CH.260 Clearing Dungeon 27_001, part 1
<span style="font-weight:400">Our ‘rest’ day went just fine, but it wasn’t that restful for me. I went around the city, picking up preserved, and not so preserved, foods for us. Used Mystik Wok multiple times to make us foods, and also made sure to refill the magic sks of both Lua and Ria with dragon blood. Agunan actually didn’t mind using the dragon blood in that way and didn’t raise a fuss.
<span style="font-weight:400">Now with a bit more than a month''s worth of food, and sleeping bags and pelts for all of us, we were ready to head to the dungeon tomorrow.
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<span style="font-weight:400">After our morning breakfast, as well as a quick goodbye to everyone, the five of us were off towards dungeon 27_001. Admittedly, this might be just a day trip, but at the same time, depending on the size of the dungeon, we might have to camp there for multiple days, and we were prepared for that. I had some food ready to go in my storage, and I could make more with Mystik Wok and Emergency Provisions.
<span style="font-weight:400">Our flight to the dungeon was made in the brand new B.E.S. Crystal Core, that I just got. I just wanted to test it out, so I couldpare it to Big Core.
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<span style="font-weight:400">Crystal Core was a bit smaller than Big Core, but because of its structure, it actually had more inside space than Big Core. But it was less armed, having only the tentacleser cannons. And just like Big Core, it didn’t have any atmospheric dampeners to stop sonic booms, so we would have to fly at subsonic speeds. Well, I could go to supersonic speeds outside of popted areas, but I decided to keep the speed down. And with Crystal Core having better inside areas, we could practice during the flight, while Crystal Core was flying itself. Autopilot for the win.
<span style="font-weight:400">A lot of the practice was focused on getting us used to our new skills. Well, mainly Ria and Lua. Ria was practicing with Agunan, and when either of them got injured, Lua would heal them with her new skill. Her Mana Healing was still less efficient than her water magic, even with both Agunan and Ria’s affinity to fire reducing the effectiveness of healing water magic a bit, but she was getting the hang of it quickly, and she said she should be able to use it in conjunction with water healing magic.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“... why… Every freaking time…” Iined a bit, as I saw the burned down clearing. Just likest time, there were monsters in the clearing. But this time, they weren’t bugs from the dungeon, because I did block the dungeon entrance with a giant boulder.
<span style="font-weight:400">This time, a group of goblins had made it their home. The strange part was, there were somerger goblins with them. Or to be more specific, hobgoblins. Hobgoblins are actually quite dangerous, at leastpared to their … not so powerful brethren. Hobs are C-rank and can be quite a threat, especially inrge groups. But because they are born extremely rarely under normal circumstances, most people don’t worry about them. The ‘normal’ way a hobgoblin is born is when goblins … abduct humanoid females and breed with them, but because of how weak goblins are, that luckily doesn’t happen too often, based on what I know.
<span style="font-weight:400">But a handful had been born here for some reason. I knew the forest had some goblins, but I still didn’t expect them to take over my clearing. … well, they didn’t take it over like the bugs had, more like they had settled in a corner of the area.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ria, do you want to try your skill against them? They are rtively humanoid, so I think they will be good targets.” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. If I may.” Ria agreed.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Can I take the normal goblins? I want to try something.” Alice asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sure. Get to the teleporter. I’ll beam you down to the ground.” I told the duo.
<span style="font-weight:400">After the two got on the ground, they got to work. Ria had a bit of difficulty separating the hobs, from the regr goblins, but after she killed the first few normies, the hobs quickly came to oppose her.
<span style="font-weight:400">While Ria was using Counter Strike tond powerful hits on the hobgoblins, Alice had swapped from a regr outfit into her magical girl outfit and floated into the sky. Then, holding her arms above her head, she materialized a giant ball of fire.
<span style="font-weight:400">Bringing her arms down, sheunched the fireball towards the goblins. At first, I was a little worried that Ria would be caught up in it, but on the way down, the fireball broke apart into many smaller fireballs, which then precisely seeked out each and every goblin on the field, burning holes into their chests or heads.
<span style="font-weight:400">With the small fray now out of the way, Ria could fully focus on the hobs. And even though hobgoblins are C-rank monsters, Ria’s punches were dealing good damage to them, and in under a minute, Ria had dealt with the six hobgoblins.
