III

Six minutes of waiting later, she heard a group of landwalkers coming. She knew there were more than one because they were talking with each other. Eva took a quick peek into the hallway and saw four of them. They were all decked out in some very fancy armor with good quality weapons. Observing★ the one in charge put its level at 20, with the others being high teens. Though she guessed she had twice the Stats of any of them, they were four while she was only one. It was going to be a hell of a fight for which she would need one hell of a plan.

Eva figured she could just Charge★ them, but that would end up with her likely being dead. Alternatively, there was the option to ambush them, which would at least give her the opportunity to hurt or even kill one of them before the fight could truly begin. Additionally, the second option would mean she was less likely to be the target of sustained, concentrated firepower without being able to respond in kind.

She had a lot of potions left over—primarily meant for the boss—so she likely had an advantage there. Gear wise, it looked like she was a bit behind in terms of quality, but the enhancements they had could go either way. Surprise would be the best option she had of taking advantage of her strengths while denying theirs somewhat.

Looking around the room, Eva settled on hiding behind a workbench that had been knocked over when she’d killed the imps. It wasn’t in the perfect position, but it would hide her well enough. The doors to the other hallways had opened after the room had been cleared, so they might think she had gone down one of them. Sneak▲ was not at a high enough level to Sneak▲ after them without being easily detected. It just meant that she would have to spring the trap as soon as they decided to go down one of the hallways.

Less than a minute later, the four landwalkers entered the room. Eva was unable to see what they were doing, but she was able to hear them move about and talk to each other. She could not understand anything they said between themselves, but she could understand the urgency of their voices. She used Sneak▲ to keep the sound of her breathing as quiet as possible in case they had better innate hearing than humans did. Though the landwalkers looking around got close to where she was, she was not spotted in her hiding place. After more discussion, they moved towards one of the hallways branching from the room.

It was time for Eva to make her move. As far as she could tell, she wouldn’t get a better chance than when their backs were turned. She considered her options for dealing damage to them. If they were close enough, she would Charge★ and Fireball▲ the closest one. Being in melee range would suit her best rather than trying to duke it out with ranged spells or attacks. If they were farther away, Fireball▲ would be her best option. Maybe she could hit them twice before they noticed her.

With confirmation that Fireball▲ was going to be useful no matter what, she waited just long enough for the sounds of their feet to be heading in the direction of one of the hallways to charge up her Fireball▲. Eva inched her way towards the edge of the workbench with Sneak▲ active. As soon as Fireball▲ was ready, she poked her head past the edge of the workbench to see which option she’d need to go with. She saw one of the landwalkers looking in her direction, while the other three were moving towards the doorway.

As quickly as she could, Eva threw the Fireball▲ towards the three who had their backs turned. The landwalker saw her attack and called out to the other three that there was something going on. One of them dove to the ground and another ducked down. The third turned around to look at the landwalker calling out to it and got a face full of Fireball▲. It screamed and clawed at its face. It was—she hoped—out of the fight.

While this was going on, Eva Charged★ towards the landwalkers and readied another Fireball▲. This one wouldn’t be for throwing. Instead of that, she’d use it defensively to deny an avenue of attack. If they were stupid enough, she’d be able to push damage onto them with Fireballs▲ and end the fight rather quickly. With the gear they had, she guessed they’d only be able to handle three or four of them each before they smelled like eleven herbs and spices.

Eva needed a second Charge★ to close the distance to the nearest landwalker. It met her with its own Charge. With the way Skills leveled, she wasn’t sure what bonuses it would get from the Skill—that aspect of combat was a bit of a mystery to her. She could reasonably tell that it was using the Skill, of course, though there was always the possibility it was some different kind of Skill instead. She kicked herself for not having taken the ability to see Stats with Observe★.

When she and the landwalker clashed, she was easily able to Dodge★ its attack. It, on the other hand, got a fire Infused★ Pierce✦ through its side. The landwalker screamed much like the other one had, and clutched its side. Eva smelled the scent of burnt flesh. She expected it to have been like burnt hair or worse, but it smelled passable, more like cooked eel than anything else she could think of. Thoughts about the implications of this observation was a whole can of worms that was going to remain firmly shut, she decided.

Eva readied herself to meet the two oncoming landwalkers. The closest slashed at her with its saber while the farther one tossed some kind of water magic at her. It might have been the water equivalent of Fireball—Waterball, maybe—but she’d never seen the Skill before so it could have been something else entirely. Whatever it was, she raised her shield and took the attack while parrying the saber with her shortsword.

