The World Of Skill

Swamp Dungeon

“Alright Geoffrey, now you tell this slave no.1 on what we’re going to do.”

“Princess, I need to remind you that this boy is not your slave no.1. He is number 2. Your humble servant has always been your slave no.1 from ages ago.” Geoffrey comes forward and makes his point to Azalea before speaking to Ryu.

“So, my princess wanted to raid the swamp dungeon. However, the dungeon has a requirement of 4 party members minimum. Since there is no other player passing by the area, we are originally wanted to ask for your cooperation but, in the end, it’s all good since you will still be joining us. The swamp dungeon is a dungeon with a level range of 15 and it is one of the most rewarding dungeons for a beginner. The difficulties however lay at the location that is too far compared to other dungeons and the special characteristic of swamp dungeon, the monsters are highly venomous and can cause「poisoned」 de-buff state. Without a healer in a party, it will be quite tough to clear it.”

Ryu now knows the reason why he was forced to help them. It was to fill the quota. Listening to the explanation also it seemed that the dungeon is harder than normal but with better rewards in return. The only problem is the party has no healer at the moment.

“So, how are we going to deal with the poison?”

“Of course, we deal with it using the simplest method. Don’t get poisoned in the first place. The monsters are 「venom crab」, 「blood-sucking leech」, and 「spiked willow」. They relatively have slow movement and attack speed. We just need to make sure that we’re not hit by any attack.”

Hearing the strategy, the party going to use to clear the dungeon, Ryu didn’t know whether they are genius or crazy. If it was really that simple, won’t this dungeon be swarmed with people instead of being desolate?

“You don’t have to worry. We definitely could clear the dungeon with ease. Why are you hesitating?”

“Azalea, you shouldn’t pressurize him like that. I am sure he is just trying to reorganize his thought.”

“Big sis, why you have to defend him. I am sure that he will just leech off experience from us and do nothing. Even if he died it will be alright, after all, we only need him to meet the requirements to enter the dungeon. Alright, let’s not waste more time. We should just enter the dungeon.”

「This is your first time entering a dungeon. There are 3 levels to choose from: normal, hard, nightmare. Harder difficulties give more rewards according to the level chosen. Whenever your character died inside the dungeon, they will be revived at the dungeon entrance. However, you won’t be able to revive before your party clears the dungeon or wiped out. The death penalty still being applied normally. 」

「Entering the swamp dungeon. Your party leader has chosen the normal difficulty. 」

Soon, the four of them entered the dungeon. The swamp dungeon itself looked like an underground tunnel with low visibility. Geoffrey takes out a torch and immediately it provides the party with extra sight.

「It seems like they come prepared. But this is going to be hard. Not to mention that we’re in a tunnel with low visibility, it is also easy for us to get ambushed by a monster in this kind of situation. I guess the reason why this dungeon has no people raiding it is obvious. 」

While paying attention to the surrounding of monsters, Ryu is using this opportunity to look at his new party member. He didn’t get the chance to do it earlier because of all of the commotions with Azalea but he got the time now.

The party composition seemed to be balanced even without a healer. The golden-haired little girl, Azalea as a fighter will be in charge of close combat as damage dealer or DPS. She will be able to take some aggression(aggro) from the monster when needed too. Her stats are distributed evenly between agility, strength, and some to vitality. Making her a good all-rounder that could react to all kind of situation.

Geoffrey, the old butler, is a guard whose job is mainly to tank for the party. Looking at his insane amount of health, this guy must have put all of his stat into vitality. Either he is devoted to protecting the princess or he is a big masochist.

Marina who is the calmest of the group is a mage to be in the rear position. Her looks on top of her temperament really bewitching as her blue mage outfit perfectly suitable for her. She will be the main damage dealer as a magician known for their ability to wreak havoc and dealt devastating elemental spells. Judging from her health, she must have put a bit of vitality while the rest goes into her intelligence stat for magic damage.

With Ryu in the party, they will have 2 front liners and 2 ranged players. If they have one more healer then the party can be considered to be perfect in composition. However, they couldn’t choose since there are no other players around and have to be content with Ryu filling the last spot.

Ryu didn’t ignore the surroundings even though he is examining the party. He picked up something with his 《Enhanced sense》 and notify the party.

“There’s an enemy in front.”

“heh, it seems that my slave is quite useful.”

Geoffrey walked in the front followed by Azalea, Ryu, and finally Marina. Usually, the party only waited for a monster to attack Geoffrey before they made their move as no one in the party has a scout related skill. With Ryu here, they are able to take the initiative and be prepared for it beforehand.

With his 《Eagle’s eye》, although it is quite dark, Ryu can roughly see the figure of the enemy. It was a crab with its right pincher bigger than its left and covered in green liquid. The size of the crab is also bigger than normal, at the size of an adult dog. It seemed to be the venom crab.

