《Re-Awakening: I Ascend with a Legendary class》 Chapter 1: Prologue In the year 2025, a cataclysm known as World Break struck Earth, changing everything. The world was plunged into chaos as humans were forced into the deadly challenge of the Grand Abyss Labyrinth. This marked the dawn of a new era¡ªthe Age of Adventurers. Twenty-five yearster, Earth was no longer a home but a battlefield. Monsters spilled into the world, unleashed by catastrophic Dungeon Breaks. Humanity had advanced with magic tech, supernatural powers, and newfound resources from the Labyrinth and Dungeons that made them formidable¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t enough. Thousands of Dungeon Breaks ravaged thend due to failure to clear the Labyrinth¡¯s 30th floor in time, where even the mightiest adventurers had fallen. Selfishness and cowardice overtook the remaining powerful few, who fled in magi-tech spaceships as millions escaped while leaving billions to die on the they once called home. Among those left behind was Almond Crowshade. As the world crumbled, he stood alone, deep in the heart of the Labyrinth, facing the impossible¡ªthe 30th Floor Boss. In a frozen, deste world of blue frost, he squared off against a towering beast of godly might: Algeran, the ckfrost Terror. A colossal being of over 100 meters, with shimmering blue crystal fangs, spiraling horns, and ck fur lined with frost. It had crushed every challenger before. And now, it mocked Almond. "Human, your tenacity is impressive, and your persistence is something I haven¡¯t seen. Despite losing so many times, you escape and still challenge me, kakakaka! It¡¯s fun!" Algeran¡¯s voice boomed with cruelughter. "Unfortunately, youck the power to defeat me and this shall be yourst attempt." Almond, battered and bloodied, stood unconscious, but his body moved as it obeyed his undaunted will. ¡¯Pitiful kid. If only you were a bit lucky and born early, you might have been able to change this fate,¡¯ Algeran thought, but suddenly, its pupils shrank upon seeing dreamy golden particles oozing out from Almond. Almond¡¯s grip tightened around his Legendary-grade ck sword. He could barely form a thought, yet he had not surrendered. The will to fight¡ªhis tenacity¡ªdrove him as he stabbed the sword forward, and shed it dialogical. Without warning, golden particles began to swirl around him, like sparks of some strange power. The beast¡¯s mocking expression faltered as its icy gaze locked onto the mysterious glow. Almond¡¯s voice echoed, his eyes whitened, without focus. "¡­Scatter¡­ away¡­" ¡¯W-What?! How can he wield this power when he is just a mer-¡¯ A torrent of golden-red energy erupted, far beyond anything a mere adventurer should have wielded. The power Almond unleashed from his stab and swing motion drowned the dreadful Floor Boss that nobody could defeat...the Mythical-rank level 300 Floor Boss just got shredded till it turned into mist and scattered as a rain of blood formed, painting thendscape red. Almond fell, exhausted and unconscious. Shortly, a blurred figure appeared, a silhouette barely discernible, but with the elegance of a woman, long hair cascading in a haze of mystery. "My, my¡­ this is a surprise," she whispered, her tone curious, almost amused. "You¡­ you are an interesting one." The woman gazed upon Almond, who had copsed in exhaustion, his consciousness had already faded as he was in slumber. Her eyes narrowed, scanning him closely as something unseen caught her attention. [Trait discovered: Tenacity (X)] "An X-rank trait?" The figure¡¯s voice cracked in shock. Her eyes showed excitement and amusement as she muttered, "Nothing fancy-sounding one, but an X-rank trait signifies limitless potential¡­So it was this thing that allowed him to break the limits and wield that Transcendental power." "This is too precious and fun of a toy to let it rot here," the woman¡¯s eyes glinted, her finger caressing her lips as she looked at Almond with cheeks red, and the grin wide. ¡¯Let¡¯s see...there¡¯s one more on which Grimworld¡¯s Tutorial will descend. Yes, there. You will go there, on a Earth just like this one.¡¯ As thest vestiges of energy drained from Almond¡¯s body, he fell into a deep unconsciousness. He had won¡­ yet all he felt was an all-consuming frustration. As darkness enveloped him, he screamed a raw, primal cry of rage that echoed through this abyss of darkness around him. ¡¯It¡¯s over¡­¡¯ Almond thought he died, but then, in the silence that followed, a mechanical and cold voice echoed in his mind. [Transfer to another worldmencing...] [Your memories will be sealed, and you will reincarnate in another world where Grimworld¡¯s tutorial awaits. Each floor cleared will unlock your past memories until the 10th Floor.] ¡¯Transfer¡­ Reincarnate? And what does it mean by Grimworld¡¯s tutorial?! And I have to clear the floors in another world to unlock memories¡­ does this mean I¡¯m not dead yet?!¡¯ [Good luck.] Chapter 2: The Death In the Grand Abyss Labyrinth¡¯s 1st Floor, at one of the eight starting areas. ¡¯This can¡¯t be happening. We are all ssmates, and this is our important day¡­my important day to change my life, so why¡­¡¯ A ck-haired young man with a thin figure was in a dark hall made of stones and illuminated with me torches on the stone pirs every ten meters apart. Almond Crowshade turned eighteen nine days ago in his second life which wasn¡¯t aware of yet, and was dealt with a bad hand in this new life. "Hey, Almond. You¡¯re lucky, eh? Come on, give that thing you got from the treasure chest. I can¡¯t believe you found a treasure chest in the starting area." A young man with dark red hair and two other boys of the same age surrounded Almond, his back against a pir as he looked at the trio with a mixture of fear and hate. The dark red-haired young man grabbed Almond¡¯s ck hair and forced him to look at him, a hint of jealousy in his eyes, "I hate your eyes, bastard. They always glow in golden-almond color in light, like your fucking name. Hurry up and take out the thing you got!" *Ptui* Almond clenched his teeth, feeling anger but also helplessness as he wiped away the spit from his face. ¡¯I can¡¯t overpower him even if I use the Physical Enchantment I¡¯ve learned...! Damn my body! Why is it so weak!? If only I had some time to level up! Fuck!¡¯ [Lamp Benom] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 1 -ss: B-rank me Sorcerer. -Stats: -Physical: ?[Strength: ??? | Health: ??? | Stamina: ???] -Magic: ?[Mana: ??? | Focus: ??? | Perception: ???] Almond couldn¡¯t see their ss or stats usually, but since he had learned about Lamp¡¯s ss from his own mouth, it appeared in the interface. As long as the information he heard was true, it would appear in the interface. He looked at his ssmates with a mixture of hate and fear. As his luck would have it, after entering thebyrinth that was mandatory by the system for everyone who turned eighteen and awakened their ss, he encountered these bastards. There were eight beginning areas on the Labyrinth¡¯s first floor, eight different corners. After entering any of the thousands of gates, one would arrive at one of the eight areas in this Grand Abyss Labyrinth, but he just had to encounter these bastards from his ss, thanks to his misfortune. "Pff, he selected the Support role and got a D-rank Clergyman ss, hahaha. I know you have some defect making you physically weak and all, but seriously¡­did you think you could do anything with this ss on your own?" *Smack* A punch struck Almond¡¯s face, making his nose bleed. "If you don¡¯t want to die, hand over the thing you got," the blue-haired young man put the dagger at Almond¡¯s throat, his eyes menacing as he grinned sadistically. [Seyung Kim] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 1 -ss: C-rank Dagger Killer. -Stats. -Physical: ?[Strength: ??? | Health: ??? | Stamina: ???] -Magic ?[Mana: ??? | Focus: ??? | Perception: ???] "Hurry up, Almond. Nobody is waiting outside to cry for you, and nobody gives a damn. Stop wasting our time," said the third boy with an annoyed expression. He had brown hair and looked at Almond as if he were looking at a dead man, his eyes cold as he felt no empathy. [Jacob Roshir] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 1 -ss: A-rank Sentinel Swordsman. -Stats. -Physical: ?[Strength: ??? | Health: ??? | Stamina: ???] -Magic ?[Mana: ??? | Focus: ??? | Perception: ???] "Seriously¡­ Just disappear and rest in peace, would ya? Weaklings are supposed to die here in the first ce," Jacob said with a deadpan expression. ¡¯Why can¡¯t you leave me alone?!¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as fear of death enveloped him. He really felt they were going to kill him, especially Jacob. ¡¯This was my chance to turn my life around, but these pieces of trash!!¡¯ ¡¯I have to survive for now.¡¯ Almond tremblingly took out the reward from the treasure chest he got. He had no other choice. It was a Rare-grade item called Pearl of Light Flower, able to cure all types of harmful effects and give a protection barrier for ten seconds after activating it with a cooldown of 1 day. He was super lucky to find a treasure chest right after entering Labyrinth¡¯s first floor in this area, and even more lucky to find a Rare-grade item inside the Bronze treasure chest. But now, he had to give it away. "Damn, this bastard got a Rare-grade essory item?!" "That¡¯s pretty lucky, eh?" "It¡¯s super lucky to get this here, lol! But I guess we are the lucky ones, boss," Seyung grinned. "Thanks, Almond," Seyung Kin looked at Almond with squinted eyes and a nasty smile, his dagger still on Almond¡¯s throat. "You said you would let me go¡­" Almond¡¯s eyes were filled with more and more fear of death as he saw Seyung¡¯s eyes. ¡¯Will he kill me? No way, right?¡¯ ¡¯He is eighteen years old, first time entering thebyrinth like me.¡¯ ¡¯Will he kill his ssmate for nothing?¡¯ "Are we really gonna kill him?" Lamp asked while looking at Almond, looking slightly nervous. "Tsk," Jacob picked his right ear boringly and turned around. "Finish him off, Seyung. Today is your debut killing." "My father told me that if I make a conflict, I have to make sure there are no loose ends," Jacob nced at Lamp to his side. "If we don¡¯t wantplications Almond can bring, we have to finish him off." "Do it, Seyung." "Yes, boss!" "No," Almond¡¯s pupils shrank. He tried to get up using all of his strength, but it was lower than Jacob who suddenly pressed his foot on my shoulder. "Sit down," Jacob snorted. Seyung grinned, ready to sh his dagger. ¡¯Don¡¯t!¡¯ ¡¯I only have two skills¡­Healing Wisp and Cord of Peace. I have to¡­¡¯ *sh!* [Your Health is dropping rapidly. You have been poisoned.] ¡¯Use¡­them...¡¯ "Let¡¯s go. And Lamp," Jacob turned to Lamp. "Get used to killing if you want to join my father¡¯s guild." "S-Sure." "I killed somebody, but it doesn¡¯t feel much. Hey, Jacob, I want to kill one more," Seyung disyed a nasty grin. Meanwhile, Lamp was pretty nervous and even felt like throwing up seeing Almond twitching, but he held it in and turned around. "Let¡¯s see¡­" Jacob looked at the map he brought. "We are in this area of the first floor." "We should start with the goblin settlement in the west. It¡¯s not far and a perfect starting area to hunt. They are easier to kill with our team, and once we level up, we¡¯ll target the goblin colony," Jacob put away the map and said, "Let¡¯s go." "We might also meet some people on the way," he added with a grin. "Hopefully we meet more of our ssmates, hehe. We can form a team with our lead in that case." Almond looked at them with blurry vision as they walked away. He heard their words for several seconds before everything started going nk. [You have used Healing Wisp (D).] Healing Wisp: Create a wisp that can enter into a wound, purify it from harmful effects, and heal the wound. [You have used the Whisper of Peace (D).] Whisper of Peace: Alliavete the pain and calm the mind. [Your Health is at a critical juncture.] [Your Mana is drained. Poison can¡¯t be removedpletely.] [Your Health is at a critical juncture.] ¡¯I am¡­not dead¡­yet?¡¯ Almond regained his consciousness, but the system notification told him that his survival chances were¡­zero. ¡¯I can¡¯t do anything?¡¯ ¡¯Why did I have to get the treasure chest right off the bat?¡¯ ¡¯Would they have left me alone if I didn¡¯t find the treasure chest?¡¯ [Your death is imminent.] ¡¯I don¡¯t want to die.¡¯ ¡¯I don¡¯t want to die!¡¯ Almond looked at the system panel. ¡¯Is there no way?¡¯ ¡¯Anyone out there?¡¯ ¡¯Help¡­¡¯ [Your lifeforce connection is ending.] ¡¯I don¡¯t want to die¡­I just turned eighteen, and this was my chance to turn my life around!¡¯ ¡¯I don¡¯t want to die!!¡¯ [You are dead.] [...condition fulfilled.] Chapter 3: The Resurrection Ten years ago, a cmity known as World Break urred in this world known as Earthart. [#### Commencing] As this unrecognizable notification arrived before everyone¡¯s eyes, a strange cmity descended. Geography changed due to seawater being reduced by 20% and newnds formed. Despite Earthquakes and tsunamis urring over the globe resulting inrge-scale destruction, no human or animal was hurt because a mysterious protective golden film enveloped everyone when the first notification arrived. It was all magical as the cmity remained for 24 hours, and after that, everything was fixed. It was as if someone was treating this as y to y with and mold it as they like. The geography changed, and something else also appeared. Thousands of Labyrinth Gates. They appeared in different parts of the globe, with all those gates leading into a singlerge Labyrinth. The Grand Abyss Labyrinth. At the same time, all humans at eighteen years old and above received a notification in their minds. It told them to select an option. Everyone had five options. [Warrior] [Mage] [Thief] [Tank] [Support] [Select within 1 hour.] [Failure to select before the countdown will result in instant death.] [If you have selected, you will enter the Grand Abyss Labyrinth after the countdown. Since you are the first ones on Earthart to enter, you shall be given a newbie pack containing amon-grade weapon suitable to whatever ss you awaken.] [Good luck.] That was how humanity on Earthart was ushered into the new age. Age of Adventurers. The general currency became Gold Coins that one could acquire after killing monsters in the Labyrinth. After the initial forced entry, everyone was required to enter the Labyrinth within one month of turning 18 years old. The Newbie pack was removed after the first wave of humans entered, but it was nothing important since people could easily get amon-grade weapon inside the Labyrinth. The system also asked for monthly tax in Gold Coins after one turned eighteen and entered Labyrinth, with the tax increasing ording to their level. But with power, riches, and fortunes as rewards to obtain, many adventurers braved thebyrinth. And many died trying. Ten yearster, humanity was fairly established in the new age. The Labyrinth was an unknown world that humans had to explore, and so far, the top forces of humanity were exploring the 10th Floor after defeating the 9th floor¡¯s Floor Boss three months ago. Aside frombyrinth gates at different ces on Earthart that remained permanent, Dungeon Doors would appear randomly as well, granting rich rewards with great difficulty. Unless a Dungeon was cleared, it would gradually fill up, and a Dungeon Break would ur, pouring monsters onto Earthart, so Adventurers also had to clear dungeons. Guilds consisting of powerful Adventurers were established, and the Global Adventurers Association was formed to maintain the world of Adventurers. The concept of countries was reced with a single governer body¡ªEarthart Union, due to geographical changes and looming danger from the mysterious system that brought dungeons and Labyrinth that nobody could figure out. The Labyrinth was permanent but had schedules. Thebyrinth¡¯s gates through the globe would only remain open for 15 days a month. During the first half of the month, they remained closed. Once it opened for people to enter, the exit portal would appear every three days for 5 hours, for a total of five times during the 15 days the Labyrinth remained active. And every three days, the defeated monsters and bosses would respawn, or new ones would arrive with stronger power, granting new rewards and riches. The newbie awakeners, those turning 18, must enter abyrinth within one month or ept death. Almond turned 18 nine days ago, and he was waiting for the day to enter the Labyrinth once it opened. With his frail body that couldn¡¯t physically train due to a gene defect, he was weak. But he had absorbed all helpful knowledge about thebyrinth and the type of powers recorded so far in the library and daily news because he wanted to turn around his life after entering thebyrinth! He thought he could fix his condition by selecting a support ss at first and then creating a powerful build after reaching level 10, where everyone is given a specialized second ss! He also trained in the use of Mana, learning Physical Enchantment by doing a hellish training, but due to his Strength already being low, it wasn¡¯t useful yet. However, it would be useful after adding stat points to his low Strength after leveling up. There was also a rare power called Soul Core that some Elite and Boss monsters would drop. Adventurers could equip a Soul Core in their body to gain a new set of skills. There were plenty of opportunities for one to get strong and turn around their situation after bing an adventurer if one was brave and hardworking enough. Or so Almond thought until thest moments of his life. ¡­ [Unique conditions fulfilled.] [You have triggered a special event.] [By staying between the realm of living and dead with your stubborn soul and a flicker of luck keeping your body alive thanks to your ss, you are granted a special ss courtesy to #####.] ¡¯Am I making up things due to my broken hope even after death?¡¯ ¡¯There¡¯s still darkness around-¡¯ Suddenly, Almond¡¯s eyes shot open as he found himself floating mid-air with a powerful aura gushing out of him and enveloping him. [Congrattions. You have awakened an SS-rank ss¡ªSpirit Dealer] Almond slowly descended on the ground, his injuries healed, and feeling healthy like never before. "I¡­am alive?" Almond¡¯s eyes trembled as he looked at his hands and body, feeling everything as real as reality. "I am alive." Chapter 4: Heir of Oblivion Almond reigned himself as he wiped the tears that appeared due to intense relief and exhration from his resurrection. But he knew that he had to make things right if he wanted to live. ¡¯Jacob won¡¯t let me live if Ie out of thebyrinth alive. But¡­¡¯ His fist clenched tightly as he muttered, "Since I am alive. I am not letting you three pieces of trash live¡­no matter what!" Almond¡¯s whole vibe changed as fear escaped from him, and his eyes oozed out ferociousness and bloodthirst. He then took a deep breath and looked at the new ss he got. [Spirit Dealer] -ss rank: SS -ss Perk: ¡ª> +150% Mana capacity (SS) -ss skills: ¡ª> (S) Spirit Pocket: You can harvest a spirit containing memories of a target that has recently died. [0/20] ¡ª> (S) Spirit Explosion: You can use a stored spirit to cause an explosion in any location within 10 meters of yourself. Explosion might be special by chance, boosted by the random powers of the spirit¡¯s arsenal of skills before their owner¡¯s death. ¡ª> (SS) Spirit Devour: Devour the spirits to acquire permanent stats. There¡¯s a limit to gaining stats from the spirits of the same species. ¡ª> (SS) Spirit Factory: Use the spirits and turn them into one-time use items or spirit weapons, with their effect depending on the target spirit¡¯s power before their owner¡¯s death. ¡¯So I can harvest spirits and use these spirits for other skills...This looks powerful,¡¯ Almond felt his ss¡¯s power within, boosting his mood and confidence. Looking at the path ahead into the forest, he started walking, ¡¯ording to the first floor¡¯s map, I am at the southwest starting point of thebyrinth. I remember those three talking about going to the goblin settlement in this area.¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted sharply. ¡¯Very good. That¡¯s a perfect ce to test my skills and kill those three pieces of trash.¡¯ [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 1 [0%] -ss: Spirit Dealer (SS) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 250/250] -Stats: |-Physical: ?[Strength: 7 | Health: 7 | Stamina: 7] |-Mental ?[Mana: 10(+15) | Focus: 10 | Perception: 13] ¡¯My stats changed¡­My Health was 3, Strength was 2, and Stamina was also 3. My Mana was 10, but it increased to 25 thanks to my ss perk. Focus and Perception are same as before.¡¯ ¡¯I already had above-average perception and focus, so I was hopeful after entering here, but those three pieces of trash got me,¡¯ Almond clenched his fist. ¡¯But I may be even a bit thankful to them now,¡¯ Almond grinned. ¡¯Not that I would spare them, though.¡¯ ¡¯Alright, I am here.¡¯ Almond arrived in Murky Woods, a small woond area upied by Dire Wolves between levels 1 to 3. He saw clear signs of those three entering this forest. The goblin settlement was at the end of this forest, at a river bank running from Fairy Mountain, which was one of the higher-level areas on the first floor. As Almond walked into the forest, he finally encountered the Dire Wolves. But dead ones. ¡¯Hmm? What¡¯s that?¡¯ Almond saw a blue wisp hovering above the furthest wolf. [Dire Wolf Spirit]¡ª[0:1] [Dire Wolf Spirit]¡ª[0:0] It vanished. ¡¯So it was a countdown,¡¯ Almond understood what it was and made haste into the forest. ¡¯If I can get some spirits for free, I can start getting stronger!¡¯ ¡¯Due to getting the Clergyman ss, the Academy gave me a holy staff, but¡­¡¯ Almond nced at his staff while running. [Holy Staff] -Grade: Common -Effect(s): ¡ª> +10 Mana capacity. -Skill(s): ¡ª> Holy st: Shoot a holy orb that sts in a 1-meter radius and deals pure magic damage of light attribute. Cost: 10 Mana. ¡¯Still, this is the lowest level of staff even inmon grade with that shitty effect. I can also use Spirit Explosion as an offensive means, so I am not out of options for an attack skill.¡¯ Almond saw more wolf spirits and quickly acted, using his Spirit Pocket skill. [Spirit Pocket] -Rank: S -Effect: Pull spirits within your vision and store them in the spirit pocket. -Cost: ¡ª -Current number of spirits: [3/20]. Almond resumed running. ¡¯Is this an effect of my ss? My physical body is performing like this for the first time.¡¯ ¡¯Fatigue isn¡¯t catching up like I thought.¡¯ ¡¯I can speed up.¡¯ Almond soon arrived at another pack of dead wolves, and all of them had their spirits still hovering! Spirit Pocket. Current number of spirits: [8/20] ¡¯Just running like this feels good,¡¯ Aldmond grinned as he ran at his full speed ahead. He could feel his body in its entirety without feeling weakness like before! ¡¯There¡¯s some kind of power that¡¯s preventing fatigue from building up. I can feel it!¡¯ ¡¯Haha, this is awesome.¡¯ [You have discovered your awakened innate talent.] [You have been unknown. Should you have died, there would be no record of you or memories of you in anyone. Therefore, you were to be devoured by Oblivion, the Maw of Forgotten.] [You witnessed its presence.] [Yet, you managed to escape.] [Thus, you have awakened an innate talent: Heir of Oblivion.] [Heir of Oblivion] -Description: For you, who has witnessed the presence of Oblivion yet managed to escape. -Rank: Mythic, (???). -Effect(s): ¡ª> Mana consumption and Stamina consumption are halved. ¡ª> Mana recovery, Stamina recovery, and Health recovery is doubled. ¡ª> Your impression on others is easily forgotten. ¡ª> Your impression on people you hold important is strongly remembered. ¡¯T-This¡­¡¯ Almond was dumbfounded, amazed, overjoyed. ¡¯No wonder I am not tired at all by running. Simply running won¡¯t consume my stamina due to this fast recovery!¡¯ ¡¯With such a passive trait, I should also try to learn closebat style skills! I don¡¯t want to leave an obvious weakness when I can fill it up and make it my strong suit.¡¯ He encountered another pack of four dead wolves and absorbed the spirits. Almond was getting excited by his future prospects, but his daydreaming was over as he smelled smoke and heard chaotic sounds nearby. ¡¯They started attacking the settlement already? But they should be tired after fighting in the forest.¡¯ Almond arrived at the periphery and could easily see the fight urring in the center of the settlement. ¡¯This ce feels familiar¡­must be because I¡¯ve read about the First Floor many times,¡¯ Almond wryly smiled and focused on the settlement. ¡¯They killed three goblins out of ten.¡¯ -Current number of spirits: [18/20] ¡¯Got them.¡¯ ¡¯All three Goblin Archers are burned to death, so goblins lost their long-range attackers already.¡¯ Almond suddenly saw one of them chugging a potion and understood why they weren¡¯t tired. ¡¯Jacob, that bastard. He must have brought a bunch of potions from outside. His father is guild leader of an A-rank Guild, so he must be loaded.¡¯ ¡¯That pouch I saw hanging at his waist must be a storage pouch.¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes were coldly fixed on the trio. ¡¯I have to kill them before they grow. Those potions give them a way higher edge, especially if he also has special effect potions.¡¯ ¡¯I have to eliminate Jacob before anyone else.¡¯ He had seen thetest developed potions. It was a new way of making potions. Instead of just creating buff, debuff, and recovery potions, this method was offensive. Throw a potion and freeze an area. Throw a potion and burn a field. Throw a potion and release toxic gas. Potions became disposable special weapons! ¡¯Jacob, please don¡¯t use too many potions until I am done. They¡¯ll be very helpful to me,¡¯ Almond grinned. [Spirit Factory has finished the production.] ¡¯Perfect.¡¯ Chapter 5: Spirit Factory ¡¯Using this skill for 4 Spirits drained half of my Mana pool, but it¡¯s already recovering fast.¡¯ He quickly checked out the result, as this Spirit Factory was actually a mystical room he could ess with just a thought. He saw four items on a table and checked them out. -> Wolf w Gauntlet x 1. -> Ring of Crimson Howl x 2. -> Wolf Fur¡¯s Coat x 1. [Wolf w Gauntlets] -Grade: [Common] -Durability: [100/100] -Duration: [1 day] -Attack: [12] -Effect(s): ¡ª> 10% chance to cause bleeding. -Spirit Effect(s): ¡ª> Transform it into a pair of spectral wolves inheriting your stats for 30 seconds. Cost: 10% of your Mana. It requires 5% of your Mana every 30 seconds to maintain the spectral wolves. ¡ª> Feeding a spirit to this item also extends its duration of existence. Almond¡¯s eyes popped out of his sockets. ¡¯Am I a cksmith or what? Such a crazy weapon with a transforming effect by simply using Mana and a dead monster¡¯s spirit?¡¯ ¡¯But I also need to feed such weapons spirits to keep it. Otherwise, it will disappear. Still, this is awesome!¡¯ Almond equipped the Gauntlets in his hand with the design of sharp wolf ws of Dire Wolves! ¡¯Great, this is better than holy staff, although I have to get into close range.¡¯ Afterward, Almond adorned the wolf fur coat behind him. ¡¯This coat should cover even if I get a couple of hits. And this looks awesome. Wish I had a mirror.¡¯ [Wolf Fur¡¯s Coat] -Grade: [Common] -Durability: [100/100] -Duration: [1 day] -Defense: 10 -Effect(s): ¡ª> Upon getting injured, you gain a 5% damage reduction for 10 seconds, and your natural healing is increased by 5% for 30 seconds. 1-minute cooldown. ¡¯Not bad. Good for amon grade, but I have no intention of getting attacked in this battle,¡¯ Almond saw that only four Goblins remained now since those three had good synergy in skills and could spam skills due to recovery potions. Lamp spammed his Fireball and Firewall from the back, Seyung used his speed to go in and out to stab or sh goblins with his poisoned dagger that made the goblins wobbly. Jacob seemed to have receivedbat training and could fare well against the goblins, using his sword to release a sword sh projectile to attack while also deflecting attacks in close range using some kind of parry skill. He acted as the vanguard for the other two. ¡¯Jacob has to go first,¡¯ Almond thought and looked back at thest item to check it¡ªRing of Crimson Howl. Seeing its effect, his eyes sharply glinted. ¡¯This is it.¡¯ [Ring of Crimson Howl] -Grade: Common. -Type: One-time use. -Effect: Unleashes an intimidating howl that briefly stuns or distracts everyone within 10 meters of it. -Use: After infusing 5 Mana in the ring, the howl will unleash after five seconds from it. ¡¯It¡¯s like a shbang,¡¯ Almond narrowed his eyes as he moved his gaze to the battle in the settlement. ¡¯The only goblin remaining is Goblin Captain now.¡¯ ¡¯It¡¯s time. Jacob¡¯s at level 3, that bastard. I need to kill him before he kills Goblin Captain.¡¯ Jacob was injured twice due to Goblin Captain, but he healed himself, and now that other goblins were dead, those trio would finish off Goblin Captain easily. ¡¯But I won¡¯t let you do that.¡¯ Without further ado, Almond threw a ring after activating it, right between the Goblin Captain and Jacob. Upon countdown, the ring released a howl with a red aura in a 10-meter radius. Almond couldn¡¯t hear anything, but seeing that Jacob and others, including the Goblin Captain, covered their ears as if hearing an unbearable sound, he knew it worked. Almond had already dashed one second before the ring activated. When he was within 10 meters of Jacob, he immediately used two Spirit Explosions. ¡¯I don¡¯t want to take any risks. Two should be better than one.¡¯ "Huh?" Jacob opened his eyes as the howl vanished but saw a bluish-green ghostly wisp right in front of him. And one wisp was behind him. *BOOM!* *BOOM!* "Jacob!" "What the fuck just happened?!" *Pach¡­* In front of Seyung, Jacob¡¯s half-burned headnded, and half a secondter, both he and Lamp screamed in horror and shock. "What the fuck?!" Seyung was scared out of his wits. Jacob was his backer and anchor. He was basically Jacob¡¯s servant, as he knew he would have good future prospects if he stuck with Jacob. But¡­he just died. "Arghhh!" Seyung turned around upon hearing Lamp¡¯s scream and saw a wolf¡¯s w-like weapon piercing his chest from behind. "Hi, Seyung." "Y-You¡­" Seyung tremblingly took a step back as he saw Almond walking out from behind Lamp like a demon. The setting sun¡¯s faint glow highlighted Almond¡¯s eyes and gave it a faint red hue, scaring the shit out of Seyung. "Surprised?" Almond smiled and pulled up his w as blood sprayed out. Lamp grabbed his neck as he struggled to stop the bleeding, but the notification told him he was going to die soon. "Help¡­" Seyung was filled with fear and didn¡¯t act, only looking at Almond as he pointed his dagger at Almond, his hands trembling. "I killed you with Poison Coat skill on my dagger¡­how can you live after that?" "Dark Rule number 1, if you want to kill someone in Labyrinth or Dungeon, you have to confirm their death," Almond smiled. "After all, the system won¡¯t notify an adventurer¡¯s death like monsters, nor will it give you any exp for level up." Seyung felt a chill crawling back upon hearing his words. "Y-You know¡­you don¡¯t need to kill me. S-See, your hand is trembling," Seyung quickly said while forcing out a smile. "Lamp was a good guy¡­he didn¡¯t want to k-kill you." Almond looked at his hand, and it, indeed, was slightly trembling. "Maybe I am scared? But I am conscious of another feeling at the moment," Almond said, his lips parting into a grin. "It¡¯s excitement and thirst to thrive because I am alive, and I want to fucking continue living!" Seyung felt chills as he looked at Almond¡¯s grin and eyes. "W-We can make a deal, brother Almond." "Deal?" Almond sneered. "Do you think Jacob¡¯s father won¡¯t investigate anything and let you go without doing anything if you live?" "I don¡¯t want to die, "Almond¡¯s eyes turned frigid cold. "And for that, you will not live." Suddenly, Seyung felt intense pain and saw a spear driving through his stomach from behind. [You have been attacked by Goblin Captain.] [Your Vitality is dangerously low.] "P-Potion¡­" Seyung spoke while blood oozed out of his mouth, looking at the mess of blood and gore that was Jacob as he tried to find the storage pouch. Goblin Captain didn¡¯t give him that chance and finished him off. [You are dead.] ¡¯Come to me,¡¯ Almond also took Seyung¡¯s spirit. ¡¯This is good. I have my personal death inspection way. If someone¡¯s dead, I can know by seeing the spirit wisp. His gaze focused on the Goblin Captain. "It¡¯s your turn." "Grr¡­" Goblin Captain warily looked at Almond while pointing a spear at them, injured but slowly healing with some kind of healing skill. [Goblin Captain] -Rank: Bronze -Level: 5 -Stats: -Physical: ?[Strength: 13 | Health: 12 | Stamina: 11 ] -Mental: ?[ Mana: 11 | Focus: 9 | Perception: 9 ] "You will be the first monster I kill, be honored." ¡¯Never mind, that dialogue felt cringe,¡¯ Almond wryly smiled, seeing Goblin Captain flinching after hearing him. ¡¯That monster is wary of me, and I have abo for this situation. Good, stay like that.¡¯ *Boom!* He used a Spirit Explosion behind it, causing it to lurch forward while Almond readied his Wolf w Gauntlet, his eyes focused as he drove both hands¡¯ wolf ws forward, one into Goblin Captain¡¯s forehead and the other into his neck. [You have killed a level 5 Goblin Captain.] [Due to you killing a monster five levels above you, you have gained 50% more exp.] [You have reached level 2. You have gained 3 stat points you can distribute.] [You have triggered the level-up Boon. Please select your boon.] ¡¯Finally,¡¯ Almond grinned. Looking at the progress bar and percentage, he was already 94% deep into level 2, so just one monster, and he would level up again. He also got 13 Gold Coins for killing the Goblin Captain. ¡¯This strangely feels like this isn¡¯t my first time fighting Goblins...is it because I¡¯ve always imagined fighting them after reading and watching the videos?¡¯ ¡¯Whatever. Time to pick up a boon.¡¯ [Select your level up boon] 1. Skill¡ªRandom. 2. Weapon¡ªRandom. 3. essory¡ªRandom. 4. Magic Item¡ªRandom. 5. Random¡ªRandom. ¡¯Adventurer¡¯s Rule number one: If there¡¯s a Skill option in the Level-up boon, always choose it,¡¯ Almond selected the 1st option. These level-up boons would be different each time, and they only appear once every five levels. The skill option wouldn¡¯t always appear, but it was considered the most important priority once it appeared because it could either give one a new skill or upgrade an existing skill! Random¡ªRandom could give stat points, but it could also give anything or nothing, so it wasn¡¯t something most adventurers would select unless other options were not desirable for them. [Your Skill, (S) Spirit Pocket, is upgraded to (SS) rank.] ¡¯A new effect?!¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glimmered golden. [Spirit Pocket] -Rank: SS -Effect(s): Chapter 6: Skill Upgrade, Spirit Devour [Spirit Pocket] -Rank: SS -Effect(s): ¡ª> Pull spirits within your vision and store them. ¡ª> Pocket: Spirit Kodoku¡ªAdd spirits to this special pocket where they would devour each other until thest one surviving has devoured others and evolved into a Spirit Wraith that you can use as your summon¡ª[0/20] -Cost: None. -Current number of spirits: [21/100]. ¡¯This is interesting. A new effect and my pocket also got bigger.¡¯ ¡¯Spirit Wraith¡­ I want to see what it is, but I have to gather more spirits. I don¡¯t want to use 20 of my 21 spirits in this Spirit Wraith.¡¯ ¡¯I used three on Spirit explosions and four to create items. The ring is powerful for now, but judging by how Jacob recovered, the ring¡¯s effect won¡¯t be useful on higher-level monsters in Fairy Mountain. Still, I have one left, and it can be my emergency bomb.¡¯ Even if it was a higher-level monster, it could give a window of a second or less for him to act. As long as the ring proves to be a surprise element for the enemy, it was useful! Almond looked at the mountain from afar, which was spreading out glow as the evening descended. ¡¯Let¡¯s wrap up the preparation before entering that area. The Goblin Colony is on the way, so I¡¯ll clear it and level up, but before that¡­¡¯ He picked up Jacob¡¯s storage pouch and put it in his backpack. He also put Spirits of Jacob, Lamp, and Seyung into Spirit Kodoku. Afterward, Almond used his ss skill¡ªSpirit Devour (S). ¡¯Let¡¯s see how this skill rolls.¡¯ [You have devoured a level 2 Dire Wolf Spirit.] [You have gained +1 Strength] [You have devoured a level 3 Goblin Warrior Spirit.] [You have gained +1 Health and +1 Stamina.] [You have devoured a level 2 Dire Wolf Spirit.] [You have gained nothing.] ¡¯Wait, what? No more points after just devouring one?¡¯ ¡¯Let me try with a higher level one.¡¯ [You have devoured a level 3 Dire Wolf Spirit] [You have gained +1 Mana.] ¡¯Before using one more level 3 Wolf, I should check the goblin one.¡¯ [You have devoured a level 4 Goblin Archer Spirit.] [You have gained +1 Focus and +1 Perception] ¡¯Interesting. Level 3 Goblin Warrior gave me two stat boosts, and level 4 Goblin Archer also did the same.¡¯ ¡¯Is it because they are different monsters?¡¯ Almond grinned and looked at his clenched fist filled with newfound power. ¡¯Let¡¯s continue. It feels awesome to actively feel myself getting powerful.¡¯ [You have devoured a level 3 Dire Wolf Spirit.] [You have gained 0.5 Strength.] ¡¯Well, better than nothing. I have four wolf spirits left, so I¡¯ll use them for Spirit Wraith ingredients.¡¯ ¡¯Next.¡¯ [You have devoured a level 5 Goblin Captain spirit.] [You have gained +2 Mana and +2 Strength.] ¡¯Awesome.¡¯ Almond could feel strength surging from within, both physical and magical. [You have devoured a level 4 Goblin Archer spirit.] [You have gained +1 Perception.] ¡¯I have one more Goblin Archer, but I might get nothing or 0.5 if I devour it. Hmmm, nah.¡¯ ¡¯I better use it as an ingredient since I¡¯ll have more spirits to devourter anyway.¡¯ Almond put the Goblin Archer spirit in the Spirit Kodoku pocket along with the four Dire Wolf Spirits. [You have devoured a level 5 Goblin Warrior Spirit.] [You have gained +2 Stamina and +1 Focus.] ¡¯Nice,¡¯ Almond grinned from ear to ear, feeling his stats increasing. Others need to level up to increase stats or eat rare and precious potions that are always in demand but not always in stock. Not to mention, whenever such items are found in thebyrinth, or even raw resources that can be processed to make a potion that increases stats, the big shot guilds and those with the money grab them first. Many also end up in Auctions. ¡¯My stats are already way higher than what people of my level should have,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. [You have devoured a level 4 Goblin Guardian spirit.] [You have gained +1 Focus and +1 Health.] ¡¯Alright, this is it.¡¯ The remaining spirits were of two Level 4 Goblin Warriors and one Level 3 Goblin Guardian. ¡¯I already devoured a level 5 and a level 3 Goblin Warrior spirits. Hmmm, I might get nothing, but I¡¯m not sure since I could also get 0.5 stat points.¡¯ Almond thought for a moment and decided to experiment since he felt it would be better to find the limits and effects of the skill properly. [You have devoured a level 4 Goblin Warrior Spirit.] [You have gained +1 Health.] ¡¯Alright, so it¡¯s rted to my level to a certain extent since I devoured a level 5 Goblin Warrior before this, and this level 4 Goblin Warrior still gave me a full point.¡¯ Almond put the remaining level 4 Goblin Warrior and level 3 Goblin Guardian within Spirit Kodoku¡¯s pocket, along with four wolves and one Goblin Archer. ¡¯I need eleven spirits more to create a spirit wraith. Alright, let¡¯s do this!¡¯ Spirit Kodoky: [9/20] Spirit Pocket: [0/100] Almond started walking towards the Fairy Mountain, but his next goal was the Goblin Colony, which was somewhere at the base of the Fairy Mountain in the west. The rough and slightly green open ground continued for five hundred meters before more trees appeared. ¡¯There¡¯s fire atop a wooden tower and¡­¡¯ Almond squinted his eyes and focused, which caused his eyesight to get better, and he gained a slightly zoomed-in view. ¡¯That¡¯s a goblin, which means that¡¯s the ce I am looking for.¡¯ But he was still around a hundred meters away from the Goblin Colony. *Rustles¡­* Almond paused as he heard a rustling sound. ¡¯My senses are sharper¡­¡¯ ¡¯There!¡¯ Almond infused Mana in his Wolf w Gauntlets, causing both gauntlets to turn into a beam of dreamy light before they transformed into two spectral Dire Wolves! ¡¯Go!¡¯ Almondmanded the wolves to get into the bushes. "Wait, wait! Please, stop!" Almond hurriedlymanded the wolves to stop upon hearing the words before an orange-haired girl with a short ponytail emerged from the bushes, a wand in her hand. She was surprised upon seeing a familiar face. ¡¯This guy is the one who sleeps in the corner mostly and gets bullied sometimes¡­I think.¡¯ "You¡­Almond, right?" she asked with a bit of doubt. [Natalia] -Adventurer Rank: Bronze. -Level: 4 -ss: ??? Chapter 7: Doubts, Suspicion, Uncertainty Almond¡¯s brows creased upon seeing the girl. "Natalia¡­" She was his ssmate. "Oh, so you¡¯re him," Natalia heaved a sigh of relief before she approached him, "Have you seen Jacob and others? He told me we would meet up near the Goblin Colony when we met earlier. I think only Jacob¡¯s group, you, me, and Lily spawned in this area. The other ssmates must have spawned at other starting areas." Almond¡¯s hand holding his staff clenched, but his expression remained slightly frowning as he shook his head, "I haven¡¯t seen them." He nced around Natalia and asked, "Are you alone?" "Hell no. I¡¯m with Lily. She got a powerful Phantom Thief ss, so she has concealed herself near the Goblin Colony to be on the lookout and scout it. Anyway, you seem¡­pretty good. What¡¯s with the wolves?" Natalia looked at two ghostly wolves with a metallic sheen in front of Almond in surprise. ¡¯She is with Lily? That¡¯s bad.¡¯ "It¡¯s my skill," Almond tly replied before saying, "Anyway, I¡¯m going to find some Dire Wolves to kill and level up. Bye." ¡¯I guess Goblin Colony is canceled since Lily is there.¡¯ ¡¯But Natalia won¡¯t be suspicious, right?¡¯ Almond thought as he couldn¡¯t help but feel apprehensive. ¡¯She saw me¡­and if she thinks a bit more, I came from the same direction where Jacob and others were, ording to her.¡¯ ¡¯Normally speaking, there¡¯s a high chance for us to meet given that the starting area is not big and it¡¯s not as thick with trees,¡¯ Almond thought while walking past Natalia. ¡¯Good thing she is stupid, I hope. But should I really just walk away from her? What if¡­¡¯ "Wait, Almond. You came from the Goblin Settlement, right? Jacob and others were also there, though," Natalia rubbed her chin with a confused expression. "Where the hell did they go? Did you see any signs of them going anywhere?" Almond cursed internally as he turned around and shook his head at her, "No, but I can¡¯t be sure since I didn¡¯t pay attention to that kind of stuff. I skipped the Goblin Settlement area and directly walked here. As you can see, I am just level 2." "Urghh, fine. It¡¯s over an hour, and we haven¡¯t even done much," Natalia wryly smiled before she asked, "But since you are here and I am tired of waiting, how about we three work together to clear the Goblin Colony?" ¡¯But I don¡¯t want to show you my skills!¡¯ Almond annoyingly thought. ¡¯Fuck it. I¡¯ll have to wing it by using the two Wolf Spirits and my holy staff. Goblin Colony is a good ce to earn EXP.¡¯ ¡¯I shouldn¡¯t revert wolves back to the weapon form. I have to keep this a secret until I decide what to show for my ss to others.¡¯ Almond didn¡¯t want to create a hassle, so he agreed, and the duo silently walked toward the spot where Lily was hiding. "That furry coat looks pretty good," Lily said as she emerged from conceal. ¡¯So he is Almond? His eyes are indeed as beautiful as rumored.¡¯ She was covered in a sleek ck ninja-like robe, and only her beautiful dark blue eyes were visible to others. ¡¯I didn¡¯t sense her until she spoke,¡¯ Almond thought as he looked at the ck-haired beauty with a slender figure and ample bosom, looking sexy yet deadly in that outfit. ¡¯She is prepared. That outfit is definitely a magic item.¡¯ [Lily Darkwood] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 5 -ss: Phantom Thief¡ª(?) ¡¯Did she kill some level 6 Wandering Trolls around here? They are the only ones around here that can make you reach level 5 aside from Goblins in the colony.¡¯ ¡¯Her ss is of S-rank, from what I¡¯ve heard. Her stats should be high since she is level 5. That¡¯s 15 stat points from level up¡­not to mention herbat ability that¡¯s best in the academy.¡¯ Almond nced at Lily and Natalia as the trio walked towards the Goblin Colony with him in the middle. ¡¯What should I do? Lily is not as stupid as Natalia.¡¯ Natalia was chubby in the right areas and a beauty of the ss. However, Lily was considered the top beauty of the Frostar City Academy and also the most powerful student in it. She was already scouted by one of the globally renowned guilds¡ªLeague of Firefly, one of the top 10 most powerful guilds in the world. On top of that, her background was also powerful. Her father and mother were in the GAA branch in Frostar City. They were not just normal staff members but the Frostar City¡¯s Global Adventurers Association Branch President and Branch Commander! Both were strong adventurers, but her father was the Branch Commander, meaning that he was one of the strongest adventurers in Frostar city like Jacob¡¯s father, who was a Guild Leader of the strongest guild in the city. With Lily entering the League of Firefly, her parents¡¯ influence and power were bound to grow further in the Frostar city. ¡¯Jacob¡¯s father can easily talk with Lily¡¯s parents andunch an investigation unless he has a bad rtionship with GAA¡¯s top brass. But even so, he can still use his influence and money to get help.¡¯ ¡¯If Lily or Natalia mention me, I wille into his radar.¡¯ ¡¯No. In fact, he¡¯ll be suspicious of me because there¡¯s no other suspicious element aside from me. We just entered the Labyrinth, and their first meeting was with me. Nobody would see them afterward because they are dead! Their bodies are in Goblin Settlement, though they will be eaten after three days once new Goblins spawn, but still...¡¯ ¡¯With his people, he can easily find out that I was getting bullied by them sometimes, which also gives me a good reason to kill them after gaining power.¡¯ ¡¯A result of power trip.¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted, ¡¯But they killed me, so I simply paid back. And I won¡¯t let myself get caught, no matter what!¡¯ "Almond, there¡¯s a pack of wolves over there. Since you¡¯re just level 2, why don¡¯t you kill them and gain a level or two?" Lily said as she pointed her dagger at a cave to the east of Goblin Colony. The cave was small, and there was rough grassless ground outside, perfect for wolves to rest with stones and boulders around it. The river stream was also not far, as one could hear the sound of it flowing down from the mountain. "Alright, I¡¯ll be back." "No, we areing. We¡¯ll watch from behind and be on the lookout," Lily said, her sapphire blue eyes looking at him. "Fine," Almond tly replied before he walked towards them. "Almond, are you always this boring? Even the way you speak is boring," Natalia chuckled. "No wonder you get bu-" Lily nced at her, but Natalia also realized she was about to say something bad, so she stopped. Almond didn¡¯t bother replying and continued walking silently before stopping behind a tree. The cave was twenty meters away on open ground near the mountain¡¯s base area, and this was thest tree to hide. "Wait a second. I want to assign my stat points." "Alright," Lily nodded. Chapter 8: Physical Enchantment [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 2 [94%] -ss: Spirit Dealer (SS) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 256/325(+10)] -Stats: 3 unassigned points. |-Physical: ?[Strength: 10.5 | Health: 9 | Stamina: 10] |-Mental: ?[Mana: 13 (+19.5) | Focus: 13 | Perception: 15] ¡¯Focus can improve my overall magic control and efficiency, while Perception will allow me to get insight to improve my skills and enhance my senses. Both need to be improved to get better and learn new skills.¡¯ ¡¯But I have a flexible way to get stat points, so¡­¡¯ Almond added two points in Strength and one in Health. "Alright, I am going," Almond said as he started walking towards the open ground from the woods. But one of the wolves had woken up and was walking around, so the moment it saw him, the wolf howled, and the other four wolves woke up. ¡¯A pack of five dire wolves?¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. ¡¯All of them are at level 4. Guess I¡¯ll reach level 4 if I kill them all alone. Suddenly, Almond heard a voice as if someone whispered in his ear. "Do you need help?" ¡¯It¡¯s Lily¡¯s voice. For her to learn Magic Whisper, both her Focus and Perception must be over 15.¡¯ Magic Whisper was a simple application of Mana, using it to carry one¡¯s voice directly toward a target¡¯s ear, but the range depended on one¡¯s control. Almond simply raised his hand and shook it left and right to answer her. ¡¯I had nine days to learn some tricks myself. Lily must have taken a potion to boost her stats before entering the Labyrinth and learning some skills thanks to her background, but I also learned Physical Enchantment!¡¯ Physical Enchantment would show its power now that he had higher stats in Strength! Almond was confident. He had given his all for this day and his future. There was a hup, but everything was going well aside from the two new surprising elements¡ªNatalia and Lily, that he had to ensure wouldn¡¯t trouble him in the future before leaving the Labyrinth after three days. The two girls stayed behind in the woods while watching him. "He is level 2 and alone," Natalia rubbed her chin. "Do you think he can kill those five wolves?" "I don¡¯t know," Lily replied. "I don¡¯t remember him doing anything in the academy. But Rosa mentioned him to me a few times since she often sees him in the academy¡¯s library." "Well, that¡¯s the only thing he can do since he is physically frail," Natalia said before she chuckled as she remembered something, "I remember swooning over him on the first day of the academy because he looked handsome and his eyes were mesmerizingly attractive, but he looked very pathetic afterward." "He would get tired after running a bit and always stumbling in physical sses, not to mention getting bullied," Natalia wryly smiled. "Is that so?" Lily looked at Almond¡¯s back as the fight had already begun. "He doesn¡¯t look bad or unfit right now." Almond sent both of his Spectral Dire Wolves into the fray of five wolves while he cast Holy st to attack the strongest wolf of the pack. Fortunately, his aim wasn¡¯t bad, and the orb from his staff struck the wolf, causing the Holy st. ¡¯Interesting. I can use Mana to heal my spirit wolves?!¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glowed. His Spectral Dire Wolves were stronger. Even if their limbs would tear away, he could use Mana to regenerate them, and he had nock of Mana! *Growl!* The alpha that survived the first holy st dashed toward him with bloodshot eyes, wanting to tear him to pieces. ¡¯I can see its movement clearly and react,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted as he dodged and ducked while clenching his fist tightly and punching with all of his strength after infusing 10 Mana points in his fist. Physical Enchantment! *Chree!* His fist prated the Dire Wolf¡¯s head from below as Almond simply upper-cut the beast. Blood sttered, painting his face red. ¡¯This was easy,¡¯ Almond grinned. [You have killed a level 4 Dire Wolf.] [You have reached level 3. You have gained 3 Unassigned stat points.] Instantly after that, he released Holy st on the Wolf that his two Spectral Dire Wolves had attacked and finished it off. After using 20 Mana to heal both of his Spectral Dire Wolves, they began fighting against the remaining three wolves while Almond also joined the fray. "His Physical Enchantment is perfect," Lily¡¯s eyes glinted, showing a hint of shock. ¡¯It¡¯s even better than mine. He is able to infuse the mana evenly and urately in all chakra points. How?¡¯ ¡¯It requires 50 perceptions to even detect the Chakra points. I had my father¡¯s help, and I still couldn¡¯t urately do it like him.¡¯ ¡¯How did he do that? Is this even possible? Or does he have some kind of skill or he awakened a talent to help him with that?¡¯ "Woah, he really killed the wolves just like that," Natalia¡¯s mouth was wide open in surprise. "Those two wolf spirits look just like Dire Wolves. Is he some kind of summoner?" "And It¡¯s weird. He never attended physicalbat sses, but he is fighting like a warrior.." Natalia muttered as she wasn¡¯t expecting Almond to join the fight physically and kill the wolves brutally like that. "He never did? Maybe he trained at another ce?" Lily said, her eyebrows raising in surprise. "Because his movements are not at all of a beginner who never trained." "Could be, but he is a poor boy and works part-time to get by. I doubt he can pay for any good training center." On the other hand, Almond devoured a level 4 Dire Wolf Spirit and got +1 Stamina. He stored the remaining four spirits in the Spirit Kodoku pocket. ¡¯Now I only need nine spirits to create that Spirit Wraith,¡¯ Almond thought as he turned around and walked towards the girls. He could see them looking at him and feel their eyes on him a bit different than before. ¡¯I¡¯m not sure I can defeat Lily. She is an assassin-type, and her perception and focus seem higher than mine. Ambushing her is a tall order. Not to mention, I¡¯ve seen her fight, and I am not at all confident if I were to brawl against her, with a weapon or without a weapon.¡¯ ¡¯She¡¯ll wipe the floor with me.¡¯ ¡¯But as long as these two live, there¡¯s a high chance I could get caught and killed. What should I do? I don¡¯t want to kill unnecessarily, but I want to survive...¡¯ Almond was feeling anxious about the uing future, but he calmed down as it was no use getting anxious over it. He just had to think more and reach a conclusion. He still had time. "We can wait for a few minutes so you can recover your Mana," Lily said. "You can meditate and recover fast. You know the method, right?" Almond nodded and closed his eyes, but he didn¡¯t meditate, which requires one to enter a deep focused state. If he did, he wouldn¡¯t know what was going on around him. ¡¯My Mana recovery is already fast thanks to my innate talent,¡¯ Almond looked at the status and saw his Mana recovering. Chapter 9: Raid on the Goblin Colony Meditation would increase Mana¡¯s recovery by 100% of the normal rate. The initial normal rate of mana¡¯s recovery depends on one¡¯s ss rank. The higher the rank, the better the Mana recovery rate. Afterward, it would increase every 10 points into the Mana stat. His SS-rank ss gave him a natural mana recovery of 0.7 Mana per second, and with over 30 Mana points, he gained 0.3 extra, which propelled his normal recovery to 1 Mana per second, which was then doubled due to his innate talent! If he meditated on top of that, it would increase even more! Two minutester, Almond opened his eyes and nodded, "I¡¯m done. We can go." "Good, here¡¯s the n," Lily began exining. "I¡¯ve scouted the Goblin Colony. There are twenty Goblins inside unless I missed one or two, and most of them are level 5 and 6, but four of them are at level 7, which includes the Goblin Chief, one Goblin Archer, one Goblin Mage, and one Goblin Guardian." "Natalia can use a decoy-type skill to create a clone. It can move, and it inherits 50% of her stats and she can use her skills through it. We¡¯ll use it to lure out the Goblins from the front gate while you and I will attack from behind and take out the Goblin Archers and Goblin Mages who will stay behind first," Lily said to Almond. "Got it," Almond nodded. "After that?" Lily took out two daggers from her storage pouch, "That¡¯s all to the n. We¡¯ll fight the rest of the battle ordingly since it won¡¯t be hard. I¡¯ve done a simtion of fighting in this colony multiple times in the training center." "Alright," Almond nodded as he nced at the daggers. ¡¯They are notmon-grade for sure.¡¯ "Let¡¯s go," Natalia grinned and used her skill, conjuring another Natalia looking just like her. ¡¯Her ss must be pretty useful if it has a skill like this,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. ¡¯She and her friends talked about their sses during lunch break.¡¯ ¡¯If I remember correctly, it¡¯s called Mirage Witch¡ªB-rank ss. Well, I can confirm it right now.¡¯ Almond checked her status this time, and indeed, her ss name and rank appeared as his information was true. ¡¯I wonder what else she can do with it¡­¡¯ The trio moved towards the Goblin Colony. Natalia went towards the front gate and hid ten meters away behind a tree. Since she could share her senses with her clone, she controlled it as the clone arrived in front of the Goblin Colony¡¯s gate. The colony was like a tiny vige with seven wooden huts, one wooden house bigger than the huts, and a wooden watch tower at the center. The gate was closed, and there were two trees on both sides, along with a few other trees inside. As Natalia¡¯s clone appeared near the gate, the level 6 Goblin Archer on the watchtower soon noticed her and picked up a crude blowhorn to alert the goblins. Natalia¡¯s clone threw a sk of me, an attack-type potion that could explode and set mmable things on fire to destroy the colony gate and set both trees to the sides on fire. This aggravated the goblins further as four level 5-6 Goblin Guardians and four level 5-6 Goblin Warriors, along with a level 6 Goblin Mage and the level 7 Goblin Chief, rushed out and chased after Natalia¡¯s clone, who ran at full speed into the woods. The other goblins remained inside and rushed towards the gate and trees to put out the fire by filling up water buckets from their well. Meanwhile, Lily and Almond jumped over the wall from the back andnded on a wooden bridge that was fixed around the colony¡¯s walls for goblin mages and archers to give them higher ground. Lily¡¯s daggers glowed before she threw both of them toward the level 7 Goblin Mage, who stayed at the back along with the level 7 Goblin Archer. Both daggers prated the Goblin Mage, one into its throat and the other into his chest, but the Goblin Mage didn¡¯t die instantly like she expected since it seemed to use a skill to heal itself while barely holding on. ¡¯Tsk, real life still has variables that simtion can¡¯tpute,¡¯ Lily thought as she saw the Goblin Mage living, but she didn¡¯t bother with it anymore and took out a bow to aim at the Goblin Archer in the watchtower ording to her n. She had to kill it before it could alert the goblins chasing Natalia¡¯s clone. It had a blowhorn, which could give a message to the goblins outside, so it was important to kill it fast. Meanwhile, Almond had also attacked,manding both of his spirit wolves to pounce on the level 7 Goblin Archer, pinning it on the ground while he rushed forward with physical Enchantment and jumped,nding directly on the Goblin Archer¡¯s head with a kick to finish it off. *St* He saw Lily failing to kill Goblin Mage due to it having some kind of support-type skill and took that chance to use a Spirit Explosion by using a level 3 Dire Wolf Spirit from Spirit Kodoku pocket. ¡¯The explosion would alert other goblins, but that¡¯s fine. We¡¯ve finished off three who were at the back.¡¯ Naturally, Lily heard the explosion right as she released the arrow at the Goblin Archer on the watchtower. She wanted to make sure this Goblin Archer died, so she didn¡¯t hold back in using Mana and finished it off. "What was that?" Lily asked as she turned to Almond. ¡¯So he killed both level 7 goblins. That must have propelled him to level 5.¡¯ [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 5 -ss: ??? "It was my ss skill," Almond answered, his eyes on the Goblins near the gate. "The explosion alerted them. Let¡¯s finish them off fast." "Yeah. There are a few more Goblins than I initially counted, but that won¡¯t change anything," Lily looked at the iing Goblins screaming and shouting with red eyes and released arrows while her Daggers flew back at her. ¡¯Geez, she is loaded with items.¡¯ Almond also stored all three spirits and used Spirit Devour on them. Two level 7 Goblins and one level 6 Goblin gave him +2 Focus, +1 Perception, +1 Health, and +1 Stamina. Almondmanded his wolves while he stayed back with Lily and assigned all six stat points to his Strength. ¡¯If I want to kill Goblin Warriors and Goblin Guardians with one attack solely using Physical Enchantment, I need to increase Strength.¡¯ Physical Enchantment could increase the user¡¯s Strength stat by 10% to 100%, depending on the proficiency of the skill. And¡­Almond¡¯s proficiency was enough to give him a 100% boost, thanks to the intense training he designed himself to learn Physical Enchantment after reading and learning about it from various sources. The mana consumption required to use Physical Enchantment was rtive to the Strength stat and the area it affected. The higher the strength stat andrger the area, the more mana it requires to use Physical Enchantment. The duration it remained active also depended on one¡¯s proficiency, and for now, Almond¡¯s Physical Enchantment couldst for around twenty seconds. Almond only enchanted his Arms and Legs. He didn¡¯t even know how to enchant his whole body yet because he didn¡¯t train in other areas. After assigning stat points, he rushed forward with Physical Enchantment to finish off the level 7 Goblin Guardian since Goblin Guardians could have support-type skills as well, and they could prove troublesome. Meanwhile, Lily finished off the two Goblin Archers who were at the back using her bow. They didn¡¯t get the chance to even release a single arrow before they were killed. ¡¯A skilled marksman,¡¯ Almond thought as he saw the double kill by Lily. On the other hand, Almond was instantly surrounded by the remaining nine Goblins, among which one was a Goblin Mage, four Goblin Warriors, and three Goblin Guardians, all of them at level 5-6. The wolves pounced on the Goblin Mage at his left upon hismand, and he exerted strength in his legs, jumped out of the encirclement while dodging an attack from the Goblin Warrior, andnded behind the Goblin Mage before killing it with a kick. The Goblin Warriors and Guardians couldn¡¯t catch up with Almond¡¯s speed, and they were meleebatants, so they angrily rushed at him to attack him, wanting to skewer him with their swords and spears. "I¡¯ll finish them off. Thanks for gathering them." Almond suddenly heard Lily¡¯s voice in his right ear. Lily, with glinting daggers in her hand, jumped right into the middle of the group of eight Goblins. Almond was wondering what she would do, and then he saw Lily¡¯s figure d in purple lightning before her speed drastically increased, and she moved zig-zag around the Goblins, her daggers shing away at their throats as they were beheaded while they couldn¡¯t even react. Seeing this, Almond¡¯s eyes widened before they lit up with ze, his fist clenched. ¡¯Physical Enchantment, a self-buff skill, and a movement-type skill, all in a perfect symphony that allowed her to make a move like this¡­¡¯ ¡¯She must have learned other skills outside, thanks to her background and trained herself. Skill Scrolls are rare toe by, but it shouldn¡¯t be hard for her.¡¯ "Natalia should being here soon," Lily said as she walked towards Almond. Almond nodded. ¡¯Status open.¡¯ Almond reached level 6, while Lily remained at level 6 after leveling up once despite killing many Goblins since killing monsters weaker than one¡¯s level would yield lower EXP than usual. Still, she was only a bit away from reaching level 7. Chapter 10: Monster ¡¯Strength,¡¯ Almond added all three stat points into Strength, feeling power surging in him. |-Physical: ?[Strength: 21.5 | Health: 11 | Stamina: 12] |-Mental: ?[Mana: 13 (+19.5) | Focus: 14 | Perception: 16] "Almond, how did you learn your Physical Enchantment?" Lily asked after she chugged a Mana potion instead of meditating to recover her Mana. "I designed a training method after learning about it to master it," Almond answered. "What?!" Lily¡¯s eyes showed disbelief. "You can¡¯t be serious." Almond frowned but didn¡¯t bother arguing and calmed his expression as he replied tly, "I have no reason to lie." ¡¯Did he really master Physical Enchantment himself?¡¯ Lily didn¡¯t want to believe, but a part of her believed he was telling the truth since it didn¡¯t feel like he was lying. "What was the training?" "I can tell you, but the training is hell. You won¡¯t do it even if you learn it." "Just tell me," Lily stared at Almond¡¯s eyes. "I learned that infusing Mana appropriately in Chakra points is the key, but it was impossible to find these points, so I tried to spread Mana and feel them-" "Wait, wait," Lily interrupted Almond, her eyes trembling, "You spread Mana? That hurts like hell, especially around the Chakra points. You don¡¯t feel anything other than pain if you do that! How can you even sense the Chakra points¡¯ location? There are so many in each limb and other parts!" "You also need a fine Mana control and precisely infuse Mana in the chakra point to avoid pain and injury in case loss of Mana control¡­" Lily was still in disbelief. Almond wryly smiled, "It was hard. I spent three days simply in pain without any results. But I couldn¡¯t quit. I had to learn it." ¡¯Since I picked a support role, I needed something that makes me strong and increases my chance of survival,¡¯ Almond looked at his fist. ¡¯The pain I went through was well worth it.¡¯ He remembered how many times he thought about giving up, but giving up because of that pain painted a picture even bleaker in his mind. He formed that picture to make himself go forward! Lily saw Almond¡¯s fist clenching while she herself felt involuntarily admiration. She knew the pain, and literally nobody was willing to go through that. "Anyway, Physical Enchantment is one of the most important skills to learn, and one could learn it right after awakening. I had to learn it to be better, simple as that." Almond cracked his index finger and turned to the Gate as he heard something, "Natalia¡¯s here." Meanwhile, Lily¡¯s eyes glinted as she looked at Almond, and a grin formed behind her mask. ¡¯This guy is a monster¡­¡¯ "What happened to Jacob and others?" Almond was startled at the sudden question from Lily. ¡¯Why is she asking me? Is she suspicious of me?¡¯ "How would I know? I haven¡¯t seen them," He turned to Lily with a in expression and answered before turning to the gate again. Lily¡¯s eyes showed an amusing expression. ¡¯I would have believed you if I didn¡¯t hear your name from Seyung¡¯s mouth. He didn¡¯t finish the name when we met as Jacob red at him, but he was likely going to speak your name.¡¯ ¡¯Something definitely happened between you and them.¡¯ Meanwhile, Almond¡¯s brain was heating up. ¡¯I can feel her gaze on my back¡­Why is she suspicious of me?¡¯ ¡¯This is not good.¡¯ "Guys, the goblins are returning. Let¡¯s get ready," Natalia said as she rushed towards them. "Alright," Lily nodded and took out her bow again to deal long-range damage first. Meanwhile, Almond devoured the Goblin Spirits he captured. Nine Goblin Spirits, with one of them being level 7 and the rest being level 6 or 5. [You have devoured a level 5 Goblin Warrior Spirit.] [You have gained +0.5 Perception.] ¡¯Already over? Must be because I¡¯ve already devoured Goblin Warriors from the Goblin Settlement, and I am also at level 6.¡¯ -Level: 6 [4.2%] [You have devoured a level 6 Goblin Mage Spirit.] [You have gained +1 Focus.] ¡¯Alright. Last one.¡¯ [You have devoured a level 7 Goblin Guardian spirit.] [You have gained +1 Health and +0.5 Stamina.] ¡¯I guess I¡¯ll be able to get a point from one more Goblin Guardian, even if it¡¯s level 6.¡¯ *Rurarrr* The sound of Goblins arrived as they entered the gate. Goblin Chief furiously roared upon seeing dead goblins and humans in his colony, rushing at full speed using some skill while the giant club in its hand also glowed. Lily, showing no hesitation, instantly fired a powerful arrow toward the iing Goblin Chief, who couldn¡¯t dodge at the frontal speed it wasing at. However, its reaction speed wasn¡¯t bad as it swung its hand holding the ck wooden club towards the arrow, causing it to explode. The ck wooden club was half destroyed while the Goblin Chief was slightly injured and slowed down. "I¡¯ll kill it," Almond said as he sacrificed a wolf spirit to cause Spirit Explosion since Goblin Chief was within range of ten meters. *BOOM!* But Almond was surprised to see this Spirit Explosion¡¯s wisp color turning red right before exploding in the crimson spectacle. ¡¯Oh right, it¡¯s that effect that can activate by chance!¡¯ "Woah, what was that?" Natalia eximed in shock. "It¡¯s almost dead," Lily raised her eyebrows. ¡¯This explosion skill is quite powerful.¡¯ The Goblin Chief was gravely injured, and since this Spirit Explosion acquired the Bleeding effect from the Dire Wolf, it was also more powerful. Goblin Chief started bleeding all over, and even the Goblin Mage¡¯s healing didn¡¯t work! Goblin Warriors and Guardians rushed at the group with bloodshot eyes to attack, but just eight of them were no match. Almond¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help but form a grin as he rushed forward with his fists glinting from Physical Enchantment. His steps light as a feather, he jumped and swung a kick at Goblin Guardian¡¯s head, exploding it. Right afternding, he threw his punch after ducking a Goblin Warrior¡¯s sword sh and exploding its head. ¡¯I didn¡¯t know fighting like this unrestrainedly would feel so good.¡¯ [You have killed a level 6 Goblin Guardian.] [You have killed a level 6 Goblin Warrior.] Meanwhile, Lily also attacked, not backing down. After releasing an arrow to kill the Goblin Mage who was trying to heal Goblin Chief, she joined Almond with her daggers, swiftly killing one level 6 Goblin Warrior and proceeding towards a level 5 Goblin Warrior. Lily reached level 7. "Shit, I need to do something, or I won¡¯t get any experience," Natalia quickly used a skill¡ªLight Pebbles¡ªB-rank. Five glowing brown pebbles formed as she controlled them and shot towards Goblin Warrior and Goblin Guardians, damaging them. Meanwhile, Goblin Chief died of bleeding. Since it was the leader monster, Almond got a lot of EXP from it. [You have killed a level 7 Goblin Chief.] Almond attacked thest level 5 Goblin Guardian that got damaged from Natalia¡¯s skill, finishing it off. [You have killed a level 5 Goblin Guardian.] [You have reached level 7. You have gained 3 unassigned stat points.] [You have triggered the level-up boon.] "You two are monsters," Natalia wryly smiled and looked at Almond before adding, "And what¡¯s with your love for heads, Almond? Geez." "It¡¯s not love, butmon sense. Exploding heads guarantee death for the majority of the monsters," Almond tly replied before he looked at the dead bodies and absorbed their spirits. [You have devoured a level 7 Goblin Chief.] [You have gained +1 Health, +1 Stamina, +1 Mana.] "Let¡¯s rest here for a bit. We have plenty of huts here to explore and rest," Lily said as she looked at the wooden house. "We might also find some useful things here," Natalia grinned and walked towards a nearby hut. "Let¡¯s go." "Almond, you cane with me to explore the house since you contributed a lot. I won¡¯t need stuff from here unless it¡¯s something rare," Lily said to Almond before she started walking towards the only wooden house. "Are you saying if it¡¯s something rare, you won¡¯t give it to me?" Almond asked as he caught up to her. "Yeah, but it depends," Lily nced at Almond, her eyes glinting, a faint smile behind her mask. "If you continue to team up with us, I don¡¯t mind giving it to you." Almond thought for a moment before nodding with a smile, "Sure." ¡¯I have no other choice. Lily and Natalia are a danger to my life. I have to resolve this issue before the exit opens on the third day,¡¯ Almond thought as he opened his level-up boon. ¡¯Please give me a Skill option.¡¯ Almond opened the boon window. [Select your level up boon] 1. Skill¡ªRandom. 2. essory¡ªRandom. 3. Random¡ªRandom. ¡¯Three options, but I got skill again!¡¯ Almond was thrilled. He instantly selected the Skill option. [Congrattions. You have acquired¡­] Chapter 11: Unexpected Development [Congrattions. You have awakened a new ss skill¡ªSpirit Syringe (S).] [Spirit Syringe] -Rank: S -Effect: ¡ª> Consume 10% of your Stamina to conjure a Spirit Syringe. You can inject it and absorb the target¡¯s Mana and Health in the Syringe, with the Syringe¡¯s limit being up to 100% of your Health and Mana. You can then use it to heal and recover yourself or others. ¡ª> You can store up to 5 Spirit Syringes. ¡¯Full recovery syringes?!¡¯ Almond was dumbfounded. ¡¯Hmmm, I need to see how it works,¡¯ Almond thought as he entered the house. ¡¯This could also work as an offensive skill because it drains the target¡¯s Mana and Health.¡¯ It was a two-story house, so Lily went upstairs while Almond started browsing below. Cupboards, beds, or anything that looked like it contained something. ¡¯Common-grade weapons that are useless, but I¡¯ll use a melee one since it¡¯s better to use Wolf w Gauntlets as Spectral Dire Wolves.¡¯ Almond grabbed amon-grade sword, feeling it settling in his hand. ¡¯Sword¡­I felt like using it many times, but I couldn¡¯t because of my weak body.¡¯ *Swoosh!* Almond swung the sword horizontally, his eyes gleaming, ¡¯This feels good.¡¯ He then continued searching and, a minuteter, looked up before thinking, ¡¯Usually, the Bronze Treasure Chest spawning in this colony is on the 2nd floor of this house, from the information.¡¯ Lily shortly returned and said, "I found the treasure chest." "What did you get from it?" Almond curiously asked. However, Lily just walked towards Almond while looking at him, her eyes piercing into his. Soon, she was close enough for her breasts to touch his chest, which prompted Almond to step back before his back was against the wall. ¡¯What the hell is going on?¡¯ Almond frowned, "They are pressing against me." "I know," Lily said as she blinked once before her eyes looked into Almond¡¯s golden-almond-colored eyes, her breasts pressed against his chest, and her face just a few inches away from his. "Your heart is beating very fast," Lily chuckled. Almond raised his eyebrows, "So is yours. My perception is not that low." "Well, I am feeling a bit excited, that¡¯s why," Lily smiled behind her mask. "So, what happened to Jacob and others?" "And before you say any bullshit, allow me to tell you that I absolutely don¡¯t care about those three idiots," Lily narrowed her eyes. "I just want to know you." ¡¯Really?¡¯ Almond looked at her silently, her eyes crystal clear. He didn¡¯t feel she was lying, and from what he knew about Lily, she indeed didn¡¯t give two hoots about anyone in the academy, be it any rich boy or talented boy, because no one was more rich or talented than her in the academy. Looking at her sapphire eyes that looked as if curious, Almond¡¯s expression gradually eased as he came to a conclusion. "I killed them." "Why?" "They killed me in the starting area for a Rare-grade item I found in the bronze treasure chest, but I survived," Almond coldly said, "So I killed them because if I don¡¯t, then Jacob won¡¯t leave me alive after I leave and his trash father would also support him to hunt me." "Because I am a nobody outside, quite literally." After a few seconds of silence, with just them staring into each other¡¯s eyes, Lily took a step back and grabbed his hand before taking out a ring from her storage pouch. [Earth Flower Ring] -Rank: Umon. -Effect: ¡ª> Infusing 50 Mana in the Ring will create a defensive earth flower in front of you the size of a 5-meter radius. It will disappear after one minute or if it¡¯s destroyed by attacks. "This is what I found from the Bronze treasure chest above," Lily put the ring on Almond¡¯s index finger before looking at Almond. "From now on, you¡¯re not a nobody but my partner." "Partner?" Almond¡¯s face showed a bit of confusion. Lily¡¯s dark blue eyes glinted as she removed her mask, revealing her angelic yet cool beauty-type face as she charmingly smiled. Closing in, she paused with just an inch of distance between their faces, her pink lips just a centimeter away from his as she whispered with a sassy smile, "In other words, my boyfriend." "Are you messing with me?" Almond frowned. Lily chuckled, "Not at all. I¡¯ve felt attracted to a boy for the first time. I feel like we have chemistry and that¡¯s how I roll in my life. I want to experience some new things with you because of what I feel." "Do I have a say in it?" Almond asked with a serious expression. "No." ¡¯Whatever the case, it¡¯s better to go along with her for now.¡¯ ¡¯Is she seriously serious?¡¯ Blinking twice, Almond¡¯s hand went around her waist before he pulled her towards him and pecked her lips, "Alright." Lily was stunned, her ears turning red and her white cheeks a shade of pink. ¡¯She was so bold, and now look at her. This confirms she has a reason to pull this on me...a reason I can¡¯t understand yet. Why does she want to be in a rtionship with me? We talked for the first time today...¡¯ "That was my first kiss," Lily wryly smiled and put her mask back on as she walked towards the door.¡¯ "So was mine," Almond said as he followed her out. ¡¯What the fuck is going on?¡¯ "Good to know." "Same." ¡¯She...is not faking it? What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Almond wasn¡¯t sure about the reasons Lily had to like him. He didn¡¯t know what she saw in him, but... ¡¯I have gained eyes to see if someone is sincere or scheming when I deal with them thanks to the shitty life I lived...¡¯ ¡¯She has nothing to gain by deceiving me, not that I feel she is doing that. So what does she see in me?¡¯ He would be more than happy if he could get an ally instead of an enemy, but he knew it was hard. ¡¯Based on points, she has no reason to rat me out to Jacob¡¯s father. There¡¯s nothing he can give to her that she doesn¡¯t have already, not to mention she is going to a top 10 guild soon... Maybe she¡¯s just really interested in me? She is an oddball from what I knew about her, but this was a crazy boldball just now.¡¯ As they both left the house, Natalia saw them and said, "Yo, did you find anything?" "Yeah," Lily nodded. "You can search the other huts. We are going to rest." "I can keep things I find, right?" "Yep." "Great," Natalia grinned and dashed into the third hut. "Jacob¡¯s father will investigate. Three dayster, he will send people here to find his son once he sees he didn¡¯te out," Almond said as he sat down cross-legged against a nearby tree, leaning at its trunk. "Did you forget about your girlfriend already?" ¡¯I¡¯ll spit it out,¡¯ Almond¡¯s lips twitched, "This feels unreal. Just a while ago, I had considered the possibility of killing you two to keep myself safe." Lily¡¯s eyes expressed her smile as she moved and boldly sat on his right sidep before putting her arms around his shoulder, "You need to better hide your intent to kill, though that¡¯s what made me curious in the first ce." "You could sense even that?" Almond was startled as sweat beads formed on his forehead. ¡¯She sensed that...¡¯ "Well, that is thanks to my passive ss skill, Phantom¡¯s Sixth Sense. If it¡¯s an intent directed at me, I¡¯ll be able to sense it even if ites from a pro or a noob." "As for Jacob¡¯s father," Lily¡¯s dark blue eyes glinted as she slyly smiled, "GAA will support his investigation if hees, but it won¡¯t lead to you. Now that you are my darling, of course, I will support you." Almond wryly smiled, "Well, that¡¯s reassuring to hear, but what about Natalia? She has hung out with Jacob multiple times, so if his father asks her and she tells him about meeting me¡­" "Natalia¡­" Lily looked at the hut and saw Natalia emerging from the 3rd hut and smiled. But Natalia was shocked to see the duo in their position and hurriedly rushed towards them instead of going to the 4th hut. "What¡¯s going on?!" [A/N: If you want to learn about Lily¡¯s thought process and her decision regarding this, you will find that soon inter free chapters.] Chapter 12: Trust "W-What¡¯s going on, Lily?" Natalia asked, her expression ufortable, her bodynguage fidgety. ¡¯Why are they so close? What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Almond blinked as he looked at Natalia, ¡¯Something feels weird¡­Her expression...¡¯ "We got into a rtionship a few minutes ago," Lily said as she rested her head on his shoulder, her breasts sightly pressing against him. Natalia¡¯s eyes started tearing up, "B-But¡­you know my feelings." ¡¯So that¡¯s what it is¡­¡¯ Almond wryly smiled. ¡¯She is a lesbian.¡¯ "Natalia, since I understood your situation and hung out with you as your partner, you should also understand that I am more attracted to males. I¡¯ve made that clear, but¡­" Lily stood up and approached Natalia, her mask vanishing as she faintly smiled and caressed Natalia¡¯s cheeks as she gently said, "I know you love me, and I won¡¯t stop you or keep you away. But you have to ept me and my feelings, too." Natalia angrily pouted and wiped her tears, looking at Almond with a hateful gaze as she stomped her feet and said, "But how is this possible? You two just met and talked for the first time today!" Almond raised his arms in surrender, "I don¡¯t know. To be honest, I still haven¡¯t epted the situation fully, but I am trying to." "See! He doesn¡¯t even love you!" Natalia¡¯s cheeks puffed as she intently looked at Lily. Lily turned to Almond with deadpan eyes, "So you don¡¯t feel attracted to me?" "No, no, that¡¯s not what I mean," Almond weakly smiled as he looked at her eyes and then below, sizing her up, "You are the most beautiful girl I¡¯ve ever seen, and as a male, I feel super attracted to you. God forbid if someone puts us in a room together." "Actually, never mind about that," Almond coughed. "But you know," Almond stood up and continued as his smile vanished, his golden-almond eyes sharply gleaming. "I¡¯ve been a weak nobody until now, and although I believed I could change my life after turning eighteen and entering the Labyrinth, I died because of some pieces of trash and my luck, but fate was with me, so I am here." "And I don¡¯t want to die but thrive in this world," Almond continued with a somber expression, "Lily, you are attracted to me, but as of right now, do you think you put your life on the line for me?" Lily raised her eyebrows. Natalia suddenly said with gritted teeth, "I can put my life on the line for Lily!" ¡¯Let me finish, at least,¡¯ Almond rolled his eyes and said as he looked at Lily¡¯s eyes with determined expression, "Lily, I want someone who I canpletely trust. I¡¯ve been alone forever, so I do long for such a person. It would be great if I have someone who has my back." "But it¡¯s hard to do in this world for someone like me who has always been alone, and you are the first person who got this close to me. I can feel you are sincere because you acted on your impulse and what your heart tells you, and that¡¯s good. That¡¯s better, and that¡¯s why...I will extend my trust to you." "Will you do the same?" Lily¡¯s dark blue eyes sparkled as she walked towards him and put her arms around his waist before gluing together, her face an inch away from his as she said with a grin, "You don¡¯t know how you are making me fall for you more and more with each passing second, darling~" Her face inched closer, and she nted her lips on his before kissing him. Natalia¡¯s face turned horrified, "Lily¡¯s first kiss! No!" Lily chuckled and linked her arms with Almond as she winked at Natalia while grinning, "That wasn¡¯t our first." Almond coughed. "How fast are you guys?! Don¡¯t start fucking now!" Natalia pouted and angrily stomped her feet, her words causing both Almond and Lily¡¯s ears to turn red. ¡­ Natalia went back to scavenging the huts while Almond and Lily rested under a tree, checking their status. ¡¯My current Focus and Perception are enough for now. My main offensive arsenal is Physical Enchantment, so increasing Strength will allow me to kill the higher-leveled monster easily,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted, adding the 3 stat points into Strength as it reached 24.5. "Here¡¯s my current stats, Almond. Take a look," Lily said as she shared her stats with Almond, her curious eyes indicating she also wanted to see his stats. ¡¯If she sees my stats¡­¡¯ Almond internally shook his head. ¡¯If I want trust, I need to give trust.¡¯ [Lily] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 7 [11%] -ss: Phantom Thief (S) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 250/250] -Stats: 0 unassigned points ?[Strength: 25|Health: 15|Stamina: 15] ?[Mana: 25|Focus: 17|Perception: 20] "Pretty good," Almond raised his eyebrows. "Thanks to the stat-increasing potions I had before and now leveling up, my stats are better than average," Lily said with a thrilled sheen in her eyes. "We¡¯ll visit all five important locations on the mountain and a secret one." "Secret one? Are you talking about White Pn¡¯sir?" Almond asked in surprise. ¡¯Thisir is randomized every time, and we have to follow small clues to find its location, but with her, we should be able to find it rather quickly.¡¯ "Yep. I assume you know all the information about the first floor, right?" "Yeah, that¡¯s what I did for years. Gathering information on the Labyrinth¡¯s floors," Almond said as he couldn¡¯t help but smile. "I know everything that is revealed in any piece of media." Saying that, he shared his status with her. [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 7 [4%] -ss: Spirit Dealer (SS) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 335/335] -Stats: 0 unassigned points ?[Strength: 24.5|Health: 13|Stamina: 13.5] ?[Mana: 14 (+19.5)|Focus: 15|Perception: 16.5] The first thing she saw was the ss and its rank as her eyes widened in shock. Chapter 13: Fairy Mountain "Your ss¡­" Lily¡¯s eyes sparkled as she looked at Almond. "It is unheard of to get an SS-rank ss right off the bat." "I don¡¯t think so," Almond shook his head and faintly smiled, "What if those who awakened it didn¡¯t reveal it? I initially awakened a D-rank ss, but I met some sort of conditions, so there¡¯s a high chance there are other people who have an SS-rank ss." Lily became thoughtful, "True. It could be that the S-rank is the maximum rank of ss one can naturally get. The higher rank ss might need to fulfill some conditions to acquire." Almond nodded, "I have one more insight in this matter. I think that if we can trigger some kind of event by fulfilling conditions, we can rank up our sses." "That¡­" Lily blinked and nodded, her eyes twinkling, "It does sound possible. I want to try doing it. Do you have any information about this since you experienced it?" "I¡­died. I didn¡¯t almost die as I said before, but I actually died," Almond wryly smiled. "I was killed by those three beyond doubt. I could feel it¡­that darkness." "But then I heard I fulfilled some condition and resurrected with this new ss." "That¡¯s a rather extreme condition," Lilymented. "I don¡¯t want to try dying." "Of course," Almond released a hollowugh. "But¡­I think the clue should be in our ss. Also, we should wait until we get our specialized ss after reaching level 10 before exploring this." "Mhmm, true that," Lily nodded with a grin and stretched her arms as they went around Almond¡¯s neck before she nted her lips on his before shortly Almond¡¯s hands went around her waist. Her tempting smell wafted into his nose as their lips yed with each other, the taste of her lips feeling strangely sweet. Lily¡¯s hands tightened as she pressed closer, feeling an electrifying pleasure. The slightly sweaty yet manly smell numbed her brain as their lips wildly yed with each other. Their heartbeats quickened each second, their breathing rugged yeting in sync. It was a new yet desirable experience for both of them. Feeling this warmth and pleasure of bing close to someone, Almond¡­didn¡¯t want to push this away. "Your hormones are exploding, I can tell. But this is not the ce or time, guys," Natalia said while rolling her eyes. "¡­" "¡­" "Cough, let¡¯s go. It¡¯s time to start moving," Almond stood up and grabbed the belt-holding sword in the sheath before putting it on his body at his back. "Put your backpack in this storage pouch, it¡¯d be bothersome to carry it now that you have a sword to carry," Lily said as she opened the storage pouch. "Thanks." And then, the trio finally resumed their exploration, moving towards the fairy mountain¡¯s southwest area base. This mountain was humongous, stretching at six kilometers in height with the mountain base taking up to ten ten-kilometer radius of area. "So, which site do you think we should raid first?" Lily asked with a smile. "I trust you have moreprehensive nning than me." Almond chuckled and said, "We¡¯ll go to the Nest of Willowbees area first. Leveling will be harder now, but our goal is to reach level 10 to trigger our specialized ss¡¯s initiation before Labyrinth¡¯s night descends." "Because once 24 hours pass, the monsters will double in number." "Yeah. It will take time toplete quests of our specialized ss, so the earlier we get them, the better," Lily nodded. "Thank you for carrying me in advance," Natalia cheekily said. "Nah, you will be our key yer," Almond deviously smiled. Natalia felt a chill, "The hell are you nning?" "It¡¯s fine," Lily held back herugh and smiled as she patted Natalia¡¯s shoulder, "He will surely lead us well." Natalia: T-T "First, I sacrificed my love, now my body¡­fine. Do whatever you want with me." ¡­ As the trio entered Fairy Mountain and started walking towards their first destination, Almond took out a parchment from his pocket and opened it. It revealed the map of this Mountain and the special areas on it. *** [Fairy Mountain]¡ªMajor Location. 1. Nest of Willowbees¡ªBronze rank level 7 - 10 2. Cavern of ssze Bears¡ªSilver rank level 1-3 3. The Shimmering Fen¡ªSilver rank level 3 - 5 4. Briarwood Grove¡ªSilver rank level 5 - 7. 5. Frostbite Cliffs¡ªSilver rank level 7 to 10. -Secret Areas on the mountain: ¡ª> White Pn¡¯s Lair¡ªSilver rank level 1 to 10. -Field Bosses on the mountain: ¡ª> de Mantis¡ªBronze rank level 10. ¡ª> Maddening Beaver¡ªSilver rank level 5. ¡ª> Wandering Fairy¡ªSilver rank level 10. *** "We¡¯ll most likely spend three days on this mountain, and we won¡¯t be alone here," Almond said as he looked ahead at the higher ground containing new types of tall and big trees. "If we encounter another group, we¡¯ll act ording to their power and conduct," Lily narrowed her eyes. "Let¡¯s hope we don¡¯t encounter a big group," Natalia weakly smiled and added, "By the way, is that area of Willowbees?" "Not yet but we¡¯ll get there after crossing that patch of trees," Almond tapped on the parchment in the Willowbees¡¯ area, and it changed, revealing information. This item was Map Parchment. It¡¯s a nk paper when bought, but it can be filled with details drawn and written by a person. "You¡¯ve really made sufficient details on this," Lily raised her eyebrows. "Don¡¯t tell me you have all the details like this of all areas on the first floor?" "All floors." "Damn!" Natalia couldn¡¯t help but utter in amazement. [-Nest of Willowbees-] -Description: Hidden among the towering trees and thick, flowering vines, this is the hive of the Willowbees,rge, aggressive insectoid creatures that resemble a cross between bees and willows. They feed on magical nectar from enchanted flowers, giving them the ability to shoot sts of pollen and summon vines to entangle intruders. -Key Features: Dense foliage, towering enchanted trees, massive bee hives dangling from branches, and scattered pools of magical nectar that can be collected as a resource to craft Healing Potions. Monsters: ¡ªWillowbee Workers (weaker, swarm enemies) ¡ªWillowbee Guards rger, with venomous stings) ¡ªWillowbee Queen (boss, summons roots and vines to trap enemies) "Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll enter their territory after crossing a kilometer of distance. We might encounter wild monsters, but they won¡¯t be a threat to us unless it¡¯s the Field Boss of the lower area, the de Mantis." Chapter 14: Nest of Willowbees, Thunderbird Guild Group (1/2) There were eight major locations on the first floor of the Labyrinth, like Fairy Mountain. Exploring any of those eight locations and adventuring there sessfully can make Adventurers powerful, as each Major location has monsters up to Silver rank level 10, which is also the limit of level on the first floor. On the Fairy Mountain, the higher one went up, the stronger the monsters one would encounter, including Silver-rank monsters. The bronze rank¡¯s limit was level 10. After reaching level 10, two things happen¡ª1. Specialized ss quest. 2. Advancement Trial to reach Silver rank and start from level 0 until level 30 for Gold rank trial. Almond¡¯s goal was to reach level 10 by clearing the Nest of Willowbees. It was dangerous as Willowbees were flying monsters and required a certain amount ofbat expertise and skills, but it was the fastest ce to reach level 10 on the first day of the Labyrinth. ording to the calction of Experience needed to reach level 10 from level 7, one was required to kill 15 level 10 Monsters, 50 level 9 Monsters, or 100 level 8 monsters to reach level 10. Farming in one ce wasn¡¯t useful because killing the same monsters, lower level than them, would eventually give them zero EXP. As the trio finally entered the area of towering trees, Natalia almost cursed out loud. The three of them quickly hid behind a tree. "Shit, there¡¯s already a group here," Natalia whispered. "What do we do?" "Are they familiar to you, Lily?" Almond asked as he secretly looked at them. Lily¡¯s head was right above him as they both peeked out from behind the tree to look at the group of six people. They were simr in their age but had an older man in his mid-twenties with them as well. "They are foreigners¡­ definitely not from our city," Lily narrowed her eyes. "Although their outfits are different, each of them has an armband above their elbows, which is kinda familiar." Almond felt his head on a soft cushion as Lily¡¯s breasts pressed on him, her arms around his neck from above as she entered a thoughtful state to remember about the armband. Meanwhile, Natalia stared at Lily¡¯s buttcheeks from behind, her hands raised and fingers movings with an eager expression as if she wanted to squeeze them. "I remember now," Lily sat down behind the tree, a light bulb glowing in her eyes, "That armband belongs to Thunderbird Guild. It¡¯s not a top 10 global guild, but it¡¯s still powerful enough to be ranked 14th." "So they are the new recruits they got this month," Almond frowned. "They even got a Knight with them." Knight was a term used for Adventurers who were at higher levels but still visited lower floors of the Labyrinth to apany other Adventurers. The term Knight was given because each Floor had limitations on entry. The First Floor¡¯s limit was Silver rank level 10. If anyone higher than this level entered the Labyrinth, their stats would be suppressed with a penalty. Their stats would be the same as when they were Silver rank level 5. In short, there was a high chance that Knights would die if they encountered powerful monsters or Adventurers of Silver rank level 10 unless the Knight was exceptionally skilled and had a refinedbat arsenal. "This is troublesome. My parents had no contact or deal with this guild, so they won¡¯t give me a face even if they know I am the daughter of a GAA branch president and branchmand," Lily clenched her fist. "And I don¡¯t believe they will be happy seeing us here." "I got an idea," Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. "Let¡¯s make contact with them and see what they think about strangers." "You mean¡­" Lily raised her eyebrows before she looked at Natalia. "What are you two looking at me for? Don¡¯t tell me¡­use my clone?" ¡­ The giant hives of Willowbees were not present on trees at the start, but the group had just entered the area and spotted a big hive the size of a house fifty meters above, dangling on a branch with around fifty arm-sized bees working high up in the trees to collect nectar from flowers and fruits growing these unique trees. The group had stopped behind a tree to prepare a few traps before initiating their attack. But then, they heard something and looked back. Natalia¡¯s clone was running towards them, her eyes and expression weary, and her outfit dirty as if she had recently experienced some struggle. The group silently watched her. One girl, three boys at eighteen years old, and a twenty-five-year-old man who was a Knight. The boys, seeing Natalia¡¯s breasts bouncing, couldn¡¯t help but look there as they felt blood rushing below. She was a mage and wore a dress that showed her cleavage, so it was a tempting sight. ¡¯Horny bastards,¡¯ Natalia internally snorted. She quietly arrived behind the boulder as well and took deep breaths as her chest heaved up and down before weakly smiling, "I-I¡¯m sorry to disturb you, but my group and I separated because of de Mantis." "de Mantis? You didn¡¯t bring it here, right?" the man in his mid-twenties asked with a frown. "I¡­don¡¯t think so," Natalia hesitantly shook her head before she pleaded as her eyes got a bit teary, "I-I can¡¯t survive alone. Can I stay with you, please?" "Yeah, of course," a blond-haired young man said with a dashing smile as he approached her, "A fairdy like you shouldn¡¯t wander this mountain alone." "Zoren, you know we can¡¯t do that," the Knight said as his brows furrowed. "I said we can," Zoren nced at the knight. "Any problem with that, Henry?" ¡¯This damn yboy,¡¯ Henry internally cursed, but he couldn¡¯t defy Zoren, who was the second son of Vice-Guildmaster of Thunderbird Guild. The other three didn¡¯t say anything because they had no say in this, though the two boys were stealing nces at Natalia¡¯s figure while the red-haired girl appeared a bit annoyed and looked at the beehive as she ignored this matter. "Come, sit here for a bit," Zoren gently grabbed Natalia¡¯s shoulders and sat her down at the boulder. ¡¯The n might go smoother than expected thanks to this yboy.¡¯ Chapter 15: Thunderbird Guild Group (2/2), Nasty Guy "I am Natalia, thank you, Zoren," Natalia said as she wiped her tears and smiled. "Can you help me find my friends, please? You can also kill de Mantis and get rewards. They are not far from this area." "de Mantis might drop a special sword with a low chance, so it¡¯s a priority," Henry said, "We have to kill it before others. But for now, we¡¯ll clear that one Hive of Willowbees since we are prepared. It should take ten minutes max with the traps as long as you four coordinate properly ording to the n." "B-But de Mantis might be after my friends¡­" Natalia said while she nced at the red-haired girl briefly before turning to Zoren. ¡¯Why is that bitch looking out? Let¡¯s hope we aren¡¯t discovered before we pass by them¡­¡¯ The n was to distract this group while they went around them and enter deeper into this area to farm a hive or two of Willowbees. Of course, this n had two points to clear, and Natalia proceeded to the second point. "Please, Zoren. I am worried about my boyfriend. I will be eternally grateful if we can go to them right now," Natalia said as her eyes turned teary again. *Pat!* Natalia felt a stinging pain on her cheek as Zoren angrily pped her. "Bitch, do you think I¡¯m a fool? You have a boyfriend already, yet you want me to save them?" Zoren said, his narrowed eyes glinting darkly with lust as he ogled at her and grabbed her wrist tightly. His other hand went into his storage pouch as he took out a pair of handcuffs, a magic item crafted by Earth Union that disrupts Mana flow to prevent anyone from using skills. "W-What are you doing?" Natalia found her hands in handcuffs. ¡¯This motherfucker¡­¡¯ The red-haired girl wanted to say something but stayed silent. ¡¯This piece of trash¡­¡¯ The boys also wanted to stop him, but if they said anything, Zoren could easily kick them out of the guild. "I¡¯ll have fun with you when we camp. If you satisfy me, I¡¯ll save your friends," Zoren nastily grinned. ¡¯That¡¯s it. This bastard needs to die.¡¯ "You better be careful now, you piece of garbage," Natalia coldly said before her clone exploded. *Boom!* "Arghhh! W-What the fuck!" Zoren was closest to her, so he was injured. The defensive item on him reduced damage further, so he only got superficial burns. The three Bronze-rank adventurers were slightly injured, while Henry was unscathed. On the other hand, Almond and Lily had already passed by the group and arrived around a hundred meters deeper into this area while carrying Natalia¡¯s real body, which was resting behind a tree at the moment. Lily was in the position to aim at the Beehive that was near that group for thest minute, and the moment she heard the explosion, she released the arrow that went straight through a level 7 Willowbee Worker before hitting the giant beehive the size of a house. "Hit the Beehive! Kill that bastard!" Natalia hissed the moment her senses regained in her real body. "What happened?" Almond was surprised at Natalia¡¯s outburst. "What did they do?" "I already did," Lily said as she looked at Natalia. "They have a knight, so they can¡¯t be in danger even if they are good people, but¡­" Her eyes narrowed as she continued, "What happened there? Were they that bad?" "Not all," Natalia said as she calmed down and continued, "But that blond-haired bastard called Zoren is apparently a big shot¡¯s son, so even that Knight obeys him, not to mention the other three random new recruits of their guild who can¡¯t do anything since they want to join the guild." Natalia clenched her fists, her eyes trembling, "That bastard pped me and wanted to rape me. He even put Sealing Handcuffs on me to prevent me from escaping." She shuddered as some memories surfaced in her mind and hung her head down, her breathing bing uneven, her fists clenched. "That piece of trash¡­" "Sorry, Nat..." Lily walked towards her and hugged her as she caressed her back, "You did well. And don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll deal with him." ¡¯Does she have some kind of trauma?¡¯ Almond thought as he felt it was the case seeing Natalia¡¯s state. "Rest for five minutes and rx," Lily said as she wiped Natalia¡¯s tears. "We have time since that group will be busy fighting and fending off that swarm of Willowbees." Almond looked at the area as a big barrier covered the group. He could not see the people from this position due to the big boulder, but it was clear they decided to stay from the look of the situation there. "It seems they are gonna kill the Willowbees instead of running." "That knight is Silver rank level 5, but his barrier skill can easily protect them from these Bronze rank Bees for an hour, even if the Willowbee Queen emerges from that hive, not to mention they won¡¯t have ack of Mana recovery potions," Lily nodded. "They have plenty of time to prepare and let the four newbies deal with them." After all, it wouldn¡¯t be worth it if that Knight killed the Willowbees, as nobody would get any EXP. ¡¯What if I use 10 Spirit Explosions at once? What if I stack them¡­? This is the kind of skill that doesn¡¯t cost Mana but spirits,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted, eager to try. But he needed more spirits for this and it wasn¡¯t wise to stay here to collect the Spirits while that group attacked. They had to move away from them and start killing Willowbees at another hive. Almond looked into the mysterious Spirit Kodoku pocket where he had put 20 spirits when they left the Goblin Colony. This Spirit Kodoku also had the spirit of Jacob, Lamp, and Seyung alongside Goblin Spirits and a few Dire Wolf spirits. ¡¯I wonder what woulde out from this¡­¡¯ There was no countdown or anything. He just had to wait until the process inside this Spirit Kodoku pocket was finished. Chapter 16: Fighting a Willowbee Hive Five minutester, the trio moved deeper as they created distance from the Thunderbird Guild. Almond wanted to earn free spirits, but it was too dangerous to stay there. That Knight was a Silver rank level 5, someone they couldn¡¯t hope to defeat at the moment and couldn¡¯t run away if he decided to chase them. They passed by three hives of Willowbees and crossed six hundred meters of distance before finally stopping at the next hive they saw. "Let¡¯s do this fast," Lily said as she took out her bow, aiming a 45-degree angle at the house-sized hive sixty meters off the ground dangling on a big branch. Natalia was hidden behind a big rock while her clone was right below the Hive on ground level, which she would use to taunt and distract the Bees. Almond alsomanded his spectral wolves to apany Natalia¡¯s clone for higher efficiency in taunting the bees. After all, It was clear that no matter who attacked the Hive, the Willowbees would first go for the targets that were close to them. A few secondster, Lily released the arrow as it struck a level 7 Willowbee Worker, killing it before proceeding to stab the hive. The Willowbee Workers hummed heavily as the air vibrated, all flying towards Natalia, who started running. Almond captured the spirit of that level 7 Willowbee and immediately used it right below Natalia¡¯s clone, but with itsg of a second, Natalia got out of its range while the three Willowbees that were closing in on her got caught up in the st. [You have killed a level 7 Willowbee Worker.] [You have killed¡­] Two Willowbee Workers died while one was injured. Meanwhile, Lily also started shooting arrows empowered by Mana, often piercing two or three Willowbee Workers at once. The moment fifteen Willowbee Workers died, the Willowbee Guards spawned from the hive. They were bigger and had a huge venomous sting, unlike the Willowbee Workers, who only had small stings and usually attacked with their piercing hands. Ten Willowbee Guards of levels 8 and 9 arrived as they quickly flew towards Almond and Lily. "Dodge their stings or destroy them," Almond said before he unsheathed his sword, his eyes dancing with the light of thrill as he rushed forward. He wanted to move and fight physically with a sword since the moment he held it. And seeing the iing Willowbee Guards, he couldn¡¯t hold himself back. *Sreeee!* Four ck venomous stings shot at Almond upon seeing him rushing forward, but Almond waved his sword as he destroyed one while moving at high speed before jumping and directlynding on a Willowbee Guard, his sword piercing its head. Physical Enchantment was activated as he overpoweringly moved his hand, slicing the Willowbee Guard¡¯s head to its tail in half. [You have killed a¡­] ¡¯Shush.¡¯ Almond jumped as a Willowbee Guard was about to attack him with its piercing ws, but it was as if he was already skilled with a sword, Almond parried the attack by moving the sword, his hand speed fast as he sliced it into two pieces. ¡¯What the¡­¡¯ Lily was taken aback. But she didn¡¯t have time to take a look at Almond as she took out her daggers, jumping into the fray to kill the three Willowbee Guardsing at her. *BOOM!* *BOOM!* Almond used two Spirit Explosions by using two level 7 Willowbee Worker¡¯s spirits. One of them turned special, oozing out a green spark that poisoned the Willowbee Guards, ultimately killing three Willowbee Guards in two explosions. Almond¡¯s legs anchored on the ground as he exerted his strength and jumped high, his sword directly piercing a Willowbee Guard from below, but he still went up until he was within 10 meters of distance between him and the Willowbee Hive! ¡¯Spirit Explosion.¡¯ He put five spirits of Willowbee Workers, stacking them and sticking them right in the hive as he used the Spirit Explosion skill. Moreover, since they killed over seven Willowbee Guards, the Willowbee Queen was also emerging and got caught in the st. *BOOOOM!* The hive was destroyed as its chunks fell on the ground while the injured Willowbee Queen shrieked. ¡¯Let¡¯s see,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted as he fell down but his eyes were on the Willowbee Queen as he used his new skill, Spirit Syringe. A mystical ghastly syringe appeared and was injected into the Willowbee Queen before. It was filling up rather quickly, 20% in one second. Almondnded on the ground, Lily appearing right beside him. The remaining Willowbee Guards were killed by her and Natalia¡¯s clone was also destroyed. She arrived here beside them as well, ready to fight the remaining Willowbee Workers and the Queen. Almond and Lily leveled up to 8 while Natalia reached level 7. "Let¡¯s do this," Lily smiled as she chugged a Mana potion and dashed, her daggers glinting. Almond held his sword tightly as he also dashed, still having plenty of Mana tost in the battle, he continued slicing the Willowbee Workers into half while waiting for the Willowbee Queen to descend. A few secondster, the Queen descended, already injured and poisoned, as one of the explosions became special. Its vitality was at 67% already. The Spirit Syringe was already filled so Almond was about to go there and grab it himself with a high-speed dash empowered by Physical Enchantment, but surprisingly, the moment he looked at the Syringe, it vanished and appeared in front of him. ¡¯Nice!¡¯ The fight against the Willowbee Queen was uneventful as Lily and Almond finished it off with one attack each while Natalia used a debuff skill on it called Mirage Blindness, making the Willowbee Queen hallucinate that there were multiple Lily and Almond, which caused its attacks to miss. "Let¡¯s go. We have to change our location and I know a perfect ce," Almond said as he absorbed the Spirits into his pocket and started moving, arriving at a nearby tree before punching it. ¡¯Not this.¡¯ He moved to the next tree several meters away and did the same while Lily and Natalia followed him. "What are you doing?" Natalia asked. "There¡¯s a chance one of the tree trunks is hollow and it¡¯s a good hiding ce since these tree trunks are wide and big, especially at the bottom." A minuteter, they found a hollow tree Almond pierced his sword and carved out a door and the trio entered inside. After creating small holes for the light to pass through, they sat down in meditation to recover. A hiding ce was required if one wanted to meditate since meditating would require them to focus deep enough that they wouldn¡¯t know what was happening around them. Strong adventurers had multiple ways to keep themselves safe, but for the newbies, it was better to be safe than sorry by finding a good hiding spot. ¡¯Time to check the loot and get strong.¡¯ Chapter 17: New Items [You have devoured a level 7 Willowbee Worker. Gained +1 Health and +1 Stamina.] [You have devoured a level 7 Willowbee Worker. Gained +1 Focus.] [You have devoured a level 7 Willowbee Worker. Gained +0.5 Focus.] ¡¯Three is a rough limit to gain stats from the same species¡­unless I devour higher level ones, then it would be one more, I guess.¡¯ ¡¯Next.¡¯ [You have devoured a level 8 Willowbee Guard. Gained +1 Strength and +1 Health.] [You have devoured a level 9 Willowbee Guard. Gained +1 Perception and +0.5 Focus.] [You have devoured a level 8 Willowbee Guard. Gained +0.5 Mana.] ¡¯Last to devour,¡¯ Almond used Spirit Devour on the Willowbee Queen spirit. [You have devoured a level 10 Willowbee Queen. Gained +1 Strength, +1 Perception, and +1 Mana.] Almond clenched his fist and opened it a few times as he felt the surge of power-up he gained settling. [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 8 [5.2%] -ss: Spirit Dealer (SS) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 388/388] -Stats: 3 unassigned points ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 26.5 | Health: 15 | Stamina: 14.5] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 15.5 (+23.25) | Focus: 17 | Perception: 18.5] After he looked at his status, he decided to add 3 unassigned stat points to his Focus. Almond felt a slight change as he added 3 points to the Focus stat. And a secondter, he heard a notification. [The activation range of your Spirit Explosion has increased to 20 meters from 10 meters.] ¡¯Awesome.¡¯ He could now use Spirit Explosion anywhere within 20 meters of himself! ¡¯If I could get a vision like a bird¡¯s eye from above, it would make things easier since I¡¯d be able to put Spirit Explosions with uncanny precision,¡¯ Almond thought. ¡¯Alright, this is a goal. I¡¯ll have to get a skill like that somehow.¡¯ He then looked at the Spirit Pocket skill¡¯s interface in his mind and fell into thought. Spirit Pocket: [47/100] After a second, he put the remaining 7 Willowbee Guard Spirits into the Spirit Factory, along with 3 Willowbee Workers. Almost all of his Mana was exhausted as he put these ten Spirits into the Spirit Factory. The stronger the Spirit, the more Mana was required to put it into the Spirit Factory. However, the cost of Mana was lower than when he put the Dire Wolf Spirits. Almond guessed that the Cost was adjusted ording to his level as well. One more addition was that the Spirit Factory didn¡¯t have a timer before, but it showed a timer after he put the Spirits this time. ¡¯It could be rted to increasing Focus.¡¯ [Time until the first production¡ª1 minute and 42 seconds.] Afterward, he looked at the Spirit Kodoku pocket, though it still didn¡¯t show any timer. ¡¯Hurry up,¡¯ Almond internally said to it before he closed off everything and entered meditation to recover Mana. The room in the trunk was silent as minutes passed by. After the trio recovered their Mana, they drank water to quench their thirst and continued to rest to recover their Stamina for a few minutes. Five minutester, they left the trunk and crossed a bit over a hundred meters of distance before targetting another Willowbee Hive. It took them a bit over five minutes to kill all the Willowbees. "How are you so good with the sword? You couldn¡¯t even hold one properly if I remember correctly," Natalia asked as she stared at Almond weirdly. ¡¯Geez, is he some kind of natural-born genius with the sword?¡¯ "Yeah, I am honestly impressed," Lily nodded. "And it¡¯s like you¡¯re improving crazily fast." "Yeah¡­" Almond looked at the sword, his wrist masterfully bending as he swung it swiftly around him. "I don¡¯t know. The sword just feels...right in my hand, and I somehow know how to use it. I can figure out new ways to attack with it fast while fighting." "Weird, but good for us," Natalia snickered. "We¡¯ll need to hunt two more Willowbee Hives to reach level 10." "Yeah, let¡¯s go and get a quick rest somewhere before continuing," Lily nodded as she put away her daggers. "We are doing way better than I expected." The trio continued walking and soon found a small pond after crossing a bunch of bushes. However, they immediately scurried away from there and found a hollow tree trunk before settling inside. "Shit, de Mantis is drinking water there. What should we do? I heard they are really perceptive and can find their prey from fifty meters away," Natalia said as she gulped. "Are we safe in this trunk?" "Don¡¯t worry. The Mantis can¡¯t smell much, so we are safe here. It¡¯s their sharp vision from those big eyes that can look at all sides and weird aura-sensing antennas that make it a hunter," Almond said. "Yes, it¡¯s impossible to ambush that de Mantis," Lily nodded. "It will sense me even if I use my skill, which makes me invisible to the eyes. I have yet to master Mana Shroud. If I could use it alongside my Phantom Cloak skill, I could ambush it." Mana Shroud was another technique that used Mana to close all nodes of one¡¯s body to prevent any aura from leaking. It required 20 Focus and 20 Perception to begin learning it due to the requirement on Mana control. "We can kill it," Almond suddenly said. "I thought you were a walking encyclopedia, Almond?" Natalia rolled her eyes. "de Mantis bronze rank level 10 is the same level as Willowbee Queen, but it is twice or more as strong if you don¡¯t know." "I know," Almond said as his eyes flickered a bit, and a strange wooden cross-bow with patterns of Willowbee Guard¡¯s yellow and silver design. [Willowbee Crossbow]¡ªUmon-grade. "Oh?" Lily blinked. "Item? I thought you could summon monsters¡­" Natalia was startled. "One of my ss skills can create items from monsters I kill. Basically, dead monsters drop something unique that only I can see, and I can use that thing for my skill, which can create random things." "But where would you get arrows for this?" Natalia tilted her head in confusion. "I think there¡¯s no need for external arrows, right?" Lily smiled. "Yep," Almond nodded and shared the item¡¯s status with them. "It costs mana per shot." [Willowbee Crossbow] -Grade: Umon. -Durability: [100/100] -Duration: 1 day. -Attack: 100 per shot. -Cost: 10 Mana per crossbow arrow. -Spirit Effect(s): ¡ª> You can infuse an additional 10 Mana in the crossbow to grant the Poison effect to the arrow. ¡ª> Feeding a spirit to this item also extends its duration of existence and recovers its durability. "And¡­ahem, I have more items." Waving his hand, Almond took out nine more items as theyy on the ground, causing Natalia and Lily to stare at them with a dumbfounded expression. 3 x Willowbee Crossbow. (Umon) 3 x Willowbee Poison Bomb. (Umon) 1 x Willowbee Shield. (Umon) 3 x Willowbee Daggers. (Common) Chapter 18: Blade Mantis (1/2) "Take a look at them," Almond said, sharing details of the items. [Willowbee Poison Bomb] -Grade: [Umon] -Type: [One-time use item] -Effect: [A bomb that explodes upon impact and covers a 5-meter radius area into a poison mist that slows and damages everyone within, with a chance to paralyze them if inhaled.] -Use: You can throw it after infusing 10 Mana points, and it will activate at the location where it is impacted by anything. The bomb was palm-sized, etched with Willowbee¡¯s characteristic patterns. "This is amazing," Lily blinked to see if she wasn¡¯t mistaken, clearly impressed. "It¡¯s even better than those recently developed potions." "Five-meter radius is not small either," Natalia grinned, "Damn, Almond. You can make some sick stuff, eh? Let¡¯s see the others." Lily curiously looked at the dagger¡¯s window panel next. [Willowbee Dagger] -Grade: [Common] -Durability: [100/100] -Duration: [1 day] -Attack: [15] -Effect(s): ¡ª> 15% chance of paralyzing. -Spirit Effect(s): ¡ª> Infusing 10 Mana in the dagger will increase the paralyze chance to 50% for 2 seconds. ¡ª> Feeding a spirit to this item also extends its duration of existence. "Eh? So it doesn¡¯tst long unless you feed it a Spirit?" Natalia raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," Almond nodded as he nced at Lily. "Take them. You¡¯ll use them better." "Thanks," Lily smiled and took the three daggers as she put them in the storage pouch. "These are pretty good. At least, this paralyzing effect will work on monsters of Bronze rank up to level 10." "So, is it hard to get the spirit or easy?" Natalia asked. "One monster¡¯s death gives me one spirit," Almond faintly smiled. "So long as we hunt monsters, I won¡¯t run out of spirits." "That¡¯s good," Lily nodded as she chuckled, her eyes showing eagerness, "Your ss lives up to its rank. I also can¡¯t wait to upgrade mine." "That reminds me, what¡¯s your ss and its rank?" Natalia pouted and shared her status with Almond. "Here¡¯s mine if you are curious." [Natalia] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 8 -ss: Mirage Witch (B). -Vitality: [100%/100%]. -Mana: [250/250]. -Stats: -Physical: ?[Strength: 15 |Health: 12|Stamina: 12] -Mental ?[Mana: 25|Focus: 15|Perception: 14] "Here," Almond said, revealing his status, but added, "Don¡¯t tell anyone about this ss. Only you two know, and I don¡¯t trust anyone else with it." "That means you trust me, eh?" Natalia cheekily grinned and looked at Almond¡¯s status before she suddenly eximed. "Fuck you! SS-rank ss?!" Natalia¡¯s eyes almost popped out of her sockets. ¡­ "Are you sure about this?" Lily somberly looked at Almond. "Yeah," Almond grabbed the shield and felt it as he moved it around. "It¡¯s light and will work in case n A fails. Let¡¯s kill it before anyone else does." [Willowbee Shield] -Grade: [Umon] -Durability: [200/200] -Duration: [2 days] -Physical Defense: [41] -Magical Defense: [38] -Effect(s): ¡ª> 15% chance to retaliate with a dart if attacked by a melee attack. ¡ª> Feeding a spirit to this item also extends its duration of existence and recovers 50% durability. "Geez, I am getting fidgety," Natalia wryly smiled, her heart beating faster. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if de Mantis suddenly pounced on them any time now. They were too close to it. The only reason it hadn¡¯t discovered them was because it was taking a rest and drinking water. Because when it usually starts roaming for hunting, it easily discovers prey within 50 meters of itself. "Your clone is crucial," Almond said, "And this is the best time to kill the de Mantis. If we kill it while we are below level 10, the chance to drop that rare-grade sword increases, and¡­" Almond paused and looked at hismon-grade sword before continuing, "I want a better sword." Lily resigned upon seeing that Almond was adamant about killing the de Mantis. "Alright, let¡¯s do this. If you get that Rare-grade sword, you won¡¯t have to fear anyone on this floor, given your crazy sword mastery." Almond nodded, feeling a rush of adrenaline and thrill. It was time to execute their n. The trio crouched behind a tree at the edge of the pond area that was surrounded by bushes and trees. The clearing was about 12 meters in radius, with the pond itself covering a 5-meter span in the center. Natalia conjured her clone and made it walk around the area silently. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if the de Mantis found them. The only saving grace was that it wasn¡¯t in hunting mode, which allowed them to initiate against this hunter, who usually takes the initiative in attacking others. Almond knew this was a good opportunity, and he wanted to grasp it. As Natalia¡¯s clone covered halfway distance and reached the west side of the pond, the Mantis¡¯ antenna moved, and its head looked up before turning straight at Natalia¡¯s clone. The mantis was drinking water from the southeast side of the pond while the trio was hiding behind the tree on the south side. There was only around 10 meters of distance and some bushes between them and the de Mantis. ¡¯Please, don¡¯t sense us and go after the clone,¡¯ Natalia thought as she looked at the de Mantis through her clone, her eyes soon meeting its eye. ¡¯Fuck, it¡¯s two meters tall with those crazy scythe des. One attack, and we would die,¡¯ Natalia stepped towards it, entering the pond area. The moment her clone moved, the de Mantis¡¯ ck eyes glinted red, and it dashed like a wind. It was time! The n was to paralyze it with daggers and Almond finish it off with a full-powered attack of his sword at its neck. Lily and Almond swiftly entered the pond area as they activated their Physical Enchantment, eyeing the de Mantis¡¯ back! *Swoosh¡­Swoosh!* Two daggers empowered by Lily shot at the de Mantis, who hacked both of its des at Natalia¡¯s clone in an X-shaped motion, cutting it instantly. Its eyes rotated as it also saw the daggers and moved, but it couldn¡¯t dodge thatpletely as both daggers stuck in its middle-body area, which was the widest part of its body structure. It had a rotund carapace part that seemed to contain its main bodily organs, and Almond had told her to aim in this area. This area ensured that daggers would strike it and might also increase the paralyzing chance. After getting struck with the daggers, the monster¡¯s attention shifted to Almond, who wasing at him like the wind, his sword glowing as he empowered it with Mana in a perfectly synched swinging motion ording to his dash. Feeling the threat, it wanted to move but suddenly found itself paralyzed. There was a 50% chance of both daggers to paralyze it, and one of them seeded! ¡¯Die!¡¯ Almond¡¯s dash was fast, and his hand swung at deadly precision as he converted the burst of speed to increase his swinging force. His Physical Enchantment gave a 100% boost to his Strength, so his Strength stat was higher than de Mantis, who had 45 Strength! Its defense was naturally lower! ¡¯Beautiful¡­¡¯ Lily¡¯s eyes saw the dash and that arc of sword Almond swung with the sword, her perception and skill allowing her to see this motion very clearly. But¡­right before Almond¡¯s sword was about to strike the neck of de Mantis, his sword exploded! de Mantis screeched in pain and anger while Almond¡¯s heartbeat instantly quickened. ¡¯Fuck, fuck! I used too much Mana to empower this shittymon-grade sword, it couldn¡¯t handle it!¡¯ The sword was destroyed right before its de could cut off that head! Almond had used the sword a lot already, so its durability was already low! ¡¯It¡¯s not over!¡¯ Almond¡¯s pupils shrank to the extreme, his heartbeat loud enough to fill his mind, but his focus remained steadfast. Chapter 19: Blade Mantis (2/2), Specialised Class Process ¡¯It¡¯s not over!¡¯ Almond¡¯s pupils shrank to the extreme as the de Mantis¡¯ de arms swung at him, glowing with a red aura as it was about to hack him into four pieces. Naturally, the Shield was precisely for this. It was a rectangle shield almost a meter long. ¡¯Now!¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes flickered as he stacked 5 Spirits right below the Mantis the moment its des were about to strike him. Usually, this de Mantis was sharp enough that it would easily dodge out of Spirit Explosion¡¯s range since it had a dy of one second, which was plenty of time for this agile monster to react. But how would it dodge while it was attacking him? Almond was dragged back a few meters as the shield blocked the attack while his powerful Strength boosted by Physical Enchant allowed him to stand his ground with his shield as he remained uninjured except for a minor shock due to the impact. But on the other hand¡­ *BOOM!* A loud explosion rang in a colored spectacle of green smoke and dust, obliterating the de Mantis that was already injured by the idental sword st. But even if it wasn¡¯t injured, this stack of 5 Spirit Explosions hitting at point ck range right below it was enough to kill it. [Congrattions. You have killed the level 10 de Mantis, the Field Boss of the lower area of Fairy Mountain.] [100 Gold coins to all participants in the battle.] "W-We did it!" Natalia ran towards them as she shouted with excitement. Lily smiled and nodded, looking at the smoke and dust where the explosion urred. "The n was perfect. Paralysing daggers are great, though they wouldn¡¯t have survived that explosion," she wryly smiled. Almond walked toward the dead Mantis, his attention on the drops, if any. [You have reached level 10. Please check out the specialized ss tab and rank advancement tab for more information.] He had the highest contribution, and since the Field Boss gave higher EXP, he filled the big progress bar from level 9 to 10, sessfully reaching level 10! Natalia reached level 9, while Lily remained at level 9. But most importantly, a faint blue glow could be seen as the smoke and dust from the explosion settled! Almond¡¯s fist clenched as he took a deep breath, his mouth stretching into a grin as he picked up the ck-ded sword with sharp red patterns on its de edge. Grabbing the exquisite dark green wooden handle, Almond instantly felt powerful upon holding it! [Preying Hunter¡¯s Sword] -Grade: [Rare / Low] -Durability: [1000/1000] -Attack: [100 + 100% of user¡¯s Strength.] -Effect(s): ¡ª> If you are chasing someone, your movement speed increases by 30%. ¡ª> sh-type attacks of this sword have 35% higher pration power. ¡ª> Preying Sense: Infusing 50 Mana in the sword will allow you to sense all living beings within 50 meters of yourself for 10 seconds. Almond¡¯s hand trembled as he read the weapon¡¯s details. The chance to get this sword as a drop was usually low! It had only dropped 2 times in 10 years! Even though it was a Rare-grade low-tier, it was still powerful. Moreover, rare-grade items were something that usually Gold-rank monsters dropped, who only appeared on the 5th floor and onward! Lower floors had a chance to grant such items at a very low rate or by meeting some conditions. Field Bosses were such monsters that had those drops at a low rate. Moreover, just like how stronger people would be suppressed with a penalty if they entered lower floors, it was also forbidden to enter the lower floors with items gained from higher floors. Otherwise, Lily could easily bring more powerful items since her parents were higher floor adventurers and they had tons of items. ¡¯This is a chance. If we kill the other two Bosses while being lower level than them, we might also get their rare drops. Even if one of them drops, it will be worth it.¡¯ "How¡¯s the sword?" Lily asked as she and Natalia walked towards Almond, looking curiously at the sword. "See for yourself," Almond grinned as he shared the sword¡¯s details. "Holy cow!" Natalia spluttered, her mouth wide. "This is going to be so deadly in your hand!" Lily¡¯s eyes glinted, "You mastered Physical Enchantment in Arms and Legs, so your Strength doubles, and adding that to this sword¡¯s offense...Almond, I think you can instantly kill the second Field Boss with this if the attacknds properly." "Yeah, possibly," Almond nodded as he swung the sword masterfully around him for a couple of seconds before putting it in the sheath. "Let¡¯s continue moving," Almond looked west, where the Nest of Willowbee area was about to end. "One more hive and you two will reach level 10 as well. I¡¯ll check out my specialized ss stuff and rank-advancement quest while walking." The trio began moving towards the west while slowly going higher up in the mountain. They were already a bit higher and once they crossed the Nest of Willowbees area, they would enter the middle part of the mountain where Silver rank monster would start to appear. ¡¯Interesting¡­so I can choose how I want this to proceed, eh?¡¯ [You are now qualified to build your specialized ss. Please choose how you want this to proceed.] [Option 1: Analyzing your journey in the Labyrinth so far, you can have the S-rank ss: Runic Spellsword, afterpleting the specialized ss quest.] [Option 2: Selecting this option will allow you to build your own specialized ss and each of its aspects through a series of quests that will test your capabilities to determine the ss-building options.] [Once selected, you cannot change the option.] ¡¯S-rank ss and it¡¯s even sword-rted,¡¯ Almond was tempted. But as he looked at his current ss, his eyes glinted sharply, ¡¯I have an SS-rank ss¡­and a ss above S-rank cannot be naturally obtained.¡¯ There have been cases of people building an SS-rank ss after they chose option 2, and he wanted to do the same! Heck, the Guild leader of the globally No.1 guild had an SSS-rank ss he acquired after choosing option 2! And he was sure there was more than one person with an SSS-rank ss after choosing this option. They just didn¡¯t disclose it to the public. ¡¯Option 2.¡¯ As Almond selected option 2, a thought drifted through his mind. ¡¯Is there a ss rank that¡¯s above SSS rank?¡¯ [Please select the Suffix you want for your specialized ss from the options given to you.] [The first quest will be generated afterward.] [ ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª {Suffix}] [Options] -yer -Swordsman -Warden -Hunter -Spellsword -Grimde ¡¯This¡­is a bit tricky,¡¯ Almond frowned. ¡¯Swordsman is ideal. I don¡¯t want to brag, but I feel like I am a genius with the sword.¡¯ ¡¯But thatst option is making me feel that itch I want to scratch¡­¡¯ "What¡¯s up, troubling to select your Suffix?" Lily elbowed Almond upon seeing his frown. "Ultimately, it¡¯s just a name. The real determination will be the rating you achieve in your quests, which will determine the skill options you will get." "That¡¯s true¡­" Almond looked at the options thoughtfully and decided to dissect the names logically. ¡¯Swordsman will likely present me with sword-rted options, though this will be influenced by the Prefix I selectter as well.¡¯ ¡¯As for Grimde, which is Grim plus de¡­well, swords also have des. It can be said that de is a broader term and can include all ded weapons, including swords.¡¯ Almond entered a thoughtful state for a while as he just walked alongside Lily and Natalia before he finally concluded after a minute. ¡¯This is it.¡¯ Chapter 20: Strange Occurrence Almond selected Grimde. [Quest to determine the options for your Prefix] ¡ª> Objective: Kill 50 Monsters. It looked simple, but Almond knew he would be analyzed thoroughly on how he would kill those fifty monsters as the options would generate based on that. ¡­ Skipping two hives, the trio stopped at the seeminglyst hive as they were almost out of the Nest of Willowbee area. During this battle, Almond didn¡¯t take much action. He stood at one spot, right below the hive, and held his sword in a leisurely yet masterful grip. Natalia focused on killing instead of baiting the Willowbees. Lily also did the same, often switching her weapon between bow and daggers. As for Almond, he stood like a sword god. If any Willowbee Worker attacked him with their sharp, pointy hands, he would deflect them and hit them with the back of his de, throwing them towards Natalia. Having reached level 10, he would get zero EXP from killing those level 7 Willowbee Workers, so it wasn¡¯t worth it. He also didn¡¯t want to fill up his new quest progress with kills of such weak monsters. Iing Willowbee Workers were deflected like he was swatting flies. Soon, Willowbee Guards arrived and started shooting their venomous stings. But with precise shes and nimble motions of his hand, Almond also deflected those with his sword before swatting them toward Natalia and Lily. His strength after using Physical Enchantment allowed him to overpower the Willowbees. And with his sword being Rare-grade, it took no damage or loss of durability against these Bronze-rank monsters¡¯ attacks. Soon, the Willowbee Queen arrived and targeted Almond right off the bat as vines sprung from the ground around him and snared him. Almond chuckled. He wasn¡¯t going to run away anyway. In fact, he hadn¡¯t moved a single step from his spot since the start of the battle. Willowbee Queen was big and level 10, but it still wasn¡¯t strong enough to make him move. Almond split the iing stinger from the precise center. The Willowbee Queen buzzed towards Almond immediately after its stinger attack, intending to impale him with its venomous hands and bite him with its fangs. However, Almond waved his hand, a cold sheen of the de sweeping across him as all four of the Willowbee Queen¡¯s legs were cut finely before he bent, spun, and kicked it, shooting the monster straight toward Natalia. "Thanksies!" Natalia grinned, her eyes dancing with excitement. Only she was left since Lily had just reached level 10 after killing some Willowbee Guards. Pointing her ward at the iing monster, Natalia conjured a cloud of purple sparks that transformed into an ethereal de as if it were a sh attack. *Srees!* The iing Willowbee Queen found itself split in half from the middle, its eyes losing light a secondter. "That was¡­" Almond blinked as he paused and confirmed what he saw before he continued a secondter, "That was my attack." "Bingo," Natalia showed a victory sign with her fingers with a grin. "Action Mirage, my ss skill. It copies a phenomenon I have seen at its original effects, but with 20% reduces potency." Lily killed thest Willowbee Guard with her dagger, stabbing straight into its head. Turning to Almond, she said, "Her ss is quite useful in a group, especially in a powerful group." Picking up her dagger from the Bee¡¯s corpse, she added, "Your attacks are strongest among us even though it¡¯s just you swinging your sword. Despite a 20% reduction in them, they are enough for Natalia." "Eggzactly," Nataliughed. "Gosh, Almond is so powerful, I bet he could be one of the super rookies that¡¯s been famous these days." "Spare me that attention. I am a scaredy cat outside, and I intend to remain that way," Almond wryly smiled. "That might not be a safe option anymore, Almond." Lily, Almond, and Natalia began walking again as they continued to converse. "What do you mean not a safe option anymore?" Almond blinked. "I am not powerful enough to defend myself against the ugly minds who have more power and backing. Getting attention without protection willnd me trouble." Lily calmly shook her head. "You have a great deal of knowledge about Labyrinth and other information that¡¯s on the surface, but I know the insides of how this society works and news that never gets to the public." "Just know that being weak will also attract nasty fellows that prey on the weak now that you are a bonafide Adventurer, both here and outside," Lily¡¯s hand grabbed Almond¡¯s, her fingers intertwining with his. "You have to get a backing. In this world, having a strong backing in your profile for all the world to see is the best deterrence and protection you can get," Lily¡¯s hand grip tightened. "And entering a Dungeon without a backing is hard because Association and Guilds get priority." "That¡¯s right," Natalia quipped, "for example, bing a member of the top 10 Guilds. I bet if you participate in those examinations and tournaments they hold, you can get fame and backing." "That¡­is not wrong," Almond¡¯s face turned contemtive. What Lily said made sense. Although he hadn¡¯t heard the news, he had heard rumors of nasty things happening around the big-shot families, guilds, and other forces, and not all rumors were groundless. As he epted the grim reality, the hairs on his body stood, and a sudden wave of goosebumps and harrowing cringe filled him up. Sweatbead formed on his forehead, and everything turned ck for a second. "Almond? What happened?" Seeing Almond slowing down and swaying, Lily and Natalia stopped, both looking confused and concerned. He recovered swiftly, but his breathing turned uneven, his eyes confused, "I-I don¡¯t know. This was strange..." "That felt¡­familiar," Natalia said, her eyes slightly trembling. "Almond¡­did you have some kind of trauma or any memories of anything happening when you were a kid?" "Has this ever happened before?" Lily asked, her brows creased up in worry. "No. It¡¯s my first time experiencing this. Moreover, I don¡¯t remember anything trauma-inducing. My parents¡­I was eight years old when they entered the Labyrinth in the first wave of humans and never returned." Almond shook his head, "This was strange." He looked fine now. It was as if what he had just experienced didn¡¯t happen at all. "But that happened for a reason," Natalia said, her tone firm. "Almond, what you experienced happened for a reason. It triggered for a reason. What were you thinking right before that happened?" Lily nodded and said, "We were talking about the society, undercover news, and top 10 guilds¡­" "I was thinking about how shitty the world is," Almond dryly chuckled. "But I am thinking about that topic right now, and it¡¯s not happening." "Anyway, let¡¯s forget about this. If that happens again, we can talk and explore," Almond added. "You two also reached level 10, so it¡¯s time to leave this area andplete our Rank Advancement quests." Chapter 21: Cavern of Glassblaze Bears Advancement Quest was simple. One just had to kill 10 Silver-ranked monsters. Almond, Lily, and Natalia left the Nest of Willowbee and arrived in the secondrge area of the Fairy Mountain, containing Silver-ranked from level 1 to 3. It was a huge cavern inside the mountain, with four entrances avable for people to go inside. The trio entered inside through the southwest entrance of the Cavern. Almond opened a map of the cavern. Such maps were avable in the market, and he used those maps to create his own on the magic map parchment, like the Nest of Willowbee area. Cavern of ssze Bears (Silver Level 1 to 3) ¡ªThis shimmering cavern is home to the ssze Bears, enormous, crystalline bears that breathe fire and have molten cores. The cavern walls are lined with crystalline formations that reflect light, creating a mesmerizing but dangerousndscape. ¡ªKey Features: Jagged crystal walls and flickeringva pools. ¡ªMonsters: ssze Cubs, ssze Brute Bears, Elder ssze Bears. "Here¡¯s the map. We are near area number 25. If we walk just ten meters and turn north, we¡¯ll likely see a group of ssze Bears. Lily nodded. "These ssze Bears are both tough with their armored exteriors and powerful because of theirva and ss-based skills, but they are not as fast. This won¡¯t be hard." "Sword is a bad weapon against them, right?" Natalia turned to Almond, "If you use this sword to deflect theirvatic attacks, its durability will decrease even though it¡¯s rare grade." "I¡¯ll just have to kill them by moving fast. One attack is enough," Almond¡¯s eyes glinted as he took the lead, his sword ready to taste a new prey. As the trio approached, Almond¡¯s keen eyes scanned the field ahead. The bears shimmered under the reflection of the crystalden cavern walls. Eight in total¡ªan Elder ssze Bear stood in the middle, its fiery core pulsating with heat like a molten heart. Surrounding it, four massive Brute Bears paced slowly, their jagged crystal hides catching the ambient light, while three ssze Cubs skittered around, small but still dangerous. Almond nced at Natalia and nodded, who used her clone skill to attract the bears first so that they would have an easier time initiating the attacks. Seeing Natalia¡¯s clone, the Bears roared. Elder ssze Bear was the first one to attack. Opening its mouth, it released a ssy orb containing fieryva that shot at Natalia¡¯s clone and exploded, destroying it. Ash and sparks covered a small area, a perfect smokescreen. Almond and Lily both went out with Physical Enchantment activated. "I¡¯ll kill the Elder one," Almond said as he jumped in an arc, going straight toward the Elder ssze Bear, his sword¡¯s de gleaming sharply. *Swoosh!* The bear swiped its paw as if it wasn¡¯t bad even though Almond attacked suddenly, but s, it wasn¡¯t fast enough. *sh!* A head rolled down a secondter, and a notification entered his ears. [You have killed a Silver level 3 Elder ssze Bear.] Leveling was impossible while Advancement Quest was ongoing, but he got 28 gold coins for killing it. Lily threw two Willowbee Daggers at two ssze Brute Bears, paralyzing one. She attacked one that wasn¡¯t paralyzed, her figure vanishing before a sharp shing sound of flesh-tearing rang out as the ssze Brute Bear¡¯s head rolled down. She didn¡¯t wait and attacked the one that was paralyzed, though it had freed itself already in half a second, but that was enough. ¡¯Phantom sh.¡¯ With a wave of her dagger, a ck sh with a violet hue shot at the bear, tearing through its armor and shing its head off. Its whole body was armored, but the neck area was still weaker than other parts. As for Natalia, she copied Lily¡¯s Phantom sh and shot it at the ssze Cubs. They didn¡¯t have armored ting on their bodies yet, but they were small, nimble, and powerful. One of the Bear Cubs rolled away from the sh, but one got killed. Meanwhile, Almond had swiftly dispatched thest two agile ssze Cubs with his sword after slicing a ssze Brute Bear. These small Cubs, capable ofunchingva-infused w projectiles with a mere swipe of their paws, were responsible for most of the deaths among novice adventurers, who often underestimated them due to their size and armor-less exterior. A ssze Brute Bear remained, but Almond and Lily just watched as Natalia dealt with it. Releasing the Light Pebble skill on the surface near it, it exploded in light and blinded it, which was further enhanced by the cavern¡¯s ssy style. Right after that, she used Action Mirage again, unleashing Almond¡¯s shing attack as an ethereal sh projectile swiftly beheaded the monster. "Their items are going to be very good," Almond smiled as he captured all spirits. "But first, it¡¯s time to get strong." He had told them about the Spirit Devour skill as well since there was no point in hiding just this given his increasing power that would be obvious. "Let¡¯s take a break and eat something before continuing," Lily said. "True! I made sandwiches, so let¡¯s eat those first," Natalia grinned. "Lily, take ¡¯em out." The trio decided to rest for a bit and eat something since this area in the cave was closed on all sides except for the north, though at the north, two passages parted, one at the west and another at the east. Meanwhile, Almond began. He would only be able to get stats from nine to twelve spirits at a maximum of these three types of ssze Bears, so he wanted to do that first. [You have devoured an Elder ssze Bear Spirit. +2 Strength, +1 Perception, +1 Mana.] [You have devoured a ssze Brute Bear Spirit. +1 Health, +1 Stamina, +1 Strength.] [You have devoured a ssze Brute Bear Spirit. +1 Focus, +1 Health.] [You have devoured a ssze Brute Bear Spirit. +1 Stamina.] [You have devoured a ssze Brute Bear Spirit. +0.5 Strength.] [You have devoured a ssze Cub Spirit. +1 Mana, +1 Perception, +1 Stamina.] [You have devoured a ssze Cub Spirit. +1 Focus, +1 Strength.] [You have devoured a ssze Cub Spirit. +1 Mana.] [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Bronze. -Level: 10 [¡ª] -ss: Spirit Dealer (SS) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 342/462] -Stats: 0 unassigned points ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 31 | Health: 17 | Stamina: 17.5] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 18.5 (+27.75) | Focus: 22 | Perception: 20.5] ¡­ The trio had just finished eating and resting for ten minutes when they suddenly heard something and their faces fell. "I swear if that bitch is here, I am going to capture her! Henry, you better act fast this time." Chapter 22: Spirit Wraith "Run." Lily¡¯s whisper reached Natalia¡¯s and Almond¡¯s ears the moment they heard it. "Use your clone and send it to East," Almond whispered. There were two ways, one west and another east. Going east would give them more passages soon, ording to the map, so the trio quickly ran east-side passage. Natalia had used her clone skill and sent it to the east passage while making a sound to attract them. And while the trio ran with Lily carrying Natalia¡¯s body like a sandbag over her shoulder so she could control her clone, Almond suddenly received a notification from his skill. [Spirit Wraith has been birthed. Due to the involvement of three sentient intelligent human spirits, the Spirit Wraith will have human-level intelligence. Please write down the personality description for your Spirit Wraith and its gender.] Almond was startled but acted fast upon seeing a misty, dark gold window. [¡ª¡ª¡ª] <- Write the name. -Describe: -Gender: The trio stopped after crossing twenty meters in a hurry and hiding behind a natural obsidian stone pir growing out of the ground. Meanwhile, Natalia let herself get spotted by that group, but only her back, and immediately used Light Pebble skill on the ground to create a blinding sh. Henry the Knight acted fast, dashing at a breakneck speed as he waved his sword when he was halfway towards Natalia¡¯s clone, releasing a wind-sh projectile as her clone was cut. "It¡¯s that bitch! Hurry, we have to capture her!" ¡¯Fucking hell, are we here to kill monsters to capture girls? This goddamn garbage bag!¡¯ ¡¯Why did I have to team up with this guy for my first entrance into Labyrinth?¡¯ The girl and two boys in the group were frustrated but bound, just like Henry. They could only hatefully look at Zoren and nothing else. Because if something happened to Zoren in the Labyrinth, Henry knew his life would turn into a living hell. Those three kids also knew that there was no justice out there who would protect them from Zoren¡¯s influential father. After all, they had normal parents who were only Silver-ranked and had no backing. Zoren¡¯s father could make them disappear without leaving any proof for the Global Adventurer Association or Earth Union. And being a frontline adventurer exploring the 10th Floor, Zoren¡¯s father had more weight in this world. The plight of the weak against the strong and influential remained the same, no matter the age. ¡­ "We have to kill that bastard," Almond calmly said. [Alfred] <- Write the name. -Describe: Butler¡¯s disposition. -Gender: Male. "Well, if we continue with our pace, it won¡¯t be long before we are strong enough," Lily nodded. "You will be stronger even faster," Natalia said, her eyes a mixture of slight fear and anger. "I want him dead because he clearly wants me to be subject to a life worse than death!" "Voice down," Almond wryly smiled. "The next group of bears shouldn¡¯t be too far." Saying that, he waved his hand and added, "And we got a new ally." Lily and Natalia were startled as dark green and dark gold sparkling smoke gathered before Aleron, who soon turned into a six-foot-tall butler wearing a ck suit with a dark gold design and a dark green glowing border around him, appearing material yet slightly ghastly. "A butler ghost?" Natalia was dumbfounded. "He seems powerful," Lily blinked, her eyes filled with curiosity. Before she could ask, Almond already shared the Spirit Wraith¡¯s status with them. [Spirit Wraith¡ªAlfred] -Rank: Bronze -Level: 1 -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 20 | Health: 15 | Stamina: 18] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 23 | Focus: 17 | Perception: 21] -Skills: ¡ªme Maniption (B) ¡ªSword Mastery (A) ¡ªSword Wave (A) ¡ªPoison Lace (C) ¡ªBleeding ws (C) ¡ªHealing Orb (C) ¡ªIcicle Spearshot (B) ¡ªFortitude Aura (C) "Damn¡­" Almond muttered in amazement. "Your summon has a level¡­does that mean it can level up?" Lily asked, her eyes glinting. "If it can, then this is big." "It¡¯s just like that Dragon Rider Krom¡­his dragon just evolved recently, so Almond¡¯s summon can also get powerful," Natalia excitedly said. "And this guy got so many skills of different natures and types¡­" "Alfred, use your skills appropriately and aid us in battle. We are going to kill a group of ssze Bears." "As you wish, Master," Alfred bowed like a butler with one hand on his heart. ¡­ The trio went towards another group of ssze Bears and killed them. This group had ten ssze Bears consisting of two Elder ssze Bears, four Brutes, and four Cubs. Alfred¡¯s Fortitude Aura increased everyone¡¯s resistance to magic and physical damage by 10%, and although he didn¡¯t have a physical sword, he could conjure one made of me and use it. His movements were also not bad, and it appeared to learn from Almond, which was simply a cheat because Almond was getting scarily proficient with the sword, and so was Alfred by imitating him. After the battle, Almond devoured two Elder ssze Bear Spirits, gaining a total of +2 Health, +2.5 Stamina, and +0.5 Mana. He decided to use Spirit Kodoku one more, adding ten Willowbee Guards Spirit, two Willowbee Queen Spirits, four ssze Brute Bears, and four ssze Cubs. However, it didn¡¯t work. [You must include at least five different types of monsters among the twenty Spirits.] ¡¯Hmm? If that¡¯s the case, then it seems each human is considered a different type individually.¡¯ After all, he had added Goblin, Wolf, and Human Spirits previously, which technically meant three types of monsters. But if Lamp, Seyung, and Jacob were considered different types individually, then it made sense. "I am done recovering Mana," Natalia said as she stood up. The trio continued as they followed the passages and arrived at big or small caverns with groups of bears and continued killing. This area was huge and was like a maze of sorts due to many passages, so it wasn¡¯t often they would encounter other people. But there were times when people would encounter another group identally as well due to its intertwining passages. There was no way of knowing when they would suddenly find another group at junctions where two or more passages intersected. It wasn¡¯t long before all three of them had killed 10 Silver-ranked monsters each andpleted their advancement quest. Alfred also reached level 8 since he was participating in the killing of Silver-ranked monsters while being lower-ranked, gaining experience faster. His stat distribution was left to Almond, and he evenly distributed stat points to all stats. There was just one problem. Alfred couldn¡¯t learn Physical Enchantment and such applications of Mana. He could only use skills. It appeared that his body wasn¡¯t capable of that as he didn¡¯t have Chakra points. ¡­ After the group reached Silver-rank level 1 afterpleting their Advancement Quest, they decided to rest at a rtively safe ce covered by obsidian pirs. It had been two hours since they entered this area, and the group was fully geared, thanks to Almond. He made a bunch of stuff from ssze Bear Spirits, all useful and powerful. Armors, weapons, and one-time-use essories of Defensive and Offensive-type! "There should be ssze Bears there. Let¡¯s check it out." A group of six Adventurers were passing by and stopped seeing a bunch of stone pirs that blocked their views. Chapter 23: Piece of Trash Returns Almond, Lily, and Natalia stood up while Alfred also becamebat-ready. The group of six adventurers seemed to be from an academy in another city, and they also became alert when they saw Almond and others. "Rx, I thought there were bears here," the leading man with light red spiky hair said with a dry chuckle as he raised his hand holding the sword. "Then go back," Almond inly said. "Yeah." That group also didn¡¯t want to bother fighting against other Adventurers. Usually, nobody would fight without a reason because if a fight urred between two groups of simr levels, it would result in casualties from both sides. After resting for a few minutes, the gang began exploring once again to find bears and kill them. Half an hourter, the three of them had reached Silver-rank level 3, and their progression in the 1st Specialized ss Quest reached halfway. All of them had killed 25 or more monsters so far. After advancement to Silver rank, they started at level 0, so reaching level 3 granted them nine stat points. Alfred finished his Advancement quest and reached Silver rank level 1 as well, gaining 30 stat points total as he became more powerful. [Spirit Wraith¡ªAlfred] -Rank: Silver -Level: 1 -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 25 | Health: 23 | Stamina: 23] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 25 | Focus: 23 | Perception: 25] Almond found it slightly funny that Alfred was stronger than him stat-wise if he didn¡¯t count the 30 bonus Mana stat he had thanks to his ss perk. [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Silver. -Level: 3 -ss: Spirit Dealer (SS) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 500/500] -Stats: 0 unassigned points ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 31 | Health: 20 | Stamina: 20] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 20 (+30) | Focus: 25 | Perception: 24.5] In the end, they didn¡¯t encounter that Thunderfire Guild group again but encountered two other groups. Those encounters ended with peace, as nobody wanted to fight. There was no point in farming here anymore as they had reached level 3, on top of that, all of the bears were killed by multiple groups who were exploring. They would respawn tomorrow, so it was time to enter the new area. "The night wille soon. We¡¯ll camp somewhere in the Shimmering Fen," Almond said. "Yeah, that area is best. The fog covers it all day and night, and the area has a low amount of trees and is open with various nts and flowers of Bronze rank and rarely some silver ranks," Lily nodded. "I have a magic camp kit that can make a good spot for us to rest." They couldn¡¯t harvest any Willowbee Nectar Pools because it was a Bronze-rank area, and many guilds usually sent their higher-rank Adventurers daily while Labyrinth remained activated so they could go and farm the nectar since those could be used to make healing potions. However, the Shimmering Fen was a different story. It was an area of Silver-rank level 3 to 5, along with a Field Boss¡ªSilver rank level 5, Maddening Beaver¡ªwho roamed around and targetted higher level Adventurers. Since it stayed burrowed and traveled through the ground, it could pop out at any time. If a group of Silver rank level 3 rested there, it wouldn¡¯t target them but instead go for Silver rank level 4 or 5 if there were any. And there were bound to be many groups there because that area was vast and good for camping and resting. The evening had already descended, so it was time to find a spot to rest before the night. Naturally, a few groups already nned to camp in this Cavern of ssze Bears as there were many passages, and one could take a corner and build camp before taking a rest and keeping a watch turn by one. ¡­ Almond and the gang arrived at the northern exit and left, but the moment they emerged, a group was standing twenty meters away under a tree as if waiting. "Hehe, so that¡¯s your group, huh? We saw some destroyed Willowbee Hives on our way out of that area, so I figured you would be with your group and might exit here," Zoren spoke, a nasty sneer stered on his face. The three young adventurers who were new recruits of Thunderbird Guild behind Zoren pointed their weapons at them, nervous and unwilling. Meanwhile, the Knight¡¯s expression was indifferent or rather dead, as he pointed his sword at them. "If you could send thatdy over here, we won¡¯t need to shed your blood." "Are you serious?" Lily narrowed her as she took out her bow and nocked an arrow, a rather special arrow that Almond¡¯s Spirit Factory crafted from ssze Bear Spirits. It could explode in a 2-meter radius upon exploding and cover the area in mes if the area had greenery or woods. Natalia held a towering ss Shield and also had a Lava Crystal Chest te for her defense while holding a wand in her other hand. Alfred had a Round ss Shield and a ss Bone Sword made from the Spirit Factory as well, ready forbat. As for Almond, he only kept the Rare-grade sword in his hand as that was enough. ¡¯All of those items are Umon-rank¡­and that Chest te is Rare-rank? How did they get those?¡¯ Henry frowned seeing their items. ¡¯And that guy also got the rare Preying Hunter¡¯s Sword. So this group was the one who killed it.¡¯ He had a premonition that this wasn¡¯t going to go as well as he and his shitty young master thought. "I have a proposal," Almond suddenly said, his eyes shing disgust as he nced at Zoren before turning to the Knight. "Those three fellows don¡¯t seem to be willing to throw their lives away for this, and you¡­ never mind. Anyway, if you are the source of confidence for that piece of trash, then how about we duel and settle this without involving others?" "Huh?" Zoren was stunned before he startedughing. "You think you can do anything to us?" Taking out a scroll, he infused Mana as it vanished and created a five-meter radius ring, buffing everyone within as their defense increased. "That¡¯s not going to help you much," Lily snorted as she also took out the same-looking buff scroll and buffed the group. "Really, but do you have this?" Zoren sneered as he took out a scroll, but it was ck with dark yellow patterns and oozed out the same colored aura. "That¡­" Lily¡¯s eyes turned somber. Almond also recognized it, his eyes shing a dark glint. ¡¯This piece of trash¡­¡¯ Chapter 24: Conflict & Conclusion That unusual scroll in Zoren¡¯s hand was a Curse Scroll, a rare drop by the Wandering Fairy, a Field Boss of Silver rank level 10 that wandered the upper area of the Fairy Mountain. The buff scrolls were something one could buy, albeit at a high price, which wasn¡¯t a concern for the established guilds and forces, but this Curse Scroll wasn¡¯t like that. Lily didn¡¯t have that one. "It seems you know what this scroll is," Zoren¡¯s nose went up, his expression haughty. "That¡¯s right. Once I use this scroll, all of you will get your stats halved for one minute." "I wonder how the battle will proceed after that?" he added with a grin. Almond¡¯s lips moved as he used Magic Whisper, which he had already mastered after learning from Lily during their breaks. He got the hang of it pretty fast. ¡¯Lily, we can dispel that curse, you know how. But that guy is stupid to wait. We¡¯ll make the first move.¡¯ Almond had already retrieved his Rare-grade item that he, fortunately, acquired from a bronze-rank treasure chest right after entering the Labyrinth. Pearl of Light Flower¡ªAble to cure all harmful effects and grants protection for ten seconds. The harmful cleansing effect was an AOE effect, but the protection was only for the user holding the pearl, and this effect had a cooldown of a day. ¡¯Yeah. So are we really killing them?¡¯ ¡¯Nah. Just cut off that garbage¡¯s limbs instead of killing him for now. I¡¯ll fight the Knight.¡¯ ¡¯Alfred, It¡¯s fine if you cut their hands since that will be enough to put them down,¡¯ Almondmanded. ¡¯But if they surrender, which I feel they likely will if Lily and I win fast, then spare them.¡¯ Lily¡¯s eyes glinted, ¡¯Natalia, can you support Alfred while he deals with those three Adventurers?¡¯ ¡¯Got it. They don¡¯t even seem that gutsy to fight other Adventurers,¡¯ Natalia nodded. The Knight saw their lips move and knew they were talking in Magic Whisper, but he didn¡¯t make a move. "So? What¡¯s your damn decision? Give her to me, and she will exit this Labyrinth from your city¡¯s gate after two days when the exit opens. Safe and sound." "We¡¯ll just have a bit of fun," Zoren licked his lips. The Knight tightened his grip on his sword, sensing the tension that his shitty young master couldn¡¯t feel. He had no choice but to protect him and obey him. If Zoren died here and he exited from the portal, the people of Thunderbird Guild and his father or uncle would most likely be standing outside at the entrance at their city¡¯s Labyrinth Gate. If Zoren wasn¡¯t with him, it would be over for him and his family. Suddenly, he saw the guy with Preying Hunter¡¯s Sword dashing swiftly. ¡¯Fast!¡¯ Henry¡¯s pupils shrank. *ng!* Their swords shed. *Crack* And the Knight¡¯s sword cracked as he was pushed back! ¡¯What?!¡¯ Henry was shocked. ¡¯Wow, the 30% pration on sh-type attack is working well,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. Zoren was startled at the sudden development and quickly used the scroll, targeting the group ahead instead of Almond. However, Lily had already vanished using her invisible skill, and Alfred had dashed toward the three adventurers, so the scroll only affected Natalia. *Awoo!