Once inside, there was nothing but darkness. However, after a minute, their eyes adjusted to the faint glow of high-hanging moss scattered throughout the dungeon. Kai could hear beasts in the distance, but the entrance of the dungeon was relatively safe.
Since his mother and Mimi had never played dungeon-diving games before, Kai took the lead. Holding his bow in hand, he said,
"Use your skills as little as possible. Conserve mana. The recovery of your mana and the use of your skills must always be in balance."
Everyone nodded, even the couple. They had all figured this out by now, but putting it into practice was still not easy. Less experienced players always panicked seeing monster groups and often forgot all about balancing themselves.
"Let's go," Kai said and started walking forward. The girl from the newcomer duo was an archer, so she stayed with Kai. Prince, amd the guy took the very front. Mimi walked in the middle, and they brought up the rear.
Soon, half a dozen red eyes gleamed through the darkness as feral Fragrants lifted their heads from their resting positions. With a strange clattering of teeth, they charged toward the group.
A dozen were too many. Kai swiftly shot arrow after arrow, killing three giant rats with precise headshots. Their health ranged from 50 to 70, while his damage exceeded 120 per shot.
The other archer also released some arrows, but her shots barely hit their mark, and when they did, they were body shots, dealing only 20 to 40 damage. She had to draw each arrow from her quiver manually, costing her valuable time. In contrast, Kai only had to pull the bowstring, and an arrow would automatically appear. He had to admit—Maeka's bow was an invaluable weapon.
The remaining four feral Fragrants reached them. Instead of using her hands, Kai's mother wielded her newly bought sword, cleaving through one's head. The man with the sword took down another. His mother then turned and stabbed the third one through the heart just as Mimi delivered two wide slashes across its body. The last one, injured by the other archer, was finished off by another of Kai's arrows.
"Good," Kai said. "Keep moving. Don't let them corner you."
They pressed forward, facing group after group of feral Fragrants and cutting them down. Kai thinned their numbers, the archer provided additional damage, and the rest of the group handled the remaining monsters. Kai finished off any stragglers.
After a few minutes inside the dungeon, a strange howling echoed through the darkness. Kai noticed shifting shadows at the edge of his vision. The next moment, a dark wolf leaped out from the shadows, attempting to ambush Mimi from behind.
Kai had been keeping himself free for such incidents. Reacting instantly, he shifted his aim, drew his bowstring, and loosed an arrow. The projectile struck the Shadow Howler, dealing over 100 damage and killing it instantly.
From then on, they found themselves caught in a wave of beasts, which emerged unexpectedly from the shadows, always targeting those who weren't paying attention. However, they always gave subtle hints before attacking, and Kai, always alert, never missed a shot. Shadow Howlers were some of the most troublesome monsters in the dungeon, but against their party, they may as well have not existed.
The couple exchanged glances repeatedly, astonished by the speed and efficiency of this supposedly inexperienced group.
As they advanced, the rats were occasionally accompanied by Horned Grizzlings, making each battle last longer. However, Kai's arrows took out half of the bear-like creatures' health in one shot, leaving Prince and the other swordsman to finish them off.
Slowly but surely, they left the hollow entrance behind. The man, Mimi, and Prince sustained occasional injuries, as they were often the ones surrounded by monsters. Small scratches were to be expected.
The rats and wolves eventually disappeared, replaced by Stonehide Boars, Razorwing Rocs, and Thornfang Panthers. These creatures were less numerous, typically appearing in groups of two with a lone straggler trailing behind.
They had to attack together. Even with coordinated strikes, it took at least two hits from each frontline attacker to bring down a boar. The flying Rocs were trickier—Kai had to fire arrow after arrow to injure them enough for the others to finish them off. Fortunately, the distance gave him an advantage, and most of the time, he was able to take them down thoroughly.
Here, they had to rely on their skills more often.
His mother's bloodline skill, which she had received as a reward from the Escape mission, allowed her to wrap her Exodian arm in purple energy, which she could then launch in the form of sword arcs for ranged attacks.
Mimi's ability functioned somewhat similarly. When activated, her entire body glowed with a red aura, granting her control over fire. She could manipulate the flames her sword left behind, swinging fast enough to release sword arcs of fire and could even guide them. It was an incredible skill with immense potential if mastered fully.
Kai, on the other hand, could not activate his skill at all—not without consequences. Unlike Prince and Mimi's mana-controlled abilities, his skill could not be stopped once activated, consuming all his mana in a single attack.
Kai considered acquiring a skill like theirs—one that could enhance both his swordsmanship and archery. However, using a common skill that anyone could obtain with a simple search did not sit well with him. If he truly needed one, he would have learned it immediately from the web, but he didn't have an urgent need for it yet.
Perhaps the dungeons held skills he could earn.
With that thought in mind, Kai refrained from purchasing a skill off the web and refused to waste his valuable SP.
Before long, they passed through the mid-hollow section and entered a vast open area.
According to the information Kai had gathered, the mini-boss should appear next. It would either be a Chimera Tyrant or an Eldertusk Mammoth. And once they defeated it, an enraged Hollow King would spawn right behind them.