Conquering the First Hall [Solo]

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested
Lv.24 Swashbuckler / Lv.21 Pharmacist / Lv.1 Animal Trainer

~

As he stepped into the next zone, he felt like he was stepping into an actual castle, or mansion as the case was. When the door behind him slammed shut, the darkness fled from the light emitted from the core of the 「Mini Jack」 and revealed the second area to him.

The area past the lobby was larger than the area he had just left. It felt like he stepped into a hallway with kitchen, or a guest room. Why did he say this? Because the first thing he noticed was that the 「Phantom Tableware」 found in places such as the 「Windsor Castle Dungeon Raid」 appearing out of an open doorway. Obviously, that meant that a dining area was nearby. But that in itself could mean a variety of rooms.

A dining room would be unlikely to be so close to the entrance, so he guessed that either the kitchen or the guest room was nearby. He knew little in the way of mansion floor plans, but he was willing to bet that the waiting room was where the cutlery were escaping from.

Fortunately for him, the 「Phantom Tableware」 were not aggressive mobs, though their level was, as expected, significantly higher than that of the 「Mini Jack」 earlier. He wondered what level was suitable for such a dungeon. Would he get mauled by a level 90 mob before he reached the end? He did not feel like dying that night. If anything, he would try to run and hopefully outrun all threats.

At the end of the area, he spotted the next door he was meant to pass through. A 「Castle Armor」 stood in front, its once pristine white armor long gone to rust, with only small patches of white showing its original color as the rest of it was covered in grey dust and brown rust. I guess I'm supposed to tell my answer to that thing.

There was little for him to do but to explore the area and find some clues. Perhaps that strange whisper will send another gust of wind to help him again. But he did not wish to count on it. Something told him that he should try looking for hints on his own. Slipping into an adjacent room, he began his search.

~

Word count: 379
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 568.5

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested
Lv.24 Swashbuckler / Lv.21 Pharmacist / Lv.1 Animal Trainer

~

The room he slipped into was the waiting room. At least, that was what he believed it was, as the room was similar to the one he saw a long time ago in the Palace of Buckingham. Speaking of which, that location seems to have been bought by another Guild. Wonder how Tobin felt about that.

In any case, just like the last waiting room he saw back then and the rest of this mansion, a long time had past since the room last had a visitor, or even cleaned. A coffee table made of marble dominated one side of the room, with three long couches to the side to accompany it. The marble was still intact, but even from a distance, he could clearly see the thick layer of dust that covered the jet black marble.

The couches were unfortunately in a worst state. Moth eaten cushions lined them, their bright colors long faded to match their dull surroundings. A tea cup was left on the table, its owner long gone, the liquid it contained long dried. It was a very plain cup, with no decorations whatsoever as it rested on an equally plain plate. This was likely for a guest. Perhaps the owner had one last visitor before the events leading to the mansion being abandoned. The question is, what happened?

As he made a move to step into the adjourning room, the opening he was intending to go through was blocked by a shadow. A soft growl was heard as the shadow stepped into the light on his head, revealing a 「Goblin Maid」. To put simply, it was a goblin dressed in a french maid outfit. He did not know what to make of it. As he approached her, or him, whatever the case was with these goblins whose gender he could not identify, it made a frightened sound and fled into the darkness of the area he was intending to enter.

"Danger." a single word appeared on the lower portion of his screen just as the light within the 「Mini Jack」 flared briefly.

He hesitated, then backed away as a 「Goat Servant」 burst into the room from where the 「Goblin Maid」 fled, its bared teeth visible in the light of his companion. Damn, he did not want to get into a fight while surrounded by enemies! Without a second to waste, he hurtled through the doorway he came from, slamming the door shut in the process.

~

Word count: 410
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 568.5 + 615 = 1183.5

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested
Lv.24 Swashbuckler / Lv.21 Pharmacist / Lv.1 Animal Trainer

~

"Thanks Pocky." The 「Mini Jack」 simply glowed a little more brightly in reply.

As he slammed the door shut, a single 「Goblin Butler」 looked his way, but did not engage. For some reason, the 「Goat Servant」 saw fit not to break down the door, which was good for him, he guessed. He did not think he would last long if he had to keep stopping to fight. The purpose of this Raid was to find clues to solve the answer. Answers might sometimes be found on a mob, but he would not engage until he finished looking through every roo-

His eyes stopped on the 「Goblin Butler」 that did not engage him. Upon closer inspection, a single slip of paper was folded neatly and peeked out of the breast pocket of the butler. Was that a clue? Or was that just some random handkerchief that he had never really noticed? Either way, it was not like fighting a 「Goblin Butler」 was going to be tough, so he decided he might as well take it out.

