— Asher Montgomery —
After passing through the entrance stone with his whole harem, Asher opened his eyes in the Starting Room.
“Oh my god!” Lucy exclaimed, spinning. “This place is amazing!”
“It’s just a white room,” Elara commented, stepping toward the panel in the middle.
Lucy glanced at her. “Can we decorate it?” she asked.
Naomi giggled, but when Asher glanced at her, she blushed, averting her gaze.
“We could put a bed here,” Lucy said, pointing at one of the walls. “It could be quite useful, you know?” she asked, winking at Asher.
“The active mission is to kill twenty-five monsters,” Elara said, reading from the panel and ignoring Lucy’s antics.
“Quite a lot,” Ava replied. “The reward?”
“Thirty bronze coins,” Elara answered.
“We were supposed to have a short exploration today,” Asher said. “But maybe the dungeon will throw a lot of Level 1 monsters at us.”
“What about the two other quests?” Lucy asked, skipping to the panel and tapping on it.
“We can take the quest for twenty bronze coins to kill two level four monsters, and in reward get fifty bronze coins,” Elara read aloud.
“We might not even meet two level four monsters,” Asher said.
“Skip,” Lucy said, tapping on the screen again. “Let’s check the interesting one.”
“We’re not taking it,” Asher said. “We talked about it.”
“I know, I know,” Lucy replied. “Too much risk and so on. I just want to see what it is,” she said, reading the information on the panel. “Kill ten monsters, thirty bronze coins, but all our damage is reduced by fifteen percent.”
“Just as Ash said, we don’t take it,” Elara said.
He smiled at her, grateful for her support, but it wasn’t really necessary, because no one objected to taking less risk and playing it slow.
Elara tapped on the panel, returning to the screen where they could choose a dungeon level, however, they still had only one option available: Random Dungeon Level 1.
“Prepare your weapons,” Ava said, glancing at Sam and Lucy, who still had their swords in their explorer bags.
Sam took out her shield and sword, while Lucy pulled out a necklace from under her armor. A light ball flew out of it and turned into a sword in her hand. It didn’t look like anything special, but Lucy was still at level one, so there weren’t really many options available for her.
Asher, standing next to her, watching it, tilted his head as a thought crossed his mind.
“If you have the explorer bag, why did you come to the Academy with a suitcase?” he asked.
“So a handsome guy like you would carry it for me, obviously,” Lucy explained, grinning.
“Someone would think that you came here to find a boyfriend rather than explore dungeons,” Elara said.
Lucy giggled. “Why not both?” she asked. “But I was kidding. You really thought I took all of my things in just one suitcase? It was a miracle that I fit it all in two exploring bags. And the suitcase.”
“Ready?” Ava asked, interrupting the banter.
After everyone confirmed, Ava tapped on the panel’s screen, and the world around them turned dark for a second.
—
Dungeon Entered:
Swamp, Level 1
—
Asher closed the notification and looked around, checking their surroundings. Except for his teammates, there was no living creature in sight. He lowered his sword, as they weren’t in immediate danger.
“So cool!” Lucy exclaimed.
Asher didn’t see anything special around them, but for Lucy, it was her first time in the dungeon, and her excitement didn’t really surprise him so much.
They were surrounded by a vast, open stretch of land, dotted with patches of tall grass and the occasional lone tree. The ground beneath their feet was soft and uneven, squelching with each step. Shallow ponds and wide puddles covered much of the area, some so murky you couldn’t tell if they were just a few inches deep or several feet.
“Movement here is hindered,” Ava said. “Elara, you will be affected the most.”
Elara grimaced and lifted one foot, watching as thick mud clung to her boot and stretched with it, making her movement slower.
“Be careful,” Asher said, looking at her with concern. He was worried that she might trip or run into deep water.
“Yeah, I know,” Elara replied, her face twisted in an unhappy grimace.
Asher was glad that at least it was the Level 1 dungeon, so they wouldn’t stumble upon any magic-using monsters, which would also put Ava at a disadvantage as the Fire Mage. He realized that, hopefully, before they reached Level 2 dungeons, Ava would have her class changed to Elemental Mage and no longer be limited by such elemental weaknesses.
“So, now, we look for monsters to kill?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah,” Ava replied.
“Yay!” Lucy exclaimed.
“Sam, take the lead,” Elara said, pointing at a patch of ground that looked firmer than the rest.
