Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

This time around Seth led the party to a dungeon with an average level of 30. He was sure that they would have no problems with the new equipment. Here they would also be able to finally gain some experience.

The range of choice in dungeons had increased since the last time they had visited the guild and there were now more dungeons in the lower levels. It seemed that people started to understand, that keeping these dungeons open, was a benefit, not a danger.

This was a good sign for Seth since it meant that the average level of people would soon start rising and so would the quality of materials. With more people in the higher levels, the demand for better equipment would rise, too. Players needed good equipment to gain levels faster. This only became more important, the higher the level became.

The dungeon was an apartment building filled with lizardmen. The setting felt terribly weird. Weren't lizardmen supposed to be in swamps? Normally one would expect zombies and other humanoid enemies in apartments, right?

It was not just Seth; the rest of the party was also confused by it. The dungeon was technically a normal apartment building but when they entered, they saw stuff like slime, moss, nests, and egg sacks sticking to the otherwise unchanged walls.

Seth guessed, that not every dungeon could be cool and thematically fitting... He burned the egg sacks from afar. He did not know whether this was the right move or not, but his gamer instincts told him, that those could only contain disgusting stuff. And he really didn't want to be jumped by disgusting stuff.

The lizardmen themself were originally tough opponents. Their scales worked as natural armor and they had overwhelming strength and agility. Normally only the elite teams of guilds and the hunter association would enter these dungeons to train and cull the herd.

Tock Tock Tock Tock

Four lizardmen at the end of the hallway keeled over, either stunned, paralyzed, or unconscious. On top of those, one was cursed with weakness and another got slightly burned. It was a reoccurring scene ever since they entered.

The gourmet hunter had a naturally high luck stat, which meant almost every encounter ended like this. Seth had put away the "Wyvern Blade" and equipped the "Mind Decay". He shared the job of finishing them from a distance with Alison, while Tekar and Puffles guarded the party.

Had Seth overdone it a little? He didn't even get to use things like Dragonmight, because even if a mob came into melee range it was skewered by Tekar before he could even change weapons. Of course, it would seem weird if Seth complained about the easy experience but... Was this really, okay?

It was fun at the start, but now it just felt like they were bullying the weak. It also meant, they were theoretically able to easily deal with monsters in their level range and physique.

This made the traps in the dungeon the greatest danger left. One would not expect traps like poison darts, pitfalls, or pistons in an apartment building, but they were there. A step on the wrong tile, in a hallway covered with white tiles, could trigger a giant boulder to suddenly come rolling at them.

It was thanks to Alison and Link that they were not squashed or skewered. Alison was able to use "Dungeon Scan" which could reveal anomalies like trap triggers and treasure chests but it only had a 45% accuracy. The gourmet hunter's skill in trap detection and especially defusal were invaluable.

Mentioning treasure chests, they found some containing various potions and junk. They could sell those, but the most useful thing to Seth was still the small souls that kept dropping here and there. It was a shame that the rooms only looked like living spaces, but there was nothing they could scavenge like food or household supplies.

Also, the experience. Lizardmen brought Seth 0,5 to 2% experience. With enough mobs, he could have easily leveled up at this pace. It was a shame, that there were no more than 60 Lizardmen guarding the dungeon. The main obstacle was really the traps, while the monsters were distributed across the 20 floors of the building.

The biggest gain for the party besides exp was probably the lizardman corpses. There was nothing that interested Seth as the rating of their leather was too low. Still, Link diligently dismantled the corpses and put away the materials.

Apparently, the meat had the potential for cooking and some of their organs were used in alchemy for potions like water breathing, poison, and antidotes.

Since they planned to have Alison pick up alchemy, everything of use was stored. What they did not need would be sold after they left the dungeon. After working their way up 19 floors and checking an uncountable number of rooms and apartments they finally stood before the boss floor.

Here they found a fountain of healing. Although they did not need it, the gesture was appreciated. Drinking a few gulps of the water alleviated their fatigue and brought them back to top form.

"Let's take a break. How about I cook something up?" Link suddenly suggested. Seth never said no to a meal and the others also readily agreed. Eating some buff food made by a cook could only ease their fight with the boss.

Everyone had realized, that they were pretty overpowered for this dungeon but... one could never have too big an advantage, right?

The gourmet hunter brought out a big cauldron, all kinds of condiments, vegetables, and the lizardmen meat he diligently cut with his new mithril knife. He filled the cauldron with water from the healing fountain.

"What are you cooking?" Seth asked interestedly as he watched the hunter prepare the ingredients.

"I'm going to make a stew. It might take a while, but the chances are high that I might be able to make a food with a permanent buff! The water from the healing fountain and the lizardmen meat are both rated uncommon. However, my skills are barely good enough to process these ingredients. Don't expect too much!"

All of them waited patiently for Link to finish cooking. The importance of buff food could not be underestimated. Chefs were one of the most appreciated jobs in the current era as the buffs the player could get with food stacked with the buff from supports and were one of the few possibilities to compensate for the lack of good equipment.

Without the improvements the meals brought before the battle, they might have completely lost the war against the oceanic empire. Seth was even clearer about the merits of food. It not only tasted good, but permanent improvements by food had no limit.

Despite not getting a chance to eat such food during his time in Namia, Seth had heard about the different options to permanently increase one's strength. In general, there were two reliable ways: Potions and Food.

The potion had a huge effect, but one would only be able to use the same potion once or twice. The ingredients were expensive and the skill requirements to make them high.

Food also had high skill requirements if a chef wanted to make one with a temporary or permanent buff. The advantage was that the one would not gain immunity. Theoretically, one could eat the same food over and over and gain stats from it. Of course, it had limitations. The effects always depended on the ingredients and the ones consuming them.

A level 70 warrior with several hundred points in strength, would not gain strength from a meal made out of a monster that was tremendously weaker than himself. One needed to consume those of similar or greater strength to gain something.

As they started to get bored Link finally jumped up and cheered. He had succeeded!

<Bowl of Healthy Lizard Soup- Food, Uncommon

Lizard Soup like Mama used to make.

+1 % Resistance to Diseases.

+30 Strength, +20 Agility, + 5 HP-regen/minute for 30 minutes >

"Resistance against diseases?" Alison asked confused, Link also looked a little stumped.

"You two didn't know this exists?" Seth asked them surprised. He ignored the fact that he also would not know without the bracelet that had a similar effect. Tekar had 25% Disease Resistance thanks to his class. In general, he had at least 25% resistance against everything...

But reading the description again, Seth saw that the effect of the soup was different. It had no restraints like the bracelet, that differentiated between diseases of different ratings. This was 1% complete immunity to any and all diseases!

He explained this to the other and unwittingly kicked off an eating competition. Even so, he did not know, that the other had started hurrying to eat as much of the soup as possible, he was still the one to consume the most!

With a big burp, he finished his 7th bowl and looked into his status window. He really had gained 7% resistance to all diseases. Puffles was in second place with 4% resistance.

The others had only managed to get 2 or 3 bowls, but nobody was disappointed since there was still a lot of lizardman meat. They could make Link just cook more after they left the dungeon. But Link dashed their hopes.

"The water of the healing fountain loses its quality over time. It only works fresh. So, unless we find something of similar quality, I will probably fail to give it a permanent effect. At least until my skill grows stronger."

Slightly dejected, they got ready to vent their distress on the boss.

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