A new green portal shimmered in the sun, enclosed in a powerful fortified camp. Xicackna stretched, impatient for once to face the trials of a dungeon. Turning to Kol-Gaar, who was deeply buried in strategic reflections, she told herself that she was eager to impress him with the fruits of her training. Of course, she had to be able to show herself without disrupting his strategies and so she asked his permission to act:
“Kol-Gaar? Could I accompany the scouts this time? You know, I''ve trained a lot. Invisibility and sprint will allow me to easily cover the terrain and bring back information in record time without getting caught.”
“No: out of the question.”
The princess''s mood darkened. She planted her head right in front of the prince''s head to make sure he would be embarrassed and could not ignore her.
“Oh yeah? And why? You think I''m incapable of it?”
“Do you have the ‘Detection’ skill?” he sighed. “No? Then you risk getting caught by the first trap that comes along. To give you an example, in ‘E’ rank Human dungeons, there are explosive traps that are triggered if you step on them. With your current Hit Points, that would be instant death.”
“But, aren''t we in an ‘E’ rank dungeon here?”
“That was an example! There are other types of traps that, even if they won''t necessarily kill you, risk putting you in danger... especially if you''re far from the rest of the group.”
Xicackna groaned but inwardly realized: he was right. "Detection" joined the list of skills she dreamed of obtaining. According to Kol-Gaar, the skill proposals for leveling up depended on the actions undertaken but also on the deep wishes or natural qualities of the adventurers. He also said that it was also possible to obtain "skill books" to exchange one skill for another.
“Don''t take the initiative,” he added, “it''s already complicated enough to adapt my strategies to cooperate with a... with you.”
“Hey! What were you going to say? An idiot?”
“But, not at all…”
“Liar!”
“That’s not what I thought…”
“Oh really, you forgot what my skills were? I can read your thoughts!”
“But you didn’t do it.”
“Oh really? You think so?”
“Yes, because I didn’t think that: I thought ‘novice’… Well, until you came up with a more appropriate word…”
“Now you thought it! You’re annoying me!”
“You started it this time!”
As they stared at each other angrily, forehead to forehead, one of the soldiers interrupted them, asking for instructions:
“Excuse me, Sire? Let’s suppose we wait an hour or two for you to finish arguing: we’re thinking of hibernating to save strength. Can you predict the length of the argument to predict the length of the hibernation?”
The two nobles looked away, feeling a little humiliated to be corrected by a commoner. Xicackna noted in passing that she was able to better understand the sentences emitted by the members of the hive of Xéméne.
“Uh, well,” Kol-Gaar said, trying to regain his composure. “I think we should focus a little more on the task at hand. Although rank ‘F,’ this dungeon should contain monsters of a slightly higher level than the previous two, without being as dangerous as a Human dungeon. Does that remind you of the first rule of dungeons?”
The prince waited. Sighing, the princess finally said what he was waiting for:
“The number one rule of dungeons is that they remain dangerous regardless of the level of the monsters and that you must always remain cautious.”
The prince nodded while double-checking his equipment one last time.
“That’s it. Humans, although generally level 1, have a deadly arsenal, at least for human-chameleons. The monsters we will face this time are less dangerous, although of a higher level. This does not make our excursion any easier and it is possible that we will be forced to retreat without having killed the boss: the important thing is that we both get out alive. We will have to be careful of traps, which is why the majority of the soldiers selected this time have the ‘Detection’ skill.”
“Still no luck getting other nobles on the team?”
“The few available ones declined the offer. They consider their own training more important or prefer to participate in priority missions or ‘E’ rank doors.”
“We could ask Xer-Shola to accompany us? Being able to be healed directly on the battlefield would be a huge advantage.”
“A good idea for once, but it''s impossible. First of all, she''s too precious for the hive, and secondly, she''s ‘D’ rank: she can no longer enter dungeons two ranks lower than hers.”
That was a shame.
Kol-Gaar abruptly held out three vials, holding them in his fingers by their thin necks. Transparent, they were filled with a suspicious red liquid.
“Put these in your inventory. Only use them if necessary: ??their production costs a lot of resources.”
