Free Web NovelChapter 29: The Third And Fourth Floor
It has been an hour since the heroes’ party began exploring the newly discovered dungeon.
When they stepped on the second floor, they found it to have the same ceilings of the height of a hundred meters. The floor is also a labyrinth type as well. It was also worth noticing that the temperature slightly increased once again.
Progressively, the monsters they encountered became stronger than on the previous floor. Not only do the monsters spawn more often, but the monsters’ base strength has also significantly increased.
In addition to the monsters before, they have begun encountering up to three-foot-long giant spiders, ear-splitting giant bat-type monsters called night bats, six-foot-long evil centipedes, and five-foot-tall ape-type monsters called redfur monkeys.
Unlike the monsters on the floor above, whose worth is not that much, the monsters on the second floor have better market value. The silk sacs of the giant spiders are used for crafting high-quality garments, the tough exoskeletons of the evil centipedes are commonly made for armor padding, and the soft fur of the redfur monkeys is a high-demand material for luxurious clothing.
However, these types of monsters are rarely encountered this early. Normally, they can be found on the middle floors of normal-sized dungeons. Seeing them on the second floor made everyone conclude that this dungeon has more things to offer.
For that reason, the adventurers are very much thrilled to gather as many rare materials as they can. They are raking in a fortune there. However, the knights’ captain reminded them not to collect too much since it could become a burden and distract them during fights on the deeper floors.
As expected, the excited adventurers, as well as the calm mercenaries, cleared out the monsters without exerting too much effort. Harvesting the materials fresh is supposed to be a mess since parts should be dry for transport.
Most adventurers of this company are in parties, and each party has someone that is specialized to properly dismantle the carcasses. Dismantlers usually have the basic fire magic spell called Radiance that gives off heat to draw out moisture from the materials, similar to sun-drying but warmer, faster, and more efficient.
Other than the sought-after materials and other throwaway scraps, monsters also possess something in their body called magic cores. Magic cores are the physical manifestation of every creature’s mana in the shape of a dipyramid prism. By every creature, that includes humans and other intelligent races other than monsters.
The magic core’s size and color vary from race to race and from individual to individual. The size is always fixed to the being’s body mass, which means the more massive the magical being, the bigger the magic core.
Meanwhile, the color depends on how much the creature’s mana reserve is. However, it is much more complicated than it seems, as there are many factors to determine what the approximate color of a magic core can be.
The value of the magic core varies by size and color. However, so far, the magic cores of the monsters of this dungeon are not of that good of a quality and do not have that much value and are only used for brewing low-quality mana recovery potions. That is why they just disregarded most of it and left them together with the scraps.
After spending some time hunting and collecting loot, the adventurers haul big. Despite the warnings of the captain, many adventurers dismantled the valuable materials of every one of their kills and carried them to the next floor, adding more weight to the expedition.
He understands them since, unlike the mercenaries, who were paid in advanced with a high latter payment, they promised the adventurers to take as much loot as they could.
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"Damn it. It’s getting hotter and hotter the deeper we go."
David complains as he wipes off a line of sweat dripping on his forehead. Not just David, but everyone in the company feels the significant increase of air temperature on the third floor of the dungeon.
Geoffrey steps forward before he looks up and visually estimates the measurements of the ceiling. "This floor is still as spacious as the ones above, I guess."
"Should I bless everyone with heat resistance?"
"Hmm."
As Geoffrey is thinking about Shirley’s words, Knights’ Captain Russell approaches him and voices his suggestion.
"Sir Hero, Miss Shirley, you don’t have to do that right now. You have to reserve your energy until necessary."
"But how about you all?"
"Don’t worry about it, Sir Hero. We, the knights, are ready for anything. Every knight’s order has their own support squad assigned for blessing everyone with buffs and supports." After saying that, Russell turns around and calls out a male knight. "Gwent."
"Yes, sir."
As Russell orders, Gwent thrusts his palms forward, and a five-foot-wide, magic circle appears on the ground beneath him before he casts his spells.
