perizou
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Chapter 176 - Hidden Knowledge
🕑 Added 2021-01-18 13:00:03 +0000 UTCSince there weren't that many groups doing the dungeon, the line moved quickly. Not only did the Traveling Stove offer food, but it also had a free water refill with every purchase. The menu was that of a standard burger joint, with milkshakes, fries, sandwiches, and of course, various burgers.
The decoration was very simple. There was no flair or gimmick. The only two things noteworthy were the stone stove decal slapped on the side of the trailer and the lack of an actual truck in front of it. A large boulder was wrapped around in chains with a tall seat behind it in place of the engine. The driver had a spell that would rotate the rock and move the rest of the restaurant alongside it. It was a smart way to get around the idea of making a car inside the MAZE. People could still make full vehicles, but it would require either building it by hand or importing the individual pieces since a full car wouldn't go through the doorways back in Brinefront.
Hera and her group were already at a table with their food in front of them. This restaurant offered food that could help people doing intensive workouts. The fries were made with no oil, and the buns were all whole-wheat. The meat, however, broke that formula a bit. They had low protein options, but it wasn't a best seller. People who did dungeons tended to have time to rest up before going inside, so eating something that would take more energy to digest wasn't the end of the world.
"I can't believe you never told us about this, Tom," Blue said between bites of her barbecue burger.
"Apologies, I was a patron of this fine establishment only a single time in the past. I'm afraid I had forgotten its location," Tom cleaned his mouth of the ranch dressing.
"Well, it's no surprise. They only work for a few hours every day, but they have four trucks, one in each dungeon and one in the mine currently used. According to the cashier, they are staying here until they are out of food, then they close shop and head back to town," Bonnie was eating her fries using her chocolate milkshake as a dipping sauce.
"So it's just like a pop up store?" Hera was already about halfway through her chicken burger.
"Yeah. It's a really good business idea. They can bump the prices a lot, and we still are going to pay. I mean, it's 75 gold for the combo, and it saves us like three hours," Bonnie took her tablet out and started doing some math, "They already should have around 100 to 110% more profit than the restaurants in the city. Since their prices are about 60% higher and the materials should be the same. I would say more, but they need to consider the cost of coming here and making the product on site. We make around 300 gold per dungeon run, counting just by raw gold we can get from the reward and the drops. So even if they increase the combo to 100 gold, people would still consider this a better cost-benefit. And that's just for the food. They probably make a killing with the candy and stuff. They always overprice it in places like this. That bar of chocolate is what, 3 gold outside? How much did you pay for it, Blue?"
Blue looked at her, feeling a bit uncomfortable since the entire group was staring, "15 gold… It was just a craving."
"Yeah, but I bet they get 10 gold of pure profit, even if we take the import fees into account."
"I believe whatever you say. Business is something I never got," Alex focused back on her food.
"Oh.. right. Sorry. Old habits," Bonnie stopped eating.
"Hey, it's ok. Every time someone asks me for directions, I fall back into customer service mode," Hera bumped Bonnie's shoulder.
When their plates finally became empty, the entire group had a satisfied expression. Having such a good meal by a dungeon wasn't something anyone expected, which resulted in an increase in the group's morale.
"So, let's go back? Think we can take the named monster?" Blue asked as they left the table.
"I believe so, yes. However, be warned. Facing the monster won't be easy, and we will waste a considerable amount of time while moving back and forth inside the dungeon. The best route would be to cross the rightmost path, return by the center, and then follow to the left. Only after that we shall return to the Boss room and face their leader," Tom explained.
"Wouldn't it be better if we leave and enter again? To reset the dungeon," Alex asked.
"If we wish to face more monsters, yes. However, if we desire to earn more coin, we should focus on the mission given to us by the dungeon."
"Yeah, even if we take the quickest route, we only got what, 50 gold from the close to 100 sprites? The quest gives us 300. Going away seems like a waste," Bonnie said.
"Let's just go, and we see how we feel by the end," Hera suggested as they started to make the journey back to the top of the cliff.
Clearing the first two tunnels was easy, even if it took them close to two hours. The sprites had very predictable patterns and having more than one person attacking them would make it easy to hit them even as they tried to dodge. If they could kill them with area of effect spells, it would be much easier, but only Tom had something strong enough to one-shot them. Even so, it still required a very specific condition to hit more than one at a time.
By the end of the second hour, the group was already in the path leading to the named monster and the secret.
"Alex, quick question. Do bosses count? Like could you go after a low-level boss and kill it in a single move?" Blue asked.
"I guess they do, but it's not like I can one-shot a boss. I mean, where would I do that? Here? In the frog valley? The arcanist's tower didn't even have a boss."
"That's a weird requirement too. Why do you have to one-shot it? Wouldn't it count if you killed it on your own?" Runir said.
"I guess this is about the sneak attack skill. It increased the damage I deal if my target doesn't know I'm there. I heard about a skill that makes my attacks deal more damage as an opener, but I don't know how to get it," Alex stretched herself, getting ready for a fight.
