Chapter 289 - Another Dungeon Down (Patreon)

Now that the brood mother was dead, Reivyn had time to actually pay attention to the boss room. There wasn’t anything significant in the room itself, now that the beast was dead and the eggs destroyed. There was no chest containing a reward or anything like some other Dungeons would provide, but this was a resource Dungeon.

Reivyn looked to the walls on the far side and saw sparkly veins of metal protruding in uneven lumps. It looked like the place had been abandoned in the middle of excavation. They hadn’t journeyed into the cave in the real world, but Reivyn would bet anything that it no longer looked like this, just like how there was no impediment of corrosive ooze-water preventing people from descending further into the depths.

Reivyn wasn’t educated on the nuances of the different metals, and he only really knew about the ingredients for Bloodline promotion because that’s what they were specifically looking for. He did know that there were mundane metals like silver and gold still around in the higher-Tier Regions, but they would be infused with the higher-Tier Mana density like everything else.

One issue Reivyn had pondered over the years was the lack of the market getting flooded with an overabundance of resources collected from resource Dungeons. He had looked into it a little bit and had some surface knowledge, but economics wasn’t his forte.

The gist of it was that there were different non-combatant Classes and professions that used up resources as ingredients, including things one would not usually associate with consumables like hard metals. Alchemists and Runic Scholars could use metals in their profession, and they would dissolve or burn away just like organic material.

Garoq, Reivyn’s home Tier 1 Region, was part of a larger Tier 4 Empire just like every other Tier 1 Region he knew about. Reivyn found out through his research that the vast majority of the metals mined out of the resource Dungeon they found near Magron were shipped up to the higher Tier Regions where they would be distributed across multiple Regions where the Classers were advanced enough to take advantage of the resources for their professions.

It wasn’t directly minted into currency or turned into products in Magron or the other cities in the Tier 1 Region, though it did increase the prosperity of the city and Region as a whole through trade.

Similar metals from a Tier 5 Region would definitely be more potent, though they would also require higher Levels of Skill to use properly. That wasn’t to say there weren’t unique metals to each Tier of Region, but Reivyn wasn’t caught up on them. If he wanted to know, he would have to ask his sisters who made a study of the subject.

“These metals would be a great boost to Kailey and Riley,” Reivyn said. “I say we save a portion for each of them to take back. Even if they’re not Skilled enough yet to properly work these materials, it makes sense to stock up on some for them. It doesn’t make any sense to not take any back when we have the opportunity only for them to hit a wall later and need these metals. It’s not like they’ll lose their effectiveness if we store them for later use.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Refix nodded his head. “As a Party, we each have a right to a fraction of what we gather. Your mother and I had planned on using some of ours to give to your sisters, but you’re more than welcome to add your own.”

“We’re happy to contribute, too,” Teilon said. Kimberly, Kefira, and Serilla each nodded along. “We’ll just add a fraction for the twins. There’s seven of us, nine with the twins, so we’ll just say 10% each set aside for them?”

“That’s generous of you,” Ameliyn said with a smile. “Let’s do that. Thank you.”

“It’s not a problem,” Kefira said. “And it’s not like helping them isn’t helping ourselves in the long run, anyway. I know they’re more inclined to the artistic nature of crafting, but they’ve shown interest in the more utility side as well. We’re all going to have to upgrade our gear before we can move on safely to a Tier 6 Region one day, and who better to craft that gear than Kailey and Riley?”

“The real question is: Does anyone have the Mining Skill?” Refix asked. Reivyn, Teilon, and Kimberly raised their hands.

“We got it way back when we were conscripts and then later Adventurers running the resource Dungeon near Magron,” Reivyn said. “My Skill Level is only Level 22, though.”

“Mine is thirteen,” Teilon said.

“Eleven,” Kimberly added.

“That’s not nearly high enough for effective mining,” Refix said. “That being said, it’s all we got. We’ll just have to deal with it.”

Reivyn, Teilon, and Kimberly pulled out some pickaxes they had stored away from forever ago in their storage bags. They weren’t anything special, and they would have to rely more on their Stats than their Skills to break off chunks of the cave wall. Despite being very under-Leveled in their Skills, they got to work.

The difference between having a high Mining Skill and an inadequate Mining Skill was the size and precision of the chunks they could extract. If their Mining Skills were higher, they would be able to separate the ores completely from the rock surrounding it. With their low Skills, they could only break off large chunks with their Strength.

The overall quality of the metal wouldn’t be affected as the slag would be removed all the same in the smelting process and would be entirely up to whoever smelted the metals, but it did mean each ore chunk took up more space in their storage bags than it otherwise would. They could get around this, though, by simply spending additional time whittling down the rock either through more strikes with their pickaxes, or through the method they decided on, having Kefira slice it up with her Space Mana.