"Hey, Pocky, step back." A single question mark appeared on his screen in reply, but the 「Mini Jack」 did as it was told. Almost immediately, the Swashbuckler vanished, only to appear right in front of the 「Goblin Butler」. It was the move 「Fold Step」.

The cowardly 「Goblin Butler」 reared back, raising its arms to defend itself as the Adventurer swung his blades. It braced itself for the painful gash that would be inflicted on it, but the blow never came. Nervous, the 「Goblin Butler」 looked up and saw that the blade was just inches from its flesh.

Gesturing to the slip of paper tucked in the breast pocket of the 「Goblin Butler」, he chose two words which he hoped his low level of Animal Tamer would not cause to be mistranslated. "Paper. Give."

The frightened goblin looked at him for a moment, then back to his drawn sword, and decided that its life was worth living, whatever there was to live for in this mansion. It withdrew the paper (and yes, it was a paper, not a handkerchief like he feared it would be) and passed it to him with trembling hands. He lowered his sword and accepted it, muttering a quick "thank you" before stepping back and allowing the 「Goblin Butler」 to bolt for his life.

Let us see what we have here, he thought as he unfolded the paper under the guiding light of his temporary companion the 「Mini Jack」.

~

Word count: 417
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 568.5 + 615 + 625.5 = 1809

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested
Lv.24 Swashbuckler / Lv.21 Pharmacist / Lv.1 Animal Trainer

~

The words written on the slip of paper proved no help. It seemed as though it were disconnected from everything he had encountered in the dungeon so far. It did not hurt to keep the paper, though, so he did just that, slipping the scrap of paper into one of the many pockets of his armor,「Highwayman's Refuge」. Perhaps it may shed some light on his predicament if he discovered more clues.

With that being said, he stopped to consider his next move. From what he knew so far, the clues seem to be hidden in various places, such as a page in a book, or in this case, on the body of a monster. So far, these were all ordinary clues. But it was not wise to say that this would not change. He did not know in what form the next clue would come. He had gotten lucky and avoided combat so far, but how far would his luck last?

"Pocky, any help?" His trusty light source might shed some light on the matter. Literally.

"Do not know. Look?"

It seemed that the 「Mini Jack」 knew not of the location of the next clue, or the answer for that matter. He was hoping it would, but then again, if it did, that would give Animal Trainers too much of an advantage. He supposed that he should hurry, before the timer of 「Scout」 ran out and Pocky here decided to return to his friends.

Just then, he heard someone, or something, laughing. It was the same as before, coming from all directions and growing louder and louder with each passing second. Was it a group of 「Mini Jack」 again? But they were not cackling like that the first time round.

He raised his sword and moved around the hallway warily, peering into the darkness beyond the light for the first signs of danger. Judging by the fact that the level of the monsters rose so quickly right from the start, it was not impossible for a seriously strong mob to appear. When that happened, he would be dead, but not if he could blind it and escape to safety. Yes, that was going to be his strategy for the duration of the Raid. Hopefully it would carry him through.

~

Word count: 380
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 568.5 + 615 + 625.5 + 570 = 2379

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested
Lv.24 Swashbuckler / Lv.21 Pharmacist / Lv.1 Animal Trainer

~

One second, he was surrounded by darkness, the only light from his trusty jack companion. The next, the entire hallway flooded with light, and he had to shield his eyes as over three dozen jacks of varying sizes appeared from literally nowhere. The sudden invitation of light banished the flying cutlery to whatever dark cupboard they came from, and sent every frightened maid and butler scampering for the relative safety of the dark.

As his eyes adjusted, he noticed some of the lamps were of a higher level than the one he had on his head. So his guess was true, that mobs grew stronger the further he went in. That did not bode well for the Swashbuckler whose level was only slightly higher than that of the mobs in the First Hall. He did not want to imagine what kind of opponent he may have to face in the last hall.

"Help?" he questioned the nearest 「Helio Jack」, which simply cackled at him in reply. After a brief moment of utterly uncontrollable laughter. The being stopped and stared at the Adventurer for a moment. "Find clues."

Well, that was helpful. Totally helpful in every way imaginable. Find more clues. Genius! Who would have thought?

The problem was, he had no idea where to start. He guessed he might as well approach the 「Castle Armor」.

"Um, hi. Could you give me a hint?"

