The Black Tiger - Chapter 13 Ghost Berries

“Finally, it’s here”, Gabriel muttered while he approached the portal.

Cheers from the other beasts could be heard clearly, some stomped as well. The mass of people marched inside the swirling light at the end of the spruce-bridge. Warming his fingers with his breath, Gabriel looked at his target with admiration in his eyes.

-This is what I have been waiting for –

A smirk appears on Gabriel’s face while his eyes brighten. Walking over the old planks of wood felt intriguing, mostly because he knew his participation in the dungeon would be dangerous at his current level. Gabriel had thought he would have a lot more feelings at this moment, but he didn’t. He finally steps inside the portal only to feel a strange warmth traveling down his spine.

-Interesting-

The brightness disappeared as he came back to his senses. He stood at the edge of a jungle, at least that’s what it appears to be. Gabriel felt uneasy as he swiftly looked for any approaching danger. A beast in the plains behind him swung his rusted sword at what appeared to be a rabbit. Gabriel was curious what the creature was since he couldn’t clearly make out its appearance. Then, a realization came. He hadn’t tried ‘inspect’ yet, and it’s a skill which informs about objects, creatures and abilities.

-inspect-

[Kanhorn]

Level: 1

Status: Common
for visiting.

-Damn, is this all the information I get? Maybe if I use it enough it will level up and give more information.

Gabriel shifted his gaze back at the man who victoriously showed off his catch to other low rankers. The Kanhorn was violently ripped apart near its pelvis and the blood kept flowing out off its lifeless body. Gabriel got a good glimpse of the fallen animal. It had long hindlegs, and it had the pattern and color of a clown fish. On its snout it had a blunt horn at the size of a thumb. The horn didn’t appear to have any other function than attracting a mate, which made the creature an easy catch.

The beast still stood on the plain filled with blood red grass reaching a length of half a meter. Gabriel kept studying the small animal hanging over the man’s shoulder, until a scream filled with horror came out of some of the other beasts observing the man. Gabriel’s eyes took a bit to adjust, the only thing he could see was a leg in the grass, severed from its owner.

Gabriel couldn’t see any predators at the plain and therefor turned his sight up towards the sky. His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw the sky was made up by water, and three suns emitted through it. A dragon like creature with three rows of knife-sharp teeth covered in red liquid towered over the land they stood on. Its long neck was filled with stone-like shells and had a light blue belly with a dark blue scales hidden at some locations within the rest of the scales. Its eyes were a vibrant orange without any pupils. It was a massive monster, just the thought of its strength somehow fascinated Gabriel. However, he realized he needed to hide in the jungle. The open fields made him an easy prey for who knows what creatures which resided in the floating ocean. Before he went into hiding, he used ‘inspect’ at the massive creature who now had managed to take a hold of a woman to eat.

-inspect-

[Crownlizard]

Level: 20

Status: Rare

Gabriel looked at its level, he had read that in an E rank dungeon like this it wasn’t common to find creatures above level 10. He subtly leaves the slaughterhouse of a field into the overgrown jungle filled with plants he newer had seen other than in books at school. Near a 11-meter-tall tree layers of ghost-berries grew peacefully, it was quite common that no one utilized them for food. Beasts who are here to earn money by finding items often ignore these berries, since they are quite common. The see-through food did seem exotic, even though it often was ignored. The ghost-berries are however quite in high demand in medical research, despite beasts’ lack of knowledge of its real value. Gabriel didn’t mind, this meant he could collect many of them and sell them to his school via an anonymous site which he knew they used.

The berries weren’t anything special but are highly used in making medicines against migraine and painful joints. Touching the plant, Gabriel felt its rough spike-filled outer layer. It didn’t give off any smell and he knew it didn’t give energy to the creatures who roamed inside the portal.

-Inspect-

[Ghost berries]

Level: 1

Status: Common

As expected, …

[Alarm]

The ability ‘inspect’ has leveled up from level 1 to level 2

Gabriel’s face reacted monotony to the screen while he listened after any approaching dangers. He let out an almost soundless sigh as he sat on his knees, while carefully placing the ghost-berries in his small inventory with space to max two types of items.

“Why didn’t I take with me a backpack” he almost grunted. Luckily for him, a small bag was hidden behind the three. He carefully snuck up to it and filled it almost to the brim. Ready to continue his search for items, he had gotten up from the jungle-floor. Droplets of water started to hit his jacket who felt like an oven. Rustling from the tree’s branches inflicted a faint suspicion about the cause.

Climbing down from its hiding spot was a green furred panther with a parrot beak filled with salvia, its tongue liking around its bird-mouth.

Gabriel knew he needed to think of a resolution and that fast. The creature slowly stepped closer and closer