There was an unwritten rule in this dungeon that all monsters had to follow.
"No one shall pass into another's territory unless to kill and claim it."
This rule prevented attacks from smaller mobs and stopped them from bothering the larger monsters. It also prevented chaos and fights between the dungeon's inhabitants.
This was the same rule by which goblins and wolves established their hierarchy. Some wolves ruled over goblins, while some goblins ruled over wolves. Only the elite knew who was at the top of this cycle in their own territory.
The large wolf survived the fall, and using its skill, cleared the rubble rather quickly.It was then met with a disgusting sight: its brethren lay mangled and piled up, a mountain of corpses surrounded by a bloodbath. This angered the wolf beyond measure.
Looking ahead, it saw the entrance to the Inferno Lizards' chamber. Since its target, the human, was not in sight, it knew he must have already passed through this territory and moved inside.
It saw the fallen lizard in the blood puddle, which supported its claim.
However, the wolf could not enter the chamber; that would be an act of aggression against the Inferno Lizards.
Yet, there was an exception to that rule:
"All shall take notice of one another's actions."
This meant that even though it couldn't cross into another's territory, it could observe them from a distance.This rule was meant to keep everyone in check while using the dungeon's resources.
This was achieved by paths that led from one major territory to another, and to the wolf's knowledge, there was one path that would lead it to the human — the Giant Lizard's chamber.
If the human reached that place, it would be only a matter of time before he was devoured. After all, to the wolf's knowledge, there were few beings in the dungeon that could vanquish this monster, some acting alone while others worked together.
But the human can't even touch the ankles of the giant wolf, let alone the monster.
The wolf traveled the path and looked below. The human, who was at the southwest door, was unscathed and wearing a new set of armor from a stone slab treasury.
Suddenly, the Giant Lizard appeared, but the human didn't see it fast enough.The lizard clawed the ground and threw rocks at him. The rocks glowed orange before decimating him against the walls.
The human let out a choked "Gnnngh!" as his bones shattered.
'Shit, I did not see that coming at all!'
The Giant Lizard, the size of a truck, was a dark, scaly behemoth that stood at the heart of the enormous, basketball-court-sized room.
Without a wasted second, it charged its attack. Its mouth bulged grotesquely as a searing, crimson light pulsed from deep within its throat, straining its dark complexion until veins glowed a furious red.
"Shit," he stressed, gritting his teeth. Despite his injury, he forced himself to his feet, fumbling for a vial of crimson liquid.He drank half of the red concoction before he broke into a frantic sprint.
A deafening blast tore across the room, a blinding gout of fire scorching the air where he had just been. For a terrifying moment, it felt as though the heat had caught up to him.
He let out a painful grunt — a side effect of the potion — and pounced out of the impact zone, beginning to circle the beast in an anticlockwise fashion.
His momentum took a serious hit when he saw the giant's tail whipping through the air, aiming to crush his skull.He slid desperately on the rocky floor, the heat from the beast's body searing him even through the protective layers of his armor and scales.
"That was a close one," he muttered to himself, his voice strained."So it has an insane breath, a tail that can crush you! And that orange thing... it must be coming from its mouth, right?"
He positioned himself at the lizard's back, not attacking for now.He figured that aside from the unpredictable orange blasts, the other attacks were relatively easy to evade.
The monster turned slightly, its claws scratching the rocky surface with a grinding sound, before it launched not one, but three fiery orange spheres at him.Just as before, there wasn't enough time to evade them all.
"Shit!"
He raised both palms. "Fire Blast: Full Output!"
The explosive torrent was just enough to intercept the orbs, but the resulting explosion still slammed him into the wall.He hit it with a sickening thwack, but the result was better than getting hit directly by the blasts.
'It's not coming from its mouth, eh?' he thought to himself.'It was better to see what tricks it had up its sleeve and figure out its attack patterns rather than charging ahead.'
'Besides, I don't think it's fast enoug—'
He was jinxed.
The lizard jumped in a manner so foreign and unnatural that he thought he was already dead.It rose from the ground in a lateral motion, but it still wasn't going to hit him directly — yet the shockwave damage would be fatal.
He vaulted high, a vertical launch that carried him ten times higher than any jump ever recorded on Earth.
The monster slammed into the ground, a heavy shockwave hitting it as Hiroki began to descend. A blast began forming inside the beast's mouth. The attack seemed unavoidable as he was mid air.
A blinding shot blasted toward the ceiling.He used the explosion to propel himself sideways.
It was by no means a cool sight, as his focus was on getting out of the way rather than on a graceful landing.
