The Novel’s Extra’s Extra

Right now, Olivia and I were in Bukhansan National Park, somewhere inside the forest of the park. I was looking at a map Hajin gave this morning, it had the exact ubication of the dungeon and worked like some kind of GPS, really amazing. From what he told me, he got it from the Book of Truth, he asked after I told him that I was planning to go to this dungeon so I would get to it faster.

Great that he did. While I could have found it, I would need to search a little bit, as the list Hajin gave did have an approximate place and some references, but not an exact place, and a forest isn’t somewhere you can find things easily without an exact ubication.

“How much time until we get there?”-Olivia asked while looking around the forest we were walking. “How did you find the dungeon? I mean, this a National Park, shouldn’t people have found it already? Are you sure you didn’t illegally buy the info?”

“We’re almost there. And no. I didn’t buy the information illegally. And it’s precisely because it is a protected place, that it isn’t that easily discoverable.”

“Yeah, yeah, you told me you found it… But why are you looking through a map if you were already here? And what were you doing here in the first place?”-She asks while looking at me.

“The map makes it harder for me to get lost while coming back here. I made it just in case.”-I told her. “And I was just hiking. We’re here. Get ready.”- I said while closing the map and putting it inside my backpack. We were in front of a small cave in one wall of rock. The dungeon should be inside this cave, and from the looks of it, it should be a stage dungeon like the Spider’s Nest.

I also took out the Tear of the Ice Wing Queen from my backpack and wear it on, the gauntlets were with Hajin, as I lend them to him for whenever he wanted to go to a dungeon.

“Wow… That looks great! Where did you get it? Is it costly? And why are you putting some earring before entering a dungeon?”-Olivia asks before drinking water.

“It’s an item. Like the one I gave you. It’s just as a security measure. Are you ready?”-I ask her while hanging putting on my backpack.

“Yes. I’m ready. I prepared everything before coming here. Weapons and everything.”-She answered while nodding with a frown in her face.

“Don’t be nervous. It’s an easy lesson today. How to not to get killed inside a dungeon 101. And even better, I’m mixing it with how to use items for dummies. You’re wearing the bracelet already?”

“Ha… Ha… Ha… So funny. And yes. I’m wearing it ever since you gave it to me yesterday. Seriously, it is an amazing it-!”-She stopped mid-sentence.

“*sigh…* You used it… Right?”-I ask her while giving her a frown.

“…”-She just averted her eyes.

“You didn’t break anything? Heck, I would be surprised if you didn’t.”-I said while facepalming. “Come on. Let’s go. At least you have an idea of how to use it.”-I start walking towards the cave.

“You could have warned me… How would I know that just willing it to happen it would throw that icicle!”-She said while following me.

“I told you not to try anything. Well, it doesn’t matter unless you kill someone with it.”

We walked through the narrow cave for a little while. It wasn’t until a few minutes that we could see a wide patch of moss growing around, and what seemed like some kind of roots and even branches going out of the walls all around the place, some of them with moss and even some vines.

“First lesson. Don’t trust your eyes only.”-I said while throwing a fire bullet towards one of the moss patches growing over the wall, it was completely green in moss.

*CroAK!!*

A moss-like green toad fell on the ground, with an enormous hole in its back.

“What!? What was that?”-She asked.

“Chameleon Toad. It’s a small monster in comparison with others. But the guy knows how to camouflage well, and is able to spit poison or inject it with a little sting on their tongues.”

*Rumble*

The cave trembled, and a little passage formed on the opposite way of where the toad was.

“Whenever you go somewhere you don’t know. Expect enemies. Even more, if you already know there will be enemies. Precisely that this dungeon.”

“But… Everything was empty…”

“Exactly. In a dungeon? While walking for minutes? And in a place that screams ‘TRAP!’ everywhere? Using your eyes isn’t wrong. That’s normal for humans. Even more, you have trained as a sharpshooter. But sometimes, there’re ways to confuse the vision. Unless your gift allows you to stop it. You better don’t trust your eyes 100%. Your other senses also exist. Use them. Now, let’s go. That was the switch.”-I said while walking towards the passage.

“Being always alert for danger… Isn’t that being paranoic?”-She retorts while walking with me. “Still… Well… It isn’t bad advice…”

“Those are the ones that live the most. Well, the cowards one. If you have time to talk, you better use it for being alert.”

