7 Cavern's Depths
"...!" At the alert of the notifications before him, Shinto noted the word 'instance' that was mentioned in the system logs. "So this is an instance dungeon, huh? Well, it sure has been a while since I last entered one."
An instance dungeon was just as the name implied, a one-time dungeon in which a player would have to complete to leave. These types of dungeons were typically accompanied by a story or a continuation of a questline, as such, many would encounter them while they were out exploring.
But in Shinto's case, he hadn't been going out on any expedition nor leisure dungeon runs due to the countless arena and league matches that he had to participate in. The times where he did get a chance to explore were instead used to help out his fellow guildmates in lower-level dungeons or to grind up materials for his gear.
"Hmm..." Still in thought, Shinto was reminded of the sound that he had heard earlier. Curious, he turned his head over to its direction, now noticing that the formerly opened entranceway was now blocked by a stone gate. "...oh? What's this?"
At the moment that his eyes made contact with the wall that closed off the outside world, a glint of interest appeared before him as he saw that there was a gleaming light coming off from the gate. "Symbols?" At a close inspection, he spotted multiple drawings that looked to be carvings, where each one gave off a brilliant glow of a different colour.
"...carvings of the elements?" he raised his brow at the familiar sight of the symbols. Each drawing was unique in its own self as it represented one of the core elements of nature. And below the symbols, there seemed to be strange wordings as well. "...is this the same kind of language as the one from the monolith?" From the right to left, Shinto began scrutinizing the details of the wall.
There was the blazing magma of Argon: Fire | Rtmfh.
The calm waves of Celestine: Water | Sbwil.
Skadi's cold plains of eternity: Ice | Uilhg.
The shattering grounds of Murdock: Earth | Gviiz.
The tempest of Zeele's roar: Thunder | Hglin.
The wild hurricanes of Phaneus: Wind | Zvil.
The healing sun of Viera: Light | Hkrig.
And the darkness of Regarald's solitude: Dark | Elrw.
All together, these eight elements, governed by the gods, were before Shinto. And at the center of these elements, was a line that connected them all with the wordings of: [ Gslhv dsl dviv ylimv uli gsv kfiklhv lu qfwtvnvmg, gsv vovnvmgzoh yvhgldvw fklm sfnzmrgb, rh z yovhhrmt lu gsv drvowvih. Ozb kzhg gsv szooh orv gsv gifgs lu wfzorgb ].
"Damn... It looks like this language is going to be everywhere in the dungeon," Shinto clicked his tongue in annoyance. With little to no clues on how to decipher such linguistics, if Shinto were to attempt to crack the code, it would take him ages. "Ugh... Just what could it mean?"
Unfortunately for Shinto, he couldn't just sit down and begin correlating everything in front of him to actual spoken words. After all, he was in a dungeon. Who knows what kind of monsters lurked within the caverns? If he were to be focused on such tasks, he would be dead from carelessness.
"...my priority first should be exploration. Deciphering the language may be helpful for me but... I still need more hints," turning his head away from the stone gate, his eyes now gazed into the darkness. "...the Caverns of Altric. Just what lies ahead of here?"
Taking a step forward onto the uneven grounds, Shinto began moving through the dungeon in caution whilst slowly adjusting his vision to the darkness. With each walking step, a sound echoed through the caverns, continually putting Shinto on high alert as he prepared for any attacks that may randomly come at him.
"..."
As if it had been hours since he had started walking within the void, his eyes were greeted by a faint radiant blue light from up ahead of him. Approaching it, he confirmed that he had reached the end of the tunnel.
There, he took notice of a giant monolith right in the middle of the open-spaced area, and from behind it, two gates, one with the symbol of a sword above it and the other with the symbol of an eye could be seen. Both were locked.
"What's this?" he raised his brow at the scene before him. There was finally light that allowed him to see his area clearly. However, it came from the monolith that gave off the same blue hue as the one that he saw by the entrance of the dungeon. "...?"
With his steps continuing to make their way forward through the caverns, he stopped at the giant pillar in front of him and began taking a look at its details. Just as the one from before, this had the same language written on it.
