Amidst the thick luscious forests, a wind ripper gracefully and elegantly glided in the air, as its metallic feathers sparkled in the sunlight, reflecting the different hues of the sky.
Liam who was currently sitting on the back of this bird had a small smile on his face.
Despite his gaze constantly scrutinizing everything that appeared below them, he couldn't help but enjoy the cool breeze brushing past his face. It felt heavenly.
After a while, his eyes widened and he quickly patted the bird on the side. "Let's stop by that stream over there."
The wind ripper chirped in response to him and landed next to the spot Liam had pointed to.
This was the last patch of land that was relatively not dangerous, inhabited only by weaker monsters, more specifically slimes.
Water slimes resided in this particular place and their levels were around 15 to 20. "Do you guys see those things?" He looked at his two pets who were already locked onto the target.
"I want you both to stay near this stream and keep taking down those things as and when they appear. Do you understand?"
Kyuuuu!
Chirp!
"And don't forget. Never pick a fight with an enemy above your level. If you sense even the smallest of danger, you should immediately run away."
Liam particularly looked at the fox and enunciated his words again. "Jump onto your brother's back and the two of you can fly away to safety. Don't take any risks."
"Can you both manage to stay safe until I come back? Can I trust you guys with that?"
The two beasts nodded their heads vigorously. The bird was a bit tired from flying all this time but the fox was very energetic and it was eager to do something like a small child.
Liam patted their heads and he didn't leave immediately. He hung back and watched them take down a few slimes.
Only then did he leave the area, warning the two beasts to stay safe one more time.
They were currently in the middle of a rare safe area within a bunch of high level monster zones. The presence of slimes in this area was just a small coincidence.
Liam's main purpose in coming here was something else.
He currently had his interface full of miscellaneous quests each taking him in a different direction, but Liam chose to come here first for an important reason.
And this had to do with the quest he received from the old man in the black market.
The second part of the chain quest required him to get 20 first kills of Elites and this was the perfect place to finish it in one go.
Liam first hadn't considered this because it was far too dangerous to come here, especially by himself when he had only touched 30 and that too without any sort of special skills.
But then he remembered that he indeed had a special skill.
So Liam did not hesitate and directly arrived here.
The journey alone would have taken him a couple of days but thanks to the wind ripper he was able to fly over all the rough terrain and arrive here using a very direct path.
This was the advantage of having a flying mount.
Liam turned back to glance at his two pets who were busy taking down slimes in the distance and flashed a smile before diving deeper into the forests.
He was now entering a high-level zone and the monsters here were mostly 40 to 50. So he didn't bring the two pets along with him.
He as well activated his [Stealth] skill and cautiously advanced into the depths of the forest.
He was somewhat aware of the safest route through this region so he didn't by mistake run into anything.
And before long, he arrived at his destination.
Near a small hill on his right, there was a swirl of mana, crackling, and spinning. Liam grinned as he approached this anomaly.
[Ding. You have entered the abode of Decarabia]
[Ding. You are the first person to discover this dungeon]
[Ding. Your experience points are increased by 10%]
[Ding. You have a higher chance of obtaining rewards]
Liam ignored all the notifications and carefully observed the dark and dingy place in front of him. This place was going to be the answer to three of his problems if everything goes well.
First kills! Skill books! Gold!
Everything that he urgently needed could be obtained right in this dungeon! But could he successfully get it done?
Liam grinned. His eyes had already spotted the first resident of the dungeon who had stepped forward to welcome him.
A huge green toad trotted forward, its two greenish blue eyes fully fixated on him.
Croak.
The frog opened its mouth and without warning, a thick red tongue lashed out at the spot where Liam was standing.
However, he was not there anymore. The second he stepped into the dungeon he was already prepared. His figure blurred as he pushed all of his mana towards his feet.
Right when the thick tongue flew at him, he nimbly moved, avoiding it easily, but the trouble did not end there.
Behind the big green toad, another big green toad showed up and then another, followed by yet another.
Liam was currently standing across from four big green toads, all four of them simultaneously shooting their tongues at him.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
The rocks of the cave wall cracked and crumbled, falling down endlessly as the tongues continued to miss their target and hit the wall instead.
This alone showed the strength and power packed behind each attack. And of course, not to mention, the identity of these toads…
Each toad croaking in front of Liam right now had a silver glow enveloping its body. It was an unmistakable silver glow that could only belong to an Elite beast.
So he was currently facing not one elite but rather four elites. In fact, this entire dungeon was not a normal dungeon.
It was a Level 40 dungeon of terror, filled purely with elite monsters!
And Liam's plan was to solo it!
[Demonic Rib Tongue] (Elite Boss)
Level 40
[Demonic Rib Tongue] (Elite Boss)
Level 35
[Demonic Rib Tongue] (Elite Boss)
Level 38
[Demonic Rib Tongue] (Elite Boss)
Level 40
Liam's gaze did not waver as he looked at the four toads croaking in front of him. They were strong Level 40 beasts that also had a demonic attribute.
Even a group of skilled players would find it difficult to not have doubts when facing these intimidating beasts, but Liam did not hesitate in the slightest.
He already knew that these were powerful and there was a legion of even more powerful beasts that laid in wait behind them.
Decarabia was a powerful demon and this dungeon was one of its many abodes, filled from top to bottom with demonic elite bosses. These guys belonged to the demon's personal army.
This dungeon would soon become the main grinding spot for all the players in the level 35 to 45 range as it offered both generous experience points and rewards.
However, this was also a trap as the difficulty level exponentially increased as one proceeded deeper and deeper into the dungeon.
Not all Elite bosses were the same and these toads were in fact one of the weaker bosses. So only skilled players were able to clear the dungeon.
Players beyond level 45 were also not allowed to enter so if one did not clear it within the appropriate range, there weren't any loopholes that could be used to slam the bosses.
But that didn't mean that there weren't any loopholes. There were some and Liam was counting on one of them.
As the four toads continued lashing out their tongues at Liam, he was constantly moving as getting hit by the tongues even once would mean game over.
The space was narrow and the toads had the advantage in numbers as well as stats, but Liam was able to move at the cost of his mana and evade the attacks.
Seeing that their tongues were not doing anything, the toads started unleashing the next attack.
The four of them almost simultaneously puffed up their cheeks and then in one swift motion released the poisonous gas trapped within.
SPURT! SPURT! SPURT!
The small cave immediately blurred as the viscous pungent poisonous gas sprayed everywhere. And Liam was exactly waiting for this moment!
As soon as he saw the toad's cheeks puffing up, he had already jumped up to land on one of the toad's heads and bounced in the other direction.
And as he moved away from the cloud of viscous poisonous gas, he also rotated his mana to conjure a single [Fire Bullet].
BANG!
The front part of the cave where the four toads were standing, filled with poison gas, immediately lit up like a bomb.
Liam controlled his mana to move to his feet once again and he ran away as fast as he could.