With the pns in pce, Draco turo face Dimitra, who was the o uake her trial.
Dimitra, notig his gaze, approached him with a determiride.
"Are you ready?" Draco asked, his voice tinged with a hint of apprehension.
The trial he had devised for Dimitra was no easy feat, and he found himself doubting whether he had set the parameters too challenging.
Dimitra, as an archer, wielded a bow and arrows as her primary ons.
As with any such armaments, the bow and arrow had i weaknesses.
They were not well-suited for cle bat, their rate of fire was retively slow, and their ammunition was limited.
While the skill of the user could bridge the gap in rate of fire, the bow and arrow still lost much of its advantages as oured deeper into the dungeon.
Fortunately for Dimitra, she was blessed with special abilities that teracted some of these shortings.
Due to her skill, Draco had struggled exteo determihe appropriate monster she would fad the ditions under which she would fight.
Her special skills made rger oppos within the upper middle floors easily manageable, as her ability could be easily triggered.
Additionally, her skill enhanced peion, rendering defensive monsters less of a threat to her.
Speed-type monsters seemed like a viable option, but Draly found a few that were both fast and durable enough within the first fifteen floors of the dungeon.
The ohat met the criteria were a bit too much for her curreo handle, so he removed them from the list.
He needed mohat were beyond her but were someossible to beat, while als as training material.
Ultimately, Draco settled on the Hell hounds as Dimitra's oppos.
These dog-like monsters possessed the ability to unleash magical fmes from their mouths.
While physically weak, they could make up for it with their numbers and with the added restris Draco would impose, Dimitra was in for the fight of her life.
The Hell hounds' ratacks and agility would pose a signifit challenge for Dimitra, who would also be limited to a mere sixteen arrows.
Her special skill required ten secutive hits on the same target to be triggered, but the Hell hounds' cked the durability to e.
This was going to make using her special skill effectively, a daunting task.
Draco also took into at the fact that she might try to use her bow for melee attacks ter her special skill, but it wasn't going to be easy.
Going for melee attacks against the Hell hounds was quite risky for a ranged fighter, as she could be bitten or even worse, burned.
Draco felt he might have been overly demanding, but Dimitra's stroermination was evident.
"I don't want to be the first one, fighting with a reduced difficulty," she had responded when he had voiced his s.
Seeing the determination burning in her eyes, Draco had no choice but to relent and hope that Dimitra knew what she was doing.
With everything in pce, Draco led the group to the room ohirteenth floor, where he had set up the trial.
The air was thick with anticipation as they watched Dimitra ehe arena, their breaths held in abated silence.
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Dimitra's boots echoed against the damp, bedrock floor as she cautiously made her way deeper into the room.
Her keen eyes sed the area, alert for any signs of danger.
The terrain was uneven, which could be both useful and troublesome if she wasn't careful.
Large, crumbled rocks were scattered across the room creating dark spots as they cast shadows on the walls, potential cover or an opportunity for an ambush.
Gazing upward, Dimitra he small and rge stactites that menagly hung from the ceiling.
"I should remember that," she muttered, itting the observation to memory.
The air was stale and heavy, the only sounds being the dripping of water and the faint scuttling of unseeures.
Suddenly, a low, guttural growl reached her ears.
Dimitra immediately gripped her bow tightly, her fingers calloused from years of training, and whirled around, bow raised and ready, just as a pack, sisting of 8 hell hounds emerged from the shadows.
Their jagged, fang-filled maws were bared in a snarl, eyes glowing with a malevolent intelligenbsp;
Fmes flickered at the back of their throats, promising a deadly assault.
Dimitra's heart pounded in her chest, but she refused to let fear e her.
Eight against ohe odds were not in her favor, but she was determio survive this enter.
Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Dimitra nocked an arrow a fly.
The first hell hound howled in pain as the projectile struck its shoulder, slowing its charge.
Quickly, Dimitra fired her sed arrow, this one aimed at the hound's head.
The hell hound's eyes widened in surprise before the arrow found its mark, and the beast colpsed to the ground, unmoving.
"Seve," Dimitra muttered, already reag for another arrow.
As she drew back the b, a stream of searing fmes erupted from one of the hell hounds' mouths, f her to dive to the side, dropping an arrow in the process.
The fmes licked at the edge of her samander wool cloak, but the fabric held firm, proteg her from the scorg heat.
Dimitra rolled to her feet, nog her fourth arrow and unleashing it at the hell hound that had breathed the fmes.
The arrow struck the creature's fnk, causing it to howl in pain and momentarily break formation.
But its panions surged forward, their fiery breath scorg the air.
Dimitra deftly dodged the streams of fme, using the uerrain and the scattered rocks as cover.
Nog her fifth arrow, Dimitra aimed for the third hell hound's head, but the shot went wide as the creature suddenly darted to the side.
Cursing under her breath, Dimitra quickly re-positioned, using her agility and the samander wool's fire resistao evade the hounds' attacks.
She released her sixth arrow, this time striking one of the hell hounds in the fnk, causing it to howl in pain and stumble.
Seeing an opportunity, Dimitra nocked a seventh arrow and took aim, but as she released it, the hell hound she had wounded suddenly lurched forward, disrupting her shot.
