Chapter 120 - 120. Giant Ants
Jack scanned the chicken wing using his monocle.
Honey Garlic Chicken Wing (Apprentice grade)
Recover 100 HP
Increase Damage by 10% and decrease damage received by 5% for the next 5 hours.
"This food has good effect!" Jack exclaimed.
"You bet, we bought the recipe from a shop's special wares. It costed us 1 gold coins just for a recipe," Bluedaze said as she started munching on the chicken wing.
"It's rather expensive for an apprentice grade recipe," Jack commented while eating the food as well.
"Yes, but it was no ordinary apprentice recipe," Sinreaper said. "Only someone with cooking skill of Advanced Apprentice can manage to cook this recipe."
"You have someone who had become Advance Apprentice Cook?" Jack was amazed.
"Yes, he is our member who specialized in cooking. He just focused on improving his cooking grade since he arrived here."
Jack had forgotten, this was the strength of a guild. They could have members that specialized in particular field. Success in VR RPG games was not only dependent on leveling. There were many aspects that players could improve and be successful in. With each member became strong at one aspect and worked together, that's how they became the backbones of a successful guild. He must admit that this was something that he would not be able to achieve as independent player. After all, no one could become a master of everything.
"I got another thing that could improve our damage further," Jack said after he finished his meal. "but it is only for melee players."
Jack took out his three Whetstones and gave two of them to Silverwing and Honeycomb. Silvewing checked out the Whetstones. "Good stuff, where do you find the recipe?" He asked.
"A monster drop. I just got lucky." Jack said simply.
The three of them applied the Whetstones to their melee weapons, further increasing their damage output.
"Okay, let's us enter then," Silverwing said.
"Although it didn't take long for us to eat the Chicken Wings, I can imagine Queen Magenta was pouting already behind this portal," he added with a chuckle before walking right through the portal.
Sinreaper, Bluedaze, and Honeycomb followed soon. Jack was the last. He touched the portal, the liquid like surface trembled at his touch. It felt like touching a gel, and it was cold. He then moved forward and passed through the portal.
The feeling that Jack got when passing the portal was very much like when they moved through dimension from the Tutorial world into this Main world, but much more brief. When his vision returned, he found himself to be in a dark but spacious cave. The other nine people who came before him was at the front, while behind him was a portal door that looked exactly like the one he just came through.
This portal must be the way if they decided to exit the dungeon, Jack thought.
"You certainly took your sweet time," Queen Magenta said with a hint of annoyance.
"We are all here now," Silverwing said with a chuckle. "Let's move out then. We will go into the formation which we have discussed."
"Just make sure that useless nobody stayed out of my way," Warpath uttered without hiding the fact that he was referring to Jack.
Jack just pretended to not have heard it as he got into formation with Silverwing and the others. Warpath and the four Wicked Witches players were around five meters at the front. While on their side, Honeycomb took the left wing, while Silverwing took the right. Sinreaper and Bluedaze who were both Magicians were positioned at the middle, while Jack was behind them guarding the rear.
There was one person in each team that held a torch, Queen Magenta held the torch of the vanguard team, while Sinreaper held the torch for the rear team. The torchlight produced by it was not too bright, but it covered sufficient distance around them. Each of the ten who entered had been given a torch prior to entering, just in case if they got separated.
They all took out their weapons to be ready for actions at a moment notice. Besides Jeanny who was using spear, the others with unusual weapon setting were Warpath and Honeycomb. Warpath was holding two swords, one at each hand. While Honeycomb was holding a shield on her off-hand and a hammer on his main hand.
Looking at them, Jack was thinking, normally he would be holding his magic staff on his off-hand. But since he didn't want to expose his dual class, he couldn't take it out at this time. He did not have any one-handed weapon other than Storm Breaker, he had sacrificed all the ones he had gotten in order to increase his Storm Breaker's level.
But he got a shield which he had received from Lizardman Blood Guard. He took out that level 12 Guard's Round Shield and equipped it on his free left hand. This will afford him better defense in melee fight.
They walked slowly while paying attention to their surroundings.
"Be careful, see those holes by the walls?" Bluedaze pointed. "The Giant Ants and Giant Ant Warriors could come out of those holes without a sign. Everyone shall not lower your guard even if you have not seen any monsters around yet."
Everyone nodded their understanding. Bluedaze and Sinreaper were among the ones that have come into this dungeon before, so everyone heeded their advices.
They walked along the tunnels for a few minutes, still without any monster in sight.
"Is it always this quiet at the start of this dungeon?" Honeycomb could not help but ask. She had been fully focused of their surroundings since the start, but being tense all the time without anything happened could be particularly tiring.
"No, in my last excursion here, we met monsters already in the first two or three minutes," Bluedaze replied.
"Our reports from other scouts also indicated the same," Sinreaper added.
"Why is it different this time then?" Honeycomb asked.
"Doesn't matter, do not let your guard down," Silverwing said.
Jack was the most relaxed among them, simply because he would know if a monster was approaching from his God-Eye's radar. In fact, he had seen a few red dots from the direction of the holes, but strangely those red dots stayed inside. They did not come out to pounce on the intruders that had so brazenly came into their lair.
After walking a few more minutes deeper into the cave, they came to a fork. The path on the left was slightly smaller than the path on the right.
"Which way should we go?" Jeanny asked.
"Don't know, the map always changed randomly every time we enter," Selena said.
"Let's take the left one," Jack said from the back.
When Warpath heard the suggestion, he immediately spat, "Don't you try to act smart! On what basis to take the left one? The right cave was larger and obviously provide more space to move. I say take the right one!"
"I agree with Mister Warpath," Queen Magenta said.
Jack admitted that he had forgotten about these two's animosity against him. He had honestly tried to lead them to take the correct path, as he could see in his radar that the number of red dots on the right path was much more numerous than the left one. But even if he told the truth, he doubted that those two would listen to him, so he just stayed silent and leave them to their fate.
"Let's go," Queen Magenta said and moved to the right cave without even waiting for the others' agreement.
Bluedaze and Sinreaper looked at Silverwing, who said, "it's not good for us to separate. Let's follow."
They then continued onward into the right path. Things seemed to be progressing smoothly as they delved deeper, but Jack knew it was not so. The red dots that were crawling unseen inside the walls had become more active since they passed through. They seemed to be collecting their masses before converging towards the intruders' position.
"Stay sharp," Jack said to Silverwing and the rests as he readied his weapon.
Warpath who heard him, scoffed, and was about to make a remark, but then he heard buzzing sounds and saw some movements in the darkness along the wall.
"Contact!" Selena cried as she casted Energy Bolts.
The bright light from the energy bolts further illuminated the dark spaces where the torchlight could not reach. The bolts automatically tracked the nearby enemies, when they reached the wall, the players could see grotesque bodies covered with dark hard carapace, with multiple appendages attached on their middle section. Their heads had two large compound eyes each, which gave out red glow when the light hit their surfaces. At their mouth were two large mandibles which regularly made clacking sounds.
Most of the girls in the group subconsciously retreated from those disgusting sights. Even those who had seen the monster before were still repulsed by the monsters' appearance.
"It's Giant Ants! Prepare to engage!" Queen Magenta shouted.