Ark Volume 2

by Japtem

  The 2 summons who were around a mere level 15, lured a level 65 Crab and in just a few minutes the Crab lost 40% of its health. When Ark joined in, the Crab didn't even had chance to spray bubbles.

  It wasn't as much as Bat's, but Skull also showed surprising growth. As if it was trying to get revenge for the sorrow of those times, Skull tore with its teeth as it rolled around the Crabs' feet.

  The two merely level 15 Familiars toyed with the level 65 Crab and cut its Health by 40% in just a few minutes. When Ark joined in, the Crab didn't even had chance to spray bubbles.

  "Ohhh, strangely I am overflowing with strength!"

  *Clack cla-clack!*

  "Master, a fight! Let's fight!"

  Bat and Skull felt their tangible growth and couldn't hold their excitement.

  "Good, I was worried at first, but it won't even be hard to solve the quest if it's like this."

  Ark began to seriously conquer the dungeon.

  From the pathway of twitching black walls, Crabs, Devil Fishes, and Sharkmen turned undead flocked in all around. Even when they were undead, they were no different from the ones outside in the ocean. He already knew what kind of attacks they would do, and the weak points they had. Though they were undead, their basic attributes were no different from the monsters he'd met in the ocean. He was aware of what kind of attacks they would do and where their weak points were like the back of his hand.

  Also, his condition was so good right now he felt like he could fly!

  "Bat, Skull! Plan A!"

  There really was no reason to lure with Skull and Bat.

  Together with his Familiars, Ark charged in head on. The chain of exploding critical hits! The co-op attack bonus with his Familiars! The monsters' Healths fell steadily.

  Around then, Ark realized that fighting hadn't gotten easier just because he had become stronger. The monsters inside the whale's stomach were originally marine life. Similar to how Ark had gotten the penalty underwater, they received the penalty of not being in water. Meaning that Ark's ability had increased and the enemies' abilities had decreased!

  'I'm picking up EXP. Picking.'

  Although they were easy to defeat, they were still over level 65. Because they were at least 5 levels higher than Ark, they gave a lot of experience. Every time he hunted a group of them his experience rose enough to be visible. The items they dropped were much better than what level 40 monsters dropped.

  His body felt like it was flying. EXP was surging in. And the value of items was increased!

  Fighting was so enjoyable that it was sickening.

  Ark and his Familiars swept through the dungeon like that. While they were beating up four Sharkmen, a roar suddenly came from behind them.

  *ROAAR, bo-bo-ooom!*

  Sharkmen flinched as they hastily scrambled away.

  'Sharkmen are running away? Just what is going on?'

  He didn't have to wonder for long. Within just a few seconds of the roar, an enormous wave of water suddenly surged in from the opposite wall. As it rolled over the wall, a raging torrent swallowed Ark and the Sharkmen.

  It wasn't a question of whether to resist or not. In the space of the time it took to say 'Ah,' they were swept away by the torrent and rushed past the twitching walls. How much time passed like that?

  The current seemed to weaken, and then they were hurled onto the floor.

  After quickly raising his head, he saw that it was an enormous plaza. He saw monsters and piles of trash that had been swept in by the water current, like himself.

  'Where is this? Ugh!"

  - You took Acid damage. Damage 50.

  There wasn't a monster, but he suddenly took damage.

  It was not just once. Even before the message disappeared, he received damage again. White steam was rising at his feet. It wasn't only Ark. Steam also came out of the bodies of the stumbling monsters. There were also monsters already in critical condition.

  'My god, this is... the stomach!'

  Startled, Ark looked around.

  Thankfully the exit was a few meters away. The exit was wriggling as it closed. Since the food had come in, the stomach's sphincter was automatically closing.

  'If we fail to escape, then we'll be digested!'

  "No, I don't wanna become whale poop!"

  Bat held his head and screamed. Ark agreed.

  To become whale poop after working so hard to get here?

  Ark ran towards the twitching and closing exit.