* Almond¡¯s two Spectral wolves materialized and attacked the Knight, but wind swirling appeared around his legs as he flew up. However, the wolves jumped and bit his legs just in time while Almond also used Spirit Explosion right above him, ten meters off the ground, causing him to smack down violently. Before he knew what happened next, a strong kick struck his belly, causing him to gasp, and his arm holding the sword was sliced off. "Don¡¯t kill him, please!" The Knight shouted with bloodshot eyes, despite the pain, his gaze on Lily, who had appeared behind Zoren. "My family will die if he dies!" Lily, who was standing like a death god behind Zoren with her daggers raised and ready, immediately swung them, cutting both of Zoren¡¯s arms from his shoulder. "Arghhhhhh!!!" As for the other three Adventurers, they didn¡¯t stand a chance in the first ce, and seeing Zoren and the Knight already losing, they immediately dropped their weapons and started pleading, one of the guys even begging to spare them. "Geez, this was anticlimactic," Natalia wryly smiled. Naturally, Lily didn¡¯t stop at merely cutting Zoren¡¯s arms. She threw a Willowbee Dagger right at his crotch as well. Zoren screeched horrifyingly before he straight-up fainted. However, a ring on his hand shone and covered him in a golden barrier before he started healing, albeit slowly. The dagger from his crotch also expelled andy on him, his bleeding stopped, and his arms gradually began to regenerate. "Ring of Aegis Elysian," Almond raised his eyebrows. "It¡¯s from the major area Fallen Monastery Town, dropped from killing the Silver rank level 10 Field Boss there." "Heh, his parents sent him prepared for his first adventure," Natalia scoffed. "So? Do you want to give us any suggestion on how to end this, Mr. Helpless Knight?" Lily looked at Henry with a deadpan expression as she walked and stood beside Almond. Henry stood up, his expression weary. He sealed off his wound by using Mana and tightening his muscles to stop the bleeding before bowing full ny degrees. "Thank you for sparing him." "Look, it would leave a bad taste in our mouth if we kill those three newbies who are clearly forced into this shit," Almond coldly said, "And a case like yours isn¡¯t rare as well." "So tell me, is your Guild Leader understanding of his subordinate or listens to his trashy son and believes him?" Henry shook his head, "the Guild Leader will listen to me. But Zoren needs to stay alive for that." "And¡­.I hope you can cut my other arm off as well, along with Zoren¡¯s, once he wakes up. We will finish our journey here and wait at the starting area for two days for the exit." Henry spoke with determination. "If I am disabled, that bastard won¡¯t order me around, and I will also have a reason to state to the Guild Leader why we pulled out early." "I-I am going to leave the Thunderbird Guild after this. Fuck it, fuck this bastard," the girl spoke as she trembled. The three of them were clearly unable to continue the adventure on their own. They were at Silver rank level 1, but that was where their first entry into the Labyrinth would end. "This is seriously unpleasant," Natalia clicked her tongue. "That bastard will at most get a p on his wrist from his parents even if you tell your guild leader that you allnded in trouble because of him." Henry weakly smiled, "That¡¯s right, but what can I do? My original level is Gold rank level 55, and I am one of the promising members of the Guild, but in front of the Vice Guild leader¡¯s son, my worth is still low." The top most powerful Adventurers who were exploring the 10th Floor were all tinum rank adventurers. Gold-rank adventurers were also considered powerful forces and usually a promising asset of a force because they could reach tinum rank sooner orter. "Alright, we¡¯ll do that," Lily nodded at the Knight. "And if that piece of trash cries for revenge, then tell him and your vice guild leader to meet me at the League of Firefly." "I have a rather temperamental master who made me her disciple and will love to solve this conflict," Lily smiled, albeit coldly. "I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of the Lady Aria of Crimson Shadow." Henry¡¯s eyes widened, and a strange relief washed over him before he burst outughing. "Thank you. So you are the mysterious disciple she announced she took five days ago." "Truly, thank you for sparing him and us. This information will surely give Zoren more than just a p at his wrist." ¡­ After Zoren woke up, he saw that Henry¡¯s arms were cut off as he was held at the point of Almond¡¯s sword tip while those three new recruits were lying on the ground, surrounded by wolves, Alfred, and Natalia. He looked above and saw Lily looking at him with an icy smile as dread instantly filled him up. "Y-You don¡¯t know who you are messing wi-" Lily instantly swung a kick at his head, "Speak another word, and your head will fly." "I am sparing your life, but not easily. Before I begin, listen to me because you¡¯ll once again scream like a bitch and faint," Lily said with a disgusted expression. "I am Lily Darkwood. A member of the League of Firefly and the disciple of Crimson Shadow. If you have any more problems and beef, bring your father, mother, or your entire family there." After saying that, she didn¡¯t wait for his response and immediately swung her daggers, cutting off his arms and legs as he screamed in pain again before losing consciousness. Lily took out a healing potion and threw it on him as it shattered, spilled, and stopped Zeron¡¯s bleeding. A healing potion of this level couldn¡¯t regenerate limbs, but it could stop the bleeding and seal the wound. Natalia ran towards Zoren and removed the storage pouch from his waist along with that Ring of Aegis Elysian before spitting on his face. "These are our spoils," she snorted. Almond faintly smiled, "That¡¯s for sure." "We¡¯ll leave the mountain and head out. The faster, the better," Henry stood up and bowed again. "Thank you again. I will remember this favor." Chapter 25: Camping Area [The Shimmering Fen (Silver rank level 3 to 5 area )] -Description: This enchanted bog is a treacherous area where the ground is often covered in ayer of shimmering, luminescent fog. The starting part of this area has solid ground, but the further area is unstablend with big bogs. They are inhabited by Moonlight Wisps and Bog Slithers, ethereal and predatory creatures that hide in the fog, ambushing adventurers with stealth and deception. -Key Features: Murky, fog-covered waters, floating magical lights, and dangerous sinkholes. -Monsters: ¡ªMoonlight Wisps (ghost-like, elusive, cast illusions) ¡ªBog Slithers (snake-like, blend with the water, lethal strikes) ¡ªShimmering Fen Serpent (massive and capable of controlling the fog) The group arrived at the Shimmering Fen, already midway up the huge mountain. There were already three camps at the open ground where the Shimmering Fen area began. The fog wasn¡¯t much here, so visibility was not impacted. The three groups had lit up campfires and built tents, preparing for the night. "That spot is big and good for us. Let¡¯s go," Lily identified a rtively good spot ording to the camp kit she had and led the group there. Alfred was resting in Spirit Pocket, but Almond could summon him with a thought, and he nned to keep Alfred out to watch out for the group along with the wolves. Alfred wasn¡¯t a human despite his appearance, so he didn¡¯t need rest or sleep. A charge of Mana was enough to invigorate him. People were already cooking meat on their campfire as the smell wafted around. The sun was about topletely set, so it was time to eat and rest. "By the way, I only have one camp, a big one. The three of us will have to share it," Lily said as she nced at Natalia, "Nat, you know what I mean, right?" Natalia¡¯s expression dramatically changed, "You want me to sleep outside so you two can have fun inside?!" Almond almost choked on the water he was drinking and coughed violently. "¡­" Lily. Natalia burst outughing, "Yeah, yeah, I got it. I don¡¯t have any problem if we three share it." ¡­ The camp was like a room. It was simr to one of the other camps that a group was sharing a bit over twenty meters away. The other two had lower-quality tents. "This is pretty good, eh? There are cupboards and even a big bed inside," Almond looked around inside the tent. It was 7 meters tall at the center and 6 meters overall while being roughly 144 square feet big. "Is that a bathtub?" Almond was taken aback to see a small, round, empty bathtub with curtains at the corner. "Yep, and I am going to clean myself first. You should go out, Almond," Natalia grinned. "But Lily will join me." "Nonsense, of course I am going to join you," Almond snickered. "In your dreams!" The development of magitech was already progressing with more and more ess to items and wonders found in the Labyrinth Floors, Dungeons, and exotic skills from the specialized and sub-sses that people had. "The price of this tent is three hundred fifty thousand gold coins, but the good thing is that the tent¡¯s external corners have Monster Repelling Talismans attached that can repel all monsters up to silver-rank level 10," Lily smiled. "That¡¯s one problem less." "But we still have to be wary of others," Almond wryly smiled. "That¡¯s for sure." "Alright, you two freshen up. I am going out." Almond left the tent before summoning Alfred and the Wolves. He had attached the Wolf w Gauntlets to his waist horizontally as if they were grabbing his waist so they wouldn¡¯t get in the way during the fight, and he could also summon the wolves because the spirit effect required physical contact with the item to be activated. But he nned to fasten them to Alfred¡¯s waistter since they would get in his way of sleeping. One more interesting thing he found was the magical connection between him and Alfred. Almond could transfer his Mana to Alfred and vice-versa. He didn¡¯t check the distance until this remained activated, so he began with that experiment. "Master, that¡¯s the limit. I can¡¯t absorb your Mana anymore," Alfred said in Magic Whisper while raising his hand and waving it. Almond was fifty meters away when he heard Alfred¡¯s Magic Whisper and saw his hand as he understood. He began walking closer, and soon, Alfred gave thumbs up along with another Magic Whisper. "Master, this distance is the maximum for me to fluidly absorb your Mana." Alfred couldn¡¯t learn Physical Enchantment because his physical body did not have Chakra Points. His physiology was different. However, Magic Whisper didn¡¯t require Chakra Points, but only the mental process and proficiency of Mana, so he learned that pretty fast and fluently. "So the maximum distance is roughly forty-five meters," Almond muttered. Looking around, he saw more Tents standing and more peopleing in. ¡¯It¡¯s going to get crowded soon.¡¯ Returning to the campsite, he fastened the Wolf w Gauntlets to Alfred¡¯s waist. "Keep the wolves materilized by infusing Mana. You can absorb Mana from me since the consumption won¡¯t even matter to me, given my recovery speed." "Understood, Master." The Spectral Dire Wolves had a keen sense of smell and the ability to find hidden targets. They were bound to be helpful in keeping a watch. Lily and Natalia finished bathing roughly twenty minutester and called him. The girls went to make the campfire and prepare the dinner while Almond went for his turn to freshen up. There was body wash liquid, a brand-new towel, and clean water as the old one was reced with a handy magic item capable of storing 1 ton of water. It wasn¡¯t even that expensive, but he still didn¡¯t have money to buy it before entering his first adventure. Looking at the gold coins he had amassed and his current status, Almond couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡¯Life¡¯s going to get better.¡¯ He finished bathing ten minutester and saw that the big area already had twelve Tents at various spots. "Come, the food is ready." The trio sat with the tent at their back and open ground in front of them with multiple Tents in view, looking at people as their indistinct chatter rang. "It¡¯s crowded already," Natalia said as she picked up the skewer stick. "I bet there¡¯s going to be some drama, hehe." Chapter 26: Focus Field, The Shimmering Fen "There¡¯s still space to make tents, so unless a shitty group arrives and demands one of those tents to get removed for them, there won¡¯t be a drama," Lily said before she took a bite of the meat piece. Almond was patiently eating, chewing, and watching as well. "I wonder if other people would stop such tyranny or just watch?" "What would you do?" Natalia asked. "I won¡¯t help. I wouldn¡¯t mind lending help to such trouble if I was very strong, but I¡¯m not. So I am not in a position to help others and attract an enemy." "Conflicts and tyranny inside the Labyrinth will reduce," Lily faintly smiled. "GAA is developing a type of recording camera that Adventurers can bring in and record everything they face. This data can¡¯t go out of the Labyrinth directly, so they will build stations at the starting points on each floor, and those stations would be guarded tightly with formations and defense from magic items." Natalia and Almond were surprised. If GAA and Earth Union got the proof, they could indeed nab people and punish them ordingly. If a guild group behaved poorly and tyrannically, the guild¡¯s reputation would suffer, and it would face problems as well. "Tsk, if we had that now, we could¡¯ve sent that piece of trash to the pits of hell," Natalia clicked her tongue as she remembered Zeron. "Imagine if we uploaded that to the inte. His social life would be over." "That will reduce conflicts, but¡­" Almond nodded but felt that this was going to be a double-edged sword. "If all big guilds and powerful forces can ess those recordings¡­it might bring trouble. Not to mention, there are people in GAA and Earth Union both who are not exactly righteous enough to protect the weak." Natalia and Lily understood what he meant by then because they knew what Almond did. "Yeah, that¡¯s why this is not mandatory. You can bring that tiny recording camera with you for your safety only if you want to," Lily faintly smiled. "And nobody would know if you bring one with you or not. You can buy it, but whether to use it or not is up to you, so everyone would automatically assume that the other party has the cameras attached." "That sounds good. The Labyrinth would, at most, turn like our real world. Justice will be served to few while powerful and influential will get away in the end," Almond shook his head and continued eating. "Whatever, getting powerful is the only way to survive." "That¡¯s for sure." ¡­ The trio finished eating and went to bed without further ado. It was around 8:30 PM, and most of them were going to sleep already. But around 10:00 PM, when the area waspletely silent, a group arrived in the area as their noise woke people. They came from the direction where Lily¡¯s tent was, but seeing Alfred and two wolves, they quietly walked past them. However, it wasn¡¯t long before the noise outside increased. Almond and Lily woke up and looked at each other as they got up and peeked outside through a zipped window that Lily unzipped. "Get the fuck out of here!" "Yeah, let others sleep and find a different spot!" "Just make some ce by adjusting your tents, and we¡¯ll camp, or we won¡¯t mind destroying one!" Natalia also woke up as the noise increased, "What¡¯s going on? A group arrived at thiste to make a mess of our sleep?" She also peeked outside from the window. It wasn¡¯t long before the drama settled down. One of the members of that new group apologized and requested to make some space at the side to move two tents to make space for theirs. In the end, it was solved rather peacefully, and everyone went back to sleep once again. Of course, most of the others had one person keeping watch outside, taking turns every 2 or 3 hours depending on the number of people in their groups. Only Almond¡¯s group was sleeping soundly because of Alfred and the wolves that kept watch for them. Around 4:00 AM, Almond, Lily, and Natalia woke up. They freshened up and emptied their bowels one by one after digging a hole and sitting on a portable toilet inside the tent. A group or two seemed to have left, but the majority were still resting when Almond, Lily, and Natalia departed deeper into the Shimmering Fen. Usually, it was better to venture when the sun came up because Shimmering Fen already had fog that reduced visibility, not to mention the pitfalls and sneaky monsters in this area. "Almond, do you know how to Focus Field?" Lily asked as her dark blue eyes flickered with the faint glinting light blue of Mana while a circr invisible field appeared around her that only she could see. "Didn¡¯t have time nor stats to practice it," Almond shook his head. "And we can¡¯t learn it right now, not in this situation." "Yeah," Lily nodded and smiled as she said, "But I¡¯m sure you will be able to learn it rather quickly once we exit. I nned to train Natalia with my mom¡¯s help anyway, so you can join us." "That¡­ I¡¯d be grateful for that. Thanks." Focus Field required 20 Perception and 20 Focus in stats. It was an application of using Physical Enchantment in the eyes and then using Mana to construct a field via their vision. Physical Enchantment in the eyes worked wonders, allowing one to sense the aura and potency of things and beings. The better the mastery, the more details of aura sections one could see, which could allow the user to measure a target¡¯s parameters. But the Focus Field was a step higher. Within the range of one¡¯s Focus Field, one would be able to sense movements and auras of other things and beings clearly, allowing them to react fast. They would gain ultimate sight within this range. The downside was that the consumption of this technique was no joke, so it was impossible to maintain the Focus Field perpetually for beginners. The bigger the range, the higher the consumption. Naturally, it was one of the toughest techniques because one needed to find Chakra Points in their eyes, and a slight mistake there could cost their eyes. On top of that, after enchanting their eyes, they needed to learn to properly create the field via their eyes, requiring a challenging control of Mana. Controlling a small amount of Mana and a higher amount of Mana had a big difference and difficulty. Almond didn¡¯t dare to try because he didn¡¯t even have enough money to buy a single high-quality potion to recover his eyes in case he went blind. He could torture his arms and legs, and he could recover them using his own healing skills from his previous ss, but his eyes were different. His only healing skill wasn¡¯t powerful enough to recover his eyes. He had a pain-reducing skill, but it was useless in reducing pain during the process of finding chakra points because he couldn¡¯t use Mana for it, nor would it remain active for long once he started training, and he had to save Mana for his injury recovery using the healing skill. Focus Field was one of the essential techniques for Adventurers to eventually learn and master because it was also the only way to discover sudden attacks, traps, and ambushes unless one had some kind of skills that helped them in this regard. As such, in case of feeling danger via gut feeling or during battles, one could use Focus Field to discover threats and react fast. ¡­ *Grr¡­* The wolves growled as the fog thickened, and they started seeing glowing wisps. Those glowing wisps were actually Silver-ranked level 3 monsters¡ªMoonlight Wisps. They showed hallucinations to Adventurers via eye contact, altering their perception, so one had to remain focused. Otherwise, they might get attacked walking into vine traps, fall into pitfalls, or get attacked by Bog Slithers, the Silver-ranked level 4 monsters that remained hidden on the ground of greenery, snake-like and elusive that released lethal water beams. "I¡¯ll handle those wisps," Almond said as he looked at the three wisps over five meters away. ¡¯Spirit Explosion.¡¯ Almond had nock of Spirits, so he immediately executed two Spirit Explosions using Willowbee Spirits on the group of 3 Moonlight Wisps. One of them turned poisons, but even without that, those Moonlight Wisps would¡¯ve died. Their defense was too weak, even weaker than Bronze-ranked monsters. Capturing the spirits of those three Moonlight Wisps, Almond said, "We¡¯ll encounter more since we are properly in the Shimmering Fen now. I¡¯ll use the sword¡¯s skill and detect the monsters within 50 meters." "Great. We¡¯ll hunt them swiftly once you detect them." "That¡¯s the n." Almond activated the Preying Sense effect of the sword, giving him power simr to Focus Field. In the next second, he looked around and could see all the monsters within a 50-meter radius with him as the center! "We¡¯ll go in the northeast direction, as that¡¯s the most crowded area, and clean it up while Alfred, you will go with the wolves to taunt the Wisps, and Bog slithers in the west. Just bring them to the northeast. Don¡¯t fight there or you¡¯ll get into trouble." "Understood, Master." Chapter 27: Hunt In the Fen, Field Boss Encounter The hunt in Shimmering Fen was going as smoothly as they expected. Their capabilities were shown to each other, especially with Almond¡¯s additional boons like various items. Almond had looted Jacob¡¯s storage pouch, and recently, they got another storage pouch from an even richer young master. In short, there was nock of potions for them, so they didn¡¯t spare them as well. Swiftly using Mana or Healing potions and started progressing fast right from the start. They only stopped after two hours, and that was when they were truly tired and also found a spot to rest on solid high ground. So far, they had killed over fifty monsters total consisting of Moonlight Wisps, Bog Slithers, and six Shimmering Fen Serpents. Almond had also begun his second creation in Spirit Kodoku, adding Moonlight Wisps, Bog Slithers, Shimmering Fen Serpents, ssze Bears(all three of a kind), and Willowbee Wisps (Queens)--five different types of monsters. He saved de Mantis Spirit for another creation process as he didn¡¯t want to throw it in this round. "This is going good," Almond leaned on his hands behind him, stretched. "We¡¯ll likely finish our first-ss series quest in the White Pn¡¯sir." The next area was usually Briarwood Grove¡ªSilver ranked level 5-7 area, but the secret area, White Pn¡¯sir, was located before that area at this time. They have been observing the ces and hints, which consisted of a small white flying bird, tiny white feathers, and white powder. These three were clues and hints to find the White Pn¡¯sir since its location changed every three days. They had spotted white powder and a white feather in the Shimmering Fen and also removed those hints so that others wouldn¡¯t find them. Since those hints appeared in the Shimmering Fen, they just had to find the small white bird flying somewhere outside of the Shimmering Fen and follow it, which would lead them to the entrance of White Pn¡¯sir. *Hisss¡­* Suddenly, Lily¡¯s ears twitched, and Almond also sensed the danger as both of them jumped. From the ground, a st urred with sparkling crystal particles sting out, throwing Natalia high up. Alfred jumped and caught her beforending, while Lily and Almond immediately pounced on the Shimmering Fen Serpent. Lily directly threw the daggers while she was in the air while Almond pushed his feet, his arms and legs Physically Enchanted, and his sword in his hand as he zoomed in towards the monster before cutting off its head. But it wasn¡¯t over. This Serpent could grow heads and shoot off its semi-crystalized scales, which were poisonous and prative. Cutting off its head gave them time to prepare for the next move since that was its only weakness. Cutting its head would prevent it from shooting its attacks, though it wouldn¡¯t kill it. Almond had literally studied all monsters on the First Floor and knew their weakness. He had added that data in his magic parchment as well. As such, he jumped away after slicing its head and released two Spirit Explosions, one glued to it below and one above it, boxing the monster between the two explosions. *BOOM!* One of them turned special, releasing blue sparks that would show one hallucination. [You have reached Silver-rank level 5. You have triggered the level-up boon.] "Alright, I¡¯m done," Almond chuckled. "And it finally triggered, on thest level." "You leveled up? Great, guess I¡¯ll also trigger it at level 5," Lily grinned. "So, what did you get?" "No skill option, unfortunately," Almond nced at the options and put them away, not choosing the reward right away. "These snakes are damn annoying," Natalia puffed as she walked to the side. "Alwaysing out of the ground like that." "After all, their daddy is that Maddening Beaver," Lily smilingly said before she looked at Almond, "On that note, that Beaver mighte after us. We are deepest in this area right now, and you¡¯re the only silver rank level 5 Adventurer here for now." "Yeah, I hope ites to us," Almond was looking at his sword while raising it, his eyes squinted as he looked at the surface of its de that was sparkling due to some sunrays passing through the fog and hitting it. "What are you looking at?" Natalia sat down and asked upon seeing Almond looking at the sword¡¯s de like that. "I feel something familiar," Almond sat down beside Lily and put away the sword. "But it¡¯s a bit annoying. I feel like there¡¯s something within my reach but infinitely away." "Regarding sword?" Lily curiously asked. "Yeah. I¡¯m getting that feeling sometimes when I swing my sword, and it just appeared again, but¡­" Almond shook his head. "Forget it. It¡¯s annoying. It¡¯s like a wall is blocking me while showing and calling me for something attractive." The group rested for fifteen minutes and fully recovered their stamina and spirits before finally moving again. Soon, Lily also reached Silver rank level 5. Alfred reached Silver rank level 4, the same as Natalia. An hourter, they were nearly at the edge of the Shimmering Fen area. They kept themselves at least half refilled in Mana all the time in case of the sudden raid from Maddening Beaver. And just as they finished off three Bog Slithers and a Shimmering Fen Serpent, the ground trembled. "It¡¯sing," Natalia eximed. Almond immediately chugged Mana potion before saying, "Lily, can I kill it alone? I have an idea to increase the rare item drop chances." He infused 50 Mana in the sword to get a scanning of his surroundings. "Three o¡¯clock, three Wisps, and two Bog Slithers." "A Fen Serpent and a group of four Wisps at eight o¡¯clock. Alfred, go there with the wolves." "There are two more groups at eleven o¡¯clock and twelve o¡¯clock, which is straight ahead facing the snowy peak we can see from here. Finish them off. I¡¯ll deal with the Beaver." And that gave all the directions they needed. Natalia and Lily jumped into action along with Alfred, leaving Almond alone with the Maddening Beaver that jumped out of the ground right after he finished speaking, its eyes locked on Almond. It also nced at Lily since she was also level 5, but seeing Almond¡¯s gaze on itself, the monster also focused on Almond. It was six meters tall, fat, and with a thick brown metallic shining scaly exterior, not to mention those sharp ws that could instantly dig through the ground. The potholes it dug had many adventurers dying since those potholes usually had monsters and its surface would get swiftly covered with magical moss and greenery growing in the Shimmering Fen to make it look like just any other surface of the area. Judging from the marks on its body, it was clear that it had fought other adventurers, but managed to escape, either after killing them or after getting injured and feeling danger since this Field Boss was a master in escape, and had high vitality and defense. [Maddening Beaver] -Rank: Silver. -Level: 5 -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 600/600] -Stats: Chapter 28: One Shot, Surprise [Maddening Beaver] -Rank: Silver. -Level: 5 -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 600/600] -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 70 | Health: 70 | Stamina: 70] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 60 | Focus: 60 | Perception: 60] ¡¯It¡¯s fat, alright,¡¯ Almond looked at its status, his eyes focused. Field Bosses were stronger than Adventurers of the same rank and level, requiring a group effort to defeat them. But Almond had different thoughts. What if the rare drop chance increased if he fought and killed it alone, without any help, and did it quickly despite the gap in stats? -Moonlight Wisps x 3 = 2 Mana, 1 Focus, 1 Perception, 1 Mana, 0.5 Perception. -Bog Slithers x 3 = 1 Strength, 2 Health, 2 Stamina. -Fen Serpents x 3 = 1 perception, 2 Strength, 2 Health, 1 Stamina, 1 Focus. The above was the result of Spirit Devouring in this area and below his current status: [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Silver. -Level: 5 -ss: Spirit Dealer (SS) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 575/575] -Stats: 6 unassigned points ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 34 | Health: 24 | Stamina: 23] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 23 (+34.5) | Focus: 27 | Perception: 27] "Come on, Maddy," Almond muttered under his breath as his eyes were locked onto the Maddening Breaver that was in the air and falling. But before it reached the ground, the monster had swiped its right hand, shooting a sharp and two-meter-long three-wed projectile at Almond, its speed breakneck. Almond didn¡¯t even flinch. His eyes only flickered as the pupils shrank, and a st urred, his feet kicking off dust while he shot at the Beaver like a bullet, his sword¡¯s edge gleaming crimson. ¡¯Refill my syringes, you big healthy bastard.¡¯ Almond consumed 20% of his stamina right off the bat as his sword cut past the monster¡¯s neck andnded behind it. Two ghastly synergies were injected into the Beaver, sucking its Health and Mana. Almond¡¯s sh-type sword attack prated and shed through its tough armor and also dealt damage, enough to shave away 7% of its health since it was cut at its neck and sprayed a fountain of blood. Maddening Beaver got mad that it was damaged and didn¡¯t even notice the syringes due to the cut on its neck. 200% of Almond¡¯s max Vitality and Mana was akin to over 20% of the Beaver¡¯s Vitality and Mana, so the Syringe weakened it more, but it was strange to monsters since this was a type of attack that didn¡¯t inflict pain, but still dealt damage in a way. Maddening Beaver contributed the weakening to that sh at its thick neck. Not feeling threatening enough to escape, it angrily turned to Almond and opened its mouth, releasing sharp andpact mud bullets. Almond quickly manifested the ssze Shield, its durability reducing crazily. It was a huge rectangle shield, but it allowed the user to see through it, so Almond approached the Beaver while it shot the bullets, his legs pumping. Two secondster, he jumped along with the shield and threw it towards the monster. Maddening Beaver¡¯s eyes glinted dark red as its tail struck the shield, easily shattering it while its w went for Almond, who was airborne. "Not that easy, Maddy," Almond smiled as he knew this would happen. This monster¡¯s reaction was fast, and its fatal point was its head. Moreover, if it was damaged below 50%, it would usually escape to the ground. One of its specialties was fast healing while it was under the ground, so once it escaped, it was over. It would recover quickly and target other Adventurers. Moreover, if Almond went for the Beaver¡¯s head carelessly, it would finish him off with its w and tails that packed more power with its skill than just disyed in its stats. Even if he didn¡¯t die, he would be a mess at least. Frontal attacks like that were useless unless¡­he attacked beyond its speed of reaction, and he only had one way to do that, and he had to one-shot the monster to win! He pumped his feet and did an air jump using Mana, dodging the w swiping while also using a Spirit Explosion behind him. Right before the explosion urred, another ssze Shield appeared behind him to block the explosion while his feet gentlyid the shield in thest of milliseconds. All ording to his n, but the satisfaction of actually executing the moves he imagined was exhrating. He was in full control of his body and mind, in perfect synchronization. *BOOM!* The explosion impacted the shield and then his feet, which Almond used to push forward, getting a speed boost from the explosion¡¯s impact. He broke the sound barrier as a loud boom urred immediately after the explosion and his sword, enchanted with 200 Mana, suddenly and unknowingly produced a de-like aura that extended from it, making it longer and razor-sharp. *sh!* ¡¯W-What did I do?!¡¯ The thick and wide neck of the Maddening Beaver was cleanly cut! *Smash!* Almondnded on the ground and rolled several meters before smashing into a tree, his expression dumbfounded while his head began bleeding due to the impact. His speed was fast, so it aided in strengthening impact, cracking his head slightly. However, his mind was on that strange sword attack he just executed! ¡¯I was going for the stab in the head¡­but why did I sh through its neck? And what the hell was that?! Did I just perform a freaking Aura Enfold?!¡¯ His thought train stopped before it began as he felt a headache and pain, his vision turning red. ¡¯Shit.¡¯ He quickly injected the Spirit Syringe and recovered himself. [Congrattions. You have killed a challenging foe all by yourself. You are rewarded 10,000 Gold coins for defeating the Maddening Beaver alone at your current level.] [You have reached Silver rank level 6.] ¡¯The notification is different,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. He looked at where the Maddening Beaver died and absorbed its spirit. Nearby, a glowing palm-sized orb was present, blue with brown patterns. Almond had recovered to full thanks to his Spirit Syringe. He walked towards the orb and picked it up, looking at the rare-grade drop. [Earth Shattering Gloves] -Grade: [Rare / Low] -Durability: [1500/1500] -Attack: [100 + 100% of user¡¯s Strength.] -Effect(s): ¡ª> (Active) Drilling w: Transforms the gloves into ws and consumes a certain amount of Mana every second, depending on the ground¡¯s toughness to dig through and travel fast. ¡ª> (Active) Infusing 50 Mana in the ws will create an Earth elemental barrier with a radius of 5 meters around the user. ¡ª> (Passive) While the gloves are equipped, you exude an aura within a 5-meter radius that increases physical and magical defense by 50 t values. This is only applicable to up to five ally targets selected by you. "These are simply wonderful," Almond smiled. ¡¯I can wear the gloves and hold the swords.¡¯ The pair of gloves wasn¡¯t a weapon, after all. However, it could be one with that first active effect. ¡¯Rare drops are awesome.¡¯ He didn¡¯t join Lily and others in clearing the Monsters. Lily also didn¡¯t deal many killing blows, instead, she let Alfred kill them. She only killed Shimmering Fen Serpents masterfully to leave a good record in her ss quest. Natalia was progressing as well, albeit slowly. "That was really fast, Almond. I looked away for a moment, and the Beaver¡¯s giant head rolled off," Natalia blinked in curiosity. "But I saw a light." "Aura Enfold," Lily said as she stared at Almond, her eyes sparkling with thrill and shock. "How did you do that?!" Almond coughed and stood up, his expression turning solemn as he stood on a sword, holding a pose like a Jedi. "Super de Awakening! Haa!" Almond cringed at his own words, but he swung the sword. And nothing happened. "As you can see, I also don¡¯t know," Almond wryly smiled. Natalia and Lily almost fell to the ground. "You¡­you got us," Natalia burst outughing. "True. But that makes more sense because Aura Enfold is not easy to learn at all. But you¡¯re really a monster, my darling," Lily¡¯s arms went around his neck, resting on his shoulder and pecking on his lips. "A box full of surprise." "Here¡¯s another one," Almond smiled and showed them the Earth Shattering Gloves. Chapter 29: Heartmending, Heartbroken With Earth Shattering Gloves in addition, the party¡¯s overall power became even stronger. During theirst phase of exploration in the Shimmering Fen, Almond made sure to fill up five Spirit Syringes before exiting the area. He didn¡¯t level up anymore, but Natalia and Alfred reached silver-level 5 while Lily stayed at silver-level 5, barely at the half bar towards silver-level 6. Almond only jumped a level because of solo killing the Maddening Beaver, which gave him an unusual amount of high EXP. After finally leaving the Shimmering Fen, the party moved west and arrived at a grove of Snow Almond Trees. This grove was a small collection of beautiful Snow Almond Trees. It was called this name because its leaves were in the shape of snowkes while having the color of almonds and vein patterns. Almond, Lily, and Nataliay on the grassy ground under a tree, resting after cooking steaks and eggrolls with bread from ingredients Lily and Natalia brought from outside. Alfred sat on a rtively thick branch of the tree, keeping a lookout in all directions. "The leaves have almost the same colors as your eyes," Lily¡¯s fingers were interlinked with Almond¡¯s, and her head leaned towards his shoulder. "Yeah," Almond replied, his mind half resting and half thinking about Lily as he turned his head towards her. "What are you looking at?" Lily asked, her smile like a graceful yet cheery moonlight shining on a clear pond as she looked at him, looked at his glossy almond eyes. Her gaze then went to his lips, and she stole a short, smoochy kiss, causing Natalia to roll her eyes as she heard the sound. "I feel like something¡¯s filling up because of you, and it¡¯s making me feel good," Almond said, his eyes bing unfocused as he felt various emotions. ¡¯Is this what it feels like to get close to someone and trust them while receiving the same? I can feel her affection so purely¡­it feels real¡­¡¯ "It must be your love pool," Lily replied with a grin. "I am filling it up with my love." "My love pool empty¡­" Natalia muttered. "Anyway, Lily, what did you see in him? I mean, I can see it now. If I was a normal girl, I would¡¯ve definitely felt attracted to the current Almond. Most of the girls would jump into hisp for a good future, be it short term or long term." "But you knew nothing about him except that he was freaky with his Physical Enchantment mastery at first. I know you have some crazy thought process, but I want a clear answer, ¡¯kay?" Almond felt a bit of a sting, but he was also curious. Lily blinked as she saw Almond¡¯s eyes and mischievously smiled, "You also seem to be curious about this, darling." Almond dryly chuckled, "Well, I can say I am pretty good right now, but at that time¡­yeah, I don¡¯t understand what you saw in me." "Do you believe in chemistry between people? The chemical reaction between people? Or like an attractive force that pulls you towards a person because of¡­feel, instincts, and those fleeting things?" ¡¯Wait, wait¡­don¡¯t tell me my Innate Talent attracted her attention because I was thinking about her most of the time since we met?¡¯ Almond suddenly felt kind of sad, and this made him realize that he didn¡¯t feel good that he attracted her because of that innate talent. "To be honest, Lily¡­I don¡¯t believe in that, but I think it exists," Almond answered ording to what he felt. "I don¡¯t believe it because I am not sure I am capable of getting myself to feel that chemistry. I think too much to ept that." Lily smiled gently and adjusted herself, moving toy her head on his chest, their faces inches apart. Almond¡¯s heart started pounding, and he could feel her heartbeat against him, both of their pulses quickening in sync. "I believe in it," she whispered, her eyes closed, her peaceful smile lighting up her face. "I believe in following my instincts, in the chemistry that feels right. I decide who I want close to me because of how they make me feel. Their words mean nothing if they are lies, and I can capture that, so I believe in my instincts, my feelings," She paused, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. "And when I met you, I felt it¡ªthe connection, the desire. You were guarded and distrustful, but I could see the drive in you. That, to me, was¡­incredible. I felt a resonance." Almond could understand. He had seen Lily in the academy, but she was always stoic and indifferent. It felt like she had a mask ready that could be adept when interacting with people. She appeared a professional and level-headed beauty who had an air of confidence with her smile when she was interviewed a week ago. But she wasn¡¯t anything like that right now. Natalia snickered, "That¡¯s why nobody knows her true self, well except for me, you, and her parents." "True. I have a desire deep down, and that¡¯s why I focus more on training. Learning martial arts and honing my skills to be strong is necessary for that desire and it¡¯s most fun to me," Lily spoke while her eyes were closed with a peaceful smile. Almond suddenly felt very connected to Lily. "When you thought about killing us, killing me, I felt that desire in you. I had figured out why you wanted to kill us already, so I also felt that conviction and desire to survive." Lily looked at Almond, only a few inches of distance between their faces as she grinned at Almond, "That was super attractive too and it made a chemical reaction in me like no other." "My instincts sought you, desired you, and because of that, I decided to get you for myself, even if I had to ckmail you." "But you showed your true colors, and it made me even more happy," Lily smiled. "You made a decision to trust me. The level of distrust I saw in your eyes at first was crazy, but for your survival and desire, you decided to ovee that." ¡¯So it wasn¡¯t because of my innate talent¡­¡¯ Almond¡¯s hands wrapped around her back, his mind and heart feeling infinitely attracted to her at the moment. He could see her dreamy dark blue eyes were oozing out intense affection for him. Lily could see the same in his and it made her even more happy, more satisfied as if her cells, her instincts got delicious food. "Almond, my darling. I knew If I showered you with my affection and love, we would work out, but you made a step as well, and that was just amazing to me." "That was the proof that our chemical reaction was like no other. You felt it too, but subconsciously and that¡¯s why you made that decision to trust mepletely." ¡¯That¡­¡¯ Almond was amazed, his eyes turned slightly misty as his emotions whirled. He understood something at the moment that made him grateful. He wanted to think this was fate, but his rationality told him it was really a coincidence, a good one for him. A lucky one. "Thank you, Lily." Almond¡¯s lips directly went to hers as he passionately kissed her and both of them got absorbed in it for a few seconds before Natalia coughed. "Come on, you¡¯re making me jealous." Almond and Lily stopped as they lightly chuckled and got up. "Sorry, Natalia," Almond apologetically smiled. But seeing that her eyes were actually watering, he was taken aback, "I-I¡¯m sorry. This was insensitive. We won¡¯t do anything like this anymore while we are here, okay?" Lily bit her lips and sighed. "Sorry, Nat. That¡­was bad on us." "Lily, let¡¯s not do this for Natalia anymore," Almond said with a serious expression. "I was lucky¡­truly lucky to encounter you, Lily. I am changing, no, I am developing, and evolving because you took initiative for me." "And I know¡­what it feels like to have love," Almond turned to Natalia. "We won¡¯t hurt you anymore." Natalia sniffed as she wiped away her tears. "Now you understand, huh? I guess you too, Lily." She pouted as she spoke, but her eyes were still getting watery despite her trying to hold back. "I am heartbroken." The two dunces who were feeling love for the first time, only now could understand Natalia who had her heart brokenpletely, and the fact that she would have to ept that. "I¡¯m sorry, my candy," Lily hugged her. "*Sniff*¡­lick me." "¡­" "¡­" Chapter 30: White Polans Lair A few minutester, as the trio were resting or rather waiting, Alfred suddenly spoke. "Master, I see the bird you mentioned." Almond sprung up on his feet, "Where?" Alfred quickly pinpointed it, and the group began moving again, following the bird. The clues led them to this area. Particrly the direction the feather pointed when they discovered it. Based on that, Lily and Almond deduced that the bird would appear around this area of Snow Almond Grove. After following it for twenty minutes, it led them on a zigzag path upward, and they finally arrived at a tall grass area with a mud pond. The bird flew towards the mud pond and suddenly dived down. "Damn, so it¡¯s under that?" Natalia¡¯s face scrumped. "Guess we¡¯ll have to get muddy." But the special area was worth it because defeating the boss there would give them a random Rare-grade item. The important thing was that Rare-grade items found inside the first floor would be valuable forever, as long as the Labyrinth existed. Because Rare-grade items crafted outside or gained from 2nd or other floors couldn¡¯t be brought into the First Floor. Selling these 1st Floor Rare-grade items would fetch a high price because it could tremendously help newbie Adventurers on the First Floor! "Alfred, you go first and find the passage so that we can quickly dive and reach there," Almond said with a wry smile. "Got it," Alfred seemed to smile and dived into the pond. A minuteter, Almond got Magic Whisper from Alfred, "Found it. I¡¯ve created a Mana trail to the passage for you to follow." "Thanks, Alfred." The trio could see a string of Manaing out of the pond. They jumped in and quickly followed the string of mana through the darkness of the mud below. Lily and Almond could tear through the mud and go smoothly thanks to Physical Enchantment. Both of them held Natalia¡¯s hand and pulled her with them since she couldn¡¯t travel inside on her own without Physical Enchantment. Without Physical Enchantment, a group must have one or two warrior-role Adventurers to even enter and lead their group to the passage with their ss skills since warrior-based sses usually had at least one strengthening skill. Of course, other skills could also work since there were a myriad of sses and ss skills. ¡­ A minuteter, the trio finally entered a passage and met with Alfred before resuming their journey after cleaning up with water from a water bag. "Let¡¯s go straight for monsters at silver level five and above," Lily said. "No need to waste time on silver level one to four monsters." "Yep," Almond nodded. "If I remember correctly, White Pn have those strange white snakes and white lynxes, right?" Natalia spoke as the group arrived at a big cavern with white trees and white fog covering it all. The group stopped at the passage¡¯s end and didn¡¯t enter the cavern. "This area should have monsters between silver level one to five," Almond said as he grabbed his sword. "I¡¯ll scan the location, and we¡¯ll make a beeline straight towards that passage at the end." Sixty-five meters away was a passage leading to the next cavern. "Alright, let¡¯s do this," Lily nodded and carried Natalia in her arms. "It¡¯ll be faster if I carry you." Almond nodded as he consumed 50 Mana and used the Preying Sense of the sword, locating all the monsters fifty meters in front of him. "Thest fifteen meters will be unknown, so I will take the lead and deal with monsters that jump on us but won¡¯t stop our speed. We¡¯ll be able to fight better inside the passage even if some monsters follow us." "Alfred, you will run behind Lily and Natalia so you can act if some monsters attack from behind after we pass them." "Understood." "Let¡¯s go," Almond said and dashed, Lily and Natalia right on his tail and Alfred behind them. Since he knew where all the monsters were hidden in this fog-covered tall-grass area, he knew what to do. Crossing ten meters, Almond said with Magic Whisper, "Jump high. Cross six meters at once." Almond was two meters ahead of Lily and Natalia, so it was enough. He jumped and crossed six meters, skipping over a bunch of White Pn Snakes and Tigers that were on the right and left. Lily also jumped, powering her legs as she crossed seven meters and resumed running with a two-meter distance between her and Almond. "Tigers on our ass," Natalia said as she spotted two Tigers pouncing behind Lily. They were already alerted when Almond jumped, so when Lily jumped, they decided to attack her. Unfortunately for them, Alfred was right behind as his fiery sword sh cut both of them and tailed behind Lily before smiling at Natalia, who was looking back over Lily¡¯s shoulder. Alfred had learned to use me Maniption to empower his sword, effectively creating a technique¡ªme Elemental Aura¡ªon his sword, coating it with a fieryyer that increased his attack¡¯s lethality to a notch above. The group continued behind Almond as he bypassed all the monsters, but thest fifteen meters were unknown. "Lily, let¡¯s jump with our full power. We can cross fifteen meters easily with Physical Enchantment." "Good idea. Better to do that than to rush through." Almond¡¯s legs pumped as he arrived at the mark, consuming Mana and empowering his legs further as he jumped long. He crossed over fifteen meters and directly arrived at the solid stone ground in front of the passage. Turning around, he saw Lily and Nataliaing as well, but their bnce shifted due to double weight. Lily blinked as she saw Almond looking at them and let go of Natalia with a slight arm motion towards him. Natalia¡¯s mouth was open, tongue out, and face shocked while forced to the side as her angel had changed mid-air. It was a funny scene as she didn¡¯t expect to be thrown at such height and speed. But Almond quickly acted and caught her while Lily alsonded safely. Alfred arrived right behind, bringing five White Pn Tigers and Snakes. The group entered the passage fast as the monsters followed. But since the space was small inside, the monsters couldn¡¯t fight properly, and their main weapon, the specialty of monsters here¡ªWhite Pn Poison, couldn¡¯t work that much. White Pn Poison was dangerous because it could make someone paralyzed and also sleep, making their consciousness wobbly. Paralyse could only stop the body, but not the applications of Mana or the usage of skills. But Sleep affected the mind, so it was hard to use Mana techniques or skills. White Polem monsters all had this poison as their main attribute, so most of their attacks were infused with this poison. However, inside the passage, they couldn¡¯t move freely to attack, and they weren¡¯t intelligent enough to make a formation. The group killed Silver-level 4 and 5 White Pn Tigers and Snakes easily without getting hit. Lily was close to silver-level 6, at 97% while Alfred and Natalia were halfway to silver-level 6 after the battle. "We got a drop!" Natalia eximed. "That¡¯s our first drop from normal monsters!" Chapter 31: New Production "Nice, it looks like something you can use," Lily said as she inspected the item Natalia picked up. [Serpent Curse Wand] -Grade: Umon. -Attack: +10% potency to Control-type and Offense-type skills. -Perk: ¡ª> +3 Perception, +3 Focus. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Serpent Spell: Using 50 Mana, you can shoot an ethereal white serpent. If struck, it puts the target to sleep with a 50% chance while having a 100% chance of paralyzing for 2 seconds. "This is great," Almond said as read the status. "It can paralyze boss monsters for a second, not to mention its usefulness against other silver-ranked Adventurers." "d we triggered the drop here. This is indeed one of the better umon-grade drops on the first floor," Lily smiled. "And its perk is maxed. The maximum stats we can get from an umon grade is six if I remember correctly." "Yep, it¡¯s six. Rare grade has up to 50 based on its sub-grade, but mine duped on that one since low-ss rare grade could have a maximum of 10 stats bonus," Almond wryly smiled. "But in exchange, I got all possible effects, so that¡¯s good." Preying Hunter¡¯s Sword didn¡¯t get any boost that increased the user¡¯s stats¡ªperks. Hismon-grade staff also had a stat boost, though it was just +1 Mana stat (+10 Mana into the Mana pool) "Anyway, this was a good find. Let¡¯s continue," Natalia said with a jolly grin, clearly in a happy mood as she gave hermon-grade wand to Lily, who put it in the storage pouch while she held a white wand with a crystal red-eyed serpent head at the top. The chance of getting drops from normal monsters was utterly low. It was less than 1%, be itmon-grade or umon-grade. It was the same for both since this rate was the rate of drop from a normal monster. This rate increased by 5% every three days since the Floors would get powerful every three days, up to 21% on thest three days of the month. The Elite Monsters would also spawn, a stronger version of the same monster like Elite Goblin Archer, Elite Bog Slither, and so on. Those had an extra 10% chance on drops, but only one Elite monster of each kind would spawn in an area. Naturally, their numbers would also double every three days, so thest three days of the Labyrinth were practically in Hell-Mode due to a massive increase in the number of monsters, not to mention how they would be 5% to 10% stronger every three days. ¡­ The party was walking and arrived at the end of the passage after walking for a hundred meters. "Well, I guess this will be our new battlefield for some hours," Lily said as she looked at arge cavern with glowing nts, tall grass, trees, and less fog than the first area, but more variety of trees, nts, and other things. [The Spirit Factory has sessfully finished its production list.] ¡¯Nice.¡¯ "Let¡¯s sit down for a bit," Almond said with a smug smile and sat down. "We just got twenty new items." Lily and Natalia clearly appeared excited and sat down. "Bring the stuff on the table, boss," Natalia rubbed her hands with anticipation while grinning. "Let¡¯s see what you cooked this time." Lily chuckled as she winked at Almond, "A scrumptious meal as always, for sure." Almond had put fifteen spirits inside, resulting in fifteen items. 5 x Bog Slithers Spirits. 5 x Moonlight Wisps Spirits. 5 x Shimmering Fen Serpents Spirits. "Here we go," Almond waved his hand as he spawned out the items. 5 x Bog Slither Arrows (Umon-grade) 3 x Moonlight Crystal (Umon-grade) 2 x Wispy Illusion Bombs¡ªone-time use (Umon-grade) 2 x Shimmering Spine Spears (Umon-grade) 2 x Shimmering Serpent¡¯s Fangs¡ªone-time use (Umon-grade) 1 x Shimmering Trap¡ªone-time use (Rare-grade) "Thatst one," Lily was surprised. "Your spirit factory crafted a rare grade." "I wonder what it does," Natalia blinked curiously as she looked at the five-inch radius thick ring with Shimmering Serpent¡¯s scales shining as its material. "Yeah, I was also surprised to see a rare grade one," Almond shared the item¡¯s details with them. [Shimmering Trap] -Grade: Rare -Type: one-time use -Use: ¡ª> Infuse 50 Mana in the ring to activate the ring and then put it anywhere you wish to set the trap. Anyone who steps on the ring or touches it will trigger the trap in 0.5 seconds. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Turns five-meter radius ground into deadly bog five meters deep that pulls the targets downward while covering the area with thick fog. Voice can¡¯t travel out of the fog unless enhanced with Mana. Reading the effects, the trio got chills. It was deadly, alright! Almond grinned and said: "This is going to be useful. It doesn¡¯t even look like a trap, but more like a dropped item or something." "Let¡¯s see other items," Lily moved her gaze to the arrows, her eyes sparkling. "Those seem very useful to me." "Me too," Natalia said as she waved her Willowbee Crossbow. Almondughed. "Yep, take a look." Sharing the details, everyone looked at the new status window. [Bog Slither Arrow] -Grade: Umon -Durability: [100/100] -Attack: [50 + 100% of Mana infused converting to attack. (Max 100 Mana)] -Effect(s): ¡ª> Targets stuck by the arrow will get ensnared by vines from the ground, the number of vines depends on the Mana infused into the arrow¡ª1 vine per 10 Mana infused. -Note: ¡ª> Using the arrow decreases its durability, and loss increases per Mana infused¡ª10 Mana infused is a loss of 10 Durability, and using 100 Mana will destroy the arrow after it is hit. ¡ª> You can repair the item¡¯s durability by 100% using one Spirit. "Another crazy item," Natalia muttered. "These arrows are so powerful." "I can repair their durability as well," Almond chucked. "We have five, so split up yourselves." "I¡¯ll take two," Natalia said with a grin. "Lily, you got a quiver from Goblin Colony, right?" "Yep," Lily nodded as she picked up the remaining three arrows and put them in her storage bag before taking out the quiver. Willowbee Crossbow could generate an arrow using Mana, so she didn¡¯t need a quiver until now. "Check out this. It¡¯s most useful in my opinion," Almond shared the details of the Moonlight Crystal. [Moonlight Crystal] -Grade: Umon -Effect(s): ¡ª> Infuse 10 Mana to activate the crystal, producing a bright light to illuminate an area. It also discovers monsters within a 10-meter radius and gives light up to a 50-meter radius. It remains active for 1 hour, and the crystal can stick to anything solid but drowns in water. Cooldown: 1 hour. -Note: After the crystal activates, it bes fragile and can be destroyed if struck by an attack of 25, be it physical or magical. "This¡­is very useful, like very," Lily muttered, realizing this item¡¯s potential. "As long as it¡¯s not destroyed, we can use it." "Crazy effect, damn. The illuminating items like magic torches andmps in the market don¡¯t evene close to this crystal¡¯s effect," Natalia said in amazement. "Yep. But even a level 1 bronze-ranked monster can destroy that crystal if it punches it," Almond wryly smiled. "So it¡¯s safe to say that even shockwaves of stronger attack could identally destroy it, unless¡­" Almond grinned and took out a ssze Shield, "We protect it with another item. This shield can work, but we want something like a ss cube." "Great idea," Lily¡¯s eyes lit up. "Once we get out of thebyrinth, I¡¯ll tell my father tomission a tough ss cube. We can put this crystal inside it and use it." "Excellent," Almond smiled. "And for that, we shouldn¡¯t use these crystals here. They are too fragile for now, so put them in your storage pouch." After Lily put them inside her storage pouch, Almond shared the details of the Wispy Illusion Bomb. [Wispy Illusion Bomb] -Grade: Umon -Type: One-time use. Chapter 32: Second Cavern (1/2) [Wispy Illusion Bomb] -Grade: Umon -Type: One-time use. -Effect: ¡ª> Infuse 10 Mana and throw the bomb. Upon impact, it explodes and makes everyone within a 10-meter radius dizzy and shows them hallucinations for 2 seconds. "Not bad. Useful against other Adventurers like the Shimmering Trap," Lily nodded. [Shimmering Serpent¡¯s Fangs] -Grade: Umon -Type: one-time use. -Attack: 50 [+100% of user¡¯s strength] -Effect: ¡ª> Poisonous Flying Dagger that rapidly dissolves into lethal acid and fast-acting poison once struck to the flesh. "This one is also good," Lily raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, it¡¯s deadly," Natalia nodded. "Andst," Almond shared the details of Shimmering Spine Spear. [Shimmering Spine Spear] -Grade: Umon -Duration: [2 days] -Durability: [1000/1000] -Attack: [50 + 60% of the user¡¯s strength.] -Perk: ¡ª> +2 Strength. -Effect: ¡ª> Shimmering Stab: Increases piercing power by 50% and user¡¯s action speed by 30% for 3 seconds after infusing 50 Mana. Cooldown: 10 seconds. -Note: ¡ª> Increase Duration by one day and Durability by 50% at the cost of one Spirit. "We¡¯ll open our attack with this," Almond grinned as he grabbed all three spears and stood up before turning to the passage¡¯s exit. The sword was in contact with him at his back in the sheath, so he activated Preying Sense after walking to the edge, overlooking the cavern. Preying Sense! Almond¡¯s eyes grew as if he was looking from a higher dimension, everything within a 50-meter radiuspletely clear. The air felt cooler, carrying a damp, earthy scent that mingled with the faint aroma of the glowing nts scattered across thendscape. The cavern stretched like a sprawling underground forest. Luminescent fungi clung to the cavern walls, casting an eerie, bluish glow that bathed the scene in soft, flickering light. Trees with twisted, dark trunks and silver-leafed branches reached upward, swaying gently as if moved by an unseen breeze. In the middle of the cavern, a crystalline river wound its way through the terrain, its waters glowing faintly. Along the riverbank, tall, thick grass swayed, concealing movement underneath. Some of the nts pulsed with life, their bioluminescent hues flickering from green to purple in a rhythmic dance. Scattered throughout were stone formationsrge, jagged rocks that jutted out of the earth, some wrapped in vines, creating natural obstacles. The fog here was thinner than in the previous area but still present, clinging low to the ground, curling around the tree roots and obscuring their feet. It shifted and swirled, giving the sense that something could emerge at any moment. asional shes of movement could be seen in the distance, shadows darting between the trees, their forms indistinct in the pale light. Almond detected the pinpoint location of every monster fifty meters away. He grabbed one of the spears from his left hand and stood in a spear-throwing position, his right arm exerting full power along with his two legs using Physical Enchantment as he gained a solid foothold. The ground beneath him slightly cracked as his right arm¡¯s veins popped out, his strength fully exerted. And then¡­he attacked. A loud sonic boom echoed as the spear instantly vanished from Lily and Natalia¡¯s sight. A momentter, another st rang out, and they saw four Lethal Fang Rabbits impaled in various spots as the spear crashed into the cavern wall 180 meters away. [You have killed four level 7 Lethal Fang Rabbits¡­] [You havepleted your first specialized ss quest¡­] Almond stayed focused, ignoring the notifications. He had already picked up the second spear with only five seconds left. BOOM! The second spear shot out like a bolt with another sonic boom, piercing a level 7 White Polen Tiger before skewering through two level 6 White Polen Snakes. [You have killed¡­.] [You have reached level 7.] Once more, he grabbed the final spear, even faster this time, and hurled it with a loud rumble, striking two level 6 Lethal Fang Rabbits and a level 7 White Dust Centipede squarely in the head, sttering it. After ten seconds of Preying Sense, Almond¡¯s body rxed, releasing visible steam. "Wooh! That felt good." Natalia¡¯s mouth hung open in shock "Motherfucking $#@#, what the hell¡­" "Wonderful attacks," Lily grinned as she walked to the edge of the passage and put her hand on Almond¡¯s shoulder. "Cool down a bit and recover, darling~ We¡¯ll take the field now." Almondughed and sat down on the floor. "Enjoy. I¡¯ll be there soon. Alfred, summon the wolves and let them aid Natalia while you can fight however you like." "With pleasure," Alfred slightly bowed before the ws at his waist glowed and summoned two Spectral Wolves. "Hurry, Nat, or you¡¯ll be left behind," Lily said before she jumped high, her figure glinting with aura as she used Physical Enchant along with her two ss skills, turning invisible and boosting her speed as she moved like the wind while her daggers cleanly cut off five monsters¡¯ heads¡ª2 x level 6 Tigers and 3 x level 7 Lethal Fang Rabbits. Natalia also joined while Alfred took on a different area to be his battlefield with the Spectral Wolves. Almond gathered all fifteen Spirits and meditated, quickly recovering his Mana and Stamina. ¡¯I have to add some points into Stamina. Using my full physical power exerts more stamina.¡¯ Those three spears drained 80% of his Stamina since he had gone all out in physical exertion on top of using Physical Enchantment. But the results were just as satisfying, having killed ten monsters in ten seconds with Preying Sense. He had 34 Strength and 23 Stamina. The more strength he exerted, the more stamina he consumed, and his Stamina wasn¡¯t keeping up with his Strength at the moment. Just like how a stronger or/and a higher graded skill would consume more Mana, it was the same with exerting one¡¯s physical body¡¯s strength. And just like how one¡¯s skill execution mastery, technique execution mastery, and efficiency of the skills brought out higher performance with the same amount of Mana consumption, it was the same with using the physical body efficiently to bring out higher performance with the same amount of Stamina consumption. Almond had 12 Unassigned stat points, and he decided to dump 11 into his Stamina to fight longer. He fully recovered thirty secondster and cooled down, as adding points to his Stamina stat increased both his maximum stamina and recovery rate. Almond jumped into the fray with his sword, joining the battlefield at far right. Alfred was in the far northeast, 100 meters away, while Natalia was fifty meters below him in the southeast. Lily was in the center of the battlefield, so Almond jumped towards the western area. A level 7 White Polen Tiger pounced on him along with a level 7 Lethal Fang Rabbit in a pincer attack. ¡¯Let the dance with de begin,¡¯ Almond had an expression of utmost enjoyment and thrill. Chapter 33: Second Cavern (2/2), Specialised Class Prefix Options Almond¡¯s sword glinted in motion as he targeted the Tiger first as it was closer, his sword cutting in an arc as it rolled off the tiger. His motion slowed down only a bit while it still continued, his foot pressing on the ground as he turned, his de slicing the Lethal Fang Rabbit into two horizontally. Lethal Fang Rabbits were one meter tall and had sharp de-like fangs along with ws. Their Fangs were truly lethal due to the high pration they had, capable of even piercing umon-grade Shields and containing a fast-acting poison that deteriorates health. So if they jumped and drove their Fangs into an Adventurer without defensive skill, it would usually result in 100% death. Almond was more careful of the Rabbits, but it wasn¡¯t hard. As long as he was careful of their close-range Fang attack, he would be safe. Everyone was inbat, using various skills and new items. Natalia¡¯s new wand matched perfectly with her ss skills. And with the Willowbee crossbow that produces its own arrows at the cost of 10 Mana, she could easily finish off the monsters. She also had Big Slither Arrows, which were considerably powerful. The wolves were helping her as Almondmanded them, making it easier for Natalia to maneuver and get protection. Alfred had no difficulty fighting solo like Lily and Almond since he had a good assortment of various skills, and he used them proficiently. Everyone was in different areas in this small forest-like cavern, thrillingly fighting against monsters and undoubtedly improving, gaining experience in their first run of Labyrinth. Almond freely used Spirits from his Spirit Pocket since he was going to get more, and he could only keep 100. He restored the durability of both Slither Arrows each time Natalia used them, and he also restored the durability of the Spear but didn¡¯t use them anymore. He also started devouring Spirits during the battle since it didn¡¯t hinder him performance-wise, even if he used Spirit Devour during the fight. This way, he emptied more space to keep storing the Spirits. 3 x White Pn Tigers: +1 Strength, +1 Stamina, +1 Perception, +1.5 Focus. 3 x White Pn Snakes: +2 Health, +1 Perception, +1 Mana. 3 x Lethal Fang Rabbits: +1 Health, +1 Strength, +1 Focus, +1 Stamina, +0.5 Focus. 3 x White Dust Centipede: +1 Mana, +2 Health, +1 Strength. The battlested for around 20 minutes as the group chugged a few Mana potions in the middle of the battle. They didn¡¯t exert themselves heavily in the physical area as there were no potions to recover Stamina. But bybining steadfast and efficient physical exertion in tandem with using their skills, they couldst longer in the battle while killing more monsters. There was no need to exert 100% of physical power every second. In total, the number of monsters killed stood at 58 as Almond acquired 58 Spirits, and this also marked thepletion of Lily¡¯s and Natalia¡¯s first specialized ss quest. During the battle, Almond also devoured 12 Spirits of White Pn Lair¡¯s monsters, and his Spirit Pocket was still 100/100 by the time the battle ended as he calctingly used up the Spirits he had from previous areas for his skills and recovering items. In the end, Almond remained at level 7, but 92% progressed toward level 8, while Lily, Natalia, and Alfred reached level 7. After the battle was over, the group picked up some Umon-grade flowers and fruits from the tree. White Pn¡¯s Lair had a good amount of resources, a perk of being a hidden area. The first cavern had nothing, but the second and third caverns were bound to have a good amount. From this second cavern, they got nine Umon-grade resources. After scouring the forestic cavern, the group entered the second passage and sat down to recover as well as proceed in their Specialized ss Quest. First of all, Almond added 20 Spirits in the Spirit Factory for the new production batch. 5 x White Pn Tigers. 5 x White Pn Snakes. 5 x Lethal Fang Rabbits. 5 x White Dust Centipedes. Afterward, he looked at his specialized ss panel. [ {Prefix} Grimde ] [Please select a prefix out of the options given below] [Options] -Shadowbane -Ironfang -Stormborn -Cinderborn -Ashenvoid -Riftveil ¡¯Six options¡­¡¯ Almond rubbed his temples. This was going to be hard to decide. ¡¯Alright, let¡¯s break this down.¡¯ ¡¯Shadowbane Grimde¡­.this would lean towards assassin side, having shadow attribute and other pointsplementing it.¡¯ ¡¯Ironfang Grimde¡­Iron and Fang, hmmm, this sounds like a full assault ss. I guess this would be more like a warrior.¡¯ ¡¯Stormborn Grimde¡­.considering elements, Storm would have wind, lightning, and water, and storm itself. Sounds like this ss would have a bit of versatility but more on the offense side and powerful with shy style.¡¯ ¡¯Cinderborn Grimde obviously sounds like me rted. Ash, magma, me¡­no doubt this sounds powerful as well.¡¯ ¡¯But the next two¡­¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. ¡¯They are more interesting.¡¯ ¡¯Ashenvoid¡­Ashen means many things: very pale, an indication of fear or being sick, and could be rted to ashes as well. Void is self-exnatory, but I can¡¯t image how and what kind of skills this ss would generate.¡¯ ¡¯Lastly,¡¯ Almond looked at thest option and wryly smiled. ¡¯Damn this.¡¯ ¡¯Riftveil¡­Rift has multiple different meanings based on context. A crack in the ground or space and a crack in the rtionship between people are two, but how does itbine with the veil?¡¯ ¡¯Veil can mean multiple things¡­.first is a face-covering veil. It also symbolizes mystery and can also mean separation, like Rift. Someics and webtoons I read in the library also describe the veil as a boundary between the physical and spiritual realm¡­it¡¯s used to separate the material world from spiritual stuff.¡¯ Almond had removed the first four options from his mind. Thest two were simply too interesting, but he had to choose one. ¡¯What should I choose? Think, think more, and reach a conclusion¡­¡¯ Chapter 34: Class Names, Tricky Quest ¡¯Ashenvoid Grimde or Riftveil Grimde¡­.¡¯ ¡¯Which one will synergize with me more with my first ss and can enhance my style?¡¯ Almond was thinking of all the possibilities and crazy fantasies that could be possible with those two ss names. ¡¯Ashenvoid sounds more powerful for obvious reasons¡­Void is rted to space-time, or rather, the absence of it. It¡¯s nothingness. It should be offensive based on its name.¡¯ ¡¯But,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes were glued on thest option. ¡¯Riftveil is more mysterious... it also has the concept of void in a way since it nullifies connections, but it seems to be able to do more, and I cannot figure out everything. Who knows what kind of possibilities are there?¡¯ ¡¯Riftveil¡­this word, it¡¯s more mystical, and it definitely has more unique possibilities.¡¯ Almond¡¯s thoughts swirled, and he made a decision. ¡¯This is it.¡¯ [You have chosen Riftveil as your special ss¡¯s prefix.] [The initial potential rank of your Specialized ss has been determined, which is based on not just the simple words but also your thoughts and desires.] ¡¯Show me the rank,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes burned with anticipation. A secondter, it finally appeared. [Riftveil Grimde¡¯s initial potential ss rank is SS. Depending on your next quest¡¯s result, this rank could decrease or increase.] ¡¯Decreases too?¡¯ Almond winced. [Second Quest of your specialized ss: Skill Visualization. This will determine the first skill of your ss and also its rank as well as the number of ss skills you can initially have and get hints regarding the development of your next ss skills.] ¡¯Here it is¡­¡¯ Almond gulped. [Quest: Skill Visualization.] -Objective: ¡ª> Imagine and visualize a skillpletely based on your ss name. Derive meanings, bend them to your will, and draw your skill. You may visualize multiple times, and you don¡¯t have to think about restricting your imagination. Be sure to name your visualized skills so you can submit one. "Almond, did you finish your ss name?" Lily asked. Almond opened his eyes and nodded, "Yep." "Here¡¯s mine," Natalia excitedly said as she used Mana to write in the air with her control with a stylish font. [Chaosbound Serenador] Both Lily and Almond were surprised. "Chaosbound Serenador¡­sounds good," Lily blinked as she said. "Guess the rank," Natalia said cheekily. "S rank," Almond smiled. "That ss name deserves S rank for sure." "Can¡¯t deny that," Lily nodded before asking curiously, "So, what¡¯s the rank?" "Never mind, your expression gave it away," Lily said with a chuckle before Natalia could speak. Natalia merrily grinned, "It¡¯s an S-rank ss, and I¡¯ll make it SS-rank! What did you two get?" "SS-rank ss," Lily said as her smile contained a hint of joyous pride. "I am satisfied with it because I feel like it¡¯s going to synergize with my ego well." Saying that she also wrote her ss name and rank using Mana. [Dreadspire Warlock]¡ªSS-rank. "Woah, that¡¯s one scary ss name," Natalia eximed and then snickered, "Definitely suitable to you." Lily showed her paws and growled while smiling, "I¡¯ll make sure you tremble in fear and wet your bed after I get this ss." "Nyo!!" Natalia dramatically said before she and Lily couldn¡¯t help butugh. "What did you get, darling?" "Mine is also SS-rank, but not as scary sounding," Almond smiled and snapped his finger, drawing his ss name in the air as Lily and Natalia looked at it. [Riftveil Grimde]¡ªSS-rank. Natalia smacked her lips, amazed, "That¡¯s one hell of a cool name, damn." "Very cool, just like mine," Lily grinned. "And if we just take suffixes of our ss, Grimde sounds more scary than Warlock." "Grimde is strange¡­I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen that suffix on anyone before. Did you, Lily?" Lily shook her head, her eyes twinkling in curiosity, "There are a lot of suffixes, but there¡¯s no suffix that¡¯spletely unique to oneself so far. Many people have the same suffixes, but it¡¯s my first time seeing Grimde." "That¡¯s kinda true," Almond thoughtfully nodded. "I saw familiar suffixes in the list, but this one struck me." Serenador and Warlock were not suffixes that appeared the first time. One of the top ten strongest Adventurers had a Warlock in his title, and it was because of his special ss. There were even Warlock in the starting ss of people. Like Blood Warlock, Storm Warlock, and such. Serenador was also not that rare. It was just like Bard. There were ss names with Serenador as a suffix as well. But Grimde seemed to be a new addition. "Anyway, our ss ranks are promising, but we have to be careful with our next quest," Lily said, her expression turning serious. "Based on the information I have, the chance of increasing our ss rank with the next quest is low." "In fact, the likelihood of our ss rank decreasing is higher. You can say that decreasing in rank and keeping the same rank have the same chance on average while increasing the rank has a low chance." "Interesting¡­" Almond was surprised. He didn¡¯t have information about this, but it wasn¡¯t strange Lily had that information. "Having parents in the Global Adventurer Association sure is handy," Natalia grinned. "Share some tips with us!" "The tip is already given in the quest. You can imagine and visualize a drum that shatters the, but as the quest mentioned, we have to visualize the skillpletely!" Lily said, emphasizing thest word. "Completely¡­" Almond muttered. "You see, the quest tells us not to restrict our imagination, but it also wants us to visualize skills fully." "I feel like we have to visualize an overpowered skill with great details and multiple possibilities based on the meanings we derive from our ss names," he added. "Yes, darling," Lily smiled. "That¡¯s exactly what I feel, and most people don¡¯t do that. I also think that we have to put as many details as possible in our skill visualization while keeping it tied to our ss name¡¯s meanings." "But Almond, your ss name sounds confusing," Natalia said as she looked at Almond, "Riftveil Grimde¡­I am having a headache just thinking about what to visualize with that to make it overpowered, lol. Do you have any idea?" Lily nodded in agreement, "True, it¡¯s a bit tricky." Almond¡¯s expression was nk, "I have no idea yet. I haven¡¯t even begun thinking about anything overpowered rted to it." "But," Almond¡¯s eyes glinted as his face shifted into a grin filled with anticipation and excitement, "I¡¯ll definitelye up with something awesome." "That¡¯s good to hear. Let¡¯s finish off this area and clear the Briarwood Grove area after that," Lily said as she took out a bunch of things from the storage pouch, "The evening would descend by then, and we¡¯ll take our time visualizing the skill at the camp in high hills at the upper part of the mountain." "Sounds good," Almond nodded, followed by a growling sound from his stomach. "I was hungry, but now I am even more hungry! Almond, help us this time so we can cook faster," Natalia rolled up her invisible sleeves. "Alright." "I am famished," Lily rubbed her stomach. "Let¡¯s make something quick and filling." The three of them grinned and spoke at the same time. "Steak!" After all, they were exhausted after fighting, consuming all their physical energy at the end, and Almond was even more so since he exhausted himself twice. Stamina¡¯s recovery heavily depends on hunger, especially for Adventurers who exhaust themselves multiple times a day. If the physical body doesn¡¯t have any energy, stamina recovery considerably slows down. As such, the trio cooked a meal with a makeshift outdoor kitchen as usual, thanks to the tools Lily brought with her. Half an hourter, everyone had eaten and fully recovered as they resumed their journey towards the final cavern of White Pn¡¯s Lair. Chapter 35: Before The Final Boss, New Spirit Wraith Third cavern of the White Pn¡¯s Lair. It had many monsters and resources, but the final boss was further at the end in their, slumbering. Number of monsters in the third cavern: 78 Number of resources: 26. 36 x Silver level 8-9 White Reaper Beetles. 29 x Silver level 9-10 Chilling Spark Panthers. 13 x Silver level 10 Sabersnout Hogs. Among them, Almond killed a total of 26 monsters, his progress stopping at level 9 [77%]. Lily killed 23 monsters, her progress stopping at level 9 [39%]. Natalia killed 16 monsters, reaching level 9 [3%]. And the remaining were killed by Alfred, who also reached level 9 [8%]. It took around forty minutes to fight and kill monsters in thisrge cavern that was 4 kilometers square in size. Almond gained a new surge of stat points after devouring three Spirits of each type of monster, getting stronger again. Devouring those nine spirits, he got: 3 x White Reaper Beetles:+2 Strength, +1 Health, +1 Stamina, +0.5 Focus. 3 x Chilling Spark Panthers: +1 Strength, +2 Health, +1 Mana, +1 Perception. 3 x Sabersnout Hogs: +1 Strength, +2 Health, +1 Stamina, +1 Focus, +0.5 Perception. He wasn¡¯t even trying hard because if he did, he would eat most of the monster kills. As such, he focused on refining and discovering more sword ys instead. The party was practically invincible against monsters on this first floor, mainly thanks to the abundance of items Almond¡¯s Spirit Factory produced and the synergy of the team. Almond and Lily were absolute beasts inbat, and Natalia was a trickster to the enemy and support in a way, not to mention the Spectral Wolves and Alfred, who were not any less powerful. Almond had lent Earth Shattering Gloves to Natalia for the time being. She could utilize its passive effect of increasing the defense of allies within a 5-meter radius better since she was in the team with wolves and Alfred. The party dominated this third cavernpletely and cleared it before finally under a tree in the center instead of entering thest passage since it was short, and they could see the boss slumbering from there. To make space for the new 78 Spirits¡ªminus 9 that he devoured¡ªAlmond sacrificed all the Spirits he had gained from previous areas by repairing items and using them to increase the durations of some more useful Spirit items. Of course, he had recovered Wolf w Gauntlet long ago, making it duration 30 days when he was in Willowbee Nest since he had excess Spirits to be used because there were a lot of Willowbees. Wolf w Gauntlets were useless to be used as a weapon, but the effect it got from his Spirit Factory was fantastic since the spectral wolves inherited Almond¡¯s stats, making them powerful! As for other items, he mainly increased the duration of all three Shimmering Spine Spears to 3 days, costing him 9 Spirits. Bog Slither Arrows to 3 days, which cost him 15 Spirits. Finally, one ssze Shield¡¯s duration 3 days, which cost him 3 Spirits. ssze Bears gave mostly one-time-use items except for ssze Shields, and they had already used them in Shimmering Fen. The shield was good, so Almond kept one since the rest were destroyed. 3 x Moonlight Crystals didn¡¯t have durations despite not being one-time-use items, fortunately. They were safe in the storage pouch. 2 x Wispy Illusion Bombs were one-time-use items, and they hadn¡¯t used any yet as there was no need so far. 2 x Shimmering Serpent¡¯s Fangs were also one-time-use items, and Almond nned to use them in the iing boss fight. 1 x Shimmering Trap, the only Rare-grade item his Spirit Factory has produced so far, was put into the safe. It was a rare grade, meaning that it could affect monsters above Silver level 10 easily as well. There was no need to use it blindly. As for other items that Natalia and Lily used, he had already increased their durations to 10 days yesterday. Natalia¡¯s Willowbee Crossbow was at 10 days duration. The other two crossbows had vanished since a day passed. Lily¡¯s all three Willowbee Daggers were also at 10 days duration. These were useful because of the paralyzing effect. All in all, Almond had 10 different types of items from his Spirit Factory, all of them abundantly useful and more powerful than regr items of the same grade! Right after they sat down for recovery in a triangle formation, Almond heard the sweet sound of notification from his Spirit Factory. He looked at the list. 3 x Snow Hide Cloak. Umon-grade. 2 x Pn Tiger¡¯s Belt. Umon-grade. 4 x White Pn Charm Rings. Umon-grade. 1 x Spirit Snake Bite. One-time-use. Umon-grade. 2 x White Dust Carapace Armor. Umon-grade. 3 x White Dust Venom Quiver. Umon-grade. 2 x Lethal Fang Sabers. Umon-grade. 3 x Lethal Fang¡¯s Boots. Umon-grade. ¡¯Interesting new items. And only one one-time-use item, eh?¡¯ Just as Almond finished reading the list, another notification greeted him, making him excited. It was from his Spirit Pocket! "Hey, party, it¡¯s finally time we get one more member," Almond grinned as he eagerly activated the Spirit Kodoku Pocket and brought out the new Spirit Wraith in the middle of the triangle they had formed. Lily and Natalia quickly attended to Almond upon hearing that, as they knew what he meant. "What¡¯s it going to be?" Lily muttered in anticipation as she saw a swirl of mystical and colorful smoke with sparks gathering in the middle. "It won¡¯t be a humanoid since there¡¯s no human Spirits inside, right?" Natalia blinked before she added. "If only that bastard Zoren didn¡¯t affect others with his death, we could¡¯ve killed him. He deserves to die, humph." "Can¡¯t deny that," Almond nodded, his eyes on the Spirit Wraith manifesting. Half a secondter, everyone saw a monster they had never seen before. "A chimera-type, huh?" Lily¡¯s eyes glinted in curiosity. "It looks scary as hell," Natalia winced. It was 2.5 meters tall, had ssy scales over its body, and had four snake-like arms with a literal snake-like mouth in ce of a standard hand or w. They wiggled like tentacles, the snake mouth hissing as their venomous fangs glinted. It also had four legs like a mantis, but they were thick and stubby. Its crystally eyes glowed dark green with blue pupils, and the final horror factor was a pair of giant bee-like wings but furry with green and yellow patterns at its back. There were four glowing blue crystal orbs on its chest as a part of its body as well, pulsing like a heartbeat. "Alright, this is one hell of a creepy thing. No wonder the product is called Spirit Wraith," Almond wryly chuckled. [Please name your new Spirit Wraith.] "Share us the status. I wonder what skills it has," Lily grinned. "I¡¯m sure it¡¯s powerful." "Yep," Almond quickly made a name and then shared the status. ¡¯Oh? This doesn¡¯t start from level 1, and what¡¯s with the new things?¡¯ Almond was surprised and shared it, "This is new, alright. Take a look." [Chimera Viperfiend] -ssification: Off-Tank Chapter 36: Spirit Factory Enhanced [Chimera Viperfiend] -Rank: Silver -Level: 5 -ssification: Off-Tank -Quirk(s): ¡ª> Irrational: Can switch between defensive and offensive mode quickly. Speed +30% in offensive mode, Defense +30% in defensive mode. ¡ª> Poison Physique: Can absorb various kinds of poisons and store them. -Stats: 42 unassigned stat points. ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 15 | Health: 15 | Stamina: 15] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 15 | Focus: 15 | Perception: 15] -Skills: 1. Viperfang Shot. 2. Synthesize Tank. 3. Toxin re. 4. Nightmare Mist. 5. Moonlight Barrier. -Note: This Spirit Wraith has a chance to awaken new skills upon getting stronger. "Woah, what a monster," Natalia eximed. "Those quirks are so useful. Why don¡¯t we have those?" "Maybe we would have if we ate each other and evolved like that. I guess that depends on chemistry," Almond chuckled as he looked at Lily. "Lily would know." Natalia burst outughing while Lily jokingly rolled her eyes. "That aside, this monster is going to be very useful for us," Lily¡¯s eyes glinted. "Almond, how do you n to assign the stat points?" "Hmm, I¡¯m tempted to focus on Strength, Health, and Mana more, but I¡¯ll do evenly for now. What if it awakens a new skill if I increase its Focus and Perception?" Saying that, Almond distributed the stat points, adding 7 to each stat. "And," Almond grinned and waved his hand. "The new batch of items are ready. With them, we¡¯ll be able to fight the boss with fewer risks." The boss they were going to fight could be arguably the strongest boss on this Fairy Mountain. Wandering Fairy was also strong, but it was a different type of monster than the one they were going to fight in White Pn¡¯sir. Both were Silver level 10 Boss-type monsters, the strongest ceiling possible on the first floor of thebyrinth. However, in terms of lethality, White Pn¡¯s boss was stronger. "Each of us will wear the Snow Hide Cloak since we have three. They are made from White Pn Tiger Spirits," Almond shared the cloaks and then the item¡¯s details. [Snow Hide Cloak] -Grade: Umon. -Duration: [3 days] -Durability: [500/500] -Defense: +30 P.def, +30 M.def. -Perks: ¡ª> +3 Health. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Gravity-Repel: Infusing 50 Mana in the cloak will make you highly lightweight for 1 minute, reducing the gravity effect on you by 30%. Cooldown: 2 minutes. "What¡¯s this? Your items didn¡¯t give stat perks before," Lily was surprised. "And the duration is automatically 3 days?" "Yep. I think reaching 30 in Focus and Perception improved Spirit Factory automatically. I got a notification, but it was during the fight, and now it¡¯s gone, but I remember it was rted to it." "This is nice," Natalia wore the cloak. "It¡¯s furry like tiger¡¯s fur, but it also gives us good overall defense, especially at the back." "Yep, it¡¯s indeed very good equipment," Lily nodded as she also wore the cloak and grinned. "This effect is going to be my favorite." "Yeah, we¡¯ll be faster with it," Almond nodded and took out the next items, "Next is Pn Tiger¡¯s Belt, but I only got two of those." [Pn Tiger¡¯s Belt] -Grade: Umon. -Duration: [3 days] -Durability: [300/300] -Perk: ¡ª> +2 Stamina, +2 Focus. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Poly-items (Passive): You can stick items to this belt in miniature form with simple contact. Up to five items. "Wait, for real?" Natalia quickly took a belt and put her crossbow on it. In the next second, the cross-bow became like a keychain and hung on the belt. "Holy shit!" Lily and Almond were also surprised. "These effects from your Spirit Items are pretty awesome," Lily grinned. "You two wear the belt. I already have a storage pouch at my waist to pick things." "Yeah, this will be handy. We can hang potions and items at our waists now," Almond got up and put on the belt. He put on the one that gave lower stat perks and gave the one with more stat perks to Natalia. Lily took out two Mana potions and two Healing potions before taking out more things. "Here, you wanted to use this at this boss from the start, so you can hang them at your waist now," Lily took out two Shimmering Serpent¡¯s Fangs¡ªone-time-use items. "Lily, I want two Bog Slither Arrows," Natalia¡¯s eyes twinkled. "I can use them during battle now." "No need," Almond interjected with a chuckle as he took out the next item, "I have something better to hold the arrows." "Woah, Quivers?" Natalia fixed her gaze on the three Quivers. "That¡¯s pretty nice," Lily blinked, curious. "And I suppose these quivers have effects too¡­." "Yep, let¡¯s see what they got," Almond shared the details. [White Dust Venom Quiver] -Grade: Umon. -Duration: [3 days] -Enchant: +10% Damage to arrows in the Quiver. -Perk: ¡ª> +2 Mana, +1 Perception. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Arrow 1: Infuse 10 Mana to generate a White Dust Venom arrow in the quiver. ¡ª> Arrow 2: Infuse 20 Mana to generate a White Dust Toxin st arrow in the quiver. ¡ª> The quiver can only hold up to 10 arrows. "Crazy item¡­." Natalia was dazed. "How many quivers you got?" Lily asked with twinkling eyes. She was also an expert archer, so this quiver was very tempting. "More than we need," Almond chuckled and took out two more quivers. "Take these two. They got better stat perk." Both of them reced the normalmon-grade quivers with the new ones. "Next items are rings. I got four of them, so Alfred can also get one," Almond took out four rings before sharing the status of one. [White Pn Charm Ring] -Grade: Umon. -Duration: [3 days]. -Perk: ¡ª> +1 Focus, +3 Stamina. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Charm: Infuse 50 Mana in the ring to manifest a snake illusion that has a 10% chance to charm the target, allowing you tomand it for 10 seconds. ¡ª> Magic Shield: Infuse 50 Mana to generate a projectile shield in front of you to defend. High magic defense but low physical defense. Cooldown: 1 minute. "The first effect is pretty much useless with a 50% chance,"¡ªNatalia said, "But the second one is pretty good." "Yeah, high magic defense shield is good," Almond said as he activated the effect. A meter radius big shield appeared one meter in front of him. He could move it just with his thought, making him a little surprised. Lily blinked, "That¡¯s nice. At least we won¡¯t need to hold the shield and can instantly activate the ring¡¯s effect." Almond gave the ring with the best perk to Natalia and then distributed the others with him, keeping the one with the lowest stat perk. "Spirit Snake Bite, this one is a one-time use item that can increase any pain felt by twice for 1 minute, and I got only one," Almond handed it to Lily, "Put it in the pouch, we don¡¯t need to use it on monsters." "True." "What¡¯s next?" Natalia eagerly asked while rubbing her palms. "White Dust Carapace Armor. It¡¯s big and heavy, so Lily and I won¡¯t use it. Alfred and you can use it," Almond gave the armor to Natalia and Alfred before sharing its details. "It looks kinda beautiful even though it¡¯s made from that White Dust Centipede," Natalia grinned. "A mage with that armor looks funny," Lily chuckled. [White Dust Carapace Armor] -Grade: Umon -Duration: [3 days] -Defense: +100 P.def, +70 M.def. -Perk: ¡ª> +3 Health, +1 Strength, +1 Focus. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Defense Up: Infuse 50 Mana to increase original defense values by 20% for 1 minute. Cooldown: 2 minutes. ¡ª> Dust Mist: Infuse 50 Mana to release a dusty mist within a 10-meter radius for 10 seconds, obstructing the vision of everyone. "Not bad," Natalia grinned. "Looks tough enough, and I love the effects." "Thank you, Master." "Any more?" Lily looked at Almond as if asking for more candies. Almond smiled and took out three pairs of boots and two Sabers. "Lethal Fang Boots and Lethal Fang Sabers. These are thest ones." "Boots? Noice!" Natalia was excited. Weapons were useless to her, but this batch of production was all useful items that everyone could wear and use. "Boots sounds nice indeed," Lily smiled. "Let¡¯s see what they got for us," Almond shared the status of Letha Fang Boots. [Letha Fang Boots] -Grade: Umon -Duration: [3 days] -Speed: +10% normally, +20% in the forest. -Perk: ¡ª> +2 Perception. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Lethal Jump (Passive): Increases jumping power by 50%. ¡ª> Lethal Dash (Active): Consume 50 Mana and Dash anywhere within 10 meters at a sonic speed, but silently. Kic power generated in the process is stored in your body, increasing your next physical attack¡¯s power by 10% to 20%. Cooldown: 10 seconds. "This one is simply wonderful," Lily was amazed. "Indeed. Jumping power 50% is big for us," Almond grinned, "Not to mention the increase in movement speed." "I like the boots, but since we only have three pairs, give one to Alfred," Natalia said, a bit relucent, "Since he is paired with me and protects me, they would be better off on him." "Oww~, my baby finally grew up," Lily teased Natalia. Natalia pouted, "I am still a baby. Give me your milk, mama Lily." "Oh shit, I got an idea. Don¡¯t use condoms when you make love, so Lily can produce milk eventually, and I can drink it then!" "¡­" "¡­" Almond threw the saber at Alfred, giving him a better sword. This saber had better Attack than the spear, and its effect gave it bonus damage on sh-type attacks. "I am not going to use this, so put it in the storage," Almond said as he gave the other one to Lily. "Alright." Ignoring Natalia, both of them closed their eyes and started meditating to recover their Mana. Chapter 37: Boss Fight: White King Manticore [White King Manticore]¡ªBoss -Rank: Silver -Level: 10 -Vitality: [100%/100%] -Mana: [1500/1500] -Stats: -Physical: ?[Strength: 150 | Health: 150 | Stamina: 150] -Mental: ?[Mana: 150 | Focus: 150 | Perception: 150] This boss was five meters tall with a quadruped beastly body, a pair of tough draconic wings, a tail like a snake but with a scorpion¡¯s sting, and a dreadful head that was a mixture of lion and monkey. It was mostly white with just patterns on the tail, fur, and wings of other colors. All of them were also at level 9, one level lower, so there was a high chance they would get a rare drop! "It¡¯s powerful," Natalia¡¯s teeth chattered as she looked at its stats. "Won¡¯t we die if we get hit by one of its attacks?" Lily chuckled and said, "Of course not, silly. Well, you won¡¯t die because of that armor, but there¡¯s a high chance Almond and I get fatally injured if we get hit by a solid attack." "Which won¡¯t happen," Almond drew his sword as he walked into the passage that was merely 10 meters long, with the Manticore sleeping right in the in barren cavern¡¯s center. [Almond] -Stats: 7 unassigned points ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 41 | Health: 34| Stamina: 38] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 26 (+39) | Focus: 31.5 | Perception: 30.5 ] "Lily, do you know its attacks?" Almond turned to Lily as the group entered the passage. "Yeah. We¡¯ll have to cut off its tail and one of the wings to weaken it. I¡¯ll get the tail by sneaking up," Lily held her daggers and scrapped their des against each other as sparks flew, while the daggers glowed as she activated their effect. "Good, I¡¯ll taunt it first, so aim for the tail and cut it off as soon as you get the chance, which you will know," Almond nodded before turning to Natalia, "But send your clone first so I can start with a solid attack. I want to cut off one of its wings first, at least to make it less troublesome for us." "Roger," Natalia nodded as she used her skill, summoning a clone looking just like her. "Alfred, you will enterst with the wolves. Attack it as efficiently as possible. You don¡¯t have to worry about injury anyway." "Understood." Lily looked further at the back, "How do you n to use the new Spirit Wraith?" Almond smiled, "I have an idea. I¡¯llmand it with my thoughts, so let¡¯s go. It¡¯s time to start." Natalia¡¯s clone went first, causing the White King Manticore to wake up as soon as the clone stepped foot inside. She made her clone use a ss skill¡ªSparkling Dust that she got from Skill Option in level-up boon. It covered the area around Manticore in a sparkling purple-red dust, lowering its vision and making it see everything double. *Growl!* Almond saw it was about to attack and dashed inside, Physical Enchantment activated in his arms and legs as he consumed 80 Mana. The monster¡¯s tail was like an invisible wind wave as it struck Natalia¡¯s clone in a horizontal sweep. It was seeing two Natalias, so it attacked like that. But Almond had arrived right above it, his sword gleaming as its red de glinted straight toward one of its huge wings. Gravity Repel! Lethal Dash! Almond¡¯s figure vanished as a glowing sh clearly became visible in a straight line, cutting through the Manticore¡¯s right wing while also managing to sh its body in the process. *Roar!!* -8% Vitality! Lily had turned invisible and entered right after Almond jumped inside. ¡¯Not yet,¡¯ Lily didn¡¯t attack. This wasn¡¯t the chance Almond was talking about. She observed Almond and Manticore waiting. Meanwhile, the enraged Manticore swiped its w at Almond, who hadnded on its right side. Its w burned with me in the process, a powerful attack that only those with Tank-role and defensive skill could block. As such, Almond didn¡¯t n to block it in the first ce. He rolled right below Manticore¡¯s belly as he drove two Fangs into its stomach. Shimmering Serpent¡¯s Fangs, the one-time use items of high lethality! [Shimmering Serpent¡¯s Fangs] -Grade: Umon -Type: one-time use. -Attack: 50 [+100% of user¡¯s strength] -Effect: ¡ª> Poisonous Flying Dagger that rapidly dissolves into lethal acid and fast-acting poison once struck to the flesh. He drove both daggers into it, opening a wound and causing the Manticore to jump away from Almond while it roared in pain and anger. It wanted to fly since this cavern had a high ceiling, but Almond had cut off its right-wing! ¡¯Use Nightmare Mist!¡¯ Almondmanded Chimera Viperfiend. Manticore jumped near the cavern entrance, so Chimera Viperfiend was ready! Chimera Viperfiend entered and opened its mouth, releasing a dreamy purple sparkling mist and covering a ten-meter radius area, aiming to cover the first half of the Manticore¡¯s body. This was another debuff skill like Natalia¡¯s Sparkling Dust. The difference was that Nightmare Mist would enhance the feeling of fear in everyone inside the mist and cause them to look at living beings in a different way, making them resemble things they fear. Manticore was debuffed and paired with toxin injury. Before the Nightmare Mist effect kicked in, its rage was towards Almond and had already opened its mouth to release a wide-range attack, bursting out a sea of me in a cone area in front of it, targetting Almond. But unfortunately for the Manticore, Almond had Gravity Repel activated! With a strong m on the ground with his hand, Almond flew ten meters off the ground at once, easily dodging the attack. Meanwhile, Lily was right behind it, where its tail was out of the Nightmare Mist¡¯s range! Her daggers glimmered sharply as she judged this to be the chance and cut off its tail! Its scorpion tail was most lethal because it was very fast, and a single of it could kill any one of them. At the same time, Alfred was also out of its attack range, so he released mesword Wave, a skill that synergized me Mastery and Sword Wave! This move was also considered sh-type due to its shape and attack, so the Lethal Fang Saber¡¯s passive effect boosted it! Natalia didn¡¯t want to be outdone and also attack along with Alfred since she recognized this was the chance, shooting a Bog Slither Arrow to the right side of her head from the passage¡¯s entrance! ¡¯Take it, bastard!¡¯ Manticore was ganged up hard as it roared and jumped again, Nightmare Mist¡¯s effect had kicked in, so it jumped away from everyone and arrived at the far northwest of the cavern at a corner fifty meters away, shaking its head vigorously as its body glowed. "Damn, it crossed a big distance," Almond muttered, but his eyes glinted as he dug his feet into the ground and grabbed a tiny spear keychain from his belt! ¡¯Too bad you won¡¯t escape from our attacks,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted as the spear became big the moment he grabbed it and he aimed at its head. *BOOM!* This spear attack¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t something Manticore could react to, even though it was one of the strongest bosses on the first floor! But even though it couldn¡¯t react fully to dodge, it could still react, which caused the spear to miss its head by a centimeter, Almond knew this could happen, so he aimed the spear to its left. Even if it managed to react, the spear still struck its intact left wing! Its vitality dropped 57% with all the attacks so far! But there was no time to waste. They had a total of one minute to finish the battle because of the items¡¯ effects they had activated, and thirty seconds had passed by! It was time to go all out! ¡¯Synthesize Tank!¡¯ Chimera Viperfiend transformed as its feet dug into the ground and its upper body bent, its four armsbining into a single barrel. ¡¯What the fuck, it became a literal tank?¡¯ The four crystals on its chest actually produced a frontal barrier for it with a central gap for the barrel! It was a tank that could tank damage and attack! Naturally, Manticore wasn¡¯t waiting. After suffering the Spear¡¯s attack, it roared strongly and released several des of dark winds, targetting not just Amond but Lily, Alfred, and Chimera Viperfiend. Natalia was still in the passage at a safe distance, but she entered after seeing that attack, ready to release an arrow from her new Quiver. She had consumed 100 Mana to summon five strong 2.0 Arrows costing 20 Mana each, so she released them while Almond and Lily sessfully dodged the Dark Wind des. Alfred also dodged them while Chimera Viperfiend was struck, its barrier shattering. However, it also released a powerful shot from its barrel, an attack with acid and poison that couldbust. *BOOM!* Natalia¡¯s first arrow also struck its head, reducing 3% of its vitality. *Roar!!!* -11% Vitality from Chimera¡¯s attack! That one shot had consumed all of Chimera Viperfiend¡¯s remaining Mana ording to Almond¡¯smand, but it was worth it! The st was big and a perfect cover. Almond and Lily were less than halfway to their Mana pool, so Almond injected both of them with Spirit Syringe, recovering to full as they resumed their attack. Lily released her ultimatebo move as the Manticore was damaged and blinded due to the st Chimera Viperfiend released. Meanwhile, Almond also dashed and attacked, his sword gleaming coldly as he infused 100 Mana to empower it. ¡¯Lily, we must back off quickly after this attack.¡¯ *sh!* *Crissss!* Both of their full-powered attacks struck Manticore as it could only blindly release its w attack, which Almond and Lily easily dodged. Alfred released a mesword Wave from ten meters away with all of his remaining Mana at the opportunity as well. The Manticore was on the verge of death, and that meant it was going to release its strongest attack that could potentially kill them. But Almond wasn¡¯t about to let that happen, and that was why he told Lily to back off after their final full-powered attacks! Spirit Explosion x 5! Five was overkilling it since the Manticore had 8% of its vitality left, but Almond wanted to make sure it died with this attack! *BOOOM!* Chapter 38: Skill Upgrade, Plan [Congrattions on defeating White King Manticore. 10,000 Gold coins to each party member.] [Congrattions. You have reached level 10.] [You have triggered the level-up boon.] Everyone, including Alfred, leveled up to Silver level 10. Almond and Lily finally triggered their second level-up boon after entering Silver rank. Natalia had already triggered it when she reached level 9 and got a skill option in it. Chimera Viperfiend reached Silver level 8 from Silver level 5 as well. "Are we going to be lucky again?" Almond muttered, looking at the spot where the boss had died and absorbed its spirit. It had dropped materials for crafting armor and weapons, but that wasn¡¯t what everyone was hoping for. As the dust scattered, they finally saw all the drops, including a blue orb! The trio moved in closer to inspect the item. "It¡¯s an essory," Almond raised an eyebrow. [White King Manticore¡¯s Ne] -Grade: [Rare/Low] -Durability: [1000/1000] -Aura: +10% Elemental resistance to the user. -Perk: ¡ª> +4 Health, +4 Mana. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Magic Scales (Passive): Reduce magic damage dealt to you by 10%. ¡ª> Mana Overload (Active): Increases your Mana by 100%, but after five minutes, your Mana recovery will be sealed for 10 minutes. ¡ª> me Barrier (Active): Conjures a barrier of fire element at the cost of 100 Mana. "This could sell for millions." Natalia¡¯s eyes sparkled with excitement as she gazed at the ne. "This is indeed the most valuable item we¡¯ve gotten so far," Almond grinned. Natalia coughed and looked at Lily and Almond. "So who¡¯s going to keep it?" "You can keep it for now, but I¡¯ll take it in three days since I n to stay on this floor," Almond said with a faint smile. "Guess why?" "Spirit Devour?" Lily asked, a knowing look on her face. "Exactly," Almond said with a nod. "Devouring lower-level monsters¡¯ spirits gives fewer stat points. I¡¯ve reached the maximum level possible on the first floor, so I¡¯m not going to get any stat points from Bronze-rank monsters anymore. I might also get nothing from other Silver level 5 or lower monsters, though I¡¯ll have to check that first." "But there are other areas, like Fairy Mountain. Seven more, to be exact," Almond said, his eyes glinting. "I¡¯m going to do a spirit devour hunt at every ce." "Holy shit," Natalia muttered. "You¡¯re going to be so much stronger than others at the same level." "Good, then I¡¯ll focus on Dungeons after leaving," Lily said with a sharp smile, her eyes fiery. "Dungeons don¡¯t level you up, but the monsters there drop many things, and bosses drop stat-boosting items at a low chance. You can grind here while I¡¯ll grind in the dungeons." Almond chuckled as he handed the ne to Natalia. "Sounds good." Lily put the materials in her storage ring while Natalia and Almond went to pick up the arrows and spear, respectively. "What did you get this time? Skill options?" Lily asked Almond with a smile. "I got a skill option this time." "Let me see," Almond said, thinking about the two Level-up boons he now had. He¡¯d saved the first one since it didn¡¯t have a skill option and nned to keep saving it. As for the second, Almond looked at it and couldn¡¯t help but grin. "I got it!" Without hesitation, he selected the skill option. [Your skill: Spirit Factory (SS) has been evolved to Spirit Forge Factory (SSS)] [Your Skill: Spirit Forge Factory (SSS) requires some conditions to be fulfilled for aplete upgrade.] "Oh?" Almond raised an eyebrow. "Let¡¯s rest for a bit. I need to focus," he said, then took a seat. Then, he activated the Spirit Forge Factory, finding himself in a cyberpunk fantasy-themed hall lit by spiritual torches. "It¡¯s bigger," Almond thought as he scanned the room, spotting arge screen that disyed the skill¡¯s details and upgrade requirements. A mystical, skully maw with a swirling ck vortex was centered below the screen. ording to the new information Almond got after the skill was upgraded, he knew the maw was responsible for creating items after eating spirits. ¡¯What¡¯s this?¡¯ There were more things. To the left and right of the hall were various square bs disying item types. Many types of items. ¡¯Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡¯ Almond suddenly thought of something, quickly turning to read the information on the screen. ¡¯Damn, I was right.¡¯ The skill¡¯s new effects were crazy! [Spirit Forge Factory]¡ªLocked. -Rank: SSS -Effect(s): ¡ª> Use spirits and turn them into various items via Spirit Maw. It will not disy more details regarding crafting when you add Spirits into the Spirit Forge Maw. ¡ª> You can now initiate Super Spirit Item Forge, requiring 20 Spirits for a single item creation. It will be a guaranteed maximum potentialized item. Cooldown: 1 day. ¡ª> You can select Item-type bs to decide which type of items you want to create for each Spirit. You can also select bs and randomize the creation of items based on selected bs. -Currently avable Item-type bs: -{Weapons}- ¡ª Swords: Long sword, Great sword, Katana, Rapier, Scimitar, Broad sword, Short sword, Pole Sword. ¡ª Daggers: Curved dagger, Wavy-ded dagger, Slender dagger, Long dagger. ¡ª Spears: Lance, Javelin, Pike, ive, Halberd. ¡ª Axe: Broad Axe, Double-headed Axe, Throwing Axe. -{Armors}- ¡ª Light Armors: Leather Armor, Cloth Armor, Robes. ¡ª Medium Armors: Chainmail, Studded Leather. ¡ª Heavy Armors: te Armor. -{essories}- ¡ª Rings, Ne, Bangles, Earrings. He then looked at the requirement on the right side of the screen, making his eyes widen in shock. "Damn¡­ the ss can go above SSS-rank?" "This is crazy¡­" he murmured. Since he¡¯d spoken out loud, Lily and Natalia became curious. They knew Almond got a skill option, so it was bound to be crazy, given already his high-ranked skills. "What happened? I bet your crazy ss skill got even crazier," Natalia smirked. "Which one got upgraded?" Lily blinked, throwing a guess. "Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s Spirit Factory?" "Fuck, if it¡¯s that one, how broken is it now?" Natalia was dumbfounded. "Is it Spirit Factory for real? Nah, no way." "Actually, it is," Almond said with a wry smile. "But it¡¯s sealed for now. I need to fulfill the requirement to make it activate." He shared the new skill information with them, causing their jaws to drop. "Fuck! This is too OP!" Natalia muttered. "Agreed," Lily nodded, her eyes twinkling. "An SSS-rank skill¡­it¡¯s got to be this strong." "So, what¡¯s the requirement?" Natalia asked. "It¡¯s going to make me broke for the foreseeable future," Almond sighed, sharing the details. [Requirement to unlock the skill and finish the upgrade.] -1. Sacrifice 100 Rare-grade items (0/100). ¡ª> Skill Unlock & Guaranteed Rare-grade item forge option. -2. Sacrifice 50 Super-grade items (0/50). ¡ª> Guaranteed Super-grade item forge option. -3. Sacrifice 10 Epic-grade Items (0/10). ¡ª> Guaranteed Epic-grade Item Forge option. -4. Sacrifice 5 Legendary-grade Items (0/5). ¡ª> Guaranteed Legendary-grade Item Forge option. -5. [Sealed]: Requires the ss to reach (L) rank. "Damn," Natalia muttered. "Wait¡­ the ss can go beyond SSS-rank too?" Lily¡¯s eyes sparkled as she read the end. "I can eventually craft Epic-grade and Legendary-grade items by using the spirits of Epic and Legendary-rank monsters, but that¡¯ll require me to go to higher floors. But it¡¯ll be better if I unlock that guaranteed option before that." Lily nodded. "Yeah. You can start by purchasing cheap Rare-grade items from artisans outside to unlock the skill." "That¡¯s the n. I also want to buy Epic-grade and Legendary-grade items to unlock the Epic and Legendary forge options as early as possible. All in all, I¡¯m going to be broke for a while, but it¡¯ll be worth it." "I¡¯ll help," Lily said, her eyes lighting up as a n started forming. The thought of them living together made her grin. "I think I have a suggestion you¡¯ll like. Want to hear it, darling~?" Chapter 39: Lilys Suggestion, Almonds Plan "I also think I¡¯ll like it. Let¡¯s hear it," Almond said, smiling. "So here¡¯s the n. Since I¡¯m going to League of Firefly, and you will surelye with me to the same city, I¡¯ll arrange for cheaper Rare-grade items with the guild¡¯s help. We can live together in the new city," Lily grinned. "The apartment I chose is big enough for two of us." "You wille with me, right?" "I wille," Almond grinned, his eyes hopeful and filled with anticipation about his future. He had no one to call his own for a long time now. And no one to say farewell in this city. Living in academy dorms, he was apletely isted student. He had spent most of his time with books and gathering information until nine days when he awakened and started training for Labyrinth, as he was already ready for a new, better future that he wanted to shape for himself. "Hehe, for your information, I am also going with Lily," Natalia said with a smug smile. "Oh?" Almond was surprised. "But she will be living with her grandparents," Lily smiled as she patted Natalia¡¯s head. "She can finally go there and live with her family." "Thanks to you," Natalia side-hugged Lily, rubbing her cheeks onto hers. "You seem happy about it, so all is well that do you well. Anyway, let¡¯s start moving now. We¡¯ll recover by the time we reach Briarwood Grove." "Yeah, let¡¯s start moving," Lily nodded. The trio stood up and began walking out of the White Pn¡¯sir leisurely with Alfred at the back and Chimera Viperfiend at the front. "Now I got three Boss Spirits, and there are only two more big bosses on the fairy mountain left, so that makes it five," Almond smiled. "With these five, I¡¯ll put the fifteen other Spirits in the Spirit Kodoku." "That¡¯s going to be one hell of a crazy Spirit Wraith," Natalia grinned. "I am looking forward to it," Lily said, nodding. "That said, you are sufficiently powerful to be recruited by top guilds. How about you join League of Firefly with me? I¡¯ll talk to my mentor about it. Since we are going to live together anyway." "Guild, huh¡­I did n to join one because having a guild could help me, but that was when I had that D-rank support ss," Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. "I shouldn¡¯t join a guild." Natalia blinked and asked as she raised her eyebrows, "Yo, boss. Do you want to create your own guild?" "No, I have a better idea," Almond smiled. "I can¡¯t create a guild. You need to be a tinum-rank Adventurer as the guild master and need at least five Gold-rank Adventurers as members to start a guild and register it to GAA." "What¡¯s your idea?" Lily asked, curious. "I am nning¡­" ¡­ The party eventually walked out of the White Pn¡¯sir right as Almond finished talking about his n. "That¡¯s a good idea, huh¡­If I am not recruited in the League of Firefly, I¡¯ll join your program," Natalia said with a nod, her eyes glinting, "That¡¯s seriously a good n." Lily nodded. "True. It won¡¯t be hard to find people who will ride on that program of yours. Especially in the current generation where youths want to be Adventurers, but not everyone gets a good start, either with a ss or their background." "Yeah, the death toll is less than starting, but it¡¯s increasing for those who graduated sincest year," Almond admitted, his fist clenching. "I had the worst category start, but it changed like someone flipped a coin in my favor. If I flip coins for others who had a bad start with my ss, specifically the Spirit Forge Factory skill, I can get good soldiers." "Lord Almond, banzai," Natalia cheered. "I am kinda excited since we are friends, but envious of your ss, tsk, tsk." Almond lightlyughed in response. Lily and Natalia could feel and clearly agree that it wouldn¡¯t be long before Almond became a solid force of power at the front. ¡¯I won¡¯t be left behind,¡¯ Lily nced at Almond as her eyes turned fiery, ¡¯I¡¯ll make sure to keep up with you, daarling~ ¡¯ "Alright, time to get muddy again," Almond said as they arrived at the swamp wall." "If only it was just mud," Natalia gagged. "It¡¯s disgusting and smells too." "Yeah, it¡¯s a mix of mud and some aquatic nt growth that turned into a natural chemical of some sort, creating this green-blue swamp," Lily wryly smiled. "We¡¯ll get out faster this time," Almond smiled andmanded Chimera Archfiend. "Alfred, you go and take Chimera with you. Once you are at on the surface, hook your one snake hand at the edge to remain above, and stretch your three snake hands to here to pull us." Chimera Viperfiend¡¯s four arms could stretch up to 20 meters, and the distance from here to the surface was merely thirteen meters. ording to Almond¡¯smand, both Alfred and Chimera went up first before three snake arms entered the passage after a minute. Almond, Lily, and Natalia grabbed an arm each before Chimera pulled them up as they swiftly tore through the mud pond and emerged. After cleaning themselves again with the 1-ton water pouch, the party started moving towards Briarwood Grove. They arrived there after an hour, and there were monsters on the way. Almond killed two new varieties of wandering monsters of the mountain, but they were silver level 4 and 5, respectively. ¡¯Time to test Spirit Devour.¡¯ [You have devoured Silver level 4 Blue me Deer Spirit.] [You have gained 0 stat points.] Although he expected that, he still felt a bit disappointed. ¡¯Next try.¡¯ [You have devoured silver level 5 Green me Stag.] [You have gained 0 stat points.] ¡¯Fuck.¡¯ "It seems you didn¡¯t get any from either," Lily said as she saw Almond¡¯s expression. "Yeah. Geez, I want to see if I¡¯ll get from level 6 and further. Briarwood Grove has monsters from levels 5 to 7, and there are no Boss-type monsters there like the previous three general areas. If I don¡¯t get stats from level 6 or level 7 monsters there, then we¡¯ll rush through it and go to Frostbite Cliffs." Almond opened his magic parchment and zoomed towards Frostbite cliffs. *** [Fairy Mountain]¡ªMajor Location. 1. Nest of Willowbees¡ªBronze rank level 7 - 10 2. Cavern of ssze Bears¡ªSilver rank level 1-3 3. The Shimmering Fen¡ªSilver rank level 3 - 5 4. Briarwood Grove¡ªSilver rank level 5 - 7. 5. Frostbite Cliffs¡ªSilver rank level 7 to 10. -Secret Areas on the mountain: ¡ª> White Pn¡¯s Lair¡ªSilver rank level 1 to 10. -Field Bosses on the mountain: ¡ª> de Mantis¡ªBronze rank level 10. ¡ª> Maddening Beaver¡ªSilver rank level 5. ¡ª> Wandering Fairy¡ªSilver rank level 10. *** "Here, there¡¯s a hidden boss in the Frostbite Cliffs. It¡¯s been exposed for years, but due to the difficulty of getting there because of the risk of falling off to death, not many parties try to go there," Almond said with a ferocious grin. "We¡¯ll hunt it. That¡¯s a must." "Of course. That hidden boss drops a random skill from rank D to A rank with a 100% guarantee," Lily grinned back. "With our party, we can defeat it easily." "Damn, there¡¯s a boss like that?" Natalia was startled. "Yep, but people actually die before getting to the boss. That¡¯s why it is a famous death trap. Usually, only high-ranking Adventurers go there. Even if they are suppressed to silver level 5 stats of their past self, their skills are not. So with some good skills¡¯ help, they can reach there." "We can reach there, all thanks to Chimera Viperfiend," Almond grinned. "And the boss is not even as hard as White King Manticore." "Yep. And¡­we have arrived," Lily observed ahead. Briarwood Grove stretched before them, dotted with yellow flowers covered in sharp spikes and trees bearingrge, prickly yellow fruits that dangled from high branches. Chapter 40: Wandering Fairy Hunt {-Briarwood Grove-}¡ªSilver Level 5-7 Area. -A once beautiful grove now overgrown with dangerous, magical thorny flora and fauna inhabited by Thornwalkers, sentient nt humanoid-like creatures, along with Briarweb Spiders and Gloombriar Shrooms that use the thornyndscape to their advantage. The grove pulses with corrupted energy, creating a hostile environment. -Key Features: Dense, twisting thorny bushes, dark energy pulses, and overgrown ruins. -Monsters: ¡ªThornwalker¡ªSilver level 5 to 7. ¡ª Briarweb Spiders¡ªSilver level 5 to 7. ¡ª Gloombristal Shrooms¡ªSilver level 5 to 7. The party entered the creepy forest full of thorns. Fortunately, not all thorns were poisonous, but the monsters here were most poisonous. The party entered with Chimera Viperfiend clearing the way. With this tanky guy, no traps, thorns, or poison could block their path. Being resistant to poisons and even able to absorb them, Chimera Viperfiend was a bane of monsters in this area. It wasn¡¯t long before they killed their first batch of monsters, numbering six. [You have devoured Silver level 6 Thornwalker Spirit.] [You have gained +0.5 Health.] ¡¯Oh?¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes twinkled. ¡¯So, it works on Silver level 6 monster spirits. It¡¯s only half a stat point, so I suppose I won¡¯t get more.¡¯ But there was no harm in trying since he didn¡¯tck Spirits. [You have devoured Silver level 7 Thornwalker Spirit.] [You have gained +0.5 Health] ¡¯Alright. I guess that¡¯s how it works.¡¯ ¡¯I am sure to gain more stats from level 8 since I know that for sure, but I guess any lower, and I¡¯ll only get half a stat point per type of monster at levels 6 and 7. That¡¯s one stat point, so it¡¯s still worth it.¡¯ "Alright, I¡¯m done. Let¡¯s continue." The party continued as it went deeper into the forest, but instead of going roundabout like in the Shimmering Fen, they followed the map to take the shortest route to get out so they could reach the Frostbite Cliffs before the evening. After all, there was no need for excessive farming here since they had already reached the maximum level possible on the first floor thanks to farming in the hidden area, White Pn¡¯sir. Almond started using some Spirits of monsters from White Pn¡¯sir to make space for monster spirits of Briarwood Grove. He increased his stat points, even if it was only one stat point per type of monster here. [You have devoured a level 6 Gloomblister Shroom Spirit.] [You have gained +0.5 Perception.] [You have devoured a level 7 Gloomblister Shroom Spirit.] [You have gained +0.5 Mana.] [You have devoured a level 6 Briarweb Spider Spirit.] [You have gained +0.5 Focus.] [You have devoured a level 7 Briarweb Spider Spirit.] [You have gained +0.5 Health.] An hourter, the group sessfully left the Briarwood Grove. There was a distance of a bit over one kilometer until they reached the Frostbite Cliff area at the top of the mountain, but before that, they had to kill the Wandering Fairy. Wandering Fairy¡ªSilver level 10 Boss-type Monster. A mage-like monster that used whatever area she was to her advantage using her nature magic. Evolving nearby nts and guiding wandering monsters to hermand, along with using direct nature-magic skills, was her specialty. She could very well be the toughest boss monster to defeat if one was unlucky, but that also meant that if a party used their brains and isted her properly in a small area, she could be easy to defeat because she wasn¡¯t that tough. Unfortunately for Wandering Fairy of this period, Almond and the gang were her worst enemies due to having two talented attackers with high-ranked skills and three more with much versatility along with a bunch of items. After the party found Wandering Fairy, they didn¡¯t attack directly but waited for her to wander toward a rtively barren area with more stones and less greenery due to the rocky terrain. It took over forty minutes of stalking the fairy, but they had time to waste, so they leisurely stalked the monster until it wandered to a disadvantageous area. The rest was easy. The battle started with Chimera Viperfiend¡¯s Nightmare Mist skill, causing the Wandering Fairy to flinch and cower. If she had seen anyone, then it would¡¯ve taken time, and she could have used a skill before Nightmare Mist took effect, but by getting stuck with Nightmare Mist first out of nowhere, the effect was quick, and looking at Almond, Lily, Natalia, and Alfred caused her to cower slightly, prompting her to escape first instead of attacking. But how could she escape? Almond and Lily were swift in their attacks. Lily shot a Bog Slither Arrow while Natalia used her debuff skill, Sparkling Dust. The arrow quickly caused vines to produce as it ensnared the Wandering Fairy, ensuring that Sparkling Dust took effect. Half a secondter, Almond arrived with a super fast dash aided by Gravity Repel, the cold de of his sword targetting Wandering Fairy¡¯s neck. But this wasn¡¯t a boss monster that died just by getting beheaded. It was a boss monster with some tricks. Her fallen head produced vine-like threads that rooted on the rocky ground, causing the ground to crack before a golem formed. ¡¯Viperfang Shot.¡¯ Chimera Viperfiend sted four orbs with snake-head designs with open mouths and gleaming fangs ready to bite from its snake-like arm¡¯s hands. Alfred unleashed an Icicle Spear Shot at the golem¡¯s lower body, making it freeze on the ground and immobilize it. Natalia and Lily attacked its original body since it was also capable of using skills, while Almond unleashed a devastating full-powered sword attack on the golem with the fairy¡¯s head. There was a striking weakness to both after this transformation, which was why Almond aimed to behead her. For the golem¡¯s body, it was a core right below the head, tucked inside a rock safely. For the headless original body that made a makeshift head with leaves and vines, it was the heart area. Lily threw a dagger and stabbed one into her heart while Natalia used Light Pebbles to destroy her wings, preventing her from flying. Meanwhile, Almond¡¯s sword squarely pierced through the rocky throat and destroyed the core. [Congrattions. You have defeated the field boss¡ªWandering Fairy.] [10,000 gold coins to each party member.] "Let¡¯s see if it dropped a rare grade," Natalia grinned. "Nope. I don¡¯t see it," Almond said as he looked at drops on both spots. There were a total of five materials, but no item drop of rare or umon grade. Lily was about to say something, but her pupils suddenly shrank, and she turned around, her daggers in a criss-cross position before her. Almond also turned as he heard some sound and saw a group of ten people. "Damn, you killed Wandering Fairy?" Chapter 41: Camping, Creeps Ten people, all in theirte teens. It was clear they were students of another city¡¯s academy, different from the group they had encountered in ssze Cavern. "Yeah, we killed it," Almond walked and stood beside Lily with Alfred and Chimera Viperfiend at their sides. Behind them was just a rocky terrain wall, and to the sides, open. Natalia stayed at the back as she stayed on the lookout. ¡¯Damn, what¡¯s that monster?¡¯ ¡¯Must be a summon.¡¯ ¡¯That looks a bit familiar¡­I mean, not exactly, but it looks like a mixture of monsters.¡¯ ¡¯Now that you say it, doesn¡¯t that armor and those snake arms look a bit familiar? But it¡¯s as if they got some new design.¡¯ The group started talking in Magic Whisper. It was clear from their lips moving. The group¡¯s leader seemed to be a fair-brown-skinned boy with a rather calm expression and silky short red hair. After Almond spoke, there wasn¡¯t any response for three seconds until the red-haired young man said with a nod, "Sorry for disturbing you. We just heard some big sounds, so we came here to take a look." "No problem. You can go now," Lily nodded, her face deadpan behind her mask. "There¡¯s nothing here." The red-haired young man nodded before turning around, "Let¡¯s go, y¡¯all." ¡¯Bro, we could totally get those materials if we asked.¡¯ ¡¯Yeah, Kr. Wandering Fairy¡¯s drops can be used to craft a mage-type weapon. Either a wand or a staff with some good effects and affinity with nature-magic.¡¯ ¡¯Dolly here has nature-type skills¡­¡¯ ¡¯Shut up,¡¯ Kr snorted. ¡¯Do you think they will give up on their items just because we are high on number? Learn to read the room.¡¯ ¡¯Kr is right,¡¯ a blue-haired girl, Sophie, rimmed up her sses with her finger and said, ¡¯None of them were even the slightest injured even while fighting the Wandering Fairy. Their clothes were also fine. The damage in the surroundings indicates that the Fairy couldn¡¯t do much because they had a very strong attacking style. They also had a lot more items on each of them. It was an unusual party.¡¯ ¡¯They are strong and higher leveled than us,¡¯ Kr narrowed his eyes. ¡¯Especially those two who were at the front. Their vibes were dangerous.¡¯ ¡¯Geez, I don¡¯t know how you can sense those vibes and shit, but gotta trust you on that since we¡¯vee this far thanks to you, Kr.¡¯ ¡¯But wait, we are all at Silver level 7 after farming for hours in Briarwood Grove, and we didn¡¯t even see them there. How are they higher leveled than us?¡¯ ¡¯They must have farmed at a hidden location,¡¯ Sophie answered. ¡¯That¡¯s the only answer. Also, they were the first to clear the Shimmering Fen. I remember seeing them at the camping area there.¡¯ ¡¯To be honest, I didn¡¯t get a clear picture like Kr, but yeah, those two looked bad news to me, too.¡¯ ¡¯We¡¯ll meet them again soon,¡¯ Kr said. ¡¯They should be nning to camp at Snowrock teau as well. It¡¯s evening, so people would gather there.¡¯ ¡¯Are we also going there already?¡¯ ¡¯Yeah, we¡¯ll rest now. I am also hungry, so y¡¯all better cook something good.¡¯ ¡­ After storing Wandering Fairy¡¯s materials and its Spirit, the group stayed there to recover for a bit before walking towards the snowrock teau for camping. They were the fourth to arrive there and easily got a good spot for the camping. Snowrock teau was just half a kilometer away from the border of Frostbite cliffs located in the east of the upper part of the mountain. Most people camping here would go to the Frostbite cliffs after resting to kill monsters there. The monsters there were the strongest in terms of troublesomeness and power, but their numbers were high, and it was a good spot to farm to reach Silver level 10. Almond put away Chimera Viperfiend in the spirit pocket to see how the storing worked since he obviously couldn¡¯t go around with Spirit Wraiths after he left the Labyrinth. Fortunately, the slots to put Spirit Wraith were different, and from that, it appeared that he could keep 10 Spirit Wraiths stored. But since it didn¡¯t take up a slot after he summoned them outside, it was safe to assume that there was no particr limit on the number of Spirit Wraiths he could have. Lily and Natalia took a bath first, and then Almond went inside to freshen up while those two started preparing for dinner. After he finished bathing, Almondy on the bed inside and opened Spirit Kodoku. It was time to create a new Spirit Wraith. 3 x White Pn Tiger Spirit. 3 x White Dust Centipede. 3 x Lethal Fang Rabbit. 3 x White Reaper Beetle. 3 x Chilling Spark Panther. 3 x Sabersnout Hog. 2 x Thornwalker. ¡¯That¡¯s twenty.¡¯ Amond was about to activate it, but he looked at the list, and something clicked in him. ¡¯No, wait¡­¡¯ If possible, he wanted a slightly more humanoid Spirit Wraith than Chimera Viperfiend next. Among the types of Spirits he had, the only humanoid-type monster was Thornwalker! ¡¯Chilling Spark Panther is not needed since I already added White Pn Tiger. Both are kinda simr, but just different skill sets.¡¯ ¡¯Rabbit for agility, Beetle for toughness and wings, Centipede for poison and toughness, Sabersnout had a sword at its snout¡­this could be interesting.¡¯ He adjusted the Spirits to add inside. 5 x Thornwalker. 3 x White Pn Tiger Spirit. 3 x Lethal Fang Rabbit. 3 x Sabersnout Hog. 2 x White Dust Centipede. 2 x White Reaper Beetle. 2 x Briarweb Spider. ¡¯Yep. This looks good, and hopefully, it will make for an interesting Spirit Wraith,¡¯ Almond grinned and activated Spirit Kodoku with these twenty Spirits. Almond got up and was about to go out when he suddenly heard some sounds along with a clear voice. "Hey, beautifuldies. It looks like you¡¯d love apany, haha. How about we have dinner together?" Almond raised his eyebrows, his hands slightly shaking. Noticing it, he stopped right before the exit. ¡¯The fuck¡­Am I expecting a drama and getting excited about it? Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡¯ Almond gulped, his fist clenching. ¡¯I want to kill people? Am I hoping for a conflict that would result in us killing them to get human Spirits?¡¯ Chapter 42: Treacherous Bastards It wasn¡¯t like the thought and desire to add human Spirit in the Spirit Kodoku didn¡¯t cross his mind. But he didn¡¯t want to kill people for it¡­¡¯Unless they want to kill us,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. Almond stepped out and saw four young men in theirte teens, along with a man in his mid-twenties. There was also when Natalia was shooing them, waving the vegetable knife at them, "Go away, we are busy." "Leave," Lily said, looking at them with a deadpan expression. "Woah, chill, chill. We were just asking." "And it seems you are not alone, eh?" One of them spoke upon seeing Almonding out. "Haha, what luck you got, friend. Living with two beauties." Almond looked at them, feeling something amiss in their smiling and friendly face. But he didn¡¯t want to sound sour, given their friendly tone. "Yeah, I guess I¡¯m lucky," Almond smiled. "Anyway, if you¡¯ll excuse us now, we could focus on our things." "Yeah, yeah, haha. Enjoy." "We might run to each other again, friend. See you,dies." The group leftughing and smiling but with a sinister air that Almond could strangely feel. "Bunch of trash," Lily muttered and continued peeling the potatoes. "Did you feel it, too?" Almond asked as he sat beside her and started helping. "What did you feel?" Natalia nced at Almond while cutting the potatoes. "I just feel like they have some ulterior motive," Almond frowned. "I did feel their bad intentions," Lily nodded, her eyes icy. "My Phantom¡¯s sixth sense could feel it." Almond narrowed his eyes, "The way that guy spoke at the end about seeing each other again¡­it seems they won¡¯t leave us alone." "What? Fucking hell," Natalia muttered. "So, are they horny dickheads like that Zoren bastard?" "Not different from him, for sure," Lily said as she coldly nced in their direction. "They won¡¯t make a move here with many groups, which means they will likely follow us or find us in the Frostbite Cliffs area," Almond said as he cracked his finger, "We should prepare to bury them there if they have some ns for us." "If they have any weird ideas, then we¡¯ll strike first if they run into us again," Lily sharply said as her hands blurred, cutting the potato she peeled into dices. "What are we making?" Almond asked as he looked at the veggies and meat. "Torti meat wrap and fried leaf meatballs," Natalia grinned. "My original recipe." "Just make sure we don¡¯t get diarrhea," Almond chuckled. Lilyughed while Natalia snorted and replied, "Fine, you can make your own dish." "Come on, I was just joking...you thought I would say that?" Almond grinned and rolled up his sleeves. "We¡¯ll make something ording to my recipes today. Living alone for so long has its merits, you know?" ¡­ After having a good meal, Almond kept Chimera Viperfiend and Alfred, who summoned wolves to be on the lookout while they leisurely fell asleep without worry. If anyone approached them or something happened, the Spirit Wraiths could quickly wake up Almond. Naturally, the spirit wraiths that stood guard around their tent attracted the attention of everyone. Many of them were the ones who had seen Alfred already at the camping area at the Shimmering Fen, but seeing an eldritch monster in the addition this time, the people couldn¡¯t help but wonder about them. There were also groups who had entered the first floor for the second time. Some people wouldn¡¯t level up that high on their first try, and once the first three days passed, some of them wouldn¡¯t enter the First floor of thebyrinth during this month because the danger would¡¯ve increased. The group that approached Lily and Natalia while they were preparing the meal was one such group. The four eighteen-year-old young men had entered the Labyrinth¡¯s first floor a month ago but only reached Silver level 5 or 6 before leaving. And the reason they didn¡¯t progress all the way was nasty and criminal. During their first run, they had a taste of the debauchery they could do and had their first kill as well. It was none other than the two girls they brought with them to their party. These four assholes had fun with those girls for two days at the Valley of Shadowsong, a big area just like Fairy Mountain, since they were close to that area when they arrived on the first floor the previous time. They also didn¡¯t have a Knight at that time as they hadn¡¯t entered a Guild yet. But after entering the Guild, they waited a month before entering the Labyrinth again. This time, they had a Knight with them sent by the guild to observe their performance. As the moon shone in the sky, the Knight went to sleep in the tent while the four youngsters sat around the firecamp, talking with each other using Magic Whisper. "What¡¯s the n, guys? Do we tell that Knight about it?" "That guy seems upright and all, what if he disagrees?" "Damn, I¡¯m telling you guys, we are doing this," one of them licked his lips with a crazed expression as he remembered the experience a month ago. "Don¡¯t tell me you all didn¡¯t enjoy that? I mean, who the fuck can catch us here?" "We gon get those two bitches for sure, but the topic, how do we go about at it? And what about the Knight?" "I have an idea." Everyone looked at the dark-skinned guy with a military cut in the group, their ears perking. "First, we¡¯ll leave once those girls leave. We have to follow them, and we have a good skill for it thanks to Jayson¡¯s Eagle Eye skill. He can look at them from afar." Everyone nodded before a blond-haired guy called Roderic asked, "Good. What about the Knight, Izaak?" "Once we arrive at a rtively isted ce in the Frostbite Cliff somewhere, I¡¯ll ask the Knight about the main question," Izaak grinned. "You¡¯ll stay in his blind spot and look at my hand." "I¡¯ll ask him what does he think about capturing those two bitches and having fun in ourst day here. If he expresses displeasure and tries to lecture us, I¡¯ll show my first two fingers," Izaak¡¯s eyes glinted. "At that sign, you three will attack him at once." "He needs to die, or he will kill us if we fight, not all, but some of us might die in the fight even if he is lower level since he got better skills than us." Chapter 43: Frostbite Cliffs, Making a Move "Damn, that¡¯s a good idea. Alright, let¡¯s go to fucking sleep now, but in turns. We gotta keep an eye on that tent." "We¡¯ll take a turn of one and a half hours each. I¡¯ll keep on the lookout first," a slim and tall guy with long brown hair said. "You wish, Loke. I worked hardest today, so I¡¯ll look out first and then have a long sweet sleep, motherfuckers." "Fuck no, Jayson. We are doing rock paper scissors for this shit." "First andst slot is best, heh. Alright, no getting sour over the results, fes," Roderic said, grinning. "Let¡¯s start." ¡­ Almond, Lily, and Natalia fell asleep by the time the clock hit 8:30 p.m., while most of the parties were also sleeping by 9. There was no disturbance of any sort during the night, so when Almond¡¯s eyes opened, it was already 4 o¡¯clock in the morning. Seven hours of sleep, and he would automatically wake up. "Get up. I want to take a dump," Almond got up and lightly kicked their legs as they woke up. "Be quick," Natalia said as she went out, followed by Lily. By the time the clock hit 4:30, the group had packed up and began walking. A few others were also packing up, one of which was the group of four little assholes who were courting death. ¡­ {-Frostbite Cliffs-}¡ªSilver level 7 to 10 Area. -The Frostbite Cliffs rise high on Fairy Mountain, where the air is thin, biting cold, and perpetually dusted with swirling snow. This frigid expanse is covered in sheets of ice and jagged cliffs, providing the most challenging area for the adventurers to tread. The cliffs have an ethereal glow from the frost crystals that shimmer under any avable light, and the sky above is often obscured by thick, rolling clouds, asionally broken by shes of lightning that illuminate the mountain peaks. -Key features: ice-covered terrains, frigid winds, perilous ledges and caverns, frequent avnches. -Monsters: ¡ª Ice golems¡ªSilver level 7 to 10. ¡ª Snowspine Leopards¡ªSilver level 7 to 10. ¡ª Stormwing Butterflies¡ªSilver level 7 to 10. ¡ª Frostfeather Harpy¡ªSilver level 10 hidden boss. The party moved towards the northeast direction in the Frostbite Cliffs. Down the cliff, there was a wide yet slippery icy ledge with a cavern¡¯s entrance inside where the hidden bossy. It was extremely dangerous to reach there because a slight mistake would result in a fall amidst biting cold and strong winds, straight to death. But it was at the very end of the northeast, so there was still a considerable distance to cross. After an hour of roaming and hunting leisurely, Almond had devoured all three kinds of monsters of all levels, gaining more stat points. With his current capabilities, he could literally one-shot any monster with a single sword move, and while Lily could also do that, she would need more energy overall to do that, while Almond could do that with rtive ease. All in all, Almond devoured many spirits and gained another surge in stats. Ice Golems: ¡ª> Level 7: 0.5 Health. ¡ª> Level 8: +1 Stamina. ¡ª> Level 9: +1 Strength, +1 Perception. ¡ª> Level 10: +2 Focus, +1 Health. Snowspine Leopard: ¡ª> Level 7: +0.5 Mana ¡ª> Level 8: +1 Health ¡ª> Level 9: +1 Strength, +1 Stamina ¡ª> Level 10: +2 Health, +1 Perception. Stormwing Butterfly: ¡ª> Level 7: +0.5 Mana ¡ª> Level 8: +1 Focus ¡ª> Level 9: +1.5 Health, +1 Perception ¡ª> Level 10: +2 Mana, +1 Stamina In total, he gained stat points equivalent to leveling up six times +1.5 stat points. [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Silver. -Level: 10 [42%] -ss: Spirit Dealer (SS) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 750/750] -Stats: 10 unassigned points ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 43 | Health: 41| Stamina: 41] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 30 (+45) | Focus: 35| Perception: 34 ] He couldn¡¯t wait to reach 50 in Focus and Perception since it was within his sight. The main advantage of reaching 50 in those two stats was a significantly deeper view into the skills, not to mention the ability to pinpoint Chakra points in one¡¯s body that could open a new world of techniques. One could even find out what stats affected their skill and gain insight into their skills, allowing one to fiddle with skill executions and modifications uponprehending the skill. While the party continued moving on the rtively t snowy ground with a low amount of trees, seventy meters behind them was a group following them. "Guys, those three are quite powerful, not to mention their summons. If Big Brother John wasn¡¯t with us, we would have had to cancel our n," Jayson said with a grin. The Knight with the name John heard that and lightly chuckled, nobody noticing a glint passing through his eyes. "Did you find out who is the master of those summons?" Izaak asked. "Yeah, it¡¯s that dude. We gotta take him out first, so his summons will probably vanish." "How are we going to do this?" "Brother John has more skills. We can make a n based on that." "Good idea. It¡¯s better if we can ambush them, but they are moving fast. We have to go around them faster while skipping monster hunting to ambush them." "That¡¯s actually better, yeah. We should do that." "Hehe, I can¡¯t wait, brothers. Let¡¯s go!" "They are going in the same direction since the start, so that makes it easier for us, haha." Jayson led the group in a detour after seeing the general direction in which Almond and others were going. Twenty minutester, they were just sixty meters away from Almond and others, to their left behind a boulder. "Let¡¯s start," John the Knight said as he narrowed his eyes. "Let me repeat the n. Jayson will stand here, ready to use his ss skill: Meteore Arrow after Izaak and Roderic make a dash towards them with my buff and use their attack-type skills, their aim will be that dude." "Loke, since you have a mage ss with offense and defense skills, I want you to act ording to the situation after Izaak and Roderic¡¯s attacks," John said with a serious expression. "Observe and make a decision." "Got it, brother John." "Alright," John was ready with his mace and shield, a cold glint passing through his eyes. He used his ss skill: Warrior¡¯s Blessing, to buff Izaak and Roderic¡¯s Strength by 30%. Izaak had two daggers in his hands while Roderic had a longsword. Both of them were ready and immediately made a dash. "Let¡¯s fucking do this." Chapter 44: Unexpected Turn, and Slip The party was walking leisurely, unaffected by the biting wind and snowfall. To their left, the number of trees was high, making for a good obstacle to vision. Izaak and Roderic moved at full speed through the woods with their weapons and skills ready to unleash. When they were halfway, they saw an arrow streaking above them, going straight for Almond. ¡¯Wait, isn¡¯t this a bit soon?¡¯ Roderic thought, feeling that Jayson shot that arrow early. They were looking at Almond as they continued, something shocking happened in front of their eyes. They saw Almond turning towards the arrow while his hand moved in a way their eyes couldn¡¯t even follow. They only saw a shing spark as his sword struck the arrow, deflecting it as it exploded a meter above him. Getting covered in smoke, Almond felt his ears ringing as he was injured, but not much, his vitality dropping by only 11% as he bled from his ears. But the effects of the arrow still affected him as the concussion from the st made his vision shaky with a headache. ¡¯Those damn rats!¡¯ Almond stabilized himself. Meanwhile, Alfred and Lily reacted instantaneously as they spotted Izaak and Roderic before they couldunch their attacks at Almond. ¡¯What the fuck! He released that arrow fucking early, we ain¡¯t even in the attack range yet, dumbass Jayson!¡¯ Izaak cursed, but there was no going back. Meanwhile, Jayson¡¯s lips trembled, "Brother John, you told me to release the arrow, but wasn¡¯t that a bit too early?" "Arghhhh!!" Jayson suddenly heard a scream from behind and saw John¡¯s mace stuck inside Loke¡¯s chest at his heart. "Yeah, it was early, not that it would make a difference," John said, his eyes flickering with magic as he looked at the Izaak and Roderic. "Those two idiots are not a match against them anyway." Jayson felt his heart turning cold, his eyes trembling. He suddenly aimed his bow at John but only saw John¡¯s body covered in a bronze glow before crashing onto him, feeling his entire body in shambles before he puked blood. "You pieces of trash, I only agreed to your n because I knew what you nned to do if I disagreed, and I also wanted to make sure you assholes died here," John spat on Jayson before crushing his head with his glowing foot as he used Physical Enchant. *St* John looked at Izaak and Roderic but saw that they couldn¡¯t even hold a candle against their opponents. Roderic immediately lost his head a few seconds into the battle as Lily beheaded from behind while Alfred simply overpowered Izaak, unarming him by cutting his arm from his elbow and then cutting him into two with the me-coated scimitar. Almond had already injected himself with a Spirit Syringe and walked towards Lily and Alfred. "These fuckers really courted death," Natalia made a disgusted face as she looked at the dead bodies. Almond captured their spirits and looked ahead. "There¡¯s more," Lily said. "The one who shot the arrow." "Let¡¯s go," Almond used Physical Enchant and made a dash towards them at full speed, but it wasn¡¯t long before he saw a man standing with both of his hands raised high. Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise as she saw two dead people nearby, "Did you kill them?" "Yeah," John nodded, his hands still high. Natalia, Alfred, and Chimera also arrived there, staying behind Almond and Lily to be on the lookout. Almond captured the two more human spirits. "Weren¡¯t you this group¡¯s Knight?" Almond asked, confused. "I was here as an observer since they joined my guild," John nodded, "But they turned out to be pieces of trash. They had assaulted two girls in their previous run here and sexually tortured them for two days. Little assholes wanted to do that again and even told me about it." Lily and Almond understood the gist. "So you pretended to agree with them," Lily¡¯s eyes shed. "These bastards were going to kill me if I didn¡¯t agree," John coldly smiled. "But these cocky little idiots forgot that I¡¯ve been an Adventurer for five years." "Well, thanks, I guess?" Almond said. "You can put down your hands now." "John caster. I live in Desmod City and am vice president of the Death Angel Guild," John said as he put his hands down and smiled. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, promising adventurers." "I¡¯ll get going now. Come find me if you want some help in Desmod City." John left without waiting, dashing away with silent steps on the snow. "Hehe, serves these assholes right," Natalia sneered. "They got what they deserved." "And I got some human spirits," Almond¡¯s eyes glinted as he looked at the dead bodies. "I¡¯ll make good use of them." The party continued moving towards their destination and encountered two more monster groups. Almond refilled his Spirit Syringe stock during the battle. Ten minutester, they finally arrived at the edge, overlooking a vast and exotic territory ahead. "Fallen Monastery Town is ten kilometers away, below that patch of dark clouds," Almond said as he looked at dark clouds far away. "I¡¯ll go there to hunt after finishing here." "That aside, this is damn scary," Natalia said as she looked at the steep cliff, quickly moving back after taking a look. "Fortunately, the ground here is solid since the snow isn¡¯t gathering here much," Lily said as she looked around the ground before turning to the edge. "Which one of those three ledges are we looking tond on?" "The middle one to our right. This won¡¯t be hard with Viperfiend¡¯s help," Almond smiled. "Let¡¯s go." "Let me go first," Lily said as she crisscrossed her daggers. "I can also stab the daggers into the ice and get hold." "Alright." "Be careful," Natalia bit her lips. "Don¡¯t fall to death, or I won¡¯t have a chance to drink Mama Lily¡¯s milk." Lily rolled her eyes. "Get ready," Almond said before hemanded Viperfiend. Shortly, Lily¡¯s waist was wrapped by the Viperfiend¡¯s arm. Afterward, she jumped off the cliff without hesitation, nearly causing Natalia¡¯s heart to leap, "Gosh, this girl is too much." Lily maneuvered in the air as she turned around and swung towards the wall with momentum, stabbing the daggers into the wall as she stopped and started moving towards the ledger. Almond chuckled andmanded Viperfiend to do the same to him before he also jumped off. "I think I¡¯m good here, and anyway, you two and Alfred can kill the boss yourselves!" Natalia shouted while standing at the edge. But suddenly, her feet slipped and she fell forward as her horrified scream rang out. Fortunately, Viperfiend had enough intelligence to react to save an ally as his third arm stretched and quickly wrapped around Natalia¡¯s waist. She crashed into the wall before as her tears and snot ran out. "Fuck my life!" Almond and Lily were already at the ledger as they sessfullynded and saw Natalia dangling with tearful eyes and frozen snot as biting winds struck her, causing their lips to twitch as they held backughter. "Well, you¡¯re already here, so you might as well join us," Almond said with augh before hemanded his summon. "Vipefiend, move her to our side a bit. And don¡¯t stand at the edge, or you might slip too." "Come baby, Mama will lend you a hand," Lily chuckled as she stretched her hand. Chapter 45: Frostfeather Harpys Juicy Reward After everyone arrived at the cave, they entered and walked through the passage for fifty meters before arriving at an icy cavern. At the center was a ten-meter-tall harpy with her frosty wings curled up around her. The moment they exited the passage and entered the cavern, Frostfeather Harpy woke up and screeched sharply as ice pirs produced around her, and she flew up. "You know the n. This will be our quickest boss fight," Almond grinned. "Let¡¯s start." Viperfiend, Alfred, and Almond went first, attracting her attention. Viperfiend and Alfred unleashed their long-range skill attacks while Almond waited as he took a potion at far left, his eyes on the monster. Natalia and Lily also took up a crossbow and bow, respectively, shooting arrows. Lily also used her newly acquired ss skill during this¡ªPhantom Moon¡¯s Edge. [Phantom Moon¡¯s Edge]: -Effect 1: Grants 100% pration boost and 50% damage boost to any attack. 50 Mana cost. -Effect 2: Disintegrate a weapon-type item and covert its entire potential into a single highly prative projectile attack of any shape you desire. 100 Mana cost. The higher the Mana consumption when using this, the higher the potential boost. Lily fired two arrows instead of one, both being produced from the magic quiver. She used both effects of her new skills, enhancing one arrow with 1st effect and using 2nd effect on the second arrow as it disintegrated and shaped into a vertical sh of hazy white light, slicing off Harpy¡¯s right wing. Before her wing was sliced off, Harpy had attacked Alfred and Viperfiend with Ice Shards, but that was the only attack she could make before everyone¡¯s attacks struck her¡­including Almond¡¯s ultimate attack. Spirit Explosions x 20! Ten in front of her. Ten behind her. *BOOOOOOOOOM!* The stacked explosions of 20 Spirits were destructive, to say the least, not to mention that seven of them burst out in special effects! The harpy was immediately frozen and attacked with unique ice-type attacks and poison attacks as Almond had used ten spirits of monsters from White Pn¡¯sir and the other ten from Frostbite Cliffs area! "This is crazy," Natalia muttered. "Isn¡¯t that too op, Lily?" "It is," Lily nodded. "It doesn¡¯t cost Mana, so he can stack 100 Spirits¡­Imagine the damage from those." "Fuck¡­" [Congrattions on defeating the hidden boss, Frostfeather Harpy. Everyone in the party is rewarded 10,000 gold coins and one random skill generation, which you can ess in your status. Good luck.] The battle was over, and everyone reached the peak of level 10. Their level of progress stopped at 10[99%]. The only way to reach level 11 would be when they entered the 2nd Floor of the Labyrinth and killed their first level 11 monster. "No rare drops. But we got nice materials," Almond said as he looked at the drops. "Money," Natalia grinned. Thinking of something, she blinked and asked Almond, "Wait, you don¡¯t want to craft items with materials, right?" "Nah, I don¡¯t need it because I have a factory," Almondughed. "We¡¯ll sell them." "Yey! The materials sell for a good price whilemissioning to craft an item will instead cost us," Natalia was happy with the decision. "And Lily doesn¡¯t want gold coins from them, so it¡¯s only for us to split." "Really?" Almond turned to Lily. "Yep. You two keep the gold coins from selling things. I¡¯m getting a big sry on gold coins from the guild on top of 50% of whatever I¡¯ll earn myself from their Dungeons." Since Dungeon Doors randomly appeared all over the world, their ownership became territorial. Big guilds hadrger territories under their name, so they had ess to more dungeons. GAA and Earth Union had the highest territory as they were a kind of new joint government of the world, so they had ess to a lot of dungeons whose ess they provided to smaller guilds and their own Adventurers. "That¡¯s a nice deal, but I guess you¡¯ll be an Adventurer celebrity with that and all the stuff thates with it," Almond wryly smiled. "Yeah, we¡¯ll have to participate in some events andpetitions and other stuff you see in media, but¡­" Lily shrugged before she put her arms around his shoulder and grinned, "I want you in my life from now on, so well, I am happy." "So you were waiting for someone to make your life interesting, eh?" Almond smiled as his hands went around her waist, but both of them suddenly remembered something and nced at Natalia. Natalia clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "Fine, you can kiss this time." ¡­ The party sat down in the cavern, ready to unveil their most important reward. Random Skill Generation! At the end of their profile status was a new tab [Random Skill Generation (D to A)]. "Time to use my good luck spell. Z, Arrsaka, Voodoo, Zing, Bing, Bong," Natalia spluttered gibberish with her eyes rolling upward, causing Almond and Lily to be speechless. "Come to me, A-rank skill!" Natalia pressed the tab as a notification rang. "What did you get?" Lily asked. "That was some advanced spell, for sure. It might have worked," Almond snickered. Natalia appeared nk as she read the notification. Silence ensured as Lily and Almond looked at each other after not getting any response for two seconds. "Wh-" Almond was interrupted by Natalia¡¯s shriek as she raised her arms with an excited expression. "Let¡¯s fucking go! Call me Divine Witch Natalia from now on!" "It¡¯s just an A-rank skill," Almond wryly smiled. "Well, you¡¯re wrong," Natalia¡¯s smile had stretched from ear to ear as she shared the notification. [Congrattions. You have triggered a lucky break, acquiring an S-rank skill: Arcane Bastion from the Random Skill Generation.] "S-rank?" Lily was taken aback. Almond was dumbfounded, "Holy shit, Divine Witch Natalia, alright." "What does it do?" Lily curiously asked. Natalia shared the skill status with a grin, "It¡¯s awesome!" [Arcane Bastion] -Skill rank: S -Effect: Conjures a tower shield in front of you, capable of absorbing damage and generating Bastion Aura based on damage it absorbed. ¡ªBastion Aura: You can use Bastion aura to boost an attack or heal. Bastion Aura limit is based on the amount of Mana consumed when using the skill. -Cost: 100 Mana. "That¡¯s truly a good skill," Almond raised his eyebrows. "Suppose you consume 300 Mana on this skill to defend against a powerful attack, storing a high amount of Bastion Aura and then use your remaining 100 Mana to use Action Mirage skill, copying an attack and boosting it with Bastion Aura to increase its power." "Hoho, nice idea. This skill cane in clutch in that style," Natalia grinned. "Lucky," Lily wryly smiled. "Let¡¯s see what do we get, Almond." "I ain¡¯t using my spell for you two," Natalia snorted. "Yeah, yeah," Almond rolled his eyes. Pressing on the button with his thought, the tab [Random Skill Generation] disappeared and a notification rang. [Congrattions. You have acquired a B-rank skill: Lightning Lash.] [Lightning Lash] -Skill rank: B -Effect: ¡ª> Lashes at an enemy within 10 meters of yourself with a lightning whip from either of your hands. Has a chance to shock the target if the target takes damage from the skill properly. Shock ailment was different from paralyzing. Shock could weaken the enemy, slowing down their action and responses. Lightning-attributed attacks could also cause paralyzing, but this skill couldn¡¯t do it given how it was structured ording to the effect. ¡¯Well, not bad. Once I hit 50 in Focus and Perception, I might be able to improve it,¡¯ Almond truly couldn¡¯t wait to explore the world of magic and learn how the skills were created. Chapter 46: 2nd Quest of Specialised Class Series "What did you get?" Lily asked before adding with a downcast smile. "I got a measly D-rank skill: Water Palm..." "It wasn¡¯t that bad for me, but nothing impressive," Almond said as he shared his skill with the duo. "Anyway, once we reach 50 points in Focus and Perception, we might be able to improvise these skills, so all skills are wee." "True," Lily nodded while looking at her status in the quest section. "Well, it¡¯s time to start with our final ordeal here." "Yes!" Natalia said as she remembered it, her expression turning somber. "You two gotta help me, alright? I heard discussing such stuff can give us ideas." "That¡¯s not wrong," Almond faintly smiled. "Alright, let¡¯s settle your skill first. I already have an idea of mine, which I will expand my way." "Same," Lily said before adding with a chuckle. "Let¡¯s fill up Nat¡¯s empty brain first." "Hey!" ¡­ After discussing for ten minutes¡­ "So, I have to imagine an orchestra of different instruments, all releasing different kinds of powers, giving buffs, and debuffs¡­." Natalia muttered. Lily and Almond nodded. Natalia¡¯s ss name was Chaosbound Serenador. Imagining a mystical array of instruments with all-around effects inbat seemed suitable to the name. To give it more substance, Almond said, "Natalia, imagine these chaotic instruments facing a horde of monsters all around you. You are alone with your array of mystical instruments produced from your skills." "Image all kinds of effects and attacks. Destructive sound waves of various shapes. Sound-based infiltrative effects like causing Sleep, Shock, confusion, Charm, and everything you can think of." "The goal is to just imagine without limitation about what your first ss skill can do, based on your ss¡¯s name." Natalia closed her eyes and began imagination, entering deep focus. Lily smiled, "This should be more than enough. I can¡¯t think of anything else rted to her ss." "Yeah," Almond cracked his neck and sat straight as he closed his eyes, "We should also start now." Lily nodded and closed her eyes as well. Both of them had ideas of what they wanted to explore with their ss¡¯s name. Almond¡¯s ss name was the most peculiar, but he had the imagination to stretch it open. ¡¯Riftveil Grimde¡­ A grimde . An unplesant de.¡¯ ¡¯A grimde that can cut anything. Create a rift between anything. Not just physically, but ethereally, mentally¡­¡¯ ¡¯Yes. A grimde that can cut off connections between powers, between people.¡¯ ¡¯A grimde that can cut off emotions. A de that cuts off anger, happiness, excitement, sadness, all emotions from someone¡­¡¯ ¡¯A grimde that cuts off a mana flow of someone¡¯ ¡¯A grimde that brings the most unpleasant experience onto someone.¡¯ ¡¯I have to add Veil in the equation too. A veil¡­a cover, a de that can uncover anything¡­unveil anything.¡¯ Almond was in trans as he started imagining everything possible. ¡¯A grimde that sees through mysteries. A grimde that rifts through any veil.¡¯ ¡¯A grimde that creates a veil to preserve everything I have cut¡­for my benefit.¡¯ ¡¯A grimde that cuts off enemy¡¯s strength and veils it¡­for myself? It should be possible. No. This must be possible.¡¯ ¡¯My grimde must cut through the world, cut through the material ne and spiritual nes if they exist.¡¯ ¡¯My grimde must open the veil of mystery of myriad existences so I can explore them for myself.¡¯ Almond¡¯s mind was in overdrive as he was fully absorbed in exploring the imagination he could make with his ss. Time passed, and half an hour passed when he was done. Almond decided to epass everything he had imagined into a single skill, naming it¡­Grimde Art: the Paradox of Riftveil. ¡¯Submit.¡¯ [You have submitted your imagined skill to portray the potential you see in your ss.] [Evaluating¡­.] Almond opened his eyes and took a deep breath. "It seems you are also done," Lily said with a smile upon seeing Almond opening his eyes. "What did you name your skill?" Almond grinned as he answered, "Grimde Art: the Paradox of Riftveil." "Ooo, that sounds like a super edgy overpowered name, eh?" Natalia chuckled. "Well, I named my skill Myriad Symphony of Sound." "I have a better name, do you want it?" Almond smirked. "Sure!" Natalia crossed her arms. "Behold¡ªHarmonious Crescendo of Anarchy." Lily¡¯s eyes twinkled, "That¡¯s way better. Nat, use it." "Damn, boi! Alright, I¡¯ll use it," Natalia was amazed. "What about your name, Lily?" Almond curiously asked. "Dreadspire Warlock can have way more options, more than Natalia¡¯s ss and mine." "Yeah, since it¡¯s a Warlock, I could go in any direction in the realm of magic," Lily smiled. "I decided to emphasize Curse and Death as this is also suitable with Dreadspire word." "And my skill¡¯s name is," Lily grinned, pausing for a second before revealing, "Omen of Abyssal Eldritch. I¡¯ve made sure to imagine cool enchantments too¡­call it Dreadspire Darkened me, Withered Wind, Curseweaved Water, and Gloombound Earth." Almond blinked, amazed. "Impressive! That¡¯s an awesome idea, considering the ss has Warlock. That¡¯s going to be op for sure." "My ss evaluation just arrived!" Natalia eximed as she quickly checked the notification. [Congrattions. The starting rank of your specialized ss is SS-rank. The first skill of your ss has been generated based on your skill imagination input.] "Let¡¯s fucking go! It¡¯s an SS-rank ss," Natalia squealed excitedly. "I can¡¯t believe it¡­won¡¯t I be as powerful as Almond now?!" Lily rolled her eyes, "You wish. His first ss is SS-rank, and it¡¯s aplete one with a skill set and new skills that can be obtained by chance. Specialized sses are different." Almond added with a chuckle as soon as Lily finished, "Natalia, SS-rank is your specialized ss¡¯s potential. It¡¯s up to you to reach that potential by creating and improving your ss skills." "Sigh, you two can¡¯t see me happy, right?" Lily and Almond both rolled their eyes upon hearing that. Nataliaughed, "I know, I know. Specialized ss needs to be nurtured. And it¡¯s thanks to you two that I was able to beat the low chance and acquire a higher-ranked ss than I was initially assigned." "Truly, thanks a lot." "You¡¯re wee," Almond smiled. "It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re my baby, after all," Lily lightlyughed as she patted Natalia¡¯s head. "Now show us your first ss-skill. Let¡¯s see what you got." Chapter 47: OP Skills! [Chaosbound Serenador] -ss rank: SS -ss perk: +100% Mana capacity, +100% Mana recovery. -ss skills: ¡ª> 1. Chaosbound Requiem. [Chaosbound Requiem] -Rank: SS -Effect(s): ¡ª> A requiem to manifest Chaosbound Instruments. 1. Chaosbound Drum: Increases the Strength of allies designated by you and decreases the Strength of enemies based on Mana consumed. 2. Chaosbound Cello: Increase the potency of your skill or a target¡¯s skill, based on Mana consumed. 