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Life Potion (E) [Consuming this potion restores 10 to 100 Hit Points.] [Consumable]
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Accepting immediately the precious gift, she put the potions in her inventory, in place of her mana stones that she slipped into her bag. With that, she felt much more reassured. Following Kol-Gaar and the soldiers, she entered a new dungeon without much apprehension.
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Dungeon “The Night Garden”
Rank F
Entry requirement: group of 12 maximum, levels 1 to 19
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<u>Available Dungeon Objectives:</u>
“Hunt” (F): Kill 100 enemies.
“Treasure” (E): Find the treasure at the foot of the rainbow.
“Dungeon Clearing” (E): Kill Big Ears and take the Dungeon Heart.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
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The new world was plunged into night, but the moon and the Zcarbbs'' developed senses made it easy to observe a strange flora. It seemed as if grass and flowers had increased in size by nearly a hundred. The vegetation was so large that one could believe that the adventurers had shrunk to the size of common insects. Between the plants, vast dirt paths seemed to form paths.
“It''s surprising,” noted Xicackna, “there''s a new kind of quest in the objectives.”
“There are often hidden objectives in Dungeons. The fact that this one is announced indicates both that it is easier to find and more dangerous. We''ll try to complete it if everything goes well. Sometimes there are even neutral creatures and helping them allows you to complete quests. Not this time apparently.”
Suddenly, a first enemy appeared. A strange creature who looked a bit like a human, but smaller and stockier, appeared. Its clothing was composed of elements each having a bright color: green for the pants, blue for the vest and red for a curious pointed hat which rose as high as half the height of the monster.
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Gnome, level 5 [Rank F]
Hit points (HP): 135/135
Energy Points (EP): 65/65
Vigor: 35/35
<u>Abilities:</u>
Strength: 3
Agility: 4
Stamina: 7
Intelligence: 13
Mana: 1
Armor (natural): 0
<u>Description</u>: Enduring and particularly clever, Gnomes don’t seem very dangerous before you encounter their dangerous inventions…
<u>Attributes </u><u>(0)</u>:
<u>Skills</u><u> (5):</u>
Imaginary Sounds [F] (Magical Power) Allows everyone to hear sounds that do not exist and seem to originate from a specific point. Costs 1 Energy per second.
Detection (F): (Supernatural Power) Increases the probability of detecting traps, invisible things and points of interest.
Identification (F) (Supernatural Power) Allows you to discover the properties of a target, including the uses that can be made of it. [Identification can allow you to discover part of the history of the identified target.]
Trap Construction (F) (Natural Power) Allows you to build simple traps from a small amount of material.
Dodge [F] (Natural Power) [Get a 5% chance of avoiding a targeted attack. The higher the enemy''s Agility is compared to yours, the more the percentage will decrease.]
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The curious figure seemed slow-witted, unless its night vision was far inferior to that of the Zcarbbs. It wiggled, holding one of its hands over its eyes, as if trying to improve the clarity of what it was seeing by restricting its field of vision. It then jumped and brought its hands to its head, as if wondering what to do.
Either the creature was particularly stupid, its Intelligence points not necessarily being synonymous with wisdom, or it was a trap. Turning to Kol-Gaar, Xicackna discovered that he was no longer there.
Suddenly, he appeared in the air behind the monster, spear pointed forward. The creature detected his arrival and turned, letting out a cry of rage. However, it did not move from its place, pulling a small knife from its belt and facing him with trembling legs.
She saw that he inflicted 23 points of damage to the Gnome, while keeping it at a sufficient distance with his spear to avoid any retaliation. Firmly camped on its position, the monster did not retreat and tried to counterattack only to find itself pushed back again. With great determination, it managed to get around the spear but failed to hit Kol-Gaar. The latter retaliated with a jet of acid to make his target retreat, then a new attack. This one almost cost him dearly because the Gnome avoided it and tried to slay him. Kol-Gaar majestically countered the attempt and unbalanced the monster, forcing it to retreat…
Suddenly, wooden spikes burst from the ground where the Gnome had been, piercing it on the spot. If it were not for the strange properties of the System, the Gnome would not have survived. However, it had only lost 9 Hit Points.
