laulau20

Chapter 81: Second Floor, Fortress

Added 2025-05-25 06:52:48 +0000 UTC

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

[Available body parts:
Lizardman’s Scales (Physical Resistance +10%) (Skin Slot)]

James ignored the Chimera skill because his current body parts were better than the lizardmen that lay dead before him. The soldiers scavenged the lizardman's body, trying to find anything of value. But except for its mediocre spear, there was nothing to plunder. This lizard was basically naked, after all.

“Sir, where to next?” the soldiers asked.

“What skill did you get?” James asked.

“I got Sword Skill Level 5, sir.”

“I got Dexterity Up, sir!”

“I got Invisibility, sir!”

“I got Mana Core, sir!”

“Damnit. Where was that Cartographer skill when you needed it?” James groaned. He then pointed toward a soldier. “Please note how to get to this place from the portals.”

“There are no notes or even a pen, sir.”

“Then remember it. I will be relying on you,” James sighed.

“Yes sir. I will try my best.” The pitiful soldier then tried to discuss with their fellow soldiers. James didn’t need them now. After all, this place was a desert, not a maze. All he needed to remember was that this portal was northeast of the first portal.

“If we find some wood, we can carve the map. The previous dungeon was straightforward. This one is different…” James muttered.

The previous dungeon James had conquered featured a linear layout. He came to a new floor, explored a bit, defeated the boss, and then moved forward. But the system said he could travel between floors now. He could go up and down.

The question is, why would he ever want to go down? The only answer to that would be keys.

James assumed he needed to find keys in each of the floors. Then those keys would be used to unlock the doors to the last floor where the real boss monster resided.

“Let’s get to the next floor. If we find another portal, we’ll go there as well. I want to see what’s on the last floor before we wander aimlessly. Keep your heads up for traps,” James said.

“Yes sir.”

James then touched the portal. The transition was instant. The desert had changed into grassland with a fortress in the middle. James frowned. When he went to the portals, there was usually a safe room—or what he called a loading screen room. However, when he did it this time, there was no such thing.

“System, it’s not just us, but the enemy can use these portals, right?” James asked.

[Yes. That is correct. Enemies can use these portals to travel between floors.]

“That means we can’t use these portals to run away or nurse our injuries because the enemies will be at our heels and can follow us,” James said.

[That is correct.]

New dungeon, new rules. That’s what James thought. Frankly speaking, he was not satisfied. But he had no other choice. He had to play with the cards he had right now.

“Well, the arrow is pointing at the fortress,” James said. There were two arrows in his vision right now—one blue and one orange. If he was not mistaken, the blue one should go to the next floor while the orange one should go to the previous floor. But both of them pointed toward the fortress, not the portals behind him.

James and the soldiers then marched toward the fortress.

“Angels? Well, not really. Their wings aren’t white,” one soldier commented as they looked over at the fortress walls. People with wings manned them. They mostly had brown wings, but some were white.

“They’re also a bit too feathery. Unless you like those sorts of things,” one soldier joked.

“I’ll go alone. Prepare to flee.” James idiotically walked to the fortress. He thought of several methods, such as sneaking.

However, learning from previous dungeons made James hesitate. Were they hostile to begin with? What if they could talk—just like in the previous dungeon? The previous dungeon required him to side with and support monsters.

Again, James had learned the wrong lessons. As soon as those birdmen saw James, they screeched and let loose their arrows. James could feel his heart skip a bit as golden light shone from their arrows and homed in on him. He immediately summoned ice shields all over his body. The golden light penetrated the ice shields, but it soon lost its luster and hit harmlessly against James' enhanced body.

“Shit!” James cursed. He immediately drew his bow and shot back. Golden light shone from the arrow, and it pierced one of the eagle-winged beastmen. James charged forth. He couldn’t show his back to the enemy; all he could do was break the gate and kill them.

Using his tail, he put the bow back on his back and drew his halberd. He then leaped toward the gate as he unleashed his axe skill, Powerstrike. The axe glowed golden and destroyed the gate with a strike. After the wall, James came through into the yard. The birdmen that were stationed on the wall jumped from it, trying to assault him.

They unsheathed the shortswords on their waists. Feeling confident in their numbers, they charged at James without abandon. Seeing such stupid behavior, James smirked and roasted the incoming bird that came.

In the end, over one hundred birdmen charged toward James, only to be turned into fried chicken with James' flame and skewered with James' ice magic. The few—ten or twenty—who managed to come near were disarmed as James swung his halberd.

“Hey! Come here and finish them!” James said toward the soldiers.

James really hoped one of these soldiers would get something similar to the cartography skill. Also, fate said otherwise. One got a support skill that enhanced the party's stats. One got an alert skill that notified them if an enemy was looking at them. Others got things like enhanced body, more unique shop buys, etc. None were useful to map the floor.

[Congratulations. You have slain a horde of enemies. You have received 127 coins. Your Attacker class has leveled up to Level 28.]

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

[Available body parts:
Avian Wings (Falling Resistance) (Extra Slot)]

“What’s falling resistance?” James asked.

[It means you will not be damaged when falling from heights. In addition, when you fall, the speed of falling is capped at 2 m/s.]

The system was not American, so of course it used metric, not imperial. James was fortunately a normal college graduate and could still do conversions. It's about 4 miles per hour—just around walking speed.

