Novel Bin Chapter 17 Secret Area
The original torch that Arthur had brought had died down by now.
~CLANK~
Arthur struck the stone floor and ignited the second torch, illuminating the tunnels once more. Now had the lever in his sights and walked up to grasp it. He held it firmly before pushing it downward.
~CREAK~
The lever made an unpleasant creaking sound, while rust fragments fell off from it. It was tough to move it, but Arthur forced it to do so. And when it finally came in the resting position, the gears around it started to move.
The gears pulled on the chains that hung from the Sluice gate and pulled it back up.
Whoosh!
As soon as the slightest gap was created, water went rushing past the gate and flowed through the sluice into the distant channels. It took five minutes for all the water to drain and the channel to become empty again.
>Quest Updated!<
——
Quest: 1. Investigate the sewers.
2. Inform the village head about it or release the Sluice gate.Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m n0v𝒆lb(i)n.c(o)/m
Info: 1. You have chanced upon the sewers of the Kestrel Village. Search and see what secrets it hides, but also beware of the dangers that lurk within it.
2. You chose to open the sluice gate and released the pressure. Some new areas might now be available to explore for you.
Grade: Uncommon
Difficulty: Intermediate
Reward:???
——
"There we go!" Seeing the quest updating as intended, Arthur was pleased.
This was the first secret of the Kestrel Village Sewers. If one chose to release the sluice gates, they would be able to access the areas that were once flooded with water. That was also where Arthur's main goal in coming here laid.
'Though getting there is a pain in itself… the path is a messy and winding and is basically a maze.' Arthur recalled the long rant that he had read in his past life.
The original player that had discovered this secret had ended up dying nearly fifty times before he had found the right path. It didn't help that there were several traps and dangers around the way too that were difficult to dodge for newbies.
Done with this step of the quest, Arthur turned back and went to the fork he had originally come from. There, he took the opposite path and followed it, until he heard familiar noises.
SQUEAK!
"Here we go again…" Arthur got ready for a battle.
He quickly used Inspect and saw three Dire Sewer Rats approaching. They were all at Level two and were easy for him to handle.
>Dire Sewer Rat has been killed!<
>Dire Sewer Rat has been killed!<
>Dire Sewer Rat has been killed!<
>Experience obtained: 15%<
Five minutes later, he had successfully killed the three foes, making his experience bar rise by 15%.
'Three more and I should level up.' Arthur was looking forward to leveling up again.
In order to finish the quest given by the beggar, he needed to be at least level 10 and have decent equipment. Thus the faster he reached that point, the better it would be.
'Though at this point, there shouldn't be anyone other than me that has reached level 3, right?' Arthur recalled that the record in his past life was fifteen hours.
That's how it had taken for the first player to reach level 5.
It was something that was easily broken in the future, as there were various means to power level other users. But in the current time, the only saving grace they had was sheer hard work and exploration.
"If I compare myself though, I should have set a record too." Arthur had reached Level three in less than two hours which was an unseen achievement even in his past life.
He didn't care much about setting records though, as long as his goals were fulfilled. And while he wouldn't mind showing off, this wasn't the time for it. After all with how new the game was, the players didn't even know what was classified as a 'good' achievement.
SQUEAK!
After ten more minutes of exploration, Arthur came across another Dire Sewer Rat.
Having become used to them already, Arthur skillfully dodged all its jumps and swings before stabbing the pest with his old dagger.
[-25% HP]
[-15 HP]
[Fatal Hit!]
[-60% HP]
The Hp of the Dire Sewer Rat fell to zero and Arthur's Experience bar rose once more.
"Just two more to go… shouldn't be hard." Arthur sped up now, hoping to reach the bottom level of the sewer.
The path to getting there was quite winding and went through narrow parts, but he managed to get through them all accurately. After all, he had memories of his past life on his side.
No trap could touch him and no beast could ambush him.
SQUEAK!
SQUEAK!
On his way down, he finally heard the sound of Dire Sewer Rats again. But this time he could tell that they were different.
~DING~
>Inspect Successful!<
——
Target: Large Dire Sewer Rat x 2
Rank: Uncommon
Level: 3
HP: 100%
MP: 100%
——
"Looks like I'll be going over the needed amount right away…" Arthur wasn't dissuaded.
~WHOOSH~
The first thing he did was to ignite the third torch and throw it towards the two Large Dire Sewer Rats.
[Large Sewer Rat has been ignited!]
His luck was rolling, and he managed to debuff one of the adversaries right away.
"Let's see what you got, overgrown rat!" Arthur lunged with his dagger drawn.
Slick!
His dagger cut through the hide of the animal, causing it to bleed nonstop. Arthur weaved between the two beasts while striking them like a master hunter.
And after Five minutes of battling them their HPs zeroed out again.
>Large Dire Sewer Rat has been killed!<
>Large Dire Sewer Rat has been killed!<
>Experience obtained: 20%<
>Experience bar has reached 100%<
>Player Arzhur has leveled up!<
>Five Free Stat Points have been granted!<
But before Arthur could get to distributing his free stat points, his excitement was interrupted by something else.
Squeak!
Squeak!
Squeak!
Squeak!
Squeak!
"That doesn't sound good…" Arthur heard similar sounds and knew he was in trouble.
"One… three.. Six… eight!" Arthur counted using Inspect. "There are Eight Large Dire Sewer Rats coming my way." He knew fighting them head on was not an option.
Even with his torches, it would be difficult.
"There's only one way… I need to get that weapon!"