I got a total of eight orbs from this battle.
‘Looks like they drop materials with about a 50% chance. It’s a hassle to break them down, but there’s no helping it.’
I shoved all the remaining byproducts into the spatial pocket.
‘The residue from dismantling monsters must weigh several tons. I wonder if there’s a way to make use of it later?’
While pondering that, I checked the durability of the ship.
– ‘Wandering Ship’ Durability: 9,912
In four battles since entering the dungeon, the durability hadn’t even decreased by 100. If our party is maintaining this level, it might just break some records!
“Our durability is holding up well, and things are going smoothly!”
“We shouldn’t let our guard down. The ship is moving faster.”
Increased speed means a higher chance of encountering other monsters.
Creak-creak—
The little boat was even screeching and drawing attention to itself.
“Why is this ridiculous boat making so much noise and luring in monsters?”
“Ask the person who designed the dungeon.”
“There’s really a designer?”
“Absolutely. Do you think these mechanisms just appeared out of nowhere?”
“So what’s the designer’s goal? To test everyone who enters the dungeon?”
Joo-ah’s question left everyone sitting on the ship lost in thought.
It’s a conundrum that no one could solve, but exercising our imaginations was a perfect way to pass the time.
“Well… one thing’s for sure, they want to make the people entering the dungeon stronger.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. It’s designed to make you stronger by clearing the dungeon step by step.”
‘Hmm…’
We continued our brief discussion on the topic, but the monsters seemed displeased with our chatter.
The frequency of monster appearances started to increase, and about two hours later we were hit by an ambush from both the Assault Turtle and Hamari-shu.
But even that couldn’t threaten us.
However, the wear on the ship was incrementally growing.
– ‘Wandering Ship’ Durability: 9,633
“Phew— I’m dying here. It’s nice to let loose and use my abilities, but this is too much.”
Joo-ah, who was spilling blood from her nose, had the hardest day. She was blocking the attacks of over a hundred monsters with a single Rock Barrier during every battle.
Gulp-gulp—
“Ugh— I’m getting dizzy!”
“Drinking that potion like it’s soju.”
Thanks to Eun-young’s support, even with the buffs on my stats, she was downing Mana Potions.
Using Mana Potions, which are over 1.5 times more expensive than regular healing potions, without hesitation was solely to keep from falling behind us.
No, more than anything she probably wanted to catch up while we were stalling.
Thanks to her hard work, she successfully leveled up today and even had potential for more growth.
I knew that the average number of members in a party entering this dungeon is about seven.
It’s normal to have at least three supporters like Joo-ah.
Otherwise, it’s tough to withstand the shocks coming from below the ship.
Even though we were helping from the side, she was the only one wholly committed to defense, which is why she was growing particularly fast.
Wiping the blood from her nose with her arm, Joo-ah looked around and said, “The ones we haven’t encountered in this dungeon are the Were Croc and Pastiche.”
“Were Crocs exclusively prey on weaker beings, so maybe they haven’t approached us because they see us?”
“That could be the case.”
‘That’s not it…’
I, too, was waiting for that guy to show up, but over the span of 7 km, I didn’t detect any Human-type monsters.
We’ll meet that guy in the next dungeon anyway, so there’s no need to chase after him.
However, I distinctly sensed other monsters approaching.
Groups of fish resembling agile three-meter-long sandfish were swimming towards us.
The monsters that could be said to be the dungeon’s masters, Pastiche.
They had black bodies with white stripes, constantly opening their mouths and frantically searching for prey.
“Eww, gross.”
“There are too many, and they’re wriggling too much… Ugh—”
The strength of a single Pastiche is nothing special.
Their teeth, which can even bite iron, are threatening, but as long as you don’t fall into the river, they aren’t a problem.
What makes them annoying is that there are just so many of them.
And when they swarm together, they have the ability to distribute damage, making it exceptionally difficult to take down a single one.
Those powerful Assault Turtles and Hamari-shus were pushed away and lost control of the center of the river due to that ability.
‘In the end, we need to beat them all up at once to take them down.’
As the water current started to rise significantly, the ship came to an abrupt stop as soon as I sensed the monsters, as if by magic.
“Clap, clap, clap!!”
I sent a warning and pulled out my Great Sword.
“W-What’s coming?! A swarm of Pastiche?!”
Nodding—
“Ugh… My durability is holding out well, but will we be okay?”
“Don’t fall!!”
They weren’t easily killed, so we would have to bear some damage to the ship.
Unlike the Assault Turtles or Hamari-shus, these guys were approaching quietly.
In fact, they were moving dozens of meters below, making their way vertically up to our ship.
‘A great opportunity to test a new skill.’
I leaned my upper body closely over the river and thrust my hand into the water.
Bubbling—
For a moment, the water around my hand bubbled, and a crescent-shaped translucent blade was formed.
‘Go—’
The blade of water swiftly moved as per my will.
As expected, even underwater, the speed didn’t decrease at all; it accelerated instead.
Conversely, if I had it fly out of the water, the effect would be halved.
Whew—whoosh—
‘Even though it’s the first time using this element, it feels familiar, thanks to Goddess Irmana’s blessing?’
