After doing what has become a post-game ritual pretty much, to ensure I was alright enough to continue, I passed up on the reward and called for the next battle.

  As always there was no time wasted before it showed up.

  Battle 13 – Emberflame Lizard

  Well then.

  This time it was quite literally big ass lizard. If I didn’t know any better I would think that it was a komodo dragon. The biggest difference was that it was covered in red and orange scales all over and not a leathery skin.

  You definitely spewed fire didn’t you.

  In fact I would consider it crime by the system if something called an Emberflame Lizard and was covered in red and orange scales, didn’t actually breathe fire.

  It’s not that I was desperate to fight something that could that do that, in fact it would probably be better if I didn’t have to worry about it, but some things just made sense.

  And an Emberflame Lizard breathing fire made sense.

  The Lizard as if it was done with its observations of me, suddenly opened its large mouth and it was like the lizard might as well have been holding a flamethrower.

  A torrent of flames rushed of its mouth it only grew wider in diameter the further it went from its mouth.

  Of course I didn’t just stand there and watch and instead immediately moved out of the way, but I couldn’t help but grin slightly at the sight of the flames. This is what it was all about baby!

  Fire breathing lizards!

  The only thing missing now was running into a beast that could control water. That was where the fun truly was.

  This Lizard was cool and all, but fire by itself wasn’t all that. It was just the concept of breathing fire that made it worth something. Otherwise…water ruled all.

  Something that I was about to teach this Lizard as well.

  Although I could quite easily see how this beast would pose a bit more of problem than the Twin Spinehound from the last battle, it was practically the same strategy to beat it.

  Flank it quickly before the fire got to me, then hit it with a Piercing Tide and the battle was over.

  Somewhat anticlimactic in the end, but I just happened to the posses the right combination of skills to end the battle far easier than my first encounter with the Stonehide Wolf for example.

  Once again I did my little check and confirmed everything was where it was supposed to be.

  Time for the next battle.

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  Battle 14 - Duskborn Cat

  Battle 15 – Gravel Moles

  Battle 16 – Sun Boar

  The next couple battles were much of the same.

  One was a giant black panther, that looked like it would be quite the problem in a dark forest somewhere, but unfortunately for it, this was an arena and I could see it quite clearly. Though I did think was kind of a disservice and very misleading to just call it a cat.

  Next were a group of moles.

  Again, I’m sure if they were on real ground, and perhaps had the ability to borrow and spring surprise attacks from below, then it would be more of a fight.

  Instead all they could do was try to bite me in half. It was three of them and all three were massive, but slow and as long as I was careful…not much of a problem. Then finally the Sun Boar. It looked everything like a regular boar would look, even in color and size.

  Of course there had to be one difference, and it was it’s tusks.

  They were bright yellow, and they were the cause of my decision to stop this run here.

  Once the boar showed up, it didn’t take me long to find out just how it got it’s name.

  It’s tusks quite literally glowed so bright it was like the sun itself had descended in the arena for all to witness.

  I tried to keep my eyes open for as long as I could. In fact I kept them up open long enough for them to start bleeding. Though it was far too much to bear and I had no choice but to close them.

  If it wasn’t for the loud stomps of its hooves against the area floor, then perhaps I would have been impaled directly in my chest by the tusks of the boar.

  Instead I was let off with a gash across my thigh. Not fatal, but it was bleeding a decent amount. Not enough to stop me from continuing the fight though.

  Eventually the light died down, and I didn’t waste a single second in rushing to kill the boar as fast as possible. There was no way I was going to allow it to bring the sun in the arena again.

  I could’ve continued from here, but I decided it was better to stop now. The wound on my thigh wasn’t really a game changer, but my eyes. They hurt like shit and even now I had to work hard to keep them open.

  I don’t think it would be a good idea to fight like that if I could avoid it. So I ended it here, which brings me to another decision. This one is a bit more challenging than the previous one.

  Rewards Claimed

  Please Select

  Weapon/Armor – XP – Coins – Skills

  If I thought back to the Skill selection, then it’s probably a safe bet to think that there won’t be a choice in the weapon or armor I get given. If they give me something like a bow for example then I would have wasted the selection since I don’t use them.

  There was obviously the option of giving it to someone who did, but the Dungeon was about making me stronger personally.

  There would come a time when I would select that option and hopefully either get some useful armor or a weapon that fit me, but for now I think I could safely pass.

  The same was true for XP and Coins, as much as I hate having to fight those battles where the lives of my family would be at risk, I was earning plenty of XP there and in that same vein, if we really wanted coins, the snakebite Dungeon was still available.

  At our current levels and the addition of new skills, it wouldn’t be a problem to go quickly farm both XP and Coins.

  So with that being said, Skills it is once more.

  I selected the option and once more a skill appeared before me. Only this time it came with a note I hadn’t quite expected.

  Reward Granted – Skill

  Water Cloak (Rooted) – The user’s body is wrapped in a layer of water, that not only softs the blow of all physical impacts up to a certain level but also makes it harder to see the user when submerged in water.

  System Alert: Maximum amount of skill slots have been filled. Please discard a skill to accept a new one. Otherwise, the new skill shall be rejected.

  Well there goes any hope of having an absolute essay list worth of skills.

  I didn’t see that coming at all.

  Only three skill slots is actually kind of serious. If you could only have three at a time forever, then one had to be very selective in their choices. There wasn’t much room for error here considering it was the skills that helped tip the battles in our favor against the red people.

  So…what to do then.

  14 Chapters ahead! Link ->