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Chapter 91: Dungeon Clear

Added 2025-06-24 19:11:15 +0000 UTC

Lightning clashed with ice shards as James raced toward the Quetzalcoatl, halberd in hand. Another slash grazed the serpent’s body—but before he could press the attack, James was hurled backward. The creature didn’t just command lightning. It controlled the wind as well. A sudden wind wall blasted him mid-air.

Thankfully, James also had wind magic. He steadied himself, regaining balance mid-flight. With his Mana Eyes, James spotted the wind blades homing in from the serpent. He redirected his own wind currents, weaving between the slicing gusts. His evasion worked—but the cost was high. He lost altitude fast.

James landed on the ground. His landing was nowhere perfect as he almost tripped himself. After a sharp breath, he sheathed his halberd and drew his bow. Golden motes of light shimmered along the arrow’s shaft. With a spark of golden lightning, the arrow whistled—hunting the flying serpent with purpose.

Then James jumped—this time propelled by everything he had left in his wind magic reserve.

Like a rocket, he soared through the air, chasing after his own golden arrow. For a moment, the serpent froze in midair, paralyzed by indecision. Should it use lightning to shoot down the arrow? Or wind to repel the charging human?

It chose neither.

The arrow struck first—embedding into the serpent’s neck. Then came James. His halberd swung through the air and clipped one of the beast’s four wings.

He had expected to need at least three more strikes to ground the creature—but he didn’t. The serpent faltered, spiraling down as it lost its lift. The mighty Quetzalcoatl collapsed to the earth. It had been reduced to a snake now.

“It’s on the ground! Charge!” one soldier said.

They surged forward.

James followed, axe raised, feet pounding against the stone. He leapt—not with a skill this time, just a regular jump. It was like comparing a push on a swing to being yanked by a speeding motorcycle. He could feel the difference. But now that the beast was grounded, that was enough.

James then cut off a chunk of its torso—a third of the serpent’s body was bisected. The creature roared in pain. A powerful gust of wind burst forth, flinging some of the lighter soldiers several meters back.

It glared—first toward its severed tail, then toward James.

The detached tail wiggled like that of a lizard’s, its glossy white scales catching the sunlight that filtered down from the sky above. Like a writhing disco ball, it shimmered with dazzling light, scattering reflections across the ground. It was distracting—almost mesmerizing—and it nearly cost James his life.

A bolt of lightning shot from the serpent’s horn, aimed at his heart.

“Fuck it! Are you a snake or a lizard? Make up your damn mind!” James cursed as he raised his halberd to parry the lightning from its horn. His weapon sizzled under the crackling energy as the rain wetted it and the ground beneath him. Making everything slippery. Somehow, the lightning did not conduct electricity here. Magic.

A gunshot rang out. The bullet pierced the air and struck true—right into the serpent’s eye. One marksman had fired from the edge of the arena, landing a perfect hit.

But the serpent wasn’t dead yet. It roared and writhed. James didn’t waste the opportunity. He lunged forward, swinging his halberd down in a brutal arc—cleaving deep into its neck with a clean, precise skill strike.

The beast shuddered in its death throes. Lightning erupted violently from its horn, zapping everything in a final, uncontrolled burst. James retreated a few steps, bracing against the storm of discharges.

Then—finally—it went still.

[Congratulations. You have slain a Quetzalcoatl.]
[You have leveled up to Level 52.]
[Your Attacker class has leveled up to Level 33.]
[You have acquired 150 coins.]

“Nah, forget about that,” James muttered, ignoring the system prompts. “I want to see the body. What can I plunder from it?”

[Would you like to modify your body? Y/N]

[Available body parts:]

Quetzalcoatl Scale — (Lightning Resistance, Physical Resistance +10%, Wind Resistance) (Skin Slot)
Quetzalcoatl Horn — (Lightning Shot: 20 Mana per shot) (Extra Slot)
Mana Core — (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Wind Blade. Magic +40, Mana +600) (Extra Slot)
Quetzalcoatl Wings — (Float) (Extra Slot)
Quetzalcoatl Fangs — (Strength +10)

Despite their smaller size, the serpent’s wings offered the same bonus as other wings. James was once again reminded that this was a fantasy world—one that followed its own rules.

“It’s been a while since Chimera found something useful for me,” James muttered.

The obvious choice was the scale or the mana core. But James had been eyeing the horn the beast had. It reminded him of the horn wielded by the second boss monster in the trial dungeon’s second floor.

He had never found another horn like it. Now that the system presented him with one again, he didn’t want to pass up the opportunity.

“Damn… that body part was strong even now, huh? That trial boss was broken.” James muttered. “Now, what should I discard? Among the four extra slots, I have the wind core, the water core, the tentacle on my tail, and the spinneret.”

“My spinneret still serves me well. I don’t even want to think what could’ve happened if I didn’t have the ropes it made. The water mana core is important too. Without it, we’d struggle to get drinkable water.”

“That leaves the wind core and the five-meter tentacle on my ass.”

The wind core hadn’t been especially useful so far, but with the new gliding wing he just gained, it had suddenly become much more valuable. Paired with wind magic, he could now fly—escape ground enemies, shoot arrows or spells from the sky, or bypass almost all terrain.

“Alright. I want that horn. Replace the tail.”

Black motes of light soon spread from James’s body, engulfing the Quetzalcoatl’s corpse—along with the twitching remnants of its tail. As the light consumed the creature, it returned to James, reshaping an additional part of him.

A shining white horn formed on James’s forehead. It crackled with electricity, and when James touched it, a sharp sting greeted his fingers—painful, but not harmful.