Technically. Kefira could cut through the rock and use her high Affinity with Space Mana to achieve greater precision for extracting the ore all by herself, but the increased Mana density of everything in the Tier 5 Region meant she would have to concentrate and use a ton of Mana to do so. It made more sense to split the task up between them and have her concentrate on shaving the ore chunks down after the fact. It would also allow Reivyn and the others to raise their Mining Skills.

Likewise, Reivyn could use his Affinities, like Metal, to extract the ores through his own Magic. He didn’t really want to, though, as he was a bit of a sucker for raising his Skills, and there was something cathartic about the manual labor.

I bet at higher Tier Regions, if I raise my Mining Skill enough, I’ll be able to combine my Affinities with my Skill for some excellent synergy, too.

The other aspect of having a higher Mining Skill was less degradation in the durability of their tools. Better, more precise strikes, and less of them, equaled longer lasting tools. They were just using cheap steel pickaxes, though, so they didn’t really care if they burned through them quickly or not. They weren’t going to be spending a lot of time mining, just this one trip. They could always replace them next time they were in the outpost, anyway.

The Party spent a couple hours mining a variety of different metals, some Reivyn knew like silver, gold, and iron, and others he had no idea what they were. It didn’t matter. They just extracted everything they could see.

In the course of the two hours mining the high-Tier ore, they also found several Skill Shards nestled within the wall accompanying the ore. It was a nice little bonus and they added them to the pile they had already found.

“Alright, time for a little break to recover our Stamina and have lunch, then on to the next floor,” Refix declared.

The Party spent another half an hour eating their rations and recovering for the next fight. They engaged in simple banter and discussed the different fights they had been in since starting the expedition.

They quickly wrapped it up and made their way to the starting floor. Upon arriving back at the starting location, they turned and headed deeper into the cave. The corridor immediately began to open up, and Reivyn could see that it would become a massive open space.

“The dossier mentioned that this floor contains nothing but the one Hill Giant,” Reivyn whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, but quiet enough his voice didn’t carry. “One quick fight and then we’ll move on to the last floor.”

The Party was already in formation and they made their way cautiously forward. They didn’t move with any kind of Stealth Skill activated, but that didn’t mean they had to cause a ruckus.

The chamber opened up enough that Reivyn could no longer Sense the edges of the walls or ceiling, much less see them in the ethereal Dungeon glow. The dossier didn’t mention exactly how large the room was or how deep it went.

“We should be getting close,” Reivyn said in a low voice. “Everyone keep an eye out… WATCH OUT!”

“ROOOOOAAAAAARRR!!”

A giant figure blurred through Reivyn’s Divine Sense and appeared in front of the group in a fraction of a second. It swung a massive club down overhead as the Party members dove away from the center. The club smashed into the ground, denting the ground and sending cracks spiraling out from the epicenter.

The Hill Giant was extremely agile and immediately swung the club horizontal to smash into Refix and Serilla, sending them flying through the air. It kicked out with its foot in the opposite direction and caught Kimberly square in the sternum, sending her flying away in the other direction.

The fight had lasted for less than a second, and the Hill Giant had already blasted three of their Party members away.

Reivyn, Kefira, Ameliyn, and Teilon all picked themselves up and prepared for the fight. With no other vanguard available right away, Refix charged toward the Hill Giant to keep it occupied while Kefira and Ameliyn launched their Magic at it. Teilon circled around to dash in and strike at the back of its ankles and knees, the only places he could reach.

The Hill Giant must have used some sort of Charge Skill to close the gap, because it moved considerably slower than the mad dash that brought it into the midst of the Party in under a second. That being said, it wasn’t slow. It was at least able to keep up with Reivyn’s speed.

Reivyn danced back and forth as he swung his sword, conjured Spells, and deflected glancing blows with his shield. Each strike that he took with his shield knocked him off-balance, but he quickly got into the rhythm of the fight and incorporated the blows into his dodges.

The Hill Giant did nothing to try and block any of the strikes headed its way. It swung its club up and down, side to side, and kicked its feet at Reivyn and Teilon in equal measure.

Refix, Serilla, and Kimberly only took a couple of seconds to dash back into the fight. Reivyn had the attention of the giant, so Kimberly joined Teilon in dashing in and out while stabbing at its ankles, calves, and knees.

Serilla stepped up next to Reivyn to take some of the burden off of his shoulders in holding the giants attention and deflecting some glancing blows. Refix stood back, at the ready, and directed his ethereal arsenal to harass the upper body of the Hill Giant along with the Spells Cast by Kefira and Ameliyn.

