Max was disappointed that he hadn't gained any skills from levelling up last night, but he supposed that he can't always gain skills from levelling. After all, the first time that he had levelled, he had gained 4 levels and only 3 skills, so it made sense that he wasn't going to gain a skill every level.
It was still a bummer. It also beget the question, how were skills chosen? Did he just randomly meet the requirements for them? He had gained [Animal Skinning] after doing it once, but he hadn't gotten a skill like [Sneak Attack] from when he killed his first monster.
Max considered himself of at least some intelligence, and yet he still didn't understand it that well. He had a couple of theories, but without sufficient evidence to back them up, all he had were hypotheses. But that didn't mean that he couldn't test them out. Today, he was going to attempt to parry any and all attacks coming at him, and see if he got a parry ability.
That would have to take the backburner though, since he was out of food. His options were: Try and hunt down some monsters that he could eat, or attempt to go further into the dungeon and reach the gardens. Hopefully the elephant like monster which was drawn on his map was friendly, but considering the rest of the dungeon so far, that seemed incredibly unlikely.
He figured that trying to make his way to the gardens was a worthwhile investment. Worst case scenario, he got hurt on his way down there, and he used some of his water supply to heal himself.
And so, even though he was hungry still, Max made his way further down into the dungeon.
The direction that wasn't the maze was a little bit more difficult to navigate, mostly because it wasn't detailed on the map. There were twists and turns, and eventually Max found himself on a dead end. He sighed, and turned back the way he had come from when he realized that he was trapped.
Two skeletons had snuck up behind him, and glowered at him in the gloom of the tunnels, their dark eye sockets filling him with dread. Shit. If there was anything that he knew from D&D and Pathfinder, it was that piercing weapons weren't good against skeletons. They each clung to a shortsword, and Max was glad that they didn't have anything more dangerous.
He let out another sigh, before charging the skeletons, giving them no time to lash out at him, and stabbed with his rapier. He got lucky, and broke a hole through one of the skeletons' skulls.
The other one attacked him with its sword, and Max felt the sword dig into his arm a bit. Just a flesh wound, right? Heh.
The skeleton that he had struck first made to attack him, and Max attempted to parry it. Attempted being the operative word here, he barely had enough time to bring up his rapier to block the blow. That would've hit him.
But now, with his sword entangled with the skeleton's, he didn't have a way to fight back. So he shoved the skeleton away from him, pushing it into the wall, before he turned to the other one which was moving to attack him again.
This time, he was able to parry the attack, and pressed the advantage. If he wanted to be a [Swashbuckler], then he needed to learn how to parry and riposte. His blade struck true, and he pierced a hole through the skeleton's sternum.
The first skeleton had picked itself off of the floor, however, and made to attack him. He still had his sword stuck inside the second skeleton, but he managed to dodge out of the way of the skeleton's attack, just barely. Max freed his rapier from the skeleton and lashed out at the one that had just attacked him.
This time, he wasn't so lucky, even with his [Sword Proficiency], and his rapier poked into a spot between the skeleton's ribs, before he pulled it out. No damage there.
The second skeleton, the one with a hole in it's chest, gave a swing at him, which he managed to parry again. This was getting a little bit easier the more that he practiced! He riposted again, and struck at the skeleton's skull, unhinging its jaw.
Both of the skeletons were moving a little sluggish now, and even though they didn't give any indicators of bleeding or being in pain, Max knew that he had the upper hand.
He struck out at the second skeleton, having made more hits on it than the other one, but missed anything vital. The first skeleton attacked him, and it missed with it's attack as well, he was able to dodge out of the way at the last moment.
The second skeleton attacked him, and he made to parry its attack once more. With how much damage that he had done to it, it was almost pitiable how easy it was to parry the attack, and made to riposte.
Even though the riposte hit, it barely broke one of the skeleton's ribs, and it was still standing. He struck out at it again, and this time his rapier struck true, cleaving straight through the skeleton's spine at its neck. The magic holding the skeleton together faded, and bones fell to the ground.
The remaining skeleton, the one that he had attacked first, swung down at Max, but he caught the shortsword on his blade again before it could hurt him. This was getting fun. He pushed the skeleton off of him again and struck out with his rapier, but barely hit the skeleton.
The skeleton made to attack him again, and Max smiled as he deftly maneuvered the shortsword away from him and struck back, hitting the skeleton in the arm, destroying it's arm in the process.
The skeleton picked up the shortsword in its left hand, and swung at Max, but it clearly wasn't as strong using its left hand as it was with its right, since it didn't even touch him.
The young man struck out with his blade, and missed his own attack. This time, when the skeleton made to attack him, however, he was able to make one last parry before shoving his rapier straight through the skeleton's chest, making it die like it's comrade.
Max smiled at his newfound abilities, before a wave of exhaustion hit him, and he dropped his rapier to the ground.
