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Chapter 10 Through the Dark

Upon pressing the [Yes] option, Luck took notice of his surroundings. The ground around him was composed of a black dirt that felt slightly sticky and rough, which he could feel through his boots. 

The gray ashy sky added to the foreboding and down trodden atmosphere of the dungeon, the now shattered tombstones and graves reminded some of a ransacked burial site while the more dense types would liken the place to a haunted house attraction.

To Luck, it was a reminder of a memory of the future he would like to forget, which is what he endeavored to do as he stepped forward to descend a sudden flight of stairs that appeared at his acceptance to progress.

These stairs soon led him down into a dark cavern which was both wide and tall enough for him to comfortably move in. Not a single ray of light shined in this place, so Luck unhooked a colorful potion from his belt and popped the cork before drinking it quickly.

His once darkened and obscured vision was then brightened as the features of the cavern became clear enough to see. With his ability to now see in the dark, Luck advanced in a slow but careful manner.

While the potion had given him nightvision, its quality was quite middling as it was only a basic potion. At best, it gave him better depth perception and the ability to see in green and black colors.

Potion of Common Night Vision

Rarity: Common

Description: Through the infusion of magic particles from magic crystals, the human eye is enhanced to see in a new spectrum of light. Able to now view through the night, your journey extends from the light of day.

Effect: Grants the normal skill [Beginner Night Vision] for a limited time. Vision will allow limited viewing in a green and black coloration. Sight is unaffected by sudden changes in light.

Duration: 1 Hour

Turning a corner, Luck peeked out his head to scan for enemies. His small audience through his livestream were egging him on to just start charging through, but he was not listening to them as he knew better.

While his initial stint of battle fury at the entrance made it seem that this dungeon could be cleared through brute force alone, that was far from the truth. A confined and dark place like this, that was filled with enemies, was just asking for trouble if one entered guns blazing.

Finding a group of 10 skeletons meandering around in the chamber just ahead of him, Luck could already tell that this was a trap.

He knew that this upcoming room had additional tunnels connecting to this chamber and would likely spawn more enemies should he try to fight right off the bat.

Additionally, the somewhat rough terrain in the chamber made it easy for a player to get surrounded if they were inattentive to their surroundings.

Wanting to even the playing field a bit before he got into a heated engagement, Luck rifled through his backpack and took out 5 vials filled with a vicious black liquid that glowed a slightly gray hue.

Holding four vials between the fingers of his left hand, he held the 5th between his lips. Hefting the warhammer with his right hand, to rest it upon his shoulder. Luck then rechecked to see if his strength potion and strength ring were in effect.

Moving through the menu with his eyes, he found that his mana had recovered to full thanks to his [Beginner Mana Recovery] which allowed for the fast regeneration of mana while out of combat and slight amount of mana regeneration while in combat.

Finding himself prepared, he ran into the chamber ahead as silently as he could. To his fortunate luck, his presence was unnoticed thanks to the large boulders that were dotted throughout the chamber. Getting into a position as close as possible to the opposite side of the chamber where the connecting tunnels were, Luck lined up his sights and judged on if he could do this.

Finding no issue, he tossed one of the vials full of black liquid at a group of hidden skeletons that were using the boulders as a kind of cover. The sound of shattering glass resounded, but this was only for only a moment.

The black liquid slipped out of the broken vial but as soon as it became exposed to the air, it shined and then evaporated into a black mist that was then light aflame and exploded. Replacing the short sound of cracking glass, a crack of thunder resounded in the chamber.

The area where the once hidden group of skeletons were standing had been flattened as the boulders that were once used for cover were blown to bits.

The other of the skeletons in the cavern were alarmed by this, but they gave no noticeable expression. Yet, they acted as if they were in panic and began scanning their surroundings.

A couple of minutes passed and the skeletons thought that whatever had attacked was likely hiding and began to spread out. 

Wanting to close off all routes of escape, skeletons began to exit their hiding places and walked over to block the 4 other connecting tunnels that acted as the chambers possible exits.

Arriving at their destination, the skeletons caught the sight of an unknown figure hiding behind the large rocks. Thinking that it was an enemy, they attacked and rushed forward to surround the last seen location of the figure.

