Testing the memorial falls (1)

Instantly the first fused piranha appears before me and tries to sink its teeth into me. I simply send an energy dagger into its mouth and watch it burst like a bubble. A dozen fusion piranhas dart away from me to reform once the cooldown for their next fusion reaches zero.

So far it's all going swimmingly! No, literally. I'm swimming toward the waterfall dodging or dispersing the fused piranhas that attack me. The only thing making me a little nervous is that I've yet to spot the phantom of the red lake.

As a boss monster, it should be attacking me now but so far I've yet to see a single fin of the red murderous piranha. Hoping that it's busy with something else I swim on as fast as I can.

When I'm halfway to the waterfall I see a flash of red swim up from the bottom of the lake. Behind the red flash, a red cloud surges up and quickly dyes the entire lake red.

I can tell that it is blood mixed into the water to bring out that red color. Probably the unique skill bloody lake. It doesn't hinder my swimming but I can't see the fusion piranhas in the water anymore until they are in biting range.

Fending off the fused predatory fish becomes so challenging that I am unable to keep swimming further across. And then it strikes. Out of nowhere, the murderous piranha shoots out of the red lake and dives for my neck.

My hands are busy slashing my daggers at two incoming fused piranhas. I try to shift my body but all that does is expose my shoulder to be shredded first. The murderous piranha goes completely crazy as its frenzied bites rip apart my shoulder.

With one less arm to defend myself and a frenzied killing machine that close to my neck my defense begins to fail. The fusion piranhas can no longer be held at bay and my body is ripped into meaty little chunks. Thank the gods that I asked Navi to deactivate my pain receptors.

<So, what is your conclusion?>

The moment you are in the water you're toast unless you are vastly superior in combat power. The most glaring weakness is that it's possible to move above the water and head for the waterfall in a straight line.

<Suggestions on how to remedy that?>

I was thinking of putting obstacles into the lake. Something like rocks or even better pillars of rock that extend to the ceiling. That would force an ice mage to make a detour and obstruct direct lines of sight for those adventurers.

<Rock pillars? Where do you get these ideas from?>

Well, I just think of what I wouldn't want to see if I walked into the boss room along with an ice mage. As a former carrier, I'm kinda used to worrying over stuff like that because when things go south the carriers are usually the first ones to suffer.

<So you'd say you have developed a unique perspective on how dungeons are more or less dangerous, yes? Well, have to launch a few surveys to ascertain if you are a singular case or if there is a whole treasure trove of ideas we could potentially access.>

Now you sound like a shrewd businesswoman again. Always out to get the best deal.

<I do hold nearly every position a normal company has by myself so falling into certain stereotypical roles is to be expected.>

I am once again in front of the boss room but this time I will feel the pain if I mess up. Though I also plan to act a lot more cautiously.

I enter the room and execute my first plan to get past the room's boss without fighting it. There aren't that many possibilities but this one should be the most obvious.

I fight my way through the skeletons which is tiring but not that difficult given the difference in both skills and levels between us. Once I reach the back of the cave where the walls go up and the waterfall rushed down a dozen meters away from the shore I employ my magic.

The go-to mages for this boss room seem to be ice mages but as an earth mage, I have no problems creating a similar path with just one complication. Unlike the ice mage who can simply freeze over the water below his feet, I need to go along the rock wall.

However, while that does force me to approach the waterfall on one of two set paths, namely along the two rocky walls beside the waterfall, I also make a much harder target.

Since there is a rock wall to one side of me I don't have to worry about piranhas assaulting me from that direction. And if they do try to jump me I merely have to dodge them. After going past me they will crash into the rock wall and be out of commission for a while.

At first, the skeletons were following me down the rocky overhang I had created but I simply made a gap behind me to stop them from harassing me.

The murderous piranha uses its unique ability to make the lake go all red and bloody but it's only a mild inconvenience. Not seeing the fused piranhas before they jump out of the water shortens the time I have to react but that's about it. I safely reach the entrance of the next floor located behind the waterfall.

As I step through the gateway my vision blurry and I am once again in front of the boss room.

<That made the current boss room look rather bad. You cracked it on the first try and didn't even get any real injuries.>

The Intel I had on the boss room's inner mechanics was the main reason I succeeded. Knowing the piranhas, the skeletons, and the precise layout of the room made things much easier.