"What kind of a boss do you think is in there?" I asked Eric.
"The question is off-topic, but still relevant. Most likely it's a level 18-20 Rat in there, with some unpleasant abilities. So, if there are no questions on the first part, I'll move to the second. All bosses have special abilities, which they use to hit either the tank or the whole of the group; so it is essential that Clutzer and Leite listen to what Mahan says. And you," Eric looked at me, "need to make quick decisions - whether we stand together to spread damage between everyone or scatter in different directions. There is no guide for this boss, so we'll proceed like when gaining the "First Kill" achievement: at our own risk. I know this about Rats: they like using poison on anything crossing their path. If this boss also uses poison, we're not going to have an easy ride. We don't have any antidote and if there is no time limit on how long the poison lasts we could end up kicking the bucket. So, Mahan, your mana regeneration is our only hope for making our way to the mine exit through all the Rats. I think they'll respawn by the time we kill the boss. Another point - all poisons have a serious weakening effect, so there is a chance that the boss will start bouncing around the rest of the group. Be ready for that."
"The boss will start to do what?" asked Leite in incomprehension.
"I mean it will stop gnawing me and go after everyone else in turn. In that case we'll follow the plan I just described - you sit, shout and stop hitting the boss. I'll keep the boss facing away from the entrance. Don't approach it from the tail if it's a Rat, or any other boss we might get, for that matter, we don't need to take any avoidable damage. Only hit it from the sides. With the loot, I think we will each pick up our own, but if something happens and loot becomes shared, I propose we can agree now how we split it. I know we shouldn't count our chickens and all that, but I don't want to start a job without talking through all the details."
"I propose a simple solution," I said. "If an item has an Intellect bonus, none of the others here would it find useful, so it will go to me. If something will add Rage, naturally, it's not something I'd even look at. Again, with bonuses to dodge, parry or armor it's clear that that thing should go to Eric. If it's Strength or Agility, then Clutzer and Leite will have to draw lots. If an item would suit all or none or if some alchemical or other useful items drop, we'll choose the owner by casting lots. Everyone knows 'Rock-Paper-Scissors'? We'll use that, since we don't have any dice. We could, of course, toss coins, but that would take longer. There are four of us, I always play with Eric, Leite and Clutzer. Then the winners will play amongst themselves. I think it's a good idea for sharing the loot."
When all agreed, Eric continued:
"And now, the last point. I don't know how the fight will play out, perhaps the boss will kill us all and we'll each return to our own mine, so I propose that after we get into the main gameworld we find each other and form a clan of our own. I'd add you in my friends list right now, but this function is currently disabled - until the moment of our release, as far as I understand. We seem to play well together and each has a unique bonus; either way, I still have four years of time to do, so I have to sort out my life in the main gameworld. That would be easier to do together. Near Anhurs there is a tavern called 'The Jolly Gnoom', the innkeeper there is a gnome named Rothfronda and we can meet at her place. If Mahan has to be stuck in a settlement for three more months, after that time I'll be waiting for you at the tavern every Tuesday and Thursday. You need about five thousand gold to create a clan, but with Mahan's rings I don't think that should be a problem. We could buy the ore - though it's better if we mine it ourselves at the free mines - and Mahan would make rings and neck-chains. It shouldn't take us more than a month to come up with the money. In a Jewelry shop ordinary +2 Bronze Rings cost around 30 gold. Silver +5 rings are about 60 gold each and gold rings, which give +10 to a stat and can have enchantments put on them, cost a few hundred."
"Strange, I always thought that being a Jeweler wasn’t exactly popular in Barliona. If making rings generates so much money, why aren't half of Barliona's population Jewelers?" I asked Eric, surprised.
