Chapter 107: Swampy

"Oh...gross," I muttered in disgust, the ground squelching as I stepped into the Dungeon."Looks like a swamp-type Dungeon. Watch your step, some of these muddy puddles could be deeper than you might think. We won’t be able to move as freely as we do in Dungeons with more even footing, this tends to be one of the tougher types of terrain to traverse," Remarked Lector, scrunching up his nose a bit.

The ground was really damp and covered in moss, and there were muddy puddles and small ponds scattered about all over. The walls had vines growing across them, with Mana Crystals peeking out here and there.

There was also a slight, unpleasant odor in the air, with a high level of humidity. This might be even worse than that desert Dungeon during my last Practical Training exam, and I gotta get through fifty floors of this?

Yeah, this raid’s gonna be rough.

Even if the Monsters are easy to deal with, walking through all this swampy muck is going to be a serious pain. Well, at least there aren’t any bugs or whatever.

Besides plants, there are never any living things in the Dungeons besides the Monsters, which is good. When I think of swamps, I think of bugs, reptiles and amphibians.

Bugs are gross and annoying, but I can ignore them, and I’ve always thought that reptiles are cool. But I just can’t fucking deal with amphibians, frogs and toads in particular.

I’ve never seen salamanders, newts or any other types of amphibians in person, but I’d imagine they’d creep me out just as much as frogs and toads do.

I don’t know what it is, but just the sight of one of those gross, slimy things makes my blood run cold, I just can’t stand them. I’d rather be alone in a room with a lion or a crocodile than be anywhere near a frog or a toad.

<Sounds like a phobia>

<It is either ranidaphobia and batrachophobia>

<The former is specifically the fear of frogs, which may apply to toads as well, since they are visually fairly similar>

<The latter refers to the fear of amphibians in general>

Yeah, that’s probably the case, it’s definitely an irrational fear. They’re not exactly dangerous animals, besides the poisonous species, but I just can’t handle them.

"Ugh, it stinks in here. And it’s so humid, I can already feel a sweat starting to come on," Sighed Elicia in exasperation.

"What kind of Monsters usually appear in these kinds of Dungeons?" I inquired, as we began heading forward.

"Generally, either reptile-types or insect-types. But it’s not impossible to run into other types either," Ferna informed me.

"Yeah, it’s-...o-oh, shit, gross!" Exclaimed Will, as his left foot sunk into a deep pool of mud, nearly up to his knee.

He groaned as he pulled his leg back out and shook it to try and get the mud off, but it was caked on pretty thickly.

"Ew, glad it wasn’t me, that looks nasty," Frowned Elicia in disgust.

"I see why you told us to watch our step. Wait, is it safe to use Lightning Magic in here? The entire area is covered in moisture, so we could end up getting electrocuted," I pointed out.

"Yes, that’s true. I won’t fire any lightning-coated arrows, and you should probably hang back, Elicia, it’ll be dangerous to use your Magic unless and until we get to a drier area," Suggested Lector thoughtfully.

"I get what you’re saying, but I’d rather not be dead weight...I could fight at the front line," She responded as she nodded at the spear on her back.

"I don’t think that’s a good idea. While you are pretty skilled with that thing, since you’re a Mage, you’re physically on the level of a J-Ranked Combatant, which is good enough against Low Level Monsters, but taking on Mid Levels is too risky," Reasoned Ferna prudently.

"She’s right, and that aside...you aren’t going to be able to keep up with Kai, you’ll only end up getting in his way," Added Will bluntly.

"Harsh, but I suppose that’s true. Fine, guess I have no choice," She sighed, as she shifted to the back line.

"Hm? Hey, look sharp, I sense three presences up ahead," Will informed us.


"Got it," I nodded, as I drew Desecrator out of Treasury, feeling my body strengthen a bit as the ten percent boost to my stats kicked in.

I’m going to need to put a bit of extra focus into my footing, can’t afford any missteps while I’m fighting. My movements are definitely going to be a bit restricted, it’ll be tricky to fight here.

As we covered a little over forty meters from the spot where Will had sensed the three presences he mentioned, I looked around warily, not seeing any Monsters, before narrowing my eyes at a large pond up ahead.

"Looks like they’re hiding. I’ll draw them out," Remarked Lector, grabbing three arrows from one of his quivers and notching them across his bow.

He tilted his aim up and focused, before letting the arrows loose, sending them zipping through the air at a high angle, before they plummeted down towards the pond, shooting into the water.

A loud splash rang out as three figures burst out of the pond with snarls, one of them had an arrow lodged in its right shoulder, another had a deep gash across the left side of its face, and the third one was unscathed.

"Looks like Caimanoids, Mid Level Monsters. They’re pretty vicious, so be careful...well, not that you should have any trouble," Remarked Lector, as I stepped forward.

So, these are Caimanoids, huh?

They certainly look like caimans, except that they’re humanoid and have much longer limbs than normal crocodilian species, standing up on two legs.

They were covered in black scales, except for the front of their bodies, which had thinner scales and were a dull, grayish white.

I shot forward as one of them snarled and sprinted towards me, leaping forward and opening its jaws at it closed in on me.

As it snapped its jaws at my head, I swiftly sidestepped across to the left and jammed my blade into the middle of its back as it shot past me, piercing its spine and paralyzing it, a sharp grunt of pain ringing out as it shuddered before collapsing onto the muddy ground, trembling.

I drew out my gun as one of the two came charging towards me, a roar of pain ringing out as I took aim and fired out a Pulse Bullet at it, its body convulsing slightly as the projectile struck the middle of its torso, before I raced forward and slipped past it, slashing at its spine.

"And that leaves one," I remarked as I turned my attention to the last one, before chanting as it warily backed away while growling threateningly, "<Command: Don’t Move>."