LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 30: Tutorial.30
Before I could properly examine it, another spike came flying directly at me. Like the first, this one was also easily dodged. I didn't need to consciously avoid attacks like that; I just followed my instincts. At least, that's how I justified walking back idiotically into a room I knew wanted to kill me.
Triggering the second spike wasn't entirely useless, however. I noticed that it came out of a small hole in the wall, one that disappeared shortly after firing. I did a few more tests and took note of where the spikes were coming from on the wall.
After a bit more time, I felt confident enough to run toward the exit of the corridor. Running forward, I quickly dodged the three spikes shot behind me. A few seconds later, the second barrage came, and I avoided those just as easily.
As I moved between two pillars marking the midpoint of the corridor, both shot stakes at me simultaneously. I was surprised, as I was forced to throw myself to the ground before they hit me, barely rolling away when another stake shot from one of the walls.
What the hell are you trying to say?, I screamed in my head as I stood up. Luckily, the two pillars didn't shoot again, giving me plenty of time to continue.
With no time to lose, I kept running while approaching two more pillars just ahead of the exit. To my mild annoyance, these two did nothing while I passed them safely, finally leaving the spiked corridor behind. Only to find myself in another corridor full of mushrooms.
Nothing was happening in the corridor as I breathed a sigh of relief, the blue mushrooms now a little less painful to my eyes. Without my lineage, the first corridor would have probably killed me, or at least severely mutilated me. Was this place just a deadly shit trap?
A single scratch from those spikes was enough to erode the stone floor, and when I looked back, I saw smoke rising from where the spikes had hit. Whatever was in those things would probably devour me in seconds.
As I got up and walked to the end of the corridor, I was greeted by another message from the system.
Dungeon Challenge: Collect at least four silver mushrooms in the next room.
["0/10 silver mushrooms collected"]
What the hell is going on with this dungeon and mushrooms?, I grumbled to myself. At least these were silver mushrooms. That should be an improvement, right?
Standing in the challenge room entrance, I carefully inspected the place. I saw small pedestals scattered around the corridor, each holding a single silver mushroom. At the moment, I could only see seven pedestals, but I assumed there were ten in total, based on the system message. The rest were obscured by pillars.
I felt like the system was teasing me by requiring only four mushrooms. I, of course, would try to collect all ten. There must be some kind of extra reward or bonus linked to doing more than just the bare minimum. Besides, it seemed more fun that way.
This hall had the same design as the previous two. But everything was in even better condition, with the pillars barely having any cracks. The pedestals also added a lot of flavor to the environment. Entering the hall for just a brief moment, I confirmed that this hall also shot stakes at people. Very rude.
After carefully planning my approach, a very detailed plan appeared in my mind. A plan that could be summed up as "improvise." Entering the corridor after I started running, my sphere informed me that the wall behind me closed when I was five meters from the corridor, leaving only a single exit in the distance.
I ran toward the first silver mushroom and was met with a few spikes heading my way, as expected. It didn't take much effort to dodge them with my high perception and agility while approaching the pedestal cautiously. I kind of expected another trap, but I was pleasantly surprised when nothing terrible happened.
["1/10 silver mushrooms collected"]
One down, I thought, as I tossed the mushroom into my backpack and ran toward the next. Another spike was fired in my direction after just a few steps, followed by another shortly after.
After collecting four mushrooms, I confirmed that the frequency of spikes was increasing with each mushroom acquired.
I danced through the corridor, trying to stay as far from the walls and pillars as possible. There were several dangerous situations, one event in particular standing out, where I almost got hit by three stakes fired at once, one of them coming from a particularly tricky angle.
I barely managed to avoid being hit during the final run as I rolled over the 10th pedestal, using it as cover and collecting the last mushroom in a fluid motion. The spikes were coming faster now, and without my current stats and lineage ability, I doubted I would have been able to gather all ten without dying.
With all the mushrooms in tow, I ran madly toward the exit, practically rolling into the next corridor. This one was, to everyone's surprise, also covered in blue mushrooms.
Checking my backpack, I found the expected eight mushrooms, the last two still in my hands as I put them into the backpack. The system then, once again, made its appearance, informing me of my task completion.