The Hill Giant stood between 25 and 30 feet tall. It was incredibly muscular and its skin was thick and hard to penetrate. It was clad only in a giant beast-fur loincloth, and its skin wasn’t nearly as tough as the scales of the basilisks the Party had just fought. Only being able to reach its lower legs with their weapons greatly hindered their ability to do lasting damage to its Health, but the damage slowly accumulated and slowed the giant’s movements.

A breakthrough was made when Teilon and Kimberly finally managed to sever the achilles tendons in the back of its legs, and the giant toppled to the ground. It continued to flail about with its arms and legs, but it was much less effective and still didn’t try to defend itself.

The Party kept up the offensive and eventually depleted the giant’s Health pool, finally ending its life.

Reivyn bent over, panting to catch his breath. He glanced at the other Party members who were likewise breathing deeply to recover from the sudden incredibly intense battle.

“Well… that was exciting,” Reivyn smirked.

“Speak for yourself,” Ameliyn snorted. “That was downright scary at first.”

Refix groaned as he stretched, holding his side with a grimace.

“Yeah, getting smacked by that huge club while diving aside was not pleasant,” he said. “I imagine if Serilla and I weren’t wearing armor, that could have seriously hurt us, if not killed us outright.”

“That bad, huh?” Reivyn quirked an eyebrow.

“That one blow did a few thousand points of damage to my Health,” Refix said. “If I didn’t have armor, it could have been ten thousand.”

“I got lucky, then,” Serilla spoke up. “Refix got hit slightly first, and it cushioned the blow ever so slightly for me. I only took a couple thousand points of damage.”

Everyone glanced at Kimberly, curious as to how getting kicked by the giant compared to being smacked with the club.

“I only took a couple hundred points,” she admitted. “It was more like the kick was to get me away from the group than to try and hurt me.”

Reivyn glanced at his Status.

[Health:  12,922/14,530 (+310)  Stamina:  20,086/28,670 (+410)  Mana:  11,433/15,985 (+50)]

[                                                           Qi:  1,000/1,000 (T4/Li)                                                   ]

“Taking those glancing blows also accumulated some damage,” Reivyn said. “I took just over fifteen hundred damage over the course of the fight.”

“And this isn’t even supposed to be the hardest fight,” Teilon said. “The Goblin Shaman is supposedly more dangerous.”

“If I had to guess,” Refix began, “I would say the Hill Giant packs the greatest punch. The Goblin Shaman is probably considered more dangerous because of its magic and versatility. It has Earth Elementals protecting it and possibly hobgoblin sneak attacks. If we can counter whatever it tries to throw at us, it will probably be less dangerous, just more annoying.”

“That makes sense,” Teilon nodded.

“Alright, let’s heal up, rest up, and check for more ore,” Refix said.

“Heal up?” Reivyn quirked an eyebrow.

Ameliyn smirked as she gathered Mana around herself. It was familiar, and similar to her Celestial Affinity, but slightly different. Reivyn couldn’t quite put his finger on it from just observing it.

“I wasn’t just your father’s Mage in our Party,” Ameliyn said. “I’m also the Healer.”

Her Mana cascaded out of her in waves and covered everyone who was injured. The pain associated with the injuries was immediately nullified, and Reivyn felt a comforting warmth spread throughout his body. He watched his Health Points steadily tick up on his Status.

“It’s not an instant Heal Spell like Priests or Paladins get with their Class Spells, but it is effective,” Ameliyn explained. “One of the aspects of Celestial is the concept of ‘Heavenly,’ and I can incorporate that concept with some other Affinities to create a regeneration effect. It’s not accelerated Healing, either, as that draws on your own natural healing and resources. This is pure Mana.”

“That’s amazing,” Reivyn said with wonder, watching as his Health Points topped up at full in a matter of moments. “How come you’ve never taught it to me?”

“How come you’ve never worked on unlocking the Celestial Affinity?”

Reivyn had no comeback for that.

“I guess I have another goal to add to the list,” he chuckled.

Ameliyn glanced at Kefira.

“I’d be more than happy to help you too, dear.”

“Thank you,” Kefira beamed at her future mother-in-law.

The Party quickly recovered from the fight and then scoured the huge chamber for ores to dig up. They found plenty scattered about the far walls and even the floor. Reivyn suspected they might find some in the ceiling, but he didn’t want to go through the trouble of getting to it. It wasn’t that big of a deal.

They found another dozen or so Skill Shards to add to the pile, too. They easily surpassed what they owed to the Adventurer’s Guild to pay back their loan, and they still had enough left over for a tidy profit, not even counting what they’d be able to sell their resources for back in the outpost.

