บท 38: [38] Gul'dan
Its height was about six feet tall and entirely black from head to toe. The contours of its limbs closely resembled those of a human. Its head was particularly unique, with a cross-shaped structure inset with a round mirror-like object.
Its blackness wasn't due to fur, scales, or skin, but simply pure blackness, like that of a shadow. It was because of this characteristic that adventurers gave it the name... War Shadow, as if a monster emerged directly from the shadows. Although its appearance and entrance were extremely cool, it lacked only RGB lighting effects to boost its abilities, this War Shadow was unusually cautious and did not launch a direct attack.
"If the enemy doesn't move, I'll make the first move." Aiden initiated the attack. Although the War Shadow immediately blocked with its arms, Durandal was too sharp, and Aiden's strength was too remarkable. With a flash of golden sword light, the blade pierced through the War Shadow's arms and into the circular mirror on its head.
"Impressive elite monster, not only does it come with its own special effects upon arrival, but even its magic stone is much larger than that of a Frog Shooter. So, how much bigger will the magic stones dropped by monsters on the lower floors be?" With a bang, the War Shadow only left behind a shadow of its magic stone. Aiden bent down to pick up the magic stone.
On the seventh floor, the number of monsters increased, and the respawn rate was higher, but still couldn't pose a threat to Aiden, who was giving it his all.
But there were still goblins on the seventh floor, and Aiden could clearly feel that the goblins on this floor were slightly stronger, faster, although not particularly useful.
Even if they were the same type of monster, the monsters on the later floors were stronger than those on the earlier floors. That was why the goblins on this floor were so much stronger than those on the first floor.
The eighth floor offered a bit of resistance but not much.
Aiden pierced through mantises, slaughtered spiders, and punched War Shadow, making his way to the ninth floor. If other adventurers knew that there was a lone adventurer making his second journey into the dungeon, able to pass through all the challenges and reach the ninth floor unscathed, it would surely drop a lot of jaws. Even Ottar, known as the ultimate weapon of the labyrinthine city of Orario, couldn't achieve this level on his second journey into the dungeon.
What was even more eye-popping was that, after confirming the types of monsters, their abilities, and respawn rates on the ninth floor and confirming that they still couldn't pose a threat, Aiden hesitated and ventured straight to the tenth floor.
When it comes to dungeons, the first reaction of men of culture must be Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy novels, and DND-inspired web novels, giving rise to countless masterpieces like A Song of Ice and Fire, Baldur's Gate, and Dragonlance Chronicles.
If it were a true dungeon, people's first impression might be of hidden treasures and monsters, dimly lit and ever-changing underground caves, mazes, and ruins, or perhaps mysterious cities buried by history and so on.
For Aiden, who had some inherent impressions of dungeons, after experiencing the complex and ever-changing maze of the first nine floors, he finally arrived at the starkly different tenth floor from the seductive treasures and bizarre encounters of the previous nine floors.
Unlike the dim and cramped labyrinthine passages of the first nine floors, the tenth floor was a grassland. However, unlike other grasslands, the grass on the tenth floor was gray-white, even the dead trees used as weapons by monsters were gray-white. The entire grassland was permeated with a gray-white mist that never dissipated.
As soon as Aiden stepped into the tenth floor, he felt as if he had been subjected to a dimensional reduction, finding himself in a world akin to a black and white manga.
Looking around, whether it was trees or grass, mist or sky, everything was gray-white. If the first nine floors were akin to the traditional caves and underground mazes often seen in single-player RPGs, then the tenth floor was more like the death place where the undead slept, calm yet filled with a chilly silence.
Until...
"Grrr..."
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
The deep roar of a large beast and the heavy, slow footsteps, accompanied by these two sounds, a tall figure emerged through the gray-white mist in front of Aiden.
"Grrr..."
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
The deep roar and heavy footsteps gradually drew closer.
The tall figure revealed its true form in front of Aiden.
Standing about two meters tall, with a pig's head, pig's brain, pig's nose, red eyes, green skin, and a bulky figure, it wore nothing but a grass skirt to avoid crabs.
It unmistakably revealed its identity... an orc.
"Greeny, is that you? No, at least Greeny has a human face. Oh, I know, you're the offspring of Gul'dan and a wild boar, aren't you?" Aiden slowly drew Durandal from his hand, the golden blade slanting towards the front, gesturing with an inviting posture.
"Roar..."
Faced with Aiden's provocation, the instinctive orc, unable to speak, opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and let out a piercing roar. As if instinctively, it grabbed the dead tree beside it and with a tug, the dead tree, under the magical power of the dungeon, turned into a massive club.
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
The orc tightly gripped the club with both hands, its upper body slightly leaning forward, charging towards Aiden... a boar-like rush!
"You, with a club holding a club, quite the audacity. Are you eager to return to the embrace of the dungeon mother so soon? Or is it that you lost both parents, suffered from calcium deficiency since childhood, and grew up lacking love?" Watching the orc charging towards him like a small truck, Aiden was shrouded in a faint sense of danger. His heart began to beat violently, blood boiling, hands trembling slightly... not out of fear, but excitement.
Aiden was excited; his instinct told him that this monster might pose a threat to him, might cause him some damage. His lips curled slightly upwards, his left foot stepping forward in a bow stance, body slightly leaning forward, hands tightly gripping Durandal, legs exerting force evenly. He met the orc's charge head-on.
For a normal adventurer, facing an immensely strong yet slow-moving orc head-on was the last resort among last resorts. The heavy clubbing force of the orc was simply too much for a Level 1 adventurer to handle. But as long as one relied on agility to outmaneuver it, it wouldn't take long to bring it down.
However, Aiden chose to go against the grain. True to his nature, Nero, known for his remarkable strength, effortlessly accomplished what other adventurers could not.
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