Another World's Dungeon Structure
異世界ダンジョンの構造
With my new skills –MATOIKENJUTSU or sword Wrapping Techniques, I started to fend off the SLIMES that were stationed at the front of the opening that would lead farther to the dungeon.
The battle was hardly easy, although easily defeated by the opposing elemental magic that I had wrapped my swords with. Their numbers were no laughing matter.
“Just how many of these SLIMES fit those cracks!” My voice carried my disbelief and anger at the same time. As they can transform to liquid state, it was a given that they are able to fit in smaller corners.
Multiple opponents would also mean that I was going to use the MANA ELEMENTAL CONVERSION magic multiple times as well, which should have been a great threat to my life if not careful. But thanks to this battle, I got a little knowledge on how the elements are related to each other in this world, which would help ease future battles that would require Elemental Affinity and Resistance.
First you must understand that there is no such thing as elemental cycle opposition like the knowledge in games I use to play with. Fire is weak against water, water is weak against earth, earth is weak against wind, and wind is weak against fire. Fighting with the SLIMES made me scratch this idea almost immediately.
In this world opposing elements are simple weak against the other, like so:
FIRE ⇔WATER
EARTH⇔WIND
LIGHT⇔DARKNESS
HOLY⇔UNHOLY
There magical opposition was a simple mathematical structure that made it easy for me to understand (which is quite ironic since math was simple my weakest subject).
If you want to oppose ‘Fire Magic’ it was not enough to just bring out ‘Water Magic’, you have to increase the potency of your opposing element.
For example, a SLIME with 30% power made of Fire, needs to be opposed with a Water output of my MATOIKENJUTSU – SUI MATOI: TSUNAMI (Sword Wrapping Technique – Water Wrapping: Tsunami) equal to or higher than the opponent.
Since I am not trying to cancel the SLIMES’, the output must be greater than the SLIMES Fire power.
Also, non-direct opposing elements can kill the slime but requires more than the needed output of the opposing elements. By using the same metaphor earlier, if I want to kill the SLIME with a 30% power made of fire with ‘Wind Magic’ it would take more than 80% output just to do the job where an opposing element only needing 31%.
On a side note, slashing SLIMES with fire Affinities using Fire Wrapping Skills will get themselves healed. The greater the output I use, the more it is healed and for will also make that SLIME stronger.
Of course what I am showing is simple theory in form and should still need verification which I can’t do right now since I am more focused on my combat skills, however if I am to guess magic should work the same way.
Now thanks to learning the new Sword Wrapping beforehand and the new information I got from the battle against the SLIMES, I save the extra hustle of developing the skill at the later date. I mean, the next floor was riddled with more SLIME monsters.
If I had simple dodged the SLIMES guarding the staircase, I would have fought these bunch and would have paid a price that was hard to pay.
*****
The second floor still had that cave like appearance and surprisingly is still riddled with those MANA Crystal that were also present on the first floor. Since they are a danger to me if they accidentally break and leak some of the MANA it stored, I simple did not mine for more.
Moving along, I went passed the third floor for the fourth and encountered a new monster I had not met on the first three floors.
“…A treasure chest!” I shouted excited and approached it carelessly.
Well, if you have to look at it, simple it was a chest made out of wood, relatively harmless. Due to that and my overwhelming excitement seeing the treasure chest, I simply did not see the danger that was looming in it.
Thankfully, my danger perception instantly kicked a few inches away and was able to dodge death. Later when I would check the logs in the ship I would learn that these treasure chests are actually monsters called STILL MIMIC.
It was a type of monster that would mimic a treasure box and lure unaware victims and boom just like that, you get attacked and get killed.
Thankfully, with my danger perception that was quite active even in my previous world and further enhanced with my battle training in the island kicking at the crucial moment, I was able to detect and prevent my own demise.
This is also worth noting that all treasure chests encountered on the fourth floor were MIMICs. Thinking about, I must wonder does this dungeon have no normal treasure chests? Maybe this world’s dungeons have no concept of treasure chests.
But as I had not saw any treasure chest that do not attack me so far, it was probably safe to say that there is no Normal Treasure Chest inside the dungeon in this dungeon or even perhaps to this world.
However, treasures do exist. They in fact are inside the monsters called MIMIC and you’d only get to claim their contents for yourself if you defeat it. Just like the other monsters in this dungeon, they disintegrate into particles of light. However, unlike the regular monsters, MIMICs leave loots behind.
So far while staying on the fourth floor, I had encountered and defeated 24 of these monster treasure chests –STILL MIMICS.
Some of which possessed slightly valuable items like a bunch of minerals which should fetch some good price if sold or could still be used to forge metal. There were also some tattered clothing, armors, or weapons but since they seem inferior to my current gears, I decided to leave them for now. Some of the loots were just trash not worth mentioning though.
Since the spoils from the MIMICs on the fourth floors amounted only of small value I decided to leave them for the next floor.
Oh, ‘leave them’ was just a relative term I used. As the ‘Carry to Ship’ skill was true to its description that would teleport anything that is considered mine to the ship. The items I have touched and gathered here will get instantly taken to the storage room at the bottom most deck.
Mental Not: when I get enough MAGIC CORES, I should segregate the items into a specific category with its own storage rooms.
*****
Working my way down to the 5th floor, instead of the usual tunnel first before a large opening I was greeted immediately with a large open space. Standing far at the end was a certain GOBLIN. I was quite familiar with it since I had fought it a couple weeks ago.