After once more recovering their Stamina, the Party made their way to the ramp well once more and headed up to the final floor of the Dungeon. Before they could even step up to the final floor, though, Reivyn sensed a couple of Hobgoblins trying to hide in the shadows behind some protruding rocks on the ramp itself.

“Two gobs hiding in the dark up ahead,” Reivyn pointed out the two would-be assassins to the Party.

The Party continued walking forward as if nothing had changed, but once they got close enough to the location of the hidden enemies, they sprung into action. Kimberly attacked left, Serilla attacked right, Reivyn and Refix launched ranged attacks at the hobgoblin hidden on the right, Kefira and Ameliyn Cast Spells on the hobgoblin on the left, and Teilon phased through the rock hiding the hobgoblin on the left and stabbed it in the back.

The hobgoblins were quick to react, but it was too little too late. They didn’t have anything special in regards to defense other than wearing some patchwork leather armor, and they were quickly overwhelmed and slain before being able to put up any kind of effective defense. The best they could do was parry a few attacks from the vanguard before being put down.

The Party members nodded at each other and formed back up into their typical formation before advancing forward. The entrance to the floor had some makeshift wooden walls blocking their path, but they were quite pathetic constructs. There were gaps Reivyn could simply walk through if he wanted.

It did hide several hobgoblins, though, and a pair stood out front acting as guards. The hobgoblins were outfitted with actual metal armor this time. It wasn’t anything fancy, just crude breastplates, tassets, and vambraces. The two out front were equipped with shortswords and crude shields, pieces of metal strapped to a wood base.

The hobgoblins immediately spotted the Party. The two out front screeched and charged forward. They were the same height as regular humans, though their features looked the same as heavily muscled regular goblins.

There were four hobgoblins hiding behind the walls, but they sprang out upon their comrades screeching and charging forward. They held a couple of crude javelins that they threw at the Party members before also charging forward. The corridor was large enough they would be able to maneuver around to attack the flank of the Party if they allowed it.

Reivyn summoned a small little tornado with his Air Mana and swept the javelins harmlessly out of the way while running forward to take up a spot in the front. He, Kimberly, Refix, and Serilla formed a wall to block the six hobgoblins from surrounding them.

The vanguard descended into controlled chaos. The hobgoblins were wild with their attacks, though they did show some rudimentary understanding of wielding their weapons and shields more than just arbitrarily. Their Skill Level was nothing compared to any of the Party members’, though, and despite the fight being six to four, the four Party members overwhelmed the hobgoblins.

Teilon phased around to the back and dashed about delivering kidney strikes from the shadows. Ameliyn and Kefira blasted the enemies with their magic. The Celestial bolts slammed into the hobgoblins leaving large injuries with lingering burn marks. Kefira’s space blades sliced into their bodies leaving deep gashes before dissipating against their natural defense.

The hobgoblins weren’t as tough as their counterparts found in the wilderness would be because of the Stat distribution from the System, but they were still stronger and tougher than the regular goblins the Party encountered.

The battle lasted a couple of minutes before the monsters’ Health was overcome and the six hobgoblins lay dead on the ground in a pool of blood.

“Alright, keep sharp,” Refix said. “These hobgoblins are smarter than regular goblins, but they’ve shown that they're still feral. They could have taken advantage of their crude defensive position better, but they just mindlessly charged out here and fought to the death, so we can expect more of the same further in.”

The Party advanced onto the last floor. It was of a similar design as the other floors below the main entrance: one long corridor with branching tunnels. There were patrolling squads of hobgoblins as well as occasional ambushes set up. With Reivyn’s Divine Sense, though, they were able to spot each patrol and ambush long before they walked into them unaware.

The Party spent a few hours clearing out the upper floor. Each battle was similar to the first. They never fought a lone hobgoblin, and sometimes they had to contend with patrols walking up on them from their rear as there were less enemies just lazing about. They seemed to have a modicum of order about themselves, though it disappeared as soon as they went into a frenzy to attack the Party. If they didn’t suffer from such a malady, Reivyn suspected the top floor would have been much more challenging.

The Party finally made their way to the last boss room. They glanced inside and saw the hobgoblin shaman standing in the center. There were four Earth Elementals standing by him. The two in front were hulking golems that were obviously designed for melee combat, and the two standing to his rear looked like floating crystals. Reivyn guessed they were like magical defensive platforms that would sling spells and projectiles at them.

There were a couple of hobgoblins standing in various positions throughout the room, as well. There were a few in their typical metal armor with swords and a couple in leathers that Reivyn associated with the rogue archetype, though they hadn’t seen any take advantage of those abilities because Reivyn always spotted them ahead of time.

