Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 379

Chapter 379 – Hunter Hunted

The trek back to Khav-Szarol was slower than the journey to the ambush site, but not noticeably so. With [Slave Brands] on all the captured runaways, they didn’t have to worry about them running away, so the only thing the Azure Flames needed to do was make sure they didn’t run into that patrol from Shatterchain on their way back. Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened, so they were able to drop off the captured slaves for a healthy payday before heading back into the tunnels.

“Where do we go now, Mistress?”

Gracie smiled at King’s question. “The northern tunnels. The hunter will probably be the hardest fight, since he’s most likely a stealth type. Then, we’ll move to the middle tunnels, and find that patrol. Hopefully, that won’t take terribly long, and we can get a night’s sleep before heading back out to the teleporter, which will probably be where the boss fight is.”

“How are we going to go about it, then, Mistress?” Liam asked. “Ricardo and I are stealthy, but the rest of you aren’t built for that kind of hunt.”

“Simple, Liam,” Gracie smiled. “We will draw out the hunter, so that you and Ricardo can hunt him in turn. You have the [Ranger’s Mark] skill, so if you can get a line on the hunter, then they won’t be able to use stealth against our group. We just need to get you someplace where you can see them, and get them to reveal themselves.”

Ricardo frowned. “Mistress, you know that this hunter will be looking to attack you, first. Even if they aren’t specifically hunting slave owners, you’re obviously a mage, which means you’re a higher-priority target. And this hunter ought to have some way of piercing defenses, the same as Liam does.”

“Yes,” Gracie nodded. “That is most likely the case. However, I plan to have multiple layers of defenses in place, as well as having my two defenders at my side. It is a risk, yes, but worth it.”

The next couple hours were, in a word, boring. Liam and Ricardo split off, slinking into the shadows as they moved towards the northern caverns. Gracie could still feel them through her skills, and knew generally what direction they were from her, but her focus was primarily on hunting the different creatures that spawned in the caverns. Some slimes, and a few carnivorous plant creatures, but also some lizards and other creatures that made up a surprisingly functional ecosystem. The Demon of the Dungeon must have spent a good deal of time on this area to make it believable.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened for a while. If she hadn’t known that there was a hunter in the area, then it would have been easy to just believe that her party was alone, here, hunting amongst the monsters and collecting meat and hide drops. But she didn’t let her guard down. Everyone in her party, save for the two newest members, had picked up [Danger Sense] from the System Shop. The tomes had been expensive, at 2000 gold each, but it was worth it.

[Danger Sense] flared, and she immediately conjured [Azure Firewall] in a dome around their group as a shield. King was beside her, activating [Forced Intercession]. Ramon had [Lifeward] up on everyone, ensuring that they could survive any single attack with at least 1 HP, and couldn’t take damage for another 30 seconds after being hit, which would give him time to heal them. Logan added [Arrow Ward], giving ranged projectiles a 50% miss chance against them. Moments later, Dhon used [Defender’s Howl], and Nalaea added her [Forcewall] to the shields.

Just in time. An arrow struck like a black thunderbolt, piercing through the [Azure Firewall]. It looked like [Dark Arrow], a skill used by the Dark Ranger class, but stronger. The arrow barely slowed down at the [Forcewall], wavered slightly when it reached the [Arrow Ward], and then had its direction forcibly changed to crash into King’s shield thanks to [Forced Intercession]. However, between his own defenses and [Defender’s Howl], the arrow simply deflected off the shield, doing no damage to him. Just as she’d hoped.

Waving away the [Azure Firewall], now that it had done its job, Gracie scanned the darkness, and smiled as she saw a point of light in the shadows. Not actual light, of course. Instead, it was the light of Liam’s [Ranger’s Mark], showing the location of the target to all of his allies, and preventing them from using stealth. Of course, a hunter would likely notice the mark soon enough, and either flee, or find cover. But that was why she had used [Azure Firewall], instead of a less flashy spell.

The hunter, whoever they were, did not use lights. That meant they were using some form of special vision. Either infrared or low-light. Radar was possible, but unlikely. However, a big ball of flames in the darkness would shine like a beacon to either infrared or ‘darkvision’, as the System called it. Bright enough that it would take someone a moment to realize that they had been tagged with a [Ranger’s Mark].

“[Azure Blast]!” “[Ball Lightning]!” “[Implosion Sphere]!”

Gracie, Logan, and Nalaea launched their spells, blasting the target that they couldn’t clearly see with powerful area effects. Flames, lightning, and a crushing sphere of force attempted to burn, fry, and smash everything in the area. And then, there was the light of a [Pinning Arrow] from Liam, which would lock the target in place. And, right about now, Ricardo should have made his way through the shadows…

Your party has defeated the Gloom Hunter.

Just as planned. That was the thing with opponents like this ‘Gloom Hunter’. They were incredibly deadly if they managed to get their surprise attack off. But they didn’t have the defenses to put up a real fight when someone got in close with a blade.

