Nothing dangerous happened, though. A small section on one of the inner walls of the chest slid aside, revealing a hidden compartnt. Inside, there was a rectangular object with a round protrusion on one side. Since no trap had been activated, Jake detached his tendril and stepped closer to the chest. He leaned in, extended one hand toward the hidden compartnt, and took the object from within.
Straightening up, he examined the item resting in his palm. The object resembled a single jigsaw puzzle piece, shaped like a small rectangle with two straight edges and two curved ones. The top and left edges were straight, while the right edge had a prominent protrusion—a rounded knob that jutted out, designed to fit into a corresponding indentation on another piece. The bottom edge featured a deep indentation, creating a space for a knob from a neighboring piece to slot into.
Since he currently had only one piece of the puzzle, it was difficult to determine how many more there might be. Considering the size of the piece—almost as large as his palm—he suspected there were probably three more, or maybe a bit more than that. Jake took the puzzle piece with his other hand and examined both sides of it. Neither side bore any image. From the look of it, Jake concluded that once he found all the pieces, they would fit together to create so sort of key, granting him access to a specific location or unlocking sothing important.
He placed the puzzle piece in his mouth, where the star-shaped dallion rested, then chose a random direction and continued on. He traversed the dungeon for so ti, dealing with small groups of ratman minions that he occasionally ca across.
After completing the first floor of the dungeon, Jake had received the Chainsaw Arms ability. However, since it was an epic ability, it was located in the third section of the Genetic Developnt Interface, which Jake couldn’t access because he hadn’t evolved into Stage III yet. For now, he relied on his previous weapons in battles against ratn. As for evolving into the next form, he decided to hold off on that for the ti being. Although he already had a good idea of which of the three subclasses he wanted to choose, he preferred to focus on one thing at a ti. So he intended to finish the dungeon first, and after that, he would evolve into the next stage, focusing on getting to know his new form and familiarizing himself with the new powers that would co with it.
He continued to explore the second floor of the dungeon for so ti. Every now and then, he stumbled upon primitive chests containing various weapons and lesser mana consumables. While he extracted the magical energy from the mana items, he chose to leave the weapons behind. The loot found in these primitive chests only included common weapons, which paled in comparison to his own natural armant.
At so point, he entered a vast room filled with a type of ratman he had never encountered before. They wandered aimlessly around the spacious yet largely empty chamber. A few noticed him at the entrance but made no imdiate move. Jake paused for a mont to retrieve the description of these creatures.
Ratman - Grunt - Level 85
All of the ratn in the room were grunts. Just like the previous ratn he had encountered, they wore no clothing, as a thick layer of fur covered most of their bodies. However, so of the grunts wore pieces of armor, such as cuirasses and helts. They were ard with various lee weapons, including nasty-looking maces, double-edged axes, and jagged swords. Compared to the minions, the grunts were distinctly larger and exhibited a more robust muscle structure.
Jake prepared his weapons and charged into the room. The grunts snarled nacingly as they lunged at him, weapons raised. As expected, the grunts were significantly more powerful than the ratman minions. They swung their hefty weapons with trendous force, slicing through the air with an audible whoosh and striking the cobbled floor with resounding clanks and thuds. Jake was quick enough to dodge their attacks while successfully countering with his own weapons. Unlike the minions, the grunts didn’t attempt to retreat even when it beca clear that they were all about to be slaughtered. Instead, they continued to fight back fiercely, even as their ranks quickly diminished. After a few intense minutes, the battle concluded, leaving the cobbled floor strewn with the bodies of the slain ratman grunts.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Multiple enemies killed.
15,350 XP
Having defeated the enemies, he surveyed the room for any treasures. In one corner, he spotted a chest. With a thought, he summoned its description.
Quality Chest (Uncommon)
It had been so ti since he discovered a quality chest, and a wave of excitent washed over him. Even though he was aware that he didn’t really need the weapons found in chests, he was still intrigued by what he might find inside.
Well aware that quality chests were often booby-trapped, he carefully inspected it. To his surprise, this one wasn’t. He scrutinized it from every angle but found no indications of traps, whether chanical or magical.
He approached the chest and crouched in front of it. As he lifted the lid, he leaned in to glance inside. At the bottom rested two items: a battleaxe and a mana crystal. He first siphoned the magical energy from the mana crystal before examining the weapon.
Na: Bone Battleaxe
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: Crafted from the bone of a powerful creature, this expertly made battleaxe is highly effective against a range of beasts and beastn, particularly rats and ratn. It also features one ruby slot.
Primary effects: Increases damage inflicted on beasts and beastn by 25%, plus grants an extra 25% damage against rats and ratn.
Temporary effects: None
Enchantnts: None
Slots: 1 (Ruby)
The battleaxe was one-bladed and entirely made of bone. Just above the handle, there was a rhombus-shaped indentation where a gemstone should fit. Even though Jake didn’t feel the need for special weapons against ratn, he decided to pick up the bone battleaxe. Since it offered a significant increase in damage against ratn, he decided it was worth a test run. He was also curious about what effects a gemstone would grant the weapon when inserted into the slot.
For the next several minutes, he continued to explore the dungeon without encountering any more enemies. He moved through corridor after corridor, the battleaxe held firmly in one hand. Upon reaching a four-way junction, he noticed sothing intriguing. At the center of the intersection stood an obelisk, soaring around twelve feet high. It featured four sides and was crafted from a gleaming silvery material. The top of the obelisk was flat and adorned with a crown-like object. With a thought, Jake summoned the obelisk’s description.
Dark Spirit Conduit
No additional information popped up. Jake walked around the Dark Spirit Conduit, inspecting it from all angles. Unlike the black obelisks on the first floor, this structure was devoid of any enigmatic symbols etched into its surfaces. However, on one side, at eye level, two indentations caught his attention, stacked one over the other. The top indentation mirrored the shape of a human hand with fingers spread wide, while the one below resembled the star-shaped dallion he had discovered earlier.
However, when Jake took the dallion out of his mouth, he realized they weren’t exactly the sa. While similar in shape and identical in size, the indentation had a sun-like pattern with longer rays. Despite knowing it wouldn’t fit, he still attempted to insert the star-shaped dallion into the sun-shaped indentation. As expected, it wouldn’t go in.
Jake returned the dallion to his mouth and pressed the palm of his free hand into the hand-shaped indentation. He kept it there for a few seconds, but nothing occurred. Pulling his hand back, he glanced at the two indentations one last ti. He was fairly confident that additional Dark Spirit Conduits were present on this floor, and one of them had to possess a star-shaped indentation for his dallion to fit. He also suspected a sun-shaped dallion was stashed away sowhere, and he just had to find it.
For the mont, he had no ans to activate the Dark Spirit Conduit before him, but he was determined to return once he discovered the sun-shaped dallion. Since he had needed to solve a puzzle on the first floor to gain access to the second floor, it was clear that a similar challenge awaited him here. Although he hadn’t located the portal yet and had no clear idea of the exact purpose of these obelisk-like structures, he was fairly certain they were part of the puzzle, the solution of which would allow him to progress to the next, third, floor. With that in mind, he chose a random direction and continued to explore the dungeon.
Reviews
All reviews (0)