Child of Destiny

Chapter 1573: Dungeon: Lesser Hatchling Lair (Part 4)

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After hours of continuous fighting, the swarm of Komodo Lizards finally stopped, finally giving the group some time to catch their breaths.

”Hu~! Thatʼs quite intense,” commented Owen as he sat in a corner.

In this battle, they had to continuously battle without rest as the swarm of the lizards were attacking without stopping. Moreover, the monsterʼs corpses of those they killed quickly turned into specks of lights right after death, which made their initial plan of building up a rampart to block the other monsters fail in an instant.

With that, they had no choice but to fight the monsters without rest until they stopped coming.

Fortunately, the monsters that were attacking them were mostly composed of Common-Rank Komodo Lizard with a couple of Elite-Rank ones in the mix.

They were able to hold their ground against the swarm due to this, especially when there was no longer a Special Elite Cave Komodo Lizard among the monsters.

Another good news was they became more familiar with the attack patterns of these monsters, making it much easier for the group to handle the swarm.

They had also discovered that the Komodo Lizards were more of a magical-type monster rather than a full-melee monster.

Even if they had tough defense and powerful strength, their main source of power was still their control over Earth Elemental Mana.

”These Komodo Lizards seem to be divided into two different classes two. Some of them preferred using long-range attacks while the others like to fight using their bodies covered with stone armor and reinforced claws,” said Akailu after assessing their previous experience.

”Thatʼs right. The differences are even more distinct when it comes to Elite Rank Komodo Lizards,” nodded Owen.

”But it is a different case when it comes to Special Elite ones, especially that one that we first encountered earlier,” said Alucard as he joined them.

”That one is capable of fighting in a melee and long-range battle, making it much harder to deal with,” said Akailu before adding. ”Maybe, there is a dividing line between Elite and Special Elite Monsters of his continent. After all, those Iron-Skinned Wild Boars outside also have a distinct difference in them, especially when it comes to fighting capabilities.”

Samael was not much acquainted with them, so just found a corner and started checking on his equipment.

His Equipment Set was a special set bestowed to him by the Church of the Sun and Moon due to his merits. It was also capable of self-recovery, so he did not have to pay too much attention to it even if its durability dropped. But he could still hasten the process if he did some maintenance to it.

Moreover, it also became his habit to regularly maintain his equipment as an independent player, so he continued doing it.

Archimedes also did not like socializing with other people. He just kept his silence and sat in a corner while hugging his bow.

Chaotic Luck wanted to discuss something with Akailu, but after seeing that the latter was ʼbusyʼ, he just found a corner and started browsing the online forums about battle formations.

While these guys were busy with their own thing, the girls were too busy to talk or do anything else, so they found a corner to rest.

Those with magic-related classes went to meditate, hastening the recovery of their mana as well as their willpower. In this kind of dungeon that needed a lot of time to recover, having a sharp mind and firm would be a necessity, especially when they were most likely to encounter some emergencies later.

Seeing the three big sisters in meditation, Huahua felt like she was slacking off, so she mimicked them. She sat not too far from Alice, Daulla, and Cloe before entering meditation.

Lorraine went to a secluded spot to check on her magic rifle and Ithilien joined her as she looked at the formerʼs actions with interest.

On the other hand, the monster trio – Shin, Arthur, and Leonard – went to find a secluded corner to discuss by themselves.

Diablo was also quite interested in the earlier topic that they were talking about, so he asked if it was fine to join.

Seeing there was nothing wrong with it, Shin and the others let him listen.

…

”So, what do you guys mean about this dungeon being similar to what?” asked Shin as he looked at the two.

”It is not exactly similar, but they do have great similarities in some areas,” answered Leonard before turning to Arthur and urged. ”You explain it since it is one of your ʼachievementsʼ.”

Arthur scratched the back of his head as he explained. ”It is not that serious anyway. But Leonard is right, this place indeed has great similarities to that dungeon.”

He then paused for a moment to organize his thoughts before continuing. ”In this one game that we played a year and a half ago, which is also released by the same company as the creators of «True Era» Online, there is this insanely hard dungeon that no one can defeat.”

”But as you already know about my personality, Iʼm quite stubborn when it comes to the things that I have set my mind on, so I decided to repeatedly challenge it.”

”Additionally, there was also this annoying guy before that kept on pestering me. He keeps saying that my current title as a Ranker during that time is unfounded and whatnot.”

”I stubbornly challenged that dungeon even though I kept on failing multiple times.”

”Then one day, something flashed in my head. I felt that I could clear that entire dungeon, so I streamed it live on one of my official channels.”

”Then after a whole week of struggle, I finished the entire dungeon and earned a lot of fame. I have also solidified my reputation as the Dragon God due to that,” he added with a proud look on his face.

But Shin was not impressed and continued to press. ”So? What happened next? And what is the connection between that dungeon and this one that we are raiding right now?”

Arthur rolled his eyes when he heard that and was about to say something.

But Diablo beat him into it. ”That dungeon is an Event Dungeon that can only be cleared once. And it is called the ʼDragon Nestʼ.”

