Harry Potter: The Gamer's Dimension Chapter 3

Hi all,

Here’s the next chapter. Harry has two difficult fights, and the second one may be too much for him to handle.

Chapter 3

Before beginning his fight with Echidna, Harry took a moment to survey the battlefield further. Even though his time was limited, he wouldn’t rush into battle without first carefully considering his options. That is what old, reckless Harry would do.

The pit was several metres deep, with steeply sloping sides. Once inside the pit, it would be difficult to escape, especially if you were pursued by a monster. The pit’s dimensions were similar to those of a house, and the limited space made it difficult to face a faster opponent. Echidna was faster and more experienced at navigating the terrain.

Harry looked up at the ceiling. A protruding rock in the shape of a stalactite hung above the monster. If he could reach it and make it fall, it would cause significant damage to Echidna. Fortunately, there were several naturally formed handholds on the walls and ceilings that would allow him to ascend to the stalactite, as if the System had created this scenario as an additional option for combating Echidna. It was dangerous because one slip would cause him to fall into the pit. Even if he survived the fall, he would lose his initiative and be at a disadvantage.

He was confident in his plan because of the monster's behaviour. Even though Harry was visible from the bottom of the pit, it hadn’t moved an inch. That led him to believe that the monster had a range in which it could detect an enemy and wouldn’t react otherwise. If that were true, it wouldn’t respond, even if he hung from the ceiling.

He picked up a stone from the ground and threw it against the wall. Even though it was quite loud within the confines of the room, Echidna didn’t react. The experiment was the most reassuring to him because it was critical to the success of his plan.

Harry took the first available handhold on the wall near the doorway. Despite his lack of climbing experience, the task appeared to be relatively straightforward. He began climbing the wall, making certain to keep three points of contact with it at all times. When he reached the ceiling, he took a moment to determine the best grip for transitioning to the ceiling. This manoeuvre proved to be the most dangerous part of the climb because it required a high level of coordination and strength to safely transition from a vertical climb to a horizontal position suspended from the ceiling.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed two ceiling supports and hoisted his entire body up, then scrambled for footholds until he was safely hanging upside down with four points of contact. He had almost slipped because it was difficult to support his body weight. If he knew he was going to try this before, he would have put his points into Strength. He could already feel his arms straining, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on.

He crawled along the ceiling, tucking his body in as close as possible to relieve the strain on his arms. When he got close to the rock, he made sure to anchor himself to the ceiling before raising his hand and taking aim. Fortunately, the rock was narrow enough that it shouldn’t take much effort to dislodge it. Harry unleashed a bolt of lightning, which struck the base of the rock and gouged out a large portion of it. He did it twice more and then heard a crack. The rock broke away from the ceiling and fell into the pit.

Echidna looked up at the last second and attempted to move out of the way. It was only partially successful, as the rock sliced through one of its arms, nearly decapitating it. The monster screamed in pain as it collapsed to the ground.

He watched Echidna's HP bar drop by half in an instant.

Harry clicked his tongue. “Dammit.”

He expected the rock to kill the monster instantly, freeing him to slowly climb down from the ceiling. It was time to carry out his contingency plan. Given that the monster was still alive, he needed to get off the ceiling as soon as possible. He wasn’t sure if the monster would notice him now that he had initiated the fight. He broke out in a cold sweat just thinking about the creature hurling its spear at him because he was an easy target. Unfortunately, he was unable to cripple the arm that held the spear.

However, there was a simple solution. A small ledge on the far wall would allow him to descend quickly. He crawled across the ceiling, and as he approached the other side, he heard the monster beneath him begin to stir after the injury it had sustained. If he had been confident in his ability to survive the fall, he would have dropped down right away to capitalise on the opportunity.

He heard a hiss and looked down to see Echidna staring up at him.

"You are going to pay for attacking me, youngling."

It took Harry a moment to realise that it was speaking to him in Parseltongue.

The monster began slithering its way up the pit, and Harry quickly covered the remaining distance before dropping down onto the ledge. He dove when a spear was thrown at him from below. Echidna was standing at the top of the pit, where the edge met the wall. When the spear remained on the ledge, Harry grasped at the opportunity and lunged for it.

