The Primal Hunter

You have entered the dungeon: Undergrowth of the Deepdwellers

Objective: Lay your hand upon the Heart of the Undergrowth

Jake came to and opened his eyes just as the message appeared. He quickly skimmed it and frowned. This was the first time he entered a non-challenge dungeon and it didn’t tell him just to go kill a big boss. Instead, he had to touch some Heart? He assumed it was a figurative thing, but with magic, he could totally see some massive beating mushroom or plant heart being a thing.

He found himself within a small damp cave, and outside he could see a vast underground cavern sprawl out before him. Walking out of the small cave, he finally saw the landscape – because it was truly a landscape.

The entire cavern looked to have a width of at least ten kilometers and a length that spanned longer than he could even see. A constant damp mist hung everywhere, making even his insane level of perception unable to see all the way to the other end.

Jake found the biome quite interesting. There were many different kinds of mushrooms and fungi and many other types of plants, including some full-on trees that looked like pine trees. It was very densely grown and reminded Jake a bit about the biodome the Indigo Fungus had created, albeit with far more growth.

Sense of the Malefic Viper helped him feel the many different affinities permeating the atmosphereic mana, and he found the life-affinity to be by far the most overpowering. Next up was the water-affinity as the humidity of the entire cavern was at a level where he feared mold growing on his cloak. Besides that, there was plenty of dark-affinity as the cavern didn’t have any proper lighting at all.

Besides a few glowing mushrooms or the occasional shifting light in the distance, there was nothing else. Luckily for Jake, he didn’t really need natural light to see anymore, and the darkness caused by the dark-affinity wasn’t an issue either.

So far, he hadn’t seen any living things, and his sphere hadn’t picked up any movement, even more than 300 meters in front of him. At least he didn’t right away… but soon he saw movement. It was only when he exited the cavern where the door to exit the dungeon still stood that these creatures seemed to be aware he was there.

Yes, there was a door to exit for some reason, even if he had entered through a big metal disc. The system seemed to have taken a liking to old wooden doors, and Jake wasn’t going to waste energy trying to find out why.

Focusing on his sphere, he zoned in on the movement and saw what it was. It looked like a crunched-over humanoid figure with long bat-like ears and a mouth full of sharp teeth. It didn’t have any eyes but instead had what looked like two oversized nostril holes. It looked pretty bizarre, to be sure.

The entire creature was incredibly skinny and wore a loincloth, and carried a wooden spear. Its movements were fast, and Jake saw the nostrils move as he became certain it knew he was there. Finally, he used Identify on it.

[Deepdweller – lvl 109]

The Deepdweller, as it was called – the dungeon’s name now suddenly making a lot more sense – made a weird movement as it raised its head and opened its mouth.

*----*

Jake heard an almost inaudible sound that seemed to spread far and wide from the Deepdweller. He felt the mana spread through the air along with the sound, and it didn’t take a genius to put together what it had done – it was a call for assistance or perhaps a warning call. In either case, it led to even more movement in the distance.

He cracked his neck from side to side as he prepared. His foes did look partly humanoid, but he didn’t feel a very high level of intellect from them. Sure, they could use tools in a very basic way, but so could pre-system chimpanzees when taught. No, more than anything else, he trusted his own intuition – these Deepdwellers were monsters, through and through.

His assessment only proved more true as more began pouring out. Some of them didn’t even wear any clothes at all but were entirely naked. This variant was far bulkier and looked a lot stronger. Instead of the rather human-like hands that the first Deepdweller had, this one had four long sharp claws instead of four fingers. As for its level, it was actually lower than the first one.

[Deepdweller – lvl 104]

he wouldn’t even gain any

aura rip. He didn’t bother even making an attempt at stealth. Instead, he would move forward till he met something worth fighting. He hoped that the dungeon wasn’t made for a level lower than him but that it got more difficult the further in

many forms. Some of them were super short, like the Badger’s Den, and others were practically their own small world. This one at least

but hissed as he got closer with the brute running straight for him, its sharp claws raised. It had three more

that, buddy?” Jake asked

few more steps,

him, bolt away into the undergrowth. He had decided to call the weird mixed biome of mushrooms, trees, and bushes the undergrowth as that is that

to run further in, the big Deepdweller sprung up, looking confused around before it saw Jake. It screeched, and he was prepared to kill it if it was stupid enough to attack again. Instead, it ran directly away from him… in the direction

a chuckle, Jake decided to have some fun as he followed, much to

followed it, Jake primarily wondering how it even detected him being on its trail. As it didn’t have eyes, he assumed it used some other sensory organ. He had already noted the large ears, which made him assume they had excellent hearing, and the nostrils also indicated a

of the basic toolkit for pretty

that long. They were both fast, so a dozen kilometers had been crossed in a jiffy. Jake didn’t know if it was due to the stupidity of the big Deepdweller or not, but it

a hundred in the village, and he began Identifying them to get a general feel for their levels using

104

106

103

110

of them were worth his time… at least he hadn’t thought so till he inspected those in the largest tent. There, four Deepdwellers

Fungalmancer – lvl

– lvl

–

–

created by society. For those who studied social sciences or read a few too many blogs, good and evil would be referred to as social constructs.

was swayed in

were – according to him – evil. Villy liked mushrooms, but at least he liked to eat them. But these… Deepdwellers… these monsters. They didn’t just eat

They were living incubators of evil, abominations a mix between Deepdweller and fungus. Jake knew it was his job – nay, responsibility – to purge this objective

from the darkness this time. No, he would walk in and crush

a bit hard to sneak in with the panicking Deepdweller storming into the village, making loud screeching sounds, and putting the entire settlement on edge with all its

intelligent creatures to set up a perimeter, but these monsters weren’t that smart. They just charged out of the village towards Jake. Most of them were of

mushroom-loving monsters. Also, he reflected that not wanting to kill dungeon creatures didn’t make much sense. In the grand scheme of things, it wouldn’t matter. All that mattered was if he wanted to kill them or not, and while they wouldn’t give him

each of his hands - one a scimitar that was already hungering, and the other a thin long blade with a simple sheath. These heathens

hesitant. Jake didn’t bother striking it down but instead waited

in a purple sheen of arcane energy. The extended claw aiming for his head was cut in two as the blade dug deep into the

coating and extending its edge as he decapitated the D-grade in a swift slash, the Nanoblade cutting through the neck like nothing. The