Healer Book 5 -- Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The inside of The Badlands dungeon was completely unlike his previous experiences in a dungeon inhabited by an entity of the Adversary. 

The Descent Into Darkness Dungeon had been full of mind-altering monsters that were designed to mimic the original inhabitants, but once he was able to see past the illusion that they had covering them, they hadn’t been very powerful or threatening.  The Soul Harvester that ended up being located at the bottom was something altogether different, of course.

Then there was the one from the night before, which he thought was called The Ascent, and it didn’t have any monsters at all – only traps that tried to kill him in hundreds of different ways.  The Nexus Corrupter had been around 200 Levels higher than his own Level at the time, but even that difference wasn’t enough to make it too much of a threat, especially when his Achievements came into place. 

The Badlands, however, was immediately different from the get-go.

“Hey, Sadia?  What was it you told me was the biggest difference between a Maximal Intermediate dungeon and the easier difficulties?” he asked almost immediately after appearing inside. 

A second later, the giant squirrel that was his companion popped out of his AMPs, where she had retreated as he went through the entrance; neither of them wanted her to be left behind again.  “Uh, well, if the Minimal difficulty is an introduction to Intermediate dungeons and Medial difficulty is filled with unique monsters, situations, and Challenges, then Maximal is, succinctly… more.”

“More, huh?  I guess this qualifies then, doesn’t it?”

She chuckled nervously as she took in the situation they just walked into, before glancing back to confirm that the entrance had disappeared behind them.  “Yes, but this is a bit exaggerated.  When I said more, I simply meant that Raid Parties would be facing more of everything they’d faced before, whether it be monsters, traps, or unique Challenges.  This,” she said with a wave ahead of her, “is not what I meant.”

Normally, when entering any dungeon, but especially an Intermediate dungeon, there is a safe zone around the entrance that allows the Raid Party to gather once they’re inside so that they can prepare accordingly before they delve into the danger that they’re planning on facing.  This could be an empty room, or a designated slice of a larger, open space, or even a deserted island on the edge of a water-based dungeon.  Thaden could only imagine that even a Maximal-difficulty Intermediate dungeon would have one of these safe zones, if only because Sadia hinted that the majority of Maximal difficulty dungeons had a much higher maximum Raid Party count than usual – so 300+ Contenders was the norm, rather than the exception as in the easier difficulties.

As the Omenic Drifter gazed around at the landscape, which was a barren expanse reminiscent of The Ghost Town, but the biggest difference was that the edges of the expanse were ringed in a fiery, volcanic mountain range, with the tops of the mountains constantly spewing lava and belching out smoke, creating a cacophony of explosive detonations that he could hear even from miles away.  In addition, large cracks that formed narrow canyons broke up the monotony of the flat, empty land, which also seemed to act as makeshift guides to direct a Raid Party into a specific pathway through the dungeon.   

Of course, the barren expanse of The Badlands also wasn’t completely empty of landmarks.  On the opposite edge of where he entered was a tower made of dark stone, reaching like a finger toward the sky, which rumbled ominously with thunderous clouds that threatened to rain down bolts of lightning like some sort of pissed-off god of thunder – which was likely the only type of rain that this place ever saw.

It was this dark stone tower in the distance where he felt the presence of the Adversary the strongest, so he knew that he needed to travel there in order to eliminate it – or even speak to it to get some answers on the off-chance that it was willing to communicate.  Unfortunately, in between him and the tower was an enormous army of monsters, all of whom had a faint tinge of sickly green surrounding them like some sort of Aura; while he couldn’t be certain, the fact that it was the same color green as the “eye” of the Nexus Corrupter he’d killed before made him think that they were corrupted by the entity – or something similar to it.  If that made them stronger, or possibly contagious… well, he didn’t actually know, but he was about to find out.

That was because they were all charging at him, with the closest only a few seconds away from reaching his position.  While he had technically emerged from the entrance into a “safe zone,” as he hadn’t popped out right on top of a monster, his opposition wasn’t going to give him more than a few seconds to prepare, as they started moving toward him the moment he arrived. 

What were the monsters that inhabited The Badlands?  Unfortunately, they were none other than demonic beasts – or so their appearance made him think that’s what they were.  In reality, they were called something else.

Dramolga Voidwalker – Intermediate Maximal

Level 500 (Perceived Level: 650)

Dramolga Voidcaller – Intermediate Maximal

Level 500 (Perceived Level: 650)

Dramolga Voidwhipper – Intermediate Maximal

Level 500 (Perceived Level: 650)

He wasn’t sure why they were Level 500, given that when he entered it said the recommended Level was his own at 450, but that was beside the point.  What was more pertinent was the fact that every single one of the Dramolga was the size of a mid-size SUV back on Earth, each of them with black skin containing a hint of crimson light that infused it, long appendages tipped with clawed hands the size of his torso that allowed them to run on all-fours, and enough tentacles snaking off their back to make Medusa jealous. 

