Chapter 119: Three levels
The snakes had a slimy mucus secreting out of their skins.
This was a unique characteristic of these three colored snakes which could live in both water and on the ground.
They mostly ate whatever they could find, but strangely enough, they were strictly against cannibalism.
There was a very old study record in Stanox about these creatures that showed how they would form their own territory and live off of the dead of their kind instead of ever killing them themselves.
Few creatures in the world had that kind of instinct so while he still had the chance, as he passed through these creatures, all of his clothes covered in the strange mucus now, he maintained his position as one of them.
Thanks to his clothes and the way he had covered himself in their scent, they could not tell him apart even if they found out about him.
They would eat him down if he was even a tad-bit careless... However, he valued his life as much as these creatures.
When he stole a few of their unhatched eggs hanging by the wall of the pit, he knew he would have to be careful with them.
They were deadly snakes that he was barely avoiding by using his golden energy to cover himself completely.
If the venom even touches his skin, it would get absorbed into his body and he would involuntarily scream out loud, losing his senses and throwing himself out in the open.
They would eat him and they would make love on his melting bones. They were deadly, and yet, somehow, he passed through them, and reached the bottom part which had a small exit.
The creatures avoided the exit because of the strong scent of chemicals placed around it.
They were there simply to ward them off but to him, they were interesting. So, he collected a little of them and stored them all in his storage ring.
"Meow..."
When they were past the first hell, he found himself in a new area: this time, a room full of weapons.
"Yeah. Indeed... wow."
These weapons were made out of various metals, were enchanted in a manner that he had only seen in the far western tribes, and to his surprise, he could take any weapon he wanted from here.
-Klank. Klank. Klank.
If he can get past the undead warriors guarding this entire place, to note, he could have any of the weapons present here.
They were his to take. The challenge? 700 heavily armored skeleton knights, mages, assassins, and more.
And, he was surrounded here.
{ "This is absurd, master! THIS PLACE IS ABSURD!" }
The moment they appeared there, Felix had to activate her skill to distract the creatures.
They were dead beings so the Fog Eyes didn’t work on them like it did on the normal creatures but it could still trick their remaining magic senses.
With her skill, they at least avoided the direct confrontation... but since all of these creatures shared a unique common sensation, they did not kill each other no matter the tricks Sam used against them.
The only thing he could do right now was to collect a few of the good-looking weapons and make a run from it from that place.
Maintaining the fog against all these deadly undead was not something they should be doing for long in the first place.
If they learned about the tricks they were using, which they most certainly could have from the looks of it, they would have been in biiiiiiig trouble.
"Haaa... haaa..."
When the illusion was lifted off and they had exited the area, those damned undead also ran after them.
They did not have any concept of stamina so they did not stop either. Sam had to run all the way to the next stage even though he needed to rest.
His stamina was limited and the strength in his body was withering with each stage they cleared.
The dungeon was, it seems, sucking away his energy.
The longer they would stay here, the more his energy would drain out.
He could recover some of it, but that had its limits as well. The constantly increasing rate of energy loss seemed to be enhanced by his body’s inherent energy decay nature.
But stopping wasn’t an option.
"What’s this now...?"
The second last stage, the area right before the center that he was going to, seemed to be a test of intelligence.
"Meow..."
The entire room was covered in different glass windows.
Beyond these windows, there was water... yes. He had been under the island all this time.
He was underwater right now, the entire room was covered in a unique set of colored glasses, and he needed to find the entrance to the next stage.
To do that, he would have to do something.
"What is it?"
He looked around the room thoroughly. The windows all around this circular room seemed to be a puzzle.
He had memorized the place in seconds but, as he blinked a few times, for some reason, his eyes found something strange around him.
Something had changed. The color of the glasses? The way they were shaped?
His mind knew there was something missing but he couldn’t tell directly what it was.
He waited and looked around to find what had changed, but he did not find any answers. There was something he was missing. Something strange, something that did not make sense.
But by the time he was about to reach the answer, his senses tingled once again and he was looking at a different thing altogether.
"This isn’t random."
He sat down on the ground, a notebook in his hand.
The change that was happening around him was caused by something. Perhaps it was his thoughts or perhaps it was the way he figured something out.
The change wasn’t random. But what triggered it was uncertain.
"Meow..."
Felix blamed herself as she looked at her master.
She was the reason they fell in this place and ever since they came here, she had almost been useless to him.
She wasn’t smart like Nyx who could figure out the answer to this place and she wasn’t strong like Art to help her master defeat things like that scorpion or the snakes.
If it were some other creature with offensive ability, he would have been better off in a pure combat oriented place like this.
But, she was the only one left here.
And she wasn’t of any help to him once again.