To a certain extent, Liam was in the same boat. He was a skilled archer, and could stealthily track his prey across any terrain. However, his overwhelming focus on the bow, and the skills he picked supporting that focus, meant he had fewer defensive abilities or melee options. However, those weaknesses were mitigated by the fact that Liam was in a party, with people who could cover for his weak points while he covered for theirs.

That was, after all, why adventurers formed parties. Sure, it was possible to do solo work, if you restricted your activities to hunting or resource gathering in the wilds. However, you were always at greater risk, especially if you had to camp out. Not being able to set watches or even have someone look out for you when you were taking a crap was dangerous when there really were monsters in the woods who wanted to eat you. Yes, having party members divided the spoils, and made you get less XP per kill, but you were more likely to be alive to get those spoils and that XP, which made all the difference.

A few minutes later, Liam and Ricardo appeared out of the gloom, holding the loot from the miniboss. Liam broke the silence. “Fimaazro female named Cizoh. Level 35 Gloomstalker Assassin / Master Hunter. Loot’s fairly simple. Her [Beastbone Bow] is good quality according to [Identify], though I haven’t seen a bow made from bone before. Magic probably compensates for things. It does conjure arrows using the wielder’s MP, though, so you don’t have to worry about ammunition, which is nice. There’s also a [Ring of the Survivor] and [Boots of the Silent Hunter].”

Gracie frowned slightly, and said, “[Ring of the Survivor] and [Boots of the Silent Hunter] are Tier 1 items, about level 20. And you found them on a Tier 2, Level 35 boss? Are they more advanced versions of the ones we know?”

Liam shook his head. “[Ring of the Survivor] is the same. However, the bonuses from the ring aren’t level-dependent. It simply means you don’t need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep, so long as you have MP, or there’s mana in the area. That’s still pretty powerful, no matter the level. And the [Boots of the Silent Hunter] allows you to conjure a globe of silence around yourself, allowing you to move quickly and quietly, and has a percentage-based boost to DEX and weapon damage. The only reason you might want to change with a new pair of boots is because the enchanting level determines how easy it is for things like [Dispel Magic] to knock the effects offline, or because you want something that will allow you to walk up walls or across ceilings, or something like that.”

“If you consider the setting for these floors, it makes sense, Mistress,” Logan said. “Shatterchain is a settlement founded by runaway slaves. Even if they have crafters and enchanters there, they won’t have the tools to make high-end gear. Even if they have higher-level enchanters, for instance, getting the necessary material components for the higher-tier enchantments would be extremely difficult. So, they likely focus on gear that can be reused, or stays relevant for longer.”

“Probably,” Ricardo nodded. “The cat’s armor was leather, with bone to reinforce it, and looked like it had been repaired many times. Even Khav-Szarol had issues with supplies of wood and metal, after all, and they get regular shipments from Khav-Srokzas. So, if we assume that Shatterchain has an even tougher time getting supplies, then it would make sense.”

Gracie frowned. “That means this floor is going to be poor hunting for groups coming down, though. Yes, there are monsters giving materials, but the bosses probably aren’t going to be worth much.”

“It isn’t all bad,” Liam said. “I noticed some resource nodes while we were scouting. Metals that someone with the Mining skill and the right tools could collect. However, that’ll make noise, especially in these caverns, and draw in monsters, or the minibosses, if they haven’t already been dealt with. Plus, you have to get all the way here.”

“Extra risk, extra reward, huh?” Gracie grinned. “Even so, I think this floor will end up being more of a rest stop, before heading to the city. Where we’ll probably find out more about the raid.”

King looked at the floor thoughtfully, as though picturing the floors below. “I wonder if people will have to battle their way through the entire dungeon each time they want to get to the raid. If this dungeon were more like a ‘normal’ dungeon, then that would probably be the case. However, with how long it takes to fight through these floors, and then needing to go through whatever it takes to get into the raid zone, and meet up with other raiders? Even if the raid is only held once every couple months, getting to the raid would take an investment of a couple weeks. You’ll end up having people basically living in the dungeon.”

“That’s a good point,” Gracie nodded. “And probably something the Demon of the Dungeon has already considered. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some kind of portal to the city that can be unlocked. Especially since Lord Kuronoth mentioned exploring the raid zone on the forums, which suggests that he wants people to spend more time there.”

“That’s not the only concern, Mistress,” Logan said. “We sold all the materials we gathered in the dungeon up until now. If other teams do that, then the crafters in Swamptown are going to get rather annoyed, since their business will start tanking. If people can unlock a portal to the city, then that would make trade between the crafters in Swamptown and those in the city possible. So, they could get access to materials that they otherwise might not be able to.”

“Hmm. Well, we’ll see what the situation is. I’m sure that, when we get back to the surface, there will be people wanting to do a rundown of what we’ve seen, and Lord Kuronoth will probably listen in, if only so he can figure out what worked and what needs improvement. Anyways, let’s get moving. We still need to find that patrol of warriors, so we can get the key to the teleport pad.”