Before he could grasp it, the spear vanished right in front of him. Confounded, he looked over the edge and saw Echidna holding the spear again. It could summon the spear back to itself. He didn't see that type of skill when he assessed it.

"That skill is definitely a cheat!" Harry mumbled.

He did notice, though, that Echidna's MP had slightly decreased. It needed MP to use the skill, so it couldn’t summon the spear indefinitely.

Harry backed away from the edge as the spear was launched at him while he was distracted. At that point, he realised that his current situation was the best thing he could have asked for. His opponent was now within range of his spell, allowing him to remain safely on the ledge while he slowly whittled its health down.

He raised his hand and fired a lightning bolt at Echidna, then backed away from the edge. There was a loud hiss, and he was certain he had hit the monster. Harry poked his head out again, launching another lightning bolt. Before retreating again, he quickly checked its HP bar and discovered that the spell dealt only four damage. That meant he had to strike it a total of thirteen times before it was defeated after the initial attack had reduced its HP by half. This was the result of the monster having too much magical defence.

Harry kept sniping Echidna until it had only a quarter of its health remaining. Despite his caution, he was dangerously close to being struck by the spear several times. He checked his MP and discovered that he had more than enough to defeat the monster if the situation remained unchanged. As soon as he had that thought, Echidna did something unexpected. It stopped attacking Harry and retreated into the pit.

"What in the hell?" Harry exclaimed.

Why did it have to be so intelligent? It retreated because it knew it couldn’t reach Harry and was a sitting duck standing there. It was the worst thing that could happen because Harry didn’t have time to spend hanging out on the ledge. He only had twenty-five minutes left on the clock before he failed the scenario.

To finish the fight, he would need to climb down into the pit. Without wasting any more time, Harry lowered himself until he was hanging from the ledge, then jumped down to the small lip at the top of the pit. As soon as he landed, he began sliding down the slope. Before he even reached the bottom, Echidna detected his presence and slithered over to meet him.

Harry fired another lightning bolt at the monster while sliding down, striking it in the torso. Only five more hits were needed to finish the monster.

He reached the bottom and dashed around the pit, knowing that Echidna was pursuing him. He could tell by the sound its scales made slithering across the ground that the monster was closing in on him quickly. The intense pressure he felt caused him to stumble and fall to the ground. It turned out to be a lucky break, as the spear was flung at him a second later. He would have been impaled if he had remained on his feet.

Harry rolled over to find Echidna's tail slithering towards his legs, attempting to bind him. He instinctively raised his hands, launching two lightning bolts simultaneously. They struck the monster in the face, causing it to recoil.

Harry had no time to reflect on what he had done, so he rose to his feet and resumed running. He only needed three more hits to defeat the monster. When Harry saw the chest in the centre of the pit, he had an idea. He dashed towards it, already sensing Echidna's presence behind him. When he got close, he dove over the chest and huddled behind it, right before the chest shook with the impact of something hitting it. Harry rose quickly from the ground and fired another lightning bolt at Echidna, who was on the other side of his chest. He hit it in the face again, making it flinch. He fired another lightning bolt into its face, causing it to stumble backwards. Only one more hit was needed.

Harry smiled triumphantly as he prepared to use the final bolt to defeat the monster. But he stood there too long, staring into its eyes, and it paralysed him with its eyes. Fortunately, he managed to cast the final spell in time, and Echidna collapsed to the ground.

“You have made a huge mistake. My husband will exact revenge for me," Echidna hissed before closing her eyes for the final time.

Harry had to wait an entire fifteen seconds for the paralysis to wear off, giving him time to reflect on what the monster said.

“That was stupid,” Harry muttered after he had recovered. “Why did I forget about that skill?”

Harry read the notification that appeared on his HUD.

============

The LV3 Elite Echidna was killed!

200 experience points and 20 dimension coins earned.

Echidna’s essence was found.

Echidna's eyes were found.

*Killing the Echidna has caused a disturbance with the boss.

============

“That sounds ominous. Is this related to what Echidna said before dying?"