Asher glanced at Naomi and Sam, who stood close to each other, realizing that both of them were pretty quiet. For Naomi, it was normal, but Sam often threw a joke or playful jab topkapı escort at someone, yet this time she also didn’t speak at all. He wondered if it was because of her argument with Naomi, but at least Sam seemed focused, and that was more important in the dungeon than being social.
Sam nodded and headed through the path that Elara pointed out.
They had to move in single file. Elara was right behind Sam, followed by Ava, Naomi, and Asher, with Lucy bringing up the rear. From time to time, they stumbled upon deep ponds and had to backtrack and look for a different path.
On top of that, the uncertain terrain forced them to move at a slower pace, making their progress through the dungeon painfully slow.
“A turtle!” Lucy exclaimed suddenly. “It’s so cute!”
Asher glanced at her and then looked where she was pointing. He squinted his eyes, looking at something that at first he thought was a big rock, but when it moved, he realized that it was a turtle.
Or rather, a Giant Swamp Turtle–a monster that was only met in the Swamp Dungeon. He didn’t see anything cute about it, especially when he recalled from the lessons at the Academy that they were around thirteen feet tall, thirty feet long, and looked like a dinosaur that would stomp you.
“I don’t see anything cute in it,” Elara commented.
“You know, turtles are cute, and this one is just big,” Lucy explained.
“It’s slow,” Ava said. “But it has plenty of health, a shell to protect its body. Its legs are covered in thick skin that reduces damage. Only the head is its weak point, but if it manages to catch you with its jaws, you’re fucked.”
“Hmm,” Lucy hummed. “When you put it like that, it doesn’t seem so cute anymore.”
The monster was moving away from them and clearly didn’t notice them. But even then, it was too slow to catch them if they wanted to run away.
“We could just move on and look for something else,” Asher said.
“It’s quite a weak opponent,” Ava replied. “It will just take a lot of time to take it down, but we could gain a lot of experience from it.”
“We have a lot of monsters to kill to complete our quest, and we would waste a lot of time to kill just one,” Elara said.
“We don’t need to complete this quest,” Asher replied.
“Oh come on!” Lucy said. “Make a choice,” she added, looking at Asher. “We’re wasting time. Either we kill the not-so-cute turtle, or we let it go live its life and look for something else.”
“Let’s take it down,” Asher said. “With Naomi’s unlimited arrows, we will just need to distract it between us while keeping a distance, and she will take it down eventually. Very little risk.”
Elara grimaced. “I will not have opportunities to attack it safely,” she commented.
“Maybe you will find some chance, but you can also stay mostly back and let others take care of that,” Asher said, staring at her, wondering if she would have a problem with that.
“Okay, decided,” Lucy said.
Elara glanced at her, but then nodded, looking at Asher. He turned toward Naomi and Sam, who both agreed.
“Sure,” Ava said. “I’ll be careful with my mana and only shoot to distract it when necessary.”
It took them a few more minutes of trudging through the swamp before they got close to the monster. They discussed their plan while watching it–the creature hadn’t noticed them yet and was still slowly walking forward.
Naomi was supposed to stay back and rain arrows on the monster, dealing most of the damage. The rest of the group would split into three teams.
Sam would take the front, taunting the turtle and drawing its attention, with Ava right behind her, ready to cover her and make sure she didn’t back into a pond while retreating.
Lucy and Asher would mirror that on the opposite side, drawing aggro in turns to keep the monster’s attention shifting between them and Sam. Asher’s job, like Ava’s, was also to watch the terrain and prevent any missteps into the swamp.
Elara, acting alone, was supposed to look for an opportunity to deal a lot of damage with her Powerful Attack, but otherwise stay back and keep an eye on the surroundings in case their fight attracted something else.
Once they got close enough, Asher checked the monster’s status.
—
Giant Swamp Turtle
Level 4
Health: 1200/1200
—
“Fucking beast!” Lucy exclaimed. “Twelve hundred health.”
Asher decided not to use the skill that he had borrowed from Rachel–The Curse of Decay–as its effect would be the most useful when it could be applied against many monsters. And in a long fight that was awaiting them, the damage that he could deal with it wasn’t so important.
He could use Partner Enhancement, however, this time not on Elara, as he had always done before, but on Naomi, who was supposed to deal the most damage in the upcoming fight. He discussed it with Nami and the rest of the team, and they agreed that he would add her stat points to strength.
When they got in Naomi’s range, they split into groups and found terrain that bağcılar escort was firm, without big ponds nearby.