Confirming that I could use the skill without much difficulty, I unleashed 500 points of magic power into the water-based magic called [Sicullarin] obtained from capturing the Hamari-shu, showering it onto the swarm of Pastiche.
Almost seventy water blades fluttered through the water in small intervals, eliciting gasps of awe.
Wham—!!
One blade split at least three Pastiche cleanly in two before disappearing into the depths.
The Pastiche swarm, having seen the first water blade launched, scattered in panic.
Yet, they were so clustered together that, with just this one attack, hundreds of Pastiche sustained crippling injuries.
Crack—
Usually, if the torso were split in two, it would be common sense to die, but they displayed a strange ability.
As their bodies split, long, vein-like lines connected along the cut, and the wounds began to heal.
‘Ugh, those zombie bastards.’
Meanwhile, those that weren’t injured glowed with a bluish hue.
At least hundreds of Pastiche were sharing the damage through their damage-distributing ability.
Of course, this has its limits: once their health drops below 20%, they can no longer absorb damage for the sake of their kin.
‘Looks like this will take a while.’
Restoring their bodies, the Pastiche began actively clinging to the rocks, trying to destroy Joo-ah’s magic.
However, thanks to Noh Ha-yoon consistently spreading ice with her abundant magic power, their movements weren’t very energetic.
Yeon-hee tried using Ddak-ddak-i and Dotted One to provoke the monsters, but it had less effect on these aggressive fishes than it did against the Hamari-shus.
Rather, the ones that got provoked didn’t move as Yeon-hee intended; instead, they furiously gnawed at the rocks, climbing up the crevices before beginning to damage the ship.
“King’s Ear!!”
Yeon-hee ordered the five Dire Wolves, humorously named “King’s Ear,” to attack with lightning.
Kzzzt—
– ······?!
That proved to be quite effective, causing the Pastiche swarm to convulse and their movements slowed even further.
I waited until they clustered enough, then used the blade of water to chop them up.
With the frantic fish gnawing at the ship, we continuously struck at the relentless Pastiche.
That routine of combat continued for a while, and at some point, a massive number of Pastiche leaped up to the surface with a bang! and exploded!
Waaaaah—
The sight of over a thousand fish jumping up in succession and bursting apart drew gasps from everyone around.
‘Wow… what a ridiculous skill.’
Still, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the new skill I had gained.
– You killed Pastiche for the first time!
– Trait [Thievery] activates.
– You steal a random trait from Pastiche.
– You have acquired the trait [Spiked Tooth]!
– Achievement [Pioneer] activates.
– All attributes increase by 1.
[Spiked Tooth]
– Your teeth become sharper.
‘…… Is that really it? Aren’t there any other skills?’
I must’ve killed at least a hundred with my last attack, yet this was all I could steal.
It seems the ability to share damage among their kind is unique and cannot be taken, like the Goblins’ racial traits.
Crack—
As I touched the sharpened front teeth now resembling a shark’s, I expressed my will and reverted them to their original shape.
It might be useful against someone I don’t want to let go of after sinking my teeth in, but it just reminded me of the residue of chaos lingering in my mind.
‘Tch… I’ll be regretting that damage-distributing ability for a while. By the way, when will I level up?’
No matter how small they are, I’ve taken down so many monsters, yet there’s no news.
Well, thinking about my level now, I’d have been better off grinding in the Orc dungeon to gain that experience. It makes sense.
I nodded and scanned my surroundings.
‘Hmm… Looks like things will end without any trouble this time.’
Given the recent unnatural occurrences in dungeons, I had to keep an eye out at all times.
Because of that, a part of my mental energy was always diverted to scouting.
“Phew… Dealing with underwater monsters isn’t easy, is it, Il-wol?”
“Clap, clap, clap.”
Yeon-hee was rubbing her chin, lost in thought.
– ‘Wandering Ship’ Durability: 9,433
Having had a hard time dealing with the Pastiche attacking from the water, she hadn’t been looking good for a while now.
Ah-rin glanced at Yeon-hee and tried to uplift the mood.
“We’ve taken 600 damage at this point, two-thirds through? That’s pretty impressive!”
“I thought I wouldn’t take much damage at all, but my thinking was short-sighted. It’s a bit concerning.”
“We can’t really deal with attacks from underwater.”
“Exactly, that’s why we let the monsters have the sea.”
“Ugh… but this is a river.”
‘The sea…’
Since the appearance of the dungeon, global trading volumes have significantly dropped.
In the early days, every country tried to use their military might to control the terrestrial and land monsters, but since only hunters using magic could kill them, modern weaponry evolved to contain and incapacitate the monsters instead.
Dungeons that appeared in the depths of the sea are inaccessible to hunters.
And among those dungeons, monsters that could adapt to water have broken out due to dungeon breaks, leading to a complete loss of control over the sea.
Still, hunters with Dwarf traits have been emerging, gradually producing weapons utilizing magic.
However, even that can only be operated by those who have undergone awakening, making it difficult to reclaim dominance over the sea.
‘I need the ability to move swiftly through the water…’
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