Chương 68: Chain Torpedo

Meno floated in the entrance bubble, breathing hard while Scorpola patrols circled in green light. He knew the correct move: leave the dungeon, find dry ground, find a place where attacks did not move through soup, and stop pretending drowning was a training method. That was the reasonable path.

"If I run away from this because it's hard, I learn nothing," he said.

"Underwater combat might matter in Titan Trial later." quit find normal dungeon no shame some shame you are good enough"I am good," Meno said, watching the nearest pack pass.

"But not good enough. This is where the gap shows." The next two hours proved the gap existed. The core issue was the realism. Veyrath had taken underwater combat too far. Holding his breath in VR made his chest tighten, made his throat fight him, and made his hands want to abandon combat and swim for air even when he knew the capsule was safe. Viewers: 81, 924"At least the audience is growing," Meno muttered.

"Apparently, I'm the only streamer dumb enough to fight underwater." only one crazy enough underwater pioneer content drowning bring wife here on date instant divorce There was no point thinking about boss routing until one pack stopped costing him half his HP. The first packs mattered most. If he could keep his health high and Chain alive, the later packs would melt. If he entered the ramp already bleeding, drowning, and facing the wrong way, the run would never work. So he practiced the first pack.

Kill one patrol, loot what he could, leave the dungeon, reset, repeat. It was not efficient leveling. It barely deserved to be called farming. Each loop took around five minutes because swimming, breathing, looting, and calming down all demanded time. Meno had to force himself to pause between pulls before the drowning pressure made him sloppy. The pack stopped being random after enough repetitions. The first guard was the anchor.

Meno had to stick to it, kick right in a half circle, then cut back left, always keeping the hunter swimming for a better harpoon angle instead of letting it line up a free shot. Underwater movement had no middle speed; either he twisted in place and let attacks slide past, or he kicked sharply and accepted that his body would drift farther than expected. That changed his attack rhythm. Attack, dodge, parry, dodge, parry, attack.

After each sideways kick, he used a dagger parry to keep Chain alive instead of trying to squeeze another stab through bad water. It killed his DPS early, but HP mattered more than speed while his Chain was low. The three guards were the fight. The mystic could not be reached while they lived. Every time Meno tried, the guards charged into the lane and formed a wall of tridents in front of the healer.

The only answer was learning the timing of all three stabs until he could dodge one, parry another, and let the third hit the guard body he was using as cover. Once the first guard died, the pack lost its spine. The second and third guards fell faster, and Meno gradually changed the kill order. Two guards first, then hunter, then mystic, then final guard became the better pattern. Leaving two ranged enemies for last had been stupid; leaving one guard alive to hold combat and kite toward the next route was useful.

The mystic's water bolts had seemed annoying until he learned to kick down and attack from above. From there, the cast angle broke. The staff lifted too slowly, the bolt path bent wrong, and Meno could stab it before the second shot. The hunter was always one kick away after that. Looting stayed ugly. The corpses drifted away if he took too long. Air hunger usually hit by the time he finished, and the 1% drowning ticks stayed unpleasant even when his HP cushion made them safer.

Going for air and returning wasted too much time, so he learned to loot through the panic and leave with his chest burning. Most drops were vendor trash. [Scorpola Shell Fragment x37] [Broken Trident Head x19] [Harpoon Splinter x11] A few broken carapace pieces joined the pile. The good drops came from mystics, and only twice. [Item Acquired: Brinefang Pearl] Quality: Rare II Type: Magical Ingredient Material Trait: Deepwater, Radiance Meno held the second pearl in the bubble and frowned.

"Rare II from a forty-to-fifty dungeon trash mob," Meno said.

"So Rare III is not normal trash loot here. The final boss past Leviathan probably tops out at Epic I, which means Epic II and III are probably Templefall Hollow or Sleepwalker-tier only." Bradbaron pearl value? sell sell sell radiance dagger rare II scam loot table solved"Not selling until I know what it does." By the twenty-fourth reset, he killed the pack while losing only six percent HP. [Level 42: 12. 6%]"Two hours," Meno said.

"Twelve percent. I have found the least efficient way to suffer." Chat reacted like he had cleared a raid boss. SIX PERCENT HP progress actually learning still terrible xp pack mastered"First pack mastered enough," Meno said. After the pack practice, Meno should have done a full clear. Instead, he wisely spent more time earning no XP and no loot. Chat called that a tragedy, which it was, but the view count kept climbing because Chain Torpedo practice looked too stupid to ignore.

Viewers: 88, 772 The first thirty minutes failed so badly that thirty became sixty. Meno needed Chain Madness active without earning the full hundred Chain too fast. He needed a Stop prompt, a destination before yellow flashed, and enough control to kick and spin the axe without vomiting into the capsule. Totally reasonable. He practiced by pulling a pack, rushing to 100 stacks, activating Madness, slowing his axe swings as much as possible, and baiting Stop. The slow swings were harder than the fast ones.

