JUST WHAT'S GOING ON!?!?!
Oh, I get it! These two T-Rexes must be the super-evolution of the raptors. And there are two of them?! And tons of the regular raptors as well?! There is no reason for them to be... no, wait. Maybe there is.
Two super-dinos are fighting against each other, while the lesser dinos are spectating. Isn't this similar to those fights that determine the alpha-male of a herd?
That does not sound so stupid. The two T-rex dinos are different in the number of scars and old wounds; one of them looks like it came back from some world war, while the other one looks brand new.
Maybe the new-looking dino has just evolved and tries to gain command of the herd from the current head?
Hm-hm-hm. Aren't I the master detective. Hey, System Announcer, shouldn't I get a title or something for... -that! Aw crap! A boulder is flying towards here!
*CRASH!*
Wh-whew. That was
*Crack*
*Splatt*
Clo-hew!
---
THAT HURT!!
One of those damn dinos sent a boulder to the tunnel opening where I was standing. The boulder flew over me since I tried to lay as flat as possible, but when it crashed further down the passage, the shock knocked off some rocks from the ceiling, right above me. You can imagine yourself what happened after that. Did that do anything to my HP?
| HP: 8/22 | MP: 34/34 | SP: 28/30 |
NOOOOO! My HP! That one rock took more than half of my HP!
D-damn ish all. Why did the first real damage I've taken in this world, have to be from a rock, that was blasted from some others fight. M-my pride is... *sniff*.
Hey, you stinking dinos! Go back to the Jurassic era or wherever you guys came from this instant! Not that you can hear me, in fact, please don't hear me. Just venting for my self.
The rock landed on me while I was under my camouflage cloak, so if any dinos looked after the boulder, they would not see any white dough-ish things at least. In other words, I'm safe and not on any dinos radar at the moment. I guess I should try sometimes later. With both dinos that crazy powerful, then it will not take long before a winner... is... AAAAHH!
The tunnel! The tunnel is blocked! How?! Why?! The boulder?! The boulder that was sent flying is blocking the tunnel! I know the entrance of the tunnel is wider than the tunnel itself, but that doesn't mean you have to block the whole thing, you damn rock-head!
This is bad. Like, really bad! I'm stuck between a rock and ferocious dinos. Is there another way out? Another way, another way, there!
On the other side of the area, there is another tunnel at the same height level. If I'm able to get to there, I'll be able to escape the river sans bridge area without the raptors noticing me.
But, almost all the bridges are taken down now. Even the bridge connecting this tunnel is a goner. In theory, at least, I should be able to use my threads to swing myself across the wreckage of the bridges to the escape tunnel. Practical speaking, not so sure.
Is there any need to use that tunnel? I could just wait till the super-dinos are finished with
*Swish*
*CRASH!*
their... fight... why is there a crater in the wall beside the tunnel entrance?
Oh, the boulder sent by the dinos had so much force in it that it was pulverized when it crashed into the wall. And took a part of the wall with it. I see I see. Wait for me, escape tunnel!
---
*swish* *bump*
Okay, I've managed to get to a pillar that's the remains of a bridge. I had to leave my camouflage cloak behind, but I can make a new one later.
*swish* *bump*
Good thing that I could lift myself with [Thread Control]. Just attach a thread to the place you want to go to, then use some MP for the skill and you have arrived.
Okay onward to the next point.
*Crumble*
Gya! It's crumbling! The pillar's crumbling! Next point, please!
*swish* * bump*
Phew, that was close. Did the raptors notice of me because of that? ...Don't look like it. They are too busy with the dino-battle to take notice of the wreckage collapsing. That's good news. Then they would not be too cautious for intruders. Well, with something like those two rumblings around, what kind of idiot would want to come closer. Oh, that's me.
Back to reality, you ditsy demon! Concentrate on the current situation!
|
SYSTEM MESSAGE: Skill [Concentration] has reached LV20. 0.2 Skill Point(s) obtained. |
Guess that's enough for now.
Okay, onward to the next pillar. Then it's just a jump and a skip, then I'm in the escape tunnel. Then, here we
"ROAAARRR!" - ???
Gwah! What is it this time?! It's the third time I've been interrupted just today!
The older scared dino is biting the younger one's neck. That's one heck of a throat hold. The younger dino is trying to escape by going backward, but the older one is holding on, no, he's pushing the younger one... straight this way! I've gotta get moving! Those two are gonna break the pillar if they crashing into it!
Here they come! Quick, to the next pill-
*CRASH!!*
-ar, and fourth time this day!! Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap! They crushed the pillar I was standing on! If I land on the floor now, I'm gonna be their victory meal! Thread, thread, SOMETHING!!
