NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24
Chapter 24 – The Lizardman Ruins
—–CROW—–
They say that consistent effort rather than genius talent creates success.
As someone who had never made a consistent effort in his entire life, it was difficult for me to relate to those words, but recently things have changed a bit.
– *Stab!*
I slammed my sword down on the tail of the Lizardman that was aiming for my leg, pinning it to the ground.
A Lizardman’s tail is a mass of muscle that is flexible and has strong elasticity. The power of its swing is much stronger than most kicks.
However, due to its structural characteristics of growing near the pelvis, if it is swung recklessly, it will lose its balance.
Even more so when it tried to attack like this, only to have its tail attacked in return.
– *Smack!*
I smashed my shield against the staggering Lizardman’s jaw, and dodged a spear thrusting from behind.
I spun my body in a large arc and landed the same shield attack on the Lizardman that attacked me from behind, then I drew my sword.
I stabbed the neck of the Lizardman that had fallen after being hit in the jaw earlier, then turned around and finished off the other one.
After confirming that there were no more Lizardmen, I put away my sword and shield, sat down, and took out a White Troll meat to chew on.
“I think I can handle the single-stripe ones easily now…”
It had already been a month since I entered the 3rd floor. In that month, I think I fought Lizardmen over a hundred times.
I always thought I had no talent for physical activities or sports, but after investing so much time, something finally worked out.
I don’t know if this is success or not, but it is undoubtedly the fruit of my efforts.
Now, if I’m facing low-ranking Lizardmen with one white stripe, I can easily win even a 2-on-1 fight.
Of course, because there is a basic difference in physical stats, I don’t think I have surpassed the Lizardmen in skill.
In fact, when I fought a Lizardman with three white stripes last time, I took a pretty big hit. Of course, I still won.
That was a while ago, so if I fight it again now, I’m confident I can win without taking any hits.
“Should I go into the ruins now?”
Anyway, except for the occasional three-striped Lizardmen, there were no suitable opponents in the area near the village.
“Status window.”
Seo Jinhyuk Lv.47 (Warrior)
HP: 690/690
MP: 355/355
Strength: 71 (57+14)
Agility: 51 (47+4)
Endurance: 53 (47+6)
Intelligence: 49 (47+2)
This is my current status window with full gear. I’ve caught quite a few Lizardmen, but my level has only risen by 2.
Hunting Lizardmen is for improving skills regardless of stats, but because of that, the feeling of stagnation is more bothersome.
It’s natural for my stats to stagnate, but the improvement of my skills must never slow down.
Since there’s almost nothing left to gain from fighting low-ranking Lizardmen, it seems it’s time to find stronger enemies and increase my activity area.
Then, I should also start pushing the quest that I’ve been putting off.
**
I returned to the village, made minimal preparations, and spoke to Expedition Leader Windsor.
“Ah, you’re back early today. You are really something. I don’t know how you manage to get around the swamp teeming with Lizardmen so well! Do you have any secrets? I’m curious!”
For every one sentence I said, he returned with three. Windsor talks far more than any other NPC.
“So, what brings you here? You haven’t said a word for a while, I was worried that you might have become mute.”
“I’m going to go to the ruins you mentioned last time.”
“Oh-ho! So you’ve become interested in the ruins? Of course, an adventurer should be. Then wait just a moment!”
The exploration of the ruins, which can be called the main quest of the 3rd floor, is a kind of mini-dungeon content.
Similar to the labyrinth areas on each floor, you explore the dungeon while revealing the map, and finally fight the boss monster.
According to the guide posts on the open community, the boss of the 3rd-floor ruins was defeated once long ago and has never respawned.
It was probably a one-time boss, like other limited-number monsters.
Anyway, the ruins dungeon is also a good hunting ground where you can meet enemies a bit higher-ranked than the Lizardmen near the village.
After I easily defeated the low-ranking Lizardmen, I naturally planned to go there.
But when I actually went to the ruins dungeon, the entrance was firmly shut. It was completely different from the information known in the open community.
The ruins weren’t open from the beginning; it was a dungeon that gradually opened as you progressed through the quest given by Windsor.
