Chapter 3.21

4TH MANA GATE

 

Akhetaten Dungeon Town

5th Lightday of the Full Moon

Logging back into Fantasy, Flea found Than’ro missing from their inn’s room. Going downstairs, he found the yellow man chatting with Baccobus’s group. The Gnome and his cat walked over and joined them. One of the team’s Dwarfs, Boldrit, was giving Than’ro pointers on how best to wield an ax.

 

“Good morning, everyone,” said Flea as he took a seat.

 

“Morning to you. Than’ro was telling us about your dungeon dive yesterday. Showed us his new scars courtesy of a Dynast Lord,” said Naexi the Elf.

 

“You got hurt. Than’ro? We had healing potions, bud,” said Flea.

 

“Not threaten life. Scar show Than’ro true warrior.”

 

“They’ll go away the next time you use a healing potion, big guy,” said Bob.

 

“Oh, ok, Than’ro guess.”

 

“You guys, going to try and finish the dungeon today?” asked Baccobus.

 

“I believe so. We only have a few days left before we need to go back through the World Dungeon Gate. What about you guys?”

 

“We’re heading out to the desert today with two other groups. There is a rare monster out there said to drop a valuable Skill Core,” said the Centaur.

 

“How does that work? I was told Skill Cores rarely drop as it is. Why spend all that time and effort for such a small chance?” asked Bob.

 

“Ah, I understand the gap in your knowledge. Creatures and monsters can grow stronger. Like you and I, monsters level up. They eat prey for both sustenance and Energy.  When they gain enough Energy, they can evolve. Each time they evolve, the chance of their Core becoming a Skill Core increases by a certain factor. The type of monster we’re hunting today almost always has a [Poison] Skill Core,” explained Baccobus.

 

“How do you decide who gets the core or split the profit?” asked Flea.

 

“The price is preset by one of the merchants who handle hunting parties such as this one. Before we head out on the hunt, every party member has to register with the hunting organizer. If anyone tries to get around this, they will be blacklisted by the merchant and made known to the other hunting parties to steer clear from them,” said the Centaur.

 

“I wish you and the others luck, then. When do you think you guys will be back from this hunt?”

 

“Two days at most. The rare was spotted not too far from town. How fast we finish will mainly depend on how well the team works with one another. In any case, I expect we’ll be back in time to say our farewells.”

 

The group of adventurers continued to chat till they were all finished with breakfast, then parted ways. The Gnome, cat, and Dengre headed back to the dungeon to try and complete it by the end of the day. The line to get inside the dungeon was even longer than it had been midday yesterday. It seemed most of the town’s adventurers preferred an early start as well. 

 

When it was their group's turn, they entered and found themselves in a curved hallway made out of the same sandstone as the day before. Flea immediately had them going down the left side and into a dead end. Backtracking the way they came, they never found the curved hallway again.

 

“Starting to get some serious under the mountain vibes here,” said Flea.

 

“We not in mountain,” said Than’ro.

 

“I know, buddy. Something like this happened to me before. Let’s just push forward and finish this level,” said Flea.

 

Even with Bob’s impressive mapping skills, the group took almost four hours to find the boss room and then kill the three fire beetles within. Choosing the prompt to head to the second floor, they found no chest awaiting them this time. 

 

The 2nd floor was pretty straightforward, and Bob led them to the exit in record time. The boss room held two water and a healing Dynast. The three were crushed quickly by the trio. At the end of the 3rd floor, they fought two pairs of earth and fire beetles. The Dynast Lord had decided not to spawn there this time. After clearing the room, they choose to head down to the 4th floor.

 

The group materialized inside a large underground cavern atop of a worn marble dais. At the center of the raised platform sat a chest containing a sack of another 50 Clear Cores. Going over to the edge and looking over, Flea could see the cavern was massive and seemed to go on into the darkness ahead of them.

 

Ready to begin the floor, the trio found the worn marble stairs at the back of the dais heading down. The stairs seemed to switch back and forth forever as they descended towards the bottom of the cavern. Reaching the bottom, a group of earth beetles emerged from the ground and shook their carapaces clean of the dirt. Than’ro raised his ax and charged the group, killing the first two with a single swing.

 

Bob gained some distance and began his attack by drilling arrows into the eyes of the two who remained. With them blinded, Than’ro made short work out of them. The cat and Dengre moved forward as Flea hung back to dig out the cores and recover anything that wasn’t crushed to dust. They’d sell the surviving materials to the town vendors.  In the case of these four monsters, other than the Core, there wasn’t much else the Gnome could salvage. However, Flea was happy that even with his incredible strength, the Dengre hadn't been able to destroy their Cores.

 

The 4th floor was truly massive. The group spent the better part of five hours exploring the depths of the cavern. After spending the first four hours exploring, Bob led them towards the center where he had guessed correctly to the location of the boss room. The composition of the beetles this time made for easy clearing as Than’ro killed the two fire Dynasts while Bob and Flea worked together to take down the two healers.

 

Entering the 5th floor, Flea was surprised to find a bag of seventy-five Clear Cores in the chest upon spawning in. Looking around, they found themselves in what could be described as an old crypt. Gone were the yellows and oranges of the sandstone. Now everything seemed grey and lifeless around them. 

 

After taking in the colorless surroundings, the Gnome looked over the two massive stone doors in front of them. Carved into them were three figures, all resembling the large Dynast Lord they had fought the day before.

 

“Something tells me we just got dealt a bad hand,” said Bob.

 

“I got that feeling as well. Let me level up before we open those doors,” said Flea.

