CH.179 TinaWood Challenge Rooms, part 2
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<span style="font-weight:400">“What? Really?” How in the …. That shouldn’t be possible.
<span style="font-weight:400">I closed our live feed and began going through the information I had ess to. I went over all of the challenge room loot tables, but there should be no way for someone to get Card Summoner. All of the rewards should be weapons. Staves and bows for the early floors and mithril daggers, swords and axes for theter ones.
<span style="font-weight:400">There was actually some discrepancy. Now there were also some lesser metal weapons in the drops. Steel swords and such. I know I analyzed the ingots, but I never set them as potential drops. Also, the seventh floor challenge room shouldn’t be able to drop a treant wood staff. Any of the others could, but the seventh one in particr should only be able to give out a mithril weapon.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Some of the changes came because Avatar of Treasury is ying with the control panel. She said she would upgrade the loot drops with the new metals.) Laura said. (But I don’t know why the skill can be given either.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(What about the staff?)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Treasury set the drops to match the weapon that the challenger uses to the best of the dungeon’s abilities. As Sorcerer of Dark Magic uses a stave, it dropped a staff.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Ah. Okay. Good info to have. Try to find out about the Card Summoner thing. That just doesn’t make any sense.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(As you wish. I’ll ask Treasury to help with that.)
<span style="font-weight:400">“Jack, you really did get the skill Card Summoner, right?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, I did. Are you going to ask for my status next, cause I don’t think I will show it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“No, I wouldn’t demand something like that. There is another way to find out. One second.” I said as I opened my collection.
<span style="font-weight:400">So, a water warrior. … not that many choices here. Only The Legendary Fisherman, Deepsea Warrior and The Little Swordsman of Aile. But luckily, Deepsea Warrior should be just fine.
Spoiler
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[copse]
<span style="font-weight:400">I got out one of the two copies of Deepsea Warrior that I have. I might only have two, but it''smon, so I’ll get more when Laura fullypletes Pharaoh''s Servant.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Here, let’s trade. Give me back the card I let you borrow. I’ll give you this in return.” I said as I presented him with the Deepsea Warrior.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh. Yeah. Here. You can have it back.” Jack said as he traded with me.
<span style="font-weight:400">It’s funny that I called this a trade, as I traded my card, for my card that I let him borrow. Like imagine if you lend your car to someone, and then when theye to return it, you instead are like, let me trade this other car for that car.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Now summon it. That will prove that you have Card Summoner.” The card I had traded him was in a toploader, so it shouldn’t be possible to use it without Card Summoner. I also didn’t tell him its name, so he would have to read the card. And you can’t without Card Summoner.
<span style="font-weight:400">“How do I summon it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Just say the name of the monster. It is written right here at the top.” I pointed it out to him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“This? Deepsea Warrior?” He muttered.
<span style="font-weight:400">After he did, a card appeared on the ground and an almost two meter tall fish man rose from it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Summoner, what may I do for you?” He spoke.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I … eh? What?” Jack seemed confused by the question.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What may I do for you?” Deepsea Warrior repeated.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I… yes. Keep watch.” Jack ordered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“As you wish.” Deepsea Warrior responded, moved a few steps away and began looking around for any potential threats.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What was that?” Jack turned back to me and almost yelled that question at me. It sounded like when you want to yell at someone, but keep your voice low so you won’t alert everyone in a 500 meter radius.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You summoned a monster. What do you think it was?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“But how? I’m not a summoner. Why?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“But you are. You are a Card Summoner. You even have the skill for it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“... exin.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Exin what? You have seen it before. You just did it yourself. What do I need to exin?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“... fine. Then don’t.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Are you sure? He does seem quite powerful, so I think it would be helpful, but don’t you need him?” Jack asked after I offered him to keep Deepsea Warrior.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It’s fine. It’s just one card. I have more. Andpared to some other ones,” I took a look at Sorcerer of Dark Magic, “He isn’t quite as strong.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see your point. But if you’ll really let me keep him, I will. Thank you.” Jack said.
<span style="font-weight:400">All of the other members of Diamond Sword had also tried different and even the same challenge rooms, but no one else gained Card Summoner.
<span style="font-weight:400">Laith, their magician, got the best reward, gaining a mithril dagger. Kalem got a steel axe, which looked simr to Gravity Axe - Grarl. It could change its weight. Wolf got a hold of the bow the dungeon made based on Silver Bow and Arrow. It could generate arrows from mana, so you would never run out. Unless you ran out of mana and arrows. And Rayan got a steel sword, which was enchanted with lightning magic.
