24. Lizardman Ruins
They say consistent effort trumps genius talent when it comes to success. For someone like me who'd never put in consistent effort in his life, that was hard to relate to. But lately, things had changed a bit.
Thwack! I slammed my sword down on the lizardman's tail lunging for my leg, pinning it to the ground.
A lizardman's tail is a flexible bundle of tough, elastic muscle. When swung, it packs more power than a decent kick. But because it sprouts from near the hip, swinging it recklessly throws off their balance. Especially when they attempt an attack like this and get countered on the tail instead.
Crack! I bashed the staggering lizardman's jaw with my shield and dodged a spear thrusting from behind. Spinning my body wide, I smashed the attacking lizardman from the rear with my shield too, then drew my sword. I stabbed the throat of the first one that had gone down from the jaw hit, then turned and finished off the other.
Confirming no more lizardmen around, I sheathed my sword and shield, sat down, and popped a White Roll into my mouth to chew.
"Now the one-strip ones feel easy..."
It had been a whole month since I'd entered Floor 3. I'd fought lizardmen over a hundred times in that span. I'd always thought I had zero talent for physical labor or sports, but dumping tons of time into it had paid off somehow. Whether this counted as "success" or not, it was undeniably the fruit of effort.
Now, I could handle even two-on-one against low-rank lizardmen with a single white strip on their shoulders. Of course, with the basic physical differences, I wouldn't claim my skill surpassed theirs. Last time I fought a three-strip white one, I'd taken some solid hits. I did win, though. And now, with more time passed, I was confident I could win without eating any clean shots.
"Time to head into the ruins, maybe."
Excluding the occasional three-strippers, there were no worthy opponents left near the village anymore.
"Status Window."
This was my current status window in full gear. I'd killed plenty of lizardmen, but my level had only gone up by 2. Lizardman hunting was for building skill independent of specs, but that made the stagnation feel even more irritating.
Spec growth stalling was expected, but skill improvement couldn't afford to slow down. There was nothing left to gain from low-rank lizardmen, so it was time to expand my hunting grounds to stronger foes. That meant pushing the quest I'd been putting off too.
***
Back at the village, I did minimal resupply and talked to the exploration leader, Winzer.
"Ahh, back early today, eh? You're something else, you know that? How do you roam that lizardman-infested swamp so freely? Got some secret trick? I'm dying to know!"
One word from me turned into three from him. Winzer was overwhelmingly more talkative than other NPCs.
"So, what's up? You hadn't said a peep lately—I was worried you'd gone mute or something."
"I'm thinking of checking out those ruins you mentioned last time."
"Oho! Gotten interested in the ruins, have you? Of course, any adventurer worth his salt should! Just hold on a sec!"
The ruins exploration—Floor 3's main quest—was like mini-dungeon content. Similar to the labyrinth zones on each floor: reveal the map as you go, conquer the dungeon, and face the boss monster at the end. Community guides said the Floor 3 ruins boss had been cleared once long ago and never respawned. Probably a one-time-only boss, like those limited-instance monsters.
Anyway, the ruins dungeon was also a great hunting spot for enemies a cut above the lizardmen near the village. Naturally, after low-rank warrior lizardmen became a breeze, I'd planned to move there.
But the ruins dungeon entrance was sealed tight when I scouted it. Totally different from community info. Turns out, it wasn't open from the start—you had to progress Winzer's quest to unlock it gradually.
"Alright, our explorers are all geared up. We can head out anytime!"
Winzer stood before me with a huge pack, flanked by six armed team members. Would this be my first party play, or just solo with seven deadweights in tow?
"Let's go, then."
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much.
***
Lizardmen showed up on the way to the ruins, of course. The explorers and Winzer yelped in surprise and fumbled for their weapons.
No expectations from the start, and yeah, they weren't going to be any help.
"Step aside."
I shoved past the obstructive explorers. The lizardman was a low-rank warrior with shield and spear—two white strips, nothing tough.
I charged with sword ready. Spears have great range and power, but close the gap in a flash and they turn into liabilities. Of course, to counter spearmen like this, you needed to vastly outpace them in speed and reflexes.
And that wasn't hard for me with my superior agility stat.
Stab! The lizardman shielded quick, but I battered it aside with brute force and pierced its throat.
My attack power wasn't enough for a one-shot. It swung its tail to counter even now. But I'd memorized their tail attack timing ages ago. I kicked the whipping tail instead.
Thud! The reckless tail swing destabilized its lower body—perfect for a leg sweep. I grappled, toppled it, then stabbed the same spot again to finish.
"Let's keep moving."
But the explorers just stood there dumbfounded. When I asked what, Winzer scratched his head with a queasy look.
"Whoa, you're... insanely strong. You don't mean you've been taking down lizardmen solo this whole time, do you?"
"Yeah."
"We figured you had some trick to dodge them good... Gave us a real scare."
Come to think of it, they'd said stuff like that when I left them alone. Asking if I knew secret shortcuts or how I avoided lizardmen so well. Never occurred to them I'd be dropping them one by one solo.
Makes sense from an NPC perspective. Lizardmen were tough monsters meant for group challengers. My performance far exceeded the average Floor 3 player's.
Never thought I'd get this kind of reaffirmation.
"Could've given us a heads-up... Anyway, it's reassuring and all..."
Winzer grumbled oddly, sheathing the handaxe he'd drawn earlier. Why complain when your ally's strong? Just be happy.
***
We ran into lizardmen three more times after that. One one-stripper, two two-strippers. No combat help from the explorers, so I handled them solo each time.
"Must be tiring fighting nonstop—how about a break?"
Winzer suggested rests a few times, but I refused. This was nothing; I wasn't winded yet.
"You're a monster... Alright, let's move. Almost there."
We trudged on slowly and finally reached the swamp ruins. The entrance was a massive stone door covered in unreadable script. I wasn't a language buff, but it sure wasn't any Earth tongue. Ancient runes or something.
"Oho, just as I thought! That relic we found was the key to this place!"
Winzer seemed to read the door's script, then pulled a hefty stone from his pouch and held it near.
Clank, clank! An oddly mechanical sound echoed from the stone, and the huge doors slid open smoothly.
[Place Where Lightning Sleeps]
Stepping inside triggered a system message like entering a labyrinth zone. Guess that was the dungeon's name. It mentioned a lightning-wielding artifact slumbering here—seemed legit.
My original goal was hunting here, but now I was curious about that artifact. Maybe I'd snag a unique or epic hidden item like I'd dreamed on Floor 1.
Why not take a look around?