3. Chaosbound Piano: Unleashes sound-based attacks with shapes ording to your desire. Damage based on Mana consumed. 4. Chaosbound Flute: Charm the enemies to control their body movements forcefully while calming allies. Requires mastery in flute for increased chance of Charm and more Mana to increase intensity. -Cost: 10% of your max Mana locked per Instrument summoned. -Note: Each 10% of your max Mana locked increases your Mana recovery by 10%. "Holy shit¡­." Almond was startled, and so was Lily as they read the skill with amazed expression. "As expected of a Specialized ss," Lily muttered. "They do be very powerful, especially of SS-rank." Natalia was grinning from ear to ear. "Right! It¡¯s so awesome. My Mana pool doubled, and so its recovery." "It¡¯s good indeed," Almond nodded. "But it¡¯s SS-rank," Natalia wryly smiled. "I can¡¯t imagine what kind of power your SSS-rank ss will have." Lily grinned, "We¡¯ll find out soon." "Our evaluations aren¡¯t finished yet, so in the meantime, let¡¯s test your new ss," Almond said and stood up. "Let¡¯s see the Chaosbound Piano¡¯s power." "Yey! I better get the hang of it." ¡­ Five minutester, Natalia slumped on the ground, her expression nk. "It¡¯s fine. You can start learning in the Firefly City," Lily patted her head as she chuckled. It turned out that although the instruments could y themselves with hermand, there was a hidden effect that activated when she yed Piano herself. ¡ªIncreases the effectiveness of the Chaosbound Instrument by up to 100% if the user ys the instrument. It was up to 100%, meaning that if she could y decently like a professional, the boost would be increased by 100%! "You should learn instruments, start with Piano," Almond said with a nod. "I feel like the better you y the instrument, the more its power will increase, and even its effect executions too. It might also go above 100% boost, and this could be some kind of condition for your ss to go to the next rank." Lily nodded in agreement, "Yep. And weren¡¯t you good with guitar?" "True, but there¡¯s no guitar here," Natalia sighed. "Well, I guess I¡¯ll start with learning Piano once we leave." "Good girl," Lily patted her head while grinning. She suddenly got a notification and chuckled, "Nice, I got my evaluation done." [Congrattions. The starting rank of your specialized ss is SSS rank. The first skill of your specialized ss has been generated based on your skill imagination input.] Lily directly shared it with Almond and Natalia as they began reading the information. [Dreadspire Warlock] -ss rank: SSS -ss perk: +100% Mana recovery, +100% Blood recovery. -ss skill(s): ¡ª> 1. Warlock Enchant: Dreadspire Elements. [Warlock Enchant: Dreadspire Elements] -Skill rank: SSS -Effect(s): ¡ª> You can use these four Dreadspire Elements to enchant your weapons or skills with added effects. The higher the mana consumed, the more potent the effects. You can have multiple Dreadspire Elements enchants in one attack. 1. Darkened me: Continuously burns, fueling from the target¡¯s blood, and bans the healing process, even from skills. 2. Withered Wind: Corrode durabilities and defenses. 3. Curseweaved Water: Drains target¡¯s Mana and Stamina. 4. Gloombound Earth: Reduces target¡¯s movement speed and action speed. -Cost: 50 Mana and 1% of Blood per enchant. Stays active for 10 seconds. Every 1% of Blood sacrificed increases potency by 1% and duration by 1 second, and the lower your blood, the more powerful the enchants. "That Darkened me is crazily powerful," Natalia was dumbfounded. "The others too¡­damn! As expected of SSS-rank ss." "You can consume 1% of your blood to increase duration by a whole 1 second," Almond raised his eyebrows. "Not to mention that the ss perk gave you a 100% recovery boost in Blood. This is op, alright." Lily took out her daggers as they were coated in ck me, her face grinning. "This is nice. Alright, I want to check my Blood recovery." "Let¡¯s see," Almond nodded as it was important to check that. He looked at Lily¡¯s vitality, but it was still 100%, although she lost 1% of her Blood. After ten seconds passed by, she started losing 1% of her Blood every second. Meanwhile, the ck mes became darker and glowed more intensely. Three secondster, 1% of her Vitality was reduced. It reduced by another 1% two secondster. And after that, she started losing 1% Vitality every two seconds. Suddenly, Lily changed the enchant as a dark blue watery aura coated around her daggers. The consumption doubled, so Lily removed the Darkened me enchant. "Hit me," Almond said seeing the Curseweaved Water. "Let¡¯s see how long the effect stays on the target once you hit them." Lily slightly cut Almond¡¯s palm, and he immediately saw a debuff on him in his status window while stamina and mana started draining at a weird rate. "It¡¯s a percentage-based reduction for this Curseweaved Water," Almond was startled. "That¡¯s crazy. "Six seconds. It stayed for six seconds." "That¡¯s a lot. And I felt my stamina and Blood recovery increase. Is it because I drained your Stamina?" Lily was surprised. "You can drain stamina? That¡¯s freaking powerful," Natalia was tongue-tied. ¡¯Lily¡¯s vitality was reduced to 83% when she made that sh, so¡­.¡¯ Almond thought of something as he said, "Do it again. Let¡¯s see if the duration of debuff increases since it technically mentioned losing blood would increase the power of Enchants." Moreover, Almond saw that the debuff in his status showed 6.3 seconds, so he figured the duration also increased. Lily made a small sh again, and indeed, the duration increased to 7.1 seconds, and the reduction rate of Mana and Stamina also increased slightly. When she made the second sh, her Vitality had been reduced to 78%! "Alright, your first skill is extremely powerful," Almond grinned. "Well, it¡¯s an SSS rank, so that¡¯s obvious, but this is cool." Lily deactivated the skill and nodded, a thrilled smile on her face. "All four elemental enchants are powerful! And they also have the original elemental attributes on top of these Dreadspire effects." She suddenly thought of something and said, her eyes widened, "But this makes one thing clear. The guild leader of League of Firefly has an SSS-rank specialized ss! My mentor told me about one of his skills in rough detail, and if Ipare it with mine, then it makes sense." "This means that there are indeed people with SSS-rank specialized ss," Almond wryly smiled. "Well, we expected that." "So there should be rtively more numbers of SS-rank specialized ss Adventurers, eh?" Natalia murmured. "Yeah, but this is still rare. We are just way better," Lily cheekily smiled. "And you are lucky you got us to help you with your specialized ss." "Tsk, I don¡¯t deny that." "Having a high-ranked ss is good and all, but in the end, what matters is how good our abilities and hard work are," Almond said as he felt something deep in his heart but couldn¡¯t figure it out. "We don¡¯t be undefeatable with high-ranked sses¡­if we be careless, we die." "Urgh¡­" Almond clutched his head as he suddenly saw some images of pure destruction and shook his head while his breathing turned heavy and uneven. "What happened, Almond? Are you okay?" "That¡­" Natalia frowned. "It¡¯s the same as before...." "I¡¯m f-fine," Almond shook his head a few times and rubbed his temples as everything disappeared. The headache was also gone instantly as if it never appeared. "So weird," Almond sighed. Suddenly, a notification rang in his head. [Congrattions. The starting rank of your specialized ss¡­] Chapter 48: Scary Power ¡¯W-What?¡¯ Almond was dumbfounded as he looked at the notification. ¡¯This can¡¯t be.¡¯ Seeing Almond¡¯s expression, Lily and Natalia were confused. Why did he look shocked? Shouldn¡¯t he be excited if he got SSS-rank ss? "Hey, don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s not SSS-rank," Natalia said, frowning. "It can¡¯t be," Lily was speechless. "It shouldn¡¯t be lower than SSS rank." Almond reigned his excitement hearing their words and weakly smiled at them, "It¡¯s not SSS-rank." "Damn!" Natalia clicked her tongue. "That¡¯s really sad. I for sure thought you would get it." "Wait," Lily narrowed her eyes. "You don¡¯t look upset." Almond burst outughing and directly shared his ss details with them. "Well, it¡¯s freaking one rank above SSS rank!" [Riftveil Grimde] -ss rank: Legendary -ss Perk: +100% Perception, +100% Focus, +100 Will. -Legendary Quirk: Riftveil Eyes. -ss skill(s): ¡ª> 1. Divine Divider¡¯s Harvest. "$##&$%@&¡­." Natalia muttered gibberish, "The fuck!?!" Meanwhile, Lily¡¯s eyes were twinkling. "This is incredible..so the legendary-ranked ss gains something called Legendary Quirk...How cool." "Here, let¡¯s check it out first," Almond grinned and shared the quirk¡¯s power. [Riftveil Eyes] -Type: Quirk -Effect: ¡ª> Allows you to see the desired attributes of your targets. Using it will exhaust your mind, and overdoing it will make you unconscious. "What¡¯s it talking about? What kind of attributes?" Natalia tilted her head, confused. "I can check right now," Almond blinked as he used the quirk, looking at Natalia and Lily. A few seconds passed by, but Almond¡¯s brows furrowed. "Nothing¡¯s showing up." He looked at the skill again, and it clicked, "Wait, so it¡¯s up to my desire on what I want to see, eh?" Almond rubbed his chin, "What if I want to see Natalia¡¯s Emotional attributes?" Just as Almond willed that, he saw the attributes. [Empathy: Ability to understand and feel the emotions of others, impacting social rtionships andpassion-based abilities. 83/100] [Compassion: Capacity for kindness and care may affect healing abilities, trust-building, and supportive interactions. 51/100] [Mental Resilience: Emotional toughness, determining how well one can cope with trauma, stress, and adversity. 64/100] [Hope: Optimism or positivity that influences motivation, morale, and one¡¯s ability to inspire others in dire situations. 73/100] [Fear Tolerance: Measures how well one can endure fear, useful in facing intimidating opponents or frightening environments. 52/100] [Confidence: Belief in one¡¯s own abilities, often impacting courage, assertiveness, and performance under pressure. 58/100] [Determination: Drive to achieve a goal regardless of challenges, affecting stamina, persistence, and willpower in difficult tasks. 67/100] [Curiosity: Desire to explore, discover, and learn, impacting intelligence, adaptability, and resourcefulness. 63/100] "This¡­is scary," Almond was shocked as he read the information. "What? What did you read about me?!" Natalia rapidly blinked. "Show me." Lily looked at Almond¡¯s eyes and wryly smiled, "If what I am assuming is right, then it¡¯s indeed scary." "Are you sure you want to see this?" Almond asked as he looked at Natalia. Natalia¡¯s lips twitched, but she vehemently nodded, "I want to see my mental and emotional attributes, yes!" Just as Natalia said that, Almond actually saw three of her attributes increase by one¡ªfear Tolerance, Mental resilience, and Curiosity! ¡¯Wait, will her attributes be affected if I show this to her?¡¯ Almond was curious now. "Here, take a look, both of you." Soon, they finished reading, and both had different reactions. "Wow¡­" Lily was amazed. And Natalia, "$&#%@%¡­mother of fucking hell¡­" "But this ain¡¯t so bad¡­I am coping well in some areas," Natalia muttered as she nodded, "This is kinda urate now that I think about it." Almond soon saw her attributes increasing again. ¡¯Her mental resilience, fear tolerance, and confidence went up¡­¡¯ ¡¯It seems that since these are all emotional attributes, they can affect each other and change. She is growing, basically, which we all do while living life.¡¯ ¡¯Seeing one¡¯s own attributes in numbers can be quite an experience. People usually have the wrong idea about their attributes unless they dictate it through their actions, which most people don¡¯t really do.¡¯ ¡¯Even myself¡­it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve been this talkative and open in front of others¡­I am changing, and I ept these changes.¡¯ Almond was genuinely excited. For someone who prized knowledge and understood its significance, this newfound power was incredible! "Here, Nat. Your attributes increased," Almond shared the updated attributes. "Oh¡­Wow!" Natalia was amazed, and a fire lit in her eyes, her fist clenched. "I-I am going to ovee this shit. Especially my trauma and fear!" "Check mine," Lily said as she stared at Almond. "Check¡­let¡¯s say psychological attributes." "Yeah, but let¡¯s narrow down more," Almond said as his expression turned thoughtful. "I could feel that getting information about eight attributes drained my mental stamina a bit. How about we check your intuition and charisma? Both are in different fields in a way." Lily contemtively nodded. "True. Intuition is psychological, but Charisma¡­can be described as a social and rtional attribute." Almond looked at Lily and willed it, soon getting information about her Intuition and Charisma. [Intuition: The ability to sense things beyond logical understanding, useful for decision-making and detecting hidden motives or traps. 98/100] [Charisma: Natural charm and influence over others, impacting leadership, persuasion, and social interactions. 92/100] "Bingo," Almond grinned and shared it with Natalia and Lily. "I knew these two attributes of yours were crazy high." "Wow, way to go, my oddball Mama Lily." Lily was very flexible in a way, as Almond had seen different faces of her, not to mention her natural beauty that enhanced her Charisma further. As for Intuition, he had experienced that firsthand. Lily smiled, satisfied with the result, "Well, I¡¯m going to reach 100 in both sooner orter." "You will," Almond chuckled. "Anyway, let¡¯s check out the skill now." He glinted as he added, "I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a reason why I have Riftveil Eyes. I may be able to affect these exotic attributes of others." "That¡¯s seriously scary if you can do that," Natalia cringed, getting goosebumps. "True," Lily wryly smiled. "Let¡¯s see," Almond checked the skill and shared it with them. Chapter 49: Power of the Legendary-rank Class [Divine Divider¡¯s Harvest] -Skill rank: Legendary -Effect: ¡ª> Conjure a Grimde only you can see. This de is able to cut through anything up to a divide, physically and ethereally, including the attributes you see via your Riftveil Eyes and ethereal aspects of mystical things, and harvest the cut-off parts. You can use the harvested attributes or aspects for yourself if you wish. -Cost: ¡ª> Dividing any attributes or aspects above 80 will cost 100 + 10% Mana and 20% of your mental stamina. ¡ª> Dividing any attributes or aspects above 50 will cost 50 + 5% Mana and 10% of your mental stamina. ¡ª> Dividing any attributes or aspects below 50 will cost 30 + 3% Mana and 5% of your mental stamina. "Holy moly!" Natalia screeched. "This is way too scary!" It could indeed sh everything by half with every use of the skill! Almond immediately used the skill as an ethereal ck grimde with pale white aesthetic patterns on its de manifested and shed Lily. Lily immediately felt something and saw that her Mana capacity was divided by half! "Crazy," Lily muttered. "So this is the power of a Legendary skill. It¡¯s broken." "It¡¯s awesome," Almond nodded, extremely thrilled, as one could see in his eyes. He suddenly thought of something and wondered, "I can also cut things physically¡­more specifically, divide them. What does that mean?" "Don¡¯t tell me," Almond muttered as he looked at the girls. "Can I try it on you two?" "What?!" Natalia demanded, uncertain and confused, feeling a cold chill. "What are you trying to do?" Lily blinked as she thought of something, "That¡­would be interesting. Do it." Almond grinned as his eyes glinted, reflecting the ethereal grimde as it cut both of them. In the next second, Natalia¡¯s height shrank by half, including her clothes and everything she had worn, because Almond thought of dividing her height by half and everything else to be proportional to her height. On the other hand, Lily¡¯s C-cup melons, well, it could bet between C and D, shrank by half! He decided to use the harvested aspects of the girls on him as his bust grew, but not in the woman¡¯s way, and his height also became taller. "Fuck, this is insane," Almond muttered, and he quickly removed the harvested attributes from him while Natalia and Lily returned to normal. "That was so fucking weird," Natalia was dumbfounded. "Everything looked so big to me¡­." "Indeed, it was a bit weird," Lily dryly chuckled. "Well, I am going to mainly use this to divide the target¡¯s stats and boost myself," Almond grinned. "That alone is crazy powerful." "Yeah," Lily nodded. "Almond is getting crazy powerful," Natalia was dazed. "Feels like the protagonist of some movie." "Nah," Almond wryly shook his head. "Though I can¡¯t deny I am getting a windfall here, I still have some deste feeling I can¡¯t exin. Anyway, all I know is getting powerful is my priority, and there¡¯s no stopping it no matter how strong I get." "With that said, let¡¯s get moving," Almond said, smiling as he stood up and stretched his arms. "It¡¯s time to finish our 1st floor¡¯s journey." "Sounds good," Lily grinned. "So, what are we going to do? Trigger the Floor Boss or go through the trial?" "Floor boss with just three of us? No way," Natalia sprung up on her feet and firmly shook her head. "I did consider triggering Floor Boss, but yeah, it¡¯s not worth it right now," Almond said, rubbing his chin. "I mean, I¡¯m pretty sure I can use my Divine Divider¡¯s Harvest on it, weakening it while empowering myself. But that would still be dangerous." "I don¡¯t mind taking the risk, but you are right," Lily nodded. "We also need around three hours just to get to the center of thebyrinth and then collect the materials required to trigger the Floor Boss." "Yep. If we fail to defeat it by the time the exit gate appears, it will vanish, wasting our efforts. As such, let¡¯s go through the Floor Clearing trial. That¡¯s best for now." There were two ways one could go to the next floor. Either by defeating the Floor Boss of each floor, which is massive in size with tons of Health and various attack patterns with multiple phases. The ideal party to defeat the 1st Floor Boss was 50 Silver level 10 Adventurers. Moreover, defeating Floor Bosses gave rewards ording to contributions on the leaderboard that the Labyrinth generated each time a Floor Boss triggered. Any action done by an individual that contributed to the damage on the Floor Boss would count, including healing other Adventurers who were focused on attacking, defending, and everything else. The three of them could try, but frankly, there wasn¡¯t enough time. Up to the 5th floor, the floor boss would vanish every 3rd day¡¯s end (and it would spawn stronger every three-day cycle), but from the 6th floor onward, new types of rules applied where the entire floor would change once the Floor Boss appeared. All other monsters would vanish, and the floor Boss would remain perpetually active until it was defeated. It would also get stronger every three days as long as it wasn¡¯t defeated, making it a tough ordeal since as long as the Floor Boss remained on the floor, nobody would be able to level up by defeating monsters as there would be no monsters to kill. This incident happened on the 6th floor, and it caused a high death toll where even some talented and promising rising adventurers and frontline adventures of that time died since the floor would shrink and it would be hard to escape from the Floor Boss. Exit would appear every three days for five hours, but it would be random while the Floor Boss would roam the floor, so only lucky ones could escape. From then onward, a rule was applied where GAA and top guilds would first discover the Floor Boss triggering condition and keep an eye on it so that no one would trigger the Floor Boss of the new floor without preparation. Unless top guilds¡¯ core members reached the maximum possible level to be reached on the new floor, nobody was allowed to trigger the Floor Boss. ¡­ "Let¡¯s check our new ss Specialized quest before moving up," Natalia said as she looked at the new quest. Chapter 50: Chakra Points, Parting [Third quest of specialized ss: Second Skill Creation. You may use 1 Skill insight given to you to get insight into your next skill. You will be given hints during the insight and, at the end, will get multiple skill options. You may select one of the skills as your second skill.] "Well, we should start this quest once we are outside," Almond suggested. "The skill insight will put us in a deep, focused state for hours¡ªmaybe even ten hours or more, from what I¡¯ve heard and read." "Yep," Lily nodded. "We should start that quest after leaving." ¡­ Almond climbed up first after storing Alfred and Viperfiend in his spirit pocket, after which Viperfiend used his arms to pull up Lily and Natalia. There was also an option to stay in the cavern until the exit portal appeared, but they would have to stay for over ten hours there. As such, the party started descending the mountain at a faster pace. Most of the Adventurers were still hunting in Frostbite Cliffs, so there was no one to court death as they descended. After all, it wasn¡¯t that umon for adventurers to loot others on the 3rd day. A risky move, so only big groups would do that. The target could either fight for their items or give up on life. Threats from a big group often worked towards smaller groups. Over the years, the GAA received manyints and worked to resolve the issue, capturing looters outside and imprisoning them. There were also some groups who killed others, and someone witnessed it coincidently, leading to their punishment. With the changing world, rules and means to get information were easy with the usage of skills. So, although the number of looters decreased, they weren¡¯tpletely gone. ¡­ The party sessfully descended the mountain without anyone looking to court their deaths. Almond originally nned to go to the Fallen Monastery town, but his specialized ss¡¯s perk changed his mind. His perception and focus stats surpassed the 50-point mark with the ss perk, so Lily and he decided to open Chakra points. Lily had firsthand experience on how someone could do that properly, and Almond had a self-experimented experience. They decided to return to the starting area and open chakra points on Almond. On the way back to the starting area, Almond started feeling something weird. He felt as if he was being observed. He ignored it at first, thinking that a monster might have seen him, and his high mental stats captured that gaze, leaving his instincts to push this notion that he was being observed. But this happened again when he passed by the Goblin Settlement. And again, when he passed by the Goblin Camp, where he had killed Jacob, Seyung, and Lamp. ¡¯What¡¯s going on? I¡¯ve checked thoroughly, but I saw no monsters. So why do I feel like I am being observed?¡¯ Almond shared his findings with Lily after they got through the Direwolf woods. "Was that why you stopped to look around at those two ces?" Natalia raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, but I saw no monsters," Almond said, his brows furrowed. "I really don¡¯t think I am feeling this for nothing." "I believe you," Lily nodded. "With your current level of perception and focus added to your natural cautiousness and mental attributes, your instincts and intuitions should be high. You can¡¯t be wrong about the feeling of getting observed." She thought of something and added, "I might have a clue, but I can¡¯t confirm it here. I have to go outside." "Alright. Since there¡¯s no use thinking about this, let¡¯s get started." They arrived at the starting area, one of the eight stone chambers where people would spawn once they entered any Labyrinth gate outside. Lily and Almond sat across each other as Lily guided Almond. Since she knew the method of properly detecting Chakra points from her father, who did this procedure on her, she taught it to Almond, who slowly began to proceed and find Chakra points one by one and carefully opened using Mana without the hellish pain he had gone through in his reckless method. On the other hand, Natalia began practicing her specialized ss¡¯s skill: Chaosbound Requiem. She yed different instruments, seeing how well she was with each, and practicing them since there was nothing else to do. Almond and Lily were absorbed in opening Chakra points all over Almond¡¯s body. Rumor had it that there were hundreds of chakra points within the body, some so hidden that they required extremely high perception and focus to find. There were a few frontline Adventurers who had some kind of unique power unrted to skills or sses but purely via some mysterious hidden chakra points. This was a mix of spection and truth formed by people by watching videos and streams from frontline adventurers, with one of them even revealing a hidden chakra point¡¯s ¡¯experience.¡¯ Since there were also mentions of chakra points in texts from ancient countries that existed thousands of years ago, many believed there were some special chakra points that could grant unique powers. The top Adventurers also periodically scanned their bodies in deeperyers with growing power, trying to find them. Those who had ¡¯apparently¡¯ seeded haven¡¯t revealed much about them as well as nobody who ¡¯supposedly¡¯ opened one had actuallye forward with solid information. But it was clear there was truth to this, and it was only a matter of time before it revealed itself to some people, and some more, and then everyone. ¡­ Time passed by in the blink of an eye, and while Almond and Lily had taken a few breaks and continued with their chakra points opening session for hours, they didn¡¯t realize the time was over until the exit portal opened nearby them. "We opened over three hundred Chakra points in your body," Lily said as a mischievous glint shed across her eyes, and her hand went towards Almond¡¯s crotch. "The only ce that¡¯s left is this, and your bum at the back." "Cough¡­I can do that on my own," Almond said before he came true to his desire and added, "or we can continue after I return, what do you say?" "That¡¯s better," Lily grinned and leaned on him as her arms went around his shoulder, "See youter, darling~" *Smooch* "Yes, yes, that¡¯s enough. We are gettingte, Mama Lily." Natalia nced back at Almond and stuck out her tongue as she Magic Whispered to him, ¡¯Lily will be mine until you return.¡¯ "Have fun, you two," Almond chuckled. He knew Lily wasn¡¯t into girls. She was a true woman down to her wild instincts, seeking an ideal male mate and power. As they two left, Almond turned around and stretched his arms and legs, "Now then¡­" Coming out of the stone chambers, it was already evening as the portal opened at 7 in the evening and remained until 12 ¡¯o midnight. "Let¡¯s see how it feels to hunt at night." Almond left at full speed, and his senses wide opened. Over the past three days, his natural hunting and survival instincts had sharpened, andbined with his powerful physical and mental attributes, he felt practically invincible on thebyrinth¡¯s first floor¡ªunless he did something reckless, which he wouldn¡¯t do. As such, with his two powerful sses and his innate talent that increased his recovery drastically, he was about to speed-hunt every single different kind of monster at silver level 6 and above on this floor to raise his stat points at the maximum possible! Chapter 51: Lilys Parents, GAAs Secret Project Lily and Natalia emerged from the city¡¯s Labyrinth gate, where families had gathered, some waiting hours to see their loved ones. Parents wept with relief and pride as their sons and daughters returned from their first venture into the Labyrinth. Although not many were professional adventurers, every single person who was above 18 ten years ago and has survived until today was technically an Adventurer since it was mandatory to enter the Labyrinth, everyone above 18 was at least Silver level 10 or higher. Paying the monthly tax of the Labyrinth system required gold coins, so many just cleared the first floor again and again instead of risking their lives on higher floors. These people had jobs outside and didn¡¯t live their lives as Adventurers but as civilians. Naturally, GAA was still encouraging them to participate in higher floors, at least until bing Gold-rank level 1 Adventurer to attain the Sub-ss, which would grant one of those development sses like cksmith, Tailor, and such to boost their world. There were already many people like this. They didn¡¯t have experience inbat as much but focused on developing their sub-sses. ¡­ "Mom, Dad," Lily smiled as she saw her parents standing a bit far from the initial crowd. She also saw Jacob¡¯s father standing with two people from his guild. "Hello, uncle and auntie," Natalia grinned as she waved at them. "I can see you two progressed a lot, from your demeanor to gait to the light of your eyes, hahaha. Good work, girls," Lily¡¯s father, Dagon Darkwood, said with jollyughter. Lily¡¯s mother, Sabrina, gently smiled, "Wee back. Come on, I have prepared a feast in celebration." "Mhmm, but before that, I want to talk about something," Lily said as she stared into her parent¡¯s eyes. Dagon and Sabrina blinked. They knew what that look of their daughter meant. It was something serious and a priority. "Well then, let¡¯s head back to the home." While the group left, Jacob¡¯s father was walking to and fro as even after five minutes, Jacob hadn¡¯t arrived yet. "Something¡¯s wrong," Jacob¡¯s father, Draven, looked convinced as he spoke. "I told him to exit within five minutes. He wouldn¡¯t disobey me. Something¡¯s wrong." Taking out a cig, he started smoking while walking to and fro. "Something¡¯s wrong." He immediatly started walking towards the gate, but the muscr man beside him suddenly stopped him, "Guild master, you don¡¯t need to go. I¡¯ve called people, and I am also going in. You have a meetinging up for the deal you finalized yesterday." "Hurry up," Draven said, his face ugly. "Within five hours, all traces will vanish, and the floor will reset." His heart was telling him that something was wrong. "Damn it!" Draven crushed the cigarette under his foot and vanished like a gust of wind, entering the Labyrinth gate. The vice guild master, Rufus, turned to a man in histe twenties and said, "Mark, stay outside and handle the guild¡¯s matter. And tell those guys to hurry up." "Got it." Rufus also dashed nimbly and silently, entering the Labyrinth gate and choosing the 1st Floor to enter. After entering, he took out a magi-tech device and contacted Draven. [Rufus: Draven, searching like this is a waste of time. We don¡¯t know where Jacob was spawned in the first ce to begin looking around for his traces.] [Draven: Where are you?] [Rufus: I am at the eastern spawning point.] [Draven: Go out and use your Focus Field. Tell me if you get the feeling of getting observed at starting areas where monsters spawn and see if you can find something.] Rufus was confused, but he did as told since Draven sounded as if he was onto something. But as he speedily went out and looked around using Focus Field, he indeed got the feeling of being observed. The Focus Field heightened one¡¯s senses via eyes and allowed them to see things normal eyes couldn¡¯t observe. Almond had abnormally high Perception and Focus for someone at Silver level 10, so he got this feeling even without using the Focus Field. And he was right. Draven and Rufus both felt the same thing. ¡­ Darkwood Mansion in the Frostar city. "So, what¡¯s the serious talk, daughter?" Dagon asked. A maid arrived from the kitchen, putting juice sses on the table. "You two, drink this first," Sabrina said. Natalia grabbed the juice and chugged it down while Lily took a sip before saying, "Did the GAA already start testing the prototype you were talking about?" Dagon and Sabrina looked at each other, their expression shifting. "Lily, please tell me you didn¡¯t do anything stupid," Sabrina asked, her face somber. "And to your question," Dagon said before nodding, "Yes, they¡¯ve nted Arcane Eyes on the first floor for testing. This is not to go public, you understand? This project is directly approved by the top brass of the GAA. It¡¯s not the same as the personalized camera project." Natalia almost spat out her drink and gulped before looking at Lily, who started rubbing her temples. "Shit," Natalia muttered. "What did you two do?" Dagon frowned. "Cough, we didn¡¯t do anything," Natalia quickly said with a wry smile. "But someone else did." Sabrina and Dagon clearly heaved a sigh of relief before bing curious. "Almond was right about getting the feeling of being observed." "Huh? It¡¯s impossible for newbies to discover Arcane Eyes, not without a properly honed Focus Field," Dagon raised his eyebrows. "What happened?" Sabrina asked. "Who is Almond?" Lily¡¯s expression turned deadly serious as she looked at her parents, "Can we somehow ess the Arcane Eyes¡¯ data and delete something?" "Not possible," Sabrina shook her head. "This is handled by the top brass of the GAA headquarters. Branches like us have no ess to anything rted to Arcane Eyes." "That means Jacob¡¯s father won¡¯t be able to ess them either," Lily muttered. Dagon¡¯s brows furrowed upon hearing that, "Are you talking about Draven? Don¡¯t tell me¡­his son?" Sabrina looked at Natalia who quickly nodded, "He¡­cough, dead." "And I assume this Almond person killed him?" Dagon asked with a wry smile. "Who is he to you? We¡¯ve never heard of him from your mouth." "This is strange," Sabrina looked at her daughter, feeling something amiss. "It¡¯s the first time we¡¯ve seen you concerned about someone else aside from Natalia." Lily smiled and said, "He is my boyfriend." "What?!" Chapter 52: Circumstances "Your boyfriend?" Dagon was taken back. "That¡¯s¡­an unexpected news," Sabrina digested it before adding, "So, who is that unfortunate fellow?" "Mom!" Lily pouted. Natalia snickered and said, "Don¡¯t worry, he is also crazy like our Lily." "Well, that sounds like a worry on its own," Dagon wryly smiled. Lily rolled her eyes. "Haha, don¡¯t worry about that. He is not a bad kind of crazy," Nataliaughed. "Well, this unknown young man is piquing our curiosity more if even Natalia says that," Sabrina chuckled. "Right, honey?" "Indeed," Dagon said,ughing. But he stopped seeing Lily¡¯s expression. "Alright, alright. Let¡¯s see what¡¯s the matter. We are all ears now." Sabrina nodded. "Ok, so Almond¡­killed Jacob and two others. But they almost killed him first-" "Wait, Lily," Natalia interrupted her. "Let¡¯s start from the very start, like who was Almond in our academy and then him in the Labyrinth." "Right." Dagon and Sabrina patiently listened to Natalia and Lily as they jointly began telling their story. ¡­ [Draven: Let¡¯s get out. I need to attend the meeting.] [Rufus: If what we are perceiving is indeed that rumored project, then we can talk about it in the meeting and ask Mr. Han if he can talk to the GAA¡¯s top brass and let us have a look.] Both of them had discovered the existence of Arcane Eyes, a type of monitor device that could directly ry everything it captured on the Labyrinth¡¯s floor to the outside. Arcane Eyes were deployed hurriedly on thest three days of the previous month¡¯s Labyrinth cycle. For one, the GAA¡¯s top brass wanted to see what was happening inside while the Labyrinth remained close. And second, they wanted to start observing Adventurers inside. This way, they would be able to observe newbie adventurers and pick out some talents while also discovering nasty individuals to punish them. ¡­ Draven and Rufus arrived at their Wildhunt Guild¡¯s base, a magnificent wooden-metal castle reflective of modern and magic tech in the mix. Entering the hall, he sat down on the couch and lit up the cigarette, his heart unsettled. "Rufus, send someone to the academy with party invitations for all the students and their parents from the same batch as my son," Draven ordered, a cold glint passing through his eyes. "And get me the status of every student who entered¡ªwho¡¯s returned and who hasn¡¯t. I want to know about each one." "Alright," Rufus nodded and took out the phone, but before he could call, he received a call. "Hello, Mr. Han. Yes, we are at the guild base¡­.yes, understood." Draven looked at Rufus, who promptly said after cutting the call, "They areing here in ten minutes." "Got it." Afterward, Rufus contacted a guild member to work on the part invitation n while he and Draven waited in the hall. Several minutester, three people arrived at the guild base. A middle-aged man, a ck-brownish-haired woman in her thirties, and an old man in his sixties, all wearing different colored professional office suits. To grow the guild further, Draven had made a deal with GAA to get some Dungeon Doors owned by GAA in the forest fifty kilometers away from the city. As the biggest guild in Frostar City, the Wildhunt guild had many members. Entry into the Labyrinth was limited, but the same was not true for the dungeons. There were riches and power to be earned by exploring the dungeons, making them important resources for overall growth in the world. The deal was already done, so these three from GAA were here to give the locations of Dungeon Doors and finalize the deal¡¯s terms. After an hour of peaceful meeting, the old man in his sixties, Mr. Han, spoke as his eyes slightly narrowed, "You seem to be in distress, Mr. Draven." Draven leaned back and lit up a cigarette as the meeting was finally over. After puffing once, he took a deep breath and said, "My son didn¡¯t return from the Labyrinth." "And I¡¯m certain something bad happened to him because he was supposed toe out," Draven closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening again. "I¡¯m worried." "Did you send people inside?" "I did. I¡¯ve sent over a hundred people inside. All of my Silver-ranked and five gold-ranked Adventurers are looking for him." Draven stubbed the cigarette on the ashtray to his left after taking a long puff and looked at Mr. Han in his eyes. Everyone could see his bloodshot eyes. "Mr. Han, I need a favor." "It seems you went inside and discovered it," spoke the middle-aged man¡ªa known tinum-ranked Adventurer ranked 78th in the Global Leaderboard¡ªAustin Wern, Ironheart Crusader. The woman adjusted her rims and said, "I¡¯m afraid ess to Arcane Eyes is not possible." "I want to know what happened to my son," Draven said, his fist clenched tightly. "If the Arcane Eyes are deployed, I¡¯m sure someone at the top is watching everything. It¡¯s fine if you can¡¯t show me the video screens, but at least tell me what happened to my son." "Mr. Han," Draven looked at the old man, his eyes almost pleading, "I will forever remember this favor." Mr. Han stood up and sighed, "I will try to see what I can do. But please know that only three people are allowed to watch the video screens right now. Not even I have ess to it, so don¡¯t keep your hope on me and try investigating your way." "I¡¯ll pass down the order to this city¡¯s GAA branch to cooperate with you as well," he added. "Thank you, thank you very much," Draven stretched his hand for the handshake. After leaving the Wildhunt Guild¡¯s base, Mr. Han said, "Let¡¯s go to the GAA branch here and have a talk with Dagon and Sabrina. It¡¯s been a while since west talked." ¡­ On the other hand, Lily and Natalia also had been speaking for the past hour and finally ryed everything. "So he is that impressive," Sabrina was slightly dazed, especially at thest part. "I can see why your heart settled on him. He must have rocked your so-called chemistry meter," Dagon dryly chuckled and rubbed his temples, "But this trouble is serious¡­" Chapter 53: I Got His Back "Indeed, the matter is a bit tricky," Sabrina sighed and said, "Arcane Eyes¡¯ video screens are fully restricted. Only three people can watch the video screens, and those three are the GAA president, GAA¡¯s most powerful Adventurer, and GAA¡¯s Grand Admiral." Hearing the end, Lily¡¯s eyes lit up, "Dad, you know the Grand Admiral, right? You said you were friends with him." "That old man had broken many of my bones when I was in the military," Dagon wryly smiled. "And even more when we worked together in the Labyrinth exploration in the beginning. He is a stickler for the rules, but¡­" Dagon looked at Sabrina, who nodded at him and turned to Lily, "Dear, your friend-" "Boyfriend," Lily corrected her. Sabrina rolled her eyes, "Yeah, your boyfriend. He didn¡¯t do anything but kill those three, right?" "Yes." "However, Jacob and the other two killed him first at the starting area, correct?" "Yep." "Then don¡¯t worry about this," Sabrina smiled. "Although they do n to punish nasty people who go out of their way to harm and sabotage other Adventurers using Arcane Eyes, Almond won¡¯t be on that list." Dagon nodded and said, "Naturally, that doesn¡¯t mean he will be off the hook. If that old man Rudra is one of the people overlooking the Arcane Eyes, Almond will be called to the headquarters." Lily frowned, "What will they do to him? Dad, Mom, I am telling you, I am going to live with him in Firefly City once he finishes his speed-hunting in thebyrinth! That¡¯s final. You have to make sure nothing bad happens to him!" She stood up and said with mes in her eyes, "I want him in my life just like how you two are in each other¡¯s lives. If something happened to him when he is not at fault, then¡­" "Then what?" Natalia slowly asked as she gulped. "Then I am going to get strong enough to topple down whoever that harmed him! I know I¡¯ll be strong enough and catch up to front liners! It¡¯s only a matter of time, humph!" "¡­" Experience tales at m v|l e¡¯m,p| y- r Dagon and Sabrina weakly smiled. It was shocking to them to see Lily like this, and they could feel that if something bad happened to Almond, Lily would indeed follow up with what she said. This daughter of theirs could be very stubborn. "Rx, Lily," Sabrina said as she gently smiled. "Since you like him so much, then we won¡¯t just ignore his plight." Dagon nodded with a smile, "Don¡¯t worry, his calling to the GAA headquarters won¡¯t put him in danger. I will personally apany him if he gets called. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get the order to escort him if he ever gets one." Natalia thought of something and said, "If they can watch various spots in the Labyrinth using Arcane Eyes, then won¡¯t they know about Almond¡¯s skills? Is that why you said he will be called not for the punishment, but¡­for recruitment?" "Since he killed those three, I believe he will have to go through some questioning and tests," Sabrina said. "Grand Admiral is someone who nurtures talents, but he is a righteous man. He needs to see if Almond won¡¯t stray to the wrong path." "So that¡¯s why¡­" Lily sat down and slumped back on the couch with relief before she grinned. "That¡¯s good to hear. Almond is more level-headed than me, that¡¯s for sure." "True, he even spared that piece of trash because killing him would indirectly harm the innocents," Natalia said as her expression turned foul. "I still feel hate towards that bastard. I wish he¡¯d drop dead as soon as possible." "Consider him dead," Sabrina said, her demeanor turning cold. "Based on what you said about that incident, I¡¯m pretty sure Arcane Eyes were also deployed in that area, at least, I hope so." "True," Dagon nodded, "If an Arcane Eye captured that incident, and they see how Almond handled it, he will get plus points in old man Rudra¡¯s eyes. That¡¯s a decision that I might not have been able to make if I was in his shoes." "During our time in the middle floors, after people were used to the Labyrinth and new changes, many killings happened," Sabrina sighed and shook her head. "Anyway, don¡¯t worry about Almond. You focus on your departure after two days." "Okay, but I got his back, and you got mine, so we have to work this out. I am really looking forward to life now." "We got it," Sabrina gently smiled. Suddenly, Dagon¡¯s phone rang. Seeing who it was, Dagon was surprised and walked away, "Mr. Han?" "You two want to eat first or get freshen up before eating?" "I want to take a bath," Natalia said as she sniffed hard and her nose scrumped up. "We are a bit smelly right now." Sabrina chuckled, "Alright then, go and take a shower. I¡¯lly out the food on the table." "Thanksies, Aunt Sabrina." Lily also got up and yawned as she stretched her arms and left, going upstairs after Natalia. "Lily," Sabrina called out. Lily stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned to her mother, "What?" "I¡¯m proud of you." "Mhmm," Lily grinned and nodded. "Me too, of you both." After Lily left, Dagon returned and said, "We need to go to the GAA branch." "Who¡¯sing?" Sabrina asked, already guessing the matter. "Mr. Han and two others. It¡¯s just a normal visit, but I am curious as to why they were here. Were you informed?" "Nope. It must be a guild-rted matter, but since he contacted us, then we¡¯ll find out soon. Let¡¯s go." "If it¡¯s a guild matter in this city, then it should be only one," Dagon raised his eyebrows. "Wildhunt Guild." "Yep, that¡¯s why we have to get some information from him. Draven must be going insane with his son missing, and I¡¯m positive he talked to Mr. Han about this if they went to visit his guild." The two of them left and met up with the GAA members. Draven¡¯s party invitation was also sent to the Darkwood family, who received it shortly after they finished talking with Mr. Han and his small entourage. "Draven invited us for lunch in the morning," Dagon¡¯s one eyebrow raised, feeling weird. "What¡¯s going on?" "He must want to investigate on his own," Sabrina read the invitation. "It seems this is sent to families of all students who went to the Labyrinth." Looking at Dagon, she said, "Draven is a frontline adventurer¡­but not a good one. He will try to do anything to get information, even if he has to kill innocents for it." "That won¡¯t happen anymore," Dagon grunted coldly. "I won¡¯t allow him to be rampant anymore. Times have changed." ¡­ The sky turned fully dark after a few hours, and before midnight arrived, Wildhunt Guild members started leaving the Labyrinth as the exit portal was about to close. Draven was waiting with antsy feeling as he couldn¡¯t wait to hear from the guild members who went to investigate about his son. He personally heard reports from every single person for three hours straight, but he couldn¡¯t get much information. Over a hundred Adventurers had gone and spawned in all eight starting areas randomly as they only focused on searching, essentially exploring the entire floor during those five hours. But nobody found Jacob or anything rted to him, making Draven mad as he drank himself to sleep drinking a wine made from rare-grade resources. "Tomorrow¡­.Rufus, I want all the information¡­" "I¡¯ll prepare everything. You go sleep now, you need it." Chapter 54: Top Brass of GAA Skytree City, Global Adventurer Association headquarters. The main building was a huge cone-shaped structure, and other buildings connected to it all around. Your next chapter is on m v|l-e¡¯m,p| y- r It was the biggest and most advanced structure on the Earth, located in thergest city¡ªSkytree City. At the top of the headquarters building, in the restricted area, a person emerged from the secret elevator. He was 6¡¯5 feet tall with a ck beard and mustache, paired with short ck hair and a muscled figure. Although he was seventy years old, his build, aura, and look gave off a youthful vigorous, and powerful vibe. Grand Admiral Rudra, a frontline adventurer. He wasn¡¯t listed on the Global Adventurers Leaderboard as he never participated inpetitions, but there was no denying that he was one of the most powerful adventurers with unknown depths. What most people didn¡¯t know was that he was also one of the few who had attained supernatural disposition even before the Grimworld¡¯s tutorial descended on Earth. He already had all of his Chakra points opened, and he even had opened one of his hidden chakra points unknowingly because of his daily meditation and training. He was always at the frontline and the highest contributor to clearing the Labyrinths. He became GAA¡¯s Grand Admiral to oversee the new military might of GAA and nurture uing Adventurers. ¡­ Grand Admiral Rudra arrived in front of a door that projected a robotic face, the leading AI of GAA. "Wee, Grand Admiral. Please give me a sample of your Mana to confirm your identity." Grand Admiral Rudra infused a bit of Mana on a tablet stuck on the door, which lit up slightly and a secondter, the AI spoke, "Confirmed. Wee back, Grand Admiral Rudra." He entered the hall with multiple screens lit up all around, and a man looking in his forties with mixed ck and red hair was already sitting there, eating a pizza and drinking while watching the screens. "Hey, pops, you¡¯re back? Come here, I found someone interesting." Grand Admiral Rudra vanished from his spot and appeared right behind the man, his palm in a pping motion as it squarelynded on the man¡¯s head. "Damn, that hurts, old man! But I took it, so let¡¯s rest the case. I¡¯m sorry for not going to clear that dungeon." The man turned to look at the old man while rubbing his head. He had purple-blue eyes with intensity of lightning and a lean-muscled build with a height of 6¡¯1. Aryan Deva, the son of Grand Admiral Rudra Deva¡ªthe 3rd rank holder in the Global Leaderboard and the strongest Adventurer of GAA¡­at least based on the Global Leaderboard rank. "Aryan, this is thest time. If you fucking ignore my orders again, we are going to have a serious duel." Aryan felt a chill as he got up and fawningly smiled, "Come on, Dad. Wasn¡¯t that dungeon cleared just fine? There was no need for me to go there." "Anyway, sit here. I want you to look at someone." Rudra snorted and sat down on the main chair before leaning back and looking at the front screen. However, in just a few seconds, his pupils shrank. Aryan saw his father bing still and grinned, "Told ya, pops. I found someone interesting. Those top guilds have top-notch young blood talents, the so-called Super Rookies. It¡¯s time we also have someone like that, you know?" On the screen was none other than Almond, going past groups of monsters while leaving behind cut-off bodies of humanoid monsters¡ªCorrupted Priests and Priestesses who were over two meters tall with darkness and death attribute skills. Almond soon stopped and absorbed some monsters¡¯ spirits, increasing his stats before he continued moving. "By the way, this is his footage of three hours ago. I just arrived an hour ago and asked Astra about the killings of Adventurers by other Adventurers and saw him. He is in the inner circle of the Labyrinth right now, where we don¡¯t have any Arcane Eyes, so we can¡¯t observe him." Hearing that, Rudra frowned, "He killed others?" "Yes, but¡­it¡¯s better for you to see it. Astra, show the target¡¯s earliest footage," Aryanmanded the A.I Astra. Upon getting Aryan¡¯smand, the front screen changed as it showed Almond cornered at the pir in the starting area¡¯s stone chambers by three young men. Rudra¡¯s brows furrowed more. "We have to improve the Arcane Eyes further. We need to hear the sounds, too. How¡¯s it going in that regard?" "We already got the Arcane Eyes with sound capture enchantment in development. We¡¯ll deploy some tomorrow." Rudra nodded. Although he couldn¡¯t hear anything, the rity of the video was ultra high definition and from all angles due to the nature of how Arcane Eyes worked. He could see their lips and could interpret what they were talking about. "Who is that brat¡¯s father?" Rudra asked when he ¡¯heard¡¯ what Jacob said about learning from his father not to leave any trouble and ordered Seyung to kill Almond. When he saw Seyung slitting Almond¡¯s throat, Rudra coldly snorted. "His father is Draven. You know him," Aryan grinned. "That fellow is hanging at the top 90s in the Global leaderboard and seeking to grow his guild." "Frostar city?" Rudra raised his eyebrows. "That¡¯s where Dagon is, right?" "Yeah," Aryan said, his smile widening. "Well, this young guy and Dagon have quite the connection as well. Astra, fast-forward a bit." "Dagon¡¯s daughter is going to Firefly. I wish we could get her here," Rudra sighed and continued to watch. "We need some more young, talented blood." Rudra saw Almond suddenly floating with mysterious energy oozing out of him, surprised. "He triggered a special condition. That makes him the 6th one to do this that entered our radar." "True. I¡¯m pretty sure there are more people who triggered special conditions and acquired better sses," Aryan nodded. "The ones we know have gotten A-rank ss, S-rank ss, and even one SS-rank ss. This youngd¡¯s new ss is no less than S-rank, I¡¯m sure of it." As Aryan finished speaking, hemanded the AI, "Astra, fast-forward and show us some fights and the instances where he takes out the unique items," Aryanmanded after "Unique items?" Rudra raised an eyebrow, "Is it rted to his ss?" "Indeed. If I have to guess, his ss is pretty powerful. Maybe S or SS-rank. It could even be SSS-rank. From what I¡¯ve gathered, he can create explosions anywhere at any point of space within ten meters of himself, which increasedter to twenty meters. The explosions can be quite unique too, and I¡¯ve inferred it¡¯s rted to monsters he had killed." "He can also create some unique items, which are frankly quite powerful from what I observed. Andstly, he can summon." Rudra soon saw Alfred and was surprised, "A humanoid summon. Interesting." Aryan told Astra to fast-forward more, but Rudra interrupted him with a snort, "Stop it, Aryan. Astra, listen to me. Set the motion speed to three times and show me everything you¡¯ve captured about this person." "Understood." "Well then, I am going out, Pops. You enjoy the show." "If you even think about stepping onto the first floor of the Labyrinth to see him, I¡¯ll skin you alive." Aryan stopped at the exit door and released a hollowugh, "Come on, Dad. I¡¯m not going to do that. I¡¯m quite scared of him to meet him there. He is practically invincible on the first floor right now. Anyway, the second cycle of Labyrinth started two hours ago, so I am going to the 10th Floor." "Good." Aryan left. Meanwhile, Grand Admiral Rudra ordered Astra while watching Almond¡¯s adventure, "Astra, get some rice and dal-tadka for me." "Also, call President Lincoln and put him on my call," he added. "Understood." Chapter 55: Grand Admiral Rudras Analysis, Dravens Investigation Two hours passed by as Grand Admiral Rudra finished watching everything. The Arcane Eyes they¡¯ve deployed were in the outer areas of all eight corners of thebyrinth and some in the eight major areas. Since there was a shortage of Arcane Eyes to deploy it at all spots, the ones in the eight major areas moved around. A few had moved a bit further, which luckily captured Almond¡¯s adventure in the Fallen Monastery town that Aryan was watching when Grand Admiral Rudra arrived here. Looking at the footage of Almond¡¯sbat in Fallen Monastery Town, Rudra¡¯s eyes glinted. "Why is he killing monsters when he is already at maximum level? And he is not particrly training." There were people who fought just to hone theirbat and learn more about their skills. But from what he observed, Almond was in a very efficient and quick hunting mode. "That¡¯s not a sign of learning or training. It¡¯s as if he has a goal rted to killing monsters," Rudra got off the chair and locked his hands behind his back as he started walking to and fro. "He could be farming for drops, but that doesn¡¯t make sense given his ss that produces items." "He could also be gathering gold coins. His profile showed he is not well-off, but he already got a girlfriend who is Dagon¡¯s daughter." Looking at the clock, he muttered, "It must be over six in the morning there. Good." "Astra, call Dagon from my contact list." In Frostar city, Dagon woke up hearing the ringtone and saw that it was Grand Admiral Rudra. He couldn¡¯t help but dryly chuckle, "I have a feeling this is about Almond." [Dagon: Good morning, admiral.] [Rudra: Morning. What do you know about Almond Crowshade?] [Dagon: It seems that you¡¯ve already seen him in action. I¡¯m afraid I only know as much as you do, admiral.] [Rudra: Bring him here once hees out.] [Dagon: Roger. Also, I have a favor to ask, if you don¡¯t mind.] [Rudra: I got it. I¡¯ll make sure Draven won¡¯t get what he wants.] [Dagon: Thank you, senior.] [Rudra: It sounds like you¡¯ve already epted him as your son-inw.] [Dagon: Ha-ha¡­cough, my daughter can be quite stubborn, so I have to do all I can. But since you¡¯ve seen him in action, can I ask you about your analysis of him, please?] [Rudra: He is focused. No unnecessary thoughts. His expression while fighting and killing monsters has a purpose. There¡¯s no distraction in his life. He has a strong thirst to be powerful and¡­] [Dagon: And?] [Rudra: He is goddamn talented¡ªa monster-level breed of human. The way he improved in his sword mastery can only be summed up as a true-blue genius. Like how Mozart knew what to do when he saw the piano andposed a myriad of works in his short life that made a whole case of genres, this young man picked up his sword and did exactly that. Once he learns Aura Enfold, I feel he willpose monstrous sword techniques.] [Dagon: I see¡­I didn¡¯t think I would hear this level of praise for someone from your mouth.] [Rudra: But I will have to test his mind, his heart. We already have some big headaches hiding in the darkness. I don¡¯t want someone like him to go on a dark path.] [Dagon: I understand, admiral. I will bring him to you once hees out of the Labyrinth.] [Rudra: Did your daughter tell you why he extended his stay in the Labyrinth?] [Dagon: Not in details. She just told me it¡¯s rted to his ss.] [Rudra: Got it. You can go back to sleep now.] [Dagon:¡­.cough, I usually wake up at six, but-] Rudra cut off the call before Dagon could finish, a smile hanging on his lips. "Lucky bastard." Explore new worlds at freewebnovel "He caught you," Sabrina chuckled. Dagon helplessly smiled andy back on the bed, "He was just pulling my leg. Anyway, we¡¯ll give the good news to Lilyter. Since she believes Almond is good, then I believe he will pass senior Rudra¡¯s tests." Adventurers at such a high rank and level could indeed remain perfectly fine even without sleeping for multiple days unless they exhausted their mind and body doing strong work and needed sleep. On the other hand, Rudra sighed as he put away his phone. "Even Dagon¡¯s daughter has found her life partner, and then there¡¯s my son, who isn¡¯t married yet," Rudra rubbed his temples as he muttered, "Does that rascal want to pass down our bloodline or not?" Astra¡¯s hologram appeared as she said, "I¡¯m positive he has an offspring or two in the process, given his activities. For a fact, a female named Amelia is keeping his baby, though she thinks she is keeping it a secret." Rudra was stunned, "Since when did you collect such information?" "I was ordered by Aryan to do that, as he wanted to know about his possible offspring." "That darn rascal!" ¡­ While Almond was speed-hunting the Labyrinth, even as a new day descended inside and outside, Draven was in his afternoon party with newbie adventurers and their parents. Given that Draven organized a party, everyone thought that his son had also returned, which wasn¡¯t the case in reality. Looking at everyone enjoying and being happy, Draven felt like pulling his hair. He only showed his face one time and then left, letting Rufus and other members of the guild do the work of meeting and talking. Some parents also had a desire to let their kids join Wildhunt Guild, so they were happy to be here. "Draven, what we know so far is that there are three more students who haven¡¯t returned yet." "Who?" Draven asked, his expression intense. "Seyung and Lamp. These were Jacob¡¯s friends. The third is someone called Almond." "I know the first two, but who the hell is Almond? His parents?" "No parents. Lives in the academy dorms. He has some internal physical defects, making him weaker physically with low stamina. He has been bullied by Jacob and those two a few times, but nothing serious." "Also, three students who returned didn¡¯t attend the party. They are Jayce, Natalia, and Lily." Draven frowned, "Lily and Natalia are kids of the Darkwood mansion. Forget about them. What¡¯s the deal with Jayce?" "He lives with his older sister. I¡¯ve sent someone to check, but he is at his home training while his sister is at GAA¡¯s branch, working. I guess they just weren¡¯t interested in the party, considering Jayce would join GAA because of his sister." Draven sighed, his expression weary. "Did you ask students if they had seen Jacob? Where did he spawn?" "Apparently, nobody saw him at the starting area spawning with them. But everyone had spawned to all starting areas except for one¡ªthe starting area leading to Fairy Mountain." Draven¡¯s eyes glinted. "So nobody here saw Jacob spawned at their starting areas¡­" "Not just Jacob, but they also didn¡¯t see Seyung or Lamp, nor Lily, Natalia, Almond, or Jayce," Rufus slowly said as a sheen shed in his eyes. "It¡¯s safe to assume that these six spawned in the same area." "That¡¯s it!" Draven smashed his hand on the couch¡¯s armrest and stood up, "Send someone to ask Jayce if he saw them. Now." Chapter 56: Sabrinas Plan?, Almonds Solo Speed-run Adventure (1/2) Rufus soon got the confirmation and ryed it to Draven with a nod. "Jayce said that he saw them, but he left earliest and speedily since he wanted to go to another area, so he doesn¡¯t know what happened." "What if that bastard is lying?" Draven frowned. "ording to Mark, he isn¡¯t lying. He used Focus Field to check his pulse and behavior when he answered. I can go and check again if you want to do that." Draven shook his head and gulped an entire wine ss. "No need." "Just kill him." Rufus¡¯s eyes squinted, "That¡­" Draven looked at Rufus, his eyes already turning red. "My son is dead. It¡¯s confirmed by now. With the items he had, he shouldn¡¯t have died at the monsters¡¯ hand! Someone fucking killed him for sure. Fuck, I should¡¯ve sent a knight instead of listening to Jacob." "Calm down, Draven. Jacob was a fine warrior. He knew how to fight and survive. You trained him. I also feel there¡¯s a high chance that he was killed, but killing Jayce will only bring you troubles," Rufus frowned. "Wait for Mr. Han¡¯s reply." Draven threw the ss on the ground and roared before slumping back, his head down. "I failed you, Marilyn. I failed to protect our son¡­" Rufus sighed. Draven¡¯s wife got herself killed to save Draven in the Labyrinth nine years ago, on the 2nd floor. Jacob was nine years old at that time, and it was tough. It was also that time Draven became more ruthless. He spoiled Jacob to get over his mother¡¯s death and also trained him, and taught him to be strong in this world. But now that Jacob died, Draven had no one to call his own. ¡¯He will snap,¡¯ Rufus thought as he looked at Draven. ¡¯This is only a matter of time. If he snaps and kills students, it¡¯ll be over for Wildhunt Guild.¡¯ Readtest stories on mvl "Rufus, go to the GAA branch and ask for their help. Ask Lily and Natalia about him. I want to know everything!" Draven said before he started chugging the bottle of wine. "Got it. And Draven, we¡¯ll find the culprit. I¡¯ll make sure of it," Rufus said in a firm tone before leaving Draven alone in his room to grieve. ¡­ Rufus visited the GAA branch in the city and soon met with the branch president, Sabrina Darkwood. After telling her about the ongoing situation, Rufus somberly said, "Draven is going to snap sooner rather thanter. He will try to hold on until the reply from Mr. Han, but if nothinges up, I don¡¯t know what he will do." "We need your help." Sabrina sighed and nodded. "I understand. Let me see what I can do." "Thank you." After Rufus left, Sabrina leaned back on the chair, her expression thoughtful. "Making him snap is not good," Sabrina muttered. "Considering Draven, Rufus¡¯ worries are true." After thinking for several minutes, Sabrina formed a n. "This can work if Grand Admiral cooperates with us¡­but he will only do that after testing Almond, and he can only test Almond once hees out." "How long will he take? Four days, five days, six days? Will Draven wait that long?" Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "He will if he gets the guarantee." Sabrina called Dagon and told him about Rufus¡¯ visit and her n. [Dagon: We might have a chance with this. Senior Rudra is very impressed with Almond, that¡¯s for sure. Once Almond passes his test, he will cooperate with us. I¡¯ll send him a message to call me when he¡¯s free and tell him about the n.] ¡­ On the other hand, Lily and Natalia had woken up at seven in the morning. They showered and ate to fill before triggering the Skill Insight from their 3rd specialized ss quest in the training hall of the mansion. Both were sitting cross-legged in absolute focus, experiencing a mindscape of wonder rted to their ss, where they were acquiring information and using it to design their second-ss skill. Time passed by as seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours. Sun went down, and night descended, but those two were still in the same position. Meanwhile, Almond finally decided to sleep. He hadn¡¯t slept at all since Lily and Natalia left. All he did was kill monsters. During these 30 hours, he cleared: -Fallen Monastery Town (Inner area). -Valley of Shadowsong (Major Area). -Doomed Citadel (Inner area). -Wonder Tree-Topia (Major Area). -gued Necropolis (Inner area). Five hours in total were spent just to travel around and slow-moving to recover. After cleaning up Fallen Monastery Town, he went to the second big area¡ªValley of Shadowsong, like the Fairy Mountain. He reached the valley right as the 4th day of thebyrinth started. Elite monsters spawned in the second cycle, which was beneficial to Almond, considering they would be considered different species, so more stat points for him from each group of different monsters. He didn¡¯t bother killing monsters at silver level 5 or below, directly skipping them and going straight for silver level 6 and above. It took him five hours to speed-run the Valley of Shadowsong, and by the time he was finished, his 3rd Spirit Wraith was also finished. Itsponent consisted of five Boss-type monster spirits¡ªde Mantis, Maddening Beaver, White King Manticore, Wandering Fairy, and Frostfeather Harpy. Among the other fifteen Spirits, Almond had added one Human spirit, one of four nameless trashes the party had killed in the Frostbite cliffs area. He hoped one human spirit was enough, considering that Wandering Fairy and Frostfeather Harpy were a bit on the humanoid side as well. Naturally, the human spirit was eaten and devoured, but the memories and knowledge contained in the spirit were passed down and would influence the final creation ording to what Almond thought. But the final result wasn¡¯t like Alfred as he had assumed. It was more like Frankenstein. The new spirit wraith had a human-like physique, 7 feet tall and bulky muscled, wearing ripped pants, a white t-shirt, and a jacket on top. But unlike Alfred, this guy could transform in crazy ways. Chapter 57: Almonds Solo Speed-Run Adventure (2/2) This new humanoid spirit wraith had flexible transformations. He could sprout monstrous wings that seemed mixed wings of Wandering Fairy and Frostfeather Harpy. He could transform his arms into des. He could berger in size. He could turn fully beast mode like Manticore, which had multiple beasts¡¯ features, but unlike Manticore, this Spirit Wraith looked like a slick nightmare. Four legs, four pairs of big crystalized thin wings with colorful patterns, three tails with de-like tip parts, arge variety of two horns on all three heads¡ªone lion-like head, one Beaver-like head, and the third being a mix of fairy and harpy head, leaning towards human-style face just like those two boss monsters. Almond named this Spirit Wraith [Chimera Frank] since this guy was a true monster in human-like form and no doubt the strongest Spirit Wraith so far. It had tons of strong skills and high base stats. It was already at Silver level 5 when it manifested like the Chimera Viperfiend, with easy 42 stat points to distribute on top of its already high stats. Almond realized that boss-type monsters¡¯ Spirits yed a huge part in making this Spirit Wraith so strong. He had already nned to make the next Spirit Wraith, which he figured would be even more crazier. He had two Boss monsters¡¯ spirits from Fallen Monastery town and five from Valley of Shadowsong. The two bosses in Fallen Monastery Town were fully humanoid¡ªBishop of Dark Faith and Apostal of Blighted Chalice. This area had basically ghouls-version of Priests and Priestesses as monsters, so they were all kind of humanoids. He had kept these thirteen spirits of monsters of this area just for the next Spirit Kodoku creation. After putting five boss monster spirits of Valley of Shadowsong, two boss monsters, and thirteen other spirits of Fallen Monastery Town, Almond left the Valley of Shadowsong and went to another inner-area location like Fallen Monstery Town¡ªDoomed Citadel. After clearing the Dommed Citadel, boosting more stats, and getting two more Boss Spirits from this area along with a lucky drop of a Rare-grade item, Almond went to the third big area¡ªWonder Tree-Topia. Speedrunning thisrge area as well, he got more stat boost and five more Boss spirits, and by the time he was finished with this area, his 4th Spirit Wraith waspleted. But Almond didn¡¯t bother using it, nor did he use his other Spirit Wraiths. There was no need. He was sufficiently fast alone. Naturally, he did put together 20 Spirits in Spirit Kodoku again, with 7 of them being boss monster spirits from Doomed Citadel and Wonder Tree-Topia. Sun was going down afterward, but he pushed further and cleared the third Inner-area location¡ªgued Necropolis before the clock hit 12 ¡¯o midnight. With four Spirit Wraiths¡ªAlfred, Chimera Viperfiend, Chimera Frank, and Dark Pope guarding him, Almond slept like a baby without any worry on top of a big tree¡¯s branch a kilometer away from gued Necropolis. The Labyrinth¡¯s first floor had a total of thirteen monster-infested areas. If one looked at the map, their location would be drawn as mentioned below: 1- Fairy Mountain (Major area)¡ªSouthwest. 2- Valley of Shadowsong (Major area)¡ªWest. 3- Wonder Tree-Topia (Major area)¡ªNorthwest. 4- Twilight Cove (Major area)¡ªNorth. 5- Crystal Hollow (Major area)¡ªNortheast. 6- Ashen Fields (Major area)¡ªEast. 7- Starfall Basin (Major area)¡ªSoutheast. 8- Frostlight Grotto (Major area)¡ªSouth. These were the eight major areas that one would choose based on one of the eight starting spawn points. Almond was already done with three of them and also finished three out of four Inner areas. ¡ª Fallen Monastery Town (Inner area). ¡ª Doomed Citadel (Inner area). ¡ª gued Necropolis (Inner area). ¡ª Burial Light Forest (Inner area). These four inner areas were in the inner circle of the floor. Finally, the centermost area of the first floor, where the floor boss would spawn once conditions were met. Continue your saga on mvl Heart of Wildered¡ªCenter-area. The conditions of the first floor¡¯s boss spawning were pretty simple. There were four items with Special-rank in their description found in four inner areas¡¯ main boss rooms. The description of the items mentioned these items being Floor Boss¡¯s requirements along with the Floor Boss spawn location¡¯s name, so it was easy to know what to do. Almond had two more days before the 3rd cycle of the Labyrinth began. He didn¡¯t mind fighting in the 3rd cycle with increased difficulty, but he wasn¡¯t going to dy just to do that. He nned to clear the rest of the areas and kill the Floor Boss to clear his first floor and get ess to the second floor. The n to clear the first floor via Floor Trial went to naught since he and Lily spent the whole remaining time of the 3rd day opening his Chakra points. As such, although he could do the floor trial after the girls left, he didn¡¯t do it since he had decided to kill the Floor Boss on his own to clear the floor instead of doing the floor trial. Almond woke up after eight hours of sleep and resumed his solo adventure, his 5th Spirit Wraith still in the making. On the other hand, Lily and Natalia were still in meditation. They entered meditation at 10 in the morning yesterday, and the clock was already hitting 9 o¡¯clock the next day morning. They were in meditation for 23 hours. There was a known limit of Skill Insight period, and it was 24 hours. Spending the whole 24 hours meant that one gained the full benefits of the Skill Insight period. Both of them opened their eyes when the 24th hour passed by. "Urgh¡­" Natalia clutched her head andy on the floor. "This headache is annoying." "But worth it," Lily smiled as she alsoy on the floor. "I had a long, fun dream of fighting with exotic powers rted to my ss that I was designing." "Same," Natalia couldn¡¯t help but grin, thinking of the dream. "Anyway, let¡¯s quickly submit our second skill design, eat and then sleep. I¡¯m tired as fuck." "Yep." Chapter 58: Fish on The Hook (1) At noon, Sabrina and Dagon talked with Grand Admiral Rudra on a video call. Sabrina exined the n to deal with the time bomb that was Draven. Hearing Draven¡¯s situation, Rudra¡¯s mustache red in anger, "That bastard! If he raised his son with a bit of kindness instead, he wouldn¡¯t be wallowing in grief right now!" "Alright," Rudra sighed and continued, "I will arrange this y you made, Sabrina. But let¡¯s go with three days instead of five." Dagon and Sabrina were surprised. "Lily told me Almond nned topletely clear all the areas," Sabrina blinked. "But you think he can do that in the next three days?" "Senior Rudra, you have seen him in action and also praised him to the heavens," Dagon said with augh. "That¡¯s enough reason to believe you." "Well, I can¡¯t disagree," Sabrina chuckled. "I am more and more eager to see him in the flesh." "Don¡¯t count the chickens early," Rudra sternly said. "He must pass my test first. If he doesn¡¯t pass-" "He will pass," Dagon grinned. "We believe in our daughter¡¯s ability to see someone¡¯s character. She said he is a good person, so he is." "That¡¯s right," Sabrina said with an almost prideful tone. "Alright, alright. I¡¯ll find that myself soon. You two just get him to me when hees. As for Draven, I am directing Han to ry the message to him now." "Thank you, Admiral Rudra," Sabrina smiled. "You two have epted him without even meeting him," Rudra rolled his eyes. "Alright, I am cutting off now. Let¡¯s hope he passes my test." ¡­ An hourter, Draven got a call from Mr. Han, and he immediately jumped from his chair. "Mr. Han? Please tell me you have good news." "I do have the good news, Mr. Draven. I have gotten approval from the Grand Admiral to allow you to watch the recordings captured by Arcane Eyes." "What?" Draven was shocked, his lips trembling, "D-Did you already see what happened to my son?" "No. I am not allowed to see it. The new policy is that those whose rtives met with unfortunate development will be allowed to see what happened to them in the Labyrinth. This is not public yet, but I requested it, and they agreed to let you see it after three days." "Three days?" Draven frowned and then eased it up as he added, "Understood. I¡¯ll get on the flight after two days." "Yes. The arrangements will be made by then." "Thank you, Mr. Han." ¡­ Lily and Natalia woke up in the evening after resting fully. After freshening up, they went to the dining table to eat and started TV to watch the ongoing situations over the world. "Super Rookie Jian Ranford has just returned from the 2nd Floor yesterday and already cleared a red-colored C-rank Dungeon all alone in just three hours!" The screen showed a young man, eighteen years old, with short white-blue hair and brown eyes. He could be considered a pretty boy with his thin frame and look, but his demeanor was cold and indifferent. The reporters were asking him questions while he was moving towards the car surrounded by bodyguards, but he kept a mum and a in face, ignoring them until he arrived at the car¡¯s door and finally turned to the cameras. "I heard a question about the strongest Super Rookie, who asked that?" "It was me!" A round, spectacleddy in herte twenties replied, raising her hand. Jian looked at her and replied, "You will get your answer soon when the new leaderboard opens up." After saying that, he entered the car and left while the reports continued to speak. "Humph, that bastard is quite haughty," Natalia snorted. "I¡¯ll beat some sense into him when I fight him," Lily chuckled. "Anyway, you are participating in the Rising Star Tournament, right?" "Of course," Natalia grinned. "I can¡¯t possibly back away when this tournament is giving away stat-boosting items. With my new ss, I might enter the top 100 in the new leaderboard, what do you say?" Lily chewed her meatball before answering, "No idea. You need to get betterbat-wise. Talented people between 18 and 24 all over the world will be entering brackets of different ranks in the Rising Star Tournament. We¡¯ll be in the Silver rank bracket, and there will be many Silver-ranked adventurers." "But I can at least get into the top 100 in the Silver bracket of Leaderboard, right?" Natalia asked with a pout. "That¡¯s minimum if I want the stat-boosting item." "You gotta train," Lily wryly smiled. "Look, there are 150 cities in total. Thousands will participate, and there are many of the so-called elite families that train their kids to be fighters. Just after the first year of the appearance of the Labyrinth, these families had popped up as they knew that the futurey on bing powerful and having a powerful new generation." "That¡¯s why thepetition will be tough. Aside from ss skills, you also need to learn core techniques like Physical Enchantment, master a weapon, and train inbat. In your case, your ss is one of those perpetual ssbat types, so you need to master an instrument first." "Your second ss skill: Musico Weaponize, is pretty cool. It¡¯s a passive skill and allows you to perform unique basic attacks based on the instrument you are wielding. Any instrument you use will be your unique weapon, so mastering one is a must." Natalia nodded, her eyes fired up, "Piano will make it hard for me to move, so I can¡¯t train in it if I want to utilize my second ss skill for the Rising Star Tournament. I¡¯ll go with Flute first." "That¡¯s good," Lily nodded. "You¡¯ll start training in it once we reach the Firefly City." "When¡¯s our flight?" "Tonight at 9 o¡¯clock. Meet your grandparents and stay with them for a bit before we meet up at the League of Firefly guild¡¯s training center. I¡¯ll talk to my mentor to allow you in." "Yey! Also, we¡¯ll enter Labyrinth near the end of the second cycle, right? Because I want to finish the floor trial and get the juicy reward. I¡¯ll need it to do better in the tournament." "Of course. Anyway, let¡¯s finish eating so we can go to the GAA branch. I saw Mom¡¯s message on the phone after I woke up. It seems Mom and Dad want to talk about something rted to Almond." Chapter 59: Fish on the Hook (2), Arrival at the Firefly City Lily and Natalia heard from Sabrina and Dagon about the n to deal with Draven, and it was frankly wonderful, just like baiting a fish into the hook using bait. The bait was Almond, the fish was Draven, and the hook was Admiral Rudra. "Mom, Dad. Thank you. That¡¯s a great n, and I¡¯m d Admiral Rudra agreed," Lily said, grinning as she added," And I am sure Almond will pass the moral test easily." "We hope that¡¯s the case," Dagon said with a nod. "Anyway, I¡¯m in a hurry¡ªthere¡¯s a gold-colored A-rank dungeon door on the verge of breaking about five kilometers from the northern city border. I won¡¯t be able to see you off at the airport." "No problem, Dad. You hurry up." Dagon left hurriedly. Sabrina looked at Lily, her eyes glinting as if she was scanning her body, "Dear, do you want to open the rest of your Chakra points now, or did your mentor say she would do it?" "She will do it," Lily replied with a smile. "But we don¡¯t have much time, so I¡¯d like you to help Natalia open her Chakra points. I¡¯m sure she will be epted in the guild, given her specialized ss and potential, but it¡¯s better she gets some help before her examination test." Natalia sped her hands and cheekily smiled, "Thank you, auntie." "Oh, it¡¯s nothing," Sabrina waved her hand and got up from her chair. "Let¡¯s go to the training room and finish it. Your primary ss is quite good due to its skill, and your specialized ss is an all-rounder and powerful being at SS-rank. I¡¯m sure League of Firefly will consider you an asset to nurture. But if not, GAA will always have a spot for you." "Nah, I¡¯ll make sure she gets in the League of Firefly guild," Lily grinned. "I¡¯ll make better use of her." "Auntie, I think Lily is going to vite me!" Sabrina couldn¡¯t help butugh. "Alright, alright. Don¡¯t do that, Lily." "¡­" Lily. "Hehehe," Natalia. ¡­ The night descended soon as time passed swiftly in the training room. Lily didn¡¯t want to stay idle, so she was also ying with her new ss skills, exploring better usage and applications to use them in herbat style. Sabrina was proficient in opening the basic chakra points all over the body, so she was done helping Natalia just half an hour before their departure to the airport. Fortunately, the airport system all over the world has drastically improved, and the fuel usage has also changed to magic crystals from dungeons. Each monster dropped magic crystals with attributes, and there was usually a magic crystal vein in dungeons from which Adventurers could mine the crystals. The Grand Abyss Labyrinth didn¡¯t have those, but both of these supernatural forces were important for humanity¡¯s growth. The Labyrinth allowed Adventurers to level up and get stronger, while Dungeons gave much-needed resources. Failure to clear a dungeon before its border turnspletely ck results in disaster, so it¡¯s critical to clear dungeons on time. Usually, the Dungeon Doors spawned with a white-colored border, but if left unattended, their color would change to blue, then red, then golden, and then ck. Dungeons became a high priority for adventurers because there had been multiple disasters urring due to dungeon breaks. The patterns and time required for their color change weren¡¯t discovered because it appeared that each dungeon door had a different period, making GAA and Earth Union put much effort into locating and observing them all over the world. GAA shared responsibilities of handling Dungeons with Guilds by giving them territories because of that, but generally, dungeons were considered fortunes and a ce for training for Adventurers as long as they were cleared on time. Thanks to dungeons that often dropped stat-increasing items, it was hard to judge an Adventurer¡¯s stats purely based on their rank and level. Not to mention other factors like mastery of five important Mana techniques¡ªPhysical Enchantment, Aura Enfold, Focus Field, Mana Transmutation, and Flow State. ¡­ The distance from Frostar City to Firefly City was 6758 kilometers. The flight took three hours. If it was in the past, it would¡¯ve taken a lot more hours, but the safety measures while in the air and the functions of the airnes had drastically improved thanks to the addition of Magitech, which was developing fast. With the additions of various magitech developments, the importance of Dungeons increased even more, ignitingpetition between Guilds. GAA was still at the forefront of development, but many organizations backed by Guilds were researching their own new Magitech. Firefly City¡ªone of the ten biggest cities on Earth. League of Firefly had a huge array of structures to their name. A headquarters building, a training center building, abat arena, and other smaller facilities. It was like a university campus. As Lily and Natalianded, both went their separate ways for the time being. Natalia¡¯s grandparents picked her up while Lily was picked up by a woman in her mid-twenties with wavy red hair. "Lily Darkwood," Lily cordially smiled as she stretched her hand for a handshake. ¡¯So she is the one that senior Aria favored, huh?¡¯ "Hazel Sol, nice to meet you, youngdy," Hazel said with a smile, sizing her up, "Well, you¡¯re gonna be popr among the guys. Hope you don¡¯t mind some courtings." "I do mind, as I am taken," Lily inly said and took her hand back as they both started walking. Thanks to the storage pouch, many people didn¡¯t need to carry their luggage, though Lily kept an umbre since she didn¡¯t like to walk empty-handed, it wasn¡¯t just any normal umbre--It was an Epic-grade defensive-type item that her father had given her. ¡¯Taken, huh? Poor girl got trapped by some guy, but the world of adventurers is a cut-throat one,¡¯ Hazel thought as she wryly smiled. "That¡¯s a surprise, Lily. Is he some famous rookie or an older guy around my age who impressed you?" ¡¯So she is the type that¡¯s more into this?¡¯ Lily thought. She could easily read this Hazel girl. "What about you, Hazel? I feel like you got someone good as your partner." "Eh? Haha, well, he is kinda good," Hazel smiled. "He¡¯s got an S-rank specialized ss on top of an A-rank primary ss and is doing good." "I wanted to join him on the second cycle of Labyrinth on the 6th floor, but the guild said no," Hazel sighed. "I need to get better." ¡¯Duh. You¡¯re focusing on the wrong areas as an Adventurer. I bet she is also cheating with someone, securing anotherp to ride on,¡¯ Lily rolled her eyes. Funny thing, Lily was actually right. They arrived at the car, so Hazel sat in the driver¡¯s seat, and Lily went around to sit in the passenger seat after folding the umbre. But just as the car started and Hazel drove the car, she spoke again, "Anyway, I heard from senior Aria that you have the potential to be the super rookie like the one we already have." "Maybe." Hazel responded while smiling, "You got S-rank primary ss, right? In that case, someone like you must surely have gotten into a rtionship with a talented guy, haha. Is he also going to join League of Firefly?" "No idea. It¡¯s up to him," Lily replied. "Oh, to be honest, if you want to be in a rtionship with someone, it would be better to be in the same guild. There are only benefits this way," Hazel said with a grin. ¡¯Geez, will she stop talking about rtionships and stuff?¡¯ Lily sighed internally. She didn¡¯t want to talk about this anymore. "Yeah, noted. Anyway, how far is the guild¡¯s location?" "Just ten kilometers. We¡¯ll be there soon." ¡¯Great.¡¯ Hazel could feel Lily didn¡¯t want to talk about it. ¡¯Tsk, the new kids get some attention and think they are something. ss ranks are not all there is to be a powerful Adventurer. Well, she¡¯ll find out how toughpetition is here soon enough.¡¯ There was silence in the car for ten minutes before it was broken by Hazel who cursed out loud and pressed on the brakes. Lily blinked, her eyes focused on a three meters tall door manifesting several meters away, in the middle of the road. "Wonderful," Lily said as she got out of the car. "Wait, Lily. What are you doing?" "It¡¯s a three-meter-tall door with a white border, meaning that it¡¯s a D-rank dungeon gate," Lily took out her daggers and positioned them at her waist with the sticky belt, and her outfit also changed, turning hazy ck wispy magic robe, looking badass. After all, it was her specialized ss¡¯s second SSS-rank skill, a toggle-type skill--Dreadspire Mantle. "I am going inside. I was supposed to be allowed to enter any dungeon I wish within my rank difficulty range anyway." ¡¯And because I don¡¯t want to hear your nonsense anymore.¡¯ At that, Lily jumped into the dungeon door. Chapter 60: Fish on the Hook (3), First Floor Boss Summoning D-rank dungeons were small, generally the size of a major area of thebyrinth¡¯s first floor. Despite showing phenomena like the sun or moon, these dungeons had fixed boundaries ording to their size. Some dungeons were entirely enclosed, resemblingrge castles, peculiar towns, or sprawling settlements inhabited by various monsters like goblins and orcs. Others took the form of intricateworks of tunnels and caverns, forests, mountains, various unique biomes, etcetera. As Lily entered the dungeon door, she found herself in a lush meadow with domes made of colorful flowers. The dungeons had some simrities to each other, no matter the rank. The starting area¡ªfilled with normal mobs. The inner area as one progresses further¡ªresources and elite mobs. And boss room¡ªthe final boss, whose defeat would lead to the appearance of the exit portal. There were also mini-bosses, but those only appeared in B-rank dungeons and above. After the final boss is defeated, the dungeon door remains in existence for 24 hours, allowing the adventures to explore it and possibly find a magic crystal vein to farm. D-rank dungeon meant the monsters inside were only up to Bronze-rank level 10. It was like a walk in the park for Lily as she leisurely killed the monsters using new styles. Her second SSS-rank ss skill¡ªDreadspire Mantle, was a perpetual booster as long as it remained activated. [Dreadspire Mantle] -Skill rank: SSS -Type: Toggle. -Cost: 0.5% to n% of Blood every second. -Effect: ¡ª> Adorn the outfit of Dreadspire Mantle over the user. While the skill is active, all attacks of the user, be they magical or physical or both, can drain the vitality of the target based on damage and fill up the gauge of Dreadspire Call. The higher the activation cost, the stronger the vitality drain. You can also channel drained vitality to another target. ¡ª> Dreadspire Call-[0/100]: Once filled up, the user can call upon a Dreadspire Elemental to aid inbat. Once summoned, the gauge resets. These elementals have the same stats as the user. You can summon up to four at once. ¡ª> Dreadspire Elementals: 1. Lupine of Darkened me, 2. Roc of Withered Wind, 3. Whale of Curseweaved Water, 4. Golem of Gloombound Earth. Lily wanted to see these Dreadspire Elementals, but the monsters here were too weak, such that it was taking time to fill up the Dreadspire Call gauge. ¡¯It seems that the higher the damage I deal, the faster it fills up. But since these monsters have such a low maximum vitality, the damage it registers, which is based on their maximum vitality, is also considered low even if my attack is stronger.¡¯ Lily was slightly annoyed at it, but there was nothing else she could do. Fortunately, by the time she arrived at the boss room¡ªa beautiful garden with colorful flowers¡ªthe gauge had finally filled. The boss was a massive flower with five writhing vines and a circr, tooth-ringed mouth. ¡¯Let¡¯s see¡­¡¯ Lily summoned Lupine of Darkened me as a five-meter-tall badass ck wolf manifested. It had crimson aura waves and some patterns of red on its fur, with deadly shining ck ws covered with translucent red aura. Lily¡¯s eyes sparkled as she saw the wolf. ¡¯Attack!¡¯ The wolf transformed into a dark red stream of me that formed a massive w, shing through the flower and tearing it to pieces before reverting to wolf form behind it. "Awooo!!" [Congrattions, you have defeated the Dungeon¡¯s Final Boss.] ¡¯Wow! But this isn¡¯t enough. I need to enter a stronger dungeon as soon as possible!¡¯ Lily was in a good mood as she tested her new skill, even though it was only a part of it. She was raring to fight more, so she exited the dungeon and saw there were already normal members of the guild present whose job was to secure the area around the dungeon door. "You brat, you couldn¡¯t contain yourself, eh?" Lily smiled as she saw the speaker¡ªa gorgeous woman in her thirties with dark silver hair, wearing a ck robe embroidered with silver design and a sword at her waist. Ranked 12th on the Global Leaderboard, she was Aria of Crimson Shadow, the second-most powerful member of the League of Firefly guild. But her gaze shifted to behind Lily as the Lupine of Darkened me also emerged from the dungeon door, startling the surrounding people. "What is that?" Aria looked at the wolf and raised her eyebrows, her eyes glinting. ¡¯Interesting. It¡¯s a pure elemental creature.¡¯ "Lupine of Darkened me," Lily replied with a smile and waved her hand, causing the wolf to vanish as she dispersed it and also found another thing regarding the skill. ¡¯It seems that once an elemental is summoned, it stays even if I deactivate the skill. Which means it needs to be defeated unless I disperse it, huh? Cool.¡¯ "It seems that you got a pretty interesting specialized ss," Aria smiled and stretched her hand towards Lily. "Come, we¡¯ll talk in detail about that." Lily nodded and grabbed her hand. In the next second, she only saw darkness around her before she appeared right in front of the League of Fireflys¡¯s gate! ¡¯Shadow Transport,¡¯ Lily blinked and looked around. ¡¯Pretty handy skill.¡¯ "Come, let¡¯s finish the guild matter first. After that, we¡¯ll do a thorough evaluation of your currentbat power." "And I can go to dungeons, right? I can¡¯t wait." It was already almost one o¡¯clock in the morning. The sky was fully dark, and stars were visible. By the time Lily finished with guild matters and her evaluation, three hours had passed by. There wasn¡¯t any need to sleep for her yet, so she asked to dive into a dungeon and went on. Meanwhile, Natalia spent the night at her Grandparent¡¯s ce. They were Gold-rank adventurers and progressed slowly as they also had apany to handle. Natalia¡¯s uncle was in jail, but his wife, daughter, and son were living with her grandparents. All of them also abhorred him because they knew of his crime and were epting of Natalia. She had a real family time after years and spent the night with her cousins, roaming the city as they showed her around. Lily cleared a big C-rank dungeon until seven in the morning, with Aria apanying her for observation. Upon returning to the guild, she fell asleep and met up with Natalia after waking up. Aria agreed to let Natalia train and give her guild entrance examination a dayter. Meanwhile, Almond was on the cusp of clearing the entire first floor of the Labyrinth. The second cycle¡¯s third day had just started, but Almond was ready to summon the Floor Boss as he stood at the center of the Heart of Wildered. Summoning his eight exotic Spirit Wraiths around him, Almond put the four special items at the center of the entric stone circle and initiated the Floor Boss summoning. [Floor Boss summoning¡­in ten seconds.] "Get into position. Eight of you in eight directions. We are going all out once the boss appears," Almondmanded his Spirit Wraiths. Alfred stood at the north. Chimera Viperfiend stood at the northwest, entering its Synthesize tank mode. Chimera Frank stood in the south point, entering its Monster Lord form. Dark Pope appeared at the southwest spot. Forest Maid Sylvia entered her Forest Queen form and rooted herself in the western spot. Chimera Crystalist, in its Crystal Artillery form, floated in the eastern spot. Starlight Beast crouched itself in the northeast direction of the circle. Finally, the Infernal Knight, wielding a massive greatsword and shield ofva patterns and ashen rock, positioned itself on the southeast point atop its fiery horse. Almond stepped back from the center, stopping on the south side five meters in front of Chimera Frank as the countdown hit zero. [ Floor Boss¡ªLord Wildered the Broken has been summoned.] Chapter 61: Fish on the Hook (4), X-Rank Trait: Tenacity!! The floor boss towered at an imposing fifty meters, a colossal figure carved from rugged stone with deep fissures crisscrossing its surface. These cracks pulsated with an eerie glow, streaming vibrant red and green energy, giving it a life-like aura. In its right hand, it wielded a massive, shattered sword, jagged edges gleaming ominously in the light. Its left arm ended abruptly at the elbow, reced by a menacing hook that seemed to glint with a predatory intent. As it lifted its head to the sky, a thunderous roar erupted from its depths, echoing through the surroundings, a primal sound that signaled both power and impending doom. [Lord Wildered the Broken]¡ªFloor Boss -Vitality: [100%/100%] -Mana: [25,000/25,000] -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 200 | Health: 1000 | Stamina: 500] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 2500 | Focus: 200 | Perception: 200 ] Almond¡¯s eyes shed with power as he immediately made the first move. Divine Divider¡¯s Harvest! The ethereal grimde manifested and shed through Lord Wildered before its Vitality suddenly dropped to half, from 100% to directly 50%! In turn, Almond felt surging vitality coursing through him! Now he was as tanky as the floor boss! The air crackled with anticipation as Almond stood at the center of the battlefield, his gaze fixed on the colossal Floor Boss towering above them. ¡¯Attack!¡¯ Everyone attacked at the same time, unleashing a bombardment of exotic skill attacks containing their full power. Alfred unleashed a vortex of me like a drill containing all of his Mana, blindingly beautiful as it pierced through the darkness toward the monstrous giant. Skill: mestorm Drill! Chimera Viperfiend, in its formidable tank mode, crackled with mana as it released a relentless barrage of a condensed beam like a railgun from its barrel. Skill: Vipertoxin Beam! A new skill attack in its Synthesized Tank form. Chimera Frank assumed its terrifying Monster Lord form, a hulking figure of raw power. It let loose a terrifying roar that sent visible ringyered shockwaves that dealt devastating damage, crackling the Floor Boss¡¯s exterior. Skill: Echo of Ruin! Dark Pope, cloaked in shadows, extended a hand, and summoned tendrils of darkness thatshed out with ferocity, striking the Floor Boss and inflicting deep wounds that siphoned its strength. Skill: Shadow Strike Whish! Forest Maid Sylvia, in her Forest Queen form, sprouted a giant sunflower that unleashed a bright, burning golden beam, unleashing a furious offensive attack. Skill: Sunburst Fury! In the eastern sky, Chimera Crystalist floated gracefully, shimmering with crystalline beauty. With a swift motion, itunched a barrage of razor-sharp crystal shards that flew through the air like deadly missiles, exploding on impact and raining glittering destruction upon the Floor Boss. Skill: Prismatic Onught! Crouched in the northeast, the Starlight Beast glowed with ethereal light, coiling its muscles like a spring. It leaped into the air and enveloped itself into a starlight veil before crashing down upon the Floor Boss with explosive force. Skill: Starlight Meteor Strike! Lastly, in the southeast, the Infernal Knight raised its greatsword, and a sweeping arc of moltenva cascaded over the Floor Boss, igniting it in a ze of destruction. Skill: Molten Arc Cleave! *Roarr!!* The Floor Boss¡ªLord Wildered roared as they swept its broken sword in a furious motion, its vitality still at 21%! The broken sword was suddenly extended with a dark red and green energy weaved on it. But Almond was ready with his own strongest attack with his insane stats. Beforeunching this attack, he had used Divine Divider¡¯s Harvest again to halve Lord Wildered¡¯s Strength stat and absorb it! Next, Physical Enchantment¡ªboosted his Strength by 100%! He attacked the iing sword attack of Floor Boss with his Preying Hunter¡¯s sword in a shing motion, bearing all of his power as it cut past Lord Wildered¡¯s sword attack before Almond jumped and executed five shes in quick session, exerting all of his physical prowess! Five shes of Starlit Destruction! This simple move of the sword required him to exert his physical prowess to the limit to perform five shes that would be connected to each other and create a star-shaped carving infused with a devastating attack from his exerted physical strength and condensed Mana! *BOOOM!* [Congrattions. You have disyed the transcendental feat of defeating a Floor Boss all by yourself. You have been awarded with 1,000,000 Gold coins.] [You have been awarded aplete Floor Boss Subjugation Reward Chest for achieving 100% contribution on this Floor Boss fight.] "Woooh!" Almondnded on the ground as the adrenaline rush got to him with thatst attack. That was by far his strongest executed attack. On top of his already insane stats, he had further boosted himself with Divine Divider¡¯s Harvest. "Good work, everyone." The Floor Boss scattered away, leaving behind a glorious treasure chest that nobody had ever gotten before. But Almond put it inside the storage bag that Lily had given him before leaving since Lily had kept Jacob¡¯s storage pouch inside Almond¡¯s backpack that she took out with her when she left. Afterward, Almond captured the Floor Boss¡¯s Spirit and simplyy on the ground right there and then. [Spirit Kodoku has fini-] ¡¯Yeah, yeah,ter.¡¯ "I am going to sleep. Look out for me, buddies." Thest time he slept was over a day ago, and he had been fighting non-stop, so he was extremely tired as his adrenaline rush died down, and in just a few seconds, he was sleeping like a log. Ten hourster, Almond woke up, but along with feeling vigorous and refreshed, he was suddenly assaulted with a burst of memories. Clutching his head, Almond saw images shing in his mind, voices of people he had never seen before but somehow felt familiar, and most of all, the destruction of the world happening in front of his eyes before he entered into the Labyrinth¡¯s 30th Floor, and then the image skipped to the mysterious notification telling him that he was going to be reborn and could get his memories upon clearing 1st to 10th floor of the Labyrinth. But then, everything went nk, and a clear flow of memories entered him. The memories of him when he was a kid with different parents. How they entered the Labyrinth, died, and his life turned a mess before he trained hard until he was eighteen and entered the Labyrinth, bing stronger gradually, forming new bonds, and bearing new hopes. He and his party cleared the second floor and celebrated outside before the flow of memories was cut off. At that moment, Almond understood everything that was happening. The light in his eyes shifted, his entire vibe elevated, and he oozed out an aura resembling an indomitable sword, viewing everything in front of it as nothing more than temporary obstacles for him to ovee. [You have awakened your dormant Trait.] [Trait: Tenacity] -Rank: X -Description: This trait is awakened due to your undefeated will and tenacity in the face of adversaries. Despair runs from you, and hope embraces you. -Effect: You may transcend and break all your limits in the pursuit of your goals. ¡¯The world of my past life was destroyed¡­¡¯ Almond clenched his fist. ¡¯Although I didn¡¯t get my full memories, the images, my entry into the 30th Floor, that dead Floor boss, and that message¡­¡¯ ¡¯Whatever the case, this is my new life, and I will make sure the same fate won¡¯t befall this world, for I have people I hold dear now, and I will have more of those people in my life,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes were bright. Looking at the Spirit Wraiths and his feats so far, he had a surge of confidence and drive because he was strong! And he was going to get stronger, stronger than anyone, to find who or what was putting the Grimworld Tutorial on worlds. ¡¯Grimworld Tutorial, and whatever that is above this¡­I aming there,ing to destroy your system. That is my ultimate goal! Chapter 62: Fish on the Hook (5/6), Meeting Lily’s Parents At the Labyrinth gate in Frostar City, there were always two people from GAA watching. They changed shifts with two other people every eight hours to be on the lookout. "I don¡¯t get it. Why are we looking for some unknown kid? It¡¯s the second cycle¡¯s third day¡¯s evening already." "You think he died inside?" "If not, he has five hours only. Once the third cycle starts and the monster number increases along with their stats, it bes way hard to survive inside." "Eh, the gate is glowing. Someone¡¯sing out." The two men fixed their eyes on the gate and soon saw a ck-haired young man with almond-golden eyes walk out and stretch his arms with a leisurely vibe. "Feels good," Almond smiled as he looked around. Everything was familiar, the same as when he first entered the Labyrinth, but¡­he waspletely different! He sensed a couple of gazes on him and turned his head looking at the two men in their twenties as they were walking towards him. "Almond Crowshade. We are from GAA, nice to meet you." Almond smiled and nodded, "Hi." "We would appreciate it if you coulde with us to the GAA branch, as we have orders from Commander Dagon." "Sure, let¡¯s go." ¡¯I guess Lily has made arrangements for me.¡¯ ¡­ After Almond arrived at the GAA branch, he met with Lily¡¯s parents in the office. Looking at Almond, both of them subtly sized him up, their eyes filling with shock as they could feel Almond¡¯s stats were off the charts for someone at Silver level 10. Almond greeted them politely and respectfully, but his bearing was confident and unperturbed, attributed to his arsenal of power and also the memories he acquired of his past life and knowing a brutal truth that people of this world didn¡¯t know rted to the ¡¯phases¡¯ of the Labyrinth. ¡¯Anyway, do they know about my rtionship with Lily?¡¯ Almond was only a bit nervous about this one thing. "Almond Crowshade," Sabrina smiled, her voice gentle and calm as she continued, "Lily told us everything." "Everything?" Almond blinked. Dagon had a poker face as he replied with a nod, "Everything, indeed." "But there are important things that you need to know right now," he added and gestured to Almond, "First, have a seat." Almond sat down on the chair, a hint of curiosity on his face. "The act of you killing Jacob and the other two has been captured in a live high-definition video format due to a secret project of GAA¡ªArcane Eyes." Almond¡¯s pupils shrank. "But don¡¯t worry," Sabrina immediately added after Dagon finished speaking. "Jacob¡¯s father doesn¡¯t know." "If my act is captured, then does that mean what they did to me was also captured?" Almond asked. ¡¯He is still calm, no anxiousness or worry,¡¯ Dagon was surprised. ¡¯It seems he already figured our intentions aren¡¯t to harm him.¡¯ "That¡¯s right, what they did to you was also captured at that time," Sabrina nodded. "I had formed a n to help you get out of this mess and deal with Jacob¡¯s father, who was like a time bomb ready to explode because his son died." "And," Dagon said, "That n was approved by Grand Admiral Rudra." Almond was genuinely surprised. ¡¯Grand Admiral Rudra?! He¡¯s way too big of a big shot.¡¯ "It was too dangerous to leave Draven alone because he could kill students and anyone he found suspicious, which was why this n was formed," Sabrina narrowed her eyes, "GAA decided to let him see the footage of his son¡¯s being murdered. This was the only way to keep him from snapping." Almond nodded, his expression thought, "From what I know, Jacob¡¯s father isn¡¯t exactly a good person. I¡¯ve heard rumors, and rumors like those have a basis of truth¡­is GAA nning to eliminate him?" Sabrina and Dagon were taken back. ¡¯Kid is sharp.¡¯ ¡¯Lily was right. He is a hoarder of information.¡¯ "That¡¯s right," Sabrina nodded with a soft smile. "Lily ispletely smitten with you, and we don¡¯t have any objections. She¡¯s our beloved, brilliant daughter, and we trust her judgmentpletely." Almond¡¯s ears turned slightly red as he couldn¡¯t help but smile. "Cough," Dagon coughed and continued with the main topic, "Anyway, that¡¯s why we have to remove the threat that is Draven, and you are bait in this n. We also can¡¯t just kill Draven openly. There are guilds and forces that oppose GAA from the dark, and killing Draven without solid proof will put GAA in a negative light." Almond nodded. "So after showing him the footage, you will let him loose on me?" Seeing no hint of fear in him, Sabrina and Dagon were surprised and wryly smiled. "Aren¡¯t you scared?" Sabrina raised her eyebrows. "This is a risk for you." Almond smiled and replied, "Two reasons. One is that this n was approved by Grand Admiral Rudra. I can¡¯t possibly die with him in the y." Dagon chuckled and nodded, "That¡¯s correct. What¡¯s the second reason?" "My ss skill," Almond¡¯s eyes glinted as an ethereal and mysterious grimde shed in them, clearly captured by Sabrina and Dagon, who felt a potent, higher rank of power from Almond. It was higher than any of their skills¡¯ quality, and that¡¯s what Almond wanted to show them. "Interesting," Dagon said as he stretched a grin. "Although we are curious about your arsenal of power, we won¡¯t pry as that¡¯s not exactly tasteful for Adventurers. Putting this aside, the stage is set for the y, so we can depart for Skytree City anytime you want." Sabrina waved her hand as a hologram popped up from the table in front of her, showing a countdown. "If you want to rest and sleep, you can do that here or in the Skytree city because you exited the Labyrinth one day earlier than we expected. Draven is already there and waiting to see the footage, but he will only see it once you arrive there," Sabrina said. "Well, there¡¯s no need for rest as I had full ten hours of sleep after defeating the Floor Boss," Almond smiled and got up, "but I¡¯ll appreciate a shower before we depart." Chapter 63: Fish on the Hook (6/6) "Floor Boss¡­you defeated it alone?" Dagon asked, dumbfounded. Sabrina was also taken aback and thought she had heard wrong. "Not exactly alone, as I have my summons," Almond chuckled. "But it¡¯s mainly thanks to my specialized ss¡¯s skill." Almond didn¡¯t want to leave them in suspense after sharing this revtion, so he decided to demonstrate the skill directly. After all, they were Lily¡¯s parents, fully supportive of her¡ªand of him. They had even prepared everything he needed with genuine care. If he couldn¡¯t trust them, then who could he trust? "I can show you the effect directly on you if you don¡¯t mind?" Almond asked with a smile. Dagon¡¯s eyes immediately gleamed as heughed, "Alright, throw it on us. I assume it¡¯s not direct offensive skill since you suggested using it on us." Almond nodded, his eyes gleaming as he used Divine Diver¡¯s Harvest on both of them, halving their Strength stat. Dagon and Sabrina were shocked as they felt a clear reduction in their Strength. "So you halved that Floor Boss¡¯s Vitality by half, borrowed its Strength as well, I suppose?" Sabrina asked, her eyes blinked once, showing amazement. "This¡­is powerful," Dagon calmed waves in his heart before he heartilyughed. "Alright, boy, you got one hell of a specialized ss, I can tell. What¡¯s its name?" "Riftveil Grimde," Almond answered with a smile and returned their Strength. ¡­ Dagon and Almond arrived at the Darkwood family mansion. Almond finished showering, and they departed on an advanced private magitech airne given to high-ranking members of GAA. In just an hour, they crossed seven thousand kilometers and reached Skytree City,nding at the Global Adventurers Association¡¯s headquarters. Since Dagon had notified Admiral Rudra that he wasing with Almond, the y had already started. Mr. Han led Draven to the restricted area of the headquarters, leaving in the corridor before gesturing to him. "Please go ahead. You¡¯ll meet Admiral Rudra past that door, and he¡¯ll show you the video." Mr. Han left, and Draven walked as he arrived at the door. It automatically opened the secondter, with a single big screen showing Jacob, Seyung, and Lamp. "Jacob¡­" Draven muttered, his lips trembling. He looked at Admiral Rudra¡¯s back facing him andposed himself, "Greetings, Admiral Rudra." "Come in and stand here," Admiral Rudra replied without turning around, his hands still behind his back as he calmly stood at the center of the big room. The other screens were off at the moment¡ªonly one big screen was turned on. The door behind closed as Draven walked in and stood beside Admiral Rudra, his gaze on the screen. "Do you know the crime of killing another Adventurer in the Labyrinth?" Draven nodded, "Imprisonment to death sentence depending on the circumstances and reasons after investigation." "Thisw will change soon," Admiral Rudra said, his voicecking any emotion. "But that doesn¡¯t concern you anymore. Here, take a look at what your son did inside and what happened to him in the end as a result." "Astra, y from the start." Draven wanted to ask something, but in the end, he didn¡¯t say anything and just looked at the screen. But his expression soon changed as he saw the three of them cornering Almond. "T-This¡­." Draven gulped, foreboding something bad. And indeed, Seyung looked at Jacob and said something while Jacob waved his hand, his expressionmanding. Right after that, Seyung slit Almond¡¯s throat. The trio left, leaving Almond twitching in pain and agony, heading towards his death. "If your son were alive, he would¡¯ve been subjected to the new punishmentw. Not imprisonment but envement and forcedbor with period mind-controlled moral tests to determine their disposition and further sentence." The video paused there as Admiral Rudramanded Astra, "Show the goblin settlement incident." The video fast-forwarded as Draven saw Jacob, Seyung, and Lamp fighting against the Goblins. But suddenly, Draven¡¯s body jerked as he saw two explosions urring around Jacob, exploding him into bits as his disfigured headnded beside Seyung. "Jacob!" Draven shouted, his breath uneven. "Someone killed him!" Admiral Rudra didn¡¯t say anything as the video continued and soon showed Almond. "H-He¡­" Draven was shocked, his eyes trembling. To clear his confusion, Admiral Rudra promptly spoke with indifference, "He had a second awakening of sorts, the one that urs upon meeting some special conditions resulting in awakening a new primary ss." Draven¡¯s eyes were already bloodshot, his fist clenched. To him, it mattered not if his son did that. He was captured only because of this new magitech. He himself had killed people in the Labyrinth secretly. To him, the only fault here was getting discovered. ¡¯I am going to kill you even if it¡¯s thest thing I do, bastard!¡¯ Draven¡¯s eyes glued hatefully on Almond as he saw him taking Jacob¡¯s storage pouch and leaving. "What are you going to do, Draven?" Admiral Rudra finally moved and stood across Draven, his eyes boring into his with sharp glints in them. "I-I¡­" Draven¡¯s heart was beating fast. He rationalized because the threat in front of him wasn¡¯t something he could face. He knew what this Grand Admiral Rudra was like. One wrong statement, and he would face hell. Taking a deep breath, Draven suppressed his emotions as his expression turned weary and defeated, "What can I do except move on? I only wish that bastard fails the moral test and you give him appropriate punishment." "I have called Almond here, and he will take the moral test soon, within half an hour. You are free to spectate." Draven¡¯s eyes twitched as he promptly bowed to hide his eyes that showed his current uncontrolled desire. "Thank you. I will take up on that offer." "Go, wait in the longue area. You¡¯ll be called when it starts." Draven left the room as Rudra watched his back with a somber gaze. ¡¯It seems that he has given up on the future.¡¯ Although Draven tried to hide it, Admiral Rudra clearly captured his desire to kill Almond. This desire was set at an extreme level such that Draven didn¡¯t think about any consequences at all. All he wanted was just one opportunity to be near Almond, to make one move and kill him to avenge his son. What happened to him after he killed Almond no longer mattered in his mind. ¡¯Good thing that Sabrina hatched this n in a timely manner. This piece of trash would¡¯ve caused much damage in the Frostar city otherwise.¡¯ Rudra sat down on the chair and sighed. "Almond, you better pass the test. We need you on the good side." Chapter 64: Truth Seeking Orb, Morality Test "So this is the GAA headquarters," Almond muttered as he saw the mega sci-fi magic structure with multiple roads streaking over each other in multiple directions and buildings situated around the one giant cone-shaped structure in the middle. He had seen this many times in the news, but seeing it with his own eye was a different experience. ¡¯There used to be a simr big organization in my past life¡¯s world,¡¯ Almond remembered that as he had regained some of his memories. The nended, and both of them got into the car before going straight to the central building. After meeting up with Mr. Han, Dagon, and Almond followed him and entered the elevator that stopped on the middle floor of the building¡ªthe 32nd floor. As they walked into the floor¡¯s longue, Almond saw an imposing figure sitting on a couch while reading a hologram from a tablet in his hand. ¡¯Admiral Rudra.¡¯ When Almond looked at him, Admiral Rudra put the tablet away and stood up, his gaze directly meeting Almond¡¯s eyes. At that time, Almond felt something very clearly. The willpower and other mental aspects of his old man were crazy high. ¡¯Divine Divider¡¯s Harvest might not work on him as effectively as it works on others,¡¯ Almond thought as his eyes glinted, and he used Riftveil Eyes. [Willpower: Mental fortitude and resistance to mind-control, illusions, or fear effects. 99/100] [Focus Intensity: Depth of concentration on a single task, impacting the effectiveness and efficiency of abilities or actions. 100/100] ¡¯Crazy.¡¯ "Did you finish prying?" Admiral Rudra asked with a poker face as he stared at Almond. "Cough¡­I apologize," Almond coughed in response, his eyes shifting. He wasn¡¯t expecting to get caught. "Got you," Admiral Rudra chuckled. "But I am surprised. Usually, I can sense it, but I couldn¡¯t sense if you were prying or not." "What¡­then how?" Almond asked, his expression shifting from getting startled to curiosity. ¡¯He must have one hell of an intuition, too, if he caught like that.¡¯ "Your eyes and bodynguage gave it away, allowing me to throw a sure-fire guess," Admiral Rudra slyly smiled. "Next time you use that scanning power of yours, create a facade outside." "Admiral, you¡¯re already teaching him as if he is your student," Dagonughed. "So we don¡¯t need to do the morality test, I guess?" "The test will happen now. And I am betting on a positive result as well. Let¡¯s go." Almond could only wryly smile, but he didn¡¯t hold back and checked a couple more things using Riftveil Eyes. [Insight: Depth of understanding or perceptiveness, affecting problem-solving skills and the ability to discern subtle truths based on the information captured via advanced awareness. 99/100] [Sense of Justice: Moralpass or fairness, influencing the likelihood of defending others, intervening in conflicts, or showing mercy. 100/100] ¡¯Damn! Sense of Justice is at max¡­¡¯ Almond looked at the old man¡¯s broad back as he followed him with Dagon and Mr. Han. ¡¯But I don¡¯t understand if this means he is a god saint or normal.¡¯ ¡¯I think I¡¯ll find out soon during the so-called Morality test.¡¯ Still, he wanted to see one more attribute. ¡¯Though I don¡¯t know if it will show me this attribute¡­oh, there it is,¡¯ Almond thought, and it appeared. [Ego Strength: Bnce between humility and self-respect, affecting pride, resilience, and interpersonal harmony. 100/100] He felt kind of relieved. Sense of Justice and Ego Strength at maximum meaning that this Admiral Rudra was really someone extraordinary. They walked through a corridor and soon entered through a door, arriving inside a big room with a white-walled chamber with one side made of ss inside. There was a pedestal in the center of the room, holding a mysterious ss orb with faint sparkling blue, white, red, and green hues of energy. "Come." Almond nodded and followed Admiral Rudra inside the chamber while Dagon stayed outside, observing them through the ss wall. Mr. Han had already called Draven, so he soon arrived. Dagon just nced at him before turning his head back to the chamber. Draven¡¯s eyes were glued on Almond after he looked at Dagon and Mr. Han briefly. Inside, Admiral Rudra gestured at the orb and said, "Put any one of your hands on the orb. This item is called Truth Seeking Orb, which can discern the truth from anyone touching it. I will ask you a question, and you simply have to answer it as truthfully as possible. If you do not resist the power of this orb, you will automatically speak the truest answer." Almond nodded as he put his hand on the orb. "Before I ask the first question, let me tell you one more thing," Rudra said, his expression somber, "Situations may change a person¡¯s disposition, and this Truth Seeking Orb can discern that based on the question I ask. It will bring out your true feelings, your truth that you also may not be consciously aware of it." "However," he added, his voice firm, "A strong mind does not truly bend, and a just heart does not truly break. The world is unfair, but fairness must be present in one¡¯s heart, for a good de must cut down evil for fairness." "Now, are you ready?" "I am," Almond nodded, his expression solemn. He knew he wasn¡¯t a viin. He believed in goodness instead of going out of his way to harm others. He believed in fairness and epting it, and he believed in repaying evil with punishment. Hearing Almond¡¯s reply, Admiral Rudra turned on the speaker to allow the people outside the chamber to hear his question and Almond¡¯s answers. Afterward, Admiral Rudra asked his first question. "Why did you kill the three people who killed you?" Almond didn¡¯t resist the power of this orb because he believed in himself. Hearing the question, his mouth opened without his control, and his voice rang out. "Two reasons. One, for revenge. They killed me without any reason or conflict. I didn¡¯t do anything to them, yet they felt the need to bully me, depicting their vile nature. It is only right that I kill them." "Second, if I didn¡¯t kill them, there was a hundred percent chance that I would¡¯ve been hunted down by Jacob and his father, who had taught Jacob the ruthless way to live. My existence and my confession can bring them trouble, given that there are ways to discern truth easily thanks to magic." "If I may add, I had thought about sparring Lamp, who wasn¡¯t keen on killing me. However, a weak-willed person like him with a broken moralpass, who bases his values on material things and following others, was bound to descend intoplete vileness. He would spill to Jacob¡¯s father, and I would be in immediate danger even inside the Labyrinth with people of his guild and he himself entering to hunt me." Everyone was shocked. Although they had heard answers from people influenced by Truth Seeking Orb, Almond¡¯s answer was simply too detailed, which was a testament to the breadth of his mind. Almond himself was dumbfounded as he finished speaking, "I¡­actually think these are my personal thoughts. But it¡¯s strange how I spoke automatically." Outside, Draven was gritting his teeth and clenching his fist, barely containing his killing intent. On the other hand, Dagonughed. "Well said. What do you think, Mr. Han?" "Indeed. Based on that answer, I can imagine Admiral Rudra liking him already," Mr. Han wryly smiled. Meanwhile, Admiral Rudra asked another question, but it was a simple one like what would he do if he saw five people getting chased by a monster in pursuit of death and he had the ability to save them? Outside, Draven turned to Mr. Han after hearing hisment and said while frowning, "Mr. Han. I think that is wrong. Does he think he can dictate the future of someone by prediction? Lamp was a wimpy kid. He even begged Almond before he died. Doesn¡¯t this make him ruthless and viin?" ¡¯This asshole,¡¯ Dagon¡¯s nose red. But before he could speak, Admiral Rudra¡¯s voice rang outside as if he heard Draven¡¯s question. "Draven," his voice was firm, resonating with authority, "We are not training saints here, nor do we need saints in this world. They will not save the world of this time." "A person with power must have the ability to discern cold, hard facts, to uphold fairness, and to apply logic in their reasoning. Almond had formed apelling rationale and justified reason for his act. So, don¡¯t you dare twist that in my presence!" ¡¯This old man is awesome.¡¯ Chapter 65: Play Over Draven shut his mouth after that, but the me of revenge in his eyes burned even more. All he wanted to do was to tear Almond into pieces, and he was determined to do that. The rest of the morality test was no surprise anymore as Almond answered the question with a proper sense of justice in his heart. He wasn¡¯t a saint, but he proved he wasn¡¯t evil. "Good, the test is over," Admiral Rudra said, a faint smile ying on his face that hinted at something more than mere satisfaction. He was already looking forward to Almond¡¯s future. Turning off the speaker, he stood and said, "I¡¯m fairly sure that Draven will try to kill you. If he knows he won¡¯t seed in my presence, he won¡¯t do it right away. In that case, you and Dagon can go out and bait him." Almond nodded, mildly nervous, but overall, he was okay and ready. However, he had an idea, and he decided to share it, "Wait, before we go out, I have an idea. Since you approved of this n, then you are also looking for the chance to eliminate Draven, right?" "That¡¯s right. He has gotten away because of no proof, but he had done many vile things, enough for me to behead him, but I can¡¯t because of Earth Union and other guilds¡¯ opinions. Without proof, I will bebeled as a tyrant, and GAA will suffer greatly." "Then I can erase his cautiousness right now," Almond said, his eyes glinting as he looked at Draven through the ss. "I can force him to make a move on me." Draven, who was outside, was fairly certain that Almond knew he was Jacob¡¯s father. His eyes were spewing daggers, but they shifted as soon as Admiral Rudra looked at him. ¡¯I can¡¯t let that old monster get wary of me. I will only get one chance. Just one chance!¡¯ "What are they talking inside?" Draven asked with a frown. "It doesn¡¯t matter to you, does it?" Dagon snorted. Meanwhile, Rudra¡¯s eyes visibly shook as he heard Almond¡¯s idea and stared intensely at Almond. "Are you certain that is possible? I mean, I don¡¯t doubt you, but you do realize that being able to do such a thing is exceedingly terrifying, right?" Almond nodded, his expression severe, "I know. I can ruin lives with this, but I can also do much more than that. I don¡¯t n to use this power in a bad way, certainly not on the innocents." Admiral Rudra¡¯s eyes had a strange flicker of me, "But you can use it to root out vile pests. Alright, do it." "Let¡¯s start walking, I¡¯ve locked on him, so once I do that, he will attack me for sure." As the duo started walking out of the chamber, Almond used his Riftveil Eyes to discover Draven¡¯s cautiousness. [Cautioness: the trait of being careful and attentive to avoid danger, mistakes, or risks. 63(34)/100] ¡¯Hmm? Why are there two numbers? Is his current state already affecting his cautiousness?¡¯ Almond was surprised, but that didn¡¯t change what he had to do. The moment they exited the door, Almond used Divine Divider¡¯s Harvest and cut off Draven¡¯s cautiousness by half. ¡¯Done.¡¯ Draven¡¯s vibe had already shifted. His mind was fully upied by the revenge. Admiral Rudra exited first, and Almond followed. "Alright, the test is done. Almond, we have some other stuff to do, so follow me. As for Dagon, Han, and Draven, you three can leave." After saying that, Admiral walked towards the room¡¯s exit, showing his back to Draven. But he had also given a signal to Dagon, who was behind Draven. Almond also followed Admiral Rudra, his back facing Draven. He could feel literal heat at his back, the vibe and the killing intent bearing on him from Draven. After all, his perception was off the charts. And then, it happened. Throwing caution to the wind, Draven, tinum-rank Adventurer of level 57¡ªprimary ss of warrior role and specialized ss of simr role¡ªattacked Almond as two small ck axes with bloody aura and patterns conjured, going straight for Almond, intending to cut him into three pieces. "Die!" And he shouted as he was close to his goal, his eyes bloodshot. He could see his axes going to cut Almond into three pieces. He was already visualizing it. But all that shattered as an imposing figure suddenly blocked everything as apis blue barrier manifested. Both axes struck the shield before they shattered. The barrier then released a pulse of shockwave targetting Draven, shooting him back right at Dagon whose punch squarely struck Draven¡¯s head. *Smack!* Knocked outpletely cold. "Han, upload the recording of his assault to the inte and send a copy to the Earth Union. Ensure that Almond ispletely blurred from head to toe in the videos," Admiral Rudramanded, his gaze cold as he looked at the unconscious Draven. "Call the enforcers and have them throw him in jail for now. I¡¯ll decide his fateter." ¡­ Almond followed Admiral Rudra as they arrived in a big, empty training hall. ¡¯The materials on the walls, the aura¡­this hall feels crazy,¡¯ Almond curiously looked around. It waspletely empty with only white square patterned walls. "Almond, I understand your brilliance. And I¡¯m sure you also do," Admiral Rudra said, his arms crossed. "I don¡¯t know what¡¯s your n now that you¡¯ve sessfully started on the path of an Adventurer, but allow me to offer you something." "In exchange for joining the GAA, I will take you as my personal student and guide you in things that the public is not privy to. You will get my full support. You will get your full freedom as long as you show decent improvements periodically." "And," Admiral Rudra paused before he smiled, "You can state whatever desires and proposals you have. I will seriously consider them and approve them as long as they aren¡¯t harmful." Almond was taken back. ¡¯So much sugar? But he shouldn¡¯t know about my sses¡­why is he thinking of me so highly? I mean, he already knows about my ability¡¯s depth after seeing how I drove Draven to attack me¡­¡¯ Continue reading on NovelBin.C?m ¡¯But training with his guidance and getting GAA¡¯s full support, including my freedom¡­this is invaluable. I am sure to get stronger faster with him at my back since he has secret knowledge of chakra points and is one of the highest authorities in this world.¡¯ ¡¯I can also demand to be at Firefly City¡¯s GAA branch.¡¯ Chapter 66: Accepting The Offer Admiral Rudra could see what Almond was thinking. ¡¯You are smart enough to choose wisely, Almond. Your senses have given you enough information to form a solid intuition regarding me,¡¯ Rudra¡¯s eyes were smiling. "I have a suggestion regarding Draven," Almond said, his eyes firm. "You can also call it an experiment." "Oh?" Admiral Rudra raised his eyebrows before he nodded, "I¡¯m ears." "You must have felt the power that struck Draven, right? The way I cut off his cautiousness by half." "I did feel something, but it was subtle enough that only a few would be able to sense that," Admiral Rudra nodded. "It should be a fairly advanced power. I assume it should be from an SSS-rank ss or higher." Almond was surprised, "You know about the ss rank above SSS rank?" "I am certain it exists, though I don¡¯t know the name of the rank," Admiral Rudra smiled. "I myself have upgraded my primary ss to SSS-rank just recently." ¡¯Damn!¡¯ "So, what¡¯s your suggestion?" Admiral Rudra asked. "I want to use my skill on Draven," Almond said, his expression serious. "I want to use him as an experiment subject. I can study my skills because my Perception and Focus are high enough. I want to see if I can cut off more things from him to make him an obedient dog of GAA." "After all, it would be better to use someone like him instead of killing him or imprison him. Using him for a good cause is better, in my opinion." Admiral Rudra was mildly surprised, "I don¡¯t necessarily disagree with you on that. But we have annoying people in Earth Union who take issues with human rights and other bull shit even though people like Draven treat other people like animals. It won¡¯t be about Draven, but just to make issues for GAA." "However," Admiral Rudra¡¯s eyes glinted coldly. "We can still proceed with that n. I will pass the verdict of imprisoning Draven and have Earth Union approve. As for whatever happens to him here, we have to keep a tight lid on it." Almond¡¯s eyes sparkled, and he nodded. "Sounds good. Thank you." He wanted to explore the power of his Legendary ss and experiment on someone. However, he couldn¡¯t do that just on anyone, so it would be better if he did that on a piece of trash like Draven. "Then I suppose you will join GAA?" Admiral Rudra smiled. "Yes, but I have some more desires to express," Almond grinned. ¡¯Joining GAA will be better if I want to form my trustworthy group, especially now that I have Riftveil Eyes which can allow me to see a person¡¯s everything, quite literally.¡¯ "Shoot." "I would like to be appointed at Firefly City¡¯s GAA branch." "Allowed," Admiral Rudra nodded. "Next?" "I want absolute secrecy regarding my sses and their powers," Almond soberly said. "I can trust you, but not others." "That¡¯s a must. I won¡¯t let your information get spread anywhere," Admiral Rudra nodded, a flicker of worry in his eyes. "There are some hidden forces. Something in the dark. This is why we can¡¯t divulge some important information to the public." Almond blinked in surprise and asked, "What is that?" "I have no idea. But I felt their presence during the 9th Floor¡¯s Floor Boss battle," Admiral Rudra¡¯s eyes were intense. "I don¡¯t doubt my intuition after I saw the unnatural death of a promising Adventurer." "We can discuss this when I find more information. Anything else you want?" "Nope. This is all for now because I feel like you¡¯ll take care of other things for me on your own," Almond chuckled. "Well, I am certainly not hiding my willingness to nurture you," Admiral Rudra smiled. "You are a gem that I want to unearth, but I won¡¯t interfere in your life too much. Someone like you needs to grow in your own way so your potential can properly bloom." As he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly flickered with Mana as a precise string shaped of mana released from his fingers and went inside the floor. A secondter, a five-meter crystal cube of deep blue color emerged from the floor. "Then let¡¯s start your evaluation. Show me your status first." Almond nodded. [Almond] -Adventurer rank: Silver. -Level: 10 [99%] -ss: Spirit Dealer (SS) -Specialized ss: Riftveil Grimde (L) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 2250/2250] -Stats: 10 unassigned points ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 88 | Health: 84 | Stamina: 83] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 90 (+135) | Focus: 89 (+89) | Perception: 91 (+91) ] ¡ªWill: 100. "Huh?" Admiral Rudra blinked not once but twice as he looked at the status screen. He knew Almond had higher than usual stats. It was clear from his aura, but what the hell¡­ "You are close to reaching the limit on Silver-rank, what¡¯s going on?" Admiral Rudra asked, dumbfounded. "It appears that the rank after SSS is L...as in Legendary? interesting." "Limit? There¡¯s a limit on stats in each rank?" Almond was also dumbfounded hearing that. "Bonus stats stemming from ss perks and items do not count towards this limit, but yeah, there is a limit," Admiral Rudra nodded. "Bronze-rank can have 50 foundational points in all stats. Silver-rank can have 100, Gold-rank can have 200, tinum-rank can have 400." "But of course, it¡¯s impossible to maximize these limits," Admiral Rudra narrowed his eyes as he added with a faint smile, "Though you might be an exception." "I see," Almond mumbled. "I better save the unassigned stat points then." ¡¯Since I can gain stats from monsters of each rank as I level and rank up, it¡¯s better to save stat points gained from leveling.¡¯ "So, what¡¯s the secret? I assume it¡¯s rted to your primary ss," Admiral Rudra asked. "Yeah, it is rted to my primary ss," Almond smiled and revealed it. "Basically, I can gain stat points after killing monsters, but not from all monsters." He exined the working of the skill briefly. "I see. That¡¯s powerful, alright. Other high-ranking sses might have buffing skills that elevate their powers, but your ss directly gives you a foundational boost. Anyway, now that I¡¯ve seen your stats, it¡¯s time to see your mastery of Physical Enchantment," Admiral Rudra pointed at the cube to their left. "Punch it with your full power." "Alright." Almond faced the crystal cube and took a deep breath before putting up a punching stance. Mana infused into his chakra points as he aligned his body to a perfect condition to exert all of his power for a single punch and¡­boom. *Smash!* The cube glowed as it absorbed the power, measuring it in numerical value that was soon disyed inside the crystal cube. The number disyed was 226. "Do you know what this number means?" Admiral Rudra had a wry smile hanging on his face as he asked. Find more to read at NovelBin.C?m "No idea," Almond shook his head. "Let me tell you how the power works first. Your Strength is 88. Using mana for Physical Enchantment can, at most, double your strength, making it 176. But you can still generate more power, and this power is based on how you execute your punch. You made it reach 226 with your execution. Not bad." Admiral Rudra smiled as he added, "In short, this punch of yours was equivalent to a punch with 226 stat points in Strength." Almond rubbed his nose with a hint of smugness as he smiled. Curious about Admiral Rudra¡¯s power, he asked, "I am curious, how high is your punch power?" Chapter 67: Mana Techniques (1/2) "This crystal cube can¡¯t measure it. I¡¯ve tried it before, and it broke. It can only measure up to 1000 power level." ¡¯Damn.¡¯ "Anyway, Let¡¯s sit for now. I want to scan your body properly and see your chakra points," Admiral Rudra said as he released a Mana string, causing the crystal cube to return back under the floor. Both of them sat down, with Admiral Rudra sitting behind Almond and putting his palm on his back. A minuteter, he said, "Good job opening these chakra points. There are still some closed off, so I¡¯ll open them right now." Right after he said that, Almond suddenly felt a jolt in his bum and his crotch area. He didn¡¯t feel any pain, onlyfort! ¡¯He opened them just like that?!¡¯ Almond was shocked. "Now tell me, what other techniques do you know aside from Physical Enchantment?" Admiral Rudra asked. Remembering something, he added, "And Magic Whisper." "None. I only know these two for now," Almond wryly smiled. "But I want to learn Aura Enfold. I feel like I can get the hang of it pretty fast." He was about to mention he¡¯d identally used it before, but that would sound ridiculous¡ªno one identally uses Aura Enfold. The only reason he could use that was thanks to his memory seeping into his body at that time. It was like his soul had those memories sealed actively, but his soul affected his body, granting it a ¡¯muscle memory¡¯ of sorts. He was confused at that time, but everything became clear once he learned of his past life. "Good. That¡¯s the only technique you can learn for now. That and the techniques of Physical Enchantment, one of which is strength Boost that you¡¯ve already mastered." Almond nodded, "I also want to learn the other two, Focus Field and Fortification." "I¡¯ll teach you their methods now and get you to a rudimentary level so you can practice and master them on your own. Once we are done, you can go and enjoy in the Firefly City." "Really?! Thank you very much, Admiral!"Almond was pleasantly surprised and thrilled to hear that he could go this fast. He did want to meet up with Lily and Natalia, especially Lily, as soon as possible. Admiral Rudra chuckled in response to Almond¡¯s enthusiastic response and said, "I would hate to keep you with me and let your girlfriend get swarmed by other young suitors. It¡¯s only a matter of time before she¡¯s famous all around like other Super Rookies." ¡­ While Almond was learning the methods and reaching rudimentary activation of Mana techniques under Admiral Rudra, Lily, and Natalia were also training under Lady Aria of Crimson Shadow. Lily insisted on getting Natalia to learn alongside her, and Lady Aria agreed on the condition that Natalia pass the entrance examination of League of Firefly with ster marks. Tomorrow was the day, so Natalia was working hard to learn the Flute and the basic magical attacks she could unleash from it while ying it. In the training hall, Natalia moved about, ying the flute and striking at magic dummies that hovered around her. Her flute released small, circr waves with a focused center. These were called Sonar Strikes¡ªconcentrated sound bursts capable of piercing targets, delivering high single-target damage over range. Their mana consumption was very low unless she enhanced the attacks with extra Mana. Lily was also gearing her build towards increasing her Mana, Perception, and Focus more. She wanted resources and items that increased her Mana and Mana recovery so that she could perpetually keep her first specialized ss skill active¡ªwhich increases her Mana recovery by 50% extra as long as she summoned all instruments, while she would release constant basic magic attacks from instruments she wielded. Continue your journey with NovelBin.C?m On another side of the hall, Lily was learning Aura Enfold from Lady Aria. She had had her fun yesterday doing Dungeon Raids, but it was time to learn today. Her chakra points were all opened by Lady Aria, and coincidently, both Almond and Lily were doing the same thing at the same time¡ªlearning Aura Enfold. Aura Enfold required higher mana control than usual. It was a way to properly wrap Mana around themselves or an object to strengthen it. The benefit was that it didn¡¯t consume Mana constantly, but Mana itself gained a sort of "Durability" at that level of control and application after consuming a certain amount of Mana to form Aura Enfold. Mana would transform into aura and be visible in different colors, with colors indicating the level of one¡¯s Aura Enfold. Level 1 was blue. The higher one¡¯s mastery, A.K.A level, of Aura Enfold, the stronger the boost it provided, and the tougher and longer itsted. The method was to properly exude Mana from all of their chakra points outward from skin spores to apply Aura Enfold on the Body. This expulsion of Mana must be even and consistent, resonating all chakra points with each other. On the other hand, using it on an external weapon or shield was slightly tougher. This required Focus Field to observe the object¡¯s structure to see how it flowed magical power within it and then apply Aura Enfold on it to properly strengthen it. Using it on weapons could allow for the extension of the weapons in ethereal ways, resulting in a personalized arsenal of powers for Adventurers called Battle Arts. However, a single mistake and the entire applied Aura Enfold would disperse. The higher mastery of this technique included strengthening a single aspect, effect, or part more by higher consumption of Mana, but this required even higher Mana control and mastery of the technique. ¡­ After ten hours of constant tutge under Admiral Rudra, Almond indeed learned Aura Enfold properly. It helped that his muscle memory seeped properly and that his Mana control was quite good. His crazy high Perception and Focus for someone of his level helped quite a lot, as he reached level 2 Aura Enfold at the end. "Good job. This was unexpected, brat. You are too good with Mana control even if you have high Perception and Focus," Admiral Rudra wryly smiled. "Thanks," Almond grinned. "Now, I want to learn Focus Field and Fortification." "Let¡¯s start," Admira Rudra nodded. "You¡¯ll be done with those two in no time. Tell me what you know about Focus Field." "Focus Field is enchanting eyes with Mana and project a kind of magical eye based on our eyes outward so that we can observe everything within a dome-shaped range around us." "Good. I am going to guide my mana through your eyes. See how it flows and then do it yourself." Half an hourter, Almond¡¯s eyes were faintly glowing deep within as he could observe everything around him. "Impressive as expected. The more mana you use, the bigger the range. There are advanced ways to use Focus Field, but you should master level 1 first before moving to learn level 2." Almond nodded, his expression eager, "Now it¡¯s time to learn Fortification. "I know that we need to connect all basic chakra points to each other to create apletework of pathways so that we can enrich our entire body to increase the basic defense of the body." "Good, but there¡¯s more to it," Admiral Rudra said with a smile as he activated Fortification. Almond¡¯s eyes widened, sparkling with awe as he watched the disy of an advanced level of Fortification that he knew he wouldn¡¯t achieve anytime soon. Chapter 68: Mana Techniques (2/2) A crystal-clear, translucent golden film appeared around Admiral Rudra, coating his body like still water. The aura even extended over his clothing, a sign of an advanced Fortification. Maintaining this seamless connection from skin to clothing was no easy feat¡ªprojecting Fortification outward without losing the bond to the skin required mastery at a high level. "You must keep the entire pathway of the chakrawork consistent, and no chakra point must connect to more than one. Assign a starting chakra point and an ending chakra point while connecting all chakra points into a seamlesswork." Almond nodded, immediately closing his eyes and focusing inwardly as he began. "Keep at it. I¡¯ll return in half an hour to finish some procedures concerning your entry into GAA." Half an hourter, Admiral Rudra returned and saw Almond as he promptly recognized a proper activation of Fortification on his body. "Good. Now, let¡¯s begin your evaluation for your profile." "Profile?" Amond blinked. "Like this," Admiral Rudra showed his profile. [Rudra Deva] -tinum-rank / level 118 -Combat Power: A-10 -Combat Arsenal: ¡ªPhysical Enchantment¡ª ? Stage 3 Strength Boost: level 10. ? Stage 3 Focus Field: level 10. ? Stage 3 Fortification: level 10. ¡ªAura Enfold¡ª ? Stage 3 Body Enfold: level 10. ? Stage 3 Weapon Enfold: level 10. ¡ªMana Transmutation¡ª ? Stage 3 Elemental Mimicry. ? Stage 3 Complex-Combine Mimicry. ¡ªFlow State¡ª ? Stage 3 Overdrive. ? Stage 3 Overload. "Admiral Rudra, are you perhaps the highest stage in all Mana techniques?" Almond asked while wondering about Admiral Rudra¡¯sbat power. "Let me tell you a secret. My profile is ssified solely to me," Admiral Rudra said, a faint smile ying on his face. "I¡¯ve shown it to only three other people, and you are the fourth one. As for your question, yes. I am the one who explored, developed, and coined names of these techniques, so I am indeed at the highest possible for now." "W-What?" Almond was dumbfounded. "Well, I wouldn¡¯t say I did this all on my own," Admiral Rudra chuckled. "I had found an interesting book on the 2nd Floor of the Labyrinth nine years ago. It showed that Mana hid more mysteries than just using it to execute skills. It was a damaged book and didn¡¯t have detailed information, but whatever knowledge it had, I had used it to research and explore possibilities with Mana to reach this stage." GAA was indeed at the forefront in terms of people with a higher mastery of Mana techniques. For the public of adventurers, it was because GAA was researching more on this, but it turned out that it was this old man who solo carried the whole research! Although he had a damaged book, it was surely his insight, talent, and aptitude that allowed him to research this. ¡¯That makes sense. In my previous life, there were also these Mana techniques, with minor changes in name¡­¡¯ Almond remembered some techniques. ¡¯It could be someone or a group also found that book in myst life¡¯s world and researched these techniques.¡¯ "That¡¯s awesome. I wonder how much these techniques can increase one¡¯s power," Almond asked in wonder. ¡¯I hear Mana Transmutation can give elemental properties to our Mana...but I don¡¯t know much about it and Flow State since such information wasn¡¯t on the library or news.¡¯ Hearing Almond¡¯s question, Admiral Rudra chuckled, "Well, I am not bragging when I say that I am strongest in one vs one. Nobody can defeat me alone even if I don¡¯t use any of my ss skills¡­" Pausing a bit, he added with a glint in his eyes, "At least, nobody from our world." "Our world?" Almond¡¯s pupils shrank. "Are you saying there are people from other worlds here?" "That is what my intuition is saying after the information I have perceived and unnatural things I¡¯ve noticed," Admiral Rudra nodded. "I can¡¯t help but feel that there¡¯s more to this Grimworld¡¯s Tutorial than meets the eye and that some people of our world have made contact with them, especially the dark organizations." "I believe you," Almond somberly said. "I have some knowledge, but it¡¯s iplete. I need to clear Labyrinth floors to get that, but I am sure that it will be of great help to us. All I can tell for now is that something big will happen once the 10thbyrinth floor¡¯s floor boss is defeated." In Almond¡¯s past life, the 10th floor was cleared soon after he became Adventurer, and he knew something had happened, but the memory wasn¡¯t clear. He needed to clear the 2nd Labyrinth Floor to find that out properly. Admiral Rudra raised his eyebrows upon hearing Almond¡¯s words and tone, "It seems you have some secret. Alright, I¡¯ll wait until you are ready to tell me. For now, let¡¯s begin your evaluation so that I can create your profile." "Let¡¯s do it," Almond grinned, slightly excited. ¡­ *BOOM!* Almond punched the crystal cube. "Good, Stage 1 Level 10 Strength Boost. I¡¯ll guide you on Stage 2 once you cross 100 points in all three Physical stats. Now use your Focus Field as best as you can and keep it for 1 min without any change." Almond did as told while Admiral Rudra¡¯s eyes gleamed, observing Almond¡¯s Focus Field. After a minute, he nodded at Almond. "Deactivate it. Your Focus Field had a 32-meter radius consistently for 1 minute¡ªthat¡¯s stage 1 level 3 Focus Field. Next, activate Fortification." Almond did as told, activating Fortification within 2 seconds. "Not bad, that was fast. Now, stand still and grit your teeth. This will hurt a bit," Admiral Rudra rolled up his right sleeve and, in the next second, punched Almond. *Smack!* Almond¡¯s Fortification shattered as he was flung several meters away, but in the next second, a wave of healing showered over him as all pain and injury vanished. He could only release a hollowugh in response as he got up, "That¡¯s one way to test Fortification, alright." Admiral Rudraughed, "The fastest way is for me to personally test it. Based on what I felt, you can keep your Fortification up for 60 minutes easily due to your fine mana control, and it boosts your overall body toughness by 24% of your original toughness¡ªthat makes your Fortification at Stage 1 Level 2." "Alright, now use Body Enfold." Almond nodded, using Body Enfold as an airy light blue aura spread around him, reminding him of Dragon Ball Z¡¯s super saiyan mode, but less showy and small, more closely to the body. "Punch me with your full strength." Almond blinked before he grinned and didn¡¯t hold back as he punched Admiral Rudra with his full power. *Boom!* Naturally, Admiral Rudra had Fortification activated, so not even his clothes got damaged, let alone him. ¡¯I expected it, but still¡­¡¯ Almond wryly smiled. "Not bad. Your Body Enfold increases your Physical Stats by 27%¡ªThat¡¯s stage 1 level 2 Body Enfold, and you¡¯re already close to reaching level 3." "Next, use Weapon Enfold in your sword." Almond took out his Preying Hunter¡¯s Sword. He had already trained 10 hours solely in Aura Enfold at first, so he was proficient in using it with this weapon. Admiral Rudra observed it for a moment and said, "Extend its range as much as you can while keeping Weapon Enfold activated. Its aura must not budge even in a bit." Almond nodded, his expression focused. The sword¡¯s length range increased by half a meter, and its de width also increased. One must know that the extended ranges, although not physical, share the same level of power as the boosted sword. It was essentially like the sword had gotten bigger and longer while getting the boost from Weapon Enfold. "Attack me." Admiral Rudra saw Almond¡¯s wrist and body resonating as his sword shed, and a hint of amazement appeared in his eyes. ¡¯This kid is indeed monstrous with the sword. His vibe entirely changes subtly when he wields it. That¡¯s perfect sh imbuing the flow and power of his entire body.¡¯ *sh!* "Wonderful. You managed to increase your weapon¡¯s attack power by 48%," Admiral Rudra wryly smiled. "Your rate of improvement with Weapon Enfold is absurd, alright." "True, but I think it¡¯s only when I use a sword," Almond said before he shrugged, "Well, I am not going to use anything other than swords, so that¡¯s fine by me." "Your Mana control is already high, so when you studied this sword and activated Weapon Enfold, it paired well, allowing you to reach a higher boost in Weapon Enfold than Body Enfold." "So I need to study my body better to allow for a better execution of Body Enfold? Got it," Almond smiled. "Thest evaluation is of yourbat power, but it¡¯s better that you do this in Firefly City," Admiral Rudra smiled as he showed a hologram screen to Almond from his wristwatch. "Special Hunter?" Almond read it out loud, surprised. "What¡¯s that?" "A new position in GAA for you." "Ehh?" Soon, Admiral Rudra exined why he did this. Apparently, Admiral Rudra had decided to create a special position for him in Firefly City¡¯s GAA branch to allow him more freedom than usual new low-rank members. After all, Almond was capable of clearing Labyrinth Floors at higher cycles and stronger than his usual rank. This would scream bias and make him look like a case of nepotism, but it was Almond¡¯s job to shut them up, which was why he decided to let Almond hold thest evaluation to determine his Combat Power at the Firefly City¡¯s GAA branch. "Alright, your profile¡¯spleted. I am going to send it to the GAA branch in Firefly City. Your jet is also ready, so you can depart after half an hour." Admiral Rudra handed a wristwatch to Almond¡ªan advanced Magitech device that was like a minputer. It acted as a mobile phone with ¡¯Magic Whisper¡¯ ability and information source. Wearing it on his wrist, Almond checked his profile. Chapter 69: Arrival at the Firefly City Firefly City, GAA branch. At the moment, a twenty-year-old blond-haired slim man¡ªJulian, was looking at the profile sent by the Branch Master with an errand of picking up the profile¡¯s owner from the airport. With him was his brown-haired, bulky-sized partner of the same age, Roken. "Hey, isn¡¯t this profile strange, Roken?" "What do you mean?" "Take a look." [Almond Crowshade] -Silver-rank / level 10 -Combat Power: ¡ª -Combat Arsenal: ¡ªPhysical Enchantment¡ª ? Stage 1 Strength Boost: level 10. ? Stage 1 Focus Field: level 3. ? Stage 1 Fortification: level 2. ¡ªAura Enfold¡ª ? Stage 1 Body Enfold: level 2. ? Stage 1 Weapon Enfold: level 4. ¡ªMana Transmutation¡ª ? Stage 0 Elemental Mimicry. ? Stage 0 Complex-Combine Mimicry. ¡ªFlow State¡ª ? Stage 0 Overdrive. ? Stage 0 Overload. Roken tilted his head, "He ain¡¯t better than us. What¡¯s the issue?" "Look at the damn details below! And his level, you skipped his level." "Haha, it¡¯s so low, I skipped." "Idiot," Julian made a disgusted face. "He is eighteen years old, and his level being Silver level 10 meant that he fucking entered the Labyrinth this month, meaning he awakened this month. At most, it¡¯s been 23 days since he got ess to Mana if he awakened on the 1st day of this month." Only now did Roken connect the dots, resulting in a dumbfounded expression as he eximed, "Fuck, this profile is fake! Ain¡¯t no way he reached these levels in those techniques in 23 days. It wasn¡¯t like he trained every day all day!" Discover hidden tales at NovelBin.C?m Julian muttered as he looked at the profile, "It¡¯s also strange that his Combat Power is yet to be assigned and that he got a strange position called Special Hunter. What the fuck?" "Who is this guy?" Roken looked at the photo. "Dude is handsome. Must be from some big family." "Are you saying only big families have handsome guys?" Julian snorted, his mood foul. "Chill, bro. You are also handsome. Anyway, so are we going to pick up this dude?" "As much as I hate to do it, we have to go now. He should bending in ten minutes." ¡­ Almondnded from the private jet belonging to GAA¡¯s upper brass in the airport¡¯s GAA¡¯s nending area. "Lily doesn¡¯t know I am here yet. I should give her a surprise," Almond smiled. He soon arrived at the Arrivals Hall, where he spotted two people, with one of them holding a sign of his name. They also spotted him. Almond nodded at them as he walked toward them. "Hi, I believe you are here for me." "Yeah, let¡¯s go," Julian said with a in expression as he nodded and turned around. "Hello, friend," Roken smiled and put down the sign as he nodded. "I am Roken, and that guy with a bit of a bad mood is Julian." Julian¡¯s lips twitched, but he just continued to walk without any reaction or response. "Nice to meet you," Almond nodded. As Almond followed the duo, Roken curiously asked, "Almond, I haven¡¯t heard of the Crowshade family. Where are you from?" Almond blinked, "Well, I am from Frostar City. And it¡¯s not strange you haven¡¯t heard of this family as I am the only member with this surname, though I don¡¯t know if there are Crowshades somewhere else." "Ohh, I thought you were from some influential family, haha," Rokenughed while scratching the back of his head. "Haha, nope," Almond lightly chuckled before he paused and added, "Well, if you consider my girlfriend¡¯s family, then yeah, they are kind of influential." "Oh, nice, nice. Is she in this city?" "Yep. She is a member of the League of Firefly. She just joined recently." "Damn, that¡¯s pretty good. What¡¯s her name?" "Lily," Almond smiled. "I had a girlfriend, but she broke up with me a week ago, right before the Labyrinth opened," Roken sighed. "She said I was not serious at all and not working hard, so she went inside with another group. Well, I can¡¯t me her, but it feels a bit bad, heh." "So she was right?" Almond asked with a wry smile. "Well, kind of, yeah. I got my sub-ss the previous month. It¡¯s called Runic cksmith¡ªA-rank, so I started focusing on it since my specialized ss and primary ss are both B-rank, but she wanted me to focus on mybat arsenal," Roken shook his head. "So that became the catalyst for our breakup." "Then she is wrong," Almond smiled. "You do what you want to do." "Yeah, man. I think I¡¯m getting the hang of this cksmithing stuff. I even crafted a decent Rare-rank weapon the other day!" Julian immediately snorted. "Oh, sure¡ªafter failing a dozen times, crafting shitty umon-rank products, wasting tons of materials, and goingpletely broke." "Hey, that¡¯s just part of the learning process! I¡¯m only going to get better from here." ¡¯A-rank sub-ss, Runic cksmith, huh? Sounds interesting,¡¯ Almond raised his eyebrows. The group arrived at the car by now as Julian entered the driving seat. Almond went ahead to sit in the backseat while Roken sat in the passenger seat. As Julian started driving, he said, "The Branch Master ordered me to take you to the branch for your Combat Power evaluation. Are you ready for it?" "Is there anything specific I should know beforehand to be prepared?" "Nothing particr. Just know that usage of weapons or items is forbidden during the evaluation, so don¡¯t use them even by mistake." Almond thought of something and asked, "What if my summon uses an item? My summon is a part of my power, and so is the weapon it wields, right?" "That¡­" Julian frowned. Rokenughed and said, "That¡¯s a good question. We have to ask it there to get an answer. Adventurers who have summon-type powers are pretty rare, after all. We don¡¯t have any in our branch." "I see," Almond nodded. "So, how was your first adventure into the Labyrinth?" "Pretty good and rewarding," Almond smiled. "Good, good. Oh yeah, are you going to participate in the Rising Star Tournament?" "Rising Star Tournament?" Almond blinked, curious. "First time hearing this." Roken exined the tournament, causing Almond¡¯s interest to pique up. "Sounds interesting. When is it starting?" "After eight days," Julian said. "You won¡¯t get much far in that since you just entered the Labyrinth for the first time and are only at Silver level 10." Pausing a bit, Julian added with a hint of mockery, "Well, If your Combat Arsenal is urate as disyed in your profile, then you might get a good rank in the Silver-rank bracket." Roken wryly smiled as he used Magic Whisper. ¡¯Come on, bro. You don¡¯t have to say it like that.¡¯ "I see, so you think the Combat Arsenals evaluated in my profile are false?" Almond asked, an amused smile on his face. "Do you think GAA would do that?" "Then what¡¯s with your strange position in the branch?" Julian asked, his tone raspy. "Usually, newbies start as Scouts, then climb up to be Officers, then to Marshal, then Captain, and then Commander. So, what¡¯s with the Special Hunter?" "You really want to know?" Almond¡¯s voice dropped, taking on a deeper, almost unsettling tone that caught both Roken and Julian off guard. Roken coughed nervously. "I mean, yeah...we¡¯re curious." "Are you absolutely sure?" Almond¡¯s voice grew even lower and more somber, adding a strange tension to the air. "Like really, really sure?" Roken swallowed hard, visibly tense. Julian, feeling both irritation and pressure, didn¡¯t back down. "Just say it already." Leaning forward, Almond lowered his voice even more, his tone deadly serious. "Listen carefully¡­" "I have no idea." *Screech* "Bro! Eyes on the road! Don¡¯t crash!" *¡­Screeeaaach!* Chapter 70: Combat Power Evaluation, Infernal Knight Ashkar Julian didn¡¯t say anything anymore during the rest of the ride while Roken and Almond talked about various news regarding big families, adventurers, and other stuff. It was past 12 o¡¯ noon, and the sun was bright with no clouds over the city. After arriving at the GAA branch, they went to thebat evaluation zone, a building with a big white hall installed with advanced projection Magitech. They created 3D holograms of monsters and urately interacted with physical and magical phenomena in a unique way. They were not physical, but any skills and attack that struck them would cause a 99% urate reaction. Their attacks wouldn¡¯t register on Adventurers, but wearing a simple device would disy the Adventurer¡¯s vitality, and based on the projection monster¡¯s attack, it would reduce the adventurer¡¯s vitality. Overseeing this facility was Marshal Lopol, a level 23 tinum-rank Adventurer. "I¡¯ve asked the Branch Master," Marshal Lopol said as he nodded at Almond, "Your summons are allowed to carry a weapon, but you cannot. The reason is that your summon being able to use a weapon is a part of your power." "Got it," Almond smiled. ¡¯Now then, who should I summon?¡¯ "We¡¯ll start the evaluation in one minute, get ready. There will be spawning of monsters randomly for ten minutes in Stage 1. Your Combat Power rank will be determined based on the highest stage you canplete." Almond nodded. ¡¯I¡¯ll go with Infernal Knight. He is not too scary and not weak-looking with his cool mount¡ªhe is perfect size and badassery to disy.¡¯ "Come out, Infernal Knight!" Almondmanded as if he were calling out his Pokemon. Julian, Roken, and Marshal Lopol focused, curious to see his summon. In the next second, a big vortex of dark orange and emberic red mes appeared, within which the Infernal Knight stood as a towering figure d in dark armor veined with fiery cracks. Wielding a massive greatsword streaked with molten patterns and a shield of ashen rockced withva veins, he exudes volcanic fury. Mounted atop a spectral warhorse wreathed in mes, his burning eyes peer from beneath a horned helm, scanning the battlefield with lethal focus as the air around him shimmered with heat. Stay connected with NovelBin.C?m The warhorse was five meters tall, and the knight atop it was an over three meters tall humanoid as the pair made a giant monstrous figure together. "Holy shit, that¡¯s awesome," Roken eximed. "Infernal Knight Ashkar, damn cool, alright!" ¡¯It¡¯s powerful, I can feel it. His ss must be high-ranking,¡¯ Julian clenched his fist, ¡¯Why do people get different ranks of ss at the start?¡¯ ¡¯No, fuck unfairness! I am going to be stronger with whatever I have and get more myself! Admiral Rudra started at B-rank primary ss, but he is the strongest!¡¯ "That¡¯s a powerful summon you got there," Marshal Lopol raised his eyebrows, his eyes glinting. "Its stats feel quite high as well. Would you mind sharing the status screen of this summon with me?" "Me too, bro! If you don¡¯t mind," Roken quickly said. Almond smiled and showed his Status screen for all of them to see via the wristwatch¡¯s hologram function. [Spirit Wraith¡ªInfernal Knight Ashkar] -Rank: Silver -Level: 10 -ssification: Cavalry Warrior. -Quirk(s): ¡ª> Generates Embersparks upon getting damaged, which can be used to restore Infernal Knight¡¯s health and increase fire-attribute damage, but Infernal Knight can¡¯t receive any kind of healing aside from its own way. ¡ª> True knight Agramon: If Infernal Knight Ashkar takes fatal damage, his Warhorse Agramon sacrifices its life and revives him. The revived Infernal Knight acquires Molten Fury, increasing his stats by 50%. If Warhorse Agramon dies first, Infernal Knight acquires a special skill¡ªFailed Knight¡¯s Shattered Vow: Kills himself and self-destructs in a 100-meter radius while changing the 100-meter radius area into deadly moltenva. -Stats: 0 unassigned stat points. ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 66|Health: 62|Stamina: 62] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 67|Focus: 63|Perception: 63] -Skills: ¡ª Infernal mes (A) ¡ª Enhance-type ¡ª Darkened de (A) ¡ª Enhance-type ¡ª Shadow Step (A) ¡ª Movement-type ¡ª Hellfire Burst (S) ¡ª Attack-type ¡ª Infernal Shield (A) ¡ª Defense-type ¡ª Cursed Strike (B) ¡ª Debuff/Attack-type ¡ª zing Rush (S) ¡ª Attack/movement-type ¡ª Emberveil Restoration (A) ¡ª Self-support-type ¡ª Pyrosm sh (A) ¡ª Attack-type. ¡ª Emberd Barrier (A) ¡ª Support/Defense-type. ¡ª Inferno¡¯s Wrath (S) ¡ª Attack-type. There was a silence after Almond showed the status thatsted for three seconds before¡­ "Holy Smokes!" Roken shouted, his mouth wide open. Julian¡¯s eyes visibly trembled just like his body, ¡¯What is¡­what kind of summon is this? What the fuck is this?!¡¯ Marshal Lopol was also dumbfounded as he stood there stunned, and his arms crossed as he proceeded. There was a hint of satisfaction in Almond¡¯s eyes as he saw their reactions. He was quite proud of his four sentient creations as they had Human Spirits¡¯ influence. He had one more that he gotst, but he had yet to summon it from the Spirit Kodoku pocket and write down its name and disposition details. And in terms of stats, aside from Alfred and Chimera Viperfiend, the rest had way higher base stats because each of them had five or more Boss Monsters¡¯ Spirits in their Spirit Kodoku round! "This¡­is very powerful, Almond," Marshal Lopol said as heposed himself, his eyes curious. "The stats are close to same leveled Field Bosses, but these skills and those quirks, along with potential growth¡­what rank is your ss, if you don¡¯t mind revealing it?" ¡¯My information is ssified, so whatever I say would be epted. Let¡¯s go with S-rank.¡¯ "It¡¯s an S-rank ss," Almond replied with a smile. Roken and Julian were further stunned upon hearing Almond¡¯s ss rank. "I see, that¡¯s what I expected," Marshal Lopol nodded, his eyes curious and focused on the Infernal Knight. "By the way, are your summons real entities in some other world? I am just assuming this because there seems to be a story based on that Quirk." Almond chuckled, "That¡¯s not the case. The way I get my summons is a bit special. Their stories are what I came up with. I can decide what kind of personality and disposition my summons get when I summon them first, as this can give me interesting power, as you saw in my Infernal Knight." Almond had discovered this when he made Dark Pope Benedict, filling its disposition with a quirky personality and backstory in the mind based on its name. He was surprised to find an interesting quirk based on information he filled, so he figured out this hidden effect of influencing his summons. Marshal Lopol was surprised. He didn¡¯t expect something like this to be the case. "I think¡­just based on this ss skill that can allow you to get your summons of this type, your S-rank ss can be considered one of the most powerful if I have to judge," Marshal Lopol looked at Almond with a smile. The way he looked at Almond was nowpletely different. ¡¯This kid is going ces if he is really talented like his profile shows. This and his ss¡­we are finally going to have one Supper Rookie of this generation.¡¯ "Yeah, I agree," Almond smiled. "It¡¯s quite powerful if I have to say so myself." "Bro, I am so envious, like damn, you are op!" Rokenughed. Julian waspletely still and silent as he observed. He suppressed his growing envy, observed, and fueled his fire to be stronger. "Alright, one minute¡¯s up. Herees the first stage." Chapter 71: Leisure Clearing Almond turned around and saw five Bronze-rank level 5 Dire Wolves around him a few meters away. Theyunched their attack without hesitation upon materializing. Almond stood with his arms crossed, leisurely and carefree, as hemanded in his mind, ¡¯Burn them.¡¯ The Warhorse Agramon stomped on the ground, creating shockwavesced with mes¡ªa simple use of its me attribute¡¯s power unrted to the skills. The med shockwaves instantly incinerated the wolves. But the Stage 1 wasn¡¯t over yet. Two Goblin Archers and one Goblin Warrior spawned, initiating their attack soon. Almond didn¡¯t bother dodging and simply waved his hand, deflecting the arrows physically. Warhorse Agramon stomped Goblin Warrior to death while Infernal Knight Ashkar released a me wave with his sword in long range, destroying the Goblin Archers. Like this, three more different waves of monsters, all being Bronze-rank up to level 10, appeared. "That was expected. I suppose you don¡¯t need to take a break?" "Nah. Let¡¯s start Stage 2." Stage 2 began with five Silver rank monsters from level 1 to level 5. This time, Almond made a move¡ªa single move. His figure visibly blurred as he wielded his sword, crossing past the five monsters within a second as he exerted his physical prowess while using Weapon Enfold. In another second, all five monsters were sliced as their digital structures flickered and vanished. A silver level 5 Shadow Eagle spawned and made a surprise attack, but before it could near Almond, it was shed by Infernal Knight Ashkar. More and more Silver-rank monsters spawned with gaps as their level got higher and higher, but all of them were killed before they could do anything. Even if they used the skills, none could hit Almond. Soon, Almond started facing monsters at Silver level 11 and above. ¡¯What the hell are his stats?¡¯ Julian frowned. ¡¯They don¡¯t like they belong to a Silver level 10, even if he has used a couple of stat-increasing items.¡¯ "Damn," Roken muttered, just watching with a daze and a bit of excitement. ¡¯His stats,¡¯ Marshal Lopol blinked a few times, trying to get a reading on Almond. ¡¯His aura is properly maintained, and not once has his Mana control wavered¡­this kid is not even giving me an opportunity to get a proper guess on his stats.¡¯ ¡¯But they are all above 50 for sure. Those movements are impossible without at least that much,¡¯ Marshal Lopol¡¯s eyes glinted as he saw Almond dispatching a Silver level 20 Chainsaw Monkey in a single sh of his sword after leisurely dodging its attack. "Julian, is he going to get C-10 Combat rank just like that?" Roken muttered. Julian¡¯s fists were clenched in his cross-armed position, "His profile is real. He is using all Mana techniques with better fineness than us even though we have reached a bit higher level than him in those techniques. He got the C-10 rank in his bag." C-10 meant that he had reached the peak of Silver rank in terms ofbat power. It also meant he would be allowed to enter C-rank dungeons, up to the ck-colored C-rank dungeons, which are the most dangerous. Thest monster of Stage 2 spawned, a mini Boss of level 30. ¡¯Go, destroy it,¡¯ Almondmanded them with what skills to use for the attack. Infernal Knight Ashkar and Warhose Agramon unleashed dark red mes that whirled around them and rushed forward, using (S) zing Rush skill while both of them were also enhanced with the (A) Infernal mes skill that boosted their fire-rted damage further. *BOOM* The mini-boss was obliterated, putting an end to Stage 2. "Impressive," Marshal Lopol pped while smiling. "Way to go, bro! You better enter that tournament because you might just be the champion of the Silver-rank bracket, hahaha." Julian didn¡¯t want to admit it, but he had to¡­that Almond was skilled and powerful. "Let¡¯s start Stage 3," Almond said as he cracked his index finger, a faint smile on his face. Marshal Lopol thoughtfully nodded, "You might be able to defeat a few waves. Let¡¯s see how far you go in the B-rank." Stage 3 spanned longer because the monsters in this stage ranged from Gold level 1 to Gold level 100. "Do you want to wait a bit to recover your Stamina and Mana?" "Yeah, give me a few minutes," Almond nodded and sat down cross-legged, entering meditation. "You two got a new task, or are you just wandering around instead of training?" Marshal Lopol turned to Roken and Julian. "We were about to begin our training session, Marshal," Julian said respectfully. "Then go." "Marshal, can we wait until Almond finishes, please?" Roken asked while putting up puppy eyes. "Get lost. Just do your training until you get a task. Julian, don¡¯t forget about your goal in the Rising Star Tournament. If you want the rewards, you have to work hard." "Yes, sir. Roken, let¡¯s go." Julian began walking out along with relucent, long-faced Roken. After they left, Almond opened his eyes and looked at Marshal Lopol, "Marshal, do you mind if I borrow them to explore the city a bit? I also want to visit League of Firefly." "They are in their free time, which is usually used for training. So if they don¡¯t mind showing you around, sure. Also, I sent them away because I wanted to iste this session," Marshal Lopol smiled, his eyes shing a sheen of light. "I¡¯ve turned off cameras as well, so don¡¯t hold back in this stage. I will allow you to set your Combat Power rank if you want to hide your real Combat Power on your profile." "And yeah, I got the mail from Admiral Rudra," he added. ¡¯But I have no intention of doing that,¡¯ Almond internally chuckled. Admiral Rudra doesn¡¯t know about all of his Spirit Wraiths, nor the full power of his Specialized ss, and Admiral Rudra didn¡¯t even press Almond to reveal them, so Almond wasn¡¯t nning to show all of his cards here. Continue your adventure with NovelBin.C?m ¡¯Not like I can show my full power against the 3D projection of monsters. My Divine Divider¡¯s Harvest doesn¡¯t work on them.¡¯ He had tried the skill, and it ended in failure, which he expected since these monsters were not real at all. The Magitech also wasn¡¯t high enough to detect that advanced skill and make a proper result, and even if it could detect and halve the monster¡¯s stats, it couldn¡¯t give Almond the boost as he essentially couldn¡¯t ¡¯harvest¡¯ stats from these unreal monsters. "I am ready. Let¡¯s start." In the end, Almond fought until his Infernal Knight died. Naturally, it didn¡¯t die due to these fake monsters¡¯ attack, but Almond killed the Infernal Knight and triggered its trait True Knight Agramon to make it stronger until he defeated the 5th wave in Stage 3, reaching B-5bat power rank. He also exhausted his Mana and stamina by then because the Gold-rank level 50 monsters were indeed strong enough that he had to exert more of his power. "Do you want to continue with more summons?" Marshal Lopol asked. "I assume you have more summons." ¡¯I do have, but I wonder if I should show more?¡¯ Almond blinked, his expression thoughtful. Chapter 72: Forest Maid Sylvia Almond answered as he made a decision, "Nah. I indeed have more summons, but Infernal Knight is strongest in terms of stats due to that quirk. I''ve also exhausted myself, so I guess this is it." "Do you want to register yourbat power as B-5 or lower?" Almond replied with a question, "Do you know thebat power of Silver rank Super Rookies?" "Well, the strongest of them have revealed thebat power of B-4." "Revealed?" Almond raised his eyebrows. "Revealed, indeed." ''Interesting choice of word.'' "Then I would like to set mybat power at B-1 for now," Almond smiled. "Alright. Your position is a bit special, so ording to Admiral Rudra, you are allowed toe and go as you please and get priority in Dungeons suitable to yourbat power rank. You can bring people inside with you, but only those belonging to GAA. You''re free to choose and recruit new people for GAA as well." "Wow," Almond was surprised. ''Old man is going all out. And he listened to myst suggestion, eh?'' Since he could see people''s character attributes, he was the best when it came to judging someone with coldly precise detail due to his Riftveil Eyes. "You don''t know what you have to do with this new position?" Marshal Lopol asked in surprise upon seeing Almond surprised. "Nah. Admiral Rudra made it for me but didn''t exin much," Almond wryly smiled. "I think because he wants me to freely progress in my own way." "I see. There''s also not much information about you and your position due to Admiral Rudra. Well, putting that aside, do you want anything or want to know about anything?" "Hmmm, I would like useless Rare-grade items if this branch has any. I am willing to buy them cheaply." "Oh? Why do you need them?" "Just some skill-rted condition of my primary ss. I need a hundred of them." "Hmm, we don''t have that many ''useless'' Rare-grade items in stock, but we do have some that are quite bad despite being Rare-grade. You''re going to the training zone, right? Wait for ten minutes, I''ll send someone there with the items." "Alright," Almond nodded with a smile. "Thank you for the trouble." Almond left while thinking about Lily. ''I aming soon, Lily.'' He was eager and wanted to meet up as soon as possible now that he was here. It had been a while since he was in her loveful presence and tasted her kiss. ¡­ Almond went to the training zone and encountered an interesting situation. "What''s up, Julian? Is that all you got? Did you even make any progress in this month''s Labyrinth dive, or did you just return after strolling for three days?" "I bet he was getting enlightenment under a waterfall somewhere on the sixth floor." "Hahaha, sounds about right." Julian was in a sparring ring with someone of his age, and it seemed that he was losing. Roken had a puffed expression as he angrily said, "Doman, you would lose if it''s just sparring using Mana techniques." "Huh? Are you going to say the same thing when a monster is about to kill you?" "Lmao, Doman. Monsters can''t use Mana techniques." "Ah, right, maybe he will tell the monsters to fight without using skills then," Doman grinned. "You¡­" "Stop it, Roken," Julian said as he got up, his whole body aching as he held his sword properly again and looked intently at Doman, the muscled guy wearing boxing gloves. "Let''s continue." Doman grinned as his fleeting footsteps caused confusion to Julian again, dodging Julian''s attack while throwing a jab at him using his ss skill, shattering Julian''s Body Enfold and Fortification as he puked blood. Almond blinked, ''That Doman has some good ss skills. He got better stats as well.'' Julian, Doman, Roken, and other people in this group were all Gold-rank Adventurers, mostly below Gold level 50 and some under 70. "I guess this is it. Hey, someone heal him," Doman said before leaving the ring. "I''ll heal him," Almond chimed in as he waved his hand, summoning the Forest Maid Sylvia, who used a skill to heal him. "Woah, who is that?" "No way, a summon?!" "Is it a new member?" The appearance of Forest Maid Sylvia attracted everyone''s attention. "She is such a cutie beauty," a girl said as she and other girls approached her, looking at her and Almond curiously. Forest Maid Sylvia embodied the spirit of the forest with her flowing gown of leaves, vines, and flowers, shifting in hues of green and earthy brown. Her hair, woven with twigs and glowing fireflies, cascades down her back while intricate root-like markings spread across her sun-kissed skin. She wielded a staff of ancient wood adorned with vines and a glowing crystal, symbolizing her connection to nature''s magic. Her emerald eyes shone with calm wisdom while her presence radiated life. [Forest Maid¡ªSylvia] - Rank: Silver - Level: 10 - ssification: All-arounder Mage. - Quirk(s): ¡ª> Floral Maid: Sylvia can summon small, animated flowers or saplings to assist her in minor tasks from any natural greenery around her. These helpers can retrieve items, carry small objects, or even assist in lightbat by distracting enemies. This quirk reflects her role as a devoted caretaker, with nature itself lending a helping hand in her tasks. ¡ª> Nature''s Caretaker: Sylvia passively releases a soothing aura that gently restores the health and Mana of nearby allies over time. The effect intensifies if she is focused solely on tending to others, boosting their recovery. - Stats: ¡ª Physical: ? [Strength: 55 | Health: 70 | Stamina: 60] ¡ª Mental: ? [Mana: 75 | Focus: 68 | Perception: 72] - Skills: ¡ª Nature Magic Mastery (A) ¡ª Nature''s Embrace (A) ¡ª Vines of Binding (A) ¡ª Forest''s Blessing (S) ¡ª Healing Dew (A) ¡ª Thorn Barrier (S) ¡ª Whispering Breeze (A) ¡ª Enchanted Flora (A) ¡ª Woond Camouge (A) ¡ª Earth''s Resonance (B) ¡ª Verdant Surge (S) With a gentle wave of her staff, she used a skill and materialized dreamy green wisps infused into Julian andpletely healed him. After she was done, Almond put her back in the spirit pocket. "Are you a new member? Hi, I am Lora. Nice to meet you." "Are you new here? What''s your name?" "Almond," Almond politely said. "And yes, I moved to this city and joined GAA." "I am Marina," another one said with a grin. "I have a question, handsome. Are you single?" Before Almond could answer, Roken jumped in with a snort, "He is not single! Go away,dies. He already has a girlfriend, someone of his age at that." "Hey, what do you mean by that, fatty? Are you saying we are olddies?" "We are just a couple of years old, it''s nothing, asshole." "Humph, ignore that bum, girls. It''s no wonder Sally dumped him." "Anyway, Almond. If you want any help, you can reach out to us. Seniors here will help you." "Since you''re new in the city, we''ll be happy to show you and your girlfriend the charm of this city." Roken snickered, "It''s fine. Julian and I can show them around. You all are too noisy, anyway." "Don''t listen to get dumbo, Almond. He knows nothing," Marina rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we won''t disturb you anymore. Have fun." Chapter 73: Onwards to League of Firefly Meanwhile, other girls, particrly the newbies like him, whispered among themselves. ''His eyes are so beautiful, right? And his fashion sense is good too, that noble vest and coatbo with sleek ck pants¡­'' ''Stop it, girl. But I can feel you¡­'' ''What about his ss? I think his ss is powerful if he has such a powerful-looking summon.'' ''Should we invite him to our party? He is also Silver level 10, so he''ll also enter the 2nd Floor next month.'' ''Didn''t we decide not to invite any boys for our first year here?'' Meanwhile, the boys were quiet at a distance due to two reasons. The first reason is that he healed Julian and seemed to know him and Roken. There were formed groups among Scout and Officer rank members, forming a sort of rivalry between them to get stronger and get over one another as their total contribution determined the next rank, and they could use GAA''s benefits and resources by using contribution points. The second reason is that a girl group that usually ys hard to get for seniors was swarming at him. "Thanks for the healing, but you might attract fellows who will pick some trouble with you," Julian said as he walked towards Almond after the girls left and nodded at him. "They are free to pick the trouble," Almond shrugged. "Anyway, I am here because I want to go to the League of Firefly and do some shopping before checking out my house here." Almond''s eyes glinted as he smiled and added. "Of course, your free time to train is precious, so I''ll give you some useful pointers regarding swordy, what do you say?" "Let''s go," Julian''s reply was swift, his expression deadpan and serious. "But make sure to keep your word." "Hahaha, what about me, bro?" Roken said as he pointed at himself smilingly. "You got any tips for me?" But before Almond could answer, augh echoed from behind as Doman and five people of his group¡ªtwo girls and three boys twenty years old approached them. "You''re seriously asking pointers from a Silver rank level 10 newbie, huh? No wonder you two aren''t improving." "It''s none of your business, Doman," Julian said, his expression indifferent. "If you''re just here to speak shit, no thanks. You can continue your training." "Little shit, you forgot your beating already?" Doman sneered. "That was a spar," Julian narrowed his eyes. "Now, get lost." Conflicts resulting in fights were absolutely prohibited. Breaking this rule could result in bigger trouble and hamper their progress overall. They could only fight in proper sparring, so Doman could only get pissed even if he wanted to beat Julian. "We are going to a dungeon as we just got a task mail, unlike a certain someone who got nothing to do," Doman said as he turned aloof and looked at Almond, "See youter, newbie." "Sure," Almond smiled, unfazed, yet a chill glint passed through his eyes as he checked out a certain Attribute of this Doman. ''That one''s a negative, alright. I''ll have to see if he has a skeleton or two in his closet.'' ''I would love my next summon to have some good closebat expertise.'' ¡­ Almond stayed in the training zone until an Officer-rank girl with long dark green hair arrived, who also attracted some attention because of her status as the Branch Master''s student¡ªNevira Irdent. She was in the same age group as Julian and Doman''s group¡ªtwenty to twenty-one years old. "Here''s the Rare-grade junks. Keep the storage pouch." "Thank you," Almond epted the storage pouch and put it in his coat''s pocket. ''Seven, huh? I was expecting more.'' "Check the mail and pay on time," Nevira said before leaving without further interaction. Almond checked the mail and saw that these seven Rare-grade items cost him 57,400 Gold coins. ''Not bad.'' "Roken, I''ll buy your rare-grade item if you don''t have any use for it," Almond said. "Really?! Thanks a lot, bro. It''s not that good, which was why nobody was willing to buy it." "And you put a price that''s more than its worth," Julian rolled his eyes. Roken winced, "I wanted to recover some money. We don''t even have any Dungeon assigned to us, and it''s 3rd cycle, so we can''t enter the Labyrinth anymore unless we have a death wish. What can I do now that I''ve wasted over 200,000 Gold coins?" Almondughed and said, "I''ll buy it. What''s the price?" "Umm¡­I put it up for 25,000 but fuck it. I am not going to rip you off. Take it for 10,000." Almond chuckled, "Alright, that just earned you a spot in a B-grade dungeon raid." "W-What?!" Roken shouted. Julian was startled before his brows furrowed, "How?" "Just know that I got it, I''ll tell you when we''ll go at the end of the day," Almond cheekily smiled. "For now, take me to the League of Firefly." "Let''s go, young master," Roken bowed like a butler and gestured to Almond with a respectful expression. "Driver Julian, take out the car." Julian didn''t say anything and began walking out of the training zone. Almond followed as he said, "That said, I also want to buy a car." Roken quickly walked beside Almond, "What''s your budget?" ''I should buy necessary things first before dumping all gold coins on gathering sacrificial rare-grade items.'' "Budget, let''s say it''s a hundred thousand gold coins." "Damn, alright. I know some good dealers affiliated with GAA, so we''ll get a good car with your budget." ¡­ As the trio got into the car, Almond asked, "How far is the League of Firefly?" "Roughly fifty kilometers away. They have to protect their territory, which also includes a coastal area. They have to stop monstersing from the sea," Julian answered as he began driving. "Oh yeah, bro," Roken said as he looked back at Almond, "Why don''t you get assigned to the mini-branch of GAA there? I mean, it''s hard to get spots there, but given your strange position, you should be able to ask it." Julian nodded, "GAA members there enjoy better training and a better environment cause there''s a beach, and they can join League of Firefly''s sea defense to kill monsters regrly, which earns them more gold coins." "Interesting. That just gave me a good idea," Almond smiled. On the way to the League of Firefly, Almond took his time checking out various important attributes of Julian and Roken. His powers, especially in both of his sses, were suitable for a leader, amander with the power to arm his subordinates with more power. And Almond himself wanted to form a trustworthy group. He wasn''t going to underestimate himself, especially after learning of his past life and the bigger troubles in the dark regarding this Grimworld''s Tutorial. ''Their characters are good in the core. One has a strong drive to get stronger despite the bad hand dealt to him and focuses on it.'' ''The other has a carefree and honest nature. His sub-ss might just pave a good path for him.'' ''Starting with these two, I''ll make them powerful and earn their loyalty. This is the best way if I want truly trustworthy people to work for me.'' Chapter 74: Only One Way: Commotion League of Firefly Guild Base. Almond was genuinely surprised by the scale of the base as they entered through the peripheral gate and saw big and exotic buildings. "Yeah, this is nothing, bro. League of Firefly is over three times bigger than GAA''s branch here in terms of base size," Roken said upon seeing Almond''s expression. "But of course, the main headquarters of GAA is the biggest and grandest of all," Roken added with a grin. "Let''s go," Julian said as he parked the car and turned it off. ¡­ The trio entered the Reception building, which had five desks and a person sitting behind each of them. Almond, Roken, and Julian walked towards a desk as the ck-haired girl in her twenties promptly asked, "How may I help you, visitors?" "I am here to meet someone," Almond said with a polite smile. "Would you please tell me where is Lily Darkwood?" Hearing that, the girl squinted her eyes for a second before replying, "I''m sorry, but reporters are not allowed to have an interview with her." Almond blinked. "Do we look like reporters?" Roken pointed his finger at himself. "Reporters in camouge?" thedy tilted her head. "We''ve had five of them since morning." Almond wryly smiled. "We are from GAA," Julian replied with a deadpan expression. "Huh? Are you here for her inspection? Nope. Not even your Branch Master is allowed to do that. Her profile will be out when the guild decides to do that." "¡­" "We are not here for that," Roken scratched the back of his head and looked at Almond. "Can you please call her here then?" Almond asked with a dry smile. Thedy rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure. Who are you? Her brother? Haven''t heard of one." "Umm¡­I am...." Almond paused and leaned ahead before he whispered, "Her life mate." Thedy was stunned before her expression gradually darkened, "Security!" ¡­ "This is embarrassing. Do you not have her contact or something?" Julia clicked his tongue as they were escorted out of the reception building. "I don''t have her contact," Almond wryly smiled. "I didn''t think it would be hard to meet someone here." "And we didn''t think that your girlfriend was the super newbie that''s going to be super rookie soon. She''s the same one some of those people were talking about, right?" Roken curiously asked. "Yeah, I don''t think there''s another Lily Darkwood here." "Hey, chaps from GAA." Suddenly, a group of six people approached them. Four of them were in theirte teens, and two were in their early twenties. "What''s up?" Roken blinked. "What you''re here for?" the red-haired young man in his early twenties asked. "We came to meet someone. I wonder if you can help us?" Almond asked. "Huh? You''re asking us means that the receptionist rejected you, eh? Don''t tell me you''re here for Lily Darkwood?" "¡­" Almond had a feeling this group was also about to reject them. Getting no answer, a few of them in the group burst outughing while the red-haired senior said, "You''re not the first one to be rejected, heh. Get lost." "Actually," Almond stepped forward as he cracked his knuckle, his face forming a narrowed-eyed grin. "I am here with a challenge. I heard there are some strong newbies in the League of Firefly." ''I guess this is the only way to meet her. A littlemotion can be helpful,'' Almond thought, smiling inwardly. ''Might as well see what the chaps of this guild got.'' Julian and Roken were startled, just like the Firefly group. From that group, a brown-haired eighteen-year-old suddenly sneered and said, "Since you''re here for the challenge, I''m sure you''ll put something on the line. How about the winner take home 100,000 Gold coins?" "Haha, good idea. The arena''s there," another said with a grin. "Don''t back off now that you''ve said it." "Senior Ryker, it''s fine, right?" the third newbie asked the red-haired twenty-year-old. Almond looked at Ryker, smiling. "It''s fine. We''ve had challenges from other guilds before, but this time it''s GAA. No harm in earning pennies," Ryker said as he formed a faint smile. "Come on, chap." "Almond Crowshade," Almond said and chuckled. "Don''t worry, we won''t remember that name for long," the cocky brown-haired newbie said before he strutted towards the Arena''s direction while others also turned. Almond promptly replied as he followed the group, "That''s an interesting theory, friend. Unfortunately, it only applies to goldfish. So unless you are one, you won''t ever forget my name." "He won''t ever forget your face after the battle," Roken sneered before he quickly whispered to Almond, "Bro, is this really a good idea?" "Don''t worry, didn''t they say challenges aremon?" Almond smiled and nced at Julian. "I don''t give a fuck, besides, it''ll be fun to see them eat dirt," Julian said as he sensed his gaze, causally walking alongside Almond. Ryker heard them and chuckled, "Let''s let the fist do the talking now. The arena is three hundred meters deep, so we should hurry." Almond followed them while looking around, amazed at the whole base. ''Is that hill at the end a residential area? There''s a cool pce there.'' Almond didn''t know that Lily and Natalia were training in that private pce that only high-ranking tinum-rank members could ess, and only they could bring others on that hill. ''That tall and big building must be their main headquarters building.'' They soon arrived at the Arena section. It was a big bow-shaped area slightly bigger than a football field, with five elevated tform rings over it in pentagon-shaped points. "This is pretty good," Almond said. The 4th number tform was empty, so the newbie did a long and high jump,nding squarely on the tform. "Come on," he said, beckoning at Almond. "Sure, but I would like to change the bet," Almond said, his voice loud as he raised his hand holding an item. Ryker and others looked at it while the brown-haired boy on the tform also squinted his eyes to see the item. "This is a Rare-grade weapon drop from the 1st Floor, Stardriver Shard Staff." "No fucking way," Roken shouted. Julian was also dumbfounded. "You can''t be serious?" Ryker narrowed his eyes. "That fetches one million Gold coins minimum, and more if it has good perks and skills." "No fuck, he said it, so it''s on the game now," the blond-haired newbie said excitedly. "But know that we won''t put anything of that value on the line," the second senior, a tall, muscled man with short indigo hair, said with narrowed eyes. "If you said that in excitement, I''ll allow you to take it back." "I am serious," Almond said as he handed the item over to Julian. "He''ll hold onto it." Saying that, he jumped andnded on the tform, ten meters away from the brown-haired newbie. "Damn, bro is serious," Roken muttered, his excitement surging. "This is going to be fun." On the tform, Cyner grinned at Almond and said, "I am Cyrus, and my role is of a warrior. What''s your name again? I forgot." He took out a big mace with a spiked metal ball. It was a Rare-grade item crafted in the guild''s forge house. Almond took out his Preying Hunter''s Sword. "Another rare drop," Ryker muttered. "Two top-notch drops from the first floor." "That chap must be from a rich fam, humph." "What''s his role?" Almond stretched his arm and made a showy magic symbol with a star-theme design from his palm facing the ground. "I am a summoner," Almond smiled. "Come out, Starlight Beast." Chapter 75: Starlight Beast "W-What the fuck?" Cyrus'' eyes popped out. "That''s one fucking cool beast!" "Whose summon is that?" Almond''s Starlight Beast instantly captivated the tform. The beast''s sleek, muscr body shimmered with a soft, stardust-like glow, and faint constetions pulsed subtly across its silver-blue coat. A flowing mane shifted between indigo and silver while intense, glowing silver eyes seemed to peer into every onlooker''s soul as more and more people focused there and closed in towards thisbat ring tform. Everyone felt as if they felt a mysterious pull from the beast, unaware that it was the Starlight Beast''s inherent trait. [Starlight Beast] - Rank: Silver - Level: 10 - Quirk(s): ¡ª> Starforged Core: This core pulses with starlight, allowing the beast to passively regenerate Mana over time and granting it resistance to physical and magical attacks. When its health drops below 30%, the core activates a Starforce Surge, temporarily increasing its Strength and Mana by 25% and surrounding it with a faint, protective aura of stardust that reduces iing damage. - Stats: ¡ª Physical: ? [Strength: 70 | Health: 80 | Stamina: 70] ¡ª Mental: ? [Mana: 80 | Focus: 70 | Perception: 70] - Skills: ¡ª Celestial Roar (A) ¡ª Astral ws (B) ¡ª Starburst Leap (A) ¡ª Moonlit Howl (B) ¡ª Radiant Aura (C) ¡ª Starlit Veil (B) ¡ª Cosmic Pulse (S) ¡ª Twilight Regeneration (B) ¡ª Meteor Rush (A) ¡ª Neb Shield (B) Starlight Beast didn''t have a human soul in its creation, but its birth gave it a quirk on its own, like Chimera Viperfiend got, through the process consisting of twenty Spirits that were used as the foundation of their spirit evolution. But unlike Chimera Viperfiend, Starlight Beast had five big bosses from the major area¡ªStarfall Basin, and two big bosses from the Inner area¡ªBurial Light Forest. "Do we start now?" Almond asked stunn-looking Cyrus. "Y-yeah, let''s start," Cyrus nodded before he breathed out and focused. ''It''s just big. It can''t be that powerful. I''ll go all out from the start.'' "Alright," Almond smiled andmanded the Starlight Beast to use its only S-rank¡ªCosmic Pulse. In the next second, a disk-themed pulse gently released from the Starlight Beasts'' body, creating an ethereal cosmic disk covering the entirebat ring tform. *BOOM* This sound was actually Cyrus'' knees hitting the ground before he released a scream as he felt his whole body breaking. ''Shit, was this too strong?'' Almond was dumbfounded and told Starlight Beast to tone down on the gravity pressure. ''But how? It shouldn''t be this powerful.'' Cyrus was barely hanging on to prevent himself from getting unconscious. ''Gravity? I fucked up¡­ I used half-assed weight increase¡­f-fuck¡­'' Ryker arrived on the tform behind Cyrus and pulled him up, "It seems that Cyrus lost this match. Give it up for our GAA friend here!" Almond was already using Focus Field, thought a bitte, but he captured Cyrus'' activity that suddenly ceased. ''It seems that he used a kind of skill that made the effect of Cosmic Pulse stronger on him¡­should be weight or something rted to it.'' "Well, anyone else wants toe up?" Almond said as he enhanced his voice with Mana. "If any silver-rank can defeat me, I''ll give up my rare-drop¡ªStardriver Shard Staff. Ryker followed up as if he wanted to fuel this, "Everyone, feel free toe up." Ryker jumped off the ring while carrying Cyrus and handed it over to his friends. "Take him to the infirmary. He needs to be healed from within his bodily foundation. Tell the healer to check his body properly first." Cyrus'' three friends took him away while Ryker turned back to look at the ring. The second challenger had already arrived. ''A summon this powerful,'' Ryker narrowed his eyes. "Ryker, I''m calling Xaviar." "You think no one else in Silver rank can defeat him, Sam?" Ryker turned to his friend. "Yeah," Sam nodded, his gaze on Almond while he dialed a call to the League of Firefly''s Super Rookie¡ªXavier Rozerf. Meanwhile, the second challenger was thrown off the stage one second after a makeshift referee from the crowd arrived and rang the gong to start the fight. "Repel?" Ryker frowned. "It seems to be based on attraction and repel," Sam muttered. "This means that the pulsing ring phenomenon¡­this is reminding me of some bosses in Starfall Basic." "Yeah, that Star Ma Minotaur, but it also has a visual effect of Starfall Lionking''s Glitter Pulse, meaning there''s more to this skill than just attraction and repel." The third challenger arrived. This time, each step within Cosmic Pulse''s range suddenly formed tiny neon-colorful stones that struck the challenger along with a hard gravity pull toward the ground. It was over in a jiffy. "What the hell? How can Mona lose this fast?" "Yeah, she''s got two A-rank sses and is one of the best among this time''s newbies." "She didn''t get the chance to disy her arsenal of power. That beast''s crazy skill is overwhelming them." This time, the previous month''s newbie arrived, who had ascended to the 2nd Floor and went past Silver level 10. But the result remained the same. Instant defeat. Two more challenged Almond. And then two more. But Almond hadn''t moved a single step from his position. Suddenly, only the uproar and talk ensued while no one else came to challenge him, nor anyone shouted that they would go next. The one who said he would go after Mona was also silent. The audience was also increasing in size and the higher-ups were getting informed about the challenge, though it wasn''t anything new, so it was just about rying information. However, that changed within the next ten minutes when one of the strongest Silver Level 30 Adventurers lost as well. This person had reached level 2 in all Mana techniques, and level 6 in Strength Boost. He managed to hurt Starlight Beast, but that''s all. Almond had tomand Starlight to use three skills, and one fact still hadn''t changed. He still didn''t move from his initial position. Nobody could get close to Almond nor manage to hit him from long-range. Starlight Beast was like a ruthless protector, defeating opponents swiftly while protecting Almond on its own with Starlit Veil, a passive skill that works while Starlight Beast is spending its Mana¡ªthe effect of creating a mystical transparent silver curtain as a makeshift shield anywhere within its range. Chapter 76: Almond vs. Super Rookie Xavier "Anyone else?" Almond shouted, causing other voices to lower. Seeing no oneing forward after five seconds, Almond wryly smiled, "Well, this is disappointing." "Don''t be." A voice boomed out before a figurended on the tform ten meters across from him. "Xavier!" "Defeat him, Xavier!" "Show him who''s the boss in Silver-rank!" Almond looked at the light blue-haired young man with a white shirt and a trouser the same as his age, who was quite famous a month ago. "Nice summon," Xavier said, his eyes on Almond as he took out a rapier from his storage pouch. "Thanks," Almond smiled. "I guess I don''t need your introduction. Well, I am Almond, nice to meet you." Xavier faintly smiled, "If you have more summons, take them out. This one won''t be enough to protect you. I am 20 levels above you anyway." "Grrr¡­" Starlight Beast growled at Xavier, its mane pulsing with a glow. "It''s saying that you are getting too full of yourself," Almond chuckled. Xavier raised his eyebrows, "Well, do you agree?" Almond grinned, "Absolutely." Xavier icily smiled as his eyes turned severe. "I hope you are right, or this will be an unsightly battle." He activated Fortification, consuming 100 Mana as a protecting film that appeared around him, along with Body Enfold, to increase his overall physical power. The referee, who was floating above the tform on a small cloud, felt they exchanged enough words and hit the gong. *Swoosh!* Xavier''s rapier pointed at Starlight Beast as a sharp blue-silvery beam unleashed, aimed at its head. Starlight Beast''s reaction was fast enough to protect itself as it used B-rank Neb Shield skill, a whirling mass of sparkling dust that ate up the beam attack. But Xavier had alreadyunched himself right after that attack, his Physical Enchantment and Weapon Enfold also activated. Starlight Beast couldn''t react in time as Xavier had already arrived at Almond''s left, his rapier glowing and ready to deliver a powerful strike using his physical prowess and an attack-type ss skill¡ªRadiant Pierce (S). ''He might die, so I''d better use it in a non-fatal area,'' was what Xavier thought as he aimed the attack at Almond''s shoulder. But instead of seeing blood, Xavier saw sparks flying before feeling a powerful rebound as his body was flung away. He quickly stabilized himself after shooting ten meters away and gained a foothold as hended, his eyes trembling. "Not bad," Almond nodded with a smile. ''His Strength Boost is at level 7, Fortification at level 4, Body Enfold at level 3, and Weapon Enfold at level 2.'' However, Xavier had waves rising in his heart. ''What''s going on? Was my skill interrupted right before it could release?'' The arena suddenly turned deathly silent. Nobody had expected Xavier to get pushed away after he himself went for an attack. But Starlight Beast was angry, so itunched itself at Xavier, going full throttle for the first time. Starburst Leap (A) Cosmic Pulse (S) *Boom!* Xavier rolled to the side as he dodged the leap, but its main attack was the area of effect it generated afterding. Xavier was struck by the shockwave, making him unbnced while feeling a jolt throughout his body with pain, and due to that, Cosmic Pulse''s gravity pull suddenly ruined his foothold as he fell hard on the ground. Starlight Beast used A-rank Meteore Rush skill, turning into aet wrapped in fiery starlight, intending to crash into Xavier. ''It can''t be this easy, right?'' Almond raised his eyebrows. ''Super Rookies are supposed to have S-rank and above sses, along with a good foundation.'' Fortunately, Almond was right. Xavier''s body was wrapped in a milky-blue light as his figure flickered, moving ten meters towards Almond as he dodged Starlight Beast''s attack and was already in the position of stabbing at him. ''Radiant Pierce!'' *Swoosh!* Almond''s pupils shrank as he precisely side-stepped while moving less than half a meter, dodging the beam by a palm''s length. ''What? How can he dodge that?'' Xavier''s Focus Field clearly captured Almond moving timely as he masterfully dodged the attack. But he didn''t have time to think because Starlight Beast was once again on his tail, more angry than ever. "Get lost, beast," Xavier muttered with a dark expression as he caught Starlight Beast''s movement in his Focus Field. He jumped and somersaulted before unleashing his signature powerful attack. ''Radiant Pierce¡ªCrimson Spiral!'' This time, Xavier''s piercing beam had a crimson spiraling effect around it, while the beam also had a hue of dark red. It struck the Starlight Beast squarely, entering its head anding out of his back as its vitality turned zero in a second. ''I''ve half of my Mana now, but that beast''s gravity was annoying,'' Xavier thought as he looked at Almond. ''He shouldn''t have any more Summon as powerful as that beast, right?'' "Wow, that was not bad at all," Almond said as he pped and nodded while smiling. "Why did you put away your sword?" Xavier narrowed his eyes. "Are you going to continue with another summon?" "Of course, if you let me do it," Almond chuckled and added, "Come out, Dark Pope Benedict." Just as a fancy ck-crimson magic circle formed below Almond''s right-hand palm, Xavierunched himself, his rapier glowing while three needle-like projectiles conjured as they shot toward Almond. Almond''s eyes glinted, a smile ying on his face. His left arm, empowered with Fortification and Body Enfold, swooped in a timely manner as he shattered the needles forcefully by using 100 extra mana on empowerment. Ignoring the stinging pain, Almond''s right hand moved as his Preying Hunter''s Sword once again appeared in his hand, his eyes cleanly following Xaviar as he had arrived in a crouched manner to his left side, ready to stab his Rapier. Almond met his rapier in a head-on collision, but he didn''t push away Xavier this time, "Do you know¡­I don''t need to do particrly anything to summon?" Xavier''s expression changed as he saw a figure manifesting from the corner of his eyes that soon saw ck tendrilsing at him. Xavier jumped away quickly, missing by a hair''s breadth, as he saw a three-meter-tall figure d in a ck robe with a shadowy effect around him, with one hand empty and another holding a thick ck book. "Tell me, young man," Dark Pope said to Xavier, his eyes peering at him with a nasty smile, "To dare challenge my lord here, are you inspiring or perhaps suicidal?" *Uproar!* "A humanoid summon?!" "Damn, he can talk!" "What the fuck?!" "Two such powerful summons¡­I feel like he''s got an S-ss." "Xavier! Don''t lose to him!" "That beast is no less impressive, but to have two such powerful summons while he is just a newbie¡­fuck, his ss must be powerful!" Dark Pope looked around at the source of such noise, "Where are we even?" "This is not a battle to the death, so keep that in mind," Almond said with a wry smile. "Duly noted," Dark Pope nodded as he turned to Xavier again, his lips spreading into a grin. "Come on, young man, let''s have some fun." [Dark Pope Benedict] - Rank: Silver - Level: 10 - ssification: Mage - Quirk(s): Chapter 77: Dark Pope Benedict [Dark Pope Benedict] - Rank: Silver - Level: 10 - ssification: Mage - Quirk(s): ¡ª Veil of Shadows: A passive shroud surrounds Benedict, reducing damage from holy attacks and granting him slight regeneration in darkness. ¡ª Sin of the Faithful: Losing his daughter, Miriel, to the demons, Pope Benedict broke the god''s will to bring her back¡ªOnce Dark Pope Benedict receives fatal damage, Demonic Angel Miriel revives him and joins the battlefield. - Stats: ¡ª Physical: ? [Strength: 40 | Health: 80 | Stamina: 60] ¡ª Mental: ? [Mana: 110 | Focus: 95 | Perception: 85] - Skills: ¡ª Darkness Mastery (A) ¡ª Shadow Dominion (A) ¡ª Shadow Strike Whish (S) ¡ª Dark Benediction (A) ¡ª Soul Grasp (S) ¡ª Dreadful Aura (A) ¡ª Void Barrier (A) ¡ª Corruption Wave (A) ¡ª ck Prayer (A) ¡ª Obsidian Fouled Arms (A) ¡ª Deathly Conviction (S) ''Use Shadow Dominion and y with him,'' Almondmanded. [Shadow Dominion (A)] -Description: Dark Pope summons arge area of darkness that suppresses light, granting him increased power within its bounds. While active, allies within the shadow gain enhanced defenses, and enemies suffer reduced visibility, perception, and slight erosion of their magical defenses. Xavier''s expression was dark as he looked at Dark Pope. ''This summon feels even stronger than that beast.'' Darkness suddenly started spreading around the tform as Dark Pope used Shadow Dominion, initiating thebat. ''What?'' Xavier narrowed his eyes, activating his Focus Field at full power. ''Where is he?'' ''I can''t sense him¡­there''s no unique mana trail in this mess. This is bad.'' ''Should I attack Almond? No, if I do that, I''ll get struck by that summon''s skills.'' "Come on, make your move," Almond''s voice carried over, his tone carefree. Xavier gritted his teeth and dashed at him. ''I can''t hit that guy with my long-range skill, I have to get close.'' He couldn''t detect Dark Pope, so if he didn''t do anything, he was just waiting to get ambushed. But just as he crossed five meters, even in his fast dash, crackles of whip echoed in his ears before he felt danger. He had no choice but to boost his legs and change his direction as he made a burst dash to the left, dodging whatever that was about to attack him. "Your reaction is pretty good, but how long will youst like this?" Almond asked with a smile. While the battle progressed slowly on the tform due to Almond not taking the initiative to attack Xavier, the audience was growing faster even since Xavier''s appearance. Naturally, the uproar was even bigger than before, enough to reach seniors of the guild. "Damn, just how many summons bro has?" Roken smacked his lips. "But I think Infernal Knight is the most badass, right, Julian?" "He has more of such powerful summons?" Ryker asked, his brows furrowed. "How many exactly?" "We don''t know," Julian curtly replied. "Including the two he showed back in the branch, he got four so far." Sam had his mouth covered with his palm, his eyes on the tform, "Our super rookie will lose¡­He doesn''t have enough Mana to deal with this summon along with Almond, while Almond still has a lot, and he hasn''t shown everything yet ording to these two." "Why isn''t Xavier using his Spellde''s Descent? That SS-rank skill should allow him to one-shot both of them if he does it correctly," Ryker muttered. "Right?" "He wanted to use it, but I am thinking that he can''t discover Dark Pope. That shadow zone must be hindering his perception and vision," Sam guessed. "Without proper perception and vision, he could miss the target even if he used Spellde''s Descent. And he is already low on Mana, so he only has one chance." ¡­ "Lily, let''s go out! Quick!" "What''s the matter?" "Some guy from GAA is challenging newbies! He put up the Stardriver Shard Staff as a bet! That magic staff is perfect for me," Natalia said, excited. "Let''s go get it!" Lily raised her eyebrows, "What''s his level?" "No idea, but it''s silver rank. Anyway, I just heard about this from Melissa, who contacted me just now. Let''s go, let''s go!" "He might be Almond," Lily smiled, her eyes sparkling as she began walking towards the exit. "Wait, Almond? How do you know?" Natalia caught up to her. "Just my guess from what you said," Lily grinned. "He is a newbie in GAA, put up a 1st Floor Rare-drop that hasn''t been seen for years as a bet, and came here¡­yeah, that''s Almond. Only he was on thebyrinth''s 1st floor in the second cycle where drop chance increases, especially when soloing, so he might have gotten it." "Damn, that''s kinda make sense. Let''s see if this challenger is really him," Natalia was excited. "I''ll get that magic staff easily if it''s him." They arrived at the arena shortly but saw that no one was fighting on any of the five tforms. "Hey, where''s that challenger, Mel?" Natalia asked as she and Lily walked towards a group of four girls of their age. "Executive Ken took him away. You should''vee here two minutes earlier. That rookie from GAA really defeated Xavier, and he made it look easy! Can you believe that?" Natalia grinned, "We believe because we know someone who can do that." "Why did Executive Ken take him away?" Lily asked, her brows furrowed. Executives were only below Guild Master and Vice-Guild Master. They were frontline adventurers. "I don''t know. He just appeared on the tform out of nowhere and said something to that rookie before both of them disappeared with Executive Ken''s teleport skill." "I bet Executive Ken is going to recruit him to our guild," one of the girls said with excitement, "It will be fun if he joins our guild. He is also quite handsome, you know?" "I watched the battle with my skill, and oh girl, his eyes were something else, not to mention how he made it look so easy when defeating Xavier," another one swooned. "What''s his name?" Lily said inly before narrowing her eyes as she asked. "Is it Almond?" The girls were startled. "How do you know his name? We just found out a minute ago since it''s been spreading after he left." Lily vanished like a shadow, onwards to the headquarters building. "What happened to her, Nat?" "Hehe, just know that he is the reason why she shooed away Xavier when he came to propose to her," Natalia snickered and left as well, going after Lily. "Hey, what do you mean by that?" "Does that mean Lily likes this Almond?!" "Poor Xavier¡­I think I should tell him this news andfort him to move on." "¡­" Chapter 78: Finally Meeting Almond found himself in a in white room inside the guild''s headquarters building with nothing inside except two chairs. ''Teleport¡­'' Almond''s eyes glinted. ''What a handy skill.'' "Sit," Executive Ken said as he sat down on the chair and gestured for Almond to sit on the chair two meters across from him. Almond blinked and sat down, "So why are we here? I thought challenges from other guilds were supposed to bemon." "They aremon, but a random newbie defeating our Super Rookie is notmon," Executive Ken narrowed his eyes. "If someone recorded your battle with Xavier and how you defeated him, it''s going to damage our guild''s public image. We can''t let that happen, especially now that Rising Star Tournament is approaching." "That tournament has the sponsorship of some of the biggest families and all top ten guilds. There''s a lot of money and resources involved in it, so what you''ve done is quite damaging. Wee to the adult''s world." Executive Ken''s eyes glinted as he added, his voice firm, "Join this guild, and we''ll forget about your mistake since you''ll be able to bolster the image. Xavier losing against a fellow guild member won''t hurt us. We''ll also handle your contract with GAA. As long as you agree, you can join us." Almond raised his hand, blinking with a slight smile. "Are you, by any chance, treating me like I''m ten years old? I have to admit, though, your recruitment tactics are impressive: pressure, temptation, and a convenient escape from the illusion of mess you''ve pinned on me." Executive Ken felt like a deted balloon inside, though he didn''t show it outside and just raised his eyebrows. He was about to say something when his wristwatch rang. His eyes flickered as he opened the mail in private mode, making it appear in his brain via a magic signal instead of a hologram. "I guess that''s the file you got on me," Almondmented, his bodynguage leisure as he leaned back on the chair. "Don''t worry, you won''t find anything." "Admiral Rudra is personally ensuring that." Executive Ken''s eyes shook at the mention of Admiral Rudra. He let go of his facade andughed out loud. Almondughed together with him. "You stinky brat, where did youe from?" Executive Ken asked while grinning. "Hell, the file I got didn''t even have your full name." "Almond Crowshade, nice to meet you," Almond smiled. "So, were you here just to challenge our rookies or what?" "I was here to meet someone, but I wasn''t allowed to," Almond wryly smiled. "The receptiondy threw me out." Executive Ken raised his eyebrow, "It seems that you''vee here to meet our new Super Rookie. She has been assigned training tasks toplete before Rising Star Tournaments, so random people can''t meet her, not even reporters or GAA members." "That I heard," Almond dryly chuckled. Suddenly, the door of the room opened with a bang. Executive Ken and Almond turned at the door and saw Lily standing, her eyes on Almond. Almond stood up and raised his hand to wave at her while smiling, "Hi-" *Swoosh!* Lily''s figure blurred as she moved like the wind and hugged Almond tightly. "I thought this guild was about to do something stupid after I heard that Executive Ken took you away." Almond chuckled, "Haha, they won''t do that." Lily side-nced at Executive Ken briefly before closing her eyes and focusing on the hug as she soaked herself in Almond''s presence. "Mhmm, now I am finally feeling better. Let''s go somewhere else and decide some things, like where we are living together from now on." Meanwhile, Executive Ken felt a chill when he saw Lily''s icy nce. ''It seems that our new super rookie is also cut out of some extraordinary mold. Jeez, how can she exude such a resolved killing intent?'' Looking at the duo, he could only wryly smile. ''Kids these days¡­'' "Ahem, this is unexpected," he spoke after a cough, hoping to get their attention. "How about we have a small talk about your¡­.rtionship?" Chapter Explore: "What?" Lily asked inly as she stood by Almond, grabbing his hand. "Please don''t say anything stupid like I am not allowed or anything." ''She doesn''t hold back against her superiors, huh? I guess she got hold of the guild''s dynamic based on her treatment here,'' Almond internally chuckled. ''Maybe having Lady Aria as her mentor has its exclusive perks.'' "Of course not. I won''t say anything stupid like that," Executive Ken smiled as he spoke, putting emphasis on stupid as his lips twitched a bit. "But I would like you two to keep your rtionship a secret for a bit." "Why? That makes no sense unless it''s for stupid things," Lily fired back immediately with a frown. Executive Ken''s right eye twitched, but he held his smile and replied, "Well, the boys are kinda fired up because of you and the girls also have a rivalry. You revealing you have a boyfriend is going to dampen some fighting spirits." "So it''s really for some stupid reasons," Lily snorted. "To be honest, I agree with Lily," Almond smiled. "But we don''t need to do anything regarding this. It''s not like Lily wants to announce to the world." "I don''t mind doing that so that other girls don''t get any ideas about you," Lily cutely harrumphed. "But I heard reporters can be annoying when they find such things. Almond can stay rational, but I might not if they overstep their boundaries." "You are not too known at the moment. Only some channels here are eager to get first and inside news to present to the world when you appear in the Rising Star Tournament," Executive Ken wryly smiled. "But I agree with Almond," Executive Ken shrugged. "I guess I''ll leave you young ones to deal with your life yourself. Walk while holding hands or not, you are free." "Thanks," Almond smiled. "Then send us off to Shadow Pce, please," Lily said. "Or we can also walk down this headquarters while holding our hands." "I''ll take you up on that offer," Executive Ken wryly smiled and got up as he stretched his hand towards Almond. "Well, nice to meet you, Almond. I hope you can keep my crude tactics a secret. Almond shook hands and nodded while smiling, "No problem. Though I was a bit disappointed to see you do that to someone who defeated your Super Rookie." "I thought only your ss was strong and not mind, so I decided to give it a try. Anyway, I trust you to keep this confined, or my ass would get whooped by Admiral Rudra, hahaha. Now off you go, have fun." Just as Executive Ken used his skill, Natalia entered and saw them. In slow-mo, her mouth opened, and her expression changed as she tried to stop them, "Waaaiittt¡­" And they were gone. Executive Ken looked at Natalia and wryly smiled, "Natalia, right? Want me to send you to them?" "Yes, please Q-Q." ¡­ When Natalia was teleported into the Shadow Pce, she caught the lovebirds kissing passionately. "Goddamn, you thirsty hoes! But anyway, you continue. I''ll take a stroll outside. Adios~" "¡­" "¡­" After a short, passionate session of kissing,the duo walked outside to the training field of the hill. "You can leave the guild, right?" Almond asked. "Yeah, why?" "Then let''s go. Admiral Rudra gave me a property here," Almond grinned. "We''ll do some selling and shopping first before heading there." Chapter 79: Temporary Rich Almond, Lily, and Natalia soon met up with Julian and Roken, who were outside. They were still with Ryker, Sam, and a few other seniors of their age, talking about Almond and other things. Seeing Lilying with Almond, Ryker''s brows jumped. ''So he was telling the truth when he said he knew Lily and came to meet her¡­'' Chapter Find: But his gaze went to the handholding part, and his heart skipped a beat, feeling shocked. ''Don''t tell me¡­'' "Seniors, we''ll be going now. Let''s have a good fightter," Almond cheekily smiled. "Smell yater, chaps," Roken said with a smug expression and waved his hand, while Julian simply nodded at Ryker and others before joining Almond''s group. "Damn, don''t tell me he is our beautiful super rookie''s boyfriend?" one of the seniors muttered as he watched Almond and Lily leave while handholding. "He indeed is," Sam said as he sped his hand like a Buddha. "Amitabha, may the other boys get peace with that because they are not going to stand a chance against Almond." "Well, the Silver bracket of the Rising Star Tournament is going to be more interesting," Ryker smiled. "Once Xavier finds this, he is going to train like hell to get back at Almond. He lost twice in one day." "Let''s go tell him that right now! We''ll start by asking if he knew Lily already had a boyfriend." Another senior snickered. ¡­ After the trio got in the backseat of Julian''s car, Almond said, "I want to sell the first floor''s rare drops, so let''s deal with that to increase my budget." "Then I''ll drive to the Skypath Treasure House. We''ll get better prices there." "Almond, how many gold coins have you got in total after your first floor''s 2nd cycle run?" Natalia curiously asked. Roken and Julian were surprised upon hearing that. "Something over two million gold coins. And I got a total of six rare drops on top of the other rare drops we had. That''s easily above 15 million gold coins," Almond grinned. Roken and Julian were dumbfounded. "Holy shit!" Roken smacked his lips. "How did you get so many rare drops?" Julian focused on the road lest he lose his shit again, but his ears were attentive. "Just a bit of luck paired with an adequate challenge to increase drop chance. Killing bosses while being lower level or soloing them increases drop chances. And in the second cycle, I killed all bosses alone, so six of them dropped rare-grade items." "Did you kill the floor boss?" Lily asked, her eyes glinting. "I did," Almond smirked. "Quiet easily." "Yeah, yeah, we can imagine," Natalia sighed. "Your specialized ss''s skill is too op." Julian and Roken were intensely curious, so much so that it was eating them as they really wanted to know Almond''s sses and skills. But they didn''t ask as it would be rude. "Let''s finish shopping and stuff first before heading to my house. We''ll open a surprise box there. Even I don''t know what it contains," Almond said as the image of the Complete Floor Boss Subjugation Reward Chest shed in his mind. Lily immediately followed up with a grin, "Floor Boss drop? What did you get? People get treasure chests based on contribution, but you killed it alone¡­I imagine you must have gotten something crazy." "Bingo. It looked crazy in design, so I bet it contains some really good stuff." ¡­ After arriving at the Skypath Treasure House, Julian made a hard bargain for Almond, selling all but one rare drop that Natalia wanted, and got a whooping 18 million gold coins. One of the rare drops, a shield he got from defeating a Wonder Tree-Topia area''s boss, had max perk values and three effects, so it alone sold for 3 million gold coins, the same price as Earth Shattering Gloves. The gloves were considered one of the most, if not the most, valuable drops because of the effect of burrowing and traveling via ground, making it a highly sought-after life-saving item. The rare drops that Almond, Lily, and Natalia got via team efforts were Preying Hunter''s Sword, Earth Shattering Gloves, and the guaranteed rare drop they got from defeating the hidden boss¡ªWhite King Manticore. Lily didn''t want any money, and Natalia only took one million Gold coins because she wanted Stardriver Shard Staff. As such, aside from this one item, Almond sold off everything, including the Pearl of Light Flower and the rare drop he got from Jacob given by his father¡ªthe Ring of Aegis Elysian. All in all, Almond pocketed 17 million gold coins from the sale, and adding another 2 million he got from purely killing monsters and bosses, he was officially a temporary rich adventurer. "What''s up with the flying vehicles here? I am seeing more and more of them," Almond said as he got out of the car and saw two ''strange'' vehicles flying past them as they exited the Skypath Treasure Pavilion. One looked like a boat-shaped with wings, and another was like a sedan sports car with a jet-wing design. "Yeah, they''ve started selling custom flying vehicles. It takes several days to make one, but only top manufacturers are selling them for now," Julian said. "And each one''s starting cost is over one million gold coins." "Almond, you should buy one," Natalia grinned. "You''re loaded anyway." "Do you have any ce where they already have some flying vehicles in the showcase?" Almond asked. "We can buy a car, but just save fifteen million gold coins," Lily said with a smile as she shared a piece of good news. "I''ve asked teacher Aria about the trash-tier rare-grade items, and she inquired about it in the guild''s forge. You can buy the bulk of one hundred with the price of 15k per item." Almond was pleasantly surprised, "You''ve already arranged for that? Awesome! What about Super-grade ones?" "They have a stock of trash-tier Super-grade items, but only around twenty, and it will cost you around 30 million gold coins to buy these twenty." Almond looked at the requirement window and sighed, ''Yeah, I am going to stay broke as long as I want to unlock these stages as soon as possible. But it''ll be worth it.'' [Requirement to unlock the skill and finish the upgrade.] -1. Sacrifice 100 Rare-grade items (7/100). ¡ª> Skill Unlock & Rare-grade Guaranteed item forge option. -2. Sacrifice 50 Super-grade items (0/50). ¡ª> Super-grade Guaranteed item forge option. -3. Sacrifice 10 Epic-grade Items (0/10). ¡ª> Epic-grade Guaranteed Item Forge option. -4. Sacrifice 5 Legendary-grade Items (0/5). ¡ª> Legendary-grade Guaranteed Item Forge option. -5. [Sealed]: Requires the ss to reach (L) rank. Chapter 80: Complete Floor Boss Subjugation Reward Chest They visited a couple of manufacturers who had some flying vehicles already made. Almond didn¡¯t want to wait for over a week to get his ride, so he decided to buy a readymade one. Its design was like a jet-sports car. Three meters wide with an additional three meters of wingspan for retractable wings. Its length was four meters long. The color schematic was dark and edgy, with mainly ck and red colored designs. It cost 1.8 million gold coins. Since Almond had gold coins to spare for now, he decided to splurge a bit. He had already gotten a way to secure more gold coins thanks to his perk of no limit on entry into dungeons matching hisbat rank in GAA¡¯s territory. Since hisbat rank reached B rank, he could ess B-grade Dungeons containing Gold-rank monsters. Dungeons were the biggest source of earning for adventurers. Almond gave his new home¡¯s address to the manufacturer as it would take a day to do thest bit of refining and maintenance of the Redhawk Spacecraft. After finishing there, the group finally headed to the new home. "This area is near the coastside. Don¡¯t tell me¡­" Julian muttered as he looked at the address properly. ¡­ "I knew it," Julian dazedly said as he looked at the so-called "house." "What the unga bunga! How did you get your hands on this property?!" Roken¡¯s jaw dropped as he looked at a property that screamed tranquility and aesthetics from all sides! "Damn," Almond muttered as he walked ahead, entering the gate. What greeted him was a greenwn ground with a small pond to his left. To his right side was an array of flowers and empty ground suitable for growing more nts. Going ahead, there was a cobblestone pathway that parted into three paths, each one leading to different structures. In the middle was a beautiful and aesthetic wooden pavilion akin to an eastern castle two floors big. The left pathway led to a rectangr structure with no walls or roof. It was an open pavilion suitable for meditative-type training. To the right was a guest house and a training ground with strange crystal dummies with metallic coatings. "This is crazy!" Natalia screeched. "I will also live here! I don¡¯t mind making my bed on the ground!" Lily was grinning as well, "This is amazing, Almond. This is in the restricted area of the coastal side, so the general public doesn¡¯te here. We have a beach view right outside and a clean part of the beach to ourselves. "But this area is also one where monsters usually enter," Julian said. "That¡¯s why other residents in this area are all Adventurers, powerful ones. Mostly tinum-rank ones." "I feel something more to this," Almond said as his eyes glinted. He could feel magic permeating below the ground and around the whole property. That reminded him of the words Admiral Rudra said when he mentioned giving him a ce to live here. ¡¯So that¡¯s what he meant when he said he would give me the safest ce. There¡¯s definitely some sort of magic formations here.¡¯ "You must be sensing the Magic Formations. It¡¯s not strange here," Julian said. "But if this property belongs to Admiral Rudra, then this courtyard definitely has the best magic formations fueled by sufficient magic crystals in the stash somewhere under the ground." "Say, Almond. I can live here, right?" Natalia asked, disying puppy eyes and expression. "Pretty please." "Fine, you can live in that pond." Lily chuckled while Natalia pouted, "What am I, a fish?" The group arrived at the central pavilion, and sufficient to say, it was amazing. The hall was huge, with a set of couches, sofa chairs, and small tables facing the firece. The kitchen was to the left side, and a rectangr dining table was outside the kitchen. The stairs to the second floor were at the end of the hall in the middle section. Everything was fully furnished, and the entire ce had decorative aspects like chandeliers, vases, curtains on windows, and such. After looking around a bit and checking out the upper floors, the group sat down on the living hall¡¯s couches and sofa chairs. "It¡¯s time to open the surprise box," Almond grinned as he took out a big treasure from his storage pouch. [Complete Floor Boss Subjugation Reward Chest] "That¡¯s a long-ass name," Natalia was speechless as she inspected the treasure chest. "I still can¡¯t wrap my head around how Almond soloed the first-floor boss," Roken asked, dazed as he looked at the giant treasure chest. Julian wondered the same thing. ¡¯Such a big treasure chest¡­just what kind of rewards are in there?¡¯ "Open it," Lily said, her eyes shining curiously. "It should contain something extraordinary. Maybe a special item." Without further ado, Almond touched the giant treasure chest as he got a notification asking if he wanted to open it. Discover hidden stories at NovelBin.C?m ¡¯Yes.¡¯ *Crackle..* The big chest opened with a small bang and crackles as colorful firecrackers sted out of it. And with that, a bunch of small colorful orbs spewed out, each containing various items. Almond saw a window panel containing the list of items and leaned on it, ¡¯Damn, so many things?¡¯ - Skill Upgrade Card x 1. - Super-rank Item Ticket x 1. - (Special) Wild Berserker¡¯s Blood x 1. - (Special) Dew of Arcane Moonlight x 1. - Random Skill book (B-rank to S-rank) x 1. - (Rare) Blood Starmite Ore x 2. - (Rare) Silkshade Herb x 2. - (Super) Thunderstone Trotto Shard x 1. - (Super) Sunroot Vine x 1. - (Rare) Sword of Wildered. - (Rare) Amulet of Blood Berserker. - Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Ticket x 1. "What are these crazy things?!" Natalia shouted as she read the list. "What the fuck¡­" Roken was dazed, rubbing his eyes. "Two special items?" Julian muttered while his eyes trembled as he read the rewards. "Sweet," Lily grinned, clearly thrilled. She waved her hand, gathering all the orbs using her Mana as they floated in front of Almond. "Darling, start opening them one by one and inspect them. Let¡¯s see what kind of crazy things you got." Almond was rubbing his hands while broadly smiling. Putting away the Skill Upgrade card into his storage pouch, he said, "I¡¯ll use the tickets at the end, so let¡¯s start with the special items." Touching the orb containing the Wild Berserker¡¯s Blood Drop, he opened it and saw a tiny vial containing glowing red blood. [Wild Berserker¡¯s Blood] -Rank: Special. Chapter 81: Juicy Rewards (1/2) [Wild Berserker¡¯s Blood] -Rank: Special. -Effect: ¡ª> Drinking the blood will increase Strength, Health, and Stamina by 10. ¡ª> There¡¯s a 1% chance to acquire Wild Berserk passive skill. "Holy shit!" Roken¡¯s jaw hit the floor. "Is this for real?" "p me," Natalia said as she stared at the item. "Should I really?" Roken blinked as he turned to her. "NO!" "This is invaluable. I¡¯ve seen stat-increasing items, but this tops them all," Julian said before he swallowed hard. "All three physical stats increasing by 10 is big," Lily¡¯s eyes glinted. Almond picked up the vial and stretched his hand to his left at Lily. "Take it." "Why are you giving it to me?" Lily asked in surprise. Julian¡¯s eyes twitched. ¡¯Is he for real?¡¯ "You might not know, but there¡¯s a limit of maximum stats we can have," Almond said. "You should understand now why I¡¯ve given that to you." "Yeah, that item is useless to him," Natalia said while grinning. "Do these two know about your skill?" "They don¡¯t even know my current stats," Almond chuckled. Roken and Julian blinked, confused. "You brought them here for a reason, what¡¯s the deal?" Lily curiously asked. "The three of us are going to enter a Dungeon tomorrow. They¡¯ll be my party members." Roken and Julian looked at each other. "You were really being serious about that, bro?" Roken asked. "Of course," Almond chuckled. Julian clenched his fist, "I¡¯ll remember this favor." "Just consider us a party, haha. No need to remember favors. I am allowed to bring any members I want, so I chose you two, simple as that." "Huh? You ain¡¯t gonna invite us two?" Natalia pouted. Almond shook his head. "Nope. I can¡¯t even if I want to." "He can¡¯t," Lily nodded as she understood, "GAA won¡¯t allow Adventurers of other guilds to enter their dungeons. I also have dungeons to do, but I can¡¯t invite Almond as he is not part of League of Firefly." "Yep. But we¡¯ll time our dungeon entry so we can get together once we finish our respective dungeons," Almond smiled. "Sounds good." Afterward, Almond looked at the second special item. [Dew of Arcane Touch] -Rank: Special -Effect: ¡ª> Drinking the dew will increase Mana, Perception, and Focus by 10. ¡ª> 1% chance to acquire Mana Crystalite passive skill. Nobody was as surprised as previously because they had guessed that this second special item might be something like that. But it was still crazy as these two consumable items gave 60 stat points! Natalia, Roken, and Julian didn¡¯t bother hiding their envy. After all, it was impossible not to feel envious of such invaluable items. "Alright, who is going to open this skill book?" Almond smiled as he took out a pitch-ck skill book from an orb. "Opening it will transform it into a random skill book from B-rank to S-rank." Natalia pointed to herself with a pleased smile. "Why don¡¯t you open it yourself, bro?" Natalia threw daggers at Roken with her eyes. "Nah, my luck is shit." Natalia pointed to herself with a pleased smile. "Give it to Natalia," Lily said with a chuckle. "She¡¯s the Divine Witch, after all." "I¡¯m just afraid she will lose that title if she tries her luck here," Almond cheekily said as he threw the book to Natalia. "Well, give it a try." "Is she that lucky?" Julian raised his eyebrows. "Well, she got an S-rank skill from the random skill chance that was supposed to only be up to an A-rank skill," Almond wryly smiled. "Holy cow! That¡¯s another level of luck, alright," Roken said as he looked at Natalia. "Eh? What is she doing?" "Her ritual or something, I guess," Lily shrugged. "That won¡¯t help, heh," Julian scoffed. "Z, Arrsaka, Voodoo, Zing, Bing, Bong, king, kong!" Natalia spluttered gibberish before pping the book¡¯s cover and then opening it slowly. As soon as shepletely opened the book, it glowed and started changing as entric patterns and designs appeared. Lightning crackled around the book, looking as beautiful as the blue and white lightning-themed design and patterns that appeared on the book. [Lightning Dragon Skill Set] -Book owner: Almond. -Skill 1: Lightning Tailwhip (S) ¡ªEffect: Conjures a lightning dragon tail anywhere within 10 meters of the user to deal devastating lightning-attribute damage. Causes shock and paralysis. -Skill 2: Voltron Edge (S) ¡ªEffect: Infuses a melee-type weapon with crackling lightning energy, increasing the weapon¡¯s damage significantly and granting lightning-attribute to all attacks released through the weapon. "What the fuck?" Almond muttered despite himself. "I thought it would be one skill, but it¡¯s two!" Roken eximed. "Julian, do you know about skill books?" "There are skill books with more than one skill, but to get one like this," Julian was dumbfounded. "Crazy." "It looks like Natalia¡¯s gibberish luck-increasing magic is true," Lily muttered. "Those two are some powerful skills, especially that Voltron Edge." "But you¡¯ll have to learn them yourself," Julian said. "And only one person can view the content, who is you. Only you can give it to another one to view it." Skill Books had workings of the skill. Adventurers had to learn it themselves by reading its content. Almond nodded as he conjured a mana hand and grabbed the book from Natalia, "This is nice, indeed. I needed some good attack skills anyway. Thanks, Nat." Natalia sat there with a smug expression, "I told you, I am the Divine Witch Natalia, and I can manipte luck at my whims." "I guess you¡¯ll be opening the random things from now on," Almond grinned. "I am curious to see how long Nat¡¯s luck streaksts," Lily chuckled. "Bring it on!" "Moving to the next items, they are just materials," Almond said as he took out the two Blood Starmite Ore pieces. "That can be used to make a solid rare-rank weapon," Roken said with shining eyes. Almond threw them at him and said, "They are yours to experiment." "W-What? Are you sure? Each one can easily cost over two hundred thousand gold coins!" Roken was taken aback as he caught the ore pieces. "Yeah, just take them and use them to get more experience with your sub-ss. As for the Rare-rank and Super-rank herbs, can I let you handle their sale, Julian?" Almond asked. "I can do that," Julian nodded. "Our branch will buy them. Herbs are precious to make potions. If these Herbs are something that we haven¡¯t acquired before, we must let GAA get their hands on it." "Some herbs have seeds hidden in them," Lily said. "So close inspection of herbs is a must because we can grow them here if we get the seeds. That¡¯s a huge benefit." "That¡¯s interesting," Almond raised his eyebrows. "But they would require more than just regr air, water, and sun, right?" "Yeah, they need tons of magic crystals," Julian nodded. "We already have a garden in our GAA branch. The dungeons are assigned properly so they can farm magic crystals from killing monsters and finding Magic Crystal Veins." "Nice," Almond said as he moved to pick up the next orb. "This one has Super-rank material. Sorry, but I won¡¯t give this to you, Roken," he said with a smile as he got an idea. "Now that I got the skill book and this Super-rank material that¡¯s of lightning-attribute, I am going to use it tomission a good sword." Read new chapters at NovelBin.C?m "That¡¯s a good idea," Lily nodded. Chapter 82: Juicy Rewards (2/2) "This short sword looks badass," Almondmented as he took out the next item¡ªSword of Wildered. The short sword had a rich dark green wooden handle with rose-red patterns, and the sword''s main part was even more unique¡ªa sleek green crystal de. [Sword of Wildered] -Grade: [Rare/High]. -Attack: 200 + [110% of user''s Strength] -Perks(s): ¡ª> +10 Strength, +15 Stamina, +5 Focus, +15 Health. -Effect(s): ¡ª> (Active) Wild de: Unleashes a sh-projectile that deals damage based on your Strength and Mana consumption. The sh gets stronger the more it travels, up to 500 meters for +200% bonus damage. Cooldown: 1 minute. ¡ª> (Passive) Blood Drinker: The sword absorbs the blood, either yours or your opponent''s, and increases its attack by 5%, up to a 100% increase. "It''s a high-tier rare grade!" Natalia eximed. "You don''t get these even on the 2nd floor." "True," Roken nodded. "And this sword is even good. Two effects and almost maximum perk value." "Its active skill''s cooldown is very low," Julian narrowed his eyes. "You can abuse this as a long-range one-shotter." "Indeed, this is not bad at all," Almond raised his eyebrows. "I''ll use this until my Super-grade sword is ready. And then I''ll use dual wielding because it sounds fun and powerful." "Knowing you, you''ll do crazy good even with dual-wielding swords," Lily grinned. "I do dual-wielding daggers, and it''s fun." "Dual wielding is good, but it also consumes more stamina and mana. This is good when ites to fighting a strong single monster to want to finish it faster," Julian said as he looked at Almond. "Getting adequate mastery in dual wielding is important for that, but I suppose you won''t have any problem with that. Do you have some kind of innate talent rted to the sword? Because your sword mastery is very high from what I saw during yourbat power evaluation." "You can say that, yeah. And I''ll keep my word of giving you pointers in sword training," Almond smiled and picked up the next orb before taking out its item. [Amulet of Blood Berserker] -Grade: [Rare/High] -Defense: +200 Physical Def. -Perk(s): ¡ª> +10 Perception, +8 Focus, +20 Health. -Effect(s): ¡ª> (Passive) Blood Berserker: The lower your vitality, the stronger your strength. You also gain Lifesteal, absorbing the vitality of the targets you bleed with your weapon. The lifesteal effect is doubled, and you also recover stamina if you attack with your fists ande into contact with the enemy''s blood. ¡ª> (Active) Crimson Warrior: When your vitality drops below 30%, you can activate Crimson Warrior to increase your Strength by 200% for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour. "These are some crazy effects," Lily muttered. "This can actually make someone unkible if they are good with fist fights." "Damn, Pugilists-type adventurers will go crazy for this item," Roken said. "They fight with bare fists because of their ss, so pairing them with this item will make them unkible against same-rank mobs." "Yes, but I have a very good use for this," Almond''s eyes glinted. "I''ll have to try this new tactic I just thought of against a strong boss." "I know what you''re thinking," Lily looked at him. "You want to use Divine Divider''s Harvest to get Strength, drop your vitality below 30%, and use this skill, right? Attacking after that is going to be catastrophic." "Fuck, that''s just too op!" Natalia was dumbfounded. "What does Divine Divider''s Harvest do, bro? If you don''t mind telling." "I''ll leave it a suspense for now," Almond faintly smiled. "You''ll see that tomorrow when we enter the Dungeon." "Anyway, it''s time to begin the final course," Almond took out the Super-rank Item Ticket and Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Ticket. Natalia stood with a smug expression, both of her hands stretched forward. "Thee shall receive Divine Witch Natalia''s fortune." "Haha, there''s no way you will get lucky all the time," Rokenughed. "Time to get exposed." "Foolish," Natalia said with a disdainful expression. Almond sent the tickets on her palms and said, "Alright, let''s see you roll high again. At least, I''ll hope that because I''d benefit." Natalia began as she closed her eyes and uttered gibberish while moving both of her hands holding the tickets. "You first," Natalia spoke, her voice deep as she raised the right hand holding the Super-grade item ticket. "If you''re luck ritual is the real deal," Lily crossed her arms as she said, "Then it should be a high-tier Super-grade item." "Boom Shakka!" Natalia shouted and used the ticket. It shattered and turned into motes before transforming into a fancy ck robe with a waist-belt attached. It looked pretty cool with dark gold and crystal blue patterns on the fabric. Everyone quickly inspected the item. [Nightfall Ebonox Robe] -Grade: Super / High -Defense: ¡ª> +200 Physical Def. ¡ª> +400 Magic Def. -Perk(s): ¡ª> +40 Mana, +14 Focus, +16 Perception, +20 Strength. -Effect(s): ¡ª> (Active) Nightfall Retreat: This effect can only be activated during the night. Using it will make the user invisible from all senses for 10 minutes. Cooldown: 1 hour. Cost: 200 Mana. ¡ª> (Active) Darkness Surge: Upon using this effect, the user can produce dark-elemental energy for five seconds (doubles during the night) to give their next skill or attack the dark-attribute for bonus damage based on the amount of darkness energy produced during five seconds. The darker the ce, the more dark energy is produced. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Cost: 50 Mana. "¡­" "No way, she got divine powers of luck?" Roken wondered with a disbelief expression. "No way." "She is just on a lucky streak, or maybe this item ticket was supposed to give a Super-grade high-tier item in the first ce," Julian said as he rolled his eyes. "Tsk, tsk, you dare doubt my divine might, foolish mortal," Natalia shook her head withment. She threw the robe at Almond and focused on the other ticket. "Well, we''ll find out the reality soon with that ticket," Almond chuckled as he put away the robe in his storage pouch. "Do it," Lily said, staring at the exotic metallic ck ticket with dark gold metallic patterns. Natalia used the ticket, and it actually burst into colorful sparks that turned into a big roulette with five sections. Chapter 83: Unexpected The roulette had five sections, each containing a single word. [ Talent ] [ Skill ] [ Consumable ] [ Item ] [ Random ] "Talent? Is it talking about innate talent?" Roken''s eyes widened. "Yeah, that should be the case," Julian nodded. "I believe that''s the most valuable out of the five there." "Well, getting that Talent option out of the five will prove that Nat''s luck ritual is the real deal," Almond grinned. "You better not fail, Nat." "Humph, just watch." "She won''t get it," Lily chimed in. "But I am saying this so that she will get it." "Here I go!" Natalia pressed the red button, and the roulette started spinning. "It seems that I have to press the button to stop it," Natalia raised her eyebrows. "Well, that''s just perfect," Lily grinned. "Now it''s really all up to your luck." "I pray for Talent," Roken sped his hands. Natalia hit the button, and the roulette started slowing down. The needle was hitting each section''s border, slowing down more and more until the needle entered the [Random] section and hit the border. "Go over, go over!" Natalia''s face was red as she muttered. Everyone''s eyes were glued to it. The needle even bent since it was a flexible one, but would it cross over to the [Talent] section from the [Random]? Natalia spluttered gibberish in the next second and¡­ It didn''t cross over! The roulette stopped on the [Random], and a pitch-ck palm-sized box appeared. "Damn!" Roken pped his thigh. "So close." "Well¡­." Julian simply shook his head while smiling. "That''s how luck works." "Open that box," Lily said. "Yeah, the moment of truth is only after you open the box," Almond grinned. Natalia touched the box, her expression utterly somber, "Behold." The box opened as a strange ck glowing light in scattered form oozed out slowly. It lingered around the opened box, making everyone feel something mystical. Inside the box was a soft red cushion, and on it was a ck bead, looking rough but still having a strange sheen to it. There were hidden patterns on it, but they were so deep within that it had entered the micro-realm. It was simply impossible to observe them with normal or even just enhanced eyes. Everyone just quickly inspected the ck bead to satisfy their curiosity. "What the hell is this?" Natalia blinked. [Broken Myth Bead] -Rank: ??? ¡ªRequires 1000 Perception to inspect this item¡ª Everyone was dumbfounded. But before anyone could say anything, another strange thing happened. "W-What''s going on with me?!" Natalia shouted as she looked at her arms and body, glowing all ck and gold sparklingly. "This¡­" Almond was shocked. He suddenly had a very familiar feeling looking at the phenomenon on Natalia. Lily looked at Almond''s face, hearing him and seeing his expression, she knew Almond guessed something. "Is her ss evolving?" Lily turned back to Natalia as she connected the dots. The only thing Almond had experienced that she didn''t was a new ss awakening. It was an instinctively logical conclusion, but she was wrong this time. "What''s going on?" Roken was dumbfounded. "That''s ss evolution? Damn!" Julian narrowed his eyes. "No way, right?" Almond saw Natalia''s expression easing up and her eyes closing. "We can only wait now." "Anyway, I''ll take the bead. This is definitely something good, and this is Nat''s 3rd lucky trigger in a row. I''m guessing whatever that is happening to her urred because of opening these random things and getting lucky in them." ¡­ Somewhere in the mysterious ck space filled with stars. There was a throne, and on it sat ady-like figure that couldn''t be perceived properly. Only the shape and outlining of her hair and outfit were visible as she glowed in a white-ish blue aura. [Grimworld Tutorial Overseer] In front of her was a screen disying the live feed of Almond''s new home. Her eyes seemed to flicker as she saw the ck bead and then Natalia as an amused expression appeared on her face. "He is already affecting World Lines in his new life¡­Is he unconsciously making things better for the people around him?" "Interesting¡­.the Heir of Oblivion talent is enhancing it due to its effect of his strong impression imprinting on people he finds important." ''What an interesting curve this is going in,'' thedy seemed inebriated. She pointed her finger ahead as a square runic te appeared. Her finger released a trail of white string as it entered the te. Her eyes seemed to blink afterward as the screen changed again, showing Almond who was in a sword stance while unconscious, his aura oozing out watery dreamy golden substances as he faced the dreadful level 300 Mythical-rank Floor Boss. Thedy appeared highly intoxicated as she watched him. "Scatter¡­away¡­." Almond''s lips moved unconsciously, his eyes closed as he stabbed forward in the air and shed, unleashing a torrent of golden destructure that destroyed a foe several times stronger than him,pletely and utterly. "Almond, oh Almond¡­you better set foot into this realm of power again and properly this time, or else everything will be ruined again." ¡­ Natalia sat back down on the couch, her eyes glittering as she was reading something. She could feel four gazes on her, all hungry to know what happened to her. "Share it already," Lily rolled her eyes. Natalia grinned, her nose pridefully high, "Behold the wonder of Divine Witch Natalia." [Scales of Fortune] ¡ª Innate Talent - Rank: Legendary - Effect: - >+10 Luck: Passively increases the user''s overall luck, enhancing chances of favorable oues in day-to-day events and challenges. - > Fortunate Scale: The user can manifest an ethereal scale that stores a desired amount of luck, ranging from one month up to one year''s worth, to provide a temporary surge of exceptional fortune. This stored luck can be unleashed at any chosen moment for a powerful, one-time effect, greatly boosting luck for a critical situation. Once the lucky event urs, the boost dissipates, and the user''s natural luck decreases proportionally to the stored amount, resulting in average luck until the pre-used luck period has passed. Chapter 84: That...Felt Amazing, Using The Fortune Scale An hourter, Julian and Roken left the courtyard while still feeling a bit riled up inside. "Bro, Almond is kind of amazing, what do you say? I think I''m gonna support him." "Support for what? Next Earth Union presidential seats election?" Julian chuckled. "But you are right. There''s a reason he invited us here and to the dungeon tomorrow. We''ll respond to his reason appropriately." Looking at the night sky while walking out, Rokenughed before saying, "I think our days are going to get better thanks to Almond." ¡­ Meanwhile, Lily, Almond, and Natalia talked about various things and also decided on their dungeon entry time tomorrow. Almond had just gotten a notification in his wristwatch that a B-rank dungeon door with a white border had appeared. Without further ado, he had booked the dungeon to his name by informing Marshal Lopol. Lily wanted to enter a B-rank dungeon, but she wasn''t allowed to. However, she still decided to enter a ck-bordered C-rank dungeon. It was 10 o''clock in the night, so they weren''t sleepy yet, and since they hadn''t eaten yet, the trio decided to go out and eat somewhere nearby. After returning, Almond and Lily went to their luxurious bedroom while Natalia went to sleep in a different room. The house had six big rooms in total, so there wasn''t ack of space. "I''m going to take a shower first," Almond said as he headed to the bathroom. Lily saw Almond going in and thought, ''I also need a shower since I didn''t have one after training.'' She took off her clothes outside and opened the bathroom door, which wasn''t locked. Hearing something, Almond turned around and instantly swallowed hard upon seeing Lily''s hot figure, utterly tempting from head to toe. His gaze went to Lily''s twin-round marshmallows with cherry tips. They hung slightly low while having a tempting curvature upward, appearing firm and yet soft. Lily''s face was a shade of pink as she felt Almond''s gaze and saw his little dragon getting hard. But she boldly walked inside as she said, "I''ll wash your back." Almond turned around, his ears red. "Ahem, sure." However, the image of Lily''s slim and perfect figure wasn''t leaving his mind. The shower room was not too big, but it had water spraying installed on all four sides, along with water spraying from the top. Almond deactivated all sprays while Lily was soaping his back. "Turn around," Lily said, her voice small. Almond turned around and met her eyes, finding a simrity in their current emotions. "Ahem, should I clean you while you clean me?" "If you want to, sure." "Then I''ll go ahead," Almond picked up the shower gel and dripped it on Lily''s bosom. It slid down and covered her pink cherry, but before it could drop on the floor, Almond had put away the bottle and put his hand over her twin peaks as he started rubbing. Lily''s face turned a shade redder, but she was done with Almond''s chest and went down, her hands roaming on his abs with anticipation of going further down. "You like them?" Lily asked with a smile, feeling electric currents from Almond fondling her breasts. "Well, yeah¡­"Almond coughed and moved above, foaming her shoulder and neck area. Lily giggled and moved down, suddenly grabbing the hard meat rod gently within her palm and moving it. Almond twitched but stayed strong. Nevertheless, his red ears and flushed face indicated that he was feeling the unintentional handjob strongly. His hands went down and fondled her twin peaks strongly for a bit to make Lily twitch as she almost let out a moan before he moved at her belly. But Lily responded by increasing her hand''s speed of cleaning Almond''s stiff little dragon. "W-Wait¡­" Almond stammered as he leaned ahead, feeling intense pleasure as he rested his head on her shoulder. Lily got excited as she really wanted to see the result and didn''t stop. "No, babe. I am not going down alone," Almond tried to hold back and armed up as he grabbed Lily''s buttcheeks and pushed his hip in the front, his meat rod resting right below Lily''s pink lips at her crotch. Lily felt a strong current of pleasure as she hugged him tightly and moved her hips on her own, feeling Almond''s straight and stiff meat rod rubbing her down. Both of them could feel their hearts racing so fast, their blood rushing in their body and minds filling with pleasure. "Fuck, I can''t anymore¡­" Almond groaned as he released the load that started hitting the ss behind Lily as he twitched. Lily suddenly kissed Almond while pressing herself tightly in the hug, her body twitching as her dam also flooded. As their passionate kiss continued, Almond turned on all the shower points. "That¡­felt amazing," Lily said after a minute, her head resting on his shoulder in his embrace. Almond smiled as his right hand gently pped her buttcheek and then strongly squeezed, "I agree, my naughty girl." ¡­ After they finished showering, both of them slept on the bed, naked and skin to skin. The morning arrived soon as Almond and Lily woke up at eight o''clock. After wearing the pajamas they bought yesterday, they went down and saw that Natalia was preparing breakfast. "Lovebirds woke up, eh? Sit down, the breakfast is almost ready." "What are we eating?" Almond asked as he sat down and turned over the te before grabbing a fork and a spoon. "I smell eggs." "Yeah, it''s a breakfast set with egg as the main ingredient, hehe. Egg rolls, Omelet, half-fry egg with mixed spice and bread." "Nice," Lily smiled, her stomach slightly rumbling shortly after she spoke. "We have two hours of free time before entering our respective dungeons. Let''s do some morning training after breakfast and then leave, what do you say?" "Sounds good." ¡­ An hourter, Lily and Almond sat down on the training ground as they had finished sparring with each other. Natalia was practicing her Flute attacks on the dummies. These strong dummies were set up through the ground so that they could actually move around at various speed levels, giving Natalia an adequate challenge on how to control her magic basic attacks to hit the targets. "By the way, take this with you," Almond said as he took out the Nightfall Ebonox Robe. "You''ll benefit better from this since your Primary ss is also attuned to dark-attribute, and you''re an assassin type." "Thanks," Lily smiled and took the robe before putting it in her storage pouch. "Oh yeah, we still have an hour, so do you want to finish the deal with the guild''s forge to unlock your skill before entering the Dungeon?" "Sure, definitely. My spirit pocket is full, and I''ll get more spirits from the dungeon. It''s better I use them to create items." "One more thing," Lily said as she took out the Dew of Arcane Touch. "Do you mind if I give this to Nat instead? She''ll-" "Of course," Almond chuckled as he interrupted her. "I don''t mind If you want to give it to her. Actually, I got an idea." "Same," Lily grinned. "Let''s use her Scales of Fortune." Almond grinned and nodded. Turning to Nat, he shouted, "Nat,e here." Natalia stopped her training and walked towards the duo, "What''s up?" Looking at the transparent vial containing magical blue sparkling liquid, her heart skipped a beat with anticipation. "There''s a 1% chance to acquire Mana Crystalline passive skill from this," Lily said, her smile sharp. "Let''s see you get it." "And I reckon that this passive skill is anything but ordinary," Almond said. "I am assuming that only the Complete Floor Boss Subjugation Reward chest drops these valuable consumables that increase stats so much. And even then, they have a 1% chance to get those unique passive skills." Natalia gulped hard as she tremblingly took the vial, "I can really get such an awesome skill¡­but how much luck should I use?" "One month? Two months? Six months?" Natalia muttered, unable to decide. Lily and Almond entered thoughtful expression for a few seconds before they simultaneously spoke. "Three months." Natalia blinked, "Geez, what''s with that sync?" "Well, if we consider a 1% increase in luck per day, then 3 months should be enough to push the probability to 100%," Almond answered. "True, I calcted the same way," Lily smiled. "Alright, then 3 months it is," Natalia nodded, her expression somber. "Let''s do this." Using her innate talent, a mystical scale appeared. After choosing a period of time, [3 months] manifested on one side of the scale while a golden milky star appeared on the other side of the scale. "Done," Natalia said before taking a deep breath as the Fortune Scale vanished and her luck increased proportionally. Without further ado, she opened the vial and chugged in the content. Chapter 85: Mana Crystalline, Skill Unsealed "I got it!" Natalia was shocked as she acquired the passive skill. "I really got it!" "Great," Almond smiled. "Now share its details. Let''s see how powerful it is." Natalia shared the skill while grinning from ear to ear, "It''s freaking awesome!" [Mana Crystalline] -Description: You have Mana crystalline pathways established in your body. Uncovering their mystery can allow you to step into the advanced usage of Mana, and you can also teach others how to form Mana crystalline pathways once you discover how they formed in your body. -Skill rank: S (Growth) -Effect(s): ¡ª> +50 Mana stat. ¡ª>You can store 1000 Mana in Mana crystalline pathways, which you can use to recover your Mana pool. Lily and Almond were dumbfounded as they reached the skill''s details. "This is crazy, this skill''s potential is way high," Almond muttered. "Nat, once your Perception and Focus reaches 50+, you should give an hour or two daily to learn more about Mana Crystalline in your body," Lily said. "This is a big boon." "For sure," Natalia grinned. Suddenly, Almond got a call, and he picked it up via his wristwatch that was connected to his mobile phone. "Great, our new ride is here," Almond said as he lightlyughed. "Our new day is off to a good start. Let''s go and finish the deal in the guild before diving into dungeons." ¡­ They arrived at the League of Firefly guild base like a gust of wind in their new flying ride. Many people already recognized him because his fights yesterday were recorded by multiple people and spread everywhere, even on the inte. Almond was already being considered a Super Rookie of GAA by many people. Lily, Almond, and Natalia went directly to the guild forge, where Almond paid for 93 Rare-grade trash items. He directly sacrificed them without further ado and unlocked his Spirit Factory. Lily had also ordered three tough crystal cubes, and they were ready. Almond put a Moonlight Crystal in each of them, sessfully creating a super-useful monster detection and lighting item. Focus Field could also discover monsters, but it cost Mana while using this item was free except for its one-hour cooldown, not to mention it illuminated 50 meters of radius. Almond gave one to Lily and kept two for himself, intending to use one for himself and one to experiment in the new option of his Spirit Forge Factory. Almond left quickly after finishing matters in the guild. He contacted Roken after parking his new ride in the GAA branch''s parking area and found out that the duo was in the training hall. ''His voice was hesitant. Did theynd in some trouble?'' Almond raised his eyebrows. His eyes flickered as he went inside like a gust of wind, soon arriving at the training zone. Indeed, when he arrived there, he saw Roken and Julian hanging upside down in the air, their legs bound by magical vines controlled by a blond-haired guy in Doman''s group. He was a bit speechless to see them getting bullied like this. "What''s going on?" Almond spoke, his voice high as he walked towards the group. "Hey, newbie. I told you we''ll talkter," Doman said with a grin. "C''mere, we are having some training-rted fun." "I don''t have time for stupid shits. I have a dungeon to enter with those two," Almond inly said before he took out his sword and shed in smoothly, projecting a simple magic sh as he cut off the vines. Julian turned while in the air,nding on his feet while Roken fell on his back. Their Mana was drained, so there was no way they could break free from those vines themselves. "Did you say that we are simply doing stupid shits here?" Doman narrowed his eyes. "Did I stutter?" Almond asked as he raised his eyebrows. "Hey, newbie. It''s better to show some respect to seniors, you know?" a guy in Doman''s group snorted coldly. "You never know when you might need them." "Seniors? Ah, right. I am your senior in that case," Almond smiled as he glinted, activating the wristwatch and showing his position in the GAA. "ording to GAA, my position as a Special Hunter is above you all." "Bullshit, there''s no position like that here," Doman frowned. "By saying that, you are denying Admiral Rudra''s authority, you know? He appointed this position himself." Everyone''s expression changed. Almond shook his head as he sighed and turned around, "Anyway, we don''t have time for stupid shits. Let''s go, Roken, Julian." "Hey, newbie senior, since you are well above us, how about giving us some pointers?" Doman baited Almond, a sly expression forming on his face. "Get an appointment." Hearing Almond''s response, Doman''s face turned dark while Marina and her group burst outughing. ¡­ "What happened back there?" Almond asked, his face speechless. "Like how can you give into them and then suffer?" Roken sighed, "Julian just doesn''t want to quit." "I have no reason to decline his challenge," Julian said with a deadpan expression. "I lost, so I had to hang like that." "And then I had to join the fray and lose," Roken rolled his eyes. "What was the challenge?" Almond curiously asked. "Rock, paper, scissors." Almond almost slipped and became even more speechless. "Yeah, but it''s not normal rock, paper, scissors," Roken said. "When you lose in a bout, the loser must use their hand moves to defend against the winner''s unarmed melee attack, mostly punch or p. If you sessfully defend, nobody gets points, but if the winner''s attack hits you, then the winner gets a point. The first one to get three points wins." "Geez, that Doman is a melee fighter, he trains in hand-to-handbat. Of course, he''s bound to win." Almond shook his head as he unlocked his aircraft''s doors, and Roken quickly took the passenger seat. "I know, but I''ll win someday and smack his smugness out of his soul," Julian''s eyes icily glinted. "Imagine when he loses against someone he used to bully." "Rejoice because that day wille soon," Almond chuckled and went to the backseat. "And Julian, you''re driving since I have something to do with a skill. I''ve sent you the address of the dungeon door." "Alright." Sitting inside, Almond used the Spirit Forge Factory skill as his consciousness arrived in arge dark hall with a skully maw with a whirlpool in its mouth at the end and exotic weapon bs on both sides of the wall. Almond''s Spirit Pocket had 99 normal monsters'' Spirits and 1 Floor Boss spirit. ''I have to earn a lot of gold if I want to unlock the other guaranteed forge options,'' Almond thought as he looked at the big screen above the skully maw showing the requirements. ''What if I sell my Spirit Items at a cheaper price? I can essentially make thousands of spirit items as long as I have spirits. I can extend durations of good items and keep other items'' duration to 3 days¡­even if I sell them cheap, I''ll earn a lot of gold coins.'' Almond''s eyes glinted. ''Well, no harm in trying. My items are pretty good, better than normal items, so they''ll sell for sure.'' Almond directly put 99 Spirits in the Maw''s whirlpool, keeping only the Floor Boss spirit. ''Now, time to check the new guaranteed function and the weapon bs.'' Chapter 86: Lair of the Orc Bandit King Trokka, Density Value Almond went to a weapon b on the wall¡ªa Broad Sword b. As he touched it, a dreamy, cloudy, dark green-bordered screen appeared before his eyes. [Broad Sword b] 1. Craft a random Broad Sword. 2. Use the Guaranteed Rare-grade Forge option. Almond chose 2nd option, and the screen changed while an additional nk screen appeared beside the original one. [Broad Sword b] - Design: ¡ª> Create your desired design of the broad sword on the nk screen. - Rare-grade Guarantee Forge: [Up to 3 Spirits as ingredients] ¡ª> Sacrifice 10 Umon-grade items for a Low-tier Rare-grade result. [0/10]. ¡ª> Sacrifice 15 Umon-grade items for a Mid-tier Rare-grade result. [0/15]. ¡ª> Sacrifice 20 Umon-grade items for a High-tier Rare-grade result. [0/20]. "So I can design a sword in that nk screen, huh? Neat," Almond was kind of excited. Swords could really be exotic with myriad designs, from their de''s width, length, and curvature to the de''s shape itself. "That said, I can use spirit items as a sacrifice, right?" Almond muttered. "It''d be bullshit if I needed to get normal items for sacrifices." Almond took out a Spirit Item¡ªssze Shield and attempted to add it as a sacrificial item. The count increased by 1! ''Noice.'' ¡­ Five minutester, the trionded in a restricted area of the city. The dungeon door had opened just yesterday, so it still had white-border around its gate. The road was blocked since the door was in the middle of it. There were two middle-aged men standing guard there. Seeing the aircraftnding nearby, they knew the Adventurers who were supposed to enter had arrived. "Please sign this." "Only three of you are going in?" the second man asked. "Yeah, us three are enough," Almond smiled. Almond signed on the paper before he nodded at them and entered, followed by Julian and Roken. "Why did they send only three Gold-rank Adventurers after reading the dungeon''s density value?" "Rx, one of them must be a peak Gold-rank Adventurer veteran if they only sent three here." "I see¡­" ¡­ [You have entered the Lair of the Orc Bandit King Trokka] The group found themselves inside a huge hall with floating purple and orange lights after entering. "It''s a structure-type dungeon, huh?" Julian raised his eyebrows. "The final boss must be at the very top." "This looks like a big castle," Roken said as he looked around before stopping at the stairs. "There''s only one way." "You both have rare-grade weapons, right?" Almond asked. "Yeah." "Good," Almond wore his Lethal Fang Boots, Snow Hide Cloak, and his Polen Tiger''s belt at his waist. He took out five other items and attached them to the belt in miniature form with the belt''s effect¡ªShimmering Trap x 1, Shimmering Spine Spears x 3, and Moonlight Crystal x 1. "Woah, what''s that?" Roken blinked. "Cool item." Almond smiled and took out more items, "Here, take them." "This is called the White Pn Charm Ring. It has a magic shield skill and an illusion skill with a 10% chance to charm the target. Charm won''t work on monsters here since they are gold-ranked, but the shield will be helpful since it scales based on your stats." Roken took the ring and wore it. "Nice." "This is for you," Almond handed over two small orbs to Julian. "They are Wispy Illusion Bombs. They''ll confuse monsters and cloud their vision, even if their effect is lowered against gold-rank monsters. Use them when required." "Got it." "Let''s go," Almond said as he started walking while Julian and Roken followed him. "Aren''t you going to use your summons?" Roken asked, confused. "Nope. No need," Almond chuckled as he unsheathed his Sword of Wildered from his back. "This is enough. I want to improve mybat ability this way. I can explore more possibilities on how to use my body and sword when I fight against monsters who each use different methods and styles. And another reason is that I can freely use my swords on them so that I can conjure more ideas, unlike on humans during training where I can''t kill them." ''Is that how geniuses think?'' Julian thought, a bit speechless. The trio climbed up the stairs and faced a big, wide door at the end. "We''ll likely face monsters inside, with some sort of challenge," Julian said as he was ready with his sword. Roken also gripped his big hammer tightly, his body packed in metal chain armor. Both of them had worn Rare-grade armor, boots, gloves, and a couple of rings, so they were ready for this dungeon. "Almond, you don''t have any armor, or you are not wearing one?" Julian asked with a frown. "Not wearing one," Almond walked forward and touched the door. "I don''t need it because I won''t get hit." "Get ready, I''m opening it." Saying that, Almond pushed the door with a palm attack as he activated his Physical Enchantment. *Boom!* The wide door flung open and crashed into a couple of monsters. [You have entered the First Area¡ªHungry Pit. Defeat the 50 Pin-Furred Wolves within 5 minutes for challengepletion.] But there was no light inside except for the glowing green eyes and the slightly glowing red fur of the monsters. "Shit, it''s a dark area," Roken cursed. "I hate those." "Welp, I didn''t think I would get to use this so fast," Almond chuckled as he threw the Moonlight Crystal cube on the ceiling of the floor. The monsters were already growling and looking at them. The cube lightened up the whole room as everyone saw the first section of the dungeon. There was a wall just twenty meters away with a door on it, and in this twenty meters of space were roughly fifty strange monsters resembling a mix of wolves and porcupines. The wolf-type body had spikes on their fur, and they glowed menacingly. Their levels ranged from 5 to 20. [Pin-furred Wolves] -Rank: Gold -Level: 14 -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 55|Health: 65|Stamina: 55] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 55|Focus: 45|Perception: 65] "So many at once in a single ce? Fuck, they won''t shoot those spikes, right?" Roken gulped as he took out his tower shield. "I''m going into defensive mode, guys. You all handle them." *Awooo!* "I think the strategy here was to open the open slowly, let out a few of them outside, and close the door again or we are supposed to have more people here," Julian said as he gripped his sword tightly. ''We''ll have to waste a few Mana bottles already to kill this many at once, or we''ll get overwhelmed unless Almond summons.'' *Swoosh* s, Almond directly dashed inside. He briefly vanished from their vision as he crossed past four wolves. In the next second, all four of those wolves were sliced cleanly into two as they vanished into motes, leaving behind four Magic Crystals. The wolves focused on him, but Almond was dancing on the battlefield. The spike attacks of the wolves either missed, or he destroyed some with his sword as he cleanly sliced off wolves one by one. At this moment, Julian fully realized that he wouldn''t be a match for Almond even if Almond didn''t use his summons. "Bro, is it just me, or does Almond have higher stats than us?" Roken muttered. "Way higher," Julian said. "We have over 50 points in all stats and close to 100 with perks from the items we are wearing, but Almond has more than us, or at least close." "But I can''t fight like him," Julian narrowed his eyes as he continued. "He knows exactly what to do in the next second, one second early. The way he uses his Focus Field is better. He is directing this battlefield solely to let his sword meet the flesh of these wolves ruthlessly and precisely." Chapter 87: Senses Unleashed "I don''t think we need to go in there, right?" Roken put down his shield on the ground and put his chin on top, watching Almond butchering the Pin-Furred Wolves. "He''s certainly having fun, so let''s just observe," Julian said, his eyes intent on Almond. He was analyzing Almond as best as he could to learn. As a swordsman, he was aware of foundations. His foundation of properly shing the sword was established after he swung his sword over a hundred thousand times. But Almond was appearing way past his level in his eyes. ''I know the cold truth¡­that talent exists,'' Julian clenched his fist. ''Someone just progresses way faster in some things. But I don''t believe that those without talent cannot reach their level.'' "I will reach his level." Something was getting aze. It was on the verge of lighting up an inferno. But whether Julian would be able to light it up¡­only the future would tell. ¡­ "That was fun!" Almond breathed out as he put his sword back into the sheath. The whole room was sparkling with magic crystals scattered on the floor. He stored all the Spirits. He kept 10 Pin-Furred Spirits in his pocket while throwing the rest of them into Spirit Forge Factory to be made into random items. "Almond, what''s your status? You said you would show us, right?" Roken spoke with puppy eyes as he walked towards Almond. "You only need some fur on you, then you would look exactly like a bear," Almondughed seeing Roken''s face. [Challengeplete.] [Congrattions. You have been awarded a Strength Fruit.] "Strength Fruit? Not bad," Julian remarked, ncing at the vibrant notification suspended in the air. Almond inspected the fruit andughed as he threw the fruit towards Julian. "Take it." "What?" Julian was dumbfounded as he caught the fruit. "It just increases Strength stat by two points. It''s meh," Almond turned around and stretched his arms. "Anyway, let''s continue." He used his Mana, controlling it to attract the magic crystals as they flew toward him and he put them into his storage pouch. "Bro, you serious?" Roken shouted as he followed behind. "The chance for a Stat boosting item as a reward to appear in Dungeon Challenges is freaking 5% or less." "That''s sad," Almond sighed as he waved his hand. "Anyway, here''s the reason why I don''t need it." Almond shared his Spirit Devour skill''s detail and his status with them. Julian and Roken saw the skill''s details first. As they read it, their footsteps stopped, and their eyes went wide, practically going off-screen. "What the fuck?" "SS-rank skill¡­" Then they saw his status and realized why Almond''s stats were so high. Almond arrived in front of the door and put his palm over it, "Hurry up, I am opening this door." *Boom!* "Wait, don''t you want to recover?" Julian snapped out and dashed ahead. ''He extensively used Mana and stamina in that intense battle for three minutes to kill those fifty wolves. He should be exhausted.'' "Don''t worry, I recover fast." "Bro, what is the rank of your c-" Roken''s mouth suddenly shut, and footsteps stopped as he saw the scenery past the door that Almond sted open. [You have entered the second section, barracks of the Orc Bandit Warriors.] Almond thought it would be a room, but the scenery in front of him was as big as two and a half football grounds with wooden walls and tents, along with over a hundred Bandit Orc Warriors or more¡­as he couldn''t see everything from there. "We are fucked," Roken muttered. [Orc Bandit Warrior] -Rank: Gold. -Level: 24. Their levels ranged from 10 to 30. Even Julian''s face formed sweat beads. He quickly finished eating the fruit before saying, "Almond, did you check the density value of the dungeon? That''s an important indication to determine if a dungeon has sections with a huge number of monsters congested into one rtively smaller ce, such as this room and that area over there." As he finished speaking, a bead of sweat fell off his face. "How high is the dungeon''s density value, Almond?" "Density value? Yeah, I think it was around 1380," Almond said as he saw the group of Orc Warriors several meters away turning to him. Meanwhile, hearing the number, Julian and Roken trembled. "Almond, get back fast!" Julian shouted as he snapped out quickly. There was a membrane at the door, indicating that monsters inside couldn''t see them unless they entered the area, but Almond was already inside while Julian and Roken were still in the first section. One of the orcs suddenly roared, initiating the battle. As a result, the membrane turned red. Those inside wouldn''t be able to exit now. "We should go," Roken dashed inside with a determined expression, jumping andnding right in front of Almond with his shield ready to block. "Bro, summon your monsters!" Julian also blitzed inside like lightning, swinging his broad sword as he consumed 15% of Mana to use one of his strongest skills as a glowering wind sh projectile ten meters long shot forward. The Orc Bandit Warriors couldn''t do anything on time as the sh cut the whole group in half. "Nice," Almond chuckled as he stood in a sword stance with his sword raised to his eye level and pointing at another group rushing at them. A wide grin stretched on his face as he said, "But don''t worry. The numbers don''t matter when you can dance all over them." "Unleash your senses, boys." *Swoosh!* Almond vanished from his post, using only Physical Enchantment and nothing else. Only exerting his physical body appropriately, he jumped and turned upside down while in the air, his position calcted. ''Yes, I should try this interesting method.'' Almond''s sword point released a neon glowing blue thread of Mana, wellpressed and condensed, as he quickly wrapped it once around the five Orc Warriors with his Mana control. *Chriii!* ''I should name this Sword Thread.'' Almond''s momentum remained fast as his jump continued while the five Orc Warriors were sliced. Hended in the middle of another group of Orcs before crouching low and swinging his sword as a beautiful wavy trail of blue briefly appeared around him. *sh!* In the next second, all five orcs were sliced without any resistance. Almond was moving way faster than their perception could follow. This was not just fast in terms of speed. He was double of their speed and triple with Physical Enchantment ording to stat difference. But the problem was Almond''s unconventional way of moving around and swinging his sword. More and more Orcs were rushing at Almond, but they couldn''t predict or follow his way of attacks and moving. It was too much random for them to hit Almond. Those that tried to attack either hit their own, met the air, or, in rare cases, met with a swift retaliation from Almond. Julia and Roken faced a rtively lower number of Orc Bandits since most of them were aggroed by Almond. Roken gulped and quietly took out a cam-recorder as he stuck it on his shoulder. "I gotta capture this, Julian. Like, look at that fucking monster." "Watch out!" Julian kicked the injured Orc''s club that was about to hit Roken from behind. "Finish off your enemies properly first, idiot." But even as Julian said that, his eyes couldn''t help but go over to Almond. ''He is not using Focus Field¡­or any protection measure against such a huge number of monsters¡­.what the hell?!'' "Roar!" Julian''s eyes shed a hint of irritation as he turned to the Orc. "Roken, you just focus on buffing me with your skill and recording, and you better record him properly! I''ll handle the Orcsing our way." "Roger!" Roken grinned. Chapter 88: Almonds Business While Almond and Lily had gone into the dungeon, Rudra had also gone into a red-bordered A-rank Dungeon. Alone, of course. He exited after 7 hours. The moment he left, his wristwatch rang with a notification. "Hmm?" Rudra raised his eyebrows. It was a video link to an Eyetube Video, the biggest video sharing and live stream tform. [A mysterious silver-rank trampling all over 1300+ DV B-rank dungeon.] The video had a boastful title with the initial video screen showing. Dungeon Result of Lair of Orc Bandit King Trokka. First Area: 50 Pin-Furred Wolves annihted within 3 minutes. Second Area: 200 Orc Bandit Warriors were decimated within 24 minutes. Third Area: 30 Elite Orc Bandit toons ruined within 54 minutes. Final Boss Area: Orc Bandit King Trokka¡ªone shot. The video was just 10 minutes long, but it showed key parts, showing off the good moves. Admiral Rudra started watching the video and immediately knew it was Almond. He watched to see how Almond was doing. He nodded as he watched the fight in the first. When he watched him fight in the second area, Admiral Rudra smacked his lips, thinking how fast he was growing inbat proficiency. And when he watched the third area''s fight, he was silent. Something clicked in him as his expression changed. He called someone and spoke with stern urgency, "Take down this video from Eyetube. Fast!" He then called Almond. ¡­ It was a bit over 4 o''clock in the evening. Almond''s group had exited the Dungeon three hours ago. Lily''s dungeon was a biome-type with a bigger size with less Density Value as those required more time to clear due to dungeon size. They had exited just an hour ago. Both groups had met up at a ce to eat. Almond was famished as he had physically pushed himself for thrill and challenge in the dungeon, and others were hungry. Admiral Rudra''s call arrived just as the food arrived. Almond simply nodded with a ''Mhmm'' and said ''Yes'' on the phone, as he didn''t talk much. [Rudra: Almond, what you showed in that video is easily discernable to top experts, especially those in the dark that I talked about. Don''t show too much talent to them, and if you do, tell your friend to do it properly, like¡­] The talksted for roughly four minutes before Almond wryly smiled and turned off the wristwatch connection. "What did he say?" Lily asked. "Well, it''s about the video. He said it''s fine to upload, but make sure that the video doesn''t get any hints that make it connect to me. Julian was visible once, and both of your voices, too. Those could be used to discern that it was me in the video even though my face was censoredpletely." "Ohh¡­" Roken''s neck shrank. "Did Admiral reprimend you?" "Nah, he just told me to tell you to censor the video properly. It''s taken down, but you can upload after removing the hints that reveal your and my identity." "So your identity must not be exposed through the video, huh?" Julian raised his eyebrows. "Why such a secrecy?" "I can''t tell," Almond shook his head. "As a matter of fact, this is a precaution because there''s not much information at hand for that particr subject in the first ce." "I see, since there''s not much information in the first ce, it''s better to be careful from the start," Lily nodded. "Admira Rudra must believe in his hunch or whatever that makes him want to set this precaution." "Yeah," Almond nodded, his gaze on the food as he sniffed slowly, taking in the fragrance."Anyway, let''s start eating. After that, I need to open a business with everyone''s help." ¡­ The group returned to Almond''s courtyard vi after eating and sat down on the couches, watching Almond in the spacious spot in the hall. "Here''s our products." Almond waved his hand as items started pouring out from a ck portal, forming piles. Aside from devouring a Spirit of each monster species and officially getting his stats to the limit of Silver rank, Almond had used the rest of the Spirits to craft spirit items. Pin-Furred Wolves gave cross-bows that conjure and shoot exploding arrows of me attribute and a throwable-type item¡ªSpike Bomb, that bursts into exploding spikes upon impact. Orc Bandit Warriors gave medium and heavy armor and various kinds of melee weapons like swords, clubs, hammers, and such. The third area had toons that consisted of Orc Bandit Mages, Assassins, Warriors, Tanks, and Support, so spirit items from them were of a wide variety. Naturally, Almond saved the Dungeon Boss''s Soul. "Out of four hundred and eighteen items here, roughly half of them are Low-tier Rare-grade. The rest of them are umon-grade." Julian and Roken were dumbfounded. "Hoho, that''s a big loot, Almond. So you want to sell them, eh?" Natalia rubbed her chin. "This can legit work. We are getting rich with this." "True," Lily nodded. "If we sell them cheap and reasonable, they''ll sell like hotcakes even if they are not permanent because your items have good effects." "Come on, it''s time to inspect them and set the prices for each batch of items. We''ll think about how to sell them after deciding appropriate prices." Lily and Natalia arrived at the pile and started working. "Let''s separate the piles into the batches of the same items first. We''ll put a price tag on each batch." Julian and Roken looked at each other as they swallowed hard. They knew Almond had one more crazy ss skill, and they were dying to learn more about it. As if Almond read their thoughts, he sent them the skill''s details and said, "Here''s the skill responsible for these items. Read it and then join here." ¡­ After creating several smaller piles of the same items and putting their price tags. "Bro, if we sell all of these items, then you''ll get roughly 2 million Gold coins!" Roken excitedly said, "And this is your product from just one Dungeon run!" Almond grinned, "I am seeing hope of unlocking my skill''s options early now. So, how are we going to sell these times efficiently? Any suggestions?" Chapter 89: Silverbird Services, Natalias Examination Julian showed three fingers as he said, "Three ways. First, we can set up our own website portal and advertise it in various media to get customers. Second, we tie up with GAA and Earth Union and use its resources to reach customers quickly, but we might have to adjust the price and cut we get from the sales. Third, we can use Silverbird Services, and I personally rmend the third option." "Julian is right. I say we go with Silverbird Services," Roken nodded. "They are a growing delivery service tform of 17th Rank Guild¡ªSilverbird Tree Guild. They''ve bred and trained magical birds called Silverlight Birds from the 8th Floor. These little skitters are monsters with no offensive capabilities but have a super fast speed and can phase through physical things with their skill. They deliver things all around the world." "Oh, I''ve heard of them a few times," Almond nodded. "So, how does this service work?" "We can upload the list of items we want to sell to their website after making an ount. They''ll only take delivery fees and no additional cut from sales, so they are getting favorites for new sellers who want to sell their products. But we''ll have to coordinate when the birdse here to take the goods, so we need to hire someone to work 8 hours a day," Roken answered as he had learned about their services to sell his products from Runic cksmith ss. "I have someone in mind," Almond smiled as he thought of Alfred. "More people have started focusing on production-type sub-sses," Julian said. "Alchemist and cksmiths are inrge numbers, but other exotic sub-sses are also popping up. There''s a Tattoo Master in the 2nd Rank ckstar Guild who can paint a tattoo on your body to give you a significant physical boost along with a unique skill rted to the tattoo." "I''ve heard about him," Lily nodded. "And he is just one. I bet there are other weird sub-sses." "That said, I wonder what we''ll get as our sub-sses?" Natalia wondered and then shrugged. "But we need to reach Gold rank for that, and it''ll take time." "Next month," Almond grinned. "We are going to clear two floors or maybe three floors next month and reach Gold-rank. We have twenty-two days until the new 1st cycle of the Labyrinth starts, so we are going to train heavily for these 22 days andplete our specialized sses." "Anyway," Almond continued with a wave of his hand and summoned Alfred. "We will use Silverbirds Services. How about we contact them right now and set up the business? Alfred here will oversee the goods and coordinate during the eight hours every day when the birdse here to take the products." "Let''s do this," Roken grinned. "Almond, you should call them since it''s your business. I am sending you the number." ¡­ Two hourster, everything was set up with the Silverbird Services. Alfred understood the instruction, and Almond nned to let him handle this courtyard as the head butler. There was no need to put him back in the pocket anymore. And along with the Wolfw Gauntlets at his waist, the property also had Spectral Wolves as solid guard dogs. Julian and Roken left after Almond told them he would apany them to training a dayter since he was going to be busy for the next 24 hours. "Almond, I have to leave for now. Teacher Aria wants me there for some training," Lily sighed. "And my exam was dyed in the morning, so I am going to take it now," Natalia said, her fist clenched. "I did everything I could, so it''s time to show them my power." "Then go," Almond smiled. "I also need toplete my current specialized ss quest of using skill insight and creating my 2nd ss skill, so I''ll be meditating for the next 24 hours." "Good, then I''ll properly discuss with teacher Aria about my terms," Lily nodded with a resolved expression. "Did she take any problem with you living here?" Almond raised his eyebrows. Natalia snickered and answered in Lily''s stead, "Lady Aria thinks that Lily will focus less on training and important things if she''s with you." "And she is just very wrong," Lily snorted. Almond grabbed Lily''s waist and pulled her as he smiled, "She is wrong indeed. Come, spar with me for an hour. I got some new moves to show, so let''s get some pointers, and then you can go prove her wrong." Lily''s eyes sparkled. "Wonderful. I also got some new moves. Let''s go, darling~" "Damn," Natalia stomped her feet. "I have to be there at the guild in ten minutes to take my exam." "Take my aircraft," Almond touched his wristwatch. "I''ve given temporary ess to you." "Woohoo, alright. Smell yater, but make sure to shower after you finish sparring." Natalia left, leaving Almond and Lily''s ears a bit red before they burst outughing as they remembered their time in the shower room yesterday. ¡­ Natalia went to take the examination. "Where''s Lily?" Lady Aria asked, frowning. "She is at Almond''s ce, training. She''ll return after an hour," Natalia said as she cupped her fist. "I am ready for my examination." "Alright, let''s go." The examination was simr to thebat evaluation Almond had. But instead of stages, Natalia faced waves of monsters one by one that increased in power with each wave. The result required to enter the Guild as its main member was to clear five waves without any break in between except for 30 seconds of gap between each wave. But Natalia''s performance sessfully rocked Lady Aria''s boat. ''She still has Mana?'' Lady Aria''s eyes glinted. ''Her movements are also better than before. Her Flute magic attacks are more precise and powerful. Did she learn how they work on her own? Her improvement is fast.'' "Who is she, Lady Aria?" A man in his fifties with a brown beard and long brown hair asked as he appeared beside Lady Aria, his eyes on Natalia, who was fighting twenty meters ahead in the hall. Brian Earthcross¡ªa top 15 Global Rank adventurer and 3rd most powerful in the League of Firefly. "Brian? What brings you here?" Lady Aria nced at him but then continued to watch Aria and said, "Anyway, she is a new rookie who just needs a bit of polishing to shine and be a super rookie. Her Combat Style ispletely different thanks to her Specialied ss, so if she can develop with that ss as the center focus, she''ll be a powerful asset in the near future." "Are those instruments also buffing her?" Brian asked as his eyes glinted. "Yes, all four instruments, including the flute she is wielding, are buffing her constantly." Brian frowned, "Am I wrong or the timer indicates that she has been fighting for over fifteen minutes now?" "She has been fighting for fifteen minutes, and yes, her Mana recovery is abnormally high. She already had high Mana recovery due to her specialized ss, but this is more than that. This wasn''t the casest time I saw her, so she got some kind of improvement in the past 24 hours." Brian smacked his lips, "That''s a lot of Mana and high recovery for a newbie Silver-rank. Not to mention how it drastically increases herbat power due to the nature of her ss skills I am seeing. Are you going to take her in as your student?" "I''ve already taken her, but she is more than I expected her to be," Lady Aria smiled. "We might be getting our 3rd Super Rookie." "Eh? What''s her ss rank?" "Her primary ss is B-rank, but her Specialized ss is SS-rank." "What?!" Brian was dumbfounded. "And you didn''t find it important to tell me and others that we have someone with an SS-rank specialized ss?" "Yeah." "¡­" Chapter 90: Duncan Silvester [#KingDog: Holy shit, how is he moving around like that?] [#Sky11: His movements are crazy. And I think that cloak is partly responsible for it.] [#Urrr @Sky11: What do you mean? That item has a skill that makes him move like that?] [#Sky11 @Urrr: Absolutely. Check the 1:39 part of the video. It shines briefly there, and then his speed increases, and the amount of time he floats around. I am guessing it has some gravity-defying effect, but he only uses it when necessary since it seems to remain active only for a minute or two I guess. Anyway, that doesn''t change the fact that he is a monster inbat.] [#BurningFighter009 @Sky11: His boots are also aiding him in speed and jump, I am guessing. But he is able to coordinate his movements very well. I for one can''t move like him even though I can fight those Gold-rank monsters.] [#Lolno: Holy cow, that guy is killing those monsters as if he is killing flies. I think the video title is fake. He''s definitely not a silver-rank Adventurer.] [#Nun001: That''s obvious for all to see, but he is pretty good nheless. I wonder if he''ll appear in the Rising Star Tournament?] [#SwordGod: This man is a true monster of the sword. I would love to spar with him.] [#Keerrrra @SwordGod: Damn, it''s SwordGod himself! I am learning a lot about sword training thanks to your videos. And if you say he is a true monster, then how does he farepared to you, senior?] [#DumDoll @SwordGod: When are you going to reveal your identity, senior? We are tired of seeing a scarecrow bucket hiding your face. Are you a renowned Adventurer or what? There are many theories painting you as some top adventurers who use Sword, so when''s the grand reveal from yourself, senior?] [#SwordGod @Keerrrra: Compared to me? I''m afraid he has a lot to learn, but if I can get his identity, I might extend an invitation to him.] [#PurpleNight @SwordGod: You''ve never invited anyone to your mysterious abode in nature''s embrace, senior. Nobody knows where you record your sword training videos, but you are going to invite him? That''s unprecendent.] [#RoarHero @PurpleNight: Yeah, it''s pretty crazy. Senior SwordGod has never invited anyone to his video, but he wants to do it this time¡­ I guess that guy in the video is really that good.] Roken had re-uploaded the video with extra censorship after leaving Almond''s house that evening. The video only focused on Almond, his face blurred, and items were slightly altered. The original noises were reced with some badass music, and there was no hint of other people in the video. The video was gaining views at above-average speed, slowly blowing up. There were some people who felt like they had seen that guy in the video. These people were those who had seen Almond in the Fairy Mountain. And they only felt that because of the Snow Hide Cloak and White Pn Tiger Belt that he had worn. But no matter how hard they tried to remember his face, they couldn''t. Almond''s innate talent¡ªHeir of Oblivion, was ying its part as his impression on others was easily forgotten¡­unless it was on people he considered important. ¡­ Somewhere in the northern mountains of the globe, a man in his sixties sat cross-legged on a rock facing a small waterfall ten meters away from him. In front of him floated a table and cup with the control of his Mana as indicated by a faint lustrious border around the items. A hologram was also projected from the table''s center, disying the video of Almond with his face blurred. "You got something good, young man," the man spoke with his eyes glinting in light. "I have to find you." Caressing his beard with one hand while nodding as he watched the video, his eyes glinted as he contacted someone using his customm wristwatch like the ones GAA members had. It had a unique design different from GAA wristwatches, indicating that he was part of a different organization. He indeed was, but not part of an organization. Instead, he was the head of a renowned family. Duncan Silvester¡ªthe head of the Duncan Family, renowned in martial arts, mainly sword mastery. The Duncan family wasparable to the Ryugiri Family in terms of sword mastery. In terms of swordy, these two families had dominated the field globally even before the Grimworld Tutorial descended. [Duncan Silvester: Son, I am sending you a video link. I want you to find the Adventurer in the video. Make sure to inform me immediatly once you find him instead of taking any unnecessary actions.] [Duncan Roy: Understood. Also, have you thought about Master Rishi''s proposal?] [Duncan Silvester: I''ve thought about it and I might agree if more of the old monsters join. Rudra''s involvement is also important, but he hasn''t answered yet.] [Duncan Roy: Admiral Rudra might reject the proposal, but his absence won''t affect the oue if the rest of the powerhouses join.] [Duncan Silvester: That''s true, but his opinion matters.] [Duncan Roy: Understood. I''ll contact you once I make progress with your task.] Duncan Silvester contacted Admiral Rudra afterward. [Rudra: It''s rare for you to call me. What''s the matter?] [Silvester: Have you seen that video of a young man with genius swordy?] [Rudra:¡­don''t.] Admiral Rudra rubbed his temples. [Silvester: Oho? You seem to know him. That''s wonderful.] [Rudra: Don''t poke your nose in this. Stay away from him. He doesn''t need your influence.] [Silvester: I am sad you are treating an old friend like that. I''ve put my son onto it, so he''ll find him sooner orter, so let''s just save our time and resources, shall we? I won''t meddle much, I just want him to spar against my grandson.] [Rudra: Your wish will be granted. He''ll participate in the Rising Star Tournament.] [Silvester: Cough, and I also want to spar with him.] [Rudra: How about you spar with me?] [Silvester:¡­] [Rudra: Yeah, I figured.] [Silvester: I just want to see him up close and sh the swords. The video is shortened and edited, so I can''t see his full brilliance. But he is a wild one, that''s for sure. I can refine him, you know?] [Rudra: No need. He''ll be able to refine himself.] [Silvester: You should know that leaving some geniuses alone could also destroy them if not properly guided. You haven''t forgotten about Nina, right?] [Rudra: He is different and¡­fine. I''ll take him to you, but not anytime soon. It''ll be after the Rising Star Tournament.] [Silvester: Great! And Rudra, make sure that old bastard from the Ryugiri family doesn''t sniff him out. He''ll want to do the same as me once he sees that video. In fact, he doesn''t have a male grandson, so I bet he''ll be more thirsty for this guy.] [Rudra:¡­I should take down the video again.] [Silvester: Bahahaha, no need. It''s fine. Only I and that old bastard can discern his genius sword from that video. The others might think he is a wild sword fighter with cool moves, that''s all. It helps that the video is shortened and edited, not to mention that it''ll spread as a fake video due to its title.] [Rudra: Mhmm. Anyway, is that all?] [Silvester: There''s one more thing. It''s about Rishi''s Proposal.] Chapter 91: Dungeon: Delliah’s Meadow at the Horizon’s End (1/2) [Silvester: What do you think about his proposal?] [Rudra: That''s dated for the month after next, and I won''t answer until a monthter. I am going to sniff in darker ces, and if I am right in my suspicion, I am going to do my best to prevent you all from triggering the Floor Boss. If those old bastards die, we are going to have a big loss of power. We don''t know what''s going to happen in the future, so we have to be prepared.] [Silvester: Sniff in darker ces, huh? Do you think your suspicion will prove true at those ces?] [Rudra: That''s my current best bet.] [Silvester: Are you going alone?] [Rudra: I can''t afford to take anyone with me.] [Silvester: Want me toe? If you are really right, then don''t you think going alone might be dangerous even for you?] After a second of silence, Admiral Rudra replied. [Rudra: Alright. I''ll tell you when I am going. Be ready.] ¡­ Almond had entered meditation and used his specialized ss quest''s skill insight at 10 o''clock yesterday night, and he had just woken up after spending 24 hours. "Wee back, Master." The pearly charming voice belonged to a beautiful girl in her twenties with a forest-themed maid outfit. "Don''t tell me you didn''t move at all after I summoned you?" Almond wryly smiled. He had summoned Dark Pope Benedict and Forest Maid Sylvia as guards before he entered meditation. "I simply stayed here as your guard since there didn''t arise any need for me to move," Sylvia smiled. "I see. Well, just rx now and follow your desire. You canze around, tend garden, or train. Just keep your mind active and running, okay?" "As you wish, Master. Then may I go to the garden? I wish to explore something there," Sylvia said with twinkling eyes. Almond grinned, "Go." ''Nice, they are thinking,'' Almond internally nodded in satisfaction. He wanted his sentient summons to grow more and be more intelligent. They were already a new soul, a new kind of species with intelligence, so if they could grow their consciousness and be more intelligent, they would be able to self-develop their powers, like how Adventurers start introspecting their skills and how magic works to improve and create skills once their Perception and Focus cross past 50 points. It wasn''t easy, and it usually took multiple months to even years to develop a powerful skill, but these Spirit Wraiths had high stats, and their existence was based on their power. If they became more intelligent, Almond felt they could develop their powers further. Almond went outside and saw that Alfred and Dark Pope Benedict were hanging around on the ground. Sensing Almond''s presence, Alfred promptly bowed and said, "Master, while you were aware, the products have been sold." "How many?" "All of them." Almond was taken aback, "All of them?!" "Yes." Almond used his wristwatch to check this ount bnce, and he was dumbfounded. 2.02 million gold coins after deducting the delivery charges. "I might have gotten a very good business in my hand," Almond muttered. "My lord, now that you''re awake, are there any instructions for me?" Dark Pope asked as he nced at Sylvia, who was humming cheerfully and tending to the garden, sowing seeds she created and watering them. "Hmm, nothing in particr. Do whatever you want, and if you want a sparring partner, I can summon Ashkar." "Oh, that is interesting, my lord. I would love to do that." ¡­ Almond stayed with his summons for half an hour. Alfred was roaming around the three buildings, cleaning and adjusting them. He also told Alfred to do anything like cleaning and stuff. Almond granted his summons ess to Television and the inte as well so they could learn more about them. Afterward, he contacted Lily and found out that she and Natalia were somewhere on a hidden ind in the sea with Lady Aria for extensive training, and they would return after a day. After talking with her, Almond decided to do some fighting and training to get stronger as well. He had a new skill that he wanted to test and also finally introspect his ss skills and learn how the magic worked since he had reached 200 in Perception and Focus. With those two stats that high, Almond was eager to learn more about magic and the construction of skills. Contacting Marshal Lopol, he first asked for a blue-bordered B-rank Dungeon. ¡­ [You have entered the Delliah''s Meadow at the Horizon''s End] As Almond stepped into the meadow, the sheer vastness of thendscape stretched endlessly before him. A lush field of vibrant, otherworldly flowers nketed the ground, glowing faintly in the perpetual twilight. The horizon seemed both near and impossibly far, bathed in warm hues of gold and pink as if caught in an eternal sunset. Wisps of light flittedzily through the air, their trails sparkling faintly, while the soothing hum of magic resonated faintly beneath Almond''s feet. ''Damn, this dungeon is amazing,'' Almond felt amazed at the scenery. Yet, this serene beauty felt¡­strange. The meadow seemed alive, watching, its tranquility masking an undercurrent of danger. As Almond moved forward, distinct areas began to show up. ''Those must be the monsters'' locations.'' The nearest one was a de. A dense grove of silver trees spread there. Their mirrored leaves reflected the twilight sky, creating a disorienting array of light. Faint whispers echoed through the de, drawing intruders deeper into its heart. [You have entered the dungeon''s first area¡ªWhisperlight de] As Almond entered and walked past a few trees, he saw two fairy-like monsters dancing in an empty patch of ground with beautiful designs carved on the surrounding trees'' trunks. One blue and one pink. Male and Female. Both fairy-like monsters held some weird wooden instruments in their hands as their crystal blue and red eyes glowered at Almond upon seeing him. [Luby Sylph¡ªAdam] -Rank: Gold -Level: 47 -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 74 | Health: 68 | Stamina: 54] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 78 | Focus: 70 | Perception: 72] The other was Luby Sylph¡ªEve, who also had simr stats. ''Time to see if my fiddling in the skill works or not.'' Chapter 92: Dungeon: Delliah’s Meadow at the Horizon’s End (2/2) Almond¡¯s eyes mystically glowed deep within with an ethereal blue-gold hue as he used his Riftveil Eyes. ¡¯Unveil those monsters for me.¡¯ [Luby Sylphs are ethereal creatures with an all-rounder skill set cloaked in flowing silver, and their haunting melodies sap strength and will. They can summon Meadow Wisps, glowing orbs that act as catalysts for their variety of skills. They should be avoided.] The Sylphs summoned ten orbs as they nketed towards Almond. ¡¯Damn, right off the bat, huh?¡¯ Almond promptly used Fortification, Strength Boost, and Focus Field, along with using Weapon Enfold on his sword. His body blurred as he exerted his strength to jump high, avoiding the orbs and creating a significant distance of over a hundred meters quickly. From above, he waved his sword, pouring 200 Mana and using the sword¡¯s engraved skill¡ªWild de. (Active) Wild de: Unleashes a sh-projectile that deals damage based on your Strength and Mana consumption. The sh gets stronger the more it travels, up to 500 meters for a +200% bonus in damage. Almond had scanned the sword and already perceived its engraved skill rune when he studied it to use Weapon Enfold on it. And as a result, he had already learned how to influence the skill with his Mana. Almond made the sh longer in length and thinner, adjusting it while its core magic effect of absorbing atmospheric power to enhance itself based on distance remained working. ¡¯Splitter.¡¯ The sh traveled at sonic speed and sliced both Luby Sylphs before the sh splintered and shredded both of them further. Deader than dead. Absorbing their lingering Spirits, Almond continued in the forest and encountered another pair of Luby Sylph. Almond was basically ying with them. With his Focus Field that was aided by his 200+ Perception and Focus, nothing at this level could even remotely touch him. After killing ten pairs of Luby Sylphs, he threw their spirits into Spirit Forge Factory. ¡¯The Density Value of this dungeon was 773, so I should get a good amount of monster spirits.¡¯ He asked for the highest density value dungeon in B-rank blue-border and got this. Based on pure numbers, he got a bit over 400 Spirits in the previous Dungeon, which had a 1300+ density value, so he should get roughly 200 in this dungeon. Almond continued and cleared the three areas one by one leisurely, not going all out but just using enough and exercising his proficiency in handling Mana while improving his Mana techniques. Finally, he reached the boss area after over two hours. The dungeon was big, and Almond took his time walking when moving to the new area, soaking in the scenery and drowning his brain to explore the usage of his new ss skill¡ªEspada Ad Grimveil (L). Almond knew he had created something crazy, but this skill heprehended during skill insight enlightenment required him to explore it more to unlock its effects. And¡­the fun he was having while doing it had made him enter into a zone, a state of mind where his entire being flowed in the perfect condition to explore the skill. Your next chapter is on NovelBin.C?m Arriving at the boss area, Almond took out his sword, his aura subtle and serene. His almond eyes gleamed with silver-white spark, an indication of his new skill, Espada Ad Grimveil. [You have entered Sweetbell¡¯s Horizon Edge. Challenge triggered. Defeat the boss within 1 minute for a Golden Chest, 2 minutes for a Silver Chest, or 3 minutes for a Bronze Chest.] In front of Almond was a circr arena of grassy ground surrounded by flowers and crystals. Roughly a hundred meters away from Almond, the boss stood at the center of this arena. It was a majestic centaur with crystal-scaled armor, looking as if the crystals had grown from its body. It wielded ance spear in his hand and a bow around his shoulder. [Sweetbell¡¯s Caretaker¡ªCentaur Tel Loste] -Rank: Gold. -Level: 70. -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 160|Health: 500|Stamina: 120] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 300|Focus: 150|Perception: 150] The moment the boss turned to Almond and roared, Almond made his move. A pulse of ethereal sphere expanded from Almond with him as the center. It expanded 150 meters radius, covering the boss. Espada Ad Grimveil! ¡¯Sever,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes flickered as a sh formed in the air right behind the boss, and instantly, the sh and his body switched ces. The Boss saw the sh suddenly appearing in ce of Almond and shot at it, its speed breakneck. Centaur was barely able to respond with a hurried attack, but something strange happened. The sh passed through its weapon, severing it in half, and expanded into six shes that proceeded to slice the centaur into pieces as its body separated. But its vitality didn¡¯t reduce at all. The centaur looked visibly confused. It could feel its entire body, but it was separated into pieces! ¡¯Gravity, cut off.¡¯ Almond¡¯s mana was consumed as he severed gravity in this domain by half twice. The severed parts of thence and centaur suddenly lost bnce as they floated in the air. In the next second, Almond teleported again with the method of severing and discing space in his domain and arrived in front of a severed part of the centaur that exposed its power core. Without further ado, Almond drove his de into it, forcing a cry out of the centaur as all of its body parts wreathed, its vitality reducing rapidly. Almond twisted his sword and shattered the core, destroying the dungeon boss as it turned into motes and vanished, leaving behind a big magic crystal, a Spirit, and a Golden chest. Capturing the spirit and putting magic crystal and golden chest into his storage pouch, Almond faced the beautiful and otherworldy starry scenery at this Horizon¡¯s edge and sat down cross-legged before closing his eyes. [Espada Ad Grimveil] -Type: Domain. -Rank: Legendary -Cost: ¡ª> 1% Mana per second to maintain the domain to the range of 200 meters radius. ¡ª> Exercising powers in the domain costs additional Mana. -Effect: Chapter 93: Espada Ad Grimveil [Espada Ad Grimveil] -Type: Domain. -Rank: Legendary -Cost: ¡ª> 1% Mana per second to maintain the domain to the range of 200 meters radius. ¡ª> Exercising powers in the domain costs additional Mana. -Effect: ¡ª> Within the domain of Grimveil, you are the all-severing rift. There is nothing you cannot cut and connect. Within the domain of Grimveil, you are the all-perceiving eyes. There is nothing you cannot unveil. -Explored Techniques: 1¡ªRift Discement: Severe a space and disce it. 2¡ªSpatial Severing: Sever the space while maintaining a connection between severed space or disce the connections. 3¡ªAbsolute Severing: Sunder everything you are able to perceive. This skill was a power that Almond deemed batshit crazy and activated his neurons in hyper mode, giving him a sort of high as if he was a god within the domain of this skill. Almond wanted his 2nd ss skill to be of powerful offense but also to have moreprehensive powers that included the aspects of his ss, and Espada Ad Grimveil was the result of his enlightenment for 24 hours in the Skill Insight session. He also improved his ss¡¯s Legendary Quirk¡ªRiftveil Eyes since he gained more understanding of his specialized ss. He explored the skill¡¯s power and created three techniques so far, and they felt enough for now. At the moment, he was exploring the mysterious phenomenon of ¡¯skill room¡¯ as he termed it, to learn more about his primary ss¡¯s powers and skills. He also nned to learn the new S-rank skills from the skill book. This dungeon was otherworldly and serene. Almond found it good for meditation, especially at this Horizon¡¯s edge. ¡¯Let¡¯s check the Spirit Explosion first. I want to modify it a bit.¡¯ Inside the skill room, he could see three sections. One section belonged to his primary ss. The second one belonged to his specialized ss. The third one belonged to ssless skills. Each section had unique semi-metallic-looking runes with entric patterns that formed otherworldly symbols¡ªthey were skill runes containing the mechanism of the skills. Items also had engraved skill runes within them that gave them their magical effects. Only those with Perceptive and Focus above 50 could begin to find them. Naturally, Almond could not wrap his head around how skill runes formed yet. He didn¡¯t witness the process of one forming. But learning the Skills from the skill book would allow him to witness one. But even though he couldn¡¯t create skill runes, he could explore one and fiddle with it inside, as he did with the Wild de skill rune in his sword. Since his Primary ss had predefined skill runes that could get affected automatically by his performance and stats increase in Perception and Focus, Almond wanted to affect them actively. Almond was soon absorbed in learning and exploring. Two hours passed by in the blink of an eye as Almond made a proper summary of the skill runes¡¯ structure based on his interpretation and his experiments with them. From his understanding, the skill runes were purely made of Mana in condensed, stasis form in a way that would allow it to channel one¡¯s Mana and transform it ording to the skill rune¡¯s internal structure and manifest its power. A Skill Rune had three sections. Design Section. Core Section. Execution Section. From what he learned, the design section acted like a blueprint of the skill. If someone filled the Design section of a skill rune, but the other two sections were empty, then the skill rune would be useless. It wouldn¡¯t do anything at all except dispersing infused Mana. It determined: 1-Shape and Motion: How the skill appears or behaves for any type of skill, be it defensive, attack, buff, or any other. (e.g., the shape of a ball to fill it with fire energy, a sh-shape, simple sparks, or aura visibility.). 2-Trigger Mechanism: Determines how the skill is activated, such as verbalmands, gestures, or pure thought. 3-Range and Area of Effect: Specify the effective reach of the skill (single target, AoE, or self-cast). This part wasn¡¯t hard. It was just design, nothing of substance, without the core section and execution section. The next part was the tricky one¡ªThe core section. It was the heart of a skill rune. It defined the skill¡¯s attribute alignment, power source, and intensity. To create this section of a skill rune, a person must have ¡¯sufficient¡¯ Mana control ording to the effect they desire. This section determined mainly three things: 1¡ªAttribute alignment: Fire, water, wind, etc, or any perceived magical phenomenon with an attribute. 2¡ªPower source: determines the ratio of mana potency vs. control. An overbnced ratio causes explosive burst effects, while a bnced ratio yields precise and sustained effects. 3¡ªAmplification nodes: small sub-runes embedded in the core to increase the potency or refine the Mana energy¡¯s output. Example of Core section: ¡ªA me-shaped core with amplification nodes arranged symmetrically would channel fire energy in a controlled burst¡ªSpewing constant mes from one¡¯s hand or conjuring a flower that constantly rains pollen with some kind of effect. ¡ªA jagged, chaotic infusion pattern might result in wild, unpredictable elemental discharges. If the desired result was just an explosion, this would work. There were also ways tobine the two and make it such that it would be in a controlled motion at first and then burst, much like how Almond had already done that with his pure control inside Espada Ad Grimveil, where he splintered his single sh into six shes. Enjoy exclusive chapters from NovelBin.C?m The third section¡ªExecution Section. This section governed how the Mana exited the rune, whether through the body or manifest within the sensible range of the user to interact with the environment or target. This section determined: 1¡ªDuration: Whether the skill is instantaneous, channeled, or persistent based on work done in the core section to dictate it. 2¡ªAftereffects: Attribute effects, Residual damage, buffs, debuffs, or environmental changes caused by the skill based on the skill¡¯s core section structure. 