《Reset: DPS to Support?!》


 Chapter 1: Battle For the Top

    Chapter 1: Battle For the Top


    Under the starry night skies, a young ck-haired man walked through the shimmering fields. His hands tightly gripped onto the hilt of his blue-ck sword as he stared at the surrounding area with a re and relentless look showing that he was ready for battle.


    His name?


    [ Shinto ]


    On the very top of the DPS foodchain. He who reigns on the leaderboard,


    Master of all damage-styled sses, of all weapons of war,


    With his excellent decision making and control,


    As well as his skills inbat.


    ...


    Quietly walking through the fields, the young man nced around his sides as he scrutinized the area. Momentster, a sudden crescent wave shot forward towards him from his right.


    "...!"


    Quickly noticing the waves, Shinto hurriedly held up his blue-ck sword that glimmered under the moonlit glow, sessfully fending off against the attack.


    "Who goes there?" he shouted out as he positioned himself in a draw-like position. He was ready to counter any attacks that came at him.


    A few seconds passed and nothing happened.


    There was no abnormality of sounds rustling about in the open air.


    Only the soft whistles of the wind could be heard blowing through the grass as well as the usual buzz from the bugs within the fields.


    ...


    Within the dead of the night, only a few seconds had passed, when suddenly, a man protruded out from the tall grass within the area. The man with his silver hair and arrogant eyes quickly held on his long sword as he shed des with Shinto.


    "Aha! You didn''t see thating now did cha?!" he smirked arrogantly.


    "Tsk..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he unleashed a pure white energy from his de, quickly pushing the silver-haired man back from force.


    As he pushed the man back, Shinto quickly retracted his sword as jumped back, swiftly going into a draw position again. In the next moment, he unsheathed his sword as he shined down a white horizontal ray over towards the silver-haired man.


    [ Lunar Sword Technique: Lunar Moon ]


    A technique derived from the moons, a powerful skill that debuffs the enemy of their defenses by 35% for 5 seconds whilst dealingrge burst damage towards them.


    ...


    Wasting no time as the ray enveloped the man, Shinto shot forward as he gashed at him. Just as he was nning on connecting a skill with his attack from earlier, a sudden thunderous p boomed towards Shinto.


    Not wanting to take the hit from the attack, Shinto hurriedly cancelled his skill as he swayed to the side, sessfully dodging the attack.


    "Tch! You thought you could follow up with an attack after you used Lunar Moon?!" the silver-man shouted out as he jumped forward, quickly hacking at Shinto over and over, "Well think again!"


    "You''re annoying, just leave me alone," Shinto said as he enveloped himself in a white aura.


    "No way! Todays the day I will win! So brace yourself!" the man roared as strips of lightning began surrounding his entire body.


    In the next second, the man quickly ced strength into his arms as he gripped the hilt of his long sword tightly. Swiftly, he sent a ray of lightning over towards Shinto, forcing him to jump back and dodge the iing attacks.


    "You''re always so persistent, it''s annoying," Shinto remarked as he swayed his body in the air, quickly avoiding the zaps of lightning running through towards him.


    "I will take the number one spot as the top DPS!" the man cried out as he sent a loud thundering p that pierced through Shinto.


    As the thundering waves shot towards Shinto, he quickly held up his de as he activated a skill.


    The sword within his hand enveloped itself within a tinge of light green aura. At that moment, Shinto shed through the ray as he jumped towards the man, quickly sending in a white pir over to him, quickly enveloping him in.


    Being enveloped by the white pir, the man surrounded himself with more lightning as he zapped forward to Shinto, and in a blink of an eye, he was sent up high into the sky.


    "Tch..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he hurriedly regained his bnce while in mid-air, moving his eyes over to the man covered in lightning, he saw that he was jumping towards him.


    Stabilizing himself in the air, Shinto positioned himself downwards as he looked into the man dead in the eye.


    The ID above the man''s head shone a bright green, [ Arceus ] the second-ced yer on the DPS leaderboard.


    The two collided their des with one another creating arge impact that blew over the fields.


    With a strong force, Shinto quickly ced all his strength into his muscles, forcibly pushing Arceus down. And with all his might, he sent him to the ground.


    "ARGHH!" Arceus screamed as he crashed into the ground.


    "...Better luck next time," Shinto said as he wielded his sword upwards. Soon after, he began to chant a few words while still in mid-air.


    As the chant ends, Shinto swiftly sent a ray of pure white light over towards Arceus. Quickly enveloping him in the light, he disappeared without a trace. He had turned into grey ash.


    [ System announcement: WINNER - Shinto! ]


    Shintonded on the ground as he looked over to the small crater where Arceus had been.


    "..."


    Shinto shook his head, sighing as he left the once beautiful fields.


    ...


    Teleporting over to town, Shinto looked over at his yer profile through a holographic interface menu in front of him.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 201


    Rank: 1st (Unified Rankings/DPS Leaderboard)


    ss: Lunar Swordsman


    -Stats-


    Strength: 3472 (+1212)


    Stamina: 2109 (+1134)


    Intelligence: 782 (+120)


    Agility: 3472 (+921)


    ...


    Shinto looked at his four main stats without ncing at the others when he suddenly received a whisper.


    "OI OI OI!"


    "I DEMAND A REMATCH!"


    "FIGHT ME!"


    Shinto read the whisper, as he thought to himself ''Of course, the person who lost time and time again would demand a rematch yet again...'' sighing helplessly as he replied.


    "...No thanks. I''ve had enough for the day."


    "What?! You had enough?! Excuses! Fight now!"


    "No thanks. I have a guild meeting after this, so I''m going to log out for a bit."


    "What hey don''t-"


    ...


    In the real world: Shinto, or his real name Hasegawa Zayden, awakened from his capsule. He sat in there for a few seconds as he got up from it.


    Stretching his arms and legs, he nced around his bedroom. A few posters on his wall rting to his favourite video games and shows, his ck sheet bed, his study desk and the capsule were seen within his eyes.


    "Sigh... Another day, another match won I guess?" Zayden said to himself while rubbing his eyes as he walked out of the room.


    Walking into the living hall, he was greeted by a girl, his sister, Hasegawa Jisa, "Good afternoon, Zay!"


    "Ah... Good afternoon, Jisa..." Zayden replied.


    "Hmm? You don''t look so happy, did you lose a match or something?" Jisa titled her head to the side.


    "Nah, it''s not that, I just feel rather bored."


    "Bored? Bored of Spiritual Warriors? How could you ever?" Jisa red at Zayden.


    "Well not bored per se, it''s getting quite repetitive with me having to constantly fight the same old people who want my cing... having to lead the team to victory and the like," Zaydenmented. "I just don''t find it ''enjoyable'' as much as I used to..."


    "Enjoyable as you used to? Hmm..." Jisa thought to herself, "Why don''t you try something new?"


    "Something new?" Zayden questioned.

 Chapter 2: Try Something New?

    Chapter 2: Try Something New?


    "Yeah, something new!" Jisa nodded her head.


    "Like what?" Zayden questioned.


    "Hmm... well, maybe try out a different style?" she pondered on the idea. "Or take a break from Spiritual Warriors?"


    "Take a break, huh? That would be nice, but I''ve got matches to run in-game," Zayden patted Jisa''s head. Soon after, he walked over to the kitchen area as he opened up the top cab, quickly taking out an instant noodle cup from it.


    "Eh? Instant noodles again?" Jisa red at Zayden with an annoyed look the moment she saw him walking over to the electric sk on the tabletop counter.


    "What''s wrong with it? I''ll be meeting up with my guildmatester in-game, so a quick meal is what I need!" he casually replied whilst pouring in hot water into the instant noodle cup.


    "Jeez! You call that a ''meal''?" she pouted.


    "Yeah? What else do you call it then?" Zayden raised his brow.


    "..." Jisa nkly stared at Zayden.


    "What?" he questioned.


    "Ugh, you know what whatever. You should eat some proper food once in a while you know!" Jisa said. "It''s unhealthy for you if you continue eating instant noodles all the time."


    "Yeah, yeah. I can''t help it alright? Just let me eat my instant noodles in peace..." Zayden said helplessly. "Maybe when I find the time, we could go out and eat for once."


    "You know I can cook right?" Jisa pouted. "You could always ask me to cook for you, y''know!"


    "Eh..." he shrugged.


    "...huh? What''s that reaction supposed to mean? Do you hate my cooking?!"


    "N-No, It''s not that..." Zayden hurriedly corrected himself. "It''s just that you don''t cook when I''m out of the game..."


    "Well, that''s cause you never asked!"


    "B-But, I did!"


    "Since when?"


    "...all those times when I asked you to cook for me at night but you refuse," he sighed.


    "That''s literally because you ask me to cook at one in the morning!"


    "...and yet you ask me why I only eat instant cup noodles."


    "That''s different. It''s noon right now! I could cook for you right now!" Jisa shouted.


    "Well, I can''t! I''m meeting up with guildmatester, so this meal will have to do."


    "...what do I do with you?" Jisa shook her head helplessly as she quickly left the living area.


    "Huh? Hey! Where are you going?"


    "To my room of course!" Jisa''s voice protruded through the hallways as a loud door m followed after.


    "Sigh... Jisa, Jisa..." Zayden shook his head as he turned towards Jisa''s locked door. ''Hmm... a different style huh? Maybe I should try a change of pace for once...''


    ...


    After a while of waiting for the noodles to be ready, Zayden quickly ate it and finished the dish. Soon after he did so, he made his way over to his room as he entered into his capsule, going into the game ''Spiritual Warriors''.


    The VRMMORPG game, Spiritual Warriors that was mixed with a variety of aspects from all genres was a very famous VR game made by Shuzien Company in Japan. Spread worldwide across the globe, the game was praised to be one of the best in the modern generation.


    With it''s smooth and advanced dynamics, its clever artificial intelligence of NPCs, the story-view of the world within the game, everything seemed like a second world, an alternate reality to the yers.


    Though, besides the MMORPG aspects of the game. Spiritual Warriors had a wider branch of gamey, having the very first concept of a VRMOBA game mode, named Crystality. The mode had a verypetitive environment, it''s own pro scene as well as an E-Sports league. Many yers who yed the game would also oftentimes y this game mode.


    This was the same for Zayden and his character ''Shinto''. The top of the DPS rankings, the unified rankings as well as the Swordsman ss, Shinto was a widely renowned character famous for his strong control in battle, his excellent battle strength and his dominance in PVP, especially in Crystality.


    He was at the peak of all yers. A mountain that was very hard to cross.


    This was Zayden.


    ...


    [ Logging into the game... ]


    [ yer ''Shinto'' hase online. ]


    Within the quiet town of Ramun, situated by the eastern coasts of the Kingdom of Zemul, spawned the yer ''Shinto''.


    The moment he came online, he received whispers from various people. Some greeting him while others had business with him.


    "Oh heya, Shinto! You''vee online again!" The 7th seat in the unified rankings, Crowelin, sent.


    "OI OI OI, YOU DARE COME ONLINE HUH?!" Arceus sent. "FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME!"


    "You ready for the meeting today?" The 5th seat in the unified rankings, Rie, sent.


    Shinto took a nce over to his whispers as he strolled through the quiet streets of Ramun, where no yer was in sight. If a yer was here, they would have flocked over to Shinto once they saw him.


    Why? He was a very famous person in-game. First ce in various rankings, the owner of many exclusive titles, one who held a high reputation and so on. Shinto was a figure everyone looked up to.


    "..."


    Shinto continued to stroll around the town as he read the whispers sent by many people. One by one, he slowly replied to them all except for a select few. Finally reaching the end of his messages.


    "Yeah. We''re meeting up in Erendak Castle as per usual, right?" he replied to Rie.


    "Yes. Are you far from there?" Rie replied back.


    "No, I''m not exactly far. I''m currently in Ramun right now."


    "Oh, good, good! Then I''ll see you there."


    Ending the whisper with Rie, Shinto quietly looked up to the bright blue sky.


    ''I guess I should make my way to Erendak now...'' he sighed inwardly. ''Don''t wanna get an earful from rie if I''mte...''


    Shinto walked on the stone pathways in town as he made his way out of it. Quickly, making his way over to the city of Erendak, where the castle resides.


    ...


    [ Location: Erendak, the City of Ancients ]


    The city of Erendak was the main base of operations for Shinto''s guild, Vain Blood, which was a verypetitive guild catered towards the MOBA scene.


    Although it was catered towards the MOBA scene, this game was still an MMORPG after all, thus, the guild members would also y through the game. With the fact that he had an immense amount of content, seemingly endless, one could never get enough of it. It was fun for everyone.


    This was especially true for the game''s story and the fact that the world view progresses via the choice of the yer''s. Their action means everything in the world.


    Though despite this, Shinto felt different.


    He couldn''t find as much fun doing quests nowadays versus back then.


    Maybe he got tired of the game? No.


    Then why?


    Why didn''t he find much fun anymore?


    At his current state, he could easily breeze through any content, PVE, raids and so on that was thrown at him. Anything at his level was a breeze. Thus, he couldn''t find a challenge.


    With his high damage, he the fact that he could solo just about anything at this point in the game.


    Shinto loved the game and its huge story and world view. Yet, he couldn''t find much fun breezing through existing content like it''s nothing.


    Even in the MOBA scene, he could destroy most opponents on the battlefield.


    What about the more challenging and difficult content? For Shinto, that wasn''t possible at all at this stage of the game.


    The worldview was required to advance in order for more difficult content to pop up. However, with Shinto being at the peak, he had to wait for the top 3% of the yers to catch up to him before anything happened. This was because difficult content required teamwork to fight.


    Even for an expert like Shinto, he still needed to y in teams to challenge difficult high-end content.


    What was the point of it all?


    ...


    Stepping foot into the city, Shinto swiftly equipped a hood on himself. Allowing himself to be hidden among the yers within the city. Quickly, he made way to the castle. Finally, reaching the entrance of the building.


    "Well then... I guess it''s time to go in." Greeted by the gates of the castle as well as the knights of Erandak who stood in front of it, Shinto wasted no time as he walked through the gate.

 Chapter 3: Guild Meeting

    Chapter 3: Guild Meeting


    Shinto stepped foot into Erendek Castle, the ce where the esteemed guild ''Vain Blood'', resided.


    The castle of Erendek built on the edge of the city is arge castle, home to the lord and leader of Vain Blood, Kaisus. A noble that holds the title of Duke in the kingdom of Zemul.


    Vain Blood isprised of 50 members, the maximum number a guild can have at level 5. Although they number 50 members, only a handful of them are core members within the Crystality scene, which consists of a total of 10 members.


    The first 5, who makes up the main team are:


    Shinto, The Main DPS.


    Hikari, The Main Support.


    Kaisus, The Main Tank.


    Rie, The Secondary Support


    Revelen, The Secondary DPS


    ...


    Upon entering the castle, Shinto''s vision was greeted by the elegantly decorated walls of the halls, and the banners of Vain Blood, which hung grandly from the rails of balconies which lined the interior. Members of Vain Blood strolled to and from, the castle a picture of bustling yer-activity, as opulent,vish red and purple carpets lined the floor of the castle, and portraits of the members of the guild were framed upon its walls.


    "Ah, Brother Shinto!" greeted a member of the guild, as he approached Shinto, "We''ve been awaiting your arrival!"


    "Hey Graven, it''s good to finally be back," Shinto sighed through his teeth.


    "Brother Shinto, Brother Shinto! I''ve finished this S-Ranked quest and got these awesome rewards!" another member boasted, his chest puffed out proudly and his nose turned to the sky.


    "Hah, good job Maxim! With those items, tackling your ss-change quests might finally be a reality!"


    A member approached Shinto congratting him,"Brother Shinto, congrattions on winning your match with Arceus!"


    "It wasn''t anything I couldn''t handle, but thanks nheless!"


    ...


    After the greetings, Shinto waved his farewell to them as he ascended the stairs to the second floor of the castle.


    Thuck Thuck Thuck...


    "Hehe~" resounded a voice from behind Shinto, "It''s always lively when you''re back in Erendek huh?"


    "Hmm?" Shinto turned around, to see long, silky, auburn hair which framed a bright smile on a face that resembled that of a saint.


    With her hands intertwined behind her back, she approached Shinto for a closer inspection.


    The bright green words that hovered in perfect stillness above her head, [Hikari], Shinto identified the woman in front of him as the main support of the guild.


    "Oh? Hikari? When did you get here?" Shinto inquired.


    "Hehe~ I was here for a while now, we''ve been waiting for you y''know!" Hikari eximed.


    "Ah? I''m thest one to arrive?"


    "Mhm, but don''t worry, it hasn''t started yet!", Hikari reassured, "Anyways, I heard you fought with Arceus earlier?"


    "Yep. Same old, same old." Shinto replied.


    "He is always so persistent for first ce huh?"


    "Indeed... It can get quite annoying at times with his constant arena invitations or sudden ambushes." Shintomented.


    "Well then, that just means that you have to give him a good, thorough beating one of these days!" Hikari chuckled.


    "As if I don''t already do that..." grumbled Shinto, as he red at Hikari.


    "Haha, in any case, shall we head to the meeting room now?"


    "Yeah, let''s go."


    The two continued ascending the stairs as they traversed the hallways, on their way towards the meeting room.


    As they entered the chamber where the meeting would be held, they noticed that the members of the main team were already seated, numbering all ten in total. The main team and the second team.


    "Oh finally arrived huh, Shinto?" A bulky man with the ID [ Wenzhou ] sneered at the two, as they walked into the room.


    "Great! Shinto''s here! Now can we finally get started already?" A short blonde male with the ID of [ Bunnix ] said impatiently.


    "Sorry foringte, I had some things to do earlier," Shinto said.


    "It''s fine, you''re right on time." Rie replied, "Anyways have a seat."


    Shinto nodded his head as he and Hikari walked towards the front seats of the long table to sit.


    "Alright then, since Shinto arrived, we can begin." Kaisus, the guild leader said, "So as you all may know this meeting is for us to discuss our uing match in Crystality against Ten Swords."


    "Uhuh, go on? What''s the strategy? What''s the teamposition?" Bunnix said impatiently.


    "Jeez stop being impatient," Revelen clicked his tongue.


    "I''m in a rush okay!" Bunnix said, "I want to get this over with!"


    "Alright alright, I''ll keep it short. So I''ll just go over the strategy. So since Ten Swords is known for their devious DPS oriented team..." Kaisus said as he began the meeting, while he spoke, Shinto sat there, though he wasn''t listening. He just stared nkly at Kaisus.


    ''Sigh... Same old stuff.'' He thought to himself, continuing to stare nkly, ''Maybe I should just listen to Jisa''s suggestion and try out something new, maybe that will get me back in gears...''


    ...


    "...And that will be it." Kaisus concluded his speech as he looked over to Shinto, "Shinto anything to say?"


    "..."


    "Shinto?" He asked again.


    "..."


    "Hello? Earth to Shinto?" Hikari waved her hand in front of Shinto.


    "Ah...! What was that?" Shinto blurted out as he hurriedly looked over to Kaisus.


    "I said if you were fine with taking the topne this time, Titus will definitely be at the top, so we need you to handle him with Hikari backing you up, do you have anyments about it?" Kaisus said.


    "Nothing. I''m fine with this cement." Shinto said wittingly as he got himself inposure.


    "Mhm. Good, then that''s it for the meeting."


    "Ahh! Finally done! Now I''m going, see ya!" Bunnix hurriedly got up as he rushed out, following behind him were the other members of the guild.


    As Shinto got up to leave, Kaisus suddenly called him over.


    "Hey, Shinto, can we talk for a bit?" Kaisus said.


    "Huh? Is there a problem?" Shinto looked over to Kaisus as he gave off an eerie look towards him.

 Chapter 4: Take a Break

    Chapter 4: Take a Break


    In the evergreen forest of Gaveln, hidden far from the ancient city of Erendek a figure rushes up towards multiple monsters as he shes through them.


    It was Shinto.


    Thuck Thuck Thuck...


    "Heeyah!" Shinto cried out as he activated a skill, Lunar Sword, cutting through the two man-eating nt monsters named ntresilk in his way.


    Activating the skill, more ntresilk appears from the bushes within the forest as they surround Shinto, quickly whipping their vines towards him for a pincer attack.


    Noticing that the vines wereing towards him, Shinto jumped back from the attack as gripped onto his blue-ck sword tightly, quickly turning around in a circle as he attacks all of the monsters which surrounds him.


    "Kiiikkk....!!!" The ntresilk screeched as they turned to grey ash.


    "..." Shinto looked over to where the monsters had turned into grey ash, as he sighed.


    ''I should probably head onto better hunting grounds than here...''


    ''The experience given here is getting low...''


    As he thought to himself he looked over to the east of the forest, frowning. ''Hmm... The east should have a few untouched high levelled hunting grounds, I should probably head there...''


    ''...''


    ''Though... Now that I''m free... There''s no rush now is there?''


    ...


    Previously...


    "Hey, Shinto, can we talk for a bit?" Kaisus said.


    "Huh? Is there a problem?" Shinto looked over to Kaisus as he gave off an eerie look towards him.


    "Well, I''ve been meaning to want to talk to you about some matters regarding you."


    "Matters about me?" Shinto red at Kaisus nkly unable to make up the meaning behind his words.


    "Right. It''s about you." Kaisus replied in a serious tone.


    "What about matters regarding me? Shinto asked still confused, giving kaisus a doubtful look.


    "Well... I''ve been meaning to ask you," Kaisus said, "Are you tired of the game as ofte?"


    "W-What...? Tired of the game? What do you mean?"


    The question that was said out of the blue made Shinto astonished. Why was he astonished? Well because Kaisus is Shinto''s best friend, they started the game together and built the guild from the ground up to what it is today.


    He should know that Shinto loves this game unconditionally very much, so why would he get tired of it?


    As Shinto put his mind to work, Kaisus replied back,


    "Well, you seem out of it as ofte... The recent matches you yed, I saw that you weren''t trying your best at all, although you still can beat them single-handedly," Kaisusmented, "I saw that you weren''t having much fun as before..."


    "A-Ah...?" Shinto stood there dumbfoundedly.


    "All I want to know is whether or not you''re tired of ying the game, or maybe you might need a break from it?" Kaisus looked at Shinto with seriousness in his eyes, "So I want to ask, do you want a break from the game? I feel as if you''re burned out."


    "W-What...? You know I can''t do that..." Shinto helplessly.


    "Yes, you can, I can switch you out of this uing match and future ones too if needed."


    "W-What...?!" Shinto cried out, "You know that will be terrible for the guild!"


    "No. It would not," Kaisus firmly stated "We''ve been relying on you for who knows how long? Taking up most of your gaming time with matches and arena invites from anyone from the unified rankings to see how ''much better they''ve be''"


    "..." Shinto looked at Kaisus, unable to make up a sentence.


    "You sacrificed yourself for us, right? You stagnated your own growth, not wanting to try out new content so that you won''t leave us behind isn''t it?"


    "..."


    "You can focus on content clearing if you want. No one would mind since in the first ce, this is an MMO is it not? No one waits for anyone, it''s an open world for everyone to explore." Kaisus said, "Isn''t that what you love? Content clearing more than Crystality?"


    "..."


    "What do you say?" Kaisus asked.


    "I... Don''t know." Shinto replied weakly, "I just feel rather empty."


    "Empty huh...? Being first is a burden in itself that no one besides the first can understand..." Kaisusmented, "But if you want you can just free yourself from it."


    "...And let Arceus throw a hand at my pride?"


    "Well if that''s what it takes to get yourself to good shape. I know you don''t want to leave this game, this guild, us... but I think it''s for the best."


    "A-Ah...?"


    "So... From today onwards, You will be free from all guild activities until youe back anew."


    "Kaisus...! You know I don''t clear advanced content because they''re just too hard..." Shinto hurriedly said, "It requires teams! So it''s only sensible I wait for you guys to catch up..."


    "That''s just an excuse is it not?" Kaisus raised a brow as he walked over towards the long table, cing his hand on it. "You can clear them just find with your character, the skills, the equipment and you."


    "..."


    "Don''t ruin your fun for the sake of us." Kaisus looked at Shinto, "Don''t force yourself to do this."


    "..."


    "So, that''s it. Now that you''re free, I''ll ask the guild members to not bother you anymore, if possible I''d like for you to just cut contact from us."


    "I-"


    "My decisions final, you can leave the guild if you want. Come back when you''re feeling up for it." Kaisus said as he lifted his hands off the table soon after he makes his way over to the door. "Anyways, this is goodbye, for now, I hope I get to see you smile again."


    "..."


    Kaisus leaves the meeting room, as he waved farewell to Shinto leaving him there standing speechless.


    ...


    [ Location: Gavelvn Height Mountain ]


    Thuck Thuck Thuck...


    Shinto walks on the rocky pathways of the cliff of Gaveln, as he made his way up towards the cliff.


    "Tsk... This mountain is always so annoying... It''s always so steep!" Shinto clicked his tongue, as he meticulously climbs the high mountains, making his way upwards.


    "...Why do I have to always climb this mountain when I have to go to the east of Galven... Ugh..." Shinto continuedining as he continued upwards.


    The mountains of Gaveln is one of the biggest mountains in the Kingdom of Zemul, mounting up to the height of 2,352 m. It is an area in which many sorts of unforetold stories reside, one of them was the story about the ancient ruins of Altric. Said to have stayed in the mountains in the primitive times.


    Although it was in primitive times... Stories said that they made many unbelievable artifacts of the ''Truth''. The truth of what? No one knows as the records have been burned.


    Many have tried to find out what it was but failed. No one could find the ancient ruins of Altric, many that went on an expedition to find this ce suffered a horrible death in the mountains from all sorts of disasters, the yers all couldn''t handle the extreme difficulty of the mountains.


    Then what about Shinto? Well; He ''couldn''t'' do it as well. Though as Kaisus had said, it was purely an excuse, he could do it. But it did require extreme meticulous nning to find the ancient ruins, it couldn''t be found purely by luck right?


    ...


    As Shinto made his way up the steep pathways stillining about this ce, stepping foot on the hard rocky grounds of the mountains, he continued forward.


    "Ugh..." Shinto abruptly stops as he looked in front of him, it was a narrow pathway that required one to push their body towards the mountain in order to cross it.


    "Sigh... Let''s just get this over with."


    Shinto made his way forward as he stepped onto the narrow pathway.


    One step... Two steps... Three steps...


    He continued making his way through on the narrow cliffs... As he stepped on it for the fourth time, the ground of where he ced his foot suddenly broke.


    ".....!!!"

 Chapter 5: The Fall

    Chapter 5: The Fall


    ".....!!!"


    Quickly as the ground that held his foot broke off, Shinto abruptly lost bnced as he swayed to the side.


    Shinto hastily tried to regain bnce, however, the loss of bnce was to abrupt, thus he fell just as he tried to get a gripped on himself.


    "Tch...!"


    Clicking his tongue, Shinto quickly pulled out his sword as he thrust it in towards the ledge of the mountains, allowing him to stop his fall.


    As he swayed left and right whilst gripping tightly onto his sword, Shinto turned his attention up towards the narrow cliff''s path as he scanned the area in order to see if there was any way he could get back up.


    Though... Looking at the situation he is in, the only way to sessfully get back up onto the pathways without falling is a movement skill that allows you to jump high up into the sky or a tform in between himself and the ledge.


    But he had neither of those options. Although he may have a leap movement skill, it isn''t high enough for him to be able to reach the ledge without any problems. He had to be precise in his calctions in order to get the right angle to jump up and barely reach the ledge.


    Finding only one option as he scanned the area above him, he averted his gaze downwards, where he sees the evergreen forest of Galevn, if he fell, it would result in instant death. Well without something to break his fall at least, but don''t count on it as the branches and leaves of the trees in the forest is extremely thorny, so it wouldn''t be able to save him from the fall.


    And sadly there weren''t any sources of water as far as he could see that he couldnd in.


    ''So it''s only that option...''


    He nced over to the top again and sighed. Quickly taking a deep breath as he calmed his mind.


    Soon after, he swiftly swayed himself to the left and to the right quickly gaining momentum as he focused his attention onto the ledge... He continued gaining the speed as he lets go onto the sword, quickly moving his body upwards.


    Just as he leapt, he hurriedly grabbed onto the sword''s hilt and pulled it out, then quickly activating a skill.


    [ Crescent Dawn Lv 7 ]


    A movement skill in which it allows the user to leap higher than normal whilst increasing the user''s speed by 20% and the damage dealt while in the sky by 25%.


    Activating the sky as he makes his way up, he sessfully held onto the ledge of the narrow path,


    "Phew..."


    Shinto let out a breath of relief as he stabilizes himself, putting force into his body as he moved it upwards in order to ce himself back onto the pathway.


    Though as he did that... a crack was heard.


    "S-Shit...!"


    Shinto cursed, btedly noticing the almost broken ledge and just as he was about to do something about, the ledge broke off.


    And thus... Shinto dropped in one fell swoop.


    In the situation he''s in, it was a lost cause to try to save himself. He couldn''t fly nor did he had the capabilities or utility needed to be able to magically save himself from the fall.


    There was nothing he could do about this. All he could do was await death''s door.


    ''How long was it since I died, two years ago in-game time?'' He closed his eyes as he thought to himself while bracing himself for the hands of death.


    ...


    For what seems to be an eternity of a wait for death, Shinto suddenly heard a loud noise, soon following after, he felt as if gravity is pulling him down.


    ''...What?''


    Feeling a sensation chilling embrace that surrounds his body, Shinto opened his eyes, to see the body of water which surrounded him. He was underwater.


    ''W-What...? I''m underwater...?''


    Shinto thought to himself, how could there be a body of water here? Is he disillusioning? Thest time he checked, there wasn''t anything rted to water below him!


    Feeling very confused and doubtful, he nced over to the top, to see a shining ambience of light which seeps into the body of water and not wanting to stay under here anymore, he stabilized himself as he swam up towards the ray of light that shone towards this ce.


    He continued swimming up, finally reaching to the surface, where he was greeted by the bright sun. He felt awestruck at the sight of the sun as if it had been a long time since he saw it. But all of this happened in a matter of minutes. To Shinto however, it felt like forever.


    Staring at the sun for a short while, he averted his gaze away as he quickly took a nce around his surroundings.


    His surroundings... It was very unfamiliar. Shinto hurriedly scanned the area to figure out where he is, though recalling his memories, he never seen this part of the forest before.


    The evergreen forest of Gaveln? He wasn''t in it. Reminiscence of the thorny trees of the forest was surrounding the ce, but that''s all he could recognize about the forest, everything else was the unknown to him.


    The body of water which he was in, was what seemed to be ake of some sort from what he could tell.


    ''...Ake?'' he thought to himself. ''I''ve never seen anything like this here in Galven...'' he continued scanning the area, then he saw somethingAn entrance to a cavern of some sort, with many strange obelisks at its front, caught his eyes.


    "What...? A cavern...?"


    Bewildered at the sight, he swam over towardsnd, as he made his way over to the entrance of the cavern.


    The cavern''s entrance, with four obelisks standing at it''s front and a pir of some sort at the middle of them, it was like a reminiscence of an ancient ruin, with moss covering each of these structures.


    "Could this be a dungeon?"


    Shinto felt a thrill in his heart, excitement. It''s been a while since hest felt this feeling, he smiled as he quickly made his over towards the cavern''s entrance.


    Stepping foot onto the stone grounds... He received a sudden alert in his system logs.


    [ Congrattions! You are the first yer to have discovered ''The Caverns of Altric'' ]

 Chapter 6: Hidden Away

    Chapter 6: Hidden Away


    [ Congrattions! You are the first yer to have discovered ''The Caverns of Altric'' ]


    [ You have received area discovery buffs! - Experience gained within will be increased by 50%. - Drop Rates from monsters within are doubled. ]


    [ The area discovery rewards willst for 7 days before expiring! ]


    "...!"


    Shinto checked his notifications with a shocked expression, though not to the discovery buff given to him for discovering the area, he was no stranger to it. But it was the name of the area that made him shocked, ''The Caverns of Altric''.


    "The Caverns of Altric...?" His eyes widen in astonishment, quickly he tried to recall in his memories where he had heard the familiar words before.


    "Ah...!"


    Lightning struck his mind as he finally remembered why it was so familiar, the ruins of Altric, said to have been built long ago within the mountains.


    "The ruins of Altric... Hah... This is unbelievable." Shinto sucked in a deep breath at the thought of this discovery, "Altric... If I recall, it''s the one with the artifacts of truth..."


    Shinto quickly looked over to his surrounding area, looking at the thorny trees.


    "So... The reason why no one found it was because it was well hidden?" He guessed, "No no, that''s not it. There''s a bigke here..." he continued to ponder on the idea as he finally came to a conclusion "A barrier that makes this entire ce invisible, maybe?"


    Shinto''s eyes grew with excitement as he hurriedly walked closer to the entrance, taking a look at the ancient site. The obelisk stained with ck and mosses and a stone pir or some sort at the middle of it, that seemed to be giving an ambience of a cold blue hue around it.


    Curious, Shinto walked up towards the stone pir, a monolith. Quickly after approaching it as he observed it.


    Besides the ambient of a cold gleam around it, the monolith had some writings on it,


    { To The ''Overseer'', }


    { Gl gsb lu xlnv rmgl gsv kzgsh lu Zogirx. Dv dvoxlnv blf, levihvvi, uli blf, droo yv trevm z girzo. Z girzo lu dligsrmvhh rm liwvi gl urmw gsv nvzmrmt lu ''Gifgs'' Ziv blf zyov gl wl rg? Dv droo hvv levihvvi, dv droo hvv. }


    { ''Shift'' to the end to find ''meaning'' }


    "...''Shift'' to the end to find the ''meaning''?" Shinto repeated to himself as he analyzed the words, trying to make up the connotations behind the gibberish he sees on the monolith.


    "Shift... Shift..." He repeated the words over and over to see if he could find the intention behind it. "What does it mean?"


    Still thinking hard on how to crack the code, he turned his head over to the right side of the monolith, ncing over at the two mossed ck obelisk.


    "Maybe, the obelisks will have more hints?"


    Moving away from the monolith, Shinto walked over to one of the two obelisks, putting his hand on it as he brushes away the moss.


    There he sees a mural on it depicting that of what seemed to be a swordsman enshrouded with many colours representing many elements.


    There are many elements within Spiritual Warriors, although there are many, there are only seven core elements within the game, fire, water, earth, wind, thunder, light and dark. These seven core elements are then split into many sub-categories, sound, life, death and the like.


    "An Elementalist swordsman...?" Shinto raised his brow, as he suddenly received a notification,


    [ You have analyzed 1 out of the 10 obelisks of ''???''! ]


    "...?" Shinto looked at his notification with a confused expression.


    ''Obelisks of what?''


    Raising his brows, he looked over to the other obelisk as he headed over there, just like the first obelisk, it was another mural however this time it was depicting that of a magician, wielding a book as a blue pir shone around him. The book unleashed many sorts of cantations as it moves around around the figure within the mural.


    "...This time a magician?"


    ncing over towards his system log to see it being updated to 2/10, he quickly averted his gaze away from it as he looked over the other two obelisks on the other side, he walked over to them quickly looking at the murals of them.


    The third obelisk was a mural was depicting that of a person, divided within light and darkness as shadows shes within the divine light shone within the picture. The person stood in between as if he''s holding on onto a single rope.


    The fourth obelisk was a mural that showed a huntress shooting countless arrows onto her enemies, with what seemed to be high efficiency in her shots, she hits the enemy without effort.


    Looking at the fourth andst obelisk, Shinto suddenly received a notification different from thest three.


    [ Notification has been updated! ]


    [ You have analyzed 4 out of the 10 obelisks of ''Gifgs''! ]


    "What...? So instead of the question marks, it is now that bizarre words?"


    "Just what could it mean?"


    Shinto was deep in thought, still unable to uncover the meaning behind the gibberish on the monolith.


    "..."


    Looking up, he moved his head over towards the entrance of the cavern.


    "Maybe the answers will be found there."


    Shinto took a step forward as he headed over to the entrance quickly he looked into the cavern''s entrance, seeing that it was dark, incredibly dark. The light from the outside seemed to not be seeping into the cavern, not one bit.


    "Tsk... I don''t have any light sources on me..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he looked at his inventory.


    "Should have prepared it had I known I was going to explore a cavern..."


    "Though, it is quite weird that no light is seeping... Could it be a force that prevents it?"


    Shinto stared into the cavern as he took a deep breath, calming his mind.


    "Well then... Whatever it may be," Shinto smirked, "Let''s head in!"


    Impatiently and excitedly, Shinto walked into the cavern. Stepping foot into the cave, a loud bang was heard behind him.


    "...!"


    Quickly looking back, he sees the entrance to the cavern, blocked off by what seems to be a stone gate and just as swiftly as the entrance closed, he received a system notification.


    [ You have entered the instance dungeon ''Caverns of Altric'', all outsidemunication is blocked. ]


    [ You may not leave until the instance is done or you die in the dungeon. ]


    "Hoh?"

 Chapter 7: Deep Into the Caverns

    Chapter 7: Deep Into the Caverns


    [ You have entered the instance dungeon ''Caverns of Altric'', all outsidemunication is blocked. ]


    [ You may not leave until the instance is done or you die in the dungeon. ]


    Reading the notifications given by the system, Shinto''s eyes shone with excitement. It''s been a while since he went into an instance dungeon, but even then it would be a dungeon that had done before. Why go into an instance dungeon he went before? It would be to help out his friends or to grind a piece of equipment that has terrible drop rates, Shinto isn''t really known to have good luck in rates...


    The entire cavern was incredibly dark now with the stone gates closing off the outside world. Shinto looked around the area, trying to adjust to the dark, as he noticed petroglyph on the stone gates, with symbols of the core elements on it and at the epicentre of this, is a question mark.


    "Petroglyphs of the elements?" He narrowed his eyes in order to focus on the petroglyphs engraved on the stone gates, quickly he noticed small letters on each of the element''s symbols. Just like the previous monolith, it was written in anguage that he could not understand.


    Beside the Fire symbol {Urizm}, the Water symbol {Zjfzm}, the Earth symbol {Vgsiz}, the Thunder symbol {Gsfmaz}, the Wind smbol {Zvil}, the Light symbol {Hkrirg} andstly, the Dark symbol {Elrw}.


    "Just what kind ofnguage is this?" Shinto questioned as he averted his gaze over to the epicentre of the petroglyphs, a question mark. ''Gifgs''.


    "The same words as from the monolith and the log..."


    "Just what does it mean?"


    Thinking to himself Shinto shook his head as he quickly turned around, looking deep into the cavern, "I shouldn''t try and analyzed this right now, there''s still this dungeon to be explored first."


    Shinto took a step forward, as he headed into the cavernyers, voided in darkness, he could make do with his vision now adjusted in the dark.


    Walking ahead in this endless darkness, he sees a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, Shinto fastens his pace whilst being on high alert. Who knows what monsters might jump at him in the darkness?


    Reaching the end of the tunnel, he sees radiant blue light, giving the same feeling like the one from the monolith. As he entered the area, he noticed the ce splitting off into two pathways, though locked by a gate, and at the middle of the area was the same monolith.


    "...?"


    Shinto made his way over to the monolith, the monolith gave the same blue hue like the one at the entrance, this is obviously where the light ising from. Though who knew it would be this bright? Or maybe it was just because the cavern was too dark and any source of light would be bright in this endless darkness.


    Looking at the monolith, the words on it were written in the samenguage as the one on the petroglyphs and on the monolith from the outside.


    {Girzo lu Urizm}


    {Uli lmxv gsviv dzh z hglib lu z sfmgivhh urtsgrmt ztzrmhg gsv uoznvh lu hkrirgfz, hsv dsl szh yvvm yvhgldvw fklm gsv yovhhrmt lm gsv ''sfmgiz'' hvzovw zdzb z yvzhg xliifkgvw yb uoznvh, ''Ivuira''.}


    {Touch the monolith to begin.}


    Reading the monolith, he saw a familiar word he had seen earlier ''Urizm'' "The word beside the fire symbol... So does mean whatever thing rted to this monolith is of fire?"


    Trying to connect the dots he sighed, "So if I touch this monolith... Something will begin?", Shinto looked over to the two pathways, blocked off by a gate.


    "Hmm... Maybe it will open the gate?" Shinto shrugged "Well, let''s see what this does."


    Moving his hand over to the monolith, upon making contact with the monolith the blue hue suddenly turned into a red, zing hot hue. Looking at the hue felt as if you''re in a high-temperature room.


    "WHO HAS AWAKEN ME?" A loud roar was heard from above Shinto.


    [ Devourer of mes, Refrinz has awoken! ]


    [ He who burns all, has given all yers in the field a permanent status ailment: Eternal Burn, all yers will lose 30 HP every second. ]


    [ With the presence of Efrinz''s hellfire, anyone in range of 400 meters near him will have their Fire RES and DEF lowered by 50% and 25% respectively! ]


    "Refrinz...?!" Shinto hurriedly looked up, as he sees arge beast with mes protruding on its dark horns, it''s dark red skin with its ID glimmering with orange [Refrinz].


    In the books of legend, Refrinz was a beast of the past age, he who was devoured by the mes of corruption. With his mes zing through all, his presence itself melts away the lifeforms near him, he was a force to be reckoned with, he who wished for humanity''s upbringing of destruction.


    Refrinz nced over to Shinto who looked like an ant from above as he sneered at him "You? HAHA! You think you can try against me?!" he smirked, "You foolish human!"


    Shinto stood there dumbstruck at the sight of Refrinz, ''If we''re following the games story view here... Wasn''t Refrinz supposed to be sealed away?''


    A long time ago as the past age came to an end, a huntress fought with Refrinz as he caused destruction to thend, quickly winning and then sealing him away. From the battle, the huntress became a legend praised by all.


    Still staring dumbly at Shinto, Refrinz quickly huffed, sucking in the air in the area, as he quickly blew a breath of ze from his mouth over to Shinto.


    "...!" Seeing that the breath asing right at him, Shinto hastily rolled over to the side as he took out his blue-ck sword [Kurogane].


    ''Whatever...! Let''s not think of this right now, I''m going to die if I don''t focus!'' Shinto thought to himself as he quickly went into a draw position, taking a breath as he calms himself. Soon after, Shinto leapt using Crescent Dawn as he quickly unsheaths his sword.


    White light enveloped his sword as he unsheathes it, swiftly aiming towards to Refrinz,


    [ Lunar Moon Technique: Tidal Moon Lv 6 ]


    A technique derived from the moons in which the user sends a powerful attack over to the enemy, resulting in arge burst of damage that lowers the enemy''s Light RES by 20% for 1 minute and buffs the user''s strength by 45% for 5 minutes.


    Sending over the skill attack towards Refrinz, he connected it with another attack [Moonlight Evest], a skill in which it does 2000% of Shinto''s strength to the enemy.


    [ You have dealt 29,817 damage to Refrinz! ]


    Connecting to the attack as it sessfully hit the target, skimming over 1/3 of Refrinz''s health.


    "...!"


    Shinto looked at the HP Bar below Refrinz''s ID surprised. He was shocked to see he rid 1/3 of Refrinz''s HP in just two attacks. Dealing only 29,817 damage.


    ''Isn''t he a boss monster why does he have so little health?'' Shinto thought to himself, though he couldn''t think much as Refrinz quickly unleashes a pir of hellfire around him.


    Still, in mid-air, Shinto backflipped to avoid the hellfire that was sent towards him, quickly he unleashed another attack as green waves protruded from his sword to Refrinz.


    [ Lunar Sword Technique: Moonlit Wave ]


    A technique derived for the moons, under the moonlit nights the user sends 10 waves after waves of moonlight towards the enemy dealing 200% damage each.


    [ You have dealt 4,921 damage to Refrinz! ]


    [ You have dealt 4,921 damage to Refrinz! ]


    [ You have dealt 4,921 damage to Refrinz! ]


    ...


    Wave after wave continuously hit Refrinz, though a few had missed.


    Just as the attack finished, Refrinz roared, "You annoying little ant think you could attack me?!" Refrinz once again unleashed pir of hellfire onto Shinto, then following after he created zing orange orbs around which he sent flying over to Shinto.


    "...!" Meticulously dodging the hellfire pirs, he wasn''t prepared for the zing orbs as he was hit by one of them forcibly pushing him to the ground.


    "Argh...!"


    [ You have received 7,567 damage! ]


    Shinto quickly got up as he looked at his HP in searing pain from the burn that followed after the attack, just from this one attack Refrinz dealt 1/3 of his HP?


    ''Tch... The damage from this burn is too big...''


    Receiving 1,092 damage over 5 seconds, that was too much! Adding up with 30 damage every second from the debuffs which Refrinz give, he would be dead in no time if he isn''t careful.


    Beads of sweat dropped from Shinto''s forehead from the rising temperature in the room, as he looked at Refrinz, looking at his HP Bar that is yellow now.


    ''Just a few more attacks and then we are done...''


    "Haha fool! You can''t kill me!" Refrinz shouted as he continued to send attack after attack onto Shinto, quickly forcing him to move about the field as he meticulously calcted where the attacks would hit in order to avoid the attacks.


    As the first wave of attack came to an end, Refrinz started a second wave almost immediately after,


    "Tch..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he continued moving about sending a few crescent wave attacks here and there towards Refrinz in the sky while he moved, slowly witting down his HP.


    Just as the second wave ended, Refrinz prepared for a second wave but just as he was preparing, Shinto stopped in ce within that interval as he went into a draw position. Quickly sending out an attack [Lunar Moon] towards Refrinz.


    The moment [Lunar Moon] was sent towards Refrinz, Shinto leapt forward as he connected another attack, [Crescent Light], which protrudes white pirs of magic onto the enemy.


    Those two attacks dealt 20921 damage in one go, which was what was needed in order to end Refrinz.


    "ARGHHHHH!!" Refrinz screamed, as he slowly turned into grey ash. Though just before he disappearedpletely he said his dying wish, "I WILL BE BACK! CURSE YOU HUMAN!"


    The beast disappeared, as Shinto dropped to the ground, tired. While on the ground, he turned his gaze over to the system log.

 Chapter 8: Questions

    Chapter 8: Questions


    Dropping down to the ground as heid there, tired. He averted his gaze from the ceiling over to his quest rewards.


    [ You have defeated the weakened vision of Devourer of mes, Refrinz! ]


    [ You have obtained ''Trial of Altric Key #1'' ]


    [ You have obtained ''Torn ??? Page Piece'' ]


    [ You have defeated the ''first'' trial, by cing the key into one of two gates, you will proceed to the next trial. ]


    "...?" Reading over the rewards that Shinto fixed on the words ''weakened''.


    ''So no wonder he had so little HP... He was ''weakened''...'' Shinto shuddered at the thought of the fully powered Refrinz. The damage he did to Shinto when he was weakened was already high, scrapping off 1/3 of his HP. What if it was when he was at his peaked? Would that have been an instant death at this stage of the game if he went up against Refrinz?


    Shinto shook his head as he got rid of the thought, soon after he touched on another topic, ''Though weakened, he should be at least of a level of a raid boss right?'' He locked his gaze over to the words on the text.


    ''vision''


    ''Does this have something to do with why it has so less HP as well?''


    Shinto''s eyes narrowed as he continued his trail of thoughts till he diverted his attention over to the items he had gotten from defeating the weakened Refrinz, ''Trial of Altric Key #1'' and ''Lost ??? Page Piece'' quickly checking the details of the two items.


    [ Trial of Altric Key #1 ]


    Rarity: Uknown


    The key to the trials of Altric, which path shall thy take, for you shall choose the pathid out for you. Whichever path you choose shall determine your knowledge of ''gifgs''


    Effects: Opens a gate within the Caverns of Altric


    Condition(s) to use: Clear Girzo lu Urizm


    ...


    [ Torn ??? Page Piece ]


    A piece of a page from a book that has been lost in legends. Collect all 7 pieces to obtain a single page.


    *Something will ur when all 7 pieces have beenbined into a single page.


    ...


    Reading over the details of the items he had gotten, his eyes moved over towards the two pathways locked by the gates.


    "So I can advance further the dungeon using this key... But I can only choose a single path huh?" He scanned the area, now filled with burning mes from the fight earlier. "I should hurry up and decide which gate to open... It''s getting incredibly hot in here."


    Shinto hurriedly pulled himself up as he looked around the devasted area covered in hellfire, "Even after Refrinz has fallen, his hellfire stillsts?", he scanned the area as he looked for an object that seemed to be missing, "Where''s the monolith?"


    The monolith that was in the middle of the room was gone. Where is it? He was paying attention to the fight that he didn''t realize it disappeared out of thin air, no fragments or anything to say it was that it was broken.


    The original blue gleam around the area was now red, hot in mes. Could the monolith have been broken down from the fight and then burnt to a crisp by the me? That''s the only logical exnation. The monolith couldn''t possibly just up and disappeared like that right?


    Shinto thought to himself as he continued scanning the area. Besides the disappearance of the monolith, nothing else changed, well besides the rising temperature in the room from the heat.


    After looking around for a bit, Shinto walked up towards one of the gates, the left pathway, "Well... I''ll leave the questions forter, let''s advance."


    Though, just as he took a step towards the gate, a sudden rumble erupted from around him.


    "...!"


    In a spur moment, the mes grew aggressive. It spun around the room


    "What the...?!"


    Shinto frantically panicked from the eruption as he took his sword out prepared for a sudden attack that coulde at any time.


    The mes grew more aggressive as it continued spinning around the room, just as its temperature reached the peak, the mes stopped.


    In the middle of the mes, was an obelisk. Like the one from the entrance, though it was dyed crimson red that gave off a fiery hue.


    [ The mes have dispersed. The obelisk of ''Gifgs'' has been revealed. ]


    Shinto read the words in front of him as he looked over to the obelisk. This was the fifth one he has now encountered. Taking a breather now as the temperature of the room cools down, he walked over to it as he observed it.


    The fifth obelisk had a mural depicting that of a cksmith, ironing through steel as he created a weapon, a weapon of perfection? Who knows. He gave it his all in order to create the weapon.


    ''So it''s a cksmith now...? Just what is the connection?''


    Thinking to himself, he was alerted as a new system notification appeared in front of him.


    [ You have analyzed 5 out of the 10 obelisks of ''Gifgs''! ]


    Shinto still had a confused look as he tried to connect two and two, though he couldn''t. An Elementalist, a Magician, a Huntress, a Person Divided between Dark and Light and a cksmith? The only thing he could connect to is the legends of each one, the legend of the dancer of elementals, the legendary great magician who devoted his life learning magic, a huntress with potent uracy and eyes of a tiger and the cksmith who created many works.


    These were all famous legends, each having their own story in the game''s world view, but... What does it have to do with Altric? The meaning of ''Truth''?


    Shinto shook his head as he thought of the third obelisk, a man divided between dark and light, just what could it mean? There were no records of such things, a fallen angel maybe? But what would a demon have to do with this?


    So many questions, yet no answers.


    It was useless to think of this right now. Shinto looked over towards the left gate as he walked towards it, taking out the key from his inventory as he inserted it into the keyhole.


    [ You have opened the gates to ''Girzo lu Zjfzm'' ]


    "Girzo lu Zijfazm...? So... It''s rted to water?"


    Shinto took a deep breath calming his many, getting rid of all his doubts in his head, as he stepped foot through the gates.

 Chapter 9: Trials

    Chapter 9: Trials


    Stepping into the gates to ''Girzo lu Zjfzm'', Shinto felt a cold sensation around him as the gates to the previous area closes.


    [ ''Girzo lu Zjfzm'' will now begin. ]


    [ Wave 1/3 ]


    [ Monsters will be spawning in 10... ]


    [ Monsters will be spawning in 9... ]


    "...!"


    Alerted by the system, Shinto quickly took out his sword has he entered into a battle position, skimming his eyes through the new area. It was filled with blizzards of ice within the room, the cold air that protrudes from the icicles on the ice was extremely chilly.


    [ Monsters will be spawning in 8... ]


    [ Monsters will be spawning in 7... ]


    [ Monsters will be spawning in 6... ]


    Analyzing and scanning the fields of the area, Shinto quickly moved his gaze over to his skill list, with the battle earlier, most of his skills have gone on cooldown and with how high some of the cooldowns on his skills are, he won''t be able to use them. But he could handle the battle with what he had at hand so long as it isn''t a raid boss and thankfully it isn''t the case with it appearing to be a wave battle, wherein one battles waves of monsters till the end.


    As the timer continued to go down, Shinto heightens his senses as he prepared to cleanly sweep through the wave battle so he can quickly move on.


    The time went down from... 5... 4... 3...


    [ Monsters will be spawning in 2... ]


    [ Monsters will be spawning in 1... ]


    [ Wave Battle Commences! You have 10 minutes toplete Wave One, 0/35 Monsters Killed ]


    As the wavemenced, a flurry of the cold frigid air blew at him, as suddenly attacks poured towards Shinto all at the same time. From each angle, an icicle spike protruded towards him whilst blizzard-like storms surround him to prevent him from escaping.


    "W-Wow...! They don''t give you a moment of time to react huh?!" Shinto said excitedly as he spun in a circr arc his sword, quickly blowing away the blizzard-like storms that surrounded him.


    As he did that, Shinto quickly dodged the icicle spikes aimed at him as he hurriedly rushes up towards where the spikes had been shot from. The monsters came into view, as he sees multiple [Frozink Slugs] on top of the ice, as they prepared to send more attacks towards him.


    Just as they were about to send the attacks, Shinto closes in on them as he unleashes waves of green light towards the slugs, quickly enveloping them in it.


    [ Lunar Sword Technique: Moonlit Wave ]


    As the slugs were knocked back, Shinto leaps forward as he activates another skill: [Light Ascension] in which he sends a pir of light down towards an area that envelops all enemies within it.


    Quickly as he did so, the four slugs turned to grey-ash, having no time for a breather, Shinto jumps back immediately after sending out Light Ascension as hurricanes of frigid cold wind swiftly shreds the area of where he was originally at.


    ncing over to where the attack was casted from, he sees frozen golems, [Frozink Knights] standing there as they chanted a spell, not wanting to waste any time, Shinto dived headfirst towards them as he protrudes another light attack, [Lunar Flurry] sessfully interrupting the golems attack all in one go.


    With his skills on cooldown now, Shinto closed in on the distance between himself and the golems as he shes through them, sessfully activating his passive.


    [ Swift-Swords Lv 6 ]


    When attacking an enemy with a basic attack, 50% chance of Increasing STR/SPD by 15% for 30 seconds, when you continuously activate this passive, the stat boost will continue to stack up to a maximum of 100%, the duration will reset every time this passive is reactivated.


    Swift-swords, unlocked at level 100 for swordsman is a nice passive that aids the user in battle when they are up against many monsters. Allowing for a high chance of pring the skill due to having many opportunities to continuously strike at the monster without stopping. Compared to when fighting against a boss where you won''t be able to attack as much due to having to manoeuvre around the battlefield in order to dodge the iing attacks from the bosses.


    Though it may be a good passive, sometimes it can be a horrible one too, 50% may seem like a good chance, but... when putting it into probability, 50 out of 100 times will allow one to sessfully activate it which may seem good on paper, but in theory, the chances are brutal when ites to wanting it to activate but it just doesn''t, thus ruining the stacks.


    Luckily for Shinto who sometimes faced this problem, all of his attacks had activated the passive, wasdy luck with him? Who knows. All he knew was that he was extremely grateful for the activation of the passive consecutively.


    Shinto continued to ughter through the countless monsters aggroed onto him as it was proved no difficult. Sessfully finishing wave one.


    [ You havepleted Wave One! ]


    [ Wave Two will now begin. ]


    [ Wave Battle Commences! You have 20 minutes toplete Wave Two, 0/50 Monsters Killed ]


    "Tch..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he didn''t get any breather whatsoever as the next wave immediately started. Much like the first wave, Shinto was bombarded with attacks, though he managed to sessfully dodge them all and finish up the wave.


    Like how wave two started, wave three was no different, there wasn''t any room to take a break as more monsters jumped at him and barraged him with attacks. Besides the tiredness and fatigue, he felt from battling through countless monsters, it wasn''t all that difficult, sessfully ending the wave and the trial as well.


    As he killed the final monster from the wave, he looked over to his system logs.


    [ You have cleared the final wave! ]


    [ You have obtained ''Torn ??? Page Piece'' ]


    [ You have defeated the ''second'' trial on the path of Zjfzm, you may now proceed onwards to the next trial! ]


    A rumble was felt around Shinto as he quickly looked towards the middle of the room, where an obelisk began to take form from the broken ice from the aftermath of the battle.


    [ The frost has formed, The obelisk of ''Gifgs'' has been revealed. ]


    "So it seems that every room has an obelisk..."


    He said as he walked up towards the icy-like obelisk to observe it. The sixth obelisk had a mural, depicting that of a lonely child, cursed with eternal winter. She who wields the power of ice is branded a monster and ran off into a frozen cavern, much like where Shinto is at.


    ''A child of ice...?''


    Shinto thought to himself, there was a legend about a cursed child that excels in the arts of eternal winter, the ''Frozen Nova''.


    ''No matter how many clues I get so far... It doesn''t make sense.''


    Moving his head up, he sees a passageway where he could go through now, earlier he couldn''t see it, maybe it was due to him just skimming through the area that he didn''t notice or perhaps ice blocked the entrance and it only melted down after the wave ended. Maybe it was this as he couldn''t possibly have missed such a big entrance.


    Entering the passageway, the next trial began, ''Girzo lu Gsfmaz''.


    This trial didn''t have any battles however, it required to meticulously dodge through countless attacks from above. What were there? Streaks of lightning.


    The fog-filled chamber that hinders ones ability to see while random lightning strikes down to the ground from above proved quite difficult for Shinto to dodge all the attacks, he had to rely on his senses of hearing and instincts.


    In Spiritual Warriors, all senses are exactly like how it felt in real life: taste, touch, hearing, smell and sight. The feeling almost felt surreal as if it was not a VRMMO, though of course there were some key differences between reality and in-game. For example, the feeling of pain is reduced in the game, you don''t expect to feel the pain of getting stabbed by a knife-like in real life do you? That would be masochistic.


    Although it was difficult for Shinto, he managed to pass the trial receiving the rewards from it.


    [ You have sessfully avoided the strikes of thunder! ]


    [ You have obtained ''Torn ??? Page Piece'' ]


    [ You have cleared the ''third'' trial on the path of Gsfmaz, you may now proceed onwards to the next trial! ]


    Reaching the end of the foggy chamber, what waited for him was a stone gate as well as a monolith and a te-shaped obelisk.


    "Oh...? A monolith?"


    Curious that there was a monolith here unlike in the previous room, he took a step forward to check it, however before doing that he went ahead and checked on the obelisk.


    The seventh obelisk was about a chivalrous knight, with a thundering might and pride, as he slew through and defended against his enemies, defending those who he vowed to protect.


    ''A chivalrous knight, this huh...?''


    There was a story about a knight who sworn his loyalty to the king, putting his life on the line in order to follow his code of honour, to serve and protect, putting loyalty over doubts, he who follows a chivalrous path.


    An Elementalist, a Magician, a Person Divided between Dark and Light, a Huntress, a cksmith, a Cursed Child and a Knight. What could all this mean? Shinto still couldn''t connect the dots. There were still three more obelisks left to check out, maybe if he checked it all out the bigger picture wille.


    Thinking to himself for a bit, Shinto finally headed towards the monolith as he checked on it, though just as he was about to take a look, he received a sudden system notification: A quest.

 Chapter 10: Girzo lu Elrw (1)

    Chapter 10: Girzo lu Elrw (1)


    [ Girzo lu Elrw ]


    Difficulty: SSS


    For you; Who have cleared the past trials. Shall be given a test of ''worthiness''. Thy who explored this cave of Altric shall undergo the finale of the seer, to see if you are worthy of the ''truth''.


    Quest Clear Condition: Clear Girzo lu Elrw without fail.


    Quest Reward: ???


    Quest Failure: ???


    ...


    Reading over the quest details, Shinto was taken aback, but the sheer difficulty of the quest. ''SSS'', the highest difficulty in the game.


    ''An SSS difficulty quest...? It''s been a while since I''ve got those...''


    As the highest difficulty in the game, SSS Quests are very rare, with it offering high risks and high return, only a handful of yers get these quests.


    ''Girzo lu Ew...'' Shinto thought to himself, ''If I remember correctly, Ew... is rted to dark...?'' his eyes moved towards the stone gate in front of him as he analyzed it.


    The gate had two sides, the right being the darkness of dusk whilst the left being the divinity of dawn. When looking at the big picture: It seemed as if the two sides were split between.


    "Could this be rted to the obelisk from earlier? The one rting to the person split between dark and light?"


    Shinto took a deep breath calming his mind. He couldn''t be careless, after all, whatever''s behind there would be difficult to go up against, even for the top tier DPS like Shinto.


    ''The clear rewards and failure rewards aren''t revealed...'' Shinto shuddered, ''I mustn''t go in without being at my best.''


    Shinto turned his gaze over towards his skill list, looking at each of his skill cooldowns. From the Refrinz battle to now, it seemed quite a bit of time had passed and during the interval between this and the wave battle, all of his skills thankfully have gone off-cooldown.


    ''Alright... Look''s like I''m ready.''


    Shinto held his breath gripping onto Kurogane on his right hand, as he reached out his left hand towards the stone gate, he pushed the gate, opening it.


    Creek...


    The sound of the gates opening could be heard, an eerily creepy sound as if you had walked into a demon''s lord throne room.


    ...


    The room was extremely dark and eerily quiet, besides the asional thundering strikes resounding from the previous trial, it was pin-drop silence within the chamber.


    Shinto took a step forward, as the gate behind him closes. As the gate closed, the halls lit up from the pirs lined up in the room leading up towards the throne within the chamber.


    At the forefront of the throne, was a statue. Turned to stone as he sat there, he looked towards the gate lifelessly.


    ''A statue...?''


    Just as Shinto thought of the sight in front of him, he suddenly received a notification.


    [ Those who enters this room... Dares not pay respects to the king? ]


    The statue protruded a sudden aura of darkness as it surrounds itself with it, slowly the stone disappears.


    "...!"


    As the petrification wears off, his face reveals, his eyes deep into the abyss, simrly to that of eternal darkness, his face filled with wrath as it was tainted by vengeance.


    [ King Vadius, Shaodon Emperor has awoken from his slumber! ]


    [ You feel meekly in front of King Vadius, your DEF and SPD are greatly lowered by 50%! ]


    [ All who feels his presence are to bow before him! ]


    Suddenly, a dark de appears above Shinto, quickly taking notice of it, he hurriedly rolled over to the side, but suddenly as he made his movements a sudden gravitational force pulls him down out of the blue. Forcing him to go into a kneeling position before the king.


    "PAY YOUR RESPECTS TO THE KING, PEASANT." The king shouted in a prideful voice, as the dark de slowly descends down to Shinto.


    "Argh...!" Shinto let out a cry as he forcefully fought back against the pulsating waves of gravity pushing him down towards the ground.


    The king who had originally looked at Shinto amused, stared at him with bloodshot eyes "You dare not bow before my presence?!"


    Sessfully escaping from the pull of gravity, he barely dodged the attack from the de. As the de hits the ground, the king, Vadius quickly retracted the de as held it onto one hand.


    "You... You who dare defy me shall receive punishment!"


    [ The King of Shao issued an order: "Kill user Shinto." ]


    [ If you die now, you will receive a hefty penalty! ]


    [ The kill order will disappear if you survive for the next hour or if you defeat King Vadius! ]


    "Tsk...!"


    Shinto hurriedly looked around the throne room, as he sees dark shadows simrly to that of knights rise from the ground.


    "Kill him! For he has defied the absolute!" Vadius''s voice roared through the room ordering the knights.


    The dark shadows scourged over to Shinto as they swung their swords, Shinto hastily tried to avoid the countless des aimed at him, however, with his speed halved he couldn''t avoid all of them.


    [ You have taken 2672 damage! ]


    [ You have taken 2187 damage! ]


    "Ack...!" Shinto was shed at the back by the shadow knights.


    Quickly as he was shed, Shinto gripped onto Kurogane as he spun 360 degrees, quickly pushing back the knights with force. Soon after, Shinto jumped forward breaking away from the encirclement of the knights, swiftly making his way to the king.


    "Hoh? You can handle that? Hah." Vadius remarked as he gave a smirk, "You''re still a peasant."


    Vadius raised his sword as he quickly stabbed it down to the ground quickly, causing cracks on the ground as it heads towards Shinto.


    "...!" Noticing the cracksing at him quickly, Shinto stopped his movement as he jumped to the side, just as he did, a storm of dark pirs protrudes from the cracks enveloping anything that was above it.


    "Hmph, dodging my attacks? Weakling."


    "Tsk..." Shinto red at the king angrily, nothing hurt him more than being called ''weak''. Although he didn''t like the burden of being the top of the top, he at least had pride in him to feel proud of being the mountain that couldn''t be crossed over, though he was sick of it, he at least had to maintain dignity. Being called weak was like cutting at his pride.


    Gripping onto his sword tightly, Shinto activated a skill [Moonlit Wave] as he quickly sent multiple waves illuminated by moonlight towards Vadius


    As he activated the skill, Shinto leapt forward as he hurriedly connected another attack with the skill, [Light Ascension], protruding a bright white light following the waves as he envelops Vadius within a pir of light.


    Feeling as if the attacks had hit Vadius, Shinto continued with another skill as he closed on the distance between himself and the king.


    Suddenly, a ck steel sword, engulfed in an aura of darkness protruded from the pirs of light that were sent at Vadius.


    "Ack...!" Having little to no time to react to the sudden attack, the sword pierced through his abdomen area. As it pushed him back, sending him flying over towards the wall as the sword pinned him to the walls.


    [ You have received 4576 damage! ]


    "Hahaha... Do you think such meek attacks would work?" Vadiusughed pridefully.


    Shinto felt intense sharp pain protruding from his abdomen area as he was pinned to the wall. Quickly, Shinto clenched his teeth as he moved his gaze over towards the system logs, his eyes turned dreaded in despair upon a nce at it.

 Chapter 11: Girzo lu Elrw (2)

    Chapter 11: Girzo lu Elrw (2)


    [ You have dealt 56 damage to King Vadius! ]


    [ You have dealt 56 damage to King Vadius! ]


    [ You have dealt 56 damage to King Vadius! ]


    [ You have dealt 98 damage to King Vadius! ]


    Shinto''s eyes quickly filled with despair as he looked over to his system logs. The damage that he dealt to Vadius was only just 56 and 98 for Moonlit Wave and Light Ascension respectively? He couldn''t fathom the possibility, so he thought it would be impossible. But here it was, right in front of him proving that possibility to be true.


    ''W-What...? Why is the damage so low?!''


    He stared dumbly at the screen, looking at the unbelievable numbers. For all his years in-game, he had dealt so much damage that he became numb to it. This was the first time since reaching level 100 that he had ever dealt so little damage in a raid battle.


    ''What kind of gimmicks does he have for me to have done so little damage? Or... Is it because he is of a high level?''


    Shinto thought to himself as he let his trail of thoughts loose. However, his thoughts were cut short as he heard the steps on the cold hard floor of the throne room echoing through the room. It was the shadow-like knights.


    Hearing the footsteps of the knights, Shinto quickly snapped back into reality. From then, he screamed in pain as he had abruptly moved, forgetting that he was still impaled by the sword because of the initial shock earlier.


    "Hahaha, you think you can defeat me? You best think again." Vadius''s voice resounded through the room as it rang through Shinto''s ear.


    ''Damn it! I got lost in my thoughts...!'' Shinto clicked his tongue as he forcibly shuts his eyes, quickly calming his breathing and his mind which was in amidst of chaos down. ''I shouldn''t let all this get to me. First, scan the situation and then... Get out this mess.''


    Shinto opened his eyes as he quickly scanned the room, identifying a total of 14 shadow-like knights approaching him. His eyes moved towards the end of the room where he sees the king sitting on the throne as he snarkily sent a face of amusement towards Shinto.


    While he scanned the room, Shinto ced his hand over towards the hilt of the dark de impaled in him, as he hastily attempted to pull it out. But to no avail, his efforts were futile. A force of energy was at a power struggle with him, quickly preventing him from pulling the sword out.


    ''What is this force...?!'' Shinto quickly gripped the hilt of the sword tighter as he swelled his muscles, his biceps bulged as put his all into pulling the sword out. But his attempts bore fruitless, as the force grew stronger and stronger the more strength he ced into his arms.


    ''Ugh... This is just...!'' Still making a vain effort in order tobat against the force, he abruptly stops as he heard footsteps drawing nearer, step by step, the rumbles on the ground rang. The knights were approaching Shinto steadfast.


    Looking at the oing knights, Shinto desperately looked around the room once more in order to find a way to break this force. But there was nothing that he could find useful. Just the pirs in rows, a red carpet leading up to the throne, and the king sitting on it amused as he watched the struggling Shinto and the knights making their way to Shinto.


    ''Tch...! Is there nothing I can do...?!''


    If Shinto doesn''t get out of this predicament, then he would most certainly die from the assaults of the knights. His face grew dire as his heart thumped in panic.


    ''The onlyst method I can think of... Is that...'' Shinto quickly averted his gaze over towards his skill list. Looking towards the passive section, he hastily skimmed through his sevenbat passives which raised his stats or gave him attributes useful for battle. Finally reaching to the bottom of the list he leered over to the foot of it, locking his eyes onto where the passive [Lunarium Aura] stood.


    [ Lunarium Aura Lv 1 ]


    Under the gias of the moon, SPD and STR will be increased by 30% for 10 seconds after usage of a Lunar Sword Technique Skill. When consecutively connecting skills after skills from the technique, the percentage of the buff will Increase by 10%, up to a maximum of 100%. (The time will reset to 10, however, it will not increase.)


    Upon connecting at least two skills, [Lunarium Nights] will be avable to use once for the next 30 seconds after connecting the attack.


    [ Lunarium Nights Lv 1 ] [ 600MP ] [ Cooldown: 72 Hours ]


    Epass an aura of the moons around you, as you enter into a state of transcendence for 5 minutes.


    During this state, your senses are enhanced and your stats rting tobat is greatly Increased by 60%. While in this state, skill [Transcending Point] will be avable for up to the maximum usage limit of three during this state.


    Upon the end of this state, you will be hit with terrible fatigue, thus being unable to continue on and would require rest urgently.


    [ Transcending Point ] [ 120MP ] [ Cooldown: 20 Seconds ]


    Envisions a direction in which you would like to go to, within a radius of 50m, then teleport over towards the area. (By teleporting anything on you that you so chooses to bring along will apany you towards the targeted direction.)


    Shinto looked at the skill details as he clicked his tongue ''This is thest resort... I don''t want to do it... But with the situation like this, I guess this is the only way.''


    Shinto wanted to avoid using Lunarium Nights at all costs, not because the buffs weren''t good, but because of the side effects of the skill. If he were to use this skill in a raid, he had to make sure he could finish it off within the 5-minute time frame otherwise he would be in real trouble.


    Without an estimation of how long this battle willst, he couldn''t freely use this skill. If he couldn''t beat Vadius in under 5 minutes, he would have to greet death and the penalty which was ced upon him by Vadius.


    Not to mention the unknown quest failure reward from the SSS quest. The risks were incredibly high, taking into ount everything. But what choice did he had? This was the only option left.


    Shinto calmed his breath, as he cleared his mind from the doubts and the worse case scenarios within his head ''I have to do this. It is the only choice I have left.''


    Hearing the footsteps draw more nearer, Shinto hurriedly moved his eyes over to the corner of his eyelids, looking over towards an empty space where no one stood.


    Simultaneously as he did it, the rumbles from the hard cold floor stop, as it became deadly quiet.


    "Now! End this peasant! This is punishment for challenging me!" Vadius''s voice continued to resound through the room breaking the silence.


    The knights held up their swords, as they prepared to make their assault.


    Though; Just as they did so, they heard a shouting from Shinto. "LUNARIUM NIGHTS!"


    [ You have entered into a state of transcendence for the next five minutes! ]


    ...


    The swords cleaved towards Shinto as a sudden bright light shed, blinding the knights.


    As the light dissipated, Shinto was gone.


    "What?! Where did this peasant go?!" Vadius who was enjoying the scene frowned at the sight of the disappearance of Shinto who was originally pinned to the wall.


    Confused as Vadius scanned the room, there were no signs of Shinto.


    The silence once again came, it was eerily quiet as the knights frantically looked around the room.


    "WHERE IS HE?!" Vadius roared in anger.


    There was no response.


    As the silence continued, as a sudden sh of light appeared from above Vadius as a voice resounded through his ears "Right above you."


    "...!" Vadius hastily looked up to see Shinto, in the air.


    Shinto swayed his body over to the side as he gathered his energy on the tip of his sword, quickly he released it, sending waves of light towards Vadius.


    [ You have dealt 2176 damage to King Vadius! ]


    [ You have dealt 2176 damage to King Vadius! ]


    [ You have dealt 2176 damage to King Vadius! ]


    [ You have dealt 2176 damage to King Vadius! ]


    Vadius was bombarded by the attack, as Shinto quickly entered into a draw position while still in mid-air.


    "How dare you!?" Vadius reached his hand out as he forced the sword that was stuck on the wall back to him.


    ''If my guess is correct...'' Shinto flicked his sheath open as he unleashed a de of shimmering light onto Vadius. Soon after he moved his body forward diving headfirst towards Vadius as he unleashed another attack.


    [ Lunar Sword Technique: Lunar Moon ]


    Quickly sending a white linear sh of light over towards Vadius. He turned his body around and activated a skill in session, Crescent Light. Quickly protruding a pir of light over towards the steadfast moving sword, sessfully stopping it in its ce.


    Everything had been done in almost an instant. With Shinto clearing his mind he had meticulously used Crescent Dawn to leap up into the sky as he made his way over towards Vadius.


    During this interval, he had let his trail of thoughts run loose, thinking of how to deal with the ''gimmick'' which Vadius has that made Shinto deal such low damage.


    ''It couldn''t have been a scale of level during this battle... If it was; the damage dealt by the knights or by Vadius would''ve been higher.'' Shinto thought back to the attacks which his enemy had dealt to him, ''So it must be a gimmick. What is it?''


    There were two possibilities.


    The first was whether or not the knights yed a role in making Vadius ''invincible'' or mitigate a lot of damage or the second possibility which he thought would be far fetched was Vadius''s sword.


    Putting this into the works in proving his theory he began his n, which resulted in this, allowing for him to raid Vadius sessfully. Though there was a problem of whether or not he could defeat Vadius before his transcendent state wore off.


    ...


    "YOU PEASANT! WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?!" Vadius roared angrily, as forcibly released an aura of darkness around him. The aura quickly protruded towards Shinto while he was in the air.


    Noticing the auraing right at him, Shinto twisted his body evading the attack as he continued diving towards Vadius. In the next moment, he unleashed a sharp ray of light over towards Vadius.


    Quickly enveloping him into the light, Shintonds, as he activated abilities in session, Lunar Flurry, Tidal Moon, Dawn Sword...


    Barraging his attacks onto Vadius, without the protection from his sword, he finally falls.


    "Huff... Huff..." Shinto breathed heavily as he stabbed his sword to the ground getting a hold on himself.


    "YOU... YOU...! I THE EMPEROR OF SHAODON WILL COME BACK SOON AND HE WILL HAVE HIS REVENGE ON YOU!" Vadius cried out as he turned into grey ash.


    [ You have defeated the weakened vision of King Vadius, Shaodon Emperor! ]


    [ You have obtained Replica of Shaodon''s Sword Piece ]


    [ You have obtained ''Torn ??? Page Piece'' ]


    [ You have defeated the ''Fourth'' and thest trial of this instance dungeon, you shall now be rewarded. ]


    [ You have cleared the quest ''Girzo lu Elwr'' ]


    ...


    Looking at notifications after notifications on his system logs, Shinto continued to breathe heavily as he was on the verge of falling down with his transcendence running out in the next 10 seconds.


    However, the next few notifications took him by surprise.


    [ You have received the hidden reward: Altric''s Truth ]


    [ As you have received Altric''s Truth, a ss change will now begin. ]


    "W-What...? A ss change...?"


    [ Current ss: ''Lunar Swordsman'', will be changed into, ''Shadow Diviner'' ]


    He thought for a moment, ''Shadow Diviner? Is this some sort of''


    [ Would you like to continue with the ss change? This hidden ss will be of the support archetype with an unknown rarity. ]


    Shinto''s eyes bulged as he contemted at a hidden ss, "A hidden ss?" Shinto looked over towards the words ''unknown'', "And it''s rarity is unknown..."


    Hidden sses were quite rare in Spiritual Warriors, of course, lived up to its name. A hidden ss would be better than a normal ss due to many various factors: skill, stat progression, and its unique ystyle.


    Only a handful of yers had gotten a hidden ss. A total of 100 yers to have one of the hidden sses known in public. Out of those yers, only six acquired an ''Epic'' hidden ss, while the rest had acquired an ''Elite'' ss.


    Spiritual Warriors had a rarity system, much like its predecessor, the MMORPG games. In this game, there are seven rarities in the following order: Common, Umon, Rare/Elite, Epic, Unique/Exotic, Legendary, and Ancient.


    His brows creased, ''This hidden ss could be good, but a support archetype?''


    Earlier today, he grew sick of dealing high damage, raked in high amounts of DPS, and whatnot. Maybe the opportunity presented itself. He could take it upon himself to try something new and enjoy the game from a new perspective.


    Shinto thought to himself, ''It''s an opportunity to change into a hidden ss, and if this is the reward for clearing this dungeon, then it''s most likely a good ss, and it would be of a high rarity!''


    But he was stumped by his thoughts, which made his eyebrows arched up, ''Though, changing from a DPS to SupportShould I take the risk?''


    He was just optimistic at this very moment. Who knew whether this game would screw him over and give him a horrible ss like those from the novels and manhwas he read? Most probably, if this game had some evil developers. But fortunately, there seemed to be no cases of that as this game was fair.


    Shinto scrutinized towards the screen, who popped up with vibrant text and colours, for who knew how long as if time had stopped. He muttered, "Yes." Then let out a deep sigh of relief.


    [ The ss change will now begin. ]


    [ Everything will be reset, all current items and titles you have on will be temporarily locked until you reach back to level 201. ]


    [ 3... ]


    [ 2... ]


    "W-Wait...?! R-Reset...?! W-What does that mean...!?"


    [ 1... ]


    [ Resetpleted. ]


    Just as the notifications ended, a bright sh surrounded Shinto however at the same time his transcendence state ended, thus forcing Shinto into heavy fatigue.


    "Argh... N-No...!"


    Shinto quickly fell down to the ground, as everything went nk.

 Chapter 12: Reset

    Chapter 12: Reset


    The state of transcendence turned nil and thus everything went nk.


    ...


    Within a dark voided space, Shinto''s body flowed through the emptiness of it as if time hade to a halt for him.


    ''...''


    His body ached and his mind was in deep fatigue.


    The endless void was still, as only the sounds of the system log''s notification continued to pile up.


    [ Resetpleted. ]


    [ Your level has dropped down to level 1. ]


    [ All skills unrting to ss ''Shadow Diviner'' and stats will be reset. ]


    ''Ugh...'' Shinto''s mind slowly recovered from the ckout, as his consciousness looked towards the notifications appearing before him.


    [ Wisdom stat has opened. ]


    [ Passive Skill: ''Divining Gauge'' has been created. ]


    [ Passive Skill: ''Diviner''s Will'' has been created. ]


    [ Passive Skill: ''Split Between Two'' has been created. ]


    [ Passive Skill: ''Bearer of The Diviner'' has been created. ]


    [ Passive Skill: ''Eyes of Altric'' has been created. ]


    [ Ability Skill: ''Shadow Fields'' has been created. ]


    [ Ability Skill: ''Divinity Point'' has been created. ]


    [ Ability Skill: ''Mark of Umbra'' has been created. ]


    [ Ability Skill: ''Shadow Recreation'' has been created. ]


    [ Ability Skill: ''Hollowed Crest'' has been created. ]


    [ You have obtained the title: ''Altric''s Discoverer''. ]


    [ Shadow stat has opened. ]


    [ Divinity stat has opened. ]


    Shinto''s consciousness continued locking onto the notifications. With his eyes slid shut, the notifications continued.


    [ As your level has been reset, your first ranking in the unified and in top DPS will be marked under legacy within the system. ]


    [ You are now ranked as N/A ]


    ...


    ''So I''m no longer first huh...?''


    Shinto gave off a wistful smile as he sighed a breath of relief.


    The burden of being at the top, which he had kept bottled up within his heart and mind, finally released.


    Shinto has now been officially freed of everything. He can now take a break and then would be able to return anew with everything in his mind bing crystal clear.


    Still with that smile of his, he finally opened his eyes. Within this endless void, the only thing of colour was the blue notification window in front of him.


    ''Shadow Diviner...'' He repeated to himself as he read his notifications more closely.


    ''Just what kind of support ss is it?''


    He let his trail of thoughts run, as he worked his brain. Though, with the current fatigue he as yet fully recovered from he could not think well within this silent space.


    [ As you have fallen into heavy fatigue from the state of transcendence, you will now be teleported out of the dungeon and to your home save point. ]


    [ Your previous registered home residence is no longer avable for use. ]


    [ Would you like to teleport to your previous home residence instead? ]


    ''A-Ah... Right. I left my guild...'' Shinto''s thoughts cut off as he received thest few notifications, ''Which is why my home residence is no longer registered...''


    ''Hmm... Where was my previous home residence? It''s been such a long time...''


    Thinking to himself within the silent abyss, he finally remembered.


    ''The Kingdom of Hak... By the west of Zemul...''


    ''With this reset, it''s not too shabby to go there, huh?''


    The Kingdom of Hak is one of three most crowded and popr kingdoms filled with new yers. Why so? It''s because these kingdoms provided many first-timers with the ability to experience many sorts of things that no other kingdom provides, it was basically a newbie-benefit for starting in these kingdoms.


    The experience of newbie-friendly hunting grounds, the quests from the NPCs, the market and the like. With this, the Kingdom of Hak was on the newbie-friendly side of the spectrum.


    Taking into ount this fact, Shinto said breathlessly, "Yes."


    [ Teleporting shallmence now. ]


    Within the deep abyss, a light suddenly shone, enveloping Shinto within it. Soon as the light dissipates, he disappears into thin air.


    ...


    A white embodiment of light shone through the temple of VieraThe respawn point for all yers who reside within the peaceful town of Parm, the starting area of those who chose the Kingdom of Hak.


    As the light evaporates, stood Shinto at the epicentre of it, with his shining white light armour set, his blue-ck sword, his essories, all gone. All there was on him was ragged clothing.


    Shinto scanned his surroundings, noticing many new yers at the temple. All of them were bustling about, chattery and boasting of their achievements. Besides the temple being the respawn point of the town, it is also a ce where many gather for quests exclusively given by the order of Veiradefeat monsters, collect items, help NPCs and the like. Thus the temple was always crowded.


    Shinto let out a breath of relief as he scrutinized the area, ''Since they''re all newbies, it''s a given they wouldn''t really know me.''


    Newbies were newbies, they were first time yers of the game, so they wouldn''t be paying attention to the unified rankings or the individual rankings at all and would oftentimes just y the game as it is, to have fun.


    The newbie yers also didn''t have ess to Crystality untilter into the game, unlocking it at level 50, which was a relief to Shinto as he didn''t have to worry of anyone flocking to him for a carry just because he was a DPS god.


    ''But still, even if they knew who I was... They wouldn''t bat an eye on me.''


    Why would they bat an eye to a level one yer, ragged clothing that has the name Shinto? It isn''t as if character names in-game are unique for every yer; it''s more likely to have the same character names, with high probability, since many yers worldwide ount for up to 10 Million yers.


    With the ability to have duplicate names, impersonating someone was in theory possible. But although they have the same name, the voice and appearance of the character in itself are all different. The appearance and voice of a character is dependant on their real-life traits, and they could only slightly modify their appearance through adding beautification, change hairstyles and the like. Thus impersonating was near impossible.


    In the case of the current Shinto, even though he was uniquely his own self, no one could possibly recognize him here, they were newbies for a reason. And high rankers rarely show up here since they aren''t anything interesting for them at the temple.


    ''These newbies wouldn''t wittingly search me up, right? That would just be too wasteful, heck... When they do, they would probably be toxic against me for using the name Shinto to try and trick new yers...''


    "In any case, I shouldn''t worry about that for now." Shinto shook his head, removing the thought away, "Now that I''vee back here, the first order of business would be to check my status window."


    Shinto took a deep breath as he said, "Status window."


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 1


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    *You are a diviner between light and shadow, thus you will receive certain ss bonuses when in different environments.


    -During the night or in darkness, you will gain a boost to your vision and your stats rting to mobility and support will be increased by 25%.


    -During the day or within light, you will gain a boost to defense and your stats rting tobat and defense will be increased by 25%


    *As a diviner between light and shadow, abnormal status conditions do not work well on you.


    -Titles-


    [Altric''s Discoverer]


    *You are now eligible to find the meaning of ''truth''


    -Stats-


    HP: 18/18 | MP: 8/8


    Strength: 1 | Stamina: 1


    Intelligence: 1 | Agility: 1


    Shadow: 1 | Divinity: 1


    Wisdom: 1


    Stats Point: 0


    ...


    "Hmm... These ss attributes aren''t too shabby, eh?" Shinto observed his new stats as he looked over the attributes, "During the day and night, I would get different buffs... So depending on the situation, I could put them to use."


    His eyes moved down towards his titles, "Hmm, that''s it for titles?" Shinto clicked his tongue, "Tsk... I''m not satisfied at all with this. Though leaving aside tat... I''ll be able to regain back my titles and items when I reach level 201."


    Closing his status window, his gaze diverted elsewhere, "Now then... Let''s check my new skills."

 Chapter 13: Shadow Diviner

    Chapter 13: Shadow Diviner


    Shinto scrutinized the window that was disying his new skill list. The disparity that he saw from the previous one was that there were no skills or passives that were familiar to himThe one he''s familiar with? They''re all gone.


    "Well, that''s a no brainer with the fact I entered into a new ss..." Shinto sighed as he counted the number of skills and passives, half for each respectively, totalling up to ten skills.


    ''For being at level one, this ss sure gives you plentiful of skills and passives... Though that being said, this ss does reset and drop your level down to one, so I guess that''s a usible excuse for this amount of abilities.''


    There we''re many ways to unlock skills and passives for your ss. Through levelling up, throughpleting ss quests, or through bonus quests that provide you with abilities outside of your ss range.


    For Shinto''s case, he hadn''t done any quests that unlock abilities outside of his previous ss ''Lunar Swordsman'' because he had never encountered any. Well he did, but most of the abilities provided were useless abilities that proved no beneficial for him. Thus, losing those abilities from the reset didn''t necessarily impact him at all.


    Though even if he did lose something that impacted him, it was his own choice to choose a support ss, Shadow Diviner. So it wasn''t as if he could me anyone but himself for an unrationalized decision.


    But at the stage of this game, Shinto is in now, he couldn''t decide whether he would regret or would feel proud that he went with this choice since he had yet tested it or seen the skills. Choosing an unknown ss especially a support type would be proved risky.


    But as they say, high risk, high return.


    ...


    Shinto took a deep breath as he began to look at his list, with his in-game knowledge and judgement he could judge an ability based on its utility and usage to be either good or bad.


    Though that''s with the case of DPS. For support, he wouldn''t know much about it, thus he had to rely only on in-game knowledge and experience to see if it would be good.


    Shinto''s eyes locked onto to the first on his passive listDivining Gauge


    [ Divining Gauge Lv 1 ]


    All skills rting to Shadow Diviner, will consume a new energy ''Shadow'' and ''Divinity''.


    The max amount of energy that you may have is 30. Then to increase the maximum amount, it is dependent on your ''Shadow'' and ''Divinity'' stat.


    After umting a certain amount of ''Shadow'' or ''Divinity'' stat, you will gain a permanent boost to your ss.


    ''Shadow and Divinity stat?'' Shinto thought to himself, "Ah...! It''s the stat I just opened up with this ss..."


    Shinto opened up his status window, as he viewed the information of the two new stats.


    [ Shadow ]


    In the darkness of shadows, you will give off a faint aura of warmth under the night, increasing the supporting capabilities by 0.05% per Shadow Stat. You will also be more likely to be noticed by people that give off an aura of evil, but, you are less vulnerable to ''curses''.


    *The higher the stat, the higher the effect.


    *This is a ss-exclusive stat for ''Shadow Diviner'', not to be mix with the stat ''Demonic''


    *Stat points can''t be distributed into this stat.


    [ Divinity ]


    In the essence of light, you will give off a faint aura of light in the day, Increasing damage by 0.01% and defense by 0.02% per divinity stat and you will be more likely to obtain ''blessings''.


    *The higher the stat, the higher the effect.


    *This is a ss-exclusive stat for ''Shadow Diviner'', not to be mix with the stat ''Deity''


    *Stat points can''t be distributed into this stat.


    Shinto''s heart thumped upon a nce at the details of his new stats.


    "Oh? So these would be my ss-exclusive stats huh?"


    In the game, Spiritual Warriors. A starting character only has four core stats: Strength, Stamina, Intelligence and Agility. These are the main stats of a character when they begin the game, however as they progress they will unlock more stats exclusively for them or only a handful of characters have. What are they? They are called ''hidden stats'' only unlockable through quests or sses.


    From a survey of boastful veteran yers, there seemed to be many hidden stats within the game. Currently ounting up to more than 50 of them.


    As for Shinto? He originally had eight kinds of unique stat excluding the core ones. However, he had lost them all after the reset and now he only has three.


    "Hmm... My Shadow and Divinity stat are at 1... and I can''t raise them through stat points. Then, how do I raise them?"


    A unique trait about hidden stats is that stat points cannot be distributed into them and thus would require a persistent use of action in-game to raise.


    ''Since they''re ss-exclusives... Would it mean I have toplete ss quests in order to raise them?'' Shinto thought to himself.


    ''Since these stats give a lot of good benefits... It won''t be that easy to raise them.''


    ''I''ll have toe back to this when I check out my other skills.''


    Shinto closed his status window as he opened his skill list back, quickly moving onto the next few passives.


    [ Diviner''s Will Lv 1 ]


    As a Diviner, when you are dealt fatal damage, there will be a chance of a second ''chance''. Upon using up this second ''chance'', the passive skill will be ced on cooldown for 24 hours.


    *Second Chance - Allows the user to survive any and all attacks dealt by anything for 5 seconds.


    "A second chance, that would be nice when it activates... Though, I can''t rely too much on it..." Shinto sighed to himself, "It''s a chance skill..."


    Shinto shook his head, ridding his mind of a scene within his mind in which he needed this skill to activate at a crucial time, however it didn''t activate.


    "Sigh... My luck is so and so."


    [ Bearer of the Diviner Lv 1 ]


    You are a bearer of the diviner, for you have chosen under the guise of two sides.


    When supporting an ally, you will gain a protective spell of the divine, creating a damage barrier which absorbs up to 500 damage (Stackable up to 2500) damage thatsts until the barrier is broken. Once broken, it will be ced on cooldown for the next 5 minutes before you may put up a new barrier.


    When damaging an enemy, you will inflict a shadow mark. Enemies that''s inflicted with a shadow mark will take 15% additional damage from any attack dealt by your party or by yourself.


    "A shadow mark and a protective spell... That would be very useful during battle. I''ll have to keep a note on that."


    [ Eyes of Altric Lv 1 ]


    The all-seeing eye of Altric, with this vision bestowed upon you. You may now see things others don''t see, find hidden meanings of an item as well as read thenguage of Altric.


    As the Diviner of Shadows, you may see the disparity between light and darkness on your discretion, allowing yourself to identify between good and evil.


    Reading the description of ''Eyes of Altric'' Shinto sighed, "Jeez... It would be useful if I had obtained that earlier while I''m at the dungeon... So I could actually understand the meaning behind the words on the obelisk..."


    "Ah... Speaking of which..."


    Shinto averted his gaze away from his skill list as he turned towards the east, where the mountain of Gaveln could be seen from afar from the window within the temple.


    "The obelisks and the monoliths that were telling me something... If I go back there with the Eyes of Altric, would I get to know something?"


    Shinto shook his head at the thought. "It''s impossible for me to go there right now with the state I''m in at the moment... I''ll have toe back there another time."


    ...


    Shinto''s turned back towards the list as he gazed over to thest passive on it.


    [ Split Between Two Lv 1 ]


    The disparity between two sides, under the guise of light and shadows you are at the center of two sides.


    Under the geas of the night or within the dark, you will gain shadow stats more easily.


    Under the geas of the day or within light, you will gain divinity stats more easily.


    "Hmm... So with this passive, I can obtain these stats more often when I fulfil the conditions of being in a certain time of the day..." Shinto turned his head over towards a window, looking at the evening light protruding towards the floor, "Look''s like it''s turning night soon. If I remember correctly... At night is when most newbies level five and above hunt since powerful monsters appear at that time."


    Staring at the evening light, Shinto''s eyes averted, looking towards the entrance of the temple. "For now in preparation for nightfall, I''ll go for a supply run."


    Shinto looked down on himself, as his face turned disgruntled, "I need to get out of this ragged clothes... I''m so not used to seeing myself in this..." Shaking his head, Shinto stepped forward as he made his way out.

 Chapter 14: Emergency

    Chapter 14: Emergency


    Within the elegant halls of Erendek Castle, home to the guild members of Vainblood, was a short blonde haired man furiously walking within the hallsBunnix.


    The man mumbled with every stomp turned violent, enough to shake the hallway. He red at his front with bloodshot eyes as though he wanted to strangle and murder someone. Despite the narrative of wearing a bunny hood and freckles on his plump face, anyone would see this as incredibly cute and thus wouldn''t be able to take him at all serious.


    "GUILD LEADEEERRRRR!!!" He shouted furiously, picking up his pace as he stomped along the brightvish carpets tinged in red and purple.


    From the distance, murmurs among the guild members could be heard as they saw the raging Bunnix.


    "W-What the...? What did Kaisus do to make Bunnix incredibly mad...?" Graven spouted out as he stared dumbly at the scene.


    "Did he lose to someone in a match? Lost in a gamble? Got PKed?" Maxim sneered at the sight.


    "O-Or could it possibly have to do with... Shinto suddenly leaving...?" Weriss, a guild member hesitantly said.


    "..."


    "..."


    The three members frowned as reminiscences of the event that urred this morning flowed through their minds. Just remembering it made their hearts ache. Shinto had left the guild too suddenly without notice nor a single goodbye.


    ...


    Bunnix angrily walked up the stairway as he was greeted by Rie who was leaning onto the railings of the staircase.


    "Took you long enough toe here," Rie nced over towards the bloodshot Bunnix as he stood up from the railings, "Come now, the emergency guild meeting is starting."


    "ARGHHH! THIS IS ANNOYING! ANNOYING I TELL YOU!!" Bunnix screamed at the top of his lungs as he chased after Rie.


    Walking through the hallways, Rie observed his surroundings as they headed towards the meeting room. His eyes nced over the gloomy guild members shallowly leaning onto the walls as they gave off a feeling of dreadedness. The atmosphere was too depressing. If it wasn''t for Bunnix''s loud stomps and loud mumbles, the castle would have been dead quiet.


    "Ughh! Hey!" Unable to stand the silence, Bunnix shouted from behind Rie, quickly getting his attention, "Are you just going to keep quiet or something?! Care to exin the situation?!"


    "What''s there for me to exin?" Rie creased his brows.


    "EXCUSE ME?! I''m asking you to exin the current situation! This is all too sudden!" Bunnix replied in anguish, "What''s with Shinto leaving all of a sudden?! He made this entire guild into utter chaos!" He continued, "JUST WHAT''S GOING ON?!"


    Rie let out a cough as he stopped his movement, quickly turning around. Fixing his eyes onto Bunnix''s he opened his mouth, "I understand your concerns, Bunnix. However, please be rest assured that Kaisus will give a thorough exnation of this situation."


    "HARH? Thorough? Can''t you exin it right now?! You''re the secretary here!"


    "..." Rie stared at Bunnix without giving out ament. Quickly after what seemed to be a long silence, he opened his mouth again, "I do not know the situation as well."


    "WHAT?!"


    Rie looked at Bunnix solemnly, "This is all news to me as well. I haven''t received any notice about Shinto wanting to leave beforehand."


    "The heck do you mean! You''re the secretary! One of Shinto''s close friends! The founder! How could he not tell you!?"


    "Well... All I can say is this: I can understand his sentiments for leaving." Rie continued gazing at the angry Bunnix as he quickly averted his eyes away. Quietly, he stepped onto the carpets that lined the hallway, steadily making his way to the meeting room.


    Watching as Rie went further ahead, Bunnix angrily shouted from behind, "What sentiments?! Hey! Come back!"


    Bunnix chased after Rie as they reached the meeting room.


    ...


    The door to the meeting room opened as the Rie and Bunnix headed into the room. Within the room, there were a total of seven people quietly sitting by the table. At the forefront of the table was Kaisus, beside him was an empty seat.


    Besides the opening of the door, silence pervaded the deadly still room. Consequently, this brought to a consensus that the atmosphere turned awkward and depressing.


    "Ah. Bunnix, Rie." The corners of Kaisus''s lips curved up as he weed the two walking into the room, breaking the silence. "Have a seat, you''re just on time!"


    Seeing Kaisus''s yful tone of voice, Bunnix face turned disgruntled. Quickly stomping over towards the table, he mmed his hands onto it. "OI KAISUS! EXPLAIN THIS DAMN SITUATION!"


    As Bunnix mmed his hands onto the table, a member quietly sitting by the table stood upHikari.


    "B-Bunix...! Please calm down!" Hikari hurriedly said, "You shouldn''t get angry..."


    "The heck do you mean calm down?! Kaisus here is taking his damn sweet time with this current predicament! He didn''t give any sort of announcement to us and so I have all the rights to get angry!"


    "Yeah, I agree with Bunnix. This is too out of the blue, no?" Wenzhou nodded his head in agreement as he nced over towards Kaisus. "There''s no exnation why Shinto left, and you left us pondering on it since this morning, what''s up with that?"


    "Do you know anything about that, Hikari?" Revelen, who was facing towards an empty seat, turned towards the right side of it where Hikari sits.


    "N-No... Shinto didn''t tell me anything... and I can''t reach him at all." Hikari shook her head as she grimaced.


    "What''s up with that?!" Bunnix clicked his tongue, "Hikari is Shinto''s closest friend, and he hasn''t even said a single word to her!"


    The group discussed the situation, though they were getting nowhere. As they aimlessly discussed, they heard a coughed from behind the room.


    "Ahem. Are you done discussing yet?" A voice resounded through the room from behind, it was Rie''s. He who had watched the discussion quietly spoke up, "If you''re done, might I suggest we finally to the point and ask Kaisus, who clearly knows about all the details of this situation?"


    The room went silent. They hadpletely gone immersed into the discussion of Shinto that they forgot that the very person who knew the details was right under their noses. Their guild leader, Kaisus.


    "So, Kaisus. Care to start exining?" Rie continued.


    "And here I thought I wouldn''t get a chance to speak," Kaisus chuckled, "Now then, where do I start?"


    "Ughh! Just get on topic already!" Bunnix impatiently said, "Tell us why did Shinto leave!"


    "Well. To put everything into a too long didn''t read exnation, I gave an order for Shinto to take a break," Kaisus said, "Thus... He has been kicked from the guild for the time being."


    Concluding his exnation, the room went silent. The yers within the room all had a look of stiffness on their faces as they tried to process the information from their guild leader.


    The members stared nkly at each other, as one finally spoke upBunnix.


    "WHAT?!" He cried out, "You did what now!?"


    Breaking the silence, one after another the members spoke.


    "I see. So that''s how it is," Rie nodded his head, "Then with Shinto out of the equation for the next few matches, how do we go about it for our teamposition?"


    "What? You''re epting this fact easily?" Wenzhou disdained, "Shinto''s our core team member here, and he was kicked because Kaisus ordered Shinto to take a break? What is this nonsense!"


    "It is how it is." Revelen said, "It was bound to happen sooner orter, and since it happened right now, it''s for the best for him and all of us."


    "Harh? The heck do you mean?! How could kicking out a core member of the guild be for the best of us!" Bunnix continued to holler.


    "...Shinto has been pushing himself to the limits for us since the very start and we''ve been relying on him far too many times." Hikari solemnly said, "I can understand this sentiment from everyone, that he needs to take a break."


    "What?" Wenzhou questioned, "If he wanted to take a break, why couldn''t he have requested for it instead of having Kaisus ordering him to? And why did Kaisus have to kick him out from the guild, couldn''t he stay and not cause discord?"


    "You may not know it since you''re new and rarely spoke to him, but he has a hard head," Rie stated.


    "Well now that we''re done with this topic, we should be talking about the new teamposition and how to handle Titus," Kaisus coughed, getting the attention of everyone in the room.


    Just as he was about to move onto a new topic, a sudden notification window appeared before all the members within the room.


    [ System Alert! There has been a change in the unified rankings! ]


    "...!"


    [ Your rankings has been moved up by one. ]


    "A sudden change in rankings?" The guild members questioned as they continued reading their respective notifications.


    [ The new top three is now the following: Arceus, Kaisus, Rie ]


    Their eyes widened to see the sudden changes, quickly, Rie opened up his status window as he nced over towards the unified rankings list as well as the DPS list.


    "S-Shinto''s out of the rankings?" Rie cried out in surprise.

 Chapter 15: Temporarily Locked

    Chapter 15: Temporarily Locked


    Walking out of the temple of Viera, Shinto was greeted by the warmth of the evening sun. From this afternoon till now, he had been in the dungeon. To put it into numbers, it seemed he was within the dungeon for more than five hours.


    Within the game, time works differently here. In Spiritual Warriors, time is four times of that than in real life, a day in real life represents four days in-game. Although a day would represent four days in-game when in-game you would actually feel as if you''re living within that four days time frame.


    Shinto looked around the outside of the temple to see many going in and out, just like the bustling temple, the outdoor was no different. The streets crowded with yers and NPCs alike, some leisurely taking a stroll, some rushing for dinner while others were chattery as they walked.


    Themps slowly lit up under the evening light reminiscence to that ofnterns, the sight was filled withfort that would warm up the heart when gazing at it. Enhanced by the evening light and the soon to be the moonlit glow of the starry skies.


    ''The town is the same as ever, huh?'' Shinto let out a faint smile from the nostalgia as he made his way over to the central part of the town, the main gathering spot of newbies.


    "Looking for level ten and above to go hunting in Kakerain''s Ruins!"


    "This rare sword is for sale!! Come and buy it if you''re interested! It is only for 400 gold!"


    "Looking for a party! Level six, warrior here with decent gear and control!"


    Walking through the crowds, Shinto heard shouts from every direction each one making a different statement, this was the town''s center, where usually yers would party up for dungeons or sell stuff.


    ''Crowded as ever huh? Anyways... I should deposit all my stuff and check my gold amount first before going to the marketce.''


    Ignoring all the bustle around him, heavily pondering, ''If I remember correctly...'' Shinto swept his eyes through the area, ''The bank should be around here...''


    Looking around the crowded area, his eyes locked onto a building by the corner of the central part of town, with arge sign on it, reading out ''Bank''. This brought forth joy in his eyes.


    ''Ah...! There it is!''


    Sessfully finding the bank, Shinto waltzed in a jiffy, heading into the bank.


    "Wee, adventurer!" A woman behind the counter heard a ring by the door as she quickly turned around, looking over towards Shinto. "How might I help you today?"


    Above the woman''s head, was the name [ Mia ], glowing a bright blue hue, indicating that she was an NPC.


    Just as Mia turned around towards Shinto while finishing her greetings. Her brows creased as she gave a look towards Shinto. Her face turned disgruntled seeing the shabby state Shinto was in, a newbie.


    Not noticing her disgruntled expression, Shinto heeded no time and said in a calm manner, "I would like to deposit my items."


    "Deposit?" Mia''s brows continued to crease, as she scrutinized Shinto, "What kind of items do you have to deposit? Do you have the money to?" The woman sneered, cocking her head in question.


    "A-Ah...?" Shinto stared nkly towards the demeaning Mia, unsure of why her tone was quite aggressive towards him.


    "I said, do you have the money to deposit? Heck, do you even have any items to deposit?" The woman mockingly said as she gave a suspicious look over to Shinto.


    "...?" Shinto continued to stare nkly towards Mia as he suddenly realized why he was being treated this way.


    He looked like he was in the starter newbie rags. His equipment seemed either extremely shabby or did not exist at all. To an untrained eye, he would look like your run of the mill newbie.


    But he was not a newbie. And this was increasingly apparent once one saw that he didn''t receive the friendly and kind attitude the NPCs had towards newbies.


    In Spiritual Warriors, NPCs weren''t just some AI constructs with fixed routines and pre-coded lines, they had personality. Each one had unique traits, voice, appearance, and even their life. They were practically indistinguishable from the humans of the real world.


    With the fact that NPCs have their own quirks and traits, it was a no brainer that each NPC would treat a yer differently, depending on how they look, how they act towards them and their affinity towards them.


    "Hey!" Mia shouted, quickly snapping Shinto out of his nkness, "Are you here to waste my time? Do you want me to call the knights?"


    Hearing the barrage from the woman, Shinto hurriedly coughed, "Wait wait! I have stuff I want to deposit. I really do and I have the money to pay for the fees."


    "Hmph! Then show it!" Mia sneered at his words.


    Shinto quickly opened up his inventory, quickly taking a nce at it. However... His eyes shook in despair, the items and equipment he originally had within in his inventory were all locked. ncing over to the item info of these items, each had one thing inmon.


    [ This item is temporarily unusable until you reach Level 201. ]


    [ You may ce these items into your storage to clear up space. ]


    Every item in his inventory had this same system prompt, he couldn''t bring it out nor could he sell them. It was locked until he had reached his original level which will take some time.


    "..." He dumbly stared at his screen, slowly moving his eyes over towards his currency amount, thankfully, he let out a breath of relief. It wasn''t locked like his other things.


    ''So that what it means, ''temporarily locked''... And here I thought it''d only be my equipment, but potions and scrolls too?'' Shinto inwardly sighed, taking out a few gold coins from his inventory and cing them on the counter.


    "A-Ah...?" Mia nced over to the gold coins that Shinto threw, "I see... I''m s-sorry for being judgmental... You have to understand that I''m on high alert with the number of thievestely in the area..."


    "..." Shinto stared at Mia, as he sighed, "It''s fine. Just... Open up my storage and let''s be done with it."


    Mia nodded her head, as she took a gold coin on the table, quickly she weed Shinto to enter into the storage.


    Thuck Thuck Thuck...


    Shinto opened his inventory once again, this time ncing over towards the storage option. Just as what he saw in his inventory, his storage was no different. His items and equipment within it were all locked.


    "Tsk... Is everything lock?" His eyes continued to skim through the storage as he locked his eyes on something in his storage that didn''t have the system prompt. The items categorized under materials.


    "...This" he sighed, "Well at least I can ask a cksmith to make items for me when needed or better yet, sell them."


    "Anyways, since everything is lock beside the materials... I''ll just deposit everything and leave it that way and just buy whatever I need in the marketce."


    Fully emptying his inventory into his storage, Shinto closed his inventory window as he made his way out.

 Chapter 16: Supply Run

    Chapter 16: Supply Run


    Shinto made his way through the crowd at the town''s central heading east where the marketce is.


    ...


    Reaching the marketce Shinto looked around as he strolled through the streets, the marketce was near vacuous unlike the bustling town''s central.


    There weren''t as many people herepared to anywhere else, the vendors sat by their stalls quietly looking at the time or to people strolling through the streets, the few yers or NPCs were walking through the streets window shopping or having a conversation with one another.


    ''Right... It''s closing time... I forgot about that'' Shinto sighed, ''I won''t be able to get any good pieces of equipment or some rare items but I guess I''ll just make do with whatever''s stalls still open''


    ''Hmm...'' Shinto stopped his footsteps as opened his status window, ''Now that I''ve changed sses, I should check what''s important for me to equip first before looking for the items I want to get.''


    For Spiritual Warriors, sses do not have specific equipment which is locked to them, they have the freedom and ability to equip any type of weapons, armours or items. So long as they could fulfil said equipment requirements, they may equip it.


    However, while they are not locked to specific equipment, there are different types of equipment that still functions best with the ss specialized in them. Therefore, many yers would typically equip the weapons or armour that fits their ss the most for better passive stats and stat growth. Overall when ites to creating the best character build, the bestbination and stats are what counts after all.


    Shinto scrutinized his status window as he locked his gaze over to the ''Wisdom'' stat.


    [ Wisdom ]


    The power of knowledge is infinite, gathering experience as you grow. Your magic power will be increased by 0.01% per wisdom stat.


    *ss-exclusive effect:


    When you''re equipped with a book-type weapon or staff-type weapon, you will gain certain bonuses and unlock a passive skill based on the weapon type of weapon you equipped.


    *The higher the stat, the higher the effect.


    *Stat points can''t be distributed into this stat.


    ''Hmm, there''s a ss-exclusive effect on this stat? I see... So this ss would prefer that I equip a book or staff type weapon.'' Shinto thought to himself, ''Though book types are quite rare in-game... I''ll have to opt into using staffs for the time being until I get my hands on a book to test out the two benefits.''


    Soon after deciding on his weapon, Shinto closed his status window as he averted his gaze away, looking towards the stalls around him, quickly observing the items on disy, ''These stalls so far are selling quite some crappy stuff that you could just get from monster hunts... Nothing unique from what I''ve seen.''


    ''Well, it can''t be helped, since it is a newbie area.'' Shinto sighed as he continued looking around.


    While walking through the streets, Shinto passed by a group of yers, quickly he overhears their loud conversation.


    "Hey! Hey! Did you know?" A man with the ID above his head, [ Kris ] called out towards his two friends, [ Broseph ] and [ Jordi ] beside him.


    "Know what? That you''re horrible at this game?" Broseph sneered.


    "What? No! Not that! I''m talking about all the rage going on in the game''s forums right now!" Kris refuted back in disdain.


    "What about the forums? All I ever read from there are salty yers that get screwed over by other salty yers." Jordi clicked his tongue.


    "That''s because you only look at the party-up section of the forums! The main attraction of the forum is the theory-crafting and unified ranking sector! And speaking of which, in the unified rankings did you know that a long time reigning king on the unified rankings has finally been dethroned?" Kris excitedly said.


    "What do you mean ''long time reigning king''? And what''s all the rage about that?" Broseph questioned.


    "Well! The veteran yers all said that the previous first ranked yer was a mountain that couldn''t be crossed!" Excited lit up in Kris''s eyes as he proimed, "Since the very start of Spiritual Warriors to now, he has always been first!"


    "Okay, so?" Broseph yawned, uninterested at Kris''s words.


    "What do you mean so?! The first ranked yer has been dethroned! That''s something shocking!" Kris shouted.


    "Did the previous first ranked yer lose in a match or something for him to drop?" Jordi cocked his head as he inquired.


    "No idea! That''s what all the rage is about, Arceus, the new first ranked yer didn''t say anything about this matter! And the previous reigning king is unreachable! Not only did he get dethroned, but he also disappeared entirely from the rankings!" Kris thrillingly said, "What could have happened?!"


    "Maybe, just maybe! The previous first ranked yer raged quit because he lost his ce?" Broseph sneered.


    "Hmm, could be if he suddenly disappeared from the rankings and became unreachable." Jordi shrugged, "Who is this guy anyway?"


    "Uhh..." Kris thought to himself, "Shin... Shintro something? I don''t remember..."


    "Well whatever, the rankings have nothing to do with us, let''s just go hunting," Broseph said as he walked ahead of the two.


    "Yeah, yeah! Let''s go!" The two followed behind as they left.


    ''...So, the news about my sudden disappearance has already been spread everywhere huh?'' Shinto sighed to himself as he continued walking down the streets, ''Well whatever, that doesn''t concern me. The worse that could happen without me saying a word is stupid rumours which I just can''t be bothered to fix.''


    Shinto shook his head as he headed towards a few stalls that , quickly using his coins to buy the items he needed.


    ...


    "That would be 1 Gold and 20 Silver Coins in total, thank you!"


    "Here you go."


    Shinto took out the needed amount of coins as he handed them over to the vendor, quickly receiving a few health potions in return.


    Sessfully finishing the transaction, Shinto shifted his eyes over to his inventory, where he was now in proper equipment, unlike his previous ragged clothing, the only thing that was missing was a weapon and essories, though that isn''t important at the stage of the game he was currently.


    "Now then... With all the needed stuff settled, I just need to get myself a weapon..." Shinto scanned around the area, as an odd stall caught his attention, with a variety of different exotic items on disy, his gaze locked onto what seems to be a book sitting by the side of the stall, "...Is that a book-type weapon?"

 Chapter 17: Outrageous

    Chapter 17: Outrageous


    Stepping closer to the stall, Shinto scrutinized the disy more closely, perceiving the exotic items on disy. These items were above the quality of items sold normally at the newbie marketce, each item having a rarity from umon to epic.


    ''Oh...? Rare and above items being sold at a newbie marketce?'' Shinto thought to himself as his eyes grew curious.


    Noticing that Shinto had gotten closer to the stall, the vendor behind it weed him, "Ah! A customer, why hello there! Please, have a look around~!"


    "Thanks, I''ll look around." Shinto greeted the vendor as he continued looking around picking up the items from the disy as he checked the information on it.


    [ Amulet of Sarku ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Stats: STR + 30 / INT + 35 / Fire RES +5%


    *Upon receiving damage from any attack that deals fire damage, there will be a certain chance of countering the attack with twice the damage in true damage.


    An amulet adored by a nymph hidden away within the Temple of the Sarku, she who cherished it dearly enhanced the amulet with her own powers, thus allowing for it to protrude her essence of mes.


    Condition(s): None.


    ''O-Oh...? A rare drop from the Temple of Sarku''s boss monster is being sold here?'' Shinto closely read the details of the item as his eyes glinted, ''Why is a level 45 and above item being sold at a ce like this?''


    ''Well... For now, getting this item at the current state I''m in would be good. Though, how much is the price of this?''


    Thinking to himself, Shinto looked up as he inquired the vendor, "Excuse me, how much is this amulet for?"


    "Oho? You have good eyes I see for a newbie adventurer eh? Bwaha! Good, good! I like ya kid." The vendor by the name of [Kuhit]ughed happily, "The price of this amulet is 100,000 gold! But since you''ve seen the value of this, I''ll give you a 50% discount! 50,000 gold!"


    "5-50,000?" Shinto blurted out the price as he suddenly felt the urge to cough up blood. 50,000 gold for an epic item? That''s outrageous! And this was the ''discounted'' price too. 100,000 gold for a level 45 item? That''s just... A scam! A total scam!


    "I''m s-sorry did I hear it wrong?" Shinto hesitantly asked Kuhit.


    "Hmm? I said this amulet''s 100,000 gold. But just for you, it''s half price!"


    "..." Shinto didn''t hear it wrong. It was truly 100,000 gold for this amulet. That''s a total scam! In the yer''s market, this item would usually sell for 20,000 gold, and if a vendor were to one day appear by the Temple of Sarku, it would sell for 10,000 gold.


    Shinto felt as if he had walked into a scam artist''s stall, though trying hard not to show his displeasure, he steadied and calmed his mind, "Ah... I see so that is the price. I''m afraid I won''t be buying it."


    "What? I gave you a 50% discount! That''s a deal right there!" The vendor clicked his tongue, "Kid, you''re wasting a good deal!"


    Shinto felt like crying out, ''Good deal? What do you mean a good deal! That''s a total scam!'' right there and then, however, he refrained from doing so as he regainedposure.


    "I was just curious about the item and its price that''s all." Shinto let out a small cough.


    "Tsk, so you''re just here window shopping? Hmph. Should''ve known not to have wasted my time with a poor adventurer like you!" Kuhit expressed his displeasure as shifted his gaze away from Shinto, "If you''ll excuse me I have other customers to attend to!"


    ''W-What...? What customers? I''m the only one here!'' Shinto creased his brows as he resisted the urge to cry out, quickly he shook his head. ''I shouldn''t be bothered by this... This is a scam artists shop after all...'' Shinto averted his gaze away from the items on disy as he locked his eyes onto the book by the side of the stall. ''But whatever, I came here to check out on that, not on anything else.''


    Taking a small breath, Shinto picked the book sitting by the side as he checked the details on the item.


    [ Garbage Book ]


    Rarity: Common


    A book that has gibberish and nonsense in it. Labelled garbage by the vendor, Kuhit.


    "..."


    What was Shinto expecting at a ce like this with its outrageous prices? A rare book to have magically appeared conveniently for Shinto?


    "...I shouldn''t havee here and wasted my time..."


    Just as Shinto was about to ce the book down and leave the stall, he received a sudden notification.


    [ Alert! You may activate ''Eyes of Altric'' on this specific item to find out its hidden attributes. ]


    "...!" Shinto''s eyes opened wide as he looked at the notification window in front of him. ''So the passive can work like this huh?''


    Shinto did not hesitate as he nodded his head in approval to activate the passive on this ''garbage book''.


    [ Your Eyes of Altric has been activated. ]


    [ Hidden function found. ]


    [ Updating item information... ]


    [ Rare Stats Book ]


    Rarity: Rare


    Effects: Permanently adds 10 stats point onto the yer. (This stat point will remain no matter the situation.)


    A book that was written by an unknown librarian, this book contains the knowledge not many mayprehend. Only those with the eyes of knowledge can unravel its contents.


    Condition(s): Only usable on a yer that has a passive skill which allows for item analysis.


    ''This is... This is... Even better than finding a book-type weapon!''


    Shinto''s eyes brightened up in joy, he found one of the rarest things in the game. A stats book, which gives stats point instead of a specific stat.


    In this game, for every level you gain, you will earn 10 stats point. Thus, with this book, it is basically earning a free level.


    ''Well, maybe this isn''t a scam after all... And since this book is deemed as garbage by this guy, it must be quite cheap no?''


    Shinto shook his head as he rid of his smile on his face. If he asked the price of this item with a joyous look, the vendor would think of it as suspicious and could potentially raise the price even though he views the specific item as trash.


    "Uh, excuse me?" Shinto called out to Kuhit.


    "What? Can''t you see I''m busy? What do you want? Want to ask for a discount? The answers no." Answered effortlessly, not batting an eye to Shinto.


    Shinto twitched his eyes from his words, as he calmed himself down. "No no, it''s not that. I would just like to ask what is the price of this book?"


    "What book?" Finally, Kuhit turned around, quickly he frowned at the sight of Shinto holding the book. "Tsk, that garbage old book? ugh, can''t believe I gave you a discount on one of my best items if you are curious with such a crappy book as that."


    "...Just tell me the price" Shinto creased his brows as he jumped to the chase.


    "Hmph, useless brat." Kuhit clicked his tongue, "20,000 gold, nothing lower than that."


    "On a book like this?" Shinto clicked his tongue, 20,000 gold for a book the vendor literally finds as utter garbage? This was truly a scam artist''s shop...


    Not wanting to waste any more time here, Shinto hurriedly sealed the deal, "Fine. I''ll take it."


    "Hmph? You can afford such a price? My, I thought you''d be broke. I guess I thought wrong."


    "..." Shinto was almost near his patience with this guy, "...I have some money on me, that''s all."


    Shinto nced over towards his gold amount, as it disyed [120,000 gold].


    Shinto frowned at the sight of his gold amount, for a veteran like himself, 120,000 gold at this stage of the game is treated as ''dirt poor'' because most items at around the 200s were sold for nearly 300,000 or more gold, due to the fact that the average yer base has yet broken through towards 200s.


    ''Sigh... Had I known I''d get a reset, I would withdraw all my gold from the guild why did I refuse Kaisus''s offer when I insisted that I''ll return soon?'' Shinto sighed to himself, ''I guess that soon will be a very long time...''


    Lost in thought, Kuhit''s voice rang through Shinto''s ears quickly snapping him back to reality. "So? Are you going to buy this garbage book of mine or what? Or are you going to be wasting my time?"


    "Yeah, yeah. I''ll buy this book." Shinto took out 20,000 gold from his inventory as he ced it on the stall. Quickly as he ced the gold, he gave a nce over towards Kuhit as he took the book and walked away.


    ''Tsk so this bastard actually wanted to buy such a crappy book? Hmph. I''m sure he didn''t check the details of the item! Mwahaha! Get scam you brat for buying such useless book!'' Kuhit smirked as he took the gold amount and closed shop for the day.


    ...


    Walking further into the streets, Shinto turned back over towards the scam artist''s stall as he sighed to himself. "Sigh, well that''s over and dealt with. Now with this book, I can get a nice boost in level advantage." He smiled at the thought as he shifted to another topic, "Anyways... I just need to get myself a weapon... From whatever newbie stall that isn''t a scam and head to the forest to test out this ss now."


    Looking around thest few shops still opened, Shinto spotted a weapon shop that sold a beginner''s staff, quickly he headed over to it and bought the item.


    As the time turned to dusk, Shinto made his way over to the hunting grounds outside of the Town of Parm.

 Chapter 18: Testing Capabilities

    Chapter 18: Testing Capabilities


    Within the ins near the Town of parm, Shinto walked on the pathway headed for the forest, where the hunting grounds are at.


    As he walked over towards the forest, Shinto pulled up his status window as he pondered on how to go about his stats progression.


    ''Hmm... With my ss attributes, it would mean my ss would be niche in different situations, with nightfall being for support and daybreak being for damage?'' Shinto thought to himself as his eyes locked onto his ss attributes.


    -ss Attribute-


    *You are a diviner between light and shadow, thus you will receive certain ss bonuses when in different environments.


    -During the night or in darkness, you will gain a boost to your vision and your stats rting to mobility and support will be increased by 25%.


    -During the day or within light, you will gain a boost to defense and your stats rting tobat and defense will be increased by 25%


    *As a diviner between light and shadow, abnormal status conditions do not work well on you.


    ''25% increase to stats for mobility and support during the night and the same increase forbat and defense during the day...''


    ''Does this count towards my unique stats too?'' Shinto pondered, as he opened up his skill list, ''Well firstly, I need to check out the skills again to see which stats are more suitable for it.''


    While his status window is opened, Shinto opened up his skill window showing a list of five abilities on it. Shinto scrutinized on the top two skills on the list.


    [ Shadow Fields Lv 1 ] [ 20 Shadow Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 10 Minutes ]


    *Creates a field of shadows around you for 30 seconds.


    *Enemies within this field will be inflicted by blindness and have their stats decreased by 5% (Stackable with any other ability).


    *Ally''s within this field will gain a stat boost of 5% (Stackable with any other ability) as well as have their vision enhanced.


    *When you are in this field, you will be able to regenerate 1 shadow gauge point for every 5 seconds.


    ...


    [ Divinity Point Lv 1 ] [ 25 Divinity Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 5 Minutes ]


    *Shoots a ray of light onto an enemy, quickly dealing 250% magic damage.


    *When sessfully dealing damage with this skill, absorbs one-third of damage dealt into HP.


    ''Hmm... So basically; My skills don''t consume any MP at all and instead use a new resource as stated by the passive, Divining Gauge...'' Shinto thought to himself as he looked towards his stats, ''Which would mean putting my stats into intelligence would rather be useless when ites to needing MP, but...''


    Shinto nced back over towards the description of Divinity Point, ''But if I don''t invest some stat points into intelligence, I would most likely deal little to no damage at all, which would make my light skills rather useless...''


    Shinto had two light skills and three shadow skills. From the information he had gotten from those five skills, it seemed it was just like his ss attributes stated, shadow skills were supportive while divinity skills were offensive. If Shinto wanted to use these skills appropriately he would need to bnce his stats on his four main stats, especially stamina, intelligence and agility.


    ''And with Shadow Fields, it seems if I want the status boost for night, I can activate shadow fields in daylight.'' Shinto averted his gaze away from Divinity Point as he analyzed the description of Shadow Fields.


    ''A field-ability thatst for 30 seconds... And to add onto that, it''s a buff and a debuff skill at the same time.'' Shinto scrutinized the details as he read it word for word, ''And... I can regenerate one shadow gauge for every 5 seconds...''


    Reading thest few words, Shinto raised his eyebrows, ''Speaking of regeneration... Does the gauge points regenerate like with MP, or... Does it require me to be in a certain environment in order to start regenerating...''


    There wasn''t any sort of information about the natural regeneration of his new resources, thus Shinto was left there to ponder about it.


    ''Well, with 30 starting shadow and divinity points, I can use at most one skill from each side.''


    After thinking about it for a while, Shinto nced over to his stats on his status window, ''So, with the skills I have right now and the state I''m in... I think focusing on damage would be more important than survivability and mobility at the moment taking into ount that I have no one to support too...''


    Deciding on it, Shinto stared at the ''(+) symbol'' beside his stats as he ordered the system, "Put 5 stat points into intelligence, 3 into agility and 2 into stamina.''


    Saying the order, a system prompt pop up asking if he was sure he wanted to add the points into the stats, quickly Shinto decisively selected yes after doing so, his status window updated.


    Satisfied with the updated status window, Shinto nced over towards the forest in the distance. "Well then, now with my stat points out of the way, let''s start testing this ss."


    ...


    Within the forest of Parm, Shinto swiftly rushes up towards a few wolves scattered around in the area as he used a basic attack, unleashing a mana spark from his staff to get the attention of one of them.


    "Grrr!" Being hit by the attack, the wolf turned towards Shinto quickly staring at him with bloodshot eyes. In the next instance, the wolf gave off a loud howl as it pounced towards Shinto.


    Quickly as the wolf pounced towards him, Shinto jumped backwards maintaining the distance between them as he continued to use basic attacks on the wolf.


    He was kiting. A basic tactic in which one would continuously maintain distance from the enemies as they attacked, this typically applies to ranged attackers to prevent the monster from approaching and attacking them.


    [ You have dealt 8 damage! ]


    [ You have dealt 8 damage! ]


    As the wolf profusely tried to close the distance between the two, Shinto slowly wilted down the wolf''s HP.


    ''Now then... This should be a good time to use a skill.'' Shinto thought to himself as he activated [Divinity Point], quickly protruding a white point of light towards the wolf.


    [ You have dealt 19 damage! ]


    ''Hmm... not bad for being at level one with only six intelligence and one wisdom.'' Shinto continued to attack as he ends the wolf.


    [ You have defeated Night Wolf! ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 2! ]


    [ You have obtained 10 stat points. ]


    "Alright..." Confirming the defeat of the wolf, Shinto nced over towards his divinity gauge as he sees it slowly regenerating, "From the looks of it, it seems the divinity gauge regenerates for about one point every ten seconds."


    "That''s such a slow regeneration... Does it work the same for shadow gauge as well?" Shinto looked at the gauge above divinity, ''Shadow''.


    "I would need to find a teammate to properly utilize the shadow skills... But," Shinto looked around in the forest, "Since I have a hidden ss... I would need to find trustable people so that they won''t spread any info about it..."


    In Spiritual Warriors, information was power. Not everything in-game has been discovered yet. Skills, passives, the world view and the like, there was so much content in-game that many yers believed it was endless.


    Some experts theorized that only 6% of the game has been yed through from the game''sunch a year ago, with 94% left untouched. But that 6% was only public info. Who knew just how much information each veteran has that they didn''t reveal to the yer base?


    Thinking about this issue, Shinto sighed to himself, "Sigh... I can''t go asking my guild members since they''ll most likely barrage me with questions that I just can''t be bothered to answer... And the newbies, they might jump onto the forums and talk about me... And thus creating a butterfly effect where the veterans will hunt me down..."


    "With a support ss, solo-y is definitely a no in long term..."


    At his current state, he could solo beginner monsters and possibly beginner''s dungeon with skill and movements alone. He could use all sorts of tactics in order to sessfully defeat these monsters. But what about future contents that he definitely can''t solo?


    He didn''t think too deeply into this matter while deciding on this ss, he was too used to ying solo that he forgot about teamwork, he had mostly soloed through content, yed against the many in Crystality. The only times he would work together with his team was when he was raiding a stupidly hard boss with annoying gimmicks but, that was rare since he didn''t tackle any new content.


    He didn''t know much about teamwork since he was a solo yer, though he may care about his guildmates, he just wasn''t used to coordinating with them since he rarely does so, the only exception to this was the core members, since he teamed up with them for Crystality, but that''s only to an extent of receiving support and intercepting when needed to help his teammates out of a pickle.


    "Damn... Did I really made a mistake?" Shinto shook his head ridding the thought away from his mind, "Well, I did ask for it when I went ahead and switched to support..."


    Shinto sighed.


    His guild members couldn''t be counted on. Not because they weren''t trustable, but because Shinto didn''t want to bother them, especially with him being at this state and that he didn''t want to be a burden to them, especially to the core members of the guild.


    Shinto was stuck in thought for a long while, pondering on this matter.


    "Sigh... Was it always hard to try to get out of solo?"


    ...


    As he sighed to himself, he suddenly heard a loud voice rushing towards him.


    "EEEK! OUT OF THE WAY, OUT OF THE WAY!!!"


    "...?"

 Chapter 19: Brawling Runaway

    Chapter 19: Brawling Runaway


    A loud padding noise could be rumbling through the forest, followed by a woman''s voice screaming at the top of her lungs.


    Inquiring on the sudden mour, Shinto turned his head towards that direction. Doing so, his eyes bulged out of his sockets.


    His gaze locked onto the woman, a brawler, running by the distance whose ID lit brightly in green above her head [ Frey ].


    "AHHHH!! SOMEONE! HELP MEEE!!!" Frey cried out.


    Behind Frey was a pack of night wolves chasing after her. She dashed as far as she can whilst barely maintaining a distance from the wolves. Shinto''s eyes zed over the pack, giving a count in his thoughts, ''One...two...seven...ten?! A total of ten?!''


    His eyes rattled, from what transpired before him, as he hurriedly jumped towards the side. He prowled in caution, watching the brawler and the pack of wolves behind her approaching by his side.


    "H-Hey you...!" Frey yelled out over towards Shinto as she approached closer, "P-Pleaseeee help me!!" She cried out, fastening her charge towards Shinto with all her might.


    Looking at the charging Frey approaching him steadfast he abruptly stepped back, "H-Hey...! What are you...?!"


    Quickly as Frey approached towards Shinto''s side, a wolf from the pack pounced over towards him.


    "Ugh...!" In the instant that the wolf pounced over to Shinto, he hurriedly leapt backwards as he shot out a basic attack from his staff to the wolf, quickly knocking the wolf back slightly from the attack.


    The moment he sent out a mana spark, a few more wolves pounced at Shinto, noticing their movements, Shinto quickly swayed towards the side as he used a skill towards the three wolves jumping towards him.


    [ Shadow Fields ]


    A veil of shadow quickly protruded from Shinto''s hand as it enveloped the wolves including the one that had first pounced at him into a dark field.


    As they were enveloped into the field, their movements became abrupt as they slowed down from their assault slowly they began to sharply raise their senses of smell.


    ''...So that''s how Shadow Fields work... Hmm, it could be used as a good CC when needed. Now to test of it''s supporting capabilities...''


    Shinto thought to himself as he hurriedly looked over towards Frey''s side who had been staring there watching the scene unfolding before her.


    "W-What...?" Frey stared dumbly.


    "Hey! You! Are you just going stand there? Move towards the side...!" Looking at the dumbfounded Frey, Shinto hurriedly called out towards her,


    "A-Ah...?" Hearing Shinto''s call, she hastily moved over to the side, simultaneously suddenly a wolf pounced over towards her original position barely missing Frey.


    "...!" If she had reacted toote, she would have been attacked! She got careless watching the fight going with Shinto and the wolves, she was amazed by the fact that he could handle four wolves at once when she could only handle two!


    "Are you just going to stand there?" Shinto called out to her once again, quickly snapping her back to reality. In an instant after going back into reality, the brawler reflexively punched the wolf that had pounced towards her back.


    "S-Sorry...!" She hurriedly apologized as she rushed towards Shinto''s side.


    "Hurry, head into the fields and handle the monsters there before they escape!" Shinto shouted as he quickly shot out a few mana sparks over towards the wolves inside the field, keeping them inside the field.


    "I-Inside there...?" Frey hesitantly asked.


    "Yes, hurry before it goes away!" He continued hitting the wolves inside the field, slightly knocking them back and preventing them from escaping.


    The wolves were blinded due to the effects of Shadow Fields, with their stats down by 5%, it may not seem much, but it does make a difference when you''re blinded and aren''t use to the momentum one wasn''t use to.


    Although the wolves could use their senses of smell, they couldn''t escape due to Shinto''s constant manuevering around the field as he shot out mana sparks that prevented them from escaping while also meticulously messing with their sense of direction.


    From the looks of it, the shadow fields seemed to also be messing with their sense of smell due to the purple smoke protruding from the field which allowed Shinto to mess their sense of direction.


    Hearing Shinto''s order, Frey rushed up towards the fields, the moment she stepped foot into the purple fields, her movement speed slightly became faster and within the smoke protruding from the fields, she could clearly see what was going on, clearer than before.


    Rushing forward towards the wolves, she throws a punch much lighter than she was used towards the wolves quickly hitting back, Frey simultaneously attacked the four wolves within the fields as she quickly activates a skill, "Take this! Blitz Fist!"


    Activating the skill, Frey quickly attacked the wolves in front of her multiple times, quickly turning them into grey ash. Following that was Shinto casting over a ck mark towards Frey who had been attacked a few times,


    It was the skill [ Mark of Umbra ]


    [ Mark of Umbra Lv 1 ] [ 30 Shadow Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 3 Minutes ]


    *Inflicts a ''mark of umbra'' onto an ally within a 50-meter radius. Those with this mark will have their HP regenerated by 2% every second for until the mark goes away.


    *The mark stays for 10 seconds (By stacking this mark, the duration will stack up).


    Watching her HP Bar that was originally in the red slowly rose up towards yellow, Frey''s face brightens up, "Thanks!" Frey shouted out as her momentum increased, quickly killing the other two wolves.


    Just as the wolves turned to grey ash, the shadow fields duration ran out as the area went back to normal.


    "Phew~! That''s done!" Frey happily said.


    "D-Done? We still have six more wolves to fight!" Shinto shouted out as Frey hurriedly gave a nce over towards his direction,


    Seeing that Shinto was having trouble kiting six wolves at once, he had to manuever around the area even more than before. How could Frey forget? She brought 10 wolves, not 4!


    "A little help over here?" Shinto said as he shot out a mana spark over towards a wolf that had jumped towards him and nearly attacked him from the pack.


    "I-I''m on it...!" Frey hastily scurried over towards Shinto''s direction and attacked some of the wolves that were after Shinto, quickly lowering the burden of control Shinto had to use.


    As Shinto''s burden was lessened, he moved his eyes over towards his divinity and shadow gauge, the two gauges were slowly rising, however, the disparity of it was that the shadow gauge was regenerating faster. From Shinto''s calctions, it seemed it one shadow point every five secondspared to one divinity point every ten seconds, thus needing 2 minutes and 30 seconds to regenerate his shadow points to use Mark of Umbra, which cost 30 shadow gauges. On the other hand, it would take five minutes to regenerate his divinity gauge to full.


    ''Hmm... Alright, so if my theory is correct it would mean my shadow gauge regenerates faster during the night whilst divinity gauge would regenerate faster during the day. Though I need to confirm it at dawn.'' Shinto thought to himself as he swayed to the side dodging the wolves attack.


    "Tsk... Multi-tasking in battle is difficult..." Shinto murmured as he sent a mana spark over towards the wolf, following after was a divine silencing light towards the wolf.


    It was Shinto''s fourth skill, [ Hallowed Crest ]


    [ Hallowed Crest Lv 1 ] [ 30 Divinity Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 15 Minutes ]


    *Cast a spell of light onto an enemy, dealing 500% magic damage onto them. Then silence that enemy for 5 seconds.


    As the divine silencing light enveloped the wolf, the wolf quickly turned into grey ash. Simultaneously after, the few wolves that were handled by Frey fell.


    [ You have defeated Night Wolf! ]


    [ You have defeated Night Wolf! ]


    [ You have defeated Night Wolf... ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 3! ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 4! ]


    [ You have obtained 20 stat points. ]


    Looking over his status window to see his notifications, he let out a heavy breath of exhaustion ''Damn... It really is hard to multi-task...''


    As a DPS, Shinto only had to worry about a few things such as focusing on his resources, the timing on his skills, his surroundings, and his enemies. Now as a support, he tackles the fight in a different angle, as he now diverts his attention towards Frey who he had to keep her HP in check, healing her up when it''s needed not to mention he had tobat against six wolves simultaneously, scrapping of their HP slowly with his low damage from his basic attacks.


    It proved to be quite difficultpared to how easy supports like Hikari made it look, they sure made it look easy. Though, Hikari was at the rear lines healing her allies while also being a watchful eye of the surroundings and her allies. She did all of this without having anybat abilities and therefore she didn''t need to focus on fighting as well, where he had to do all of that while also fighting.


    ''And this is only just the beginning of the game...''


    Shinto shuddered at the thought of the long-term responsibilities and fights where he had to support his allies against intense raid bosses or help out his allies during PVPbat,


    ''I think I might have underestimated support sses a whole lot...''


    Lost in thought, Shinto heard a shouting from Frey.


    "Woohoo! We did it!" Frey jumped for joy as she walked over towards Shinto.

 Chapter 20: To Laugh or Cry?

    Chapter 20: To Laugh or Cry?


    Frey scurried towards Shinto with a delighted face, as she said in a gleeful tone "Thank you so much for your help back there! I was quite in a pickle haha..." Frey nervously let out augh.


    Hearing Frey''s voice, Shinto snapped out of his thoughts as he nced over to Frey who was facing him.


    "No problem, I''m d I could help," Shinto said as he raised his brow, "Though I do have a question..."


    "Hmm? What would that question be?" Frey crooked her head as she inquired further.


    "Why were you being chased by ten wolves?" Wasting no time, Shinto jumped to the question.


    "Ah- Um... You see... Uh..." Hearing the sudden question from Shinto, a bead of nervous sweat dropped down on Frey''s forehead as she hurried to make up a sentence, "You see... Uh well..." Frey fickled with her fingers as she finally said out a proper sentence, "I was... trying to fight against ten wolves at once..." Frey let out a nervousugh.


    "...You, what were you thinking?" Shinto furrowed his brows as he scrutinized Frey.


    Frey donned an orange vest around her body, brown gloves meant for a brawler and an amber coloured hair tie, tied around her messy orange ponytailed hair. All of the items she had equipped on her, seemed to be that of a level five gear.


    "With gears such as yours and from the skills you use; Fighting against ten wolves at once... Are you asking for suicide?" Shinto spoke in disbelief as he red at Frey.


    "Ahaha..." Freyughed meekly, "Well... I was trying to test my limits!"


    "And going up against ten wolves was a good idea because?" Shinto asked still in disbelief.


    "Because I wanted to see how far I could go...!" Frey hastily responded.


    "...You" Shinto sighed helplessly, "So since you were going against ten before..." Shinto thought to himself as he hesitantly spoke, "I''m guessing you could go up against nine...?"


    "Nope!" Frey answered.


    "Eight?"


    "Nope!"


    "...Four?"


    "Nuh-uh." Frey shook her head.


    "Then why did you try to go up against ten if you couldn''t even handle the previous numbers of wolves...!" Shinto shouted as he quickly let out a cough, calming his mind.


    "I can go up against two!" Frey boasted as her eyes sparkled with pride.


    "...And you thought you could go up against ten because of that?"


    "Mhm!" Frey nodded her head.


    Shinto stared nkly at Frey, not knowing whether tough or cry. Going up against ten wolves at once when she could only handle two? Where did the confidence to fight ten at once evene from?


    "H-Hey...! What''s with that nk look you''re giving me?" Frey pouted, "I honestly thought I could go up against ten!"


    "How...? Jumping from two to ten is just..." Shinto could not finish his own sentence, knowing full well that any reasoning he would provide would be meaningless.


    "Well, just because!" Frey yelled as she looked at Shinto with a serious re in her eyes, "I like the challenge!"


    "..." Shinto continued his nk stare as he looked dumbfoundedly at Frey, speechless.


    Shinto couldn''t process Frey''s logic and answers behind her decision of fighting against ten wolves. He just couldn''t.


    Wouldn''t it be logical to try for three wolves or four wolves first, instead of jumping straight to ten?


    And where on earth did she even get such high confidence that she could solo ten wolves?


    Many thoughts ran through Shinto''s head, but he couldn''t connect anything.


    ''Is this how a newbie acts...?'' He thought to himself as he blinked twice at Frey.


    A newbie that knew nothing of the game and thus would often time do stupid things... Like this one.


    Even as a newbie when the game started out, Shinto who was rather hardheaded didn''t profusely challenge a multitude of monsters which he clearly knew he couldn''t handle it, and instead went for a gradual increase in numbers.


    He had a hard time believing in the fact that Frey had such a high belief that she could solo ten wolves.


    As a brawler at the start of the game who only has single target skills. One wouldn''t be able to solo more than four wolves without a team. To act to the fact that they had to be up and personal with their targets, trying to go up against more than four with ack of crowd control skills was just asking for a death sentence.


    Even as a Shadow Diviner with ranged capabilities from his basic attacks, he could handle no more than five, with kiting and dealing low damage, Shinto could barely survive against the wolves high agility and ruthless attacks. Fighting against six required his full-on concentration and there wouldn''t be any room for mistakes, if it wasn''t for Frey''s interjection with taking away two wolves, he would most likely be dead.


    "I have no words for this..." Shinto inwardly sighed to himself as he shook his head, shaking off his nkness


    "No words for what?" Frey crooked her head to the side as she questioned.


    "...Nevermind. It''s nothing." Shinto quickly brushed off his earlier statement as he took a step away from Frey, preparing to leave the area.


    "Huh? Where are you going?"


    "I''m going off to continue levelling."


    "Ah, Then why don''t we hunt together!"


    "...Together?" Shinto blurted out as a thought passed through Shinto''s mind,


    ''What if she aggroed more wolves than the both of us could handle if I hunt together with her?''


    "What? What''s wrong? Since we''re here, we might as well hunt together right?" Frey gleefully smiled.


    Shinto stopped at his tracks quickly, he turned his head towards Frey as he let out a sigh, "...I guess it won''t hurt."


    "Yay! Ah, right! I should introduce myself and my ss right, is that how basic gaming courtesy go? I''m Frey and my ss''s Brawler!" Freya excitedly introduced herself, "What about you?"


    "...Shinto."


    Shinto couldn''t really reject Frey''s offer to hunt together. Hunting solo would be a stupid idea since he couldn''t utilize his ss to the fullest. Thus, he needed to be in a team in order to support.


    And to add on to that, it would be more efficient to fight monsters in a party as you can cut time by aggroing multiple enemies at once. Though, Shinto felt worried if Frey might go over the top.


    "Oh! Shinto? That''s a nice name!" Frey excitedly said, "Now that we''re introduced, we should go and create whatchu call it, party thing right?"


    "Yeah," Shinto nodded his head.


    "And how do we do that?"


    "It''s simple, just look over my character and say in your head, ''party create''." Shinto instructed


    "Hmm..." Frey locked her gaze onto Shinto as she followed his instruction. Soon after, a window appeared in front of Shinto.


    [ yer: ''Frey'' has sent you a party invite. Do you ept? ]


    "ept," Shinto epted the request as he looked over the party window.


    [ Party Leader: Frey, Brawler, Level 6 ]


    [ Party Member: Shinto, (Hidden), Level 4 ]


    "O-Oh! So it''s like this!" Frey''s eyes glittered as she sessfully created a party.


    "Anyways, now that the party''s established, let''s be on our way," Shinto said as he began making his way towards another area of the forest.


    "Hey wait up!" Frey hurried along as she tried to catch with Shinto.

 Chapter 21: Night Hunt

    Chapter 21: Night Hunt


    Under the howl of the full moon, within the forest hunting grounds by the outskirts of the Vige of Parm,


    Thuck Thuck Thuck...


    "Take this...!" Frey rushed forward as she let out a loud holler, quickly closing the distance between her and two nt-like monstersGalvins.


    The Galvins were nocturnal monsters that had a shape resembling that of a Chayote, a fruit grown best in semi-tropical climates. Though unlike its fruit counterpart, the Galvins wererge monsters like the size of a watermelon, with its rough surface and it''s angry sleep-deprived eyes, just wanting to sleep for once. They were nicknamed, [ Sleepless Squashers ] by the townspeople and the general yer base due to their behaviour of staying up all night as they try to drift off into sleep. They would attack anyone that neared them so that they could find peace to doze off into the night.


    Their body was bulky and huge enough to squash anything that they deem a nuisance to death, thus they were formidable foes that would crush you into smithereens if you weren''t careful.


    Frey took heavy steps as she closed the gap between herself and the monsters as she prepared to use a skill, her fists lit a tinge of orange showcasing the activation of an ability,


    [ Blitz Fist Lv 1 ] [ 45 MP ] [ Cooldown: 5 Minutes ]


    Protrudes a raging force of energy towards an enemy, quickly dealing 500% physical damage through five hits. If all attacks were sessfullynded on the target, you may instantly connect it with another skill under the Brawler''s skill tree.


    Just as Frey initiated her attack towards the Galvins, in that moment of time, the monsters swiftly leapt up into the sky, quickly going above Frey''s head in that instant.


    Noticing that the monsters were leaping up, Frey hurriedly looked above her as she saw that the Galvins were about to drop down on her. Frey let out a shrieked as she couldn''t react in time, with her skills in the procession.


    From behind Frey, Shinto who was watching the scene unfolding before him scurried towards Frey''s aid quickly unleashing a skill as a divine white light protruded from his hands, sending it over towards one of the two Galvins.


    [ Hallowed Crest ]


    As the light enveloped on one of the two Galvins, Shinto shouted out towards Frey, "Hey! Change the trajectory of your attack and aim for the other monster!"


    Hearing Shinto''s cry, Frey hurriedly changed the direction of her attack over towards the other monster, which hadn''t been hit by Hallowed Crest. Sessfully hitting the target, the Galvin was quickly knocked back down to the ground.


    As she sessfully hit the target, Frey diverted her attention over towards the Galvin which Shinto had attacked. Just like the other one, this monster had fallen down as well.


    The monsters cried out meekly as Shinto sent out a veil of shadows over towards the two monsters which had fallen on the ground.


    "Go!" Shinto ordered as he rushed into the veil.


    Heeding to the order, Frey rushed forward as she attacked the enemies, punch, kicks and the like were sent by her until they turned to grey ash. Sessfully finishing up the battle.


    [ You have defeated Galvin! ]


    [ You have defeated Galvin! ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 7! ]


    [ Your Shadow Stat has risen by 1 ]


    [ You have obtained 10 stat points. ]


    Shinto looked over towards his notification window as he let out a sigh, ''Alright... So far, my shadow stat has risen by a bit from the few battles we went through.''


    From the start of Shinto heading into the forest and to now, his shadow stat has risen by 3.


    ''Looks like the only way for me to gain the shadow stat is through using my shadow skills more...'' Shinto opened his status window as he looked over towards the number on his shadow stat, 4. ''Though... Although my shadow stats have risen significantly... My divinity stat didn''t raise at all.''


    Shinto had been using both his divinity skills and shadow skills as much as he could, though, with the long regeneration of his divinity gauge, he couldn''t use his divinity skills as much as he wanted topared to his shadow skills.


    ''With it taking five minutes for my divinity gauge to fill... It''ll be a hard time raising it in the night from what I''ve tested out...''


    Shinto looked up towards the sky as he saw that dawn was about to break.


    ''Looks like we''ve been here all night... I think we should call it a day too.''


    Lost in his thoughts, Shinto heard a familiar voice from the distance walking up to him.


    "T-Thanks for the help back there, Shinto..." The voice meekly said as it breaks Shinto out of his thoughts.


    "Ah, it''s no problem. Though, you shouldn''t have been careless." Looking over towards Frey, Shinto replied.


    "Yeah, I got too careless there..." Freyughed awkwardly as she tried to brush off her mistake.


    "Don''t worry about it, we all make mistakes here and there," Shinto said, "Though, next time, you should look to see what your enemies would do before rushing in, especially if you''re a melee ss like a brawler."


    "Aha... I kind of forgot about doing that..." Frey nervously scratched her head. She had been too excited fighting against new enemies that shepletely forgot to test the waters, though, did she ever tried to do it?


    "Anyways, I think it''s best we call it a day. We''ve been fighting against the mobs for quite a while now that it''s about to break dawn," Shinto said as he looked up towards the sky.


    "Yeah, we''ve levelled up quite a bit!" Frey joyfully eximed, "What''s your level right now?"


    "It''s level 7."


    "Oh! Just one level away from me! Ahh! I''m jealous!"


    "Huh? How so?" Shinto tilted his head to the side.


    "Well... You could easily handle those wolves that jumped at you earlier, and those nt monsters too! Unlike me..." Freymented.


    "Aha, it takes practice and time to get used to handling the monsters, I guess," Shinto said.


    "I''m curious! How long have you been ying?" Frey asked, "Because you seem like the type of guy whose been ying for so long but... Why are you only just level 7?"


    "Ah, well..." Shintoughed nervously, "There was a situation that made me like this."


    "Oh? What is it?" A tint of curiosity showered over Frey''s eyes.


    "Well you could put it in a way that it''s a game mechanic, I guess," Shinto shrugged, "Though, I''ve been ying since the start of the game if you wanted to know."


    "Oh?! So you''re like... One of those veterans I''ve heard so much about?! An expert?!" The curiosity in Frey''s eyes gleamed brightly.


    "Well yeah, if you put that way, then yeah," Shinto responded modestly.


    "I am honoured to have a presence such as a veteran by my side!'' Frey joyfully said, "Hey, hey! Can we add as friends?!"


    "Hmm... Sure, it wouldn''t hurt."


    "Yay!"


    Wasting no time, Frey hurriedly opened up Shinto''s yer profile as she quickly sent him a friend request.


    [ yer ''Shinto'' currently isn''t epting any friend requests. ]


    "Huh? The system won''t allow me to add you!" Frey said regretfully.


    "Ah right, let me send you a request instead."


    Doing the same thing as what Frey had done, Shinto sent the friend request over to Frey, as she received it, she instantly epted it.


    Shinto had forgotten he disabled receiving friend requests from people. He was of course originally ced first in the rankings and thus he would often get a mountain of friend requests which made Shinto wanted to cough up blood.


    Within a single minute, he had received more than 100 requests which showed how everyone would like to talk to him or something along those lines.


    Shinto didn''t have the heart to turn the requests down all the time and he just ended up disabling friend requests in his settings as a whole, thus no one could send a friend request unless someone personally asked him to add him.


    This same thing applied for his whispers too. He had received way too many random whispers and threats that he could only sigh and disable them and only allow messages from those he frequently talk to or on his friend list.


    "Alright~! Yay! I have a veteran in my friend list!" Overjoyed by the eptance of her request she looked over towards Shinto, "Can I ask of you for a favour?"


    "A favour?" Shinto asked.


    "Mhm! Since you''re a veteran... Would it be alright for you to teach me how to fight? Seeing you fight makes me want to better myself! And what more would it be than to have your teachings!" Frey''s eyes gleamed brightly.


    "No problem, I can teach you since we''ll be partying up frequently right?"


    "Woohoo!" Frey smiled brightly.


    "Though, why do you want me specifically to teach than just looking for videos online or to go for a trainer?"


    "Well, because of your a veteran of course!" The excitement in her eyes continued to gleam, "And what''s more worth it than to personally learn from someone?"


    "Hmm, I guess you''re right."


    "Anyways! Now that, that is done, I guess we should be on our way to rest up?" Frey asked.


    "Yep. I''m going to log out now," Shinto nodded his head as he opened up his settings window.


    "Alrighty, see youter~!" Frey waved goodbye as Shinto logged out of the game.

 Chapter 22: Messages

    Chapter 22: Messages


    Logging out, Hasegawa Zayden sat within his capsule as he awakened into the real world. Zayden stretched his body as he let out a loud yawn, quickly getting up from his seat.


    Zayden''s eyes nced over towards his window as he sees the darkened skies.


    "It''s already thiste?" Zayden continued yawning and stretching his body as he scrutinized over to the clock hanging on the walls: 1 AM.


    "Man, I yed for this long huh?" Zayden walked out of his room whilst scratching the back of his head as he quickly made his way over to the bathroom.


    Going into the bathroom, Zayden walked up to his sink as he turned on the tap. He sshed the running water onto his face. After washing up, Zayden grabbed a towel hanging on the towel rack.


    Wiping his face clean, Zayden stared into his reflect on his mirror in front of him.


    Much like the appearance of ''Shinto'' in-game, there wasn''t much disparity between the two. Zayden was a young man in his mid-twenties who boasted an attractive look. With his dishevelled ck hair and nt eyes. Often times than not, he would sometimes be mistaken as a teenager for his look, although he did give off a mature feeling.


    After washing up, Zayden walked over to the living room as he took a nce towards Jisa''s room.


    ''Hmm, she must be sleeping by now.''


    Letting out another yawn, Zayden scurried back into his room as he lied down on his ck sheet bed, taking out his phone that''s been lying on the desk, he switched on his phone. The light on his phone shone brightly from the brightness of his phone as he took a nce at it. Immediately after, he felt like coughing blood.


    The front notifications on his screen were filled with messages and pings from his Line and Discord app. Zayden had received over more than 99+ messages from these two apps alone. As he scrolled down, he noticed multiple private messages on his forum ount as well.


    "...This"


    His eyes shook at the sight. He didn''t know whether tough or cry at the endless notifications he had gotten.


    ''There are so many messages...''


    Zayden sighed to himself, as he opened up his Discord app.


    @Hikari: Zayden? Are you there? Are you alright? Did Arceus do something? Do I have to bring about judgement to him for you? (1)


    @Rie: Just what is going on? (1)


    @Arceus: OI OI OI YOU PIECE OF SHIT ANSWER ME!!! STOP GHOSTING!! (99+)


    ...


    ...


    @Jisa: I''m going to sleep, make sure to eat food if you''re hungry and make sure to wash up! Don''t just go to sleep instantly after getting out of the capsule! You got that?


    Zayden really felt like coughing blood as he opened up the app. Besides the ones that appeared on his notifications, there were even more messages than he had expected from multitudes of people on his Discord, they were mainly from the top 50 unified rankers or from his guildmates.


    Zayden signed.


    ''I didn''t expect this much...''


    Zayden shook his head as he skimmed through his messages, ignoring the ones who he rarely talked to, he began sending back replies to everyone.


    ...


    @Rie: Just what is going on?


    @Shinto: Aha... It''s a long story. You''ll find out in the future, for now, I''m just taking a break.


    ...


    @Jisa: I''m going to sleep, make sure to eat food if you''re hungry and make sure to wash up! Don''t just go to sleep instantly after getting out of the capsule! You got that?


    @Shinto: Of course. Anyways, night Jisa!


    @Shinto: And... Don''t you dare forcibly wake me up...


    ...


    Going through his DMs, Zayden nced over towards Arceus''s endless stream of messages.


    ...


    @Arceus: SHINTOOOOO!!!!


    @Arceus: WHAT THE HELL!!


    @Arceus: OI I AINT SATISFIED.


    @Arceus: FIGHT ME YOU, COWARD!!!


    @Arceus: OI OI OI YOU PIECE OF SHIT ANSWER ME!!! STOP GHOSTING!!


    Taking a nce at the messages Arceus sent, Zayden wanted to cry... Most of Arceus''s messages were purely like this. just piles of spam.


    ''This guy...''


    Zayden sighed to himself as he closed the DM,pletely ignoring everything Arceus said, soon after, he looked over to another DM.


    ...


    @Hikari: Zayden? Are you there? Are you alright? Did Arceus do something? Do I have to bring about judgement to him for you?


    @Shinto: Yeah I''m fine. Arceus didn''t do anything, though, if you want you can punish him for giving me a pain in the neck 99+ message spam.


    The moment Zayden send out the message to Hikari, she immediately replied back.


    @Hikari: Ahh! Zay! Took you a while to reply -_-


    @Hikari: I''m guessing you''re about to go sleep?


    @Shinto: Yep, am about to doze off soon.


    @Hikari: Hehe, I see. How was your break?


    @Shinto: Ah...? Kaisus told you?


    @Hikari: Of course! The guild would have been in an uproar cause of you left out of the blue!


    @Shinto: Aha... Kaisus''s order was quite sudden...


    @Hikari: I could see that, but it was about time!


    @Shinto: What do you mean about time...?


    @Hikari: I mean, you needed a break!


    @Shinto: ...Well, there wasn''t any opportunity for me to take a break...


    @Hikari: Well you have your opportunity now! So make sure to do so!


    @Hikari: And don''t worry about the guild, besides the constant questions we get on the forums and whispers about your sudden disappearance in the rankings, no one being able to reach you in-game, Bunnix''s engagement, the somewhat depressive mood of the guild without you saying a word. We''re fine!


    @Shinto: What...? How is that fine... It sounds more like you are giving me a ''Hikari is going to kill me when she sees me'' vibe...


    @Hikari: No no! I''m just listing what happened today at the guild. With the chain of events urring today, it was quite hectic.


    @Hikari: Like your sudden disappearance in the rankings, ah speaking of which... What happened?


    @Shinto: Ah... Well, something happened. You''ll find out sooner orter.


    @Hikari: Aww! Why not tell me now? Is it a hidden ss?


    @Hikari: What kind of hidden ss is it? What''s the rarity? What''re the attributes?


    @Shinto: ...Hikari


    @Hikari: Hehe, you''re no fun Shinto! I was only joking.


    @Hikari: But it seems I hit a spot huh?


    @Shinto: Ahem... I think I''ll be going now. Gn!


    @Hikari: Hey! Zay! Come back!


    @Shinto: Nope. I''m gonna drop dead in a few more seconds, see ya tomorrow.


    @Hikari: Fine -_-


    @Hikari: Then have a good nights sleep then!


    ...


    Ending the conversation with Hikari, Shinto closed the app as heid down on his bed. Quickly he drifted off to sleep.

 Chapter 23: Next Day

    Chapter 23: Next Day


    Within a dark cavern, a silver-haired man rushed through the area as he aggressively swept through the vicinity. Killing all and any monsters thate at his way.


    He destroyed all the monsters in his way with a loud thunderp as he screamed at the top of his lungs out, "ARGHHHH SHINTOOOO!!!!"


    The silver-haired man was Arceus.


    "YOU FREAKING PIECE OF SHIT, GHOSTING ME AND NOT ANSWERING ME!"


    Arceus continued to curse as he cut down the pitiful Lycan-wolves that were trying to escape from him.


    "...Yip!" The monster let out a scared scream as it turned into grey ash.


    "UGHHH!!!" Arceus angrily stabbed his sword to the ground as he cleared the monsters within the area. Quickly, he turned his gaze over to his system logs.


    [ This person is not receiving any whispers at the moment. ]


    [ This person is not receiving any whispers at the moment. ]


    [ This person is not receiving any whispers at the moment... ]


    [ This person is offline. ]


    Arceus stared at the screen as he frowned. Inwardly cursing to himself.


    "This freaking guy! He could at least goddamn exin to me what the heck is going on in the rankings!" He clicked his tongue, "So much for being 1st! Ugh, I can''t even feel anything with this cing!"


    Arceus angrilyined as he heard a howl from within the caverns. As hasty footsteps drew near.


    "Bah! Whatever! I''ll get an answer from that freaking guyter! Now is dungeon farming first." Arceus said as he lifted his sword up as he prepared abat stance.


    ...


    Hasegawa Zaydenfortably slept on his bed, as he heard a loud ring that resounds through the room.


    "Ugh..." Zayden groaned as he moved his body about, covering his ears with a pillow to lessen the loud noise.


    Though, him covering his pillow didn''t help reduce the sound that was ringing through his ears at all. The sound was still loud and thus Zayden abruptly got up.


    Rubbing his eyes as he stretched his arms, Zayden scrutinized his room to find out where the loud sound wasing as he noticed that the sound wasing from his phone.


    "...What? Why is my phone ringing..." Zaydenzily grabbed onto his phone vibrated in his hands. Looking at his screen, all he could see was a ck screen withrge words on it: ''rm''.


    "Huh? When did I even on the rm on my phone..." Just as he questioned the oddity of it, his eyes locked onto the sentence at the bottom of the word ''rm''.


    (Wake up you dummy! If not you''ll sleep in the entire day again!)


    "..."


    Zayden blinked twice at the sentence. As his mouth was opened wide. ''How and when did Jisa do this?'' He thought to himself as he turned the rm off.


    Letting out a loud yawn, Zayden got off his bed, as he checked his messages fromst night. Rie and the others he had replied to from the night before had replied back. As he skimmed through his inbox, Zayden felt like coughing blood as he spotted his DM on Arceus was filled with another ''99+'' beside hisst message.


    "Crazy... He sent another 99+ messages overnight while I was asleep? This is just..." Zayden let out a sigh as he clicked on Arceus''s DM and then quickly as he did so, he left the chat. Finally, he now has a clean inbox on his Discord.


    "Anyways... I should see whether or not Jisa messed with my phone or not." Zayden exited the app as he looked through his phone. "How the heck did she even ess my phone anyways? It has a password..."


    Zayden shook his head helplessly as he left the room, heading towards the bathroom to wash up. Soon after, Zayden headed over towards the kitchen area where he noticed a note on the counter.


    "Huh?" Upon noticing the note, Zayden approached the counter as he read it.


    Dear brother Zayden. REMEMBER TO EAT PROPERLY!!! I''ve prepared some food for you in the fridge so eat it well and since you eat ramen almost every day, go and make yourself an omelette!


    Oh and PS: Your phone''s password is easy to crack get a better password! Why would you use patterns?


    "...Jisa" Zayden sighed helplessly as he read the note. Quickly he opened the fridge as he found the food prepared by his sister in it.


    The food that Jisa prepared was the usual, rice, vegetables, miso soup and some katsu chicken. Looking at the food made Zayden''s stomach growl as he quickly heated the food.


    While he heated the food, Zayden took two eggs from cartons as he cracked the egg and cooked it on the frying pan.


    At the end of the session, the omelette that Zayden had cooked came out a little burned.


    "...Well, it''s better than nothing I guess," Zayden sighed at his inability to properly cook the omelette as he ate it alongside the dishes prepared by Jisa.


    After finishing his food, he quickly headed over towards the capsule as he logged into Spiritual Warriors.


    [ Logging into the game... ]


    [ yer ''Shinto'' hase online. ]


    Within the calm forest by the Town of Parm, Shinto spawned within the area he had logged off before.


    Gaining his senses in-game, Shinto looked around the vicinity of the area. Unlike the dark surroundings fromst night, the forest was now bright and sunny under the blue skies.


    "Alright then... Since it''s day now, I might as well test this ss capability during daybreak." Shinto searched the area for any suitable monsters to fight as he noticed two nt-like monsters, Leafios''s walking by the pathways from behind the bushes.


    Taking a step forward towards the two, he hurriedly gripped his staff as he sent a mana bolt over towards one of the Leafios, quickly gaining the monster''s attention.


    [ You have dealt 34 damage! ]


    Unlikest night, where Shinto dealt damage below the twenties, his damage from the basic attack as increased considerably.


    ''Hmm... The damage increased huh? It must be thanks to the ss attribute.'' Shinto thought to himself as he cast a veil of shadows towards the two enemies.


    [ You have entered a ''dark'' area. All attributes in the night will be active. ]


    "I see... So that is how it works," Nodding his head in understanding, Shinto sent another basic attack. This time, towards the other Leafios.


    [ You have dealt 9 damage! ]


    Seeing that he had dealt lesser damage than he did outside of the darkness, Shinto swiftly left the field as he sent a ray of light over towards the monster, turning it into grey ash.


    As the other monster leapt out of the field, Shinto swiftly sent another basic attack as he turned it into grey ash as well, ending the battle.


    [ Your Divinity Stat has risen by 1 ]


    "Phew..." He let out a sigh of relief, "Looks like with this, I''ve got a pretty good understanding of my ss now."


    Shinto eyes nced over towards his gauge, as he saw that the divinity gauge was regenning faster than shadow''spared tost night.


    "Alright, now that the basics of this ss are done... I''ll need to find ways to be able to use both sides to it''s fullest." Shinto thought to himself, "Though... I''ve only used four abilities from this ss. The fifth ability is..." Shinto opened up his skill list as he nced over to an ability he had yet used.


    [ Shadow Recreation Lv 1 ] [ 50 Shadow Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 10 Minutes ]


    *Summons a shadow minion on the field, to help out in battle.


    *This shadow minion has it''s own personality, thus would depend on how you raise it.


    "Thest ability that I unlocked by default from this ss... A summoning ability." Shinto analyzed the description of the skill, "I wonder what this shadow minion is... Would it act as an NPC or as a pet like how summons from summoners works? Hmm..." Shinto thought to himself.


    "Well... I can''t test this out yet so I can only theorize since I''ve yet gotten 50 Shadow Gauge to be able to use this ability... He sighed as he closed his ability list.


    "Anyhow... Now that I''m done here I should-" Just as he was about to finish his train of thought, he received a message.

 Chapter 24: Town Brawl

    Chapter 24: Town Brawl


    "Hi, hi! Shinto-sensei!! You''re here!" Frey sent a whisper.


    "Ah, hello, Frey... What''s up with the honorifics?" Shinto replied.


    "Hmm, why not? I''m calling you sensei since you''ll be teaching me! Is it too ufortable? Should I address you as ''master'' instead?"


    "...no wait, I don''t mean I''m ufortable... Its..." Shinto hurriedly sent a message; however, just as he sent it, a reply instantaneously came back.


    "Ah, I''ve decided! Master Shinto sounds better! Shinto-sensei sounds like a mouthful... Oh and Master Shinto too... Hmm, I''ll stick with Master!"


    "Frey..."


    "Hmm? What is it, Master?"


    "..." Shinto sighed, "Okay... Whatever, where are you now?"


    "Hmm? I''m in town right now! Watching some fight that''s been going on for a while now."


    "A fight?"


    "Yeah, some guy is fighting against another dude who has been provoking him!"


    "How long has it been going on now?"


    "Dunno, when I got here, they were already fighting, and it doesn''t seem like they''ll stop anytime soon..."


    "I see, anyway, I''ll head to town. Wait for me there."


    "Alrighty!" Frey ended the whisper as Shinto averted his Gaze away from the screen; quickly, he opened up his status window.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 7


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    *You are a diviner between light and shadow, thus you will receive certain ss bonuses when in different environments.


    -During the night or in darkness, you will gain a boost to your vision and your stats rting to mobility and support will be increased by 25%.


    -During the day or within light, you will gain a boost to defense and your stats rting tobat and defense will be increased by 25%


    *As a diviner between light and shadow, abnormal status conditions do not work well on you.


    -Titles-


    [Altric''s Discoverer]


    *You are now eligible to find the meaning of ''truth.''


    -Stats-


    HP: 102/102 | MP: 84/84


    Strength: 1 | Stamina: 8


    Intelligence: 10 | Agility: 10


    Shadow: 4 | Divinity: 2


    Wisdom: 1


    Stats Point: 45


    After confirming his status window, he nodded his head, ''Alright... I''ve levelled up quite a bit fromst night. Though, it still bothers me that the ss rarity isn''t stated yet... I wonder when it will?''


    Thinking to himself for a bit, he suddenly thought of another matter. ''Ah speaking of which, don''t these types of sses have some ss quests that unlock ss abilities or something? I should check on that...''


    Btedly noticing this fact, Shinto moved his eyes over towards his quest logs. As he nced at it, he saw that the list was empty.


    ''Huh? There aren''t any quests?'' He stared nkly at the empty list, ''Do I have to do something to get the quest? Or is there no ss quest in the first ce?"


    Shinto sighed inwardly to himself as he came up with usible theories in his head. ''Sigh... Thest quest I took up was that Girzo or something quest which got me this ss... Do I have to go into another Altric Dungeon to obtain the ss quest?''


    Thinking about it, Shinto turned his head to face the east where the mountains of Galveln stood. ''Hmm... For now, I should focus on levelling up. My current stats and abilities should suffice for the early parts of the game. So I''ll worry about the mid-gameter.''


    Averting his eyes away from the east, Shinto gazed around at his surroundings. "Now then... If I remember correctly, I came from that way." Taking a step forward, he headed back to town.


    ...


    Making his way into town, Shinto could hear the bustling streets as he looked around the area. Compared to yesterday, There was quite a lot of yers and NPCs alike here.


    ''Hmm... Is it because it''s morning?'' Shinto thought to himself as He walked through the streets, heading towards the town''s centre.


    Stepping foot into the town''s centre, Shinto could hear loud cries and shoutsing from the middle of the area.


    "YEAH! GO! GO! GO! YOU CAN DO THIS!"


    "AH WATCH OUT!"


    "COME ON, PLACE YOUR BETS FOR ROUND 3!"


    "...?" Shinto raised his brow as he looked over towards the direction of the cries and shouts. As he peeked through a small gap within the crowd, he could see a battle on-going there.


    ''Is this the battle that Frey mentioned?'' Shinto walked closer to get a better look at the battle.


    His eyes looked onto the two stars of the show. One was a blonde-haired man wielding a sharp sword and wearing silver armour. The armour resembled that of those typically worn by knights walking around town.


    The other party was a brawler. He stood bare-chested, revealing his bulging muscles. The pair were at each other''s throats as they battled it out.


    The blonde-haired man dashed forward as he raised his sword into the air. Swinging it swiftly he brought it down over the brawler. In that instance, the brawler lunged forward as he clenched his fists. He simultaneously dodged the blonde-haired man''s sword as he threw a fist at the man, knocking him back.


    "Gah...!" The blonde-haired man stumbled back as the brawler followed up with multiple chains of attacks, a crimson red aura shot forward towards the man.


    Looking at the battle, Shinto sighed to himself, ''It''s over.''


    Following up with his red aura, the brawler grabbed onto the man''s head as he raised his shin. He then proceeded to m it into his opponent''s chin. Soon after the blow, the brawler raised his other leg. He paused for a split second before dropping it onto the man''s head, knocking him out.


    "YEAH TAKE THAT! I WON THE BET HAHA!" The crowd cheered.


    "...Damn it. I thought that swordsman would win since he had a good start! But then such carelessness... Ugh!" Some people in the crowd wailed as theymented their loss.


    Watching till the end of the battle, Shinto took a nce at the blonde-haired man who had fallen onto the ground. The yer''s name was lit in bright green, [ Ethaniel ]. Soon after confirming the man''s name, he looked over towards the brawler who had given Ethaniel some beating. However, he was toote as he had already left the scene.


    ''I wonder what caused this scene?'' He thought to himself. He saw that Ethaniel clenched his fists as he mmed them onto the ground after the brawler said his parting words to him. ''From the looks of it, it was unsightly with how the brawler mercilessly fought. Was it because the man provoked him. Or... Was it the contrary?''


    As he was locked in his thoughts, Shinto heard a sudden loud familiar voice from a distance.


    "Ah! Master! It''s you!"

 Chapter 25: Lecture

    Chapter 25: Lecture


    Hearing the voice calling out to him from the distance, Shinto turned his head over towards the direction of the voice as he saw Frey running over towards him.


    As he saw her running, he noticed that she wasn''t watching her way as she ran, thus Shinto hurriedly shouted out in an abrupt manner,


    "H-Hey...! Frey watch out-"


    The moment that Shinto cried out, he was a second toote. Frey who was waltzing through the streets bumped into a man in front of her.


    "Ah!" Frey cried out as she fell down.


    "..." The man who Frey had bumped into, looked down on the fallen Frey, said in a demeaning voice, "Tsk. Watch where you''re going." Quickly, the man walked passed her as he went on his way.


    Seeing the scene in front of him, Shinto hurriedly rushed towards Frey, swiftly helping her up.


    "Hey, you okay...?" He said as he extended his hand over to Frey.


    "Yeah! I''m fine" Frey replied as she grabbed onto Shinto''s hand as he pulled her up, "Man, that guy was rude, he could have helped me up or something..."


    "...Well you did bump into him, and from what I can hear from his voice, he seemed to be in quite a bad mood."


    "Ah really? Well, I guess it can''t be helped..."


    "Ahem, Anyways. You should really watch where you''re going, something like that wouldn''t have happened if you had looked where you were going."


    "Ahaha..." Frey nervouslyughed, "I got too caught up with the atmosphere when I saw you..."


    "Got too caught up in the atmosphere?"


    "Mhm! The fight was exciting! Which made me all pump and itching for battles! You saw it too right?!"


    "The fight from earlier? Well yeah, I guess I saw the battle. Though it was only the ending of it."


    "What did you think of it?!"


    "...Nothing really? The verdict was already decided when the brawler captured him and began consecutively doingbo afterbo, so I don''t really had an opinion on it."


    "Ah? You didn''t say his shining ray thingy?"


    "Shining what now?"


    "That swordsman did a cool trick at the start of the battle! I don''t know what it was, but it was cool!"


    "Err...? A shining ray attack?"


    Shinto thought to himself about the aforementioned attack, for a guy who was top in the rankings and incredibly well versed in the swordsman abilities, he should know what this ''shining ray'' should be. However, as Shinto continued to think to himself, he couldn''t find any attack that appeared in the early stages of the game that had an animation like a shining ray.


    ''Was it a high-level fight in the newbie vige then? No that can''t be possible...''


    Shinto had seen that the brawler had used only low-levelled skills as well as the swordsman having equipped low-levelled equipment as well.


    ''Then... Could it be a hidden ability?''


    Unlike exclusive skills which are catered and locked towards a certain ss, hidden abilities are skills or passives in which can be obtained through a medium. Through titles, equipment, shops, quest and the like.


    For Shinto, who had changed sses and had everything temporarily locked and reset, he didn''t have an opportunity to earn hidden abilities through buying them from shops or quest, thus he only had them from titles and equipment.


    ''Hmm... Anyways, I wonder what kind of ability it was... Too bad I missed it,'' Finally ending his trail of thoughts, he looked up at Frey, "So, Frey, what''s your status right now?" He asked.


    "Hmm? My status? You mean my profile thingy right?"


    "Yeah."


    "Uhh... Let me check!" Frey murmured something out as she nced at her screen, soon after, she looked over towards Shinto, "I''m currently level 9!"


    "Oh? Last I remembered you were level 8st night."