 

“Than’ro hungry.”

 

The group sat down, and Flea handed out Titan Turtle Pies to everyone. While he ate, the Gnome crushed all the Cores they’d gathered.

 

 

Flea pulled up his status and immediately leveled his Dexterity and Intelligence twice, bringing both to level 25. The Gnome then leveled his Wisdom three times, raising it to 20. Seeing he was now level 20, Flea accepted the changes.

 

 

“Levels 10, 12, 15, and 19. It looks like Mana Gates are unlocked in a sequence. Two, three, and four, since level 10. Level 24 should unlock the next Mana Gate if I’m correct. Can you calculate how much Energy you need to reach level 20, Bob? Also, make sure to favor your Dexterity and Strength so you can try and use your new bow,” Flea said.

 

“I’ll need a total of 4485 Energy,” said Bob.

 

Flea transferred over the Energy Bob needed and looked back at his Status to see what else he could level. After a few quick calculations in his head, he leveled both his Strength and Constitution up to 20 and then transferred the remaining Energy over to Bob. Accepting the changes, he glanced at his Status one last time.

 

Closing his Status, he opened Bob’s quickly to see what his companion had changed.

 

 

“Alright, I’m not going to learn how to use the Manariken right away, but you should try and see if you can use your new bow now, Bob.”

 

Bob jumped up from where he had been sitting. The cat, visibly excited, removed the red-metal bow from his bag and pulled the string back with just a little bit of difficulty. Bob repeated this a few times to get a feel for the new weapon.

 

“I can definitely use it now, but I won’t be able to release arrows at the speed I did before. Hopefully, trading speed for power will make up for the change,” said Bob.

 

Bob removed an arrow and drew it back with his new bow, aiming for the far wall. Releasing the arrow, the group could hear the ‘snap’ of the bow’s string as the arrow was launched across the room. It hit the grey brick wall with a loud ‘crack.’ The sound echoed throughout the cavern as dust filled the air. When the dust settled, the group saw the brick had been split in two. A crack ran through the brick’s center and ended at a missing chunk in the corner where Bob’s arrow had impacted.

 

Flea let out a low whistle, “Now imagine once you can shoot arrows as fast as you used to,”

 

Bob grinned at the prospect as the group gathered before the two massive doors. Flea laid out what he thought was a pretty straightforward plan. Than’ro would open the massive doors and immediately run in to gain the aggro of anything inside. As the Dengre began to open the doors, Flea and Bob ran to each side of the doorway and waited for their big yellow friend to get things rolling. A few moments of silence passed, then Than’ro broke the quiet.

 

“Uh, nobody home.” 

 

Flea and Bob peered inside from the open doorway to see Than’ro standing inside a long hallway. The massive man looked confused as he continued to search for signs of any enemies. 

 

Walking up to the yellow man, Flea patted him on the knee and waived them all forward along the torch-lit corridor. Two minutes later, the group could see the hallway ending at what looked like a large opened arena.

 

As they drew closer to the end of the corridor, Flea could see the path ended at a set of stairs leading down at both sides. When they reached the end, Flea looked down into the massive open room and saw three of the large Dynast Lords standing still below them. 

 

With his raised Wisdom stat, he used [Identify] on the closest lord.

 

 

 

“My [Identify] confirms they are Dynast Lords. The one closest to us has fire and earth skills. The right one looks like it has blue and green markings, so I’m going to guess and say healing and water. I can’t make out the slightly larger one in the middle, but it looks like one of the markings might be yellow? Can you use your sight and take a look, Bob?”

 

Bob took a few steps forward and jumped back as he saw how far down it was. More slowly this time, the cat walked towards the edge just to the point where he could see the larger lord at the center.

 

“It’s silver and yellow, I believe. Might yellow be air? I’m unsure what silver could be, possible metal, or mental attacks?” said Bob

 

“Only one way we’re going to find out. Than’ro, take out the one on the right side as fast as possible. We don’t want it healing at all. Bob and I will take out the green and red beetle. Hopefully, we can finish them off before the unknown one attacks.”

 

The group began to walk down the stone stairs leading to the lords slowly. Bob made sure to keep his body pressed against the wall. The stairs themselves wrapped around the large circular room and ended on the other side of the three bosses. Than’ro quickly descended the staircase with his long legs, waiting impatiently for the others at the bottom. It amazed Flea how quiet the Dengre could be when he wanted to. The large yellow man looked down at Flea with a grin as the Gnome cleared the final step. 

 

“Yes, yes, you can go maul, Than’ro,” Flea said.

 

The Dengre burst forward towards the green and blue-colored beetle. Bob had already knocked an iron-tipped arrow and began firing them at the red and brown boss. Bob’s first arrow smashed through the side of the carapace and shattered it, creating a gaping hole where the projectile had landed. The screeching that followed the attack alerted the bright yellow and silver Dynast Lord at the massive arena’s center. 

 

Seconds later, hundreds of shiny silvery spikes formed above the center lord and launched high into the air. The metal spikes then arched out in a massive circle around the group and landed at the edge of the room, creating a large circle. A moment later, the group could hear a hum beginning to grow around the room.

 

Without warning, one of the bright yellow patches on the center lord’s carapace began to glow, and then a lightning bolt flew out from the patch, heading towards the circle of spikes. The bolt hit the closest silver spike and began to arch to the next two closest to it. The streak of lightning continued to connect with the next closest spike till, in moments, the group was trapped inside a massive electric fence.

 

“Don’t stand between the fence and any spots on the lord's back that began to glow!” shouted Flea.