Harry ignored the notification and took a moment to examine Echidna, now that it couldn’t attack him. The monster was female, as evidenced by her bare chest, prompting him to quickly look away. When he looked at her face, he noticed a subtle otherworldly quality—an intriguing combination of beauty and peculiarity. He almost felt bad about killing her, but he reminded himself that he didn’t have time to feel sorry for his enemies; it was either him or them.

The spear lay next to the corpse. It was a six-foot-long black spear with multiple snakes carved into the handle. The spear's head had two wicked snake fangs shaped and attached to it, making it look terrifying.

Harry reached out to grab it, but it was too heavy for him to pick up. But he did receive a notification.

===========

The player doesn’t meet the requirements to wield this weapon.

The Serpent’s Spear requires a strength of 10 to wield.

===========

"Well, that is disappointing."

Harry wasn’t going to waste attribute points on Strength at this time. It may have been a good weapon, but he had no experience fighting with a spear, so it was useless to him. He stored the spear in his inventory, planning to deal with it later.

He turned around and opened the chest. Inside, four items awaited him, and he grabbed the first. It was a potion vial filled with a viscous grey liquid. When he grabbed it, he received a notification.

============

The soul renewal potion has been discovered.

The bonus objective has been achieved!

To receive a reward, complete the scenario within the allotted time.

============

“That’s a relief. At least I didn’t waste my time.”

Harry put the potion in his inventory and grabbed the next item from the chest. It was a piece of leather equipment, similar to a tool belt, that fit around his waist but had compartments to store vials. He had an idea what it was for but he decided to use an appraisal scroll on it, just in case he missed something.

===========

Gamers Potion Belt | Level Requirement: 1 | Rare  | Type: Support | Enchantment Slots: 0

The Gamer's Potion Belt allows the player to quickly and easily access his potions, possibly saving his life in dangerous situations. It has a capacity of twenty-four and is indestructible, so any potions stored within it will not be damaged. Simply tap the compartment that contains the desired potion, and it will appear in the player's hand.

Enchantments attached:

[Indestructible]

[Quick-Access]

=============

Harry immediately put on the belt and walked around to try it out. It felt like he wasn’t wearing anything, and it didn’t restrict his movements at all. He took the potions from his inventory and stored them in the belt before retrieving the last two items from the chest.

They were two coloured gems about the size of his thumbnail. One was completely white, and the other was bright red. He already had an idea of what they were used for. They were spell enchantment gemstones that he could socket into his gloves to expand his spell repertoire. The Gamer Gloves came as a pair, but they shared the same enchantment slots, so he could only equip a maximum of six in total.

Harry pressed the white gem into his glove, triggering a notification on his HUD.

==========

You have discovered the spell enchantment: Barrier

Would you like to insert the gemstone into the Gamer's Gloves?

Y/N

==========

When Harry said yes, the gem disappeared into his glove. The spell couldn’t come at a better time, as he didn’t know how the boss battle would play out. He socketed the other gem, which contained a spell that summoned a fireball. Harry was unsure how it differed from the lightning bolt spell, but it was nice to have options.

Harry glanced at the time. He had just over twenty minutes left, so he needed to get moving. Before that, he used his experience points to advance to level two, earning five additional AP and two more skill points. He also got an extra twenty-five HP and MP. The increased HP and MP gave him a slight boost to his current resources, but his MP remained low following the fight.

He quickly drank the remaining MP potion from his belt. His MP was restored to full, which was now one hundred fifty after he levelled up. The potion must restore at least one hundred MP, which is more than he had imagined. He considered spending his AP but decided to wait until he encountered the boss before devising a strategy to defeat it.

After finishing his preparations, he climbed back up the pit. With only twenty minutes left and having completed the bonus objective, he was headed straight for the boss. There was no telling how long the battle would take, so he couldn’t afford to take any more detours.

Harry dashed back to the intersection, selecting the final corridor that he hadn’t yet explored. Rather than taking his time, Harry rushed down the corridor. He didn’t have the time or resources to kill every monster he came across, so he chose not to engage them. The corridor was the longest he had seen in the dungeon to date, and he was ambushed by several snakes along the way. He evaded them and continued his sprint. The snakes chased him for a while but eventually gave up because they couldn’t match his speed.