    "That''s cause I yed a bit earlier today, then after that... I kind of got distracted with the match aha!"


    "I see. What''s your stats?"


    "Mmm, my stats? It''s 50 in Strength, 20 in Agility, 10 in Stamina!"


    "Eh? You put most of your points in strength?"


    "Is it bad? Did I make a mistake?!"


    "Well no... Not exactly? What kind of build and set up are you trying to go for your brawler ss?"


    "What do you mean?" Frey stared nkly at Shinto.


    "What I mean is, are you trying to be an all-out attacker? A steady damage dealer? Specialize inbos?"


    "Hmm... I never really thought about it. What''s the difference?"


    "Well, for an all-out attacker, usually the ystyle would be more on the rough side of things, like a dogfighter. They would endlessly stomp on the opponents whilst connecting with big burst attacks, though the interval between attacks would be slow," Shinto said, "For a specialist inbos, their ystyle would be more on connectingbo afterbo to prevent your opponents from being able to move. The interval between attacks for this would be quick and fast." Shinto continued, "As for a steady damage dealer, you would be more even on the side of an all-outer attacker and a specialist, dealing steady damage whilst also being able to steadily dobos."


    "Oh, I see! But what does that have to do with my stats?"


    "It matters because stats are one of the factors that decide the growth of a character and their ystyle. For an all-out attacker, they would be more focused on strength and stamina, to be able to burst out damage and also survive hits from the enemies. For a specialist, they would be more on the agility and strength side of things. While for a steady damage dealer, they would be more on the evenness of the stats with slight differences between each of them."


    "Ah! I get you, so it means I''ll need to decide on what kinda ystyle I''m trying to go for in order to invest my stat points into stats?"


    "Yep," Shinto nodded his head.


    "Hmmm... I can''t decide though! All the ystyles seem so fun!!"


    "Well if you can''t decide, then you don''t have to worry about it. You can decide itter, it doesn''t matter right now." Shinto reassured Frey, "For now, just invest some stat points into agility and stamina for a more bnced build first and then save the rest of your points."


    "Will do! As expected of Master Shinto!"


    "Cough..." Upon hearing the word ''Master'', Shinto let out a sudden cough.


    "Mmm... I''m curious! What''s your stats and level?"


    "Huh? My stats and level? Err... I''m currently level 7, with my stat points mainly invested in stamina, intelligence and agility. Each having 8, 10, 10 respectively."


    "Eh, why so low for a level 7?!"


    "Well, I didn''t use all my stat points. I''m saving them."


    "Saving them? What for? Isn''t it better to just use them straight away?"


    "That would be useful for the short term, but I''m thinking on the long term side of things. Who knows what situations would Ie across where I might need to urgently invest a certain stat?"


    "Hmm... Right, right..." Frey thought to herself, "So I should save my points too?"


    "Well yeah, you should. But since you already invested most of your stat points into strength, might as well invest theter stat points you get into agility and stamina first so you can have a bnce of stats."


    "Alright! Then what about intelligence? Wouldn''t it be a lonely 1 if I keep investing in the rest of my stats?"


    "Ah, right," Shinto suddenly remembered the importance of intelligence, "Yeah invest in that too. In fact, invest in it for the next few levels, you would need it if you were to want to self-sustain."


    Shinto had forgotten about the usage of intelligence for melee physical sses. Unlike the importance of intelligence for mages and the like, for melee sses, intelligence is important to increase one''s MP to be able to use multiple skills more often. He overlooked that fact since his old ss, ''Lunar Swordsman'' had an exclusive swordsman-resource only for most of his abilities, as well as ''Shadow Diviner'' skillspletely negated the usage of mana.


    "So intelligence first... Then bnce my stats and then save... Alrighty! Now I know what to do! Thank you for the lecture, master!" Frey excitedly said, "Anyways... Shall we go out and fight some monsters and level up now?! My blood is still pumped up from the earlier match today!"


    "Sure, let''s go."

 Chapter 26: Excitement

    Chapter 26: Excitement


    Frey scurried through the open grassy ins as she initiated a skill: [ Blitz Fist ]. Quickly, she attacked two wild beasts within the area, swiftly knocking them back.


    Following up with an attack, Frey stepped forward as she clenched her hands, quickly turning them into fists. In the next moment, she struck the two wild beasts that were knocked back with a heavy force on her side.


    [ Frontal Collision ] [ 60 MP ] [ Cooldown: 7 Minutes ]


    Clench one''s fist as you throw a heavy force over towards the enemy, quickly bursting forth 550% physical damage.


    *When the attack hits an enemy''s weak point, the attack deals 100% more damage.


    Sessfully connecting the attack with the previous skill, the two wild beasts quickly turned into grey ash.


    "Easy peasy!" Frey cheered as she turned towards Shinto who was standing behind her, staring nkly at the spot where two monsters once stood.


    Shinto blinked twice at the scene as he looked towards Frey, "Hey Frey... Did you had to recklessly jump into battle like that?"


    "Huh? Oh right! Sorry, I got too excited that I just jumped straight at the nearest monster I found aha..."


    "Sigh, anyways at least you got out in one piece. Though it''s to be expected since they were justmon enemies."


    "Yeah, so it''s A-okay! But... Since theirmon enemies, they are too easy!"


    "...Well, we are in the beginner''s area. If we continue from here, we should be heading into areas where monsters within the twenties to thirties appear."


    "Oh really?! Then let''s head there then! I''m way too pumped for battle right now, I need to fight something strong, I need some sort of challenge!"


    "Ahem... Did the earlier fight you watched really get you all this pumped up?"


    "Of course!" Excitement shone in Frey''s eyes, "If you had been there from the start, you would know! That swordsman guy was so amazing with his moves! Same goes with that brawler, ah, I wish I can connectbos afterbos like him!"


    "It was that amazing huh...?" Shinto said as he thought to himself he suddenly realized something, "Wait? Is this why you''ve been recklessly using skill after skill in battles?"


    "Mhm!"


    Shinto coughed at the answer that Frey gave, "...I see." He helplessly sighed, "Well I get your enthusiasm, but using your skills recklessly seems a bit too unnecessary."


    "Huh? You think so? I wasn''t using my skills recklessly though! I was practising!"


    "Practicing...? Wait... How is that practising?"


    "Well duh! Practisingbos like how that guy did it! He used skills after skills, so I was trying to mimic him!"


    "...No, that''s not how he did it."


    "Eh? What?!"


    "He didn''t constantly use skills after skills, though I''m not sure about the start of the battle, however, from what I saw at the end, that guy was managing his resources. He was mixing in normal attacks in between skills while chaining when attacking that swordsman."


    "Oh really?! I didn''t notice! Wait... how did you even notice it?"


    "Well, that''s because the skills he used have almost the same attack animation as basic. With some slight difference of animation here and there, when using the earlier skills like your ''Blitz Fist'', the attack animation is nearly identical, the only way you can identify the difference is the interval between attacks."


    "Ah... I see! So it means, I''ve got to mix in normal attacks when trying to dobos? That soundsplicated..."


    "Not really. Just manage your timings and resources and you''ll have a good flow with you during battle."


    "Is it that important?"


    "Of course. When fighting, always keep an eye on the consumption of your skills. The cooldown of skills, the MP usage and its effects, otherwise... You may fall into a predicament."


    "Ahhh...! Trying to process all this information hurts... Can we just go and fight?!"


    "Yeah, yeah. You''lle to naturally do these as you y more, so there''s no rush."


    "Alrighty then, so shall we head into the level twenties area?"


    "E-Eh...? Wait... No, that''s a bad idea..."


    "Huh? Why not?! I need a challenge!"


    "Err... We''re not even in the tens yet... so we''ll be wiped out instantly."


    "Then what do we do then?!"


    "Well, we could stay here and grind or..."


    "Or?"


    "We could go to a dungeon?"


    "A dungeon! Ah, why didn''t I think of that? Let''s go there this instant!" Frey shouted in excitement as she rushed forward. Soon after, she abruptly stops as she nervously turned around, "Um... Where is the dungeon?"


    "Aha... then let''s head to Old Wood Forest Cavern, It''s through the forest that we were atst night."


    "Alrighty then! Let''s go!"


    ...


    The two made their way through the forest as they stopped in front of a dark caveOld Wood Forest Cavern, a level five to seven dungeon. As the name implies, it is a cave where nature takes it root, many sorts of nt-like monsters popte the area, though not only that, herbivore beastsy rest in the dungeon as well.


    "Alright, we''re here," Shinto said as he scanned the area, seeing many sorts of newbie yers around, like them, they came to enter the dungeon.


    "Level six archer looking for a party!"


    "Level five priest here! Please take me with you!"


    "I''m a newbie, please donate!"


    All kinds of shouts could be heard from every corner, Frey who was looking around turned towards Shinto as she said, "Wow... There''s a lot of people here..."


    "Yep. This is, after all, a known newbie dungeon around here, so of course, there would be many people around."


    "So like... Do we search for a party like everyone else?"


    "Nope, we can just go in."


    "Eh?! Isn''t this a dungeon though?"


    "It is. But, don''t you want a challenge? The two of us can manage." Shinto said, although it''ll be better to find more party members to enter the dungeon, it''s unnecessary. Shinto and Frey could manage to duo the dungeon without much trouble and because of Shinto''s ss, it''ll be better to have fewer people know about it, so finding party members would be a hassle.


    "Right! A challenge! I''m all hyped up! Then let''s go, let''s go!" Frey jumped up in excitement as she entered the dungeon, leaving Shinto behind.


    "H-Hey...! Wait up!" Shinto hurriedly scurried over towards Frey, following behind.

 Chapter 27: Canyon or Cavern?

    Chapter 27: Canyon or Cavern?


    [ You have entered the dungeon ''Old Wood Forest Cavern''. ]


    Entering the dungeon, Shinto scanned the area, looking over towards the green mossy walls which were overtaken by nature. Soon after, he turned his head towards the top, quicky scrutinizing the almost non-existent ceiling of the dungeon.


    "Huh? Isn''t this ce supposed to be a cavern? Why is the ce so open-aired?" Frey asked as she looked up.


    The dungeon had ack of a ceiling covering the ''cavern''. With the asional few rocky roofs which cover small portions of the area, it was more like a canyon rather than a cavern.


    "...From what I remember, the townsfolk named this ce that way because this dungeon is split into two parts. One is the open-aired area were in, which leads to the town of Heim at the end." Shinto answered, "Though this ce may be called a dungeon, it really doesn''t fit to be one. It''s more like amon hunting ground."


    "Oh? Then why the heck is it called a dungeon then?!"


    "That''s because of the second part. This area connects to the actual dungeon, the caverns." Shinto pointed over towards the cliffs where many sorts of entrances could be seen, "Do you see that? That''s one of the entrances to the caves. The entrances and exit are all from and to here. Some are dead ends, but mostly they all lead back here."


    "So... They just called it ''Old Wood Forest Cavern'' because they can''t be bothered to differentiate the two ces?"


    "Basically. But if anything, at that time, the townsfolk felt it was more convenient when they named this ce that way in the past, I guess?"


    "Huh, that''s justzy!"


    "Yeah. But it can''t be helped, at present although some people feel the need to rename this ce, it never really went through. So it''s stuck with ''Old Wood Forest Cavern''. The forest being here, while the cavern being the actual dungeon."


    "Ah... If only they could just change the name of this ce... Anyways, how do you know all this?"


    "It was from the quest information which I had done here before. I picked up the knowledge while interacting with the townfolks and doing tasks for them."


    "Oh? There were quests that send you here?"


    "...Yeah? In the first ce, this area is a gathering grounds for herbs and ingredients alike, so there are a lot of quests like these in town since the townspeople covet them. Don''t you have a quest like that?"


    "Errr... Um... Well..." Frey nervouslyughed, "I... Didn''t receive any quests."


    "What...?"


    "I uh... Went straight to fight after getting used to the game..."


    Shinto felt the urge to cough blood at the statement, quickly he calmed himself down as he asked carefully, "You didn''t talk to any NPCs since you started ying the game?"


    "Nope. I just went on about and did that system quest which I got at the start, and then from there went on to level up! Then, I met you and we ended up here!"


    When starting Spirit Warriors for the first time, all yers will receive a set of system quests rting to game mechanics. From fighting a dummy to chatting with the priests at the temple. Afterpleting the quest, yers are given the freedom to do whatever they wish within the boundaries of the game, there is no set storyline any yer must follow as this game was meant to freely let the yers pave their own path.


    ''...This sounds so eerily simr to that one person who constantly spams me''s beginning,'' Shinto thought to himself as he sighed, quickly letting out a cough, ridding away his thoughts on this matter. "I see... Then after this, you should go and do some quests. Don''t just constantly fight..." he said helplessly, would she be spammer number two? He shuddered at the thought, but she doesn''t seem like a person who spams. Though, the passion to fight is too simr.


    "Aww fine..." Frey murmured, "Anyways! What are we waiting for? You don''t expect us to stand around here and do nothing right?"


    "Yeah, let''s make our way towards the caverns. There we can get some loot from the bosses that spawn inside the caves if we stumble on them. If I remember correctly, it has quite some good beginners item thatsts till the twenties."


    "Loot?!" Upon hearing those words, Frey became more excited, as she took a step forward. "Then what are we waiting for?!"


    Quickly, she initiated an attack on a monster in front of her, swiftly knocking them back. Following behind her, Shinto rushed up as he sent a mana spark over to the monster.


    ...


    Making their way through the fields of the dungeon, Shinto''s eyes averted towards the nt-like monsters which roamed the area. The nts were in groups of three, each one eyeing on yers as they walked past them. Soon after, his eyes turned towards the group of newbies fighting against the monsters.


    ''It''s been a while since I saw this kind of scenes huh?'' Shinto chuckled as he continued to walk. When he was still at the top, he was always at the forefront of finding and going through new dungeons, with him being mostly the first time discoverer of the dungeon.


    As a solo-yer, he rarely ever see scenes of groups of people, working together to fight againstmon enemies or group levelling. So this was a fresh feeling for him.


    When he teamed up with any Vain Blood members to do a dungeon run, thepetitive spirit takes root as they go off on their own ways as they fight againstmon enemies individually to see who can fight the most monsters within a given time. The only asion they would show teamwork is during boss fights and crystality matches.


    ''I wonder how they are doing? From what Hikari said things seem to have calmed down.'' He continued to think to himself as he stopped at his footsteps. Soon after he looked up towards the cavern entrance in front of him.


    "Well then, shall we go in?" Shinto looked over to Frey.


    "Let''s go, let''s go!" Frey replied in excitement.


    Nodding his head, the two made their way into the cavern entrance.

 Chapter 28: Illuminated Bugs

    Chapter 28: Illuminated Bugs


    Taking a footstep into the cave, Shinto and Frey could hear the quiet echoes of droplets dripping within the cavern, their eyes turned towards the murky moss on the wall and on the moss, were small blue light bugs that illuminated a small blue hue.


    "Oh...! Wow! These bugs are cute!" Frey shouted out as she locked onto the small light bugs on the moss. The moment she shouted, the bugs shrieked back as they hid. Quickly the small hue around them disappeared.


    "Yeah, they''re quite cute. But you shouldn''t abruptly approach them, since they''re quite fearful of predators." Shinto answered as he continued into the cavern.


    Walking a little further into the cavern, he was greeted by a system message.


    [ You have entered a ''dark'' area. All attributes in the night will be active. ]


    ''Hmm, so even a small amount of light in dark ces still activate this attribute. I wonder what''s the amount of light needed to go back into the day attribute...'' Shinto thought to himself as he looked over towards the depths of the cavern, with his enhanced vision from the night attribute.


    Quickly scrutinizing his front, he noticed the few monsters lurking within the darkness, eyeing them.


    "Oh... I see! So they do that because they''re fearful for predators huh? Just what are they anyway?" Frey caught up to Shinto as she asked.


    "They''re called ''Litmus Bugs'', they are present in almost everymon dungeon."


    "Litmus? Like uh... Litmus papers?"


    "Err... I guess? I think they''re called that because they change colours under certain conditions like with litmus paper."


    "Oh, that''s cool! So we''ll see them often when we dungeon then?"


    "Mhm. I won''t spoil you what colours they change to though. Since where''s the fun in that?" Shinto chuckled as he continued his advance into the cavern.


    "Right! I''ll see the colour changes for myself!" Frey''s eyes brightened, "Will it be okay if I capture one of these bugs and bring it back with me!?"


    "Wait... Capture one of these bugs...?" Shinto blinked at the thought, "Err... I guess you can? But that will be hard if you don''t have a beast tamer or sufficient equipment."


    "We need another ss for this? Aww!"


    "Not really, you just need the right equipment to capture one of the bugs, but for taming, well... good luck."


    "You better show me where to get the equipment, alright?"


    "Sure, sure. They should be in the yer''s market somewhere... Unless you want to journey to the intermediate towns?"


    "Whatever is quicker!"


    "Haha right. Now then, we should handle those monsters that have been eyeing on us for quite some time right?" Shinto said as he turned towards the steady approach of the monsters.


    "Right on it!" Frey excitedly shouted out as she leapt forward initiating the battle.


    Noticing the advancement of Frey, the monsters jumped forward towards her, quickly unleashing a razor-sharp leafs over to her. The monsters were in a shape of lizards, with leaves covered all around it.


    "Ah...!" Seeing the fast approaching attack, Frey hurriedly moved to the side, barely dodging the attack. Following behind her was Shinto, as he unleashed a blinding light over towards the monsters.


    [ Divinity Point ]


    Sessfully hitting the monsters, Shinto leapt backwards as he followed up with another skill, a veil of shadows protruded out from his staff as he covered the monsters in darkness.


    "Frey, go for it!" He shouted out.


    "Right on it!" She replied as she rushed forward, hitting the lizards multiple times. Then, she activated a skill.


    [ Blitz Fist ]


    Sending out a raging force of energy towards the monsters, Frey continued with thebo, quicky she raised her legs and kicked one of the monsters out of the veil.


    Quickly noticing the monster being kicked out of the darkness, Shinto hastily made his way forward, with his staff in hand, he sent multiple mana sparks over to the enemy.


    As the sparks reached its target, the lizard didn''t budge. Getting its sense of bnce back, the lizard red at Shinto with bloodshot eyes as it jumped over to him.


    "Argh...! Damn!" Shinto cried out as he avoided the approaching attack, soon after he began kiting the monsters.


    ''Tsk... Here I was hoping that I''d knock the lizards back into the veil, too bad that my basic attack is weak in knockback.'' Shinto clicked his tongue while continuing to attack the lizard, simultaneously, he turned over towards Frey who was handling the other. ''She seems to be capable enough to avoid all the attacks from the monster, alright, so healing is not needed.''


    Confirming the situation, Shinto turned back to the lizard as he continued kiting, finally, the monster turned into grey ash.


    "Phew..." Shinto let out a sigh of relieve.


    "Alright! We did it!" Frey cheered, "Let''s continue on."


    "Yeah, sure. But uh... Frey?"


    "Hmm?"


    "Can you not kick the monsters out of the veil?"


    "Ah! Sorry, my bad... Did you struggle at the monster earlier?"


    "Well, not at all. But for future battles, it''s best you don''t give me a monster unless it''s unavoidable. I can hit the monster from the distance while supporting you."


    "Right, right! What does that shadow-thingy do anyways?"


    "It reduces the enemies stat by 5% and blinds them when they''re in it. Simultaneously, it boosts allies stat by 5% and gives them an enhanced vision."


    "Oh! That is such a nice skill! No wonder I could see clearly despite the darkness..." Frey murmured, "Say, what kind of ss is this that gives such an effect?"


    "Uh..." Shinto nkly said, should he tell her his ss? He thought to himself as he contemted.


    Having a hidden ss like Shinto''s meant you had to keep it a secret from the general public, or rather, try to. It''ll be bothersome if people learn that such a ss exist since information is power, especially when it is rted to Altric.


    Even more or so, if hispetitors learn that he has been dropped to level one, most of them would try to PK him to death constantly to prevent his growth. So if he were to tell someone that isn''t trustable, he would have a hard time.


    But in this case, it was Frey whom he was speaking to, so it should be alright... Right?


    He took a deep breath, quickly thinking of the right words to tell her, "Well..."

 Chapter 29: Secret

    Chapter 29: Secret


    Hearing that Shinto was about to exin, Frey''s eyes sparkled as she waited for his answer, "Well? What kind of ss is it?!" She said excitedly.


    Still trying to make up the words to exin, he thought to himself, ''It''s inevitable that I''ll have to reveal my ss to my teammates one day. Especially when it''s necessary for me to tell them about the characteristic of the skill, but for now... I don''t think it''s the right time.''


    Taking a deep breath, he said to Frey in a calm voice, "...Well, It''s a secret."


    "E-Eh...?!" Frey cried out in shocked, "Secret?!"


    "Mhm," Shinto nodded his head as he continued making his way through the caverns, "So I can''t tell you."


    "...Not even a little bit?"


    "Nope."


    "...A teensy weensy bit?"


    "Nope."


    "Ahh! I''m too curious! Just what kind of ss is it that you have to keep a secret?!"


    "Maybe someday I''ll tell you?" Shinto shrugged as he continued down the path of the caverns.


    "Aww, man! Seriously?" Frey blinked at the statement as she hurriedly tried to catch up with Shinto.


    "Yeah, someday."


    "Sigh fine... I''ll wait then," Frey pouted as she finally caught up with Shinto.


    "You won''t be disappointed, I think."


    "I hope!"


    "Aha... Nowe on, they are monsters ahead."


    ...


    Fighting the monsters within the caverns, Shinto and Frey sessfully defeated them.


    [ You have defeated Leazardri! ]


    [ You have defeated Leazardri! ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 9! ]


    [ Your Shadow Stat has risen by 1 ]


    [ You have obtained 10 stat points. ]


    As they turned into grey ash, Shinto''s eyes turned towards his system notification as he opened up his information window.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 9


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    ...


    -Titles-


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 102/102 | MP: 84/84


    Strength: 1 | Stamina: 8


    Intelligence: 10 | Agility: 10


    Shadow: 7 | Divinity: 3


    Wisdom: 1


    Stats Point: 65


    ''Alright... I have quite the amount of stat points now, I should spend them on some stats for this uing battle.'' Shinto thought to himself as he turned towards the inner depths of the cavern, where he could see a wide area up ahead.


    ''Since I''ll be mainly supporting Frey... Survivability and speed should be prioritized.''


    Without any more thought on it, Shinto ced 10 points into Stamina and Agility respectively. Soon after doing so, he closed his window as he looked over towards Frey.


    "Alright, Frey, what level are you right now?" He asked.


    "Hmm? I''m level 10 right now, but I''m almost near level 11!" Frey replied excitedly.


    "I see," Shinto nodded his head, "So we''re almost at the end of the cavern. If I remember correctly, there should be a boss waiting for us at the end."


    "Oh?! A boss? Sign me up!"


    "The boss should be doable for us two, so as long we don''t mess up we''ll be able to defeat it."


    "What kinda boss is it?"


    "It''s an insect-type. I don''t remember much of the details, but it has decent damage and high agility, so we''ll need to be careful of that."


    "Right! Got it! Do I have note of anything else?"


    "Besides that, not at all. Just do what you have always been doing, the boss should be easier since it''s in the beginner area, so we don''t have to meticulously n anything," Shinto said, "Though, just don''t get hit so much. I don''t think I can keep up with healing you if you take too much damage, control the aggro and we should be fine."


    "Control the aggro? How do I do that?"


    "To put it simply, don''t let me be the target of the boss, otherwise I''ll die."


    "Ah... So... Block his eyesight from seeing you?"


    Shinto coughed at the question, "No, not block his eyesight, you don''t have to do that. Just deal damage and make sure the boss just stays on you, the moment you notice the boss moving its eyes away from you, quickly activate a chain or skill to get back it''s attention on you."


    "Alright! Thanks for the exnation, master! Now let''s be on our way and fight this boss!!" Frey excitedly walked ahead.


    "Hah, this girl..." Shinto sighed as he followed behind her.


    ...


    Reaching to the end of the tunnel, Shinto and Frey headed into a wide area of the cavern. Taking a step into the area, the many lights of the litmus bugs from before slowly disappeared, as only a handful remained.


    The small amount of light made the area eerily creepy and to add on to the creepiness was the silence. Besides the small water droplets that could be vaguely heard around the area, everything was quiet.


    "This is giving me some chills..." Frey whispered over to Shinto.


    "Be on high alert. The boss could appear and strike at any time."


    "Right. Where will it appear from?"


    "It should..." The moment Shinto was about to reply, he heard a screech from above. Soon after, he hurriedly shouted out, "Frey! Leap towards the sides now!"


    "Ah...! Right!" Heeding Shinto''s sudden order, she leapt towards the side. From behind her, she felt a rumbling sensation, turning back, she shuddered at the sight of a giant centipede-like monster in front of her, with its name in red indicating it was boss monster, [ Centripedas ].


    "T-That''s the boss?" She said meekly at the sight of the centipede. Its size was humongouspared to the humans beside it. Boasting a height of one meter and with its length being forty centimetres long.


    "Yeah, get ready, we''re beginning!"


    "Right...!" Frey hastily made her way towards the boss as she initiated the fight with a skill, [ Blitz Fist ].


    As the boss was hit, therge insect let out a roar as it swept its body over towards Frey.


    "Avoid it!" Shinto shouted out as he sent a blinding light over to the monster.


    Not wasting a second, Frey scrunched over to the side of the boss as she continued attacking. Following after blitz fist, she sent multiple basic attacks to Centripedas, slowly building up herbos and dealing damage.


    From behind Frey, came Shinto as he sent a veil of shadow over towards where she was at. Quickly having her attacks slightly bing faster.


    "SCREEEE!" Centripedas roared as it continued sweeping its body around, ignoring the effects of the veil. Unable to dodge all of the attacks, Frey received some of the attacks, which took portions of her HP.


    "Argh...! The boss hits so hard!" Frey said in shock as she turned towards her health bar, where 1/2 of her health was left just from a few hits.


    "Don''t worry I''ve got you," Shinto said calmly as he used Mark of Umbra on Frey, quickly healing her up.


    "Thanks!"


    The continuous attacks from Frey and the support from Shinto smoothly flowed through as they slowly depleted the HP of the boss.


    "It''s almost to half!" Frey excitedly shouted out as she saw the HP bar on the boss. Her attacks hastened as she fastened her pace.


    "Keep it up!"


    As they smoothly battled the boss, the monster suddenly raised it''s body up.


    "A-Ah...?! What''s it doing-" Frey abruptly stopped attacking as she saw the sudden movement from the boss. The next instant, Centripedas unleashed a green gas from its mouth over towards Frey.

 Chapter 30: Green Gas

    Chapter 30: Green Gas


    "...!!" Btedly noticing the green gas blowing towards her, Frey was quickly engulfed in it.


    "Frey!" Shinto shouted out in shock from the sudden attack from Centripedas. His eyes quickly turned towards her health bar as he saw that it was dropping rapidly


    ''Damn it...!'' He clicked his tongue as he rushed towards the boss, ''I forgot that this boss had a poison ability!''


    "Frey! Move out of the way!" Shinto continued making his way to the Centripedas.


    "R-Right..." Frey stumbled back from the monsters sudden attack. She had not been expecting such an attack to hit her. The attack took nearly half her health, along with that was a status ailment, poison, which is rapidly eating her remaining health.


    If Frey were to stay at the spot shes at right, her death would be ensured with the monsters sweeping attack. However, no matter how much she tried to move away from the boss, the Centripedas stuck closely to her as it continued it''s enraging attacks.


    While he ran over towards the boss, Shinto took a nce towards his skill window, checking out the cooldown of his abilities. Taking a look at the cooldown, he cursed inwardly, Damn it... The skill''s still on cooldown! She''ll be dead if I wait even for ten seconds!''


    "Ah...!" Frey cried out as she was struck by the attack. Her health dropped down to 1/3 as she was on death''s door.


    Being unable to heal Frey as Mark of Umbra was still on cooldown for a minute, Shinto had to take away the aggro from Frey, however, it was no easy feat.


    "Argh... Damn aggro...!" Shinto cursed as he tried to take away the monsters aggro away from Frey, however with his low damage output, he couldn''t do much on the aggro. Thus, he had to rely on another means to steal away it''s aggro.


    Shinto hurriedly scrutinized his surroundings. With his enhanced vision, he could see the wide-area clearly. Turning left and right in a frenzy, his eyes locked onto a medium-sized rock at the corner of the room.


    Wasting no time, he swiftly turned towards Frey as he shouted out, "Frey! Head to the top-left direction of where you''re at! Just run till you see a rock, then hide behind it for the time being!"


    "W-What...? But, how do I shake off this boss from chasing after me if I run?" She asked in a hurdle as she focused all her strength into dodging the attacks from Centripedas.


    "I''ll handle it, just do it now before an attack hits you!"


    "On it...!" Nodding her head, Frey hurriedly made her way over towards the top-left direction. Though following behind her was the persistent boss. Centripedas was very agile, so it could close in on the distance between Frey if she stumbles even a little bit.


    "Ack...! What do I do?! It''s still chasing me!" She cried out.


    "Just go and don''t look behind!" Shinto shouted out as he made his way over towards the charging Centripedas. Nearing the monster, he leapt forward, immediately closing the distance between him and it.


    The moment he reached his desired destination, Shinto hurriedly intercepted between the monster and the running Frey, quickly taking a strike from Centripedas.


    "Argh...!" He stumbled back from the direct attack from the monster. Although the attack left him with 3/4 of his HP, he was satisfied. The aggro was now on him rather than Frey.


    "SCREEE!!!" The monster roared as it unleashed a grass gas from its mouth again.


    ''Damn it...! This attack again! If I were to be hit by it I''ll surely be the one to die instead!'' He clicked his tongue as he focused on avoiding the gas. However, the monster moved its body over to where Shinto wanted to jump to.


    "What...?" Seeing the monster''s movement, he abruptly stopped himself from jumping. ''...This Damn boss.'' He cursed. The monster had sessfully predicted where Shinto was going to dodge to, if he had jumped, he would be struck by the monsters attack instead of the gas but if he hadn''t he would be hit by the gas.


    Either option he chose, he would receive damage. Shinto couldn''t change towards a different direction to dodge to as the interval between the gas and him moving away was too short of a time to do anything.


    ''Tsk... I''ll have to take the poison.''


    Unable to do anything about the situation, Shinto braced himself for the gas.


    ''I''ll have to stall for more time...''


    His Mark of Umbra had just gotten out of cooldown. With him taking the gas instead, he would be able to survive if he used the skill on himself.


    If Shinto dies here, the boss fight would be a lost cause. Thus, he had to take the gamble of stalling for more time.


    As the gas protruded out from Centripedas''s mouth over towards Shinto, he prepared to use Mark of Umbra. Just as the attack hit him, he was greeted with a surprising notification.


    [ You have resisted the poison! ]


    "...!!" His eyes opened wide as he read the notification. Although he still received damage from the gas, he didn''t care. What was dangerous about the attack was the poison-effect.


    ''I resisted the poison? But I don''t have any poison resistance to it...?'' His thoughts became a mess as he pondered on the matter.


    However, his thoughts were cut short, as he snapped back into reality. He was in the middle of battle, he shouldn''t think of any other matters besides the one in front of him.


    "This is good..." He smiled as he jumped backwards, quickly he turned over towards the rock where Frey hid, "Freye out, it''s your turn!"


    Sending a Mark of Umbra over to Frey, Shinto hurriedly retreated back.


    "H-Huh...?" Frey stared at her health suddenly rising up again.


    "Quick, Frey, end this battle!"


    "Ah right...!" Her expression brightened as she was all healthy again. Hastily making her way back to the Centripedas that was still on Shinto, she quickly initiated multiple skills onto the monster, "We meet again centipede-thingy! This is for poisoning me, no hard feelings!"


    Firstly using Blitz Fist, she followed it up with multiple basic attacks, as she ends herbo with Frontal Collision.


    The monster''s health instantly fell into the red from its halfway point. The monster let out ast roar as it sent gas after gas of poison around the area. However, itsst hurrah was cut short. Shinto leapt forward from the rear lines as he sent a point of light over towards Centripedas, turning it into grey ash.

 Chapter 31: Loot

    Chapter 31: Loot


    [ You have defeated Centripedas! ]


    [ You have obtained ''Centripedas Leg'' ]


    [ You have obtained 4 ''Venom nd'' ]


    [ You have obtained ''Broken Water Crystal Piece'' ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 10! ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 11! ]


    [ Your Shadow Stat has risen by 1 ]


    [ Your Shadow Stat has risen by 1 ]


    [ Your Divinity Stat has risen by 1 ]


    [ You have obtained 20 stat points. ]


    Shinto breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that the monster has finally been defeated.


    ''Phew... That''s done. Who knew this early boss could prove a struggle...''


    The fight wasn''t at all hard if one were to fight normally with a team, however it was just Frey and Shinto.


    He had believed that they could handle it smoothly with Frey''s damage and his supporting, but he had forgotten the boss''s poison ability, which caused a struggle for them during the middle of battle.


    ''...I should have been more thorough.'' He sighed to himself as he turned over towards his notification, scrutinizing his drops from the boss.


    [ Centripedas Leg ]


    Rarity: Umon


    Attack Power: 151 ~ 272


    Durability: 275/275


    *Upon damaging an enemy, 30% chance of poisoning them when piercing or stabbing them.


    *The skill ''Poisonous Sting'' is generated


    A leg from the remains of a centipede-like monster, Centripedas. The tip of its leg is extremely venomous and lethal upon touching any organisms, injecting poison from the leg into its enemy.


    Condition(s): Level 5 or above.


    Weight: 75


    Looking at the equipment detail of the drops, he frowned, ''Damn it... It''s the sword.''


    The Centripedas Leg was amon drop from the boss. The sword had very poor durability, however, the trade-off for such low durability is that the attack power is above averagepared to weapons of the same level. To add to that, the chance of poison and a new skill gave this weapon vour.


    However, although considering these facts, Shinto was disappointed at the drop.


    ''I have no use for this... And Frey is a brawler, so that''s that.''


    He sighed to himself, he would have preferred to obtain a different piece of equipment. The main reason why Shinto wanted to fight this boss was for its extremely rare boot drop, ''Centripedas Boot''. An extremely good early game item useful for boosting one''s speed and movement.


    ''Well, I guess I can sell it off the market, though it won''t sell for much...''


    Amon drop was amon drop. Any yer that ran the dungeon and stumble upon this boss would at the very least obtain such an item or better.


    ''Well, let''s see the other drops I got...''


    [ Venom nd ]


    Type: Material


    Rarity: Common


    Venom from the centipede-like monster, Centripedas. It is said one can make medicine with the right procedure from this.


    ncing over the material, his eyes locked onto an interesting drop from his list,


    [ Broken Water Crystal Piece ]


    Type: Material


    Rarity: Unknown


    A broken piece from what seems to be a water crystal. It''s shiny blue pieces sparkle within darkness and the oceanic scent is strong from it.


    ''What''s this...?''


    Shinto blinked at the item description. A broken water crystal piece? He had never seen such an item from his entire time of ying Spiritual Warriors.


    ''Could it have been a very rare drop which is why this is my first time seeing it?''


    There was no such item mentioned on any guides about Centripedas dropping this material that he had seen ages ago or on the forums. Maybe someone had gotten this item before, but kept it to himself.


    Thinking to himself, he could only think that it was a rare drop. For an item with an unknown rarity, it would mean it was special or maybe it was just a pile of fossil trash.


    ''...I wonder what usage is this item for? Since it''s a piece it would mean...''


    Still wondering on this fact, a new notification popped up in front of him, which took him by surprise.


    [ Alert! You may activate ''Eyes of Altric'' on this specific item to find out its hidden attributes. ]


    ''Ah...? I can activate again?'' He was taken aback by the sudden notification. He wasn''t expecting this, the first time he had received this notification was from the skill book. His heart thumped, maybe this could be something of worth? Without hesitation, he nodded his head.


    [ Your Eyes of Altric has been activated. ]


    [ Hidden function found. ]


    [ Updating item information... ]


    [ Broken Marine Stone Piece ]


    Type: Hidden Piece


    Rarity: Ancient


    A broken fragment from the keystone of marine. Within the darkness, it would shine like the blue sky, the scent protruding from it is a fragrance to that of the sea.


    It is said if you collect the two marine stone piece lost in time, you will be able to attain ess to the marine grotto.


    ''A hidden piece...? Which means... A hidden dungeon or area?''


    His eyes shone. What could this dungeon or area bring forth? If he was lucky, it could be Altric-rted, which means he could find out more about his ss. But that was farfetched. Not all hidden dungeons or area were rted to Altric. Otherwise, at this point, many would know information about it.


    As Shinto continued reading the description, he raised his brow, ''Two pieces? I wonder where the other one is... And then there''s the problem of the location...''


    Curious, he turned towards Frey. Maybe she had gotten this drop as well? Since they had fought the boss together, the boss''s loot would be split among them, so Shinto didn''t get all the loot.


    "What did you get?" He asked Frey.


    "Oh umm... I''m still looking through it, give me a second!" Frey replied back as she was busy reading through her notifications, "Besides that venom nd or something... Oh...! I got this cool equipment!"


    "Oh? What equipment is it?"


    "Centripedas Boot!"


    "..."


    He blinked twice at the mention of the rare item drop which he had wanted in the first ce.


    "...You, got that?" Shinto asked disbelieved.


    "Mhm!" Frey nodded her head.


    "That''s... One of the rarest drops from this boss."


    "W-What...?! Really? It''s a rare drop?!"

 Chapter 32: Feeling of Salt

    Chapter 32: Feeling of Salt


    Frey''s mouth dropped open as he heard the assertion from Shinto.


    "...Yeah. It''s a rare drop," Shinto sighed helplessly as he looked disbelievingly at Frey.


    She had gotten Centripedas Boots, an item which Shinto was eyeing for. For someone else in the party to get the items he wanted, left his mouth with a salty after taste.


    Who wouldn''t when you see someone else getting something you wanted?


    "Wow...!" Frey said still astonished, "I got something rare? Which, means... This is a good piece of equipment?!" Excitement filled her eyes as she realized the facts.


    "Mhm. This is one of the best early game boot-type equipment. Boasting a boost to your movement speed, agility and adding on some nice bonuses to it as well."


    "And I got it?!"


    Shinto nodded his head, "Yes."


    "L-Let me check the item details!"


    Going through her inventory, Frey looked for the Centripedas''s boots.


    [ Centripedas Boots ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Defensive Power: 180


    Durability: 455/455


    *Agility +23


    *Movement speed is increased by 7%


    *Evasive speed is increased by 5%


    *Poison resistance +15%


    *The skill ''Poisonous Stomp'' is generated


    Boots made from the remains of a centipede-like monster, Centripedas. The boots are made from the shell and exoskeleton of Centripedas, giving it a soft but sturdy feel. The feelers on the boots can help the user evade attacks easier. The sole of the boots may inject venom into the enemy when stomping on them.


    Condition(s): Level 6 or above.


    Weight: 130


    ...


    [ Poisonous Stomp ] [ 75 MP ] [ Cooldown: 7 Minutes ]


    Leaps into the air or towards an enemy as you stomp on them, dealing 230% physical damage, along with a high chance (60%) of injecting poison into them when sessfullynding with a stomp.


    ...


    "...This item! It''s amazing!" Frey shouted out in awe as she read the item and skill description.


    "Right. This item can probablyst you till the twenties or to the forties. Since not many boots in the early stages of the game rival the stats of this," Shinto said as he looked at the exhrated Frey frowning over the boots. He couldn''t remain salty at the sight in front of him.


    "It canst until that point?" Frey asked in amazement, "...And I can use these boots all to myself?"


    "Of course. Why wouldn''t you be able to use them all yourself?" Shinto asked, a little confused.


    "Well... I thought you might want them?"


    Shinto let out a cough as he replied, "...Well, I do admit, I want the boots, but you got it fair and square, so it''s only natural you can have them."


    True, he may not have gotten what he wanted, but he wasn''t greedy nor jealous of the fact that someone in his party had gotten the item. Maybe it would have been a different story if it was with randos. But, at present, Frey was a person who would be stuck with Shinto, so he wouldn''t lose out on much if Frey kept them.


    "R-Really? Thank you so much for letting me have them!"


    "Why are you thanking me...?"


    "Err... Well, I don''t think I deserve this item? I mean... If it weren''t for you, I would have died!"


    "Well, on the contrary, if you weren''t here, I couldn''t have beaten the boss with my damage output. So, it''s nothing too special."


    "But I still feel you contributed more in the fight?"


    "How so?"


    "Um, well... You healed, you debuffed, you stalled for time and you got the monster''s attention when I was in trouble, all I did was punch, kick and whack!"


    Shinto was stumped for words when he heard Frey''s reasoning. He hadn''t realized he had done that much. He was just trying to perform his role as a support.


    Trying to form a sentence, he spoke in a modest tone, "Aha... Well, all of that would be nothing without those punches and kicks."


    Although he contributed a lot, all of that would have been for nought without a DPS. Supports can''t perform their roles at all if they have no one to support. But, as a DPS, they could perform their roles without needing support. One could just tank the fight while drinking potions when their health drops, self buff themselves and the like. If not for this fact, how would solo raids be a thing?


    The more Shinto thought about this fact, he realized how he saw supports as a niche. True, he may be grateful for Hikari''s heals and Rie''s buff, but they were only to that point. Would DPS rely on supports if they could just do the tasks themselves?


    ''...I never really thanked Hikari and Rie properly like how Frey did huh? Next time... I should go and thank them properly.''


    He chuckled at the thought. "Thanks, Frey."


    "Huh? Why the sudden thanks? I should be the one thanking you for saving me!"


    "Haha... Anyways. Besides that boot, did you get anything else?"


    "Hmm, nope. Nothing else except for gold, experience and the material I mentioned earlier."


    "..I see." He said as he turned to look at the broken marine stone piece, ''I wonder where the other piece is then? Do I have to fight another boss?''


    He was unsure what kind of boss he had to fight. Though, with the name ''marine'' in the title of the piece, he could be sure that a water-type boss or something that has an affinity to water would drop something like this. Though, the question is which boss?


    "Anyhow~! Now that I said what I got, what did you get?" Frey asked.


    "Oh. I got some pretty useless stuff, the venom nds... this sword and... that''s it." He said as he glossed over the broken marine stone piece, it wasn''t yet time for him to tell Frey about it. Quickly, he turned to another matter at hand, "Anyways, now that we''re done with the boss, should we head back out?"


    "Aww, we''re not gonna continue fighting?"


    "Aha. Well, we''ve just reached to the tens, so we should run a different dungeon or head to a different town to get better items. Not to mention... You should also start doing quests in the Parm before we had to the next." Shinto red at Frey.


    "Ack...! Alright... alright... I''ll do them, but you best wait for me!"


    "Right, right. Let''s be on our way and head back shall we?"


    "Let''s move out!"

 Chapter 33: Light Attacks

    Chapter 33: Light Attacks


    Soon after finishing their conversation, the two quickly made their way out of the wide area, heading back through the linear path that they had taken to reach the boss earlier.


    While on the way back, the monsters that had respawned were handled more efficiently than before. The new factor being, Centripedas Boots, which added agility and movement speed increase for Frey. Not to mention, it was also light. Thus, the boots allowed Frey to easily deal quick hits more frequently.


    "Hmm... We should get you some better equipment too when we get back." Shinto said as he observed Frey''s battle against the Leazardri. She was easily dodging their attacks while retaliating, however, the force of the impact which she dealt was a lot lesspared to when she had equipped her previous beginner''s boot.


    "Ah? Why? Aren''t these boots enough?" Frey questioned as she threw the monster that she had grabbed hold off, over to a wall. Quickly turning it into grey ash.


    "Well, with your current get-up, nope. You need to put in more force into your punches and kicks or equip a more heavyweight weapon."


    "Oh? Adding more force to my punches and kicks is better? I thought it''d be bad since it consumes a lot of my stamina..."


    "Well, it''s bad if you were to continuously ce force after force into your attacks. Bncing them out is the key. Your current build allows you to deal a lot of attacks fast, but the problem is yourck of power behind them."


    Being able to deal more hits didn''t necessarily mean that you''d deal more damage. The lighter you are, the less impact and force you have with your attacks. Thus, many brawlers preferred a far heavier item in order to pack a punch.


    Though unfortunately for Frey, she only had light equipment, from her beginner''s fingerless glove to her new shiny boots. All of them weighed no more than 200.


    The only reason why the fights were more efficient than before was that previously, Frey couldn''t dodge all the attacks from the mobs. But now with the extra speed, it became a breeze.


    "Oh... I see, so bncing between heavy and light is the way to go huh?" Frey said.


    "Yep. Bncing between the two is the way to go. Well, unless you''re the maniac of a fighter, Yupo," Shinto replied.


    "Who''s Yupo?"


    "First in the fighter rankings, Yupo. She specializes in brutally destroying her opponents with speed, precision and force."


    "Wait- Brutally destroying your opponents?"


    "Right. She''s well... How could you say it, a wild hound when on the battlefield."


    "So like... When you say, she brutally destroys your opponents with speed, precision and force, what does that imply?"


    "Think of it as, fast-paced attacks adding with precision to your weak points and arge energetic force to go along with it."


    "T-That''s possible?"


    "Yeah... Though... I''m still at disbelief sometimes when I watch her fight with how terribly strong she is."


    "...I see, then from your teachings earlier in town, what category does she fall in?"


    "Err... Category? Well, it''s hard to say."


    "How so?"


    "She has the speed, the raw power and the precision. So it''s hard to pinpoint exactly where she falls under. But if I were to judge, she''d fall under the category of a ss cannon."


    "ss cannon?"


    "She''s strong with damage, but... Her defensive iscking."


    "Oh, so like those people where they deal so much damage but they die right after cause they got hit by a spec of dust?"


    "Pfft..." Shintoughed at the anthology, "Well, you could say that."


    "Ah, speaking of builds! Master!"


    "...?" Upon hearing Frey suddenly calling out to him, he looked over towards her with a confused look.


    "With you seeing me y, what should my ystyle be?"


    "You''re asking me that?"


    "Well...! Since you''re an expert at this game... I thought maybe you could rmend me something?"


    "Hmm... I can''t really say for sure what ystyle you should be. You should just go with what you like, there''s really no meta to this. Yupo was just a special case."


    "What I like huh? Then... Since I like dealing a lot of damage and also like hitting things fast, should I be like Yupo?"


    Shinto stopped at his tracks as he let out a cough, "Err... Well, I don''t rmend that."


    "Huh? Why not?"


    "Well... Yupo''s style can''t be copied."


    "Eh?"


    "Her skills as a fighter and her experience are truly remarkable, it won''t be easy. Especially if the rumours were true and that she has a hidden ss."


    "...Oh" Frey sighed. "Then what should be it then if I can''t do both of them?"


    "Who said you couldn''t do both? I just said it''s a bad idea to be like Yupo."


    "Ohh! Then?!" Frey looked towards Shinto with sparkling eyes.


    "Yeah, you can go for a speed-strength build. Though you would need to sacrifice your defense and it won''t be easy if you want to y it skillfully."


    "Hmm... Would that be a bad thing?"


    "Well, if you can dodge attacks and manuveur around, then I don''t see a problem with it."


    "Oh, then I shall do it!"


    "Haha, alright then."


    Shinto chuckled as he turned towards his front, seeing light protruding from the end of the cave.


    "Ah. Looks like we''re almost outside."


    He said as he fastened his steps. Finally, Shinto and Frey were outside of the cavern.


    The bright light shone on them as their eyes turned towards the group of yers fighting the monsters by the canyons. They were a lot more yers here nowpared to when they entered into the caverns.


    "Oh? Were we inside the cavern for that long?" Frey questioned as she looked at the many newbie yers on the fields.


    "Well, I think it''s only been an hour or two. When we headed in, it was morning. Now that it should be afternoon, it''s usually the peak hour."


    As Shinto said afternoon, he heard a rumbleing from the side of him.


    "Hehe... Sorry, now that I think about it, I''m kind of hungry."


    "Aha... Then let''s quickly make our way back then."


    Frey nodded her head as they began making their way out of the canyon to the forest.


    ...


    Near the end of the forest, a group of yers sat under the shade of a tree near the pathways leading out of the forest. As they took rest under the tree, they each had annoyed and depressive expressions on them.


    "Grrr!! I can''t believe it! What''s up with the damn rates?!" A yer by the name of [ Rotem ] clicked his tongue as he turned towards hispanions.


    "We partied up to defeat that stinking centipede so many times... But those freaking boots just ain''t dropping!" The man beside Rotem going by the name of [ Ractron ] replied back.


    "Ugh... I hate this stupid RNG messing with us. I swear, if someone passes by us who has those-" At the front of his twopanions showing contempt at the god of luck, was a yer named [ Roron ]. The moment he was about to continue his words, he hurriedly closed his mouth.


    Quickly, his eyes focused on two yers walking by the distance. "H-Hey! Aren''t those?" Roron called out to his twopanions, quickly he pointed his fingers over to the two yers walking through the pathway, they seemed to be heading to the outskirts of the forest.


    "Grrrr! Those are Centripedas Boots! God damn it!" Upon seeing the sight of a girl wearing the boots he had not gotten, Rotem frowned.


    "Hmph. Wearing the boots out there willy nilly like that, who does she think she is? Does she want to get killed or something?" Ractron said, as he suddenly had an idea. "Hey... Why don''t we kill them?"


    "Hey, you crazy? Killing them out in the open?" Roron said in surprise.


    "Well, they seem weak... So it''ll be over in a second!" Ractron smirked, "Just kill them and hope for those damn boots to drop. Higher chance than killing that damn centipede I say."


    "Good idea~! Then what are we waiting for? Let''s go do the deed!" Rotem smirked as he got up, quickly he rushed towards the two people.


    Without hesitation, Ractron and Roron followed behind Rotem. Quickly they approached the two yers minding their own business.


    The two yers stopped at their footsteps as they noticed the sounds of footsteps making their way over towards them.


    Quickly, their eyes turned towards the sound as they met with the group. After making eye contact, Rotem came forward as he said with a smirk. "Hey, girl. Why don''t you give us those boots ya got there?"

 Chapter 34: Hooligans

    Chapter 34: Hooligans


    Shinto and Frey walked along the muddy paths of the forest nearby the [ Old Wood Forest Cavern ] dungeon. Headed for the outskirts of the forest, they minded their own business as they followed the trail to the ins.


    The two hunted monsters in the forest while on the move, the moment the two were about to reach the end of the forest, Shinto heard a sudden sound of footstepsing at the front.


    "...?" Alerted by the sounds of leaves being crushed. Shinto scanned the area as he took notice of the approach of a few yers numbering up to three.


    "Frey, slow down a bit." He whispered over to Frey as he saw that she was still going at her pace.


    "Wah? What''s wrong?" Hearing Shinto''s whisper, Frey turned towards him as she asked with a confused look.


    "...People are approaching us." Shinto continued to whisper as he pointed over to the front of them.


    "Huh...?" Still a little confused by Shinto''s words, she followed the direction of Shinto''s fingers, there, she noticed figures of three men walking up to them.


    Upon noticing that Shinto and Frey had turned towards the direction of the three men, they stopped at their footsteps as they one of the men from the group said in a sneering voice, "Hey, girl. Why don''t you give us those boots ya got there?"


    "Uh... Who are you?" Frey blinked at the sight of the men. Quickly she turned towards Shinto as she asked, "Err... Master, do you know them?"


    "Nope." Shinto shook his head as he scanned the three men in front of them, they were about a good distance away from them. The three men seemed to of different sses, one was a swordsman while the other two appeared to be thieves.


    The green names shining above their heads indicated that they were yers. The swordsman with the name of [ Rotem ]. While one thief on the right was [ Roron ] and the other was [ Ractron ].


    "Hey! I''m talking to you girl! I said give me those boots ya got there," The man going by the name of Rotem repeated himself.


    "...So if you don''t know them, should we ignore them?" Frey asked Shinto whilst ignoring the man shouting at her.


    "Well, that''s an idea. We should do that." Shinto nodded his head as they made their way past them.


    "...You." The man frowned as he unsheathed his sword, "I''m talking to you! Give me those damn boots!"


    "Hey... Rotem, I think you should like, stop repeating and get straight to the point, their leaving." Roron said helplessly at the fool as he pointed his fingers at Shinto and Frey, who was going off the roads.


    "Tsk, I guess I have to things myself." Ractron clicked his tongue as he activated a skill, quickly in the next second, he appeared before Shinto and Frey. Gripping onto his dagger, he turned to attack Shinto.


    "...!" Before the dagger hadnded on him, Shinto stepped back narrowly dodging the attack.


    "Hey, we''re not done talking to you yet. Who said you could leave?" The man disdained as he prepared another skill to be used.


    "....Well we don''t need your permission to leave right?" Shinto shrugged, his eyes quickly scanned the area in hopes for a gap to run off to. Why should he bother with a fight such as this? He thought to himself. It''ll be inconvenient of him if he revealed his skills here.


    "Grr... You. Give us those boots and then you can leave!" Rotem continued yapping.


    "Um... Why should we give you those boots? You''re not even from our party!" Frey pouted, she was getting annoyed with the repetition of ''boots'' from that guy''s mouth. "And why do you want boots so badly? If you want it that badly, then here!" She took out the beginner''s boots that she had been wearing earlier from her inventory and threw it over towards Rotem. "This should be enough right? You boots-obsessed person!"


    "No! Not these boots! Your Centripedas Boots!" Rotem threw away the boots which were given to him by Frey. "Give it up now or face death!"


    "Centripedas Boots? No, it''s mine! Can''t you just go and kill Centripedas and get the boots?" Frey casually said as she postured herself in an attack position.


    "...Frey," Shinto sighed at Frey''s words. Well, it couldn''t be helped, she doesn''t know what unlucky drops mean yet... She got Centripedas Boots on her first try at the boss.


    Shaking his head at the thought, he turned towards the three mening up to them. "Why does this feel a little bothersome?" He blinked at the question.


    "So you''re choosing death huh? Fine then! We''ll kill you and get the boots!" Rotem cried out as he ran towards Frey.


    "I think you''re the one who''s asking for death!" Frey rushed forward as she activated the skill, [ Blitz Fists ].


    "Well... At this point, it can''t be helped." He sighed as he jumped back, evading another attack from Ractron. This guy''s agility seemed to be on the low side for how easy he could dodge it.


    "Grrr stop dodging!!" Ractron clicked his tongue as he moved forward, moving his dagger around in hopes of attacking Shinto.


    "..." Shinto dodged the attacks as he sent multiple mana sparks over towards Ractron, his damage was low, but it was enough to stagger him for a bit so that he could widen the distance between them.


    ''Sigh... I wanted to avoid fighting other yers for now.'' He sighed to himself as he continued attacking the man in front of him. He couldn''t use his skills in the case that these hooligans might question his ss. So the best he could do was attack him with basics, but if this continues on he won''t be able to win.


    On the other hand, Shinto turned towards Frey as he noticed that she was doing well to uphold her fight against the swordsman. But, although she was doing well, the other thief was targeting her.


    It was a choice between using his skills to win the battle or not.


    ''Ugh... I hate this.'' He clicked his tongue, as a thought suddenly came to his mind. "...Unless?"

 Chapter 35: Misunderstanding

    Chapter 35: Misunderstanding


    Ractron hastily tried to catch up with Shinto. However, the disparity between his agility and with Shinto''s was big. He had ced most of his points into strength and only sparred a little for agility. As a thief, that was a stupid idea. Who knew what kind of thoughts ran through his mind at that time when he ced his stat points into strength?


    "Grrr! Stop moving around and stay put!" Ractron roared out as he used a thief skill, [ Speed Step ]. A sudden burst of wind flowed behind him as he pushed himself forward, quickly allowing him to close the gap between Shinto and himself.


    Shinto quickly noticed the oing attack and swayed to the side. Ractron''s attacks were too slow to the point it gave Shinto the urge to provoke him but he prevented himself from doing so as he continued with his trail of thought.


    ''Unless... I create a misunderstanding.''


    His eyes glinted at the thought. Quickly he nced over towards his skill list as he began taking certain aspects of the skills he had into ount.


    ''If it''s like that then I can use these skills... But how should I go about it?''


    His eyes narrowed onto two skills. [ Shadow Fields ] and [ Hallowed Crest ]. Two different types of skills. One support while the other an attacking ability. What could he do to create a misunderstanding with them?


    ''If I remember correctly... These skills share simr animation to Dark Cloud and Silencing Purity.''


    [ Dark Cloud ] was a ck mage skill, in which the user casts a cloud of darkness over towards an area. Anyone within the area which the mage used Dark Cloud on would be blinded. This was a good escape skill used by ck Mage''s when they wish to run away from the enemy or it could be used as a support skill for when they have party members.


    On the other hand, [ Silencing Purity ] was a priest skill, where the user sends a blinding light towards the enemy, along with that light was silence for up to five seconds.


    Both skills shared nearly the same effects and animation as Shinto''s [ Shadow Fields ] and [ Hallowed Crest ] skill. The disparity, however, was that Shadow Fields had a debuff and a buff on it and Hallowed Crest had a higher damage multiplierpared to the skill used by the dark mage and priest.


    ''So with that... I can let them think I''m either a priest or a ck mage.''


    This was a good thing for Shinto, as with this way of ying, he could now freely use his Shadow Diviner skills in public view and no one would think too much of it.


    ''But the problem is... Which do I choose? To fake as a priest or as a ck mage...''


    He thought to himself as he continued ignoring Ractron''s attempts in catching up with him. However, his attempts weren''t all futile, he was slowly gaining an advantage over Shinto.


    ''If I fake being a ck mage... Then I can only use one skill. If however, it''s the priest...''


    Thinking about the current situation as well as the usages, it was basically a no brainer.


    Shinto looked up at the thief slowlying into range with him. Quickly, he diverted his attention over to Frey, where he noticed her HP was dropping significantly. Frey was beginning to struggle against the assault of the swordsman and thief.


    Quickly, Shinto leapt forward as the distance between him and Frey shortened. While doing so, he prepared to use a skill.


    Chanting something, he began to turn to his status window where he murmured,


    "Put 15 points into Intelligence."


    Soon after, Shinto sent out blinding light over towards the thief who was constantly attacking Frey,


    [ Hallowed Crest ]


    The sudden light that protruded out from his staff quickly arrived towards the thief, [ Roron ]''s face as it collided with him. Enhanced by his day attribute and his increase in intelligence stat, the damage he dealt was almost one-third of the man''s health.


    "Argh...!" He yelled out from the sudden blinding light.


    In the next moment without any dy, Shinto shouted at Frey, "Frey! Hurry and take that thief down!"


    "Ahh...! Got it!" Frey who was targeting the swordsman earlier quickly switched her mark onto the thief who was silenced.


    "Oh no, you don''t!" The swordsman took notice of Frey''s target switch as he prepared to disrupt her with a skill. However, Shinto intercepted as he wielded his staff and sent a basic attack over to him.


    Following after, Shinto reached towards the front of the swordsman as he took the blow from his skill, [ Crossing Arc ]. A skill in which, the attack blows away the enemy with two arcs intertwined together. It dealt considerable damage as well as has a decent knock-back effect.


    Taken by the blow, Shinto was pushed back over towards the thief that was after him previously. Ractron who was satisfied with hispanions attack, followed up with a thief skill: [ Thursting Dagger ], which with his high strength, dealtrge amounts of damage towards him.


    Thebined forces of Crossing Arc and Thrusting Dagger quickly made Shinto''s health drop into a dangerous percentage, where he only had 20% HP left.


    Despite therge amounts of damage, Shinto endured. He had expected this when he took the blow from Crossing Arc, otherwise, if he hadn''t Frey would be the one to be the receiving end of the attack.


    Although he could use Shadow Fields instead to prevent the swordsman from being able to attack a target urately, he was a priest. And with being a priest, he could use Hallowed Crest, as well as Divinity Point.


    And although the skill animation for Divinity Point was unique, with Frey''s barrage of attacks on Roron as well as the two other members of the opposing party focused on killing Shinto, they would overlook the skill animation. Thus, he could sneakily use it to attack one of the two enemies in front of him and then regain back portions of his health from the damage he dealt.


    But currently, with his divinity gauge still regenerating, he had to stall for a little bit of time more. As soon as the thief had attacked him, Shinto quickly regained his bnce as he jumped back, going back with ying a game of tag with the thief. The difference this time was that the swordsman had joined in as addition of another case.


    "Get him! He''s almost!" The thief cried out as he chased after the dodging Shinto.


    "I''m on it!" The swordsman followed up with another skill attack on Shinto, however, he narrowly evaded it and kited with a mana spark from his staff.


    "Ugh...! Persistent piece of-" The swordsman angrily clicked his tongue as he hurriedly closed in on the distance between them. The moment he tried doing so, he had received a notification.


    [ Roron has died! ]

 Chapter 36: Trouble

    Chapter 36: Trouble


    "...!!" Ractron and Rotem''s faces turned into shock as they saw the notification in front of them. Quickly, they turned in disbelief towards the area where Roron was at, there, their eyes shook at the sight of his body turning into grey ash and the one who had dealt the final blow was Frey.


    "That girl managed to kill Roron?!" Ractron said in shock.


    "Ugh! It''s due to us focusing on that damn priest!" Rotem clicked his tongue, "How on earth is he so fast?!"


    "Well, it''s not that he''s fast. It''s just you''re super slow."


    "Argh! Whatever! Let''s hurry and take that guy down before he heals himself!"


    Rotem quickly averted his gaze away from his perishingpanion to where Shinto was. The moment he turned to the area, he wasn''t greeted by Shinto, but by empty air.


    "W-What the...?!" His eyes widened at the scene as he hurriedly began to look around, "Where did he go?!" Searching around for Shinto who was gone in in sight, he suddenly heard a rustling sounding from behind the trees and bushes.


    "There he is! Ractron hurry and get him!" Quickly confirming Shinto''s whereabouts, Rotem rushed forward. The moment he did so, a loud voice protruded from behind the bushes,


    "Frey go after swordsman!" Shinto jumped out of the bush, quickly sending a mana spark over towards Rotem.


    "Ah...! On it!" Hearing Shinto''s orders, Frey began making her way to Rotem.


    "You...!" Being hit by the sudden attack, Rotem frowned as he gripped tightly onto his long sword, quickly he spun around in a circle.


    [ Swordsman Skill: Blitz de ]


    Creating a quick gush of wind around him, Shinto hurriedly took a step back in order to avoid being hit, however, he was a second toote. The attack too off 4% of his health, quickly bringing his health down to 5%.


    "Ractron hurry!!" Rotem shouted out, his heart thumped as Shinto was near death.


    "Gah...!" Shinto clicked his tongue as he looked over towards Frey, who was running up to Rotem. In the heat of the moment, Frey leapt forward as she hit the man in the stomach, following up with a knuckle punch to the chin.


    "Don''t attack my master you boots-obsessed person!" Frey angrily continued her barrage of attacks on Rotem.


    From behind the two fightings, Ractron btedly rushed up as he activated a speed buffing skill, [ Quick Steps ] as he closed in on the distance between Shinto and himself.


    Following after the Quick Steps, Ractron swung his dagger upwards toward Shinto. The man''s movements were dull, thus Shinto could dodge it. Finally unable to resist Shinto opened his mouth, "Maybe... Next time you should ce more points into agility than strength." He said as he sent out a skill, [ Divinity Point ] over towards Rotem, quickly regaining back portion of his health from the attack.


    "God damn it you!!" Ractron red at Shinto with bloodshot eyes as he continuously swung his dagger around, but it always hit empty air.


    While Ractron continued to try andnd his attacks on him, Shinto nced over towards Frey, taking a look at her HP. Seeing that it was down to red, Shinto grasped the opportunity to heal her using Mark of Umbra. The man was so distracted in trying tond attacks on Shinto that he wouldn''t be able to pay attention to the skill animation.


    Feeling a gentle touch on her back from the mark, Frey looked towards Shinto, "Ah, thanks, master!"


    "Hey! Don''t get distracted mid-way!" Rotem clicked his tongue as he thrust his sword forward. Frey btedly turned her attention back to her battle as she took damage.


    "Ack! Hey!" Frey frowned from the sudden attack by Rotem, quickly she went back into attacking him, protruding her fists forward towards multiple areas of his body. While she was doing so, Rotem was fighting back against Frey, for every strike shends, hends a sh on her. They were basically trading blows with almost-near identical damage being dealt to each other.


    Although Rotem dealt more damage to Frey, he was on the losing side. With Shinto''s support on Frey, the damage dealt by Rotem was futile. Knowing this, Rotem roared in anger, "Hey! Ractron! Why isn''t that priest dead yet?!"


    "Ugh! It''s hard to kill someone who is constantly dodging around!" Ractron clicked his tongue has he profusely tried to attack Shinto.


    "Why are you so slow?! Isn''t a thief supposed to be faster than a damn priest?!"


    "Hey, boots-obsessed person! You shouldn''t be distracted mid-way!" Frey said as she clenched her fists, quickly initiation the skill, [ Collision Force ].


    "Argh...!" Rotem gritted his teeth as he was knocked back from the force.


    "Ugh! Don''t talk about it! Just go and target that girl instead! She''s the most dangerous, I''ll go and help out!" Ractron said as he moved his body towards the direction of Frey.


    "Then help already!" Ractron clicked his tongue as he charged forward with his sword in hand over towards Frey.


    As the two men made their way over towards Frey. Shinto stepped forward over towards Ractron as he blocked his way.


    "Who said you could go?" He asked.


    "Out of the way you freaking evading priest!" Ractron shed at Shinto with his dagger, forcing him to dodge. "If you''re not going to kill me and I can''t attack you, then I''ll just make you go back with force!"


    "Tch... Then if I can''t stop you, then I''ll just target the swordsman with her."


    "Grrr! We''ll see who kills who first!"


    Shinto and Rotem quickly turned towards Frey as they made their way to her. The moment they reached her, Shinto shouted out as he sent a mana spark over towards the swordsman.


    "Frey, just focus your attacks on the swordsman and finish him off! Ignore that slow their who can''t evennd an attack on a priest!"


    "Eh...? Priest?" Frey nkly asked. However, she had no time to think too much about it as the swordsman began aggressively attacking her.


    "Don''t mind that, just listen to my orders while we kill that swordsman. The thief means nothing if he can''tnd an attack on you." Shinto calmly said as he continued attacking the swordsman.


    "Grr, why you piece of-" Ractron finally had enough of it as he hurriedly activated a skill, [ Swift Cut ]. A burst of energy surrounded his dagger as he aimed it towards Frey.


    Just as the skill neared Frey, Shinto shouted out, "Frey to the right!"


    "Ah...! Alright." Frey heard his orders as she moved to the right, quickly, she narrowly missed the skill attack.


    "Good. The swordsman almost dead, let''s end this!"


    After his attacks missed, the thief ragingly red at Shinto, "Why you!!"


    "God damn it, Ractron!" Rotem cursed as he looked at his health bar, it was in the red. With the current situation right now, he couldn''t survive. "Ugh, just run! It''s a hopeless fight!"


    "Ugh, run?! I''ll show you!"


    "Argh! Just run-"


    Frey and Shinto cut his words short as they ended the swordsman. He turned into grey ash as in hisst moments, he red over to Ractron with bloodshot eyes.


    [ Rotem has died. ]


    "Alright, now that we''re done with him, move on to the thief!" Shinto turned his head over to the angry Ractron.


    "Right on it!" Frey happily replied as she moved forward, grabbing hold onto the thief.


    "I''ll kill you both myself and prove to them I can!"


    ...


    Not a minuteter, Ractron joined hispanions in death.

 Chapter 37: PK Drop

    Chapter 37: PK Drop


    Dealing the final blow over to the slow thief, Frey let out a sigh of relief as she pouted. "Jee, that''s finally done!"


    "Good work, Frey." Shinto turned towards her as he stretched his arms.


    "Will theye after us again?" Frey asked as she nced over to her boots


    "Hmm... I don''t think they''d try to challenge us in a fight anytime soon. We did win in a two versus three after all." Shinto shrugged.


    "They won''t?" She raised her brow, "...The way they tried to forcefully get me to give their boots... Makes it seem like their the persistent type, are you sure?"


    "Well, if they want to suffer more losses again, then sure they can fight us."


    "Losses?"


    "When you die you lose portions of your experience and gold, besides that you also have a chance to drop an item."


    "Eh?! Really?!" Frey shouted out in shock, "Wait... Was that the reason why they were so obsessed with my boots? They were hoping I''d drop them when I die?"


    "Basically so."


    "What? Jeez, their bad people! Can''t they just get the drop fair and square like us?!"


    "I guess they figured that they''d have a better chance at getting the boots from us rather than fighting Centripedas over and over plenty of times." Shinto shrugged.


    "Hmph! Then they deserved dying!" She pouted, "Anyways... Did we get anything from killing them?"


    "Hmm... I didn''t get anything on my side." Shinto sighed, "Anything from you?"


    "Uhhh let me check!" Frey turned her eyes over to the notification window, "Oh...! I got something!"


    "Oh? What''s the drop?"


    "It''s this cloak!" Frey said as she took out a green cloak made out of leaves from her inventory. Soon after, Shinto and Freya scrutinized the detail of the item.


    [ Old Wood Cloak ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Defensive Power: 90


    Durability: 320/320


    *Agility +4


    *Intelligence +4


    *Earth Resistance +5%


    *Outgoing heal is increased by 4%


    *Iing heal is increased by 4%


    *The skill ''Soft Root Heal'' is generated


    A cloak made from the soft leaves of the old wood treants within the canyons. The cloak is a treasured possession by the trolls living within the forest as it was said that the old wood treants would give blessing upon those who wear it.


    Condition(s): Level 10 or above.


    Weight: 75


    ...


    [ Soft Root Heal ] [ 80 MP ] [ Cooldown: 3 Minutes ]


    Summons forth a small root on the ground within a grassy area as the root heals surrounding allies within close proximity for 20HP every second until the small root is destroyed.


    *The small root''s durability and health are based on 25% of the master''s stamina stat.


    *You can only summon up to two small root.


    Frey''s eyes glistened as she read the details of the item. For a level 10 item, this was an amazing rare drop obtained from the trolls within the old wood dungeon. Just like the Centripedas Boots, it was one of the best early game items, especially for clerics where their healing is boosted.


    "Woah! This cloak is amazing!" Frey shouted in excitement, "Did we really get it from those bad guys?"


    "Huh... This dropped?" Shinto''s mouth opened wide, "How unlucky for them that something like this drop..." Shinto felt pity for the thieves. Just like Centripedas Boots, this cloak had simrly drop rates. For such an item to be dropped, the thieves would surely taste the bitterness of defeat.


    "Since this item is like... The same rarity as the boots, does it mean this is a rare drop?"


    "Yep. It''s one of the good items that can be obtained from the dungeon alongside Centripedas Boots."


    "Woah really?! And we have both of them?"


    "Mhm. To get such items on the same day is just..." Shinto couldn''t make up any words. The rates for these items were just bad, getting them on the same day is just way too lucky. Though granted, the drop from old wood cloak wasn''t from the boss but from the thieves, but even then getting a drop like that takes chance too.


    "Are we that lucky?" Frey said excitedly, "What happens if go to a lottery, would it mean that we can win!?"


    "...I don''t think so. We, or should I say you, shouldn''t try your luck on it."


    "Aww fine. But still! This is a rare drop and we got it!"


    "From the thieves," Shinto stated.


    "Ah- Right... We did get that drop from those greedy people..." Frey disdained, "Well serve them right for trying to be greedy for my boots!"


    "Aha... Anyways, as for who keeps the cloak..." Shinto said as he was interrupted by Frey.


    "You keep it!"


    "Ah?" Shinto nkly stared at Frey.


    "You keep it! I already have the boots, so you get the cloak!" She smiled.


    "...Thanks." He was at a lost for words. Although he was going to ask for Frey to give him the cloak, he didn''t expect that she''d give it to him without him asking for it.


    "Yay! Now we each have an epic item!" Frey cheered. "Now then let''s get back to town!" She turned around as she waltzed forward, heading out of the forest.


    Shinto stared at the back of Frey as he thought to himself, ''I had thought she would want to keep the cloak since she was the one that did the final blow... But I guess I was wrong.''


    He let out a sigh as he equipped the cloak, quickly he followed behind the excited Frey back to town.


    ...


    Reaching back to the town of Parm, Shinto looked around as he saw that the streets weren''t as busy as before. Compared to this morning, there were fewer yers around, most of them should be doing quests or dungeoning at this time.


    "Alright. Now that we''re back, Frey... About those quests." Shinto turned towards Frey as he stated.


    "Ah... Those quests, err... Where do I find them?" She asked back.


    "There should be a few beginners quest back at the temple, you should go there and do them."


    "Just them?"


    "For now, just them. They should provide you with some rep and gold forpleting them. It''ll do you good to at least do them for the reputation in town."


    "I see! What about you then? What will you do then while I do the quests?"


    "I''ll be going and resupplying some stuff as well as buying some new equipment."


    "Ah, so you''re going to the marketce then?"


    "Yep." Shinto nodded his head.


    "Oo! Can you get me something as well?"


    "You do need some new equipment too," Shinto said, "I guess I''ll get you some as well."


    "Alrighty! Then we meet back here in an hour or so?"


    "Yeah, after that we can go over to the next town or head to a dungeon or something."


    Nodding her head, Frey parted ways with Shinto.


    "Now then... Back to the market ce to buy stuff..."

 Chapter 38: Resupply

    Chapter 38: Resupply


    "Thetest equipment are now in stock! Buy them while itsts!"


    "Get these brand new sword and shield made by our best cksmith!"


    "Fresh bread! Get your fresh bread here!"


    Loud shouts resounded through the marketce as Shinto walked through the streets. His eyes scrutinizing the stalls within the surrounding area as he looked for the supplies he needed to buy.


    ''Hmm... I should buy some potions for Frey and myself in the case my abilities are on cooldown,'' Shinto thought to himself.


    There are many types of potions in Spiritual Warriors from resources, buffs, elixirs and the like. The mostmon of the types are the resources potions: Health and Mana.


    These potions are frequently used by the yer base and are crucial in almost every battle. They are a lifesaver in clutch-situations, especially for the damage dealers.


    ''Since Frey''s ss relies heavily on MP usage in the early game, I''ll have to get her a few mana potions. As for elixir potions...''


    Besides resources potions, there are also elixir type potions where they provide a cleanse against status ailments and status debuffs inflicted on the user. They are extremely useful for raid bosses, especially against those that have their mechanics based on inflicting plenty of debuffs and status ailments.


    ''Since we''re going to go on a lot of dungeon runs, it might be a good idea to buy elixir potions too, since I don''t have the ability to cleanse ailments...'' He nodded his head.


    While walking through the streets, Shinto suddenly stopped at his tracks as suddenly recalled an event from before, ''Speaking of ailments... What happened back then?'' He remembered that he had resisted the Centripedes''s poison during the fight.


    ''Does this ss have an innate resistance to poison or something?'' He hadn''t seen any kind of description on the matter. Could it possibly be a hidden feature of the ss? ''I should check out my attributes again.''


    Wanting to confirm his doubts, he opened up his status window as he turned to take a look at it.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 11


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    *You are a diviner between light and shadow, thus you will receive certain ss bonuses when in different environments.


    -During the night or in darkness, you will gain a boost to your vision and your stats rting to mobility and support will be increased by 25%.


    -During the day or within light, you will gain a boost to defense and your stats rting tobat and defense will be increased by 25%


    *As a diviner between light and shadow, abnormal status conditions do not work well on you.


    -Titles-


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 222/222 | MP: 204/204


    Strength: 1 | Stamina: 18


    Intelligence: 25 | Agility: 20


    Shadow: 9 | Divinity: 6


    Wisdom: 1


    Stats Point: 50


    ...


    Reading through the description of the attributes section in his status window, he quickly took notice of thest point, ''As a diviner between light and shadow, abnormal status conditions do not work well on you.''


    ''Ah? So this is why the poison didn''t work on me...'' He thought to himself. ''Since it says that abnormal conditions don''t work well on me, does this mean I''m able to resist all types of status conditions?''


    There are many kinds of status conditions in-game. From general ones such as poison, blindness, silence and the like to unique ones such as statuses inflicted by raid bosses or ss-exclusive ones.


    Unlike the former, where it is easy to cleanse with the help of many existing skills from sses or using elixir potions, thetter is harder to cleanse, or at times impossible.


    ''If I could possibly resist all types of status conditions... then raiding bosses would be a lot easier wouldn''t it?'' If Shinto could resist statuses conditions from raid bosses, he would have an easier time during battle since there wouldn''t be any kind of interference that would prevent him from supporting his allies when in trouble.


    ''Though... Even though I can resist the conditions, I can''t say the same thing for my allies...'' Thinking about it, even if Shinto were to resist the conditions, he couldn''t do anything for his allies if they''re inflicted by the same condition. Since he doesn''t have the ability to cure status ailments.


    ''Even if I could resist the condition... Will I be able to keep my allies alive?'' He could possibly try to keep the boss at bay while waiting for his allies to recover from the conditions, but he couldn''t count on it. Just a few hours back, he barely managed to save Frey from the bosses attack.


    ''Damn... I need quite a lot of abilities to provide sustenance and cooldown reduction items in order to fulfil the role of a support,'' he clicked his tongue.


    ''Guess a lot of preparation is needed for supports to be able to aid their allies during battle...'' he sighed inwardly. ''Well, since cooldown reduction items only appear in theter stages of the game, I''ll have to make do with the long cooldowns on my abilities for the time being.''


    ''Anyways, that''s for the future for me to worry about. I''ll just buy the supplies first,'' Shaking off his worries, he quickly began making his way through the streets again as he headed to the general stalls where they sell resources potions.


    ...


    After searching through the stalls and buying the needed items from them, Shinto let out a sigh, "Alright. Done with the potions and supplies... Now the next thing on the list is equipment," His eyes turned towards the equipment stalls in the nearby area, "So for equipment... I should probably get some armour."


    Since Shinto had a cloak that raised his intelligence and agility, it would be better for him to buy a defensive item rather than more damage or agile-based equipment.


    ''Alright, light armour for myself and some better boots would suffice as well, as for Frey... She needs damage, so I''ll get her some new gloves. Maybe some armour for her too.'' He nodded his head as he began to look for a stall that sold some armour.


    As he searched around, his eyes stopped at a familiar stall by the distance near the end of the marketce.


    ''Hey... Isn''t that?'' Upon closer inspection, he saw the stall from yesterday that had tried to scam him of his money.

 Chapter 39: Speechless

    Chapter 39: Speechless


    From the distance, Shinto saw that the stall didn''t have any customerspared to the stalls beside it, where they had two to three yers and NPCs alike at the front of it.


    ''Hmm... Looks like there are no customers at the stall...'' Shinto shook his head, ''Well its to be expected when your products are all overpriced...''


    For a stall seated within a newbie town that sells overpriced products, it was bound to get no customers. An average newbie wouldn''t be able to afford any sorts of items there.


    ''Huh. Now that I think about, why''s there such a stall like this in a newbie marketce?'' He thought to himself. ''Surely, he wouldn''t expect to actually win big here right? I mean, sure... Newbies might be naive but, how would they be able to have so much gold in the first ce to buy those stuff?''


    Being a newbie and grinding at the start can only get you so far in terms of gold. One canplete everymon quest in town and they still wouldn''t have enough to buy any items sold by the scammer.


    Even though one''s insane luck of getting rare loot from monsters and the like, wouldn''t be enough as well. One epic item sold at the stall was priced at 100,000 gold, and the only way to get enough gold to buy that was to get a minimum of 4 Centripedes Boots. Where each would be sold at the starting price of 30,000 gold on the yer''s market.


    ''Well... It does seem possible to buy an item from there if the bid for the boots is high...'' The demands for rare loot was high, so often times than not, the price for rare loot would increase by 50% of its original asking price. ''But then again, it wouldn''t be worth it at all.''


    Suddenly, a thought came to mind. Could this scammer be earning from these unfortunate yers who sold their rare drops in hopes of buying the items sold by this guy? He shuddered at the thought.


    ''Ugh... Just thinking about it, that''s just so cruel...'' Shinto shook his head from the thought. ''Enough of that. I should just see what he has in stock for the day. Maybe there could be another secret item or something,'' quickly, Shinto made his way towards the stall.


    ...


    As Shinto reached closer towards the stall, the vendor immediately noticed his approach as he quickly greeted him. "Ah! Customer! Wee-" But just as the vendor, Kuhit turned his head towards Shinto, his expression turned upside down. "Oh ugh, it''s you again huh? What is it this time? Ya here to ask for a refund? No! Now scram!"


    "W-What...?" Shinto blinked at the vendor''s statement.


    "You heard me! No refunds! Now scram!"


    "...I''m not here to ask for a refund," Shinto let out a cough.


    "Then? If you''re not here to ask for a refund, then what are you here for? Don''t tell me you want to buy another book? You bought thest one!"


    "Ahem... I''m just here to check out the items on disy today..." Shinto said helplessly.


    "Hah? Check out for what? You won''t even buy them, so stop wasting my time just scram already."


    "..." Shinto couldn''t fantom the situation. Does this guy really hate him this much? "Uh, why can''t I check out the items?" He asked. "If it interests me, I would buy it. Don''t you want the items to be bought?"


    "Tsk, whatever. It''s not like your going to buy them anyways." Kuhit clicked his tongue, "Look if you want then fine! Just don''t bother me and leave when you''re done!" he said as he turned away from Shinto.


    ''Seriously?'' Shinto sighed inwardly, ''Sigh, whatever. There''s nothing interesting on disy anyways, and since there are no more books, I can''t really put that passive to use.''


    There wasn''t anything of interest to Shinto that was on disy in the stall. Although he spotted some rare armour that could help him and Frey, it wouldn''t be worth it at all to buy it, knowing the way this guy priced his products.


    Just as he was about to get ready to leave the stall, he heard a female''s voice from beside him.


    "Oho! These are some good products you have there! Might I ask what''s their price?" the girl asked.


    "Aha! You have good eyes on them huh? This ''Roberinkaz Robe'' is priced at 120,000 gold! But you look lovely today, so I''ll give you a discount of 60%! So it''s 48,000 gold! Quite cheap no?"


    Upon hearing the vendor''s word, Shinto wanted to cough out blood. This guy... 48,000 gold was cheap to him? Roberinkaz Robe was a robe that was sold at 10,000 gold in the capital!


    ''I should probably warn this girl-'' Just as he wanted to take action against this scheme, the girl replied.


    "My, my, how kind of you! But sadly, I won''t be buying this robe."


    "Huh? Why not? This robe''s too expensive for ya?"


    "No, no, you price the items so reasonably that I''m so amazed!"


    Hearing the girl''s reply, Shinto was left speechless. This girl actually thought the price was reasonable? ''W-well it''s reasonable... Since she''s probably new to the game...'' he thought to himself.


    Quickly, he snapped out of his speechlessness as he turned towards the two. Soon after, he opened his mouth, "Hey-"


    But the moment he was about to talk, Kuhit interrupted him. "Aha! I see I see! Someone that appreciates my prices! Unlike the person beside you, did you know? He passed up an offer that was half off!"


    "..." Shinto helplessly red at Kuhit, "I-"


    Before he could even get a chance to talk, the girl replied. "Hmm... How unfortunate! This guy loss such a great opportunity, how unfortunate indeed..." she shook her head, "Ahem anyways! Your prices are so great, that I actually want to learn from you! You see... I want to be able to sell stuff one day, so I was hoping, maybe you could teach me the ways of the trade?"


    "Ohoho! You want to learn the ways eh? Hmm... Sure, sure! I''ll take you under my wing! You have good eyes for prices, after all. I''m sure you''ll make a great merchant!"


    "..." Shinto blinked at the conversation''s direction. ''...She wants to learn the ways of the trade...?'' Judging from the flow of this, he could only make a single judgment. ''She was aiming for a hidden quest all this time...''


    Looking at the girl with the bright green name of [ Mina ] above her head, he saw that she had a cheery expression on her face as she looked at the notification window in front of her.


    ''...Sigh, I should just leave now. Being at this stall is just draining me at this point...'' Shinto helplessly shook his head as he walked away from the stall.

 Chapter 40: Equipment

    Chapter 40: Equipment


    Giving up on the scammer''s stall, Shinto hurried along the streets as he headed towards the other stalls in order to buy the equipment that he needed to buy.


    After making a round around the marketce, Shinto sessfully bought all the needed equipment. However, looking at his inventory, he let out a sigh. "Sigh, nothing good is being sold at the stalls today... All of them aremons."


    Shinto had bought a total of four equipment: Two defensive equipment, a weapon and a boot.


    [ Sturdy Leather Boots ]


    Rarity: Common


    Defensive Power: 87


    Durability: 245/245


    *Agility +4


    A pair of leather boots made by the leather obtained from the nearby farms in town. Although not of great quality, the leather is enough to make the boots sturdy and well durable.


    Condition(s): Level 6 or above.


    Weight: 80


    ...


    [ Silver Iron tings ]


    Rarity: Common


    Defensive Power: 105


    Durability: 290/290


    *Pration resistance +6%


    Silver tings made from the local smithy in the town of Parm. Used as an armour for the chest area, it is light and durable.


    Condition(s): Level 7 or above.


    Weight: 125


    ...


    [ Swift Glove ]


    Rarity: Common


    Attack Power: 52 ~ 71


    Durability: 190/190


    *Agility +3


    A pair offortable fingerless gloves made from the leather obtained from the nearby farms in town. Although not of great quality, the leather is enough to make the gloves well flexible and not stiffy.


    Condition(s): Level 7 or above.


    Weight: 50


    ...


    [ Swift Leather Vest ]


    Rarity: Common


    Defensive Power: 75


    Durability: 200/200


    *Agility +3


    Afortable and well flexible vest. Made from good quality leather obtained from the local farm. The leather helped made the vest durable and flexible allowing forfort when fighting.


    Condition(s): Level 6 or above.


    Weight: 75


    ...


    Looking at the equipment that he had bought, Shinto could only shake his head in disappointment. Although these were at most, decent equipment, he had hoped that there were some that would be umon or above, but to his dismay, he had only found the decent ones to be ofmon rarity.


    "These will do, for now, I guess. Maybe down the line, we''ll get some lucky drops when we''re dungeoning again," Shinto chuckled at the thought. With Frey''s luck, there was a possibility to obtain another rare drop, but he couldn''t count on it. One''s luckes and goes as they please.


    ''Alright. Now that everything''s done here, I should shoot up a whisper to Frey to see if she''s done with the quests from Veira''s temple.''


    Opening up his friendslist, Shinto swiped through the list as he tapped on ''Frey'' which was at the bottom of the list. Soon after, he sent her a whisper.


    "Hey, Frey. I''m done with buying the supplies. You done with the quests yet?"


    After a while of waiting, Frey replied.


    "Ah, master! You''re done already? Hold on for a second! I''m just about to finish with this annoying quest."


    "Huh? Annoying quest? What quest are you doing right now?"


    "Er... Some delivery quest or something, I''ve got no idea. The person that gave me this quest talked too confusingly, so I didn''t catch what he actually wanted me to do. Though, the quest information said I had to deliver something to someone and then I get the quest rewards."


    "A delivery quest? Shouldn''t be that hard to do."


    "Well... When you don''t know how to get to the ce you''re delivering to... It bes quite a problem."


    "Huh? Don''t they give you the directions?"


    "The directions kind of was lost along with the person''s words aha..."


    "...You," Shinto sighed. "Oh well. Where do you have to go for the delivery quest?"


    "Some kind of tavern, I think the name is ''Tavern Parmic''?"


    "The tavern? It should be in the town''s centre."


    "The town''s centre?! That far?!"


    "It''s not far from the temple, where are you right now?"


    "...Somewhere by the outskirts of the east entrance of town..."


    "How did you get there?"


    "Aha... Let''s not talk about that."


    "Alright then... Since the town''s centre is quite far from the spot we were supposed to meet up at, do you want me to just go and meet up with you there?"


    "Yeah, sounds good! I''ll head there in just a jiffy."


    "Right. I''ll wait inside the tavern, send me a whisper when you''re there."


    "Will do!"


    Closing his friendslist, Shinto quickly made his way over towards the town''s centre. But before that, he opened up his inventory as he took out the Silver Iron tings and Sturdy Leather Boots, quickly equipping it on himself.


    ...


    The town''s centre was crowded as usual. Many yers looking for party members to dungeon with and the like. Shouts protruded through the area, however, Shinto ignored them all.


    Fastening his pace, Shinto made his way through the crowd of people. While he did so, his eyes scrutinized the surrounding area as he looked for the tavern. If he remembered correctly, the tavern would be right beside the bank, turning towards the direction of the bank, he was greeted by an unfamiliar sight.


    "Huh?" Upon a nce at the building in front of him, his eyes narrowed towards the sign on top of the building, ''Lavida''s Hotel''. "I could have sworn the tavern was here..." Maybe he remembered wrong, he didn''t felt anything weird when he was here yesterday, though it could be because he wasn''t focused on the surrounding area.


    "I''ll just ask someone where the tavern is..." Not wanting to waste any time, Shinto scrutinized the area for an NPC to talk to. Thankfully, there was a lot around, so it wasn''t that hard to find one.


    Walking up to a random NPC, he began talking to them. "Excuse me, could I ask something?"


    "Huh? Is there something I can do for you?" The man that he approached, replied.


    "Yeah, I just wanted to know the directions to the tavern."


    "Oh? The tavern? Man... It''s been a while since someone asked for directions to that ce."


    "...?" A pique of curiosity appeared in Shinto''s eyes.


    "You can find the tavern, or well what was used to be called a tavern over by the alleyway there," the man pointed over towards a narrow alleyway beside a few buildings.


    "Huh? What used to be called a tavern?" Shinto asked.


    "Ah, well you see, now that the tavern is in quite a secluded area, not many people know of the ce, so it''s on ends meet," the man sighed. "You must be an old customer right? Well, I hope you won''t be too disappointed when you see the tavern again."


    "...I see. But since the tavern is in a secluded ce, where do the people find for cheap amodations?"


    "Well, besides the tavern, there really isn''t any ce for amodations other than the hotel over there. After the hotel reced the tavern''s business, many flocked over there instead. Though, I''ve got no idea why they would. The hotel charges you so expensively per night there..."


    "Really?" He asked in a confused manner. Since this was a newbie town, shouldn''t the prices for amodations be cheap? If what he heard from the man was true, then the newbies had to spend arge sum of gold in order rest well at the amodation?


    ''Huh... Weird. What''s up with expensive stuff in this towntely? Firstly that scammer''s stall and now a hotel?'' Maybe he''s overthinking. The prices of the hotel could have been overexaggerated by the man.


    "Yeah, really, it''s damn expensive! If you don''t believe me, check out the ce for yourself!" The man reaffirmed himself.


    "...I see. Thank you for the information."


    "No problem, it''s nice to hear someone knowing about the tavern," The man smiled as he continued on with his life.


    ''Sigh... Has newbies life improved that much to the point they could afford expensive stuff?'' Maybe there was a change in the economy where the flow of gold earned from quest increased by arge sum when doing the quest? ''I''ll have to ask Frey about thister.''


    ''Anyways... I should just head to the tavern now and wait for Frey.''

 Chapter 41: Tavern

    Chapter 41: Tavern


    Within the alleyway, Shinto walked on the broken stone paths as he stopped in front of an old wooden door, beside it was a small sign that read ''Tavern Parmic''.


    "Hm, I guess this is the ce." Reading the sign, Shinto ced his hand on the door as he pushed it forward, opening the door to the tavern.


    ...


    Entering into the building, Shinto was greeted by an empty presence in the room. Looking around in the surrounding area, he saw that there wasn''t anyone in the tavern but him. Could this even be called a tavern when no one was here?


    ''Wow... It sure is dead in here...'' He continued looking around the area as his eyes locked onto the furnish in the area. ''Hmm... Furnish seems quite new.''


    Besides theck of presence, he saw in the room, there was a few tables and chairs by the side that seemed to be well kept and cleaned. For what seemed to be an old building, the establishment''s furniture seemed to be in new condition. Though, he couldn''t say the same for the walls and flooring of the room.


    Unlike the tables and chairs which show off a well authentic look, the ripped wallpapers and broken floors of the room ruined one''s impression of the establishment at first nce. Individually, the tables and chairs would look nice, but alongside the walls and flooring, it gave off an awkward and ufortable feeling just looking at it.


    ''Since the furnish seemed quite new... Was it only just recently the tavern moved here? That could exin why the walls and floors seemed untouched but...'' He couldn''t put his fingers on it, however, he felt something was weird with the order of events here.


    Thinking about it, shouldn''t the walls and floors be patched up first before putting furnish in? From the looks of it, they were left untouched for a really long time.


    ''Huh... Well, looking at the damages on some parts, it looks like the repairs would be costly. At least the floors and walls are cleaned.'' Shinto thought to himself as he looked at the front of him.


    In front of Shinto was a counter, much like other Taverns, it was a counter where one would order and get their food and drinks from.


    ''Anyways... Where''s the owner?'' Shinto couldn''t find the owner anywhere. Could it be that he was in the kitchen?


    Taking a step forward to the counter, he heard a voiceing from behind the counter.


    "Oh? A customer?"


    Noises rang through the room from behind the counter as Shinto saw a maning out from the door behind the counter. The appearance of the man was that of a grey-haired man, he looked to be well into histe-60s, though despite the looks of his age, he seemed well fit and healthy.


    Above the man''s head was the name [ Greld ] which glowed in a bright blue hue.


    As the man walked out of the door, his eyes made contact with Shinto. Quickly, he weed him. "Ah, wee, wee. What can I do for you today?"


    "Is this ce Tavern Parmic?" Shinto asked.


    "Right so, this ce is Tavern Parmic," Greld said. "Now, what can I do for you today?"


    "Oh, I don''t need anything. I''m just here to meet up with someone."


    "Oh? You''re here to meet up with someone?"


    "Mhm. I hope you don''t mind."


    "Not to worry! Though, it''s a surprise, why would you meet up with someone in this ce of all ces?"


    "Ah... Well, they have to do something here."


    "Oh, I see. Well, you can sit by the counter and wait around, are you sure you don''t need anything? Maybe you would like to order something to eat while you wait?"


    "Something to eat?" A thought came to mind as Shinto''s stomach growled. "Uh... Yeah, I think I''d like to eat something."


    The man nodded his head, "Then what can I cook up for you?"


    "What''s on the menu?"


    Upon asking for the menu, the man moved his hand below the counter as he took out a menu and passed it over to Shinto.


    ...


    Just like in real life, eating food in-game is a necessity for yers as well. Without eating food, they won''t be able to replenish their stamina, and thus would be weak and feel fatigued during battle.


    After Shinto finished ordering his food, Greld made no haste as he headed into the kitchen. A momentter, he came out with the food ready.


    In his hand was a te of fish and chip freshly cooked up. Upon a look at the food, it was well cooked. The fish was well tendered, covered in a fragrant sauce while the chips looked to be well crispt, beside the chips was a small bowl filled with creamy sweet sauce.


    "Here you go, Fish and Chips freshly cooked!" Greld grinned.


    "Thank you," Shinto said as his eyes ogled when the dish served before him. He unconsciously licked his bottom lip as he grabbed the spoon and took a bite into drizzled in a fragrant sauce. Its crunchiness continued to cackle like music to his ears as he immediately indulged the savoury taste that melted into his mouth.


    The other hand worked its way to the nearest pile of chips. He took a couple of it and drenched them into a creamy, sweet sauce. After a few dips and swirls, he queued it up in front of his mouth, waiting for the fish to finish.


    He had to admit, it was one of the dishes that quelled his hunger. It was simply delicious, even for a simple dish such as this.


    "Oho? I take it you like the dish?" Greldughed.


    Still savouring the food within his mouth, Shinto nodded his head silently as he continued eating the dish until there was nothing left on the te.


    "Hoho. Seeing you enjoy the dish makes me happy," Greld smiled, "If only I had more customers like you..." the man sighed.


    "..." Shinto looked over towards the man as he swallowed down thest bits of food in his food. Soon after, he spoke in a questioning tone. "...Might I ask, what happened to the Tavern?"


    "Well... Things happened and it turned to be like this." The smile from earlier disappeared off of Greld''s face. "If only things went differently then..."

 Chapter 42: Demand

    Chapter 42: Demand


    "If only things went differently?" Shinto asked.


    "Well back then, Tavern Parmic used to be a hotspot in town. Everyone woulde and go, enjoying their favourite meals, resting after a long day or just enjoy themselves,"


    Greld walked back and forth behind the counter as he looked over the empty Tavern. His face bore a slight smile while he reminisced on the past.


    "Just watching their smiles and happiness ced a smile on my face as well. However, that didn''tst long..." The smile he had made earlier turned in a sad face. "A little over a year ago, things turned upside down as a few members of the nobility came barging into my tavern."


    Hearing the words from Greld, Shinto raised his brow. "So, this situation has to do with the nobility huh?"


    "Right..." The man sighed. "Soon after they barged in, they came up to me and demanded that I sell over my Tavern and the property over to them."


    "Wow... Such a demand," Shinto frowned at the arrogance of the nobles. He had always disliked the way many nobles treat others who are below them like disposables. From the first time he yed the game to now, nobles were the reason why many were in poverty or lived a miserable life. Although he knew not all nobility were arrogant or prideful, the majority of them were like this, thus his attitude towards them was indifferent. "I assumed you rejected them?"


    "Of course. But refusing wasn''t an option to them. They kept demanding for me to sell my ce, however since I owned the ce, I stood my grounds," Greld had bought the property to open up his tavern. Why would he sell it over to the likes of them?


    "Their demand was baseless, right? They can''t do anything even if you refuse," Shinto said.


    "Yes... That is what I thought. But, after their fruitless efforts, they left and said a parting word to me, ''You will regret this''. And after that day, things went downhill."


    "Everything went downhill from that day?"


    "Yeah... From that day onwards, I had been getting fewer customers in my tavern. There weren''t many of my regrs anymore and all I saw were a few first-timersing," Greld frowned. "I suspected it was the work of the nobles, but, when I tried to ask my regrs in town, I found out that they had left town."


    "...They left town?"


    "I heard they moved out from Parm," he sighed. "And as days pass, I''ve been getting fewer and fewer customers, to the point where there were days I had none."


    "Then... The reason why you''re in this situation was..."


    "Yes. I was forced out of my ce through bankruptcy."


    "Tch... So that''s how they did it..."


    "Sigh... Yes, and there was nothing I could do about it. I had tried all means, like reporting the situation to the baron overseeing this ce, but he refused an audience with me. I had tried to find my remaining regrs, but they seem to have gone away. The days pass and I couldn''t make any profit, thus leading to this situation."


    "...I see," Shinto felt pity for the man in front of him. The nobles had manipted the situation to the point of him being unable to fight back. They had power, and they used it against him. "Did you know why your regrs moved out of town?"


    "I don''t know... But, I only heard that once the nobles visited them, the next day, they left town." Greld helplessly shook his head. "Anyways, I''m getting ahead of myself, you go on ahead and enjoy your meal. If you need me I''ll be in the kitchen..." The man hurriedly headed through the door behind the counter.


    "Sigh... Typical work of the nobles. Though... Them having done all the work seems a bit too much, why did they want the tavern so much to the point they spend the efforts to make him go bankrupt?" Shinto thought to himself as a whisper was sent to him.


    "Uh... Master? A little problem..." The whisper was from Frey.


    "Huh? What''s up? I''m already waiting in the tavern," Shinto replied back.


    "Well... That''s the problem... Where''s the tavern? You said the tavern was in the town centre but... Where is it?!"


    "Ah. I forgot to tell you this after finding out the ce myself... Sorry."


    After finding out the directions to the Tavern, he had forgotten to inform Frey the information. No wonder Frey hadn''t arrived yet.


    Without wasting any more time, Shinto sent her the directions to the alleyway. Momentster, the door to the Tavern opened.


    "Phew... I''ve finally made it!" Frey walked through the door as she looked around the room, "Wait... This is the ce right?" Seeing the ce in front of her, she felt that she had wandered to the wrong building.


    "Yep, this is the ce," From the distance, Frey heard Shinto''s voice.


    "Ah, master! Phew! d to see you here... I thought I went to the wrong ce aha..."


    "I guess I can understand where you''reing from. Anyways, you said you had to make a delivery here right?"


    "Mhm! I have to give this parcel to a man named Greld who lives here... But, I don''t see anyone here?"


    Just as Frey mentioned his name, Greld walked out of the door. "Ah, I see your friend has arrived?" Greld asked as he turned towards Frey.


    "Ohh~! Perfect timing! Uhh, Mr Greld, I have this parcel for you!" Frey said.


    "Oh? A parcel? I''m not expecting anything today though..." Greld said as he walked closer to Frey, quickly he received the package from her. "Hmm... It''s quite small..." The man swiftly opened the parcel as he was greeted by a yellow sheet of paper, as well as a small box within the parcel.


    Taking out the yellow sheet of paper first, he read through what was written on it. After reading till the end, the man sighed as he ced the paper down on the counter.


    "Is there anything else besides the parcel?" Greld asked Frey.


    "Uh... Well, that''s the only thing they gave me to deliver to you..."


    "I see. Thank you for delivering this to me. Anyways, would you like anything to eat? You must be hungry after going around town, right?"


    "Ah um..." Frey looked at Shinto as she saw that he nodded his head. "I guess I''m quite hungry, so... Yes?"


    "Mhm. I''ll cook you something up! Don''t worry, you won''t regret eating here, your friend over here enjoyed the food very much," The man turned his sad face to augh as he handed over the menu to Frey. "Please take your time and order when you''re ready!"


    Frey received the menu from Greld as she began to read through it. Meanwhile, Shinto looked at the perplexed man, as he then looked at the paper that he had ced down.


    Soon after, he asked. "Is that yellow paper something to do with a debt?"


    The moment he asked this, a sudden quest window appeared before his and Frey''s eyes.

 Chapter 43: Rent

    Chapter 43: Rent


    "Debt...?" Greld repeated, "I guess you could call it that..."


    [ You feel a slight connection between Greld, The Tavernkeeper. The hidden quest will now be generating... ]


    ''A hidden quest huh?'' Shinto''s eyes turned towards the notification on his window. ''I figured the game would generate a hidden quest in a situation like this... But who knew that the paper would be the trigger?''


    A hidden quest, as the name implies was a quest that was hidden. Much like to normal quests, hidden quests function the same, one would receive an objective and then they would try toplete it.


    However, the difference between the two was that unlike normal general quests where one can obtain easily, hidden quests had many requirements in order to unlock the ability to do them. Of course, with many requirements alsoes better rewards given to the yers uponpletionpared to general quests.


    "...You can probably tell with myck of customers here that it was a given that I can''t afford simple things such a rent..." Greld continued in a sad tone, "This paper is more or so the bill for this ce..."


    As Shinto listened to what Greld said, he saw that the quest window was finally generated.


    [ The Price of Bankruptcy... ]


    Difficulty: A


    After the situation of bankruptcy caused by the nobles on Greld. Greld was forced to move his tavern towards a small ce by the alleyway after being forced to sell the property to the nobles. Even after moving to the new ce and hoping for a new start, he had no luck with the business.


    Day by day, he slowly lost more and more of his money, until now, where he could no longer afford the rental money demanded by the nobles. Although he could abandon his tavern, he chose not to, as he hoped that one day, he''ll be able to continue on with being a tavernkeeper and seeing the smiles of his customers like today.


    Help Greld pay the rental money for the month.


    Quest Clear Condition: Pay 10,000 gold before the end of the month. (You have 14 in-game days left)


    Quest Reward: Free ess to Tavern Parmic''s Facilities / Affinity with Greld will be maxed / Greld would be in debt to you.


    Quest Failure: The fall of Tavern Parmic.


    [ Do you wish to ept this quest? Refusing the quest would naturally turn to the quest failure within the next 14 in-game days. ]


    ''So this is the quest huh? For a hidden quest... The rewards aren''t that great considering the fact that this will only solve the issue in the short-term...''


    For a hidden quest, although many would consider this to be an extremely good reward, especially considering the fact you would be able to eat and sleep at the tavern free of charge while also gaining a very high affinity with the NPC, which may help you out in the future. But when one considers the events right after this quest, it just wasn''t worth it to pay 10,000 gold.


    One reason was the instability of the tavern. And another was that there was no guarantee that the situation at the tavern would get any better after helping the man with rent.


    ''...Sigh, I would like to help if I had the resources to... But with my current situation, I can''t do much...'' Shinto sighed inwardly. Even if he helped pay for the rent, nothing''s going to change for the man''s future. ''If only the quest was more akin to challenging the nobles or something, maybe there would be a chance, but just paying the rent isn''t going to cut it.''


    What was there for him to do? There wasn''t much of a choice given the situation.


    As Shinto thought to himself, Frey on the other hand had a hard time processing the information in front of her.


    "Hey uh... Shinto, what''s this? Bankruptcy? Rent? The fall of the tavern??" She said in a confusing tone.


    "Ah, well, I''ll exin thingster... But for now, with the current situation... We won''t be able to help," Shinto calmly said.


    "There''s nothing we can do for him? We can''t help pay the rent or something?"


    "Even if we do, things wouldn''t change for the better..."


    "...Yes, I can see where you''reing from," Greld listened in on the conversation between the two as he interjected himself into it. "With my current situation... There really isn''t helping it. I cannot offer you much even if you do help."


    "I''m sorry..." Shinto apologized.


    "No, no. It is okay, I can understand. What use would it be to help me when nothing changes for the better?" Greld said. "Anyhow... I should be the one to say sorry to you two having to hear this old man ramble about his situation aha..."


    "..." Frey looked at the man with sympathy.


    "Anyways! Are you done ordering yet? If so, do tell me what you want! I''ll get to cooking right away!" Quickly switching the topic, he turned towards Frey.


    "Ah... Uh, maybe this?" Frey pointed over towards the fried chicken wings written on the menu.


    "Oh? You want this huh? Welling right up!" Greld hurried to the kitchen after taking her order.


    ...


    While waiting for the food to be ready, Frey anxiously looked towards Shinto.


    "Is there really nothing we can do about this tavern? He seems to be in dire need of help and not helping him would be... Terrible!" Frey said.


    "Well... I don''t think giving him false hope that things would change for the better after helping him would be desirable as well. What can we do? Continue to help him pay rent every month?" Shinto said.


    "I mean... Isn''t it easy to earn 10,000 gold?"


    Hearing from Frey made Shinto want to cough up blood. "E-Easy to earn 10,000 gold...?" For a newbie to say that it was easy to earn 10,000 gold, just how much gold does she have?


    "Yeah! Am I mistaken?"


    "...Just how much gold do you have?


    "Uh... Let''s see... I had 129 gold earlier... And after doing all the quest, I have 5129 gold now!"


    "...And you say it''s easy to earn 10,000 gold with that amount of gold you currently have?"


    "Well... Yeah! I mean... I did earn 5000 gold just from doing quests in an hour!"


    "...No wait. This doesn''t add up..." Thinking about it, there was no way for Frey to earn 5000 gold just by doing regr newbie quests in town. Most of the time,mon quests at this level would only give 10 gold or 20 gold. How on earth did she manage to earn 5000 gold just from quests? "How many quests did you do?"


    "Hmm... Like seven? Including this delivery quest of course!"


    "...Huh?"

 Chapter 44: Disbelieve

    Chapter 44: Disbelieve


    Shinto starred at Frey in utter disbelieve. Earning 5000 gold in just seven quests? Just what kind of quest has she been doing to be able to earn that insane amount? Maybe if it was the upper levelled quests, then it would be possible. However, this was a newbie quest that Frey was doing.


    "...You''re not kidding right?" Shinto asked.


    "Nope! I got 5000 gold just from doing seven quests!" Frey happily replied.


    Shinto continued to stare at Frey in utter disbelieve. "...Just what kind of quests have you been doing?"


    "Err... The quests you asked me to do? You know! Those quests at the temple! Oh, and some extra quests I found while doing the temple quests..."


    "Like what?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "This delivery quest as well as that escort quest which I barely managed to do!"


    "...Escort quest?"


    "Yeah!" Frey nodded her head.


    "What was the detail of that quest?"


    "Well... This man begged me to help escort him somewhere because he was being chased by someone, so I epted the quest otherwise he''d die! So while escorting the guy, he ranted on and on which bore me..." Frey exined. "Just as things got boring, the guy that chased the man appeared out of nowhere and started attacking us! Did you know I almost died?! But thankfully... I managed to survive!"


    "So... What happened then?"


    "Well uh... After running away, we kind of lost him I guess?"


    "Ah, you didn''t win the fight?"


    "Nope! Not at all! He was just too powerful! I don''t even know how I managed to escape..." Frey shuddered. "Anyways! After escaping that guy''s reach, the man said he wanted to go to the underground of the town because that''s the safest ce."


    "Huh? There''s an underground area of the town?"


    "Oh? I thought you knew? I was just about to ask you this since I got a notification saying that it was a dungeon or something."


    "A dungeon?" Shinto raised his brow. He never knew there was such a dungeon below the town. "What did the notification say?"


    "Uh... Something like receiving an area discovery buff for discovering this area?"


    "W-What?" Shinto said in shocked after hearing what Frey said. "The quest... What was the difficulty of the quest?"


    "Oh! Like S ranked or something?"


    "..." Shinto nky starred at Frey. "...Youpleted the quest right?"


    "Mhm!"


    "What''s the reward...?"


    "Uh... 4000 Gold and uh... This key to the underground!" she took out a stone key from her inventory as she showed it to Shinto.


    "I see..." Shinto breathed in as he calmed himself down. Hearing the events that happened on Frey''s side gave him too much of a shock. To find a hidden quest that was S ranked was rare, but for a newbie to be able to sessfullyplete it was astonishing. "So, this is where you got that much gold from in an hour... I''m kind of surprised that much happened during that time frame..."


    "Yeah! So much happened! It was so fun!"


    "Ahem... So about the man that gave you the quest..."


    "Oh him? After we went to the underground area, he kind of just disappeared?"


    "Huh?"


    "When my attention was on the notifications that I got, the guy just disappeared. He left a bag of money and a key, which was the rewards of the quest," Frey exined. "I tried to look for him, but the underground was so dark and the dungeon gave me a very cold shoulder feeling... So I immediately left!"


    "Then, right after that, you went and did the delivery quest?"


    "Yep!" Frey nodded her head. "Anyhow... Did I do good for my first time doing quests?!" she looked at Shinto with bright shiny eyes filled with excitement.


    "Uh..." Shinto could only helplessly open and close his mouth as he looked for the words he wanted to say. There was just too much that happened in that one hour Shinto went to the marketce. Not only did she stumble upon a hidden quest and managed toplete it, but she also found a hidden dungeon. "Yeah, for your second-day ying, you did really well," Shinto gave a smile to Frey.


    Shinto could only think of those words to say. Although he still felt very shock, he couldn''t say that the shock didn''te with a feeling of happiness for Frey. Although some may feel jealous or envy the fact she got a hidden quest, Shinto didn''t feel that. Why would he? She was just enjoying the game. He had no rights to wish otherwise.


    "Yay! I did well!" Frey cheered. "So, what happened on your side? I want to hear it!"


    "Cough..." Shinto let out a cough after hearing Frey''s question. "Uh... Well, nothing much... Compared to what you experienced, mine was just boring."


    "Well, it can''t be that bad!"


    "...It can," Shinto sighed as he opened up his inventory. Soon after, he took out the gloves and vest that he had bought and passed it over towards Frey. "Anyways, here, sorry that there wasn''t anything better I could get for you. These were the only good items I found. The rest were all, well... Useless."


    "Oh! Thank you, Master!" Frey smiled happily as she immediately wore the gloves and vest that Shinto gave. "Wow, it''s sofortable!"


    "Aha... looks like you like it. When the timees, we can get better equipment, but for now, this will do."


    "Right!" Frey happily nodded her head.


    As the two conversed with one another, a light aroma filled the air as the door behind the counter opened up. Coming out of the door was Greld who held a te of fried chicken wings that Frey ordered.


    "Here you go, fried chicken wings freshly cooked!" Greld delightfully said as he walked over towards Frey.


    The man ced down the fried chicken wings coated in a sizzled red sauce. The aroma around the chicken gave off a very pleasant smell that made one feel the need to have a bite of it as soon as possible.


    "Hope you enjoy it!" Greld said cheerfully.

 Chapter 45: Ideas

    Chapter 45: Ideas


    The moment Freyid eyes on the fried chicken wings on the te, her mouth dropped open. Just the fragrance that the chicken was giving off made her stomach growled.


    "...This," She starred at the food in front of her. Her mouth was wide open, drooling. "I can eat this right...?"


    "Go on ahead," Shinto nodded his head. Although he had his fill, seeing the chicken wings made him hungry again. He couldn''t help but feel a sudden crave for the same dish as well, however, since he had his meal already, he didn''t want to interrupt Frey''s meal.


    "Time to dig in! Thank you for the food!" Without a moments notice, Frey held up one of the chicken wings as she began to chow it down.


    The sizzled red sauce on the chicken alongside the juice from the meat made for a perfect well-bncedbination of spiciness and sweetness, thus enhancing the taste of the chicken.


    "Oh my god!" After taking a bite from the chicken wings, she continued to eat it without stopping. "This... It''s so good!"


    One by one, the chicken wings on the te slowly dwindled until there was only one left.


    "Mmm!" Savouring and enjoying the taste of the food, Frey was about to take thest piece as she stopped. Quickly, she turned towards Shinto, "This is too good to eat alone! Master! You should try some too!"


    "Ah? No, it''s okay," Shinto shook his head. "I''ve already had my fill. You can have thest piece."


    "Eh?! Are you sure? You might regret itter!"


    "Really, it''s okay."


    "You sure?!"


    "Yes, I''m sure."


    "A-Alright then..." Frey hesitantly turned back towards the te as she began to eat thest piece.


    "Aha! I''m so d you''re enjoying your meal." Seeing the scene in front of him, Greldughed heartily.


    "Of course! I haven''t tasted anything as delicious like this before!" Frey said. "Why don''t peoplee here? You should have way more customers!"


    "I wish I had more customers... But it''s just not possible."


    "Huh, why isn''t it possible? You have the skills! You can easily gather customers!"


    "Well... As you can see from the emptiness of this ce, no onees to my tavern. Even when I try to get others toe, they just don''te here."


    "Eh really?! Even if you advertise?" Frey asked.


    "Nope... It didn''t work."


    "What? Do they not know the taste of good food?!" Frey pouted.


    "No matter what I tried, nothing worked out." Greld sighed.


    "Why didn''t they worked?" Shinto asked after listening in on their conversation.


    "Ah... When I came to advertise, they just shunned me away, so I couldn''t do anything."


    "Why would they shun you away?" Frey asked.


    "I don''t know... The people said that I was going to poison them if they ate here..." Greld replied.


    "Huh?! What kind of reason is that?!"


    "...That''s just utter bull..." Shinto said.


    "Yeah..." Greld picked up the te which now had many bones on it. "I don''t know what the nobles have been going on and saying around town, but I have done nothing of that sort."


    "Do these people just believe whatever the nobles say?" Frey frowned. "They can''t seriously believe that right...?"


    "Apparently they do if what he said was true..." Shinto said. "Where''s the credit evening from?"


    "Baseless rumours that were spread across the entire town by the nobles... I''m not so sure why people keep believing such a thing, but they do," Greld said.


    "If it''s baseless, can''t you just prove it by cooking in front of everyone and then giving your food to them?" Frey suggested.


    "Ah?" Greld blinked at the thought.


    "I mean... Can''t you just make a live cooking show or something and then show the townsfolk that you''re cooking is delicious and that you have no intentions of poisoning them?"


    "Huh... Maybe that could work?" Listening in on Frey''s suggestion, Shinto gave his thought.


    "Right? If Mr Greld just makes a live cooking show or something, then all the rumours would be gone just like that!"


    "...Would people evene to watch it? Won''t they just turn away or maybe the nobles would try to do something against me..."


    "What do the nobles have against you even?" Frey raised her brow.


    "...Well, they fear I might report it to the Lord Fieda who governs the northern part of the kingdom."


    "Lord, who now?" Frey blinked at the mention of the name.


    "Lord Fieda. She''s the one who is in-charged of the things that go on in the northern part of the kingdom. The ones in charge of governing the order of the town are the barons," Shinto exined. As a person who had gone through many quests that moved the story view of the game, he knew the important figures in the kingdom.


    "Oh! Then why not report it to the barons then? Won''t this work the same as trying to report to Fieda?"


    "No, that won''t work," Greld helplessly shook his head. "Unlike Lord Fieda who would help me in this situation, the baron would turn a blind eye. I assume his in cahoots with the nobles that are against me."


    "Hm... Then, if you fear the nobles might be after you, can''t we just safeguard you? We''ll do our best to protect you against the nobles while you cook! Heck, we''ll even help advertise it for you!"


    "F-Frey?" Shinto looked at Frey in hurry.


    "You will help right, master? If this is sessful, Greld would have customers again!" Her eyes lit with passion.


    "Sigh, you... But, the problem of the rent still remains right?"


    "Then we''ll just pay it!"


    "..." Shinto starred at Frey helplessly. "You think this will work?"


    "Mhm! I''m sure of it!"


    "...Where''s this confidence evening from?"


    "I''m the daughter of a restaurant owner, so I''m a hundred percent sure that this will work!"


    "...Will you two really help me with this?" Greld asked.


    "Of course!" Frey nodded her head.


    Letting out a sigh, Shinto could only helplessly nod his head. "I guess, we can do it."


    [ From the suggestions that you have given to Greld, the details of the quest will now be changed. ]

 Chapter 46: Preperations

    Chapter 46: Preperations


    [ To prove them all! ]


    Difficulty: A+


    After the situation of bankruptcy caused by the nobles on Greld. Greld was forced to move his tavern towards a small ce by the alleyway after being forced to sell the property to the nobles. Even after moving to the new ce and hoping for a new start, he had no luck with the business.


    Day by day, he slowly lost more and more of his money, until now, where he could no longer afford the rental money demanded by the nobles. Although he could abandon his tavern, he chose not to, as he hoped that one day, he''ll be able to continue on with being a tavernkeeper and seeing the smiles of his customers like today.


    Learning of the possibilities suggested by Frey, he now has hopes to save his tavern if you work with him.


    *This quest will have multiple clear conditions. Clear the previous condition to unlock the next. Each specific condition will have its own rewards.


    Quest Clear Condition (1): Pay 10,000 gold before the end of the month. (You have 14 in-game days left)


    Quest Condition Reward (1): Free ess to Tavern Parmic''s Facilities / Affinity with Greld will be maxed / Greld would be in debt to you


    Total Quest Reward: Free ess to Tavern Parmic''s Facilities / Affinity with Greld will be maxed / Greld would be in debt to you / Your rtion with the nobles in town -15 / Town''s Reputation +50 / Your level will rise by +2 / Cooking option will be opened.


    Quest Failure Condition: Failure to do any tasks within the given time or the arrest of Greld.


    Quest Failure: The fall of Tavern Parmic / Greld''s imprisonment for public nuisance / Reputation with the residents of the town will be decreased.


    ...


    Reading through the newly updated description on the quest, Shinto felt something bad would arise from this. ''The quest clear conditions have been updated and so did the quest failure...''


    Unlike before, the quest had nothing to do with the public or the nobles. But now, with the live cooking show at hand, the nobles and residents of the town will be involved.


    ''The rewards for this quest is quite high for a ranked A+ difficulty quest, but the risks are just as high...'' Shinto continued to analyze the quest as he thought to himself. ''The imprisonment of Greld if we failed this quest? I guess if one were to cause a ruckus in public they''d be arrested. But I''m worried on what these guys might do to make sure he gets arrested...''


    For something like that to be in the quest failure, he was worried that the nobles might do something to make sure Greld was done for. They wouldn''t just let him run the show without any sort of interference.


    ''A lot of thorough preparations are needed to be able to pull this off huh? Especially with the set up for the live cooking show and making sure Greld is safe...'' Shinto sighed inwardly. ''But now that I think about it... How are we even going to go about this?''


    As the thought came to his mind, Shinto turned towards Frey and Greld as he asked. "Uh... One problem. Where are we going to find the needed resources for the live cooking thing?"


    "A-Ah...?" Frey blinked at his words. "...Right, we do need to set up the live cooking show huh? Can''t we just use the tavern''s kitchen?"


    "I guess it''s possible, but, if you''d want to prove the rumours were false, you''d want to do it in public and in a wide-open area where many can watch."


    "Yeah... Then what do we do?"


    "Hmm..." Shinto thought to himself for a bit as he quickly turned his direction towards Greld. "How confident are you in your cooking?"


    "What kind of question is that? Of course, I''m confident in my cooking!" Greld replied firmly.


    "Then, how about you try to challenge someone, most preferably one with high pride and arrogance to a cooking battle?"


    "Hmm? Where are you getting at?"


    "Well, if you were to challenge someone at the live cooking show, wouldn''t the issue of setting up and advertisement be solved?"


    "Ohh! That''s a great idea!" Frey nodded her head. "But... Who do we challenge?"


    "Isn''t that simple? We''ll just challenge the owners of the hotel," Shinto said.


    ...


    Walking through the crowded streets of the town''s centre, three people stopped in front of a building which was once known as Tavern Parmic, ''Lavida''s Hotel''.


    "...Are you sure about this?" Greld hesitantly said. "Although I said I''m very confident in my cooking, but going up against a noble would be..."


    "I feel like it''ll be fine. You just need to prove your skills right? And by doing so, you''ll be able to garner the interest of customers while also removing that rumour," Shinto reasoned. "So it''s killing two birds with one stone."


    "I guess... But would this even work? Would they even bother to try to ept the challenge?"


    "Hmm, well if nobles are nobles, they''ll do just that if we just invoke their arrogance," Shinto confidently said.


    "Wait, invoke their arrogance? Wouldn''t this be a bad thing? Won''t we get killed or something?" Frey said.


    "The worse that could happen is we get kicked out or banned from the hotel. But that won''t happen if we publicly do it."


    "H-Huh? Publicly do it? What do you mean?"


    "Just trash talk on the food in front of everyone and say that Greld''s food is better."


    "...But, won''t the ce have supporters? They won''t bat an eye to these remarks," Greld said.


    "The supporters are another thing we''ll worry aboutter. We just need to create a dent on the owner''s pride, and then it''ll start going our flow," Shinto exined.


    "...And if it doesn''t work?"


    "If worstes to worst, we''ll just go with n B, which will bring about the same oue."


    "And that is...?"


    "You''ll know when we get there." Shinto confidently said as he stepped foot into the building. "For now, we''ll be learning about our opponents."


    Frey and Greld looked at one another in the eye as they turned towards the back of Shinto. Letting go of their doubts, they followed after him.

 Chapter 47: Lavidas Hotel

    Chapter 47: Lavida''s Hotel


    Stepping foot into Lavida''s Hotel, the three were greeted by a luxurious sight. Within the lobby of the hotel, they saw that there was a small fountain in the middle of the room, the water flowed gently as the fishes swam through the waters.


    Behind the fountain was the front desk of the lobby where they saw many yers in a queue, it seemed that they were going to book a room for the night.


    "Woah!! Is this the hotel?!" Frey shouted in amazement.


    "...It appears to be so," Shinto replied as he scrutinized towards his surrounding area. Although the interior was luxurious, he had seen far more luxurious sights than this hotel, such as Vain Blood''s home base, thus it wasn''t that surprising for him. Though, he didn''t expect the hotel to be far more sumptuous than he thought.


    ''For a hotel built in a small town to be this luxurious, just what are these nobles thinking?'' Did the nobles expect to earnrge amounts of money from the yers? It seemed far-fetch to think so as this was a town where newbies who have little to no gold would start out in.


    The only exception to the newbies who had little to no gold was those with a well-off background. These yers could just convert their real-life money into gold, thus gaining arge advantage over other yers with top tier equipment and the like. These yers were typically called pay to win yers.


    Continuing to scrutinize the surrounding area, Shinto was taken aback by the number of yers in the lobby of the building. ''Though... For there to be so many yers here, just what is this?'' he raised a brow at the sight.


    All the yers in the hotel couldn''t possibly be pay to win yers. Shinto saw that there was many among the yers that only had ragged or basic gear and armour, thus it was impossible to think that they were all yers that could afford to stay at the hotel. Yet, even then, these very same yers that he saw seemed to be unfazed by this fact.


    ''...Just what''s going on here?'' He couldn''t understand the situation. Could they really be pay to win yers? But there was so many of them who only had the basic gear and armour, it was highly unlikely. ''Could there be an event held here today, which is why they''re here?'' That was the only reasonable assumption that he could make.


    ''...Well, for now, I should check out the prices for amodations here first.'' Shinto turned towards Frey and Greld as he said, "Let''s head to the front desk first before we do anything else."


    "Huh?" Frey who seemed to be awestruck as she looked at the interior of the building flinched slightly as she heard Shinto''s voice. "Oh, right right!" Quickly, she rposed herself as she nodded her head,


    "...Alright," Greld meekly said. Unlike Frey who awestruck, Greld, on the other hand, felt a bitter feeling as he looked at the interior. It seemed that he was unhappy by the sight.


    The three quickly began to make their way over towards the front desk. While they did so, they heard many chatters from the yers in the background.


    "Hey, hey! Did you know that you can also earn this from that quest?" A yer said.


    "What really?! Dang! This is one of the best quests ever!" Another yer replied.


    "Right?!"


    Overhearing their chatter, Shinto thought to himself. ''Quest? What kind of quest is it? Could it have to do with why everyone is in this ce?'' Maybe his assumption was correct that there was an event ongoing here, but he needed to confirm his doubts.


    Finally, making it to the front desk, they saw that the person behind the counter was a young woman with the name [ Amy ] lit in light green above her head. She seemed to be one of the attendants that they saw attending to the front desk.


    "Ah, wee to Lavida''s Hotel! How may I help you?" Amy weed the three.


    "How much is a night''s stay here?" Shinto asked.


    "For one person, it''s 25,000 gold per night! For a room for two, it''s 45,000 gold!" Amy answered.


    "...Huh? Can you repeat that?" Frey dumbfoundedly said.


    "Hmm? One room is 25,000 gold per night, if you want a room for two, it''s 45,000 gold."


    "...So it''s this expensive huh?" Shinto calmly said. "If it''s like that then... It''s really improbable for many to afford this."


    "Hmm, you can''t afford it huh? Then how about you try our monthly n!" Amy said.


    "Monthly n?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "Yep, the monthly n!" Amy took out a sheet of paper as she ced it on the table. "Here, have a look at this."


    Upon a nce at the sheet of paper, Shinto received a quest notification.


    [ Lavida''s Monthly n ]


    Difficulty: D+


    The monthly n of Lavida provides many benefits for our customers! New adventurers get to enjoy free amodations, facilities and food as they go out adventuring! However, there is a condition that must be epted upon epting this n.


    When The Quest Is Active: Free ess to Lavida''s Hotel facilities (With regtion) / Your gold earnings will be split 50 / 50. You will earn 50% of the gold while Lavida''s Hotel will keep the other 50%.


    *If you were to obtain a lot of gold, additional benefits may be given out by Lavida''s Hotel, such as Lavida High-End Equipment and exclusive membership. On the other hand, if you were to bezy and earn less than 5,000 gold within a week, you will be stripped of the benefits that you have.


    *This queststs for a month. Once the quest expires, you may renew it.


    Quest Penalty Upon Failure: You will be banned from stepping into Lavida''s Hotel.


    Upon reading through the quest description that Shinto received, he felt like coughing up blood. "This... Isn''t this a total scam?"


    "Oh, why would it be? We are giving you free luxurious amodations and food, in exchange for that, we will only just take away 50% of your gold that you earn throughout this monthly n," Amy reasoned. "If we just give away free luxurious amodations and food without asking for anything in return, we would lose out, yes?"


    "..." Shinto looked at Amy with a loss for words.


    "If you''re worried about this being a scam, why not try talking to your fellow adventurers? They seem to be living the life after going with the monthly n," Amy smiled. "But, I can guarantee you, you will have the best experience in Lavida''s Hotel. The food is great, the amodations arefortable, the training facilities for adventurers would be opened too. It would be a shame not to ept it!"


    ''So that''s how they get money out of the newbies here... Through this,'' he thought to himself as he gave a nce over to Frey and Greld. Quickly, he noticed that Greld had his teeth greeted.


    "Anyways! What will it be? Will you join our monthly n? You will not regret it!" Amy said, waiting for the response of Shinto.

 Chapter 48: A Tour (1)

    Chapter 48: A Tour (1)


    it was obvious that Amy was trying to tempt her customers into going for the monthly pass. Giving out many reasonings after another that would convince many to take up the quest.


    Of course, one can refuse such an offer. However, the idea of having free amodations and usage of facilities, food and also the ability to gain equipment when one earns more gold than needed, would make many feel pressured to go for the former option.


    "So what will it be?" Amy stood behind the front desk as she gave off a pleasant and weing smile. "I''m sure you won''t regret it if you join us!"


    "...Hah. ''You won''t regret it if you join us''?" Greld repeated the words in an angry tone. "I''m sure many would regret it, seeing that you''re scamming them out of their gold!"


    "...Ah! Mr Greld...!" Frey hurriedly turned to Greld in a hasty manner in hopes of being able to calm down him.


    "Oh, dear customer. Don''t get too angry. As I have said, we don''t scam people here. The 50% of gold earnings are fair game as we provide with our customers the very best experience in Lavida''s hotel. It is a reasonable exchange, yes?"


    "Reasonable exchange?" Greld clicked his tongue. "I''ll have you know-"


    "Greld... Could you please calm down?" Shinto said calmly as he turned towards Amy. "We would consider this, however, I don''t think it''ll be fair for us to just decide here, right?" he said. "We haven''t tasted the food, seen the amodations and facilities yet. So how are we able to decide now?"


    "Hmm, I see. You''re worried that the things we provide might not be up to your tastes? Of course, we provide a free tour for those who are new here," Amy replied. "However, only for those who are new here," she pointed towards Greld. "He would be required to stay here in the lobby while you two are on the tour. He is weed to leave the hotel as he please."


    "What? What is the meaning of this? I haven''t been on this ''tour'' thing you said!" Greld said angrily.


    "But you are not new yes? Mr. ''Greld''. You have been here before and have thrown a tantrum here that resulted in immediate expulsion from the hotel. You should be grateful that our management team didn''t ban you from here," she said. "Now then, shall we go on the tour now? I am not sure if you have heard, but, that man has a bad reputation. He is known for poisoning those who ate his food."


    "...Hah. That''s bullcrap! Why would I poison those who eat my food?" Greld gritted his teeth. "You nobles shouldn''t go around spreading false rumours, isn''t it already enough you ruined my business?"


    "My, Mr Greld, you say it was false rumours? You should think that again, you have given many of your customer''s food poisoning that day, yes? So what right do you have to say it''s not false?"


    "You nobles sabotaged me!"


    "And on what grounds do you have to say that? You have no proof, yes?" Amy said.


    "It''s clear as day you guys did it to get me out of business!"


    "My, how about you take this to the baron in charge of this town if you want to continue? Now, dear customers. Shall we get going?" Amy turned towards Shinto and Frey as she began making her way out of the front desk.


    "Uhh... Master? I''m not sure about this... Weren''t we going to challenge the hotel to a cooking battle? What''s up with this considering stuff?" Frey whispered to Shinto in a concerned tone. "Why are we going on this tour? And what''s up with this Amy character? She seems... So suspicious."


    "Just follow my lead. We''ll still go with the ns, I just need to know what this hotel has up their sleeves before we proceed," Shinto whispered back as he followed after Amy.


    "Then what about Mr Greld?"


    "Since you''re near him, whisper to him to wait outside, we''ll be done soon."


    "...Alright."


    ...


    Footsteps rang through the hallway as Amy lead the two around the hotel for a tour. The first ce she took them to was the hotel''s restaurant which was on the second floor.


    "Here is where our customers get food. We serve a three-set course meal every day at set times. Eight to ten in the morning, one to three in the afternoon and seven to nine in the night."


    "Can we taste test the food here?" Shinto asked.


    "Sadly you are not able to. If you want to eat the food served, then you will have to take up the monthly pass, pay for amodations or book a spot in the restaurant outside of our set times to eat, of course, you will have to pay."


    "Oh? Then how much does the food cost here if you are to book?"


    "The price of the food ranges from 10,000 to 50,000 gold."


    Shinto coughed a little as he heard the price. "I see..."


    "Yes. If you were to go for the amodations or monthly pass the cost of food will be covered. So there is nothing to worry about it," Amy said as she continued on. "Now moving onto the amodations-"


    Just as Amy took a step forward, Shinto called out to Amy. "Ah wait, I still have a few questions regarding the restaurant."


    "Huh? What of it?" she turned towards Shinto.


    "What is the skill level of the chefs here?"


    "The senior chef''s skill level are all advanced level 2 and above," she said.


    "And intermediates?" he asked.


    "Level 7 and above."


    "I see," Shinto nodded his head. "Then about the food served here? What do they serve?"


    "For food, we serve a variety of food such as pastries, dishes usually only served to nobles and the like," Amy exined. "We also serve seafood on special asions. So, does this answer your question? Shall we proceed to the amodations?"

 Chapter 49: A Tour (2)

    Chapter 49: A Tour (2)


    While Amy was exining and answering questions regarding the restaurant situated in the hotel, Shinto scrutinized the customers and the interiors of the restaurant through the entrance. Much like any normal noble-like restaurant that he had been to before, there weren''t any much differences to the deco.


    ''Hmm... It''s just like your typical restaurant owned by nobles huh?'' he thought to himself as he nced at the interiors of the restaurant. Soon after, he averted his eyes away as he turned towards Amy.


    "Before we go, I still have onest question," Shinto said. "What''s the portion of food you normally serve to customers?"


    Usually, restaurants owned by nobles would serve dishes in small portion due to the usage of expensive ingredients. Though it''s served in small portion, it still manages to fill the appetites of the nobles who eat there.


    Shinto never really understood how it''s possible for them to be full with such small portions of food, but he can''t say the same for himself with the fact his appetite is filled just by eating cup noodles for lunch and dinner.


    "The portions of food you ask? Well, depending on the food they order, we serve in either a small or normal portion."


    "...I see. Are there any restrictions on what monthly pass customers can order versus paying customers?"


    "Of course. There are a handful of dishes that monthly pass customers cannot order, due to the ingredients to make such a dish is expensive," Amy exined. "But that is only a handful. The rest of the dishes are avable for all to eat. Like I said earlier, we serve a variety of dishes, so there are many options for customers such as you to choose from. So do not fret," Amy said, "Does this answer your question?"


    "I guess this suffices," Shinto nodded his head.


    "Good. Now let us be on our way," Amy continued walking through the hallways as she gestured to the two follow along.


    ...


    Amy took the two towards the other various facilities of the hotel. Starting with the amodations area. The rooms that customers stayed in were at a decent size, it wasn''t too spacious nor was it cramped. The furniture in the room followed the same theme as per the other ces in the hotel, it was of luxury.


    Following that, Amy took the two over towards the training facilities, where one could train their skills and hone them. The instructor in the room would give a quest for the yers to do, and uponpletion, they would get rewards. However, Shinto and Frey didn''t know about the rewards as they were not allowed to view the quest.


    Besides the amodations and training facility, there was also the rest area where many would go to in order to find parties or trade with one another. It was a much calmer cepared to the noisy town''s centre.


    While the two were viewing the rest area on the second floor of the hotel, Shinto turned towards a small group of yers by the corner of the room. They seemed to be in amidst of a discussion.


    "Do you guys wanna do some Old Wood Caverns Dungeon? I can''t do them solo..." The yer with the name of [ Masi ] sulked.


    "Oh? You don''t have the equipment issued by the hotel yet?" [ Giller ], a yer in a full set of what seemed to be expensive armour replied.


    "Of course not! The requirements to get them is insane! Earn 7,000 gold before the end of the week and gain a piece of equipment issued by the Lavida? I can barely earn 5,000 gold..." Masi replied.


    "Huh? Earning 7,000 gold in a week is easy! Just farm some monsters and sell the loot, you''ll get enough by then!" Giller said. "It''s easier if you get those rare drops and sell it to the yers market. Man, you earn so much gold from that!"


    "What? Selling rare drops? Are you insane?" Masi raised his brow. "Why would you sell something so rare?! And I also heard from the forums that the equipment carries you for a long time..."


    "Eh, those are old information! Besides, the equipment we get from here is so much better!" Giller cheerfully said. "Have you not seen the equipment yet?"


    "...No. I only just got the monthly pass two weeks ago..."


    "Ah, here, let me share with you the details of the armour."


    "...!!" Masi''s eyes opened wide as he saw the details of the item. "Is this... Real?"


    "Yep!"


    The two yers in the rest area were loud, thus Frey couldn''t help but eave drop. ''Lavida''s Equipment...? Requirement?'' Hearing their conversation, she turned towards Amy in curiosity. "What''s this about equipment you get from the hotel?" she asked.


    "We give out good quality equipment to adventurers who have gone over the gold limit for the week. Many may not know this, but, the equipment is manufactured by the very best cksmith in the region and enhanced by our runic mage. Thus, it is of great quality that rivals many items only dropped by the monsters."


    "It''s that good?" Shinto raised his brow. "Are we able to see the equipment ourselves to confirm?"


    "You may not, sadly. We do not want to leak the details of our equipment to non-paying customers or customers who are not on a monthly pass," Amy said. "However, if you take up the monthly pass, you may view the equipment and may even try it out for the day to see if you like it."


    "...Eh? Isn''t it unfair that we can''t try it out to see if we want to try for the monthly pass?!" Frey blinked at Amy''s words.


    "Dear customer, you would have to understand that this equipment s a bonus provided by the monthly pass. The main purpose of the monthly pass is to provide with you the amodations and free usage of the facilities," Amy reasoned. "Thus we are not obligated to show you such items as it is not within the scope of the original purpose of the monthly pass."


    "I assume the items are not for sale?" Shinto asked.


    "Yes, it is not."


    "Then we get to keep them if we get the equipment?"


    "Of course, the equipment is given out as a bonus and the adventurers are allowed to keep it."


    ''...This sounds oddly suspicious...'' Shinto thought to himself as he turned towards the group of yers once again. ''They would give away free items that rival the rare equipment dropped by the monsters and not sell them? This sounds way too far-fetch for me...''


    Before Shinto had a chance to think any further, Amy continued. "Now that we have finished touring the rest area and have reached the end of the tour, what do you think? Would you like to take up the monthly pass now?"

 Chapter 50: A Tour (3)

    Chapter 50: A Tour (3)


    "...Is this all to the tour?" Upon hearing that the tour had ended, Shinto was stumped for words. He hadn''t expected for the tour to have ended so soon. The two had only visited about four facilities since the start of the tour and that was it? Shinto had thought there would be more to it.


    "Yes, that is all to the tour," Amy nodded her head. "The facilities which I have taken you to would be the important ces for adventurers. The rest of the facilities in the hotel are misceneous things for them."


    "So we won''t be visiting the other ces since it misceneous?" Frey asked.


    "Yes. That is right," Amy answered. "If you would like to explore the other facilities, then you may do so right after taking up the monthly pass."


    "Isn''t the tour supposed to tour you around the hotel and show you all of its avable facilities?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "No, the purpose of this tour was to show new customers such as yourselves the important facilities of the hotel which I have already shown you. The other facilities aren''t important to note."


    "What are the other facilities we haven''t visited then?"


    "The banquet hall and the ballroom."


    "Those are the only one''s we haven''t visited?"


    "Yes. As I said, those are misceneous for adventurers, you would have no need for such facilities unless you''re thinking of throwing an event there?"


    "No, I am not. Since those two facilities are the only ces we haven''t visited and with the fact it''s misceneous for us, I guess it''s only right that the tour is done..." Shinto wanted to see all the other avable facilities for the monthly passers, but seeing that the only remaining one was the banquet hall and ballroom which many wouldn''t care about, it was safe to say he had seen the necessary appealing facilities of the hotel to the yers.


    "Yes, that is so. Now would that be all?" Amy asked. "May I now have your answer to the monthly pass? Are you interested in it after seeing the facilities?"


    "...Well," Now that it is the end of the tour, it was time for Shinto to give his answer. Without any hesitation, he gave his answer.


    ...


    Within the streets of the Town of Parm, Greld anxiously sat on the small bench situated in the town centre. He looked towards the hotel in front of him with worried eyes.


    "...What''s taking them so long?" Greld mumbled as he waited for Shinto and Frey toe out of the hotel. "Did something happen there? Can a tour of just viewing the amodations and facilities really take more than an hour?"


    Countless thoughts went through his mind as continued to anxiously look at the entrance of the hotel. "...Did they abandon me? Is that why?" he sighed. "I guess it can''t be helped... Why would they bother to help an old man like me huh?"


    Countless emotions flushed through Greld''s eyes as it went from anxiousness to sadness. "It was a lost cause, the damn people there must have done something again to make them turn against me..." he slowly stood up as looked at the hotel onest time.


    Just as he turned to the hotel for thest time, he saw the two familiar faces walk out of the hotel.


    "...Ah! It''s them! But... Wait..." Upon seeing Shinto and Frey, he narrowed his eyes over to a small band on the hands of Frey. On the band, there was a logo of the hotel on it. "...They did betray me..."


    All hope within in eyes shimmered away as Greld slowly began to silently walk away from the bench he had sat. However, just as he was about to walk away, he heard a voice calling him out.


    "Mr Greld! Over here!!" The voice, Frey called out as she waved her hand to get the attention of Greld.


    "...?"


    Greld turned towards Frey as she called him out. However, his face was showing a sad expression. ''What do they want now after betraying me...? Do they want to tell me the deal is off?''


    As the man thought to himself, Frey rushed towards him. "Mr Greld! Can you not hear me from there?"


    "What is it...? Do you have something tell me?"


    "Huh? Why are you so down all of a sudden? Did the nobles did something to you while we were here?!"


    "Nothing of that sort happened or well nothing directly happened to me."


    "What? Nothing directly happened to you? What do you mean?" As Frey asked the man, greld pointed his finger over to the band that she was wearing.


    "What''s the meaning of that?" Greld said in a sad tone.


    "Ah, uh, well..." Frey was stumped for words as she realized the reason why he suddenly became like that.


    "Frey went for the monthly pass," Shinto answered for her.


    "...I see, so it''s as I thought huh?" Greld sighed.


    "No, nothing of that sort."


    "Huh?" Greld raised his brow as he heard Shinto''s reply.


    "We''ll still help you, Greld. This is just apart of the preparations needed for the live show challenge," Shinto exined.


    "...What?"


    "We need to prepare and find out the info of the one we''re facing against right? We wouldn''t want to go in blindly and suffer a loss. That would defeat the entire purpose of the live cooking show in the first ce," Shinto exined.


    "But what does this have to do with taking up the monthly pass?" Greld was at a loss.


    "What''s better than to know your enemy from the inside?" Shinto said. "Frey will be helping us find out the quality of food that they provide, and... We may be able to turn over some of the customers."


    "Yeah," Shinto nodded his head. "Let''s head to the tavern, I''ll exin more there."


    "...Right," Greld let out a sigh of relieve. ''Maybe with these two adventurers... It wouldn''t be a lost cause after all huh...?'' Greld looked at the backs of Shinto and Frey. ''...I can save my tavern.''

 Chapter 51: The Plan

    Chapter 51: The n


    The door to the Tavern opened as the three headed in. Shinto who was at the forefront of the group sat down by one of the many empty tables as he took out a piece of paper with the logo of the hotel stamped on it.


    "...What''s that?" Greld asked as he scrunched closer to Shinto to take a look at the paper. The moment his eyes met with the paper, he saw that the contents of it were regarding the Monthly Pass provided by Lavida''s Hotel.


    "As you can see, this is the documents about the monthly pass stuff," Shinto answered. "They appear to be quite serious about the whole terms and conditions thing before epting the monthly pass..." he sighed. He hadn''t expected for the eptance process to have taken quite a long while.


    "That attendantdy emphasized on reading through everything which hurt my brain!" Frey said. "But at least that''s over."


    "I still don''t get it, why did you go for the monthly pass?" Greld questioned, "...I''m sure you know that it''s a scam... So why?"


    "As I said earlier, we needed some insider info on how things work in the hotel as a monthly passer. So, Frey ended up taking up the pass. Although there was another way to get information without having to take up the pass, she insisted," Shinto said.


    "But master! That way you suggested would take way too long! So just leave it to me and I''ll do the information finding for you two!" Frey showed a thumbs up on the two, "I just need to find out info about the quality of food, the equipment and the quests given there right?"


    "Yeah. While you do that..." Shinto quickly turned towards Greld. "You''ll also be bringing in food made by Greld to tempt the people inside the hotel to give Greld''s food a try."


    "Got it!"


    "Food made by me? What food should I make?" Greld asked.


    "Anything quick to make, and delicious would be good. We just need something that has a rich aroma and out of the ordinary that the restaurant doesn''t serve," Shinto said.


    "Something quick to make and delicious with a rich aroma, hmm..." Greld thought to himself. "How about rice cracker bun?"


    "Hmm, well, when you eat bite into the rice cake for the first, the aroma will spread around."


    "Oh! Rice cake! Their so crispy, delicious and sweet... Their so perfect to eat! It should be good to tempt others right?!"


    "Is it really?" Shinto questioned.


    "Of course! I''m sure everyone would enjoy eating rice cake!" Frey said, "Have you not tasted one before?"


    "...Not really."


    "Hah?! Then you better try it! Mr Greld! Can you make a batch up?!" Frey shouted out, "Master has to try it!"


    "Haha, I will make a batch up," Greldughed heartily, "Would you like normal ones or spicy?"


    "Ooo! Spicy is delicious! Can we have that? Master, you''re fine with spicy right?"


    "It''s fine, I don''t need to eat it," Shinto kindly rejected. "You can enjoy the spicy cakes yourself."


    "Eh?! No! Food is enjoyable when there are more people to eat with! Do you not like spicy rice cakes is that why? Then we can go for normal ones!"


    "...It''s really okay," Shinto said helplessly. "We still have the n to discuss about-"


    "No, we eat spicy cakes first!" Frey pouted. "n can beter!"


    "...Seriously?" Shinto blinked at such a deration from Frey.


    ...


    Within an unknown ce, a man sat behind a desk as he tapped his fingers on it whilst reading through a report in his hands. While he read through it, he heard a knock from the door by the front.


    "Come in," the man answered.


    As the man answered the door, an attendant entered into the room. It was Amy.


    "Amy? What brings you here today?" The man asked. Do you wish for a rise in your paycheck?


    "I would very much like to have a rise in my paycheck, but, however, I am not here to barter with that today," she answered.


    "Oh? Then what do you want?" The man averted his eyes away from his report as he locked them onto Amy''s.


    "I''vee to report something interesting that happened today."


    "Hmm? Go on."


    "It seems that Greld is on the move again. It appears he is trying to make onest-ditch effort in order to save his business."


    "Greld? The tavernkeeper?" The manughed as he heard the name. "What can such a man do? If he keeps this up, he will suffer more losses than ever."


    "Well, just this afternoon, he brought in two new adventurers to the hotel."


    "And?"


    "Those two adventurers appear to be nning something. Though I am not sure what, however, one of them, a person called ''Frey'' signed for the Monthly Pass."


    "Isn''t it typical that Greld will bring in adventurers to our establishment? He asks them for help in hopes that they''ll do something to save his business, but it ended up being in vain," the man shrugged. "He''s just helping our business at this point with his many failed attempts. So what''s so different today?"


    "Well, usually, the adventurer''s that he brings in would switch over to our side after some talk and temptation while they investigate the hotel,"


    "Yeah? So what''s so different than thest time?"


    "This time, Greld followed the two adventurers to the hotel."


    "And what does mean? He must havee to make sure they won''t switch sides so soon."


    "Yes, I was under such impressions as well, however. Those two adventurers that came with Greld were somewhat different, especially the man who was with him."


    "How so?"


    "The adventurers that Greld brought in gave off a different feeling than the previous people who he asked help from," Amy said. "During the tour, the man would oftentimes ask me questions about the hotel and once answered, he would then be keeping something in check. It is as if he''s meticulously nning something."


    "One of them was meticulously nning something? Hah. There shouldn''t be anything to worry about, my dear attendant Amy," the man scoffed. "Even if they aren''t those naive little adventurers that Greld would often ask help from, this wouldn''t be the first time that there was one among those adventurers that knew what they were doing."


    "...I know that. But I feel wary of him."


    "Amy, you know that people can easily be swayed, yes? Those cases that I have mentioned, we can easily bring them to our side by casting a bigger bait. If it fails, we can always go down the dirt path," The man smirked.


    "Still..."


    "Do not worry about such misceneous things. What can one person do? You said that one of the two adventurers took up the pass, yes? So there would be nothing to worry about then," The man calmly said. "However, if you are, then just keep them in check. It should be easy with the many eyes in town, yes?"


    "Yes, I will do so," Amy nodded her head as she left the room.

 Chapter 52: Dungeon Party

    Chapter 52: Dungeon Party


    Shinto walked through the busy streets of the town of Parm as he held onto some spicy rice cakes within his hands. Soon after, he ced them into his mouth.


    "...In the end, I ended up eating the rice cakes..." Shinto mumbled as he chewed on the spicy hot rice cakes. "Well, I can''tin. This is quite good..." he helplessly shook his head as he continued walking through the streets.


    "Now then... With Frey and Greld doing their part of the preparations, I''ll have to do my part as well," he stopped his footsteps as he looked around the town''s centre. "...I just need to find the right party to proceed with the n."


    While Frey would try out the food made by the hotel whilst gathering the opinions from the yers regarding the monthly pass, she would also bring in food made by Greld to the hotel in order to sway the yers.


    As for Shinto, he would party up with yers that are on the monthly pass in order to find out the performance of the equipment given by the hotel. Although Frey could obtain the equipment herself via investing gold through the monthly pass benefits, it wouldn''t be wise. For all he knows, maybe there was a gimmick to the equipment that requireding back to the hotel once the monthly pass finishes.


    Shinto scanned around the area in hopes of finding any yers with the equipment provided by the hotel. However, he couldn''t find anyone with the equipment. It wasn''t easy considering that there was an area within the hotel that most monthly pass yers would be at. "Would most of the yers with the equipment be at that ce instead? Though... there should be at least some that would be looking for party members here, right?"


    Shinto didn''t have ess to the rest area, so he couldn''t look for a party there. While Frey could easily do Shinto''s job seeing that she has ess with the monthly pass, her te was already full with having to do other things in preparation for the live cooking show. So it was up to Shinto to do it.


    "Sigh. I guess there''s no luck finding anyone here," he sighed. All the yers in the vicinity were those wearing equipment obtained from mobs and from the marketce. Nothing too unique nor shy like the ones provided by the hotel. "Hmm... Maybe I''ll have better luck at the dungeon entrance."


    Seeing that he couldn''t find anyone with the hotel''s equipment at the town''s centre, Shinto decided not to idle around and quickly made his way over to the dungeon entrance.


    ...


    While heading to the Old Wood Dungeon entrance, Shinto fought monsters along the way in order to be efficient in levelling up, sessfully bing level 12.


    As he reached towards the entrance, he saw that there weren''t as many yers here unlike this morning. It was understandable as most would be in the dungeon by now.


    "There are not many people here, huh?" he let out a sigh. "I don''t seem to see anyone with the hotel''s equipment... I guess it was futile toe here..." Just as he was about to leave the premise to head to another area, he heard a voice calling him out.


    "Hey, you!" A woman''s voice rang through Shinto''s ear.


    "...?" Turning around, he saw a woman with what seemed to be a mage get-up walking up to Shinto.


    "You''re looking for a party right? What''s your level and ss?" she asked.


    "Uh... Level 12 and as for my ss... It''s a priest," he said calmly.


    "O-Oh?! A priest and you''re level 12? That''s perfect!" she cheered, "Would you like to join our party? We''re going to tackle Shivuliz''s Den, that''s deeper into the canyon."


    "Shivuliz Den? The level 10 sub-dungeon in old wood...?" he asked.


    "Yeah! So would you like to join us? We have two swordsmen that are level 11 and 13 respectively as well as me who is level 12 and is a mage!" she said. "With you in our party, it''ll be perfect!"


    "...Errr well, I would love to join but..." Shinto looked around the vicinity in order to see if there was the mage''spanion anywhere near the area. He had hoped that one of them would be wearing the equipment he was looking for, otherwise, if none of them wore it, he would look elsewhere instead.


    "...But?" The mage waited for the continuation of Shinto''s sentence. "If you''re worried about the loot, we''ll split it fair and square! Though, it''ll be based on contribution."


    "Well..." Just as he was about to continue his sentence, another batch of voices called out to them.


    "Hey, Raina! Did you find anyone yet?" A young man scurried towards the two as he said in a loud voice. His armour was shy and unique. Which instantly caught the eyes of Shinto.


    ''Ah, isn''t that...?'' If he remembered correctly it''s the same one that he saw most yers in the rest area were wearing.


    "Oh, Lucas, I found one right here!" Raina pointed towards Shinto, "I''m just waiting for his confirmation."


    Without a second thought, he instantly decided. "I''ll join the party."


    "Oh, that''s great! Now we have a full set to tackle the dungeon~" Raina happily said.


    "What''s this guys ss and level?" Lucas asked.


    "It''s the one we perfectly needed! A priest and his a suitable level to aid us."


    "I see. A priest will help us tremendously. Add him to the party, I''ll be going ahead now."


    "Right~" Raina nodded her head as she sent a party invitation over towards Shinto. Meanwhile, Lucas went ahead of the two.


    [ You have been invited to a party by Raina, would you like to ept? ]


    "ept," Shinto said.


    The moment he agreed to the party invite, his name appeared alongside the list of party members.


    [ Party Leader: Raina, Mage, Level 12 ]


    [ Party Member: Lucas, (Hidden), Level 13 ]


    [ Party Member: Ethaniel, (Hidden), Level 11 ]


    [ Party Member: Shinto, (Hidden), Level 12 ]


    "Alright, you''re in! Ah, it seems you also have your details set to private..." Raina pouted as she saw the screen showcasing the party members. "What''s with everyone setting their yer info to private these days?"


    Often times than not, many yers would choose to private their yer info in order to prevent onlookers from viewing their profile. When one private their info, anything rted to them will be private and be seen as ''hidden'', such is the case with the current member list.


    "Aha... I guess it''s a preference to private one''s yer information," he let out a slight chuckle as his eyes locked onto a familiar name on the list. ''Ethaniel? Where have I heard the name before...?'' he thought to himself.


    Before he could try to remember any further, Raina said in a cheerful voice. "I guess... Anyways, shall we be on our way now? We shouldn''t keep the members waiting right?"


    "Ah, right. Then let''s go," Shinto nodded his head.

 Chapter 53: Dungeoning (1)

    Chapter 53: Dungeoning (1)


    Shinto swiftly rushed up towards a nt-like monster within the forest as he sent a mana spark, quickly knocking it back. From behind him, Raina hurriedly casted a bolt of fire over to the enemy, sessfully burning them.


    "Phew..." Shinto let out a breath as he turned to the spot where the monsters once were. "Was there always this much monsters here?" he averted his eyes away, quickly looking over towards Raina as he asked.


    "Yeah, the area leading up to the drnds is swarmed with many monsters," Raina answered. "If we''re not careful, we can get a surge of monsters wanting to kill us... and as fellow staff-users, that won''t be good right?"


    "Aha, yeah. Unless one has an AOE spell, we will probably be dead before we could manage to reach the dungeon."


    "Yeah, so best be careful around here," Raina reminded. "But since we''ll be crossing over to the next zone, we''ll be meeting up with the rest soon," she said. "The rest of the journey should be easier than earlier since the monsters should be cleared away for us."


    "That guy was the one who did it right?" Shinto asked. "Lucas. was it?"


    "Mhm. He went on ahead to clear the way for us so we don''t struggle," she nodded her head. "Should we quicken our pace now?"


    ...


    The two sessfully made their way through the drnds outside of the old wood canyon as they reached the Shivuliz''s Den entrance. There they saw the two other members of the party. [ Ethaniel ] who was leaning onto the uneven walls of the entrance and [ Lucas ] who seemed to have just arrived at the area.


    "You''ve finally arrived?" The blonde-haired man with the name Ethaniel said in an impatient manner. "Finally! So can we get onto the dungeon already?"


    "Sorry, sorry... It took a while to find thest member of the party aha..." Raina apologized. "But, we can now begin with the dungeon since everyone''s here now."


    "Wait," Lucas held up his right hand as he looked towards Shinto. "Does he know the strategy we''re using?"


    "Ah, right! My bad... I forgot to mention the strategy to him while on the way..." Rainaughed awkwardly as she hurriedly turned to Shinto. "Uh, so basically. Ethaniel will be our main damage dealer for the boss while Lucas will be the drawing Aggro. As for us, we''ll be providing damage support for them with our skills," she exined. "For our individual roles, I''ll help clear the wave of enemies while you''ll focus on healing Lucas. Is this understandable?"


    "Hmm, yeah. So we''ll basically be using the two swordsman assault strategy?" Shinto asked. The swordsman assault strategy was amon strategy among the yers within the 10s. As Raina exined, it was a strategy where one swordsman would tank while the other would be the main damage.


    The reason as to why a DPS ss was in charge of aggro and tanking was because the tank ss, Knight was only avable for ss change when one reaches the level of 15. Thus, to rece the absence of the role, a close-range fighter would usually be the one to take up the role of a tank for the time being. Often times, it would be a brawler ss or a swordsman ss.


    "Right," Lucas nodded his head. "That''s the strategy we''ll be using, so seeing as you know the name, I''m guessing you know the gist of things?" Lucas asked.


    "More or less so."


    "Good, then we don''t have to waste time exining. Can we go in now?" Ethaniel said.


    "Everyone has their equipment at hand and potions ready, right? Then, we''ll be off," Raina said as the group entered into the dungeon.


    ...


    [ You have entered the instance dungeon ''Shivuliz''s Den'', all outsidemunication is blocked. ]


    [ You may not leave until the instance is done or you die in the dungeon. ]


    The moment the group stepped foot into the dungeon, they were greeted by themon dungeon notifications. As the system indicated, Shivuliz''s Den was an instance dungeon where one couldn''t freely go in and out as they please.


    The surrounding atmosphere of the dungeon gave a feeling of eeriness as only cobwebs and spider eggsid rest within the area. Besides those, there were small clusters of crystals that gave off a gleam green glow around the surrounding area which provided vision for the party members.


    "Stay on high alert. The mages especially. Shivuliz''s servants are known to jump at you at any given time," Lucas ordered as he took out his sword. A sword made of steel. At first nce it may look like your average sword, upon a closer look there seemed to be a symbol of the hotel on the handle of the sword.


    ''The sword provided by the hotel... It doesn''t seem to have those shy designs like on the armour this guy''s wearing, I wonder how''s the performance of it?'' Seeing the sword that Lucas was holding in front of him, Shinto observed the gear. ''Judging by how that attendant described the equipment, it should be at least a boss monster''s equipment quality,'' he thought to himself as he heard a loud voiceing from the side of him, it was Ethaniel''s voice.


    "You don''t have to warn us again and again," Ethaniel scoffed. "Let''s just sweep through the dungeon and done with it," he impatiently said. "Make sure to keep your end of the deal, alright?"


    "Yeah, yeah. You''ll get to see him again after we clear the dungeon," Lucas said nonchntly.


    Hearing the conversation between the two, Shinto raised his brow. ''Ethaniel... I still can''t seem to remember where I''ve seen that name. But anyway, from the looks of it, he seems to be here only for something at the end... I wonder what the deal is? Though who am I to care about this?'' he shrugged. ''That''s of no concern to me when I have other goals to achieve while I''m here.''


    "Psst... Shinto?" Raina whispered over to Shinto through his ear.


    "...Huh?" Taken aback by the sudden whisper, he turned towards Raina. "What''s up?"


    "Ah well, I just to apologize on Ethaniel''s behalf... He''s quite the impatient person that maye off as rude at times, but he means well!"


    "...I see. Not to worry, I''m not bothered by it," Shinto whispered back.


    "Ah, really? Phew... Here I thought you''d feel ufortable by this..."


    "Nah, not at all. So don''t sweat it," he smiled. "Though, I didn''t expect that you''d know him? I was under the impression this was an on-the-spot put together party seeing the way you approached me earlier..."


    "Ah, well... I''ve known Ethaniel for a few days now. He''s been helping out with dungeons and stuff since my time ying the game aha..." sheughed. "And it''s my bad I approached you that way, I was in a little hurry to find another mage or a priest. So when I saw you with the cloak, I went up to you."


    "Oh, so that''s how it is... What about Lucas?"


    "Ah him? Well... Ethaniel wanted to do this dungeon for some reason, so he was the one who brought him. I joined in as well seeing as he asked me to join the party and since we couldn''t handle the gimmick from the boss with only three members, we had to find another one, which was you."


    "Right... This dungeon requires you to go for a four-man party if you want to have an easier time..." he stated. In this instance, the boss of the dungeon had a gimmick where it would give four different types of status ailments every minute onto the party once it reaches a certain threshold on its health.


    The way the status ailment is distributed to the party is based on the number of yers within the party. If there was only one person soloing the boss, they would be inflicted by all four ailments and it would cause a disruption during their battle. If there was only two, then, they would only get two ailments respectively. Thus, the easiest way to handle this gimmick was to go for a four-man party, where each would only gain one ailment.


    Although it''s doable fighting the boss with a team of three or less, having to constantly be inflicted by the status ailments every so often was an annoying variable to handle especially if two ailments are inflicted upon the main damage dealer, it would be a call of distress. As such many would prefer going down the easier route.


    "Yeah," she nodded his head. "Anyhow, let''s do our best for this dungeon run!"


    As she said so, the two heard a loud cry at the front of the group.


    "Shivuliz''s servants are here! Take your position and beware of their poison!"

 Chapter 54: Dungeoning (2)

    Chapter 54: Dungeoning (2)


    The moment the two heard a loud shouting from the front of the group, multiple spider-like monsters appeared from all sides as they made their way over to the party.


    "You two, get behind me and Ethaniel! I''ll draw the aggro while you keep the waves in check!" Lucasmanded as he sent a sweeping horizontal sh at his front, quickly turning the monsters into grey ash.


    "Yikes, so the waves begin huh?" Raina said as she held her staff tightly as she hurriedly began to chant a spell. In the next moment, a burning ze of fire shot forward over towards the side of the party from her staff.


    [ Burning Wave ]


    The skill was an AOE attack skill that dealt fire magic damage over towards an area. It was a skill mages learn the level of 7 alongside Fire Bolt and Mana Strike.


    As she sent a zing fire over towards the area, Shinto followed up by sending multiple shots of his basic attack, Mana Spark. Thus finishing off the remaining spiders that survived the attack.


    "...Alright," Confirming that the monsters have been finished off on his side, he swiftly turned towards the other side as he observed the situation. The first thing that caught his eyes was Ethaniel''s skills.


    He saw a shining white light protruding out from his de as it quickly rained down on the spiders. Ethaniel followed it up with a quickcerate sh towards the enemies which he had hit, swiftly killing them.


    ''That skill... I haven''t seen that before?'' He blinked at the sight of Ethaniel''s abilities. As a person who had used the swordsman ss in the past, he knew the typical skills of one, but for this case, he had never seen anything like this before. ''It''s like the attack animation for Crescent Moon but obviously, it''s not that skill...'' Crescent Moon was a skill which was only unlocked when one chooses the Lunar Moon ss during the ss change quest at level 190. So it was impossible for such a skill to be in possession of a level 11 swordsman.


    ''Hmm... Then, could it be a skill obtained from a hidden quest? Or... Could he have a hidden ss?'' Those were the only two possibilities which could exin how he could have such an ability. Quests that would give hidden abilities were rare. Even more or so, they were rarer than hidden ss quests. This was because hidden skills or passives were much better in performancepared to normal ss abilities, oftentimes even performing better than certain hidden sses as well though that was not always the case.


    ''If he has a hidden skill or ss... That could most likely exin why he''s our main damage dealer despite the three-level difference between Lucas, but...'' He averted his eyes away from his movements as he quickly turned to the equipment Ethaniel was wearing. Like his skills, his equipment caught his eye. ''Huh? Isn''t that White Knight''s Rose? That equipment should be around the level 30s... How is he wearing it?'' he raised his brow at the sight.


    For a level 11 yer to be wearing such an equipment, it would obviously mean one thing, he had a hidden ss. ''So this means that it wasn''t a skill obtained from a quest... But it was a skill from his hidden ss, huh? I guess this exins.'' he nodded his head in understanding.


    Quickly, Shinto turned his head over towards Lucas, who was at the front lines. Seeing as that he had cleared the monsters away already, he sighed. ''...I didn''t get to see the equipment''s performance at all since I got distracted with Ethaniel. But oh well... There should be more opportunitiester,'' he shook his head as he looked towards his notification.


    [ You have defeated Shivuliz''s Servants! ]


    [ You have defeated Shivuliz''s servants! ]


    [ You have defeated... ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 13! ]


    [ You have obtained 10 stats point. ]


    "Oh? I levelled up?" He hadn''t expected to see that he levelled up by just defeating the spiders earlier. If he had remembered correctly, the servants gave only a little experience as theye in many. One would be required to clear at the very least two waves in order to level up from level 12.


    "Ah, you must be confused huh?" Lucas walked up to Shinto as he saw his confused expression. "We''ll be levelling up quite a lot while we''re in the dungeon since I used an experience increase skill."


    "An experience increase skill?"


    "Yep. Although I can only use it once a week, this dungeon is perfect for this skill, so I decided to use it," he let out augh. "It increases the experience gain rate by 200% for a single dungeon run."


    "...By 200%?" he opened his mouth wide in shock. "Am I hearing correctly?"


    Having one''s experience rate increase by 200% was a scam. One could easily level twice as fast, and if Shinto was getting such a buff as well from Lucas, it would mean it was a party buff.


    "Aha, themon expression huh? Yeah, it''s 200%."


    "...Where did you get such an ability?"


    "Hmmm..." Lucas turned left and right as he scurried over to Shinto''s ear as he then whispered. "Keep it a secret will ya? I got it from Lavida''s Hotel as a top contributor."


    "The top contributor...?" he blinked at the statement. "Like... A contributor as in?"


    "It means what it means," heughed. "I got the equipment I''m wearing right now from there as well. You seem like the type of guy who would also excel there, so you should give the monthly pass a try! I''m sure you''ve heard it from the temple right?"


    "...Cough. I''ll give it a thought," he let out a cough. Was this guy trying to tempt him to join the hotel or something? He couldn''t fathom why he''d reveal such information to him. Though, since he seemed to be loosely revealing the information, he might as well take advantage of the situation. "Would you mind letting me have a look at the details of the equipment?" he asked. "I heard it had the same performance as a rare equipment drop from the boss monsters, so I wanted to confirm it for myself."


    "Hmmm, I''ll think about!" heughed. "Maybe after the dungeon run, I''ll let you have a look. This equipment is also for the top contributor y''know? So me showing you this would be like, showing what the top yer''s build is!" he reasoned.


    "...I see."


    "Oh! And speaking of the top yer, do you know the ex-first ce yer, ''Shinto''?" he asked.

 Chapter 55: Dungeoning (3)

    Chapter 55: Dungeoning (3)


    Having heard the mention of his name along with the association of his old cing, Shinto slightly flinched back. ''This guy... Just what is he trying to do?'' he thought to himself as he gave a nce over towards the two other members of the party. They were quite far ahead and as such, they couldn''t listen in on the conversation that the two were having.


    Shinto knew well that there was a chance of yers ying in the early stages of the game would know or have heard his past history of being in the top unified rankings. Though, he never would have expected to find someone like that here.


    Composing himself, he turned back towards Lucas as he replied. "...The ex-first ce yer, Shinto? I haven''t heard of him before."


    "Oh really? You don''t know him? Hmm, I figured seeing as your name was ''Shinto'', I thought you might have taken inspiration from his name as a fan or something, but I guess not." Hearing Shinto''s reply, he shrugged.


    "Ah... My name? Well, the name was given to me by a friend of mine, so I just decided to use it as my in-game nickname," he said. "Though it''s a funny coincidence that I end up having the same name as him..."


    "Oh haha. Yeah, the coincidence is real huh?" Lucas chuckled. "Since you don''t know him, I suggest looking him up! He''s a great swordsman with awesome control skills!"


    "Hmm... Why all of a sudden you ask that out of the blue though?"


    "Haha, well, I just want to get him more fans! Despite suddenly falling off the ranks, he still has a presence, y''know? So I don''t want him to be forgotten!"


    "...I see." Shinto couldn''t understand where this conversation was going. Seeing as how he suddenly brought up the topic, was he just a fan of him? Well, he would be ttered if that was the case. "Well I''ll look him up in my free time, but for now, don''t we have a dungeon to go through?"


    "Right, right~" Lucas turned away from Shinto as he made his way forward. "Ethaniel must have been impatient and went ahead of us, so we better catch up."


    "...I have no idea whether this guy is acting friendly or suspicious..." Shinto muttered under his breath as he followed along.


    ...


    Grouping up with the rest of the team, they continued to run through the waves of monsters as they levelled up steadily via Lucas''s 200% experience buff. Shinto was still in disbelief that such a scam skill existed.


    [ You have defeated Shivuliz''s Servants! ]


    [ You have defeated Shivuliz''s servants! ]


    [ You have defeated... ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 14! ]


    [ You have obtained 10 stats point. ]


    "...This is way too good to be true," Shinto showed a disbelieving look as he turned towards Lucas. ''To obtain such a skill from Lavida''s Hotel as the top contributor... Just what did he do?'' he thought to himself.


    "Haha, well, you''re levelling up faster than usual right? That''s enough of a proof you need," Lucasughed whilst picking the materials the Shivuliz''s servants dropped.


    "The skill is insane right? Even I couldn''t believe it..." Raina said. "I wonder where you got it from."


    "It''s a trade secret," he chuckled. "Anyways, we''re close to the boss room. I''m sure everyone''s prepared for the battle right?" he turned towards Shinto and Raina. "Shinto, since you''re a priest, do you have your ''Purifying Essence'' skill unlocked yet?"


    "...Ah, well... Er..." Shinto let out a cough. He had hoped he had unlocked a skill rted to curing status ailments as he levelled up while in this dungeon. But it appeared that even at level 14, there were no signs of unlocking any new ss abilities. At this level, most yers would have four to six ss skills by now. "I haven''t done the quest to unlock it yet since I just levelled up to level 14. I''ve only got the healing skills and damage ones from the level up."


    "Hm... That''s too bad. Such a skill would have been useful for the boss fight, but it''s fine," he nodded his head. "I have a few status ailments potion, so we''ll be able to fight with ease when we reach that phase. You just need to watch out for my health alright? Heal me when needed."


    "Right... Though, what if my abilities are on cooldown?" he asked. Mark of Umbra was a skill which had a longer downtimepared to cure, which only has a 1-minute cooldown. But thanks to his cloak, at the very least, he now has two healing abilities.


    "It''s fine. The battle won''tst for more than seven minutes, since our damagebined will be enough to down him before things get too out of hand, and with your healing it''s damage won''t be much of a threat," he said. "Your silence would also be susceptible to the boss right? So it''ll give us an easier time during the poison fog."


    "...Hmm, right," he nodded his head. There wasn''t much to worry in the first ce seeing as how the two swordsmen had equipment that would allow them to dealrge amounts of damage on the boss. The only threat to this party was the excessive ailments from Shivuliz''s gimmick and abilities, but that was solved with Shinto being in the party.


    "Now then, let''s hurry along," Lucas said as he went on ahead whilst ying the monsters that spawned in the dungeon.


    "Tsk... Lavida bastard," Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he followed behind.


    "...Status window," Shinto silently muttered as his status window appeared in front of him.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 14


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    ...


    -Titles-


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 222/222 | MP: 204/204


    Strength: 1 | Stamina: 18


    Intelligence: 25 | Agility: 20


    Shadow: 16 | Divinity: 7


    Wisdom: 1


    Stats Point: 80


    Confirming his current stats, Shinto let out a smile as he was satisfied with the steady growth of his two unique stats. Therge waves of monsters from earlier helped increased the numbers drastically, thus it won''t long until he is able to test out the fifth ability, ''Shadow Recreation''.


    ...


    The party continued along the passage through the dungeon as they stopped in front of arge door that was decorated with cobwebs all around. Beyond this door was the boss''s chamber.


    "Looks like we''re here," Lucas said as he gripped his sword tightly. "Just as n, I''ll go in first, then Ethaniel andstly you two."


    "Right!" Raina nodded her head.


    "Yeah, yeah, just finish this up already," Ethaniel said.


    Without wasting any more time, Lucas opened the door as he walked in.


    "...Huh?" The moment the golden door opened, Shinto received a strange notification.

 Chapter 56: The Bosss Chamber

    Chapter 56: The Boss''s Chamber


    [ You sense a force of great evil lurking behind the doors of old. ]


    "...Ah?" he blinked at the notification that he received. ''A great evil lurking behind the doors of old...?'' he couldn''t understand the sudden message that the system was giving.


    ''Does it mean the boss of this dungeon?'' he spected. ''It would make sense seeing as how Shivuliz was once a demonic being that was sealed away in this ce... But why the notification all of a sudden?''


    For all the times he had run the dungeon previously, he had never gotten such a notification before.


    ''Is it because it''s rted to my ss?'' he nced over towards Ethaniel and Raina who had yet entered the room. Upon a look at them, the two didn''t seem to have gotten the notification that he had received. ''If it''s really rted to my ss... Then what does Shivuliz has to do with this?''


    A demonic being of evil, she who had once served the demon kings but was defeated by a hero and sealed away in this treacherous ce. That was the lore given to the yers when they first heard the whereabouts of this dungeon.


    ''Hmm... Could I finally receive my ss quest then?'' A glint of expectation and excitement shone within his eyes. ''But to get it in such a ce like this...''


    Shinto had figured that he needed to head to another Altric rted hidden dungeon like the one he went to in the mountains in order to obtain the ss quest. Never would he expect to get it in Shivuliz''s Den of all ces.


    ''No, to get the ss quest in a ce like this would be weird.'' he shook his head of the thought. ''The ''hero'' that sealed away Shivuliz was a swordsman. There shouldn''t be any rtions to this ss in general,'' he reasoned to himself. ''...Though, maybe there was a possibility that this would be rted to Altric instead?''