After going into the passage. Everything turned to new scenery. It was a forest. A rain forest.

[You’ve entered the Dungeon Rainy Forest]

[Mana concentration goes up. Corrosion is expanding.]

[Monsters powers up]

[Boss monster powers up]

“This reminds me of my trip to Brazil.”-I murmured.

“You went to Brazil?”-She asks while looking around.

“Yeah, went with Hajin last Saturday. To a dungeon.”- I keep walking forward.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”-She asks while glaring. “I’ve always wanted to travel to South America…”

“You do know that you have like 6 passes each month to travel completely free, right?”

“What? Really!?”-She answers surprised.

“What did I expect… *sigh…*”-I sighed before throwing a fire bullet towards our right, right to a tree behind Olivia. “I told you already. Be alert if you have time to talk. This is the last time I kill one before it hits you.”-I said to her while the now dead toad was falling on the ground.

“…”-She looked at the dead toad with wide-open eyes. “… Sorry…”-She finally said after taking out a few knives and looking around everywhere.

“Remember. Don’t only use your eyes. You have 5 senses. Use them all.”-I told her while walking forwards. Trying to find what we should be doing inside this place, if killing everything, look for something, or find some passage.

“But… How? I mean… They’re difficult to see… And I don’t have a sensorial ability to find them.”-She said, still looking everywhere trying to search for more toads.

“It’s your nose for decoration?”-I ask while frowning at her.

“What?”

“It’s the second toad already. You should have noticed that putrid smell they gave.”

“What? Putrid smell? What do you mean?”-She stopped to ask.

“Take a deep breath. What do you smell?”-I ask her.

“*sniff* It… smells like… grass… mud…*sniffs* Also… Tree bark…” -She says while sniffing.

“What else? Focus.”

“*sniff* Licorice… *sniff* I smell licorice… It’s strong too…”-She said.

“Can you find the source of the smell?”-I ask.

“… *sniff* I think… There!”-She said pointing towards one of the trees in front of us, to the right side.

“…”-I smirk while shooting a fire bullet there. Effectively killing the toad hiding there. “Congratulations. Wasn’t that hard, right?”-I said to her.

“…”-She opens her mouth wide. “But… You said… It was a putrid smell…”

“I don’t like that smell and flavor.”-I said to her. “Even less if it’s so strong like the one from those toads.”

“… I do like it…”-She says.

“It’s the better looking and smelling ones that have the stronger venom.”-I said.

“…”-She looks at the toad. “But… I just knew the smell came from that direction… How do you point out the exact place?”

“Look at the moss. In that tree. Do you see any other moss as big or as small as that toad?”

“No…?”

“Precisely. Of course. It’s not a perfect way to pinpoint them but is one way to do it. In your case, while you’re not that adept at using the smell, just pinpoint the direction. Focus your senses on that direction and wait for it to attack first, or open its eyes. They’re red so they are easy to spot among all that green. Once you spot them. Kill them. Let’s go.”-I said while walking forwards with small steps.

“…”-She nods while following me. Still looking around, but not like a lost child. This time I can also hear her deep breathing. She’s trying to focus on that smell.

After a little while, she seemed to detect the next toad, which was in a tree, but close to the base of the tree, almost on the ground.

{It seems she’s going for the sure way.}-I thought while still walking past it. Olivia right behind me.

“…”-She’s looking ahead as if only walking.

Right when she passes by the toad. It opens its eyes and looks at her. And when it’s about to attack, opening its mouth, Olivia turns quickly and shot two knives that quickly pierced the toad on the tongue and forehead, freezing the surrounding parts and killing it.

“Well done. Now, let’s go. It seems that those are only going to increase from here on.”-I said to her, while both the knives she shot came back to her. “Also. Nicely done. Attacking its tongue, that’s their weakness.”

“Thanks… And, really? The tongues? I mean… I shot there for it to not attack me with that thing… But to think it was its vital point…”-She looks at the toad while walking. “Then why don’t you attack them there?”

“Why would I? I can easily kill them without even trying to hit their tongue. Just a waste of time to attack their vitals.”

