Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Mage's Dungeon (2)
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Crack!
After chopping at it a few times like he was felling a tree, the old stump finally reacted.
It was as if noise was glitching across the stump's surface like a corrupted screen, and then the stump vanished entirely, replaced by a massive hole.
It was the entrance to the dungeon, concealed by a magical barrier.
[You have entered the secret dungeon 'Mage's Dungeon.']
[First-entry bonus: Acquisition EXP increased by 30% for 3 days.]
[First-entry bonus: Drop rate increased by 30% for 3 days.]
As soon as he slipped inside, a new space unfolded before him. The damp, musty air flowing through the cave suggested it was underground somewhere.
"Hoo!"
Crunch. Puff.
Rokan pulled out a multicolored pearl as soon as he entered and crushed it, smearing the powder over his body.
[You have used Multicolored Pearl Powder.]
[All elemental resistances increased by 10% for 3 minutes.]
It was a consumable that only lasted a measly 3 minutes, so it was wise to use it sparingly—but with magic traps liable to spring up at any moment, that wasn't an option.
Besides, he had a whopping 150 multicolored pearls from his grinding sessions, so there was no need to worry. The Mage's Dungeon could be cleared in about an hour at most.
"Start with this."
What Rokan pulled from his inventory next was something rather unexpected.
A log at least two meters long.
He'd stopped now and then on the way here to chop down trees, storing the whole things in his inventory.
Why? Because the dungeon was too dark, so he planned to split them into firewood?
No. The Mage's Dungeon was surprisingly well-lit for a dungeon, and even if it weren't, Rokan had Night Vision. He could see farther ahead than most without any light.
"Go!"
Its purpose became clear right away. Rokan seemed to gauge the width of the passage, then rolled the log forward like a bowling ball.
Fwoosh! Boom! Crackle.
Chaos erupted. The log must have triggered every trap, because flames and lightning burst from the walls and floor.
Thanks to that, the log didn't get far before splintering and catching fire, but Rokan was satisfied enough.
It had served its purpose, and he had several more just like it.
His next move went without saying. He slowly walked forward, chopped up the useless log with his battle axe, cleared it aside, and rolled out a fresh one.
'Downright cunning, huh...'
Repeating the process, he quickly burned through the ten logs he'd prepared.
There were so many magic traps that he hadn't covered much distance, but it wasn't for nothing. For some reason, the dungeon's owner had concentrated the early traps heavily in the beginning.
To make challengers not even dream of attempting a clear? Or to keep them on edge the whole way, draining their mental stamina?
Either way, it was a real headache from a user's perspective.
"Guess I'll have to tank it from here on out."
He wanted to grind up a hundred more logs and bulldoze through, but sadly, his inventory could only hold ten at a time.
And even that was only possible because his Strength stat was high enough to handle the weight gauge.
Anyway, the tricks were up. Now he really had to trust his body to push through.
"For now... let's go."
There were two main ways: proceed slowly, or break through fast.
The latter would be like the Hero's Trial—pop Berserk and tank everything.
But he held off. If the distance were as short as back then, maybe, but factoring in the cooldown, it would take too long.
"Hmm."
Squeeze. Whiiiish.
The moment he took a new step, rocks came flying this time. It tricked you into thinking it was all magic traps, then mixed in physical attacks.
Clang.
Of course, he blocked it effortlessly. Without even drawing his weapon, he swatted it away with his arm, shattering part of it and sending stone fragments scattering.
Thud.
The problem was the weight of those fragments.
The force from his swing sent them crashing into another trap, and now three more rocks flew at him.
Propelled by magic, their power was downright vicious.
"Damn this cursed thing."
He braced himself and blocked, but Rokan's face was full of irritation.
Why did every single trap trigger for him...? That was why even in his previous life, he'd stuck to dungeons without traps.
"Should've just used Berserk after all..."
He was regretting it after barely ten steps.
But he didn't lose his cool. Instead, he changed how he walked—sticking to one wall.
That raised the odds of hitting wall switches, but lowered the chance of stepping on floor traps. Plus, if a dropping trap hit, he could grip on with raw grip strength.
Boom!
"Kh."
Of course, there were downsides. Misjudging a magic launch point could burn his hand.
But Rokan had 29% elemental resistance. The damage was mitigated, and he immediately stopped to wrap a bandage or use a recovery item, so he pressed on somehow.
"It's clearing up..."
After pushing forward for about ten minutes, the pattern shifted again. Now monsters appeared alongside the traps.
"Specters..."
Undead types. Ones that used magic and floated through the air.
To prevent guardian monsters from accidentally triggering traps, the owner had placed footless ones here—a signature of this place.