"Area Bless Heat Resistance. Area Resistance Boost."
Once the two light magic spells are cast, everyone within the radius of around a hundred meters radiates a pale light around their whole body for a second.
"Oohh! The heat instantly vanished!" One adventurer yells and is followed by many more.
Area Bless Heat Resistance is an intermediate-level spell that grants tolerance to heat in a wide circular area; it is also an area-of-effect version of Bless Heat Resistance. The receivers of the spell would gain its effect for a few minutes to an hour, depending on the level of the caster.
On the other hand, Area Resistance Boost, the ranged version of the Resistance Boost, is a spell that obviously enhances one’s resistances.
Both of the spells require the receivers to be in the affected area upon casting. After that, they can now carry the buff wherever they want until the caster stops the spell or runs out of mana.
"Geoffrey, I can sense dozens of monsters like hobgoblins, ghouls, treants, and mega slimes coming out toward our position."
"Thank you for the info, David." Geoffrey then faces Russell. "Captain."
Russell nods after receiving the info.
"Listen, everyone!" Russell stands with conviction and faces both the knights and the adventurers. "Now that the issues with the heat that you have been complaining about have been temporarily resolved, I order you all not to waste Gwent’s efforts and clear this floor as quickly as possible!"
"Yes, sir!!!"
Boosted physically and mentally, the knights, adventurers, and mercenaries charge to welcome the incoming monsters.
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The company has reached the 4th floor, and problems start to get serious. The challenges the knights, adventurers, and mercenaries have to face are becoming more and more difficult, forcing them to put more effort into everything.
Not only does the temperature on the fourth floor rise again, but the strength and varieties of monsters to fend off increase as well. On the fourth floor, gigantic monsters like ogres, trolls, and golems start to show up. In addition, the first monsters that deal magic damage finally appear: the specters.
The addition of a magic spellcaster in the enemies truly stresses out the company. A ranged attack is already dangerous, but anticipating it coming from a dark environment forces the humans to mind their surroundings more cautiously, distracting their focus in the process.
The specters are not the only threats; the gigantic humanoid monsters are as well. Towering up to the height of ten feet, these giants can easily kill an inexperienced adventurer with a swing of their arm.
Adding more salt to the wound, these monsters can learn how to wield weapons. On this floor, they are spotted wielding huge bones and use them like clubs to deal deadly blows to the humans.
Normally, these types of monsters can be found in the deeper parts of a regular dungeon or in the depths of a vast forest on the surface. Even the seasoned adventurers, mercenaries, and knights in this expedition need to team up to take down one.
Due to this dire situation, the heroes’ party finally steps into action and starts helping the knights, adventurers, and mercenaries defeat the hordes of these monsters. The assistance of the heroes’ party greatly boosts the morale of the company. The heroes’ party alone exterminates around a third of all the kills by the company. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Geoffrey showcases his superb swordsmanship. He can easily slice a troll in half. David shoots around three arrows in a second, and each of them accurately goes straight to a monster’s head, killing it instantly.
Agatha casts spells one after another with minimal intervals. A regular mage needs time to cast a spell, but Agatha is on another level, as she has the capabilities to cancel the casting time, allowing her to spam powerful area-of-effect spells and eliminate several monsters at once.
The frontliner of the party, a man carrying a poleaxe and a parrying shield named Bashel Netram, swings his weapon and skillfully smashes it into every monster’s head. At the same time, Bashel uses his shield to block any of the enemy attacks, effectively protecting the party.
On the other hand, together with other supports, Shirley is busy providing area buffs and healing not only to the party but also to the knights and the adventurers. Additionally, they are also providing lighting for everyone, giving them time and space to see the enemies and avoid any friendly fire. freeweɓnøvel.com
The heroes, knights, adventurers and mercenaries fight with all their might against the hostile inhabitants of the dungeon. However, even with all their hard work and efforts, they are not able to prevent any casualties on this floor.
