Level: 43
HP : 3033/3033
MP: 547/547
XP : 85.51%
STR: 39
DEX: 29
CON: 45
INT: 20
WIS: 10
MEN: 27
Physical Attack: 287
Physical Defense: 634
Accuracy: 82
Critical: 52
Attack Speed: 413
Magic Attack: 85
Magic Defense: 413
Evasion: 67
Speed: 158
Casting Speed: 203
HP Regen. : 17.5/minute
MP Regen. : 3.9/minute
The difference in his attack and defense stats were the most notable changes, but I was sure the massive speed boost would be most beneficial during the raid. We had to be fast to deal with all three layers of the dungeon, and his increased agility—coupled with his stronger shield defense—would mean he’d probably be able to charge and kill without even stopping. At least, so I hoped.
The werewolf cast the same buffs on me, with the exception of the Enforce Shield boon that I obviously didn’t need. The feeling of being magically enhanced was thrilling. My legs felt ready to launch me forward and I could feel my whole body tensing in anticipation of action.
Name: Alexander MacFie
Race: Human
Class: Fighter
Level: 4
HP : 183/183
MP: 59/59
XP : 84.61%
STR: 40
DEX: 30
CON: 43
INT: 21
WIS: 11
MEN: 25
Physical Attack: 48
Physical Defense: 187
Accuracy: 38
Critical: 105
Attack Speed: 357
Magic Attack: 11
Magic Defense: 116
Evasion: 36
Speed: 159
Casting Speed: 213
HP Regen. : 3.8/minute
MP Regen. : 1.1/minute
Anxious to see this through, I watched the countdown for my buffs tick away while Leo received his. He didn’t receive any of the buffs related to physical attacks or shield use, but I saw three new icons that Rory and I hadn’t received.
Name: Unwavering Mind
Type: Buff
Level: 2
Effect: Reduces Casting Interruption Rate by 25%
Time Left: 19 minutes 59 seconds
Description : The mind of the recipient is fortified against attacks meant to break their concentration while casting spells.
Name: Fluid Casting
Type: Buff
Level: 2
Effect: Boosts Casting Speed by 23%
Time Left: 19 minutes 59 seconds
Description : The recipient’s vocal cords are hastened in such a way that they can fulfill the incantation requirements of spells faster.
Name: Expanding Consciousness
Type: Buff
Level: 2
Effect: Boosts Magic Skill Power by 5%, reduces Magic Skill Consumption by 10%
Time Left: 19 minutes 59 seconds
Description : The recipient’s mind is able to explore more efficient mental pathways that lead to the same result as their spells might have.
This guy had probably done this gig hundreds of times, seeing how he cast one spell after another, not wasting any time or mana on spells that wouldn’t be needed according to the receiver’s class.
“After today,” Louie said, just before it was his turn to be buffed, “we need to start XPing. I need to get access to these skills.”
“We will, buddy,” I said and scratched his ears while inspecting Leo’s stats.
Name: Leonardo DiFiore
Race: Elf/Human
Class: Mystic
Level: 19
HP : 379/379
MP: 413/413
XP : 10.92%
STR: 21
DEX: 24
CON: 25
INT: 37
WIS: 23
MEN: 40
Physical Attack: 35
Physical Defense: 153
Accuracy: 55
Critical: 49
Attack Speed: 338
Magic Attack: 51
Magic Defense: 173
Evasion: 48
Speed: 159
Casting Speed: 475
HP Regen. : 2.7/minute
MP Regen. : 2.5/minute
Leo’s Magic Attack value didn’t look significant, but having been on the receiving end of the Gale Blast spell from people who were lower level than him, I was pretty confident the power of the skill was somehow multiplied by the Magic Attack stat.
“Gods be with you,” the werewolf said and turned his back to our car as soon as he was done with Louie’s buffs.
“Arrivederci,” Leo said and the car accelerated away instantly as the window closed. “We should be there any time now.”
The hair on the sides of my head was freshly shaven, so I pulled the long hair on the top into a bun and tied it with a leather strap. I could afford zero distractions. I grabbed the hilts of my two swords that were resting in their scabbards on my sides and glanced at Louie to see how his stats had changed with the buffs.
Name: Louie Thunder
Race: Dog (Corgi)
Class: Mage
Level: 5
HP : 160/160
MP: 243/243
XP : 13.26%
STR: 22
DEX: 21
CON: 27
INT: 41
WIS: 20
MEN: 39
Physical Attack: 20
Physical Defense: 128
Accuracy: 39
Critical: 48
Attack Speed: 328
Magic Attack: 36
Magic Defense: 136
Evasion: 32
Speed: 154
Casting Speed: 409
HP Regen. : 2.4/minute
MP Regen. : 1.6/minute
His Magic Attack was quite a lot lower than Leo’s, but that wasn’t the most important point. His increased stats would mean faster and more powerful healing spells, but the MP boost he’d already gotten from his new equipment was more crucial, since it would enable him to cast even more times before running out of mana. And that was all he should do for the time being.
