Chapter 17. Hidden dungeon (3)

Chapter 17. Hidden dungeon (3)

"Me? I am just a simple man who likes forest and nature. That's why I live here."

The man answered while waving his hands, his tone was humble, but Ian knew he was hiding something.

'No normal person would live in the Grenuo forest!!'

Due to the sheer number of monsters in the forest, one would have to at least be level 50 to live peacefully here. The man in front of him was at least level 50.

That was not normal at all!!

"Who are you exactly?"

Ian again asked, but the man in front of him just smiled and changed the topic.

"I already told you who I am, and I think you should focus on climbing the cliff, if you can that is."

The man refrained from speaking any further, and Ian didn't keep talking to him. There was no need to speak to someone who didn't want to talk.

It was better to focus on climbing the steep cliff.

'Let's do this.'

After putting away his Blaze dagger in the inventory, he began to ascend the steep cliff wall.

He moved his limbs slowly, but methodically, appearing almost like he was climbing a vertical ladder.

'I have a lot of experience with this.'

The fantasy world required mercenaries to be capable of surviving the most extreme situations. He once had to cross a broken log bridge, and even escape from an island surrounded by man-eating piranhas.

Rock climbing was a cinch in comparison.

'It's important to always keep my body balanced.'

Ian would only move one arm or leg at the time.

The friction from sticking close to the wall would aid his ascension, and any significant protrusions or cracks would serve as grips to take much-needed rests.

Of course, he didn't forget to maintain his stamina by using different muscles.

As he reached a flat ledge, he performed a full chin up and hoisted himself up.

Before him was a large crack, wide enough for him to fit in as he climbed with his arms and legs outstretched, pushing against the rock surface.

Because of his experience, Ian could be considered as a real rock climbing expert!!

If he were to fall from this height, he was sure that he would lose his life, but Ian didn't show any signs of fear.

It was because Ian had already prepared himself for all the dangers when he had started Ark.

His mind had even gone through the cruel fantasy world, which was brutal in all aspects. Not even the gods could stop Ian now.

As he made his way up the cliff wall, he heard a sharp cry, causing him to frown.

'They've finally appeared.'

Their name came from their red feathers, which, when fluttered in the wind, appeared like wings bathed in dancing flames.

They liked to build their nest in the safety of high cliffs, and swoop down with their sharp blade-like beaks upon any intruders.

They could even put their bodies on flames and tackle people. It was easier to fight against one of them, but a group of them was not an easy opponent at all.

They were a tricky opponent to face, especially when your arms and legs were tied up doing something else.

It was the information he got after looking through the book about them, and Ian was confident that he could win against them.

'I prepared myself enough!!'

Thales spear, Blaze dagger, and the beginner sword.

Ian glanced at the flame, winged birds while holding on to the cliff with both hands.

'They look to be angry.'

Flame winged birds have an innate aggressive personality. It was also the reason they would attack people trying to climb the cliff.

They would feel like someone was forcefully entering their house.

Although Ian wasn't able to freely move his body in such an environment, it wouldn't be a problem. It was because of the Blaze dagger and his special ability.

'I'll kill them all.'

It was an excellent opportunity to farm experience points while also climbing the cliff.

Swish!

Ian expertly threw the Blaze dagger, sinking it into the head of a flame winged bird that was flying above. He hadn't noticed it before, but he had gotten the 'throwing' skill while fighting Grando and his friends.

It has increased his efficiency in throwing the dagger.

As the bird fell down, Ian activated the dagger's innate ability, and the Blaze dagger appeared in his hand. There was a bit of blood on it, which belonged to the flame winged bird.

'They give good experience.'

As they were higher level than Ian, he was getting good experience. Hunting them was not as hard as he expected, he just had to take care of his grip on the cliff while throwing the dagger at them.

Ian slowly climbed the cliff while defending himself from the flame winged birds.

Slowly but steadily, his level was rising, and he was reaching closer to the top.

"Pant! Pant! It's getting hard to climb higher."

As Ian was close to the top, he noticed that the cracks and protrusions which were serving as grips were getting less and less.

It was also hard to stick to the wall for much longer, and moreover, the attacks from the flame winged birds were increasing.

They were tackling him with higher speed and ferocity!!

'No wonder no was able to complete this quest.'

Fighting and sticking to the steep cliff at that same time was not something that can be considered easy. Ian even felt that he would fall anytime.

That's why he increased his climbing speed and tried to dodge the attacks of the flame winged birds.

It was the only way to reach the top.