Something else was new. A crosshair appeared in James’s vision, faint and translucent. At first, James wondered what it was for—until he realized it responded to his thoughts.

It was the targeting system for his new horn.

When James fired his lightning shot, the bolt flew straight through the center of the crosshair. It couldn’t change direction mid-flight, though, so in some ways, James’s bow skill was still better, especially after the upgrade. The horn had its own advantages—it didn’t require hands, nor ammunition. It only consumed mana. James couldn’t wait for an opportunity to use this new horn on monsters. The horn of that wolf monster in the second trial dungeon had been on his mind ever since.

“Boss, we are ready,” the captain reported.

“What about the guy who got hit by lightning? Ah… we should rest first. Just because the last floor only has a dungeon core doesn’t mean it’ll be easy.”

“He’s unconscious. His life isn’t in danger, but he can’t move his arm. Might’ve torn a ligament or two. He’s probably out of action until we can get him a hematonic potion. But coins are precious, so we chose not to heal him right now. He’ll recover at the hospital after this. The next floor is the last one, right? I heard it’s just a dungeon core inside. Reports from Kouki and Andrew said they only had to break some glass and pick up the core.”

“That’s how it usually is,” James nodded. “But the last dungeon I cleared—the core turned into a boss monster robot and nearly killed me. Stay on guard. If the core does anything, shoot it. No matter what it summons, everything tied to it will die when the core is destroyed. We’ll take a break here before heading in.”

“Understood, boss.” The captain gave a sharp salute, then turned to brief the others.

As if on cue, an orange portal shimmered into existence where the corpse of the Quetzalcoatl once lay. This time, it glowed gold. James winced. The dungeon had returned to what he knew all too well. He already missed the blue portals that signified a normal path to the next floor.

The rain had let up, and the dark clouds dispersed, letting the sun shine down on the arena. Soldiers unpacked some of the meat and raised a campfire. The wounded were tended to. While one of them still felt numb, a hematonic potion cured him in a few minutes. He ended up buying it anyway, reasoning that he might be recruited for a future raid—and hospital bills were too expensive.

The next morning, James packed all of his things onto his raptor, then marched toward the next floor. Like other dungeon last floors, it comprised an empty room with a dungeon core floating at its center.

“Hurry up! Take it!” the captain said, but James was already a few steps ahead. He ran forward and grabbed the core. This time, it didn’t resist. It didn’t transform into any behemoth.

[You have completed Dungeon CF1752. Congratulations. You and seven other survivors have triumphed. All survivors will receive 1 Merit and 100 Coins. All survivors will receive a Water Bracelet.]

[Water Bracelet:
Produces water or an ice shield for the user at the cost of 100 mana. 10-second cooldown.]

“Well, there goes the usefulness of my water mana core,” James muttered as he examined the bracelet. He had been relying on Chimera for all his needs, but he forgot that equipment also existed.

Then, a familiar golden ball of light appeared. James wondered whether there would be seven separate balls of light, but it turned out there was only one.

“Maybe it’s because we were all standing close, so the system didn’t feel the need to spawn one for each of us,” James said. He looked over at the soldiers, and they all nodded.

“All right, let’s go home.”

White light enveloped the group as they were transported to the waiting room. A loading screen followed, and once it finished, they were back.

As the light faded, several military personnel and Silas stepped forward to greet them.

One more successful dungeon in the bag for James.
Next time, he’d challenge something far more dangerous

A medium dungeon.

[Name: James]
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 52 (↑1)
Coins: 1700
Merit: 10

Stats

STR: 162 (↑2)
DEX: 160 (↑3)
MAGIC: 119 (↑3)
MANA: 1100 (↑20)

Skills

Novice Axe Mastery Level 5 (Powerstrike, V-slash, Boomerang)
Novice Sword Mastery Level 1 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge)
Novice Bow Mastery Level 1 (Quickshot, Homing Shot)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1

Magic

Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar

Class

Attacker (Level 33) (↑1)

Bonus: +1 STR, +1 DEX per level
Passive: +10% damage when attacking

Shop (Level 2)

Health Potion (100 coins)
Hematonic Potion (50 coins)
High Potion (300 coins)
Antidote (50 coins)
Bullets (10 coins/round)
Grenades (50 coins/piece)
Arrow (50 coins/dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrow (100 coins/dozen)
Poison Dart (10 coins/round)
Merit Shop (10 merit/skill)
Sell / Repair Function

Unique Skill - Chimera Level 2

Stomach Slot: Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts)
Left Arm Slot: Minotaur Leader’s Left Arm (STR +25%)
Right Arm Slot: Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resist +30%, Repairable, Mana -200)
Leg Slot: Ratking’s Legs (STR +25%)
Lung Slot: Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing, Mana -100, Magic -10)
Heart Slot: Golem Core (Poison Resist, Repairable, Mana -250, Magic -10)
Torso Slot: Orc’s Torso
Head Slot: Orc’s Head
Mouth Slot: Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching)
Skin Slot: Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak, Fire Resist, Physical Resist +15%, Mana -100, Magic -10)
Tongue Slot: Elite Nirvok’s Tongue (2m Appendage, Medium Paralysis Poison)
Ear Slot: Land Shark’s Ear (Echolocation: 10m)
Right Eye Slot: Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense)
Extra Slot: Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000)
Extra Slot 2: Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation)
Extra Slot 3: Quetzalcoatl Horn (Lighting shot: 20 mana per shot)
Extra Slot 4: Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300)