He had to lift the axe in exaggerated arcs, hold back through the water, and clip a Scorpola with the lower edge without letting the skill's speed drag him into a full burst. The weapon still felt weightless, and fighting the urge to blur his arms was its own kind of strain. Then yellow flashed. Meno set his angle before red, kicked, spun, closed his eyes, and launched. Most early attempts went nowhere useful. One launch sent him sideways into the wall.

One sent him straight down into a lower patrol and forced an emergency reset. One spun him so crookedly that he surfaced in the entrance bubble gagging while chat spammed steak-burger warnings. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. getting dizzy watching Bagelmonster ruined him propeller rating 2/10 again again"JaxxonVale should have to do this for ten minutes," Meno said, breathing hard.

"Then he can go back to staff-tapping golems." Gradually, the torpedo became less random. He learned to close his eyes during the spin and trust the setup instead of trying to watch the water twist around him. Watching made him dizzy. Feeling the direction through the first kick worked better, as long as he had memorized where the next pack and air bubble were. He memorized the chamber layer by layer.

The top layer had five trash packs, the entrance bubble, one bubble across the chamber, and two side bubbles left and right. The second layer had three packs and three bubbles spaced around the cone. The third had two packs and one bubble west. The boss layer had one bubble beside the Etched Leviathan Crab. The map formed in his head as a route of breaths and bodies. Pull. Kill. Leave one. Madness. Stop. Torpedo. Air if needed. Next pack. Repeat.

After two hours of Chain Torpedo practice, Meno floated in the entrance bubble with both hands braced against the wall, no longer immediately nauseous, and steady enough at last to try the full route.

"Okay, guys," he said.

"After four hours of nearly drowning, I think we are ready to play. This dungeon is great. Don't skip it." skipping it never entering not happening guide says skip underwater no When the nearest pack swung close, Meno launched headfirst into it. The first engagement looked nothing like the old attempts. He hit the lead guard, kicked right before the hunter lined up, parried the near trident, and kicked left to keep the guard between himself and the other two.

The mystic healed, but the damage pressure stayed steady. At one hundred Chain, Meno did not panic. At three hundred, the first guard started cracking. At six hundred, the pack began losing members faster than the healer could decide who mattered. [Compound Swing | Chain: 612 | Damage: +6120%] The mystic died with a dagger in its throat. Meno had 98% HP left. Only one guard remained. He activated Chain Madness and slowed the axe deliberately, kiting the last guard left toward the next approaching patrol.

The guard's HP dropped too quickly anyway, so Meno pulled the cuts wide and shallow, wasting damage without missing. Yellow flashed. Meno kicked. Red filled his vision. The axe spun. Chain Torpedo launched him straight into the second pack, and just as Stop expired, he clipped the hunter so hard its HP almost vanished before the mystic caught it with a desperate heal. TORPEDO HIT BAGELBLAST holy straight line GO GO Meno opened his eyes as the Stop prompt cleared. The axe deleted two guards before Madness expired.

[Compound Swing | Chain: 712 | Damage: +7120%] Daggers returned. Meno left the third guard alive and worked through the practiced rhythm: dodge, parry, attack, kick, attack. The hunter died next because he refused to leave two ranged problems alive, then the mystic collapsed under a downward angle strike. By then, the trailing guard from the previous pack had finally caught up, turning the end of the pull into a two-guard fight.

Meno killed the old guard, kept the new one alive, and dragged combat toward the next route. [Compound Swing | Chain: 812 | Damage: +8120%] Meno activated Chain Madness again. He kited the remaining guard toward the third pack, hit slowly, and baited another Stop. The yellow warning came late enough that the guard nearly died in his hands.

"Come on." Yellow. Kick. He torpedoed into the third pack, holding the swing until red cleared. Then he extended the axe for reach and clipped the hunter again. This time the hunter was already low enough that one more hit killed it before the healer could save anything. The dagger phase became slaughter. Two guards died. The straggler guard from before died. The mystic tried to cast water bolts, but Meno came from above and cut it apart before the second bubble formed.

Meno dragged the remaining guard toward an air pocket while Chain Madness came back. [Compound Swing | Chain: 1012 | Damage: +10120%] He entered the bubble just long enough to inhale, never fully relaxing, never letting combat drop. The guard stabbed at the edge of the pocket, and Meno hit it with careful slow axe cuts until yellow flashed.

"Good." He launched into the fourth pack. By now the damage was becoming a new problem. The fourth patrol fell too quickly. Guards died before he could position them. The mystic's heal was useless. Meno barely got enough time to reset Madness at twelve hundred Chain before the last body broke apart. [Compound Swing | Chain: 1212 | Damage: +12120%] chain too high bad for torpedo overkill route suffering from success He torpedoed into the fifth pack, keeping the spin tight for momentum until red cleared.

Then he widened the axe path for damage, and the axe spun through each Scorpola multiple times, killing the entire pack at once. The water went briefly clean. Too clean. One guard from the fourth pack caught up behind him, the only thing keeping combat alive. His Chain sat at 1248, and Chain Madness still had 64 Chain worth of hits before it ended. Meno tapped the guard as lightly as the axe allowed while kicking backward, praying for Stop. Yellow flashed before the next hit.