The car stopped abruptly and the door flung open. I still had more than nineteen minutes on my buffs’ countdown timers. The place we’d pulled up outside had no direct access from the front, so I assumed we’d be going in via the rather wide alley on its side. There was a truck was parked there, and as we approached Leo touched its hood.
“The engine’s cool,” he said.
“Get the tires,” Rory whispered, so I moved around one side of the truck and pierced them with my swords.
The truck’s rims were soon touching the ground and no one was any the wiser in the surrounding warehouse buildings. The four of us approached the large roll-up garage door and Rory brought down his hammer on the padlock that was keeping it closed.
“Why not the normal door?” I asked, pointing a few feet to our left to where a metal door was located.
“My hammer doesn’t work as well on doors, lad,” Rory said and pulled up the garage door with one hand.
We all entered together and were faced with a multitude of colored lights from all sides. Buzzing sounds of different frequencies echoed through the halls of the warehouse. The room was full of shelves crammed with boxes, but the walls were littered with neon signs of all kinds, from simple light sticks to the large neon plates used by bars. The place looked like a museum for neon light technology.
You have entered the Chroma Warehouse Dungeon.
This is a level 16 dungeon.
16
Battle hymn
“Did you guys
get the pop-up?” Louie asked and we all nodded.
“Yes. And they probably already know we’re here,” Rory said and cracked his neck from side to side. “Get ready, boys.”
As soon as the dwarf finished his sentence, five out of the six doors down the corridor ahead of us burst open, and a small hoard of spherical monsters rushed out. The first one to reach the charging Rory and his fierce war hammer was a disgusting yarn of flesh, making sickening sounds as it rolled forward.
Name: Flesh Fungus
Type: Magic Creature - Plant
Level: 12
Disposition : Aggressive
HP : 199/199
Physical Attack: 23
Magic Attack: 17
Speed: 100
Attack Range: Melee
XP : 428
Description : This species of carnivorous fungus is normally sustained by flies and other small insects. However, if a humanoid or an animal falls dead in its vicinity, this fungus will absorb the flesh and start replicating it for its own use, eventually becoming able to move and hunt by itself.
A loud splashing sound was followed by a dampened thud as Rory’s weapon hit the ground. Each of the monsters dropped dead with just one hit. They really didn’t stand a chance against him. Just as two more reached him, I circled around them and started to attack one that looked like it was preoccupied with the dwarf. My slashes weren’t enough to kill it outright, but I saw blood—or whatever this creature had in it—fall to the ground, the colorful lights around us reflecting in its dark surface.
The disgusting mushroom didn’t turn toward me. Instead, it seemed to absorb the corpse of a recently deceased ally and suddenly all of its wounds were healed. What’s more, it grew in size, and the strips of flesh pulsed even more quickly.
“Guys, can you—” My sentence was cut off as something yanked my ankle and brought me to the ground.
Another one of the monsters was directly behind me, its tendrils quickly wrapping themselves around my leg. As soon as it had a good grip on me, I felt my leg under immense pressure and suddenly wet. The sharp pain that followed hinted to me that the wetness probably wasn’t just some bodily fluid of the glorified mushroom, but rather a kind of acid. The fucker was trying to dissolve me little by little.
A gust of wind slightly ruffled my hair and immediately after it the pressure and tugging of my leg ceased and I was able to pull myself out of its grip. There was now a large spherical hole in the monster’s body, opened up by Leo’s Gale Blast spell.
I tried to stand and found it was much easier once Louie’s warm healing light enveloped my leg. Once I was up, I could see that Rory had already taken care of the magnified fungus and was moving toward the final two creatures.
“Let’s make sure the rooms are clear!” Leo called and ran toward the first open door on the left. I ran beside him, Louie next to me, and glanced into the room. The far side of the room was full of boxes but there were only a few signs hanging on the walls, illuminating the gruesome sight on the floor. The entirety of the room was littered with the corpses of animals in different stages of decay and the scent of death pushed us back.
“Clear,” I said and moved to the other side of the hallway, glancing at Rory to see him smashing one of the two monsters.
“Not clear at all,” Louie remarked. “This whole place stinks.”
The situation was the same in the next room. Feathers, fur, and blood all over the floor, but no sign of any monsters or our enemies. For the sake of expediency, we divided into two groups to check the rest of the rooms. Rory was alone on one side, having already slaughtered the monsters, and we were checking the other. Once we made sure the last room on our side was empty, Rory tried pulling open the only door that hadn’t burst open as soon as we entered the dungeon.
“Damn thing’s locked,” he said and before I was able to tell him that we didn’t need to waste our time here, he’d moved a couple of steps back and rushed at the door, shield first.
The wooden slab stood no chance against the muscular dwarf. The door completely shattered around the lock and what remained of it swung wide open on just its top hinge, since Rory had destroyed the bottom one. I took a peek at the room ahead as he stepping back. It looked as though it must have been a server room of some sort though it hadn’t been used for quite a while.
