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Chapter 47 by Lalelilo69 Lalelilo69

Elevator Music

Portal Grinding Vol. 1 P. 1

John stood in a small room, the Gate right behind him. The walls were covered in swirling galactic patterns and made him slightly dizzy, but he focused on a panel in front of him that wasn’t moving. It wasn’t large, only about half the size of the Gate, and pitch black. As John stepped forward, his hand on a wall to steady himself, words started to appear on the black unmoving section of the wall.

Flame Dungeon level 1

Lava Dungeon level 1

Earth Dungeon level 1

Plant Dungeon level 1

Water Dungeon level 1

Snow Dungeon level 1

Air Dungeon level 1

Combustion Dungeon level 1

This must be some sort of selection chamber. Level 1 shouldn’t be bad to start off. I guess I should go with Flame dungeon, since I can’t pick Plant dungeon.

John reached out and tapped the Flame Dungeon option. The words glowed orange for a second, and John’s mana went down 20 points. Ignis appeared next to him, happily looking up at him. Then there was a soft Ding! and a searing heat blazed against his back. He turned and saw that the Gate no longer led back to his room, but rather out to a sandy desert that stretched on towards the horizon. A sea of sand dunes stared back at him as he stepped out of the Gate. There was another soft Ding! as an info box appeared in front of him.

Flame Dungeon level 1 activated.

8 hours until Gate closes. Objectives:

Eliminate all hostile creatures. (27/27)

Gather materials from two resource spots. (0/5)

Maintain a health point level of at least 1. (140/140)

Optional Objectives:

Protect all non-hostile creatures. (3/3)

Gather materials from five resource spots. (0/5)

Maintain a health point level of at least 69. (140/140)

Rewards:

+2000 Bonus Exp.

+$1000

Optional Objective Rewards:

+800 Bonus Exp.

+New Passive Skill

John read the box, realizing that there was a time limit, and no option to decline. He smiled, sensing that things were about to get dangerous.

“Well Ignis, it looks like it’s time to play rescue. Can you find who we’re supposed to be fighting?”

Ignis raised her snout to the air, sniffing enthusiastically. Her tail waved slowly behind her as she walked past John. Her head snapped to the right, her tail stood utterly still, and the intensity of her flames increased ever so slightly. John narrowed his eyes, took his cloak out of his inventory, and put it on.

“Who’s there?”

There was a hissing sound, then a sand colored Lizardman unburrowed itself out of a sand dune and charged at John. It was a hulking creature, over eight feet tall with bulging muscles and a thick long tail. Its eyes shone with intelligence as it drew a broadsword. The blade was made of a sandy metal that blended in perfectly with the dunes and the creature’s hide, making it very difficult to follow. John narrowed his eyes at it and raised his hand to cast flames at it, but Ignis beat him to the punch.

She pounced, catching the Lizardman by its sword arm. It gurgled in surprise as her claws raked across its chest and neck. They tumbled to the floor in a spray of sand, scales, and blood. Ignis stood victorious as the sand settled, a proud look in her eyes. John smiled and lowered his hand.

“26 more to go. Where are they?”

She turned her nose to the air and continued walking in the direction the Lizardman had been charging from.

I need to observe the next enemy we encounter, so that I know how much damage the Spear of the Dryad will do to them.

He and Ignis crested a dune and continued walking. They were walking for several minutes before Ignis started to react again. John took the spear out of his inventory and readied himself to cast observe.

-10 hp

He stumbled backwards, an arrow embedded in his shoulder. He grimaced as the arrow head scraped against his shoulder bone. Ignis pounced, the arrow apparently giving away his attacker’s position. There was a strangled screech as another Lizardman fell under Ignis’s . 25 to go. John pulled the arrow out of his arm, it wasn’t barbed. The arrowhead was as thin as the shaft. The missile was obviously meant to pierce scaled enemies. Ignis walked back over to where John was standing and sneezed. She shook her head as if dazed. John furrowed his brow in concern.

“What’s wrong, Ignis?”

She snorted and shook her body, then looked at John.

Ding!

Ignis has matured from a cub into a fully-grown Firefox.