*Grab*
Huh? My 'arm', it became a real tentacle and grabbed the next pillar.
|
SYSTEM MESSAGE: Skill [Shape Change] has reached LV10. 0.2 Skill Point(s) obtained. |
Oh yeah, guess I never used this skill to its full potential. Better late than to never. Now, get me up on that pillar!!
---
*Wheeze* *Wheeze*
I-I'm glad th-that [Shape C-Change] was proving to be even more useful than I thought, but damn it's draining my stamina worse than a video game competition does with electricity.
Even so, I survived. I'm currently at the next pillar after the one that just collapsed, trying to catch my breath, despite not knowing if I have lungs or not. And under me right now is the old dino...
*Crunch* *chew* *gulp*
eating the younger one. Gweeh. That's a too messy way of eating old-timer. The surrounding raptors have turned silent, as if in disgust over their ruler's conduct. Even I, who eat any kind of monsters I can get my tentacles on, agree with them, and they are a kind of monster that works in cooperation with each other. No doubt that they are disgusted by the boss-dino.
| Name: | Nameless | Sub-Boss of [The Water-Knot of Glavras] | |
| Race: | Glavras Rexus | Gender: Male | |
| Level: | 37 | |
| Skills: | 7 | |
| HP: 325/651 | MP: 111/200 | SP: 326/602 |
| STR: 912 | VIT: 881 | MAG: 142 |
| RES: 140 | SPD: 90 | DEX: 88 |
| INT: 75 | LUC: 93 | |
IIIK! I appraised him out of habit! Now he's... not gonna notice me? That's good, since [Appraisal] seems to attract the target attention, at least, that what's happened when the Adventurers tried to appraise me. Not that it has happened when I do it for some reason.
Still, what's up with this guy's status? It's too broken! STR at 900, isn't that a little strange? VIT is also high, but every other stats except the life stats doesn't even breach the 150-line.
[Appraisal] did say that this guy was a 'sub-boss' or whatever. Guess you need to be that strong to be called a boss, sub or not. Or maybe this guy is just min/maxing it big time?
Anyway, let's ponder about that later. Time to get to safety!
---
There, we, go!
Whew. If I knew that this would happen, I would have taken a [Climbing] skill or something similar and get [Cutting Thread] later on. Even so, I managed to get past the dino-rumble. Maybe I have a talent in the sneaking-business?
That huge dino, Glavras Rexus was it? He and the raptors are leaving the river area now that the fight is over. The raptors are looking a little downhearted though.
There is one big gain out of this mess. The extra skill points are well and good, but I'm talking about the status of that sub-boss. I still have the appraisal result open, so now I'm able to leisurely examine that monster's skill set. A monster amongst monsters needs to have some good skills that I can aim for. Before that, let's check out exactly what kind of dino this guy is.
| [Appraisal] Result: | |
| Name: | Glavras Rexus |
| Rank: | C+ |
| Type: | Dinosaur (Monster) |
| Attribute: | Water |
| Description: |
The evolved form of the Glavras Slipraus, the Glavras Rexus. Like it's previous race the Glavras Rexus is unique to the dungeon [The Water-Knot of Glavras]. When evolved, this monster will kill any of its partners in cold blood, for then to try to take control over the herd. If another Glavras Rexus is leading the herd already, or another Glavras Rexus is born, the two will fight to the death over the control of the herd. Due to evolution, the skills [Cooperation] and [Running] are lost, and instead, it gains the skills [Tyrant] and [STR Reinforcement]. It also loses the natural speed it had as a Glavras Slipraus. In exchange, it gains enormous power and vitality, being able to endure almost any attacks while crushing its foes with its heavy jaws. |
Hii! This guy is worse than I thought. Killing its partners, doesn't that mean the two remaining members of the trio that it was a member of when it was a raptor? And it killed them in cold blood, that's too scary! No compassion for its own race at all.
And it's possible to lose skills through evolution? I guess I should be more careful when evolving. Speaking of evolving, hasn't [Appraisal] become more detailed, or is it just me?
| SKILL LIST | |
| Ability Skills: | [MP Reinforcement (Small) LV.9] UP3 |
| Attack Skills: | [Poison Bite LV.9] UP1 |
| Active Skills: | [Stealth LV.6] UP2 [Thread Control LV.9] UP3 [Cutting Thread LV.2] |
| Passive Skills: | [Hidden Strike LV.5] UP1 [Throw LV.13] UP4 [Concentration LV.21] UP2 [Language Adaption] |
| Resistance Skills: | [Poison Resistance LV.10] [Heretic Immunity] |
| Perception Skills: | [Magic Sense LV.10] UP1 [Appraisal LV.7] UP1 |
| Racial Skills | [Spider Thread LV.17] UP5 [Albino] [Demonic Storage LV2] [Shape Change LV13] UP8 |
It leveled up. Guess just the information amount of what I already could appraise went up, therefore not giving me a System Message about it. But when I think about it... nah. It didn't give me more than before. The range of the skill increased at least.
