this, they turned their attention away from Walker and towards Zal’s dragon.
Walker used this moment to retreat to his group at the entrance while the dragon and basilisks battled it out.
“That was surprising, didn’t expect it to launch a special attack all of a sudden.”
Walker brushed off some flames on his shoulder armor as he spoke.
Reygard, concerned, asked,
“Are you okay?
Saw you got hit a bit there.”
“It’s nothing, really.
It was barely anything.
Okay, we’ll need to adjust our plan a bit.
Let’s take out the basilisks one at a time, then deal with the dragon, if it’s still around by then.”
After giving the order, Walker circled to the side of the monster group to wait for an opening.
Reygard unleashed a ‘Charged Shot’ at the skull of the nearest basilisk.
Although the creature’s skull was too hard for the arrow to penetrate, the impact was enough to make its head jerk violently.
Fina cast ‘Thunderbolt’ at the same basilisk.
Although the spell could only target one monster, its power was considerable, causing the basilisk, already weakened by continuous attacks, to falter.
Seizing the moment, Walker leapt forward and slashed at the faltering basilisk with his sword, glowing with an orange light.
This was the ‘Execute’ move, a warrior class’s powerful attack that, despite its brutality, was lacking penetration properties against protective energies.
Normally its’ destructive force would be countered by monsters’ combat spirit, instinctively covering their bodies.
However, it could be devastating when an opponent was significantly weakened, as their combat spirit would also weaken.
This allowed Walker to easily decapitate the basilisk.
Nearby, Zal’s dragon was taking hits from the claws and venomous fangs of another basilisk, weakening it considerably.
Eventually, it collapsed to the ground and disintegrated.
Without hesitation, Walker used ‘Shield Charge’ to ram the other basilisk against a wall.
At that moment, Reygard used ‘Binding Shot’ to pin the basilisk against the wall.
While the basilisk’s magical resistance meant the skill would not last long, it gave Fina enough time to cast another spell.
Before the basilisk could break free, Fina fired another ‘Thunderbolt’ to wear it down, and Reygard followed up with another ‘Charged Shot’, this time aiming at the creature’s eye, ultimately pinning the deadly beast down for good.
After the battle, Fina went to cast healing spells on Walker, while Reygard walked around disassembling the monster parts as usual.
“Ha ha, it was quite fun today,”
Walker said cheerfully, despite looking quite battered.
Fina, on the other hand, felt the opposite.
“Just be glad you’re talking.
If that dragon’s attack had hit you full force, you could have been seriously injured.
Worse, if the basilisks had hit you again, you might have died.”
Chastised by Fina, Walker could only give a wan smile.
Even as a high-ranked adventurer, a mistake could lead to death even by the fangs of lower-level monsters.
The previous event could have turned out disastrously.
Fortunately, the dragon’s random spell casting hit the basilisks instead.
Otherwise, Walker might have truly been in peril.
Once everything was settled, the three adventurers moved on to the dungeon’s core room, but the size of the magical stone they found left Reygard disappointed.
“Is this it?
Smaller than I expected.
Normally, a magical stone that attracts this many monsters would be bigger.”
“What do you think?
Should we just clear the dungeon now?
The monsters here aren’t rare, and there are oddly a lot of these summoned ones too.”
Fina had a bad feeling about this dungeon from the start and wanted to clear it out completely.
“Still, this dungeon is as dense as a Rank F one, and it’s not far either.
Even if there are many summoned monsters, they’re still worth money.
Let’s keep this dungeon for a day or two.
If we find a better dungeon mission, we can come back to clear it.
If not, we can still use this place for hunting.”
Fina was not entirely convinced, but Walker’s argument was reasonable enough for her to agree conditionally.
“Okay, but next time let’s bring more people.
I think three is too risky.”
“Okay, we’ll do that.”
Having agreed on their plans, the adventurers touched the core of the dungeon to teleport out.
Meanwhile, in the library of Malachite Keep,
Zal, tightly bound and suspended upside down from the ceiling, watched the adventurers leave, while Sandro, with a stern face, stood beside him.
“It looks like they’re keeping the dungeon.”
“Mmm…
that’s good…
for you too…”
“Can you let me down now?”
“We’ll talk about that later…
First, check the status of the minions you used, see how they are…”
“How am I supposed to check anything being tied up like this!”
“If you focus well, you can do it…
Consider it a part of your training…
The sooner you finish, the sooner you can come down…”
Zal was suspended as punishment for his repeated mistakes, including placing a dragon in the dungeon where it should not be and using a special attack that endangered the adventurers.
“Mmm…
Oh, the status has increased quite a bit!
These two have become level 4 minions now!
The others are nearly there too, and that’s just from one fight!
Excellent!”
Hearing this, Sandro nodded slightly and continued,
“Just as expected…
fighting real people gives much more experience than battling monsters…
probably because the other side were high-level adventurers…
Just one fight, and they’ve improved this much…”
Zal, still hanging upside down, noticed Sandro lost in thought for a long while without saying anything further, so he asked about something that had been bothering him for a while,
“Hey, Sandro, how did they know right away that my dragon was a summoned monster?”
Sandro glanced back at the boy hanging upside down with an impassive face, before replying in a cool tone,
“Because it was weak…”
“Wh…
what?
Grr…
But it’s a level 4 minion, same as the basilisks!”
“Even if they’re the same level, it doesn’t mean they have the same prowess.
Especially summoned minions, they often have a Unique Trait that is one or two steps inferior to a real monster by nature…”
“A Unique Trait?”
“Each monster species has its own unique traits…
and higher-level monsters have better and more diverse unique traits…
For example, a dragon species should have ‘Dragon Skin’ from level 2, a trait that enhances resistance to both physical and magical attacks…
A level 4 dragon should already have a second stage of ‘Dragon Skin’, which makes it very resistant to binding spells.
But since your dragon was slower to break free than the basilisks, they knew it wasn’t a real dragon…”
Upon hearing Sandro’s explanation, he began to understand why his dragon was so easily recognized, but he was still puzzled about the specific traits Sandro mentioned.
“So that’s it…
But in the manual for creating dragon summons, isn’t ‘Dragon Skin’ a skill available only at level 5, and even then, it’s only the first stage?”
“The limitations of summoning spells are like this…
due to the lack of development in magic, it can only create lower-quality versions of reality…
But your minions can evolve, so it should compensate for that issue…”
Sandro cast a spell that loosened the ropes.
Zal was slightly startled, thinking he would fall, but instead, he gently floated down to the floor.
“Focus on the dungeon’s core and cast a monster lure spell.
Let’s get some new monsters in there…
In the meantime, review the lessons you’ve learned.
I’m going to prepare dinner…”
After finishing her words, Sandro teleported out of the room, leaving Zal alone in the library.
Zal remained troubled by the methods they used.
He thought there had to be a better way to utilize the dungeon and the adventurers, one that did not involve such complications and vulnerabilities.
Another concern was that his minions lacked unique traits and were of lower quality than real monsters.
He could not accept this, as Zal wanted his creations to start off on par with or superior to real monsters.
“There must be some way…”
he murmured to himself before going to rummage through the research papers left by the scholars of the dark arts.
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