    While deep in thought, Shinto felt a sudden touch on his right shoulder. ''...?'' Looking over towards the feeling, he saw Raina poking at his shoulder.


    "Err, Shinto? Is something wrong?" Raina asked.


    "Ah, no, nothing at all," he wittingly replied.


    "Oh then good! We''re going in now, Lucas has already got the boss aggroed."


    "Right," he nodded his head as the two stepped into the boss room.


    ...


    The moment the two entered into the boss room, they were immediately greeted by countless notifications and the appearance of the boss that Ethaniel and Lucas were already fighting.


    With her silky long ck hair and almost naked body that only cobwebs and ck lines covered, this was the appearance boss, Shivuliz. She had the looks of a human, though that was only the top of her body, below it was that of a body of a spider.


    [ The weakened soul of the spiders, Shivuliz, has awakened from her slumber! ]


    [ All yers within the area will be more susceptible to status ailments by 15% whilst in the presence of her. ]


    [ You have resisted. ]


    As they were greeted by the notifications of the boss, Shinto noticed that the boss was already downed by 20% of it''s HP.


    "You mortal beings! You dare interfere with again?!" Shivuliz roared out as she sent countless cobwebs on the floor of the grounds. "I''ll make you all pay for sealing me here!"


    As the cobwebs spread across the floors of the dungeon, Lucas and Ethaniel swiftly dodged the attack as they dealt a pincer attack towards Shivuliz. Momentster, Lucas gave a nce over towards the Shinto and Raina.


    "Shinto, silence the boss when it''s downed 40% of it''s HP! Raina prepare to cast Burning Wave on the iing waves of the servants!" he ordered whilst continuing to attack the boss.


    "Got it!" Raina gripped onto her staff as she chanted.


    "...Dang, not even a minute into the battle and the boss is already downed by 20%," he muttered as he scrutinized the bosses'' health waiting for the moment it was downed by 40%.


    The barrage of attacks continued on Shivuliz as it reached towards the 60% mark of its health.


    "You...! You will pay!" she screamed as she spread countless eggs around the cobwebs that wereid on the floor earlier. Soon after, she prepared a skill.


    "Shinto, now!" Lucas shouted.


    "On it." Without a second to lose, Shinto casted [ Hallowed Crest ] on the boss quickly silencing her. Although he was in the dark right now, he still dealt a considerable amount of damage.


    "Ack!" Shivuliz screeched as she felt a burning pain from the light of Shinto''s skill. "...This... This..." she looked at the wound inflicted by Shinto with wide eyes. In the next moment, she turned towards Shinto with bloodshot eyes. "...You! You daree back here?!"


    Enraged by the sight of him, she swung her eight legs over at Ethaniel and Lucas, quickly knocking them back. Soon after, she swiftly made her way over towards Shinto.


    "...!!" Shocked by the sudden attack, the two couldn''t avoid it. "The aggro was shifted?!" They hurriedly turned towards Shinto who was now the target of the boss.


    "...Huh? Why''s it suddenly going to me?!" Shinto said in shock. There shouldn''t be a shift in aggro all of a sudden just by using one of his skills. The damage that umted through Ethaniel''s and Lucas''s fight with Shivuliz should have suppressed his own.


    "...This shouldn''t be possible!" Lucas said as he hurriedly made his way over towards Shinto. "Reposition yourself behind me, I''ll get the aggro back!"


    "Damn it, you should''ve done your job properly!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "...You! I will make you pay, you wretched diviner!" Shivuliz continued to roar out as she madly rushed over towards Shinto, ignoring all of her surroundings.


    ''Diviner...?'' Shinto flinched at the sudden mention of the word from Shivuliz. ''Is this why she''s suddenly gone mad?'' The thought passed through his mind, however, Shinto couldn''t think any further as he heard a voice from the distance.


    "S-Shinto! Watch out!" Raina shouted out.


    "W-What?" Shinto''s eyes opened wide as he turned towards the direction of Raina. From her direction, he saw that the mobs that she was supposed to handle were all making his way towards him. Not only was Shivuliz chasing him madly, but the army of spiders that she spawned as well!

 Chapter 57: Shivuliz

    Chapter 57: Shivuliz


    "Hunt him down, my servants!" Shivuliz cried out as she weaved countless cobwebs in the surrounding area of Shinto.


    "Tsk, how annoying." Shinto dodged the waves of cobweb as he simultaneously casted multiple attacks of mana sparks on the iing spiders at his sides. "Are they seriously just going to ignore everyone else and only blindly go after me?" he mumbled as he quickly continued his way over towards Lucas and Ethaniel.


    The distance from him and them was not too far now, but although the distance was short, making his way over to them was no easy task. This was because Shivuliz was in the way. Thus, in order to avoid any direct short-range attacks from her, Shinto had to take a detour.


    "J-Just what is going on right now?!" Raina asked in confusion, "Why are all the enemies suddenly focusing on Shinto?"


    "...Questions can beter! If this continues on, this damn guy will die!" Ethaniel his tongue as he leapt forward. At that moment, he tightly gripped onto his sword as he sent a shining bright arc over towards the waves of spider that was running over towards Shinto. "Lucas! Hurry up and get the aggro back will you?!"


    "I''m trying to!" Lucas said in a hustle as he sent multiple cleaving strikes over to Shivuliz. "This boss won''t keep her eyes off of Shinto!"


    "Ugh! There''s no way a mere priest can just instantly get the aggro off of us!" he shouted. "Just continue to strike at the boss till it shifts its attention to us!"


    ''Damn it, at this rate I''ll have to reveal the other skills I''ve got... But if ites to that, I can''t hide the fact that I''ve got a hidden ss...'' Shinto thought to himself as he took a deep breath whilst he ran. Soon after, he calmly observed his surroundings. ''This boss is definitely after me because of my ss which is why the aggro is fully on me... But is there a way to shift it again?''


    Looking around the chambers, besides the blue crystals that quietly lit the room and the countless cobwebs that were everywhere, there were many stgmites up above Shinto as well as a brokenrgerva egg by the distance at the end of the room.


    ''Maybe if the mage can break the stgmites and make it fall...'' Shinto narrowed his eyes over towards the top of the room. Quickly he turned towards Raina. "Raina!" he shouted out.


    "H-Huh yes...!?" she said unwittingly.


    "Aim Burning Wave or Fire Shot at the stgmites up top on my count!" he said as he abruptly shifted his direction over towards the opposite side, where Shivuliz was. "If you want to get me, then shouldn''t you do it yourself instead ofmanding your servants to do it?" he taunted.


    "Grrr... you! I''ll make you pay for all this!!" she screamed as her pace was quickened. Momentster, the distance between Shinto and Shivuliz was cut short only a few meters.


    The second she was about to reach Shinto, he wittingly rolled towards the side. "Raina, now!" he shouted out.


    Upon hearing Shinto''smand, she swiftly sent Burning Wave that she had been chanting up towards the roof of the chamber. In an instant, the stgmites fell down towards Shivuliz, quickly piercing her body.


    "Ethaniel, Lucas, all out!" he said, as he positioned himself distances away from the weakened Shivuliz.


    "No need to tell me the obvious!" Ethaniel said as he shed through the boss. Following up with his attack was Lucas who broke the ground below Shivuliz.


    "Argh...!! You!!!" she red at Shinto with bloodshot eyes, neglecting the surroundings. "...You...You... I will awaken again to find you and destroy you!"


    The barrage of attacks from the two swordsmen quickly downed her health down towards the red zone. Although she was in the red zone, her gimmick that they were anxiously awaiting for previously before the fight was not seen at all.


    After a while, the boss slowly disappeared as herst bits of health was gone.


    ...


    "Huff... Huff..." Shinto took deep breaths as he scrutinized at the waves of notifications that he received after the defeat of the boss.


    [ You have defeated the weakened soul of the spiders, Shivuliz! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 15! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 16! ]


    [ You have obtained 20 stats point. ]


    [ Your Shadow Stats has been increased by 2. ]


    [ Your Divinity Stats has been increased by 2. ]


    [ You have obtained ''Shivuliz''s Soul Shard'' ]


    [ All other items that were dropped from the boss will be given to the party leader ''Raina'' ]


    [ Your Shadow Stats is now at 20! Certain benefits will now take into effect with the passive ''Divinity Gauge''. ]


    [ You have received a call from the shadows... The skill ''Shadow Recreation'' is shaking. ]


    Shinto read through his notifications as he said in a tired mumble. "...Well that was anti-climatic... It''s over just like this?"


    From the message that he had received earlier before entering into the boss chamber, Shinto had at least expected for him to get something rted to his ss, like a ss quest. However, at the end of the battle, all he got was vague information regarding his ss and what seemed to be an exclusive item only for his ss.


    Although it wasn''t what he was expecting, it was still something. "...I''ll check this outter, for the time being..." he shook his head as he turned towards the other party members. ''For now... How do I exin the sudden shift of aggro to them?''


    "Shinto! Are you okay?!" Raina rushed up towards Shinto in a hurry. "What on earth happened? How did the aggro suddenly shift like that?!"


    "...I don''t know," Shinto said in a tired voice.


    "You don''t know the reason as well?" Raina asked.


    "Yeah... I just used my skills as asked and this thing happened," he continued.


    "Hmm... Could it have something to do with the story view on Shivuliz?" Lucas said. "That would exin why she shifted her target fully to Shinto."


    "...Hah? What bullshit are you talking about?" Ethaniel asked.

 Chapter 58: Persistence

    Chapter 58: Persistence


    "Something to do with the story view of Shuvuliz?" Raina tilted her head as she asked.


    "The lore behind Shuvuliz, maybe that is why she shifted her aggro over to Shinto," Lucas exined. "If you follow the story regarding this dungeon, it is said that ''Shivuliz'' was sealed away here, no?"


    "Yes, that''s what I''ve heard. But what does that have to do with anything?" she continued asking.


    "It''s simple. Shivuliz was defeated by a hero, and then that hero sealed away Shivuliz. Do you know who this ''hero'' is?" he turned towards the group.


    "...The swordsman of elementals?" Shinto muttered as he answered.


    "Wrong. It wasn''t the swordsman of elementals, but- A priest."


    "It wasn''t the swordsman that sealed her away?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "History is but a long archive of events that ur within the world, Shinto. You may have heard bits and pieces of the story of Shivuliz, but is it the full one?" Lucas said. "The swordsman wasn''t the one who sealed her away, it was a priest. In fact, it was a priest who delved into the realms of duality."


    "..." Shinto silently starred at Lucas as he took in the information given to him. The ''priest'' that he was referring to was very familiar to him. "...So, where are you getting at with this?" he asked.


    "Yeah? Just where are you going with this? Is this just an excuse to tell us about your hobbies? Or, is it an excuse because you failed to take aggro properly?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue in impatience. "What does it have to do with the earlier situation?"


    "Don''t interrupt me, I''m getting to the good part!" Lucas smiled as he turned to Shinto. "What if, that ''priest'' was here?"


    Shinto let out a sudden cough upon hearing the abrupt question. "Are you telling me I''m that priest?" he said in a slight tone of confusion.


    "Hmm well, you did say you were a priest right?" Lucasughed. "But, maybe my theory is wrong and I''m just rambling on. But this can be the only exnation as to why the aggro was suddenly shifted."


    "...I''m just but an ordinary priest," Shinto said. "Though, hearing your reasoning, there is another exnation that could exin why the aggro was shifted."


    "Oh? Do exin."


    "It could have been a misunderstanding," Shinto calmly exined. "Shivuliz who had been sealed away for a long time could have just been mistaken that I was this ''priest'' you were talking about. After all, since priests, in general, are of the light attribute, there really is no way of telling apart spells from one another besides the holiness of it, right?"


    "Hmm... Yes, it could very well be a misunderstanding," Lucas nodded his head. "Though, it could still be the former, no? Since weak holiness wouldn''t make the boss be in such a ruckus."


    "But, you have to note that the spell I used, "Silencing Purity", always had a strong presence in holiness," Shinto exined. "And besides, the priest was a person in the past, so it''s impossible for me to be it."


    "True that. I guess with your reasoning, my theory wouldn''t make much sense huh?"


    "Bah, can you two stop discussing this already?" Ethaniel frowned. "This is getting out of topic now. Does it matter now that it''s over?"


    "...Right. It is getting out of hand, I apologize for that," Lucas said.


    "Good. Now can we get on to the loot and then with your deal, already?" he turned towards Raina. "What dropped?"


    "Oh! Errr... Servant''s Staff, Cobwebs, Broken Vial and... Torn Striders," Raina answered whilst reading through her notifications out loud.


    "Servant''s Staff and Torn Striders, huh? Both are mage items, how unfortunate for us swordsman," Lucas shook his head.


    "Tsk, do you even have a use for the item even if it was swordsman equipment? You have that high and mighty gear you''ve boasted every time," Ethaniel scoffed.


    "Well, the same could be said to you, no?" Lucas said.


    "...Hmph."


    "Ahem... Anyways, since you two don''t have a use for the equipment, then it would just be me and Shinto who will take it right?" Raina turned towards Shinto. "How should we go about this?"


    "...I''m fine with whatever equipment. You can have the priority," Shinto said.


    "Hmm, well... Servant''s Staff is a rare grade staff equipment... While Torn Striders is an epic grade boots equipment, are you sure you want me to have priority?"


    "It''s fine. If anything, I''d prefer to get the staff," Shinto reasoned. "My staff is still the basic one."


    It wasn''t a question of priority or not, Torn Striders wouldn''t be useful for him aspared to Servant''s Staff. That was because the boots increased one''s damage rather than speed whilst the staff had an option where it had a chance to cast a small barrier on an ally. Shinto needed something that would increase his support capabilities rather than damage output.


    "Right... I can see that. Then you''ll get the staff while I get the boots?"


    "Yeah, that''s right," he nodded his head.


    "Alright then!" she nodded her head as she passed the staff over towards Shinto.


    [ You have received the equipment ''Servant''s Staff'' from Raina. ]


    Confirming the notification that he had received the item, Shinto averted his eyes over towards the description of the staff.


    [ Servant''s Staff ]


    Rarity: Rare


    Attack Power: 31 ~ 62


    Durability: 215/215


    *Upon supporting an ally, there is a 10% chance of giving them an HP barrier of 275 HP.


    *Intelligence +6


    A ck staff enhanced by the energy of Shivuliz''s servants. The staff embodies the yearning of the servants who have the desire to protect their leader from any danger.


    Condition(s): Level 10 or above, minimum of 20 intelligence required.


    Weight: 65


    ...


    "Looks like everything regarding the equipment is settled? For the materials, I and Ethaniel will take them," Lucas said.


    "Just take everything. I don''t need it," Ethaniel refused. "I just want one thing from you and you know what it is."


    "Right, right. Then, shall we get going?" he asked.


    "Don''t beat around the bush and just go already," Ethaniel said.


    Lucas nodded his head as he turned towards Shinto quickly he whispered to him. "Remember my offer from before? You should consider it!" he whispered. "Oh, and how about we keep contact so we can continue dungeoning together?"


    "...I''ll think about it," Shinto answered.


    "I see, I see. Well, if you want to find me, just go to the attendants in Lavida Hotel and ask for the person named ''Lucas'' there," he smiled. "Anyways, till we see each again, yeah?" he said as he went away along with Ethaniel.


    ...


    "...Phew," Seeing that Lucas went away, Shinto let out a breath of relief. ''Thing''s could have gone much worse if this guy persistently went on...'' he shook his head. ''I should be more careful with partying up to dungeon in ces that have to do with my ss from now on.''


    ''Anyways... Now that everyone is gone... I should be heading my way out as well.'' he thought to himself as he took a step forward.


    "Ah, Shinto? Are you leaving as well?" Raina asked.


    "Huh? Oh, you''re still here?" Shinto turned towards Raina. "I thought you went together with Ethaniel and Lucas."


    "Ah, no, no. I was about to, but Ethaniel said not to follow... He said that they were going to somewhere to handle some business? So I wasn''t allowed toe."


    "...I see, anyways, do you need something?"


    "...Ah, well, I was hoping that you''d like to keep contact? Thing''s went crazy a little earlier, but it would be nice if we could party up some time?" she said. "And well... I wanted to ask of favour to you."


    "...Huh?"

 Chapter 59: Request

    Chapter 59: Request


    "...a favour?" Shinto raised his brow as he heard the sudden request from Raina.


    "Yeah, a favour! Though, I guess you could say it''s more like a request?" she replied. "Do you have some time?"


    "Hmm, it depends on what the request might be. If it''s inconvenient, then I''ll have to decline," Shinto said.


    "Ah, well, I don''t think it would be of inconvenience to you, not at all!" she said. "The request is something regarding about Ethaniel..."


    "...something regarding Ethaniel?" he asked. "What of it?"


    "Err, well, you know the business that he and Lucas went to? I''d like to ask whether or not you know anything about it?" she asked. "Seeing as how you spoke to Lucas quite often during the dungeon run, I thought you might know something?"


    "No, nothing at all I''m afraid," he shook his head. "Why would I know something that seemed to be a secret between the two?"


    "...right. I never did consider that huh? Sorry about that," Raina said helplessly. "Anyways... I guess there really isn''t much that can be done then."


    "You seem worried though, is something the matter?"


    "Oh well, I guess I''m a little worried. I just wanted to try to find out what Ethaniel had to do all of a sudden. The fact that he wanted to do this dungeon and then continuously saying for Lucas to keep his end of the deal during the run, seemed quite off-putting for me I guess," she exined. "Ethaniel lost quite badly in a fight recently, you see. So I was thinking whether or not this deal had something to do with it."


    "...ah, I see. Well, if I find anything, I guess I''ll let you know? But, I can''t really do much about it," Shinto shrugged. "I''m just an outsider to this group, no? Me looking into this matter would be like minding someone else''s business."


    "Right... I can see that. I''m sorry for the abrupt request," she bowed her head. "Anyways, thank you for the dungeon run! Do you want to be added as friends so we can keep in contact?"


    "Yeah, sure I guess," he said as he sent a friend request to Raina.


    ...


    At the outskirts of the dungeon, Shinto made his way out of it as he let out a tired sigh. "Phew, the dungeon run''s over and I got the information I needed."


    "Now the first order of business, I should check out the spoils of battle from Shivuliz," he stopped at his footsteps the moment he was outside of the dungeon, as he turned his eyes over towards his inventory.


    There, from the unsorted items and equipment inside the menu, his eyes narrowed over towards a dark purple shard. Quickly, he took it out as he checked the details of the item.


    [ Shivuliz''s Soul Shard ]


    Type: Material (Consumable)


    A shard fragment that heeds the call of Shivuliz and the one who sealed away her. Only when her presence exists within the surroundings will thee be able to use this.


    Upon usage, something special will ur.


    Condition of usage(s): Shadow Diviner, Shadow Stat at 50.


    Reading through the description of the item, Shinto thought to himself. ''So this is the item which I got from the boss, huh? A fragment that heeds the call of Shivuliz and the one who sealed her away... What does that mean?''


    ''Hmm... since it says that something special will ur, I wonder if it means I get a chance to speak to Shivuliz without her wanting my head?'' he continued his trail of thought. ''Then again, it could also mean a battle with her.''


    ''Sigh, with how vague the description is anything could possible,'' he shook his head as he turned towards the condition of usage. ''Well, seeing as how the condition would be for my shadow stat to be at 50, I''ll have to raise it up more to find out what this item does."


    Shinto closed the item menu as he opened up his status and skill window. ''Speaking of shadow stats now that it''s raised to 30, I should check out the new skill. The ability seems to be impatient for me to use it...''


    He turned towards the constant rise of system notifications.


    [ The shadows are calling you... The skill ''Shadow Recreation is shaking. ]


    [ The skill ''Shadow Recreation is shaking. ]


    [ The skill ''Shadow... ]


    "I can finally use this skill but, why do I feel like it''s so ominous? The fact the skill is shaking makes it seem like something wants to be broken free..." he said. "Well, it a summoning skill, so I guess that''s the reason why."


    [ Shadow Recreation Lv 1 ] [ 50 Shadow Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 10 Minutes ]


    *Summons a shadow minion on the field, to help out in battle.


    *This shadow minion has it''s own personality, thus would depend on how you raise it.


    Opening up the skill window, Shinto took a deep breath. "Well then. Time to see what this ''shadow minion'' is all about." Without wasting any time, he said the name of the ability. "Shadow Recreation."


    Following his call, he saw another batch of notifications flooding his window.


    [ The skill ''Shadow Recreation is greatly shaking! ]


    [ The shadows are looking at you from the darkness. ]


    [ Some shadows show no interest to you, others are joyful while some stayed silent. ]


    The moment Shinto called out the skill, he felt a tremble below him. Following that, a ck cloud of shadows appeared before him. As if calling out to him, he unconsciously reached towards it.


    [ A shadow has heeded your call. ]


    Shinto''s arm touched the dark cloud, as it quickly dissipated away. What remained at the spot where the shadows original were, was but a small dark ball.


    "...?" Upon seeing the thing in front of him, Shinto raised his brow. "A dark ball...?"


    Quickly as he questioned the sudden appearance of it, the ball shook.


    "...!!"


    As the ball shook, a small tail which seemed to be fluffy appeared behind the dark ball. Soon after, the ball shaped into what seemed to be an animal, a small ck fox?


    The ck fox opened its eyes as it made eye contact with Shinto. "...shadow diviner?" the fox spoke.

 Chapter 60: Shadow (1)

    Chapter 60: Shadow (1)


    Silence protruded the air as the two locked eyes onto one another. The fox wagged it''s tail as it anticipated for the other to answer whilst Shinto was taken aback by the appearance of the animal in front of him.


    ''...a fox?'' he thought to himself as he turned to thest few notifications in front of him.


    [ The shadow has been sessfully summoned. ]


    ''So this is the shadow that I summoned?'' he tilted his head while observing the fox in front of him. The fur of the animal was a mixture of purple and ck, while the paws and the end of the fluffy tail were coloured silver. ''I never expected for it to be a fox...''


    "Are you not going to say anything?" The fox continued to wag it''s tail as it stared at Shinto waiting for his answer. "You are the shadow diviner right?"


    "Yes, I am the one," Shinto nodded his head.


    "Finally! I''ve waited for so long!" The fox jumped for joy as it jumped towards Shinto in a hussle, quickly pushing Shinto slightly back. Although its appearance was small, it still packed a force.


    "...!!" Shinto staggered back as he looked towards the fox now below him. He saw that it sat down and began making weird movements.


    "Shadow diviner! I am ''Kon'', the shadow of the fox from the Shades Race. It is a pleasure to finally meet with you again!" The fox introduced with great delight. "So, shadow diviner! What is our first order of business?!"


    Shinto let out a cough as he heard Kon spoke. "Err, well... Firstly, can I ask you a few questions?" he asked.


    "Of course! Anything for the Shadow Diviner!" The fox wagged its tail. "What would the question be?"


    "...what do you know about the ''Shadow Diviner''?" Seeing as how Kon seemed to know some things about his ss, Shinto asked away. He was given the ss without any prior context on its information and background. He only knew it was rted to ''Altric''.


    "...you are asking me what I know about the Shadow Diviner?" Kon blinked at the question. "Um, is this a test? Ah, well... I know that you are the one who brings bnce to two opposing sides! Which why you called for me right? There''s an evil we must defeat?"


    "Is that all you know?" Shinto continued asking.


    "Yes, that''s all I know!" Kon''s eyes brightened. "So did I pass the test, Shadow Diviner?! Am I worthy to serve you?!"


    "...Is that really all you know?" he said.


    "Mhm!" Kon nodded his head. "Did I fail? Please tell me that I didn''t! I don''t want to go back there disappointing them that I can''t serve you..."


    "Go back to where?"


    "My home!"


    "...and where''s that?"


    "The realm of shadows of course! The Shades Race live there, don''t you know?"


    "The Shades Race?"


    "It''s my race!"


    "...I can see that," Shinto let a sigh. It seems that he could only go so far as to question the fox in front of him. At the very least, he got a few information out of Kon. "Then, onest question. What is the realm of shadows and where is that?"


    "Oh, the realm of shadows is the shadow diviner''s subspace, right? It exists wherever you exist. We of the Shades Race live there as you gave us a home! And we are very thankful for that!"


    "...I see so that''s how it is. How can I get there?"


    "Hmm? Why are you asking me that, don''t you know about it already? Ah is this a test? Well... From what I heard from my brother and sister... You have a power that allows you to enter it as you please right?" Kon said. "It''s that same power as to how you are able to call us!"


    "Right... Then, that would be it, thank you for answering," Shinto said.


    "So did I pass?! Please tell me I pass?!"


    "Cough... Well... Here''s the thing, Kon..." It appeared that Kon was heavily mistaken that Shinto had his full powers when he summoned Kon or in other words, it felt like Kon was thinking that he was someone else. "I... Don''t even know whether what you said is even true."


    "Eh?! What do you mean?!" Kon shouted out. "Do you have amnesia?! Oh no! I''ll have to tell everyone about it so they can help you!"


    "Wait, wait, wait! You''re mistaken. I don''t have amnesia, but, you see... I don''t know much about this ''Shadow Diviner'' thing. I was hoping you''d tell me, but... It seems this is as far as you know?" he said.


    "...you don''t know much about the Shadow Diviner? Hey, isn''t that amnesia?!"


    "No, I don''t have amnesia. I just know next to nothing about this at all since I was given the abilities without prior context," Shinto exined.


    "...Ah. Right... Brother did tell me that, which is why he insisted on going himself... Ahh! I''m such an idiot for forgetting such a fact!" Kon cried out. "Please forgive me! I''m so useless!"


    "I-It''s fine..." Shinto hurriedly said. "Then... Since this ''brother'' of yours knows more about it, is it possible for me to call him?"


    "Ah um... Well... He told me that this ability could only summon me for the time being if I went... Ahaha..." Konughed awkwardly. "I''m terribly sorry for insisting!"


    "..." Shinto shook his head helplessly. "...Then did your brother say anything else to inform me? Like, what I''m supposed to? The origins?"


    "...I was too excited that it kind of slipped my mind," Kon helplessly said.


    "When you''re not summoned, you go back to the shadow realm right?" Shinto said. "Can''t you just get the information from your brother then?"


    "Ah... Well, err... If I remember correctly if I get unsummoned, I go back to the spot I was originally at, but here''s the thing..." Kon said. "My brother and sister aren''t at the shadow realm right now..."


    "...what do you mean? Where did they go?"


    "They said they had to prepare for when you summon them... So like, they went off to train themselves!" Kon exined.


    "Sigh... Then there isn''t anything we can do about this then," Shinto said. "You say that this ability can only summon you for the time being? Does that mean I can summon others when it grows further?"


    "Yep! I think..." Kon said. "But for the time being... You can only summon me!"


    "...alright then. Well, it looks like I''ve got to level up this skill then if I want to learn more about this ss."


    "I''m so sorry, Shadow Diviner!" Kon bowed his head. "Excitement took the best of me..."


    "...It''s fine and you can stop calling me Shadow Diviner you know? You can just call me by my name, ''Shinto''."


    "...I feel that I''m not worthy by calling you by your name..."


    "...then what do you prefer calling me then?"


    "Is Shadow Diviner not good enough?"


    "No. It is too much of a mouthful."


    "Then do you have a suggestion?"


    "...Er," Shinto thought to himself as he was reminded of how Frey calls him. "You can call me master then..." He let out a cough of embarrassment. Asking someone to personally call him master was rather embarrassing in itself. However, with the way this situation turned out to be, it couldn''t be helped.


    "Oh! Master! That is fine!" Kon happily agreed.

 Chapter 61: Shadow (2)

    Chapter 61: Shadow (2)


    "Well, I guess that''s settled..." Shinto sighed. "Moving onto the next thing, I''ve got to check out your stats and abilities."


    "I promise you, I''m a fully capable fighter! So I won''t disappoint in that aspect!" Kon said confidently.


    "I see, that''s good to note then," he nodded his head as he soon mumbled out a word. "Status Window," he said whilst looking at Kon.


    [ Shadow Minion''s Profile ]


    Name: Kon (NPC)


    Race: Shade''s Race


    Level: 5


    ss: Shadow Fox


    -ss Attribute-


    *The shadow of the fox, one who offered themselves to serve the Shadow Diviner. When the ss ''Shadow Fox'' is partied together with the ''Shadow Diviner'' certain bonuses will be attained: +20% Damage Increase / +10% Movement Speed / +5% INT. (Effect only applies to the Shadow Fox when the Shadow Diviner or the Shadow Fox manually adds them to the party.)


    -Titles-


    [Shadow of The Fox]


    *INT +20 / AGI +15 / WIS +5 when in the near vicinity of the Shadow Diviner.


    *INT +15 / Damage is increased by 5% when in the near vicinity of any of Shadow Diviner''s allies or servants. (Effect does not stack.)


    -Stats-


    HP: 90/90 | MP: 436/436


    Strength: 5 | Stamina: 5


    Intelligence: 50 (+20) | Agility: 25 (+15)


    Wisdom: 6 (+5)


    -Skills/Passives-


    *[Orbal Shadow]


    *[Quick me]


    *[Shadow y]


    *[Undying Live]


    ...


    Scrutinizing the details of Kon''s status window, Shinto raised his brow in curiosity. ''Oh...? Kon counts as an NPC huh?'' he thought to himself. Most of the time summoned creatures, or certain pets that yers had, don''t count as an NPC. This was due to them being closely rted to an ability hat acts onmand rather than self-thinking for themselves. ''So if that''s so, then that means all the other shadow minions would be counted as an NPC too.''


    Having an NPC as an ally was always great. Even if they counted as a pet or summon. That was because they can train and level by themselves without the presence of the yers.


    Within the game, NPC levels would scale on the average level of the yer base and thus would properly bnce the ying fields. For your average NPC they would be the same level as the average yer, or at times lower. However, for special NPCs, such as ones that have a presence within the world view of the game, ones with a title and the like, they would surpass the average levels, and often they would pass the levels of veteran yers in the rankings by 50 to 100.


    ''Hmm, for Kon''s ss attributes and title... They all seem to rely on my presence. So, in a battle Kon would need to be near me at all times,'' he nodded his head in understanding. ''As for his stats, at the level of 5, this is way above average. Especially with his intelligence reaching the 50s,'' he smiled in satisfaction.


    ''Now then, moving onto the abilities...'' Reaching the end of the page, he began to look at Kon''s abilities in detail.


    [ Orbal Shadow Lv 1 ] [ 50 MP ] [ Cooldown: 5 Minute ]


    Casts an orb of shadow over towards an enemy. Upon impact, the orb deals magic damage of 150%. After using the ability, the user gains an orb around them for 6 minutes (The cooldown is of the orb is reset when using the ability again within the time frame, the orb can stack up to a total of 6 times).


    When the ability is used again with the presence of the orb, the damage is increased by 10% as well as the number of times the enemy is hit will be increased by 1. (This effect is stackable up to a total of 6 times.)


    ...


    [ Quick me Lv 1 ] [ 60 MP ] [ Cooldown: 7 Minute ]


    Casts a pale me over towards an enemy, dealing magic damage of 220% to them. The ability has a 15% chance of inflicting the burn effect.


    ...


    [ Shadow y Lv 1 ] [ 200 MP ] [ Cooldown: 1 Hour ]


    The shadow of the fox creates a doppelganger with half the stats of it. The doppelgangersts for 5 minutes and has the same exact abilities as the fox (Except for a few) with separate cooldown for each.


    *The doppelganger must be manually controlled.


    ...


    [ Undying Live Lv 1 ]


    *15% chance of surviving fatal damage (Once the ability is used up, it will go on cooldown for 24 hours.)


    *When the shadow of the fox falls in battle, they will return to the shadow realm and rest. The fox can no longer be summoned for 24 hours.


    ...


    "Oh? Interesting..." he muttered as he looked at Kon. "So you can create a doppelganger of yourself?"


    "Yep!" Kon excitedly nodded. "But uh... I am still practising with controlling it!"


    "Hmm... The ability does require manual control of the doppelganger, so it is hard. How far are you with mastering it?"


    "From what brother said... a little over 7%?" Kon said hesitantly.


    "...what?" Upon hearing the percentage, Shinto felt like coughing up blood. "Ahem, I see... So you need major practice for it..." he mumbled out.


    "Right... B-But I can use all my other abilities just fine! Do you want me to show you!?"


    "Sure, I do need to see the abilities in action, so would you like to go on a hunt?"


    "Yes! Let''s do it!" Kon jumped for joy. "Where to?!"


    "Hmm... Let''s go to the forest first and tackle the monsters there."


    ...


    The two scurried towards the old wood forest dungeon as they quickly engaged in battle. Kon, who was at the forefront of the party breezed through the monsters that appeared within the dungeon.


    With the stats and bonus effects attained from being in a party with Shinto, Kon was basically one-shotting all the mobs. His damage was above the average in here.


    "Aha! Take that and that!" Kon said as they sent orbs over to the enemies that were heading towards Kon. Quickly, in the next second, the monsters turned to grey ash.


    "So, how did I do?" Kon excitedly turned to Shinto after clearing the wave.


    "You did great. Though... Maybe we should''ve gone to a monster that was more of a match for you..." he said helplessly. "But for now, I guess this will do."


    "Yipee! Now, what''s next?"


    "...you''re rather excited, huh?"


    "Of course I am! Why wouldn''t I be when I''m serving the Shadow Diviner- I mean, Master!"


    "Aha... Well, I''ve got some business to attend to in town, so we won''t go into battle for the time being," Shinto said.


    "Aw, really?" Kon frowned. "I can follow right?"


    "...err," Shinto blinked at the question. "For you to follow me to town... I think that would be a problem."


    "Huh? Why?" Kon titled its head. "Ah, is it because of my appearance? Hmm... I can always hide in the shadow!"


    "You can do that?"


    "Of course! I''ll just have to hide inside your shadow and it''s all good!"


    "...I see. Then can you do that now?"


    "Mhm!" In the next second, as Kon nodded its head, the fox disappeared. Soon after, a voice spoke through Shinto''s ear. "Did you see that? I''m in your shadow now!"


    "Yes, I saw it, this will do," he nodded his head as he said. "Then, we''ll be going now."


    As Shinto was about to begin making his way back to the town, he abruptly stopped at his footsteps as he turned over towards his right direction. Soon after, his eyes narrowed towards two familiar figures by the distance.


    "...?"


    "So this is the ce right?" Shinto heard the man spoke.


    "Yes, this is the meeting spot," The other man replied.

 Chapter 62: Meeting Spot

    Chapter 62: Meeting Spot


    Shinto silently walked towards the direction of the voices, as he hid behind a bush. Being closer to the two figures, he could now see and hear them clearly. The two were the ones whom he had partied up with earlierEthaniel and Lucas.


    "If this is the meeting spot, then where is he?" Shinto heard Ethaniel said in an impatient voice.


    "He will be here soon," Lucas calmly said. "Just wait."


    "Ugh, hurry up and tell him toe already!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "He wille, just be patient," Lucas said. "I do not get why would you want to go for a rematch with him, but, just note that you do not stand a chance against him."


    "Yeah right, I can perfectly fight against him just fine. I just f#@ked up at the end," he exined. "If I go all out, I''m confident I can win."


    "...hmph. So be it then," Lucas replied. "If you lose again, do not me me and-" he turned to Ethaniel as he red at him intently. "-do not me me for whatever happens after."


    "What is this a warning?" Ethaniel raised his brow.


    "Just a word of advice, if you must ask," he answered as he turned away from him. "Ah, looks like he''s close to here now, you best prepare then."


    ...


    Overhearing the conversation between Ethaniel and Lucas, Shinto raised his brow in curiosity. ''Hmm... So it seems that the business that they went on is just for a rematch with that brawler he fought earlier in town...'' he thought to himself. ''If that''s so, then there''s nothing much to worry about. I''ll just inform Raina about it and be on my way.''


    "Hey, hey, Shadow Diviner- I mean Master! Who are they and what are we doing right now?" Kon asked from the shadows.


    "...ah, well, I was just checking up with something. Nothing to worry about," Shinto said in a low voice. "We''ll be leaving for real now." Just as Shinto was about to stand up to leave the premise, he suddenly felt a cold feeling. Soon after, he heard footsteps drawing near towards the area. It wasn''t a footstep of a single person, but a group.


    "...what?" he muttered confusingly as he turned towards the direction of the footsteps. There, he saw five to six individuals approaching.


    "Hmm... Is this the kid that got demolished by Brox?" One of the individuals from the group said. "Never expected for him to look like a weakling," he sneered. "Well, that''s probably the reason why he lost badly."


    "Now, now, there. No need to run your mouth," one of hispanions said. "We''ll just let the battle do it for us."


    "...tsk, what is this?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he saw the sight of unfamiliar people approaching him. "Why are a bunch of random losers here?" he turned towards Lucas as he frowned. "This wasn''t part of the deal! Where''s Brox?!"


    "...hmm, I didn''t expect for him to bring others?" Lucas said in confusion. "I''m just as confused as you, Ethaniel."


    "Ah, Lucas! You didn''t get a message from us? We said we wereing along due to some quest given by the management, and since it collides with Brox''s battle, we might as welle watch," anotherpanion replied.


    "...I see, what is the quest?" Lucas asked.


    "We''re tasked to keep on a lookout for someone and he wasst seen here," he said. "Here, let me send you the quest details."


    "Right, thanks," he nodded his head as he averted his eyes over to the screen in front of him. "Oh? Is it really this person?"


    "Yes. Do you know him?"


    "Hmm, well-" Just as he was about to continue with his words, Ethaniel interrupted,


    "Hey! Are you ignoring me?" Ethaniel red at the two. "Tell me where Brox is!"


    "Hah, you''re this impatient to get kicked by me again?" As Ethaniel called out for the name of ''Brox'', a big bulky man made his way through the group of yers as he reached towards the area. Soon after, he stood in front of Ethaniel. "Haven''t you learnt fromst time not to mess with me?" he smirked.


    "Tch,st time I didn''t use the best of my abilities. This time it won''t happen again!"


    "And what makes you think I used all my abilities on you, hmm?" he said demeaningly.


    "...Grr," Ethaniel clenched his teeth. "Why don''t you try me in an all-out battle then? Same terms asst time. But instead of an apology, you give me back the item you took from me."


    "Hah, you mean that ne? Sure, sure!" heughed. "Only if you can defeat me!"


    In the next moment, the fists of the man flew towards Ethaniel''s abdomen area as it hit, quickly the force pushed Ethaniel back over towards a tree.


    "Arghh...!" he let a groan of pain as he red at Brox. "...You!"


    "Haha, you said to go all out, no? In a battle, no one''s going to let their opponent have the first move!" he said as he rushed up towards Ethaniel.


    "Grr, damn you!" Ethaniel cursed as he unsheathed his sword, quickly, he swung it over towards Brox. The trajectory of the attack aimed for the chest of the bared man.


    As the sword was about to hit him, the man swiftly blocked the attack with his arms as he parried using his fists. At that moment, he protruded a red aura around his arms as he activated a skill.


    Forcefully pushing his way forward towards Ethaniel, he grabbed onto his head while raising his shin. Then, Brox proceeded to m it onto Ethaniel''s entire body, greatly decreasing his health.


    Ethaniel gritted his teeth as he endured the pain from the hit. He couldn''t move to avoid the attacks as his movements were restricted by the arms of Brox. Ethaniel was in a losing position, neither was his start or mid-game was at his flow.


    Following up with the m to Ethaniel''s body, Brox connected it with another attack as he continued thebo, thus quickly lowering the health of Ethaniel.


    "Hmph, you say you could beat me if you went all out? Hah, what a bunch of garbage words," he said mockingly. "I wonder what I''ll take from you next after this?"


    "Tsk..." Ethaniel frowned from the remarks of Brox. Quickly, he pushed his body over towards the man as he struggled to free himself from the grip of Brox. In that moment of time, he used all his strength to forcefully push him back, thus being sessfully freeing himself from Brox and ending his chain of attacks.


    "This match hasn''t ended yet!" Ethaniel shouted out as he held onto his sword tightly. Light shone against the edge of his de as he sent it over towards Brox in that time frame. "I haven''t even gotten started yet!"

 Chapter 63: Battle

    Chapter 63: Battle


    Whilst the fight was ongoing between the two, Shinto and the others quietly watched the match. From the bystanders, Shinto noticed that most of the yers who were watching had eyes filled with mockery on Ethaniel.


    ''Sigh, this guy is doing the same mistake asst time no?'' Shinto raised his brow. ''The brawler skill ''Headlock''... He should have retreated back the moment his skill didn''t hit, that way he wouldn''t have lost so much and gained nothing...''


    [ Headlock ] [ 120 MP ] [ Cooldown: 20 Minutes ]


    Grabs onto an enemy''s head with both fists, quickly disallowing them the freedom to move freely for 3.2 seconds. While the enemy is in this state, the user can connect multiplebo attacks, that deal an additional 5% damage.


    ...


    Often times, Headlock was used as a finisher ability. When the enemy received the ability, they would lose a lot of health by the end of the skill duration due to the constantbos and damage dealt from the brawler.


    The ability ''Headlock'' was one of the few ability options avable for the ''Brawler'' ss when they reach the level of 12 andpleted their ss quest. The other two options besides that were ''Highwind Kick'' and ''Parry Fist''.


    When a yer reached the level of 10, they would start getting ss quests that allowed them to gain abilities, stats and the like. The quests at the start would typically give two to three different choices of skills, and the yer would need to choose them. From there, their ystyles and skillsets would differ from yer to yer, thus allowing for a more unique variety of gamey and styles.


    Besides unlocking ss quests, yers could also begin to branch out from their sses and look for other sses that are rted to the ss that they have chosen previously. Often times, these are known as a ss advancement quest, or a ss change quest, however, they are not hidden ones.


    ''The chances of Ethaniel winning are quite slim...'' he thought to himself. ''The fact that he''s in a disadvantageous situation with his low health and bad start, the only way for him to win is if he manages to sidestep all the attacks or sessfully parry against them...''


    While thinking and watching the match ongoing, Shinto heard Kon''s voice from his shadow. "Hey, master! What''s going on? Why are we still here?" Kon whispered. "Weren''t we going to go back to town or something?"


    "...ah, well, something happened and I''m going to continue observing the situation," he said.


    "Oh? Then, if we''re going to stay here, is it okay if I cane out of the shadow now?" Kon asked. "...staying in here while not being able to move about is making me a bit restless..."


    "Err, well..." Shinto turned to look around his surroundings. Seeing as how most of the yers were on the other side of the area, it shouldn''t be a problem. "I guess it''ll be fine since we''re hiding here," he said. "Just don''t make any unnecessary noise and if anyone approaches, just go back to the shadow."


    "Right, right!" Kon happily said as they reappeared in front of Shinto, quickly they began stretching its body. "Ah, finally I can move about again!" he slightly raised his voice.


    "...hey, Kon... Your voice..." Shinto said as he covered Kon''s mouth in a hurry.


    Quickly as he did so, he hurriedly walked away from the bush and went to another one. Simultaneously as he did so, a few yers headed to the original position of Shinto.


    "...huh? What''s up?" a yer asked.


    "Ah, I thought I heard something..." he replied.


    "Probably some bugs or something," he shrugged.


    Watching the scene the pass, Shinto let out a breath of relief. "Phew... Kon, you almost revealed us..."


    "I''m s-sorry it was my bad!"


    "Sigh, it''s okay. Just don''t do that again..." he said as he turned back to watch the ongoing match.


    ...


    As the light shone out towards Brox, Ethaniel swiftly drifted to the side as he unleashed another attack. This time, grey ray shone against his de. The two light mixed together quickly hitting the man.


    "Tsk, such a nuisance!" Brox shouted out as he moved towards Ethaniel''s direction, with both his fists held up tightly near his chest, he swung it towards him. "Is this somest-ditch effort?"


    Ethaniel read the movements of Brox''s fist, quickly he swayed to the side, dodging the attack. Soon after, he held up his sword as he shed at the man. "Who says it was ast-ditch effort?" he scoffed.


    "Hmph, say all you want," ignoring the swording right at him, he leapt forward towards Ethaniel. Then, he held up his shin, quickly he sent it flying over to Ethaniel.


    Noticing the attack, Ethaniel couldn''t do anything about it. His swordnded onto Brox''s however, his shinnded onto Ethaniel. Taking the hit, he was pushed back by the force while Brox took the full force of his attack.


    "Y''know, if we go about it this way, I''ll win, right? Just look at your health," heughed. "Just give it up!" he leapt forward once again, this time, his body lit in a red aura.


    "Not yet!" Ethaniel said as he quickly jumped to the side, gripping onto his hilt, he unleashed a ray of light at the tip of his de. In the next moment, he brought the edge his sword down to the ground, breaking it.


    The force from his attack shook the ground heavily as the light began to shine down in a horizontal line, heading to where Brox was. Simultaneously, Ethaniel wasted no time as he sprang straight to him, with his sword in hand, he swung it over to Brox.


    At that moment, all of Ethaniel''s skill hit the man. With a nce at his health, he saw that Brox''s health was now in the red, it was at 2%.


    "...ugh! Seriously?!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he hurriedly jumped back. However, before he had the chance to, he felt a tight force grabbing onto his legs.


    "Hah, where do you think you''re going?!" Brox said as he sent a kick over to Ethaniel, following up with that, he began to start abo on Ethaniel.


    "Argh...!" Ethaniel was helpless as he was continuously pushed back by the force. His health slowly dwindled as dropped down to thest few bits of numbers left. ''...I can''t end it like this!'' he red at Brox.


    Gritting his teeth, as he took another hit from him, Ethaniel hurriedly got himself back together as he clenched his hand, turning them into fists. Soon after, he moved his fist straight towards Brox,nding a punch and destroying hisbo on him.


    Following up with that, he held onto his sword as he shed at Brox for thest time.


    "Huff... huff..." Ethaniel let out a tired breath as he averted his eyes over to his notification.


    [ System announcement: WINNER - Ethaniel! ]


    "Hah... I won. Take that, you bastard," he said as he wiped the blood off his face. "Now give me back the item." Ethaniel red at the fallen Brox.


    "Hmph. Who said it was over?!" Brox let out a roar. "We''re not yet! Do what you''ve been told to do guys!"


    "...what?!" Ethaniel''s eyes opened wide as he turned to look around his surrounding area, There he saw almost all the yers within the area were rushing up towards him.

 Chapter 64: Turn the Tides

    Chapter 64: Turn the Tides


    The yers within the vicinity swiftly rushed up towards Ethaniel in a hurdle. Each yer held onto their weapons tightly as they began to attack at Ethaniel, who had yet recovered from the battle.


    "...!!" In a clutch, Ethaniel dodged the iing spells from the casters as he quickly held up his sword. Soon after, he parried against the melee attackers that ran up to him. "Hey, what''s the meaning of this?!" he shouted as he gave an angry re over towards Brox.


    "...hmph, you thought it was over? Hah, you should''ve thought otherwise!" Brox said as he drank a health potion. "Why did you think the meeting spot was here and not the arena? Of course, it was to kill you if worsees to worst!"


    "Tch, you piece of shit!" His face lit up in anger as his grip on his sword became tighter. Quickly he shed at a yer from behind him. "You had no intentions of keeping your word?!"


    "Hah, if it meant giving up on that ne? Like hell, I would!" Brox smirked. "You know the stats of it and how valuable it is," he shrugged. "You think I would just give it up?"


    "...you!" Ethaniel roared out. Soon after, he spun around, drawing a white circle around him that forced back all the yers around him. Momentster, he began to rush up to the brawler.


    While he made his way towards the man, he was abruptly stopped as a sword shed at him. "Ethaniel. I did warn you didn''t I?" Lucas said as he sent an arc over towards the swordsman.


    "Grrr, bastard!" he clicked his tongue.


    "Hah, you only have yourself to me foring alone," he sneered. "Should''ve backed out when you saw my group around, no? Never expected you wouldn''t suspect a single thing."


    "...originally, it was only supposed to be us two to tackle against you. But I never knew that he''d bring the entire group," Lucas exined as he retracted back, quickly, he drew an arc against Ethaniel. "But even then, you wouldn''t have survived either way."


    "Haha, now kill him so we can get the rest of the loot!" Broxughed.


    Momentster, many skills headed for the direction of Ethaniel, with Lucas locking his position, there was no way he could avoid all of them. He would die after this.


    "...damn it," Ethaniel cursed inwardly. "To hell with you!"


    In that moment of instance, a dark orb shadow flung towards the direction of the two swordsmen. Quickly, the orb attacked Lucas from behind, making him abruptly stagger back.


    Taking the opportunity at hand, he clutched his sword as he forcefully pushed Lucas back. Soon after, he narrowly dodged the attacks from all sides. However, with the number of skills aimed at him, he couldn''t dodge them all.


    Taking a few hits, his health slowly dwindled to the red zone once again.


    For battles within the wild, when the two parties agree to fight, once the fight ends, both party will regain back half their health back and the resources used. For battles in the arena, by the end, yers will recover back everything.


    Ethaniel took a nce at his health as he retreated back from Lucas. ''Tsk, I''ll have to run, otherwise, I''m dead....'' he looked around his surroundings. ''I''m surrounded by yers, but whatever! I''ll have to go through them with force.''


    Taking out a health potion, he quickly drank it. Soon after, Ethaniel quickly began to leap towards a weak spot of the formation around him, in hopes of breaking out of the encirclement.


    "Hey! He''s nning on escaping! Stop him!" A yer shouted out.


    "Rotate and prevent him from doing anything!" Another yer responded to the call.


    "Out of the way!" Ethaniel shouted out as he drew his sword in front of him, quickly shing through the swordsman and pushing him back. However, right after he did so, he took notice of the iing attacks from his side. Not wanting to be hit, he twisted his body and dodged it.


    "You think you can escape this easily?" Brox said.


    "Bah... This is just so annoying!" he frowned at the intervention of Brox.


    "Should''ve thought twice before challenging me!" Brox shouted out as he threw a punch over towards Ethaniel. The moment Brox was about tond his attack, Ethaniel swiftly dodged it, but Brox didn''t flinch as he followed it up with a kick at his neck.


    "Urk...!" Taking a direct hit from the attack, Ethaniel staggered back.


    "Hey! What are you all doing?! Just kill him already!" Brox roared.


    "Right!" They all said as they held up their staves and sword. Just as they were about tond, a sudden dark fog protruded out within the area. Following that was a burning me that shot out from a direction that aimed towards Brox.


    "...H-Hey, what?! What''s this fog?!"


    "Ack-! I can''t see!"


    "Hey what''s going on?!"


    yer''s cried out in shock as the yers entered into the ck smoke abruptly.


    "...what?" Ethaniel raised his brow as he saw that his surroundings were clear despite being entrapped in the fog like the yers around him. "Just what''s going on?"


    Suddenly, Ethaniel felt a sudden feeling as he looked at his health. "...It''s healing back up?" He couldn''t understand the situation, however, neither did he had the time to. "Argh! I''ll think of thister!"


    Getting himself back together, Ethaniel sprinted out of the fog whilst the yers were distracted. While doing so, he shed at the yers in front of him, quickly knocking them back.


    "This guy''s escaping! Someone chase after him...!!"


    "Where did he go?!"


    "Damn this fog!"


    Cries roared out in the area, as half a minute passed. Finally, the fog slowly dissipated. Ethaniel was now nowhere to be seen.


    "Tsk... where is he?!" Brox clicked his tongue. "That guy escaped?!"


    "...looks like that fog gave him the window of opportunity to escape," Lucas said. "He seems to have backup huh?"


    "Tch. So this guy didn''te alone all this time?" Brox frowned. "Just what were you doing while bringing him over here?"


    "I made sure no one followed. But it seems I overlooked something," Lucas turned towards the direction of where he was hit by the attack.


    "Ugh, useless," he scoffed. "So that mage girl was here all along? Hah. One of you idiots should''ve scouted the area!"


    "...Dark Cloud and Shadow Orb, so hispanion seem to be a dark mage," he muttered out. "That mage girl wasn''t off that ss."


    "She wasn''t? If it wasn''t her, then who was it?"


    "I do not know. The other person that went to the dungeon with us was a priest," Lucas rified. "There was no way that he could have done those things."


    "Tch, whatever! We failed to kill that guy," Brox clicked his tongue. "But at least I still got his ne, so he''lle back for it," he smirked.


    "...hmph. There are more easier ways to go about Ethaniel than to kill him, you know?" he said. "If you wanted to fulfil the quest, you might as well just force him to join in exchange for giving back the essory."


    "You think I''d give up the essory for some measly quest rewards? I wouldn''t have epted that quest if it wasn''t for there is a secondary condition, ''kill Ethaniel''."


    "I see. What did Ethaniel do to the management to have them want him dead?"


    "How am I supposed to know? Ask them yourself, you''re close to them no?" he said. "Whatever- We''ll just go with the second quest. Find that yer named Shinto."

 Chapter 65: Back to Town

    Chapter 65: Back to Town


    Shinto walked on the dirt path within the forest as he made his way to the town of Parm. Whilst doing so, Kon hid within the shadows as they conversed with him.


    "So like... everything''s over now right?" Kon asked from the shadows.


    "It appears to be so. Ethaniel sessfully escaped from the predicament, so there shouldn''t be too much to worry about now," Shinto said. "Ah, and, good job on using your skills at the right timing earlier."


    "Hehe~! A praise! A praise!" Kon happily said as if they were dancing around within the shadows. "Ahem~ Anyways! Is it really okay to leave that guy alone? Wouldn''t those people chase after him or something?"


    "Nope. That''s not needed," Shinto shook his head. "The chances of them chasing after him is slim since he went quite a distance away before my skills wore off," he exined. "Even if they did, he can handle himself just fine, so he''ll be safe."


    "Oh, then... what about us? They won''t go after us right?"


    "Not at all. They don''t know who we are, so nothing''s going to happen."


    "Hmm! Okay! So I was worried for nothing huh? So, now all that''s left is to head to town?"


    "Yeah," he nodded his head.


    ...


    Entering into the town, Kon excitedly said as he scrutinized his surroundings within the shadow. "Oh! So this is what civilization is like nowadays? Dang! It''s so different from what my brother and sister told me!"


    "...how long have you lived for?" Shinto said while moving along the streets.


    "Hmm... I guess, 150 Shade Years?" Kon said. "Well, my age is 15 in human... But, if we''re speaking technically, then I guess I''ve lived for 150 years? Give or take. Time in the shadow realm is quite different from the overworld."


    "...I see, so you''ve lived that long?" Shinto asked. He knew that for someone of another race, their age and sense of time would differ from humans. This was no different for Kon''s race, ''Shades''.


    "Well, it''s nothingpared to my brother and sister who lived for more than 500 years... And then there are those people who lived for more than 10,000 years! I can neverpare to that!" Kon shouted out. "Now that I think about... How the heck can they live for so long without being bored?"


    "I guess they have their own ways to make themselves entertained..." he said. "How do you keep yourself from being bored?"


    "I have stuff at home to keep myself entertained! But, nothing is as entertaining and exciting as being together with Master though!" Kon excitedly said. "Anyways- I know it''s rude of me to ask... But how old is master?"


    "Err... I guess I''m turning 26 this year," he said. Although time flowed differently in the game aspared to real life, he told Kon his age in the real world. If it was in the game, he would be around 29 years.


    Even if the time is different in-game versus real life, one wouldn''t age at all in-game. From the moment you created your character, your appearance stays the same as the day you started the game. Of course, one could change their appearance to their current one if they so wish, but who wouldn''t want to stay young?


    "Oh! 26 years old? You''re older than me, as expected!"


    "...cough, you''re 150 years old though..." Shinto let out a cough as Kon spoke out.


    "Hey! I said I was 15 years old in human right? So you''re older! Hmm... I guess you''re also older than my sister too. But my brother is older than you!"


    "...I see," Shinto let out a sigh at Kon''s reasoning. At the end of the day, they lived far longer than he could ever.


    Moving along through the streets of the town whilst ignoring the crowd that gave weird looks to him while he talked to Kon, Shinto made way to the tavern by the alleyway


    ...


    The doors of the tavern opened, as he was greeted by the empty room. From the back, he could hear the sounds of a kitchen in action. Greld was busily cooking up some meals.


    "Oh, have wee to the ce you needed to do your business at?" Kon asked. "Is it okay if Ie out now?"


    "No, stay in there for a little while longer," Shinto said as he walked up to the counter.


    "Hmm? Is someone there?" A voice protruded out from the kitchen. "Ah! Shinto, you''re back?"


    "Yeah, I''m back. Where''s Frey?" he asked.


    "She''s still in that hotel... Though she recently came to pick up some dishes, but that was a little over an hour ago," The voice continued on, as the door of the kitchen opened. There, Greld walked out of it as he made his way to Shinto. "Anyways, how was it? Anything good?"


    "Well, things happened I guess. But I got the needed information," Shinto said. "Though... Now that I found out the performance of the equipment, Lavida provides... It''ll be hard to get them to stop using the monthly pass." With the gear that he saw first hand in action from the fight between the brawler and Ethaniel as well as from Lucas, he could already tell that the equipment was on par with the rare drops from monsters, if not, better.


    However, seeing the equipment and viewing the details were two different things. He could only give his estimate on the quality, but he wasn''t sure on the exact performance of the item.


    "...ah, so the equipment that Lavida provides does have some worth in them?" Greld sighed. "Then does that mean our n to get customers from Lavida would be futile?"


    "It may be hard to get people on the monthly pass to want to dine or stay here since their money would mostly be spent trying to get those equipment, there is an underlying w to it," Shinto said.


    "And what is it?"


    "If what I think is correct, then that means those people would be paying more than their money''s worth. So if we somehow expose the deeds of the hotel, then they would be inclined on cancelling such a scam pass," Shinto shrugged. "Though, I''ll need to confirm with Frey on this. You said she''s at the hotel right?"


    "Yeah," Greld nodded.


    "Alright, then that would be perfect," Shinto said as he opened up his friendslist. Soon after, he began to send a whisper over to Frey.

 Chapter 66: Current Situation

    Chapter 66: Current Situation


    "Frey you there?" Shinto whispered to Frey.


    "Huh? Oh! Master! What''s up?" Almost immediately after he sent the whisper, she replied. "Did something happen?"


    "No, nothing much. Just wanted to hear from you on your side," he asked. "How are things in the hotel?"


    "Oh! Well... Currently, I''m eating."


    ...


    Within the hallways of the hotel, Frey walked through it whilst eating the spicy rice cakes freshly cooked by Greld. The moment she bit into the treat, the aroma protruded out of it as it spread around the halls.


    "Ah, you''re proceeding with the n?" Shinto asked.


    "Mhm!" she nodded her head whilst sending the reply. "As for how things are in the hotel... I haven''t gotten much information."


    "No information? Not even the quest or how things work?"


    "Well... They said that they''ll exin things after a week since it''s my first time with the pass, so for now, I''ll only have the ability to ess the amodation and food facilities."


    "Hmm... I see, so you can''t get anything out of the hotel..." Shinto replied. "Well, for now, just focus on the n."


    "Right, will do!" Frey ended the whisper as she quickly continued walking through the hallway. Whilst she ate, the aroma attracted the curiosity of those who walked by her.


    "Mm... Hey! Where did you get that from? The restaurant?" A yer asked.


    "Ah, I got it from the Tavern Parmic!" Frey happily said.


    "Huh? That ce...?"


    "Yeah!"


    "But... I heard rumours that he''ll kill you and steal all your items if you enter into there..."


    "What nonsense! I came out of there just fine. Stop believing in all those stupid rumours," Frey pouted. "Here! Do you want to try these rice cakes? You won''t regret it!"


    "O-Okay..." The yer hesitantly gulped as he took the rice cake from Frey. Soon after, he took a bite. The next moment, his expression brightened up as he chewed on the soft rice cakes. "...this is so good!!"


    "See! I told you, you won''t regret it!"


    "...you can get these from Tavern Parmic, right? I''ll go there when I''m hungry!" The yer cheerfully said. "Do they sell buff-type food there as well?"


    "Err... I think? You have to ask though!"


    "I see, thank you very much!" The yer walked away.


    "Alright! One down, and many more to go!" Frey said as she headed towards the resting lounge of the hotel.


    From the corners of the hallway, a person lurked as they silently walked away.


    ...


    Within the restaurant in the hotel, a young girl sat by a table with her legs crossed. Sipping onto her cup of coffee, she turned to look towards a man in front of him.


    "So, what is the report?" The woman asked.


    "Well for starters... Brox and his gang failed to subdue Ethaniel due to outside intervention." The man by the name of Lucas replied.


    "Hmm, so they failed to kill him? I see... Well, that doesn''t matter," she replied calmly. "For now, what is the status of the adventurer Shinto?"


    "From what I''ve heard, some spotted him walking into town earlier. However, we don''t know his exact whereabouts."


    "So he is in town, yes? I see. When you find him, proceed with the usual approach and make sure to update me on this," she ordered.


    "Yes, will do." Lucas nodded his head.


    "Now moving along... I''ve heard that you partied up with him recently?"


    "Right, I have. What would you like to know?"


    "What do you think of him? Anything special to note?"


    "...hmm, well, Shinto''s sense ofbat is quite high for a priest. He seems rather experienced," Lucas exined. "During the battle in Shivuliz''s Den, there was quite a sudden problem. However, that man quickly took the surroundings to his advantage and turned the tides around."


    "So, he''s a man worthy of being recruited? I see."


    "Right. Though... Recruiting him might be a problem."


    "Why so?" The woman asked.


    "Well, when I tried to recruit him earlier, he showed no interest," he said.


    "Hmm... I see. I will take that to note. If worsees to worst, we will just go with n B."


    "Might I ask why do we have to keep watch on him?"


    "Ah, you may not know this, but, he seems to be nning something against us, but I do not know for sure."


    "Oh? What makes you think so?" Lucas curiously asked.


    "You know the tavernkeeper Greld, yes? The man seems to be in hands with him."


    "Ah... So Greld requested of Shinto''s help? Hmm... Even then, I don''t think he can do anything to us, so we shouldn''t be too worried."


    "Well, that is a good point. But, as Greld is on the verge of finally shutting down his business, we might as well shut down all his choices."


    As the two conversed with one another, a man silently approached the two.


    "Madam Amy, I have some news that you might want to hear," he said.


    "Hmm? What of it?"


    "It is about our recent new monthly passer. From my observation on her, she has been going around eating the food of Greld''s in the hotel. While doing so, she has also been attracting the onlookers," he reported.


    "Oh? Interesting... So that is their n huh?"


    "Yes... So what should we do?"


    "For now, leave it be. They cannot do anything by only attracting the minorities," Amy said. "Now then... Lucas, would you please inform Brox that he has a new mission?"


    ...


    Inside of Tavern Parmic, Shinto quietly sat in by one of the many empty tables after the whisper with Frey ended.


    ''So, with that out of the way... The only thing left to do is to pay off Greld''s rent and to start the cooking battle with the hotel...'' he thought to himself. ''But that will be forter. For now, I''ll just log out and wash up.''


    Shinto stood up as from his seat as he silently spoke to Kon.


    "I''m going to head out for now. Do you need toe out of my shadow?"


    "Oh! You''re going out? Yes! I want out of the shadow and join you!"


    "...Kon, you''re misunderstanding. I''m going to the other world."


    "Ah- I see... So when will you be back then?" Kon asked.


    "Within two hours? Give or take."


    "Faster finish up your stuff there ande back, alright?" Kon said. "As for the matter of having toe out of the shadow... Since it''ll be for two hours, I''ll juste out and explore the town, will it be okay?"


    "Will do," Shinto nodded his head. "You can explore the town, but don''t get caught."


    "I won''t, I won''t! I''ll just hide in the shadows since it''s about to be nightfall."


    All NPCs in-game have the knowledge of where the yers came from, ''the other world'', or in other words, the real world. This was due to the lore in-game, where the yers or adventurers are summoned to the world by the goddess. Blessed with the power of revival, it was said that they will pave the path of the world, however, the summoned adventurers couldn''t stay in the world for long and would oftentimes require to go back to the world they were summoned from.


    Although the NPCs have the knowledge of the origins of where the yers came from, none of them ever questioned what the other world was ever like. When the topic of this was brought up by the yers, the NPCs would usually avoid it.


    "I guess it''ll be alright then. Anyways... I''m off." Shinto said as he logged off from the game.

 Chapter 67: The Match (1)

    Chapter 67: The Match (1)


    Walking out of his room whilst stretching his arms, Zayden made his way over to the kitchen''s counter. Momentster, he took out an empty cup from there and then poured himself a ss of water.


    Taking a sip from the cup, he let out a tired breath as he turned towards the clock above on the kitchen''s wall, [6:55 PM]. ''Hmm, if I remember correctly... Today''s the match with Vain Blood and Ten Swords, I should go and take a look at it.''


    Quickly walking over towards the living area of his home, he sat down on the couch which faced a 100-inch television. Soon after, he scurried over towards the controller on the coffee table and turned it on.


    Zayden and his sister, Jisa, lived in a penthouse within Nagoya. With the money he earned from in-game previously as the first ce in the unified rankings, he was well-off. Although he lived in a penthouse, it was a rather small one which was just suitable for the two to live in.


    "What channel was the match held at again? Was it at ESW?" he muttered whilst going through the channels. For the longest time, he had rarely seen live matches of his guild or any other guilds. He had only seen post-match recordings, thus it was a change for him. "...ah! There we go."


    Sessfully finding the right channel, he turned to watch it. The channel showed twomentators sitting in front of a desk as they chatted along. Behind them was a timer for when the match will start.


    "So, Vick! You excited about today''s match?" One of thementator by the name of Charles asked.


    "Of course, of course! Since yesterday''s sudden events, things took a turn for Vain Blood huh? First ce yer, Shinto, suddenly gone out of the rankings and is nowhere to be seen!" Vick replied. "Due to that... I wonder if he''ll appear in this match?"


    "I wonder that too. Rumours have it that Shinto''s no longer in the guild. But the team leader, Kaisus never gave out an official statement."


    "Right, right. Will he give one today seeing as he''ll appear live?"


    "Who knows? We can only see what happens after this match," Charles said as he turned to look in front of the camera. "Ahem, anyway! Wee to all of you viewers tuning in for E-sports Spirits War! How are things going for you guys? Found any good items or queststely?" Charles chuckled. "The match shall start soon!"


    The screen soon switched out as it revealed the yer-roster from both teams.


    The team that Vain Blood sent out consisted of Kaisus, Revelen, Hikari, Ensia, Wenzhou, Rie and Bunnix.


    "So they''re going with this yer line-up huh?" he said whilst analyzing the team. "I wonder what teamposition they will choose during the draft pick... Since Ten Swords is more burst and damage heavy, it''ll only be right if they went for a sustaining one to counter."


    With the absence of Shinto, they couldn''t do much to shut down their carry, which was Tristan.


    In Crystality, the game mode works differently from the usual type of MOBAs. The main difference would be, instead of pre-existing champions in-game, the yers would use their own character to fight in the battle.


    Due to them being able to use their own character, the way of bncing, equipment builds and the like are very different from how it is in the MMORPG. In the game, all existing abilities from yers would be bnced to match the more-fast paced battles in 5v5. Cooldowns, damage and costs of the ability are all adjusted.


    To allow for diverse ystyles for yers to choose from, they are only able to choose a maximum of five abilities. From there, the system will adjust the yer''s passives ordingly.


    Often times, from the five abilities they''ve chosen, their roles in battle would then be decided. Thus, yers could y different roles, such as being a carry, a roamer, jungler, support and the like. But not all yers have the ability to y diversely, for example, Shinto. His skills were mainly damage and burst. Thus he was more suitable to y a carry or a jungler role than anyone else. If he wanted to, he could also y the role of a debuffer, however, that was a waste.


    "I wonder if they''ll go for a three sustain two burstp?" he thought to himself. "Though depending on the bans on the roles that the enemy team picks... They''ll have to adjust."


    In ce of character bans like in a typical MOBA, for Draft Picks, the ban would instead be based on the sub-role of the main role that yers can y. Banning a sub-role would then restrict certain abilities from being usable and thus teams would need to adjust. Per team, they can only ban up to 2 sub-roles from two different main roles. Once the ban is in ce, the role can no longer be banned from.


    "That''s an interesting line up for both teams huh?" Vick said whilst looking at the team roster. "Both teams don''t have their top burst characters with them!"


    "Hmm... This is most definitely interesting. With theck of Shinto and Tristan, I wonder what will the ban be instead?"


    "We will see when the match starts!"


    After thementary from the two, the match soon began after. The ban from Vain Blood was [Carry - Close Combat Burst Skill] whilst the ban from Ten Swords was [Support - AOE Heal].


    There are three sub-roles in each role and thus, in total there were 15 possible bans.


    "My! Vain Blood went for a strong ban on the burst skills for closebatants! Are they going for a mage carry with Ensia or a range carry Bunnix as a core?" Charles said.


    "It could be! Oh? Vain Blood sent out Ensia as their first pick!" Vick said.


    The teamposition continued on until it reached towards the end where the five-man team was decided. During the process, after the third pick from Vain Blood''s team which was Revelen, the next ban from them was [Jungler - Close Combat Sustain] whilst the enemy banned [Roam - Coverage/Shields]


    When ites to yers that have already been chosen in the team, theter bans won''t affect their skillsets but only the yers thate after. Thus, the first pick was always important.


    In the end, for Vain Blood''s side, the team consisted of Ensia, Revelen, Wenzhou, Kaisus, and Hikari.


    Seeing the end of theposition, Zayden raised his brow. "Huh? They sent out Hikari instead of Rie? The spot for buffs and debuffs were opened though... Why did they go with this?"


    Since the ban for AOE Heals on the support side was picked Hikari could only go with her single target healings skills or crowd control damage ones. Her ss didn''t have as many buffs and debuff skills. Such a ban impacted majorly on her when the team needed more sustain.


    "Hmm... she went for a three damage, one heal and one debuff skillset..." When a yer was chosen in the team, the five skills that they have picked would then reveal the sub-roles and its name to everyone. From there, enemies can be wary of what such abilities do. However, they can only know the effects and the type of skills that was chosen, the system didn''t allow for anyone to view the details or description of skills. "I wonder where this will go?"


    While thinking to himself, the timer of the match soon reached zero. Momentster, the battle began.

 Chapter 68: The Match (2)

    Chapter 68: The Match (2)


    Within the forest of the jungle, an assassin silently kills the monsters that spawn whilst he levelled up. Momentster, he quickly made way towards the top.


    "Hey! Where''s the damn rotation?!" A man by the name of Wenzhou shouted out as he fought off against a man from Ten Swords within thene. "Where''s this damn Revelen?!"


    "Hah. You need back up to be able to beat me?" The man that Wenzhou was fighting against sneered.


    "You! Just wait till I get my farm!" he shouted out in anger as he leapt forward with his axe. Quickly, he broke the ground around him.


    "You''re so easy to anger~" The man jumped back towards the turret that protected him, thus avoiding the attack. Soon after, he sent two waves of shes over to Wenzhou, quickly lowering his HP. "You can''t even kill little old me."


    "Grr...! You think that turret will protect you?" Wenzhou said as he jumped into the turret that the man was near. Gripping onto his axe, he swept it in an arc, sessfully hitting the man. However, in exchange for doing so, he took massive damage from the shotsing from the turret.


    "...argh! Damn it!" Wenzhou clicked his tongue as he saw his HP dropped greatly. Hurriedly, he fell back to the open fields. The moment he retracted back, a shadow came out of the bush as it jumped towards the turret.


    [ Revelen has killed Yupin! ]


    "Hey! Revelen! Where the heck were you?!" he frowned as he saw Revelening out of the turret.


    "Don''t get so aggressive early game and watch the map," he said whilst going back to the jungle.


    "Tch!"


    ...


    "Oh! That was a nice kill by Revelen! Yupin never saw thating!" Charlesmentated.


    "Yes, yes! His ability to alwayse at the right timing is scary! The enemy least expects it!" Vick said.


    "Yupin must have got confident due to the fight ongoing in the bottomne, he may have thought that Revelen would have gone there to counter the gank."


    "Wenzhou is good at sustaining huh? But he''s way too arrogant when ites to solo battles. If it weren''t for Revelen, he would have died."


    The twomentators continued talking as the battle continued on.


    At the bottomne, Ensia and Kaisus battled against the countless attacksing from the yers from Ten Swords. The two were in a disadvantageous situation where they were outnumbered by 1.


    "...these guys are persistent!" Ensia said whilst hurriedly casting a blizzard spell that froze the ground in front of them.


    "Stay calm, Ensia... We''ll wait for when Hikari arrives to turn the situation around," Kaisus calmly said as he sent multiple waves of attack to the enemy, pushing them back.


    "Hikari? She''s being tied up in the middle..." she said. "Won''t we die here while waiting?"


    "If things go ordingly, then we''ll be able to win this."


    ...


    Large bursts of explosion rang through the battlefield as a woman stood at the backlines casting them. Her continuous casting quickly pushed the auburn-haired woman, Hikari back towards to her own turret in defence.


    "Ack... These explosions are too much..." Hikari said whilst healing herself. "If I don''t do anything right now... Bottom will fall!" she muttered as she quickly sent a pir of light towards the center of the area.


    "Oho! Just face the explosions already! It''s a lost cause trying to sustain now!" The woman continued casting as she shouted out amidst the explosions.


    "Mm..." Struggling to find a way out of the situation. she turned to look at the map. Seeing Wenzhou stayed at the top whilst Revelen made his way towards her, she thought up of a n, "Maybe if Revelenes in time..."


    The explosions continued on as Hikari was forced back further to avoid the attacks. However, although she tried to avoid them. Her health still dropped.


    Not wanting to lose against the onught, Hikari hurriedly casted multiple spells of her own over towards the mage. The two were basically trading damage, however, one side was clearly at a disadvantage in terms of raw power.


    "Are we really going at it like this?" she asked as a zing aura protruded around her staff. "I''m just going to end this now!"


    "...ugh!" Hikari grunted as she saw the attack animation. Before long, if the animationpletes, she would instantly die. As the zing force forced itself towards the battlefield, she suddenly heard a quiet voice from the shadows.


    "Hikari, White Silence, now!" The voice said.


    "Right!" she took a deep breath, calming herself down. Momentster, she casted a silent white light over towards the woman whilst distracted with the ze that she was casting.


    [ Holy Priest - White Silence ]


    "...!!" The woman abruptly took a step back from shock. "T-That skill wasn''t on cooldown?!"


    "I never used it. Where did you get the impression I did?" she said, as she moved towards the middle bushes, quickly making her way to the bottomne. Simultaneously, a shadow appeared from the top as he swept through the woman, sessfully killing her.


    [ Revelen has killed Relis! ]


    ...


    "Oh! That was a turn around from Hikari!" Vick shouted out.


    "Damn, Ten Swords is being quite overconfident for the first match huh?" Charles said. "First it was Yupin, now it was Relis. Is it because the presence of Shinto is not here?"


    "Hmm... Their rotation is falling off. Revelen is going to eachne and just ganking the yers on there. What''s Trev, Richess and Polin doing? They''ve been staying at the bottom for quite some time now."


    "The three seem to be in a deadlock despite being in a 2v3 situation..." Charles analyzed. "Just what are they nning?"


    ...


    Watching the battle through his television screen, Zayden couldn''t help but raise his brow in suspicion. "Huh? What''s with these terrible ysing from Ten Swords?"


    The way Ten Swords was ying was as if they are deliberately making the flow of battle go towards Vain Blood''s side, which made Ten Swords at a terrible disadvantageous in the early game.


    "...are they throwing the first match or something?" he thought to himself. "If this continues on, then they''ll surely lose."


    Following up with the death of Relis, Revelen scurried behind Hikari as they made their way over towards the bottomne. The four sessfully turned the situation around and from there, the tides of battle went to Vain Blood''s favour.


    "Oh! The inhibitors down! Is this the end for Ten Swords?!" Vick said excitedly.


    "Will they make aeback?" Charles curiously asked.


    At the end of the match, Vain Blood sessfully won their first game.


    "...just what was that match? Despite seeing Vain Blood win, Zayden couldn''t help but feel nothing to the effortless victory. "The way Ten Swords made their y was really anti-climatic... that''s quite unusual of them," he said as he scurried over towards his phone. "Well... I''ll just see what they''ll do in the next match."

 Chapter 69: Forums

    Chapter 69: Forums


    Picking up his phone sitting at the coffee table, Zayden switched it on whilst waiting for the next match to start. While on it, he headed into the forum page of Spiritual Warriors. The first thing he noticed on the site was the pinned forum post of [Shinto has been gone out of the rankings?!].


    "...ah? This thing''s pinned?" he let out a sigh at a nce at the pinned post. It had been a while since hest visited the forums, thest time he came here was a little over a month ago.


    Quickly ignoring the post, he moved his hand over towards the search bar as he began to search up the words: [Lavida Hotel]. On the forums, there were plentiful of information and guides that circted among yers, it was a good ce to do one''s research when needed.


    However, although it had plenty of information, it only ever touched on public or leaked information among the veterans. No yer that found hidden pieces or quests would openly share their findings with the world unless of course, they''d want to be famous for being a loudmouth.


    "Alright... so, Lavida Hotel... What kind of information circtes here?" he muttered to himself as he searched through the countless posts made by new yers regarding the hotel. The ones he saw whilst scrolling were those that either praised the hotel or either provided an alternative for the long term, there weren''t any that he found bad-mouthing the hotel. "Hmm... I would have thought there''d be a few posts that would tackle on the background of the hotel... but then again, why would they care?"


    Unlike Shinto that cared about interacting with NPCs, doing quests that helped them for little gain and the like, many yers gave zero thoughts to them. At times, they''d usually only care about fighting mobs, doing only quests that benefit them and the like. Why didn''t they care for the NPC? Well, it was simple. To them they were a piece of artificial intelligence, they weren''t real.


    "Hah, this is useless. Let''s just see if I can find any information regarding the equipment instead," Zayden said. Quickly, he checked out the new yers guide in Parm in hopes of finding the details of the equipment provided by them.


    Soon after he tapping onto the new yer''s guide, he scrolled through the useless information as he turned to look at the section under [Lavida Hotel''s Month Pass].


    "Alright, so this guide does mention it," he said while reading through it.


    Now, you have the basic questlines down, it''s time to get to character growth! The best course right now for you people who started in the town of Parm is the hotel, ''Lavida''. Why? It''s because of the monthly pass!


    Not only does it offer free amodations and food, but it also offers bonuses such as equipment equivalent to those of rare drops from boss monsters in New Wood Dungeon, Shivuliz Den and so on! Don''t believe me? Here take a look.


    [ Lavida''s Heavy Armour ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Defensive Power: 321 ~ 561


    Durability: 635/635


    *When HP drops below 30%, creates an HP Barrier of 5% of own HP. When the barrier breaks, health is recovered by 5%.


    *25% chance of absorbing 100% of damage once. (5-minute cooldown after using.)


    *Equipment Set Bonus (5 Piece): Stamina / Strength / Agility +12%


    Heavy armour made from the fine metals of the Song''s Noble Family Mines as well as by the hands of a renowned cksmith who goes by the name of Ater. Skillfully crafted into a piece, it is branded under the name of ''Lavida''


    Condition(s): Level 15 or above, Monthly Pass quest in progress, good rtions with Lavida.


    Weight: 235


    ...


    [ Lavida''s Long Sword ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Attack Power: 220 ~ 462


    Durability: 370/370


    *When attacking an enemy, 35% chance stunning for 0.2%.


    *When fighting against more than one foe, defense will be increased by 2% (Up to a maximum of 12%.) for each enemy in battle.


    *Skill ''Sweeping Strike'' will generate.


    *Equipment Set Bonus (5 Piece): Stamina / Strength / Agility +12%


    A longsword made from the fine metals of the Song''s Noble Family Mines as well as by the hands of a renowned cksmith who goes by the name of Ater. Skillfully crafted into a piece, it is branded under the name of ''Lavida''


    Condition(s): Level 15 or above, Monthly Pass quest in progress, good rtions with Lavida.


    Weight: 185


    ...


    Looking at the screenshots of the equipment details in the page, Zayden widened his eyes in shock. "I didn''t expect for these gear to better than what I estimated... the stats are quite high huh?" he mumbled whilst analyzing the description. "So that''s why people opt for the pass... and since the condition to equip the gear requires you to have it, it''s all the more reason why they stick with it, huh? Though... the options are better on the rare dropped equipment."


    Although the added options of the equipment weren''t as goodpared to the rare equipment one obtains from boss monsters, the main selling point of this was that the stats were above the averagepared to them.


    Nodding his head in understanding, he exited out of the page. "I see... but even then, the fact that they are charging 5000 coins per week, and you''d need additional ie to get the equipment, it is definitely not worth it," he shook his head. "Alright... now that I get the information about the equipment, what about the Tavern?"


    Soon after, he searched up the name [Tavern Parm]. The moment he did so, what greeted him were a few top pages about the NPC [Greld].


    "...huh? What''s this?" He raised his brow as he read the title of the post, [Tavern''s Parm Quest. Not Worth!]


    Tapping onto the post, he began to read through it.


    Just like the title says. DO. NOT. DO. THE. TAVERN. PARM. QUEST. It''s not worth it. You''ll be forced to take the Monthly Pass of Lavida''s Hotel when you do so. Howe? It''s because you''ll be the epicentre of a witch hunt by the yers from there, and obviously you cannot win against them. The only way to escape this is to take the Monthly Pass or run away from Parm, but at that point, you''ll have a low reputation in the town due to rumours. and you can''t clear it up!


    Another thing to note, the quest rewards is a waste when the tavern will be shutting down now. So you''ll waste gold, time and effort on the damn NPC Greld. So don''t bother with him! (Even though he''s food gives you good buffs, it''s best to find other ces now)


    "...a witch hunt?" he blinked at the text.

 Chapter 70: The Match (3)

    Chapter 70: The Match (3)


    A witch hunt. Just as the name implied, it is when a group of people, them being the hunters hunt down a single target, which is a witch to no end until the witch dies.


    "Hmm, so this is what the hotel does to those that tried to offer help to Greld? Why didn''t he mention it though?" he raised his brow in suspicion. "Though the better question is, why are they so intent on trying to shut down his business despite already winning..." he murmured as he averted his eyes away from his phone. "Sigh. I''ll think about thister, for now, the match is starting."


    Moving his eyes to the television screen, thementators still continued their conversation with one another as the timer slowly struck down to zero.


    "Will Ten Swords do the same careless mistakes asst time?" Charles asked. "Or will they take a win from Vain Blood?"


    "We shall find out in this match!"


    ...


    Just asst time, Ten Swords chose the ban pick for [Support - AOE Heals]. Although they were first picked for the draft this time, they didn''t ban a carry or jungler role, leaving it open for Vain Blood to ban.


    "...huh? Are they really throwing?" Zayden said as he couldn''t understand the reasoning behind the pick of banning AOE heals. Just as the ban implied, it was a ban where it disabled AOE healing among allies. Once chosen, all types of healing spells that are AOE would be adjusted to a single target heal. "Just what the heck are they nning?"


    Continuing to watch the draft pick, Vain Blood banned the same thing as they did from the earlier game which was [Carry - Close Combat Burst Skill]. At this point, they had the upper hand now as they already shut down the guild''s main carry role.


    From Ten Swords side, the yer toe first was the explosion mage [ Relis ]. Following up with that was [ Revelen ] and [ Rie ] from Vain Blood''s side.


    "...hoh? Rie has joined the fray!" Charles said. "With his buffs and debuffs, just what kind of ys would there be?"


    "Hmm... I wonder! But, it''s weird, they went for him this time rather than Hikari. I wonder what was the sudden change of mind?" Vick asked.


    "Well, in the first ce, Rie should''ve been in thest match no? Seeing as how AOE heals was banned. However, since she was in battlest time, instead of going for a healing build, she went for a more damage oriented build, although it was quitecking in terms power... But damn did that silence worked its magic."


    "Right, right... a holy priest''s damage isn''t all that good, but it does provide good afterburn effects and solid status ailments when needed. Hikari was a good counter to Relis if I say so myself, because of her silencing skills."


    "Hmm... now that you say so, you''re right."


    They continued chatting as the draft continued. Ten Swords followed up picks were a sustaining jungler assassin as well as coverage and shields roamer. The ban''s that soon came after was [ Roam - AOE CC ], a ban in which all roam AOE CC skills will be adjusted to single target ones. Soon after, Vain Blood''s ban was [ Jungler - Sustaining Magic Skills ].


    "...oh? These bans by Ten Swords... now that I see the big picture, their actually forcing their own flow towards Vain Blood with that support ban and then having them forced to do the carry ban first," Zayden thought to himself whilst watching. "Then... If what I think is correct, they''re preventing Vain Blood from going aggressive..."


    After choosing the bans, Vain Blood immediately chose their characters. [ Bunnix ] as well as [ Hikari ] was picked. On Ten Swords side, the final two members of the team were the swordsman sustain carry and another roamer.


    "Hikari and Rie on the same team, huh? Wow! What''s this?" Vick said in surprise. "Looks like Hikari would be the mage of the team whilst Rie will be the support?"


    "This is going to be an interesting game huh? With Ten Swords going for a really defensive uptake with 2 tanks, 1 burst and 2 sustains," Charles analyzed. "And the fact that Vain Blood doesn''t have any AOE CCs to go, it would be really hard to wipe out their sustain especially when they''re squishy. So, would the final pick be Kaisus to maintain bnce?"


    As they anticipated for thest pick, Vain Blood''s choice shook Zayden and thementators. The final pick was [ Ensia ].


    "...!!" Zayden''s eyes opened in shock. Thest pick was a mage, that specialized in burst damage. Looking at the teamposition, it was as if Vain Blood and Ten Swords switched ces, where his ex-guild was focused on burst while the other was on sustain. "...there''s no tank, how are they going to do this?"


    Looking at the builds and skillsets that have been chosen by Vain Blood, interest piqued within is eyes. "...oh? Ensia went full CC?" Although AOE CCs was disabled, for mages, they still had strong single target CCs along with massive burst damage when used correctly. "...I see. So that''s how it is."


    He nodded his head, as the match soon began,


    ...


    The moment the match started, Hikari, Revelen and Rie headed to the middlene whilst Ensia and Bunnix went on the sidenes. Just like in typical MOBAs, the mapyout was still the same, it was the typical top, bottom and middlene.


    Though despite that, there was a major difference between ssic MOBA and a VRMOBA. It was the fact that there were multiple maps that one can y in. Each having their own environment, terrain and mobs. Thus, it brought more strategy into the game. For the previous match and this one, however, the map was the default stage thus, only teamposition strategies were at y.


    ...


    Magic flew in the air as it collided with the minions in thene whilst also aiming for the enemies. Just like how there were three people from Vain Blood in thene, there was three from Ten Swords as well. It was the tank, Relis and the jungle.


    "Hah, are we starting a fight this early? You know we''ll win!" The tank sneered.


    "Don''t get too cocky of yourself," Rie calmly said as he swiftly sent a gust of wind over towards the enemies. "We have the advantage here."


    "Or do you really?" Relis let out a chuckle as a pir of ze shined down to the area, quickly forcing Rie to jump back.


    "Ugh, these explosions are annoying..." Rie turned to look towards Relis casting from the distance. Keeping her HP and MP in check whilst doing so. "Hikari, get your silence skill next, we can go in for the kill right after when Revelen finishes jungling."


    "Right, I''m one step ahead of you," Hikariughed as she healed Rie back to full health. Momentster, Rie stepped forward as he controlled the winds around him, swiftly, he cleared the second wave of minions with the help of Hikari from behind.


    The moment he cleared it, a pir of ze shined down towards Rie, following up with the pir was the tank who jumped out from the bush to him, raising his axe in the sky, he brought it down to the ground.


    "...argh!" Taking a direct hit from the attack, Rie''s health lowered to the red zone.


    "Ah, Rie!" Hikari scurried over to his aid, however, her skills were on cooldown, thus she couldn''t heal him.


    "Why weren''t you careful?" Relis said as she sent a me shot over towards Relis, killing him.


    [ FIRST BLOOD! Relis has killed Rie! ]


    ...


    "...that was careless of Rie," Zayden helplessly said. "The first blood was given over to them..." he sighed. "Though... never would I have thought that the tank would have gone for a physical build first," he turned to look at the items of the tank. "No wonder Rie let his guard down."


    In a match, one''s equipment build decided how your character would be used. Lack of physical items meant one would deal little to no damage, whilst having ack of defense items meant that one would be squishy and would usually be susceptible to burst easily.


    Unlike the equipment that yers wore in Spiritual Warriors, in the Crystality game mode, the gear that had would merely be only cosmetics. In order to get items to raise one''s stats was to buy items from the in-game shop using goal obtained from farming. Thus, farming was very important.


    ...


    The battle raged on as the match slowly moved into mid-game. From there, the number of team fights and deaths that urred steadily increased. The death between the two teams wasn''t arge gap, however, Vain blood couldn''t be aggressive due to the disadvantage of them being squishy whilst the enemy was able to sustain damage.


    [ Revelen has killed Tronse! ]


    [ Relis has killed Revelen! ]


    [ Relis has killed Hikari! ]


    [ Relis is on a rampage! ]


    "...fall back! We''ll lose if we don''t!" Rie ordered.


    "Argh, I was so close to killing them!" Bunnix clicked his tongue.


    "We need to regroup-" Ensia said as a de flew straight towards her. Quickly killing her.


    [ Yupin has killed Ensia! ]


    "...Ensia!" Rie shouted out.


    "Relis, ult on Bunnix!" Yupin shouted out as he jumped towards Rie.


    "...ugh!" Rie raised his sword against Yupin, however, the man overpowered him, thus forcing him back.


    "...and you''re dead!" he said, whilst ending Rie.


    [ Yupin has killed Rie! ]


    [ Relis has killed Bunnix! ]


    [ Bunnix has killed Relis! ]


    [ SHUT DOWN! ]


    [ Vain Blood Team - Wipe Out. ]

 Chapter 71: The Match (4)

    Chapter 71: The Match (4)


    "Oh! Vain Blood has gone through a team wipeout!" Vick shouted out. "Is this end for them?!"


    The moment Yupin killed Rie, he hurriedly made his way through the jungle as he headed towards the middle. With two remaining members of Ten Swords left alive, they swiftly destroyed the turrets that came, finally reaching the inhibitors.


    "It looks like the middle inhibitor is now destroyed! There are five more seconds left before Hikari and Revelen respawns, will they make it in time to stop Ten Swords from breaking their crystal?" Charles asked in anticipation.


    "The minion waves got washed away by the crystal, it seems that they will!"


    Quickly as Yupin and the other member was about to retreat back, a shadow appeared from behind the backs of the two. Momentster, a silencing white light protruded out towards Yupin.


    "Revelen has used Dark Shadows whilst Hikari used White Silence on them!"


    The health of the two members dropped down towards the red zone. Meanwhile, Hikari and Revelen continued their onught on them. Without being able to fight back against the silence effect of Hikari''s skill, Yupin was the first to die.


    The other member hurriedly made his way out of the base as he ran for his life, but Revelen was a step ahead of him as he ended him.


    "It seems that Yupin and Pel were careless at the base there! If they had fallen back earlier they would have survived," Vickmented.


    "Mhm. But they were trying to destroy the crystal, but that was futile..." Charles shook his head.


    "Yeah, now with the rest of Vain Blood respawning, it''s now a 5v3!"


    "Would they push forward and go aggressive or will they attack the Lord of Knights?"


    Soon after the rest of the team members respawned, they quickly headed towards the direction of the jungle. Soon after, Vain Blood began to engage in a fight with a giant statue, that shortly came alive after it was attacked.


    The statue was that of arge knight, with both hands on the hilt of its greatsword with letters that seemed to be of ancient words that were unreadable. Its armour was heavy and it wore a cape behind its back that bore the emblem of a forgotten empire that was lost in history.


    This was the Lord of Knights, a monster that would help the team that defeated it.


    "Rie, Hikari, Ensia give vision. I and Bunnix will handle it," Revelen silently said whilst fighting the lord."


    "Right!" The three nodded in response as they scouted the bushes.


    Quickly, a loud boom rang through the jungle, as pirs of mes protruded out from the sky.


    [ Explosive Specialization Mage - Meteor Shower (Ultimate) ]


    "Relis''s ultimate, watch out!" Rie said as he danced with his sword, in the next moment, a blue aura flowed around him and his allies. Quickly, droplets of water soon began forming from the aura.


    [ Qi Master - Breath of Waters (Ultimate) ]


    It was a skill in which it absorbed the amount of damage whilst reducing damage received from an attack for 8 seconds. The absorbed damage would then be converted into health.


    "What''s the status of the Lord?!" Ensia shouted as she prepared to cast a skill in the surrounding area.


    "In the red!" Bunnix replied.


    "Hurry and defeat it, they''reing!" Rie said as the meteor rained down upon them. Momentster, from the front bushes, two warriors lunged out as they aimed their skills over towards the group.


    "Ensia!" Hikari said as a white aura enveloped the group. It was a buffing skill, in which it raised one''s iing heal. Simultaneously, Ensia sent a crystal orb up into the sky as icy spikes began to protruded out of it. Momentster, the spikes rained down onto the two enemies.


    [ Frozen Specialization Mage - Ice Cage (Ultimate) ]


    As the spikes struck down the two enemies, they froze in ce due to the effects of the skill which freezes enemies upon impact for 2s.


    Following up with the Ice Cage, Rie ran up towards the enemies as he held up his sword tightly, quickly while controlling the winds around him, he swiftly shed at them, dealing a decent amount of damage.


    "Hey, you two! Ignore those three and go straight to the Lord! It''s about to die!" Relis shouted out as she continued sending burning zes of fire onto the battlefield.


    "Urk...! These damn frozen effects... hurry and go, I''ll distract!" One of the two enemies said as he leapt forward to Ensia and Hikari whilst pushing Rie aside. With his hammer held up into the sky, he broke the ground, quickly making the two lose their bnce.


    From behind the man, the other person hurried towards the Lord while Hikari and Ensia were down. Seeing as the health of it was a few hits a way from death, he tightly grasped onto his sword as he sent an arc over to the direction of the monster in hopes of dealing the final blow.


    "Gah! You guys!" Bunnix clicked his tongue as he activated his skill.


    [ Gunslinger - Sharpshooter Burst ]


    Tworge bullets shot out from his gun as it headed towards the Lord. As the two attacks collided with one another, a system notification rang through the battlefield.


    [ Vain Blood has in the Lord of Knights! ]


    "Ohh!! The Lord has been in! Is this ae back from Vain Blood?!" Charles shouted out in excitement.


    "The team fight continues on with Bunnix and Revelen now avable to attack!"


    Soon after the defeat of the lord, Revelen silently hid within the shadows as he appeared from behind the backs of the enemy. In the next moment, he shed through them. Sessfully killing them off with Bunnix''s and Ensia''s aid.


    Seeing as the two enemies had fallen, Relis quickly fell back as she ran towards the base. If she died here, everything would be over.


    "After her!" Rie shouted out.


    "I''m on it!" Bunnix said as he sped up to chase Relis. Meanwhile, the rest of the group followed after the Lord who is making it''s way to the middlene.


    ...


    The lord and Vain Blood destroyed the turrets one by one as they reached towards the inhibitor. At the forefront, Yupin and Tronse stood there ready for a fight, from the rear, Relis held up her staff tightly. Bunnix had failed to kill her.


    "This is thest push! Whoever wins this would be the winner!" Vick said.


    With a step from the Lord, Hikari and Ensia began to channel a spell. That was the precursor to the fight, with Rie, Revelen charging into the frontlines, Yupin and Tronse soon followed after. Bunnix stayed behind as he shot down the two.


    [ Yupin has killed Revelen! ]


    [ Bunnix has killed Yupin! ]


    [ Ensia has killed Tronse! ]


    [ Relis has killed Rie! ]


    [ Relis has killed Bunnix ]


    ...


    At the end of the battle, the one that remained alive was: Ensia and Hikari.

 Chapter 72: Aftermath

    Chapter 72: Aftermath


    "Is this the end?!" Charles shouted out.


    Ensia and Hikari quickly cast spells against the crystal at the base with the help of the minions. Although Yupin and the other member respawned, they couldn''t make it out of the sanctuary in time in order to stop them from destroying the crystal.


    In the end, it was destroyed.


    [ System Announcement - Winner: Vain Blood! ]


    "Ohh! It looks like the match has been decided! The overall winner for today is Vain Blood!" Vick announced.


    Seeing the winning announcement on the screen, Zayden who sat on his couch let out a sigh of relieve. "Phew, looks like they won huh?"


    Getting up from his couch, he reached out towards the remote as he switched off the television. Soon after, he turned towards the clock on the wall to look at the time: [8:11 PM.]


    "Ah? It''s already eight?" he abruptly said. "Then that means Jisa should be back from her tuition now..."


    Hasegawa Jisa was a second-year high school student studying in a private school. She was the type who took her studies seriously, one who just did practices, read and revisions over and over for most of her free time.


    "...hmm, maybe I should wait for her toe back so we can have dinner?"


    With his phone in hand, he switched it on as he entered into the Discord app. Then, scrolling through his countless direct messages, he stopped at @Jisa. Going into the chat, he sent her a message.


    @Shinto: When will you be back?


    After sending the message, a reply came almost immediately.


    @Jisa: Huh? You''re out of the game at this time? Wow!


    @Shinto: Ahem... I wanted to watch Vain Blood''s match today...


    @Jisa: I thought you were apart of the main roster for that match?


    @Shinto: Well uh, things happened and so I''m out ofmission for a while.


    @Jisa: So you say.


    @Jisa: Anyways, why you asking me when I''ming back?


    @Shinto: I just thought that we''d have dinner today seeing as how I''m out of the game and haven''t eaten.


    @Jisa: You- Of all days, why today?!


    @Shinto: ...?


    @Jisa: I''m doing a study group at Yuna''s house today TT


    @Shinto: ._.


    @Jisa: Hey! Exams are soon! Besides, how was I supposed to know that today of all days you wanted to go out and eat a proper dinner?


    @Shinto: Yeah... good point. Well, I''ll just eat some ramen...


    @Jisa: Don''t you dare. I made two servings enough for lunch and dinner. Did you eat lunch today?


    @Shinto: Yes, I did. Thank you for cooking it.


    @Jisa: Good! Now eat dinner!


    @Shinto: Alright, alright, MOM.


    @Jisa: You''re supposed to be my older brother -_-


    @Shinto: Well act like a little sister :p


    @Jisa: Jee. Anyways, I''m going offline now. I''ll be back around 10, Yuna''s mom will fetch me home so don''t worry.


    @Shinto: Right. See ya.


    ...


    ''Hmm, since I''m still in the app, I might as well just send my congrattions to them while I eat.'' Leaving the chat, he thought to himself as he made his way to the kitchen area.


    Soon after, he opened up the fridge as he took out a container containing his dinner that was cooked by Jisa. Quickly, he ced them into the microwave in order to heat it up.


    Whilst waiting, he went through the list of people he had received messages from and scurried towards the main members of the Vain Blood team. Giving them each a private message.


    Although he could''ve made his work lesser by just sending the congrattions in the discord server of his guild, his presence in the channel would make for an uproar among the members.


    Sessfully sending the message needed, he heard the microwave''s ringing noise. Taking out the dish, he began to eat it.


    ...


    After eating, he headed to the capsule as he logged into the game again.


    [ Logging into the game... ]


    [ yer ''Shinto'' hase online. ]


    Within the tavern of Parm, Shinto stood on the old wooden floors as he opened his eyes.


    "Alright... I''m in the game now," he said as he looked around. The kitchen area was quiet, however, the lights of the kitchen as well as in the room that he was in were on. Though despite that, there weren''t any signs of Greld anywhere. "Hmm... what time is it right now?"


    His eyes looked towards the small clock on the walls of the tavern. Seeing as it was now [11.37 PM] in-game.


    "Oh? It''s already thiste here?" he asked himself. "Hmm... since everyone would be asleep right now... I guess I''ll go hunting," he said as he turned towards his friend list. "Whose online right now?"


    Upon a nce at the list, he saw that most of Vain Blood''s members were online. Ignoring them, he scrolled down towards thetest friends whom he added. [ Frey ] and [ Raina ]. The status of the two was online.


    Seeing as to how Frey was on, he sent her a whisper. However, he was surprised by the following notification after he did so.


    [ You can''t send a whisper at this time! ]


    "Huh? What''s this?" he raised his brow in suspicion. "I can''t send a whisper at this time?"


    "...hmm, is she in a dungeon right now?" he asked. The notification wasn''t a typical notification where one receives when they chose the ''do not receive whispers'' option in their settings. The notification right now was one when the receiver or the sender was in an instance dungeon or whenmunication around them is blocked.


    "I''ll shoot her a whisperter then..." he shook his head helplessly. "Should I send a whisper to Raina instead?" he contemted. Since the time right now is nighttime, Shinto''s damage would significantly drop, so it was better for him to have a mage that can help clear waves of monsters easily while Shinto just has to heal.


    "I guess I''ll do," he nodded his head as he sent Raina a whisper.


    [ You can''t send a whisper at this time! ]


    "Huh? Raina is busy too?" he let out a sigh. "Sigh... I guess I''ll go out and hunt, myself..." he made his way out of the tavern


    The moment he stepped out of the building, he heard footstepsing from the direction leading out of the alleyway, simultaneously, the sound came from the other side as well.


    "...?"


    The steps drew nearer as a silhouette of a man appeared. Following after was a voice,


    "...Shinto, I presume?"

 Chapter 73: An Offer

    Chapter 73: An Offer


    Upon hearing the voice, Shinto cautiously looked towards the direction of it. There, he saw that a man was walking up to him and from behind the man was a group of yers idly standing by.


    "...yes, that would be me," Shinto calmly answered as he nced towards the man.


    At a nce at the person in front of him, he noticed that he wasn''t a yer but an NPC as indicated by the man''s name coloured bright blue, [Friktos]. Besides that, he noticed that Friktos and the yers behind him donned a full set of Lavida''s equipment.


    ''...people from Lavida?'' Shinto vigntly observed his surroundings, the group of yers from behind Friktos and the yers behind himself numbered to ten. In this narrow alleyway, it was enough to block the exits. ''Are they here to kill me or something?'' he remembered the forum post that he saw earlier.


    As he thought to himself, he saw that Friktos nodded his head in satisfaction, soon after he spoke. "I see, so we''vee to the right person."


    While observing, Shinto opened his mouth. "...what can I do for you?"


    "Ah, I''m d you ask. Well, I won''t take much your time for too long, so I''ll get straight to the point," Friktos coughed, clearing his throat. "Firstly, I am branch manager Friktos, from Lavida Hotel and I''vee today to propose to you an offer.


    "An offer?" he raised his brow.


    "Yes, an offer," he nodded his head. "Adventurer Shinto, we propose to you the proposition of joining us. Of course, we wouldn''t want you to join without any benefits right? We will provide you with the utmost best treatment while you''re here with us."


    "Hmm. So you''re inviting me to take up that monthly pass?" Shinto questioned.


    "No, no, not at all. You will not be taking up the monthly pass but would be a member apart of our branch wherein, you will receive the same benefits as a passer whilst getting much more."


    "This all sounds too good to be true, no? What are the conditions," Shinto asked.


    "Hmm, it''s simple. Leave this tavern behind," Friktos replied calmly.


    "I see. So that is the condition?" Shinto took another nce over towards the surrounding area. He noticed that the yers were much closer than before. "Hmm... for a person offering me such an offer, would there be a need to bring ten adventurers with you?"


    "We were just finishing up with an expedition outside of town, and while on our way back, we decided to go to you," Friktos exined.


    "An expedition huh?" he muttered out.


    "Yes, you do not need to worry," he smiled. "So, would you like to take up the offer?"


    Upon hearing the man speak, a quest notification popped up in front of Shinto.


    [ Friktos''s Offer ]


    Difficulty: C+


    Branch Manager Friktos of the Lavida Hotel has proposed to you the offer of joining the hotel, not as a monthly passer, however, but in general. Joining hands with him would ultimately create the final downfall of the tavern.


    epting Condition: Upon epting the quest, the quest ''To prove them all'' will be marked as failed.


    When The Quest Is Active: Free ess to Lavida''s Hotel facilities (With regtion), certain benefits obtained from Lavida''s Hotel,


    *When the quest is active, you would need toplete three to five tasks a week for Lavida, otherwise, certain things will ur to you if failed to adhere to the condition.


    *This queststs for 2 months. The quest can be renewed at any time so long as you have a suitable rtionship with Lavida''s Hotel.


    Quest Penalty Upon Failure: You will be banned from stepping into Lavida''s Hotel, certain things will ur to you.


    Reading through the quest details, Shinto turned towards Friktos. "...and if I say no?" he asked.


    "Oh, why would you?" he questioned. "We offer you the best amodations and food possible. On another note, we also offer the best quality of the equipment. Would you not want that?"


    "I''m sorry, but no thanks," he shook his head. "I''m not interested in this." Turning his back to Friktos, Shinto silently nced towards his status window.


    "Hmm... did I hear correctly?" Shinto heard his voice from behind him. "Won''t you reconsider?"


    The quest notification popped once again in front of Shinto.


    "Not at all. I''m not interested," Shinto rejected.


    "I see..." His voice continued sounding from behind him. "Then, I guess you wouldn''t mind what happens to Greld, yes?"


    "...what?" Shinto turned back to Friktos as he raised his brow.


    "Let me rephrase the conditions. If you join us, we will let Greld go from our captivity."


    "Hah... is this a threat?" Shinto said as he gripped onto his staff.


    "Hmm, think as you must. My offer still stands, would you ept it or would you not?"


    "..." Shinto stayed silent as he looked at the details once again, However, without any hesitation, he rejected the quest. "I''d like to see you try me."


    "Hoh... very well then, if you refuse then..." In the next moment, countless footsteps were heard from the back and front of Shinto. "Do not regret your decision."


    Looking at the situation, Shinto took a deep breath as he replied to Friktos. "Hmm, I''m sure you''ll regret it actually," he said as a ck fog protruded out into the area.


    "...!!" Friktos''s eyes opened wide. "H-Hey! Where did he go?!"


    "I can''t see...!" The yers shouted out.


    "This guy''s a ck mage? I thought he was a priest! Did Lucas lied to us?!"


    Certain footsteps rang through the alleyway as the ck fog finally dissipated. Shinto, who was originally in the middle of the group, disappeared.


    ...


    Within the town''s streets, Shinto ran out from the alleyway, soon after he stopped at his steps as he reached the street.


    "Phew... well that was easier to escape than I thought..." he said as he turned to look behind him. "They didn''t really put much of a fight huh?"


    "Though... if they did, there wouldn''t be much that they could do in that narrow space..." he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. "Anyways... now with that out of the way... there''s another problem at hand..." While collecting his thoughts, he heard a familiar voice from behind him.


    "Master! Master! Master! Big problem, big problem!"

 Chapter 74: Confusion (1)

    Chapter 74: Confusion (1)


    Hearing the cry from the voice behind him, Shinto hurriedly looked back. The moment he did so, he saw Kon appearing out of from the shadows.


    "Master! We''re in big trouble...!" Kon cried out whilst panting.


    "...Kon? What''s going on?" Locking eyes onto Kon on the ground, Shinto raised his brow in question.


    "U-um, well...! There are fights urring all over town!" Kon said in a hustle. "T-The people that went after that guy in the forest... they''re back and are now currently in a fight with him! "


    "...Ethaniel''s in a fight currently?"


    "Yeah!" Kon nodded. "I tried to see what was going on... but I couldn''t. Everything was just too chaotic!"


    "What''s the esction of the fight?"


    "Well, uh, before I came here... I saw that he was holding up his ground pretty well. But I don''t think he''ll be able tost!" Kon cried out.


    "...this, what are they doing all of a sudden?" Shinto muttered out.


    "I don''t know... they just suddenly appeared all of a sudden and attacked him!" Kon shouted. "Did theye after you too? When I tried to look for you... there was a lot of people in front of the tavern..."


    "Well, they did-"


    "A-Ah...! They did?! Have we been found out?! What do we do?!"


    "Aright, firstly, calm down, Kon," he said calmly. "We haven''t been found out yet. The matter for why they came to me was for an entirely different reason."


    "Oh... phew..." Kon let out a sigh of relieve. "I thought master would be in trouble!"


    "Err... well, the situation is quite troubling right now, but that''s beside the point. I''m not the one in trouble," Shinto answered. "There''s quite a lot of pressing issues at hand, for one, Ethaniel isn''t the only one we have to worry about."


    "Ah? Who else?!"


    "The tavernkeeper... he''s been taken captive," Shinto said in a serious tone.


    "The tavernkeeper? The one in the tavern earlier? Ah...! Who did it?!"


    "From the same people affiliated with the one''s fighting against Ethaniel."


    "Argh! What''s going on?!" Kon said in frustration.


    "I don''t know," Shinto helplessly shook his head. "I''mcking information as much as you are, and I can''t get into contact with Frey at all."


    "Frey... apanion of yours? Are they in trouble too?!"


    "I do not know her situation... but seeing as how she''s uncontactable, I can only think of the worst-case scenarios."


    "Then what do we do?"


    "For now... we need to get a better onlook on this whole thing. Where''s the location of the fight with Ethaniel?"


    "Thest I saw of him... he was in the southeast area of town."


    "On the southeast area of town, you say?" Shinto nodded his head. "Alright, we''ll head there."


    "Right!"


    ...


    Within the town''s streets, loud footsteps rang throughout the area as a young blonde-haired man made his way through it. From behind him, several men chased after.


    "Grr... you persistent piece of shits!" The blonde-haired man cried out in anguish.


    "Oh, Ethaniel, would you just leave it be and surrender already?!" A silhouette of a man appeared from beside Ethaniel, momentarily after, a short de swung forward to him.


    "Tsk...!" Holding up his sword, Ethaniel quickly fended off against the dagger that was directed towards him. "Why the hell should I surrender?" The second he fended off against the attack, Ethaniel quickly turned his leg to the side, with his sword in hand, swiftly striking towards his attacker.


    "...!!" Seeing the attack in front him, the man jumped back. "If you want to do this the hard way, then fine!"


    "Bring it all you''ve got! I''m not going down!" Ethaniel frowned as he gripped his sword tightly.


    Countless footsteps rang out throughout the fields as it approached Ethaniel. des and magic swayed towards him. However, with all his efforts; Ethaniel parried against the attacks and quickly jumped to the nearest enemy, striking them down.


    "Do you think you can keep this up?" One of the attackers clicked their tongue. "You won''tst any longer than this!"


    "Bah," Ignoring the words of his enemies, Ethaniel swiftly made his way over to the man and shed at him.


    "Argh...!" The man cried out as he took the blow, but without backing down, he pushed his sword forward, quickly shing with Ethaniel''s. While he did so, the man turned towards his allies. "Hey, what are you all doing!? Just end this already!"


    "What do you think you''re doing getting distracted?" Putting his strength into his arms, Ethaniel pressed his sword against the man''s forcing it back. Simultaneously after, he moved his sword in an arc, swiftly sending the man flying back.


    With heavy breathing, Ethaniel looked around his area, seeing as more men were approaching him. "Tsk..." He clicked his tongue. He couldn''t get any breaks.


    "Get him!" The men all cried out as they lunged towards him, with their des all in hand.


    With everyone moving towards Ethaniel steadfastly, he could only parry against a single attack while taking blows from the others, thus making his HP drop down into the red.


    "Huff..." Ethaniel continued taking a deep breath as he moved his sword around himself, quickly drawing a circle that pushed back his foes. Soon after, Ethaniel nced at his status. "Ugh... I''m in the red... and my mana is running out..."


    If this continues any longer, he''ll be dead.


    "Damn it... is there any way out of this?" His mind quickly began to move as he took another look at his surroundings to find any escape points. However, he wasn''t able to think for long when he heard the shouts from around him.


    "He''s almost down! Quickly!"


    "Ugh... these guys are so annoying!" he frowned, as he saw that once again, the men were lunging towards him. "I can''t survive this..." He gritted his teeth.


    There was no way he could win against them. His gear was near its end, his resources almost all used up and his health at it''s lowest. The only thing he could do was ept his fate, and just as he was about to do so, a fog of shadow protruded out around him.


    "...!!" Upon being in contact with the fog, Ethaniel''s eyes opened wide in shock. "T-This...?"


    "Ethaniel!" Simultenously as the shadow appeared out of nowhere, he heard a familiar voice shouting from the distance.


    "W-What...?"

 Chapter 75: Confusion (2)

    Chapter 75: Confusion (2)


    Ethaniel turned to the direction of where he had heard his name being called out. Through the cloud of shadows around him, he could clearly see everything that was going on in the spaceIn fact, it seemed to be as if his vision was much clearer than before. But despite the rity, he couldn''t gauge where the voice came from.


    "...this fog... just what?" This was all too familiar for Ethaniel. Just some time ago, he had seen and directly been in this same fog which had saved him from the group in the forest. To be greeted by this again, it was no coincidence.


    However, he could not have time to ponder on this matter at all. Despite the ongoing confusion that the shadow caused for his enemies, Ethaniel still had to get out and find safety.


    "An opening, an opening..." He quickly scrutinized his surrounding area in hopes of finding for an escape path that he could take. Although the enemies around him were in confusion. There were still yers outside of the fog which could strike at him the moment he walked out of the space.


    "Ugh... can''t these guys be more confused?" He clicked his tongue. Despite the chaos, the yers still remained on guard, as if they knew that this fog wasing. "Looks like that bastard must have seen thising and warned them."


    Still looking around in hopes of finding for a way out of here, he heard a small voice from below him.


    "Psst! Ethaniel! Over here!"


    "...?" Ethaniel raised his brow as he saw a small animal below him that seemed to be a fox. "W-what the...?"


    "No times to be questioning things! We''re escaping, now!" Without waiting for thetter''s reply, the fox began to move its way out of the fog.


    "Hey...!" Ethaniel frowned at the sudden movements of the animal, however, he couldn''t do anything about it. All he could do was trust the animal and followed after it.


    ...


    Outside of the fog of shadow, a young man moved around the battlefield, smoothly dodging all the attacks aimed at him. Whilst evading, he held onto his staff as he countered with his own basic attack, mana spark.


    "Argh...!" The yer stumbled back upon being hit by the attack.


    "Hey! What the hell''s up with this? Why is it so hard to catch a ck mage?!" The casters from the distance shouted out angrily to the front liners. "Can''t you do a better job?!"


    "I''d like to see you try than just staying at such a distance missing all your damn spells!" One of the yers clicked scoffed at the remark.


    "Ugh, it''s not our fault that someone couldn''t keep the target at bay!"


    "Bah! Enough of this!" The yer roared out as he charged towards the young man who was busily dodging all the attacks, gripping onto his sword tightly, he swung at it towards him.


    "These attacks are never-ending..." The young man clicked his tongue as he dodged the yer''s attack, simultaneously after, he sent a mana spark out.


    "Argh...!" the yer gritted his teeth in frustration. "Why it so damn hard to hit him! Just what is his agility?!"


    "Well, this guy must have ced all his stat points into agility since the damage he deals is so shit!" One of the yers said.


    "But still! It''s annoying! It''s as if he can see our movements or something!"


    Ignoring theints among the yers around him, the young man turned towards the fog of shadow that slowly disappeared away as he thought to himself. ''...Kon and Ethaniel should be at the rendezvous point by now, I should hurry up and escape from here.''


    The man who had been dodging all those attacks aimed at him was none other than, Shinto. For a person whose ss is of the mage archetype, it wouldn''t have made sense to anyone as to why he could be dodging the attacks like there was no tomorrow despite being skilled, this was because mages had ack of mobility.


    But that sort of reasoning was under the assumption that Shinto had invested his points in Intelligence, which was not the case. Before the fight had begun, he ced one-third of his stat points into agility.


    ''Hmm... escaping would be a little hard...'' Shinto dodged another attack that was swung at him whilst he let his thoughts run loose. ''Their beginning to encircle me...''


    Although it may look as if he could endlessly dodge all attacks, it wasn''t true. Despite doing well currently, in the long run, if the yer''s continued to attack at him endlessly, they could form a formation in which they would be able to entrap Shinto in it just as they did with Ethaniel earlier.


    ''I''ll still be able tost for three more minutes and that won''t be enough time to use Shadow Fields...'' Shinto swiftly moved around the yers, simultaneously shooting out a basic attack to them respectively.


    "Agh..." Being knocked slightly back, the patience of the yers ran thin. "This guy..."


    "Hey! You all! Stop being distracted that mage and looked at where Ethaniel is!" A caster shouted out.


    "H-Huh, what?" Surprised by the sudden shout from the mages, the yers looked around the area. "W-What?! E-Ethaniel''s missing!?"


    Simultaneously after the yer''s realized, a dark orb flew forward towards the area around Shinto, quickly hitting all the yers around him.


    "Master! Now!" A voice shouted out to Shinto.


    "Right," Shinto nodded his head, as he began to make a run for it, heading straight to an alleyway.


    "That guy''s heading over there! Quick chase after him!"


    ...


    Running through the alleyway, Shinto swiftly made his way through the narrow road, whilst doing so, he sent a blinding light behind him.


    [ Hallowed Crest ].


    "Argh...! What the?!" Surprised by the sudden light that hit him, the man stumbled back, quickly tumbling down to the ground.


    "A priest''s skill?!" From behind the man, a yer shouted out in surprise.


    "Bah! Does it matter?! He''s getting away!" Another yer clicked their tongue as they moved forward, swiftly running pass his allies. However, the moment he did so, he was hit by an orb of shadow, that pushed him back to his party. "Ack...!"


    Ignoring the yer that was hit by the attack, one of the yer turned to look at where Shinto was now. "Tsk...! He got away!" From the skills that were shot out towards them, Shinto disappeared into the night.

 Chapter 76: Confusion (3)

    Chapter 76: Confusion (3)


    Countless yers made their way through the alleyway as they looked for Shinto.


    "Grr...! He must be somewhere!" The yers clicked their tongue. "He can''t just disappear out of thin air like that!"


    "Check the other end of the alleyway, he must have made it out by now!"


    "Right!"


    The yers discussed with one another as they fastened their steps, quickly making their way over to the exit on the other end of the narrow pathway. Whilst doing so, they made way past a small corner, and within that spot, hid Shinto.


    "...phew," Peeking out slightly through the corner, Shinto let out a sigh of relieve as he saw that the yers ran passed him. "That should be taken care of..." Seeing as how all yers within the vicinity had already gone away, he turned towards two people standing by the side of him, Ethaniel and Kon.


    "Are we safe yet, master...?" Kon questioned.


    "I guess, for the time being," Shinto replied.


    "Hey, what the hell''s going on?" Ethaniel frowned. "Why are you here?"


    "I''m just as lost as you in this whole predicament, but the reason why we''re here is because we came to save you," Shinto exined.


    "You two? This fox guy... who is this?"


    "Errr..." Shinto looked over towards Kon. "He''s apanion of mine."


    "Apanion? So a pet?" he raised his brow. "Well, whatever. You, why did youe to save me? What''s your deal?"


    "H-Hey, I''m no-"


    The moment Kon tried to say something, Shinto quickly covered his mouth as he answered. "Well, we saw that you were in trouble, which is why we lent a hand."


    Ethaniel red at Shinto with suspicion. "You ''saw'' that I was in trouble and came to help me? That sounds farfetched to me. You don''t have any ulterior motives, do you?"


    Shinto shook his head. "Not at all, though... seeing as how Lavida is against you, I thought I might request a favour from you."


    "A favour? What is it?"


    "Join hands with me and help me save someone that''s been held captive in the hotel," Shinto said firmly.


    "...who?"


    "It''s someone that you wouldn''t know... but I''m in need of help to save them."


    "Tsk... this isn''t Raina we''re talking about, yes?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "Raina? No, not her. But... did something happen to her?"


    "Obviously, otherwise I wouldn''t have asked," he clicked his tongue. "Those Lavida bastards took her captive too."


    "...what?"


    "You heard me right, they took her captive and now she''s currently trapped in the hotel."


    "How...?"


    "I do not know how it happened, but by the time those bastards came to me, I came to know of it."


    "Ahem... then, all the more reasons for us to work together, right? We both need to head to the hotel to save someone," Shinto said


    "Hmph... before that, answer me this."


    "...?"


    "You''re not a priest, aren''t you?"


    Hearing the question, Shinto let out a sigh. Keeping it a secret in this situation would be useless since he needed Ethaniel to trust him. Although he could say that the skills he used were from Kon, it wouldn''t be wise, as Ethaniel would question on regarding him. "No, I''m not."


    "Then what are you?"


    "It does not concern you, just like how it doesn''t concern me from knowing what ss you are," he said calmly as he sent a friend request to Ethaniel. "So, are you willing to work together with me?"


    "Tsk... fine," he looked away as he epted. Momentster, a party invite was sent.


    [ You have joined Shinto''s party. ]


    [ Party Leader: Shinto, (Hidden), Level 15 ]


    [ Party Member: Ethaniel, (Hidden), Level 15 ]


    [ Party Member: Kon, (Hidden), Level 6 ]


    "So? What''s the n? We''re not going to be charging in directly at the front door, right?" he asked.


    "Cough... well, I''ve thought about doing just that..." Shinto awkwardlyughed. "Besides the front entrance, there are no other ways in."


    "Tsk... so you have no n then?" he frowned. "You know if we charge in directly, we''ll end up dead before even reaching Raina and whoever you want to save right?"


    "Yes... I do know that." He nodded his head. "But we won''t be the ones directly charging in."


    "What? Then who?"


    "This little fox right here will be the one who will do it," Shinto pointed to Kon.


    "...huh?" Kon tilted its head.


    ...


    Outside of the hotel''s entrance, a few yers and NPCs stood in front of it, on high alert.


    "Tsk... what kind of quest is this?" A yer clicked their tongues as they scrutinized the area. "Stand on guard and defend the hotel if anything happens? What is this, a war or something?"


    "No idea..." Another yer replied. "But the night''s been damn noisy as ofte."


    "Jee. I never knew that this hotel had this much level of authority to make all the NPCs stay in their homes and prevent any yers from entering out and in from this town."


    "Something must have happened for them to do this, but what is it?"


    "Donno. Those higher-up guys brought two people and then there was some discourse that happened in the building earlier.


    "Sigh, this quest rewards better be worth my time," The yerined as he heard small footstepsing from in front of him. "...what?" Turning his head towards the direction of the sound, he saw that a fox was approaching him.


    "A fox?" The yer beside him raised his brow. "Why''s a ck fox here?"


    The fox continued to approach, as suddenly, another animal, that looked to be exactly as the ck fox appeared out of nowhere.


    "What the...?" The yer stumbled back. At that moment, the two foxes leapt forward as the dark orbital shadow protruded out from their tails hitting the two yers, simultaneously causing arge explosion to ur.


    "Arghh...!!" The yers shouted out.


    "Huh?! What''s going on!?"


    "An explosion...?!"


    Noticing the sudden explosion that urred, most of the yers and NPCs that were stationed in front of the hotel quickly made their way to the scene.


    "...an enemy attack?" The remaining yers that stayed at their spots, questioned.


    "Finally! We''re getting some-" One of the yers cheered out, as suddenly a sword swung straight towards him, quickly cutting him down.


    "...!!!"

 Chapter 77: Break In (1)

    Chapter 77: Break In (1)


    Simultaneously as the sword struck at the yer, the blonde-haired man holding onto the sword swiftly swept it across horizontally, sweeping through the yers in front of him.


    "Argh...!"


    "An attacker is here...! Get into-"


    Momentster, blue mana sparks shot out from behind the blonde-haired man, quickly hitting onto the yers that were trying to position themselves.


    With the chaos caused by the fox outside, the defence at the front entrance was weakened, thus Ethaniel and Shinto began their n, to dive straight into Lavida''s Hotel.


    ...


    Inside of a small hotel room, a young girl paced around the space impatiently. Whilst doing so, she attempted to send a whisper to herpanion, Shinto.


    [ You can''t send a whisper at this time! ]


    "Argh...!" The young girl, Frey, pulled her hair in frustration. "Why isn''t this working?!"


    She continued pacing around the room whilst repeating the same action she had done over and over.


    "Ugh... is all this happening because of this sudden notification I got?" Frey''s eyes turned towards her notification screen.


    [ Due to being involved with certain parties outside of Lavida, in the name of Lavida, you have been held liable for your actions. You will remain in your room until further notice or until the timer has struck down to zero. ]


    [ Time till Punishment: 4:18:17 ]


    "This all happened after I was caught giving out those spicy rice cakes to other people..." she pouted. "What''s wrong with enjoying some spicy rice cakes? It''s not like they sell it here anyways!"


    [ Time till Punishment: 4:18:14 ]


    Looking back at the timer in front of her, Frey let out a sigh. "I wonder what will happen after the timer reaches zero... I won''t be ban will I?" she muttered to herself. "If I do get banned... then the n won''t be able to move forward...! Ah...! I hope not!"


    Frey continued to pace back and forth. "But if it isn''t a ban... then what will it be? Restrictions to some of those privileges from the monthly pass?" Thinking to herself, she finally stopped at her tracks. Soon after, she turned towards the window. "The most likely would be a ban right? Sigh... I wonder what''s master up to right now..."


    Looking out at the window, she noticed that there was amotion going on outside. "...huh? What''s going on?" The moment she saw multiple explosions from the view outside, she received a notification.


    [ Escape Captivity! ]


    Difficulty: A+


    A certain group of adventurers has caused a ruckus outside of the building. Now is your chance to break your way out of the room and escape!


    Quest Clear Condition: Sessfully escape from this room and make a way out of the building or instead; regroup up with the adventurers that are causing a ruckus.


    Quest Reward: ???


    Quest Failure Condition: Getting caught and taken captive again.


    Quest Failure Reward: The punishment that will be given by Lavida will be detrimental for you.


    *This is a link with the quest "To prove them all!", thus you are unable to decline this quest.


    "H-Huh...?" Frey blinked at the sight in front of her. "...another quest?" Reading through the details of the quest, Frey turned towards the door of her room. "So... all I have to do is get out of here right?"


    Taking a step forward towards the door, Frey curled up her hands into fists. "Well... here goes nothing...!" Without any hesitation, she punched through the doors of the hotel, and quickly made her way outside.


    "...!!" The eyes of the guards outside of Frey''s room grew wide open as they saw that the door busted open. "What are you...!?"


    "Well, isn''t it obvious? I''m escaping from here!"


    With a force of aura around her fists, Frey protruded it out towards the two guards that were in her way, swiftly pushing them back, Momentster, she pushed her legs forward as she ran.


    "Argh...! Get her! Don''t let that woman get away from here!"


    ...


    Through the hallways in the building, Ethaniel rushed forward, with his sword in hand. Quickly, he swung his sword as he sent a wave of light over towards the yers in front of him, quickly pushing them back.


    "Argh...!" Despite being pushed back, they gritted their teeth as they stood their ground.


    "Hey, Shinto! Where the heck do we go?!" Ethaniel shouted out to the person behind him as he shed swords with the enemies. "These guys are in every single goddamn corner we turn to!"


    "Err..." Shinto said as he looked around the area whilst sending out multiple many sparks to the enemy. "They''re somewhere... I think they''re probably on the upper floors."


    "We''re on the 4th floor! Just how many floors are there?!"


    "I think this goes up to the 10th floor..."


    "Such a nuisance..." he scoffed whilst mowing through the enemies in his path with the support of Shinto from behind.


    "Urrk...! This guy''s a monster!"


    "We need to call for back up!"


    "Who says you can call for backup?" Ethaniel said as he leapt forward, quickly turning the yers in front of him to grey ash. "Damn. Why does Lavida have so many yers?"


    "Beats me..." Shinto shrugged. "Anyways, we should hurry before more yerse..."


    "Bah. Where to?" Following after Shinto who went ahead, he asked. "Every goddamn ce we go to is flooded with yers. If this keeps up, our resources will just pummel."


    Shinto sighed. "If only we know exactly where they are..."


    "Tsk. So annoying..." he clicked his tongue. "Let''s just head to the next floor at this point."


    He nodded his head. "Right, let''s just scan the perimeters as we go up like we''ve been doing. The closer we are to Raina and Greld, the more powerful the enemies would be right?"


    "I guess that''s the logic, Lucas and that bastard Brax are nowhere to be seen," he shrugged.


    Continuing along the hallways, they quickly reached the end as they saw that there were two staircases on the left and right side of the room that led up.


    "..." Seeing the scene in front of them, they looked at each other in the eyes as they opened their mouths at the same time.


    "Left," Ethaniel said firmly.


    "Right," Shinto said firmly.


    "Bah, you chosest time didn''t you?" he frowned.


    "It was you that chose the previous hallway to check first, so it''s my turn now," Shinto replied.


    "Tch... alright, alright, then right it is."


    Although both staircases led to the same floor, the hallways at the end of either entrance were different, though all the hallways connected to a single main hall on each floor.


    Without wasting any more time, the two made their way to the right staircase, swiftly heading up to the 5th floor, in which, they could hear loud noises the closer they climbed up.


    "...is something happening on the 5th floor?" Shinto questioned. Unlike the previous floors that they went to which were quiet, this one was noisy.


    "Donno. Just check it out, were going there anyway right?" Ethaniel said.


    Reaching the entrance of the 5th floor, the first thing that the saw was a woman fighting against multiple yers in the hallway.


    "Ahh! Out of the way! Stop wasting my time!" The woman shouted out as she punched the yer in front of her.


    "...Frey?" Seeing the familiar girl in front of him, Shinto raised his brow.

 Chapter 78: Break In (2)

    Chapter 78: Break In (2)


    Upon seeing that Shinto recognized the person fighting against the yers of Lavida, Ethaniel turned to him as he questioned, "...you know her?"


    "...yes, I do know her," Shinto replied whilst holding onto his staff tightly, preparing to cast a skill. "She''s apanion on mine."


    "Hah..." Letting out a sigh, Ethaniel gripped onto his sword. Momentster he rushed in. "Then let''s just get this done already!"


    Simultaneously as he sprang into action, Shinto followed up by casting [ Shadow Fields ] onto the area around Frey.


    "...!!" Noticing the sudden purple fog of darkness that surrounded her, Frey''s eyes opened wide in shock. "M-Master?!"


    "Hey, you! Don''t get distracted!" The yer who Frey was fighting against clicked his tongue in annoyance. Although the skill which Shinto had cast, inflicted the blind ailment on him, Frey''s loud voice allowed him to clearly pinpoint where she was.


    Thus without any hesitation, he activated a skill, [ Speed Step ]. Quickly, with a burst of wind aiding from behind him, he connected it with another skill, [ Poison Dagger ], and with a swing of his weapon, he directed it over towards Frey.


    "Agh...!" Being hit by the attack, Frey was slightly pushed back. "Why, I''ll show you!"


    Angered, Frey quickly pushed forward as she sent a force of energy over towards the thief. Simultaneously, she connected it with a frontal kick.


    ...


    While the battle raged on within the fifth floor, on the top floor of the building, a woman calmly walked on the red and gold carpets as she stopped in front of a door. Soon after, she entered into it.


    "Hmm?" Noting that the door of the office opened, the man who was sitting behind the desk asked in a calm manner. "Ah, Amy. What is the status update?"


    "Group A has failed to deal with the adventurer ''Ethaniel'' while group B has failed to sway the adventurer ''Shinto''," Amy responded bluntly.


    "Hmm, so they have failed huh? Hopeless," he sighed. "Looks like swaying those two would be rather futile. Do you know where their whereabouts are? I assume they would being here to fetch them?" His eyes turned over towards a door which was guarded by a few knights.


    "Yes..." She nodded her head. "Speaking of which, they have already arrived and are causing a ruckus down the floors."


    "Hoh? So they''re going through this much trouble to get them back? My..." he chucked. "Such amusement."


    "What do you want me to do?" she asked. "Do you wish to send out Lucas or Brax to take care of them or... would you want me to handle the situation?"


    "Hmm... there is no need to."


    "But, if this continues any longer, the property would be destroyed and Viscount Drel and Baron Eager would not like this."


    "Yes, yes... property damages would be quite annoying to deal with," The man nodded his head. "You said they were at the floors below? What floor exactly?"


    "The fifth floor."


    "Hmm, so they''ve made it that far?" heughed.


    "So your orders?"


    "It''s simple," he smirked.


    ...


    Within the hallways of the fifth floor, Ethaniel swiftly charged forward as he swung his sword at the yers up front, quickly pushing them back. From behind, Frey jumped in, activating a skill, [ Frontal Collision ], swiftly turning the yer into grey ash.


    Meanwhile, Shinto sent out a ray of light over towards the other yer, sessfully giving them the same fate as theirpanion.


    "...phew! Done!" Frey cheered out as she turned towards Shinto. "Thanks for the help back there, master!"


    "No problem," Shinto replied. "Anyways... do you know where Greld is?"


    "Huh? Greld?" She blinked at the question. "Isn''t he at the tavern?"


    "No... he''s been taken captive by Lavida."


    "What?!" Frey shouted out. "How could they?!"


    "Their reasons... are very confusing to me," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "But that''s beside the point. Do you have ideas where Greld might be?"


    "No... but definitely not on this floor!" she eximed. "I think they''re on the top floor?"


    "You don''t say..." Ethaniel red at Frey. "Since this girl doesn''t know where Raina is, can we stop idling around and just head up already?"


    "Right, we''ll have to go up to the sixth floor then..." Shinto thought to himself. "Just how many floors are there here?"


    "Um... nine?" Frey blurted out. "They mentioned it while I was signing for that monthly pass thing..."


    "Nine? Grr... such a nuisance," Ethaniel scoffed. "If we''re assuming that Raina is on the top floor, can''t we just go there straight?"


    "But we aren''t sure of that," Shinto reasoned. "She could be held on captive on the floors below that."


    "Tsk..."


    "Um... question! Whose this Raina person? And uh... who are you?"


    "It''s none of your business," Ethaniel replied bluntly as he made his way forward. "All you have to know is I''ve got my own things to do."


    "Eh?" Frey blinked at Ethaniel''s reply as she turned to look at Shinto in confusion.


    "Well, we''re just temporarily working together, that''s all." Shrugging in response, Shinto quickly sent a party invite to Frey.


    epting the invite, Frey turned to look at the party list, quickly her face grew more confused than before.


    "U-Um... whose Kon...?" she asked.


    "Ah... well, he''s a pet," Shinto calmly answered. "Anyways, we should get going now."


    "A pet...? You have a pet?!" Frey shouted out in shock, however noticing that Shinto and Ethaniel were far ahead, her question was left at bay. "H-Hey! You two! Wait up!"


    ...


    Moving up to the next floor of the building, Shinto and Ethaniel abruptly stopped at their footsteps as they cautiously looked around.


    "Huh? What''s wrong?" Frey tilted her head.


    "...something''s up..." Ethaniel frowned.


    "This is a first to not be greeted by tons of yers jumping straight at us..." Shinto warily said.


    Still on high alert, the three suddenly heard certain footstepsing from the hallways within the open space of the sixth floor. Unlike the previous floors where they were on, this wasn''t a floor where hotel rooms resided in, but more or so, it seemed to be a ballroom.


    "Ah, wee adventurers, I see you''ve made it this far?" A voice was heard from the distance.

 Chapter 79: Break In (3)

    Chapter 79: Break In (3)


    "...!!" Upon hearing the voice from the distance, Shinto and Ethaniel hurriedly turned towards the direction of it. There, they saw that a brown-haired man was making his way over to them. From behind him, a group of people could be seen following up with the man.


    "...this is?" Shinto whispered to Ethaniel as he gripped onto his staff, preparing to cast his skills at any time.


    "Those two bastards are behind him..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue in reply. Among the group of people, he noticed that Lucas and Brox were there.


    "Now, now you two," The man continued to speak whilst making his way to Ethaniel and Shinto. "You need not be tense."


    "...and you are?" Shinto cautiously asked.


    "My, how rude of me, I had forgotten the fact that you people do not know me. Must have gotten used to the fact that this is my domain and that we don''t get many intruders who cause a ruckus here," he chuckled. "Anyways, it is a pleasure to meet you, I am Baron Zavir, the co-founder of Lavida."


    "Tch, just get to the chase already! Where''s Raina?!" Ethaniel impatiently shouted out in anger.


    "Patience, young man." Unphased by Ethaniel''s anger, he continued to calmly walk. "You''ll soon be able to see them."


    "What do you want from us?" Shinto frowned. "Surely, this isn''t a plot to get us to join this ce?"


    "Ah, no-no. You''ve all misunderstood," Zavir smirked. "This entire ''plot'' has nothing to do with you two not joining us. Although it''s such a shame that you refused... would you not reconsider?"


    "As I said to the one who had personallye to me before, I do not intend on joining Lavida," Shinto said firmly.


    "My, such a shame, it really is such a shame. But I guess it can''t be helped," he shook his head helplessly. "Now where were we? Ah. You asked what we want from you? It''s simple really. Before things escte any further, let us have a fair talk."


    "...fair talk?" He raised his brow.


    "Hmm, you must be confused. I''ll exin things simpler, let us not fight and discuss things peacefully."


    "What? Discussing things peacefully? Like hell, you bastards would!" Ethaniel frowned. "All you do is do everything your way, asking your dogs to go on a manhunt on people you dislike."


    "Hmm, why would you say that?" Zavir asked. "We handle thing''s ordingly you see. If someone bes a threat to us, why shouldn''t we cut them down?"


    "...like you did with us?"


    "Do you mean the group that was sent to you two? You misunderstand. It was you that started the fight first. All we wanted was to peacefully talk with you."


    "...bullshit," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "They started it first!"


    "Surely, you''re not going to be using that excuse? If we are going to be going on about ountability, we have suffered more losses than you. From destruction of property in Lavida to the loss of many of our pupils."


    "Well, you wouldn''t have lost all those idiots if you didn''t attack first. All I did was in my own self-defence,"


    "Are you saying intrusion of private property is self-defence? My, this is new," he sarcastically said. "If we are going on about that basis, sure, if what you say is true and they attacked you, then we''ll happilypensate you ordingly. But intruding to private property and causing a mess here? You''ll have topensate us for that."


    "Hmm... you say that, but, the reason why they came to me, isn''t it to force me over by threatening me that you have taken hostage of Greld?" Shinto asked. "I do not recall anything about ''peacefully'' talking."


    "Hmm.. taking hostage? I do not recall ever taking hostage of anyone," Zavir smiled. "Greld and that girl happilyplied with us to peacefullye over here. They are currently in the waiting room awaiting your arrival."


    "What?" He scowled. "Happilyplied? Bullshit."


    "Do you not believe me? Well, I am not sure how misinformed are you, but you cane with us and I can show you that they have very much happilyplied with us."


    "Grrr..." ring at Zavir, Ethaniel suddenly felt a nudge from Shinto who was beside him.


    "Ethaniel... I don''t know if this is a trap or not... but let''s just go with them for the time being," Shinto whispered. "They seem to have no intentions of fighting us... but their goal... is still in the air for me."


    "Hah? The shit do you mean we should go with them?" He scoffed. "Are you forgetting the fact that whatever that guy said was purely bullshit? Clearly, they had the intention of using force against us."


    "Yes... I do know that." He sighed. "Greld and Raina were clearly taken captive from what I heard from one of their branch managers, but to phrase it as such with confidence like that, it makes me curious."


    "Give me one good reason why Raina would willingly go here?"


    "...to get back that item the guy that took it from her?"


    "...you," Ethaniel let out a sigh. "Fine, we''ll go with them ''peacefully''. But if things go south, I''m ming you."


    "Right..." Nodding his head, Shinto turned to Zavir. "Alright, if it''s a peaceful talk you want, then we''ll go with you. You best keep your word."


    "Of course, of course," Zavir sped his hand. "Now shall we be off? Greld and the girl have waited for too long."


    Momentster, Zavir and the group behind him turned around as they made their way through the open space of the sixth floor, as they quickly entered the ballroom. Meanwhile, Frey stood there with a confused face.


    "Huh...?" Frey blinked in utter confusion. "I''m so lost... what the heck did I miss...? Compensation? Sudden fight? Happilyplying??"


    "Cough... this situation is really a mess right now. But, we''ll just need to follow them and our questions will be answered, I think..." Shinto said with uncertainty.


    "Hmph," Without another word, Ethaniel made his way front in annoyance. From behind him, Shinto and Frey soon followed after.

 Chapter 80: Fair Talk

    Chapter 80: Fair Talk


    Footsteps rang out on the marble floors of the sixth floor as the group made way towards the ballroom. Besides the noise of footsteps, there was no other sound being made.


    "..." Without any word, Shinto, Ethaniel and Frey followed behind the group. Whilst they did so, Shinto observed the surrounding area, noticing that were many knights and yers standing by within the vicinity.


    ''... there are so many knights here, what''s up with that?'' he thought to himself. The knight was a job in which they were tasked to protect a noble or instead guard the town against danger. To see many knights in the same ce, it meant that there was a noble of high importance. ''Just who else is the co-founder of this ce?''


    Lavida was in a somewhat weird position. At one time, it seemed to be a normal hotel, but, if looked further into, it seemed to hold a lot of power, allowing them to do anything that they wanted like in this situation.


    ''...just how far does this extend to?'' He couldn''t gauge the power of Lavida, though, he knew very well that Lavida monopolized on the newbies, in turn increasing their manpower. ''No... the real question would be, just what kind of ns do they even have?''


    Despite meeting with Zavir and speaking to him, Shinto knew next to nothing about their intentions whatsoever. He had originally figured that they were just trying to pluck the annoying weeds away, but there seemed to be an underlying meaning behind all this.


    While letting his thoughts run loose, he noticed that the footsteps in front of him had stopped, looking up, he saw that Zavir had turned around.


    "Now, the two you havee for in the first ce is sitting over there," Zavir pointed over to an upied seat.


    Turning over towards the direction in which Zavir pointed, the group quickly made out who the people were by the distance, Raina and Greld.


    "...they are just sitting there?" Shinto raised his brow in suspicion.


    "Huh? What part of this is being taken captive?" Frey blinked at the sight.


    "This is pissing me off... what that guy said was true?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "I told you, all I said was the truth," Zavir said calmly. "Now, shall we head there and greet them?" Smiling, without waiting for the group to say anything, he made his way to the table where Raina and Greld sat at


    "..." The group stood there without moving.


    "...um, guys? Do we go too?" Frey asked.


    "..." Shinto and Ethaniel looked at one another in the eye as they sighed.


    "Bah. Whatever. Let''s just go, we''ll get whatever answered anyways," Ethaniel clicked his tongue


    "Right..." Shinto nodded his head. Quickly, the group headed to the table.


    ...


    As the group arrived at the table where Raina and Greld sat, the group looked at the two sitting in the eye. To thetter''s reply, an awkwardugh.


    "...aha... um... sorry you two," Raina said. "Thing''s happened and well... I didn''t get to inform you."


    "Tsk, what?" Ethaniel frowned. "What kind of excuse is that?"


    "...it was all sudden, and well..." Raina looked away from Ethaniel. "I didn''t expect it to cause that much trouble for you..."


    "Hmph, so you say."


    "...and what about you Greld?" Shinto asked.


    "I was invited here by him... to have a talk. I didn''t expect it to cause such a problem as this..." Greld replied.


    "Huh? I thought you hated Lavida?" Frey questioned. "Why did you go and willingly follow him toe here..."


    "I do... but, what he said to me, I couldn''t pass up on it."


    "...?" Shinto raised his brow, however before he could question anything, he heard Zavir''s voice from the side.


    "Now, now, have a sit. Your questions will soon be answered," Zavir gestured at the group to sit.


    Without wasting any more time, the group sat down in their own seats as they turned to Zavir. Momentster, he began to exin.


    "Now, you may all be wondering. ''Why did I bring you here?'', it is simple. I ask of you only one thing; to have a talk with you regarding your goals and ours," he said.


    "...regarding our goals and yours?" Shinto asked.


    "Yes. The reason why you''re here was that you want to restore Greld''s reputation no?" Zavir asked. "And the reason why that man is here is to settle loose ends among my people."


    "And? You still haven''t said anything about your goal in all this," he scoffed. "Your intentions are all over the ce. First, you attacked me and then said you wanted a peaceful talk? Bah. Get thing''s straight already!"


    "Ahem. Like I said it was all a misconception," he replied calmly. "In regards to my goal, I will just say this. We wish to expand far and wide."


    "What? You''re going to destroy more businesses then?" Greld clicked his tongue. "Do you feel no shame in making my life crumble?"


    "My, you say that as if it was my fault that it all came to this? All of the events were due to your own decision. You''re the person who refused every single one of our offers, which led to your copse," Zavir said. "Maybe if you hadn''t thrown constant feuds, things wouldn''t turn out like this."


    "What are you implying with this?" Shinto asked.


    "Let us fix our loose ends. We do not need to fight," he smiled. "I will provide you eachpensation."


    "What?" Frey blinked at the statement. "Why all of a sudden?"


    "Like I said. We n on expanding far and wide, and we do not want to waste manpower on such nuisances. Thus, the simplest and efficient way is topensate you all."


    "On what conditions?" Shinto frowned.


    "I''m d you asked. The condition would; form a peace treaty with us. You do not attempt to attack us and we do not show contempt to you, it is as simple as that."


    The moment he stated the offer the yers at the table received a quest notification.


    [ The Peace Treaty. ]


    Difficulty: ???


    Zavir has ns on expanding Lavida out of town. For reasons unknown, he has decided to show you the pleasure of offering a peace treaty; in which you may not attack any members from Lavida, likewise, they cannot attack you.


    In return for signing the peace treaty, you will receivepensation for your troubles.


    epting Condition: Upon epting the quest, the quest ''To prove them all'' will be marked as failed, as well as any quests rted to Lavida.


    epting Rewards: Equipment, gold, ess to Lavida''s facilities for a limited time.


    When The Quest Is Active: The NPCs of Lavida will show you goodwill, Lavida''s people will not attack you.


    Quest Failure Condition: Attacking Lavida''s people.


    Quest Penalty Upon Failure: You will be banned from stepping into Lavida''s Hotel, certain things will ur to you.


    "So? What do you say?" Zavir asked, waiting for the response of the yers.


    "...what kind of bullshitery is this?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "Be that as it may, we will stay true to our words. We will give youpensation for the conditions that have been stated."


    "For what reason are you doing this?" Shinto frowned. "What if we do not ept it?"


    "Hmm... not epting it? Then I guess, we cannot do anything about that," Zavir shrugged. "Though at that point, we cannot guarantee your safety."


    "Is that a threat?" Shinto red at Zavir.


    "Take it however you like. But there is no rush to deciding this," Zavir stood up as he slowly walked away from the table. "For you will be able to decide after tonight''s events."


    "...tonight''s event?" The moment she asked, the doors of the ballroom opened as a crowd of people walked into the room.


    "...huh?" The group looked towards the sudden sight in confusion. Among the group of people, they noticed that they consisted of mostly upper-ss nobles.


    At the front of the ballroom, stood Zavir who said in a loud voice. "Wee, nobles of Hak. Wee to tonight''s event of Lavida''s special event night!"

 Chapter 81: Special Event (1)

    Chapter 81: Special Event (1)


    "...huh? Why all of a sudden..." Soon after hearing Zavir''s loud voice, Frey was left stumped. Though it wasn''t just her, nearly everyone at the table was left with unanswered questions.


    "Today''s special event night..." Shinto murmured to himself. "So it seems there''s another reason as to why we were talking here in an event ballroom of all ces."


    "Bah. What the hell''s going on?" Ethaniel frowned at the situation as he turned to the girl in front of him. "Raina, do you know anything about this?"


    "...well, Zavir did mention something about today''s events... but that''s about it," Raina exined. "I didn''t mean to drag you guys into this..."


    "It''s fine, I guess. We might have ended up in this situation either way even without the motive of saving you guys," Shinto shrugged. "Anyways; you two," he calmly turned to Raina and Greld. "I don''t think what Zavir said to us was what the ''talk'' was all about when we weren''t there. Care to exin your side of the story?"


    "Err... well, that guy said something aboutpensation, yes... but he didn''t end with just that," Greld said. "The reason why I couldn''t pass up on the offer... was because of this event that is being held right now."


    "...and just what event is this?" Shinto continued questioning.


    "Regarding the future of Lavida... as well as the future of this town."


    "...for the future of Lavida and this town?" Shinto repeated the words from what Greld had said, however before being able to continue on with his sentence, he was interrupted.


    "Now, ahem! All you people here tonight must be quite impatient in what''s to happen in this event, yes?" Still, at the front of the ballroom, Zavir continued his speech. "Not to worry; for everything will graduallye, but... for the time being, enjoy your dinner!"


    Momentster, the doors of the ballroom opened as countless waiters and waitresses entered the room, holding onto many sorts of dishes as they made to each table that resides within the room.


    "Hah? Seriously? Dinner? At this time?" Ethaniel questioned.


    "...this is an event I guess," Raina said.


    ...


    Through the empty streets of Parm, a small ck fox swiftly ran on the cold hard roads as he used the shadows of the night for cover. From the area around him, countless yers were looking far and wide for him.


    "Argh! Where did that rascal go?!" The yer cried out in annoyance. "He can''t be too far right?"


    "...it''s an animal, Jax..." The yer beside him sighed. "Can''t we just go back already? The situation back in the hotel is looking to be more interesting."


    "...but the quest rewards!"


    "You can stay here looking like a fool while searching for a ck animal that can literally use almost everything around this town to hide. Think properly please."


    "Man... why are they so persistent?" Kon pondered as he peeked out from the shadows, looking over at the situation. "Shouldn''t they give up already?"


    "...but, the rewards are so good that it should be passed up on!" The yerined.


    "What are the rewards even?"


    "It''s something from the church, ''Catch the cursed fox'' for a divine heritage or something..." he murmured out. "Wait, you didn''t get it?"


    "No obviously not. I just followed you here cause you''re my friend and didn''t want to leave you looking like a maniacal fool, but it seemed as so I failed," he sighed.


    "Wait what the hell''s that supposed to mean?" he frowned. "Ugh, anyways. If you didn''t get the quest... does this mean it''s an exclusive quest just for me?!"


    "Well, you are a knight of Viera," he shrugged.


    "But to get it all of a sudden when I was out getting struck down by those fireball thingys... I must be special!"


    "Sigh, say whatever you want. Can we just go back now?"


    "Ugh... finding that fox is real hard... fine, I''ll search for itter!"


    "...ah! They''re going away!" Noticing that the two yers were beginning turn back, Kon let out a happy yap.


    "...!" Hearing a sudden loud noise, Jax looked back slightly. "Hey, you heard that?"


    "Probably just your imagination. Stop making excuses and let''s head back already."


    "Fine, fine..."


    "...eep! I almost revealed myself..." Kon let out a sigh of relieve. "I wonder what master''s doing? He''s doing fine right? I hope..." Turning to the direction of the hotel, he pondered, however, he quickly shook his head. "Yeah! He should be fine! His master after all! For now... I''ll just go back to that tavern ce while waiting for him or until he calls for me..."


    ...


    Back on the sixth floor of Lavida, Ethaniel constrainedly ate the dishesid out in front of him. "...ugh...why the hell is the food so good?"


    "Hmph! Not as good as the food made by Greld!" Frey said whilst eating the food.


    "...how long are we going to wait until Zavir says anything again?" Greld impatiently frowned. "It seems like he''s taking his sweet time on this."


    "Well, for all I know, it''ll probably be soon since this is the 3rd dish that''s been given out," Shinto replied whilst scrutinizing the room, noticing that there were many nobles who wore the emblem of Lavida on their clothing. "Anyways... it seems that whatever the future of Lavida holds, plenty of nobles seem to be interested... especially those higher ss ones."


    "Is the future of Lavida that important for them?" Ethaniel questioned. "Where does this damn ce even stand in the first ce, actually? One day it just shot up to power and so many idiots flocked over to there."


    "Hmm..." Pondering on the idea, the lights of the ballroom suddenly dimmed. "...!"


    "I hope you all are enjoying your dinner? Mhm. Now it''s time for the main event of the day! Our goals and future ns for Lavida," Zavir''s voice once again protruded out throughout the room, quickly catching the attention of everyone in the room. "Now as you all may know, Lavida has only been around for half a year, but we''ve happily grown to this point thanks to everyone''s support!"


    "So, what''s next for this fine establishment hmm? I''m sure all of you are curious!" Zavir continued. "It''s simpleto expand throughout the kingdom of Zak. But of course, all of you know that already. So I''ll skip that detail for the time being and move onto our recent discoveries by the mountains of Galven. Today''s real main event; ''Altric''."


    "...!!!" Upon hearing the words said out by Zavir, the eyes of certain people in the group opened widely.

 Chapter 82: Special Event (2)

    Chapter 82: Special Event (2)


    ''...what? Altric?'' Shinto blinked at the mention from Zavir. ''To hear it all of a sudden...''


    "Hmm... it seems that I have caught all of your attention, huh? Good, good. You all must be dying to know what was discovered at the ancient ruins of Altric," Zavir chuckled. "Well, I won''t dilly dally any longer. As you all may know, the discovery of this ruin meant that the ancient civilization of Altric existed back then. So, what does this mean? Well, it means the stories that were told throughout the ages seem to be true."


    "Tsk... to hear this now of all things..."


    "An ancient civilization?"


    "...Altric?"


    Murmurs could be heard within the table that Shinto sat in. However, due to the loud voice from Zavir that echoed through the ballroom, he couldn''t make out who was saying what clearly.


    "Now with that being said, what was discovered at the ruins you may ask? Well, to simply put it, we found many sorts of interesting things. From ''information'' to a fascinating fact. However, I will only touch on ''information''," he nodded his head. "Within the mountains of Galven, I and a few executives found many sorts of peculiar details. One of which was the discovery of certain obelisks that seem to tell a tale. A tale in which that corrted to legends."


    "...this is..." Hearing the location of where the ruin was discovered, Shinto felt uneasy.


    The mountains of Galven were located at the borders of the kingdom of Zemul, leading to the kingdom of Hak. When one needed to head east to Hak from Zemul, they would need to cross the mountain path.


    ''To know the dungeon where I got this ss from... just what is this?'' Shinto couldn''t help but felt dumbstruck at the sudden turn of events. Thest time he was there, he vividly remembered that he was the first yer to have discovered the dungeon.


    ''The ruins were left untouched for a long since before I came there... so it couldn''t possibly be that Lavida was the first to find it... so that would mean the discovery was after I was sent to Parm?'' He calmly thought of the situation despite his uneasiness.


    "The tales of legends... what about them? I''m sure you all know the famous story of the swordsman of elementals, a very famous legend about a man who ventured through the dark trying times of the world, sealing off the demonic beings," Zavir continued. "Or the story about the magician who seeks countless knowledge, one who delves into the realms of enlightenment, learning spells that many could not master."


    "..." The more Shinto heard from Zavir, the more he felt uneasy at the situation. ''Why would he reveal this discovery to everyone in the room? Does he not care for any leaks?''


    "I could go on and on about these legends, but that would bore you, no? So I''ll jump to the chase. At the ruins, we found four obelisks. One about a swordsman, a magician, a huntress and another obelisk in which we couldn''t tell who it was."


    ''...that obelisk should be the one abut the duality between light and dark...'' Shinto thought to himself. ''If so... that would mean my ss.''


    The Shadow Diviner ss, one that knows the arts of the shadows and divine light. Though, despite getting the ss, he knew nothing of it.


    ''But then...st I remembered, there were seven obelisks found... the one''s not mentioned is the cksmith, the cursed child and the knight of chivalry... did they purposely left that out?'' His thoughts continued. ''Or... did they not find it?''


    "Ahem... anyway, you may find yourselves wondering, how do these obelisks about the legends corrte to Altric? Well, it''s simple. Through the murals indicated on the obelisks... they all tie to one thing, Altric, the origins of these stories," he exined. "So what does this mean for us? What importance does Altric hold to Lavida?"


    "...just what is this guy getting at here?"


    "The importance..."


    "The origins?"


    Murmurs protruded out from within the ballroom upon hearing Zavir''s statement. The nobles who sat at the seats within the room were curious at what he was about to say next.


    "Yes, yes... the importance. What''s so important about Altric for us to the point I''m announcing our discovery in front of all of you? Why am I revealing it to all of you? Well, it''s simple. To those who we invited personally over to this event..." he carried on. "You all may know, Lavida''s goal in all of this is to expand. Thus, it is in our best interest to garner your support."


    "...garnering the support of others," Shinto murmured to himself. "Is this really their goal?"


    "Yes, you heard me correctly. To garner your support for our establishment and also to aid us in discovering more about Altric, what better than to show you our full trust by revealing such discovery to all of you. In turn for your support, you will gain prestige and honour through this. The things found there would interest you, no?''


    Suddenly a quest prompt appeared in front of all the yers within the ballroom.


    [ Hand in Hand. ]


    Difficulty: ???


    Baron Zavir has shared with you, and many others the discovery of Altric. The ''truth'' thatys hidden, what could it mean? With the fact that Lavida is first to have discovered the ancient ruin site, they aim to search far and wide for more sites such as this, thus Lavida asks for you help.


    The benefits of such a deal? Through aiding Lavida, you may get first-hand knowledge on information, unique items and the like.


    You may also gain other bonuses.


    epting Rewards: Advanced knowledge of Altric.


    When The Quest Is Active: Expeditionary Quests will begin at a certain time prior to epting this quest, by refusing the quest that''s been given, this quest will fail.


    Quest Penalty Upon Failure: Certain things will ur.


    *You may opt-out of the quest at any time, however, there will be a penalty for that, but not as grave as the penalty upon failure.


    "...what? Another quest?" Shinto blinked at the sight as he read through the details. "...the incentive of gaining unique things by helping Lavida huh?"


    "Argh! Who do they think they are?!" Frey muffled her screaming.


    "Hah... the shit?" Ethaniel let out a sigh of disbelief.


    "Adventurers and nobles alike, you will not regret joining hands with us," Zavir said calmly. "If you have any interest in this, please do go to the front desk outside of the ballroom to sign up. If you''re still considering, you maye back there the next day."


    "Psst... master!" Frey whispered to Shinto. "This is a scam too right?"


    "Even with the speech that he gave... I''m still lost on Lavida''s overall goal. To expand Lavida but to also go out of their way to discover more about Altric... it''s too ambiguous," Shinto sighed. "The fact that they''re doing this to garner support is suspicious."


    "Who will even ept that kind of deal?" Greld frowned.


    "Ugh, we haven''t gotten a single answer," Ethaniel scoffed. "Adding Altric to the mix just makes it as confusing!"


    "Now, this concludes my speech. You may now continue your dinner! Ah, might I also add that if you wish to leave, you may now do so as well. We have prepared each of our guests a room for the night, please get your key from the front desk outside," Zavir said. "Enjoy your stay and I hope that you''ll consider our offer!" Ending his speech, he made his way out.


    "E-Eh? That''s it?" Frey blinked. "So all he went about is this n thingy of Lavida and the something Altric?"


    "Hmm... basically so," Raina said in a confused tone. "Is this the convincing factor to make us ept thepensation deal?"


    "I don''t know... It probably is seeing as how he asked us to stay till the end," Shinto shrugged. "Though, I''m surprised. None of the guests here seem to be making a fuss over the events that we caused earlier..."


    "Huh. You''re right, something''s up with that..." Ethaniel raised his brow. "Are they ignorant or what?"


    "The ruckus we made on the lower floors, it should have caused some people to question due to how chaotic it was," he said. "But now that I think about it... the people that we fought were all those who knew nothing. The more experienced ones seem to have never appeared... so does this mean that throughout this entire situation... we were just dancing in Lavida''s palms?"


    "Ugh..." he groaned in annoyance. "What the hell do they want?!"


    "So... what do we do now?" Frey asked. "Is the n still on or what?"


    "With things bing like this... I''m not sure anymore," Shinto said. "For all I know, their goal is to garner ''support''. But from what I can see... the nobles here are mostly already supporters and as for the adventurers..." His eyes turned to scrutinize the areas once again. "They all seem to be of newbies to intermediate yers... eh?"


    His eyes slightly opened wide as he saw a familiar face by the distance. "...Tristan?" he stared dumbfoundedly at a table at the front, where a blue-haired man sat at.

 Chapter 83: Special Event (3)

    Chapter 83: Special Event (3)


    "...shit," he cursed at the sight. "If he''s here then who else?"


    The moment he spotted the blue-haired man by the distance, Shinto became tense as he hurriedly looked around the area, more discreetly than before. The fact that there was a veteran yer here meant that his identity would be found out if he made any rash move that made him stand out.


    "...besides Tristan... there''s also a few more yers that are on the unified rankings... just what is this?" he murmured in worry. "...I''m underestimating Lavida by a whole lot..." To be able to get the attention of the rankers, Shinto couldn''t help but feel difort.


    "Huh? Master! Is something wrong?" Noticing the sudden uneasiness of Shinto, Frey asked.


    "Ahem... it''s nothing," Hearing Frey quickly snapped him out of his dumbfoundedness. Momentster, Shinto quickly shook his head to get back hisposure. "A-Anyways... for the being, I think we should just rest for the night. It''s been a hectic day."


    "Rest for the night? What about the food? There''s still quite a lot of courses left..." Frey pondered on the thought.


    "You can stay back to continue eating if you want, I''m beat," Shinto stood up as he made his way out of the ballroom.


    "Hah... this entire thing is too exhausting to think off," Ethaniel stood up whilst scruffling his hair. "I''ll head out too."


    "Eh? You too?" Frey asked.


    "I don''t want to stay here any longer than I have to," he said whilst making his way out.


    "Seriously you two? The foods going to waste!!" Frey pouted.


    "Pfft... is that all you can think about?" Raina chuckled.


    "Well... today''s events just makes me hungry..." she said. "Are you leaving too?"


    "Nope, I''ll stay! What about you Greld?"


    "Sigh... I don''t know. I''ll just stay here for the time being," Greld replied helplessly.


    ...


    From a distance away from the table that the group sat at, a blue-haired man casually conversed with other yers at the front row tables of the ballroom.


    "Haha, see, Trist? I told you skipping that match would be worth it!" A yer beside Tristan chuckled.


    "...I guess," he shrugged. "But the result was that we lost you know."


    "Well, the entire guild asked you to represent them for this event today. So they won''t me you."


    "We could''ve clearly won if I was there," he frowned. "...but whatever." He nced away from the yers as he turned towards the entrance of the ballroom.


    "Hey, it''s just one match! You guys are already guaranteed to go to the out-rounds this season!" The man patted his back. "Anyways, what are you going to do after this?"


    "...?" Ignoring the person beside him, Tristan''s eyes slightly opened wide as he saw a ck-haired man by the distance. "...this is?"


    "Hey, Trist! Are you even listening?!"


    "What?" Tristan quickly turned back to the yer. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."


    "Argh! You didn''t listen at all!" He clicked his tongue. "I said, what are you going to do after this?"


    ...


    Walking out of the ballroom, Shinto''s footsteps rang through the grounds of the sixth floor.


    ''Hah...'' Shinto let out a tired breath. ''Thing''s taking a turn unexpectedly... who knew that this quest would lead to such things...''


    From a ''save the tavern'' quest that led to this point, who would even expect that?


    ''...I still don''t know why Lavida is so persistent in going against Greld...'' he sighed. ''Is it just because of his business or... is there an underlying agenda that he''s hiding away from us...''


    Remembering the conversation with Zavir and Greld, he thought to himself. ''I don''t think it''s just the business aspect that Zavir was offering... but...''


    While lost in thought, Shinto suddenly heard a loud roar from behind him. "Oi! Bastard! Are you even listening to me?!"


    "...!" Turning around, he quickly noticed that Ethaniel was right behind him.


    "...what do you want?" he raised his brow.


    "I''ve been trying to call you for ages," he clicked his tongue. "I asked: what the shit do we do right now? There''s thispensation offer and then that Altric offer. You''re not nning on bowing down to them are you?"


    "I don''t n too. But... the alternatives aren''t really there," he shrugged. "I''ll probably think about it after resting for the day."


    "Right... are you nning on sleeping here?" he asked. "Wait, do they even have our names on the list?"


    "Well, seeing as how we were basically anticipated toe... probably," he sighed. "As for sleeping here, that''s the only option for me since... there''s really no other ces for a good nights rest."


    "Bah... so you don''t have a ce to rest too? Ugh..." he frowned. "Whatever, I''ll settle to sleeping here then."


    Turning towards the front desk outside of the ballroom, Shinto quickly made his way there, from behind Ethaniel followed after.


    ...


    "...oh?" At the front desk, the attendant, Amy looked at the two adventurers in front of her curiously. "I see, you''re going to be sleeping here?"


    "No choice," Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "Hmm... I see," she nodded her head. "Let''s see here... adventurer Shinto and Ethaiel... room 706 on the seventh floor. Here," upon finding their names on the list, Amy provided two keys towards the two yers.


    "Wait, we''re rooming together?" he asked.


    "Well, you did barge in here like no one''s business together," Amy shrugged. "I had figured two werepanions. Do you want to change rooms? I''m sure Lucas would appreciate yourpany."


    "Ugh... nevermind. I''ll just stick with this one," Nathaniel clicked his tongue.


    "And you, adventurer Shinto?" Amy turned to Shinto. "Are you fine with this?"


    "...I guess."


    "Very well then," she nodded her head. "May you two enjoy your stay in Lavida. Ah and... what about the offer? Are you going to ept it?"


    "Tch, you said we can answer tomorrow right" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "...I''ll think about it for now," Shinto replied.


    "Very well then. I will anticipate your answer tomorrow," nodding her head, she soon followed up. "Though, I will only say one thing regarding this. Take it however as you may."

 Chapter 84: Thoughts of the Matter (1)

    Chapter 84: Thoughts of the Matter (1)


    On the seventh floor within room ''706'', Shinto and Ethaniel silently lied down on the two beds respectively, whilst the lights were off.


    While they did so, Shinto nky stared at the ceiling whilst Ethaniel was asleep.


    "..."


    "...tch," Hearing a scruffling sound from the side of Shinto, his eyes turned to look over to the direction, seeing Ethaniel facing him. "Hey. you can''t get a shut-eye?"


    "No, not at all. At this point I might as well just log off," he sighed. "The words from that attendant left me hanging."


    "That stuff she said?" Ethaniel asked. "It''s just a bunch of bullshit at this point."


    "...what do you think is the meaning behind her words?"


    "How am I supposed to know?" he clicked his tongue. "The people here are all so damn confusing!"


    "...right," Shinto sighed.


    Thinking back on the matter on the sixth floor...


    "Though, I will only say one thing regarding this. Take it however as you may," Amy said solemnly.


    "...and what is it?" Shinto questioned. "Do you have something to say that will sway us to join you?"


    "Hmm, perhaps. But with how persistent you two are, I do not take it as so," Amy nodded her head. "Nevertheless, regardless of things, whatever you''re thinking right now, it is not rted to that."


    "Then?" Ethaniel frowned. "Spit it out already."


    "The speech that Baron Zavir has given, I''m sure you heard it?" she asked whilst looking around the area. Soon after, she scrunched over towards Shinto and Ethaniel. "I have heard a very interesting piece of info from Lucas, would you like to hear it?"


    "Ugh, just get to the chase already!" Ethaniel shouted out.


    "He said these words, ''There are implications of an underlying matter behind Shinto and Ethaniel''," she chuckled. "Take it with a grain of salt. Perhaps this is the real reason why this whole fiasco involved you."


    "..." Hearing Amy''s statement, Shinto couldn''t help but feel confused at the meaning behind her words. "...and with that what are you implying?"


    "Hmm, who knows? As I said before, take it with a grain of salt," she said whilst moving her body back. "Now, you two should rest for the night. You both must be very tired right?"


    "...tch, you bastards are so damn confusing," Ethaniel scoffed as he turned away from Amy. "I''m not sure what you want from me, but I won''t hesitate to cut you guys down if thing''s take a turn from here."


    "Very well, I will take that as apliment," her voice resounded behind him. "Best of luck on your journey."


    ...


    "...this ''underlying matter''..." Shinto thought to himself. "If it''s what I think it is, it''ll probably be best if we are on high alert."


    "Hah? What are you talking about?" he said in confusion. "What do think she meant by her words then?"


    "...I''ll tell you about it tomorrow. I don''t think now''s a good time," he shrugged it off. "Anyways, I''ll just head to sleep now. Haven''t gotten any sleep for the past few days."


    "Whatever," he scoffed as he turned around.


    ''The implications of this ''underlying matter''... how do they know of it?'' he thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep.


    ...


    The next morning, whilst the two men were asleep soundly on their beds, a loud thump could be heard from the door of their room.


    "Hey, you two! Wake up already!" Following up with the loud knocks, a woman''s voice could be heard resounding from the other side of the door. "We''re going to miss breakfast if you two don''t wake up!"


    "...ugh," A groan could be heard from Ethaniel as he abruptly woke up from his bed. "The hell do you want?!" he shouted out.


    "Eek! So you''re awake, Ethaniel!" The girl''s voice said in a cheery voice. "Is master awake too?"


    "Bah! Just let us sleep!"


    "...?" Shinto''s eyes opened as he turned to the shouting and angry Ethaniel. "What''s going on?"


    "This freaking brawler has been banging on the damn door!" heined. "Can you ask her to shut up and stop? I want to continue sleeping."


    "What time is it?" Shinto rubbed his eyes as he asked. "It''s still early isn''t it?"


    "I don''t know!" he frowned as he turned to the door. "Hey! Brawler girl! What time is it?!"


    "...uh, 9:47 AM? We have like... 15 more minutes till the doors for morning''s breakfast close! So hurry it up you two!" The girl, Frey replied.


    "And then right after that... we still need to discuss what you want we have to do..." Another voice resounded through the door.


    "Ugh... then I''m skipping breakfast," Ethaniel quickly lied back down on his bed.


    "What? Hey!"


    "...sigh." Shaking his head helplessly, Shinto got out of his bed as he made his way to the door. Quickly he opened it.


    "We''ll be out in 15 minutes," he stated.


    "What? But then we won''t get to eat anything!" Frey raised his brow.


    "Doesn''t matter. Where''s Greld anyways?"


    "Greld? He said he was going back to his home to sleep... so, he didn''t sleep here." The girl, Raina followed up.


    "So Greld''s in the tavern? Then that''s good. Just wait for us outside of the hotel."


    "What?! Hey! What about breakfast!?" Frey pouted.


    "I don''t feel like eating at this ce," Shinto said whilst shutting the door.


    "Master?!"


    "...haha, well, let''s just head outside and wait for them," Raina chuckled whilst moving through the hallway.


    "...but I''m hungry..." Frey sighed whilst following behind Raina.


    ...


    Outside of the hotel, Raina and Frey sat on the bench whilst looking at the hotel''s entrance.


    "When are theying out? It''s been 20 minutes..." Frey said impatiently whilst ring at the door. "Did they went to get breakfast without us!?"


    "Give it some more time..." Raina said calmly. "They''ll probablye out soon-"


    Whist calming down the impatient Frey, the two quickly turned to the hotel''s entrance as their eyes spotted a blonde-haired man and a ck-haired man walking out of the hotel.


    "Ah, would you speak of the devil."


    "Hey! Shinto! Ethaniel! Over here!" Seeing the two, Frey waved over at them.

 Chapter 85: Thoughts of the Matter (2)

    Chapter 85: Thoughts of the Matter (2)


    Making their way out of the hotel, Shinto could hear the slight angry bickersing from the person beside him, Ethaniel.


    "Tch... to be wakened up so damn abruptly..."


    "Aha... it can''t be helped," Shinto sighed. "The earlier we discuss things the better. Beside''s did you really want to stay in that hotel any longer than you have to?"


    "...ugh. I have to admit that the beds arefy... haven''t had that nice of sleep in a long time despite that chaos yesterday..." As Ethaniel continued talking, he quickly shut his mouth. "Ahem. Anyways, where the hell are they?"


    "...the two should be somewhere around here," Shinto searched around the vicinity as he heard a sudden loud shout over by the distance.


    "Hey! Shinto! Ethaniel! Over here!" Turning his eyes over to the direction of the voice, he saw that Frey was waving over towards the two of them.


    "Well, it looks like we found them," Shinto said as he headed over towards Frey and Raina, from behind, Ethaniel soon followed after.


    ...


    "Hey! What took you two so long?" Frey pouted. "I''m so hungry...!"


    "...what? Is that all you care about right now?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Why couldn''t you just go to the damn restaurant and eat there while you were waiting for us?!"


    "Well, Master told me we''re not eating there... so I didn''t go!" she rambled.


    "You two..." Shinto sighed. "There''s a better ce to eat, you know that right?"


    "Oh? Where?" Raina questioned.


    "Over by that alleyway over there," Shinto pointed towards the east area of the town''s centre. "We''ll be having breakfast at the tavern."


    "Oh yeah! That''s why you asked where Greld was!" Finally realizing the option, Frey nodded her head excitedly. "Then, what are you waiting for? Let''s go there already!"


    "Yeah, yeah..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Are we going to discuss things there as well?"


    "Yep, but for now... the priority would be just to get ourselves refreshed and ready to go for the day," Shinto replied as the group quickly made their way towards the alleyway.


    ...


    Within the tavern, a small animal silently slept on the tables of the tavern.


    "...zzz," his eyes soundly closed whilst his tail slowly wagged around.


    "...this guy... how long is he going to sleep for?" Greld pondered to himself as he sat from behind his counter. "A ck fox suddenly appearing and sleeping in my tavern... is this a bad omen?" he shivered at the thought.


    "Ahem... nevermind. The better question would be... will theye?" Greld''s eyes turned towards the doors of his tavern as he anticipatedly waited for the group toe. "Knowing the whole situation yesterday... I should probably give exin things to them, huh? Sigh..."


    "Mmm..." A sudden soft voice was heard from the table as it quickly caught the attention of Greld. "...huh? Where am I?"


    "...this animal can talk?!" rmed by the sudden speaking animal, Greld hurriedly stood up as he cautiously observed the fox.


    "...huh?" Confused by the sudden sight of an rmed human, the fox tilted his head. "...what''s going on?" Using his paws to rub his eyes, he swiftly observed the area. "Is master not back yet?"


    "...is this really a bad omen that''s going to be brought down upon me?" he cried in agony. "...just what other unfortunate stuff wille to me?"