3¡ªEfficiency: Awork section connecting all the above that determines the Mana cost and stamina drain rtive to the skill¡¯s various parameters and post-execution impact. After making a summary of the skill creation¡¯s mechanism, Almond decided to create a simple skill rune based on a new technique he had recently created¡ªSword Thread. Chapter 94: Creating Skill Rune Sword Thread¡ªIt was a finely condensed Mana given a sharp edge with his exceptional control that highly excelled when it came to some particr areas, like a sword, for example. To create the skill based on Sword Thread, Almond first designed it to make the Sword String appear like a spring-shape as he wanted it directly wrapped around a target upon manifestation. He kept the trigger mechanism as his thoughtmand. Uponmand, the skill rune would absorb his Mana ording to his desired amount based on his skill execution. The core function was simple for this skill. He didn''t have any knowledge of how to give a proper attribute to his Mana yet as he reckoned he would need to learn Mana Transmutation to give different properties, elemental or non, to give to his Mana in this section. He created ten nodes in a spring shape ovepping his visual of the spring shape he created in the design section and kept the power source bnced so that the entire string would have a constant flow of power to maintain its sharpness ording to the design. Lastly, he set the Execution section. He set the channeled duration ording to how he set up the core section. The spring sword thread would remain active as long as he fed the skill his Mana. The aftereffect was nothing else aside from damage ording to the skill''s effect on the target. He didn''t know how to fill up the skill rune''s core section with attribute powers, so this skill didn''t have any buff, debuff, or additional effect to bring out aside from pure damage. Efficiency was determined automatically based on the above things. But he could change it by changing the above parts of the skill to determine which part of the skill would get more Mana and potency. But his skill wasn''t anythingplicated, so there was nothing to change. He could change the thread''s width and length, but he wanted to keep it his current design for now and see how it would go first. ''Now, let''s see if it actually works or not.'' Almond got up and moved towards a nearby crystal grown a meter long from the ground and roughly half a meter in thickness. He gavemand to that skill rune. Almond''s mind was instantly connected to the skill rune, bringing back the familiar feeling of having it in his control. In the next second, a precise 4.7-meter length of sword thread in a spring shape materialized around the crystal in an even fashion from its head to bottom. It is tightly wrapped around it, its edges embedded inside. ''Damn, that took 231 Mana?'' Almond was speechless. He saw that the sword thread around the crystal was dispersing in the next second instead of shattering the crystal by gripping it. ''Ok¡­so it was a failure.'' But Almond was grinning because he knew exactly why it didn''t work. ''Using the skill once actually gave me full insight on what I need to do in the skill rune to make it work properly. I should first create a random crude skill simply using my Mana and determine parameters from it to input in the skill rune. Yes, this should work.'' Almond spent the next half an hour refining the skill rune thoroughly. The result surprised him. The skill cost lowered to 120 Mana, and it instantly shattered the crystal. He knew he could improve further, but he was satisfied with this result. Serpentcoil Thread de¡ªafter naming this skill rune, Almond pulled his mind out of this subject. He took out the skill book¡ªLightning Dragon Skillset. ''It''s time to learn this shit. I am definitely excited to have some shy cool skill and how I might be able to delve into getting some lightning affinity to use it as an attribute.'' The requirement to delve into Mana Transmutation was having 200 Perception and Focus. Almond had exactly 200 Perceptions and Focus on his own, not including the bonus stats from the items'' perks he equipped. Almond opened the book and turned to the first page. After a few seconds, he couldn''t help but wryly smile. ''I somewhat expected this, especially considering that this is an S-rank skill set, but still¡­well, I can''t say I am not a bit thrilled to try this.'' The first page''s most important content was straightforward. ¡ªThe best way to familiarize and affiliate yourself with lightning is to get struck by it with Fortification activated and powered just enough to make it shatter and feel the lightning with your senses and the resonance it invokes when struck to your Mana. Almond had seen videos of Adventurers training in extreme environments, natural or unnatural, to invoke affinities. Those who had gotten skill books with elemental attributes always tried this type of method. ''Well, now where do I find a ce with constant lightning?'' ''Wait, there ought to be a dungeon with lightning theme!'' Almond didn''t linger inside this dungeon anymore and left. After contacting Marshal Lopol, he immediately asked him for a dungeon that had a lightning theme. Almond bet that a lightning-themed dungeon would have a lot of lightning since it would have a lot of lightning attribute aspects as a whole! Lightning-attributed monsters, lightning biome, lightning materials, and such. If he was in some small guild, it would be hard to find such heavily elemental dungeons. But he was in GAA! [Marshal Lopol: I just checked. There''s no lightning-elemental dungeon in our city. But there''s one roughly a thousand kilometers away, in the Thunderbird City. That city has naturally lightning alignment, so lightning-elemental dungeons spawn there more. There are two identified there right now.] [Almond: That''s awesome. So which one is mine?] [Marshal Lopol: None. One is an A-rank dungeon that''s scheduled to be cleared by several top 20 guilds together. The other is a B-rank, and it is golden-bordered already. It''s scheduled to be cleared tomorrow by Thunderbird guild because it''s in their territory.] [Almond: Damn. Is there a way for me to enter that B-rank dungeon somehow? It''s really important for me.] It indeed was. The S-rank skill book was an absolutely legendary item in terms of rarity. If he learned those two skills, he was sure to get lightning affinity, and he would be able to master Lightning Mana Transmutation! Almond wanted to enter that dungeon at all costs. Chapter 95: Thunderbird City Dungeon, Familiar Face [Marshal Lopol: Well, it won''t be hard at all. We can just pay for an entry cost. But¡­sending you alone with strangers inside a dungeon, don''t you feel the risk?] Almond thought hard. Did he feel at risk after being surrounded by his crazy summons, with his stats already surpassing the adventurers who would enter the same dungeon with him? Nope. He had Admiral Rudra''s protection item, and he also had his own trump card. The point of revealing some information was to hide something more important. He wasn''t going to tell anyone else about his Legendary ss''s skill, not even Julian or Roken. That knowledge would be confined to a small sphere and wouldn''t grow any further. It wasn''t about trust. It was about keeping the information from spreading in a simple sense. Admiral Rudra had told him to keep a tight lid on his Legendary ss''s information. But he could show his primary ss, in turn, to make it his main attraction point if there was going to be one out in the light eventually. So he was ready. [Almond: Well, if you feel I would be at risk, then how about sending a guard or two with me? I''m sure Admiral Rudra wouldn''t mind paying for two people extra.] [Marshal Lopol: Alright, I''ll inform the Branch Master about this. She will make a positive decision in light of you having Admiral Rudra''s stamp, but the two peopleing with you would be the ones I select. Julian and Roken won''t go there. They are not strong enough.] [Almond: No problem. I aming there in half an hour and will leave for Thunderbird City at your arrangements.] ''I wonder if I can get my summons to my pocket no matter the distance?'' Almond wondered and tried. He had a faint connection with his summons, so he tried to put Infernal Knight into his pocket, and it surprisingly worked. ''Interesting, so the distance doesn''t matter when I want to recall my spirit wraiths.'' Almond still returned to his house. He put everyone except for Alfred in his pocket and left the house in Alfred''s care. ¡­ A funny coincidence. Almond was about to enter that dungeon tomorrow to get lightning affinity and learn the skills. Meanwhile, the reason Lady Aria took Lily to that hidden ind was for Lily to experience the darkness and let her acquire darkness affinity. As someone on the 7th rank of the Global Leaderboard, Lady Aria was strong, suffice to say. But her dangerousness was masked by her rank for general people. If someone asked veteran adventurers about who was the most dangerous Adventurer on the global leaderboard, everyone would have the same answer¡ªLady Aria of Crimson Shadow. She was someone who had mastered the art of assassination on a new level. Her skill set, her both sses, and her entire being augmented her role as an assassin. The ind where she took Lily was a special one. It had a strong alignment with darkness, and this was also where she improved. Natalia apanied them for other training, but she was alone at a beautiful river stream with glowing flowers. On the other hand, Lily and Lady Aria were below the river stream in a hidden underground area for their special training. This area had an underground water stream where Lily and Lady Aria sat. It was illuminated by strange dark purple crystals and flora that oozed out shadowy energy and ck hues. "What are you thinking? Your mind is not inplete darkness yet. Permeate your senses into the darkness here." Lily''s eyes twitched as she heard Lady Aria''s voice. "I was thinking about Almond." Lady Aria sighed, "What do you want to do?" "Nothing. I will continue to live with him, and you have to agree." Lady Aria''s expression became stern, "If you continue to be this stubborn, I''ll have no choice but to revoke this mentorship." Not flinching at all, Lily replied while looking straight at her, "Fine." "¡­" Lady Aria sighed, "Are you serious? You want to forgo this mentorship for some boy?" "Are you serious? You want me to forget someone I love for some mentorship?" "¡­" "Fine, fine," Lady Aria snorted. "Since you''ve praised him so much, then I''ll approve as long as he performs well in the Rising Star Tournament?" "He defeated Xavier, and you think it''s not enough?" Lily pouted. "That brat is nothing much," Lady Aria snorted. "Even you are better than him, so winning against Xavier doesn''t count. And you are not telling me about his ss skills and other things as well, so I''ll have to see him fight in the Rising Star Tournament." "Fine, but I will still live with him until the tournament starts," Lily firmly said. "As for his result in the tournament, I have no doubt he''ll take the first rank, humph." "¡­Alright, I got it. Now, close your eyes and focus. You told him you would return after a day, but that''s not the deal we have. You will only return once you grasp the darkness attribute. Since you said you would do that in one day, then keep your word." "Watch me," Lily closed her eyes and focused. ¡­ It was already almost 2 o'' clock in the morning when Almond arrived at the GAA. The sky waspletely dark, and the jet was ready to depart. The two other people going with him were Level 100 Gold-rank Adventurers Nikki and Anton. Both of them were in their mid-twenties and members of the same party. Everything was arranged, so the trio departed at 2:20 and arrived at the GAA branch in Thunderbird City half an hourter. The dungeon raid was supposed to start at 7 in the morning, so Almond decided to sleep in the dorms at the GAA branch. ¡­ Northern Mountain peak area, Thunderbird City. A group of six Adventurers, all above Gold level 80, were gathered near the Dungeon Door. "Leader, are we seriously going to have three extras in this raid? What the hell?" "Are they going to take items and stuff or just going along with us?" "They might being for some lighting affinity training." "Do we have their profiles?" The leader sighed, "Give me a break. I''ll answer your questions one by one, so listen. They paid for the slots, so they will take the rewards they earn. We''ll move with the contribution system in ce." "Tsk¡­" "Don''t tsk. Things have changed, so earn your rewards. We are six, and they are just three. It won''t be hard." The leader paused for a second before continuing, "And they are indeeding here because one of them wants some lightning affinity training. I don''t have their profiles, but we''ll be meeting them soon." Just as he finished speaking, the aircraft arrived on the mountain and flew towards them. The group saw three people jumping off the aircraft andnding nearby. Almond looked at the group as he walked towards them and was surprised to see a familiar face, "Henry?" "Huh, you know him, leader?" asked the orange-haired girl standing beside Henry as she blinked in surprise. Meanwhile, Henry was shocked. ''This guy¡­'' Meanwhile, a few of Henry''s party members narrowed their eyes. ''Is he the one whose poster we saw?'' ''Damn¡­he is definitely that one, and Henry''s reaction says it all.'' Chapter 96 Dungeon: Blitzercrow’s Thunder Land Chapter 96 Dungeon: Blitzercrow¡¯s Thunder Land The two GAA members also didn''t expect Almond to find someone he knew. Well, that made things certainly easy because they knew they''d be facing some annoyance from this guild courtesy of them crashing into their raid. s, they didn''t know they might be facing more than just annoyance now. "I¡­wasn''t expecting to see you here," Henry wryly smiled. "But¡­" his eyes showed confusion and disbelief as he asked, "Shouldn''t you be silver-rank still? Don''t tell me you reached Gold rank?" "Haha, I am still Silver-rank, of course," Almond chuckled as he stretched his hand. "How''s things been since then?" "Not damaging," Henry shook hands, a grateful smile on his face. He also magic whispered. ''Thanks to your leniency, nothing bad happened, but you here¡­might bring trouble to you.'' Almond captured a hint of distress in his eyes. Henry''s party members were curious, so everyone introduced each other, but Henry didn''t speak much about their encounter and just said that they met on the first floor this month when he went as a Knight. However, everyone figured out everything. It was well-known in the guild that the vice-guild leader''s son was brutally beaten up on the first floor by a party headed by the student of Lady Aria. The faulty in him, so they couldn''t openly hold her ountable. But that didn''t mean the grudge was settled. The vice-guild leader and his son both held grudges, especially Zoren. He had made posters of Natalia, Lily, Almond, and Alfred from his memories and wanted to find more information about others aside from Lily. So, the guild members knew about them. "Now that everyone knows each other by name, at least, let us start the raid," Henry said as he turned to the portal door. The Thunderbird guild group went inside first, followed by Almond, Nikki, and Anton. [You have entered the dungeon: Blitzercrow''s Thunder Land.] The starting area was Thunder Hills. Past it, they could see lightning crackling tall trees with dark clouds in the sky that chain reacted with trees. Most of this lightning naturally had lower intensity and power than actual lightning. They were a product of Mana''s transformation with lightning elements of proportional amount. The monsters were gathered at various parts of the hills, so the party started moving towards the first hill, filled with grass and some trees, housed by Lighting Horn Rhinos from level 70 to level 85. [Lightning Horn Rhino] N?v(el)B\\jnn -Rank: Gold -Level: 80 -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 165|Health: 200|Stamina: 150] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 200|Focus: 150|Perception: 150] "You better stay safe and back, silver-rank. It''s already too much that someone at your level was even allowed to enter a gold-bordered B-rank dungeon," said a short, dark-brown-haired man named Krag. "It''s fine, you don''t have to worry about me," Almond responded carefreely. "Just do your thing, and I''ll do mine." "Yeah, but don''t intervene in our fights, or you''ll put us in trouble," the yellow-haired girl chimed in as she pointed her staff high, intending to use a skill on a herd of seven Lightning Horn Rhinos ahead. The other five spread around and moved forward at her action. The Tank of the group provoked the Rhinos and moved in a different direction as the yellow-haired girl cast multiple buffs on him. The others became ready to nk and hurl their attack skills on the Rhinos. Henry didn''t move from his position and adopted a stance of watching. "You''re not going to fight?" Almond raised his eyebrows. "Nah. I am mainly here as an observer for this party. I''ll only intervene in an emergency." "Gotcha," Almond said before summoning Infernal Knight Ashkar, Starlight Beast, and Chimera Crystalist. All three were bigger in terms of size among his summons and could cover his left, right, and behind. "They aren''t strong enough to fight monsters here from the stats," Henry frowned. "Yeah, I don''t want them to fight here," Almond chuckled. "I''m just letting them out to get them some air. By the way, we are going ahead because I want some lightning strikes in that forest." "Just you all?" Henry frowned and informed. "This dungeon has a density value of 533, so there will be more monsters in that lightning forest." "Yeah, no worries. We''ll be fine. I got two strong guards with me," Almond grinned. "¡­" "¡­" Nikki and Anton were slightly speechless. He was really treating them as his bodyguards, though that was the purpose, but still. "Alright, move as you wish then," Henry nodded. The Thunderbird group had already killed a Rhino when Almond was leading his monsters past them with Nikki and Anton. And that was when Starlight Beast reacted. The beast turned to the magic crystal dropped by the Rhino and conveyed its thoughts to Almond. Chimera Crystalise also conveyed the same thing. ''Eh? You want to eat it?'' Almond paused. The reason he summoned Starlight Beast and Chimera Crystalist was that both of them had a lightning affinity. Chimera Crystalist had lightning skills, and although Starlight BEast didn''t have pure lightning skills, it also had affinity because there were a few monster spirits with lightning attributes in the Spirit Kodoku session that birthed it. "Can we kill a group of Lightning Horn Rhinos?" Almond turned to Nikkin and Anton, "I would appreciate your help." "Sure, we can, but I heard Marshal saying that the dungeon won''t pose a threat to you. What does he mean by that?" Anton asked. "By that, he probably means this," Almond took out a random Rare-grade Mid-tier spirit sword that he had crafted yesterday and didn''t sell for delivery. He hadn''t worn any of the equipment that he wore when he went to the dungeon with Julian and Roken. Turning to the group of four Rhinos twenty meters to his right, Almond promptly kicked the ground as he went full throttle on his Mana techniques. Strength Boost level 10. Fortification level 5. Focus Field level 7. Body Enfold level 4. Weapon Enfold level 7. He had drastically improved his Mana techniques level during the past two dungeon raids. *Swoosh!* Nikki and Anton saw Almond shing off a Rhino into two at the start as he dashed past the group. Both of them were shocked at that disy, but it was just the beginning. In the next second, they saw one Rhino''s head suddenly wrapped by faintly neon-glowing white-blue thread¡­that instantly sliced its head into bs. The other two Rhino''s horns crackled with lightning as two horn-shaped projectiles conjured and shot toward him. Almond jumped even without looking back and somersaulted above the Rhino while waving his sword from above, slicing one into three with two swift shes andnding on the other before piercing his sword into its head. ''What''s with that swift coordination of his moves?'' Anton was dumbfounded. "His reflexes are crazy. It feels like he has way higher perception than what his level suggests," Nikki muttered. "I guess that''s one of the reasons why Marshal didn''t show us his status profile. Henry, who also watched everything, had his jaw dropped to the ground. ''What the fuck? How is he a silver-rank? I knew he was strong on the first floor, far stronger than what his level indicated, but what the fuck is this?'' Momentster, the Thunderbird guild had also finished off the seven Rhinos and looked in Almond''s direction, hearing the slightmotion of battle there. "Did he just kill those three Rhinos?" "Are you an idiot? How can he kill them when he''s a silver level 10 brat?" "No, seriously. I think he killed them. And only he is there. The other two who are Gold rank are not even close." "Let''s ask Henry. Chapter 97: Spirit Wraiths Growth Mechanism, Training In Dungeon (1/3) "Yeah, he killed them. Don''t judge him by his rank and level, that''s all I can say," Henry wryly smiled as he saw Almond. The other party members turned silent in disbelief upon hearing the confirmation. They watched Almond going ahead after two of his summons ate the magic crystals. "If he is that strong, then he must be proficient in Mana techniques, and his sses must also be crazy powerful¡­" ''Not just that, but these people won''t understand his martial prowess with the sword,'' Henry thought. ¡­ "Don''t you want to eat the magic crystals, Ashkar?" Almond curiously asked. "Not unless they have fire attribute, my lord," Ashkar replied, his voice deep and slightly grating. "Got it. I want to know how they benefit you all," Almond grinned as he asked Chimera Crystalist and Starlight Beast. "Did you finish digesting them? What did you get by eating those?" Starlight Beast released sparks from its snout as it replied with the thought that it felt stronger. Chimera Crystalist''s floating giant crystal body with entric patterns and four crystals that separately flew to both sides glinted along with its quartz-shaped eye as it conveyed its thought to Almond. Almond checked their status and was dumbfounded. ''They are able to get stronger by absorbing magic crystals?!'' Their stats had slightly increased! ''I get stats by eating spirits, and my spirit wraiths get stats by eating magic crystals¡­'' "Did your summons get powerful by eating magic crystals?" Nikki asked, her bushy brown eyebrows matching her hair raised. "Yeah," Almond nodded at her. "It''s not strange," Anton said. "Some summons do get stats by eating magic crystals dropped by monsters. Some summons require materials or other resources rted to their attributes. All in all, most of the summons have some kind of growth mechanism. You can figure them out and make your summons stronger." "Interesting," Almond grinned. "Then I guess I have to start feeding my summons the good stuff." "Change of ns," Almond continued with a smile. "Could you two hunt some monsters for me in the forest, please? Meanwhile, I''ll attract some lightning from the sky to temper myself." "Be careful of the lightning from those clouds," Nikki said. "Drink mana potion promptly when it''s lower because lightning strikes are unpredictable and you won''t be able to dodge since you will be in a meditative state." "Understood," Almond nodded as he exerted his physical strength after activating his Mana techniques and jumped high, kicking the trees'' branches while going up. Most of the trees were a couple hundred meters tall. The lightning from the clouds above periodically struck them, setting off a chain of lightning effect in the air and through trees. The hundreds of Thunder Blitz Monkeys in this area were spread out, but the atmospheric lightninging from clouds that eventually struck them seemed to charge them up. Their fur glowed up as if getting a power boost. "Let''s not attract more monkeys from afar," Anton said as he took out a strange gauntlet with a long metallic drill embedded in it in his right hand while his left hand only had a glove. Nikki appeared to be a mage from her outfit and the wand in her hand. "That brat haspletely left the monsters around here for us," Nikki saw Almond standing at the very top of a tree and struck by lightning as his Fortification shattered, getting a mild lightning shock throughout his body. Two monkeys were going up to attack him, and he didn''t even bother doing anything as if he was expecting them to take care of the trouble going his way. "Let''s just do our job. We got to enter a gold-bordered dungeon thanks to him anyway," Anton chuckled as he jumped like a rocket, swiftly appearing on the same level as the monkeys before he pierced his drill into one, crackling with blue lightning, and kicked the other one down. Nikki was about to be surrounded by nine other monkeys of levels 86 to 90, but she appeared carefree as she waved her hand, and faint purple lightning crackled around her. Ten nail-shaped (wood nail) flickering lightning projectiles materialized around her before surging forward and piercing into the ten monkeys, including the one that Anton sent down. In the next second, all ten monkeys burst out with purple lightning that tore their flesh and burned their blood with high intensity, giving them intense lightning damage as they were electrocuted, their vitality dropping to 0%. Although these monsters were empowered by the lightning, too much lightning into them actually worked adversely because they were not elemental creatures if it was a pure elemental creature, that lightning-attributed attack would have done way lower damage. Marshal Lopol sent Nikki and Anton with Almond precisely because both of them had a lightning affinity, and they had gained it via training. Being peak Gold-rank adventurers, they were not weak and had cleared gold-bordered B-rank dungeons before. "Come on, eat them," Nikki said with a chuckle as she saw a drooling Starlight Beast who was just looking at the magic crystals. "Grrr¡­" Starlight Beast nodded before eating them. Chimera Crystalist also joined in the feast. Infernal Knight was suddenly attacked and suffered some damage without being able to attack the monkey properly with his sword, but Anton had jumped down by that time and finished it off. "Be careful. They are twice as strong in terms of base stats, so you''ll have difficulty," Anton said to Infernal Knight, his eyes curious. ''This one can speak, so it must be intelligent.'' "I am grateful for thine help," Infernal Knight''s voice rumbled out. "However, I would request you to allow one monkey to fight me. I shall duel." Antonughed, "Sure." Starlight Beast and Chimera Crystalist positioned themselves around Infernal Knight after eating five magic crystals each, ready to assist in case more than one monkey entered the fray. Anton saw that these summons could coordinate with each other, and his interest in them grew even stronger. ''Adding to the summons I saw in the video when he fought in the League of Firefly''s guild base, he already has several strong pets...his ss must be very strong.'' He speedily vanished from his location with a strong dash towards a monkey and kicked it towards Infernal. "Enjoy your duel." ¡­ Ten minutester, the Thunderbird Guild''s party had cleared all Lightning Horn Rhinos in the first area and arrived in the forest''s periphery. Seeing Almond getting struck by lightning in the sky and his summons getting yed around by Nikki and Anton in a 2v3 battle, they were a bit speechless. "He''s really getting struck by lightning in a B-rank dungeon¡­what are his stats exactly?" "Let''s take a short break here since there are no Thunder Blitz Monkeys around here," Henry said as he sat down at the periphery. La, the oranged-haired girl, sat nearby and looked at Almond, "Leader, you wanna tell us more about him? Why''s he so strong for a silver-rank newbie?" "I don''t know. All I know is that he''s strong," Henry wryly smiled. "And Admiral Rudra is his backer." "You mean the Admiral Rudra?" "Damn." "It looks like he is a Super Rookie of GAA who is unknown for now. But if he participates in the Rising Star Tournament and disys his power, he''ll get a strong backing," said Luke, the light brown-haired guy in the party, while his eyes glinted as he fell into thought. ''I informed Zoren about this guy, but it looks like things won''t be that easy. He can forget about beating him up, let alone making him beg if he got Admiral Rudra at his back.'' ''But should I inform him about this information?'' Luke''s eyes nastily shone. ''It''ll be more interesting if things develop further¡­let''s just hope hees here with some strong adventurers from the guild to make things interesting.'' Chapter 98: Lightning Elemental Mastery, Training In Dungeon (2/3) Whenever lightning struck his fortified Mana on his body and shattered it, Almond could feel the essence of lightning due to his connection to his Mana. His mana acted like a medium of sorts that conveyed the power of lightning. It was like a wild signal that was up to him to interpret andprehend. And then, when the lightning pass through his body after shattering his defense, his body itself imprinted the power of lightning. It was up to him to recognize and understand its impact. To perceive his entire body''s reaction and lightning''s effect on his flesh and blood. Generally, the biggest starting obstacle is staying focused enough to perceive the lightning''s nature and essence amidst pain. But, owing to Almond''s tireless and arduous self-training in Physical Enhancement that reflected his desperation and determination both before he entered the Labyrinth, his capacity for enduring pain had reached remarkable heights. One could also keep Fortification stronger to prevent it from shattering, but that would diminish the ''feedback'' of the lightning elements. It was clearly written to immerse body and mind both in the lightning. His mind connected to his Mana, which was immersed in lightning when it struck his Fortification. And his body experienced lightning''s essence when it struck his body and spread. Almond had forgotten about the pain and was immersed in feeling the lightning''s attributes, its essence. He was in it until a monotone voice of the Labyrinth rang in his head. [Congrattions. You have acquired a skill¡ª(D) Lightning Elemental Mastery.] Almond opened his eyes and grinned, "Awesome." [Lightning Elemental Mastery] -Skill rank: D (Next rank progress: 2%) ¡ª> you can attract lightning elements in the atmosphere to transform your Mana and give it lightning''s attributes. -Effects when applying lightning attributes. ¡ª1. Bonus Lightning elemental damage: 20% potency of your Mana. ¡ª2. Shock potency: 13% chance¡ªBriefly disrupts the target''s actions, causing a minor loss in movement and reaction speed. ¡ª3. Paralyse potency: 14% chance¡ªImmobilizes the target, rendering them unable to act. ''There''s stronger lightning in the next area. I gotta go there and train,'' Almond''s eyes glinted as he looked at the mountain with unnatural dark clouds covering it all around, crackling with golden lightning. It was also a big area in size since the mountain was 2-3 kilometers wide at the base and roughly 400 metersrge peak seven kilometers high. Although the density value of this dungeon was medium, the dungeon''s border had turned golden. It was considered the highest level because turning ck meant the dungeon would break shortly, with no way of preventing the dungeon break even if people entered inside. "How long was I up there for?" Almond asked as he descended. "Half an hour," Anton answered before raising an eyebrow, "You want to move to a more intense lightning area?" "Yep," Almond smiled. "Come on, buddies. Let''s go towards that mountain," Almond jumped on the Starlight Beast''s back and sat cross-legged with leisure. "I''ll recover fully in the meanwhile." He also checked the status of his pets and nodded in satisfaction. ''It looks like they''ll eventually hit the stat limit of the rank. It''d be great if I could do that to all my spirit wraiths.'' Almond had made his Dark Pope Benedict hit the limit in Mana stat, and due to his extra 10% Mana passive trait because of his body, he had 110 Mana. He also didn''t need to rely on his physical body due to his shadow physique and skill set, so in terms of overall power, Dark Pope was currently the ''deadliest.'' But the rest of his summons hadn''t hit the limit in the stats yet. Seeing how the stats grew in Starlight Beast and Chimera Crystalist, each magic crystal of gold-rank monsters gave them 1-5 random stat points. ''I have ess to dungeons without limit, so I can start this grind,'' Almond''s eyes glinted. Almond made a mental note to list all of his Spirit Wraiths'' core attributes and powers, then gave it to Marshal Lopol to find suitable dungeons! As the party arrived at the mountain base, Almond jumped off the Starlight Beast and took out some items. ¡ªLightning Static Field g x 2 (Rare). ¡ªThunderst Spear x 2 (Umon) ¡ªLightning Charge Armor x 2 (Rare) ¡ªThunderblitz Bombs x 8 (Umon) These items were from 4 Lightning Horn Rhinos and ten Thunder Blitz Monkeys since he had captured their Spirits. He didn''t capture other spirits of monsters the group may have killed since he was immersed in the training. "Use these items when necessary. I''ve shared the details, so take a look." Rikki and Anton were surprised but also curious. "What''s with this effect: It can boost all lightning elements within the field for the user with lightning affinity to use to charge their skill?" Nikki was dumbfounded as she read Lightning Static Field g. "This armor is quite powerful, especially its effect. It boosts our physical stats by 20% if we can charge it with a bit of lightning or get struck by lightning damage. Damn," Anton murmured. "But they got 3 days of existent duration, huh? So they disappear after three days?" Niiki blinked. Both of them could feel that these items looked a bit familiar, as their theme resembled the Lightning Horn Rhino and Thunder Blitz Monkeys. "Yep. They disappear, but I can extend their duration," Almond smiled. He didn''t reveal how, but it would be enough to let them know that he could increase it. "If your ss can create items like this¡­it''s pretty powerful," Anton''s eyes glinted. "Is this your primary ss?" "Indeed," Almond smiled. "This and summons are from it." "Create items and get summons¡­" Nikki and Anton looked at each other, feeling speechless and envious both. It was a goddamn powerful ss! "Anyway, let''s continue moving, I want to train," Almond said as he looked at the mountain, eager to put a theory into practice to increase his speed of gaining lightning mastery. ''It''s a bit dangerous, as the book said, but it''s a method. Since it''s a method, it''s worth trying.'' Almond internally snorted. ''I have good control, can be patient, and remain focused. I won''t mess up.'' It was just a¡ªDeath if not careful¡ªtype method. He should try it at least¡­while being careful. Chapter 99: Training In the Dungeon (3/3), Gamble’s High Returns Almond¡¯s group stopped roughly one kilometer up in the mountain at a good spot with a thick patch of dark clouds raining lightning above a big river¡¯s path flowing through the mountain. The lighting was more intense and strong in this area, perfect for his new challenge. He summoned Forest Maid Sylvia and Dark Pope to help him since this would be a bit dangerous. These two had support skills and healing skills, so he summoned them to heal him when necessary. Nikki and Anton could feel that Almond wanted to do something particr. They had already given their knowledge to Almond about how they practiced in lightning to acquire affinity with it, and he followed it as well. But when they saw Almond¡¯s fortification appearing as he got ready to take on the lightning of this area, they frowned. "Why did he make such a thin Fortification and evenyered Body Enfold on top?" Anton asked. "Do you know anything about that, Nikki?" "No idea," Nikki muttered as she slightly shook her head. "But¡­why so weak?" "We have to stop him!" Anton¡¯s expression changed, but before he could do anything, a pale yellow lightning bolt struck him. *Crackle!* Almond¡¯s thin Fortification shattered instantly as the influx of lightning struck his body. For a brief moment, Nikki and Anton saw Almond¡¯s whole body lighting up as if the lightning purposefully spread everywhere in his body. And then¡­his breathing stopped. The duo was horrified as they instantly dashed him. But Dark Pope and Forest Maid had already made their move, using their skills on Almond to heal his burnt body. Almond had also cut off his own distraction in half and other aspects of his mind using his grimde to converge his mental capacity fully on focus intensity, adaptability, and mental rity. "He is breathing," Nikki bit her lips, but she trembled as she figured out what he did. "I know what he did. And why he is unconscious right now." "So you figured it out," Anton said, his expression grave. "This bastard focused his consciousness on his Body Enfold, and heightened his connection with mana to only focus on the lightning. "That way, he felt lightning¡¯s pure essence striking his consciousness when it hit him with his Body Aura activated, and he made sure that the lightning would spread throughout his body¡­" Nikki clenched her fist. "Does he have a death wish? Will he even wake up now?" Dark Pope and Forest Maid looked at each other, shocked. Infernal Knight, Starlight Beast, and Crystalist also gathered together. "Our lord died? Bullshit," Infernal Knight¡¯s speech crossed over generations as he cursed out loud. The influence of the show he watched yesterday on TV showed up. "Rx, youngds," Dark Pope said with a chuckle. "If our lord died, we would vanish, but we are still here, so he is alive." "Master is alive," Forest Maid said with a serious expression and nodded, her eyes on Almond as she continued to heal him slowly and use her buff on him to affect his psyche. "That¡¯s true¡­" Anton nodded as he looked at the summons. The summons still in existence meant that Almond was still alive. "What was he nning, pulling a stunt like this?" Nikki was annoyed. "His mind, especially his consciousness, must have received a strong shock. Is that how he wanted to immerse his mind in lightning? Damn this guy!" Anton sighed. He couldn¡¯t help but agree that Almond was reckless, but a part of him also wanted to see the result of this reckless method. ¡¯Is he even able to sense or understand anything right now?¡¯ Anton felt doubtful as he looked at Almond on the ground,pletely still. Indeed, Almond actually felt death up close. Everything turned nk for him, bringing him the familiar feeling that he had right before he awakened his new ss. A nasty presence started eating up his consciousness as well. He felt like just turning off everything and entering the darkness. Until a sh of world destruction appeared. Until he saw Lily, Natalia, and other familiar faces. That was when Almond¡¯s consciousness ignited again. He remembered his task and his mind felt clear. The world around him appeared different, but all he saw was lightning. At first, he saw blue lightning as it crackled through the clouds and struck below the water. His mind churned, and the scenery he was seeing changed. A golden lightning tore through the clouds and struck him. The golden lightning surged through his body like a flood of pure energy, lighting up his vision with blinding intensity. For a split second, he thought he would be consumed, but instead, his consciousness surged forward. His mind bathed in it along with his body. He felt the very essence of lightning touching his soul. It didn¡¯t feel like an external force anymore; it was an intrinsic part of him, flowing through every fiber of his being. He felt the surges of energy as part of his own rhythm, as though the lightning had be a living entity within his veins. It wasn¡¯t just raw destructive power; it was a force of creation and transformation, vibrating at frequencies that resonated with his thoughts. It was as if he was learning to be the lightning and Almond didn¡¯t stop this. He let himself carry on this feeling. The scenery around him changed. He imaged a world of lightning as it crackled around him. Colorful lightning painted the sky, humoring his thoughts. They all struck him in this dreamscape. His body trembled under the intensity, but he was no longer afraid. He was no longer just a passive recipient of the force; he was one with it. He could feel the intricate patterns of the electrical flows around him and inside him as if his mind had tapped into the primal pulse of the world itself. Almond lost himself in this ecstasy of turning into lighting, bing its essence. Fast. Intense. Bright. Electrical. Unpredictable. Tearing and riding through the Air. Thunderingly loud. Attractive, Maic. Almond felt it all. The world around him was alive with lightning, pulsing in waves of vibrant colors as each bolt of lightning was like a stroke of divine power painting across the sky. The earth itself seemed to hum in resonance with the storm he painted, as though the very fabric of reality was shaped by this force. It wasn¡¯t just the sensation of lightning anymore; it was a full immersion, an understanding of it as a living, breathing entity. It was the world of lighting. He was fully focused on this sensation, his mind now fully attuned to the lightning. No longer were the lightning strikes chaotic and uncontroble. He could sense their paths, their timing, their essence. He knew the moment a surge of power would crackle through the air before it happened as if he could predict the flow of energy itself. Every spark, every current, was like a voice speaking directly to him, offering its knowledge, its guidance. Almond understood. He could feel it in his bones. The thunder roared louder, as though the sky itself was acknowledging his transformation, and in that moment, Almond¡¯s connection to the lightning deepened even further¡ªit was now part of his soul. He could control it, mold it as if his very thoughts shaped and applied the properties of the lightning. Hemanded it, he dominated it. [Congrattions. By using your own power to aid you in this paramount task bearing a fatal risk, you braved through it and triggered a state of mind that allowed you to acquire a deep insight into the way of Lightning.] [Your Lightning Elemental Mastery has reached S rank.] Chapter 100: State of Singular Focus "It¡¯s been half an hour," Nikki muttered. "He is just breathing, nothing else." Anton had a frown on his face as he scanned Almond, "Should we take him out of the dungeon and check-up at the GAA branch here? He might be in aa." "Umm, I think Master is fine," Sylvia said as she tilted her head. "He is not in aa, at least. He is active. His soul is." "Indeed," Infernal Knight nodded with his arms crossed. "Lord is fine, bwahaha. It¡¯s only a matter of time before he wakes up," Benedictughed, appearing carefree. And it was then that something strange happened. A strong electrical aura and pulse spread out of Almond. The thunder in the sky above this part rumbled as the dark clouds gathered above, crackling with lightning. "This¡­" Nikki was shocked to feel such a pure lightning aura oozing out of Almond. "He¡¯s attracting lightning elements," Anton blinked as he took a few steps back away from Almond. "Get away from him. It¡¯s going to rain lightning with how the lightning elements in the atmosphere are behaving here." Just as he finished speaking, a pale yellow shining lightning bolt shed and struck Almond. But strangely, that lightning shattered into electrical sparks, forming a strange field around him. Almond¡¯s eyes opened as more and more lightning bolts struck him, one every second as he floated up, his body crackling with lightning. It coursed through his blood, bones, and flesh without hurting him. "This feels crazy good," Almond said, his eyes flickering with electric current. It was like he gained a new pair of lenses to watch the world, tailored to discovering the world of lightning. "This can¡¯t be," Nikki was dumbfounded as she uttered in disbelief. "Don¡¯t tell me you reached S-rank? This phenomenon¡­I am sure it appears only when someone reaches S-rank in an elemental mastery." Anton muttered, his face incredulous, "How? How can you reach S-rank this fast? We¡¯ve been training for two years periodically and only reached freaking A-rank lightning mastery." "I don¡¯t know," Almond shrugged as he smiled and deactivated the lightning attraction that was automatically turned on. "This was honestly unexpected," he chuckled as hended on the ground. "I did a gamble, and it paid off." He wasn¡¯t going to reveal that he had adjusted his psyche using his specialized ss power to enhance his Focus intensity before gambling on this dangerous method, and it worked wonders¡ªgiving him a sort of enlightenment of lightning that he induced onto himself by dancing between life and death. "Anyway, how long was I out for?" Almond asked as he looked at his Lightning Elemental Mastery. [Lightning Elemental Mastery] [-Skill rank: S (Next rank progress: 18%)] ? You can transmute your Mana into lightning and give it lightning¡¯s properties. You have total control over your lighting and high control over atmospheric lightning-attributed phenomena. [-Variant(s)] ? Golden Haze Lightning¡ª[23%/100%] [-Effects when applying lightning attributes] ?1. Lightning Elemental potency scaling with your Mana: 100%. ?2. Shock potency¡ªS-grade ?3. Paralyse potency¡ªS-grade. ?4. Electromaism. ?5. Lightning Psychophysiology. "You were nked away for roughly half an hour," Nikki said, her eyes glinting. "Can you tell us the method you¡¯ve applied?" "We will pay for it if you don¡¯t want to give it for free," Anton followed up, his expression somber. "Valuable information is often sold at a price." Both of them felt that Almond had used some kind of method to cheat death after pulling that crazy stunt of getting his mind and body deeply assaulted by the lightning, a powerful magic lightning nheless. The golden lightning of this dungeon was a variant, stronger than normal lightning, with some hidden effect that most probably only the boss of this dungeon properly wielded. "I can tell you the method I¡¯ve used, but it¡¯s honestly very dangerous," Almond wryly smiled. "I took on the danger because of two things. First, I was confident in my psyche to handle the influx of lightning¡¯s essence into my body and mind. Second, the source of my confidence, which was the ss skill that I can only use on myself. I used it to increase my chances of sess. That¡¯s how I used this dangerous method to my advantage." "Of course, I wasn¡¯t expecting to get such a big progress," Almond added with a chuckle. "This was a big surprise. ording to the notification, I entered a state of getting deep insight into the way of lightning." Nikki and Anton were surprised but also finally understood why Almond seeded. "Boldness paired preparation that pulled luck on your side and resulted in this, huh?" Anton shook his head as he wryly smiled. "We definitely can¡¯t replicate this even if we want to and try the same method." "True, but I can share an important insight that I realized today," Almond faintly smiled. "An insight to enter a state where your ¡¯performance¡¯ reaches its peak. A state in which things became easier for you to understand and execute." Nikki and Anton were instantly curious. But it was not just them¡ªAlmond¡¯s summons were also curious and became attentive. "What is it, Master?" Sylvia curiously asked. "I decided to name it the state of Singr Focus," Almond grinned. "I have pinpointed out the condition required to enter this state, though that doesn¡¯t make it any easier." "Of course, you may think I¡¯m crazy, and that¡¯s fine, but this is my stance on this state." "Say it already," Nikki rolled her eyes. Almondughed and nodded, "Alright, so here it is. This state can be achieved when there¡¯s a tough obstacle in front of you that you need to believe you can ovee. A challenge to rile up your mind, but also a challenge that is within the realm of possibility for you to aplish. You must have adequate tools and skills at your disposal to believe this. Deluding yourself won¡¯t work." "This challenge must also give you stress and fear, a threat of death or death-like devastation. A steep consequence for failing the challenge," Almond narrowed his eyes. "In my case, it was death, the most primal cause of stress and fear." ¡¯Experiencing twice already, I want to try it again¡­which may indicate there¡¯s something wrong with me,¡¯ Almond internally ruefully smiled. ¡¯I better calm down and stabilize myself before diving into this dangerous realm again.¡¯ Almond continued his exnation, "So, in simple words, the key to entering this state of Singr focus is the bnce between the thrill and fear of the challenge you have designated. Abandon all other thoughts, all distractions, and everything else aside from your singr focus ofpleting this challenge." Nikki and Anton were dazed. It was like they understood what he meant, but it felt absurd. Seeing their expressions, Almondughed and said, "There¡¯s a reward, and there¡¯s death. Move on this fine thread and dance." "That said, I hope Thunderbird group hasn¡¯t defeated the boss yet," Almond cracked his neck as his eyes flickered with lightning. "I want to have a duel with the boss and y with lightning in this dungeon more." After reading that Lightning Variant in the status, he was eager to reach 100% in it and unlock the Golden Haze Lightning! And he wouldn¡¯t get the chance again because this dungeon would disappear 24 hours after defeating its final boss! Chapter 101: Zoren Enters "They should be on the mountain peak by now. Since this is a golden-bordered dungeon, there will be two or more side bosses aside from the final boss," Nikki said as she looked up. "I also want to try lightning at the peak of this mountain, so let''s go," Almond grinned. He put away all of his other summons in his spirit pocket except for Starlight Beast and jumped on it. "Starlight, I am going to do some lightning infusion in you to increase your physical body''s prowess," Almond grinned as he patted its back. "We''ll move like lightning. Are you ready?" "Rawr!" Almond used lighting to rile up Starlight Beast''s physiology, increasing its speed and power ording to the amount of Mana he consumed. *Zoom!* The Starlight Beast''s mind and body both sped up literally as it ran up on the mountain, crackling with lightning. Nikki and Anton followed up, barely keeping up with Starlight Beast''s speed despite them having higher stats. "Reaching S-rank, now he can use lightning in more magical ways," Nikki wryly smiled as she ryed to Anton using Magic Whisper. "There''s not much we know about him, but it doesn''t feel overboard anymore that he''s getting special treatment with the backing of Admiral Rudra," Anton replied as he watched the duo moving. "He is something." ¡­ When they arrived at the peak of the mountain, the Thunderbird Group was in the middle of fighting against the side boss of the dungeon. It was a giant Thunder Panther¡ªfast and deadly. Henry didn''t meddle in the battle as usual, but the five Thunderbird members were having slight trouble with the boss because of its speed. The Panther could move quickly and also turn into a lightning zap to inflict attack and move. Their tank was almost severely injured, saved only thanks to the buff and timely healing, or he would''ve been severely wounded. The party was more on a defensive move while trying to hit Panther with their skills and proper strategy. Using feints and pincer attacks, the party continued their sh for three minutes before the Lightning Panther was finally yed. "So-so¡­their teamwork isn''t that good," Nikki muttered. "Their skills are sloppy. They need a more rigorous training." Anton nodded in agreement while Henry could only smile wryly as he knew Nikki was right. "Can you call your party to rest here?" Almond said as he watched towards the center of the peak where the party and panther had fought a battle. "I need to do something there." Almond looked up and saw that the dark clouds were thicker in there. They were dropping lightning strikes on the ground at the center for some unknown reason, but Almond wanted the golden lightning that streaked through that patch of cloud. Henry called the party members to his side before they sat down to rest and recover. "What''s up with him, Henry?" Krag asked he saw Almond looking up at the clouds after standing in the center. But right as he asked, thunder rumbled greatly, and a lightning strike struck Almond, startling the heck out of Thunderbird''s party. "What the fuck?!" "He''s dead, right?" The dusk and smoke were overshadowed by flickering lightning that prevented them from seeing Almond, but a few secondster, they saw he was unscathed, including his outfit. And then, they saw him sit down cross-legged as lightning strikes hit him every other second before defusing into sparks and dancing around him for a short time before dispersing. Even Henry was dumbfounded. After a short discussion of Almond''s current activity with Nikki and Anton, the Thunderbird people realized what a monster Almond was. ''H-How powerful is he? I hope Zoren brought a tinum rank adventurer with him just to be safe¡­'' thought Luke, who had informed Zoren about Almond and was likely almost reaching the Dungeon with Thunderbird guild members for revenge. ''But he is a silver-rank level 10 in the end, right? Not even the strongest of Super Rookies in silver-rank can do much against peak Gold-rank Adventurers.'' The party was numb after minutes of watching Almond. They simply recovered and rested for twenty minutes before finally getting up to move again. The next area was a hignd with big giant trees and small water bodies scattered amidst trees. It was also the final area of the dungeon, roughly four kilometers away from this mountain''s base. They had ascended the mountain from the south, so they moved to descend in the north in the direction of the next area. Ten minutes after the Thunderbird group left, Almond also stood up. [Golden Haze Lightning: 43%/100%] ''I guess this is the most I can progress here,'' Almond looked in the north to see the giant trees and stronger lightning in the sky in the next area. ''That''s where I''ll reach 100%.'' "Are you done?" Nikki and Anton walked towards him with Starlight Beast. "We have to hurry," Almond turned to the duo and jumped on Starlight Beast. "I forgot to tell them not to fight the dungeon boss." "No worries, they''d need an hour more before finally engaging the boss," Anton smiled. "We can catch up with them," Nikki said as her aura surged and purple lightning crackled around her before forming into a pair of wings. "Woah, you can fly?" Almond''s eyes sparkled. ''I gotta create a lightning wing skill!'' "I can fly, but actively flying consumes more Mana," Nikki smiled. "But this ce is abundant with lightning elements, so It won''t be a problem." Anton also crackled up a pair of blue-lightning wings as he said with a faint smile, "See you in the next area." Both of them flew off the mountain''s edge. Almond wanted to try creating wings, but he had no time to waste time. "Let''s go, buddy, full throttle," Almond grinned as he buffed Starlight Beast with lighting. *Roarr!* ¡­ After catching up with the Thunderbird Guild group, Almond ryed to them about his n to fight the Dungeon Boss alone. Naturally, they didn''t mind it. In their mind, if Almond wanted to court death, they wouldn''t stop him. After telling them this, Almond, Nikki, and Anton separated from the Thunderbird group to fight monsters in this area. Almond wanted to try out new things with Mana Techniques since he had reached S-rank in Lightning Elemental Mastery. The first of which was enhancing his Body Enfold technique. Body Enfold increased one''s every stat at the cost of constant mana consumption. Almond gave lightning''s attribute¡ªits aspect of speed, rity, and intensity to his Body Enfold and empowered himself further. It was hard to maintain a Lightning-style Body Enfold at first, but he did it sessfully after a few tries. Having acquired Lighting Psychophysiology due to reaching S-rank in lightning mastery, Almond could use lightning not just in an attacking way but to figure out how it affected and interacted with his mind and body, which would allow him to create buff-type skills as well. Almond also used Electromaism, and it was easier than he thought. He could control his sword without touching it, though it consumed Mana per second. All in all, Almond explored and killed the monsters in this area while exploring his newfound power. Only two types of monsters were found in this area¡ªThunder Scaled Hogs in the woods and Lightning Thorn Fish from the multitude of ponds. Lightning Horn Fish appeared to be able to observe a certain range outside of their ponds, likely due to the lightning elements infused in this area. Passing by any pond at five meters or less distance would prompt attacks from the lightning Horn Fish¡ªa fast and deadly lightning attack from their horn. Almond found this ce to be a good practice spot to try various things, and it was big, so there was nock of monsters. Starlight Beast and Chimera Crystalist just followed and ate magic crystals that Almond''s killings dropped. "Almond, what''s up with your recovery? You drank a very low amount of Mana potions during the past hour, while we''ve drank doubled at least, even though we are more efficient with our Mana," Anton curiously asked. "Yeah, I have a kind of high recovery," Almond answered with a chuckle without turning back to look at them. "It seems that we are finally at the end of this area." At the end of this ind was a single huge tree with thick greenery. It was one kilometer tall with big branches and thick foliage. Lightning crackled dangerously at the very top, though they couldn''t observe what was above from the bottom. In the middle, they could see a point where the branches interacted strangely, creating a sort of wooden ground. [You have entered Gyrogia''s Thunder Tree Nest.] Not too far from them, Thunderbird guild''s group also stood there, looking up. "Well, let''s start climbing," Almond crouched and stretched his legs one by one before his body crackled with lightning as he used a Lightning-style Body Enfold. He sent Starlight Beast and Chimera Crystalist inside the pocket. "See you in that middle area. That''s where the second side boss is likely located," Nikki waved her hand with a smile before she flew up. Anton nodded at him and also followed up. The Thunderbird group was envious to see them with the wings and easily going up. "Urgh, this tree is conducting lightning strongly," the yellow-haired support role girl in the group cried out as she was shocked upon touching the trunk. "We have to spend more mana than we thought to climb this." Meanwhile, they saw Almond suddenly turning into a lightning stream as he began streaking over the tree''s t trunk, leaving the Thunderbird group in a dumbfounded state. ¡­ Meanwhile, two peak Gold-ranked adventurers entered with a silver-rank level 10, Zoren. Zoren had left when he was level 5, but he had entered the 2nd cycle with a big party to reach level 10. "Brother Thamus, take out your Thunder Sparrow, and let''s go!" Zoren said with an angry grin. "I want to see him beat up as soon as possible!" Chapter 102: Dominating Gold-rank Adventurers (1/2) "Zoren, we can''t just gang up on those people of GAA," Thamus said as he rolled his mustache. "Our guild will get in trouble if we do that." Thamus was a twenty-three-year-old Adventurer belonging to Thunderbird Guild¡ªGold level 100. He was considered one of their strongest in gold-rank with his double A-rank sses and A-rank Lightning Elemental Mastery. "But there''s one way," said Romez, the adventurer around the same age as Thamus. "We can challenge him to a duel if you want to see him beat up, but the condition is that he must ept." Zoren pulled a long face, "Why can''t we just beat him up?! I got fucked up badly, but I can''t do anything?" "That''s the problem, kid," Thamus grinned. "Why don''t you go and beat him yourself? If you do that, there won''t be much trouble, but we are seniors. If we beat him without any reason or rhythm because you said so, then you will get in trouble along with our guild." "Indeed," Romez added. "If he had joined just some random guild, then it wouldn''t be a problem if we beat him up, but he is a member of GAA. Unless you bribe some higher-up in GAA to keep out the trouble, you can''t go around beating their people." "Fine, I''ll provoke him," Zoren said with a nasty grin. "I have a good idea." ¡­ [Sparkwing Scarab]¡ªSide-boss. -Rank: Gold. -Level: 100 ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 190|Health: 195|Stamina: 185] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 205|Focus: 195|Perception: 180] It was a giant beetle five meters long with menacing golden lightning-sparking wings pping while its wing case opened up and pulsed with a glow as if charging up. It released three arcs of lightning to make sure that at least one of them would hit Almond. But Almond simply took on one head-on with his Lightning-style Fortification¡ªwith lightning-resistance as a bonus, activated. Lightning diffused into his body as he felt the Golden Haze Lightning''s power. Almond stood leisurely with his hand on his chin, his expression thoughtful. Sparkwing Scarab screeched and readied its w as it charged up and extended with razor-sharp des. It attacked Almond, wanting to tear him into pieces. Almond''s feet crackled with arcs of lightning as he jumped and dodged, his movements sharp and precise. He floated upside-down, effortlessly suspended in the air, his body held aloft by electromaic pulses drawn from the crackling energy that surged through the tree. The lightning arced around him, conducting through the air to maintain his position, allowing him to defy gravity with a seamless bnce of power and control. ''I need a stronger and purer version of Golden Haze lightning¡­ this beetle is not enough.'' His body flickered as he pulled himself towards the corner where the group had gathered and was watching him for the past few minutes. They were sitting ducks watching a show while feeling a mix of disbelief and awe. "You can go ahead and kill it. I''ve wasted a lot of its Mana, so it should be easy to kill it." The thunderbird party simply nodded and went to fight the beetle without saying anything. They had seen too many abnormalities on him that they were numb. ''His mana is not exhausted yet, but that beetle might exhaust its Mana soon¡­'' Henry was speechless. ''It''s not like he would have more Mana than the boss¡­what a strange young man.'' Only If he knew that Almond actually had more Mana than the boss, and his Mana recovery was possibly the highest one among all Adventurers thanks to his SS and Legendary rank sses along with his innate talent that doubled his Mana recovery¡­ "Are you going up ahead to fight the final boss?" Henry asked. "Yeah, after a few minutes," Almond nodded. As he finished speaking, his eyes caught something ahead as he saw a lightning-crackling bird flying towards them from a distance. "Huh? Someone''sing here." Henry, Nikki, and Anton turned around upon hearing him and were surprised. "Did someone enter the dungeon? But the guards should have arrived shortly after we entered to secure it," Henry frowned. "Don''t tell me it''s a dungeon break-in?" Anton''s expression turned somber. "Impossible," Henry shook his head. "The mountain outside and the surrounding area is under our guild''s surveince. Other people can''t break in." "So they must be from the Thunderbird guild," Nikkin raised her eyebrows. They arrived soon, and when they were some tens of meters away, Almond recognized the face on him while Henry''s expression changed drastically. ''Why is he here?'' "Interesting development," Almond muttered as a smile hung on his face. The sparrownded on the branch''s edge some meters away before the three people jumped off and walked towards them. "What are you doing here?" Henry asked, his brows furrowed. "Shut up," Zoren spat. "Just stand silently and don''t say anything from now on." Henry clenched his fist, his anger bubbling, but he didn''t talk back. ''If he is here to cause trouble, things will escte way more¡­'' He sent Magic Whisper to Thamus and Romez, telling them that troubling the GAA members here would cost the guild dearly. ''Rx, Henry. We won''t be at fault if Zoren can provoke his enemy first.'' ''No, you don''t understa-.'' ''Henry, just watch.'' "Yo, do you remember me?" Zoren hatefully looked at Almond as he stopped two meters away from him. "I don''t remember every trash I see on the road, " Almond replied, his lips nted as he made a face as if he was unsure. Nikki and Anton were startled at the sudden aggression on Almond''s part. ''Do you have some problem with this guy?'' ''Do you have a beef with this guy?'' Both of them, Magic Whispered to Almond, asking him simr questions. ''Yeah. And I''ll deal with this. You two just watch.'' Meanwhile, Zoren almost blew his top upon hearing Almond, but he came here with a n andposed himself. "You may not remember me, but I remember you. How are those two bitches doing?" Zoren sneered. Almond narrowed his eyes and didn''t respond. He just looked at Zoren dead in his eyes. Thamus and Romez looked at Zoren, feeling awkward on his behalf. "Humph, I can''t touch that ck-haired bitch, but I swear I will teach that other bitch a hard lesson in the future," Zoren licked his lips. "Just like the one I taught to a hoe in my guild a few days ago." "Are you done barking?" Almond smiled, albeit it was a frigid, cold smile. "Your n is trash, just like you. But I''ll humor you out of my own desire to teach you a lesson you''ll never forget." In the next second, Almond suddenly moved and pped Zoren. *Pat!* A couple of his teeth flew as he spit blood and fell on the ground like a ragdoll before he cried out, "BASTARD! Kill him! Kill him!" "¡­" Thamus and Romez looked at each other before looking at Almond, Nikki, and Anton. ''This is bad. We are evenly matched at best,'' Thamus was speechless. "Take him away, you two," Henry said, his expression grave. "No, no, not yet," Almond said as he kicked Zoren in his stomach, this time provoking a reaction from Thamus and Romez as they moved. Romez picked up Zoren while Thamus stood before Almond, a curved sword in his hand, "Chill, little brother. You''re going too far." However, he was surprised that Nikki and Anton didn''t move or do anything. Seeing his gaze, Almond grinned as his eyes flickered with lightning, "You came here to fight, so fight is what you''ll get." In the next second, Thamus saw Almond''s body blurring. ''Fast!'' He turned around and timely saw Almond kicking Zoren as he flew like a ragdoll. "You¡­" Romez pointed his hand at Almond, conjuring two wind orbs as they struck Almond. However, they snuffed out after simply touching his Fortification coating. "Huh?" Romez was dumbfounded. "¡­" Almond was speechless. "Thanks for the consideration, but treat me as if you are fighting a peak Gold-rank adventurer." After saying that, he disappeared and moved towards Zoren again before kicking him again. He didn''t hit Zoren too strongly, but also not too lightly. "Fuck!" Thamus cursed as he snapped out and seriously attacked Almond, his sword and body crackling with lightning as he used a skill to buff himself after using Physical Enchantments and Focus Field. ''Use Focus Field. This guy is fast,'' Thamus said to Romez. ''His stats are way higher than his rank and level indicates.'' "Arghhh!" "Urughh¡­Blerrh!" Zoren felt his world spinning. He only felt pain and nothing else. "Stop!" Thamus shed Almond, but only he saw sparks flying before his hand was deflected strongly, almost making him lose the sword. ''What the fuck?!'' Romez took out his staff and used his ss skill¡ªFrost Mist, unleashing a mist toward Almond with the intention of freezing him. Almond grinned as he released a burst of lightning by transmuting 100 Mana into lighting. The lightning traveled through the mist, destroying it and also electrifying Romez. Simple elemental skills vs. elemental attacks from someone who had acquired an Elemental master had a big difference in potency. In an equal power sh, the former was no match for thetter. Moreover, lightning interacted with mist and conducted with it, so even though Almond used his lightning crudely, it overpowered Zoren''s B-rank ss skill, which was¡­well, merely B-rank in Almond''s eyes. *Smash!* Almond kicked Zoren again, making him fly in the air, this time right after he nullified Romez''s mist skill. Thamus hissed as he went full focus and released his ss skill as a cross-shaped red lightning sh shot toward Almond¡­who dodged it leisurely as he jumped and pped Zoren''s face, smacking him down from the air. "Damn it," Romez attacked again. "What the fuck¡­" Thamus fought while suppressing his disbelief and shock. A brutal yetical scene ensued. Thamus and Romez solely focused on attacking Almond, but neither of them could hit him properly. Meanwhile, Almond simply pped and smacked Zoren around the spacious branch. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 103: Dominating Gold-rank Adventurers (2/2) The Thunderbird group had finished off the beetle shortly and saw the scene as their jaw dropped on the floor after realizing what the heck was happening. ''What the fuck?'' Luke''s neck shrank like a turtle as he felt goosebumps rising. ''That bastard Zoren, who did he mess with?'' Henry, Anton, and Nikki were long dumbfounded and just watched nkly as Almond yed around with those two Gold-rank adventurers who were at the same level as them while also beating up Zoren. From Bronze level 1 to Silver level 30 would an adventurer 117 unassigned stat points. And then breaking through to Gold rank and reaching level 100 from level 0 would an additional 300 unassigned stat points. A total of 417 unassigned stat points. Not including other bonus stat points one could get from items in Labyrinth and dungeons and from their ss perks, these Gold rank level 100 adventurers were far weaker than Almond in terms of stats. Not to mention that Almond had 200 in Perception and Focus thanks to his Legendary ss''s perk, making his Force Field way stronger than theirs. But if that wasn''t enough, Almond was a sword prodigy who could use it masterfully as a weapon of great versatility, and people who used swords against him were prone to getting seen through by his prodigal way of seeing things as he easily spotted weak spots of Thamus and nullified his sword moves. He could see through their moves, react faster than them with his Force Field, and easily render their attacks and strategy useless, resulting in this situation of him ying with these two gold level 100 adventurers while he beat up Zoren around like a ragdoll. "Stop, stop!" Thamus breathed out as he stopped and shouted, his face red. Fighting and trying hard to hit Almond without any sess resulted in him spending more and more stamina, so he was already tired. He could feel his strikes and moves getting worse and worse as he continued with this futility of fighting Almond, so he snapped and stopped. Romez was in a simr situation. But Almond didn''t even look at them as usual. However, he also stopped since he didn''t need to move anymore as he didn''t sense any attacksing his way. "Heal him, he just got knocked out with thatst p," Almond said as he continued to look at Zoren, whose face was totally like a pig with his ps while his body was aching at all ces. Henry quickly arrived there and used a healing potion on Zoren, pouring it on his body. Zoren''s eyes opened, but the moment he saw Almond, he screamed and moved back, dragging his ass as if he saw a ghost. Almond''s eyes glinted deep within as a ghastly, dreamy de shed through. "Zoren, you will never ever trouble anyone again out of malice." Zoren''s courage¡ªcut in half thrice. Permanently. "You will never ever show your ugly and naked desire on people weaker in status and power than you." Zoren''s mental fortitude¡ªcut in half thrice. Permanently. "From now on, you will focus on doing good deeds and helping others. And if you don''t do that¡­I swear to your god, I will skin you alive." Zoren''s Apathy¡ªcut in half thrice. Permanently. This resulted in his empathy growing automatically. But his fear of Almond also reached new heights. His mind became a mess as Almond''s words rang inside after the innate attributes of his character were forcefully adjusted. He screamed while grabbing his hair and suddenly lost consciousness right there and then. *Gulp* Some of them swallowed hard witnessing this, while some frowned, but all felt a chill crawling down their back. "Is there a way to contact outside from inside the dungeon?" Almond asked as he turned around to look at Thamus and Romez. "N-No," Romez shook his head. "Then stay here," Almond narrowed his eyes as he summoned all of his Spirit Wraiths. "Nikki, Anton, I am going up to y with the boss. Immediately inform me if they try to run out of the dungeon. I''vemanded my summons to attack them if they try to escape." Almond turned to the Thunderbird party below level 100 and said, "Start climbing up. I won''t kill the boss, so you can take the kill and reward." The group quickly scurried away and started climbing the tree further. Almond then turned to Thamus and Romez as he continued. "I am stopping you from leaving because I don''t want Thunderbird guild''s people storming here," Almond icily smiled. "I am not confident in fighting against veteran tinum adventurers yet, so things can get ugly with emotions in heat, especially if Zoren''s father gets the news. So don''t you dare run out outside, or I''ll kill you all first, and trust me¡­I can." "My summons here are immortal as long as I am alive. And they might look weak in stats, but they have powerful skills, and some of them won''t go down before killing a few of you." "You heard that right,ds," Dark Pope crackled loudly. "We have a death wish, but the question is, do you?" *Neighh!!* Infernal Knight''s horse, Agramon, neighed loudly as mes rose around them in intensity. "Not all are like you two," Forest Maid Sylvia rolled her eyes before she turned to Thamus and Rozen, "But my friends are right. You may want to think..umm, thirty times before going against our master''s orders." As she spoke, Forest Maid Sylvia rooted herself on the branch, transforming into her Forest Queen form using her S-rank¡ªForest''s Blessing. The other spirit wraiths also locked on them, ready to pounce on them.N?v(el)B\\jnn Even if their stats were weaker, the seven of them still gave an intimidating presence, not to mention that their appearance was already intimidating and scary. Dead silence ensued. Even Henry forgot what he was going to say, while Nikki and Anton could only look at each other in shock. ''Who is Almond?'' ''He is Almond¡­'' ''¡­'' "We got it!" Thamus said as he deeply breathed and looked at Almond. "We won''t do anything foolish." Romez quickly nodded while sweating bullets. Chapter 104: Golden Haze Lightning, Leaving the Dungeon [Bonus Chapter] At the top of the giant tree, the leaves were strangely shaped to make it like the ground, with natural leaf patterns that crackled with lightning. The Final Boss was a powerful monster¡ªBlitzerking Thunder Eagle. With all of its stats above 200+, it was a formidable boss monster of sizable body mass and physique attuned to Golden Haze Lightning. Almond fought with it defensively, his focus not on attacking it but taking on its pure Golden Haze Lightning and understanding it through the fight. The Thunderbird group obediently sat cross-legged at the corner as they watched Almond making the Blitzerking Thunder Eagle dance around him. He took on the pure lightning attacks of the boss as per wish with his Fortification and Body Enfold activated while avoiding the rest like its w and wing-swooping attack. A few minutes into the battle, the fight became even more on Almond''s factor as if he understood its attacking patterns andpletely dominated the boss monster without hurting it too much. "I got an idea," Zaia, the orange-haired girl, suddenly said. "How about we bet all our money on him in the Rising Star Tournament right when it starts when the odds are low for unknown adventurers?" "Yeah, we can bet on him taking the first rank in the silver bracket right off the bat when the tournament starts. We''ll be rich." "We gotta start farming in dungeons and gather more gold coins then." "That aside, I think our guild hit a solid steel te this time," Krag said with a weak smile. "Zoren is over. His father will snap seeing him in that condition, and the matter will be big, but nothing''s gonna happen to Almond." "To be honest," Zaia pursed her lips. "I think Zoren had iting, and he deserves it. Several junior girls in the guildined to me about him, but what could I do? Tell on his father? Both are cut from the same cloth, damn it." "Someone here might not think the same," Krag said as he turned to Luke, who was silent all the while, only watching Almond fighting against the boss alone with ease, the same boss monster that could give them big trouble if they weren''t careful. "Hey, Luke. I saw you using your wristwatch before we entered the dungeon. Tell me, did you tell Zoren about him?" The other three also looked at Luke. "Yeah, I did, "Luke resigned and partly raised both of his hands before putting them on his knees, his head down. "And I don''t think what I did was wrong. I''m just using opportunities to get some support and little favors from those in power at the ce we work." "And fuck Zoren," he added as he looked ahead and continued to watch Almond. "It''s not like I support him or anything. He''s just good at getting used by someone like me, so I fawn over him and got good stuff from the guild. Anyway, it seems Almond is done, so we are up." The others turned to Almond and saw him looking at him as he walked towards them. The Blitzerking Thunder Eagle swooped at him from behind after pping its wing and releasing golden lightning arcs, but Almond smoothly side-stepped to dodge one and jumped high to dodge another. His high jump also took into consideration its swoop attack, so he dodged it easily as well before he kicked the air after using lightning currents to form an electromaic field, pushing his speed as he swiftly crossed thirty meters and appeared shortly away from the Thunderbird group. "Finish it off," Almond said as he turned around and sat down cross-legged. "¡­" *Shrill!* The giant eagle angrily shrilled, intending to attack Almond again, who so disrespectfully ignored it and sat down with his eyes closed. But the Thunderbird group quickly scrambled together as theyunched their skills and began fighting it. Tank and fighter attracted its attention while the support buffed them. One mage used a control-type skill to bind the Eagle''s wings as its flight was disturbed, while the other Mage swiftly attacked with a pure offense-type skill. Meanwhile, Almond was closing in on his goal of acquiring Golden Haze Lightning. By the time Thunderbird group finished off the boss, Almond had reached his goal. [Congrattions. You have acquired a lightning elemental variant¡ªGolden Haze Lightning.] [Golden Haze Lightning] -This variant''s potency will be affected by your lightning elemental mastery. -Variant effects: ¡ª> 30% stronger Lightning potency. ¡ª> Golden Haze attribute: purifies harmful effects, destroys negative effects, and increases the potency of healing processes. ''So my lightning power is 30% stronger,'' Almond''s eyes flickered with lightning, but this time, it was a hazy golden lightning. ''On top of that, it now has purifying effects, so I guess it should be able to remove status effects like bleed, burn, and other stuff. ''Power to destroy negative effects¡­sounds simr to purifying harmful effects, but I guess the word y changes things. Maybe it destroys anything considered ''negative''? I''ll have to experiment with this lightning a lot,'' Almond grinned, excited. ''Thest is pretty much self-exnatory. Damn, this lightning variant is awesome.'' Almond saw that the Thunderbird group had also killed the boss and was looking at the items they had gotten from its treasure chest. After taking the boss''s Spirit, he said, "You all can take your time. We are leaving." The group quickly turned to him, but Almond was already gone. Arriving in the middle battlefield of the tree, Almond looked at Thamus and Romez as he icily smiled, "We are leaving now, but you will leave after an hour, got it?" The duo quickly nodded. "And I have a message for Zoren''s father. Make sure he gets it properly¡ªIf he has a problem with me beating his son senseless, then he canin to Admiral Rudra. I''m sure he will be pleased tounch a full investigation and find all the dark dirt you''ve gathered." After saying that, Almond waved his hands as his Spirit Wraiths turned into flickering lights and vanished. "Let''s go," Almond nodded at Nikki and Anton. ¡­ After Almond, Nikki, and Anton left, Thamus spoke, "Did you record everything, Romez?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Yeah, but are we really going to add on trouble?" Romez was clearly hesitant. "What are you two talking about?" Henry frowned. "Don''t make things worse, please. Almond has the backing of Admiral Rudra, and Zoren isn''t exactly in the right. The guild will suffer." "We aren''t doing anything, Henry," Thamus shook his head. "We''ll just hand over this recording to the vice-guild leader. It''s up to him to decide what to do." He looked at the fainted Zoren and added, "Anyway, we are supposed to wait for an hour, so let''s try to wake this idiot up." ¡­ [A/N: This is a bonus chapter for reaching 100 powerstones this week. The second weekly bonus chapter''s requirement is reaching 100 golden tickets, and the third weekly bonus chapter''s requirement is one big gift (only one big gift = one chapter, no more chaps even if more giftse. Tbh, I am not expecting big gifts, nor do I want to pressure cuz I feel it''s a waste of money in my view, but whatever, multiple views exist, so here is the chart of weekly bonus chapters requirement] Chapter 105: Thunderbird Guilds Stance, Whispers in Dark After leaving the dungeon, Almond, Nikki, and Anton returned to the GAA branch in Thunderbird City and then promptly departed in the private jet of GAA, returning to Firefly City in half an hour. On the way to his beautiful and aesthetic courtyard, Almond stopped by a fancy restaurant to eat and made a task list of things he wanted to aplish before the Rising Star Tournament started. 1¡ªMaster the Lightning Dragon skill set. 2¡ªCome up with a good name and disposition for his 9th spirit wraith that was long ready to be summoned. 3¡ªCombine 1st Floor Boss spirit with 19 Dungeon bosses'' spirits. 4¡ªUnlock the Guaranteed Super-rank forge option. The restaurant was a tree-house type, and he had a corner table with nice wind and weather, so he chilled there while thinking about some things and also talked to Admiral Rudra about everything that happened in the dungeon since he happened to pick up his call this time. He called him on the way to Firefly City, but some kind of signal problem appeared instead, indicating that he was in a dungeon or some other area that blocked signals. It was 7 p.m. in the evening when Almond finally returned to his courtyard as he spent a few hours at the restaurant eating slowly and making ns. He let out all of his summons to chill and rx in the courtyard, giving them freedom with some rules like not breaking things. He also took out Spirit Items that he forged. He got more rare-grade items this time because the monsters were high-level gold-rank ones. Alfred knew how to use the website and submit the items, so Almond put him on that work to let Silverbird Services know that he had a new batch of items for sale. ''Since I am still freshly filled with lightning, I should at least try to finish creating the skill runes of Lightning Dragon skills today,'' Almond nodded to himself. ''But before that, I need to bathe.'' Almond took a shower and wore afy white robe before he arrived outside and started training to learn the Lightning Dragon skills. ording to the book, he had gained Lightning Elemental Mastery and even reached S-rank, so he would be able to follow the steps and learn both skills rather quickly. -Skill 1: Lightning Tailwhip (S) ¡ªEffect: Conjures a lightning dragon tail anywhere within 10 meters of the user to deal devastating lightning-attribute damage. Causes shock and paralysis. -Skill 2: Voltron Edge (S) ¡ªEffect: Infuses a melee-type weapon with crackling lightning energy, increasing the weapon''s damage significantly and granting lightning-attribute to all attacks released through the weapon. Almond nned to modify these skills a bit in his way since he had knowledge of skill rune structure by now and also Lightning element''s variant to y with! ¡­ Meanwhile, there was an emergency meeting being held in the Thunderbird guild. Only the guild''s leader, vice-leader, and executives attended the meeting. They watched Almond''s recording through Romez''s lenses¡ªfrom when Zoren and the other two arrived on the giant''s tree middle-field and tried to provoke Almond. It didn''t show them everything that happened in a clear sense since the camera was on Romez''s center, but it was a great shock to them to see Romez and Thamus losing in 2v1 and Almond beating up Zoren while ying with them. "Is he another freak of a super rookie like Lin Yuan?" Thunderbird leader Kalen frowned. He had blue spiky hair and was a handsome-looking man in his thirties, though it was ruined by his current frustrated expression. He also wanted a super rookie in his guild, but nobody had an S-rank ss, while those known to possess one were snatched by top guilds. "Lin Yuan is no longer a silver-rank Super rookie as he ascended to gold-rank this month. But this kid''s way of fighting indeed reminds me of Lin Yuan," an executive woman with rose hair said. "But Lin Yuan''s primary ss is Martialist Ironfang, S-rank. This kid, on the other hand, has a summon-type ss¡ªpresumably S-rank. I don''t think he''s got a good hand with that, to be honest. He has talent in fighting, so if he got a fighter-type ss, that would''ve made him way stronger," said the bulky, short-haired Executive. *Thap!!* A man looking in his forties suddenly mmed his hand on the table, causing everyone to look at him as he took a sharp breath and said, "Can we move onto the main topic now? My son has gone insane! He is totally different now because of this bastard! Skip to thest part!" "Rx, vice-leader," Thunderbird leader Kalen said as his expression turned slightly t. "Let''s continue watching. We''ll reach the end soon." They soon reached the end of the video and saw how Almond threatened Zoren, who then screamed and fainted. "Vice-leader Zolen, are you saying that this kid''s threat worked on Zoren?" Executive Le raised her eyebrows. Zolen''s teeth ground hard as he slowly nodded, anger erupting within him, "Zoren ispletely different now. He behaves scared all the time and doesn''t even look at anyone in the eyes! Kalen, I want you to send this video footage to Earth Union and bring that bastard on trial!" "That''s not a good idea," Thunderbird leader Kalen frowned. "We have much more to lose if we do that. I''m sorry, but I won''t let you do that. Your son isn''t exactly a saint, and we all know that. His mistake was getting over his head because of you." "I agree with leader Kalen. That kid, Almond, was it? He has the backing of Admiral Rudra. If that old manes here and decides to get all just and fair, our guild will suffer." Zolen pped the table again, his voice hoarse, "Am I supposed to just take this and move on?! Am I supposed to watch my son rot like that from now on?! What if your children or someone you love is in his ce?!" "Look, vice-leader Zolen," Kalen calmly said. "You''ve contributed to the guild, and the guild has also helped you. But this is a guild, not your house, which your son has been thinking it was your house. If you want to take action and involve Earth Union to bring Almond on trial, then do so, but do not involve Thunderbird Guild." Silence ensued as the Executives realized what Kalen meant. Zolen looked at Kalen, his eyes trembling and anger bubbling within them. "If you win," Kalen continued as he sighed. "If youe out of this victorious, you''ll get your position back, but if not¡­well, you should know what will happen to you if you lose in the official trial. Admiral Rudra will have his eyes on you." Zolen didn''t say anything and stood up before leaving the meeting room. ¡­ Where the dark waters rule over thend and ck winds whisper to each other, "Rudra was sniffing around in our area at Flogeron City." "That bastard might find out our identities if he sniffs too much." "What did the Emissory of Hollowstar say regarding the next move?"N?v(el)B\\jnn "The 5th day of the next month, right when the Rising Star Tournament has proceeded halfway. That''s the biggest spectacle since all adventurers will be watching and many participating in them. That is when we strike." "Who is going in then? I heard that entering the Labyrinth forcefully while it is closed will result in death." "What do people of our world know? We''ve never entered because we couldn''t, but Hollowstar Emissory knows. We will be able to enter using Void-breach stone. Putting it over a Labyrinth gate would forcefully keep it open for 2 days." "So we only have 2 days to prepare everything and trigger the Floor Boss? If so, most of us will have to enter together." "That''s right. I am not entering unless at least 20 of us enter." "Not twenty, but everyone. Every single tinum-rank adventurer affiliated with us will enter for this goal." "But what will be the result after this goal is aplished? Did Emissory of Hollowstar say anything, Darius?" "Just know that if we want to rule the world, then many people need to die. Let the hiding old monsters and top guilds sacrifice themselves to defeat the Floor Boss. Whether they seed or not, we will be set." "And I hope nobody suddenly gets any funny ideas. All of us have received powers and benefits from the Hollowstar Emissory, so prevent any foolish ideas from popping into your head, or there won''t be any head left on your shoulders." ¡­ Almond first learned the skill execution by following the steps in the book--how to control Mana and how to control lightning''s attributes in a way such that it would bring out the intended skill''s design and effects. Afterward, he moved to forming skill runes, in which he fiddled with them a bit. By the time he was done with skill runes, it was midnight. Almond was exhausted then because it was a long day. His mind needed rest, especially after the stunt pulled in the Labyrinth. When he hit the bed, his consciousness drifted into a deep sleep in mere seconds. When he opened his eyes, it was ten in the morning. Feeling fully refreshed and raring to move his body, Almond went outside after washing his face and started some heavy and intense physical training while listening to the news via his wristwatch. Julian and Roken arrived half an hourter as Almond had called them right after waking up. Once they arrived, he also told them to join in the training. "We aren''t doing normal training here. Use your Mana to make your body heavy, and then train. Once we are done, I''ll give you some important swordy points, Julian. As for you," Almond looked at Roken and grinned. "I''ll have you train in your side-ss mastery." "With pleasure, young master Almond," Roken broadly smiled. *** The following text isn''t counted towards the chapter price because I published the chapter first and then added the text (as the price doesn''t change once the chapter is published). Please read below regarding the book''s first event :) ¡ª[Event: 9th Spirit Wraith]¡ª -Basically, Almond has yet to decide the name, disposition, and personality of the 9th Spirit Wraith, as it is a sentient, humanoid one. Below are the "attributes" of the 9th Spirit Wraith, so I will allow one reader to give their desired suggestion regarding the disposition, personality, and name of this spirit wraith (and one skill also if they want to) -This one reader will be the one who has the highest contribution among fans¡ªcurrent no.1 is Joseph_Akiyama. This event willst until the end of 22nd November. Whoever has the highest contribution by then will win.] ¡ª[9th Spirit Wraith''s attributes]: Mainly Ice and Light as all boss monsters and smaller monsters in the creation of this Spirit Wraith were from the area that had Ice and light-attributed monsters. Chapter 106: Trial, Lilys Situation "Straighten up. Your sh is not perfect." Julian was simply shing downward, a straight vertical chop. Almond was right beside him, doing the same motion with his sword. "Your sword is not united with your body." Every time Almond chopped his sword, a faint vertical slit would form on the ground despite a meter of distance between the sword and the ground. Julian''s sword was simply pushing away air. "Hmmm, you''re not doing it properly. Alright, close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Forget about your body and perceive your sword with your other senses. While perceiving your sword, feel the air and world around you as you sh it." Julian nodded and did as told. After he shed twice, Almond asked, "What did you feel?" "Pain in my inverse side of the elbow and¡­feeling how easy it is to sh the air." "Chopping in the air will make your body unstable at the micro-level. You have to feel that closely. Feel your body and get in tune with your sword. You have to understand your sword to use it properly. Its weight, its de, and how it cuts the air." "When I swing my sword, I do not cut the air. I use it. I can''t exin properly, but it has something to do with your body and the sword''s unity. For now, you''ll just have to continue chopping until you feel something and get the hang of what I am trying to say." "No worries, I won''t stop until I seed," Julian firmly said as he continued chopping. "Even if I have to chop a thousand times or a hundred thousand times." "Good, continue. When you feel sluggish, meditate to recover and then continue." "My lord, I also want to join," Infernal Knight walked towards Almond and knelt on one knee with his sword stabbed on the ground. "Please allow me." Almond was surprised but pleasantly. He chuckled and replied, "Of course, go ahead. You both can practice together."N?v(el)B\\jnn ''If Ashkar learns swordy, he''ll be even stronger.'' Ashkar had a sword, but he wasn''t as proficient in a sword as Alfred or him or even Julian. He used his sword as a catalyst to attack and unleash his skills. It was a part of his body. Almond had inspected it, and it was synched with Ashkar''s stats since it was made with his own essence. Ashkar also started chopping downward, practicing alongside Julian. Sylvia was tending the garden as usual while Chimera Frank and Chimera Viperfiend were having a starring contest at the beach. The moment Viperfiend blinked, Frank beat the shit out of Viperfiend until its vitality dropped to 1%. Starlight Beast and Chimera Crystalist were also at the beach and fighting each other. The three Chimeras and Starlight Beast weren''t intelligent enough, so what they were doing was following Almond''smands. He had basically told them to fight each other with some extra details, like making a starring contest and no-skill fighting. They were allowed to use Mana but not use their skills. He wanted them to develop Mana transmutation properly since they were attuned to attributes and could improve further. Lastly, Alfred and Benedict sat at a table in the open ground near the pile of spirit items. A silverbird would arrive every several minutes to take items and fly away for delivery. Almond then went around the courtyard and arrived at the backyard where Roken was mming his hammer on a magical anvil conjured by his sub-sses skill¡ªRunic cksmith. "Let''s go, Roken. Show me a professional cksmith who can use Super-rank materials and make a badass sword for me." ¡­ Almond and Roken went to a private forge run by a 48-year-old tinum-rank Adventurer. With gaps of roughly a year between each floor of the Labyrinth opening, people had a lot more time on their hands. Some people focused on side sses, while some focused on honing theirbat further. Artoren Baskil was someone who focused on his side of the ss like many others. He would simply reach a maximum level when a new floor opened and then focus back on his smithing and improving his side ss. He was one of the few who had made his side-ss reach S-rank from A-rank and could handle Epic-rank materials, which were very rare toe by. Epic-rank materials only became slightly more essible in various reward drops from the 10th floor of the Labyrinth as the Labyrinth above the 5th floor was very vast, with triggerable challenges and quest generations. As such, not many cksmiths could handle Epic-rank materials yet. The fee to forge his Super-rank sword turned around to be 7 million gold coins. Fortunately, he had just enough with the additional sales of his spirit items this morning. It was quite clear that his items were getting famous. Silverbird Services was also marketing its channel to its customers because this service earned both ways. It charged delivery from the seller and also from the buyers. Almond also put up a request to let Roken watch him forge his item so he could learn more about cksmithing, but the old man straight-up advertised his basic cksmithing ss costing 5 million gold coins. The new generations could already decide what they wanted for their side-ss in a way. By practicing cksmithing, alchemy, dancing, cooking, or anything else, they would get the option of choosing a side ss rted to what they practiced. Leaving the forge, Almond looked at the sky and cracked his fingers on his neck, "Well, time to earn some more money. I need to buy trash-tier Super-rank items, and that''s going to cost a lot." "Are we going to dungeons?" Roken''s eyes shone. "Yeah, and you can keep rare-rank or lower-rank the materials we get from them to practice your smithing," Almond got into his aircraft and contacted Marshal Lopol. [Marshal Lopol: Let me speak first. I was about to contact you because I just got a notice from Earth Union. You have to be present for a trial tomorrow morning at 10 p.m. Admiral Rudra will be there, so get here tonight at midnight sharp to depart.] [Almond: is this about me beating Zoren?] [Marshal Lopol: Who else? Zoren''s father sent a video here and also sent the same video in the Earth Union. It starts with you pping Zoren down and beating him brutally while deflecting the other two Adventurers. It ends with your threat that paints a bad picture for you. Zoren''s psychological condition is bad, so Earth Union won''t use skills or items that force out truths on him. He''ll be present there, and I also saw his condition¡­things will look bad for you. You''ll have to fight the trial with proof and justification on your end. But Admiral Rudra will be present, so I''m sure he''ll do something since GAA is in charge of punishing Adventurers.] [Almond: It seems that you are angry. But rx. You said he''ll be present there, right? Perfect. I''ll nail both father and son with solid evidence regarding their heinous acts. You rx and give me a list of¡­ten B-grade dungeons for now. I would prefer them to be golden-bordered, but I''ll take red-bordered ones as well.] ''Tomorrow, I''ll get a human spirit for my next creation. There''s no way I wouldn''t add a human spirit along with the Floor Boss''s spirit,'' Almond''s eyes glinted. ''And a veteran like Zoren''s father will be perfect.'' The Earth Union was responsible for overseeing trials, courts, and other legal matters for all citizens, not just Adventurers. However, the GAA operated exclusively for Adventurers, and only its enforcer department had the authority to administer punishment. He had an idea that could prove Zoren and his father guilty because he knew for a fact that both of them were pieces of trash when he peeked into Zoren''s mind and saw his attributes in detail. Almond knew what Zoren got was from his father. [Marshal Lopol: Ten dungeons? Fine. I am sending you a list after an hour.] After he finished talking with Marshal Lopol, Roken immediately asked him, "What happened, bro?" "Nothing much. Just some conflict that I''ll resolve tomorrow," Almond chuckled. "Anyway, it''s time to return and continue training." But just as Almond flew up, another call came in. ''Natalia?'' Almond blinked and received it. [Natalia: I miss you sooooo much¡­said Lily yesterday.] [Almond: Hahaha. Nice one. So, why didn''t she call?] [Natalia: She can''t call, which is why I am calling you to tell you about her condition. Lady Aria was doing some hardcore training with Lily for the Darkness element, and then they entered a dungeon on the ind. But when they came out, Lily was shut down. Lady Aria said it''s simr to when we used skill insight and were gone for 24 hours.] Almond was surprised. [Almond: So she entered an enlightenment state?! That''s wonderful.] [Natalia: Yeah, enlightenment state. Anyway, it seems that we won''t be returning until Lily wakes up.] [Almond: Got it. Take your time. We gotta get strong, after all. How is your training?] [Natalia: Very good¡­.not! I also want to get an elemental affinity, but Lady Aria said we''ll have to go to another ce for mine. Hehe, Lily got the Darkness element, but I am going for the Light element. My primary ss is Light element-ish in a way. Of course, I have one more surprise, but that''s a secret for now.] [Almond: Nice. Well, all the best and train hard. Good luck.] [Natalia: You aren''t hanging out with other girls behind Lily''s back, right?] [Almond:¡­I am hanging up.] Almond cut off the call with a wry smile as he heard Natalia''s snicker from the other side and began driving. Chapter 107 Aura Cloak, Powerful Lightning Dragon Skill set After returning to the courtyard, Almond started training on his Mana techniques as he wanted to improve them further. He could improve them further because he had enough stats, mainly Perception and Focus, and his Mana control was high enough to do so. He practiced Fortification and its lesser version, Mana Shroud, which didn''t give toughness but just erased his presence stemming from his body and mana auras. It wasn''t a useful technique during the battle as it was only used to sneak around, but even then, people using Focus Field would discover them. But it was a must to practice Mana Shroud because there exited a higher stage of this technique¡ªthe 2nd stage, Aura Cloak, and it was something that could hide within someone''s Focus Field as well. It was tough because Aura Cloak required a perfect understanding of one''s surroundings to change one''s aura to match the atmosphere or any object one would use for hiding oneself. Suppose Person A hid inside thick bushes while using Mana Shroud. But if Person B used Focus Field, Person A would be discovered. But Aura Cloak would change one''s aura to match that of the bushes, so it wouldn''t appear in the visuals provided by Focus Field. Of course, naked eyes would be able to see the person even with Aura Cloak, but not within the vision provided by Focus Field! This technique could be used during battles as it was considered very strong. Adventurers greatly relied on their Focus Field because they could discover someone even from their blind spots, but with Aura Cloak, the blind spots would work again. The requirement to learn Aura Cloak was 200 Perception and Focus because it involved a principle of Mana transmutation on a surface level. It wasn''t about giving properties to their Mana to change and transform it but borrowing an object or atmosphere''s aura to blend into their Mana so that it would be indistinguishable in someone''s Focus Field. This required high perception and focus to actually study and observe the object''s and atmosphere''s aura and apply it to their Mana, but it was a technique worth having. It was powerful. Almond practiced Mana shroud for a while before he used Focus Field to observe the surrounding''s aura. With his 200 Perception and Focus, he could observe all that was affected by Mana and nature much more clearly. Their aura had a pattern, and he just had to replicate it and apply it to his mana, though it was easier said than done. But he had advanced experience with this because he could use the Elemental Mimicry technique of¡ªMana Transmutation to give lightning''s properties to his Mana and transform it thanks to his Lightning Elemental Mastery. What he had to do here was simpler, but he had to learn to observe and implement the aura of objects and atmosphere first. Almond continued to train in this, which made him closer to level 1 of Aura Shroud and also improved his Focus Field since this training required constant usage of it. A few hourster, Almond changed his training to Fortification, Body Enfold, and Weapon Enfold. His progress was unstoppable. It was like he had to read a page once, and he could remember everything. He just had to train once properly, and he could level up in these three techniques. ''Fuck it, I''ll train until night and reach level 10 in stage 1 of these techniques.'' Almond was absorbed in training, and so were Julian and Ashkar. Julian had more of shutting down his mind and only just chopped his sword physically, without using Mana or anything. It was a pure, primal training of chopping, and he put his mind on Almond''s words. Once his right arm becamepletely numb and filled with pain, he switched to his left arm and continued to chop. Ashkar was doing the same. Just chopping. Alfred was doing his job while Benedict had gone to the beach to fight with Starlight Beast and the other three. Sylvia was in her own world, but it seemed that her garden was getting bigger and more exotic¡­n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Meanwhile, Roken was once again smashing hammers. Almond had given him rare-grade and umon-grade materials gained from his first two dungeons, so he had plenty of training to do. When the clock hit 9 o''clock, Almond sessfully hit level 10 in the techniques as the profile on his wristwatch updated, along with his profile in the restricted Database that only Admiral Rudra could ess. ¡ª Stage 1 Strength Boost level 10: +100% Strength stat. Enjoy new tales from empire ¡ª Stage 1 Focus Field Level 10: 100 meters radius. ¡ª Stage 1 Fortification level 10: +100% toughness (overall defense of his body and durability of the Fortified armor on the body) ¡ª Stage 1 Body Enfold level 10: +100% overall boost / 100 minutes. ¡ª Stage 1 Weapon Enfold level 10: +100% extra damage/defense. Almond saw that he still had time, so he decided to practice his new skills. ''Wish I had a tough sparring partner¡­'' Almond looked around, but everyone was weaker than him except for the training dummies. They were freaking tough. Almond stood ten meters away and focused on the central dummy. ''Lightning Tailwhip.'' *Crackle!* A thick dragon tail projectile made up of golden lightning appeared, fully in Almond''s control. It moved, tearing through the air at a breakneck speed, enough to crash the sound barrier with a loud boom before it struck the dummy. A swift explosion urred, loud and crackling. The dummy was sizzling with golden electric currents as the aftermath before electricity was gradually absorbed by the earth. That was a 100 Mana cost Lightning Tailwhip skill execution. In the next second, Almond''s eyes flickered again as three dragon tails appeared, striking all three dummies at the same time as loud explosions urred. ''Perfect. This skill has high push-power, along with shock and paralys¡­'' Almond''s eyes glinted. ''And this skill is perfect to pair with Spirit Explosion for abo.'' Spirit Explosion had a dy of 1 second, and 1 second was enough for strong Adventurers to move 1 meter, it was very easy. Spirit Explosion was very powerful, especially if it triggered special effects. But 1 second was a pitfall¡­until Lightning Tailwhip came into the picture. One p from the Lightning Tailwhip damage, shock, and paralyze + stacked attack of Spirit Explosions = a recipe for one shot. Since he could materialize Lightning Tailwhip anywhere within 10 meters, he could essentially push his enemies toward him or away from him! It could pair very well with basicbat, like seizing an opportunity to make a follow-up strike after disorienting and paralyzing the opponent. ''Voltron Edge.'' Almond took out his sword and used Voltron Edge as slick yet chaotic cracklings of lightning coated around his sword. ''Weapon Enfold.'' The sword''s aura was now golden instead of the usual blue of Mana as Almond had given Lightning-style to his Weapon Enfold. Weapon Enfold and Body Enfold consumed more Mana, but their boost was major inbat¡ªa direct 100% boost of one''s overall stats and one''s weapon power. Giving Lightning-style to his Weapon Enfold gave it bonus lightning damage ording to Mana consumed, and it was further boosted by 30% due to Golden Haze lightning''s effect. Almond cut himself on his arm, but the lightning didn''t damage him, nor did it interfere with his self-healing process. Instead, it actually increased his healing speed after the sword''s cut. ''Noice.'' Looking ahead, Almond grinned and waved his sword, using Wild de skill. Giving Lightning-style to his Weapon Enfold wouldn''t give lightning-attribute to skills released through it. However, Voltron Edge was a different matter! The arc of Wild sh was beautiful and deadly golden, crackling with pure lightning! The sh struck the dummy. *Boom! Crackle!* At that, Almond put his first mark on the tough dummy. Chapter 108 Trial (1/2) Almond arrived at the GAA branch at the same time and departed to Sillor City, where the headquarters of the Earth Union was situated. After arriving at their headquarters and entering the ground floor''s hall, Almond spotted Admiral Rudra sitting on a public longue chair like a nobody. As if sensing his gaze, Admiral Rudra turned off the hologram and looked at him. In the next second, he was already in front of Almond without disturbing air or anything. "Are you sleepy?" "Not really," Almond shook his head. "Let''s take a walk then." "Sure." The duo left and began walking towards the left area, where a decorative garden was built with benches and a fountain in the center after leaving the hall. "Let''s hear an update on your improvement first." Almond smiled and stretched his arm halfway, his palm upward as a perfect orb of golden lightning manifested, crackling and sizzling the air. Admiral Rudra showed visible surprise. Almond told him about his adventures in the dungeon and how he managed to acquire Lightning elemental mastery to S-rank along with the lightning element variant¡ªGolden Haze Lightning. Then they talked about what Almond nned to do the next few days and other things. "You''re doing good. Keep it up," Admiral Rudra smiled. "It won''t be long before you''re caught up to us. Jenkin Roid held the fastest record this year of reaching tinum rank within 1 year and 16 days, but you''ll surpass that and catch up to us faster."N?v(el)B\\jnn "How''s it going on the 10th Floor?" Almond curiously asked. "It''s very big. Three times the size of the 9th Floor." ''Every tenth floor is an important one, after all. The 10th floor will likely transform once cleared,'' Almond thought. He had fuzzy memories, but he was sure that every tenth floor became a sort of hub or something and transformed. "But the problem is that I am having bad feelings," Admiral Rudra sighed. "It''s gnawing my mind that something is going to happen because of those people in the dark." Find your next read on empire Almond raised his eyebrows, "Did you get some clues or anything about them?" "Yeah, yesterday," Admiral Rudra nodded. "A seemingly ordinary warehouse in Folgeron city''s dark zone. That ce gave off creeps in my senses. I felt some sickly presence there, though it was empty. But I believe in my hunch. I am going tomorrow to other dark zones with a friend to investigate." "But I just can''t shake off the feeling that something bad will happen, so I am not doing anything aside from finding them and clearing up this feeling," Admiral Rudra''s eyes coldly glinted. "Even if it means I have to bring some destruction and attract danger." "Well, you do what you want to do, Admiral," Almond grinned. "Destroy them." "For now, I''ll destroy you. Come, let''s spar and see how much better you got." "Sparring with me for real, old man? Let''s go!" "Old man? *Cracks knuckles* I''ll teach you how an old man fights." ¡­ Trial Room #1. Five people of varying ages, two men and three women, from mid-thirties to sixties, sat on judge seats facing a small podium ten meters away from them in the center of the room. To the left of the audience seats sat Zoren and his father, Zolen. Right as the clock hit 10 a.m., the big door opened as Almond and Admiral Rudra walked in. "Almond Crowshade. Stand at the podium, please." Zoren winced and trembled, muttering that he was scared as he saw Almond and snuggled into Zolen. Zolen''s eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Almond and felt his son''s condition. "You will pay for this, brat!" The youngest judge, the beautiful woman with silver hair¡ªSelena Lock, nced at the father-son duo and curtly spoke, "Do not speak unless given permission, Mr. Zolen." But she wasn''t just a judge. She was also the daughter of the Earth Union''s president and a frontline adventurer. She wasn''t on the leaderboard as she hadn''t participated in previous rankings, but she would participate in the Rising Star Tournament''s end section that would determine the new rankings of tinum rank adventurers. "I apologize," Zolen said as he took a deep breath and turned back to Almond, his gaze hateful. Admiral Rudra walked to the right side''s audience seats and sat down, his back straight and arms crossed. Turning his head to the judges, he nodded at the oldest member of the judging panel, who was also ady¡ªA beautiful olddy in her sixties with gray hair and a serene expression. Thedy nodded back at Admiral Rudra with a calm smile before the one sitting in the center¡ªA man in a ck suit with short ck hair and wearing rectangle rims spoke, "The trial shall start now." "So, Mr. Almond. You have been charged with attempted murder, uwful assault, and deliberate psychotic damage to the victim. Would you care to state the reasons that led you to do that?" "I couldn''t bear to see a piece of trash like-" "Please be mindful of yournguage," admonished the thirddy, who was in her forties with short, curly, pale red hair. "Ahem," Almond cleared his throat before he spoke again, "I couldn''t bear to see a deplorable, heinous, repugnant, degenerate, wretched of a human being like Zoren act likews were beneath him, so I had to take action and stop his atrocities that¡­his father was also a part of." "W-what nonsense are you spouting?!" Zolen shouted. "Silence, Mr. Zolen." "And Almond, can you tell us and provide us some proof of Zoren''s so-called deplorable acts?" asked the man with brown hair in his forties, wearing a formal robe, his expression t. "Of course," Almond nodded, his expression turning sharp, his eyes narrowing. "I met him for the first time this month on the Labyrinth''s 1st floor. He tried to capture my female friend and even used magic cuffs on her. He wanted to sexually assault her, but we stopped him." "We can verify the truth of this matter if you are willing to use Truth Seeking Orb or another method to verify the truth," Selena said before she paused and added, "But that is a different matter to this one. Do you have any more allegations to make?" "He bragged that he destroyed a girl''s life. It should be on the video, but I suppose the one you all saw wasn''t aplete one," Almond smiled. Zolen raised his hand, his expression bubbling with anger, along with a vile glint in his eyes. "Speak, Mr. Zolen." Chapter 109 Trial (2/2), Admiral Rurdras Swag [Bonus Chapter] "He is lying! And even if my son did brag, it was just a brag to rile him up for provocation! There is no proof that my son did any of that!" It was a crafty move. After all, Zoren wouldn''t be subjected to Truth Seeking Orb or other methods to bring out truth due to his current mental condition. "Oh, I have a solid proof," Almond smiled. The judges looked at him. "What solid proof?" the oldestdy judge blinked. "A confession. I am also not aware of everything, but Zoren will confess truthfully," Almond''s eyes glinted as he turned to Zoren. "Zoren, did you destroy a girl''s life? Tell everyone the truth while looking at the judges. You are a good man now, right? Be honest." Zoren trembled and stood up, his eyes looking at the judges, but before he could speak, Zolen grabbed him and stood up with a shout, "This is bull shit!" "He is manipting my son with his threat. He already destroyed my son''s psyche with his beating and threat. This is not ethical at all!" The judge in the suit looked at Almond and coldly said, "Mr. Almond. You are not in a position to threaten the victim further." "You are only making things worse for yourself. Bring out some solid proofs," added the curly red-haireddy. Almond blinked, "I''m sure that after he confesses, we can investigate and get the truth of the matter as a whole. Why are you stopping Zoren from doing that? I am not manipting him or anything." "You are out of your mi-" the ck-haired judge''s speech stopped midway as everyone felt an overbearing pressure descending on them. Admiral Rudra stood up and walked towards the center as he faced the judge, "Judges, your job is to judge. So stick to it. I makews and rules regarding Adventurers, and I am the main investigator of this matter." "Do you understand?" Admiral Rudra narrowed his eyes. "Zoren will confess, and based on his confession, the investigation will proceed to find the truth. And if the truth is that Zoren did destroy a girl''s life for his entertainment and details of his crimes, then Almond''s action will be justified as a Special Hunter of GAA appointed by me." "Admiral, even for you, this is going overboard," the old man said with a frown. "The victim is not in the right condition to speak, so his statement and confession are inva-" "Paul," Admiral Rudra looked at him, his eyes deadpan. "Zoren will confess, and an investigation will beunched based on that. Do you understand my words, or are they entering an ear and going out of another?" The judges could feel their backs bing sweaty. Almond was grinning from ear to ear internally, ''Way to go, old man!'' Turning to Zoren, Admiral''s eyes suddenly flickered, ''Bastard.'' He vanished and grabbed Zolen''s by his neck. "What were you doing to your son? Make him unable to speak?" Zolen felt his whole body heating up and binding in a strange power as Admiral Rudra grabbed him. His eyes filled with fear as he shouted, "Help!" Admiral Rudra smacked him on the ground while all judges except for the oldestdy stood up. "This is not the right conduc-" Admiral Rudra''s one nce silenced the ck-haired man in the suit as sweat beads formed on his forehead. "Sit down," he spoke as the four judges sat down, feeling powerless. As the judges sat down, Almond cleared his throat and said, "Zoren, please confess the truth." Zoren nodded as he swallowed, his eyes on the judge. "I-I¡­There was this twenty-year-old girl who had joined the guild. She didn''t have parents, so she was an easy target. I invited her and drugged her before my father took her to our secret house in the mountain behind the guild base. She had a little sister too, but she could be a variable, so my father also took her there." "W-we kept them for a few days before he told me not toe. He disposed of them both, or maybe he kept them? I don''t know. It''s been twenty days since Ist went there." Almond was dumbfounded. ''Fucking hell, these two motherfucking pieces of trash!'' Admiral Rudra suddenly punched Zolen''s back, breaking his spine as Zolen cried out in horrifying pain. "What are you doing, Admiral?!" Paul frowned. "You said that the investigation will happen first." "Paul, if you speak one more word, I will bury you here," Admiral Rudra stood up and adjusted his tie before taking a deep breath. *Bam!* In the next second, his foot smashed Zolen''s head into the floor and Zolen stopped moving. The judges trembled while the oldestdy judge simply sighed. "Rudra, I can understand your anger, but please refrain from any more violence here. I believe that Zoren has confessed truthfully, and it will be taken as a legitimate confession. His eyes say it all, but investigation must happen, and proof must be brought to light here for this confession to be validated." "Almond," Selena continued afterward, "You are a free man until the investigation is finished. The trial is dismissed and a new trial will begin based on the investigation''s result. Admiral Rudra, please inform us once the investigation is finished." ¡­ Admiral Rudra made some calls and sent people to investigate the so-called secret house after getting its address from Zoren. The matter was in Admiral Rudra''s hand now. "Admiral, I want him dead," Almond said, his eyes icy and wrathful. "Father and son, both of them must be executed for what they did, and I''m sure that girl wasn''t their first victim." "They will be executed," Admiral Rurdra nodded. "Zolen is already half-dead. I was tempted to kill him, but I sent him into aa for now until we got the proof. If I had killed him there, the Earth Union would have be a pain in my ass and undermined my authority using the fact that I killed someone before getting proof." "I have a small request," Almond coughed. "I want to be present at their execution."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Is it rted to your ss?" Admiral Rudra raised his eyebrows. "Yeah," Almond smiled. "So, please. Let me be present." "Fine." Chapter 110 Speed-Running Dungeons [Bonus Chapter] Almond returned back to Firefly City and soon arrived at his courtyard. Julian had arrived there early in the morning and was practicing the sword chopping. His bare upper body with lean muscles was sweating, his eyes focused on just a single move. Almond also heard ng~ng~ as he went inside the house after greeting Julian. ''So that loaf is also here. Good,'' Almond smiled. After he showered and ordered breakfast, he called Julian and Roken inside to eat. "We are going to dungeons after I sleep for a bit. Julian, swing your sword in a way I''ve told you, but against real flesh this time." Julian nodded, determined burning in his eyes. He wanted to get better! "Roken, you will focus on gathering drops," Almond said with a grin. "I am going to speed run the dungeon because the n is to clear twelve dungeons that are in this city''s territory in the surroundings." Both of them almost choked on the food. "What? Twelve dungeons in a row?" Roken was dumbfounded. "That''s going to make your body and mind scream in exhaustion," Julian frowned. "Let me worry about that," Almond ferociously smiled. "Because I am not stopping before we clear those twelve dungeons. A little bit of madness is necessary in pursuit of power. I''ll leave some monsters for you in each dungeon, Julian, so you can y with them and hone your swordy."N?v(el)B\\jnn ¡­ Almond wanted to clear as many dungeons as possible until the 1st of December for two reasons. First, the dungeons were versatile, he wanted to feed his summons the magic crystals to increase their stats. Second, he wanted as many Spirits as possible to create spirit items to gather gold coins as he wanted to buy 50 Super-rank items to sacrifice and unlock guaranteed Super-rank forge option. After eating, Almond took a short nap of two hours while Julian also rested so he could train in the dungeons. Two hourster, Almond, Julian, and Roken arrived at a Dungeon door on the ocean that wasn''t too far from the beach. It was a water and blood attributed dungeon, so Benedict could benefit from monsters'' magic crystals. Chimera Viperfiend and Chimera Frank were the most versatile in terms of attributes, but that also meant that they needed more magic crystals to get stat points. After entering, Almond took out his Sword of Wildered and wore his usual items¡ªPn Tiger Belt, Lethal Fang Boots, and Snow Hide Cloak. "Roken, don''t miss any magic crystals, and try to find the magic crystal vein of this dungeon on the way." "Got it." "Julian, just focus on honing your swordy to get the feeling I mentioned and reach that level. Infernal Knight and Alfred will apany you." Julian nodded. Almond then looked ahead at the sparkling greennd littered with water bodies and rainbows. "Let''s start." *Swoosh!* Strength Boost, Focus Field, Lightning-style Fortification! He didn''t use Body Enfold as he wanted to save some Mana as he didn''t need Body Enfold to one-shot kill monsters of B-rank dungeons. Dashing in, Almond jumped the nearest small pond after cutting off two Hammerfish monsters that jumped on him. Inside, he saw that there was a passage and five more monsters. ''Well, well, water is my alley here,'' Almond''s eyes glinted as he discharged electricity worth 200 Mana, damaging and paralyzing all monsters. Afterward, he swam while tearing the water and fish alike as he entered through the passage and saw more passages. ''So the whole area is awork of underground water systems, huh? Interesting.'' Roken jumped into the water and collected magic crystals into the storage pouch behind Almond. Julian went to thend area and fought with monsters of thend alongside Infernal Knight and Alfred. Alfred acted as a support, staying behind and using skills as his stats were considerably weaker. Infernal Knight was also weaker, but hisbat prowess was still powerful paired with his mount, Agramon. Since this dungeon had a density value of 378, the monsters'' number wasn''t high, and it was a red-bordered dungeon, so the monsters were below Gold level 70. Almond cleared the entire dungeon within 1 hour and 28 minutes. He could do it faster, but it was slightlyrge, and water made it difficult in terms of exploring and getting to monsters. Nevertheless, the party gained a lot of Magic crystals, umon and rare-grade items, and materials as rewards. The total number of monsters, including boss monsters, was 197. He threw all Spirits into Spirit Factory Forge right as he got them and saved the boss spirit in the spirit pocket. After exiting the dungeon, Almond nodded at the guards standing on the water tform, "The magic vein''s location is marked. Go ahead and contact GAA to send the miners." Taking out his aircraft from the storage ring, Almond, Julian, and Roken left, onwards to the next dungeon. 18 hourster¡­ "I''m dead¡­" Roken slumped on the ground as they reached the courtyard. "We really cleared twelve dungeons in a row," Julian muttered as he also sat down, his whole body aching. ncing at Almond, he saw Almond summoning all of his pets and dumbed over two thousand spirit items on the ground before lying on the ground and closing his eyes. He didn''t even speak anything and just fell asleep in a second as exhaustion kicked in strongly after getting home. ''He fought ten times, no, more than ten times than me,'' Julian swallowed hard. ''His body and mind must be exhausted beyond reason.'' He knew because, in thest three dungeons, Almond wasn''t speaking much. He simply fought, fought, and fought. "Master, I have a perfect bed for you," Sylvia whispered as magical vines gently grabbed Almond and took him toward the garden she had made. Sylvia created afortable bed made of flowers with a soothing and calming vibe before putting Almond on it. "You all, if you make any sound, I am going to bury you in my garden," Sylvia said as she snorted at others. "Especially you, Starlight and Benedict. You two are too noisy." "Let''s go,ds! Time to hit the beach and let our lord get some precious rest." Aside from Alfred, the rest of the spirit wraiths went to the beach. Alfred took out aptop from the inside and started registering the spirit items on the Silverbird Services website. Roken was already sleeping after he hit the ground, and Julian also decided to just sleep there and then. It was an afternoon of the next day since they had spent 18 hours just clearing dungeons. And then, a couple of hourster when the sun was going down, an aircraft arrived at the courtyard and dropped off Lily and Natalia. "It''s good to be home," Natali grinned. But the duo was immediately startled as they entered the gate and saw the courtyard. "Wee home," Alfred bowed. "Please refrain from too much noise as Master is sleeping. He had just cleared twelve dungeons non-stop, so his exhaustion is at its peak." "Twelve dungeons?" Natalia was dumbfounded, but then snorted, "Well, twelve C-rank dungeons ain''t much for him." "He cleared B-rank dungeons, Miss Natalia," Alfred wryly smiled. "¡­" Lily walked towards Almond in the garden and smiled, her hand delicately caressing his cheek. After giving him a gentle kiss on his lips, she said, "Natalia, let''s get freshen up. We are going to the dungeons after eating. I am quite raring to exercise my newfound powers and improve." "¡­" Chapter 111 Rising Star Tournament (1) 1st December, Year WB 10.N?v(el)B\\jnn The Rising Star Tournament had officially begun. The tournamentmittee was made up of the leaders of the top ten guilds, GAA, and Earth Union. The total number of Silver-rank Adventurers who registered reached 113,202 by thest day of November. It was a big number. To eliminate the majority of them, the tournamentmittee came up with a mass test. The participants were gathered at arge open ground with several aircraft flying above, recording the participants and streaming live for the people of the world. Almond, Lily, and Natalia were also among them. "Almond, do you know what''s it gonna be?" Natalia asked. "No idea," Almond shook his head. "I went to GAA two days ago and asked Admiral about the first round, but he didn''t know since he is not a part of themittee." "They''d need to eliminate a lot of people. There are too many Silver ranks to hold in the grand arena set up for this tournament," Lily said. Suddenly, a sharp sound spread from the sky as everyone looked up and saw a giant screen materializing. A person also floated above them while his figure was clearly visible on the screen for everyone to see. Spiky yellow hair, chad-jawline, and a goofy vibe. He was a rather famous Adventurer, ranked 19th on the Global Leaderboard¡ªGto Shen, a member of the Proximax Guild, the current no.1 guild. He was also an Adventurer with most subscribers to his channel as he live-streamed many of his dungeon raids. "Participants! Wee to the Rising Star Tournament. I know you all bear hope and desire to get recognition and rewards, but you are too many for now, so we need to shave off the numbers until only 100 of you remain." "¡­" "I think this was where you all get heated up and shout, you know? I heard a few of you, though, so it''s fine. Let''s move on! The first round is simple. You need to remain standing!" Right as he finished speaking, all participants felt a slight pressure from above and a pull from below. "That''s right! You''re all standing within a massive magic formation crafted by some of the finest experts¡ªmyself included, of course. The rules are simple: stay on your feet! To pass this round, you must be one of thest hundred remaining standing!" "The pressure will increase every 10 seconds, so you won''t have much time to adjust! Be thest among the one hundred standing and win!" As he finished speaking, the pressure increased as round 1 officially began. Everyone managed to hold on for a solid two minutes, but soon after, they began to fall one by one, like dominoes. Using skills was allowed, and using techniques was allowed. But as the pressure increased, their control wavered, and their Mana consumption increased. During the next minute, 90% of the participants fell. "That''s a rather good ideaing from you, Nat," Almondmented in surprise as he saw Natalia using soft sound waves around her that mitigated the pressure from her. "Humph, it was I who managed to get affinity on a Sound element by myself," Natalia snorted, nose raised pridefully. "I am awesome." Indeed, Natalia had actually managed to get two affinities. D-rank Light elemental mastery with the help of Lady Aria and C-rank Sound elemental mastery by herself. It appeared that she was naturally talented for Sound element thanks to her specialized ss. On the other hand, Lily was doing fine as well, her eyes closed in focus as she was only using Fortification to keep her body stiff and straight, but half a minute, she used darkness-style Body Enfold at a low cost/low effectiveness to absorb the pressure and mitigating it away from her. She had a high natural affinity with Darkness, so her progress regarding the Darkness attribute was smooth from the start. But she entered the Darkness-attributed dungeon with Lady Aria and trained there, she naturally triggered the enlightenment state due to her affinity and hard work. Almond created conditions and forcefully acquired the insight despite not having a natural Lightning affinity and reached S-rank in it. On the other hand, Lily naturally had the affinity, so when she entered enlightenment state, she reached S-rank in Darkness elemental mastery as well. Enjoy new chapters from empire Darkness had multiple strong properties due to its characteristics, and it was considered one of the more powerful elements. It could absorb Light, just like how Light could erase Darkness. But on top of that, Darkness could absorb energies, strength, and even emotions, at higher mastery. If the Light element''s properties could strengthen and empower, then Darkness could absorb and weaken. Aside from that, Darkness users could manipte shadows as well. It also had properties to bring out deception and illusion in mental regards, bringing fear and terror, mostly negativity, just like how the Light element could create deception and illusion in physical regard and cleanse things of negativity. Although Lily didn''t have a Darkness Variant like how Almond got a Lightning Variant, her mastery of Darkness was still S-rank, making her way stronger than other Silver-rank Adventurers here. By now, five minutes had passed by and only around two-hundred participants remained standing. But most of them were also wobbly, on the verge of kneeling. At one part of the ground was Xavier, his fiery eyes on Almond. ''I won''t go down before defeating you, Almond!'' There were other notable figures standing with rtive ease just like Almond, Lily, and Natalia¡ªthe so-called Super Rookies. In the end, participants were dropping fast and in the next thirty seconds, over a hundred of them dropped on the ground, leaving the one hundred winners standing. Round 1 for the Silver-rank bracket was over. "Congrattions to the winners! You can take some rest if you want to and watch the Gold-rank Adventurers'' first round or leave in the flying ships departing every ten minutes. Your first day at the tournament is officially over along with the first round!" "Let''s leave. We can watch round 1 from home anyway," Almond said as the group began walking towards the temporary airship station. "I also want to get thest seven Super-rank items to sacrifice. The sales were good yesterday, and this morning, I was getting notifications, so everything''s sold by now." "I am still feeling mentally sore because of you," Natalia snorted. "You clear dungeons, and Lily also insists on clearing dungeons and taking me with her. Gaahh!" "But you got stronger, so it''s worth it," Lily grinned. "Anyway, we won''t be training today and just chill, okay?" "We better just chill!" *** [A/N: The winner of the event is Nick_Kendall :) Give your preferences for the 9th Spirit Wraith in thement section.] Chapter 112 Rising Star Tournament (2), Whispers in the Dark Fortunately, this venue for round 1 wasn''t too far from the Firefly City. The trio returned after two hours and freshened up before sitting in the living hall on the couches and started TV to watch Round 1 of Gold-rank Adventurers. Roken didn''t bother participating because he knew he wouldn''t qualify for the round 2, so he was training his smithing in the backyard. Almond ordered snacks and drinks as well while his summons were enjoying outdoor activities. ''I have plenty of time today, so I should finalize my 9th summon and start the cooking process of the 10th summon in Spirit Kodoku.'' "Babe, you ordered food?" Lily arrived with wet hair and a simple two-piece outfit¡ªshorts and a baggy t-shirt as she snuggled beside Almond. "Yeah." Natalia jumped on another couch and said, "I hope you didn''t forget my special Veggie Patties." "I didn''t. Anyway, the round 1 has started. It''s different from ours," Almond smiled. "Eh? Are they in a dungeon?" "Yep. Their round is a race. The first one hundred Adventurers to reach the end of the dungeon win, but this dungeon has some extreme climate, so they''ll have a lot of obstacles." "This is fun," Lily''s eyes sparkled. "Wish we had this in our first round." "No thanks," Natalia rolled her eyes. "Pussy," Lily snorted. "That I am," Natalia smugly smiled. "¡­" ¡­ The trio watched the TV while Almond was cooking up his 9th spirit wraith. [Wintersun Lady Nyssara] -Disposition: Nobledy knight. Calctive and cold mostly, but shifts friendly and exuberant around trustworthy people. She revels in fighting with her unique knightly grace of a mage and sculpting, her main weapon being a war hammer and a hand fan. Almond thought of a backstory about her in his mind after that and then finally summoned the spirit wraith from the Spirit Kodoku pocket. Lily and Natalia felt something and soon saw sparks materialize in front of them, blocking the TV. The sparks formed an icydy almost six feet tall with a gorgeous long dress adorned with crystal blue and golden embroidery, a noble hat on her head, and a handfan in her hand, which had symbols of the hammer in its folds. "Wee home, Nyssara," Almond smiled. "Woah, your new summon? She looks awesome," Natalia eximed. "She is gorgeous," Lily blinked. "Master," Nyssara smiled widely. [Wintersun Lady Nyssara] -Rank: Silver -Level: 10 -Stats: 57 unassigned points. ¡ª Physical: ? [Strength: 50 | Health: 50 | Stamina: 50] ¡ª Mental: ? [Mana: 65 | Focus: 70 | Perception: 55 ] -Skills: ¡ª Ice and Light Mastery (S) ¡ª Luminous Squall (S) ¡ª Frostbound Radiance (S) ¡ª cial Light Nova (A) ¡ª Shimmering Ice Veil (A) ¡ª Arctic Dawn (A) ¡ª Crystal Halo (A) ¡ª Radiant Ice Prism (S) ¡ª Winterbind Chains (A) -Quirk(s): ¡ª Crystal Sculptor: Nysarra loved to sculpt as she had an ice affinity from childhood. This hobby turned deadly as she learned to sculpt weapons with her ice and fuel them with light. Nyssara can create crystal weapons with low durability that boost her skills and imbue her skills into them, though they are destroyed upon use. Crystal Armory [0/10]. ¡ª Knight''s Cold Grace: As she was trained by her powerful knight father to excel on the battlefield with the calctive shortest path and merciless eradication of the enemy, Nyssara gains Cold Tempest of the Battlefield status during fights, in which her stats increase by 5% per the number of enemies within her radar, stacking up to 50% of the increase, and her movement speed doubles upon reaching maximum stacks. "Another one," Natalia was speechless. "So powerful!" "Ice and Light, huh¡­nice," Lily''s eyes sparkled. "Her backstory gave her solid quirks." "Yep," Almond grinned. "These quirks are really good. I gotta think of another solid backstory for my next spirit wraith. Anyway, Nyssara, why don''t you go out and meet with your fellow spirit wraiths?" "You can also do other things, anything you want, like sculpting to create your weapons." Nyssara''s eyes sparkled as she excitedly said, "Thank you, master. I will go meet with the others and make their sculptures and yours, too." "And may I kill the enemies if I find them?" Nyssara''s vibe changed as she spoke, her already icy eyes turning frigid cold. Almond wryly smiled, "There won''t be enemies here, but don''t kill anyone or hurt anyone even if you find them suspicious. Just report to me." "Understood," Nyssara smiled and bowed as she grabbed both sides of her dress. "Then I shall take my leave, Master." ¡­ "Hi, I am Nyssara, nice to meet you," Nyssara greeted Sylvia with a smile. "Is this your garden? It''s so beautiful." Sylvia blinked and shook hands at this new frostydy. She could feel the same connection as she had with other summons, so she knew Nyssara was the same as her. Smiling, Sylvia said, "Hello, I am Sylvia. Nice to meet you." "Can I call you Syl?" "Hehe, sure. Then I will call you Nys." "Of course, I''d be happy. Now, I will go meet others, and then I will have my garden next to yours. A crystal garden filled with crystal sculptures." "Ohh¡­you can do that? Then make a statue of Master in my gardenter." "Alright, deal." Nyssara went to the others and greeted them one by one. ¡­ A day passed by with fun and joy for the spirit wraiths while Almond, Lily, and Natalia just chilled the entire day. However, the whispers in the dark at some ces in the world were active again. "Tournament has started. How is the informationing along?" Enjoy new chapters from empire "I got information from the Proximax Guild master about the 10th Floor''syout." "Same, Rudra''s son is rather close with my daughter after finding that she was pregnant with his child. I met him yesterday and found things I didn''t find myself on the 10th Floor." "Wilmort Family''s head might get suspicious of me, so I am not probing him further. He is powerful and trusts his guts like Rudra, so I am distancing my family dealings with them and himself." "But maintain your rtionship with him cordially, or you''ll attract more suspicion." "I got¡­" The voices exchanged information they had gotten from top guilds and other forces for their preparation 4 dayster.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Emissary had given us information, but we still needed more. Now, it''ll be easier for us to fulfill the requirement and make it such that the Floor Boss is triggered the moment 15th November arrives and Labyrinth opens. You all, don''t mess up and stay low. We need to enter together to seed fast and without endangering ourselves on the floor." *** [A/N: Give me reviews Q_Q, once we get 10 reviews, I''ll drop a bonus chapter!] Chapter 113 Rising Star Tournament (3), Almond vs Jian 2nd December. Reljord City. It was the top 10 biggest city, and also where the current no.1 guild''s base was located. The tournamentmittee had built a massive arena on the t in at this city''s southern outskirt. Just the battleground of the arena was 400 meters in radius, with eight big screens in the air facing eight directions for the audience to watch. There were four floated tforms on the battlefield that some frontline Adventurers built a few minutes ago using their Earth elemental masteries and a bigger tform in the center where the 2nd round was going to take ce. Due to the arena''s massive size, the number of seats reached 500,000, and it was already fully packed with the audience waiting for round 2 to start. The underground below the battleground was a big hall where the one hundred participants had gathered. Round 2 was simple. The one hundred participants would gather atop the central floating tform wearing a special badge on their bodies. The badge would absorb damage dealt to them to a certain extent and then break. Any and all kinds of items, including their skills, were prohibited in this round. If used, the badge would detect it and disqualify them. In this round, the participants must purely fight using their Mana techniques andbat ability. This information was on themittee''s front page so that participants would train hard. The ones to push for this round were Admiral Rudra and some other top Adventurers because they wanted Adventurers to be truly powerful instead of just relying on their ss skills. Only when they were physically dexterous and developedbat sense would they excel and survive. The one hundred participants would fight in an all-out brawl until 50 of them were eliminated. The 50 losers in this round would fight five-minute-long battles with each other on the other four smaller tforms to determine their ranking from 51st to 100th of the new Rising Star Leaderboard''s silver bracket. Round 2 started, and it was over within 10 minutes as 50 of them were eliminated. Almond, Lily, and Natalia naturally advanced to the next round. The tournamentmittee then showed the rules of Round 3 on the screen, letting the audience know how it would progress. [Structure]: ¡ª 50 Participants are divided into ten groups, each consisting of 5 contestants. Within their groups, each participant will duel every other member in one-on-one battles. [Rules]: ¡ªEach duel willst a maximum of 5 minutes. ¡ªVictory will awarded if one opponent''s badge absorbs enough damage and glows, voluntarily conceds, or if the time limit expires, in which case a panel of judges will dere a winner based on performance metrics (offense, defense, strategy). ¡ªEvery victory will earn the participant 2 points, while a draw awards 1 point to bothpetitors. [Oue]: ¡ªThe top 2 scorers from each group will advance to the next quarterfinals, creating a pool of 20 participants who will go home and wait for the next round to be held tomorrow. ¡ªMeanwhile, the remaining 30 would fight ranking battles to determine their ranking from 21st to 50th. Almond was in Group 2, Lily was in Group 5, and Natalia was in Group 9. The central battlefield was dedicated to each group periodically to determine the two winners from them. Group 1 finished their battles within 28 minutes as two people advanced, one of them was a Super Rookie that Almond had defeated before¡ªXavier. "Ladies and gentlemen, Group 1 has finished battle, and we have our two winners advancing to the quarterfinals! Xavier the Piercing Light, and Amir the Tempest Gale! I hope I am not too bad in my title game!" The audience erupted in cheers. Amir snorted, his blue hair faintly shining in the sunlight, "I don''t like that title." Xavier rolled his eyes, "It''s perfectly suitable." Xavier, Amir, and three others from Group 1 went down via the floating stone elevator while another lift went upward parallel to them, containing five people from Group 2. Xavier''s gaze was on them, and he eyed Almond, who also happened to see him. ''I will defeat you.'' Almond had a carefree smile that slightly widened upon seeing Xavier''s gaze. "Now, let us wee the Group 2!" The audience erupted again, with many shouting a participant''s name. "Jian! Jian! Jian!" Gto looked at the white-blue hair pretty boy whose name many were chanting. "We have the super rookie from ckstar Guild in this group¡ªJian Ranford, who is also said to be one of the favorites for rank 1 position!" "However!" Gto''s gaze went to Almond before he grinned at the camera. "We have a dark horse here who has the record of defeating Xavier¡ªAlmond Crowshade!" The majority of the audience wasn''t aware of him, but there were some who were, as the people erupted in mixed talk. Jian looked at Almond and indifferently said, "Don''t waste your energy against me if you want to pass this round." Almond wryly smiled. This guy was as haughty as he was when he saw him on the TV. But he didn''t want to waste his breath on someone he could easily defeat. "Sorry, you three unknown ones. We have no info on you, but this is your stage to shine, so all the best!" Gto said as he looked at the other three¡ªtwo girls and one boy in theirte teens, one year older than Almond and Jian. They were Silver level 30, like Jian. "¡­" Without further ado, the five of them stood at the corner of the tform before Gto looked at his wristwatch''s hologram that matched the first two names of the group. "And we have our first battle''s participants here! Hahaha, pleasee to the center, Jian Randford!" Jian walked to the center calmly. "And the one who will be fighting him is¡­.Almond Crowshade! The most exciting battle of the group will start right off the bat!" The audience erupted into cheers, eager to the fight. Gto looked at the duo and asked, "What weapons do you two use? You are not allowed to use any items, but themittee will provide you withmon-grade weapons." "A sword." "Gauntlets." Gto took out twomon-rank in weapons of their choice and handed them. Jian had worn a loose ck karate-like robe due to his skill and his badge was on the right side of the shoulder. Almond had worn a long ck trench coat with a high cor and slim-fitting ck pants paired with matching ck boots, maintaining a streamlined and elegant silhouette. As soon as he held the sword and entered the front-sword-holding stance, he gave off a sharp andmanding presence. "Almond, since you are a summoner, you can summon your pets right now if you want to," Gto said. "No need," Almond shook his head. A digital countdown of 10 seconds appeared in the middle as both of them stood at a distance of 10 meters between them. "Huh? You think you will defeat me without using your summons?" Almond blinked and smiled, "Indeed. I have my specialized ss as well, which is not rted to the summons." "Humph, suit yourself," Jian coldly snorted. Almond simply smiled in response and seeing that, Jian narrowed his eyes, his aura turning wild. ''I''ll one-shot you right off the bat, so you won''t be able to summon your pets even if you want toter.'' As soon as the countdown hit zero, Jian''s body suddenly became twice as big and bulky muscled as he used his S-rank specialized ss skill while already dashing towards Almond with crimson glowing fists as he used another skill. ''Not even using Fortification and Aura Enfolds?'' Almond was speechless. ''So arrogant¡­he thinks he can one-shot me.'' Enjoy more content from empire But it was understandable as Almond saw that Jian was very fast and given his current physique and status boost he got with his skills, very powerful too. It was no wonder he was arrogant. ''Too bad your opponent is me,'' Almond''s eyes glinted with a flicker of lightning. He dashed and dodged past Jian''s iing assault while his sword crackling in lightning swung a simple horizontal sh. *Beep!* Jian''s expression turned to disbelief as he heard the beep sound from his badge and saw that it glowed, signifying that the duel was over as he lost. All eight screens showed the exchange and the arena turned silent for a few seconds before erupting into crazy loud cheers. "T-This¡­" Jian stammered. "No way¡­" "And we have the winner of the first battle! Almond Crowshade! That was amazing!" Gto shouted. ''Bwahaha, that Jian kid dug his own grave. If he had used Fortification and Body Enfold at least, that sh wouldn''t have defeated him.'' Jian also realized the same, and it increased his frustration to no end. "Let''s look at the exchange in slow motion,dies and gentlemen!" The screen showed the exchange between them in slow motion, which was what people wanted to see more. And it showed how simple and precise Almond''s movement and sh were. Lily who was in the underground hall couldn''t help but chuckle, "Almond is being naughty." "Eh? Why?" Natalia asked. "He held back and attacked with just enough power to make the badge beep. This will make that haughty brat think that he lost because he was careless." "Oh¡­well, that bastard deserves it," Natalia snorted. "He is too arrogant." A long dark violet-haired girl not too far from them raised her eyebrows, "That was a beautiful sh." She wore a slender silver-whiteyered frock outfit with a blue rose design and white leggings. Her figure was slender and ample in the feminine area, her beauty on par with Lily''s. Kira Ryugiri¡ªeighteen years old. The youngest heir of the Ryugiri n and one of the favorites for the rank 1 position. "So-so,"mented another eighteen-year-old with silver-blond hair not too far from her¡ªNoah Duncan, the youngest heir of the Duncan n and likewise one of the favorites for rank 1 position. "So-so?" Kira turned to him and softly chuckled with a mocking tone, "You mean better than your sh, right?" "Better than my?" Noahughed out loud and shook his head, refraining frommenting further. Natalia and Lily obviously saw their exchange as Lily''s eyes sparked with mes. ''This bitch better not have any ideas on Almond.'' "Lily, those two talk as if they are better than Almond in swordy. Is that true?" Natalia tilted her head. "I mean, those two are famous, but still¡­" "Nah, Almond wipes the floor with them," Lily sneered. "But before that, I''ll wipe the floor with them. At least against Noah since he is in the same group as me." "Kira is in my group," Natalia wryly smiled. "Well, two people pass, so I hope I pass." "Be confident," Lily pped her butt. "One more p, please."N?v(el)B\\jnn "¡­" ... Group 2''s battles were over as each one of them fought with one another. Almond had the highest points and Jian had the second highest points, so both of them qualified for the next round. Chapter 114 Rising Star Tournament (4), Lily vs Noah Group 3 went up on the stage and finished their battles within 24 minutes. The winners were Ron Lexus¡ªSilver 30 and Jemma Regan¡ªSilver 30. Both of them were considered super rookies due to their primary S-rank ss and specialized S-rank ss, along with powerful performance. Group 4''s winners were Anya Fuego¡ªSilver 30 And Ka Reqins¡ªSilver 30. Anya Fuego was a super rookie of rank 5th guild¡ªSilverfang Guild, one of the favorites for the rank one spot. And then came Group 5''s turn. Lily and the other four walked out from the underground elevator. "Hello, Miss Lily," Noah said with a dashing yet polite smile as he stretched his hand at her for a handshake. "Let''s have a good fight." Lily looked at him and tly asked, instead of shaking hands, "What do you think about Almond Crowshade?" Noah blinked, his hand flinching, "Not bad, I guess? I can defeat him, though." ''Wait, I remember that he and this girl were standing together¡­'' Noah took his hand back as he thought. "You can''t defeat him," Lily scoffed before she coldly chuckled. "And yeah, let''s have a good fight." Lily already didn''t like Noah because he looked down on Almond, and she nned topletely defeat Noah. The group arrived on the stage. Gto did the hype and introduction of Noah and Lily before the battles began. But Noah and Lily''s battle turned out to be thest one this time. Both of them won against the other three participants. "Are you two fully recovered?" Gto asked. Noah and Lily nodded as they walked to the center and stood with 10 meters of distance between them. The countdown hologram appeared in the center as both of them stood with stances after Gto gave themmon-rank weapons. Lily wielded a curved dagger, and Noah wielded a greatsword as both stood with their respectivebat stances. Noah stood with his sword hilt raised to his eye level, pointing at Lily. Lily stood with her dagger diagonally in front of her, pointing downward, but its de facing the front. The moment the countdown hit 0, both of them used their Mana techniques. Strength Boost. Focus Field. Fortification with their styles. Noah used Metal-style fortification as a metallic aura coated his body, while Lily had a shadowy aura. Stay updated with empire ''Shadow-style Fortification? It means she''s at least at A-rank elemental mastery,'' Noah''s eyes glinted. ''But I am at S-rank.'' Noah''s sword glowed with a gray sheen, his aura increasing. "You may make your move first." Lily''s eyes coldly glinted, her dagger that only had ck me superimposed with three more unique energies. Warlock Enchant: Dreadspire Elements! Lily waved her dagger without moving, but it entered a shadowy slit that emerged from Noah''s shadow and sliced his feet as a nging sound rang. "You''ll need a stronger atta-" Noah suddenly stopped speaking as he felt something, his expression turning somber. He immediately waved his sword, releasing a shining gray metallic sh at Lily before dashing forward. Lily suddenly vanished, turning into a shadow as she appeared behind Noah, her dagger making three quick shes, intensifying the debuffs of her four Dreadspire elements! ''Damn it! What are these crazy debuffs?!'' Noah could feel his stamina and mana draining, his speed decreasing, and his Fortification that was supposed to be super tough but also corroding! Without hesitation, he went all out, using his SS-rank skill¡ªIronstorm Gale. Hundreds of tiny metallic des stormed around him before shooting towards Lily one by one. However, Lily used her 2nd specialized ss skill¡ªDreadspire Herald, SSS-rank! It was a super powerful skill that directly consumed 50% of her vitality while giving her Dreadspire Heart status! Lily suddenly turned intoplete darkness, her ckbat dress covered by a badass outfit of darkness. As an indication that her Dreadspire Elements were activated, patterns of ming dark red, shining dark green, gleaming dark brown, and dark blue appeared on her superimposed darkness outfit. [Dreadspire Mantle] -Skill Rank: SSS -Activation type: Toggle. -Cost: 20% Vitality at once and then 1% vitality per second while active. Doesn''t cost 20% vitality again if it''s activated within 1 minute of deactivating. -Effect(s): ¡ªThe user summons the essence of the Dreadspire Herald, a spectral avatar of darkness that embodies overwhelming power and dread, turning the user into a symbol of destruction and terror as the user activates the Dreadspire Heart and abilities that unlock with it. ¡ª[Dreadspire Heart]¡ª -Grants the user Dreadspire Essence equal to 100 + 50% of Health stat and three abilities. Grants 1 Dreadspire Essence per 1% vitality recovered while this skill is active. ¡ª1. Dreadspire Dominion: radiates an aura of oppressive darkness in a 30-meter radius, reducing physical attack power, magic power, and defense of everyone or anything within by 15% while inflicting [Terror], causing their reaction time to slow down by 15%. The user''s vitality recovers by 15% of the damage dealt to enemies within this range. Cost: 1 Dreadspire Essence per second. ¡ª2. Herald''s Dark Well (passive): Absorbs 20% of all damage done to the user, effectively reducing all damage done to the user by 20%. Upon reaching the limit of absorption, the ability turns active for the user, allowing the user to use Dreadstrike: release all absorbed damage in a pin-point location of 1x1 meters within the user''s sensing range, but this attack is of pure darkness attribute in the shape of tendrils. Cost: 1 Dreadspire Essence per second and 20 Dreadspire Essence to use Dreadstrike. This ability resets instantly once Dreadstrike is used. ¡ª3. Dreadspire Herald (passive): If Dreadspire Elements are active, the user can freely conjure and shape projectiles of all four Dreadspire Elements within Dreadspire Dominion at the cost of Mana or Dreadspire Essence. Since Lily had her first specialized ss skill activated, she created a barrier of Gloombound Earth in front of her using 30 Dreadspire Essence to block all iing attacks while she conjured five des of Darkened me, Withered Wind, and Curseweaved Water above her at the cost of 20 Mana per de as she conjured fifteen des, costing a total of 300 Mana. Her vitality was already halfway, which increased her Dreadspire Elements'' potency further! Noah was already within her Dreadspire Dominion''s range, so his attacks lowered in potency. Moreover, he was already debuffed from the shadow-drifted attack that Lily struck at the start. ''Damn it!'' Noah tried to dodge and defend, but he could only block eleven des even when using his Ironstorm Gale''s des and consuming all of his Mana. The remaining four des struck him, destroying his tough Metal-style Fortification and striking him as a beep sound rang, indicating that he would have died if it wasn''t for the badge. The arena was silent as everyone was dazed at the terrific disy of power, especially from Lily! But then it erupted into a loud cheer for her as everyone was absolutely thrilled to witness Lily''s power! "And the winner is Lily Darkwood! What an absolute treat of a battle!" Almond grinned, "I experienced her skill, so I know that Noah won''t forget this battle ever." "Yeah, her skill is seriously scary and powerful," Natalia wryly smiled. On the tform, Lily deactivated her skill as she returned to her normal form and walked towards Noah, who stood up, still feeling rattled from the battle. "You¡­are powerful, especially those skills," Noah wryly smiled. "You called Almond''s swordy so-so, right?" Lily''s eyes glinted as she used Magic Whisper to tell him, ''Here''s an interesting fact. I didn''t go all out here, but even when I go all out, I can''t defeat Almond even if he suppresses his stats to the same level as me and only uses his sword-based magic attacks that you can''t even imagine, so you can forget about ever defeating him.'' ''The only one on par with him will be me.'' Noah was stunned upon hearing that as Lily walked past him. "Miss Lily, that was a terrific disy of power, so everyone is curious about your ss. Would you like to give out its name and rank? Or only name so I can make a better title?" "Dreadspire Warlock." The audience heard and erupted in discussion regarding the name. "Ladies and gentlemen! Let us wee the newest Super Rookie, Lily the Dreadspire Harbinger!" Lily used Magic Whisper, rying to Gto, ''You better give Almond Crowshade a good title after seeing his next match.'' ''Hoho, youngdy, you seem to be rooting for him, eh? Well, the title is only given to the powerful ones. He defeated Jian, but Jian was careless, and the match was over swiftly.'' Lily didn''t bother with him anymore and walked towards the stone elevator.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ¡­ A/N: take a look at the author''s note to refresh your memories :] Chapter 115 Rising Star Tournament (5), Natalia vs Kira Group 6''s battles finished, and a dark horse emerged in this group. A silver level 10 won the battles against three others and even defeated the Super Rookie that was in the group. Maya Himdar¡ªa light brown-skinned girl with dark blue wavy hair. She was six feet tall and a natural beauty, awakened in the previous month like Almond, Lily, and Natalia. Nobody knew about her ss ranks, but she appeared to have ice elemental mastery and water elemental mastery. The super rookie of the group¡ªEliara Venholm Silver level 30, from the 4th rank Irond Guild, came in 2nd ce as Maya defeated her. Group 7''s winners were both Super Rookies of the group. They were from the 9th rank Lightstrike guild and 11th rank Shadowforge guild, respectively. Finn Arelion ¡ª Silver 30 Mira Nilok ¡ª Silver 30 In the next group, one more dark horse arose, defeating another Super Rookie despite being Silver level 10 as he had awakened the previous month. Marcus Venath, a tall chap with broad-shoulders and a square face with ck-brownish hair and blue eyes. Enjoy more content from empire Apparently, he wasn''t affiliated with any guild or family yet like Maya, so both of them were like a tasty piece of meat for the top forces to grab. The super rookie who lost to Marcus was Talia Graves, from the prestigious Graves family, who was well-versed in guny as a former military-heavy family and had found a unique usage of Mana to create magic firearms. Their specialized sses also had a theme that screamed gun-based mages. Unfortunately, Marcus was a tanky warrior type with some good moves and skills matching that as he defeated Talia and emerged as a dark horse. The two advanced to the next round, and then finally came the Group 9''s battles. The group''s first match started with Natalia facing the best of the group and one of the favorites Super Rookie¡ªKira Ryugiri! As Gto asked what weapons they wanted, Kira asked for a katana, and Natalia summoned her instruments as 50% of her Maximum Mana was locked, while her Mana recovery drastically increased as a result. "This will be my weapon," Natalia said as she grabbed the Chaosbound Flute. "A summoner, eh? Alright. Good luck." Kira curiously looked at the four instruments as she stood in a stance, "That''s a very interesting ss. Could I get its name, please?" "Chaosbound Serenador," Natalia grinned. "My specialized ss. Cool, right?" "Very cool," Kira nodded while smiling as she stood in a creative katana stance of her family called the Crescent Moon stance¡ªshe held the sword in an arc-like shape to unleash smooth, wide cuts that mimic a crescent moon''s curve. "Let''s have fun." The countdown began. Lily looked at Kira''s stance and asked Almond, "What do you think about her sword stance?" "An interesting stance. It seemed to be used to keep an adequate distance from the target and use the katana''s maximum range for shallow cuts, based on how her feet are positioned, to keep her speed consistent and allow for multiple rapid shes or swift counterattacks and guards. It feels like an all-rounder stance, special stance." Lily turned to him with a wry smile, "You can read that much?" Almond chuckled, "Well, I just imagined myself in that stance with that katana, and I could explore its possibilities. It''s a fun stance, especially with Weapon Enfold and other skills that allow for projectile or extended magic shes. I would say it''s a very refined stance as long as her footwork is properly synergized with it." "I see¡­" Lily looked at Kira and also imagined herself in Kira''s ce while holding the Katana. "Hmm¡­.this gives me ideas on how to use my daggers¡­and I might want a new pair of unique daggers now, long and less curved," she muttered as her eyes glinted. "Oh, you''re visioning it good. Imagining and putting it into practice is a good way to improve and innovate. I do that all the time." "Mhmm," Lily nodded. The battle between Natalia and Kira began. Natalia''s all three instruments activated as they started their orchestra. The Chaosbound Drums began drumming as she had set its consumption at 10 Mana per second. It increased her physical Strength and reduced the target''s physical strength in equal amounts, scaling based on her maximum Mana. Right now, she could reduce enemies'' Strength stat by 9 and increase hers by 9 per 10 Mana consumption per second. The Chaosbound Cello started singing as well, with a Mana consumption of 5 per second, increasing the potency of her skills, basically making her Mana stronger so her Mana techniques and any magic-based attacks became stronger, making them 5% more potent. The Chaosbound Piano started dishing out melodies in ears and curvy shes in the air towards Kira. The shape of these attacks was decided by Natalia, with Mana consumption set at 10 Mana per second. Kira faced the batches of three sound shesing at her each second, but she calmly destroyed them with her katana shes, sometimes even taking two with a single sh. Natalia only waited for three seconds before she also started ying her flute, going all out. The flute released a spherical-shaped pale golden projectile with a glowing ck center point, super fast and precise, it arrived in front of Kira, making her eyes flicker as she finally moved, taking a backstep while shing horizontally. *Boom!