"That's different than that angel…" James muttered. If he recalled correctly, that angel in the trial dungeon could grant him flying ability if the title was enforced with wind magic. It could also glide. This wing was similar, but maybe it was a bit worse? James was not sure.

[Not all wings are the same.]

"Well, true," James said. There was no way James would change his tools. His extra slots were all occupied with something more important. He could theoretically change his Wind Mana Core, but the Wind Mana Core could do the same as this wing. If he wanted to fly, he needed both of them. The tail, water, and spinneret were crucial for his survival.

“Contact! Enemy incoming!”

“Watch out for their arrows. If they glow golden, run like shit!” soldiers said as James traversed the dungeon. Surprisingly, despite being level one, they could defeat three of those birdmen if they could close in. It took more than an hour of fighting, but they did it.

“Dungeon trial monsters were so much easier. Even when I was level one, I could kill the goblins there in a single hit,” James muttered as he watched how the soldiers defeated the birdmen. He was correct—the enemy here was at the level of an orc boss, even when you were at the lowest floor. Even though both of those dungeons were marked as novice, their difficulties were different. James knew the system was never entirely honest. This just proved it.

“Stay alert,” one of the soldiers said. They didn't cheer but continued with their recon. After killing five more enemies, the group reached the portal.

“Sir. We found the portal. The prance portal is in the room next door, sir.”

“Soldier… what do you guys think?” James asked as he pointed toward the portal.

“Erm… it was in a room?” the soldier answered awkwardly. He saw the portal inside a small room; several corridors and verandas could be seen from the second floor, overlooking the portal. They hadn't thought anything of it at all. Well, they were inexperienced, but James knew.

“Imagine if you were transported here. There were hundreds of those birdmen before…” James muttered. They finally understood the gravity of the situation.

“But… we can just return, right? This is not a one-way gate like normal, right?”

“If you survive the alpha strike, then yes,” James nodded. “Check the return gate first. Then I will check the next floor gate.”

Even when James knew it might hold a trap, he had to advance. There was no other choice.

The orange gate that brought them to the previous floor functioned normally. When James touched the blue gate, he was brought to a swampy jungle. Water rose to his thighs as massive roots from giant trees intertwined with each other, creating a narrow path into the jungle. The orange gate lay behind James.

"It's a jungle there. I hope you're not afraid of insects and water," James said as he returned to the team. “Before going there, would you prefer we camp here?”

“Yes sir. Navigating through a jungle is perilous. If night comes and we get lost, we would be vulnerable!” the team leader saluted.

“Then we shall rest here. Gather those birdmen or lizardmen corpses and some firewood. Would you prefer stew or would you prefer them roasted?”

“Cannibalism is forbidden under international law, sir.” James blinked at the soldier for a bit. He then thought things through before replying. James didn't think what he did was a war crime; after all, he did it to survive. If he didn't eat, he would starve and die.

“Erm… it was in a room?” the soldier answered awkwardly. He saw the portal inside a small room; several corridors and verandas could be seen from the second floor, overlooking the portal. They didn't think anything of it at all. Well, they were inexperienced, but James knew.

“Imagine if you were transported here. There were hundreds of those birdmen before…” James muttered. They finally understood the gravity of the situation.

“But… we can just return, right? This is not a one-way gate like normal, right?”

“If you survived the alpha strike, then yes,” James nodded. “Check the return gate first. Then I will check the next floor gate.”

Even when James knew it might hold a trap, he must advance. There was no other choice.

The orange gate that brought them to the previous floor functioned normally. When James touched the blue gate, he was brought to a swampy jungle. Water rose to his thigh as massive roots from giant trees intertwined with each other, creating a narrow path into the jungle. The orange gate lay behind James.

“It's a jungle there. I hope you're not afraid of insects and water,” James said as he returned to the team. “Before going there, would you prefer we camp here?”

“Yes sir. Navigating through a jungle is perilous. If night came and we got lost, we would be vulnerable!” the team leader saluted.

“Then we shall rest here. Gather those birdmen or lizardmen corpses and some firewood. Would you prefer stew or would you prefer them roasted?”

“Cannibalism is forbidden under international law, sir.” James blinked at the soldier for a bit. He then thought things through before replying. James didn't think what he did was a war crime. After all, he did it to survive. If he didn't eat, he would starve and die.

“As I remember correctly, cannibal means eating fellow humans. Those are birds and snakes, right? You’ve never eaten chicken?”

“... they have human hands and feet.”

“Permission to interrupt, sir. Cannibalism refers to eating one's own species, Sergeant. What Mr. James did could not be described as illegal.”

“Well, you are correct, sir. I shall prepare them immediately.”

“I will not force you to eat them. However, I will ask you to carry them. According to my experience, there are times when I have to spend several days without food because the enemies are machines, skeletons, toxic, or grossly inedible,” James answered.

“Sir, yes sir. Thank you, sir.”

And so, they camped the night.

[Name: James]
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 50 (↑1)
Coins: 1553
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 28) (↑1)
(+10% bonus damage when attacking; STR and DEX +1 per class 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)
Arrow (50 coins / dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrow (100 coins / dozen)
Merit Shop (10 merit / skill)

Unique Skill – Chimera (Level 2):

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