"Try figuring this one out for yourself. For example, I've been playing for several years, but I never heard about such a thing as Crafting; and the fact that it allows you to increase the number of stats in the crafted items is huge. This will sell; and, going back to Jewelcraft, even +10 rings are very useful up to level forty. However, from level forty onwards, when you have two hundred stat points, the 40 points you can get from gold rings don't make that much difference. They will be a drop in the ocean and the result wouldn't be as noticeable as it is now. With each level the effect of the rings diminishes. Of course, the clans that go on raids or capture other clans' castles take great care to be better even by +1, so that's where people tend to level up in Jewelcraft. For the majority of players though, being a Jeweler is just a low-level diversion. In my old clan the people levelling up in Jewelcraft usually got as far as making bronze items and then gave up, because Silver Ingots are already expensive, to say nothing of the Gold ones: with just a couple of free mines producing these metals making rings is simply unprofitable. Thus everyone is just saving up to buy some gold rings once and for all and be done with it. Mithril rings and above are the prerogative of the top players and clans - I don't even know where you can buy these. So your +4 Copper Rings will sell like hotcakes, and if you make your way to Silver, you'll have buyers queuing up."
'Right, so when they were putting me in the capsule they didn't give me such a bad profession after all,' I chuckled to myself. I had to reach the level where I could make Silver rings. So far I haven't told anyone that in my case rings and chains turned into combined items into which stones could be inserted, but if we formed a clan I'd have to show my cards. This would mean that everyone would have to be made the same kind of gear as I have. Still, that could wait - now we had a boss to get through.
"The clan gets my vote. As soon as we get out, I'll make sure to add everyone as a friend and we'll form a clan. But now, let's go. We've been hanging around here too long already. Clutzer, Leite - ready?" I saw them nod and looked at Eric. "Well, dwarven tank - lead on."
"We all come up to the veil, form a line and step in on the count of 'three'. Ready? Then it's countdown time. One. Two. Three."
I got out the Tambourine and the Mallet and stepped through the shimmering entrance.
Chapter 11
The Dungeon
As soon as the shimmering veil disappeared, Eric took two steps forward and put out his shield, Leite and Clutzer stood either side of me, their new weapons in hand, and stared ahead intently. We were ready to repel any attack, but for some reason no-one was attacking us. It seems that I was again slow on the uptake: why would there be mobs right at the Dungeon entrance? They are all further in. I barely moved myself forward when a message popped up:
Message for the player! A new territory has been discovered: The Mushu Dungeon. The probability of finding a valuable item from an ordinary opponent has increased by 49.999%, Experience received is increased by 20%.
I couldn't help smiling when I read the message. Only quest items had a drop rate over 50%. As a rule, the greatest probability of other items being dropped was exactly 50%. We've discovered a new territory, which meant that no-one's been through this Dungeon before us. Unless I was mistaken, the first explorers had the greatest likelihood of getting loot. We already had the chance of items dropping off the Rats in the Dolma mine; keeping in mind that it had increased by such a high percentage, this original chance amounted to just 0.001%. And despite it all the ogre told us that there was a possibility of getting additional income. Some joker he was!
The place where we found ourselves strongly resembled a tunnel: the three meter high corridor disappeared into the distance. At intervals of also about three meters lit torches cast strange shadows on walls made of roughly hewn stone. There was a sense that the passage had been dug out with picks and any further work on the walls was deemed unnecessar
y. Only the floor was more or less even, so you did not have to trip at every step. After about fifty meters you could barely see anything, even with the help of the burning torches. It looked like the developers had imposed a visibility limitation to make going through the Dungeon more interesting. Once in the tunnel, I immediately noticed a strange green bar appear before our eyes.
