Only Awakeners between Level 7 and Level 11 can enter the Skeleton Chamber dungeon.
If a dungeon were set to Normal Difficulty, the strongest awakened monsters inside would be Level 11, the same level as the dungeon itself.
At Hard Difficulty, the strongest monsters would be at least two levels higher than those found in a Normal dungeon, and the same increase would apply to the other types of monsters as well.
As the difficulty level rises, the levels, attributes, skills, and even the number of the strongest monsters within the dungeon increase accordingly.
Since the dungeon Ethan and the raid team were entering was set to Nightmare Difficulty, the monsters inside were vastly more powerful than those found in a Normal dungeon, both in level and overall strength.
There were many types of creatures within a dungeon.
The most common classifications were normal monsters, elite monsters, and boss monsters, and their levels and abilities scaled even higher as the dungeon's difficulty increased.
Upon entering the dungeon, they found themselves standing at the entrance of a massive cave, dimly illuminated by flickering fire torches.
From deep within the cavern, Ethan could hear eerie whispering echoes drifting toward them.
"I will give a brief overview of the dungeon since we have a new member with us," the leader of the raid team said.
"There are three stages to clearing this dungeon. In the first stage, we will face a swarm of normal monsters, which should not be too difficult to handle. The real challenge begins in the second and third stages," he continued.
"The second stage will have elite monsters leading a swarm of normal monsters, and in the final stage, we will have to face the boss monster, elite monsters, and normal monsters."
He looked at everyone. "Everyone understands?"
Seeing everyone nod, he nodded as well.
"Combat professions will lead. Controller professions will attack from behind while providing defense. Support professions will heal and use debuff and buff skills, and magic professions will handle ranged attacks," the leader said as he unsheathed his sword.
"Looks like this team has been raiding for quite some time now…"
Ethan followed closely behind, quietly observing the others.
The leader of the raid team was level 10 at the peak of Tier 1, while the rest of the members were levels 8 and 9.
Ethan, at level 7, was the lowest-level awakener in the group and the only one below level 8.
With a little effort, the team should be able to clear the dungeon without much trouble.
Just as they had said, they did not really need Ethan's power to succeed.
Still, anything could happen inside a dungeon.
Ethan was glad he had joined.
Tagging along with a raid team like this gave him a valuable chance to gain experience, and although they did not expect him to fight, he intended to use this opportunity to level up however he could.
After walking for a couple of minutes, they reached the deepest part of the cave.
The whispering noises that were once only soft murmurs had now intensified into a full, unsettling chorus, meaning the monsters were close.
"Get ready," the leader said as he took his battle stance.
The sword in his hand suddenly ignited, releasing intense heat.
"Flame Swordsman..."
Ethan muttered, glancing at the raid team leader.
The Flame Swordsman was a mid-grade combat-class profession, positioned just one step below the Flame Knight profession, which was a high-grade profession.
Suddenly, the chorus of whispering vanished as if it had never existed.
In the next few moments, they heard a crackling sound, like thousands of bones clanking together.
An army of skeletal soldiers emerged, each one standing six feet tall, wielding swords and spears, clad in armor that exposed their skeletal faces.
A grey aura surrounded them as they marched forward.
"Magic class professions use ranged attacks. Support and controller class professions use buff and debuff skills," the Flame Swordsman commanded.
In the next second, skill after skill flew out.
Long-range attacks rained down on the marching skeletal army.
Then came the buffing skills.
Ethan felt several take effect, while the skeletons were struck by waves of debuffs.
[You have been affected by the skill: Sharp Will.]
[You have been affected by the skill: Wooden Body.]
[All class skill effectiveness temporarily increased by 15%]
[Sense attribute temporarily increased by 15%]
[Strength attribute temporarily increased by 10%]
[Stamina attribute temporarily increased by 10%]
[Dexterity attribute temporarily increased by 10%]
"These effects are amazing," Ethan muttered as he turned his eyes back to the scene in front of him.
The entire cave had transformed into a battlefield, and the raid team relentlessly attacked the army of skeletal soldiers.
"I guess I should do my part," Ethan said as he summoned his Undead Knights from his [Undead Graveyard].
His shadow expanded like an abyss, and seventeen figures rose from within it, revealing themselves as armored knights.
Inside their armor were undead corpses possessing the attributes of knights.
Through the slits in their helmets, their eyes glowed with pale white, corpse-like pupils.
"What the hell?"
"Are those summons?"
"That guy is a summoner?"
The others were surprised by the appearance of the Undead Knights.
Ethan gave a mental command, and in the next instant, the Undead Knights charged toward the skeletons, their black swords raised.
