Chapter 26 Near Death Experience (1)

"Well, whatever… Prepare to be shocked,"

Now, I don't want to exhaust myself anymore, so I'll finish the dungeon right now.

I have much more time left on the clock, but if I train in the dungeon again, I'll be too sore to even complete a real one.

After scouring the internet for a bit, I found a D-rank dungeon that could actually be completed.

The way dungeons work is, for example, an E-rank dungeon such as the Crystal Tortoise's Sanctuary, can not be completed as there is supposedly no Boss… which I later found out wasn't true, but that's beside the point.

And then there are D-rank and above, which can be completed and, upon completion, reset, allowing new adventures to raid the dungeon again.

"Okay… This one doesn't look that bad," I muttered as I glossed over the article on a dungeon called the: Toxic Slimes Swamp.

It was apparently one of the easiest D-rank dungeons you can find near Amlas, so I, of course, selected it after visiting a shop as I needed to come prepared.

"Do you have anything that can help negate toxic attacks?" I ask one of the store employees.

"Oh, are you challenging the Toxic Slimes Swamp?" He responds.

"Ummmm… Yes? Is there a problem?"

"Oh, no, it's just that there are different levels of toxic resistant gear. So, some are more expensive than others,"

"Then please lead me to the cheaper gear,"

…

This gear isn't cheap.

"Is this the cheapest you have?" I ask, and the employee nods.

"They're not as cheap as some other magical equipment though, as processing the mold into the items is very taxing…."

"I can see…."

Geez… I guess I'll get some of the accessories since I can actually afford them.

"Okay, thank you," I thank the employee before he walks away to help another customer that just entered the store.

I was currently in a magic item store explicitly made for adventurers as standard metal gear wouldn't do anything against a monster's attack.

Just like what I learned in my Magic Theory class, the dungeons contain the mana that the monsters use to feed their skills, so any type of gear that is not infused with mana will be blown to bits.

"Let's see…." I muttered before selecting a few accessories which were infused with mana.

They all gave me a resistance to toxic attacks as well, so at least I won't die from the toxic air lingering in the dungeon.

I then paid for all the gear that sapped more than half of my money, leaving me almost completely broke.

I already had some rations and pouches of water from my previous trips into the tortoise dungeon, so I didn't have to buy anymore.

Quickly, I made my towards the dungeon, which was not that far from the tortoise dungeon, but there were also noticeably fewer adventurers present.

"Id please," The guard requests, and I put out the ID, which I tampered with a bit.

The ID I stole went all the way up to C-rank dungeons, so I wasn't going to have much trouble entering any new dungeons for now.

"Okay, please enter,"

I walked past him while gripping my spear, which returned to its normal form with only one blade.

"Reconstruction of a weapon wasn't as expensive as I thought," I muttered as I entered the dark cave.

Most dungeons I had noticed were dark caves on the outside, and the higher rank they were, the larger the entrance was.

.

[You have entered The Dungeon: Toxic Slime Cavern]

[Recommended Level: 10]

.

The notification appeared in front of me, and the farther I walked into the cave, the brighter the inside became as squishy orbs of green light were slowly lighting it.

I poked a few with my spear, but they were surprisingly very resilient despite their flimsy appearance.

I also noticed some green and black moss growing along the cave's walls, so I immediately slipped on my newly acquired accessories.

[The system resonates with the Magic Infused Equipment]

[You have unlocked a new part of the system]

[Equipment can now be used through the system]

"Oh, nice-"

[Would you like to equip: Toxic Barrier Ring?]

[Would you like to equip: Toxic Barrier Necklace?]

I had no reason to decline so, I immediately said,

"Yes,"

[Toxic Barrier Ring has been equipped]

[Toxic Barrier Necklace has been equipped]

[You can now view your equipment in your status]

I decided to see what the system was talking about, and I wasn't disappointed.

『Status』

[Name: Orion]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Spearsman]

[Level: 1/25] (1/100) XP Needed

[HP: 35/35 MP: 10/10 SP: 15/15] - Normal Human

[Strength: 20] - Normal Human

[Defense: 10] - Normal Human

[Magic: 9] - Normal Human

[Speed: 20] - Normal Human

[Skills: [Tangible Bloodlust] [Spear Coating]

[Equipment: [Toxic Barrier Ring] [Toxic Barrier Necklace]

…

Combined, Toxic Barrier Ring and Toxic Barrier Necklace gave me pretty much complete immunity to any weaker toxic attacks, even if they aren't direct.

So, the moss which releases spores into the air won't affect me.

But, the attacks of the slimes definitely would.

And for some reason, my status didn't display the resistances...

Maybe it's another part of the system?

Squish

A squelching sound came from down the hall, and when I glanced at it, I noticed there was also some more green light after a sharp turn to the left.

I cautiously walked towards the turn, and just as I swung around, I readied my spear in front of me while activating [Spear Coating].

[Your love for the spear extends to your weapon]

Squish

A green and black slime… and a massive cavern behind it.

Black stalactites hung from the ceiling, and it looked as if they could fall down with just the slightest vibration.

The entrance was on top of a hill that was littered with green and black ooze, but it also had a few signs of life.

Trees with black leaves and bushes that had a mix of both colors.

And finally, the last sign of life, a slime right before me.

Squish

After I activated my skill, the slime noticed me, so it began to jump towards me at a pretty slow speed.

The ground beneath it began to melt with each hop it took.

It also smelled horrendous, like the most potent poison in the world.

SHING

I split the slime in half before it melted into green and black water.

And a tiny white sphere rolled towards me before splitting in half as well.

Slimes are practically invincible monsters if you don't know their only weakness… their cores.

They are small white spheres inside of them, which were pretty tough to cut if you didn't have the strength or speed for it.

"Now, shall we explore this place?" I muttered before stepping onto the green and black hill.