    Suddenly, the door to the tavern opened as the group arrived.


    "E-Eh? What happened here?" Frey blinked at the sight as she saw that Greld was on high alert whilst an unknown animal sat on the table.


    "What the...?" Shinto raised his brow in question as he quickly noticed the ck fox standing in confusion in the situation. "Kon?"


    Hearing Shinto''s voice, the ck fox turned towards Shinto as he quickly brightened up. "Ah~! Master! You''re finally here!"


    "Kon...? You mean the one who was on the party list yesterday?" Frey tilted her head.


    "...you know this guy?" Greld asked.


    "Eh?! I''m not a pet! I am the sha-" The moment Kon was about to speak up, Shinto quickly headed towards the fox as he covered his mouth. "Mmm...!"


    "Ahem. Yes, I know him," Shinto nodded his head. "There is something I''d like to say to you all about this situation... however, we can discuss that after breakfast."


    Upon hearing Shinto''s confirmation, Greld let out a sigh of relieve. "...phew. I almost felt my life suck out of me when I saw that fox talk..." he said. "Especially with all the stories I''ve heard of animals that seem to have the same presence as this guy..." Quickly shaking his head of the thought, he quickly turned towards the group. "Ahem, anyway... what do you all want to order?"


    "Your best dishes for breakfast please," Shinto said.


    "Right on it!" Greld happily said as he entered the kitchen.


    "Uh, Shinto...? This ce... why is it so... run down?" Raina asked.


    "...the short answer would be, Lavida''s intervention," he sighed. "Anyways, let''s have a seat and wait for the dishes to arrive."


    "I''m sceptical," Ethaniel crossed his arms. "We''re going to eat here over everything else?"


    "Hey! Ethan! I''ll guarantee you, once you take a bite from his food, you''ll love it!" Frey gave a thumbs up to him.


    "...well whatever," he shrugged as he made his way towards an empty seat.


    ...


    As the group, all sat at a table, a fragrant aroma protruded throughout the area, as it quickly caught the attention of everyone in the room.


    "...this is?" Ethaniel raised his brow whilst smelling the aromatic scent.


    "Oh yay foods here!" Frey cheered.


    From the door''s of the kitchen, Greld swiftly held onto many tes that had food ranging from many sorts of breakfast dishes.


    "...wait, that''s quite a lot..." Shinto said helplessly as he saw the amount of food being sat down on the table.


    "Please dig in! I made more to apologize for yesterday''s incident... and uh, I''ve got something I want to say regarding all this too..." Greld said.


    "Right... then, with this.. shall we discuss yesterday''s matter then?" Shinto said in a serious tone. "I think I may know why Lavida was so persistent in getting us... and, in regards to Greld, I need some confirmation from him as well."


    "Go on, speak up. I''m all ears," Ethaniel said whilst cing food into his mouth.


    "This all stems... to a rtion of ''Altric''."

 Chapter 86: Thoughts of the Matter (3)

    Chapter 86: Thoughts of the Matter (3)


    "Eh...? Again with the Altric thing?" Frey tilted her head in question.


    "For Altric to be mentioned here again... It really must be important, huh?" Raina asked.


    "...just what are you implying with that?" Ethaniel frowned.


    The room grew eerie as everyone turned their attention to Shinto, waiting for his response.


    "..." Shinto took a deep breath as he then said in a serious tone. "...before we get further into the topic. I''d like to ask you all one thing; can I trust you?"


    "Huh?" Frey blinked at the query. "Why all of a sudden...?"


    "Tch... and if we say no?" Ethaniel raised his brow.


    "...if you say no, then the question from earlier then bes: ''Can I trust you to keep this to yourself?''" Shinto asked.


    "So, this information that you''re going to give... it''s quite secretive huh?" Raina thought to herself. "I''m unsure of whether I should be trusted with such information or not..."


    "Secret? Could it be that...?" Frey mumbled.


    "...well, this information will either make or break this whole fiasco. But... I''m sure we are all curious as to why Lavida was so persistent on getting usespecially, Ethaniel and I..." Shinto folded his arm. "That''s why I ask this. Whether I can trust you or not. Because it involves something major."


    "Tsk..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he reluctantly turned his head away from Shinto. "Just go on already."


    Closing his eyes, Shinto began to speak, "...the reason why Lavida was so persistent on getting us..." he took a deep breath. "It was because we know information on Altric."


    Upon ending his statement, a moment of pause protruded out within the room as the group processed the information.


    "You do?!" Frey shouted out in shock. "What? When? Huh?!"


    "Ah... so that''s why..." Raina nodded her head in understanding. "So was this their goal all along when they were after you guys?"


    "...well, in a way yes," Shinto calmly replied. "Though... I do not know how or when did they find out such information... but I do know this; we will end up being targets of Lavida in the long run as enemies."


    "That is ''if'' we don''t ept whateverpensation offer bullshit they''re giving out, right?" Ethaniel asked. "So tedious..."


    "Yes," he nodded his head. "The most likely scenario that''s going to happen is that we''ll end up as enemies."


    "Hmm... then, what''s the other possibility?" Raina inquired.


    "The other scenario would be that... I have thispletely misunderstood," Shinto said. "Which is why I need Greld''s confirmation on all this." He turned to look at Greld. "Just what is the real reason that Lavida is after you?"


    Upon hearing his question, Greld shook his head helplessly. "...sigh. I am sorry for keeping this from you initially," he said. "The real reason why Lavida was after me... was just as you said. It was due to my knowledge on Altric. But... please don''t misunderstand. I only know so much."


    "...right, so that confirms it then," Shinto nodded his head. "So it seems that this was all regarding Altric."


    "So... let me get this straight. All this because you three know information on Altric??" she raised her brow. "Argh! I don''t get this. Just why is Altric so important? Just what is it that it''s being the talk of the town?"


    "Well, with what I know of so far with my time in this game... Altric seems to hold a core foundation in this world apparently?" Raina tilted her head. "The fact that it''s a lost civilization and that it''s rted to stories of legend interests me..."


    "So lost civilization and stories of legend right? What''s so special about them?" she continued asking.


    "...the special fact about them is that in many stories, ''truth'' is mentioned. And... in the legends of Altric, it was said that they have made many artefacts rting to this," Shinto exined. "For what ''truth'' is... no one knows."


    "So... Lavida wants to go after the artefacts?" she asked.


    "That is what I like to think," he said. "Though I can''t help but feel as if there is a deeper meaning behind all this. But with what little I know, this is as far as it can go."


    "Right, right... I think I can understand just a little bit now!" Frey nodded her head. "If that''s how it is.. then, what do we do now?"


    "For now, I''d like for us to discuss our options since we have a few..." Shinto said. "But before that... I seem to have gone on for quite a while," he coughed. "The food''s getting cold, so we should probably dig in first."


    "Ah, right the food!" Frey''s eyes turned towards the food as she quickly dug in.


    "Well then, thank you for the food," Raina smiled as she began to eat.


    "Tch... I can''t believe you all were so caught up that you forgot to eat..." Ethaniel scoffed with an annoyed look as ate thest few sausages and eggs on his te. Finishing up, he quickly stood up. "Anyways, I''m heading out. I want to go to the forest and level up."


    "Eh...? At a time like this?" Raina asked. "Is it really alright for you to go out now under such circumstance?"


    "It doesn''t matter. I just want some time for myself," he shrugged off Raina''s question as he made his way out of the tavern. "Shinto, I''ll be back with an answerter."


    "..." Looking at Ethaniel leaving, Shinto let out a sigh.


    "What''s up with him?" Frey red at Ethaniel''s back whilst stuffing food into her mouth. "For all theining I heard from him yesterday about this situation, I don''t hear anything from his side after what you said, master..."


    "...hm, yeah. It seems quite weird that he didn''t say anything and just agreed with Shinto..." Raina said calmly. "But, we shouldn''t pester too much. I''m sure Ethaniel knows what his doing."


    "...will that guy be alright though?" Frey said in a worrying tone.


    "I think it''ll be fine, I don''t think Lavida will be doing anything for the time being with all the things that happened yesterday," Shinto said as he ate the food on his te. "So it''s safe to go about in this town for now."


    "I see... alright!" Frey swallowed the food in her mouth as she turned to Shinto. "Now you and Greld got some exining to do!"


    "W-What?" Shinto looked at Frey confusingly.


    "...huh?" Greld stared nkly.


    "How and why do you know about Altric?!"

 Chapter 87: Thoughts of the Matter (4)

    Chapter 87: Thoughts of the Matter (4)


    Through the hallways of Lavida, a man walked through it as he made his way towards the end of the corridor. While he was at it, the man noticed that a young woman was standing by, awaiting him.


    "Hmm, Amy, what is the update with them?" The man calmly asked whilst walking past the woman.


    "...Greld leftst night, as for the adventurers, they left this morning without a word," Amy bowed to the man, Zavir as she followed behind him.


    "Hmm, so they left huh? I''m guessing that''s their take on refusing the offer? Such a pity. They would''ve proved useful if they decided to join in hand with us," he shook his helplessly. "Although inevitable, I would''ve liked it if we could''ve found out whether or not Lucas''s were true."


    "So what is our next course of action?" she questioned.


    "For the time being, we have better agendas on our hand. What''s the status of the invitees?"


    "The adventurers except for a few has decided to join hands with us. As for the nobles, although it was hard, they have decided toe around in the end," Amy exined.


    "Good, good. We''ll begin preparations on the expedition," Zavir nodded his head in satisfaction. "Please make sure to provide your best support to them."


    "I will do so," she bowed. "Will you be off to meet with Baron Eager and Viscount Drel?"


    "Yes," he answered. "You may leave now to tend to your duties."


    "Of course," she nodded her head as she watched Zavir walking away from her.


    From his back, Amy could see the emblem of Lavida proudly embedded on his clothing. Looking at the sight, she sighed. "...the dark and the light from the legends foretold. If your spections truly are what it seems to be, then surely this is no coincidence," she solemnly thought to herself whilst turning around. "I wonder, the shadows and the divine light, why have you chose to reappear at a time like this?"


    ...


    Within the forest by the town of Parm, a blonde-haired man rushed along the dirt paths as he held onto his sword tightly. His eyes like a preying tiger swiftly shing through the monsters in front of him.


    "..."


    Following up with the attack, the man, Ethaniel stepped forward as he connected it with a skill. From the tip of his sword, a bright shing light pierced through everything in his sight.


    "...hah. Not good enough yet," he clicked his tongue as his eyes scrutinized the surrounding area in hopes of finding another target. "...did I clear out the entire area?" he raised his brow.


    Still looking around in the area, he frowned as he hurriedly took a step forward. "Ugh, of to another area then..." Mumbling to himself, he suddenly stopped in his footsteps, as he turned towards the direction of the town.


    "...tsk. Why did I get involved in something so tedious?"


    ...


    Earlier on the seventh floor of the hotel, within room 706, Ethaniel continued to sleep on his bed as he silentlyined.


    "...ugh. Is that loudmouth gone yet?" he groaned in annoyance.


    "Frey just left," Shinto replied whilst making his way back to the bed. "You have 15 minutes before we leave the room."


    "Eh?!" Ethaniel suddenly got up as he turned angrily to Shinto. "The hell do you mean 15 minutes?"


    "...it is what it is," he sighed. "We still have thing''s to discuss today you know."


    "Bah. I''m tired," he quickly lied back down on the bed. "Why did this game have to include having to sleep to regain proper strength and stamina?"


    "Well this game does want realism I guess. But anyway that''s beside the point. I''ve got something I need to ask of you," Shinto stated.


    "Hah? What is it now?" he clicked his tongue whilst still lying on his bed. His back was turned towards Shinto.


    "..." After asking the question, Ethaniel didn''t hear any response from Shinto.


    "Hey, what is-" Just as he was about to continue on, he suddenly received a whisper notification. "...what?" Looking at the whisper, he raised his brow in question as he noticed it was from Shinto.


    "I think, the reason why Lavida is after us is due to Altric. So... I''m asking you this, what is your ss?" Reading the whisper from Shinto, Ethaniel suddenly got up once again as he gave a nce at the man looking at him with a serious expression.


    "What''s the meaning of this? What''s with this question?!" he furiously asked. "I don''t get-"


    Suddenly, another whisper was followed up. "Use this function. This question is important and I do not want anyone eavesdropping on us."


    "..." Frowning at the statement, Ethaniel let out a sigh as he replied. "Exin."


    "...as I said, the reason why Lavida is after us... I figured it was due to Altric. The rtion to be exact," Shinto continued. "So I''m asking you this. What is your ss?"


    "...is that even important? My ss has nothing to do with this matter," he replied. "If anything, why would Lavida even go after us without any solid proof whatsoever?"


    "...that, I''m not sure," Shinto sighed. "The only lead I have is through this. And since I''ve figured you might have a hidden ss, so I thought it might rte."


    "Tsk... what do I get from revealing on my side?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "...what will you get?" Shino said out loud. "Information. The one thing you''re curious about."


    "..."


    "So, what will it be?" Shinto continued to whisper.


    "..." A moment of hesitation could be seen on Ethaniel''s face as he red acutely to Shinto. "...you know, I don''t trust you. I might regret this, or I might not. But, whatever. My ss... its name is ''Judgement Knight''."


    ...


    Through the forest by the town of Parm, Ethaniel continued to cut through all the monsters in front of him whilst dodging the attacks targetted towards him.


    "...tsk." With a resolute expression, he swiftly lit his sword in bright light, as he sent acerate arc, quickly turning the monsters to grey ash.


    "Huff...huff," Ethaniel let out a tired breath whilst wiping away his sweat. "...not enough."


    Quickly shaking his fatigue off, he suddenly felt a warm feeling around him. "...?" Turning around, he suddenly saw a familiar sight. Shinto.


    "What got you so worked up all of a sudden?" Shinto said whilst storing his staff away after casting his skill.


    "Nothing," he clicked his tongue at the sight. "Why are you here?"


    "It''s nothing. I just thought I''d level up," Shinto calmly replied whilst moving towards Ethaniel.


    "...you wanted to level up? Wow. Such a surprise," Ethaniel sarcastically said. "It''s as if you came here coincidentally and found me fighting and then decided toe up to me after I''m done."


    "...actually, that is what happened," Shinto said helplessly.


    "Yeah, right," he rolled his eyes whilst sheathing his sword. "If you''re here for my answer, I''m still thinking about it."


    "Hmm... so you haven''t thought of the answer huh," Shinto let out a sigh. "But that doesn''t matter. I''m not here for that."


    "Huh? If not that, then what are you here for?" he frowned.


    "...like I said, to level up..." Shinto helplessly replied.


    "Uh-huh. Whatever you say," Ethaniel said. "Anyways, are you going to use any other skills to heal me back up or something?"


    "Eh?" he blinked at the sudden question. "Is that heal previously not enough?"


    "I''m not full health yet, so I wanted to know if you have any other skills to restore my health to full," he stated.


    "...cough, I''m not your healing machine you know..." Shinto replied.


    "Well, you''re here already as a coincidence, right? So might as well ask."


    "...seriously?" he sighed. "I''ve still got this and I haven''t used it, so whatever..." Shinto said as he activated a skill. Suddenly, a small greet shroom appeared below Ethaniel''s feet as his health steadily rose up.


    [ Old Wood Cloak''s Skill: Soft Root Heal ].


    "...!" Shocked by the sudden skill, he turned to Shinto in question. "...this, you have this skill and you didn''t use it?!"


    "...I didn''t have any opportunity to use it," he let out a cough. "This skill is more of a rest or a positioning skill than anything else. The fights we were at had us constantly moving around, so there''s that..."


    "No. That''s not what I mean," he clicked his tongue. "Why didn''t you use this earlier?!"


    "Ah, er... well..." heughed awkwardly. "It''s not that I forgot this skill existed..."


    "...hah. Whatever," Ethaniel sat down on the ground. "If there''s nothing else, you can leave now."


    "What?" Shinto blinked at the statement.


    "You said you wanted to level up, right? Shoo, let me rest," Ethaniel yawned as he lied down on the grass.


    "Hey... earlier you had this eager and energetic look on you... where did that go?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "And earlier you said you wanted to level up, where did that excuse go?" he fired back.


    "...I''m a support, Ethaniel. Like I can even level up efficiently without having to be in a group..." Shinto replied listlessly.


    "Tch... if that''s going to be a problem, why choose to be a support ss then? Heck, why did you even choose this despite having a choice?" Ethaniel questioned. "And on that topic, what''s up with this ''Shadow Diviner'' ss you mentioned? Are you going to give any details or what?"


    "Aha... well I''ve got my reasons..." he sighed. "Anyways... my ss is as I said before, it is a support ss. I have no other clue on what this ss is about."


    "Hmph, reasons..." he scoffed.


    "Right..." he let out a chuckle. "Then what about you? Why this ''Judgement Knight'' ss? Are you going to give any details?"


    "Same as you. But instead of ''support'', it''s a damage ss. Beside''s that, no clue."


    "Sigh... we don''t have any leads on our sses huh? The only thing we know is that it''s rted to Altric..."


    "Uh-huh, why isn''t that obvious," Ethaniel said. "Get to the point, what do you want from me, really?"


    "...I''ll ask this once again," he closed his eyes. "Party up with me with Frey, and let''s help each other with our sses. Whether it''d be discovering what Altric is or finding out where other ruins are."


    "..." Upon hearing Shinto''s statement, Ethaniel silently looked up towards the sky as he opened his mouth. "Honestly, this entire situation is extremely tedious. Had I not met that stupid face and arrogant brawler, I don''t think I''d end up in this mess. But, look where we are now."


    "..." Shinto silently listened in.


    "Though, I guess it was fun fighting against those bastards," Ethaniel closed his eyes. "The one thing I hated from all this is..."


    "...is what?" he tilted his head.


    "Your damn name."


    "...what?" he blinked at the sudden statement.


    "It annoys me that it''s the same one as the ex-first ranker," he clicked his tongue. "If it weren''t for you being a support, I would have thought that you were that person."


    "...cough, really now, huh?" he meekly said.


    "But whatever. If we''re going to end up being party members or whatnot, I want to call you by something that isn''t ''Shinto'' or whatever that fox guy or brawler girl calls you, what''s up with that anyway?" he said bluntly.


    "Things turned quite differently and it ended up like that..." he sighed.


    "Hah, then, it''ll simply be this. What''s your real name?" he asked.


    "...my real name?" Shinto hesitantly muttered out as he took a deep breath. "Zayden," he firmly stated.


    "...hmm, Zayden huh? Then I''ll call you Zay. In return, call me Ethan," Ethaniel got up as he extended a hand over towards Shinto. "I guess from now on we''ll be working together?"


    Without any words, Shinto nodded his head as he grabbed onto his hand, shaking it.


    ...


    Eerie footsteps crept forward throughout the hallways, as a silhouette of what seems to be a girl appeared.


    "Hohohoho... the shadow diviner has awakened huh? Interesting~ Interesting~! I wonder what adventuresy ahead for him? Huhuh..." Laughter protruded out in the area as the darkness enshrouded it.

 Chapter 89: Provisions (2)

    Chapter 89: Provisions (2)


    "...huh?" Ethaniel raised his brow in confusion as he saw that Shinto took out a sword from his inventory. "What''s that?"


    "Take it for now," Shinto said as he handed the sword over to him.


    "...hah?" Ethaniel furrowed his brow as he took a closer look at the sword. From the de''s tip to its handle, it was coloured a dark shade of purple mixed together with silver lines around it. The handle was ck and the atmosphere around the weapon seemed to protrude a dark aura. "What the heck is this?"


    "It''s a sword," Shinto stated.


    "Yes, I clearly know that," he red at Shinto. "What I mean is, why did you give me this?"


    "Well, I just thought it mighte in handy in the future for us," he shrugged. "So I gave it to you."


    "..." Taking another look at the sword, Ethaniel opened up the weapon detail of it. "...hah. What are you crazy? Asking me to use this with such requirements? I don''t even have that much strength."


    "...cough, I''m not asking you to use it, Ethan," Shinto let out a cough. "I''m asking you to keep it in your inventory since we might need it in the future."


    "For what reason do we need a sword like this?" he questioned. "This is a ss cannon sword. You know that, right?"


    "I got this as a drop from the dungeon," Shinto said. "I''m not asking you to use it. Though... it might be worthwhile to test it out, but for now, hold onto it."


    "Tsk, say that sooner!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "I thought you were someone crazy that had stupidly high expectations on my stats," he said as he ced the sword into his inventory.


    "Aha... right, my bad," he scratched his head. "Ahem, anyway, regarding the dungeon that you went to... did you get any sort of drops?"


    "...drops?" he blinked at the mention of it. "If you''re talking about something like the sword that you gave me, no."


    "Then, any misceneous items?" Shinto asked.


    "I got nothing," Ethaniel said. "The only worthwhile mention is something you already know."


    "Huh. So you didn''t get anything else besides that," Shinto mumbled out. "That''s weird..."


    "Why? What else did you get besides this sword and that?" he raised his brow.


    "Hmm... well, nothing useful at the moment," Shinto shrugged. "Some items I got that requires me to collect multiple pieces of it in order to find out what it actually does."


    "Tch... sounds tedious."


    "Yeah," he sighed. "Anyhow, we''ll worry about thatter."


    Soon after, Shinto turned to nce at Frey and Raina who were still conversing with Mia at the front counter of the bank. It seemed as Frey was still opening up her storage system.


    "...are those two done yet?" Seeing the scene in front of him, he asked.


    "Those two?" Ethaniel turned to the counter where the girls were at. Seeing that they were still idling around, he clicked his tongue. "Ugh... they are still at it? How long does setting up a damn storage take?"


    "Not that long," Shinto stated. "Though I''m not sure how long has it been since the two began setting up their storage."


    "Might as well just ask them," Ethaniel said.


    ...


    While Shinto and Ethaniel chatted with one another, by the counter of the bank, Frey was still trying to get her storage system activated.


    "...so uh, like this?" Frey blinked at the instructions given to her by Mia whilst her right arm protruded out, touching a pad on the counter. From the looks of the pad, it seemed as if it was to scan one''s hand.


    "Yep~ Like this!" Mia nodded her head. "By scanning your hand onto this, you''ll then be added onto the storage database, which in term means you''ll be able to open up the system!"


    "...but what was that about adding a power onto this or something that Raina did?" Frey raised her brow.


    "Hmm?" Mia tilted her head at the question. "Ah, do you mean the aura infusing step? We''ll get right there in just a minute!"


    "Man... why is this soplicated?!" Frey shouted out.


    "Aha... Frey, it''s actually simple. Just calm down and follow the steps," Raina smiled.


    "Easy for you to say... you made it all look so... easy!"


    As the two conversed with one another, they suddenly heard a shouting from behind them.


    "Hey! You two! Are you done yet or what?" The shout was from a familiar voice Ethaniel.


    "Huh?" While her hand was still on the pad, Frey abruptly looked behind. "Ah! Master Shinto! When did you get out of the storage?"


    "Just a while ago," Shinto replied. "Are you still not done yet?"


    "I''m almost done! I just need to... uh, do this power infusing step and it''ll bepleted!" Frey said.


    "Tch, why the hell is it taking so long?" Ethaniel red at Frey.


    "Dear adventurers, the time it takes to set up a storage is dependant on different people," Mia calmly smiled at Shinto and Ethaniel. "Please do not rush them, unless you want it to be longer than it is due to a mess up!" Quickly she turned back to Frey. "Ahem, now where was I?"


    "Gee... this is a pain," Ethaniel folded his arms. "The hell is up with her?"


    "Sigh, why is the tone so different to us than to them?" Shinto helplessly shook his head.


    "Haha, well, I don''t know, I guess it''s dependant on the person to person or something?" Raina chuckled as she turned to the two. "Anyhow~ Should we just discuss what to do now while we wait for Frey? You never really did tell us what we''ll do moving forward."


    "...right. I was hoping to tell you while on the way there but since we''re waiting around right now, I guess it''s better to tell you two now," he said. "The first thing we''re headed to is a dungeon which Frey found."


    "A dungeon? Where?" Ethaniel asked.


    "I don''t exactly know where it is... but, from what Frey told me, it''s an underground area of town," Shinto said. "Frey will lead us there."


    "An underground area of town?" Raina tilted her head. "A catbs?"


    "Possibly. Frey didn''t give me any names though," he shrugged.


    "Hah? There''s a catb beneath the town?" Ethaniel questioned.


    "I never knew that too... this is a first for me," Shinto answered. "She said she got an S-ranked quest that gained her ess to the area."


    "..." Ethaniel opened his mouth speechless as he soon closed it. Then, he shook his head of the shock as he furrowed his brow. "You got to be kidding me. Is this for real?"


    "As real as it can get..." he sighed. "She even showed me the key as proof."


    "Why? What''s wrong you two?" Raina asked.


    "...it''s nothing," Ethaniel let out a cough. The moment he did so, he heard a voice from the side of him.


    "Done! The storage is now up and ready!" Frey cheered.

 Chapter 90: Provisions (3)

    Chapter 90: Provisions (3)


    "Oh, you''re done?" Shinto asked as he turned to the cheerful voice by the side of himFrey.


    "Mhm~ I''ve finally set up that darn storage system!" Frey cheerfully smiled. "Who knew it''d be thisplicated?"


    "Took you long enough," Ethaniel scoffed. "Now, can we finally get going to that dungeon you were talking about earlier?"


    "Right," Shinto nodded his head.


    "Hmm? What dungeon?" Frey titled her head. "Old Wood Forest?"


    "Uh, it''s that dungeon you found, Frey," Raina said. "Something like a catb?"


    "Ah! Right! That one!" Upon realizing the topic of the conversation, Frey quickly nodded her head. "What are you waiting for then? Let''s go!" She began to make her way out of the bank without waiting for the reply of her otherpanions.


    "..." The three looked at one another as they shrugged. Quickly, they followed after Frey.


    ...


    Through the crowded streets of Parm, the group followed Frey''s lead as they headed towards the northwest area of town. Unlike the southwest area where the marketce, as well as the temple of Viera, lied, the area where the group were at was a fairly unpopted ce.


    Although Parm was a hotspot for newbies to spawn in for their first time, Parm was a town for all levels. Thus, the northwest part of town was mainly catered to the upper levelled yers.


    "...the catbs is in this part of town?" Ethaniel raised his brow as he nced around the area, noticing the scarce amount of yers within the vicinity. "This is an upper levelled area you know..."


    "Huh? Is it?" Frey asked in confusion. "What makes this ce so different from the rest?"


    "Well, as far as I know, this path that we''re taking leads to a pretty dangerous field outside of town which has quite a lot of high levelled monsters..." Shinto exined.


    "Is that it?"


    "That''s it. People don''te here just because of that," he stated. "Though... I don''t think this part of town is well maintained. Most of the buildings here are abandoned or old... so that probably adds to the reason why yers don''t step foot here."


    "Oh... so that''s why not many are around..." Raina muttered out.


    "Wait...! Did I hear correctly? Not many are around the area?" Upon hearing the wordsing from Raina, an excited voice rang out through the shadows of the groupKon. "Master! Does this mean I can go out?!"


    "...no," Shinto said helplessly. "There are still people around, so you can''t go revealing yourself like that."


    "...sigh. But, it''s only just a few!" Kon stated. "...and I don''t think they are that interested in their surroundings, so it''ll be fine if I go out for a bit!"


    "No chances," he shook his head. "We''re almost there anyway, I think... so you can get out of the shadows when we arrive."


    "A..." Kon whimpered sadly.


    "It''s too bad for Kon that he has to stay in the shadows..." Raina frowned. "If only there was something we could use to cover him up so he doesn''t have to stay in there for too long..."


    "Even if we carry that guy in our arms, he''ll still stand out like a sore thumb," Ethaniel scoffed.


    "Hey! what do you mean I''ll stand out like a sore thumb?!" Kon shouted out. "I''m a cute fox!"


    "Haha... but that''s why you stand out. You''re unique," Raina chuckled.


    "Mmm... fine, I''ll stay in my shadow then!" A grunt could be heard from Kon. "I don''t want to make trouble after all..."


    "Ahem... anyway, Frey, when are we reaching the ce?" Shinto turned to Frey as he asked.


    "Almost! It''s just over there," Frey pointed over towards a small broken-down building by the distance. "That''s where that dungeon is."


    "Hah...? Over there?" Ethaniel said in disbelieve.


    "Yep! That''s where that old man asked for me to escort him to," she nodded her head.


    "...for a dungeon to be in an abandoned building, I guess it makes sense," Shinto shrugged. "But, for a catb dungeon to be there..."


    "That seems off. I expected the dungeon to be in a more... I don''t know, by the cliffs or something? To be in an abandoned building of all ces..." Ethaniel said, still in disbelieve.


    "Right... I expected that too," Shinto said as he soon shrugged. "But, we''ll just have to see for ourselves what the dungeon truly is."


    "I guess," Ethaniel said as he stepped forward. "Then let''s get going then."


    The group nodded their heads as they quickly made their way over towards the abandoned building. From the exterior of the building, it looked to be a three-storey building, though, there were many cracks and holes on the walls, not to mention moss spreading everywhere.


    "Ugh... when you said this ce was not maintained well... I didn''t really expect it to be at this state," Ethaniel said as he took a look around the surrounding area.


    "...this is one of the few buildings that are like this from what I heard back then," Shinto stated. "Though, this is my first time seeing it for myself."


    "A ce like this to be this broken-down in a very popted town... just why''s that?" Raina questioned.


    "I''ve no idea..." Shinto shook his head helplessly. "But, it seems to stem from the fact that this entire part of town is neglected."


    "Well whatever it is, are we going in or what?" Ethaniel asked.


    "Cough... right, let''s go in," Shinto let out a cough as the group quickly entered the building.


    ...


    Entering the broken-down building, the group was quickly greeted by the sight of debris scattered throughout the interiors of the room. From the floors, there were many holes, and from the ceiling, sunlight protruded down.


    Stepping foot onto the old wooden floorings, Ethaniel helplessly looked over to Frey. "...hey, Frey? Are you sure this is the ce?"


    "Yeah, this is definitely the ce!" Frey nodded her head. "I vividly remember fighting those guys her."


    "...you fought who now?" Ethaniel raised his brow.


    "Uh, well, some guys that were after the old man, of course!" she stated.


    "Right, right, you did mention that happened... though, I''m still surprised that you cleared the quest..." Shinto said whilst ncing around the area, from the shadow of the group, Kon jumped out of it as he hopped onto Shinto''s shoulder whilst sniffing in the air.


    "Ahh~ Fresh air! I''m finally free!" Kon wagged his tail in delight. "It''s fine if I stay like this, right... master?"


    "Yeah, it''s fine," he nodded his head as he turned to Frey. "Anyway... where''s the entrance? All I see is debris everywhere."


    "The entrance of the dungeon? It''s more inner into the building!" Frey said. "Just beyond that debris and then we head down," she continued whilst walking further into the area.


    ...


    Following Frey, the group swiftly continued making their way through the building''s broken hallways as they reached a staircase. Heading down, they soon saw a passage in which was blocked a stone door.


    "Is this it?" Raina asked as the group stopped in front of an old door.


    The door was made out of a stone that seemed to have held up over the years. On the entrance, there was many patterns and carvings, however, it seemed to be just for decorations.


    "Yep! This is the ce," Frey nodded her head as she took out a stone key. "So, do I open the entrance?"


    [ Parm Catbs Stone Key ]


    Type: Misceneous.


    A stone key in which was given by a man who made a run for his life. This key seemed to have aged for a long time.


    Effects: Unlocks the old door that leads to the underground.


    ...


    "...wait, before that..." Shinto turned to Ethaniel whilst taking out his staff. "Are we all prepared?"


    "I''m ready!" Raina nodded her head.


    "We are. Just hurry it up and open it already," Ethaniel said impatiently whilst holding onto the sheath by his right tightly.


    "Alright!" Nodding her head, Frey swiftly ced the key into the keyhole of the door. The moment she did so, the door of the passageway opened as they were quickly greeted by a notification.


    [ You have opened the instance dungeon entrance to ''Catbs of the Deserted Sanke'' ]

 Chapter 91: Into the Catacombs (1)

    Chapter 91: Into the Catbs (1)


    Soon after receiving the system prompt regarding the opening of the dungeon''s entrance, the notifications continued.


    [ ''Area discovery buff'' will be in effect due to a party member receiving the buff. ]


    [ Nearby allies of the affected will receive a 30% boost in receiving experience. ]


    [ Your party sense a strong force looking at you within the dungeon''s walls. ]


    "...!" Reading through the notifications in front of him, Shinto narrowed his eyes towards thest prompt. "...a strong force looking at us within the dungeon''s walls?" he muttered out.


    "Hah. To receive this at the very start of the dungeon?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Just what is this?"


    "Huh? Weird... this message didn''t appear when I was here originally..." Frey tilted her head in confusion.


    "...this didn''t appear initially?" Raina questioned whilst scanning around the area, seeing that there was only the dark narrow passageway in front of them that was behind the door. "Hmm... I don''t see anything upfront... or well, I can''t see."


    "..." Shinto silently turned towards the hallways that Raina was looking at, with his enhanced sight under the dark, the darkness in his vision lit up as if lighted up by torches. Scrutinizing the premise, he saw that the passageway was a long one, however, it didn''t seem as if anyone was awaiting them at the end. "...the hallways a long one. I don''t think anyone''s at the end of it though."


    "Oh, really?" she replied whilst thinking to herself. "...if it''s like that, then why this notification?"


    "I am just as clueless as you are," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "Though, whatever it is, it seems to be the boss?"


    "Ah? So the boss has an interest in us?" Frey blinked at the statement as she quickly nodded her head excitedly. "Great!"


    "...what do you mean, ''great''?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "Uh... well, wouldn''t that mean that we''ll meet the boss sooner than expected?" she reasoned. "So then, that would mean we''ll get the loot faster and we''ll be much stronger!"


    "Aha... well, that''s one way to put it," Shinto chuckled. "Still, meeting the boss too early could mean our death."


    "Huh? So... we can''t do this dungeon, then?" she asked.


    "His implying if we meet the boss too early in a random area of the dungeon, we''ll be caught off guard and die," Ethaniel said. "How would you feel if arge enemy appears out of nowhere and then attacked you at your weakest?"


    "Ah... right, good point!" she nodded her head. "...ahem! Then that''s not great..."


    "Sigh," Ethaniel sighed as he turned to Shinto. "So, what are we going to do about this?"


    "Well, whether or not we''ll encounter the boss early, we just have to stay on high alert. If anything, the first monster we encounter could be the boss."


    "...right, we should do that," Raina nodded her head. "Though... I''m sort of worried that this dungeon would be too high level for us... we''re only just in the fifteens after all..."


    "Bah. It should be doable for us," Ethaniel brushed off the worry. "Anyway, are we going in or what?"


    "Yeah, let''s head in!" Frey said excitedly.


    "Well, let''s not waste any more time then," Shinto said. "Just as what Ethaniel said, this dungeon should be doable for us."


    At the current level of the party, although they were in the tens, Shinto and Ethanielbined could tackle a dungeon a few levels higher than their level range. Though the numbers didn''t seem much, this was just on the scale of brute strength.


    If they were to include Raina and Frey as well as the thought utilizing tactics to clear the dungeon, they could possibly tackle dungeons much higher then their own level. This was Shinto''s estimation.


    "...hmm, if you say so," Raina said.


    Soon after, the group quickly stepped foot into the dark narrow passageway. The moment they did so, the door of the dungeon closed from behind them, as another notification soon prompted


    [ You have entered into the instance dungeon: ''Catbs of the Deserted Sanke'', allmunication to the outside world has been blocked. ]


    [ You may not leave for until you defeat the bosses of the dungeon. ]


    [ You may temporarily leave if you clear a certain part of the dungeon. ]


    "...eh? We can''t leave until we defeat the bosses of the dungeon?" Frey mumbled out whilst reading through the notifications.


    "...hmm, so this is a part by part dungeon?" Shinto said. "I guess we''ll be here for a while then."


    There were multiple types of instance dungeons in the game. Depending on the dungeon, some required to only defeat the main boss of the dungeon, while others required to clear certain conditions of the dungeon.


    "Part by part dungeon?" Frey turned towards Shinto in question. "What does that imply?"


    "It''s probably like... with multiple bosses in the catbs, it means that we''ll be able to leave when a part is cleared?" Raina thought.


    "Then, what does ''we can leave temporarily'' mean then if we can leave when a part is cleared?" Frey continued questioning.


    "Well, Raina''s not wrong for the most part. Depending on the condition of clear on the instance, we can leave at a certain section of the dungeon once cleared," Shinto exined. "But... for this one... we can only leave temporarily..."


    "Oh... but if it''s temporary... what will they do to bring us back? Have us magically get teleported back here or something if we get out for too long?" Frey asked.


    "Penalties, curses, or whatever the dungeon can think of to make you regret it," Ethaniel shrugged.


    "At the very least, we can take a slight break and restock our supplies if necessary," Raina continued. "Unless... the implication is that we can only leave the game...?"


    "We can always leave the game at any time unless stated otherwise in an instance dungeon," Shinto said. "So yeah, being able to temporarily leave the dungeon means that we can get a break and possibly be able to restock our supplies if we run out."


    "...phew, that''s a relieve," Raina said.


    "Yeah, yeah," Ethaniel waved his hand as he quickly walked further ahead. "Now, can we get a move on out of this passageway already? "


    ...


    Through the dark hallways of the dungeon, the group swiftly made their way along the path, though, from the entrance of the ce to now, it had seemed as if they had been walking through the passageway for a long time.


    "Ahh! How long is this passageway?" Frey shouted in impatience.


    "...this is a pretty long path... and it''s just the beginning of the dungeon too..." Raina said helplessly.


    "...right, if this is only the beginning of the dungeon, just how big is this ce?" Shinto raised his brow in question.


    "Tch... just keep moving or something. We''re bound to actually get to the actual dungeon sooner orter..." Ethaniel said as he quickly caught glimpse of a small light protruding out by the distance. "...speaking of which, there it is. The end of the damn passageway."


    "Ahh! Finally!" Frey cheered out upon hearing Ethaniel''s words. "Let''s hurry then, I want out!"


    Without wasting any time, the group hurried out of the hallway, quickly stepping foot into an open-spaced area. Scrutinizing the area, they were greeted by the sight of multiple statues as well as three other hallways around the vicinity.


    "...what is this?" On the shoulders of Shinto, Kon asked. "Some statue thingy?"


    "Ack! What the? Kon! Where did you appear from?" Frey slightly flinched back as she turned towards the direction of the voice.


    "Huh? What do you mean where did I appear from?" he tilted his head. "I was on master''s shoulder the entire time..."


    "Wait, what?" "Frey blinked. "How did I not notice that?!"


    "...you seem to be a person that doesn''t notice a lot of things..." Ethaniel sighed.


    "What? Hey!" Frey pouted.


    "...ahem, anyway... about the statues..." Shinto stated as he took a closer look at the statues made of stone, quickly taking note that one of the statues seemed to be that of a mage.


    Wanting to turn to the other two statues in the vicinity, he was quickly interrupted as he heard sudden footsteps drawing near to the group. "...huh?" Turning over towards the direction of the noise, he saw that it wasing from the hallways upfront.


    "What''s going on?" Raina cautiously asked.


    "...tch. I guess the real dungeon''s starting huh?" Ethaniel quickly unsheathed his sword.


    The group on high alert, they awaited for whatever monster that drew close to them. Momentster, the footsteps grew louder, as a single rat appeared from the hallway.


    "...it''s just only one enemy?" Frey blinked at the sight.


    "Everyone, be prepared! A mischief of rats ising!" Shinto hurriedly shouted out as he prepared to cast a skill.

 Chapter 92: Into the Catacombs (2)

    Chapter 92: Into the Catbs (2)


    The moment Shinto shouted hismand over towards the group, the footsteps grew louder as rats continued to enter the open space.


    "Eeekk...! What the heck?! A swarm?!" Frey shouted in shock as she took a step back from the sight. Quickly, her hands clenched into fists as she entered into abat stance. "What are they...?!"


    "Obviously, monsters!" Ethaniel cried out as he held onto his sword tightly. Taking a step forward, his de lit up with a bright aura as he sent white arcs over towards the mischief of rats, sessfully knocking them back.


    From behind Ethaniel, Raina swiftly chanted a spell, quickly, a burning ze of fire shot out from her staff, speedily devouring the enemies in sight.


    "Uh... uh... what do I do?!" From the skills that were cast, Frey nced around the surroundings as she looked to find a target that she could attack. The rats were fast and were moving all over the ce, thus, she was confused as to which one to prioritize.


    "Huh? What do you mean, ''what do I do''?!" Hearing the cry from Frey, Ethaniel questioned as multiple rats suddenly pounced at him. "Just attack them! Can''t you see all those rats in front of you?!" He shouted out as his de swiftly shed through the rats jumping at him.


    "There''s so many and so small! I can''t attack any of them!" Frey said as she dodged the rats pouncing at her. Unlike Ethaniel and Raina, Frey only had single target skills, and its medium of activation was through her fists. With how fast and small the rats were, by the time her fistsnded on the ground, she would miss.


    "What do you mean you can''t attack them?! Aggro and get them angry!" Ethaniel shouted out as his sword enveloped in a white aura once again.


    "...huh?"


    "Like this!" he said, as his sword struck the ground, suddenly shaking it. Soon after, he turned to Shinto. "Zayden!"


    "On it," Shinto nodded his head as he leapt forward, quickly casting [ Shadow Fields ] and enveloping the rats in darkness. Momentster, from his shoulders, Kon jumped off as he activated a skill.


    [ Shadow y ]


    Alongside Kon and his doppelganger, the two hurriedly casted [ Orbal Shadow ] simultaneously as they sent them over towards the cloud of shadows. Then, they quickly followed up with another skill, [ Quick mes ].


    With the barrage of attacks that the group showered down onto the enemies, the rats that were hit turned into grey ash, whilst the rest looked at the group with engagement.


    "Urk... these guys, they aren''t backing down?" Kon said helplessly.


    "There''s still so many of them..." Raina said.


    "Bah... we only cleared a quarter of them," Ethaniel frowned at the sight. "And these guys are tough too..."


    "..." Shinto silently scrutinized the surrounding area around them. The mischief of rats stayed at their spots as they looked at him and the party menacingly. However, they were no longer moving around. "They aren''t moving...?"


    "Mm... you''re right! They aren''t moving!" Frey tilted her head. "Why''s that?"


    "How am I supposed to know? Besides we''re surrounded. What''s not moving gonna help us?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "...it looks like after our barrage of attacks, they seem to fear us?" Raina asked as she observed the surrounding areas.


    "They don''t seem like they fear us though..." Frey raised her brow. "Where are you getting this at?"


    "Their ears are twitching back and forth," she said. "That''s a sign of fear for rats."


    "Is it?" Frey asked. "...if so, why aren''t they running away or err... doing anything?"


    "It could be something forcing them to stay here?" Shinto thought to himself. "Or... they were running away?"


    "Hah, running away? Doesn''t sit right with me. They clearly were targeting us," Ethaniel shrugged.


    "Well, why don''t we just test it out by moving towards them?" Kon said as he took a step forward. The moment he did so, the rats quickly took a step in front. "...cough, um... nevermind. That didn''t work..." Seeing the sight, Kon took a step back. However, after he did so, the rats took a step back as well.


    "...?" Noticing the strange behaviour, Shinto raised his brow. Soon after, he moved in front. When he did so, the rats did the same thing as before.


    "The heck? What''s up with these guys?" Ethaniel questioned.


    "Strange... they only move when we move...?" Raina said.


    "Ahh! I don''t understand!" Frey screamed in confusion.


    "...the distance between us and them... if we were to estimate it, with the same equal amount of steps taken for both sides, we''ll reach them in ten steps," Shinto analyzed. "So... they''re not moving because we aren''t?"


    "Sounds stupid that they''re doing that," Ethaniel scoffed. "Are they controlled or something?"


    "It seems so..." Raina said. "But then the question would be... who?"


    "Well, that doesn''t matter right now," Ethaniel said as he nced at Shinto. "So what do we do right now?"


    "...well, they aren''t doing anything if we aren''t..." Shinto thought to himself. "If so, we can attack them once again when our skills are off cooldown."


    "Ohh! Smart!" Frey nodded her head in excitement.


    "Even then... with all our skills used earlier, only a quarter was killed," Raina said in a worrying tone. "Do we have to repeat this three times?"


    "No," Shinto shook his head. "Once we recovered..." he said as he turned towards his notification window.


    [ You have defeated Dweller Rat... ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 17! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 18! ]


    [ You have obtained 20 stats point. ]


    [ Kon has levelled up to level 7! ]


    [ Kon has ... ]


    [ Kon has levelled up to level 9! ]


    [ Your Shadow Stats has been increased by 2. ]


    [ Your Divinity Stats has been increased by 1. ]


    Reading through the notifications, Shinto could see that the rats gave a decent amount of experience, especially with the fact that there was a lot of them.


    "...we''ll swiftly end them all in one go," he said.


    ...


    After awhile of loitering around, Ethaniel quickly held onto the hilt of his de tightly as he lit his sword in a bright aura. Soon after, he rushed forward. The moment he did so, the rats soon began to make their way to him.


    "Tsk..." Annoyed by the sight, Ethaniel turned around as he stopped at his footsteps. With the rats still chasing after him, he quickly held up his de high into the sky as hended it down to the ground, greatly shaking it.


    The moment he did so, the rats that were making their way over towards Ethaniel stumbled down to the ground. Seeing the scene, Frey quickly moved as she swiftly kicked the rats that weren''t hit over towards the fallen group. One by one, all the rats clustered together.


    Soon after, Shinto shouted out. "Raina, Kon, now!" With his hand protruding forward, he cast a veil of shadow onto the rats that fell.


    Following after, a storm of zes and shadow mixed together as they exploded into the area where the shadows enveloped.


    In the end, all the enemies turned to grey ash.

 Chapter 93: Into the Catacombs (3)

    Chapter 93: Into the Catbs (3)


    "...phew." Seeing the ashes disappear into the air, Shinto let out a sigh of relieve as he turned to check his profile.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 21


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    ...


    -Titles-


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 222/222 | MP: 204/204


    Strength: 1 | Stamina: 18


    Intelligence: 25 | Agility: 50


    Shadow: 24 | Divinity: 14


    Wisdom: 1


    Stats Point: 120


    Reading through his status, he saw that his level was much higher now than when he first entered the dungeon initially which was at 16.


    ''These rats sure gave a lot of experience...'' he thought to himself. ''Well, possibly because there was quite a lot of them...'' his eyes quickly turned towards the area where the rats once stood. ''...though, I wonder why they suddenly rushed up like that?''


    Shinto couldn''t understand the sudden behaviour of the rats. The moment that they entered the dungeon''s open-spaced room, they were greeted by the mischief of rats that surrounded them in almost an instant. Their attacks were going strong till the first wave died, right after, they were no longer attacking.


    ''...hmm, in any case, this is over for now,'' Shinto continued his trail of thought as he swiftly moved his view over towards his party members.


    "We finally did it!" Frey cheered. "Now, what?"


    "Well... before all that mess that happened earlier," Raina said as she pointed her finger over towards the statues upfront. "We were going to check that out, right?"


    "Yeah," Shinto nodded his head whilst making his way over towards the three statues that stood in ce at the front of the group. From the middle, the statue was shaped as what seemed to be a mage, holding onto the staff that appeared to be casting something. Below the figure, there were small pieces of bones scattered around.


    ''...a mage and bones... a necromancer?'' Shinto analyzed whilst turning his eyes over towards the other statue on the side of the mage. From the right side, with a sword stabbed to the ground, the figure was that of a knight. Meanwhile, on the left, the statue was nearly identical to the one before, though, the difference was that the sword was facing up.


    "Two knights? And a... mage?" Raina tilted her head in question. "What does this mean?"


    "A mage? That doesn''t look like a mage at all," Ethaniel shrugged. "That seemed to be more like a necromancer to me."


    "A-A necromancer?" Kon flinched. "T-Those people that r-raised the dead?"


    "Yes. That is what a necromancer does," he replied.


    "Eeekk...! Is this a necromancer''s catb?!" Kon jumped at the reply as he quickly hugged the legs of Shinto.


    "...well, from the looks of the statue, it seems so?" Shinto thought to himself.


    "Catbs of the Sanke..." Raina repeated to herself the name of the dungeon. "Does it hold meaning to anything?" she turned to Ethaniel and Shinto as she asked.


    "Doesn''t ring a bell," Ethaniel shrugged whilst


    Shinto helplessly shook his head. "This is my first time hearing of such a name. The only simr one I can think of would be... Sankea the Undead, one of the bosses of the Sarku Pyramid."


    "Sankea and Sanke... eh, they both almost sound the same," Frey shrugged. "The only difference is just that ''a'' vowel..."


    "I doubt those two mean the same. We''re so far from Sarku that it''s too farfetched to believe something from that dessert is here," Ethaniel stated.


    "Yeah, you''re right," Shinto said. "So, the only way to find out whatever ''Sanke'' is by going through the dungeon."


    "What about the other two statues? The knights or something?" Frey asked as she narrowed her eyes over towards the two figures in front of her.


    "...those two? Well, if the middle is a necromancer, those two statues would be death knights," Shinto said.


    "Hmm..." Hearing from Shinto, Frey analyzed the statue with its sword stabbing down to the ground as she quickly noticed small wordings below it. "...huh? Oh! There seem to have some written words here!"


    "Written words?" Raina asked, as the group quickly turned towards the direction of where Frey was looking at. Quickly, they were greeted by small writings.


    Take the right, and thou shall seek the guardian of Sanke.


    "...the guardian of Sanke?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "What about the other statue?" Ethaniel inquired as he quickly walked towards the statue with its sword facing up.


    Take the left, and thou shall seek the warrior of Sanke.


    "Hah? The heck does this mean?" Frey asked in a confused tone.


    "...to take the left to seek the warrior of Sanke and to take the right to seek the guardian of Sanke..." Raina muttered to herself. "Perhaps it''s in ordance with what those two statues represent?"


    "It could be," Shinto stated. "But..." His eyes turned towards the two hallways that the open-spaced area gave way to. One was on the right while the other was on the left. "It seems we have to choose between the ''guardian'' or the ''warrior''."


    "So we''ll miss out on one if we choose the other?" Frey questioned.


    "No idea," Ethaniel said in an unsure tone. "But whatever it is, the warrior sounds the sound n to fight against."


    "...I''d very much prefer the guardian if it''s in regards to endurance," Shinto said. "You know because I can heal?"


    "Hah? I''d rather we go with a battle of strength since we have healing," he frowned. "Why do you want to y a battle of endurance?"


    "Well, for one, we have no tank to tank against the damage the warrior might give," Shinto stated. "For two, we may or may not be below the standard level of the dungeon..."


    "See? I told you we were under levelled," Raina red. "And you said it was doable..."


    "Well, yes, I said that, which is true, it is doable," Shinto quickly replied. "But, the thing is, I never expected we''d have a swarm of enemies on our tail. So, it''ll be hard to keep up with the crowd."


    "Bah. So you''re saying we won''t be fighting against a single entity?" Ethaniel asked.


    "Exactly my point," Shinto said. "Especially if we were to be up against a necromancer''s power, we''ll be severely outnumbered. With ourck of AOEs... we''ll be left sitting ducks when we use up our resources."


    "What makes the guardian any different then?"


    "We won''t have to worry of a giant enemy swinging their sword at us which deals a load of damage..." Shinto said helplessly.


    "Tch, fine," he sighed. "I guess you got a point."


    "Err... question! I''m confused... what makes you think the warrior would be the one dealing a lot of damage while the guardian would be the one to tank a lot?" Frey asked.


    "The ss name. Warrior is more damage oriented and Guardian is more tank oriented." The two men replied almost simultaneously.


    "Both are level 30 to 40 sses though..." Shinto said.


    "Level 30 to 40?!" Frey shouted out with wide eyes.


    "...we are definitely severely under levelled," Raina shook her head helplessly.


    "This fox is only just level 12..." Kon whimpered.


    The disparity between their party and the enemies was that their level was 20 levels higher than their own. Who wouldn''t be worried?


    "...cough. It''s fine," Shinto coughed. "There''s nothing to worry about-"


    "F-Fine?! N-Nothing to worry?!" Frey eximed as she interrupted Shinto.


    "You guys are overreacting!" Ethaniel scoffed. "It''s the bosses that''s 20 levels higher! The normal monsters should just be whatever so just chill."


    "...hah?" she blinked. "...but...isn''t the bosses...like, the most important?"


    "We''ll be able to handle the bosses," Shinto said with confidence. "Besides, since the monsters should at the very least be at our level from what I could tell by the rat monsters... we can level up before reaching the boss."


    "...and...if they''re not?" Kon shivered.


    "We''ll... manage somehow," Shintoughed awkwardly.


    "Way to bring up the motivation," Ethaniel red at Shinto.


    "Cough. In any case, our level should be enough to handle the boss and the dungeon monsters," Shinto stated. "There''s no penalty in terms of fighting higher levelled enemies."


    "But the stats though..." Raina mumbled.


    "We canpensate that for a longer time in fighting," Shinto said. "But... there really isn''t anything to worry about. In the future, this will happen a lot more frequently in boss fights."


    "...hmm, I see," Raina nodded her head.


    "So... we''re taking the right path, right?" Frey questioned.


    "Yes we are," Shinto said as the group quickly turned towards the hallway on the side of the statue which sword was faced down. In the next moment, the party quickly stepped foot into it.

 Chapter 94: Into the Catacombs (4)

    Chapter 94: Into the Catbs (4)


    Through the dark hallways that were dimly lit by the litmus bugs in a small green hue, the group made their way through the catbs. Whilst they did so, a few rats quickly pounced at them.


    Unlike before, they were in small numbers. Thus, it wasn''t hard to fend them off.


    "...damn," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Is this ce infested with rats or something?"


    "Well... that''s better than encountering s-skeletons... or something..." Kon muttered out.


    "What are you? Scared of the undead or something?" he raised his brow.


    "N-No...!" Kon hesitantly replied.


    "Uhuh," Ethaniel shrugged as he moved forward. "If a skeleton appears before you, I''ll leave it to you to handle it, alright?"


    "Eh...!?" Kon flinched at the statement. "N-No...! I can''t handle them alone!"


    "...but it''s just one skeleton?" he tilted his head in question.


    "What skeleton doesn''te in groups?!" Kon shouted out.


    "Big one''s...?" Frey asked.


    "B-Big one''s...?!" Kon shivered at the thought. "...um...um...what do you mean big ones...?"


    "Uh, well, I don''t know! Wouldn''t that guardian guy that we''ll be fighting up againstter be as big as the statue we saw earlier?" she questioned.


    "T-That''s an undead...?" Kon nkly stared at Frey.


    "If not that, then what would that guy be then?" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "Ahh!" he screamed.


    "...hah, you guys," Shinto let out a helpless sigh as he picked up Kon, quickly he ced him onto his shoulders. "Stop scaring the poor guy."


    "Waahh! Master!" Kon clung onto his shoulder as he cried out.


    "Pfft..." Rainaughed. "Seeing him acting like this is kinda cute actually."


    "Mm... it makes me want to pet him!" Frey said. "Can I?"


    "No!" Kon refused.


    "Aww..." she frowned.


    "Bah. In any case, my question wasn''t answered. Where the heck is all the other enemies?" Ethaniel asked. "I''ve only been seeing rats everywhere."


    "Hmm..." Shinto calmly thought to himself as he observed the area around the group. With his vision, he could see the small critters moving about within the catbs, eyeing on the group as if prey. "Unlike the rats that we''ve encountered in the hall... these guys seem far more ferocious."


    "Well, they''re still easy to beat," Ethaniel shrugged. "But that''s beside the point. Wasn''t this supposed to be some necromancer''s catb? I don''t see anything that is even rting towards such thing,"


    "It could be that we''re only touching the surface of the dungeon," Raina stated. "The conditions of the dungeon did say that we''ll have to clear multiple bosses to leave..."


    "...so. we''re going to be up against some sort of rat boss first, is what you''re saying?" Frey tilted her head.


    "That''s a high possibility," Shinto nodded his head as his eyes narrowed over towards his notification window. Soon after, he eyed the name of the mob that they''ve been fighting.


    [ Dweller Rat Servant has been defeated! ]


    "The monsters name is ''Dweller Rat Servant'', so, my guess is that there should be a king waiting for us somewhere," Shinto reasoned. "If so... that could exin the strange behaviour of the rats earlier?"


    "A rat king huh?" Raina repeated to herself.


    "W-Would be able to go up against that guy...?" Kon muttered out.


    "Your still worried about that?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "As I said, there''s nothing to worry about."


    "B-But still... aren''t kings supposed to be strong?" he meekly said.


    "...what''s a rat king gonna do than rush with its big body at us?" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "Um... maybe bring in a horde of rats to try and eat us alive...?" Frey said in a scared tone.


    "Hah. If at that point, we''ll be able to handle them," he confidently said.


    "Ethaniel... l-looked in front..." she pointed towards the darkness.


    "What?" Confused by Frey''s sudden scared behaviour, he turned towards the direction of where she pointed at. "...?!"


    The moment he turned towards the area, he was greeted by hungry red eyes upfront. It wasn''t just a few eyes that lit red, it was plentiful.


    "...another mischief of rats upfront..." Shinto said in a cautious tone as he tightly gripped onto his staff. "...but, from the looks of it, they seem fewer in numbers thanst time."


    "Kiikk!" The rats screamed out. In the next moment, the rats quickly rushed towards the group.


    "Tch... such a nuisance!" Clicking his tongue, Ethaniel swiftly unsheathed his sword as he sent out a bright shing light towards his front. Momentster, he connected it with a circr arc, quickly sending them over towards the horde of monsters.


    "Kiikkk!!" Remaining persistent and taking the blows from the attacks, the rats remained vignt as they continued their way over towards the group.


    "...two attacks didn''t stop them?" Shinto mumbled out. Quickly, he waved his staff around as he cast [Shadow Fields] onto the area. Following up with that, a burst of mes boomed forth.


    "Orbal Shadow!" Kon jumped down from Shinto''s shoulder as he quickly activated his skill. Together with the mes, the two mixed together as it protruded out towards the horde.


    However, even with that burst of attack, the horde still continued on.


    "Ugh...! These guys didn''t get a dent in their formation?!" Kon gulped at the sight.


    "...four burst attacks and they''re still persisting..." Raina said meekly. "And... their health seems only to be downed to the half...!"


    "Tsk... what''s going on?" Shinto asked in a confused tone.


    "U-Um... let''s just try to stop them froming forward...!" Bewildered by the scene in front of her, Frey quickly took a step forward as she gathered an aura around her. In the next moment, she activated a skill.


    [ Frontal Collision ].


    Soon after, her fists quickly moved down towards the ground of the catbs, as she disrupted the area. "...E-Ethaniel...!" she mumbled out.


    "No need to say it." Following up with her attacks Ethaniel swiftly lifted his de up into the sky. Then, he mmed it down to the ground. Alongside Frey''s earlier skill usage, the impact from his de created a dent into the ground.


    "Kikkk!" The rats still continued on as they neared the group. In half a minute time, they would reach the party.


    "The ground''s rubble not enough to stop the rats from moving forward!" Frey cried out. "What do we do?!"


    "...Raina! Do you have any earth skills?" Shinto swiftly turned towards Raina in a hurry as he questioned.


    "E-Earth? I only have a low levelled spell..." Raina replied.


    "Damn..." he frowned as he turned to check the status of the rats upfront. Seeing that the health of the front line rats was in the yellow, it meant that after the burst skills of the party members were used, it only downed their health to half. "...this..."


    "Hey, they''re about to reach us! Do we go in and fight?" Kon shouted out in worry.


    "...although still smaller in numbers... if they were to attack us, then... we would most likely lose," Shinto thought to himself.


    "Then...?!" Ethaniel shouted out as he entered into abative stance.


    "Then... we''ll have to... run...!" Shintomanded.

 Chapter 95: Into the Catacombs (5)

    Chapter 95: Into the Catbs (5)


    "Run...?!" Ethaniel asked in shock.


    "...well, that''s the option right?" Kon muttered out.


    "If you look upfront..." Raina mumbled out. "We''ll be dead meat if we get caught up in that..."


    "T-Then what you waiting for?! Run!!" The first to turn around was Frey who quickly rushed through the catbs.


    "Kiikkk!!" The rats continued on rushing towards them.


    "Bah..." Following up with Frey, the group turned back as they ran back.


    ...


    Rushing through the catbs hallway, the group hurried along the path as they made their way back over towards the open-spaced area at the entrance of the dungeon.


    "Hey, Shinto!" Ethaniel called out whilst running ahead. "What do we do if these rat bastards end up chasing us till the very end?!"


    "W-Well..." Shinto mumbled out as he turned around. The red eyes ring at them as if they were prey sent chills behind the back of Shinto as he quickly turned back. "...how long more till your skills go off cooldown?"


    "...for Burning wave, in ten?" Raina estimated.


    "In five," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "I don''t think that''s enough waiting time by the time we reach the hall."


    "Tsk..." Shinto silently cursed. "If worsees to worst, we''ll take the left path as soon as we enter the hall."


    "E-Eh? What if another batch of those rats appears there as well..." Frey muttered worryingly.


    "There can''t possibly be a rat infestation in the other path right?" Ethaniel questioned.


    "...Ethan...how many times has this been jinxed already?" Raina mumbled out.


    "...tch..." Ethaniel quickly kept his mouth shut.


    "If so, then we''ll directly take the path back to the surface. The passage would be narrow, but it''s wide enough for us to cast our skills without interruption," Shinto exined. "Though... Raina''s Burning Wave skill would be a double edge sword for us..." he said as his eyes quickly widen at a thought.


    "I-It should be fine!" Kon said. "With how narrow that ce ispared to here... the rats won''t be able to overpower us in numbers!"


    "Yes, the passage is long too, so we''ll have some room for a breather," Shinto added. "But, before all that, I''ve got another n."


    "Eh...?! What is it?!" Frey cried out.


    "...we''ll use our skills to-" Shinto was about to exin as he was quickly interrupted.


    "Ah...! Nevermind that! Exinter! Look behind! Is it just me or... are they getting faster?!" Frey said in a more worried tone than before.


    "F-Faster?" Shinto''s eyes opened widely as he nced back. Seeing the distance between the rats closing in rapidly, his pace quickly fastened. "Tch... we have to pick our pace!"


    "Kiikkk!!" From the frontlines of the horde of monsters, a few of the rats quickly pounced forward as they reached Raina and Frey who were behind the group.


    "...ah...!" Turning back to see the rats attacking her, a swift de protruded forward in almost an instant as it knocked the monsters back.


    "Go on ahead, I''ve got you!" Ethaniel shouted out. "I don''t have my AOE skills on me... but I still got my single targets!" Clenching onto his sword steadfastly, Ethaniel quickly enshrouded his de into a white aura. Momentster, a shining light protruded forward as he sent it over towards one of the rats that were knocked back.


    "Kiikkk...!" The rat screeched as it turned to grey ash.


    [ Elite Dweller Rat has been defeated! ]


    Taking a nce over towards the notification that he received, he quickly heard a shout from behind him.


    "Hey, Ethan! Watch out!" Following up with the voice, a blinding white light shined down upon the rat that angrily pounced at him.


    "Tch..." Shaking his head of the distraction from his notification, Ethaniel quickly turned back as he caught up with the group. "...thanks," he muttered out.


    "No problem. But save your single target skills," Shinto stated. "We''ll need them."


    "Eeep! The rats are catching up to us!" Kon who was on the shoulders of Shinto shouted out. "I don''t think we''ll make it in time!"


    "We can!" Shinto shouted out. "Just up ahead is the hall and then we''ll go with the n!"


    "W-Wait... what n?" Raina mumbled out. "Is it the one where we''re going to the passage?"


    "No," Shinto firmly said. "Wait for my orders. We''ll try and test our luck."


    "Eeek! Better hurry it up!" Frey cried out as her legs continued running.


    "Kiikkk...!!" One by one, the rats pounced and pounced over towards the backline of the group, however, with the group running for their lives, the attacks of the monsters narrowly miss.


    "...almost...!" With only the thought of reaching the hall on their mind, the group quickly ced all strength into their legs. In the next moment, the light from the torches of the hall shone down on them.


    Without wasting any more time, Shinto swiftly shouted out. "Raina, Frey, Ethaniel, Kon! Use any avable skills and break that statue!" he pointed over towards the left statue with its sword faced down.


    "...but wouldn''t that...?!" Frey hesitated.


    "There''s no time, do it!" he cried out.


    "...bah!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he held onto his sword tightly, in the next moment, he connected it with multiple single target skills that he had yet used earlier. From behind him, Raina and Frey followed up with their remaining attacks.


    mes and light shed within the room as the statue cracked. In the next moment, it crumbled down towards the entrance of the left path.


    "Kiikkk...!!" The rats that were rushing out to the hall quickly looked up as the rubble crashed down towards them. In the next moment, turning the few rats that made it out into grey ash.


    The remaining rats red at the group as the red eyes disappeared one by one. The monsters were heading back towards their den.


    "...i-is that...all?" Kon said in a tired voice.


    "That should be it... for now," Raina said still vignt.


    "Ahh! I''m tired!" Frey let out a tired sigh as she copsed down to the ground.


    "The crisis is solved... for the time being," Shinto cautiously said.


    "...so, what now?" Ethaniel questioned as he turned to look at the rubble that was once the statue. "The entrance is blocked. So the only option is through the warrior''s path..."


    "Yes... but before that," Shinto closed his eyes. "We need to have a serious discussion on the dungeon."

 Chapter 96: Underestimation (1)

    Chapter 96: Underestimation (1)


    Speaking out in a serious tone, the attention of the group quickly fell onto Shinto.


    "...my worries were true huh?" Raina nodded her head. "We''re too under levelled for this dungeon."


    "What made you two think that being 20 levels below the average is a good idea?!" Frey shouted out.


    "Cough... we didn''t have any information regarding that until after entering into the dungeon," Shinto stated. "And with the fact that this is an instance dungeon, we can''t leave even if we wanted to."


    "Bah. We could have killed those rats if it wasn''t for the fact that there was a horde of them..." Ethaniel scoffed. "At best they seem to be around five to six levels higher than us. So, killing them in small batches shouldn''t pose any problems."


    "But the fact that they alwayse in hordes..." Kon muttered out.


    "Yeah!" Frey nodded her head. "They always are in hordes! So if they''re way higher levelled than us... wouldn''t that mean our death?"


    "Well... it is true that I''ve greatly underestimated this dungeon, but that wouldn''t mean our death even if theye in mischief. We still technically can do this dungeon just fine," Shinto calmly said.


    "...we can still do this dungeon just fine?" Kon shivered at Shinto''s words.


    "What do you mean by that?" Raina questioned.


    "We can work our way through this ce easily, If, we work as a team that is," he nodded his head.


    "Huh? Weren''t we working as a team already?" Frey raised her brow.


    "Well inbat, we were. Though, it''s not the best," he shook his head. "It''s more of as if we''ve only been fulfilling our own roles."


    "...?" Frey tilted her head in confusion.


    "What I mean is, we''ve only been fulfilling our roles. We haven''t been reliant on our party members all as much," he exined. "Although we''ve managed to follow up attacks and the like, that''s no good."


    "...so, what I''m getting at is... we have to be reliant on somebody during battle...?" Frey still couldn''t understand Shinto''s words.


    "Relying is one thing. But the most important thing is that we need to understand the weaknesses and style of our teammates," he closed his eyes. "With that, we can get a good grasp of the flow of our party in order to coordinate better."


    Although the teamwork of the party was going good, it wasn''t to the level where they could blindly win against high levelled enemies through brute-forcing like the group had been doing the entire time.


    With theck of understanding of the skills from the party members, the reliance of said ally falls off, and without that ''reliance'', teamwork and trust wouldn''t be established.


    "Understanding the weaknesses and style of our teammates, huh?" Raina pondered on the words said by Shinto. "How do we go about that?"


    "Yeah! How do you?" Frey inquired.


    "Well, the easiest would be to know what we do," Shinto said. "Tell me, how much do you know about the skills of Raina, Ethaniel, Kon and I?"


    "Err..." she blinked at the thought. "...I know Raina throws out explosions... Ethaniel swoosh swoosh enemies, you blind the enemies or heal us... and Kon shoots out boom!"


    "...swoosh, swoosh?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Are you serious?"


    "I mean... you have that sword of yours that constantly send out bright shes," she said. "Which reminds me... you''re that person from the fight in town yesterday, right?!"


    "Hah?" he blinked in confusion at the statement.


    "You know! The one that fought against the brawler?" she asked. "Those attacks are so shy, it''s so cool!"


    "Ah... you saw that fight?" Raina questioned.


    "Mhm! I really like it! Though... it was a pity that-"


    "Ugh, shut it, that doesn''t matter anymore," Ethaniel scoffed as he turned to Shinto. "Now, can you continue on?"


    "Huh?" she tilted her head in confusion. "Did I say something wrong...?"


    Shinto let out a cough. "...cough. Frey..." he helplessly shook his head. "Ignoring that, my point stands. Our teamwork isn''t the best," he firmly said. "Weck the understanding of our party''s skill, and thus... we can''t as much rely on them as we want to."


    "Hmm... so, we just need to exin how our skills work and... that''s it?" Raina mumbled out.


    "...basically so. You just have to generally tell us what you have in your set," Shinto said. "You don''t need to exin anything too in-depth."


    Although Shinto knew the basic gist of how the skills of a mage and a brawler worked, he still needed to know how Frey and Raina went about with their builds and skillset, as they were multiple choices for skills for the basic sses that determined one''s ystyle.


    "Right, so..." Raina quickly opened up her skill window as she soon exined. "I have three fire-based skills... one of which is an AOE. A non-elemental skill and the rest all the basic element skills, all of which single targets."


    "You went with mainly fire-based skills?" Shinto asked.


    "Mhm," she nodded her head. "Since I needed to deal a lot of damage before, fire was my go-to. Though, I''m nning on getting thunder and wind skillster."


    For mages, there were many types of styles that a yer could y in. The damage types being fire and thunder-based skills, the supportive type being wind and water and defensive type, earth.


    "...hmm, right," he thought to himself. "If so, what about you Ethan?"


    "Six skills. Three are single target and two are AOEs, and one is a parry," Ethaniel said.


    "So you have six," Shinto mumbled to himself. "Are they all mainly damage?"


    "Yes," he said. "Pure damage, with a few self-buffs here and there."


    "Got it. And you Frey?" Shinto continued asking.


    "I''ve got six as well!" Frey shouted out. "All damage, and all single targets! Actually... um... one is a self-buff...? I don''t know! Haven''t used it!"


    "...what''s the skill?" he tilted his head.


    "Err... Parry Fist?" she said as she opened up the skill description quickly sharing it with the party whilst reading through the effects of the ability.


    [ Parry Fist Lv 1 ] [ 150 MP ] [ Cooldown: 10 Minutes ]


    Enters into a defensive stance, increasing defence by 20% for two minutes. With two hands crossed, when receiving damage, counter the enemy for 20% of the damage received whilst dealing and an additional 145% of physical damage to the enemy.


    "Oh! Now I remember! I chose this skill because... well, I thought it was cool I get to counter people!" she said excitedly.


    "...choosing Parry Fist over Healock or Highwind Kick...?" Ethaniel stared at Frey in disbelieve. "Why...?"


    "Eh... I just thought it was cool!" she answered without a second thought.


    "...sigh, you-" Ethaniel was about to continue on as he was quickly interrupted by Shinto.


    "...actually, with the fact that we don''t have a main tank... this is actually quite good," Shinto answered amused. "Parry Fist increases one''s defence if I recall. So, Frey can be in the front taking hits while dealing quite a lot of damage."


    "You do realize I have a parry skill too, right?" Ethaniel said.


    "What''s the effects of it?" Shinto questioned.


    "..." Contemting on whether or not to share the skill''s info, Ethaniel sighed as he showed him the details of his parry skill [Judgement Counter].


    [ Judgement Counter Lv 1 ] [ 30 Sword Energy ] [ Cooldown: 30 Minutes ]


    Through the power of the judgement knight, enter into a defensive state for one minute and a half. During such state, a barrier that absorbs 500 damage is created whilst one''s strength is increased by 20%.


    When receiving damage, counter the enemy for 30% of the damage received whilst dealing an additional 135% and 115% of light physical and magic damage respectively.


    *Damage is greatly increased against enemies marked as ''evil''.


    "...this is?" Shinto blinked at the skill description.


    "My parry skill," he shrugged.


    Shinto was deep in thought as hepared the two skills. One from the brawler and the other from Ethaniel''s ss ''Judgement Knight''. On paper, one would obviously choose the skill [ Judgement Counter ] over [ Parry Fist ] due to the effects, however, both skills had a different sort of usage to them.


    Inparison, in terms of a defensive counter, Parry Fist wins over Judgement Counter. However, thetter wins in term of raw strength.


    "Hmm... well, depending on the situation, we can utilize both parry skills in different ways," he nodded his head. "Especially when considering the fact of pairing it up with my skills, the room for possibilities widen."

 Chapter 97: Underestimation (2)

    Chapter 97: Underestimation (2)


    "Hmm... so the room for possibilities widen when paired up with your skills?" Raina thought to herself. "How exactly would the pairing work?"


    "...well, first of all, let''s go over my skills," Shinto muttered out.


    At present, the two-party membersRaina and Frey do not possess any knowledge regarding Shinto''s ss [Shadow Diviner]. Likewise, they do not know about Ethaniel''s. To keep the info about their ss, hidden, the two men chose to keep it secret from them.


    Although their intentions of hiding the info were to keep the origins of their ss a secret, Shinto and Ethaniel at the very least had to share the info of their skills with the party, in order for the girls to anticipate it and coordinate better.


    Soon after taking a deep breath, he began to exin his skills. "I have five skills. Out of the five, two of which are damage skills. Though, if I''m being real here, they''re used more on the supporting side," he exined. "As for the other three, two healing and one field skill."


    "Eh...? Those damage thingy skills are used more on the supporting side?" Frey blinked at the statement. "You''re talking about that shy blinding light right?"


    "Yes, I''m referring to that as one of my damage skills," he said. "It deals 500% magic damage and silences for five seconds."


    "...500%?! That much?!" Frey shouted out.


    "What''s the point of 500% if the end result is going to be shitty damage?" Ethaniel shrugged.


    "...cough, which is why I say that''s more like a support skill than any other..." he sighed. "The silence would be a really good turn around in tight situations."


    "Uhuh. So what''s this about pairing up with your skills for a goodbo?" Ethaniel inquired. "Your healing skills are one thing, but your other three abilities don''t seem to be useful for the parry skills, well maybe that shadow area skill... but that''s about it."


    "...errr," Shinto scratched his head. "Since your parry skills are mainly on the DPS side, I have a passive in which increases damage dealt by party members. Combining that increase with your skills that already do high damage, we''ll have an increase in DPS."


    "Yeah, but don''t you have any sort of skills which increases defence or something like that?" he raised his brow. "Don''t tell me you only have healing skills and a field skill for support?"


    "Sigh... unfortunately, that''s the only ones I''ve got now," he shook his head helplessly. From the first day of when he had gotten his ss to now, Shinto hadn''t gotten any clues as to how to unlock his other skills.


    When ites to hidden sses, especially lore-based ones, certain if not all skills can only be unlocked through trials and tribtions. Thus, it was important to constantly be on the lookout for any clues or hints regarding one''s hidden ss.


    However, for Shinto''s case, there wasn''t any information in regards to the Shadow Diviner as well, thus it was fruitless.


    He had hoped that when he had gotten his shadow stat to 20, he could''ve gotten a clue, but, he only learnt of the existence of the Shade''s Race and the shadow realm in which was a subspace of the Shadow Diviner.


    "...sigh, it would be great if I can get a single clue right now... but the only lead is the Shivuliz Soul Shard and... that material I got when I defeated Centripedas..." Shinto sighed to himself. "Maybe if I get my Divine stat to 20..." Thinking to himself, he quickly rid of the thought as he was unable to do anything at the moment. Quickly turning to the group, the discussion of skills continued.


    "...bah," he shrugged. "Anyway, what about this fox guy?"


    "I''m a cute fox for your information!" Kon stated.


    "Whatever," he scoffed. "Go on."


    "Grr..." Kon pouted. "Well for starters! I can make a doppelganger of myself! And then... I can create shadow orbs that stack damage on continuous usage! And uh... I can burn stuff!"


    "...so, three abilities?" Raina tilted her head. "I could''ve sworn I saw you used more than that..."


    "Uh... well, it probably because of my doppelganger self? We can use the same abilities almost at the same time! But... it''s hard controlling the trajectory... and... seeing double visions of your self hurts..." he mumbled out.


    "Eh...? That second Kon can do such things?!" Frey said in surprise.


    "Yep!" he nodded his head. "I''d show you... but we have to go through the other hallway now right...? So saving out skills is important! Probably..."


    "The right hallway..." Shinto said as he nced over to the direction, opposite the rubble that blocked the left path. "The one with the warrior."


    "You know... even after knowing our skills, I don''t feel very confident in going through this dungeon..." Raina said in worry. "I know Ethaniel, you, Frey and Kon are strong, but I don''t think brute-force would work against the high levelled enemies."


    "...well," Shinto hesitated as he soon firmly said. "As long as we y a team fight, we''ll be able to go through this dungeon."


    "We can''t even get out of this ce anyway even if we wanted to," Ethaniel shrugged. "So might as well go see this till the end."


    "...right, this is an instance dungeon," Raina sighed. "Well so be it. I should just stop worrying and see what actually can stop us."


    "...I hope there won''t be any skeletons or something..." Kon muttered out.


    "Agh, anything but rats! I don''t wanna see another horde of them!" Frey cried out.


    "The only way to know is just going on ahead, I guess," Shinto said.


    "Then let''s not loiter around anymore," Ethaniel said as he walked ahead, quickly making his way to the left hall. From behind, Frey and Raina followed up.


    "..." Still standing idle from before, Shinto solemnly looked at the backs of his teammates. "Honestly... I''ve only been repeating whatever Kaisus had said to me before..." he mumbled out.


    Although a support now, Shinto had mostly been a solo yer. Even when it came to matches in Crystality, his coordination with Vainblood wasn''t at all the best. At best, it was to the minimal. Participating in team fights, aiding and fighting off the enemies.


    "The one who would struggle during a team fight... would most likely be me," he sighed. "What do I know about working as a coordinated team?"


    "Huh? Master? Is something the matter?" Kon turned around as he asked.


    Upon hearing Kon''s words, Shinto hurriedly turned to him. "I-It''s nothing. Let''s just go now," he said, quickly taking a step forward into the left hallway.

 Chapter 98: Underestimation (3)

    Chapter 98: Underestimation (3)


    Stepping foot into the left hallway of the catbs, Shinto and Kon quickly caught up with the group.


    "...hmm, this ce seems... way different from the other one?" Raina muttered out as she scrutinized the walls of the area. Soon after, she noticed the litmus bugs ere giving off a purple-hue unlike the previous onesgreen.


    "The colour of the litmus bugs this time is purple..." Shinto thought.


    "P-purple... what could be the meaning of this?" Kon mumbled out.


    "...purple," Ethaniel thought to himself as he shrugged. "Well, guess skeletons are gonnae out."


    "...w-what...?" Kon shivered at Ethaniel''s statement. "S-Skeletons...?"


    The moment Kon spoke out, a sudden loud noise rang out throughout the left hallway, quickly making Kon lunge over towards the legs of Ethaniel in almost an instant.


    "E-EEEKK!!" he shouted out in a scared tone.


    "H-Hey what gives?" Ethaniel was taken aback by Kon''s sudden action as he quickly ced his hand onto the hilt of his sword. Momentster, his eyes scrutinizing around the area, remaining on high alert.


    "O-Oops..." Frey muttered out in an embarrassed tone. "I uh... kind of identally hit some rubble... which in turn... uh... activated some sort of trap upfront..."


    "...Frey," Ethaniel red at Frey, soon after, he turned towards the trap that was triggered, taking note of the spikes that protruded out of the floors. "Tch, you had me worried for nothing."


    "S-Sorry!" she apologized.


    "Ahem... in any case, this entire area screams necromancy to me," Shinto analyzed his front as he noticed many scattered bones around the area, as well as certain dense floorings and walls. "Not only that... there seem to be trapsid out almost everywhere as well."


    "It''s a lot different from that rat-infested hallway, huh?" Raina said.


    "Right. Unlike the other one... this ce has no rats at all from what I can see," Shinto said in suspicion. "So, it''s only a matter of time before skeletons start to appear..."


    "S-Skeletons..." Kon shivered. "I-Is there anything else that can appear besides skeletons and rats...?"


    "Bah. Why are you so scared of skeletons?" Ethaniel raised his brow as he shook his leg. "Also get off me will you?"


    "Eep!" Kon quickly released his grasp from Ethaniel''s leg as hended onto the ground with his paws. "Well, I just don''t like skeletons!"


    "They aren''t even that scary!" he scoffed. "It''s just a skull on a bunch of bones. There''s nothing scary about that."


    "B-But it is..." Kon frowned. "Their soulless eyes controlled as if puppets... It''s creepy! Especially when they cane back to form like it''s nothing..."


    "That''s just how the undead work I guess," Ethaniel shrugged. "If anything it feels like you just hate fighting them."


    "I hate them in general!" Kon shouted out.


    "Aha... but speaking of undead... nothing''s been appearing for a while now," Raina tilted her head in question. "Besides the traps almost triggered by Frey... I don''t see any signs of monsters anywhere."


    "...h-hey! What do you mean almost triggered by me?!" Frey pouted. "I only triggered two traps..."


    "One that almost killed you and the other that you triggered just by kicking rubble," Ethaniel said.


    "W-Well... it''s just two!"


    "...Frey, take one more step and you''re a goner," Shinto calmly said.


    "E-Eh...?" Frey blinked at the statement as she turned to look at the floor below her, quickly noticing a dent on it which would''ve sensed the pressure of Frey''s weight if she had stepped on it.


    "My point stands," Ethaniel scoffed.


    "Argh! This is just me not being careful!"


    "Tch. Yeah, right. Were you ever?"


    The two bickered at one another as Shinto ignored them. "Anyway. It''s strange. It''s too quiet here. Not to my liking."


    "B-But master... wouldn''t that be jinxing it if you say it like that?" Kon mumbled out.


    "...well, I''d rather hope that something would pop up so we can get experience to level up..." Shinto sighed. "It''s better if can level up before reaching the boss."


    "That''s true!" Frey nodded her head. "But I don''t want something like that rat incident to happen again..."


    "Fighting against skeletons should be fairly easier given that they aren''t small and can''t exactly fit in tiny spaces like the rats," Ethaniel reasoned. "So it should be fine."


    "...Ethaniel, thest time you said that we ended up nearly dying," Raina helplessly said.


    "Ahem... I was underestimating that time, this won''t happen again," Ethaniel coughed.


    "Sure..." Raina red at Ethaniel as she sighed.


    While she walked at a steady pace along with the group, Raina felt a cold sensation on her shoulders. "...huh?" Tilting her head in question, she moved her hand over to the area. "...slime?" Feeling a sticky feeling on her hand, her face grew more confused.


    "Huh? Raina, what''s wrong?" Shinto questioned as he noticed Raina had stopped at her footsteps.


    "There''s slime on my shoulder...?" she answered unsurely. "I''m not sure where it came from though..."


    "Slime...?" Shinto raised his brow as looked around the area. Momentster, his eyes quickly narrowed towards the ceiling of the catbs, taking note of a substance at the top. "Raina, stand back!"


    "...huh?"


    The moment Shinto shouted out, the substance from the top of the catbs began to move. In the next moment, it dropped down over towards the group as it formed into a round-shaped monster.


    "Gloop."


    "...a slime?" Frey blinked at the sight.


    "It''s a slime and not a skeleton?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as held onto his sword tightly. Soon after, he stepped forward as he sent a white arc over towards the slime.


    However, the attack that he had sent out only went through the slime.


    "...?!" Ethaniel opened his eyes wide in shock.


    "Gloop." The slime stood at its spot, unphased by Ethaniel''s skill.


    "What the...?" Frey her brow in confusion. "That didn''t have any effect?"


    "...is it immune to physical attacks?" Shinto tilted his head. "Raina, try casting a fire spell."


    "U-Uh alright..." Holding onto her staff, Raina began to chant a spell. Momentster, a burning me shot out from it.


    [ Mage Skill - Fireball ]


    The moment that the attack collided with the slime, the monster quickly let out a scream as it moved in anger.


    "Gloop!!" Separating into pieces, the slime swiftly attached itself onto Raina.


    "...eh?" The moment the slime attached to Raina, the substance grew in size as it quickly surrounded her in a matter of seconds. Before she knew it, she was getting dragged away by the slime.


    "Raina!" The group cried out in shocked.

 Chapter 99: Sticky Situation (1)

    Chapter 99: Sticky Situation (1)


    Without wasting any time, Shinto and Ethaniel hurriedly rushed forward towards Raina as they grabbed her by the arms, in hopes of pulling her out.


    "Ack... It''s not budging!" Raina attempted to forcefully move her arm out of the slime. However, the force was not enough. Even with the help of the two, the slime in itself was dragging the three along.


    "Argh- What the?!" Ethaniel cried out as he quickly stood his grounds in order to battle against the excessive force, though futile. "What''s with this guy''s strength!?"


    "Gloop." The slime continued on as it ignored the weight that has been added.


    "Tsk... this is hopeless," Shinto clicked his tongue as he quickly released his grip on her arm. Momentster, he quickly chanted a spell, as he shot a blinding white light over towards the slime.


    [ Hallowed Crest ]


    As the spell was about to reach the slime, a loud noise rang throughout the catbs as liquid substances quickly fell to the ground, swiftly intercepting Shinto''s attack.


    "Ugh..." Shinto frowned at the sight. Just like the one that was dragging Raina, more slimes had appeared. However, unlike the previous one, they looked to be ferocious. "There''s more of them?"


    "...a-and they don''t seem at all happy to see us," Kon muttered out.


    "Gloop!" In the next moment, spikes formed around the surface of the slime as it shot out, quickly making its way over towards the group.


    "Eeep!" Kon dodged the spikes. Quickly, he initiated a skill, swiftly sending out a quick me in return. "Aha, take that!"


    The me quickly devoured the slime, however upon a nce at its health, Kon''s me only dealt minimalistic damage, only scrapping around 4% of its HP.


    "H-Huh?" Kon blinked at the health bar.


    "Gloop..." The slime jiggled as if shrugging off the attack that Kon had sent. Soon after, it leapt forward as it headed over to Kon in anger.


    "...!!" Noticing the attack, Kon quickly attempted to move to the side, but, just as he was about to, his legs didn''t budge. "Eh...?!" His eyes turned to the bottom as he soon took note that his paws were glued to the ground.


    "Kon...!" Frey cried out as she hurriedly swooped in, quickly intercepting against the attacksing from the slime. With her arms crossed, Frey quickly initiated her parry skill: [Parry Fist].


    <em><strong>Tuk!</strong></em>


    The slime collided with Frey as she was slightly pushed back. "Argh..." Standing her ground against them, she forcefully shoved forward with all her strength.


    "Gloop!" Spikes protruded out from the slimes once again in defence, as it struck Frey, quickly lowering her health down towards the yellow zone. But, in return for the damage received, Frey equally countered against them, lowering 12% of their health.


    "U-Um, a little help here?" Frey turned towards Ethaniel and Shinto who were still in midst of getting Raina out of danger. However, they were interrupted by the slimes which surrounded them.


    "Tch, do you think we''re free to help?!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he drew an arc, quickly shing through the slimes. Meanwhile, from behind him, Shinto sent multiple waves of his basic attack against them.


    With Shinto and Ethaniel teaming up against the slime, the two were only able to lower their health down to 40% in the time frame of Frey''s struggles.


    "W-Well, if you don''t help, I might die here!" Frey cried out whilst continuing to parry against the onught of attacks that the slimes were giving. For each time they attack, Frey lowered down their health by 3% to 4%, dealing about 170 damage each time.


    "This situation is a little grave..." Shinto analyzed the area whilst moving about, dodging the spikes which the slimes were spraying around. His footsteps were meticulous and skilled as he avoided the sticky substance on the floor. "But, it''s doable since there''s only about three of them."


    "Exin further!!" Frey continued to cry out.


    "We focus on an enemy at a time," Shinto calmly stated as he quickly switched his target from Ethaniel''s over towards the slime which Frey was going up against. Focusing his efforts on healing up Frey whilst shooting out mana sparks.


    "Hey! You want me to abandon this guy in front of me?!" Ethaniel shouted out as he noticed Shinto''s abrupt switch. "He''s almost dead!"


    "By the time we kill the guy, Frey will die," he stated. "Besides, you can handle it on your own."


    "Seriously?!" Ethaniel frowned. in the next moment, a shining bright pir of light shone down onto the slime in front of Frey. In that second, Ethaniel rushed forward as he followed up with a normal attack. "Bah. Then get this over with!"


    With theirbined forces of the group, the slime was turned into grey-ash in an instant.


    [ Sanke Slime Warrior has been defeated! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 22! ]


    [ Kon has levelled up to level 14! ]


    [ Your Divinity Stats has been increased by 1. ]


    Soon after the first slime was defeated, the group shifted their target onto the one which Shinto and Ethaniel were fighting earlier, swiftly defeating them, they quickly turned to the final one.


    ...


    [ Sanke Slime... ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 23! ]


    [ Kon has levelled up to level 15! ]


    [ Kon has learnt the skill ''Camouge'' ]


    "...phew," Shinto let out a tired breath as he turned towards the notification window. Noticing that Kon had unlocked a new skill for usage, [Camouge]. "...?" Silently, he muttered out the skill name to check its detail.


    [ Camouge Lv 1 ] [ 40 MP ] [ Cooldown: 20 Minute ]


    Enters into a camouged state, decreasing the ability for entities that do not have enhanced vision to see the user. When in this state, aggro and target rate is decreased by 45%.


    "...camouge huh?" Shinto''s eyes widened as he read through the description. "This is good," he nodded in satisfaction as he turned towards Kon.


    "Ehehe, did I do good, master?" Kon wagged his tail happily.


    "I guess," he shrugged. "Though, in terms of performance... your skills and damage didn''t work much on the slimes, huh?"


    "...yeah," he whimpered. "My magic did nothing against them! But earlier that slime that looked exactly the same as them was vulnerable to magic!"


    "Bah. It must be a different type since these guys are called ''warriors''," Ethaniel replied. "In any case, can we hurry it up already? That stupid slime is getting farther away as we speak!"


    "Right, Raina!" Frey shouted out. "Where did they go?!"


    "With the speed, it was going at, they shouldn''t be too far from here," Shinto said. "Let''s go," he gestured towards the group as they quickly rushed through the left hallway.

 Chapter 100: Sticky Situation (2)

    Chapter 100: Sticky Situation (2)


    Within the dark halls of the catbs, a slime slipped on the stone-paved grounds as it dragged Raina through. With her hands tightly stuck to its body, she couldn''t escape.


    "Ack..." Unable to resist the force of the slime, she followed along with the monster''s pacing, to prevent her arms from breaking due to excessive force.


    "...what do I do?" she muttered herself. "This guy isn''t attacking me at all and is just dragging me everywhere..."


    "Gloop."


    "Gloop?"


    "Gloop!"


    "...and, the slimes that are around me seems to be staring at me...?" she shivered at the thought. "Scary..."


    The slime and Raina walked at a steady pace as they reached the end of the hallway, wherein, they were soon greeted by arge door, of what seemed to resembled that of the statue which sword was upright from earlier.


    "...huh?" At the sight, her head tilted with a confused look. "Am I being taken to the boss room?"


    "Gloop!" The slime jiggled slightly. "Gloop, gloop!" Soon after, it jiggled once again, as the door of the hallway opened. Momentarily, it began to move into the room, dragging Raina.


    "Hooman?" Entering into the room, a deep voice resounded through.


    ...


    While Slime was taking Raina, the rest of the party members hurried along the path as they made their way through. With their weapons in hand, they quickly struck at the slimes which aggressively approached them.


    "Gloop!" The slime pounced over to Ethaniel in a frenzy, quickly knocking him back.


    "Tsk..." Ethaniel gritted his teeth as he soon sent a bright shing light over towards the enemy in front of him. Following up with that, Frey rushed over, quickly throwing a punch at it.


    "...hey, is it just me or are the slimes just getting powerful every encounter?" Frey muttered out in worry. "it takes way more hits and attacks to kill them!"


    "This is just the fourth encounter!" Kon cried out.


    "But even if they''re getting powerful over time, they seem to be getting less aggressive, per se?" Shinto calmly stated as he sent multiple shots of mana spark over towards the target.


    "Huh? What do you mean?" Frey questioned as she turned the slime into grey-ash, finally ending the battle.


    "What I mean is, for every encounter of the slime we had, they seem to have progressively gotten less aggressive," Shinto said, waving his staff over towards Ethaniel as he cast his skill: [Mark of Umbra].


    "Wouldn''t that be good for us then?" Ethaniel shrugged. "If they''re gonna be pouncing at us every so often, we can hurry it up and catch up with Raina."


    "Right, right!" Frey nodded her head. "But, where are they? They can''t have made it that far, right?"


    "We had been fighting for quite a while," Shinto turned to nce around the vicinity. "By the time we reach them, we might be at the end of the hall."


    "Gloop?"


    "Gloop..."


    As they continued down the hallways, more slimes started to appear, however, the monsters only stared at them from the distance, not making any moves against them.


    "Huh. You''re right... they ARE getting less aggressive..." Frey pondered. "What the heck''s going on?"


    "Does it really matter?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Just get a move on."


    "Well, their behaviours weird! Aren''t monsters like... bah! I kill you! Or something like that?" Frey tilted her head.


    "Hmm, now that I think about it, it''s weird," Shinto thought to himself. "From that first slime that took Raina, it showed some weird actions."


    "Like how it didn''t straight up attack us?" Kon added on.


    "Yeah. It only started doing stuff against us when Raina used her skills..." he continued his line of thought. "Looking back on it, did it really attack Raina in anger?"


    "What else could it be?" Ethaniel scoffed. "The slime called for other slimes for back-up while it dragged Raina away."


    "W-Well... how do we even tell a slimes emotion?" Kon muttered out.


    "By the way they move, maybe?" Frey answered.


    "They can only jump up and down, pounce and shake," Ethaniel raised his brow. "How on earth do you tell an emotion just from that?"


    "Like how they''re happy, sad, angry? Movements of the body tell a lot actually!" Frey excitedly stated. "You can probably tell if someones lying just by the way they move."


    "...but their slimes... not humans," Ethaniel blinked at the statement from Frey.


    "Still a living thing!"


    "Then, how did the slime acted for you?" Shinto turned to Frey as he asked.


    "How did I thought it acted? Uh... I don''t exactly remember..." Frey said. "Happy probably?"


    "Happy??" Ethaniel questioned in a confused tone. "How does that look happy?"


    "That was my impression of it!" Frey answered back. "It didn''t look angry at all..."


    "If it wasn''t angry... then why did it go and take Raina like that?" Shinto mumbled out.


    "Donno. My head''s empty," Frey shrugged.


    "Great help, Frey..." Ethaniel scoffed.


    "I don''t see you helping?" she pouted.


    "I already gave you my stance didn''t I?"


    "Ahem... in any case, something''s up," Shinto quickly intervened as he observed the slimes within the area. Noticing that they seemed to be conversing with one another.


    "Gloop, gloop?" One slime jiggled its body.


    "Gloop..." The other slime shivered.


    "They''re basically holding up a conversation in their ownnguage, I think..." Shinto assumed. "Too bad we can''t understand them. But... I feel as if they''re talking about us?"


    "Are they plotting to kill us?!" Kon cried out.


    "I don''t think so. But I could be wrong, everything''s based on assumptions at this point," Shinto sighed.


    "Arghh! Why can''t everyone just speak the samenguage?!" Kon pouted.


    Still making their way forward, the group quickly stopped at their footsteps as they noticed a small slime upfront, blocking their way. The moment their eyes locked onto the slime, the sounds from the monsters around them seem to grow louder, until they began to resound throughout the catbs.


    "Gloop...!!"


    "G-Gloop..."


    "Gloop!!!"


    It seemed as if the slimes were crying out.


    "H-Huh?" The group was confused at the sudden situation.


    "G-Gloop, gloop..." The small slime pounced forward, approaching the party.

 Chapter 101: Sticky Situation (3)

    Chapter 101: Sticky Situation (3)


    Seeing the behaviour of the small slime in front of the group slowly moving towards them, Shinto and the rest were baffled at the situation.


    "T-They really are plotting to kill us!" Kon cried out.


    "Argh... did we let our guard down too much?" Shinto clicked his tongue as he held onto his staff tightly, quickly observing the conduct of the slimes.


    "Gloop!" With his eyes on the monsters, he saw that they were wriggling about in a frenzy. "Gloop!!"


    "Those slimes aren''t moving near us, but they seem scared?" Frey thought to herself. "...ahh! I don''t get what''s going on!"


    "Ugh. Neither do I," Ethaniel frowned at the current predicament that they were in, slowly unsheathing his sword to prepare for any attacks.


    "W-what do we do?" Kon muttered out. "It seems like we still have the first move if we do something right now..."


    "This situation..." Shinto mumbled in an unsure tone. "I''m not sure..."


    From the looks of things, if the group were to do any wrong moves, the slimes around them might swoop in and kill them off in an instant. By estimation, there seemed to be around ten to twelve slimes in the vicinity, and this was only in the area. Who knew how many more would be up ahead if they were to hear this outcry?


    "You''re not sure?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Do we have to run again?"


    "No, no!" Frey frantically shook her head. "Nothing of that! Look, look, that little slime is trying to say something!"


    "Hah? What can we even get from this?" he raised his brow in confusion, quickly, he moved his eyes over to the slime.


    "...gloop! Gloop!" The slime at the front of them seemed to be bouncing up and down in a hurry. Unbeknownst to them of the meaning, the slime continued to do this action,pletely disregarding the tense atmosphere.


    "See, see, it''s trying to say something!" Frey pointed out.


    "Even if it''s trying to say something, what can we get out of it if we don''t understand theirnguage?" Shinto sighed. Unlike the bizarre words of the Altrguage that he saw in the dungeon before his reset, his passive skill [Eyes of Altric] was only limited to the readings of the Altrguage, not so much for understanding monsters speech.


    "Uh... well..." Frey was stumped for words.


    "Gloop! Gloop!" The slime continued to bounce.


    "-Maybe it''s trying to tell us to follow it?" she tilted her head in uncertainty.


    "How does bouncing up and down tell you it wants us to follow it??" Ethaniel said in a confused tone.


    "What else could it possibly be huh?"


    "I don''t know, maybe it''s asking to go away or something?" Shinto said.


    "It''s either the two! I''m taking the former," Frey stated.


    "And I''m going with thetter. if he wanted us to follow it, he''d try to bounce up and down and then he''ll try to move ahead whilst looking at us or something!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "Well it''s doing it right now!" she pointed straight to the moving slime, leaping ahead of the halls.


    "H-Huh?" Ethaniel blinked at the sight.


    "...so, we follow it?" Kon asked, still wary of the surroundings.


    "Agh, whatever! Just follow it, I give up!" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "Things still don''t make sense though. Why does it want us to follow it?" Shinto questioned.


    "Does it look like anyone knows?" he red at Shinto. "We were going to Raina anyways! If there isn''t any interruption, then let''s hurry it up already."


    "...ahem. You''re right," he calmly walked forward. "This slime might just lead us to her."


    ...


    Persisting on in the hallway, the group followed after the slime who only bounced up and down. From their surroundings, more slimes appeared, however, those slimes seemed to be watching the group moving.


    "...more slimes appeared huh?" Shinto inquired.


    "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Kon asked. "One wrong move on our side and we''re dead!"


    "Bah. Is that all you''re worried about? We should be wondering where the hell this guy is taking us," he said in an annoyed tone.


    "Gloop gloop!" From the front of them, the slime stopped at its footsteps. Soon after, he began to jiggle, as if pointing over towards its front.


    "Oh? It stopped..." Ethaniel''s eyes narrowed.


    "Hmm... if we look upfront- Eh?" Frey blinked at the sight. "Isn''t that the statue we saw earlier?!"


    "Gloop!" The slime bounced happily.


    "The statue with its sword facing upright..." Shinto muttered to himself. "The boss room?"


    "HUH?! The boss room?!" Kon cried out. "Is this slime leading us to our deaths?!"


    "It can''t be this easy arriving at the boss room for an instance dungeon, right?" Shinto said in an unsure tone. "I doubt it..."


    "Then what can it mean then?" Frey pondered. "The base of where the slimes live?"


    "Don''t be stupid. How can that be?" Ethaniel refuted.


    "Well, it''s a possibility!"


    "Gloop, gloop!" The slime jiggled once again, as the door soon opened.


    "Ah... it opened..." Kon said in surprise. "We''re dead aren''t we?"


    "Gloop!" The slime seemed to turn towards the group as it bounced. Momentster, it entered the room without waiting for the party.


    "Um, what do we do?" Kon muttered out. "...are we just going to go into our deaths?"


    "Well in the end we were going to head inside there either way..." Shinto sighed. "There aren''t any corridors or turns while we were moving through the hall, so by logic, Raina should be inside there."


    "I''m calling it, It''ll be a den where slimes live!"


    "Sure..." he answered half-heartedly as he began to enter the room. Following that, the rest headed in.


    The moment the party stepped foot into the room, they were greeted by the sight of a group of slimes, all moving about as if they were moving on with their daily lives. Shelters and shops could be seen in the vicinity.


    "...I TOLD YOU!" Frey shouted out. "And you said that it wasn''t possible."


    "...bah. I stand corrected then."


    "Gloop! Gloop!" Still bickering, they were interrupted as they heard the small slime who had been waiting for them. "Gloop!" Turning in its direction, their eyes opened wide in shock as they noticed arge slime from behind it. This slime was much bigger than any they''ve seen.


    "...more hoomans?" An unknown voice spoke out.

 Chapter 102: Slimes Den (1)

    Chapter 102: Slime''s Den (1)


    Hearing the strangely muffled voice by the distance, the group was quickly taken aback as they soon became wary. Momentster, the party narrowed their eyes as they saw that the voice came from the giant slime in front of them.


    "I-It came from that slime...?" Frey slightly took a step back as she sized up the monster which was almost two heads bigger than her own. "This is unlike anything we''ve seen..."


    "Hoomans, humans. I am curious. Why have youe to this ce?" The slime leapt forward as it swiftly made its way towards the group and, the moment itnded on the ground, a sudden notification appeared before the eyes of the party members.


    [ King Leloop, King of the Sanke Slimes has appeared before you! ]


    [ All non-slimes who are in his presence will have their defences lowered by 1% for every slime in a 35-meter vicinity. ]


    [ All non-slimes who are in his presence will receive 50% additional poison damage and it can only be cured through herbs. ]


    [ You have resisted. ]


    "This is not good..." Kon cowered in fear as he noticed the menacing auraing from Leloop.


    "...the king of slimes," Shinto assessed the situation before him as he nced around the area, noting that there were many slimes moving about in what seemed to be a street. Some slimes ignored the group, while others were curious, he could even hear certain murmursing from them as if their group was the hot topic.


    After confirming the situation, Shinto''s eyes turned back towards Leloop still on high alert. "If we were to fight... that guy''s going to deal true damage to us."


    Fighting against the king slime amidst the ooze of Sanke Slimes within the area wouldn''t do the party any good. At that point, the defence debuff would be incredibly high, and without any sort of damage reduction skills or barriers, it would mean their death just from a couple of strong hits by the boss if he were to deal high damage.


    "...In order to fight it, we''ll need to be able to dodge all its attacks." Deep within thought, Shinto calmly analyzed as he soon shook his head of the thought. "No... counting on dodging all its attacks would be impossible." His line of thinking was quickly interrupted as he heard the voice from the king.


    "Hmm, you all seem wary. Why so?" Leloop calmly stated. "Do not fret. We mean no harm."


    "What?" Ethaniel nkly stared at the statement. "You mean no harm yet you took one of ourpanions from us?"


    "Gloop! Gloop!" The small slime bounced up and down in reply.


    "Yes, yes. The ''friend'' that they were referring to is that human which your brother brought here, I see, I see." Leloop seemed to have nodded his head over towards the small slime. "So because of that; you brought them here?"


    "Gloop!"


    "...what are they saying?" Kon uttered in confusion.


    "The hell am I supposed to know?" Ethaniel whispered in reply.


    "They seem to be conversing with one another... just what are they talking about?" Frey questioned.


    "King Leloop." Without wasting any time in the matter, Shinto quickly stepped forward from the group, swiftly confronting the king. "You seem to know the whereabouts of ourpanion?"


    "The whereabouts of your friend... yes, yes," Leloop calmly stated. "I do know where your friend is. However- That human is very important for us as of the moment."


    "Important?" Shinto blinked at the sudden wordsing out from Leloop. Soon after, he further continued his inquiry. "What does a mage have an importance to you?"


    "They who throw the me of hope against the seeker of death-" The slime leapt away from the group whilst seemingly repeating a verse. "-shall seek retribution and free us all."


    "...?" Shito tilted his head at the verses stated by the slime. "The ''seeker of death'', are you referring to what they call ''Sanke''?"


    "Hmm, human, you seem to know well. Thus I''m sure you''ll understand." The slime continued leaping away from the group. "It is of high importance that we request help from your friend. This is a life or death situation after allSo, till then, we cannot allow you to have that human."


    "Hmm... I cannot allow you to leave without an answer either." Shinto hurriedly stopped the king. "This ''request'' and ''life or death situation'' you say; you can''t just leave us hanging like that," he stated. "As she is a part of our party, we demand to know what this is all about."


    "Gloop! Gloop!" The small slime seemed to angrily bounce as if angered at the king.


    "It is simple humans. The request is to use the mes of Etheral that we have kept archived here to defeat Sanke who lurks deep within this catb cursing us all," Leloop stated. "For this friend of yours shall learn the arts and use it to help us defeat him."


    "And you''re just going to keep her away from us?" Ethaniel frowned. "Why can''t you just show us where she is?"


    "They who shall learn the arts shall not be disturbed." The slime firmly stated. "Until it is done, you may not see your friend; likewise she may not see you."


    "Tch... and what makes us unable to help her?" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "It is dangerous for you humans as only the one who holds the mes of Etheral can fend off the darkness of Sanke." Not wanting to entertain the group anymore, the slime continued moving farther and farther away. "For the time being, your group may stay in our sanctuary. Rustly who has escorted you shall take you to a suitable quarter." Hisst words protruded out as he disappeared into the distance.


    "..." The group was left speechless at the acts of the king, however, unable to do anything, they could only sigh helplessly.


    "...master, what do we do now?" Kon muttered out over to Shinto. "Should we trust this guy''s words?"


    "...bah. I don''t like this at all," Ethaniel scoffed. "They took Raina forcibly and we can''t do anything about it? Might as well just drag us into this request!"


    "Gloop..." The slime sadly uttered out.


    "I''m sure the king has good intentions on us! Like, you heard the words of ''curse'' right? That''s probably why..." Frey reasoned. "He''s showing goodwill!"


    "...sigh. We can''t really do much about this at the moment," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "These guys have the upper hand, so we can''t retaliate. As for the circumstance of the curse... I''ll see if I can speak with the king againter."


    "Huh? You can get around the curse?" Frey blinked at the thought.


    "It is something only a handful can do... but yes," Shinto replied vaguely as he turned to Ethaniel. "I''m sure someone else can get away from it too."


    "..." Ethaniel kept quiet.


    "Ahem, in any case... for the time being, let''s just see how this goes," Shinto nodded his head. "It seems that we won''t be able to see Raina for a long while, but we''ll y along. I''m curious about this ce anyways."

 Chapter 103: Slimes Den (2)

    Chapter 103: Slime''s Den (2)


    "Gloop!" The small slime leapt around the streets as the group silently followed it from behind. Whilst doing so, the party nced around the area, looking at the semi-circle stone structures.


    "...these buildings sure are built strangely huh. The architecture is... interesting," Shinto pondered to himself as he scrutinized the structure, seeing the size and height of the building seemingly big enough to minimally fit humans. Although the houses were customized for slimes, it was as if the architect considered humans in its design.


    Walking on the stone paths of the slime''s retreat, his eyes soon moved over towards the small litmus bugs flying around in the area. Some stuck to the grey walls, some at amp while others were floating around on the streets. All of them lit up in a yellow hue, giving off a feeling of a moonlit night.


    "Gloop! Gloop!" The slime jiggled to the side as if it was telling the group something.


    "Bah... You know we can''t understand a single thing you''re saying, right?" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "Gloop..." The slime continued to slightly move to the side as if wanting to show them something.


    "Hey! Maybe it''s trying to give us a tour?" Frey pointed out.


    "Hah? A tour of what? What''s there to see?" he raised his brow. "All I see are stone buildings, litmus bugs and slimes moving about everywhere."


    "Gloop! Gloop!" The slime seemed to be pouting.


    "...it''s saying maybe you should just enjoy the scenery or something?" Frey muttered out. "In any case, just enjoy the scenery!"


    "Why are you saying this as if you''re tranting whatever ''gloop'' means?" Ethaniel frowned. "I still don''t understand how you are even able to understand that guy."


    "It''s called looking at its bodynguage!" Frey stated.


    "...ugh," Ethaniel shook his head helplessly, quickly ncing away from Frey. "Whatever you say."


    "Gloop!" The slime bounced up and down.


    "Man, I wish we can just understand whatever this slime is saying," Kon sighed. "Why can''t any of the slimes speak normal Arcos?? And why is it only the king able to do speak it?"


    "Well most probably because it''s the king," Shinto answered. "Though it''s weird that the slimes are able to understand us. Usually, there''d be anguage barrier for them as well..."


    "So they can understand Arcos but can''t speak it?" Kon questioned.


    "I guess so. But, I''m curious as to why the king knows thenguage when no one else speaks it here," he thought. "Could there be someone else here?"


    "Someone else..." Frey muttered out as she suddenly remembered a fact. "Perhaps the old man?!"


    "The old who now?" Ethaniel blinked at the statement.


    "That guy I escorted here," she said. "He gave me the keys to this ce and then suddenly disappeared!"


    "Right, the one you escorted..." Shinto nodded his head in understanding. "If things are how it seems to be, it means that he must be here."


    "Hmm... so do we find him then?" Frey tilted her head. "Maybe we can get much clearer answers from him!"


    "You say as if it''s so easy to find that guy," Ethaniel shrugged.


    "Maybe that slime knows?" Frey turned over towards the slime as she quickly took note that the slime seemed to be slightly angry.


    "Gloop... Gloop! Gloop!" The slime looked to be shouting out in itsnguage as it quickly bounced over towards the group. Soon after, it attached itself onto Shinto who was at the front of the group.


    "...?!" The group opened their eyes wide in shock as they witnessed the scene before them. However, without being able to react in time; the slime began to forcibly drag Shinto over towards a building.


    "Eh?! What is this slime doing?!" Kon cried out.


    "Gloop!" Heading into the building, the slime detached itself from him. Momentster, it jiggled as if pointing upfront.


    "Huh...?" Shinto raised his brow in question as he moved his eyes over to where the slime was pointing towards, noticing a slime at the counter.


    "Gloop?" The slime at the counter looked at Shinto seemingly with a confused expression.


    "...you dragged me here to the inn?" Shinto nkly stared at the slime. "You could have just moved into the building and we''d know to head inside..."


    "Gloop!" The slime bounced in anger.


    "I can''t understand what you''re saying..." he sighed. "Can you just do it through your movements?"


    "Gloop..." The slime irritatedly pounced over towards the counter, quickly, it attached itself onto a small book. In the next moment, the slime dragged the book over towards Shinto. "Gloop!"


    "Gloop...?" The slime by the counter continued to confusingly look at the group who had rushed in when the small slime took Shinto into the building.


    "Gloop! Gloop!" The small slime seemed to be exining things to the other slime.


    "...what''s this book?" Shinto bent down as he took the book from the floor.


    "Eh? What''s that?" Kon tilted his head at the sight of the item in Shinto''s hand.


    "No idea, that slime just gave it to me."


    "Open it! Let''s see what this is all about!" Frey said excitedly.


    Quickly, Shinto began to scrutinize the details of the book, opening it.


    [ Gloop Gloop Gloop. ]


    Gloop Gloop...


    At a nce at the item given by the slime, all he saw was the writing of ''Gloop''. He felt like coughing blood upon seeing that the word filled up the entire book.


    "...this," Shinto let out a tired sigh as he turned to the slime. "Is this a joke?"


    "Ugh... are you making fun of us for not understanding the damnnguage?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "Gloop?" The slime appeared to be staring at the group in bewilderment, seemingly wondering why his reaction was as so. Suddenly, upon a faint realization, the slime hurriedly leapt towards the book in Shinto''s hand as it flung it across the room. "Gloop!!"


    Acting flusteredly, the slime moved over towards another book as it attached itself,ter bringing it to Shinto.


    "Gloop... gloop..." The slime seemed to be apologizing.


    "...so that was the wrong book, huh?" Picking up another book that the slime gave, he began to scrutinize the details of it once again.


    The moment Shinto opened the book, a bright sh of light shone out.


    [ The (''Gloop'' chronicles) has been opened. ]


    "...!!"

 Chapter 104: Slimes Den (3)

    Chapter 104: Slime''s Den (3)


    As the light continued to brightly shine within the room, Shinto as well as the group was taken aback by the sudden phenomena. After a while, the light quietly settled down as the book revealed itself to a hollow page, where a ne was seen strapped onto it.


    "...what the?" Shinto blinked at the sight of the strange item on the book. In the next moment, he began to scrutinize its details.


    [ Cursed Ne of the Gloop ]


    Rarity: Rare (Curse Item)


    Stats: Poison RES +35% [] / MP +20 []


    *The passive ''Gloop Understanding Proficiency'' is generated.


    *The passive ''Let''s be Friends, Gloop!'' is generated.


    *The passive ''Sanke''s Curse'' is generated.


    *Curse of ''Affixment'' is on this item.


    A ne that seemed to be made from the goo of the king slime. Once cherished as a national treasure, now abandoned. A mistake had been made for it is now a sin to wear this item.


    Condition(s): Only when you receive permission from a slime will you be eligible to wear this item.


    ...


    "...?" Reading through the item''s description, Shinto''s lit in curiosity as he noticed the words ''cursed'' on it. "...this is?"


    "Gloop!" The slime bounced up and down as if insisting for Shinto to wear it.


    "Eh?! Are you crazy?!" Frey cried out. "This is a cursed item! Wait... what does a cursed item do?"


    "What''s the definition of cursed?" Ethaniel grumbled at Frey as he soon shook his head. "Bah. Anyways, why the heck did this slime give this item?"


    "Gloop! Gloop!" The group could hear the cries from the slime at the counter, as if worried.


    "Gloop, gloop!" The slime in front of the group seemed to be reassuring it.


    "...a cursed item," Shinto deeply thought to himself. "Its stats are degraded due to it, but what about the abilities?"


    ...


    [ Gloop Understanding Proficiency Lv 2 () ]


    Allows one to understand the normal speech of the ''gloop''nguage from slimes. When reading certain words from theirnguage, however, one might have trouble reading it.


    *This passive can be upgraded as if you have unlocked this passive yourself.


    *As this item is cursed, you are unable to reach the max level.


    ...


    [ Let''s be Friends, Gloop! Lv 2 () ]


    Normal to intermediate slimes within the area would slightly be kind to you. if provoked, they will attack you and you will lose experience points.


    *This passive can be upgraded as if you have unlocked this passive yourself.


    *As this item is cursed, you are unable to reach the max level and its penalty effects is twice.


    ...


    [ Sanke''s Curse Lv MAX ]


    The curse of Sanke prevails this item. All its stats have been lowered and whoever dons the item; will receive the effects of [Sanke''s Curse]: Damage is decreased by 15%, Damage Taken is increased by 30%, Fear RES is decreased by 500%, Sanke''s Mind Control is Susceptible.


    *As this is a max level curse, only high levelled purification magic can cleanse this curse.


    ...


    "..." Confirming the details of the passive, Shinto nodded his head as he began to wear the item.


    "Wait, are you nning on wearing the item?" Frey tilted her head.


    "Eh? But master, it''s cursed!"


    Ignoring the concerns of the two, the ne was ced on his neck.


    "...!!!" The slime at the counter jumped back in shock. "Gloop?!"


    "Gloop, gloop!" The small slime leapt towards the slime as if it was calming it down.


    [ You have equipped the ''Cursed Ne of Gloop'' ]


    [ The Curse of Sanke is in effect! ]


    The moment Shinto wore the ne on his neck, he felt sudden darkness peeking at him from afar.


    [ Sanke''s eyes peek on you. ]


    [ Heughs maniacally. ]


    "...!" Soon after, the darkness enshrouded his eyes as he heard a burst of manicughter ringing within his ears. Then, he heard a creepy odd voice.


    "Interesting! Interesting! Someone has dared to use such item?" Theughter continued. "You shall now be my paw-"


    [ You have resisted. ]


    Receiving thest notification, Shinto''s vision quickly returned to normal as he warily nced around the area with a slight heavy breath. "...Sanke." He muttered out as he turned to the direction of where he had felt the eyes of darkness on him.


    "Master! Are you okay!?" Kon worryingly shouted out.


    However, since he had resisted, he couldn''t sense the eyes any longer. "...cough, yeah, I''m fine." Shaking his head away from the thought, he quickly turned towards the two slimes that were conversing with one another.


    [ ''Gloop Understanding Proficiency'' is now in effect. ]


    "Gloop... Gloop... It''s fine, It''s fine! Look!" Soon after Shinto had worn the ne, his ears tickled with unfamiliar voices. One was that of a kid, while the other was that of what seemed to be an olddy.


    "But... Sanke''s curse doesn''t take into effect immediately..."


    "I know it doesn''t! But, I don''t sense any aura of the curse on him! It''s just like how I didn''t sense any effects of the king''s skill on him!"


    "...just what is this all about?" Shinto walked up towards the two slimes as he questioned.


    "EEEK!!" The slime at the counter hid behind a bookshelf. "Stay away! I don''t want the effects of the curse on me!"


    "Ah...! Human! You can understand us right?!" The small slime said excitedly.


    "...yes, I can," Shinto calmly nodded his head. "Though it''s a little deafening for me right now, I can understand sort of pick up what you two are saying just fine."


    "Yipee! It works!" The slime jumped for joy. "See? He''s not cursed!"


    "I don''t trust it... tell him to prove himself!" The slime who was hiding shouted out.


    "Huh? Prove myself?" he tilted his head.


    "If you''re not cursed, remove the item from your neck!"


    "...the ne?" In reply to the slime, Shinto took off the ne easily.


    "...Gloop!"


    "Gloop, gloop!"


    "The heck are they saying?" Ethaniel raised his brow as he turned to Shinto. "Oi Zayden, care to trante?"


    "That slime that''s hiding behind the bookshelf is worrying over the curse on this item," he stated. "With the way this item works... I can see why they''re worried."


    "What? What''s the curse on this item exactly?"


    Without saying anything, Shinto shared the details of the item with the group. Soon after, he wore the ne once again on his neck.


    "So, is this proof enough?" Shinto stated.


    "...fine, I''ll believe you for now. If you go crazy like those rats, I''ll definitely report you to the king!" The olddy slime replied.


    "That won''t happen," he reassured. "In any case, with that out of the way; You two have got some answering to do."

 Chapter 105: Curse of Sanke (1)

    Chapter 105: Curse of Sanke (1)


    "A lot of answering to do?" The olddy slime shrieked back at Shinto''s sudden serious tone. "Why would I answer your questions?! It''s better that you don''t know about it at all, it''s confidential!"


    "Hmm, confidential?" Shinto tilted his head. "Well... we''ll get to thatter. For the time being, I just want to know some general stuff," Shinto said as he was quickly interrupted by his party members.


    "Hey, master! Why does the slime seem so scared?" Frey blinked at the sight of the shivering slime. "Did you do anything?"


    "...no, I didn''t do anything," Shinto helplessly sighed as he showed the ne on his neck to Frey. "In the first ce... that slime''s scared of this ne; they wouldn''t be this distraught if it weren''t for that."


    "Huh. So it''s all because of that cursed item?" she continued to inquire. "I know you sent the details of the ne to us, but I don''t get it! You seem to be immune to it, so there shouldn''t be anything to worry about.... right?"


    "Even then, that slime''s still scared..." Shinto shook his head helplessly.


    "I''m scared because that idiot Rustly suddenly barged into this ce, bringing about three humans here, then he proceeded on parading on my stash and took out that cursed item!" The slime cried out. "Why wouldn''t I be scared for my life?!"


    "Madam Tru... calm down, I''ve got it under control!" The small slime whimpered.


    "You have it under control?! If the king finds out, he''ll have you back to the castle!"


    "Cough... I hate to parade on your argument; but, I don''t want to be left hanging," Shinto let out a cough, quickly getting the attention of the two slimes. Soon after, he proceeded to query. "Just why is this item cursed? The better question would be, who exactly is Sanke?"


    "Agh! Rustly! That human wouldn''t be questioning such things if you just kept your mouth shut on this stuff!" Madam Tru angrily shouted.


    "Their friend was taken forcibly to fulfil the quest! They can''t be left in the dark!" Rustly reasoned. "They can help us if they know of the circumstance you know!"


    "What if the case likest time happened again? They could be evil for all I care!"


    "Yet... that girl was taken in to learn the arts of Etheral..." Rustly said.


    "That''s an entirely different story!" Madam Ru yelled. "The king can easily handle against one matter such as this, but if you''re bringing in more humans; It''ll only cause us problems!"


    "It won''t! Trust me!" Rustly jumped up and down. "They have no ill intentions!"


    "I''ve heard they''ve already killed some of our kind! You SURE they have no ill intentions?"


    "Aren''t they the fallen? They only attacked the corrupted Slera that no longer have consciousness!" Rustly rified. "They didn''t go out of their way to attack other Sleras standing idly by, now did they?"


    "Um... you two?" Shinto called out to the slimes once again. "The more you talk about this matter... the more you''re making me confused."


    "Damn it... I forgot that the human can listen in on us..." Madam Ru clicked her tongue.


    "Whatever! I''m answering their questions whether you like it or not!" Rustly turned away from Ru as he faced Shinto. "You asked who was Sanke right? He''s a no-good human hated by our kind!"


    "Sanke, a no-good human..." he nodded his head. "Why is he hated?"


    "He cursed this entire underground and made it into his yground!" Rustly angrily exined. "The Farchu Race was all corrupted in a matter of seconds and our kind is slowly going mad..."


    "Hmm... the Farchu Race... I assume it''s those rats?" he connected his thoughts into one.


    "Yes! Those rats!" The slime jiggled. "Seeing as you already met them, you can tell how they''ve gone into madness, right?"


    "...well," heughed awkwardly. "Not to say I couldn''t tell... but without the necessary information, I couldn''t see it that way."


    Back when they were in the right hallway, Shinto had the idea that the rats were just purely mindless monsters which could''ve exined their predatorial behaviour. Never would he have guessed that the rat was once civil.


    "They were ferocious and unforgiving, right?" Rustly wistfully said. "That''s how Sanke did his magic on us! We''ll go crazy and attack mindlessly like any other monsters, but we''re not like that at all..."


    "So these rats were once non-aggressive like the slimes we met here?" Shinto pondered. "I think I get the situation as of right now. Sanke cursed all of you and as time slowly eats away, you all lose consciousness?"


    "That''s the gist of it..." he sighed. "Which is why the king wanted your friend to learn the arts of Etheral, she''s the key to helping us all!"


    "So that''s how it is," he calmly closed his eyes, collecting his thoughts. "Then, the reason why the king doesn''t want us to know?"


    "He doesn''t trust you, humans!" Madam Ru cried out. "That friend of yours might have been a special case, but the more humans who know of this stuff, it''ll cause a huge problem for us!"


    "How so?"


    "Humans are known to intervene on things that do not concern them," Madam Ru scoffed. "I''m sure that after you know all this stuff, you''ll go out of your way to bother us and make our life harder by going after Sanke!"


    "Cough... In a way, this entire scenario concerns us," he stated. "Raina is our party member; so it''s important that we would want to know about this situation."


    "Well, now you know all about it!" The slime said. "I do hope this won''te and bite us back because some guy wanted to go and reveal our circumstance to some humans..."


    "Aha... we won''t be of a bother to you," he calmly stated. "I just wanted to know of the current situation."


    "You say that... but you''re words don''t sway me."


    "Madam Ru! This will all be fine! Even if they do decide to intervene, he''s immune to the curse and has proven himself so!" Rustly stated. "They can lend us a hand."


    "Something about all this is making me feel upset. Whether it''s the curse or it''s just this human," she sighed. "But whatever, I couldn''t stop them from knowing and I''m too old to bother."


    "I assure you, madam! You won''t regret being involved!"


    "It''s not even my choice of wanting to involve," Madam Ru seemed to be shaking her head. "But anyway, I''m sure there''s another reason as to why you brought these humans here. Perhaps the original. These humans want a ce to stay, right? I''ve only got one room with four human-sized beds, so take them upstairs and be done with it."


    "Right, right!" Rustly happily said as he turned towards the group. "There''s a free room upstairs, I''ll bring you there now!"


    "I see..." Shinto nodded his head as he saw that Rustly was hopping over to the stairs by the side of the room that led up.


    "Hey, mind telling us what''s going on?" Ethaniel raised his brow in impatience. "When the heck are you going to trante stuff for us?"


    "Yeah! All I hear the entire time I was standing here was ''Gloop gloop''!" Frey pouted. "What''s up with the situation? Howe those rats suddenly came into the topic?"


    During the time where Shinto and the slimes were conversing with one another, his group helplessly stood there with confused expressions. They could only pick up on the topic due to Shinto''s speech, where he spoke in the generalizednguage for humans: Arcos.


    "...I''ll exin thingster," Shinto said. "For the time being, I still have onest question for the slime."


    "Huh?! You have more?!" The madam cried out.


    "Besides us, there''s another human here right?" he calmly asked.


    "...eh?! How do you know that?!" she jumped back in shock.


    "Someone gave the keys to this ce, so I can only assume that he is here," Shinto calmly exined. "Might I ask, where we can find him?"


    "Don''t see that old man! He has been exposed to the curse much worst than any of us!" she shouted out. "Although he is still able to control the madness and preventing it from taking over, you best just leave him alone. Who knows what he''ll do to all of you?"


    "Huh?" Shinto blinked at the statement. "Yet... from what I can see, he still has the freedom to roam around?"


    "He has his own ways of getting out of this ce without going through town," she exined. "Ahem, don''t press on this further and just head to your quarters! The more you know, the worst you might bring for us."


    "...is it that bad?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "I do not want to speak of this matter!" The slime turned around. "It''s dangerous for you to go there anyway. Although you might be immune to the curse, who says you can''t get hurt?"


    "..." Shinto stared at the back of the slime listlessly. "And what if we can protect ourselves just fine?"


    "Doesn''t matter. Stil dangerous!" The slime firmly stated. "I don''t care if you''re some top tier knight or whatever; This old man is not to be taken lightly off."


    "...I see," he nodded his head. "Then, we''ll just head to our quarters."


    "Good. And don''t even bother asking Rustly," she said. "Only I and the king knows of his whereabouts and information regarding this."


    At the mention of Rustly, the slime who had already gone up the staircase a long time ago hurriedly walked down. "Hey! Are youing up or what?!"

 Chapter 106: Curse of Sanke (2)

    Chapter 106: Curse of Sanke (2)


    Through the hallway of the second floor, the group was led by Rustly through it as they headed to the room which Madam Ru pointed towards. While they walked, Shinto and his party members were discussing the contents of the discussion held earlier.


    "...so the rats were actually harmless?!" Frey shouted out.


    "Apparently so," Shinto nodded his head. "They were affected by Sanke''s magic which in turn drove them to madness."


    "Just who the heck is this guy?" Kon pondered. "For him to go out of his way to curse everything, what does he want?"


    "I''m as clueless as you are," he sighed. "I didn''t pry too much and just got the sufficient information needed to base around a theory."


    "Eh? Why didn''t you just ask for the facts directly?" Kon tilted his head.


    "The facts that I do want to know seems to be extremely confidential," Shinto stated. "I doubt that the slime at the counter would tell me. And, this slime in front of us seems to have really limited info seeing the way he exined things without much detail."


    "Then what about that man you were asking about earlier?" Ethaniel asked. "Did you get a clear answer? Well... with how that slime acted, I guess a no?"


    "Not too clear. But I did get info that he''s around here," Shinto said. "Though... it seems that he''s affected by the curse too."


    "Tch, how annoying. Then what do we do?" Ethaniel frowned. "We know that there''s a curse and that if not stopped; the slimes will go bat shit crazy. But why does this concern us?"


    "They''re forcing their concerns on us through Raina..." Frey sighed. "Why specifically her, though?"


    "It''s likely because, out of all of us, she''s the most eligible," Shinto reasoned. "It''s either that or... it''s because she threw a fireball at that slime earlier that triggered such reaction."


    "Eh? All because of that?"


    "So... You''re saying if I threw my mes at the slime, would I get the same reaction?" Kon tilted his head.


    "Most likely," Shinto nodded his head. "Raina''s a low levelled mage and her spells so far are mostly invested in fire. So in the end... it''s no brainer that the slimes would go head over heels on her, especially when there aren''t any other mages around here."


    "Hmm, wasn''t this ce a high levelled dungeon?" Frey questioned. "So wouldn''t the spells that are taught be high levelled? Then if so... wouldn''t there be some restrictions or something?"


    "This is an instance dungeon unlocked through your S-Ranked quest. So restrictions of quest rewards and the like shouldn''t matter," he exined. "Well, maybe the issue of mana usage would be the problem, but that''s still a low barrier of entry."


    "Huh. If there are no restrictions on getting a skill in the dungeon, then would that mean I can learn a new skill!?" Frey''s eyes lit in excitement.


    "Cough... Skills like that aren''t that easy toe by. Even in an instance dungeon," Shinto shook his head. "If you can manage to stumble upon a quest that gives a new skill and manage to clear it, then sure, you get the skill."


    Although the entire party was low levelled against the dungeon, when it came to instances such as this one, the conditions to unlock certain abilities or items through quests that are specifically within this dungeon aren''t as prevalent. This was due to how one could ess the dungeon without limit, and to earn these rewards; it was based on strength and endurance to clear its trials.


    For the case of Raina, the conditions of unlocking such a quest on her side seemed to stem from her throwing a fireball at the slime, in turn, making the slime drag Raina all the way to the slimes retreat making her learn the ''mes of Etheral''.


    "Stumbling upon a quest like that... that''s going to be a pain," Frey sighed.


    "Yeah. But, I do think that we might be getting more quests rting to skills or equipment in this dungeon," Shinto estimated. "In any case, on the topic of items, my question of why this ne was cursed waspletely evaded."


    "Was it reallypletely evaded, or was it just lost in the sea of questions?" Ethaniel inquired.


    "Hmm... probably both," he said. "But I can already guess as to why this item was cursedSince this was a treasure by the slimes, Sanke cursed the item. It''s either that or... he wore the item once and then proceeded to curse it."


    "Can''t you just ask the damn slime instead of theorizing on it?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "Sigh... Fine," Shinto sighed as he turned towards Rustly. Momentster, he called out to him. "Hey, Rustly, was it? Why was the ne cursed by Sanke?"


    "The ne? Ah, the one you''re wearing," Rustly turned around. "Well, to put it simply, this ne was a treasure beloved by us since it allowed formunication between the Sleras and Humans."


    "Mhm. So, Sanke cursed it to preventmunication?"


    "Not exactly. This ne actually has some special protection spells, but... with the curse, it lost its meaning." The slime whimpered. "All it has now is the ability tomunicate with us."


    "A-Ah...?" Shinto blinked at Rustly''s exnation.


    "So? What did this guy say?" Ethaniel red at Shinto. "Seeing you dumbfoundedly like that, it must have been a totally different reason from your theory, right?"


    "...I should have asked earlier," he sighed.


    "Tch. Told you," Ethaniel scoffed. "Now, tell me the real reason why you didn''t ask before."


    "...It kind of went over my head until just now," Shintoughed awkwardly.


    "Sigh, you..." Ethaniel helplessly sighed at Shinto. "Whatever. Anyway, what''s the call now? Do we just wait around for Raina to be done or something? Or do we look for that old man."


    "Well... for the time being, there''s really nothing we can do," Shinto stated. "Seeing as how Raina just started learning the new skill, it might take days or even weeks."


    "So, we''re basically sitting ducks?" he clicked his tongue. "How nice."


    "Yeah... With how things are, it''ll be good to just explore the premise," he reasoned. "Which is what I''m going to do now."


    "And, we''re here! We''ve arrived in the room!" Rustly said as he quickly headed inside.


    "Huh? So we''re going out again?" Frey blinked at Shinto''s statement. "But we just got here!"


    "You two don''t have to follow me. You can just do whatever you want. Same with Kon," he said. "For me, I''ll go and see if I can get an audience with the king myself."


    "You know that''s going to be hopeless, right?" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "Hey, are you guys going toe in-" Rustly walked out of the room whilst impatiently asking for the group toe inside. However, the moment he did so, he was quickly lifted up from the floor.


    "Well it''s better to try," Shinto shrugged whilst holding the slime in his hand. "And what''s more to have this slime with me aspany to maybe get a higher chance at having an audience."


    "Eh?! Hey! Human! Let go of me!" The slime struggled in his arms.


    "You''re going to leave us here alone??" Frey still couldn''tprehend Shinto''s words.


    "You cane if you want, but it''s better not to since it might bring suspicion on us if you do," he said as he began to move whilst gesturing his hand goodbye from the back. "I''ll be back soon. So have fun."


    "Oi! You''re our trantor for this whole slimenguage, you know that right?!" Ethaniel cried out.


    "Yeah, but you''ll be fine..." he said without looking back.


    "OI!!!" Ethaniel cried out in anger, helplessly watching Shinto walk away.

 Chapter 107: Curse of Sanke (3)

    Chapter 107: Curse of Sanke (3)


    Heading out into the streets of the slime''s retreat, Shinto steadily made his way on it whilst the slime in his hand struggled to free himself. Meanwhile, from behind them, Kon followed along.


    "ARGHHH!! Human!! Let go of me!!" Rustly cried out.


    "...jeez, Rustly... do you mind keeping it down?" Shinto helplessly sighed. "At this rate, you''re just going to draw suspicion on us..."


    "How am I supposed to keep it down when you''re suddenly dragging me somewhere?!"


    "Cough... " he coughed as he released his grip on the slime, finally freeing it. "I need you to take me to the king."


    "But, did you really had to take hold of me like that?!" Rustly pouted.


    "W-Well... For the better of being able to go out freely, I didn''t want to waste time and just dragged you along with me without needing an exnation."


    "...human! Couldn''t you have said it nicely for me toe with you?!" he angrily said.


    "Ahem. It''ll probably take too long to exin," he replied as he walked up ahead. "And, it''s Shinto for you."


    "Shinto! What would take too long to exin?!"


    "Sigh... You''ll see when we get there," he sighed.


    "Huh?" The slime began to frantically chase after Shinto.


    ...


    Continuing to move through the streets, Shinto as well as the slime and fox reached towards arge stone structure that resembled that of a castle. Upon a nce at it, the architecture was mostly the same as the previous buildings. The only difference was that it was much bigger and there seemed to be guards guarding by the front gate.


    "We''re here!" Rustly said still in anger. "So what is it that you want to exin?"


    Looking at the sight whilst listening in on Rustly, Shinto nodded his head. In the next moment, he moved his hand over towards his ne as he quickly took it off.


    "Gloop, Gloop?!" Seeing Shinto''s action before his eyes, the slime jumped back in shock.


    "I''ve got no idea what you''re talking about right now but..." Shinto calmly exined whilst making his way over towards the guards. "Having the ne in front of the guards would be an instant arrest, wouldn''t it?"


    "Gloop, Gloop!" The slime jumped up and down in confusion.


    "You''re here because you''ll be speaking for me to get an audience with the king," he said. "It''s just as simple as that."


    "Gloop..." The slime seemed to be frowning as he leapt forward.


    "Wait... Master?" Kon called out to Shinto. "I''m confused... Why didn''t you take the ne out when we were going outside of the building?"


    "That''s not needed," he stated. "My cloak blends well with the ne, so unless the passerby slimes actually stood in front of me, they wouldn''t be able to see it."


    Kon''s concerns were warranted. If Shinto didn''t want to draw any suspicion, especially in order to not have another case like Madam Ru''s, he would have taken off the ne. However, he did not do so. This was due to the colour of his cloak and the ne being nearly identical to one another, and thus, if people weren''t observant, it would be as if it could not be seen to the naked eye.


    "Gloop! Gloop!" Rustly called out to Shinto as if impatient.


    "Yeah, yeah,ing," Nodding his head, Shinto swiftly moved forward as he stood in front of the guards.


    "Gloop?" At the sight of Shinto, the guards quickly entered into a defensive position. "Gloop, Gloop!"


    "Gloop!" Rustly calmed the guards down. "Gloop, Gloop."


    "Gloop." The guards firmly stood.


    "Gloop..."


    "Gloop."


    "...uh, what the heck is going on now?" Kon whispered to Shinto.


    "It seems they''re having an argument," Shinto sighed. "And from the looks of it... It seems we might not have a chance to meet with the king."


    "Really? If we can''t meet with him... what then?"


    "If it fails, then it''s best we just continue exploring the town," he helplessly said.


    Shinto had hoped that if he could have sessfully gotten an audience with the king, he could directly show to him that he wasn''t affected by the curse; thus allowing him to aid Raina. However, that was a lost cause.


    He had thoughts of showing his ability to wear the ne to slimes around which could cause amotion. But, if he did so, he would suffer a great deal of problems such as having to deal with the slime''s fear of the curse. Not only that, his chances of meeting with the king would go to the all-time lowest due to the notion of ''Two-faced'' being in effect.


    Although Shinto could prove himself by removing the ne, it would still take arge amount of effort to be able to convince the slime. Thus; it was best to just show it in front of the king rather than doing anything else.


    "Gloop!" Rustly bounced up and down, however in reply to that, the guards shoved him away.


    "Gloop, gloop."


    "..." The slime angrily leapt away.


    "I guess that''s a fail," Shinto sighed as he followed after Rustly.


    ...


    On the streets, Shinto discreetly wore his ne as he walked up to Rustly who had beenining this entire time.


    "Arghh! Did those guards have to push me?!" Rustlyined. "I asked nicely and this is what I get?!"


    "Aha... Did they give a reason?" Shinto asked.


    "Oh, they did! The king is busy. Leave," he repeated. "And then he proceeded to shove me!"


    "Sigh... Well, that was a fail," he shook his head helplessly.


    "You think?!"


    "Cough..." Shinto let out a cough as he quickly turned away from the slime, swiftly ncing around the area. As he did so, his eyes spotted a few slimes roaming around the streets, however, by the distance, his eyes narrowed to see a street stall of some sort. "...huh?"


    "Eh? What caught your interest, master?" Kon asked.


    "A shop... over there?" Shinto tilted his head in confusion, as he curiously walked up to it. Shinto didn''t forget to take off the ne as he''d be facing the vendor directly.


    "Gloop, Gloop!" The vendor seemed to be quite weing.


    "Gloop?" Rustly confusingly stared dumbfoundedly at Shinto who had made his way over towards the stall.


    "...how are you going tomunicate without the ne?" Kon questioned.


    "There are numerical numbers priced below the times," Shinto scrutinized the stall as he spotted weapons of many sorts. Slime spear, slime sword, slime gloves, slime boots and the like. However, the one that caught his attention the most was a ''Ring'' by the side of the catalogue.


    [ Sticky Slime Ring ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Stats: +10% Poison RES / +15 INT / +4 STA


    *The skill ''Sticky Ground'' is generated.


    *The skill ''Poison Cure'' is generated.


    *The skill ''Poisonous Goo'' is generated.


    A ring which seemed to be crafted skillfully by that of a slime. For the longest time, this ring as well as many items had been left here, collecting dust due to having no customers; however, this slime continued crafting items in hopes of one day a human woulde and buy them just like back then.


    Condition(s): Friendship with the ''Slera'' Race must be at the minimum levels or higher, level 20 or higher.


    At the sight of the item, Shinto stared in awe. "...this is?"


    "Gloop!" The slime seemed extremely delighted at Shinto''s awestruck look.


    "...hey, master! What if this was a scam item and the price was something entirely different?" Kon whispered to Shinto. "It''s 35,000 pared to some other scam stall, with the stats of this ring and its skills," Shinto muttered out. "I say it''s more than reasonable... If not, stupidly cheap."


    "Are you sure??" Kon blinked at Shinto''s decisive decision.


    "Yes, I''m sure," he nodded his head. "And if there''s anything wrong, this guy would stop me right?"


    "Gloop." Rustly humped.


    "Gloop, gloop!" The vendor happily bounced in joy as he jiggled. "Gloop, Gloop!"


    "...and by the reaction of this guy," Shinto said. "I doubt he''d try and scam me."


    "Hmm... alright then," Kon said as his eyes peeked onto a small slime ball. "If it''s not a scam... can I have this?!"


    "Well, I guess it doesn''t hurt," Shinto shrugged as he picked up the ring and ball. Momentster, he proceeded to buy it.


    [ You have bought two items from Jasrick''s Creation Stall! ]


    [ Jasrick is extremely delighted. ]


    [ You have earned the area title of ''Slime Shopping'' ]

 Chapter 108: Curse of Sanke (4)

    Chapter 108: Curse of Sanke (4)


    Walking away from the stall, Shinto quickly equipped the ring with a satisfied look. Soon after, he ced his ne around his neck as he heard the voice from Rustly.


    "You sure look satisfied with that purchase..." Rustly seemed to be tilting his head in slight confusion. "Was it really that worth it?"


    "For a ring that gives this many good stuff, yes," Shinto nodded his head as he scrutinized the details of his newly obtained skills from the items.


    [ Sticky Ground ] [ 175 MP ] [ Cooldown: 20 Minutes ]


    The user creates a small field of slime within the area for 15 seconds. Enemies who step on the affected grounds will have their movement speed decreased by 20%. For those who you view as allies, their movement speed will instead be decreased by 10%.


    ...


    [ Poison Cure ] [ 50 MP ] [ Cooldown: 2 Minutes ]


    The user shoots out a small drip of slime onto an ally, curing them of the poison status. While doing so, the drip of slime nullifies the effects of [Sticky Ground] for the next 1 hour.


    ...


    [ Poisonous Goo ] [ 80 MP ] [ Cooldown: 12 Minutes ]


    The user shoots out a small poisonous gloo of slime within a small area (2m), inflicting poison on enemies with it that deals 750% magic damage over the next 7 seconds. Those who are inflicted with this specific poison will have the effects of [Sticky Ground] enhanced on them wherein, the slow effect is increased to 30%.


    ...


    Looking at the skill description, Shinto couldn''t help but feel as if he had won the lottery. For once; he found an item that was extremely good for himEspecially in the current situation where he had nothing to with his MP.


    With thebination of the ring and his ss skills, Shinto could easily go about a variety ofbos. One of which was [ Sticky Ground ] and [ Shadow Fields ], the slow and blind effects could create for a much bigger threat against his foes.


    Although his allies would be affected by sticky ground, he could easily nullify it by using [ Poison Cure ] and, if he wanted to, he could increase the slow effect by using [ Poisonous Goo ].


    This was one of the manybos he could do.


    ''For the price of this item, it''s stupidly cheap,'' Shinto thought to himself as he stared at his ring. For 50,000 gold total, he had gotten two items. One of which was the Sticky Slime Ring whilst the other was Kon''s requested itemSticky y Ball.


    [ Sticky y Ball ]


    Rarity: Rare


    Stats: +15% Poison RES / +5 INT / +15 MP


    *Magic Damage is increased by 15% when holding onto the sticky ball/or when the ball is attached to you.


    A ball which seemed to be crafted skillfully by that of a slime. For the longest time, this ball as well as many items had been left here, collecting dust due to having no customers; however, this slime continued crafting items in hopes of one day a human woulde and buy them just like back then.


    Condition(s): Friendship with the ''Slera'' Race must be at the minimum levels or higher, level 20 or higher.


    ...


    On aparative scale between a normal shop and the slime''s, he had gotten a way too good to be true bargain. Unlike some other unnamed scam shop in which they sold normal items for an outrageously high price, Shinto had decisively bought it without thinking too much of it.


    ''Hmm... now that I think about it, why are the prices so stupidly cheap?'' Shinto pondered. Even when he had bought the ball item for Kon, it was still within money''s worth due to its effects of increasing resistance and magic damage. However, something felt off now that he had thought about it.


    Would the game allow for such a good item to have such low equip requirements and obtainability? Even when it came to instance dungeons, prices of items sold at a hidden shop wouldn''t be this cheap.


    ''Taking into ount of the item description that the ne and sticky y ball that was given...'' he continued to think to himself. ''This slime was a craftsman that loves to create items specifically for humans...'' Turning towards the title he had obtained, he saw that there weren''t any abnormalities in it.


    [ Slime Shopping (Area Title) ]


    For buying an item in the [Sanke''s Slime Vige], all purchases in any stores will be -5% off from now on!


    *There are 6 titles in total to obtain within the Sanke Catb. If you obtain them all, all of these titles will be transformed into one whole one.


    ''Besides the fact that I get -5% off from the next purchase and it being an area title... nothing''s much off.''


    An area title yed a small part in many sorts of dungeons or towns in which, when the user obtains all titles within an area, said titles will be a full-fledge title that gives many effects, honour and reputation. From Shinto''s knowledge, he couldn''t see anything wrong with the title nor the item itself.


    ''Am I thinking much on this matter?'' he tilted his head still in deep thought as he was quickly interrupted by a loud shout from behind him.


    "OI! ZAYDEN!"


    "...?" Turning around, he noticed Ethaniel and Frey were making their way over towards him. "What''s up?"


    "WHAT''S UP? You just left us there and you say what''s up?!" Ethaniel red.


    "I did say you can do whatever you want..." Shinto helplessly sighed.


    "Hah. Whatever. Was the audience sessfully?"


    "Not at all," he sighed. "We couldn''t convince the guards to let us see the king."


    "Thought so," Ethaniel scoffed. "Anyways,e with us, we found something interesting."


    "Huh?" Shinto tilted his head in confusion. "Found what?"


    "You know that rat-infested hallway right?!" Frey said in slight excitement. "There''s a hallway that leads to that ce!"


    "Oh?" Shinto''s eyes lit in curiosity. "So... We can go there while we wait for Raina."


    "Exactly. So instead of loitering around, I say we just go there and level up," Ethaniel stated.


    "E-Eh? What about the horde that chased us to the brim?" Kon muttered out.


    "We''ll just make sure not to go far," he shrugged. "Beats not being able to do anything here."


    "Wait, wait... What are you all talking about?" Rustly questioned.


    "They found a hallway that leads to the rats," Shinto said. "We''re nning on going there right now."


    "What? You mean the hallway to the Farchu race? Noo! Don''t go there!" he cried out.


    "Huh why?"


    "Didn''t I say they''re ferocious?! You''ll regret going there!"


    "Well... we already experienced it first hand," Shinto shrugged. "-and as Ethaniel said, we won''t go far."


    "...seriously?" He stepped backwards dumbfoundedly.


    ...


    Within an unknown ce, a young girl sat in a room with rows of shelves containing books neatly pitted against each other, filling up space. Wherever her eyes went to, she would see the endless variety of books the ce contained.


    "..." Reading through some of the books on the ground, the girl let out a sigh. "Why is this spell so hard to learn?"


    "Gloop! Gloop!" The slime by her side jumped up and down.


    "...are you encouraging me or are you asking me to learn it faster?" she tilted her head.


    "Gloop..." The slime seemed to be shaking its head. "Gloop!"


    "I guess that''s encouragement?" The girl closed the book in her hands as she continued to let out a tired sigh. "...the mes of Etheral... why did you even bring me here as if I''m worthy of it in the first ce?"


    "Gloop!"


    "Just because I''m the only mage in the entire party?" she red at the slime. "We have Shinto whose a mage... I guess? Well, he did say he was a priest at first..." she tilted her head. "But he is somewhat of a mage."


    "Gloop!"


    "You''re too persistent in this," she shook her head helplessly. "Well, it''s not like I have a choice in this matter anyways."


    "Gloop..."


    Ignoring the slime jumping up and down, the girlRaina, turned towards the many books within the room. Moments after, she stood up as she walked around the area, looking through them.


    "Magic Arts with Ibram, Water Arts, Arts against Life..." Reading the titles of books as she passed by them, she stopped at her footsteps while pondering. "I don''t think you slimes learn the arts of magic, so... why are there so many books of the theory of magic?"


    "Gloop!" The slime answered.


    "Wait... why am I even asking you this when I can''t even understand you?" Raina muttered out. "I must be going crazy with theck of interaction with people..." she helplessly sighed. "And it''s only been like what... hours?"


    "Gloop..."


    "Sigh. Whoever used this room before must have been so keen on learning magic," Raina turned around as she made her way back towards her study area. "Could it be Sanke perhaps?"


    "Gloop!" The slime quickly moved towards Raina''s mouth as it covered it. "Gloop!!"


    "Cough... Right, the king doesn''t want me to mention his name," Raina let out a cough as she opened up the book with the title ''mes that Burns Death'' as she quickly flipped through the numerous pages, glimpsing through the content of the past pages that she had read.


    After going to the current page that she had stopped at, she created a small puff in her cheeks, conveying her frustration. "Whatever... The only thing I can do is just continue learning the arts."


    Nodding her head, she let out a sigh once again. "I sure hope nothing is happening with Ethan or the group; the slimes should be nice to them, right?"

 Chapter 109: Curse of Sanke (5)

    Chapter 109: Curse of Sanke (5)


    Through the hallways nearby the town of slimes; Shinto and the group hurriedly rushed along the paths as they battled against the rats that appeared.


    "Kiikk!" The rats pounced forward towards FreyHowever, in return for fire, Frey hurriedly kicked the rats towards a wall. Then, from behind her, Kon scurried over as he sent a burning me, swiftly turning them to grey-ash.


    "Is it me, or are the rats much fewer in numberspared to back then?" Frey tilted her head in question.


    "Well, Rustly did say this part of the catbs was heavily guarded by the slimes," Shinto exined whilst shooting out a few mana sparks over to the running rats. Following up with that, he casted [Divinity Point], pushing them back slightly.


    "If they''re few in numbers, it means we can just level up peacefully," Ethaniel calmly stated whilst swinging his sword in an arc, turning the rats that Shinto had pushed back into ash.


    "Yeah," Shinto nodded his head as he moved his eyes over towards the notification screen.


    [ You have levelled up to level 25! ]


    [ Kon has levelled up to level 16! ]


    "We''re also levelling up at a nice pace despite the decrease in monsters," Shinto stated. From the time they''ve entered the hallway to now, it had only been around thirty minutes. During that time; Shinto had levelled up by two.


    ''And...'' Looking at his profile status, he saw that his divinity stat was steadily increasing from his increased usage of divinity spells. Unlike with his shadow stat, divinity had been rising slowly.


    Currently, the shadow stats was at a solid 26 whilst his divinity was at 17. The disparity between the two stats was big, however, Shinto couldn''t do much about it. This was because the frequency of usage between his shadow and divine skills were like day and night.


    His shadow skills be avable much sooner than his divinity skillsNot only that, by the time his shadow skills go off cooldown, he has enough shadow gauge to use it without dy. Compared with his divinity skills, where [ Divinity Point ] and [ Hallowed Crest ] had a cooldown of five and fifteen minutes respectively, [ Shadow Fields ] and [ Mark of Umbra ] had a cooldown of ten and three. Thus, the difference in usage was extremely high when counting the numbers.


    ''It''s nice that I''ll be reaching Divinity to 20 soon,'' Shinto thought to himself. ''I wonder if there''s a special event that will happen like with Shadow?''


    He hoped that with the ''special event'' that may ur, he''d learn more about his ss. Alongside that, maybe he could unlock another skill. The more he thought about it, the next skill obtained should be a divinity rted one, since, in pattern, he had three shadow skills whilst only having two divinity skills.


    ''In theory... I technically only had four initial skills,'' he continued to think to himself. ''Unlike the summoning skill used to summon Kon, It was only avable to me for usage when I reached 20. So the probability of me getting a new divinity skill is high.''


    Nodding his head with a slight excitement for the future, Shinto continued along with his group as they fought against the rats that appeared.


    ...


    Finishing up with the battle, the group let out a tired sigh as they rested nearby the walls of the catbs. However, despite wanting to rest, the group had to constantly be on guard due to the possibility of rats that may appear from time to time. Although they could go back to the slime''s town to rest, the group chose not to in order to be efficient in levelling up.


    "Hmm... I don''t get why that slime was so scared of us going here in the first ce," Frey questioned whilst sitting down and eating a spicy rice cake that Greld had made for her. "Compared to that other hall... this ce is less scary!"


    "...cough. Rustly''s exact words was ''Beware of the Elite Rats. If you end getting spotted by them, you''ll be in big trouble," Shinto stated. "If I remember correctly... the elite rats that he was referring to might be the ''Elite Dweller Rats''."


    "The ones that chased us to the very brim?!" Kon cried out as he stood up. Soon after, he quickly hid behind the back of Ethaniel who was near him. "...and you didn''t mention it sooner?!"


    "Bah. Did you forget what Zayden instructed?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Just don''t go too far into the hallway and we''re good."


    "Rustly did specifically say not to go to where the elite dweller rats lurk," Shinto shrugged as he turned towards the deeper end of the catbs, where he noticed a few shes of red eyes. "Thest time we went deep into the hall, the rats chased us down. But... From the looks of it, the reason why was probably because we went too far."


    "O-Oh, right, you did say that," Kon muttered out as he slowly walked away from Ethaniel. However, as he did so, a rat suddenly appeared before himQuickly making him jump onto Ethaniel in shock. "EEEK!!"


    "Tch, Kon!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he stood up. In the next moment, he unsheathed his sword, quickly swinging it over towards the rat that had appeared.


    "Kiikk!" The rat dodged the attack as it pounced over towards Ethaniel in anger.


    "Ugh..." Ethaniel groaned in annoyance at the annoying small enemy in front of him. Swaying to the side, he dodged the attack as he used the hilt of his de to push the rat over towards Frey.


    "Hey, what the heck?!" Frey cried out at Ethaniel''s sudden action as she abruptly punched the rat further into the catbs. "What gives Ethaniel?!"


    "Why don''t you me the fox that''s clinging onto me that''s on the verge of falling if I do any abrupt movements?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "That was sudden alright?! I wasn''t prepared!" Kon shouted out.


    "God... why are you this scared?" he raised his brow. "It''s just a rat."


    "Don''t jinx things! You might bring another horde to us..."


    "Whatever," he scoffed. "Now can you get off me?"


    "Ahem..." Kon let out a cough as he hurriedly released his grip from Ethaniel''s body. "Not gonna happen again, I promise!"


    "Yeah, right. Isn''t this the second urrence?"


    "I told you I was caught off guard!"


    "Again, the second urrence."


    "Ahh! Let''s just continue clearing the fields!"


    "Aha..." Shinto sighed helplessly at the scene before him. "Then, let''s just continue fighting against the monsters. Looks like from themotion earlier, more appeared."

 Chapter 110: Curse of Sanke (6)

    Chapter 110: Curse of Sanke (6)


    "Kiikkk!"


    Within a dark hallway, a rat hurried through it, quickly making its way past its kin and hurrying over to a giant door.


    "Kiikk!!" The rat cried out.


    "...another...message...?" A voice protruded from behind the door in reply.


    "Kikk!!" The rat continued to cry out.


    "...what...is...it?"


    "Kik!"


    "...hmph...you...wish...to..." The voice stopped abruptly as it soon suddenly spoke in a defeated tone. "...fine."


    Soon after the voice had stopped speaking, the door that the rat stood in front of, opened. Momentster, in the eyes of the rat, they were greeted by arge knight who donned a broken array of equipmentFrom a sword with no de, to cracks on its armour.


    "...master...is...through...there."


    With its rough figure and lifeless eyes, the knight pointed its finger over towards a room that seemed to be filled with an ominous aura. In reply to the knight, the rat walked past it as it quickly quickened its pace.


    ...


    "Heeyah!" Frey shouted out as she swept the floor around her, quickly turning the enemies around into grey ash. "Phew... that should be it! We''re done with this round, right?"


    "Mhm," Shinto nodded his head as his eyes nced around the halls of the catbs. "That should be it for the time being until the rat''s flood this ce again."


    "Yawn..." Ethaniel yawned. "We''re done already? Good. Then, do we go for another round or do we end it here?"


    A few in-game days had passed since Shinto and his group had started grinding their way to level up. Besides resting here and there, the party had mostly been fighting against the rats this entire time whilst waiting for Raina to finish up with learning the spell.


    "Hmm... well, it''s been quite a while since west logged out," Shinto tilted his head in thought. "I guess we can end the session here."


    "Oh? Has it been that long?" Frey blinked at the statement.


    "I don''t know when you logged in but for me, it''s been 12 hours. I''m almost nearing my daily limit," Shinto said.


    In-game, to prevent people from ying the game for twenty-four hours straight, each and every yer may only y the game for twelve hours without break. At times, one could exceed the limit to sixteen hours once or twice a week, however that is to that point.


    A human still needed to rest their mind in real life and eat healthily. Being stuck in a capsule for nearly the entire day would make one''s body grow numb from theck of movement; thus to prevent that, after exceeding one''s daily limityers were required to take a break from the game for four to six hours before they could enter into the game again.


    "Yeah..." Ethaniel continued to yawn as he stretched his body. "I''m going to reach my daily limit too."


    "Am I the only one who hasn''t reached it yet?" Frey tilted her head.


    "...how long have you been ying?" Shinto raised his brow. From when they first entered the game to now, he had thought that no one had logged out.


    "Uh... I kind of logged out of the game a few days ago in-game?" she muttered out. "It was when you guys were fast asleep in the vige!"


    "You logged out while you were in the vige?" Ethaniel blinked. "Well, I guess that''s reasonable."


    "Huh? Why do you feel confused as if I wasn''t supposed to do that?"


    "...nevermind," he shook his head. "I''m tired and I''m just going to log out now."


    "See you in six hours or so?" Shinto asked.


    "I guess," hezily answered as the character slowly dispersed into blue particles, indicating that he had logged out.


    "You gonna log out too?" Frey asked.


    "Yeah, what about you?"


    "Uh... I''ll just stay here for a while and explore the town properly!" she said. "Kon might be lonely too, so he''ll be with me!"


    "Phew... At least Frey won''t be going to the other world yet!" Kon cheered. "I won''t be bored the entire time!"


    "Aha," Shinto chuckled as his eyes turned towards his friend''s list. "From the looks of it, Raina also logged out."


    "Oh, she did?!" Frey said in shock as her eyes moved towards the system interface in front of her. "Huh... I thought that since the slimes were making Raina learn the spell... she wouldn''t have the chance to log out, y''know?"


    "Nah. I don''t think there''s a quest that insane enough to prevent you from logging out for a long time," Shinto stated. "In any case... It''ll probably take a few more days? Well... From the estimation that Rustly gave me. But, it seems that this spell is dependant on person to person on whether or not they can learn it fast."


    With theck ofmunication between them and Raina; they could only guestimate the time it''d take for her to learn the ''mes of Etheral'' spell.


    "Yawn... But, whatever... I''ll think about it more when I get some shut-eye," Shinto said in a tired voice. "I''ll be logging out now."


    ...


    Within the real world, Hasegawa Zayden exited out of his capsule as he turned to look at the time, [8:23 AM].


    "Mmm..." Stretching his arms and legs, Zayden rubbed his eyes as he made his way over towards his phone. "It''s a Saturday huh? Good..." Muttering out, he quickly opened his discord as he sent a message to Jisa.


    Shinto: Wake me up in six hours or so, I''m getting a shut-eye.


    In turn, Jisa immediately replied.


    Jisa: HUH? You''re sleeping at this time?! In six hours... that''s at two!.


    However, despite receiving the reply in almost an instant, Zayden ced down his phone onto his drawer as he hurried towards the bathroom, washing upThen he made his way over towards his bed, quickly lying down dead tired.


    "Sigh. Sleeping in-game can rest my mind for a while, but it doesn''t beat sleeping for real," letting out a tired sigh, Zayden closed his eyes as he drifted off into deep sleep.


    ...


    From within the dark hallway once againThe rat made its way out of the door with what seemed to be a cheeky smirk stered on its face.


    "Kikkk!!"


    Moments after the rat had exited out of the room, ck smoke began to protrude out it as it began to fill the halls.

 Chapter 111: Curse of Sanke (7)

    Chapter 111: Curse of Sanke (7)


    Within a quiet room, Jisa calmly made her way through Zayden''s bedroom as she stood in front of his bed. Soon after, her eyes turned to her brother who was soundly asleep in dreand.


    "...Zay. Wake up..." Jisa helplessly sighed.


    However, despite her wake up call, Zayden remained asleep without a care in the world for the time.


    "...Zayden..."


    Continuing to give a wake-up call to her brother, Jisa slowly grew impatient as she scurried over towards his bathroom. Momentster, she came out of the room with a wet towel in hand.


    "Zayden... Wake up..." she red at Zayden who knew nothing of what was about to happen next.


    "..." Though, just the same as beforeThere was no reply from Zayden who was sound asleep.


    "...you asked for it," Jisa muttered in a defeated voice as she walked up close to the sleeping Zayden. Soon after, with the towel in her hand which was drenched in cold water, she wiped it onto her brother''s face.


    "...!!!" With the sudden chilly cold feeling that was enhanced by the aircon''s coldness, Zayden instantly woke up. "Huh?!"


    "You''re finally awake!" Jisa cheered. "Do you know what time it is?"


    "...yawn, what time?" Wiping off the drips of water on his face, Zayden rubbed his eyes as hezily turned towards Jisa. "I told you to wake me up at two right?"


    "...yes, you did," Jisa mumbled. "But uh, due to some problems... It''s now three..."


    "Come again...?" Zayden stopped rubbing his eyes upon hearing Jisa''s statement. "...it''s now three?"


    "Ahem. Not my fault that you didn''t wake up for the past twenty minutes," Jisa coughed. "I had to resort to the towel tactic to finally get you to wake up..."


    nkly staring at Jisa, his mind suddenly clicked to him as he hurriedly jumped out of bed. "Huh?! Why didn''t you do that earlier?!"


    "Well, thest time I did it, youined that the bed ended up getting wet..."


    "Even a loud rm didn''t work?" he tilted his head as he undressed whilst grabbing onto a clean set of clothing within his cab.


    "Nope. You were in deep sleep today," she shrugged in reply.


    "...well, at that point, I guess using that tactic would be okay..." he sighed as he headed into the bathroom. "At least it''s not her unsanitary tactic..."


    "I guess. In any case, since you woke up and seem to be in a rush," Jisa questioned. "No lunch?"


    "Just cook me up a noodle or something!"


    "Ugh... noodles, can''t you just eat rice?"


    "Do you even have it freshly cooked?"


    "Well, I cooked it for you around the time you were supposed to wake up, so it''s still hot."


    "Then whatever, anything is fine," his voice resounded through the door of the bathroom. "And also... thanks."


    "Yeah, yeah," Jisa said. "You''re lucky I had nothing nned for today!"


    ...


    [ Logging into the game... ]


    [ yer ''Shinto'' hase online. ]


    After Shinto had finished up with his daily necessities in real life, he hurriedly made his way to his capsule as he logged into the game.


    "Sigh..." Upon feeling the grounds of the catbs; Shinto let out a deep sigh as he looked at his friend''s list, quickly taking note that Frey, Ethaniel and Raina were online. "I''m way toote to log on..."


    Shaking his head helplessly, his eyes then turned towards his profile.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 29


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    ...


    -Titles-


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 270/270 | MP: 392/392 (+20)


    Strength: 1 | Stamina: 22 (+4)


    Intelligence: 46 (+21) | Agility: 58 (+8)


    Shadow: 30 | Divinity: 19


    Wisdom: 1


    Stats Point: 200


    ...


    For the past few days, Shinto had steadily levelled up to level 29. Although his growth was quite slowpared to those who yed for around the same time as him, it was still an above-average growth when taking into ount that he had to share most of his experience points with his partyEspecially Kon.


    With the way he unconventionally grinded, it was a no brainer that he''d earn fewer experience points than those who grind as a solo yer. With him being a support, there were many sorts of problems that prevented him from being able to level up if he were to do it alone.


    "In any case... now that I''m logged on with a clear mind," he thought to himself. "I should put my stat points to use now."


    Shinto had been putting off his stat points due to wanting to test the waters around his character in terms of the situation and how he fairs without using much of his points. He hadn''t used any since starting the dungeon. But, from the looks of it; it seems he needs to raise his strength and stamina in order to keep up with the party whose stats has gradually been growing.


    "With my strength at one... I guess I should put in around 30 into it and another 30 into Stamina," he pondered to himself. With thirty strength, it meant that he could carry more items without regards to the weight limit and with more stamina, he couldst much longer in battle. "As for the rest... 40 in intelligence and 20 in agility."


    Nodding his head in confirmation, he now turned to his newly invested stats.


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 810/810 | MP: 712/712 (+20)


    Strength: 31 | Stamina: 52 (+4)


    Intelligence: 86 (+21) | Agility: 58 (+8)


    Shadow: 30 | Divinity: 19


    Wisdom: 1


    Stats Point: 80


    ...


    "Good. This should make battles a little easier now," he nodded his head. With the bosses of the dungeon not yet defeated, he had to make preparations now before the inevitable came. "Though... It''s sad that I can''t raise that lonely one in Wisdom..."


    There wasn''t much help in it. The only way to raise the wisdom stat was to indulge in plenty of books to raise one''s knowledge of the world. But, Shinto hadn''t had the time to do it.


    "Well, whatever. That can be forter, It''s not like Wisdom is giving me anything special yet..." Turning to the description, it was mentioned that he''d gain a special passive when he equipped a certain type of weapon within his ss scope, which was a staff or a book. However, he hadn''t yet gained any benefits from it even with his current weapon, which was ssified as a staff.


    "So much thing''s blocked out at my level," he shook his head helplessly. "Well... at least my Divinity is one stat away from 20. So that helps."


    It was a shame. Divinity raised by one for every one to two stat gained on Shadow, thus the distribution rate was extremely slow.


    "The next fight that I get into should finally make Divinity hit 20," he nodded his head. "Now then, enough of that. I''ve idling been around too long. Ethan and Frey should be in town."


    Turning towards the direction of the town, his leg stepped forward as he began moving to the slime''s retreat. However, his footsteps suddenly stopped as he cautiously nced around the area.


    "Were there always this many rats here?"


    "Kiikkk!!"


    "Kiikk..."


    "Kiiikk..."


    While deep in thought, Shinto hadn''t realized much of his surroundings; thus he didn''t manage to notice the upsurge of rats till he started moving. The rats didn''t make much noise, nor did they go out of their way to attack him, so it made Shinto forgot that he was currently in a monster area.


    "..." Scrutinizing the area, he noted that the rats were eyeing him; As if they were watching his every move. Moments after, he noticed the ck smoke that slowly became prevalent the more he stayed within the area. "...an ominous aura..."


    Clicking his tongue, his pace soon quickened as he rushed towards the slime''s retreat.


    ...


    The closer Shinto reached towards the slime''s town, the rats that were only watching by the distance slowly chased after him. Though, unlike the previous situation, the rats weren''t madly running, more or so, it seemed to be that they were just following him.


    "Kiikk!!" The rat jumped back from Shinto''s mana spark.


    "Tch... the closer I reach to towards the town, the more rats appear..." Shinto frowned at the sight whilst continuing to run. "Just what''s going on?"


    Continuing to hurry along the hallways, the ck smoke continued to grow thicker and thicker and, upon finally exiting out of the catbs, Shinto''s eyes opened wide in shock.


    Greeted by the sight of a foggy smoked town, the slimes within the area seemed to be fighting against the rats that were frantically grouping together. However, upon a closer look, it seemed to be that the slimes were fighting among themselves as well.


    "What the heck...?" Dumbfoundedly staring at the scene before him, Shinto shook his head as he hurried through the town. "Where''s everyone else?"


    Passing by the fights that were urring throughout the area, he stopped at the town''s center where the ck smoke became more prevalent than before. At a nce around, he spotted two familiar figures that seemed to be inbat.


    "Argh...! This is annoying!" A blonde-haired man was seen struggling against the countless rats and slimes that surrounded him.


    "Why are there suddenly so many monsters?!" The woman beside him cried out.


    "Gloop!"


    "Kiikk..."


    "Tch..." Watching from the distance, Shinto clicked his tongue as he quickly held up his staff, soon beginning to cast a spell. "There''s no time to waste."


    Wavering his staff, a purple cloud then protruded out.


    [ Shadow Fields ].

 Chapter 112: Distress against Slimes (1)

    Chapter 112: Distress against Slimes (1)


    As the cloud of shadows enveloped the area where Ethaniel and Frey stood, Shinto hurried into the domain as he then sent out multiple spells rted to healing over to his allies.


    "...?!" Ethaniel''s eyes opened wide in shock as he felt a warm feeling on him. Turning over to the direction of where the skill was sent out, he saw that Shinto had rendezvoused with them. "Hah. How nice of you to finally show up."


    "Cough... I overslept by an hour, don''t me me..." Letting out a cough in reply to the remarks of Ethaniel''s, Shinto waved his staff aroundQuickly shooting out multiple mana sparks over towards the rats which were aggressively pouncing over towards the group. "Anyhow... Just what''s going on here?"


    "I don''t know! They just suddenly appeared when this ck fog came out of nowhere! The slime started acting aggressively and the rats surrounded us!" Frey cried out whilst countering the attacks of the rats and slimes with her skill: [ Parry Fist ]. "We''ve been fighting ever since... and they deal so much damage!"


    Even with the increase of defence from her parry skill that was used against the enemies in front of herWith the amount of bombardment from the monsters, Frey''s health helplessly lowered to a dangerous level as it couldn''t keep up with the onught.


    Though, in return for receiving that much damage, with her parry skill, she could deal an equal amount of blows to the rats and slimes alike. However, even thenIf the attacks continue like this, Frey wouldn''t be able tost long. Even with Shinto''s healing.


    "Tch... these guys are more of a pain than ever," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. With his de in hand, he stepped forward as he sent an arc of light over towards the line of enemies by the front. However, even with his firepower, the enemies didn''t waver at all.


    "Kiikk!!"


    "Gloop!"


    The rats manoeuvered around the group whilst the slime continuously charged forward, continuing their onught of attacks.


    "They''re so persistent!" Frey cried out.


    "The problem with the rats is that they''re fast..." Shinto thought to himself. "Then, let''s try thisbo." Nodding his head, Shinto calmly began to chant a spell. Momentster, from his ring, a green goo shot out over towards the surrounding area.


    [ Sticky Ground ].


    "What the?" Frey blurted as she saw the scene before her. As the green goo stuck to the ground, the rats that were frantically running about everywhere slowed downpared to before. "This is...?"


    "A new skill," Shinto smirked as he soon continued on with his casting. Chanting out another spellHe sent a small drip of goo over towards Frey.


    [ Poison Cure ].


    "Quick, before the skill ends, clean out as many enemies as you can!" Shinto cried out as he began to send out a blinding light over to the slowed-down rats. Following up with that attack, Ethaniel rushed over towards the slimy grounds as he swung his sword at the rats that were trying to dodge him.


    Meanwhile, Frey who had received the skill effect from Shinto leapt forward in order to do the same thing as Ethaniel, however, she was quickly stopped by Shinto. "No, stay here. Ethaniel can handle that."


    "Eh? Then what do you want me to do?" Frey nkly stared at Shinto in confusion.


    "Go towards the slimes," Shinto calmly stated as he pointed his finger over towards an area where the slimes were grouped up. "They''re unaffected by the field of slime... so focus on that."


    ...


    As the skill duration of Shadow Fields and Sticky Grounds ended, the number of monsters within the area that the group were fighting against drastically decreased. With the help of Shinto; the fight became much easier to manage.


    "Kiikk!!" The rats cried out as Ethaniel and Frey dealt the final blow on them.


    "Huff... huff," Frey panted out as her eyes nced around the area. Her eyes noted that the enemies that were tightly grouped together had dispersed after the initial batch of monsters turned into ashes. "Are we done yet?"


    "I guess for this area," Shinto stated as he scrutinized the town. "The other ces should all still be under siege."


    "Tch... Then where are we headed for?" Ethaniel asked.


    "By the looks of it, we should make our way to the castle since it seems to be where most of the monsters are at," Shinto analyzed. "But... before that, have you seen where Kon and the others are?"


    "Kon? Uh... just before this stuff happened, he went out somewhere," Frey mumbled out in uncertainty.


    "Huh? He went somewhere?" Shinto raised his brow. "Where to?"


    "...he said something about checking out the castle since he had sensed something..." Frey muttered out.


    "What?" Ethaniel blinked at Frey''s statement. "You knew this and you didn''t say anything?!"


    "I was about to until the rats appeared!" Frey refuted.


    "Nevermind. If Kon''s at the castle, that''ll save some time from looking for him," Shinto nodded his head.


    ...


    At the castle gates within the town of slimes a ck fox, as well as a slime, was seen fighting against multiple enemies that were aggressively making their way forward.


    "Ack... Hey! Do you know we''ll die if your kind doesn''te out of the castle?!" Kon cried out as he sent out a pale me over towards the rats that pounced forward.


    "Gloop..." Rustly shriek back at Kon''s shout, however, it seems that he was helpless.


    "Ahh... why did I leave Frey and Ethaniel behind..." Kon whimpered. "Stupid Kon! I should''ve just waited for Master toe back..."


    "Gloop!" The slime leapt forward as he pushed the rat back. "Gloop!"


    "If only I could understand you..." Kon shook his head helplessly as he slightly moved back. Whilst doing so, his head turned towards the closed gates as he shouted out. "Hey! Slimes! Can you let us in?!"


    "Gloop..." Rustly seemed to be nkly staring at Kon. "Gloop, gloop..."