* The flute''s attack exploded in a small area with strong potency. ''Powerful,'' Kira''s eyes flickered in excitement as she finally attacked, releasing a starry blue sh at Natalia before her figure blurred as she used a movement-type skill.N?v(el)B\\jnn Natalia deliberated, suspended three flute-based attacks in front of her, and exploded, destroying her iing sh and obscuring her view briefly. Kira''s Focus Field could still observe her, but she suddenly saw two identical auras in her field. Two Natalias holding flutes appeared, and both released the same type of flute attacks toward Kira. Natalia''s Primary ss''s skill Mirage Clone had reached A-rank because it was upgraded with a level-up boon. Its Mana cost increased, but it could now mimic her attacks at 80% potency for the duration it was active. "What a battle!" Gto shouted, and the audience cheered as both Kira and Natalia fought intensely, destroying each other''s attacks. Kira was swift and precise, exuding proficiency and appearing to have the upper hand as she was pushing Natalia despite herrge number of chaotic attacks. But it was going evenly thanks to Natalia''s kit of having insane Mana recovery that allowed her to make up for herck ofbat ability against Kira. ''Fun,'' Kira stopped her dash, her eyes shining, and her aura surged as she suddenly dodged a wave of attack with a movement skill and shed her katana four times in an insane motion speed as if she suddenly elerated, which was the result of her S-rank skill¡ªSword Bending Motion, Ryugiri n''s most prized learnable skill. Two horizontal shes and two vertical shes, enchanted with her water attribute in a masterful way as those shes had high-speed sharpened water motion that increased the attacks'' sharpness to a whole new level. She also buffed herself with her specialized ss skill, increasing the attacks'' speed and power further. Natalia wanted to dodge as she and her clone moved in different directions while she determinedly aimed her attacks from Piano and Flute on Kira. s, Natalia didn''t have enough speed, and these four shes superimposed on each other to create a board of tic-tac-toe wasrge enough to cover herself and her clone both. Natalia didn''t have any movement-type skill, and this attack required a powerful one to even be able to dodge. The attack struck Natalia and her clone. She failed to dodge, and her clone was also destroyed. The beep sound rang, but it was just one sound. There were two sounds because Natalia''s wide and multiple attacks from her Flute and Piano also struck Kira at the right time, not giving Kira a chance to dodge. The battle ended in a draw. "Wonderful battle, Natalia Lorzach and Kira Ryugiri! I can''t believe it resulted in a draw!" The audience erupted in a loud ruckus as they watched another intense battle and the emergence of a new dark horse! Almond wryly smiled, "Kira''sst attack would''ve rendered her sound attacks useless and cut past them even if she tried to defend herself¡­Well, that was a good decision on her part to go all out on Kira instead of defending herself."'' Lily had a happy smile on her face as she nodded, "She didn''t lose. But I must say, the Mana Crystalline yed a big part. If it wasn''t for that, she would''ve exhausted her Mana faster and lost." "Yep. She needs to practice and hone herbat style further," Almond nodded. "And she needs a powerful movement skill." On the tform, Kira walked towards Natalia while grinning, "Good Battle, Natalia." Natalia got up and rubbed her stomach, "damn, I thought I was gonna die." Looking at Kira, she responded with a wry smile, "I wasn''t expecting to win, but I didn''t want to lose. Good battle, indeed." "Your flute attacks were dreadfully precise and fast," Kira smiled as she stretched her hand. "You must have practiced a lot to learn this new style based on your ss." "Yep, but yours were even more scary," Natalia rolled her eyes as she shook hands. "I had to use three of my attacks to destroy one of yours. But I''ll get better at my style and defeat you!" "I''ll wait for the rematch," Kira smiled. "Wonderful battle, lovelydies! A round of apuse for Kira the Crescent Stormde and Natalia the Chaos Symphony!" Chapter 116 Rising Star Tournament (6), Julians Turn Emma Ziken¡ª Silver 30 Adrian Reben¡ª Silver 30 These two were the winners of Group 10''s battle. Both of them were super rookies. Emma belonged to the 6th rank Steelheart Guild, and Adrian Reben belonged to the prestigious Reben family, whose members believed themselves to be descendants of diators and were known to be very proficient in sword and shield mastery, with their specialized ss often resulting in bolstering this specialty. With the 3rd round finishing, the winners could either go home or watch the ranking battles happening today. There would be a one-day break for the twenty Silver-rank participants as the spotlight would shift to the Gold-rank Adventurers tomorrow, who would face their second and third rounds ofbat to determine the top 80 rankings in a simrpetitive format as today. The gold-rank Adventurers had a more intense first round, so they needed a one-day break. Almond, Lily, and Natalia left as they didn''t stay for the ranking matches. Upon returning to the courtyard, Alfred weed them while Julian was already swinging his sword in a chopping motion. He didn''t look at the trio and just said, "Congrattions," as he continued to chop the sword with focus and eyes closed. Beside him, Ashkar was doing the same. Sylvia and Nyssara were in their respective green garden and crystal garden, one tending to flora and another one sculpting weapons. The other spirit wraiths were at the beach, fighting and training. Almond had gotten permission to get them onto the seas, so they would go there, explore, and fight sea monsters that asionally wound up nearby. Since there were ships there that monitored the ocean''s situation, Almond ordered his spirit wraiths to prevent harming them and other Adventurers if they encountered them. Roken had started training after he finished watching their battles on the TV. ¡­ "Let''s spar, darling~ I didn''t have enough today," Lily smiled eagerly, wanting to fight Almond and practice some of the ideas. "Same," Almond smiled. He suppressed his stats, and both of them grabbed crystal weapons from the weapon rack made by Nyssara. These crystal weapons were umon-grade with low durability, making them perfect practice weapons to increase their proficiency. Moreover, Both of them suppressed their stats to 30 in all because fighting with limited prowess during spar allowed them to creatively innovate new moves to bypass and break the limitations while also allowing them to technically go all out because with their stats suppressed, they couldn''t hurt each other''s Fortification, preventing injuries. "I am going to do solo training and will sneak attack on you two periodically, sounds good, right?" Natalia grinned. "Then we''ll alsounch sneak attacks on you while you are training," Almondughed. "It''ll help you improve." "Good idea, Almond. We should do that," Lily chuckled. "Humph, fine! I''ll be ready." ¡­ The next day, when Almond woke up next to Lily''s soft bosom with a notification that said that his new Spirit Wraith was ready. It had 1st floor''s Floor Boss spirit, Zolen''s spirit, and 18 boss spirits of dungeons, all belonging to golden-colored bordered B-rank dungeons. But Almond ignored the notification as he didn''t want to think up its disposition, name, and backstory. Snuggling his head, he closed his eyes again and fell asleep as Lily also moved in her sleep and tightened her arms around him. An hourter, both of them woke up and had breakfast that Alfred and Natalia prepared. It was 10 o''clock, so Julian was already at the arena in the Reljord city. The trio ate food while watching the 2nd round. Julian passed without worry as he was proficient in Mana techniques, more than average adventurers his age. Since the Gold-rank bracket allowed up to people of 30 years of age, they had some powerful Adventurers with refinedbat styles honed over the years. Fortunately, Julian managed to enter the 3rd round. "Will he win, Almond?" Natalia curiously asked. "He''s going to bloom," Almond smiled. Roken blinked, "Bloom? How? I was busy with my own thing, but he only practiced just one thing for a week straight, right?" "Did something happen to him? Like some sort of awakening?" Lily asked as she raised her eyebrows.N?v(el)B\\jnn Almond chuckled and shook his head. "He didn''t awaken anything yet, but¡­" Almond''s eyes glinted. "He should awaken something. That''s the feeling I got, and he also told me that he was getting to something, which was why he just continued with that singr practice of chopping. Well, I hope he does bloom." "Eh, he ising up on the tform," Natalia blinked. "So he is in Group 1," Roken wryly smiled. "Guess we''ll find out soon." Gto announced the first match, and it also turned out to be between Julian and a Gold-rank Super Rookie who was 20 years old, the same age as Julian. Floyd Banister, the level 50 Adventurer with S-rank primary ss. He was also a famous silver-rank Super Rookie six months ago. "Damn, bro''s first match is against someone who had defeated him brutally before," Roken winced. "Look at Julian, he doesn''t appear disturbed," Almond said. "He is the most serene he has ever been in his life." "True¡­" Roken blinked and nodded as he observed Julian. Floyd asked for an Ax, while Julian asked for a Heavy sword. As the countdown reached zero, both of them activated their Mana techniques. Strength Boost. Fortification. Focus Field. Body Enfold. There wasn''t a point in using Weapon Enfold to increase Mana consumption. Body Enfold was more important to increase their overall stats. Julian had a slight edge in terms of Mana Techniques as his Body Enfold and Focus Field were a bit better, but not enough to make up for the difference in stats and ss skills. Having a Warrior ss, Floyd had a boost in his body stats, and his good-timed skill projectiles were a problem for Julian as he was losing bouts of shes, barely defending himself. Roken was on tethers, "This isn''t looking good¡­" "Just watch," Natalia snorted. Lily and Almond watched with focus. Julian''s sword was deflecting attacks, even if barely. Neither of them were properly hit by one another. Whenever Julian got a chance to attack, he would chop his heavy sword, which would make Floyd push back slightly and give Julian a chance to prepare for the uing assault. Your adventure continues at empire Floyd was getting annoyed because this was a guy he had already defeated before. ''Fucking bastard, it''s time to finish this,'' Floyd''s eyes glinted as his Ax suddenly glowed red, lit aze in mes before throwing it at Julian while he also dashed forward, his fist also aze for a follow-up attack as he used his skills, not intending to give Julian a chance to do anything this time. Julian saw the iing attack, and his aura shifted. ''No more losing,'' Julian''s eyes glinted as he used his primary ss''s skill¡ªHeavilist Dash: dashing forward while increasing his weapon''s weight ording to the distance traveled. Julian suddenly dashed forward, dodging past the iing ming Ax Throw while his heavy sword was held high with both hands, ready to chop down. His A-rank ss¡ªHeavy Swordsman, allowed him to use heavy swords with rtive ease and granted bonus attack power when wielding heavy swords, boosted his Strength and Stamina with a passive ss skill, andstly, had a Dash-Attack type ss skill. His specialized ss was more on the magic side because he was a bit disappointed in his A-rank ss and wanted some better skills, but due to his conflicting views in the process, his Specialized ss''s rank dropped to B in the final evaluation from the initial S-rank. It gave him two skills total¡ªme Sword wrapped his sword in mes, granting bonus fire-attributed damage, and a projectile skill¡ªme Sword''s Descent, conjuring flexible pure me sword of his desired size. But the specialized ss''s development was wholly dependent on the Adventurer¡­as disyed by Julian in thest moment of this battle. Floyd was startled because Julian''s dash foiled his n, but that didn''t matter as he improvised as his eyes glinted, intending to dodge the attack and then strike Julian to nab the victory. But something suddenly happened. A heavy pressure descended on Floyd as the tform slightly cracked under his feet. Floyd felt every finger of his body paralyzing under the heavy sword, his eyes reflecting it,ing down like a heavenly punishment. ''What?!'' Julian chopped downward, striking his head as a loud st of air pushed shockwaves around him while Floyd was smashed on the ground. All of the damage was absorbed by the badge before it loudly beeped. But that wasn''t all, Julian floated in the air as a heavy transparent ck aura burst out of him. The cheering arena burst out in a loud ruckus upon witnessing this phenomenon! "OH MY GOD!" Gto eximed loudly, his voice booming from the loudspeakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a rare phenomenon! Julian Sarhain is undergoing some sort of awakening!" Chapter 117 Rising Star Tournament (7), Legacy Roll [Congrattions, your primary ss has evolved to S-rank: Heavilist Swordweaver] [Congrattions, you have proven yourself worthy of receiving a legacy roll qualification. To qualify for activating the legacy roll, you mustplete the following quests within a certain limit. Uponpletion, your Specialized ss will undergo a mutation based on the legacy you get from the legacy roll.] [Legacy Roll Quest] -Objectives: ¡ª>Kill 100 monsters 10 levels higher than your level within three days from now on. (0/100). ¡ª>Kill 10 monsters 20 levels higher than your level within ten days from now on. (0/10). ¡ª>Participate in a floor boss battle on Floor 6 and result in victory within 2 months from now on. (0/1). -Rewards: ¡ª>Legacy Roll: Allows you to roll for a random legacy based on one of the people who has cleared the Grimworld Tutorial by clearing the 30th Floor. Julian''s awakening was over as he stopped floating, and the strange aura vanished. He read everything from the notifications he got as he involuntarily trembled. Gto was asking him something, but Julian''s ears weren''t registering anything. All he felt was that the hard work he had been doing for years paid off, and he wasn''t about to give up now. This was the new start! ''I willplete the quests and get the legacy and get powerful!'' Julian''s eyes burned brightly as he clenched his fists. "It appears that our dark horse is absorbed in reading the notifications, hahaha! I wonder if he will share some of the juice with us." Julian took a deep breath and turned to Gto, answering with a straight expression that betrayed a hint of a smile, "My primary ss evolved, that''s all. The name''s Heavilist Swordweaver." "And there it is!" Gto shouted. "A round of apuse for Julian the Heavilist Edge!" ¡­ "Damn, bro did it!" Roken cheered and pped his thigh. "He fucking did it!" "So his primary ss is now S-rank? Damn," Natalia muttered. "My primary ss is B-rank¡­.I also want to evolve it." "Then train like Julian. He chopped his sword until his muscles broke, and he bled internally daily," Almond smiled. "But you will have to find the training yourself. Julian''s primary ss was based on heavy swords, and he had been training for a long time and had umted experience. The training I gave him became a catalyst, and his determination became the fuse that bloomed him." Lily nodded, "he had been working too hard for thest seven days. Almond''s presence pushed him to reach there, but it was his own hard work." Read thetest on empire "I am going back to training now!" Roken stood up, his expression firm. "I am going to pound my hammer until my arm breaks down." "Don''t just pound aimlessly, but the main thing is your focus," Almond narrowed his eyes. "Your focus should be on your goal while you hammer down. Focus on getting better, regardless of what it does to you. Julian trained in absolute focus to get the feeling that I described to him, regardless of what it did to it. So, what will you do now?" Roken was at a loss. He thought hard for half a minute before saying, "Umm, I should learn more about cksmithing and then focus on my ss''s workings and improve?" "Slow but correct," Almond smiled. "That''s right. You have enough money saved, so go to that cksmith and pay for the tuition to learn more." "Got it! I am going right now!" Roken left after drinking his soda can, determined to get better at cksmithing and forge sessful items. As he left, Lily curiously asked, "Is Roken''s sub-ss good? What unique thing does his items have?" "Runes," Almond smiled. "He can imbue a skill from the materials he uses into an item, and he can do that with already crafted items as well as his own creations. There are more effects to the Runic Inscription skill of his ss, but he has to explore it on his own." "It''s an A-rank subss," Natalia nodded. "It gotta be powerful." ¡­ After Julian returned three hourster, he showed the notifications to Almond as it contained a valuable piece of information. The Grimworld Tutorial''s end¡ªthe 30th floor was thest floor. Almond didn''t know what would happen after that, but just knowing that the 30th floor was thest floor was valuable information. He also sent a message to Admiral Rudra about this information. "So, twenty floors more, huh?" Natalia blinked. "I wonder what will happen once we clear it. Will we get some kind of huge reward or something?" "It says we are currently in a Grimworld''s Tutorial¡­then whates after the tutorial?" Lily narrowed her eyes. "The main game, right?" "Something big will happen, but we can''t be sure," Almond smiled, his eyes fiery deep within, "We just have to clear this tutorial and find out the answer ourselves." "Almond, I need a dungeon," Julian said, his expression firm. "GAA might send me with a party to a B-rank dungeon based on my performance, but I want to go into one with you. I am at the Gold level 42, so I want a Gold-bordered dungeon andplete the first quest." "Sorry, Lily, I''ll be taking him for a few hours if you don''t mind." "Actually, the four of us should go together," Almond smiled. "I''ve talked to Admiral Rudra about allowing Lily and Natalia to enter with us. As long as they don''t take anything from within, they can enter." Lily''s eyes lit up. She could finally fight together with Almond again. "That''s great, darling." "Hoho, it has been a while," Natalia caressed her nonexistent beard with a sagely expression, "Time to teach the young ones about dungeons." "Stop, it''s cringe," Almond snickered. "I forgive you, my child." "¡­" "Alright, let''s bolt without wasting more time," Almond began walking towards the open garage where his aircraft was parked. ¡­ Julian cleared the first task of his quest and reached halfway for his second in the dungeon. His evolved ss granted him one more skill while evolving his original ss skills, making hisbat arsenal stronger. With correct movement posture and a single chop, Julian''s heavy sword could one-shot kill the gold-rank monsters at level 70 unless they had more defensive traits. But he didn''t want to confine himself to just this, which was why he requested Almond toe with him. He wanted to observe Almond more now that he had reached a new stage in swordy. After returning from the dungeon, the group went to eat and then trained for some hours until the night before eating again and sleeping like logs. 4th December''s clock hit 10 in the morning, and it was time for the twenty silver-rank winners to fight and contend for the top 10 spot. "Ladies and gentlemen, the time hase! Please wee our little rising monsters!" The central tform was bigger as it was modified, and the other four floating tforms had vanished from the battleground.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The tform was now square and white with ck check patterns. It was 150 meters in length, quite huge to give more freedom and space for thrilling battles. "In this round, the twenty of you will pick up a stick from this ss," Gto said with a grin, his face and the ss reflected in huge screens for the audience to see. The ss was not transparent, and it was also covered, only showing the tips of the sticks, so nobody could see their numbers at the stick''s end. "These are ten pairs of sticks, so it will decide who you will fight. The winners will qualify for the next round, earning the top 10 spot, and the losers will fight the ranking matches to decide their ranks from 11th to 20th." "Without further ado, let''s begin." The twenty silver ranks stood in a row based on their previous group winnings on the tform as Gto arrived before the first in line¡ªXavier Rozerf. Picking up his stick and seeing its number B-4, Xavier prayed with his fist clenched and eyes fiery, ''Almond, you better pick A-4 and match with me because I will defeat you this time!'' A big hologram screen appeared, showing Xavier''s face and B-4 below him. There was an icon next to him, empty, waiting for the person to pick A-4 to stick and match with him. Gto moved to the second in the row¡ªAmir Lake, who pulled an A-9 stick. Next, it was Almond''s turn. He grabbed a stick and pulled it before looking at its end. A-2. Xavier was looking at the big hologram and clenched his fist as he saw Almond''s number. ''Damn it.'' But who could tell him that by not matching with Almond, he at least got a chance to enter the top 10? ''Almond, my boy, you better show something good this time because yesterday, your girlfriend told me that I better give you a good title,'' Gto grinned as he Magic Whispered to Almond. Faintly smiled, Almond replied, ''Well then, you better do some mental gymnastics for my title because what I''ll show might just overload your brain.'' ''Hahahaha, that''s some big words, alright. I am looking forward to the fight,d. You better not disappoint.'' ¡­ Everyone pulled up the sticks, and the matchings were confirmed. -Match 1 ¡ªXavier Rozerf (B-4) vs. Ka Reqins (A-4) -Match 2 ¡ªAmir Lake (A-9) vs. Emma Ziken (B-9) -Match 3 ¡ªAlmond Crowshade (A-2) vs. Marcus Venath (B-2) -Match 4 ¡ªJian Ranford (B-6) vs. Maya Himdar (A-6) -Match 5 ¡ªRon Lexus (A-3) vs. Adrian Reben (B-3) -Match 6 ¡ªJemma Regan (B-7) vs. Finn Arelion (A-7) -Match 7 ¡ªAnya Fuego (A-1) vs. Mira Nilok (B-1) -Match 8 ¡ªLily Darkwood (B-5) vs. Talia Graves (A-5) -Match 9 ¡ªNoah Duncan (A-8) vs. Kira Ryugiri (B-8) -Match 10 ¡ªEliara Venholm (B-10) vs. Natalia Varzach (A-10) Chapter 118 Rising Star Tournament (8) Match 1 Xavier the Piercing Light vs. Ka the Beast Spirit. Ka Reqins was from a humble background. She had awakened an S-rank primary ss¡ªWildbloom Druid, and an A-rank specialized ss¡ªNature''s Warrior. She had worked hard to improve after getting recruited by the 7th rank Azure Veil Guild. The match began as Ka transformed into a ming bird, using her primary ss''s skill¡ªSpirit Possession: zing Phoenix. It gave her the ability to fly as a phoenix, fire-attribute to her attacks, and control me to a certain extent with Mana consumption per second and a gauge: Phoenix Drive [100/100], which she could use instead of Mana to unleash fire-based attacks of her desire. Once it emptied, she would revert to human. Transforming into a five-meter-long me phoenix with a wingspan of ten meters, she flew up and formed ten small fireballs, shooting at Xavier one by one while flying around. Your journey continues at empire Xavier dodged with dreadful precise and good footwork, his speed fast as he boosted himself using his ss skill¡ªLight Feather Steps. After dodging the ninth fireball, Xavier captured Ka, slowing down slightly as she seemed to prepare another barrage of attacks, and that was when he attacked. A piercing light beam unleashed from his rapier, his signature most powerful attack.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Ka barely dodged it, and her attack formation canceled, but Xavier didn''t give her any more chance as he unleashed two more precise, piercing light beams. One of them squarely struck her, but her aura changed swiftly as she used her ss skill¡ªSpirit Possession: Geostorm Turtle. *Boom!* She dropped to the ground with a loud bang while unleashing a sandstorm in a big area, obstructing Xavier''s view. s, a stronger, more powerful beam prated through the storm and struck right on the turtle''s head, defeating her as her badge rang, signifying her loss. Xavier advanced to the top 10 position, eyeing Almond as he walked to the row of winners after Gto announced his victory and told him to stand on the other side of the tform. Match 2 began shortly. Amir the Tempest Gale vs. Emma the Toxin Mist. Both of them had an S-rank Primary ss and an A-rank specialized ss. Amir had wind elemental mastery, and Emma had a unique poison-attribute thanks to her primary ss. Amir used a spear, and Emma used a bow without arrows as she could create arrows using her Mana and buff them with her ss skill, making them poisoned. Amir closed in on Emma immediately, intending to use his ss skills in close range, but Emma also used her ss skill right off the bat, creating a ck-purple mist in 50 50-meter area. Both of their Focus Field was activated so they could observe each other. Amir was slowed down, and his vision was impaired, along with a reduction in his movement. But that was nullified as he increased his speed using his specialized ss skill and his wind elemental mastery. Two arrows came zooming at him, which he destroyed while he spun his spear, boosting it with wind energy. *Swoosh!* A powerful gale blew around him, blowing away the poisonous mist and clearing the area. Clicking her tongue, Emma didn''t waste Mana on this as she released two more arrows along with a ss skill that conjured a python-sized snake''s projectile with venomous fangs. Amir spun his spear again and also used his ss skill,bining the two as he unleashed a vertical vortex of wind gleaming with power. It destroyed the arrows and entangled the python, resulting in mutual destruction. Emma escaped while releasing arrows, maintaining the distance. Both of them destroyed each other''s attack and ran around the tform trying to hit each other, but the win went to Emma in the end as Amir consumed his Mana earlier, and Emma cunningly set a poisonous trap for him while exposing herself to an attack. Amir took the bait and ate the loss. "And the winner is Emma the Toxin Mist!" The audience cheered loudly at the battle that ended after an intense struggle between the duo. "Now, let us wee the two dark horses who matched against each other! Almond Crowshade and Marcus Venath!" Both of them moved to the center of the tform, maintaining 20 meters of distance between them as per the rules of this round. Gto handed out a sword and a shield to Marcus while giving a sword to Almond. "You may summon your pets this time, Almond. Everyone here has watched your fight against Xavier, so the audience is in much anticipation to see them." Almond smiled and stretched his hand forward, "Come out my spirit wraiths." Almond made a show by conjuring four fancy magic circles in the air, two to his left and two to his right. To his left, Dark Pope Benedict and Infernal Knight materialized, while to his right, Chimera Crystalist and Starlight Beast appeared. Gto sensed their auras, and he waspletely dumbfounded. The audience burst out in uproar as they saw the badass summons exploding in intense discussion regarding their appearance and wondering about their powers. ''Thed was right¡­what the fuck?'' Gto''s eyes glinted as he measured their auras using his skill. ''They are damn powerful!'' Even Marcus was sweating even before the fight began. ''What the fuck?'' "Oi, we seem to have be a spectacle here," Benedict spoke as he looked around. "We are on the TV, Ben. Focus," Ashkar spoke as he materialized his giant infernal sword and made a pose by stabbing it on the ground beside him and crossing his arms. Starlight Beast and Chimera Crystalists looked around, their bodies sparking. "Oh my," Kira''s eyes shone. "Those summons feel powerful and cool!" "Hehe, you don''t know anything yet," Natalia grinned and said as she was standing right beside Kira. The other participants were also startled. They had seen the video, but seeing them up close and sensing their auras gave them real tension. "Well! The summons look great, but let us witness their powers now!" The countdown hologram appeared in the center. Almond smiled at Marcus and asked, "Choose your opponent. I am not bragging, but if all of them attacked at once, you don''t have a chance to win." Marcus swallowed and looked at the summons. But then took a deep breath as the countdown neared zero and said, "I won''t choose. You may fight as you see fit." Almond raised his eyebrows before he nodded, a faint smile on his face, "Alright. Crystalist, go." The countdown hit 0, and Crystalist floated forward, its four floating quarts of crystals gleaming with blue electricity and giving off the unique geo-crystal light of its Earth/crystal-attribute. Marcus buffed himself and activated his Mana techniques before dashing forward, starting the battle. ''Prism Bolt Barrage,'' Almondmanded. Prism Bolt Barrage (A): Fires a flurry of crystal projectiles charged with lightning, dealing explosive area damage. Marcus saw the glittering crystals scattering towards him, and he instantly used a defensive skill. ''Not bad,'' Almond internally nodded. ''He reacted very fast, with no hesitation at all.'' It wasn''t a fluke that this Silver level 10 dark horse won against a silver level 30 Super Rookie. The copper-colored bulwark barrier protected Marcus from the bombard, but his expression didn''t look good. ''What the hell? That attack drained over 30% of my Mana!'' His barrier was unbreakable, but its Mana consumption was rtive to the attack it blocked. At that moment, he realized that there really wasn''t anyone among them who could defeat Almond and his four summons. But he didn''t intend to give up without fighting! ''diator''s Rush! Titan sh!'' Chapter 119 Rising Star Tournament (9), Almond vs Marcus, Hailstorm Herald ''diator''s Rush! Titan sh!'' Using two skills, Marcusunched swiftly towards Almond while ignoring Crystalist. Marcus''s dash was powerful, creating a fiery ming-brown aura around him, while his sword also suddenly became bigger and stronger, using Weapon Enfold to make it even more powerful on top of the ss skill he used. Hisbo skill produced greater power as his dash-by-strike was about to hit Almond with a sonic boom. It was truly a refined movebining his two skills for a powerful one-shot move. Almond was impressed. He almost wanted to sh his swords against his but refrained. Crystalist was already in the act of using the skills at a perfect time. Shatterstorm Field (S) + Static Bind (C) Right in front of Almond, a lightning-crackling square field of a 10-meter radius manifested with visible sparkling cyan wind making a square shape while crackling with lightning. Marcus was right in its center when the field manifested in his dashing motion toward Almond. Simultaneously, the Static Bind (C) activated as bright, sparkling yellow crystal-made chains wrapped around Marucs. Despite being a C-rank skill, it was significantly boosted when used within Shatterstorm Field. The moment it bound Marcus, he was forcefully stopped in his tracks with maic force and an intense shock that rendered his momentum to aplete halt and ceased his entire body''s function at once. Those were the effects of the skill as Marcus was rendered away, before the lightning damage was absorbed by the badge, it beeped loudly. Crystalist dispersed its skill. Everything went ording to the moment when Almond saw that fighting spirit in Marcus'' eyes, even after Crystalist''s attack shaved over 30% of his Mana. At that, Almond had given themand for this set of skills half a second before Marcus activated his skills. And when the next second waspleted, it was over. "And it''s overrrrrrr??!" Gto was shocked and also thrilled. ''Such powerful summons when he''s silver level 10?! Damn!'' The audience cheered loudly in uproar, everyone excited at the fancy disy of skills, especially the Crystalist''s attack that finished the match briefly after it began. This was also the moment when all silver-rank challengers here felt a rise in pressure for the first rank. Marcus got up, rattled but most of all thrilled. "You are crazy powerful." ''Just one summon is this powerful, but I clearly know the others are more powerful, especially those two humanoid ones!'' His eyes glowed in yearning and admiration, but most of all, a rise in fighting spirit! Almond raised his eyebrows, his Riftveil eyes gleaming as he sensed a magical shift up in Marcus.N?v(el)B\\jnn ''That''s an innate talent¡­or a trait?'' "And the winner is Almond the Fantastic Summoner!" ''What?!'' Almond looked at Gto, dumbfounded at his shitty title. ''Are you kidding me?!'' he directly ryed to Gto via Magic Whisper. ''Opsie, I just blurted out what came into my mind first. Sorry, bud. Live it with me for a while, hahaha!'' The audience roared in excitement as they were in a thrilling state due to all the noise and shouts, especially from the young adult generation and ''boys'' of all ages. "¡­" "Please move to the winner line, Almond the Fantastic Summoner." ''Almond, let''s talkter. I have a proposal or, rather, a request.'' Marcus said as he moved to the losers'' line. Almond was surprised, but he replied carefreely, ''Sure.'' Match 4 Jian the Warring Berserker vs. Maya the Hailstorm Ranger. One was a silver level 30 Super Rookie, and another was a silver level 10 Dark Horse who defeated one of the Super Rookies favored for rank 1 spot, Eliara Venholm, from the 4th rank Irond Guild. Maya didn''t use a provided weapon, but she had her unique weapons manifested from her primary ss, much like how Natalia had her instruments from her specialized ss. cial Drop Slingshot. Aquafrost Long Bow. Rimetide Knife. Hailspring Revolvers. As the battle began with the countdown hitting zero, Jian didn''t hold back on anything this time and properly used his Mana techniques¡ªFortification, Body Enfold, and Strength Boost at full throttle along with his ss skills. His body became twice as big with solid muscles, tattoos appearing on his body, and his fist wrapped in orange mes with a red hue. With two self-enhancing skills boosting him, Jian directly dashed using a movement skill as he wanted to finish the battle instantly. But Maya appeared unnaturally unfazed, her right arm stretched ahead with a pistol in her hand, standing diagonally. *Pew* A semi-silent bullet shot from the pistol along with a hazy strange yet control misty aura extending to iing Jian. The bullet struck him when he was just two meters away from Maya. Maya depleted 70% of her maximum Mana with that single bullet. She had wasted no time in using Mana techniques at all and instead used her ss skills, two self-buffs, while her mastery of Ice and Water elements enhanced her attack-type ss skill¡ªAbsolute Zero Rounds (S) Jian was firmly frozen in his steps, bing a popsicle down to his leaking aura that also solidified in ice. "Frozen Coffin," Maya muttered, the name she came up withbining her skills and using her Ice and Water mastery to enchant this one bullet of Absolute Zero Rounds, making it capable of instantly freezing everyone by freezing them in a block of ice. This worked with the bullet water''s attribute focusing on increasing moisture and water within the user''s body to a high level and then ice''s power freezing it with a boosted elemental reaction between ice and water, resulting in an instant popsicle of anyone struck by it. Almond was actually impressed as he saw that attack. ''Both elemental mastery are probably at B. Is she naturally attuned to water and ice with such a close affinity?'' Maya disyed an impressive fight in defeating the favored super rookie in the previous round, but nobody expected this instant kill attack of hers. "And the winner is Maya the Hailstorm Herald!" Gto changed her title, his shout infused with thrill! Nobody had expected such a result and the audience was all for it as an uproar rang as the dark horse showed a dominating attack! Jian thawed out as the badge had absorbed the damage and the attack''s effect dispersed. He stood nk, digesting his loss with a slightly ashen expression. Maya moved to the winner''s line as Gto gestured to her with a congrattion. The second dark horse made a spot in the top 10 by defeating a favorite for the first rank! Jian, the most active in the media failed to live up to his hype in both matches. Soon, the Match 5 began without further ado. Chapter 120 Rising Star Tournament (10), Round Finished, Top 10 Match 5 Ron the Geocrusher Fighter vs. Adrian the zing Ravager. Both of them were considered super rookies due to their primary S-rank ss and specialized S-rank ss, along with powerful performance. Ron was from the 8th rank Crimson Aegis guild, and Adrian was from the prestigious and powerful Reben family, famous for their hand-to-handbat style, which was now refined to a new level with their signature n skill¡ªGeoheart Suit (S), learnable if one had Earth elemental mastery. As the battle began, Adrian was wrapped up in an Earth-attributed semi-crystalized suit around his body. Ron had asked for a chakram weapon, so he used it, enhancing it with me-style Weapon Enfold as he had Fire elemental mastery. Ron was able to duplicate his Chakram into three more ones appearing as real as the original one, and their impact also seemed real as they crashed into the barrier Adrian erected for the defense. ''Dune Trap.'' Adrian used his skill, Dune Trap as he defended himself from Ron''s attack. Ron suddenly felt the earth beneath him binding him and turning sandy, forcing him to jump. ''Fuck,'' Ron knew he would be attacked, so he also unleashed a long-range ss skill¡ªPyrostic Bomb. A round bomb-themed orb shot at Adrian as he jumped, but Adrian enriched his Geoheart Suit and continued with his n as he attacked Ron right as he became airborne from the jump. Gence Strike¡ªQuad style! Four big spiky semi-crystal earthnces from four directions shot at Ron as Adrian''s finishing move worked, sessfully striking Ron while he was in the air and ringing his badge. Match 6 Jemma the Waterloom Haze vs. Finn the Thundering Might. Jemma was already known to have an S-rank Primary ss and an S-rank specialized. She was a Super Rookie belonging to the 10th rank Dusk Rain guild. Finn was from the guild ranked one above it¡ª9th rank Lightstrike Guild. Jemma was mainly a mage, using projectile skills and her refined movement skills to use unleashed water-attribute attacks, be they defensive, attack, or debuffing. Both of her sses were mage-type and mainly water and mist-attributed. Finn had lightning elemental mastery and used a giant hammer that came with his specialized ss, mainly lightning, but he also had some good projectile skills. After an intense battle of two minutes, Finn emerged victorious. Match 7 Anya the Silverbolt Whip vs Mira the Silent Shadow. Anya Fuego was a super rookie of rank 5th guild¡ªSilverfang Guild, one of the favorites for the rank one spot. She had no elemental mastery, but her S-rank primary ss¡ªDominion Whipmaster, and A-rank specialized ss¡ªStar Predator, were powerful. She had disyed a powerful performance and was one of the favorites for the rank 1 spot, herbat style being dynamic and powerful. Mira Nilok was an assassin-type with dark elemental mastery, but mainly the shadow attribute of it as she wasn''t at as high rank as Lily. The battle began with Mira vanishing and ten shadowy daggers shooting at Anya.N?v(el)B\\jnn But Anya''s whip crackled silverly as she whipped in the air, crashing a silver slit that forcefully absorbed all the daggers, nullifying Mira''s attack. Her eyes glinted silver as well, easily finding Mira because her specialized ss¡ªStar Predator, was tailored for hunting, and assassins already had a disadvantage against her. Anya''s whipping resulted in silver crackling projectiles that shed with Mira''s dagger and her skill projectiles, but Mira was shortly overwhelmed by Anya dominating the pace and finishing the battle within half a minute. Match 8 Lily the Dreadspire Harbinger vs Talia the Spellbound Gunslinger. The audience was fully excited for this match, but only because they wanted to see Lily in action. But Talia had lost against Marcus despite being the heir of the famous gunslinger expert¡ªGraves family, so she was extra determined to clutch the victory. s, the match ended and resulted in the expected oue¡ªLily won withplete domination! Dreadspire Warlock was too powerful in her hands! An assassin with overpowering debuffs and attacks! She walked to the winner line at the tform''s edge and stood beside Almond while the 9th Match began between two sword experts. Noah the Dreadsteel Swordsman vs Kira the Crescent Stormde! "Gto did dirty by giving you that title," Lily said with a pout. "I think it''s my fault. I told him to give you a good title with a despotic tone, and he deliberately gave you a bad one." Almond chuckled and gently rubbed her hand, "Nah. It''s my fault because I also taunted him, saying that he would need to do mental gymnastics for my title." "Well, he''ll have to change my title by the end of today''s matches," Almond grinned. "Who do you think will win?" Lily asked as she observed the intense sh of sword skills between Kira and Noah. "Depends, but with the way things are going, Kira will nab the victory unless Duncan improvises his sword style and predictable moveset," Almond said as he watched the battles. "Not to mention that Ryugiri n''s Sword Bending Motion is quite powerful." "Duncan family has a focus on self-power up and absolute stances of attack and defense, so he indeed needs to show a higher mastery and better swordy since they are roughly equally matched in stats," Lily nodded. Noah, wrapped in his steel-style Fortitude, was dishing out sword-sh projectiles and defending against Kira''s attacks in equilibrium. Meanwhile, Kira was progressively changing her attack patterns due to her flexible style. Both of them destroyed and nullified each other''s attacks. Duncan let himself get hit a few times in shallow ways as his metal-style Fortitude absorbed the damage. He dished out a powerful and cunning attack after letting himself get hit, but Kira managed to avoid it barely and gained the upper hand with the counterattack, finishing off the battle. "I win this time," Kira grinned. "Yeah, yeah," Duncan rolled his eyes. "Thatst move was good, but he failed," Almond wryly smiled, his head shaking. "He didn''t consider the possibility of failure to hit Kira. Mindset is very important during battle to bring out more possibilities." "Serves him right," Lily snorted. Gto announced the winner as Noah walked back to the loser''s line with an ashen face that he tried to hide and keep a carefree smile on his face. ''Focusing on appearance more¡­he is on the wrong path,'' Almond narrowed his eyes as he observed Noah. ''It''s fine to show the expression of defeat and frustration, but he is suppressing them and killing his own spirit¡­'' It was different from Julian, who showed his expression and frustration truly and used it to fuel himself, and Marcus, whose defeat fueled his fighting spirit and spirit of getting better. On the other hand, Noah dismissed his loss by telling himself this was just a spar in the end and not a real battle, lowering the importance of defeat and dousing his own spirit of improvement. Silvester Duncan, who sat on the VIP seat in boxes, also fumed as he watched the battle. "There, your grandson sucks. I am not bragging, but he is a far cry from Almond when ites to swordy." Rudra tlymented. "Have you been paying attention to him or not?" "That brat is going train with me until the Labyrinth opens without a break!" Silvester snorted. "I''ve been toox and gave him too much freedomst month just because he won against her a month ago." Rudra smiled and said, "If you want to shatter his arrogance, then I have a better way. If you train him now, then he''ll only get more arrogant after improving a bit." Silvester raised his eyebrows and turned to his friend, "You mean Almond? That¡­is not a bad idea, but I am afraid he will lose his confidence even more after that. Almond''s genius in the sword is terrifying." Rudra snorted, "Weak. Are Duncan family''s heirs raised with such a weak mentality that they would lose confidence upon seeing a better sword? Even if he can never attain that level, the spirit and desire of reaching that level must never be lost." Seeing Silvester hesitant, Rudra added, "Fine, no need to let him do sparring matches with Almond. I have a better candidate." "Who?" Silvester blinked. "Is there someone even better than Almond?" "No," Rudra shook his head, "But he is a better candidate to pair with Noah. He is a gold-rank adventurer in GAA who triggered an awakening here yesterday." "His sword was not bad, but worse than Noah," Silvester frowned. "How is he a better candidate?" "Julian was training with Almond, under his subtle guidance, and he improved tremendously because his thirst and desire to reach a high level never waned despite his bad sses," Rudra''s eyes glinted. "Julian has entered a phase of rapid improvement in terms of his swordy." As if he understood, Silvester''s eyes shone. "If Noah practices with Julian, he will see how Julian improves, and he will also get affected by him. Good idea, indeed. That Julian brat is a perfect candidate, alright. Both will improve fast." "Then I''ll send him to your family," Rudra smiled. "Make sure you teach him everything, including your family''s techniques and the main skill. This price is nothingpared to shaping up your heir''s psyche and improvement." "Of course," Silvesterughed. "He will get the chance to learn them." On the other hand, the final match also ended when these duo ended their discussion. Natalia the Chaos Symphony vs Eliara the Steel Fortress. Eliara was a super rookie and favorite for rank 1 from 4th rank Irond Guild. She was an off-tank, having metal elemental mastery and being a warrior with defensive and offensive powers. Natalia fought hard, but Eliara''sbat expertise and overall arsenal of power overwhelmed Natalia in the end, as the battle ended within a minute. Eliara knew that Natalia had high Mana based on her previous fight, so she had nned beforehand to go all out midway when given the opportunity since Natalia didn''t have a good movement skill and herbat ability wasn''t that refined. "Aw, look at her," Almond chuckled as he saw Natalia walking back to the loser''s line with a downcast expression. "But she did good. She has less training time and experience than others here, so she just needs to spend more time in training." "Mhm," Lily nodded with a smile. "She wasn''t expecting to reach this high, but now she is disappointed, haha. I guess she will train even harder now." "And with that,dies and gentlemen, we have finished this round!" The audience cheered loudly, chanting the names of their favorite contestants, resulting in a chaotic, cheery uproar. "We are going to have a longer schedule today, so sit tight and get some food during this break! After half an hour, the ranking battles to determine the 11th to 20th rank begin, and then the semi-final round to determine the top 5 will start!" "My dear little rising stars, we have a feast for you during this break, go and enjoy. It''s prepared in the underground hall." Almond looked at these Adventurers yearning to be stronger and had an idea. ''I''ll announce this to them after I enter the top 5. It will fire up their minds more that way, haha.'' As everyone got onto two stone elevators and descended into the hall, Almond was immediately approached by two people. Marcus and Kira. Chapter 121 Rising Star Tournament (11), Surprising Feast, Semi-Finals As Marcus and Kira approached Almond, a senior Adventurer who was already in the hall built a wooden table for twenty of them and said, "Sit here, the mystic food will being soon. It''ll recover you fully and get you to the best condition before the next round begins." "Let''s sit and talk," Almond said as he walked towards the table. Natalia took up the corner seat while Lily and Almond sat beside each other, with Marucs and Kira sitting across them. "So, what I wanted to request was, how about Ie with you to the 2nd floor?" Marcus asked, looking at Almond with a grin. "The four of us are at silver level 10, anyway." "I don''t mind," Almond smiled. "But you''ll have to follow my schedule and help meplete it if you want to join me." Maya, who was sitting next to Kira, quipped in as she looked at Almond, "Sorry to interrupt, but can I partake in this meeting? I am interested in your schedule. You have powerful pets on top of being a strongbatant yourself. I am assuming you will trigger the floor boss, so I want to participate." "I feel the odd one out as a silver level 30 here," Kira said, her elbows on the table and hands on her cheeks. "Anyway, you finish the discussion first, I''ll wait for my turn." "You won''t feel that after listening to our schedule," Natalia snickered. "Well," Almond smiled. "I do want some people to speed up my work. For starters, here''s the schedule. On the 15th of December, when thebyrinth opens, I want to clear the 2nd floor by the end of that day by triggering the Floor Boss." "Move to the 3rd floor and also clear it by triggering the Floor Boss as soon as possible. I am going to continue until I clear the 5th floor this month alone, which means I will be entering the Labyrinth on its 2nd cycle as well." Lily and Natalia knew about the n, so they did not react, but the others were dumbfounded. Continue your journey on empire "You serious?" Kira blinked. "Absolutely," Lily tly smiled. "So you want to make multiple groups that focus on going to the important areas to get Floor Boss triggering items for you?" Maya raised her eyebrows. "Sounds good. I am in." "Me too," Marcus grinned. "Sound fun. I haven''t fought the Floor Boss on the first floor, but I do want to fight them on the other floors if possible." "Then I guess I''ll also have a chance to fight the Floor Boss when you alle to the 4th floor," Kira grinned. "But everyone here at silver level 30 will enter, and they n to trigger the Floor Boss as well." "Good, you can do it on the first cycle," Almond nodded. "Because it''ll be 18th December when we enter the 4th floor, which means it''d be the second cycle of the Labyrinth, and we''ll be able to trigger it again." Ron, who sat beside Almond and was hearing them,ughed, "Sounds good on paper, but you want to clear three floors in three days and not just want to pass the floor but trigger their floor bosses and defeat them? Sounds unrealistic. We cleared two floors the previous month but didn''t trigger the floor boss. It''s faster this way." "It doesn''t concern you whether we can do it or not," Lily tly said. At that moment, the waiters arrived with lid-covered dishes arrived, and put them on the table one by one. Gto also arrived with them and said, "Rising stars, this food is enriching, made by the adventurers with mastery in their chef-rted subsses. They will increase your stats based on how you absorb them but know that this is a one-time opportunity. Stat-increasing food only works once, so better digest it and absorb its power properly." Everyone was surprised. The waiters opened the lid, and all twenty dishes in front of the participants were the same¡ªA steak with a thin leaf wrapped around it and meat juice leaking out from the cracks on the leaf. "This steak is your first dish of this feast. It will increase your Health by up to 5 stat points if you manage to fully absorb its effect. Use Mana, process the food''s energy as you eat it, and digest it properly." Gto grinned and added, "Five more dishes will arrive one by one, each one increasing one of the remaining five stats up to 5 points depending on how you absorb it. Now, go ahead and start digging this one." ¡­ Everyone was careful as to how to eat the food, aside from Almond, who already had his stats peaked for the silver rank. After finishing the steak, Gto told them to focus on absorption, so everyone had their eyes closed as their Health stats increased. A few minutester, the effect was fully absorbed, and most of them increased their Health stat by four while a few of them increased it by 5. The next batch of dishes arrived, with the effect of increasing their Mana¡ªa soup bowl. Everyone was focusing on the important food now, and nobody was talking much. It was very important, after all. "Almond, you are eating a bit too leisurely, you sure you got five stat points from the steak?" Gto raised his eyebrows as he saw Almond finishing the soup and leaning back on the chair. "Yep. Absorbed it fully and got 5 Health points," Almond waved his hand and burped. "The soup is also nice, very delicious." "If you say so..." Gto wryly smiled. ''The kid''s too carefree. Look at others, everyone is focused on getting the most out of this one-time opportunity.'' Gto felt Almond was lying about getting full stats, but it didn''t concern him enough to care. It was Almond''s loss, not his. Half an hourter, everyone finished all six dishes and got a boost in their status except for Almond. Afterward, Gto determined who would fight whom in the next round based on sticks again before it was finally time to start the next round for the winners. "Ladies and gentlemen! It is finally time to start the round that will determine the top 5! The match has been decided, and here are the match-ups!" The center hologram in the sky and the other eight holograms showed the match-ups. Match-1 -Xavier Rozerf vs. Emma Ziken. Match-2 -Almond Crowshade vs. Maya Himdar. Match-3 -Ron Lexus vs. Finn Arelion. Match-4 -Anya Fuego vs. Lily Darkwood. Match-5 -Kira Ryugi vs. Eliara Venholm. ¡­ The first match began without further ado as Xavier, the Piercing Light, and Emma, the Toxin Mist, arrived at the center of the tform. ''All or nothing,'' Xavier''s eyes were focused, and his expression extremely resolute. As soon as the match began, Emma used her usual tactic of using her ss skill to create a thick toxin mist area of 50 meters radius, covering Xavier, who was 20 meters away from her. But Xavier hadunched his attack as well, going all out with a single attack right from the start¡ªA super fast piercing golden light tore through the mist and directly struck Emma, who failed to dodge it or defend. *Beep!* The arena was silent briefly before huge cheers erupted at the instant defeat of Emma! "And this is it for the first match!" Gto shouted. "Xavier the Piercing Light wins!"N?v(el)B\\jnn *** [A/N: Yo, dear readers. Did you know that if this book gets 4 more reviews, I''ll publish a bonus chap, which means two more chaps today if the goal is met today? xD] Chapter 122 Rising Star Tournament (12), Top 5 Seats Almond and Maya walked towards the center as Xavier went on to stand at the winner''s corner, and Emma went to his opposite, the northwest corner. "Almond, the fantastic summoner, please make a show. The audience is excited for your summons!" Almond wryly smiled and summoned his Spirit Wraiths¡ªInfernal Knight Ashkar, Dark Pope Benedict, Starlight Beast, and recing Crystalist since it had fought yesterday. Wintersun Lady Nyssara! "Woah, woah, woah, the Fantastic Summoner has graced us with a new summon, a beauty no less!" As Nyssara appeared and processed the ongoing event, her hand fan transformed into a crystal shining gray ted hammer with icy patterns as it smashed into the ground beside her, while her graceful dress transformed into a crystal knight armor dress with a gray metallic color and icy patterns. The dress had a badass gray semi-metallic crystal long skirt and a thin crystal visor covering her eyes. "I smell a battlefield, Master," Nyssara spoke, a visible cold wave oozing out from her. The audience went absolutely bonkers as the screen showed her entrance, erupting in huge uproar. "This guy has crazy good-looking summons!" "Fuck, I am envious!" "She is so cool!" "I want a summoner-type ss!" Maya looked at Nyssara, feeling an ardent desire to face her as she summoned one of her ss-based weapons¡ªcial Drop Slingshot. Almond smiled, "You two would be a good match." "Well, let us start the countdown without further ado!" Gto shouted as the countdown appeared between the duo. ''Nyssara, your hammer is powerful, and you learned how to wield it properly. Fight on your own and keep in mind the training we had.'' Read exclusive adventures at empire Maya was focused, not a trace of smugness in her. Only a serious and dignified air hung around her as if she was ready to give her all in this battle. The countdown hit zero, and she instantly released a slingshot attack aimed at Almond. A strawberry-sized icy ball shot, breaking the sound barrier. *Smash!* Nyssara swung her arm, smashing her hammer to block it as it burst into an icy mist. Maya wanted to freeze that mist and debuff Nyssara, but before she could do that, Nyssara''s moving hammer that smashed her attack wasn''t just for defending. It instantly unleashed an icy spear that forcefully disrupted and used her attack''s icy mist to bolster her spear. Maya attempted to dodge without hesitation and seeded, her weapon already changed as she now wielded two revolvers. Both went for Almond. Nyssara''s eyes coldly gleamed. Luminous Squall¡ªS-rank skill! A dreadful storm descended on the tform, covering 100 meters of area. The storm consisted of attributes of light, ice, and water. Maya instantly started freezing, ice forming all around her body at once. Her speed drastically lowered, along with her chances of victory because of this skill. Meanwhile, Almond and other summons started gaining resistance to ice and an ethereal icy armor around them. This skill consumed Mana per second after an initial cost of 10% of her maximum mana. Within this storm, her speed drastically increases along with her other synergizing skills'' power. ''I can''t waste my Mana on resisting this. I have to finish her off before she finishes me,'' Maya began shooting without stopping. She used ss skill-generated empowered bullets and two buff skills, one from each ss, as she consumed 70% of her Mana. ''Good decision,'' Almond nodded. Good decision, but it made no difference to the final oue. Nyssara had already used another skill after Luminous Squall, a skill synergizing heavily with it, bringing out the ultimate offense. Prism icy crystals manifested around her, glowing with dreadful beauty. Radiant Ice Prism (S). Those crystals unleashedser-based attacks, precisely hitting all bullets. Maya emptied all 12 bullets in pairs of two, each half a second, but during these few seconds of confrontation, Nyssara nullified all of her bullets with her icy-lightser bullets. But that was not all. Nyssara had more crystals, and they began shooting at Maya while she dashed forward with her Hammer. Maya used a skill, breaking free from all the ice and making a focused run. She wanted to escape from this storm''s range. But her heart dropped shortly as she noticed that the storm was moving with Nyssara. ''Fuck.'' Her Focus Field discovered iing attacks as she jumped while her weapon changed, and she turned around midair, pulling the string of her Aquafrost Longbow. The gleaming arrow shot at Nyssara was a mere 5 meters away from her, already in a jumping motion to reach Maya. ''You can''t dodge this,'' Maya''s eyes glinted. But her expression changed in the next moment. Nyssara''s hammer struck the arrow, shattering it into a burst of icy mist while she spun midair using the sting impact and moved forward by releasing a burst of ice from her back. Maya'' wanted to move, but she could only think about moving instead of actually moving because¡­it was toote. Nyssara''s heel kick struck Maya on her head, shooting her down on the floor. But before she could do anything, the floor erupted in a big icy spike, with Mayapletely frozen inside it. Nyssaranded right at that time, gracefully yet deadly as her hammer swung right on Maya''s head as she descended, striking ruthlessly without the slightest hesitation. *Boom!* The crystal shattered, and Maya was sted down to the ground. The badge absorbed the entirety of the damage as a loud beep rang. *Uproar!* The audience burst out in uproar while Gto was wide-eyed as he shouted, "DAYUM! Ladies and gentlemen¡­dayum!!" "Wow," Kira''s eyes sparkled. "That summons looks like she has some goodbat sense. It''spletely different from the only skill show of his previous summon." "And she seems as intelligent as normal humans. Maybe all of his humanoid summons are intelligent and capable of good growth and learning. That''s¡­honestly crazy powerful," Marcus muttered. "Hehe, Almond has trained his humanoid summons inbat. They are pretty good, with theirbat style revolving around their powerful skills," Natalia grinned. "And trust me¡­Almond is a damn goodbat trainer." On the tform''s inner area, Maya stood up while still feeling slightly wobbly as she shook her head. Gto used some kind of skill to make her stable before looking at Almond and using Magic Whisper, ''Lad, this summons of yours was quite powerful. Are the other two humanoid summons the same?'' ''Of course,'' Almond replied. ''They are trainable, and I''ve taught them, so you need to change my title. I am not just a Fantastic Summoner.'' "Good fight," Maya stood up and nodded at Nyssara and Almond, "I look forward to our next meeting." After saying that, she walked towards the loser''s corner. "And the winner is Almond the Fantastic Summoner! Can''t wait to see his next match, right?!" The audience cheered loudly. ¡­ Match 3 began shortly. Ron the Geocrusher Fighter vs. Finn the Thundering Might. Both warrior-type and close-range fighters. Their battle was intense, a sh between Earth and Lightning. One used earthen gauntlets, and another used a thundering hammer. But in the end, Ron clutched the victory. The disadvantage lightning-element had against Earth yed a part, but that was no excuse because it was a matter of getting hit strongly or hitting strongly first. After their battle, Match 4 began soon. Anya the Silverbolt Whip vs. Lily the Dreadspire Harbinger. Anya tried her hardest, but Lily simply overwhelmed her. The best bet was to keep out of Lily''s Dreadspire Mantle''s range, but that was impossible given Lily''s primary ss¡ªPhantom Thief, which gave her a powerful dash and increased speed. She only used the Phantom Dance skill of her Primary ss while using Dreadspire Mantle and Warlock Enchant: Dreadspire Elements. Phantom Dance increased her speed drastically while also giving her a powerful dash trigger. Itsted for 1 minute, and during this minute, there was no way for anyone to escape Lily. Combining this with her Dreadspire Mantle that scared everyone within 10 meters of her, lowering their reaction speed and their attack and defense, it was over. Anya could only attack once, which failed, and then Lily overwhelmed her, finishing the battle within 13 seconds. Judging from the audience''s reaction, she became no less popr than Almond''s arsenal of summons because of her powerful vibe and visually delightful skills. As she went to stand by Almond, Gto called for thest match of the round. Kira the Crescent Stormde vs. Eliara the Steel Fortress. One was a katana user and a high-speed lightbatant with a focus on offense and movement aided by A-rank Water elemental mastery and a rich arsenal ofbat prowess with the katana and sword-based skills. The other was a warrior type using a spear and a shield with B-rank Metal elemental mastery, with a focus on both offense and defense. Everyone expected an intense sh between them, but Kira decided otherwise. The battle was over shortly after it began. Kira''s sh projectiles overwhelmed Eliara, preventing her from attacking and forcing her to defend. But she couldn''t defend enough. The round showed a clear and distinct difference between everyone''s prowess. "And there we have our top five Silver-rank adventurers! And among them will emerge the most powerful Silver rank adventurer, the one to grace the throne of the silver bracket of Rising Star Leaderboard!" "Without further ado, we shall start the battle of the top 1 spot right away. My little rising stars, use the potions and recover your Mana and Stamina," Gto handed over the potions to the top 5. On the loser''s corner, the five who lost could only watch while sitting cross-legged and observing the next round for the throne. "I''ll take the first spot," Xavier said as he turned to Almond, his eyes firm. Lily leaned ahead a bit and looked at Xavier, "Seriously, you can''t. It''s impossible." Xavier''s face flushed before he snorted, "We''ll see." Lily rolled her eyes. "There''s a fine line between delusion and confidence, but this line seems to be blurry for you." Gto coughed, attracting their attention while the holograms also showed him facing the winners from a side angle.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Now that you all recovered fully, let me exin the final round." Chapter 123 Rising Star Tournament (13), Final Round "The final round is extensive. The five of you will fight each other, and your ranks will be determined based on the points. Victory will give you two points, draw will give one point, and losing will result in a deduction of one point." "The matches have been arranged by us already this time, so let us start without further ado. Pleasee forward, Xavier and Ron!" Amidst the cheers of the audience, both of them arrived at the center of the tform, standing with 20 meters of distance between them. The countdown appeared, and both contestants became ready to sh. Xavier with his rapier and Ron in his geo-crystal suit and gauntlets. Their battle began with Xavier unleashing a piercing beam that Ron deflected with a crystal-round shield. "Your beams won''t work," Ron grinned and punched in Xavier''s direction right as a square crystal cube materialized. "You think I only have beams?" Xavier snorted and snapped his finger, creating a triangle of light that blocked the cube, resulting in mutual destruction. Ron tore through the smoke, his fist aimed at Xavier''s head. Xavier dodged by moving his head while stabbing his rapier, enchanted with light elemental power and his ss skill. Ron grinned and didn''t bother dodging or blocking it. Instead, he simply continued with his other hand, throwing his punch at Xavier''s head. Xavier''s eyes flickered as he used a movement-type skill. His feet glittered, and he jumped back while reluctantly canceling his stab attack. But even as he jumped back, he wanted to continue his attack, so he consumed more mana and shifted his stab attack to a long-range one, trying to aim at Ron''s face, which was unprotected by the geo-crystal suit. Ron reacted barely in time to dodge it since Xavier''sst-moment attack shift wasn''t as precise. In the next second, both of them shed against each other with their projectile skills before Ron closed in again.N?v(el)B\\jnn The intense battle was exciting for the audience to watch as both went for each other''s throats. Ron didn''t care to defend himself from Xavier''s attack and made sure that he would continue with his flurry of attacks. After all, the most vulnerable moment was when one was attacking because, during the act of attacking, one wouldn''t be able to defend properly. Using that tactic, Ron precisely went for deadly attacks while remaining close to Xavier when Xavier attacked, forcing Xavier to alter his patterns and movement. They managed to hit shallow attacks on each other a few times, shaving away their Fortifications'' durability, but it was up to them on how they used their remaining Mana. Ron dominated the pace of the battle from the start and managed to continue with it as hended a powerful punch enchanted with his ss skill and knuckles glittering with crystal spikes. The situation got bad for Xavier as he lost his Fortificationpletely, and he couldn''t afford to use it again due to low Mana. Both of them were low on Mana, but Xavier only had one chance to make aeback. He gambled and managed tond his attack on Ron, but unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to clutch the victory, and Ron''s sly punch struck Xavier, who had lost his Fortification as everyone witnessed the oue of the battle. "And the victory goes to Ron the Geocrusher Fighter!" Xavier cursed under his breath, frustration clearly visible in his eyes as he got up. "I guess you focused too much on one style," Ronughed. "Humph, you just had more resistance to my attacks and could deflect my main attack means because of elemental synergy," Xavier snorted, "But even that won''t help you against me next time." "Yeah, yeah, we''ll see." Gto told Xavier to stand at another corner while giving Ron a pill, "Here, eat this and recover fully because you will continue your matches until you finish fighting the other three and finalize your points." "I am ready," Ron grinned as he smashed his fists together before taking the pill and eating it. "So, who is my next opponent?" "Almond Crowshade, please enter the stage." ''Damn, this is going to be tough,'' Ron thought as he saw Almonding to the center area. Almond summoned only Starlight Beast this time instead of making a show of summoning four spirit wraiths. As soon as the battle began, Ron used a ss skill and made a powerful and quick dash toward Almond while his gauntlets extended with crystal spikes. ''I can shift my attacks midway, so if his summons block me, I''ll rain my attacks on it and finish it off as fast as possible.'' s, it was good to think optimistically, but it also required the ability to back that up. Starlight Beast simply used Cosmic Pulse (S), shifting the gravity within a 50-meter radius, increasing the gravity. Ron instantly stumbled midway through his dash and rolled forward. ''Wtf!'' "Roar!" *Crackle! Boom!* Before Ron could get up and stabilize himself, Starlight Beast dashed forward using Meteore Rush (A) and headbutted Ron strongly,unching him into the air while shifting Cosmic Pulse to lower the gravity instead of increasing it. Ron was in the air, and he hurriedly tried to use a skill. His Fortification was shattered with that head-butt, so he knew if he got one more solid attack, it would be over. s, he wanted to use Fortification again first to make himself safe, but before he could do that, Starlight Beast''s mouth was aimed at Ron, who was in the air, pulsing with power. Celestial Roar (A) It unleashed a powerful roar with ring waves crackling with lightning as a thundering sound reverberated. Ron was struck by this shockwave-type attack, shattering his Geo-crystal suit and dealing more than enough damage that the badge absorbed everything as it rang. "And once again, Almond wins the match without moving an inch!" *Uproar!* "That beast is majestic as fuck!" "It''s based on a lion and looks so freaking cool! That roar was pure delight to hear!" "Fuck! Bro is a one-man party with his crazy summons!" Almond won, and he went to stand beside Xavier while Ron ate a pill and got ready for his next match. Unfortunately, he lost against Lily. Finally, in hisst match¡­ he lost against Kira as well. Ron''s total points: -1. ''Fuck, am I going to be ranked 5th?'' Ron thought as he walked towards the southwest corner. But then came Xavier''s turn to finish his three matches. He lost against Lily and Kira as his points reached -3. Ron became hopeful. ''Lose one more, and I''ll be ranked 4th. Hahaha, you have no chance against Almond.'' Xavier had a lot of pressure on himself. ''Should I provoke him to fight himself instead of using his summons?'' ''No, I can''t do that. I don''t want to sound like a loser,'' Xavier clenched his fist as he saw Almonding to face him. ''I''ll fight with my all, whatever it may result in!'' Almond summoned Chimera Frank, the most terrifying and scary-looking monster among his Spirit Wraiths. Four legs, four pairs of big crystalized thin wings with colorful patterns, three tails with de-like tip parts, a different variety of two horns on all three heads¡ªone lion-like head, one Beaver-like head, and the third being a mix of fairy and harpy head, leaning towards human-style face just like those two boss monsters. "And there it is! Almond revealed his 6th summon! A hideous and terrifying-looking chimera! Holy hell!" ''Are you fucking kidding me?'' Xavier gulped. Even he felt like losing a few points of confidence seeing that monster. "Dayum," Ron muttered. "It looks simr to that White King Manticore, but only scarier." "Without further ado, let us start the battle!" One minuteter, Xavier was lying on the ground, holding back his frustration so that he wouldn''t scream. ''I lost all matches¡­'' "And we have our winner of the match, once again winning with utmost leisure as nobody has managed to get even close to him! The next one to fight the matches will be Almond, so I guess a new title is due, right?!" The audience cheered loudly. Many shouting Fantastic Summoner, but even more, agreeing for a new badass title. "You better give a good title this time," Lily muttered. "True," Kira chuckled. Almond turned to Gto, blinking in little anticipation. "Ahem," Gto cleared his throat, "With his summons that dominates the arena, he has established his absolute prowess here! The one-man army, the ringmaster who has never gone all out with his summons yet achieved effortless victories! Almond the Arena Overlord" "Now, let us witness his remaining two battles and see if he lives up to the title!" Kira moved to the stage to fight Almond, clearly excited. "Now, what will he summon this time?!" Gto shouted, eager to see another summon''s power, just like everyone else. "Well, no summon this time," Almond smiled as he stretched his hand towards Gto, "Give me a sword¡­hmm, a heavy sword will do." "Heavy sword against my quick Katana? Strange, but¡­" Kira blinked, but unlike having doubts like others, she was filled with anticipation and grinned. "I guess you are going to show me something interesting. I am excited." "I told someone I would show my heavy sword here against another one proficient in the sword, so this is a good chance," Almond said as he grabbed themon-rank heavy sword Gto gave him. Julian was among the audience and watching him, his eyes bing absolutely focused because Almond was using the Heavy Sword for him to observe. Lily was also excited, ''Show them some cool moves, darling.'' "Woah, woah, woah! Almond is really going to fight Kira with a heavy sword instead of using his summons! This is a twist we didn''t expect, but I am all for it! Let us start the match!" The countdown appeared between them while the audience quieted down, filled with anticipation, doubts, and assumptions. Chapter 124 Rising Star Tournament (14), Almond vs. Kira, Last Battle Almond stood as he leisurely held the Heavy Sword with one hand. As the countdown hit zero, both of them were ready with their preparation. Almond, with his Lightning-style Body Enfold and lightning-style Weapon Enfold. He didn''t use Fortification and also suppressed his stats to the same level as Kira after measuring her with his Riftveil Eyes. ''I am ready to explore the sword more and get inspired,'' Almond''s eyes glinted, clearly thrilled to observe Kira''s moves and swordy up close, especially the Sword Bending Motion. Kira acted fast, with her Weapon Enfold, Body Enfold, and Fortification in Water-style activated as a beautiful yet deadly watery aura shaped around her. She used Sword Bending Motion right off the bat and unleashed five sword sh projectiles from her Katana, all shes being her attack-type ss skill boosted by another ss skill. This was clearly her strongest attack so far with such a breakneck speed. Kira was going all out right from the start! But Almond waved his heavy sword, crackling with lightning only once with such a timing that all five shes, which were a minor distance apart from each other anding with sly trajectories, struck his heavy sword''s de during that single swing and nullified each of them. Kira''s eyes sparkled, and so did a few other figures watching the fight. Silvester literally jumped, "That brat countered multiple attacks released through Sword Bending Motion just like that?" Rudra chuckled, "I am not impressed by this anymore after I sparred with him several days ago." Almond walked towards Kira with his sword resting on his shoulder, "Continue your attack." ''That sword bending motion is a powerful skill. If I can learn it¡­'' Almond''s eyes glinted, his entire focus had shifted and aligned with a goal. Kira''s figure blurred as she dashed at Almond with a watery stream around her and Katana''s de vibrating with water coating. *Swoosh!* Stopping exactly 2 meters away from Almond, her Katana swung in her Crescent Moon stance. The katana''s tip was aimed such that it would sh at his throat precisely, only 1 centimeter of its tip, and that was enough to unleash her skill through it and deal powerful damage. s, Almond''s sword blocked it. But it was just a start. Kira''s hand motion flowed as if guided by a powerful force. A second sh, from left to right, and then immediately and instantly, a third sh formed as her hand moved from right to left at unnatural speed. Almond''s eyes glinted, ''A pre-decided trajectory created by mana¡­'' Meanwhile, to her attack response, Almond simply waved and held his sword vertically while moving back slightly, perfectly parrying Kira''s dual attacks. But Almond knew that wasn''t all. Kira''s first attack disyed her current mastery of Sword Bending Motion as she had woven her hand at unnatural speed five times in one second. Kira moved back and shed horizontally at the area before a wave of water formed and burst toward Almond and prepared for a powerful attack as her eyes glinted. ''Six bending motion.'' Almond was unbothered by the wave as he held his ground and discharged lightning to st away water from himself. His eyes were only focused on Kira''s movement and her aura, his advanced Focus Field observing the Mana''s movement. Since he had reached Stage 2 of Focus Field faster, thanks to his high stats in Perception and Focus, he could now clearly observe one''s Mana flow, inside and outside, aside from the increased range of his field and efficient consumption. He could do one more thing at stage 2, but that wasn''t required here. Almond saw a flow of mana in a zig-zag pattern around Kira''s hands as her sword and hand bent, following the zig-zag patterns within a single second and unleashing six shes with minor differences. Kira''s eyes shed a hint of pain, but that was overshadowed by her thrill. The six shes glowed powerfully with cutting water edge, striking towards Almond right after he discharged lightning to keep his ground and keep away water''s force. Almond''s eyes shed a hint of a smile, ''Well, I should show the heavy sword''s swordy, too.'' He had already held the sword with its de''s wide t part facing Kira and swung it in a timely manner as her six shes were about to strike him. Almond''s thought process was exactly two seconds faster than whatever physical movement he could observe with his eyes and Focus Field. So he could prepare two seconds ''ahead'' in a sense, as long as he could form a prediction of iing attack by seeing through the attack. Despite his suppressed stats to make things interesting, Almond had seen through her attack and disyed the power of his heavy sword as he swung it hard, generating a wider physical force that he enriched with lightning energy by using Mana. Kira''s six swings and six shes¡­were entirely destroyed by a single swing of his heavy sword, which also pushed Kira away as she had to quickly dodge due to lightning crackling at her with Almond''s intentions. ''His lightning elemental mastery is high! Higher than my A-rank water!'' Kira''s pupils shrank. She could recognize that because she couldn''t make a simr elemental application with her water element that Almond just did because shecked that level of control over water! "Golden lightning! Almond''s elemental mastery over lightning is not only high, but he also has a variant, and he is holding his own in swordy against the heir of the Ryugiri n! Mindblowing!" "Let''s continue," Almond said, his eyes eager. He wanted to see Sword Bending Motion one more clearly. Kira''s aura surged as she consumed half of her remaining Mana to make her Katana more powerful before dashing at Almond again. Almond saw a simr mana flow appearing around her hands and knew it wasing. ''This is myst chance¡­I am going all out!'' Stopping two meters away from Almond again in her Crescent Moon stance, Kira shed her sword glittering with water element as she used an attack thatbined her attack-type ss skill¡ªSplitting Water sh (S), and an attack technique using her Sword Bending Motion. Crescent Moons of Deep Blue! Kira swung her sword four times, but these four times were executed most powerfully as her sh projectiles formed a visual of two crescent moons facing each other as if they peeled from her katana, while her katana''s tip aimed in such a way that if it struck him, it would sh off both of his arms and head from his neck. This was a deadly two-fold attack. Her Katana physically attacked Almond while the act of her swinging katana and using a technique in tandem with her skill masterfully executed that projectile attack as well. A super-fast two-pronged attack! The experts watching were highly impressed as they watched this deadly sword art. ''You really learn awesome things by observing others,'' Almond was internally grinning from ear to ear, his hand already in a swinging motion. Mana flowed around his hand and elerated, forcefully bending his hand that was already at maximum physically exerted speed to go even faster, beyond the limit of what was possible¡ªSword Bending Motion: Two Bendings! Left to right and right to left immediately while Almond felt a crack in his bones. The first swing left to right deflected Kira''s melee katana attack. The second swing, surging with lightning, destroyed the Crescent Moons of Deep Blue in an intense sh. Kira was thrown away due to the impact brought by heavy swords two shes, while Almond was also pushed back slightly. ''Fuck,'' Almond quickly used Mana to fix his bones temporarily. *Beep* Kira''s badge rang because Almond''s attack also aimed lightning tendrils traveling through the air that struck Kira when Almond swung his sword, and he had infused considerable Mana for that lightning, which destroyed Kira''s Fortification and damaged her enough that the badge rang after absorbing its damage. "You¡­" Kira swiftly got up, her eyes glinting as she Magic Whispered, ''Did you just use Sword Bending Motion?'' ''I did, but I missed a step or two, I guess,'' Almond chuckled. ''But I am inspired. I''ll have to research properlyter because I have an idea to create a skill.'' "And he freaking did it! He defeated Kira the Crescent Stormde with his sword alone! Whaatttt!" The audience went bonkers, and Gto only boosted the hype. "HOLY HELL!" "What the fuck is wrong with him?! Aren''t summoners supposed to be weak inbat?!" "That''s only in the video games, dumbahh!" "Who can defeat this, bro?! No one!" "I am a fan now! This guy is invincible in silver rank!" ''Hey, Almond, tell me your ss names already, and I might give you a new title,'' Gto asked while grinning. ''Spirit Dealer and Riftveil Grimde.'' ''I must say,d, you are quite talented. Better keep this up and catch up to us, hahaha.'' "Now, without further ado, we shall start the final match of Almond the Grimde Overlord! If he wins this match, the throne of strongest silver-rank shall belong to him!" "Against him is Lily the Dreadspire Harbinger, who is no less intimidating than her opponent! Both of them have won every match against others so far, so it is time to decide the champion of this tournament!" "Are you ready?!" The audience broke out in huge cheers for both of them as Gto announced the start of the match after giving Almond a pill to recover his Mana and Stamina. Lily grinned. "Let''s have some fun, darling~"N?v(el)B\\jnn "As you wish, mydy," Almond smiled. The uproar increased even more as their exchange was visible to everyone! "Damn, are they dating or what?!" "No way, right?!" "All hail the perfect couple!" "So I don''t have a chance to be Almond''s girlfriend?" "Pff¡­quit dreaming." Gtoughed and said, "Let us witness the battle between the couple before their breakup!" Lily and Almond looked at Gto. "Eh, I''m just joking. Don''t look at me like that. Look, the countdown is at zero!" Chapter 125 Rising Star Tournament (15/15), Hollowstar Group Lily and Almond could fight the most spectacr battle of this tournament, but they didn''t care to give it to the audience. They had fought by going all-out multiple times, and there was no need to show all of their cards here. Almond also didn''t need rewards, which were permanent stat-increasing items. He wanted to give the first spot to Lily, but Lily tly rejected it. She would ept the reward items from him, but not the first spot that she didn''t earn. As such, they fought seriously, but in their limitation and purely based onbat ability with their weapons and move-set. Almond won as expected, but their battlested for two minutes because they were in their sparring-learning mode, and it was still a delight for the audience and certainly the most spectacr battle for the silver-rank bracket.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om VIP booth of Proximax Guild. A neatlybed, ck-haired middle-aged man stood with his hands on a sword''s hilt that was stabbed in front of him. It was a ck sword with dark green and dark red cracky patterns. Guild leader of Proximax¡ªLiam Sunbreak, and Rank 1 in Global Adventurer Leaderboard. The other seven people, three women and four men in this booth, all held a simr kind of vibe as if they were a military unit with the utmost respect and trust towards their leader. "I suppose there are a few gems worth inviting," said a blond-haired woman with a long ponytail style, looking in her thirties, wearing an office secretary suit. "It''s been a few months since we allowed anyone in," Liam nodded, his thin beard as jet ck as his hair. "But there are a few worth inviting this time." "Who will it be, leader?" a red-haired slim man looking in histe twenties said with a grin, his teeth slightly spiky and vibeical. But there lurked a sea of blood behind his crimson eye. Zyger Joy¡ªa rtively young adventurer who made a spot in the top 20 of the Global leaderboard. "Aside from the top five, send invitations to Maya, Marcus, and Anya, and¡­Noah." "Leader, could we get Natalia too? I believe she has the spirit to do better," a slim ck-haired girl in herte twenties said. "Of course, unless you have nned to give the 10th slot to someone else." Liam rubbed his beard before he faintly smiled, "I was saving the 10th in case we find someer this month. But you are right. Send one to Natalia as well." On the other hand, League of Firefly''s VIP booth was more lively. "That kid''s powerful. Lily will only grow stronger staying by his side," Executive Ken said with a grin as he nced at Aria, who sat on a couch watching the screen. "It''s disappointing that we couldn''t recruit someone like him, but nevertheless, it won''t hurt to have Lily maintain her rtionship with him," the leader of the guild spoke¡ªshe was a fiery oranged-haired woman with a hot figure in her thirties, wearing a white, military-inspired outfit with a mini-skirt and leggings, with a sleek and formal aesthetic,plemented by ck ents on her sleeves and waist. 2nd rank Global Leaderboard ¡ª Quinn Firefly. "I suppose I can''t deny that after seeing how she has improved when training with him for the past week," Aria nodded. "But that Almond is quite powerful. Aside from his strong ss, hisbat sense is off the chartspared to others of his age," Executive James said as he lit up a cigarette. "Should I try to poach him?" "Don''t do that unless you want Admiral Rudra toe and have tea with you." "Fair point. I''ll steer clear of him." Meanwhile, a guild ranked 14th in the Guild Leaderboard was having a mourning. Thunderbird Guild VIP booth. The case of Zolen and his son hit them hard even though they weren''t partners in that duo''s deed. The media storm fucked their Guild''s reputation, and their recruitment was already reduced, with many canceling their application. "We have to mend our wounds," Thunderbird leader Kalen said as he narrowed his eyes and looked at the screen, watching Almond. "The best way is to have a favorable opinion from someone famous. For the younger generation that is toe, it would be the new and rising Adventurers." "What''s the n, leader?" "Although I want to make the Guild appear in a better light, we need toy low for now and inspect our guild thoroughly. I don''t want another case like that, sick fuck Zolen. I am going tounch an investigation, and everyone will cooperate, you all too. It''s not strange to have a skeleton or two in the closet, be it due to circumstances or dire situations, but I won''t tolerate going as low as Zolen. So, If you have skeletons in your closet, you better clean them now." ¡­ Since the top 5 ranking was solidified, Gto announced the rewards they were going to get. Rank 1 got a set of consumable items¡ªPower Fruits (A) that could increase all six stats by 15-20. Rank 2 got a set of Power Fruits (B) that could increase all six stats by 10-15. Rank 3, 4, and 5 got a set of Power Fruits (C) that could increase all six stats by up to 10. Rank 6th to 10th would get a set of Power Fruits (D) that could increase all six stats by up to 5. From the 11th to the 20th, the rewards changed to two consumable items that randomly increased one''s stats by up to 20 each. So, they could gain up to 40 stat points. Power Fruits were the product of the 10th Floor, from a hidden area where the mysterious tree grew that bore fruits to increase stats. It was discovered recently by GAA, or more precisely, it was Admiral Rudra who discovered it, so they decided to distribute them this way. The downside was that these fruits only worked once. After eating a set of fruit from the tree of each rank, the fruits wouldn''t give any more stats. The tree''s fruit-bearing cycle was monthly, so GAA could harvest the fruits every month. It had been three months since they had the tree, and since each cycle gave 10-15 sets of fruits of different ranks, they had gathered quite a haul. If a Guild had found that location first, they would have taken it for themselves and monopolized it. It could also spark wars between the guilds, after all, such a mysterious tree with stat increasing fruits was a huge boon. After the top 5 got the fruits, the battles to determine the 6th to 20th ranking began. Natalia grabbed the 15th spot, sitting borderline at the top 15, and got two consumable pills with the effect of randomly increasing her stats by up to 40 points total after using both pills. The Silver-bracket''s Rising Star Tournament was officially over with that, along with today''s schedule. Everyone began leaving, mostly in airships. ¡­ The next day arrived, beginning the 5th of December and the quarter-final round for the Gold-rank Adventurers. But while the whole world was watching the tournament, "They" made their move ording to their schedule. In a remote location at the southern pole where no one was living, a group of 30 people in the same ck cloaks with hazy white and blue patterns arrived, each cloak also had a strange symbol of a spiral with an eye in the middle. They arrived at a Labyrinth Gate that was slightly buried in snow and cleaned the area. "It''s time, brethren. We have seen the other world, and we have seen what powers Hollowstar can give us. It''s time to shake this game board and make new rules." "Once our n seeds and this world gets thrown into chaos, Hollowstar''s forces will help this world and take it under their banner," the leader spoke with fervor. "In that new world, we will be the rulers!" Your next chapter is on empire After the speech, he walked in front of the closed Labyrinth gate and stabbed a mysterious glowing dagger into its stone wall. Cracks spread from the point where the dagger was stabbed, glowing violet, purple, and blue. After a few seconds, a small area of the gate shattered, revealing a familiar whirlpool. The dagger disintegrated afterward. "We have 48 hours for this operation, but we will stick to our projected simtion andplete the tasks within 38 hours. We''ll likely face some difficulties, but if we do everything as we devised, we''ll seed within 48 hours and exit safely." "Form a chain!" The leader extended his hand towards one behind him, and he extended his hand to another. All 30 people made physical contact so that they would all arrive at the same Safety Zone. "Group 1, you''ll go to the Red Fall Area and retrieve the item as soon as possible!" "Group 2, you''ll finish your task at Duskwraith Grove in half an hour before moving to the Hunting Bell Forest!" "Group 3 will focus on finding the most important items. I''ll be moving solo toplete the other task. Stay in thework andmunicate properly. If you face any trouble, ask for help immediately." "And most importantly, don''t let the cloaks get damaged! They are durable but not unbreakable. Make sure they are protected by your Mana because if your cloak is damaged, a Rule Enforcer will awaken and find you. Your death will be certain after that, ording to Hollowstar Emissary." After arriving in the safety zone resembling a small old town waiting to be revived, the thirty of them split into three groups as the leader barked orders. They soon teleported to other safety zones by paying Gold Coins and going to the safety zones near the locations where their objectives were located. As for the leader, he also teleported and arrived at a safety zone at a river''s bank. He summoned a giant ck crow with glowing violet feathers and patterns before mounting on it and flying away. ''Rudra, I hope you''ll like the present we are preparing for this world.'' Chapter 126 Until the Labyrinth Opens (1/2) The first thing on December 5th Morning, Lily and Natalia ate the items that increased their stats and processed them. Almond also gave his fruit set to Lily, but it wouldn''t work on her since she had already eaten the same rank of fruit set. As such, it went to Natalia, who benefitted from a big boost in stats, gaining a total of 133 stat points by eating six fruits and two pills. [Natalia Lorzach] -Adventurer rank: Silver. -Level: 10 -ss: Mirage Witch (B). -Sp.ss: Chaosbound Serenador (SS). -Vitality: [100%/100%]. -Mana: [1300/1300]. -Stats: -Physical: ?[Strength: 49 | Health: 45 | Stamina: 41] -Mental ?[Mana: 68 (+68) | Focus: 42 | Perception: 41] "The status is looking good now with better numbers," Almond smiled. He turned to Lily and said, "You both are close in stats now." [Lily] -Adventurer rank: Silver. -Level: 10 -ss: Phantom Thief (S) -Sp.ss: Dreadspire Warlock (SSS) -[Vitality: 100%] -[Mana: 650/650] -Stats: ?[Strength: 65 | Health: 40 | Stamina: 39] ?[Mana: 69 | Focus: 40 | Perception: 43] "Let''s finish eating and watching Julian''s match now. I want to train after that," Natalia said as she went to the kitchen to bring the food. Almond and Lily went to sit at the table and turned on the TV. Your journey continues on empire The matches had just begun, and the second battle was ongoing. The trio soon finished eating and watched as Julian made his way into the top 50. Julian was training the whole day yesterday, improving hisbat style and modifying it based on the massive improvement he had. He had gotten insight into using his heavy sword in a new way thanks to Almond and, even more so, synergizing it better with his evolved ss. Julian''s overallbat power improved drastically. The trio stopped watching after Julian lost. They didn''t watch his ranking battles and began training. Meanwhile, Julian''s journey ended in the top 50 as he achieved 44th rank after fighting his ranking battles. But Julian did beat that arrogant Doman who used to win against him in the GAA training field. As for the final result, the top 10 were the prodigious ones who were in their early twenties and awakened in thest three years. Up until one year and eight months ago, the strongest powerhouse was at the peak of the Gold rank. The front liners had just defeated Floor 8''s boss and unlocked the 9th floor, opening doors to the tinum-rank advancement. Naturally, this increased the number of tinum-rank drastically, and they were still increasing as Gold-rank Adventurers were increasing in numbers as the door to Gold-rank had been opened 5 years ago. By now, the number of tinum-rank Adventurers had reached around five hundred thousand, even if not all of them were focused inbat. As such, the current highest number of Gold-rank were young adults in their twenties and more talented on average due to the world shifting its focus onbat, opening dojos and academies to prepare a new generation for the Labyrinth and the age of Adventurers. ¡­N?v(el)B\\jnn The following days passed by in peace and anticipation. The Rising Star Tournament waspletely finished on the 10th of December, creating a new ranking for the Silver, Gold, and tinum rank Adventurers under certain age limits: 25 for Silver, 30 for Gold, and 30 for tinum. Of course, the Global Adventurer Leaderboard was still separate as it offered no rewards and only fame, while the Rising Star Leaderboard was to support a new generation of Adventurers. The age limit was wider this time, but the next tournament 3 monthster would have a narrower age limit, with 30 for tinum, 25 for Gold, and 20 for Silver because there were already many young Adventurers who awakened in the past two years reaching tinum rank, especially the talented with high-rank sses. And a new wave of the more prodigious batch was rapidly in development, led by none other than Almond. He didn''t pay much attention to the tournament after the 5th day, in fact, almost no one on the silver leaderboard of Rising Stars did. Almond, Lily, and Natalia only trained, improving various aspects of theirbat style and arsenal. Marcus and Maya joined them on 6th December and continued training with them daily. Kira had also been in touch since the tournament, as everyone had exchanged contact. She wanted to join them, but her family strictly prohibited her from doing that for a special training of her own. Julian had disappeared on the 7th as he had gotten Rudra''s favor in light of his budding talent and the burning resolve he showed to get strong. He was sent to the Duncan Family Estate. But he didn''t know it was Almond''s idea the first time. Julian could benefit a lot more and gain more knowledge on the sword if he trained at Duncans, who had a heritage and proper knowledge of the sword. Almond knew he was good at the sword and maybe a god at the sword if he was bold, but it wasn''t something he could teach to others. The way he improved wasn''t systematic or step-by-step. He was on a journey to explore his sword constantly, and he wasn''t going to stop anytime soon. As such, while in this state, he couldn''t afford to teach others to improve them beneficially. But his presence in practice and a few critical words made with his observation still guided those around him as everyone trained daily. Almond had put his entire focus on improving his Mana techniques first. He wanted to reach stage 2 in all techniques because he could, given his crazy high stats. It was a clear untapped potential that he could tap fast and gain a big boost in power. Lily, Natalia, Maya, and Marcus also sparred against Spirit Wraiths, who had higher stats and more skills. In group battles of 4 vs 4, the four of them lost more than they won, but both sides were getting better and better each day. On the 10th of December, Almond finally reached the second stage in Strength Boost, Fortification, Focus Field, and Aura Enfold, which almost made him twice as strong in a sense and more in an overall sense. Although this made everyone''s jaw drop, including Rudra''s, Almond knew it was given. His Mana control was high naturally as if he was very attuned to it, and this was even more prevalent with his 200 points in Perception and Focus. The boost these stage 2 of Mana techniques provided could make someone significantly powerful, but that significance was more significant for Almond than it was for average adventurers. Chapter 127 Until the Labyrinth Opens (2/2) Stage 2 Strength Boost now increased his Strength to 150% at level 10, a whole 50% bonus. With his mana recovery, he could perpetually keep this technique activated, but simply a 50% boost in strength wasn''t all that stage 2 offered, of course. With Mana being highly in sync with his physical body during Physical Enchantment at Stage 2, he could now consume Stamina at an increased rate for a short-term boost in physical attacks, like making certain parts of his body highly stronger, up 100% stronger. This meant that if he punched with his 100 Strength stat, it would be boosted to the power of 350 Strength stat if he used his Stage 2 Strength Boost to full power. The cost of stamina-to-strength conversion for the short-term boost of extra 100% Strength varied depending on the mastery and control of Mana. For instance, Julian had also reached Stage 2 of Body Strength a month ago, but to acquire that 100% extra boost in Strength on a certain part of his body for an explosive move or attack, he had to consume 28% of his maximum stamina. But Almond had reached the ideal conversion rate. 10% of Stamina consumption = 100% of strength Boost for 2 seconds on a certain body part. This was the highest possible for Stage 2 Strength Boost. Stay tuned with empire Fortification Stage 2 also did a simr job but tailored for its effect. Fortification was creating awork of Chakra points using Mana to connect them all and leak out Mana evenly around the body to provide an ethereal coating around the user that would remain for a few minutes, granting a natural skin-tight barrier that would absorb damage and protect the user. While in Fortification, one''s entire body would be tougher, internally and externally, thanks to a mana-empowered chakrawork.N?v(el)B\\jnn This skin-tight barrier also had a certain resistance to physical and magic attacks, but it could be strong if one could use elemental style on it. Stage 2 of Fortification was about evolving that skin-tight barrier, which was possible only after one reached a certain level of Mana control. At Stage 2, the skin-tight barrier would be highly transparent and make it look invisible, unlike in Stage 1 where one could easily recognize it due to the blue color. This thinner, transparent version of the Fortification barrier could only be achieved with pressured mana leaking, the crux of Stage 2. For that, one must flow mana through the Manawork instead of just creating thiswork by connecting chakra points. After a single cycle of flow in thework to make the Mana more condensed and thin, this Stage 2 of the Fortification barrier woulde into existence¡ªa barrier 100% more powerful than before and also capable of being highly attuned to any elements, making it ideal for using elemental-styles on it. Elemental-style Stage 2 Fortification could be a generator of refined elemental energy to boost skills by converting the flowing Mana from the chakrawork into elemental energy instead of using normal Mana from their Mana pool. Stage 2 Focus Field''s specialty was extending one''s sense in a narrower field but limitless distance, only limited by one''s Mana consumption¡ªLinear Eye mode. The default Focus Field was a dome of sense around the user, allowing the user to observe everything in 360 degrees, but it had a certain limit to its range. On the other hand, Linear Eye mode was like a string. This string had a range of sensing everything within a certain meters of its radius. This string could be extended as long as one had Mana. Using it, one could observe what was happening 1 kilometer away as the string acted like eyes, but it gave a limited field of vision to the user, less than normal human vision. Still, Focus Field could turn into an excellent scouting move at Stage 2. Lastly, Aura Enfold. Stage 2 Aura Enfold was a whole lot of new dishes. Almond wanted to cook it as soon as possible because the second stage of Body Enfold and Weapon Enfold opened a whole new perspective tobat. Battle Art¡ªthe art ofbat synthesized by using one''s everybat aspect: abination of Skills, elemental mastery, physical movement mastery, andbat techniques to deliver the masterpiece art of theirbat style. But before that, it was time to learn a new skill. The day of Labyrinth opening was approaching with only 5 days remaining. All five of them had their specialized ss ongoing. Marcus and Maya were on the same quest as Almond, Lily, and Natalia. All of them have gained 2 ss skills so far, so it was time to use their next skill insight and get the 3rd ss. But since it would knock them out for 24 hours, everyone decided to do it turn by turn. ¡­ On the 14th of December, after everyone finished breakfast, they went outside for training as usual. Aside from Almond, the others had finished creating their third specialized ss skill. And today, it was Almond''s turn. "Alright, I am entering meditation now. See you after 24 hours," Almond waved his hand as he walked towards Grimlord''s Garden, as named by Sylvia and Nyssara. Theybined their garden into one several days ago and were improving it whenever they didn''t train with others. They ultimately created an aesthetically beautiful and highly pleasing garden disying the artistry of greenery and crystals, with a meditative open pavilion built in the center. Almond sat inside cross-legged and entered meditation as he used his skill insight. ''I''ve created my first battle art, I''ve improved my skills andbat style. Now, I desire a skill that can give me a new flow in mybat.'' ''I''ll make myself supremely powerful because no amount of power is enough if I want to change the destinies dictated by others.'' Almond lit up his burning desire as he drove himself into the pit of darkness to create his new ss skill. Labyrinth was opening tomorrow, and with his new skilling into the y, Almond wished to rumble across the Grand Abyss Labyrinth like he owned it all! Chapter 128 Emergency Alert, Second Floor of the Labyrinth (1) 16th December. It was early in the morning, but thousands of people were gathered at all four Labyrinth Gates located in the Firefly City. Frostar City was small, but this city was big, so there was a traffic control structure built around the Labyrinth gates to control the flow of people wanting to enter the Labyrinth on the first day. At one of the four gates near the League of Firefly guild, Almond''s group was in the huge hall built to contain the gate. The hall had a few hundred people, but thousands more were waiting outside. The guild basically had a VIP entry, as their members would be the first ones to enter. There were roughly a hundred of them in the hall, along with a few other smaller guilds, GAA members, and other forces. Xavier was also there with his party of silver level 30 Adventurers, asionally ncing in Almond''s direction direction while talking with others. Almond''s group was at the front of the gate in the hall, along with parties of League of Firefly and two GAA parties. "Kill as few monsters as possible," Almond said. "Your goal is to get the floor boss trigger items only and keep your level as low as possible. The target time is to reach the Floor Boss chamber of this 2nd Floor within 5 hours." "I can''t wait," Marcus grinned. ording to the n, Almond''s party would enter as three groups. Group 1: Marcus, Maya, and Chimera Frank. Group 2: Lily, Natalia, and Starlight Beast. Group 3: Almond. Chimera Frank and Starlight Beast could also act as mounts for them to travel fast through the Labyrinth. Almond gave them to speed up the tasks. "If we kill the Floor boss while being lower level, we''ll get even better rewards, right?" Maya asked. "Well, that''s how it should work," Natalia said with a nod. "You guys are seriously nning to do that?" Almond, Lily, and others turned to voice''s direction and saw a grouping their way. It was the group of Gold-rank Adventurers from League of Firefly¡ªRyker, Sam, and their friends. "Well, that''s the n," Almond smiled. A few more people just arrived at the gate, the big shots of the League of Firefly guild. Lady Aria moved like a cloaked shadow and arrived before Almond''s group, "Lily, Natalia, make sure to use Mana techniques and physical moves along with skills. Don''t just rely on skills." "We know," Natalia cheekily smiled. "We also know you are telling us to do that so that we can create our battle artter." Lady Aria raised her eyebrows and nodded, "Well, since you know, then focus on it. Especially you, Natalia." "Greetings, senior Aria," Ryker and his group greeted Lady Aria respectfully. Lady Aria simply nodded at them and swept her nce at Almond and others before nodding, "All the best." The clock also hit 7 o''clock shortly, and the gate finally opened. The silver-ranks groups were supposed to enter first, and everyone was familiar with the procedure, so the group lined up ording to their party number. A minuteter, Almond''s party also entered. Maintaining physical contact with another person would make both of them spawn at the same starting location, so parties entered while holding their hands. A few minutester, however, all tinum-rank adventurers who were gathered in the hall suddenly received notification in their wristwatches as they beeped loudly. "What?" "How is that possible?!" "What the fuck¡­" ¡­ Admiral Rudra stood with a grave expression on his face as he looked at the Labyrinth Gate. The GAA hadunched their Arcane Eyes into all floors by letting their Adventurers carry them inside and activating them. But when the tinum-rank Adventurers who were supposed to enter the 10th Floor with Arcane Eyes entered, the safety zones were disabled, and all of them received a notification that the Floor Boss had been awakened and¡­.no one could leave until it was defeated. One of them instantly died in an attack from the Floor Boss. The entire floor had been transformed, and its glimpse was visible through an Arcane Eye before it was destroyed. Admiral Rudra immediatelymanded his IT department to send emergency alerts to every tinum-rank Adventurer through their wristwatches. [Do not enter the 10th Floor! The Floor Boss has been triggered unexpectedly! Do not enter the 10th Floor!] The Adventurers were shocked at this alert, but some decided to be stupid and didn''t believe as they entered. Now, it was up to them how long they could survive with the Floor Boss roaming around. ¡­ GAA headquarters, inside the Labyrinth Gate chamber that GAA built around the gate located within their headquarters'' area. "This is definitely their doing," Admiral Rudra muttered, his fist clenched. "This is bad." "Dad, what do we do now?" Aryan asked, his expression somber. "24 hourster, we''ll get the usual countdown. Most of the front liners haven''t reached the maximum level yet, so if we fight the Floor Boss, many will die, unlike the 5th Floor boss, this one is the 10th Floor boss¡­this thing must be crazy powerful." Find your next read at empire "Contact every tinum-rank Adventurer who has reached the 10th Floor. We need to hold an emergency meeting. I''ll contact the old monsters and gather them. They have probably reached maximum tinum rank like me and you since they were entering the 10th Floor on the Labyrith''s 2nd and 3rd cycle the previous month." After saying that, Admiral Rudra turned to a woman in her forties, "Sarah, prepare drones to carry every single Arcane Eye we have. We need to send them to the 10th Floor and get visuals on the Floor Boss." "Which criminal to use? We only have eight bastards at tinum-rank, and only two of them have reached the 10th Floor." "Get Jonen." The Labyrinth Gate would take people to any floor they desired after clearing the said floors. But robots and such things couldn''t enter on their own. They had to be carried inside by Adventurers.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om GAA had criminals locked up, and two of them had reached the 10th Floor, so it was better to use them to send the drones with Arcane Eyes inside. The arrangement was prepared swiftly as a bulky man with big muscles arrived, his hands cuffed and eyes hazy as if he was not in his own control. Indeed, he was manipted by Sarah with her specialized SSS-rank ss¡ª Doom Conduction Martitis. Around his arms, neck, and legs were chains extending towards ten floating drones around him, each Drone holding one or two Arcane Eyes, a mystical round crystal object pulsing with dreamy blue sparks. "Sending in," Sarah spoke, her eyes glinting as she manipted Jonen. ¡­ The world outside was reeling in shock among the tinum-rank adventurers, and the news also spread to the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Almond and the party, along with everyone who has entered inside, had no idea about it. But they didn''t need to know as their goal was only one¡ªfight, win, progress. Second Floor of the Labyrinth¡ªa fully underground area with caverns, chambers, underground rivers, and deep-earth forests! Almond had shared his detailed map with his party before entering, so everyone knew where they were the moment they appeared. "I am at the northeast starting area, huh? Nice," Almond put away the parchment and summoned his spirit wraiths. "Everyone, kill all monsters you encounter and collect any resources you see. I''ll lead you all, so follow my trail." Chapter 129 Second Floor of the Labyrinth (2) Almond moved out of the cave with his spirit wraiths and arrived in the first area¡ªthe Cavern of Passing Light. A strange dark cavern with moving lumps of soil. The monsters here were Luminsoil Moles, ranging from Silver level 11 to Silver level 15. Almond told his spirit wraiths to scatter and kill all the monsters. Meanwhile, he leisurely walked toward the exit of this cavern while collecting the spirits of monsters his summons were killing. Ten minutester, all Luminsoil Moles in this area were killed, a total of 68. Naturally, all the spirits were turning into Spirit Items in the Spirit Forge Factory. "Master, who won?" Nyssara asked. "I won, obviously," Infernal Knight crossed his arms as mes burst from his nostrils. "Actually, the winner is Ben," Almond chuckled. "He killed 21 monsters." "Better luck next time,ds," Dark Pope put on his round ck hat and winked at them. "Master, I found these at that corner, behind the wall. They seemed to have grown within the soil," Sylvia arrived, her vines around her holding four ck crystals with glowing white light inside them. "Nice, they are Spellfuel Crystals. They grow randomly on this floor and can be used to supercharge Mana to increase our skill''s overall power and effects," Almond waved his hand, getting the crystals towards him as Sylvia removed them from her vine wrap. "They expire in 1 hour after we unearth them, and there''s no way of stopping it, so well, we''ll just use them," Almond put the crystals on his empty Polen Tiger''s Belt. "Let''s go. Onwards to the next area." ¡­ Lily and Natalia also arrived at their first monster-filled cavern-type area after exiting the starting area. They killed all the monsters swiftly with Starlight Beast without breaking a sweat. "We are at the southern starting area, so our route is Glowveil Hollow area, then to Chasm of Echoes to grab the item there and move to the Floor Boss area," Lily said as she looked at the map. "Five hours, huh? Yeah, we''ll do this." "Chasm of Echoes¡­there are monsters with sound-type attacks there," Nataliab blinked and grinned. "Alright, let''s pass through Glowveil Hollow fast and spend more time in the Chams of Echoes. I might improve my sound mastery there." "Good idea," Lily jumped on the Starlight Beast. "Get on. Let''s move." "Roar!* Starlight Beast entered the passage right-side passage per Lily''s instruction, moving towards the next area¡ªGlowveil Hollow. Your next chapter is on empire On the other hand, Marcus, Maya, and Chimera Frank also cleared out their first area¡ªFanged Garden, after leaving the starting area. They were in the eastern area of the floor, so they also determined their route ordingly after looking at the map. The Floor Boss triggering items were in the inner areas, so all three groups skipped the major regions. There was no point in wasting time there. But this floor was a sprawling underground world, a vast cavernwork filled with bioluminescent flora, deep chasms, subterranean rivers, and hostile terrain, so everyone had to move at a proper pace. Two hourster, Almond arrived at Duskmire Falls, an inner area with a majestic waterfall flowing into an undergroundgoon where a secret entrance was located. "This area is so beautiful," Sylvia said with sparkly eyes as she looked at the bio-luminous nts, crystals, the giant waterfall, and ck terrain. "It''s just as dangerous, but not for us," Almond said as he walked out of the passage and looked at the giant waterfall a hundred meters away from a huge hole fifty meters high. The terrain was going upward towards the high ground of this cavern, which was also the most spacious part of this area and where the monsters were located. "Let''s go. The item we need to find will require somebor work after we kill all monsters in this area." The monsters in this area were of two types, both ranging from Silver level 15 to 20. 1. Crystalbane Revenant¡ªhumanoid-type with attributes of crystal and water.N?v(el)B\\jnn 2. Brinescale Warden¡ªA fish-like humanoid monster with a giant metallic right hand the size of its body. They had attributes of water, metal, and crystals. The boss of this area was called Brinescale King, Silver level 20. Well, Infernal Knight Ashkar soloed the boss at the end, defeating it spectacrly using both techniques he learned and skills despite having lower stat points than the boss. "Good work, everyone. Now, the item we want is somewhere here, but its location is different every month, each cycle." Almond said as he floated above by maizing all the metal worn on his body and controlling it with lightning as it faintly crackled around him. "There is a pattern on this ground, and it pulses every two seconds. The pulses are broken but patterned. Read the pattern, and it will guide us to the item we need." "I''ll find it faster than anyone," Sylvia cheekily said. Almond smiled, "Whoever finds the item first gets to eat the whole batch of Limtos candies." "Sorry,ds. I am taking that bucket of candies," Dark Pope turned into his shadow form and floated up, observing the ground. Nyssara sat on a frost-throne after extending it tens of meters high off the ground using ice. Sylvia did something simr, using vines and wood. Ashkar simply burst out with mes and floated using me''s propulsion from his feet, standing in the air with his arms crossed. Chimera Viperfiend walked toward Almond and sat down. "Yeah, you rx," Almond chuckled and also sat down before using his Spirit Forge Factory. ''Time to cook¡­or craft? Well, same thing.'' Almond selected the Light Armor b and began designing his armor. After designing it, Almond selected the ingredient spirits. [Light Armor b] - Design: ¡ª> Create your desired design of the broad sword on the nk screen. - Super-grade Guarantee Forge: Add 3 Ingredient spirits. ¡ª 1. ckbolt Crab Spirit (Gold level 100 Dungeon Boss). ¡ª 2. Moltenfang Lucent Leopard (Gold level 100 Dungeon Boss). ¡ª 3. Umbros Steel T-rex (Gold level 100 Dungeon Boss). - [Select the Sacrifice] ¡ª> Sacrifice 10 Rare-grade items for a Low-tier Super-grade result. [0/10]. ¡ª> Sacrifice 15 Rare-grade items for a Mid-tier Super-grade result. [0/15]. ¡ª> Sacrifice 20 Rare-grade items for a High-tier Super-grade result. [0/20]. ''Let''s get this on,'' Almond grinned, putting 20 Rare-grade items as a sacrifice. ''I want items that can act as a set. There should be a way to include that concept in my Spirit Forge Factory.'' ''Putting the same ingredients in the creation of other items sounds like it would make a set possible, but I am using Boss Monsters'' Spirits, and there''s no second Boss monster of the same kind¡­'' Almond thought as he saw the crafting of his High-quality Super-grade item beginning. A countdown of 31 minutes also appeared. ''How do I make a set of items that use different ingredients in their creation?'' Almond walked towards another b and selected it. After designing the item, he selected ingredients. [Heavy Sword b] - Design: ¡ª> Create your desired design of the broad sword on the nk screen. - Super-grade Guarantee Forge: Add 3 Ingredient spirits. ¡ª 1. Thunderbolt Horned Beast (Gold level 100 Dungeon Boss). ¡ª 2. ssbound cklight Tyrant (Gold level 100 Dungeon Boss). ¡ª 3. Golden Molten Lizardking (Gold level 100 Dungeon Boss). ''To make this item consider a set with that armor¡­well, my ss is kinda weird in this case, so I''ll try the mysterious way,'' Almond''s eyes glinted. ''The names.'' Chapter 130: Second Floor of the Labyrinth (3), Floor Boss Chamber ¡¯If I name the items simr topose them into a set, will that give me a set bonus if I wear all items?¡¯ Almond wondered as he pressed the b slot inside, beginning the crafting of his weapon. ¡¯Well, I¡¯ll find out soon. I did use monster spirits with matching attributes, not all but a couple at least, so that might help.¡¯ Both of his items¡¯ ingredients had Lightning, Metal, and Crystal attributed monsters. He still had 18 Dungeon Boss spirits, and among them, two of them had a Lightning attribute within theirposition, two had a Metal attribute, and one had a Crystal attribute. So, in a sense, he could make two more items with matching attributes in their ingredients. He went on to make the next two items to include in the set. One was a solid helmet with a face-wide visor, and the fourth item was wings. Several new item bs had manifested since he got new types of items in the random crafting sessions. Wings was one of them. He designed the wings to be suitable to his armor, hoping that it would integrate with the armor. He had included lean and fancy light metal gloves and boots in the design of his full-body light armor, so there wasn¡¯t a need to craft them. ¡¯Well, time to wait for the results now,¡¯ Almond opened his eyes and looked at his summons, who were busy solving the riddle of patterns. "Take your time. We are ahead of the schedule anyway," Almond said as hey on the floor with his palms cushioning his head. Closing his eyes, he began researching his skill runes, the advanced ones like S-rank and above. ¡­ Chasm of Echoes. This cavern had strange ck holes on its walls and two passages, one that Lily, Natalia, and Starlight Beast used to arrive in this area, and the second one being the exit they would use to leave. The ck holes on this huge cavern¡¯s walls asionally released sound waves that would disturb theplex water streams that upied half of this area, sshing water around. The monsters in this location were Sonic Crust Frogs Silver level 15 to 20. They lived in water but could fight on the ground. This was one of the toughest areas in terms of terrain style and monsters on this second floor. The water streams were strong, so falling into one would definitely give one a terrible experience, and if swarmed by attacks from the frogs in the water, one could easily arrive at death¡¯s door. But Starlight Beast¡¯s skill set made things very easy. Lily and Natalia arrived at a rtively wider ground space at the center of this area and got off the Starlight Beast¡¯s back as Sonic Crust Frogs started jumping out of the water streams to attack them. Some of themunched their long-range skills¡ªSonic Rings. Dodging the rings, Lily told Starlight Beast to use its skill¡ªCosmic Pulse (S) and lower the gravity in its range. "Let¡¯s dance," Lily grinned as she vanished with high-speed movement thanks to lower gravity and her skill as she sliced three Frogs in a jiffy. Natalia also summoned her instruments and started ying flute tounch attacks. They killed until no more monsters jumped out of the water streams, killing a total of 174 monsters over the duration of one hour. Since the area was huge and the water streamwork was spread out, it took time for some of the monsters to reach the water streams around the ground where the party was standing. "When will ite?" Natalia sighed, tired of waiting. "It shoulde. Anyway, don¡¯tin to me, we can only wait unless you want to go into the water and search," Lily snorted. They were waiting for the Treasured-Sack Sonic Crust Frog. This was a frog that woulde out of the water on its own or if one went inside theplex water stream system of this area to search it. That frog was important because killing it would grant them the item required to trigger the Floor Boss. While the duo here waited for the Treasured Sack Sonic Crust Frog, Marcus, and Maya were in the inner area¡ªEboncoil Maze. This maze had monsters in pathways, and its walls were ck with glowing moss of different colors, pulsing as if alive. It¡¯d been an hour, but they hadn¡¯t reached their destination yet. To get the item, they had to simply reach the center of the maze, kill the Field Boss there, and get the item as a drop. It was pretty straightforward to get the item, but¡­not so straightforward to get there. ¡­ n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om A total of four hours passed by since everyone entered the second Floor. Most of the Adventurers were in the major areas since they were vast and needed steady progress, with more rewards avable in the Major Areas. Meanwhile, Almond had cleared two inner areas and got two special items required for Floor Boss Triggering. He finally arrived at the Floor Boss chamber with one hour still left. This chamber was a big hall with a pitch-ck surface, beautiful light braziers, and decorations, but contrasting this was a ruined ceiling high above with crystal stctites, blurred paintings on the high wall, and corroded hanging ornaments. The bottom half and upper half of this chamber created a distinct contrast in the sense of time. One looked brand new, while the other looked like it was ruined in the long passage of time. Almond walked towards the center with his spirits. Looking at the crystal stctites above, he thought about destroying them but then rejected the notion. Those stctites were not just for show. The Floor Boss could empower itself by using those crystals once its vitality hits 50% or below. But Almond didn¡¯t want to destroy that advantage. He was also still at Silver level 10 because he hadn¡¯t touched a single monster, let alone killed one. "You all go and explore the Major Area I told you about by going back. Find resources and items, kill monsters as you like, but don¡¯t kill Adventurers," Almond said as he turned to his summons. "You can freely roam this floor, but connect your vision to me if you see any conflicts or nasty people." "Nasty people like the ones you told us about, got it," Infernal Knight Ashkar nodded. "Do we kill them first and share our vision, or share our vision and then kill them?" "Share the vision first," Almond wryly smiled. "Understood." "Bro wanted to kill them first," Benedictughed. "Well, off I go now, boss. See you allter." The other summons also followed him towards the passage they used toe here, returning to the previous area. There were three passages in that area, one leading to a Major Area and the other two leading to smaller inner areas. All of them went into the Major Area¡ªCascading Obsidian Town. Meanwhile, Almond rubbed his hands and sat down before essing the Spirit Kodoku. Your adventure continues at empire The new Spirit Wraith was still inside and needed the name and disposition to manifest fully. His other summons had reached Silver level 20, and he wasn¡¯t going to let them fight the Floor Boss. Almond didn¡¯t know the rank and level of this new Spirit Wraith. He wouldn¡¯t know until hepleted it. But it had one Floor Boss spirit, 1 Human Spirit of tinum-rank Adventurer, and 18 Gold-rank Boss Monsters of Dungeon, so it could be anything. ¡¯Time to unravel you, whom I name¡­Crimson Skylord Galvaren!¡¯ Chapter 131: Second Floor of the Labyrinth (4), Crimson Skylord Galvaren *ng!* *Boom!* Almond¡¯s sword shed against Galvaren¡¯s, sending bursts of golden lightning and crimson-ck energy into the air, their power creating violent shockwaves with each impact. "Good!" Almond grinned as he gripped his heavy broadsword, its de crackling with arcs of golden lightning that danced fiercely along its edge. He stood firm, sweat beading on his brow as the oppressive heat radiating from Galvaren bore down on him. The air between them shimmered with elemental tension¡ªfire and lightning preparing to collide. Ten meters ahead stood Galvaren. He was a towering humanoid monster whose semi-armored body was covered in jagged, molten-ck scales streaked with glowing crimson veins. His massive, leathery wings extended from his back, trailing smoke and embers with every movement, slicing through the air like fiery scythes. In his wed hands rested a colossal, broken, heavy sword, its jagged edges glowing faintly with infernal energy. The sheer force of his swings carved molten trenches into the ground, each strike more devastating than thest. Galvaren kicked off the ground, his wings propelling him forward with explosive speed. Almond met him mid-charge, their weapons colliding in a deafening ng that lit up the battlefield with sparks and aura sts. "Not bad, but you gotta give me more than that," Almond grinned as he masterfully swung his Super-grade sword¡ªLightning Crownsun Edge, the one hemissioned using the Super-rank material, Thunderstone Trotto Shard. This wide, heavy sword crackled with lightning as Almond swung it, its strange wooden handle with patterns of golden vine carrying the sun shining sharply. A powerful force unleashed from it as Almond struck his sword, instantly disarming Galvaner as his broken heavy sword streaked away, striking the wall 200 meters away with a defeating sound as the surrounding wall melted, turningva. ¡¯Sword Bending Motion¡¯ In the next second, Almond¡¯s sword swiftly struck Galvaner thrice on his chest, reducing his vitality to 0%. "Now, get real," Almond grinned as he moved back. Galvaner¡¯s trait was about to kick in. Galvaren¡¯s glowing red eyes burned with unrelenting rage, his wed hands bursting out in crimson ck mes as his sword materialized in his hand, its broken de bingplete. The sword was the size of his own 3-meter-tall body, itspleted form evoking awe and dread. Gripping his de tightly, Galvaner bellowed in frustration as mes burst out of his molten, cracked skin. Horn-like protrusions crowned his head, radiating a regal aura, while his wings red and thinned out, appearing more devilish and refined,pleting his fearsome appearance as the Crimson Skylord. Leaping high into the air, Galvaren raised his sword overhead, molten energy with ck ink trailing from its jagged edge. With a deafening roar, he brought it down in a sweeping arc, aiming to cleave Almond in two. Almond sidestepped just in time, the fiery strike carving a molten fissure into the earth where he had been standing moments before. Without hesitation, Almond counterattacked, his broadsword humming with electric fury as he lunged forward, unleashing a lightning-infused sh that crackled through the air. The blow connected, sparks and shards of molten scale erupting from Galvaren¡¯s torso. The Crimson Skylord roared in pain but retaliated immediately, swinging a spiked gauntlet in a brutal backhand that caught Almond mid-dash. The force sent Almond skidding across the ground, dirt and debris flying in his wake. "Hahahaha, how was that, Master?!" Galvaren bellowed, smoke rising from his searing scales. His wings unfurled, creating a wave of heat as he hovered just above the ground, his molten-ck body radiating destructive power. Almond groaned but smirked, nting his sword into the ground to pull himself upright. "Not bad, Skylord," he taunted, golden lightning sparking along his arms. "But I¡¯m just getting started." And in the next second, Almond proceeded topletely dominate Galvaner for two minutes straight. "I am in awe¡­master¡­" *Thud!* Gvner slumped on the ground, his eyes flickering and hazy. "That was fun," Almond sat down as he focused on stabilizing his breathing. ¡¯Finally got an evenly matching sparring partner.¡¯ Even enough to let him explore his sword and evenly enough to give him some challenge due to having higher stats than him. [Crimson Skylord Galvaren] Backstory: Galvaren was as kind and warmhearted as his strength, which wasuded as the strongest. He was the most powerful king of the Infernal Sky Kingdom until it was destroyed by the demonic army. He fought for days and nights against the Demonic Commanders until thest drop of his blood. Dead amidst despair, the king rose from his death at the will of his subjects. He could hear them, see them, feel them, for all of them wanted vengeance. Resurrected and awakened, Galveren annihted the entire Demonic Army and bound himself to the dead kingdom, swearing to eternally protect it. Rank: Gold Level: 100 Stats: ¡ª Physical: ? [Strength: 200 | Health: 200 | Stamina: 200] ¡ª Mental: ? [Mana: 200 | Focus: 200 | Perception: 200] Skills: ¡ª Bloodwing Frenzy (A) ¡ª Crimson Dive Bomb (S) ¡ª Hellfire Lightning Skycrown (S) ¡ª Winged Havoc (A) ¡ª Abyssal Sky Rend (A) ¡ª Infernal Bloodbolt Cyclone (S) ¡ª zing Wrath sh (A) ¡ª Doomcall Memory (SS) ¡ª Raging Eruption (A) ¡ª Emberstorm Pouch (S) ¡ª Quirk(s): ¡ª Infernal Skylord: As Galvaren¡¯s health decreases, its strength and speed increase significantly. While airborne, Galvaren gains enhanced agility and generates more firepower the faster he is. ¡ª A King¡¯s Vengence: Upon death, establish the ethereal superimposition of the destroyed Infernal Sky kingdom in a 100-500 meters radius of a circr zone, with no limit of upward distance. Within this zone, Galvaren¡¯s stats are boosted by 100%, and all of his skills are enchanted with bonus effects. His stamina consumption is zero within this zone, allowing him to physically fight without stopping for an hour, even without Mana. Duration: 1 hour. 1 activation per day. Almond looked at Galvaren and thought, ¡¯Floor Boss spirit definitely yed a big part in making Galvaren this skilled fighter.¡¯ The Spirit of Floor Boss was more simr to a human spirit than a monster¡¯s spirit. That boss was a berserker, and Galvaren had inherited that fighting style, along with its signature broken heavy sword. Of course, he also created a backstory that vibed with Floor Boss¡¯s image, one of the reasons this Spirit Wraith acquired a sword, like how Ben, Ashkar, and Nyssara had their innate weapons rted to what he mentioned in their backstory. "Galvaren, show me your sword." Galvaren threw his sword while still lying on the ground, and itnded a meter away from Almond¡¯s right side. Touching the sword, Almond inspected it. ¡¯It¡¯s the same type of weapon as the other three,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. ¡¯I¡¯ll have to upgrade their weapons eventually, so I should find out how.¡¯ "Almond, is that the new summon?" "Woah, dreadful handsome-ugly mix kingly berserker? Am I correct?" Almond chuckled as he got up and turned to the duo, "You sure took your time." "That golden frog took its sweet time," Lily rolled her eyes. "We didn¡¯t want to bother finding it in the stream, so while waiting, Lily was helping me with sound element training. The ck holes in that cavern are pretty useful since they release sound elemental rings." "Nice, did you progress?" Almond blinked as he asked Natalia. "Nope, but I feel like I¡¯ll improve after I return. A bit of training and meditation will help me reach the next rank," Natalia grinned. "What about the other two?" Lily asked as she took out a card and added. "I¡¯ll contact them." "No need." A voice trail trailed out from the entrance to this hall as Marcus and Maya arrived while riding on Chimera Frank. "Did you notice anything?" Almond asked as he turned to Lily. "No sound on the floor," Lily pointed her palm on the floor and sted pure mana energy after condensing it into an orb. The floor broke, but no sound was produced. "That is indeed weird," Maya nodded as she walked towards them after jumping off Chimera Frank¡¯s back. "No, it is weird because this wasn¡¯t the case before," Almond frowned and turned to the central magic circle. "Well, the items are here, and this happened when you two were here¡­" "There¡¯s mist at the entrance now," Lily narrowed her eyes. "It wasn¡¯t there before." Almond paused and turned to the entrance, "Alright, now this is something that doesn¡¯t happen. I¡¯m sure of it." "Did we trigger some kind of condition then?" Marcus raised his eyebrows. "I am getting creeped out now," Natalia felt cringed. "Whatever that case is, there¡¯s only one thing we can do and should do," Almond turned back to the magic circle and continued walking. "It¡¯s time to summon the Floor Boss." Everyone walked towards the magic circle as they put the items on it. [Your party is qualified for Heroic Challenge mode. Do you wish to proceed with the Floor Boss fight in the Heroic Challenge mode?] [Note: In the Heroic challenge mode, you cannot exit the Floor Boss chamber until you defeat the Boss. Either you win, or you die.] "Is this for real?" Marcus swallowed. "First time hearing this." "Same," Maya nodded. "Well, same for me," Natalia said with a dumbfounded expression. "What the shit?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Almond and Lily looked at each other. [Two people from your party have agreed. All party members must agree to start the Heroic Challenge mode.] Maya blinked, and as she looked at Almond and Lily, "You two have heard about this?" "Nope." Both Lily and Almond replied simultaneously while shaking their heads. "But you still want to do it?" "Yep." Both of them nodded while smiling. "Alright," Maya nodded, her face turning severe, but her eyes held a hint of excitement nheless. "Let¡¯s fucking do this then," Marcus grinned. [Four members have agreed. One left.] "Goddamn it," Natalia sighed. "Y¡¯all will be the death of me." "Wait, did I just give myself a death g? Alright, I¡¯m out." "¡­" [The Floor Boss is spawning. You have 1 minute to prepare. You are not allowed to leave anymore.] Experience new tales on empire Chapter 132 Second Floor of the Labyrinth (5/5), Radiant Grimlord Set "We only have one minute, and this challenge is going to be tough. Be prepared," Almond said as he took out a pile of one-time-use items. "That''s 76 items. Put them in your pouches and use them as you wish without holding back." Almond wasn''t nning to summon his Spirit Wraiths during the boss fight, but the n changed as this turned into a Heroic Challenge mode. He summoned everyone and also took out his newly crafted high-tier Super-grade set¡ªRadiant Grimlord Set. The others quickly put the one-time-use items in their pouches, and when they saw Almond, they were taken aback. "What''s that bad-fucking-ass armor and sword?" Natalia blurted out. "You look like a warrior god or something." Lily''s eyes sparkled, "This is wonderful, darling. Is it your spirit item set you said you nned to make?" Marcus and Maya were also dumbfounded and in awe as they looked at the full-body armor set. Indeed, Almond looked like an imposing warrior enveloped in dark armor, its texture giving it an ancient theme, but the full face visor-like mask with v-shape and his ck hair ring upward gave a futuristic look. The jagged, angr armor, primarily ck, streaked with glowing, molten crystal golden lines that resemble fissures of intense energy, faint but distinct looking. A quartz-shaped pale golden crystal was embedded in the chest''s center. The armor radiated both intimidation and elegance. The pauldrons were red outward in sharp and curved, the right one upward and longer in size while the left curving downward and slightly shorter. At his back were some elegantly shaped golden crystal spikes, which suddenly glowed and transformed into a pair of draconic-style wings, ck texture with golden crystal border and patterns. "Damn!!" Marcus made a stank face. "What is this monstrosity of an armor set, brother Almond? You can even fly with that?!" "I want one¡­." Maya muttered. Almond smiled behind his visor and stretched his arm. The arm gloves were heavily ted, ending in w-like gauntlets that radiated a faint golden glow, while the part from elbow to his shoulder showed a smooth yet jet-ck fabric covering his body as it was covered by the armor. "Here''s the final addition," Almond chuckled as a bright glow appeared, weing a badass, heavy, broad sword with a fully pale golden-crystalized de and ck handle. [A/N: Yeah, the new cover of this book is basically Almond in his Radiant Grimlord Set :D] "Show us the damn stats. There''s only twenty seconds left," Natalia eagerly said. Almondughed and shared the set''s status. [Radiant Grimlord Sword] -Type: Heavy Sword. -Duration: [5 days]N?v(el)B\\jnn -Grade: [Super/High]. -Attack: 500 + [200% of user''s Strength] -Perks(s): ¡ª> +30 Strength, +30 Stamina, +20 Focus, +20 Perception. -Set Bonus: ¡ª> (4-set Effect): Each strike of this sword causes a destruction-type debuff on things or people hit, equal to 5% of the original strike''s power. (Destructive-type debuff drags any and all types of repairing or recovery effects and reduces their effectiveness.) -Effect(s): ¡ª> (Toggle) Grimlight Thunderstone Blessing: Coats the sword with Grimlight Thunder. All attacks are boosted by 50% of their original output with Lightning, Light, and Earth-attributed hybrid damage. Cost: 1% Mana per second. ¡ª> (Passive) Radiant Aurelion Enchant: All elemental resistance increases by 50% while the sword is equipped. The weight of the sword can be freely adjusted by the user from 1 kg to 10,000 KG. ¡ª> (Active) Doom sh: Consume 100 - unlimited Mana depending on your Mana control to unleash a highly condensed sh with destructive-attribute, dealing destruction-type damage. Cooldown: no. ¡ª> (Active) sma Reactron: Anything or anyone struck by this sword''s de is marked with sma Reactron, stacking up to five marks. The user can consume 10% of maximum Mana to activate the marks for a high-intensity Lightning-me sma st and inflict Burning and Shock debuffs. Cooldown: no. "What a crazy sword!" Marcus shouted. "Fuck." "Look at the armor," Maya muttered. [Radiant Grimlord Armor] -Type: Full Body Light Armor. -Duration: [5 days] -Grade: [Super/High]. -Phy. & Mag. Defense: 750 + [150% of user''s Physical stats]. -Perk(s): ¡ª> +60 Health, +20 Stamina, +20 Mana. -Set Bonus: ¡ª> (4-set Effect): Grants additional stat¡ªall elemental resistance: 200. -Effect(s): ¡ª> (Passive) Aegis of Grimlight: Increases all resistances (physical, elemental, and status effects) by 60% before affecting the user. Deactivates if the Armor''s durability goes below 30%. ¡ª> (Auto) Reactive Grim Barrier: Automatically generates a Lightning-Metal-Magma-Water hybrid whirling-type barrier of a 10-meter radius around the user when struck by an attack. Cost: 100 Mana. Cooldown: 30 seconds. This auto effect can be deactivated and turned active-type if desired. ¡ª> (Active) Radiant Fortress: For 10 seconds, absorb a certain amount of damage depending on iing attacks'' potency and turn it into destructive-type damage spear projectiles back at the enemies. Cost: 20% of max mana. Cooldown: 2 minutes. ¡ª> (Toggle) Grimlord''s Radiance: Emit an aura that decreases the Strength and Stamina of all enemies within a 20-meter radius by 20% while increasing the same stats for allies. Cost: 2% Mana per second. "Holy shit," Marcus murmured under his breath. [Radiant Grimlord Wings] -Type: Wing Attachment. -Duration: [5 days] -Grade: [Super/High]. -Mobility Boost: +200% bonus movement speed of your original speed in flight, +150% dodging speed in air. -Perk(s): ¡ª> +40 Perception, +40 Focus, +20 Stamina. -Set Bonus: ¡ª> (4-set Effect): Erases air resistance when flying. -Effect(s): ¡ª> (Toggle) Celestial Grimflight: Grants flight with unparalleled maneuverability. Stores kic energy instead of transferring outward automatically into the wings to boost the next physical move''s power. Cost: 1% Mana per second. ¡ª> (Active) Thunderstorm Barrage: While airborne, release a rain of lightning bolts over a 30-meter radius, dealing Lightning, Light, and Wind hybrid damage. Consumes 10% of Maximum Mana per use. Cooldown: 30 seconds. ¡ª> (Active) Radiant Gale Shield: Generates a wind-based shield while in flight, reducing ranged damage by 50% and reflecting away projectiles if possible. Cost: 100 to 500 Mana per use. Cooldown: 5 minutes. ¡ª> (Active) Chaotic Tempest Dive: Dive at high velocity toward a target, dealing [500% to ???% of user''s Strength based on total dive distance and speed + Destructive-type damage ording to Mana consumed] on impact. Dealing devastating damage and releasing a shockwave that staggers enemies within a certain distance depending on the above factors. Cooldown: 1 hour. Note: Beware of your limit, as using this skill at a fairly high distance and then impacting could result in severe injuries or even instant death if the user is not strong enough. [Radiant Grimlord Visor-Helm] -Type: Headgear. -Duration: [5 days] -Grade: [Super/High]. -Perk(s): ¡ª> +40 Focus, +30 Perception, +30 Mana. -Set Bonus: ¡ª> (4-set Effect): Increases potency of everything that is Lightning and Earth-type by 30%. -Effect(s): ¡ª> (Passive) Grimlord Vision: Grants enhanced perception, allowing the user to detect hidden enemies, traps, and weaknesses in structures or opponents within a 100-meter radius. ¡ª> (Toggle) Aurelion Halo: Surrounds the user''s head with a glowing, radiant halo, increasing all allies'' Focus and Perception by +20 within a 30-meter radius. Cost: 1% Mana per second. ¡ª> (Active) Radiant Judgment Beam: Fires a condensed beam of energy from the helm''s visor, dealing Destructive-type damage. Cost: 10% Mana. Cooldown: 1 minute. ¡ª> (Passive) Elemental Vision: Allows the user to see all basic elements'' flow clearly and distinctly. "I didn''t know you could make such powerful items, damn!" Marcus was tongue-tied. "True, this is¡­.amazing," Maya stared at Almond with hot eyes. "I would like tomission a set if possible, please. These items have better effectspared to most other Super-grade items." "Same!" Natalia raised her hand. "We''ll roll a dice to set the order on who gets a set first." "What is Destructive-type damage?" Lily asked. Everyone spoke almost simultaneously as the time was running out. "Yeah, I am also curious about the Destructive-type damage," Maya nodded. "Same," Marcus'' eyes glowered. "I asked the same thing and got an answer from the Labyrinth," Almond said with a chuckle before he answered them. "Apparently, destructive-type damage forms when a skill''s structure has five elements or more synergized. Such attacks also apply status effects rted to the elements, but it depends on the skill''s quality." "I''ve seen that, but only once on a Legendary-grade staff weapon, as its information was disclosed within GAA''s high brass roughly a month ago," Lily said. "There was an active effect in that item that throws an attack of destructive-type damage." "Damn, so the 10th Floor has a chance to drop Legendary items? Awesome," Marcus appeared excited. "People were talking about it, but it was only rumors so far until you confirmed it." "But isn''t it crazy that Almond''s Super-grade items have such effects?" Natalia clicked her tongue, amazed. "That''s op, although he needs to maintain both the duration and durability of the items." [The Floor Boss has spawned.] Enjoy more content from empire *Swoosh!* Everyone turned to the magic circle as a powerful aura gushed out, pushing everyone back slightly as the floor boss made an entry. [Defeat the Heroic Challenge Floor Boss¡ªRuined Lord Kizalor of Meltizaar. All the best, brave adventurers.] The 10-meter-tall humanoid floor boss wielded two giant obsidian curved swords, wearing only the ornamented loincloth and braces on his arms. His bare bronze-skinned upper body was carved with ck tattoos of ferocious tigers and terrifying snakes. He had a murky dark blue and bronze aura flowing around him, his fairly long ck hair also floated upward. "F-Fuck¡­" The first thing everyone did was to inspect its status. And when they saw it, everyone''s heartbeat rate drastically increased. Its oppressive aura made everyone feel as if they were facing an enemy that could utterly destroy them. And...that wasn''t necessarily false because just based on its status, this heroic challenge floor boss of the second floor infused a hint of fear and seed of doubt into everyone as if daring them to question their chances of survival¡­daring them all except for Almond. [Ruined Lord Kizalor of Meltizaar] -Rank: Special -Type: Heroic Spirit -Stats: Chapter 133 Vs. Ruined Lord Kizalor of Meltizaar (1/2) [Ruined Lord Kizalor of Meltizaar] -Rank: Special -Type: Heroic Spirit -Vitality: [100% / 100%] -Mana: [20,000 / 20,000] -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 500 | Health: 2500 | Stamina: 1000] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 2000 | Focus: 500 | Perception: 500] ''Maintain distance and make long-range attacks. Lily, don''t jump in the fight yet and observe the boss''s movements first.'' They were 30 meters away from the boss, but he roared and made a long leap, both of his swords ring with dark blue energy painted with an inky aura. Almond''s eyes glinted. ''Divine Divider''s Harvest.'' Instantly, the Boss''s Strength was reduced by¡­not half, but 35%. ''It resisted¡­'' *ng!* Almond''s Super-rank heavy swords shed against Kizalor''s swords. "Roar!" Kizalor''s knee, bursting with his signature dark blue-ck ink energy, immediately aimed for Almond after their sh. Almond''s eyes sparkled with thrill as he flew like a torrental wind, easily dodging the attack while using Sword Bending Motion, striking Kizalor thrice with his full power. His foundational strength: 100 + 200 from Boss + 100 of Body Enfold + 100 of Strength boost + 150 additional Strength at the cost of 20% of his Stamina by empowering his arms and chest = It was an attack of 650 Strength! *BOOM!* -9% Vitality. Kizalor shot back like a loose cannonball, striking the hall''s wall 200 meters away, marking him with sma Reactron''s one stack, and permanently shaving away 3% of his max vitality, making it unrecoverable due to the effect of the sword giving it destructive-type debuff. ''He blocked it,'' Almond blinked as he flew up whilemanding his summons to attack Kizalor. ''His perception and focus are high, he read¡­my attack and was prepared to block the moment I dodged.'' Lily, Natalia, Maya, and Marcus were far away, so they made a dash and neared while preparing to aim their attacks once an opportunity arrived. "Don''t be careless here, everyone! This boss is dangerous!" *Swoosh!* Sending this Magic Whisper to everyone, Almond''s figure streaked as he moved like a blur, crackling with lightning as he met Kizalor mid-air he also jumped and streaked fast in the air. Find exclusive stories on empire *sh! ng!* Grimlight Thunderstone Blessing!¡ªAll attacks are boosted by 50% of their original output with Lightning, Light, and Earth-attributed hybrid damage. Cost: 1% Mana per second.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Fuck, I can''t fight in close range, it''s impossible," Marcus took out a bow and a quiver filled with arrows from his storage pouch. "I can''t even see their movements properly¡­" "This shit ain''t for us," Natalia swallowed. "Almond triggered this heroic challenge because he is a freaking monster." Lily also took out her bow as she knew that going in there to fight between Almond and Kizalor would instead decrease their chance of winning. Almond won another bout after several shes of the sword, sending Kizalor to the ground as a small crater formed. But immediately rebounding, Kizalor suddenly flowed like a raging water filled with an inky aura towards Lily and others! Almond''s pupil drastically shrank, his entire figure vibrating as he empowered his wings and zoomed. (Toggle) Celestial Grimflight: Grants flight with unparalleled maneuverability. Stores kic energy instead of transferring outward automatically into the wings to boost the next physical move''s power. Cost: 1% Mana per second. And with 120 meters of distance between him and Lily''s group where Kizalor was going, Almond activated his wing''s effect¡ªChaotic Tempest Dive! In that instant, a loud sonic boom like no other sted. Amlond''s body already absorbed a powerful shock from his full-powered three shes at his current strength of 650, which his body wasn''t supposed to handle, but with his Stage 2 Fortification and Body Enfold, he prevented damage. But¡­he wasn''t about toe out unscathed after this Chaotic Tempest Dive¡ªDive at high velocity toward a target, dealing [500% to ???% of user''s Strength based on total dive distance and speed + Destructive-type damage ording to Mana consumed] on impact. *BOOOOM!* -57% vitality. "ARRRGHHH!" Kizalor roared as his body parts sted away, his vitality dropping below 50%! [Your vitality is dangerously low.] ''Fuck, I expected it, but this hits crazily.'' Spirit Syringe! Almond''s vitality and Mana filled to the brim! He had roughly calcted intuitively based on the shock he received from those three shes and limited his flight speed to prevent himself from dying as a result of this attack. Meanwhile, Lily and others were sted away due to the shockwave impact of the Chaotic Tempest Dive. But they quickly got up and started hurling their attacks at Kizalor, who was entering phase 2. Almond was fully recovered, but his mind was fucked due to that attack as it was still ins rattling shock, requiring him to concentrate briefly. "I am seriously scared to death," Natalia''s hair stood on end as she hurled empowered basic attacks from her flute. She also finally buffed Almond, as he was within range now. Maya also buffed Almond as she had a buff-type skill from her primary ss. Lily, on the other hand, was in preparation. Darkness and crimson energy whirled around as her vitality reduced drastically. She was preparing to use her 3rd specialized ss skill¡ªVoidless Sunderer, a pure single attack type. Almond recovered after three seconds and saw Kizalor rearranging and bing smaller, along with his swords, fiery blue and inky ck aura wildly flowing around him. But Almond''s expression became more somber despite Kizalor''s size reduction. A small humanoid was far more dangerous than a giant beast. Moreover, this Heroic Spirit-type Floor Boss was even fighting in a high martial realm. In the second bout, it took Almond 5 seconds of multiple shes beforending a sword attack on him. Kizalore was able to react and meet both of his swords head-on for five seconds and, negating his attacks! Almond''s eyes glinted as a grin uncontrobly stretched across his face. ''He is more proficient in dual-wielding than me¡­isn''t that wonderful?!'' Kizalor roared as both of his swords floated in front of him while the long-range attacks of Natalia, Marcus, and Maya were blocked by the aura barrier releasing from his sword. ''Attack him!'' Almond''s spirit wraith, each one unleashed their full-powered attacks, blocking Kizalor''s recovery as much as possible. Kizalor''s maximum vitality was ''destroyed'' by 26% total with that dive attack, so it could at most recover 74% of its vitality, but the spirit wraiths'' full-powered attacks prevented it from reaching that, stopping Kizalor at 63% of his max health. ''Get inside,'' Almond sent all of his summons inside. They were exhausted, and he didn''t have Mana in spare for them. He also needed Spirit Syringes for himself, as this fight wasn''t as easy as he initially assumed despite his advantages. Kizalor made his move, pping both of his hands as 100 meters wide and giant magic water waves with ink-ck sharks flooded towards Almond, Lily, and others who were in one direction. Marcus and Maya showed visible panic as they quickly used their defensive skills. Natalia also freaked out. This attack generated suffocation of death within them. But Lily was unwavering, her focus solely on preparing her attack. Her eyes reflected Almond and her trust in him because she knew none of their defensive skills, aside from Almond''s, could save them from this iing devastating AOE attack. ''It''s a pure magic attack.'' Almond''s figure blurred as he arrived in front of the group, using multiple item effects. It was time to take a defensive stand. Chapter 134 Vs. Ruined Lord Kizalor of Meltizaar (2/2), Tremendous Feat This iing attack was full power of this phase 2 boss, as stealing his Strength had no impact on it. ''I''ll steal his Mana.'' Almond''s visor-helm and armor faintly glowed as he activated his final two toggle-type item skills. ¡ªAurelion Halo: Surrounds the user''s head with a glowing, radiant halo, increasing all allies'' Focus and Perception by +20 within a 30-meter radius. Cost: 1% Mana per second. And, ¡ªRadiant Fortress: For 10 seconds, absorb a certain amount of damage depending on iing attacks'' potency and turn it into destructive-type damage spear projectiles back at the enemies. Cost: 20% of max mana.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The tsunami struck the multiple barriers, and that was when Almond felt the terrible impact. ''Fuck.'' Marcus and Maya''s defensive skills were destroyed instantly. Almond''s defensive skills absorbed the damage of powerful waves while releasing spears at the ck-ink sharks that attacked his barriers constantly, but the rebound spears released from the Radiant Fortress barrier also constantly killed the sharks. "This is crazy," Marcus was dumbfounded. Everyone knew they''d died without Almond''s defenses. This heroic challenge turned out to be way out of their league! They at least needed the same level of item set as Almond''s to even participate in the battle properly! This unceasing tsunami attack against Almond''s defensive effects drained a lot of his Mana, almost dropping below 90%, but Almond also shifted his Divine Divider''s Harvest, putting in more willpower this time as he roared, diving Kizalor''s Mana and absorbing it! "One attack each," Almond spoke. "We finish him." "Let''s go," Lily whispered, crimson-ck cracks gleaming all over her body. The wave attack was over as Kizalor roared and jumped, wrapped in a fiery dark blue aura with wild inkshes around his body and swords. Almond met him head-on with his dual heavy swords, injecting a Spirit Syringe into himself and Lily. ''Sacrifice more of your blood, Lily. Kizalor''s defense is tougher now. We need both of our full-powered attacks, as powerful as possible.'' Almond conversed with Lily using Magic Whisper. ''We only have one chance. If we fail, we could lose some lives.'' ''I''ll be ready, darling.'' Lily was dashing at high speed as Almond and Kizalor were 60 meters away, empowering her attack more as she sacrificed the recovered Vitality. *Crack¡­* The high-quality, rare-grade dagger in her hand cracked as she had used 80% of her Mana + 80% another after she recovered just now. Seeing Almond and Kizalor shing at insane speed, with Almond using Lightning to the fullest to get an advantage on the shes, Lily circled around the two, building her pace and waiting for the opportunity, her eyes pupils stilled as she entered a highly concentrated state. Experience more tales on empire Kizalor was even faster and stronger in phase 2, but Almond was using his high Lightning mastery and sword attacks to shave Kizalor''s vitality slowly and remain on par in the shes. Shock and Paralyse effects were drastically reduced, but it still worked enough to give him an advantage over the shes despite his slightly slower speed and senses. Kizalor suddenly moved back at a sonic speed, acquiring 50 meters of distance to use a skill, but Almond was precisely waiting for this moment! Espada Ad Grimveil! Rift Discement!¡ªSevere a space and disce it. As Kizalor raised both of his swords, about to unleash the skill, Almond arrived behind him and used another technique. Absolute Severing!¡ª Sunder everything you can perceive. *sh!* Kizalor''s arms flew, disarmed and armless! Lily arrived right below him, her single dagger filled with cracks glinting brightly as she zoomed upward as if a ck star were shooting up, stabbing it into Kizalor. All four of her Dreadspire Elements enveloped Kizalor while a devastating corroding attack thrust into him. Crimson-ck cracks formed around his back belly where the dagger struck as Lily''s third specialized ss skill impacted. Voidless Sunderer: Deals devastating darkness-attribute and blood-attribute damage with rapid corrosion and break effect. Cost: 10% of maximum vitality + ??% of Vitality as a sacrifice to increase the skill''s overall potency. *BOOOM!* Kizalor''s back cracked into nothingness, devoured by darkness. -22% vitality! Kizalor roared,pletely immobilized, but his will undaunted as his aura red, unleashing orbs to chaotically attack them. But Almond wasn''t about to back down as his new full-powered attack was prepared! Almond''s speed drastically increased as he rotated his body at high speed, turning into a lightning tornado of a wingless dragon shape. Everyone was ck-jawed. ''Do it,'' Lily''s eyes sparkled, surging with the thrill of witnessing that attack again, in a new glory. ''Fuck, that''s way bigger than what he showed us two days ago!'' Natalia was tongue-tied. ''Wings,'' Maya''s eyes widened. ''The addition of wings upgraded that battle art technique.'' It happened in a second. Kizalor was trying to regain his bearing and wildly unleashing projectiles to buy time, but the Rising Dragon made of lightning, now with the addition of wind attribute turning into a fearsome storm dragon thanks to his wings, was like a golden terror of sky. In addition, Almond had also used his fourth Spirit Syringe to recover Mana and used 80% of it to entirely empower Rising Dragon with Golden Haze Lightning. This Rising Dragon, created by his magic control and body movement, was a living skill formation executed live by using all usable skills, item effects, and physical prowess to manifest an art of one''sbat¡ªknown as one''s Battle Art technique. And this was Almond''s offense-type Battle Art Technique¡ªRising Dragon''s Roar! *Crackle! Booom!* The giant dragon struck Kizalor, and upon impact, the dragon shrank drastically at insane speed while enveloping Kizalor in a hellish golden storm. Kizalor''s body burned and turned sma before vanishing as the entirety of the attack impacted him. Almond fell on the floor, his entire body battered and broken, his consciousness also flickering. ''I pushed too much¡­'' Hisst spirit syringe wobbly manifested and twerked towards him before stabbing him. "Almond!" Lily rushed towards him and quickly took out potions. "We won¡­" Marcus muttered. "Only because of Almond," Mayaposed her breathing, still feeling rattled. "This is clearly not for random Silver rank adventurers. We need superior gear like him, skills, and stats to even get a chance to fight." "Yeah, who the hell put such tough challenges on the second floor?" Nataliay on the floor, feeling relief. "I seriously saw death during that tsunami. Thanks, Almond. You destroyed my death g." Almond got up and wearily smiled, feeling heavily exhausted. He exerted himself beyond his limit three times, and even though he recovered fully because it was his willing self-destruction to execute those skills, the exhaustion still settled inside. Memories also flooded his mind or rather unsealed. He didn''t pay heed to it for now since he was in mental strain. "And here ites," Lily said as the magic circle vanished and a portal manifested in its ce. [Congrattions! You have achieved a tremendous feat by defeating a Heroic Challenge Floor Boss of the second floor¡ªRuined Lord Kizalor of Meltizaar!] [Along with the challengepletion reward, an additional reward is in the process of generating based on the performance.] [You have defeated this Ruined Lord Kizalor within 1 minute and 3 seconds. Your party has ced 4th rank in the Grimworld Heroic Challenge Leaderboard - Heroic Spirit Floor 2 Section. Please name your party.] Marcus blinked and uttered, "Holy shit." "We are going to be so rich¡­in power!" Natalia eximed. "Let''s fucking go." "Let''s decide the party time now. The reward''s not here yet," Maya said, appearing eager and excited. "I suggest Heroic Adventurers." "¡­" "¡­" "¡­" "That¡­was unexpecteding from you," Almond smiled. Chapter 135 Rewards & Rest (1/2) After throwing some suggestions around, the party decided to go with the name¡ªGrim Breakers. It was Almond''s suggestion, with the reasoning behind the name being that they were going to defeat this Grimworld''s Tutorial and rise above whatevery ahead of it. Afterward, they got ess to this leaderboard within their status as a new tab appeared at the end. [Grimworld Heroic Challenge Leaderboard¡ªFloor 2] Rank 1¡ª Zioneer Guild Party (20 people) Korrade. Rank 2¡ª Lightless Radiance (20 people) Abvesule. Rank 3¡ª Rolling Waves (13 people) Mestsea. Rank 4¡ª Grim Breakers (5 people) Earth. Rank 5¡ª Heavenly Dragons (21 people) ¡ªBlue Star. Rank 6... The theory of there having no other lifeform in the universe aside from them waspletely debunked ten years ago with the appearance of Labyrinth, but seeing the leaderboard that showed others still made everyone feel a mix of awe, surprise, and anticipation. "I think we are the only ones who actually know the official names of others out there," Natalia grinned. "So our party is at 4th rank on a universal scale? Damn!" Marcus was visibly excited. Maya blinked, "I wonder if we''ll get any rewards for getting on the leaderboard?" "True, it would be good if we get some rewards," Lily nodded. "Actually, I got something for us," Almond wryly smiled. "Since I am the party leader, there''s another option for me called Party Mailbox. There''s a reward chest there for getting the 4th rank on this leaderboard." Almond took out the reward chest. "Nice! I''ll open it," Natalia grinned. "But you are in average luck period right now," Lily raised her eyebrows. "You still need two months more to regain the above-average luck." "What are you talking about?" Marcus scratched his head. "You guys are talking as if you can control luck," Maya raised her eyebrows. "Well, Natalia can, to a certain extent," Almond chuckled. "Anyway, let''s roll a dice to decide. The highest number wins." Almond used some Mana and controlled it, condensing it to make a mana dice. After everyone rolled it, Maya and Natalia came to a tie as both rolled six. They rolled the dice again, and this time, Maya won. "Well, there you go, your consumed luck showed its effect," Lily chuckled. "Humph, but I am still luckier than average peeps." Almond pushed the big reward chest towards Maya, who rubbed her hands briefly before pressing the button on the fancy sci-fi magic-themed reward chest. [Congrattions. All party members are given a random rank of stat-boosting fruit set.] "Let''s go!" Natalia cheered. "We get random fruit set despite getting 4th rank on the leaderboard? Tsk," Lily shook her head. "I was expecting some skills scroll, talent awakening, and such type of reward." "Well, this isn''t bad," Marcus was grinning from ear to ear. "And I got freaking A-rank fruit set." "I got a B-rank fruit set," Maya said, a small pout forming on her face. "I got C-rank¡­" Natalia''s face fell as she checked her fruit set''s rank. "Whatever," Lily took out her fruits and started eating. "Damn, you got A-rank fruits. Of course, it''s whatever for you," Natalia rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Almond could only sigh. ''One of the most important types of reward is kinda useless for me.'' ''But what will happen if I upgrade my Spirit Devour skill further? It''s at SS-rank right now, and once it reaches SSS-rank, surely it''ll do more than just allow me to eat spirits and get stats.'' He had reached Silver level 20, the limit of Floor 2, at once after defeating Kizalor, so he gained two level-up boons. And both of them had skill options! He also had one more level-up boon stored, which he wasn''t going to use anytime soon since it didn''t have the skill option. "Almond, what about your fruits?" Natalia asked as she made a puppy face after eating her fruits. "I got C-rank fruits, so you should take pity and give your fruits to me." "Damn," Marcus muttered while looking at Natalia. "You know these fruits are literally invaluable." "Huh?" Almond suddenly eximed, his expression bbergasted. "I got some strange fruits." He took out his fruits, six in total, each one a dreamy golden, sparkling with energetic blue and red patterns on its surface. Everyone was surprised. They didn''t look like normal stat-increasing fruits! "Share," Lily said, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. Almond nodded as he shared the fruits'' status. [X Factor fruit] -Rank: Special. -Effect: Eating the fruit will permanently increase a stat desired by the user by 20 and store 1 Potential codex within the user''s body. -Potential Codex: This codex will be consumed if the user is on the verge of achieving any kind of breakthrough after hard work, sessfully making the user break through their hurdles, whatever those hurdles may be. Note: Once eaten, the user won''t be able to store another Potential Codex for one year. Enjoy more content from empire "So this is the real reward for the 4th rank, huh?" Natalia rubbed her chin. "Getting 4th rank may have given us higher chances to get this type of fruit, and well, I got them." Almond put them inside and smiled. "I can''t benefit from eating one right now, so I''ll save it forter. And I may give a few away since eating more than one is not beneficial." Saving those fruits to eat one each year would be stupid. With the way he was growing, Almond reckoned he would reach the frontlines within a few months. [The Floor Boss subjugation rewards are generated. Congrattions on acquiring the Heroic Challenge Floor Boss reward chest.] [Contibution Ranking and additional Rewards] Rank 1: Almond ¡ª MVP Reward Chest. Rank 2: Lily ¡ª 2 x Epic Item Boxes, 2 x Random High-ranking skill scrolls, 2 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Tickets. Rank 3: Natalia ¡ª 2 x Epic Item Boxes, 1 x Random high-ranking skill scroll, 1 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Ticket. Rank 4: Maya ¡ª 1 x Epic Item Box, 1 x Super-rank item box, 1 x Random high-ranking skill scroll, 1 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Ticket. Rank 5: Marcus ¡ª 1 x Epic Item Box, 1 x Random high-ranking skill scroll, 1 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Ticket. [The additional rewards are stored in the temporary storage essible from your status window, which is shown as the [Storage] tab.] Everyone was excited as they read the notifications. They took out their items and started opening them as the temporary storage tab vanished. Almond also opened his MVP reward chest and got a bunch of notifications. "Truly worthy of MVP Reward chest," Almond was grinning from ear to ear as he saw the rewards he got from the chest. 