The arrow flew wide, embedding itself in the rocky wall.
Frustration welled up inside her, but she pushed it down, focused on her move.
Dodging a barrage of fiery projectiles, Dimitra retreated, her eyes sing the area for any advantage.
She spotted a rge, crumbling rock that could potentially be used as long term cover.
Quickly, she dashed towards it, narrowly avoiding a stream of fmes that scorched the ground where she had just been standing.
Taking shelter behind the rock, Dimitra nocked her eight arroeered around the rocks edge, targeting one of the closest hell hounds that followed her.
Her shot found its mark, pierg the creature's eye, and it fell to the ground, its death throes eg through the chamber.
Dimitra felt a surge of triumph, but it was short-lived as the remaining hell hounds redoubled their assault, their fiery breath lig at the edges of her cover.
Dimitra's quiver was growing lighter, and she knew she had to make every shot t.
Nog her ninth arrow, she carefully timed her movements, waiting for the right moment to strike.
As a hell hound lunged around the er towards her, she let the arrow fly, striking it square ihroat.
The creature colpsed, its fiery breath sputtering and dying.
The remaining hell hounds, sensing the tide turning against them, began pag in front of Dimitra's position, their eyes glowing with a newfound caution.
Dimitra knew she had to act quickly before they decided to overwhelm her.
Retrieving the arrow from the fallen hell hound close to her, she and waited, her muscles tensed and ready.
‘2 injured, 3 uninjured and 8 arrows in my quiver huh’ Dimitra quickly assessed her situation.
She quickly sed the room, looking for any advantage she could use to serve her ammunition.
Her eyes nded oactites above the two injured hell hounds who kept the furthest distance, her mind quickly formuting a pn.
It was quite risky, as missing the stactites or if it’s durability was too high, she would be wasting a precious arrow, but this was her ce to take out two hell hounds at the cost of one arrow.
With her mind made up, Dimitra aimed and timed her attack carefully, the loose an arrow, striking one of the rger stactites.
To her luck, the roation trembled and then broke free, crashing down onto the pack of hell hounds.
The two injured creatures that were her target got crushed beh it, their anguished cries eg through the chamber.
"Three left," Dimitra muttered, her voice tinged with relief.
But her little triumph was short-lived as the remaining hell hounds had regrouped, their eyes burning with a renewed fury.
The hell hounds opeheir mouths, unleashing a barrage of fming projectiles, shattering the rock that protected her.
Now in the open, Dimitra began dodging and weaving, her agility and the prote of her samander wool saving her from the worst of the rapid assault.
But one of the fiery shots grazed her uncovered arm, and she hissed in pain.
Clutg her wounded arm, Dimitra nocked another arrow and fired, but the arrow fell short, sinking into the ground in front of the hell hounds.
She cursed under her breath, realizing that her injury had affected the strength of her draw.
The hell hounds charged forward, their razor-sharp cws ah bared.
Dimitra backpedaled, firing arrow after arrow, but the creatures were relentless.
She mao take down one more, but the other two were closing in, their jaws snapping dangerously close to her.
Dimitra's heart raced as she frantically searched for a way out of this predit.
She only had around 3 arrows left, and she knew she o make the st 3 shots t.
Steeling her resolve, she took a deep breath and focused her aim, letting the first arrow fly.
The projectile strue of the hell hounds in the eye, causing it to howl in agony and stagger backward.
Dimitra wasted no time, nog another arrow and sending it straight into the creature's open mouth.
The hell hound choked and gurgled, colpsing to the ground.
"O," Dimitra said, her voice barely above a whisper.
She turned her attention to the final hell hound, which had a look of pure mali its fabsp;
The creature opes mouth, unleashing a torrent of fmes that forced Dimitra to take cover behind one of the few rocks left.
As the fmes dissipated, Dimitra emerged, only to find the hell hound had charged straight at her.
She nocked her st arrow and took aim, but her hands were shaking from the strain of the battle.
The arrow flew wide, missing its mark entirely.
Dimitra cursed under her breath, dropping her bow and drawing her dagger.
The hell hound pounced, its jaws snapping just inches from her fabsp;
Dimitra gritted her teeth and thrust her dagger upwards, driving it forcefully into the creature's vulnerable throat before it could unleash its searing fmes.
The hell hound vulsed violently as the fmes it had been building up spilled out in all dires, engulfing its own body iense bze.
With a final, agonizing growl, the beast disied at Dimitra's feet.
Standing there amidst the sm remains, Dimitra panted heavily, her clothes and armor singed and her arm throbbing with pain.
But she had prevailed, emerging victorious against the overwhelming odds she had faced.
As she begarek back towards the exit, Dimitra's mind raced with the events of the brutal battle.
She had been forced to rely on her quick reflexes, sheer determination and luck rather than her specialized bat abilities.
The enviro of the chamber had worked in her favor, but she khat in an open battlefield, the outay have been very different.
Dimitra gritted her teeth in frustration, realizing that she had not even had the ce to utilize her unique skill during the frontation.
This realization only further fueled her determination to bee even more cautious and strategically-minded itles that y ahead.
With each heavy step, Dimitra's thoughts turo thinking of area she could do better.
The road ahead was uain, but for now, she was alive - and that was the only thing that truly mattered.