Two more levels later…

  I think I’ve wandered into a new part of the dungeon. I’m seeing monsters I’ve never faced down here before.

  Now I face a carnivorous plant, an easy opponent since it’s rooted in place. I stand outside of its range while still keeping it inside my poison aura. After one minute and fifty-one seconds, it wilts down, dead. I loot it.

  [+2 Bloody petals

  Value: 25 cp]

  Do I really have to put these in my inventory? Gross. Also…

  [Shield durability: 1/600]

  Once more, I’m down to my last shield. Guess it’s repair time…

  So much of this dungeon has been spent mending these darn level 3 shields I bought from the blacksmith in Bluebell village. I can’t tell how many times I’ve cursed my past self for leaving Dustry without upgrading them first. Oh, well. They’re better than nothing, I guess…

  Repairs go quickly thanks to my level 8 Shieldsmith skill, and after an interlude of just a few minutes, I’m on my way again. There are more killer flowers further down the tunnel. And then, rather unexpectedly, a vicious little dragonling. It spits sparks which count for magical damage, so my shield is useless for its flame attacks.

  Good thing I’ve been looting so many health potions! Glug, glug…

  Magical damage seems to be a real problem for me. I’m sure there must be enchantments I can get on my shields or armor that will protect me from spells, but so far, I’ve yet to find a single magical item.

  The dragonling is a vicious creature, ripping, tearing with its claws and tiny teeth, flapping its wings in my face and spitting sparks right at me. I’m glad it’s just a baby—I’d hate to fight the grownup version of this thing! Sorry to beat you up, kid, but you attacked me first. Just don’t tell your mom, ok?

  After a fierce battle, the dragonling finally drops dead in my aura. I shudder with relief and bend to loot it. But the dragonling has…nothing? Wait, what’s this in the corner? The dragon’s chest?

  Now this is more like it!

  I open the chest to be met with a hoard of treasure truly worthy of a dragon! Hundreds and hundreds of…copper coins? Wait, it’s all copper! What the heck?! After spending a minute shoving it all into my inventory I come away with…the equivalent of seven silver pieces… Nuts.

  I mark the wall with another arrow pointing the way back to the exit. Then I continue down the tunnel.

  There’s a light ahead, and I approach what appears to be an entrance to a cavern with due caution. I find myself at the opening, looking out into a wide space interspersed with crude huts, some larger, some smaller. Milling between them, I see hundreds of goblins, armed to the teeth, evidently with nothing better to do than prowl the grounds looking for a fight.

  No way! I finally found the goblin city!

  Shall I sack it? I double check my pack. Thanks to buying up all of Yock’s supply, I have 1,275 HP potions. More than enough.

  Perhaps in the past I might have hesitated at taking on a whole city of goblins. After all, this is their home, and I’m the intruder here. But I’ve been stuck in these damn caves for so long, I think it’s starting to erode at my conscience. To me, each little green body is nothing more than a walking pile of exp, and I’m here to sweep every last bit of it!

  I start in at one end of the cave, running back and forth, pulling as many monsters as I can get away with. There are fighter goblins, which pose no threat to me, and spell casters, a little trickier. If not for these mages, I wouldn’t hesitate to aggro the whole city at once.

  After fighting so many mages in the tunnels, I became an expert at strafing, running in a zigzag pattern to avoid their magical missiles. And of course, at chugging potions.

  Glug, glug! Glug, glug!

  First group of monsters down. I stop to loot.

  [+26 Health Potions]

  [+17 Sheaves of Wheat

  Cooking ingredient, value: 3 cp]

  [+87 Scrap Iron

  Value: 2 cp]

  [30 cp]

  Wow, so much scrap iron. Too bad it’s all but useless to me, since I can’t use it with my Blacksmithing skill.

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  But, what’s this? One last piece of loot I’m unfamiliar with.

  [+1 Tetranium Ore

  Crafting item, value: 1 sp]

  Well, this is something. It must be a rare ore, since I’ve yet to pick up a single piece from drops in the tunnels. So far all of my Blacksmithing recipes are for iron, but I’m sure when I level up I’ll find some use for this.

  Tossing it in my backpack, I straighten and resume my mission of goblin genocide.

  I won’t stop until I’ve harvested every last one of these little green exp farms! Hahaha!

  I make my way slowly through the cavern, pulling monsters just like this, killing them in batches, drinking a ton of health potions.

  Glug, glug! Glug, glug!

  After an hour or so of this I manage to clear the entire cavern, only to find a wide tunnel at the end of it leading to another cavern, ten times the size of the first, a goblin metropolis. And overhead, coating the ceiling are the unmistakable shapes of bat monsters. Some goblins even soar the tops of the cavern riding the giant bats.

  “Holy bat caves, Batman. I think I’ve hit the mother lode.”

  I check my potion stash again. Even with the potion drops, I’m down to 901 bottles left. Enough to clear this place?

  Guess we’ll find out.

  Here goes nothing…

  I begin my sweep using the same method I did in the first cavern, pulling hordes of goblins, along a tightly controlled zigzag pattern, relying on my aura to drain every last one of them of their health.