-[ Girzo lu Rtmfh ]-
| Gsviv dzh lmxv z sfmgivhh gszg ulftsg ztzrmhg gsv uoznvh lu ztlmb. |
| Hsv dsl szw yvvm yvhgldvw fklm gsv yovhhrmt lu gsv sfmgvi ulftsg olmt zmw sziw ztzrmhg gsv nlmhgvih lu wzipmvhh. |
| Drgslfg uzro, hsv hvzovw gsvn uli gsvri hrmh. Zh hfxs, gsv yvzhg lu xliifkgvw uoznvh, [ Ivuira ] gll dzh mlg zm vcxvkgrlm. |
-[ Touch the Monolith to begin Trial 1 ]-
Reading through the stone tablet, he noted the familiar words of (Rtmfh) that he had seen earlier by the wall. "The word that's under the fire symbol... Does that mean whatever thing this is related to is of fire?" he thought to himself as he attempted to connect the relation between the two. "So then... It means this is a Trial of Fire?"
With what little clues that he had, his eyes averted over to the two locked gates of the room. "...perhaps if I complete the trial, one of the two gates should open, right?" muttering out to himself, his right hand slowly moved over to the monolith. "Well, let's see what it does."
Upon touching and feeling the stone tablet, the blue hue that had remained prevalent throughout the area suddenly dissipated away. In place of that, a red blazing hue could be felt. At that moment, steam began to protrude out of the monolith whilst the rooms' temperature began to rise.
"WHO DARES AWAKEN ME?" Following that, a loud roar could be heard from above the young man.
[ The Devourer of Flames (Refrinz) has awoken from his slumber! ]
[ He who rises from the ashes, burns all. All players within the field will receive a permanent status debuff - Eternal Burn, where 30HP will be lost per second. ]
[ The presence of Refrinz's hellfire is at an all-time high! Anyone who is in a 400 meters range from him will have their Fire RES and Magic Resistance lowered by 50% and 25% respectively! ]
[ The trial begins! ]
"...?!" With the alert from his rising bar of notifications, Shinto's eyes opened wide in shock as he saw the name of (Refrinz). "What? Refrinz? No way..." in disbelief, he hurriedly looked up above him—where he was greeted by a giant horned beast with burning hellfire protruding out of him. His horns were black as charcoal and his red skin was akin to fire. "Seriously... This is for real?"
Within the folktale of legends, Refrinz was a beast of the past era. He who was devoured by the flames of corruption, aimed for the eternal destruction of humanity. With every waking moment, his flames blazed through cities and melted away any lifeform that neared him. He was a force to be reckoned with and was feared by all.
"Mortal... Were you the one who woke me up from my long slumber?" While Shinto was in thought, Refrinz glanced over to the young man, who looked to be an ant within his eyes. "Foolish human. Do you think you can go up against me?"
"...seriously, what?" Shinto stood there, still dumbfounded at the sight of Refrinz. "If we're following the lore, Refrinz should be sealed far away from here. How on earth could he be in this dungeon? And... I woke him up?!"
A long time ago, as the bygone era came to an end, there was a huntress that challenged Refrinz to battle. In acceptance of the duel between a human and a demon, they fought long and hard against one another. And, at the end of ashes caused by the aftermath, the huntress became victorious. With that, she sealed away the beast and became a legend praised by all.
"..." Still staring in a dumbstruck manner at the beast before him, Shinto soon noted that Refrinz took a long deep breath as if sucking all the air in the area. "...!" In the next instance, the red horned demon blew out a pillar of hellfire from his mouth over to the direction of Shinto.
"Argh... Damnit!" In a quick reaction to the incoming flames, Shinto hastily rolled over to the side whilst unsheathing his blue-black sword, [ Kurogane ]. "Let's not think about this right now. I'm going to die at this rate if I don't focus!"
Calming his mind, Shinto hurriedly took a stance in a battle position. Then, he swiftly leapt forward using his skill: [ Crescent Dawn ], where he closed in on the distance between himself and Refrinz. In the next moment, he activated another technique.
[ Lunar Moon Technique: Tidal Moon ].
A powerful technique derived from the moons. Like a wave of a tide, Shinto sent out the powerful attack over to Refrinz, where he took the full blow of the assault. Then, connecting it to his next attack, Shinto used [ Moonlight Everlast ], a burst skill in which dealt 1200% of Shinto's strength to the enemy.
