Chapter 14

Caleb moves forward in the corridor, encountering no difficulties. He knew where he was because he had done some diving in this dungeon in his previous life.

The area has only dim lighting, making it ideal for traps. However, he was already aware that there were no traps at the very entrance to this dungeon, as the real challenge would come when a player exited the hall.

After a minute, he had already reached the end of the hallway and stepped out. What greeted him was a room full of lily pads with larger diameters than normal pads, as if ten people could stand in them.

Every pad has the same thickness as the three human arms combined. He could tell because all of the pads were raised in the air rather than floating in the water like typical lily pads in the pond.

Caleb can see the lengthy stalks that support these pads and can be traced down to the ground. As he peered into the large hole that split the room in two, these pads protruded from it, and he couldn't tell how deep it was.

He looked ahead, and because the only light source in this room was the large bluestone hanging above the room like a chandelier, he could vaguely see the end of the place.

There were no other passages in this room and so, if he wants to continue in the dungeon, he must tread on these pads, which will act as a bridge to the other side...if only it were that simple.

Buds of mixed colors of light violet and thin bluish line have settled on the top of each pad. When the time comes for it to blossom, one can expect a lovely flower. Caleb, on the other hand, was not pleased by these since he understands how these lovely buds can bring death to those who admire them.

The bud on top of the nearest pad began to move as soon as his feet were close to it, similar to how a flower blooms. The buds on both sides move as well as if they were all linked together. He quickly took a step forward, stepping on the pad in front of him as he unsheathed both of his blades, slicing the bud of it.

It was easily removed from its place and soon evaporated like a speck of dust particles, but the other two on his side finished blooming faster than the one he had just slashed. 

Beautiful violet-colored petals were revealed by the two. Caleb, on the other hand, has little time to be enchanted by their beauty, as every stigma that protruded from both flowers proceeded to form into an irregular head with a single eye in each of their centers.

Soon after taking a shape, they cast a gaze toward the lone person who had stepped into their domain as they both simultaneously launched a pair of violet petals.

swishh~!

One can observe that every petal's edge was magically clotted in thin air magic, enabling it to fly with speed. 

Caleb quickly made an evasion move to his right to dodge the incoming two petals, while at the same time, he immediately turned around and let out a [Moon Slice]. 

The wave of energy meets the other two petals that are being fired by the flower on his left as it created a small burst midway and the petals vanished into thin air. 

These flowers were known as [Vicious Petals], and they were labeled as normal monsters unique to this dungeon. It has a level of 4, most likely because it can inflict lethal damage on its prey. However, this monster's HP was so low that even Caleb could kill it with a single swing of his sword. 

Thus, the party with mages on their team will have an easy time overcoming this obstacle. It will only take one shot of magic missile or wind magic to clear these things. As long as they are not noob enough to use fire magic on these petals, they will be able to proceed to the next room.

Caleb, on the other hand, could be considered brave enough to confront these monsters because he was a swordsman with no ranged magic attack to use. His only effective skill for this situation would be the [Moon Slice].

He didn't focus on clearing all the buds, however, because it would be the same as putting himself in a much more dangerous situation since it would take him longer to clear this area. He can't possibly keep up with the multiple attacks if his stamina is depleted.

Soon after clearing the first wave of attacks, he had no time for rest as another barrage of petals was flying toward him. He immediately runs forward while drinking a vial of [Dexterity Potion] to increase his movement speed.

Evading all of these deadly petals while he steps on another pad again and slashes the bud off with it. As a result, more [Vicious Petal] began to bloom on both his sides and began attacking him.

Caleb remained calm under the barrage of attacks while he put more focus on evading as he used his reflexes to maneuver through every pad. 

His choice was to only run to these monsters and not kill them, because the speed of the attack would increase the closer he got to their bodies. Also, killing these monsters had no benefits for him as he already knows that the drop rate of material items was zero. The experience was even more terrible, as it only gave an experience equivalent to a level 1 monster.

Caleb could only think that there would be no proper purpose for these monsters but just to annoy him in this dungeon.

'Really, vicious like its name.' He thought before launching out another [Moon Slice] to stop the group of petals coming from his right flank. After that, he changed course to his left direction because the next pad in front of him was too far for him to jump.

The [Vicious Petal] has a set range, so those who are too far away from him can no longer attack, but attacks from those who are 5 meters away from him in every direction continue to fly as if they are desperate to end his life.

Every time Caleb ran through each pad, more and more [Vicious Petals] began to bloom. All the petals that missed his body and landed on the pad turned into vivid purple particles after a second.

If viewed from above, the blossoming series of these flower monsters combined with light particles was breathtaking. Nobody will ever believe that a danger zone existed beneath these perplexing events.

Caleb's trigger monster increased from three to five [Vicious Petal] as he approached a certain distance near the end of the room.

As a result, he makes use of every move he makes, such as turning to evade the other petals while already swinging his both swords, jumping to evade while using a [Moon Slice] at the same time, increasing the distance he can clear.

He can do all of this because his reflexes are already fine-tuned, and he maintains a calm demeanor while precisely judging each step he makes.

When he was only two meters away from the end of the hall, Caleb had one last challenge to face.

In front of him, there's only one [Vicious Petal] that was lifted in the air and its entire perimeter was already part of the enormous pit.

This explains why, to pass to the other side, he must go through to the monster at the top of it.

As he didn't have time to ponder carefully because of the persistent attack from his rear, he faced the opponent immediately while drinking a yellow potion.

It was a [Vitality Potion] that will provide him a ten-point boost to his Vitality attribute. Even if it was only a little rise, it was better than nothing. The [Dexterity Potion] he drink a while ago instantly lost its effect and soon his speed was back to normal. However, it was already enough because only a small distance was left for him to cover.

As he jumped, he raised his blade to meet a petal that would have hit his body.

At the top of his head, a 56-damage value appeared. He wouldn't have been able to lessen the damage he took from that attack if it weren't for his passive skill [Guard] and his temporarily increased defense.

When he landed on its pad, the petals flew much faster. And, like the other [Vicious Petal], it does not lose a single petal because it instantly replaces another after the other one flies away.

As the speed become faster, he narrowly missed some oncoming petals. Some of them created a laceration on his left cheek and shoulder as subtle damage continued to appear in his head. 

"Frontal Speed!" He exclaimed after he arrived at its front, increasing his attack speed and using his right sword [Bleed] to deliver a single thrust into its body. 

His sword penetrated its body as it burst into light after receiving the attack. Caleb quickly jumped to the other side to avoid being attacked by the other [Vicious Petal] in his back.

He rolled as he landed and exhaled a sigh of relief before settling down on the ground. His stamina was exhausted by his nonstop movement.

Looking at the pads he'd just traversed, numerous [Vicious Petal] began to close, reverting to buds, revealing their beauty once more as if the murderous barrage hadn't happened at all.

"What a ruse. You can't really judge a thing by its appearance... " Caleb grumbled to himself, recalling two people.

After that, he rested for five minutes before continuing his purpose. He didn't get a single [Mana Stone] this time, so he decided to explore deeper into the dungeon in search of monsters.