At the same time, Ethan activated another one of his skills.
[Mourning Rain: Skill Activated]
Dark, undead clouds manifested across the ceiling of the cave, and moments later, black raindrops began to fall.
Every skeleton touched by the rain became erratic, their motor functions deteriorating and their senses blurring.
Strangely, none of Ethan's raid teammates were affected.
"Is that a debuffing skill? The movements of these skeletons are all messed up."
Everyone on the raid team suddenly felt the battle grow noticeably stranger.
It wasn't that the skeletons had become weaker. Rather, their movements had turned clumsy, as if something was distracting them from properly attacking the intruders.
Their strikes slowed unnaturally, dragging through the air, making them far easier for the raid team to handle.
This surprised Ethan as well.
He hadn't expected a group of skeletons, creatures without flesh or brains, to be affected by a skill that interfered with the mind.
Ethan exerted his will over the Undead Knights, directing them to strike the clumsy skeletons.
However, although the [Mourning Rain] skill affected the enemies' behavior, it did not weaken their attributes.
Their raw stats were still higher than those of the Undead Knights.
Because his summons were weaker in direct confrontation, Ethan chose a different approach.
He relied on overwhelming numbers instead, ordering his undead to swarm each skeleton one by one until it was destroyed.
The strategy obviously worked.
Before long, Ethan noticed his experience beginning to rise.
[Experience increased]
[Experience increased]
[Experience increased]
When raiding dungeons as a team, contrary to what most people believed, experience was not shared among teammates.
You only gain experience from monsters you personally killed or assisted in killing, and even then, the amount of experience earned corresponds to your actual contribution in defeating them.
The battle continued for an entire hour.
Even with buffs and debuffs applied, the skeleton army remained formidable, requiring significant effort to finally bring them down.
[You have cleared the 1st Stage of the Skeleton Chamber Dungeon]
"Phew… damn, I didn't think Nightmare difficulty would be this hard. It's on a completely different level compared to the Hard difficulty dungeon," one of the magic-class professionals said, sighing as she sat on the floor, clearly exhausted.
There were three combat-class professionals, two controller-class professionals, two magic-class professionals, two support-class professionals, and finally Ethan, making a team of ten.
Right then, one of the support-class professionals activated a recovery skill.
[You have been affected by the support skill [Field of Recovery]]
[Your wounds are rapidly healing]
[Your Spiritual Energy recovery rate has increased]
[Your Stamina is being rapidly replenished]
The entire area was suddenly drenched in a warm yellowish-white aura.
Everyone within its range felt their wounds healing, their stamina returning, and their spiritual energy regenerating at a much faster rate.
Ethan also sat down, enjoying the effects as he retrieved his Undead Knight back into his Undead Graveyard.
They had been heavily injured in the last battle, but inside his Undead Graveyard their regeneration was boosted several times.
It would only take a few minutes for them to return to peak condition.
"Are you a summoner?" one of the controller-class professionals asked.
"Yes," Ethan nodded.
"Hmm, I'm glad it was you who came along. You were really helpful..." the raid team leader said with a sigh.
"This is our first time raiding a Nightmare difficulty dungeon. I've cleared this same dungeon on Hard difficulty before, but I never imagined the gap between Hard and Nightmare would be this big," he continued solemnly.
"Are you confident about defeating the boss?" Ethan asked.
"Yes. It'll be very hard, but we should be able to do it… I think," he chuckled.
"If you don't mind me asking, is there a specific reason you're raiding this dungeon on this difficulty?" Ethan continued.
The raid team leader explained, "You see, clearing this dungeon on Nightmare or Hell difficulty rewards an all-class equipment set called the [Skeletal Warden Set]. If someone equips the entire set, all of their attributes increase by 25%, their spiritual energy recovery increases by 50%, and they unlock a skill called [Bone Shield]."
He paused, then added, "I've already reached level 10, and one of my three unlocked skill slots is still empty. I'm about to attempt a solo clear on a dungeon that guarantees a combat-class skill card reward, but with my current capabilities, I'm not confident I can manage it. I need to rely on equipment like this just to have a chance at clearing a Hell difficulty dungeon."
"Even clearing Nightmare or Hell difficulty does not guarantee that all the pieces of the set will drop at once, since it is based on chance. So until we complete the full set, we will have to keep challenging this dungeon over and over."
Ethan nodded in understanding.
He felt like he had just gained a whole new perspective on how difficult it was to fill skill slots and how hard awakeners have it when it comes to acquiring skills.
...
[A/N: If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider adding it to your library and supporting it with some Power Stones. Arigato!]