The 「Castle Armor」 did not so much as move as it gave any indication that it wanted to reply, or if it could, for that matter. Guess he was on his own here.

The creaking of a door could be heard. Looking in the direction it came from, he saw a frightened 「Goblin Butler」 pointing in his direction. Wait a mnute, that looked like the door to the room he saw the 「Goat Servant」 i-

The monster in question stepped out of the doorway and glanced in his direction. Oh crap, just what I needed. A fight to the death with a muscular goat.

The 「Goat Servant」, instead of bleeting, roared. A loud roar which resounded throughout the First Hall, the sheer pressure of the roar forcing a few Jacks back where they floated. This was bad. He did not have time to waste fighting, else he would be dead before he made it out of the Second Hall.

But what choice did he have? His kindness overtook him and thus, he failed to stop the 「Goat Servant」 from reaching him. The matter of the servant refusing to open the door was something he immediately attributed to the quirks of the house, but right now, he needed to focus on the task at hand to stay alive.

~

Word count: 450
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 568.5 + 615 + 625.5 + 570 + 675 = 3054

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested
Lv.24 Swashbuckler / Lv.21 Pharmacist / Lv.1 Animal Trainer

~

A deep growl came from within the 「Goat Servant」 as it charged at him, toppling a table as it passed and scattering the light sources as it came at him. He took the 「Mini Jack」 off his head and gently pushed it to the side, raising 「Firefly」 and he did so.

This was just like fighting boars back when he first encountered them at the start of his journey. The 「Goat Servant」 simply rushed him with no strategy whatsoever. He supposed that the only difference would be that this mob had arms and was actively trying to grab him. In his humble opinion, he did not want to get hugged by that thing.

The only difference would be that the hallway was very much different from the Swashbuckler was used to. Certainly, it was pretty wide, but there were few footholds and little manuveuring space.

As the 「Goat Servant」 charged, he stood in front of a group of 「Mini Jacks」, causing the 「Goat Servant」 to shield its eyes as it moved towards him. Hmm. A little too easy? Well, not that he was complaining.

Ducking under its one outstretched arm, he threw a 「Blind Bet」 into the servant's side. It left a deep cut, inflicting the debuff on the 「Goat Servant」 and making it even harder to see.

Wait, was that another note on the 「Goat Servant」? It was! The 「Goat Servant」 wore only a simple loincloth, and what appeared to be a slip of paper was caught in the band, half of it just sticking out. How was he going to rob the 「Goat Servant」?

~

Word count: 266
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 568.5 + 615 + 625.5 + 570 + 675 + 399 = 3453 (Capped at 3000)

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested
Lv.24 Swashbuckler / Lv.21 Pharmacist / Lv.1 Animal Trainer

~

The solution to his dilemna was as clear as day. Their immediate surroundings were dim with the Jacks distancing themselves from the battle, and his foe had just been afflicted with the accuracy debuff, blurring its vision. There was no better time than this, he reasoned, so he went in.

Despite being blinded, the servant still had some of its sight, and saw a blurry figure which it knew to be the Adventurer who had dared to trespass on its master's territory without an invitation. It shot out a rocket punch and almost felt the blow connect, but it seemed the smaller Swashbuckler had dodged the worst of it.

On his part, he was unable to completely dodge the attack, but he managed to get between its arm and its torso, so that was a good thing. He reached out to grab the slip of paper just as the other fist came swinging by. It slammed into him and knocked the air out of his lungs as he tumbled across the blood red carpeted floor, just barely holding on to the scrap of paper he took from the servant. Ouch, that was quite a clean hit. A fair chunk of his HP had vanished in that one hit. He would best stay out of range.

Unfolding the paper while creating distance from the servant which was clawing at its eyes in an attempt to remove the debuff, his eyes lit up as he read the second hint and everything clicked into place. Looking up, he realized he was a few meters from the suit of armor and the angry servant had started charging after him, its longer legs giving it the speed it needed to catch him before he reached the suit of armor.

Here goes. He sucked in a deep breath, and with a loud shout, voiced the answer which he believed to be true. It resonated across the room for a few moments, then silence reigned. Even the servant stopped in its tracks and merely stared at him hostilely, but made no attempt to assault him.

The armor spoke with a raspy voice that sounded unused for years. "You may pass, Adventurer."

A loud grinding sound could be heard, and the door to the Second Hall opened. Motioning for Pocky to follow, he stepped through the doorway to face his next trail.

~

Word count: 394
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): New week: 591