"Careful as we go," I said and an echo went through the passage: "...go..., ...go...". "This place gives me the creeps." The strange bar started to fill with red as echo made its way around the tunnel. Eric gave me a reproachful look, put his finger to the lips and we slowly went on to the sound of the dying echo. As soon as the echo disappeared and the bar became completely red, a strange rustling sound came from down the passage, growing louder every moment. It wasn't even a rustle, but more like a myriad of little legs hitting a stone floor. In about ten seconds we saw a wall of incomprehensible something moving at us from the depth of the corridor. When it was about forty meters away we could finally see what it was: a giant worm, which took up the whole of the corridor space and was moving towards us with the implacable certitude of a real full-track tank. The entire perimeter of its body sported small appendages with which it pushed itself against the walls as it moved forward. So that's what had been making that disgusting rustling sound! The worm's head had no eyes, but sported an enormous round opening - about a meter and a half in diameter - that served it for a mouth. The whole of this mouth was full of long teeth, making it resemble every type of shark at once. The moment I spotted the beast heading for us it became clear to me that we'll never kill it, because it would simply crush us with its mass and then eat us, and our expedition for extra bonuses would end before ever really starting.
"To the exit, move it!" I shouted and run up to Eric, who was getting ready to take on the beast, pulling him towards the shimmering veil. "That's not the way to deal with it! Out, before it crushes us all."
We sped to the exit and again stepped through the shimmering veil. As soon as we were back in the mine grounds I shouted:
"Everyone back off from the exit and get ready! That bastard could follow us out!"
We set ourselves at the edges of the Dungeon exit and started to wait for the weird beast to come out. A minute went by, then two, but the thing never appeared. That's right, it won't set a foot (or appendage) outside the Dungeon. As soon as we left the Dungeon the red bar disappeared, which gave me an idea about what to do with the pseudo-millipede.
"I think I'm too freaked out to jump this beaster...." Clutzer ventured.
"No need to jump it," I cut off any disputes, when I saw Eric preparing to explain to us that we had to go back and finish off this thing before it crawled away. Everyone looked at me in surprise and Eric asked:
"You think of something?"
"That's right. When we came in, did everyone see a status bar before our eyes?"
The others nodded and I continued:
"When I started talking an echo spread through the tunnel and the bar started to turn from green to red. And as soon as the bar turned completely red this thing went for us. Something tells me that we've got to make our way towards some point very quietly and carefully, without disturbing this sleeping beauty. If we don't make any noise, we'll get there. If we make a din this wonderworm will be on top of us again and swinging our picks under its nose is totally useless. It'll swallow us whole, totally disregarding our epic efforts."
"All right then," said Eric, "but in about three minutes I'll still go in and check if that thing has crawled back where it came from. And then come back right away to call the rest of you. And if I'm not back... Well, it won't be very nice if we all came in and it was right there. Best if it's just me..."
Eric's explanation was a bit muddled, but I got him. Why risk everyone if we have a specially trained tank, whose role dictates he should always go first.
The beast wasn't by the entrance, so five minutes later we were all again standing at the start of the Mushu Dungeon and getting ready to clear it out. The bar took its place before our eyes, all green as before.
Very slowly, with each taking care not to make any extra noise, we moved forward. We walked for about 10 meters: the bar wasn't turning red, and the tunnel remained completely silent. 40 meters... 60 meters...
A hundred meters from the entrance we came to a fork: the corridor split into two passages, equally illumined by torches. The others gave me a questioning look. Fair enough, I was the raid-leader and it was my call to decide which way to go. If I guess right we'll bypass the worm and it'll be 'well done' to everyone. If I guess wrong - it'll be the raid-leader's fault, not that of the group.
I silently indicated the left passage. I know that good heroes never turn left, but now I had a feeling that this was the direction we should head.
We carefully made our way along the corridor and after some time came to an enormous cave. Well, well. Tough luck. That THING was lying right in the centre of the cave, about twenty meters from us. We stopped dead at the cave entrance, examining this creation of the developers. Now we had the chance to have a proper look at the wonderworm, but did we really need all this?
Tunnel worm. Level: Inaccessible. Hit points: 45 000 000.
Inaccessible level meant that the beast was at least thirty levels above me. There's no point in even trying to bring this one down. Because it's totally useless.
