Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 508: The Secret Of The Whispering Valley [Part 1]

With the help of the map and the Dwarven sensitivity towards anything that had been left by their race, they found the entrance of the ruins.

Or at least, they stumbled upon it without knowing that it was the entrance.

A magical formation had been put in place, which hid the entrance by making it seem like it was the wall of the narrow path that they were walking on.

If they continued to follow the trail, they would have missed it completely.

The map allowed Fran and Finn to strengthen their sensing abilities, which led them to the discovery of the gate that was protected by a powerful illusion.

"Looks like this is the place that we’re looking for," Fran said as she extended her hand to the wall, where it passed through without any resistance.

"Very clever trick." Finn smirked. "Only Dwarves will be able to find this place for sure."

Dwarves might not specialize in casting magic like the Elves, but they were experts in making Runic Weapons and Magical Formations.

This was why trying to bring down a Dwarven Fortress wasn’t an easy task. During the early days when war had been a common occurrence on the continent, the Dwarves had been able to live relatively peaceful lives within their underground cities.

"Well then, shall we go inside?" Fran took the lead and entered the hidden entrance of the ruins.

Finn followed behind her and Alex followed behind him.

Lumi walked a few steps away from Alex and Lex took the rear position in order to protect their escape route.

The cave was very dark. Only those who had Dark Vision like the dwarves could enter it without needing any kind of lighting.

Lumi could see in pitch-black darkness as well. Since Lex was blind, the darkness didn’t really make a difference to him.

The only one that needed a light source was Alex, but with the help of his Mimic Lantern, he was able to see perfectly in the long hallway that could easily allow six people to walk side by side.

"This place is quite old," Finn muttered. "My guess is that it has been abandoned for at least six to seven hundred years."

"Six to seven hundred years?" Alex frowned. "Is that a long or short time for Dwarves?"

"Dwarves can live up to three-hundred years," Finn stated. "So, twice that number can be considered a long time even for us."

The group then arrived at a spacious cavern with a ceiling that was at least fifteen meters high.

Fran who was leading the way suddenly stopped and raised her hand.

"We have company." Fran took a fighting stance. "And there are a lot of them."

Alex couldn’t see the path up ahead, but after opening his map, he saw dozens of red blinking dots that were headed in their direction.

Finn summoned his axe and stood beside his sister, cursing under his breath. "Cave Rock Spiders and there’s so many."

Cave Rock Spiders were Rank 3 Monsters. Just like their name implied, their bodies were as hard as rocks.

"Light!" Alex cast the spell which created a floating orb of light above his head, illuminating his surroundings.

Unlike the others who could fight perfectly in the dark, he needed a light source to protect himself from the monsters.

He returned the Mimic Lantern to his storage ring and took out Everguard and his War Hammer, Sacrament.

Lumi snapped her fingers and several Fox Fires appeared around her.

As for Lex, he took out a pipe, lit it, then started to smoke. The old man leaned on the wall, enjoying his little break.

Clearly, he had no intention of helping the teenagers handle the monsters that were rushing towards them.

"Fran, you take the left, I’ll take the center," Alex said. "Finn, please handle the right. Lumi, support those who you think need help."

Fran nodded and lunged to the left, her gauntlets glowed faintly, eager for battle.

Finn didn’t like being ordered around, but he understood that if they wanted to survive, they needed to work together.

The dwarf charged to the right and raised his war axe to hack anything trying to block their path.

Alex used his Shield Charge skill and rammed the Cave Rock Spider in front of him.

"Unyielding Pact!" Alex shouted.

Immediately, a ripple of magic spread out from him. The skill boosted the resolve of his allies, increasing their resistance against fear, charm, and mind-affecting effects.

He subconsciously cast this skill because he remembered that Lumi hated spiders. Also, he didn’t know what kind of abilities these Rock Cave Spiders had, so increasing their resistance against debilitating abilities was a must.

Lex quietly watched the battle of the teenagers and couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction at the two dwarves, who were fighting extremely well.

Fran was very agile. She was incredibly strong too.

With every punch or kick, a Rock Spider would be sent flying. Their rock-hard carapaces cracked under her merciless strikes.

As for Finn, his axe was surprisingly sharp. Heck, it was even sharp and durable enough to cut through stone as if he was just chopping wood!

As for Alex, his war hammer was the perfect weapon against his opponents.

Also, the magical shields that circled around his body were bashing any spider that came too near, allowing him to take a breather from the dozens of spiders that were trying to swarm them.

Lumi was unleashing purple fireballs at the spiders, supporting Alex, Fran, and Finn by covering their blindspots.

Although this was the first time that the four of them were fighting as a team, their coordination wasn’t so bad.

Perhaps because all of them were strong enough to handle monsters of this level, they were able to defeat their opponents in less than five minutes.

The Rock Cave Spiders that died crumbled into fine gravel, leaving behind their Monster Cores.

In order to make sure that Finn wouldn’t feel disgruntled, Alex asked him to store the monster cores so that they could divide their spoils after they finished their exploration.

Finn frowned, but still agreed to this arrangement.

It was very obvious to Alex that Finn didn’t like him very much, which was perfectly understandable. Even in the game, Finn was cold towards those who approached his sister.

Alex was very tempted to call him brother-in-law, but he understood that the moment he did that, Finn would hack him to pieces, starting with Little Alex.

"I’m sure that this is not the last of them," Fran said. "Everyone, please be on your guard."

Alex, Finn, and Lumi nodded. Everyone knew that if you found one spider monster, there would always be more hiding somewhere.

And they were right.

The group spent nearly an hour fighting against dozens of spider monsters at a time. Alex couldn’t help but wonder if they had actually entered a dungeon instead of a dwarven ruin.

Actually, some Dwarven Ruins could transform into Dungeons if they managed to gather enough magical energy, elemental energy, or even miasma after a long time.

He hadn’t had the time earlier to check his map properly, but after doing so, he confirmed his suspicion.

———

First Floor of the Whispering Dungeon.

———

That was what was written on his map. He was suddenly relieved that he hadn’t asked Charles to accompany him. A monster outbreak would have forced them to flee for their lives.