“Naomi, are you ready?” Asher asked, waiting for Sam and Ava to find their position on the other side of the turtle that was coming toward them.
“Yeah,” she replied. An arrow showed up in her hand, shining white light.
“So cool!” Lucy said, staring at the skill that Naomi had used.
“Focus,” Asher said, looking at Lucy.
“Yup,” she replied, nodding. Then turned toward the turtle monster with concentration clear on her face.
“Okay, let’s start,” Asher said, activating Partner Enhancement on Naomi.
She had her bow already drawn and released the arrow that flew in a high arc and struck the turtle’s neck. Naomi immediately summoned another one, aiming it at the monster and releasing one after another.
The monster turned toward them, its big eyes focusing on Naomi, who was standing slightly behind Asher. It started to approach them, moving faster than before, making bigger steps that didn’t sink into the ground.
It was getting closer, but then it abruptly turned around. Sam, on its other side, slashed with her sword at its neck. The monster tried to catch her with its massive jaws that closed a few feet in front of her shield. Then Sam began to back off, directed by Ava behind her.
The monster turned and headed away from Asher, Lucy, and Naomi. Its whole focus was on Sam, trying to catch her.
Lucy moved forward, approaching the monster, readying herself to attack it to grab its aggro when it was her turn. Naomi was releasing arrow after arrow, all of them hitting the easy target. A lot of her arrows struck the monster’s eyes, but it had a membrane that was protecting them.
“Swap!” Ava shouted over the monster.
Lucy immediately rushed forward and slashed with her sword at the exposed neck of the turtle, leaving a shallow wound. Then she immediately jumped back, as the monster turned toward her, its big maw snapping in front of her, as it tried to catch her.
As Lucy was backing off, watching the monster, Asher was leading her to prevent her from falling into any pond or onto unstable ground.
The monster, like many animal-based ones in the dungeons, was following the last one who attacked it, moving toward Lucy.
Asher reached a deeper pond. They still had a path to run away just in case, but he turned around. “Swap!” he shouted.
Just a second later, the monster turned away in the direction of Sam and Ava, and from the flames that burst over its head, Asher knew that Ava had used her skill.
As the monster turned toward Ava, Asher and Lucy moved in behind it, retaking the ground they’d given up earlier–ready to draw its attention back when the time came.
Asher glanced at Lucy, who was staring at the monster with concentration, waiting for the signal to attack. He was glad that despite her bubbly and carefree behavior most of the time, she was completely focused when it was needed from her.
Then he looked around, searching for Elara, who was standing at the side by the turtle’s legs at the moment, but at a safe distance from it. However, attacking the legs didn’t make sense at all–she would deal reduced damage, and it wasn’t even safe. Getting kicked by a leg that was thicker than most trees would be a devastating blow, so Elara just waited, watching the fight.
“Swap!” Ava shouted.
“Go,” Asher added to Lucy.
She moved forward, watching every step as she got close and slashed the turtle’s side of the head. The monster turned quickly–this time, rather than trying to catch her, clearly intending to just smash her with its head.
Lucy dropped to the ground, avoiding it. Then jumped to her feet and backed off quickly, running to Asher, who was making sure that there wasn’t any pond between them at any time.
The turtle didn’t manage to attack again before Lucy was out of its range. As the monster turned toward them, Elara was by its front legs, but she was still waiting at a distance.
Asher was checking the ground, leading Lucy through the swamp as she made sure that the turtle wasn’t close enough to attack them.
Asher was tense. One mistake could end really badly, but with how slow the monster was, it was just a lot of waiting for your turn and then moving through the swamp, luring its aggro.
Naomi was constantly sending her arrows at the turtle. It would probably be impaled by many of them already, but they were vanishing a moment after hitting. He wasn’t sure how many she had hit already, but at the moment, he couldn’t turn around to check the monster’s status, focused on the ground in front of him.
“Swap!” he shouted when they reached the same pond that they had previously.
A second later, fireballs again struck the side of the turtle’s head. The monster, following its instincts, turned and headed at Ava.
Asher had the chance to check its status.
—
Giant Swamp Turtle
Level 4
Health: 845/1200
—
He sighed. This was only a third halkalı escort of the fight, and once his buff on Naomi wore off, things would slow down even more.
As the turtle began to turn, Elara spotted her chance. She dashed forward with impressive speed. Still, Asher could tell she was holding back–careful with her footing, not going all out.