    "Argh! I know that!" Kon cried out. "You''re saying it''s hopeless right? Well... what can we do in this situation?!"


    "Kiikk!!" The rats pounced forward to Kon once again.


    "Ugh!! You rats! Can you just let me be at peace?!" Kon cried out as he shot out an orb of shadows over towards the monsters. Quickly knocking them back. However, they persistently pushed on despite his attacks.


    "Kiikk!!"


    "Gloop!" Rustly parried against the rats that were continuously charging forward. However, even with his efforts, the slime and the fox were slowly being pushed back into a corner bit by bit. With the way things were going for them; they''ll be dead for sure if they lose their ground.


    "Argh..." he whimpered. "These slimes... Why are they so scared to help us?"


    "Gloop..."


    As the two helplessly fought on, they heard a loud crying from behind the mischief of rats.


    "Kon! Rustly!" That cry was from none other than Shinto.


    "Master!" Kon shouted out in joy.


    Rushing forward alongside Ethaniel and Frey, Shinto hurriedly chanted a spell as he shot out another veil of shadows over to the surrounding area. From the time it took to defeat the monsters that had surrounded his party members to now, it was enough to reset the cooldown of the skill.


    Continuing on with their charge, Ethaniel and Frey leapt forward towards the cloud of shadows as they initiatedbat against the rats and slimes that were moving about everywhere. With theirbined forces focused on one enemy at a time, they defeated them one by one.


    "Kiikk!!" The rats angrily jumped forward over towards the two yers. But before they could reach him, Kon and Shinto both simultaneously sent out their attacks, which in turn prevented the rats from reaching them.


    ...


    As the battle reached its climaxThe rats and slimes that remained all quickly ran away in fear, leaving only the group members by the front gate.


    "Hah..." Ethaniel let out a tired sigh. "This is tiring..."


    The number of enemies that they defeated was high. From the infestation of rats that appeared to the slimes aggressiveness, it was as if this town became a monster ground instead. Even then, it seems that even after all the fights that had urred back to back, it seemed that they weren''t done just yet.


    "Shinto! Shinto!" Rustly called out as he frantically made his way over to Shinto. "We have to get into the castle!"


    "How do we do that?" Shinto turned towards the closed gates, taking note that the slimes behind it were menacingly ring at his group. "...and why are they like that?"


    "You''re talking about those slimes right?" Kon questioned. "I don''t know! The entire time we were here, they didn''t lend a hand at all!"


    "Tch... Raina''s in there right?" Ethaniel questioned. "Then why don''t we just barge in there?"


    "You''re crazy, human! Barging in? Do you want to get yourselves arrested and possibly kicked out of this ce into the dangerous wilds?!" Rustly cried out.


    "Ugh..." Ethaniel red at the slime. "Trantion?"


    "Barging in is a stupid idea," Shinto repeated the slime''s words. "But, what do we do if that''s the only option?"


    "Mmm... I know! I know!" The slime jumped up and down. "We''ll go to Madam Ru. I have an idea!"


    "Huh? Hey! Where''s this slime going!?" Frey questioned.


    "Follow after him," Shinto stated as he began to move closely behind the slime.

 Chapter 113: Distress against Slimes (2)

    Chapter 113: Distress against Slimes (2)


    Racing through the town of slimes, Rustly leapt forward in a frenzy as the group followed from behind. Whilst they did so, the party fought against the enemies that jumped at them from the side.


    "Ugh... These guys are still at it," Ethaniel clicked his tongue whilst swinging his de in an arc, shing at the monsters that pounced forward.


    "Even though it feels like we''ve fought against half the rats... They''re so endless!" Frey cried out. "Just how many are there?!"


    Throughout their time fighting against the rats and slimes alike, the battles around town were still ongoing. Even with the number of monsters defeated, it seemed as if the number of rats was still atrge. Unbeknownst to them of what exactly was urring, the group could only follow the lead of Rustly.


    "...you know it''s weird," Shinto calmly analyzed whilst moving his eyes around the town, noting that the rats that were lurking around were those that were normally seen within the catbs. "Despite the rats flooding the town, I don''t see many elite enemies, even at the castle''s gate."


    "Elite enemies?" Frey tilted her head. "You mean to say the enemies we fought aren''t elite enemies?!"


    "From the looks of it, no," Shinto stated as his eyes then turned towards his notification system, confirming the name of the monsters that were defeated earlier[ Dweller Rat Servant ], [ Corrupted Slime ].


    "Huh...?" Frey blinked in disbelief at Shinto''s statement. "If they''re the normal enemies... howe they pack a punchpared to before?"


    "It''s probably because of the fog around us," Shinto thought. During the times when they were in battle, the pitch-ck fog remained prevalent within the area. However, Shinto did not get any sort of system prompt regarding it. "Speaking of which... Frey, did you receive anything rted to a notification around it?"


    "A notification around this ck fog thingy?" Frey helplessly shook her head, "Nope."


    "I thought so..." Shinto mumbled out.


    Since Shinto didn''t receive any notice, he thought that it might have been the works of his ss attribute wherein, abnormal statuses don''t work well. But even then, he still should''ve gotten the notification. Thus, he needed to confirm with Frey on the matter and, with that confirmation, his eyes turned towards Rustly.


    "Rustly. Do you feel anything weird?" he asked.


    "Huh?" Rustly abruptly stopped at his leaping, quickly turning to Shinto. "Feel anything weird...? What do you mean?"


    "The ck fog. Is it affecting you in any way?"


    "Um..." Rustly was stumbled for words as he heard Shinto''s worries. "The ck fog... It''s the work of Sanke''s magic but..."


    "Kiikkk!!" As the two conversed with one another, the rats around the vicinity quickly approached the group.


    "Ah! There''s no time to talk! We need to go to Madam Ru this instant!" Rustly seemed to be shaking his head as he hurried along the path, parrying against the rats that approached.


    "Rustly...?" Shinto blinked at the slime''s action. However, he could only let out a sigh as he continued to follow behind him.


    ...


    Barging right into the building of where the group had been living for the past few days, the slime who first entered into the building shouted out.


    "MADAM RU!!"


    However, in reply to his shout, it was pure silence.


    "Madam Ru? Madam Ru!!" Rustly continued to shout out.


    "...is this slime calling for the other slime?" Frey questioned as she tried to depict whatever the slime was saying. "They should usually be around here, right?"


    "She should be around here," Shinto stated. "But... Did she went somewhere?"


    "MADAM RU!! WE NEED YOU!" Rustly jumped around the building as he searched for Madam Ru. However, to his dismay, he could not find her. "...did something happen?! Ahh! This is the worst!"


    "Why be quiet won''t you!" A voice suddenly protruded out from behind a room. "If you keep shouting like that, you''ll attract all those Farchu here!"


    "Madam Ru, you''re okay!" Rustly eximed excitedly. "Good, good...!"


    "What do you want?" Madam Ru asked as she hid behind a wall. "You''re not here to cause more trouble than you are already, right?"


    "Huh? C-Cause more trouble?"


    "Obviously is by bringing those humans here!" Madam Ru shouted out. "I knew something would happen... but now it''s for the worst! We''re doomed!"


    "Cough... calm down. We''re not the ones that caused this..." Shinto said helplessly.


    "You''re not the one who caused this?" Madam Ru clicked her tongue. "Don''t you see what this entire situation is all about? It began because of the number of outsiders that was brought here!"


    "Under what assumption?" Shinto tilted his head.


    "We have that girl who has graced her presence to learn the mes of Etheral, the cursed human, you who can wear that ne, those two behind you, and that Fox," Madam Ru cried out. "What more do I have to say than the rming numbers of outsiders brought this situation to light?!"


    "Madam Ru... calm down..." Rustly whimpered. "Think about it! Even if those humans didn''te here, the inevitable would still be the same in the end!"


    "Well, it wouldn''t be this sped up now would it?!" Madam Ru continued to cry out. "With the way thing''s are right now and the uncooperative spirit of the king... we''re doomed! Doomed I tell you!"


    "...why is the king uncooperative with the current situation?" Shinto inquired. "From the way things are right now... shouldn''t interventions be at top priority?"


    "He''s waiting. Waiting for the right moment to strike," Madam Ru scoffed. "But we can''t wait any longer! We''re already doomed as it is!"


    "How long more do you think your kind canst against this assault?" Shinto questioned.


    "With the ck fog around... Not any longer..." Madam Ru stated worryingly. "The more you''re exposed to that cursed darkness, the higher chances you''re susceptible to his curses, and with the amount of Sleras already gone to madness... the remaining few will soon follow after."


    "Which is precisely why we need your interventions!" Rustly interjected into the conversation. "We need to know of how to get into the castle in order to bring out that girl! If we were to wait any longer... It''ll be toote!"


    "You want to cause more trouble?!" Madam Ru breathed heavily. "With how the king isn''t moving right now... what makes you think the arts is done and ready for usage?!"


    "Then, if it''s not done, we''ll bring her to the other human!" Rustly firmly stated. "He knows of the arts as well! He can teach that girl much more efficiently than her heaving to learn alone."


    "Are you crazy?! He''s cursed!"


    "It''s the only way!"


    "Ugh..." Madam Ru reluctantly contemted at his words. "You really sure it''s the only way?"


    "Yes!"


    "...fine."


    ...


    Outside of the building, the group exited out of it as they prepared to make their way over towards the castle once again.


    "Hah... this back and forth running is really tiring," Ethaniel scoffed. "So from the gist of whatever Shinto exined, we''ll be busting Raina out of the castle, right?"


    "I guess?" Frey muttered out. "I''d ask Shinto for more details... but where is he?"


    "Master went somewhere to do something first," Kon stated. "He''ll be meeting us at the castle."


    "Hah?!" Ethaniel shouted out. "What the shit does he have to do in this situation?"


    "I don''t know... but it seems important!" Kon said. "He asked us to follow the slime and wait for him at the rendezvous point."


    "Ugh... I sure hope it is," Ethaniel shook his head helplessly as he followed after the slime who was beginning to make a move.


    ...


    Walking through the hallways of the building, Shinto calmly nced around the area as he entered the room where the group had stayed in.


    "Phew... This should be a good ce to check it out," Shinto calmly muttered to himself as his eyes turned towards his notifications.


    [ Your Divinity Stats has been increased by 1. ]


    [ Your Divinity Stat is now at 20! Certain benefits will now take into effect with the passive ''Divinity Gauge''. ]


    [ Passive Skill ''Divinity Gauge'' has reached level 2! ]


    [ The side of divinity is interested in you. ]


    [ You have received a message from the lights above. View it in a secluded ce. ]


    "...with my divinity at 20 now, let''s see what this is all about." Reading through the notifications, he took a deep breath as he then uttered the words, "Open message."


    [ You are now opening the message of ''divinity''. ]


    [ The message is in thenguage of Altric! ]


    [ Gl gsv wrermvi, sv dsl hszoo lmob hvvp gsv tllw. Uli dsl sv irwh lu gsv elrw, dv yvhgld fklm blf gsv trug lu ''wrermrgb''. ]


    [ Lm blfi vmwvzelfih, dv drhs blf gsv yvhg lu ofxp. Dv slkv blf hgzmw gl blfi mznv zmw lmv wzb, dv nrtsg yv zyov gl nvvg. ]


    [ -Vobhrfn, Gsv hvvpvi lu wrermrgb- ]


    "...thenguage of Altric is back again huh?" Shinto mumbled out as he waited for his passive to activate.


    [ Your Eyes of Altric has been activated. ]


    [ Tranting... ]

 Chapter 114: Distress against Slimes (3)

    Chapter 114: Distress against Slimes (3)


    [ To the diviner, he who shall only seek the good. For who he rids of the void, we bestow upon you the gift of ''divinity''. ]


    [ On your endeavours, we wish you the best of luck. We hope you stand to your name and one day, we might be able to meet. ]


    [ -Elysium, The seeker of divinity- ]


    Reading through the tranted text from the Altrguage with his passive, [ Eyes of Altric ]Shinto nodded his head as he began to form a thought in his head. However, his pondering stood to a standstill as the row of notifications wasn''t done just yet.


    [ You have received the divine gift of ''Divinity''! ]


    [ For whom thou seek, the path of divinity and shadows tie into he message of wright grants thou the gift of light. ept it and fulfil thy offices ]


    [ The ability ''Sanctum Brilliance'' has been created. ]


    [ The subquest ''Gifted Diviner'' has been created. ]


    [ The pieces of divinity is forming... ]


    [ The side of divinity has begun noting your existence. However, they seem unphased at you. ]


    [ ''Elysium'' and its messengers will be keeping a close eye on you. ]


    "Oh? Just like that time... A notification simr to the side of shadows appeared but this time for divinity..." Shinto raised his brow in fascination as he noted thest few messages from the system. "The pieces of divinity is forming... what could that mean?"


    Unlike the instance for ShadowIt seems that for Divinity, there was a lot to analyze this time. From ''Elysium''s'' message to the things that he had received under the guise of ''gift''.


    "Hmm... In any case, let''s check out the ability first." Going through his ability list, he began to scrutinize the details of his newly obtained skill.


    [ Sanctum Brilliance Lv 1 ] [ 40 Divinity Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 20 Minutes ]


    A brilliant light envelops the palm of the shadow diviner as it moves around them for 30 seconds. While the light manoeuvres around, the diviner receives limited benefits as if they were within the light. (Split Between Two does not trigger.)


    After using the skill, half of the Divinity Gauge is recovered and during its duration, the cost for all Divinity rted skills is lowered by 5 and certain abilities will be upgraded. However, the rate for raising the divinity stat is decreased by 20% and Shadow Skills cannot be activated.


    ...


    [ Divinity Brilliance Lv 1 ] [ 27 Divinity Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 12 Minutes ]


    A ray of light is shot out from the palms of the shadow diviner, quickly dealing 250% light magic damage to an enemy.


    *When sessfully dealing damage with this skill, absorbs half of the damage dealt into HP. Whilst doing so, a shield of 500 HP is created on self while allies within the area, receive a shield of 250 HP.


    ...


    [ Hallowed Crest (Brilliance) Lv 1 ] [ 30 Divinity Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 15 Minutes ]


    From the hands of the shadow diviner, cast a blinding light on an enemy that deals 800% light magic damage. Then silence that enemy for 5.6 seconds whilst decreasing their defence by 25% for the duration of the silence.


    ...


    "...a skill that works simrly that of a buff," Shinto murmured to himself. "But instead of raising stats, it works as a switch?"


    From the looks of it, [ Sanctum Brilliance ] seemed to work like [ Shadow Fields ]. However, the disparity was that unlike how thetter works as a support ability in which it allows for field management, the former made it so that it was a self-supporting ability for Shinto.


    The skill added onto his offence rather than his support in general. With the increase of [ Hallowed Crest ]''s multiplier, it became prevalent that its usages were more offensive-oriented.


    Though, one could argue that it also added onto his support arsenalSince, alongside the increase of the multiplier, the duration of silence is increased by 0.6 seconds whilst also adding a defence decrease onto afflicted enemies.


    "It''s unfortunate that shadow skills can''t be used during the skill duration, but it''s a good trade-off depending on the situation," Shinto nodded his head in reason. As of right now, the drawbacks of being unable to use shadow skills wouldn''t affect him as much. Since he only had two skills, he could use them beforehand before activating Sanctum Brilliance.


    However, in the future, the drawbacks might eat at him when he obtains more skills within the shadow type as there were only so much he could use if resources and the situation were to limit him.


    "But... since I can''t activate shadow skills, would it affect Shadow Recreation?" Shinto pondered.


    Since Shadow Recreation works as somewhat of a passive skill, in which the shadow minions, or in other words, Kon, can stay for an indefinite amount of time without consuming any resources, Shinto fears that the skill might forcibly be closed, in turn, forcibly making Kon return to the shadow realm.


    "I''ll have to confirm thatter." Calmly closing his skill tab, Shinto moved onto the next agenda. "Now... What''s this subquest?"


    [ Gifted Diviner ]


    Type: ss Quest


    Dear diviner of divinity, I''m sure you have received our gift.


    You may have inherited the abilities from ''him'', but, we as the ''Seekers of Divinity'' shall see whether or not you''re fit to continue his legacy.


    Proof to us, Diviner, that you''re worthy of such title.


    Tllw ofxp.


    Quest Clear Condition: Defeat three beings judged as evil.


    Quest Reward: An audience with the lights.


    ...


    "Hah... for my first ss quest to be that of a test," Shinto sighed, quickly shaking his head. "Well, at least I''m getting somewhere now."


    Inparison to the events that urred when he reached the 20th number of shadow stats, the information that he got from Divinity''s side seemed to outweigh that of the shadow''s side. Unbeknownst to him as to why it was that way, he could only think that it was due to one reason: Kon.


    "Would thing''s have been different if someone else were to be summoned instead of Kon?" his thoughts led astray. From what Kon had mentioned before, he wasn''t the one who was supposed to be summoned, but instead, it was one of his other siblings. "Well, whatever. What''s done is done. At the very least, I have more information now."


    "Anyway... back onto the topic." Continuing to read through the quest details, he confirmed the details as he closed the tab. "To cleanse away three beings judged as evil..." From what he could recall in the game''s world view, a being that was judged as ''evil'' was usually a sealed away monster like Shivuliz or Refrinz or someone with ill intentions like the Emperor of Shaodon, King Vadius.


    "Does it have to be a specific evil or in general?" The context of such an objective was vague. Perhaps he needed to defeat evils that have yet been sealed away, he wouldn''t know, thus he also needed to test the waters on it. "Sigh... now that I''m putting everything to thought, everything is way too vague. From the message of Divinity to the quest... nothing really is clear, huh?"


    Much to his dismay, instead of his worries and questions about the Shadow Diviner being answered, it just added onto his list of never to be answered questions unless he progresses indefinitely.


    Turning his eyes over to the notifications once again, Shinto closely reread the contents. "The only thing that is prevalent would be in regards to the side of divinity, being ''good''."


    There was no point to question who or what Elysium was. Whether it was a name of a person, a ce, or a thing, he could only guess. In the end, all it boils down to was that he would meet the ''Seekers of Divinity'' in the future.


    "So many questions yet no answers." Helplessly shaking his head, Shinto turned around as he exited into the room. "I guess that can be forter. For now... I''ll have to meet up with the group."


    ...


    By the entrance of the town of slimes, still infested with the rats and corrupted slimes alike, Ethaniel and the group loitered around as they awaited for Shinto.


    "Ugh... how long is this guys agenda going to take?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "It''s been way over fifteen minutes!"


    "I''m sure Master ising soon..." Kon muttered out. "He''ll soon be here!"


    "Gloop... Gloop..." Rustly seemed to be worryingly staring at the castle by the distance.


    "We''re supposed to infiltrate the castle right?" Frey questioned as she nced around the area. "Why are we so far away from the castle then?"


    "How am I supposed to know?" Ethaniel shrugged. "Maybe there''s some secret passage or something, but unless that guy gets here, we''ll be left sitting ducks."


    "-Well, to put it simply, from what the slimes said, there is a secret passage around here." A voice calmly protruded the moment Ethaniel ended his sentence.


    "What the?!" Frey cried out in shock as the group turned in the direction, quickly noting that Shinto had arrived. "Where did you came from!?"


    "Tch, finally you''re here," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Now slime, show us where this ''secret passage'' is."


    "Ugh... impatient human!" Rustly clicked his tongue as leapt into the catbs where the group had originally entered from. Soon after, he began to make his way over towards the wall directly next to the door.


    "Here it is, humans!" The slime stated in anger whilst seemingly pointing over to a stone wall that seems concrete.


    "Hah...? Here?" Ethaniel blinked at the sight.

 Chapter 115: Infiltration (1)

    Chapter 115: Infiltration (1)


    Within the hallways governed by many guards of the Slera Race, a slime hopped through it as it stopped at arge door.


    "Hmm...?" The guards turned to the slime standing at the front with a curious look. "...what do you want?"


    "The king, I must see the king." The slime said in an urgent voice.


    "The king..." The guards uttered. "His majesty is busy with matters in regards to the curse. Please give me your message and I will ry it to him."


    "No! I must give it to him personally!" The slime shouted out.


    "...he is-" The guard was about to speak up, however, he was quickly interrupted by the opening of therge door from behind him.


    "It is okay, my friend." The voice of Leloop protruded out into the halls. "Reru maye in and speak."


    "...I see." The guard seemed to be nodding his head as he moved over towards the side. "Then proceed."


    "Thank you!" Reru happily stated as he entered the room.


    ...


    Upon entering the throne room, Reru was greeted by the sight of the king whoy rest at the end of the room. However, unlike the usual prestige aura that Leloop gave off, it was instead reced by a gloomy one in which enshrouded the entire room.


    "...Reru. What is the update with that human?" Breaking the internal silence of the throne room, Leloop spoke up,


    "She''s still learning the arts..." Reru muttered out in reply.


    "It is improbable to finish in time..." Leloop said solemnly. "The girl who knows knowledge struggles to finish the mes that burst through the catbs."


    "That girl will need a few more weeks," Reru muttered. "But, by that time... It''ll all be hopeless right?"


    "Yes... Everything wille to an end before long," Leloop sighed. "Our people, have delved into the path of no return. What is there to do but pray for that the human to finish in time?"


    "Then what do we do?" Reru asked.


    "With the magic of the darkness, the evil being known as Sanke grows stronger day by day," Leloop hopped down his throne as he paced around the room. "His curse remains precedented throughout our sanctuary."


    "What about Renryth?" Reru suggested. "He knows of such arts of mes... However, he is incapacitated by the curse..."


    "The cursed darkness... I fear Renryth may long have fallen," Leloop seemed to be shaking his head. "If we wish for his help; who knows what may happen?"


    "...then what about that human''spanion?"


    "Those humans?" Leloop stopped at his steps. "Humans... are they to be trusted once again?"


    ...


    Using the hidden passagewayid within the catbs, the group scurried along the path. Their goal was to quickly make their way towards the castle, in which they started doing.


    "...you know." As the party silently walked through the passage, Frey uttered out. "I''m still wondering how there was an entrance to enter here in the first ce..."


    "An entrance?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "The hell do you mean there was an entrance?"


    ...


    Back before the group had made their way into the narrow corridor that would lead them to the castle, the group had stopped by in front of a concrete wall.


    "Hah...? Here?" Ethaniel blinked at the sight as he stared nkly at the wall. "Why the hell is the passageway so far from the castle?"


    "How am I supposed to know, human?!" Rustly clicked his tongue. "Madam Ru pointed me over here!"


    "...trantion?" Ethaniel red at Shinto.


    "Sigh. He says he doesn''t know. All he did was follow the direction of where the slime at the counter pointed towards," Shinto shrugged. "In any case, since we stopped by in front of the wall, there must be a hidden switch somewhere, right?"


    "Wouldn''t that slime know?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "What is he waiting for?"


    "Jeez, be patient!" Rustly cried out as he made his way over towards the wall. Momentster, he jiggled and hopped a few times in front of it.


    "...what?" At the sight of the slime''s action, Ethaniel frowned. The slime had continued doing this movement for more than a minute, however, nothing happened. "Is this a joke?"


    "Huh? Why isn''t this working?" Rustly murmured out in confusion. "Did Madam Ru lied to me?!"


    "Do you want a trantion?" Shinto nced over towards Ethaniel as he sighed.


    "...no. I don''t need to know the trantion to tell he got duped, didn''t he?" Ethaniel helplessly shook his head. "This is just a concrete wall, isn''t it?"


    "Eh? How could it just be a concrete wall?" Frey tilted her head. "You know how in those movies there''s a secret button somewhere to open up a door? Yeah! This could it be it!"


    "You tell me, where is the button?" Ethaniel questioned. "I have eyes to see that there isn''t any sort of dent tings or walls that can trigger an opening switch anywhere around here."


    "It must be somewhere!" Frey stepped forward over towards the walls as she began pressing her hand against it in hopes of triggering something. However, after nearly touching almost every part of the wall, nothing happened. "There must be something, right?"


    "As I said, duped," Ethaniel sighed. "So, how about my previous idea of just barging in unannounced?"


    "No crazy human! That''s a bad idea!" Rustly cried out. "What Madam Ru said about this passageway is definitely true! But... The trigger isn''t working..."


    "He says you''re crazy for thinking such an idea and whatever that slime said was true, the passageway apparently exists." Looking at Ethaniel''s expression of wanting to know what the slime said, Shinto quickly stated.


    "Crazy?" Ethaniel frowned. "I''m being reasonable here. Who on earth would do such crazy movements to open a damn passageway?"


    "Well, that''s how we did it to open that gate!"


    "He says ''That''s how it is to open that gate''," Shinto saidzily as he quickly took off the ne. "You''re immune to curses, right? Just wear the ne and argue. I''ll check around the premise with Frey to see if there''s an actual button or something."


    "Hah..." Ethaniel let out a sigh as he grabbed onto the ne. In the next moment, he quickly wore it. Then, a few secondster, he nkly stared at the wall as he shook his head. "...ahem. Speak slime."


    "Tch, now you can finally understand me, right?" Rustly stated. "Back on topic, this passageway is genuine!"


    "Genuine my ass. How the hell is this going to open if your whatever movement or dance didn''t work?"


    "I don''t know! But I''m telling you, it''s the real thing!"


    "...how the hell can you even believe such a thing?" Ethaniel red at the slime. "Instead of wasting time trying to find out how to open something that we don''t know even exist, let''s just break into the castle."


    "No! Crazy human, a stupid one at that..." he mumbled out. "If we do that our king will get angry!"


    "Tch. What''s the point of pleasing a king if we''re pressed for time?!"


    While the two argued with one another, Shinto and Frey had arrived back at the party. Seeing the two continuing their argument, they could only let out a sigh.


    "No hopes in finding anything," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "It seems that the only option is that we either do whatever Ethaniel suggested or we hope for the best in Ru''s instruction."


    "Isn''t it much simpler to just barge in at that point?" Frey thought to herself.


    "...isn''t this fight, pointless?" Kon sighed.


    "It really is," Shinto shrugged as he turned towards the two arguing people.


    "Then what do you suggest then if all else fails?" Ethaniel red with an annoyed at the slime.


    "If all else fails, just break the damn wall!"


    "How is that any different from barging in into the castle?"


    "We don''t get killed!"


    "Bah," Ethaniel not wanting to continue the conversation quickly unsheathed his sword. In the next moment, he swung at the wall.


    <em><strong>TUK!</strong></em>


    With one swing at it, the wall quickly copsed.


    "..." Ethaniel stared dumbfoundedly at the scene before him.


    "I told you there was a hidden passage behind here!" Rustly clicked his tongue.


    "...it can be solved this simply if we just thought of that," Shinto muttered in helplessness as he turned towards Ethaniel who took off the ne. "Sigh. Enough of that." Sighing, he moved his hand forward as he took the ne. "Let''s just head down the passageway and be done with it."


    "Tch... what a waste of time," Ethaniel scoffed as he entered into the man-made entrance first. Soon after, the group followed from behind.


    ...


    "-We basically made our damn entrance!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "Aha... at least we''re done with that," Shinto said. "Anyways... It looks like we''re almost to the end of the hallway."


    The group stopped at their tracks, halting their progress. They narrowed their eyes ahead of the hall. There was a staircase leading up. Taking note of that, they were able to conclude that they were at the end.


    "We''re here to the castle!" Rustly stated. "Follow my lead and I''ll show you where the human is!"

 Chapter 116: Infiltration (2)

    Chapter 116: Infiltration (2)


    Heading into the castle through the passageway, the group cautiously looked around as they noted that they ended up in a dimly lit room.


    "...uh, we''re in the castle now, right?" Frey questioned as she nced around the room. Although dark, the eyes of the group besides Shinto''s slowly adjusted to the darkness, thus allowing them to see properly.


    "I guess so..." Shinto mumbled out as he scrutinized his surroundings, taking note of the many sorts of boxes and gear lying around in the vicinity. "This should be a storage room?"


    "Yep!" Rustly nodded his head as he hurried over towards the entrance of the room. "From here to where I think that human is... It should be up a few floors!"


    "Huh?" Shinto tilted his head in question as he heard Rustly''s statement. "...we''re that far?"


    "We are at the basement level of the castle..." he sighed. "But it''s fine! It shouldn''t be that hard to get by the guards."


    "I see," Shinto nodded his head as he turned towards his group. "Then let''s hurry."


    ...


    Within a room situated within the castleA young girl, Raina paced around the room filled with many books all scrambled around the area. Whilst doing so, in her hands, she held onto a book titled ''mes that Burns Death''.


    "...to burn against the darkness, one must try for the mes against death," Raina repeated to herself as he walked back and forth in the room. "Continuing on the legacy of Etheral, ze through the void!"


    [ ''mes of Etheral'' proficiency has increased by 0.02%. ]


    [ Current proficiency in the arts: 37.02% ]


    [ Wisdom has increased by 1 ]


    "...sigh," ncing at her notifications upon finishing up her lines, Raina let out a sigh. "It''s been days and only the proficiency is at 37%..." Moving her eyes away from the screen in helplessness, she turned over towards her status screen.


    ...


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Raina


    Level: 25


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Mage (Common)


    -ss Attribute-


    N/A


    -Titles-


    [ Novice Bookworm ]


    You have touched and absorbed many sorts of books. However, most of them are of the advanced levels which you are yet able to understand. Even then, you still make the effort to learn.


    *Wisdom Stat is opened.


    *By reading books, you will slightly gain experience points.


    *Current progress to advancing the title to ''Intermediate Bookworm'': 26%


    -Stats-


    HP: 618/618 | MP: 876/876


    Strength: 21 | Stamina: 41


    Intelligence: 101 | Agility: 31


    Wisdom: 17


    Stats Point: 60


    ...


    "At the rate this proficiency is increasing at... my newly opened Wisdom stat might surpass the percentage," Raina helplessly shook her head. "Well, at least I''m slowly gaining experience points."


    During the past days where Raina was within closed doors, she had either been reading through books in order to learn the arts of Etheral or has been experimenting with spells from other books.


    However, despite experimenting and learning, Raina didn''t manage to learn any spells. This was because most if not all of the spells within the room were that of advanced to high grade. Even if she knew the words written on the pages, in practice, she wouldn''t be able to use any spells due to theck of understanding of the concept.


    "..." Closing her profile window, Raina''s eyes then turned over to the door. "...I wonder when that slime ising back..." Unable to do anything at the moment, she quickly opened up the book within her hands once again as she began to read through it.


    ...


    <strong><em>Thuck thuck...</em></strong>


    Back within the castle hallway, the group silently manoeuvred through it as they slowly made their way over towards the 2nd floor of the building. From the basement level to the first, it had taken them around 15 minutes to find the staircase leading up.


    "..." Turning around to look at the corner of the hall, Shinto''s eyes narrowed over to see multiple slimes that wore armour customized for their bodies within the area. "...sigh. There are tons of guards within this area too."


    "Grr... Are you serious?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "What other pathway can we take then?"


    "I don''t think there are any more options..." Shinto helplessly shook his head.


    "Ugh. Wouldn''t this all be better if we had just barged in from the front entrance?" Ethaniel scoffed. "So much better than wasting time trying to sneak around and avoiding confrontations..."


    "Grrr, human! How many times do I have to tell you that I don''t want us to get killed?!" Rustly cried out. "The moment we make a noise, the guards wille and arrest us, you''ll lose privilege on so much stuff and even worst- You''ll be jarred from helping out that human!"


    "...yatty yatty yatta." Ethaniel moved his hand as if mocking the slime. "You''re going on and on about the same reasoning again, right? Sigh. It''s hopeless."


    "Grrr, human! Stupid human!"


    "Now, now..." Shinto helplessly sighed. Even without being able to understand Rustly''snguage, Ethaniel had been arguing with the slime non-stop since at the passageway. "Ahem. In any case, the only option to get to the second floor is through here, so you got any ideas?"


    "If I say my idea, you''ll probably get mad," Ethaniel shrugged. "-and counting on that slime and Frey wouldn''t be good as well."


    "Huh? Why am I dragged in this?!" Frey blurted out.


    "Do I have to reason?"


    "I can tell..." Shinto answered as he nced around the area, noting that there was a few hiding spots that could conceal someone that was the size of a slime. "Hmm..."


    "What do you mean you can tell?" Frey pouted. "I was gonna suggest knocking the slimes out or something..."


    "No good!" Rustly stated.


    "Bah... this guy and his nos," Ethaniel angrily turned away from the slime as he looked at Shinto. "Got any bright ideas?"


    "Well... I got one," Shinto calmly replied as he looked at Kon on his shoulders. "Kon, you have the camouge ability, right?"


    "Mhm!" Kon nodded his head. "What do you want me to do?"


    "It''s simple. Cause trouble at the end of the hallway and distract the guards."


    "...cause trouble?!" Rustly cried out. "It''s not what I think it is, right?"


    "Nothing of that sort. Just calm down and follow my lead," Shinto helplessly said.


    ...


    By the hallways of the castle, the guards cautiously roamed around as they anticipatedly waited for something.


    "Why did the king want us to stand guard here again?" One of the guardszily muttered out.


    "The ck fog is outside, so... The chances of the Farku race suddenly charging into this ce is high," The other guard stated. "His majesty tasked us to be on high alert at all times because of that."


    "Sigh... so troublesome. Can''t we just exterminate them outside?"


    "Are you crazy? The fog is outside. The more exposed you are to it... The higher chances you''ll get corrupted!" The guard shivered. "His Majesty had put up a barrier just for the sake of fending off against the fog from this castle, and, as for our people... We''ll have to pray for that human to hurry up with the process of learning the arts."


    "So slow... Wasn''t Renryth much faster?"


    "We could''ve been done by now if he wasn''t corrupted..." The guardmented. "But whatever. Back to your duties-"


    As the slime was about to speak out his orders, a sudden loud sound rang throughout the halls by the front.


    "...?!" The guard jumped back in caution. "The Farku?!"


    "Tch... hurry, head to where that sound came from! We mustn''t let them go anywhere near the throne room!"


    The slimes within the area quickly dispersed as they hurried along the halls, quickly making their way over towards the direction of the sound. Minutester as the slimes were gone from the areaFrom the back of the hallway, a few figures silently rushed through it.


    "...wow, that worked much better than I expected," Frey blinked at the sight.


    "Rustly, where''s the staircase?" Shinto questioned.


    "Over there! It''s beyond here! Follow me!"


    Hurrying along the corridors, the group quickly headed up towards the second floor. Soon after, they followed the direction of where Rustly was leading them, finally reaching towards a door by the end of the hallway.


    "The room that she is in should be in the next corner," Rustly stated as he turned right. "After that... We''ll need to confirm whether or not that human is-"


    "Not so fast, Rustly. Where do you think you''re going?" The moment Rustly had turned around, he heard a sudden voiceing from the front.


    "...?" The group wary of the sound, hurriedly turned towards the direction as they noticed a slime by the front of them.


    "Hey... Isn''t that the slime that took Raina?" Frey pointed out.


    "...It''s that guy?" Ethaniel frowned as he moved his hand over to the hilt of his sword.


    "That slime''s here... So it seems we''vee to the right ce," Shinto nodded his head as he held onto his staff tightly.


    "Hmm, Rustly... It seems you brought the humans with you." The slime seemed to be frowning. "I see now. So you want to bust Raina out of here?"

 Chapter 117: Infiltration (3)

    Chapter 117: Infiltration (3)


    Upon hearing the voice of the slime at the front of the group, Rustly who was at the head of the party stepped back abruptly from the sight.


    "...Reru?!" he shouted out. "Why are you here?!"


    "Why am I here..." Reru leapt forward as he spoke out. "I should be the one asking you that instead, no?"


    "Ugh... You clearly know why we''re here!" Rustly stated. "Just let us past!"


    "Hmm..." Reru stopped at his leaping. "No can do. You going to that human would interfere with her. It''s much better to be patient and wait till she is done."


    "What?" Rustly seemed to be dumbfoundedly staring at Reru. "Be patient? There''s no time! Don''t you see what''s going on outside?!"


    "Yes... I understand that." Reru nodded his head. "But, what can we do? There is no other option but to wait. If these humans were to meet up with her... It''ll cause unnecessary trouble."


    "There is something we can do! It''s to see Old Man Renryth! He can help us out with-"


    "No. You know very well the old man has long fallen into the curse..." he sighed. "It''ll cause harm for us all if that human were to see him."


    "But! If we can''t see the old man... There is no way she''ll finish in time!"


    "In the end, instead of risking our one chance for nothingIt is much better to take the safest route," Reru spoke as he quickly turned around. "In any case... I have nothing more to say to you. Please quietly leave this ce before you bring about an unfavourable situation for you"


    "Reru!!" Rustly cried out.


    "I suggest you do something much beneficial for all of us like helping to clear out the Farku race," he calmly stated. "As for when the human will finish up learning the arts... I estimate for it to be a week."


    Watching the slime walk away from the group, Shinto hurriedly stepped to the front in a calm demeanour as he spoke out. "Stop."


    However, despite calling out to Reru, the slime continued walking towards the door without looking back.


    "...Reru, was it? Why is it that your assumption is that we''ll be a cause for unnecessary trouble?" Seeing the scene in front of him, Shinto wasted no time in waiting for his reply as he quickly pressed on the matter.


    "...?" Upon hearing Shinto''s voice, the slime stopped at his as steps. In the next moment, he turned around, quickly locking eyes on Shinto. "You... How is it possible that you''re able to understand ournguage?"


    "That does not matter as of right now. The bigger issue at hand is what I asked," Shinto redirected his question against Reru. "Why is that you assume we''ll be unnecessary trouble?"


    "Hmph..." The slime scrutinized the human in front of him. "For someone who is openly wearing the cursed neYour question as to why is as if you aren''t causing trouble already."


    "And are we really causing trouble?" Shinto tilted his head. "We''ve peacefully spoken with the people here and we didn''t make any scene. Your assumption on the matter seems to formte around the idea of your linear way of thinking about humans, isn''t it?"


    "Hoh? Then do exin about that ne you''re wearing," Reru curiously inquired. "It is cursed by the darkness of Sanke. YetYou still dare to wear such a thing?"


    "The curse does not affect me," Shinto calmly voiced. "Which is precisely why we''re more than fit to aid ourpanion in defeating the one who you call ''Sanke''."


    "..." The slime was stumped for words upon listening to Shinto. With a nce to Rustly and back to Shinto, he let out a sigh. "Human... Even if you''re immune to the curse, that still doesn''t change the fact that the one who Rustly wishes to see is cursed."


    "We''ll find a way around it," he said. "From what I know, this person is stillbating against the curse, right?"


    "That was thest news that was given to us, yes," Reru replied. "What of it?"


    "Then... There''s still a chance," Shinto said. "If we were to go now, it may not be toote."


    "...and what if it was? How are you going to escape from his grasp?" Reru pressed. "The cons outweigh the pros I''d say."


    "If all else fails, I and my party will do our utmost best in protecting Raina from harm''s way."


    "Hmph... This is a waste of time you know that?"


    "It''s only a waste of time we exhaust all options."


    "..." The slime stood still as if deep in thought, pondering on Shinto''s words. Soon after, in the next momentThe slime entered into a battle-ready position. "Give me one proof that you''re able to protect Raina from him. Together with yourpanionsfight me."


    ...


    Back within the room filled with many books on floors and on the shelves, Raina held her staff tightly within her hands, quickly chanting out a few words.


    "...to burn against the darkness," Raina muttered out. "To try against the mes..." Her staff waved around as a small me began to surround her. "Continuing on against the zes of legacy... ze through the void!"


    Shouting out, her staff aimed at a torn piece of paper in front of her. However, after minutes of chanting the spell, nothing came out.


    "...sigh," Raina sighed at the sight of her staff failing to cast the spell. "Again I failed..."


    [ ''mes of Etheral'' proficiency has increased by 0.04%. ]


    [ Current proficiency in the arts: 38.04% ]


    ncing over towards her notification window, she raised up her staff once again. "At the very least... This is much more efficient than rereading the book over and over again." Shaking her head, she began to cast the spell once again.


    ...


    Through the hallways of the castle leading up to a door at the end of it, multiple spikes of toxic goo protruded out on the floors, quickly making their way over towards the group.


    "Ack-!" Frey cried out as she dodged the spikes nearly grazing by at her. "What''s up with this slime?!"


    "This slime is testing us," Shinto calmly stated as he jumped into the backlines. In the next moment, his staff drew into an arc as he casted [ Shadow Fields ]. Following that, Shinto swiftly consumed his MP as he ring threw out a flood of goo onto the floor[ Sticky Grounds ].


    "Hmph... Is this is all you got?" The slime remained unphased at the Shinto''s skills as he manoeuvred around the area. "This is child''s y!"


    Soon after, the slime leapt up into the sky, quickly spinning around and sending out rows of toxic projectiles over to the area. Then,


    "Tch... why is this guy''s attack so fast?" Ethaniel held his sword in a defensive position as he fended off against the attacksHowever, unable to cut down against all the spikes, he took some of the blows.


    "This is fast for you? Then you''re no match for Renryth!" The slime who was still in the sky dashed forward over towards Ethaniel, quickly, from his side, a green-like slimy sword protruded out from Reru, swiftly shing with Ethaniel.


    "Urk..." With the force from Reru, despite being small, he managed to push back Ethaniel. "Tsk... don''t underestimate me!"


    "This is beyond underestimation!" Reru scoffed as he protruded out another sword from the opposite side, quickly hacking at him and pushing him back over to a wall.


    "Hey, are you forgetting about me?!" Frey shouted out as she rushed forward. With her hands curled up into fists, she threw multiple punches at the slime.


    "When did I forget?" Reru dodged the hands of Frey as he quickly attached himself onto herSwiftly redirecting her attack over towards Kon, who was busily casting against his spells.


    "Ack...!" The two shouted out as they collided with one another.


    "...damn," Shinto clicked his tongue as he nced around his fallen allies. "This is..."


    "Power far beyond your level." Without being able to react, Reru instantly made his way over towards Shinto as he mmed his body against him. In the next moment, he was sent flying back over to a wall that was near Ethaniel.


    "Argh...!"


    "Hmph... How are you going to fight against Renryth, whose much stronger than me at this state?" Reru clicked his tongue at the sight of four fallen people.


    "Ugh... This slime hurts like hell..." Ethaniel frowned at the overwhelming power of the slime, turning his head over towards his status screen, where he saw that in just a few hits from the spikes and the sword, took him down to half his health.


    "It''s really something. You say you want to meet with him to be able to fasten the learning process..." Reru muttered out in disappointment. "But yet you are all in this state? You might as well just stop there and turn back. Renryth will wipe you all out."


    "...there has to be some way to go up against this guy right?" Shinto thought to himself as he scrutinized the slime in front of him.


    "Overwhelming skills, speed, strength and arge health pool... I doubt it..." Ethaniel spoke in a defeated tone.


    "Ahh... what do we do?" Frey mumbled out.


    "So? What are you going to do?" Reru red at the party. "With the way you all are right now, I''d say just give it up. You are no match for the beasts within these catbsLikewise, you cannot do anything against this curse even if you''re immune to it."


    "Wait... I''m not done yet," Shinto shook his head as he stood up. "we''re not done yet. Fight us once more."


    "Master...?" Kon muttered out in shock.

 Chapter 118: Infiltration (4)

    Chapter 118: Infiltration (4)


    Making his way forward to face Reru, Shinto swiftly stirred his staff over to the direction of Ethaniel who was still on the groundQuickly healing him up using [ Mark of Umbra ].


    "Ugh... Hey, what are you thinking?" Ethaniel raised his brow as he steadily rose up from the ground following Shinto''s heal. "You still have the energy to go against him?"


    "I still do," Shinto nodded his head whilst moving his eyes over towards the fallen Frey and Kon on the side. Soon after, his staff protruded out light as it then turned into a small root growing on the ground.


    [ Skill - Soft Root Heal ]


    "Hmm? Are you that persistent?" Reru seemed to be tilting his head in question. "Well... I guess we can continue on with this fight despite its uselessness," Reru stated as he hurriedly leapt forward, quickly bringing out his sword and swinging it over to Shinto.


    HoweverAt a moments notice, Shinto swayed to the side. Unlike before where he was caught off guard unexpectedly at Reru''s attacks, he wouldn''t let it happen again.


    "Tch..." Shinto turned towards his party members who were beginning to enter intobat position once again. At the sight, he nodded his head as he shouted out. "Then we''re starting!"


    Without wasting any time, Ethaniel and Frey rushed up from the sides as they made their way over towards Reru. At the same time, Kon began to chant out a spell as he soon sent out [ Orbal Shadow ].


    "We went over this didn''t we?" Reru sighed at the same attack patterns from Shinto''s party. "What difference does it make if you''re going for a pincer attack knowing full well I can easily counter?" Withdrawing back the sword made of goo into his body, Reru began to form a shield around himself.


    "But there is a difference," Shinto calmly uttered his words as he dashed forward towards Reru alongside his party. Soon after, a white light began to form around him in an orbit.


    [ Sanctum Brilliance ]


    In the next momentShinto sent out a shining light from his hands over towards Reru.


    "...what''s your power going to do?" Unphased by his actions, Reru continued to stand his ground as he took the full blow from all four attacks. Ethaniel''s pir attack, Frey''s fist skill, Kon''s orbs and Shinto''s magic all ceased into nothing.


    "Tch... It''s not enough!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue at the sight of the failed charge from his party. However, before he was able to connect with another skillSpikes formed around the shield as it soon shot out like bullets, quickly piercing through his group.


    "Argh...!" Frey stuttered back from the sudden attack, though, it didn''t hurt as much aspared to the previous attacks. "What the...?" Her eyes then nced to her health bar as she noticed a white coating on her screen.


    This strange phenomenon was due to Shinto''s skill, [ Divinity Brince ] which gave a 250 HP barrier towards nearby allies. Although it doesn''t absorb much damage, the barrier was enough to soak up most of the attacks that hit Frey whilst she dodged.


    "Continue with yourbos!" Shinto shouted out as he retracted back into the backlines. Then, without wasting any time, his hand protruded another light as it moved towards Reru.


    "Right...!" Kon nodded his head as he activated the skill: [Shadow y]. Momentster, his doppelganger hurriedly casted [ Orbal Shadow ] once again and alongside that, a pale me shot forward from the real Kon.


    "Tsk..." Watching Shinto and Kon sending out their attacks, Reru stood still in ce as he only took the full blow from their skills. Soon after, he leapt forward as he was about to take out his sword howeverIt didn''te out. "...?!"


    "Ethaniel, Frey, it''s on you!" Shintomanded as he soon exhausted his remaining strength in sending out basic attacks.


    "No need to say twice," Ethaniel stated as he swung his sword in an arc, quickly sending waves of white shes. Following up with that; Frey threw her fists forward as she sent a full blow onto the slime.


    [ Brawler Skill - Frontal Collision ]


    "Ugh..." Reru groaned in annoyance at his inability to fend off against the second waves of attacks, quickly taking the full blow once againWhich in turn sent him flying over towards a wall.


    "D-Did we do it?" Frey muttered out as her eyes narrowed over towards the motionless slime upfront.


    "Don''t let your guard down just yet," Shinto let out an exhausted breath as he scrutinized the fallen slime.


    "Tch... We''re continuing again?" Ethaniel cautiously muttered.


    Awaiting the slime to rise up again, the group entered into battle position once again. At this point in time, if the group were to continue fighting, their skills will all be exhausted and thus, be unable to fight any longer.


    "Haha..." Augh could be heard from the slime at the front. Slowly getting up, Reru turned to re at the group. "It seems I underestimated you... but, even with this, it''s still no good."


    "Ahh! He got up!" Kon cried out. "What do we do?!"


    "It''s simple, just give it up. There''s no longer any point in this. I''ve seen enough," Reru calmly stated as his body swiftly dashed forward in a straight line. With the silence wearing off on him, two swords protruded out from Reru as he then quickly swung it over towards Shinto and Kon who was at the backlines.


    "...!!"


    "Argh, master!" Frey cried out at the sight as she hurried behind in hopes of being able to defend Shinto and Kon.


    "There''s no time-" Ethaniel clicked his tongue in helplessness as he followed after Frey.


    Passing by Ethaniel and Frey in seconds, he swiftly made his way over towards the two mages who long exhausted their skills. With his sword up in the air, he was about to bring it down buthis action was quickly interrupted by a loud sound that boomed within the room at the end of the hallway.


    <em><strong>BOOM!</strong></em>


    "...huh?" With his sword stopping midway and only slightly touching Shinto''s staff, Reru turned towards the broken down debris of what used to be a door.


    "...ah! It worked! It finally worked!" A female''s voice protruded out in excitement as everyone within the area turned towards the direction of the sound, quickly noting that a figure of a human was standing still by the broken-down door.


    "R-Raina?" Ethaniel muttered out in dumbfoundedness.


    "...huh?" The figure turned towards Ethaniel''s voice as they soon titled their head. "...what''s going on out here?"


    "Hmph," Reru let out a humphed as he retracted his des against Shinto''s staff. Soon after, he began to hop over towards the Raina. "What happened here, human?"


    "...uhh," Raina muttered out in confusion as she turned to her party members and then back to the slime. "...what''s going on?"


    "I should be asking you that," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "What the hell''s going on at your side?"


    "I was just casting the spells I was trying to learn and..." Raina mumbled out in reply as her eyes then nced towards the non-existent door. "Oh... and this happened. Oops."


    "Hmm... human, does this mean you have learnt the arts sessfully?" Reru tilted his head.


    "...I''m sorry slime... but, I can''t understand you no matter how hard you try tomunicate with me," she sighed.


    "...tch. Right, I forgot you''re not like that ignorant human," Reru clicked his tongue as he then made his way over towards Shinto. In the next moment, he quickly attached himself onto him as he then dragged him over to Raina. "Trante, human."


    "Sigh..." Shinto let out a sigh, yet with slight relief that the battle was over. Had Reru continued on with his onught, Shinto might have been in a critical state. "This guy is asking whether or not you have learnt the mes of Etheral yet."


    "E-Eh? Shinto? You can understand ''gloop''?" Raina blinked at Shinto''s trantion.


    "That is not the point, human! Answer!" Reru demanded.


    "Do I need to trante that?" Shintozily nced over to Reru.


    "...cough. Ahem..." Raina shook her head. "As for that slime''s question... I guess you could say I learnt the arts? But not to what you''re thinking."


    "...?" Shinto raised his brow in curiosity.


    "I only managed to learn the basic of the basic art... and it''s in a lesser form too," she sighed. "The real progression on the actual spell is only at 39%."


    "3-39%?!" Frey cried out. "T-That''s... Under a failing grade!"


    "...only 39% huh?" Reru clicked his tongue. "Hmph... It looks like it''ll really take a week."


    "W-Which is why, Reru, we have to see the old man!" Rustly, who had been helplessly watching the battle from the sidelines the entire time, spoke up.


    "You''re crazy," Reru clicked his tongue. "Renryth is out of the option."


    "But- If it''ll take a week, we''ll be consumed by the curse before then, right?!"


    "Yes. Under his majesty''s estimation, we''ll fall prey to the curse by that time," Reru muttered out. "But, we have taken the precaution to prevent this human from getting harm from our madness."


    "Yet! Even if she knows the spell... I don''t think there will be enough manpower to back her up... so she''ll fail the mission..."


    "..." Shinto who had been quietly listening in on the conversation nodded his head as he soon opened up his mouth. "...then how about listening to my suggestion?"

 Chapter 119: Infiltration (5)

    Chapter 119: Infiltration (5)


    "...human," Reru clicked his tongue upon hearing Shinto speak. "Are you just going ignore my words?!"


    "Cough. Reru... hear me out," Shinto helplessly said. "If we were to go as a group, we''ll be able to go up against the ''old man'' mentioned by Rustly."


    "Hah? What part of ''not good enough'' do you not understand?!"


    "...you''re not fully understanding what I''m saying either," he sighed. "What I mean is, if webine forces with you and Raina, won''t we be able to overpower the person?"


    "Including the human in the equation does nothing!" Reru clicked his tongue. "Even with her lesser learnt magic, it''s futile! Then we have ''you'', what about him-" Reru quickly stopped at his sentence as he red at Shinto. "Are you crazy? Surely. Actually, probably you are. You''re crazy! Why would I apany you to see Renryth? I do not want to be tainted by the curse!"


    "If you were to include yourself into the equation, we will be able to go up against Renryth in the worst-case scenario, yes?" Shinto persistently asked, ignoring the remarks and excuses of the slime.


    "WellIf we add onto your group''s power... maybe," Reru mumbled out as he soon seemed to be shaking his head. "But that is beside the point! I have said it before and I''ll say it again; It''ll cause harm for all of us if she were to meet him."


    "I do not see the harm in meeting up with this person if were to meticulous n out our escape routes," Shinto thought to himself. "With you, we''ll be able to get through the worst if all else fails."


    "Human! You''re under the assumption that Renryth is an opponent that we can easily handle as a group," Reru clicked his tongue. "Push that assumption aside and listen properly. Renryth, the man who excels in the arts of magic, is a force to be reckoned with," he exined. "Even as a group, he can wipe us all out. Now, if we were to include the curse... if he were to fall deep prey into it by now, Sanke will be at our throat. SoIt''s not just one threat, it''s two!"


    "Even then... If you put the threats aside. If things were to sessfully y out, Raina will be able to learn the arts in time and we''ll be able to have enough manpower to go up against Sanke, right?"


    "You''re thinking best-case scenario, human. What important situation with many variables in its course ever follows best-case scenario?" Reru seemed to be frowning. "It''s hopeless, and you''re mindlessly following a useless path."


    "The path you''re taking is also a hopeless one as well. You know that very well, don''t you?" Shinto asked in a serious tone. "Following your way, if Raina were to finish within your estimations, at that point in time... You''ll all be enemies rather than allies. So, with theck of manpower and a strong addition on Sanke''s side, we''ll lose out much worst than going to Renryth now."


    "Yes! Shinto is right!" Rustly leapt forward to face Reru. "The more we wait, the more we''ll lose out!"


    "..." Reru kept quiet as he nced over towards Raina, then to Shinto''s group and finally, to Rustly. "...tsk. So persistent," Reru clicked his tongue as he hopped over through the broken rubble of once was called a door.


    "...?" Shinto raised his brow at the actions of Reru, seeing him entering into the room with a confusing answer. "What-" Just as he was about to ask further, his question was soon answered by his following words.


    "Well? What are you waiting for? Get in!" Reru shouted out whilst ring at the back of him. "Also, tell that girl to show me the arts in front of me. I''ll measure her power and readiness of the art."


    "..." Shinto nkly stared at the back of Reru as he quickly shook his head. "Sigh. Well, that''s over with."


    "What went on with the conversation?" Raina asked.


    "...thing''s happened," Shinto sighed. "In any case... If all goes well, we''ll be able toplete your arts sooner than the expected time."


    "R-Really?" Raina raised her brow in curiosity.


    "Mhm," he nodded his head. "But, before then, the slime wants to see your prowess in the skill."


    ...


    Heading into the room by the end of the hallway, Shinto and his group opened their eyes widely in shock they were greeted by the sight of many books aligned on the bookshelves. Alongside that, many books were stacked upon each other on the floor, thankfully, not burnt.


    "...this ce is..." Shinto muttered out in question as he scrutinized the area. "A library? Or... a study room?"


    "T-That''s a lot of books..." Kon mumbled out at the sight. "Are these all magic-rted?"


    "Well... from the ones that I''ve checked, it appears so," Raina nodded her head. "All of the books here seem to rte to a form of magic in one way or another."


    "...could this room possibly have been used by someone before?" Frey uttered out at a loss for words by the room''s interior. Everything within this room was a mess as if it had not been used for many years. "I mean... no way are the slimes learning magic, right? We only ever saw them doing a physical attack or some weird spikes!"


    "Ugh. Enough chitchat you humans!" Reru clicked his tongue. "Stop assuming such stuff of us and get this damn thing over with."


    "Ahem... Raina? This guy''s calling for you," Shinto tranted.


    "Right, right," Raina said as she walked up towards Reru whilst holding onto her staff.


    "Good, now show me the firepower. Shoot the arts at me!" Reru demanded.


    "...what?" Shinto blinked at Reru''s demand. "...what did you say?"


    "You heard me right. Ask that human to shoot out the lesser mes to me," Reru continued demanding.


    "..." Shinto was stumped for words even after he had heard Reru for the second time. Even after sustaining all the damage from their attacks, it seems he still can soak up more. Letting out a helpless sigh, he tranted. "Raina, use your spell on the slime in front of you."


    "...eh?" Raina dumbfoundedly nced back and forth to Shinto and the slime. "This isn''t something lost in trantion right?"


    "Stop asking questions and just do it already!" Reru impatiently cried out.


    "...yes," Shinto answered helplessly.


    "...o-okay...?" Raina confusingly answered as she turned her attention to Reru. Momentster, with slight hesitation, her staff pointed over towards the slime whilst she chanted out the spell. "To burn against the darkness with the lesser mes... to try against the fire..." Continuing on with her spell, a small red me shot out from her staff.


    [ Lesser Arts - mes of Etheral ]


    Soon after, the me hurriedly dashed forward towards Reru as it collided with him.


    "Umph..." Reru took the full blow as he only jiggled his body in reply. "...hmph. Is this the power of the lesser mes? It seems rather disappointing..."


    "Is it a no go?" Raina turned to Shinto.


    "...it seems so," Shinto sighed as he walked up to the mage. "Would it be fine if you show me the skill? I''d like to see the description of it."


    With a nod to her head, Raina shared the details of the skill.


    [ Degraded mes of Etheral (Lesser) ] [ 600 MP ] [ Cooldown: 30 Minutes ]


    By the arts of the great Etheral that burns through the darkness, shoots out a small pure me as it reaches a target, quickly dealing 850% of fire magic damage to them.


    *As this is a lesser form of the skill ''mes of Etheral'', many effects of the skill will not be in effect until further notice.


    ...


    With a look at the skill''s description, Shinto only nodded his head as calmly walked over towards Reru. "I see. So this is what you meant by disappointing..."


    "Yes...pared to the real thing, this is just knock-off," Reru clicked his tongue. "I stand corrected with my one-week estimation. It might take longer."


    "It''ll take longer? Then, would the round trip to see ''Renryth'' be more eptable now?" Shinto persisted on. "With the time extended, it''ll all be much better to see him now, right?"


    "Hah..." Reru let out a tired breath. "You''re annoying. Why are humans so annoying?"


    "It''s human nature I guess," Shinto effortlessly replied as he got back on the topic. "So, what is your answer?"


    "..." Reru remained silent once again as he hopped over towards the countless bookshelves within the room. Soon after, he pinpointed a single book among the many as he dragged it over towards Shinto. "If you want to see Renryth, we depart the next day. For now, go learn a much better and effective spell from that ring of yours."


    "...?" Shinto raised his brow as he nced at the book in front of him.


    [ You have received the book: ''Spells of the Gloop'' ]


    [ All conditions to open the book has been fulfilled! You are now able to learn one spell! ]


    [ At your current level, with 1 wisdom, you are only able to learn the basic spells. ]


    "..."


    Without wasting any time, Shinto opened up the book as he looked through it.

 Chapter 120: Infiltration (6)

    Chapter 120: Infiltration (6)


    [ The book: ''Spells of the Gloop'' has been opened! ]


    [ The ''Sticky Slime Ring'' is resonating with the book! ]


    [ One of the three spells that are contained within the ring can be learnt permanently. ]


    [ You may also try to learn two more spells outside of the abilities aforementioned. ]


    "...oh?" Shinto''s eyes shone in curiosity as he read through the string of notifications that rose upon opening up the book. "...so in total, I have five choices."


    [ Spells of the Gloop ]


    A book that contains the spells of Slera recorded throughout the generations of the slime. Though in thenguage of gloop, the author who was once a great mage among the Sleras, wrote this book in name of humans who wish to learn the arts.


    -One of the five abilities: [ Sticky Grounds Lv 2 ], [ Poison Cure Lv 2 ], [ Poisonous Goo Lv 2 ], [ Rainy Slime Lv 1 ] and [ Slimy Spikes Lv 1 ] can be learnt permanently.


    *The time it takes to learn a spell within a book is dependant on each person. Raise one''s Wisdom stat to gain proficiency in learning a spell efficiently.


    ...


    "Looks like the skills from the ring will be at level two and the newer ones will be at level one, huh?" Shinto tilted his head whilst scrutinizing the details of the book. Soon after, his eyes turned towards the skill description of each ability.


    ...


    [ Rainy Slime Lv 1 ] [ 175 MP ] [ Cooldown: 15 Minutes ]


    The user creates a small cloud within the sky as it rains down slime onto a small radius (5m), quickly dealing 560% magic damage over the next five seconds. During the skill duration, there is a 25% chance of inflicting poison onto the enemies caught within the rain.


    ...


    [ Slimy Spikes Lv 1 ] [ 75 MP ] [ Cooldown: 45 Seconds ]


    The user creates a small spike that protrudes out from either the ground or as a projectile. As the spike hits an enemy, deals 75% magic damage. If the enemy steps onto the ground with the spikes deal 105% magic damage instead.


    ...


    [ Sticky Ground Lv 2 ] [ 180 MP ] [ Cooldown: 19 Minutes ]


    The user creates a small field of slime within the area for 15 seconds. Enemies who step on the affected grounds will have their movement speed decreased by 16%. For those who you view as allies, their movement speed will instead be decreased by 11%.


    ...


    [ Poison Cure Lv 2 ] [ 55 MP ] [ Cooldown: 1 Minute 50 Seconds ]


    The user shoots out a small drip of slime onto an ally, curing them of the poison status. While doing so, the drip of slime nullifies the effects of [Sticky Ground] for the next 1 hour.


    ...


    [ Poisonous Goo Lv 2 ] [ 85 MP ] [ Cooldown: 12 Minutes ]


    The user shoots out a small poisonous gloo of slime within a small radius (2m), inflicting poison on enemies with it that deals 800% magic damage over the next 7 seconds. Those who are inflicted with this specific poison will have the effects of [Sticky Ground] enhanced on them wherein, the slow effect is increased to 31%.


    ...


    Studying the skills that were given, Shinto nodded his head. "Hmm... it looks like the stat jump from level one to two is small. Though I guess it''s ounted for."


    Comparing to the current skill descriptions of the abilities within his ring, the increase of benefits was only minimal. But, this was just for level two. There were many more levels toe.


    Within Spiritual Warriors, a skill had multipleyers to it. From its effects to the upgrades. There were many ways to upgrade a skill to better match current newer ones that a user may obtainone of them was through levelling the skills up.


    An ability would usually start at level one, and then as one continuously use the skill, it would level up to level two, and the process would continue up to the max level, wherein it was usually at ten.


    During the progression, stats such as cooldown would oftentimes get lowered. Not only that, the percentage and other effects of the skills would be increased. Though, despite the good effects of levelling the skill, one would have to trade-off the resources that are used, as most skills would usually increase its cost usage.


    "In any case, as for the other two skills..." Shinto nced over to [ Rainy Slime ] and [ Slimy Spikes ]. "A damage over time skill and a projectile skill..."


    In contrast to the other skills that were given, the two aforementioned skills were much damage-based than in terms of supporting, which was what Shinto was mainly looking for.


    "Do I need damage skills?" Shinto thought to himself. With his current array of abilities, the damage-type skills currently outweigh the supporting ones.


    Although the ratio of support to damage was five to four on paper, if Shinto were to use [ Sanctum Brilliance ] moments after exhausting the usages of his two divinity skills, the ratio would be five to six.


    Thus with this, the question now would be: would he need another skill that deals damage instead of helping out of allies?


    "Hmmm... Rainy Slime deals 550% damage over time while having the off-chance to poison them during the duration..." Looking back forth to the description of each skill, Shinto was deep in thought. "Meanwhile, Slimy Spikes is of the basics of skills... with it being a 70% magic damage skill that has a 45 seconds cooldown..."


    As Shinto contemted on his selection of choices, Frey and Ethaniel were loitering around from a far distance. They saw that Shinto was intensely looking at the book he held in his hand.


    "...is that book so interesting for Master to read it so seriously?" Frey blinked at the sight. "What''s he even reading?"


    "Do you think I know?" Ethaniel shrugged. "He just started reading it after that damn slime gave him the book."


    "Is this favouritism?" Frey pouted. "That slime didn''t evene to us or anything and just left like that after talking to Master and Raina!"


    "Gloop..." The slime by their side jumped up and down as if trying to talk to them.


    "Sigh. Damn slime, how are we supposed tomunicate with you if we can''t understand you!?" Ethaniel cried out.


    "Gloop!" The slime seems to be angrily ring at Ethaniel.


    "Grr... What kind of look is that?"


    "Gloop!"


    "Argh, shut up will you?"


    "...Ethaniel, I don''t think you even need the ne to understand him at this point," Frey helplessly sighed at the one-sided conversation between Rustly and Ethaniel. "It feels like you''re able to hold up the conversation on your own..."


    "Hah? What bullshit," Ethaniel scoffed. "All I hear is this guyining in that gloopnguage. A conversation is impossible."


    "Is it...?" Frey muttered out as she quickly nced away from the two. Soon after, she turned to look at Raina who was busy reading through a book within her hands whilst waving around her staff continiously. "Man, Master and Raina are busy with reading books, you and that slime are busy arguing... What do I do?!"


    "What busy?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as angrily turned to Frey. "Just go grab a book and read it or something if you''re that bored."


    "Reading books..." Frey helplessly looked around the grandeur of the room with many shelves filled with books. "Aren''t they all mage rted? Wouldn''t that be useless?"


    "Gloop..." The slime seemed to be helplessly letting out a sigh as he hopped over towards Shinto.


    ...


    Still, in amidst of thinking about the ability that he would choose to betterpliment his skills, he heard a sudden voice that interrupted his line of thought.


    "Shinto, Shinto!" Rustly shouted out.


    "...huh?" Shinto nced away from the book as he turned towards Rustly. "Did something happen?"


    "Those stupid humans are annoying the hell out of me!" Rustlyined. "Can you trante what I''m saying for them?!"


    "...sigh. What do you want me to say to them?"


    "Tell them, instead of being useless humans that are standing there like stupid apes, ask them to do some research or something! Or even learn the damnnguage! There are books here for a reason!"


    "...is that all?" Shinto asked helplessly as he turned his head over towards the direction of Ethaniel and Frey. "...here I thought it was important."


    "What? Human! This is important!" Rustly grumbled. "It''s so much better than seeing those humanszing around doing nothing! They could even be discussing tactics on how to go against the Farku, the old man and Sanke, but nooo, they''reining!"


    "Tactics..." Shinto thought to himself as a sudden thought clicked in his mind upon hearing the wordsing from Rustly. "That''s right!"


    "Huh? What''s right?" Rustly questioned.


    "The skill... I know exactly what skill I should get now," Shinto nodded his head as he quickly turned away from Rustly. Soon after, he began to turn to the page of where the ability that he wanted to learn is at.


    "Huh? Hey! Are you just going to ignore me and not trante for them?" Rustly clicked his tongue. "Ughh! Stupid humans!"

 Chapter 121: Infiltration (7)

    Chapter 121: Infiltration (7)


    The moment Shinto had found the page that contained the spe system prompt soon popped up in front of him.


    [ The spell ''Rainy Slime'' can be learnt from this book. ]


    [ Warning: Once you have started learning a spell, the next spell from this book can only be learnt after a set of conditions has been fulfilled. ]


    [ Do you still wish to proceed with learning the spell ''Rainy Slime''? ]


    Without a second thought, Shinto nodded his head replying, "Yes."


    [ You have started to learn the spell ''Rainy Slime''! ]


    [ Current proficiency in the arts: 0% ]


    "Right. Now to see how long this takes for me to learn it," Shinto calmly took a deep breath as he prepared himself to stay in the room for the entire day. However, before he began, a loud voice could be heard shouting from beside him.


    "OI! Human!" Rustly cried out. "Are you just going to ignore me?!"


    "...?" Shinto nced over to the slime as he then sighed. "...aren''t they already looking through the books?" Helplessly looking over towards Ethaniel and Frey, he noted that they were going through many books around the room as if they were bored.


    "H-Huh?" Rustly flusteredly turned to the direction as well. Soon after he let out a cough. "A-Ahem... Well, never mind..."


    "Well, if there''s nothing for me to trante, I''ll get back to reading this book then," Shinto stated as he moved his eyes over to the pages.


    "What is this book you''re reading anyway?" Rustly seemed to be tilting his head as he hopped towards the bottom of the book, quickly taking a look at it. "...spells of the gloop? HUH?!"


    "What seems to be the problem?" Shinto questioned.


    "You''re reading a book that is of the Slera race''s arts!" he clicked his tongue. "Do you know how difficult it is toprehend the words on the book for a human!?"


    "...cough. How difficult could it be?" Shinto helplessly sighed.


    "You... Don''t get cocky because you have the ne!" Rustly seemed to be frowning. "You can understand ournguage, but who says someone who only recently wore our cherished treasure can possibly be able to understand theplicated words of gloop?"


    "Is it?" Shinto raised his brow in question as he scrutinized the writings on the page.


    [ Rainy Slime ]


    (i) For one to use the arts of ''Rainy Slime'', one must first require the medium of an item that allows one to create slime.


    (ii) Then, chant to yourself ''gloop gloop gloop gloop...''


    (iii) Manourvere the cloud of slime over to...


    As Shinto scanned the page, his eyes grew into confusion as he looked at the contents. Momentster, he received a sudden notification.


    [ Your understanding of the gloopnguage is low, certain words cannot be read until further notice. ]


    [ ''Rainy Slime'' proficiency has increased by 1.2% ]


    [ Wisdom has been increased by 1! ]


    "...certain words can''t be understood until further notice?" Blinking at the notification, he soon heard Rustly''s reply.


    "That is what I''m saying!" The slime cried out. "You''re unable to read the contents and learn the spell properly unless you understand word for word. That''s just how the Slera spells works!"


    "Hmmm... Then if so," Shinto was deep in thought as he took into ount Rustly''s words. "Just trante stuff for me," he stated whilst handing the book over to the slime.


    "E-Eh? Who do you take me for, human?!"


    "Someone who is able to read thenguage and trante for a person who can''t," he smiled. "Now, shall we get started?"


    "Huh?!"


    ...


    Moving through the hallways outside of the destroyed door, Reru cautiously took notice of multiple guards hurrying into the area.


    "Reru! What happened? What''s with this mess?" The guard upfront uttered in a worried voice as he scrutinized the surroundings, taking note of the broken rubble and evidence of a fight that had urred here. Not only that, the destroyed door from behind Reru was extremely prevalent. "Did the Farku race get into here? But... That can''t be possible."


    "It is nothing of your concerns," Reru stated as he walked past by the guards. "You don''t have to worry."


    "Don''t have to worry?" The guard frowned. "Then what went on here?"


    "...just a test and some spells that are thrown out here and there," Reru seemed to be shrugging. "But it is nothing. All that matters is that the possibility of Sanke''s defeat has increased."


    "Huh? How so?"


    "Apany me to see his majesty. We''ll discuss the matters there."


    ...


    Back within the room filled with many shelves, Ethaniel and Frey strolled around the area ncing at the books aroundTaking note of the titles of the works: Great Ways to Be Enlightened, The Study of Magic, Gloomeo and Gloopliet, Depra King and the like.


    Among the countless books rted to magic, there were those that seemed to be novels mixed within the line up of books. Besides those, there wasn''t anything rted tobat or the history of the catbs.


    "Ugh... Is there anything interesting to read here?" Ethaniel frowned at the sight of the titles. "It''d be nice if I could get a skill or two like what Raina is doing right now..."


    "How can you even read the books if it''s in thenguage of gloop?" Frey questioned.


    "I mean if Raina could read that book in her hands, then who says I can''t either?" he shrugged as he continued to scrutinize the array of books.


    "I-Isn''t that only like a special case?" Frey raised her brow in confusion. "Anyhow... Where the heck did Kon go? I haven''t seen him since we entered!"


    "Bah. Keep your mouth shut unless you want to have that slime nag at us again," he scoffed. "Ahem, anyways, Kon should be somewhere, why do you even care?"


    "At the very least if I don''t find anything interesting here... I could y with him," she muttered out.


    "y?? Who do you take him for?!"


    "W-Well... He''s a cute pet! It makes me want to pet him a lot when I have the chance to..."


    "P-Pet?!" A sudden voice shouted out from the shelves, as a fox abruptly fell down to the ground. Following that, papers scattered around in the area as it descended to the floor.


    "...K-Kon?" Frey hurriedly bent down as she picked him up from the ground. "Are you okay?!"


    "Ahem, yes I am okay! But, no! I am no pet! I''m the fox who serve Master!" Kon pouted.


    "Ha... Did you fell down just to tell us that?" Ethaniel frowned. "What the heck were you doing up there anyway?"


    "W-Well... After we went into the room, Master asked me to find something about the catbs among the books here while he tended to Raina and that slime."


    "And he didn''t tell us?!" Frey pouted. "Jeez... we could''ve helped out too!"


    "Um, he did ask me to tell you, but I wanted to see if I could find it on my own!" Kon stated.


    "...and what''s the result?" Ethaniel raised his brow.


    "Nothing..." Kon sighed.


    "Sigh," Ethaniel shook his head helplessly as he walked away from Frey and Kon. Soon after, his eyes nced over towards the ground where the fox had fallen, taking note of multiple papers scattered around the area. "...were you holding on to this when you fell?"


    "Well, I was about to read it until I heard Frey," Kon answered.


    "..." Picking up the sheets of paper on the ground, his eyes grew wide in interest.


    [ Renryth''s Report #3. ]


    ...


    "NO! You got the wordings wrong!" In the open space of the room, Rustly shouted out in anger. "It''s literally ''May rain of the gloopius glooein fall down onto the slimes, cast upon the clouds''!"


    "...that''s what I''ve been saying," Shinto red at Rustly.


    "You''re pronouncing gloopius glooein wrong..." he sighed.


    "Sigh... gloopeus glooain?"


    "Gloo-pi-us, gloo-ein."


    "Gloopius... glooein?" Shinto muttered out.


    "There! You got the pronunciation right, now say the damn thing and be done with it!"


    "May rain of the gloopius glooein fall down onto slimes, cast upon the clouds," Shinto murmured in words whilst repeating after Rustly.


    [ ''Rainy Slime'' proficiency has increased by 2% ]


    [ Current proficiency in the arts: 6% ]


    [ Wisdom has increased by 1! ]


    "Jeez... Are magic spells always this hard to learn?" Shinto clicked his tongue at the thought. Initially, he had thought that the words used for casting spells would generally be on the simple side or easily pronounced, however, he thought wrong.


    Inparison to when he could spell out the chants for his Shadow Diviner''s skill like the back of his head, it seems that when learning a magic spell from scratch, everything must be taken into ount.


    Thus, this could possibly exin the slow progression of many yers who obtain spells through books or even skill books.


    "I told you it''d be hard!" Rustly pouted. "You cocky humans never listen!"


    "Well... Even if I listened, I still have to learn the spell either way since it''s beneficial," Shinto answered as he got back into reading the book fervently. "And besides, it''s not as if we can go out of this room willingly right? So we''re just stuck here until Reru gets back."


    "Sigh... The Slera Spells are lost in our history since no one can learn them besides a handful..." Rustly muttered out. "How did you even get the book anyway? I thought it was hidden somewhere."


    "Reru."


    "He has that book?!" Rustly cried out. "Ugh... this guys special treatment..."


    "Well, does it matter? I''d be finding for a spellbook to try to read anyways even if I didn''t get the book from him," Shinto shrugged. "...and it''s a way for me to increase my wisdom at the very least too."


    "Jeez, you mages, I can''t understand you sometimes..." he sighed.


    "Well, I sometimes can''t understand them too," he chuckled. "But in any case, I best just get back to reading..." Just as he was about to continue on with the process of learning the spell, he heard a loud shouting from behind him.


    "Oi, Zay!" A male''s voice rang through the room.


    "...what is it now?"

 Chapter 122: Infiltration (8)

    Chapter 122: Infiltration (8)


    Letting out a sigh as he closed the book within his hand, Shinto nced over towards the area where he heard the shoutingQuickly taking note of Ethaniel and the group making their way over to him in a hurry.


    "...is there anything you need?" Shinto raised his brow in question, bewildered by the actions of his party.


    "We found something!" Kon stated excitedly as he took the paper from Ethaniel''s hand, quickly handing it over to Shinto from his mouth.


    "...you found something?" Grabbing onto the paper, he took a look at it.


    [ Renryth''s Report #3 ]


    A piece of paper from a series of reports made by the human ''Renryth''. The contents of the report seem to be written by hand, though in an ugly and rushed way. Despite that, it''s still readable to those who understand standard Arcos if you read hard enough.


    "R-Renryth''s report?" Shinto slightly blinked at the sight.


    "H-Huh? Reryth''s report?" Rustly seemed to be tilting his head as he quickly turned towards the paper within Shinto''s hand. "That old man''s?!"


    "I guess so..." Shinto said whilst looking at the details of the item. "Where did you find it?"


    "It was by the top shelves!" Kon nodded his head with excitement in his eyes. "I did well in finding it, right?!"


    "Mhm," Shinto nodded his head as he petted the fox. "Have you read the report yet?"


    "Well, yes but no," Frey coughed. "We checked the contents... but uh, the words aren''t that clear... it''s scribbled all over the ce! So... we couldn''t decipher whatever this thing''s saying."


    "...it''s hard to read? Sigh," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "...are you saying you want me to go through it thinking I can read it?"


    "No! Well uh... I thought maybe yes?" sheughed awkwardly. "While you read through it... we''ll go and find the rest of the reports to save time!"


    "..." Shinto red at his group, letting out another sigh as he showed the book titled ''Spells of the Gloop'' to the party. "I''m busy with trying to learn a spell from this book."


    "...wait what? Just like Raina? HUH?!" Frey cried out. "So that''s why you were so intensely reading... Jeez. No fair! That slime is really giving you and Raina special treatment!"


    "...cough. Well, learning skills from books is stupidly hard," Shinto coughed. "Anyhow, I can''t decipher Renryth''s words since I''m busy."


    "Damn it! So it''s back to the debate..." Frey pouted. "...Ethaniel do you want to do it?"


    "Ugh... The writing is giving me a headache," he clicked his tongue.


    "Well, it gives us all a headache!" Frey shouted out.


    "...you say that and yet you ask me to read the report?" Shinto nkly stared at Frey.


    "Well... I figured maybe... you could understand it?" she reasoned.


    "H-How?" Shinto raised his brow, however, he soon dropped the question. "Nevermind. Just, decide among you three... That might give you something to do anyways."


    "Tch... It''s annoying that we can''t go out. Otherwise, I''d be training while leaving you all to read," he clicked his tongue. "But, the slimes are a nuisance."


    "Oh shut up you stupid crazy human!" Rustly growled.


    "You guys..." Shinto helplessly uttered out. "Sigh. Whatever... do whatever you want. Though, do update me on your findings."


    "What? Hey!" Ethaniel frowned as he saw that Shinto walked away from the group as he sat down over by a quiet ce in the corner. Momentster, he opened the book and began to increase his proficiency in the arts. "...tch. I hope this spell is worth it..." Helplessly turning his head away from Shinto, he nced at Raina who was nearly doing the exact same thing as him.


    "...so, you read it and me and Kon go and find more reports?" Frey asked.


    "You really don''t want to read it, huh?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Argh! Just be done with it!"


    ...


    Sitting over at another corner of the room, Raina steadily continued to murmur the chants of ''mes of Etheral'' over and over.


    "..."


    Whilst doing so, she heard the shouts and criesing over from the area where the group stood at.


    "Jee... these guys," Raina sighed at the sight of the group''s loud voices ringing through the entire room. "I''m going to be preferring the previous quiet environment at this rate..."


    During the time when Raina was alone, her efficiency in reading through the books increased. It was possibly due to the quiet environmenthowever, now, the efficiency that she was previously at dropped slightly.


    [ ''mes of Etheral'' proficiency has increased by 0.02%. ]


    [ Current proficiency in the arts: 40.02% ]


    Looking at her notification bar, she could only helplessly shake her head. The rate of her learning the arts was slowly increasing; but it was just as what Reru had said, by estimation, it''ll take more than a week.


    But, even then,pared to an average person at her level, one would be around 30% rather than the current progress Raina had made. Why''s that? This was because of her dedication from the past few days.


    Unlike a normal person who would mostly get bored from constantly having to read a book for almost the entire day in-game, Raina was dedicated enough to vigorously push forward and read. Thus, allowing her to be at the proficiency of 40.02%.


    "...just 58.98% more points to go..." she sighed. "But, I guess it''ll soon be done if what Shinto said was true, right?"


    Even if one were to take into ount the circumstance around Raina''s situation where she had to read and learn the spell without being able to do anything else, the game wasn''t that cruel and still issued a warning before she epted the task in the case a yer hated to read or couldn''t feel dedicated enough. Thus, even at the very start, she was convicted to do it.


    "Anyways... back to this," Raina stated as she took a deep breath and began to continue increasing the proficiency of her arts.


    ...


    The hours slowly went by as the group all did to their own things. Shinto and Raina were busily learning the spells of Rainy Slime and mes of Etheral respectively; Ethaniel reading through the reportsFrey and Kon were sweeping through the shelves looking for reports and Rustly was busy screaming at everything.


    ...


    The next day, within the room where the group were at, Shinto let out a tired sigh as he closed his book.


    [ ''Rainy Slime'' proficiency has increased by 2% ]


    [ Current proficiency in the arts: 52% ]


    [ The skill ''Degraded Rainy Slime (Lesser)'' has been upgraded to ''Degraded Rainy Slime (Greater)''! ]


    [ You can now use ''Rainy Slime'' more efficiently! ]


    [ Wisdom has increased by 1! ]


    "...well, that took a long while," Standing up, Shinto stretched his arms. "But at the very least, Rainy Slime is now in a much more usable state thanst time."


    [ Degraded Rainy Slime (Greater) Lv 1 ] [ 250 MP ] [ Cooldown: 20 Minutes ]


    The user creates a small cloud within the sky as it rains down slime onto a small radius (3m), quickly dealing 300% magic damage over the next five seconds. During the skill duration, there is a 15% chance of inflicting poison onto the enemies caught within the rain.


    Noting his newly updated skill description, he turned away from the screen as he then nced around the area, seeing that Ethaniel was busy reading through the reports whilst Frey, Kon and Rustly were fast asleep with a small stack of papers by the side.


    "Hah... when did they fall asleep?" he shook his head helplessly. Shinto was mostly reading the book and practising the spell the entire time, ignoring his surroundings. "Whatever... It looks like Ethan is still up and as for Raina..." Turning towards the corner of the room, he saw that Raina was still busily chanting out the spell.


    "..." Without a moments notice, Shinto walked up towards Ethaniel. "Any updates on the report?"


    "...?" Ethaniel looked away from the papers as he turned to Shinto with bored and tired eyes. "Oh look... finally decided to move away from that book of yours?"


    "Aha... It looks like you were reading the entire thing yourself without their help?"


    "What do you think? The moment they started reading, they fell asleep," he clicked his tongue. "And that annoying slime too... argh!"


    "Well... It can''t be helped, they at least found the reports..." he shrugged. "Anyways, anything you found from reports?"


    "Ugh... reading through all these five reports was torture and guess what? I got nothing. All of the reports were literally about Renryth''s daily life in this damn castle researching about the catbs and the behaviours and studies of the slimes. Like I care about that! Give me some information on Sanke or whatever."


    "Wait, researching about the catbs?" Shinto tilted his head. "Could you borate on that?"


    "Bah... it''s nothing. It''s just about the interesting architecture of the vige and that stuff. Man... for some guy who was said to be powerful and knows the arts to defeat Sanke, what the heck has he been doing most of his life here? It seems as if he''s been wasting away neglecting everything about Sanke and the curse. Nothing about it is mentioned here."


    "..." Shinto pondered to himself as he heard the words from Ethaniel. "...as if he''s been neglecting everything about Sanke?" Just as he was about to continue with his thought, a loud voice rang by the door.


    "Oi! You humans! Get ready!"

 Chapter 123: Renryth (1)

    Chapter 123: Renryth (1)


    Upon hearing the loud voice ringing throughout the room from the broken doors, Frey and the others who were soundly asleep abruptly woke up.


    "Huh? What?! Huh?!" Frey blurted as she nced around the area in a frenzy. "Is Haruta- Oh wait... I''m still in game huh."


    "Yawn... Is it morning already?" With his paws on his heavy eyes, he rubbed it. "What''s going on?"


    "Bah... All of you are finally awake huh?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as his eyes then moved over towards the direction of where the voice rang. Quickly taking note of the slimeReru, standing by the doors.


    "...it''s already the next day?" Raina tilted her head as she kept her staff and the book in her arms away. "Did time flew by that fast after everyone fell asleep?"


    "...eh?! I fell asleep?!" Rustly cried out. "Argh! Damn it! I''m just as thosezy ass humans!"


    "Ugh... shut it Rustly," Reru annoyingly clicked his tongue as he leapt over towards Shinto. "Human. What is the update with your spell?"


    "Only at 52%. But, it''ll rise much quicker since I now have the greater form of the spell," Shinto calmly replied.


    "Hmph... Only at 52%? I expected much more from you. But whatever... It''s still good progress," Reru moved away from Shinto as he then turned towards Raina. "What about this human?"


    Just as Shinto was about to trante Reru''s words, Raina quickly replied. "44.20%. My efficiency with the arts has been increasing since I could use the lesser version of it every so often."


    Even without knowing the exact words from Reru, Raina could tell from the context and answer of Shinto.


    "Hmm... I see," Reru seemed to be nodding his head as he walked over towards Ethaniel, observing that he was holding multiple papers within his hand. "...besides you two who has been busy reading books. What has the rest of the humans been doing?"


    "They''ve been doing research about ''Renryth''," Shinto answered. "Speaking of which... I have one question."


    "I thought so..." Reru mumbled out at Shinto''s answer as his head fully turned over towards him. "Speak. What is the question?"


    "Just who exactly is Renryth?" Shinto questioned. "From what Ethan had told me from the reports he read... Renryth seems to be fully ignoring the fact that there was a curse?" he pondered. "No... the proper way to put it would behe seems to be rather, ignorant of it?"


    Although Shinto didn''t read Renryth''s reports, he could still deduce enough things from the information he had heard from Ethaniel in order to ask Reru. If needed to be, Shinto could also pass on the baton of questioning onto Ethaniel if the situation calls for it.


    "Renryth... the one who knows the arts," Reruzily answered as he then let out a sigh. "You could say he remained ignorant, or you could even say he neglected his duties. But that is not the point. Whatever you read from the reports is just the ambiguity of the past. So worrying about such things is useless. Right now is the time to do something about the situation, isn''t that right?"


    "..." Shinto nced over to his party members and then towards the book within Raina''s hand. "The ambiguity of the past... So, whatever Renryth had been doing before all this shouldn''t be questioned?"


    "It is not up to me to answer that but the person himself," Reru answered without looking at Shinto. "In any case; It''s time for us to leave to see him. I warn you though. Whatever you think of Renryth as of the moment from the reports or whatever,pletely forget about it," he spoke in a serious tone. "Right now, all you need to know is that he is someone who knows great arts and will give you a run for your money if you''re not careful. Even with me on your side to tackle against him, the fact remains that there is a possibility we''ll lose."


    "...what''s this guy saying?" Ethaniel frowned as he couldn''t understand a single word from the conversation with Shinto and Reru.


    "Warnings not to underestimate," Shinto murmured out as his eyes followed where Reru was going. He wasn''t moving out of the room, but more inwards. "Anyways... I''ll exin more on the way. For now... we''ll be going to see Renryth now."


    "Tch... I wish there was another item for me to use to understand this damnnguage," he clicked his tongue. "It''s annoying that I have to keep asking for trantions."


    "Do you really want to understand properly? Or you just want to know how to speak gloop so you can argue?" Frey asked.


    "Agh, shut up," he scoffed. "Where''s this slime going anyway?"


    "I''m not sure..." Raina replied. "It seems that he''s going to the end of the room?" she raised her brow at the sight. It was weird that Reru was going inwards towards the area where the shelves were, instead of moving outside if they were going to meet with Renryth now.


    "Sigh..." Reru let out a tired and annoyed sigh as he turned back towards the group. "I can hear your stupid discussion from here. Just keep your mouth shut and follow me!"


    "...this guy is saying to follow him quietly," Shinto helplessly shook his head as he followed from behind Reru.


    "Are all the damn slimes this short-tempered?" Ethaniel raised his brow in confusion as he heard the angry tone from Reru. "Jeez."


    "That''ll be good for you to argue more, wouldn''t it?" Frey chuckled as she and Raina began following after Shinto.


    "..." Ethaniel frowned, however, without being able to rebut, he could only move helplessly.


    ...


    Moving over towards where Reru stood, the group stared in front of them with confusion. The only thing they could see by the front was bookshelves, much as the same as all the other ones in the room.


    "Rustly. You know what''s the trigger right?" Reru questioned. "Go do it."


    "...the trigger?" Rustly nkly stared at Reru.


    "The trigger to open the bookshelves..."


    "Oh right, yes, yes!" Rustly nodded his head as he moved forward, quickly, he began to jiggle multiple times. It was the same movement like the one to open the passageway from before.


    "...what are you, stupid?" Reru seemed to be frowning. "God... Did you get the stupidity from the humans?"


    "What?! Obviously not!" he clicked his tongue. "Isn''t this the way? Madam Ru said it was!"


    "Sigh..." Letting out a sigh, he hopped over towards a corner of the room, quickly pulling out a book. In the next moment, the bookshelf shook greatly as it slowly opened.


    "Oh, hey!" Frey said in a happy tone. "This time the door is opened through a switch!"


    "As it should be..." Ethaniel red at Rustly who was nkly staring at Reru. "Anyhow... This passageway..." Quickly moving his eyes back to the spot where the bookshelves were once standing, he was greeted by a dark linear passageway. "...aren''t we on the second floor? I expected something like this to be at the bottom floor instead..."


    "Enough questioning, humans," Reru scoffed. "This passageway leads downwards to the catbs path and then to the warrior''s room. From there, we''ll meet with Renryth."


    "...the warrior''s room?" Shinto muttered out. "Do you mean...?"


    "Yes, the warrior, Humatar. I''m sure you saw the murals at the door before entering our vige? He was once a protector that watched over us. But now an enemy that wishes our death," Reru answered.


    "So it''s that one... the one that we saw after entering into here," Shinto nodded his head.


    "E-Eh? It''s that giant statue?" Kon muttered out. "Does this mean... we''ll be fighting against him?!"


    "What do you think?" Reru replied. "Although we can avoid him and just go straight to Renryth, it is best we defeat him now."


    "Defeat him...?" Shinto pondered at Reru''s words. "What do you mean by that?"


    "If we want to see Sanke, we will need to defeat the two protectors. The warrior and the guardian," Reru said as he took a step into the hallway. "Otherwise, we won''t be able to meet with him at all-"


    "...stop!" The moment Reru stepped into the passage, Shinto cried out as a sudden purple spike shot forward from the darkness.


    "...?!" Hearing Shinto''s warning, the slime quickly protruded out a small shield that fended off against the purple spike. "...tch. Sanke''s magic of necromancy reached here?"


    From the darkness, a dark slime coloured purple,pletely different from the usual colours of the slime, which was green and blue, stepped forward.


    "Gloop..." The purple slime muttered out lifelessly, as from behind it, more of its kind entered into view. Not only that, what seemed to be skeletal rats were among the headcount.


    "U-Undead...?! S-Skeletons?!" Kon cried out as he hid behind the legs of Ethaniel and Shinto. "Why now of all times?!"


    "Jeez..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue at Kon''s cowardness. "The slimes aren''t even skeletons and the rats are just bones. Why the heck are you scared for?" Unsheathing his sword, he prepared forbat.


    "If Sanke''s magic were to be able to reach to this specific passageway, then... Renryth may be far gone," Reru stated in a serious tone. "Do you still wish to see him?"


    "There''s still a chance, and we''re willing to take it," Shinto replied as he began to cast a spell from his ring.

 Chapter 124: Renryth (2)

    Chapter 124: Renryth (2)


    "...ugh..." A low groan resounded through a quiet hallway as a man walked through it. With his fingers pinching his nose as if in pain, he hit the wall beside him. "Argh... get out of my mind!"


    "Oh, you poor thing... Why bother trying to resist?" As if responding to his cry, a deep voice suddenly rang within the man''s ear. "It has been long enough since you withstood against my dark magic with your own, but I believe it''s high time that you give up. It is futile. In the end, I will win."


    "Shut it you piece of shit..." he continued to let out a low groan in pain. "It''s not futile if things won''t go your way..."


    "Things won''t go my way?" The voice chuckled as it soon turned into maniacughter. "How funny. Are you saying that those humans you have brought here would change a thing?"


    "Of course..." he held back his words as he ced all strength in suppressing his pain. "I''ve left everything needed to the Sleras..."


    "Hmph. My magic will soon consume them in due time. I say... about a few more days before thing''s will all fall into ce," his voice continued to ring within the ears of the man. "In the meantime, let us see how long you''ll stand with this."


    Suddenly, ck fog protruded out within the hallways as it covered all ground. In the next moment, a piercing scream roared through the catbs.


    ...


    Through the passageway, the group hurried along the narrow paths whilst shooting out multiple attacks of different kinds onto the enemies around them.


    "H-How long is this path?" Kon muttered out with a trembled voice as he shot out a shadow orb over towards a purple slime that pounced over towards him. "-And why does it feel like their multiplying?!"


    "Just ignore all the damn enemies and charge forward," Reru clicked his tongue. "We''re near towards the warrior. Don''t waste energy."


    "...is there anything we need to note about the warrior?" Shinto asked whilst shooting out a mana spark towards the bone rats,st hitting it and turning it into grey ash.


    [ You have defeated Undead Rat Dweller! ]


    "He deals the total damage I dealt against everyone, but twice the amount in a single frenzied attack," Reru scoffed. "Though, seeing your weak defences and equipment, I''d say it''s amplified by three instead."


    "...so...we''ll be dead in a single hit?" Shinto muttered out.


    "About that much," Reru seemed to be shrugging as he protruded out a sword and quickly shed at the rats around him, instantly turning them to grey ash. "But don''t worry. If you can dodge his slow attacks, you''ll be fine."


    "How slow?" Shinto asked.


    "Donno. Should be slow enough for you humans to barely make it out without a scratch," Reruzily answered. "But who knows? Never seen the warrior since forever ago."


    "How helpful..." Shinto sighed as he turned towards his party members and exined the situation.


    "Hah...? We''re supposed to fight against a warrior that can kill us in one go?!" Frey cried out as she heard the exnation from Shinto.


    "T-There shouldn''t be much to worry about," he let out a cough. "If thing''s go for the worst, invest points in agility to dodge much easily. It can''t be that bad, right?"


    "...invest points in agility?" Raina muttered out. "I already ced most of it into intelligence for the sake of using the mes of Etheral spell."


    "There shouldn''t be any problem with that," Shinto nodded his head. "Ethaniel and Frey would be the ones who will draw the aggro. Then we also have Reru and Rustly who''ll help us."


    "Rustly? I haven''t seen him fight at all," Ethaniel scoffed as his eyes moved over towards the slime who was right beside Reru the entire time. The two seem to be conversing with one another. "Would he be doing anything?"


    "Well have faith in that slime!" Frey stated. "I''m sure he''ll help..."


    "Whatever. We''re prepared for this, right?" Ethaniel said whilst moving his sword in an arc to clear the way against the monsters ahead of them.


    "...I guess so," he muttered out as his eyes moved over towards his profile.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 29


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    ...


    -Titles-


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 810/810 | MP: 736/736 (+20)


    Strength: 31 | Stamina: 52 (+4)


    Intelligence: 86 (+21) | Agility: 58 (+8)


    Shadow: 31 | Divinity: 20


    Wisdom: 7


    Stats Point: 80


    ...


    Confirming the details of his profile, Shinto nodded his head as he silently turned towards his passive, [Divinity Gauge], "...would thise into effect soon?"


    [ Divinity Gauge Lv 2 ]


    With the power of the shadows and the divine, all skills rting to that of the Shadow Diviner will consume a new type of energy: ''Shadow'' and ''Divinity'' which starts at a maximum of 30.


    The max amount of energy that ''you'', the Shadow Diviner can have is dependant on your total ''Shadow'' and ''Divinity'' stat which is added onto the starting gauge.


    *Current Shadow Gauge: 61


    *Current Divinity Gauge: 50


    After umting a certain amount of ''Shadow'' or ''Divinity'' stat; You will gain a permanent boost to your ss:


    *Judgement Purifier: When against foes judged as [Lesser Evil], you will deal an additional 50% magic damage when using [Divinity] rted skills onto them. When in [Sanctum Brilliance] state, upon defeating an enemy judged as [Greater Evil], something will happen.


    ...


    Looking at the details of his first-ever Shadow Diviner skill to reach level two, he noted the new added effect [Judgement Purifier] below the passage of ''permanent boost''.


    "...an enemy judged as greater evil..." he thought to himself.


    Unlike the case of his quest where the objective was to only defeat an evil being, wherein, the details were vagueHis passive [Divinity Gauge] had a far specific category of evil, [Lesser Evil] and [Greater Evil].


    For the instance of [Greater Evil], those who are a threat to the world view, or aims for destruction against a country, race, or anything along those lines fall under this category.


    However, for the instance of [Lesser Evil], it was for those who affiliate themselves with the darkness, those who follow in themands of the higher-ups and do their bidding. Those who fall under such categories would typically be servants of one with ill intentions or those corrupted.


    With the future fights at hand within the dungeon, Shinto hoped that among the bosses that they have yet met, at the very least one of them would be judged as [Greater Evil]. Though, from the looks of how things are within the catbs, Sanke would surely be a judge for evil.


    "..." Still thinking on the thought, he quickly shook his head. Soon after, his eyes moved over towards the front as a bright light was greeting them at the end.


    "...we''re here," Reru stated as he hopped forward. "The warrior should be beyond this room."


    "Everyone ready?" Shinto turned towards his party members, and with the reply of a nod, they made their way into the room.


    ...


    Upon entering the room filled with bright lights, their eyes were greeted by a surprising sight. A figure of what seemed to be a statue, that resembled that of a warrior was on the ground in shambles.


    "...what the?" Ethaniel uttered out in shock as his eyes nced around the area. Besides the broken statue that seemed to be recently demolished, the litmus bugs were brightly coloured white as they all gathered into the middle of the room at the ceiling.


    "The warrior... he has been defeated?" Reru said in a dumbfounded tone. "He has been left here for years... none of us touched him unless..."


    Suddenly, certain footsteps rang through by the front, where an entrance to a hallway was seen. Momentster, a ck fog began to protrude out of the area, enshrouding the room.


    "A-a ck fog?!" Kon cried in worry.


    "...what''s going on?" Frey asked confusingly.


    "-unless Renryth was the one who defeated him..."


    By the front of the hallway, a figure of a man, with what seemed to be red eyes that were ring at the party stepped forward.


    "Renryth... so it''s him." Scrutinizing the look of the man who seemed to be within his 50s, with purely white hair and an old unkempt beard, he noted as he saw that he raised his arm into the air. "I guess, we''re going to fight him."


    "You think?!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue whilst unsheathing his sword. However, the moment he did soThe man snapped his fingers, as a sudden crescent wave burst out, quickly moving towards the group.


    "...!" Noticing the attack, the group hurriedly spread out as they narrowly dodged the attack.


    "...I''ve been waiting, intruders of my sanctum." The old man uttered out in a lifeless tone as he raised his arm over towards the group once again. Soon after, multiple circles of magic were created around him.


    "Let us see how well you fare against this man''s inferior power than my own." Then, in the next second, a burst of different kinds of elemental magic shot forward.

 Chapter 125: Renryth (3)

    Chapter 125: Renryth (3)


    "Ugh... consecutive attacks?" Shinto clicked his tongue as his eyes followed the trajectory of the magic spells which were all aimed specifically at his side of the group where, after the initial st, were made up of Reru, Frey, Raina and himself who were standing on the right side.


    "It''sing right at us!" Frey shouted out.


    "Dodge it, you idiots!" Reru scoffed as he meticulously manoeuvred around the lines of magic. Soon after, from his body, he protruded out a shield made of slime as hurriedly attempted to reflect a portion of the magic over towards the old man.


    Upon touching his shield, the magic did not move the way he intended for it. Instead, it exploded upon contact, quickly pushing him back. "Argh..."


    "What? You think you can send the magic back to me?" The old man chuckled as he sent another batch of magic lines towards Shinto''s side. "How pathetic of you to think so."


    "Ugh...!" Raina wailed as she jumped towards the side, barely evading against the after-effects of the explosion caused by the lines of elemental magic.


    "These explosions are so... painful!" Frey cried out as her health lowered by 35% in almost an instant after failing to dodge the impact of the explosions.


    "...if we''re a second toote in dodging his magic..." Shinto''s eyes turned to the huge crater caused by the magic. "We might be turned into ash secondster..."


    "Then does this mean... If we''re to go up close towards him, we''ll have no chances in reacting in time?" Raina questioned.


    "If we were to get up close and personal... it''ll be hard for us to react in time with our speed and agility," scrutinizing his surroundings, he noted the broken statue that was in shambles which seemed to be enough to cover themselves from the fire.


    Soon after, his head turned over to the other side where he saw Ethaniel, Kon and Rustly were struggling to make their way to the front. With every step they took, a magic line would shoot out towards them, consequently preventing them from moving forward.


    Currently, even from a far distance, the projectiles of magicing from the old man was moving at a fast velocity, thus, when it nearly reaches his target, the enemy, or in this case, Shinto''s group, would barely have enough room to dodge if they want to be unscratched.


    "If it''s like that... then what do we do?" Frey muttered out.


    "..." Moving his head away from Ethaniel''s side of the group, he quickly answered. "For now, head to the statue and use it as a cover," calmly stating his sentence, he soon moved his eyes over to his system notifications.


    [ You are in the presence of ''Renryth, The Cursed One''! ]


    [ With Sanke''s influence, all undead within the area has greatly increased damage! ]


    [ This being in front of you is judged as ''Greater Evil''! ]


    Although the fight hadn''t even started on their side, the old man had constantly been throwing magic after magic over towards each side within the area.


    "Haha... What''s this?" The old man chuckled. "Is this puny man''s magic holding you all back to the point that you have to cower behind a broken old statue? Hmph... I don''t even need to order my minions to go after you."


    "Ugh... This guy!" Kon angrily shouted out, and in reply to his anger, a sudden burst of magic shot forward over towards him. "...eep!"


    "How disappointing. He kept going on and on about how you''ll defeat me," The old man grinned evilly as another wave of magic lines shot forward towards each party member. "But, I need not care. You''re justmbs that are in the way."


    "Ugh..." Reru grunted as he slowly made his way front whilst having his shield absorbed the shots, however, as a result of that, his shield slowly cracked. "Hey, you humans... Can you like... DO SOMETHING?!"


    "What do you suggest?" Shinto questioned as he moved his staff over towards the slime, quickly healing him up with [Mark of Umbra] whilst having his back covered by the statue. "The party can''t even get near the man... and you''re struggling."


    "I''m struggling because I''m soaking up most of Renryth''s attacks! The interval of attacks is too fast for me to handle properly!" Reru scoffed. "Maybe, instead of discussing and hiding behind the statue, how about just being meat shields and free up my hands?"


    "...how thoughtful of you," Shinto red at the slime.


    "Then any bright ideas, human?" Reru stated. "From the looks of it, even if you were to move forward, you can''t even reach him in time because of his fast magic."


    "...right," he muttered out as he quickly worked his brain. "There has to be some way to go about this..."


    "Ugh... Was this old man''s attacks always this pain?" Rustly seemed to be frowning as he leapt up in the sky, quickly creating a slime wall that absorbed the attack, however, moments after, the wall broke.


    "Hurry it up, human!" Reru frowned. "At this point, we might end up exhausting ourselves before we even begin a proper fight."


    "...well, I thought of one," Upon noting the abilities of the two slime who were busily fending most of the attacks for the group, Shinto hurriedly moved over towards the back of Reru. "How long can this shieldst?"


    "Twenty more hits."


    "Alright," Shinto nodded his head as he quickly nced over to his group members, soon after, he shouted out multiple orders. "Rustly, continuously put up multiple slime walls as you move forward while having Ethaniel and Kon follow closely behind you!"


    "What...?" Rustly mumbled out in confusion, however, he shook his head as he quickly got back into creating walls of slime. "You''re instead trying to make us meat shields?!"


    "Then, just as the same as what Rustly is doing, Reru move forward while I and Frey follow closely behind."


    "Hmm... You say that, but will it work, human?" Reru asked whilst still in amidst fending of the shots.


    "It''s worth a try," Shinto stated. "From what I''ve observed... For every interval of magic, he casts, it''s only on a single side. So..."


    "So, every time he shoots out a magic the other side has free reign to move?" Raina questioned.


    "That''s the point," Shinto stated. "We have no time to waste. Raina begin casting a spell from where you are now, meanwhile we''ll go ahead with this."


    "Right."


    ...


    Moments after discussing the n, the group hurried along on the two sides following Shinto''s n.


    "Hah? What''s this?" The old man tilted his head in question. "What will that do?" Snapping his finger, he shot out multiple shots spread out evenly towards the two sides.


    "Urk... It looks like your observation failed, human!" Rustly clicked his tongue. "He can always do this!"


    "Continue forward," he stated. "If he evenly splits the magic, the impact is lesspared to the focused spot."


    "Tch..." The old man clicked his tongue in impatience, as he hurriedly sent out more spells of the same pattern. However, as the man continued the same action, the distance between the group and him closed. At the sight, he muttered out in an angered tone. "This stupid mage''s body and mind..."


    "We''re close!" Upon closing in on the distance, Frey said in an excited tone.


    "Right... we''ll begin the fight, now!" Shinto nodded his head as he hurriedly casted spells after spells. From [Sticky Ground] to [Shadow Fields] which all enveloped the old man in an instant. Following that, he soon ended hisbo with the still in an iplete state spell [Rainy Slime].


    Upon hearing the call from Shinto, Ethaniel and Frey jumped out from the barriers of Rustly and Reru and began to lunge attacks against the man. From behind, Reru was busily switching out his shield with his sword and joining in on the attack.


    "Ugh..." The old man groaned as he saw that the group were all nearly reaching him. "This stupid retaliation against me... Hmph. You think I can''t force your spells out?" In the next moment, the old man muttered out a chant as a dark aura enveloped him. "Then... You''re just testing my curse at this point!"


    "...?!" Soon after, a dark pir sted down onto Ethaniel and Frey who reached the old man first. "...argh!" Being knocked to the ground, their health quickly lowered by 20%. Though, the damage lessenedpared to the spam of magic earlier.


    "Ugh... this is useless," The old man clicked his tongue. "You still dare hold against me?"


    "...hey, what are you doing talking to yourself?" Shinto asked as he held onto his staff tightly and in the next moment, a bright light enveloped him[ Sanctum Brilliance ]. "Youpletely forgot about me and Reru."


    In the next moment, a bright light shot out from the hands of Shinto.


    [ Divinity Brince ]


    [ Hallowed Crest (Brilliance) ]


    Exhausting all his resources, Shinto ced all strength into his skills. Meanwhile, from the side of him, Reru hurriedly shed at the man with the sword.


    "Argh...!" The old man cried out. "This... is iplete!"


    "Take this!" In the end, Kon hurriedly shot out a shadow orb quickly pushing him back to a wall.


    [ The judgement of ''Greater Evil'' is shaking! ]

 Chapter 126: Renryth (4)

    Chapter 126: Renryth (4)


    "...?" Upon distancing himself from the old man post-attack, Shinto nced over towards his system notification in slight confusion. "...the judgement of great evil is shaking?"


    [ The judgement is moving between ''Lesser Good'' to ''Greater Evil''! ]


    "...what''s going on?" Still confused about the rising notifications that he was receiving, Shinto shook his head of the thought as he had no time to ponder on the idea. Soon after, his eyes turned towards his front, where the man was lying on the ground.


    "Cough..." Frey let out a cough as she slowly got up from the floors of the room. The attack from the old man had brought her health down to 60%, however, it wasn''t as painfulpared to the earlier burst of magic. "...did we do it?"


    "...what do you think?" From the side of Frey, Ethaniel slowly stood up from the ground as well. "There''s no way for the damage currently dealt to be enough. We didn''t evennd a single hit on him," he clicked his tongue, whilst gripping onto the hilt of his sword tightlyIn preparations to enter into battle again.


    "...just to fall from my attacks and Reru''s... It wouldn''t be this easy to defeat him, right?" Shinto frowned at the odd sight. Although his Divinity Skills buffed by [ Sanctum Brilliance ] dealt moderate damage respectively, the damage was nowhere enough to even cut off 10% of a bosses health.


    Even when taking into ount Reru''s and Kon''s attacks on the old man, the damage that was added up wouldn''t be enough to bring down the old man. Thus, something was up.


    "He''s just lying there..." Kon muttered out in uncertainty. "Do we still go in for an attack whilst he''s down?"


    Against any normal enemy or boss under normal circumstances, one wouldn''t wait for their opponent to get up. But instead, they would try to end the fight while they were at their weakest.


    However, in the case of this scenario, going all out without limit to defeat the opponent would be uncalled for. This was because of the possibility that after the fight, the group wouldn''t be able to achieve their goal, which was to have Raina learn the arts from Renryth.


    "Renryth''s power shouldn''t be this weak..." Reru muttered to himself in caution. "Just what is this?"


    "...could it be because of the curse that''s in effect on the old man?" Rustly answered unsurely.


    "The curse that''s in effect..." Shinto pondered on Rustly''s words for a few seconds as he soon slowly distanced himself farther away from the man in question. "If that''s the case... Renryth might still be fighting against Sanke who seems to be trying to control him."


    "He''s still battling against the curse?" Frey raised her brow. "How would you know that?"


    "I don''t. It''s just an assumption," Shinto stated. "But... If it''s true, then we have to find a way to snap him out of it."


    As the group conversed with one anotherThey heard a burst of smallughtering by the front. Quickly turning over to the direction, they noted that the old man was standing up.


    "Keke..." hisughter continued. "You think you can peacefully discuss like that?"


    "Ugh... He got up," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "I guess it''s round two..."


    "I underestimated this guy''s willpower even after taking over his mind," Sanke scoffed. "Well, it''s not a problem. If I can''t use his power to the full extend then..." Moments after he spoke out the words, his hand enveloped in a dark aura as it soon spread out across the fields. Secondster, skeletal rats and purple slimes started to rise from the ground.


    "He''s finally resulting to this?" Reru seemed to be frowning. "If he starts spamming magic spells again, I won''t be able to put up my shield until another few minutes."


    "My walls can''t hold against hisrge scale attacks..." Rustly muttered out.


    "..." Shinto deeply thought to himself as he nced over to his back, seeing Raina who was still behind the remains of the statue. Soon after, he saw that the undead summoned by Sanke were making their way over to her. "I think there''s a way to end this fight. But... Firstly, Frey," Nodding his head, his eyes then turned to Frey who was busily fighting off the monsters. "Come with it."


    "H-Huh?" Frey mumbled out in confusion as she punched the skeletons leaping towards her. "To where?"


    "To Raina," Shinto stated as he took out the ne and soon threw it over towards the direction of Ethaniel, who barely caught the sudden item thrown at him whilst he was fighting.


    "...?!" Ethaniel raised his brow in great confusion as he saw the ne in his hand. "What gives?!"


    "I''ll leave it to you guys to stall the enemies and Sanke," Shinto gestured at his group as he soon leapt forward over to the direction of Raina.


    "Ack- Hey, wait up!" Frey cried out as he hurried behind Shinto.


    "...?" Ethaniel frowned at the sight of the two retreating back as he still had a dumbfounded expression on his face, however, unable to have a say in this, he turned towards Rustly with a sigh. "You slimes and Kon, do whatever it takes to prevent that bastard from shooting attacks over to the back."


    "You think that''ll be easy?!" Rustly cried out.


    "Just use your damn wall!" Ethaniel stated as he pushed his de forward, quickly shing at the skeletal rats and slimes.


    "...tch. I hope that human knows what he''s doing," Reru muttered out as he sent multiple spikes of slime around the area.


    ...


    Making their way through the room, Shinto and Frey were busily knocking the enemies out of the way as they reached Raina who was still busy chanting out spells against the enemies.


    However, shooting out her elemental spells, the enemies that she targetted swiftly evaded.


    "Ugh..." she frowned as the enemies that dodged her spells closed the distance with her. Just as she was about to be attacked, a figure hurriedly pushed forward and mmed the enemy away.


    "Raina!" Shinto shouted out as he reached over to her, whilst doing so, he shot out multiple mana sparks. "You okay?"


    "Ahem... yeah," Raina nodded her head. "Why are you two back? Are we retreating?"


    "No," Shinto shook his head. "I''ve got a n that might snap Renryth back to reality. But, I need to confirm something with you."


    "Confirm what?" Raina questioned.


    "You haven''t casted mes of Etheral yet, right?" Shinto asked.


    "No... I didn''t have enough time to chant out the spell," she stated. "What about it?"


    During the events of when the group was making their way over to the old man, Raina had tried to cast the spell, however, just as she was about to finish, she was quickly interrupted by the undead that popped up out of nowhere.


    "Hmm... then," Nodding his head, Shinto then asked. "What''s the current details of the skill?"


    "My current details?" Raina tilted her head as she shared the skill with Shinto.


    [ Degraded mes of Etheral (Lesser) ] [ 600 MP ] [ Cooldown: 30 Minutes ]


    By the arts of the great Etheral that burns through the darkness, shoots out a small pure me as it reaches a target, quickly dealing 850% of fire magic damage to them.


    *As this is a lesser form of the skill ''mes of Etheral'', many effects of the skill will not be in effect until further notice.


    ...


    "...hmm, no changes fromst time?" Shinto tilted his head.


    "Yeah... It''s not powerful enough to defeat Sanke at this state." she sighed. "Even if I used it now, there''s not going to be any changes.


    "Right... But, I think there will be a change," Shinto stated.


    "Huh? What do you mean?"


    "...the effects of mes of Etheral was something that could be used to defeat Sanke if mastered, right?" Shinto reasoned. "Which meansThe skill should have properties that propel or subsidies the curse."


    "Hmm... so what you''re saying is that..." Raina muttered to herself. "If we use this now even at this stage, we''ll be able to snap him out of it?"


    "It''s a chance, but... the only option," he stated as he turned to the busy group fending off against the attacks of Sanke. "...let''s try it."


    "H-Hey... Guys?" Frey cried out. "Are you done discussing? If so... Mind helping me?!"


    "In any case... Cast the spell while we cover you." Saying the things needed to be said, Shinto stood as he continued sending waves of basic attacks onto the enemies, slightly pushing them back. With hisck of resources left he could only opt for the option of attacking normally.


    "..." In reply to Shinto, Raina turned towards the old man as she murmured out the chants of the lesser version of mes of Etheral.


    ...


    At the front of the room, the group frantically dodged against the barrage of attacksing from all sides.


    "Ugh..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "How long will Shinto take?"


    "Do you think I know?" Rustly questioned whilst putting up a wall that blocked a shot of magic protruded out from Sanke. "I don''t have time to properly think if we''re tight on timing!"


    "The attacksing from Sanke is lesser than before, but it still does a good portion of damage..." Reru analyzed. "I''d say, you and Rustly would onlyst for one more minute if this keeps up."


    "Bah..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he held onto his sword tightly, quickly sending off a sh of light over towards his surrounding area. "I''ll fall when I want to fall and now isn''t the time."


    "Grr... You, still helplessly resisting against me..." Sanke mumbled out as he pushed out a dark aura of magic over towards the group. "But no matter. They''ll soon fall."


    "Agh...!" Ethaniel gritted his teeth as he couldn''t dodge against the attack.


    "Okay, you know what? Scratch that. The next hit you''ll fall," Reru stated.


    "Tch..." Shaking his head and repositioning himself to fight back once again, he heard a crying from behind him.


    "Move out of the way!"


    "...?" Turning towards his back, he noted a bright me was making its way fast pace over to his direction. In the next moment, Ethaniel swayed to the side as it revealed the old man.


    "What the...?!" At the sight of the sudden me making his way towards him, Sanke couldn''t react in time as it hit him. Soon after, he fell to the ground as the mes lingered on him. "...this is?"


    [ The judgement of ''Greater Evil'' is shaking! ]


    [ The judgement has been changed to ''Lesser Good''... ]


    Moments after the me stayed at its spot, the old man let out a piercing scream that resounded through the room.

 Chapter 127: Renryth (5)

    Chapter 127: Renryth (5)


    As the piercing scream rang throughout the room, the ck fog that was prevalent within the room quickly dissipated away while the undead crumbled to ashes.


    "...did we do it?" Kon muttered out as the air became much cleaner than before.


    "Don''t let your guard down," Reru seemed to be on high alert. "Even if the mes sessfully hit his body... There''s still no guarantee that it''d be powerful enough to fully break him away from the curse."


    "Tch... If we don''t manage to break the curse?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "...then, take Rustly and yourpanions far away from here and leave thing''s up to me," Reru stated in a serious tone.


    "Ugh..." Ethaniel frowned at the wordsing out from Reru, and just as he was about to reply to that, he heard a voiceing from the distance by the back of him.


    "Ethan!" The loud cry came from Raina who along with Shinto and Frey rushed over to rendezvous with the group. "The me hit, right?" she asked frantically upon reaching Ethaniel. From the distance of the old man to the remains of the statue, Raina as well as the group didn''t manage to properly see whether or not the spell had hit the man due to the number of obstacles blocking their sight.


    "It did," Ethaniel answered whilst still on high alert. "But... We''re not sure if it worked or not..."


    "The spell should have worked," Shinto stated as he made his way over to the fallen man that still had a few remnants of a dark aura surrounding him.


    "...eh? You''re sure?" Frey raised her brow. "How sure are you?"


    "I''m 100% sure unless the system decided to mess with me," he replied whilst ncing over towards his notifications.


    [ The judgement of ''Greater Evil'' is shaking! ]


    [ The judgement has been changed to ''Lesser Good''. ]


    [ Due to the sudden change of alignment, the quest remains unclear ofpletion or not. ]


    [ The judges of good and evil are discussing whether or not this counts as a defeat of a ''great evil''. ]


    [ You will get an answer in a few days time. ]


    ...


    Moments after Raina hadnded the spell of mes onto Sanke, or in other words Renryth''s body, Shinto was bombarded with many lines of notices. Among them, thest few notifications had caught his attention.


    "..." Still making his way over to Renryth''s body, he stopped at his footsteps as he saw that the man slightly moved his limbs. In the next moment, he received another notification.


    [ The cloud of darkness that enshrouds the cursed one has temporarily been disabled! ]


    [ You have defeated Renryth, The Cursed One! ]


    [ You and your party have received the area title: ''Defeat of The Cursed One''! ]


    [ The Key of the Warrior''s Tomb has been obtained. ]


    [ The defeat of the ''The Cursed One'' has clouded the air, the doors of the dungeon has temporarily been opened for two days! ]


    [ You may leave, however, after the term of two daysYou will have to immediately return to the dungeon, otherwise, a penalty will befall on you. ]


    ...


    "Ugh..." The old man slightly shook his body as he slowly got up from the ground. "What... Happened? This isn''t the barrier I made..." He muttered out in a confused tone whilst ncing at his surroundings, quickly taking note of Shinto who was in front of him.


    "You''re awake?" Shinto questioned as he lent a hand over to the old man.


    "...you," The man nkly stared at Shinto for a few seconds as he then shook his head. "...you freed me from the curse... no, you stopped the curse temporarily with the mes of Etheral."


    "It''s only temporary, yes," Shinto nodded his head as he felt the weight of the old man''s hand on his palm, quickly, he pulled him up. "Which is why..."


    "You want me to fasten the curve of learning for the spell?" Renryth continued his sentence.


    "...yes," he answered.


    Upon hearing Shinto''s answer, the old man quickly scrutinized the surrounding area, noting the presence of the other people. "Which one of you is the one who has the arts?"


    "That would be me," Raina stepped forward as she raised her arm.


    "..." Looking at Raina up and down in an analyzing manner, Renryth mumbled in a helpless tone. "What is the progress of your spell?"


    "45%" Raina responded. "I''ve started learning the spell since five days ago... It''s nearly been a week."


    "Only five days and you''re at 45%?" he asked. "Hmm, I see. What is your level inprehension and magic?"


    "...beginner''s level," she mumbled out.


    "...?" The old man raised his brow in amusement, however, his face soon turned into a serious one. "Hmm... At your level and calibres with a progress of 45%... Good. It''ll only take a few days for us toplete the spell, then."


    "...a few days?!" Rustly cried out as he heard the estimation from Renryth. "But... By then... Wouldn''t the curse consume you again?"


    "...well," Renryth calmly closed his eyes. "With the power of the mes that this girl had shot out, the spell should give a grace period of a day and a half before Sankepletely takes control of me with the curse."


    "A day and a half..." Shinto mumbled out. "Would it be enough?"


    "This girl''s learning curve for the spell is beyond that of average mages at her level," Renryth stated. "I do not know if it''s an innate talent or hard work, but, that time frame should be enough for her to fully learn the spell."


    "I see. So it''ll be more than enough," he nodded his head as he nced over towards the hallway by the left side of the room. "Since it''ll take a day and a half... Do we defeat the Guardian on the rat''s side of the catbs?"


    "Yes, please do so," Renryth muttered out. "With what little time we have left, we need to not waste it."


    "Got it," Shinto nodded his head as he saw that Raina and Renryth had begun to make their way over towards the hallway by the back of them. Soon after, he turned over to his group members. "Reru... Where do we go for the Guardian''s side?"


    "Doesn''t the other human have the ne? Ah whatever," Reru mumbled out as he turned to Ethaniel. "The passageway on the left from here leads to the Farchu''s den. Beyond there, the door that leads to Sanke and the guardianys rest."


    "...the Farchu''s den?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Those rats right...? Ugh... We have to go through that swarm of rats again?"


    "It''s doable with me and Rustly on your side now," he stated. "Come now, make haste." Reru leapt over towards the hallway by the right. Following behind him, the group began walking.


    ...


    As the group made their way through the catbs, they hurriedly fought against the countless rats that pounced towards them in a frenzy. Whilst doing so, Frey and Kon remained extremely vignt as they feared for the mischief of rats that maye back to chase them again.


    "Ahh... We can handle them now, right?" Frey muttered out.


    "I-It should be doable..." Kon stated. "I mean... we''re stronger now and uh... the slimes are on our side now."


    "...sigh. We should be fine," he stated. "What I''m more worried about is... Whether or not Sanke mighte at us again with his necromancy or do something to prevent us from moving forward."


    "Sanke shouldn''t be interfering for the time being," Reru stated confidently. "So far, he seems to have consumed a lot of energy with the attacks at our town and then here. So I doubt he''ll be able to keep up with our movement."


    "...?" Ethaniel tilted his head as he heard Reru''s exnation. "Consumed a lot of energy?" As he was about to continue to press on the matter, Shinto tucked at his elbow and in reply to that, Ethaniel sighed as he tranted the message over to Shinto and the group.


    "...wait a minute, isn''t Sanke this omnipotent being that everyone fears?!" Frey cried out. "How is it possible for him to consume most of his energy with just two attacks?"


    "Sanke isn''t invincible. Neither is he omnipotent," Reru clicked his tongue. "The only reason why we''re unable to defeat him till now is because of his curse. When facing against him in a duel without the curse at hand, he''ll lose greatly."


    "Hah...?" Ethaniel dumbfoundedly stared at Reru. "If you face him against a duel... he''ll lose greatly?"


    "Of courseThat is the case for when he faces me and Renrythbined," Reru followed up with his words. "For you... Obviously, it''ll pose a problem. But with what you''ve shown me so far, it should be doable with help of the mes of Etheral to dispel against the curse."


    "...with the help of the mes of Etheral..." Shinto mumbled out as he heard Ethaniel''s trantion and, just as he was about to continue asking the matter, the slimes at the front stopped at their steps.


    "Humans. Wait," Reru stated whilst on high alert, as he scrutinized the front of him, noting the countless red eyes. "...tch. The Farchu''s elite army is in the way."

 Chapter 128: Farchu (1)

    Chapter 128: Farchu (1)


    "Kiiik!" The countless rats that were by the distance through the hallways yelled out a loud cry as their predatory red eyes met with the group.


    "T-That''s quite a lot of rats..." Kon trembled at the sight as he saw the growing number of enemies that were extending by the far back of the initial rats in front.


    "M-Master... We''re good, right?" Frey muttered out with a shaky voice. "I think is even more than the horde we faced before..."


    "Hey... Slimes... Just how big is this ''elite army'' you''re talking about?" Ethaniel turned to Reru and Rustly who were by the front as he asked in a worried tone.


    "The elite army of the Farchu..." Reru seemed to be frowning at the thought. "With the way they reproduce rapidly and their strength in numbers... I''d say we''re facing about a thousand. Half of that if we''re lucky."


    "...what did you just say? A thousand?" Ethaniel dumbfoundedly opened his mouth as he soon closed it. "Why didn''t you say this shit earlier?!"


    "When you said you had faced against the Farchu army already, I assumed you already knew that," Reru stated in a calm demeanour whilst protruding out two swords from his side. "In any caseThis is not a cause for concern. The numbers are not a problem as we can sweep through them with our own. The problem I fear is..." As Reru continued his sentence, a loud roar rang through the hallways as the rats in front began moving to the side. "...is this."


    In the far distance, a giant figure slowly made its way through the path that was made way for by the rats. At the sight of the figure, the group slightly took a step back in instinct.


    "...this is...?" Shinto clenched onto his staff in alert as he scrutinized the details of the giant figure that seemed to be in the shape of a rat. In the next moment, he and alongside his party members received a sudden alert from the system.


    [ King Fischier, King of the Sanke Rats has appeared before you! ]


    [ All non-rats who are in his presence will have their agility lowered by 0.07% for every rat in a 35-meter vicinity. ]


    [ All non-rats who are in his presence will receive 50% additional poison damage and it can only be cured through herbs. ]


    [ The Curse of Sanke remains prevalent! The status of the ''King of Rats'' has further been enhanced in Sanke''s favour! ]


    [ In addition to the decrease of agility, upon receiving poison from any source, all stats will be decreased by 15% and you will take 20% more damage by those who are from the ''Farchu'' race. ]


    [ You have partially resisted. Half of the status effect will only be applied. ]


    ...


    "...!!" Shinto''s eyes opened wide in shock as he saw the notification. "...what is this?" The reason for his shock wasn''t because of the debuff effect given off by the rat king''s presenceHowever, it was because of him only partially resisting the effects.


    "...partial resistance..." Shinto dumbfoundedly stared at his screen, however, he quickly snapped back to reality as he heard the cries of ''Gloop'' and from Ethaniel.


    "Oi, Shinto!" Ethaniel snapped his finger in front of him. "Are you listening?!"


    "...cough. What is it?" he shook his head as he quickly focused on the matter at hand.


    "Reru is asking for us to clear the rats around us whilst he deals with that king," Ethaniel frowned at Shinto''s current distracted face. "You got heard me?"


    "Yes. I heard you loud and cry," Shinto took a deep breath as he regained his previous calm demeanour. In the next moment, his eyes quickly turned towards the rat king.


    "Humans..." The king, Fischier mumbled out in a lifeless tone. "You dare trespass onto master''s territory?!" Momentster, mumbles turned into shouts as a purple gas protruded from the mouth of the giant rat.


    "Urk... Stand back, humans!" Reru clicked his tongue as he soon retracted his swords andter pulling out a shield, blocking and reflecting the fog. "Get caught in that fog, and you''ll be poisoned!"


    "Kiikk... Reru... You have yet serve master I see..." The rat chuckled as he pounced forward, quickly breaking the shield that Reru had put up. Then, from behind the king, its followers soon followed as it began charging towards the party.


    "Ugh...!" Reru cried out as he was pushed back towards a wall. Meanwhile, the fog that he had reflected quickly blew back over to the group.


    "Tch..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he saw that the fog was moving towards him in a fast manner. Just as he was about to dodge the attack, he was slightly slower than his intended reaction time, thus he was helpless as the fog surrounded him. "Ugh..."


    [ You have been poisoned by the rat king''s ''Purple Shangra''! ]


    [ Enhanced by the curse of Sanke, poison damage is increased by 50% ]


    [ Inhaling the fog increases the damage! ]


    [ You have partially resisted. ]


    "Ack!" The fog soon covered the area as it swallowed up his party members.


    "Ugh... This fog... cough," Frey let out a cough as she punched the rats that pounced towards her, quickly knocking them back. "This is annoying!"


    "Damn it," Ethaniel frowned as he lit his de in a white aura. Momentster, he drew his sword in an arc, quickly sweeping the rats around him. "The damage is insane... cough."


    "This partial resistance is annoying..." Shinto hurriedly covered his nose as he sent out multiple strikes of his basic attack through the medium of his staff. However, due to his speed decreasing majorly by the Fischier''s status. it proved difficult for him to easily kite the enemies whilst also being able to chant out skills to support his allies.


    With the fact that there were many rats in the vicinity, it meant that the agility decrease of a per rat ratio was dangerously high. With the estimation of the elite Farchu army ranging between 500 to 1000, it meant that the percentage was a full 40% at its lowest level and at its highest, 70%.


    "What do I do..." Shinto''s mind quickly worked as he tried his best to avoid the attacks of the countless rats on him. He couldn''t ask help from his party members as they were busy with the horde of monsters, and Reru had his hand tied with the king. "...if I want to get out of this situation..."


    This all would have been made easier if he could''ve resisted the status effect, however, he couldn''t do much about it. With his eyes frantically moving around the area, he noted a slimeRustly wasn''t as busy aspared to the other members of his party.


    Making quick note of that, he turned his head over to the direction of the slime and quickly called him out. "Rustly! Can you make a wall in front of me?!"


    "Huff... huff..." Rustly breathed heavily as he struggled against the rats whilst shooting out multiple spikes towards them. "This stupid... thing..."


    "Rustly!" Shinto shouted out once again as the rats closed the distance between him. Soon after, Shinto was slightly knocked back as his health decreased to yellow. "U-Ugh..."


    "Hah... Hah..." The rats hurriedly pushed Rustly back to the corner as he seemed to be at his limit.


    Unbeknownst to Shinto as to why it seemed so, he soon gritted his teeth as he forcefully chanted out a spell whilst enduring the hits from the rats. "...damn it." Taking hit after hit from the monsters, Shintopletely disregarded his health that was dropping into the red zone.


    With a shaky vision, Shinto muttered out his spell,pleting it. In the next moment, a warm shadow shot forth from his staff, quickly enveloping Rustly in it.


    "...!" Upon receiving a warm feeling on him, Rustly abruptly sent out multiple shots of slime that pierced through the rats and turned them to ashes. Momentster, he turned to Shinto who was still in trouble.


    "...hah took you long enough..." Shinto let out a sigh of relief as a giant wall of slime directly pushed the rats that were constant at his throat upwards to the ceiling.


    "Tch... Thank you, Shinto..." Rustly seemed to let out a scoff as he moved over towards the other allies. Then, moments after, from his body, Rustly rained down a small rain over to them and in turn, creating a barrier around them.


    "...I better not fall behind." Upon looking at his health that was slowly going up from the skill [ Soft Root Heal ], Shinto nodded his head as he averted his attention over to his group. In the next moment, he began chanting out multiple spells.


    From the ground, goo of slime begun to form and within the air, a veil of shadow was cast.


    Finally, upon taking a deep breath and finishing off his final chantsAnother cloud of rain befell down the group, however, it wasn''t targeting his allies, but instead the rats around them.


    [ Rainy Slime ]


    "K-Kikk...!" The rats flinched at the rain that touched them. However, Shinto wasn''t done just yet. Following after, from his ring, he shot out another goo of slime, hurriedly pushing it over towards Ethaniel.


    [ Poison Cure ]

 Chapter 129: Farchu (2)

    Chapter 129: Farchu (2)


    "...!!" Upon realizing his breathing within the ck fog created by the rat king became much clearer, Ethaniel hurriedly swept his sword in an arc, quickly protruding out a bright light that cleared away the rats around him.


    Soon after breaking free from the rats, Ethaniel wasted no time as he nced over towards the back of him, noting that Shinto and Rustly were busily making their way over to him.


    "Human!" Rustly cried out. "We mustn''t waste any time, Reru is having trouble with Fischier!"


    "What do we do?" Ethaniel frowned as he felt the fog that had lingered for a long time dissipated away, only remaining the shadows of a warm feeling. Momentster, his eyes scanned around the area, still in abative stance. "We''re busy with these annoying guys..."


    With one swing of his sword, he sent out a pir of light that shone down towards the Farchu that were frantically making their way over to the group.


    "I don''t know!" Rustly clicked his tongue. "But think of something with Shinto!"


    "Huff... huff..." With his eyes on Rustly, Shinto hurriedly shook his head whilst gasping for air. "Whatever Rustly is saying, I''m sure it''s in rtion to Reru. But, not now. Frey and Kon are still struggling."


    Shinto soon averted his gaze over to the far distance, quickly noting that Frey and Kon were in a struggle against the countless rats that were surrounding them.


    "So, we go to them first and then to the boss?" he stated. "Then what about the horde then?"


    "We''ll worry about thatter." Continuing to gasp for air, Shinto held onto his staff as he moved forward. "The fog that I made should be enough of a distraction for them to be unable to catch us."


    "Hey- Humans!" Reru clicked his tongue.


    "We''ll catch up with you in a bit," Ethaniel stated.


    ...


    Within the area by the distance, Frey and Kon who was on her shoulder battled in a frantic manner, pushing away the rats that were pouncing and attacking.


    "Huff... huff..." Frey breathed in heavily as countered countless attacks from the rats with her parry skill. However, in turn, her health dropped, lowering from the yellow zone into the red. "Ugh... these rats are annoying!"


    "Kiikk!!" Despite the countless times she had punched and kicked, the rats remained persistent as ever, continuing to pounce and attack like there was no tomorrow.


    "Ack..." Kon let out a tired breath as he shot out a basic attack, filled with magic energy over to the ratsing from behind Frey. "At this rate, we''ll be dead!"


    "Argh! I don''t wanna die!" she gritted her teeth, enduring the pain whilst punching and turning some of the rats into grey-ash. However, in the ce of the empty spots, the rats filled in the gaps and carried on their onught. "There must be a way to get out of this mess, right?!"


    Even when the air around them had cleared away, Frey and Kon were still struggling. Unlike Shinto who couldn''t focus on casting spells due to the poison and countless attacks from the enemiesFrey didn''t need to mutter out any chants and could directly use the skills immediately.


    However, even then,pared to Frey who had the back up of Kon with Ethaniel who was fighting aloneThere was a clear line of difference. Ignoring the ploy of skills avability and status of a ss, Frey failed inparison to skill. She couldn''t dodge the attacks nor could she avoid the inevitability of being surrounded much more than Ethaniel.


    "Hah... What do we do?!" Kon cried out as he shot out [Orbal Shadow] that had juste off cooldown, in turn increasing the orbs around him to two. "Master and Ethaniel are busy..."


    "There must be something!" Frey swung her fists upon the end of [ Parry Fist ]''s duration. "Something... something... Argh! By the time I think of something, I''m dead!"


    "Do we even have time to think!?" Kon tiredly jumped forward as he scratched at the rat. Soon after, hended on Frey''s shoulder, though almost missing.


    "I don''t know!" Frey continued receiving attacks as her health neared the edge of the bar. "Something... something..." Still not wanting to give up, she continued thinking whilst abruptly moving around and dodging the few hits from the rats that could''ve resulted in her ashen death.


    "Kikkk!!" As the rats angrily persisted on, a sudden white sh of light shot forward, quickly swallowing up the rats around her. Momentster, a figure appeared in of Frey, tanking the hits.


    "Argh... Barely made it in time," Ethaniel''s voice protruded out as he swung his sword across an arc, sweeping away the rats into a distance.


    "Hey... Frey, Kon..." Shinto muttered out a tired tone. "Why and how were you so far from us?" To not only add onto the agility debuff that the group had received, with the fact that Frey and Kon were miles away from Shinto''s original position, it meant that it had taken longer than the estimated time to reach there.


    "Ahem..." Frey coughed out. "I uh... Got caught up in a mess..."


    Before the rats had begun their onught of attacks, Frey and Kon had frantically tried to dodge the fog that Fischier had protruded out. However, the reach of the fog was even much wider than their expectations, thus, they were caught within the clouds and were in the previous mess till Shinto and Ethaniel had arrived.


    "You..." he shook his head as he stopped at his words. Soon after, Shinto opened up his inventory as he took out a small red potion, quickly giving it to Frey. "Whatever... Just drink this to heal back your health. I''ve no avable healing spells so we''ll result to this for the time being."


    "T-Thanks..." she uttered out defeatedly whilst taking the potion from Shinto.


    [ Small Healing Potion ]


    Type: Potion (Healing)


    Upon drinking the potion, recovers 300 HP.


    *Cannot drink duringbat.


    *Upon drinking this potion, you will be unable to drink another one rting to this line of alchemy again for one minute.


    ...


    Without a moment''s hesitation, Frey quickly gulped down the potion in one go, recovering her health from the red zone to the yellow zone.


    "You''re done?" Shinto asked as his eyes turned towards Kon''s health, noting that his health was in a considerable high range. "If so, then let''s make haste."


    "S-Sorry master..." Kon mumbled out.


    "...what was that?" Just as he was about to make his way over to Reru, he suddenly turned back. "Did you say something?"


    "U-Um nothing!" Kon hurriedly stated. "Let''s go! That slime is in trouble!"


    ...


    Whilst making their way over towards Reru and Rustly who were both fighting against the rat king, the rats from behind the group chased after them.


    "Kiikk!!"


    "H-Hey, are we just gonna let them chase us?!" Frey cried out.


    "Tch... Despite clearing out the front line rats, the backlines are making chase," Shinto clicked his tongue as he observed the back of him, seeing the ring red eyes at him. "My skills are still on cooldown, but..." Moving his eyes back to front, he fastened his pace. "Even then, we''ll focus all strength on the king. Defeating him would make the rats run away."


    "Are we even going to make it in time before getting caught in another struggle?" Ethaniel questioned.


    With the number of rats killed, the debuff of the group''s agility was slowly decreased to a much lower percentage, thus allowing them much more breathing room. But, even soIf they were to slow down, the rats would catch up in no time.


    "We''ll have to run at our fastest," Shinto stated. "I hope everyone''s agility is on par..."


    ...


    "Reru... Rustly," Fischier muttered out as he swept his tail across the two slimes, hurriedly pushing them back. "You should give it up. Master would treat you all well if you and the Sleras join us now."


    "Argh... Shut up!" Rustly angrily shouted out as he protruded out a slime wall from the ground, quickly blocking the attacks of the rat king. From leapt forward as he swung his slime sword at the king.


    "Just keep your mouth shut and let''s just get this over with!" Reru uttered tiringly as his de shed with the tail of the king.


    "Hmph... so persistent..." Fischier clicked his tongue. "But it''s fine. Just a few more days. A few more days," he repeated to himself in a systematic tone. Moments after, his ws aggressively struck at Reru from the side, pushing him back.


    "Urk...!" Reru cried out as his back hit the wall. However, he shook off the pain as he leapt forward once again. "And in a few more days, this damn curse will be the end!"


    "Who says?" Fischier stated as his tail swept within an arc. "You''ll be losing today for master''s n. In fact... It''s not a few days in actuality, one of your kind will soon be turned tomorrow."


    "Can you just shut up! This is not the king''s speech anyways!" Rustly seemed to be frowning as he shot out multiple spikes of slime over to his side. But, in reply to his attacks, the king swiped his ws at the spikes, breaking them.


    "If it''s not my speech, then whose?" Fischier stated as he was about to protrude another fog once again. However, a blinding light soon struck at him from behind. Following that, a wave of light soon attacked him as well.


    "Who says?"

 Chapter 130: Farchu (3)

    Chapter 130: Farchu (3)


    "Urk...!" The rat king stuttered back abruptly upon taking the full forced hit from the wave of light dealt by his sides. Soon after, turning over towards the direction of it in an angered manner, he noted that Ethaniel was nning on connecting another skill. "Tch... You humans!"


    With an angry roar, his tail swept across Ethaniel in a swift manner. However, Ethaniel hurriedly dodged the attack as he soon sent out another pir of light over towards Fischier and, following up with that attack, Frey swooped in and activated a skill.


    [ Brawler Skill - Palm Shockwave ]


    [ Palm Shockwave Lv 1 ] [ 80 MP ] [ Cooldown: 45 Seconds ]


    Channelling energy into one''s palm, the user shoots out a shockwave in a targetted direction. If the shockwave hits an enemy, they will take 270% physical damage with a 30% chance of causing quick paralysis for 0.5 seconds.


    ...


    With the energy from her palms, she shot forward, causing the rat to stutter once again with the help of the temporary paralysis that prevents the enemy from moving when inflicted upon it.


    "Hey slimes, your go!" Frey shouted out.


    Wasting no time in that regard, Reru and Rustly quickly got up on their foot as they sent out countless spikes over to the king, in turn, scraping off his health bit by bit.


    "Ugh..." Fischier grunted at the countless attacks that struck him. "You think this is enough?" The second paralysis wore off, the rat angrily swept his tail in an arcForcing the group around him back. In the next moment, with the silence effect of [ Hallowed Crest ] wearing off too, the rat began to channel out dark energy around himself.


    "...!!" Taking note of the sudden change of aura around the king, Shinto warily stood back in instinct. "T-This is...?"


    Not a secondter, the energy exploded as it pushed the group back, in turn, forcing them over to the walls.


    [ The judgement of ''Lesser Evil'' is shaking! ]


    [ The dark energy has surrounded the King of the Sanke Rats, Fischier! Thus, the king''s status has further enhanced! ]


    [ With the support of Sanke''s magic, a field of poison has been created around the area! ]


    [ All rats in the vicinity will receive a 40% boost to their stats! ]


    [ The King of the Sanke Rats, Fischier will deal an additional 200% damage when attacking targets inflicted by poison. ]


    [ You have been poisoned! ]


    [ You have failed to resist with your ss attribute. ]


    [ Due to your poison resistance, however, the damage is reduced slightly. ]


    "...cough!" The moment the dark energy became prevalent around the area, Shinto abruptly coughed blood as the poison effects began taking ce. Soon after his head turned to the right side where they had originallye from. "Tch..."


    "Kiikk!!" From the distance, the rats that had chased after the group caught on as they nearly reached the ongoing battlefield in a frenzy.


    "...what? Cough..." Reru let out a cough as he scrutinized the surrounding area. "You humans didn''t deal with those rats?!"


    "Bah... It was more than we could handle!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he retracted back from his position, quickly activating [ Judgement Counter ] in the next moment.


    "This is bad! This is bad!" Kon cried out as he shot forward [ Orbal Shadows ] over to the rats, however, even then, the rats persistently moved on until they reached the group. Soon after, they began attacking more aggressively than before.


    "Ahh! What do we do?!" Frey punched at the rats that pounced at her once again with a full force of [ Frontal Collision ].


    "Damn..." Ethaniel frowned at the situation as he turned to his health that was dropping rapidly per second. To add to the disaster, his hands were constantly manoeuvering around whilst swinging his sword, countering against the rats that were beginning to surround him. "Do we still ce all efforts on that giant rat?"


    "We have to," Shinto replied as he sent out [ Poison Cure ] on Frey whose health nearly dropped down to the red zone again. "Otherwise we''ll lose if we don''t defeat the leader. But... Ethaniel you''ll have to put your efforts elsewhere this time."


    "Weak..." The rat king uttered out as he pounced over towards the group. With his heavy attacks from his ws, he swiped at Shinto and Ethaniel who were by each other. HoweverThe moment Fischier lunged an attack, a slime wall was shot up from the ground.


    "Hey! Your targets over here!" Rustly clicked his tongue as he shot out another cloud of slime rain from his body, quickly giving the group a barrier that absorbs damage.


    "You are still able to move even after all that?" Fischier frowned as he averted his attention over to the two slimes from his left side. But, just as he did so, a sword protruded out over towards him in a hurry.


    "Borrowing the power of Sanke to fight us..." Reru scoffed. "You should be the one who''s weak if you had to do that!"


    "It is all for the greater good of us!" His eyes shed red as his ws tinted in dark energy soon wing at Reru. "You do not understand the wishes of Master!"


    "Ugh..." Unable to dodge the attack, Reru was knocked back slightly. However, a warm feeling was felt around him, hurriedly making him get back on his feet. "Such a bullshit statement," Reru seemed to be frowning as his de shed with the ws of the rat king.


    From behind him, Shinto arrived as he quickly shot out a mana spark over to Fischier, activating his passive skill: [ Bearer of the Diviner ].


    At the spot where he had attacked, a mark of shadow wasid outAllowing his allies to deal an additional 15% damage on him.


    "He''s under 50% now," Shinto muttered out as he used [ Poison Cure ] on him soon after the skill cooldown went off. "Reru, I''ll be supporting you from here on out to defeat him," soon after he has said his statement, from his staff, a bright light shot out over towards Fischier.


    [ Divinity Point ]


    Regaining his health that he had lost earlier, he retracted back as he prepared to use another skill.


    "Hah..." Gathering energy around him, Reru began to fiercely attack the king, scrapping away his health bit by bit. Following up with his attacks, Rustly as well as Frey who broke free from the rats struck at the king simultaneously. Meanwhile, Ethaniel and Kon were busily distracting the rats.


    "Annoying..." The rat king clicked his tongue as he protruded out a purple fog. "Let''s end this already!" his eyes coloured a red of madness whilst wing at his enemies constantly.


    "Ugh..." Frey and Rustly stuttered back from the attackThough they persisted on with their attacks. Frey connected skill after skill with her remaining resources, [ Blitz Fist ], [ Palm Shockwave ] and the like.


    "Almost there..." Shinto eyes narrowed over to the bosses health that lowered down over time from the attacks that his party had thrown out. However, it wasn''t just his health that had lowered thoughRustly''s, as well as Shinto''s, slowly dwindled down due to the poison effect. With the new fog, Reru and Frey were inflicted upon poison again too.


    "We need some more push!" Frey cried out as her eyes moved to her skill list, where everything was on cooldown. She had no avable skills to be used. This was the same for everyone else, however...


    "In the end... Sanke''s reign will continue on!" Fischier stated with the dark aura around him remaining more prevalent than ever. Yet, even with the dark aura within the environment, a blinding sh of light shot out over to him.


    "It won''t," with a calm voice, Shinto had activated [ Sanctum Brilliance ] that had went off cooldown. Simultaneously he shot out [ Hallowed Crest (Brilliance) ] which forced him into silence again.


    "Ugh...! You!" Fischier cried out, but, the attacks weren''t done just yet. From the direction of his minions, an orb of shadow along with pale mes was simultaneously castedTopliment that, a bright arc swung head first to Fischier.


    "Arghh...!!" Weakened by the silence and with the force of sudden attacks from his rear, he was thrown over to the wallfalling down to the ground in turn. "Y-You..." His eyes went nk as he fell unconscious.


    [ The aura of darkness has left the area. Thus, the poison effects have been lifted. ]


    [ Upon the defeat of ''Fischier, the King of the Sanke Rats'', your quest (Gifted Diviner)''s objective to defeat three beings judged as evil has been raised by 1. ]


    [ Current progress: 1/3. ]


    [ The judges of good and evil are still discussing whether or not the previous fight counts as a defeat of a ''great evil''. ]


    [ Aughter rings through the area. ]


    ...


    "Huff... huff..." Shinto let out a tired breath.


    "W-We did it right?" Frey blinked at the unconscious rat king. "But... he hasn''t gotten that death effect yet?"


    "Do you want to kill the king?!" Rustly clicked his tongue as he soon averted his gaze over to the rats. "Argh, whatever! There are other pressing issues to handle!"


    Despite the fall of the king, the rats seemed to be persistently charging forth to the exhausted group.


    ...


    [ Author''s Notice ]


    Hiya! Sorry for putting my author''s note into the chapter instead of the authors note, I know some of you don''t read them but that''s okay! This one is a very important thing that everyone has to keep in mind. (I''ll be removing this author''s note in a weeks time [Well moving it to my authors note LOL])


    Firstly, for the issues of long cooldown, as you may have noticed from the [Palm Shockwave] the cooldowns will be much shorter now, I hade to the realization (In fact, very veryte. But its better than not touching on it at all) that the cooldowns are stupidly unreasonable. Thus I''ll adjust everything (Well most).


    Firstly the current shown Brawler''s skill will be around seconds to minutes (For example, Blitz Fists will now be 30 secs-cooldown.) And some of its move sets will be slightly updated.


    For Shinto''s shadow diviner skills, I will only slightly readjust for example instead of 10-minutes of shadow fields, it will be 7. [No effects on the story, since Shinto had only used this skill once for every battle, likewise, most of his other skills were used once.]


    For the full list, we have 30+ revealed skills so far, and I think it might be annoying for you to read through it if you''re not bothered aha... so I''ll be posting the full list on my discord server: https://discord.gg/FdH8CET, but the important skills are as so:


    Shadow Fields: 10 Min -> 7 Min


    Divinity Point: 5 Min -> 2 Min 50 Secs / Upgraded: 12 Min -> 7 Min


    Mark of Umbra: 3 Min -> 2 Min


    Hallowed Crest: 15 Min -> 10 Min. / Upgraded: 10 Min -> 6 Min


    Sanctum Brillince: 20 Min -> 15 Min.


    Judgement Counter: 30 Min -> 20 Min.


    Frontal Collision: 7 Min -> 1 Min.


    Orbal Shadows: 5 Min -> 1 Min 20 Seconds


    Quick me: 7 Min -> 2 Min 30 Seconds


    Camouge: 20 Min -> 7 Min


    Sorry if this is sudden, or if you had liked the longer cooldowns, but for the better flow of future fights, It''ll be better if I make the changes now... As the author, I should''ve made sure that the cooldowns were reasonable since I wasn''t thinking straight about that specific part, I apologize for therge inconvenience that this might have made you. In any case, thank you everyone for your time! We''re soon going to be finishing up the catbs arc :3

 Chapter 131: Guardian (1)

    Chapter 131: Guardian (1)


    "Tch... Those rats are still at it..." Ethaniel frowned as he tiredly stepped from his position.


    During the times where Shinto and the others were fighting against the rat king, Ethaniel and Kon were busily handling the rats. But to their dismay, fighting against the estimated hundreds of them was no easy feat. Even for a man who has plenty of skills to shoot out, resources was an issue.


    Thus, at the heat of battle, upon noting that the group was nearly finished but were at ends meet with the fight, Ethaniel had pushed back the rats with all his strength and quickly leapt forward to the rear of the kingIn the next moment, he and Kon used their remaining skills on Fischier.


    "D-Do we like... R-Run...?" Kon muttered out in fear. With the group using up everything, the hope of sweeping through the numbers dwindled.


    "Ugh..." Shinto''s eyes moved over towards his skill list, noting that the only skills avable were [ Mark of Umbra ] and [ Divinity Point ] which was nearly about to be off from cooldown while the rest were far away from being able to be used again.


    "In estimations... We''ve only defeated about one-third of them..." Reru clicked his tongue. "You humans should have cleared more before jumping to our aid..."


    "We figured that defeating the rat king would make the rats run for their lives or something," Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he held his de tightly. "But here we thought wrong..."


    "So like... If we''re going to be fighting still... How are we going to make it?" Frey muttered out. "Aren''t we like... nearly dead?!"


    "Er... There''s no way to that other statue unless through here..." Shinto sighed in a helpless manner whilst moving his staff over to the current person with the lowest health, which was Ethaniel and activated his healing skill. "So... Trying to get past here is our only option."


    "...and there''s another fight after this, right?" Kon whimpered. "Ahh! That''s three big guys in a row!"


    "Bah... Let''s just not waste any time and just" The moment Ethaniel was about to swing his sword in an arc against the rats that were making their way to the group, his hands suddenly stopped mid-way as a confused expression was stered on him.


    ...


    Through a dark hallway, a me of fire was constantly shot out from a staff of a mageRaina, whilst an old man was watching from the side.


    "Hmm... The mes that you have shot out are getting much weaker than before," Renryth analyzed. "Do you need a break?"


    "Huff... huff," Raina shook her head in a tired manner whilst continuing to weave her staff around, quickly shooting out more small mes. "No, that is fine. I can still keep going."


    "...hmm," The man thought to himself. "This is no good. Through dedication alone without any breaks would make your efficiency drop. Just stop for five minutes and we''ll continue again."


    "But... You said we don''t have time to waste..." Raina uttered out as she turned to Renryth. "So I''m doing the best I can to finish up with this."


    "I did say that. But, that was under the assumption that it would take you more time to pick up the knowledge that I give," he stated. "But look at you now, you''re learning faster than what I had expected."


    "It''s only just the basics..." Raina shook her head. "The basics are always easier to learn than the advanced parts."


    "You do have a point. But that is besides that. What I am saying is, someone of your calibres needs not to try this hard to master something that is only needing the basics for," Renryth uttered out as his hand moved to the direction of the wall. In the next moment, a pure me shot forward from his hand, hitting it. "Even for me, I have yet mastered some of the technique''s crucial parts."


    What was it that Renryth had been teaching Raina? It was a mage technique in which one dissects down arge spell into smaller pieces, in turn, allowing the caster to throw out multiple spells of the same kind into smaller intervals. This helps to prevent the wait of longer cooldowns in which mages and casters alike suffer from.


    In general,pared to physical damage dealers like Frey''s Brawler ss or Ethaniel''s hidden ss, mages typically have cooldowns beyond the five-minute mark. This was because, by default, magic was a strong power that takes a longer time to master and learn. Even with cooldown reduction items, cooldown was a prevalent problem for mages and Shinto''s ss was no different.


    But for Shinto''s case, his ss was that of a hidden ss, the Shadow Diviner. ThusThe cooldowns was not as dauntingpared to standardized mage sses.


    "But if I manage to master this, then it would mean I can finish this up faster and regroup with everyone. That would also mean I don''t have to rely on them to save me every time enemiese near me," Raina stated. "Even when I tried to do something on my own, I ended up causing a big headache for them..."


    Had she expected for such a problem to arise when she went to meet with Zavir? No. All she wanted to do was to get back the item that Brox had takenHowever, the situation led to another and Ethaniel and Shinto barged into the hotel.


    Although the entire scenario was weird back then, she still couldn''t help but feel regretful that she had been powerless to refuse Zavir or to be able to obtain back the item. She was only just a newbie who just started ying the game recently.


    "I see. So you''ve taken upon the task to learn better spells to be able to stand head to head with everyone," Renryth nodded his head. "But, breaks are important. So do that."


    "...right," Raina helplessly sat down on the warm floors of the catbs. From the countless fires she had shot out, it was a fact that the atmosphere would feel warm.


    Soon after, her eyes nced over to her system notifications.


    [ ''mes of Etheral'' proficiency has increased by 0.20% ]


    [ Current proficiency in the arts: 47.20% ]


    [ Passive: ''Dissection Magic'' proficiency has increased by 0.10% ]


    [ Current proficiency in the basic arts: 45.10% ]


    ...


    "...sigh," Upon the sight at the numbers on mes of Etheral, she let out a sigh. "...I got more progress on Dissection Magic in an hour than the entirety of my time learning mes of Etheral..." Soon after, her eyes turned towards the description of the passive.


    [ Basic Dissection Magic (Degraded) Lv 1 ]


    Allows the caster to cast outrge spells with a cooldown of 20 to 30 minutes into smaller intervals of 10 minutes each. The power will be lesser, however, if all intervals are shot out in session, the effects will be at 50% of its original power.


    The user may choose to activate this passive at any time, however, when they do, 50 MP will be consumed every second until it is deactivated. (Upon deactivating it, the passive will not be usable for 3 minutes.)


    *This is a degraded version of the passive, certain effects of its original skill will not be taken into effect. Likewise, some effects are degraded majorly.


    ...


    From the time Raina had started learning the passive skill, her efficiency in understanding its concept allowed her proficiency in the skill to rise to 30%, thus allowing her to be able to use the degraded version of the spell in just 30 minutes.


    However, for theter 30 minutes, the proficiency of the spell slowly decreased for every time the percentage increased. But inparison to that, the mastery of mes of Etheral rosed up greatly.


    "...with being able to use mes of Etheral every 10 minutes... I guess it''s good enough for me," she nodded her head. "10 minutes with an average of 0.20% increase per usage... I wouldn''t have gotten this much efficient if it weren''t for Renryth, huh?"


    Not only had Raina been learning the passive, but she had also simultaneously been picking up the knowledge from Renryth about mes of Etheral about its concept and advanced chants. Thus it allowed her to efficiently use the spell.


    "..." Thinking to herself on the matter, she suddenly heard the old man''s voice.


    "It''s been five minutes. Let''s continue."


    ...


    Through the hallways in a catb of what was once a battlefield, two figures stared at the end of the hall, with dumbfoundedness, whilst the rest were sitting down and resting.


    "...did they just...go by us and retrieved the fallen king just like that?!" Still dumbfounded, Frey expressed her confusion.


    "It is what it is..." Shinto sighed helplessly as he turned to the spot where the king''s unconscious body once was. "I never expected for that to happen..."


    "These rats could''ve just freaking done it earlier without making us be on the edge like that!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Ugh..."

 Chapter 132: Guardian (2)

    Chapter 132: Guardian (2)


    "Well at least the problem is gone now," Kon let out a sigh of relief whilst tiredly lying on the floor. "Where do you think they carried the king though?"


    "I guess they took him back to the den or something like where those slimes live," Ethaniel shook his head as he sat down together with Frey by the side. "Where else would they take him?"


    "I-If so... Wouldn''t that mean the king woulde back again?" Kon muttered out.


    "No," From the right side of them, Reru replied. "By the time we finish resting and head to the Guardian, HukhtaThe king should still be exhausted. So we''ll have time."


    "...we''ll have time?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "How long are we resting for then?"


    "About five minutes."


    "...five?" he blinked at Reru''s statement. "That wouldn''t be enough time for all my skills toe off cooldown."


    "Five to rest, five to reach there, two to begin the battle. I say we''ll have enough time," Reru seemed to be shrugging. "Now just keep quiet and rest."


    "...bah," Ethaniel scoffed as his back leaned onto the wall. At the same time, he checked the statuses of his skills and regenerating health thanks to Shinto''s [Soft Root Heal].


    Whilst Ethaniel was doing so, Shinto, who was together with Kon did the same thing. However, instead of checking his own status window, he instead turned to look at Kon''s.


    [ Shadow Minion''s Profile ]


    Name: Kon (NPC)


    Race: Shade''s Race


    Level: 26


    ss: Shadow Fox


    -ss Attribute-


    The Shadow of the Fox, one who offered themselves to serve the Shadow Diviner.


    *When the ss [ Shadow Fox ] is partied together with the ss [ Shadow Diviner ], certain bonuses will be attained: +20% Damage Increase / +10% Movement Speed / +5% INT. (Effect only applies to the Shadow Fox when the Shadow Diviner or the Shadow Fox manually adds them to the party.)


    -Titles-


    [Shadow of The Fox]


    *INT +20 / AGI +15 / WIS +5 when in the near vicinity of the Shadow Diviner.


    *INT +15 / Damage is increased by 5% when in the near vicinity of any of Shadow Diviner''s allies or servants. (Effect does not stack.)


    -Stats-


    HP: 459/828 | MP: 1167/1167 (+15)


    Strength: 26 | Stamina: 56


    Intelligence: 141 (+40) | Agility: 81 (+15)


    Wisdom: 6 (+5)


    -Skills/Passives-


    *[Orbal Shadow Lv 1]


    *[Quick me Lv 1]


    *[Shadow y Lv 1]


    *[Undying Live Lv 1]


    *[Camouge Lv 1]


    ...


    Upon scrutinizing the details of Kon, he nodded his head. "Seven levels behind mine... Well, that''s a gap that can''t be fixed anytime soon."


    Why couldn''t Kon catch up with the levels of the group? It was simply due to the consistent gain of experience among everyone. So long as Shinto and the rest were gaining experience, Kon would too. Thus, there was no way to catch up unless Kon goes out of his way to solo level. However, that wasn''t an option at the moment.


    With the fight that had happened sequentially, Shinto had raised his level by four from 29. Thus, bringing him up to level 33. Meanwhile, Ethaniel and Frey were both a little over level 34 from a nce at the party list.


    "...hmm, at the level we''re at... Would it be possible to defeat Sanke?" Shinto thought to himself as he imagined the fight with the man whose known power is of necromancy and curses.


    Without the help of Frey, Kon, Reru and Rustly who all would be susceptible to the curse, he was just left with Ethaniel and Raina. "...just a three versus countless amounts of enemies fight, huh?"


    Shinto feared that, if a case of what had happened earlier, [Partial Resistance]came to fruit during the fight with Sanke, it meant that the firepower of the group would greatly decrease. Even when taking into ount Raina''s skill: [mes of Etheral], just her alone realistically wouldn''t be powerful enough to defeat Sanke at her level of 27.


    The end result with partial resistance, or possibly no resistance at all meant that it would be a team wipe-out on his side.


    "...sigh," he shook his head helplessly. "The status effects that Sanke would give when meeting him is still unknown... But, from the ne''s details, it seems it''ll go to that route?" With his line of thought, Shinto turned his head over towards Ethaniel as he requested the ne from him.


    "...?" Noting that Shinto was tapping on his back, Ethaniel turned around as he saw his gesture. With a sigh, he took out the ne and gave it to him. "What do you want to discuss with those slimes?"


    "Nah, I''m not discussing anything. I just want to check what kind of curse and status we''ll be facing," Shinto stated as he scrutinized the details of the passive: [ Sanke''s Curse ] on the ne.


    [ Sanke''s Curse Lv MAX ]


    The curse of Sanke prevails this item. All its stats have been lowered and whoever dons the item; will receive the effects of [Sanke''s Curse]: Damage is decreased by 15%, Damage Taken is increased by 30%, Fear RES is decreased by 500%, Sanke''s Mind Control is Susceptible.


    *As this is a max level curse, only high levelled purification magic can cleanse this curse.


    ...


    "Damage is decreased, damage taken is increased, Fear and Mind control..." he muttered out whilst confirming the details. "Sigh. This is going to be a pain to face."


    "What?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Aren''t you immune to curses, too?"


    "...well I am, but, I fear we might get partial resistance or something during the fight," he uttered out. "That was my main concern throughout the fight with the rat king since we received it."


    "...partial resistance?" Ethaniel blinked at Shinto''s words. "What do you mean?"


    "...huh?" Shinto dumbfoundedly stared at Ethaniel. "You know... Partial resistance as in, half of the status of the boss will be taken effect on us?"


    "..." Ethaniel red at Shinto as he soon shook his head. "Never got that. I told you, I''m immune to curses, and most of the bosses status counts as under that category."


    "Cough..." Shinto let out a cough at Ethaniel''s statement. "If so... Then what about Status Ailments?"


    "The only resistance to that I have is slow," he shrugged. "Though I wished that I could get resistance to poison too, that was damn annoying..."


    "...could I have the exact wording of the resistance?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "...sigh," Ethaniel sighed at Shinto as he quickly turned to his opened status window. In the next moment, he repeated the words from it. "As someone under the guise of judgement, curses of those judged as evil do not work well on you."


    "...curses of those judged as evil..." Shinto muttered out as hepared with the description of his ss attribute.


    -ss Attribute-


    ...


    *As a diviner between light and shadow, abnormal status conditions do not work well on you.


    ...


    "Abnormal status conditions..." He stared at his screen confusingly. "Then what could''ve caused such a thing to happen?"


    From experience, Shinto knew that ''abnormal status conditions'' meant anything from status ailments to debuffs would fall under this category. Yet. He only partially resisted the status of the king and, at one point, the partial resistance turned into no resistance.


    "The wording of ''do not work well on you''... could it be because of that?" His thoughts continued. "Maybe it''s the case of statuses between people."


    The debuff effects that a boss like Refrinz, Shivuliz and Fischier gives falls under the category of ''status''. They serve as an aura, in which, the more prestigious one''s aura is, the more powerful the effect would be.


    Currently in the game, however, there was no way to resist such effects unless through cases like Shinto''s ss attribute.


    "...if it really is... Then, how do you raise one''s status?" Shinto pondered. The only simr things that he could rte to is the continental reputation that is given out to the yer when world-view quests arepleted or titles. "...when I was ying the game as a swordsman... I don''t recall any changes to my status..."


    During all the boss fights that he had encountered, he had been susceptible to all of its debuff effects. Granted, they were all higher level than his own. Though, that was the standard in the game.


    "...sigh. Thinking about this gets me nowhere," Shinto shook his head. "I''ll just assume this thing is based on the status of a being and that, to resist them, you have to be of higher status."


    "...hey. Are you done looking at your screen, yet?" Ethaniel impatiently frowned at Shinto.


    "Huh?" Upon hearing Ethaniel''s voice, his eyes averted over towards him. "Is something the matter?"


    "...Reru seems to be screaming at me. It''s been five minutes and it seems we have to go," he sighed.


    "Right..." Shinto coughed as he stood up from the ground whilst bringing up Kon onto his shoulder. "Then, let''s go."


    "...ugh, you humans! Are you finally done?" Reru clicked his tongue. "If so, good. Let''s hurry. Fighting the guardian might take much longer than normal fights since it''s an endurance battle."


    "How long?" Shinto asked.


    "30 minutes. Well, if your damage is shit, then an hour."

 Chapter 133: Guardian (3)

    Chapter 133: Guardian (3)


    Into the halls of the catbs, the group steadily made their way through it as they stopped in front of a giant door. There, the party noted that the carvings of a statue with its sword facing down was on it.


    "We''re here," Reru stated in a cautious voice as he turned towards the group. "Beyond here is the statue of the guardian, Hukhtar."


    "So we''ll be facing the guardian now..." Shinto muttered to himself as he slightly nced to the back of him, noting the path that they had taken to reach here, which was in a linear line. "...If the statue is behind here, then where''s the den for the rat''s?"


    "Unlike us Sleras that live directly behind the door of the Warrior, Humatar is only essible through the castle if we follow the path to our den," Reru exined. "in the case of the Farchu''s side, the den is behind the Guardian''s room."


    "Ah..." Shinto nodded his head. "Then... Where is Sanke''s room?"


    "...he took the den of the Farchu and lived there," he stated. "I do not know where the King and his people live... But, the current person upying that ce is Sanke."


    "...huh?" Shinto turned to Reru in a confused manner. "Sanke''s behind here?"


    "To be more specific, the Guardian is guarding the door that leads to Sanke."


    "...and, with that, we''re going directly into his territory?" Shinto asked in a bewildered voice.


    "Eh?!" Frey cried out as she heard Shinto''s vague words. "Say that again? We''re going to Sanke?!"


    "Sigh," Reru sighed. "Sanke won''t touch us if we don''t go knocking on his doors. After defeating the Guardian, we''ll instantly leave."


    "I find it hard to believe that he won''t open the door and initiate a battle against us after we''re exhausted..." Shinto tilted his head. "Then with the presence of the curse too... isn''t this asking for a death wish?"


    "Listen, human. You''re thinking too far," he clicked his tongue. "Although Sanke is behind that door, it doesn''t mean he''s directly behind it. It''s still a den originally for the Farchu, so the space isrge."


    "Ahem... Right," Shinto shook his head as he got himself together. With the words of ''Sanke'' and ''behind the door'' in the sentence, he hadpletely forgotten the fact that the room was originally a den, thus he hade to the conclusion that Sanke would have been directly behind the door, awaiting them. "I-In any case, back on the topic of the guardian... We''ll be facing him off for thirty minutes right?"


    "Yes," Reru nodded his head as turned to the front of the door. "If you''re ready for an endurance battle, we''ll be starting."


    "..." Upon hearing the words of ''ready'', Shinto subconsciously nced over to his status window as he double-checked its details, along with the current status of his skills.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 33


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    ...


    -Titles-


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 810/810 | MP: 712/712 (+20)


    Strength: 31 | Stamina: 52 (+4)


    Intelligence: 86 (+21) | Agility: 78 (+8)


    Shadow: 32 | Divinity: 21


    Wisdom: 7


    Stats Point: 120


    ...


    "Hmm..." Looking at his current profile, he nodded as he silently added 20 points into Stamina while adding 30 into Intelligence. Thus, bringing his HP up to 1050 and MP to 976 in preparations for the uing endurance fight.


    Although MP wasn''t as important for him, he still needed to increase his damage output even by the slightest amount in order to aid his allies withbat during the times where his skills were on cooldown. Meanwhile, for health, it was always better to have a bigger pool of HP rather than a small one.


    In consideration of Strength and Agility, those two stats weren''t as pressing as of the moment. He didn''t need to increase his weight limit to carry items, nor did he had to increase his evasive speed to avoid enemies.


    "Alright... As for skill status..." Turning over to his 11 skills and 8 passives, excluding Sanke''s Curse, he noted that most of his main ss skills were nearly about to level up to two. Especially for his shadow skills, where he used them as frequent as possible. "...Shadow Fields and Mark of Umbra are at 81% and 89%... I reckon I can level them up after a few more fights."


    While [ Shadow Fields ] and [ Mark of Umbra ] were of the higher end of nearing level two, [ Divinity Point ] and [ Hallowed Crest ] were at 74% and 72% respectively.


    "Right, It looks like I''m ready," Shinto turned to Reru as he answered. From behind him, Ethaniel and Frey seemed to have already checked their statuses and are prepared as well.


    "Good, there''s no turning back then," Reru answered as his slime sword protruded out from his body. In the next moment, the sword mmed forward towards the door as he shook greatly. "We''re going in now."


    As the de of Reru''s collided with the giant door, it slightly opened as Reru soon barged in. From his side, Rustly stared nkly.


    "...did you have to use force to break open it? We can just use the way we usually open the door at our ce..." he mumbled out.


    "Jiggling for the sake of opening a door? That''s embarrassing," Reru scoffed, soon disappearing into the room.


    "Ugh..." Rustly groaned as he and the group followed behind Reru.


    ...


    Stepping quietly into the dark room of the Guardian, Shinto with his night vision, hurriedly nced around the areaNoting a giant entity, that seemed to be on its knees in front of them.


    The moment his eyesid on the being, the room slightly shook as torches at the end of the walls lit up a bright red. Following that, the entity up front faintly moved as its eyes lit in a gleam of red, quickly staring down at the party.


    "...intruders...they who have awoken me..." A voice filled with a tone of sadness rang throughout the room. Upon hearing such words, the rest of the party soon turned in its direction.


    "T-This is?" Frey uttered out in a tone of fear as she was greeted by the sight of a giant statue, five times her size staring down at her. With its worn down armour and des, shing red eyes and a seemingly unbing aurathis was the Guardian of the Farchu, Hukhta.


    "Humans. Get ready," Reru stated.


    [ The Lone Guardian of ''Farchu'', Hukhta has awoken! ]


    [ The guardian stares down at you. ]


    "...intruders..." The guardian uttered out. "Is there...even...a need to defend anymore?"


    [ At the sight of you, the guardian solemnly nced away as he refuses to unleash his status. ]


    [ The judgement of good and evil has deemed this being ''Neutral''! ]


    "...?" Shinto confusingly nced at his notifications as he soon turned to the guardian.


    "...huh?" Kon muttered out. "W-What''s going on?"


    "...intruders," The statue, Hukhta repeated to himself. "No...should I say...humans?" he continued mumbling as his body sat down onto the floor. "I am the guardian Hukhta...The one who has been tasked to defend this ce..."


    "What is this?" Reru clicked his tongue. "Why is the guardian... so defeated?"


    "...tasked to defend this ce..." he repeated to himself once again. "That was a task a long time ago...and I have failed," he ced his de down in helplessness. "Humans...I ask you this. What brings you to this forsaken being known as a failure?"


    "...I''m confused," Frey tilted her head. "So...no fight?"


    "..." The group and the statue stared at one another as silence protruded out within the room. However, the still room soon broke as Shinto spoke out. "We''vee here... To defeat you."


    "...to defeat me...huh..." The guardian sighed. "You do not need to bother. I am as defeated as one can get. In fact... My life is soon to burn like my brother."


    [ The status of the guardian has been unleashed! ]


    [ The status is dim and defeated. ]


    [ When in the presence of Hukhta, agility is gradually decreased by 1% for every 10 seconds until 40% whilst outgoing healing is decreased by 50%. ]


    [ You havepletely resisted against such status. ]


    "...your life is soon going to burn?" Shinto questioned.


    "My life force. I have lost all purpose in this world from my original master," he uttered out. "With his death, I was tasked to protect this ce. But that too I have failed."


    The broken knight stood up from the ground as he walked towards the gate that was behind him. "Now that ''he'', or... my current master has strayed afar into the deep darkness of sin, I wish to ry my message while I still can."


    "...a message while you still can?" Ethaniel raised his brow, still holding onto his sword in the case of a sudden attack.


    "Sanke''s magic has stopped flowing in this room temporarily... Thus," The statue turned around to the party, with lifeless eyes and an expression of serenity. "It is a simple request. End me while I still am the ''Guardian Hukhta''."

 Chapter 134: Guardian (4)

    Chapter 134: Guardian (4)


    As the guardian spoke out his wishesThe room soon turned quiet as the group helplessly stared dumbstruck at the broken statue who stood there lifelessly. After a while, the party began to whisper among themselves.


    "...end him?" Frey uttered out in a confusing tone as she processed the words of Hukhta. "Like... Turning him into ashes?"


    "Weren''t we going to do that anyway?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "I mean, why else are we here but to defeat this guy."


    "Right..." Kon muttered out as he turned to the slimes by the front. "What do those guys have to say about it?"


    "To defeat and to end are two separate things, isn''t it?" Rustly questioned.


    "Hmm, yes," Reru nodded his head. "By defeating him... He''ll be revived either way through our efforts of the Slera''s power. But, by ending him..."


    "It means for a permanent rest, right?" Shinto continued his sentence as he nced at the equipment of the knight. Noting that he had donned a set of armour that has been worn out throughout the years. Its cracks and rust were prevalent, but he could see the scars of battle from long ago.


    On the floor, the de was no less than the armour. In fact, this could no longer be called a sword. Its fuller was separated from the hilt, and the edges were not sharp. It seems that it had remained that way for a long time.


