Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

A bull's bellow echoed through the hallway. The massive labrys clad in turbid green energy cleaved through the giant leg guard and cleanly amputated the Colossal Guard's shin. The colossus started falling in a cry of pain.

Asterion did not bother delivering a finishing and rushed to the next ankle he was going to cut. His actions were inspired by the age-old dwarven technique of cutting enemies to size. While the Minotaur golem charged forward, a powerful torrent of water pierced the guard's leather chest plate while a great blade of wind cut past its neck.

Similar things happened to the other guards surrounding him. Asterion was flanked by Jonah, Monique, Duhu, Viggu, and Bement who similarly focused on disabling their opponents. They were currently stuck on the sixth floor, as they experienced the same thing as last time.

Previously Lydia's teams had cheesed the first four floors by luring guards down and using the cut-off point when going deeper to lure them one by one. Monique and Jonah made a different decision since they had two teams and more firepower.

Comfortably leaving the protection of the ranged members to Tekar, the melee dealers rushed in to cripple the tide of guards rushing in from the floors above.

Especially Asterion, who was sent along to gain some levels, was able to put a guard out of action in a single move with his massive double-headed axe. Despite having a lower level, the golem was not far behind Duhu, who used the legendary Axe of Polytechnus, when it came to cleaving power.

The strategy worked out, as the bodies of the mobs kept piling up faster than the dungeon could reabsorb them. These floors had to be the barracks, as they were full of guards of increasing levels and equipment.

"Ah! Watch out!" Link's call came from the back, but Duhu and Viggu had already dodged.

So far the guards had only helped crude weapons at best when facing them, but now some of the guards in the back started using bows the size of buildings to shoot at them from the higher floors and the end of the hallway.

Arrows the size of mammoth trees and tips like space rockets smashed through his barriers and crashed into Tekar's shield. Although he managed to barely block them, they thrust the rearguard in shadows and took their vision as the giant wooden trunks were deflected over their heads or turned into clouds of splinters when facing the damaged reflection of his equipment.

"Can someone take out the archers? Please, I feel like my arms are breaking!" the tank exclaimed pitifully. He had been unchallenged in the dungeons so far, as nothing was able to get through his shield, but the sheer physical force held within these attacks made it hard to do anything.

"They are too far away to hit them with magic effectively," Alison groaned. She had already tried, but even when her magic still had the force to kill them, by the time it reached them, at this distance, it was easy to dodge. Their group on the other hand couldn't change places all the time to doge arrows, as they had to finish off the mobs, or else they would be surrounded by crippled guards.

"Leave it to me!" Archer suddenly said and left the tank's protection.

Bringing out the dragonfly golem, he jumped on it. He stayed close to the ceiling and charged past the line of guards like an annoying bug. Archer had his own gripe with these enemies, although he was able to help in finishing them off, his strongest trick, the Arrows of Eris, had a hard time working on these giant fellows.

The archer could only guess that it was because of their massive size because he needed to cover them in almost half a quiver before they fell under the status effect. It was not worth it, using them on the ordinary colossi here. But when he saw the archer, he suddenly had a different idea.

Half a quiver to take over an enemy turret? That seemed worthwhile.

Weaving past the enemies gushing out from the rooms, he got close enough to the archer in the back to reach them with his divine long-range sniping skills and started showering them with Arrows of Eris.

It was an ear-shattering noise, like a disharmonious bell, when the first giant arrow hit one of the guards in the back of their helmet. Archer's plan worked. He had managed to incite several of the archers to aim for their own people, generating infighting in the hallway.

On the other hand, Monique had taken out the archers on the stairs, throwing divine spear aura at them. The single spears were not enough to be deadly, but she managed to break bows and turn hands into mangled messes, making sure the archers would never be able to use their weapons again.

They held this position until the hallway behind them was empty, while the stream of guards from the upper floor let off. When they could finally take a break, they found that most of them reached lv.95 or lv.96 in the middle of battle.

…

<Ding! You have leveled up! You are now lv.96!>

<As preparation for your ascension to the path of a Legendary Forger your Strength, Dexterity, and Willpower have increased.

+15 Strength

+10 Dexterity

+5Willpower

Modifiers based on STR, DEX, and WIL have risen by 1.>

This was the effects Leana had meant when she previously mentioned and adaptation to the path they had chosen over the last five levels. In addition to the free AP and SP, they got with each level up, their attributes and multipliers would rise based on the path they had chosen.

For Seth, this meant STR, DEX, and WIL, because he was primarily choosing the path of a blacksmith in addition to working with exotic and legendary materials, where he needed willpower to forge materials other than metal. With these improvements, his STR had risen to 334, his DEX to 328, and his WIL to 316.

They leveled up for the first time while crossing the fourth floor. Once they finished, they had a short break so everyone could check their stats and talk about their strategies going forward.

The creatures they faced on their way down became increasingly sickly and numerous. Although their physical force was impeded by their state of decay, but it was compensated by the number and amount of status effects they would inflict on invaders.

On the third floor, the Sufferers in the Darkness were accompanied by Plight Bearers They were more decayed, and slower, but their bodies would explode after dying and shower the whole room in toxic blood. The wave was caustic too and ate away at everything except the Sufferers. While they were rotting faster, at a visible speed, turning into Plight Bearers, they were also strengthened to the point the Sufferers exploded, too.

It took a strong stomach to fight this kind of enemy. Seth, Bulko, Edward, and James were constantly occupied with protecting the party from the tsunamis of blood. Seth's and Jess' fire shields worked the best, burning the blood that would otherwise splash on everyone.

It seemed like these floors had been used as some kind of hospital, where they had kept the sick. However, only the slight smell of medicine on the walls and the names of the mobs were suggesting so. In a calm moment, Seth could help but ask himself what happened here.

Most dungeons had some kind of theme based on the kind of dungeon, the monsters, the dungeon boss, or the place they grew up in. However, this place had a weirdly detailed setting like a real place out from somewhere else, while still following the simple principle of a dungeon.

After all, the structure itself did not really make sense. A single staircase connecting dozens and dozens of floors made up of a hallway and rooms.

"I don't like these guys, I hope we find real undead soon..." Fin complained.

The rotting moaning patients they had met so far were pitiful and weak to magic, but they were a bad enemy for the fairy who was specialized in punching things with her fist. They were not the kind of opponent one wanted to touch, being in a cloud of exploding meat caused by her own punch was the last thing Fin wanted. Not to mention, getting into an explosion from the Plight Bearers.

Until "real" undead surfaced, the Battle Cleric had to get in touch with the power of her class that usually lay dormant. She had to reawaken her skills to cast buffs to support her friends and healing magic to attack the undead.

"I think your prayers have been answered. Go, Fin smash!" Seth commented when they entered the door of the sixth floor and was promptly punished by her for his crude joke. She didn't appreciate being called out like this.

<Colossal Crypt Guard lv. 105>

Aimlessly shuffling around in the hallway with some of the Plight Bearers and Sufferers in between were giant zombies wearing moldy, swarthy leader armor. Worn leather skirts hid their private and the straps of the sandals cut deep into the soft, rotting flesh.

They held rusty, short swords and the remnants of rotten shields. It was hard to say whether they were guards, or just giant reanimated corpses directly from a battlefield... But, they were definitely better for hitting, than the mushy, sickly crawlers they met before.

It was finally time for the vanguards to get a turn, too.