“Alright, our expedition members are all ready. We can depart right now!”
Windsor, carrying a large pack, and six expedition members, each armed in their own way, stood before me.
Will this be my first party play, or will it be solo play with seven extra burdens?
“Let’s go right away then.”
Honestly, I don’t have high expectations.
**
Naturally, Lizardmen appear on the way to the ruins.
The expedition members and Windsor were startled when they encountered a Lizardman, and hurriedly drew their weapons.
I didn’t expect much from the beginning, but as expected, they won’t be of any help.
“Move aside a bit.”
I pushed past the obstructive expedition members and stepped forward. The Lizardman that appeared was a low-ranking warrior with a shield and a spear.
Two white stripes. Not a very difficult opponent. I immediately drew my sword and quickly closed the distance.
A spear is a good weapon with excellent reach and power, but it becomes useless when the distance is closed so quickly.
Of course, to deal with a spearman like this, you need to greatly surpass them in speed and agility.
And that’s not difficult for me, with my superior agility stat.
– *Thrust!*
The Lizardman quickly protected itself with its shield, but I pushed it aside with force and stabbed it in the neck.
My attack power isn’t high enough to finish it in one blow. Even in this situation, the Lizardman tried to counterattack by swinging its tail.
But I’ve long since memorized the timing of their tail attacks. I kicked the swinging tail instead.
– *Thud!*
Due to the reckless tail attack, the Lizardman’s lower body balance became unstable. It’s the perfect situation to trip it.
I grappled with the Lizardman, knocked it down, and then finished it off by stabbing the same spot again with my sword.
“Let’s keep going.”
However, the expedition members just stood there with dazed expressions.
When I asked what was wrong, Expedition Leader Windsor scratched his head with a slightly disgusted expression and said,
“Well, you… you’re incredibly strong. Have you been killing Lizardmen by yourself all this time?”
“That’s right.”
“We thought you had a knack for avoiding Lizardmen… We were quite surprised.”
Come to think of it, they did say things like that when I left them alone.
They asked if I knew of any shortcuts they didn’t, and how I could travel so far without getting caught by Lizardmen.
It seems they never even considered that I was defeating Lizardmen by myself.
Well, it’s understandable from an NPC’s perspective.
Originally, Lizardmen are fairly strong monsters that require multiple challengers to fight together.
My performance far exceeds the level of an average 3rd-floor challenger.
I didn’t expect to have that fact reconfirmed in this way.
“You should’ve said something earlier. It’s good that you’re strong, but still…”
For some reason, Windsor grumbled like that and put away the hand axe he had just drawn.
If your ally is strong, you should just be happy, so why is he like that?
**
After that, we encountered Lizardmen three more times.
One with a single white stripe, and two with two white stripes.
Since I couldn’t expect any combat ability from the expedition members, I naturally fought alone each time.
“You must be tired from all the fighting. How about we take a short rest?”
Windsor suggested resting several times, but I refused. My stamina doesn’t run out that easily.
“You’re really something… Alright then, let’s go. We should be there soon.”
We moved slowly like that, and finally arrived at the ruins in the swamp.
The entrance to the ruins was blocked by a huge stone gate, and the gate was densely covered with unintelligible letters.
I’m not good at foreign languages, but no matter how I look at it, it wasn’t a language from Earth. It must be some kind of ancient script.
“Oh-ho, yes. My prediction was correct. The artifact we found was the key to this place!”
Windsor skillfully read the letters on the stone gate, then took out a large stone from his pocket and brought it close to the gate.
– *Clank, Clank!*
Then, a mechanical sound that didn’t match the stone echoed, and the huge stone gate slowly opened to both sides.
[The Place Where Lightning Slumbers]
When I stepped inside the ruins, a system message similar to when entering a labyrinth area appeared before my eyes.
Is this the name of this dungeon?
It said that a weapon that controls lightning slumbers here, so it seems to be true.
My original purpose was to hunt here, but now I’m also interested in that weapon.
Maybe I can get a hidden item of unique or epic grade, like I dreamed of on the 1st floor.
Let’s have a look around.
—–CROW—–