Passing by the boulders, the skeletons felt a slight tug at their feet and heard the sound of cracking glass and then nothing. A black and violent explosion took them to their end.

Stepping out from behind a boulder just a distance away, Luck quickly ran out to throw the 3th black potion he had at the roof of a connecting tunnel. 

A third explosion erupted in the chamber and the tunnel began to collapse on itself as rubble blocked any entry from the tunnel and any exit from the chamber.

“One down, 2 more to go.”

Reminding himself of just what he needed to do, Luck attempted to hide his presence again. Wanting to keep the element of surprise, he used his advantage in potions to change the present battle to favor himself.

Using the remaining two black potions, Luck destroyed another two tunnels. In all, 3 of the 5 tunnels that connected to this chamber were still open.

After throwing the last black potion he was holding between his lips, Luck sighed in somewhat annoyance as he wished he could have more effective potions. While his current supply was versatile, it did not pack enough punch when compared to the late or even mid game level potions. With one mid level potion, he could have cleared this room without breaking a sweat but no, he had to do it the hard way.

Unable to buy the mid game potions since they were unavailable in his exchange shop, he made do.

Done with bemoaning his predicament, Luck got ready as he knew that he was in for a fight.

The resulting explosions had thinned out the hidden parties of skeletons and prevented the possibility of large numbers of reinforcements from entering the chamber. 

With only 2 of the 5 tunnels remaining, Luck was glad that he was able to get three while unnoticed and undiscovered,

While he lacked any stealth skills, the knowledge from his future memories gave him all he needed to know when it came to the game's behavioral patterns of the skeletons.

Using the similar style of fighting he used on the first level of the dungeon, Luck let loose a series of [Power Smash] with his warhammer and used [Earth Shaker] to get out of any sticky situations.

As groups of skeletons poured out from one of the remaining tunnels, Luck smirked as he eyed the piles of bones which looked like a pile of treasure to him.

He did not have to worry about skeletons sneaking up on him, as he had made sure to destroy any tombstone and graves from the tunnel he came from.

Half an hour passed and Luck finally got the notification he was anticipating to show up.

[Congratulations, You have completed the hidden question, Skeleton Slayer]

[Slay 500 skeletons on a single level of the Pit of the Dead]

[You have cleared Level 2]

[You may now proceed to Level 4]

[Would you like to be transferred?]

[Yes/No] 

As soon as the notification sounded, the remaining skeletons in the chamber fell apart and died as their bones scattered on the black floor of the chamber.

Luck patted himself down and let out a sigh of relief at a job well done. Glad that his future memories did not disappoint, Luck quickly grabbed up the loot in the chamber and made his way down the tunnel to further collect the remaining loot.

A somewhat lucky find were the numerous small magic crystals dropped by the skeletons. While they were weak and only had strength in numbers, their advantage in strength was somewhat a boon to Luck as it increased the chances of him obtaining more crystals.

Picking the ground clean, he then moved his eyes around the passage he was in and began smashing the tombstones and graves.

Rummaging through the rubble he made, he came across a few more lucky finds as a few of the graves had a couple of wooden chests in them.

Finding one made of a black colored wood, Luck again put his loot away into his [Pocket of the Creator] class skill.

After rolling his shoulders and stretching his back a bit, Luck pressed the [Yes] option and was suddenly enveloped in a blue teleportation light. 

“Onward and upwards, or well… downwards in this case.”

Luck chuckled before disappearing from the second level of the Pit of the Dead.

Skeleton Fighter (Level 15)

Description: The remains of a warrior spirit that burns darkly in the depths of the bones. Grudges, curses, and regrets make up this entity's being, who are driven mad and reduced to a mindless corpse that wishes for battle and death. Equipped with swords, axes, pikes, or even clubs, they fight and swarm until they turn to dust.

Health: 85/85

Mana: 25/25

Vial of Explosion

Rarity: Uncommon

Description: A volatile bottle of magic liquid which is a byproduct of alchemical processes. When exposed to air and mana, the liquid will turn into a gunpowder like material that is sensitive to all kinds of physical force.

Note: Can be charged with 100 mana to produce a crude and portable explosive.