    "That''s how it is," Reru sighed. "For the Guardian to act this regretful... I guess it is understandable."


    "What are we going to do then?" Rustly asked.


    "It does not change our goal," Reru stated. "We were going to defeat him either way in order to get to Sanke. But in this case, since he is not going to be putting up a fight, it''ll make our lives much easier."


    "So... We''re going to defeat him and revive himter is what I''m getting at here?" Shinto tilted his head.


    "No. In his wishes, we''ll be ending him."


    "Huh? Are we seriously going to end him?!" Rustly cried out. "Even if he failed his tasks... That still is no reason to wish for death. We can only ever live once after all..."


    "It is his wishes," Reru stepped forward as he took out his sword from his body. "There is no point reviving someone who wishes to rest in peace."


    "B-But..."


    "..." Listening in on the conversation between Reru and Rustly, Shinto sighed as he turned away from them. In the next moment, his eyes turned to the statue as he stepped in front of the slime. "...hey, guardian. How do you want your final death to be like?"


    Whether it was to defeat and revive the broken knights, or to end themboth of these cases still required the factor of raising one''s de to deal the final blow. In Reru''s words, for thetter option, if the statues were to have lost the will of duty, then there would be no point in forcing them into an endless loop of revival.


    "...how I want...to die?" Hukhta mumbled to himself. "...I would like a peaceful death. Like my previous master..."


    Upon hearing the reply from the Guardian, a sudden quest prompt soon popped up in front of the group.


    [ Serenity of The Guardian ]


    Difficulty: B (-Catbs of the Deserted Sanke Quest Line)


    To the end of time, the Guardian of the Catbs has longed for a final rest. With his duties, all failed and his will, gonehis only desire left is for a final peace together with his old master.


    Help the Guardian, Hukhta by bringing him peace.


    Quest Clear Condition: The permanent death of Hukhta.


    Quest Clear Reward: Broken Axe of Humatar, Skill "Hukhta''s Shield", Skill "Humatar''s Roar".


    Quest Failure: By failing to end or defeat the guardian, Hukhta will be forced into a state of madness due to the curse of Sanke.


    *However, in the case of reviving Hukhta post-defeat, the rewards will be withdrawn.


    [ Do you ept this quest? ]


    ...


    "...a quest?" Shinto''s attention soon turned to the description of ''Serenity of the Guardian''. Despite being in the instance dungeon for the past few days, he hadn''t received a single quest. This was the first.


    "...So, humans...are you able to fulfil my wishes?" Hukhta inquired. "We have little time until Sanke''s magices back into this room...and I do not wish you harm."


    "Well..." Shinto took a deep breath. "If there is no other choice... Then we''ll-" As he was about to give out an answer, Frey hurriedly interrupted him.


    "Hey, hey! Master... Are we really going to be doing this?" Frey muttered out in a sad tone. "Killing him permanently... Sounds a bit too much..."


    "Why do you care?" Ethaniel scoffed. "The only option is to fight him anyways. If we wait too long, we''ll probably be the ones wishing for a peaceful death."


    "I don''t know... Maybe we can just defeat him and then... Give him a new purpose after?" she sighed. "We don''t necessarily have to give him permanent death... And how are we going to be doing that anyway?"


    "We can''t have any matter of word to this," Shinto shook his head helplessly as his eyes nced to the slimes. "We''re not the one''s to be reviving the statue, now are we?"


    Even if they wished for the statue to live on with a new purpose, the final decision was on the slimes who would use their own power to revive the broken-down statues.


    "It is futile, humans..." Reru clicked his tongue. "Just make thing''s easier and just defeat him. The matter of revivingester."


    "Without the voice and opinion of the statue himself?" With the direct trantion from Shinto, Frey cried out. "It''s better to just convince him now than to go through the troublester..."


    "His voice and opinion is that he wants to not be revived. You''re the one interfering with it," he scoffed. "Convincing can''t work in this situation as we''re tight on time."


    "Frey... It''s hopeless," Shinto solemnly raised his staff. "We''ll just have to follow what the quest says."


    "Whatever he said." Following Shinto''s words, Ethaniel raised his sword as he prepared to initiate an attack. "Let''s just get this over with."


    "..." Frey bit her lips as she clenched onto her fist. Of course, her wishes couldn''t be fulfilled. "...there''s really no option?"


    "Frey..." Kon whimpered. "I wish there was another way too..."


    "Human...I understand your sentiments...however," Hukhta shook his head in a tired manner. "My wish still remains the same. Please...grant it."


    "...we ept the quest," Shinto nodded his head.


    [ The quest has been epted. ]


    With one breath, the group along with the slimes, leapt forward as they activated their skills. Shinto who was by the front quickly marked the guardian with a shadow in order for his team to deal extra damage against him.


    Soon after, following behind, Reru and Ethaniel crossed their attacks onto the chest of the guardian, whilst Frey hesitantly hit the bottom areas of the knight. Meanwhile, Kon and Rustly shot out their ranged attacks.


    How were they going to peacefully bring about the death of the statue? In a normal event, against one who has arge pool of health, the time taken to kill would take ages, especially when ounting for the current firepower of the group.


    However, this was not the case. With the worn-down knight and his unwillingness to fight back, the group along with the hesitant Frey unanimously decided to put all their attacks into one burst, destroying him in one shot.


    With that, the damage was enough to break him down into pieces.


    "Thank...you," With onest word uttered out, the knight fell down into pieces as he entered into permanent sleep.


    ...


    [ The Lone Guardian of ''Farchu'', Hukhta has been defeated! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 34! ]


    [ Kon has levelled up to level 27! ]


    [ The Key of the Guardian''s Tomb has been obtained. ]


    [ Broken de of Hukhta has been obtained. ]


    [ Broken Crest of the Guardian has been obtained. ]


    [ The quest ''Serenity for the Guardian'' has beenpleted. ]


    [ Rewards will be distributed among the party members. ]


    [ You may decide among yourselves for who gets the skill "Hukhta''s Shield" and "Humatar''s Roar", otherwise you may leave it up to the system to decide. ]


    [ The defeat of the ''The Guardian'' has clouded the air, the doors of the dungeon has temporarily been opened for two days! ]


    [ Due to the previous term that has yet expired, the term has been extended to four days. ]


    [ You may leave, however, after the term of four daysYou will have to immediately return to the dungeon, otherwise, a penalty will befall on you. ]


    Watching the fallen pieces that were once a guardian fall onto the grounds of the lone room, the group could do nothing but only solemnly nce at it.


    "..."


    [ With the defeat of the Guardian and Warrior of the catbs, the doors of the curse that leads to Sanke has been opened! ]

 Chapter 135: Guardian (5)

    Chapter 135: Guardian (5)


    "...sigh," Shinto shook his head helplessly as he was the first to turn away from the broken pieces lying lifelessly on the ground. Moments after, he turned to Frey who had a defeated expression on her face.


    "...was there really no other option?" Frey frowned as she noticed the approaching Shinto.


    "It''s like I said, the final choice goes to the slimes," he answered whilst pointing his finger over towards the two slimes who were by the rubble. "All we can do is speak to them about this. We''ve got no power to revive this guy..."


    "..." she bit her lips as she firmly turned to Shinto. "Then... If let''s say, we defeat this big bad boss, Sanke... Could you lend me the ne?"


    "...sure?" he tilted his head. If all things went well, the curse of the ne would be lifted, thus allowing for normal yers to wear the equipment without worry. "But... Do you really have to go this far?"


    "Huh?" Frey blinked at Shinto''s question. "I mean... It''s something I want to do, right? So why not!"


    "Bah..." Ethaniel scoffed at Frey''s answer. "You''re going through all that effort for someone who we just met? Heck... It''s a statue at that..."


    "Does it even matter on they look like or their race?" Frey red at Ethaniel. "This guy was able to think for himself and he''s feeling regretful over all the thing''s that had happened... So I''d say that''s more than enough reason to care!"


    "...well, you do you," Ethaniel shook his head in an uncaring manner as he walked away, quickly heading over towards the slimes.


    "I understand your sentiments I guess," Meanwhile, Shinto patted on the shoulder of Frey. "You''re free to do whatever you want after we finish with this dungeon. Though, it might take a bit more convincing on some to have them help you."


    With a tap on the shoulder, Shinto quietly walked away as he soon followed after Ethaniel.


    "..." Frey looked at the back of Shinto in a manner of determination, though, her fists seem to be shaky. "...if only the option of convincing could work for other cases too," abruptly shaking her head away from the thought, Frey scurried over as she regrouped with the team.


    ...


    Whilst heading to the slimes, Shinto''s eyes fixed on the countless notification that had popped up post-death of the Guardian. Among the notifications regarding the quest of ''Serenity for the Guardian'' and its loot notices, a certain notification piqued his interest.


    [ The judges have decided on the verdict. ]


    [ The previous fight with ''Renryth, The Cursed One'' has been ruled as a fight of ''lesser good'' due to the interference of an outside force messing with the initial judgement. ]


    "...tch," Reading the notification, Shinto clicked his tongue. "You made me wait to have this as an answer?" he frowned. Shinto had hoped that by defeating Renryth, he could''ve dealt with two birds and one stone.


    His original n was to activate [ Sanctum Brilliance ] andst hit Renryth, or at best, be a part of the final blow. While he was doing that, he could''ve triggered his passive [ Divinity Gauge ], thus making way for an event to happen as stated by the description whilst alsopleting his quest [ Gifted Diviner ].


    However, that seemed to be not the case.


    "...sigh. Why did I even think that would work?" he sighed. If he was considering the facts correctly, the possibility of things going his way was extremely low. It was due to the fact that the person who they fought wasn''t actually Renryth, but Sanke taking control of him. "...well, I guess I''ll have to find another foe that counts as evil to finish the quest then." Just as he was muttering to himself, his notification system soon popped out a new notice.


    [ However, in consideration of the judgement of ''Great Evil'' that has appeared as an outside force within this dungeon, the judges of good and evil has decided to give a task to the Shadow Diviner, in agreement with the messenger. ]


    "...?" His eyes raised in slight confusion as he read the text on his system.


    [ A subquest of the dungeon has been created! ]


    [ Judgement of Great Evil: Sanke ]


    Difficulty: S+ (-Catbs of the Deserted Sanke Quest Line)


    With the urrence of a ''Great Evil'' that seems to rival that of dark matter that has long been rooted into the roots of the world, the branch of good and evil, as well as the messengers all, havee to an agreement to task you with the job to defeat this being.


    You as the ''Diviner'' must defeat Sanke.


    Quest Clear Reward: Depending on the conditions that have been fulfilled, you will gain different sort of rewards.


    Based Reward: Divinity +3, Shadow +2


    Defeat Sanke with only the presence of yourself: Divinity +10, All Divinity Skills will level up by one, The beings of Divinity will take interest in you and you''re much likely to gain their favour, You will gain insight of the info of ''Divinity''.


    Defeat Sanke with two or fewer party members: Divinity +2, Shadow +4, You will gain insight on the info of ''Shadow'', The beings of Divinity will only slightly take interest in you.


    Defeat Sanke with three or more party members: Shadow +5, You will gain insight on the info of ''Shadow''.


    *The best reward will only be taken into effect.


    Quest Failure: The beings of Divinity will see you as a mere failure of one who takes up the title of Diviner.


    ...


    "A quest to defeat Sanke..." he thought to himself whilst going through the details of the quest. "...and it''s a ss quest?" It seems the side of Divinity has much more interactions than that of the side of Shadow. However, what interested him the most was that despite it being a quest that seems more oriented for Divinity, signs of the Shadow side were prevalent.


    "Hmm... The quest has conditional rewards, huh?" he noted the details as he ounted for the number of people that can enter into battle against SankeEthaniel and Raina. Thus, the most definite reward that Shinto would get would be the second one. "That''s a no brainer... I can''t solo fight this guy and Frey, Kon and the others are out of the option."


    Nodding his head, he closed his quest window still with a slight surprise. However, he shook the look off as he quickly reached towards the rubble with the slimes and Ethaniel.


    "...the statues are dealt with and everything is in check," Reru mumbled to himself. "Now all we have to do is wait for that human to finish with the training and we''ll be good to go with defeating Sanke."


    Upon closing in onto Reru, Shinto called out to him. "Hey, Reru. What are we going to do now that we''ve dealt with the statues?"


    "Huh? Oh. You can rest I guess," Reru shrugged. "We still have a long day ahead before yourpanion finishes up with her side of the n. So, just stay put here and save energy."


    "Huh? Are we not going to go back and escort Raina?" Shinto questioned.


    "No need," he stated. "If her training is trulypleted, then, she would be able toe here on her own with directions from Renryth."


    "...that''s your reasoning?" he raised his brow.


    "Yes. If shees here just fine, she''s ready. If not, then, we''ll be at ends meet."


    "Then... While we rest, what are you going to do?" Shinto asked.


    "Me? I and Rustly will be leaving," he stated. "Unlike you humans that are immune to the curse, we''re not. So, instead of making waste of time, I''ll be reporting to the king. Then, our people will help with distracting the Farchu to prevent any distractions for you."


    "Huh?" Rustly uttered out. "We''re doing that? Why didn''t you tell me?!"


    "Do I have to tell you everything? In any case... We''ll be leaving," he stated as Reru moved towards Rustly, in the next moment, he begun to drag him away.


    "I-I see..." Shinto nodded his head with slight confusion as he saw that Reru and Rustly were hurriedly taking leave.


    "Hey, what''s up with their sudden leave?" Ethaniel tilted his head in question.


    "...they''re going to be helping us with preventing outside forces froming in apparently," Shinto answered as he turned towards the group. "In any case... They asked for us to rest here while we wait for Raina."


    "Huh? Wait here? In front of Sanke''s den?!" Kon cried out. "Are they plotting something or something?!"


    "This sounds he suspicious..." Ethaniel red at the closed doors that Reru and Rustly walked through. "They seem to be in a hurry too...."


    "Hmm..." Thinking on the matter, Shinto shook his head. "Whatever it is... Even if I had stopped them, I don''t think they''ll even bother to answer. So we''ll leave it that and discuss other important matters."


    "The quest distribution rewards, right?"


    With a nod of his head, Shinto quickly opened up his inventory as he took out the items that he had obtained from the statue.

 Chapter 136: Distribution

    Chapter 136: Distribution


    Taking out the four items from his inventory, Shinto began to ce them onto the floor, thus lowering the weight that he was carrying. In the next moment, the group began to scrutinize the item details.


    [ Broken Axe of Humatar ]


    Rarity: Rare


    Attack Power: 156 ~ 247


    Durability: 106/540


    *When wielding the weapon, 50% chance of increasing STR by 10% for every hit up to a total of 50%.


    *When wielding the weapon, enhances all Humatar rted skills.


    *Rage RES +40%


    *''Broken'' is on this item.


    An axe wielded by the Warrior of the Catbs, Humatar. He who has swung this axe countless times has fallen into rubble. Under the guise of the broken age, the axe has been given to the Guardian who now cherishes it as a keepsake.


    Condition(s): ''Serenity of the Guardian'' quest has beenpleted, Strength must be over 65.


    Weight: 155


    ...


    [ Broken Crest of the Guardian ]


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: essory (Pin)


    Stats: STA +15 () / Max HP +150 () / Area Attack RES +20


    *Upon receiving a hit from any source, 30% chance of creating a small barrier around self that absorbs 7% of the total damage.


    *Iing heal is increased by 3%


    *''Broken'' is on this item.


    A crest that signifies one''s loyalty to protect the catbs. Once held by the Guardian of the Catbs, however, with hisst wishhe has passed on this symbol to the ones who have fulfilled his wish.


    Condition(s): None.


    ...


    [ Broken Hukhta''s Sword ]


    Rarity: Rare


    Attack Power: 102 ~ 209


    Durability: 96/520


    *When wielding the weapon, 50% chance of increasing STA by 10% for every attack received up to a total of 50%.


    *When wielding the weapon, enhances all Hukhta rted skills.


    *Petrify RES +40%


    *''Broken'' is on this item.


    A sword wielded by the Guardian of the Catbs, Hukhta. He who has used this sword in many fights and bouts against many foes has been a cherished item by the wielder. Though, now this sword now no longer has an owner.


    Condition(s): ''Serenity of the Guardian'' quest has beenpleted, Stamina must be over 50.


    Weight: 115


    ...


    [ The Key of the Guardian''s Tomb ]


    Type: Misceneous


    The Key of the Guardian unlocks the left piece that leads to the door of Sanke.


    ...


    "...hmm, two weapons, one essory and the item we''re going to use to unlock the door, huh?" Shinto muttered out as the group finished looking through the items. "Who''s gonna take what?"


    "...eh," Ethaniel shrugged. "The axe and the sword are both meh to me..."


    "Right... Unfortunately, the items are all degraded versions of their original power," he sighed as his eyes moved to the description of [ Broken ] that was on each item description.


    [ Broken ]


    Items that have gone through relentless usages without maintenance will receive the item ''Broken''.


    -Durability of the item is much easier to decrease.


    -The stats and rarity of the item are greatly lowered.


    -Certain effects will be blocked until further notice.


    *To remove [ Broken ], one must find a suitable cksmith to fix this item. (Note: This only applies to standardized/created items)


    ...


    "If they''re degraded versions of the item... Then how do we get the original versions?" Frey asked. "...not like I want them or anything."


    "Well... For normal cases we''ll need to go to a cksmith for it, but..." he shook his head helplessly. "For items from dungeons... There are other conditions to it."


    "What are the conditions?" she tilted her head.


    "Only the cksmiths know," Ethaniel shrugged. "For the time being, we know no one who''s a cksmith, right? So these items are extremely useless then."


    "Would we be going to find one after this?" Frey asked.


    "Depending on whether it''s worth it or not, I guess," Shinto uttered out. "If we''re going to be finding one, I''d prefer we go for a cksmith that we know we can trust."


    "...and how would we know one who is trustable?" Ethaniel raised his brow.


    On the note of cksmiths, one could just go to just about any skilled yer or NPC and they would happily fix one''s item for a price. However, in the case of Shinto, he had bad experiences with NPCs and certain yers, thus he could only resort to yers who he can trust to be in charge of his weapon maintenance.


    "...I do know one..." Shinto muttered out as his eyes turned to his friend list below the name of [ Hikari ], [ Hideo ] who was marked as online. "But, I''m not sure if he''s free at the moment," quickly averting his gaze away from the list, he faced Ethaniel and Frey.


    "Bah... If so, then no point," Ethaniel scoffed. "Anyways. I''ll hold onto the items first then since you can''t keep it in your inventory."


    "Cough... Don''t me me," Shinto let out a cough. "I have no use for strength..."


    "You mages..." Ethaniel shook his head. "Whatever." Just as he was about to move to the ground and pick up the two weapons, he was quickly stopped by Frey.


    "Wait, wait! Ethaniel doesn''t need to hold onto the items, I can too!" Frey stated.


    "Well... Do you even have usages for the weapons? You''re a brawler..." he red at Frey. "I''ll have better usages for it if I ever decided to use it."


    "And you won''t," she pouted. "I have usages for them since I''ll be trying to convince the slimes!"


    "You''re still at with that?" Ethaniel sighed. "Then whatever, just take it."


    "Yay!" Frey cheered as she took the two items and quickly ced them into her inventory. "Now... What do we do about that pin? Can I have it too? Since it''s rted to the Guardian after all..."


    "Since you want the weapons, I''ll be taking this," he stated whilst picking up the crest. "Iing heals should help since I''m always at the front lines."


    "Eh?! What about the convincing?!" she cried out. "I think I need all the items to be able to convince them..."


    "What bullshit," Ethaniel scoffed. "I don''t even think we need them in the first ce. Just use your words and be done with it. After that, I''ll give you that crest if it''s really important."


    "Really? You won''t use it all for yourself?"


    "What? Who do you take me for?" Ethaniel frowned. "This item is under Broken anyways... So it''s not like I can use it much."


    "R-Right... We need a cksmith..." Frey sighed. "I hope Master''s friend or something is free to help!"


    "...that would be a discussion for after this dungeon," Shinto coughed whilst turning his head to his notifications. "Anyhow.. There''s still the skills we need to distribute."


    [ Hukhta''s Shield ] [ 345 MP ] [ Cooldown: 7 Minute ]


    Calling upon the shield of Hukhta, three shields appear around the user in a clockwise position for 30 seconds. During such a state, when you receive an attack, the damage is reduced depending on the number of shields you have left.


    3 Shields (500 HP): 60%


    2 Shields (700 HP): 45%


    1 Shield (1000 HP): 20%


    *The shield breaks if the impact of the damage is too much. (As the number of shields lower, the resistance of the shield is increased thus allowing to receive much higher doses of damage.)


    ...


    [ Humatar''s Roar ] [ 240 MP ] [ Cooldown: 3 Minute ]


    Calling upon the status of Humatar, the user yells out a loud cry as it provokes all enemies within a 10m radius. When the enemy is provoked, they are more than likely to aim for you instead for one minute.


    *Upon using this skill, there is a 20% inflicting Rage on self during the duration of skill.


    -Rage: Disable Skills Usages, STR +150%, You will attack the nearest enemy without control.


    ...


    "With the way both skills work, I and Kon aren''t suited to take it," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "So it''s among you two to take one each."


    "Uhh... Rage is good right...?" Frey mumbled to herself. "It''s a 150% increase of Strength!"


    "If you like attacking things randomly, then yes," he scoffed. "You can''t even use skills either in that state."


    "So Humatar''s Rage is bad huh..." she pouted. "But then, if so, one of us will be getting the bad option and the other the good one!"


    "Well... Humatar''s Rage isn''t necessarily bad..." Shinto interjected into the discussion. "It''s a provoke skill, so it helps to attract the enemy''s attention on you if weck a tank, which we do."


    "Oh right! Then that means... Parry Fist works wonders with it?"


    "I guess so," Ethaniel shrugged. "In any case, I want Hukhta''s Shield since Ick defensive skills..."


    "Hmm..." Frey thought to herself. "If you want that skill... Then it means I''ll get Humatar''s Roar..."


    "I mean... If you both want Hukhta''s Shield, you can just leave it up to the game of chance and have the system distribute it randomly..." Shinto suggested. "But... Uh, knowing Frey''s luck... You might be better off discussing."


    "Ugh... So what will it be Frey?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Do you want Hukhta''s Shield or what?"


    "Yes...? I mean! I like both skills now that I think about it..." Frey uttered out. "Can we just leave it to the game of chance?"


    "Are you serious?" he sighed. "Ugh... Just get it over with."


    [ The party has decided to distribute the two skills to yer ''Frey'' and ''Ethaniel randomly. ]


    [ ... ]


    [ The skill "Hutkha''s Shield" has been given to Ethaniel whilst the other has been given to Frey! ]

 Chapter 137: Cursed (1)

    Chapter 137: Cursed (1)


    Through the halls outside of the room that led to the Guardian, Reru hurriedly walked through the catbs whilst dragging Rustly.


    "H-Hey! Reru...!" Rustly cried out whilst trying to release the grip of Reru''s attachment on his body. "Why are we so much in a hurry?!"


    "..." Reru kept quiet whilst continuing to move through the hallways.


    "Hey! Reru!" he seemed to be frowning. "Answer me!"


    "...ugh. Rustly, could you please just shut up for the duration of this trip back to Renryth?" Reru clicked his tongue in an annoyed manner whilst releasing the grip on Rustly. In the next moment, his body turned to face him. "We''re in a hurry because there''s not much time left."


    "Not much time left? I know that!" Rustly cried out. "But, why are we hurrying to the point you''re dragging me? Why are we going to see Renryth too? What gives? Weren''t we going to see his majesty?"


    "..." he shook his head in a tired manner. "Are you trying to y dumb with me?"


    "...huh?" Rustly muttered out confusingly. "ying dumb? What do you mean?"


    "How long have you been exposed to that?" Reru questioned.


    "E-Exposed to what?" Rustly mumbled out.


    "Ugh... Do I have to spell it out for you?" Reru scoffed. "The curse."


    "Wait, what are you talking about?!" Rustly shouted out in a shaky voice. "Cursed? I''m not cursed!"


    "Tch, it''d be much easier if you had out with it earlier, but whatever..." Reru shook his head in a tired manner whilst moving over to Rustly, in the next moment dragging him again.


    "H-Hey! Stop!" With his cries and his efforts to make Reru release his grip, Rustly was helpless as he was dragged away through the catbs.


    ...


    Within the dark hallways where Renryth and Raina were, the two had continuously trained over the past hour. During that time, Raina''s magic potency on ''mes of Etheral'' steadily increased.


    "...huff, huff..." Raina let out a tired breath whilst waving her staff and shooting out constant mes of different spells consecutivelyme, Fire Bolt, Burning Wave, mes of Etheral respectively. "Ah-" As she reached the end of her casting spree, she turned to her skill list. "I ran out of skills to cast and my MPs nearly running out..."


    "This is why I said to not overdo yourself," Renryth shook his head helplessly. "We''ll take another break whilst waiting for your spells and mana to recover. Meanwhile, you should probably reconsider to yourself how you cast certain spells in order."


    "Huh?" Raina tilted her head. "Certain spells in order? What do you mean by that?"


    "You''ve been managing your resources well to prevent total MP lost, but you''re not considering the fact that the skills you use go off cooldown at different times," he stated. "Thus at one point, after all your skill usages, you''ll have a drought of good spells to use."


    "I-I see..." Raina mumbled out. "I wasn''t considering that huh...?"


    "It''s fine," Renryth nodded his head. "Just keep that in note. You don''t necessarily have to fully focus on that since that''s beside the lesson, but it helps."


    "Right..." Raina nodded her head as she sat down on the floors of the catb. Meanwhile, her eyes scrunched over to her skill list, noting the nine skills that she has, specifically her fire-based skills.


    [ me Lv 2 ] [ 34 MP ] [ 30 Seconds ]


    With a wave of magic that surrounds the user, cast a spell of fire thattches onto an enemy, quickly burning them slightly for 80% fire magic damage + 20% fire magic damage overtime for three seconds.


    ...


    [ Fire Bolt Lv 2 ] [ 55 MP ] [ 45 Seconds ]


    With the power of fire from the user, cast a me shot that shoots out in a targeted direction. Enemies that are hit by the shot receives 155% fire magic damage. However, if allies are hit instead, they will take 75% fire magic damage.


    ...


    [ Burning Wave Lv 1 ] [ 120 MP ] [ 5 Minutes ]


    Channelling a powerful spell of fire, the user hurriedly shoots out a burning wave of me that burns over an area. Those caught over the spell will receive 320% fire magic damage + 85% fire magic damage over time for seven seconds.


    ...


    "...I''ve been using all my skills in ascending order from the one''s I got initially to the new ones," Raina mumbled whilst scrutinizing the cooldowns of her fire spells. "Man, resources management sure is hard."


    Most of the things regarding resources management were taught to her by Ethaniel at the start of the game. However, even though it was easy for her toprehend and understand, putting it into practice was much harder than she initially thought.


    "..." Thinking to herself for a bit, she suddenly heard a loud noise that rang through the hallway from her right side which led to the room of the Warrior. "...?"


    "Reru! L-Let me go!" A voice cried out in despair.


    "We''re almost there," Reru stated as he dragged along Rustly through the hallways.


    "...huh?" Renryth muttered out in a confused tone as he saw the approaching slimes. "What''s the problem, you two...? You two came here yourselves?"


    "Renryth! You''re here good," Reru stated as he pushed Rustly over to Renryth. "Please verify whether or not he has been inflicted by Sanke''s curse."


    "Sanke''s curse..." Renryth mumbled out as his eyesid onto Rustly.


    "I-I''m telling you! I''m not cursed... Why don''t you believe me?!" he cried out.


    "Stop lying. I don''t even know why you''re resisting," Reru scoffed.


    "T-That''s because-"


    "Rustly... Howe it has gone to this stage? This is even worst than mine..." Renryth frowned. "How long have you been inflicted upon his magic?"


    "W-Well..." Rustly mumbled out.


    "Spit it out, Rustly," Reru scoffed. "We don''t have time for your charades."


    "...since the day Sanke went into madness," Rustly uttered out in a tone of defeat whilst seemingly breaking eye contact from the two interrogators. "Years ago..."


    "Y-You..." Reru angrily shoved Rustly to the side upon hearing hisment. "You''ve kept it under the radar this long and you didn''t inform me?!"


    "Huh...?" Raina blinked at the sight of the two slimes arguing and seeming to fight. "What''s going on...?" Although she couldn''t understand a single speck of word stated by the two, she could feel that it was dire.


    "...I''m sorry," Rustly whimpered. "I didn''t mean to keep it quiet... It just wasn''t necessary to tell you this."


    "Huh? What bullshit..." he frowned. "I''m more than surprised you haven''t fallen into Sanke''s control... Unless?" In the next moment, he quickly took out his sword as he pointed it at Rustly.


    "N-No! You got it all wrong!" Rustly cried out. "I-I''ve been cursed... But... It''s not that kind of thing that''s been spreading around like the gue..."


    "...if you got it initially..." Renryth sighed. "Does this mean, you''re far gone than ever?"


    "With the defeat of Sanke... We can cure the curse..." he muttered out. "So there''s not to worry!"


    "..." Renryth looked at Rustly who seemed to be putting up a smile. "How much pain are you feeling right now?"


    "N-None..."


    "Ugh, can you stop lying and just speak already?!" Reru cried out.


    "...it hurts. It has been hurting for a while now..." Rustly stated in a helpless tone. "But, it doesn''t hurt much now. Maybe due to Shinto''s magic or something... But I''m fine. Really! So I canst till then..."


    "You..." Reru scoffed. "Argh...! You''re hopeless. You always were! Why did you think it was okay to act like this?! It has always been like that when Sanke first came here... You just led us to our doom because of you''re shitty mistakes!"


    "..." Rustly could only keep quiet as he could only look down onto the floor.


    "...sigh," Renryth let out a tired sigh. "That''s enough Reru. You should keep your anger to yourself. In anger case, do you mind giving me a status update on the situation with the statues?"


    "...tch, yeah, yeah. Sorry. I''ll do it now."


    ...


    During the talk with Renryth and Reru, Rustly quietly moved towards the side. While he did so, Raina couldn''t help but look in the direction of him, tilting her head and wondering what was going on.


    "...from what I heard from Renryth... It seems that slime got inflicted by Sanke''s magic?" she mumbled out. The only info that she couldtch onto was through the words stated by Renryth. However, without the full context, she could not make any hypothesis. "..."


    Whilst thinking to herself, she heard sudden footsteps moving over towards her. "Raina, it''s been a long break, thirty minutes, was it? Should we get back to your training?"


    "Oh...!" Raina was startled by Renryth''s voice as she turned toward the direction. "I didn''t realize that much time passed..."


    "It''s alright. I didn''t expect something like to happen," Renryth shook his head helplessly. "Though... We may need to speed up our training much faster than before."


    "Why so?" she tilted her head as her eyes moved away from Renryth, quickly turning to Rustly, and then to Reru. "...is it because of one of the slimes that have been inflicted by the curse?"

 Chapter 138: Cursed (2)

    Chapter 138: Cursed (2)


    Hearing the questioning from Raina, Renryth helplessly let out a sigh. "...well, to put it simply, yes," he nodded his head whilst solemnly turning to Rustly who was silently sitting by the side. "He''s been inflicted by the curse for a while and... I''m afraid we do not have much time if we wish to save him."


    "I see..." Raina turned in the direction of where Renyrth was looking, noting that the slime who had been cursed was Rustly. "How much faster do we have to speed up?"


    "If we were to go on our normal regiment, it would have been done in about half a day or so... But, we''ll need to wrap this up in seven hours or less."


    "Eh? We''re cutting the time to half?"


    "...not to worry. We''ll be using another method, though... It isn''t practical," he sighed. "I will apologize in advance."


    ...


    "Kukuku..." Behind the door of darkness, a figure of shadowy rest within a dark room. "The Sleras will soon fall in no time..." he smirked. "But, there''s still the pesky humans to worry about... Though, does it matter? The mes of Etheral does nothing to my full form."


    Sitting on a throne tainted by darkness, a distorted figure of a person within a hoodwith shing red eyes and an aura surrounded by dark magic was seen.


    "Hmph... Such falsified lies that tell no truth in its purity," The manSanke, scoffed. "The mes of purity of Uriel''s potential cannot defeat me with those level of magic they y at."


    "Hmm... Sanke, you seem pretty confident with that?" From the side of the throne, a shadow-like figure stood there as he spoke out in a curious tone. "Do you not rememberst time of what had happened with that human, Renryth?"


    "Renryth could noty a finger on me even if he tried," he spoke mockingly. "He''s just a coward that knows no bounds but to resist."


    "I see..." The figure nodded his head. "Well, it seems you''re having fun. I''ll leave you be to your sanctumHowever, you best remember the ''deal'' you made with him."


    "Of course. The deal will soon bepleted and I''ll gain what I want," he nodded his head. "I just have to get rid of some pests that will being here soon."


    "Right... Go ahead," he shrugged. "Don''t make a fool of yourself in the time of ''him'' unless you want everything stripped of you."


    "I intend to make a name for myself in that world," Sanke smiled in a menacingly way. "So do not fret. Everything''s going to go ordingly."


    "I hope so. Don''t ruin it," he stated as footsteps soon resounded through the room. In the next moment, shadows enveloped the area as soon, the figure disappeared from sight.


    "Hmph..." Sanke''s eyes moved over towards the front doors of the room. "Rustly, Rustly... I wonder how long you mightst? You were, after all, the first."


    ...


    Through the hallways that led back into the castle, Reru annoyingly stomped his way through it whilst looking at the back of him from time to time.


    "Ugh... This stupid Rustly," Reru scoffed. "You keep it a secret and then you say it''s fine when you''re not? Stop bullshitting to me for once."


    The slime stopped at his steps as he remembered the conversation that had urred with Renryth.


    "The update with the other humans is that we''ve sessfully made leeway to Sanke," Reru reported. "However... The circumstances of the defeat of Hukhta is not in the favour of anyone but his own wishes."


    "Hukhta wishes for permanent rest too, huh?" Renryth solemnly closed his eyes. "It can''t be helped... Like his brother, they''ve both suffered a lot this past few years and with the death of Lier... Thing''s spiralled out of control."


    "Sigh... What went wrong?" Reru frowned at the thought.


    "...I was being too neglectful, I''m afraid. It is my fault that it hase to this," Renryth shook his head helplessly. "I wish I could do something, but... We''ll have to leave it up to the outsiders."


    "Tch... I''m not even going to question what went wrong in your mind at that time," Reru clicked his tongue. "If there is nothing else, I''ll go now. His majesty needs to be reported to."


    "Well, there is one thing," Renryth stated.


    "...what is it?"


    "If we do not stop Sanke now... Rustly will die."


    ...


    "Ugh... Why didn''t he say anything sooner?" Reru frowned. "He just let it be and kept quiet about it... So stupid," he sighed. "...Rustly, you stupid fool. I always told you that guy was bad news..."


    ...


    Within the lonely room filled with many rubbles of a broken guardian, Frey loitered around helplessly whilst in a boring mood.


    "...so like, uh, how long do we wait around for, again?" Frey uttered out.


    "They said a day... So, in... 20 hours?" Shinto mumbled out whilst reading through the book ''Spells of the Gloop''.


    "Ugh... 20 hours?! That''s so long!" she frowned. "With how time works here... It''ll be for exactly 20 hours, huh?"


    "Well, with the way our perception of time works here, I guess so," he shrugged whilst sticking his eyes on the book.


    "So we''re basically stuck here waiting for 20 hours without anything to do?" she tilted her head.


    "Yes, and no," Shinto stated. "You can always log out if you''d like ande back here in an hour or two."


    "But what if Raina suddenlyes back early or something?!" Frey cried out. "Logging out at such a timing... It feels rather odd to do so..."


    "Well if you don''t want to log out, you can just I don''t know... Make better use of your time like training your skills or something?" Shinto sighed. "Look at Ethan, he''s been spamming skills after skills for the past hour, you should do that."


    "That works?" she raised her brow in question as she turned to Ethaniel who had been connecting skill after skill during the time he was in the room. "I thought you have to be inbat to do that..."


    "It''s inefficient if you have other stuff to do... But when you have nothing better to do, you might as well," Shinto uttered out. "It raises your experience for that skill slightly, especially for the earlier stages of said skill."


    "Oh, I see!" Frey nodded her head as a sudden thought came to mind. "Wait... Does sparring work?"


    "...I guess? But unlike real battles, it''s still only going to increase your experience by a few. Though it does help to make you more experience."


    "Oh then..." Frey quickly turned to Ethaniel as she shouted out." HEY! SPAR WITH ME!" In the next moment, she began to rush up to the man who has been alone by the other side of the room.


    "Ugh... Frey... What do you want?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "Spar! It''s better than doing nothing!"


    "You know you''re the one who has been doing nothing all this time, right? he frowned.


    "Yeah, which is why let''s spar!"


    ...


    Watching by the distance, Shinto could only helplessly stare at Frey''s attempt to get Ethaniel to spar with her. At the sight, he shook his head. "This girl really does remind me of Arceus with that full excitement on sparring..."


    From his shoulder, Kon who was resting quickly turned to look at his book whilst muttering out. "...hey, Master. How long more till you finish with that spell of yours?"


    "Huh? Uhh..." He mumbled out as he turned to look at his progression.


    [ ''Rainy Slime'' proficiency has increased by 2% ]


    [ Current proficiency in the arts: 72% ]


    "I''m close topletion," he stated. "With the constant spam of the arts from earlier, I''ll be done in a day-ish."


    "Oh, I see!" Kon nodded his head. "After that, are we going to discuss some n to defeat Sanke?"


    "Yeah. Though... I still have some worries regarding Sanke that can only be solved when Raina gets here," he stated with a sigh.


    "Huh? What would that be?" he tilted his head.


    "The curse and Sanke''s status..." Shinto uttered out. "If we can''t do anything to prevent you and Frey from being immune to it, then we can''t bring you."


    "Ah- What?!" Kon whimpered. "So that means I can''t help Master with the fight...?"


    "Sadly not if there''s no way to prevent the curse," he stated.


    Against a boss with what little information Shinto and his group have, it was much preferential to get as many of his group members in on the fight to help curve down the number of enemies that may appear.


    However, with the way things were, it seems that it would only be Shinto, Ethaniel and Raina for the final fight, leaving out Frey and Kon. Although it was disadvantaging, they would have to make do with what they have.


    Though, for Shinto, deep down, he wanted to obtain the best benefits out of his quest, ''Judgement of Great Evil: Sanke''Thus, if given the chance to, despite the disadvantages, he would want a three-man team instead if given the scenario that the fight would be manageable.


    "Aww..." Kon frowned.


    "...well, I can only confirm all of this stuff when Raina arrives, so we can only y the waiting game," he said as he turned back to reading his book.


    "Right..." Kon whimpered as he hoped for the best in helping Shinto.

 Chapter 139: Cursed (3)

    Chapter 139: Cursed (3)


    Within the open-spaced room that led towards the castle passagewayRaina slowly walked into it from the hallway behind whilst taking a deep breath.


    "...when he said it wasn''t practical, I didn''t think he''d mean it literally," Raina shivered at the thought as she turned to look at her burnt and worn-out equipment. "Sigh... At the very least, my body didn''t go up in mes..."


    During the past hours of learning the skillIn order for Raina to fasten her pace at learning [ mes of Etheral ], Renryth had to move towards a much riskier method of learning a spellIn which, the student had to be directly enveloped by said magic in order to fullyprehend the fundamental elements that it has.


    In order words, for Raina to learn the spell much quicker, Renryth had to chant out his own spell of mes onto her whilst she practised the spell. This was a technique used for skills with multiple characteristics on them.


    With the case of [ mes of Etheral ]Just being hit by the spell would allow one to understand the properties of purity it held, in which case, allows the person to have a great understanding of how the skill works in regards to its effects. Thus greatly increasing the proficiency of learning the spell when wanting to cast it.


    "...I never expected for such a thing to work, but I guess it does?" she muttered out with slight confusion on the method used by Renryth. However, she soon shook her head of the thought as her eyes turned towards the notification window in front of her.


    [ The basic spell: ''mes of Etheral'' from the mes of Purity skill tree has been fully learnt! ]


    [ Contents of ''mes of Etheral'' has been updated. ]


    [ The mes of Purity beholds one, with the mes of Etheral, the advancement of mes calls upon youThus, the next spell of mes within the book ''mes that Burns Death'' can be learnt if you so wish! ]


    [ Upon advancing your studies into the arts of mes that hold purity, certain skills within your skillset shall be updated. ]


    ...


    Nothing thepletion of the spell [ mes of Etheral ], she nodded her head in satisfaction whilst soon scrutinizing over to the newly updated details of her skill.


    [ mes of Etheral Lv 1 ] [ 600 MP ] [ Cooldown: 30 Minutes ]


    By the arts of the great Etheral that holds purity, that can burn through the darkness of sinThe caster shoots out a burst of pure me as it reaches a target, quickly dealing 1280% fire magic damage + 450% fire magic damage that burns over time for 10 seconds.


    When an enemy is hit by this spell, their Light RES is decreased by 25% for 5s and are marked with a burning me that decreases the overall effects of ''curses'' that the enemy may cast.


    *When the attack hits an enemy that is judged as ''Evil'', the damage is greatly increased to 1500% and 600% respectively.


    *After casting the spell, the caster will nullify two effects of curses inflicted on self by enemies judged as ''Evil''.


    ...


    "Right. Now with that out of the way..." Upon reading through until thest sentence, Raina quickly averted her eyes away from the skill window. In the next moment, she turned to look at the hallway that led to the Guardian''s room. "It''s time to group up with my party!"


    ...


    Back within the room filled with many rubbles of a broken guardianLoud shes rang throughout the room as Frey and Ethaniel sparred.


    "A-Ack!" Frey cried out as her arms quickly crossed into an x-shape, barely withstanding against the sudden sh of light that was shot forward against her. However, despite managing to curve the damage and attack, she was still pushed back greatly.


    "Tch... Is this all you got?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as his body moved forward. With his sword tightly held in his handHe quickly shot out a pir of light from the sky above whilst simultaneously thrusting his sword forward.


    "Ah- Hey, wait- Time out! time out!" Frey uttered out in an abrupt manner as she used all her strength into dodging the iing pir of light from above her. But, the moment she did so, a sword quickly pierced through her as she was sent flying back. "Ack!"


    [ System announcement: WINNER - yer, Ethaniel! ]


    "Huff... huff," Frey wiped the sweat off her head in a tired manner whilst angrily pouting at Ethaniel. "Why do you deal so much damage?! Wait... The better question is, why are you so merciless!" Getting up from the ground, she stomped her way to the man in front of her.


    "Hah... You''re the one that said to go all out in the fight," Ethaniel scoffed. "So all I did was do just that. So you got no mercy."


    "But- When I said that... I didn''t realize that you deal that high of damage!" she cried out. "You''re like what? Level 34?" she questioned. "If so, shouldn''t we be dealing around the same amount of damage?!"


    "No, Frey... That''s not how it works..." Ethaniel helplessly red at Frey. "In any case, you should know this by now! We''ve been having bouts for the past hours!"


    "W-Well, I''m still dumbstruck by it! How is it even possible?!" Frey frowned. "I want to deal that much damage like you!"


    "...well," Shinto closed his book with a sigh. In the next moment, he steadily made his way over towards Frey and Ethaniel with Kon on his shoulder. "Your opponent''s equipment is definitely better overall than what you''re wearing. Not to mention, he''s around his level''s equipment while we''re not at all."


    "E-Eh...? Is that it?" she helplessly turned to Ethaniel. "Then let''s fight without your equipment then!"


    "No..." Ethaniel sighed. "We already did that once and you still lost."


    "Argh! Is it our skills then? No, wait... Maybe it''s because of your stats distribution?" she muttered to herself. "Ahh! I knew it! I shouldn''t have invested that much in Stamina and Agility in order to dodge those rats!"


    "Well, maybe you shouldn''t have. What is your strength anyways?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "With the way you withstood against my attacks, your stamina must be stupidly high..."


    "E-Er... Um... 52...?" she muttered out. "My Stamina and Agility broke the 100s..."


    "...that''s just," Ethaniel sighed. "Sigh... You know what never mind."


    "What? Do you have a problem with that?!" Frey pouted.


    "Frey..." Shinto shook his head. "Don''t worry... Ignoring the multipliers and all, we''ll get you some better equipment after this. We''re especiallycking it right now since we''re level 30," he stated whilst moving his eyes towards his notification window.


    [ ''Rainy Slime'' has been fully learnt! ]


    [ Contents of ''''Rainy Slime'' has been updated. ]


    ...


    [ Rainy Slime Lv 1 ] [ 175 MP ] [ Cooldown: 7 Minutes ]


    The user creates a small cloud within the sky as it rains down slime onto a small radius (5m), quickly dealing 560% magic damage over the next five seconds. During the skill duration, there is a 25% chance of inflicting poison onto the enemies caught within the rain.


    ...


    Nodding his head, Shinto quickly turned back towards his group members. "Anyways, you two should stop sparring now. Don''t you think you went at it for quite a while?"


    "It''s been that long already?!" Frey blinked at the statement. "Who knew those fights passed the time greatly..."


    "Well, no shit. We sparred over fifteen times with breaks in between..." he scoffed. "Hmm, now that I think about it... Why the hell are you only questioning the difference NOW?"


    "Well, I thought that it was myck of skill! But I guess not!" she humphed whilst looking at Ethaniel. "You and your good equipment and stats distribution..."


    "I guess equipment is understandable. But who is it that went and invested everything in stamina and agility?"


    "I wanted to survive, alright?!"


    "Ahem... Enough of that," Shinto sighed. "Let''s just save our remaining energy for Sanke."


    "Right, right!" Frey stated. "We finally get to defeat him! Woohoo!"


    "Well... About that..." Shinto uttered out.


    "Huh about what-" As Frey was about to press on the matter, the sounds of a door opening resounded through the room. "Huh?" Alerted by the sound, the group hurriedly turned towards the direction of it, quickly noting that Raina was at the doorsteps. "Oh! Raina, you''re here!"


    "...phew, I made it," Raina let out a sigh of relief as she scanned around the room. Soon after, she walked over towards Shinto and the others.


    "...Raina?" Shinto tilted his head. "This is much earlier than what Renryth and the slimes told me..."


    "Aha... It took some unconventional means... But," Raina answered. "The spell''s ready to go!"


    "It''s finally done? Good," Ethaniel stated. "Now, can we get onto entering into the bosses'' room?"


    "Yeah!" Frey nodded her head as she turned to Shinto. "But wait... You were about to say something, right?"


    "Yeah. In regards to Sanke..." Shinto said. "I don''t think you and Kon can join us..."


    "Eh, wait, what?!" Frey opened her eyes wide in shock. "We can''t join you?!"


    "Mm..." Kon whimpered. "It''s all because we''re not immune to the curse that Sanke might give..."


    "Ugh... Seriously?" Frey frowned.


    "Unfortunately," he sighed. "Well, unless..."


    "Unless I have something that can cure curses, right?" Raina continued his sentence. "I can only cure the curse on myself... But even then, I can only cure two effects per skill usage."


    "Sigh... So we really can''t help master..." Kon whimpered.


    "Damn..." Frey frowned.


    Shaking his head helplessly, Shinto walked up towards the door that led to Sanke. "...it can''t be helped. We''ll have to go three-man into the boss room."


    "Are you sure that''ll be okay?" Raina tilted her head. "I know I learnt the spell and all... But like, I don''t think this is enough to defeat Sanke in one go."


    "We''ll see," Ethaniel stated. "Now anyways... Let''s just get this over with. I want out of this ce."


    "Right," Shinto muttered out as he turned back towards Frey and Kon. "You two will have to stay here."


    "Sigh... I guess I''ll y the waiting game again," she frowned. "But at least Kon is with me."


    "Sorry..." Shinto apologized as he turned back to the door. Soon after, he took out the two stones that he had obtained from the statues. In the next moment, he ced the keystones into the dooropening it.

 Chapter 140: Cursed (4)

    Chapter 140: Cursed (4)


    Entering into the hallways from the guardian''s room, Shinto, Ethaniel and Raina were greeted by the sight of small buildings and camps around the area.


    "...camps and buildings?" Raina tilted her head at the sight. "I thought we''d be greeted by Sanke here..."


    "Well... Reru did say that this was the Farchu''s Den," Shinto stated as he scrutinized the surroundings, noting the interesting structure of the buildings which seemed to be big enough to minimally fit humans just like the ones in the Slera''s Den. HoweverThe biggest difference between the two was that there was ack of buildings in the area, instead, most of the space was filled with camps.


    "The Farchu''s Den?" Upon hearing the term, Raina''s face grew slightly confused. Though, soon after pondering on it for a few seconds, she quickly nodded her head as it clicked to her. "Ah. Those rats?"


    "Yeah," Shinto nodded his in reply whilst continuing to scrutinize the area. Besides the buildings and interesting camps around the premise, there weren''t many other particr things that he took notice of. It was pretty much the same as the slime''s retreat.


    "Huh. For a ce where the rats live... There sure are no rats at all," Raina questioned as her eyes cautiously looked around. Although she hasn''t faced any rats recentlypared to Shinto and the others, she still vividly remembered the time where a horde of them chased after them.


    "The slimes said something along the lines of Sanke taking full control of this ce and pushing the rats to live elsewhere," Ethaniel shrugged. "But in any case... That''s a good thing for us. I don''t want to fight more annoying rats than I have to."


    "A good thing... But then there''s skeletal rats and purple slimes we have to worry about," Shinto sighed.


    "Ugh..." Ethaniel scoffed as the grip on his sword tightened. "Where are they anyway? We''ve been walking for a while."


    "Ethan... Are you seriously going to jinx us?" Raina helplessly red at Ethaniel.


    "What? I don''t want to end up getting jumped on again..." he frowned.


    The group quietly walked on the stone-paved path of the Farchu''s Den whilst steadily making their way over to SankeWhoy rest at the end of the path. While they did so, the litmus bugs flew around the area as they stuck onto the walls of the buildings and floated around in the sky, lighting up a purple hue that gave off a brilliance of darkness.


    "Haha..." Raina chuckled. "I sure missed a lot this past few days, huh?"


    "You''re seriously saying this now?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "What was this about worrying about the situation?"


    "...well, I just wanted to brighten up the mood in order to not be nervous about the fight, that''s all," she answered. "It doesn''t help if it''s quiet as ever while we make our way to Sanke..."


    "I guess understandable, but seriously. Where the hell is this guy''s necromancy?" he clicked his tongue. "He can''t possibly be waiting for us without preemptively attacking us, right?"


    "Hmm... Sanke''s not taking action at our intrusion?" Shinto muttered out. "...if so, then let''s just hurry it up and be at his doorstep. There''s no point loitering around here if we''re not gonna get experience before the big fight."


    ...


    Walking back and forth within a hallway that smelt like burnt ashes, a slime by the name of Rustly helplessly turned toward an old man whose back was against the wall.


    "...they can do this, right? Right?" Rustly uttered out.


    "I''m sure," Renryth calmly closed his eyes. "With the mes of Etheral finished... All I can hope now is that Raina sessfully wraps up the battle smoothly along with her allies."


    "You know... Old man..." he muttered out. "If they don''t make it in time, what''s going to happen?"


    "...what''s going to happen?" Hearing the question from Rustly, Renryth let out a helpless sigh. "If ites to that... The foundation built by Lier will crumble, and... I guess we''ll lose the one thing we were trying to protect."


    "The Pendant of ming Purity..." Rustly stopped at his footsteps as he sighed. "Why were we given such a task to protect it? I don''t like this..."


    "There are true stories and there are myths," Renryth''s head slowly raised up whilst he stared into the sky. "All I know from the countless books I read in your library was that... The mes of Purity graced upon this pendant onto the Sleras and Farchu in order to protect your race from destruction during the great war..."


    "And Sanke wants the pendant to fully destroy us..." he frowned. "Why did he became like this? Just why..."


    "I was too foolish. I lost him when I turned my back on him..." Renryth''s expression darkened. "I''m sorry. Had I done something back then... Thing''s wouldn''t turn out like this and you-"


    "...It''s fine," Rustly''s voice shook. "I was too naive. I... You know what, never mind. Let me just... Rest for a bit. I''m tired."


    "...sigh," Renryth solemnly nced at Rustly as he shook his head helplessly. "Sanke... Do you regret?"


    ...


    Passing by the countless buildings and camps, the group finally stopped at their footsteps as they were greeted by the sight of a giant door at the end of the stone-paved pathway. Moments after, the door opened as if showing them good will of weing them.


    "...this is the ce, right?" Raina uttered out as she took a deep breath whilst holding her staff tightly in her hands. "Beyond here is... Sanke."


    "Everyone ready?" Shinto questioned as his eyes nced over to his list of equipment and skills. Soon after, he turned towards his party list, where it showed the level and status of his team.


    [ Party Leader: Shinto, (Hidden), Level 33 ]


    [ Party Member: Ethaniel, (Hidden), Level 34 ]


    [ Party Member: Raina, Mage, Level 27 ]


    "Ready," Ethaniel stated. "I hope you''ll be putting full focus on healing me while I soaked up everything."


    Shinto nodded his head as he turned to Raina. "What about you?"


    "I guess I am," Raina nodded her head. "...though, I hope my level difference won''t affect us too much."


    For the case of Raina, it couldn''t be helped as she was stuck in the library or Renryth constantly training. The only reason why she was level 27 now was due to her title [ Novice Bookworm ] which provided experience points for every time she read a book.


    With there being no encounter during their journey here, the group couldn''t level up Raina as well.


    "A seven-level difference," Shinto mumbled to himself. "That''s a 70 stat difference. Though, I think it''s fine. All we have to do is make sure Ethaniel stays alive to lead the aggro."


    "Which is your job," Ethaniel stated.


    "Aha... Right, right," Shinto replied. "In any case, if we''re ready, then let''s head in."


    With Ethaniel stepping foot into the door first, the group soon followed behind as they entered into the castle of the Farchu, which was now the quarters of Sanke.


    ...


    <strong><em>Thuck Thuck Thuck...</em></strong>


    Footsteps resounded through the area as the group walked within the darkness. With Shinto''s enhanced vision, he could note that the hallway that they were walking in was that of a linear path, which led to a door at the end.


    Step by step making their way forward, they soon stopped in front of another giant door, which soon opened at their arrival, andWithout any time to react, the group heardughter by the front of them.


    "Kukuku... So it seems that you humans have a arrive, huh?" The voice resounded throughout the room as the group quickly turned their eyes over to the direction, noting the appearance of a man with deep jet ck hair and red shing eyes that was condescending whilst eyeing the group on his throne. "Good, good..."


    "...that''s Sanke?" Ethaniel muttered out as his de drew in an arc, prepared to leap forward.


    "Hahaha... That I am," Sanke smirked as he unleashed his status. "Let us not waste time any longer. I for one do not feel like starting a monologue, and likewise, it seems you''d rather fight with your fist than words?"


    [ Sanke''s Status has enshrouded the room! ]


    [ You are in the presence of ''The Necromancer of Curses, Sanke''! ]


    [ All curse resistance has been lowered by 100% whilst your Dark RES has been decreased by 50%. ]


    [ When Dark RES is below 50%, you are much susceptible to status ailments and you will take 25% more damage per status inflicted on you (Buffs, debuffs, ailments and the like). ]


    [ When a curse is inflicted upon you, the effects are further enhanced by 50% of its original stats. ]


    [ The status of one who goes beyond sin overrides your status! ]


    [ You have partially resisted. Half of the status effect will only be applied. ]


    "U-Ugh... This is just what I feared..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he noted that he had failed to resist the status of Sanke. "But... It''s not as bad as I feared, so it should be doable."


    "Pray to the darkness of sin... Arise o'' death!" Sanke shouted out as skeletons and purple goo began to form above the groundIn the next moment, dark slimes and skeletal rats began to surround the group. "Now entertain me would you?"

 Chapter 141: Cursed (5)

    Chapter 141: Cursed (5)


    "Ugh..." At the sight of the rising dead that was making their way over towards the group, Ethaniel groaned at the growing numbers. Compared to the time they were fighting off against the possessed RenrythThe monsters were much more. "...I''m supposed to aggro all of them?"


    "Well, you are supposed to be soaking up all the damage," Shinto muttered out helplessly. "In any case... The number of enemies is to be expected butit''s best we go all out on the target up front."


    "Ignore all efforts on the small fries and go all out on the boss, huh?" Ethaniel sighed as the grip on his sword tightened. In the next moment, he swung his sword in an arc, swiftly shooting out three arcs of light over towards his surroundings. "Follow closely behind me if you don''t want to get surrounded."


    "Right behind you," Shinto nodded his head as he and Raina soon followed after Ethaniel who was searing through the frontlines, making a clear path over to Sanke.


    "Kukuku... You''re the kind to get straight to the point huh?" Sanke chuckled. "That''s no fun. Come y around with my minions first."


    "Kiiik!" The skeletal rats screeched out as they leapt from the sides over to Ethaniel.


    "Gloop..." Meanwhile, the slimes shot out sticky purple substances from their body over to the direction of the group.


    "Tch... Such a nuisance..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue as his de swept away the mobs around him. "Is this your meaning of fun?"


    "I''ve been quite bored you see," Sanke, who waszily sitting on his throne uttered out. "So do entertain me before your deaths."


    "Grr... Just shut it," he scoffed as he swirled his de onto the oing enemiesIn turn, grouping them up within a small area. Soon after, seizing the opportunity, Raina held out her staff as she murmured words of chants onto the space around them.


    "ze through waves!" Raina shouted out as a burning me shot out from her staff onto the group up enemies.


    [ Burning Wave ]


    "Kikk..." Although the dead felt no pain in their body, Raina''s burst of mes melted through the skeletons as they slowly crumbled away.


    [ You have defeated Skeletal Rats! ]


    [ You have defeated Skeletal Rats! ]


    [ You have... ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 28! ]


    "...that''s one wave down... And more to go," Raina murmured as her eyes scanned around the area, noting the countless waves of enemies slowly closing the distance on them. "...hey, Shinto. How do we reach Sanke like this? I don''t think our AOEs can keep up..." Turning to Shinto, she asked in a concerned voice.


    "Ugh... At the rate this is going at, we''ll be more overwhelmed than I thought," Shinto frowned as his eyes moved towards the man on the throne. "But... That''s beside the point. We''re moving much faster than them, so all we have to do is to reach Sanke before they reach us."


    "Easier said than done..." Raina mumbled out. "Is that even possible?"


    "What''s your agility?" he asked.


    "...41," Raina awkwardly answered.


    "...that low?" Shinto inwardly sighed as he soon shook his head. "Nevermind that. Ipletely forgot that most mages invest in intelligence and stamina rather than agility..."


    Shinto was originally a DPS turned Support. For him, his priorities lie in dodging enemies whilst simultaneously kiting the enemy with his basic attacks. However, his ystyle wasn''t all suited for sses like [ Mages ] with low mobility.


    In the case of Raina, she had been focusing on clearingrge waves, thus she invested her early stat points into Intelligence, and to increase her survivability in the case of the enemy''s aggro switching to her, she invested into stamina as well.


    Why didn''t mages invest in agility? At times, they have to if they y solo. However, oftentimes than not, mages would scurry over to a party due to the difficulty of ying solo as a mageThus their mindset was set to leave the aggro and damage soaking to their front liners.


    "What do I do then?" Raina questioned with slight worry in her tone. "...I just used all my stat points into intelligence. Though from the previous level up, I have 10 remaining."


    "For now, invest those ten into agility and raise it to 51," Shinto stated.


    "Hey! You two! Why wasn''t this discussed earlier?!" Ethaniel scoffed. "Bah... Whatever just hurry it up and help mow down those waves up ahead!"


    Despite having a discussion within a battlefield, Shinto and Raina weren''t falling behind Ethaniel whatsoever. However, with their focus elsewhere, their basic attacks that were shot out to help Ethaniel''s burden wearn''t as high as they liked it to be.


    "Cough... You ran out of AOEs?" Shinto questioned as he averted his attention over to the enemies in front, nothing that a horde of them was grouping up to stop them from advancing forward.


    "The only AOE I have left is mes of Etheral but..." Raina stated. "I don''t want to waste the few charges I have on the enemies."


    "Ugh... Then it can''t be helped. Just brute-forcing it is," Ethaniel leapt forward as he swayed his sword in a single line, swiftly shing at the monsters in rows. "Do you have any unnecessary skills you can use?"


    "I wanted to save this for Sanke, but never mind," Shinto stated as, from his ring, he quickly shot out a cloud of rain above the mobs. In the next momentslime began to befall them.


    [ Slime Arts - Rainy Slime ]


    "You have AOEs and you thought it was a good idea to save it for Sanke?!" Ethaniel frowned. "Bah... With your damage, you might as well use it on the mobs!"


    "Ahem... I had figured if you guys can clear out the waves faster than me, I might as well save my skills for him," he exined. "Me using my AOEs skills on them would take a much longer time to clear..."


    "Bah..." Ethaniel scoffed as his de thrust forward onto the enemies in front. Aided by the rain of slime on the enemies, the monsters swiftly turned into grey-ash.


    "Hmph... It seems you''re clearing out my minions too easily," Sanke frowned. "That''s no good. Let''s raise up the difficulty a bit." Quickly as he said so, Sanke began to murmur out a chant. Following that, dark clouds began to protrude out into the area.


    "Ugh... What''s this?" Ethaniel frowned at the cloud of darkness enshrouding his vision.


    "Looks like he''s beginning to cast curses," Shinto clicked his tongue as he was alerted by the rising notifications on his bar.


    [ You have been cursed by Sanke! ]


    [ ''Curse of Blindess'' has been taken into effect. ]


    [ Your vision is impaired! uracy is lowered you can only see shortsightedly. ]


    [ Due to the Eyes of Altric, you havepletely nullified the effect! ]


    [ ''Curse of Fatigue'' has been taken into effect. ]


    [ Total stamina has decreased by 20% whilst its consumption is greatly increased. ]


    [ You have partially resisted! ]


    ...


    "Stamina consumption is increased..." Raina mumbled out as she thought to herself. "...It''s fine. I''ll prepare to cast the spell now. Shinto, could you please direct me to a gap?"


    Unlike Shinto who could partially resist its effect, Raina had to take the full force of the curse at full power. However, with her unused spell, she could nullify it at a given notice.


    "Right," Shinto nodded his head as he and Raina scurried behind Ethaniel, closing in on the distance between Sanke.


    "Hah... What''s this?" Sanke frowned. "One of you fully resisted against my curses and the rest is so and so? Hmm... It looks like my magic in person doesn''t work. How useless..."


    "Yeah, so your fun''s ruined," Ethaniel ridiculed as his figure appeared in front of Sanke. Soon after, a pir of light was shot down from the sky onto him.


    "Argh...!" Sanke cried out in shock at the man''s appearance in front of him. However, before he could react properly, Ethaniel connected another skill, sending three consecutive shes of light onto Sanke''s body.


    "Raina! Aim your staff to the sky and shoot it out!" Shinto stated as he pinpointed the opening for Raina to shoot out her spell. Following that, he casted out a veil of shadow onto the surrounding area, buffing up Raina and Ethaniel''s stats by 5%.


    "...to burn against the darkness, one must try for the mes against death," Raina murmured out as mes began to envelop around the tip of her staff. "Continuing on the legacy of Etheral, ze through the void..." As the me charged up to its full potential, Raina connected it together with [ Basic Magic Dissection ]. "Turn tails of the purifying heat, reach for the judgement!"


    Ending her chant, a burning heat of me filled with purification shot out from the staff of Raina. Quickly, with Shinto''s help of direction, the spell moved at a fast-paced trajectorySessfully colliding with Sanke.


    [ Two curse effects have been taken away from the user! ]


    [ Your vision and stamina have been fixed. ]


    "It hit!" Raina cheered, however, she wasn''t done just yet. She still has two more charges to hit. "Let''s continue."


    "Right," Nodding his head, Shinto began to cast out his own set of spells too. Though, before he could do so, he suddenly felt a dense aura of darkness in front of him.


    "Kukuku... How fun. Is this all the me of Uriel could do?" Sanke chuckled as it soon turned into a maniacalugh. "Then... I won''t fool around any longer."


    "...?!" Ethaniel''s eyes shook slightly as he soon was enveloped in a sudden burst of darkness from Sanke''s side, quickly pushing him back over to the two mages.


    "For darkness and sin, hear me of the shadows," Sanke uttered out a demeaning voice. "Call upon curses and vicesHeed upon my call and fill this world of corruption!"

 Chapter 142: Cursed (6)

    Chapter 142: Cursed (6)


    The moment Sankepleted his chant, the room began to shake violently.


    "..a-ahh, what''s this?" Raina cried out at the sudden vibration below her as she attempted to keep her bnce.


    "The aura that he''s emitting..." Shinto mumbled out in slight worry as his eyes locked onto the prevalent fog of darkness that surrounded Sanke. "Is this all just curses or is it pure magic?"


    "Kukuku... You''re struggling just from some little topsy-turvy?" Sanke chuckled snidely. "My... Then I can''t help but wait for your reaction to what''s toe next."


    "...Ugh... What''s toe next?" Ethaniel frowned at the wordsing out from Sanke as he slowly got up from the ground, quickly regaining his bnce and footwork. "What, you''re going to summon a giant skeletal warrior or something? Bah... You''re dying the inevitable."


    "Hmph... You''re underestimating my minion? Or are you underestimating me?" Sanke raised his brow in question. However, he soon shook his head. "That doesn''t matter. I''ve had my fair share of entertainment. So all I need now is to end this and proceed to gain ''that''."


    The moment Sanke ended his statement, the violent shaking around the room stopped. However, not a secondter, the ground began to rumble from below the surface of the group.


    "What the...?" Shinto muttered out as he turned to the ground where he stood on, noting that cracks were beginning to appear on it. "..." His eyes followed where the crack wasing from which led to his back. "...!" The moment he turned to the back, he saw a giant skeletal monster slowly forming from the countless skeletal rats and purple slime grouping up together.


    It seems as so the violent shaking from earlier came from the charge of the rats stacking up upon one another with the slimes aiding in glueing them together.


    "T-This is...?" Raina mumbled out as she eyed the figure before her. Although not yetpleted its transformation, it still gave off an aura of intimidation.


    "Great... We have to deal with this?" Shinto sighed through his teeth.


    "Kukuku... Do you like him? I call him ''Big Bob''," Sanke sneered. "I hope for a solid entertainment as you battle away with him."


    "...hah," Ethaniel scoffed as he gripped onto his sword once again. Soon after, he leapt forward as he began to initiate multiple strikes of attacks on Sanke. "Give you solid entertainment? Like I care for that. Just get this over with!"


    "Hmph, how impatient... You''re not even gonna bat an eye on him?" Sanke frowned as his staff waved in a defensive mannerQuickly creating a barrier filled with dark energy around himself.


    "Ugh..." As Ethaniel''s sword shed with the magic barrier created by Sanke, the heavy attacks that Ethaniel had dealt were quickly refracted back to him, forcing him to sway to the side in order to dodge. "What''s the point with batting an eye on him when my main focus is on you?"


    Without wasting any time, Ethaniel channelled out white energy around the tip of his sword. Moments after, he burst forth an arc of light onto his shield, swiftly shattering it.


    "Hah... So you''re just ignoring your teammates..." Sanke smirked as he snapped his fingers. "Well, whatever. Dealing with you instead of three is much better," he uttered out as dark swirling circles appeared behind the back of Ethaniel, momentster, missiles shot out from it, quickly piercing through him.


    "Ack...!" With the attacks pinpointing his shoulders and legs, Ethaniel gritted his teeth as he soon scoffed. "I''m not ignoring them, it''s you who''s the one ignoring them."


    "-Turn tails of the purifying heat, reach for the judgement!" A female''s voiceRaina shouted out in a loud tone as she shot forward a purifying me over to Sanke.


    Momentster, a feeling of warmth was felt on the back of Ethaniel. "You should be more aware." With the help of Shinto''s [ Mark of Umbra ] on him, his health slowly rose up as he quickly swung a de of light onto Sanke.


    "Tch... Big Bob was not enough to wipe out the two mages?" Sanke frowned as his eyes turned towards the direction of the giant figure who was frantically running around in madness chasing after Shinto who was attracting aggro.


    "Grrr!" The giant skeletal rat leapt forward towards Shinto in an angered manner, however, noting the attack, Shinto swayed to the side as he shot out a mana spark onto him.


    "Huff... huff..." Shinto let out a tired breath as he turned over towards the area where Ethaniel and Raina were at. "...Sanke''s at yellow... Alright." Nodding his head, Shinto uttered a chant as he quickly casted out a field of slime below Big Bob. In the next moment, he wasted no time as he soon casted out [ Poisonous Gloo ], poisoning it and further enhancing the effects of [ Sticky Ground ].


    "What the...? This mere mage is soloing my minion?" Sanke muttered out in shock.


    "What? Soloing? Bullshit," Ethaniel scoffed as his de drew an arc over towards Sanke. "He''s ying a game called ''baiting''."


    ...


    During the time when Ethaniel began to leap forward and attack Sanke, Shinto and Raina were left there busily workings their heads to deal with the giant threat known as Big Bob. However, without Frey, it meant that one of them needed to take aggro against the rat to prevent any distraction for Ethaniel to dish out damage.


    "...my speed''s slow... so well," Raina uttered out as she saw that Ethaniel had left them.


    "Sigh... Go aid him. I''ll distract the big guy," Shinto stated. With everything taken into ount, Shinto was the only option left. Thus, he had to move into full motion with the n whilst simultaneously supporting Ethaniel when it was due.


    ...


    "Hmph... A strategy of bait?" Sanke scoffed. "What? You think I can''t control my own creation?"


    "Well, what for?" Ethaniel sneered at the man in front of him. "With his way of handling that guy, you might as well summon a new one." Connecting his skills from earlier, he rained down a pir of light onto the man and, following up with that attack, Raina shot out another [ mes of Etheral ].


    "Annoying..." Sanke frowned from the barrage of attacks that he received. With another snap of his finger, he hurriedly paraded down Ethaniel with countless sparks of dark missiles on him. However, despite thathis target took the damage head-on.


    "Give it up, I''m ending this!"


    "Grr... You..." Sanke gritted his teeth in anger. However, he was helpless. What could he do now? His curses wearn''t working on Ethaniel, and Raina had continuously been nullifying it. If he were to divert attention to Shinto, he would be taking the direct force of blows from two sides at once, thus disallowing him to force Shinto into curses. "...this is..."


    "Your defeat," Ethaniel stated as his sword swung up in the air.


    "Kukuku... Hahaha..." Laughter rang throughout the room as his sword shed with Sanke.


    "What now?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "My curses don''t work on you... Such a pity. That me of Etheral is actually working and you have someone who is easily dodging all my minion''s attacks..." Sanke murmured to himself. "This guy didn''t prepare me for this... Haha... Was he asking for my death?"


    As Sanke spoke in a condescending tone, the energy within the room gathered around Sanke. Thus, quantifying the density of the aura around him.


    "Urk... You''re not done yet?" Ethaniel grumbled.


    "Hahaha..." Sanke began tough maniacally as his status, enhanced by the dense aura was unleashed. "I''m not done yet...Not yet. Who cares anymore?"


    From behind Sanke, countless shadows protruded out as ittched onto the limbs of Ethaniel. In the next moment, with all their strength, they threw Ethaniel as if weightless over to the other side of the room, quickly making him collide with the door and destroying it.


    "...!" At the sight of Ethaniel''s body flying over in an instant, Raina shouted out. "Ethan!"


    "Argh... What''s this? Onest stand?" Shinto clicked his tongue as his eyes moved towards his party''s health bar, noting that Ethaniel''s health was in the red.


    "Kukuku... Even if Renryth attempts at stopping me came to futility, it''s fine. I learnt that these such curses need no such thing to be used against them," Sanke''s eyes shed a bright red as the shadows soon grabbed onto Raina, in the next moment, proceeding to throw her over to the direction of Ethaniel. "I do not care for such acts no longer. Wasting time here and letting everyone do the work... I do not wish for such things anymore."


    Sanke slowly walked through the room as he crumbled down Big Bob into ashes. Whilst doing so, his eyesid onto Shinto. "For you... I''ll save you the effort of having the same fate as your friends. I do not need to bother with you."


    The dark aura soon began to spiral around Sanke as he began to slowly disappear away from sight.


    "...I''m not done with you yet," Shinto furrowed his brow as he activated his skill [ Sanctum Brilliance ]. Soon after, he shot out the two spells enhanced by the skill onto Sanke back to back.


    "Hah..." As the divine light enveloped Sanke, he brushed it off as if it was nothing.


    [ The target is immune to Silence! ]


    "Hmph... This new power surees in handy," Sanke''s eyes made eye contact with Shinto and in turn, Shinto saw the lifelessness within him. "Haha... It''s great really. I can finally take my leave and take what I''ve longed for. The pendant of ming Purity."


    "Tch... Hey! Do you think we''re done?!" Ethaniel roared out as he drew his sword in an arc, sending three waves of light over to Sanke.


    "Oh certainly we''re not done yet," Sanke uttered out. "Have this gift in token for my appreciation."


    With onest smirk, Sanke disappeared from the room and in ce of him, was a few objects that stood on the ground.

 Chapter 143: Slera (1)

    Chapter 143: Slera (1)


    "...what?" nky starring at the spot where Sanke once stood, Shinto couldn''t make up any words as he could only dumbfoundedly mumble out. "Just what happened?"


    "Bah... This guy just ran away," Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he saw that the waves of attack he shot out had hit the air. "What''s with this damn guy?"


    "...I''ve no idea," Shinto helplessly shook his head as his eyes then turned towards the broken doors of the room. Without wasting any time, he hurried towards a fallen body damaged by the rubble.


    "...cough," Raina coughed out as she struggled to pull herself up. "...that hurts..."


    "Hey, Raina. You alright?" Shinto questioned as his hand reached out to Raina.


    "Cough... Yeah, I''m fine." Grabbing onto Shinto''s hand, she pulled herself up as she attempted to bnce herself. "Despite it being a game... That was quite scary being thrown away like that... I''m not sure how Ethaniel was unphased by it."


    "Aha... Well, when you''re a melee character, you''ll face that every time, so it''s normal for them," Shinto uttered out with a slight chuckle as he waved his staff slowly. In the next moment, a small root sprouted out below Raina.


    "I see," she let out a sigh as she rested herself on the wall whilst slowly recovering her health from Shinto''s skill [ Soft Root Heal ]. "In any case... What should we do about Sanke? He just left right there and then..."


    "First of all, we should just recover our health before doing anything else and then..." his eyes turned to the end of the hallway, which led to the outside. "We''ll head back to the Slera''s Den."


    "Right... So rest," her eyelids closed slightly whilst her headid back on the wall in order to recover her used stamina.


    "...hey, you two... Were you just going to leave me there?!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he stormed over to Raina and Shinto. "I need healing too!"


    "Cough... I thought you were following behind me?" Shinto muttered out.


    "I would if it wearn''t for the items left behind by Sanke," Ethaniel stated as he soon took out three different sorts of materials.


    "...three different items?" Shinto tilted his head at the sight. Within the hands of Ethaniel, he held multiple pitch-ck stones in one hand, while on the other a pair of ck gloves and a book. "This is..."


    "The ''token of appreciation'' left by that bastard..." Ethaniel scoffed. "I''m not sure why he left such a thing."


    "A token of appreciation..." Shinto muttered out as he began to look at the details of the item.


    [ Cursemancer ck Glove ]


    Rarity: Rare


    Defensive Power: 50


    Attack Power: 41 ~ 73


    Durability: 280/280


    *Max MP +40


    *Intelligence +12


    *Wisdom +7


    *Blind RES +100%


    *Silence RES +15%


    *Curse effects cast by the wearer will be enhanced by 5%


    *When equipped on [Cursemancer] ss: The stats on this item is increased by 3 for each t number whilst 10% for each percentage number / Hex +10


    A ck glove sewed together by durable and soft silk meant to absorb and inhibit curses. Enhanced by a dark aura around its palm, this glove is the most suited for [Cursemancer]''s to do their job of cing hex upon others.


    Condition(s): Level 30 or above, minimum of Wisdom or Hex stat unlocked.


    Weight: 20


    ...


    [ Pitch-ck Stone ]


    Type: Misceneous.


    A dark ck stone that seemed to be filled with a dark matter around it.


    ...


    [ Cursemancer Skill Book (Instant) ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Effects: Immediately learn a random skill from the Cursemancer''s Skill Set (Does not include level 50 and above skills or ss-quest skills) upon the usage of this book.


    A book that was written by a Cursemancer in hopes of spreading around the magic of curses to the people who fear them. At the quote within the book; "Not all curses are scary! It''s just the one using them are." He wishes to remove the stigma that all Cursemancer''s are evil and will only bring upon harm to others.


    Condition(s): Mage or Support archetype sses can only use this book.


    ...


    "Huh. The items that Sanke gave... Are actually quite good?" Shinto titled his head in slight confusion. "Well... It went beyond my expectations at least."


    "Well the notification did say it was a gift of appreciation or something," Ethaniel shrugged. "I was sceptical at first... But nothing''s wrong with the items. Not cursed nor tampered with. Well... At a nce at least."


    "Notifications?" Shinto uttered out as he soon turned to his notification window. From previously to now, he hadn''t gotten a chance to view the post-battle notifications until now due to the situation that had urred.


    [ ''The Necromancer of Curses, Sanke'' has left the battlefield! ]


    [ Due to the failure of defeating Sanke, he has now the free will to roam among thend. ]


    [ Sanke has left you three items as a token of appreciation for his new enlightenment. ]


    ...


    "I guess this is a reason for him to give such things," he sighed helplessly. "Though at the cost of him fleeing."


    "Tch... This feels likepensation for not being able to defeat Sanke, but whatever..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "What are we supposed to do now? Go and report that he teleported away to who knows where?"


    "I have my own suspicions on where he might be..." Shinto nodded his head. "But, at our state right now, rushing there would mean nothing. So for the time being... You have to sit next to Raina and heal up with the root there since I''m out of active skills that can be used to heal you separately."


    "Bah... Seriously?" Ethaniel frowned. "Argh... I do need to rest. I used more energy than I needed on the boss..."


    "Same here. Especially when my stamina consumption was twice as much..."


    The two men sat down by the walls near Raina as they waited for their health to recover from the small root. Whilst doing so, Shinto''s eyes continued to look through the rest of the notifications that he had gotten.


    [ The beings of Divinity click their tongues as they watched the battle that had happened. They are disappointed that you have failed the duties of a Diviner to defeat ''Great Evil''. ]


    [ The beings of Shadow chuckles at the anger of the Divinity. A few wish to see you soon whilst the others continue to show no interest in you. ]


    [ Quest ''Judgement of Great Evil: Sanke'' has been marked as failed. ]


    [ A new quest will soon be generated. ]


    ...


    "Hah... Seriously?" he sighed. "Since this quest was marked as failed... it means defeating Sanke is not possible anymore?" he pondered to himself as he scrutinized the details of the notification, word for word. "...if so, then what will happen now? We haven''t gotten the notification that we can leave this dungeon yet and..."


    His line of thought continued as his eyes soon stopped at the final line of notification. "...a new quest will soon be generated?" his brows raised in question. "Knowing that the previous one is rted to that of the Divinity''s call of judgement onto Sanke... What will this quest be?"


    Since Shinto had already received the news that he had failed the quest, it meant that the penalty of the quest failure: "The beings of Divinity will see you as a mere failure of one who takes up the title of Diviner," was now in full effect.


    Meaning to say, his rtions with the beings of Divinity fell t.


    "Will it be a redemption rted quest or something?" Shinto wondered. As it appears that the beings of Divinity were extremely crucial to the Shadow Diviner ssit meant that he needed to keep good rtions with them. Otherwise, he might not be able to move forward.


    "..." Continuing to think about the matter, he took a deep breath as he calmed his mind. "Nothing useful wille out from thinking about this... So, I''ll just move on with another matter..." he turned to his party''s health bar and noted that it was nearly full. Soon after, he stood up.


    "...?" Woken up by Shinto''s sudden movement, Raina turned towards him. "Are we going to get on a move on now?"


    "Yeah. Our health is nearly recovered now, so we''re going to group up with Frey and then head out to the Slera''s Den."


    "...hmm, right, our health has recovered. But... I''m still tired from fatigue," she sighed.


    "Grr... Didn''t we just sat down for three minutes?" Ethaniel grumbled as he opened his eyes.


    "Mhm. We''ll discuss what items to split while on the way out," Shinto stated as he began to move out of the hallway.


    "Items?" Raina raised her brow.


    "I''ll show you on the way out..." Ethaniel mumbled out as he tiredly followed after Shinto.


    "...then let''s be on our way then," Raina nodded her head as the group moved to the end of the entrance, finally leaving the castle.


    ...


    Stepping out of the outskirts of the castle, the group felt a sudden inky feeling.


    "...?" Ethaniel raised his brow.


    "Hey... Why does the atmosphere feel suffocating all of a sudden?" Raina questioned.


    "This..." Shinto muttered out as he soon received a sudden rise of notifications in his notification window.


    [ Due to the disappointment from the beings of Divinity that you have failed their task, they have decided to give you a new one. ]


    [ In the prelude to the quest ''Judgement of Great Evil: Sanke'', a new quest has been generated. ]

 Chapter 144: Slera (2)

    Chapter 144: Slera (2)


    [ Against the Pendant of ming Purity ]


    Difficulty: SS+(-Catbs of the Deserted Sanke Quest Line)


    With the disappointment of the Divinity that you have failed to defeat this ''Great Evil'' which seems to rival that of dark matter that has long been rooted into the world, the branch of good and evil has decided to test you once againthough with the reluctance of the messengers.


    In light of the sudden revtion of the ''Pendant of ming Purity'' which was once empowered and gifted by a divine being with pure mes, the beings of Divinity wishes for you to retrieve back the item or protect it from evil hands.


    You as the Diviner, must at all cost, protect the item from evil hands or keep it within your possession for a limited time.


    Quest Clear Reward: Divinity +12, All Divinity Skills will level up by one, the beings of Divinity will be pleased and their previous notion on you will disappear. You will also gain insight into the info of ''Divinity''.


    Quest Failure: At failure ofpleting the quest objective, the beings of Divinity will see you in a bad light until you do something actually worthy of the title.


    ...


    "...?" Shinto raised his brow dumbfoundedly as he read through the description of his quest. "...the Pendant of ming Purity?" he mumbled to himself as he soon recalled the words stated by Sanke.


    "Haha... It''s great really. I can finally take my leave and take what I''ve longed for. The pendant of ming Purity."


    "..." Upon the realization of the weight of the situation, Shinto hurriedly turned to his two party members as he uttered out in a rushed voice. "...something dire is going to happen. We have to hurry out and head to the Slera''s Den."


    "Something dire is going to happen...?" Raina muttered out as she soon scrutinized the surrounding area, noting that the darkened atmosphere seemed to be getting thicker by the second. "...from the looks of thing... Time is thin."


    "Ugh... How fun," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "We haven''t fully recovered our Stamina and now we have to use it up to rush to the Den? It''s a long way from here..."


    "Which is precisely why we need to rush," Shinto nodded his head as he soon began to run up ahead. "Let''s go."


    ...


    Within a hallway that had a precedented burning aroma around it, Rustly who had been walking back and forth anxiously stopped at his footsteps as he suddenly felt a feeling of relief wash over him.


    "...this is?" Rustly uttered out as he turned to Renryth who had been leaning his back on the wall the entire time. "...Sanke''s been defeated?"


    "..." Renryth''s eyes remained closed whilst gathering around the bits of energy within the area. Moments after, he opened his eyes. "...defeated? I don''t think so..."


    "...huh? What do you mean?" Rustly seemed to be tilting his head. "If he''s not defeated... Then how do you exin the curse suddenly disappearing away?"


    "That... I don''t know," he shook his head helplessly. "But... What I do know is that the dark magic around the area is growing thicker by the minute. If it''s left untouched... It''ll suffocate us all alive."


    "E-Eh?!" Rustly cried out. "If he''s not defeated yet the curse is gone... Could it mean?"


    "We have to hurry to the Slera''s Den. The pendant is in danger," Renryth stated as he grabbed onto Rustly. In the next moment, with his still-recovering body, began to rush forward through halls.


    ...


    <strong><em>Thuck Thuck Thuck</em></strong>


    Heading through the streets that were filled with empty buildings and camps, the group finally reached towards the door of where they had originally entered in. Just as they were about to open the door, they heard a loud cry from the other side.


    "AHHHH!! WHEN WILL THIS BE OVER?!" A female''s voice cried out.


    "...?!" Upon hearing the loud noise from behind the door, Ethaniel and Shinto hurriedly ced their hands onto their weapons in high alert.


    "...Frey''s in a fight?" Ethaniel questioned.


    "Could Sanke have risen some skeletons to hold us back?" Raina cautiously asked.


    "Whatever it is, we''ll have to be ready for an ambush." With a nod from the group, Shinto slowly opened the door as Ethaniel and Raina prepared tounch an attack.


    <strong><em>Creek...</em></strong>


    As the door opened, Ethaniel and Raina held out their weapons whilst preparing to cast a skill the next moment. However, they soon stopped at their attacks as they dumbfoundedly stared in front of them.


    "...this is..." Ethaniel frowned at the sight.


    "...it was a false rm, huh?" Raina sighed.


    "...sigh. Of course it would be like this..." Shinto helplessly shook his head.


    In front of them, the group eyed the lying bored woman on the groundFrey who had Kon on her who seemed to be drifting off to sleep.


    "Ahhh! When will they be back?!" Frey screamed out in boredom.


    "Frey..." Soon after she screamed out, she saw a sudden figure above her, looking down on her with a helpless expression.


    "Huh? Who, what, where?!" Frey cried out as she suddenly stood up from the ground, in turn forcing Kon to fall on the ground. "You''re back?!"


    "Ack...!" At the sudden movement of Frey, Kon hurriedly got himself together as hended on the ground nearly falling t, however. "W-What gives. Frey?!"


    "They''re back!" Frey cheered in excitement. "How was the fight? Did you get great loot?!"


    "...cough. Frey, we''ve got no time for this..." Shinto sighed. "Save your questions forter. We have to head to the Slera''s Den."


    "Eh? Why are you guys in the hurry? Didn''t you defeat Sanke?!" Frey blinked in confusion at the group''s sudden movement over towards the entrance of the room.


    "...ugh. Read the room here!" Ethaniel scoffed. "Do you think we defeated Sanke?"


    "You didn''t?!" Frey cried out. "T-That means... It''s not over yet?!"


    "You think? Now hurry it up." Reaching towards the end of the room, Shinto and the group opened the door as they soon left the room.


    "H-Hey! Wait up you guys!" Frey shouted out as her legs began to move in a quickened manner in order to catch up with the group.


    ...


    At the halls of a celebratory castle, many sorts of slimes jumped up in the air in celebration.


    "Gloop! We''re free! The curse is gone!"


    "Hah... After such a long battle..."


    "Should we finally get back together with the Farchu?"


    Countless murmurs of happiness resounded through the castle halls as slimes flooded within the area in hopes of meeting with the king.


    "..." Despite the cheery atmosphere within the halls. Reru, who had reached back to the castle before the celebration, seemed to be frowning. "...they''re celebrating yet... Why is it that they don''t understand that the darkness outside is growing much thicker than before?"


    From the side of him, a guard of the Royal Slera''s that seemed to be wearing silver armoury customized for him spoke out. "...It was his majesty''s announcement that said that the curse was lifted and that they will be a celebration all of a sudden within the castle''s wall."


    "What is his majesty thinking?" Reru frowned. "I know that the curse is lifted and all... But I can feel it. Sanke''s definitely not defeated. What happened with those humans?"


    "I don''t know... But whatever it is, is it true with your words? Sanke''s definitely not defeated?" The guard asked. "If so... Then why''s the curse lifted?"


    "I don''t know... Maybe the humans stopped the curse but failed to bring down Sanke while they were at it," Reru spected. "However, that doesn''t make sense. They can''t just up and remove the curse without defeating Sanke first..."


    "You''re right... Then what do we do? Raise this to the king?"


    "I wish we can. But, he''s locked in his chambers with a request of all guards to exit... I''m worried," Reru uttered out. "What is he thinking?"


    "..." The guard was deep in thought as he considered the words of Reru. "...I''d like to give the benefit of the doubt to his majesty. He does have more wisdom than all of us."


    "...hah. What to do? All we can is just wait for either the humans to arrive back in one piece or have his majesty do something."


    "Are you not worried for the humans? From my perspective... You seem attached to them in a way?" The guard asked.


    "Attached to them? I digress. They seem way more annoying than even the first three humans that came here," he scoffed. "Renryth''s the only one I actually enjoy being inpany with."


    "Huh. So if it''s not you... Ah. Sorry, I got mixed with your brother," The guard quickly shook his head. "In any case... Where is he?"


    "...him? Do not worry, he''s with Renryth for safekeeping," Reru stated. "He does seem attached to some of them, but whatever what do I care?"


    As the conversation continued on, the doors of the castle opened wide once again. However, it wasn''t the sight of the usual slimes from the town. Instead, it was an old man and a slime beside him.


    "...his majesty, I must see him immediately," Renryth muttered out.

 Chapter 145: Slera (3)

    Chapter 145: Slera (3)


    The moment the old man, Renryth entered into the castle hallways with a firm voice on meeting the kingMost, if not all the slimes within the area turned towards him in a bewildered manner.


    "...him? He is the one who was with Sanke before, right?"


    "What the? I thought he was banned from here!"


    "Banned? Wasn''t he imprisoned?"


    Soon meeting eyes with the human, countless murmurs began to resound through the hallways.


    "R-Renryth... Did we had to barge in like that?" Rustly muttered out. "Now we''re the center of attention..."


    "It''s fine. It doesn''t matter whether rumours of me are spread around or not. It''s partially my fault in all this anyway," Renryth uttered out as he soon scanned around the area. "Now where is he?"


    "...Renryth?" Though the old man was searching around the area in a hurried manner, he didn''t need to as Reru called out to him in a hushed voice. "What are you doing here? You know that you''ll cause a ruckus here..."


    "Ah, Reru. You''re here," noting that Reru was over by the corners of the hallway which led into the king''s chamber


    "Ah. Reru, you''re here." Noting that Reru was over by the corner of the hallway that led into the king''s chamberRenryth quickened his steps as he walked over to him. "Is the group back yet?"


    "The humans? No," Reru seemed to be shaking his head. "I thought you''d be the first to see them?"


    "Ugh... Never mind," Renryth hurriedly shook his head. "We''ll have Rustly wait for them instead. For now... Where is his majesty?"


    "Thest I saw of him was in his chambers," the guard stated. "Though, it''s off-limits now with his orders of everyone leaving the premise..."


    "Off-limits?" Renryth raised his brow. "No... That isn''t good. We''re in trouble now."


    "Huh? trouble in what sense?" the guard tilted his head.


    "...tch, there''s no time to exin," Renryth clicked his tongue as he turned his head over to Reru. "Reru, show me the way to his chambers. I''ll find a way to get myself in."


    "Right," Reru nodded his head.


    "What about us?" Rustly questioned.


    "The group should being here at any moment now. So, go to them and inform them on what''s going on," Renryth stated. "Though... Is Madam Ru still around? If so... Could you please go to her too and request help from her?"


    "Madam Ru? Just what''s going on?" the guard seemed to be raising his brow.


    "Ahh, Erith! Juste with me and you''ll see!" Rustly attached himself over to Erith. Soon after, he dragged him away, quickly heading out of the hallway.


    ...


    Through the Catbs of the Deserted Sanke, the group hurriedly made their way through as they reached towards the end of the hall. Soon after, they quickly noted that the passage that led into the library was still open.


    "Alright, we''re at the castle now," Shinto nodded his head as the group entered the castle. "Now... All we have to do is to find where Reru and Rustly are and


    The moment Shinto mentioned Rustly''s name, he heard a sudden loud shouting from the entrance of the library.


    "GLOOP! GLOOP!" The voice of a slime rang throughout the area, though it wasn''t understandable to a normal human''s ear.


    "Well speak of the devil..." Shinto muttered out as he took out [ Ne of the Gloop ] which had its content updated post-battle with Sanke from his inventory.


    [ Ne of the Gloop ]


    Rarity: Rare


    Stats: +70% Poison RES / Damage against enemies inflicted with Slow +10% / +60 MP


    *The passive ''Gloop Understanding Proficiency'' is generated.


    *The passive ''Let''s be Friends, Gloop!'' is generated.


    A ne that seemed to be made from the goo of the king slime. Once cherished as a national treasure, now abandoned due to the darkness which had previously enshrouded it.


    Condition(s): Only when you receive permission from a slime will you be eligible to wear this item.


    ...


    "Ack- Rustly! Could you stop dragging me?!" Erith cried out. "I can walk on my own..."


    "Ahem- My bad! It''s just that we''re in a hurry!" Rustly stated. "Anyways, humans! Or whoever has the ne on right now! What''s the status update of Sanke?"


    "...Rustly," Hearing the question from him, Shinto helplessly let out a sigh. "We failed to defeat him. He ran away at thest hit which is why..."


    "He wasn''t defeated?" Rustly''s expression turned difficult. "So it''s true... Then we''ve got no time!"


    "...it''s because of the Pendant of ming Purity, isn''t it?" Shinto uttered.


    "Huh?" Rustly mumbled out in slight confusion as he heard Shinto''s words. "...how do you know fo such thing?!"


    "...the Pendant of ming Purity?" Erith seemed to be raising his brow. "What''s that? Is it what Sanke''s after all this time?"


    "..." Noting that the slime beside Rustly seemed to know nothing of the pendant, he nodded his head as he soon continued his sentence. "I heard from Sanke. He said something about the Pendant of ming Purity or something."


    "Ugh... He said it? We''re in the deep now..." Rustly seemed to be frowning. "Whatever! Humans, please go to Renryth this instant! We gotta prevent Sanke from taking the Pendant away!"


    "What about you?" Shinto questioned.


    "I have to see Madam Ru, it''s very important! Anyways, Erith will take you to him, so please shoo!" Rustly cried out as he soon left the premise.


    "...umm, trantion?" Frey asked in a confused tone seeing that Rustly had left the room in such a hurry. "Like, what the heck''s going on?! Pendant of ming Purity? What''s this about? Huh?! What did I miss?!"


    "Mmm... This is confusing. Why is this confusing?" Kon cried out.


    "Hah... What are we supposed to do now?" Raina inquired. "From what I got from the conversation... Sanke''s after this item and but the reasons to us is unknown?"


    "More or less. We have to head to see the Renryth now, so..." Turning towards the guard, he soon gestured. "Would you lead the way?"


    "...I feel like I''m the most confused out of everyone here..." Erith muttered out as he soon shook his head. "Argh, it''s this way."


    ...


    Within the throne room, a giant slime restlessly leapt around the room.


    "...the curse is lifted, but I can still feel Sanke''s darkness and sin..." Leloop muttered to himself. "It''s growing more and more..." Stopping at his footsteps, he soon turned towards the empty throne. "If Sanke were to head here... It means that the Pendant bestowed upon Uriel of Eden is not safe any longer..."


    With a sigh, the king leapt over towards the throne as he shook his body to the right. Soon after, shaking it to the left and then jumping up and down.


    "Oh light of mes whom you bless us," Leloop chanted out. "Reveal thy way and open up the gates to the purifying me."


    Ending his chant, the throne room suddenly shook as the walls behind the throne tore apart, quickly opening up a hidden passage behind it.


    "It has been a long time since I walked into this ce..." Leloop mumbled to himself. "Was it ever since Lier''s death? She was such a kind soul..."


    With words of regret, the king entered into the passageway.


    ...


    <strong><em>Thuck Thuck Thuck...</em></strong>


    Into the dark passageway, the king of SlerasLeloop paved the way through it.


    "..."


    The hallway was eerie. It was quiet and the atmosphere was that of darkness fully enveloping the area.


    "..."


    Upon reaching towards the end of the hallwayThe king quickly took notice of a ss casing at the front. Although he was underground, there was small gleaming sunlight shining down on the ss, revealing that of a small golden pendant within it.


    [ Pendant of ming Purity ]


    "It''s still here..." Leloop let out a sigh of relief as he made his way over towards the ss casing. Soon after, with a deep breath, he hurriedly shot out a ball of slime over to its ss, soon breaking it. "I can no longer protect it with my weakened body... However, I can still move it away before hees."


    Grabbing hold onto the pendant within his body, he soon hurriedly turned around. However, the moment he did so, the king''s eyes widened in shock.


    "Kukukuku... It seems you were a minute ahead of me?" At the sight of the figure in front of him, Leloop noted that it was Sanke. "Hmm... Maybe I shouldn''t have lifted the curse for an easier time to take this item? But then... Renryth and Reru wouldn''t be able to revel before this sight."


    With darkness suddenly protruding out into the room, Sanke shot out a ball of shadows onto Leloop, soon pushing him back.


    "Ack...!" Leloop cried out as the pendant dropped onto the floor.


    "Kukuku... I''ll be taking this," Sanke smirked. "You do not have to worry about what''s to happen to this ce. The blessing of her mes is futile for you all. It is much better within my hands."


    "Sanke... You..."


    "Hahaha... Please, sleep for a while. I''m sure you haven''t gotten enough sleep ever since the curse?" Sanke chuckled as his figure slowly disappeared away from the area. "Have a nice rest after a long time, your majesty."

 Chapter 146: Slera (4)

    Chapter 146: Slera (4)


    Rushing on the empty streets of the Slera''s DenRustly leapt frantically through it as he made his way over towards a small building that was situated in the middle of the town.


    "Huff... Huff..." With a tired breath from Rustly, he continued to make his way forward down the roads, finally reaching towards the front doors of the tavern. In the next moment, Rustly took a deep breath as he calmed his tired mind down and soon barged into the building. "MADAM RU! Are you there?!"


    "Gosh...!" Upon Rustly''s loud voice that rang through the room, a slime jumped onto the countertop of the tavern with an annoyed and tired expression. "Rustly! Could you stop shouting in here for once?!"


    "C-Cough... Sorry!" Rustly whimpered. "But it''s important!"


    "...sigh. When was your shouting ever not important?" The slime seemed to be rolling her eyes. "Well, out with it! What is it this time?"


    "So well, we seeded in getting to Renryth and the curse is gone," Rustly muttered out. "I''m sure you know that, right?"


    "It was the talk of the town, though... I''m surprised the humans managed to stop Sanke with so little time" As Madam Ru was about to continue on with her sentence, she was quickly interrupted.


    "...well um! About that... Yes, the humans finished the spell and fought against Sanke and rid the curse but uh well," Rustly uttered out. "Sanke wasn''t defeated."


    "He wasn''t what?!" Madam Ru cried out. "Oh, dear... This is bad. This is the worst possible oue!"


    "Right and so... We need your help!" Rustly stated.


    "What are we supposed to do, huh?" Madam Ru seemed to be frowning. "His majesty should know what Sanke''s goal in all this, so what can we even do? He has countermeasures, and if that fails we''re doomed!"


    "No, there''s still hope!" Rustly nodded his head eagerly. "With the curse gone now, Reru and Renryth can join forces with the humans to defeat Sanke once and for all!"


    "...what? You''re kidding right?" Madam Ru clicked her tongue. "If those humans couldn''t defeat Sanke in his weakened state and it took Renryth and Reru a great deal of time to weaken him and yet failing miserably, what makes it any different if all of thembined forces?"


    "Thing''s will be different now!" Rustly shouted out. "I''m sure of it!"


    "Ugh... And what do you want me to do?"


    "Show off your dignity as the..."


    "No. I''ve long left that title. I do not want anything to do with it," Madam Ru frowned. "Why do you think I haven''t gone to the castle when every other Sleras has?"


    "And you know the king isn''t letting anyone into the chambers!" Rustly cried out.


    "What can I do, huh?" Madam Ru clicked her tongue. "I''m just an olddy who left everyone to do their own things while I do my own, not taking any responsibility. If you wish for me to waver my authority, that won''t work on anyone."


    "Then... At least bring yourself over to the castle to help join in on the fight! Then that''s myst request of you," Rustly stated. "Really. It''s myst. Because..."


    "Sigh... Why did I raise you to be like this?" Madam Ru shook her head as she soon took out a book below her countertop, soon hopping down. "Then let''s go. We''ve got no time to lose unless you want to die before then."


    ...


    Within the hallways of the castle, countless murmurs protruded out within the air as many slimes around the area eyed onto two figures who were standing by at the front door which led into the throne room.


    "...hey, Minister Yer. What do you mean you still can''t let us in despite our ims?" Reru seemed to be frowning with slight annoyance at the slime in front of him who wore a badge on his body that read ''Minister Yer of the Sleras''. "Do you not care for the safety of his majesty?!"


    "I-I know what you said, but... I just can''t let you in!" Minister Yer defended himself. "His Majesty ordered for everyone, including myself to leave the premise and to note back until further notice. We can''t interrupt whatever he''s doing!"


    "We can''t interrupt?" Reru scoffed. "This is a life and death situation for all us Slera''s! Who knows what will happen to His Majesty in there?! I''m telling you he''s in danger!"


    "And I''m telling you! I can''t let you in under any circumstance!" Minister Yer stated. "I''m sure his majesty is safe. After all, within his own words regarding the ongoing threat of darkness: ''It is just the side effect of the defeat of Sanke,'' so be rest assured!"


    "Ugh... This is hopeless," Reru turned away from the minister as his attention went over to Renryth. "What do we do? At the rate, this is going... We might just have to shove ethics aside and just barge in the room!"


    "H-Hey! Reru! I know you have power here, but don''t go against the king!" Minister Yer shouted out. "Do you want to be ced in prison!?"


    "Ugh! Just shut up, Minister who has not done anything for our people!" Reru frowned as he turned back towards Renryth who was still in deep thought. "So, what do we do?!"


    "Hmm, well," Renryth thought to himself. "I don''t mind barging in. We are pressed for time after all, however... We still need the rest of the group to arrive first" Whilst speaking out his words, Renryth quickly stopped as his ears tickled from the sounds of rustling footsteps from behind him. In the next moment, he turned over towards the direction of the sound, noting that the group had arrived.


    "Huff... huff," Shinto let out a tired sigh. "This is the ce?"


    "Yeah," Erith nodded his head. "Rustly asked of you toe here to meet with Reru and Renryth."


    "Where are they?" Shinto questioned.


    "...hey, humans! Over here!" The moment he asked the question, a call from a slime protruded out into the area. Noting that it came from Reru, he and his group looked at one another in the eyes as they soon waltzed over to the spot.


    ...


    "...Renryth" Raina muttered out as her eyes met with the old man. "We didn''t manage to defeat him..."


    "Mm... It is fine," Renryth nodded his head solemnly. "I never expected that even at his previous state, he could pull off a trick that could overwhelm all of you at once without the usage of curses."


    "E-Eh? How did you know?" Ethaniel raised his brow.


    "It was just a gut feeling. I didn''t like for it to be right though..." Renryth sighed. "But it is what it is. All we can do now is to prevent Sanke from taking hold of the Pendant of ming Purity."


    "Seriously. I want context. Just what the heck is this thingy pendant that Shinto''s been mentioning?!" Frey cried out.


    "You''re all under-informed, huh?" Renryth turned towards the minister in front as he let out a sigh. "I''ll cut it short and exin in the simplest words. The ''Pendant of ming Purity'' is an artefact that was said to be held by an angel that was then given to the Sleras as a gift, or in other words for protection."


    "Uhuh... Continue!" Frey gestured.


    "The pendant was said to grant immense power to the wielder, however, one of its attribute upon reaching full potential was its ability to raise someone back to living, which is what Sanke is after."


    "E-Eh? Raise someone back from the dead?" Frey tilted her head. "I''m hearing correctly, right?"


    "Yes. You are," Renryth nodded his head as he stepped forward over towards the door that led to the throne room. "Unlike adventurers such as yourselves that have many lives, us humans that live within this world only has one. If you could revive a loved one you dearly miss to the point you''d ept sin, who wouldn''t try for it?"


    "..." Listening in on the story that Renryth has stated, a clear picture surrounding Sanke''s goal seems to havee to light. Sanke''s wish in all this was to revive his dearly beloved, however, things took a turn and he had to resort to such acts. "So this entire time... Sanke cursed you all in hopes of getting the Pendant?"


    "...yes. Though, we weakened him before he did and thus, prevented him from taking action," Renryth exined. "But it seems that he still had a trick up his sleeve. I should''ve seen thising. But all that was in my mind was thepletion of the mes of Etheral."


    "Hey, are you done with storytime yet? Aren''t we pressed for time?!" Reru shouted out.


    "...yes. Yes, we are," Renryth stated as his hand touched the doors of the hallways. "Which is why I told the story to misdirect your attention elsewhere."


    With a small chant from his side, a sudden burst of wind whirled within the room, splitting everyone within it into two areas. In the next moment, a magic barrier appeared, quickly dividing one side from the other.


    "Ack- Hey! Human! What is the meaning of this?!" The Minister turned to the back of him in shock as he saw that everyone but Shinto''s group had been blown away outside of the magic barrier.


    "It is obvious we''re barging in. What else?" Reru shrugged as he took out a sword and quickly struck at the door. "Hey, humans! Help out will you?!"


    "NO! Don''t! Are you crazy?! We can still let you off like this-"


    "Hah... Do I even need a trantion for this?" Holding up his sword, Ethaniel shone down a bright light onto the door. With the pressure from Reru and Ethaniel, the door broke open as it revealed a figure of a man sitting on the throne room with a bright pendant shining down on his neck.


    "...wee," The man stated in a voice of defeat.

 Chapter 147: Slera (5)

    Chapter 147: Slera (5)


    "...?!" Upon hearing the voice reverberating through the throne room, quickly the group took notice as they turned towards the direction of it. In the next moment, they eyed the figure of a man, sitting listlessly on the throne whilst showing off a golden-red pendant on his neck.


    [ Sanke ].


    "...Sanke...-" As the old man in front of the group was about to speak up, a slime beside him who was fiercely shaking his body shouted out in a dreaded tone.


    "Sanke?! He''s still alive?! Huh? What?! Didn''t you say you defeated him?!" Minister Yer cried out in a tone of utter shock. "We''re doom... We''re doom! Doom I tell you! Ahhh!!! We''re all going to get cursed!!"


    "Ugh... Renryth, why didn''t you kick this guy out of the barrier when we had the chance to?" Reru clicked his tongue as he shoved the minister towards the side in an annoyed manner. "If you want to live, just stay put and keep your mouth shut!"


    "B-But-" Stuttering at his words with his entire body still shaky, Minister Yer looked at the man on the throne and the humans who were around him. "T-These humans l-lied to us!? H-How could they?!"


    "...sigh. I kept him here for the sake of giving testimony to the people, but... That seems like a lost hope at this point," Renryth shook his head helplessly as he soon took a step forward towards Sanke whilst scrutinizing the item that he was wearing, the [ Pendant of ming Purity ]. "Sanke... You don''t have to do this. Can''t you just stop it and return back to normal?"


    "...Renryth," the man who sat at the throne in a lifeless stanceSanke, spoke out. "Is it because you''re old now? Or is it because you''ve been cursed for a long time," he muttered out. "I vividly remember telling you this straight to your face: I''m doing this for the sake of a single goalTo unseal her in whatever means necessary."


    "You don''t have to do this, Sanke... Can''t you ept the fact that she''s dead?!" Renryth shouted out as he began to chant out a spell from the tip of his hands. In the next moment, a symbol of wind appeared before Sanke as it soon turned into a tornado that swept the entire premise. "Time and time again have I told you this. She''s dead. She was dealt by the hands of fate and passed off peacefully! Why are you so ignorant on this!?"


    "Ignorant? Kukuku... You choose to believe lies given by everyone when even your own trusted friends you chose to shun away?" With a snap of his finger, great darkness swallowed away the iing tornados, quickly dispersing them. "If anything, your the one that''s ignorant!"


    In the next moment, Sanke chanted out a spell as hands of shadow appeared from behind him. Quickly, the shadows moved in a fast-paced manner as they grabbed hold onto Renryth.


    "Ugh... Not this again!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he held out his sword in preparation to shine down a skill whilst noting that besides the shadows that were aiming at Renryth, there were excess hands that were protruding out onto the rest of the group.


    "H-Huh what''s this?!" Frey uttered out in a cry as she felt the weight of the shadows attempting to pin her down. However, with whatever means she tried to do, she couldn''t shake it off. "A-Ack!"


    "I told you this... Yet you still persisted in trying to defeat me," Sanke stated in a sorrowful voice. "Curses and whatever... Did I even need it if I could grab hold of this item? Of course not, I didn''t need to go through all that," his voice rang through the room as he ripped off the pendant from his neck. "...yet. With all that extra work done, was it all to futility?"


    With a sombre expression, further shadows appeared from behind Sanke as it shot out over towards the group. With the addition of the attack, the firepower of the hands rosed due to the group''s limited movement.


    "U-Ugh...!" Raina struggled to shake off the shadows as her limbs were soon grabbed onto. "T-This grip is even more powerful than before...!"


    "Tch..." Shinto shot out [ Divinity Point ] over to the hands in hopes of steering them away, however, it was futile. "T-These are fast..." Even with Shinto''s current speed, he failed to dodge Sanke''s attack and helplessly lost control of his movement.


    "W-We''re so dead..." Kon whimpered. "What do we do?!"


    "Tch... Sanke!" Reru cried out in an angered voice. "These binds won''t stop me from going over to you! Just wait till I-"


    "Obviously it won''t. Even if I had gotten stronger thanks to the people you brought to me... I''m not even using it to my full strength," Sanke reasoned as he let out a defeated sigh. "It doesn''t matter anymore. All my time spent to get this pendant? Hah... Useless. A waste."


    [ The judgement of ''Great Evil'' is greatly shaking! ]


    "...?" Whilst struggling on his own ord, Shinto''s eyes suddenly turned over towards his notification window. "What the...?"


    [ The judges of good and evil are currently in a dispute of the sudden turn of alignment on the previous judged ''Sanke''. ]


    "Hahahaha..." Sanke''s hand ced onto his face as heughed in an insane manner. However, it seemed as if sorrow was following behind it. "I''m a hypocrite for calling you ignorant, but look at me. I believed the whispers of darkness and took hold of it all for this stupid thing."


    Clenching the pendant in his hand, he soon threw it to the ground in a vexing manner, quickly cracking the pendant and letting out a slight me that slowly leaked out.


    "S-Sanke?! W-What are you doing?!" Renryth cried out at the sudden scene before him. "...you, you threw the pendant to the ground?!"


    [ The beings of Divinity are greatly angered at the tarnishment of the artefact! ]


    [ The beings of Divinity are highly requesting for you to do something worthwhile before things get out of control! ]


    "Ugh... I can''t even break free from this grip... What do you expect for me to do?" Shinto clicked his tongue as he turned towards the insane Sanke who was continuing tough maniacally.


    "Hahaha... What do I do now?" Sanke uttered out lifelessly. "Do I go down the hole even more or do I end my journey here?"


    "SANKE!" Renryth shouted out.


    "You''re all here... So the easier way out should be fine, yes?" Sanke tilted his head as his now purple eyes stared at the group. "No... I''d like for you to rather watch me meet my end," stepping forward towards the pendant, Sanke mustered all strength as he crushed the pendant beneath his feet.


    [ The beings of Divinity are extremely shocked at what they''re seeing! ]

 Chapter 148: Slera (6)

    Chapter 148: Slera (6)


    "...huh?" As Shinto began to see a rise of notifications within his status bar, he felt a gruelling chill behind his back whilst reading through it.


    [ The beings of Divinity are extremely disappointed that you have failed to protect the ''Pendant of ming Purity'' from harm''s way! ]


    [ The ''Pendant of ming Purity'' is crying out! Its mes are soon to be burning havoc in the area! A threat that will soon consume everything in zes if not dealt with! ]


    "H-Hey... What is this guy doing?" Frey muttered out in horror as she watched Sanke who was in front of the group continuously stomping on the pendant. In reaction to that, mes begun to spur out of control slightly burning at Sanke. Even thenHe continued to follow up with his action by throwing magic at it as well. "Is this guy insane?!"


    "Well... He''s insane already isn''t he?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    [ The ''Pendant of ming Purity'' is losing durability! It will soon be destroyed! ]


    "Sanke! What the hell are you doing!?" Renryth cried out in shock. "This isn''t your goal! So why?!"


    "Why? Why?" Sanke clicked his tongue. "You were never the one to read people''s expression. You were never the one to see what''s before your eyes huh? I''ll spell it out for you. Everything about this damn pendant is a lie!" With a heavy stomp onto the ground, the pendant soon broke as mes burst forth onto Sanke.


    [ The ''Pendant of ming Purity'' has been broken! ]


    [ The ''Pendant of ming Purity'' has revealed its true nature''Pendant of Mashita''s Hellfire'' ]


    [ The mes that have long been sealed into its pendant has been unleashed! ]


    [ The mes of the ''Burning'' Demon "Mashita" is starting to spread! ]


    "A lie that wasted away my life..." Sanke smiled dumbfoundedly at Renryth whilst releasing the grip of the shadows from the group. "I shouldn''t have had my hopes up, huh? It was such a fruitless act..." he muttered out as Sanke began to chant out a spell of darkness.


    "Sanke! You...!" Renryth''s hands curled into a fist as he rushed forward over to the man enshrouded by mes and darkness. The moment he was about to reach the areaA barrier of darkness rose up, thus blocking him from even touching the me.


    "I''m what? You''re angry that I''m doing this?" his voice uttered out through the mes. "You all wished for my death, so I am doing everyone a favour. What''s so hard toprehend?"


    With the mes on the ground growing thicker and thicker, the zes grew immensely, however, it was all kept into the small bubble that Sanke had made.


    "Hahaha... Just end me already..." As the voice grew meeker and meeker, loud footsteps rang through from behind Sanke as a small slime as well as another which seemed to hold an aura of dignity stepped foot into the throne room.


    "Sanke?! What the hell are you doing?!" The small slime was none other than Rustly. With tired breath, he leapt and leapt over to the barrier as he hit at it constantly. "Are you seriously going to kill yourself?! What?! What is this?!"


    "Rustly..." his voice slowly lost power as only quiet murmurs could be heard. "I''m sure... Lier would... be somewhere?"


    "Oi! Sanke! The hell!" Rustly cried out. "No... No!"


    "...huh?" Raina raised her brow in confusion. "This turn of events... It''s..."


    "Very unexpected? Yeah," Ethaniel continued off the sentence of Raina as he entered into a defensive stance. "But... We can''t even rest easy."


    "H-Huh why? Isn''t it over?!" Frey cried out.


    "Those mes... I don''t think it can be contained," Shinto muttered out. "We might have to run away or otherwise... Brace for the impact."


    "HUH?!" Frey''s eyes widened. "I-If those mes burst out... Wouldn''t it mean we''ll be turned to bones?!"


    "Mmm... No, if Renryth and I stay here to mend off the mes, everyone else has a chance to escape before then," stepping forward into the crowd, Madam Ru uttered out in a clear voice of Arcos. "Thus, you humans follow Rustly''s lead to the outside through the passage we took."


    "T-This slime ordy can speak normal humannguage?!" Frey blinked dumbfoundedly. "I-If that''s so... Why haven''t you done that the entire time?!"


    "I just didn''t want to since I dislike the ent that I speak in," Madam Ru seemed to be closing her eyes. "But, this is a call for dire needs. Go now and bring Rustly along with you. If you have any questions regarding all this, keep it to yourself and askter. I''m sure those involved will finally tell you the full story."


    "Well... With all the small context here and there regarding this... I think I got the gist of it," Shinto nodded his head as he turned to his group. "If we can''t do anything in this situation, then we''re best to escape."


    "Are you serious!?" Minister Yer yelled out. "No, no... What if this whole castle gets destroyed?! What will we do about the slimes outside?!"


    "The castle won''t get destroyed, since my barrier will keep the damage to a bare minimum when the mes unleashed, Minister," Renryth sighed. "Just go along with the group and leave us to mend away the mes. We''ll protect ourselves just fine."


    "Ahem. If that''s all, then can we go," Ethaniel stated. "That slime said that Rustly will lead the way, right?"


    "Yeah but..." Shinto turned to Rustly who had been crying out this entire time in hopes of breaking the barrier. "He is..."


    "Argh! This hopeless guy..." Reru clicked his tongue. "Just go to that passageway or something! I''ll drag Rustly along!"


    "Will it be...?"


    "Yes, it''ll be damn alright, so shut up and drag Minister Yer with you!"


    "..." With a sigh, Shinto nodded his head as he began running over towards the passageway that Rustly and Madam Ru entered from, meanwhile, following from behind him, the rest of the group followed suit.


    "...no, Sanke, please... I was this close to getting you back- Yet..." Rustly muttered out in a sorrowful voice.


    "Oi, Rustly!" Reru leapt over towards the small slime whilst pushing his body over to his. "We''re going. Stop sulking."


    "You won''t understand! He..."


    "He what? Ugh... There''s no time!" Without any regards to Rustly''s feeling, Reru hurriedly dragged Rustly away.


    "H-Hey! No! I refuse!"


    "Why are you so attached to this guy?! Are you asking for a death wish?!"


    "It''s because..."


    "...it''s fine. Leave me be... Rustly... I asked for it..." A voice rasped through the dry air within the bubble created by Sanke. "I was duped... and I was... stupid. Just... go on... without me..."


    "...Sanke? Sanke!" Rustly''s voice roared through the room, however, Reru could only drag him away from the sight of Sanke''s body disappearing into ashes. In the next moment, the dark barrier began to crack as mes began to seep out from it.


    "Renryth, be ready!"


    "...I''m sorry that I could not do anything," Renryth helplessly shook his head as he held out his hand whilst soon chanting out a verse. "Miracles of life that mends the me, I call upon the aqueducts that shall waver the zes!"

 Chapter 149: Slera (7)

    Chapter 149: Slera (7)


    Within an unknown area of the catbsA hooded figure who seemed to be enshrouded by shadows could be seen moving leisurely through the darkened hallways with an aura of disappointment around them.


    "...hmph. So it seems that you''ve decided to end your own life wittingly, huh?" The figure clicked his tongue in an unsatisfied manner. "Here I thought you''d have the drive to go on with your goals, but such a shame. Just some minor setbacks ended it for you? Disappointing."


    Continuing through the darkness, the figure stopped at their footsteps as they moved their hand over to the pocket on the hood that they wore. Soon after, they took out a small red gemstone that seemed to contain a burning atmosphere around it.


    "...but, even to your dismay, that doesn''t matter," the figure chuckled. "Even though you were someone who spoke nothing but fruitless lies, you still kept your deal, at the very least you''re worth that much." Tucking away the red gemstone back into their pocket, the figure began to move once again. "Ahem. Now then, with the mes of Mashita out of the way, what''s next on the list?"


    Muttering out to themselves, a sigh soon followed after. "Hah... I''m at such a slow progression. Ugh... If I had been the one to cause trouble, it''d be much more efficient. But, orders are orders I guess," the figure shrugged as they quickened their pace and disappeared into the shadows.


    ...


    "Huff... Huff..." Within an unlit passageway, the group tirelessly moved through it stepped by stepped as they followed after the lead of Reru and the sobbing Rustly at the front.


    "...how long are we gonna walk for?" Frey uttered out in a tone of confusion as she looked around the area. "All I see are darkness and darkness everywhere! It''s the same exact spot!"


    "Bah... You''re blind if you say we''re at the same exact spot. We''re not going in circles," Ethaniel scoffed. "We''ve just been walking in zigzags."


    "How the heck do you know that?" Frey raised her brow. "I don''t see you having any sight either!"


    "Ugh... Humans, would you please just shut up?!" Reru shouted out. "I''m here trying to get Rustly together to have him escort us, but you''re all so noisy!"


    "Could you do that faster? We might as well be lost at this point if we don''t know where we''re going!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he heard Reru with the help of the ne that was given to him Shinto.


    "Ignoring that... What''s up with this ce anyway?" Raina asked. "Although I can''t see... The atmosphere of this area and the structure of the walls seem... More like a cave?"


    "A cave? Like... Old Wood Caverns?" Frey tilted her head. "Could it be that?"


    "I doubt it. That ce is from the far southwest side of town. We entered here from the northwest," Ethaniel stated. "We might have ended up in another area altogether because we''re lost..."


    "S-Seriously? We''re lost?" Minister Yer muttered out in fear. "We''re dead... We''re so dead! What if monsters suddenly appear out of nowhere and munch at us? The ce we lived in was safe... But... But!"


    "Calm down Minister Yer... I''m sure we''ll get back on the right track when Rustlyes around..." Erith uttered.


    "When will he be back together?! He''s been like this for half an hour!"


    "How do you even keep track of the time?" Erith asked in confusion.


    "I''ve been counting! Counting is the only thing that''s making me sane right now..."


    "Hah... It''s only been thirty minutes and you''re trying to keep yourself from going insane?" Ethaniel raised his brow in disbelief. "Unbelievable..."


    Hearing the conversation between the slimes and Ethaniel, Frey quickly spoke up. "Huh? It''s been thirty minutes? That fast?" she blinked. "I thought it was only just ten..."


    "It''s been thirty minutes, huh?" Raina tilted her head as she turned over towards Shinto. "And those past thirty minutes, it seems like Shinto has been living in his own world." With a nce on her right, she noted that Shinto''s eyes seemed glued onto his status window.


    ...


    [ The beings of Divinity are extremely furious with your acts of not doing anything about the Pendant of ming Purity! ]


    [ They''re utterly dissatisfied that you have been picked to be the Diviner. They demand someone else! ]


    [ Your rtions with certain beings of Divinity has reached the negative. ]


    [ The beings of Shadows areughing at the tempered beings raging at the Shadow Diviner for not doing his job. ]


    [ Your rtions with certain beings of Shadow has raised slightly. ]


    [ As a reward, your Shadow Stat has raised by 1. ]


    [ Quest ''Against the Pendant of ming Purity'' has been marked as failed. ]


    [ No new quests will be generated as the dungeon''s main questline has been marked aspleted. ]


    [ The instance dungeon has been cleared and you shall get your rewards soon. ]


    [ You may now enter and leave as you please. ]


    "...hah, how did this situation came to be?" Shinto sighed to himself helplessly. "I failed two major quests and there doesn''t seem to be a third chance, huh?"


    Moments after Shinto and the group had escaped from the throne room, Shinto''s notification window had been bombarded with countless messages in seconds. It was even worse than Arceus''s spam if one considered the number of messages he sent in a second.


    [ The Beings of Divinity are demanding that you should be stripped of the title of Diviner this instant! ]


    "...isn''t this unfair?" Shinto continued to sigh. "What was I supposed to do at that time?"


    "...mmm," Kon frowned as he noted the expression of helplessness on his Master''s face. "From what I remember about the lessons my siblings taught, those people are very strict and are easily unforgiving to those who don''t fulfil their tasks as expected of them..."


    "I could see that..." he shook his head. "Though, it''d be nice if you could have said that earlier..."


    "I-I''m sorry... I didn''t even know they contacted you," Kon whimpered. "Please forgive me..."


    "Well, it can''t be helped since I didn''t mention this stuff to you," he shrugged. "I didn''t expect that you know... So I didn''t ask."


    "A-At the very least I know some stuff when the terms are mentioned!" Kon cried out.


    "Hah... Well, that''s good to know now," Shinto nodded his head. "Anyways, how do you even know about the situation that I''m in right now? With the way things are... I thought you''d assume other reasons for my helplessness."


    "W-Well... I wouldn''t have known if it wearn''t for the fact that I''m also receiving a scolding at this very moment..." Kon muttered out with a tone of embarrssment.


    "Huh? By who?"


    "By my siblings..." Kon uttered as his eyes turned towards his notification screen.


    [ ''Cobra of the Empress''s Sting'' is clicking her tongue at your ipetence in aiding the Shadow Diviner! ]


    [ ''ck Bird''s Darkness'' is regretting that you swayed him to let you go first. ]


    [ The two beings of Shadow are currently discussing what to do. ]


    "I see. But if it''s like that..." Shinto tilted his head as a thought soon appeared in his mind. "Couldn''t you have contacted your siblings and ask them to remind you of what they''ve told you beforeing here?"


    "Sorry... It''s not that simple as you think..." Kon''s expression turned gloomy. "Our way ofmunicating takes up a lot of passive energy... So we can only send messages in small quantities unlike the people from up above."


    "Oh, is it?" Shinto noted as he soon nced back to the continuous sea of notification on his screen.


    [ The Beings of Divinity are demanding for you to state your defence regarding this situation! ]


    "...ugh. They''re still at it?" he silently clicked his tongue. Just as Shinto was about to speak up on his defence, a sudden notification quickly kept his mouth shut.


    [ The beings of Shadow has had enoughughter for the day. ]


    [ They have stepped up to defend the honour of the Shadow Diviner! ]


    "...?"


    [ The Beings of Divinity frowns at the sight of Shadow appearing before them and are asking them to go away. ]


    [ The Beings of Shadow isn''t going to be wasteful of their time. They said that the tasks given to the Shadow Diviner are unfair and unjust. They demand that you reward him for his efforts! ]


    [ The judges of good and evil are muttering out their woes at the Shadow. ]


    [ A being of Shadow is asking them to shut up. ]


    "...the heck''s going on here?" As Shinto''s notification continued to spur into madness, his expression turned from helplessness into great confusion.


    [ This being of Shadow is stating that since the Shadow Diviner is utterly weak as of the moment and that his allies are also the same case, the quest given is extremely unfair. ]


    [ Murmurs spread through the court of judges as well as the messengers. They have decided to raise their swords against the shadow. ]


    [ The beings of Divinity stated that the Diviner is weak because of your side''s ipetence in reaching out to him and giving him the necessary information. ]


    [ The being of Shadows are greatly angered! However, only one spoke up. ]


    [ This being has raised her status as ''Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night'' and is showing her fangs at the hypocrites. ]


    "Master? What''s going on?" Kon asked worriedly at Shinto''s sudden demeanour.


    "I have no idea... This is..." As Shinto was about to continue his words, the storm of notifications interrupted him.


    [ ''Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night'' is stating that you are no less the same. The tasks that have been given only strengthened your egos at being in power and did not help the Shadow Diviner. ]


    [ She demandspensation and that this never happens again or otherwise, all hell will break loose with her status. ]


    [ The beings of Divinity who are present are discussing amongst one another. ]


    [ With gritting teeth, they sigh and admitted their wrongs. ]


    [ The contents of a failed quest have been updated! ]


    [ The quest ''Judgement of Great Evil: Sanke'' has been marked aspleted! However, the rewards will be different. ]


    "I...? Huh?" Shinto blinked in extreme confusion as he saw that the raging sea of notification quieted down. "...the quest has been marked aspleted?"


    Just as he was about to backread for a second time toprehend the situation, he heard a sudden loud voice from the side of him.


    "HEY! ARE YOU LISTENING?!" A female''s voice screamed.

 Chapter 150: Slera (8)

    Chapter 150: Slera (8)


    "...!" Shocked by the sudden voice that rang through his ears, Shinto abruptly turned his head over to the direction of itQuickly noting that it was none other than Frey. "...F-Frey? What''s up?"


    "What''s up?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue at Shinto''s confused expression. "We''ve literally been calling you for the past minute. The hell were you up to this entire time?"


    "...cough. Something came up in my whispers, so I uh... Was replying to that," Shinto uttered out. "I guess I was lost in the conversation?"


    As Shinto the situation within his notification window was too farfetched to mention, he had toe up with an excuse. The most usible was that he was replying to whispers as the ban on it was lifted uponpletion of the dungeon.


    "...you," Ethaniel helplessly red at Shinto as he soon nced away. "Bah, whatever. Anyways, since you didn''t listen to whatever we were saying, I''ll repeat. You know how we''ve been walking for quite some time, right?"


    "Uh, yeah?" Shinto tilted his head. "Did something go wrong while I was on whispers?"


    "We''re lost," Frey muttered out.


    "...what?" Shinto blinked at Frey''s statement.


    "We''re lost! That damn slime didn''t do his job in escorting us!" Ethaniel scoffed. "We took too many turns and ended up in some cavern."


    "S-Sorry..." Rustly murmured. "...I should have done my job properly before I went to wail..."


    "Sigh. Idiot," Reru scorned as he soon sighed. "How did we even end up like this? All we did was walk in a straight line... I''m not even sure how we took turns and went somewhere else."


    "B-Because this ce has a sensory magic veiled by Madam Ru which messes with people''s sense of direction unless they know the entireyout like the back of their head," Rustly muttered out. "What may seem to be a straight line may not always be like that..."


    "And you didn''t care to tell us that now?!" Ethaniel frowned.


    "I''m sorry...!" Rustly cried out. "I''ll do my best to find our way back... But I just need to know where we are exactly..."


    "Ahh! We''re so dead! We''re so dead!" Minister Yer stated in panic whilst running around the rocky grounds. "Why couldn''t I have just been on the other side of the barrier?! We have Erith here for your stupid eye witness!"


    "Me...?" Erith seemed to be blinking. "Knowing you... You''d probably use me of being in hand with them."


    "I...! How dare you-" Just as Minister Yer was about to shout, he was quickly interrupted by Shinto.


    "Ahem..." Ignoring the cries of the slime''snguage from Yer and Erith, Shinto let out a cough whilst listening to Ethaniel''s trantion. "Well, from what I''m getting at your conversation here, we''re no longer in the catbs? But... Somewhere outside of that?"


    "Basically so," Ethaniel shrugged. "I''ve no idea what dungeon we''re in right now, but this is definitely not the catbs. Though... We didn''t receive a single notification of entering into a domain."


    "I was debating with this guy whether it was the Old Wood Cavern dungeon!" Frey stated. "What do you think?"


    "...hmm," Shinto narrowed his eyes as soon scrutinized the area, noting the rough cavern walls with his night vision under the guise of darkness. "A normal cavern..." Continuing to nce around the area, his brows raised in slight curiosity as he saw two passageway upfront. "There are two paths ahead of us."


    "Two paths?" Frey blinked at Shinto''s sudden revtion of information. "You can see clearly?"


    "Rustly! Do you know anything about that?!" Minister Yer shouted angrily.


    "There are many two-way paths in this ce! How do you think we got lost?!" Rustly pouted. "Let''s just go ahead and see where we are!"


    With Rustly''s annoyance at Minister Yer''s tone of voice, he leapt forward with the group soon following behind. Then, upon reaching the area where Shinto had spotted, Rustly''s expression turned shaky.


    "...um...um..." Rustly uttered out.


    "Huh? What''s wrong?" Erith questioned.


    "...remember when I said I just needed to know where we are exactly?" Rustly stated in a shaky voice.


    "Yeah?"


    "Well... We''re utterly lost!" Rustlyughed awkwardly. "We''re already out of the designation spot under Madam Ru''s magic..."


    "You... You... RUSTLY!" Reru frowned at Rustly''s words. "...god. We have to turn back now?"


    "I-I guess... But since we''re out of Madam Ru''s veil, it means finding the area is not going to be easy..." Rustly stated in a helpless voice.


    "..."


    "..."


    "..."


    Upon hearing from Rustly, the slimes all stared at Rustly listlessly. Meanwhile, Ethaniel had ced his hand on the hilt of his sword, in the urge of wanting to hit Rustly.


    "...why did that slime put you in charge of escorting us?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue in an annoyed manner. "Argh! Seriously, we could''ve been back to town by now if it wearn''t for this shit!"


    "W-What do we do now...?" Frey uttered out. "If we''re this lost... And from whatever this guy stated... We won''t be going back to the catbs anytime soon?"


    "Well... We are already out of the dungeon, it''s just that... We''ve got no idea where we actually are," Shinto sighed as his eyes narrowed over towards the two pathway that was in front of them. "If only there was some kind of sign-" Shinto quickly closed his mouth as he caught glimpse of a small light by the end of the two pathways. "...eh, light?"


    "Light? Like... The actual daylight or something?" Frey questioned.


    "...well, this one is much dimmer and darker?" Shinto thought to himself. "Whatever it is, it seems to be an exit."


    "An exit?" Minister Yer''s expression brightened. "Then hurry! I don''t want to be here anymore. We can decide on what to doter, right?! I just want to be safe and see light!" Without any hesitation, the slime began to rush ahead of the group and quickly walked up towards the left side of the pathway.


    "H-Huh? Hey!" Reru cried out as he saw that Minister Yer was moving in a fast manner over to the exit. "Are you crazy?!"


    "...I guess we''re going to find our way back to the catbs on the surface?" Rustly questioned.


    "No, wait... Weren''t we underground?" Erith seemed to be raising his brow. "If that''s so... How could we be able to reach the surface if there wearn''t any staircase or steeped roads?"


    "Madam Ru''s magic works to give the illusion that we are going in a straight line remember? So we wouldn''t know the steps taken," Rustly stated. "And so we ended up like this..."


    "Huh. So if that''s so, that means there''s plenty of entrances to this ce?"


    "Well, yeah. But only one actually leads to here without interference, which is what I think the humans took..."


    "...hey, you two. How about you stop conversing and actually help me drag Minister Yer back here so he won''t lose the guy?!" Reru cried out.


    With a nod from the slimes, the group quickly moved over towards Minister Yer. Meanwhile, the humans that were behind the slime hesitated to follow suit.


    "...isn''t just going back the more efficient way?" Raina questioned.


    "It is... But what are these slimes thinking?" Shinto blinked at the sight in front of him.


    "They''re chasing after that minister or something," Ethaniel shrugged.


    "So... Do we like, follow after them?" Frey asked.


    "...sigh. I feel that if we don''t, we''ll get more lost than our current situation," with a sigh, Shinto hurried up ahead with the group following up from behind.


    Upon reaching closer towards the end of the caverns, the party members felt a cold sensation around them. As each stepped drew close to the exit, the feeling grew much stronger.


    "...is it me... or is it getting colder?" Frey folded her arms.


    "This ce is..."


    As they reached the end of the caverns, the feeling of coldness became extremely prevalent, howeverThat wasn''t what had caught their attention. The moment that they had stepped foot outside of the cave, their eyes widened in shock as they were greeted by the sight of a cold hail storming within the atmosphere.


    "Achoo...!" Raina sneezed at the drop of temperature almost immediately as they walked outside of the cavern. "W-Where is this ce...?" ncing around the area, the eyes of the party members averted away from the cold hail and turned towards the ground, where they saw the frozen tundra forest.


    Moments after, a notification appeared before the group.


    [ You have entered into the ''Bareth''s Tundra Zone'' ]


    [ You have been afflicted by the ''Cold Chills'' debuff, thus, stamina usage has been increased by 40% and you''re more likely to freeze to death if you were to stay out in the wilds for more than ten minutes! ]


    [ The hail atmosphere that you feel has decreased your movement speed by 20% and cold resistance by 30%. Not only that, your water resistance has been lowered by 100%. ]


    [ As this is a natural phenomenon, your attribute has failed to work. ]


    [ You have failed to resist. ]


    ...


    "...we''re so dead," Minister Yer murmured out. "I WANT TO GO BACK INTO THE CAVE!"

 Chapter 151: Hail (1)

    Chapter 151: Hail (1)


    "...jeez. Wearn''t you the one that wanted to rush out of here as fast as possible?" Ethaniel scoffed at Minister Yer''s scared demeanour. Soon after, his head turned towards the other slimes who had been discussing amongst themselves since arriving at the cold ins. "Hah... Isn''t this the worst kind of area to stumble onto?"


    "It is..." Shinto let out a cold breath as his arms folded to cover himself. "Withck of equipment and cold resistance armour, we''ll end up like walking icicles if we go through we exploring the forest."


    "...Not to mention we don''t have food or any good things to sustain us in this environment," Ethaniel uttered out hopelessly.


    Within the game of Spiritual WarriorsIn order to have the same amount of realism in terms of the environment as per real life, there were many sorts of factors that could affect an adventurer''s exploration capabilities like a typical human would be affected in, for example, the current precipitation which was a hailstorm.


    "Do you think we should go back?" Frey questioned as her eyes narrowed to the surrounding area, noting that they were at a high peak. On the left side of them, there was a snowy steeped pathway that led into the forest below them. "...or should we just explore this ce and head back to town through other means?"


    "Well... Wasn''t it more efficient to just go back and find the pathway that leads back into the catbs?" Raina tilted her head. "I''m sure that''s far better than having to go through this hailstorm."


    "Yes... That is the most efficient route but," Reru sighed with gritted teeth. "This idiot of mine said it might take forever to even find Madam Ru''s veil as it''s apparently ever-changing. He can''t pinpoint where exactly is her magic source unless he has a better grasp on the magic within in the area to be able to locate where the veil is urately."


    "...hah. Rustly, you''re incredibly useless you know that?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "I-I said I was sorry!" Rustly cried out. "We just need to find a ruin or something! I don''t think it''s a problem with this ce..."


    "...tch," Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he then proceeded to trante the slime''snguage to the group. Moments after, his eyes turned to the ongoing hail that''s falling onto thend. "So? Should we just do whatever the slimes are saying?"


    "...well, if they''re no other options, then we''ll have to go find a ruin," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "Though... We''ve got to wait till the hail passes. Otherwise, it''s just walking to our deaths."


    "Right... Movement speed and cold resistance debuff don''t go well with the Cold Chills one we''re getting," Raina muttered out. "Do we know when the storms going to pass, though? A typical one in real life takes around fifteen minutes... But this one seems to have been up for a few hours."


    "No idea... I rarely ever go into cold climate areas," Shinto shrugged. "Though, maybe it''ll pass in a few more hours at most? In any case, we''ll mostly be ying the waiting game."


    "Hmm... We''re going to be ying the waiting game again?" Frey frowned. "But at least... This time it won''t be for an entire day..."


    "Ahem... Right," Shinto let out a cough. "It won''t take that long of a wait, but if you want to, you can just log out for the time being. Since we''ve got nothing to do at the moment."


    "O-Oh, really?" Frey uttered out. "Then if that''s so... I''ll log out for a bit and return in like... One hour or two hours in real life time?"


    "I''ll also be logging out. I haven''t had a chance to since I''ve had my hands tied with the mes of Etheral and all, I''ll return around the same time as Frey," Raina stated.


    "Sure," he nodded his head as he saw that Frey and Raina had logged out of the game. Soon after, he soon turned towards Ethaniel. "What about you?"


    "I''ll just stay here. My daily usage time is still a long way to go and if the hailstorm ever decides to let up in this eight hours of their offline time, we can explore the premise for a bit," Ethaniel replied.


    "I see... Then, if you need me, I''ll be over a little deeper into the cavern to keep my temperature at a steady rate," Shinto stated as he began to move back into the caves. Meanwhile, Ethaniel stood there as he turned over to the slimes who were frantically arguing with one another.


    "H-Hey... Those humans just disappeared out..." Minister Yer uttered out in a shaky voice. "A-Are they leaving us alone?!"


    "Ugh... You stupid idiot. They''re adventurers through and through. They should have matters in the other world if there''s nothing better to do here as of the moment," Reru stated. "Anyways. Stop acting so scared! It''s not like there aren''t any otherbatants for you to cower behind in fear if you ever decide to run with your tail between your legs."


    "...we don''t have tails though," Rustly muttered out.


    "Oh shut up," Reru rolled his eyes.


    ...


    Walking silently deep into the caverns, Shinto found a suitable spot to quietly sit in as he soon opened up his notification window which had multiple unread messages that did not have to do with the Bareth''s Tundra Zone notice.


    "So u-um... Master, is everything resolved?" Kon asked.


    "I''m not too sure... This thing has been ringing ever since we''ve arrived here," Shinto stated as he braced himself for the urrence of any fight that had happened during the time he hadid off eyes on his notification window.


    [ The contents of ''Judgement of Great Evil: Sanke'' has been updated! ]


    [ The quest reward has been distributed. ]


    [ A new quest to prove your worth has been given! ]


    [ A new quest is generating... ]


    ...


    [ A Diviner or Not? ]


    Difficulty: F


    With the immense disappointment of the Divinity against your failure at doing your job properly, the judges and messengers have decided to task you with an extremely simple job. If you were to fail such a task, your worth to them is deemed inoperable and will be blocked out of the ''Divinity'' skill set for a period of time.


    You as the Diviner must defeat 100 monsters within three days.


    Quest Clear Reward: At the very least, your rtion with certain beings of Divinity will be back to the normal levels, Divinity +1, Shadow +1


    Addition Quest Clear Condition: If you among your feat of monsters that you defeat were to be judged as evil, you may please a few beings of Divinity and gain additional rewards.


    Quest Failure: The ''Divinity'' side skills will be temporarily stripped off of you until judgement day.


    ...


    "...hah. Another quest?" Shinto frowned.


    "They don''t give thing''s for free, huh?" Kon whimpered.


    "..." Shaking his head helplessly, Shinto soon continued reading his notifications.


    [ ''Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night'' is angered at the Divinity''s trickeries! She states that this is notpensation! ]


    [ The beings of Divinity scoffs at the Blood Queen''s angered demeanour and stated that if the Diviner can''t possibly finish this task, he doesn''t even deserve to be an adventurer. ]


    [ The Blood Queen''s mouth has been shut as she left the channel that connects the Divinity. ]


    [ The beings of Divinity mocks the ipetence of the Blood Queen and the beings of Shadow. ]


    [ The beings of Shadows are greatly angered! ]


    [ The side of Shadow haspletely left the channel that connects the Divinity. ]


    [ The beings of Divinity are eyeing on you and your final chance to prove your worth at being a decent Diviner. ]


    ...


    "...jeez. These beings of Divinity sure are being extremely strict..." Reading through the final messages of notification, Shinto sighed in a helpless manner. "But at the very least... The tasks more doable than I could ask for."


    "It''ll be alright, right, master?" Kon asked.


    "100 Monsters is fine for me. I won''t struggle," Shinto nodded his head. "Unless... This in has the worst monster spawn rate I could ever ask for..."


    "I-It can''t be that way... R-Right?" Kon''s voice shook slightly. "I mean... It should be fine!"


    "..." Shinto''s eyes closed as he recalled the area that they were in. ''Bareth''s Tundra Zone''. "...I don''t think I''ve been to this ce, so I can''t actually guarantee that I would be able toplete the task..."


    "I-If that''s so... You will be..."


    "Stripped off my Divinity side? Yeah, sounds about right," Shinto uttered out in a helpless tone. "I don''t think they''re that cruel to give me such a task that''s impossible to do."


    "But... From what I know from my siblings... They''re sometimes really, really unfair..." Kon stated. "With the treatment you received, they won''t go easy on you..."


    "...I can see that. But I''m sure they won''t be that way..." As he spoke his reasonings, Shinto soon received a sudden notification.


    [ ''Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night'' wishes to speak with you temporarily! ]


    [ Do you ept? ]

 Chapter 152: Hail (2)

    Chapter 152: Hail (2)


    "...?" At the sudden notification that Shinto had received in front of himShinto raised his brow in curiosity. "...huh? A message from the Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night?"


    "E-Eh...? The Blood Queen wants to speak with you?" Kon muttered out in shock. "Wait... Wait... She wants to speak with you?!"


    "...why? Is there something I should know?" Shinto tilted his head.


    "N-No... I just didn''t expect for her to consume that much energy to try to speak with you when we''re out here in the middle of nowhere..." Kon uttered. "It must be that important, huh?"


    "Hmm... Well, seeing as how you emphasizerge energy consumption, I guess I better waste no time," nodding his head, Shinto momentarily muttered out the word "Yes" in a hushed voice.


    ...


    The moment he epted the notification, Shinto''s vision slightly dimmed as he could only see the shadows around him. "...?" peeking at it, he noted that the darkness seemed to be ever so lonely. "...where is this ce?" with confusion within his mind, his head frantically looked around. However, he soon stopped as he heard a female''s voice.


    "Hello?" A powerful which slightly pushed Shinto back resounded through the shadows. "Is this thing working?"


    "...Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night?" Shinto tilted his head as he uttered out the title of the person who wanted to speak with him.


    "Oh. So this stupid thing did work!" The voice seemed cheery. "Ahem... Shadow Diviner, I apologize for the abrupt manner of our meeting, however, there is no time since this realm consumes an unreasonable amount of energy."


    "I can see that..." Shinto nodded his head as he stared into the abyss. "What do you want to tell me?"


    "I''m sure you saw the countless messages the beings of Elysium sent, right?" The voice stated. "Well, all I''m here to tell you is thatdo not take the task lightly as it''s no easy feat to defeat 100 mobs at your current state in the area you''re at."


    "...oh?" Shinto raised his brow in a surprised manner as he soon asked. "You know where we''re at? If so... Could you tell me where exactly is this ''Bareth''s Tundra Zone'' in the geography?"


    "Of course I know where you''re at. However, that does not matter right now," The Blood Queen affirmed. "All you have to know is that the monsters in your vicinity are by no means easy. Although the task is an F ranked difficulty judged by the messengers, this is supposed to be an S rank task at your level."


    "...an S level difficulty quest? What exactly is the level of this area?"


    "..." The voice kept quiet as she soon took a deep breath. "You''re forty levels below the average and that is to say, you''re at the most dangerous area."


    "...cough. I''m sorry?" Shinto''s eyes shook greatly as he heard the statement. Unlike with the Catbs of the Deserted Sanke where they were below the average by twenty or so, the numbers jumped up by twice the original number. "...this is..."


    "It is how it is," The Blood Queen sighed. "But, fear not. For with the crimson moon by the side of the diviner, you will receive aid from someone very soon. So, please continue to work on ahead with the trying times of the task given to you by Elysium."


    "Jee... That''s helpful..." Shinto shook his head helplessly. "When will I receive the aid from them?"


    "...It will be soon," as the voice answered Shinto''s question, the shadows around him began to disperse away. "Ah- It looks like my energy can no longer keep up with this realm..." she uttered in regret. "But, this won''t be ourst meeting, Shadow Diviner. For when the night of redes, under the guise of the crimson skies, we will meet soon. For now, please grow to regain back his abilities."


    With the words of the Blood Queen echoing out from the distance, the shadows faded away as Shinto returned back to reality with his vision back to normal.


    ...


    [ The ''Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night'' sends her regards to you and wish you well on a safe journey. ]


    [ You have received 2 Shadow Stat and a number of experience for your Shadow Abilities. ]


    [ Shadow Fields has reached level 2! ]


    [ Mark of Umbra has reached level 2! ]


    [ The ''Gate of Shadows'' that reaches the Realm of Darkness will soon be opened. A quest will generate soon. ]


    With multiple rings of notification in front of him, Shinto abruptly tiredly shook his head as he got himself together. "But under what means...?" Muttering out to himself, he soon heard a small yipping voice on his shoulder.


    "Master! Master!" Kon cried out. "Are you alright?!"


    "...cough. Yeah, everything''s alright," ridding away his sudden drowsiness post-meeting, he nodded his head.


    "Phew... Everything''s alright" Kon let out a breath of relief as he heard the affirmation from Shinto. "I thought that the message might have been too powerful for you to handle with the way you looked when you were receiving messages from the Blood Queen"


    "I could handle it just fine, don''t worry," Shinto patted Kon on the head as he soon stood up from where he was sitting. "In any case... Do you know who this ''Blood Queen'' actually is?"


    "The Blood Queen? Well... From what I heard, she''s of the Vampir race, the queen of it from what I can tell," Kon stated. "I don''t actually know much about her since I''ve never seen her in person... But I heard she helped the previous Shadow Diviner greatly in their journey."


    "I see..." Shinto nodded his head. "She''s of the Vampire race... So, a demonkin?" he tilted his head at the thought.


    Vampires, Subi and other typical sorts of monsters that were revered to as ''Demons'' would typically be associated within the category of ''Demon''. It didn''t matter what race they were specifically, to humansThey regarded them as only ''Demonkin''.


    "Though... With that question... What are the origins of the Shades Race?" Shinto asked himself as he turned to look at Kon who was on his shoulder. "From what I heard from him... He said the previous Shadow Diviner created a home for them to stay in which was the Realm of Shadows... But that doesn''t satisfy whether or not they are from the demon world..."


    The ''Demon World'' was said to be the origins of all Demonkin within the world. Governed by the monarchs of each realm within it, the demons who live within the underworld wish harm upon humans, though that was in lore.


    For Shinto himself, he had only fought certain demons that were sealed away in order to obtain materials and loot. He never was involved in anything rted to the story view of the demonkin.


    Thinking to himself, Shinto uttered out a question to Kon. "Hey, Kon, just a question, but... What exactly are the origins of the Shades Race?" Although he had asked before, he wasn''t specific enough that he got a vague answer from Kon. Now asking again, he wished to try his luck.


    "...huh? Asking that all of a sudden..." Kon muttered out with a bewildered expression. "Well... The origins of our race..." Kon tilted his head. "I never heard anything from my siblings... I don''t think we actually know."


    "...oh, really?" Despite the answer from Kon, Shinto wasn''t disappointed. He didn''t care whether or not his allies were of the demonkin race or of any race in general, he was just curious. "If that''s so then-"


    Just as he was about to continue on with his sentence, Kon continued his own statement. "Though all I do know was that the Shadow Diviner gave us salvation and that''s why we swore loyalty to him and his predecessors, or at least... My siblings did."


    "What about you? Didn''t you do it as well?" Shinto inquired. "Seeing from the words you said..."


    "They said I had sworn loyalty as well... However since I was too young that time... I couldn''t remember," Kon whimpered. "I never even got to see the previous Shadow Diviner''s face either."


    "I-I see..." Shinto seemed to have understood his excitement and misunderstanding when he had first met Kon back in front of Shivuliz''s Den. For Kon, this was the first time he had met the Shadow Diviner, though his predecessorShinto.


    "...and since this is my first time... I want to be able to help you as much as I can..." Kon''s voice mumbled out.


    "...huh? What was that?" Despite being next to his ear, Kon''s mumble couldn''t be heard for Shinto.


    "Ahem nothing...! A-Anyways, where are we going to now?" Kon asked. "If the hail is still here we''re still going to be stuck here..."


    "Hmm, we''ve been at this corner for quite some time now. If anything, I think the hail should have passed by now," Shinto stated. "So I''m going to check up on them."


    "Right!" Kon nodded excitedly.


    As the two made their way out into the chilly air, he saw that Ethaniel and the slimes seemed to have been waiting for them.


    "Tch... Shinto? You''re finally done with your business?" Ethaniel questioned. "If so, then get ready. We''re going to explore the ce for a bit."

 Chapter 153: Hail (3)

    Chapter 153: Hail (3)


    "Oh?" Upon hearing the words out of Ethaniel, Shinto tilted his head. "We''re going to be exploring now, huh? Are Frey and Raina back?"


    "It''s only been like... An hour here that passed, so we still have seven hours before their promised return," Ethaniel shrugged. "With that long of a wait, we might as well just explore before then."


    "Yeah, I can see you''re point," Shinto nodded his head as his eyes turned towards the clear snowy skies of the Bareth''s Tundra in from the cavern''s entrance. With the hail from earlier cleared awayShinto could see the environment much clearer than before.


    Into the far distance, all he could see was the mountainous ins ravenous with pinewood trees in his sight. Besides that, the kes of snow that fell from the sky gave him a reminiscence of the winter season, though right now was the autumn.


    [ With the hail atmosphere moving away, the ''Cold Chills'' debuff has returned to the normal levels! ]


    [ Stamina usage is now instead increased by 20% and when out about in the cold air for more than an hour, you will freeze to death! ]


    [ As this is a natural phenomenon, your attribute has failed to work. ]


    [ You have failed to resist. ]


    ...


    "..." Still staring into the distance, Shinto soon averted his eyes away from the scenery as he locked them on Ethaniel. "...before we go out and explore, I think we might have to brace ourselves for another wave of monsters way above our current level."


    Although Shinto knew exactly what he was talking about, he had to state it in an unsure tone. The reason was, if he were to give note that the group was the monsters in the area were above forty levels than their own, questions as to how he found out would surface.


    With the whole situation regarding the Beings of Divinity and Shadow, he didn''t want anyone to know besides Kon who was a shadow minion.


    Thus, he could only vaguely utter out the words that they may be below the average of the zone. Even if Shinto were to say that he knew the area, he''d be outright lying and that would cause harm in the long term for him whilst he was here.


    "We may be under levelled again?" Ethaniel frowned. "Just how much are we talking about here?"


    "I''ve no idea," Shinto sighed. "But, with the way we''re underprepared to enter out into the cold atmospheric area and that we may be far away from Parm... I''d say we''re well below around twenty levels? My guts telling me it''s more than that, though..."


    "Ugh... Another twenty levels high?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Just where is this damn ce?"


    "My question is the same as you..." he shook his head helplessly as he turned towards the slimes. "Do the Slera''s know?"


    "Do you expect underground dwellers who haven''t seen the surface for years to know?" Ethaniel raised his brow.


    "Ahem... Well, it was worth a try," Shinto shrugged.


    "W-Wha? Hey!" Minister Yer clicked his tongue. "You''re just going to repeat whatever I said to you, to him?! Think up on a better original line!"


    "...why are you taking credit over pointless words?" Reru scoffed at the minister as he hopped over towards Ethaniel. "Hey, human. Tell the person in front of you that there''s nothing to worry about regarding the level gap. There''s no way they''ll be above my level."


    "Hah... What level are you, huh?" Ethaniel red at Reru.


    "Higher than you obviously. Do you even need to ask?" Reru stated as he soon turned his back on Ethaniel. Then, he began to make his way out of the caverns alongside Rustly. "Anyways, get a move on. We don''t have all day."


    "Tch... Stupid slimes," Ethaniel scorned.


    "...sigh. What did the Sleras say to you to get you all worked up like that?" Shinto asked.


    "Bah... It''s nothing. We apparently don''t have to worry," Ethaniel scoffed. "Anyways, let''s get a move on. The other two slimes will be here since one is a loudmouth whilst the other have to ensure their safety."


    Nodding his head in reply, Shinto, Kon and Ethaniel soon followed after the slimes who were way ahead down the steeped pathway from the cliff to the grounds of the pinewood forest.


    ...


    Stepping on the snow grounds of the tundra ins, the coldness around them became much prevalent thanpared to when they were in the caverns.


    "Wow... This is quite chilly..." With ack of warm equipment on him, Shinto couldn''t help but shiver slightly. "Hah... It''d be nice if I could get proper equipment that at least kept up with my level..." With cold breath rasping out into the air, Shinto turned to his now shabby equipment in a look of helplessness.


    It couldn''t be helped though. With Shinto now reaching into the thirties, the fact that he hadn''t gotten any new gear besides the Cursemancer''s Glove was extremely disadvantageous for him.


    If Shinto had gone about the usual pacing as a normal newbie yer would, he wouldn''t be worried about the equipment at his level. However, that wasn''t the case. Skipping the tens and heading straight into a level twenty to thirty dungeon meant that he''d lose out on early-game equipment and steady development from newbie dungeons.


    "Sigh... Having good abilities is one thing... Being at an equipment and level disadvantage was another," continuing to sigh through his teeth, Shinto could only turn away from his equipment and nce over to the surrounding area. "I can only hope that the enemies are not in groups so we can handle them at a decent rate..."


    With the situation they were in, he and his group were now at an equipment and level disadvantage with the enemies average being forty levels higher. Thus, if a situation like the rats were toe again, their deaths were to be guaranteed.


    "Tch... You... Why are you acting so down?" Reru clicked his tongue. "I said it earlier didn''t I? Nothing to worry about. Normal monsters can''t stand a chance against me."


    "...yeah right," Ethaniel rolled his eyes. "Let''s see it for ourselves when we enter intobat."


    "Hmph. You weak humans seem to only like seeing to believe, huh?" Reru scoffed.


    "Reru..." Shinto helplessly shook his head whilst listening in on the conversation with Ethaniel and Reru. "Although you have this sudden confidence in you... I doubt that you can try to stop a horde of monsters all on your own if worstes to worst."


    Even if Reru''s level was within the parameters of the area, it still wouldn''t change the fact that the rest of the group were way below the average level. So, at that point, Reru''s burden would heavily be increased in making sure Shinto and the others wouldn''t get killed during the fight.


    "What? Is it because of the skill level I showed you back in the catbs?" Reru seemed to be raising a brow. "You were fighting a weakened version of myself due to the curse. My strength has been gradually returning since then."


    "Well, if you say so... I guess I''ll believe you," Shinto muttered out in doubt after hearing Ethaniel''s trantion.


    "Jeez... Just you wait. I''ll have my proper skills engraved in your mind when we encounter a monster!"


    "Yeah, yeah," shrugging, Ethaniel turned his gaze over to Rustly who had been silent the entire time whilst the group were conversing with one another. "Anyway... Ignoring the whole situation fiasco. What is up with this guy? He''s been like this ever since we started exploring."


    "Hah... My annoying acts didn''t budge him at all," from the overconfidence that Reru gave earlier, his demeanour soon turned back into the usual annoyed expression at the presence of the humans. "Tch... He''s back to the original mood of when we just left to head back to the catbs."


    "..." With Ethaniel not tranting what Reru had said, Shinto could only look at the gloomy Rustly without being able to say anything. Whilst he was doing so, he and the group suddenly heard rustling sounds from the bushes. "...?"


    With all eyes on the bush, the party hurriedly entered into a battle position to fend off whatever was in there.


    "..."


    Seconds passed as they waited for the appearance of the monster. However, seconds turned to minutes but none appeared.


    "...a false rm?" Shinto uttered out. But, the moment he did so, a piercing ice bolt jolted out from the bush. "...!"


    Noting the sudden bolt of ice that protruded forward, Shinto hurriedly swayed to the side as he dodged it.


    "An elemental, huh?" Ethaniel gripped onto the handle of the sword as he prepared tounch an attack. "Should be easy to handle. I guess we were worried for nothing."


    <strong><em>Ting...</em></strong>


    An elemental with pieces of ice rotating around its core appeared from the bushes as it made countless nking sounds. Soon after, the elemental charged forward over to Ethaniel as it extruded out cial of ice from the ground where he was standing at.


    "Simple," Ethaniel leapt back from the attack as he soon countered with an arc of light, quickly sending it over to the elemental. But, as soon as he did so, the elemental channelled out energy around itself as it soon burst forth a stormy hail around the area. "...?!"


    [ A hail has urred! ]


    [ Effects of the hail will be taking ce. ]


    "...tch. This is..."


    With his movements suddenly slowed down, the elemental charged forward once again as it shot out icy bolts to the freezing Ethaniel.

 Chapter 154: Pinewood Forest (1)

    Chapter 154: Pinewood Forest (1)


    "U-Ugh..." Groaning in annoyance at the iing attack that was moving straight to his face, Ethaniel tried all his might to move towards the side, howeverwith the decrease in movement speed due to the hail, he was unable to make it in time.


    <strong><em>Ting...</em></strong>


    Thus, with a nk of its ice around itself, the elemental seemed to be chuckling at the sight of its cial ice bolt hitting the target and in turn, the health of the targetEthaniel, lowered greatly into the yellow zone.


    "Bah... Did he just took me for half my health?" Ethaniel''s body shook upon being struck by the icy attack as he turned to the rising notifications in front of him. "I''ll be dead if I get hit again..."


    [ The effects of the hail have taken ce! ]


    [ The hail atmosphere that you feel has decreased your movement speed by 20% and cold resistance by 30%. Not only that, your water resistance has been lowered by 100%. ]


    ...


    "The damage is just too much for us to handle since our defence in water is below the negatives of a hundred..." Shinto sighed as he moved his staff over to Ethaniel. Soon after, a mark of umbra was casted upon him, slowly raising his health back into the green.


    "You think?" Ethaniel scoffed as his eyes averted to his health bar, noting that it was in the suitable levels to survive another attack from the elemental. Moments after, Ethaniel charged forward to the enemy with his sword in hand whilst shining down a pir of light onto them. "But whatever... Just keep healing me and we''re bound to kill this guy."


    As the skill shone down upon the elemental, they remained still as it channelled out another energy around itself. Quickly, the hail around Ethaniel and Shinto fell down much harder than before, swiftly eating at their health as time went on.


    "E-Eek... The hail''s doing damage!" Kon cried out as he tried to dodge the hail, though it was proved futile.


    "Tch..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he scrutinized the chuckling elemental in front of him. "Even with two attacks from him, the elemental''s health is still in the green. Though... It was called for..."


    With a level disadvantage of forty and no suitable equipment for the current area, it meant that the disparity of dealing normal damage to enemies of higher-ranked fell off greatly.


    "Hah... This is annoying," Ethaniel frowned. "Can we get normal enemies to fight for once?"


    "I don''t have healing skills all day long to keep up with this storm... We have to finish this or we might need to run," Shinto stated helplessly as he casted out [ Divinity Point ] to the elemental, quickly allowing him to regain back his loss of health. Though, the health regained soon return back to its original number due to the hail. "Then there''s the Chill Debuff where we''ll all die if we stay out here too long..."


    "W-What do we do then?" Kon uttered out. "My Orbal Shadow''s damage dealt almost nonexistent damage..."


    "Hah... You humans..." Reru scoffed at the worrisome sight of Shinto and Kon. "You''re struggling with this monster?"


    "Hey... How about you just shut up and help us already?!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue whilst barely dodging a block of cial ice that protruded out from the ground. "Do you want us to die or something?!"


    "I wanted to see whether your worries were warranted for or you were just overthinking," Reru stated as he leapt forward whilst protruding out a slime sword from his body. In the next moment, the sword swung in an arc as it gashed at the body of the elemental. "But it seems that it was both."


    As the sword collided with the body of the monster, the ice around it shook greatly as its body was sent over to a pine tree in the distance.


    "...obviously it was warranted for?" Ethaniel frowned. "I don''t see you needing any equipment!"


    "Look at Erith if you want to argue about that," Reru seemed to be rolling his eyes as he jumped forward to the elemental. In turn, he continued to strike at the monster consecutivelythus lowering its health down into the red. "Anyways... This is nothing."


    Stating out nonchntly, the elemental turned into grey ash.


    [ Hail Elemental has been defeated! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 34! ]


    [ Kon has levelled up to level 27! ]


    [ Kon has levelled up to level 28! ]


    [ Your Shadow Stats has been increased by 1. ]


    [ The hail has passed. The area has returned back to normal. ]


    "Hah..." Shinto let out a sigh of relief as he saw that the elemental that the group was struggling at was instantly destroyed by Reru. "This is just..."


    "O-Oh... So it was that easy if you''re that high of a level?" Kon muttered out.


    "..." Shinto felt slightly conflicted at the scene before him. Though he was happy that his worries with the monster''s level were solved with Reru''s, however, he felt a difficult feeling from being incredibly carried by him and his level raising up just like that. "Is this how people feel when they get carried hard?"


    "Sigh. What can we do? We''re basically unable to do anything..." Ethaniel shook his head helplessly.


    Within the game, fighting an enemy way above one''s level had no penalty besides being extremely underprepared in terms of equipment and stats. Thus, if they were to defeat them, said yer would receive the same amount of experience as a yer of the same level would.


    However, in the case of parties with a yer or NPC of the higher level, the experience distribution would be based on contribution within a battle instead of a split in order to bnce things out in the case of someone carrying another through the fight.


    With Reru''s full-on participation and ridding away 97% of the elemental''s health, it meant that the experience distributed to Ethaniel, Shinto and Kon were on the far lower side. Meanwhile, for Rustly, he only gained a very small amount due to his presence barely on the field. But, even at that point, the group still managed to raise their level up.


    "What? You''re all not even gonna appreciate that I helped you?" Reru frowned.


    "...at thest minute," Ethaniel clicked his tongue.


    "Like I said. I wanted to see whether your worries were warranted or not," Reru leapt forward through the forest as he stated it. "But in any case, let''s continue moving. You''ll die either way if we wait for the cold to take you away."


    "I want this ce out of this ce already..." Kon whimpered as the group continued through the forest.


    ...


    As the snow befell upon the area, on the mountainous path of a snowy mountain, a blonde-haired woman as well as an auburn one made way through it whilst wearing full jackets that seem to shield them from the cold.


    "B-Brr.. I-Is this the ce?" Despite wearing full-on jackets, the auburn-haired woman shivered. "This ce is way too cold from what you told me..."


    "Way too cold? Man... You really need to up yourself with the environment. This is nothing!" The blonde-haired woman replied nonchntly. "But yeah. This is the ce."


    "Huh... Wearn''t we supposed to find a vige or something?" The girl still shivered. "How did we end up at the peak of a mountain?


    "Ah- Well..." The woman uttered out. "U-Um... U-Um..."


    "We''re lost aren''t we?" The girl red at the blondie.


    "N-No!" she let out a cough. "We''re in the Fal''s kingdom mountainous heights! The vige should be somewhere around here!"


    "...in the middle of nowhere?" The auburn-haired girl tilted her head.


    "Not the middle of nowhere, I''m serious!" The blonde-haired woman cried out. "There should be a cavern or something that leads into the vige. So we just need to search far and wide for it!"


    "Mhm... If you say so," she chuckled in reply. "But, seriously though. I think there might be a hail storm soon... We should better find shelter or we might die again..."


    "Another hail?! What''s up with this ce?"


    "Well... We are in an area far from any city of the Fal Kingdom... " The auburn-haired girl muttered out. "I guess this must be the reason why..."


    "A ce deserted due to the unlivable conditions of the environments..." The blonde-haired woman sighed. "I guess that''s why this vige must be living in the caverns, huh?"


    "Is there even a vige like you said there was?" she questioned. "We''ve been going about this for days and well, no luck. How many times did we die?"


    "Eh... I''m sure there''s a vige! My sources tell me so," The blonde-haired woman nodded her head. "But it would have been so much helpful if Shinto was here... He would''ve made this journey a lot easier."


    "Mm... Well, not to worry~ I''m sure he''s having fun somewhere else, like how we are we''re having right now!" The auburn-haired woman chuckled.


    "We''re having fun?" she red at the woman beside her whilst walking ahead of the path. "It''s only fun when we''re not dying-" As she was about to continue her sentence, her eyes widened in shock. "Hey... Hey! I think we found it! Hikari! Over there!"

 Chapter 155: Pinewood Forest (2)

    Chapter 155: Pinewood Forest (2)


    Through the snowy paths of the Bareth''s Tundra Zone, monsters from snow goblins to hail elementals died one by one as Reru''s de struck at them. With his single-handed participation in most fights, the battles ended in matters of minutes.


    "Hah..." Letting out a cold breath that rasped into the air, Shinto frantically moved about within the area whilst sending out multiple shots of his basic attack. From behind him, Ethaniel soon followed up as they ganged up on a goblin that had been giving the group a hard time in the past minute on the battlefield.


    "Keke..." Dodging the countless attacks that protruded out towards him, the goblin threw its spear at Ethaniel who was upfront trying fervently to hit the guy. "Kek!"


    "Ugh... This guy..." Ethaniel impatiently clicked his tongue as he saw the smug expression on the goblin''s look.


    "He''s basically mocking us for being unable to hit him..." Shinto could only helplessly send out mana sparks after mana sparks in hopes of actually hitting the small goblin in front of him. However, the blue goblin proved difficult to strike at with his constant meticulous turns around the field.


    "This guy just won''t stay still..." Kon whimpered as his shot of [ Orbal Shadow ] was missed. "I can''t do anything..."


    "Neither can we," Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he turned to Reru who had been only watching from behind after clearing away the other monsters that hade together with the goblin. "Hey, Reru-"


    "Keke!" The goblin chuckled as it climbed onto Ethaniel''s body and stabbed a spear into him. Momentster, he leapt from his body over to Shinto''s. in which, he did the same thing.


    "U-Ugh...!" Taking the sudden damage from the goblin, the Shinto abruptly stuttered back as e soon took a look at his health post-attack, in turn, he noted that the health bar had only been shaved off by a little. "At the very least... He''s not dealing any detrimental damage to us."


    "Which is more annoying than it stands," Ethaniel groaned in annoyance. "Why are we even wasting time with this guy?!"


    "What? You wereining you couldn''t go up against any monsters in the area!" Reru stated. "Here''s your foe, I''m giving you a chance to not be useless!"


    "Hah... I don''t need you mentoring us," Ethaniel frowned. "We don''t get all day! Just end it!"


    "Hmph... At least give me who has been clearing monsters after monsters a break from your constant bickering," Reru leapt forward as his sword pierced through the chucking goblin. From his fun andughing expression earlier, turned into a dreaded one that seemed to had no expected such an attack out of nowhere.


    "K-Keke!" The goblin tumbled over towards the ground as his eyes shook.


    "Argh... Finally!" With the opportunity in front of him, Ethaniel rushed forward as his sword raised into the sky. In the next moment, he shone down countless attacks onto him as he wanted to end the guy in matters of seconds.


    However, even with the goblin''s horrendous damage against even a support and despite his extreme movement speed, the goblin proved quite durable as Ethaniel took more than ten seconds to turn the goblin into ash.


    "K-Keke..."


    [ Bareth Snow Goblin has been defeated! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 35! ]


    [ Kon has levelled up to level 28! ]


    [ You have obtained ''Mass Snow Goblin Spear'' ]


    ...


    "Ugh... Another spear?" After the battle, neither Ethaniel nor Shinto bathed in the glory of finally defeating the pesky goblin as they scrutinized the loot dropped by the goblin. "Can we get something else for once?!"


    [ Mass Snow Goblin Spear ]


    Rarity: Umon


    Attack Power: 208 ~ 249


    Durability: 211/347


    *Water RES is increased by 5% when wielding the spear.


    *When stabbing an enemy with the spear, 10% chance of decreasing the defensive power of the enemy by 15%.


    A mass-produced spear made for the army of snow goblins that reside within the Pinewood Forest. Infused with the spirit of the snow, the spear seemed to have aimed to copy its original predecessor that had overwhelming power of the blizzardThough, the mass-produced version had failed miserably.


    Condition(s): Level 60 or above.


    Weight: 65


    ...


    During the times where the party had fought against the mobs in the area, the only drop that had been given to them was the countless [ Mass Snow Goblin Spear ] that was in their inventory. Including the recently obtained, this was the seventh one.


    "I''d prefer to get a staff or a sword as a substitute weapon than a spear," Shinto sighed helplessly. With theirck of proper equipment, they had to make do with whatever they obtain throughout their journey in the Tundra ins. Though, even thentheir level still proved a blockage with the conditions to equip the item.


    "I need a new weapon... This one''s about to shatter," Ethaniel''s eyes averted over to his de that was starting to crack within his hands.


    [ Rosemary Front-Tail Sword ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Attack Power: 247 ~ 361


    Durability: 61/409


    *Strength +35


    *Agility +6


    *When attacking an enemy, marks them for increased damage taken against light-based attacks by 7%.


    *After striking at an enemy, 25% chance of increasing self''s agility by 5% for 5 seconds. The chances of pring it during the duration of the effect are increased to 20% and so on (Up to a maximum of 80%).


    A de inspired by the knight of Rosemary within the Kingdom of Evertail. With its meticulous sharp edges and light-weighted baggage, this sword was a force to be reckoned with whenbined with speed and precision against an enemy.


    Condition(s): Level 30 or above, Minimum of 50 Strength and Agility required.


    Weight: 80


    ...


    "Hah... What do I do?" Ethaniel scruffled his hair in thought as he scrutinized the de in front of him. It seemed that he had been using this sword since the very start of when he first arrived at Parm and, he hadn''t yet had a chance to even send it to a cksmith to fix its durability. "All my other swords are way below my level now and this is the only good one..."


    Looking at his inventory, Ethaniel''s eyes soon peaked in interest as he caught glimpse of a sword that had been at the back of his mind[ Replica of Shaodon''s Sword Piece ].


    "..." With a reluctant demeanour, Ethaniel took out the sword from his inventory. "...sigh. 450 Strength needed... I''m not even close to that, but... At least the penalty should be more doable since I don''t have many options..."


    "Oh?" From the distance, Shinto noted that the sword now in Ethaniel''s hands wasn''t that of a silver de that had flowery look on it. Instead, the de was that of a dark shade of purple with a dark aura around it. "You''re going to use it?"


    "The only sword that''s avable for usage," Ethaniel shook his head helplessly. "My old one''s about to break and I don''t want that to happen."


    "But, didn''t you say that the sword had some crazy requirements for you?" Shinto tilted his head in thought. "Being able to equip such a thing means..."


    "Yes. I can equip equipment out of my level if it''s rted to swords or light armour," Ethaniel stated in a listless tone as he swung the new dark sword in his hands multiple times. "Though the stats will be reduced if I don''t meet the bare minimum requirements, it''s still better than nothing."


    "Right..." Shinto had recalled that Ethaniel had been wearing level 30+ items since the day he had met him in the dungeon against Shivuliz. Though he had thought that it was his imagination, his suspicion now confirmed true with Ethaniel''s words. "At the very least you have options to equip..."


    "Look, I only have thing''s for myself in my inventory and they''re all severely underlevelled for this area anyway," Ethaniel shrugged. "How was I supposed to know we''d be at some crazy high levelled area AGAIN after finishing the dungeon?"


    "You''re right," helpless, Shinto could do nothing but look at his soon to be destroyed, staff and shabby equipment. "Let''s just hope we''d get something good while we''re exploring. Though, I doubt it''d be possible."


    As the two conversed with one another, a cry from the slime at the side rang through their ears. "Hey, we don''t have all day! Do you want to freeze to death? No, right? Then get a move on!"


    "Ugh... Who was the one that had us fight for almost five minutes against a stupid goblin?" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "I had overestimated your abilities. It seems that even a goblin you can''t handle," Reru rolled his eyes as he continued forward on his path. "In any case... We''ve been out here for a little over thirty minutes. If we don''t find anything before the fifty-minute mark, we might as well just go back to the caverns."


    "What can we even find in the middle of a forest?" Ethaniel asked whilst following behind Reru.


    "The only thing I can think of is well..." Continuing on into the pinewood forest, the group suddenly stopped at their footsteps as they turned their head over to the sound of a discrete noise from the distance. "...a monster''s vige?"

 Chapter 156: Pinewood Forest (3)

    Chapter 156: Pinewood Forest (3)


    With their eyes narrowed over to the direction of the small noises by the distance, the group looked at one another, as if indecisive of a decision.


    "Um... Master... D-Did you just say a monster''s vige?" Kon uttered out with a slightly shaky voice.