“Mm… Hey… I’ve been meaning to ask this since before… But what are those things you shoot? They seem like bullets, but they don’t look the same…”

“Fire bullets. Compress balls of fire into the form of a bullet, add spinning power and you got yourself a great projectile to pass through things while burning the way they pass through.”

“…”-She looks at me with eyes and mouth wide open. “How did you learn to do that?”

“Lots of training in magic control.”

While we were walking, she killed each toad that appeared on her side, while I killed those out of her range of detection that was at my side. The tactic she used was the same, find their direction, wait for them to act, and attack.

There were more toads the more we went inside. There was really a lot. It was to a point when you could see green moss almost everywhere.

There she had to change the strategy, and started to shot towards those she thought were toads. Of course, she missed a lot. But with a little more practice, she slowly adapted and learned to differentiate the moss from the toads.

Of course, I protected her in case any missed toad was to attack her. Also taking care of any enemy that was out of her range of detection.

We finally got to a pond with a big lotus leaf in the center.

“Stop.”-I said while putting my hand in front of her. “Look there. Do you see anything?”

“Mm… The pond? No? Is there something inside it?”-She asks while looking at the pond.

“Yes. Throw a knife towards the leaf.”-I said

“Mm? Sure…”-She said while throwing a knife towards the lotus leaf.

What happened next was that an enormous toad appeared from under it and hit the knife with its tongue.

It was gross, big, and really wide, with four red eyes and three big horns on its forehead.

*CROAK*

“That’s… A horned toad…”

“Yes. It is. Do you know about them?”

“A little bit… They have a strong tongue that sometimes it’s compared to iron…”

“Well. Know the vitals?”

“No… But I don’t think it’s also their tongue, right?”

While we were talking, the enormous toad started to move, jumping towards us with its tongue out.

We both jumped back to evade while the toad used its tongue to sweep the place, moments before falling there itself.

“Well… It doesn’t matter. I guess you can take care of it, right? Use the bracelet. I’ll give you a quick guide on it.”-I said while evading a thrust from the toad’s tongue. “It allows you to throw ice bolts. The icicles you used to destroy your room. Also. If you focus your mana in any throwing weapon or projectile while invoking the bolt, you’ll be able to mix them both, making both the weapon and the ice bolt, stronger.”-I again jumped back. The toad was focused on me.

“Did you understand?”-I ask.

“Yes!”-She answered.

“Great. Take care of this thing.”-I said, this time dashing in front of the toad and kicking it in Olivia's direction.

“Wa-wait! What are you doing!?”-She screamed when the giant toad went flying towards her.

She evaded the toad, while the poor thing crashed among a group of trees.

“Are you crazy!? That thing it’s heavy!!! Don’t kick it towards people!”-She shouted at me.

“Are you sure you have time to nitpick at me? I mean. That thing is still alive, and it’s standing up.”-I said while pointing towards the horned toad.

“…*tch…*”-She clicked her tongue, but went into a fighting position.

She was focusing while grabbing her knife. And right when the toad stood on its legs again. She started throwing her knives. But this time, they weren’t simple knives. They were covered in a blue aura-like thing in the form of an Ice Bolt.

Once they pierced the toad skin, the icy-blue aura spread, freezing everything a few centimeters around them and making the toad croak in pain once small spikes of ice pierced it again, probably coming from the enhanced knives.

“Wow…”-She just stays there looking at the two knives that froze a small part of the toad.

“What are you doing? It’s still alive.”-I said to her, right before the toad shot its tongue towards her in complete fury.

“Wah…!”-She stumbled out of its way and shot two more knives with the icy-blue aura.

The toad croaked in pain once again, small parts of it froze around the knives, while ice spikes penetrated its skin once again.

“It seems like the enhanced ability it’s not only more freezing power but also those spikes that appear after the initial hit. It’s like a second piercing attack. Nice.”-I murmured while looking at Olivia's fight.

She was basically throwing her knives while evading the toad’s tongue.

A few of the knives were sent away by the toad’s tongue, but even then, part of the tongue that hit them was slightly frozen.

“Shit! This thing is tougher than it looks!”-Olivia shouts while throwing more knives after evading the charging toad that decided it was better to jump straight towards her than to using its tongue, taking down a few smaller trees around the way.

