Another Day, Another Dungeon! - Aincrad Excerpt · 11:37pm Feb 6th, 2020
Excerpt From Episode Episode 27 - Coming Tuesday!
It was Bladescape, Backbreaker, Joltron, Astro, Thunderborne, and Kiefer in the field this time. The rest were helping set up for the big sale the following day. That was why they were focusing on the Kalzuk Dungeon. They would see how far they could go in their party, mapping it to sell, and see if they could take on the dungeon boss or not. It was a small dungeon, but a single party was a push.
“That wasn’t bad,” Backbreaker said, pulling up her visor. “These guys have a lot of HP, but they're pretty easy to take down.”
“Yeah,” Bladescape sighed contently. “This feels like an adventure game. We can’t let it drag us into overstretching ourselves, but it's fun right now.”
The others agreed and they continued deeper in.
Bladescape flipped up Harmonic Salvation and the mace clanged loudly as it connected with it. Kiefer was in immediately with several quick cuts. Thunderborne switched in and drove home a solid stab. The beast turned to its new threat and Bladescape smiled as she unleashed High Infinity. She traced the infinity symbol with her slashes and it finished the last of the Tzhaar’s HP.
Together, the three of them yelled and joyfully ran to their friends who were blocking three of the creatures. The level of the creatures gave them difficulty, but their skills with switching out was fine-tuned enough to offset it. They were not jumping to raise levels or push against a Labyrinth. They were having fun for once in a long time.
The next one was ready.
“I got this,” Bladescape grinned.
It was a single beast so Bladescape could safely solo it. Her friends could jump in if she got in trouble, but Bladescape had a lead of, at minimum, 5 levels on her guildmates. Doombunny was their lowest now, and Bladescape had her bested by 10 whole levels. The long hours and pain of solo grinding XP had paid off.
The first mace swung at Bladescape. She stepped out of the way to let it pass harmlessly. The second she blocked easily and the third she ducked low to avoid before leaping up and swinging hard as her blade glowed. The Tzhaar staggered a bit as he was sliced up through his chest. It was all Bladescape needed to ram it home with a powerful lunge. She blocked several more strikes and danced past two before cutting low, severing a leg clean off, which finished the creature.
Bladescape grinned as her friends whooped and hollered in celebration. It spurred a round of solo hunts while the others watched. Astro had the worst time soloing it, but if they paired her with a tank, her long spear and skill was a combination that destroyed most creatures with ease. Backbreaker had her own trouble going solo, but she could hit better than Astro. It just took her longer because of her large shield. She let the hammers strike her shield and then countered in a real back and forth battle.
This dungeon had not been cleared yet and neither had it been mapped. They hit plenty of dead ends, but they were mapping it really well. The data would sell for a good chunk of Col.
Bladescape dashed out and over to another Tzhaar. This variant was carrying three black swords, with a split down the center of their oblong blades. It was a faster battle because she was not blocking heavy maces.
PING! PANG! PING!
“SAAAYA!” Bladescape roared as it was her turn to attack. The three blades were so much easier for her to deal with. She ran it through with ease and it staggered. Astro leaped forward and activated a skill that ran the Tzhaar through the head. With Armor Pierce, it was registered as a Critical Attack and the only thing left was polygons.
“I like these guys,” Backbreaker announced. “They're a lot easier than the last floor.”
“Well, we are at the top of the curve,” Astro said. “And our party is one of our best attack builds. Outside of boss battles, I don’t know the last time I fought with you five in a party. It's not bad, because none of the others drag us down, but we are the Wondercolts’ best fighters, with the best instincts.”
“It is fun,” Bladescape chuckled. “Let’s keep going forward. We have time still. I'm enjoying this dungeon dive.”
“Same,” Joltron chuckled. “We need to do this more, but as a guild. We focus too much on the Labyrinths for a medium guild. We need to have more fun adventuring with them.”
“We will,” Kiefer said, drawing his sword. “But I hear one stomping around the corner. I call Forward!”
Kiefer charged in and got a strike as he leaped past the Tzhaar. Joltron slid up and blocked the maces on his shield. Astro stepped out from behind him and drove a powerful one hit Sword Skill, Rocket, into his chest. The hit allowed Backbreaker to land a solid hit and then block the counter attack. Thunderborne rammed Oblique into the back of it and Bladescape leaped high, bringing Avalanche down on the Tzhaar. That was all they needed for it to be destroyed.
They laughed with glee and continued on. Those power attacks could only happen when they all could target a single enemy. Most of the time they were split between two or three.
