The Culling of Man: A litrpg adventure (Peril's Prodigy Book 1) by Craig Kobayashi (ereader android TXT) 📕

only happens once. And that is an archway... You can see right through it and there's no dungeon on the other side that I can see," said Sharon, standing up from where she had crouched to drink from the fountain and holding one hand to her forehead to act as a visor.

"He's referring to a gaming term," Athios explained. "Instance is the term used for a special area, typically a dungeon, that generates a new copy of that area for each group that enters."

"Oh," said Sharon, her expression puzzled as she attempted to wrap her mind around that concept. "Then if we want to enter?"

Garath nodded, looking at the silvery fractals of light shimmering in the open air beneath the archway.

"We walk through," he confirmed Sharon’s suspicion. "I assumed that dungeons would have magical qualities or whatever but I never even considered an instance. There's no way for us to scout it out before attempting a run..."

It may have been the fact that he didn't know whether they could call it quits if the dungeon was too difficult, or it may have been his enhanced decision making from the Concentrated Crystillium, but a part of him was screaming not to go in there. It was a small part though, the rest of him was just dying to know what lay beyond.

"Fuck it, let's roll."

Garath stepped into the cool blue liquid and waded up to the shimmering gateway. When he reached out one hand to pass through, a prompt appeared.

Dungeon - Aquawood Depths

Maximum Party Size: 5 (Your Party Size: 4)

Disposition: Hostile

Monster Level(s): 13-20

Floors: 1

Note: Once inside, the dungeon must be completed to open the exit.

Do you wish to enter? Yes or No

He looked back at his Party and shrugged casually. He gave the affirmative thought and stepped through. An empty world of white overtook him.

The blinding light flashed and disappeared in an instant. Garath squinted as his eyes adjusted. He looked left then right, up, down, and turned around in a circle to take in his surroundings - searching for nearby enemies

The room he stood in looked like it had been carved from a single, massive rock into a perfect circle. The seamless stone walls, floor, and ceiling were a uniform cobalt blue. Garath's eyes, after satisfied that there was no immediate danger, were naturally drawn to the room's single exit, a hallway of the same stone that led a few feet beyond the room before winding out of sight.

A flash like the one Garath had experienced after choosing to enter accompanied each Party member as they joined him in the cavernous starting room. Just as he had, they each swiveled their heads around, urgently scanning for danger. Just as Sharon appeared, wide-eyed, next to the Necrologist, a sloshing sound captures the Party's attention.

They heard raised voices echo off the stone walls from tunnel beyond. The unintelligible, guttural language grew louder and was joined by a curious wet, slapping. There was no mistaking the fact that, very soon, they would not be alone in the exit-less cave.

Chapter 29

Fight!

Garath's nose probed at the air ahead, sniffing on overdrive in a futile attempt to identify the somewhat fishy odor wafting in his direction - but he didn't have to wait long for the source to reveal itself. A series of blue flashes lit the corridor of the tunnel leading into the cave he was standing in just before five dungeon dwelling humanoids rounded the corner, each standing over seven feet tall.

If Garath had to pick one word to describe the approaching hostiles, it would be intimidating. The skin that covered their bodies held a sickly blue tint that made their fierce, bright yellow eyes pop out in contrast. Their bare arms and chests were almost too muscular to be contained and they each held a long, golden pike adorned with three sharp spikes in trident formation. Instead of legs, they traversed the stone floors of the cave with powerful looking tails, like some terrifying half-cobras on steroids. They entered the staging area barking threatening sounds in an unknown language with their polearms extended toward the four-man Party. Garath triggered his Inspect Ability on the nearest dungeon monster.

Aquawood Naga Pikeman

Humanoid - Naga

Health: 965/965

Level: 14

Station: Infantry

Mana: 185/185

Description: Infantry unit of the snake-people of Aquawood Depths. Aquawood Naga are fabled to worship the mystic Magic of Hypnotism.

Garath's jaw dropped as his stomach filled with the nerves before a fight. With almost one-thousand HP at level fourteen, these dungeon monsters were miles beyond their level fourteen counterparts from The Culling (that had topped out between 150-200 HP). He noticed a small, blue shield icon on the nameplate affixed to the head of the Naga he was Inspecting. More information was presented and he took it in with a glance.

Aquawood Defense: User's HP is increased by 10%.

Time Remaining: 5 hours, 59 minutes, 56 seconds

All five Nagas charged with their gold-tipped tridents extended. Their attack was quick and organized, all five advancing in unison at the Party. The snake-people spread out as they approached, limiting the effect of AoE attacks and forcing the adventurers to choose a single target at a time. Garath and the Party reacted instantly, and the fight was joined.

Several things took place at once.

Deep purple energy marginally darkened the cavernous starting area as Garath focused his will into casting Summon Flayer - his first instinct was to even the odds in a fight that his group was out numbered. In his haste, the Necrologist didn't even take the additional cost of Tainted Soul into account at all and inadvertently earned his first soul-soiling while in human form. The twisted little imp-demon emerged from the unnaturally dark summoning circle on the cave floor and shot Garath a foul glare before grudgingly accepting its orders.

*Kill. That one,* Garath silently commanded, pointing at an approaching Naga.

The instruction left nothing up for interpretation. Without having summoned the Flayer before, Garath figured the more specific his commands the better - based on the Skill’s