Kiee!
"Throwing!"
The Specter fired ember-like spells straight at Rokan without warning.
They usually cast under level 100 magic, but occasionally unleashed powerful ones, so caution was key.
Rokan instantly hurled a hand axe, detonating the spell midair, then carefully advanced.
Standing still in a narrow space like this made catching it impossible.
"Use scroll: Fire Enchant."
Another reason these things were a pain: as spirits, they ignored physical attacks.
So he tore an expensive scroll, infusing his battle axe with flames.
That way, it dealt both fire and physical damage.
'End it in one go.'
First, Rokan quickly widened the distance.
A magic trap did trigger while positioning, but he tanked it with his body.
He sipped a slowly regenerating HP potion, wrapped a bandage, and secured range against the magic monster Specter.
"Leap Attack!"
Then he charged in one shot!
He cleaved through the slug-like ethereal body and shattered its core.
'Too shallow.'
But the Specter's resistance was fierce. Even as its soul split, it finished casting.
"Kh!"
Boom!
An explosion spell went off right in front of him, one that caught even its caster in the blast. Rokan shielded his face and staggered back several steps from the force!
"Charge of Destruction!"
Kiiiiieeeek!
But Rokan didn't stop. He slammed into the Specter's dangling halves, smashing them to pieces. Thanks to the 'Force' skill mixed into his combo, he crushed it instead of passing through.
Rustle.
Translucent fragments rained down as the Specter met its end.
Considering it was just a level 120 regular monster, this was excessive effort.
"Hope it drops something decent..."
Rokan wiped the soot from his face, began recovering, and first checked his inventory. Monsters in the Mage's Dungeon had a high chance of dropping magic-infused items.
If he got lucky with ones loaded in elemental resistances or embedded spells, the rest would be smoother.
"Just a scroll, huh?"
But all he'd gotten was a 1-circle attack spell scroll: Fire Arrow.
The magic level was too low to do anything but sell it at a shop.
"Can't fill up on the first sip."
Too early to be disappointed. He'd only taken down one so far, and he'd need to kill dozens more before the boss room.
Rokan took a deep breath, sharpened his gaze, and advanced again.
He endured the magic traps and monsters in stoic silence, thinking only of the rewards at the end.
"That was a close one."
The MVP for blazing the trail was none other than the Lion King's Crest. Boosting his Intelligence by 100 made Force usage far more fluid.
Of course, combo skills still guzzled mana in chunks, so it was still short—but sipping water from the Clear Lake mid-way for breaks let him clear faster than expected.
Now, just a fifth of the distance remained.
As Rokan pressed on silently, something caught his eye.
A treasure chest—the dungeon's classic garnish.
"Simple when you think about it."
It looked just like the one from Murloc's Shipwreck, but Rokan's demeanor was nonchalant.
Instead of gleefully opening it, he drew what amounted to a master key.
"Throwing!"
And chucked it straight at the chest.
Treasure chests in dungeons felt like bonuses, but they were hazards too.
Crunch! Crackle crackle!
In that instant, the chest came alive. More precisely, it was a Mimic—the monster that mimicked chests to lure and devour adventurers.
It had [Devour], letting it open a massive maw to chomp bigger foes, but it only activated on first activation—so no more worries.
"Shut it!"
Under Rokan's brutal axe work, the Mimic shattered into splinters in seconds.
Why bother opening it by hand when destroying it didn't ruin the loot?
The Lord truly let you do more than typical RPGs.
"Oh?"
Thanks to the first-entry bonus, maybe—the Mimic dropped a decent haul of items. Mostly junk, but a few were useful.
[Cowardly Mage's Defense Ring][Magic]
A defense ring made by a cowardly mage.
-Shout 'Defense' twice a day to use 'Shield'
-Charges: 2/2
-Recharge wait time: 0:00
[Portable Mana Charger][Magic]
A portable mana charger made by a cowardly mage.
-Shout 'Mana Charge' once a day to recover 150 mana.
-Uses mana pearls as fuel.
The usable ones were these two. Same series as the [Cowardly Mage's Ring] he was already making good use of.
Makes sense—the 'cowardly mage' referenced was this dungeon's owner.
Everything was flight or defense themed, whatever he was so scared of.
From Rokan's view, half-baked attack items would be useless anyway, so it was a blessing.
"Should I thank him if we meet?"
Rokan smirked and headed for the end.
Guarding the boss room: three Specters and two Skeleton Archers plastered to the walls like traps.
He was confident blocking arrows, so he tanked the hits and smashed the Specters first, leaving only the boss.