ARCHDEUS

DUNGEONS(1)

Dungeons ... 

A word that has been very commonly heard by adventurers and readers of fantasy stories.

There are many folk tales about the existence of dungeons.

To the commoners, when they heard the word dungeon, the first thing they thought of was the dungeon, the labyrinth, the prison, or perhaps the monster nest. Well that's not wrong.

The definition of a dungeon was indeed not far from those things.

However when the dungeon was asked to adventurers, they would ask back.

"What kind of Dungeon?"

This is important for adventurers. When they heard the word dungeon, they would think on two things: the real dungeon and the false dungeon.

If the dungeon in question is a prison or a labyrinth, or a building, or a basement, or even a cave that has been hundreds to thousands of years old that is now turned into a monster nest, the, so they know the dungeon as a real dungeon or dungeon that is commonly spoken of by many people.

But when the dungeon in question is a giant cave or hole that suddenly appears just like that. So the adventurers called it a false dungeon.

More easily understood the difference between the original dungeon and the False Dungeon is that if the original dungeon is meant, then it is inanimate objects such as caves, labyrinths, and underground cities. In essence, the original dungeons were not alive, they were created by civilization or created naturally by nature. 

While the false dungeon was a living being. So when in the backyard of the house kah, kah garden, or forest kah suddenly appeared a cave or a big hole when yesterday there was nothing there and there was no sign of natural disaster, and there was no sign of natural disaster, then it was almost 100% that it was a false dungeon.

If it is explained more simply. Suppose that dungeon monsters are analogous to ants and ant nests are dungeons, if there are ants that build their nests in chunks of rock or under pots, if there are ants that build their nests in stone, then the nest is the original dungeon (riil dungeon). Meanwhile, if there are ants who build their nests in trees or use live foliage in tree branches as a nest, then the nest is a false dungeon (false dungeon).

So a false dungeon was a living being. Such living things certainly have a name, they are known as Kvislnidhogg.

The creature resembles a snake with a pair of very long hands. His body is much longer. The shortest kvislnidhogg ever found in the Aquantine States is 420 m long while the longest is found in the Elvish Kingdom (Kingdom of the elves) which has a length of 2,550 km.

Kvislnidhogg is a magic beast with the basic element being the ground. Most of their lives are on the ground. So when they move, they dig up the ground like worms. Surely unlike the worm that will leave its excavation marks, the hole made by Kvislnidhogg will disappear by itself when the creature has passed through it. So there is no need to be afraid if the ground suddenly landslides when the creature passes.

Another interesting thing about Kvislnidhogg is their level. Kvislnidhogg by most experts considers it a magic beast but a small percentage consider it a type of gollem. But if you use the most famous opinion, which is to categorize the creature as a magic beast, the, so the average Kvislnidhogg level is classified as a high-class magic beast while the lowest is a middle class and the highest is a legendary class. Because generally Kvislnidhogg is a creature that is not aggressive and tends to be lazy. Their own level was obtained through the estimation of the monster power that was inside Kvislnidhogg's body.

Just like the original dungeon, Kvislnidhogg also had monsters inside his body. The monsters were obtained when part of Kvislnidhogg's body, especially the head, appeared to the ground and opened his mouth.

In the body of Kvislnidhogg contains mana in very large quantities, not infrequently many rare magic plants that grow in the body of the creature. So that it will attract magic beasts and demihumans to enter the body of Kvislnidhogg and they also make it as a nest.

The relationship between these monsters and Kvislnidhogg is symbiotic.

The monsters made Kvislnidhogg their home, a place to absorb mana so that it was stronger, and a place to grow crops because the soil in Kvislnidhogg's body was very fertile.

On the contrary, for Kvislnidhogg because he has no digestive system, he obtains food through the feces of living beings or dead living things in his body. Whether it's dirt or corpses of living things will be absorbed slowly by the walls and floors of the dungeon which is the body of Kvislnidhogg itself.

At least but not last, there is a folklore about Kvislnidhogg. Kvislnidhogg is descended from a much older creature, the Nidhogg. Nidhogg is described as a dragon or ancient snake that eats the roots of the Yggdrasil Tree or better known as the world tree.

When the Yggdrasil Tree died, Nidhogg inevitably had to find a new food source. So as to stay alive Nidhogg will pretend to be a dungeon so that he can eat the living things that enter his mouth. It is from this creature that Kvislnidhogg got its name 'kvisl' (branch) and nidhogg (creature named Nidhogg).

ORION, that's the name of Barnard's party. All the party members Lilac, Urien, Arlenne, Cilvy, Atlya, and of course Barnard had been in front of the dungeon.

The entrance of the dungeon looked like an ordinary cave but everyone in the party knew, this was the mouth of a Kvislnidhogg.