<span style="font-weight:400">Their opponents had all been skeletal monsters of some kind. A mammoth, a saber tiger, a porcupine and a beaver. The porcupine was actually the strongest of them, as it couldunch these bone spikes from its back, but as Laith was the one going against it, his me barrier was able to protect him from them. And as the fire burned away the bones, he finished the porcupine off without even hurting its core.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Brian. Can I try one of those rooms?” Alice asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Absolutely not.” I instantly said. “You need to be at least LV.40 before you try them.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then will you bring me back when I am?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll think about it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m level 41. May I try?” Ria asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">hmm. Getting Card Summoner onto Ria would be nice. And as the dungeon has no weapons that are for unarmedbat, it might work. That could also be why Jack got Card Summoner. I don’t think the dungeon has any two-handed weapons that it can make. Well, Gravity Axe - Grarl is somewhat of a two handed weapon, but you can use it with just one.
<span style="font-weight:400">But if the weapon not matching the reward is the reason … No. It shouldn’t be just that. There has to be something else. Like maybe it is based on how much damage you take. Or how strong your opponent is. Or maybe how long you take to defeat it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Are you sure? It could be dangerous. And how are your mana levels?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m little over half full.” Ria answered. “And you gave everyone that emergency use thing. Won’t you give it to me as well?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Of course I will. I’m just … a bit worried. You can’t exactly suck blood from a skeleton.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then I’ll just beat it fast enough where it won’t matter.” Ria dered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“...fine. You can try one on the fourth floor.” I gave in.
<span style="font-weight:400">Fourth floor because the monster should be easier there. And we had to test out the difficulty of all of them anyway. This far, we have only gone into the seventh with SoDM, sixth with Jack, Laith and Wolf. And the fifth with Kalem and Rayan.
<span style="font-weight:400">I was going to have some of my monsters enter the rest of the rooms, but since Ria offered and I want Card Summoner on her if possible, I’ll let her do it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“But I’ll transfer some mana over to you first. Give me your hand.” I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“But, what about my attribute? Do you also have the fire attribute?” Ria asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Don’t worry. I have no attribute, so I can share mana with anyone.” I told Ria. I had learned it a while ago, when Alice used magic for the first time. At that time, I shared some of my mana with Alice''s teacher.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Here. Again, remember the name. You need to say it to activate it.” I told Ria as I handed her the Smashing Ground that everyone had held while entering a challenge room.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. I remember it.” Ria said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Are you sure you don’t need a weapon? I’ll lend you the mithril dagger.” Laith offered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“No. This is how I’m used to fighting, so I will do it like this.” Ria said, before heading into the room.
<span style="font-weight:400">… I should at least get her some good gauntlets. Or maybe katars. I don’t know if punch daggers like that would fall under the Unarmed Combat Technique skill she has, but it might. Or it might fall under dagger technique or something. But the gauntlets should fall under Unarmed Combat Technique. Maybe even brass knuckles.
<span style="font-weight:400">I guess that could be the first thing I ask Iron cksmith Kotetsu to make, after he learns how to make blood iron.
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<span style="font-weight:400">With our live feed, we watched as Ria’s opponent appeared. Except that it wasn’t an opponent. She was facing multiple monsters.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Fuck.” I said quietly. Why didn’t I consider that? I knew the challenge rooms could summon multiple monsters, but after the previous six tries, there had always just been one in each.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Skeletal custer wolves.”<sup ss="modern-footnotes-footnote " data-mfn="1"></sup><span ss="modern-footnotes-footnote__note" data-mfn="1"> No, I did not misspell cluster wolf, custer wolf is a South Dakota wolf that evaded hunters for 9 years. Look it up. Wolf identified Ria’s opponents.
<span style="font-weight:400">There were a total of five of them, one a littlerger than the others. Probably some sort of alpha. The others weren’t actually thatrge. A lot smaller than I expected fantasy wolves to be. Their back-height was about 50cm.<sup ss="modern-footnotes-footnote " data-mfn="2"></sup><span ss="modern-footnotes-footnote__note" data-mfn="2">19.7 inches
<span style="font-weight:400">“How strong are they?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“D-rank. But they hunt as a pack, so facing multiple ones alone is dangerous. And that leader seems to be an alpha variant, so it is a bit stronger. Not C-rank, but higher D.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Our video feed didn’t show Ria’s face, so I have no idea if she is panicking or not. But even if she was facing something unexpected, she didn’t seem to hesitate, as we heard her say: “Smashing Ground.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Arge fist fell from the sealing and crushed the alpha wolf. The other four turned to look at their fallen alpha and Ria took that opportunity to charge.
<span style="font-weight:400">She rushed at the left most wolf, piercing its skeletal structure with her hand and ripping the core out of its body. She then threw the core at a wall, causing the core to scatter.
<span style="font-weight:400">She had quickly turned a five against one, into a three against one, but now, the other wolves were again focused on her.
