I felt like I had fully prepared for what was to happen tomorrow. With all of these skills that most hunters would be able to activate momentarily for a life-saving moment, I had them activated at all times. Even knowing how huge the gap was in strength between rank D and C dungeons, seeing how easily I had been taking down the 6-meter goblin of [Goblin King's Abode] gave me confidence for the officially titled TITAN of [Solael's Castle]
Early morning the next day I woke up, grabbed a shower, and had some breakfast at the diner area of the hotel. It was already eight am when I left the lodge to head towards [Solael's Castle]
This dungeon was renowned as the hardest dungeon in our city. It was a dungeon that many people died in until a specialized team was born to clear it. The dungeon always bordered in the high-risk zone.
There was no encampment around the dungeon as usual. With many people setting up their shops and stalls quite a distance away. In the case of any dungeon break happening, people wanted the chance to at least be able to run away from the onslaught of beasts
The huge monolith was colored in a dark shade of orange, pulsating at a few seconds.
The only road leading to it was blocked by military trucks and cars making sure the civilians never neared this area
I didn't bother even showing my license and just passed through the guard point using my [Camouflage] skill. I soon arrived at the bottom of the monolith and I looked up at the huge structure
I closed my eyes and sat down near it, making sure I was still hidden while activating all my defensive and supportive skills, watching the proficiency rising in real-time.
I felt extremely confident in anything that I would face today as the previous day I had also absorbed many of the [Core]s that I didn't sell, with my [Vitality] and [Strength] attributes capping at 150
Along with the many skills that supported me. I highly doubt it given a B rank hunter could endanger me.
Not too long after a few people began appearing. I stayed hidden as I observed them. The first two were huge dudes in their 30s. They both held huge shields that seemed to cover their entire bodies. On their other hands were maces with spikes that shone red. Besides the armor they had on them, they didn't seem anything special. But these were genuine C ranked hunters
The next to arrive were women that both held staffs on their hands with magician's robes wrapping around them. They had a look of apprehension as they looked at the huge monolith.
The four of them seemed familiar with each other as they began discussing some things soon after. The next one to arrive was a girl who seemed fairly young, in her twenties at most. This one had a blue sword on her waist.
With her body covered with what I would only assume to be [King's Valor] that t I also wore. Surprisingly. this girl did not go towards and talk to me first four. But she actually held a confident look on her face as she looked towards the huge monolith, making me surprised, as any rank C hunter could find themselves dead in this dungeon so many held apprehensions
Anderson arrived soon after. His arrival stopped the discussions among everyone as they stared towards him. His eyes glazed over the five people and then soon turned into piercing eyes that came to my location. I calmly deactivated the defensive and support skills and then turned off [Camouflage]
Surprise gasps came out of the rank C hunters as none of them were able to notice me. I wanted to test it just to be sure if Anderson would be able to pierce through the C rank skill's effect even if its proficiency was increased. Maybe I had to wait until it neared 100 for it to have a complete effect on rank B hunters
While Anderson's piercing gaze did not leave my sight, he walked over and said. "You really have such an excessive amount of energy? That you would waste it on hiding this early this morning?"
His tone sounded very calm, but his words dripped with disdain. I replied back. "Nothing to worry about, I was only testing the strength of the people I would be leaving my life to today"
I seemed to have a knack of making him angry, his face became sour and he turned away from me and addressed everyone.
"I want the dungeon dive today to be a very clean one. We have two new hunters joining us, this one goes by Rachel and this one is Noah. One is a berserker and the other is a mage." He pointed to me and the girl that held a confident look on her face as he continued
"For you two, this will be your first run so follow all directions and do not lag behind. This dungeon is different from the ones that you are commonly used to" These words were directed to Rachel and I.
"There is only a single floor in this dungeon, and it takes us almost half the day just to clear it. Do not be surprised by what you see. Protect yourself and cover each other's backs and we should all come out of this alive. When the boss appears, leave it to me and follow everything I say" He articulated the next words very slowly
"In the case any problems occur and you see it coming towards you do not stand idle. Run, or you will die." I listened to his somewhat inspiring speech as we all prepared to dive into the dungeon
I had done my research previously about [Solael's Castle] and his words were not false. The dungeon only had one singular floor, but this one floor took the lives of many many hunters.
As the speech was quickly wrapped up, he went towards the other four party members to discuss something, and I noticed uncomfortable look pop up on their faces. Jeez, did this guy actually have bad relationsh.i.p.s with everyone?
The girl that was apparently new just like me came towards me and said with a puzzled expression. "Why does it seem like there's friction between you and the strongest hunter in the city?"
I smiled at her and replied. "I'm not sure either. I have no problem with the guy. But he seemed to not like me the moment so he saw me."
She c.o.c.ked her head in confusion as if she did not understand and I said once more. "Don't worry about it, there should not be a problem."