    "...well, I''m not so sure?" Shinto tilted his head whilst still confirming his thoughts. "With the countless sounds by the distance, I can only reckon that it might be a camp or a vige area where monstersy rest in."


    For Shinto, he doubted that there would be a vige in the middle of a forest that seemed to be untouched by human civilization for a long time. Thus, with the discrete sounds nearby, the only reasonable conclusion that he coulde up with was that there could be a monster vige nearby.


    "A monster''s vige?" Reru questioned. "Good. Let''s head there then and see if we can find anything that won''t make you useless."


    "Hah...?" Ethaniel dumbfoundedly red at Reru. "What can a vige made of monsters, which is the obvious goblins, give us? The only thing that''s usible is weapons... Which we seem to be cursed to only get spears."


    "That''s just your own terrible luck. Just go to a random mage and get a damn staff for Shinto," Reru stated nonchantly. "While you''re at it, maybe another for the other human who learnt the arts. As for that brawler? Tough luck."


    "You make it sound so easy..." Ethaniel sighed helplessly. "Out of all the goblins we encountered and killed, all the drops were that shitty spear."


    "Like I said, it''s your horrible luck," Reru scoffed. "Now, anyway, just get a move on before we freeze to death."


    "Argh... Whatever," Ethaniel walked away as he headed over to the direction of the noises. "With the way you''re doing things... Our cause of death might be something else."


    "Like I''d let you die on my watch," Reru stated as he walked behind Ethaniel.


    "So we''re going to go to a territory where we''ll be surrounded and possibly be overwhelmed?" Kon whimpered. "Isn''t that... Asking for our deaths?"


    "Well... We still do need to find something worthwhile in this trip," Shinto shrugged. "With Reru''s strength, I guess we can survive barely or well, just enough to get back to the caverns in one piece."


    "...gloop," As if hearing on the conversation between Shinto and Kon, Rustly uttered out words that they could not understand as he moved along the path.


    "..." Looking at Rustly, Shinto tilted his head as he thought to himself. "...this guy hasn''t spoken a word since we got here and the first thing he mumbles out is when the trantor and Reru are gone..." shaking his head helplessly with no ways of knowing what could possibly help Rustly, he could only hope to ask the Sleras at a better time.


    ...


    Leaving behind footprints as they stepped on the heavy snow through the pinewood forest, the group steadily made their way over to the discrete noises into the distance. Though, what greeted them was something that was not within their expectations.


    "...well, this is still amunity," Shinto uttered out as he scrutinized the front of him. Quickly noting the many monsters that were gathered in front of a broken-down ruin that seemed to be from ancient times. "With the number of monsters I''m seeing here... It should be enough to be a vige."


    "T-There''s so much..." Kon shivered.


    "Well, we found what we were looking for at least," Ethaniel shrugged. "A ruin."


    "How nice... Here I was expecting a vige so that you won''t be useless for when we actually doe across a ruin," Reru sighed. "Well... When do my expectations hold up?"


    "What, you''re saying something like this, you can''t handle?" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "I can. But I prefer to sweep the floors when I''m not the one who''s handling everything," Reru stated. "We have three pieces of baggage and someone who became useless. What do you expect me to do?"


    "Tch... Then, let''s head back and wait for Frey and Raina toe back?" Ethaniel questioned. "If you want us to level, we might as well level together with them."


    "That sounds like a n. At the very least, we know where the ruins are now," Reru seemed to be shrugging. "Though, if I just drag Rustly in and go pass all the monsters, it''ll be a much faster process."


    "No... I just want to stay here for a bit. I don''t want to go back yet," Rustly muttered out. "Just let the humans train or something... While I just uh... Want to sleep."


    "Jeez... Are you serious? You want to sleep here?" Reru clicked his tongue. "We have a much better bed in the catbs, and you''d rather sleep here..."


    "I''ve had a lot to think about and well, I just want time to myself," Rustly stated. "And... We''re not in any rush to do anything else after all."


    "Hey... Isn''t that being selfish?" Ethaniel frowned. "You may not be in a rush to do anything... But that''s just ignoring us. We have thing''s to do after this."


    "..." Rustly''s eyes turned to Ethaniel as he averted his gaze away. "Two days. Just give me that amount of time," he stated as he waltzed away from the group.


    "...what? HEY! Rustly! Come back here!" Reru cried out as he rushed over to Rustly, however, with his pace, Reru couldn''t catch up to him. Though, yet, despite that, the two left the group alone.


    "Huh? What? Don''t just leave us here!" Ethaniel shouted out in anger as he was about to chase after Reru.


    "...Ethan. I don''t know what may have happened in that conversation, but... If you leave, we''ll be in deep trouble..." Shinto muttered out.


    "Huh, what?" Ethaniel abruptly turned to Shinto who was gradually stepping back from the bush that they were hiding in.


    "...the conversation may or may not have alerted the countless monsters upfront," Shinto''s voice slightly trembled as he prepared to begin dashing away.


    "...?" Turning over to the direction of where Shinto had been staring at, chills went down his spine as his eyes shook. "...shit."


    "Kek..."


    "Grr..."


    <strong><em>Ting...</em></strong>


    Into the distance, monsters from wolves to elementals slowly made their way over to the bush where the group were at. Seconds by second, the distance between them closed.


    "H-Hey, you two... What are you waiting for?!" Kon cried out. "Run!"


    Moments after shouting out, Ethaniel and Shinto stepped back as they hurriedly turned around, quickly making a run for it. In reply to that, the pace of the monsters quickened, soon chasing after the prey.


    "Hah... How do we lose that?!" Ethaniel cried out as their pace was beginning to be slowed by the elemental''s hail effect. "We''re going to die at this rate."


    "We need to find somewhere for us to lose them," Shinto''s brain quickly worked as he looked around in the area. Though they were in the forest, there wearn''t any ces to off-put them into going elsewhere. "If we do... I can use my field skill to redirect them somewhere else."


    "Where can we do that?!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he hurriedly turned around and began unsheathing his sword. In the next moment, a shing bright light shone down onto the pack of monsters that were in close approximate to them.


    "Kek..." Although sessfully hitting the wolves and elementals, the goblins swayed to the side, dodging the attack. Momentster, the goblins began throwing countless storms of arrows, spears, spells and the like to them.


    "Ahh! They''re going to rain down on us!" Kon eximed. "What do we do?! What do we do?!"


    "Ugh... This is annoying. Did Reru had to leave us at such a time?!" Ethaniel frowned. "What was that about making sure we don''t die on his watch?"


    "We can think about thister. The hail''s taking into full effect and I''m not sure we can even survive this..." Shinto said in a defeated tone as he noted that the atmosphere began to be extremely chilly. Not only that, the health of the group slowly pummelled into the yellow zone from all the attacks that they had taken.


    "I don''t want to randomly spawn elsewhere and get lost!" Ethaniel scruffled his head. "Can''t you slow them down with your skills?!"


    "I could, but with this amount of monsters... I doubt we''d even lose half of them," Shinto replied.


    "Then what can we do?!"


    "Ugh... I don''t know..." Shinto struggled to think of anything whilst they continued running in the direction of where the cavern was. "There has to be something..."


    With only pinewood trees in their vision, the options to run away and hide from the oing disaster was blocked. Neither could they outrun enemies nor could they fight off the horde.


    "Well, think of something! You have all the escape rted skills here!" Ethaniel urged Shinto.


    "I''m trying!" Still frantically looking around to the countless trees, an idea soon popped up in his mind. "...how many useless things are there in your inventory? And... Are you good at throwing them?"


    "Is that even a question?" Ethaniel inquired.


    "Then... Let''s do this."

 Chapter 157: Pinewood Forest (4)

    Chapter 157: Pinewood Forest (4)


    With heavy steps on the snow of the tundra ins, Shinto and Ethaniel rushed forward through the pinewood forest whilst having a horde of monsters chasing them from behind.


    "Hah... You sure this will work?" Ethaniel questioned Shinto as his attention slightly diverted over to the back of them where he noted that the monsters were still persistently making haste towards them. "I''m not sure if they''re stupid enough to go elsewhere..."


    "I-It seems to be our only option..." Kon whimpered in reply to him.


    "If it fails... Well it fails," Shinto sighed through his teeth. "We only have so many options."


    "Ugh... If we end up in a ce like this for the third time before the hundreds, I''m just going to buy equipment way above my level at that point," with reluctance to follow through with what Shinto had thought of, Ethaniel helplessly quickened his pace as he headed towards a pinewood tree upfront.


    "Let''s just hope it works..." With time running thin, Shinto nced around the area and noted that Ethaniel had reached into position. Momentster, he looked at Kon who seemed to be ready as well. "Sigh..."


    Taking a deep breath and heading towards the tree where Ethaniel was, Shinto began to chant out a verse of the spell: [ Shadow Fields ] which had levelled up to the second level.


    [ Shadow Fields Lv 2 ] [ 20 Shadow Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 6 Minutes 40 Seconds ]


    The Shadow Diviner creates a veil of shadows that covers a wide area of a 25m radius for 32 seconds.


    Whilst doing so, enemies within the field will be inflicted by blindness and have their stats decreased by 6% (Stackable with other abilities). Not only that, those that you deem allies will gain a 6% boost in stats (Stackable with other abilities) as well as have their vision enhanced within the darkness.


    *When the Shadow Diviner stays within his own field, 1 shadow gauge point will be regenerated every 5 seconds until the duration of skill ends.


    ...


    Moments after Shinto finished the chant, he heeded no time as he casted it out into the surrounding areaIn turn, a veil of darkness appeared around him.


    "Grr...!!" The wolves slowed down at their footsteps as they entered the field that Shinto had created. "..." With the skill effects inflicting blind onto them, the canines began to use their senses. Though, they didn''t need to as the wolves heard a loud shout from their front.


    "Get it done, now!" Shouting out hismand, Shinto immediately leapt forward through the darkness as hetched himself onto the tree, soon beginning to climb it up with his strength. "Ugh... Grip strength''s horrible," with a silent curse, he ced 19 stat points into Strength, thus bringing it up to 50.


    "Kek!" Noting the shout that wasing upfront from Shinto, the goblins began to rush up towards the direction of it, ignoring their inability to see. However, as they took a step forward, a slightugh came from their sides.


    "H-Hey!" A ck fox uttered out with a slightly shaky voice. "Over here!"


    "Kek..." The goblinsughed as their attention now focused on Kon.


    "E-Eep!" Confirming that the goblin''s aggro was now on Kon, he started running away from the tree, quickly moving out of the area of the field.


    Whilst he was doing that, from the top of the tree, stood Ethaniel who had his eyes stered on the ground, noting the wolves on the ground pampering at the tree.


    "The goblins are out of the way... Now it''s the shitty wolves and elementals," counting the remaining head numbers of the monsters, a handful had started chasing after Kon instead. Momentster, Ethaniel began taking out the countless spears dropped by the goblins from his inventory.


    "Sigh..." Averting his eyes away from the wolves, he soon turned over to the surrounding trees within the area. "...this will work? How would the aggro divert away from here to there?"


    "Huff... Huff..." Letting out a tired breath whilst sessfully climbing the tree, Shinto answered. "It should work if arge amount of sound resounds out into the area upon impact with the spears to the tree. Or if possible, just destroy the tree as a whole."


    "..." Hearing Shinto''s reply, Ethaniel looked at the spear in his hand as he was contemted on the thought. "Ugh... How long do we have?"


    "The fields running out in 10 more seconds. I hope you''re good at throwing," Shinto stated.


    "Bah... Whatever!" Pinpointing his gaze over to a suitable direction to throw out the spears, Ethaniel began mustering up all his strength as threw the countless weapons out into the air.


    ...


    As he threw it out into the air, only the sounds of the rustling leaves could be heard. It seemed as if the spears that he threw out was futile.


    "...we''re so dead," Shinto sighed. "I guess we can wait for the inevitable before the branch we''re standing on eventually breaks..."


    "Argh... Just wait!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he began to search through his inventory, taking out the countless swords that Shinto had never seen him used. "Tch... I''m gonna lose gold for this, but better than dying!"


    "Wait... Why do you have so many swords?"


    "Don''t question it and just, I don''t know, shoot out your spells or something into the air as well!" With slight hesitation, Ethaniel began throwing out the swords through the leaves of the tree into the direction of where the spears had been thrown out.


    In turn, the moment the countless swords were thrown into the air, loud metal sounds began resounding out. With the help of Shinto''s [ Hallowed Crest ] and [ Divinity Point ] that only hit the ground but still created certain sounds that alerted the wolves, the monsters below them began to abruptly move away.


    "...it''s working!" With slight joy on his face, Ethaniel just continued throwing out the remaining swords until the few weapons that remained in his inventory were the ones important for him. "...tch. I''m out."


    "It''s fine, I think," Shinto reassured Ethaniel. "The horde is rushing over to the other side, so now''s our chance to get away from here."


    "Right behind you," Ethaniel stated as the two yers jumped down from the tree. From the height they were at, the two didn''t need to worry about falling t on the ground as theynded just perfectly.


    Soon after, without looking back, the two hurried down the snowy paths as they made their way to the direction of the caverns. Meanwhile, at the side of them, Kon frantically rendezvoused with the group with a tired look.


    "I-I did it..." Kon tiredly muttered out. "The goblin''s took the bait..."


    During the time when Kon had exited out of the field of shadow created by Shinto, the fox immediately used his ability: [ Shadow y ] and lured the goblins that had their aggro on Kon far from the tree the two yers were at.


    At the same time, Kon then activated [ Camouge ] and escaped over to the other side, soon grouping up with the party.


    "Hah... Good job," picking up Kon and cing him on his shoulder, Shinto as well as Ethaniel began to quickened their pace as they made their way towards the caverns.


    ...


    Through a dark cave that had two slimes sitting by the side of the walls looking bored, Erith and Minister Yer''s gaze locked onto the outskirts of the cavern, waiting and waiting for the return of the party that had gone out to explore.


    "Ugh, it''s been an hour! An hour!" Minister Yer cried out. "Are they dead? If they are... We''re dead!"


    "Ahem. Just calm down... It hasn''t exactly been an hour," Erith sighed. "There''s still time."


    "There''s still time?!" Minister Yer frowned at Erith''s word. "No way are they going toe back here with such a short amount of time left!"


    "How would you know?"


    "I know when I know!" Minister Yer clicked his tongue. "Argh... Let''s just go back into the caverns and see if Madam Ru ced down the veil since she might have noticed it''s taking a long while for us toe back!"


    "What, are you crazy?" Erith asked. "You''re just going to abandon everyone like that?"


    "They''re dead! What am I supposed to do?!"


    "...we''re dead? Could you get your facts checked?" As the two slimes discussed with one another, a male''s voice protruded out.


    "...?!" Turning over to the direction of the voice, they noted that Shinto and Ethaniel had safely arrived back into the cavern. Though, at the sight of them, their eyes shook.


    "H-Hey... What are you!?" As Minister Yer was about to barrage questions upon questions to the two humanshe was soon interrupted by the abrupt action of Ethaniel, where he walked past the slime and fell down to the ground, soon beginning to close his eyes.


    "...just, let me... Rest for a bit before I hear yourints..." Ethaniel mumbled out with little strength as his eyes shut closed.


    "Huh? Hey, what the hell? Oi! Where''s Reru and Rustly?!" Minister Yer cried out. However, Ethaniel had seemed to have already drifted off into slumber.

 Chapter 158: Pinewood Forest (5)

    Chapter 158: Pinewood Forest (5)


    "Zzz..." With his mind going elsewhere and his body resting on the cold hard floors of the cavern, Ethanielpletely ignored the shouts and constant bickering from the jumping slime that was leaping up and down on his body.


    "Ugh... You, answer!" Minister Yer frowned angrily as he continued repeating the action he had been doing for the past few minutes moments after Ethaniel had fallen down to the ground in the mood to sleep.


    "Later... My stamina''s drained and well, my body aches..." Ethaniel murmured out in a tone ofziness as he soon kept quiet.


    "OI! Human! The hell?!" Minister Yer cried out.


    "Hah..." At the sight of the slime''s attitude, Shinto sighed as he slowly got up from the ground which he had hoped he''d stayed glued to, and walked up towards Ethaniel. "Hey, if you''re going to sleep, give me that ne so I can speak to them."


    "What?" Ethaniel''s drowsy eyes nced to the figure of a man in front of him. "...aren''t you tired too? Just let this guy jump up and down and waste energyining. It''s a good massage actually."


    "Well... I prefer to have peace and quiet," Shinto stated. "So, can you give me the ne so you can sleep without interruption?"


    "Ugh..." he grunted as he moved his hand over to his neck, soon taking out the ne he had been wearing for quite some time. "Since you''ll be having a discussion, I''ll just move deeper into the caverns for a nap. Wake me up when Frey and Raina get back."


    With the harsh cold environment within the air and the overexertion of the stamina of the two yers, their bodies were bound to grow tired. Thus, in order for them to be at full strength, they needed to sleep in-game which they hadn''t done in a while.


    "Right... Have a good nap then," Shinto stated whilst letting out a yawn. Though, despite his clear worn out and exhausted expression, he took a deep breath as he equipped the [ Ne of the Gloop ] on him. "Ahem... Now, Minister Yer, was it? Ask away. Though... I warn you that I won''t exin thing''s to the fullest due to my drowsiness."


    "Hmph... At least a decent human knows to show his respect!" Minister Yer stated. "Now exin. What happened to those other slimes that went out with you? Did you leave them to die?!"


    "H-Hey... Minister," Erith sighed. "Can you act decently too and stop shouting? Your voice is starting to ring in my head and well... I frankly don''t like it."


    "Ugh... I''m here trying to help by seeing whether or not they''ve conspired in the death of our precious people!" Yer stated. "If they die, what about us? We''ll definitely die! Us Slera''s aren''t born to handle the winter coldness!"


    "Sigh... At least hear out the human before we decided what to do?" Erith reasoned as he turned towards the helpless Shinto. "A-Anyway... Human... Shinto was it? What actually happened?"


    "In simple words, they left us to die," Shinto stated.


    "Huh? What?" Minister Yer blinked helplessly. "Say that again? Who was the one that left the other to die?"


    "...the slimes left us to die," Shinto repeated his words to the two slimes. "We ran back all the way here with our lives intact just barely surviving the horde of monsters we encountered."


    "Reru and Rustly left you two... What the?" Erith muttered out. "They''re typically not like this... and... they wouldn''t dare pull off such a thing..."


    "So you''re saying... The humans are the one''s lying?" Minister Yer stated as his body soon shook. "If that''s so... Then... Aren''t we in like... Danger?! I don''t want to die!"


    "H-hey... Calm down, will you?" Shinto helplessly uttered out. However, before he could say a word, Shinto suddenly felt a chilly breeze within the area. "...huh?"


    "We''re so dead... We''re so dead!" Minister Yer continued to utter out as his body shook as if ignoring the sudden cold air around him.


    "Hey... Shinto, this is not your doing, right?" Erith questioned as he entered into high alert. "Cold air all of a sudden... Did something follow you back?"


    "No... That can''t be..." Shinto''s brow raised in confusion as he tried to recall the previous events that had happened. He vividly remembered that they lured the monsters away from them, thus escaping out of their range of aggro. HoweverIt seems as if he was misremembering due to his tired demeanour and, with that, thetter sounds proved him so.


    <strong><em>Ting...</em></strong>


    With the sound of ice nking onto a stone that reverberated through the caverns, the group was quickly alerted as they turned their heads over to the direction of the sound, noting the sight of multiple hail elementals at the entrance of the cave.


    "E-Eek! What is that?!" Minister Yer''s body began to shake much greater than before. "Monsters? Ahh! You humans, aren''t to be trusted at all! We''re all gonna die!"


    "Ugh..." Shinto clicked his tongue at the sight as his eyes turned towards his back, noticing that despite the sudden situation they were in, Ethaniel was still asleep. It hadn''t yet been ten minutes since they were back to the caverns and his group was pulled into another scenario once again.


    "Besides Ethan... It''s just me and Kon..." he muttered out whilst turning to Erith. "Do you think you''re able to fight them?"


    It wasn''t a question for him to ask given the circumstance, yet he still needed to confirm whether they needed to run away once again or they had a fighting chance.


    "I guess? Just what are their levels?" Erith asked.


    "From the way we fought against them earlier... They''re around forty levels above mine with Reru seemingly being quite higher than them. Though I don''t know," he exined.


    "And what''s your current level?"


    "36," Shinto spoke out.


    "36... And if their forty levels higher..." Erith suddenly coughed at the thought. "The seventies?! I''m only just in the sixties!"


    "Ten levels below..." Assessing the situation and scanning the numbers of the enemies upfront, he nodded his head whilst taking out his staff. "...it might be a struggle, but four on three is doable if we act smart. I''ll support you."


    "This..." Without anything he could do, Erith took out his sword and shield from his body. Unlike how Reru''s was made of pure slime, Erith''s equipment on the other hand was purely made of metal, though unbeknownst to Shinto on how the structure of a Slera work, it seems that they can carry around items within them without much issue. "...I hope you''re right about this."


    <em><strong>Ting...</strong></em>


    If only time would have paused whilst the group were discussing, however, the sad reality was not how time worked. While they were conversing, the elementals had gotten much closer towards the party and were about to channel out multiple bursts of energy.


    "Ahem... In any case... Get into position and we''ll begin," Shinto stated as he cast out [ Shadow Fields ] which had sessfully gone off cooldown just in time, and soon followed it up with [ Rainy Slime ], [ Poisonous Goo ] and [ Hallowed Crest ].


    The moment he did so, with thebo of skills he shot out to the elementals, the attacks all jumbled up together as if the skills were all simultaneously cast with little to no interval at all and quickly befell upon the enemies.


    <em><strong>Tang...</strong></em>


    With the stream of attacks hitting the monsters at their front, Kon and Erith immediately rushed forward as they channelled out their attacks. [ Orbal Shadow ] and [ Quick me ] were cast by Kon onto one of the enemies and was soon carried through with Erith whose de swung in an arc as abo attack, swiftly pushing the enemy away.


    In the next moment, Erith whose de was still on the elemental quickly mustered up all his strength as he shed through the monster in front of himcracking the core and damaging the internals of the icy monster that was constantly nking at a moments notice.


    <em><strong>Ting...</strong></em>


    Though only tying up the hands of a single monster, the rest were quickly alerted at the group''s deed and hurriedly rushed over towards Erith in a pincer attack. From his right, spikes of ice protruded out from the ground, from his left, fields of ice froze the stone grounds and from the edge of his vision, spikes shot out towards him.


    "...ack...?!" Erith''s eyes widened in shock. "My shield can''tst this!"


    If all the attacksnded, it seemed as if he''d be a goner. But, with one whiff of a young man''s staff, the Shadow Diviner, Shinto leapt forward as he activated a skill, [ Mark of Umbra ] on Erith.


    "Not enough..." Shinto uttered out as he closed the distance between Erith even more and soon activated a spell which in turn brought out a small shining light around him[ Sanctum Brilliance ]. "...let''s hope this is enough!"


    With one breath, Shinto averted his hand over to a nearby elemental a shot out [ Divinity Brilliance ] which then provided his allies and himself with a 250 and 500 HP barrier respectively.


    ...


    With his shield held up into the air, Erith''s health pummeled down into the red zone from all the attacks that he took. But, with the help of Shinto''s healing and barrier usages, he survived with barely enough footing to defeat the first elemental.


    <em><strong>Tang...</strong></em>


    "Hah... Hah..." Erith hushed out a breath of exhaustion as he saw one of the elementals turning into grey ash. "Three more... You got anything more up your sleeve, Shinto?"


    "Huff..." Shinto''s eyes slightly shook as if he was about to faint. "I used up all my cards on this one enemy..."


    "Damn... Is this the end?"

 Chapter 160: Emergence (2)

    Chapter 160: Emergence (2)


    As Frey inquired on the matter, another blue light emitted out into the area and revealed the figure of Raina logging into the game. In the next moment, she was greeted by an absolutely warm wee of seemingly dead bodies lying around the cold hard ground.


    "...?" Raina blinked at the sight. "This is...?" Wanting to question as like how Frey had been doing for the past minute, she soon closed her mouth shut as she listened in on the confused Frey.


    "...uh, hello? Earth to everyone here?" Frey raised her brow with a big question mark on her head. Not only was had she been greeted by the sight of dead bodies, but no sound came out from them at all. It was as if they were really dead. "Are you guys alive? Hey!"


    Walking up towards the still body of a blonde-haired man, Frey bent down as she soon pped the face of the formerwhilst calling out his name. "Hey! Ethaniel! Are you dead?!"


    "..."


    Though despite the p on the face, there were no abrupt sounds nor movement from Ethaniel.


    "T-This is... A-Are they really dead?!" Frey gulped in fear as she slightly trembled, taking a step back in disbelief. "No, no! We''ve only been gone for an hour or two in real-time, right? How could they possibly be dead?!"


    Considering to p the face of Ethaniel much harder than before, she was quickly stopped by Raina. "H-Hey, Frey... Please wait a moment!"


    "Huh?" Stopping at her action midway, Frey abruptly turned to Raina in a questioning demeanour. "What do you mean, ''please wait a moment?'' I need to confirm whether they''re dead or not!"


    "A-Ahem... I don''t think they''re dead..." Raina uttered out as her head turned to the bodiesying on the rocky floors. "If they are... They would probably have turned into ashes and respawned somewhere else. But they didn''t."


    "Well, I know that. But just look at them! What part of ''they''re not dead'' do you see? They''re not making any sound, no reaction, no movement! Eeek!" Frey shivered at the thought. "Are they turning into zombies?!"


    "I mean they do look like they''re dead..." Raina tilted her head. "But they''re still breathing. So, the only logical exnation would be... They''re asleep?"


    "Asleep? Asleep??" Frey blinked at the thought. "Sleeping in an ufortable position... That''s new."


    "Alright... Maybe not asleep, but ratherunconscious?" Raina thought. "There seem to have been a battle around here... And they seem to have barely won it in a clutch."


    "Hmm, maybe! But still, if there was a battle that urred here... Were there casualties?" Frey tilted her head in question. "I don''t see some people... Rustly... Reru... and... KON! WHERE IS KON!?"


    "H-Hey, Frey calm down!" Raina murmured out in a worried tone. "I''m sure they''re safe... But you''re right. They''re not here..."


    ...


    On the heavy snow path that surrounded the ins of Bareth, two girls rushed through the forest as they hurried over to the slimes by the distance.


    "H-Hey...! Crowelin, wait for a second!" Hikari cried out as she was pulled by Crowelin through the snow.


    "No time! We might miss our only chance if we dilly dally any longer!" replying in a hurried tone, the two closed in on the distance between the slimes. "You want to get out of here too and finish up the quest, right?"


    "I mean yes... But, that''s not the point," Hikari stopped Crowelin at her tracks whilst speaking out. "What I''m trying to say is... Perhaps we might be going in on them at the wrong time."


    "Huh? What do you mean?" Crowelin tilted her head. "At the wrong time?"


    "You heard the few sentences from the distance earlier, right? I reckon they may be in an important discussion..." Hikari reasoned. So, disturbing them might ruin our chances at everything here."


    "Oh, huh..." Crowelin blurted out in an abrupt tone as she soon took a deep breath. "Sigh... My bad. I got too over myself with finally finding some locals."


    "Aha, it''s fine~!" Hikari smiled. "Let''s just wait around until they''ve finished discussing things. There''s still time before nightfall."


    With a nod of their heads, the two slowly scrunched over towards one of the trees in the distance as they soon listened in on the conversation between the two slimes.


    Although they had to wait around for them to finish up, they were quite curious about the discussion between the slimes as it wasn''t every day that they find seemingly civilized monsters.


    "So what if I always preferred thisnguage? I''d rather think of it as my mother tongue at this point," the blue small slime stated. "The Gloopin''snguage just isn''t my thing... No matter how many faces I put up with speaking it."


    "I can tell. You alwaysin and everything, but that isn''t the point I''m trying to make here," the other slime stated. "If you wish to speak Arcos, then fine. If that''s what it takes to get you talking to me, I don''t mind."


    "Yeah? So what is it? Why did you follow me out here in the open like that?" The small slimeRustly inquired in a condescending tone. "Are you here to give me a wake-up call? I don''t need it. You should be helping out the humans instead!"


    "Rustly, listen here. The humans can handle themselves just fine if they don''t do anything stupid like attracting a horde of monsters like at that ruin over there," the other slimeReru spoke in a resolute tone. "But you? You can handle yourself? Hah... I''d like to digress. But who am I to judge?"


    "Yeah, who are you to judge?" Rustly red at Reru. "But whatever. You''re beating around the bush here. You''re not answering my question. Why did you follow me all the way out here?"


    "..." Reru kept quiet as he took a deep breath. "I''m here because I want to know for sure about your true feelings. Just who is Sanke and Lier to you? On that note... Those humans who you rather seem quite fond of even if you don''t look that way. Ethaniel, was it? Then there''s Shinto..."


    "...who are they to me?" Rustly averted his gaze away from Reru. "People who I seem to rte more than even you, or my own race. That''s what."


    "To the point, you''d feel the need to neglect your family and your race for the sake of Lier?"


    "..." Rustly kept quiet as he soon divulged the topic. "Then who is Renryth to you?"


    "Rustly... We''re going nowhere with this!" Shouting out in a condemning tone, Reru''s words were soon cut short as a loud sound protruded out into the distance.


    "W-Wait... Did I just hear Shinto?" A female''s voice abruptly spoke out.


    "No... That can''t be, right? I mean... What coincidence would it be if he was here?" Another distinct voice replied.


    "...tch. People eavesdropping?" Taking out his sword in an annoyed manner, Reru uttered out. "Oi,e out or die."


    "..."


    As the warning was stated by Reru, the voices soon remained quiet. However, there was no movement within the area.


    "I''ve got no time for this shit," Reru clicked his tongue as he began making his way over to the direction of where he had heard the voices. "If you''re noting out, I''m going to you then."


    "...cough," letting out a slight cough upon hearing from the slimethe two figures which revealed to Hikari and Crowelin slowly showed themselves from behind the tree. "...we mean no harm!"


    "Hah... More humans? Just how many will we have this week?" Reru seemed to be frowning. "Hmph... But in any case, out with it humans. Why were you eavesdropping on us?"


    "Aha..." Hikari let out an awkwardugh. "We wearn''t exactly eavesdropping you see... All we wanted was to seek out help. However... You both seem rather busy."


    "Help?" Reru questioned. "I''ve got no time for whatever help you may need. I have my own business to handle," nonchntly speaking out his words, Reru began moving away from the two humans.


    "Ack- Hey, wait! Wait!" Crowelin shouted out. "You''re locals, right? We just need directions to the cavern that leads to a vige! Would you please tell us where it is? Then, we''ll leave after."


    "...cavern that leads to a vige? Locals?" Reru seemed to be raising his brow. "You''re misunderstanding. I''m no local to this ce. You''re barking up the wrong tree here."


    "W-We are...?" Hikari sighed. "So you''re not locals, huh? Then... Could you answer another question from us?"


    "Sigh... Look, humans. I''d hate to give you time out of my free time to help you, but, fortunately, I am extremely busy with other matters. So, if you would just leave-" As Reru was about to leave the two humans be, his steps soon stopped upon hearing the question from Hikari.


    "...do you know who the adventurer ''Shinto'' is?"


    "...Shinto?" Reru inquired back on Hikari. Soon after, he turned around as he began to scrutinize the two humans in front of him. "What do you want?"

 Chapter 161: Emergence (3)

    Chapter 161: Emergence (3)


    "..."


    Within the darkness of the shadows, a man slowly floated in the eternity of time with his eyes closed. Tired, exhausted and highly fatigue, this man had neither the will nor energy to move an inchletting only the flow of the atmosphere push him.


    "..."


    Though, even with the weary demeanour, his senses were still intact. Thus, even if he seemed to be in deep sleep, he could still hear the little voices by the distance that had been murmuring out for quite a while.


    "Ugh... When will they wake up?" From among the distinct voices that he could hear, the young man had been subconsciously paying attention to a distinct voice that had been extremely loud the entire time. "It''s already been six hours!"


    "...I guess they overexerted themselves to the point of this?" Another voice replied, though soft-spoken. "We should wait a bit more. Though... I do wish I could understand what that slime was saying before he abruptly left."


    "That''s why I said to just take the ne on Master''s neck! The curse is gone right?"


    "...ugh..." Slightly moving his body upon listening in on the voices, the young manShinto, slowly opened his eyes and, at that moment, the darkness around him dispersed as he entered into consciousness.


    "...ah! Hey! Hey!" Upon opening his eyes, Shinto was greeted by the sight of two familiar faces and a slime that seemed to have gotten up close for him to recognize. From the middle of the group that showed that of a brown-haired woman, he noted that it was Frey. "This guy''s finally awake!"


    "The first of the bunch too, huh?" From the left side of Frey, the ck-haired woman was Raina. "Well... I guess our confusion can finally be resolved."


    "I waited for four hours for them to wake up! So finally, the wait is over!" Frey pouted.


    "Well unlike you, I waited an hour extra..." Raina uttered out in helplessness. "Though, I''m still wondering why you went on to challenge the field again despite us nearly dying the first time..."


    "W-Well... I thought that we were just unlucky to find that many wolves and goblins in the area... I figured if I took a different route..."


    "...cough, Frey? Raina?" letting out a slight cough as he slowly got up from the cold hard ground, Shinto scanned the area as his head remained blurry. "You''ve logged into the game already, huh?"


    "Huh? That''s the first sentence you say after waking up!?" Frey cried out. "I expected more from you! It''s been six hours!"


    "...what do you even expect of me to say after waking up?" Shinto nkly stared at Frey. "Though... How did I even fall asleep? Thest thing I remembered was" Muttering out his words, Shinto soon abruptly stood up as he frantically looked around the area. "Wait, where''s Kon? Thest thing that had happened was..."


    ...


    With the countless sounds nking among the elementals that had ice surrounding it, the monsters moved forward step by step as they began channelling out more energy than before as if tired of dragging on with the fight.


    <em><strong>Ting...</strong></em>


    <strong><em>Tang...</em></strong>


    "Ugh... These guys sure are persistent..." Erith uttered out tiringly with his shield slowly breaking apart and his sword that his body was holding slightly shaking. "I don''t think we can wait much longer for the Minister to get Ethaniel..."


    "Just a little bit more longer," Shinto hushed out in an exhausted voice whilst having one of his eyes closed in rest. "It''s only been around half a minute..."


    "A-And that half a minute felt so long..." Kon whimpered. "W-We''ll die... You''ll die!"


    "I-It''s fine... I can respawn but for you two..." Shinto muttered out. "If thing''s get from bad to worst, you might as well run and rendezvous with meter."


    "I can''t do that..." Kon cried. "N-None of us should die!"


    "You''ll be the first one down any second now, so we can''t do that even if we were forced to..." Erith uttered out as he barely dodged the charged attacking from the elementals. However, it seemed that the monsters were smart. Moments, after he had dodged the attack, another ray of magic,nded on Erith, thus bringing his health back into the red zone. "A-Ack...!"


    "E-Erith!" Shinto cried out as he searched through his arsenal of abilities to use, but, to his dismay, all of them were on cooldown. "...u-ugh this is stupid..."


    "M-Master...!"


    "...huh?" Shinto turned his head over to the direction of Kon. However, his eyes slowly shut closed due to unbearable fatigue. Any second more, he might fall unconscious. "U-Ugh... T-This..." His body could no longer keep up. Shinto began falling down to the ground not being able to fight back the exhaustion any longer.


    "No...! Watch out!" Rushing steps resounded through the room as a ck fox swiftly pushed a young man out of the way with all his strength despite seeming small, and at that momenta block of blue cial ice shot from the ground and struck at the fox. "A-Ack...!"


    "K-Kon...!" The young man wanted to shout out his name, however, nothing came out of his mouth. Greeted by the sight of shadows surrounding the ck fox, his eyes closed with a final notification in front of him.


    [ The Shadow of the Fox has fallen! ]


    [ The protection of the Shadow Diviner has left the Fox... ]


    Though, unable to read through all the countless notifications, he entered into the realm of unconsciousness.


    ...


    "was him being enveloped by shadows during the fight and before falling unconsciousness..." Shinto continued his sentence.


    "Enveloped by shadows? Enveloped by shadows?!" Frey cried out. "D-Did he die?! Kon? WHAT?!"


    "He..." Shinto muttered out with a sudden feeling of fear that stapled within his mind. ''Did he die?'' was a constant question that appeared in his head. Whether permanent or not, he had to find out. Thus, his eyes turned faced towards his window screen, bracing for the worst.


    [ The Shadow of the Fox has fallen! ]


    [ The protection of the Shadow Diviner has left the Fox, thus he has returned back into the realm of shadows. During the period of vulnerability, if the shadow servant were to be put in harm''s way when not under the status of ''Shadow Minion'', they will die! ]


    [ You will only be able to summon back the Shadow Fox after a set amount of time has passed. For the time being, you may summon a new shadow servant. ]


    [ The skill ''Shadow Recreation'' is shaking! ]


    [ A new quest will soon generate... ]


    "..." Reading through the notifications he had received, Shinto let out a sigh of relief. "...he just returned back home for the time being..."


    For Shinto, he had forgotten that ''Kon'' was a summoned minion from his Shadow Skills. This was because, unlike normal pets, Kon functioned more or less like an actual NPC, thusthe fact that he was summoned flew over his head as he stuck around for the entire time.


    "R-Really?! So h-he''s alive?" Frey''s frown turned into a sudden smile. "Phew... Don''t scare me like that!"


    "Hey... It''s not like I didn''t get a shock too..." Shinto red at Frey. "But... If all things should go well, he should be back in the next day since I''ve got a cooldown to summon."


    "Well... It''s at least good news that he''s alive and kicking," Raina stated. "But, what about Reru and Rustly? They''re not around here too... Did they...?"


    "Ah... Them?" Shinto uttered out. "...they... uh, well... Left us behind during our exploration trip. So... We ended up in a tight spot."


    "T-They left?" Raina blinked at the thought. "...which means, we''re stuck here?"


    "No... I doubt that they abandoned us for real," Shinto stated. "If they did... Well, that''s another issue to handle. But, from what I saw, they seemed to have argued with one another. Though, I didn''t understand a speck of word since Ethnaiel had the ne."


    "Huh... So we''ll be ying the waiting game again?" Raina asked. "Waiting around this cavern is quite boring... And very... Scary."


    "I would suggest going out but... No. Please don''t," Shinto firmly stated as he suddenly felt shivers from his back. "...we''re so underprepared for this ce."


    "I can tell... We might have experienced it first hand," Raina coughed. "Though, I don''t think it''s worst from yours. You guys did end up falling unconscious with casualties too..."


    "Sigh. They were far too powerful for our level," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "I don''t know what happened after I fell unconscious, but judging as to how Ethaniel is here... He might have handled the rest."


    "Hmm... Ethaniel?" Frey questioned. "Isn''t he like... The same level as us? How did he handle the rest if you''re useless and Kon left? Wait... Maybe that other slime helped? Wow! Slimes are powerful!"


    "Now that you mentioned it..." Shinto mumbled out in thought. Their previous goal was to have Ethaniel join in the battle to aid them in the fight. But, before he had arrived, there were many casualties. "Just how did Ethaniel win? Last time I checked... Erith was extremely low health with nearly broken equipment as well."

 Chapter 162: Emergence (4)

    Chapter 162: Emergence (4)


    "Huh? What did you say?" Frey tilted her head as she heard the mumbleing out from Shinto. "What''s this about Ethaniel and that slime, Erith?"


    "Cough... It''s nothing," Shinto hurriedly shook his head as he stopped at his previous sentence. "I was just wondering about how the situation went on after I fell unconscious. Just curious and all."


    Had he uttered out his woes without thought to Frey and Raina, it might have raised concerns regarding Ethaniel''s battle prowess in rtion to his ss. As the two didn''t know Shinto and Ethaniel''s sses, the two men decided to keep it secret for the being and as of right now, it wasn''t time yet to tell.


    "I-In any case. Seeing as how the situation is already handled, I guess before Ethaniel arrived, we did dwindle down their health bit by bit for the clean-up crew," Shinto stated, moving the thought of the way Ethaniel sessfully battled against the three elementals to the back of his mind. Perhaps he was overthinking on the matter. "Anyway... Since the rest are still unconscious, I''ll go ahead and check out the loot and my current status."


    "Right then. Since you''re going to be checking your status and loot-" Raina nodded her head as she soon abruptly spoke. "Ah, before that. Speaking of loot, what do we do about the items given by Sanke? The Cursemancer''s glove and book."


    "The items? Ah. Ipletely forgot about that," letting out a slight cough, Shinto hurriedly took out the two items that had been kept in his inventory for the past hours. "With all that happened, this was the least of concerns..."


    Maybe he wouldn''t have struggled as much if he had remembered that such items were in his inventory. Though even then, without the other mage in the party, Rainahe couldn''t distribute the items among themselves without a say of both sides.


    "Aha... Right, there was a lot on our te, huh?" Raina chuckled. "But... In any case, there''s something specific I''d like to ask of you in regards to the items. Though, it''s fine if you want it more."


    "Hmm? What item do you want?" Shinto questioned.


    "The Cursemancer''s Glove," Raina firmly stated. "The item gives Wisdom which I currently want more of due to the spellbook that I have... So would it be possible if you take the skill book whilst I take the glove?"


    "Oh?" Shinto raised his brow in curiosity as he considered Raina''s words. Thinking on the matter, he soon nodded his head. "Sure. I don''t mind. Though... Do you really want to give up a skill that easily over an item?"


    In terms of skill and item, both types were at times in equal standing with one another. With horrible items, one''s stat will be on the lower-end side, thus a skill cannot be used to its best potential, and vice versa could be said as well.


    But, although it was the general form of understanding, not all characters depend heavily on this consensus. Some skills were fixed by percentages, or at times some yers have their stats mainly surrounding their passives.


    Though, no one could pass up on good equipment when given the chance to.


    "Mhm. Yeah, I''m sure," Raina nodded her head. "Since I''ve got to go through this spellbook to enhance the mes of Etheral and get more out of it, it''s much efficient for me to have the glove."


    "I see... Then it works out for the both of us," Shinto smiled. "I was actually keen on wanting the skill more than the glove since I have ack of skills avable when they''re all on cooldown..."


    Despiteining about having bad equipment and being underprepared, Shinto''s top priority was mainly on skills. This was due to the fact that much of his support was already in a fixed percentage form, such as [ Mark of Umbra ], [ Divinity Brilliance ] and his passive that marks an enemy for increase damage by his allies.


    The only variable was the damage dealt and his defences, but to him, since Ethaniel and Frey were the focus frontliners, all he needed to do was focus on his evasion in the case of attacks that targets him.


    "Phew... Thanks, Shinto," Raina smiled at the man in front of her whilst taking the gloves from his hand. In the next moment, she wore the gloves as she scrunched over to the side of a wall and began reading the book to raise her stats and level.


    "Jee... You two got mage items, what about me?" Frey pouted. "I haven''t gotten anything except those quest rewards... but even then! I don''t want to use those items!"


    "Aha... I''m sure you''ll have your time soon," Shinto stated. "You at least have that aggro skill, right?"


    "Yeah, but... If I were to attract monsters in this ce, won''t I like... Die without being able to put up a fight? I don''t wanna die!" Frey cried out. "Maybe if it was monsters around my level... That would be a good challenge! But, something way over my level that can kill me instantly? No!"


    "Hmm... We''ll have some usages for the skill. We just need to keep your health continuously in the green and ready to go," Shinto uttered out.


    "Huh? What''s that supposed to mean?!"


    "Well... You''ll see when we enter into battle," Shinto stated whilst moving his eyes over to his status window. "In any case... I''ll check my status now before doing anything else."


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 37


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    ...


    -Titles-


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 1284/1284 | MP: 1136/1136 (+20)


    Strength: 50 | Stamina: 82 (+4)


    Intelligence: 136 (+21) | Agility: 88 (+8)


    Shadow: 38 | Divinity: 26


    Wisdom: 7


    Stats Point: 51


    ...


    Looking at his current stats and level, Shinto noted that he had levelled up by two from 35 after the battle with the elementals. "Hmm... Shadow stat at 38 and Divinity being far behind..."


    The wide gap couldn''t be helped. Even in broad daylight where he was receiving his divinity passive bonus,pared to his shadow that had received an increase of two from speaking with the beings of shadow, Divinity received no such thing.


    "Sigh... What was it when I said Divinity was much more interactivepared to Shadow?" Shinto questioned. "I feel that Shadow''s so much better all of a sudden..."


    Silently uttering out his words, Shinto soon received a notification prompt.


    [ Under the eyes of the beings of shadow, the race of the Shades has prepared themselves to finally return to the side of the Shadow Diviner. ]


    [ A quest from the shadow side has been created! ]


    ...


    [ Return - Shadows of the Shadow Realm ]


    Type: ss Quest


    With the beings of the shadow realm ready to take hand in aiding the Shadow Diviner, the Shadow Servants are ready to be summoned.


    However, with the unfortunate circumstance of the Shadow Diviner with his sealed skills and weak state, he is unable to summon all at once under the prejudice of a ''Shadow Minion'' nor be able to call for them out for help.


    Thus, you as the Shadow Diviner must strengthen yourself.


    Quest Objective:


    -Reach 50+ Shadow Stat


    -Summon ''Cobra of the Empress''s Sting'', ''ck Bird''s Darkness'' and ''Shadow of the Fox'' once. (1/3)


    Quest Clear Reward: Shadow Recreation will be levelled up to level two, a sealed skill will begin to surface itself.


    Quest Failure: None.


    ...


    "...a quest on the shadow side?" Shinto''s eyes widened in surprise upon being greeted by such a quest out of the blue. With all the recent interactions with the two sides, he did expect one to eventually appear, but for one to appear after falling unconscious and having Kon returning back into the shadow realmhe couldn''t have fathomed such a coincidence. "Hmm... Unlike the Divinity quest, this one''s asking me to raise my stat instead of doing something..."


    From what he had received so far, it seemed that the early growth of his ss was much kinder on the Shadow side inparison to the Divinity side quests where they were mostly on the harder end for his level.


    "The difference is quite prevalent... Though, It''s not only just that..." Shinto thought to himself. The contrast between Shadow and Divinity were quite interesting to him, especially with the irony that darkness was support whilst light wasbat had piqued his interest since the first day. "Hmm..."


    Continuing to think on the topic at hand, his thoughts soon wandered elsewhere as another notification prompt appeared before him.


    [ The skill ''Shadow Recreation'' is shaking! ]


    [ The skill ''Shadow Recreation'' is shaking! ]


    [ The skill ''Shadow Recreation'' is shaking... ]


    "Hah... This same thing happened for when Kon was first summoned as well," Shinto thought to himself as in the next moment, he soon opened up his skill list and entered into the details of [ Shadow Recreation ].


    ...


    [ The contents of the skill have been updated! ]


    [ Shadow Recreation Lv 1 ] [ 50 Shadow Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 10 Minutes ]


    A Shadow Minion is summoned by the Shadow Diviner from this list permanently (Unless stated otherwise):


    *Kon


    *''Cobra of the Empress''s Sting'' (Temp. Can only be summoned for 3 hours and then will be ced on a 24-hour cooldown)


    *''ck Bird''s Darkness'' (Temp. Can only be summoned for 3 hours and then will be ced on a 24-hour cooldown)


    *Those who are summoned from the list will be under the category of [Shadow Minion], otherwise they do not count unless in certain situations pertaining to the status of the diviner.


    *You may currently only summon up to one Shadow Servant under the status of [ Shadow Minion ].


    *A Shadow Minion can be unsummoned freely by the Shadow Diviner or of its own will when the diviner is not in range. (You will be notified if so.)


    ...


    "So, there are two new shadow servants to be summoned," confirming the details of the newly updated description, Shinto soon began to scrutinize around the area. However, the moment he did soa loud shout protruded out in the area.

 Chapter 163: Emergence (5)

    Chapter 163: Emergence (5)


    "...?" Turning his head over to the direction of the shout, Shinto''s eyes slightly shook as his body that was just recovered from fatigue felt as if it wanted to cry out. Greeted with his enhanced vision at the front, he noted that a slime was frantically running towards the group that was lying down. "...are you kidding me?"


    With an annoyed voice stating out his woes, his eyes narrowed over to the countless red eyes that were moving around behind the slime that wore a fancy suitMinister Yer.


    "H-Help! Ahhh! Someone, help!" Minister Yer cried out whilst running for his life. "Humans! Humans! Save me!"


    "Huh? What''s going on?" Frey uttered out in confusion as she turned in the direction of the loud voice. However, with only being able to see darkness, Frey''s expression remained undaunted. "Did something happen?"


    "...Frey, Raina," Shinto muttered out their names whilst moving his eyes over to the direction of Ethaniel and Erith who were still unconscious. "You can choose either to, run or fight against a colony of killer bats."


    "W-Wait... Could you repeat what you just said?" Frey dumbfoundedly mumbled out in confusion. "A colony of killer bats...?"


    "...it appears so," Shinto sighed whilst taking out his staff and holding onto it. "We''re just not going to get a break, huh?"


    "Humans!! Please help, I beg of you!" Minister Yer continued running through the cavern whilst closing in on the distance between the group. "I don''t wanna die! Ahhh!!"


    "So we''re going intobat while Ethaniel and that slime are out ofmission?" Raina seemed to be shuddering. "If the enemies are at level 70 and above... How do you expect us to win?"


    "E-Eep! Level 70 and above? And you''re saying the monsters are bats?!" Frey cried out. "They suck blood, right? Creatures of the night... AHHH!! Can we run?! No wait... Is it possible to fight them? No no, they''re level 70!"


    "Ugh... I''m starting to dread this ce so much more..." Shinto sighed. "But, it''s fine. They''re bats and it''s currently..." Turning his head towards the entrance of the cavern, he noted that it was now nighttime. "...never mind. This is just great."


    "Hold on... Are we like, dead for real?!" Frey shouted out. "If we''re going to die, we might as well put up a fight! I''m not going down without a fight!"


    "...sigh. Can it even be helped?" Shinto clicked his tongue whilst moving his eyes to the newly updated skill: [ Shadow Recreation ]. Soon after, he narrowed his eyes over to the two titles below Kon. "I guess it''s a better time than any to summon one of them. But... Which?"


    With the number of life-threatening situations thrown at him back-to-back, Shinto felt dulled of losing his life as of right now. Thus, whilst taking his time to consider what to summon, Frey and Raina were preparing to cast out their skills into the darkness, which was slowly revealing that of a figure of slime and countless bats flying behind him.


    "Bats... One, two... There''s so many to count!" Frey''s eyes shook. "We''re so dead, aren''t we?"


    "We can''t win this... We really can''t," Raina''s staff trembled as she saw the sheer numbers of bats that were in front of her. "Since it''s nighttime too... Going out is also asking for a death wish."


    "...you two, go on ahead," Shinto stated. "If all things go well with this... We can survive. But..."


    "...but, if all things go wrong, the afterlife it is?" Raina questioned.


    "Pretty much so," nodding his head, Shinto took a step back from the group whilst finallymitting towards his thought. "...judging from the titles, it''s basically a Cobra and a ck Bird? Perhaps a Raven, or Crow," Shinto didn''t have all day to think about this. However, with the way things were, he still had enough time before the battle starts as the Minister seemed to be especially far away from the group.


    "..." Closing his eyes, Shinto thought about the meanings behind the name. As stated by [ Cobra of the Empress''s Sting ] and [ ck Bird''s Darkness ], he could immediately tell that they were rting to that of animals like Kon, who was a fox.


    "...in this situation," calmly thinking to himself, Shinto looked up towards the countless bats that were finally reaching the group. "As the air will get crowded... I''ll take upon this."


    ...


    [ You have used the skill ''Shadow Recreation'' ]


    [ You have called out to ''Cobra of the Empress''s Sting'' ]


    [ ... ]


    [ They have heeded your call. ]


    [ You have sessfully summoned a shadow! ]


    Upon murmuring out the name of the skill and stating the title that he was going to summon, a dark shadow began to appear before him. In the next moment, a sound of hissing could be heard, however soon stopped.


    "...it seems that Master''s the first to call for me," a female''s voice protruded out. "Haha. I win brother."


    "Squeak!" Upon the voice of the female echoing through the caverns, the bats began initiating their attack onto the group. Frey, who was at the center began to be barraged by the countless sonic sound waves which rang through her ears.


    "A-Argh...!" Frey gritted her teeth at the collision of the waves onto her which brought her health down to the yellow almost immediately. "...t-this...!" With the attacks all aimed at Frey, her health only went to yellow. Individually, they might not be scary, however, as a group, they could deal high amounts of damage. "If you want to bring me down, it won''t be that easy you bats! Raina do that big boom magic thingy!"


    "Alright," holding up onto her staff, Raina began to murmur out her chants as soon a wide burning wave of me shot out towards the colony of bats in the distance that was beginning to surround Frey.


    "S-Squeak!" Being hit by therge wide attack, the bats were pushed back slightly. However, they didn''t back down. Just as they were about to send out another wave of sonic attacks over to Frey and then to Raina, multiple shes from the darkness began to cut down the bats one by one.


    "...h-huh? What the... This?" Frey dumbfoundedly at the sight, noting that most of the bats were turning into grey ash. "Hey, Raina! Is this your doing? Good job! Keep up the good work and we can win this!" With excitement boiling in her blood, Frey rushed up as she threw out multiple punches at the bats that had fallen down due to the suddencerated arcs and ended them in their weakened state.


    [ Nightcrawler Cavern Bat has been defeated! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 35! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 36! ]


    "...woo! These guys give so much experience! Wait... Is it because there''s so much of them? But woo! Raina you rock with those spells!" Frey cheered.


    "...but, Frey... It wasn''t my doing?" Raina stared nkly at the cheery Frey.


    "Huh...?" Shinto''s eyes slightly widened in curiosity, however, from the shadows, he could not see the figure any longer as if she had disappeared amidst the shadows. "...hah, she went off and battled immediately?" Shinto wasn''tining about this. He had hoped to see the animal that he had summoned, but there were other things to prioritize.


    With one step forward, Shinto began moving his staff over to Frey as he chanted out a skill [ Mark of Umbra ] onto her. In the next moment, Shinto shot out a field of shadow into the area whilst going into it.


    "Huh...? If it''s not you... Then is it Master?" Frey tilted her head whilst noticing the shadows around her. "Hey! You didn''t tell me you got a new power! If it''s like this... Why did you struggle?!"


    "...cough. This thing is technically not from me..." Letting out a cough in reply as he was about to shoot out his Divinity spells. But, his staff stopped midway as he noticed that the number of bats from earlier instantaneously dwindled down to only around ten. "...what?" Blinking in shock, his eyes was soon greeted by a dark arc that shed through the final ten numbers.


    [ Nightcrawler Cavern Bat has been defeated! ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 39! ]


    "...wow, it ended just like that?" Frey muttered out in excitement. "Hey! Master! Can you show me that again?!"


    "F-Frey... Like I said... It wasn''t me who did this..." Shinto awkwardly uttered out. "This was due to"


    "Oi, human!" Upon Shinto''s attempt to reason, a loud shout soon came from the slime who had been hiding behind Ethaniel''s body. "If you could have done this earlier, why didn''t you do it instead of making me run for my life?!"


    "Like I said... This wasn''t due to..."


    "Wait... You could''ve done this for that elementals too! Oi! Do you take me for a fool?!" Minister Yer cried out. "Ughh! You damn humans"


    "Ugh... As I said, it wasn''t due to"


    "...hey, slime?" A sudden female''s voice crept up from behind the minister. "Although only ke knows of suchnguage from you, I can still hear your condescending tone. Do you have a death wish?"


    "E-Eep!" Minister Yer yipped.

 Chapter 164: Cobra (1)

    Chapter 164: Cobra (1)


    "...huh? What? Who goes there?!" Frey cried out in shock upon hearing the sudden voice from the distance. "I-Is it a ghost?! Ahhh! First those monsters in the cold, bats, now this?! What''s up with this ce?!"


    "H-Help... I-I think I''m going to die..." Minister Yer muttered out with a shaky voice as if feeling a knife behind his back that wasn''t hesitant to kill.


    "Where are they?!" Frey frantically looked around the area. However, all she was greeted with was darkness. "Ahh, juste out and get this over with! Stop hiding!"


    "Are we in danger again...?" Raina uttered out.


    "..." Throughout the entire fiasco, Shinto kept silent as he had given up on exining. With one step forward, Shinto soon spoke out as if talking to the back of Minister Yer. "...sigh. This is just a false rm. What do you mean ghost?"


    "That ghost who spoke out suddenly!" Frey cried out.


    "Y-Yeah! I-It''s behind-" Minister Yer then kept quiet. "...my back? Huh? The presence is gone."


    "...you cane out now," Shinto stated. There wasn''t a need to keep the summon a secret. They were bound to find out eventually as she seemed to be of a high level that could easily wipe out the nightcrawler bats.


    "..." Moments after Shinto had spoken out, silence protruded out into the area.


    "Y-You''re speaking to the ghost?!" Frey shuddered. "H-Have you gone mad?! Did they possess you? Eeek! Master, I need to save you!" Preparing to activate a skill, Frey was soon stopped by Raina.


    "H-Hey, Frey! Wait a moment... You didn''t hear what Shinto said?" Raina calmly uttered out. "I-I think it might be a friend of him..."


    "...hey, you cane out now, you know?" Shinto raised his brow in confusion. He didn''t know why the summon wasn''t responding to him.


    "..." Silence continued to remain within the cavern despite Shinto repeating to himself. In the next moment, a notification window soon popped up in front of him.


    [ ''Cobra of the Empress''s Sting'' asks whether you''re afraid of snakes or not. ]


    "...?" Shinto raised his brow in question. "...no?"


    [ ... ]


    [ ''Cobra of the Empress''s Sting'' states that she doesn''t want to be seen by yourpanions for the time being. Especially that annoying slime as she''s very aware that they''ll scream and bring about unnecessary problems for the Shadow Diviner. ]


    "...this is?" Shinto could only stare helplessly at his notification window. "Sigh... If that''s what you want, then fine... But, if you''re not revealing yourself, then when?"


    [ ''Cobra of the Empress''s Sting'' says soon. Perhaps when either her siblings are here to lessen the tense mood. For the time being, she wants to meet you in a ce far from yourpanions and uninterrupted. ]


    "Hey... I think Master''s really possessed! He''s talking to himself as if no one else is here!" Frey cried out. "Raina let me go! I have to get some sense into him!"


    "Wait! Frey!" Raina continued grabbing onto Frey as she finally lost the battle of strength. Moments after, with no chains tying her down, Frey soon rushed forward.


    "MASTERRR!! I''ll save you from the ghost!" Frey shouted out.


    "...?!" Shinto suddenly turned around after hearing the shout from behind him. Quickly, he noted that Frey was making her way towards him like a raging bull. Not wanting to be hit, Shinto swayed to the side as Frey then walked past him without stopping.


    "H-Huh? Eeep!!" With the unexpected dodge from her Master, Frey couldn''t stop at her steps as she soon tripped on the steep rocky floors and fell down over to the lying body that was in front of her view.


    <em><strong>THUCK!</strong></em>


    "O-Ouchie..." Landing onto the body of a man, Frey stayed in ce for a few seconds whilst getting herself together. "If Master can dodge like that... Did the ghost run away? Aha! I did it!"


    "...hey, can you please get the hell off me?" Moments afternding, a male''s voice uttered out in anger. "You''re so damn noisy, you know that?"


    "H-Huh? Ack! Ethaniel, you''re awake!" Abruptly standing up from his body, Frey then took a step back as she awkwardly spoke out. "M-My mistake... I didn''t mean to fall on you..."


    "Hah... And let me guess, you didn''t mean to have your voice continuously echo in the cave and disrupting everyone''s peace and quiet?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he stood up with a slight pain in his head. "Ugh... I can''t even get proper rest even after falling unconscious."


    "Ahaha... Sorry..." Frey murmured out.


    "Tch... You should be," he furrowed his brow.


    "Ah... Ethaniel, you''re awake," Shinto stated out. "Thanks for helping us with elementals..."


    "Ugh and you... The hell! You fell unconscious and left me to deal with three high-levelled enemies on my own?!" Ethaniel red at Shinto. "I may be able to handle against one if I received support, but three with Erith nearly being out ofmission!? That''s asking for a death wish!"


    "Cough..." Shinto let out a helpless cough. "How did you manage to defeat the monsters then? If it was how you described it..."


    "Obviously, it was due to this sword you gave me," Ethaniel shrugged. "Had it not been for the effects, I might have died."


    "Oh...? The sword?" Shinto raised his brow. "Huh, so that was the reason..."


    "What? You thought it was a different reason? Hah, I''m as unlucky with this situation as with my ss''s growth," Ethaniel shrugged. "Honestly, if it wearn''t for this piece of work, I wouldn''t have won."


    "Huh... I see," Shinto nodded his head. "Then, what about Erith?"


    "What about him? He''s there sleeping soundly after the battle," Ethaniel stated. "He did pretty well in holding up himself whilst you and... Hey, where''s that fox? He wasn''t here either during the fight, did he-"


    "He was forcibly returned back home... So you''ll only be able to see him again in another day''s time," Shinto stated. "But in any case... He''s safe."


    "Right..." Ethaniel stated as he soon turned to the entrance of the caverns. "Anyway... That much time past huh? What do we do about Reru and Rustly?"


    "You never did exin to me regarding their situation," Shinto sighed. "So, how about telling us this now before we decide to do anything?"


    "Hah... I do wish that they spoke Arcos for once. Wouldn''t that make everyone''s life easier? Shitty slimenguage..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he began reiterating the events that had happened before.


    ...


    Under the darkened night skies of the snowy atmosphere, two woman and slimes walked through the snowy paths whilst a divine light led the way.


    "T-This is the way right?" Hikari muttered out whilst shivering heavily. "Haven''t we been walking for a while now? It''s already nightfall... Let''s find somewhere to keep ourselves safe and warm."


    "This is the right way," Reru stated. "Look, I and Rustly have a business, so if you want to hitch a ride, then you''ll have to follow us withoutint."


    "It''s not exactlyining, but rather... Where are we going exactly?" Hikari tilted her head. "You asked for a light source and I''ve been giving you one. Though... This ce is unlike the previous areas in the ins..."


    "Just follow without question, you''ll get what you wantter," he stated. "In any case, please direct your light over to the front."


    "Huh? Alright..."


    Stopping at their footsteps, Hikari manoeuvred the small ball of light over towards the front of the group. Moments after, they were greeted by a saddening sight.


    "..." Greeted by the sight of a broken-down vige that seemed to have long been abandoned, Hikari tilted her head. "This ce... In a snow in like this one? Where have I''ve heard of such a story..."


    "...this is...?" Crowelin raised her brow as her eyesnded onto a small sign that was within the Hikari''s light: ''Vige of Xifdzmhpr''. "...the heck does this read?"


    "So, it does exist, huh?" Rustly solemnly spoke out. "...will there be any clues as to why this ce was like this?"


    "Tch... Can we just get this over with and get Lier''s journal? I don''t like this damn area and if it wearn''t for you, we would have been back by now to the catbs!" Reru spoke in gloop.


    "Look... It wasn''t my intentions on bringing you here anyways," Rustly reasoned to himself. "Madam Ru''s magic works like a lottery... We might have been taken to a volcano for all I know!"


    "Yeah, yeah whatever. You made such excuses to get away from the humans and then proceeded to lead me all the way out here for your own gain? What''s next, the crystal shit is a lie?"


    "...no, I do need to know about the area''s magi before I can take you guys back... But since I realized we''re at such a ce... I might as well visit here first," Rustly stated. "Please? I''ll make it up to you... Somehow."


    "First you nearly died, second you cause unnecessary problems for me, third you caused the entire Sanke fiasco, you''ll make it up somehow? If every other Slera knows of this, you''ll be executed!"


    "..." Rustly kept quiet as he soon waltzed ahead of the group, soon heading into the vige.


    "Grr... You''re lucky I''m not like Minister Yer," clicking his tongue, Reru soon followed after the slime.

 Chapter 165: Cobra (2)

    Chapter 165: Cobra (2)


    Through the darkened caverns that the group had been in for nearly the entire day, Shinto walked on the rocky steep ground as he stopped at his steps. In the next moment, his eyes nced around the area whilst speaking out in a hushed tone.


    "You cane out now," Shinto stated. "My group''s preparing themselves for tomorrow, so till then we have time to talk before time''s up."


    "..." In reply to Shinto was silence. However, the silence soon stopped as, from the shadows, a figure of a woman dressed in ck attire appeared. "I''m sorry for the inconvenience that I''ve caused you earlier..."


    "Huh?" Shinto raised his brow at the sight of the woman in front of him. "...you are?"


    "Ah, I have yet introduced myself yet," the woman muttered out as she soon coughed slightly. "Ahem... I am the Shadow of the Serpent, Kiara of the Shade''s Race. Or, you may better know me as ''Cobra of the Empress''s Sting''."


    "The Cobra of the Empress''s Sting..." Shinto mumbled out in surprise. He hadn''t expected that the person who had asked him whether or not he was scared of snakes had the figure of a human. He had thought that the servant would''ve been an animal just like how Kon was. "...I''m surprised. Unlike Kon, you like just like..."


    "...a human? Hmm, should I have introduced myself in the other form?" Kiara uttered out in slight worry. "Ahh... Maybe I should have. Damn it. I''m messing up like Kon!"''


    "..." Scrutinizing the front of him, he noted that woman who introduced herself as Kiara had long silky ck hair with golden-brown eyes. Meanwhile, her attire which waspletely ck looked simr to that of an assassin''s garb whilst her hands had remnants of scales on it, though, it wasn''t as prevalent and seemed that it could''ve been hidden. "Hmm, so you''re saying you can transform back into a snake anytime you want?"


    "Ahem... Well, yes I can but... Not exactly?" Kiara mumbled out as she soon shook her head abruptly. "Argh! I''m horrible messing up like Kon! Ugh... Take deep breaths, Kiara..."


    "Calm down. Just take it easy, there''s no rush," Shinto calmly stated. "You don''t have to act all flustered around me."


    "Sigh... Apologies, master," Kiara continued taking a deep breath as she finally calmed herself down. "I became too flustered that I lost control of myself. Ahem. In any case, to your question earlieryes, I can transform back into a snake. However... Being a snake in itself is inconvenient for me, so I''d rather not."


    "Hmm... I see. So it''s a matter of wanting to be a human or a snake?" Shinto nodded his head. "Then among those two, which is your true form?"


    "It is neither. I am no snake nor a human," she stated. "I''m a being who was born in the shadows that was meant to disappear away like darkness. However, you, or well, our previous master, gave us new meaning and thus, we now serve him."


    "..." Listening in on the Shadow Serpent''s exnation, his interest now piqued. "...Kiara, in regards to your ''previous master'', would you be obliged to tell?" Unlike with Kon where he couldn''t answer as many questionsShinto felt that he could finally know what exactly the ''Shadow Diviner'' ss is. Yet, he felt hesitant.


    "If it''s what you want to know, then I am obliged to answer as much as I know," Kiara stated. "Should I start with what Kon had failed to do?"


    "...yes," Shinto nodded his head in a slightly hesitant manner. "Please about the beings of shadow and divinity."


    Perhaps it was due to the previous events that had urred, but he seemed to rather prefer to know the answers as time passes by rather than to know the entire story at once. But, even then, he still needed to know to prepare himself for the future toe.


    "It''s simple. The beings of shadow are those who have formed a bond with the previous master, and as you''re apart of the new generation, we are obliged to serve you," Kiara exined. "In regards to the divinity side, however... Besides their attitude, I''m afraid I too do not know much about them."


    "...I see. Then another question: What is the duty of a Shadow Diviner?"


    "For what the Shadow Diviner''s duties are... Well, perhaps if you ask others, they''ll have different definitions," Kiara calmly replied. "As for meI say that your duties would be to bnce between the light and darkness of the world. Not to cleanse them, not to rid of the evil, but to be the medium that creates equality."


    "...?" Shinto raised his brow in curiosity. "To bnce between light and darkness you say?" From what he had known so far, on the divinity side, all of the quest that he had gotten had to do with ridding away ''evil''. However, for the side of Shadows, it seemed that he received new enlightenment on what the ss was about. "How would it be different from the others?"


    "I''m sure you know of the cases, to rid away evil, to cleanse away the darkness, to form an alliance with good and evil," Kiara shrugged. "All of these are typical definitions of what a Shadow Diviner would do, but this is what I think your duty is. Though... Do take my words with a grain of salt. Even the previous master himself knew not his duties."


    "Even the previous shadow diviner himself?" Shinto questioned himself. "Hah... So knowing what the ss is exactly about would be moreplicated than I thought..." It seemed that in order to fully understand everything, he had to follow suit with his original n, after all, to learn as time goes on. Of course.


    "I''m sorry for not being as much help if my answers were not up to your tastes," Kiara closed her eyes in a solemn manner. "But, this was what you were supposed to know when you first used your ability. However... With all the misconceptions in regards to who goes first, Kon took the ce."


    "It''s fine, I understand," Shinto nodded his head.


    "Will that be all?" Kiara tilted her head.


    "Yes, that will be all," Shinto stated. He still had questions in his head like ''What was the previous Shadow Diviner like?'' or ''How will I obtain the sealed powers?'' but, those questions were on the note of impatience. Thus, he refrained from asking them. He knew that he wouldn''t get any clear answers from what he had heard already. "In any case, thank you for answering."


    With everything settled, he now only needed to summon the ''ck Bird''s Darkness''. But he still had to do something before moving on with him. With his eyes silently opening up Kiara''s status window, he soon scrutinized it.


    ...


    [ Shadow Minion''s Profile ]


    Name: Kiara (NPC)


    Race: Shade''s Race (Human Form)


    Level: ???


    ss: Shadow Serpent


    -ss Attribute-


    *The Shadow of the Serpent, one who offers themself to serve the Shadow Diviner - When the ss ''Shadow Serpent'' is partied together with the ''Shadow Diviner'' certain bonuses will be attained: Target and Aggro Rate -20% / +15% Movement Speed / +5% Speed. (Effect only applies to the Shadow Serpent when the Shadow Diviner or the Shadow Fox manually adds them to the party.)


    -Titles-


    [Shadow of the Serpent]


    *STR +15 / AGI +20 / DEX +20 when in the near vicinity of the Shadow Diviner.


    *DEX +15 / Movement Speed is increased by 7% when in the near vicinity of any of the Shadow Diviner''s allies or servants. (Effect does not stack.)


    -Stats-


    HP: ??? | MP: ???


    Strength: ??? | Stamina: ???


    Intelligence: ??? | Agility: ???


    Dexterity: ???


    Stat Points: ???


    *Until you''re able to summon ''Kiara'' without a time limit, you''re blocked from seeing her stats as she is still under the protection of the previous Shadow Diviner.


    -Skills/Passives-


    *[Stillhoute Enshroudment]


    *[Midnight Edge]


    *[Viper''s Sting]


    *[Serpent Mark]


    *[ ??? ]


    *[ ??? ]


    *[ ??? ]


    *Until you''re able to summon ''Kiara'' without a time limit, you''re blocked from seeing certain abilities and passives as she is still under the protection of the previous Shadow Diviner.


    ...


    "...?" Shinto raised his upon looking at her stats. It seems that if he wanted to know the numbers and all of her abilities, he had to summon her permanently like Kon. But to his dismay, he''s unable to as of the moment. "Sigh... At the very least, I can view the four avable abilities."


    Wanting to take a look at the four abilities that he could, Shinto was quickly interrupted as he could hear the certain cries of the night that had suddenly resounded through the caverns.


    "...?" Turning to the direction of the sound, he noted the familiar red eyes that he had seen earlier. "...sigh. They''re back again?"


    "Master... Please stand back, I''ll handle it," Kiara stated as she soon took out the daggers from her pockets. "These bats sure are persistent... Much the same as a certain someone I know."


    "Hmm... It looks like I can finally see your skills in action," Shinto uttered out as he turned towards Kiara. "Then let''s go with that then. Kiara, would you mind apanying me to their den?"

 Chapter 166: Cobra (3)

    Chapter 166: Cobra (3)


    Moving through the darkness of the caverns, Kiara silently appeared behind the back of the Nightcrawler Bats as she held up the dagger within her hands. Soon after, she effortlessly slit her enemies, swiftly bringing their health down to the red in one attack.


    "..." Moments after doing so, her eyes nced over to the bats that were beginning to surround her. However, she didn''t care for the encirclement as she gripped her daggers and soon tore through the enemies in the redturning them to grey ash.


    "...wow," Shinto mumbled out in amazement as he noted the abilities of Kiara. Although he knew that the enemies were no match for her, he didn''t expect that the level of their ying field was far beyond the margin. "Herbat prowess is overwhelming the bats even if they have the number advantage. Just what level is she?"


    Due to the previous shadow diviner''s protection on Kiara''s stats, Shinto wasn''t able to get an exact detail of all her abilities nor her level. However, given that the bats estimated level was around the 60s or 70, he reckoned that Kiara was shyly around the same level or much higher than that.


    Though, even with that consideration, Shinto was still surprised by the fact that he had the ability to summon someone who was over level 70 at any time he wanted unless the cooldown was in effect. Despite being around the level of 30, he seemed to have the abilities, or presumably had the ability to borrow from those above his level.


    "Hmm... Since the Blood Queen said that aid woulde to helpplete the quest, I guess it was natural that they''ll be around the same level as this ce," Shinto reasoned. "But even then... Was I supposed to be around this level to be able to summon Kiara and the ck Bird''s Darkness?"


    He pondered. There was a lot of ups and turvy during the past week in the game when he first became the Shadow Diviner. He wondered whether or not he was supposed to even gain such abilities at this level if it wearn''t for his luck at stumbling upon ces that were far beyond what he and his party could do.


    "Perhaps I''m thinking thing''s in a linear sort of way," Shinto tilted his head. "Since my progress in terms of my swordsman ss was reinstated to the Shadow Diviner, I guess the growth of a ss rting to Altric is fast so that you''ll be able to catch up with the yer base."


    It was a reasonable thought to think of. It was in a way, unfair to lose one''s progress that had been made throughout the years just for a ss and then falling behind the yer base whilst trying to catch up with them. Even though the ss was considered top tier or powerful to be on par with higher levelled yers, the fact lies that having to start all over because of a reset didn''t sit well with many.


    "..." Still on the line of thought, Shinto''s eyes nced over towards Kiara who seemed to have finished up her battle. In the next moment, he opened up Kiara''s skill window as he began scrutinizing the abilities.


    ...


    [ Stillhoute Enshroudment Lv 2 ] [ 75 MP ] [ Cooldown: 5 Minute ]


    The Shadow of the Serpent silently moves over to an area at a 10m distance whilst creating a shadow clone from within the darkness that stood in the previous ce of the user for 33 seconds. While the clone exists, enemies are more than likely to target onto said clone if the user had been the main focus of attention during the usage of the skill. Otherwise, the user can freely change ces with the clone at any time until the end of the skill.


    *The shadow clone cannot attack and it has 32% of the user''s stat.


    *Skill can only be used while in the Shadow Serpent''s [ Human Form ].


    ...


    [ Midnight Edge Lv 2 ] [ 40 MP ] [ Cooldown: 44 Seconds ]


    With the moonlit night stored away within the dagger of the Shadow Serpent, the user leaps forward onto an enemy, quickly dealing dark physical damage of 230%.


    *Skill can only be used while in the Shadow Serpent''s [ Human Form ].


    ...


    [ Viper''s Sting Lv 2 ] [ 75 MP ] [ Cooldown: 30 Seconds ]


    Blessed by the poison of a serpent, the user silently reaps behind an enemy, quickly dealing physical damage of 175% whilst having an 80% chance of inflicting poison on them. If the target has already been inflicted by poison, the skill instead deals physical damage of 270%.


    *Skill can only be used while in the Shadow Serpent''s [ Serpent Form ].


    ...


    [ Serpent Mark Lv 1 ]


    Under the guise of the Shade''s Shadow, the Shadow Serpent may transform into two beingsthe Serpent and the Human form. Upon switching forms for the 3rd time, the user cannot switch forms for the next hour.


    *While the Shadow of the Serpent is in [ Serpent ] form, poison damage and movement speed are greatly increased by 50% and 20% respectively whilst enhancing the vision of the user to seek out prey much easily.


    *While the Shadow of the Serpent is in [ Human ] form, physical damage and movement speed while in darkness is greatly increased by 30% and 40% respectively. Upon killing an enemy while in this form, [ Killing Instinct ] has a 30% chance of activating.


    *[ Killing Instinct ]: Health is slightly recovered by 3%.


    ...


    Whilst viewing the four abilities out of the seven that Shinto could see and making continuous note of them, Shinto was soon interrupted as he heard a loud voiceing from his front.


    "Master!" Kiara shouted out as a soundwave protruded out towards Shinto. "Watch out!"


    "...?!" Shinto hurriedly turned towards the direction of the voice and soon to the attack as he quickly swayed himself to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. "The battle was still ongoing?" he was careless to think that the battle was done just because Kiara was here. He should''ve face checked the area before going deep into the thought. Though, he had a bad habit of doing so. "Ahem... My bad."


    "No, no... I apologize. I hadn''t managed to kill thatst bat and it came running to you..." Kiara muttered out. "It seems that my abilities didn''t catch his attention... Or perhaps he was trying to run away."


    "It''s fine. It was my fault for letting my guard down while we were still in battle," Shinto slightly coughed out. "In any case... Is this ce cleaned out?"


    "Everything''s cleared out from what I can see," Kiara confirmed. "All that''s left is... The Nightcrawler Bat King''s chamber."


    "I see," Shinto nodded his head as his eyes now turned to the wide-open area by the front of him. "Looks like we''ll be greeting the boss far mini-boss far sooner than I thought."


    Shinto wouldn''t have known that there was a bat''s den within the area if it wearn''t for Minister Yer''s cry for help. Though unbeknownst to him on the reasons as to why Yer went alone through the darkness and got caught up by the colony, Shinto didn''t care as he only wanted to finish up with the quest that he had received from the divinity side, and what better way than to go to a den filled with monsters that could be easily done in by Kiara?


    "These bats are nothing," Kiara stated. "But... For the monsters outside-" Whilst continuing on with her sentence, her words cut short as her dagger soon raised in instinct. "Master... Get behind me. There seems to be an intruder."


    "...?" Shinto raised his brow in confusion. He had already scrutinized the premise, however, he hadn''t found anything out of the normal. "An intruder...?"


    "He seems to be invisible..." Kiara closed her eyes as her senses soon began with their job. "Ahem... Come out now or I''ll force you out."


    "..." Upon her statement, silence protruded out in the air. However, not a secondter, a figure of a slime soon revealed itself.


    "U-Uh... Hi?" The slime who seemed extremely familiar spoke out. "I don''t mean any harm..."


    "...huh? Minister Yer?" Shinto raised his brow. "What the... What are you doing here?"


    "I haven''t noticed until now due to the bats... But he seemed to have recently arrived here, or perhaps... He had been following us," Kiara clenched her dagger as she pointed it over to the trembling slime. "Speak. Why are you here?"


    "E-Eek! Human! Shinto!" Minister Yer cried out. "I''m sorry for whatever I said, but please please please ask that woman to put their knife away! I didn''t hear anything! I was just here by coincidence!!"


    "Hah..." Shinto sighed. "You still haven''t answered her question though. Why are you here? Shouldn''t you be back with the group?"


    "Well I could be asking you the same-" Minister Yer hurriedly closed his mouth as he saw Kiara raising her dagger. "Ahem... I''m here because... I needed to find something that I dropped before we arrived here..."


    "Something that you dropped? Around a bat''s den of all ces?" Shinto raised his brow in doubt. "...we didn''t go to this ce yet though? In fact... This is the other passage we didn''t take."

 Chapter 167: Cobra (4)

    Chapter 167: Cobra (4)


    "Exin yourself, slime!" Kiara shouted out in an angered voice upon hearing Shinto''s reasoning. In the next moment, her hand that held the dagger tightly moved towards the slime in a menacing manner.


    "E-Eek!" Minister Yer cried out. "Spare me! I mean- I''m not lying! I did drop something here!!"


    "Kiara, stopped," Shinto firmly stated as her de stopped mid-way. "...ahem. So you really did drop something? If so, what is it?"


    "U-Uh..." Minister Yer gulped with slight fear thinking that he may die from Kiara''s attack upon a single wrong answer. "I dropped... I dropped..."


    "Why is it that you''re mumbling? Speak clearer!" Kiara stated as she red at Minister Yer whose mouth had been mumbling the entire time.


    "I just lost an item okay!?" Minister Yer clicked his tongue. "I can''t tell you what it is because it''s private stuff! So... Just, please ask that woman to stop acting so... So..."


    "So what?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "...so," as Minister Yer was about to speak out, Kiara''s eyes that stared deep into the minister made him shudder. "N-Nevermind... Just let me be to find the item and I''ll go back to the rest..."


    "Hah... So you''re just going to go like that?" Shinto raised his brow in suspicion as he wondered why the minister was acting this way. Perhaps he had an undying secret that would''ve got him killed upon speaking it out, or maybe he was plotting something behind the backs of the group. "Then... Answer me this, why did youe here all of a sudden before you lost that item?


    "C-Can I not tell?" Minister Yer muttered out as his eyes slowly turned to Kiara. Upon contact, he quickly turned his head away. "...I wanted to find my way back on my own, but I ended up at this ce and was chased by the bats. I know! I know! I should''ve waited, but you guys are just so weak that I can''t bear to wait any longer!"


    "Cough... Is that so?" Shinto sighed at Minister Yer''s dual witted attitude. When speaking to those who he fears, he may as well be called a different person. Meanwhile, when speaking to the humans and Sleras, his tone seemed to be that of arrogance. "Hah... If that''s how you want to y, then do whatever. I''ve got no time to help out anyway, so I''ll leave you to your own things."


    "...are we just leaving this guy to his own problems?" Kiara asked. "I feel like he''s hiding something... It might bite us back if we let our guard down."


    "Sigh, with this guy being unbearably scared of you, I doubt he has anything much to put on the table," Shinto replied. "If he doesn''t want to tell what kind of item he lost, he may as well just find it on his own. I doubt we have much time to spare to help even since you''ll be going back to the Shadow Realm soon..."


    "Which is why I''m all the more worried, master..." Kiara uttered out as she soon locked eyes onto Shinto. "Perhaps if you can give me the ne I''ll be able to get this guy to talk... I know I can do that at least before I go."


    "No, that''s not necessary. With the way the Sleras here treat this guy, I doubt he means much," Shinto calmly reasoned. "If anything, if he does plot behind our backs, I''ll have the ck Bird''s Darkness for aid if something goes wrong."


    "..." Kiara kept quiet as he heard Shinto''s reasoning. "Even if ke were to help with this... It''s better to prevent the worst from happening. But... If you say so, then I''ll just abide by your wishes."


    "Right, then let''s get going," Shinto nodded his head as he quickly made his way over towards the open-spaced area of the caverns.


    Following behind him was Kiara, however, before she began walking, her head turned to Minister Yer as she soon pointed her fingers over to her eyes and then to his. "If you do anything to him, you''re dead," with a firm but quiet voice, she nced away from the shaking minister and soon began moving.


    "E-Eep... I only just lost an item!" Minister Yer cried out. "Why does everyone hate me..."


    ...


    Through the rocky grounds of the cavern, Shinto silently nced around the area as he noted that the open-spaced area that they saw from afar was quite big. If he had to wager, the area was around 32m radii.


    "..." Scrutinizing the area, Shinto could only see the stone pirs and rocks on his right and left. "...Kiara, are you ready?" he silently muttered out.


    "Of course. Please get behind me," Kiara stated.


    "Right, then..." With his staff moving towards the ceiling of the room, Shinto chanted out a spell as he sent out a ball of shining light over to the direction which the staff pointed at. In the next moment, a loud scream protruded out within the room.


    "Squeak!" Large waves of sound soon protruded down over towards Shinto, however, knowing that the attacks were going to be directed to him, he had already left his original position.


    "There''s quite a lot of bats... But that''s no problem for me," Kiara uttered out as her dagger swung over towards the countless bats that had flown down to the ground. In the next moment, she began moving through the room as she shed at every single one of the bats in her way.


    Whilst Kiara was rampaging through the bats like it was nothing, Shinto supported her from behind by healing away any damage that had been done to her. Though, with the number of kills he had on her belt during the battle, Shinto didn''t even need to do anything since her passive: [ Serpent Mark ] would proc frequently.


    "Hah... Do I just not do anything and wait for her to finish?" Shinto pondered. He felt that It was rather suddenly too easy with Kiara''s appearance. Though, then again, he had already felt this feeling when Reru had been aiding them. "Well... I wouldn''t be going with this tactic anyways if it was under normal circumstance since I like for a good challenge."


    Shinto''s style was that he preferred to handle things by himself, though he gradually changed into supporting others whilst keeping the team in top shape due to his ss. But, he still couldn''t do much to his full potential since he had been blocked out of many abilities and that his enemies were far powerful than his group could handle.


    Maybe if he had more healing abilities or buffs to continuously support his allies or even a debuff that can aid his group via weakening his enemies. However, his options here rathercking without the help of Reru or Kiara.


    "..." Shinto slightly frowned at the thought. "Silence, 5% buffs and blindness, barrier, single-target healing... Those are my only supporting capabilities from my ss, huh?" despite being able to summon Kiara and Kon into the battlefield, individually, without them, Shinto''s potential was extremely scarce as of the moment. "Hah... I wish my shadow stats and divinity stats can increase faster..."


    With his shadow and divinity gauge running out ever so often, he couldn''t raise both stats as much as he wanted to, thus, most of the skills that may be unlocked through just increasing his stat was a long way for him.


    Perhaps Shinto was being greedy for more and should be satisfied with his current abilities considering that he could summon shadow minions. But could it be helped with how helpless he is in situations that didn''t even require support? Even ounting for Frey and Raina who was now slightlycking behind in terms of level; they could bring much more to the field than even himself could.


    "...sigh, so much for a support," Shinto clicked his tongue. He suddenly felt like a summoner or at best a pseudo-damage dealer that uses another medium besides himself to damage. "Maybe in the future. For now... I''ll just have toplete all my current quests." the future passes every second, yet it was a long road for Shinto.


    "Hah..." Continuing to let out a sigh, Shinto was quickly alerted by his notification window. "Is it...?" With his eyes locked onto the window, he noted that he had finally achieved what he was hoping for by going into the bat''s den.


    [ Quest: A Diviner or Not? has beenpleted! ]


    [ The beings of Divinity are ring at ''Kiara'' who had done 90% of the work forpleting his goals. They are angry that the Diviner himself had relied on someone, however, they kept their word. ]


    [ Quest reward received! Your rtion with the beings of Divinity has returned back to normal levels. Although you may feel certain disappointment from them from time to time. ]


    [ You have obtained 1 Shadow and Divinity stat respectively! ]


    [ ''Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night'' is enjoying your achievement and isughing at the dumbfounded faces of the beings of Divinity. ]


    [ The beings of Divinity are mumbling to themselves on what to do as of the moment. They are still unsatisfied with the Diviner''s status. ]


    "...these guys," Shinto clicked his tongue. Can''t they give him a break for once? "Sigh... Well, whatever. This is done and..."


    "Uh, Master... I apologize, but I think there''s a problem," Kiara stated.


    "Huh? What is it?"

 Chapter 169: Winter Eternal (1)

    Chapter 169: Winter Eternal (1)


    Stepping through the seemingly shallow snow of the vige, Hikari who was at the forefront of the group looked around the premises whilst she gave off the glimmer of light around the area to shine away from the darkness.


    "This ce is... Quite something," Hikari muttered out as she noted that the houses seemed to have all been broken down into rubble due to a snowstorm, or perhaps an avnche. "Just what kind of ce is this? For a vige, well... A broken one to exist out in the snowy fields like this..."


    "Maybe it''s the old ce where the vige in the caverns used to live?" Crowelin questioned. "If that''s so... Then we''re clearly on the right path! See, I told you those slimes were a good idea!"


    "Is it? I doubt so..." Hikari moved her eyes over to the small slime who seemed to be frantically looking around the area. "I don''t necessarily think that this was the vige that had people from the caverns you were talking about. In fact, I don''t even think there were any survivors here? The damage around the ce seems rather... Big."


    "Hmm... Then..." Crowelin tilted her head. "What''s this ce if not rting to the caverns? From the quest detail... It did say that the people in the caverns were survivors of a tragic event and that we need to help them with something since they requested help through the pope''s prayers..."


    "Huh. People who were survivors of a tragic event," Hikari thought to herself. "It does ring a bell in terms of a quest I once did in Fal''s Kingdom with Kaisus... But I don''t remember its detail."


    "Sigh... Are our only leads on finding the ce through the quest details then?" Crowelin pouted. "We''re only following the slimes to see if it''s really Shinto, right?"


    When the two girls first heard the name ''Shinto'' which was uttered out by Reru, they were extremely frantic as they found it surreal for him to be in the snowy ins of all ces. Though, upon further questioning the slime, they could only vaguely get answers out of him regarding Shinto''s appearance. From looks to build. But, the key question of Shinto''s ''ss'', was never answered by him.


    Although they were persistent in finding out whether he was a swordsman or a mage, Reru seemed to be messing with them by using the information as bribery to get them to aid the two slimes with whatever business they were doing.


    "Yeah, but... Confirming whether or not he is Shinto through facial recognition might actually take longer than that," Hikari uttered out as she noticed that the small slime had disappeared from her field of view whilst they were discussing. "...where are they?"


    "H-Huh?! Did they abandon us?!" Crowelin shouted out as in reply to her shout, an annoyed voice protruded out from behind her.


    "Ugh... Did you had to shout like that?" Reru, the slime who had stayed behind the group scoffed. "I don''t know if it''s because you''re blind or that you have a narrow field of vision, but, I was here the entire time."


    "Ah, cough," Crowelin coughed. "I didn''t notice you there..."


    "Tch... If you wanted to discuss some cavern and survivors, couldn''t you have kept your volume down to whispers? I just want my temporary peace and quiet whilst Rustly does his business," he clicked his tongue. "And, no. I''m not going to answer any questions that you have."


    "Sigh... This is going to be a long night, huh?" Hikari sighed as she averted her eyes away from the slime and soon to the surrounding rubble. Moments after, she took a step forward wanting to observe the area, however, as soon as she did so, a loud howl protruded out into the night. "...?!"


    "Are you kidding me?!" Reru frowned. "Why are theying now of all damn times?! Ugh... You! I me you for your loud discussion and scream earlier!"


    "H-Huh? Me? What?!" Crowelin furrowed her brow. "I''m not the one shouting in a tone much louder than mine!"


    "You two... Can we have this conversationter?" Hikari pouted whilst taking out her staff. "Enemies areing at 11, 10, 12, 1 o''clock respectively and... I don''t think their numbers are to be taken lightly off."


    "Are humans always like this? They can''t give everyone around them a break?" Reru''s expression grew dark. "Hah... I hope yourbat abilities are much better than other humans I''ve seen. I don''t want to carry on another burden."


    "Hmph, I''ll show you what a Pdin can do!" Crowelin took out her hammer and then her shield. "You best be amazed when we''re done with this!"


    "Your Arceus side is showing again..." Hikari sighed. Never would she have expected a slime to easily piss her off just from hisining. "Whatever. That''s not what matters. I''ll help defend your rear, but try your best not to use much stamina alright?"


    "Ahem... Yeah, yeah."


    ...


    "Argh! You''re saying we''re supposed to go out in the dark?" Within the dark caverns, Frey cried out. "Can''t we wait till morning?!"


    "...Frey, it''s already turning to morning," Raina sighed. "We''ll have to leave soon."


    "Mm... But, I don''t want to go out of this cave," Frey frowned. "The outside... is cold, dreadful and... scary! Like, how are we supposed to beat those powerful enemies? No no... How are supposed to even survive?!"


    "Jee, would you just shut your yaps and get some rest before you end upining about being tired?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "When we decided we''d leave first thing when Shintoes back from whatever he was supposed to be doing, it was on the thought it''d take hours and look, it''s already been two hours since he left."


    "Still... Isn''t there a better tactic like... Wait for Reru and Rustly toe back on their own ord?" Frey questioned. "It''s not like they fully abandoned us, right? They just need some time alone! Which... Well, if we go out looking for them... It''s basically taking us back to square one."


    "Wait around and basically do nothing?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Even though the enemies are stupidly high levelled, I''d rather try taking them six on one than sitting around having an unmoving experience bar."


    "I mean I also want to level but... Would it work going up against high levelled enemies like that?" Frey tilted her head. "We''ve experienced this with those rats... And it was a nightmare! What if another horde of monsters ends uping to us? Yikes... I don''t want to imagine facing ten monsters again..."


    "There''s nothing we can do about this situation but to just level as much as we can for the time being," Shinto calmly stated as he finally rendezvoused with the group alongside Yer. "We''re going to look for Reru and Rustly, but we''re also going to level. Though, at a discrete pace to not attract any unwanted mobs."


    "Master! You''re back!" Frey uttered out. "Hah... The inevitable is going toe. Will we even be able to level up without issue? With all the stuff we experiencedtely... I feel a storming..."


    "I don''t think it''s that bad," Shinto stated. "In fact... We''ve got a few powerhouses on our side to help us in case of emergencies. For example, the one who helped us with the bats earlier."


    "Hmm... Right, we have that person who helped us with the bats," Raina nodded her head. "But... Where are they? Last I heard, you went to see them?"


    "She''ll help when it''s due. She doesn''t want to reveal herself as of yet..." Shinto reasoned. "But in any case, we have some safetys for when we''re in trouble, so the worry won''t be that bad."


    "Mmm, if you say so... Then we can do it!" Frey cheered. "But... Can we like... Wait for when the sun fullyes out?"


    "No. Let''s just go out now," Ethaniel stated. "It''s almost turning morning anyways and us waiting for the sun toe out fully would be a waste of time."


    "Yeah, the outside isn''t as dark as before, so, we can go out now," Raina nodded her head. "The only thing I worry about is whether or not there are some monsters that only appear at night and... Whether they more powerful than the ones that appear at day."


    "Raina... Why do you have to make me worry like this?!" Frey cried out. "I''m just a brawler that barely survives almost all attacks thrown at me... Do I really have to face something like that?"


    "Yes, so let''s go," Ethaniel shrugged as he soon stepped foot outside of the caverns. Following up from behind him, Raina, Erith and Yer exited out of the cave respectively.


    "Sigh... Am I the only one worried?" Frey titled her head. "Man..."


    "It''s fine Frey, it won''t go to that bad of a situation," Shinto calmly reassured Frey. "Let''s just try our best to level up to get our stats on par with the monsters."


    "If you say so..." Frey ced her worries aside as she and Shinto soon followed behind the group.

 Chapter 170: Winter Eternal (2)

    Chapter 170: Winter Eternal (2)


    On the snowy paved path of Bareth''s Tundra Zone, Shinto, as well as the rest of his group, made their way forward in a cautioned manner through the pinewood forest, slowly heading towards the ruins that Shinto, Kon and Ethaniel had found before the horde of monsters started chasing after them.


    "B-Brr... It''s cold... More colder than yesterday''s area check," Frey shivered whilst she walked. Moments after, she hurriedly turned to Raina. "Raina! C-Can you like... Use your me and warm me up please?"


    "Using my spells to warm us up?" Raina tilted her head whilst she slightly shivered as well. "I could do that, but... In case of emergencies like a monster attack... I''d rather save my skills for them."


    "B-But, we''ll probably be frozen to death before a monsteres to sweep the floors with us!" Frey cried out. "We can''t have even a teensy bit of fire?"


    "I''m afraid not..." Raina shook her head helplessly.


    "Aww..." Frey pouted.


    "Just suffer the snow for a bit before Raina uses her fire skills to keep us warm," Shinto sighed whilst showing the same signs of shivering like the rest of the group. "I-In any case... We''re where our short exploration stopped and where we parted ways from the two slimes."


    It had only been thirty minutes since they left the cavern and, during those thirty minutes, their progress through the pinewood forest wasn''t that great inparison to both group''s previous exploration outing.


    Unlike before where they could walk at a steady pace due to them having not yet exposed to the cruel environments of the tundra ins, now the group remained vignt and decided to discretely move to prevent monsters from noticingwhich worked up until a certain point where they reached the area where the countless monsters gathered in front of a ruin.


    "Ugh... These guys are back at it again?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he observed the front of him from the bushes. Just like before, there were many sorts of monsters standing by at the front of the ruins. "...why do I feel like there are more monsters than before?"


    "Well from what I can see... There actually are more monsters than before," Shinto frowned. Among the mobs aimlessly walking around in front of the ruins, there were a few which they had never seen before.


    One was that of a golem with icy stone surrounding it to the brim. Another was an imperceptible figure that directly sat by at the front doors of the ruin, lonesomely staring out into the crowd of monsters.


    "Man... Whatever is in that ruin sure is really attractive for all those monsters to gather up in one spot, right?" Frey uttered out whilst rubbing her hands together in hopes of keeping warm. However, even with the worn-out gloves that she was wearing, she couldn''t stop the cold from getting to her. "W-We''re not going in, are we? There''s... One, two... Too many mobs for us to handle-"


    "Shh. If you say any more with your loud voice, you might as well start running and be bait for all of us to safely head into the ruins," Ethaniel covered the mouth of Frey instantly before she could raise her voice.


    "Mmm! Ethaniel! Your hands are cold!" Frey muttered out in an angered hushed voice against. "You''re making me unable to feel anything... Ahh! I hate the winter!"


    "Look, you''re not the only one that isn''t cold here," Ethaniel red at Frey as he released his hand from Frey''s mouth. "Can''t you see the slimes shivering more than any of us?"


    "H-Huh? W-What do you mean?!" Yer uttered out. "I-I''m not shivering, you are!"


    "Unlike the minister who has at least some warm clothing... I''m just here thinking I''d be turned into frozen waste at any time because all my armour''s been broken..." Erith sighed through his teeth. "Hah... None of my training ever prepared me for this..."


    "All the more reasons not to go into the ruin," Raina stated. "Perhaps we should reconsider going further from here. I mean... We''re weak as it is to fight normal monsters, but to tackle on a dungeon at this rate?"


    "No... We''re ignoring the ruins," Shinto calmly stated whilst analyzing the structure of the building and the monsters around it. "Just like you said, we''re weak as it is, so tackling on the dungeon would be asking for a death wish."


    "If that''s so... Then why are we here then?" Frey tilted her head. "I thought we were going to go into the ruins... But if not, can we leave quickly? This ce is colder than anywhere else!"


    "This ce was thest ce we saw Reru and Rustly, so in hopes of finding them, I was hoping we''d find some clues," Shinto nodded his head. "For example, footsteps."


    "Footsteps? In these open ins? I doubt we''ll be able to find anything though..." Raina thought to herself. "Do slimes even leave a mark on the ground? I only see small traces that were left behind by Minister Yer or Erith while we were walking here. I doubt that even after all these hours, the traces would remain."


    "Right... That could be a problem," Shinto sighed. "It''s only our footsteps that remained even after all these hours. But the traces of Reru and Rustly have disappeared..."


    "Then what do we do?" Frey questioned. "If it''s like this... We suffered through the stupid snow for nothing!"


    "Ugh... Frey, your voice," Ethaniel furrowed his brow as he cautiously looked through the bush and out into the ruins. Thankfully, none of the monsters seemed to have noticed. "Ahem... Anyhow, I guess if ites to the first, we can just level up whilst waiting for god knows how long for the two slimes toe back."


    "Sigh... I guess that''s n B then," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "But, for now... Let''s just head in the direction of where the slimes went, and then we''ll decide from there whether or not it''s a futile thing to chase after them. Who knows? They might be near."


    "Hmm... Actually, this begs the question. Since it''s turning morning now and that the slimes were out in wild for this long... How did they survive overnight with all the cold air?" Raina asked in a questioning tone whilst turning to the two shivering slimes. "If they''re just like them... I don''t think they''ll be able to survive in these conditions..."


    "Maybe they found shelter or something?" Frey questioned. "But anyway... Can we please leave this ce now? I don''t think I can stand the cold any longer... Raina, please use your fire!!"


    "Over there, that''s the direction where Reru and Rustly went if I recall," Shinto pointed over to the west side of the forest. "We''ll head there now and then have Raina warm us up."


    ...


    Under the pinewood tree, the group slowly sat by on the cold snowy grounds of the ins as they rested with the help of Raina''s fire attribute spells which kept them warm enough to prevent any unnecessary deaths from the cold atmosphere.


    "Ahh! Even with your fire, it''s still so cold!" Frey cried out. "Are there any more warmer things that can make this campfire aze?"


    "If I give more heat to the branches, I think we''ll have a field day with the monsters since it might attract them over here..." Raina uttered out. "So... This is the best I can do."


    "Aww really?! Mmm... This isn''t enough to keep me warm..." Frey grumbled. "Why does this ce have to be so cold..."


    "What can we do?" Shinto sighed. "We don''t have any warm clothes nor items that increase our cold resistance so we''ll have to be satisfied with this if we want to stay out in the fields for much longer."


    "Man... Why is our equipment so horrible? I thought we''d be doing good if we just continue getting equipment from monsters and all..." Frey frowned. "But what''s up with all these spears?! How many spears are we going to get?!"


    "Eh... The goblins have nothing better to drop I guess," Ethaniel shrugged. "But, because of these stupid drops, I ended up getting some skill for it..." he frowned as he turned to his skill list, noting the newly acquired skill he had gotten from the time he had thrown all of his swords and spears.


    [ Equipment Thrower ] [ 90 MP / 1 Sword/Spear Type Equipment ] [ Cooldown: 15 Seconds ]


    Clenching onto the equipment in one''s hand, the user throws it out into a targeted direction, dealing 240% damage equal to the damage that the equipment deals through a normal basic attack.


    *Upon usage, you will lose ownership of the item almost immediately and will not be protected under the system''s domain of temporal yer item protection.


    ...


    "Tch... I can''t believe I unlocked such a skill under that kind of circumstance," Ethaniel sighed. He wasn''t the type to willingly throw away equipment just because he had no uses for it, especially if it was a sword. He could easily sell them off the market if it was necessary or that he could use it for other means when the opportunityes.


    "Hey, a skill''s a skill," Shintoughed. "At least you''ll have use for the spears that the goblins drop," stating out his reasoning, he soon stood up from the ground. "In any case... Breaks over. Let''s get a move on and... Huh?" abruptly stopping at his sentence, he soon raised his brow. "Footsteps? Wait... Are these human footsteps?"

 Chapter 171: Winter Eternal (3)

    Chapter 171: Winter Eternal (3)


    Raising a brow in confusion, Shinto soon narrowed his eyes over to the footsteps on the snowy grounds of the pinewood forest. He hadn''t noticed since he was busy attempting to get warm through Raina''s fire, however, now with a close look on it, he could note that humans had passed through here.


    "What? Come again?" Frey uttered out with sight confusion as she busied herself in keeping warm. "...human footsteps? Isn''t that just ours or something?"


    "Where are you looking at, Shinto?" Raina questioned as her eyes turned to the direction of where the young man had fixed his eyes on. "...hmm, we haven''t gone there yet haven''t we?"


    "No, we haven''t," Shinto shook his head. "These footsteps seem to being from another person, or... two?" he uttered out unsurely. The footsteps that they were looking at were that of a mess, though still recognizableallowing for him to discern that the few trails of footprints were made of two different sizes.


    "Huh... So... It''s not ours?" Frey tilted her head. "Then maybe there''s a vige nearby!?"


    "A vige?" Shinto thought to himself. "I don''t think these are signs of a vige."


    It was strange that he had found human footsteps around the area. Perhaps there was a vige nearby that they could visit in hopes of buying warmer and better gear, but, Shinto doubted such thought.


    To begin with, the area that they were in seemed to be unkempt from human civilization for a long time. With harsh environmental conditions and an over infestation of monstersthe area wasn''t ideal for living purposes. Though, what would Shinto know? He only had been around in one ce and not the other.


    "If they''re human footsteps, I reckon they might be bandits or adventurers rather than people of a vige," Shinto stated. It wasn''t umon to find others who are in an isted area far away from civilization. After all, they wearn''t the only humans on the continent. "But the question on this is... Are they good or bad?"


    Just as how it wasn''t umon to find others in an area far from society, especially one with harsh conditions, it wasn''t umon to find those who associate themselves with evil in these parts. After all, unless they were on a quest or wanted to level up, the mostmon people that one would find in areas such as this would be people on the run or thieves who typically pick off wanderers who are lost or are weak.


    "What, are you saying we might bump into them or something?" Ethaniel inquired. "This ce is vast and our goal is to only find the slimes and leave. I doubt that we''d bump into other humans or yers to care enough about them."


    "Well, I was just ying thing''s on the safe side," Shinto calmly stated. "If we do bump into someone else, I don''t want to get into a battle that we may lose. Especially if we consider that since this is a pretty high levelled area, the people around here should be of simr levels."


    "Mm... If we end up fighting, our numbers won''t be enough to overwhelm them?" Frey sighed. "Man..."


    "It can''t be helped," Raina helplessly shook her head. "Even with our numbers, we struggle to even kill a single goblin before he calls for backup."


    "Whoever the person is, let''s just try our best to avoid them," Shinto nodded his head. "But..."


    "...but?" Ethaniel further questioned.


    "...this may or may not be the only lead that we have to find the slimes," Shinto uttered out in a helpless voice.


    "Huh? What makes you so sure?" he raised his brow.


    "I mean, this was the area that the slimes had went to, and... This is the only thing we found," Shinto reasoned, "Since these footprints seem to be quite recent, I can only assume that Reru and Rustly had gone this way."


    "Y-You think the slimes can turn into humans?" Frey''s eyes widened in shock. "Hey! You two! You never told me anything about this!"


    "What bullshit!" Yer clicked his tongue. "We''re slimes and that''s that! We can''t transform into a human that''s impossible!"


    "There haven''t been any cases in regards to a slime having a human body," Erith shook his head. "We may not look like it since we''re round balls, but we can do stuff typical humans do since we can manipte our slime as much as we want without any hindrance. Why do you think we can wield weapons and wear custom-made clothes? It''s just how our biology works I guess."


    "O-Oh..." Frey blinked dumbfoundedly at Erith''s exnation from Shinto''s trantion. She hadn''t been as questioning in regards to how the body of a Slera worked, but it was fascinating to know. "Then, If not the work of the slimes and that actual humans had gone in this direction, why do you think Reru and Rustly went through here as well? I thought they wanted alone time..."


    "I''m not sure, but... It''s a gut feeling," Shinto stated. It could be that the humans had been following after the slimes which thetter didn''t realize, or perhaps there was a case that happened which required the slimes to chase after the humans.


    Either way, from the things he had seen within the area, the most usible thing would be that everything led into a single direction as other directions in the area were mostly blocked off or lead to a monster''s nest.


    "Hmm... A gut feeling, huh?" nodding her head, Raina soon stood up from the ground. "Well... If that''s the only lead, I guess we should be on our way before we end up losing it."


    With the fire in the area extinguished, the group began making their way out of the small shade of the pine tree and soon followed after the trail of footprints stamped by humans.


    ...


    "Hah... Hah..." With tired breaths rasping out against the cold atmosphere of the vige, Crowelin tightly held onto her weapon and shield as she fought off against the sudden horde of monsters that appeared from the forest. "Why are these guys suddenly so powerful...?!"


    "Urk... I don''t know," Hikari uttered out in a tired tone. "These monsters are unlike the ones we''ve fought here... It''s almost as if, they''re on the level of mini-bosses in this area?"


    "Mini-bosses?!" Crowelin cried out. "They''re like... Five times the strength of the normal monsters here! How are we going to handle against a horde of them!?"


    "To put it worse, it seems that they''re the worst match up against us," Hikari clicked her tongue as she continuously chanted out her spells. However, every time she did soher spells were quickly dispersed away as if she never used them. "We''re both spell-based sses and not technique-based..."


    "Ugh... At least that slime is holding up himself," Crowelin frowned. "And... I can at least use some of my skills without getting interrupted every single time."


    "Ohe on!" Reru cried out in anger. "Not only are you two useless, but you''re also more useless than the incredible baggage I''ve got!" he clicked his tongue as his sword swung in an arc, hurriedly shing des against the blue-ck goblins and wolves in front of him. "Why on earth are humans so... so... Helpless when they''re needed most?!"


    "Well sorry for being unlucky against monsters like these!" Crowelin replied in anguish, swiftly raising her hammer up to the sky and then down to the groundknocking back all the enemies around her. "How was I supposed to know these guys would appear!?"


    "Kek..." The blue-ck goblins standing by at the backlines began chanting out a spell of darkness as it quickly boomed through the fields. "Gragh Gragh!"


    [ Skill has been abruptly cancelled. ]


    "I''m sorry... I''m of no help," Hikari bit her lips upon the notification in front of her. "These guys at the back are nullifying my spells every single time... I need someone to handle them."


    "What can I or even your friend do?" Reru clicked his tongue. "We''re busy tying up these stupid wolves before they shred us all to pieces! And... They''re overwhelming!"


    "Awooo!!" The wolves howled as Reru''s and Crowelin''s strength began to decline.


    [ Your strength and defences have been lowered by 20% for 5 seconds! ]


    [ Healing has been disabled. ]


    [ Resistance to the Ice and Dark element has been greatly decreased by 40% ]


    "Ugh... I hate these debuffs..." Crowelin began being pushed back by the second as her strength continuously dropped down. Her passive regeneration skill which she had relied on to nullify against the amounts of damage she had received had stopped working, and thus her health fell rapidly as ever. Without Hikari''s ability to heal, Crowelin couldn''t keep up with the damage. "I''m gonna die again at this rate!"


    This wasn''t the first time they had encountered such tragedy. Through the times they had been in the snowy ins, the monsters that they''ve encountered were those on the level that Shinto and the group had fought. But, to their unfortunate luck, they had encountered a mini-boss whichpletely countered their entire ss, thus causing their death.


    Agreeing to avoid that boss at all cost, they made roundabout ways around the forest. Yet, to their dismaythe boss had appeared once again with an army of them.

 Chapter 172: Winter Eternal (4)

    Chapter 172: Winter Eternal (4)


    Moving through the snow paved path of the pinewood forest at a steady pace, Shinto and his group followed after the trail of footsteps, however upon reaching towards the end of the trail, the steps seemed to have led to the passing of a storm.


    "Uh... This is..." Shinto uttered out as his brows raised upon the sight of the footprints cutting midway.


    "Just great," Ethaniel finished Shinto''s sentence. "The only apparent lead to finding those stupid slimes just stops at the worst point."


    "...It''s unfortunate that there was a snowstorm here of all ces," Raina shook her head helplessly. "What do we do now? With how there''s no more trail, do we just go around the area blindly in hopes of finding Reru and Rustly?"


    "Man, why now of all times?!" Frey cried out. "Ugh. I just want out of this ce now! Why must it be this cold?!"


    "Sigh... Comining won''t help us at all," Shinto sighed as he took a step forward. "Let''s just continue moving in this direction. The entire time these footprints led into one linear line."


    "Where do you think these guys were even headed to?" With a pout, Frey questioned. "I only see pinewood trees, goblins, annoying winter, snow, snow and more snow as far as I can see!"


    "Hmm, well honestly speaking..." Shinto thought to himself. "I''ve got no clue on where we''re going. I figured we might end up in a much better environment or at least a cavern if we just keep following this trail, but... There really isn''t anything I can see that''s ahead of us. The same goes for the other directionsIt all just leads deeper into the ins..."


    "Hah... Finding these slimes might be more hopeless than trying to fight against that horde we saw at the ruins," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Do the slimes even have the liberty to try and get this far away from us? It''d be more burdensome to go back than just taking time for themselves nearby the damn caverns..."


    "What do I know about what''s going on in their head?" Shinto shrugged. "We''re too ahead to go back as well, so we might as well continue searching for the slimes before turning back."


    "Well if you say so..." Raina nodded as she soon cautiously turned towards the east and west direction. Momentster, she turned over towards Ethaniel. "...hey, Ethan. How many spears do you have in your inventory?"


    "Huh? Why this sudden question?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "...I''ve got 7 since we started following the footprints. If you want general then 28. All these stupid goblins dropped spears at a 100% rate it seems..."


    "7? I see... How long did it take for us to defeat one again?"


    "We''ve tried fighting off against three but two''s our maximum," Ethaniel uttered out. "Going off of that... If all of us are at tip-top shape, then four minutes? Depends on how annoying their evasion is..."


    "Right..." Raina noted.


    "Hey, what''s up with this question? Why are you suddenly asking this?" Shinto frowned. "Shouldn''t you know this?"


    "Ahaha... Um, well... I was contemting on something..." Raina coughed slightly. "You see... I noticed that there seem to be a few goblins around the area and uh, they seem rather different from the rest."


    "Huh?" Listening in on the conversation between the two, Shinto tilted his head. "How different?" The goblins that he had seen thus far were all the same. Blue, clothed in leaves and all were basically spear-wielders or at times your usual armless goblins that like to jump at you without resistance.


    "These goblins seem to rather give off a different aura than the rest..." Raina muttered out. "In fact, all the monsters that we passed as ofte gave a different aura than one''s we encountered by the ruins and outskirts of the cavern."


    "Different in terms of aura?" Frey blinked at Raina''s statement. "The heck you mean? You can sense people''s aura? Huh? Since when? Hey, wait... What''s an aura?"


    "Ugh, you..." Ethaniel frowned. "Whatever. Just learn as you go."


    "..." Hearing Raina''s statement, Shinto fell deep into thought. Unlike what Raina sensed, he and the group hadn''t felt anything off whilst fighting the goblins that they encountered whilst following the trail. The atmosphere andmon feeling they gave were those of typical goblins, thus he couldn''t help but feel off. "Hmm, you say all the monsters that we passed were giving off a different aura? What about the ones we fought?"


    "...they''ve also been giving off a weird feeling as well," Raina stated. "But... It''s only now that it worries me unlike before, the density of the aura seems to be extremely high."


    "...an extremely high-density aura?" Shinto muttered out as he nced around the aura. Finally noting that the monsters that seemed few at first suddenly grew in numbers. "...tch, we''re in trouble, huh?"


    "...my bad, I should''ve told you guys about this earlier..." Raina bit her lip as she took out her staff. "...we can''t possibly win this, right?"


    "No, we can''t win this at all. Their numbers are..." Moving his eyes over to the surrounding area, the number of monsters seem to be totalling up to seven and above from a nce. "...too much for us to handle."


    "E-Eek! How did they grow so much in numbers?!" Frey''s eyes widened in shock. "D-Do we run? Please tell me we''ve got to run..."


    "What do you think, Frey?" Ethaniel sighed as his pace from waking earlier began moving at a much faster rate."If we can''t even stand against two, then..."


    "We run and try our best to get those goblins off of our radar," Shinto stated as he uttered out a chant. In the next moment, a fog of shadows soon appeared within the area.


    "...kik?!" The eyes of blue goblins within the bushes widened their eyes at the sight of the group''s enshrouding in shadow. In the next moment, the monsters began crying out a loud cry as they soon jumped into the shadow.


    ...


    Rushing on the snow paved path of the forest after exiting out of the dark cloud, Shinto began to cautiously look around the area. Soon after, he noted that the goblins that he had seen blue earlier began turning into a blue-ck sort of colour.


    Their eyes turned grey as their entire body soon became a mix of blue and ck. The clothing seemed to have changed as well, with them now wearing armour unlike the goblins from before. Within their hands, different sort of weapons was wielded, not just the spears.


    "Hey... Hey, what gives with these goblins?!" Frey cried out as she turned around, noticing that the mobs were chasing at a rapid pace. "These guys seem like demons than goblins now!"


    "Kikk!!" The goblins that stood at the back of the frontlines chanted out a spell. Quickly, a dark string shot forward from their staves as they grabbed hold of Frey''s hand.


    "Ack- Hey! Hey!" Upon the touch of the string with her skin, Frey hurriedly attempted to break free from the enemy''s spell, however, the string was sturdy as ever, unable to be broken. "Help!"


    "Ugh," Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he swung his sword over to the string, quickly cutting it in half. "Stop shouting and just start running!"


    "These guys are fast," Shinto murmured to himself. The previous pace of a goblin wasn''t enough to catch up to them if they were to run at full speed. However, inparison, they were like cheetahs chasing after Frey. "...I hope this can slow them down."


    Waving his staff towards the back of him, Shinto soon casted out the spell [ Sticky Ground ]sessfully slowing down the pace of the goblins.


    "Kikk!" The blue-ck goblins smirked upon the feeling of goo below their feet as they soon cried out a roar. In the next moment, the cloaked goblin mages began to chant out another spell over towards the sticky field of goo.


    "...?!" Shinto''s eyes shook at the sudden sight of the slime disappearing moments after the chant. "These guys have cleanse?" frowning at the realization of the situation, Shinto soon averted his eyes over towards his skill list in hopes of finding something that he could use to prevent the goblins from catching up


    However, to his dismay, Shinto''s skill[ Sticky Ground ] was the only thing that could be used to slow down enemies. With his [ Shadow Field ] on cooldown, he couldn''t hope to blind the enemies temporarily neither could he silence them the mages as his crowd control skills had already been used.


    "...ugh. We can only hope to escape with our agility," with his optionscking, Shinto soon turned to scrutinize his status window. However, as he did soShinto was greeted by a familiar sight of notifications.


    [ You have been cursed! ]


    [ The curse of slowness prevails within you. ]


    [ Movement speed has decreased by 60% ]


    [ You have resisted. ]


    "...curse of slowness?!" The shock continued to prevail. "Ugh. Damnit, we''re not gonna make it," cursing internally as he turned towards his allies, he noted that his party members were slightlygging behind Ethaniel and himself.


    "Argh! What happened?!" Frey cried out the instant her steady pace began turning into that of a snail''s. With the added effects of the environmental conditions in the atmosphere together with the cursethe group could no longer make a run for it.


    "...ahh! I don''t want to die!" Yer cried out. "Someone, anyone! Help!"

 Chapter 173: Winter Eternal (5)

    Chapter 173: Winter Eternal (5)


    "Kek!" The blue-ck goblins grinned as they closed in on the distance between the group in a quick manner.


    "A-Ack... These guys areing in fast," Raina uttered out in a rushed voice. "What do we do? With our movement speed heavily decreased and our stamina rapidly decreasing as well... This is..."


    "Ahh! Are we supposed to fight them?!" Frey cried out. "We''re supposed to fight these demon looking people?!"


    "U-Ugh... I don''t think we can hold it up against them..." Erith clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I reckon they''re more levelled than even the ones we struggle against..."


    "They''reing closer! Ahh! Is this the end?!" Yer shouted out as he attempted to run to his limits. However, after a few seconds of running, he had only ran about a short distance whilst the goblins closed in twice that amount.


    "Kikii!" The goblinsughed in a sinister tone as they began swinging their swords over to the rushing group, quickly sending dark shadow-like arcs over to them.


    "Kek..." Meanwhile, from behind the goblins, the cloaked mages chanted out a spell as they soon sent out countless amounts of string over to Shinto''s groupIn turn, the stringstched onto the arms of the party members and restrained them.


    "Hah... This is annoying," Ethaniel frowned at the sight of his strugglingpanions, noting that they were unable to dodge the simplistic attacks of the goblins. Thus, with his foot stepping forward, he swung his sword within his hand over towards the countless strings attached to their arms and released them from the goblin mages'' grasp. "Bah... Whatever! Hey, you guys go on ahead whilst I distract these guys."


    "D-Distract them?!" Yer''s eyes shook upon hearing Ethaniel''s statement. "You''re at the same level as the rest of your party members! What can you do?!"


    "Just go on ahead," Shinto calmly replied. "Since Ethaniel and I aren''t affected by the movement speed curse from the mages, we''ll distract them while you make a run for it."


    "Y-You''re immune to the whatchamacallit curse?" Frey raised her brow. "Wait... That''s not important! Are you asking for a death wish?! Surely not, right?!"


    "No, we''re not asking for a death wish," Shinto stated. "Just go! I''ll guarantee we''ll make it out in one peace."


    "U-Ugh... If ites to that, then I''ll join in on the fight!" Frey uttered out. "You can''t go two against seven of those! You said it yourselves!"


    "Frey, remember what I said about us having a few powerhouses on our side?" Shinto reaffirmed Frey. "Just trust us and go."


    "You said it yourselves. We''ve got a few powerhouses on your side," Raina stated. "So all the more reason for us to help, right?"


    "..." Shinto slightly thought to himself as he soon shook his head. "No. It''s better if you leave now, since... I''m not even sure if this person can best out the goblins at his level. So, this is more of a temporary measure to avoid casualties than anything else."


    With Kiara having returned to the Shadow Realm and Kon who was still on summon cooldown, the only one that Shinto could summon now was [ ck Bird''s Darkness ].


    However, with his estimations that Kiara was above the levels of the bats, but on equal terms with the goblins who she had secretly fought against in the fields Shinto hade to the conclusion that the blue-ck goblins who were were above the levels of the regr enemies couldn''t be soloed by Kiara. Even with the help of Shinto and Ethaniel, it wasn''t enough to create a bnce in terms of equal footing.


    Thus, if Shinto were to call for the [ ck Bird''s Darkness ] who he estimated to be around the same power level as Kiara, it wouldn''t be enough to kill the goblins. So, in the end, it still came to running away.


    "I see..." Raina nodded her head as she turned to Frey. "If you put it that way.... Then, let''s go. We''ve got to hurry."


    "Urk... But..." Frey muttered out, however, Raina had already held onto Frey''s hand and began pulling her away from the group.


    "You guys just hurry it up already and let us do our work!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Any longer and no one survives!"


    "Kikk..." The goblins who were in front of Ethaniel and Shinto smirked as they finally closed in on the distance between them. In the next moment, they leapt forward as they swung their swords over to Ethaniel.


    "Ugh..." In reaction, Ethaniel hurriedly pitched his de against the goblin''s whilst activating his parry skill: [ Judgement Counter ]. "Hurry up you guys! Just start freaking running will you?!"


    "Mmm..." Frey bit her lips as she helplessly turned away from the fight that was about to happen. Slowly but steadily, they began to make their way out into the distance.


    "Hah..." Letting out a sigh of relief as they finally left the area, Shinto soon nodded his head as he turned towards his skill list. "ck Bird''s Darkness... I hope this is enough of a stall."


    At first, Shinto was reluctant to summon him as he wanted to save him for another situation. But, things took a turn for the worst as the curse affected his party members. Thus, with deep breathsShinto began to murmur out a chant and casted the skill [ Shadow Recreation ].


    In the next moment, he began to receive a bombardment of notifications.


    [ Shadow Recreation is shaking! ]


    [ Shadow Recreation is shaking! ]


    [ The spell ''Shadow Recreation'' has been used! ]


    [ You have called out to ''ck Bird''s Darkness'' ]


    [ ... ]


    [ They have heeded your call. ]


    [ A condition for the quest "Return - Shadows of the Shadow Realm" has been fulfilled! ]


    [ The skill ''Shadow Recreation'' is starting to regain its potential. ]


    [ You have gained 1 Shadow Point. ]


    ...


    Upon the calling of the ''ck Bird''s Darkness'', the atmosphere around Shinto and Ethaniel began to dim as if the night had fallen.


    "Hah..." Gritting his teeth as he continuously countered against the goblins who were recklessly swinging their weapons at Ethanielhis attention was soon caught by the sudden darkness around him. "...huh? What the?!"


    His brows raised in confusion at the sight around him. It was as if he was within Shinto''s [ Shadow Field ] skill. However, it was as if he wasn''t at the same time.


    "...I''m afraid this situation is far beyond what I can handle as well," a voice protruded out into the darkness. "I apologize in advance, master. But, I can only hope to stall them whilst yourpanions reach a far enough distance."


    "It''s fine," a familiar male''s voice protruded out from the distance. "I wasn''t counting on us being able to defeat these guys anyway, though... Do try whatever you can to help us."


    "Of course."


    "...?" His confusion grew upon hearing the voices from the shadow. But, as soon as the conversation had ended, Ethaniel heard a loud clear voice as the darkness around him dissipated.


    "Kikk!" The goblins who had taken the opportunity upon themselves to strike at Ethaniel who had lost focus quickly swung their weapons with all their might against the human in front of them. However, before they could''ve done so, a figure of a shadow, reminiscence to that of a ckbird flew past the goblinsswiftly pushing them back.


    "Ethaniel, don''t get distracted. Although it''s my duty to keep everyone alive, I do not want ckers," a voice came from the ckbird. "We''ll fight for three before we make a run for it. You can do that, right?"


    "...what?" Ethaniel''s confusion grew as he noted that a ckbird was flying in front of him. Within his eyes, it seemed to be that or a crow or raven. But, he couldn''t tell. "Is this the powerhouse you were talking about?" With the sudden darkness from earlier still being unsolved, he hurriedly pushed the thought aside as he gripped his sword once again.


    "Yes, it is," Shinto nodded his head. "But... He isn''t enough to defeat the goblins. So we''ll stall for three minutes before we make a run for it. It should be doable, right?"


    "Ahem... Three minutes is all that we need?" calming himself, Ethaniel took a deep breath as he focused his mind. "Then obviously we can survive for that long."


    "Kikkk!" The goblins grinned at the sight of new prey in front of them. "Kek!" With their arms raised into the air, they began to protrude out a cloud of ck smoke from their weapons.


    [ The curse of weakness has prevailed within the area! ]


    [ All those who enters the cursed field will have their strength and mind lowered by 20%! ]


    [ You have resisted. ]


    "Kikkk?!" The goblin''s eyes widened upon the sight of the group, as well as the ckbird not showing any signs of weakening. "Kikk!"


    "Curses... Well, that''s the only thing that they are known for, however, lucky for me, I''vee prepared," the ckbird uttered out as he swiftly flew out of the ck smoke. In the next moment, he protruded out a fog of shadow around the cloaked mages.


    "Kek?!" The goblins at the backlines slightly shook upon the impact of the fog around them. Without them noticing, it was as if their spells had dwindled in power.


    "...hmm, Master. I might take back my words," the ckbird stated. "Maybe we can defeat them. However... It would take quite a long time with our damage."

 Chapter 174: Winter Eternal (6)

    Chapter 174: Winter Eternal (6)


    "Hah... hah..." Walking down on the snowy path of the forest whilst letting out a tired breath, Frey stopped at her footsteps as she soon looked back at the road that she and her group had walked on. "Are we far enough to be away from those demon monsters thingy, yet?"


    "I think so," Raina uttered out. "But, perhaps we should go a little bit further. You''ll never know whether some of the monsters had secretly followed us or something..."


    "Mm... We''re going to go further down the path?" Frey frowned. "If we go a bit more further, wouldn''t Master and Ethaniel be unable to catch up? I mean... We did run quite a distance after that curse disappeared all of a sudden..."


    "Right. With the distance that we ran, it''d take some time for Shinto and Ethaniel to catch up with us if we were to go a little bit further down the path," Raina sighed. "Then if so, do we just wait around here? I still feel the presence of the monsters... But, it''s not as bad as the one earlier."


    "Hmm..." Frey deeply thought to herself. "I guess we can just wait around here. Though... It would''ve been much better we were there to help them. I mean... Did we really need to run? We still had our skills! And we''re still full health, right? Just drag the powerhouse that Master mentioned and we''re good to go!"


    "I mean, even if we stayed there, we would be pretty much baggage to protect, right?" Raina tilted her head. "I don''t think it''d be helpful for them if we were there. The same goes for the two slimes with us if we''re to be there as well. The only thing we can do in a situation like this is... I guess run."


    "Run?" Frey furrowed her brows. "I mean... Even if that''s the case, wouldn''t it be on the thought of having one person doing all the work? If we all focus our strength on the goblins, then we''ll definitely win this fight!"


    "...I don''t think that''s how it works," Raina shook her head helplessly. "With the guys having more knowledge than us, I''m inclined to believe them as they''ve been rather helpless with the equipment, level and the disadvantages we''re facing as of right now," tiredly closing her eyes, she continued. "In a situation like that, would us being there even make a difference?"


    "Mmm... Even if it wouldn''t, at least we wouldn''t have to run so helplessly like that!" Frey pouted as she soon mumbled out. "Sigh... I want to fight too y''know..."


    "...huh? What was that?" Raina blinked at Frey''s sudden mumble. "I didn''t catch you there..."


    "It''s nothing, just ignore me," Frey shook her hand as she made her way over to a tree near her. "Anyways... Um, Raina... Could you warm me up, please? All that running made me incredibly cold..."


    "I guess we can just sit here for a bit whilst waiting for them toe," Raina took out her staff as she began to chant out a spell of me to light up the branches that the slimes had gathered. However, before she could do anythinga loud roar rang through the area. "...huh?"


    "What? What was that?!" Frey felt chills behind her spine upon hearing a roar which that to be that of a wolf''s. "Are we in trouble again!?"


    "It seems to being from the distance... And, I can hear some voices?" Raina thought to herself in confusion as she focused her hearing on one area.


    "...a-ack! I''m gonna die at this rate!" A female''s voice could be heard from the distance. "U-Ugh... Is there nothing I can do but tank this damage? None of my powerful skills is working and only the weaker versions are..."


    "There must be something I can do..." Another voice protruded out in reply. "How many more hits until you''re down?"


    "14? 15? My shield''s soaking up everything, but at this rate, it''s going to break soon!" she clicked her tongue. "Are your spells still not working?"


    "No..." A sigh could be heard from the other voice. "We''ve got to kill those mages. But how? You''re both distracted and I can''t kill anyone with a staff... Ugh... Should we perhaps retreat?"


    "Yikes... Retreating?" The voice uttered out. "With how they''re interlocked on me... I''m a goner!"


    ...


    Listening to the conversation nearby, Raina nodded her head. "So that''s where I sensed the aura..."


    "They''re in trouble right...?" Frey muttered out. "Should we go help them?"


    "I don''t know..." Raina''s expression grewplexed. "These guys seem to be fighting against the same ones Shinto and Ethaniel are... Do you really think we can even help at our level?"


    "Bah! Just go! We''ll never know unless we try right?!" Frey cried out as she soon stood up from the ground that she sat on. "I''m going whether you like it or not!"


    "H-Huh? Frey?!" Raina''s eyes widened as she saw that Frey was running over in the direction of the voices. "Wait! This could go horribly wrong!"


    "Not listening!" Frey''s voice rang through the distance.


    "U-Ugh... We might die... Do you really want that to happen?" Raina bit her lips. "..." Thinking to herself, she sighed. "Ugh... I hope Shinto and Ethaniel can make it over here before our death''s guaranteed," without another word, Raina soon followed after Frey leaving behind the two slimes that had incredibly confused expressions on their faces.


    "...um, do we like... Follow them too?" Erith uttered out.


    "D-Didn''t you hear the girl? She said they might die!" Yer shrieked. "I-I''m too weak to even help..."


    "You''ve learnt the invisibility spell, right?" Erith asked. "If that''s so... Then we''re going in too. Even if I''m equipment-less, I can still use aid in the fight with the spear Ethaniel gave."


    "B-But, b-but!" Yer muttered out.


    "You can always use your invisibility spell to escape, no biggie," Erith reasoned. "In any case, it''ll cause a much bigger problem if the humans were to actually die here. So we can''t let that happen can we?"


    "Argh! Fine, fine!" Yer seemed to be pouting. "Let''s just go! I don''t want to be med for people''s death..."


    ...


    "Kikk!" Waving their staves with a look of belittlement, the cloaked mages continuous cast out a wave of dark magic over the area, swiftly cancelling all kinds of spells that could be used within the area. "Grah! Grah!"


    "It seems that the mages are covering their spells in the entire vige," Hikari thought to herself. "If that''s the case... Then..." Turning to Crowelin with a firm look she soon uttered out. "Crowelin, I''ll keep these guys at bay while you head to the mages. That''s the only option."


    "You''ll keep these guys at bay?!" Crowelin cried out whilst shielding herself from the countless attacks from the goblins. "No, that''s impossible! You have low mobility in battle, a low pool of health and weak defences... I can''t let you die on me!"


    "Cough... My stats aren''t that bloated in Intelligence," she sighed. "I invested in my defences, alright? I can sustain for as long as I don''t get burst down. I can evade their basics since I''ve been following their trajectory... So, just go on ahead! I can''t let you die on me!"


    "Argh... I should''ve just dragged my damn brother here!" Crowelin clicked her tongue. Had she convinced Arceus toe down with them to the snowy fields, they wouldn''t be at a disadvantage like this as Arceus''s skills didn''t rely on spellcasting unlike Hikari and herself. "If that''s the only option... Then, I''ll try my best to burst down the mages before then!"


    "Mhm. I''ll survive, don''t worry" Just as Hikari was about to switch roles with Crowelin, the two suddenly turned their heads over to the front direction upon hearing a sudden loud voice that rang through the distance.


    "Ahhh! Take this!" The brawler leapt forward as she punched at the nearest monster uponing into view of them. "You think just because you''re high-levelled, I''m scared of you?!"


    "Wait... W-What the?" Crowelin uttered in confusion as she saw two slimes and a mage following up from behind the brawler that suddenly ran up towards a mage and punched at it.


    "K-Kikk!?" The goblin''s shrieked in shock upon feeling the impact of the brawler''s punch. Though not heavy nor powerful, they were caught by surprise. "Kek...! Kek!"


    Momentarily after their initial shock, the goblin mages averted their eyes over to the group who had just arrived as they soon began chanting out a spell. In the next moment, a wave of dark magic burst out from their staves over to them.


    "E-Eek!" Noting the dark magic in front of her, she jumped back as she entered into a parry state to increase her defences. "I can handle you just fine!" Ignoring that her health had dropped down into the yellow almost instantly, she hurriedly shot forward multiple skills at the tip of her hands over to the mages. "Raina! Cast out a spell or something! Erith attack! And uh... Yer? Do something!"


    "Ahem..." Letting out a cough at Frey''s reckless behaviour against the mages, she soon began casting out a spell. However, nothing came out of her staff. "H-Huh? No spell? This is..."


    "Kikk!" The goblins smirked at the sight of a mage. "Kik! Kik!" Soon after,pletely ignoring Frey, they turned to Raina as they pointed their staffs at her. "Kik!"


    As they were about to shoot out their spells against Raina, Frey took it upon herself as she soon yelled out a loud roar. "Hey! Don''t ignore me!" In the next moment, a skill was used.


    [ Humatar''s Roar ]

 Chapter 176: Black Bird (1)

    Chapter 176: ck Bird (1)


    Leaping forward with his sword in hand, Ethaniel swiftly shed through the goblins that were in front of him. In the next moment, a ck arrow shot silently from behind him, quickly moving past his face and into the goblin''s head, thus turning one of the blue-ck goblins into ash.


    "...hah," Ethaniel uttered out in a disbelief tone as he swung his sword to the side, quickly shing at the mobs around him. "For his damage to be this high... Just who is this guy?"


    "Hey, Ethaniel? Your 3''o clock," a male''s voice protruded out in the distance.


    "...!" Upon hearing the voice of the man, Ethaniel quickly turned to the direction which he pointed out and soon held up his sword, sessfully defending against the sudden pincer attack of the goblins.


    "Be more self-aware," the voice once again stated out as multiple ck arrows shot out into the distance and down to the goblins. "Just because it''s easy doesn''t mean you should be taking it easy. We''re still inbat."


    "Ahem..." Letting out a cough, Ethaniel soon wasted no time as he shed at the sneaky goblins, quickly ending them. "I was just questioning the turn of events, alright? We''re already done with the battle as it is and we''re only clearing away the rest that came herete."


    "They could''ve called for reinforcements for all we know," from the trees, a man with pitch-ck hair and deep blue eyesnded down to the ground. "These goblins are quite known for their cowardly behaviour when they''re near death after all."


    "So you say," Ethaniel shrugged as he sheathed his sword soon after confirming that the enemies within the area had been cleared out. In the next moment, he turned towards Shinto who was making his way over to the two men. "Though, I guess I shouldn''t have questioned that since it''s quite obvious who was the one making thing''s easier."


    "Ahem... I did tell you that we had powerhouses," Shinto reasoned. "Though... I didn''t expect for us to wrap up this battle so smoothly."


    "Neither did I," the man stated. "It was only made easier because the goblins seem to be the weaker versions to that of the ones I know personally."


    "Just what are these creatures anyways?" Ethaniel raised his brow in question. "Clearly not your normal spear dropping goblins for sure. But... Are they even goblins to begin with?"


    "...it does say that they''re goblins in the kill notification," Shinto muttered out as he scrutinized his status window. "But... Twilight?"


    [ Twilight Goblin Swordsman has been defeated! ]


    [ Twilight Goblin Cursemancer has been defeated! ]


    [ Twilight Goblin... ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 41! ]


    [ Your level has risen to level 42! ]


    [ Your Shadow Stat has risen by 1 ]


    [ Your Divinity Stat has risen by 2 ]


    [ You have obtained 20 stat points. ]


    ...


    "To be precise, they are of the Twilight race that often appears in an area with extremely dense curse energy," the man exined. "These guys, however, are of the weaker end of the race so, that means the curse energy within the area is only to the extent of a small amount."


    "...I''m not following you," Ethaniel nkly stared at the man. He had never heard of the term ''curse energy''. "...the heck do you mean?"


    "Ahem. I got ahead of myself there. I had forgotten that the newer generation had long forgotten about such facts," the man sighed. "But to put it simply, curse energy is, to say the least, an energy that''s derived from ''evil''. The evil within the area, the more monsters of the Twilight race will appear."


    "I see," Shinto nodded his head. He seemed to vaguely remember the term from what he had heard from the man due to the fact that he had helped out Hikari with her ss quest. However, with the fact that he had never fought against many monsters that would be from the derived ''curse energy'', he had forgotten about it. "If these guys are appearing due to the curse energy within the area... Then, there must be something going on?"


    "Perhaps so," the man tilted his head. "However... That is not what we''re here to aplish is it not? Don''t you have to rendezvous with yourpanions?"


    "..." Shinto thought to himself as he soon scrutinized the details of the man who he had summoned.


    [ Shadow Minion''s Profile ]


    Name: ke (NPC)


    Race: Shade''s Race (Human Form)


    Level: ???


    ss: Shadow Raven


    -ss Attribute-


    *The Shadow of the Ravenone who offers themselves to serve the Shadow Diviner.


    -When the ss ''Shadow Raven'' is partied together with the Shadow Diviner, certain bonuses will be attained: +10% Damage Mitigation of Magical Attacks / +12% Flight Speed / +15% Movement Speed (Effect only applies to the Shadow Raven when either the Shadow Diviner or themselves add the other to the party).


    -Titles-


    [Shadow of the Raven]


    *STA +18 / AGI +15 / Insight +22 when in the near vicinity of the Shadow Diviner.


    *Insight +12 / +10% Damage Mitigation of Physical Attacks when in the near vicinity of any of the Shadow Diviner''s allies or servants (Effects does not stack).


    -Stats-


    HP: ??? | MP: ???


    Strength: ??? | Stamina: ???


    Intelligence: ??? | Agility: ???


    Insight: ??? | Dexterity: ???


    Stat Points: ???


    *Until you''re able to summon ''ke'' without a time limit, you''re blocked from seeing his stats as he is still under the protection of the previous Shadow Diviner.


    -Skills/Passives-


    *[Preying Eyes]


    *[Flightless Pursuit]


    *[Midnight Scope]


    *[ck-Winged Rave]


    *[Double Shadow]


    *[ ??? ]


    *[ ??? ]


    *[ ??? ]


    *Until you''re able to summon ''ke'' without a time limit, you''re blocked from seeing certain abilities and passives as he is still under the protection of the previous Shadow Diviner.


    ...


    [ Preying Eyes Lv 2 ] [ 48 MP ] [ Cooldown: 1 Minute ]


    With the eyes of the Raven, mark an enemy to be targeted. When the enemy receives damage from the marker, the enemy will receive 16% more damage (an Additional 21% if they''re airborne).


    ...


    [ Flightless Pursuit Lv 2 ] [ 70 MP ] [ Cooldown: 1 Minute ]


    Shooting out an arrow of pursuit to a target, the Shadow of the Raven forces his magic upon the arrow that constantly follows the enemy until they''re hit, dealing 240% damage whilst revealing their location for 2s.


    *Skill can only be used while in the Shadow Raven''s [ Human Form ].


    ...


    [ Midnight Scope Lv 2 ] [ 60 MP ] [ Cooldown: 30 Seconds ]


    With the Raven''s Bow in hand, the Shadow of the Raven shoots out a ck arrow onto an enemy, quickly dealing 200% damage to them. If the enemy is alone and not surrounded by any of its allies within a 3m radius, the damage is greatly increased to 350%.


    ...


    [ ck-Winged Rave Lv 1 ]


    Under the guise of the Shade''s Shadow, the Shadow Raven may transform into two beingsthe Serpent and the Raven form. Upon switching forms for the 3rd time, the user cannot switch forms for the next hour.


    *While the Shadow of the Raven is in [ Raven ] form, Damage Mitigation of Physical and Magical Attacks is increased by 5% whilst allowing the ability of flight with the wings of a raven.


    *While the Shadow of the Raven is in [ Human ] form, uracy and damage to lone enemies are increased by 10% and 20% respectively. Upon shooting out an arrow in this form, [ Double Shadow ]''s activation rate is increased by 5% per usage until it activates thus resetting it back to the original numbers.


    ...


    [ Double Shadow Lv 1 ]


    Raven Form: Airborne Damage RES is increased by 15%


    Human Form: Critical Chance is increased by 10%.


    When shooting out an arrow or feather, 20% chance of creating a double effect that allows the Shadow of the Raven to hit the target as if they''ve attacked twice.


    ...


    Upon reading through the details of his status and skills, he nodded his head. "If it''s possible, could you fly up into the sky and check out the premise? It''d be much easier for us if we know the location of Frey and Raina and perhaps the slimes too."


    "It is not a problem," ke bowed slightly to Shinto as a fog of shadow soon enshrouded him. In the next moment, a ck raven soon protruded out of the smoke and into the sky. "I''ll be back in a bit."


    Soon after ke had left the area, Shinto suddenly felt a re at him as he turned in the direction of it, quickly noting that Ethaniel had many questions that he wanted to ask him.


    "He can transform into a crow just like that? No... Is it a Raven? Bah... They''re the same thing," shaking his head, Ethaniel soon got to the point. "I''m assuming you summoned him just like Kon?"


    "Yes I did," Shinto nodded his head.


    "Hah... So you can summon Kon and that guy," Ethaniel blinked at him. "No wonder you said you had powerhouses..." Muttering out hisments, he soon clicked his tongue. "Then if so, why the hell didn''t you summon him earlier when we were on the run from that damn horde?!"


    "Cough... I just only recently had the ability summon them," Shinto coughed out slightly. "So... Yeah."


    "Jeez. It would''ve been so perfect if you had this ability earlier," Ethaniel sighed through his teeth. "But whatever, at least you have it now thanter where we might struggle more if this high levelled area bullshit continues to happen."


    "Yeah... Better now thanst minute," Shinto answered helplessly. "But I''m only able to summon them for three hours."


    "Only three hours?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "That''s..." As he was about to further press on the matter, the ck raven that had flown out into the sky soon came down to the ground.


    "Master, Ethaniel. I''ve found yourpanions, however..." ke uttered out. "Thing''s aren''t looking good for them."

 Chapter 177: Black Bird (2)

    Chapter 177: ck Bird (2)


    "Thing''s aren''t looking good?" Shinto tilted his head as he questioned the words that were stated out by ke. "What''s going on?"


    "It seems that the Twilight Monsters had caught up to yourpanions without us knowing. However... They seem to be in a rather interesting area," ke exined. "To be precise, they''re fighting in an abandoned vige."


    "...Frey and Raina found an abandoned vige?" Shinto raised his brow. "Where? Show us the ce."


    "It''s over here," ke nodded his head as he once again transformed into a raven. "Follow me."


    ...


    On the snowy fields of the Bareth''s Tundra ins, Frey stood in a tired stance as she continued to battle against the countless goblins within the surrounding area. Unlike from before where she had to constantly dodge the attacks of the sinister-looking mobs, this time, she now had the aid of a priest to sustain herself.


    "Hah... Hah..." Frey uttered out in a tired breath. "Why is there suddenly a second wave?! Why are there so much more mobs than before!"


    "Gloop! Gloop!" Reru cried out as his sword swung in an arc, quickly gashing at the wolf that had tried to attack Frey from her nk. "Gloop!"


    "A-Ahem... Yeah! I better not get distracted..." Frey coughed. Although she didn''t understand a single speck of word that was stated by the slime, she could vaguely understand themunication that he was trying to tell. ''Watch out for your damn nk!'' was what she thought. "I''ll watch out for myself next time."


    "Urk... Despite being able to use my spells now," Hikari uttered out whilst she casted out a bright light over towards the frontliners, Crowelin and Freyslowly keeping their health at a steady rate. "With the way these monsters are flooding in, I''d be back to my helpless state in no time..."


    "This is the 3rd wave of monsters..." Crowelin raised her hammer up towards the sky as she muttered out a spell. In the next moment, three shields soon appeared around her.


    [ Varna''s Protection Lv 6 ] [ 2 Light Orb / 240 MP ] [ Cooldown: 7 Minutes ]


    With the protection from the heavenly skies, the user is granted the protection of Varna with her blessing of defencecreating three shields that can absorb up to 1500 damage for each. If a shield breaks, the user regains 10% of the damage that dealt the final blow as health.


    "It''s the 3rd wave of monsters, but at the very least there aren''t any mages to interrupt our spells," Hikari breath out a sigh of relief as she held onto her staff, soon casting out a white spell over towards the monsters. "We''re able to fight back this time."


    [ White Silence Lv 5 ] [ 120 MP ] [ Cooldown: 5 Minutes ]


    With the blessing of light blessed upon the white priest, the user casts out a light ever so blinding on an enemy, inflicting 300% light magic damage whilst silencing the opponent for 5 seconds.


    "Kikk!!" Upon being hit by the silent white light, the goblin stumbled back at his feet. However, before he could get back to bncing himself, an arc of a sword was soon swung towards him, quickly turning the mob into grey ash.


    "...gloop," Reru seemed to be sighing in a tired manner at the sight of the goblins. In the next moment, he soon turned towards the direction of the vige as he turned towards Frey. "Gloop! Gloop!"


    "Huh...? Is it my nk again!?" Hearing the slime''s voice, Frey abruptly frantically looked around her. But, as she finished scrutinizing her surrounding area, she raised her brow, confused. "...um, there''s no more enemies around me..."


    "Grr... Gloop!" Reru frustratingly leapt past Frey and soon to Raina who had been chanting out a spell. "Gloop!"


    "Huh?" Interrupted by the sight of the slime, Raina tilted her head. "...are you trying to tell me something?"


    "Gloop..." Reru furrowed his brows as hetched himself onto Raina. "Gloop!" In the next moment, he began dragging her over towards the vige.


    "H-Huh? Hey! A-Again?!" Raina cried out.


    "What the...?!" Frey''s eyes widened at the sight of Raina and Reru leaving the area. "Hey! Don''t leave me!"


    "Gloop!!" Reru shouted out in reply.


    "Ugh... If only I could understand you..." she clicked her tongue. However, just as she was about to chase after the two, her movements were abruptly stopped as more monsters soon appeared from the forest. "...argh! Another wave?!"


    "More goblins and wolves," Crowelin uttered out as she turned towards her resource bar. "I''ve got 6 more light orbs to use... And I''m almost running out of mana... This isn''t good."


    "This isn''t good at all," Hikari muttered out. "Where is that slime taking that mage? If it''s into the vige... Then it must mean that..." As she was about to continue her sentence, a loud scream protruded out from the distance.


    "AHHH!! Someone! Help!" A familiar voice soon rang out, especially for Frey.


    "Huh...? Isn''t that... Rustly?" Frey nkly stared out into the direction of the voice. But, she couldn''t keep at her distracted state any longer as she soon turned back to monsters who were seemingly much aggressive than before. "Argh... I can''t go with this horde!"


    "Neither can I," Crowelin frowned. "But... If there are no mages, then..." Thinking to herself, Crowelin soon shouted out. "Hikari! Go after them! We''ll hold on the lines until you guys get back. Hurry!"


    "Huh? But..." Hikari uttered out in an indecisive manner. Although she knew that Crowelin could sustain herself easily as she had the ability to regenerate and heal much better than other sses of simr archetype, the issue fell down to the brawler who couldn''t receive more than three hits from an enemy.


    "Don''t worry about her. She''ll be fine if I take the hits for her," Crowelin stated as she soon muttered out another spell.


    [ Ardant Blemish Lv 1 ] [ 4 Light Orb / 600 MP ] [ Cooldown: 30 Minutes ]


    With the blessing of the heavens bestowed upon the hammer of justice, the user creates a shield in which can absorb up to 30% damage of an attack for a minute. During the duration of the skill, the damage received will be split evenly among the user''s allies as health recovery but the user themselves cannot receive benefit from this (Maximum of 340 health per hit).


    "...!" Noticing that Crowelin had activated one of her recently obtained skills, Hikari nodded her head. "Then I''ll go."


    ...


    Through the snow-covered paths of the vige, Reru persistently dragged Raina through the area whilst he frantically nced around the area.


    "Gloop..." muttering out to himself, Reru continued to search around. "Grr! Gloop!"


    "A-Ack... Reru... Where are you taking me?" Raina struggled with the grip of Reru. "If you''re looking for Shinto with the ne, he''s still in the forest..." As she was about to continue her sentence, her mouth soon shut upon hearing anguage extremely familiar to her from Reru.


    "Shut up and listen," Reru sluggishly spoke. "Find Rustly!"


    "...you," Raina was momentarily stumped at the sudden revtion of Reru. But, she soon shook her head. "Where did youst see him?"


    "Over here, quick," Reru shouted out. "If what I fear is true then..."


    As the two turned towards the direction of where Reru had pointed out, icy spikes shot out from the grounds of the vige towards the two.


    "...?!" Noticing the spikes, Reru pushed Raina out of the way. "Grr... These guys are here?"


    At the front of Reru and Raina, multiple ice elementals with countless blockades of ice spinning around them stood in front of the two. At first nce, they seemed to be your typical monsters. However, if one were to ignore all of the monsters that they had seen recently and considered the typical blue mobs in the ins, they were abnormal.


    With purple-like coating on their core and ck ice floating around them, they were of the Twilight Race much as the goblins and wolves that they had faced.


    <strong><em>Ting...</em></strong>


    "Monsters here as well...?" Raina muttered out in a worried tone.


    "...Rustly is in trouble. I''m not sure what kind of bullshit he did... But," Reru protruded out his sword as he entered into abat stance. "We''ve got to clear out the elementals and quickly go through them. Rustly should be inside that rubbled old house."


    "Got it," Raina nodded her head as she began to chant out a spell from the tip of her staff. "Burning through the waves..." As she casted out [ Burning Waves ], the voice of Rustly protruded out into the area.


    "AHHH!! Someone! Help!"


    "...Rustly!" Reru cried out. "Damnit... Why is your spell so weak?!"


    "My level is low against them..." Raina uttered out as she noted that the spell that she casted out hadn''t left a dent on them. "...what can I even do?"


    "Cast out mes of Etheral or something! Like you did with those goblins earlier!" Reru clicked his tongue. "Do something! I need to go past them whilst saving my remaining energy!"


    "Ugh... Do something like that time with the goblins?" Raina questioned. It wasn''t easy to replicate what she had done. After all, it was thanks to the hidden effects of the gloves that she had worn. "I don''t think I can... Ever since that time, I could get it to work anymore.


    "Bah... You!" As Reru angrily red at Raina, other spikes of purple-ice protruded out from the ground. However, instead of being hit by the sudden attack, a st of white light swiftly destroyed the ice.


    "O'' light, bless me the power to rid of sin!" Hikari''s voice protruded out into the area. "I cast upon the heavenly st!"


    [ White Priest - Heavenly Wright ]

 Chapter 178: Black Bird (3)

    Chapter 178: ck Bird (3)


    Upon the voice of Hikari that rang through the area, the clouds within the snowy skies began to clear away, revealing that of the blue sky. In the next moment, a shining pir of light shot down as it enveloped the monsters that were in front of Reru and Raina.


    "...?!" Raina''s eyes opened wide at the sight. "Light...?" she questioned as she saw that the light had seeped down into the ground moments after it had enveloped the enemies. "Shinto or Ethaniel is here?"


    <em><strong>Ting!</strong></em>


    Shaking abruptly as the elementals were swallowed by the light, they abruptly floated back, away from the duo.


    [ Heavenly Wright Lv 2 ] [ 475 MP ] [ Cooldown: 5 Minutes ]


    The power of the heavenly skies, blessed upon the judgement of good bestows down a shimmering light over to the user''s targetted direction, dealing 240% magic damage to all enemies within range over the next 4 seconds.


    *If the target is judged as [Evil], the damage is increased to 450% and the skillsts for additional 2 seconds.


    "Hey, you two!" Hikari shouted out with a tired voice. "Are you okay?!"


    "Huh?" Hearing the voice of the woman from the distance, Raina turned her head over to the direction as she noted that it was the priest, Hikari. "Oh... It''s that girl?"


    "What?" Reru frowned. "Why are you here? Shouldn''t you be back there helping those humans?"


    "I came on behalf of them," Hikari stated. "I''m here to help."


    "You''re here to help?" Reru seemed to be raising his brow as he soon turned his head over to the direction of the elementals that were finally getting themselves together after the earlier spell that Hikari had sent their way. "If so... Then I''ll leave those two to you! I''m going straight to Rustly!"


    "Going alone?" Raina asked. "Will you be okay, though? If more of those enemiese... Will you be able to face them? From the looks of things... You''re not able to go up against them even when we''re here..."


    "What bullshit! I can and I will!" Reru clicked his tongue. "I''m only not able to defeat them because it takes too long! Clear away the monsters ande join up with me!"


    "Wait-" Just as Hikari about to utter out her words, the slime had already left the premises. "...what am I supposed to do? My damage is low and even against evil marked enemies, I only got rid of 15% of their health..."


    "Ugh... You don''t have more skills like that?" In the eyes of Raina, an ability like that was something that she hadn''t seen before. To think that a cool skill that could shine downlight from the skies only dealt that much damage.


    "No. I''m not a damage dealer," Hikari helplessly shook her head. "I''m only just a priest who''s been supporting my allies the entire time. My damage skills are quitecking since all my equipment has been focused on healing percentage and defensive."


    "If it''s like that... Then what can I do?" Raina frowned.


    "Aren''t you a mage? If I distract them for you, can''t you cast a spell like Meteorite Fragmentation? Or... Something that could CC them? What specialization are you?" Hikari questioned.


    "CC...? Specialization?" Raina blinked at the terms uttered out by Hikari, however, she soon shook her head, ridding away the thought. "I don''t have any of that. I''m just a level 37 mage. No specialization, no CC, or not even the spell Meteorite Fragmentation."


    "...?" Hikari raised her brow in question upon hearing Raina''s words. "...you''re only level 35? How did you even get here? What...?" From her memory, ess to the Fal Kingdom was only essible when one was level 70 or above. This was because the routes that led to the kingdom was constantly consumed by blizzards and snowstorms.


    To be able to even get through the disasters awaiting, one would need to be above level 70 with proper gear. Yet, the mage in front of her was doing just fine without such equipment.


    "...did she managed to find someone to bring her here for some quest?" Hikari thought to herself. "But that wouldn''t make sense... She''d at least would''vee prepared for the cold winter. Even with my equipment I still barely survived the harsh cold..."


    "Uh... Well," Raina uttered out with ack of words to form a sentence. "...thing''s happened. That''s the only thing I can tell you."


    "...?" Hikari raised her brow. She wondered whether or not it was the slime and that the brawler who was seemingly a ss cannon due to the amount of health she lost per hit were all together as a group. "Seeing as how that slime knows that mage and that the brawler was together with the mage..." she mumbled to herself as her eyes opened wide. "...then that means they''re with Shinto?"


    Perhaps the brawler and mage were together with Shinto. From what she had heard from the slime, he was with someone named ''Shinto'', but he never further gave any details. With the opportunity right in front of her, she could...


    <strong><em>Ting.</em></strong>


    Whilst profoundly thinking to herself, multiple spikes of cial ice protruded out from the ground over to Hikari.


    "...hey! Watch out!" Raina shouted out.


    "...?!" Btedly moving her head up to see the spikes, she narrowly swayed to the side in hopes of dodging the attack, however, she failed to do so and took the attack head-on. "A-Ack...!"


    "Hey!" Raina shouted out as she moved her staff over to the mobs, quickly casting out [ mes of Etheral ] in hopes of dying the monsters next set of attacks.


    "Cough... My bad, I''m sorry," Hikari coughed as she silently murmured out a chant and soon slowly healing herself up from the yellow to green with [ Curing Hearts ]. "I was distracted for a bit. But I''m back in the game."


    [ Curing Hearts Lv MAX ] [ 85 MP ] [ Cooldown: 35 Seconds ]


    From the heavenly divine touch of the white priest to theirrades, the user restores the health of an ally for 200% of the user''s magic whilst doing so, granting a 15% magic defence increase for 10 seconds.


    *An ability derived from the maxed level skills of [Cure] and [Magic Defence Up].


    "Um... Even if you were not distracted... What about my earlier question?" Raina asked. "How are we going to defeat them if our damage is low...?"


    "..." Hikari thought to herself as she turned towards Raina with a resolute face. "Since you''re 35 and our damage is low... Then, we''ll have to disregard our resources and throw all our skills at it. I''ll heal in between whilst you interrupt the monsters casting."


    "Right... I can do that," Raina nodded her head.


    ...


    Outskirts of the vige paved by abandonment, two girls steadily fought against the horde of monsters as their health remained at a constant number.


    "U-Ugh... Too much! I ran out of AOE clearance spells!" Crowelin clicked her tongue. "Hey, Frey! Do you have any left?"


    "No... My only one is on cooldown!" Frey cried out. "Are we dead?!"


    "Ugh... Then get behind me!" Crowelin shouted out. "My skill is running out and I don''t want the aggro going on you, so hurry!"


    "A-Ahem... R-Right!" Frey hurriedly stepped away from the horde of monsters as she stayed behind the pdin. At the moment she did so, Frey raised her brow in question. "But... I''m a brawler! I can''t do stuff whilst I stay behind you!"


    "Do something like Mana Aura Recovery or just sit there for a bit whilst you recover your MP with your passive!" she stated. "If you''re not a Maitreya or J specialization... Then just wait for your cooldowns to go off before going back in!"


    "Huh? What?" Frey tilted her head in confusion.


    "Just anything!" she cried out. "If you stay in battle with aggro on you... You''re dead!"


    "Ahh! I know that." Frey pouted. "Ugh... I want those cool skills like yours! Then maybe I can stay in battle for much longer..." murmuring to herself, she sighed. "I''m only just level 36..."


    "W-Wait... Could you repeat that?! Level 36?!" her eyes widened in surprise upon hearing the number that was stated by Frey. However, before she could further touch on the topic, her shield and hammer were busy fending off against the attack. "Argh... No time. I should focus!"


    "Kikk..." The goblinsughed in a sinister manner. continuing to hit at Crowelin''s shield and wearing her down. "Kikk!"


    "U-Ugh... I need to switch intobat mode before my shield..." as she muttered out her woes, countless ck feathers were swiftly thrown down to the ground over to the goblins.


    "Kikkk...!" Attacked by the sudden ck feathers which stuck at them like arrows, the goblins angrily turned towards the sky as they noted that a ck raven was circling in the snowy atmosphere. "Kikk!!"


    "Huh... What? A raven?" Frey''s confusion from earlier grew worse as she looked at the sky. "...another enemy?!"


    "It''s attacking the goblins though. If it''s not an ally... Then could it be a monster''s feud?" Crowelin thought to herself. Monster''s feud tended to happen among normal mobs on the asion where they are enemies with one another and that they cannot bear to see each other, thus fighting it out even when their goals remain the same: to prey on enemies. "Frey... Let them fight it out. We can escape from here in the meantime."


    "Huh? Escape?" she questioned. "Then we''d have an airborne enemy on us to deal with after they fight it out... How do we fight that?!" whilst reasoning with Crowelin, their conversation stopped as the two heard a loud shout of a familiar voice from the forest.


    "Over there, that''s where the vige is!"

 Chapter 179: Meeting (1)

    Chapter 179: Meeting (1)


    Going through the rubble of the abandoned vige, Reru frantically leapt around the area as he searched for Rustly after hearing his initial scream.


    "Rustly! Where the hell are you?!" With his eyes ncing around the areahe noted that besides all the materials that once were called buildings in the area, there were a few structures that remained themselves intact over the past years. "Ugh... Do I have to go and search through each and every one?"


    He muttered to himself as he considered doing just that. However, with time seemingly counting down to nil, he didn''t have the luxury of going to each building one by one and searching for Rustly.


    "One of these should be where Rustly is... But the hell. Why are they all the same?" he clicked his tongue. Though It wasn''t right to say that they were all the same since they each had a certain distinct look at a closer nce, Reru just couldn''t bat an eye to it. "Bah... I''ll just take a hit and head to that building in the end."


    Without any clues as to where Rustly was besides his initial scream, he could only waltz in on the building blindly. Thus, with a step through the door, he was greeted by the sight of a few skeletonsying rest on the dirt grounds stripped from a floor.


    "Tch... Wrong house," he frowned. "Just where the hell is Lier''s?!" Reru could''ve sworn that he had heard the direction of Rustly''s voice within the area, but it seemed that he had to go through multiple trial and errors in order to find the correct one.


    "I thought Rustly would be attacked by monsters... But," he murmured to himself. "It''s too quiet. I can only hear the battles going on from where I left the humans..."


    Moving out of the house as he walked towards each building to scrutinize its interior in search of Rustly, he pondered on a sudden thought. If Rustly had screamed for help and was in trouble, he would continuously cry out and made a run for it. However, the sounds in the area were still. He could no longer hear anything from Rustly.


    "This isn''t good... This isn''t good at all!" The atmosphere around Reru grew dire as his pace quickened.


    ...


    Rushing through the pinewood forest, a young man''s eyes fixed on the ck raven flying in the sky whilst seemingly attacking thing''s below him.


    "Over there, that''s where the vige is!" Shinto shouted out as he prepared himself to cast out skills the moment he enters into the battle. "Ethan get ready."


    "Yeah, yeah," Ethaniel stated as he prepared himself as well. The two didn''t know the situation of the troubles Frey and Raina were in. But, with the way ke was attacking whilst in the sky, Shinto and himself could only assume the worse.


    With each step moving forward into the vigeupon exiting out of the forest and into the open snowy fields, Shinto was immediately greeted by a familiar sight of a pdin struggling in battle.


    "...huh?" he raised his brow in confusion. "T-This is...?"


    "Huh? Hey!" Just as Ethaniel was about to unleash his skills to aid the two adventurers upfront, he stopped at his action as he noticed that Shinto had stopped at his footsteps, now only staring in a dumbfounded manner at the pdin. "Earth to Zayden? Why did you suddenly stop?"


    "A-Ahem... It''s nothing," Shinto coughed out slightly. "Go on ahead of me, I''ll support from behind."


    "..." Skeptical of Shinto''s odd behaviour, he raised a brow at him. However, Ethaniel soon shrugged it off as he rushed in on the monsters that Frey and the woman in armour were attacking. "Oi! You two, step back!"


    Shouting out as the de in his hand lit a bright luminesce, he swung his sword over to the horde of monsters, quickly sending an arc of light over to them. In the next moment, Ethaniel leapt forward as he began to connect his attack with another skill.


    [ Judgement Knight - Down Bringer ]


    [ Down Bringer Lv 1 ] [ 25 Sword Energy ] [ Cooldown: 1 Minute ]


    Lighting up one''s de with light that shines away the darkness, the Judgement Knight raises his de and soon swings it down to an enemy, thus forcing a pir of light down towards them, dealing 550% light physical damage whilst decreasing the enemy''s light RES by 10% for 15 seconds.


    ...


    "...kikk!!" Upon being hit by Ethaniel''s skill, the goblins who had repeatedly been hit by countless sources of attacks stumbled back. Within his final moments, the monster turned to Ethaniel in enmity, but, without a single word out of him, a ck feather shot forward and turned him into grey ash.


    "E-Etaniel...?" Frey uttered out in surprise as she saw his appearance in front of her. "You''re finally here! Phew..." letting out a sigh of relief as she saw that the monsters had finally been cleared out upon the arrival of Ethaniel. "Where''s Master? I''ve heard his voice... But I don''t see him anywhere..."


    "...hah, we''re done..." Crowelin sighed a sigh of relief as she soon turned towards the ck raven up into the sky. "Now all''s that left is that monster... Since the mobs are cleared out, it''ll only be a matter of time until..."


    "Hmm? If you''re talking about me," a male''s voice protruded out from the sky. "....then your worry is not needed."


    "H-Huh? What?" Upon hearing an unknown voiceing closer from the distance, Crowelin noted that the ckbird flying in the sky had disappeared. "W-Where?"


    "I am right behind you," ke''s voice rang through Crowelin''s years.


    "A-Ack...!" Caught in surprise by the sudden appearance of a ck-haired man, Crowelin jumped back, nearly stumbling to the ground. "Hey...! Don''t jump at me like that! That''s not funny."


    "Oh? I apologize for my rude entrance," ke uttered out. "All I did wasnd to the ground. I hadn''t expected that I wouldnd directly below you."


    "...you, you''re that bird from earlier?" Crowelin tilted her head. "How did you... No. I don''t need to question that. There are more pressing matters at hand," she coughed. "I heard a familiar voice... Where''s Shinto? No... Do you know who Shinto is? Wait... Should I start with your levels? Argh!" stumbling at her words as she was filled with confusion to the brim, Crowelin ced her hands on her head as if attempting to get herself together.


    "U-Um... Let''s start with Master first..." Frey tilted her head and she blurted out. "...yes, we do know him? And uh... I don''t know where he is..."


    "...!" Hearing the answer from Frey, Crowelin''s eyes grew in an excited manner almost as if her previous confusion was non-existent. "So you know him? What ss is he? No... How does he look like? Wait... Can''t I just whisper to him and personally ask? No... He''s ignoring everyone''s whispers in the game. Damn it Shinto! Why are you like this!"


    "...hey, Frey. The hell are you trying to tell her?" Ethaniel whispered to Frey through her ears. "Yes, we know a Shinto. But you being straightforward and telling her yourself?"


    "H-Huh? Is there a problem...?" Frey blinked. "I just answered her question only... I mean, it''s not like she means ill-intentions right?"


    "That girl''s a pdin, Frey. She''s in the level of 200s," he stated. "The ''Shinto'' she''s asking for is the first ced user! How could this Shinto be anything like him? Heck... He''s nothing like him!"


    "...who? What? Where? There''s another Shinto? There can be duplicate names??" she raised her brow in utter confusion. "Eh?!"


    "...ugh. You..." Ethaniel sighed. "Yes, people can have duplicate names. There are millions of yers in the damn game. You tell me, is ''Frey'' that unique of a name that no one ever used before?" he frowned. "But whatever. That''s not the point here. What I''m saying is, don''t mislead her!"


    "...u-um okay..." Frey muttered out. "But... How do you know that this isn''t the Shinto from the top ranks? I mean..."


    "Look, just believe me. I can''t be bothered to exin," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "All you have to do know is, if the person really is Shinto, he wouldn''t be with us. After all, he has the backing of Vainblood and that, he would have all the equipment needed to progress if even he were to have a level reset due to his sudden disappearance of the rankings."


    "...O-okay... I got it!" Frey nodded her head. Although she knew nothing of what ''Vainblood'', ''Rankings'', ''Level Reset'' and the like is, she could tell Ethaniel''s genuinements, but seemingly disregarding the current Shinto they know. "But... I still feel a little sceptical... I mean... He''s some sort of veteran at least, right?"


    "Like I said... He has the backing of one of the top guilds. Like hell would this Shinto wear some sort of shitty equipment and level up so slowly, right?" he frowned. "He has ess to better ces for levelling up too."


    "I see..." Frey tilted her head, though still sceptical. "Then what do we do about the current situation?"


    "We just tell her that we know someone named Shinto, but he''s not the one she''s looking for," Ethaniel stated as he turned towards the girl in front of him. "Hey, Crow... Crowelin?!" he shouted out in surprise as he saw her name. "Ahem... Whatever. We know a Shinto. But, he''s not the one you''re looking for."


    "A-Ah...? So he''s not the Lunar Swordsman Shinto?" Crowelin frowned. "Hah... Bummer. I guess I''ll have to tell-" As she was about to continue her sentence, Crowelin received a sudden whisper.


    "...Crowelin, please just... keep quiet about me," with her eyes opened wide in shock, she noted that the whisper came from the person himself. Shinto.

 Chapter 180: Meeting (2)

    Chapter 180: Meeting (2)


    "...S-Shinto?" Crowelin''s eyes shook as she desperately attempted to remain calm under the circumstance of replying to the sudden whisper that she had received. "The heck?! You finally replied! For now of all times... Hey! I have so many questions to ask you! You better not ghost me again like you do with Arceus!"


    "...cough. Crowelin... You''re showing your Arceus side again," a sigh could be felt behind his message. "Look, I''ll answer your questions when this is all over. But, you''ve got to keep your mouth shut about me. Don''t say anything to them. Keep anything rted to my status or rtion quiet."


    "...what?" Crowelin raised her brow in a confused manner. "Keep my mouth shut? Don''t say anything? Hey... That means you''re here! Where are you? Show yourself!"


    The situation was sudden for her. To suddenly receive a whisper from someone who hadn''t replied for days upon days in the past week, Crowelin couldn''t help but feel dumbfounded as she was left with many sorts of questions within her head. And, Shinto''s reply was of no help.


    "...I''ll show myself soon. I just need to make sure that you wouldn''t say a word about me to the ones around you. Just, act like you don''t know me, alright?" Shinto stated. "If you do just that, I''ll exin everything in due time."


    "...sure you will. But that''s beside the point! Why are you acting so secretive?" Crowelin frowned. "If you ask me. If a guy named Ethaniel outright stated that the Shinto that I was looking for, which is obviously, you, wasn''t you, he''d know you by name or even was a fan, right? No way can you hide the fact that you''re Shinto from him! He even knows me!" she exined. "Well... He never outright stated it, but he knows me! So he''s not dumb. You''ve got your looks, your equipment, your ss, your level, heck... Even your guild''s badge stapled on all your equipment. So... This is just..."


    "...huh? Ethaniel knows you by name?" Shinto questioned. "If he knows the 7th ced user on the rankings... Hah," he seemed to sigh. "I''m not sure about him. But, he hasn''t questioned me once in regards to my name or affiliation. Whether he knew that I was actually Shinto and was keeping it a secret or just an unwarranted suspicion from me, that doesn''t matter. I''ve no longer got any of what you mentioned anyways. Well... Besides my usual looks."


    "...yet he hasn''t asked you? Wait... I''m having a headache from you," Crowelin pressed the bridge of her nose in helplessness. "You say you haven''t gotten a single thing on you like equipment and stuff... Even your ss? What? How have you survived?! Hikari said you haven''t gone and taken your gold from the guild and most of your items are kept in the storage... Hey! Stop being so damn confusing! What is your current status?!"


    "...you''ll see for yourself," Shinto stated. "I''ming to you now."


    "Hey! What does that mean? See for yourself? Hey" Upon continuing to send countless messages to Shinto, Crowelin was no longer receiving a single response from him. "Argh... This guy is being difficult. Hah... Well, I''ll just wait and see then."


    ...


    Within the pinewood forest nearby the abandoned vige, a young man who had been within miles reach from the group sat behind one of the countless trees in the area.


    "...to think that I would meet Crowelin of all people here... Just why?" with a sigh, Shinto quickly ended the ongoing whisper with Crowelin, and soon turned his head over towards the direction of the group that was in the distance. "First Tristan and now Crowelin... Who''s next? Hikari?" frowning, he stood up from the ground.


    "And to think that Ethaniel actually knows me... Whether it''d be by name or an actual fan, yet... He doesn''t know that I''m Shinto?" he raised his brow. He didn''t know why he hadn''t been questioned at all in regards to this. Although he no longer looked the part to be the 1st ranked user, no one could directly mimick the looks of Shinto beside himself.


    "Am I just being overly worried about this?" Shinto just couldn''t understand the whys and how. "Perhaps he didn''t question about my status because he didn''t care or that he just wasn''t sure..." he thought to himself. "Maybe, he knew. But until I decide to speak up, he won''t say a thing?"


    At this point for Shinto, he just couldn''t find a simple reason that would satisfy him. Even considering to ask the person himself, he shook his head at the thought. He had no will to.


    If it came down to the few options he had thought up off with the unrity of Shinto''s identity to Ethaniel, he didn''t want to outright reveal himself by asking him.


    "...why am I even trying to hide the fact that I''m Shinto in the first ce?" he solemnly questioned. He didn''t know why, but, deep down, he had a certain feeling. A feeling in which he wanted to just burry down his previous title of 1st ranked to the ground if he wished to start anew.


    "...hah. I''ll just..." muttering out to himself, he suddenly recalled a past conversation in the past that he had been in when he first initially met Raina and Ethaniel.


    ...


    "...the ex-first ce yer, Shinto?" Recalling on a question which Lucas had asked him back in the dungeon, Shinto seemingly frowned. "I haven''t heard of him before."


    "Oh really? You don''t know him? Hmm... I figured that since your name was ''Shinto'', I thought that you might''ve taken inspiration on his name as a fan or something. But I guess not," Lucas shook his head whilst shrugging.


    "...ah, my name? Well, the name was given to me by a friend of mine. So I just decided to use it as my in-game nickname," Shinto replied. "Though, it''s a funny coincidence that I ended up having the same name as him."


    "Oh haha. Yeah, a real funny coincidence, huh?" Lucas chuckled. "Since you don''t know him, I suggest..."


    "...right," Shinto replied with a slight smile. "But... Just a question. Why did you ask a question like that so out of the blue?"


    "Haha well... I just want to get him some more fans, y''know!" Lucas replied casually. "Despite suddenly falling off the rankings, he still has an unprecedented amount of presence in the game. So I don''t want him to be forgotten like that!"


    ...


