Marcus headed back to the dungeon with quite the pep in his step.
He had just obtained six rare skill orbs and all it was really going to cost him was a little bit of time and some adamantine which he still had a decent store of.
“You are free to go.” One of the night guards in front of the dungeons aid after checking Marcus’ guild card.
Quickly he headed into the dungeon and once he was in far enough to be out of sight disappeared.
He could move much faster in his ghost form by phasing through any barrier and headed in a straight line for the area he had left Alaric in.
‘I have not received any sort of distress signal from Blitz, so they should still be fine.’ Marcus thought as he came out of a wall and into the snowy hills area.
Now that he was here, he followed his connection to Blitz through their seal and soon came across Alaric fighting a pack of mandragora.
They were small and stout plant monsters that were around the height of a three-year-old human children, with leaves, bark, vines, and pallid tumors coming out of their bodies.
Looking at them would give just about anyone an unsettling feeling due to their grotesque appearance, but in fact it was actually the noise that they made that was the worst part about them.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThey could let out ear piercing shrieks that would nauseate most people, and for those lower leveled or with exceptional hearing they could cause unconsciousness.
For lower leveled parties they were probably some of the most dangerous creatures to come across, as they often gathered together in large groups like the one Alaric was facing groups.
And to make matters worse, they had poisonous leaves that befuddled anyone hit with them enough times and could latch on with their mouths and drain the blood out of people.
‘Level sixteen, level thirteen, level seventeen, level twenty-one…’
Appraising each of them, Marcus found that the lowest level of the group of thirteen mandragoras was twelve, while the highest was twenty-three. A large range between them with none of them being incredibly high level.
Still, as a group they were a dangerous threat for most silver and even gold rank adventurers.
Alaric for his part though, was doing quite well in fighting them off.
He had already stuffed pieces of damp cloth into his ears to lessen the effects of the screeches and was keeping his cool.
Whenever one of the mandragora got too close he would bat them away with his staff and at the same time was chanting away at a spell.
‘He really has improved.’ Marcus thought as he watched Alaric complete his spell.
He had cast a tier two ice magic spell called ice pillar and was using it as a raised platform to get out of range of the mandragoras.
While the little plant monsters had some dangerous attacks, the only thing they could hit someone with at range was their screech. Which Alaric was mitigating thanks to the cloth in his ears.
From the high ground he had created he began systematically eliminating the weakest mandragoras and working his way up.
He had hit them all with a large area magic called entangling fumes which created a thin layer of gas around a foot off the ground.
This gas would then continuously wrap around whatever entity was within it and slow them down.
It was not strong enough to fully hold down the strongest of the mandragoras, but it still slowed them tremendously and every couple of seconds they had to break out of the new bindings that were taking ahold.
For the weaker ones, they were sitting ducks, and Alaric began firing off the tier two wind magic spell breeze blade which sliced clean through and finished off all of the bound monsters.
Within a few minutes he had killed all thirteen of them without incurring a single injury.
Once he was finished, Blitz ran back over from where he was waiting close by and keeping watch.
‘I suppose now is as good a time as any.’
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmDropping down to the ground Marcus repapered and immediately started clapping.
“Excellent work. I can see that you are really taking into consideration your own safety and how best to win your fights. Also, your use of all three types of you magic in combination has gotten quite good.”
With a bright smile Alaric ran over to Marcus who had been gone the whole day and began happily telling him of the battles he had fought.
“You have certainly been quite busy despite not having me backing you up. And it seems that you managed to avoid any major injuries which is good. Oh, and congratulations on reaching level twenty-eight.” Marcus said while patting Alaric on the shoulder.
After that he told Alaric that it was time they had a celebratory dinner in light of his accomplishments.
“I have some rare ingredients that I do not normally bust out on account of how expensive they are, but since you have succeeded in the next step of your training, I think now is a good time.” Marcus said as he began taking out an entire kitchen from his item box.
Hearing this Alaric jumped up in the air and started cheering. Truly looking forward to Marcus’ cooking.
A couple hours later and Marcus had created an impressive spread of food fit for a castle, and something that practically no one else would ever think of making in the middle of a dungeon.
Of course, all of the tantalizing smells had attracted numerous beasts and monsters, but Blitz was patrolling the area and getting rid of any that got too close.
“It’s delicious! Your food is always the best Irene!” Alaric exclaimed as he took the first bite of the food Marcus had prepared.
For nearly the next hour Alaric spent his time eating the food Marcus had prepared. Until his stomach was completely bloated and he could not physically eat any more.