C18 A Swarm of Skeleton
Currently, we are standing in front of the dungeon entrance we're about to enter. Its location is beneath a tall cliff. The dungeon door is three meters high and two meters wide. At first glance, it appears to be a regular cave entrance, but the guild has determined it to be an underground dungeon based on reports from an adventurer who discovered it first.
The entrance is covered with dense shrubs, and wild grass grows around the path leading to the cave. It's difficult for us to approach the dungeon as there is no established footpath. This location is truly untouched and unexplored.
[Light Ball]
I create a small ball of light to illuminate the path in front of us. It hovers and floats within my line of sight.
Everyone prepares their weapons and fortifies their mindset as we slowly enter the dungeon. Walking in a single file, I am at the front with Flitz and his group, while the other group follows behind us. The guild assigned a cartographer responsible for mapping the dungeon's location, which is an additional burden considering the dangerous nature of this mission. It's already a dangerous mission, and yet the guild insists on bringing along someone who can't fight at all.
As we enter the dungeon, the first area is a corridor roughly the same size as the dungeon entrance. The ground has a slightly damp texture, and there are numerous stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
"Everyone, be prepared," I instruct all the group members.
With my detection ability, I can see several dozen meters ahead, and I notice a large gathering of monsters. It's a horde of hundreds of skeletons holding swords.
I ready my sword to launch an attack towards the group of skeletons, and all the adventurers are prepared to attack as well.
*Whoosh...
*Slash...
Viola initiates the battle with a wind magic attack, instantly alerting all the monsters to our presence. Everyone attacks with the coordination and strategy we planned.
*Clang...
*Clang...
The sound of swords clashing echoes loudly in the cave. I also unsheathe my sword and attack several skeletons heading towards me.
These are small and weak monsters, easily defeated with a single swing. Other adventurers also handle them with ease. The only challenge is their increasing numbers. When I first saw them, there were around three hundred, but as the skeletons became aware of our presence, their numbers seemed to multiply to nearly a thousand.
Using my detection ability, I see that the deeper we go into the dungeon corridor, the more skeletons appear. It's as if they are lured by the sounds of our battle.
*Slash...
*Slash...
In addition to using my sword for attacks, I also cast several offensive spells. Occasionally, I create blades of wind or wind arrows and launch them towards the skeletons. It proves effective in adding to the assault and assisting other adventurers who may be cornered, creating a combination of sword strikes and magic attacks simultaneously.
The battle might have ended quickly if I could use large-scale magic within this dungeon. However, that's clearly not possible as it would be highly risky without knowing the dungeon's resistance to such powerful magic attacks.
I continue the fight, employing the same types of attacks. The slow movements of the skeletons make it easy for me to defeat them with a single strike.
Although the monsters on the first floor of this dungeon are relatively weak, their numbers are significant. It would undoubtedly pose a challenge for a D-ranked adventurer to face them alone. Fortunately, this time we are fortunate to be fighting the skeleton horde with several groups of adventurers simultaneously.
"Damn it, hey Vans! When will all these skeletons be finished?" Nick complains while continuously attacking the skeletons surrounding him.
It's just a group of skeleton monsters, and he's complaining excessively for weak creatures like them. It's merely a matter of patience—just swing your sword at all the skeletons.
"We're almost done," I shout to everyone.
Perhaps I'm the only one on this mission with detection abilities. As I expand the range of my magical detection, it seems that there are no more groups of skeletons preparing to attack.
After a few final attacks, we manage to eliminate all the skeletons that were attacking us. When I count their numbers, it reaches almost two thousand skeletons. Their bones scatter around us, but I doubt they would fetch a price at the adventurer guild.
I'm also curious about how these skeletons can move. They appear as humanoid monsters composed of bones, without any magical crystals that could serve as their energy core. It's possible that this dungeon directly controls their movements.
"Are you tired already, Nick? We're only on the first floor," Flitz remarks.
"No, it's just tedious fighting so many skeletons," Nick replies while taking a sip from an energy-recovery potion.
Even though these were just the first monsters we faced, Nick has already resorted to using an energy-recovery potion. Is he already exhausted from fighting a group of skeletons?