I looked around the cave. It was large - about thirty meters wide, its ceiling spanning out of sight. The 'wormie' was nestled in a special hollow in the floor and paid no attention to the guests that just dropped in. We carefully turned around and headed back. They're right when they say that turning left leads to a sinister end. You should only go right! In about a hundred meters the right corridor was blocked by a thick grate, with bars you couldn't even squeeze your head through. We spent a few minutes searching for hidden levers, locks or secret stones, but it was no use. In a fit of anger Clutzer grabbed the grate and started to shake it. 'At least it's not making any noise', a thought flashed in my mind, but then there was a rattling sound, the green bar turned red by about 30% and Clutzer was holding a long metal rod. Glancing in surprise from the rod to us and then to the newly-made gap, Clutzer very carefully put the bar on the floor and then wiped the sweat from his forehead. Had it been any louder, it would have started an echo in the corridor and the lovely worm would have dropped in for tea. Still, we got away with it.
We squeezed through the gap and went on. Just a few dozen meters later the corridor took us to a cave or, to be more exact, a giant hole. The bottom of the hole was about three to four meters deep and was full of stakes pointing upwards. The hole itself was about twenty meters wide, so jumping over it wasn't an option. We didn't find any hanging bridges, ropes from the ceiling, grips or levers to help us get to the other side. What a snag! One cave with a worm in it and the other full of spikes. How do we go on from here? The fact that we were meant to go on was clear from the passage at the opposite end of the cave.
When we came back to the fork, I explained in gestures: 'we're taking a break' and then sat down for a think.
There's no way that the Tunnel Worm was the local boss. Otherwise it would be a rather silly Dungeon - a single boss without a crowd of mobs. It had been a mistake to leave the hall with the worm without first examining it properly. What if it was hiding a lever that was key to getting through the second cave. We had to be thorough.
I gestured the others to stay put and once again headed for the cave with the worm. Once there I carefully made my way along the wall, mindful of any movement from the beast - in case it got curious about who decided to pay it a visit. But all was quiet. When I got to the opposite side of the cave, I discovered a strange device on the wall that looked like a crossbow. Is this what we should use to bring down the worm? But where were the arrows? Besides, it wasn't meant for normal arrows, being large enough to hold a spear. If not a spear... Perhaps we could use that rod that Clutzer tore out of the grating. It was about the r
ight size. We had to try it. Judging by the lever on the crossbow, I couldn't load it by myself, we needed the whole group for this, and as soon as we shot the worm, we'd be able to hide in the alcove next to the crossbow. It's decided then: that's what we'll do!
I went to fetch the rod, gestured the others to follow me and brought them to the cave. We carefully made my way to the contraption and, gritting our teeth from tension, managed to lift the crossbow and load it with the rod. It was now or never... When everyone hid themselves in the alcove I pressed the trigger.
You wouldn’t think it’s possible to go deaf in virtual reality, but this is probably exactly what happened to me a moment later. As soon as the spear hit the worm, it flinched, lifted its front end and screamed. Although no, that's not right. It SCREAMED! The deafening roar filled the whole Dungeon and our green bar instantly flashed red and disappeared altogether. Well, at least we're making some progress.
Letting out another scream the worm started to race around the cave. If we weren't in the alcove we'd have been immediately flattened, since the beast's speed was insane. A couple of moments later it discovered the exit and sped off in search of the attacker. The cave was filled with the scraping sound of the monster racing down the corridors. Suddenly and clearly we heard the creaking of metal, a piercing roar from the worm, a loud thump and... the Dungeon was filled with silence.
Experience gained: +350 Experience, points remaining until next level: 480.
If the message was anything to go by, the Tunnel Worm had roared its last. We carefully left the alcove and started to examine the cave. If we were to go ahead we first had to make sure we've not missed anything of value. The said things of value were promptly found in a small hollow in the middle of the cave. Clutzer took out a couple of items and a bag of gold and then laid it all out on the ground. I looked at the item properties.
Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1) Page 23