As soon as we finished talking, the rest of the group came towards us and we went towards one of the square doors of the huge monolith. Once all of us were near, Anderson reached his hand out first and the rest of us followed, quickly being transferred to the first floor of [Solael's Castle]
[Noah Osmont][Occupation: Hunter]
[Vitality: 150]
[Focus: - ]
[Strength: 150]
[Skill(s): (F-Fireball-100)(F-Heal-43)(E-Arctic Armor- 100)(D-Flames of Torment-97)(D-Safeguard-31)(D-Danger Sense-95)(C-Arcanist's Sphere of Protection-93)(C-Camouflage-67)(C-Aura of Haste-23)(C-Explosive Rune-33)(C-Life Essence-22)(C-Increased Penetration-13)(C-Regeneration-1)(C-Whirlwind-1)]
[Equipment: (E-Swift Boots)(D-King's Valor)(C-Ring of Storage)]
Chapter 14 - Solael's Castle
It was not correct to even call this a floor of a dungeon, as it seemed like a world by itself. There was a huge expanse of trees all around us and on the horizon, a humongous castle was apparent, this was [Solael's Castle]
The castle was built in a medieval style and had a grand look that imposed itself on all that looked towards it. This castle housed more than a hundred C ranked monsters and a humongous titan that we would soon be facing.
Anderson began talking as we made our way towards the castle "When that door opens, we will be facing 10 C rank monsters. They are made up of extremely tough stone-like materials that need a very damaging skill to break. We will have to break through multiple rooms that hold these statue-like monsters in order to reach the boss in the main hall of the castle. I'll be covering Dina and Stacy" He pointed to the two women that were covered in robes. "And the two of you," He said pointing to the two hunters holding the huge shields, "Will cover Rachel and...Noah. I do not want any mistakes, be confident in your skills and attack to kill"
The rest of the group nodded in understanding and we were soon near the castle which opened its doors to show a large room where ten statues were standing still.
The moment that we entered, the statues that were three meters tall and had a golden shine opened t
heir blank eyes and came towards us. The ten C ranked monsters spread out all over the room and rushed in with a semi-circular formation.
Anderson dashed in first with the two mages following not far behind him heading towards the right, already casting their spells. The two tanks nodded at me and Rachel and went towards the other side, quickly colliding with the huge statues.
Everyone here was fairly knowledgeable, so skills quickly went off and flew towards the statues in sparkling shades of colors. I cast [Flames of Torment] and formed it into a circular disk that I threw at one of the statues. Instantly smashing the head
Rachel, the berserker that was standing by my side Instantly disappeared and drew the sword she had on her waist, which was now showing a dark red color that instantly went to split apart another statue.
On Anderson's side, I don't know exactly how he did it but three of the statues were already broken and lying on the ground as shattered stones.
The Mages behind him had both cast a spell that quickly formed a dark thundercloud that spewed down light which struck down on the heads of the remaining two statues and took them down as well.
On our side, we had three statues still alive as the tanks were holding them off, knocking them back with their Shields as they neared. Rachel stood at a distance and then slashed her sword horizontally. The sword let out a blinding light that struck and destroyed two statues, quickly giving more breathing room for the two tanks.
I controlled [Flames of Torment] and quickly smashed the head of the remaining statue. It was just the beginning, but the teamwork seemed to be fairly solid. This was only the first room that we had to pass in this castle before we even came close to the huge Titan that would be facing.
After the room was cleared, everyone besides Anderson sat down and closed their eyes, most likely recovering their energy. I followed their lead and acted as if I had also spent a significant amount of energy to cast [Flames of Torment] repeatedly.
During this time, I activated skills that did not show on my body as I was pretty sure a significant amount of time in this dungeon would be the recovery time between the castle rooms. I activated [Aura of Haste] along with [Life essence], which shone two colors on my body that soon faded. I also cast regeneration even though I had no injuries just to test its effects. A feeling like I had just received the best massage flowed over me as the tension in my body was quickly released
This was probably the last possible use anyone thought this high ranked skill that required a high cost of energy would be used for. I was surprised at its effect as I had never been injured and didn't plan to be anytime in the future. Safety first.
After about 10 minutes, most of the group had gotten up and we were ready to move on to the next room. This one held an extra statue, bringing the numbers up to 11. The same strategy repeated.
I observed Anderson using a skill this time around, as he swung his sword and an arc of lightning flew out, smashing onto and destroying three statues right away. His rank was not for show. The mages by his side cast the same skill that blasted down lightning, quickly taking other statues down as well.
The teamwork was becoming even smoother for our group. As the two tanks in front of us stopped any statues from getting near us while Rachel moved in and out with her sword, occasionally throwing a curved blade of light that smashed onto the statues. I kept the [Flames of Torment] versatile, as it shifted from a rapidly spinning disc of flames to a tight cable that wrapped around the statue's head until it exploded
The tanks occasionally had lights shining on them or transparent shields appearing whenever they were taking hits from the statues, always making sure to stand their ground and not be pushed back.
After we cleared about five rooms and we were resting again, Rachel approached me and spoke. "Your handling of skills seems to be very precise, but I've never heard of you since I came to Outer Bank X, did you also recently move into the city?"