  Bat went out first, then Ark threw Skull and himself. Ark was able to barely squeeze through, narrowly leaping out from the sphincter. Looking at the sphincter that soon closed made him break out in cold sweat.

  In just a few seconds, he had lost 350 Health.

  'What the hell, what kind of stupid dungeon is this...?'

  At that moment, a strange sound came behind Ark's back.

  *Slither!*

  *Snap Snap Snap!*

  As Ark turned his head to look, his expression hardened.

  Behind him, he saw a few Crabs that had been swept all the way to the stomach and had narrowly escaped. But the problem wasn't the Crabs. It was the enormous gray worm-like monster that was grabbing and swallowing the Crabs. The Crabs attacked with their pincers, but the worm even budge and was eating them one by one.

  "Wha-what is it this time? Eyes of the Cat!"

  Once he used the skill, the worm's information appeared. Its name was Great Worm, a level 80 monster.

  "Great Worm? So it is basically a large roundworm parasite?"

  To think he would have to fight not only revived food bits, but also a roundworm...

  As if responding to Ark's voice, the worm turned its head. In ran in as it opened its drooling mouth wide. Ark spun his body as he swung his sword. A dull sound rang out, but the worm didn't even flinch and swung its tail.

  "Ugh!"

  With a single attack, his Health went down by 200.

  'I was wrong, I can't beat it in my current condition!'

  Even with darkness bonus, the monster was almost 15 levels higher. In addition, Ark had already taken damage from the stomach. However, he couldn't flee-- behind Ark, the sphincter blocked the way.

  'Dammit, I barely escaped from the stomach, so I can't become a worm's meal!' Ark tightened his grip on the sword.

  It was a desperate situation, but not completely hopeless. The worm had lost about 30% of its Health while fighting the Crabs.

  "Let's go, Plan C. Bat, go distract it!"

  "Understood!"

  Bat flew quickly to draw the worm's attention. At the same time, Ark let loose a barrage towards the mark that appeared on the worm's body.

  *Pow pow pow powww!*

  The worm shook greatly after being attacked with a chain of critical hits.

  The worm had slow movement but it was unbelievably fast when attacking. The worm's sharp teeth grazed his side as it passed. Ark abandoned the idea of completely dodging worm's attacks.

  If he focused on conserving his Health, his attack would weaken by the same amount. The chance of scoring a critical hit also decreased dramatically. It was better to be prepared for damage and concentrate on counterattacking.

  The worm didn't even budge at his sword attacks.

  It was the special effect granted to big monsters with slow movement. But when it took a kick, it winced briefly. When he landed a successful kick, it seemed that set chance of stun or knockback showed a little effect.

  'I can use this by following its attack pattern.'

  Ark stepped as he went around the worm.

  He waited for the chance, then immediately loosed a flying kick when the worm was in position to attack.

  Taekwondo's kicks are reputed to the fastest among all the martial arts. Even among these, the flying kick's speed is outstanding!

  Taking the flying kick, the worm flinched and stiffened. In that timing, Ark loosed a counter with his sword and landed a critical hit.

  After about 3 minutes of fighting like tha
t, he suddenly took damage.

  - The Familiar Nameless Dead Man's Skull has been forcefully recalled to the Netherworld. You received 50% of the Familiar's Health as damage.

  The Familiars may have gotten stronger, but there was a limit with the worm as the opponent. The worm crushed the obstructive Skull by squashing it with its body.

  Soon after, Bat was covered by the saliva spraying from the worm's mouth, fell to the floor, and was crushed. It was because Ark was too busy concentrating on attacking; he didn't have time to check on the Familiars.

  'Familiars can be resummoned after 24 hours. But if I die, it'll be the end. I don't wanna revive in Nodelesse and get swallowed up again by Gallic!'

  Ark clenched his teeth.

  His Health, which was already in the danger level, fell to critical condition from the damage he took as his Familiars disappeared. But crisis can soon become opportunity. Undying Will and Indomitable Body were activated.

  "Now, Dark Blade!"

