I woke up in the middle of a rainforest. Huge dense trees blocked the sky above me, only allowing entry to a few rays of sunlight to illuminate the damp forest floor. My body was aching everywhere from the high fall, though luckily it looks like I didn't break anything. I slowly stood up to check my surroundings. Deus was nowhere in sight. Neither were the two beastmen.
‘Hey, Deus. Where are you?’ I called out to him telepathically but there was no response. I tried using the tattoo on my finger to summon him, but there was still no connection. This was worrying. Let's just hope nothing bad happened to him.
I looked around me.
'Huh!' I sighed. Who was I to worry about him. I was in a tropical forest, and my sword was nowhere in sight. Even if this wasn't a fantasy world, I knew how dangerous it was to be in a jungle, weapon less.
‘Snap’ The sound of a twig snapping came from behind me. Ever since I had started training my Perception, my senses had heightened a lot, letting me hear sounds from quite far away. I could tell whatever the sound was, it was approaching towards me quite quickly.
Immediately, I raised my hands in its direction, as a means of self-defence. I summoned Earth mana to create a barrier in front of me.
Just at that moment, a creature lunged at me from behind the trees. Its sharp teeth bounced back but the shield wasn’t completed, and a large claw scratched my arm. I pushed the monster away, and it screeched at me.
As I observed my attacker, I noticed it had the features of a dinosaur, with reptile-green skin and was about 6 feet long.
‘Ding’ A notification screen popped up in front of me.
| JURASSIC PARK Rank: C A Hidden Dungeon connected to the C Rank Dungeon ‘Snow Forest’ |
Ignoring the Dungeon notification in front of me, I just stared at the specimen in fear and wonder. Dinosaurs were a species that had long gone extinct in my previous world. And even without the enhancements of mana, they were still concluded to be one of the most savage predators of our world. If they had been turned into monsters in this world, just how ferocious are they going to be?
“Screek” A scream brought me out of my admiration. In front of me were similar monsters snarling their fangs in my direction. Looks like the dinosaur brought its entire pack with him. There were now a total of five dinos getting ready to attack me.
‘Appraisal.’
| Name: Velociraptor Rank: D+ Strength 4 Stamina 4.9 Agility 5.3 Perception 5.6This monster is known for its speed and strong teeth and talons, powerful enough to crush rocks. Weakness: Attacking the back of its knees can immobilise it. |
Knowing about the weakness was useless in this case. It would be too difficult for me to hit the back of its knees with so many of them attacking me.
So I decided to take the easy way out. I began running in the opposite direction and began to climb up the nearest tree. The velociraptors snarled below me. Unfortunately the monsters had strong leg muscles and two of them began to climb up after me. Taking advantage of my light weight and superior Agility, I quickly reached the top branch.
I took out a Monster Repellent Potion out of my ring and threw it at my two pursuers. As soon as the repulsing scent hit them, the two screeched in surprise, before tumbling down. I stared down at them, as the five monsters were desperately trying to leave the repugnant area.
Hopefully, they won't be in the area when the effect wears off.
I checked my surroundings, as I perched on the branch. The structure of this Dungeon was completely different from the one I was previously in.
‘Appraisal Map.’
I activated my skill, forming a map of the new Dungeon in front of me.
My head was beginning to throb.
Looks like using the Map skill consecutively in a day was too much for me. I could feel my brain overloading with the information collected by the Appraisal skill.
The sun was already setting in the distance. Any survival documentary I had ever watched told me not to travel in a forest in the dark. So I decided to stop exploring for the time being.
In the distance I could see giant prehistoric birds returning back to their nests. I would have love to stay with them on the trees, but seeing that they were big enough to down me in a single bite, I decided not to be their Goldilocks, and got down.
I checked on the map and found a small but safe location. I followed the directions and reached a small cave, just deep enough to provide cover against the weather. There were a few wild animals nearby too but since they weren’t monsters they weren’t any threat to me.
I took out my camping gear and after a meal of canned food, I turned in for the night. The tent I had brought with me was equipped with an alarm, which alerted the occupant whenever a monster above a particular Rank appeared in the vicinity.
Since I knew I was going to be alone, this was my next best option.
As Ray tossed inside his tent, a few dozen kilometres away, two Beastmen were exploring the forest. Since the two of them had spent their childhood in the wild and mystical greenwoods of the Fae Forests, this Dungeon was like a walk in the park for them.
“So, can I ask why we have this thing accompanying us?” Max asked his partner, waving the transparent-white silk cocoon in his hand. Inside it, a red falcon was sleeping peacefully, almost comatose.
“Because we need to find its owner so that we can break their bond and get it for ourselves.” Nyra replied. "And find how valuable that human is."