Harry came to another intersection but proceeded straight ahead without hesitation. While he knew he was missing out on potential treasure and experience, completing the scenario on time was more important. He realised that the boss's room should be straight ahead and not down one of the branching paths. He had previously compared the dungeon to an undulating snake, and if he started at the tail, he was almost certain to end up at the head. The branching paths were optional elements that weren’t necessary to complete the scenario.

After dodging more snakes, the corridor came to an end at a door. He slowed down and approached it with caution. He assumed this was the final room with the boss because there was no other way to proceed further. There were only seventeen minutes to defeat the boss and finish the scenario.

Harry opened the door and took a look inside. To his surprise, he found himself in a large circular room with towering walls that looked like a gladiatorial arena. The only thing missing was a seating area and spectators. In the centre, his opponent lay on the ground. As soon as it sensed his presence, it locked eyes with him, causing Harry to freeze in place.

The monster was a massive black serpent with a white underbelly, significantly larger than the Basilisk he had previously defeated. It looked like a black mamba, with aggressive, malevolent black eyes and a narrow, tapered head. Fortunately, the monster didn’t have the ability to kill instantly by simply looking into its victim's eyes; otherwise, he would have died already.

“Are you the bastard that killed Echidna?” The monster spoke in parseltongue. “I’m going to make sure you suffer a fate worse than death for killing my wife.”

Harry wanted to ask how they could be married considering their differences, but held his tongue. Instead, he assessed the monster to see what he was up against.

==============

Typhoon | Magical Snake | Level 5 | Type: Boss | HP: 300 | MP: 50

Primary Attributes: Strength: 26 (22) | Willpower: 26 (22)

Defence: 18 (21) | Magical Defence: 15 (18)

Skills

Venom Fangs: Has a 40% chance to poison the opponent. Increases by 1% for every point difference between its strength attribute and the opponent's vitality.

Venom Spit: A projectile attack that can cause significant damage to those without adequate defences. It has a 20% chance of ignoring the opponent's defence and melting their flesh.

Tail Smash: Typhoon smashes its opponents with a powerful swing of its tail. It doubles the strength attribute, and thus the damage it deals, at the point of impact. But it also inflicts damage on itself due to the recoil.

Typhoon’s Curse: Speak an incantation in the serpent’s language to temporarily reduce the opponent's parameters by 20%. If the opponent’s willpower is higher than the user's, then they may resist the curse.

Bitter Hatred: Because it’s confronted with the person who murdered his wife, Typhoon has decided to reduce its defence to increase its primary attributes by 20%, increasing its chances of killing its bitter foe.

=============

“How am I supposed to fight this monster?” Harry frowned.

Unlike the previous encounter, he couldn’t see a way to use the terrain to gain an advantage. The monster was so large that he would have a difficult time avoiding it, let alone attacking it.

He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Even if it took some time, he needed to prepare as thoroughly as possible. First, he needed to decide how he was going to spend his AP. Increasing his Magic was pointless because the spells socketed to his Gamer’s Gloves  dealt a fixed amount of damage.

He would need to use the barrier spell to avoid its attacks, but that would eat away at his MP quickly, leaving him not much left to attack with. He didn’t have any more MP potions left to fall back on.

How much did each spell cost to cast anyway? He opened his skills menu, which had been updated since acquiring the Gamer’s Gloves.

============

Total Grimoires Obtained: 1

General Grimoire: Skills Unlocked: 2

Occlumency (A)

Assess I (E)

Gamer’s Gloves Spells: (Temporary)

Lightning Bolt (F)  Cost: 3MP

Fireball (F)  Cost: 4MP

Barrier (E)   Cost: 6MP

============

Why did Fireball cost more to cast than Lightning Bolt, despite having the same rank?

Harry tapped the display where all three spells were listed to learn more about them. He discovered that the Fireball spell had a five percent chance of causing a burn status, which was a status effect that dealt a small amount of damage over time, similar to poison. It was slightly less potent than poison, but it was still an effective way to deplete the opponent's health. Otherwise, the two spells dealt the same amount of damage, unless the monster had a weakness against them.

