“Ouch! It’s so dark in here.”
“Does anyone have a torch?”
“My God, the dungeon feels so eerie. Are there ghosts here?”
Gasps of surprise echoed.
This being the students’ first time in a dungeon, anxiety was palpable, even on the face of Carlos Bartel.
Thankfully, the guards that came along were quick to reassure. “There’s no need to fret. Inside the Bat Cave dungeon, there are only various kinds of bats. No ghouls or phantoms.”
Another guard, anticipating the dungeon’s darkness, promptly fetched a torch from his storage pouch.
Striking flint, the torch ignited, casting a glow around them.
Abby swiftly moved close to Howard, while the other students huddled together, on high alert.
A guard advised, “The monsters inside the Bat Cave range from LV15 to LV20 in level, with relatively low attributes. The challenge lies in the dimness of the map and the fact that these creatures can fly, making them somewhat elusive.”
“Stay together, follow our pace. Engage with full force when a monster approaches. We should be able to clear this dungeon swiftly.”
Reassured by the guard’s words, the students began to find their composure.
“I have a torch here as well!”
“Let’s light more torches to illuminate the path ahead, ensuring no monsters catch us by surprise from behind.”
The students, having been mentored by their instructors, were aware that monster spawn points in dungeons were unpredictable.
Everyone proceeded with caution.
Fortunately, almost every student had a storage pouch carrying an array of items.
Though there weren’t enough torches for everyone, those in the middle and at the rear managed to secure one.
In no time, their assembly resembled a serpentine trail of fire, slowly advancing into the unknown.
“Squeak!”
After an indeterminable amount of time, a sharp cry suddenly pierced the air.
Everyone immediately looked up towards the source of the noise, only to find several bats hanging in view.
Seemingly agitated by the torchlight, they flapped their withered wings, emitting sharp, piercing shrieks.
In an instant, several female students grew anxious, gravitating towards Howard for protection.
This prompted Abby to glare with wide eyes, fixedly staring down those approaching females.
Howard, on the other hand, grew excited and quickly checked the attributes of these bats.
[Cave Bat]
[Level: 15]
[Tier: Silver]
[Description: Bats that dwell in the dark recesses of caves. Having adapted to the darkness, they’ve become extremely sensitive and irritable. They bare their fearsome fangs at any intruders.] 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝘮
[HP: 3000]
[Attack Power: 296-417]
[Defense Value: 170]
[Skills: Sonic Impact, Blood Poison, Mad Bite]
Upon viewing the attribute panel, Howard’s eyebrows lifted slightly in a tinge of disappointment.
So weak!
If his Dragonfire spell hadn’t advanced, he could simply summon the fire dragon, and facing these Cave Bats, it would mean instant annihilation, sweeping across the entire map.
Even without the fire dragon, Howard surmised that with just an F-level skill, a couple of strikes would suffice to take them down.
If he were to activate his Mighty Thunder skill, he doubted any Cave Bat would survive his assault.
Unfortunately, seeing the Cave Bats, the rest of the students also grew excited.
Despite the lingering unease, their skills were already being unleashed with fervor.
As feathered arrows and various elemental skills struck the dangling Cave Bats, pale red damage numbers began to emerge.
“-372!”
“-338!”
“-296!”
The other students lacked Howard’s supreme talent skill.
With equipment mostly below level 10, they predominantly had Bronze-tier and Iron-tier gear, which offered minimal attribute enhancement.
Consequently, the damage they dealt was notably minimal.
Only Abby and Carlos, with their superior equipment, managed to inflict damage nearing a substantial 1000 points.
Still, even such damage was not lethal enough for the Cave Bats.
Once attacked, the suspended Cave Bats were alarmed.
Their eyes flew open, revealing a blood-red gaze that immediately sent shivers down the students’ spines, causing them to falter in their assault.
The next moment, the group of Cave Bats emitted a piercing sound.
A white sonic wave violently swept over all the students, including Howard.
[Ding! Due to the Sonic Impact skill from the Cave Bat, awakened Howard’s attack power has been reduced by 10%, and accuracy has decreased by 20% for a duration of 30 seconds!]
“What the fuck?!”
“These caves can debuff our attributes!”
The students’ faces turned pale with shock.
Already debuffed in their accuracy, they witnessed many of their attacks on the Cave Bats resulting in a barrage of ‘MISS’ notifications.