They had already wasted days trying to track the Spirit Egg in this Dungeon. But even with her superior Perception, they still hadn’t found a single boss monster yet. Those monsters were far too sensitive to the Beastmen’s superior auras and had already gone deep into hiding.
Yet that human was able to find one of their hiding locations as soon as he stepped foot in the Dungeon.
She had never expected the Boss Monsters to be in a connecting Dungeon.
Nyra was curious as to what other hidden cards this human had under his sleeve. And if his powers came from the Spirit they had in their captivity, then she was gonna it for herself, even if she had to kill the original owner to make it hers.
Beside her, Max put up his guard. He had been friends with Nyra since the moment they were born and he knew from experience whenever Nyra was thinking so hard about someone, it usually didn’t end well. For the other person, that is.
“Screech.”
A dozen of Velociraptors herded around them.
Hearing their annoying scream, Nyra snapped out of her thoughts and gave them a single lazy glance before ignoring them again.
In the next instant, all the monsters were lying on the ground, their heads separated from their torsos. Blood-dyed petals were scattered around them. Or at least that’s what the average person would have seen.
But Max saw every second of it.
In that single instant, Nyra bloomed roses on her palms and blew their petals towards the monsters. The petals may look harmless but every single one of them was enchanted to be as sharp as a razor.
This was Nyra’s S Rank Skill Flower Garden, that had helped her to be deemed as one of the strongest Beastmen in history. Nothing less would have been expected from the Princess of the Beastmen tribes.
“Nyra, how are we going to find this Spirit’s owner? I doubt walking randomly like this is gonna help us in any way.”
“On the contrary, this is going to help us. We are not trying to find the owner. We are waiting for him to come find us. That cocoon I made blocks any contact between the Spirit and its owner, so the only way he can find us now would be to use those unique Skills of his.”
“And what if he the Skill belongs to the Spirit?”
“Then I guess he will die. The monsters in this Dungeon are too dangerous for him to fight alone. And when that happens, then the Spirit’s will belong to us.”
Well, Max didn’t mind this development. All he cared about was getting out of this weak Dungeon and going back to training with his pals in the Fae Forest, and if the life of a puny human was what it took for him to complete his mission, then it was fine by him.
Author's Note:
My apologies for the short chapter. I will try to make up for it next time.
I woke up in the middle of a rainforest. Huge dense trees blocked the sky above me, only allowing entry to a few rays of sunlight to illuminate the damp forest floor. My body was aching everywhere from the high fall, though luckily it looks like I didn't break anything. I slowly stood up to check my surroundings. Deus was nowhere in sight. Neither were the two beastmen.
‘Hey, Deus. Where are you?’ I called out to him telepathically but there was no response. I tried using the tattoo on my finger to summon him, but there was still no connection. This was worrying. Let's just hope nothing bad happened to him.
I looked around me.
'Huh!' I sighed. Who was I to worry about him. I was in a tropical forest, and my sword was nowhere in sight. Even if this wasn't a fantasy world, I knew how dangerous it was to be in a jungle, weapon less.
‘Snap’ The sound of a twig snapping came from behind me. Ever since I had started training my Perception, my senses had heightened a lot, letting me hear sounds from quite far away. I could tell whatever the sound was, it was approaching towards me quite quickly.
Immediately, I raised my hands in its direction, as a means of self-defence. I summoned Earth mana to create a barrier in front of me.
Just at that moment, a creature lunged at me from behind the trees. Its sharp teeth bounced back but the shield wasn’t completed, and a large claw scratched my arm. I pushed the monster away, and it screeched at me.
As I observed my attacker, I noticed it had the features of a dinosaur, with reptile-green skin and was about 6 feet long.
‘Ding’ A notification screen popped up in front of me.
| JURASSIC PARK Rank: C A Hidden Dungeon connected to the C Rank Dungeon ‘Snow Forest’ |
Ignoring the Dungeon notification in front of me, I just stared at the specimen in fear and wonder. Dinosaurs were a species that had long gone extinct in my previous world. And even without the enhancements of mana, they were still concluded to be one of the most savage predators of our world. If they had been turned into monsters in this world, just how ferocious are they going to be?
“Screek” A scream brought me out of my admiration. In front of me were similar monsters snarling their fangs in my direction. Looks like the dinosaur brought its entire pack with him. There were now a total of five dinos getting ready to attack me.
‘Appraisal.’
| Name: Velociraptor Rank: D+ Strength 4 Stamina 4.9 Agility 5.3 Perception 5.6This monster is known for its speed and strong teeth and talons, powerful enough to crush rocks. Weakness: Attacking the back of its knees can immobilise it. |
Knowing about the weakness was useless in this case. It would be too difficult for me to hit the back of its knees with so many of them attacking me.