1 x Random Legendary rank Ore type material. 1 x Random Legendary rank herb type resource. 1 x Skill Upgrade card. 2 x High-ranking skill scrolls.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om 1 x Random Epic essory. 1 x Random Epic Weapon. 1 x Random Epic Armor. 1 x Random Epic Item. 5 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Tickets. ''This is crazy! One more skill upgrade card. With that, I have two skill upgrade cards and two skill options,'' Almond''s eyes glinted. ''I should use skill options first and see how it goes. But whatever the case, I want my Spirit Devour to reach SSS rank and what bes of it at that rank.'' Chapter 136 Rewards & Rest (2/2) Chapter 136 Rewards & Rest (2/2) "Woah, you got legendary-rank stuff," Marcus''s eyes widened as he looked at Almond''s rewards. "But nobody can handle that yet," Maya wryly smiled. "Though I heard the top guilds and GAA are training their top cksmiths to handle them since they''ve gotten Legendary materials from the 10th Floor." "This is crazy! Almond, you can make Epic-rank items for us now," Natalia grinned. "We''ll give ours to you for sacrifice, and you can unlock the Epic-rank forge option." "That''d be awesome," Almond nodded and said thoughtfully. "But we got these items on the second floor, so we can use them on the 3rd floor when usually, nobody can use Epic-rank items on the 3rd floor or even 4th floor since there''s no chance of getting those there." "And on that point, I have a spection," Lily said as she nced over the rewards everyone got. "We got Epic-rank items from the second floor because we defeated this Heroic Challenge Floor Boss, which means we would''ve gotten Super-rank items and other rewards if we had defeated the first floor''s Heroic Challenge Floor Boss." "Concordant Ratio! That makes sense!" Almond''s eyes shone. "If each of us had Super-rank items and more preparation, this boss fight wouldn''t be as hard as we had." "And with these Epic rank items, we''ll be able to fight against 3rd Floor''s Heroic Challenge boss properly," Lily grinned, her eyes sparkling. "And the floor bosses like those would get harder and harder overall as we climb, so we''ll have to prepare better." "We''ll seriously need some heavy preparation for the third floor''s Heroic Challenge," Marcus swallowed. "Almond saved our asses this time, but¡­we shouldn''t do this again without heavy preparation." "True," Maya nodded. "I want to defeat more Heroic Challenge bosses, and we should consider increasing our party for that. The other parties in the leaderboard had more members, which shows the real difficulty." "But Almond reduced that difficulty for us," Lily smiled. Almond rubbed his nose with a modest smile, "Well, what can I say? I''m just good." "Good? More like God," Natalia rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you''re too strong for someone your level." "Your primary ss is already strong, but your specialized ss is also crazy, I know. Although you haven''t shown us much about it or told us its rank, I''m sure it''s SSS rank or higher," Marcus grinned. "Mhmm, I feel like it''s the main reason why you were able to remain equal during the second phase''s shing. The boss got stronger, but your strength was still on par, or more like you were higher in the first phase and became on par in the second phase," Maya nodded, her eyes gleaming as she looked at Almond. "I will join GAA. I want to be in your party." Almond faintly smiled, "Good decision." "So you will reject ckstar Guild''s offer, huh?" Natalia grinned. "That''d be interesting." Among other guilds that wanted to recruit Maya, the most powerful one was the 2nd rank ckstar Guild. "I am also going to reject Irond guild''s offer," Marcus grinned and saluted at Almond. "I don''t need anyone else but brother Almond. I''ll be in your party forever, leader!" "In case that, soldier, hand over all your rewards," Almond said with a serious expression. "If I use them, I''ll be more powerful and lead you to greater heights." "Err¡­.for real?" Marcus scratched the back of his head. Almondughed, "I''m just joking. Anyway, this ce is just fine. The portal isn''t going to close, so let''s finish our resting period here and then move to the 3rd Floor." "That''s a good idea. Let''s organize our rewards and properly power up ourselves as we rest," Lily nodded. "Oh yeah, I got skill options in both level-up boons I got," Almond grinned. "What about you all?" "One." "One." "One." "Tsk, I also got one." "Well, moving on, let''s finish camping first and then open the floor boss clearing reward chest," Almond rubbed his hands. "I am clearly more lucky, so it''s my turn." "Or do we roll dice again?" "Dice." "Dice." "Dice." "Dice." Almond wryly smiled, "Alright. We''ll normalize the dice to decide on reward opening from now on." With a burst of sparks, the reward chest spewed out five orbs containing various rewards. 09:55 "Only until I get my luck back," Natalia said as she swung her hair arrogantly. After everyone put their small camps in a circr position around a bonfire, Natalia went to open the big reward chest since she had won the dicepetition. With a burst of sparks, the reward chest spewed out five orbs containing various rewards. 1 x Epic-rank Equipment Set. 3 x Adventurer''s Essential Selection Reward Chest. 1 x S-rank Mystery Box. 1 x Epic-rank one-time use item. 4 x Instant-learning Skill bs. "Awesome rewards," Natalia grinned. "Now gimme that Mystery Box." "Dice," Marcus. "Dice," Almond. "Dice," Maya. "Dice," Lily. Natalia pouted. Everyone rolled the dice, and Lily won this time. "Finally, my first random opening," with visible excitement in her eyes, Lily opened the mystery box. It burst open, and a single orb came out. "Is that¡­" Maya blinked. "An egg?" Everyone squinted their eyes as they inspected the thing inside. [Winged Tyrant''s Egg] -Detail: The egg of a magical beast with an Epic-rank bloodline. -Hatching progress: 0%. "Based on its name, it''s a flying magic beast. That''s awesome," Marcus said. "True. Many Adventurers have gotten eggs and cool beast pets, hehe. We''ll finally have one as well," Natalia grinned. "Let''s check the selection chest now," Lily said as she put the egg in the storage pouch. "We''ll find the egg''s hatching requirementter after leaving." "Yep," Almond nodded as he grabbed a selection chest. [Adventurer''s Essential Selection Reward Chest] -Please choose one of the options from below. 1¡ªAdventurer''s Magic Tent. 2¡ªAdventurer''s Storage Ring. 3¡ªAdventurer''s Repair Powder Pouch. 4¡ªAdventurer''s Consumable Assortment. "We have three, so we can pick three of those if all reward chests have the same options," Maya said. "They all have the same options," Almond said as he selected Magic Tent from this chest. "Repair Powder Pouch seems to be a thing that repairs items, so we don''t need it." "Yeah," Lily nodded. "Even if we use Epic-rank items all day, their durability won''t get much lower even against gold-rank monsters." Almond proceeded to select Storage Ring and Consumable Assortment from the other two selection chests. Everyone stood up to check out the Magic Tent first, and it turned out to be a crazily cool item. First, it looked small from the outside, but it was as big as a big room inside, at least 100 meters square. Second, it had in-built Magic Formations to allow for three effects. ¡ª1. Invisibility. It could turn invisible to the naked eye, mask smell, and seal off magic aura at no cost for 8 hours daily. ¡ª2. It could attach to any surface, create a t floor, and adjust its shape and size ording to the user. ¡ª3. Temperature adjustment. Lastly, the tent was absolutely aesthetic looking, both from the outside and inside. It was made with some kind of fabric, colored maroon with medieval-style royal patterns. There was a bedroom, a toilet, a cupboard, a stove, a dressing table with a mirror, a storage box, and utensils already inside, decorated and ready. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om But their tents were already prepared, so Almond put this tent away in the storage ring, which he wore on his finger. It had a blue gemstone with gray-gold metal carved with ck criss-cross patterns. The consumable assortment was 10 x Healing Potions, 10 x Mana recovery Potions, 10 x Stamina recovery potions, and 10 x Positive Potions. Apparently, poof potions gave random buffs upon consumption. However, the most important thing in this reward chest turned out to be instant-learning skill bs. Everyone had gotten skill scrolls, but learning skills from them required training and practice. However, using a skill b could instantly form that skill scroll''s skill rune within their skill room. (In case you forgot, the skill room, as termed by Almond, is a mysterious space within everyone that one could ess upon reaching 50 Perception and Focus.] Everyone had opened their higher-ranking skill scrolls and got random skills ranging from B to SS rank. Almond had nock of skills for now, and he didn''t want to instantly learn the skills, so he decided to power up the others since there were only four instant-learning skill bs. While everyone learned their new skills using the skill bs, Almond opened his level-up boon windows. It was time to select the two skill options, to either get a new primary ss skill or upgrade one of the existing ones. Chapter 137 Distribution Complete, Moving to the Third Floor Chapter 137 Distribution Complete, Moving to the Third Floor Almond selected the first skill option from one of the two level-up boon windows. [Congrattions, your ss skill¡ªSpirit Syringe has been upgraded to SS-rank.] ''Mhmm, let''s see what it got,'' Almond opened the skill''s status panel. [Spirit Syringe] -Rank: SS -Type: Off-Support. -Cost: 10% of maximum stamina. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Absorb 10% of the user''s stamina to conjure a Spirit Syringe, which can absorb the Vitality and Mana of a target up to 100% of the user''s Vitality and Mana. You can store up to 5 Spirit Syringe. ¡ª> Syringes can be used to recover vitality and mana and, additionally, give a 20% all-stat boost for 1 minute. ''A buff?'' Almond''s eyes shone. ''20% boost to all stats is awesome.'' Almond was satisfied with that upgrade. Moving on, he selected Skill Option from the other level-up boon panel. [Congrattions, your ss skill¡ªSpirit Explosion, has been upgraded to SS rank.] ''Oh¡­'' Almond was a bit disappointed. Although Spirit Explosion was a very powerful skill, no doubt, he was using up Spirits to craft items mostly. He also had some Spirits Stored inside the pocket that needed to be saved, like the Dungeon Boss spirits, this Heroic Challenge boss spirit, and the other bosses he defeated on the way to here on the second floor. ''100 slots are totally not enough anymore,'' Almond wryly smiled. ''I need to upgrade Spirit Pocket and Spirit Absorption, both with the skill upgrade cards, but not yet. I''m going to level up more. Surely, I''ll get at least a couple more Skill options as I level up to Gold level 100 this month.'' ''Anyway, let me see what new effect Spirit Explosion got.'' [Spirit Explosion] -Rank: SS -Type: Offense. -Cost: 1 Spirit per Spirit Explosion. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Anywhere within 50 meters of yourself, you can ce a spirit and make it explode. The damage is determined by the stats of the spirit''s owner before death. There''s a chance for the explosion to turn special, granting it effects rted to the memories of the spirit based on the powers its owner wielded. ¡ª> Spirit Nuke: You can stack spirits and store them in a special space essible through this skill. The stacked spirit will take time but eventually condense and create a Spirit Nuke. You can stack up to 100 spirits and can only store 1 Spirit Nuke at a time. ''Spirit Nuke?!'' Almond was startled and also thrilled. ''That sounds powerful. I have to keep one in store in case of an emergency.'' He didn''t have any spirits to spare since he turned all he got from the second floor into items, aside from boss spirits. ''Should I use a skill upgrade card to upgrade Spirit Devour now or wait?'' Almond contemted. ''I don''t need stats yet, and I am also crafting items since I''ll need a lot to craft Epic-grade itemster as each craft of an Epic-rank would require 20 Super-grade items.'' ''I can start stocking items right now in my Spirit Forge Factory. Using Umon-grade items to craft Rare-grade and Rare-grade items to craft Super-grades,'' Almond''s eyes glinted. He wasn''t going to unlock the Epic-grade forge option yet since everyone could use their Epic-rank items to progress faster on the third floor. ''Yeah, I''ll save the skill upgrade cards for now.'' Almond looked at others and said, "Let''s finish eating. We''ll distribute the items and whatnot before beginning our adventure after resting." The four of them were immersed in checking out the new S-rank and SS-rank skills they just learned using the Instant-learning skill b. Maya had gotten an SS-rank skill from her high-ranking skill scroll, while the other three had gotten an S-rank skill. "Yeah, let''s finish eating. Help me cook," Natalia said right before her stomach rumbled and everyone burst outughing. But everyone was indeed very hungry after their five hours of rush on this second floor. "Almond, you rest," Lily said as she turned to Almond and gently pushed his chest toy him down in the tent, "You pushed yourself too hard three times in the fight." "I''ll take up on that offer," Almond weakly smiled. "I''m mentally and physically aching all over even though I''m fully healed." ¡­ The food was cooked as soon as they had bought meat and other ingredients. After eating, everyone immediately fell asleep inside the tents. Lily and Almond were in one tent, while the other three had their individual tents. Time passed, and Almond automatically woke up six hourster, fully recovered. The others had woken up an hour or half an hour earlier and had freshened up. They were testing out their new skills and items, but after Almond woke up, everyone gathered around at the camp and drank herb tea before discussing item distribution. The total items they had gotten after opening Epic-rank boxes were as follows: 1. zing Duskpiercer Bow ¡ª Low-tier Epic-grade. 2. Chainmail of Crimson Requiem ¡ª Low-tier Epic-grade. 3. Circlet of Starfrost Wisp ¡ª Low-tier Epic-grade. 4. Inbound Geomancer''s Boots ¡ª Low-tier Epic-grade. 5. Wrathful Wood Titan''s Ne ¡ª Low-tier Epic-grade. 6. Ring of the Shattered Edge ¡ª Medium-tier Epic-grade. The Epic-rank item boxes that everyone got from the bonus rewards based on their contribution yielded those six items. Unlike maximum valued items that Almond could craft, these items weren''t like that. Their effects appeared a bit worse than Almond''s high-tier Super-grade equipment set! However, the most important thing was the perk each of them gave. Each of those Epic-grade items gave everyone roughly 120 stat points. "After seeing Almond''s spirit items, I am not interested in these," Marcus wryly smiled. "We definitely want the Epic-rank items you create." "True," Maya nodded. "But these items are enough for us to roll over the third floor easily. Just the stat boost they gave us by using just one is good enough until we reach the third floor''s Heroic Challenge." "Then let''s finish the third floor quickly with all the power-ups we have," Lily said with a sharp smile. "After that, we''ll meet familiar faces on the 4th Floor. We can increase our party by a couple of people then." "Yeah, let''s distribute the items and move," Almond said as he first took out the Epic-rank set from the Floor Boss chest. "The set is also of low-grade Epic-rank, but it''s power and aligned with Earth-attribute and gives set bonus, so Marcus would be able to utilize it better." "Woohoo! Thanks, leader!" Marcus said while grinning from ear to ear. "What about the other four items? Are they random?" Natalia asked. "Yeah, " Almond nodded as he took out the other four random Epic-rank items he got from his MVP reward chest. "The weapon I got from the random weapon box is a bit unorthodox, but so I''ll use it. I''m interested in it," Almond said as he grabbed the bronze-ded metallic Chakram with crystal patterns on its surface at the periphery. The chakram floated up and started spinning. "Woah, that looks dangerous. It''s spinning fast, too," Marcus eximed. "I can control it like this, but it cost Mana per second. But I''m just going to stick with throwing it and then getting it back to me using Mana to keep low consumption," Almond smiled. "This can be a good flexible long-range attack weapon." "Moving on, the other three Epic grade items are also of mid-tier like this one¡ªA mage robe aligned with light attribute." "That''s mine," Natalia raised her hand. "A ring that boosts water and ice attributes, granting some effects." Maya''s eyes glowed, "Could I get to use that, please?" She had mastery of both Ice and Water elements, so this essory item was perfect for her. "Yep. It''s yours. Thest one is a pair of gloves, boosting the darkness element and increasing the attack speed of the hand," Almond smiled and handed the gloves to Lily. "They are yours." "Damn, the Epic items you got from your MVP reward chest are pretty good, and all of them are medium-tier," Natalia grinned as she wore the white robe with golden and blue embroidery design with tiny crystal patterns. "Oh yeah, people. What do we do about our roulette tickets?" Marcus asked. "Save," Almond said. "Yep, we''ll save those," Lily nodded. "We are going to get more tickets as he clears the heroic challenge floor boss, so it would be better if we use themter." Maya blinked and asked, "You sound like you''ve used one before." "We did," Natalia chuckled. "They give pretty good rewards, very good in fact, but only if we are lucky. That''s why it''s better to save them for now and open in bulkter." "Let''s distribute the remaining six items and start moving," Almond said as he waved his hand, and items floated up and went to everyone. Lily got the zing Duskpiercer Bow since she was good with the bow. Chainmail of Crimson Requiem also went to Lily for better protection, and since it was blood-attributed, it matched with Lily, who had Blood-attributed specialized ss. She couldn''t use the element, but it at least matched and boosted her blood recovery. Circlet of Starfrost Wisp went to Maya since it was an ice-attribute. It was headgear and gave one defense-type and two buff-type effects. Marcus got the Inbound Geomancer''s Boots as they matched him. Wrathful Wood Titan''s Ne went to Natalia. Nobody had wood or natural-rted attributes, but this ne gave defense, buff, and an attack-type effect. Ring of the Shattered Edge, the only medium-tier Epic-rank items from those boxes, went to Almond as he kept it. It was a pure-offense enhancing ring, best suitable to him. And with that, everyone got up and put their tents into the storage pouches before finally leaving through a portal. Maya and Marcus went inside first while riding on Chimera Frank. Afterward, Lily and Natalia went together after mounting on Starlight Beast. Lastly, Almond entered, his eyes already disying a thirst for action after the short rest. Meanwhile, the situation outside that people in the Labyrinth weren''t aware of yet was very tense. The meeting had begun five hours ago with all important people gathering, and it was still ongoing, though it was time to make some decisions to move about resolving the situation. N?v(el)B\\jnn Chapter 138: The Meeting GAA headquarters, inside a big hall. The tables were in a circr formation with threeyers. The outermost and one inner ring were for the heads of the top 100 families and top 100 guild leaders. Find your next read at empire The core ring table was for the top 10 strongest family heads and top 10 guild leaders. And in the centermost middle ring sat seventeen old people, eighteen if including Rudra, mostly above 50 and 60 years old. They were the so-called old monsters¡ªpeople who were very proficient inbat and martial arts before the Labyrinth descended and became very powerful with their wisdom and insight as they grasped the magic and learned more about it faster than others. Five meters above the center ring were also four screens that disyed the Floor Boss via Arcane Eyes sent inside. "The main advantage we have is that the 10th Floor isrge, and even though it went through major changes due to the Floor Boss spawning, it¡¯s still bigger than the 9th floor. Should we make multiple teams to fight the boss turn by turn, using all of our powers at once to deal damage?" "Hit and run tactics per team? Sounds good, but the problem is that not many of those present here canst long against that boss unless we have some people who can keep it upied." "That boss is a giant humanoid-type lizard, walking on two legs, wielding a giant curved heavy sword for melee and a bow for long-range attacks. We only saw its bow attack once, but can I ask who can dodge or block that arrow attack aside from those seniors?" "Its speed is faster. Even if we can perceive its movements using Focus Field, it would be hard to dodge or keep up our movement with it." "Why did this 10th floor¡¯s floor Boss have to be a humanoid one? Sigh." The old monsters weren¡¯t speaking for thest hour and were just watching the Floor boss while listening to others. But Rudra finally spoke as he got up, "Alright, I have decided." The hall turned silent as all types of discussion stopped. "We can all agree that this situation is dire, and if we fail to resolve it in one try, we are going to have some serious problems and unrepairable damage." Everyone nodded. "So I want all of you, especially the top guilds and families, to bring out their full support. And by support, I mean the Magic Artifacts, Legendary items, and valuable one-time-use items. Only by giving our all efforts can we ensure that we will win and keep casualty low." "And I know," Rudra¡¯s eyes turned sharp and cold, his aura permeating the hall. "I know for sure we have some rats here that know exactly why we have this situation. They are the ones responsible for this situation, along with the rats that hide in the underworld." Rudra¡¯s Focus Field was expanded, and he was watching and sensing everyone¡¯s aura and fluctuation to see what reaction his words brought out from people. "Rudra-kun, you are strongest among us and the only one who can contend with that Floor Boss head-on with your skill set and arsenal of techniques. The risk for you is higher than usual this time. Therefore, I will part with my n¡¯s artifact¡ªYata No Kagami," a white-haired old man said while caressing his short beard. Everyone was shocked. Yata No Kagami was a famous mirror possessed by the old monster Shiro-sen of the Shimazu n--one of the top 20 families. Even though it wasn¡¯t a top 10 family due to its small size and less appearance on the outside, Shiro-sen was a bonafide veteran, one of the strongest old monsters. There had been instances of ancient heirlooms or artifacts of the past suddenly transforming and gaining power. There were not many such instances, but each artifact possessed unique and powerful effects. Yata No Kagami was a round mirror, and it was used along with two other artifacts on the 6th floor crisis where adventurers had died, and the Floor Boss was undefeated for over 24 hours, putting the world at a big risk. What everyone saw that day was how that mirror absorbed a whole AOE skill of the Floor Boss and turned it into a poisonous beam back at the boss. ording to the rumors, it had a cooldown of one month before being used again, but nobody was sure aside from the ones who had used the mirror. "Tsk, alright, take my Hermes¡¯ Winged Sandles. You¡¯ll need them again if you are going to court death against a floor boss," said a gray-haired man in a loose robe¡ªTheo Gabris, the old monster from the Gabris family, one of the top ten families. Rudra rolled his eyes, "You keep them. And you three, too." Rudra looked at the other three old monsters who had artifacts. "I am not going go head-on alone this time. I want support, a solid one." As he said this, he magic whispered to them, ¡¯You old coots better agree without drama. There are rats here, and there will be rats when we fight the floor boss as well. I don¡¯t want to expose my back when I am focused against the floor boss.¡¯ "Anyway, moving on, let me start with something important. We are not going to fight the floor boss as soon as possible. We are going fight it after we are sufficiently prepared," Rudra said as he narrowed his eyes. "It¡¯s time to enter the S-grade dungeons." "On that note, Admiral, one S-grade dungeon also appeared in my guild¡¯s territory," spoke Liam Sunbreak, the guild leader of the current rank 1 Proximax Guild. The first S-grade Dungeon appeared after the 10th Floor of the Labyrinth was essed. It¡¯s been over three months since then, so more were bound to spawn, albeit at a very low rate. Rudra nodded at Liam and swept his nce at others, "I want locations of all S-grade dungeon doors. Do not withhold this information because it is important. No guild or family alone is capable of clearing them right now without the help of the strongest people here, and this Floor Boss fight will be dyed by 24 hours for sure, which will make the dungeons fill up their border gauge faster." "We don¡¯t want any S-grade dungeon to have a dungeon break, as that would result in massive destruction. I am also going to use the new satellites we haveunched along with Tower of Arcane to sweep the whole for the S-grade dungeon doors." "So, you better disclose the location now, or I will personally hold a grudge and doubt about you forever," Admiral Rudra finished speaking, making many breaks into cold sweat. In the following minute, a total of six S-grade dungeon doors were reported, four by the guilds and two by some families. N?v(el)B\\jnn "Good. Aside from these six, we have six more S-grade dungeon doors that we know of," Admira Rudra nodded. "We will make twelve strongest parties and dive into those dungeons. The goal is to get valuable rewards from them to increase our chances against the 10th Floor¡¯s floor boss." "S-grade dungeon could give us legendary items since A-rank dungeons did not, so this is indeed the best course of action to handle the matter," said Silvester Duncan with a nod. "If there¡¯s a Legendary sword, I would love to use one." "If there¡¯s a legendary sword, then it is I who should use it," said Arata Ryugiri, the old monster from the Ryugiri n¡ªone of the top 10 families. "Alright, stop it right here," Rudra snorted. "It¡¯s time to create twelve teams properly to clear those dungeons. We must decide the teams within half an hour, so let¡¯s get started." [A/N: Btw, please give points to Almond in the character sheet for the character event :D Oh and Almond and Lily both have new character illustrations.] Chapter 139: Third Floor of the Labyrinth (1/2) The third floor of the Labyrinth was a single building but utterly vast and ancient with a mix of gothic, medieval, and fantasy aesthetics, featuring multi-tiered sections, secret passages, and ominous architecture designed to challenge adventurers with its scale, traps, and monster cements. The level ceiling of this floor was Silver level 30. Thisbyrinth floor had eight starting areas outside the castle that faced the drawbridges to lead people inside towards different parts of the castle on the ground area. The huge castle¡¯s perimeters were measured to be roughly a hundred kilometers in radius, and the castle¡¯s height was 30 kilometers, with the floor boss zone situated at the top. "Third floor¡¯s castle¡­I had a harder timeying out this one in the magic map," Almond muttered as he looked at the vast, ancient structure¡¯s one side and began walking towards the drawbridge. Behind him was nothing but darkness that showed thebyrinth floor¡¯s border. At the edge of the drawbridge was the gate leading inside the castle. There were two broken pedestals at the end of the bridge that held gargoyle statues that usually attacked Adventurers, but people who had entered this floor had destroyed those monsters. As he entered inside, Almond saw a big stretch of garden with wild trees and nts. ¡¯So I am at the Garden of Regret,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted, and he began making his route in the mind. The good thing about thisbyrinth was that the requirement to spawn the floor boss was easier. The items were on the section right below the floor boss zone. One had to defeat the Four Knights of the Apocalypse in four different halls to get the items. "Everyone, it¡¯s time to start another party and enjoy," Almond summoned his Spirit Wraiths, except for Starlight Beast and Chimera Frank, who were with the other two groups. "Follow me and destroy everything." ¡­ Lily, Natalia, and Starlight Beast arrived in the ballroom hall on the ground floor as their first area. Inside this huge hall stretching several hundred meters all around, one could see vanishing walls that blinked into existence every few seconds everywhere and monsters that looked like humanoid mannequins dancing around. "Oh no, I don¡¯t like these monsters," Natalia pouted. "They are too creepy." "Just kill them," Lily said with a grin as she stretched an arrow from her zing Duskpiercer, conjuring a dark orange med arrow that she enchanted with her Dreadspire Element: Darkened me. *Swoosh!* Everywhere it pierced through spread mes within 10 meters of it, which was the effect of the bow, lighting up all monsters on fire before exploding after crossing 180 meters due to a wall flickering into existence. "Let¡¯s go, Starlight Beast. Destroy everything." "Roar!" Lily and Natalia, along with Starlight Beast, carved through the ballroom monsters with destructive efficiency. Natalia, wielding her new Starfrost Robe, unleashed a spell storm of freezing winds and celestial sts along with her instruments ringing loudly. She had enough mana to use the effects of her new items leisurely while also using her specialized ss¡¯s skill. Lily switched between the bow and dagger while fighting, her daggers unleashing arcs of shes to kill monsters in short range while her arrows erupted in brilliant explosions, clearing paths amidst the chaos. Experience new stories on empire N?v(el)B\\jnn Starlight Beast supported them by charging through groups of enemies, its radiant ws and celestial aura annihting everything in its path. Reaching the Grand Stairwell, they encountered a Mini-Boss, the Spectral Dancer, who teleported and attacked with high-speed shes. Natalia¡¯s precise timing with Celestial Songstorm, her new SS-rank specialized skill, locked it in ce long enough for Lily to pierce its core. They continued ording to the route as there wasn¡¯t any need to choose direction here, but to decide which area to skip past while climbing the higher sections of the castle. Each floor of this castle was vast and had multiple small areas filled with monsters for people to kill and get challenge rewards, but only one small area on each floor had stairs to climb upward. The stair areas were special as they respawned the monsters every hour, while the other areas remained empty for three days after getting cleared. The goal was to climb the castle efficiently without wasting time on random areas and ultimately reach the Quartet za, the 30th floor section of the castle, the area right below the Floor Boss Zone, where everyone would meet up. ¡­ Marcus and Maya arrived on the second floor of the castle of the southeast zone after passing through the Dining Hall of Terror. On the second floor, they chose to enter the Hall of Eclipses, as this small area had stairs to climb upward. They progressed swiftly through the Hall of Eclipses, a sprawling chamber filled with moving shadowy orbs that acted as both obstacles and traps. The orbs emitted bursts of dark energy, forcing them to dodge while fighting Shadow Stalkers, spectral creatures that materialized unpredictably. Chimera Frank had no threat against the orbs, so it was raining destruction and clearing the path while Marcus and Maya moved behind it, fighting against ambushes of Shadow Stalkers and killing them. They soon cleared the hall and arrived at the stairs leading upward. ¡­ The castle had 30 floor sections, with the 31st being the Floor Boss Zone. Each floor section was huge, stretching a hundred kilometers in radius, but it was parted into eightrge areas and became maze-like due to theplexyout. But each floor section had roughly ten small areas for people to kill monsters, totaling 300 small areas. As such, with there being many people on thisbyrinth floor, there was a higher chance of encounters due to theyout of the castle. Most of the people were taking an easy and careful approach, resting after clearing a few small areas on a castle floor¡¯s section and then climbing. Each floor section had multiple areas, so it was either firste, first serve or a tense conflict if someone wanted to upy. Almond and the others didn¡¯t encounter anyone until 4 hourster when they arrived at the 20th floor sections and above. But nobody wanted beef with him or others. Almond was alone, but not so alone with his spirit wraiths. Lily, Natalia, and Starlight Beast had no problem, as nobody wanted to mess with them as well. However, when Marcus and Maya arrived on the 27th floor section¡¯s stair area, they encountered a big group of Ebonw Guild¡ªranked 18th. They had just cleared this stair area and were resting when Maya and Marcus entered the hall with Chimera Frank. At first, they were surprised, but they just continued moving as their goal was to simply climb the stairs. "Those two are from that tournament, eh?" "Yeah, but why are they here? Did they clear the second floor already?" "Hey, look at their items! Am I going insane, or is it showing Epic grade to me?" "Fuck, you are right!" Marcus and Maya couldn¡¯t hear them, but they could see they were discussing. "They won¡¯t have any ideas on us, right?" Marcus whispered to Maya using Magic Whisper. "Not unless they want to court death," Maya¡¯s eyes turned frosty. "Hey, fellow adventurers. Maya, and Marcus, right?" The two people got up and arrived before them, while the other twelve people also got up and walked, clearly blocking the path to the stairs. "Are we seeing things, or do you two really have Epic-rank items?" "Yeah, could we take a look and inspect it in detail? I¡¯m really curious about their status." "Grrr¡­" Chimera Frank growled, its wings expanding. The Ebonw guild group moved a step back as they took out their weapons. "Hey, get that beast in control. We don¡¯t want needless fight." Maya and Marcus looked at them, feeling their ill gazes. ¡¯What do we do, Maya? Attack promptly or y along for a bit and escape swiftly?¡¯ Chapter 140 Third Floor of the Labyrinth (2/2) "Move out of the way," Maya said with a t, cold expression as she used her specialized ss skill, conjuring a Riptide Knife in one hand and a Hailspring Revolver in another. "Growl!" As if resonating with Maya''s action, Chimera Frank growled more dangerously this time, its three heads'' mouths opening, sparkling with magical energies. Marcus grinned ferociously as his Epic-rank equipment set gleamed, using its effect that released a faint geo-brown aura, increasing defenses and resistance to magic for allies. He crouched slightly while holding a sword and shield as if ready to pounce into their group. "You sure you want to fight against the twelve of us?" the leader of the group, a dark blond-haired man, said as he narrowed his eyes, his ck hammer gleaming with red, cracked patterns. "You don''t know your capabilities, nor ours," Marcus spat on the ground as he spoke. "Move out or die." "There''s really only one oue if we fight," Maya indifferently said, "You all will die, and the three of us will survive. There''s no doubt about this in my mind. What about you all?" The air around this part was very tense, with Ebonw Guild''s group having mixed feelings. The leader and a few others had tight expressions, but the others were faltering. They were mostly scared of Chimera Frank, that massive monster who had higher stats than them. Adding on to the fact that Marcus and Maya had Epic-rank items that increased their stats above them, and who knows what kind of effects they had, which didn''t help boost their confidence even though they outnumbered them vastly. ''Leader, we shouldn''t sh.'' ''Yeah, it''s not worth it if we lose our lives.'' ''Even if we win by chance, many of us would die.'' ''I won''t fight, leader Kareem. Sorry.'' Kareem''s eyes glinted, a mixture of greed and hesitation. ''It''s goddamn Epic-rank items, you fools!'' A silence descended as the tension still hung in the air. ''If I attack, then they will attack us¡­and it will eventually lead to a big fight,'' Kareem thought, his eyes darting around Maya, Marcus, and Chimera Frank. ''As long as I survive in the end, I''ll benefit.'' ''I''ll make a move and turn defensive.'' He sensed Maya''s gaze on himself and grinned ruthlessly as he looked at her and swung his hammer. "Die!" His aura burst out as he used a skill, causing a ck burning stone to conjure in front of him as his swinging hammer struck it andunched it like a bullet toward Chimera Frank. But right as his hammer struck that stone, Maya''s revolver also shot a bullet while her Epic-rank circlet faintly shone. The moment Kareem''s hammer struck that stone, he was frozenpletely and shattered. It happened too fast, and what Kareen expected didn''t happen. Chimera Frank simply waved one of its wings and blocked that attack that barely reduced a bit of its vitality. "We don''t want to fight!" "That''s right! We said no to leader Kareem!" The other people quickly moved out of the way while shouting.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Well, that was easy," Marcus wryly smiled as he broke his stance and stood properly. "Was that your first kill, Maya?" "He wanted to kill us, and even his own party members, just to get the Epic-rank items," Maya narrowed her eyes. "I didn''t want to spare someone like him." "Fair." ¡­ Marcus and Maya continued. It took everyone 3 hours to reach the Quartet za. Almond was faster, but he had moved leisurely again without killing any monsters. The za, located directly below the Floor Boss Zone, was an expansive circr area surrounded by four colossal gates, each adorned with symbols of the Four Knights of the Apocalypse: Famine, War, Pestilence, and Death. In the center stood a glowing pedestal indicating where the boss summoning items were to be ced after defeating the Knights. As the groups converged, they took a moment to catch their breath and rest for ten minutes while admiring the ominous architecture. The air was thick with magically influenced omen hanging in the air, and the faint hum of thebyrinth''s energy resonated all around at low frequency, creating a tense vibe. "I want the spirits of these four bosses, so we''ll be killing these bosses one by one with me," Almond said. "Gotcha, so which one''s the first?" Natalia asked. "Let''s start with death," Marcus grinned. "Any is fine," Lily said. Maya began walking towards the gate, symbolizing the Knight of Death. "Let''s go then." Then, Almond watched Lily, Natalia, Maya, and Marcus fight the boss for half a minute as they defeated it. After storing the spirit, the group moved to the next boss. They had to recover a bit, so it took ten minutes for the group to be done with all four knights of the apocalypse. "I think it would be a good idea to use the spirits of these four bosses to craft an item set," Almond rubbed his chin. "Yep. One of these spirits as an ingredient for each equipment. This would probably push for the items toe out in a set." "That sounds good and something I can use," Lily blinked. "True. These four knights of apocalypse bosses had darkness element''s attributes, so an equipment set made from them would pair perfectly with you," Maya nodded. "I agree. And now that we''re done with all four bosses and got an item, we should prepare for another Heroic Challenge," Marcus said as he sat down. The others also sat down, making a circle. "I''ve been creating items as soon as I get spirits. So far, I have crafted 58 low-tier super-rank items by sacrificing all items I''ve crafted," Almond said. "To craft a high-tier Epic-rank set, I''d need 80 super-rank items." Crafting a low-tier super-rank item only required the sacrifice of 5 rare-rank items, so Almond managed to craft many super-rank items for sacrifice. "So that''s not enough for an epic set," Natalia blinked. "Well, we are sufficiently geared, and you are also overpowered, so we should be able to defeat the Heroic Challenge Boss of this floor, right?" "We are bettered geared this time, but that doesn''t mean there''s no risk," Maya said as she looked at Almond and Lily. "Right?" "The only one who is at no risk of getting killed by one attack aside from me is Marcus," Almond said with a nod. "The epic-rank set he is wearing is highly defensive and matches his Earth elemental mastery." "Indeed," Lily nodded as she nced at Natalia and Maya, "The three of us are at risk of being killed with a slight mistake or carelessness." "What do we do then?" Marcus scratched his head. "Honestly, I think we should prepare more and think ourselves luckier during the second floor''s heroic challenge." "Almond will know," Lily turned to Almond. "It''s your decision to make because you are the strongest among us and also the real shot at killing the boss." Almond nodded, "I have an idea. We have to make a strategy, a foolproof one. An ultimatebo of skills from all of us, so I can use my two ultimate attack moves." "Two? One is Rising Dragon''s Roar, which requires at least 90% of your maximum Mana and Stamina, right? So what is the other one?" Maya asked, her eyes curious. The others were also curious. Chapter 141 Preparation "A nuke of pure devastation," Almond grinned. "But tond it effectively, the boss needs to be immobilized. The previous Heroic Boss, Kizalor, could easily dodge, reposition, or counter with a defensive skill within the one-second dy this attack requires. It''s safe to assume this boss will be just as capable, if not more, so I can''t afford to waste it carelessly because we''d only have one chance. I can''t use this attack again in a short time even if I have all recovery items in the world." Everyone was surprised. They didn''t know Almond had such a skill. "Is that attack a new effect of your spirit explosion? I guess it must have upgraded from the level-up boon skill option," Lily said. "Yep. So let''s start brainstorming with a bit of practice, "Almond smiled as he summoned his current strongest spirit wraith¡ªCrimson Skylord Galvaren. "I can give my all and try to freeze the boss," Maya said. "But for that to work on a Heroic boss with such high stats, I''d need to weave a good move." "Same," Natalia nodded. "I can do two things. I can use my specialized ss''s third skill, which has a powerful stun effect. I can also use Action Mirage to copy Maya''s skill of freezing, but my skill is pretty good, I think."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Alright. And Maya, Nyssara will join you in your attack to boost its freezing power," Almond nodded as he stood up. "Let''s work on this." Turning to Galvaren, he said, "Galvaren, you will fight these two. Don''t hold back, but don''t kill them." Galvaren grinned at Maya and Natalia as he conjured his broken, heavy sword. "Bring it on,dies." Maya and Natalia nced at each other before jumping back several meters away, activating Fortification and Body Enfold. Maya also used Weapon Enfold as she conjured her Hailspring Revolvers and empowered both guns. Galvaren jumped with a fiery aura, his wings zing. Maya''s bullets shot at him, but Galvaren used Abyssal Sky Rend (A), shing his broken sword that created a molten ck obsidian sh, destroying her bullets and promptly using another skill¡ªCrimson Dive Bomb (S) towards Maya. ''Shit!'' Maya canceled her another attack, and as her circlet of Starfrost wisp shone. Natalia used her third specialized ss skill¡ªCelestial Songstress, as all four of her instruments glowed and buzzed, unleashing waves of sounds based on Natalia''s desired frequency as it affected the stun''s effectiveness. Galvaren''s dive bomb shattered Maya, but only her icy afterimage while she appeared ten meters away. The epic item''s effect saved her from that attack, or she would''ve been terribly injured. Meanwhile, the moment after Galvaren dive-bombed, Natalia''s skill struck him. Galvaren didn''t have a defensive skill, but he tried to destroy the waves of Celestial Songstress, albeit he failed as the waves continued and stunned him as these waves had the attribute of passing through enhanced in them. They were sound-based and required a proper defense to block. Maya took this chance as she went into the motion of pulling string while her Aquafrost bow materialized starting from the string. *Swoosh!* The bow had the highest freezing chance, and she gave it her all, consuming 70% of her maximum Mana to bolster it with her ice elemental mastery. Galvaren swung his sword to strike the arrow, but it still exploded and burst into a thick, freezing mist that froze him. But Galvaren''s body burst out in mes just half a secondter as he took to the skies and roared. "I''m just getting started,dies!" Almond injected Spirit Syringes into both Natalia and Maya, recovering them so they could continue. Maya and Natalia were surprised as their stats also increased by 20%, though the notification said that it was only for a minute. They continued fighting as Galvaren was very strong. "I have a stun-like skill, but it won''t work on a floor boss. It''s a melee-type one where I can enchant my shield and bash into the opponent''s head to give a concussion and stun," Marcus said. "Your job is to defend and buff, Marcus. Keep your mana for that instead of attacks." "Gotcha." "I''ll summon my Dreadspire Elementals," Lily said while watching Maya and Natalia duking it out with Galvaren. "They are pure elementals and will debuff the boss. After summoning them, I''ll work on the Voidless Sunderer so you can nail your attacks at the highest potency." "Good," Almond nodded. "Brother Almond, you also shed off Kizalore''s arms like a knife chopping through butter, so technically, you can also disable the boss, right?" Marcus asked as he blinked curiously. "Yes, but I want the number one spot in the leaderboard for us," Almond grinned as his eyes glinted. "So we will work towards finishing off the boss in one shot, onebo. No need to let the boss ess his phase two." Marcus was dumbfounded, "We can do that?" Lily raised her eyebrows as she guessed something since she knew about Almond''s legendary ss skills and his third skill of the ss that he had yet to use. "We will do that," Almond nodded. "That''s why I want Maya and Natalia to up their game and create a solid control-type attackbo that can immobilize the boss for at least one second." "Alright, stop," Almond shouted as pped loudly. "You two. Sit down in meditation and perceive your skill room. Maya, you check out your strongest freezing skill''s skill rune and fiddle with it to increase freezing power. You should also learn how to utilize the freezing attribute of your ice element more so you can empower the freeze. Use the water element''s property to bolster the freeze. I''m sure you''lle up with something since you have mastery over both elements." "Natalia, your skill is more powerful because it''s hard to block, and it stuns the body and mind both with those chaotic sound frequencies. The problem is that your skill is wider. Make it morepact and targetted so the stun and overall effectiveness is enhanced." "Arigatou, sensei!" Natalia nodded as she cupped her fist and sat down, causing Marcus tough and others to smile. Maya also nodded and sat down in meditation. "Almond, I''ll spar with Galvaren. Recovery him, please," Lily said, appearing eager and filled with anticipation. "You are going to fill up the syringes, anyway, right?" "Bwahaha, I like that spirit, youngdy." Galvarenughed, eager to fight as well. "Why does she usually know what you''re about to do?" Marcus scratched his head. "Because he is my darling," Lily said as she winked at Almond. Almond chuckled and recovered Galvaren. He then summoned Ashkar, Benedict, Nyssara, and Sylvia. "You four, attack Lily with your long-range attacks, and Marcus, your job is to deflect and defend against these attacks to protect her. You have higher stats than these four, so exercise your body to its full extent and refine yourbat style in a way that allows you to defend against attacks properly and quickly." "Aye, aye, captain. This sounds super fun!" "We will waste no more than an hour here, so do your training with full focus." As everyone began their training in this empty hall, Almond went down to fill up his spirit syringes. He returned shortly after sucking several monsters in one of the 29th floor''s sections, filling up his five spirit syringe. Chapter 142 Unveiled Catastrophe Almond didn''t kill the monsters and just sucked them with the syringe. If they were any weaker, they would''ve died with the spirit syringes, but fortunately, they didn''t. He wanted to remain 10 levels lower than the Heroic Challenge boss to get better rewards. After returning to the Quartet za, Almond sat down and looked at the third skill of his specialized ss. His first skill ¡ª Divine Divider''s Harvest was not an offense-type skill. It was a utility type. He could divide attributes and use them on himself. His second skill ¡ª Espada Ad Grimveil also wasn''t an offense-type but a super support-type with his explored techniques within this domain. 1¡ªRift Discement: Severe a space and disce it. 2¡ªSpatial Severing: Sever the space while maintaining a connection between severed space or disce the connections. 3¡ªAbsolute Severing: Sunder everything you are able to perceive. Stay connected with empire But they didn''t deal direct damage, not even the Absolute Severing, because even though he could sunder everything with it, it was only that. It didn''t reduce vitality or deal damage; it just sundered the target aimed by him from the target''s body space while severing the connection between severed parts. As such, he thought about this third skill after creating the 4th technique to use in the Espada Ad Grimveil. He could perceive space within this domain of Grimveil, and he wanted to sever itpletely to create a sh-shaped rift in space, but also make it such that it wouldn''t screw everything due to its powerful suction force. They also disappeared quickly as space mended itself, and he couldn''t prevent it without wasting mana. So, he learned the connection aspect of his ss and attained a better understanding of it, allowing him to create the 4th technique¡ªVoidbound Rift. He could create rifts of space, and he connected their exits with each other, so it was like there were no rifts in his domain at all. They were there physically and visually, but their effects weren''t affecting the material ne because it was directly going out in the spatial ne. He could make them appear behind a target and make their exits face the target, which even though wouldn''t suck the target inside because the maximum size of rift he could create was less than half a meter, and people could also resist it using their skill and mana to escape. It was just that, a suction force. As such, Almond wanted to deal actual powerful damage, so he created his third specialized ss skill to make up for that, which offensively uses Voidbound Rifts¡­.in a highly freaking offensive way! The idea was to explore the concept of his Rift and Veil in a raw way. To epass the voidbound rifts, to superimpose them, and then turn them into a spatial de of absolute destruction. He could also enchant it with his Golden Haze Lightning, making it more powerful. And most importantly, he could prepare for this attack beforehand while in his domain, and recover his Mana before using it. In short, this attack could unleash the culmination of the Riftveil Grimde''s severing and connecting power into a single, devastating attack as the skill condenses severed space and voidbound rifts into a destructive void entity¡ªa cataclysmic rift de. And named this skill¡ªUnveiled Catastrophe. [Unveiled Catastroph] -Rank: Legendary -Cost: Temporarily reducing Perception and Focus by 20% due to strain and deactivating Espada Ad Grimveil for one hour + 50% of maximum Mana. -Phase 1: Void Veil. ¡ª> Condenses all severed space connections and spatial rifts within the domain into a single point within a Void Veil. -Phase 2: Catastrophic Strike. ¡ª> The Void Veil transforms into a de shaped by the user. The de''s power is increased proportionally to the amount of space severed and the number of Voidbound Rifts condensed within Void Veil during Phase 1. The power of the de can cut through both physical and ethereal entities, dealing pure destructive void damage. This Unveiled Catastrophe skill was the embodiment of devastation, turning the delicate art of spatial severing and connecting within his Espada Ad Grimveil into a weapon of pure destruction. Itbined his ability to perceive and manipte space with pure offensive force, creating a spectacle of unparalleled annihtion. But Almond needed to be careful because he had tried to use this one time, and it was hard to control, especially in Phase 2. He could increase the de''s size up to no limit, as it was based on the amount of space he severed and the number of Voidbound Rifts, though he could only use this skill within the domain of his Espada Ad Grimveil so that ultimately decided the maximum limit. Naturally, condensing the de to make it smaller increased its power even more, though it also made it harder to control than it already was. Carelessness during this skill could actually lead to his own death. That was how powerful this skill was. So Almond needed to practice it, but only in his mind, in a mini version by using the principles of this skill. Since he created the skill, he knew the principles behind it. He expanded his Espada Ad Grimveil 20 meters around him and created six Voidbound Rifts, each one 2 centimeters long, and connected their exits to each other. The pitch ck rends in the shape of eyes looked ominous, even though they were small. Almond had wondered where they led to and had tried to send a string of his Force Field inside, but it was instantly severed, and he got a stinging headache briefly. Shaking his head, he didn''t think about the mystery of the void in the spatialyer and continued with his control practice. An hour passed by swiftly as everyone was fully absorbed in the training. Maya and Natalia showed their improved skills and they worked pretty well this time,pletely locking Galvaren for over two seconds at the cost of their entire Mana pool. Marcus also got better at using his item set''s effects more efficiently and properly for maximum defense. Lily improved everything of hersbat-rted as Galvaren was a tough fighter. And so, the preparations were done. After checking out everyone''s improved state, Almond told them to take five minutes of meditation to recover fully before the group finally ced the items on the four pedestals. [Your party is qualified for Heroic Challenge mode. Do you wish to proceed with the Heroic Challenge Floor Boss fight?] As everyone got the notification, something else also appeared¡ªa magical stair leading towards a door that appeared at the end of the stairs mid-air. Everyone was ready and answered the notification, filled with thrill, tension, and excitement. [All party members have agreed. Please proceed to the stairs and enter the floor boss zone. From hereon, you are not allowed to leave thebyrinth until you defeat the Heroic Challenge boss.]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om As everyone climbed the stairs and entered through the dreamy door, they arrived on open ground, a vast concrete terrace with a hazy crimson moon in the sky. [The heroic challenge boss will spawn in 1 minute.] Almond summoned his spirit wraiths. It was time to absolutely crush the floor boss ording to the n¡­.or so everyone hoped. Chapter 143 Heroic Challenge Floor Boss of Third Floor (1/2) "Everyone, hold onto your powers until mymand. Nyssara, coordinate with Maya''s freezing skill." "Understood," Nyssara nodded as she opened her hand fan and walked towards Maya. Almond adorned his badass Radiant Grimlord Set and only held one sword instead of two this time. Lily also used her second specialized ss skill¡ªDreadspire Call, right off the bat and used it on Chimera Viperfiend to fill up the gauge. [Dreadspire Call] -Skill rank: SSS -Type: Toggle. -Cost: 0.5% to n% of Blood every second. -Effect: ¡ª> While the skill is active, all attacks of the user, be they magical or physical or both, can drain the vitality of the target based on damage and fill up the gauge of Dreadspire Call. The higher the activation cost, the stronger the vitality drain. You can also channel drained vitality to another target. ¡ª> Dreadspire Call-[0/100]: Once filled up, the user can call upon a Dreadspire Elemental to aid inbat. Once summoned, the gauge resets. These elementals have the same stats as the user. You can summon up to four at once. ¡ª> Dreadspire Elementals: 1. Lupine of Darkened me, 2. Roc of Withered Wind, 3. Whale of Curseweaved Water, 4. Golem of Gloombound Earth. When the countdown hit 20 seconds, Almond used Espada Ad Grimveil, as an ethereal domain appeared with a range of 200 meters radius. His eyes shed as Voidbound Rifts started forming in the domain, looking menacing as if tens of eyes of some mysterious omen were watching everyone. Meanwhile, Lily also filled up the gauge once and summoned the Golem of Gloombound Earth. The n was to use the Golem of Gloombound Earth, whose main power was to slow the movement speed and action speed of the target with its Dreadspire elemental power. Maya and Nyssara were already in sync as they were conjuring an orb of ice and water bybining their power. Maya was using her Aquafrost Bow, pulling its string as an arrow had formed, and an ice-elemental orb with a water stream around it was conjured in front of the arrow''s point. Nyssara was keeping it in control alongside Maya while boosting its power, more specifically, the freezing attribute. Natalia was also ready with her instruments summoned, her expression determined and focused. She wanted to generate the strongest melody of her instrument and release it in apact and condensed manner guided by her flute to aim it perfectly. Marcus was ready to defend and also activated his buff-type skills, one from his primary ss that boosted everyone''s Strength and Health by 20%, and the effects from the Epic-rank set he wore to bolster defense and resistance against debuffs. The countdown hit 0, and everyone''s pupils shrank as they focused on the tornado of sparkling green wind and dark red mes. It dispersed just as fast as it formed as a tall 10-foot-tall individual made an appearance, wearing an aesthetic light robe and holding a ck staff with a crystal ball on top. [Archmage Verenoor of Lochbale Castle] -Rank: Special -Type: Heroic Spirit -Vitality: [100% / 100%] -Mana: [30,000 / 30,000] -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 400 | Health: 4000 | Stamina: 1000] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 3000 | Focus: 700 | Perception: 700] "Maya and Natalia, wait for the chance to guarantee hit your control attacks because I''ll make that chance," Almond said as his aura burst out, and he vanished and directly used Absolute Sunderer in a vertical sh, intending to split Verenoor into two." Almond also teleported Golem of Gloombound Earth with him, but ten meters away from Verenoor. The moment Almond teleported behind Verenoor, a powerful gust of wind threw him away. But Almond was ready, his hawklike senses in his Focus Field finding the perfect chance to slightly disable the boss so that Maya and Natalia could strike him. Lily was already preparing to use her Voidless Sunderer, waiting for the chance. A spirit syringe was floating beside her for her to use to empower the attack further.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Meanwhile, Verenoor thumped his staff on the ground the moment after pushing Almond away as strange dark red clouds with sparkling green streams formed above him. "What''s that?" Natalia muttered. But everyone got their answer soon as the clouds suddenly released arrows at everyone, one for each one! Marcus immediatly roared as he activated his full-powered defensive skill along with the set''s effect to defend Lily, Maya, Natalia, and the spirit wraiths. Sylvia also used her most powerful defensive skill, adding to the protection. Almondmanded the remaining spirit wraiths to grab Verenoor''s attention. ''Attack!'' Verenoor saw the summons iing and thumped his staff on the ground again, conjuring a dreadful tiger and a turtle made of dark red me and sparkling green winds. Almond halved Verenoor''s perception by half and took it for himself, gaining a major boost himself and slowing down Vereneroon''s reaction speed and decision-making speed. Attacking at the perfect chance, Almond intended to split Verenoor into two this time. *Swoosh!* Maya and Natalia were tense and waiting, observing the situation. Lily was sacrificing her vitality fast and used the spirit syringe. Only ten seconds have passed so far. Almond shed, his Absolute Severing enchanting his sword shed Verenoor. But instead of seeing him splitting into two, the turtle got split instead. ''Fuck, damage and effect transfer?!'' Natalia and Maya were about to let loose their attacks but greatly held back upon seeing that the attack didn''t go as intended. ''Fuck, I almost shot my skill,'' Natalia stomped on the ground. Maya wryly smiled, sweat beads forming on her face even though she was literally using ice-powered skills. The situation was highly tense because this boss was a freaking mage, and that meant everyone was in danger. Verenoor''s cloud above unleashed arrows on the spirit wraiths, especially Galveren, who was annoying Verenoor and had destroyed Verenoor''s tiger. The spirit wraiths couldn''t dodge or defend against those destructive arrows as they got sted into oblivion. Stay connected with empire Benedict, Infernal Knight, and Galvaren remained alive with their trait and gave their all, attacking Verenoor again with stronger strength while Almond gathered one more chance as he timely used Absolute Severing. Benedict''s Fallen Angel used darkness skill to blind and debuff Verenoor, slowing him down further, along with Lily''s Golem of Gloombound Earth, who was keeping Verenoor stuck to the ground, slowing his action and movement speed, though Verenoor wasn''t moving at all. The chance had appeared again, so Almond made his move. Chapter 144 Heroic Challenge Floor Boss of Third Floor (2/2) Galvaren, Benedict, and Infernal Knight knew Almond needed a split-second window, so they gave it their all. Benedict conjured tentacles of darkness, binding Verenoor, though those tentacles burned instantly, Infernal Knight and Galvarennded their strongest attacks on Verenoor during that time, forcing Verenoor to make a move against them. And taking that chance, Almond made his move. ''You are not escaping this time, you tricky mage!'' Almond''s eyes were resolved as he teleported again and unleashed Absolute Severing again while preparing to inject a spirit syringe into him since using this third Absolute Severing made his Mana reach below 20%. *sh!* Verenoor got split into two, his eyes showing clear confusion as he could feel both parts of his body but not the connection between them. He thumped his staff held by his right side body on the ground, conjuring a powerful tornado of dark red mes, instantly killing Infernal Knight, Dark Pope, and Sky Lord.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Almond also quickly used Radiant Fortress because this was a crazy, powerful attack that could burn him to death swiftly. Lily and others were safe as they were out of the range of this attack. They couldn''t see Almond but knew he was safe as they saw the Voidbound Rifts vanish, meaning that Almond had used Phase 1 of his Unveiled Catastrophe! Maya and Natalia were ready to make a move the instant tornado vanished, and it happened shortly as Verenoor faced Almond, the clouds above him unleashing arrows at Almond. And right at that moment, Maya unleashed her fully empowered arrow that was further boosted by Nyssara. It streaked swiftly with a boom and struck Verenoor, freezing him into a popsicle with sharpened ice extending outward all over. However, right before that arrow had struck him, Almond, who had a crazy high perception at the moment, unleashed Phase 2! A pitch-ck de horizontal shot at Verenoor, who was frozen, splitting him again, but this time, it was an annihting split! *sh!* Almond wanted to finish the battle with this attack if possible, so he had aimed the de at the upper body, intending to pulverize Verenoor''s head, but as if sensing threat even in a frozen state, the clouds above him churned as a sparkling stream of wind forcefully pushed the sh to strike into his lower-half. If Almond had higher stats, this wouldn''t have happened, but Verenoor consumed a ton of his Mana to do that, resisting that de''s power and forcefully using his wind to push it. It happened in a split second, but the Catastrophic Strike missed its mark, though it still entirely ate up the bottom half of Verenoor. -58% Vitality! Stay connected through empire But it wasn''t over yet! Lily arrived, unleashing her Voidless Sunderer and shattering the ice, reducing Verenoor''s vitality by 13%. Right before the ice shattered with Lily''s attack, Natalia was also ready and used her skill, Celestial Songstress, as her flute released a circr football-sized ring with a golden border because it was also buffed by her light attribute. It was super fast, even faster than Maya''s arrow, and struck Verenoor, paralyzing and stunning his body and mind as he stopped as if time stopped for him. Right at that moment, Almond ced his Spirit Nuke between the two halves of Verenoor''s upper body at perfect timing! "One," Almond''s eyes shed. "Two." *BOOOOOOOOOOM!* The st shot Almond and Lily away, who were close, while an exotic spectacle of utterly chaotic explosion urred¡ª100 spirits, all condensed, and many of them triggering their special effects! "Damn!" Marcus shouted with a stank face as the shockwave hit him and everyone. "Crazy," Maya muttered. "It''s really a nuke." "Let''s fucking go!" Natalia shouted with a red face, excited as the notification rang! [Congrattions! You have achieved a tremendous feat by defeating a Heroic Challenge Floor Boss of the third floor¡ªArchmage Verenoor of Lochbale Castle!] [Along with the challengepletion reward, an additional reward is in the process of generating based on the performance.] [You have defeated this Archmage Verenoor in 29 seconds. Your party¡ªGrim Breakers has ced 1st rank in the Grimworld Heroic Challenge Leaderboard - Heroic Spirit Floor 3 Section.] [You are granted 10 million gold coins each and 1 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Ticket for getting the first rank on the leaderboard.] "Yes!" Almond clenched his fist as hey on the floor while feeling a headache. He hadn''t pushed his body, but he had pushed his mind past the limit this time. Taking Verenoor''s 350 Perception was the best idea and was the crux that allowed him to sessfully split him, thus creating the chance that led the party to this result. But doing that had also strained his mind, especially after he used his Unveiled Catastroph''s Phase 2. "I want to sleep¡­" Almond muttered as his eyelids got heavy. He quickly stored the Heroic Boss''s spirit, and he instantly fell asleep after removing his armor as it vanished and entered his storage ring. Lily walked towards him while drinking a healing potion and sat down, putting his head on herp. "His head is very hot," Lily blinked and looked at Maya and others who were walking towards him. "Master," Nyssara and Sylvia arrived quickly. "Cool his head," Lily said as she looked at Nyssara, who quickly nodded and released a gentle icy wave. "Although we had a few unexpected bumps, Brother Almond created that chance in the end," Marcusughed. "We should let him rest." "Yep. Let''s start camping and cooking," Natalia said with a grin. "Almond can eat something when he wakes up." Maya nodded. Almond woke up after merely one hour, feeling refreshed and greater than ever. [You have reached silver level 30. Please check your Advancement quest. [Rank Advancement Quest] -Task: ¡ª> Kill 10 Gold rank monsters. Almond saw a tent over his head with Lily smiling at him. "Are you feeling good?" she asked. "Yep," Almond got up and sat beside her as he smiled. His nose slightly twitched as he smelled a delicious fragrance. "You woke up at a perfect time. The feast is prepared, captain." Meanwhile, Almond was still getting notifications as he had woken up. But he ignored them for now as his stomach rumbled, "Yeah, I am famished. Let''s eat." Chapter 145 Rudras Scheme (1/2) "We checked the individual rewards we got based on contribution," Natalia said after chewing the meatball. "We got mid-tier Epic-rank items this time." "But they won''t be a match to your Epic-rank items, so¡­" Marcus coughed and drank a ss of buttermilk. "Man, I love this buttermilk." "But instead of skill scrolls, the four of us got a universal skill-upgrade card this time," Maya said before she dipped the meatball into some sauce and took a bite. "You got one card or two?" Lily curiously asked Almond. Almond checked the notification. [Contibution Ranking and additional Rewards] Rank 1: Almond ¡ª MVP Reward Chest. Rank 2: Lily ¡ª 2 x Epic Item Boxes, 1 x universal skill-upgrade card, 2 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Tickets. Rank 3: Natalia ¡ª 2 x Epic Item Boxes, 1 x universal skill-upgrade card, 1 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Ticket. Rank 4: Maya ¡ª 1 x Epic Item Box, 1 x Super-rank item box, 1 x universal skill-upgrade card, 1 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Ticket. Rank 5: Marcus ¡ª 1 x Epic Item Box, 1 x universal skill-upgrade card, 1 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Ticket. "Oh yeah, I''ll have to open the box to check my reward," Almond wryly smiled. "I''ll do thatter." "Mhmm, let''s finish eating first," Lily nodded. Almond looked at the status of his spirits while eating and sacrificed some normal monsters'' spirits he had saved to revive his Spirit Wraiths earlier. He could revive them cost-free after 24 hours, but he could also summon them after an hour by sacrificing a spirit. He had enabled this mechanism after inspecting his primary ss'' skill runes and the fundamental use of Spirits that his primary ss''s source could collect. Almond couldn''t help but feel that his Primary ss hid immense potential and that this ss was also rted to his innate talent¡ªHeir of Oblivion. ''Universal skill card is awesome. That makes three upgrade cards,'' Almond thought as he ate a few veggies. Remembering another thing, he eagerly opened the level-up boon tabs. "Yo, did you all get a skill option?" Almond asked. "I got one," Lily said. "I got none," Natalia pouted. "I got one," Marcus grinned. "I got none," Maya disappointedly shook her head. Almond sighed, "I got none this time." "You were lucky enough to get two in thest ten level-ups," Natalia rolled her eyes. "Lily and Marcus got lucky and also got one this time, so they are the same as you now. Tsk." "By the way, how long are we resting this time?" Lily blinked. "We''ve told Kira to hold off on the 4th floor''s floor boss fight, but there are others who won''t let her hold off for long." "It''s not even been a day, so I doubt they''ve reached the floor boss zone yet," Natalia snorted.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Nope," Almond shook his head. "They might have reached there. They aren''t interested in item drops from field bosses and other challenge rewards on the 4th floor''s special areas. Their aim is to progress fast, so it won''t be strange if they are at the floor boss zone right now." "Damn, then we need to hurry, no?" Marcus eximed and started eating fast. "Bwe habve tu get det flo-" "Stop," Maya rolled her eyes as she interrupted him. "Eat first. But yeah, if they defeat the floor boss, would we be able to trigger Heroic Challenge during thebyrinth''s first cycle?" "That''s indeed a question," Lily wryly smiled. "Let''s finish eating fast and hurry to the 4th-floor boss zone," Almond said with a severe expression. "I don''t want to miss out on the 4th floor''s heroic boss. The rewards are better as we go higher floors, so we need the 4th floor''s rewards if we want to defeat the 5th floor''s heroic challenge boss." "We''ll open the Leaderboard Party Reward box, your MVP reward chest, and Heroic Floor Boss reward chest in front of them," Natalia grinned. "It''s going to be fun to see their reaction. Marcus quickly nodded with a stuffed mouth, "Les fuging g-cough, cough." "¡­" ¡­ The group quickly finished eating and moved to the 4th floor together as everyone rode on the Starlight Beast''s back and entered through the portal. As the group rushed towards the floor boss zone of the 4th floor. Thisbyrinth floor was the most exotic so far in terms ofyout because it was a 200-kilometer radius of the ocean with inds that moved. There was a pattern to these inds as they were positioned circrly, with the centermost ind having the floor boss zone. Continue your journey on empire This floor had 50 starting areas, which were fifty inds at the periphery of thebyrinth floor. These fifty inds moved clockwise on the sea. Crossing through the spawning ships at every ind, one could enter outer-ring inds and they moved anti-clockwise, their number reaching 25 inds. Moving further towards the center after riding on a ship, adventurers would arrive at inner-area inds, a total of 10 inds. And in the middle of these 10 inds that rotated clockwise was thergest ind. The floor boss zone was at the center of thisrgest ind. Almond put away Starlight Beast and summoned Chimera Frank. "Let''s go. We are flying there," Almond jumped on Chimera Frank''s back and others also quickly followed. After all, it was faster to fly instead of moving through the ind, getting to the ship, crossing the sea, and repeating this to reach the center ind. And on the way, Almond finally scoured through his newly unsealed memories as he knew something very important had just been revealed to him. ¡­ While Almond and others had arrived at the 4th floor, the situation outside was progressing properly. The twelve strongest teams of Adventurers, each one having one or two old monsters, had entered the S-grade dungeons. These S-grade dungeons also had different colored borders, so it was important to make teams based on that. Fortunately, there was only one gold-bordered S-grade dungeon. The others were either Red, Blue or White. But Rudra had a big n hidden within, and he had only ryed this to the old monsters in each party. Chapter 146 Rudras Scheme (2/2), Catching the Rats The ones to go into the toughest gold-bordered S-grade dungeon¡ªForest of the Dead were as follows, from strongest to weakest members of the party. Rudra Deva, Dn Makana, Zauna Okoro, and Christina Lafayette were in the old monster category. Makana, Lafayette, and Okoro families were also the top 10 families, and they were the old heads. The total number of people in this party was eighteen. The other notable figures in the party were the Guild Leader of Proximax Guild¡ªLiam Sunbreak, the Guild Leader of 5th rank Silverfang Guild¡ªDamian Silverfang, and Lady Aria of the League of Firefly guild. There were two red-bordered S-grade dungeons, which were just one level below gold-bordered, so those two also warranted stronger parties than others. All in all, the twelve parties departed and entered the S-grade dungeons in different parts of the world, but¡­there was more to this than met the eyes. As Rudra''s party arrived in the dungeon, Rudra turned around to face everyone. The other three old monsters, Dn, Zauna, and Christina, walked and stood beside him as they faced the rest of the party. "Before we proceed, we have something to do," Rudra said as his eyes swept across them before stopping on the Guild Leader of the 20th rank guild¡ªIronthorn Guild, Menek Combart. Dn pointed his index finger at Menek as it eerily glowed with volcanicva matter and formed a tiny dot. "What is going on?" Liam frowned. "Everyone aside from Menek,e and stand beside us," Zauna inly said as her shamanic staff, which had a strange snake''s head and two different-colored pearly eyes, appeared in her hand. Everyone sweated heavily as that cursed staff appeared. It was a relic of the Okoro n that turned magical a few years ago, and they had seen its power first-hand during the 7th Floor''s Floor Boss fight. "What is the meaning of this, Admiral Rudra?" Menek frowned while sweating bullets, looking confused. "What did I do?" Christina''s wand flickered with hazy red and gold patterns as she also pointed it at Manek and smiled. "Don''t be nervous. If you''ve done nothing, then you don''t have to worry about anything." "Here''s the question, Menek. Where were you from the 5th December to the 7th December?" Rudra asked with a deadpan expression as he stood with his arms crossed, aura heavy. Simply standing like that made him look more intimidating than the other three old monsters who had pointed their weapons at Menek. "Answer carefully." ¡­ In the red-bordered S-grade dungeon¡ªUtopia of Entanglement. When the party entered inside, a simr scene happened. Arjun Maheshwari, Hiroshi Ryugiri, and Bianca Moretti, the three old monsters from the top 10 families, confronted the family head of a less-renowned top 50 family¡ªJakaal Carter. ¡­ In another red-bordered S-grade Dungeon¡ªCascading Light Grove, the same thing happened. This party also had three old monsters¡ª Bran Gabris, James Smith, and Rafael Chavez. The Gabris and Smith families were in the top 10, while the Chavez family was in the top 20. However, in terms of overall strength, old monster Rafael was stronger, as thebat powers of old monsters were not rted to their family''s power. They also pointed out a member of the party--the guild leader of the 23rd rank Rosysky Guild, Khawa Ayaz. "Khawa, where were you from the 5th of December to the 7th of December?" asked the ckstar Guild leader, Ruyi Hexing, as she pointed her ck meteor longsword at Khawa. ¡­ "I was just at the guild, Admiral. I wanted toe watch the tournament, but there was an A-rank dungeon turning ck-bordered. I had to go," Menek said with a weak smile. "I have a proof as well." "Is that so? So you were in the dungeon for two whole days?" Rudra raised his eyebrows. "Yes," Menek nodded. "I got an opportunity and insight, so I wanted to get my Wood elemental mastery to S-rank." Dn and the other two asked random questions, ording to Rudra''s n, while Rudra was not just watching Menek, but the others as well. He had included four people in this party he was suspicious about, with his gut telling him that they were the "bad" ones responsible for the unexinable incidents. The meeting held at the GAA was not just about resolving the 10th Floor''s situation, but also pulling out the rats. Explore more adventures at empiren/o/vel/b//in dot c//om He had admonished the "rats" many times during the meeting, and revealed his suspicions to everyone, and how he thought they were responsible for the Labyrinth. Everything he did was to get a reaction out of those people and observe everyone in the meeting with his highest mastery of the Focus Field and his senses. Whenever he got suspicious, he contacted his men in GAA to investigate using their Arcane Tower and other methods, especially since he had noticed some leaders of families and guilds vanishing for two days, from 5th to 7th December. His guts told him there was something wrong. As such, he made a list in his head and came up with a n for clearing S-grade dungeons. This was a reasonable step in order to defeat the 10th floor Floor Boss with lower casualty and higher chance, as well as a good opportunity to pull out the rats. And as Menek was being asked the questions, he was observing other people in the party. Their eyes, their vibe, gave out a clear indication of what they were feeling. Moreover, one of them made a fatal mistake. That one person¡­the family head of a top 50 family, Arwa Fadelin, used Magic Whisper to contact the other three people in the party. And at that, he observed the three people''s expressions and confirmed it. He immediatly Magic Whispered to Dn, Zauna, and Christina. ''Apprehend the Fedelin family head, Hassan family head, and that Lunarcrest Guild leader. Disable thempletely.'' In the next second, Rudra and the other three made a move abruptly. No one expected it, not even the rats, so they were caught quickly. One of them was bound by snakes and instantly poisoned as he waspletely paralyzed. The other two were smacked on the ground and bound with control-type skills used by Dn and Christina. Chapter 147 Memories Rudra had suspicions about a total of 12 people present in the meeting. He included four in his party, three in the second and third parties that were going for the red-bordered dungeons, and the remaining two in the fourth and fifth parties. The fourth party heading for the blue-bordered dungeon had Silvester Duncan and the League of Firefly Guild leader¡ªQuinn Firefly, and Aryan Deva, the third rank Adventurer in Global Leaderboard. They pulled out the rat that Admiral Rudra had put in their party and disabled him sessfully.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Thest rat was on the fifth party, which was headed by old monster dimir Kravchenko of the top 10 family and 4th-rank Irond guild master¡ªZayd Khalid. The Khalid family was also a top 20 family, though Zayd wasn''t rted to them. They pulled out the rat by ying mind tricks and each old monster was experienced enough in terms of perceptiveness and finding out lies. As such, all 12 rats that Rudra had selected were confirmed to be the culprit. They were not killed because they were needed to get more information, but they were disabled and imprisoned with various skills. Only after that, do these five parties begin clearing out the dungeons. Meanwhile, the other seven parties in the seven dungeons were clearing the dungeon. A-rank Dugeons had tinum-rank monsters of up to tinum level 150, which was the maximum level cap for tinum rank. But S-rank dungeons had Epic-rank monsters. The difficulty was crazy high, but fortunately, these S-rank dungeons were just the initial ones and didn''t have that high of a density value. Even the toughest one that Rudra''s party entered had a density value of 238. Moreover, each party had an old monster, and each old monster had a powerful item or two because these old monsters had focused on exploring the 10th Floor and were the highest leveled among all, as well as acquiring a Legendary item or two each. Some of them also had Relic-turned-Artifacts, which were like trump cards of the highest level due to their overwhelming effects. Without these old monsters, it''d been impossible to clear the S-grade dungeons. ¡­ ''So that''s the case¡­'' Almond pped his thigh loudly. "Damn!" "What happened?" Lily was startled as she turned to look at him to her left. "Nothing," Almond shook his head and wryly smiled. "I just thought of something about a skill." ''I will tell you about this secret, but not now,'' Almond internally sighed. "Nice try, but it''s fine. I''ll wait for you to tell me the truth," Lily smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. Almond weakly smiled. He forgot about Lily''s senses. "Sorry," Almond turned his head and kissed her on the lips before saying, "I''ll tell youter." It''d be really weird if he told them that he was getting his past life memories after clearing each floor. Maya and Marcus looked away upon seeing Almond kissing Lily as they were sitting behind the duo. Their eyes moved to look at each other at the same time coincidently, and they both became embarrassed, quickly moving their eyes away. "Yo, I sense something spicy here," Natalia suddenly said with a mischievous smile as she dragged her ass between them and looked at them one by one. "Feelings hots for each other, eh? I wouldn''t be surprised." "Mind your own business, you imp," Maya rolled her eyes. "That''s right," Marcus said with a somber expression and looked at the inds. "Look at these inds, they are so beautiful." "Just like Maya, right?" "Yeah," Marcus answered Natalia in the flow, but then suddenly his eyes widened, "No, I mean yea, but I mean-" "Hahahahahhaa," Natalia burst outughing, extracting her entertainment out of others'' misery. Lily and Almond could only wryly smile as they experienced Natalia''s antics firsthand. Maya''s ears turned red, but she looked away and was silent. "Goddamnit!" Marcus clenched his fist with a red face. "I''ll remember this, Natawitch." "Hahaha, that''s such a bad name for an insult," Nataliaughed even more. "Try better next time, Mr. Mucus." ¡­ ''So phase 1 will start once the 10th floor is cleared. That''s going to be such a massive change,'' Almond was internally very excited as he looked through his past life''s memories. Apparently, once the 10th Floor is cleared, something called Phase 1 will begin. The 10th Floor would undergo a massive change and would be a hub of events as it would have a huge safe area in the middle while the monsters and other dangerous areas would be pushed to the periphery. The floor boss zone would be located in the center, and unlike other floors where people could enter the next floor without defeating Floor Boss once it was defeated by other people, everyone would need to defeat this floor boss in order to enter the 11th floor. There would be monthly events on the 10th Floor with a leaderboard to give rewards every month. But that was not all. The main thing was the Phase 1''s options. A massive world-scale event would start out of multiple options that the Grand Abyss Labyrinth would decide purely based on luck. Your adventure continues at empire In his previous world, that world-scale event was the Grimworld Streaming Event, where people could enter special dungeons that people of others could also ess. Their runs would be streamed across multiple worlds that had the same Grimworld Streaming Event in their Phase 1, and the participants would get points. Apparently, these points were given by the audience. Participants would get rewards based on points, and there was also poprity ranking. But that world-scale event wasn''t kind or rewarding to all because, during each run, the person with the lowest points would be thrown into a dangerous solo dungeon where 99% of people always died. Almond didn''t know what kind of world-scale event would appear once the 10th Floor of this Earth was cleared, but he knew it was bound to change the game board of this world. Clenching his fist, Almond''s eyes showed a fiery ze, ''Whatever it is, I have to rise fast and above all. My previous world was destroyed on the 30th floor, but this will not happen again.'' Chapter 148 Super Rookies Gathers Again The group crossed 100 kilometers in twenty minutes as Almondmanded Chimera Frank to fly at full speed while he also charged its body with his Golden Haze lightning''s attribute buff that charged its cells and body properly, increasing its overall stats. Even normal lightning was good in this regard as it was not only a power of destruction, but handling at high realm, it could charge life and empower it. Golden Haze Lightning had extra attributes due to being variant, so it buffed more. "There they are," Lily said as she saw a group of people standing at the floor boss spawning circle in a 200-meter-diameter open ground surrounded by thick trees. Everyone looked up as the Chimera Frank slowed down and descended. All the super rookies were gathered below along with their party members. Xavier the Piercing Light Ka the Beast Spirit Emma the Toxic Mist Amir the Tempest Gale Jian the Warring Berserker Ron the Geocrusher Fighter Adrian the zing Ravager Finn the Thundering Might Jemma the Waterloom Haze Anya the Silverbolt Whip Mira the Silent Shadow Talia the Spellbound Gunslinger Kira the Crescent Stormde Noah the Dreadsteel Swordsman Eliara the Steel Fortress They were grouped into two parts. One wanted to spawn the floor boss and finish it, while the other part wanted to wait for Almond and others. Almond and the others expected Kira would be alone, but they were surprised to see Xavier, Ka, Noah, Mira, Anya, and Amir standing beside Kira. "You''re finally here!" Kira said with a wry smile. "Sorry, we arete," Almond faintly smiled. "But when you find out why we werete, you all are going to piss your pants!" Natalia shouted with a huge snort.N?v(el)B\\jnn "¡­" "¡­" "Humph, I can''t believe we really waited, tsk," Jian clicked his tongue. However, a few others curiously noticed their equipment and inspected it. They got its name and rank beside the names, making their eyes widen. A few of them rubbed their eyes and checked again. "Why the heck do you all have Epic-rank items?! And how can you equip them here?" Amir asked with a dumbfounded expression. Kira blinked as she inspected their items and got shocked, "What the fuck?" "Holy shit, you all have Epic-rank items¡­." "But how?" Anya blinked as she asked curiously. "I can''t wrap my head around this." Almond, Lily, and others walked towards them before Almond directly took out the Heroic Challenge Reward Chest in the middle of both groups. Seeing the big reward chest, everyone inspected it, further confused by its name. "Heroic Challenge?" "The fuck''s a Heroic Challenge?" Jian muttered. "What did you all stumble upon?" "We didn''t stumble upon it, kid," Natalia snorted. "We qualified for it, and earned it." "Not us, but Almond," Marcus jabbed at her. "We are in the same team right now!" Natalia kicked Marcus. "And that team is everyone who hates the fake guts of that Jian kid." "You¡­" Jian''s face turned red. "Alright, stop," Lily calmly said. "Let''s focus on the matter at hand." "So, what''s the deal with this?" Kira asked as she looked at Almond. "In short words, it''s a reward you get in a life and death battle," Almond smiled. "And a party has to qualify for this battle, only then will it appear." "Though the only one qualified in our party was Almond, so it appeared for us in the second floor''s Floor Boss zone," Maya said. "Floor Boss zone?" Finn raised his eyebrows. "So this challenge appears here?" Noah blinked, his eyes on Almond. Noah had a different bearing than thest time everyone saw him. He had been training with Julian in his n, and he had heard about Almond from Julian''s mouth. ''I improved with Julian, who improved thanks to Almond. And now, he even discovered something like a Heroic challenge¡­'' Noah thought, feeling oppression and difort, but also an eptance that Almond was better than him and if he wanted to improve further, he had to keep his mindset right. "For now, only we can initiate this Heroic Challenge," Lily said as she nced at everyone. "We are nning to add some members, but not every one of you will get that chance, you will have to qualify for it." "But before doing that, let''s open the reward chest," Almond smiled. "This reward chest is from the third floor''s Heroic Challenge Boss we defeated." But just as he was about to open it, he paused, "One second. Did you all kill monsters on this ind?" "Nope," Kira shook her head. "We killed in other inds and reached a maxed level, so everyone directly arrived here with their party one by one." Each super rookie was with a party of four or five, so the number here was high, though it was expected since they were going to fight the Floor Boss. Unlike Almond and his summons, who were uber-powerful and could solo clear normal Floor Bosses, they needed a bigger number. "So you didn''t clear monsters on this ind?" Almond''s eyes shone. "Good." Waving his hand, he summoned Viperfiend, Benedict, Sylvia, Crystalist, Starlight, Ashkar, Nyssara, and Galvaren. They appeared in front of Almond, their aura imposing. The super rookies all sucked a breath of cold air one way or another as they watched Almond''s summons again, finally seeing the ones they hadn''t seen before. Especially at the sight of Galvaren, who looked the most menacing and dominating with a broken heavy sword and a pair of folded draconic wings. "Damn. He has so many summons?!" "That broken sword dude is freaking gold-rank?Wtf" "That''s cheating¡­.he can use gold-rank summon on lower floors." "Fuck." While the super rookies and other people muttered to themselves, Almondmanded his spirit wraiths, "I have a task for you all." Galvaren knelt on one knee and said, "Pleasemand us, master." "I want you all to capture monsters on this ind. Don''t kill them just bring them here. Galvaren and Frank will focus on bringing them here since they can fly while the rest of you will pack them up." "Sounds fun," Infernal Knight Ashkar nodded as his horse Agramon loudly neighed. "I wished to refine my sword, so this is a good opportunity to fight while limiting myself. Thank you, Master." "Master, there''s a mysterious phenomenon of nature on this ind," Sylvia said as her eyes sparkled. "I can sense it. It''s underground." Chapter 149 Third Floors Heroic Challenge Boss Slaying Reward Chest "Underground?" Talia blinked, confused. "There''s no underground area on this ind¡­at least not discovered yet." "So, he got a secret area thanks to his summon just like that?" Eliara was slightly speechless. Almond was also surprised. He smiled and said, "Well then, you can go search for it, Sylvia. The rest of you, move out and bring me the monsters. I need spirits." Galvaren and Frank flew up while the others vanished in different directions. "Now, we can open the chest," Almond said as he pressed on the chest. "Wait!!" Natalia shouted. "We haven''t decided who will open it." "Fair point," Marcus stared at Almond. "Dice," Maya smiled. "Dice," Lily chuckled. "Umu," Natalia nodded with a smug smile. "I saved the day." Almond wryly smiled and conjured a Dice with Mana. "Hey, I will also participate," Kira''s eyes sparkled. "After all, I held them back." "Nope, not in this," Natalia snorted. "This is what we earned, and we almost died, you know?" "Not we, but Almond, who bore the risks," Marcus jabbed at Natalia again. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, only we will roll the dice, you roll away," Natalia rolled her eyes. "Tsk, fine. But I''ll have you know my luck is good," Kira pouted. Natalia sneered, "Oh, girl. You''re in for a surprise. But for now, let''s roll the dice. Gimme dat, Almond." Almond rolled the dice first on the reward chest and got three. "Guess I''m not opening it." One by one, everyone rolled the dice, and Marcus won this time. "Hahaha, finally, it''s my turn," Marcusughed as he walked towards the reward chest. "So much drama, just open it," Jian snorted. "Ignore the salty kid, everyone." Marcus rubbed his palm and opened the chest as it spewed out a bunch of orbs containing rewards and a window panel with a list of rewards. ¡ª Epic-rank Equipment set (Mid-tier). ¡ª 100 million gold coins. ¡ª Random Artifact Box. ¡ª 2 x S-rank Mystery Boxes. ¡ª 2 x Epic-rank one-time use items. ¡ª 5 x Insight Stones. "Holy shit! We got something very juicy this time," Marcus''s eyes widened as he found the orb containing Insight Stones. "These stones are freaking best things, I can tell." ''100 mill gold coins are good too,'' Almond''s eyes glinted. ''We need to gather gold coins because they''ll be very useful when the system shops open on the 10th Floor once it''s cleared.'' "Two Mystery boxes this time, huh? I wonder what we''ll get from them this time," Lily muttered. Almond touched the orb with gold coins and put all the coins inside his storage ring. "We got three one-time use Epic-rank items now. They''ll be useful in an emergency," Maya said. "Keep these two to yourself as well, Almond." "Yeah," Almond also put them in his storage ring along with the insight stones. "I''ll put these stones away as well. We aren''t going to be able to use them now anyway." "Let''s open this. I want to see what''s the so-called Artifact," Lily said as she picked up the orb containing the random artifact box. "Let''s dice for it," Natalia snorted. "I''ll win this time. Meanwhile, the rest of the super rookies and other people were ck-jawed as they saw the rewards. "Epic-fucking-rank SET?! What the fuck?" Amir muttered, feeling envy and excitement both. ''I have to join their party!'' "This is crazy," Noah muttered, dumbfounded. "Such good rewards from the third floor?" He was more and more curious about the Heroic Challenge. "Getting such rewards, it makes sense that the Heroic Challenge is something hard," Kira nodded with a wry smile. "I won this time," Natalia grinned as everyone finished rolling the dice. But before opening the mystery box, she grinned at Kira and said, "Who said that this is the only reward chest we got from Heroic Challenge?" "Whatever difficulty you are thinking in your head, it''s more difficult than that," Maya nodded. "Yep," Marcus nodded with a grin as he looked at the nearby super rookies, "Almond''s all summons die during the battle, and he has to fight with a high risk of instant death with slight carelessness. But only he can afford to fight the boss. Without him, Heroic Challenge Floor Boss is practically impossible to defeat, and even if we seed, most of us would be dead." "Is it that difficult?" Anya frowned. "You''ll know if you are chosen to be in our party," Lily said. "I got this Handfan Artifact, but¡­" Natalia asked, her expression confused as she looked at the beautiful fan from the Artifact Box she opened. Everyone inspected it and was startled. "Can''t inspect it," Kira blinked. "Same," Noah nodded. "It requires 500 Perception to inspect it and unseal it, it says," Amir scratched his head. "The fuck, when will you all reach that stat number?" "It''s simr to the stone we got from roulette," Lily raised her eyebrows as she picked up the fan from Natalia. "But this requires 500 preceptions to inspect instead of 1000." "Here, put it away," Lily handed it to Almond and winked at him. ''You''ll be able to unseal it soon.'' ''Yep,'' Almond''s eyes glinted as he smiled and put the fan away. ''I just need to use Divine Divider''s Harvest on the Heroic Boss of this floor and steal his Perception. I''ll reach above 500 easily.'' Natalia then proceeded to open the two Mystery Boxes since the dice rolled this time were for all three boxes to save time. She opened the first Mystery Box and got a Random high-rank skill scroll. "High-rank? How high is that? Fuck, it''s A to S!" Discover more stories at empire "The fuck, these rewards are damn good!" While people spoke, Natalia opened the second mystery box, which spewed out a mysterious crystal. Everyone inspected it and was more shocked than before. [Wind Elemental Crystal (S-Rank)] -Activation: ¡ª> Infusing Mana in the crystal will activate it, and it will disappear after 5 hours. -Use: ¡ª> Meditating while touching the crystal will allow you to feel the wind element in a pure sense, allowing a user with affinity to awaken the Wind Elemental Mastery or those who have already awakened it to increase their mastery further.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om -Note: The progress depends on individuals. Amir, who had the Wind elemental mastery, had his eyes glowing as he inspected it. He swallowed hard and said, "B-Brother Almond, I want to buy that crystal." ''Wind, huh?'' Almond''s eyes glinted as he became contemtive for a moment. "Sorry," Almond wryly smiled as he grabbed the crystal. "But I actually want to awaken wind elemental mastery myself. It''s very suitable with my Lightning mastery because both synergize very well." There was one more reward chest, his MVP reward chess and it could give more items, like the elemental stones, but he didn''t n to open it yet. Hearing Almond''s answer, Amir sighed and nodded, "Understandable. But¡­I am determined to join your party now. Tell me what I have to do." "Same," Noah nodded with a serious expression. "Hey, I am already in, right?" Kira asked with a pout. "I would like to join as well," Ka said, her voice meek as she raised her hand."Me too," Jemma the Waterloom Haze said as her tall figure matched her sharp face and expression, looking all determined. Everyone wanted to join except for Jian, who didn''t say anything. Chapter 150 Recruitment "But you said you won''t be bringing everyone with you, right? How will you choose?" Adrian asked. "We won''t stop if you want toe and die because we can''t protect everyone," Lily tly said and turned to Almond, "What''s the n?" Almond thought for a second and got an idea. At the same time, Galvaren and Frank arrived while carrying a huge chunk of ice with tens of monsters frozen inside and dropped them on the empty ground nearby. "Wait a second," Almond said as he turned to the chunks of ice and pointed his finger at them.N?v(el)B\\jnn *Crackle!* A burst of lightning crackled from this finger and zipped through the ice blocks, electrocuting all monsters. [Congrattions. You havepleted Rank Advancement Quest. You can now level up from 0 to 100 as a Gold-rank adventurer.] Naturally, the level limit of this 4th floor wasn''t Gold level 100, but it was merely Gold level 10. "You all kill the next batches andplete your Rank Advancement," Almond said to his teammates as he absorbed the 38 spirits. Lily and others nodded. "Now, moving to the party recruitment," Almond turned to face the super rookies. "Lily will evaluate you all based on yourbat ability. In short, you all will fight each other." Almond had decided that instead of just recruiting one or two, it''d be better to make a solid team for a higher sess chance. "But you will not choose everyone, right?" Jian narrowed his eyes. "Then what about those who were not chosen? Can we still fight the normal floor boss during this cycle?" "No idea," Almond shook his head and added with a carefree smile, "But once we enter the Heroic Challenge boss mode, you can try to see if you are able to spawn a normal floor boss. If you can''t seed, then I''ll give you all some good Super-rank items that you can use on the 5th floor." "You should know that Super-rank items will make things easier on the 5th Floor, and the 5th floor has good challenge spots that give juicy rewards." "I''m fine with that," Finn nodded. "Let''s start right away. We''ve waited enough." "Yeah," Amir said, eager to disy his prowess. "Lily, I leave to it you," Almond said as she patted her back. "I am going to do tranquil meditation to recover. I need to rest my mind a bit." "Yeah, you didn''t rest enough for how you''ve fought in thest Heroic Challenge." ¡­ As such, the grand recruitment process began, and even Jian joined it in the end. The other party members of these Super Rookies didn''t join since they had no chance to be recruited. They had lower rank sses, not enough mastery of Mana techniques, and lowerbat ability. Almond wasn''tpletely immersed in rest initially as he paid little attention outside to absorb the Spirits of monsters. He had already dumped those 38 spirits into his Spirit Forge Factory, and he needed more to reach the required amount of spirit items to create an Epic-rank set. Half an hourter, Almond had put roughly 324 spirits into the factory, and the first batch of 38 spirits were done transforming into items. Since the spirits were gold-rank monsters, he got more rare-grade items out of them. ''Good, this should be enough to craft remaining super-rank items so I can craft an Epic-rank set and more to give out to these people.'' Almondmanded his summons to join in the recruitment process, with Galvaren being round 2 as per Lily''s suggestion. Lily had fought against Galvaren, so she knew he was powerfulbat-ability-wise. She would observe how others fare against him and select members based on that. Meanwhile, Almond took out his Magic Tent and entered inside before jumping on the bed and dozed off. He needed to be in tip-top condition if he wanted to fight the Heroic Challenge boss. ¡­ Two hours passed by, and the selection was finally over. The super rookies lined up before Lily. "Galvaren, give me your suggestions," Lily said. "Call out the ones that you feel are adequate." "Mhmm," Galvaren swept his nce at the super rookies before saying, "Kira, the swordswoman." "Yey," Kira grinned with a victory gesture. "Come here, Kira," Lily said with a nod. "You pass." "Noah, the swordsman," Galvaren said. "Yes, you pass," Lily nodded. "But only because you have Metal elemental mastery. Your sword attacks are useless, so just focus on defending us." "¡­" Noah. He calmly walked towards them with a wry smile and stood beside Kira. "Ka, the druid girl," Galvaren looked at Ka. "Yes, you''ll be a good asset to the party. You pass," Lily nodded. Ka''s cheeks flushed with excitement as she bowed, "Thank you." Experience tales at empire "Girl, you have some contrasting personalities," Natalia wryly smiled as Ka arrived and stood beside her. "You''re fierce when you transform into beast spirits but so meek in real life." "Ummm, I don''t know¡­" Ka shyly said. "The gunslinger Talia was good," Galvaren said after thinking for a bit. "And yeah, that''s all that felt adequate to me, mdy." Lily nodded and looked at the remaining ones. "Eliara the Steel Fortress, you pass. We''d also need your defense. You''ll work together with Noah." "Yes," Eliara clenched her fist and grinned. She walked towards Lily and stood nearby. "Finn, Ron, and Adrian, sorry, but you won''t be joining us. Yourbat style will sh with Almond''s style and mine. Close-range against Heroic Floor Boss is ying with death, and you three are mostly close-rangebatants that couldn''t counter Galvaren''s attacks." "Jian, you have a death resistance of 2 seconds, so you can live at 0% vitality, but yourbat is not refined enough. You''re relying too much on both your sses'' raw power thates from their skills." "Jemma the Waterloom Haze, you pass. Your water elemental mastery and your skill set will boost our controlbo." "Xavier, pass. You have a prative long-range ultimate attack that can be useful." "Amir, we need your speed-buffs and wind enchants. They''ll be useful to Almond, but just so you know, you''re not a qualifiedbatant. You need to improve." Amir wryly smiled, "Yes, I will work hard. Thank you." "Emma, the same applies to you. We need your dangerous debuffs so you''ll join." "Phew, well, as long as I can participate," Emma grinned. "Mira and Anya, you two are good, but yourbat style without Epic-rank gears will put you in danger, and we won''t have enough defense while you use your whip-based and close-range attacks. Heroic Challenge Floor Bosses are smaller in size. They are not giants like normal floor bosses. They are humanoids and have higher intelligence andbat style, which is why even though you all can fight against normal floor bosses, it''d be highly dangerous against Heroic Challenge Floor Boss without Epic-rank equipment." "And unfortunately, we don''t have enough Epic-rank items to gear you all up." ¡­ The party was ready. The remaining people could go to the 5th floor for now. Almond also woke up a few minutester and contacted Lily to collect Epic-rank items from Natalia, Maya, and Marcus before entering the Magic Tent. It was time to unlock the Epic-rank forge option and create some good Epic-rank items, including a Set. Before doing what Almond said, Lily told the super-rookies who didn''t qualify to enter the party that they could either wait for an hour to see if they could fight the normal floor boss or they could continue to the 5th Floor and Almond would still give them Super-rank items usable on the 5th Floor onceter after they finish Heroic Challenge enter there. Chapter 151 Sylvias Fortune She also told them they could get a chance to enter the party next time for the 5th Floor''s Heroic Challenge as they would have more leverage by then, giving them hope, though not a guaranteed one. After discussing briefly, the remaining super rookies decided to move on as they entered the 5th Floor. Lily then collected Epic-rank items from Natalia, Maya, and Marcus. "You three, tell them about our experience with the previous two Heroic Floor Bosses and also teach them about our style ofbat during the fights. That will be our foundational strategy, revolving around Almond''s final attacks and creating opportunities." "Gotcha." "Hehe, I can''t wait to see the result of boss Almond''s cooking session," Marcus grinned from ear to ear as he knew some cool items were on their way toe into existence. "Ahem, by the way, we actually entered a universal leaderboard," Maya said with a brief excitement in her eyes as she mentioned it. "Universal? Woah!" Kira''s eyes shone. "That sounds like-" "Crap, don''t tell me it is what I think it is?" Amir''s jaw dropped. "I think it is what you think it is," Kira grinned. "So, there are more worlds out there, and they have a simr situation as us." "Can you show us that leaderboard?" Talia asked as her eyes sparkled. "I knew there had to be more worlds out there." "Here," Marcus said as he shared the second floor''s leaderboard first. "Just so you know, our party is a pretty high-ranking one," Natalia said with a high nose, looking fully prideful. She quickly nced at Marcus and added, "Of course, it''s mostly because of Almond, I know." As the super rookies looked at the leaderboard and talked about the Heroic Challenge experience, Jemma, Ka, Noah, and even Xavier also had a shift in their state of mind, mostly filled with anticipation and excitement of the unknown challenge and rewards that woulde with it. ¡­ On the other hand, Sylvia had called for some backup twenty minutes ago as she had found that hidden area under the ground, ventured inside alone, and encountered a boss. She couldn''t defeat the boss alone, so she called for backup by sending her thoughts to other Spirits since all spirits shared a mysterious connection with each other. Benedict, Nyssara, Starlight Beast, and Crystalist went to help her, while Galvaren and Ashkar stayed as they continued to spar with the super rookies. Sylvia and others defeated the boss and ventured further into a cave entrance that the boss was blocking. Entering inside, Sylvia finally found the source of nature''s power she was sensing. The cavern was small, entirely barren, except for a small patch of greenery in the center. On that greenery was a small tree, barely 3 meters tall. Its leaves were light green with mysterious dark green patterns, and its branches were hazy brown with golden patterns. Sylvia''s eyes sparkled with excitement. Although they were spirit wraiths, they were intelligent and a new kind of lifeform in a way, with their own souls birthed by Almond''s Spirit Dealer ss''s source power. They could see the tree''s detail in a window like other things when they briefly watched it. [Tree of Verdant Path] -Rank: Special. -Effects: ¡ª> Training under the tree will calm the mind, allowing it to enter a deep focus state and clearing distracting and negative thoughts. ¡ª> The tree bears the pure essence of nature. It could awaken Flora Elemental Mastery and increaseprehension of Flora Element for those who have already awakened it. [A/N: Wood/Nature canceled. From now on, it''s called Flora element as it is perfectly suitable.] "Let''s call Master," Benedict said as he contacted Almond through the spirit link. ¡­ Almond had finished sacrificing 5 Epic items and unlocked his option. He was just designing his new armor set''s first item¡ªthe sword when he received Benedict''s message. "It seems Sylvia found something good," Almond turned to Lily. "Let''s go check it out." "Alright." They emerged from the tent and saw the super rookies training. "We''ll be back soon. You all continue." Lily and Almond sped up as they dashed into the woods. Almond knew the general direction of this summons, so the duo soon arrived at the underground passage''s entrance, where Benedict was waiting for them. They soon arrived at the tree and were shocked upon reading its description. "So there was this treasure here all along, and nobody found it?" Lily wryly smiled. Almond''s eyes glinted. ''Someone must have found it in my previous life but kept it private.'' He had a feeling that it was that one guild in the top 10 specializing in Flora element, as many members of that guild had Flora elemental mastery. "Umm, Master¡­" Sylvia rubbed her fingers as she looked at Almond hesitantly. "Yes?" Almond turned to Sylvia. Seeing her bodynguage, he added with a smile. "Say what''s on your mind." "I¡­want to eat this tree." "Eat?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Lily and Almond looked at each other before turning to the tree and Sylvia. "Mhmm," Sylvia nodded. "I feel like if I absorb this tree, I will get more powerful. But of course, the tree''s effects are very good and it can benefit many peop-" "Absorb it," Almond grinned. "You absorbing this tree will bring more benefit to us I believe. Who knows, you might be able to have simr effects as this tree?" Sylvia became uber excited as her face flushed, "Thank you so much, Master!" "You got lucky,ss," Benedictughed. "I feel you will benefit greatly by absorbing this tree." Lily nodded and was also curious about the result, "That said, how long will it take you to absorb this tree, Sylvia?" "That¡­I can''t estimate properly," Sylvia shook her head after a short pause. "No worries. Just start now and then give us a rough estimate. We are still here for roughly an hour because I need to craft my items." "Okie!" Sylvia nodded with determination and sat down beneath the tree. In the next second, mysterious vines emerged from the ground around her as her roots connected with the tree''s roots while the vines epassed the tree, weaving like braids and ultimately turning into a sphere with Sylvia inside it. It pulsed with a hazy green hue every second. Almond shortly got a message from Sylvia who was inside the sphere of vines she weaved, telling him that she would be done within an hour or around an hour. Everyone left the cavern after that. Almond alsopletely closed the hidden path that led to this area just to be safe. He didn''t want anyone stumbling here by luck and ruining it for Sylvia since there were still many people on this 4th floor and who knows if someone entered this central ind with their party since one day had passed by already. After returning, Lily, Benedict, and others joined in the training and sparring while Almond went inside the Magic Tent to continue with his Epic-rank set cooking session. He first selected the four bs and designed their parts. A sword. A full body armor. A helmet. A pair of boots. Once he finished the design, Almond took out the boss spirits in his arsenal. ''Now, how should I cook this?'' Almond looked at the spirits, his eyes gleaming as he began brainstorming to put the bestbination of spirits. Chapter 152: Almond’s Plan Gold Rank level 100 Spirits: ¡ª Mountain w Lion. ¡ª Beehive of Crimson Destruction. ¡ª Shadowbolt Thunder Python. ¡ª Frostme Stone Direwolf. ¡ª Verdant Sky Serpent. ¡ª Obsidian Razorback Gori. ¡ª Dark Storm Falcon. ¡ª Emberthorn Lava Basilisk. ¡ª Crystalvine Violet Stag. ¡ª Shadow Wraith Scorpion. ¡ª Nightmare Parade Fox. Labyrinth Boss Spirits: ¡ª Four Knights of the Apocalypse. ¡ª ck Sun Librarian. ¡ª Gildart of Dark Waters. ¡ª Doom Crawler Centipede. ¡ª Cursed Centaur of Northern Temple. ¡ª Frostmourne Sentinel. ¡ª Lament of the Midnight Harp. ¡ª Shardmother, the Crystal Gnoll. ¡ª Soulbound Widow, the Chaosweaver Arachnid. ¡ª Stonheart Gargoyl of Golden Obsidian. ¡ª Nightbane Crossbow Champion. ¡ª Darkrose of the Cursed Gardener. After brainstorming for a minute, Almond began making the items. ¡¯Lily wanted to use a long sword, so let¡¯s start with it.¡¯ [Long Sword b] - Design: { Completed } - Epic-grade Guarantee Forge: Add 3 Ingredient spirits. ¡ª 1. Death Knight of the Apocalypse. ¡ª 2. Crystalvine Violet Stag. ¡ª 3. Shadowbolt Thunder Python. *** [Light Armor b] - Design: { Completed } - Epic-grade Guarantee Forge: Add 3 Ingredient spirits. ¡ª 1. War Knight of the Apocalypse. ¡ª 2. Cursed Centaur of Northern Temple. ¡ª 3. Lament of Midnight Harp. *** [Armored Boots b] - Design: { Completed } - Epic-grade Guarantee Forge: Add 3 Ingredient spirits. ¡ª 1. Famine Knight of the Apocalypse. ¡ª 2. Dark Storm Falcon. ¡ª 3. ck Sun Librarian. ¡¯I hope this pair of boots works as I intend to,¡¯ Almond thought as he looked at the boot¡¯s design. He had added small wings to the boots as he wanted a new method of flying. He had crafted a pair of Wings in a previous Radiant Grimlord Set, but this time, he decided to try something different. Wings at the back would maneuver and move so that one could turn swiftly and fly fast. It¡¯d be the same with the boots, except that one would turn faster because the wings would be at their feet. The legs would turn first, and if one put pushing forces ordingly, the boot-wings could be a better way of flight-typebat than wings at his back. Moving on, he also finished thest b. [Helmet b] - Design: { Completed } - Epic-grade Guarantee Forge: Add 3 Ingredient spirits. ¡ª 1. Conquest Knight of the Apocalypse. ¡ª 2. Nightmare Parade Fox. ¡ª 3. Soulbound Widow, the Chaosweaver Arachnid. ¡¯I¡¯ll name this set as¡­Grimlord Apocalypse Set,¡¯ Almond thought and nodded to himself with a smile. ¡¯Yep, this is good.¡¯ But Almond wasn¡¯t done that. ¡¯This is a chance to start building a brand,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes cunningly glinted. ¡¯Gold coins are going to be more valuable, and I would need a lot of them to buy the good stuff from the Labyrinth shops.¡¯ He also had an idea he had discussed with Admiral Rudra. It was about creating a special division in the GAA for him. He would add people to that division based on his judgment, which he could measure properly thanks to his Riftveil Eyes. This would be his special team revolving around him to explore thebyrinth and clear, tough challenges. It¡¯d also be his force because he could only do so much alone, especially since theing times were going to be harder with all the world-scale changes. If he wanted to make sure that things didn¡¯t go haywire like in hisst life, he had to be always ready and above others in terms of strength and influence. ¡¯I want to catch up to the big shots fast,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes burned with desire and resolve. Rolling his sleeves, he cleared his head and focused on the current task. He had sacrificed 80 super-rank items so far to create his set, but he still had 31 more. With that, he could create six low-tier Epic-rank items or three mid-tier Epic-rank items. ¡¯It¡¯d be better if I create six armors. Six Epic-rank armors mean more effects in the y by six people, which would help a lot in the defense area¡¯ Almond really didn¡¯t want to risk it more this time. He had brushed past death in thest Heroic Challenge, and although he liked the rush and thrill that came with danger, which elevated him to higherbat senses, he wasn¡¯t irrational. To dive into the danger, he needed to be sufficiently prepared. Getting up, he left the Magic Tent and shouted, "Everyone, pause for a moment and gather here, it¡¯s time to gear you all up." "Gear us up?" Marcus¡¯s eyes glinted. "Let¡¯s fucking go!" Everyone soon gathered. "I am going to create Epic-rank armors, low-tier ones. But they¡¯ll have powerful effects, even more powerful than normal high-tier Epic-rank items you see out there," Almond said. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "What? For real?" Amir¡¯s eyes bulged out. "You can craft such powerful gears?" "Yes," Almond waved his hand as he revealed the details of his Radiant Grimlord Set. "Inspect these four items." Kira, Ka, Eliara, Jemma, Talia, Xavier, Amir, and Noah inspected the items eagerly. And soon, they were shocked and eximed, a few of them cursing out loud in disbelief. "These are so awesome, Almond," Kira¡¯s eyes shone. "The effects are even more powerful than some of the Epic-rank items¡¯ effects I¡¯ve seen." "Yeah, the effects of that armor are better than my dad¡¯s Epic-rank armor," Talia muttered. "What the fuck¡­" "Wait, they got the Duration in that¡­" Jemma blinked and lookd at Almond. "So you¡¯re the one selling those temporary items on the Silverbird Website! I actually bought some when I went to dungeons several days ago!" "Me too," Eliara nodded, dazed. "But these effects are so good." "I¡¯ve checked that seller, too," Noah nodded and looked at Almond, "So it was you¡­is this your specialized ss or primary ss?" "Primary," Almond smiled. "So powerful," Ka¡¯s eyes sparkled. "But howe your items have such powerful effects?" Kira curiously asked. "Any specific reason you¡¯ve figured out?" Almond faintly smiled, "The main ingredients of my items are the monsters I kill. You can say that their effects are more powerful because they are synthesized through Boss Monsters¡¯ powers that I use as ingredients." "That¡¯s so cool, man!" Amir said with visible envy. "You¡¯ve got an amazing primary ss." "Hehe, Captain Almond is going to craft Epic-rank items for us now. I can¡¯t wait," Marcus grinned as he looked at Almond. "I am getting one, right?" "I am going to craft six Epic-rank full body armors. I have normal Epic-rank items as well, which I will temporarily give some of you, but for my Spirit Items that I create, I¡¯m going to prioritize the close-rangebatant so we can defend each other using armors¡¯ effects in case." Almond said, his eyes narrowed, "We have to have each other¡¯s back during the fight because one carelessness and one strike of the Heroic Boss without defense will wipe us out." Chapter 153: MVP Chest, Surprising Reward "Now," Almond continued as he swept his nce at everyone. "Lily and Marcus are getting an armor each. The remaining four will go to Kira, Noah, Eliara, and...." Almond turned to Ka and asked, "Ka, what other spirits you can transform into?" Kayle thought for a moment and said, "If you want defense and support at the frontline, I can transform into Warden Griffon, which I recently got after the skill was upgraded. This Warden Griffon can parry projectiles and melee attacks both with one of its skills and also give a buff and can attack. Its main elements are Wind and Metal." "Parry?" Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. "Show me." "Okay," Ka nodded, slightly feeling thrilled to show Almond her power as if wanting to impress him. She transformed into Warden Griffon, a steely gray-brown winged griffon with shining brown fur, dreadful steel ws, and a predatory eagle head. Almond took out his Super-rank sword, Lightning Crownsun Edge. Kira and Noah immediately became focused as they observed Almond. Both of them had trained within their family walls after the tournament ended under the strongest of their families¡ªHiroshi Ryugiri and Silvester Duncan. Both of those old monsters had told them to watch Almond at any given opportunity to observe his swordy and learn anything they could. "Are you ready?" Almond asked as he stood as if he was standing casually, the sword in his hand hanging at a side pointing downward, but he was still instinctively and actively in recognition of his position in a stance to release the perfect sh possible in this style. "Yes," Ka¡¯s voice rang out from the Griffon¡¯s mouth as it floated fifteen meters off the ground and twenty meters away from Almond. At Ka¡¯s answer, Almond swung his sword from bottom to top in an arc as it was wrapped in Lightning-style Weapon Enfold. The slick golden sh with faint flickering lightning that was perfectly woven shot at Ka. Ka¡¯s wings magically glowed as they moved at a blurry and unnatural speed dictated by her wind. Almond¡¯s sword sh struck and went wide as it got parried and sted five meters away instead. "Interesting," Almond raised his eyebrows. "That Griffon¡¯s wind is special, a variant one. It forcefully led the sh away and prevented it from detonating, too. That¡¯s a very good parry skill." "Yes!" The griffon¡¯s eagle head nodded quickly in excitement. "It can parry anything!" "Good," Almond smiled. "I¡¯ll go and make the armors now. You all continue." As soon as Almond went back to the tent, Kira and Noah dashed to the ce where Almond was standing. Both of them looked at Almond¡¯s footprints and saw his feet had dug into the ground slightly, but the surrounding ground of those footprints had not even a slight crack. "Hehe, I was right," Kira snickered. "I told you, Almond is a freak. Even that swing was a masterful one. You need to get better at observing if you want to learn. You¡¯re onlycking this one thing." Noah was somber. "How? How can he just align his whole body for the sake of a perfect sh exerting high strength at any moment? The speed at which he moved his hand was supported by his body and didn¡¯t even vibrate the surrounding part of the ground around his feet despite the power and speed he used. Everything was contributed to that sh, no energy wasted¡­" "Well, "Kira patted his back with a smile, "Keep calm and mind open. We will watch him, train, and learn." They both turned around and saw Xavier staring at them, startling them both. "Why are you sneaking up on us using Mana Shroud?" Kira rolled her eyes. "I was listening and didn¡¯t want to disturb you," Xavier said as he nced at Almond¡¯s foot spirits. "Rapier is my main weapon, and it¡¯s a bit different than other swords as it¡¯s mostly piece attacks. I wonder if Almond knows about piercing styles for rapier¡­" Noah shrugged, "I don¡¯t know." Kira grinned and said, "Well, you¡¯ll have to ask him and find out." "I will do thatter," Xavier nodded with a serious expression. "I want to get stronger and more refined in my style, like him." "Yeah, we all want to do that. But for now, let¡¯s spar," Kira said as she walked towards the group and shouted, "Lily, Mr. Galvaren! Let¡¯s spar in a high-speed weapon-only battle!" Noah and Xavier looked at each other. "Spar?" "Yeah." ¡­ After Almond entered the Magic Tent, he first created the six armors¡¯ designs and put them into production. He didn¡¯t have enough boss spirits to put in all three ingredient slots for all six items, but he put one or two in each and then used other normal spirits he had saved for the 3rd ingredient slot. Once he was done with that, Almond took out his MVP reward chest and Party Ranking Reward chest for reaching Rank 1 in the Grimworld leaderboard of the 3rd Labyrinth Floor. "Time to open this," Almond opened the MVP chest with anticipation. A bunch of orbs spewed out containing various items. Almond looked at the window containing the list of rewards he got. 1 x Random Legendary Ore Material. 1 x Random Legendary Herb. 1 x Universal Skill-upgrade card. 1 x Advanced Skill Scroll. 1 x Epic-rank Gear Set (Mid-tier). 5 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Tickets. ¡¯It¡¯s simr to the second floor¡¯s MVP reward chest except that I got a set this time instead of four individual items. Good, I can sell it to someone in the party for tons of Gold coins,¡¯ Almond grinned. ¡¯And what¡¯s with the Advanced Skill Scroll?¡¯ Almond curiously picked up the orb that contained the scroll. The previous skill scrolls everyone got were High-ranking skill scrolls. He got two of them in the previous MVP chest, but this one was different and should be better, as he only got one. [Advanced Skill Scroll] -Rank: Special. -Effect: ¡ª> Upon opening the scroll, a random growth-type skill is generated on it. It could either be an Active skill or a Passive skill. ¡ª> To learn the skill, the user must infuse Mana into the scroll, which would send the consciousness inside in a special dimensional andplete the training tailored training to learn the skill. ¡ª> The skill¡¯s starting rank will be determined based on the training result. N?v(el)B\\jnn ¡¯Holy shit,¡¯ Almond was honestly surprised as he read the detail of this item. It was absolutely awesome! ¡¯The big thing is that this skill scroll has a chance to give passive skill as well,¡¯ Almond¡¯s eyes glinted. Passive skills were way harder to get, and getting a high-ranking one meant a considerable boost in one¡¯s power. Though it also depended on the effect of the skill, the passive skills were considered important since they worked "passively" without consumption of Mana and could give surprising powers and boosts. Almond really hoped to get a passive skill from this scroll. ¡¯Wait, should I keep this until Natalia regains her luck and let her open it?¡¯ ¡¯It¡¯d take two months though¡­¡¯ Almond sighed. He thought for a moment and decided that he didn¡¯t want to wait that long. ¡¯If I got this scroll in the 3rd floor¡¯s MVP reward chest, then there¡¯s a high chance I¡¯ll get it again.¡¯ Looking at the scroll, he decided to open it! ¡¯Please give me a passive skill, goddess of fortune.¡¯ Almond prayed internally as he opened the scroll. [Congrattions, you have¡­. Chapter 154 Epic Trove [Congrattions, you have acquired the passive skill¡ªWhispering Knowledge.] [This Advanced Skill Scroll containing Whispering Knowledge is bound to you. No one else but you can open, see, and ess its content.] [To unbind, let the scroll absorb a drop of your blood.] Almond looked at the scroll, but he couldn''t find out the effect of the skill. Infusing the Mana, Almond''s mind arrived in a mysterious ce. He was on top of a serene mountain peak, a pond nearby with a patch of verdant greenery to its left, and a hard ground to its right. [Do you wish to start the Training Session for the skill¡ªWhispering Knowledge? Note that once you begin, you will not be able to leave for 24 hours. The tailored training will only happen once and not again.] ''No,'' Almond rejected right away. He didn''t want to start it right now since the training''s result determined the initial ranking of this Passive skill. But this ce was indeed good. Almond''s mind was feeling refreshed. He decided to stick around for a while before he finally left. ''Advanced Skill Scroll. What a good item,'' Almond smiled. ''It gives growth-type skills that are learnable in a unique way. I''ll learn this after getting out of the Labyrinth.'' He put away the scroll into his storage ring and took out thest reward chest. Party ranking chest! ''We took the first rank on the leaderboard, so this should give some good rewards,'' Almond rubbed his hand in anticipation and opened the chest. He believed it wouldn''t change the content of the chest no matter who opened it, so he didn''t bother inviting others for Dice rolling. The moment he opened the chest by pressing the button, it gave out the same type of notification as it did when thest party chest was opened.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om [Congrattions. All party members are given an Advanced Skill Scroll each.] ''The fuck?'' Almond was dumbfounded. But then he felt that it was well deserved. After all, they ced Rank 1 in the leaderboard! Lily, Natalia, Maya, and Marcus also got the notification as they were startled outside. A few secondster, they entered the Magic Tent one by one and gathered with excitement as they read the scroll''s effects on the way. Although everyone opened the scrolls, they couldn''t learn the skills right away, so Almond kept their scrolls in his storage ring. The storage pouch might get lost since it just hung at the waist, but the Storage Ring was on his finger and wouldn''t get lost easily. "By the way, do you all want to eat the X-Factory fruit now orter? Eating one will allow you to add 20 points to any one stat and give you the Potential Codex. In my opinion, it''s not wise to eat the fruit carelessly." "Why?" Marcus asked, curious about Almond''s reasoning. "The main benefit of the fruit is Potential Codex," Almond smiled. "It can let us achieve a breakthrough in anything, but we can''t control how this Potential Codex is used. You might also use it up on a less important breakthrough." "That''s true," Maya blinked. Lily nodded and said, "Yeah, then we should save the fruit. We can eat it when we want to break through for an important power-up." "Like reaching S-rank mastery in an element!" Natalia grinned. "I''ve decided. I''ll use mine after I reach A-rank Sound Elemental Mastery." "Yeah, that''s honestly a good idea," Marcus grinned. "Alright, we save it for now." "Good. Now, putting this aside, let''s distribute the Epic-rank items," Almond smiled and waved his hand as he disyed the list he had created of Epic-rank items they had gotten so far. "I''ve sacrificed 10 Epic-rank items, all the ones we got from the Second Floor''s rewards except for the one-time use item and the low-tier Epic-rank Set that Marcus was wearing to unlock the Epic Forge option. The remaining Epic-rank items we have are disyed in the list." [Contribution Rewards] Lily: ¡ª 2 x Epic Item Boxes (From the 3rd Floor) Natalia: ¡ª 2 x Epic Item Boxes (From the 3rd Floor) Maya: ¡ª 1 x Epic Item Box (From the 3rd Floor) Marcus: ¡ª 1 x Epic Item Box (From the 3rd Floor) [MVP chest] Second MVP Chest (the 3rd Floor): ¡ª1 x Epic-rank Gear Set (Mid-tier) [Floor Boss Chest (2nd Floor)]: ¡ª 1 x Epic-rank Equipment Set (Low-tier). ¡ª 1 x Epic-rank One-Time Use Item [Floor Boss Chest (the 3rd Floor)]: ¡ª 1 x Epic-rank Equipment Set (Mid-tier) ¡ª 2 x Epic-rank One-Time Use Items "So it''s finally time to open these boxes," Natalia grinned. "Yeah, but no need to roll dice for these. Those 3rd Floor Epic Item boxes will give us Mid-tier Epic items anyway, so just open them." Everyone opened the boxes, and everything before Almond made a list. ¡ª Moonstrider Greaves (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª Starblossom Circlet (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª Verdantwind Cloak (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª Ironspine Pauldrons (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª Silken Ember Tunic (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª Oathbound Gauntlets (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª Eclipsed Horizon Set (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª Ashen Earthcaller Set (Low-tier Epic) ¡ª Frostheart Bastion Set (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª One-time Use: Elixir of Skyborne Reflexes (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª One-time Use: Crystal of Arcane Storm (Mid-tier Epic) ¡ª One-time Use: Sigil of the Guardian me (Low-tier Epic). "Including my Radiant Grimlord Set, we have a total of four sets," Almond smiled. "Four people will be fully equipped." "Let''s just go out and decide who will get which things based on attributes and stuff," Lily said. "Yeah, let''s go," Almond nodded. ¡­ Everyone stood around in a circle with the bunch of Epic items neatly ced in the center. Amir gulped. "What a trove of treasure." "You are getting to use these items temporarily only. You can buy them if you want to since I''m nning to sell them anyway." "Now," Almond continued, "Marcus, you''ll continue to use Ashen Earthcaller Set. Only you have Earth elemental mastery among us, so you can utilize this set better. You will use Sigil of Guardian me right away. ording to that one-time use item''s effect, it can supercharge the user who used it with me element and also summon a me guardian for protection for 1 minute. You can work with the guardian for better defenses since you''re the only defender with the backliners." "You don''t want to save one-time use items and only use them for emergencies?" Noah raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I thought we could use them only when required," Talia nodded. "Nope," Almond shook his head, his golden eyes narrowing to a fierce gleam. "We are not saving anything. I want this raid to be sessful and swift. I want to focus on attacking only, and you all need to focus on your roles. I want to finish this boss as soon as possible to get the first rank in the Grimworld leaderboard." Lily also sharply smiled as she added, "That''s right. You all better give your all." "Of course," Kira grinned. "So what am I getting?" "Let''s distribute based on elemental mastery first, starting with-" Almond suddenly paused as he got the notification of the Grimlord Apocalypse Set. Taking it out, he showed it to everyone, "And here''s the new and best Epic rank set. Grimlord Apocalypse Set. And six more Epic full-body armor pieces areing soon." "A long sword?" Maya raised her eyebrows. "Didn''t you say you were going to make the set for Lily?" "Of course, it''s mine," Lily smiled, "But the long sword is better against the Heroic Bosses, so I told him to use the long sword b. It''s not like I have to get pure technical with the boss, and I can y with long swords just as good as my daggers." "Oh¡­" "That''s awesome then," Marcus nodded. Almond chuckled and said, "I''ve checked the Mid-tier Epic rank Eclipsed Horizon Set and it''s actually perfect for me. It''s not a lightning attribute, but its effects are suitable for my style." "Anyway, moving on, let''s distribute the remaining sets first," Almond continued as he waved his hand and used Mana to pick up the Frostheart Bastion Set. "This set is ice and metal attributed, and we don''t have anyone who has both in person, so Noah will use them since he has a Metal element and he is joining the frontline as an off-tank with Eliara." Noah nodded, his expression serious. A brief hesitation shed before he said, "I''ll make it worth your trust in my abilities." "Good," Almond faintly smiled and turned to the Radiant Grimlord Set. "This set is stronger than other Epic-rank sets aside from the Grimlord Apocalypse set in terms of effects. The only other who uses the sword proficiently is Kira, so you''ll use it." "Woah, that''s awesome," Kira was thrilled and grinned. "Well, I get to use the set you wore before. I wonder if it smells like you." "Woah, woah, calm down." Natalia''s eyebrows shot up as her reaction was the fastest. "I will because I feel a pair of predator''s eyes on myself," Kira mischievously snickered as she winked at Lily. Lily wryly smiled. Amir, Eliara, Ka, Jemma, Xavier, and Talia nced at each other as they exchanged some words with Magic Whisper. [Amir: You think Kira has hots for Almond?] [Talia: You bet your ass she does.] [Ka: Poor Kira¡­] [Jemma: She knows herself, which is why she is not doing anything. But to be honest, I can''t me her.] [Eliara: Noah, what do you think?] [Noah: I think I need a new sword.] [Amira: Bro dodging a su-] "Amir, you''ll take this Verdantwind Cloak. You better utilize it well since it has a good wind-attribute passive effect. Make the backliners flying and in the move, every one of them," Almond said as he handed the cloak to Amir. Amir read the item and blinked, "So I''m kind of like a driver who buffs and supports, eh? Fine by me. I got some good ss skills in store for this role." "Ka, the Silken Ember Tunic is yours. Read the effects and you''ll know." "Okie, thank you," Ka smiled, her cheeks slightly puffing. "Hmm, we got a pair of Oathbound Gauntlets, but none of them is a hand-to-handbatant," Almond rubbed his chin, but then he got an idea as his eyes shone. Chapter 155 Preparation Done, Onwards to the Heroic Challenge "This pair of gauntlets has a pretty good effect. One of the backliners can use them on me or someone else in an emergency. Using these gauntlets won''t diminish yourbat style even if you don''t use it for attacking in any way," Almon said. "Check the effects and see who is willing to take them." "Damn, they got some high attack power!" Amir eximed. "True. I guess we can let Adrian use them in the next floor''s Heroic Challenge," Xavier nodded. "With such effects, he would be able to serve as an off-tank warrior." [Oathbound Gauntlets] -Type: Heavy Gauntlets. -Rank: [Epic/Mid] -Attack: 1400 [+230% of user''s Strength] -Perk(s): ¡ª> +50 Strength, +70 Health, +30 Focus. -Effect(s): ¡ª> (Passive) Oathbound Enchant: Boost a targetted ally with any two of your stats, applied 100%. The targetted ally must be within your sight. ¡ª> (Active) Double Team: Swap positions with a targetted ally. Cooldown: 1 minute. Cost: 100 Mana. ¡ª> (Active) Receiving the Favor: You are boosted by two stats of the ally targetted by Oathbound Enchant for 1 minute. Cost: 10% of maximum Mana. Cooldown: 2 minutes. "Wow, this is pretty sick," Marcus blinked as he eximed. "Considering Almond''s stats, whoever wears this will get a big boost." "With this item worn by a backline, if the Heroic Boss someone infiltrated the backlines, I can swap positions to counter or attack," Almond smiled. "Then this should be given to someone who can cast long-range control attacks," Lily said with a glint in her eyes. "Suppose the Heroic Boss suddenly arrived at the backliners. The person who equips this item can swap with Almond and also release a control-type attack on the boss from long-range." "That narrows our list," Kira grinned. "We have three people with control powers. Natalia, Jemma, and Maya, but Maya is a better choice, I guess." "Yeah," Almond nodded in agreement. "Maya, these are yours. You also have experience of how unpredictable those Heroic Bosses can be, so you can react properly as well." "Thanks," Maya smiled. Almond nodded and continued, "Moving on, Starblossom Circlet only has two effects, but they are a defensive effect and a healing effect. Eliara, you take it." "Next, Moonstrider Greaves are water-elemental. This item has a speeding passive effect and a speeding active effect that also buffs an attack. Kira, it''s yours." "Awesome," Kira smiled as she took the greaves. "Ironspine Pauldrons. Eliara, you''ll use them as they are Metal attributes." Noah already had a set of Metal and Ice elements, so Almond decided to give the pauldrons to Eliara. "Jemma, you''ll get one of the spirit armor that''s in the making, and also keep this Crystal of Arcane Storm. It''s an offense-control type one-time use item, generating a multi-elemental storm of wind, lightning, and water. When you use it, boost it with your water elemental power and skill since it would slow and significantly weigh the boss inside. Use it when given the opportunity right away." "Gotcha," Jemma nodded. "Talia and Xavier, you two will also get armor, but no other items as we are out of stock, but I am going to gear you all up with random Super-rank items I got with my ss." "Who''s gonna use Elixir of Skyborne Reflexes?" Natalia curiously asked. "It''s a pretty sick potion since it increases speed and reflexes by 50% while giving the ability to step on air for one minute." "I''ll use it, of course," Almond grinned. "I don''t have a flying method with Eclipsed Horizon Set, so I''d need that to up my game, and that potion will provide me the very good flying-esque method." "Sounds good," Lily nodded. "And now that we have distributed these items. Let''s use their effects and familiarize ourselves with them." ¡­ Ten minutes passed by as everyone checked out the various effects of all items and practiced with the Spirit Wraiths. Almond also took out the remaining Super-rank items, numbering five to be exact¡ªArmor, a pistol, boots, a cloak, and a one-time-use item¡ªA spear that can destroy any projectilepletely. The six low-tier Epic armors were also ready, and he gave them to Jemma, Amir, Xavier, Ka, Natalia, and Talia. The Super-grade armor went to Jemma, the pistol went to Talia, the cloak went to Amir, and the spear went to Marcus to use for defense in case a powerful projectile came their way. Shortly after that, Sylvia also told Almond that she was done and would reach there in a few minutes. When Sylvia arrived, everyone was shocked! She looked more human-like and extremely beautiful, not to mention that her stats and power increased! All Spirit Wraiths who were in Silver rank had broken through to Gold rank, so they could now go above 100 points in each stat, but Sylvia already reached 150 in all stats after absorbing that tree. She received a new Trait called Mother of Nature, which increasesprehension of Flora element and gathers Flora element power around her more! She could enter a new mode with this trait, turning into a tree to increase healing, calm her mind, and help focus on everyone around her! She didn''t get any skills, but she felt she could awaken a skillter by training. With Sylvia''s return, it was finally time to begin the challenge. Everyone gathered in the circle as Kira put the items in the magic circle. [Your Party is qualified for Heroic Challenge Mode. Do you wish to proceed?] "Everyone, just say yes to this question in your mind," Almond said. [Everyone in the party has agreed. From hereon, you are not allowed to leave the Labyrinth beforepleting the challenge.] The ground shook slightly before the magic circle split open, revealing a hazy portal. [Please enter the portal to begin the challenge.] "So we can''t even leave anymore, eh? Damn, that''s brutal," Amir muttered. "It''s do or die," Lily sharply grinned. "Either you win against the Heroic Boss, or you die trying."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The first-timers suddenly felt the pressure slightly increasing. "Keep your mind clear, don''t panic, and fucking make a move when necessary," Almond spoke in a stern voice. "Don''t mess up. Remember, messing up means death." Kira, Noah, and others somberly nodded. "Let''s go." Everyone entered the crack one by one, arriving in a huge dark hall with dim lights and low visibility. Almond had a strong bad feeling when he entered this hall and saw how it had low visibility and dim lights. Chapter 156 Fourth Floor Heroic Challenge Boss (1/3) ''If the boss is assassin-type¡­'' Almond''s heartbeat quickened. [You have one minute to prepare. The Heroic Challenge Boss will spawn after one minute.] "Everyone!" Almond shouted, snapping everyone out of the reverie of watching this hall as they turned to Almond. "Listen to me carefully. Those in charge of control, get ready with your attacks. Noah, Kira, and Eliara, when the Heroic Boss appears, do whatever you can do to cage it from outside the Arcane Storm. With Lily and I, the five of us will surround it and keep it at bay. Ka, keep flying around the backliners in your Griffon form and get ready to parry any sudden attacks." "You sound urgent?" Kira blinked. The others also noted the urgency and trepidation in Almond. "My guts are also churning," Lily narrowed her eyes. "This Heroic Boss could get very annoying if it''s an assassin-type. The chance of death significantly increases. We fought with a warrior and a mage¡­so it wouldn''t be strange if this Heroic Boss is an assassin." "Exactly," Almond nodded. "Fuck," Natalia cursed as her lips trembled. "A heroic boss of assassin role?! We gotta kill it fast!" Marcus and Maya also nodded, their expressions grave. Almond continued speaking, making a slight change in the strategy, "We have to make our move fast, and we only have one chance. I failed to strike three times properly against Verenoor, but that cannot happen again here, or some of us will die! We are more in numbers, so Noah, Kira, Eliara, and Jemma, hurl your skills and item effects right off the bat when the boss is in the Arcane Storm." Almond waved his hand as he summoned his Spirit Wraiths. Lily started using her skill on Viperfiend to fill up her Dreadspire Call''s gauge to summon the Gloombound Earth Golem. "Galvaren, Ashkar, Starlight, Crystalist, and Benedict, you five will support Noah, Kira, Eliara, and Jemma as they hurl their attacks. Go into the Arcane Storm that Jemma will create and do whatever you can to keep the Boss there." "Amir, your role is different. You''re no longer a support driver, but you will also empower the Arcane Storm with your wind-based skills and use your item''s effects on us instead. Keep your focus on us and the boss''s attack only. Don''t think about attacking the boss, as that will distract you." "Roger!" "Sylvia,e to me and Lily at the frontline. Work with Lily''s golem and keep the boss rooted if possible. Your second trait will also recover our Mana, and your new third trait will help keep our mind cool."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Understood, Master," Sylvia nodded. "Nyssara, you will work with Maya as usual. Make the best freezing shot together." Maya and Nysarra nodded. "Marcus, your job is the same." "Talia and Xavier, you only have offensive skills, but don''t use them and waste your Mana. Just use the armors'' effects properly and your ss buff skill if you have any." "I have a debuff skill that can cause blindness," Xavier said. "I have one that can increase the action speed of everyone around me by 50% for 10 seconds," Talia said. Almond''s eyes glinted. "Stay at the backline and use it only if I am within the range." "That''s all. But we don''t know what will happen, so improvise and make good decisions, please." When only thirty seconds were left to the countdown, Almond turned to the magic circle at the center of the floor and walked towards it as he activated Espada Ad Grimveil. Kira, Ka, and others who hadn''t seen this power were surprised as they saw eye-shaped cracks appear around him within a 200-meter radius. "Woah, what''s that?" Amir eximed. "We don''t have time for questions now. Just watch and focus on the fight," Lily said as she followed Almond with her Gloombound Earth Golem. "Let''s go." With her Grimlord Apocalypse Set, Lily was ready to go all out right off the bat with its powerful debuff effects and rein down on the boss right away with a boost from her S-rank Darkness elemental mastery. Kira, Noah, Amir, and Eliara followed her as they went towards the circle where the boss would spawn. Jemma stood in mid-range with Talia slightly behind her, and behind Talia was the backline of Ka, Maya, and Natalia. Nyssara was with Maya while Sylvia, Dark Pope, Crimson Skylord, Starlight Beast, Crystalist, and Infernal Knight joined Almond and others at the frontline. Maya targeted Almond for the Oathbound Enchant passive effect, boosting Almond''s Focus and Perception as per his n. She also nned to use Almond''s Mana and Focus to boost herself when using her main control-type attack with Nysarra. When the countdown neared 0, everyone used their items'' buff effects. Almond drank the Elixir of Skybord Reflexes while Marcus used Sigil of the Guardian me as a big ming bird appeared and supercharged Marcus with me element. Everyone activated their Focus Field as this became necessary due to the low lighting in this hall, which meant their Mana would constantly drain, so they had to be on their toes when using active effects or skills and using potions quickly in an emergency. Almond''s five Spirit Syringes also floated. Lily didn''t have to use one this time since Sylvia was healing Lily while she sacrificed her blood for the Golem summoning. [The Heroic Challenge Floor Boss¡ªShourded des Ervagus of Evernight Domain.] When everyone heard the name, they knew it was the goddamn assassin-type heroic Boss. A hazy storm of darkness appeared in the magic circle as the floor boss spawned. ''Jemma, don''t be in a hurry and observe first before using the Crystal of Arcane Storm,'' Maya said to Jemma as she could see that Jemma was a bit nervous from behind based on her bodynguage. As the hazy storm of darkness subsided, everyone saw a faint figure of a two-meter-tall humanoid wearing a mask and a ck robe with embroidery design, his hands holding two long curvy daggers. But as Almond and others were about to attack, Ervagus vanished like a mist. Almond was fastest as his Focus Field captured the boss appearing at the backline. ''No!'' Ervagus appeared right behind Natalia like a death reaper, ready to cut her down. Chapter 157 Fourth Floor Heroic Challenge Boss (2/3) ''No!'' Almond''s mind stirred into action immediately as he used Rift Discement, recing the space where Natalia was standing with his as he appeared right in front of Ervagus, who was swinging his des down. It consumed more Mana, but he had to do it. At the same time, he had also used Divine Divider''s Might to reduce Ervagus'' 1000 strength by half. The backliners'' defense was high since Marcus had activated all field effects and buffs, and Almond could also sh his sword instead of getting attacked. But in this tense situation, a mishap happened. Maya also used body swap with Almond a little after Almond appeared there, causing both of their bodies to swap positions. Almond''s pupils shrank. He could see Ervagus two meters away instead of just one meter this time, so that didn''t change anything. His sword shed ahead with Sword Bending Motion, his veins popping and his speed blinding as he had stolen Ervagus'' Strength stat. Ervagus, sensing the iing danger from Almond, changed his attack trajectory midway masterfully and met Almond''s sword. *Boom!* Both of them instantly shot tens of meters away as Almond overpowered Ervagus. Their swords shed swiftly, but Almond was severelycking in Perception and Focus against Ervagus. Having dual-wielding daggers meant Ervagus dished out more attacks. At the end of the two seconds of high-speed shes that required Almond''s full focus, Ervagus struck right at the slight gap in his armor, at a part of his arm that wasn''t covered, and shed it as his arm flew off. The Elixir of Skyborne Reflexes already helped him during this, as he saved his neck from flying a second ago. But during those two seconds of shes between Almond and Ervagus, everyone had also made their moves. Sylvia burst out with her full power, not holding back the slightest for Almond as tens of vines burst out of the ground right around Ervagus, binding him. ck mes red from Ervagus'' body, burning the vines, but before he could escape, Lily''s Gloombound Earth Golem arrived in a gloomy brown stream of elemental energy and drowned Ervagus, slowing down his movement speed and action speed. Since Natalia was safe and sound, she was aiming for Ervagus after Almond reced her position and instantly shot her Celestial Songstress skill, stunning the Heroic Boss upon seeing that Ervagus was briefly stopped. With that powerful stun in ce, Eliara, Kira, and Noah unleashed their items'' effects and attacked, drowning the heroic boss in colorful bursts of powers, during which Almond injected Spirit Syringe into himself andpletely healed, his arm regrowing. Jemma was about to throw the Arcane Storm potion, and Almond''s Spirit wraiths were also about to jump after that, but everyone sensed Ervagus vanishing from their Focus Field. And this time, he didn''t appear again so soon as before while the darkness in the hall suddenly increased. "Where is he?!" "Fuck." "Drink Mana potions while we have time!" Ervagus'' vitality was down by only 7% even after Kira, Eliara, and Noah emptied their Mana pools, so they hurriedly chugged Mana potions. Lily was preparing for her attack, so she didn''t make a move but also kept her focus in the Focus Field like others to instantly detect if Ervagus appeared behind anyone. Almond had the highest sensing power because, with thebination of his Focus Field and domain of his Espada Ad Grimveil, nothing could escape him. ''Control-types, get ready. Observe and shoot. Don''t shoot all at once. Maya, Nyssara, you''re first. Our chance ising,'' Almond''s eyes glinted sharply as he was prepared and sent his voice to everyone via Magic Whisper. ''The moment I sense Ervagus''s presence, I must slice him into pieces with Absolute Severing paired with Sword Bending Motion for more pieces of his body.'' His Absolute Severing was like a top-tier control-type attack in a way, as it dealt no damage but sliced their body parts'' spaces away from each other, severing their connections to each other, but the person with consciousness and mind could still feel their body parts attached while not physically attached, making them disjointed. Everyone was waiting in anticipation mixed with dread for Ervagus to appear. One second. Two seconds. And something flickered. Right behind Maya and Nyssara, Ervagus emerged from the ground like a death reaper, but this time, he was already in attacking motion. Almond was already in motion, but this time, he would bete! Nyssara had to make a split-instant decision as she self-destructed herself while creating a crude wall of ice between her and Maya to keep her protected from the explosion. She couldn''t do more than that in such a short time. ''Master! Get him!'' The burst of the icy explosion that Nysarra did froze Ervagus briefly, and Almond appeared, veins all over his body popping as he roared, his arms swinging at an insane speed. Sword Bending Motion! Absolute Severing! Six shes! Six pieces of Ervagus! Maya went stumbling several meters, but others were ready. Jemma was an ultra reader as she was also waiting for Ervagus to appear and instantly used the Crystal of Arcane Storm. The burst of storm twenty meters high and ten meters wide formed around Almond and Ervagus. Galvaren, Ashkar, Benedict, Starlight Beast, and Frank jumped in at the moment, bursting out with their full power and using their highest-ranked skills. Benedict, who had S-rank in shadow mastery, solely focused on not letting Ervagus escape through the darkness again. Almond jumped out of the Arcane Storm, stepping into the air with the effects of the Elixir. ''100 Voidbound Rifts,'' Almond''s eyes glinted as he had formed 100 rifts and began phase 1 as all of them converged. Maya got hold of herself and began building her attack as she pulled the string of her bow again, ready to freeze Ervagus at a moment''s opportunity. Arcane Storm was getting fueled by Amir and Jemma, so it was very strong. If any one of them entered without defense, they would die shortly. Everyone observed the chaotic battle happening inside the storm. This battlefield was only for Spirit Wraiths because even if they died, they wouldn''t die for real. Inside the storm, All spirit wraiths were attacking Ervagus, but Ervagus was deflecting all of their attacks while shing them even though he was into pieces. His body parts were protected by ck energies while his severed arms defended his body parts by deflecting iing attacks with his glowing ck daggers. Meanwhile, Sylvia remained in a position where her traits could affect everyone, healing, recovering mana, and calming everyone with her second and third traits. And everyone finally saw Ervagus'' status this time as they could catch a breath and inspect him. [Shrouded des Ervagus] -Rank: Special -Type: Heroic Spirits. -Vitality: [100% / 100%] -Mana: [50,000 / 50,000] -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 1000 | Health: 5000 | Stamina: 5000] ¡ªMental:n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om ?[Mana: 5000 | Focus: 1000 | Perception: 1000] Almond''s eyes glinted as he used Divine Divider''s Harvest, halving Ervagus'' Perception and harvesting it for himself before taking out the hand fan Artifact they had gotten. [Quetzal''s Windgod Handfan] -Rank: Special -Tier: 1 (Higher tiered Artifacts can ignore/resist/disce effects of lower tiered Artifacts). -Effect: ¡ª> Quetzal''s Domain: Turn 200 diameter meters of area in a domain of raging winds, a paradise for wind users to fuel their wind-attributed skills. All wind-attributed skills inside the domain are boosted by 50% and can be further boosted based on control. Cost: 10,000 Mana. ¡ª> Windgod''s Fury: Blow a powerful gust of wind 10 to 100 meters wide at the speed of 1000 kilometers per hour for a stretch of 2 kilometers, forcefully blowing everything away. ''Alright, this is useless in this fight.'' Putting it away, Almond focused on the fight. Ervagus''s aura surged swiftly as he seemed to make a big move within the Arcane Storm as it started darkening, overwhelming other elements of the storm. Chapter 158 Fourth Floor Heroic Challenge Boss (3/3) His own Perception 200 + Harvested 500 + 175 from the Epic-rank set he wore. This set was Perception-based, as it was the highest numbered stat among other stats in four items'' perks. Eclipsed Horizon Set was a space-attributed set, and even though not all of its effects warranted their uses, the passive set effects of all four items¡ªSpatial Awareness, Spatial Momentum, Horizon Reach, and Eclipsed Space boosted his use of the techniques of his Espada Ad Grimveil, making it perfect for him. Phase 1 of his Unveiled Catastrophe was ready, as a dreadful ck sphere of Void Veil appeared, epassing all 100 Voidbound Rifts and power of space he severed so far with other techniques. The Arcane Storm darkened as everyone observed what was happening inside with their Focus Fields. Even though Ervagus'' body parts were severed into six pieces, his hands holding the des were deflecting iing attacks and protecting his body. But he still lost 7.4% of his vitality before he eventually pieced his body together, connecting them with shadow energy, and he began spinning. And he spun fast. Shadowy ck des began unleashing from the spinning Ervagus, striking everyone and destroying the Arcane Storm''s flow as well. Since the des also pierced through the storm, everyone had to dodge them in case a few came their way. Starlight Beast, Frank, and Viperfiend died, while Galvaren, Ashkar, and Benedict began their round two. Ashkar roared in a wrathful manner as his horse Agramon died, boosting his stats by 50%. Benedict revived as a ck fallen angel appeared, holding a golden sword with ck spots. Galvaren transformed the field around him as his stats were boosted by 100%, going on a rampage as an ethereal field of a destroyed kingdom appeared around him, covering a 200-meter radius of the area. But Ervagus was just as dangerous, if not more, as he appeared more like an abomination with his body parts threaded with ck energy. Benedict lost his control over the shadow as Ervagus wrestled it away and thenrge ck shes formed around Ervgagus, striking Galvaren, Benedict and his fallen angel, and Ashkar, one-shotting them. But thanks to their efforts, the team was prepared! Almond knew they would die soon, so he also entered phase two as the Void Veil transformed, and ovepped his sword this time instead of creating a de itself, looking more refined with his higher control, thanks to the set and the boosted perception, but mainly thanks to the Epic set he wore. Now everyone was waiting to see who would Ervagus target with his shadow drifting. Ervgus vanished from the storm and everyone was fully focused in their Focus Field. But something crazy happened. Ervagus appeared, but¡­not just one Ervagus, not two. Instead, an Ervagus appeared behind each one of them! Everyone was shocked and terrified. All except for Almond because he knew not all of them were true Ervagus. He sensed the real one, who appeared behind himself! ''Defend Maya! And Maya, you attack the one behind me! Freeze!'' Almond ryed this message only to Maya, Eliara, and Noah. Thetter two because they were right beside Maya at the moment. Eliara and Noah used theirbo defense. Eliara conjured a metal bunker around them with a vertical window for Maya to shoot the arrow in front of her while Noah enchanted the bunker further. Ka dodged the strike because she went to parry the attack for Natalia with her skill in her Griffon form. Kira and Amir protected Lily as Kira used the Radiant Fortress of Radiant Grimlord Set as Lily was charging her attack. Amir and Lily were struck by attacks and got injured, but not as high with the items they wore, and because the true Ervagus didn''t attack them. Sylvia quickly went to tend to their injuries before they got worse. Marcus defended himself, Jemma, and Talia as he was near them, using his defensive skill, Geostar Dome, and using his set''s effects with the remaining Mana, consuming it all. Meanwhile, the true Ervagus who appeared right behind Almond intended to cut Almond into pieces because Ervagus sensed that Almond was the most threatening at the moment. But that was Ervagus'' first mistake¡­and alsost. It was the best decision on his part, but also the worst. But Lily, with her High-tier Epic rank set of darkness attributed that Almond crafted, appeared right behind the true Ervagus from his own shadows she had also sensed the true one thanks to her S-rank Darkness Elemental Mastery. She could practically see which one had the highest essence of darkness and targeted it. Appearing behind Ervagus, she struck him with her full-powered Voidless Sunderer. Almond''s lips stretched a grin, ''Wonderful, babe.'' He disced the space around himself, instantly facing Ervagus instead of turning around physically as it would waste time, even if it was in milliseconds. Phase 2! Void Catastrophic Strike. *BOOOM!