“Slave no.1, can you take the initiative to shoot it?”

Ryu didn’t give a reply to Azalea, he only lifted his bow and prepared to attack. Action speaks louder than words anyway. Ryu holds his position still to activate his 《hide》 skill. After he succeeds, he started to pull the strings and cast 《Power shot》. For a few seconds the power accumulated and the arrow launched forward signaling the start of the battle.

-205

Azalea quite surprised at the number of damages floating on top of the venom crab but it didn’t stop her from moving forward. Geoffrey also charged at the frontmost prepared to receive the attack with his shield, protecting the princess from harm.

*block*

The venom crab swings its right hand towards Geoffrey shield but he managed to perfectly block the attack. As long as your defense is higher than the attack then a perfect block will be triggered. You won’t receive any incoming damage but the durability for your shield or equipment will still deplete. If your defense isn’t enough and you managed to block, you will lose some health due to the force of the impact. Which happened at the duel between Ryu and Azalea where she blocked his attack with her gauntlets but still received damage.

-45

-60

-37

Azalea comes out from behind Geoffrey and launches a combo. Her movement isn’t slow at all as she keeps on punching the venom crab from behind. This time however Ryu has a hard time aiming for the venom crab.

He mostly played alone without a party until now. He never encounters this problem before. Now, Geoffrey and Azalea who is engaging so close with the enemy seemed to be an obstacle.

He needs to attack the venom crab while avoiding attacking Geoffrey and Azalea. Not to mention that the three engaging in close combat is moving around the battlefield.

While Ryu is still trying to find the best moment to shoot, Marina cast her spell. A blue water ball emerged from the tip of her blue magic cane. It is a basic 《water ball》 spell which slowly launched forward. The speed of the water ball is slower than a person’s running speed but it is steadily approaching the target.

When the water ball was about to hit, Geoffrey and Azalea took a quick back step to avoid the area of effect.

-25

“Big sis, as we thought, your water attribute spell has a really bad damage output because of the venom crab water elemental resistance. Try using a lightning spell instead.”

“Water is my favorite element and I still want to use it though. I guess I have to hold it back for now and change the elements.”

“You’re the best big sis. Hey, i***t over there! You just missed an opportunity to launch another attack. Not like I have high hopes for you anyway.”

Ryu really missed a good chance to shoot his arrow. It was because he is looking at how the party coordinate with each other. When Marina’s spell was about to hit the venom crab, Geoffrey and Azalea took a step back. It was because even in a party, there is no damage annulment. If you are attacked by a party member, you will receive the same amount of damage as the monster. 

Marina as a spell caster has an easier time launching her attack. As spells have aiming assistance where the trajectory of the spell and its target location and area of effect are projected by the system. Actually, aiming assistance for ranged attackers also projected by lines by the system but Ryu never really used it since he took pride in his aim accuracy.

The battle continues. Geoffrey is holding his ground very well as most of the venom crab attack lands on his shield. He looked as if he has an easy time even though he is the one under the most pressure. He still keeps on talking to Azalea saying: “Princess, you need to attack it now. Princess, dodge to the side. Princess, well done.”

Azalea looked annoyed at his words but so far, she has been doing a perfect job. No attack lands on her body as she continues to deplete the venom crab health. This time, Marina unleashes a yellow lightning spell. The bolt flew forward much faster than the water ball but still slower than the arrow. It landed perfectly on the venom crab and deal a lot of damage sending the venom crab to its doom.

-350

「Your party has defeated the venom crab. You have earned 2500 experience. 」

 Ryu’s experience bar immediately filled by 10%. As he has the lowest level in the party, the experience he gained filled his experience bar more than the others. No wonder that they choose to enter the dungeon, the experience given by the monster is tremendous.

A normal monster in the field with level 15 only gives around 500-700 experience while the level 15 venom crab they just defeat gives almost five times of that. Of course, there are increased difficulties from the poison but as the strategy they discussed before, if they didn’t get attacked then it won’t be a problem.

Geoffrey is like a veteran where the whole battle is under his control. He blocked the attack and made it seem so easy. Ryu can see that Geoffrey even seems to be more relaxed in the battle than when he is trying to coat the princess.

Azalea herself seemed to be talented. Her dodge and attack always come at the right time. Her reflex seemed to be quite good since she can also dodge Ryu’s arrow but more importantly her speed isn’t slowing down at all in the battle. The level of focus she displayed is amazing.

The damage dealer Marina showcased her talent with the last spell which deals almost one-third of the venom crab’s health. From her blue colored outfit, Ryu thought that she is a water-based mage but it seemed that she also has skills for other elements.

Judging his own performance, he feels embarrassed because it turns out exactly as what Azalea predicted. A complete experience leeches. Except for the first attack, Ryu didn’t do anything on the battle. He can see the disdain from Azalea’s eye so he can only look down and clenches his fist. 

He will definitely do better next time.