[ You have dealt 29,817 damage to Refrinz! ]
With the buff of his strength and the decreased light resistance of the boss due to [ Tidal Moon ], Shinto dealt one-third of Refrinz's health via his main damage skill.
"...!" At the sight of the damage he dealt, Shinto raised his brow in question. "Isn't he supposed to be a boss monster?" He was shocked to see that he ceaselessly rid away one-third of his health in just two attacks. It was unlike that of a boss. "Why does he have so little health?"
Questioning the matter, his thoughts were cut short as Refrinz quickly unleashed multiple waves of hellfire around him. "Ugh..." While still in mid-air, the young man swayed to the side, successfully dodging the attack.
"You little ant think you can fight back? Hah! I'd like to see you try!" Without stopping in his tracks, Refrinz began charging up a ball of flame within the palm of his hands. "Meet your end, mortal!"
"Tch... Not if you meet yours first!" As if rotating himself around in the air while his sword was in hand, Shinto sent out ten green crescent waves of moonlight over to Refrinz before finally landing onto the ground.
[ Lunar Sword Technique: Moonlit Wave ].
[ You have dealt 4,921 damage to Refrinz! ]
[ You have dealt 4,921 damage to Refrinz! ]
[ You have dealt 4,921 damage to Refrinz! ]
[ You have dealt... ]
Wave after wave continuously struck Refrinz, though not all had hit him.
"Hmph. Is this a joke? This is just tickling me!" Refrinz smirked as the ball of flame that he was charging up earlier grew into that of a molten balloon, soon bursting open. "This is true strength!"
"...!" Shinto's eyes shook at the instance of Refrinz's attack. With the molten-like balloon popping, a rain of lava ensued, showering him in constant damage and burns. "A-Argh...!"
[ You have received 678 damage! ]
[ You have received 678 damage! ]
[ You have received 678 damage! ]
[ You have received... ]
His health was rapidly lowering down by the minute, putting him in great danger. "Ugh... This is too much damage per second..." With the searing heat from the rain as well as the damage over time from the debuff that he had received from Refrinz, his health quickly fell into the red zone—indicating that he was near death.
"Haha! How do you like that, mortal?" Refrinz spoke out in a demeaning tone whilst preparing his next attack.
"U-Ugh..." Shinto gritted his teeth as he endured the continuous burns and the increasingly hot temperature from the room. "His health pool is on the lower end. So just a few more attacks and I'm done..." gripping his sword tightly, he forced himself to leap forward again towards the beast.
"Haha, fool! You're still not giving up?" the demon raised one of his arms into the sky as another ball of hellfire began forming. "Then, let's end this!"
"Not yet..." turning his head over to his skill list, Shinto nodded his head as he continued on with his charge. With that, another rain of fire showered down onto him. However, despite taking the lava straight on, Shinto only brushed it off as he took out a health potion and drank it whole, healing himself up. "Almost..."
Enduring the heat, Shinto continued sending out a few crescent-like waves over to Refrinz to slowly whittle down his health. Meanwhile, he meticulously dodged the pillar of fire that was crashing down onto him. "Now...!"
As the wave of attacks ended from Refrinz, Shinto took the opportunity before him and jumped towards the demon. In the next moment, his sword moved in an arc as he activated two skills. One was [ Lunar Moon ] and the other, [ Crescent Light ].
The two attacks interconnected with one another, swiftly enveloping the beast in a white light that instantaneously dealt 20,921 damage in a single hit. The exact amount needed to surely kill the beast.
"A-ARGH...!!" With the white light surrounding him, Refrinz screamed a loud piercing roar as his body slowly crumbled into grey ash. "You... I will be back! Overseer! I will be back!"
With his last dying words, he disappeared into nothing. At that moment, Shinto's body tirelessly dropped to the ground while a string of notifications rang within his ears.
"Hah... Hah..." Breathing out heavily, Shinto's eyes slowly glanced over to his current health, where he saw that it was just barely hanging on with only 68HP left. Had he been delayed a second later, he would've died. "Hah... Let's see what the rewards are about."