Bats that were previously on the verge of death now managed to survive and rally.
With menacing fangs bared and wings flapping vigorously, they lunged towards Howard and his peers.
It was no longer a time for Howard to be passive.
Swinging his Mana Drainer, he cast a fireball, a massive orb of flame, which instantly collided with a Cave Bat.
The following moment, the fireball exploded.
The enveloping blaze, with its scorching heat, instantly consumed several nearby Cave Bats.
“-1772!”
“-1887!”
“-1699!”
Bright red damage numbers emerged in succession, with those Cave Bats being swiftly vanquished by Howard.
However, as the battle raged on, an increasing number of Cave Bats were alerted and converged.
The death of a few meant little in the grand scheme.
The guards, too, were fighting with all their might.
One pulled his bowstring taut and released a volley of over a dozen feathered arrows, intersecting and bombarding the Cave Bats.
The other melee guards swiftly approached, leaping into the air while swinging their blades, splattering the bats with splashes of blood.
The cave’s low ceiling was a saving grace.
Even though the Cave Bats could fly, people could still jump up and reach them.
Otherwise, the dungeon’s difficulty would have escalated dramatically.
After all, lower-leveled adventurers didn’t possess flying skills!
With the guards stepping in and Howard’s skills consistently taking down a Cave Bat each time, the situation on the battlefield began to stabilize.
Regrettably, due to the cave’s dim ambiance, the students failed to notice the unusually high damage dealt by Howard’s skills.
Even when they saw Howard defeating monsters, they merely assumed he was fortunate enough to target a weakened Cave Bat, thereby securing the kill.
As they pressed on, clearing wave after wave of Cave Bats without sustaining injuries, their confidence began to soar.
They became bolder, even when faced with larger numbers of Cave Bats, inching closer with the intent of landing more hits.
After all, the reward for individual monster kills far surpassed the group rewards!
However, what they failed to realize was that their safety was largely due to the Bartel family’s guards holding the front line, coupled with Howard’s skills precisely targeting any approaching Cave Bats.
As they closed in, the proximity proved perilous.
The Cave Bats instantly unleashed their skills.
And these skill-enhanced movements were far swifter than regular flight, too swift even for Howard to counter.
As a Cave Bat collided with one student, its jaws snapped open, and its sharp teeth promptly sank into the student’s shoulder.
“Ahh!”
A scream of agony pierced the air.
The student, in a frantic attempt, grabbed the Cave Bat and yanked it away.
The sharp teeth tore away a chunk of flesh from his shoulder.
Fortunately, the force also sent the Cave Bat hurtling away.
Waves of excruciating pain washed over the student, causing him to tremble uncontrollably.
The other students’ faces turned ashen, yet they did not abandon their injured peer. Swiftly, they shielded him and began their retreat.
A priest-class student, Evelyn Sutton, brought her hands together in prayer.
A divine, silvery glow cascaded down, enveloping and soothing the wounded student.
In an instant, a mysterious force rapidly mended the injury on the student’s shoulder, halting the bleeding and even beginning to scab over.
Moreover, it appeared that the guards of the Bartel family, perhaps fearing reprimand, displayed even greater zeal.
One guard, holding a long blade, grasped the hilt with both hands, took a deep breath, and swung the blade with immense force.
The sound of air being cleaved echoed, as a faint red arc of blade light emerged, swiftly slashing through the airborne Cave Bats.
Moments later, several of these bats plummeted to the ground.
The guards swarmed over, dispatching them with a flurry of strikes.
Having dealt with this wave of Cave Bats, Carlos Bartel rushed over, feigning concern, and inquired, “Yunus, how are you feeling?”
“Damn those accursed Cave Bats and their skills!” Yunus Robb spat through gritted teeth. “Thankfully, Evelyn was there to heal me. I’m not in pain anymore! Just wait, I’ll make sure they feel my wrath!”
In this digitized realm, injuries correlated with one’s HP.
Even without a priest, by using potions to restore HP, wounds would gradually heal.
Moreover, the effects of a priest’s skills, besides restoring HP, also inherently mended injuries.
It wasn’t just about patching up a torn chunk of flesh; even if one’s entire body was riddled with injuries, they could restore you to your prime.
Of course, in cases of severed limbs, mere HP recovery won’t cut it. One would need a specialized skill, or a unique potion or artifact to remedy that.
This content is taken from 𝘳𝑎.𝗇t