So I decided to take the easy way out. I began running in the opposite direction and began to climb up the nearest tree. The velociraptors snarled below me. Unfortunately the monsters had strong leg muscles and two of them began to climb up after me. Taking advantage of my light weight and superior Agility, I quickly reached the top branch.
I took out a Monster Repellent Potion out of my ring and threw it at my two pursuers. As soon as the repulsing scent hit them, the two screeched in surprise, before tumbling down. I stared down at them, as the five monsters were desperately trying to leave the repugnant area.
Hopefully, they won't be in the area when the effect wears off.
I checked my surroundings, as I perched on the branch. The structure of this Dungeon was completely different from the one I was previously in.
‘Appraisal Map.’
I activated my skill, forming a map of the new Dungeon in front of me.
My head was beginning to throb.
Looks like using the Map skill consecutively in a day was too much for me. I could feel my brain overloading with the information collected by the Appraisal skill.
The sun was already setting in the distance. Any survival documentary I had ever watched told me not to travel in a forest in the dark. So I decided to stop exploring for the time being.
In the distance I could see giant prehistoric birds returning back to their nests. I would have love to stay with them on the trees, but seeing that they were big enough to down me in a single bite, I decided not to be their Goldilocks, and got down.
I checked on the map and found a small but safe location. I followed the directions and reached a small cave, just deep enough to provide cover against the weather. There were a few wild animals nearby too but since they weren’t monsters they weren’t any threat to me.
I took out my camping gear and after a meal of canned food, I turned in for the night. The tent I had brought with me was equipped with an alarm, which alerted the occupant whenever a monster above a particular Rank appeared in the vicinity.
Since I knew I was going to be alone, this was my next best option.
As Ray tossed inside his tent, a few dozen kilometres away, two Beastmen were exploring the forest. Since the two of them had spent their childhood in the wild and mystical greenwoods of the Fae Forests, this Dungeon was like a walk in the park for them.
“So, can I ask why we have this thing accompanying us?” Max asked his partner, waving the transparent-white silk cocoon in his hand. Inside it, a red falcon was sleeping peacefully, almost comatose.
“Because we need to find its owner so that we can break their bond and get it for ourselves.” Nyra replied. "And find how valuable that human is."
They had already wasted days trying to track the Spirit Egg in this Dungeon. But even with her superior Perception, they still hadn’t found a single boss monster yet. Those monsters were far too sensitive to the Beastmen’s superior auras and had already gone deep into hiding.
Yet that human was able to find one of their hiding locations as soon as he stepped foot in the Dungeon.
She had never expected the Boss Monsters to be in a connecting Dungeon.
Nyra was curious as to what other hidden cards this human had under his sleeve. And if his powers came from the Spirit they had in their captivity, then she was gonna it for herself, even if she had to kill the original owner to make it hers.
Beside her, Max put up his guard. He had been friends with Nyra since the moment they were born and he knew from experience whenever Nyra was thinking so hard about someone, it usually didn’t end well. For the other person, that is.
“Screech.”
A dozen of Velociraptors herded around them.
Hearing their annoying scream, Nyra snapped out of her thoughts and gave them a single lazy glance before ignoring them again.
In the next instant, all the monsters were lying on the ground, their heads separated from their torsos. Blood-dyed petals were scattered around them. Or at least that’s what the average person would have seen.
But Max saw every second of it.
In that single instant, Nyra bloomed roses on her palms and blew their petals towards the monsters. The petals may look harmless but every single one of them was enchanted to be as sharp as a razor.
This was Nyra’s S Rank Skill Flower Garden, that had helped her to be deemed as one of the strongest Beastmen in history. Nothing less would have been expected from the Princess of the Beastmen tribes.
“Nyra, how are we going to find this Spirit’s owner? I doubt walking randomly like this is gonna help us in any way.”
“On the contrary, this is going to help us. We are not trying to find the owner. We are waiting for him to come find us. That cocoon I made blocks any contact between the Spirit and its owner, so the only way he can find us now would be to use those unique Skills of his.”
“And what if he the Skill belongs to the Spirit?”
“Then I guess he will die. The monsters in this Dungeon are too dangerous for him to fight alone. And when that happens, then the Spirit’s will belong to us.”
Well, Max didn’t mind this development. All he cared about was getting out of this weak Dungeon and going back to training with his pals in the Fae Forest, and if the life of a puny human was what it took for him to complete his mission, then it was fine by him.
Author's Note:
My apologies for the short chapter. I will try to make up for it next time.
