NOVEL WEB Chapter 23 – Trying Alternatives
Well, I will Warp into a small room in the middle of the second floor--one where I haven’t seen many Demons appear.
It seems that the only way I can earn the money to buy Roxanne will be to lock myself in the Dungeon; it’s also really early in the morning, around 2 or 3 am, and there isn’t anything else to do for the next 5 or so hours anyway…I wouldn’t want to waste what little time I have over sleeping.
Exiting the hotel, I immediately Warp into the dungeon.
I made surprisingly good progress…only a few corridors from my entrance, I came across what seems to be the next boss room; and since it’s late at night, there aren’t any people waiting for their turn.
Since I had no idea how strong the boss would be, I placed my wand into my ring, drew Excalibur--and changed my fourth Class from Wizard, to Swordsman.
Swordsman - Lv14
Effect: +4 Strength, +4 Endurance
Skill: Slash, Multi-Slash - (x2)
Oh?
A new Skill?
Multi-Slash - (x2): Swing the sword once, two blows are unleashed--these blows can be aimed at a single target, or at (x2) targets. The higher the level of the Swordsman Class, the more swings can be used with Multi-Slash.
Seriously?
I just got Magic for AOE attacks…and had unlocked one without even noticing…
I need to check my Classes more often--
Oh well.
When I entered the preparation room, the back door opened immediately--bracing myself, I entered the neighbouring room.
Green smoke rose in a pillar from the stone floor, a Demon soon appeared.
White Caterpillar - Lv20
As the name suggests, it’s a white version of the Green Caterpillar, and almost double the size. The boss of the first floor seemed to be a variation of the Demons on the first floor--I wonder if it’s like this on all the floors?
While I was thinking, an orange Magic Formation appeared on the floor underneath the Boss.
Since it’s a different type of Demon than the Green Caterpillar, it might have a different special attack, but it’s very likely to be spitting something out of its mouth; very likely some kind of string.
I prepare to dodge, watching closely.
The orange Magic Formation disappeared and the White Caterpillar’s throat bulged and its mouth opened, a white string shot out.
“Overwhelming!”
Everything slowed down and I managed to twist my body out of the way of the string, which splattered against the wall behind me; I dashed forwards and cut the White Caterpillar, “Multi-Slash!”
Excalibur blurred mid-swing, two deep gashes appearing in the White Caterpillar’s soft flesh. It shrieked and reared up--I barely had time to jump to the side as the massive Boss crashed down next to me with a very dangerous body-slam…that would have broken my shield, and probably my arm, if I tried to block it.
The Caterpillar is recovering.
“Shield Bash!”
I smashed my shield against the White Caterpillar’s body, feeling Mana sucked out of me.
The Boss was stunned.
Luckily, while Multi-Slash used Mana, Excalibur recovered more than what was spent--such a cheat weapon…awesome.
“Multi-Slash!”
Two more deep gashes cross the Caterpillar’s chest--forming two ‘X’s.
With a shriek, the Boss writhes around for a few seconds, before falling to the ground and deflating in a stream of green smoke, before disappearing.
A shiny ball of thread remains on the ground.
Silk Thread
Ooh, I wonder what this can sell for, probably less than that incredibly rare gold thread.
Taking a quick look around the room, I find nothing particularly out of place. So, I went into the next room and moved to the third floor.
Again, the room is basically the same--but it has three corridors.
With Excalibur in hand, I took the passage to the left.
Needle Wood - Lv25
A 10 level jump…that is quite a jump in difficulty.
And why is the first Demon a Needle Wood--it seems to be this way on all three floors I have explored.
I run at the Needle Wood, slashing with Excalibur.
The Needle Wood let’s out a deep groaning sound as I sever the arm it raised in defence; but it didn’t die in one hit.
Taking the chance, while the Demon was staggering back, I slashed again--this time, I cut its head off.
The Needle Wood collapsed to the ground and disappeared in green smoke.
So, not only a 10 level difference…the enemies are at least twice as durable.
I need to test my Magic as soon as possible.
I quickly switch out Soldier for Wizard--I should probably unlock another Class Slot as soon as possible; though it costs almost 100BP…
Just as I was thinking that.
Kobold -Lv25
Ooh a Kobold.
It has a fairly short Humanoid body, with clawed hands and feet, wearing a rag. However, its head is that of a vicious dog, without any fur. It lets out strange barking noises…which sound strangely like the word, “Candle.”
The Kobold has a knife in its clawed right hand.
Back on Earth, during my martial arts training, I had been taught how to fight armed opponents--but never actually had the chance to practice.
Fireball!
A fireball forms and shoots towards the Kobold, slamming into it’s chest and slowing its advance.
Fireball!
A second one hits the Kobold’s chest in the same spot--its rags have burned off.
Fireball!
While barking that strange “Candle” word, the Kobold pushes through and slashes at me.
Deflecting its knife with my shield, I take a step back.
Fireball!
I feel bad…why is it so difficult to kill these bastards?
Why must I be so weak?
With a ‘Yip’, the Kobold finally dies.
Needle Wood - Lv25
Oops, a Needle Wood nearly snuck up on me. I quickly cut its raised arm off, before severing its neck.
Ahh…
Now I feel much better.