“*wistle~* Look at that. It’s like some kind of jumping rhino. Albeit, ugly. Really ugly.”-I said while looking at all of this happening with my arms crossed. “Come on! You’re too slow. Kill it faster.”-I shout towards the jumping Olivia, that was trying to evade another charge.

“Attack you too then!”

“Nah, this is training. Why are you taking so much time between throws?”

“It’s not easy to instantly focus my mana in my weapons while also having to focus on invoking the Ice Bolt.”

“Mm… Then it’s good that the toad is tougher than it seems. You have a nice target to practice. Good luck.”-I said while sitting down on a rock close to the pond.

“You!”-Olivia shouted while throwing more knives towards the toad. “Idiot!”-She suddenly came towards me.

{This girl…}-I thought while standing up.

Right when I stood up, Olivia was close to me with a smirk and jumped away. With an enormous toad flying towards me.

“*sigh…* Are you serious?”-I ask while looking at Olivia. “You’re such a kid…”-I stood up.

I put my hand in front with a little mana reinforcement, receiving the flying toad. I grabbed it hard from one of its horns, and with a quick spin, I send it flying towards Olivia.

“Wa-wait!!! Don’t throw it to me!!!!”-She screamed while evading it.

“Stop playing. End it fast.”-I said to her. While sitting again on the rock.

After a little while of fighting. Olivia finally defeated the toad. The freezing effect of the Promise of the Ice Wing Queen it’s really strong when mixing both the weapon and the Ice Bolt, and it slowly deprived the toad of movement. Of course. Attacking its legs was what made the trick.

Thankfully for Olivia, she can recall the knives back, dealing extra damage to the toad while having a constant stock of knives to throw.

“*SIGH…* I’m tired…”-She said while dropping close to a tree…

“Really? That seemed like an easy job to me.”-I said while looking around. She just glared at me.

All around us, the place was turning bright.

“It seems it was just this place… Well, guess that was the boss. Pretty lame if you ask me.”

“That’s because you didn’t fight that thing…”

“Of course not. What’s the point in training you if I’ll have to help you? I told you. It was an easy dungeon.”

With the sound of breaking glass, we were back to the initial cave. And in the center of it, a small chest.

“Well, let’s check what it’s inside of it.”-I said while going towards the chest.

Opening the chest, there was a small green ring.

“Mm?”

[Camouflage of nature]

[A special ring that helps its user to camouflage in any environment.]

[Equipment]

[The rings surround the user in an invisible fog that slightly increases the difficulty for enemies to spot him. It also increases speed by 0.2]

“Well, this is perfect trash. Not like I was expecting anything from such an easy dungeon…”-I said. Before throwing the ring towards Olivia.

“Mm? What’s this?”-She asked while looking at the ring.

“Trash. You can keep it if you want. Though, if you sell it, give half of the money to me.”

“Trash? What does it do?”

“It makes it slightly hard for your enemies to spot you. But I don’t expect it to be that effective, maybe for someone with a hiding gift, it would be great. But for everyone else, it’s just trash. Though, it also increases your speed by 0,2…”-I said while walking towards the exit. “Come on, let’s go. I want to get back to Cube. The lesson is over.”

“Wait for me!”-She shouted while standing up and running towards me.

***

Once we were back in Cube, we went directly towards the dorms to get changed.

“Tomorrow are we training or something?”-Olivia asked me while walking towards the dorms.

“Mm? No. I have something to do tomorrow. Still, you’ll be training. In the morning 200 push-ups and sit-ups, and run 20 kilometers. In the night, well, tomorrow starts the exams, so you better study for those for the rest of the day… This week will be a little bit hard to train for you I guess.”

“Oh right… Exams… *sigh…* Yeah. It’ll be hard to train or do anything during those…”

“Well, keep a basic training schedule as you have been doing until these days, and we’ll start the next week. Understood?”

“Yes…”-She said, probably worried about the test. “Hey… can you-”

“Nope. I won’t.”

“…”-She looked at me. “You didn’t wait for me to finish.”

“You were going to ask me to help you study. Forget it. Ask Hajin for that. He’s first in the class.”-I said while waving my hand. “I’m leaving.”-I kept walking while she stayed in front of the girls’ dorms.

“*sigh…* Fine, I’ll ask Kim Hajin. See you.”

“Yeah, see you.”