Aster was currently burdened with many assignnts, but for now, his priority was getting money. After all, without money, it would be hard to head down to the deeper floors of the dungeon.
And for that, the fastest way was to go to the crypt, and gather every artifact that could be sold for a high price!
After running for three hours, they reached the sa cliff they had been to last ti. Of course, they were careful not to let anyone see them going there. After all, the fewer competitors they had, the better.
"The rope is..."
Aster muttered, checking the trees around, and quickly noticed the rope they had used, wrapped around a high branch inconspicuously.
"Leave that to ," Kali said as she jumped up, climbing the tree in two kicks, before letting the roll of rope fall to the ground.
After that, they worked quickly. Ti was of the essence. Although they did bring enough provisions to last three days in the worst case, finishing the exploration faster is still the way to go.
After securing the rope, and adding another one as a backup, they strapped in the ascenders and straps around them, before descending the edge of the cliff, like expert mountain climbers.
Of course, descending along the edge of a deadly cliff was still dangerous as hell. Everyone was as careful as possible, not relaxing until they reached the platform leading to the small cave.
One after another, fortunately without any trouble, everyone arrived. As soon as they regrouped, Aster turned toward the path leading deeper and opened his flashlight.
"Alright, let's go!"
Since they already explored it once, their speed this ti was faster, as they didn't need to be worried about traps. Soon enough, they arrived at the large door from before, which was still as awe-inspiring as the first ti they saw it. Explore more at m,v l'e-
"Now..."
Aster grabbed his Holo Tab and opened up the attachnt that Vanessa sent him. After clearing his throat, he started to read the passphrase, not sure what it ant.
"Vornak Kryzor Miltryn Scalvok Hyslor!"
As soon as Aster finished the "chant," a small earthquake occurred. The entire cave shook lightly, as the doors started to move.
They started to swing open, destroying all the small and dium stalactites and stalagmites on the floor and ceiling.
"Ooof!"
At the sa ti, a cold breeze rushed out, as if trying to exchange air from outside. Even Aster felt the cold, since his usual passive, which normalizes any extre temperature around him, was currently unavailable.
Right as the door opened, everyone moved into formation. Tina and Liz stood to the front, their guards up, while Kali and Cassy used their flashlights to shed light on the interior.
"... There's nothing?" Cassy muttered, checking the entire room once more.
However, the room was just a rectangular room with what looked like five-ter-tall Egyptian-style statues of n wearing cat masks or headdresses standing by the walls. Aster moved cautiously ahead of everyone else and checked the room. He leaned in, checking both sides, but as expected, there were nothing but more statues on either side of the entrance.
After a while, he returned to where the girls were and asked. "Lory, can you use your defense decrease spell on multiple targets?"
As soone who ca from a ti when video gas were rampant, he was 99% sure that if they entered, then the statues would move and attack them. However, he still hasn't figured out how to move to the next room. He had two guesses regarding that.
The first is that the room would only appear after they defeated the statues. Second, the entrance is hidden, and they need to solve another puzzle to open it up.
'The chances of it being the forr are high, but I can't dismiss the second possibility either.'
Aster frowned, waiting for her reply. Lorelai blinked a few tis, before resuming her usual smile and nodding her head.
"I can cast it on multiple targets, but the effect diminishes the more there are."
"I see..." Aster pondered, placing a hand on his chin. "Then, as soon as we reach the middle of the room, prepare to cast defense weakening on every statue in the room."
"Eh? Those statues are monsters?!" Kali, the one with the most knowledge about monsters within their group, reacted curiously. "Could it be... golems? Or maybe gargoyles!" She guessed.
Aster himself wasn't sure yet, so he could only shrug. "From the style of the room, I guess they would move and attack us. Whether they're monsters or simply so chanism without life, I'm not sure either."
"Then, I guess heavy attacks are needed," Liz comnted, placing her mace on her shoulder.
"Exactly." Aster nodded. "You'll be the main attacker. Tina, you act as the main tank for now."
He then turned to Cassy and Kali. "Cassy, standby with Lory in the middle. Kali, move around to delay the advance of those statues."
After distributing everyone's tasks, Aster then started walking to the middle of the room. It was a square room with about a hundred ters for each wall. The ceiling was roughly seven ters high, leaving almost no space above the statues.
As they discussed, Lory and Cassy stood in the middle, with Lory beginning her chant and holding the activation until it was needed. Cassy herself also began casting a spell, creating light balls to shed light around the room. Aster and Liz stood on either side, while Tina stood with her back to the entrance.
*RUMBLE!*
With a low rumble, the door started to close, leaving them stuck inside. At the sa ti, a loud announcent echoed in their ears.
[Warning! Intruders detected. Initiating Defensive asures...]
"Get ready!" Aster roared.
As if reacting to his voice, the statues around them started to shake and move. With each wall having around 10 of those, they were faced with a large army of 40 giant, moving statues!
Their eyes shone in a red gleam, as if telling how dangerous they were.
"Great Weaken Defense!"
"Mana Slash!"
"Smash!"
As if in concert with Lory's activation of the weakening spell, Aster and Liz moved simultaneously. They ran to the closest enemy and attacked!
"...!"
However, Liz's attack rely bounced back, only leaving a clear crack on the statue's leg. "They're tough!" She growled.
Aster's attack, a mixture of magic and physical damage, managed to cut the leg cleanly. The giant started to fall, losing balance after it lost its leg.
*THUD!*
A cloud of dust rose as it hit the floor, but Aster didn't finish it off yet.
Instead, he moved to the next one and sliced off its leg too! His first priority was to limit the enemy's siege, and depriving them of their legs was the best way to do that!
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