  *PO-POW!*

  Since Familiars had disappeared, there was no reason to worry about his Mana. Ark immediately let fly 2 more Dark Blades.

  However, the worm's movements couldn't be hindered by sword attacks. The moment Dark Blade landed, the worm's lashing tail hit his waist. With a dull shock, Ark was pushed back.

  Thanks to the effects of Undying and Indomitable a critical hit was avoided, but his Health went down to 50. Without wasting a moment, worm came flying in for a body slam.

  'The bastard is also in critical condition from Dark Blade! 104 Mana is left. I can still use Dark Blade once. I'll bet victory on a single blow!'

  "Snake, potion!"

  The Snake wrapped around his waist spat out a potion.

  The Snake wrapped around his waist spat out a potion. This was Snake's good point. In a normal fight, you needed to open the bag and take out a potion to drink it. The time it took was 3-4 minutes for even a skilled fighter, and it was only possible with that time if they always kept their bag organized. But thanks to Snake, it didn't take Ark even 1 second.

  He quickly downed the lesser recovery potion and restored 100 Health.

  Ark's eyes flashed. "I'll be damned if this doesn't kill it! Dark Blade!"

  In the instant Ark and the worm passed each other, a deafening roar burst out.

  Ark flew couple of meters and hit the wall.

  He quickly checked his Health and saw he only had 7 Health left. On the other hand, the worm that had gotten hit by a critical hit with several added bonuses glowed as it twisted, then slowly melted away.

  It was Ark's victory. The moment worm was defeated and his level rose and he a new skill was created.

  You have learned a new skill.

  Counter Attack (Beginner, Passive): This is a technique that can only be learned by one who possesses the courage and reflexes to grasp the moment the enemy attacks. However, most important is the strong will to not fear the enemy. One who doesn't have Undying Will and Indomitable Body and can't overcome fear, cannot learn this skill.

  Should Counter Attack succeed, 50% additional attack power will be applied. The 5% stun effect chance doesn't stack with other active attack skill.

  Thanks to counters his body had learned while fighting the underwater monsters, he received another useful skill.

  When the worm disappeared, a grey skin was dropped.

  Great Worm Skin (Ingredient)

  The skin of the Great Worm, which only inhabits a very special environment. Not only is it hard to encounter a Great Worm, but it is also extremely rare to find a skin of such good quality.

  If a great craftsman were to tan this skin, it can become a great leather product.

  He couldn't tell if it was a good or bad item from the description.

  "Whew, anyways, I survived."

  He had survived with his life, but the price was too great. Both of his Familiars were force recalled, and the durability of his armor fell to a critical level. The japtem shoes he'd worn instead of the Sharkman's Shackles were actually broken.

  Although he can say he won, half of it was luck. He didn't think he could win if he fought it again at his current level.

  "For now it would be good to avoid the worms."

  Ark took out his tool box.

  After tasting bitterness once, Ark became more cautious.

  Unlike the first time, he didn't dare sweep the dungeon blindly. He explored cautiously one step at a time. Because Bat was gone, he couldn't scout. So he had no choice but to be careful. When he sensed something suspicious from afar, he quickly used 'Stealth' to hide. He faced monsters besides the worm without difficulty even without the Familiars. If there weren't any worms, this place would have been ideal hunting ground because of the high experience. As he explored the dungeon like this, Ark realized several things.

  In the dungeon, the violent torrent occurred approximately once every 2 hours. Ark calculated the time, and when it was time for the violent torrent, he equipped Sharkman's Shackles. By wearing the Sharkman's Shackles that wouldn't budge even in a tempest, Ark wasn't swept away by the torrent. However, the penalties weren't a joke, so he immediately took them off when the torrent passed.

  It was really annoying, but the torrent wasn't all bad. When the torrent passed through, piles of trash formed here and there. Once in a while, he would find a useful item among the trash. In many ways, it was a pretty good dungeon.

  Ark got so obsessed in exploring the dungeon that he forgot to sleep. 24 hours passed like that.

  "You've all worked hard. For now eat this." Ark praised Bat and Skull's hard work as he made them food.