The Barrier spell created a large shield in front of his body that could absorb up to fifty points of damage before it was destroyed. Given its cost-to-value ratio, it was an extremely useful skill to have. Furthermore, he didn’t have to worry about maintaining the spell he cast on himself because it was a passive defence. The only disadvantage was that once the barrier was destroyed, he would be hit with any remaining damage from the attack that the barrier had failed to absorb.

So, the spells he would use in the battle were Fireball and Barrier. However, he was still concerned about the amount of MP he had. Given Typhoon's high HP, it was unavoidable that he would run out of MP at some point, even if he managed to inflict the burn status.

"Unless I use the spear to deal some damage," Harry mused.

Unlike his spells, using a spear didn’t cost him any MP. He had previously dismissed it because he was unfamiliar with the weapon, but it could be his only option. He wouldn’t be wasting his AP by spending it on Strength because he didn’t see how the other attributes could influence the outcome of the fight.

Harry decided to use all five of his AP to increase his Strength attribute to ten. As he tightened his fists, he felt a surge of strength. He didn’t expect to feel so powerful given his size. It was as if he had suddenly gained some muscle. If he had the time, he would have removed his shirt to have a look. It was a significant improvement, though not a sudden doubling of his strength, but rather a gradual but noticeable increase.

He took the spear out of his inventory and examined it with one of the two remaining appraisal scrolls.

==========

Serpent’s Spear | Level Requirement: 3 | Uncommon  | Type: Attack | Enchantment Slots: 0

The Serpent Spear is a weapon that Typhoon gave to his wife as a gift. It is equipped with an enchantment that can cause bleed status when it pierces a target. The enchantment cannot be removed, and neither can more enchantments be added. The spear also has a special ability that allows it to be summoned back to the user's side by spending 3 MP.

Damage:

Blunt: F

Slashing: E

Piercing: C

Enchantments attached:

[Bleed]

Special Ability:

[Summon Spear]

============

So summoning the spear was not Echidna's skill, but rather the spear's special ability. The bleeding effect was a pleasant surprise, as he had expected it to be similar to the burn status effect. If he could inflict both status effects on Typhoon, he might have a better chance of winning.

Knowing how little time he had, he only took a few practice swings before declaring himself ready. He cast a barrier around himself before reentering the boss's room. He had the following resources for the boss fight:

HP: 60/100

Barrier: 50/50

MP: 144/150

Clutching his spear, he opened the door and marched inside with determination. As soon as he took a few steps inside, the door slammed shut behind him. There is no going back now.

There were twelve minutes left on the clock.

Typhoon hissed as soon as he saw Harry return. “You bastard. Not only did you kill my wife, but you stole the spear I gifted to her as well.”

Harry shrugged. “If it’s any consolation, I did feel kind of bad about it.”

Typhoon’s eyes narrowed to slits. “A Speaker. Do you think revealing that you speak the noble language will save you?"

“Nope,” Harry said. “I was just being polite. Let’s get this over with.”

Harry took a step further into the arena as Typhoon rose up on its tail, showing off its immense height, which was terrifying. If Harry could have gotten away with sniping it from the doorway, he would have done so.

He started the fight by launching a fireball at Typhoon. Only two damage was dealt, causing Harry to grimace.

Typhoon retaliated by unleashing a barrage of parseltongue so fast that Harry was unable to understand what it was saying. Only after receiving a notification on his HUD did he realise what was going on.

===========

Typhoon has used Typhoon’s Curse

The player has resisted the effects of the curse due to being a parseltongue

===========

“Sucker!” Harry grinned. "You didn’t expect it to happen, did you?"

Typhoon tilted his head back and expelled a massive spray of green acid from his mouth. Harry was already running to the side when he noticed the snake preparing to attack. The acid landed behind him, close enough for him to smell the pungent substance as it bubbled on the ground.

Harry hurled another fireball at Typhoon before it raised its tail and swung it at him as he ran. Harry dove, feeling the wind generated by its bulk, before it crashed into the wall, causing a tremor that nearly knocked him over. Typhoon retracted his tail, and Harry resumed his run around the perimeter. Harry had to dodge the massive tail twice more, and both times he came close to being hit.