Holy shit, his arms were tired. He felt as though he just rock climbed up a small cliff or something, the strain in his arms burning at him.
He had been relatively fit, of course, prior to coming to this world (At least, he assumed that he was in another world). But actively using his arms to do something new, not just once, but five times, and that was after he had gotten hit with an enemy attack on his sword arm.
Max took out the bag of water and poured a little bit on his arm, watching the magic heal it up, before he took a swig to quench his thirst. His arms still ached a bit, even with the healing magic knitting the wound together, and he decided to catch his breath for a second.
He didn't want to run into anything else while he was exhausted, right? That seemed like a smart idea, the more that he explored, the more likely it was that he encountered another enemy. While the monsters in this dungeon did move about, they were less likely to run into him if he remained still for a bit.
He decided that unless he fought more enemies with weapons, he was just going to try and focus on dodging enemies attacks for the rest of the day, to give his arms a rest from all of the parrying that he had done. He just wasn't used to it yet.
After resting for about a half an hour, Max decided that he had spent long enough in one area. He journeyed further into the dungeon once more, and came into a room with a large treasure chest on a raised floor. Max was instantly suspicious of the room, and surveyed it. Aside from the treasure chest, there were a few statues lying about the room, some of which were destroyed.
There were tapestries on the walls, depicting a large beast. Whatever this thing was, it didn't exactly have animal like traits that Max could use to describe it. But the tapestries clearly made it look big, and it looked like the embroidery was actually a large map, which held this monster at the bottom. It looked like this was the end level boss of the dungeon, although Max wasn't sure if he was capable enough to take it down by himself.
He was, however, going to take these maps, since they revealed more of the dungeon than he currently had. He would have to examine them later. He took out his knife and cut them off of the wall, before shoving them into his bag of holding.
He turned back towards the room. The chest sat in the middle of the room, untouched, where some of the statues were broken on the floor, leaving just one standing.
He leaned down and touched the statues that were on the ground. Something was… off. There were bloodstains on the ground, ones that were old. From long ago. And yet, he didn't see any bodies anywhere. The statues that were broken also seemed to be scattered about from their pedestals, almost as if someone had moved them and broken them on purpose…
Max's eyes widened as he realised what had happened here. He looked surreptitiously at the remaining statue.
Or should he say, the remaining gargoyle?
On earth, Gargoyles were protectors, but in their mythical origins, they were based off of dragons, which had been captured or beheaded and used to defend churches. In a great many of games, Gargoyles would only come to life and attack once you've triggered them, that usually meant getting close enough to them, or stepping into their line of sight.
Here though, Max was sure that the Gargoyle could see him. And he knew, without a doubt in his mind, that it would not simply allow him to walk away with his life.
He couldn't do anything but laugh.
"It seems that i've seen right through you, oh deceiver of man. Show me your true colors and face me in honor, and we'll settle this squarely, shall we?"
The statue betrayed nothing of its nature, and Max walked up to it, extremely wary. He knew that this thing would attempt to get a surprise attack on him, but if it were going to play this game, that of the statue, then it had another thing coming.
"So be it, dear Gargoyle. I have nothing but the greatest respect for you and yours, of course. But let it be known that Maxwell Caiden does not back down from his challenges, and he will turn you to dust, just like your brethren before you."
This got the Gargoyle to move. In a flash, it lunged at Max, clearly attempting to catch him by surprise.
But Max was not to be deterred. He knew that the beast was going to jump on him at any moment, especially considering the proximity to the beast that he had placed himself in. He sidestepped out of the way of the lunge, and struck out at the beast as it passed him by.
He was surprised when his weapon cut right into the stone creature's flesh, did he have a magical rapier? It hadn't shown any magical properties up until now! He didn't have time to contemplate the question though, since the beast let out a screech and attacked him again, this time swinging at him with its claws, and also attempting to bite him.
Max wasn't sure what it was, but his little speech from before the fight had certainly given him a boost to his confidence. He remembered his roleplaying days, and thought to himself, 'Now this is what being a Swashbuckler is about!', as he dodged around the stone beast's attacks with ease.
He jabbed again with his rapier, and though his cut wasn't as deep as his first one, it once more destroyed a bit of the stone that the creature was made of. The Gargoyle wasn't happy about that, and tried to bite him again, but he sidestepped it once more, but then realized that put him right in the path of it's claws.
The claws cut at his stomach, and while they hadn't been very deep, he knew that he couldn't take very many attacks like that at all. This thing was significantly stronger than every other enemy that he had faced until now. His life was on the line, and he knew that even though he had told himself earlier that he wouldn't, he would have to attempt to parry this things attacks if he couldn't dodge in time.
He took the hit in stride though, as any aspiring [Swashbuckler] should. He gave a wry smile, and said, "Your claws hurt less than my mother's paddle. Come, is that the worst that you can do?"