<span style="font-weight:400">The three wolves spread out, surrounding Ria. I don’t know if Ria had a n, but she didn’t wait for the wolves. Instead, she charged right at the wolf in front of her.
<span style="font-weight:400">As she moved, the wolves to her left and right also moved. But she was faster, a lot faster. Her movement left a light shimmer where she had been standing, most likely the indication that she had used her Flicker Step skill. She punched the head of the wolf as she reached it, but just a head punch won’t put down a skeleton.
<span style="font-weight:400">The wolf tried to bite her, but Ria had already moved. With another flicker step, she moved behind the wolf, using it as a shield against the two charging wolves. Standing behind the wolf, she crouched down and pierced her hand through the wolf’s pelvis, all the way to where its core was and tore the core off, crushing it in her hand. Three down, two to go.
<span style="font-weight:400">Still holding the remains of the skeletal wolf between her and the two remaining wolves, Ria seemed to calm herself a bit. Then with determination and the slight shine returned to her eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">She pushed the wolf skeleton towards the skeletal wolf on her right to make space and charged at the one on her left. She threw a punch with her left hand, but the wolf moved its head and dodged, before biting the exposed hand.
<span style="font-weight:400">But Ria didn’t even flinch, instead using her arm that was in the wolf’s maw to turn the wolf enough that she could get ess to its belly. She then pushed her right arm through the wolf’s ribcage and ripped its core out, tossing it into a wall and breaking it.
<span style="font-weight:400">But before Ria could get the maw of the secondst wolf separated from her left arm, thest wolf attacked and bit into her right arm.
<span style="font-weight:400">With the other wolf’s skeleton, not that it was ever anything more than a skeleton, still clinging into Ria’s left arm, both of her arms now had a wolf attached to them. But as one was still moving, it could use its legs to try and tear Ria’s left arm off.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ria moved her left arm, and the wolf skeleton attached to it followed. She crashed that skeleton to the still living monster, but the living monster didn’t let go. But at least the impact broke apart most of the other wolf, so now, instead of an entire wolf skeleton, only the head was still attached to Ria’s arm.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ria used her now almost free arm to pry the wolf’s jaw off of her other arm, but it didn’t work. She just managed to cause the wolf to bend its back and attack her with its ws instead.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ria then quickly moved her arm, dragging the wolf to the right and exposing its belly. Like with thest one, she pushed her arm through the ribcage and pulled out the core. She dropped it to the ground and stomped on it, destroying the core of thest skeletal wolf.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Ria! Are you alright? Do you need a potion?” I asked as she walked out of the room. She seemed to be empty handed.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m fine. This much will heal quickly if I drink some blood.” She said.
<span style="font-weight:400">I would argue otherwise. Both of her arms were covered in blood from the bleeding bite wounds. And you can’t even argue most of it is from the enemies, as Ria was fighting monsters with no blood.
<span style="font-weight:400">She walked towards me but she ended up copsing just a few steps away from me. I rushed forward, catching her before she had time to hit the ground.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You are not alright.” I said as I held her in my arms. I opened my collection and searched out a specific monster. But with my hands busy holding Ria, I couldn’t move it with my hands. Instead, I grabbed a hold of it with telekinesis and moved it to my duel disk. “Guardian Angel Joan.”
Spoiler
[copse]
<span style="font-weight:400">The angel that I had met in the factory this morning appeared next to us.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Heal her.” I ordered before even waiting for a greeting.
<span style="font-weight:400">She took a few steps, put her hands above Ria and said: “High heal.”
<span style="font-weight:400">A light enveloped Ria. It seemed like it wasing from Joan’s wings, but I’m that might be just from my point of view.
<span style="font-weight:400">With her being healed, I opened her status through my own, just to see how low she had been on health and to see her actively healing.
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Name: Rhianna</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Race: Dhampir</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Level: 42</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">HP: 701/1110</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Mana: 492/1110</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Strength: 690</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Defense: 480</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Magic: 650</td>
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<td style="width:100%">Skills:</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Blood Magic LV.4 (Racial)</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Card Summoner LV.1 (extra) </td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Fire Magic LV.3</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Mana Control LV.3</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Fast Mana Recovery LV.1</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Internal Magic Technique LV.5</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Unarmed Combat Technique LV.4</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Flickering Step LV.1</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Power Boost LV.4</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Defense Boost LV.2</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400"></td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">Blood Sucker (Racial)</td>
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<td style="width:100%"><span style="font-weight:400">ve. Master: Brian Wood</td>
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<span style="font-weight:400">Luckily her HP wasn’t too low. But her MP was over halfway gone and I filled her up to full before she went in. Just proves how inefficient her fighting style is.
<span style="font-weight:400">But the good news is that she got Card Summoner. She even leveled up. At least she didn’t risk her life for nothing.
<span style="font-weight:400">