Arthur opened his mouth and was about to explain, but Diablo continued. ”It is a special dungeon with multiple layers. Or you can say that it is a massive dungeon composed of multiple lesser dungeons.”

”Each lesser dungeon is ruled by a powerful Dragon with absolute authority over certain elements. And-…”

Diablo was about to complete his assessment when Arthur quickly cut in. ”And a section of one of the lesser dungeons is called the ʼEarth Hatchling Nestʼ!”

Hearing that, Shin seemed to have realized something. ”Oh~! Are you saying that this very dungeon is the same as that one?”

”You are half right,” Arthur shook his head as he continued before Diablo could even steal his spotlight once again. ”The design is oddly similar, but not by much.”

”Moreover, the monsters here are much stronger than that dungeon and the terrains donʼt show any similarities,” he added.

”And?” pressed Shin as he still did not get what these guys were implying.

If it was some similar designs between the two games, then there was nothing strange about it since they knew that the current World Gaming Organization was composed of multiple gaming companies around the world, so something like this was only to be expected.

He did not understand that they were making it a big deal.

”Sigh~…” Arthur breathed out heavily before continuing. ”But that dungeon that I have cleared is nothing simple.”

”Based on the game company at that time-… that dungeon is said to be a perfect simulation of a certain place in the real world.”

”Or you can also say that it is a perfect recreation of that place,” added Arthur before pausing, recalling his past experiences.

”And do you know what the company said in one of their announcements after I cleared that dungeon?” he asked as he paused momentarily before continuing. ”They have said that the entire event in the dungeon is based on a certain legend that happened far down in our history.”

”They have dropped the entire record of that history for everyone to see. The detailed events starting from how everything had started up to how it ended are all revealed to the public.”

”And the highlight of everything is how a certain individual fought and defeated a super powerful dragon, which also earned him a certain title-…”

Before Arthur could even complete his words, Shin already figured it out. ”The Legend of the Dragon Slayer – Siegfried.”

As someone who grew up in the Springfield Family, Shin was naturally aware of the legends and the recovered history concerning the Dragons of the Ancient Era, especially when the Springfields themselves were said to be the descendants of a dragon.

Shin also knew where Arthur had gotten the name that he was currently using inside the game. It was the very legend that was just mentioned.

”But do you know what was even more surprising?” asked Arthur. But he did not wait for Shin to answer, and he quickly continued. ”That very dungeon contained an inheritance, which is the final reward of clearing it.”

”There are not many people who know the truth about it as they thought that it was some sort of Ultimate Skill in the game,” he added before sighing. ”At first, I also think that it is nothing or treat it as some sort of joke. But later, Uncle Nathan scolded me asking where I have gotten the inheritance.”

Arthur shrugged his shoulder as he added. ”I donʼt know that it is something that serious.”

”Wait! Uncle Nathan knew about it?” asked Shin.

Arthur nodded as he clarified. ”During one of our training sessions that time, I have tried incorporating the techniques that I have gotten from that inheritance into my spearmanship.”

”The inheritance is about some sort of swordsmanship, but you know that my expertise is about spear arts, so I have tried to incorporate the inspirations that I have gotten from the manual and converted them into spear techniques.”

”I did not know that Uncle Nathan would instantly know that it is from an inheritance,” he shrugged his shoulders.

”Then what did uncle say after that?” asked Shin.

”Nothing. He just asked me where it came from, and I answered truthfully. Then nothing else happened,” said Arthur.

Shin then realized what these guys were trying to say. ”So, are you guys saying that-…”

Arthur nodded. ”Thatʼs right. This may be one of the ʼsectionsʼ of the ʼwholeʼ picture. But if I continue following the directions of this quest-…”

”There is a high chance that it will lead you into another inheritance,” said Shin, completing what Arthur was trying to say.

Diablo did not find any of this surprising as he was now learning under Professor Henry, who also partook in creating the game. He was staying with Benedict and the other seniors of the Research Department, who were all Beta Testers, so he had heard and learned quite a few secrets from them.

Moreover, he had also learned quite a few things from the Pandemonium Descendants during his time there. After all, he was one of their executives there.

However, all of those were just superficial knowledge as Lucier, the Great Leader of that organization kept everything to himself.

He just managed to start piecing everything together after Benedict and the rest had told him that «Destinyʼs Fate» Online was not just a simple game as most people thought it would be.

This time, Leonard seemed to have recalled something. ”Remember that senior from the Heavenly Taste Restaurant?”

”Are you talking about Senior Laurent? He is a friend of Senior Brother,” said Shin.

”Didnʼt he show us that inheritance marble or something during one of our visits to their restaurants?” asked Leonard again.

”Eh!? Now that you have mentioned it,” Shin started thinking about this more seriously, making him think deeply.

Diablo then shook his head as he said. ”There is no need to think too much about it. We will all learn the secrets of this game once we become qualified for it.”

”So, what you guys have to do right now is to cultivate and train hard in the real world and reach the Ethereal Opening Stage or the Peak of the Grandmaster Realm as soon as possible,” he added.

Hearing that, something ignited within the eyes of the three as they started striving to reach the next stage as soon as possible.

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