Slightly taller than an average GOBLIN probably 100 – 120 centimeters wearing some fancy vestment and donning a flashy feathered headdress was a tier higher than the normal GOBLINS –the GOBLIN COMMANDER was now looking fiercely at me.
The thing about the GOBLIN COMMANDER is its ability to comprehend and understand its surrounding. It had a good chip in its shoulder compared to its lesser tiers and while it does not attack on its own, it was good at commanding other GOBLINS to do his job for him.
With a wave of its hand, a horde of 50 GOBLINS came out of nowhere and surrounded me full of lustful killing intent. The greatest problem in this battle which is probably a dungeon only scheme, the GOBLIN COMMANDER seems to be able to summon a limitless horde of GOBLINS.
Unlike the time when I fought one on the forest, when the commander saw that there were no more GOBLINS heading his calls he would run. This particular GOBLIN COMMANDER I am fighting however just kept hiding at the rear while the horde continued to try and kill me.
I am just guessing here, but I think the GOBLIN horde would not diminish as long as the commander is alive and keeps on summoning. Hmm, looks like a good place to train, and so I level grinded my MATOIKENJUTSU proficiency.
After getting satisfied with the proficiency from all the five elements I am able to wrap my weapons with, I then seriously hunted for the commander, where another difference from the dungeon GOBLIN COMMANDER and the one I fought in the forest became apparent.
In the forest, when the GOBLIN COMMANDER was defeated first, the horde would run away however in this dungeon the remaining GOBLINS continued to fight even without direction from their commander, eventually without the call from the commander the GOBLIN hordes died out.
However, the 6th and 9th floor were littered with GOBLINS of different tiers. Ugh. It was tiresome fighting them, but I guess there isn’t anything I can do since they were not going to disappear just because they are tiresome to look at.
*****
These are the GOBLINs I fought in each floors:
•Floor 6 – GOBLIN GRUNTS
•Floor 7 – GOBLIN GRUNTS, GOBLIN WARRIORS & GOBLIN ARCHERS
•Floor 8 – GOBLIN GRUNTS, GOBLIN WARRIORS, GOBLIN ARCHERS
•Floor 9 – GOBLIN GRUNTS, GOBLIN WARRIORS, GOBLIN ARCHERS GOBLIN RIDERS & GOBLIN SHAMANS
The GOBLIN GRUNTS were about 90 – 95 centimeters, they are thin almost malnourished looking GOBLINS, in TIER they should be lowest in rank and fought me barehanded.
The GOBLIN WARRIORS & GOBLIN ARCHERS are second in TIER, most probably second lowest. They are about 95 – 100 Centimeters and fight armed with swords, clubs and of course bows and arrows.
The GOBLIN RIDERS and GOBLIN SHAMANS are next in the TIER which is probably middle rank. their size is the same with the previous tier. The GOBLIN RIDERS are riding some monsters called ADULT DIREWOLVES fighting with spears while the GOBLIN SHAMANS can manipulate magic to do their attacks.
Get this, when I fought these same GOBLINS in the forest, they only donned leaves for their clothing and fighting with sticks for weapons. However, in this dungeon, they are now wearing loincloths and armors plus they are also armed with bladed weapons.
Oh, get this while the bodies of monsters do disintegrate to particles of light after getting killed, the equipment they wore are left behind. This must be one of the upside in fighting inside dungeons.
Well the GOBLINS were no longer a threat to me even if they are donned lavishly with armors and their weapons. Also, the armors seem worn out that they seem inferior to what I am currently wearing even though it is just made by wood. The same can be said for their weapons.
The vestment from the GOBLIN COMMANDER was good though, but since it looked like it would hinder my movements I simple did not wear them.
And just like that I had fought my way to the whole 6th to 9th floors. On a side note, I made sure to take some 3 to 5 hours of rest in between floors. Rest is after all vital in any training regime.
*****
This should be the 8th day since I had entered the dungeon and finally came into contact with the stairway that would lead to the 10th floor.
Is there anything special about the 10th floor, you may ask? There probably is. Usually, well according to my knowledge through some JRPGs and MMO games that I had once played, most bosses would be at every 10th floor. There should be a high possibility that it would be same in this dungeon.
If I can make an educated guess, I think that every 5th level, meaning halfway through of every 10th floor is probably a mid-boss fight, the GOBLIN COMMANDER in this case. Then in every 10th floor is the boss room in this case –the GOBLIN CHAMPION.
While facing such opponent, it would be strange not to feel fear from that large build, standing much taller and larger than the GOBLIN COMMANDER about 150 – 160 centimeters, wearing full body metal armor and a badass sword in both its arms, the GOBLIN CHAMPION faces me.
That fear should have been evident in me too, but for some reason I did not fear it or show any signs of anxiety. It should be evident to me that the one in front of me is twice as strong but I still did not get sense any fear in my heart. It was not that I was overestimating my skills or underestimating his, while it should be due to my resistance to intimidation. But I am guessing that the real reason is the fact that I have once defeated four before.
Meaning, I was no longer surprised by both its visage and strength, I had known its combat skill and a way to fight it.
…And in that instant I sneakily made my through, silently inching closer to him and instantly activated a skill:
TECHNIQUES of a THOUSAND DEMONS WAYS – DANCE OF DARKNESS: NACHT
