As useful as the Greater Frogs had been, Ellena desired to level even faster. She also desired a little bit of variety. So, her search for a dungeon began once again in ernest.
This time however, she decided to go into it with a little prior knowledge. So before the little monster left, she approached Ellephwen who sat near the fire reading a ragged book.
Ellephwen?
“Hmm?” she replied, not looking up for her book.
The cliff in the Frogs territory, do you know if there are any dungeons nearby?
The Dryad furrowed her brows and looked at the Mushman over her book. “Was that where you found the Black Wolf den? Black Wolves have used the Goblin Kings Cliff as their home for multiple generations. There were three dungeons built into that cliff last time I checked.”
Ellena scrunched up her face. A… Goblin King? So even if I wanted to use one of those three dungeons I probably shouldn’t if a Goblin King watches over them, huh?
There was a polite giggle from behind the book. “Worry not, child. The Cliff is merely named after an infamous king of Goblins from many years ago. His city dominated the landscape above, there are even a few Goblins still living in its ruins, but they hold no authority over the dungeons below.”
In her experience, Goblins were quite aggressive, but weak beasts. Their humanoid intelligence made them far more of a threat than other monsters of a similar strength. The old farm had a very brief Goblin problem, but the local lord sent just a few soldiers to easily dispatch them.
The Mushman looked up to see her kin still staring at her. So uh, that established. Which is the closest and where is it? She asked with a smile.
“The closest may not necessarily be the best choice. It is the only named dungeon out of the three,” she placed her book on her lap gently, still opened at a particularly dusty page. “They call it the ‘Lair of the Lonely Wolf’. I believe you will be fine on the first floor, but do not go beyond until you evolve, okay?” She raised her eyebrows and lent in a little, giving Ellena a stern warning.
A dungeon name is usually given to a dungeon with particular notoriety, this one must have gotten its name from the dungeon boss, who was clearly a powerful wolf of some kind.
Most dungeon bosses were quite powerful to begin with, as a powerful Monster is needed to spawn one in the first place. Her small village education may have not been the best, but given that there were a few dungeons on her home island she had the basic knowledge.
When a powerful beast resides in a cave or abandoned building long enough their mana slowly alters and transforms that place into a dungeon. Other Monsters are attracted by the powerful mana their dungeon begins to exude, many subjugate themselves to the dungeon boss so that they may live in their protection. Dungeons also grow over time, and generally the deeper the level the tougher the beasts are. Generally you can guess the rough age of a dungeon based on how many floors it has.
So where is it exactly? Ellena finally asked Ellephwen.
“Not far from where you fell actually, I think you just followed the cliff in the wrong direction. You went east, it’s west. Find a small man-made path and follow it, should be at the end of it.”
With that, she wished Ellephwen a good day and made her way out back towards the cliff once again, activating her Guardian skill as well as she could at this point, hoping for a level or two on the way to her destination.
In fact, by the time she actually found the dungeon, she had managed to take out another dozen Frogs and a few other odd critters. It all acquired her a massive total of two levels! More importantly, the Guardian skill itself finally levelled, she could already fill a tad more control over it.
On the outside, the dungeon looked like a regular cave, if a bit of a bigger entrance than most, also a bit squarer. A small hut sat against the cliff wall next to it and a variety of shelters next to that, just crudely built roofs to protect from the elements.
This was not near much civilization, so any that wanted to test their might against this ‘Lonely Wolf’ would have to stay the night at least. Luckily for Ellena, she lived close enough that she didn’t need to camp out next to the dungeon.
Ellena had a quick look around the shed as well, it had a few tools, some spare but very worn equipment, a whet stone and a variety of other supplies, including some cooking equipment. On a table next to the door sat a logbook, where adventurers could write down their observations and advice.
She had never been to a dungeon before, but she was now curious if all of them had little stations like this one. At the very least it was likely that all named dungeons did, especially any others this far out.
It did seem quite strange that no Monsters were outside the dungeon entrance, or just within it, but she had heard that they gained their own ecosystem once they had been established long enough, there was probably no need for any of the beasts inside to leave.
After a deep breath, the Mushman took her first step into the dungeon. Immediately she felt a shift in the world around her. Some of the walls had faint brick-like patterns, but most appeared just as normal cave walls. The top layer of a dungeon is always the least developed, so that made sense.
It took a few turns and a few small piles of bones before Ellena ran into her first monster, three of them in fact. A group of Horned Rats. Quite big for rodents, they averaged a little taller than an average Mushman, so just a tiny bit smaller than Ellena herself was.
As soon as they spotted her, the first Rat charged. Ellena jumped to the side as the other two came at her. She didn’t particularly want their horns in her head, so she didn’t want to meet them head on. Instead, the Mushman waited for each of them to pass, then launched herself at their rears, knocking the closest into another.
The two collided, the first dying on impact and the other being slammed against the wall by its corpse. The third Rat, which was the first to attack, screeched and ran at Ellena again. Though it was risky she wanted to try something with her slightly longer legs.
Ellena moved just out of the way and kicked at the Rat as it skittered towards her, meeting its face with her pudgy foot. She felt its flesh contort and spring back as the beast was knocked back, smacking into the other that had just begun to recover.
Neither had suffered grievous injuries, but both were now up against the wall. A perfect position. Ellena did not waste time, she darted towards them and slammed them both against the wall, crushing them with her head.
“Overall level has increased from [Level 14] to [Level 18]!”
“Unique skill [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 11}] has increased to [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 12}]!”
“Skill [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 7] has increased to [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 8]”
It was just as she had hoped. A new environment with new foes was exactly what she needed and she managed to finish that fight with taking no damage whatsoever. Which, outside of the Lesser Frogs, was a first for her.