  Once the Familiars' Health was restored, he said to Bat, "Bat, do you want to go against Dunphil again?"

  "What? Really?" Bat asked in excitement.

  Bat hadn't had a rematch with Dunphil after the two consecutive losses. Although they were busy with the quest, the real reason was that Ark had judged Bat's skill was still lacking. The one who'd be regretful if Bat was beaten up by Dunphil and force recalled was Ark.

  But this thinking had changed when he was alone for a moment.

  Without the water penalty Bat had become considerably stronger. With the current Bat, it might even win. No, its morale had risen because it had suddenly grown stronger, so this was the golden chance.

  'If by chance Bat loses, as long as I avoid Great Worms, Skull and myself is enough.'

  "Just don't forget all the training we've done. Be cool headed and composed. You know to pay attention when I say something, right? You can't do anything about losing because you're lacking skills, but if you lose without properly showing your skill, then I won't give you any more chances."

  "I understand. Master, I will do my best."

  Ark received the promise and summoned Dunphil.

  Dunphil, as always, talked in an incomparably arrogant tone.

  "What is it now? Didn't you give up yet?"

  "It'll be a bit different this time."

  "Hmph, even so Bat is still just a bat. On top of that, the mere likes of a bat of the Vampire lineage can't beat me, a noble of the Netherworld."

  Bat didn't even get mad at Dunphil's provocative words and just shot sharp glares at him.

  Ark nodded in satisfaction and said, "Good, Bat. Begin."

  "Prepare yourself!" Bat gave a battle cry and flew.

  Dunphil swung his fingernail as if it were ridiculous, but the situation was different from before. Bat charged around Dunphil's arm like a snake climbing a tree and struck a blow to the neck.

  "Ack! How-how can this be!" Confusion burst from Dunphil's mouth.

  He'd only seen the slow movements underwater, so he couldn't properly cope with Bat's movements that had become several times faster and floundered about.

  Seeing the enemy's confused appearance, Bat's fighting spirit greatly increased. While swooping down from above and rising up from below, he hammered Dunphil's chin.

  The chain technique it had learned from Ark!

  Bat showed a
completely different appearance from before. It was so good that there was no need for Ark's coaching.

  Every time the attacks connected, Dunphil stumbled.

  "You damn cur! This is price for harassing me all that time!"

  "Thi-this bastard....!"

  When his health fell to about 40%, Dunphil's body was suddenly enveloped by smoke. A big bat emerged from the spreading smoke and struck Bat.

  'Transformation!'

  Dunphil had judged that it would be difficult to keep up with Bat's speed in humanoid form and had transformed into a bat. It seemed that even though he was a minor Vampire, he could transform into a bat because he was a Vampire in name.

  Once Dunphil transformed, the fight became an aerial dogfight.

  As the two bats got complexly tangled, they attacked and took hits intensely. The battle was so fast, Ark couldn't tell which side was Dunphil without Eyes of the Cat.

  As the fight continued, it seemed like Bat was being pushed back a little. Their abilities were nearly the same, but Dunphil's transformation had bewildered Bat. In addition, Bat had no experience fighting airborne monsters.

  "Bat, there is no need to be confused. Think of underwater combat. For you who dodged the Jellyfish's tentacles, there's no reason you can't avoid Dunphil's attacks."

  Ark's advice had an effect.

  Bat hadn't fought with airborne monsters before. But marine monsters were able to move around naturally in water for the most part. Which meant that in the end, they were no different from airborne monsters. In addition, while fighting marine monsters, there was a water penalty in effect.

  No matter how strong Dunphil was, it was not more difficult than fighting marine monsters with the water penalty applied.

  Bat's attack pattern changed. Just like when he was swimming underwater, he spread his wings wide and glided; when he found an opening, he swooped down like a hawk. Control of attack speed, this was the fruit of what Ark had beaten into him.

  "Cheater, to interfere in another's fight!"

  "Hmph, you said it won't be a challenge no matter what. Have you changed your mind?"