"Gentlemen and gentlemen - honorable Hunters. I pray for your safety and success."

Besides the party members there were several others.

They were people from the Nightorb Corporation. There were about 10 people, and the one speaking on their behalf was definitely the leader of that group of people.

They were assigned to pick up and escort the Orion party. But their main job is definitely to keep an eye out for no cheating during the raid.

All the Orion members knew that already. This was not their first dungeon, they had at least twice entered the false dungeon.

After inspecting all the equipment he was carrying, Barnard took the lead.

Like the cave in general, this dungeon is so dark that as the magic caster in this group, Alya and Lilac cast the [Continual Light] spell. This spell creates a ball of light the size of a round ball.

They placed the ball of light at the end of a wood, making two torches of light held by Barnard and Arlenne.

The party formation they use is Barnard and Urien as vanguard (front) who guard the long-range attackers Lilac, , Cilvy, and Alya. Then Arlenne will be the protector from behind.

"Stop." 

Barnard commanded in a soft voice.

"There's someone there."

Cilvy is an archer with his role of course as a ranger with class marksman can hear the presence of someone. He had long used his skill which was [Archery Art: Owl Eyes]. This was a skill that utilized aura to see things in the dark.

"Possibly a goblin and just one. He seemed to be chewing on something" he reported.

Barnard nodded in understanding. He again led the party movement.

They started moving back very slowly.

When in range of arrows,

Shoot it!

The creature that was a goblin was slumped to the ground.

This was an aura skill that made the arrows would have no sound when they had been stuck. In addition, this skill caused a 25% increase in shooting speed.

Lilac took out a white paper the size of a banknote from her waist bag.

Instantly the paper turned black and then elongated and wrapped around the body of a goblin like a mummy. He did that to prevent the smell and blood flow out so as not to provoke another goblin colony.

Lilac is a talisman user.

It was one of the rare classes for a magic caster.

Talisman users rely on a magical object called a talisman. Most of them use paper as a medium of magic.

The deeper they entered, the more passageways they had to choose. Although this is in the body of a living creature but clearly the inner body of Kvislnidhogg is indeed very similar to the cave passageways.

"We should use our own vision skills" Barnard said.

"Good."

Arlenne and Barnard turned off the [Continual Light] in the wood they were carrying. It was because the deeper they entered, the higher the chances of encountering monsters were. Surely the light from the [Continual Light] was striking.

Except for Uriel who uses a magic item named Victor's Helmet, Cilvy who uses the skill [Archery Art: Owl Eyes], and Arlenne who uses the skill [Felis' Tapetum], respectively,  the other members use magic to see in the dark.

They arrived at a branching path.

"Kraa!! Kraa!! Kraa!!"

A group of goblins walked in another hallway.

The hunters stopped their movements.

As the goblins turned their backs, Urien cut off their heads at once. Then Lilac reopened the bodies of the goblins.

To them, corpses were precious treasures.

The corpses of monsters could be sold to adventurer guilds or magic guilds. So the loss of not taking good care of this corpse.

They do it over and over again without being discovered. Before they meet the fork again.

Barnard chose the left lane, at the end of his view, a room with a floor full of dry leaves.

"!!!"

Barnard certainly knew that. 

Baby's Room!!

Since the party had no assassins, Cilvy as a ranger this time walked forward. He entered the room silently.

Then a few minutes later he came back.

"There are about 7 adult female goblins. In addition there are at least 50 to 70 baby goblins" said Cilvy.

Killing all 7 goblins at once was impossible as they were scattered within the room. In addition, this baby room was too spacious, there was no hiding place for the six people at once.

" August ... Lilac ...," whispered Barnard.

Both just nodded.

The Orion group changed its formation.

Now they did not run using a horizontal formation.

Atlya and Lilach were in the middle of the group with Barnard and Urien guarding on the right and left while Arlenne and Cilvy were behind to stand guard.

This time when they were close to the entrance, Lilac directly threw her 5 papers into the room.

"Enable [Fire][Solar Cloud]!"

4 Out of 5 papers glowed gold just before the thick gas was green in large quantities. While one other paper glowed like the previous fire finally exploded with a great effect.

The goblins who were there did not have time to shout.

BOOM!!

[Fire] level 2 fire spells. This spell is an explosion-type spell that has a small AoE of less than 1 meter. While [Solar Cloud] was a tier 3 spell that emitted flammable gases.

With the combination of these two spells caused a great explosion.

"[Shine Shield ]"

Atlya used a level 3, [Shine Shield] spell on the door to prevent the gas and explosions from escaping so as not to hit them.

"The raaarrrrrr raaarrrrr !!!"

From each passageway, the roars of the goblins' anger grew louder. The footsteps became clearer.

"It's party time" said Barnard.