As soon as she had, she realized she’d made two mistakes. First, the water magic hurt. Not as badly as it would have without her gear or resistances, but taking it head on should be avoided in the future if possible. Second, the saber was longer than her shortsword, and curved at that. Though she parried it, she still ended up getting a small cut through her armor for her troubles. Using her shield to block the saber and then avoiding the water attack would have been the right way to go. She realized that she was fighting against experienced opponents. While not grisled veterans, at least they’d been through bootcamp with Skills to show for it just like she had.

The landwalker she’d skewered had recovered enough to bring its own saber to bear against her, along with the one she’d parried. The third in the back looked like it was starting to conjure another magical attack against her. She did not envy her position at all. Thinking quickly, Eva Charged★ at the hurt landwalker with her shield—and Fireball▲—deciding to keep the initiative rather than ceding it through passivity. The landwalker Dodged backwards while the other attacked her with its saber, forcing her to pivot her body to take the blow on her shield instead of parrying it.

Eva continued her turn and lashed out with her blade at the fleeing landwalker. The fire Infused★ blade avoided the landwalker’s saber and slashed through its armor to leave a trail of singed flesh. Right when the attack had gone through, she had to Dodge★ another magic attack from the landwalker at the back. She Charged★ again, and again the landwalker Dodged backwards. However, she was ready for the reaction and let the Fireball▲ go in its direction. When it brought its arms up to try to block the magic, she Pierced✦ its chest with her fire Infused★ blade that garnered a silent experience notification.

For her coup-de-grace, Eva was rewarded with a long slash down her side from the other landwalker’s saber. She turned to face the remaining melee landwalker and immediately had to Dodge★ water magic from the other one.

“One down, two to go”, she reminded herself. “Keep the initiative”.

She Charged★ at the landwalker in front of her while also creating a new Fireball▲ to use as another weapon. When the landwalker Dodged to the side, she lashed out with her shortsword. Though the cut was shallow, it was across the weaponside shoulder of the alien. It stumbled back, which gave Eva enough time to down a Stamina Potion✦ while also Dodging★ yet another magic attack. She dropped the plastic bottle to the floor and Charged★ again. This time, the landwalker that had been casting magic drew its saber and counter-Charged her. She caught its slash with her shield and cut deeply into the other melee landwalker’s weaponside arm, severing it.

The landwalker screamed and grabbed at the stump while its comrade kicked Eva’s legs, knocking her back. She Charged★ the landwalker, and when it Dodged, she loosed the reserved Fireball▲ into it. It blocked the attack with its shield and returned in kind with its own point-blank magic attack. Unable to Dodge★ in time, she got a face full of water. She coughed and sputtered before managing to down one of her Health Potions✦. The landwalker that had hit her with magic also drank some kind of potion. The singed bits of flesh from where the Fireball▲ had done damage beyond what was blocked softened and returned to a pre-roasted state.

Eva took a deep breath and Charged★ again. When the landwalker Dodged, she stutter-stepped and Dodged★ its counterattack only to hit it with a Fireball▲ that it did not have the time to avoid. There was a system notification that popped up but she ignored the intrusion. The lapse in concentration was all that was needed for the landwalker to slash open her stomach. She had to down another Health Potion✦ to keep herself in the fight.

With her mana beginning to run—and no mana potions left—Eva shifted her focus to using her shortsword to deal damage. Charge★ after Charge★, the dance of death went on. The landwalker didn’t drink another potion despite the damage it had received. It was able to force her to use a third potion before the damage to it started slowing it down. Eva had just enough mana for one last Fireball▲ to put the tough landwalker to rest.

She Charged★ the next landwalker, who attempted to Dodge her attack. While it successfully avoided the sword, it ran right into the Fireball▲ instead. The landwalker screamed as its skin bubbled under the intense heat. Eva Pierced✦ its chest with her shortsword, silencing it forever. The landwalker that had taken a Fireball▲ to the face was still out of the fight while the landwalker that was missing a hand tried to fight her with its other arm, but was more of a distraction than an actual threat. Eva swiftly put both to the sword and laid down on the ground.

Those four had really given her a run for her money. If she hadn’t set up the ambush, she wasn’t sure if she’d have survived the encounter. Tears of relief spilled from her eyes as she laughed. The dungeon still needed to be cleared, but that could happen when she’d had a rest. She had survived.

