Level 40 -Grub, The Weaver of Silk-

Sora and his party examined the boss located in the center of the cavern. Its head had razor sharp mandibles that gleamed as if they were made out of a polished steel. Its tail end had a small object that would squirm around and shoot out the silk that was seen covering the rest of the cavern. Nobunaga and LeeLee both walked over to the side of the entrance and felt the silk that was plastered on the wall. They both felt like their hands had merged into the silk since it was so sticky that they had trouble pulling away from it. They both realised that the silk was probably the main mechanic of the boss and would slow people who are covered in it. Sora knew that the sticky string was the only thing that the boss really used, meaning the most effective way to kill it was to simply have one person hold aggro while the others deal damage. As long as only one person held the aggro then the boss wouldn’t swing around and the party could be spared from the sticky string like substance from covering the battlefield. This is why Sora had only shook his head when he seen the boss. When Sora first came through this area, he had high expectations for the first dungeon boss and was surprised at how easy it was.

“Normal tank and spank strategy. I’ll hold aggro while you all deal as much damage as possible. Do not get covered in the string that the boss shoots out, if you do then disengage the boss and try to get it off as soon as possible. Alright, let’s do this within 10 minutes.”

The group was surprised at his confidence in the fight since 10 minutes didn’t seem like a lot of time to take down the first dungeon boss. Sora was actually overestimating the time and could only calculate how long it would take based on the health of the boss. The boss had 400,000 health and the team could deal around 650 damage per second at a normal pace. With Sora keeping the aggro and the rest of the team dealing damage they could sometimes even bring their damage per second up to nearly 800. Sora didn’t bother with any other explanation and started running towards the boss. The rest of the group could only follow and do their best to stay alive.

The caterpillar let out a high pitched shrieking noise as the party got close enough to pull its aggro. The boss attacked Sora using its mandibles but Sora was able to parry while dodging to the side, setting himself up for an easy [Slash]. The rest of the team started to take positions all around the boss, avoiding the back, and started to visibly shave off the health of the enemy. Sora was able to keep aggro without any problem for the most part. He was technically a knight so even with the huge boost from his equipment he was only barely staying ahead of Blossom and LeeLee who had classes that specialized in high damage. Nobunaga didn’t seem to have a lot of abilities or equipment so Sora was able to put a large gap between their damage numbers even though Nobunaga was a warrior.

Once the boss hit 75% health it started to shoot string from the object on it’s tail, covering the entire room in a layer of the sticky string. Sora went on full defense to buy time for the rest of his team to escape the string. Once Athenes was out, he also started to remove the string. Everyone was eventually out of the string and started to attack the same way they had been doing before.

Every 25% health drop would activate the string attack that would cover the entire room, only slowing down the damage that the group did. The boss fell with a small shriek as all of the string in the room dissolved into nothingness. At one side of the cavern a small opening that was originally covered by the string was now opened up. Blossom, LeeLee, and Athenes each leveled up while Sora looked at the pitiful amount of EXP that the boss had given him. The boss was four levels below Sora and the difficulty was easy so his EXP had only climbed by 10%. Sora went up to the loot and started to go through it, hoping to find something that would make up for the small amount of EXP.

[x1 Silk Cloak of Slowing obtained]

Rarity - Rare

Durability - 60/60

Defense - 10

Requires - Level 40

“A cloak made from the sticky yet beautiful silk of Grub, The Weaver of Silk. The cloak fits loosely on the wearer but anybody else who comes into contact will feel a stickiness that is hard break away from.”

+15 Constitution

+15 Strength

+10% Slow attacker when hit

The cloak was very good, Sora would have to roll for it with two others though. Each person rolled with the highest number being a 63. Sora was the last to roll and was able to secure the cloak with a 90. Sora wouldn’t switch his cloaks right now since his Cloak of the Silver Moon had been enchanted, offering better stats at the moment. Sora stored the cloak before continuing with the loot.

[x1 Silk Robe of Apprentice Sage obtained]

Rarity - Rare

Durability - 50/50

Defense - 7

Requires - Level 40 - Light Armor Class

“A robe made from a beautiful silk that is smooth to the touch. The aura of a sage can be felt coming from the robe, giving the wearer a look of wisdom.”

+15 Wisdom

+10 Constitution

Everyone passed, letting the robe go directly to Athenes. She wasn’t at a high enough level right now but she would be soon. She thanked everyone for passing on it as Sora continued looting.

[x1 Demonic Leather Brigandine obtained]

Rarity - Set Rare

Durability - 60/60

Defense - 10

Requires - Level 40 - Medium Armor Class

“Made from putting many small metal plates within a leather chestpiece made from the hide of a demonic wolf. The design offers good defense without sacrificing your ability to move freely.”