* Right as Almond had used that attack, he also sent Lily away since she could get hurt and also released the control he had over the space struck to Ervagus'' body pieces, making him whole again purposely. Thanks to Lily drastically reducing Ervagus'' defense and that darkness shroud that seemed to have given him defense, Almond''s Void Catastrophic Strike took a whopping 68% of Ervagus'' vitality! The terrifying void de intended to destroy Ervaguspletely, but Ervagus still managed to move and save himself. Almond had shed vertically this time, intending to split him into two and finish him off with a fatal positioned attack, but that didn''t work as Ervagus dodged at thest moment. Ervagus wanted to dodge the entire body, but he couldn''t do that fast enough. However, the damage done was already insane as the lower half of his body horizontally had vanished! And for the next part, Maya and Natalia were both ready! As well as Xavier who couldn''t do anything until now. He only had one armor he got from Almond, and it had a solid one-target defensive effect ofpletely nullifying an attack, so he was safe and ready to unleash an attack. Xavier''s attack came first as it was pure light-type, fastest. He stabbed his rapier and it released a blinding white-golden light, consuming all of his Mana. This attack was offensive and debuff type both, as people struck by it would only seeplete brightness in their vision and other senses. *Swoosh!* Natalia''s stun came second as it was the second fastest. The sound ring jolted Ervagus as he was stunned. He couldn''t enter Phase 2 Boss as it was interrupted and the Vitality he was healing also stopped. Almond ced the Spirit Nuke right above Ervagus'' head while his eyes glinted, ''''The fucker was healing? But this bit won''t help.'' Maya''s arrow came whistling with a boom right as Almond ced the spirit nuke, freezing Ervaguspletely while he was stunned. One second passed by. *BOOOOOOM!* Absolute cinema nuke. [Congrattions. Your party has sessfully defeated the fourth-floor Heroic Challenge boss¡ªShrouded des Ervagus.] [Along with the challengepletion reward, an additional reward is in the process of generating based on the performance and contribution of the party members.] [You have defeated Shourded des Ervagus in 37 seconds. Your party¡ªGrim Breakers, has ced 1st rank in the Grimworld Heroic Challenge Leaderboard - Heroic Spirit Floor 4 Section.] "It''s o-ver?" Jemma uttered, adrenaline rush still present in her. Marcus groaned and sat down. He nced at the me bird and cursed, "Useless shit. How can it defend if it can''t react to Ervagus'' speed." Eliara removed the bunker, as she, Natalia, and Noah emerged, red-faced and with messed up expressions due to a high adrenaline rush. Everyone was in a high adrenaline rush. Their heartbeats were graduallying down, but the speed had peaked when everyone sensed multiple Ervagus'', one appearing behind each of them, and how they fought for their lives by giving their everything. Sylvia also heaved a sigh of relief and reported to Almond, ''Master, if the fight hadsted longer, Amir would''ve probably died. The clones most likely had darkness poisonous attributes in their attacks even if they were not powerful since my healing was prevented and the dark power was destroying Amir''s organs.'' ''Is he okay?'' ''Yeah,pletely okay now that Ervagus is gone. My healings are working.'' ''Good job, Sylvia.''N?v(el)B\\jnn "Everyone, gather up in the middle! It''s time to rest," Almond said as he sat down, his brain already buzzing and aching. He had maintained control of his Espada Ad Grimveil longer and used the techniques more times in this fight than the previous Heroic Bosses, so the stress on his mind was also more intense. "I waspletely useless," Talia muttered as she walked alongside Jemma towards Almond. "Like I was any useful," Xavier sighed. Jemma weakly smiled as she heard them, "It was the same for me." "But you had a role to y at least," Talia rolled her eyes. "Don''t beat over it too much," Marcus casually said as he arrived nearby. "Even if you attacked, it wouldn''t hurt the boss much. Talia''s job was to buff Almond''s action speed, and she did it at the start. If it wasn''t for that, Almond would have lost more than just an arm during that sh." Natalia and Ka caught up to them from behind before Natalia said, "Yeah, this boss was freaky. We didn''t expect it would be an assassin before we entered this hall anyway." Lily walked from the south since Almond had teleported her there and joined the group as she said "That''s right. Against an assassin who teleports like that and attacks individually, it''s hard to coordinate individual attacks all at once. Arcane Storm worked, but we couldn''t risk going inside as it was the stage for Almond''s summons, and we got plenty of time to prepare and recover with potions thanks to them." "True," Noah muttered as he, Eliara, and Maya arrived from the north and everyone walked towards Almond who was lying on the ground several meters away. "Almond''s summons did that job, but what''s with his crazy skills¡­" "Yeah, those were insane," Talia nodded as she looked at Almond. "Without Almond, this would be impossible," Kira arrived with Sylvia as she said with a wry smile. Amir was carried by Sylvia''s vines since he was unconscious. "Is he fine?" Ka asked in concern as she saw Amir''s pale face. "Yeah, he is fine. He''s just recovering," Sylvia nodded. "I am getting better already," Eliara blinked as she turned to Sylvia. "It''s your power." "Yes," Sylvia smiled. Everyone was indeed calming down as their minor injuries were getting healed along with their Mana. As the party gathered at Almond''s location, he got up while rubbing his temples, "I''m going to rest. You all set up the camps and stuff. My mind''s buzzing with the heavy control I exerted." Saying that, he took out the magic tent as it expanded and he entered inside before calmly lying on the bed. Chapter 159 Global Announcement, Rewards (1/2) Outside, Rudra and the other old monsters had finished the S-grade dungeons and sessfully earned one or two Legendary items. The gold-bordered Dungeon that Rudra and the team cleared earned them a total of 4 Legendary items, one being a one-time-use item. After exiting the dungeons, the first thing everyone did was to gather the rats in the GAA headquarters. It was time to extract information out of them first and foremost if they wanted to clear the 10th Floor''s Floor Boss without additional risks. The interrogation of the rats was over just as the first day of the first cycle had passed. Everyone on the Earth received a notification. [The 10th Floor''s Floor boss hasn''t been defeated yet after 24 hours. 50% of the dungeons all over the world will start progressing faster toward dungeon break.] [Statistic: If the floor boss hasn''t been defeated 24 hours from now on, a total of 68 Dungeons of different grades will break and spill onto the world. Good luck, adventurers.] Everyone in the world got the announcement, and it was bound to raise panic among the public. While the public figures who usually talked in the media worked to ensure the public, the real yers were preparing for the battle.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om All guilds and other organizations were gathering the potions and items for the boss raid. It was scheduled to begin after 8 hours. Meanwhile, the interrogation of the rats was sessful as they got some names, but all of them were people of the underworld. The criminal adventurers didn''t appear in public and usually hid in their own domains. Rudra raided some ces with other old monsters after getting information, but unfortunately, they couldn''t nab anyone as they found no one. Naturally, they still nned to try, otherwise, they''d have to be cautious of them while fighting the 10th Floor''s Floor boss. ¡­ On the other hand, Almond woke up briefly when the rewards appeared ten minutester. [Contribution ranking and additional rewards] Rank 1¡ªAlmond. -> MVP reward chest. Rank 2¡ª Lily Darkwood. -> 2 x Legendary item box, 1 x Legendary Weapon selection box, 1 x Legendary Armor selection box, 2 x GAL Roulette Ticket, 1 x Insight Scroll (20Hr). Rank 3¡ªNatalia/Maya -> 2 x Legendary item box, 1 x Legendary Weapon selection box, 2 x GAL roulette ticket, 1 x Insight scroll (20Hr). Rank 4¡ªKira/Noah/Eliara -> 1 x Legendary item box 1 x Epic Gear Set (high-tier), 2 x GAL roulette ticket, 1 x Insight scroll (10Hr). Rank 5¡ªMarcus/Jemma/Amir -> 1 x Epic Gear Set (High-tier), 2 x GAL roulette ticket, 1 x Insight scroll (10Hr). Rank 6¡ªTalia/Xavier/Ka -> 1 x Epic Gear Set (high-tier), 1 x GAL roulette ticket, 1 x Insight scroll (5Hr.) "Crap, we got legendary items?!" Marcus eximed with a shout. "People just started getting legendary items on the 10th floor, and we are already getting them? What the fuck?" Talia muttered before she wryly smiled. "Well, I''m only getting one, but it''s understandable." "This is awesome," Eliara excitedly said as she looked at the list of rewards. "I also got it," Kira blinked. "Everyone got a set of rewards disyed in the ranks." "Yeah, it''s not like we got 1 legendary box among us, but one each," Noah grinned. "The rewards are so awesome." "And this is not even everything. There''s the Floor Boss ying reward chest, too!" Ka''s cheeks puffed. "I wonder what we will get from it." Everyone was visibly excited. "Don''t be too excited," Natalia snorted. "Getting legendary items from this heroic boss means that the 5th Floor''s Heroic Boss is going to be a crazy asshole." "That''s right," Lily said as she turned to Almond, who appeared to be in deep thought. Almond''s eyes briefly flickered as he said, "We are not going to rush to the 5th Floor''s heroic boss. Since we''ve reached Gold-rank, I need to farm a lot of things, and we all need to prepare better. Even though we were a lot, this didn''t go as well as I expected." Shaking his head, Almond continued, "This can''t go on." Everyone turned silent. They realized that most of this fight was carried by Almond, and only with his insane damage did they win. It was clear if this party attempted this raid without Almond, even with a few more people, they would''ve died 100%. "On the 5th floor, Only Lily will join me. The rest of you can team up however you want and get better. We will meet at the Floor boss area near the end of the first cycle." Everyone was surprised. Lily was also surprised, but she didn''t mind as she smiled. Instead, she was rather thrilled. Almond was on a solo adventure on all the floors so far, but now they would be together. "So we will spend the next one day and a half adventuring on the 5th Floor and exploring it?" Maya raised her eyebrows, her eyes glinting. "Good. Fine by me." "The 5th floor is 500 kilometers in radius. It''s very big, and people still find new challenge spots every now and then, so yeah," Kira nodded with a grin. "It''s a good idea. Let''s get better." "Before opening the floor boss''s chest, I would like to say something," Marcus said as he raised his hand. "Although that chest is to be shared amongst everyone, only Almond will decide who gets what and if he wants to give anything at all. You alright with that, boss?" Almond blinked as he turned to Marcus and smiled, his expression sharp, "Of course. And if you want to keep the Epic items that I''ve lent you all, you can pay me in gold coins once we leave." "I''ll keep it," Noah said as he looked at his Frostheart Bastion set. "I''ll pay for this set once we get out." "Same," Marcus grinned. "I''ll gather enough gold coins to pay. Maya, you''re with me, right?" "Hohoho, of course, she is with you," Natalia took an opportunity to immediately make things awkward between them. But Maya didn''t give in and simply rolled her eyes as she replied to Marcus, "Yeah, we are familiar with each other''sbat style enough, so it''s better." "What about the Radiant Grimlord Set I am wearing?" Kira asked. "It has 5 days of duration, so I can keep using it, but how much do I pay?" "Pay me the same as a high-tier Epic-rank set''s price," Almond smiled. "I''ll increase its duration to 100 dayster." "Nice! But of course, I''llmission another setter of a water-attribute," Kira grinned. "I''ll craft a set for everyone, but just know that their price will be higher." "I''ll pay it, no matter the price," Xavier said with a firm nod. "Same," Amir said with a grin. The others also nodded. "Now, let''s continue with the reward opening," Almond said as he conjured a dice. "For this Heroic Floor Boss ying chest, we''ll roll the dice." He conjured a big, unique hexagonal dice with 20 small triangle surfaces all over it and also conjured a mana board to roll the dice on instead of doing it on the ground. "This is a unique dice with 20 sides. We''ll roll it on this board. The one who rolls the highest number wins. Let''s start," Almond said and started with his turn. Chapter 160 Rewards (2/2), Plans In the end, Talia was the only one who rolled 20 right after Natalia rolled 19. "Tsk. But this is only a matter of time," Natalia hurrumped. "Sure, but this one''s mine," Talia grinned and opened the chest as a bunch of orbs spewed out containing different items, along with a hologram containing the list of rewards. ¡ª 500 Million gold coins. ¡ª 1 x Legendary-rank Gear Set (Low-tier) ¡ª 1 x Legendary-rank one-time use item (low-tier) ¡ª 1 x Epic-rank Gear set (High-tier) ¡ª 2 x Epic-rank one-time use item (high-tier) ¡ª 1 x Random Artifact Box (Tier-2) ¡ª 1 x SS-rank Mystery Box. ¡ª 10 x Insight Stones. "Holy crap!" "We are getting a legendary-rank set already?!" "I don''t think anyone has a freaking Legendary set even outside!" Everyone was shocked and pleasantly surprised as they read the list of items. "Putting aside other things, let me distribute the Insight Stones," Almond said as he waved his hand and grabbed the orb containing ten Insight Stones. "These stones are good, but their benefits depend on the user," Almond said as he made the ten stones float in the air. "Inspect them." [Insight Stone] -Rank: Special. -Effect: Infusing the Mana in the stone will send the user''s consciousness into a mysterious dimension with a specific phenomenon. If the user manages to get an insight into that phenomenon, they may benefit greatly. "So this is not anything that guarantees a benefit, huh? Interesting," Kira muttered as she read the effect. "You have five more from the chest you opened in front of everyone if I remember correctly," Eliara said. "Yeah," Almond nodded. "That makes a total of 15 stones, so I''ll give one to each of you. And I have a suggestion, which I''m not sure if it will work, but there''s no harm in trying it. When using this stone, think of something rted to what you want to improve or just imagine something you desire regarding power, skill, or technique. Who knows, the stone might create a phenomenon rted to that?" "Woah, that''s an interesting idea. I will try it," Ka said with shining eyes. "I really want to learn Flora elemental mastery since it''s suitable with my primary ss." "Yep," Xavier nodded. "That sounds good." Everyone was already thinking about what they wanted to do with the stone as Almond handed out the Insight stones. "Alright, now moving on, let''s open other random boxes," Almond said as he grabbed the orbs containing the SS-rank Mystery Box and Random Artifact box. Everyone rolled the dice again to decide who would open it. Natalia won the unboxing of Mystery Box, while Ka won the unboxing of Random Artifact. The Mystery Box gave an SSS-rank Skill Learning Chance stone, a one-time-use item. [Skill Learning Chance Stone] -Rank: SSS -Effect: Infusing the Mana in the stone will send the user''s mind into a phenomenon that disys a random SSS-rank skill for 10 hours. "A chance indeed. I''m going to keep this stone," Almond said as he put it inside his storage ring. Next, Ka opened the Random Artifact box, and it spewed out a dark green feather with fiery orange patterns. [Dark Renegade Phoenix Feather] -Type: Artifact. -Tier: 2 -Use: one-time use. -Effect: This feather can be used on a dead body, intact or in pieces, to revive the fallen under some conditions. ¡ª> 1. If the feather is used on the fallen who had died for more than 24 hours, it will revive the fallen only temporarily for 24 hours and also boost the fallen''s overall stats by 50% for the duration. ¡ª> 2. If the feather is used on the fallen who had died for less than 24 hours, it will make aplete revival of the fallen, giving them life once more and also boost their overall stats by 50% for 1 hour. "This is amazing," Lily''s eyes glinted. "Yeah," Almond nodded. "That''s freaking broken!" Marcus shouted. "A revival item¡­" Kira blinked. "It''s said that the Patel family has a lotus who can do the same, which is why they retreated to a secret location nobody knows since they''ve been attacked a few times by underworld forces who covet their artifact." "I heard it wasn''t just the underworld, but some a few other renowned families too who helped them in the dark," Talia''s eyes glinted. "Well, it''s just a talk, nobody knows for sure because of no evidence." "Ahem," Lily coughed loudly as everyone looked at her, and her smile that looked icy, "I''m sure everyone understands how secret works. The information about this artifact better not go into the ears of anyone not present here." "That''s right," Almond narrowed his eyes. "If that happened, I''d be very disappointed." Everyone couldn''t help but wryly smile. Almond had already checked everyone''s important attributes with his Riftveil Eyes periodically before they entered this area, so he knew that they weren''t such types, but people''s desires and thinking could change based on circumstances, though he believed none of the people present here were foolish enough to disregard him. He had shown plenty of his power and potential, enough for them to understand that following him was the greatest benefit and opportunity they could ever have. "I''ll be keeping the Legendary and Epic set, and also the one-time use items. I will distribute them when we meet at the 5th Floor''s floor boss area, but until then, we all don''t need any extra power to explore the 5th Floor. It would just reduce the difficulty and make you reliant on them, which would hamper your real progress instead." "True," Maya nodded, her eyes determined, "In fact, I don''t want any items, even the ones I have right now." She took out the Oathbound Gauntlets and gave them to Almond, "I''ll explore the 5th floor with nothing but my skills andbat ability." Seeing her, everyone decided to do the same because it was true. If they wanted to get better and perform better in the next Heroic Challenge, they better improve their overallbat ability and their own skills. "That''s very good," Almond smiled as he took all the items. "Now, I''ll open the party chest that we for taking the first rank in the 4th floor Grimworld leaderboard. It will give each of you some kind of reward into temporary storage, which you can ess in your status with a new tab." "There''s something like that too?" Talia was dumbfounded. "Damn, we are getting so much riches with Heroic Challenge."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Hehe, that''s why it''s better to follow Almond," Natalia cheekily said. "Low effort, high reward." "And a high chance of death," Lily added with a smile. Everyone weakly smiled. Almond proceeded to open the Party chest as everyone heard a notification. [Congrattions. Each member of the party has received a supreme quality assortment of potions and 1 x Advanced Skill Scroll.] "This scroll again! Let''s fucking go!" Marcus was excited, but rightfully so. "It''s so good, I wish we could use it right away," Natalia pouted. "But we can''t. Sad." "True," Maya said while smiling. "But I don''t mind. I''ll use my two scrolls once we exit." "What''s so special about this scroll?" Noah curiously muttered as he inspected the scroll. The others also did the same after taking out the scroll from their temporary storage. [Advanced Skill Scroll] -Rank: Special. -Effect: ¡ª> Upon opening the scroll, a random growth-type skill is generated on it. It could either be an Active skill or a Passive skill. ¡ª> To learn the skill, the user must infuse Mana into the scroll, which would send the consciousness inside in a special dimensional andplete the training tailored to learn the skill. ¡ª> The skill''s starting rank will be determined based on the training result. Reading the effect, everyone was dumbfounded as well as excited. "Or hold on, how about I use it right now?" Marcus said as he looked at Almond as if asking for his advice. "The five of us, two each, and I am willing to use one to see how long the trainingsts. You are going to rest here for seven or eight, anyway, right?" "I am, but I''m leaving you behind after I wake up if you aren''t done by then," Almond said with a heartless smile. "I''m not wasting time needlessly." "Fair enough," Marcus nodded with a firm expression. "I don''t mind, and so I am going to start right away." Marcus walked a few meters away and sat down cross-legged. "Well, thanks for bing our experimental pig," Natalia snickered. Marcus''s lips twitched, but he didn''t respond and used the scroll right away as his consciousness drifted away. Almond chuckled and said, "Sylvia, transform into the Mother of Nature Tree. Might as well give him a boost since he is using the scroll." "Yes, master," Sylvia smiled. "Alright, I''ve decided!" Amir said as he thumped his chest. "I''ll join brother Marcus. Even if you are gone by then, we''ll enter the 5th Floor together with an awesome skill in our arsenal." "That''s not a bad idea," Almond nodded. "I will start Heroic Boss Challenge 1 one hour before 1st cycle''s end, which means¡­.we have thirty-five hours until I start." "Almond," Xavier said as he frowned, "What if a party started a boss fight before that?" Almond almost forgot about that as he wryly smiled, "That''s true, we have to do something about it." "Indeed," Lily agreed as she nced at others. "I say a few of you can leave shortly after recovering here and grab one of the items required for floor boss spawning. We only need to keep one to prevent others from spawning the floor boss." "I''m going to rest for a couple of hours first," Almond said as he turned around and waved his hand, "You all make food and decide who will go after eating." Chapter 161 Entering the 5th Floor, Frontliners Raid Party As Almond fell asleep, he dreamed more of his memories that returned since he cleared the 4th floor after defeating the Heroic Challenge boss. As he woke up two hourster, Almond had a clear memory of his past life up to the 10th Floor. He sorted the memories and first took note of important challenge spots and secret locations on the 5th floor. ''I''ll sleep again after eating.'' Almond was hungry. He left the tent and saw that everyone was resting after eating under the big tree that Sylvia had be. Lily and a few others were in meditative rest sitting cross-legged while others were sleeping normally resting at the tree''s trunk. Lily woke up as she sensed something and opened her eyes. "Do you want to eat? The food is ready. I''ll heat it up." "Yeah, thanks." Almond sat down near the bonfire, and Lily got up and began heating the food over the fire. "Did you decide which ones are going to get a floor boss spawning item?" "Yeah. Xavier, Talia, and Noah. These three will go ahead and get the item." "I''ll send Galvaren with them just in case to make sure the item''s not lost in any way." "Good idea." ¡­ After Almond finished eating, he wore the Radiant Grimlord set since it had wings and flew into the portal from which everyone entered, returning to the 4th Floor. He returned shortly after killing a small group of me-tailed zing Monkeys, getting a total of 12 Spirits. He sacrificed eight spirits to respawn his spirit wraiths, and when he returned, Xavier, Ka, Talia, and Noah had also woken up, having had enough rest. They went into the portal leading to the 5th floor with Galvaren, beginning their journey. After he told Natalia to take a Spirit Wraith with them once their parties were formed, he went back to sleep. Lily also joined him for cuddling and sweet dreams as she also wanted to sleep properly. The duo was going to leave together on the 5th floor since their party was fixed. As for others, they started leaving a few hourster after making up their parties. Party 1 that left early: Xavier, Talia, Noah, and Galvaren. Party 2: Ka, Maya, Jemma, and Chimera Frank. Party 3: Natalia, Kira, Eliara, and Starlight Beast. Those two parties picked the Spirit Wraith wisely as they could ride on those beast-like spirits, making their traveling faster across the Labyrinth floor. Marcus and Amir were still in skill training as they had used their Advanced Skill Scroll. Time passed as seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours¡­ Almond and Lily slept for six hours before waking up. Almond and Lily freshened up and packed up the Magic Tent, preparing to leave. The time remaining to reach the 5th Floor''s floor boss area was 26 hours. "Sylvia, apany these two on the 5th Floor once they wake up." The big tree lightly swayed as Sylvia''s voice rang out, "Understood, Master. See youter." "See youter," Almond smiled. ¡­ On the one hand, Almond and Lily began their journey into the 5th floor, and on the other hand, the frontline adventurers were prepared and ready to enter the 10th Floor to defeat the floor boss. The lineup this time was the most powerful ever. Rudra Deva ¡ª The Strongest. Silvester Duncan ¡ª Master in swords, broad swords. Hiroshi Ryugiri ¡ª Master in swords, Katana. Arjun Maheshwari ¡ª Master of me and Light, most potent and fastest firepower. Theo Gabris ¡ª Long-range multi-elementalbat style. Paloma Vasquez ¡ª Beast Tamer, Strongest Druid. James Smith ¡ª Master cksmith with the most potent magitech-based energy weapons. Liang Zhou ¡ª Kung Fu-based Techniques, all-rounder. Viktor Volkov ¡ª Highest brute strength Axe warrior and ice master. Bianca Moretti ¡ª Master Assassin, long & short range both. Zauna Okoro ¡ª Master Sorcerer of debuff and control. Dn Makana ¡ª Volcanic Master, Terrain shifter. Christina Lafayette ¡ª Master supporter, healing, and buffing. Rafael Chavez ¡ª Poison Master, strategic warfare. Aamir Khalid ¡ª Sand and Wind Master, all-rounder spear master. Annika Von Richter ¡ª Highest research in mecha-based Magitech, masterbatant.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Shiro-sen Shimazu ¡ª Master Mage of Curse-based skills and highest ocr power. Aarav Patel ¡ª Strongest defense and barriers. Only these eighteen people had reached level 150 in tinum rank, all of them were old monsters. There were other notable figures from other prestigious families, among which was Alexander Graves, the master gunslinger and military tactician, who was Talia''s father, the head of the Graves family. Ioan Reben, the master hand-based and Earth elementalbatant. He was Adrian''s father, the head of the Reben family. There were other family heads of influential and strong families who had reached a high level in tinum rank, but none had reached level 150 yet since leveling took longer as one''s level increased. Aside from them, the guild leaders of top guilds and other top-ranking adventurers who had reached high levels in tinum rank had joined the raid party. All in all, a total of 107 people who were top of the top, the most powerful ones, were ready to risk their lives against the 10th Floor''s Floor Boss. Potions, one-time-use items, Lots of Epic-rank weapons, armors, essories, 16 Legendary items, and 7 ancient artifacts. The big raid party entered the Labyrinth Gate at the GAA headquarters and entered the 10th Floor, which had undergone a huge change temporarily due to the Floor Boss''s appearance. "We are the furthest from the Floor Boss currently, but with its size and speed, we have roughly ten minutes to fifteen minutes before we are forced into the battle," Rudra shouted as he flew up using the Hermes'' Winged Sandals and faced the big group. "Remember, if we lose, our loved ones outside will have no chance of survival! This is ourst stand!" As Rudra gave his speech to boost the morale, the Floor Boss far away stirred into action. It was 100 meters tall, semi-humanoid with draconic scales and wings. It had a beastly wyvern head and four draconic wings. Two of those wings were de-like ones working as high-speed shers. It had gray and shining dark blue colored scales, its dragon head menacing with hazy crimson eyes. The boss released a sound from its mouth that was a mix of roaring and screeching as it took off to the skies and flew toward the raid party. Chapter 162 Raid Battle, Hollowstar Emissary *Scraaaaaaaaa!* The raid party heard the loud, jarring sound and turned in its direction as they watched the massive floor boss flying at them.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om [Dreadnaught Wyvern Warrior]¡ªFloor Boss. -Rank: Special. -Stats: -Vitality: [100% / 100%] -Mana: [500,000 / 500,000] -Stats: ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 3500 | Health: 50,000 | Stamina: 50,000] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 50,000 | Focus: 3000 | Perception: 2500] The wyvern warrior dived towards the group, intending to just m into them as the scales all over its body glowed. The old monsters immediately used their skills! A bunch of debuffs, control skills, and a huge shield-shaped projectile conjured over the party by Aarav Patel, along with a bunch of other shields from other Adventurers. *BOOOM!* Just as the boss mmed into the barrier and was stopped, Rudra, Silvester, and Hiroshi attacked. Rudra''s fist glittered with dimensional blue color, his mana techniques of the highest realm as the cracked aura around fists blurred and fissured the surrounding space. Rudra shot like a rocket with the Hermes'' Winged Sandles and punched the boss monster''s head, mming it away while Silvester and Hiroshi unleashed their de shes. Viktor Volkov''s axe struck the boss''s right-wing, freezing it while Aamir Khalid unleashed a spear assault of synergized Sand and Wind technique on its left wing. This close-range assault shaved away a total of 7% of the vitality of the boss. Rudra''s fist showed real stars to the boss, boosted by buffs on the debuffed boss as the Wyvern Warrior was mmed on the ground. Taking that chance, the long-range attackers unleashed entirely of their Mana into their strongest skills while the close-range attackers distanced themselves lest they get caught in the bombardment. James Smith conjured a giant sma cannon as it beamed at the monster. Bianca Morreti, who was floating with a pitch-ck sniper rifle, aimed her shot at the Boss''s head. Liang Zhou conjured a wingless lightning dragon that unleashed its fury. Theo Gabris conjured a meteorite made of multiple elements for an explosive impact and st. Rafael Chaves conjured a magical snake, poisoning the boss. Annika Von Richter released all attack modes of her Mech, such as explosions of bombs and missiles. The others also unleashed their attacks, but the strongest attack belonged to the one wielding the pure offensive, the strongest ancient artifact used by the master of Light and Fire. Arjun Maheshvari pulled the bowstring of his ancient artifact, the Surya Astra Bow, unleashing a destructive, fiery arrow that alone dealt enough damage to shave away 9% of the boss'' vitality. *Roar!!!* The Wyvern Warrior roared loudly as it jumped up, recovering from all the debuff and using its own skills as it flew up and spun while positioning its wings. The defense masters immediately conjured shields against them, but this time they weren''t enough against this powerful assault. More debuffs and, this time, control skills were unleashed to stop the boss while Rudra and others quickly tried to defend themselves since they were closest to the attack. All of them were moderately injured despite having Legendary gears and the boss being debuffed again. The healers, led by Christina Lafayette, quickly yed their role to heal the injured. The Wyvern Warrior abruptly stopped spinning and showed insane speed as it maneuvered in the sky and attacked Arjun, targetting him for the infernal burning damage it was dealt that reduced its healing power. Shiro-sen and a few others from guilds were on the lookout for additional troubles, and they did spot them¡ªThe rats! Shiro-sen had very powerful ocr skills, allowing him to see everything clearly and spot hidden energy flows. Liam and a few other guild leaders were informed by Shiro-sen. Dn Makana, the old monster, made his move to block these rats as he changed the surrounding terrains when Shiro-sen shared with him the location of the rats. A total of 22 rats. All of them were blocked by spiking walls and pitfalls filled with Magma before they could approach the raid party. Liam and other guild masters made their moves after that, doubling down on the rats. Meanwhile, Rudra and other old monsters were managing to contend against the Floor Boss thanks to the artifacts and Legendary items they had farmed by going into the S-grade dungeons. ''Keep it up! The Floor Boss has entered its Second Phase now, but we just need one round of bombardment!'' Rudra ryed to the people with his advanced Magic Whisper, his thoughts entering into everyone''s head. ''Buff Arjun and James fully! Bianca, Aria, and the other defense reducersunch your prative darkness attacks after we m down the boss again!'' ''We will finish off this fast! No one must die!'' Everyone roared and fought with their all! But nobody knew that a pair of mysterious eyes was observing everything from afar. ''Useless rats. They are subdued even before doing anything. But these eighteen people are quite powerful. Their mastery of mana in their respective areas is heightened, allowing them to wield powerful skills with wless modifications done to them.'' ''With how things are going, they will defeat this boss, especially because these useless rats failed in their task.'' The pair of dreamy dark violet eyes showed a hint of annoyance. ''It appears that I''ll have to send some of my soldiers to this world physically and have them lead these rats. Useless as they are, they are the only ones on the side of Hollowstar here.'' ''But this battle must not end with zero losses...'' The pair of eyes flickered briefly, affecting one of the rats. All the rats have gotten a mark of Hollowstar, which granted them 10% bonus stats and allowed them to wield a unique power of Hollowstar, but it was actually a way for this emissary to control them and, if needed, use them. Darius Vresvekov, one of the most brutal criminals pre-world break, produced drugs and firearms, distributing them to small countries. He was buried in the magma with earth covering him, like other rats, as all they could do was defend themselves because Dn and Shiro-sen were pressuring them with a few others, preventing them from breaking out. But Darius suddenly felt an intense headache, on the verge of losing his control. However, his mind went nk in the next second as his entire body''s outer texture was painted pitch-ck. Glowing gray star-like spots appeared all over his body along with two horns on his head. His body size increased by twice as he burst out of the ground, screeching jarringly like a monster! Chapter 163 Intense Battle! *BOOOM!* The strange humanoid monster that Darius turned into suddenly raised both of his hands, gathering a flickering ck energy that turned into an orb with sparkling gray spots. Shiro-sen had informed others that one of the rats charged out and shared his vision, so Liam and the others quickly made their moves. Old monster Dn kept control of his terrain shifting, keeping the other rats at bay while also helping as magma pythons shot out from the hole Darius crawled out from, wrapping around him. However, the pythons had no effect on Darius! ''Careful! Don''t get close!'' Dn quickly ryed this to Liam and others about what he sensed through the reaction from his Pythons. ''His life force and energy arepletely vtile! He could self-destruct and take you with him!'' ''Attack the orb he is gathering!'' Shiro-sen ryed as he sensed upsetting power from that orb. ''We need more defense.'' He nced at the other battlefield where Rudra and others were fighting against the phase 2 monster. The healers were constantly healing the frontline fighters while long-range attackers were attacking, but the Wyvern Warrior was faster, and some projectiles couldn''t even hit it. It was hard to m it down, but Rudra and other fighters on the frontline were giving their all to m the boss in the intense shes. ''Rudra, if you can make sure that the Wyvern doesn''t use arge area attack, I will use the Yata no Kagami because there''s one strange rat here who is a big threat to the backliners.'' Rudra was fully focused, and hearing Shiro-sen''s words, he simply replied, ''Do what must be done!'' On the other hand, Liam and others hurled their long-range skills after hearing a warning from Dn, but all of their attacks couldn''t budge the strange humanoid ck monster that Darius had be. The orb Darius was gathering became bigger and bigger as it absorbed the iing attacks and attacks thatnded on his body. "Damn it! Why are our attacks not working?" Liam cursed. "What the fuck is that even?" "What do we do, Elder Shiro? Found any weakness?" Shiro-sen gritted his teeth, his eyes straining and glowing more as he pushed the nature of his skill to discover something more from that rat than what he was already seeing. ''What is that power?! There has to be a weakness!'' The entire body of Darius and that orb he was making both looked the same. Same appearance, same texture, and same energy. ''What if the mirror also fails to block it?'' Shiro-sen had a weird feeling as he thought and immediatly shifted his mindset, changing the strategy. ''If stopping him doesn''t work, then we''ll send him away from here!'' Shiro-sen''s eyes glinted. He quickly told Liam and others to focus on other rats since they were going to be released, while he told Dn to cover Darius in a chunk of earth and hurl him as far as possible. Without hesitation, Dn released his control of the terrain he had shifted and, instead, shifted the ground around Darius and manipted it to cover Dariuspletely into a sphere. Roaring loudly, Dn hurled the sphere into an arc with his full power, intending to send it as far as possible. And this was the best way to deal with this threat because Darius wasn''t conscious. He was justmanded and forcefully in a bind with his mind corrupted. The Emissary who was watching clicked his tongue as he saw the earthen sphere hurling away. If he was in Darius'' control, he would''ve actively forced Darius to hurl the attack prematurely, but unfortunately, he couldn''t interfere that much. The mark only corrupted the individual to work on a destructive impulse with a linear process selected by the individual himself, using the Hollowstar''s power as the entire person and its energy would transform into Hollowstar essence like how Darius turned pitch ck with gray sparks all over. Fortunately, Shiro-sen''s quick-witted shift in tactics saved the use of Yata no Kagami because he judged that Darius, who had turned into a strange monster, wasn''t capable of reasoning or sound actions based on what he sensed. Liam and others became busy as they fought with other rats, preventing getting close while old monster Dn chugged potions as he went back to capturing the rats again. On the other hand, Wyvern Warrior reached below 30% of its vitality, and all of the debuffs on it cleansed with its power again as it soared into the sky at a breakneck speed after unleashing a ck gust of whirling wind that hurled away Rudra, Silvester, Hiroshi, Viktor, Rafael, Aamir, and Liang. These seven old monsters were fighting in close range to keep the boss upied so far, but the ck gust of wind threw them away. Rudra recovered with quickest and made a move. If he didn''t, things could get very ugly. A dimensional blue avatar rose from him as he roared, and giant energy hands grabbed the Wyvern Warrior that had turned into a sharp drill. Arjun timely unleashed another powerful arrow while James unleashed a photon beam after chugging potions. Only these two could unleash pin-point long-range attacks without hurting Rudra, so their attacks managed to disrupt the drill. Rudra received a powerful shock and injuries as he spewed out blood, having been forced to entirely bear the burden of that attack. But only he could do that. ''Rudra, go and recover fast!'' Aamir said. ''We''ll destroy that bastard''s wings now!'' Victory roared. Silvester and Hiroshi were first to sh their des, with veins popping all over their body as the attacks of Arjun and James had disrupted Wyvern Warrior by breaking it from its drilling form. It was momentarily disjointed, so both swordsmen targetted a flying-wing each, intending to cut it. And to make that sessful, the others prevented the boss from recovering. Victor''s giant icy axe with blood patterns all overnded on its left de-wing while Aamir''s spear unleashed a vertical sparkling tornado of condensed sand and wind to the right de-wing. All four wings of Wyvern Warrior were struck, but it wasn''t over. Rafael, who was using multiple weapons that were enchanted by his powerful poisons, entirely emptied his arsenal of attacks because it was time. *Screeeeeeee!* Wyvern Warrior roared as all of its wings received massive destruction, its scales getting destroyed with various attacks. Christina focused on healing Rudra while other supports also did the same, as well as buffing the frontlines to enhance their attacks. Meanwhile, the rest of the attackers, led by old monsters Bianca, Annika, and Theo, unleashed their attacks right on the Wyvern Warrior''s chest and head that were exposed.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Zauna used her cursed Shamanic staff artifact to ce a curse that increased pain and damage received on the Wyvern, while others who had powerful debuff and control skills also doubled down. This was thest bombardment of attacks to finish off the boss! Arjun and James once again unleashed their attacks after recovering their Mana with potions, their eyes already bloodshot with all the exertion of power. *Roarrr!!* Wyvern Warrior roared as its wings were riddled with holes and cuts, its vitality rapidly reducing. But it stopped at 1%, and then its vitality reached 2% as it began recovering. "No, not anymore!" Rudra jumped as the earth cracked, fist glittering with a ssy aura cracking the space. The blue-transparent destructive fistnded right on the Wyvern Warrior''s head! *BOOOM!* Chapter 164 5th Floor, Telling Lily 5th Floor¡ªMaximum level: Gold level 50. The 5th Floor was a multi-biome floor, and the main enemies were the tribes of powerful humanoid-type monsters ruling the four core areas. Each of these areas also held the special item required for the floor boss spawning. zing Leon Tribe: Ruling over the molten canyons and ashden deserts, these leonine beasts boasted manes of living me and guarded their territory fiercely. Frosthart Cyclopes: Dwelling in the cial expanse of jagged ice cliffs, these single-eyed giants wielded colossal clubs infused with frost magic. Tough and strong. Tempestcall Tengus: Dwelling in the cial expanse of ice cliffs in the storm-swept peaks, these savage Tenjus nested among dangerous spires of rocks. Their forces of gale winds and crackling lightning made them formidable as they possessed relentless offense. Verdantfang Minotaurs: Deep within mist-shrouded jungles, hulking, horned warriors prowl amidst ancient ruins overgrown by vines. Their druidic bond with the earth grants them incredible physical might and regenerative abilities. These four areas were core territories, thergest ones on this floor as each one stretched 300 kilometers in area and upied four sides as they bordered each other with the floor boss area in the center, but that was not all. To reach any one of those four territories, Adventurers had to go through different outer areas stretching 100 kilometers on all sides. The secret areas and challenges were in those four areas, so Almond and Lily rushed through the outer area. They were riding on Argamon, the infernal equine of Ashkar, while Ashkar was in the spirit pocket. They shortly arrived at their first area¡ªthe ruins of Nexite city. It sprawled with monsters called Nexite Vermins, who had mixed attributes of darkness and earth. The duo rushed past it while killing monsters. Almond gained the stats by absorbing all four types of Nexite Vermins'' spirits. They killed over fifty monsters each while rushing through, so Almond gained roughly a hundred spirit items in the production. He was also going to put 100 spirits in Spirit Nuke slots, but not the spirits of Nexite Vermins. For that, he nned to add the spirits of more powerful monsters to make the nuke more powerful. The duo continued on the horse, rushing through a forest filled with different monsters and a hill area over the next three hours as they crossed 100 kilometers.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om They killed hundreds of monsters, and Almond''s stats also went over 150 each, though the duo''s levels hadn''t maxed out to the limit of this floor yet since monsters above Gold level 40 only started in the core territories. When they were less than 10 kilometers from entering the Tempestcall Tengus'' territory, Almond''s eyes glinted as he slowed down. They entered a small, strange forest area with charred ck trees with glowing red patterns as if blood. ''This is the area¡­it should be just a bit ahead now,'' Almond thought as he felt familiarity. From his recently gained memories, there was a special challenge in a secret area somewhere here that could benefit them greatly. And Almond also took this chance toe clean, even if he felt a bit nervous about it. "Lily, there''s a secret area right before we enter the territory of Tempestcall Tengus, and there''s a special challenge there. If we seed, we can earn something that''d give us a good boost." "Oh? What is that?" Lily blinked as she turned around on the horse and faced Almond, putting her arms around his neck while smiling. Almond put his arms around her waist, his expression in, but his eyes hinting wryness, "That one is not a repeatable challenge like most others." Without stopping, he added, "And I don''t know if anyone has managed to find that area or not yet." "But I know exactly where that area is." Lily''s eyes fluttered as she blinked a few times, "So¡­darling, I feel you said all that just so I can ask you, how do you know about that area?" Something clicked in her, and she added, "Is this about the lie you told me and said that you would tell me the secretter?" "Yes," Almond''s in expression broke into a dry smile as he nodded. Lily''s eyes sparkled in curiosity, "So, how do you know about that area?" "Because¡­I have memories of it. I have memories of a party that found that secret area and disclosed its details to me." A hint of confusion appeared in Lily''s eyes, "But you just said you don''t know if anyone has found that area or not." "Yes," Almond coughed. "At least, I don''t know if that happened in this world yet." Lily''s eyes momentarily stilled as if she was confirming whether the words she heard were correct before speaking, "This world? Wait¡­this world?" Almond nodded, his expression turning serious. "Yes. I''ve been gaining memories of my past life each time I clear a floor. So far, the floors have been the same as they were in my past life, and I have memories of up to the 10th floor clearly, and some other information." "Wha¡­really?" Lily asked, but then she remembered something, and her eyes glinted. "No wonder¡­no wonder you behaved strangely when you held the sword first and how you were getting better faster with it. It''s rted, right?" "Yep," Almond wryly chuckled. "I was a very good swordsman in my past life, and I improved and got strong fast, reaching the 30th Floor. I don''t know about my journey as I haven''t regained all memories, but I know something terrible happened that destroyed my world, and I was thest one standing after I somehow defeated the 30th Floor boss." "It''s all hazy except for the memories I gained so far. Oh yeah, the Heroic Challenge is new. I haven''t heard about it in my past life from the memories I gained so far." "That is¡­" Lily''s dreamy dark blue eyes glittered. "Amazing! That means you have a big advantage in terms of information and other stuff! That''s awesome, darling!" "Well, yeah," Almond smiled. "I wanted to tell you this, and I felt this was a good chance." Lily suddenly nted her lips on him before grinning and saying, "Well then, thank you for telling me this sooner rather thanter. Now, my darling, we shall take full advantage of your advantage, haha. Tell me about the secret area we are headed to at the moment. What''s the juicy reward to get from there?" Chapter 165 Secret Challenge Area Almond told Lily about the secret area''s rewards as the duo continued, with Almond leading Argamon in the direction of the secret area. "You said you reached the 30th floor fast, right? How old were you?" Lily curiously asked. "Twenty-fourplete when I reached there, I think. But I''d need more memories to confirm." "Cool," Lily smiled.N?v(el)B\\jnn "Would you have felt weird if I was an old man?" Almond asked with a chuckle. "I''d have felt a bit weird briefly, but that wouldn''t have changed anything about our current status, my daarling~" Lily smiled and kissed him. ¡­ They arrived near the end of this forest soon and saw an Icy Mountain''s base, which marked the beginning of Tempestcall Tengu''s area. The secret area was buried in the snow and hard to detect unless one dug through it. But there was a hint there on the icy stones in the surroundings. There were no monsters here, so there was no chance of fighting, but the party that was friends with Almond''s party had a conflict with another party and mistakenly destroyed a particr icy stone. Upon its destruction, that hidden passage deep within the snow was revealed. This escted the conflict, and it resulted in the annihtion of the enemy party, while four out of six members of the party that belonged to Almond''s friend also died. That friend had told Almond about it, and then those two survivors joined Almond''s party and entered this area. Almond told the entire story about how this was discovered to Lily. "So where''s that stone? You haven''t seen it, so we have to destroy all the stones here, right?" Lily asked as he looked at the icy stones at the base. "Yeah, the passage was here, so let''s destroy the icy stones here." The duo began destroying the stones, and in just a few minutes, they triggered the secret passage''s opening. The cave entrance appeared at the mountain''s base. Before entering, Almond summoned Infernal Knight, Dark Pope, Nyssara, and Viperfiend. "Once we enter, close this entrance with snow and you all explore this forest in the west and east directions, kill monsters, and level up. When you reach Gold level 40, wait here for us." "Understood, my lord. Good luck in your journey." ¡­ Lily and Almond entered the cavern, with Lily appearing a bit thrilled. "We''ll be doing our first challenge," Lily smiled. "We''ve skipped all repeatable challenges on other floors and rushed, but I guess you want to do them now." "Yep. The challenges from the 2nd floor to the 4th floor aren''t much, but from the 5th floor onwards, some challenges give interesting rewards. Of course, we''ll only aim for the one-time challenges. Repeatable challenges aren''t worth it unless we are talking about the ones that appear on the 9th floor and onward. They give stat-boosting fruits." "Haha, I am excited since you have all the information up to the 10th Floor now and will get more info after you clear more floors," Lily said with a giddy grin. Repeatable challenges didn''t mean that one person could do it multiple times. It means that even if one party or personpleted it, it would stay open for other people toplete and get rewards. However, one-time challenges were different. Once a party or a person cleared it, it would disappear. However, their difficulty was also high, and it often forced some conditions onto the challengers. But their rewards were super extraordinary and mystical, more often than not, they were not physical rewards but mystical stuff. The one Almond and Lily entered gave a reward called Synthesis Forge of Eternal Power. They couldn''t take it with them, but this forge would appear there, and both of them could use it one time each¡­for something wonderful. As Almond and Lily entered the cavern and walked thirty meters into the passage that curved after fifteen meters, they arrived inside a cavern with icicle stctites on the ceiling thirty meters high. At the center of this cavern was a solid stone circr tform with entric patterns carved over it. As the duo arrived there and stood on the tform, a magical window with a misty orange-ck aura appeared in front of them, disying texts. [Here lies the challenge of Delfer Tol'' Zemek, the master of weapon arts.] -Requirement: Gold-rank. -Task: Defeat Delfer Tol'' Zemek''s Avatar. -Applied Conditions: ¡ª> All ss skills will be sealed. ¡ª> Your skills that can be released through your weapons or enchanting the weapon will work, but the other skills will be sealed. ¡ª> Equipment and items are prohibited. But you can choose a weapon from the challenge. ¡ª> The difficulty will go up depending on the number of party members. -Reward(s): ¡ª> One use of Synthesis Forge of Eternal Power to each party member. Almond''s eyes trembled as the brutal memories of this challenge surfaced in his mind, his heartbeat racing. Lily sensed it and grabbed his hand, and she managed to understand why he felt that way as well after reading the third applied condition. "The eight of us entered here in my past life¡­" Almond muttered as he had calmed down and sighed. "And only I left this cave alive. It was also then that I decided that I wouldn''t team up with anyone and trained like a maniac alone, getting stronger on my own. I only maintained rtions with seniors to learn and get stronger." "I will not leave you alone," Lily looked at him with resolve, her grip on his hand tightening. "That will never happen." Almond gently smiled and nodded, "I believe you. I believe in your talent and potential." "And I''ll make sure that your trust in me is not in vain," Lily said, her eyes zing with maddening resolve, "I will keep up with you even if that means I have to go through hells and purgatories." Almond felt his heart aze at her words as he grinned and couldn''t hold himself from kissing her passionately. Both of them were drowned in the fiery passion of promise until they ran out of breath a few minutester. "Let''s start the challenge now," Almond said as he took a deep breath. "But darling, you lit a fire in me with that kissing session that will require you to douse it¡­" Lily said as she licked her lips, her right hand sliding down as it touched Almond''s crotch area, "Look, you''re also stiff¡­" Without saying anything, Almond popped out Magic Tent from his storage ring and carried Lily inside. ¡­ Twenty minutester, the duo emerged in new adventurer clothes and began the challenge. Chapter 166 Delfer Tol Zemen, the Master of Weapon Arts [You have epted the challenge. Please select the weapon of your choice. You can also use verbalmands to design your weapon with the help of your Mana. The challenge will generate it for you.] Almond began to design a badass heavy sword: 7 inches thick at the base, tapering gradually till its point, and its de curved slightly. Lily, on the other hand, opted for a long-curved dagger, slick and sharp for precision and agility. Once the two hadpleted their designs, a notification prompted them to confirm their weapon designs. They approved, and soon their creations materialized before them. [Heavy ck Sword] -Rank: Special -Durability: ¡ª -Attack: 100% of the user''s Strength. Lily''s dagger featured some simr stats, as neither of these weapons possessed an extra attack or effect bonuses. [Now that you have acquired your weapon, the avatar of Delfer Tol'' Zemen will manifest in a minute. Please prepare yourselves.] After the notification, Almond turned to Lily, his tone serious. "Lily, this guy is a weapon master, and he is crazily good in overallbat. I''m sure that we won''t face much difficulty, but we can learn a lot from him. Let''s fight with that mindset." "Gotcha. But we will have to rely on our Mana techniques, right?" "Without a doubt. We will need to use every one of them to contend against him evenly and also have a slight advantage that would let us defeat him. Beheading him will end the fight, but don''t take my words literally. We will have to give the best of ourselves to win¡ªthis is pure martialbat with weapons, no fancy skills." Lily nodded, her expression somber, "Understood." With that, both of them began consuming Mana and used the Mana techniques so that they could recover most of their lost mana once Delfer''s avatar appeared. Strength Boost ¡ª 100 Mana, 1-minute duration. Almond''s Strength Boost stood at Stage 2 level 10, tripling his Strength, bringing it to 450. On the other hand, Lily''s Strength Boost had reached the same, but her Strength stood at 121 after assigning all the stat points she had gained so far and from the fruits she ate. Lily''s current stats were as follows: ?[Strength: 121 | Health: 113 | Stamina: 112] ?[Mana: 112 | Focus: 115 | Perception: 115] Almond''s Focus Field was at Stage 2 level 7, but it would offer little advantage since thebat area was small, and the function of Stage 2 Focus Field had no use here. Nheless, his heightened perception and reaction speed within the Focus Field was higher than Lily, who had Stage 2 level 2 Focus Field. But since Focus Field consumed Mana every second, they nned not to activate it right away. Fortification ¡ª 100 Mana, 1-minute duration. Almond''s Fortification was at Stage 2 level 9, boosting his overall physical toughness and magic resistance by 190%. It would form a transparent barrier sticking to his clothes, protecting him from a decent amount of damage. Lily''s Fortification was at Stage 2 level 3, increasing her overall toughness and resistance by 130%. Body Enfold¡ª100 Mana per minute. Almond''s Body Enfold was at Stage 2 level 7, which enhanced the overall stats and performance of his body by 170%. Lily''s Body Enfold was at Stage 2 level 1, granting her overall stats and body performance an increase of 110%. Weapon Enfold¡ª100 Mana per minute. Almond''s Weapon Enfold was at Stage 2, level 10, amplifying the damage done by his weapon by 200%. Lily''s Weapon Enfold was at Stage 2 level 4, increasing the damage dealt from her Weapon by 140%. But despite their preparations, the two were focused on synchronizing with their new weapons. They knew that it was crucial to master the connection before the countdown ended. They carefully scanned the weapon and memorized every detail of its structure. Only then could they properly activate Weapon Enfold on it. Their synchronizationpleted with just five seconds left on the countdown. The moment the challenge began and Delfer''s avatar materialized, both Almond and Lily stylized their Mana techniques, channeling their respective elements. Almond''s Fortification, Body Enfold, and Weapon Enfold shimmered with golden haze lightning, consuming an additional 150 Mana per minute. In addition to that, to amplify his power further, Almond used a skill¡ªVoltron Edge (S): a skill that infused a melee-type weapon with crackling lightning energy, increasing the damage dealt by the weapon significantly and imbibing lightning-attribute to all attacks released through the weapon. Lily mirrored his actions, channeling her Darkness element. However, unlike Almond, she didn''t have a skill like Voltron Edge to enhance her attacks further. On the other hand, Delfer''s avatar stood before them, resembling a middle-aged man with an obscure face, d in in light clothing and holding a spear. "Wait," Almond said, stopping Lily as she was about to take the initiative.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om [The challenge has started. Good luck.] Delfer''s avatar bowed, sping his fist before assuming a passive stance, his spear held steady as if inviting them to attack. "So, we get to make the first move, huh?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "Yep, but I doubt he will wait forever," Almond smiled, his legs slightly stretched, his sword gripped firmly in his right hand while his left hand remained empty but not useless. "You dive inter while I''ll make the first move. You have a dagger, so you are an assassin," Almond nced at her. "This is an opportunity for you to learn, so observe closely, look for an opening and strike when the opportunity presents itself." "Gotcha," Lily nodded. With that, Almond dashed forward like a gust of wind. His sword arched upward in a diagonal sh while letting his body flow as if he were going to use the momentum to spin after the sh. Delfer''s spear moved, but he didn''t use it to block Almond''s attack. Instead, he took a step back to get out of Almond''s sword''s range while his spear lurched forward, menacingly aiming for Almond''s heart. But Almond, intending to dance with his sword from the very beginning, had anticipated Delfer to dodge. His sword swung diagonally upward, and his body flowed along with it, spinning and dodging the spear while his left hand which was stretched straight and balled into a fist, went squarely to Delfer''s head, intending to punch him. Lily''s eyes literally sparkled as she couldn''t help but get captivated by the seamless flow of attack from Almond. To move along with a sword while coordinating was already tough, yet he was using a heavy sword to fuel momentum for his body and for his next move! It was indeed a marvelously beautiful experience to watch Almond fight with his sword. But when Delfer managed to squarely block that unexpected fist with his empty arm which appeared vertically at his face, it soon made Lily realize that this challenge was indeed going to be tough. Without hesitation, Delfer''s spear swung horizontally, intending to hit Almond''s waist. Almond, however, reacted instinctively after failing his fist attack and grabbed Delfer''s hand and used it as leverage to lift himself off the ground. With a sudden burst of strength, Almond flipped himself upside down, his body suspended right above Delfer. Delfer nced upward, his usually deadpan expression flickering with a faint smile stretching on his face. *Zaaap!* Golden electricity surged out of Almond, shocking Delfer. Yet, it failed to paralyze him¡ªDelfer was immune to all debuffs except for pure physical disability inflicted on him by the challengers. And all of that had happened in one full second. In the blink of an eye, Delfer retaliated by moving his arm the next moment and throwing Almond away. While Almondnded on his feet, Delfer dashed forward, his spear thrusting like a striking snake at breakneck speed. Almond reacted in time, his eyes glinting with focus as he met the attack with a powerful swing of his sword and speedily struck just below the spear''s de. *Crack!* The spear snapped. Seizing the moment, Lily''s eyes glinted as she darted forward like a shadow, her dagger slicing through the air, aiming to cut Delfer''s neck. Almond moved in tandem, using Sword Bending Motion, intending to swiftly cut Delfer cleanly. But Delfer was prepared. A dagger materialized in his left hand and a longsword in his right, both weapons deflecting Almond''s and Lily''s attack with chilling precision, before he kicked Lily away and redirected his focus on Almond. ''Be careful. He hasn''t used his Weapon Arts yet. Always go with the mindset that your attack will fail against him.'' ''Understood.'' Chapter 167 Thrilling Battle! Delfer''s dagger and longsword glimmered, translucent mana swirling around them. He stepped forward with eerie calm, shifting his weight in a seamless flow. Almond and Lily spread out, both keenly aware that this was only the beginning of a far more challenging duel. Delfer''s longsword swept out in a sideways arc, releasing a razor-sharp crescent of pale green energy. Almond raised his heavy sword, lightning crackling along its broad surface. Steel met mana in a thunderous sh, sparks flying off in all directions. The impact shook Almond''s shoulders as he felt a surge of strange shock from Delfer''s technique. Even with his Mana-infused body, blocking such a strike left his arms momentarily numb as the impact seemed to purposely spread onto his arms. Almond''s eyes glinted as he made sure to remember everything about that attack because that technique of dispersing Mana upon sh in that vibrating way to numb the target''s arms was awesome! If he was alone, he would''ve received a followed-up kick or attack, and he would''ve been forced to use his legs to kick and create distance, but there was Lily, who darted in from Delfer''s nk, her dark-tinged dagger aimed at the avatar''s ribs. Quick as a whip, Delfer pivoted. The dagger in his left hand ignited with crackling mana. He unleashed a stabbing thrust that morphed into a wide sh mid-motion. A swirl of ghostly shapes¡ªa lunging tiger''s w, faintly visible in the greenish aura¡ªripped across the air between him and Lily. Lily''s eyes widened. She twisted her torso just in time, the projected tiger w brushing past her with enough force to carve out a chunk of the floor. The shockwave rattled her stance. She skidded back, heart hammering. Weapon Art¡ªone of the categories of Combat Arts. It was to actively control Mana through their weapon, giving them shapes and formations to unleash devastating and flexible attacks. "Lily, keep weaving around him!" Almond barked, focusing on steadying his trembling arms. Lily nodded. Darkness flickered on her de as she rushed at Delfer again, feinting high and then cutting low. Almond used that diversion to dash from the other side. His sword thrummed with golden lightning, arcs dancing in rapid pulses. Delfer''s mouth quirked into the faintest smile. He flung his dagger overhead, swirling mana around the longsword. This time, the energy blossomed into a serpentine silhouette: a wingless dragon''s head formed from swirling emerald light. As he shed horizontally, the dragon''s jaws snapped open, releasing a ferocious roar that manifested as a shockwave of raw mana. A st of force erupted out in a conical arc, forcing both Almond and Lily to brace themselves. Almond nted his heavy sword on the ground, sparks of lightning zing around its surface to anchor him. Lily crouched low, dagger held diagonally, wreathed in shadows. Even so, both slid backward several feet under the dragon''s roar. Dust and debris whipped up around them. ''Darling, this guy has so many weapon arts!'' ''Yeah, they are our biggest challenges, but also a source of inspiration for us. We are evenly matched, so let''s continue and finish this off with our own weapon art!'' ''We''ll finish this battle with our own weapon art during this battle. Let our mind and body drown in the thrill of this fight and do it!'' Almond''s eyes glinted along with his maniac smile that stretched across his face. He dashed forward while swinging heavily and crouched midway as he slid, his sword aiming to cut Delfer in half from his waist. Delfer jumped, turning upside down with the momentum of swinging his sword vertically downward to cut Almond, but Almond arched his sword-held hand upward, causing the sword''s point to stab into the ground. The sudden halt in momentum lurched him upward as well, but he was low on the ground while Delfer was high. Delfer''s attack failed while the heel of Almond''s feet aimed at the avatar''s head, forcing him to change his sword''s attack. Precisely at that moment, Lily swooped in from Delfer''s nk,unching herself off the ground while thrusting her dagger. Delfer''s eyes glinted. He loosened the strength he exerted in his hand that held the sword and used Almond''s kick''s power that struck his sword to let himself spin and deflect Lily''s dagger while dodging it. But this time, Lily was prepared and was expecting her attack to fail. Without hesitation, she used her other hand to grab Delfer''s neck before he could get away, as it was within her reach. This battle was tough for her as she took time to adapt after losing her Phantom''s Sixth Sense¡ªher primary ss''s passive skill, but now she was fully adapted! Feeling the situation going awry, Delfer moved his wrist masterfully, throwing the dagger towards Lily''s head, forcing Lily to let go of his neck. But Almond vanished from his radar.N?v(el)B\\jnn Aura Cloak! Almond used the second stage of Mana Shroud¡ªAura Cloak, which could hide his aura and presence from all senses, even within Focus Field, by integrating them into the surroundings, except for physical visuals provided by the naked eyes. Delfer''s Focus Field couldn''t sense Almond at all, and his eyes couldn''t see him as he wasn''t facing Almond! However, the instinctual danger he felt was enough to make him reach an instant decision in order to save himself from unexpected attacks. Delfer simply used his sword to strike downward while letting it go as his palm pushed the sword''s handle. The force sent him upward as he dodged Almond''s sword sh without seeing or sensing it. He simply created a wide gap and removed himself from potential attacking angels by going several meters high! Lily and Almond looked up and saw Delfer grinning as his hands materialized a hammer. Mana red around it in a fiery orange aura as he spun mid-air once before slightly stretching his arms right when the hammer pointed downwards, masterfully creating a downward momentum. He shot down like a rocket as his hammer struck the ground, causing a whirling force to shoot in all directions as he used another Weapon Art, pushing Lily and Almond away in the west and east, respectively! ''Crazy!'' Lily''s eyes trembled, but excitement also surged in them as she witnessed and partook in such a high level of martialbat. Delfer shortened his hammer while materializing a short sword in his other hand, shing against Almond''s onught of smooth yet heavy and fast sword blows. Lily asionally swooped in while imagining and designing a weapon art in her mind to execute. But they had to end it fast as their Mana was lowering, and one minute was about to end. Almond managed to kick away Delfer''s sword and immediately followed up without stopping, his eyes crackling with golden lightning. His figure blurred, and he used Sword Bending Motion, intending on dishing out a Weapon Art himself. Almond didn''t think about failing or seeding in executing this. He just did and moved with the intention ofunching this art. His sword shed horizontally once with full power, unleashing a sh projectile crackling with golden lightning and spinning while moving his sword upward in a split second. When he faced Delfer again after that swift spin, he did by using the principle of Sword Bending Motion to make it quick, his sword was already in a vertical position as he shed, not once, not twice, but four times in quick session with Sword Bending Motion, creating a "W" shaped projectile, covering arge area while it also faintly showed a wolf bearing its fangs in that shape. Weapon Art: Wolven Maw Surge! It was his first time attempting this weapon art that he just visualized and executed, and he seeded as he was in the zone, absorbed in the battle! Delfer had no way topletely dodge it at the speed at which Almond attacked. Delfer had just got up after his previous hammer swing, and his other hand was disarmed by Almond''s kick, thanks to Lily''s intervention. As such, Delfer simply used the Weapon Art of his hammer for an AOE attack to sh against Almond''s Weapon Art, smashing the hammer downward. However, Lily also made her move at the same time, whipping out a trail of darkness from Delfer''s own shadow, sly and slithering as it wrapped around Delfer''s hand, intending to prevent him from smashing the hammer or at least slowing or disorienting the execution! But that was not all! Lilyunched herself towards Delfer, her dagger glinting with darkness as she infused Mana, attempting to use a Weapon Art herself! Delfer was already hampered by that whip of darkness, and sensing iing Lily, as her dagger wrapped in a darkness that whirled around it like a drill, he had to do something to defend against both attacks. s, that simply wasn''t possible as he could only brace himself by making minor adjustments, arching his body and putting weight on his upper body as he forcefully continued with the hammer strike by breaking Lily''s darkness whip while back kicking with his right leg like a horse to hit Lily with a longer reach than her dagger to attack her first before her dagger struck him. But Lily''s eyes danced with excitement as she always kept in her mind that Delfer would fail her attack, and this weapon art also epted that ideally. It wasn''t a short-range drilling attack from her dagger! Instead, she let go of her dagger, and itunched like a rocket while maneuvering around, going straight toward the Avatar''s crotch area! Almond''s Weapon Art and Delfer''s Weapon Art shed, resulting in an explosion while Lily''s dagger pierced through Delfer and drilled out from his throat! Delfer''s vitality zeroed in instantly as the sh ended. [Congrattions, you have seeded inpleting the challenge.] Find exclusive stories on empire Chapter 168 Synthesis Forge of Eternal Power As they won the challenge and got the notification, the center of the tform started trembling, and entric patterns appeared over it, glowingvatic red and golden. The patterns spread and soon formed a circle withplicated markings inside. Almond and Lily moved away from there as they got another notification. [The Synthesis Forge of Eternal Power is being summoned. Please move away from the center of the tform.] The entric circle glowed, and a structure gradually emerged. A triangle-shaped header with metallic texture and gold-ted patterns, but as the entire structure emerged, it looked like a strange mix of anvil and an altar, which had three circr slots on it. The material was shining metallic ck with gold ted andvatic patterns, looking fancy and otherworldly. Almond and Lily stood before it as a misty ck window panel with golden words appeared in a holographic manner above this mysterious object. [Synthesis Forge of Eternal Power] -Mode: Weapon Art. -Details: ¡ª> Infuse 1 Mana to activate the Synthesis Forge. ¡ª> Create any three skill runes of your choice and put them on the three empty slots for the synthesis of a Weapon Art Token based on those three skills and an extra bit from your desire and inspiration. ¡ª> You may use the token and enter a mysterious realm to learn the Weapon Art. "I''ll go first," Almond said, visibly excited for this reward. In his previous life, he went through the same thing, but his heart was heavy at that time as everyone aside from him had died. The Weapon Art he had acquired at that time became his most powerful move and a cornerstone of his rapid rise in his past life. Almond infused 1 Mana into the forge as it activated, and a window popped up in front of him from the object, asking him for the weapon base of the Weapon Art he wanted. Almond wrote [Sword] in the nk space before it vanished, and the three empty slots slightly glimmered. [Please proceed with slotting the skill runes.] Almond closed his eyes, his mind drifting into his past life''s memories. He wanted to add an S-rank skill from his past life into one slot first. He had acquired the A-rank ss Vegabond Swordsman as his primary ss, and for his specialized ss, he had an SS-rank ss called Zenithpath Swordmaster. The skill he wanted to add was his only SSS-rank ss skill of Zenithpath Swordmaster at that time that he had created in enlightenment at this exact ce by using thest skill insight of his specialized quest.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Sword of Impermanence¡ªSSS rank, buff-type skill. It had the entirety of his joy and sadness within it. The joy he remembered with his parents when he was small, even though it was short, the void it created in him after they passed away, and how that void was slowly filled by his friends, but then all of them died during this challenge in front of him. By imbuing the concept of impermanence, nothing was permanent in front of his sh. Upon using this buff-type skill, his sword shes could ignore defense and break everything, be it an illusion or magical construct like other skills'' effects. Almond also remembered that important part in the construction of a skill rune that he had discovered when he created this skill. He remembered that since he gained the memories of his past life. That part of the skill creation was¡­concept infusion. Sword of Impermanence was a concept-based constructed skill. He had epted the lonesome concept of impermanence andprehended it, which resulted in the creation of the Sword of Impermanence. But as Almond was re-creating this skill, he suddenly paused. His thoughts were not the same as before. His desire was the same, but his fire was bigger. He could make it better! ''I refuse to believe in the utterness of impermanence! It is not absolute,'' Almond''s eyes zed. ''My sword will not be a part of impermanence, but it must be the carrier of it!'' ''My sword must remain eternal. It must remain evesting even if everything turns to void!'' ''My de must cut through the void and stand alone in the sea of impermanence!'' ''For eternity, it will stand!'' In the eternal darkness with everything gradually dissolving in it in his mindscape that disyed the concept of Impermanence, a single sword manifested, floated, radiantly glowing in regal gold. The destruction of the world surrounding it, the unthinkable powers, and monsters that fueled this sea of impermanence attacked his sword, but it resisted. It glowed radiantly, resisting the evergrowing impermanence. It glowed radiantly, evesting, eternal, undying! ''My sword is the¡­. Sword of Imperishable Zenith!'' In front of Almond, a mystical round rune manifested. A ck rune with dark gold patterns glowed and wiggled towards a single bright golden sword etched in its center. [Congrattions. You have created a buff-type Legendary-rank skill¡ªSword of Imperishable Zenith, on your own.] [You are the first one to create a Legendary-rank skill in your world. Your name is etched onto the Grimworld Leaderboard of Legendary Realm.] [You have acquired 1000 Grim Fame.] Almond blinked a few times as he read the notifications. "What happened?" Lily asked as she sensed a change in Almond as he was no longer in focus. Experience new tales on empire "Well¡­here, you can see it yourself." Almond shared the notification with Lily, causing her eyes to gradually widened before she blurted, "What the fuck¡­" "How?!" Lily asked, her eyes brilliantly sparkling as she looked at Almond with excitement. "Well¡­" Almond rubbed his nose as he proceeded to tell her about how he created Sword of Impermanence and now when he shifted his mindset and inspired himself, gaining enlightenment of sorts. "This is so cool, darling!" Lily was thrilled like never before. "Concept Infusion¡­so this is a part that also affects skill creations. I have to keep this in mind from now on." "Yep. As long as we properlyprehend a concept and are able to imbue it, it will affect the skill creation when we use Skill Insight of our specialized ss quest, and also the resulting effect when we create skill runes in the future." "I am going to think of something since I also have a concept in my mind and I want to test it," Lily grinned as her eyes glimmered. Excited, she sat down on the ground cross-legged. "Tell me when you''re done." She closed her eyes and entered meditation. "Alright," Almond smiled and turned to the Synthesis Forge. Looking at the two empty skill rune slots, Almond rubbed his chin, thinking of suitable skills to imbue in them. But while thinking of that, his mind also wandered off as he realized the impact of this information. People didn''t know about all the details regarding how to create skills. The Labyrinth didn''t give any such information, but old monsters were bound to discover it sooner orter. And they had solid concepts and philosophies that they could shape and wield, creating superb skills. He was sure the old monsters could do better given their long life experience and how they were already more attuned to Mana than most others, especially Admiral Rudra. The old monsters would be able to create some crazy skills for sure. ''I should tell him about thister, and we can also brainstorm together,'' Almond thought. He nced at Lily and nodded. ''Lily is smart and also talented as she shapes her style herself.'' Chapter 169 Last Slot, Opening MVP Chest Almond focused back on the current task. He chose to use Rising Dragon''s Roar as the second skill rune. It wasn''t a skill but abat art he had created, but he could turn it into a skill rune. After creating the skill rune, he embedded it into the second slot. ''Now, what should I do for the third one¡­'' Almond''s eyes glinted. ''I want a weapon art that can be a goodmon attacking method with my sword. I want it to be flexible. Not just one pattern type of attack, but a variety I can weave and unleash myself.'' Weapon Art was usually flexible because the user actively wielded and controlled them. Channeling Mana into their weapons, weaving it, and unleashing a powerful, unpredictable, and fancy attack akin to a skill. Combat Art was using the entire body, some skills, and movements to execute a powerful attack, like how Almond flies up and moves like lightning with a dragon''s avatar around him that holds and builds up power depending on his Mana consumption before unleashing a burst of lightning force in from his sword when using Rising Dragon''s Roar, enveloping target into a maelstrom of golden lightning with countless de projectiles storming inside and shredding the target. Weapon Art was a bit different as that allowed users to instantly release an attack from one''s weapons during intense fights. So Almond wanted something with variety in it as he wanted to unleash different types of attacks from this one weapon art. The sword thread that Almond had created was a type of Weapon Art, albeit a low-level one. He had also created his first skill rune based on that weapon art¡ªSerpentcoil Thread de, which could wrap the sharp and flexible sword thread around a target in a spring shape, slicing and dicing weaker targets instantly. (Ch.94 for reference). But this time, Almond wanted some cool projectile-type attacks from this weapon art. ''Sword of Imperishable Zenith should give the raw power effects to this Weapon Art since it''s a buff-type skill. Rising Dragon''s Roar will give it sufficient practicality about the projectile bursts and variety given its entire process and final attack, so what do I need for the third one?'' ''Voltron Edge is too simple. It''s just enchantment buff.'' ''Lightning Dragon''s Tail can manifest anywhere within a certain range and deal burst damage with high push-back impact power, but¡­.no, not this.'' ''Hmmm¡­'' Almond looked at the list of his ss skills. ¡ªSprit Pocket/Spirit Kodoku (SS) ¡ªSpirit Explosion/Spirit Nuke (SS) ¡ªSpirit Devour (SS) ¡ªSpirit Forge Factory (SSS) ¡ªSpirit Syringe (SS) ¡ªDivine Divider''s Harvest (L) ¡ªEspada Ad Grimveil (L) ¡ªUnveiled Catastrophe (L) ''Let me see what I get from my high-ranking skill scrolls. Given my current high stats and my brain, I might be able to learn a skill fast as long as it''s at SSS rank or below. I''ve yet to open my new MVP chest as well. I should open all possibilities first, and if I don''t find anything good, I can go with Divine Divider''s Harvest or Espada Ad Grimveil.'' Almond had acquired two High-ranking skill scrolls from the 2nd Floor''s MVP Reward chest. He hadn''t opened them yet, so he started with them. He got two high-ranking skill scrolls from the 2nd floor''s MVP chest and 1 Advanced skill scroll from the 3rd floor''s MVP chest, and he had two more Advanced skill scrolls from the party chest for cing first rank in the 3rd floor and 4th floor''s Grimworld Leaderboard. He had already opened his second and third Advanced skill scrolls, but the growth-type skills he got from them weren''t suitable for the weapon art he desired. If they were, he would''ve held off on using this Synthesis Forge and would''ve definitely spent 24 hours learning a skill from them before doing this. Shaking his head, Almond began as he opened the first high-ranking skill scroll. It glowed before texts and information appeared on it of an S-rank skill. Aqua Nova Halcyon: Forms a spiraling jet of crystalline water that swirls around the caster, then explodes outward in a rejuvenating burst, healing allies while knocking back enemies. The caster can target allies and enemies with intention using their Focus Field, and the area of effect can be erged depending on Mana consumption. ''Interesting. So, the outward burst is the same but affects allies and enemies differently, healing allies while damaging and knocking away enemies. It can be useful when a party is getting swarmed upon by monsters from all sides.'' ''But not suitable for the Weapon Art I desire. Next.'' Almond opened the second skill scroll and got an SS-rank skill. ''These high-ranking skill scrolls are crazy too¡­'' Almond was tempted to learn this SS-rank skill, but for elemental skills of S-rank and above from these scrolls, people needed to meet some requirements to learn them, as they required elemental mastery to be able to weave skills of this level ofplexity. He didn''t have Water elemental mastery, so even if he followed the steps and created the skill rune, he wouldn''t be able to execute Aqua Nova Halcyon. And this SS-rank skill was the same¡ªInfernal Maw: Summons a fiery fissure beneath targets, snapping shut with scorching teeth of magma. Magma elemental mastery was hard to learn and acquire mastery from scratch since it was an advanced element. He would need a Magma elemental stone or have mastery over Fire and Earth both to then acquire mastery over the Magma element. ''Alright, let''s open the MVP chest of the 4th Floor,'' Almond took out the MVP chest, his anticipation growing. It was time to find out the riches of his third MVP chest.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The chest burst open with colorful sparks, and orbs spewed out along with the list of rewards. 2 x Random Legendary Ore Material. 2 x Random Legendary Herb. 1 x Legendary-rank Gear Set (low-tier) 1 x Elemental Insight Selection b. 1 x Instant Learning High-ranking Skill Stone. 5 x Grand Abyss Labyrinth Roulette Tickets. ''Two new types of rewards,'' Almond''s eyes shone, and he quickly checked them. [Elemental Insight Selection b] -Rank: Special. -Details: ¡ª> Activating the b by infusing Mana will show you five random elements to choose from. [0.1% chance for Exotic Element to appear in the list of options.] ¡ª> Upon choosing an element, the b will transform into the selected elemental b. Afterward, you can infuse Mana again into the b and let your consciousness drift into the dimension of the selected element for 24 hours, granting you an opportunity to acquire elemental mastery of the element. -Warning Note: ¡ª> Exotic Elements are way harder toprehend and can drive people into a state of unique madness if overwhelmed forever. It is advisable that only those who have awakened their Soul and transcended may choose this option, and even then, they must proceed cautiously. ''Holy crap¡­'' Almond was dumbfounded. ''More new information! Soul Awakening, huh, I wonder what that is¡­'' ''But whatever it is, I can''t hope to achieve it anytime soon, I feel.'' Enjoy more content from empire Almond didn''t want to ignore the warning note, so even if he triggered that 0.1% chance and got an Exotic Element in the options, he wasn''t going to choose it. Almond put this b and everything into his storage ring except for the Instant Learning High-ranking Skill Stone. [Instant Learning High-ranking Skill Stone] -Rank: Special -Details: ¡ª> Infusing the Mana in the stone will transform the stone into a random high-ranking skill rune, which you can instantly learn. ¡ª> If the skills require elemental mastery and youck rted elemental mastery, you will still be able to execute the skill in its default state, though you won''t be able to modify or execute it at a higher power. He had never gotten a skill stone before, and it appeared that it was something that could allow one to learn the skill instantly, just like using that Instant-learning skill b his party had acquired in the 2nd Floor''s heroic boss ying chest. The only difference was that the Instant learning skill b was like a slot in which they could put any skill scroll and instantly learn the skill by getting its knowledge, but that still required elemental mastery if the skill was elemental to execute it. ''Not bad, let''s see what I get,'' Almond infused Mana into the skill stone. The stone glowed and transformed into a translucent stone with bubbling gray mist whirling inside. [Dire Mist Dispersion] -Rank: SS -Elements: Mist, Darkness. -Effect: The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 170 Resulting Weapon Art, Phase 1 Begins [Dire Mist Dispersion] -Rank: SS -Elements: Mist, Darkness. -Cost: 10,000 Mana for a full sack. -Effect: ¡ª> Build a mystical sack within your body that produces Dire Mist. The mist has highly corrosive and defense-melting properties. You can unleash it in any way you like from any part of your body. ¡ª> Depending on your mastery of Mist and Darkness elements, you may control the output of mist in a condensed and more powerful manner in any way you deem fit. ''Hmmm, this skill is awesome but useless for me. My Sword of Imperishable Zenith does a better job at this.'' Almond sighed. It seemed that he didn''t get any good stuff after all. But he already had the n to sell these skills. They were practically priceless, so auctioning them would get him a lot of gold coins. And he wasn''t going to add a skill if it didn''t contribute to his weapon art as much as his Legendary skill in the first ce. ''I have two normal skill upgrade cards that only upgrade ssless skills and one universal skill upgrade card that upgrades all skills, including my ss skills,'' Almond''s eyes glinted. ''Should I use the universal one on one of my Legendary skills?'' Almond thought, but only for a moment before he took out the card and used it, intending to use it on his Espada Ad Grimveil. However, instead of the skill getting upgraded, he got a notification. [You still have three skill insights remaining from the Specialized ss quest. You must create three more ss skills and establish the source of your specialized ss first before you are able to affect it with external influence like skill upgrade cards.] ''Oh¡­that''s true, I have to do this. The next skills I want to create are passive and trigger-type skills, but since I have less idea of how they are made, I have to research,'' Almond wryly smiled. ''I don''t have memories rted to this yet, but Lily said that there''s data about this in GAA. We''ll have to approach Admiral Rudra once we leave for many things, including this.'' Lily had already created four ss skills, but since her specialized ss was SSS-rank, she got a total of 5 skill insights instead of 6 like Almond. She was only left with one now, which she nned to save until she figured out how to get a passive skill as a result, as she and Almond had discussed this. ''Now then, since I can''t upgrade my Legendary ss skill¡­'' Almond was about to create the skill rune of Espada Ad Grimveil, but then he suddenly got an idea. ''What if I use Spirit Forge Factory¡­'' Almond''s eyes glimmered, his curiosity rising. ''What will my weapon art result in if I use that in the 3rd slot?'' ''Fuck it, I want to use that in the third slot.'' Almond focused and sent his consciousness into his skill room as he started copying the skill rune of Spirit Forge Factory. This was the only skill that screamed "variety" here, and he used it on the third slot for that sole word that is associated with Spirit Forge Factory. Almond was done after a couple of minutes and slotted the skill rune.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The Synthesis Forge glowed, and all three slots glowed as they physically moved and conjoined into one before melting inside the metallic chamber. A few secondster, a single slot appeared with a mysterious dark silver token carved with entric sharp golden patterns, a sword in the middle, and dreamypis blue waves oozing out from it. It pulsed and glowed faintly as it floated up from the slot. Almond grabbed the token and inspected it. [Unfettered de Mayhem] -Type: Weapon Art. -Rank: Undecided. -Progress: 0%. -Details: ¡ª> Use the token, send your consciousness to the dimension where your own ideal self is using this weapon art, and learn it. ''Let''s go!'' Almond grinned, thrilled at the name of this art. It sounded powerful! And the good thing about this token was that it wasn''t limited or anything. It was forever his, and he could use it any number of times and eventually learn the weapon art! "Babe, I''m done. It''s your turn now," Almond said as he saw the Synthesis Forge returning to normal with three empty slots. Lily opened her eyes, her eyes twinkling. "I am ready." ¡­ Meanwhile, big changes and announcements were urring outside. People inside the Labyrinth didn''t know about that, but Phase 1 for their world had begun! [Congrattions on clearing the 10th Floor!] [All adventurers will be forcefully acquitted from the 10th Floor within 1 hour.] [And for the next twenty-four hours, the 10th floor will be inessible. Once the ess is resumed, a random monthly event for your world will start.] [Your world is now entering Phase 1 of the Grimworld Tutorial.] As everyone got these notifications, a mystical screen appeared in front of everyone with a title [ Phase 1] when thest notification rang and appeared in their heads. [Phase 1 Selection will begin after 10 minutes. Read the details below.] ¡ª> Phase 1 is the elevation of your world to the next stage of the tutorial in order to make your world more powerful overall and bring out more potential in individuals. ¡ª> When the five-minute countdown is over, a random Phase 1 Mode will descend onto your world while connecting your world to another world, one or more, forpetition who will also take part in this mode. ¡ª> Your world may receive damage and life loss if your performance is not good enough. You will bepeting against another world, one or more, depending on the mode you get from Phase 1. ¡ª> Good luck in your endeavors. The entire globe was abuzz with this information, with people showing various reactions. The old monsters and other adventurers emerged from the Labyrinth gradually and also got the same notifications and this panel in their minds as they read everything. "Crap¡­" All of them were dumbfounded, but there was unmistakenly a hint of excitement within them along with other emotions, especially the old monsters who desired to carve their path to power in their styles. "Rudra, it seems that the world is going to be more hectic than ever," James wryly smiled, hiding a glint of thrill within his eyes, "It seems that I have to up my game in the magitech energy weapons and also start creating defensive items. Mister Aarav Patel, we need to coborate because I''d love to research your Lotus Pendant Artifact. Please don''t reject me anymore." "I ept, but no homo," Aarav chuckled. "And first, you must send me the research data of your weapons. After that, we''ll set up a joint research center and share all the results we get." "Well, since you are willing toe out of your secret base, we''ll do that." "If our world can interact with other worlds after this phase 1 begins, does that mean that people can travel from one world to another?" Paloma blinked. "I am kind of looking forward to that," Viktor grinned. "But we are enemies as it will be apetition, the survival of the fittest," Arjun narrowed his eyes as fiery lights glinted in them. "We have to be careful." Caressing his gray beard, Rafael nodded, "Indeed. The rats are definitely affiliated with some otherworldy power with the way they vanished." "Each one of them had a strange mark and right before they vanished, I saw all of them materializing the same cloak," Shiro-sen''s eyes glinted. "They belong to an organization, not from our world." "Well, that confirms Rudra''s suspicions," Silvester nodded. [Phase 1 Selection is starting¡­] In front of everyone, a screen appeared with a single slot that disyed various symbols indicating the different modes. They shifted rapidly and gradually slowed down before stopping. [Your world will wee the mode¡ªBattlefield of the Mightiest, shared with three other worlds, one of which has a Grimworld Tutorial ongoing and has just cleared the 10th floor like your world, and the other two worlds being non-human worlds inhabited by Draconians and Elves, respectively, who will wee their unique Grimworld Tutorial different from yours, beginning with this battlefield.] [The hub of this Battlefield is an extradimensional world where each participant world is given its base territories and can interact with one another with non-violencew established. This hub can be essed from a new function that will appear in your status window.] [Only Adventurers at Gold rank and above can enter the hub and participate in the Battlefield of the Mightiest.] [The Battlefield of the Mightiest will open on 1st January WB 11, exactly after the Labyrinth closes and the new month begins.] [The rules and other information of this mode will be avable once the adventurers enter the hub. Please be prepared until then and train as much as you can.] Chapter 171 Spirit Devour Reaches SSS-rank!, Encounter Meanwhile, the adventurers inside the Labyrinth were still busy with their adventures, unaware of the events transpiring outside, but it was only a matter of time as this was the third day and everyone would leave after 21 hours. "By the way, I have a darkness elemental skill, and you can instantly learn it, too," Almond said as he took out the Dire Mist Dispersion skill stone. Lily took the skill stone and inspected it. Reading the details, her eyes glinted, "This is good. With my darkness mastery, I should be able to coat it around my weapon and other skills to make it more lethal, too." "Yeah," Almond nodded. "You would need Mist elemental mastery for full control, but having Darkness at S-rank should give you that much control over it. Anyway, you should try it."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Yeah," Lily grinned, "And I will use this skill as one of the three bases for the weapon art." "Good." Lily was done after some minutes and also got her Weapon Art, called Raven''s Umbral Cascade. As they were done, the duo left the cave and arrived outside, where Ashkar, Benedict, Nyssara, and Viperfiend were already waiting as they had reached Gold level 40. "There are two more limited challenge areas, but they just give Epic-rank essory items, and they are at the other part of the floor, so we won''t bother going there," Almond said. "Yeah, that''s fine. But you can sell the information to otherster," Lily smiled. "Yep, that''s the n. Those essories of Epic-rank on this floor will be useful forever for future generations, so their value will be high. I''ll take 20% of the total value of the items people get in exchange for selling it," Almond grinned. "Nice, that''s perfect." "Mhmm, for now, I want to kill a variety of monsters and reach the maximum stats limit of Gold rank as soon as possible," Almond looked at the mountain ahead, "The territory ahead is two hundred kilometers long until we reach the floor boss area. We''ll maintain pace and kill monsters so that we can reach there after 10 hours." "15 hours? Oh, wait, yes. We need to rest for the remaining time so that we are in the best condition to fight the Heroic Boss." "Yep. We have roughly 20 hours to reach there ording to the deadline I set for everyone." "Let''s hope those two can also catch up, or they will miss the opportunity," Lily chuckled as she remembered about Marcus and Amir, who were in meditation to learn their new skills from Advanced Skill Scroll. Almond shrugged and turned to the mountain, "Let''s go. If I remember correctly, we''ll encounter Thunder Lycon Wolves and other beasts on the mountain, and then we''ll encounter the Tempestcall Tengus after descending the mountain." "Ashkar, give us your horse. And the rest of you, keep up with us and spread out. If you want to kill monsters, kill them within 200 meters of my position so I can absorb their spirits." "Roger," Benedict grinned and vanished like a shadow, going ahead. Ashkar conjured a pair of my wings and also flew up. Nyssara snorted, "Always in a hurry, those two. Anyway, we''ll be going ahead, Master, and get to work so you don''t have to kill them." "Thanks, and take Viperfiend with you," Almond smiled. They knew he didn''t want to level up anymore and stay at Gold level 40 until reaching the Floor Boss. Nyssara nced at the fatty Viprfiend and rolled her eyes. Snapping her finger, she created an icy carriage and said, "Get on." Viperfiend nkly sat down on the icy carriage. Having no proper intelligence like others, it easily obeyed other Spirits'' orders as per Almond''smand. Nyssara also sat down on the carriage at the front before controlling it as it slid up towards the mountain while creating an icy path. This territory was her domain because the mountain was icy, and the entire territory of Tempestcall Tengus had a high amount of both ice and lightning elements. Meanwhile, Almond and Lily jumped on Agramon as it neighed loudly and rushed forward. "Let''s hope this level-up boon''s skill option upgrades my Spirit Pocket or Spirit Devour," Almond said as he opened the only level-up boon that had skill open. Leveling from Gold level 10 to Gold level 40 gave him and Lily a total of six level-up boons. But out of them, Almond got only one, which had the skill option, while Lily got two this time. Lily had used the two skill options already. One upgraded her Phantom''s Plunder skill to SS rank, while the other gave her a new primary ss skill, a passive one¡ªPhantom''s Veil (S). "Well, good luck," Lily said with a chuckle and turned to him before kissing his cheek, "This should give you the luck boost." "Thank you very much," Almond grinned. "Now I''ll definitely get what I desire." At that, Almond used the skill option. [Congrattions, your primary ss skill¡ªSpirit Devour of SS-rank has been upgraded to SSS-rank.] "Let''s fucking go!" "Which one got upgraded?" Lily asked, her eyes sparkling. "My bet is on Spirit Devour." "You are correct," Almond grinned and shared the new skill with her as both of them looked at it. [Spirit Devour] -Rank: SSS -Effect(s): ¡ª> Devour a spirit stored within your spirit pocket to acquire permanent stats. There''s a limit to gaining stats from the spirits of the same species. If your foundational stats have reached the lifeform rank limit and you devour a spirit, you will gain bonus stats equivalent to 50% of the devoured spirit''s original stats for 1 hour. The chance of Spirit Plunder will also increase slightly. ¡ª> Spirit Plunder: There''s a small chance that you will trigger Spirit Plunder, allowing you to steal a skill, talent, or other aspects from a devoured Spirit. "Oh my god¡­"Lily''s mouth was wide open as she read the skill details. "Damn, this is awesome!" Almond was excited despite knowing that this skill was bound to be powerful! "Darling, what if you ate the spirit of a Heroic Boss after reaching the stat limit of Gold rank?!" Lily''s eyes shone. "You''ll be giga powerful!" Almond sucked in a breath, getting goosebumps just thinking about getting 50% of those massive stats to himself. "This is a solid trump card," Almond muttered as his eyes glinted. "I have to save a powerful spirit or two with me all the time, just in case. And let''s keep this between the two of us. Admiral Rudra told me that there are evil forces outside, so it''s better to keep such trump cards to ourselves lest they make us use them first before revealing their true hand." "True," Lily nodded. Almond had also saved all of his unassigned points so far because he didn''t need to use them when he could get stats from Spirit. As such, he deemed it better to save all the unassigned stat points gained from leveling up! He already had a whooping 190 unassigned stat points so far! ¡­ While Almond and Lily entered the Tempestcall Tengus'' territory, Xavier, Talia, Noah, and Galvaren, who had entered the earliest, encountered another party in the Infernal Pce of the territory of zing Leon Tribe. The main boss, zing Leon King, was defeated by them, but then this party arrived. "The super rookies, huh? You all reached here quite fast." "Who is that monster with you? Damn." Noah narrowed his eyes as he immediately recognized some of the individuals, "Since when did the house of Fei and Tuskin start working together?" The opposing party of 12 people belonged to two prestigious families, the House of Fei and the Tuskin Family. They were top 30 families in terms of influence and power, and each of them had several tinum-rank Adventurers along with a few frontline ones who had participated in the 10th-floor raid. "Well, we started working together after entering here," Raymon Tuskin said with a grin as his half-ck half-green hair crackled with lightning. "Anyway, since you got the special item, then it''s fine. Let''s go and summon the floor boss." "Nope," Xavier tly rejected with a deadpan expression, "The floor boss will not be summoned until 20 more hours pass. You can either wait or move to the next floor." "Huh? Are you serious?" Hua Fei narrowed her eyes. "The other three groups already have the special items and are going to the floor boss area. What the fuck do you mean by nope?" "Nope, means nope. Did you hit your head or something?" Galvaren snorted. "Perhaps you should watch Television more." "¡­" "Whose monster is this?" Hua''s face darkened. "I am your daddy''s monster, who is my lord. His name is Almond Crowshade," Galvaren crossed his arms as his majestic draconic wings unfurled and his broken sword floated to his right side before him. "Now, roll away or get shredded beneath my de. The choice is yours." Noah, Xavier, and Talia exchanged nces while weakly smiling upon hearing Galvaren''s words. Chapter 172 Galvaren Keeping the Item Safe The group of twelve immediately got worked upon hearing Galvaren''s words. "You better keep this pet''s mouth shut if you don''t want to waste your trip here," Raymon Tuskin coldly said as he looked at Noah. They were twelve of them, and a random monster was looking down on them and pissing them off. Backing down obviously didn''t sit well with them. "Boss, let''s beat them up," one of the men in his early twenties said. "It''s fine as long as we don''t kill them, heh." "You should think twice before thinking you can beat us," Talia snorted as she took out her dual revolvers, her eyes with fiery sparks as she turned on her toggle-type ss skill¡ªzing Ammo Charge. ''I wasn''t useful in Heroic raid, but I am not going to lose to these riff-raffs,'' Talia''s expression was cold as she aimed her pistols at them. Noah and Xavier also got into a stance as the situation could get tense if one of them suddenly decided to attack. They heard them, and they didn''t want to get beaten and get held back here. But suddenly, Galvaren''s aura heated as he walked ahead and stopped before the group of twelve. "I was assigned to this group to make sure the special items don''tnd in another party''s hands until my lord arrives at the floor boss area after 20 hours." Galvaren grabbed his broken sword, his nostrils ring up and his body producing a molten-obsidian exoskeleton, his first defense-type skill that he awakened recently. Galvaren had gathered enough experience from Almond himself and knowledge about skills due to being intelligent. So after fighting intensely and sparring against others, especially in the Heroic Boss fights, he had improved and awakened a new skill¡ªSkylord Molten Exoskeleton (SS). "I alone will fight against all of you. Bring it on. I shall not kill you, but I shall cut a limb from each of you to make sure you do not have ideas about the special item in our possession. This is my word." Hua Fei took out two long daggers as they lit up with faint purple-ck mes. "It seems that I''ll have to remind you about the gap between us, new super rookies." Hua Fei was the previous super rookie of silver rank and also ranked top 3. She had a me element and a variant of it, which was the main source of her strength since she had S-rank me mastery due to having a high affinity with it. "Hua Fei, I know you are strong and can probably defeat us in one vs one battle," Noah calmly said as he sheated his sword. "But the one you are looking down on is enough to defeat all twelve of you." "Galvaren wanted that since the start," Xavier wryly smiled as he could clearly feel Galvaren''s excitement. All of them had sparred with Galvaren many times, so they knew his nature. "Yeah, defeat him first," Talia sneered and put away her pistols. "I appreciate your thoughtfulness," Galvaren grinned as he turned his head to the trio. He turned back and floated off the ground with just heat radiating from his wings. "Now, shall we start?" "Kill this cocky pet!" In the next second, however, Galvaren vanished from their sight and radar as a burst of infernal mes unleashed from his wings, and he flew five meters high in a second! "Shit!" Noah cursed, his body already moving. Xavier and Talia immediately reacted and dashed away as well. ''He fucking used two of those skills at the same time! Is he trying to kill them?!'' Crimson Dive Bomb (S) Hellfire Lightning Skycrown (S) One was the ultimate crazy dive bomb attack, resulting in crazy destruction in an area of 100 meters radius with heavy magma and me damage in a burst manner. A literal explosion of high lethality. Meanwhile, Hellfire Lightning Skycrown added to that skill since it was a buff type skill, adding Hellfire Lightning, a special variant frombined elements lightning and fire, which increased the damage even more! *BOOM!* Galvaren dropped right in the middle of the group! All of them tried in their own way during the one-and-a-half second they got after the initial surprise. Some used defensive skills, and some used escape, while one of them used a huge barrier skill, and another used individual shields as everyone received a bubble-shaped barrier around them. But all of those were shattered. Except for a few, most of them got moderately injured. Galvaren obviously didn''t give them any chance. Right after dropping, he zoomed towards Raymon and Hua, who were rtively better than others, his broken sword extending with crimson infernal ck edge. Hua Fei''s daggers shed against his sword as she swiftly guarded, and just as she was about to use a skill to win the bout, Galvaren''s kick came hurling with infernal mes, interrupting her. "Too slow! Bwahahahah!"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Raymon roared as an avatar of a wild war boar with earthen armor draped over him, and he crashed towards Galvaren, cracking earth and shaking the pce. ''Wonderful!'' Galvaren turned to him, his aura bursting out as he immediately swung his sword, exerting his full strength. The ground beneath him shattered, and debris literally melted and turnedva as his sword swung forward, illuminating the area around him. zing Wrath sh (A) boosted by Hellfire Lightning Skycrown + Emberstone Pouch (S) as his sword absorbed allvatic power and mes and burst as his sword struck the giant tusks of the Wild War Boar Raymon. *BOOM!* Along with a loud explosion and a powerful shockwave, Galvaren was pushed back several meters. But on the other hand, Raymon flew back like a bullet and smashed into the pce wall, embedding a meter inside the thick wall! Galvaren roared and zoomed in, sweeping past two meters and destroying their legs beforending at two others. Both of their eyes could only erge, and they quickly used skills in panic, but Galvaren''s decisive attacks helplessly rendered them in the same state as the previous two. Despaired, Disabled, Defeated. "I''m kind of d Almondmanded him not to go serious enough to hurt us during our sparring," Talia wryly smiled. "Can''t disagree," Xavier wryly smiled. Noah nodded as he watched Galvaren utterly disorienting their formation and disabling them one by one. They didn''t know what hit them from the start. ''He lives up to his quirks and backstory. Starting with a dive bomb to split up them and using his created advantage snowball on them.'' "Let''s make sure this ends right now," Noah said as he vanished from his spot and pointed his sword at the defeated Hua Fei who failed her first attack against Galvaren and got her right leg destroyed. "How can a summon be so powerful?!" "Damn it!" "Fuck, it hurts! Give me a healing potion! I don''t have any left since I used myst on the previous fight!" Galvaren floated in the sky after and immediately entered a passive state to recover his Mana, "You are defeated once, and I know you can recover with potions. But it''d be wise to ept your defeat now and cease resistance lest I get lethal with you all." "That''s right," Noah pointed his sword at Hua Fei. "Don''t make any more trouble." "The special item is ours," Xavier said to Raymon as his rapier glinted with light gold, "Move onto the next floor because we will only summon the floor boss after 20 hours." *Click* Talia''s revolvers'' barrels spun as they clicked, her guns ring up. "Take your potions and items. Galvaren, if they don''t take them out within the next three seconds, we can assume that they want to resist and fight us." "We will heal you after you give us the potions, so take them out," she added. "Fair enough," Galvaren nodded as he pointed his sword down. "You heard thedy. Be quick." Chapter 173 Blazing Trail Increases Hua Fei and Raymon Tuskin epted defeat, giving up their potions. After healing them, Noah, Xavier, Talia, and Galvaren left, roaming around different ces, hoping to find a hidden area or challenge before the deadline. Meanwhile, Almond and Lily leisurely coursed through the Tempestcall Tengus'' territory. Almond''s spirit wraiths made sure to kill monsters within 200 meters of Almond so he could absorb their spirits. He made sure to absorb new ones thrice to increase his stats as much as possible while putting rest in the Spirit Forge factory. They also encountered monsters, but Lily dealt with them as Almond didn''t want to get more EXP and stay at level 40. They nned to cover as much area filled with monsters as possible and arrive at the floor boss area right after 15 hours. Almond had the route in his mind, and he also included a secret area on the way, which had a lot of monsters gathered, much like White Pn''s Lair. He also kept the spirits of some monsters who were pure offensive, sending them into Spirit Nuke''s pocket.N?v(el)B\\jnn As they descended the mountain, they started to encounter various types of Tengus, a mix of ice and lightning elements. The Tengus had role-based variations like warrior Tengus, mage Tengus, assassin Tengus, and priest Tengus, and there were also more variations depending on the different areas in thisrge territory, so there was nock of variety here, not to mention the other beast-type monsters that Tengus tamed. Almond and others passed through areas one by one at a constant pace. With his high recovery of Mana and Stamina both, he recovered his Spirit Wraiths since he wasn''t using any energy, not even for walking as he was riding Agramon. His only job was to focus on collecting spirits, absorbing them, and maintaining production in his Spirit Forge Factory. Almond needed to sacrifice 5 Legendary items to unlock the guaranteed Legendary forge option, which he was going to do because he wanted to make a Legendary gear set of high quality for himself. And for that, he''d need a shit ton of Spirit items as a sacrifice¡ªa total of 80 Epic-rank items. Even if they were low-tier, he''d also need 400 Super-rank items of low-tier, which meant he would need 2000 Rare-rank items. Fortunately, he was only getting Rare-rank items as a result of bulk random crafting from these Gold-rank monsters'' spirits on this floor and also had a 20% chance to get a Super-rank item, so ording to his calction, he would have enough for one Legendary high-quality set after 15 hours. ¡­ Time passed as seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours¡­ Fifteen hours passed by as Almond and Lily arrived at the Floor Boss area with the Spirit Wraiths. They were the first ones to arrive, but shortly after half an hour, Party 3 also arrived¡ªNatalia, Kira, Eliara, and Starlight Beast. And another half an hourter, Xavier, Noah, Talia, and Galvaren also arrived, but they had one more person with them! "You think I would continue to the next floor after hearing that you wereing here?" Almond chuckled and walked towards the party as he stretched his hand, "Wee to the party." Julian faintly smiled. "I''ll show you my improvements." "You better do," Almond grinned. "So, you really stayed on this floor for two days? You were close to hitting Gold level 50 and could move on pretty early, no?" "Well, I was with the GAA party, as you know, and you might not know, but GAA has pretty good secret spots noted down, especially thanks to Admiral Rudra. We nned toplete some of them in all four areas during these two days before moving on to the 6th floor and leveling as much as we could on the third day." "But," Julian wryly smiled as he paused briefly before continuing, "Doman and other bastards yed dirty in item distribution. I''m pretty sure it''s because he couldn''t win against me anymore, but he was the party leader, and others sided with him." "And I also knew that you would be rushing the floors, so I decided to stay on the floor and wait here in the floor boss area, but on my way here, after I cleared an area of monsters, I encountered Noah''s party, so I joined them after he told me about the Heroic Challenge." Noah and Julian had trained together for a while before the Rising Star Tournament began. Julian''s rapid rise began from there, and Noah came to have genuine respect for Julian because of the way he worked so hard. Since Almond bloomed Julian''s potential at first, Julian''s training session with Noah was a rapid progression in Julian''s skills and techniques. Julian''s swordy in his unique style became solid enough to be on par with Noah''s in just a week, which was why Noah gained respect for Julian. ¡­ Now that all three parties gathered, Almond took out his Magic Tent while others also camped in their tents and created a bonfire. "When will those twoe? ording to the deadline, we are going to start the Heroic Challenge after seven hours, right?" Natalia asked before rolling her eyes. "I wouldn''t be surprised if they missed the deadline." "It depends on how fast theyplete their training in the dimension of their Advanced skill scroll," Almond said. "Let''s hope they finish it fast, but if they don''t reach here in time, I''ll summon back Sylvia." "Of course," Kira ruefully smiled. "Sylvia''s healing and defense are very important for us. We''d have serious injuries and even fatality if not for her." "Yeah," Jemma nodded. "It''s great that you can call her back from another floor," Maya nodded. Meanwhile, the two people in question were indeed still in the training. But one of them stirred soon after an hour. Marcus opened his eyes before a zap of excitement coursed through them and was visible throughout his body. His pupils were dted, goosebumps rose, and cells trembled. A faint mechanical hum rang within his chest as though a delicate piece of clockwork sprang into motion. A subtle glow¡ªbrass, copper, or even a tempered crimson¡ªappeared beneath Marcus''s skin at the heart''s center, radiating a warm and fervent aura. It pulsed, mirroring his heartbeat and excitement. Marcus Venath, a youngster from a humble abode, decided to strive for an adolescent desire that stemmed from heroic tales of a certain individual, all but for one reason¡ªthe person he was following and the ze he radiated. [Congrattions. You havepleted the training of your growth-type toggle skill¡ªGeoprime General''s Halo.] [Based on your training session, you have achievedmendable results. Training Score: SSS-9483.] [The training score also shows the starting rank of your skill and the potential you have explored so far. Acquiring a 10,000+ score would have given you an L rank, but better luck next time.] [Congrattions on awakening your innate talent¡ªIronheart Engine (L) You have ovee your fear in pursuit of epic greatness, the adolescent desire you suppressed that stemmed from your grandfather''s heroic tales. May you seed in striving for greatness.] [Ironheart Engine] -For you, who ignited your aspiration of achieving greatness that stemmed from your childhood aspiration blooming from heroic legends passed down through family lore. When you finally embraced these dreams with matching efforts during your training, the Ironheart Engine was forged within you¡ªan imperishable wellspring of resilience and vitality. -Rank: L Chapter 174 Marcus Power Up, Legendary Unboxing and Sacrifice [Ironheart Engine] -For you, who ignited your aspiration of achieving greatness that stemmed from your childhood aspiration blooming from heroic legends passed down through family lore. When you finally embraced these dreams with matching efforts during your training, the Ironheart Engine was forged within you¡ªan imperishable wellspring of resilience and vitality. -Rank: L -Ironheart Force: [10,000/10,000] ¡ª> 1000 per hour recovery. -Effect: ¡ª> Resilient Core: The Ironheart Engine grants extraordinary stamina and fortitude. Physical exertion and mental strain that would break most individuals be manageable. This ensures prolongedbat readiness, the ability to withstand intense training, and resilience against mind-affecting forces. +50% Health, +50 Stamina, +50% Health and Stamina recovery. ¡ª> Adaptive Energy Flow: The engine draws upon the user''s inner resolve, converting emotional strength and determination into a form of spiritual fuel known as Ironheart Force. This force can be harnessed to power certain abilities, augment physical prowess, or even restore vigor after heavy exertions. ¡ª> Overdrive State: When Ironheart Force reaches 0, the user can use the Ironheart Engine to enter an "Overdrive" mode. In this state, the user temporarily gains heightened senses, increased strength, and elerated healing. The price is a recovery ban of Ironheart Force for 10 hours. Marcus looked at his awakened talent''s effects, and his excitement reached boundless. He got up and roared loudly in tion and exhration. ''I can perform way better with this! You all just watch me get the second-best contribution rank in the next raid!'' Marcus grinned widely. ''Especially with this new skill, I can help everyone!'' [Geoprime General''s Halo] -Rank: SSS -Type: Toggle. -Cost: 1% Mana per second. -Effect(s): ¡ª> Allies designated within 100 meters of yourself will receive an Imaginary Geoprime Armor that reduces all Physical damage by 20% and Magical damage by 10% before hitting them. ¡ª> Allies who agree to be part of the halo will bind with each other, allowing you to redirect all forms of injuries and damage among each other. The shared injury and damage are automatically reduced by 10% before the transfer urs. ¡ª> During the activation period of the skill, all the damage reduction that urred will umte in your designated item shield. Its limit is determined by your endurance of mental strain. Once it reaches the limit, you may fire a Geoprime Beam from your shield to deal pure impactful Earth-attrited damage with a powerful push-back effect and easy disintegration of the surrounding environment like rocks, nts, trees, etcetera. "I''ll be the greatest general and lead the party to victory!" Marcus clenched his fist. "Congrattions, Marcus. I sense some wonderful power within you," Sylvia''s mystical humanoid figure appeared ethereally from pure Mana affected by flora attribute, giving it a dreamy green sparkling texture and hues. She smiled and said, "Keep my master safe, okay?" "Sure, I will!" Marcusughed. He looked at Amir and said, "I don''t know when he will wake up, so I''m going ahead." Grinning, he added, "I''ll be fine even if I go alone now. Nothing can stop me from reaching the 5th floor''s floor boss area before the deadline. Oh yeah, how long do I have?" "You have six hours." Marcus blinked before he cracked his neck and stretched his legs. "Alright, I''m going ahead. Youe with Amirter." "Godspeed," Sylvia lightly chuckled as Marcus dashed through the portal. He arrived in the starting area, but Marcus continued in the general direction as he knew where to go after seeing the surroundings briefly. ¡­ By now, the other super rookies had also arrived--Emma, Jian, Ron, Adrian, Anya, Finn and Mira. Almond had no qualms about adding them to the party now that there were tons of Epic-rank items and gear sets, especially ones from the 4th floor''s rewards. It wasn''t long before only two hours were left until the deadline and three hours until the opening of exit portals, indicating the end of the Labyrinth''s first cycle. The exit portals stayed open for five hours, but the bosses and monsters would reset and grow stronger immediately once the second cycle of the Labyrinth began three hourster. At the floor boss area, Almond finished resting for some hours and just woke up. It was time to start crafting his Legendary Gear Set and then get to distributing the items since he was hoarding everyone''s items. The total number of Legendary items in his storage Ring reached around twenty, a crazy number. Even frontline adventurers outside didn''t have many Legendary items. ''Let''s sort this out and begin,'' Almond cracked his knuckles before sitting cross-legged and started opening the legendary item boxes and other legendary stuff. The rewards'' ranking in those boxes was pre-determined, so there wasn''t any need for roll dicing. The item itself could be different, but it wasn''t as important. Any legendary item would be important and they were going to be sacrificed for spirit items anyway, soon or sooner. Almond first opened the Legendary Gear Set he got from his MVP chest. ''Yaksha''s Crimson Rampage Set, huh? Yeah, this is for Lily.'' Almond decided to quickly open everything and make a solid list before deciding which to sacrifice and which ones to distribute. He was aware of everyone''s strengths and skills by now, and it would be better if he did this alone to save time and synergize the distribution better since the team revolved around his ystyle and strategy. From MVP Reward Chest: ¡ª> Yaksha''s Crimson Rampage Set (Legendary Gear Set, Low-tier) Rank 2 Lily''s 2 Legendary Item Boxes, 1 Legendary Weapon Selection Box, 1 Legendary Armor Selection Box: ¡ª> Shadowsong Amulet (From Item Box) ¡ª> Phoenixme Gauntlet (From Item Box) ¡ª> Nightfall Edge (From Weapon Selection Box)n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om ¡ª> Seraphic Aegis te (From Armor Selection Box) [Rank 3 Natalia & Maya''s Legendary Items (6 total: 3 each)] Natalia''s Items: ¡ª> Thunderleaf Cloak (From Item Box) ¡ª> Runeforge Quill (From Item Box) ¡ª> Abyssal Whisper Wand (From Weapon Selection Box) Maya''s Items: ¡ª> Srre Orb (From Item Box) ¡ª> Jadeheart Talisman- one-time use (From Item Box) ¡ª> Starseer Staff (From Weapon Selection Box) [Kira, Noah, and Eliara''s Legendary Items (3 total: 1 each)] Kira''s Item: ¡ª> Frostbite Fang Hairpin (From Item Box) Noah''s Item: ¡ª> Ironroot Helmet (From Item Box) Eliara''s Item: ¡ª> Galechime Bells (From Item Box) [From the Heroic Floor Boss ying Chest (2 total)] ¡ª> Lunar Hunt Set (Legendary Gear Set, Low-tier) ¡ª> Aurora Dragonfire sk (Legendary One-Time Use Item, Low-tier) As he read all the items'' descriptions, he knew which five to sacrifice to unlock his Legendary Forge option. Chapter 175 Marcus Arrives With Uninvited Guests, Distribution The five legendary items Almond chose to sacrifice were¡ªSeraphic Aegis te, Thunderleaf Cloak, Ironroot Helmet, Runeforge Quill, and Srre Orb. He was a bit tempted to just sacrifice the two one-time-use Legendary items, but their effects were too useful and could help greatly against the heroic boss despite being one-time, so he kept them both. Everyone also acquired a high-tier Epic-rank set in contribution ranking reward, so aside from the two people who would get to wear the Legendary-rank sets, the others would get solid Epic-rank sets. ''Now then, let''s start.'' After unlocking the Legendary Forge Option, Almond began crafting without further ado. The ingredients were all ready, so he just needed to choose the bs and put them in production. He used a heavy broad sword for the weapon part, and he used the three strongest lightning-attributed Tengus'' spirits as ingredients for this. For the full-body sleek armor, he used three defensive-type monsters'' spirits. For the boots, he used three spirits of wind-type and lightning-type Tengus. He also made the boots flying-oriented as he didn''t want to create wings. If he could fly with boots and gain speed both, he''d have an extra slot in a way, allowing him to craft the 4th item of the set to be more useful. As such, he decided to be a bit creative in the process of his set creation and made 4th item an essory with a special mechanism in the description in his mind when putting it in production. He could only hope it included that type of effect he desired since he couldn''t set it himself. Once he was done here, he went outside and saw that everyone was sparring against each other and his spirit wraiths since they finished resting. "Everyone! Gather here for a moment. I am going to distribute the items." "So it''s time!" "Hehe, I wonder who will get to use the Legendary gear sets."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "So it''s Almond who decides who wears what?" "Yeah." As everyone walked towards him, Almond suddenly sensed something through the ground and atmosphere as he looked back. ''Hmm?'' An invisible snake-like white trail released from his forehead as he used the second stage of Focus Field in that direction and soon saw a figure rushing towards them. It was Marcus, and he wasn''t alone. Marcus, who felt the familiar Focus Field aura of Almond, immediately shouted, "Help!" Behind was one Wandering-type Boss and a bunch of monsters of different types! ''It seems that he rushed here, and all monsters that usually followed a target without restriction came here with him,'' Almond chuckled. ''Well, that''s good. I''d get some extra spirits to put into Spirit Pocket.'' The others also sensed something by now due to the sound and vibration as Marcus got close to his entourage of monsters. "It''s Marcus," Almond turned to the group as his figure crackled with lightning, zapping the air around him. He maized himself and floated. "Stay here, I''ll be back." He vanished in the next moment with a st, breaking the sound barrier while a random Epic-rank sword appeared in his hand. Marcus saw a sh of golden lightning shooting at him. His pupils contracted as he saw Almond''s visage in it. He pressed breaks in his legs and turned around at his fastest, just at the moment to see Almond swinging his sword horizontally. Almond''s eyes sparkled with golden flicker as he swung the sword, consuming 500 Mana and just briefly activated his Espada Ad Grimveil skill as his domain expanded and he targeted all monsters. As he swung the sword, a flickering de projectile appeared in front of the Wandering Boss and 54 other monsters, all varying in size ording to their physique, aimed at their limbs. *sh!* The entire area stilled for a moment before a long, crisp, slicing sound cut through the tension. Almond''s sword stroke unleashed a de of crackling energy that passed through the horde as if guided by a precise, unerring will. In a perfect lining, the surrounding foliage, rocky outcroppings, the Wandering Two-headed Cyclopes Boss, and other monsters seemed to pause¡ªthen their limbs began to slide apart while cutting the surroundings as the des proceeded ahead. Every monster struck by the attack waspletely paralyzed, their flesh sizzling with lightning. "Kill them and level up. You are still not Gold level 50 yet." Marcus heard the voice and grinned as he saw Almond turning around and putting away his sword, "Thanks a lot, boss!" Marcus jumped high as a giant golden-brown sword manifested in his hand as he used his specialized ss skill. "Woohoo!" *sh!* And finished off the Wandering Boss first. Almond looked at his status, specifically at the EXP bar. ''I''ll reach Level 43 since I helped, but that''s fine, I guess. The rewards from Heroic Bosses don''t seem to be impacted by levels.'' He knew killing Field Bosses and other floor bosses while having lower levels increased the chance of item drops, but Heroic Bosses weren''t affected by that. Instead, their rewards were affected by overall performance and timing. Still, he didn''t want to level up as he didn''t need to since he had already reached the maximum foundational stats possible for Gold rank. -Stats: 199 unassigned points. ¡ªPhysical: ?[Strength: 200 | Health: 200 | Stamina: 200] ¡ªMental: ?[Mana: 200 (+300) | Focus: 200 (+200) | Perception: 200 (+200) ] ¡ªWill: 100. ¡­ After everyone gathered, Almond began distributing the items. "Let''s start with the Legendary Gear sets," Almond smiled as he took out the two sets first. "This Yaksha''s Crimson Rampage Set will go to Lily. The weapon of this set is like a fusion between sword, dagger, and cleaver. It has blood element and vitality recovering effect based on attacks, so it suits Lily." Everyone nodded. "Damn, you all really got a solid Legendary gear set," Ron said as he gulped, inspecting the set. Adrian, Jian Finn, Emma, Anya, and Mira¡ªthe super rookies who had yet to fight a Heroic Boss, felt all excited inside as they inspected the Legendary Gear set. "The next Legendary Gear set is called Lunar Hunt Set. It has a slender sword in it, and it''s a light-armored set. Since it is also based on the Water attribute, Kira would be able to use it best." "Wow, awesome!" Kira''s eyes sparkled as she inspected the beautiful yet imposing gear set. "It got some powerful effects! And the gear set bonus actually increases my Water elemental mastery and gives me 2000 extra Mana? Damn." Everyone was envious. Each legendary item gave crazy good bonus stats in their perks, ranging from 200 to 250 total bonus stat points for low-tier Legendary items. "Next is this Shadowsong Amulet. This item boosts the user''s shadow-attributed skills'' effects by 50% passively and also grants an active effect that boosts the next shadow-attributed offense-type skill by 100% with a one-minute cooldown. However, its third effect is most powerful with one day of cooldown." Everyone inspected the amulet and saw its third effect. "Interesting. So if the user receives a fatal attack that could kill them, this amulet protects them and keeps their vitality at 10% while allowing them to turn into Shadow Phantom for 10 seconds," Lily raised her eyebrows. "Shadow Phantom status is op!" "Yeah, it makes the user unaffected by all physical and magical attacks for 10 seconds¡­" "Give it to Mira," Lily said as she looked at Mira. "She is the only one aside from me who has Darkness elemental mastery, and I don''t really need this amulet." "Really?!" Mira was startled. Being the second darkness elemental user and assassin in the group, she expected to get items passed down from Lily but wasn''t expecting a solid Legendary item. "Good," Almond smiled as he nodded at Lily. The amulet flew from his hand and went towards Mira. "Thank you so much," Mira''s cheeks flushed as she bowed. The other new super rookies felt super envious. "Next is Phoenixme Gauntlet," Almond said as he took out a pair of red-golden badass-looking gauntlets. ''Gauntlets!'' Adrian''s eyes instantly glimmered. As someone who used gauntlets with his family, specialized in close-range hand-stylebat, and his specialized ss also bolstered this specialty, he really wanted to use those Legendary gauntlets! ''Crap, even my father doesn''t have a Legendary rank gauntlet,'' Adrian gulped. "We only have one person who can use gauntlets, and his attacks are impactful with good push-back, armor break, and heavily disabling and interrupting humanoid-type monsters, so this weapon will belong to him." The gauntlets flew toward Adrian, his excitement clearly visible. "T-Thank you, Almond." "I want you to be useful because of your specialty," Almond said, his voice firm and sharp. "Against beastly monsters and other big monsters, your specialty is less effective, but against humanoid monsters, it''s very useful, and Heroic Bosses are all humanoid." "Forget about defending yourself and focus on cracking joints and interrupting the boss''s attacks in close range. I want you to coordinate with me, and that''s why I''ll also give you a one-time item that will buff you and make you very evasive and defensive." Almond took out Jadeheart Talisman, the one-time-use item. "Activating this Talisman will increase your action speed and movement speed by 200% for 30 seconds and create a Jade Heart that will save you from one fatal attack." Almond nced at others and said, "You all already know that we n to finish off the boss as fast as possible, and it will be no different this time. We will use everything we got within 30 seconds and seize the victory." Everyone was determined, their fist clenched. ''I will show you all this time in this Heroic Challenge,'' Jian gritted his teeth. ''I am not going to get looked down anymore!'' "Next legendary item is a weapon, the Abyssal Whisper Wand¡­ Chapter 176 The Remaining Three Items Abyssal Whisper Wand went to Natalia. It was opened from the Legendary box she got, and it was Sound element aligned. Lily''s legendary boxes also gave her two Darkness-attributed items, so it appeared that contribution-ranking rewards had a chance to give items suitable to the winners'' attributes, but this wasn''t 100% the case. The next legendary item he took out was Nightfall Edge, a slender, long, snake-curved dagger that he chose from Lily''s Weapon Selection box. He gave it to Lily for a duel, wielding it along with her gear set''s weapon. It was a powerful darkness-element weapon, which could boost all of her attacks and had some interesting effects, not to mention that it increased Perception by 100, Focus by 70, and Strength by 50. The next legendary item he took out was Starseer Staff. It was light-attributed, but it only had one effect on that element. The other effects were more of buff and defense. But it had a good boost in magic attack and +150 Focus, +60 Perception in perk. The other most important Mage in the group got this weapon¡ªMaya and this item was what Almond selected from her Weapon Selection Box in the first ce. Next was Frostbite Fang Hairpin. Almond also gave it to Maya for obvious reasons, as it boosted elemental effects of Icy attributes by 100% and also had an effect with a one-hour cooldown that could create a Frozen Coffin on a target, a control-type effect. Afterward, he took out Galechime Bells, a wind-attributed item that was not the equipment but a normal item akin to an artifact that required the user to hold it in one hand to use its effects. Holding the bell, the user can use its effects. One effect decreased the weight of everyone designated as allies, the same as the wind in the present atmosphere, and gave them the ability to sense wind and ride through it for 30 seconds. The second effect boosted the user''s next Wind-attributed skill by 100%. The third effect gave a wind barrier to the designated ally with the power to absorb an attack and forcefully scatter it away from the user. Normally, Almond would''ve given it to Amir, but he wasn''t here, so it went to Anya. He then took out thest legendary item, which was a one-time-use¡ªAurora Dragonfire sk. This potion was a consumable, Legendary-ranked one.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Drinking this potion would give the user ess to Aurora Dragonfire, a variant of Fire element, and temporarily gives the same mastery as S-rank me elemental mastery for 1 minute. The only one in the party with me elemental mastery was Adrian. The first one-time-use item was his, and the second one also went to him after Almond thought about it since Adrian was the only one with me elemental mastery. Since Adrian was going to coordinate with him, it was better to boost him as much as possible, and having ess to Aurora Dragonfire me would increase all of his attacks much more, making them more powerful and also adding extra effect. This variant of me element had the intimidation and power of a dragon, as its name implied. It already increases the me element''s power by 100%, but on top of that, all impact-type effects were boosted by 50% and would give Aurora Dragonfire scales all over the user''s body for the duration, increasing me resistance and physical resistance by 200%. As all legendary items were distributed, it was time to gear up the super rookies who didn''t get any items. There were a total of four new Epic-rank Gear sets of high-tier, giving a good amount of stat points and effects, along with the old Epic-rank sets and Almond''s own two sets, one being a high-tier Super-rank set, which was equivalent to Epic-rank ones in terms of effects even if not in terms of bonus stat perks. The other was the Grimlord Apocalypse Set, a high-tier Epic-rank set. Almond distributed them ordingly, but just as he finished, he sensed Sylvia''s presence. Shortly afterward, Sylvia emerged from the ground nearby as vines drilled out along with a cocoon-type case made from braided vines, from which Amir emerged. "I''m here!" Sylvia, having evolved greatly because of the special-rank resource tree she absorbed, had her affinity with nature increased significantly, with her Flora elemental mastery exceeding S-rank already. She knew the general direction of her Master''s presence, so she traveled through Earth using her Flora''s power by using the established nature on this floor. She crossed three hundred kilometers in just an hour while bypassing trouble locations and obstruction from monsters. "We have less than two hours before we start our battle. Use your item effects that have a cooldown of less than two hours and familiarize yourself with them." Almond''s eyes glinted as he added with a grin, "But before that, let''s convince the three other parties observing us to give up on their special items." They only had a single floor boss summoning special item. The other three were in the hands of parties who were nearby observing them. They couldn''t summon the floor boss with just three items, after all. "Come out, there''s no need to hide anymore," Almond spoke, his voice reverberating far and wide, enhanced by his Mana. A subtle hush fell across the clearing. The atmosphere was charged, as though the forest around them held its breath, listening for a response. Almond stood calmly, lightning dancing along his fingertips, Lily at his side with her new Nightfall Edge humming softly with dark energy. The rest of their team spread out in a subtle defensive perimeter, taking silent cues from Almond''s stance and tone. It didn''t take long. From behind the towering roots of a half-uprooted tree, a party of five emerged, their weapons lowered but not sheathed. Their leader was a tall man with sharp eyes and a stern frown. They were members of the first-ranked Proximax Guild. "Ah, so you knew we were here," the leader said, voice tinged with cautious respect. He nced about, noting the aura of power Almond''s group projected. From the opposite side, a second group revealed themselves: four individuals d in uniform crimson garb, hoods pulled back to show serious faces. Their posture hinted at discipline¡ªa party belonging to the 7th-ranked Guild, Azure Veil. One of them, a woman with braided hair and a feathered cor looked at Almond, her aura unwavering. And finally, from a rise in the terrain where a massive stone b jutted forth, the third-party appeared. They were fewer in number¡ªjust three, but their presence was intense. One bore a heavy polearm crackling faintly with runes, another hovered just off the ground, arms crossed, and thest fiddled with a vial of strange liquid. They said nothing, but their narrowed eyes spoke volumes. These three were members of one of the top 10 families¡ªthe Zhou n. "Good," Almond said, letting his voice carry. He scanned the three groups, ensuring he had everyone''s attention. "We know each of you possesses one of the special items required to summon the floor boss. We have one ourselves. There should be four total." He held up a small, rune-etched disc for a moment, letting the others see it gleam in the filtered sunlight. "Now, the best possible oue here for you would be you giving us the remaining three items," Almond smiled. Chapter 177 Sneak Peek At the 5th Floors Heroic Boss, Clear Warning "Is that so?" one of the nameless characters spicily responded upon hearing Almond''s words. Lily stepped forward, her stance poised and her dagger glinting, "We''re not interested in petty fights or dragging this out. Hand over the items." ''Darling, do we want to present some benefits to them to make them give up the items, like your spirit items?'' ''Yeah, it''s a slight effort on my part anyway. If they give up easily, then fine. If not-'' Almond''s smile turned chilling. ''We can grab the items from them forcefully.'' A whisper ran through the gathered groups. Some members of the three parties seemed tense, as though ready to vanish into the woonds at a moment''s notice, while others looked curious or calcting. "Don''t think about escaping with the items out of spite," Lily coldly said. "You''ll lose your limbs for nothing." "You all are onto something crazy here. You somehow have legendary and Epic items in bulk, so why don''t we just fight the floor boss together?" The three parties were feeling waves of shock as they could see the items'' ranks, and that shock was naturally apanied by a hint of greed. "Not possible," Almond tly said. "We are going to do something different called Heroic Challenge. It''s a significantly stronger version of Floor Boss, and a party must reach some qualification to trigger it." "How about we join you then?" Lyndia, the dark blue-haired woman who was the leader of the Azure Veil guild, asked, her eyes filled with doubt and caution. "Do you see our items?" Natalia snorted. "Even with that, the chance of dying in Heroic Challenge is higher than regr floor boss." "I won''t stop you from participating," Almond calmly said, "but our party will not support you, and know that there''s a 99% chance that most of you will die." "Bullshit." "Yeah, who are you fooling?" Almond narrowed his eyes. "Give us the special items, and I''ll show you. Instead of the floor boss spawning here, a portal door will spawn, leading to the Heroic Challenge mode." The three parties seemed to converse with each other. They were vastly outnumbered, so fighting against Almond''s group was definitely not a wise move. The leaders of the three parties reached a consensus quickly as all three special items flew toward Almond. "Fine, do it. Let''s see if a special portal really opens. If you spawn the regr floor boss, we''ll attack it because we want the rewards, and it''ll be based on contribution," Brynjar said, the leader of the Proximax guild''s party. "And if you open the portal of the so-called Heroic Challenge¡­we''ll decide whether we enter or not at that time," Yuxin Zhou said tly, still feeling doubt. Almond waved his hand as all four keys flew toward the floor boss summoning tform with entric ancient carvings. [Your party is qualified for the Heroic Challenge Mode. All party members must agree to ept the challenge.] "Did you all get any notification?" Noah asked as he looked at the three parties. The leaders appeared confused. "Notification just now? Nope." "We didn''t get any notification." Almond told everyone to agree and said, "Let''s just show them the portal. We will enterter anyway."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Everyone nodded and responded to the notification. [All party members have epted the challenge.] The tform slightly shook before mystical stairs of ten steps appeared in its center with a magical fancy blue and pink door at thest step. "Holy¡­it''s true." "Howe none of the people triggered something like this before?" The three parties were shocked, while Almond and others got one more notification. [From hereon, your party is prohibited from leaving this floor until the Heroic Challenge Boss is defeated. All the best.] Almond directly shared the notification with the three parties. "As you can see, this is how it works." "Now, you may try to enter that door and court death. I will not stop you. But it''s my sincere suggestion that you don''t do that," he added. The leaders of the three parties looked at each other. Yuxin Zhou said, "Brynjar, why don''t you send one of your puppets inside and check it out for us?" "Yeah, that''s a good idea, leader Brynjar." "Alright," Brynjar nodded as his eyes glinted dark pink before a joker-like puppet manifested, holding two shivs in its hands¡ªhis physique reaching a bit over a meter, his face painting a full sad expression. This was Brynjar''s S-rank specialized ss¡ªPuppeteer Stringweaver. The joker puppet climbed the stairs as per Brynjar''smand and entered through the door-like portal. Brynjar could see everything that his puppet saw as he found himself in a small meadow with a magical pond in the center. "The whole area is barely 300 meters in diameter. There''s a pond in the center, but I don''t see the bo-" Brynjar suddenly paused before his eyes flickered. "I got a notification. A countdown of one minute before the boss appears." Almond raised his eyebrows, ''A pond? The previous heroic challenge areas were rtively simple, but this one seems different.'' "What kind of area is it?" Lily asked. She also knew it was better to get early information about the area. "It''s an uneven meadow of short grass and some glowing nts, but despite being green, they have magical dark pink patterns and give off a dark pink glow," Brynjar answered as he curiously looked around the area through his puppet''s eyes. "Geez, that already sounds troublesome," Natalia wryly smiled. "Yeah, thest boss was a pain in the ass, but we shouldn''t expect less from this bastard," Marcus nodded, his eyes fired up as he grinned, "But no matter who he is, I''ve got you all protected!" "A meadow and magical flowers¡­" Ka muttered. "They could be a part of the boss''s strength." "True," Kira nodded thoughtfully. "We should destroy them just in case." "Nah, we should observe first and then act ordingly. Who knows what kind of mechanism and role they y?" Xavier rubbed his chin. Eliara didn''t know whether tough or cry, "This already sounds troublesome even though we haven''t entered inside. Frankly, I''m a bit scared, given the previous experience." "We all are," Talia weakly smiled but clenched her fist, "But I want to fight." "It appeared. The Heroic Spirit boss¡­w-what the fuck with its stats?!" Brynjal eximed, shocked. Brynjar''s eyes suddenly flickered unevenly before he shut his eyes tightly, "My puppet is dead." "What kind of boss was it? How strong?" Lyndia asked. "How did it look?" Yuxin followed up with another question. Brynjar opened his eyes, and they showed a clear dread. "As you both know, my puppet of sadness is pretty sturdy and also takes 50% reduced damage of all kinds as long as he holds both of its shiv daggers¡­but I couldn''t even see the boss'' attack properly before it died." Taking a deep breath, Brynjar''s expression was somber as he added, "I inspected it and saw its status for a brief moment, but I remember the numbers. Its strength was at 2000, and other stats were also very high, its Mana was 7000. This boss is crazy!" "And it was a humanoid boss that wasn''t that tall, just a bit taller than a regr human!" The members of three parties and the other two leaders were dumbfounded, even feeling disbelief. "A humanoid boss of that size with those stats?!" "Holy crap, what''s with this Heroic Boss?!" "Nah, I am not fighting it, brother Yuxin. We should back out on this one." "Yeah, let''s just do the floor advancement trial instead and go to the next floor." "Ahem," Almond coughed as the sound drowned other voices, getting everyone''s attention, "Now that you know what you''re dealing with, the choice is yours." "I don''t have a choice anymore," Brynjar frowned. "I just got a notification that I can''t leave the floor before the Heroic Challenge Boss is defeated. I tried to activate the trial, but it was rejected. Do you all have the same condition?" "Of course," Jemma wryly smiled. "Yeah, it''s either we die or we kill the Heroic Boss. We can''t exit," Xavier nodded. "Now that we''ve satisfied your curiosity, you must excuse us," Almond calmly said. "We have to do some sparring and practice before we enter that door after two hours. You all stay at the corner and make your decision." Pausing briefly, Almond added, "Frankly, It''d leave a bad taste in my mouth if you all enter and die, but I don''t mind if we have some meatshields that can attract the Heroic Boss'' attention if you ignore the warning and still enter." Turning around, he swept his nce at others, "Now, let''s start our sparring session. It''s you all versus my spirit wraiths and I. Let''s familiarize ourselves with items'' effects and our usual strategy that emphasizes control and disability. Give your all." "Yes!" "Aye, aye, captain!" "Roger!" Chapter 178 Grave Situation Almond and others began their practice session while the other three parties discussed internally. "I''m not letting my party participate in that," Brynjar calmly said as he hade to a decision already. "The way my puppet died still gives me chills. It''s simply too powerful. The floor boss usually has high Health and Mana only, while other stats are rtively low so that we can tank damage and match with its movement and skills." "But this Heroic Boss?" Brynjar shook his head. "I couldn''t see anything clearly, and even if I was present there physically and used Focus Field, I wouldn''t be able to react properly." "So that''s why they said that even with their crazy high-ranking gears, they still have a chance of dying¡­" Yuxin frowned. "The rewards they got are practically impossible to get on these lower floors unless they did something no one knew, which is this Heroic Challenge mode," Lyndia narrowed her eyes. "It means the rewards of this Heroic Boss are something we can''t even imagine because who knows what else they''ve gotten aside from items." "I can''t find a realistic approach to defeat that Heroic floor boss just based on its stats," Brynjar wryly said. "And it''s a humanoid boss, which means it''s more intelligent, and its skills would be crazy powerful as well. Yeah, no." "Leader, look at them fighting. What the fuck¡­" "That Almond rookie who took rank 1 in the Rising Star is a freak! Nobody has been able to touch him with any skill yet!" "I can''t follow their movements properly. All of their stats are boosted by those Epic and legendary items." ''They freaking have gear sets!" "Those summons are also crazy! He alone is enough to wipe out the normal floor boss with his summons¡­" "¡­" "Yeah, no. That guy is going to get very strong, wtf¡­" "GAA will get another monstrous powerhouse, and that too very soon, based on his progress speed," Yuxin muttered while watching the battle. "Yeah, he led this group to the 5th floor already, and all of them have crazy items on top of that," Lyndia nodded as she looked at Almond. "So, what''s your decision?" Brynjal asked while his gaze was on the ongoingbat. "You can see their power, but even then, it''s going to be tough for them. It''s clear from this practice and their expressions." "Boss, that strongest guy, Almond, also had a somber face despite that level ofbat power¡­yeah, we should sit out from this one." They could indeed see the power of the whole group, especially Almond and some of his spirit wraiths, but what they were watching wasn''t even the full power of Almond. Almond wasn''t using his Espada Ad Grimveil to its full potential because that would be overkill even in practice. He simply didn''t need to use any domain techniques of that skill. Regardless, the three parties came to a sound decision, and not wanting to disturb the practice session, they began leaving one by one, activating their floor advancement trial toplete it and moving to the next floor instead of participating in the Heroic Challenge Floor boss fight. Everyone disappeared soon as only Brynjal remained. He watched for a while until Almond and others took a break after ten minutes. "Can I join?" Brynjal asked as he approached Almond. "My puppets might be useful in attracting the boss'' attention. Some are agile, some are tanky, and all of them can have a taunt aura that forces a target to go after that." Almond blinked, ''A forceful taunt? That''s wonderful.'' "That actually sounds good, don''t you think?" Lily turned to Almond. "Yeah," Almond nodded. "Come on, join us, and show me what you got." ¡­ Time passed, and everyone practiced for over two hours and only stopped when only thirty minutes remained until the first cycle''s end. There was no second chance for this Heroic challenge, and the n was to kill the boss as soon as possible, preferably in thirty seconds. Everyone rested for twenty minutes before it was finally time. "Drink the supreme-quality potions we got from the party chest once we enter. Don''t any of you dare to think about saving it," Almond said as he nced at others. "And share it with the ones that don''t have it." Almond also took out a set of potions and gave it to Brynjal. The Supreme quality assortment of potions they got from first rank party chest was absolutely essential because of their buffs. Each one got three sets of potions, with a single set containing eight potions. Six of them were stat-boosting potions for each stat, boosting one''s Strength, Health, Stamina, Mana, Perception, and Focus by 50% for 1 minute. The other two in the set were Complete Recovery Health Potion and Arcane Mana Boost Potion. Complete Recovery Health Potion could heal all injuries, remove all harmful effects, and even recover organs and limbs as long as the person''s brain wasn''t dead. Arcane Mana Boost Potion could recover Mana to full and also increase Mana recovery by 500% for 30 seconds. As such, Almond made sure that everyone got a set of these eight potions each. "Drink all potions when 10 seconds are left until the boss''s appearance," Almond said before turning to the stairs and adorning his high-quality Legendary Gear set. "Let''s go." Almond was slightly more confident ofpleting this raid sessfully without casualty because of this gear set. "Wait," Lily suddenly said, her eyes glinting as she thought of a problem. "We know that the Heroic boss usually takes one minute before it spawns, but¡­"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Turning to Brynjal, she continued, "Brynjal''s puppet entered before, and it was spawned after a minute. What if the boss is now just waiting for us?" Hearing Lily''s words, the ones who had fought with the previous Heroic Bosses felt a chill crawling down their back. "T-That shouldn''t be the case, right?" Talia asked, stammering as she weakly smiled. Xavier gulped and said, "I have a bad feeling." "Me too," Natalia bit her lips, her forehead sweating. But she wasn''t alone, as all others except for the first-timers were sweating. Almond turned to Brynjal and said, his expression more somber than ever before, "Send a puppet inside. We have to see what''s going on inside." ''This heroic challenge area was also different than previous ones with the meadow and pond¡­Please, please, I hope the boss has returned,'' Almond prayed internally as Brynjal sent his puppet inside. However, a few moments afterward, everyone saw Brynjal''s expression changing drastically before his eyes flickered as he closed them. And his expression only grew graver. "The area¡­. it changed," Brynjal was sweating harder than anyone now, his voice trembling. "T-The meadow is overgrown. The p-nts are big, and the boss¡­h-he is there in the middle." "Floating while sitting cross-legged, with his wooden staff beside him." "Fuck, fuck, fuck," Amir muttered. "What do we do now?" Maya asked as her expression was pale. "Boss," Marcus turned to Almond, his fists clenched. ''We can do it still!'' Everyone was looking at Almond. "We can''t do anything else," Almond frowned. "We can never leave unless we defeat that Heroic Spirit, so we have to do this." "We have less than ten minutes before the cycle ends," Lily informed, her expression grave. "D-Don''t tell me the Heroic Boss will also get stronger on the second cycle?!" Jemma stuttered, her eyes filled with fear. "Hell no!" "If we wait, then we''ll never defeat the boss during this month, and the Labyrinth will close after twelve days! What will happen then?" "We have to kill the boss who is prepared to receive us," Jian frowned. "There''s not much choice here. Let''s do it." "The fuck do you know about it?" Amir muttered. "I almost died on the previous floor." "That''s true, but¡­" "Fuck." "We have to do this, but the chance of dying inside is higher now¡­" "Goddamn it! It''s all because we had to show those three parties the goddamn heroic boss," Xavier frowned. Everyone was feeling fear. The stress was getting them, and panic was settling in. Seeing their status, those who hadn''t yet witnessed the power of a Heroic Boss were also affected. ''Darling,'' Lily looked at him. ''We have to do this. Calm them down first.'' "Calm down, everyone," Almond said as he took a deep breath andposed himself, his gaze turning sharp and bright. Almond pierced his Legendary golden sword on the ground, his aura exploding. "Five minutes. Listen to me and get ready. We are changing our strategy slightly on how we enter inside and make a move. Listen! We will do this! We are getting out of the Labyrinth today after defeating the Heroic Boss!" "And that''s final!" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!