<span style="font-weight:400">The rest of us got down on the ground, and I unsummoned Crystal Core.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“I didn’t know you could use fire magic already.” Luamented.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I can’t. Not the System magic, at least. That was done with my unique skill.” Alice answered. “... but it took over two-thousand mana, so it isn’t really usable in most situations.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“We need to look into some sort of cheaty mana recovery skill for you.” Imented. “Would help if you could steal Agunan’s mana like I can, but even that has its limits. But I can''t argue with the power output and uracy of the spell.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Do you think you can make a skill like that?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“No clue, but I think so. I think thatbining a few cards that use Spell Counters would potentially do it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Like Pitch-ck Power Stone?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah. But Pitch Stone can’t make counters outside of when it is activated, so we would need something else. The only problem is that all the cards that I have which generate Spell Counters are monsters, and I don’t think another fusion is a good idea. Well, there is Tower of Babel, but that one is a bit too dangerous.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">[Each time a Spell Card is activated, ce 1 Spell Counter on this card when that Spell Card resolves. If the 4th Spell Counter is ced on this card: Destroy this card, and if you do, the yer who activated the Spell Card at that time takes 3000 damage.]
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<span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I should look into making some sort of facility that produces mana using Spell Counters. I know that mana can be instantly transferred over even long distances, thanks to Agunan’s life dedication, so I should be able to do it as well. But I’ll still need better cards for it. Maybe if I had that one field spell, Magical Citadel of Endymion, I might be able to do it. Then make some sort of mana transferring device, using something like Pitch-Dark Power Stone, or some other card that can move Spell Counters around. Maybe even using some of the tech my monsters have.
<span style="font-weight:400">… wait? The facility … in that dream Lua told me about … was that the Magical Citadel of Endymion? Was I able to make one? If her dream really is anything more than a dream, then I think yes. There are just too many coincidences where I could call it ‘just a dream’.
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<span style="font-weight:400">We got inside the dungeon, after I removed the boulder blocking the entrance. The stairs down werepletely covered in spider webs, and other stuff, but the monsters seem to have fallen back into the room ahead.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Master, allow me to clear the way.” Agunan said, as he stepped forward.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... sure…” I allowed him.
<span style="font-weight:400">Agunan ignited his own body, and the area around him began to burn. The fire then cleared all of the spider webs, as well as the other trash in our way.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wow. Thanks, Agunan. Great work.” Iplimented him, as we walked into the dungeon.
<span style="font-weight:400">“So, how do we want to clear this ce?” I asked. “Do I just summon some powerful monsters, so we can st our way through, or do we take a more careful approach?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I think we should do it quickly. If the Goddess wants us to clear this ce, we should do it as quickly as possible.” Lua answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... that’s boring. I wanted to fight myself…” Aliceined slightly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t think this world will run out of monsters even if we demolish the monsters in one dungeon. And they doe back, even after we eliminate and re-establish this ce.” I reminded her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Master, do you have contact with the Goddess?” Agunan asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well, kind of. I’ve never met her personally, but she did promise to talk with me. And I have met with a System Agent, if you know what they are.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Them? Yes. I’ve heard of them. … but the Goddess, huh. I wonder how powerful she is..?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Please don’t fight with gods. And if you do, at least fight with ones I can summon. It will be a lot easier.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“You can summon gods?” Alice asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well yes, but also no. At least not yet. Exodia, a certain golden giant Agunan was after, is more or less a demi-god. And there are other demi-god level cards, but I just don’t have any yet.” I told them. “... also, the Goddess said I shouldn’t summon Exodia anymore, so I won’t be doing it, unless absolutely necessary.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Can this Exodia appear in your world, Master?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“In the factory? ... I’m not sure, actually.” I answered Agunan. “I’ve never seen him there, and considering that he is basically five cards in one, I think he might not be able to, unless someone summons him. … and I don’t want him destroying that ce, so I’m not sure I want to try. Maybe just wait until I get some of the other god-cards.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Likee on. Agunan. Even after the install, you lost your factory rematch against Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, so why do you want to fight a god? Well, admittedly it wasn’t really a fair fight, because they fought in the area governed by Mountain of Light, so my Blue-Eyes got the power boost from it. Next time, I’ll have them fight in a neutral environment. And if Agunan wins, he can always y around with Shining Dragon next.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Come forth, ck Luster Soldier, ck Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, Dark Sage and Dark Magician of Chaos.” I summoned my monsters.
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<span style="font-weight:400">This lineup might be extreme overkill, but I also don’t want any trouble, so why not? Also, I haven’t summoned Dark Sage since I made the engagement bracelets with him, so it is about time I summoned him again. Same goes for ck Luster Soldier. It has been a while since I''ve summoned him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We are getting through this ce quickly. You four clear all the monsters in our way.” I ordered my summons, and they got to work.
