laulau20

Chapter 82: Third Floor, Jungle

Added 2025-05-25 07:09:42 +0000 UTC

James looked at the jungle before him. He then turned to his soldiers.

“Here. I gave you ten bullets and a dozen arrows. You may use them if you see an enemy. If you got a bow skill and coins, upgrade it to level 5 to get a weapon skill,” James said.
“Nobody goes anywhere alone, except me.” James paused for a moment before correcting himself, “If you want to survive, that is. I don't really care if you wander alone.”

James didn't want to appear too demanding. He also didn't want to be responsible for these guys' lives, so he amended his orders.

As the group traversed the swamp, James' ears picked up strange echolocations from deep in the water.

James drew his halberd, preparing for any surprise attacks. Nevertheless, not all of his soldiers had skills like him, nor the sense of danger to recognize that there were monsters nearby. They would never have thought that something bigger than a truck might be lurking in this swamp. Some of the soldiers even carelessly stepped into waist-deep water as they peeled their eyes not toward the water, but toward the surrounding trees and above—anticipating arrows from some birdmen or maybe monkeys this time.

Then, it happened. A soldier stepped on a scaly rock, thinking it was just an ordinary stone. The rock moved with lightning speed. Its mouth slithered up toward the pitiful soldier.

“ARRGH!!!” A huge snake swallowed the soldier whole.

“Contact!” soldiers shouted as they prepared their weapons. That word was usually accompanied by gunfire, but since they didn’t bring any, they readied their crossbows, lightning axes, and swords.

The only one with a gun—the Remington CDL—had already aimed at the massive snake that had swallowed the man.

A shot was fired. A bullet tore through the air, hitting the snake in its right eye. The snake roared, swiping its tail to the left in a berserk rage, sending several swarming soldiers flying. Then it dropped down, lifeless.

“Wow. Great job…” James muttered. He was amazed. With his enhanced dexterity, he could probably hit the snake with a gun as well, but to hit its eye like that required the experience and calmness of a veteran soldier.

“Split his body! Albert might be alive down there!” one soldier said. However, only one other soldier followed his advice, as the rest were still lying on the tree roots after being thrown by the rampaging snake earlier.

“You, help the others. They are vulnerable. I will bisect the snake,” James said.
“System, what does this snake have?”

[Would you like to modify your body? Y/N]
[Available body parts:
Serpent Queen’s Venom (medium paralysis poison) (Teeth Slot)]

“Take it,” James said. He would lose the life-leeching poison his old spider fang had, but he now had cursed weapons. They were practically the same. As for the Nirvok tongue, James hadn’t even used it yet. It was inconvenient and felt disgusting. James didn’t want to lick or stab his tongue into living enemies. He still had some humanity left in him. James regretted taking those tongues—he now had difficulties eating normal food.

Motes of black light enveloped the snake and consumed it. Then, as the snake disintegrated, the motes of light gathered toward James, leaving a wounded soldier behind.

“Urgh…” the soldier groaned. The captain soon brought him to a drier place near a tree.

“Is he still alive?” James asked. He knew the soldier was alive, but he wanted to assess the damage. He didn’t want to buy health potions if he could help it.

“Yes, but not for long. He was stabbed by the snake’s fang in the torso. He also dropped into the swamp water. He will soon die from blood loss and infection if he is not tended to.”

“All right. Don’t worry. I will buy a health potion. System, health potions,” James ordered. Soon enough, a black box dropped before him.

[Health potion bought for 100 coins. Health potion is to be smeared or poured on the wound. Hematonic potions are to be drunk.]

The system kindly reminded him. James didn’t forget about it this time. He poured the red potion into the gaping hole on the soldier’s flank.

“Urgh…” Not even a minute later, the wound was perfectly sealed. But the blood loss still made the soldier a little bit lightheaded.

“Damage?” the captain said.

“Except Albert, others only had bruises, sir,” one soldier saluted.

“Gather around. We still have a job to do. We’ve only met one enemy on this floor. We can’t dilly-dally for too long. There’s a lot of medical equipment and supplies in the warehouse we’re about to free,” the captain said. The soldiers saluted again and gathered their buddies.

“You—good shot,” the captain said toward the soldier who held the Remington rifle. The soldier saluted with pride.

With many wounded, the group continued their march toward the blue arrow pointed out by the system. They groaned as they continued the march. This time, none dared clear their surroundings. They lined up behind James, relying on him to clear the path ahead. They had finally realized the rule of the dungeon:

They are not the apex predator.

“Eyes on the water,” the captain said. After seeing snakes ambushing them like that, James inadvertently also kept his eyes on the water. He was oblivious that danger didn’t merely come from below, but also from above.

A vine lay motionlessly on the tree root. Without thinking much of it, James stepped on it. But similar to the snakes, the tree root lashed out, entwining James’s legs and pulling him to its mouth.

“Uwaah!!” James was startled. From above, a flower bloomed. Acidic liquid dripped from its mouth as sharp teeth jutted out from the center of the flower. There, the vines that entwined James slithered. They pulled James toward its deadly embrace, welcoming its feast.

James was not new to surprise attacks. He quickly encased his foot, alongside the flower, with ice magic. The vines that were flash-frozen grew brittle; they broke with a crack, sending James tumbling down the tree roots and splashing into the swampy forest.
With James’s enhanced stats, even when he fell headfirst from two meters up, he suffered no damage—except to his pride. He plopped out of the water, looking around for another ambush. This time, he went as far as freezing the swampy water so he could get a proper foothold.

“Did nobody see that? Does nobody here have a skill that detects ambushes?” James was pissed. Thank goodness this was a novice dungeon. If the dungeon increased in difficulty, it might cost him his life.