I quickly looked at the loot from the Kobold on the ground.
Kobold Salt
The Needle Wood had dropped normal branches again.
I quickly store the loot, I will need to check the price on the salt when I leave again.
Maybe I should stick to Excalibur for now, since it isn’t as dangerous--I will, however, keep Wizard as one of my classes, so it can level up; though every 2 - 3 Demons, I should switch it out with Soldier. This way they can both level up.
Green Caterpillar Lv-25
Kobold - Lv25
Next, there come two Demons--well, that is fairly convenient; I will switch Wizard for Soldier after this fight, since I had Soldier during the Boss fight.
Firestorm!
Urgh.
Sparks appear and then attack the Demons.
Neither die, but they look incredibly wounded--they have many holes in their bodies, which green smoke leaks out of.
While they shrieked and thrashed around, I walked up to them.
“Multi-Slash!”
I aimed one cut at each.
Since they were badly injured, both Demons died in a double puff of green smoke.
That was a good way of killing groups.
Jackknife - Sword: Type (One-Handed)
When the Kobold fell, it dropped the knife that it was holding.
It seems to be a folding knife, rather small and weak-looking when not in the hands of a vicious Demon.
While fighting Kobolds, they would often drop their Jackknife, at a seeming 1/3 rate; while Needle Woods would drop a Leaf at a rate of 1/10.
I have no idea what the Jackknife would sell for.
But, even after a lot of kills--I only got 1 Kobold Salt…it seems to be a rare drop, maybe even more-so than the leaves; if this world were anything like Earth in the Middle Ages, Salt is worth a lot of money.
When I finally returned to the Adventurer’s Guild, it was a bit past midday, and checked with the receptionist; the Jackknives were only worth 1 silver each. They were cheap, but I had 5 of them, so it wasn’t a bad haul.
“Do you buy Kobold Salt?” I asked the receptionist, who looked at me, her mouth widening in surprise.
“You had some drop, sir?”
Oh, I like when she called me ‘sir’--even though she was maybe five years older than me.
When I nodded, and pulled out the lump of salt, her look of surprise changed to a smile, “Yes, sir, we buy them. At 1 gold each.”
We were both pleased when I sold the Kobold Salt.
Well, I could use this to make the last 4 gold, but…it isn’t too likely to drop that quickly. I decide to try something else, just for a few days--if I stay in the Dungeon for too long…I will slip up. I will also fall back into my anti-social behavior.
So, my best bet would be Bounty Hunting--I would get to be out and around crowds, maybe even able to interact with people when trying to get information on interesting targets.
But--killing Humans for Bounties may be difficult, it would be doable; but it’s possible that it would cause my psyche would suffer…I might end up as a psychopath who can easily murder humans.
But when I get Roxanne, she can help me keep my humanity--and comfort me.
Since it was around noon, I decided to walk through Vale instead of entering the Dungeon. I also checked the levels and Classes of everyone I saw.
Using Appraisal makes this so easy, because I can find a Thief, purely by looking at them.
There weren’t any Thieves leaving the town, or any walking around.
I didn’t expect there to be any, so I move to the slums in the North, and look around there. The Central and Southern parts of Vale have large clean buildings--but the further North you go, the buildings become worn down.
There is a wooden fence around the area, with a guarded gate--the guards let me in without any difficulty; I’m pretty sure that they’re there to keep people in, not out.
As soon as I stepped inside, I noticed that it is clearly different from the rest of Vale. Very definitely slums, worn down buildings, poor looking people hiding in darkened alley entrances--an oppressive air hung over the entire area.
A child is standing in the street. She is a little brown-haired girl, looking like she is nine years old…she reminds me of one of my little cousins. But, she is overly skinny, wearing a small rag tied around her waist, her stomach is concave and her ribs stick out--she isn’t doing anything, looking at anything, just standing there blankly.
This place is horrible, and it may be because it’s my first time in a place like this, but my intuition is sounding alarm bells. This place is dangerous.
Without pausing to think, I turn around and leave the slums--I go back to the East side of Vale.
A lot of people were assembled on the street.
What’s going on?
While using Appraisal, I joined the group out of curiousity.
Why do I want to line up whenever I see a line?
Across from the crowd of people is a vacant lot, and someone lay fallen. They seem to be dead.
“That’s a Thief, right?” An older Adventurer is speaking to a Merchant near him, both of them are next to me.
“Why do you think that?” The Merchant asks.
“Well, the left hand was cut off.” The Adventurer says, pointing at the corpse.
My gaze can’t help but follow his gesture--the corpse is laying in a rapidly spreading puddle of blood, and its left hand is missing.
“Let us through.” Someone spoke curtly.
It seems that some Knights had arrived.
The beautiful female Knight, and helpful Apprentice were there.
“You, take the corpse to the mortuary.” The beautiful female Knight ordered one of the others after taking a single glance at the corpse.
“Yes!”
“It’s a Thief. Everyone dismissed.” The beautiful female Knight dismissed the crowd, raising her hand and pointing away--then she turned and walked away with the rest of the Knights, the Apprentice lugging the corpse away.
Most of the onlookers scattered, but a large number carefully returned.
“The Thieves that were exiled from Vale seem to have come back for revenge.” Someone spoke from the back of the crowd.