“Freaking hell,” Harry gasped.

This battle was far more intense than he had ever imagined. Forget the physical aspect; the stress of trying to avoid the snake's tail was mentally taxing. The only advantage of the situation was that it was causing some damage to itself.

He needed to do something to change the situation; otherwise, he would make a mistake. Instead of running, he stood his ground as the tail came rushing towards him. He dove under it right at the last second. Before Typhoon could retract its tail, Harry recovered and thrust the spear upward into the tail above him. It was able to lightly penetrate the scales. Before he could yank it out, the spear was yanked away. He immediately summoned it back to his side, causing Typhoon to hiss angrily.

A notification appeared on HUD.

=========

Typhoon has been affected by the bleed status.

Every ten seconds, it will deplete 2% of its HP.

With Typhoon's current vitality, the status effect will last up to two minutes.

HP: 267/300

=========

Harry smiled, but he did not have time to celebrate. He resumed his run just as Typhoon sprayed acid again. This time, the monster's aim was more accurate, and he struck the Barrier as he dived away from the attack. As the acid ate away at his barrier, it was almost depleted. He quickly rose to his feet and was nearly hit by more acid because it took too long to recover.

He cast Barrier again and kept running. But he could tell he was not in good shape. His breathing was laboured, his heart was pounding in his ears, and his legs felt like wet noodles. All of the running had exhausted him.

Harry stopped running and turned to face the monster. Because he could not keep running, he had to take a stand and rely more on Barrier to absorb the damage, though he still needed to avoid the acid because its range was too big.

While he managed to inflict the bleed status effect, it was far from enough. He would throw fireballs at it and try to inflict the burn status as well.

“Giving up?” Typhoon hissed. “Good. Stay there like a good boy and allow me to eat you.”

Harry's eyes widened as the snake lowered itself to the ground and slithered closer to him, trapping him in a corner of the arena with its massive body. Running away was pointless, so he gritted his teeth and watched Typhoon like a hawk, waiting for him to strike.

Typhoon lunged at him with lightning speed, but Harry was prepared. He threw the spear at its open mouth, but his aim was off, and he hit it beneath one of his eyes instead. It was enough to make the snake flinch and back away, so Harry summoned his spear once more. The monster lunged at Harry again, and Harry threw the spear, this time successfully into its mouth. Typhoon hissed and dropped to the ground, writhing frantically as it attempted to free itself from the spear.

Harry noticed Typhoon's HP rapidly dwindling, indicating that the spear was causing internal damage. To capitalise on the situation, he began launching fireballs at it. He was so focused on attacking that he did not notice the tail flying at him. Harry screamed as the force of the impact flung him across the floor. His barrier was immediately destroyed, and he felt something snap inside him.

When he landed, he cried out as he felt an agonising pain radiating up his side. He attempted to sit up and nearly passed out from the pain. It took him a moment to focus and another to notice that his HP was in the red. He quickly retrieved the remaining HP potion from his belt and swallowed the contents down. His HP immediately shot back up to full.

He looked over and saw Typhoon rising from the ground. Its HP had plummeted and was now just above one hundred. At some point, he was able to inflict the burn status on the monster, and its HP was slowly draining.

But it didn’t matter. He found it difficult to move, and Typhoon would soon be upon him again. He may have recovered his HP, but something was broken within him, and it wasn’t something the potion could fix.

The timer was counting down, with only four minutes left.

Harry felt despair creeping over him, as he could not imagine surviving today. At the very least, he had tried his best.

"Tutorial, my ass!" Harry groaned.

“What’s the matter?” A voice spoke. “Are you giving up already?”

Harry turned his head towards the voice, only to see a man standing in the distance. He squinted to get a better look at him, but his vision was slightly blurry.

“Who are you?” Harry asked.

"Harry Potter," the man replied, causing the boy to gasp. "Do you want to know how this is possible? Then get up and finish the fight.”

So, what do you think? Can Harry survive the fight and get answers from the man proclaiming to be Harry Potter?

Thanks for reading.