[MP Reinforcement (Small)] went up as well. No surprise there, since I burned away my MP with [Thread Control] when I was climbing the wreckage. [Thread Control] went up some levels as well. Almost enough for some more skill points already.
[Concentration] and [Shape Change] has already done that. [Shape Change] was a surprise, since last time I checked, it was only on LV5. 8 levels in one climb, that's great. Must be since I used that tentacle transformation despite how much it drained my MP and SP.
The biggest surprise is [Stealth]. It is my most stubborn skill to gain proficiency with, and now it leveled up twice.
Guess this dino-mess was good for me, skill-wise, but it's gonna be better. Let's check the boss dino's skills.
| SKILL LIST | |
| Ability Skills: | [STR Reinforcement LV.44] |
| Attack Skills: | [Heavy Bite LV.50] |
| Active Skills: | [Massive Force LV.39] |
| Resistance Skills: | [Water Resistance LV.44] |
| Leadership Skills: | [Tyrant LV.50] |
| Racial Skills: | [Pure Water Dependency LV.33] |
| Elements: | [Greater Water Element LV.12] |
... not just it's stats, even it's skills have high numbers.
[STR Reinforcement] gives it a boost to it's STR stats, 10 x the skill level to be precise. Even without this skill, it's STR would be at almost 500. Too broken, way too broken.
[Heavy Bite] is similar to [Poison Bite], except that it does not add an attribute to the bite, but increases the damage. Like it would need that anyway. The skill also strengthens the skill-owners jaws as a side-effect.
[Massive Force] uses MP and/or SP, depending on the user's choice, to strengthen it's STR and VIT even more. Come on...
[Tyrant] is a leadership skill that affects the skill-users subordinates with the [Fear]-status, and increasing the user's abilities as a commander.
[Water Resistance] is the same as [Poison Resistance], just with water. [Greater Water Element] is a super-evolved version of the [Lesser Water Element] skill. I bet my best web on that the dino has evolved that skill from [Water Element] some while ago. That would explain why this skill has a lower level than the other ones.
To wrap things up, there is [Pure Water Dependency], but this guy does not have it at a high enough level for me to even think about winning with poison. Heck, even if I could win, I would not be able to come close enough to him to be able to bite him. It would end in one tail slam.
And this guy is supposed to be a rank C+? Just how strong is a rank A then? By the way, I re-appraised my species again and learned that in addition to not having any attributes, my rank is a lousy G-. Not even an F! Damn it all...
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makes me think this dungeon is one of the worst enemies for humans, because humans way of fighting is information and they will forget everything once they leave.
That's the point. In fact, that place's stealth functions are the worst in the whole Terra Sol. 'Worst', as for those who wants to conquer it
@Greydra true it's almost impossible to beat it, unless you've some of those abnormal people that wander in, it would even be better if the dungeon had more elements further down, guess this dungeon is made by a god or a reincarnated individual.
@skiterz Neither. In fact,
it's something much worse, or, something that became something much worse, precisely because they own the dungeon.
He should get all of th enchancement skills to inprove all of this stats. The skills will level up on their own in time, so its a good long term investment...
This is a pretty great story, with a light style and it flows really well. I just have a small remark author, please pay attention to its/it’s
Ok. Now I see why the grey demons are in the bottom of the food-chain.
Which makes me question about that party that came along.. Are they F rank adventurers? It's the only thing that makes sense! 
Anyways, thanks for the chapter!
Adventure-ranks are decided by the amount of quests completed, not their own strength. 'The Traveling Explorers' have done many quests, including exploring several low-level dungeons, therefor their adventure-rank would be at D. But the water-knot is a high-rank dungeon that even A-rank adventures would have problems with, due to both the difficulty in finding the dungeon, surviving the monster assults and enduring the terrain effect.
The ranks in appraisal are also just showing the creatures potential at birth. If one trains enough and uses their brain, even G-ranks can topple a rank E. The Glavras Bunkkurtle, the turtle snake, is a rank E, and the MC managed to take that one down. This will be proven again in the next chapter, that a lower rank can take out a higher rank.
It isn't what kind of strength one have, it is how you use it.
@Greydra You have no idea how much I appreciate the way you are doing the world building and explaining how things function within the world. ☺️