I gave a smile as I replied. "No. I have been here all this time, I just awakened recently."
This was information that anyone could easily dig up on me if they put the time in, so I wasn't worried about sharing it.
She seemed surprised and asked. "Really? Then you must have awakened a fairly powerful inherent skill"
I gave a smile and I didn't reply.
A few hours slowly passed like this. We were clearing many of the rooms in the castle to move forward, with the numbers of the statues increasing by a one after each room
In our tenth room. We're facing 19 statues which made things much harder. A few of the statues broke away from the defense of the two tanks with a huge shield and ran towards me. I acted quickly to cast flames of torment and swung the line of flames as if it was a huge baseball bat to push them away. Rachel dashed back a few seconds later to finish them off.
There were a few injuries, but no casualties. On Anderson's side, he protected the Mages fairly well while moving in and out and pushing back any statues who were trying to breakthrough
The rooms after this kept a constant number of 20 of these stone statues, taking a significant amount of time to clear while trying to prevent injuries as much as possible for the coming BOSS fight
After we cleared the 19th room, serious expressions arose on Anderson and his original party members' faces. The path out of this room led to a large hallway that had a golden door at the end of it. We would now be facing the BOSS of [Solael's Castle]. This BOSS was somewhat special though, as he would not be alone. He had 10 of these statues standing guards around him
This was the point in time where many people failed if there wasn't a powerful enough person to hold the BOSS back as other members quickly took down the guards and then joined in to help the top hunter quickly finish off the boss.
Anderson called everyone together and gave me a piercing look as usual. I had been getting that look every time he observed the fights throughout the past few hours. I've been hiding literally almost all of my skills, only using [Flames of Torment] to destroy the statues that came our way, so I shouldn't have given anything away
He seemed to become less angry at me as time went, and just adopted the disdainful expression more and more. I didn't bother with it as it was always good to be underestimated and not be on guard against
He began speaking when we came close "I will be holding the boss back and make sure that it doesn't break free. The rest of you need to take down its 10 guards as soon as possible and then reinforce me." He turned to the 2 tanks and continued.
"You guys need to do your best to protect the mages and Rachel. Make sure that nobody gets heavily injured as we all need to be in our prime to take down the boss."
The tanks nodded their heads while the rest of us prepared for the fight. I was looking forward to meeting this Titan of a boss that had taken down many hunters
As soon as everyone had their energy recovered, we went towards the huge door and stepped into the BOSS room.
Chapter 15 - Solael's Castle II
Anderson observed the people behind him before he opened the door towards the boss room. Almost all of them had faces that showed their dependence on him because they knew their lives were in his hands the moment that they entered this room.
But as usual, there was one person, one face that seemed to be overly calm with nothing to worry about. Anderson let out a vicious smile before opening the door and heading inside the BOSS room
He would show them all today. What strength really is. What power really is. In the face of strength, everything else has to bow down.
The inside of the gigantic room held a huge statue that was reaching almost 10 meters tall. They seemed like ants compared to something this huge, but Anderson had a confident expression on his face. He had done this multiple times in the span of a few months. Not a single time had he died. A few others had died, of course. But that was out of their negligence. You had to be strong in order to avoid death.
Surrounding a huge titan were it's ten guards who seemed
just as imposing but only four meters tall, and they were still double the size of the hunters that were about to face them.
Anderson pulled out his sword as he began walking towards the huge statue that did not in any way take him into account.
Halfway there his body shone with an imposing red glow. [Giants Strength] was activated. The only B rank skill floating around Outer Bank X, and the skill that allowed him to go toe-to-toe with this huge titan. He grabbed his sword and he swung it towards the TITAN
A red crescent blade that was two meters tall struck out and hit the chest of the statue, instantly calling to attention it's ten guards and disrupting the peace in the hall. Anderson ignored the ten guards as he rushed forward to continue attacking the giant statue
The two tanks that were equipped with extremely large shields, along with the two mages Dina and Stacy, and Rachel had all begun to cast their spells. The tanks reinforced themselves as the guard statues came and attacked them.
The two Mages had already cast their spells as huge clouds that began releasing lightning as if it was endless. Rachel's sword was pulsating in a red light as multiple red blades were released from it, going forward to attack then coming statues.
As for Noah, He had cast the same skill that allowed him to move a huge cable of flames forward. The cable of flames quickly formed into a disc and shifted back and forth as it moved from one statue to another either taking their legs or their hands or completely smashing their heads.
Cohen was observing all of this as he continued to fight with the boss. He had observed all of his team members over the past weeks and he had been observing the new team members today.
The new girl was fairly strong but nothing to worry about. The only one he couldn't peg was Noah. He couldn't exactly see all the way through him. He wanted to believe that he was as weak as he showed himself to be but something very simple was giving him away. The fact that this entire time while going down this dungeon, going to each room and taking down huge statues of monsters, not a single time was he fl.u.s.tered or worried.
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