The biome around us was quite beautiful and large. It encompassed an immense amount of land too, perhaps several kilometers. And this was but the first floor.
Just what exactly was this place, honestly? I don't have any idea, but it is just gigantic.
It was a space within the dungeon, I know, but why? Just because? Any other purpose or point behind it?
Aside from the deadly beasts, it looks like a nice place to stay in… aside from the deadly monsters, those are too scary for most of the normal folks, even Rank 2 people would get killed by Rank 3 easily if they are not well coordinated.
And because they spawn out of nowhere, they really don't know where they might be.
I quickly picked up the monster's corpse for now and saved it in my Inventory.
"That wasn't so bad!" said Draugann.
"Well, of course, we only attacked from afar and we didn't really get into total danger. Look, even Skadi got shattered… Is she going to be fine?" asked Yuki.
"Yes, I am fine, I am a magical weapon. One of my traits helps me in the ability to self-repair myself, look closely." Said Skadi.
Yuki looked closer at the blade of Skadi as she saw the ice slowly growing back, magically.
"Wow… You really just self-repair! You can't die then?" asked Yuki.
"I can die, if my Durability reaches a certain value, such as zero, I break completely and "die"." Said Skadi.
"Interesting… So weird, I guess weapons don't really work the same as us living beings." Said Yuki
"We certainly don't…" said Skadi.
"Their conversation feels awkward." Said Benladann.
"I know, and I don't know why exactly it feels like this…"
Maybe the two are too different or perhaps they had never spoken with one another before.
Anyways, one monster wasn't going to stop us for a break, it was just one, even if it were rank 3.
I quickly expanded my senses through the use of my skill such as Keen Senses and so on, as I saw a mental map of the entire Dungeon.
Wow, it expanded across all the forest.
I was able to see across the forest, there were large sections around it, openings that led to groups of wandering Ogre Giants and Ogre Warriors. There were also Hobgoblins gathered in large nests. And even giant crows named Shadow Crows, who hid within shadows.
Ogre Giants were Rank 3 Initial Stage, Ogre Warriors varied between Rank 2 Upper to Peak Stage, Hobgoblins varied from Rank 2 Initial Stage to Peak Stage, and Shadow Crows varied from Rank 2 Upper Stage to Rank 3 Initial Stage. I was able to easily analyze them. They were strong but didn't have any particular tricky ability aside from Shadow Crows being able to dive inside shadows to do surprise attacks.
We decided to hunt them all down, so our group followed my orders as we dived into the forest.
"What will we kill first?" asked Benladann.
"The closest area is a small Hobgoblin settlement, they're all below Rank 3, so everyone should be capable of handling them way better than the Giants… I can detect them close, be careful now."
We reached the Hobgoblin Settlement as we found the many Hobgoblins roasting a large Ogre, some were inside their huts made of branches and others were discussing. There was one discussing with another, and there was two fighting with each other, punching each other.
They're very chaotic. I thought that as Hobgoblins they would become brighter…
"Are they stabbing each other?" asked Benladann in disbelief.
"Yes… They are. Well, let's kill them."
I entered the battlefield with a boom, literally, I transformed into my dragon form and roared loudly, using my claws, I began to slash through anything, bulldozing the settlement.
"ROOOOAARRR!"
BOOOM1 CLAASH! CRAAAAASH!
"GRRYYYAAAGH…!"
"GAARRRUUHH…!"
"GREEGH?!"
Many Hobgoblins were crushed to death by my initial onslaught, then came Benladann and the rest, and started to bombard them with their magic. Benladann used her chaotic bullets and mold tentacles to blast them into pieces or grab them and hit them over the ground several times.
Draugann was just a good mage, so she generated a domain of coldness around her that enhanced the power of her ice magic, and conjured large icebergs, throwing them over the Hobgoblins.
Frost and Huginn and Muninn used their claws, jaws, talons, and beaks to fight, with some magic sprinkled through their battle. Frost was bigger than the Hobgoblins, and the Hobs were confused too due to my catastrophe, so they became easy prey, getting their heads crushed by his giant maws like nothing. The crows used their sharp beaks to do the same, but they broke their skulls wide open and feasted on their sweet brains.
Skadi and Uller were slashing and piercing through them without any problems, they were tough but not as tough as a Giant. Skadi pierced their heads, slashed their chests, and laughed eerily, meanwhile, Uller used his enormous blade to slice them into pieces or in entire halves, although he didn't laugh maniacally and was rather uninterested while doing this.
Yuki used her agility and sharp venomous claws to slash the hobgoblin's
Due to my surprise attack, the Hobgoblins didn't stand a chance, although they had pretty strong techniques and other abilities, they were wasted because my presence scared them too much.
In the end, the 30 hobgoblins here were all slaughtered smoothly, it wasn't a challenge, but it was very satisfying and refreshing to just crush things like ants without them being the weakest Rank 1 monsters there are. These were all decently strong at Rank 2, I saw many at peak stage too.
I quickly picked up all the loot, including the roasted ogre, which we decided to eat for a quick break, it wouldn't be nice to waste it.
The ogre meat was actually tender, the hobgoblins used some kind of herb picked up here to give it a very refreshing flavor too, and we sprinkled some salt and accompanied it with some fruit juice. Delicious and smoky.