“Empty,” he said and moved toward the end of the corridor.
“How do we get to the next layer?” Louie asked and Rory pointed his sledgehammer toward a faint glimmering outline on the wall.
“Once we cross through this portal,” he explained, “we’ll appear back at the entrance.”
“We’ve got fourteen minutes left on our buffs,” Leo reminded us.
“I’m going in first,” Rory said. “Follow me after four seconds.”
“Why four—” I managed to say before the dwarf disappeared into the wall.
“So he can pull aggro,” Leo responded, and once he had counted to four on his fingers, he too jumped into the wall.
“Go on, buddy,” I said and followed right after Louie.
Moving through the portal was a bit disorienting. My body had expected to hit a wall, but I was suddenly standing in front of the corridor again. Since the trip was instantaneous, it only took me a moment to glance around me and absorb the information on the new monsters Rory was already fighting.
Name: Astral Jaguar Cub
Type: Magic Creature - Beast
Level: 14
Disposition : Aggressive
HP : 230/230
Physical Attack: 28
Magic Attack: 16
Speed: 100
Attack Range: Melee
XP : 490
Description : This beast is native to the Astral plane but can be found in almost all planes of existence. They usually settle down in ecosystems where they can be the apex predator, something which is not difficult due to their superior hunting skills and the fact that a fully grown Astral Jaguar can become larger than 600 lbs. Their greatest advantage is temporarily shifting to the Astral plane, making it seem like they can perform short-distance teleportation.
Is this some kind of fucking blink jaguar?
Rory, though not visibly hurt, seemed to be having quite a hard time dealing with the three cubs that had already attacked him. As soon as he struck at one of them, it would blink and reappear a couple of feet above him, slashing its claws at the dwarf’s face while the other two would rip at his legs and ass. If this is how the cubs hunted, it was no surprise a fully grown astral jaguar could easily become an apex predator.
“Ye little shitholes,” he cursed as he caught one of them in his fist, only to see it disappear before he could crush it.
I ran to assist him, not having a concrete plan in mind until a spiky ice crystal flew over me and pierced one of the jaguars that was biting Rory. The dwarf noticed and brought his hammer down with force on the creature that failed to teleport out of harm’s way. It looked like they weren’t able to use their blinking ability anymore after they were hit with one of these ice crystals. The shock of seeing one of their siblings killed in front of them brought the others to a feral state as they all growled and launched themselves at Rory anew.
By this time, I had already gotten close enough to strike at one of the beasts, so I did my best. I triggered my Mighty Slash skill and saw the beast’s HP bar drop by one fourth. The most logical next move would be to continue attacking while its back was still turned on me. But this was no ordinary fight.
I spun around and brought down my elbow with force at the level of my head. Just as I had expected, the beast tried to jump on me. The sudden hit on its muzzle was enough of a surprise for me to take advantage of. I thrust one of my swords forward and stabbed it, landing a critical hit.
Still, this was not enough to bring it down. What was enough, however, was Louie’s Gale Blast that landed on its back while Leo wounded another creature with one of his ice crystals. Rory used
the edge Leo’s skill gave him and ended the last one of the cubs.
“I hate astral beasts,” Rory said and headed to the first door, just as we had done on the previous layer.
“This wasn’t a random selection of beasts,” Leo added as he checked one of the rooms on our side. “These were put here to kill us, or at least delay us sufficiently.”
“Ye think they fled, elf?” Rory asked as he exited the first room.
“Either that or they’re preparing their defenses and are now waiting for us.”
The rooms on this floor were set out in an identical layout to those above, only this time they were clean and tidy. Rory practiced his shield-bashing skills on the server room which was locked in this layer as well. Just before he crossed the portal to the final layer, Louie healed him up to his maximum MP and he nodded at us, sweat beading on his tattooed head. He lunged in and I took four short breaths before heading in myself.
Immediately, I stumbled over Rory’s body and almost lost my footing. I turned around to look at him and saw that his eyes were open and his teeth clenched, but he wasn’t moving. I concentrated my eyes on a flashing icon next to his buffs.
Name: Stunned
Type: Debuff
Level: 7
Effect: Renders the target immobile for 15 seconds
Time Left: 11 seconds
Before I was able to hoist him up, an ice crystal stabbed into my shoulder. At the same time, I heard a yelp from Louie. I ran behind a stack of crates and saw him partially evading an arrow as he hid, much in the same way I had, but on the other side of the hallway.
“You’re out of range,” he shouted and I understood that he meant he wanted to heal me.
I was momentarily worried about him being away from my side until I noticed Leo’s blue robe in the shadows next to him. Louie was safe. I didn’t have to worry about him. Leo knew what to do. I made him promise.
Berserker: A LitRPG Urban Fantasy Adventure (Apocosmos Book 1) Page 26