RNGBEADGOD that was lucky he won't make it He angled down, and the torpedo blasted him into the second layer. He held the swing through the launch, then released it as Stop expired, hitting the next pack like a falling saw and killing them instantly too. [Compound Swing | Chain: 1292 | Damage: +12920%] Four packs remained. The lone guard chased him from behind, too far away to keep Chain safe and too fragile to use for another Stop prompt. The route was breaking under his damage.

Meno aimed toward the boss bubble instead and kicked. [Break Surplus Activated] [Chain Break Prevented] [Compound Swing | Chain: 1302 | Damage: +13020%] The guard caught up and stabbed him from behind. Meno delayed his next attack as long as he dared. The Stop barely arrived in time. He spun, shot downward, and punched through the water into the boss air pocket. His head broke the surface long enough for one breath.

Then he kicked away from the air, drove himself back underwater, and attacked the Etched Leviathan Crab as the Stop prompt cleared, his health at 84%. [Chain Madness Ended] [Compound Swing | Chain: 1322 | Damage: +13220%] The crab turned, and the four remaining packs began converging from above. Meno ignored them and drove his dagger into the boss. For the first time, the Etched Leviathan Crab's HP bar moved like it was supposed to under a real Chain: 94%, 89%, 79%. The crab slammed one claw.

Meno dodged toward the chasing guard because the guard had become his Chain insurance. The claw missed, but the Runic Shockwake detonated outward and clipped him anyway, dropping his HP to 61% and pushing him into the guard. His dagger hit on contact. The guard died. Meno kicked back toward the boss and drove his dagger into the shell before Chain could slip. shockwave tax boss melts packs coming don't look up LOOK UP Meno looked up only once.

The remaining Scorpolas descended in a clustered swarm: tridents first, hunters splitting for angles, mystics raising staffs behind them. Too many. Too late to care. He attacked the boss like he was trying to carve through the shell before the packs reached him, driving the HP bar down to 62%, then 50%. The runes on the crab flared bright. A burst of light exploded from its shell. [Sleepless Script] Stun resisted. The four packs reached him. Tridents drove in from both sides, and harpoons cut through the water.

Meno circled around the boss, using the crab's huge body as cover against the hunters. One harpoon almost scraped his thigh, another missed by an inch, and a trident slammed into his plate chest hard enough to knock his HP to 45%. [Compound Swing | Chain: 1422 | Damage: +14220%] Chain Madness activated, and the axe appeared. One guard vanished under the first cuts. A yellow Stop prompt flashed exactly as the boss raised both claws for another slam.

Meno kicked sideways, spun, and Chain Torpedo shot him around the crab's shell. The boss smashed the water where he had been, and the shockwave bloomed behind him. Meno came out the other side cutting through a line of guards just as the Stop expired. [Kill Confirmed: Scorpola Guard] [Kill Confirmed: Scorpola Guard] [Kill Confirmed: Scorpola Guard] The rest of Madness went into the boss. Mystics started throwing water bolts, and one slammed into his ribs as the daggers returned, dropping his HP to 35%.

[Compound Swing | Chain: 1522 | Damage: +15220%] Meno stopped managing the field. The boss was low enough. He stabbed, dropping the Etched Leviathan Crab to 17% HP. A harpoon clipped his shoulder, and Sleepless Grip blocked the immobilize. Meno stayed on the crab's glowing shell and drove the Rune Dagger into the same crack again, cutting it down to 9% HP. A water bolt hit his back, but he did not turn. The crab's HP hit 1%. The final stab split the rune line across the carapace.

[Kill Confirmed: Etched Leviathan Crab] A Stop prompt flashed as the boss died. Chain Madness was not ready. Meno kicked backward through the red warning, dodging two mystic bolts and one harpoon. Another harpoon skimmed past his side. He still had Chain. The Stop expired. [Compound Swing | Chain: 1566 | Damage: +15660%] He swung Hundredfold into the ranged cluster.

[Hundredfold Cleave] The silver arc tore through the water, detonated in the middle of the remaining Scorpolas, and erased the pack in one violent medium-range pulse. [Chain Broken: Hundredfold Cleave] [Achievement Acquired: Underwater Combat Mastery] Meno opened his mouth to celebrate. Water rushed in. He flailed toward the boss air bubble, broke the surface, and coughed so hard the capsule haptics made his real throat join the complaint.

His hands grabbed the stone edge while he heaved for air, furious that the dungeon had punished him after the boss was already dead. Chat lost language. WTF WAS THAT NO WAY ACHIEVEMENT CHAIN TORPEDO BAGELMONSTER VIP OPEN ACHIEV HE DRANK THE SEA Meno spat water from his mouth and dragged himself farther into the bubble.

"Almost," he said between coughs, "according to plan." He leaned back, breathing hard, then looked down. A blue beam rose from the Etched Leviathan Crab's corpse, and his exhaustion stopped mattering for a second.

"This is going to be a pain to farm," he said, staring at the beam.

"So it better be something good." Meno wiped water from his eyes and opened the achievement.

"Wait," he said.

"I unlocked a subclass?"