From a distance of about 300 feet, the Voidcallers stopped their charge toward him.  When they stopped, their back-tentacles arranged themselves in a relatively circular formation that quickly formed an extremely dark ball of what he could only assume was “void”, before launching them at him at such a distance when they were the size of an exercise ball.

The Voidwalkers were the fastest of the bunch and would likely be the first to arrive, as they seemed to teleport in a flash of darkness, propelling themselves forward 50 feet or more instantly.  Their speed was incredible even when they weren’t teleporting ahead, as they were essentially a blur to his senses when they really got moving.

Lastly, the Voidwhippers were slightly larger overall, and they had longer – and more numerous – tentacles on their back to boot.  They shared the same demonically screaming mouth on their oversized heads that they all possessed, but in the case of the Voidwhippers, their teeth were longer and appeared even sharper than the others, and also came with dripping, flammable liquid that seemed to ignite as soon as oxygen was introduced to it.

In short, it appeared as if he’d transported to hell and hordes of demons were coming for him. 

Unlike the Undead Horde Siege, however, there was no town to protect and no walls to defend from.  This was simply a straight-up ambush of epic proportions, as the canyons running along the ground of The Badlands dungeon served to be no obstacle to the incoming monsters, as they hopped over them as if they were tiny cracks in the sidewalk.  From his rather extensive knowledge of dungeons by this point, it was fairly obvious that this wasn’t the intended scenario and Challenge this particular dungeon was supposed to have; what it was supposed to look like, though, he had no idea.

Anyone else, even a Level 400 Raid Party of 300 Contenders who managed to squeeze inside the entrance within seconds of each other, would look around them and see their deaths.  Even a handful of the Dramolga, being Level 500, would give a full Raid Party trouble because of the Level differential, not to mention the Level Compression; still, they might be able to pull off a victory against a few of the incoming monsters, particularly if their teamwork was top-notch.

But against hundreds?  No, thousands of these monsters? 

The unfortunate Raid Party would all be dead in less than a minute. 

Thaden, on the other hand, wasn’t a full Raid Party.  He wasn’t even really a Raid Party, though being solo still counted as being a Party, at least.  Instead, he was just one person, and with his squirrel companion by his side, he was these monsters’ worst nightmare.

A bit dramatic, I’m sure, but it fits.

Sadia completed the process of covering herself in protective spells and setting herself up for the fight to come, but Thaden was pretty much ready to go since before he walked inside.  With a last activation of his new Exceptional Recovery State, which increased his healing effectiveness by a base of 500%, which because of his current spell effectiveness bonuses was then increased by 2,130%, he added another 10,650% to his healing spells and effects, giving him nearly 15,000% over the base healing amount – as long as they targeted himself – when all was said and done.  He could boost that up even further with a few specific Support spells, but he didn’t think there was any need.

“Ready to cause some havoc?” he asked Sadia with a smirk that he couldn’t keep off his face.

She still twitched nervously for a moment, but Thaden could tell the giant squirrel was pulling his leg.  That became quite obvious when he saw her suddenly grin right back at him.  “I thought you’d never ask.”

They waited another second before Thaden went straight and to the left, while Sadia angled off to the right, as the first of the Voidwalkers entered the range of their ongoing Leach combos.  A dozen of them fell dead in mid-stride as they were absolutely annihilated by the damage they were putting out, but then it seemed as though they got wise to the attacks.  Somehow recognizing the range of his Leach effects, which was a sign of intelligence that he wasn’t expecting, the Voidwalkers began to disappear into a void just before they were in range, only to appear right above either Thaden or Sadia, already slicing down at them with their razor-sharp claws and stabbing with their back-tentacles. 

Unfortunately for the monsters, even the abrupt surprise attack couldn’t save them, because while a few of them actually managed to get off a swipe or two, they couldn’t get through even a fraction of their protections.  As the both of them were still moving rapidly toward the approaching army of demonic-looking monsters, they left a trail of teleported corpses in their wake.

Laughing, Thaden yelled, “Not so scary now, are you?”

Even when they encountered the first of the larger Voidwhippers, which turned out could extend their tentacles up to nearly 200 feet, they simply ran through the onslaught as the attacks had no way to pierce through their protections.  Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the fitness-ball-sized orbs made of darkness slam into Sadia and he was momentarily worried as the ball exploded into a freaky-looking void ten times its original size.  He needn’t have been concerned, however, as he watched the giant squirrel jump through the void as if it was a curtain of water in front of her, seemingly none the worse for wear. 

When he got closer to the Voidcallers, there were so many around him that some of them got within 50 feet of him; at that point, they stopped trying to launch void balls at him, and instead twirled their back tentacles and produced a wave of darkness that shot out at incredible speed, hitting everything around them at a range of about 60 feet.  The other monsters didn’t seem to be affected by the violent wave, but when it hit him, he momentarily paused as he could feel the absolute absence of warmth and isolation that it projected; it made him shiver as it passed through him, leaving him temporarily startled at the sensations, but it ultimately didn’t harm him in the least.  Any afflictions that it might have imparted were prevented along with the damage, so all it really did was make him feel a bit odd.