"Krawk!!"

As Ian gripped his hand on a crack, one of the flame winged birds tried to tackle him. There were flames all over its body, and he was sure that he would get a 'burn' status If he got hit by that.

Dash!

With flames all over its body, the flame winged bird tackled him with enormous speed, and Ian was barely able to dodge it by swinging his body to the left.

"Ah, I won't let you go. Take this!!"

Ian quickly threw the Blaze dagger at the flying flame winged bird, but it barely grazed it.

The speed of this flame winged bird was particularly higher than others. Ian felt that it must be the leader of the group, or else it wouldn't have that much power.

"Kwack!!"

'He's going to attack again.'

When the flame winged bird cried again, Ian knew that it would attack him again, and this time, there was a high chance that Ian wouldn't survive.

"It's now or never!!"

Ian muttered as he called back the Blaze dagger. Holding the dagger in his hand, Ian waited for the right moment.

The flame winged bird fluttered its wings as flames started enveloping it.

It looked at Ian with hostility in its eyes as it dashed towards him to finish him for once, but Ian was also ready to attack.

Ian waited for the right moment as he glared at the flame winged bird. When the flamed winged bird was close enough to him, Ian quickly threw precisely the Blaze dagger.

Due to the motion of throwing the dagger, Ian nearly fell to his death. If not for his tight grip, he would have been dead.

Swish!

The Blaze dagger cut through the air and struck right at the flame winged birds' left eye.

"Kyak!!"

The flame winged bird cried out in pain and agony. Because it was a hit in its eye, it wasn't able to see properly and accidentally smashed into the cliff.

It died because of the collision.

"I never thought I would get a title just like this."

Ian muttered as he looked at the title. He felt that a title like Master Hunter would surely give him good benefits.

* * *

A title that is only given to the masters who have defeated an opponent 10 levels higher than them. It was not easy, but they persisted, and this title is proof of their courage.

-Effects: When fighting an opponent higher level than you, all stats will increase by 10%.

* * *

'It's a great title!!'

Ian thought in his head as he marveled about the title. It was a great title that would help him greatly when he is fighting higher-level opponents.

Moreover, the actual effect of this title will be shown once he became high leveled.

Leveling up was not easy after getting past a certain level. One had to kill countless monsters to level up. This title will undoubtedly be helpful then.

Ian was sure of it!!

'Let's climb up now.'

Ian swiftly started climbing the cliff. After he killed the leader of their group, the other flame winged birds didn't dare to attack him.

That's why he was quickly able to reach the top.

'It's too real.'

Ian stared at the vast forest from the top of the cliff. It was truly enormous, and Ian was not able to differentiate between it and a real forest.

Once again, he realized the beauty of Ark.

"Let's focus on collecting Nar herbs."

On the top of the cliff, Ian started collecting the Nar herbs. There were many Nar herbs just beside where Ian was standing.

Gran had earlier told him that the more Nar herbs he brought, the more the reward will be.

That's why Ian was going to collect all the Nar herbs growing on the cliff. He didn't even spare other herbs and gathered them all to sell later.

'It should be enough!'

After an hour, Ian has collected lots of herbs, and it was time for him to return to the capital and complete the quest, but as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw some peculiarity.

"There seems to be something there."

Ian stared at some rocks which were bigger than him in size, but they seem to be hiding something behind them.

Maybe Ian was wrong, but his intuition and experience as a mercenary told him that there's really something there. That's why he went towards the rock.

'There could be a treasure hidden here.'

Ian was thinking like that and tried to move the giant rocks, but as soon as he touched the rocks, something weird happened.

"Ahh!!"

Ian was startled by it and backed away. The rocks slowly started to move, opening up an entrance that seemed to lead to somewhere.

'What's this? A hidden cave? No, it's probably that!!'

Ian thought as he stared at the cave in front of him. His suspicions became true once he stepped into the dark cave.

A hidden dungeon!!

Just like Ian had thought, the cave was a hidden dungeon. He became excited thinking about the rewards.

Just like their name, hidden dungeons were the dungeons hidden from the world, waiting to be discovered by the players.

They were also known as gold mines!!

It was because one could quickly get rich by finding a hidden dungeon. Many people would sell the information about hidden dungeons to guilds and rake in quite a lot of money.

Hidden dungeons also had many treasures in them, and usually, the boss would drop a rare item at the least.

'I will surely get rich!!'

Ian thought as he stepped into the dungeon. It was time to hunt the monsters inside the dungeon.