TAP *echo…echo…echo* TAP *echo…echo…echo*
With my eyes closed, I felt my shoes touch down on solid ground, tapped my feet lightly, and felt a shiver run through my body.
"MOTHER FUCKER IT’S THE GOD DAMN CAVERNS!"
ROOOOOOARRRRRRRRRR!
’Me and my big fucking mouth,’ gritting my teeth and snapping my eyes open, I kicked off the ground and exploded into motion.
The little fit I threw inadvertently triggered a chain reaction of angry roars, sounds I was very familiar with as they came from the gatekeepers here in the caverns.
Titana-Griswyrms
A monster with a strength between Low to High Alpha-Rank, they were a cross between a snake and a bear and had earned the title of "NoobKillers" since the bulk of deaths when entering the Instance known as the Caverns came within the first few minutes after spawning thanks to these hulking guys.
Standing at over eight feet tall, each of these behemoths sported beefy physiques covered with armor-like scales. Each of their four tree-thick limbs ended with razor-sharp claws, but that wasn’t the only weapon the monster was equipped with; since they were clearly a hybrid between bears and snakes, the bastards also sported a pair of dagger-sized fangs brimming with a toxic poison which could put down even a Gamma-Ranker when injected.
Running as if my life depended on it, I observed my surroundings, taking note of the wide open underground structure spanning well over the size of five American football fields *500 yards*.
’Three monsters, based on the particles radiating off their bodies, I put them all in the lower end of Low-Alpha, probably just ranked up, but I can’t underestimate these assholes.’
Keeping the rocky wall of the open Cavern on my left side, I glanced away from the three massive creatures to the crystal clear lake smack dab in the middle of the Cavern and estimated it to take up around 50% of the dimensions of the room.
’I can see the bottom, which is a bad thing because it means those guys aren’t afraid to cross it…I have two choices: try and fight or flee…’ Snapping my head to the north, I noticed a big bronze gateway and recognized it for what it was.
Every single Instance had a similar starting layout. Upon cracking the token, you would be transferred to a lobby of sorts, where the first challenge would take place.
Sometimes, the lobby would have a task you needed to complete, such as a puzzle, and other times, there were specific monsters called "Gate Guardians," which needed to be killed if you wanted to enter the body of the Instance Dungeon.
Unfortunately, I knew that if I wanted to enter the actual Instance, I would first need to determine what the initial trial was, or else the glowing barrier blocking the Gate wouldn’t let me pass.
Luckily, several tell-tale signs would allow someone to determine what the task was.
’Bronze Gate, three monsters at the Low Alpha-Rank…’ My three observations were what led me to decide that I had two courses of action.
There were three types of gates you would come across when diving into instances: Bronze, Silver and Gold,
Gold Gates were the worst because they were basically killing quests. Unlike the other two gates, this was a sign that you couldn’t enter until all of the Gate Guardians were slain.
Silver was more manageable, as it meant you only had to kill half the gatekeepers or solve a puzzle in a certain amount of time.
Bronze was the easiest to clear, as it was the most basic in its requirements. If your trial were completing a puzzle, there would be dozens of traps between the entrance and Gate, and solving the puzzle would allow you to bypass the traps; however, if you were skilled enough, you would be allowed to pass without completing the puzzle so long as you didn’t trigger any of the traps.
In the same vein, in the event that Gate Guardians spawned, so long as you could outrun them, you’d be able to enter the Gate, and this was where the next defining feature of the task came to light.
The number of Gate Guardians and their strength signified the amount of time you had to reach the Gate.
Each monster carried a starting timer of 2 minutes, and their Rank would determine any modifications to said timer. Low-Alpha has no bearing on the timer, but if they were Regular Alpha-Rank monsters, that was minus 30 seconds, while High-Alpha-Rank monsters reduced the timer by a minute.
Three Low-Alpha Monsters meant I had 6 minutes to escape the Titana-Griswyrms.
Breathing in deeply as I sprinted full speed around the edge of the body of water, I willed my particles to move toward my Brain.
’Psy-Kinesis, Augmentation Stage 2.’ Instantly, a faint, icy blue light began leaking out from my legs, and I felt them strengthen by 1.5 times.
In response to the effects of my Augmentation, which, upon increasing to Stage Two, allowed me to reinforce my Feet and legs, my speed drastically increased. However, the drain on my PC was heavy, but if I wanted to make it to the Gate in one piece, it was necessary to burn the particles.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.
’This is so freaking embarrassing; if I were back in the Origin Timeline, a snap of my fingers would obliterate those guys,’ constantly watching the three monsters as they dove into the water and headed my direction, I exuded a perfect running form that could make even the highest-level athletes jealous.
I was lucky that my body was small because otherwise, my augmentation skill, even at Stage Two, would have never been able to cover my entire legs if I was a fully grown adult; for the first time since returning to the past, I was actually thankful that I had such a small stature.
’Almost there,’ leaping over a cluster of rocks and stalagmites, I hit the ground, rolled, and bounced back to my feet, ignoring the fact that my arm grazed against one of the sharp, rough spikes growing up from the ground of the Cavern.
Less than a hundred feet from the Gate, however, things changed, causing me to glare over my shoulder as I felt the particles in the air swirling like a storm behind me.
ROOOAARRRR
"Tsk, that’s cute but too late,"
BOOM BOOM BOOM!