Dungeon of Knowledge

Chapter 164: Farming Fire Resistance

Aliandra The well-oiled doors swung open, and Ali stepped into the guild hall, blinking a little in the relative dimness after the bright sunlight outside. She had recounted the terrifying experience of being at the mercy of whatever ominous spell infested Nathaniel Sunstrider and her narrow escape due to the inexplicable actions of her mother’s book. However, the Archmage had amassed a towering reputation, and it was challenging to accuse him of anything when all she had was a strangely disturbing visual from a realm that she wasn’t entirely certain was even real. Still, Lira promised to consult with a Troll sage she was certain still lived, and Ryn offered to use her skills to re

Mato whipped his head around at the sound of a sudden scared yelp and saw Basil thrashing and grabbing at rocks while being dragged toward the lava by several vine-like tendrils.

Mato roared, transforming into his Bear Form. Dropping the last clump of Fire Grass he had harvested, he charged into range, barely in time to redirect the damage from Basil as he fell into the lava pool with an agonized scream, saving him from a crispy death. The vines were connected to the plant growing up the cliff face, many of its tendrils extending below the surface of the lava. It was a thick, ropy-looking plant, with a reddish-brown bark-like texture, and all along the vine grew tiny flowers made entirely from flame.

Way too late, Mato realized that the strange, blackened shapes wrapped up in the vines along the cliff face were the charred skeletal remains of several animals. He plunged his head into the lava, ignoring the surge of pain, and bit down hard on Basil’s leg, redirecting the damage he inflicted back to himself along with the continuous use of Arboreal Sanctuary to keep Basil alive in the lava. His own health plummeted as he shouldered the damage for both of them. He growled his frustration and hauled as hard as he could. Even with his enormous strength, the Flame Lasher resisted with a surprising amount of power, but their tug-of-war ended in a great ripping sound as several of the attached vines split and tore. Basil shot up out of the lava with a sucking sound and landed on the rock with a yelp, clearly shocked to still be alive while slapping the remains of the vines and molten rock off his arms and legs.

Blinded and nearly deafened by having dunked his head in the lava, Mato charged the Flame Lasher by memory, but he was immediately intercepted by a tentacle of lava lashing out of the pool and striking him heavily on the flank.

He Identified the attack using his Survival Instinct.

Another searing strike came for him, and he blocked reflexively, wincing as the scorching ooze seared his hide with the heavy impact. But the newcomer had not discouraged the Flame Lasher in the slightest, and Mato felt the rapid whipping strikes lashing at him from a distance.

Blinded as he was, he knew the ranged attacks would be a problem, but he had to deal with the onslaught of fire damage from the ooze first. He roared, taunting both monsters to attack him, and not be distracted by the easier target Basil presented nearby. Then he burned some of his own health to power his Bestial Combat and struck at the amorphous blob of lava intent on eating him. The health cost was a risky move, but as soon as his claws ripped through the heavy, viscous body of the ooze, he felt the welcome surge of his Brutal Restoration kicking in and beginning to heal him.

It was a bizarre and uniquely uncomfortable sensation to feel his eyes regrowing, but one he was unfortunately quite familiar with by now. He struck again and again, his attacks becoming more effective as first his hearing and then his eyesight returned.

He blocked several whip strikes from the lasher – scorched lines of burnt flesh and fur that he took across his shoulders – and then swiped one more time at the ooze.

“On your left!” Basil yelled.

Survival Instinct suddenly registered an attack from his direction. Mato ignored it, focusing on blocking the much more dangerous coiling limb from the large blob of animated lava in front of him. A small glass vial arced overhead and came down on the rock beside him, shattering in an explosion of ice and frost that leached the heat out of the environment rapidly. The cold bit into his hide damaging him, but the effect on the ooze was far more dramatic. It recoiled, parts of its body blackening and cracking.

Seizing the opportunity, Mato powered his attack to the maximum and unleashed his retaliatory battle master strike. His claws shredded through the ooze, shattering the blackened pieces and tearing it almost in half, spraying chunks of rapidly congealing lava in all directions. It collapsed, splatting against the ground to the sound of a soft chime, and he whirled about and charged the Flame Lasher over by the rocky cliff, ignoring the whip strikes of its vines.

Without its ally, and without the ability to move, the vine was a poor match for Mato’s abilities. Swipe tore into the fire plant, ripping it from the cliff and shredding it until it ceased moving.

“What did you do?” Mato asked as he reverted to his normal form.

“Frost bomb potion,” Basil answered. “It’s pretty weak, but I think the lava ooze was vulnerable to cold.”

“You just happened to have one with you?”

“No, I made it. I packed some things in case the fire was a problem.”

“It worked pretty well,” Mato said. For a non-combat class, Basil certainly had good instincts. Presumably from his practice with his bronze-rank adventurer group, fighting in Ali’s sewer, and all the training Vivian had been investing in them.

“We should definitely collect this,” Basil said, bending down to examine the remains of the Flame Lasher, his voice filled with excitement and awe.

“That thing almost killed you, remember?” Basil had lost half his health while he had been taking care of the ooze and the lasher, but he just downed a health potion and remained close to Mato while studying the plant.

“These are incredibly rare fire plants,” Basil continued, more or less ignoring Mato in his excitement. “They’re impossible to cultivate and hard to find. Did you know their flowers can be used for some very powerful reagents and tinctures? The engineers and alchemists in town are going to love Ali if she can grow these. Eliyen too – she will make a fortune refining the essences and reselling them to the crafters.” Then his mouth twisted into a wry smile, “Well, she’ll most likely make me do it, she doesn’t like fire.”

“Ok, you collect those. I’m going to regenerate our health.”

Pausing briefly to store the corpse of the Lava Lurker, knowing Ali would probably like it, he shifted into his Tree Form, boosting his regeneration aura substantially. In the cool serenity, he ranged out with his plant senses, locating a couple more vines for them to collect and taking a moment to check his notifications.

Herb Gathering – level 1

Mana: Your knowledge of botany and plants allows you to use your mana to properly harvest many plants for use in herbalism and alchemical potions. Skill increases the range of plants you can harvest, and the speed and quality of your work.

Wisdom

he thought, imagining rubbing his tummy in happy anticipation. All this jumping into lava sure made a Beastkin hubat-litrpg