Fortunately, those kinds of attacks that actually managed to get through were rare, because both Thaden and the giant squirrel were outputting so many damaging Leach effects at a rapid pace that very few monsters got within range to actually attack.  That changed a little the began to approach the thick of the army arrayed against them, as they were clustered so closely together that he had to start running and hopping across their corpses to keep progressing.

“Slow down a bit!” he shouted at Sadia, as he was having trouble keeping up with her progress.  Being a squirrel came with some benefits, one of which was being able to move quickly and nimbly over rough terrain; while Thaden was fast and coordinated because of his Celerity, he didn’t have the physical body structure that allowed his companion to bounce along the carpet of corpses as if she was frolicking through a tranquil meadow.

“Come on, slowpoke!  I’ll race you to the tower!” she shot back with amusement in her voice, though he did notice that she slowed down…

…a little bit.  It wasn’t enough for him to catch up, but she was apparently planning on making the race closer than it would normally be.

He just shook his head with a chuckle that erupted into laughter, enjoying himself more than he probably should be considering what he was there to do.  He began looking at the corpses, as he passed, hoping that he would have time to come back and extract loot from them all before he left, but even if he didn’t, the experience he was having with Sadia nearby was enjoyable enough.

Though he wouldn’t mind filling his Inventory with even more stuff, as he still had plenty of room for it right now.  Plus, he already needed some upgrades for pretty much everything he was wearing, as even his Lucky Vagabond set was obsolete at 200 Levels beneath his current Level.

When they were approximately halfway to the tower that was rapidly approaching, he glanced behind him and couldn’t help but notice the sea of corpses, which was starting to change his mind.  He was just about to call out to Sadia again, proposing that they stop so he take at least an hour to extract the loot that was just waiting for him to come back and sweep it up into his Inventory, when he suddenly stumbled forward.  He was able to catch himself before he face-planted into a corpse of a Voidcaller and tumble into one of the canyons that he’d been jumping over, but he understandably shocked, as he hadn’t missed his footing this entire time. 

It was only when he suddenly felt a little bit weaker, as if he was missing some of his normal stats, that he suddenly felt something coming from behind him.  While it was more than a mile away because of the progress he had made, he looked back at the source and was able to pinpoint it precisely.

Someone had come though the entrance, joining him in the dungeon.  Not only that, but they were apparently considered to be in his Party, as all of his solo-based Achievement and Class bonuses disappeared, which was what caused his sudden weakness. 

But more importantly, he somewhat recognized the feeling he received from the intruders: It was the same as he’d felt the night before when Sadia urged him to flee. 

If something like the Soul Harvester or Nexus Corrupter was a physical agent of the Adversary, what he was feeling was a physical agent of the System.  It was different from the Assimilators that acted as Class Representatives in the Coalition buildings, as he had the sense that they were the System and perhaps not exactly “real”, at least in some regards; these sudden dungeon invaders were real enough, but at least some of them had been infused with an extra dose of System power.  It’s likely how they were able to hack their way into the dungeon with me… unless that’s simply a property of these dungeons being corrupted by the Adversary? 

“Thaden… I would run,” Sadia said from his side as she suddenly appeared, having felt the same thing that he did. 

“That’s probably a good idea,” he responded, especially as his vision was finally able to focus enough into the distance to see five figures standing near where the entrance had been.  While he didn’t know if these particular System agents meant him harm, he was a bit wary of what they would do if they caught up to him.  He was confident he could protect himself, at least against normal means, but what if they had some sort of System cheat that trapped him in a void again – or perhaps something worse. 

While they had paused, the monsters continued to try and get to Thaden and Sadia, and even though they were bombarded by a number of darkness balls, which exploded upon contact, nothing hurt either of them.  He was confident that, as long as they maintained their protections, nothing the dungeon or even the Adversarial monster – whatever it turned out to be – threw at them would be dangerous…

…but he wasn’t so sure about these new people.

As much as I don’t want to, I might be able to kill them… but what if the System is following them closely and its attention slams down on me? 

The threat they posed was something not even his high Level, abilities, and special bonuses could fight against – or so he had to assume.  With that in mind, he knew that he needed to get out of this place as soon as possible.

Turning back around, Thaden nodded at his companion as they took off together, even as he began to shift his Mana Transformation stat from Physicality to Celerity to boost his speed and coordination.  It would inevitably reduce the healing and damage output he was used to, but he wasn’t too worried about it, especially after canceling the spell, everything within range still seemed to die instantly once it was randomly targeted by their Leach combos.

With no time to waste, it was time to speedrun the eradication of this annoying Adversarial monster and get the hell out of Dodge.

Chapter 17: https://www.patreon.com/posts/120156503