+15 Agility

+15 Constitution

*Set Bonus*

2 / 5 = +20 Constitution

4 / 5 = +30 Agility

5 / 5 = Landing an attack increases attack and movement speed by 10% for 5 seconds

The first set piece of the dungeon has appeared, going directly to LeeLee since she was the only person who wears medium armor. The last thing remaining was a small pile of coins that Sora distributed evenly amongst the group.

The group had killed the boss in under 10 minutes, meeting the goal that Sora set before fighting the boss. The pathway to the next area was opened, revealing a tiny tunnel that barely had enough room to fit a person through. This pathway looked innocent enough at first but it was actually quite a confusing maze. For right now there was only one path but once you start to head in the paths will split and go to different room. Many of the rooms were just filled with normal enemies, some had traps, and one even had a bonus treasure chest that players could find. That was exactly the area that Sora wanted to go to before heading to the next boss.

“Alright, everybody line up and follow me. It looks like the paths split in the tunnel so let’s not get separated.”

The group formed a line with Sora at the front and Nobunaga at the back to keep everyone on the right path. The group entered the tunnel, quickly being swarmed by darkness to the point where it was hard to even see where the tunnel switched paths. Luckily each person could at least see and hear the person in front of them, making sticking with each other easier.

“So how do you know which path to take mister fisherman?”

“Just following my instinct.”

Blossom didn’t argue with that logic, she had already been turned into a firm believer that Sora knew what he was doing all the time. The same goes for LeeLee, while Athenes didn’t really seem to care and was only enjoying the time spent in the dungeon. Nobunaga was the only person who didn’t really like his way of doing things, how was he supposed to trust the so called instincts of this man? Nobunaga respected his guild leaders choices but something as unreliable as instinct couldn’t be trusted. He had just opened his mouth to say something when a dim light could be seen ahead of the group, breaking Nobunaga's train of thought as he prepared himself just in case something happened. The dim light slowly revealed a small room that didn’t look special at all, even the dim light wouldn’t be seen if you didn’t look hard enough. The room only contained a single chest and a torch that seemed like it would flicker out at any moment. The group all piled into the room and looked at the chest, waiting for Sora to make the first move. Sora didn’t keep them waiting and directly opened the chest, surprising Nobunaga and LeeLee who thought it might have been a trap. The chest made a small clicking noise as it opened, making Nobunaga and LeeLee flinch. The chest opened without any trouble and the clicking noise seemed to only be something put in to scare people away.

[x1 Obsidian Bloodsteel Boots obtained]

Rarity - Set Rare

Durability - 65/65

Defense - 7

“Boots fashioned from bloodsteel and obsidian. A magic envelops the armor, strengthening when similar magic connects and resonates with it.”

+15 Strength

+15 Constitution

*Set Bonus*

2 / 5 = +20 Constitution

4 / 5 = +30 Strength

5 / 5 = Attacking converts 5% of damage dealt into a shield that caps at 10% of max HP

Sora prayed to Lucia that he would get the boots as he rolled for the loot. He ended up with a 50, meaning there was a good chance someone would roll higher. Everyone passed on the loot and simply let Sora take the boots. They could see that he really wanted them so they didn’t mind letting him have it since he has let them have so much. Even Blossom and Nobunaga passed on the boots. Blossom passed simply because she knew that he needed them to get the next set bonus from his Obsidian Bloodsteel armor. Nobunaga passed because he felt a little bad about doubting Sora in the first place, if it wasn’t for him then the group probably wouldn’t have made it to this room anyways. Sora gave a simple nod to confirm that he has acknowledged their kindness. Sora continued looting.

[x1 Obsidian Bloodsteel Leggings obtained]

This time it was Sora who passed while Blossom and Nobunaga gave venomous looks towards each other. Although they both had reasons to allow Sora to take loot, they couldn’t say the same about each other. They both rolled and Blossom ended up winning the leggings, happily putting them on and giving a smug look towards Nobunaga, who simply sighed in response.

The chest only had those two items inside but there was still one more thing left to do. Sora closed the chest before pulling on the dimly lit torch within the room. The torch made a clanking noise and fully lit up as a large thud came from the chest that was now closed. Sora opened the chest once again as the party looked on in confusion. The chest acted as a sort of slot machine after the chest was emptied, giving the players a little bit of gold for finding the secret.

[x250 Gold coins obtained]

Sora was surprised at the amount since it usually only ever gave 20 to 50 gold. The rest of the party wasn’t really sure what happened and had the same confused look on their face as they each received 50 gold.