B3 | Chapter 46 - The Maze
Alexia
I quickly find that the creeps’ use quite the variety of different elements. Ranging all the way from lightning, to fire, and even ice. Some complete opposites on the elemental range. But all with rather skillful control.
The things are rather easy to kill with Quantum Bolts though. And in the end, I only get hit by a single breath attack of the bunch.
An attack that hurts. Burns straight through my armor and singes my skin despite me only being grazed by the attack.
So, ouch.
My natural healing deals with the injury rather quickly though, making it not a problem.
After dealing with the creeps, I move on to moving through the labyrinth. Or, rather, the maze, as I quickly come to realize while traveling through it and ending up at more dead ends than I care to remember.
During my little trek through the maze, I find dozens of creeps roaming around. And out of my battles with them, I end up being hurt by their breath attacks only a few times.
But one thing I do manage to figure out several things about the creeps. Like the fact that they all seem to have a hivemind of sorts, since none of the creeps after the first bunch so much as tried to attack me physically, and they all seem to be learning how to target me over time.
I also learn a lot more about them though, so they aren’t doing much better against me than I am against them. Tactics wise. They’re not strong, so they’re definitely doing worse than me over all. What with them all dying.
Eventually I begin to run into traps as well, hopefully meaning that I’m going the correct way through the maze. Both large and small ones.
Large traps like entire floors dropping out, which I avoid simply by teleporting. And small traps like darts and flames shooting out of the walls, which count as physical damage since it’s not done through magic. So I just plain ignore those.
It’s really nice having immunity to physical damage. Incredibly nice.
I can’t help but smile at that thought as I walk through a bunch of gunfire shooting out from the walls, ignoring the bullets entirely.
Immunity to damage is a very rare thing. Only the best gear can give it, and only up to thirty percent immunity at the very most.
And the only skills that can give immunity to damage are racial skills.
Other than skills and gear, it’s just Legendary Feats that can give immunity. Like Lucas’s Legendary Feat.
Nothing else.
That said, the whole weakness to magic is a little annoying.
More than a little, actually.
It’s very annoying. Even if the immunity to physical damage is really nice.
I continue going from one dead end to another, passing through more and more traps until I finally start to find some more dangerous traps. Or rather, some actually dangerous traps.
Ones that are magical in nature and catch me by surprise with the first set since it actually damages me. Hits me with a magical poison needle.
I quickly heal myself and continue on after that though, and I start moving more carefully through the halls of the maze so as to not be caught off guard by any other magical traps.
The creeps slowly begin to grow more powerful as well, to the point that they’re now a higher level than me at level 530-540 on average.
So I’m starting to struggle a little bit more with them, taking more and more damage with each increase in level.
Meanwhile I’m leveling up a lot slower than I was in Tier 3. Which is to be expected.
Other than the whole setup being one dungeon after another, the Dimension-Wide Dungeon hasn’t been any different from a normal dungeon. But it’s a little hard to tell for the fourth Tier, since I’ve never been in one before. And Tier 4 dungeons had less information about them public before the Reset.
I frown as I teleport behind a creep and swing my polearm so that the blade at the end cuts straight through one of its limbs before I kick it, activating Quantum Bolt right beneath my foot and knocking it onto the ground. Then I stab it through the head with my polearm and step back.
It’s been a while since I was grinding like this in a dungeon.
I turn around, only to freeze when something enters the range of my senses. Something a lot stronger than the creeps I’ve been fighting thus far. At least two dozen levels stronger.
Probably somewhere around level 550 ish.
A boss, maybe?
I begin heading in the direction of the energy source. And it doesn’t take long for me to find the thing, since it’s heading in my direction as well. As if the thing can sense me too.
Once we both turn the last corner to see each other, we both pause.
I find myself staring at the thing, which looks like an even bigger version of the creeps, just with some scales and feathers added across its body. Making it look even creepier than the other creeps. Meanwhile the creature tilts its head while returning my gaze.
And we both just stand in silence for several seconds.
Eventually I identify the monster to find that it’s a Class A equivalent Chaos Monster.
{Creeper of the Maze – Species: Fallen Creeper – Level 551}
With a very similar species name to the other ones. Except with a special name.
Although, now that I look at it for a bit longer, I realize something.
It also has a tail. A tiny one, but a tail. One similar to that of a scorpion.
Just so thin that it’s the size of a damned needle.
That’s just… weird.
And at the end of the needle tail is a scorpion-like stinger that really doesn’t look like it would fit on the end of the tail.
Very weird.
The creature finally screeches and rushes straight at me, moving so quickly that it’s just a blur. But I quickly teleport out of the way, just barely dodging its stinger.
Wow.
Fast too.
Rather early on to be finding Class A equivalents, so this’ll be interesting.