Chapter 517 - 516: The Dungeon’s Heavy Hitter

Chapter 517: Chapter 516: The Dungeon’s Heavy Hitter

"See? I told you this mission wasn’t going to be hard."

The moment the words left his mouth, Colin felt everyone’s eyes on him. "What?" he asked.

"You’d best not say that, Colin," Kase said.

"You were just saying how easy the mission was, and now I’m not allowed to?"

Colin clapped him on the shoulder. "Don’t be so superstitious. It’s not like something bad happens *every* time I say that. Besides, I’m not the only unlucky one. Aren’t we always together whenever we run into trouble? If you want to talk about bad luck, we’re *all* unlucky, not just me."

"I’d rather you didn’t, Colin."

"Kase, my friend, you’re lacking a little team spirit," Colin sighed.

Dorn chimed in, "The reason this mission’s been so easy is thanks to me. I’ve guided you around all the tough customers. What did you think, you were just lucky?"

Colin asked, a little curious, "What kind of tough customers are there?"

"Every level of the Undercity has powerful monsters. Most small parties like to call them ’bosses’ or ’tough nuts to crack.’"

Dorn continued, "For example, the first level has a pack of three Petrifying Lizards. The second level has a rabid Werewolf. None of them are easy to deal with. Most rookies get taken out by things like that."

"That does sound pretty dangerous," Colin said.

A Petrifying Lizard was comparable in strength to a Winter Wolf. A Werewolf was a type of Beastman, and while they were generally weaker than a Bearman, there could always be exceptionally powerful individuals.

"Just think about that purple worm we saw on the upper levels," Dorn said. "No one ever knows what they’ll run into in the Undercity. Otherwise, so many people wouldn’t have died here. There’s a reason for its reputation."

"In that case, why don’t we skip the portal and just walk back? We can take those things out on the way," Kase said, licking his lips.

"You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you," Dorn said sternly. "Even though the monsters on the lower levels of the Undercity are definitely stronger than those on the upper levels, nothing is ever certain. Take that purple worm, for instance. That thing can even kill adult Giant Dragons."

Hearing this, Kase calmed down.

Colin recalled the characteristics of the Undercity.

He had read in a book before that Thousand Masts City was built around a Magic Net Node, and the specific location of this node was deep beneath the city.

Besides intelligent beings, ordinary beasts and monsters were also drawn to Magic Net Nodes. Naturally, the more powerful monsters would occupy the areas closer to the node—in other words, the deeper parts of the Dungeon.

"So, what’s the most powerful monster on this level?" Colin asked curiously.

"That’s hard to say," Dorn said. "Besides the Duergar Clan we dealt with a few days ago, it’s said that someone saw a four-armed Demon here."

Orelia, who was an expert on all things related to Evil Demons, interjected, "A glabrezu?"

"That’s the one." Dorn shrugged. "Of course, the sighting was a long way from here, so there’s nothing to worry about."

Colin glanced at Lanser, who couldn’t join the conversation, and asked, "By the way, how far is your clan from here?"

"Not too far. It’s about a day’s walk," Lanser answered cautiously.

"Then how did you get here?" Orelia asked, curious. "Did you wake up one day and find you’d been teleported here?"

"No, not at all," said Lanser. "We originally lived in the outer sea, but our enemies have become more active recently. After our clan was defeated several times, we decided to find a safe new home. We ended up here by traveling through underground waterways."

Dorn said, "The Undercity is hardly a safe place."

"It might be slightly better than the outside," Lanser said with a bitter smile.

As benevolent sea-dwellers, the Tritons had good relations with normal Fishmen, but a terrible relationship with the marauding Sahuagin. Large-scale conflicts often erupted between the two.

After chatting for a bit, the party members went about their respective tasks.

Kase and Dorn scouted ahead while Colin and the others followed behind.

Since Dorn had a map, their progress was relatively smooth. Whenever they passed certain areas, Dorn would remind the party to watch out for traps and the like.

Seeing those traps, Colin could just imagine how much trouble Adventurers without a Dwarf guide would have here.

After leaving the Dwarf ruins, the party traveled through the damp tunnels for some time. They didn’t encounter any monsters right up until they made camp.

Occasionally, they would spot some fire beetles clinging to mushroom stalks, sucking out the juices.

The beetles were the size of a human head, and their rears glowed like fireflies. It was said that many miners who encountered them underground would use them as oil lamps.

Another issue was that while Lanser could walk on land, his webbed feet were certainly no match for real feet, so the party had to move at a slightly slower Speed.

「When it was time to break camp.」

After waking up and packing his sleeping bag, Colin set off again with the others.

A few hours later, after walking further down the tunnel, they came across an underground river.

The water here was similar to the poisonous underground river they had seen before. It was dark and murky, like a black curtain, making it impossible to see what lay beneath the surface.

Fortunately, there were mushrooms growing around the river. The group immediately began to build a small raft from the stalks, intending to cross directly.

"Was the river already dirty before you came here?" Colin asked as he took out his [Climbing Rope] and began tying together the mushroom stalks Kase had chopped down.

"Yes," Lanser said. "But the pollution is only concentrated in this area. The water is clean further away. We don’t know where the pollution is coming from either."

Colin muttered, "I bet some kind of monster caused this."

"Well, it’s none of our business anyway," Dorn said, tossing another mushroom stalk onto the pile.

"Dorn, how about you, Kase, or Orelia dive in and see if there’s any trouble?" Colin said. "We happen to have two [Underwater Breathing Potions]."

Dorn glanced at the water with disgust, but he didn’t refuse. "I’ll go down alone. No need for a Potion. If there’s trouble, I’ll just Teleport back up."

"Alright then. Be careful," Colin reminded him.

Dorn then walked to the riverbank, took off his Leather Armor, and jumped right in.

Colin, meanwhile, focused his energy on building the raft.

Under his control, the [Climbing Rope] smoothly tied the last mushroom stalk in place, and a sturdy little raft took shape.