  [Noxious Spores skill has leveled up.]

  Nice! Level 10! One more to go!

  I continue very carefully, very methodically to sweep the cavern of monsters. Hours pass. Occasionally I draw the attention of an aerial opponent. These are a bit trickier, as they fly continually in and out of my aura. There’s nothing I can do for these but ignore them. Eventually my aura wears them down, and they fall at my feet. More loot! But my bag’s getting full. With a slightly guilty feeling, I summon Yock.

  “Sorry, I know what this looks like. But I had to do it, you understand, right?”

  “^%$#@???&*^!”

  “Sorry, I didn’t realize she was your mom. Sorry. You all look alike…”

  “&(*?#?￥!”

  “Ok, that’s fair…”

  “^/#????&^*%.”

  “Half price for everything I sell? You’ve got to be joking!”

  “%(????@#.”

  “Oh, your sister too. Ok. Ok, that’s fair…”

  Guess I should just be glad he’s still willing to work with me after this…

  “Hey, while I’ve got you here, I’m going to need some more health potions. Yeah, yeah, double price, fine. Just give me everything you’ve got.”

  If I didn’t know any better, from the way his eyes are glittering I’d say the little bastard is enjoying this, dead family or no. Anything to make an extra copper.

  Armed with 900 more HP potions and now completely broke, I send Yock away, and he pushes his little cart through the carnage without so much as a glance down, whistling all the way.

  With a shake of my head, I put the greedy merchant from my mind and turn my focus back to the task ahead of me. Alright. Only about ten more hours of this to go…

  I resume my sweep, pulling manageable hordes of goblins, killing them off a little at a time, enduring the attacks of the occasional bat rider. Then I come across a large building which appears to be guarded by hobgoblins, stronger monsters, though their increased health and damage are of no concern to me. I kite them along like any other mob, and they die in my aura in the same amount of time it takes me to kill the rest.

  Curious what these brutes were guarding, I search the building, which appears to be a vault of some sort. After clearing the mobs inside, I loot the chests.

  [Amulet of the Goldfish level 16, an elegantly crafted magical amulet with a cute goldfish charm.

  +30 MP

  +3 Intelligence]

  Worthless! At least to me. If I hold onto it though, it might fetch a decent price at the auction house when I finally get out of this place. If I ever get out of here!

  [+10 Tetranium Ore

  Crafting item, value: 1 sp]

  [Recipe: Tetranium Shield

  Blacksmithing recipe]

  [Would you like to learn this recipe: Tetranium Shield?]

  Holy heck!

  Curious, I examine the recipe.

  [Tetranium Shield level 22, a simple, sturdy shield crafted of tetranium ore.

  Shield durability: 3500/3500—

  Gasp! Wheeze! That’s more than five times my current shield durability! What must I do to craft this wondrous shield?!

  Material required:

  6 Tetranium Ingots

  2 Iron Ingots

  1 Leather Strip]

  But—I have all of that right here in my inventory! Hang on! Pause the game!

  I plop down in the middle of the warehouse and pull out my hammer and anvil, building a fire right there on the floor.

  [Would you like to craft this item: Tetranium Shield?]

  “Yes!!!”

  Two minutes later I’m grasping the sturdy level 22 shield in my hand. It feels good, heavier than my level 3 shield. This upgrade was long overdue. Still, when I think of the level 14 Shield of Unbroken Faith that the White Striders looted from the Edgelord quest, with its 3000 durability and +1 to Constitution and Intelligence, I suppose mine does seem a little lacking…

  But never mind that. I can’t hope to compete with dungeon loot, not with such a simple recipe. Though I was hoping a build using tetranium ore would give me something a little more spectacular, I’m grateful for what it did give me. It’s just a shame I’ve only got five ingots left. But I’m sure I’ll find more down here, and when I do, I’ll stop and build myself another shield straightaway.

  Finding my enthusiasm greatly renewed by this unexpected upgrade, I charge back out into the city, boldly aggroing more monsters than ever before, trusting to my new shield to keep me safe. Ah, but it still doesn’t deflect magical damage. Maybe I was a bit too ambitious!

  Glug, glug! Glug, glug!

  Never mind! Push forward!

  Glug, glug! Glug, glug!

  [You have reached character level 18.]

  Cool!

  Glug, glug! Glug, glug!

  [Noxious Spores skill has evolved.]

  I let out with a whoop! It evolved! At last! I can finally get out of this damned dungeon!

  I could cry with relief. I’m finished with this place. I won’t even bother clearing the city. I think I stopped getting exp from these goblins once I reached level 18 anyway. Just let me finish killing this last group of mobs I aggroed. And try not to die to these damned spell casters in the mean time!

  Glug, glug! Glug, glug!

  Just then, a system message pops up.

  [Congratulations! You have earned the Mythic Achievement: Enough Potion To Fill The Ocean.]

  Wait, what?

  I slow down as the last of the goblins drop around me like flies and read the messages popping up one after the other, fairly trembling with disbelief.

  [You are the first player in Tetra Chronicles to drink 10k potions. You have been awarded the Unique Skill, Flourishing Physiognomy.]