Chapter 58: Fighting Back (part 1)

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Fighting Back (part 1)

Others led into completely different sections. Some doors opened into empty rooms.

Others opened into death. And traps were scattered throughout the maze.

Pressure plates.

Collapsing floors.

Hidden pits.

Falling stones.

Even walls that suddenly closed behind them.

The adventurers had entered expecting to explore a dungeon.

Instead, they had entered a maze that was constantly breaking their formation apart.

The groups that had entered together were gradually becoming smaller.

And then there were those who were truly unlucky.

One such group had been wandering for nearly an hour.

They had already fought several monsters and were exhausted.

"We got separated from the group... So, where are we?"

"I don’t know."

"We passed this room before."

"No, we didn’t."

The leader looked at the wall, there was a mark scratched into the stone.

His expression changed.

"We did."

Everyone became silent, they had been walking in circles.

Then they heard footsteps.

Slow.

Heavy.

Coming from the darkness ahead.

The adventurers immediately raised their weapons.

"Something’s coming."

A huge figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

The creature was far larger than any monster they had encountered so far.

Its footsteps caused the stone floor to tremble.

One adventurer’s face turned pale.

"Mini Boss..."

Nobody moved.

The creature suddenly roared, the sound shook the entire corridor.

"RUN!"

The adventurers turned and fled, the mini boss charged after them.

One adventurer wasn’t fast enough. A massive hand caught him from behind.

"Help me!"

The others looked back.

The creature slammed him into the stone wall. Blood splattered across the floor.

"Keep running!"

The leader screamed, but another adventurer tripped.

Before he could stand, the monster stepped down.

Meanwhile, Ragnar watched everything from his throne.

His expression was one of genuine satisfaction.

The adventurers were providing exactly what he needed.

They were fighting his monsters, they were triggering his traps.

And every time one of them died, another notification appeared.

[An intruder has been killed.]

[Soul Points +2.]

Ragnar’s eyes narrowed with excitement.

"Another one."

A moment later.

[Soul Points +3.]

"Another."

His smile slowly grew wider.

The number continued climbing.

[Soul Points: 17.]

Ragnar leaned forward.

"Not bad."

The battle continued.

[Soul Points: 19.]

[Soul Points: 21.]

[Soul Points: 24.]

Ragnar’s eyes gleamed.

However, the dungeon was far from being a one-sided massacre.

The adventurers had come prepared, and with thirty people divided into several groups, they were capable of causing serious damage to Ragnar’s forces.

Some of them were experienced enough to recognize the weaknesses of the dungeon monsters, while the mages among them could eliminate several weaker creatures at once. The dungeon was dangerous, but the monsters weren’t invincible. Every battle came with casualties on both sides.

In one corridor, a group of swordsmen had been surrounded by a pack of wolves. At first, the wolves had managed to catch them off guard, but once the adventurers recovered their formation, the situation quickly changed.

The shield bearer held the front while the swordsmen attacked from behind him, and the archer picked off wolves whenever they tried to retreat.

"Kill these bastards!"

The shield bearer roared as he blocked a wolf’s claws.

A swordsman immediately stepped forward and drove his blade into the creature’s side.

The sword pierced through the wolf’s ribs, and the creature let out a painful howl before collapsing onto the ground. Another wolf immediately lunged at the swordsman, but an arrow flew through the darkness and struck it directly in the eye. The beast crashed into the stone floor, twitching for several seconds before becoming still.

"One more!"

The archer quickly drew another arrow.

The shield bearer grinned despite the blood running down his arm.

"Keep shooting!"

The remaining wolves snarled and circled them, but they were no longer fighting a group of frightened adventurers. The humans had adapted to their movements, and the wolves were beginning to suffer heavy casualties.

One of the swordsmen suddenly stepped forward and activated his only skill.

"Power Strike!"

Mana surged through his arm before flowing into his sword. The blade became surrounded by a faint glow, and when he swung it, the strike carried considerably more force than an ordinary attack.

BOOM!

The sword smashed into the wolf’s skull.

The creature was thrown several meters away and crashed into the wall.

The swordsman breathed heavily.

"That was my skill."

The archer glanced at him.

"You only have one?"

"Of course. Skills are expensive."

He shook his aching arm.

"I spent almost everything I had getting that one."

That was the reality for most adventurers.

Skills weren’t something that every adventurer possessed in large numbers. Even basic skills could cost a considerable amount of money, and better skills were far beyond what ordinary adventurers could afford. Most low-level adventurers were lucky if they possessed one useful skill.

Still, even a single skill could make a difference between life and death.

"Finish them!"

The group attacked together. Within several minutes, the last wolf fell.

"Collect their materials. Their fangs and cores should be worth something."

They had survived.

Elsewhere, back to the graveyard.

The skeletons had initially overwhelmed them with numbers, but the adventurers had eventually discovered that destroying the bones wasn’t enough. They needed to burn them with fire, preventing them from reforming.

A mage raised her staff.

"Fireball!"

A sphere of blazing mana formed at the tip of the mage’s staff before shooting forward. It struck the center of the graveyard and exploded, sending flames across the surrounding skeletons. Several undead were engulfed instantly, their dry bones cracking as the heat consumed them.

"Fire works!"

The swordsman shouted.

"Keep burning them!"

The mage gritted her teeth. That was her only offensive skill, and she couldn’t use it endlessly. Mana was slow to recover, and every use left her increasingly exhausted. Still, she raised her staff again.

"Fireball!"

Another explosion tore through the skeletons.

The warriors immediately charged into the opening.

"Now!"

Their swords smashed into the burning undead, scattering bones across the floor. Unlike before, the skeletons did not rise again.

The adventurers finally understood the trick.

"They can’t regenerate if we burn the bones!"

"Then keep them away from us!"

The shield bearer planted himself in front of the group while the swordsmen attacked anything that approached. Behind them, the mage continued using her single skill whenever a large group of skeletons gathered.