The Party backed up so they could discuss the encounter without being overheard and initiating the fight before they were ready.

“Yeah, I can see how this fight is going to be complicated,” Refix said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Okay, we’ll have Serilla and Kimberly engage the big golems. Don’t worry about killing them, and just keep their attention.

“Reivyn, you use your magic to draw the sword and dagger hobgoblins to yourself. Your Skills should be enough to fight them all safely enough. Teilon and I will focus on killing them from behind.

“Ameliyn and Kefira, you focus your magic on the shaman and the two elementals behind him. Focus on counterspelling their magic and keep them from flinging Spells into our backs.

“We’ll take out the horde of hobgoblins, then we’ll focus on the golems, and finally we’ll take down the shaman and the last two elementals. That is unless something changes. If the shaman proves that his magic is too potent, we’ll figure out a way to burn him down as fast as possible, but shamans aren’t known for their power. They’re usually crowd control with a bit of offensive and healing abilities.

“Any questions?”

Everyone shook their heads. They got into position and approached the boss room. At a silent signal from Refix, they charged in.

The hobgoblin shaman began screeching what appeared to be orders to the elementals and other hobgoblins. The sword and dagger hobgoblins, though, were overcome with their blood frenzy and immediately charged the Party regardless of what the shaman screamed.

Reivyn spun several Spells and launched them at the sword and dagger hobgoblins, enraging them toward himself as he stepped away from the rest of the Party. Kimberly and Serilla charged forward and attacked the golems. Their weapons didn’t do any damage to the creatures, but they did successfully grab their attention.

Refix and Teilon sprinted forward into an open area. Refix summoned his ethereal weapons while dashing forward to attack the rear of some of the hobgoblins attacking Reivyn. Teilon did the same as he always did and delivered kidney strikes and slashes to ankles, knees, and other joints.

Spells began launching toward the shaman as the shaman and the floating crystals also began gathering Mana and Casting Spells. The crystals created little crystals they launched at supersonic speed towards the Party Members. Kefira put up strategic Spatial distortions to slow the speed of the projectiles while Ameliyn interfered with their Mana directly through her powerful Willpower.

The Shaman summoned vines to crawl up the legs of the Party members to try and stall their movements. Reivyn and Refix simply powered through the vines with their immense Strength. The other Party members had to take a moment to slash through the vines with their sharp weapons.

The vines seemed to spring up automatically on their own after a short time and the shaman started casting other Spells. Healing Spells hit the hobgoblins assaulted by Reivyn, Refix, and Teilon, though it wasn’t enough to prevent their inevitable demise. In addition to the Healing Spells, the shaman joined the floating crystals in flinging supersonic rocks at the Party Members.

Reivyn fought ferociously, dodging, blocking, parrying, and using his footwork to work around the open room and not let the horde of sword and dagger hobgoblins surround him. Even with having to keep up with so many attacks, his Skills and Stats were high enough he was still able to deliver his own attacks, leveraging his True Strike ability to dance around the hobgoblins own parries and blocks. Refix and Teilon continued to deliver strategic strikes while the ethereal arsenal was a tornado of blades and bludgeoning strikes.

After several minutes, the last melee hobgoblin fell. Bodies were strewn about in a line circling the room where Reivyn had led them around. The three men now available to turn their focus elsewhere descended on the shaman and elementals. Teilon wasn’t equipped to deal with the golems, so he dashed in and attacked the shaman directly.

Reivyn used his Spells and Refix used his bludgeoning ethereal weapons to devastate the golems. Ameliyn and Kefira’s Spells finally overwhelmed the floating crystals, and soon only the shaman was left.

It was already bloody from the stray Spells and tactical strikes from Teilon, but it didn’t alter its behavior. It simply directed the occasional Healing Spell at itself instead of its minions. The fighting tactic remained the same, though.

It didn’t take much longer, though, and the shaman was beheaded and lying on the ground, dead.

“I love it when a plan goes off without a hitch,” Teilon exclaimed.

“Yeah, that worked out better than expected,” Refix nodded his head.

“What do you mean, ‘better than expected?’ It was your plan!” Teilon rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, but it was just a preliminary plan to give everybody something to do. Who knew if it would hold up once the arrows, so to say, began flying?”

“I know, I know. I’m just teasing,” Teilon chuckled.

“Alright, let’s wrap up this delve. Search for the last of the resources, check bodies if you feel like it, and let’s go rest somewhere else that doesn’t smell like blood. After this we’ve completed the last of our objectives for this expedition, so we can make our way back to the outpost tomorrow.”