She sat and howled as the flames that made up her body intensified, turning from the deep orange and red it had been to a deep blue and turquoise. The heat rolling off of her was blistering, and as she stood and walked towards John she left glass pawprints in the sand. She nuzzled his arm and John smiled through the pain. She dealt him 15 points of damage.

“Ignis, you’re hurting me. You’re too hot.”

She backed away quickly, whimpering and eyeing John with sadness.

“It’s okay, just not when we might be attacked. When I get back to my room I’ll have Calista make a barrier and we can cuddle, okay?”

Her ears perked up at that, and she immediately continued sniffing for enemies. John looked at his arm as the burns started to disappear, as they had when he had petted her earlier.

I wonder if this happens because I’m a fire mage or because of Gamer’s Body… Either way, I have to level it up so that I can play with Ignis.

He followed after her, grateful for the glass tracks. They would be helpful to find their way back to the gate. He also kept a furtive lookout. The tracks would be especially easy to follow for a native of this land. The sun had begun to set before they encountered their next foes. It was a group this time, and they seemed to be part of a caravan. There were ten Lizardmen, and not all of them had sandy scales. Two had deep ruby red scales, and they eyed Ignis with wonder. The red Lizardmen were in chains. The eight remaining Lizardmen charged at Ignis. John rushed forward this time, spear in hand and casting observe.

Level 4 Lizardmen

Inhabitants of this particular pocket dimension of the Abyss, Lizardmen travel endlessly across the desert lands that are their home. The three wandering tribes are constantly at war over resources, but none can ever gain advantage over the other. Strong scales that are resistant to bludgeoning and slicing, but susceptible to piercing.

John grinned and stabbed the nearest Lizardman.

40 dmg

Ignis pounced on three of them, grilling them alive as she snapped a fourth one up. John yanked the spear out of his opponent, ducked a sword swing and swung the haft around. The Lizardman fell, and John stabbed its chest, killing it.

+50 exp.

He looked up and saw that Ignis had taken care of the last three.

“Fifteen to go. I wonder if those two are some of the friendlies we’re supposed to protect.”

They still looked at Ignis with awe, but now were kneeling. John walked over to them, and tried to get their attention. They ignored him. He shrugged, then cast craft on the chains, focusing on the deconstruction for materials aspect. They glowed orange for a few seconds, then disappeared.

Deconstruction successful. Attained 10 units of Sandsteel.

That got their attention. They looked at John and chattered incoherently. He frowned.

Language barrier. Shit.

He sighed and looked at Ignis, who sat off to the side.

“They should follow you, I think. We need to get to the third friendly and the other fifteen enemies.”

Then on to the resource spots.

The sun was fully set as they set out, and the temperature dropped dramatically. Ignis kept them all warm, as well as lit the way for them.


“I don’t understand.”

Layla had walked the halls of the top floor four times already, looking for John. She had barely dried herself off, and put on the bare minimum for public decency. She was shivering in her tank top and track shorts as she reached out with her abilities. She, of course, hadn't had time to put underwear on. He was nowhere to be found.

Even when he was with that white-auraed bitch I could sense him a little. It’s like he’s disappeared off the face of the earth. It’s not like he died, I would still be able to sense the lingering traces of his aura.

She whimpered and continued her endless patrol, her bare feet thudding against the floor.


It had been three hours, and if they were to make it back to the gate in time they had to go back soon. Ignis was hot on the enemy’s trail, but they seemed to be on the move. John was anxious to get it over with, to hell with the resources and the reward. All he wanted was a place he could grind skills against waves of weak mobs.

I just need damn experience points. Is that too much to-

Ignis slowed to a stop, surprising the Lizardmen and causing them to kneel to her again. John crested the dune in front of them and saw the end of their worries. He stood on the edge of what looked to be a deep asteroid crater with an oasis in the center. The walls were pockmarked with mines and there were several trees along the edge of a collection of ponds in the center of the crater. A slim red Lizardman stood in the center of the oasis, shooting flames at mounted sandy scaled Lizardmen. John counted fifteen among them. They were riding what looked like huge komodo dragons. John looked at Ignis and grinned.

"Let's go."

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