James was annoyed. He had spent 200 coins on these guys—giving them health potions, guns, and even his old weapons. Yet all they could do was trail behind him like ducklings.

“Sir, no sir.”

“Hah… sorry. Never mind. Peel your eyes open. I’ll take the vanguard again,” James sighed. “Watch out for ambushes. I might be safe, but you guys won’t. I’m not going to spend a hundred coins to heal you.”

“Sir, yes sir.” The soldiers saluted. They had killed enemies; they now had firsthand experience about the world they lived in. They knew how valuable coins were. Nobody thought James’s words were snobbish or condescending.

The group then traversed near a cliff. James thought he would need to cross the cliff, but the arrow in his view said otherwise. The arrows led him deeper into the jungle, and in one particular swamp, the sounds of splashing water could be heard incessantly.

Over twenty snakes were entwining with each other as they splashed around in the swamp water. Just beside the entwining snakes, a blue portal glowed. James, who didn’t know much about biology, tilted his head.

“Were they fighting among each other?” James murmured as they scouted the snakes’ mating ritual from afar. Luckily, one of the soldiers was not so blind to biology and answered.

“No, sir. I believe this is one of the mating rituals performed by snakes. They often entwine with each other when mating,” another soldier said.

“So… it’s a snake orgy?” another soldier asked, and the biology-inclined soldier nodded.

“Well, that’s what I know about normal snakes. Who knows about these gigantic serpents,” he shrugged.

If they were fighting with each other, James wanted to wait until they had exhausted themselves before attacking. But if they were in the process of making more of those abominations, then James had no obligation to wait until they were finished.

James then sneaked closer before bombarding them with ice magic. Thanks to all three of his mana cores, his magic was strong enough to freeze even the swamp they were in.

But the snakes were not so easily defeated. The ice that froze over them cracked and shattered. The snakes then stopped what they were doing and rushed toward James. They were full of rage because James had disturbed their fun times.

“Stay back. You can kill them from a distance or pick off the weakened ones,” James said. A gunshot fired once more—an orange flash went past James and hit one of the snakes, killing it instantly.

“V-Slash!” When a snake opened its maw wide, intending to swallow James whole, he unleashed his axe skill. A golden glow shone from his halberd. It struck one snake in the head, then the halberd made a turn and slashed another snake that tried to flank him.

Another snake came from behind. Its body slithered and quickly wrapped around James. Nevertheless, James was invincible here. He lit his body on fire, and the snake hissed in agony as it released its grip.

Another gunshot resounded, and another snake died. James drew his black sword and chopped another snake in two.

Ten minutes later, all the snakes were dead. James was amazed. These soldiers were all excellent marksmen. They used his gun alternately, and each shot killed one snake without fail.

[Congratulations. You have defeated a horde of monsters. You have earned 120 coins. Your Attacker class has leveled up to level 29.]

“Mission success! Sir! The portal has been secured!” a soldier saluted James proudly. James nodded.

“Can you pay for the bullets? Don’t forget about Bow Skill Level 5. You’ll need it. A Crossbow Skill will have the same strength as that gun.”

“Yes, sir,” the soldier said.

“Well, we don’t have to eat birdmen and lizardmen meat today. You may throw that meat away because we have better meat available. I don’t like eating them either,” James said as he looked over the carnage. Over twenty snake corpses as big as tree trunks lay in the swamp. The soldiers nodded and quickly got to work.

“Afterward, we shall head toward the next floor. We have a job to do,” James said.

“Yes, sir!” the soldiers cheered.

However, James did not. He knew this dungeon was too easy. There were no bosses, no deadly traps, no tricks. It betrayed everything James knew about dungeons. James could only prepare himself for what awaited him on the eighth floor. If all the floor bosses gathered there, he would have a hell of a hard time fighting them.

However, James was not afraid. He had promised to face every challenge the dungeon threw at him head-on.

Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 50
Coins: 1520
Merit: 9

Stats:
STR: 158 (↑3)
DEX: 154 (↑2)
MAGIC: 113 (↑3)
MANA: 1060 (↑20)

Skills:

Novice Axe Mastery Level 5 (Powerstrike, V-slash, Boomerang)
Novice Sword Mastery Level 1 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge)
Beginner Bow Mastery Level 8 (Quickshot) (↑1)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1

Magic:

Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar

Class:
Attacker (Level 29) (↑1)

10% bonus when attacking
STR, DEX +1 per level

Shop (Level 2):

Health Potion (100 coins)
Hematonic Potion (50 coins)
High Potion (300 coins)
Antidote (50 coins)
Sell Function / Repair Function
Bullets (10 coins / round)
Grenades (50 coins / piece)
Arrows (50 coins / dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrows (100 coins / dozen)
Merit Shop: (10 Merit / Skill)

Unique Skill – Chimera (Level 2):

Stomach Slot: Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts)
Left Arm Slot: Minotaur Leader’s Left Arm (STR +25%)
Right Eye Slot: Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense)
Right Arm Slot: Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Negative Trait: Repairable, Mana -200)
Leg Slot: Ratking’s Legs (STR +25%)
Lung Slot: Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing Skill, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10)
Heart Slot: Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable)
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 Skill, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10)
Tongue Slot: Elite Nirvok’s Tongue (2m Appendage, Medium Paralysis Poison)
Ear Slot: Land Shark’s Ear (Echolocation: 10 meters)
Extra Slot 1: Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000)
Extra Slot 2: Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation)
Extra Slot 3: Kraken’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 5 meters, Negative Trait: STR -10%)
Extra Slot 4: Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300)