Dungeon Challenge: Collect at least four silver mushrooms in the next room.
["10/10 silver mushrooms collected"]
["Challenge completed!"]
I half-expected a reward or something like that for collecting all ten mushrooms. I looked at the so-called mushrooms and used "Identify," only to be met with the generic message [Mushroom]. The ability, frankly, did more harm than good at times.
I moved down the corridor, and when I reached the end, I kind of expected to find another challenge room, like the others, but instead, I found a new type of corridor. If it could even be called that.
This hall was quite strange. The walls and ceiling looked the same as all the others, and everything had the same dull color palette, but that's where the similarities ended. The pillars were now gone, and almost all of the floor space was occupied by a large basin of water, stretching from wall to wall.
The only parts of the floor that weren't submerged were several platforms and the entrance of the hall itself.
Leaving the corridor would make me step onto a small ledge right in front of the many platforms. On it, even more of those damn mushrooms were growing. The corridor itself was also significantly smaller compared to the others.
The platforms positioned in the water were small and circular, resembling giant lily pads. They were about 1.5 meters in diameter, enough for a person to stand on, but not much more. From where I stood, I saw some kind of blue, glowing symbol on each of them.
When I fully entered the room, stepping out of the corridor, a message from the system appeared.
Dungeon Challenge: Reach the other side of the hall using the platforms. The time limit per hall is set to 15 minutes.
["Reach the other side of the corridor: 0/3"]
["Time remaining: 14:59"]
But when I thought "this doesn't seem that hard," I received a follow-up message.
All stats reduced to a static 10. All skills are disabled. Stats and skills will be restored after completing the challenge.
Immediately, I felt a wave of weakness wash over me as I kneeled on the floor. My senses dulled as I was hit by vertigo. I felt nausea in my stomach and the urge to vomit. It was as if I had just run four marathons lifting weights with an empty stomach.
Shortly after, the sensation left as quickly as it came. But the weakness remained. I tried using Fatal Shot's Eye and found it unresponsive.
It was strange losing my abilities; in fact, everything felt strange. It was like I had returned to before the system and the tutorial. Well, except for the small detail that I was stuck in a room that would probably kill me in fifteen minutes if I couldn't get through it.
Having reduced stats, of course, made the whole challenge a bit more complicated. But that didn't mean I had time to waste, so I began analyzing the room. Using my Perception Sphere, I saw that—
Wait, what?
Blinking in confusion, I felt that my lineage ability was still active. It hadn't even weakened or been affected in any way. Why was it still working? Wasn't it supposed to be considered a skill? But even if it wasn't, I knew that perception increased its potency, and yet, with my perception reduced to just 10, it worked as if my stats were still unaffected.
It was a mystery for which I had no answer, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. What exactly was a lineage ability? Why did I have one when others seemingly did not?
Focus, Alexander, focus, I admonished myself as I forcefully rejected those thoughts. I had more important things to deal with than pondering lineage abilities, like how not to die. Walking up to the edge, I began inspecting the platforms and the symbols engraved on them.
The symbols were intricate representations of different animals. I saw three different types, the first being a snake coiled around... a damn mushroom in its mouth.
Suppressing my urge to scream curse words, I inspected the second type. It was another snake-like creature, but this one had wings and spikes growing all over its body — a kind of winged serpent. The serpent flew above a myriad of other creatures. I saw different animals, but also humanoid representations.
These animals and humanoid creatures were kneeling or prostrating themselves on the ground, looking at the serpent with worship or fear. Some were holding weapons and seemed to be performing rituals, while others were simply praying.
The third and final engraving was what I identified as a wyvern. It had small hands attached to its wings and, like the winged serpent, had spikes growing along its spine. It looked murderous, to say the least. This wyvern was on a mountain, roaring toward the sky. As if it were angry with the sky above.
Was this a representation of the growth cycle of the little snake? Did it evolve from a snake into a wyvern? I assumed evolution was a trope used by the system, seeing as I had a race, and that race could level up. The big (0) in front of [Human] was also a big indicator. But it was still quite something if a little snake could turn into a wyvern.
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