Thud!
Like a rat getting played by a cat, he rolled and crashed.
He had to sprint, sprint, and sprint again — dodging one nuclear blast after another.
The a full 30 minutes passed!
Truly it was a miracle!
The lizard's mouth now fumed with hot gas, a side effect of its relentless assault.The ground was no longer the same; cracks splintered everywhere, the floor utterly destroyed.
"Ahahaha," he panted, a breathless, strained laugh escaping him."Right now, I don't think this sword will cut it, to be honest. Not that I've tried!"
He seemed to have gotten used to the chaotic pace.
But it was time to be a little daring!
He sprinted around the cracked walls, careful not to meet the lizard's gaze.As long as he kept circling, the creature would only turn in place, conserving its strength.
Using the broken wall as a foothold, he leapt forward—flames flaring from both palms as he shot headfirst toward the beast.
The lizard grazed it's claws on the ground, the small bombs that formed flying towards hiroki.
A blast erupted—he fired his left palm to propel himself sideways, dodging the explosions.Then, with a second burst from his right hand, he rocketed toward the lizard like a missile.
The monster's massive tail whipped around to crush him. He prepared to intercept it—but at the last moment, changed his trajectory. Now he could use both his feet as makeshift thrusters, though less efficiently.
Rip the boots!
He carved a bolt of lightning from his hand, scarring a small piece of the creature's hardened flesh. It was the first real wound he had inflicted on the lizard.
Despite the immense risk, the damage was minimal. After a few more of these exchanges, even with a sword, he was burnt out.
"What am I going to do now?" he said.
'I have used about two potions since then. Despite trying everything, it will catch you off guard, and it seems a sword attack won't do any damage either. What do I have that could be used as a weapon?'
'Hmm, potions?'
'Wait, this could work!'
He could risk some potions now, couldn't he?He sprinted to the ceiling and used the same strategy, but this time, he dropped some potions onto the lizard's tail.
For even such a monster, a sudden jolt of shock was unexpected. It went numb for 1.2 seconds before continuing to blast him.
This seemed like a good idea.
He sprinted toward its tail again and dodged its tail swipe. Just before leaving, he injured one of its legs with a small scratch. From here on, it was time to deepen the wound.
Bolt, fire blast, sword attack.
Bolt, fire blast, sword attack.
He landed some hits and missed others.
It was time.
"Take this!"
He threw a half-bottle of the crimson potion, and again, the lizard went numb.
The 1.2 seconds were his opening.
For a half-second, he sliced a part of its neck before jumping away. Then he threw another half-bottle. Another 1.2 seconds he used to slice more of its neck.
A 1.3-second opening!He used that time again and again.
He seemed to get carried away, but he had used six of his potions. (More seconds of opening...)
"Well, how does it feel now?" he said to the lizard with a visibly damaged neck.
It wasn't enough, but it was better than nothing.It was clear, however, that if he continued this way, he would need far more potions than he had.
'Think, what do I have in my arsenal that could be used as a weapon — something that has smaller use to me?'
After all, if he risked his limbs, he might have made a deeper cut, but it wasn't worth it.
A green gas seeped from its mouth.He guessed it was probably fatigue; the smaller lizards had shown that after a few attacks.But the fact that this one had managed to fire consistently for the past 90 minutes was impressive.
"I have to acknowledge you, lizard, hehe. I'm impressive as well for a guy from earth!" he said while dodging a blast.
"This guy, though," he said, "reminds me of a boss monster from a game I used to play. Of course, that one was a horse, but it could breathe fire regardless.
It was a shitty game, though. Imagine space marines fighting horses and chickens that could breathe fire and wind?"
"But what was the thing I used to defeat them?"
Insight.
It was "Lightning coins!"
The first skill he acquired was Night Vision, then Shock, then Fire Blast.When he first acquired Shock, he tried to cut a monster with his sword, and the volt sent it flying into the wall, where it got stuck.
"Holy yeah!" he shouted and grabbed his pouch.Inside, clothes were wrapped around a massive amount of iron-like coins to muffle their noise.
He jumped toward the ceiling and aimed a coin like a toss while the lizard got ready to attack.
He knew that a lizard's eyes were a disadvantage, but the moment he got close, he would have to deal with its claw attack — and even if he dodged the physical claw, the flung rocks were too numerous.
But at this distance...
"You're dead," he said.
The coin was charged by a volt in his hand, and it happened... he missed.
He hit the ceiling from that angle, from the air!
Execution = -1/100
"I am useless, God damn it!!!"
Game physics doesn't work like real world physics!