He struck out with his weapon, his words giving him a certain amount of confidence that he knew that he would not have had three days ago, when he first ran from the Idex. He was a [Warrior], and he was going to show this Gargoyle what he could do.
His blade pierced right through the Gargoyle's left shoulder, and it howled in pain, clutching it's arm where it had been stabbed. It tried to grab him, but he rolled under the creature's legs and brought his rapier up and into its back.
The Gargoyle wasn't finished yet, nor did it look like it was even close to its last legs, even with all of the damage that he had dealt to this thing.
It spun, and tried to swipe at him once more, and Max deftly avoided the stone beast's attack once more, before it tried to bite him. This time, the beast caught him unawares, and he barely had time to move before it tore a small chunk of flesh off of his left arm.
He was lucky that the wound was shallow, but he knew that he couldn't let the beast get these types of attacks off on him like that. He lashed out with his own weapon, and drove it through the left arm, close enough to the shoulder that it completely dislodged and crumpled to the ground!
At this point, he had to stop letting luck claim all the credit: he was getting skilled at doing this, although he had to admit that without this whole levelling system he'd probably have died by now.
The creature let out a roar, and made to bite him. Without a thought, he sidestepped the bite, but he saw the arm that was poised to attack him once he dodged, and lashed out with his weapon. He not only caught the claw that had been coming for him, but his rapier was perfectly aligned with the creature, and with a burst of strength and power, he drove the rapier up the middle of the Gargoyle's remaining arm, destroying it a terrible display of swordplay.
The Gargoyle was stunned. Nothing could have prepared it for this turn of events. The luck involved, the sheer power behind the human's attack. This was supposed to be an easy fight against a puny adventurer.
In Max's mind, he recognized what had happened as nothing short of a miracle. If he had been playing D&D, he rationalized what had just happened as him getting a crit on the Gargoyle. But all he knew was that he had overcome the main challenge of this encounter.
"If you flee now, Gargoyle, know that I am merciful. I will not give chase nor will I cut you down. But should you attack me once more, I will tear what remains of your body to pieces, of this you have my solemn oath."
Max's words spurred the creature into action, and it lunged for him once more. He sidestepped one last time, but left his sword in position to stab the creature through the chest as it flew into the spot where he had been just a moment before. His rapier cut deep, and with a last howl, the gargoyle began to break, piece by piece, until all that was left of it was a snarling face on the ground.
"What a pity. Just know that I hold you with respect in my eyes."
Max took a glance around the room. The battle had lasted but a couple of minutes, and yet, he felt strong, confident, and almost cocky. He lost his swagger as he looked at the chest though, and once more at the bloodstained floor.
How many adventurers had died so that there would only be one remaining Gargoyle for him to fight? How would he fare next time, when he might be fighting something even stronger? Hordes of monsters? The elephant beast?
It was going to be a rough journey for him, that much could be said for sure. He took out his waterskin, and poured water over his wounds. He was running low on water, with all the healing that he had needed so far, mixed with his thirst. He doubted that he'd be able to heal himself any more, especially if he wanted to conserve his water for hydration purposes.
A pity, but he's have to make due. He looked once more at the chest and then narrowed his eyes. A trap had clearly already dealt with in this room, but he was too smart to think that the danger was truly gone until he had tested the treasure chest.
And so he approached the chest, raised up on the dais as it was, and struck out at the chest with his rapier. It bounced off of the chest with not even a scratch to the wood. Well, that was interesting, but it hadn't triggered the chest attacking him at all either. So…
He opened the chest, and felt relief flow through him at the sight. Finally, some armor! In the chest was some simple black leather armor, complete with leather shin guards, a leather vest, and some studded leather bracers. This would significantly help him out in the long run.
He quickly set about putting the armor on, before looking himself over. He couldn't exactly see himself, since he didn't have a mirror, but he imagined that he looked super weird right now, with the leather vest covering his cut t-shirt, and shin guards on his cloth black pants. It could be worse, but at least now his bare arms had something to protect them too.
He looked back into the chest and saw some other things. A couple of small things, like another couple of vials of oil, clearly labelled as such, as well as a long rope. Both of those things went into his bag of holding. He was beginning to wonder just how much it could carry, since he had at least a couple of pounds worth of miscellaneous things in it already.
He'd just have to wait and find out when it dropped everything on the ground at his feet for trying to fit too much stuff into it. But for now, that last of his attention was on the small pile of gemstones in the chest. There was a handful of different gems, one which he recognized as turquoise, but he couldn't identify the rest of them. They could be useful if he ever managed to make his way out of here, perhaps as a means of monetary exchange.
There was nothing else in the chest, but he felt as though he had gotten enough, considering that most of the work had been done before he had even got here.
It was later in the day, but he wasn't about to give up just yet. He still had to make it to the gardens, and he had a feeling that he was getting close.
Soon he'd be able to see this elephant like creature for himself, and hopefully it would allow him to eat in the garden in peace.