She slipped in close to the monster’s neck and slashed across it with both daggers, leaving long, bleeding wounds.
With a new attacker, the turtle stopped and turned, trying to locate Elara–but she was too close to its neck, staying just outside its field of vision. She slashed again, circling with the creature to remain in its blind spot.
But then the turtle suddenly pulled its head back into its shell, hiding its vulnerable neck–and finally spotted her.
“Back off!” Asher shouted.
Elara had done her job attacking with Powerful Attack. Remaining close and attacking further made no sense, especially when she didn’t have Asher’s buff to strength. He was glad that Elara listened, and before the turtle managed to attack her, she backed off, getting behind Sam and next to Ava.
The turtle turned to follow her again, trudging in their direction and giving Lucy and Asher room to move.
It took a few more cycles of taunting and leading the monster in turns. With every hit it took, it grew slower–weakened by its wounds and the constant blood loss.
When the final arrow struck its bloodied head, the turtle’s legs buckled beneath it, and its massive shell crashed to the ground with a loud thud and a splash of water.
Asher checked his status, finding out that he got a lot of experience, but it was not enough to level up.
“Yay!” Lucy squeaked.
He turned toward her, smiling, knowing that she had leveled up.
“I got a level up!” she exclaimed, running to Asher. She hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his in a wet kiss, as she pushed her tongue into his mouth.
“New way of celebrating the win?” Sam asked, approaching them with the rest of their team.
“I can give you a kiss too if you want,” Lucy replied, pulling back from Asher, grinning.
Sam snorted. “Maybe some other time.”
“Naomi, Sam–did you two level up too?” Ava asked.
“Yeah,” Sam replied, as Naomi nodded.
“Remember to use your stat points and upgrade your skill,” Ava said.
“Let’s check the loot,” Elara said, heading toward the chest that had remained from the turtle’s body after it had turned into a black mist.
“Can I?” Lucy asked, running after Elara. “Please, can I? Please?”
Elara rolled her eyes, smiling. “Sure.”
“Cool!” Lucy exclaimed, falling to her knees by the chest. After opening it, she put her hand inside and pulled out a single bronze coin.
“A coin!” she shouted, lifting it over her head. Then she tossed it to Asher and reached into the chest again.
She started to pull out something big. She needed to get up to take it out completely. It was a big scute, easily half her height and equally wide.
“It’s rare,” Lucy said.
—
A Swamp Turtle Scute (Rare)
Crafting component
A hardened fragment of a swamp turtle’s shell, said to carry the slow, unyielding resilience of ancient marsh spirits.
—
It was a neutral item from which a weapon could be created. Or more precisely, Asher corrected himself, a shield or armor. They could try to find someone with the right class to do it for them, but just selling it sounded like a better option.
“Okay,” Ava said. “Put it into your bag, and let’s move on.”
Lucy nodded as the scute in her hands shone and shrank until it changed into a light ball that flew into her necklace.
“Is everyone okay?” Asher asked. “Does someone need to rest?”
After everyone confirmed that they hadn’t gotten any wounds and were ready for the next fight, they moved on, trudging through the swamp.
It took them some time before they stumbled into another monster. Or rather, a group of monsters this time. Sam was the first one to notice them, stopping the group and pointing them out ahead.
“What’s that?” Elara asked.
A colorful swarm shimmered in the distance, drifting above the marshland like a living cloud.
“Dragonflies,” Ava replied.
“Monster versions of them. They are over a meter long,” Asher added.
“Ewwww! Bugs!” Lucy said, stepping toward Asher and hugging him.
“Are you scared of bugs?” he asked, wrapping his arms around Lucy while watching the incoming monsters. They were still far away, and they had time.
“Mmm… not really. But they’re disgusting,” she said, squeezing him harder. “Every opportunity to hug you is worth taking.”
“Lucy, focus,” Asher murmured, shifting his gaze to her face.
She nodded, pulling back from him and taking out her sword from her exploring bag, turning toward the monsters with concentration on her face.
“But seriously, can’t you just burn them all or something?” Lucy asked, glancing at Ava.
“I will,” she replied, summoning fireballs over her hands.
“Cool,” Lucy said, her gaze lingering on Ava’s skills.
“Let’s stay close to each other,” Asher said. “They are fast, but don’t hit hard. Let Naomi and Ava take them down while we protect them. And I will use the Curse of Decay on Naomi,” he added.