Though, Ellena also felt a little disappointed. That fight seemed almost too easy, it wasn’t as fun as she had hoped. Not that she wanted to take injuries, but the little battle junkie at least wanted to be challenged.
The only thing she had promised Ellephwen was that she wouldn’t go down to floor two, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try and find the strongest beasts of the first floor. It certainly wasn’t the Horned Rats at least.
Thus, Ellena delved a little deeper into the dungeon. Mere minutes passed before she came across a few more Horned Rats, only two this time, but they still put up more of a fight than the first few did, one managing to pierce her head.
A few more appeared, then another and on and on with mostly Horned Rats. There were certainly other Monsters in this section of the dungeon, she had even been attacked by a flock of Razbats, small flying rodents that’s only strength was their ability to swarm. Ellena took out almost thirty of them, though they certainly gave her some pain in the process. A dozen tiny holes all over her body from the bite marks. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to losing a chunk of her head.
When she did finally reach a different part of the cave, the dominant species changed. The new species being an old friend, the Grey Wolves. Given the fact that this dungeons boss was a Wolf, she wasn’t surprised to see them, but it didn’t mean she was happy. The now larger and stronger Mushman would not struggle with Grey Wolves as much now, but unfortunately that fact would not stop brutal memories from filling her mind.
Even so, thanks to her [Warriors Heart lvl 5] skill, Ellena managed to steel her heart and take on any Grey Wolves that grew aggressive towards her and just as expected, each fight was easier than the last.
The first two Grey Wolves that came at her managed to get a few bites off, but nothing deep. The second lot did not manage even that. Even so, when she saw five in one spot, she did decide to take another route, two was manageable, five was still a death sentence.
She carried on taking out a few other small groups of monsters. Finally, as her energy began to drain and Ellena decided to leave, she came across a third species of Monster in the winding corridors of the dungeon. A Crying Mollit.
They were not actually a species that constantly cried, that was an odd image even for a Monster, no, instead they were named as such for a curious tear-like pattern under each of their eyes. Although they were cousins to Moles, the Mollits were quite different, for starters they were generally carnivorous and aggressive. They were also quite a bit larger than Moles, even a normal Mollit could grow to about eight feet tall. It was the first creature Ellena was willing to fight that was over double her size.
Even so, fight it she did. The beast was slow and lumbering, standing on hind legs and swinging its great claws around, each one would have stuck straight through her body as a Mushling. Ellena had an easy time dodging them, weaving in and out of each attack, but even so it was a very tough fight for her. She could barely damage it even when charging.
It managed to get one hit off on her, near the end of the fight as she began to slow. The claw ripped through her body and sent her careening into a stalagmite. She hurriedly checked on her stats to see that her health had dropped by a quarter, and her stamina was dangerously low. There must have been something wrong with the ex-human however, as she was grinning the entire time.
At this point though, both were nearing the end of their limit, but the Mushman managed to win out, with a hundred tiny headbutts finally knocking the great beast down.
Ellena panted and dropped to her backside, staring at the Mollit. She sat on the cold stone floor and began to smile again, satisfied with her victory. No doubt she would need to head back now, she had little energy left and it would not permit her to fight again, besides, it was no doubt getting close to her curfew anyway.
As she rested, the Mushman wanted to check her recent progress, so had a scan of her stats.
Name: Ellena
Age: 53 days
Species: Lesser Mushman Guardian, Mushman
Height: 3’4”
Sex: N/A
Level: 27 +2
Health: 39/63 +3
Mana: 11/11 +1
Stamina: 12/77 +3
Energy:15/77 +3
Attack: 58 +2
Defence: 133 +7
Magic Attack: 18 +1
Magic Defence: 33 +3
Titles: Kin of Ellephwen
Skills: [Pain Resistance lvl 6] +1 [Night vision lvl 5] +2 [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 13}] +1
[Tough Stomach lvl 3] +1 [Unarmed Combat Novice lvl 10] +1 [Swiftfoot lvl 5] +1 [Warriors Heart lvl 7] +1 [Warriors Will lvl 4] [Lesser Regeneration lvl 5] +1 [Guardian lvl 5] +1
Ellena pondered over her improvements as she walked home. Somehow it had taken a while for her to notice the fact that her defence had increased above 100. Every race and breed on the planet was compared to the average basiline Humans stats, which were 100 in everything at level one. That meant that now, her defence had surpassed a basic human.
If she were to compare it to anything, it would be like her wearing a leather apron in her past life, definitely not tough, but tougher. Tough enough that she no longer feared dying from tripping on a particularly jagged rock.
When she did get home, she found a slightly cross Ellephwen waiting for her. It appeared as though she did not track time as well as she had hoped in the dungeon, though she apologized and Ellephwen demanded she stay home the next day as punishment. Instead her lessons would be all day.
Of course as much as she loved fighting, Ellena didn’t see that as an absolutely huge punishment. Forced to eat the delicious moss based meals whilst she listened to a kindly voice chatter on about local affairs seemed like a relaxing way to spend the day.
For now though, after coming back so late, she was sent to bed after a late dinner. Generally one should not go to bed on a full stomach, but since Ellena was a mushroom monster that didn’t seem to matter.
Though as she was falling asleep, the buzzing thoughts in Ellena decided to keep her awake with a nagging thought. Where… Is my stomach? Every time a chunk hasbeen taken out of me there were no visible guts. Does that mean it's all super small, or do I take nutrients differently? I have blood though right? Wait, does that mean I don’t have a brain? How do Monsters without brains function!? How do I function!?
The poor ex-human was in fact quite grateful for the day off the next day, for her thoughts had gotten the best of her, and sleep did not take for some time.