As the prince pressed his enemy further, wounding it again, the latter finally managed to hit him with its weapon, but it bounced. Xicackna was impressed that Kol-Gaar had been able to avoid being hit for so long. Looking around, the princess did not understand why the guards did not come to their leader''s aid. She assumed that other traps must be set all around, which also explained why the Gnome did not flee despite its obvious disadvantage.
Aiming carefully, she spat a magnificent arc of acid that fell right on the creature''s hat. The creature squealed in terror, knowing it was lost, and ended up trying its luck in the middle of the traps. Harassed from the air by the prince and slashed in multiple ways by the wooden spikes springing from the ground, the creature perished very quickly.
The two nobles each received 25 XP, without one of them receiving any more by an act of completion: the trap, which had finished off the victim, was not among those who could share the experience.
They continued to advance, stopping regularly to disarm the traps they detected along the way. With so many Zcarbbs capable of spotting them in the group, they did not seem to represent a real danger.
Spotting a group of Gnomes in front of them, Kol-Gaar had them surrounded by his troops and they ambushed those who thought they were ambush.
These Gnomes were armed with strange weapons, a kind of dart projectors that vaguely resembled human rifles but fired at an infinitely slower rate. Despite their piercing properties, the Gnomes inflicted little damage before succumbing.
The dungeon continued like this with a minimum of injuries. In fact, the two nobles had not received any. Satisfied with this pace, Xicackna amused herself by seeing her experience climb thanks to her cautious participation in the fights, while wishing for a few opportunities to use her training in a more useful way. Kol-Gaar too, although more silent on the subject, began to inwardly enthuse when he saw that he had almost reached the next level: he needed only another 8 XP!
His abdomen vibrated with excitement and he only noticed it when the princess could not help but giggle. A little annoyed, he managed to contain himself.
Suddenly, the grassy terrain gave way to a vast plain of large flat stones. A dozen Gnomes were waiting for them there, stamping their feet impatiently. The plain stretched in two directions. On the left, it headed towards cliffs covering the horizon and from which a few mysterious rays of light were emerging. Rain fell there at regular intervals, which was very mysterious and could foreshadow, with the light, the presence of the rainbow of the quest. On the right, they could see a sort of large illuminated palace, perhaps the boss''s refuge.
However, what stopped the group dead in its tracks was a terrifying giant surrounded by the small Gnomes. It looked like a version of one of them, but much taller than the giant grass. It peaked like a good-sized hill.
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GARDEN GNOME (D), Optional Boss, Level 21 Mechanics
Hit points (HP): 1000/1000
Energy Points (EP): 100/100
Vigor: -/-
Fury: 0/15
<u>Abilities:</u>
Strength: 30
Agility: 2
Armor: 30
<u>Description: </u>The ultimate dream of the Gnomes is to design a perfect version of the legendary "GARDEN GNOME". The level 30 version can fly, but not this one.
<u>Attributes </u><u>(1)</u>:
Mechanical (Natural Bonus) [Immune to effects intended for biological beings.]
<u>Skills</u><u> (6):</u>
Arcane Engine (D) [Artificial Power] [Allows you to use certain skills for an Energy cost instead of Vigor. Consumes Energy for each action. Each offensive action provides 1 Fury point.]
Armored (D) [passive natural power, +30 Armor, +100 HP]
Hand Beam (L, D-rank copy) [Legendary Power] [Projects 3 beams per hand at one to two targets, each dealing some damage. Costs 2 Energy.] [Each beam deals its damage and ignores Armor. They hit in groups of three.]
Space Thunder (L, D-rank copy) [Legendary Power] [Projects lightning at a target. Doubles damage on targets below 50% of their Vitality. Costs 3 Energy and 3 Fury points, generates 4 Fury points and causes a cooldown of the skill...] ??[Ignores Armor. Minor and multipliable critical hits against a target equipped with metal]
Crusher Punch (L, copy of rank D) [Legendary power] [Can project its fists on its opponents, generating an unblockable attack with doubled force. Ignores 5 points of Armor and destroys them. Costs 50 points of Energy and 10 Points of Fury.]
Soundtrack (D) [Artificial power] [Allows to generate background music during combat phases.]
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Xicackna turned pale and looked back at Kol-Gaar. The terror on his expression did not reassure her.