IV

Eva decided to check the message that had distracted her in the middle of combat.

Basic Skill learned: Feint▲

Followed by the effects the new skill provided.

Basic Feint▲ Lv 1

Damage from a successful feint increased by 1%

Certainly not worth the damage she took from the distraction, but welcome nonetheless.

She lay there looking at the ceiling. It had been more of a gamble coming into the landwalker territory to steal control of the dungeon than she had initially thought. With the hard fight against just four of the landwalkers, the other thing that she hadn’t considered finally entered her mind: escape. How was she going to cleanly get away from the dungeon without getting killed or being chased by hundreds of landwalkers hellbent on getting their dungeon back?

As far as she could think, there were really only two options she had. The first was to make a break for it when the landwalkers were sleeping or distracted by a monster wave. The other option was to pop in and out quickly once she had control to power level herself before defaulting back to the first idea. Staying in the dungeon until the end of the Tutorial was untenable. She simply didn’t have enough food or water to survive that long.

Eva weighed the options for several minutes before deciding on the second option with the caveat that she would attempt to leave during the next monster wave. In the meantime, she would first complete the dungeon to gain control, and then run everything but the boss to get as much experience as she could in the remaining hours she had left before she would try to escape. That, she felt, would give her the best odds of surviving without being trapped too long.

Once her Stamina and Mana were back to full, she sat up. Eva went about collecting what she could salvage from the fight. Most of their armor had been trashed to the point it was useless, though there were sections that had survived. The sabers were the best preserved, and they—along with the surviving armor pieces—went into her backpack. There were no other potions on them besides the ones they had already used.

It was imp-killing time. Eva rushed from room to room. Unlike the landwalkers, the imps were pushovers. She tore through them with reckless abandon. Two hours later, she was in front of the boss room, having cleared the dungeon of the imps along the way. It was finally time for her to complete her mission and fuck over the landwalkers for good.

The door creaked slightly when she pushed it open. Inside the boss room, there were several changes compared to the earlier versions. The room was more like a living room than a workshop. There was what looked like a decorated Christmas tree, except that the design was all wrong. Instead of being a fir tree, it was a saguaro cactus. The decorations that hung from the spikes were yellow and brown and depicted some rather raunchy iconography instead of the more common togetherness and lights-in-the-dark themes of the holiday. The finishing touch was an enormous, lighted neon-green cock where the star would normally go.

Standing in the middle of the room, wearing an orange fur coat with black trim, was the boss. He was mostly nude—wearing nothing other than the coat—with his tackle hanging out for all to see. Physically, he hadn’t changed beyond wearing the perverted Santa Claus outfit. Observe★ named him Krampus. The goat-devil looked at Eva as soon as she stepped into the room.

He pulled a paper scroll from inside his jacket and unrolled it. He looked at her and then back to the scroll, his eyes scanning the text on it. When he found the line he was looking for, he rolled it up and put it back in his jacket. He shook his head like a disappointed parent.

With little warning, Krampus Charged Eva with his horns. She Dodged★ the attack and cut him with a light Infused★ slash. He winced from the strike and Summoned four imps. The imps came prepared with several gifts to surprise her with. She deftly avoided the imps’ barrage and chucked a Fireball▲ towards one of them before having to Dodge★ another Charge from Krampus.

Though the imps were easy to deal with, Krampus was not. His Stats were close enough to hers to cause issues when the imps distracted her with their antics. He gored her with his horns a couple of times while she dealt with the imps, forcing her to use up two more of her Health Potions✦. She was able to deal a fair amount of damage in return, but the boss kept resummoning the imps to harass her and prevent her from dealing any crippling blows. Eva tried burning the boss with Fireball▲, but it only did about as much damage as her sword did when Infused★ with light at a much higher cost in terms of mana.

Krampus attempted to grab her several times, but she was able to weasel her way out of his grasp each time. Whenever he held her, even for an instant, he tried to move her towards the Christmas cactus. The spikes it had would have done serious damage, but that was not something she’d allow the boss to do to her. Slippery though she was, he still got his attacks in when she struck him with her shortsword.

Like with the rabbit, fighting a boss twice her level was more of a slog than anything else. It wore on her psyche even though her resources were at or near full thanks to the potions she had with her. At the end of the fight, she sat down next to the wall breathing heavily.

Unclaimed Dungeon Conquered

As the owner, you can now set rules for this dungeon

Quest Updated: Own all the dungeons in the Tutorial. 2/6 owned