Aqua
After waking up again on the ninth morning, I head straight to the last place I was at in the dungeon before continuing on past that. Only to find the water level beginning to decrease a bit. Which is not good.
On top of that, there are also more and more orcs and fewer sharks. Making for a rather unfortunate setup for me.
Even the chat looks worried as I glance at it in the corner of my vision. With a lot of people talking about how the place is becoming less and less friendly to someone like me the deeper I get.
There’s no turning back though. I have to continue swimming forwards.
Because I can’t leave the dungeon. Even if it were possible, the shark is out there waiting for me. And there’s no trying to wait for monsters to respawn in the dungeons since they just plain don’t respawn in dungeons.
All the mana that was initially used to make the dungeon has already been used up. So there isn’t any extra left to create more monsters.
At least, not inside of the dungeon.
Outside of the dungeon there’s plenty as it leaks out of the dungeon’s Gate over time. All the way until a dungeon break happens, where the Gate itself finally snaps open and lets everything inside out.
But even that would be bad for me considering the shark there.
If I had to deal with both the shark and the boss of the dungeon at the same time…
That would be bad.
Even the typical plan of trying to toss the dungeon boss at the shark and hope they weaken each other won’t work. Because the shark would dominate in the water. Meaning the only thing that would accomplish is kill the dungeon boss and make the shark even stronger.
I grit my teeth a little as I kill another orc, feeling the pain from my infected arm growing worse. With the infection making my arm take on more and more unnatural colors by the day.
Damnit, I really need that medicine…
The plan for today is threefold.
For one, I want to find the dungeon boss so that I know where it is.
For two, I want to test out my new skill.
And for three, I want to clean up the rest of the monsters in the dungeon up to the boss’s area.
Overall, the plan doesn’t have many things that can go wrong. After all, if the boss spots me, I can just flee through the water. Assuming the water is still deep enough to swim through where the boss is.
If I can’t find the boss today then I can just finish that job up tomorrow after getting the medicine and dealing with business.
There are only two major problems I can foresee happening.
One being the dungeon decides to break today, kicking me and the boss and whatever other orcs are left in the dungeon out all at once. And two being the dungeon boss for some reason decides it really wants to kill me and chases after me even after I leave its sights in the water. Or there just is no water at its boss area.
So I guess that’s three, not two.
Regardless, the chances aren’t too high for these issues.
I hope.
With that thought rattling around in my mind, I continue killing the monsters along the way in the dungeon. Trying to minimize the amount of mana I use in the process. Just in case I run into an emergency.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
But even after a few hours pass, nothing happens. Other than my methodically slaughtering the orcs at a rather slow but sure pace.
Right as I’m beginning to feel comfortable again though, an emergency level problem that I hadn’t even thought about occurs.
A roar echoes through the dungeon, making me raise my head towards the ruins above, where a cave is connected to the main tunnel right at the ruins. And out from that cave charges a very angry and very large orc with a crown on his head.
Shit.
[Orc King – Level 20]
Unlike the smaller orcs, the orc king is three meters tall, and he is wearing heavy armor all over his body. On top of that he has five fingers on each hand instead of the four the other orcs have, and of course, there’s that crown on his head.
Other than those details though he just looks like a regular orc.
An oversized one.
At level 20.
So not a normal orc in the slightest.
The chat goes wild, meanwhile I glance at my mana. Briefly opening my status.
[REQUESTING STATUS: USER AQUA FALLEN]
[STATUS RETRIEVED]
[Name: Aqua Fallen]
[Level: 16]
[Mana: 119/160]
[Strength: 33(22)]
[Dexterity: 18]
[Constitution: 18]
[Magical Strength: 17]
[REGEN: 172]
[Free Points: 0]
[Traits: Physique of the Abyssal Kraken, Apex Predator of the Depths]
[Skills]
[END STATUS]
During my hunt so far today I’ve managed to level up from fifteen to sixteen. And I’ve fortunately saved as much mana as I could.
So I’m not actually in that bad condition right now. Especially considering that the water is still several meters high in this area, even if it’s shallower than it used to be further back in the tunnel.
I can flee whenever-
My thoughts cut off when the orc king’s eyes suddenly glow red and he lets out a loud roar. One that instantly makes my body begin moving on its own as I rush straight at it, jumping out of the water to attack with a flood of rage filling my mind.
Yet underneath that rage I understand exactly what the orc king just did.
A taunt skill.
It just fucking taunted me to force me out of the water.
I feel my own anger flare at the idea of the fucking orc king taunting me out of the water. And the chat looks rather upset about it as well.
But I only manage to stop myself from getting closer when I’m already on land. Standing on the ruins with the orc king.
What’s worse is the fact that the orc king has a smug look on his face as he charges towards me with a sword in both hands. All while over a dozen other orcs rush out from behind him.
My eyes narrow.
Fucking fine. If you want to play it like that, then I’ll play.
I activate Call of the Abyss, making me instinctively open my mouth to let out a call similar to that of the deepsea orca I saw before.
The smug look on the orc’s face immediately vanishes, replaced with what looks like pain as he holds his hands over his ears. And the other orcs do the same.
Then four different portals open behind me. One above me on the top right, one on the top left, one on the bottom right, and one on the bottom left.
And all in one rush, water immediately begins to spew straight out of the deep blue portals, flooding the ruins all around us.
Leaving me floating here as four deepsea orcas – smaller ones than the one I saw before – leave the portals after the water finally fills everything in sight. Making the orcs that were previously slammed into the walls by the flooding water claw at their throats while struggling to breathe.
But the orc king doesn’t take his gaze, no, his glare off of me, no doubt meeting my glowing blue eyes in the darkness of the water as my four deepsea orcas begin to lazily swim around us.
Damn, what was I even afraid of?
I clench my good hand around my trident before smiling at the orc king. A cold yet lazy smile. One that probably looks rather intimidating with my glowing eyes in the dark of the water.
The orc king’s eyes narrow and he suddenly lets out another roar before moving incredibly fast towards me with his blades swinging my way.
But I just dodge out of the way with ease, letting his two blades crash straight into some of the ruins, destroying them in the process. And when he tries again, I lazily move out of the way once more.
He’s doing better underwater than I expected, but still.
Better than I expected isn’t much to be proud of when I didn’t expect much to begin with.
Because we’re in my territory now.