<span style="font-weight:400">Out of the five of us, only Agunan could keep up with their speed, so the rest of just kind of stayed back and walked. I also kept collecting the monster corpses into my Storage as we did. That led me to realize something I haven’t noticed before. The monster corpses from the dungeon have a condition called ‘miasma curse’. It means that they have a lot more miasma than usual monsters, so their materials cannot be used, unless they are purified by Holy Magic, and I can use Storage to purify it as well.
<span style="font-weight:400">The miasma itself, ording to Laura, would result in the equipment made from them being cursed, so you definitely don’t want to use them without the purification. Even high ranking monsters outside of dungeons sometimes have that condition, but Tahlia must have always purified it. One of those ‘It doesn’t really matter, but wish she or Laura had told me’ things right there.
<span style="font-weight:400">The secondrge room didn’t have insects. Instead, it was filled to the brim with nt type monsters. The strongest of them was a B-rank man-eating nt, so that was fun.
<span style="font-weight:400">The third had bird type monsters, with the strongest ones being a group of four griffins.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“... howrge is this dungeon?” I asked, in a tone that might have sounded more likeining.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was the evening of the day we arrived here, and thus far, we had gone through over 30 rooms of this dungeon. And with the rooms being massive, and filled to the brim with monsters, even with my arsenal of summons, it took a while per room. Also, all of the monsters were high ranking monsters. None had been below C-rank, and most were B-rank.
<span style="font-weight:400">And eventually, even A-rank monsters began appearing. Which in itself wouldn’t be a problem, but they did slow us down just a bit, especially if I didn''t have my A-Forces out here. But I could easily fix that little problem by throwing out some equip spells, so we were making good time.
<span style="font-weight:400">The only problem was, we now needed to sleep in the dungeon. … I honestly hoped we’d have this ce cleared in one day, but nope. And unlike TinaWood, this ce doesn’t have guaranteed safe zones, so we have to use some… not so conventional means of making a safe zone.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Swords of Revealing Light.” I activated the spell. With it, no monsters should be able to attack us.
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<span style="font-weight:400">… but we would still have to have at least one of us stay awake, to keep watch, just to make sure. For that, the girls needed more powerful monsters. If something does break the Swords of Revealing Light, the cards Alice, Lua and I have set on us should buy us a bit of time, but still better to make sure.
<span style="font-weight:400">I gave Lua her own copy of Guardian Angel Joan, as well as Water Dragon, and the cards she needs to summon Water Dragon. Guardian Angel Joan I don’t think I even need to exin, but I added the Water Dragon because she paid some attention to it when I pulled it from the pack.
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<span style="font-weight:400">But I really need some stronger water attribute monsters. My strongest is Gogiga Gagagigo, and he is uncontroble. Sure Neo-Daedalus is almost as strong, but still. None of my water-attribute monsters have over 3000 attack, and that is just a shame.
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<span style="font-weight:400">Giving something to Alice was a lot easier. My dark lineup is a lot more varied. But there was only one she really wanted.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Can I have the Dark Pdin?” She requested.
<span style="font-weight:400">So of course I gave her a Dark Pdin, as well as its fusion materials.
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<span style="font-weight:400">I also let her keep the Polymerization she used to fuse her monsters, and also gave her a De-Fusion to go along with it.
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<span style="font-weight:400">I did warn her that I’d take them back if she used them on a person, but Alice just reassured me that she wouldn’t do that.
<span style="font-weight:400">And finally, Ria got herself a copy of Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. Don’t think I forgot that she wanted it. Sure it might not be quite as strong as the others, but it will buy a bit of time in case of an enemy attack.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Master. You should just let me keep guard, so all of you can sleep for the night. I don’t need to sleep, as long as I have food.” Agunan offered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Nope. Not happening.” I denied. “I need you in tip top shape for tomorrow, and for that, sleep is important.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The order in which we were taking turns keeping guard was Alice, Agunan, me, Ria andstly Lua. The reason I went with this order was because Alice, Lua and I could tell time with out System Supports, so we would be able to time for how long we need to keep guard before waking up the next person. And our System Supports would also wake us up for our own guard shift.
<span style="font-weight:400">… the only problem was the Swords of Revealing Light. While Lua, Ria, Alice and I could all activate it, if anyone but me activated it, we couldn’t all move inside of them. If Ria activated it, Agunan and I could move inside just fine, but Alice and Lua would be frozen. And if Alice or Lua activated it, Agunan and Ria would get frozen. So the only choice was that I have to wake up every two hours to recast the spell. It could be worse, but I still don’t like it. But better than being eaten by monsters during our sleep, so I’ll just have to ept it.
<span style="font-weight:400">We naturally didn’t use Level Up!s because we were in a dungeon, so after getting into my sleeping bag, I quickly fell asleep.