"Could it be something we get from the role quests?" Hera looked towards Tom.
He smiled as a reply, "I felt it would be better to allow you all to reach that conclusion yourselves. That is correct. Those quests can give you not simply a way to perform on your role, but also skills to help you with."
"And here I thought that the skill I got had nothing to do with the quest," Hera sighed.
"Really? What skill did you get?" Runir asked.
"Treasure map, it shows on my map places of interest and gives me more information about it. I still haven't found much use for it since it only updates after I figure out what it is," Hera explained and turned to Tom, "What about you? What was the first skill the role quest gave you?"
"The first was one that allowed me to shape the fury to what I desired. Now, instead of relying on anger, I choose to rely on my nobility as a knight."
"You can change a skill to that degree? Is that permanent?" Runir asked.
"It is not. However, if I decide to alter the skill in any way, not only will it reset to rank 1, but it is required to go through a small test," Tom explained.
"Do you have any restrictions on the tests? Like, how many you can take or if you need to rank up a skill before doing the test again?" Hera asked.
"The only restriction is to do it only once every 6 months. Aside from that, we are able to do the test as many times as we desire."
"That's unfair," Hera scoffed. She had to go through all kinds of hoops to trigger her role quests.
"C'mon, you can get all the roles. Let us have some perks too," Blue laughed.
"Settle down, our foe is close," Tom commanded.
The group stopped talking and moved quietly with Alex at the back as a precaution. Even if the monster noticed them, there was a chance that she could still be hidden from its senses. They arrived in an open area with only 3 mushrooms, one on each side of the cave and one at the back. In the middle of the expanse, there was a single sprite playing jump rope with its tendrils. The only thing different about it was that instead of the white glow, it had a red and green mix.
"Oh man, that's not fair. That thing is cute," Blue gasped, only to be met with a shush from Bonnie.
"Don't make noise! Alex needs to be hidden," Bonnie said in a whisper.
"Quiet guys," Alex said, "How do we know where that thing is looking at?"
"Maybe that orange-brown spot is its face," Hera pointed at a part of it that was on the side, right where the red and green parts met.
"I have a plan. Hera, could you please help me with this?" Tom explained his idea.
"Ok, we can try that, but I need to get closer," Hera said.
Tom nodded, and five of his dancing lights appeared around him. They kept moving as if they were following the beat of a song. The lights slowly passed by the sprite who stopped jumping rope, and the orange spot on its middle move around, following the dancing spheres. Hera moved close enough for her own lights to reach it and created five more who joined in the performance, coming from under the sprite. The monster moved up and down a few times and started to mimic the pattern of the lights. Tom looked back at Alex and nodded towards the creature. While Alex approached, Hera triggered her [Observe].
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Party Sprite (Light affinity) – Level 2
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It was much weaker than what Hera imagined. Maybe that was the reason it had such an overpowered skill to call all its friends. Alex sneaked behind the sprite with her dagger in hand. A light blue strap was wrapped around the weapon's hilt and dangling under it a circle with an icicle draw inside it.
The assassin got into striking distance with the monster and stopped. Hera didn't understand why, but Tom was making a motion for her to wait. After about 30 seconds, Alex pulled up her weapon in an uppercut. The attack seemed stronger than normal. Hera could have sworn that something was moving around the dagger. The strike cut the monster into two pieces, leaving the red and green sides, each falling to one side. The sprite dissolved into the ground, leaving two pieces of gold on the floor.
"I got it!" Alex shouted.
"Well done, noble assassin. The new spell you've acquired has shown its worth," Tom complimented her.
"Thanks, I'm not sure if I'm going to use it often, though," Alex said.
"What spell?" Blue asked from the back.
"I got the charged spell that Tom has. It's called Charged Attack. The more mana and the longer you stay still, the more powerful it gets."
Hera walked over, "Is the quest done too?" Alex nodded in response, "Ok, so where is the secret, Tom?"
"Check the mushroom at the back."
Hera stared at the large mushroom at the back of the room. It was larger than any other she had seen inside the dungeon, but a few were taller. She looked around, trying to find what secret it would be. She knew that asking Tom was an option, but at the same time, she wanted to at least find part of it on her own. There was nothing behind it or something that looked to be buried. After a few minutes, Hera noticed an odd marking on the right side of the mushroom. It was too perfectly cut to be something natural. Pushing the area with a bit of strength made part of the structure fall inside the mushroom, revealing a hollowed area filled with carvings.
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You have found the hidden history of the Underground Forest.
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Comments
Perizou
I edited and completely spaced out on thanking you. Sorry! And thank you so much for the corrections. I know the difference between on/in and at but when I'm writing those things just sneak by me x.x I'm saying this more to remember myself to be more careful with those things lol
Aldous Russell
Thanks! I think "did... offered food" should be "offer". I think "go around the idea" would be better as "get". "better If" should be "if". I think "help you with" should be "with it". I think "on the back" should be "at" (x4). I think "under it the circle" should be "a circle".