"Should we continue our exploration, or should we take a break, Nick?" I ask to confirm.
"We'll continue," Nick answers.
We decide to press on with our exploration, maintaining our formation with Flitz and his group at the front line.
This is a dungeon exploration operation organized by the Castalla Adventurer Guild. The guild had previously posted the mission information on the adventurer guild's mission board, but only three adventurer groups were able to undertake this mission.
The reason why only three adventurer groups could participate might be due to the mission's difficulty level. Only adventurers or adventurer groups with a minimum D rank were eligible to participate.
There were indeed many D-ranked adventurers in the Castalla Guild, but some other groups decided not to join this mission because they considered it to be quite dangerous. Additionally, it seems that there are no adventurer groups with ranks higher than D in the Castalla Adventurer Guild, which is quite inconvenient for the guild master.
As for myself, I have limited information about this mission from the guild master. The guild master mentioned that this dungeon was accidentally discovered by an adventurer a month ago, and the guild immediately released the mission on the guild's mission board.
However, there were no takers initially, and in the end, the guild managed to gather only three adventurer groups to undertake this mission. I also joined this mission as a means to improve my rank.
After walking for a while, we finally encountered some monsters ahead of us. Similar to before, they were skeletal monsters, but they appeared stronger than the previous ones. It was a group of dark attribute skeletons, accompanied by wolf-like skeletal monsters.
I'm curious if this dungeon is filled entirely with skeleton-type monsters. Just like before, I prepared to launch an attack on the skeletons.
*Slash...
I immediately unleashed a surprise attack on them. This time, I created a stronger attack because it seemed that this type of skeleton was potentially stronger than the previous ones.
I released multiple attribute attacks at once and swiftly lunged forward, wielding both of my swords simultaneously. It was clear that these skeletons were different from the ones before, requiring more than one strike to bring them down.
*Clang...
*Clang...
The clash of the two swords reverberated throughout the cave. It was clearly different from the previous skeletons. Their attacks and defenses were stronger, and they were slightly taller in size. One of them even wielded a larger sword and had a small shield on its left side.
A light sword strike alone wouldn't be enough to bring them down. Other adventurers also seemed to struggle a bit when fighting them, especially with the wolf-shaped skeleton that was causing additional trouble.
"Damn, this is really challenging," complained one of the adventurers.
I thrust and plunged both of my swords towards all the skeletons attacking me. This time, I used both swords simultaneously to confront these monsters, infusing more magical power into my blades to strengthen my attacks.
There were about a thousand skeletons we were facing at the moment. I increased the speed of my movements to attack all the monsters.
*Bam...
*Crack...
Around a hundred skeletons were sent flying and crashed into the walls due to the impact of my combined sword strikes, enhanced with the added attribute of wind. It created a powerful impact against those skeletons.
I repeated the attack and directed it towards some skeletons that were attacking other adventurers. With just a swing of my sword, dozens of skeletons were sent flying. Some managed to get back up, while others perished instantly.
I could still handle this level of combat with my abilities, but it seemed that other adventurers were having a hard time dealing with these dark-type skeletons.
These were dark attribute skeletons, and their attack power was stronger than regular skeletons.
*Slash...
*Whoosh...
I heightened my perception of the attacks, providing support to adventurers who were in a cornered state. Although I could still manage monsters at this level, it was challenging to fight while protecting other adventurers. It was difficult to divide my focus in a battle, but it also served as the best training for me.
*Crash...
The wind magic attack from my sword became the final blow in this battle. We finally managed to defeat all the dark skeletons, and it seemed that I had the highest score in this fight, defeating around five hundred black skeletons.
"Whew... I'm exhausted."
"Whew... Vans, maybe we should take a short break," Flitz said, catching his breath.
This situation was proving to be troublesome for a group of D-ranked adventurers. Could this dungeon be completed with just a group of D-ranked adventurers? It seemed that the guild master would need to revise the mission he created.
Since some adventurers were tired, I decided to take a short break with them. It wouldn't hurt to rest and think about strategies for the next enemies. Perhaps we would face even stronger monsters later on.