    Recollecting on the past conversation with Lucas, Shinto muttered out to himself. "...at that time, I wasn''t sure whether or not he was acting friendly or suspicious. But, seeing as how Ethaniel would directly know me in terms of someone on the rankings, it''s no doubt that it was Lucas attempting to spite him," he thought to himself. "Perhaps it was because he was a swordsman too... But if so... Then no doubt, Ethaniel would know who I am."


    Back when he was in the town of Parm, Shinto didn''t need to worry much about the fact that he might be recognized in public. After all, everyone was a newbie there. But, the question was different in regards to Ethaniel.


    Just as much effort as he does to keep a secret about himself, Ethaniel had been doing the same thing in terms of ss, information and himself. All he knew was that he suffered the same fate as him. Ethaniel had his level reset. But, it was on the reason that he had made a mistake in terms of a quest.


    "...just what is Ethaniel trying to do here?" he frowned. However, he soon shook his head as he rid away from the thought. "Argh... This is frustrating. Why am I even fussing over this?" with a sigh, he soon began making his way out of the forest and then to the group.


    ...


    Leaping through the snowy ins in a rush, Reru frantically headed into each and every single building that was still intact whilst shouting out in a loud voice. "Rustly! Where the hell are you?! Stop hiding ande out!"


    Searching through each building within the vicinity, all Reru could find was that of skeletal remains, broken furniture and cobwebs. There were no indication of anyone stepping into said buildings until Reru had barged in.


    "Ugh... Rustly..." Reru frowned. "I''m not putting up with this charade. Come out now before I inevitably destroy every damn building in the area!"


    Yet, even with his voided threat, there wasn''t any reply. All he could hear was the cold winds of the atmosphere. The battle which had been going on for quite some time now? It seemed to have ended.


    "...Rustly..." Reru seemed to be biting on his lips. However, the moment he did so, a loud voice rang into the distance.


    "Reru!"


    "...Rustly?!" Turning around in excitement, his expression grew sour as he noted who had called him out. In front of him, two familiar girlsHikari and Raina ran up to him in a rushed manner. "...ugh, it''s you..." he uttered out in Arcos.


    "Hey... Reru!" Raina cried out. "Where''s Rustly? Shouldn''t he be with you? This is..."


    "I searched freaking everywhere. He''s nowhere to be found!" Reru clicked his tongue.


    "W-What...?" Hikari blinked in confusion. "Rustly... Shouldn''t he be around here? I could''ve sworn I heard his voice..."


    "You think I didn''t?" Reru frowned. "Ugh... Did he die somewhere and didn''t want anyone to watch?? What kind of sick joke is this?!" Turning his head away from the humans, his voice cried out under the hushed winds. "OI, Rustly! Come out now! I''m tired of this!"


    "R-Reru... Please calm down..." Raina murmured out. "I''m sure he''s fine... But-"


    "Fine? Hah... Bullshit! Just a day ago, he told me, directly in the face, that he was dying due to the curse. But now with the curse gone? I had thought it was all over," Reru exined as his voice became shaky. "But... But... Was it all just a stupid lie?"


    "..." Hikari solemnly nced at Reru. "I''m sure he''ll be alright... Even if he wasn''t, we still have time before he ends up dying, right? At that point, I''ll do my best to cure him. So... Please, don''t give up. Shall we continue finding for him?"


    "Ugh... It''s hopeless. I searched through every damn building," Reru averted his gaze away from the priest.


    "...the forest. If he''s not in the vige, perhaps in the forest?" Hikari tilted her head. "Let''s try going a little further. I''m sure he wouldn''t have gone too far."

 Chapter 181: Meeting (3)

    Chapter 181: Meeting (3)


    "...so like," Frey uttered out in confusion as she nced around the area. "On the topic of Shinto... Where the heck is Shinto? Like our Shinto and not the first ce guy!"


    "How the heck am I supposed to know?" Ethaniel questioned. "He was here just a second ago... Where the hell is he?"


    After initially meeting with Crowelin in the vige and having a small discussion on Shinto, the group was left at a standstill as it had been a while since Shinto and Ethaniel separated before diving into battle.


    "Y-You think that he''s being chased by a sudden horde of those demons!?" Frey cried out. "Is that why there are no more waves?!"


    "Calm down. I do not sense any more monsters within the vicinity," ke calmly answered. "So, Master is safe. I''m sure he''ll be arriving soon."


    "...Master, huh?" Crowelin muttered to herself. "Just what the hell has he been doing for the past week? Did he open up some sort of training facility?!"


    To hear the sudden news of Shinto''s appearance in a snowy in and then to see that thepanions that he had made during the days he was uncontactable calling him by the title of ''Master''Crowelin couldn''t help but sense a suspicion lingering in the air.


    "Ugh... This guy better exin everything in due time!" she frowned as she angrily murmured to herself. "Leaving all of us in a dark like that... Who the hell do you think you are?!"


    Silently uttering out her woes, Crowelin soon heard certain footsteps ploughing through the snowy fields by the distance. In the next moment, her head as well as the rest of the group turned towards the direction of the soundQuickly noting that a figure of a young man was walking towards them from the forest.


    "...Isn''t that," Crowelin narrowed her eyes as she attempted to see the figure in rity. As the man came into the distance, her eyes slightly shook in shock as she scrutinized the young man with ck hair. "T-This is..."


    Greeted by the ugly sight of a green cloak covered in leaves on his shoulders, his armour that seemingly was made out of ores that were at the lowest quality and boots that almost seems as if it''s near the end of its uses. Crowelin couldn''tprehend the sad sorry state that Shinto was in.


    "...huh?" Dumbfounded at the sight, she had no words for the scene in front of her. Many sorts of questions appeared within her head. What happened to Kurogane? What happened to all of his equipment? Why does he look like a dirty beggar? However, the most important question of them all. Why is Shinto holding a staff rather than a sword? "...Shinto... The hell..."


    As she was about to rush up towards Shinto, wanting to barrage him with countless questions, Crowelin quickly shook her head franticallyRemembering the words that were said by Shinto in their whispers. ''To act as if she didn''t know the person in front of her''.


    "Ah, Master! You''re finally here!" Frey uttered out in excitement. "Where the hell were you? I thought you might have been eaten by wolves!"


    "...cough. Sorry about that," Shinto awkwardlyughed. "I was taking care of a few mobs that had run off after ke''s arrival. I didn''t want them calling for reinforcements you know?"


    "...you? Taking care of those monsters?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "You and what damage?"


    "...hey. They were all low. What kind of person would I be if I can''t even kill monsters fleeing away who were in the red?" Shinto sighed. "I don''t deal that less of a damage you know... I''ve got some attack skills on my list."


    "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say," Ethaniel scoffed. "Now, ignoring yourte arrival, where''s Raina? Shouldn''t she be here with you, Frey?"


    "Huh? Raina...?" Frey tilted her head as she suddenly remembered what had happened earlier before she and Crowelin were swarmed by monsters. "She and that slime left me and headed into that vige! That priest girl went to get them back, but she hasn''t returned since!"


    "...priest girl?" Shinto blinked in a dumbfounded manner as a thought came to his head. "...Hikari is here as well?" Upon the thought, Shinto quickly shook his head as he rid it of his mind. "No, no. It could be someone from Crowelin''s guild. It can''t just be coincidentally Hikari," mumbling out, he soon turned towards the pdin who had been silent the entire time. "Hey, you''re a pdin, right? For one to be in the snowy ins, I doubt you''de here alone. Besides the priest, is there anyone else?"


    "..." Crowelin red at Shinto upon his question whilst wanting to cry out. "At least act like you know the 7th ced user by name!" However, refraining from stating out her woes, she coughed. "I came here together with the priest. I didn''t bring anyone else. Though... Coming here, it wasn''t just us."


    "...the slimes were with you, right?" Shinto questioned, and in reply, Crowelin nodded her head. "I see. Then, would you care to apany us to fetch them? From what Frey said... They should be close if they''re still in the vige."


    "Since the priest went to get them and I''ve got some unfinished business with the slimes," Crowelin uttered out. "I''ll join you."


    Nodding his head, Shinto stated. "Right, then let''s hurry." As the group began making their way into the abandoned vige, a whisper came to him from Crowelin.


    "Hey, what kind of sick joke is this?" Crowelin angrily red at Shinto. "Why do you look like some poor guy who had lost everything in a gamble? You didn''t be addicted to gambling, did you? Oh my god... What the hell! You''ve got poor luck. Not to mention, Rie, Kaisus, Hikari and everyone else will murder you!"


    "No... I didn''t gamble," Shinto sighed helplessly. "Well technically, yes?"


    "What do you mean technically yes?! Hey! Stop being so vague and be out of it already!" Crowelin cried out. "It''s not toote to change your ways and be a better person y''know! I can pay for therapists for you if you''re too poor!"


    "Crowelin... You''repletely misunderstanding..." Shinto was stumped for words. "Sigh. That''s beside the point. Whose the priest you''re talking about? It''s not Hikari is it?"


    "..." Crowelin kept quiet at the question. "Since you haven''t been answering any of my questions, I''ll say this. All will be answered in due time."


    "You..." Shinto''s voice hushed through the air as he stared at Crowelin.


    "I''m just answering like how anyone would in a situation of some being difficult," Crowelinughed. "if you want a clear answer, you better answer my questions first!"


    "...I told you... Later," he sighed. "Let''s just be going now, shall we?"


    "Hmph, you and yourters," Crowelin clicked her tongue as her legs began moving through the snowy fields. "You better keep your promise.


    "Hah..." with his breath rasped out into the open air as he solemnly stared at the back of Crowelin. "Just wait for a bit, alright?"


    ...


    Through the pinewood forest, Hikari as well as the rest of the group steadily walked through the path that led deeper into the woods. Unlike the previous trails which were all covered in snow that they had gone on within the forest, this was a clear dirt path unhindered by the snow around the area.


    "Rustly!" Reru cried out. "Where the hell are you?!"


    "Rustly? Pleasee out!" Alongside Reru who had been shouting out, Raina had been doing the same thing. "...sigh. It''s no use Reru... It seems like he''s more further down the path."


    "...mmm, where is this path leading to?" Raina questioned. "I''m sensing some sort of weird aura ahead... And I don''t like it."


    "...a weird aura ahead?" Hikari gripped onto her staff in hand upon hearing Raina. Unlike Raina, Hikari hadn''t sensed anything weird. "...if so, then we''ll need to proceed in caution."


    "Ugh... Do we even have the damn time?" Reru clicked his tongue. "Just hurry it up and stop moving at a snail''s pace! We''re running!"


    "W-What? Reru... I know you''re worried but acting so rashly like this is..." As Hikari was about to reason, Reru hadpletely ignored her as he began leaping on ahead. "...hey!"


    "Argh... We''ll have to follow after him," Raina muttered out with a slightly shaky voice. "Though... I have a really bad feeling about this. Just what''s ahead of this path?"


    "I''m not sure... I don''t know much of this ce," Hikari shook her head, "Besides the stories I''ve heard, I don''t know anything of the monsters that may be here. Heck... I didn''t know that twilight race monsters would appear here of all ces. This is uninhabitednds."


    "Twilight Race Monsters...?" Raina questioned. "Do you mean those mobs we fought earlier?"


    "Yes," Hikari nodded her head. "Corrupted beings that only appear when strong dark emotions or energy exist in the area. They''re not ones to be reckoned with and grow more powerful when the energy bes uncontroble."


    "Dark emotions or energy..." Raina tilted her head. "This perhaps could exin the aura I''m sensing... But if so, if this aura is that, then... The energy should be at its peak if the aura I feel is this strong."

 Chapter 182: Rustly (1)

    Chapter 182: Rustly (1)


    Standing ever so lonely on the tforms of a broken stone, a small body of slime slowly leapt his way through the stone-paved grounds and soon stopped at his footsteps.


    "...Lier," the slime uttered out as he began to scrutinize the giant statue in front of him. "Why did you had to leave us?"


    With her sword held up high into the air bringing about an aura of majesty, it was clear that she was a person of high honour. Although she wore a hood that covered her beautiful face, the symbolic being in front of the small slime showed that she was a hero.


    "..." The slimeRustly, solemnly fixed his eyes on the majesty in front of him. Although one wouldn''t understand his sentiments as much as his own person, he didn''t care if anyone wouldn''t understand him. "...if only that day didn''t happen, we wouldn''t have to suffer as much as now, huh? Maybe then... Sanke wouldn''t have died trying to revive you..."


    Within the slime''s body, Rustly held onto two books. The first was that of a seemingly small journal that appeared to be of a bygone age. Whilst the other was that of a tome,


    "I know I''m not supposed to do this... But," Rustly murmured out. "Perhaps... If I''m at the ce of origins, then maybe..." opening up the book that seemed to resemble that of a tome, he continued. "...maybe everyone''s wish would be fulfilled."


    [ The Tome of Curses (Veritas) ]


    Rarity: Unique


    Effects: Veritas''s spell will bring about the truth of a being. However, in turn for your wish, the being of holiness within you shall cease and disappear over timesoon to be ovee by darkness.


    A book of the dark ages. Unbeknowst of its true origins, this book was said to contain the entire truth of a mortal for the penny sacrifice of one''s goodwill. A quote from the tome states: "For who dares triad of Truth, beings of foretold will judge you."


    Condition(s): eptance of one''s loss.


    ...


    "Hah..." Letting out a deep breath, Rustly began to chant. "O'' darkness of sin who you call truth. I call upon the being that shall seek out the hidden secrets unkempt within the universe," word for word on the tome, a spark of dark energy began to surround him. "He who seeps into holes made by lies shall return with the truth."


    Upon reaching towards the end of the chant, the dark energy suddenly dispersed away.


    "...?!" Rustly''s eyes widened. "Why... Why didn''t it work?" embezzled by the failure of the chant, Rustly was then greeted by a message in front of him.


    [ You who have not epted the loss of your will, shall be forgone into the truth. ]


    "W-Why..." Rustly uttered out. "This should work...! Lier''s journal said that I could bypass this but..."


    With a shaky voice and a broken will within him, a p was soon heard resounding through the broken ruins of the area.


    "Aha... Is this where his tome was?" Hearing a snarky voice, Rustly turned around in caution as he was greeted by the sight of a hooded figure that stood behind him. "Hmph... Rustly, was it? It''s nice to meet you. I''m sure you''d have more drive than the previous owner of that tome."


    "...you?" Rustly muttered out. "You''re the one... You!!"


    "Ahaha... What? Why that scornful face all of a sudden?" The hooded figure took off his hood as it revealed that of a man with jet-ck hair, golden eyes with a burnt scar around its area and what seemed to be blue small crystals on his cheeks. "I didn''t do anything. In fact, you must be mistaken. I''m just a passerby of this old chapel, that is all."


    "Lies... I''ve seen you around in the Slera''s den before..." Rustly growled. "You... You''re the one that caused Sanke''s death, right? No... It was you that caused Lier''s too!"


    "Hah... Now that''s anti-climatic of an assumption, no?" the man shrugged. "I doubt I manipted all that chain of events to the point where it went that way. Like I said, you must be mistaken. You said you saw me in the Slera''s den before? Perhaps. I did visit there on my own for refuge after this whole little incident that urred here. Though... You might''ve been quite young then, no? It''s a surprise you remember my face."


    "Bullshit..." Rustly frowned. "Don''t kid with me! You''re..."


    "Come again?" the man walked further on ahead as he closed the distance between Rustly. "Could you repeat what you just said? I''m...?"


    "You''re...?" Rustly murmured out. "...here to help me."


    Upon hearing the words from Rustly, the man smiled. "Yes, yes. I''m here to help! The cure of the ice witch''s curse that you''ve inherited from Lier and the ''truth'' on the incident that she tried to look hard for. All of them will soon be uncovered today. You just need to remain calm."


    "R-Remain calm?" Rustly muttered out. "No... No...! I won''t fall for your stupid-"


    "Shh... Just look at the statue and repeat after me," the man stated in a voice as if simr to that of Sanke whilst grabbing hold of the two books which Rustly had held onto. "To truth and to lies. I''vee as a sacrifice for the opening of the ice witch''s path."


    "...to truth and to lies..." Without a fight, Rustly repeated after the man. "I''vee as a sacrifice for the opening of..." As he was about to end the sentence, a loud roar protruded out from the distance.


    "RUSTLY!" Speaking in thenguage of slime, Reru hurriedly made his way forward from the entrance of the chapel. "Don''t you dare start that spell!"


    ...


    Within the snowy ins of the vige, Shinto and the rest of the group swiftly ran around on the snow-pavednds whilst their eyes nced around the areain search of the rest of theirpanions.


    "Hey! Raina? Reru? Rustly! Where are you?!" Frey cried out. "Argh... No response for the 10th time!"


    "...maybe it''s because you''ve been repeating the same thing in the same area without moving much for the 10th time?" Ethaniel scoffed. "How about actually helping with searching through the damn premise?"


    "What?! You''re saying as if I haven''t!" she clicked her tongue. "Look at all those broken down doors! I''ve checked them all!"


    "...you broke the doors because you couldn''t get them to open," Ethaniel helplessly sighed. "And then when you were greeted by the skeletal remains, you flipped out along with that slime and came running back here..."


    "H-Hey! When you''re suddenly greeted by skeletons without expecting one, you''d also act like that!" Yer stated.


    "..." Ignoring the small talk that was urring at the side of him, Shinto continued to scrutinize the area. "If what Frey and Crowelin said in regards to them being around here... Where are they then?"


    For the past few minutes, the group had been searching around in the buildings that were still intact, only to find dust and cobwebs.


    "...I could''ve sworn they would be here," Crowelin muttered out. "The footsteps around here are all a mess too. There must''ve been a battle that urred here."


    "What, you don''t think they all died do you?" Shinto questioned.


    "No. Of course not," Crowelin stated. "They can''t have possibly died. But... It''s strange. There''s no one here... And..." As she stated out her worries, a ck raven that had flown through the skies quicklynded down to the ground where the group were.


    "Master. I''ve found them," ke stated whilst still in his raven form. "Over through the forest ahead of the vige. Two girls and a slime seem to be making their way over to what seemed to be a chapel in a rush."


    "...a chapel?" Shinto raised his brow. "Why are they going there?"


    "Hmm, seeing as how they''re in a rush, I do not think it''s any good news," ke shook his head. "You don''t need me to lead you as the dirt path''s just a straight line with no snow on it. So, I''ll make my way to the chapel first and see what''s going on there."


    "Right, please do," Shinto nodded his head. "We''ll catch up with you from behind."


    "Huh...? What''s going on?" Frey tilted her head as she noted that ke had left the area a few minutes after he had flown back to the group. "Did he find everyone?!"


    "ke apparently found Raina, the priest and one slime," Shinto stated whilst turning his head over to the pinewood forest which ke had pointed towards. "But, with how they''re in a rush to a single destination, I''ve got a bad feeling about it. So... We should keep up the pace and get there as soon as possible."


    "A slime... Is it Reru or Rustly?" Frey blinked in confusion. "But whatever! What are you waiting for then? Let''s go!"


    With a nod from the rest of the group, they hurriedly made their way through the vige and headed towards the dirt path of the pinewood forest.

 Chapter 183: Rustly (2)

    Chapter 183: Rustly (2)


    "..." Abruptly turning back towards the loud slime from behind, Rustly tilted his head in a confused manner. "R-Reru...? What are you..."


    "Hah... So it seems that the brother of the slime is here," the man uttered out as he turned towards the chapel''s door, noting that the slime in front of him had taken out his weapons in aggression. "Well, no biggie. I don''t mind having someone else know of what went down here. Perhaps you can foretell the tales to old sage or even your king."


    "What do you think you''re doing with Rustly?!" Reru shouted out. "Making him mutter out that spell... Are you trying to get him killed?!"


    "Killed?" The man thought to himself as he nced at Reru. "Hmm... Would I even go to such lengths to get him killed? Nah. I know what I''m doing here and I intend to see through it. You''re just the audience and should stay in it until the final show."


    "You''re saying that he won''t die from one of Sanke''s cursed spells?!" Reru leapt forward as he swung his sword at the man who stood on the crossing. However, the moment that he leapt, a dark shadow hurriedly grasped onto the slime and held him down. "U-Ugh...! Rustly! Run!"


    "Look, I''m doing what''s best for him. After all, this is his wish, no?" The man smiled gently. "You can see for yourself whether or not I''m lying when this is all over. So, just sit back and enjoy."


    "Ugh... Rustly!" Reru cried out whilst struggling against the grip of the shadows. "Rustly! Snap the hell out of it! What did he say to you?!"


    "..." Rustly kept quiet as he only stared at the screaming slime in front of him.


    "...It is no use screaming like that," the man stated. "And please, don''t put unnecessary words into my mouth if you''re going to say I did this to him. He brought it upon himself when he chanted out the spell from the tome. So all I''m doing is finishing up the work for him."


    "Bullshit! You clearly hypnotized him!" Reru clicked his tongue. "Unhand me now or else!"


    "Sigh... You people don''t ever believe a damn thing I say," the man shrugged as he waved the [ Tome of Curses (Veritas) ] in front of Reru. "I''m sure you''ve seen this before? Your friend Sanke might''ve used it."


    "...?!" Reru''s eyes opened wide at the sight. "That... You!"


    "Still ming me after I showed you this?" the man frowned. "I''m no longer going to entertain you as a bonus. Just sit back and watch it all unfold. Maybe then you''ll believe me."


    Keeping the tome into his messenger bag, the man soon began to chant out a small spell from the hushed sounds of the cold winds that seeped into the broken down chapel. In the next moment, a de made of pure ice formed around the hands of the man.


    "Now, let''s no longer waste time," the man held onto the sword, pointing the sharp end of the de up to the sky. "Rustly. Continue to repeat thisTo sacrifice the enchantednds of Bareth, the beast of cold winds whom the lone child bares fang, the judgement shall bring forth into the air."


    "To sacrifice the enchantednds of Bareth... The beast of cold winds whom the lone child bares fang... The judgement shall bring forth into the air..." Rustly repeated.


    "Across time and time again," the man continued his sentence as thest few words were quickly cut off by him. "...now."


    "Across time and time again... Bareth ol''panion of the old, one whoes as a bearing of curses..." As Rustly was nearly done with the chant, Reru''s voice screamed into the winds that suddenly began to be harsher than ever before.


    "Rustly! Stop! You don''t understand what you''re doing!" Reru cried out. "Renryth warned us about this! Don''t summon Bareth! Do you want all of us to die?!"


    "...I summon forth..." Ignoring Reru, Rustly continued as suddenly the cold winds grew much worse. cial ice began to form as the temperature began to rapidly drop. "Bareth... Come now!"


    ...


    "Hah... Hah..." Rushing through the dirt pathway whilst slightly shivering as if the cold grew worse over time, Raina and Hikari steadily made their way forward to the chapel.


    "I see the building by the distance! Do you think they''re there?" Raina questioned.


    "I hope," Hikari uttered out whilst slightly rubbing her palms together. "But... Is it just me or has the atmosphere gotten colder...?"


    "Is it another hail? A snowstorm?" Raina questioned as she suddenly was unable to feel her hands. "Ugh... It''s so cold... I..."


    "Mm... I''m not sure if you''re able to wear this since it''s tailor-made for me and Crowelin, but..." Hikari muttered out as she took out a few items of clothing from her inventory. "Wear them. They should keep you warm. Though... I don''t think it can protect you from this sudden harsh winter as well as I had hoped for when I ordered these clothes..."


    "T-Thanks..." epting the clothes immediately, Raina immediately began to scrutinize its details.


    [ Winter White Jacket ]


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Vanity


    *Max HP +45


    *Cold RES +20%


    Set Bonus (0/3): Total Cold RES will be 45%


    A winter jacket tailored by a tailor from the city of Erendek. He who had skillfully crafted such clothing has made it so that it can protect you from the cold whilst looking fashionable!


    Condition(s): Size M.


    ...


    [ White Winter Hat ]


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Vanity


    *Stamina +2


    *Cold RES +10%


    Set Bonus (0/3): Total Cold RES will be 45%


    A winter hat tailored by a tailor from the city of Erendek...


    Condition(s): N/a


    ...


    [ White Winter Glove ]


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Vanity


    *Max MP +5


    *Cold RES +5%


    Set Bonus (0/3): Total Cold RES will be 45%


    A winter glove tailored by a tailor from the city of Erendek...


    Condition(s): N/a


    ...


    "Ah... Vanity type items?" Raina blinked at the item''s description. "Does that mean I''ve got to take off my items?"


    "No, no! Nothing of that sort," Hikari shook her hand. "Just wear them over. I''m not sure how it works in physics, but you can wear most vanity items over your equipment and it''d work as if your wearing a single piece of clothing whilst still having the effects of both items."


    "Oh really? if that''s so..." With a sigh of relief, Raina quickly wore the winter clothing that was given by Hikari. At the moment of her wearing such items, she felt much warmer than before. "Ah~ That''s so much better!"


    "Mhm~ d it''s a fit!" Hikari chuckled. "But since it''s only 45% cold resistance... You''ll still probably shiver a lot with the rate this winter wind is going at."


    "Really? I don''t feel that cold anymore," Raina tilted her head in slight confusion. "Well... Not as much as you''re shivering right now."


    "...cough. R-Really?" Hikari muttered out. "What Crowelin said is true? It''s just me?"


    "A-Ahem... Sorry, I wasn''t thinking before I spoke," Raina coughed. "L-Lets just hurry along the path! We''re almost there!"


    "Right..." Hikari nodded her head as from the sky, a sudden ckbird fell down to the grounds whilst shivering greatly. "...huh?!"


    "...cough... Damnit... This winter..." The Raven struggled to stand up as he finally gave up and transformed back into a human, revealing that of ke. "Tch... Why did the winds suddenly get this worst?"


    "Um... You...?" Hikari stated out in caution as she held onto her staff, prepared tounch an attack.


    "Huh?" Btedly taking notice of the two girls that were in front of him, ke hurriedly shook his head as bowed down. "M-My apologies! Please ignore my intrusion, however, I mean no harm."


    "A ck Raven that which colour scheme and looks nearly resemble that of Kon..." Raina mumbled. "You..."


    "I''m sorry, everything will be exined in due time with the arrival of Master, however..." ke stated. "Something''s going on in the chapel and we mustn''t waste time here."


    Without another word to say from ke, he began hurrying along the paths on foot. Confused at ke''s sudden demeanour, the two girls could only tell that the situation was much grave than they had thought. Thus, with a nod, they followed behind ke.


    ...


    Reaching towards the chapel''s door, the group felt an extreme chill behind their spine as the cold winds began piling up the snow around them. If they were to stay outdoors for any longer, even the items of clothing that Raina and Hikari wore wouldn''t protect them from death.


    "..." ke''s face turned into caution as he prepared to open the door that was in front of them. "You two... Please prepare to cast your best spells as soon as possible. We might be entering into a battlefield that may drag on for who knows how long."


    "...right, I can sense an extreme energy from upfront..." Raina stated as she had already prepared to cast out mes of Etheral the moment ke opens up the door.


    "I''m ready too," Hikari nodded, preparing to cast a protective spell around them.


    "Then... Let''s begin," ke took a deep breath as the doors of the chapel opened. What greeted them wasn''t the sight of slimes nor danger. But instead, a giant cacoon that seemed to contain a beast of winter within it. "...this is?"

 Chapter 184: Rustly (3)

    Chapter 184: Rustly (3)


    "A giant...Cacoon?" Raina blinked at the sight of the cacoon at the end of the chapel, nearly taking up the entire space of the building. With countless sorts of cial ice protruding out from the ground around it, it seemed that when one would get closer to the midpoint of the area, the colder the atmosphere one would feel. "...um what exactly am I looking at here?"


    "...a cacoon here of all ces?" Hikari raised her brow in caution. A sort of chrysalis that seemed to contain a monster was bad news to see or to hear. After all, the fact that no one knew what was in it was troubling. If anything, in the worst-case scenario, a monster that could maliciously destroy everything around it was something to take heed of. "...do you know anything about this?"


    Hearing the question from Hikari, ke helplessly shook his head. "No. I do not know anything about the likes of this cacoon," he stated. "However... For one to be here... I reckon that it wasn''t the works of history. Rather... An intervention of force."


    Upon ending his sentence, a slight chuckle could be heard from behind the cacoon. Moments after, a man with a hood on his head appeared before the group. "Huh... It seems that there are quite plentiful of guests today, huh?"


    "...?" Cautioned by the voice of the man, the gaze of the group quickly fell over towards their front, noting that the man was seemingly in a joyful mood. "I guess I should wee you to the Chapel of Cruwanski? Or perhaps I should say wee to Chapel of Xifdzmhpr."


    "...who?" Raina questioned in a confused manner at the sight of the man. "There''s someone here...?"


    "Hmm..." ke calmly thought to himself as he took a battle position. "Pray tell. I''m sure you''ve seen where the slimes are, yes? I don''t know much of the cacoon that''s before us... But our goal isn''t that. Tell us where their locations are."


    "You speak of the slimes that havee here," the man tilted his head. "Well, you''vee to the right spot. Though... I believe you just missed one of them. But you can have the other."


    From behind the man, a slime that was held by the shadows appeared. With his mouth tightly shut, the man threw the slime over towards the group, finally releasing him of his clutches.


    "...cough!" Reru coughed heavily. "You...! The hell did you do to Rustly?! What is this monstrosity he became?!"


    "Hmph... Even after all that, you still refuse to believe my words," the man sighed. "I hope the friends that you''ve brought might be more willing to give an ear, but whatever."


    "...exin," Hikari frowned. "Just get to the point already."


    "...sigh. I can''t rattle on?" the man shrugged. "Very well then. For you; guests of the chapel, I''ll give you a run-down of what that has happened here."


    ...


    "...Bareth... Come now!" At the end of the chant that was uttered out by Rustly, a quiet atmosphere enveloped within the chapel. Only the sounds of the cold winds could be heard. However, a few secondster, that sound was no longer the only one.


    "...!!" A sudden prickling pain emerged around the body of Rustly as his quiet voice soon turned into that of a scream. "A...Ahhh!!"


    "Rustly...?!" Reru cried out as he watched his brother in pain. "You bastard! Ugh... Release me this instant!"


    "Just watch," the man sighed listlessly. "If you continue to scream like that, I might just have to shut you up for some temporary peace and quiet."


    "Ugh... You!" With an air of anger around Reru, he red at the man with malice. However, the re soon stopped as his eyes opened wide at the horror before him. "...?!"


    Surrounded by sudden frozen spikes which protruded out from the ground, Rustly was quickly encased by the icicles. In the next moment, the atmosphere within the chapel grew wilder as snow and hail began piling up, especially around the crossing which Rustly was on.


    "Look, Bareth''sing forth," the man stated. "He''ll have what he wants and I''ll have what I want."


    "Ugh... What do you want, huh?!" Reru cried out. "Summoning Bareth like that... This is..."


    "The wish of Lier and Sanke. Perhaps Renryth too," the man calmly uttered out as his eyes fixed on the sight of a cacoon materializing from the hail and snow whilst the cial ice shaped the chrysalis on the crossing. "You''ve heard of what had happened to this vige right? You should rather be grateful that this would soon all be over."


    "...all be over? Are you crazy?!" Reru cried out. "It''s perhaps their wishes... But, not like this! Their wish is for the death of Bareth! Not to resummon him for another disaster over thends!"


    "Who says he''ll have the chance to bring about a disaster?" the man scoffed. "I''m here for that very reason."


    "Tch... So you are going to kill Rustly!" Reru shouted. "You...!!"


    "Enough. Just stay quiet for the moment," he stated as the shadow quickly covered his mouth. "Rustly will be safe and sound. All you have to do is not intervene."


    ...


    "...so, Rustly is in that cacoon?" Raina raised her brow in suspicion. "And... You''re going to kill Bareth when he gets out of the cacoon?"


    "Yes. That is the gist of it," he stated. "Rustly won''t be put in harm''s way as we''re not using him as a vessel to reseal him. I''m directly going to kill him whilst the slime remains in his cacoon."


    "Killing a beast of the legends... Especially one rting to that of the ice witch," ke muttered out in a worried voice. "You must be overly confident if you wish to do something as crazy as that. Even the old heroes didn''t dare touch such a beast and had to seal him away."


    "Yes, yes... I''ve heard of such tales," the man uttered out as he soon waved the sword within his hand at the group. "But did they have the Ice Queen''s de at their disposal? I''d reckon not. ThusThat''s where I draw the line with them."


    "...The Ice Queen''s de?" Hikari thought to herself. "That kind of de... I''ve heard it''s contained within the Fal''s Kingdom. How on earth did you gain such an item? It''s basically a national treasure if one were to consider its importance for the people."


    ...


    The main kept quiet at the words stated by Hikari. "The details are not necessary. All that matters is that I have the de and will end Bareth once and for all."


    "You... You''re crazy!" Reru cried out. "You think just by having such swords you''ll be able to kill the guy? Renryth said it was impossible! How can you kill the beast that wiped out this entire vige and brought eternal winter to this area?!"


    "Of course. I can kill him with this. All you have to do is support me when necessary," the man stated. "Unless... You wish to see Rustly die before your eyes?"


    "Hmph... Using that sort of excuse to get us to help you..." ke frowned. "...sigh. Before this bes a problem, I have my doubts about all this. But... Show me the details of the de."


    "What? You don''t believe me?" the man seemingly furrows his brow. "Hah... If that will finally take you to prevent any interference, then, here."


    ...


    [ Ice Queen''s de ]


    Rarity: Epic (Growth)


    Type: Weapon (Sword)


    *Attacks has a 30% chance of inflicting [Freeze] upon hitting an enemy.


    *Attacks has a 50% chance of creating a small icy barrier around self that can take up to 250 of damage taken.


    *Strong VS Cold Beasts +12


    *Strong VS Fire-Elemental Beings +15


    *Cold RES +100%


    *Ice RES +45%


    *Hybrid Damage +12%


    *Streghth +50


    *Intelligence +45


    *Wisdom +30


    A de bestowed from thends of Fal, taken as a national treasure, the Ice Queen''s de was is a symbol for all who gazes into its finely polished crystalized de. Unused for centuries, this sword was said to contain the magic essence of the ice witch, which may rid of the eternal winter of the Fal Kingdom.


    Condition(s): At least above level 80, Minimum of 150 Intelligence, Minimum of 200 Strength, If the user is affiliated to [Fire], they are barred from using such a de.


    Weight: 50


    ...


    "...this de," ke frowned. "You say you can defeat Bareth with this de? Hah... You best be running away for your life at that point."


    "...huh? What do you mean?" the man''s eyes shook at ke''s words. "This de was said to be able to defeat Bareth. Why wouldn''t it be able to defeat him? I have tested it on the ice queen''s undefeatable minions, and it sessfully turned to them to ashes!"


    "Youpare a beast that can turn the sun into a cold block of ice with minions that only serve as pawns?" ke scoffed. "You must have gotten a sick perspective of power after getting that de. It''s not at its true form, and not even close to it."


    "...what?" Raina muttered out in shock. "If that''s the case... Aren''t we all dead?"


    "...perhaps. I do not think anyone within this room can survive even his weakened state," ke sighed helplessly.


    "You...!! You brought this upon us!" Reru took out his sword in anger as he leapt forward. "Now Rustly will die for real and it''s your fault!"


    "Stop. Fighting like that is of no use," ke stated. "In any case... Even if we cannot defeat him, we can at least do something to prevent the worst-case scenario."

 Chapter 185: Hail Before Storm (1)

    Chapter 185: Hail Before Storm (1)


    Silently residing within the cold winds of an icy cavern, a small slime sat ever so lonely by the cial ices that were protruding out from the wall. With the reflection of the slime reflecting upon the clear ice, the area seemed rather mystical.


    "..."


    Eyes still closed under the icy caverns, the quiet and almost peacefulndscape gave off a soothing feeling of calmness and peace to one''s mind. However, even with the imagery of such a thing, the slime still felt unease.


    "...ugh," the small slimeRustly, uttered out in a hushed voice. "What happened...?" Upon opening his eyes that were once closed, he was greeted by an unfamiliar surrounding. "Huh...? Where... Am I?"


    Confused and seemingly scared, Rustly took a calm breath as he attempted to remember what had happened before he had arrived here. But, despite trying hard to recall that he could remember was a blurred chapel with constant shouts and screams as if a battle had urred there.


    "...ugh," Rustly frowned. "Why... Is it so blurry?" shaking his head of the drowsiness that he still felt, his eyes soon turned to the surroundings, quickly scrutinizing them. "Hah... The only thing I remembered... Was failing the spell on the tome and then..."


    Muttering out to himself, his eyes opened wide a sudden thought. "...and then, a sudden guy arrived at the area? No... Recall Rustly!" he closed his eyes. "He came... And suddenly spoke those words to me and then... Everything went nk after?"


    "..." he sighed. "This is..." Feeling the helplessness of the situation, he couldn''t do anything. The blurred face that he remembered, only being able to make out the golden eyes which the man had and the few words he stated were of no help. "Ugh... What happened really? How did I even end up here?"


    Questioning with no ends of an answer, Rustly could only just stare at his countless reflections that were protruded out by the cial ice. With his eyes now scrutinizing his body, he felt listless. At the sight of his small round-shaped body with seemingly no ability ofbat prowess like Reru, or the ability to cast out spells of higher tiers as with Madam Ru, he frowned.


    "Hah... Why am I like this?" He was entrapped within an icy cavern with no exit out. The space was enclosed and the only thing keeping himpany was his reflections that he seemed to dread. "I just can''t do anything right..." his tone turned into solemness. "Why? Why is it that I''m unable to help with anything?"


    No matter what he tried to do, things seemingly never went his way. From the very start of time to now, from when he brought Shinto''s group to the king to have them help him with his goals and the situation now. Everything went wrong.


    "This is just..." he was wordless. "Sanke, Lier... What do you even want me to do?"


    Even if he couldn''t recall the recent events that had urred, his past memories were as vivid as ever.


    ...


    "Rustly!" A female''s voice called out to him. "Why are you just standing there? Come on and help me with something!"


    "Huh? What do you want me to help with?" Rustly answered. "I thought you had everything under control with Renryth''s help..."


    "Well technically speaking we got everything under control?" the woman chuckled. "But that''s not the point! You see those statues I had Sanke made? I need you to help me with making theme to life!"


    "What? Why?" Rustly blinked. "You''ve already got these whole magic spirits going on to help you with your daily tasks... But, why make statuese to life? I don''t see any reason..."


    "Aha, silly. This isn''t for me," she stated. "It''s for you and your people. After all, since you all took us in, this is the least I could do to pay back my debts!"


    "What? No... There''s no need to!" Rustly stated. "Going through all the trouble in creating new life from nothing... Doesn''t it take a toll on you? His majesty already said that your help in making the Slera''s and Farchu''s life much more at ease now is enough to repay. You don''t have to do anything more!"


    "What? It isn''t enough," she shook her head whilst smiling. "There''s still a lot that I''ve got to repay for. After all, I''m extremely grateful," the woman patted Rustly''s head. "Anyways, here, the guardian and the warrior will both protect your people in the case of the worst thates."


    "...huh? In the case of the worst thates?" Rustly questioned with slight confusion at her words. "...Lier? Is something wrong?"


    "Huh? No, no!" Lier gently smiled. "Nothing''s wrong. But... Just a hypothetical question. If the day me, Sanke and Renryth die of old age, what would you do?"


    "Hmm? Die of old age...?" Rustly blinked at the statement. "...but you and the rest never age, though? Well... I know Renryth has, but you two haven''t and won''t, right? If Renryth were to pass away... I guess I''d be saddened."


    "Hmm... Right, right! I guess we haven''t aged as much over the years. huh?" Lier chuckled. "Nevermind. Ignore my question and let''s get back to creating the guardians, alright?"


    "R-Right..." Rustly uttered out.


    ...


    "...Lier," continuing to recall on past memories, Rustly frowned. "Was that a sign you were going to die then?"


    It had been years since the arrival of Lier and the group into the dens of the Sleras. During those years, the group had made much progress in aiding the lives of the slimes and rats in improving their prosperity.


    "...the ice witch''s curse," he muttered out. "Why didn''t you tell me anything about it? And... I ended up inheriting it..."


    The death of Lier was sudden. Rustly wished that it was all a dream, however, it was true. That very day, she had passed on into the afterlife.


    "...first Lier who died by the ice witch''s curse and now Sanke too..." his eyes trembled. "Why...? I could''ve prevented the worst from happening if I had known better... Yet, I''m still this pathetic slime. I just can''t do anything right."


    With constant regrets lingering within the air, nothing could''ve been done.


    ...


    "Lier!" Rustly cried out as he rushed through the dark hallways of the catbs. "Lier! Where are you?!" with constant echoes of his voice protruding out into the distance, the small slime continued on in the void.


    Step by step, he searched far and wide for Lier. But, unbeknowst to him on what had happened after her sudden disappearance within the castle interior, Rustly could only think of the worst that may happen.


    "Lier..." Rustly frowned. "Where did you go? You''re sick and yet... You headed out of the castle..."


    "Rustly...!" With a tired voice that called out to the slime in the distance, Rustly turned towards the direction as he noted that a young man that was at a simr age to Lier was hurrying over to him. "Did you find where Lier is?"


    "No... She''s not in the Guardian''s nor Warrior''s room," he shook his head helplessly. "Did she go out into the surface? But that can''t be... She''d die!"


    "Ugh... Thest words she muttered out was the Pendant of ming Purity... But what the hell''s that about?" The man, Sanke furrowed his brow. "It''s a pendant lost within history, isn''t it? To have it here of all ces..."


    "W-What...?" Rustly murmured out in shock upon hearing the words out of Sanke. "Pendant of ming Purity?"


    "Do you know something about it?" Sanke questioned.


    "I..." Rustly muttered out as he began leaping through the halls once again, leaving Sanke behind. "I need to hurry!"


    "Rustly?! Hey!" Sanke cried out, however after spending almost the entire day with no rest, his fatigued began piling upon him. "U-Ugh... Wait!"


    ...


    Rushing through the hallways of the catbs that almost no longer felt familiar to him, Rustly mustered up all his strength to reach towards the seemingly long halls. Finally reaching towards the end, he stopped at his steps as he began shaking his body frantically.


    "Hah... Hah..." Rustly breathed tiredly. "She must be in here... She must be..."


    Upon the walls opening up and making way for a small passage, Rustly wasted no time as he entered into the unknown hallway. In turn upon stepping foot into the premise, he was greeted by the sight of a woman who seemingly was staring out into the distance of the passage.


    "Lier! You were here all along?!" Rustly cried out. "Why...? You''re sick and yet you..."


    "Ah... Rustly?" Lier helplessly turned around whilst coughing. "...you found me huh?"


    "Lier... Why are you here? This ce..." Rustly uttered out. "This is where the Pendant of ming Purity is..."


    "I know," she smiled as she slowly walked up towards Rustly, soon petting his head. "I know that the Pendant of ming Purity is here... But," continue to cough, the feeling of her hand pressed against Rustly''s head slightly faded. "there''s no longer any time for me. Till this day... I could never crack how the ne worked. Even with his majesty''s help..."


    "Lier?!" Rustly''s eyes opened wide as Lier helplessly stumbled down to the ground. "Please... Take it easy!"


    "...cough. I''m sorry... Rustly," Lier sighed. "There were so many things I wanted to do... But, the curse is taking a toll on my body... And now... It''s at its final stages."


    "...L-Lier? What do you mean?" Rustly''s voice shook. "What do you mean at its final stages? Didn''t you say it was amon cold humans suffer from? How... Howe your dying?!"


    "Stay with me for my final moments, will you?" Lier''s voice lost its will. "...I''m sorry, but... I''m grateful for all you''ve done."


    "L-Lier...?" As the voice Lier felt like a dream to hear, bits of frozen ice began appearing around the woman''s body. "No...! What? This..."


    "The Ice witch''s curse... One who would eternally be frozen into despair..." Lier solemnly stated out as the frost nearly covered her entire body. "Take care... Rustly. Sanke and Renryth might be saddened, but... I hope you''ll be able to live on."


    "...Lier...? No... Please..." Unable to make up proper sentences, a gentle smile on Lier''s face could be seen before she was now an icy statue that could no longer move or feel. That day, Lier had died.

 Chapter 186: Hail Before Storm (2)

    Chapter 186: Hail Before Storm (2)


    "...do something to prevent the worst-case scenario?" Raina questioned. "What would that be?"


    Within the abandoned chapel that was eternally frozen from the appearance of the cacoon, the group all turned towards ke moments after he had suggested that there was a possibility of a better oue.


    "Yes. From what I can see in the situation so far, we can at the very least do something to prevent the worst from happening," ke nodded his head. "Well... In actuality, with our current strength, we might do barely make do."


    "Does this ount for me and Crowelin?" Hikari tilted her head. "Perhaps Shinto too if it''s the real one..."


    Despite not knowing or having confirmed whether or not Shinto was really the Shinto she knew, it didn''t change the fact that there were a few higher levelled yers among the group in the Chapel. Being at the top meant that they were ahead of normal yers by a few leapshowever, that didn''t mean they wouldn''t struggle in fights that were a bad match-up against them.


    "Although you may be of the higher ranks within the church," ke calmly shook his head. "That isn''t enough to even do averagely. Even with the help of other adventurers, the one thing we especially need if we wish to seed would be that of the anti-frost element, fire. But, not just any fire, it has to be that of purity."


    "mes of Purity..." Raina muttered out. "Would the mes of Etheral work? It has the property of fire and purity within it."


    [ mes of Etheral Lv 1 ] [ 600 MP ] [ Cooldown: 30 Minutes ]


    By the arts of the great Etheral that holds purity, that can burn through the darkness of sinThe caster shoots out a burst of pure me as it reaches a target, quickly dealing 1280% fire magic damage + 450% fire magic damage that burns over time for 10 seconds.


    When an enemy is hit by this spell, their Light RES is decreased by 25% for 5s and are marked with a burning me that decreases the overall effects of ''curses'' that the enemy may cast.


    *When the attack hits an enemy that is judged as ''Evil'', the damage is greatly increased to 1500% and 600% respectively.


    *After casting the spell, the caster will nullify two effects of curses inflicted on self by enemies judged as ''Evil''.


    ...


    "The mes of Etheral?" ke questioned. "No, it won''t work to do even average. If I recall, that is of the basic spells within the line of purifying mes. Perhaps if you manage to gain ess to Uriel''s Hell me, it would be a different storyhowever, that is not possible."


    "Ah...?" Raina blinked. "If that''s so... Then what do we do? Does the priest have any me spells with purity properties on them?"


    "Me? I do have a lot of spells with purity properties, but none are of the fire attribute," Hikari sighed. "I focus mainly on healing and protection, which is why my ss is the White Priest that specializes in such. So, I, unfortunately, do not have ess to any of those types of spells."


    "It''s fine. I said we wouldn''t be able to do it on average, but, at the almost bare minimum. Though with some troubles here and there, it should be possible using the mes of Etheral as a holder whilst you supply the holy essence into it."


    "...what do you suggest with all these mes of Purity and Holy Essence?" The man seemingly frowned. "How is that going to work? Bareth''s entire being is of cold air with no actual body or matter. Fire won''t do anything against it. He needs to be frozen using the Ice Queen''s de."


    "Under normal circumstances... That is usually the case if the legends foretold shows that he could be defeated that way," ke stated. "However, your de is at its weakest and won''t even leave a dent to him. Do you really think such a de would work?"


    "Ugh... Why should I take your works for it?" The man uttered out. "The one who gave the de firmly states that I could do it. If you wish to intrude on my matters... Then, I might as well stop listening and get this over with, yes?"


    "...you''re suggesting that..." ke frowned as his body soon swayed to the side against the sudden cial ice that protruded out from the ground. "Tch... Do you truly wish to be blinded by a single path?"


    "Look, I''ve no time to deal with your bullshit," the man clicked his tongue. "He said he needed me to act coolheaded and at the very least act like him when I was here, but enough of that. I give up on this act."


    "W-What?" Raina raised her brow in question. However, before she could further inquire on the situation, the floors that were still intact despite the rubble everywhere in the chapel soon turned into icy blocks.


    "So I''ll do it my way now," his hood finally came off as it revealed the bright green name of [ Vincent ], indicating that he was a yer. "But don''t worry, my way is a little more brutal, but I''ll only temporarily knock you out."


    "Hey, you two! At your 3''o clock and 6 positions! The ice around the chapel is heading towards you!" Hikari shouted out as her staff lifted up into the air, soon she began chanting out a spell. "O'' light that protects your people, please bring us your divinity protection!"


    [ Divinity Protection Lv 4 ] [ 150 MP ] [ Cooldown: 1 Minute ]


    With the power of the divine skies that grant thee the wishes of protection, the user casts about a barrier of light around their surrounding allies that absorbs about 700 of the total damage of the attack whilst raising their physical resistance by 20% for 5s.


    ...


    With a gentle light that seeps into the bodies of ke and Raina, a small shield soon appeared before them.


    "If that''s how you wish to y it..." ke helplessly sighed. "then we''ll entertain you."


    "W-What, we will?!" Reru cried out. "We''ve got no time! Bareth will be awakening any time soon!"


    "Which is why... We''ll need to stall enough time for until back-up arrives," ke stated. "But... I do think stalling may not be needed actually."


    Swiftly moving towards the side and summoning out his ck box, ke began aiming forth at the man whose eyes that were once golden were now that of blue whilst the scar that was prevalent disappeared.


    [ Preying Eyes ]


    Moments after, his arrow soon darkened as he shot it out simultaneously after he had marked his target.


    [ Flightless Pursuit ]


    "...what?" Vincent frowned as he turned to nce at his health bar. "For someone who acts as if he knew everything... Your damage sure doesn''t look that good on me."


    "That does not matter," he stated. "All I needed to do was mark you as the enemy."


    "...?" The man confusingly raised his brow as he soon shook his head. "Whatever. I''m getting this over with," with the de in his hand raised, he began to activate a skill. However, at that moment, a shining radiant light quaked the ground as it headed head first towards the direction of the man.


    [ Pdin Skill - Smearing Quake ]


    "Argh...!" The man abruptly lost his bnce at the sudden quake on the ground and, before he could even get a chance to get himself together, multiple rays of light shone down on him as a ck fog protruded within the area.


    "Hah... Hah..." A man''s breath hushed out into the area. "Made it in time, I guess?"


    "The heck''s going on here?!" Following behind the voice, a female one uttered out.


    "Ugh, I don''t know! Just punch at the guy in front! He seems to have caused all this," another voice answered. "The fog''s intruding his vision, so your chance is now!"


    "Alright!" The female voice answered with excitement. "Well, here I go!"


    "The hell''s going on...?" The man frowned at his sudden blindness. "Blind status? This is..." However, before he could even get out of such a state or use his abilities to immune, he was quickly punched in the face by a brawler. "Argh...?! What the-"


    "Do you think I''m done? Nope!" Frey stated as she connected her attacks with her skills. "Take this!"


    [ Brawler Skill - Blitz Fist ]


    [ Brawler Skill - Palm Shockwave ]


    [ Brawler Skill - Frontal... ]


    ...


    Still within the ck fog, the same light that was shot out before shone down once again onto the man. However, this time, there was a certain blinding light among the rays.


    [ Shadow Diviner Skill - Hallowed Crest ]


    "All out attack!" Frey cried out.


    "Do as much as you can in the remaining time!" The man''s voice protruded by the distance.


    "...huh?" Standing by the side as she watched the scene unfold before her, the man that was suddenly barraged by countless skills as if he was treated as a raid boss was seen struggling. "This is..." Hikari thought to herself whilst getting herself together. From earlier to now, she had heard a familiar voice, and that was... "Shinto?"

 Chapter 187: Hail Before Storm (3)

    Chapter 187: Hail Before Storm (3)


    "As multiple lights connected into one against the man bombarded by constant attacks from all sides, he stumbled back as he angrily sustained all the damage, barely leaving him at the red.


    "U-Ugh..." The man gritted his teeth as he desperately attempted to summon a shield of ice that could absorb most of the damage taken. However, with the number of attacks consecutively pitched against him, he had not any time to cast a skill. "This... You..."


    Although the group were of a lower level than the man, the damage wasn''t to be taken lightly. From Frey''sbos to Shinto''s spells, all the skills that dealt damage added up massively to the point where his health dropped down in almost an instant.


    "Hey, hey!" Frey uttered out. "He''s down to the red!"


    "Huh? So soon?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "A monster that can instantly be downed with just a few our attacks... What?" he questioned. Before entering into battle, he had not managed to clearly see the target among the countless spells shot out that the group was fighting against.


    This was because, as soon as everyone entered the premise and noted that ke had used [ Flightless Pursuit ], Shinto ordered everyone to immediately attack in the target in the midst of shadows and blindness.


    "That guy... He''s a yer?" Shinto uttered out in confirmation. "Not a boss or a monster, so he wouldn''t have thatrge of a health pool."


    "He''s a yer?!" Still within the shadows, Frey cried out in question. "He''s not some monster wannabe that we have to defeat all of a sudden?"


    "Grr... Who the hell do you think you''re calling a monster wannabe?!" The manVincent, roared in anger as he swept across the field, immediately pushing back Ethaniel and Frey who were at the front. "Enough of that! Get this over with and stop using foul tactics!"


    Moments after he had been released from the endlessbos of skills on him, he muttered out under his breathsoon protruding out countless spikes of cial ice on the ground. Meanwhile, the cold air flow around him swept through the adventurers within the fog and forcing them out of it.


    "A-Ack...!" The group who couldn''t withstand the sudden counterattacks stumbled down to the ground.


    "E-Eep! He''s attacking!" Frey cried out. "And his damage is scary! How can we get near him now to attack?!"


    "Hmph, such a desperate attempt..." Ethaniel frowned. "Frey, at the very least you can just force him to attack you with your taunt skill, right? That''ll make an opening for us to attack."


    "Huh? Me!? Are you asking me to die?!" Frey shouted out. "Just one hit from took me to yellow! Arghh! Why is my health so low?!"


    "Damn... He was so close to death too..." Shinto coughed as he got himself back up from the ground, soon turning over to his health which had dropped into the yellow. "But whatever... Frey, just use your provoke skill and" continuing on with his sentence, he soon closed his mouth as he felt a familiar spell on him.


    [ White Priest - Curing Hearts ]


    "...curing hearts?" Shinto muttered out silently as he turned to the back of him, noting of an extremely familiar woman standing by the side of Raina. With auburn hair and a gentle smile, almost innocent under the circumstance, was... "H-Hikari?!"


    "Shh!" Hikari instantly whispered to Shinto. "Don''t you have some sort of secret you''ve got to keep hidden? Crowelin told me about it beforeing here... But I never would expect that it''d actually be you!"


    "Hikari... Now''s not the time..." Shinto whispered with a cautioned mind. "I had the feeling it''d be you... But that''s a discussion forter. You mind helping me?"


    "Probably. After you promise you to tell me about your little adventure!" Hikari replied. "You''re holding a staff of all things!"


    "Hikari..." Shinto answered whilst simultaneously moving towards the side, barely dodging against a sudden attack protruded out by the man. "...this is actually not the time to messing around..."


    "I''ll help and be serious only if you promise me!" Hikari silently murmured out a spell. "Otherwise I''ll tell"


    "Alright, alright!" Shinto shouted out in a sudden tone. "Just use your spell already!"


    "Huh?" Frey mumbled out in confusion. "I just used my provoke skill! That guy''s attacks are so big! I can''t imagine taking them all!"


    "...cough," Shinto coughed slightly as he turned back to Hikari who had a smile of joy stered on her. At the sight, he could almost tell that she was somehow nning something sinister on Shinto. "This won''t end well..."


    "O'' bright lights that shine against Raphael, please heed my prayers..." Hikari muttered out as her hands clutched together. "I call for hope, I call for miracles, bring thee judgement into darkness!"


    With chants ending at her lips, a bright shining light illuminated the room. With the cial ice on the walls and the grounds being crystal clear, the light all reflected into one as the skill[ Orthodox Luminescence ]


    [ Orthodox Luminescence Lv 1 ] [ 1 Raphael''s Blessing / 10 Good Will / 1000 MP ] [ Cooldown: 24 Hours ]


    By the jurisdiction of the archangel, Raphaelunder the guise of the White Priest, the best of the best, the user casts out a gentle spell with the blessing of the angels, causing all allies within the area to gradually have their health restored up to 10% of their current MAX HP over the next 5s. Thereafter, for the next two minutes, the defences of physical and resistance to magic of allies will be greatly increased by 60% whilst raising only the user''s healing by 60%.


    *Skill can only be activated once [Good Will] and [Prayers] is at least above 150.


    *If Raphael were to oversee and approve of such usage of spells, the cost of the skill will be reduced by 50%.


    ...


    "Hah..." Shinto uttered out with a sigh as he felt a warmth much warmer than his own healing skills. "Hikari''s Orthodox Luminescence... With this, everyone can just tank the hits and Frey will survive."


    "Huh? What the... What is this?!" Frey tilted her head in question whilst continuously sustaining against the attacks of Vincent. "This is... So great! I can go in again!"


    "The heck...? Orthodox Luminescence...?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Hikari''s here too? Damn..."


    "Everyone! Go in!" Hikari shouted out whilst she continuously casted out multiple skills rting to that of healing. "ke and has got your back!"


    "..." ke nodded his head as he continued to shoot out arrows from his bow over to the man. "...just a few more hits. He''ll either have to stand down or be it and ept death."


    "Tch... The hell?!" Vincent clicked his tongue. "Are you kidding me with all of this?!"


    The battle against a single entity wasn''t fair, to begin with. in the first ce unless one was a battle god or had the ability to meticulously dodge, or fend off against every single attack that the enemies would throw at thema battle against one against ten was near impossible, especially if among the headcount there were a few who were in the top ranks.


    "Grr..." Looking around in a desperate attempt to do something about the battle, he felt helpless. "...he said that there''d be no interference but the hell is this? Ugh... I''m going!" with a firm look, Vincent stabbed the Ice Queen''s de down to the ground. In the next moment. a diamond-shaped barrier appeared before him.


    "Huh...? the heck''s this?!" Frey cried out as her punchnded on the shield, in turn knocking her back away. "Hey! This thing is in the way!"


    "A barrier?" Crowelin blinked at the sight. "Great... What''s he trying to do now?" As if fearless, she walked up towards the barrier and soon began to smash it down with her hammer. At the moment she did so, the barrier that had gone in a crystalized that cracked, and soon shattered.


    "...?!" Everyone''s eyes opened wide at the scene before them. The man who had been inside of the barrier disappeared away along with the Queen''s de.


    "...he''s gone!" Frey shouted out.


    "So he chose to run away... Well, no matter. That''s one thing done. " ke muttered as he soon kept his bow away, soon turning to Raina. "Raina... Do you have the mes of Etheral ready?"


    "Yeah, I didn''t use them," Raina answered.


    "Right... Then good. Let''s fill in on the details with Master and the rest and..." As ke uttered out, the grounds of the Chapel suddenly shook immensely, almost throwing the group off their bnce. "...?!"


    "H-Huh? What the?!" Frey cried out. "Hey... Can snowy ins have earthquakes? No... is it an avnche?!"


    "Tch... It''s even worse than that," ke clicked his tongue as hurriedly made his way over to Shinto. "Master, we''ve got trouble. That thing sleeping its cocoon is about to awaken."


    "That?" Shinto turned towards the crossing, noting that the icy chrysalis was shaking greatly. "...who is in there?"


    "Rustly and well... Bareth, the one who brought eternal winter to this ce."

 Chapter 188: Hail Before Storm (4)

    Chapter 188: Hail Before Storm (4)


    "Bareth...?" Shinto muttered out as his eyes scrutinized the chrysalis on the crossing. "He''s in there? No... More importantly, Rustly? Howe he''s in there as well?"


    "The cause of this entire situation is due to the man who we fought earlier," ke stated. "It seems he wanted to defeat the beast with the Ice Queen''s de which isn''t even near its full potential."


    "Huh? The Ice Queen''s de?" Crowelin raised her brow. "Is that not from the Kingdom of Fal? How the heck did he even get it from such a ce when it''s treated like some national treasure?"


    "He didn''t give an exnation," Hikari shook her head helplessly. "I''m not sure when it was taken away, but surely we wouldn''t have safely gone through Fal''s streets without a sudden uproar. So, I believe that it might''ve been taken as recent as possible."


    "...recently," Crowelin murmured. "So within that two days time frame we left Fal to here?"


    "Perhaps it was taken two days ago, but, that''s not the point of the situation right now," ke uttered out. "With Barething out at any moment... I would like to ask that all of you cooperate. If it goes well, we will get Rustly back. However... Bareth might put a detriment effect over the ins."


    "What do you suggest?" Shinto questioned.


    "As I was trying to calmly get my point across to the man earlier, we can subdue the chrysalis if we were to have a purifying me powerful enough to go against the ice," he exined. "Then with the priest''s holy essencebined, it should have enough to get Rustly out of the husk and escape from here."


    "Wait... You say escape?" Raina tilted her head. "Just earlier you said we could prevent the worst-case scenario from happening. So, Isn''t that the reign of the beast over the ins?"


    "The worst-case scenario is us losing Rustly permanently, is it not?" ke answered objectively. "If we were to widen our goals and stop the beast, then the worst-case scenario at that point would be the reign over the ins. But, that is not our initial goal."


    "Um... Yeah... Our is to get Rustly back... But um..." Frey inquired. "Didn''t you say this um Berith guy? Baruth? Ah, whatever! Didn''t you say that Bismuth guy caused eternal winter here? If that''s so... Shouldn''t we like also prioritize that?! He''s a threat! To this rising temperature which is really cold!!"


    "...is that all you care about?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "You know if he were to have caused eternal winter, how do you expect the possibility for us to defeat him? That feels way too farfetched."


    "It indeed is too farfetched for us," ke nodded his head. "Thus, instead of dealing with the bigger problem ourselves, we''ll leave it up to the people of Fal to deal with it. I assume that it''s possible for them as I believe they''ve dealt with this before."


    It was a fact that the main matter at hand was to get Rustly back. It didn''t mean defeating the beast and gaining total victory, though. This was because the current strength of the group was weak and even with the help of Hikari and Crowelin, nothing much would change.


    "...hmm, are they made aware of the situation at hand?" Hikari thought. "It might be a lost cause to believe in something that is unlikely to happen, even if they have countermeasures..."


    "Yeah, I''m with Hikari on this," Crowelin stated. "This vige here seems to have been abandoned for a really long time, and with this ce being called ''Bareth''s Tundra ins'', which is far from the kingdomI can''t have that high of an expectation."


    "Perhaps so. But even if what you say is true, there is nothing we can do to avail the situation. Thus, we''ll only go for Rustly. If you wish to do something regardless, you could go on and inform the kingdom," ke stated. "But, I doubt they wouldn''t know as the atmosphere has gotten that much worse than before."


    "..." Listening in on the discussion, a thought came to Shinto''s mind. "Why are the beings of divinity so quiet all of a sudden?" After he had initiallypleted the task of defeating 100 monsters in the area, there was no longer any interaction from the side of divinity. "There''s a disaster that''s going to happen and I''m not being ordered around to do anything..."


    By right, Bareth would definitely be judged as [Greater Evil] by the Judgers of good and evil, yet, even with its near emergence, the beings were as quiet as a needle dropping on the floor.


    "...did something happen?" Shinto thought to himself. He remembered that the [Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night] was at the necks of the divine beings, and he had thought a fight might''ve broken loose. But, that''s only to that point. He reckoned both sides wearn''t dumb enough to start a war over nothing. "Hmm... If it was just a matter of forcing me to defeat every evil that would appear, I would''ve gotten a quest by now. But that''s good that I haven''t. I don''t have to worry of any penalties."


    With slight relief, Shinto turned towards ke as he uttered out. "Right, I believe the matter should''ve gotten across everyone. So... Besides Raina and Hikari, what do you want me and the others to do?"


    "For everyone with a pure holy essence attribute on them, helping these two would be perfect," he stated. "As for the rest... Prepare to pull out Rustly at a moment''s notice."


    "That''s it for us?!" Frey cried out. "Wait... Isn''t that just me and the slimes?!"


    "Well... It seems that everyone else has a pure holy essence attribute on them," Shinto slightly chuckled as he took out the ne from his neck, soon passing it over to Frey. "Here, have the ne and talk to them. They''ve been discussing the topics of Rustly the entire time while we were discussing the situation."


    "Um... Alright! So... I''ll... Speak with them for cooperation," Frey nodded her head firmly as she turned to the slimes. "Let''s do this guys!"


    "Ugh... Of all people, you?" Reru seemingly frowned, however, he soon turned around and leapt forward towards the chrysalis. "Well, whatever. I hope you don''t ask for an exnation and just put all your strength in getting Rustly out,"


    "Yeah, let''s do it!" Frey answered.


    "Hah..." Reru sighed. "Erith, Minister Yer. You best not say a thing when we get back. Especially you, Minister Yer."


    "R-Right...!" Yer frantically nodded his head.


    "Of course," Erith agreed.


    ...


    Standing in their positions whilst pointing their weapons at the cocoon, Shinto and as well as the rest all had a certain uneasy face on them.


    "...so, we basically cast out all our light rted skills at the cocoon and have Raina throw out a big purifying me spell?" Hikari asked in hopes of confirming her doubts,


    "Yes. That''s how we''ll do it," ke stated. "With the holy essence weakening its epidermisyer, Raina''s spell will force a small gap through the chrysalis and we''ll be able to quickly take Rustly whose within it, out before it regenerates."


    "Sounds rather simplistic," Ethaniel uttered out. "Will all our spells even manage to do it?"


    "I believe so," ke firmly nodded his head. "Everyone here has plenty of spells that contains pure holy essence, so, even if one isn''t powerful enough, inbination, it should all be fine."


    "Hmm... Well if you say so... Then I''m starting first," Crowelin nodded her head as her hammer began protruding out small light energy around it. In the next moment, a small burst of light forward over towards the cocoon.


    [ Pdin Skill - Shield Holding ]


    Following up with her attacks, Ethaniel and Hikari both shot out their skills simultaneously.


    [ Judgement Knight Skill - Judgement Pir ]


    [ White Priest Skill - White Silence ]


    ...


    Finally, Shinto who was thest to shoot out his light attribute skills quickly activated [ Sanctum Brilliance ]. Moments after, he began to silently chant out two spells, soon shooting out one that was a blinding light whilst the other was that of a linear line.


    [ Shadow Diviner Skill - Divinity Brilliance ]


    [ Shadow Diviner Skill - Hallowed Crest Brilliance ]


    At the moment of all the lights intersecting against one entity, the cocoon shook greatly. As if wanting to emergence from its slumber. But, from behind the four adventurers, Raina stood at her ce whilst she chanted out a spell of mes.


    "...zing through the darkness... I call upon, mes of Etheral!" Shouting out with a loud cry, the spell [ mes of Etheral ] burst forth from her staff as he collided against the area weakened by the light attributed skills, thus leaving behind a small hole that was quickly beginning to regenerate.


    "...now!" ke shouted out as he and the rest all quickly rushed towards the small hole that was made by the skills and quickly attempted to pull Rustly out of the cocoon.


    "Almost there...!" Frey cried out as she ced all strength into her arms whilst pulling the slime out together with the rest. "And...! Wait... Argh...! I''m losing my bnce...!"


    Suddenly stumbling down to the ground, Frey brought down the rest with her, and with that, the hole of the chrysalis shut closed.

 Chapter 189: Hail Before Storm (5)

    Chapter 189: Hail Before Storm (5)


    Staring ever so deep in thought at the reflection of a small slime in front of him, Rustly sighed with tired breath as hemented on his helplessness. "...sigh. What do I even do?"


    With the passing hours by the clock that he was not aware of, Rustly had nothing better to do but to only just sit around and wait for the inevitable. What was it? To him, he too didn''t know.


    "..." Rustly frowned. It seemed as if he had been sitting within cold ice for hours upon hours. "Lier... Sanke..." The only thing that he could do was but to reflect on himself, he just wished for an answer for the constant questions within his heart.


    From finally knowing what to do till having answers on whether he could cure the crystallized state that Lier was inIt had been far too long where he was left at a stumped.


    "The cure to the Ice Witch''s Curse..." he muttered out. "Just what is it?"


    He had thought that the [Pendant of Purifying mes] was the key to solving everything. However, till now, it had been locked safely away from the public''s eyesonly known to the king himself and a few of his trustees of its whereabouts.


    For the reason why Sanke had turned evil? He too didn''t know. Cursing everyone to a weakened state and gaining control of one''s mind, he had done much damage over the course of years. Yet, even at the end of his goalsIt was all a vain dream.


    "Was the pendant a fluke?" he didn''t know of the situation that had happened within the throne room besides witnessing the death of Sanke personally. "Is that why the mes were that aggressive?"


    Legends foretold among the people of the Sleras. ''A divine angel had passed down her me into a form of an artefact,'' was the message that was told. The pendant that held mes of purity and was said to bring about prosperity for those who are blessed seemed to be a pure lie in the face of true troubles.


    "..." Rustly''s eyes closed as he continued to be deep in thought. "...can someone just give me an answer already, please? Just staying to wonder on myself... I can''t even do anything."


    As if to reach out to his call, the area around him greatly shook as the icy reflections that he faced slightly cracked.


    "...?" In front of him, from the small cracks of the cial ice, a beautiful flower appeared before him. "...this is?" Curious by the sight, Rustly seemingly reached out towards the single white flower that appeared to be unbloomed. "...a flower? Here of all ces?"


    Glistering under the reflections of ice, at the touch of his body onto the petalthe area around him shook once again as the ice continued to crack and fall apart.


    "U-Ugh...?" Rustly confusingly uttered out in question. "Why...? What''s going on?"


    With the area continuing to shake immensely, the slime soon heard small echoes of voices by the distance echoing through the cracks.


    "Almost there...!" A female voice soon shouted out. "And...!"


    "...Frey?" Rustly muttered out as he now moved over towards a sudden hand that entered into the domain. Grabbing onto it, he felt a heavy weight suddenly pulling at himas if forcing him to squeeze through the cracks of the ice. "A-Argh..."


    "Wait... Argh...!" Frey''s voice resounded through the icy caverns. "I''m losing my bnce...!"


    "H-Hey...!" Reru cried out. "The hell?! Don''t" As a loud crash was heard from the other side, the area soon turned quiet.


    "Ack...!" Feeling a much more powerful force suddenly dragging him with no hopes of fighting back, the ice within the domain soon protruded out forward, but, at that momentthe slime was no longer within the ice cavern.


    ...


    <em><strong>Thuck!</strong></em>


    Falling down to the ground without notice, Shinto and the rest of the group all turned towards Frey and the slimes in shock at the sight of them on the ground. However, what made their worries much prioritized was that the hole that they had made from their skills was quickly patched up in almost an instant.


    "Hey, you guys alright?!" Hikari cried out as she rushed towards them, quickly preparing to cast out any healing skills if necessary.


    "O-Ouch..." Frey muttered out. "That hurts..."


    "Ugh... You stupid human!" Reru angrily clicked his tongue. "Did you really had to fall like that!? At such an important timing?!"


    "U-Ugh... You can stop shouting you know..." Frey frowned. "The ice was slippery and well... Yeah..."


    "Stop shouting?" Reru frowned as he got up as he pointed over to the area where the small hole had been at. "Look at that! The passage to get Reru is gone! And we''ve no time to do it again!"


    "W-Well..." Frey mumbled out. "Rustly should be out with that final push and"


    "...calm down, Reru," ke calmly stated as if he understood the slime perfectly. "Rustly''s alright. He''s on the other two slimes who are still down."


    "H-Huh?" Reru uttered out as he turned towards where Yer and Erith had fallen, quickly noting that a small slime was on the bodies of the two. "R-Rustly?!"


    With a relieved face, Reru instantly leapt forward as he reached out towards the small slime. "You dumbass! The hell were you thinking doing something as stupid as that?!"


    "H-Huh..." Rustly muttered out in confusion. "R-Reru...? What happened?"


    "You summoned Bareth!" he clicked his tongue. "All because you decided to believe in some half-ass words from some guy!"


    "Some guy...?" he uttered out as his eyes soon widened in shock. Quickly ridding away his drowsiness. "He... He... He did that to Sanke as well! With those sweet words and..."


    "I do not think he is the real person you''re talking about," ke shook his head. "It seems as if he was just acting the part the entire time."


    "R-Really?" Rustly mumbled. "If that''s so then..."


    "then... Can you please get off of us?" Erith tiredly stated. "I think I''m about to be crushed from you two..."


    "Why are you using us as some sort of a tform..." Yer frowned.


    "A-Ah...?" Rustly muttered out as he finally realized that he had been on Erith and Yer the entire time. In the next moment, he and Reru soon leapt off from the bodies. "M-My bad... I had thought I was on some cold icy grounds or something..."


    "Hah... I me the damn whether for that..." Yer clicked his tongue. With the cold atmosphere getting from bad to worst, staying out in the cold for any longer would be damaging. Especially for the slimes who had not gotten any winter clothing unlike the rest of the group which were provided by Crowelin and Hikari. "A-Anyway... W-We''re done here, right? Can we hurry along now?!"


    "Wait... Hurry along?" Rustly spoke out, still in a confused tone. "But what about Bareth? If I was the one who awakened him then..."


    "What are you stupid? We''re leaving!" Reru stated firmly as he grabbed onto Rustly. "And this time, we''re not going to be taking any damn detours. We. Are. LEAVING."


    "But... Bareth...!" Rustly cried out as the cocoon began to violently shake, in turn, causing something like an earthquake around the chapel. "U-Ugh...!"


    "Damn..." ke frowned as his eyes fixed onto the shaking chrysalis. "Bareth is awakening now. So, before we get swept up in the disaster, we''re taking our leave. Now."


    "R-Right..." Frey nodded her head as she attempted to get up, however, she failed to do so. "E-Eep! I''m stuck! This damn ice...!"


    "Hah... How did you manage to do that?" Shinto raised his brow. "But whatever, grab onto to my hand, and I''ll try to pull you out."


    "U-Uh..." Frey blinked in helplessness as her hands grabbed onto Shinto''s, and in turn, she and Shinto desperately tried to use all their strength to get Frey off the ice. "It''s not working... Your strength is way too weak..."


    "...cough," Shinto coughed as he turned to Ethaniel who had been muttering to himself in a dumbfounded tone. "Hey, mind helping?"


    "...this guy can speak Arcos...?" Ethaniel twitched his eye. "THIS GUY CAN SPEAK ARCOS?!"


    "Ethaniel! Now''s not the time!" Shinto cried out.


    "Huh? Oh," Ethaniek shook his head as he hurried towards Frey, soon grabbing onto her other hand and finally pulling her out. "Jeez... Stop falling on the ground, Frey. You''ve done that one too many times."


    "Hey! When given the circumstance, I can''t help it alright?!" Frey pouted. "Anyways, just get a move on already! I don''t want to get swept up in this monster''s coldness than I already am!"


    "Yeah. Everyone else is leaving, let''s head out too," Shinto''s eyes turned towards the cocoon which is finally beginning to crack. "...and fast too."


    "Then go! Hurry!" Frey cried out.


    [ Bareth, The Air of Eternal Winter is awakening... ]


    [ The ''Fire'' element within the area has extinguished its me! ]


    [ Eternal Winter ising... ]


    With one step forward through the icy grounds, the three hurried along from behind the rest of the group, quickly wanting to exit out of the chapel. With the rise of notifications that were constantly appearing before everyone, the snowstorm began getting worst.


    "Ugh... This winter is going to be a long one," Crowelin frowned.


    "Move through the winter and we''ll make it out in one piece!" ke stated.

 Chapter 190: Hail Before Storm (6)

    Chapter 190: Hail Before Storm (6)


    Stomping through the snowy fields of the Bareth''s Tundra ins, the man by the name of Vincent angrily frowned as he retreated away from the chapel.


    "Ugh... You''ve got to be kidding me," he clicked his tongue. "What was up with that battle? One against ten... I never signed up for that!"


    Slightly grumbling as he pushed through the immense amount of snow on the ground, he gripped his de tightly as he soon cursed. "I can''t finish this quest because of their interference! That guy said I was supposed to finish this up smoothly, but this ain''t smoothly!"


    As if to further continue on with his wrath, the snowstorm began to be much heavier than before.


    "Tch... Way to go. The beast is released and..." Somewhat calming down under the storm, Vincent soon was alerted by a raging amount of notifications before him. "...and if I can''t do shit against the beast, then whatever... n B it is."


    [ You have awakened the beast of eternal winter, Bareth! ]


    [ For you who have sinned by reawakening The Air of Eternal Winter, Baretha hidden piece has been unlocked. ]


    [ The title ''Hail of Winter'' has been unlocked. ]


    [ Effects has been taken into effect immediately. ]


    [ ''Ice Queen''s de'' has been upgraded into a (Unique) rarity sword! ]


    "Hah... At least I got something worth it out of this," shaking his head the man tucked away his sword into the inventory whilst soon steadily moving along the paths. "Let the Fal Kingdom people deal with this. I''ll just report back to him I guess..."


    ...


    Sessfully escaping from the Chapel and moving through the pinewood forest, the group let out tired breaths as they were now safely far away from the abandoned vige.


    "...phew, that''s done," Frey muttered out. "So now that we''re far away..."


    "Stop," ke stated as he stopped at his footsteps. In the next moment, he quickly urged the group to stay within the bushes. "Hide over there."


    "Ahh...! The beast is here! The beast is here!" With voices echoing through the fields, the group all cautiously turned towards the direction of it, quickly noting that a few figures that appeared to be mages were hurrying through the fields. "We must hurry! Otherwise, we''re doomed! Doomed!"


    "Huh. So ke was right!" Frey stated in an amazed tone. "People from Fal ising here!"


    "Shh. Do you want to alert them that we''re here?!" Ethaniel hushed Frey. "I don''t want to get caught up in a mess such as some stupid misunderstanding!"


    "Ahaha... My bad!" Frey muttered out.


    "Hmm..." Shinto raised his brow at the sight whilst counting the headcount of the mages. "There''s so few of them? With a beast that caused eternal winter such as this, I expected they''d be more people to handle the case..."


    "True... Just a few mages like them to try to seal against Bareth?" Crowelin raised her brow in turn. "Even if they were elites... I doubt that they''d pull off handling Bareth with ease, so what gives?"


    "Perhaps they''re short on manpower..." Hikari gave her verdict. "With the Ice Queen''s de taken, I''m pretty sure Fal would be in an uproar and well... With news of the awakening of Bareth, Fal won''t have it easy to maintain public order."


    "Even so... if this was an actual huge crisis, Fal would have no choice but to deploy all their people who canbat against Bareth to keep it at bay, right?" Raina thought to herself. "So... To go and only send a handful of mages to rush towards Bareth, isn''t that just practically suicide?"


    It was the most reasonable thing to do by the thought of sending every man possible to Bareth. Keeping a kingdom in order was one thing, however, when one disaster bes an extreme threat, the priority shifts.


    "It is not as simple as that," ke calmly closed his eyes. "Thest I remembered of Fal, it was a pretty enclosed country with only its arts of magic that they take pride in. For them to handle Bareth, the mages have to be those much higher than elites."


    "So... These are those sages I''ve heard so much about?" Shinto raised his brow. "Well... I guess it''s understandable why they''re so fewbut, would it even be possible to handle Bareth with such numbers?"


    "If you mean to defeat him, no, it is not possible," ke helplessly shook his head. "But, to keep him at bay is what they''ll try to do. Without the Ice Queen''s de, they can''t seal him. Likewise... The vessel used to awaken him is with us."


    "Eh?!" Frey cried out. "You''re saying Fal is in extreme danger?!"


    "Goddamnit Frey! They''re still here!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he forced Frey to hide within the bushes, which the group soon followed after.


    "...hey, I heard something from over here," one of the mages stated. "I think the Twilight Race is emerging now..."


    "Ugh... Ignore them! We''ve got anti-spell protection from Viole, so we no longer need the fighter''s help anymore. Thus, instead of worrying about them like you always do, get a move on!" The other mage replied. "Do you want all of us to die!?"


    "N-No not at all sir..." The mage coughed. "I''ll follow behind right away."


    "You better!" he clicked his tongue as he mumbled out. "For someone who recently got into our ranks, you sure can be quite a handful..."


    "Sigh..." The mage sighed as he soon continued on through the snow.


    Noting that the few mages had gone on ahead, the group uttered out with a sigh of relief. "...phew. That''s over with," Ethaniel stated. "Can you control your damn voice next time?"


    "S-Sorry..." Frey muttered out. "I didn''t think they would''ve been able to hear me from that distance..."


    "Ugh... When I said to quiet down, I mean it!"Ethaniel frowned.


    "Well you''re not quiet yourself," Reru clicked his tongue.


    "Hah?! What was that you fake?! This entire time you were able to speak Arcos and you decided to y the ''You can''t understand mynguage without some stupid item'' game?!" he gritted his teeth. "You could have done us a thing or two by speaking Arcos at the very damn start!"


    "...shit. I mean, gloop, gloop?" Reru muttered out as he turned to Rustly in anger whilst speaking in Gloop. "Curse you Rustly! Because of you, I ended up exposing myself!"


    "Ack... Why am I dragged in this...?" Rustly muttered out. "Besides... You already exposed yourself at the chapel..."


    "and you! Freaking small slime! You also can speak Arcos and you decided not to until today!?" he continued to angrily cry out.


    "...um, um..." Rustly stated. "Y-You never asked?"


    "The hell''s that kind of excuse?!"


    "...cough, you guys..." Shinto sighed. "What was it about keeping quiet again?"


    "Aha... The pressing dangers should be all over," Hikari chuckled. "So now... All we have to do is just to exit out of the ins and then..." moments after, she soon red at Hikari. "You''ll definitely exin everything, yes?"


    "You better keep your promise," Crowelin frowned.


    "...wait, you''re following us to wherever we''re going?" Shinto questioned. "I was thinking I''d exin it all on discord and"


    "No discord. I can''t tell whether you''re purposely omitting stuff if you message," she pouted. "Tell us in person. Besides, it''s not like we''ve got better things to do. I mean, the main purpose for us to be here in the first ce was to finish up a quest, but with this whole Bareth scenario, it should just be dyed."


    "Hah... There''s no getting past you, huh?" shaking his head helplessly, he stood up from the ground. "Exnations might take a while since we need to be alone... So, when we get back to the catbs, we can freely talk there. Now''s not the time."


    "Catbs?" Hikari blinked. "There are catbs here?"


    "You''ll see," nodding his head as he turned towards the heated discussion between Ethaniel and the slimes, he called out to them. "Aren''t you guys cold? why are you even arguing amidst the winter?"


    "Hah... These guys aren''t even giving me a proper exnation!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "What''s so hard about saying ''I can speak Arcos''?!"


    "There, there..." Shinto awkwardly patted on the cold jacket that Ethaniel was wearing. "You can scream all you want when we get back. For now... Can we continue on going back to the caverns?"


    "Ah! The caverns! Warmth!" Frey felt delighted. "How long more?"


    "It shouldn''t be that long," he stated. "We''ve already gone past the ruins and..." As he continued on with his sentence, a sudden thought came to him. "Hey, Rustly... You don''t need to do anything else to be able to get back to the catbs, right?


    "N-Nope! I got enough from being in that cocoon... So let''s be on our merry way!" heughed awkwardly.


    "...something tells me that this guy has also been lying about the fact that he needed to find a crystal in the first ce to head back," Ethaniel furrowed his brow. "These goddamn slimes..."


    "Just let it go, Ethan... It''s already in the past," Raina helplessly shook her head. "All that matters is that..." Upon wanting to wrap up her words, a sudden notification soon popped up in front of the group.


    [ Bareth, The Air of Eternal Winter has awakened! ]

 Chapter 191: Hail Before Storm (7)

    Chapter 191: Hail Before Storm (7)


    At the cliffs buried under heavy snow, the group slowly made their way up on the hills as they paved their path forward to the caverns. While they were doing so, the blizzards within the area grew strong as time passes by.


    "B-Brr... After this... We''ll be going back to a warm ce, right?" Frey muttered out whilst shivering. Even with the addedyers of clothes provided by Crowelin and Hikari, it wasn''t enough to shield them from the drop of temperature. "It''s getting unbearable..."


    "The cavern is just up ahead," Shinto stated. "So we can have Raina open up a small campfire to stay warm before we set foot back into the catbs."


    "Right," Raina nodded her head. "But, I don''t think my spells are that powerful enough to keep everyone warm enough..." They had stayed outdoors for quite some time now. Thus, with the rising stacks of environmental debuffs the group had been receiving, it''d take a while to fully recover from it.


    "Having something warm is better than none," Ethaniel scoffed as he stepped foot into the caverns. In the next moment, he ced down the few logs that he had collected earlier on the ground. "Now hurry! Start the fire, please. I don''t want to feel cold any more than I have to."


    "...a cavern," Crowelin uttered out in thought. "Wait... Wait... WAIT! Could this be?!"


    "Crowelin, calm down," Hikari coughed. "Just because this is a cavern doesn''t necessarily mean we''d find the vige... I mean, Za Shinto did say that this leads to some catb, right?" Her voice now ushered quietly within Crowelin''s ears.


    "Still... They mentioned something about, ''Den'', right?" Crowelin whispered to Hikari. "Maybe we''llplete the quest after all!"


    "Maybe... But let''s just leave that aside first," Hikari''s head turned to Shinto who had made his way over towards the wall by the other side of them, seemingly deep in thought. "For now... The priority now would be to hear an exnation from him. Though... The opportunity might beter."


    "Hah..." Crowelin frowned. "This wait is just too long! I want to know now! The hell happened to him? He''s a mage now? Wait... His skills are more like yours, Hikari. So, did he changed to a priest ss? That''s just..."


    "I don''t think it''s a priest ss?" Hikari tilted her head in the thought of a past conversation with Shinto whilst scrutinizing him from afar. "From the looks of things, ignoring his very unsettling get-up, I think he might have a hidden ss."


    "A hidden ss?!" Crowelin uttered out. "All the known hidden ones are pretty shit if you ask me... There are only a handful of rares and those three epic sses which are good. So, if he were to switch from Lunar Swordsman to an Epic or Unique... It must be pretty good?"


    "Most likely. He wouldn''t change to some beast tamer level ss or a ss far below that of his current since that''s just not worth it," Hikari nodded her head. "But let''s leave the wondering to that point. I trust him. So I expect that he''ll answer our questions fully when we get the opportunity to. For now, c-can we move over to the campfire? I''m really cold..."


    "Seriously? You got extrayers of clothing!" Crowelin red at Hikari. "And you''re still cold?"


    "Ahaha... You know me," Hikari awkwardlyughed. "I have my extra set to Frey. So... I''m not wearing double clothing..."


    "I still don''t get how you''re that cold," Crowelin shrugged. "But never mind. Let''s head closer to the campfire. With all initial crisis over, I want to see how Shinto''s apparent newfound group is like."


    "Make sure not to blurt out that you know him," Hikari reminded.


    "You almost shouted out his real name, Hikari..." Crowelin sighed.


    "U-Um... Let''s ignore that shall we!" Hikari coughed. "Come,e! To the campfire, we go!"


    "...hah," Crowelin shook her head helplessly as she walked over towards the rest of the group.


    ...


    By the distance of the two girls as well as the group by the campfire, Shinto stared at the fire whilst in deep thought. "...hmm, still no notifications or messages from the Beings of Divinity. It''s weird... The oing disaster here should put an rm on them, right?"


    From when he first saw the cocoon to now, the side of Divinity has been especially quiet. Perhaps so as they have seen the current prowess of the Shadow Diviner, they have decided to no longer give him any tasks in rtion to such things.


    However, it was weird by the process. Even if they were quiet about Bareth, Shinto had faced against enough beings that should be judged under the verdict of [Evil] or even [Great Evil], especially with his recent battle with the manVincent.


    "...are they really that angry at me to lose all fate in me?" Shinto blinked at the thought. "...it''s not even my fault they gave unreasonable tasks. But them not giving unreasonable tasks at the same time is worry some..."


    Thinking back on when he had received the notification in regards to Bareth''s awakening, that would''ve been the perfect time to have heard something from the Divinity side.


    ...


    [ Bareth, The Air of Eternal Winter has awakened! ]


    [ Eternal winter will once again continue on within the ins of Fal. ]


    [ For those who have lived within thends of Fal, the mark ''Barethin'' will appear. ]


    [ Those inflicted by the mark will slowly crumble down into ice upon making contact with Bareth. ]


    [ The beast is in his weakened state! The ''Barethin'' mark will appear only after a month. ]


    "...eep!" Frey cried out. "T-The beast awakened! Is this the end of this ce?! The mages didn''t defeat him in time!"


    "Please calm down," ke calmly stated. "There''s enough time for those sages. He is only in his weakened state after all. Within that time frame, they can curve the threat down to a minimum and keep his area of control only to here."


    "O-Oh... That''s possible for them?" Raina tilted her head. "Earlier you said that without the Ice Queen''s de or the vessel, Rustly at hand, they can only keep him at bay?"


    "Keeping him at bay may mean many things. However, the only options unavable for them is the defeat of the beast as well as the resealing of him," he stated. "But in any case. What we need to do now is to leave here as soon as possible, or to at least get to a safer ce, perhaps indoors."


    "We''re near the caverns now, let''s hurry along," Shinto nodded his head as he gestured over to the group to continue moving forward.


    ...


    "..." Still deep in thought whilst recalling, Shinto soon heard a voice from the distance.


    "Master, is something the matter?" A male''s voice protruded out.


    "...?" Hearing the voice, Shinto turned towards the direction of it as he noted that it was ke. "Ah. ke... You''re still here?"


    "Yes," he nodded his head. "I''ve still got about thirty minutes left? I''m not too sure. I''ve decided to stick around till the time limit."


    "Right..." Shinto nodded his head as he uttered out in a sigh. "Hey, ke. You mind if I ask you something?"


    "Of course, please go on ahead," he gestured over to Shinto. "If it helps to put your mind at ease, then I''ll happily help."


    "Hah..." Shinto took a deep breath as he firmly nced at the man in front of him. "Although I''ve asked this a few times already... But I''d like to hear it from you as well. Just... What are Shadow and Divinity all about? The goals of each side I mean."


    He had asked the question to Kon and he had asked this to Kiara. Both answered extremely differently but had given him somewhat enough information to understand the bare minimum of what the beings are. Though, besides the Divinity side which is still up in the air.


    Thus, now, he asked the question to ke in the alliteration of their goals. He had initially thought he had understood the two sides, one being to serve justice while the other was to seemingly rid away evil. The twos appeared to be that of the same coin.


    However, after the events of the cocoon, he had been left wondering. Just exactly what ''justice'' was? In his eyes, the crisis at the front of him would have been enough to gain a response from Divinity, yet there wasn''t a single drop of messages.


    "...the goals of each side?" ke tilted his head. "Hmm... That''s an interesting question. I''m assuming you''re now questioning this because of theck of interaction with the Divinity?"


    On the other hand, when it came to Shadow, ke seemingly knew about everything in regards to Fal''s way of sealing off Bareth and the ways of the beast. For a shadow minion to know about such things, meant that the Shadow Diviner was once involved in the events.


    "...yes. I''m questioning it because of this," Shinto nodded his head. "So... Would you please tell me all you know?"

 Chapter 192: Hail Before Storm (8)

    Chapter 192: Hail Before Storm (8)


    "Hmm..." ke calmly closed his eyes upon hearing the request from Shinto. "To tell you all that I know of the goals of the two sides? Well... That may be a difficult question to answer. Even for me."


    "...a difficult question to answer?" Shinto slightly raised his brow at the statement. "Am I not supposed to know about this?"


    "No, no. You''re well intent to know about such things," ke hurriedly shook his hand as he corrected himself from the misunderstanding. "It''s just that... Putting it into words may seem ratheroff? To say the least."


    "It may seem rather off?" Shinto mumbled to himself as he still couldn''t understand why the question was difficult. "What do you mean?"


    "To put it simplyDepending on what I say, you may take it differently," he coughed. "From the goals of the two sides to their intentions, it''s rather a difficult topic to exin about. But, no matter. If you wish to hear it from me then very well."


    Soon speaking out in a hushed voice that could no longer be heard at a distance, Shinto and ke began their conversation in regards to the ''goals'' of the two sides. Both seemingly different, yet appearing to be the two sides of the same coin.


    "Let''s begin with what you''re curious about most. The side of divinity," nodding his head, ke soon began his exnation. "I''m sure you know of what exactly they are, but... I''ll get to that matter first." he continued. "to start with, the beings of ''Divinity'' stems from the people of the heavens. The Judges of Good and Evil, the Messengers of Heaven, the Bringers of Justice and the Generals of Elysiumall of them are the ''Divinity'' who you''ve had the chance to speak to, or perhaps... ''The chance to hear from them''."


    "...people of the heavens," Shinto muttered out to himself as he was taken back by surprise at the fact that they were of otherworldly beingsangels and the like. Though perhaps he knew that they were outside of the spectrum which governs the mortal realmhearing it from ke himself had a different impact. "So that''s the side of Divinity, huh?"


    "Yes. That''s the side of Divinity. They are the people of the heavens," nodding his head, he soon sighed. "As for their goals... To put it in a simplistic wayAnything that befalls under the radar of Evil will be vanquished regardless of ethics. Likewise, anything that befalls under the radar of Good will be protected at all cost. The Divinity beings know nought but to follow anything else but that mindless concept."


    "To deal with good and evil as they see fit... I guess that would typically be the mutual understanding of all parties, huh?" Shinto nodded his head. "Then... That leaves me with a question. With Bareth likely being a beast judged as ''Great Evil'', howe I''ve never heard a thing from them? What does that make their goal?"


    "...that," ke uttered out with uncertainty. "The beings of Divinity are so and so. At times... Their goals are clear. However, at others, it is vague," he helplessly shook his head. "We of the Shadow side don''t necessarily contemte well with them. So... We''re mostly at each other''s throat when in the same room. Thus, the reasoning behind their decisions and sucheven I cannot bring to light."


    "I see. Then let''s go with the Shadow side now. What are the goals? From what I''ve heard from Kiara, she said it was just to serve the Shadow Diviner. Though... Is that really all there is to it?" Shinto questioned. "Ever since you''ve first arrived here, you''ve been sharing your knowledge with the rest of us, and well... With how there was certain information from a long time back, just what''s the involvement of the Shadow Diviner in all this?"


    "I''m sure Kiara has already told you that even the previous Master himself knew nought of the goals that he seeks," ke reasoned. "So, for me to provide a definite answer to help aid you in understanding behind his duties to that of a Shadow Diviner... I, unfortunately, am unable to help with that."


    "It''s fine, ke. For now... I''m just working towards understanding everything so far," Shinto reassured him. "The only thing I want to know is... Just where does the side of Shadow stand? If the Divinity wants justice, then what do you want?"


    "Hmm... Speaking on behalf of the Shadows..." ke reluctant;y spoke out. "our main goal is to just follow along the path of the Shadow Diviner. Whether it''d be a path of good or evil, we''ll see through it as we trust of his judgement."


    "..." Shinto kept quiet at his exnation. There was nothing new that was added to the table from what he had already known previously.


    "...however. That is on behalf of the overall goals of the Shadows. Or perhaps... What I should say more specifically is that those who actually follow the Shadow Diviner are the ones that fall under this category," he stated. "The beings of Shadow are from all sorts of different races. For me and my siblingswe''re of the Shade''s Race. For our reason to serve is but because we''re indebted to the Diviner."


    "Right... Kon and Kiara told me about that," he nodded his head. "...but, that reason only applies to the three of you. As for the others..."


    "I''m sure you''ve heard of the ''Purgatory Blood Queen of the Night'' who is a vampire, right?" ke continued. "The beings of Shadow is as I said, beings of different races. From the Shade''s, to Vampires, to Werewolves and to Draconians. Those of the dark races who serve under the Shadow Diviner will be made known to you as time passes. For now... Some has remained uncontactable over the past decades, but you''ll meet them soon enough."


    "I see. So, what you''re saying in regards to all this... Is that, unlike the Divinitythe goals of the Shadow differs from individual to individual?" Shinto tilted his head in question.


    "Yes. The goals are as vague as that of the Divinity for some. Even among our ranks, we don''t get along too easily," he shook his head helplessly. "But that isn''t of concern to you. So please do not worry."


    "Right... Then, myst question. Is there anything else for me to note?" he asked. "Like for example; What should I watch out for in the future?"


    "...what you should watch out for in the future?" ke raised his brow. "Hmm, if you must ask... Just stay safe whilst you fulfil your duties. That is all you need to know. Everything elsees with due time."


    "Everything else wille in due time, huh?" Shinto sighed as he rubbed his hands together, slightly warming them up. "...well, that''s it for now I guess. Thanks, ke," he smiled. "Now anyways... Shall we head nearer to the campfire? Being at a distance from it won''t get rid of this frostbite debuff, and I''m cold."


    "Of course, go on ahead first, I''ll be right behind you," ke nodded his head as he soon noted that Shinto had begun walking away from him. In the next moment, the man sighed solemnly, staring at Shinto''s back from behind whilst muttering out. "...the Shadow Diviner of the new generation, from what I''ve seen of you... You''re rather the same, huh?" he chuckled. "If you wish to understand Master''s goal... You''ll have to find out yourself. Though... Perhaps I should''ve also wished him good luck? Staying safe just won''t do..."


    Continuing to mutter to himself, ke shook his head as he rid of the thought. Soon after, he began walking over towards the small campfire built by the group. "Well, no matter... Those hardships are still a long way to go. The Shadow Diviner will have plenty of time to grow."


    ...


    <em><strong>Thuck thuck thuck...</strong></em>


    Certain footsteps resounded through the stone floors within the lit hallways of what seemed to be a castle, as a man that appeared to be youthful with short messy orange hair could be seen making his way through it whilst giving off an aura of holiness around him.


    "..." Continuing step by step down towards the end of the hall where a door had been in cethe man spoke out upon reaching to the entrance whilst knocking once. "Metatron. I''ve arrived at your summon."


    "...ah, Raphael? Pleasee in," a male''s voice protruded out from the other side. "There are some things we need to discuss on."


    With a nod, the manRaphael, opened the doors of the room and headed in. In the next moment, he was greeted by the sight of a man with longvish hair and a face that seemed to hold great diligence and honour whilst seemingly looking into a small orb on his desk.


    "Please, have a seat in front of me," Metatron gestured over to Raphael. "Would you like some tea? I''m sure you hadn''t had your afternoon tea break yet."


    "...Metatron, your holiness. Why did you summon me here all of a sudden?" Raphael tilted his head with a questioning demeanour whilst ignoring Metatron''s gesture. "You know that I''ve got my hands full with the recent emergence of all the monsters that have been sealed away. So, I''m busy as it is providing the necessary blessings for the people below the middle realm alongside Uriel. So... You calling me at a time like this is..."


    "Ah... So you would like straight to the point?" Metatron nodded his head. "Here I was hoping you''d finally take a temporary break from your duties with an excuse, but it is what it is. In any case, I presume you''ve heard of the Diviner appearing once again within the middle realm?"


    "...the Diviner," Raphael uttered out in thought. "Yes... I''ve heard the news from the recent rampage of the Blood Queen and some of our fellow generals. But what does that have to do with the summon? Is he not in his weakened state? He can''t possibly help us with either of three beasts that cause great destruction. Especially one such as Bareth."


    "Patience, Raphael, I''ll get to it soon," he nodded his head. "In regards to ''Bareth'', the beast of eternal winter that brings about a hail every step it walks..." he calmly spoke. "Did you know that the Diviner had some involvement with his awakening?"


    "...I''ve heard since one of my pupils borrowed my power," Raphael nodded his head. "But, his involvement was just attempting to stop the one who did it, no? At least, that''s the gist of the situation that I understood from."


    "Yes, yes. His involvement was just attempting to stop the one who did it," he replied to Raphael''s uncertainty. "So, for the past hour during their fight, I had been attempting to make contact with him through my personal channelsHowever, it is unfortunate that all attempts have been blocked."


    "...perhaps it''s the doing of the Shadows, the Blood Queen maybe?" Raphael answered. "But, that''s beside the matter. Please get to the point, Metatron. I''ve no time for your small talk. Just what do you want?


    "It''s simple. All I want you to do is to get into contact with the Diviner," he stated. "As his duties will soon start, I would like to establish a proper rtionship with him. As our first impression was rather... Offputting to say the least, I would hope to have one of my trusted pupils mend it."


    "...me?" Raphael raised his brow. "Your holiness... You know I''ve got my duties to do as well. Ignoring that, I do not have ess to the channels that are in line with the Diviner. So having me contact him is rather..."


    "Oh but you do," Metatron smiled. "You said that you gave permission for one of your pupils to use your power, yes?"


    "...yes. I did say that one of my pupil, the White Priest, had asked for my blessing for the sake of defeating the perpetrator, but..." As Raphael muttered out in uncertainty on where the conversation was goinghe was quickly interjected.


    "Then, you have all means to contact him," Metatron nodded his head. "Raphael, please get into contact with your pupil and request her to aid us."

 Chapter 193: Return (1)

    Chapter 193: Return (1)


    "..."


    Within a dark room of a penthouse with its shutters closed, preventing the moonlight to seep inthe door of a capsule opened as it revealed that of a young man exiting out of it.


    "Yawn..." Tired and exhausted, the ck-haired man by name of Hasegawa Zayden let out a yawn whilst scratching his back. "...I''ve maxed out my daily limit for today again, huh?" muttering as he rubbed his eyes, Zayden soon sloppily walked over towards the bathroom and got himself refreshed.


    ...


    "Ah. That''s better," with a towel on his shoulder as he dried up his wet hair, Zayden headed over to his desk and grabbed onto his phone. In the next moment, upon going into his lock screen, Zayden was taken aback by surprise by the panels of notification that he saw. "Eh...?"


    [ BREAKING NEWS: Bareth, The Winter Eternal has awakened! Is this the end for Fal? ]


    [ News: The Kingdom of Fal is calling for help! ]


    [ News: Is this the start of a new arc for Spiritual Warriors? ]


    [ 99+ Notifications in discord. ]


    "...wow. To think that news of Bareth has spread around this fast?" Zayden raised his brow in question whilst walking over towards the living area of his home. "...well, I guess that''s warranted since that notification from earlier might''ve been a global message rather than private."


    In most cases, upon the awakening of a beast with terrifying powers within a certain area, the system will send out a notification globally to all yers. Wherein, the message was informing of such awakening and would oftentimes be requesting help to defeat the boss.


    "Yawn..." Continuing to let out a yawn, Zayden pushed aside his notification and opened up his discord. To his surprise, upon entering the app, he was greeted by constant pings of red. Of course, the most came from Arceus. "This guy... When will he ever stop?"


    Uttering out with a sigh, Zayden began to check the messages.


    [ Arceus ]


    @Arceus: OI! OI! OI!


    @Arceus: THE HELL! STOP GHOSTING ME! CAN YOU JUST REPLY!?


    @Arceus: ...


    @Arceus: ajajshdjfjhddd


    @Arceus: HEY!


    ...


    Just as before, all the messages from Arceus were that of spam. There wasn''t anything new from his chathowever, despite that, what took him by interest to reply was thest few messages Arceus had sent to him.


    @Arceus: Ugh, you''re really hard to get a reply from. Hey! Jisa told me you''re okay and didn''t die alone, BUT COULDN''T YOU HAVE TOLD ME THAT EARLIER?! You coward!


    @Arceus: Bah but whatever! If you happen to be in Fal, my sis and Hikari will there since they apparently have some business. But... With them being a Pdin and a Priest... They might as well have died multiple times already.


    @Arceus: Just go do me a favour and whisper or even DM them and ask if they''re fine! Since Bareth might be problematic, It might cause issues if they can''t get out of Fal. But ANYWAYS! I''ll be back to spam you tomorrow if you don''t.


    "..." With a sigh, Zayden shook his head helplessly as he finally replied to him.


    @Shinto: Crowelin and Hikari are fine, they''re heading back now. So, you don''t have to worry. In any case... Make sure not to spam me tomorrow...


    Moments after he had sent the message to him, Zayden hurriedly moved on to the next few direct messages which were typically from the usualRie, Kaisus, Jisa and the like.


    [ Rie ]


    @Rie: An update, we perhaps might be joining in hand to help Fal subdue the beast. Though with everything that''s happening recently... It might not be possible to defeat him. However, Kaisus is rather persistent on it though.


    @Rie: If you find the time, do reply if you''d like to join the raid party.


    ...


    [ Kaisus ]


    @Kaisus: DO. NOT. ACCEPT. ANYONE''S. RAID. INVITE.


    @Kaisus: You hear me? This is a guild thing, so you shouldn''t concern yourself with it and enjoy the game! Well... If raiding is your enjoyment, I guess? But no. Don''t bother with the monsters that have appearedtely! We''ll handle it.


    @Kaisus: I''ll have it all under control. So... Just, continue on with your quests.


    @Kaisus: Ah, if you''re worried about rewards (Though it''s not like you mostly care, they''re mage materials), you can have my portion of it for the trouble.


    "...Kaisus?" Zayden blinked at the odd message from him. "...well It''s not like I can even participate in the raids at my current state," shaking his head, he soon replied to him.


    @Shinto: Don''t worry, I''m not going to participate. Though... Kaisus, you may want to pull out of the fight. You may not be able to do a single thing against him.


    At the moment he gave his reply, Kaisus immediately responded.


    @Kaisus: Shinto? Ah, you just logged out? Well sorry to be of a bother to you. But in any case, don''t worry, we''vee prepared for the raid. Though... Hikari won''t be avable.


    @Shinto: Really?


    @Kaisus: Yeah. She went on to do a quest with Crowelin and well... She''s out ofmission for the time being as I was informed that she would be busy...


    @Shinto: I see... Then that''s not good. All the more reasons to pull out.


    @Kaisus: No, it''s fine. We''ve got another healer as a sub, so we''re good.


    @Shinto: Kaisus... I''m not kidding when I said you might not be able to do a single thing against him...


    @Kaisus: My decisions final. I want to see our current guild''s strength against a boss such as Bareth, so, you won''t change my mind.


    @Shinto: K-Kaisus... That''s just...


    @Kaisus: Sorry Shinto, even if it may not be possible, it''s worth a try, right?


    @Shinto: Well... I guess. Anyways, I''ll be going now. Good luck with the raid!


    @Kaisus: Night, Shinto.


    Ending the conversation, Zayden shut off his phone as he prepared to eat a meal by the kitchen. "With all that''s done... Time to eat dinner and rest for the night," preparing the noodle cup, Zayden chowed down on the delicate meal.


    ...


    "Zzz..." Back within the world of Spiritual Warriors, a young girl could be seen sleeping ever sofortably by the campfire, however, on the cold hard floors of the caverns. "Zzz..."


    Beside her, two girls and a few slimes could be seen beside her whilst she was asleep.


    "...b-brr... So cold," Rustly muttered out whilst shivering. "How is everyone so soundly asleep when it''s this cold?" continuing to shiver, Rustly soon nced around the area. "is it because of the Ice Witch''s Curse...?"


    As time passed on, Rustly had been feeling colder and cold as time passed on, which worried him.


    "...or is it because everyone else has some winter clothing?" Rustly blinked at the thought. "...either way... I''ll be dead if the curse goes on for too long since it''s still here..."


    Although he had initially followed the words of Vincent though, without a sayhe still managed to remember the words stated by him, ''the Ice witch''s curse will be cured,'' or so he said.


    "Of course it won''t be that easy... Lier wouldn''t have turned into ice if it was easy," he mumbled. "Sigh... What can I even do?"


    "Hey, Rustly?" A female''s voice protruded out. "Is everything alright?"


    "H-Huh? You''re awake?" Cautioned by the voice, Rustly turned towards the direction as he noted that Hikari had tilted her head. "...is it about that illness?"


    "Wait... How did you know?!" Rustly cried out. "I never told anyone about it-"


    "Shh... Do you want to wake up everyone?" Hikari uttered out.


    "N-No..." Rustly''s voice softened.


    "Phew... In any case, shall we head over to a quiet area to talk?" Hikari smiled. "It seems you''ve got something bottled up for quite some time now? Do you want to talk about it?"


    Rustly kept quiet while in thought. In the next moment, he soon mumbled tout. "...I do, but... I don''t want to talk about it..."


    "...is it?" Hikari chuckled. "If that''s so, then... Could I try curing the illness with my abilities?"


    "U-Um..." Rustly hesitated. "I don''t think it''s possible..."


    "...it isn''t? Well, we''ll never know unless we try, right?" Hikari smiled. "Here, show me where it is."


    "..." Still with hesitation, he sighed. "...My entire body is starting to freeze. With the Ice of the ice witch, I''ll be turned into a frozen statue."


    "...the ice of the ice witch?" Hikari thought to herself. "Hmm... Perhaps... Heree closer to me."


    With a nod from Rustly, he scrunched closer to Hikari. In the next moment, Hikari soon ced both of her hands close together to Rustly. Beginning to mutter out a chant, a warm light shot forward over towards Rustly.


    "...!" Rustly''s eyes widened at the warm light he had received. "...d-did it work?"


    "..." Hikari''s face frowned. "...it failed?"


    "...of course it will," Rustly sighed. "A mere priest''s magic won''t work on this curse... I need something... Much like a powerful holy me?" he muttered out as he took out a white flower. "That man said that it was supposed to be cured when I was inside the cocoon but... Nothing. Nothing at all. All I had gotten was this flower."


    "...huh?" Hikari tilted her head. "...this flower... Hey, could I see it for a moment?"

 Chapter 194: Return (2)

    Chapter 194: Return (2)


    At the request of Hikari, the small slime helplessly blinked at the priest. "...you want to see the flower?" he questioned. "I mean... I don''t see why not... But why?"


    "The flower just interests me, you know? For a flower to suddenly appear before you, that must mean something, right?" Hikari stated as she carefully held onto the unbloomed white flower. In the next moment, she began to scrutinize its details. "..."


    [ Unbloomed Floral of Myriad ]


    Type: Misceneous


    An unbloomed flower that has yet shown its greatness.


    ...


    "...a flower that''s unbloomed," Hikari muttered out. "You say that you''ve got this flower from the cocoon, correct?"


    "...yeah," Rustly nodded his head. "But... I don''t see how this would help?"


    "I think... This may be the cure to this ''illness'' you may have," Hikari uttered out. "However... In order to do that, we need to bloom the flower."


    "This is the cure?" Rustly tilted his head in question. "Um... A flower... That''s not of fire, or without any holy essence... Yet something that came from Bareth''s cocoon is the cure?"


    "It appears so," Hikari nodded her head. "We can try other things to help cure your illness though if you don''t believe"


    "No. That''s not possible," Rustly sighed, quickly interrupting Hikari. "Our best bet would be the flower, since... I''ve tried everything already. Using holy mes, holy essence, even you used your spell on me and it didn''t work."


    "So this is our best bet, huh?" Hikari thought to herself. "If that''s so then..."


    "Hikari, Rustly? What''s all this about? An illness?" a male''s voice protruded out from the distance.


    "E-Eep!" Hikari who was startled by the sudden voice unconsciously jumped up from the ground. "...w-who?" Turning to the man in caution, she noted that it was Shinto. "Zay? You startled me! Where did youe from? I thought you were still asleep in the real world."


    "Aha... I just logged in a few minutes ago," Shinto chuckled. "I noticed you two were seemingly having a discrete conversation and I didn''t want to bother you. Err, well... Until just now, course."


    "...yeah, until just now," Hikari pouted. "Ahem... A-Anyways. Were you listening in on us or something?"


    "Well, I guess so? You wearn''t being all that quiet," Shinto shrugged. "Though it might''ve been some casual conversation until the talk of illnesses and cure piqued my interest. So, just what was that all about?"


    Unlike Hikari and Raina who Reru had informed them about Rustly''s caseShinto and the rest hadn''t been made aware of it yet. For Shinto, he had thought that since Sanke had fallen, the curses that the Sleras had suffered would disappear away. But to his surprise, it still remained.


    "A-Ah..." Rustly muttered out in awkwardness. "Well... You see..."


    "Rustly, there''s no point in keeping it secret if you wish to get help," Hikari stated solemnly as she then took a deep breath and turned towards Shinto. "Rustly here... Seems to have gotten a ''curse''."


    "...a curse? I thought we already dealt with that?" Shinto raised his brow. "...did you get another curse from when you were in that cocoon? Or perhaps... Sanke''s curse didn''t wear off?"


    "No, no!" Rustly shook his head. "Nothing of that sort! It''s just that...This curse was an inherited one... Well, not exactly? I don''t know how to exin..."


    "It''s fine, you can take your time exining," Shinto stated as he turned to nce around the area. "It seems that everyone''s still asleep, so we''ve got plenty of time before we head back."


    "..." Rustly''s face turnedplexed. "...I don''t know. It''s... Reallyplicated and well... All you need to know is that... All this while, I''ve been trying to do all I can to find a cure for it. If the flower is the key... Then, would you help with making it bloom?"


    "...you," Shinto blinked at Rustly''s mumbles and words. It seemed that Rustly didn''t have any intentions of exining it fully, thus, he kept things to a minimum. "...sigh," at a loss for words on what to say, a quest notification soon appeared before him and Hikari.


    [ A slight connection can be felt between you and Rustly. ]


    [ The quest ''For the Unbloomed of a Curse'' is generating... ]


    [ For the Unbloomed of a Curse ]


    Difficulty: SS


    For the longest time, the small slimeRustly, had been suffering from a curse. A curse that would slowly rid away of all ability to move or to feel. The curse of the ice witch.


    Though unknown of how he had gotten such a cursehe requests of you to help him in blooming the flower, ''Floral of Myriad''.


    Quest Clear Condition: Bloom the flower, ''Floral of Myriad'' before the day of when Rustly turns into a body of ice.


    Quest Rewards: Max Rtion with Rustly, +10 Stats Point, +1% Innate Ice RES and certain skills and equipment.


    Quest Failure: All quests rting to ''Tomb of the Deserted Sanke'' will be destroyed.


    ...


    "...this," Hikari mumbled out as she was dumbfounded by the sudden quest that appeared in front of her. "Rustly... You want us to help, yet..."


    She didn''t know why, but it seemed as so she was feeling unsatisfied and angry. Though, not because of the quest''s content nor the rewardsbut with Rustly.


    "you want us to help, but... You want to keep us in the dark the entire time as well," Hikari frowned. "How is that fair? If we don''t understand the situation, how can we help to our fullest?"


    "I know. But, it''s just that..." Rustly reluctantly spoke out. "...I don''t want to recall the past, alright? I-It''s fine if you don''t want to help, but... I''ll do anything to bloom this flower. So... If things ever go south, tell Reru that I''m sorry, alright?"


    "Hey, Rustly," Shinto furrowed his brow. "Why does it seem like you''re saying this at the thought of going into a battle and nevering back alive?"


    "...because it''s exactly as so. This battle... Will have uncertain results," Rustly stated firmly. "But. Even then, I have my goals in all this. So, I don''t want to let this onest opportunity go," he continued. "even if I end up dying."


    "Huh?" Shinto raised his brow in question. "You..."


    "However... Before then, I''ll have to make sure my goals are done." Rustly stated as he leapt away from the two. "...anyways, I''ll go and check around the premise and find the most efficient route back."


    "Hey, Rustly!" Hikari shouted out. However, the small slime continued on ahead. "...what''s up with him? To keep something that could potentially kill him from top to bottom in secret... Is he really asking for a death wish?"


    "...I guess it''s difficult for him too," he shook his head helplessly.


    "Yeah... With Rustly''s attitude, it kind of reminds me of a certain someone," she pouted whilst ring at Shinto. "A certain someone who truly is a hard one to deal with..."


    "...cough. You''re not referring to me... Are you?" Shinto muttered out.


    "Hehe~ Who knows!" she chuckled. "But in any case... About this quest..."


    "...do you want to ept?" Shinto uttered. "The quest rewards are pretty good... But it''s an SS ranked quest, so it won''t be easy."


    "Well, the rewards are beside the point," Hikari shook her head. "It''s Rustly that I''m talking about. A simple curse should be an easy exnation. But, for him to keep this a secret... Do you know anything about it?"


    "Not at all. In context to this... All I know was that there someone who had cursed everyone in hopes of obtaining a ne," Shinto exined. "But in the end, he was defeated. Though... Through his own way."


    "..." Hikari tilted her at the thought. "...sigh. There''s no use pondering over it, huh?"


    "Nope," Shinto shrugged as he turned towards the rest of his sleeping party members. "You know, let''s just give it some thought. You seem rather reluctant and well... I kind of know the reasons, I guess? But you should rest for a while longer. Ethan and Raina haven''t logged in yet and Crowelin and Frey are fast asleep in dreand. When''s your daily limit running out?"


    "I logged out just recently and came back in," Hikari stated. "So, I''ve got all the break I needed."


    "I-I see..." Shinto nodded his head. "If that''s the case... Then, I''ll leave you be and"


    "Hey, who says you can leave, hmm?" Hikari red at Shinto. "Surely, you''re not forgetting about the promise?"


    "U-Uh... Well..." Shinto stuttered. "Now isn''t the perfect time... There''s still"


    "Now''s a perfect time. If need be, we''ll force Crowelin awake," she smiled. "Now then~ Shall we get started with the story? Or... Are you going to keep us in the dark again?"


    "...Hikari," Shinto sighed as he now turned his head over towards his skill list, soon noting of the skill ''Shadow Recreation''. "Fine, fine. I''ll exin things. But, we''re going to a lesser crowded space from here."


    "Sure thing," Hikari nodded her head with slight excitement. "You best exin everything in detail!"


    "Yeah, yeah... Let''s get on with it," Shinto said helplessly.

 Chapter 195: Return (3)

    Chapter 195: Return (3)


    Walking by over to a quiet area away from prying eyes and ears, Hikari as well as Crowelin who Hikari had abruptly woken up followed behind Shinto.


    "...well, this should be a good spot, right?" Hikari tilted her head whilst slightly lighting up the area with one of her spells[ Enlight ].


    [ Enlight Lv 4 ] [ 5 MP/Second ] [ Cooldown: 1 Minute ]


    The user casts out a soft light that lights up the surrounding area within a 3m radius of the user. Whilst doing so, the spell will continually drain mana until it the spell is cancelled or the user''s mana runs out.


    ...


    "...this ce should be fine I guess?" Shinto replied listlessly whilst ncing around the area. "I was nning on telling you when we get back to the catbs but, are you really that impatient on having me tell you now?"


    "Yawn... Hikari woke me up, so it''s now or I''ll murder you," Crowelin stated whilst stretching her arms. "Can we get on with it? Otherwise, I''ll bother you as I do with my brother."


    "...Crowelin," Shinto sighed helplessly whilst opening up his status window. "Well never mind that. Just give me a second, alright?"


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 41


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    *You are the diviner of light and shadow. Thus, you will receive certain ss bonuses when in different environments.


    -Under the night skies or in darkness, you will gain a boost to your vision and


    your stats rting to that of mobility and support will be increased by 25%.


    -Under the sunlight or within bright lights, you will gain a boost to defence and


    your stats rting to that ofbat and defence will be increased by 25%.


    -Titles-


    [Altric''s Discoverer]


    *You are now eligible to find the meaning of ''truth''


    [ Slime Shopping (Area Title) ]


    For buying an item in the [Sleras''s Slime Den], all purchases in any stores will be -5% off from now on!


    *There are 6 titles in total to obtain within the Slera and Farchu Catb. If you obtain them all, all of these titles will be transformed into one whole one.


    -Stats-


    HP: 1284/1284 | MP: 1136/1136 (+20)


    Strength: 50 | Stamina: 82 (+4)


    Intelligence: 136 (+21) | Agility: 88 (+8)


    Shadow: 43 | Divinity: 29


    Wisdom: 7


    Stats Point: 91


    ...


    "...well, to begin, let''s clear up the mystery on what level I am shall we?" Whilst scrutinizing his status window, Shinto nodded his head as he then took a deep breath. "My current level is... 41."


    "...uh, can you repeat that again?" Crowelin blinked at the statement by Shinto. "...41? 41?! What the hell! How many times did you die? Huh?! That''s not possible! No clearly not. Unless you''re throwing... This is just"


    "...calm down Crowelin," Hikari gently patted on Crowelin''s back. "I''m sure Zay has an exnation for it. But, I''m assuming it''s because of a quest that you''re in this sort of state?"


    "No, not because of a quest," Shinto shook his head. "It''s due to my ss. Well... My new ss at least."


    "...new ss? What kind of ss penalizes the user and puts them at level 41?!" Crowelin cried out in a loud voice, no longer drowsy like earlier. "Is that the reason why you''re booted off the rankings? What??"


    "Well, in actuality, it penalizes me and ced mat level one," Shinto stated.


    "L-level one?" Crowelin''s breath became heavy at the shocking words uttered by Shinto. "No way! Level one?! From level 201?! The hell! Is this why you''re in such a sorry state with those trash gear and... And... Unfashionable get-up?!"


    "Crowelin, take deep breaths," Hikari gently stated. "Your Arceus side is really showing right now and um... You might get a heart attack if you don''t calm down..."


    "How can I calm down when I''m hearing that Shinto! Hasegawa Zayden! Is in this miserable state and... He didn''t contact anyone about it? Not even you? Not even Kaisus?" In disbelief, her words began mumbling.


    "C-Crowelin, just takes deep breaths," Hikari continued to calm Crowelin down. "I don''t think... It''s that bad?"


    Crowelin took a deep breath. "Y-Yeah... I should take a deep breath... Hah... Okay, calm down, Crowelin," she muttered. "It''s definitely not that bad. Shinto is just pranking... He''s not actually level 41, right? Clearly... It''s just a prank..."


    "...no. It''s not a prank," Shinto muttered. "I''m actually level 41."


    "I-It''s not a prank?" Crowelin''s eyes twitched. "...It''s not a prank?"


    "...cough," Hikari slightly coughed. "Zay... How about you continue exining things instead of giving Crowelin more shock than she can handle?"


    "Aha... But... The next few things will shock her even more," Shinto stated helplessly. "I''m surprised you''re taking this quite well, Hikari?"


    "No... It''s actually a shock for me too. Well... On the note of level one at least," Hikari stated. "As for your hidden ss, I do know about it since you hinted to me in discord and it became much clearer that you had one during our fight."


    "Right... I did technically hinted you there, huh?" Shinto awkwardly stated.


    "Okay, okay. That''s beside the point! Hints or not, the heck were you thinking, Shinto?" Crowelin raised her brow. "I know there''s ''secrets'' and all... But, did you really intend on ying the game as if you started from ground zero?"


    "...?" Shinto tilted his head in question.


    "You were level one, and it seems you lost all your equipment. Gold too? Probably," Crowelin continued. "But what baffles me the most is... You didn''t tell Hikari, Rie or even Kaisus. Revelen would''ve been a good choice too... But, what were you even thinking about going solo like that? Wasting all your game time efforts... Heck, you''re no longer earning money too, right?"


    "..." Shinto kept quiet at Crowelin''s question. There was a reason why he had wanted to avoid most discussion and exnations in regards to his new ss. It wasn''t because he wanted to keep thing''s secret, but rather, it was because he just didn''t know. "...I have I have ways to go about that I guess. Though, the main reason would be... To try something new?"


    "Trying something new?" Crowelin frowned. "...sigh, whatever. What''s your ss about? Surely... a DPS?"


    "...a support," Shinto stated.


    "...cough. A support?" Crowelin felt like wanting to cough up blood. "A support?! God... Shinto, if this is really a joke, please say it is. I can''t take any more of it!"


    "U-Um... No, I''ve been telling you... It''s the truth," Shinto uttered listlessly. "I don''t know how to tell you anymore besides saying that it is..."


    "Shinto... You have horrible luck... And you still choose to gamble... This is clearly a gambling addiction," Crowelin stated. "I''ll get you a therapist, so, get well and get out of this addiction!"


    "Crowelin... Now you tell me... Is this a joke?" Shinto sighed.


    "I''m serious. You need help," Crowelin firmly stated. "Who in their right mind would change to a support role from DPS when you''re such a loner?! You didn''t even contact anyone after your reset, even when you''re a support! You''re mad!"


    "I understand your sentiments, Crowelin, but... You know you''re talking to Zay here, right?" Hikari chuckled.


    "...Hikari?" Shinto blinked at her words. "Am I missing something here...?"


    "Never mind!" Hikari coughed. "I was just blurting in true shock. But, seriously. Why a support? I know that it''s a hidden ss and all... Was it even worth it? Surely, you didn''t tell us due to embarrassment, right?"


    "..." Shinto thought to himself as he soon replied to Hikari. "I guess I took a risk. I''m not sure if it''s a truly worthwhile choice, but... There''s that," he stated. "From the weeks I''ve used this ss for, It''s quite apparent that''s it a mixture of DPS and Support."


    "Hmm? A mixture of DPS and Support?" Hikari tilted her head.


    "Think of it this way, it''s like your ss? But the damage for the DPS skills are enhanced to high modifiers," he exined. "As for the supporting side... It''s more or less weak? Currently... My DPS potential overwhelms my Support potential."


    "I see," Hikari nodded her head. "Then could you show us one of your support skills? Perhaps the details too~!"


    "I don''t see why not..." Shinto stated as he soon began to chant out a spell. "Kon, I summon you."


    [ You have used the skill ''Shadow Recreation'' ]


    [ You have called out to ''Kon'' ]


    [ ... ]


    [ They have heeded your call with excitement! ]


    [ You have sessfully summoned a shadow! ]


    As a sudden shadow formed in front of the group, Hikari and Crowelin''s brows raised in question at the sight of a furball in front of them. Fluffy and huggable, the small furball soon turned into that of a fox.


    "Master!" Kon stated excitedly as he jumped towards Shinto in a frantic manner. "You''ve finally called for me again! Yay!"


    "Aha... Kon..." Shinto chuckled. "Your cooldown just got off, so there''s that."


    "R-Right... It''s only been 24 hours..." Kon muttered out. "I almost felt like an eternity though! I thought you might''ve forgotten about me and-" As he was about to nce around the area to greet the rest of the group, Kon''s expression froze. "E-Eep! I''m sorry Master! I was supposed to help you with something instead of idle chatter, right?! Ahhh! I messed up again!"


    "Oh. My. God," Crowelin stated. "He... He''s... HE''S SO CUTE!"

 Chapter 196: Return (4)

    Chapter 196: Return (4)


    Upon eyesying on the fox seemingly around Shinto''s shoulder, instead of being cautioned by the sudden appearance of the animal, Crowelin was instead charmed.


    "Hey! Shinto!" Crowelin continued to shout out. "What''s the meaning of this? You get a pet? Eep! Something unique at that! What else you trying to keep away, huh!?"


    "...a pet?" Kon raised his brow. "I''m no pet! I''m the wonderful shadow servant of the Shadow Diviner, Master!"


    "...so not a pet, but a ve?" Hikari questioned as she turned to Shinto with an amused look. "My... Zay, I never knew you were like this. Are you trying to say that you''re into enving animals?"


    "...cough. Hikari! Don''t get the wrong idea!" Shinto flusteredly replied. "Kon isn''t a ve and that he is"


    "a follower? A devotee? Hmm... Just arade? Or probably a friend? Aha, I''m just messing with you Zay~" Hikari chuckled. "Of course you wouldn''t enve animals. Unless there''s an underlying hidden meaning...?" moments after she had ended her sentence, Hikari gave a questioning look to Shinto.


    "There''s nothing underlyingly hidden about this!" Shinto coughed. "Kon is well... As you said it, a follower or... Apanion? Well... Along those lines."


    "I''m Kon, the Shadow of the Fox! The one and only of the Shade''s Race!" Kon excitedly introduced himself. "I''m here to serve the Shadow Diviner to the best of my abilities to repay my debts for him. I''m no ve!"


    "Ah, I see now! So you forced the poor fox into serving you, hmm... I guess it''s alling into the big picture now!" Hikari sped her hands. "I''m guessing the one that also calls you ''Master'', Frey and... ke? Are people who are repaying debts their debts on you too?"


    "...Hikari," Shinto red at the smiling priestess. "What was it about having me exined everything?"


    "Aha... Alright, alright! Enough jokes," Hikari cleared her throat. "I just thought I''d divert some attention away from Crowelin who seems rather... Awestruck by the fox. You know how she is when ites to cute animals and things."


    "...yeah, about that," Shinto awkwardly stated. "When I summoned Kon... I wasn''t thinking all that much about how you would react on a personal note..."


    "You wearn''t thinking about that fact? Here I thought you purposefully summoned him to calm Crowelin down," Hikari blinked in slight confusion. "Then... Why summon Kon? Surely... This is not the ''support'' ability, you''re trying to show us, right?"


    "Actually, yes," Shinto nodded. "This is one of the abilities I wanted to show you."


    "...?" With the question answered by Shinto, Hikari''s expression grew more confused than before. "...summoning... and support, no way, right? You''re mixing your archetypes, right? Summoners are heavy damage and crowd control based sses... Yet, this is support to you? Zay... you know I trust you, right? So... Are you okay?"


    "Hah..." Almost wanting to give up on exining, Shinto shook his head whilst taking a deep breath. "Kon and ke, are both ''Shadow Servants'' who follow the ''Shadow Diviner'' which is me. Mixed with overall personal and obligatory reasons, they''re here with me now," he stated. "Summoning is one thing. My main ss focuses on its abilities of support in terms of giving allies shields and heals, I guess? It''s quite eerily simr to that of your ss, Hikari."


    "Oh? My ss?" Hikari inquired. "...well, you did mention that DPS skills of my ss are nearly the same as yours but with higher modifiers..." as she muttered out, a thought clicked to her mind. "Hey! isn''t this tant carbon copy of the ''Priest'' ss? DPS same as a priest... Support almost eerily simr to that of a Priest... Then you add a summon ability to make it unique... This is just..."


    "Well, on that note, I haven''t really delved too much into the mechanics," Shinto calmly stated. "I''m only just beginning to unlock the rest of the skills and learn about this ss... So, that''s about it."


    "Right, right. It''s only reasonable to take your time with all this, especially if it''s a hidden ss," Hikari nodded her head. "Shadow Diviner, was it? An interesting name... Having something of dark added together with light... What do you think about, Crowelin?"


    "Kon..." Crowelin who seemed to still be in a trance by the fox attempted to pet Kon. However, at every attempt, Kon fervently avoided her. "...why are you avoiding me? I just want to pet! Please?"


    "H-Hey! Don''t touch me!" Kon cried out. "Master! Help!"


    "Crowelin..." Hikari pouted as she gently took hold of Kon who was on Shinto''s shoulder and soon ced him farther away from Kon. "Snap out of it!"


    "Huh? Who? What?" Upon hearing the shout from Hikari, Crowelin''s attention finally averted to Shinto and Hikari. "...ahem. My bad..."


    "Crowelin..." Shinto sighed as he turned to Kon with a certain difort.


    "Why does she look hypnotized?" Kon whimpered. "I know I''m cute but... But... That''s on a whole another level!"


    "S-Sorry... I have no idea what had gotten over me," Crowelin coughed. "...now l-let''s get back to the topic, s-shall we? Where were we? Your hidden ss, right? I''m honestly surprised you openly exin everything like that. Here I thought you would''ve kept things secret."


    "Ah...?" Upon hearing Crowelin''s words, Shinto had realized that he had nearly exined the entirety of the basis of his ss. He had only wanted to only generally clear up certain misconceptions of his ss and exin his role, however without even realizing it, everything was said and done. "Hikari... You..."


    "Hmm? Did I do something?" Hikari chuckle. "I''m just an innocent priest just wanting to hear an exnation from you! Which, is nearly done~"


    "Hah..." Shinto sighed. "Well, whatever. Is there any more questions?"


    "Hmm, well, if you wee more questions then..." Hikari thought to herself. "Any particr reason why you''ve been avoiding an exnation like this? I know you answered it earlier, but is that really it? Trying something new sure does have a lot of risk factors in it. If you had wanted to, you could''ve yed the support role in Crystality instead of changing ss entirely."


    "..." The question once again appeared before him. Even despite having exined nearly everything already, he was left wordless and unsure. "...sorry. I just don''t know. Although it was risky, I guess I wasn''t thinking all that much back then and took it. Which led me here."


    "Hmm, right, right," Hikari nodded her head as she soon stretched her arms. "Well, I guess there''s really nothing more I can ask, besides your newpanions, that is. With your new ss and mechanics and you want to keep everything a secret, I guess it was warranted for," she stated. "Still, who knew it''d be such a coincidence for us to be meeting here, huh?"


    "Yeah... Who knew?" Shinto shook his head in a tired manner. "Why were you here anyways? I know it was for a quest... But out here in the middle of nowhere?"


    Until recently, Shinto didn''t know of the exact province in which the group had ended up. But, with the arrival of Hikari and Crowelin, that mystery was cleared up with the mention of ''Fal''.


    The kingdom of Fal was a snowbound kingdom bathed in eternal winter and ice due to Bareth, the beast of eternal winter. However, despite that, the people of the kingdom had continued to strive for many centuries since then and now today, many of the kingdom''s people were extremely proficient in the arts of magic.


    "Well..." Crowelin uttered out. "We were hoping to find a vige that was hidden in a cavern due to the environmental conditions around here, but no luck. While walking around, we found Rustly and Reru who we thought were locals suddenly mentioning your name and we decided to see if it was really you. Who would''ve known, huh?"


    "A vige is hidden in a cavern..." Shinto muttered out. "...could it be?"


    "Hmm? Do you know anything about it?" Crowelin''s eyes glittered with excitement. "Tell us! We''ve been searching for days! I want to finally get that sweet sweet reward for finding it!"


    "Well, It''s just an assumption, really," he stated. "But perhaps... The vige might be here."


    "Where? Where?" Crowelin asked. "Show us!"


    "Surely... It''s not where we were heading to, right?" Hikari tilted her head. "...the catbs you mentioned?"


    "It''s a long shot, but we could try," he stated. "You''re following us anyways, right? As of the moment, with the buzz of the day being Bareth''s awakening, many people are sending out raid parties here Even Kaisus. So... It''ll be unwise if you stayed here either way or heck, even go back to Fal with the potential crowd."


    "True, which is precisely why we''re going with you," Hikari stated. "Though, I hope you don''t suddenly break contact with us in-game after we part ways!"


    "...I won''t think of it," Shinto muttered out. "Anyways... We''ve been here for quite some time now. I''m guessing everyone should be logged in and awake, so you two, go on ahead back first."


    "Huh? What about you?" Crowelin asked.


    "I''ll go back with Rustly. I don''t want to make thing''s suspicious when they see us all going back together," Shinto stated. "You do remember what I said, right?"


    "Yeah, yeah. I get it. Keep it a secret that you''re Shinto of the 1st ranked to your newpanions," Crowelin shrugged off the details. "Then,e on Hikari, let''s go."


    "Right, let''s continue talking in whispers if necessary," Hikari nodded her head as she and Crowelin began walking back.


    "...phew," upon noting the sight of them moving through the caverns, Shinto uttered out with a sigh of relief. "That''s over... Now, Kon, there''s something I''d like to ask of you."


    "...huh? Me?" Kon was still whimpering behind Shinto''s leg, blinked.

 Chapter 197: Return (5)

    Chapter 197: Return (5)


    At the thought of suddenly having a question to be answered out of nowhere, Kon slowly walked towards the front of Shinto and soon sat down on the ground. In the next moment, he tilted his head as he inquired.


    "A question for me...? Um... Um... I-I''ll try my best to answer..." he blinked whilst slightly shaking. "I-It''s not going to be a hard question. right? No... Could it be a punishment? Ahh! I''m sorry, Master!"


    "...?" Seeing that Kon was shaking and concerned, Shinto raised his brow in confusion. "What do you mean? Punishment...? No... It''s nothing like that. It''s just a simple question. What gave you that impression?"


    "Well... U-Um... I did mess up, right?" Kon muttered out as he slightly dragged his feet back and forth on the ground. "You know... How I bbered out necessary things when you were having that conversation earlier... And uh... My failure in understanding the situation when you summoned me.."


    To Kon, for Shinto to suddenly ask a question out of nowhere, he feared for the worse. Not only did he mess up his introduction at the start and blurted out unnecessary information when he was summonedbut he also seemingly ruined the grace of his Master.


    "Nah, you didn''t," Shinto stated as his hand gently petted on Kon. "If anything, you being here helped in a way. But... In any case, back to my questionDid anything happen back at the shadow Realm?"


    "Huh? What do you mean?" Despite now feeling at ease, Kon was still confused. "..something that happened back at home? No...? Well um, besides my brother and sister scolding me that is... B-But that''s beside the point! Nothing else happened."


    "Right, I see..." Shinto nodded his head. "Then, did ke or Kiara tell you anything new?"


    "Well... They did give me an entire lecture about whatever they exined to you earlier," Kon whimpered. "But that''s about it. Nothing really new that wasn''t already exined to you. Though... I-Is something the matter? Am I supposed to know something that I somehow forgot again!?"


    "No, no. I was just curious that''s all whether there was something out of the ordinary that happened in the Shadow Realm," Shinto asked. With all the new information he had gotten recently, a thought came to mind. "Like for example, whether the Blood Queen or other Shadows might''ve appeared in the realm. After all... The Shadow Realm is more or less a space created by the Shadow Diviner, right?"


    He had wanted to know if there was anything going on within the Shadow Realm, if not waiting for the Shadow Diviner''s returnthen, perhaps other beings of Shadow besides the Shade''s Race might''ve appeared.


    "O-Oh you mean something like that?" Kon mumbled. "U-Um... I don''t know how to say this but..."


    "...but?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "Errr... Thest I heard from my siblings in regards to the other beings of Shadow is that... They sort of lost connection with everything?" he tilted his head in uncertainty. "How do I say this... It''s like they''re uncontactable now. Well... Something along those lines."


    "I did hear something of simr note from ke, but... What about the Blood Queen, though? She''s contactable," he stated. "Does she not head over to the Shadow Realm?"


    He hadn''t questioned in regards to the ''Shadow Realm'' all that much due to the fact that it was rarely ever mentioned. It was only when he had summoned Kon did he remembered what the Shadow Realm was actually abouta subspace created by the Shadow Diviner. Though, with zero to no details on it, he was only now curious on its main function besides it being a home for the Shade''s race.


    "Ah... Well, about the Blood Queen..." Kon thought to himself. "Although she still keeps contact... She never really steps foot into the Shadow Realm unless personally asked to? Well... I don''t know much about the details!"


    "Hmm... That''s interesting?" Shinto muttered out. "...then, what about previously, has any of the other shadows used the subspace before? In terms of having things like meetings and the like."


    "If I recall... Probably? I know a few had visited us before to meet with ke or when the previous Shadow Diviner was in the space..." he stated. "But that''s really it. There''s nothing more to it than it being our home! Unless I''m missing something here..." At the thought, Kon seemingly frowned. "You should probably ask my brother or sister about this... They should be a better fit to answer than me... I''m sorry..."


    "It''s fine, your answers are helpful," he smiled. "In any case, that should be it. All that''s left is... To find Rustly and meet up with the group."


    "Rustly?" A sudden male''s voice suddenly appeared behind him. "What about him? You don''t know where he is?"


    "...!" Cautioned by the voice, Shinto turned around as he noted that it was Reru. "...ah, Reru? You''re here? When did you get here?"


    "Just a second ago," he stated. "But whatever, my question still stands. Where''s Rustly? I had thought he might''ve been here seeing that you were gone but... Did that idiot run off on his own again?! Ugh... Wait till he..."


    "Hold on for a second!" Shinto shouted out. "Rustly didn''t run away. Or well, I''d hope he didn''t. But, he said that he was going to check out the routes that led back to the catbs. He''ll be back shortly."


    "Really?" Reru seemed to raise a brow in scepticism. "...hmph well if that''s true, then I''m going to the caverns and I''ll bring him back. I trust your words, I guess. But no way in hell am I going to trust Rustly''s. He could''ve gotten kidnapped again for all I know! Well... Actually, hypnotised to doing something stupid, to say the least."


    "I was wondering how Rustly ended up being involved in the entire awakening of Bareth," Shinto thought. "So it was due to that guy going about with making Rustly seem to be in thought of being able to cure-" he coughed. "To sessfully head to his goal, huh?"


    "Yeah, something like that," Reru shrugged. "For all I know, Rustly''s ''goals'' are all over the ce. One second he was against Sanke, then the next I learnt he was in arms with him. Then there''s Lier too and ugh! Why is he like this?!"


    "Lier...?" Shinto questioned.


    "Hah, no one mentioned this to you?" Reru uttered out. "Here I thought Sanke would''ve at least talked about her, but that''s not important. None of your business anyways," he scoffed. "Anyhow, I''m heading to the caverns and dragging Rustly back. So go regroup with yourpanions or something. Leave me alone."


    "...none of my business, huh?" Shinto repeated to himself. "Well, I guess so. But what is my business is getting Rustly back here, right? So I might as well just follow you instead of heading back."


    "Ugh... Do you have to be like that?" he clicked his tongue. "Ugh, that''s a bother. Just go to yourpanions."


    "Hey! Who are you calling a bother?!" Kon cried out. "Master isn''t anything like that!"


    "Right... I forgot I was speaking in Arcos, so now Kon can know what I''m saying," he sighed. "You don''t even have that ne with you... A pain. A real pain."


    "Mm... It sounds like it''s more of a pain for Master and Ethaniel to have to trante everything you say!" Kon pouted. "Why even do that in the first ce when all of us can just speak Arcos?"


    "Rustly is some other slime, but for me, I just don''t like to speak it at all," he clicked his tongue. "I''m only speaking it now because of Rustly''s ignorance of the real picture. If not for that, I''d be speaking in my ownnguage and not give a damn."


    "You..." Shinto sighed as he awaited for Reru to continue on with his words. However, he never did. "Hah, you''re not going to exin anything further in regards to his ignorance, are you?"


    "As I said, none of your business, what''s in it for me anyway?" he humped. "In the first ce... Everything seemed to have been a petty hoax. A hoax that made everyone suffered unnecessarily."


    "...and?" Shinto asked in hopes of having Reru continue.


    "Ugh, go back, will you?! I want to go and drag Rustly back now!" Impatient, Reru began leaping over towards the end of the cavern. "I won''t leave you guys again. Well, not after learning from Erith that you still managed to have an entire horde chase after you. Not to mention, you guys almost ended up getting yourselves killed. But, just go back and let me do my damn job first."


    "Master... He''s a difficult one, isn''t he?" Kon whimpered. "I thought he would be nice but to know his true words! Eeep!"


    "Yeah... He''s a difficult one," Shinto sighed. His attitude almost reminded him of someone. "But, it''s hopeless to stick around anymore I guess. Let''s just head back and I''ll think of a different reason on the top of my mind."

 Chapter 198: Return (6)

    Chapter 198: Return (6)


    "...yawn," by the entrance of the caverns, the brawler who had just woken upFrey, tiredly stretched her arms whilst ncing around the area. However, at the moment she did so, she was greeted by the sight of acking amount of headcount. "...mmm, where is everyone? Did they leave me behind or something...?"


    At the thought of it, her eyes drowsily closed shut as she muttered out. "Oh yeah... Probably they left me behind..." she continued to yawn. "Probably because I overslept or something..." With her line of thought fading away as she was about to enter back into sleep, Frey''s eyes suddenly opened wide at the next moment. "Wait... THEY LEFT ME BEHIND?!"


    Abruptly standing up, Frey frantically began to look around the area. "Noooo!!! Everyone left me" whilst crying out, her mouth soon shut closed as she noticed that a slime who had been standing directly below her was worryingly ncing at Frey.


    "F-Frey...? Did something happen?" Erith uttered out. "Did you get a bad dream or something?"


    "Ahahaha..." Frey uttered out in aplete dumbfounded tone. "Um... Please excuse me..." soon letting out a cough, she slowly sat down to the ground once again. "I-I was just... Thinking about something funny that''s all!"


    "...you thought that people leaving you behind was funny?" Yer seemed to be ncing at Frey with a questioning tone. "...are you okay? Did the snow get to your head?"


    "No way!" Frey refused. "I just ended up saying something funny and everyone just helplessly walked away because it was too funny of a joke to notugh at, that''s all!" she reasoned. "It isn''t because I misunderstood the situation or something! Totally! Ahaha!"


    "...right, I believe you," Erith red at Frey as he leapt over towards the campfire. "Yawn... But in any case, it looks like you''re thest one to wake up. So now all we need to do is wait for the rest of the humans to get back and..."


    "Oh right!" Shaking her head, Frey interjected. "Where''s everyone? Where did everyone go?" she titled her head. "...t-they... They didn''t leave me for real did they?!"


    "No, what are you saying?" Yer frowned. "They wouldn''t leave you, um well... They wouldn''t leave me! Cough, again..." he uttered. "But they wouldn''t leave us! We''d die if so!"


    "Yeah! You''re right! They wouldn''t leave us!" Frey nodded her head. "But seriously, where''s everyone? Master? Ethaniel? Raina? Those new people with met? Rustly and Reru! Everyone''s missing!"


    "Hmm? Who says we''re missing?" Upon ending her sentence, a female''s voice soon protruded out. "I''m right here, you know!"


    "Huh? Who? What? Where?!" Shocked by the sudden voice that protruded out of nowhere, Frey jumped in caution with her fists tightly gripped in preparation to initiate an attack. However, as she turned towards the direction of the voice, she noted that it was the priestHikari. "Ah! The priest! Or was it some mage? I don''t know! But anyways... You surprised me! When did you get here?!"


    "Ah, oops! My bad..." Hikari chuckled. "I wanted to surprise you since you were fast asleep earlier~ That''s all!"


    "Ahem, what Hikari means is that we just got here from checking outside of the caverns for a bit," Crowelin exined. "We were just curious about the situation outside."


    "Oh, right... There something like that, huh?" Frey pondered. "How bad is it?"


    "Not that good, I''m afraid," she shook her head. "It''s only been a day and the ce has gotten far too dangerous to even stay out for five minutes. At that point... You''ll need a lot of cold resistance to withstand that."


    "Not to mention that the beasts in the area are far ferocious now..." Crowelin shivered. "I think their level spiked from the original 70s to the average of the top rankers? No... Probably even higher than that," she stated.


    "Yikes... That bad?" Frey bit her lips. "It was already a struggle going up against those normal enemies... But you say they''re much higher than the top rankers?! Ahh! I can''t imagine that! But wait... What are top rankers? Are they monsters too? Eeek! They sound powerful!"


    "Um... Well," Hikari considered exining to Frey. However, remembering the words from Shinto, she was rather reluctant. "To put it simply, they''re adventurers or in other words, top yers whose level is currently at the highest at the current game''s progression. S- Arceus, a Zephyrous Swordsman is as of the moment, 1st ce with Kaisus leading second and Rie leading third."


    "Arceus? Kaisus? Rie? Who?" Frey tilted her head in confusion. "Who are these people?!"


    "Cough... Hikari, please don''t confuse the poor girl," Crowelin sighed as she turned to Frey. "She''s basically saying that those three are the current top three yers. You don''t need to know them if it doesn''t interest you. They''re just veteran yers whose been around since the sameunched."


    "But, it''s interesting!" Frey''s eyes glittered in excitement. "Just who are they? Arceus sounds like a cool name! You said he was a Zephyrous Swordsman ss or something? Cool ss! He must be a cool and awesome guy!"


    "...cough. Arceus? Cool and awesome? In the same sentence?" Crowelin coughed slightly as she reluctantly mumbled out with a flustered expression. "Ahem... W-well i-if you''re so interested... You could perhaps watch gamey vid-" as she suggesting to Frey, Hikari quickly tucked at her shoulder.


    "...Crowelin? Are you okay?" Hikari whispered. "If Frey searches for Arceus''s gamey video, the top video at the top would be his and Zay''s fight!"


    "...ack I forgot," Crowelin instantly replied back. "Frey''s praise on Arcerus when she didn''t even know him... It kind of um... Felt... Uh..."


    "...good?" Hikari asked. "Hehe~ Well, that''s nice! But, Zay would probably kill you... Well, not in-game due to the circumstance. But probably in real life or something..."


    With the new discovery of Shinto''s support ss, Shinto wouldn''t be able to do anything fruitful against Crowelin with hiscklustre damage and the like. However, the case was different in real life. Shinto could very well barge into her home and give off a menacing aura against her.


    "Eep! I''m sorry alright?!" Crowelin continued the whisper as she soon turned back her attention towards Frey. "U-Um sorry about, I was lost in thought for a bit! But where was I? Ah, right! The top rankers. Well... If you''re that interested... You could drop by against one of their matches and see them in action if you''d like."


    "Oh really?! When?!" Frey''s eyes continued to glow with excitement. "Today? Tomorrow? The next day?"


    "Err... Well," Crowelin uttered out in uncertainty. "I don''t remember the schedule but... The next match... Should be next weekend? Thest match was yesterday with Vainblood and Ten Swords. Now it should be Desperado and Knightly Heavens..." continuing to be lost in thought, another male''s voice soon protruded out.


    "The next match is between Desperado and Knightly Heavens, yeah," with a blue light indicating that a yer had logged in, the appearance of Ethaniel stood before them as he muttered out without thought. "...wait. What''s going on? Why did I log into such a topic...?" he questioned whilst his awareness had yet settled in.


    "Oh, Ethaniel! Did you know about the top rankers? They were just exining it to me!" Frey stated. "Come and join us!"


    "..." Ethaniel''s eyes turned to Hikari and Crowelin as he soon red at Frey. In the next moment, he sent a whisper to her. "...Frey, the heck are you doing? Didn''t I mention that already?!"


    "Oh yeah! You were talking about Shinto of the top ranks..." As Frey was replying to his whisper, a thought soon came to mind. "Hey... I have a question! Do you know Shinto of the top ranks?"


    "...?!" Upon hearing the sudden question uttered out by Frey, the adventurers within the room were all struck by dumbfoundedness.


    "S-Shinto of the top ranks...?" Hikariughed in an awkward manner. "Why the sudden question...?" It was a shock for everyone in the room to hear such s question from Frey. Neither Hikari nor Crowelin expected this.


    "Um well... I heard it from someone!" Frey muttered out, deciding not to mention Ethaniel''s name. "I was just curious! Where does he fall on the ranks?"


    "Shinto of the top ranks..." Crowelin mumbled out in uncertainty. She wasn''t sure how to answer this. From the earlier questions in regards to rankings, it was all within boundaries. However, for this? If they answered without a thought, Shinto would directly be damaged. "...uhhh... How do I put it in a way..."


    Whilst still in deep thought on how to answer the question, a familiar voice resounded through the area, soon taking everyone''s attention. "Shinto of the top ranks? I''ve heard he from some guy in Lavida that he was originally first ce, but soon fell due to some unknown reasons," the familiar voiceShinto answered. "I don''t think asking these two would be any good since it might be rather personal? Just my thought on it from my understanding."

 Chapter 199: Return (7)

    Chapter 199: Return (7)


    "Shinto?!" Suddenly hearing the voice of the person in question behind him, Frey stumbled back in shock as she nearly tripped over. "...ack! When did you get here?!"


    "Um, just now...?" Shinto answered whilst shrugging. "Well, at most just recent to hear the conversation. But my reply remains the same. So I hope you don''t mix me with the other Shinto... Because... I''m not him."


    "Yeah! Master''s not whoever that imposter Shinto is!" Kon scorned. "Such an imposter doesn''t deserve to be discussed!"


    "Wait... Kon?!" Frey''s eyes glittered with joy. "You''re back!" In the next moment, as she was about to grab hold of him, Shinto swiftly moved towards the side as he prevented Kon from being taken away. "Ack... Master! Let me pet him! Please? I haven''t seen him for quite some time now!"


    "You can pet himter... But for now..." Shinto muttered out as his eyes turned to Ethaniel.


    "...Kon, you..." Ethaniel frowned at Kon''s words. However, with the current atmosphere as it is, he decided not to push further. "Bah... Whatever. Why are even discussing this? Is it even time for that?"


    "..." Shinto kept quiet at Ethaniel''s statement as he soon discretely nced over towards Hikari and Crowelin, who gave awkward looks back. In the next moment, he received whispers from both simultaneously.


    "Hey! Don''t look at me like that!" Crowelin seemingly felt like crying out. "I didn''t say anything about you, alright?! Frey just suddenly mentioned your name in corrtion to the top ranks while we were having the topic of general top ranks!"


    "...the situation is weird," Hikari whispered. "None of us are to me, but... I think you might''ve made the situation slightly worse with your arrival? You did save us back there but... What kind of lie was that?"


    "Cough... Technically speaking, I was saying the truth," Shinto replied. "The previous Shinto and I are different... So it''s not really a lie."


    In a way, for Shinto to say thisit was partially true. Shinto wasn''t him. The Shinto of the past was that of a swordsman whilst now he was that of a mage, specialized in support. Thus whatever he said right now wasn''t really a lie. But he could never deny that he was the ''Shinto'' of the past.


    "...not really a lie?" Hikari sighed. "Well... Even if it ''technically'' wasn''t, saying something like that on a topic such as this may seem rather... Suspicious, in a way? I didn''t say this earlier since I didn''t know much about the situation, but... You''re not going to be able to keep up with saying ''You''re not Shinto'' sooner enough."


    "...I know that. It''s just..." Shinto frowned. "I''ve no intentions on outright saying it, I guess. I''ll see what will happen in the future ad make adjustments. But that''s for me future me to handle. As of right now... I''ll deal with the problems right now."


    "A future with no failsafe to go over, huh?" she continued to discretely whisper. "You met us by coincidence, but... You don''t even have a defence for yourself besides saying something like that. Honestly... I''m quite surprised everyone''s swayed by your lie... Well... An especially terrible one at that."


    "...Hikari," Shinto was speechless. No matter what he was thinking at the moment, it was filled with conflicted thoughts. "...sigh. I''ve got nothing to say, really."


    "Shinto..." she solemnly bit her lips as she walked closer towards the group, in the next moment, she began speaking as if the whisper had never happened. "Ahem! Yeah, enough of that. Shinto, you said you went to get Rustly, right? What happened to that?"


    "..." Despite still in a conflicted mind, Shinto sighed as he spoke up. "Reru went and sent me back here whilst he went searching for him himself."


    "Ah, really?" Frey raised her brow. "Ugh... Why do I have a sinking feeling that they abandoned us, again?"


    "...who says we abandoned you?" A male''s voice protruded out from behind the back of Frey as she soon ended her sentence. "Way to have trust in us."


    "Huh? Eeek!!" Once again, shocked by the sudden appearance of someone who she had just spoken of them, Frey stumbled back in shock. "Reru?! Rustly!? Where the heck did you appear from?! Actually... Don''t answer that. You just arrived, didn''t you?"


    "Obviously? What, did you think we were spirits that appeared out of nowhere for the sake of appearing out of nowhere?" Reru seemed to be raising a brow. "What world do you live in? Slera''s don''t have such abilities."


    "Urk... Don''t ask, please," Frey pouted. "With all the speak of the devil moments I''ve experienced today... What''s next!? Raina will log in right now?" Without another word, a blue shing light shone down to the ground, quickly indicating that a yer was logging in. Soon after as the light faded away, Raina had arrived.


    "Phew... I''m back," Raina uttered out with a sigh of relief as she nced around the area, quickly noticing that all eyes were on her. "...uh, I-Is something the matter?" she tilted her head in question. "Did Ie backte? I know I overslept but... W-Why all the stares?"


    "Are you kidding me?!" Frey shouted out. "What''s next? A swarm of bats will appear once"


    "Shut it, Frey," Ethaniel scoffed. "I don''t want to fight. I just want to head back to that damn catbs."


    "Ahem... R-Right..." Frey muttered out. "We were supposed to go somewhere... Huh?"


    "Sigh, you guys," Shinto shook his head whilst turning towards Rustly. "Are we ready to head back now? You''ve scouted the area alright, right?"


    "...yeah," Rustly uttered with a slightly unmoved voice. "Madam Ru''s line of magic around the catbs has weakened slightly since she must''ve noticed that we''re lost. After all, it''s been days..." he shook his head as he leapt forward. "Just follow me and we''ll head back to the catbs in about an hour or so? Give or take."


    "You won''t get us lost, again... Right?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "No," he stated firmly. "Just follow me and don''t... Break my focus. Peace and quiet. That''s all I ask for. No fights, no nothing. Just... Keep your mouth shut."


    "R-Rustly...?" Shinto raised his brow at his sudden attitude. It was new for Shinto, as well as for the rest of the group.


    "What?" Rustly muttered. "I need my focus. Unless you want me to get us lost again."


    "Tch... Then let''s just hurry it up," Ethaniel gestured at the group as he and the rest soon followed after the small slime that was leading the way. "We''re going back."

 Chapter 200: Fal (1)

    Chapter 200: Fal (1)


    With the heavy snowfall of Bareth falling down to the frozen ins, within the Kingdom of Fal which was not too far awaya group of mages hurried down the castle hallways with tired breaths as they reached towards the throne room''s door.


    "Hah... Hah..." Upon stopping at their footsteps, the group could finally catch a breath for a few seconds. However, it wasn''t even a minute when the doors of the room opened. In turn, the mages soon barged in whilst crying out a loud tone of voice. "Your majesty! It''s awful! This is terrible!"


    "You guys again?" Despite having called out for her majesty, the queen of Fal. A male''s voice was the one who had responded to their callings instead. "Ugh... What is it this time? If it''s to report on something... Just say to me straight instead of bothering her majesty."


    "Sir!" From the group of spellcasters, a man stepped forward with a troubled expression. "Sir Wryn! Knight of the Ebony! We are in deep! Deep! Deeep! Trouble!"


    "...please. Enough of your games and get to the point," Wryn rolled his eyes against the group of mages. "What is the trouble?"


    "The trouble! Oh, the trouble!" As the man ced his hand on his forehead in agony, the Knight of Ebony clicked his tongue, in turn, the man hurriedly coughed. "Ahem! The trouble... S-Some of the adventurers that were sent from the other kingdoms to aid us against Bareth... T-They''re having a fight and we need immediate aid!"


    "..." Hearing the men plead for help, Wryn folded his arms whilst ring at the group. "A fight you say? Why are you even bringing this to her majesty?" his voice turned into anger. "For something as menial as this... I''m disappointed that you cannot handle such a case on your own. Are you not the ''proud'' esteemed mages of Fal?"


    "E-Eep..." A female''s voice yelped from the group. "S-Sir... You have to understand that um... Unless we have someone of power to help us... The adventurers just won''t listen..."


    "Thest thing I remembered was that the Sages all gave you specific instructions to keep everything at bay. Yet... You''re failing this as we speak." the man clicked his tongue. "Who are they even? What''s the cause of the fight?"


    "Sir... P-Please... Come and see for yourself," on the right side of the woman who spoke, a young man muttered out. "It''s not easy for us to handle it... Really!"


    "..." The knight frowned as he seemed to be considering the thought. "Look, you''vee to the wrong ce. Her Majesty cannot help you and I" As Wryn was continuing on with his sentence, his words soon stopped as a powerful voice resounded through the area.


    "Wryn, Is something the matter here?" With loud footsteps echoing through the throne room, the queen of Fal revealed herself before them. With luscious ck hair and a face of youth, the woman walked up towards Wryn with a questioning expression. "Is there a problem?"


    "You''re majesty!" Wryn immediately kneeled. "I apologize for the ruckus. These disciples for the Sages havee barging in reporting a menial problem. So I was..."


    "A menial problem?" The queen thought to herself. "If that''s so then... Wryn, please join them and aid in wrapping up the issue without fail. Times are pressed as of the moment and even a menial problem may turn into that of a bigger issue in the end."


    "Huh? But your majesty, this problem is..." As Wryn was about to reason, the queen ced her palm forward over to the knight. "...I see. Then very well, I''ll oblige and help the mages."


    "Ah! Thank you, your majesty!" The man who was still at the front of the group humbly bowed. "We will never forget your grace upon us! Now, please, Knight of Ebony, Wryn! Hurry and follow us! We''ve no time to lose!"


    "Sigh... Please lead the way," The knight gestured as he began to step away from the queen and headed over to the throne room entrance. "I hope you''re not raising this issue as a much bigger problem than it is originally."


    "It isn''t! Please believe us!" The woman stated. "Hurry, before the fight gets worse!" With their final words before leaving the premise of the throne room, the queen was the only one left.


    "With pressing times such as this... Who would awaken Bareth?" Upon noting that the group had left, the queen closed her eyes calmly. "...sigh. For someone to go all the way to the abandoned vige and strike under these circumstances," she shook her head helplessly whilst looking out through the ss windows by the side of the room. "I can only prepare for the worse."


    ...


    "Fight! Fight! Fight!" At the lounge within the castle halls, loud roars protruded out within the area as a man in warrior''s arms stood at the centre of attention. With an angered expression, he who gripped onto his axe tightly swung it over towards the front of him, where a woman stood.


    "Ugh... You!" The man roared as his axended on the ground. However, the attack missed as the woman dodged. "Do you know who I am?!"


    "Ugh... Shut it old man!" The woman swung something that seemed to resemble that of a steel yoyo over towards the bulky man in armour. "I know who you are very well! Some dipshit that messed with me!"


    "Me? Messed with you? It''s the other way around!" The man mmed down his axe onto the ground, forcing the ground to break around the forefront of the attack. But, even then, despite the powerful attack, it still missed.


    "Hmph, I''d like for the witnesses here to judge of that," the woman smoothly swayed to the side as she moved the trajectory of her attacks over to the man. In turn, hitting him consecutively. "But, man... You sure are thick as hell! Why are you so tanky?!"


    "Say for yourself whose so damn agile with no damage!" The man scoffed. "Stop moving and get hit already!"


    "Ugh..." The woman continually dodged against the attacks dealt by the man whilst wrapping her yoyo against the man as a counter. "Tch... Why did I even get into this stupid situation?"


    "Hey! Old man! Would just stop fighting?!" A squeaky voice shouted out among the cries of the crowd in an attempt to stop the ongoing fight. "Give it a rest! We''re here to wait, not to fight!"


    "Shut it, bunny boy! My problems are my own to deal with," Wenzhou replied.


    "Ugh... At this rate, you''ll bring about problems for me too!" Bunnix frowned as he seemingly held onto his pistol. "Bah... if you''re not gonna listen to me then..." As he was about to aim his two guns at the two adventurersthe doors of the lounge suddenly mmed opened as a knight along with a group of mages waltzed into the area.


    "Everyone stop what you''re doing this instant!" A male''s voice roared. "Otherwise... I''ll use force to deal with this."

 Chapter 201: Fal (2)

    Chapter 201: Fal (2)


    At the voice of a man resounding through the roomall eyes within the lounge quickly turned towards the direction of it. There, the people noted that a mage was standing by at the entrance with a seemingly confident demeanour.


    "Hah... It''s that mage again?" The whispers of yers murmured through the room. "What is he up to this time?"


    "Didn''t he get blown away by Wenzhou?" One of the yers replied. "Howe he''s back? Does he want a second try? Hah! I''d like to see some puny mage try!"


    "Ugh... Interrupting our enjoyment, these damn NPCs..." They scorned. "If they don''t want to see us fighting, stop making us wait around then!"


    "...hey, Rob? Uh... Did you really have to barge in and shout like that?" The woman beside the mage whispered in his ears. "Look at their eyes! I-It''s scary..."


    "Ugh... Wait till they hear it from me!" Rob frowned. "What are y''all looking at?! Go and sit down! It''s not time to battle Bareth yet! Save your energy!"


    "R-Rob..." The woman muttered out.


    "Hah...? Yo, NPC dude," among the group of yers, one of them spoke out without a care for names. "Will you just shut up? We won''t trash this ce, but you ruining our fun? Do you think we''ll listen to you?"


    "How about giving us some rewards for listening, yeah?"


    "Yeah! Rewards! Rewards!" The yers within the room all cheered out.


    "These shameless bastards..." Bunnix clicked his tongue as he red at Wenzhou who was having a deadly staring contest with the woman with the yoyo. "...hey! Old man! Let''s leave while we still can before thing''s get worse."


    "Who the hell you calling an old man, bunny boy?!" Wenzhou clicked his tongue in reply. "Just get out of here or something! I''ve got business with this piece of shit!"


    "Ugh, you! I''m not gonna exin this stuff to Kaisus!" Bunnix frowned. "If you''re dealing with the consequence, leave me out of it!" As he was about to leave the area, Bunnix''s footsteps suddenly stopped as he heard a firm voice from the entrance of the room.


    "...a reward you say? For listening?" A male''s voice echoed through the ears of the adventurers which sent chills down their spine. "Has adventurers these days gone to dirt and trash?"


    "What the? Who says who? Dirt and trash?" Upon hearing the insult that was directed at the yers, a man stepped forward from among the crowd. With a look of pride and arrogance on him, he scoffed. "You dare call us, the Silver Wolves, trash?! We''ll show you"


    As he continued to walk over towards the entrance, a sudden loud thump protruded out. At that moment, the man who had walked forward instantly fell to the ground, knocked out unconscious.


    "Did I say dirt and trash? My bad. Garbage and waste were what I meant to say," cracking his knuckles upon entering into the roomthe man which gave off a dignified aura whilst showing off his shining armour, nced at the entirety of the yers within the area. "Sigh... This generation of so-called adventurers really have gone down to shit, huh?"


    "T-The knight of the Ebony?! What is he doing here?!" At the sight of the manWryn, cries of shock spread crossed the room. "I-Isn''t he supposed to be with the elite mages to handle Bareth!?"


    "W-Wow... the Knight of the Ebony..." Despite certain shocked expressions, there were some that stared in awe. "I wished I could have a title like that... But damn, I''m stuck with this shitty ss..."


    "Hey! Is that the point? We''re in deep trouble! I knew we shouldn''t have messed with that mage!" The yer beside the awestruck man shouted out. "Ugh... There go my chances at having glory!"


    "Tch... Of all times! The knight of Ebony?!" Bunnix clicked his tongue as his re at Wenzhou became much more intense than before. "Grr... Old man! You better get us out of this situation! Not only did your damn fight brought upon this, but I''ll also get an earful from Rie because of you!"


    "h, h, h," Wenzhou opened and closed his hand as if mimicking Bunnix. "it''s your problem, not mine."


    "Not your problem?!" Bunnix raised his brow. "The hell you talking about?!"


    "Hmph, just look," Wenzhou smirked at Bunnix whilst he slowly walked over towards the Knight of the Ebony. "Hey~ Hey! Buddy, wanna go grab a drink or something? You seem rather pent up these days ya?" Wenzhou casually spoke.


    "Huh?! The hell?! What the" Bunnix''s eyes shook in shock as he saw the outrageous sight of Wenzhou''s approach. "You... You''re crazy!"


    "...I was fighting with such a dumbass?" The woman clicked her tongue.


    "..." Feeling the weight of Wenzhou''s hand on his shoulder, Wryn took a nce at the bearded man with annoyance. "You... You''re the one that started this I presume? Perhaps we could go grab a drink"


    "D-Did he really...?" Shocked at the response by the knight, Bunnix was filled with confusion. "...this is"


    "in the confinement of your cell," the knight hurriedly grabbed onto Wenzhou''s arm that was on his shoulder and shoved him down to the ground. "Come with me quietly so I don''t have to deal with more problems than I have to."


    "Argh...!" Wenzhou cried out. "You!!"


    "You three, take that woman away," he stated as he forcibly dragged the bulky man out of the room. "As for the rest of the people in this room, till the time of the raid, don''t cause trouble in the castle halls. If you want to rumble, do it on the training grounds. Or you''ll have the same fate as these two."


    "H-Huh me...!?" The woman cried out. "Wait, hold on"


    "Come with us kindly and you won''t suffer the same fate as that man over there," Rob smiled menacingly as if he enjoyed the power.


    "Ugh..." The woman slowly walked over towards the group of mages. "This is stupid..."


    "What about that bunny guy over there?" The woman beside Rob asked.


    "Him? Must be an aplice, drag him away too!" Rob answered.


    "Hey, what?!" Bunnix cried out. "I didn''t do anything! What do you mean aplice?!"


    "It is just as I say," Rob stated. "Brenda, Herk, take him away!"


    "Hey! No!" Bunnix shouted out as he tried to resist. However, somehow, he was subdued and taken out of the room, leaving behind the rest of the yers in shock. "Arghhh!!"


    "...let''s not start something again," The yers stated. "...let''s go to the training ground?"


    "...let''s go," the yers replied. "Where was it again?"


    ...


    "Hey! Let me go!" Continuing to be dragged along the way through the hallways by the knight, Wenzhou desperately struggled. "If you need money, I''ll pay for it!"


    "..." The man kept quiet at his words. "I do not need money. All I want is some peace and quiet before you get into the damn cell, simple as that."


    "Argh, you!" Wenzhou clicked his tongue. "That was just a brawl, alright? Nothing much!"


    "..." Moments after he had finished speaking, Wryn continued to drag Wenzhou along the castle hallways. From behind him, Bunnix and the woman followed suit.


    "This is shitty..." Bunnix clicked his tongue. "I hateing early... Why the hell was everyone sote?!"


    "Hmph... I me that thick bastard for it," the woman humped. "Nothing would''ve happened if he didn''t start anything."


    "..." The man stopped at his footsteps as he red at the back of him. "You two. Shut up as well."


    "Eep!" Bunnix cried out.


    "Honestly, you three good-for-nothings should''ve been able to handle them just fine," Wryn clicked his tongue whilst ncing over to the group of mages. "I didn''t need to be here."


    "Aha... Sir, it was a struggle to get them to listen!" Rob reasoned. "You being here makes everything run smooth!"


    "...more like you just wanted to show authority..." Brenda muttered out. "Ahem. Are we really taking them to the cell? If we go ording to your orders... We''d lose on power for the raids against Bareth, right?"


    "...yes, perhaps so. But, I''ll deal with thatter," the man calmly closed his eyes as he reached towards a door that seemingly led underground. "For now, put them in confinement to reflect on their actions. If they want to appeal, then that would beter. We still have three days before we fight the beast."


    "For real! I didn''t do nothing!" Bunnix stated. "It was these two!"


    "Hmph..." Without a care in the world, Wryn spoke towards the guardsman on duty by the dungeon door. "You know what to do with them. If there any problems, please report them to me."


    "Yes, sir!" The guards saluted the knight as they soon took hold of the three adventurers. "You should be grateful that this is the punishment you''re getting from Sir Wryn!"


    "This is so damn unfair..." Bunnix grumbled as he was helpless at the situation. Without another say, he was greeted by a notification.


    [ You have been arrested under the authority of a knight! Confinement Timer: 3 Days. ]


    [ You cannot appeal until further notice. ]

 Chapter 202: Fal (3)

    Chapter 202: Fal (3)


    With certain sounds of a rock hitting the walls that resounded through the room, a man who was stripped of his equipment sat ever so lonely by the cell''s seat, with his face as dreaded as ever.


    "..." With lifeless eyes, the man, Bunnix continued to throw small pebbles of rock to the walls of the jail cell. It had been nearly a day since they had been arrested and, Bunnix was bored out of his life during the duration.


    "...ugh! Would you stop that already?!" A female''s voice protruded out from the cell next to Bunnix''s. "That sound is damn annoying!"


    "Shut it," Bunnix stated. "I wouldn''t be making such a noise if it wearn''t for you two!"


    "me that old man! That dipshit started it all!" The woman grumbled.


    "Hah?! me me?! It''s your fault in the first ce!" Wenzhou scoffed. "You intentionally pushed me over and made me drop my drink! A waste! You''ll pay for this!"


    "Ughh! I don''t care who it is anymore! Both of you is to me!" Bunnix angrily shouted out. "Honestly, why was I even dragged into this mess along with you two?! I wasn''t even involved at all!"


    "Deal with it! I''ve got my own problems to settle!" Wenzhou clicked his tongue.


    "Yeah, just sit over at a cornerining while we settle things right here, right now!" The woman scorned.


    "Settle things right here, right now?" Bunnix raised his brow. "You both are in separate cells and I''m in the damn middle of it! How can you even possibly think you''re able to do that?!"


    "We''ll find a way, bunny boy," Wenzhou replied. "Just, do something that isn''tining!"


    "You''reining amongst each other right now!" Bunnix cried out. "What''s any different from what I''ve been doing?!"


    "Shut up!" The two replied at the same time.


    "#@##$@#@#$!" Bunnix swore with anger as he sat down with an annoyed expression. "Stupid! Utterly stupid! Bah! I''m just going to wait for Kaisus next time! Just because of them, I have to waste three freaking in-game days of my gaming time! How unfair is that!?"


    Under thews of a kingdom, when an adventurer breaks a rule or aw, as a form of punishment, they would typically be arrested or would be forced to pay a fine. This was because, if such a feature wouldn''t affect yers, many adventurers would have the possibility of causing destruction amongst the towns and vigers if there wearn''t any countermeasures to prevent it.


    Though, most punishment goes within the range of one to three days. At best, most yers have the ability to log out during such time, however, they would oftentimes still be forced to stay within a jail cell for a set amount of time before being able to leave.


    However, in most cases, if a case was extremely severe, one could even face lifetime imprisonment, in which case would count as a ban from the game.


    "...sigh. Do I have to waste my time away in this ce?" Bunnix frowned whilst silently grumbling. "Logging out is an option but... It''s better to live my one day sentence before I log out. Ugh... Kaisus! Get here sooner, please! Get me out of here!"


    ...


    As the gates of the castle opened, a man who wore shining armour whilst showing off the emblem of his guildVainblood, hurried through the castle halls whilst frantically looking around the area.


    "Ugh... Bunnix, Wenzhou... I asked you two to wait but..." he slightlyined. "What were you two thinking?!"


    With every step that his greavended onto the ground, a loud sound would resound through the room. Whether it''d be dignified or shallow, the man didn''t care to keep up face. However, on the other hand, from behind him, the white-haired man who dressed orientally made his way through the halls with a noble presence.


    "Ahem... Kaisus?" The white-haired manRie, called out to the guild leader. "I think you might need to slow down a bit. They''re eyes everywhere in uncharted territory, and we may as well bring about dirt to our name if we go rushing in like this..."


    "...on the normal circumstance, we would. But this is a special case. The knight of Ebony personally sent us a quick message through this kingdom''s telepathy," Kaisus replied nonchntly whilst continuing down the halls. "But... With the way, the Knight of the Ebony phrased his sentence... We''d be lucky if Bunnix and Wenzhou don''t end up in hell."


    "What was the message he sent to you anyways?" Rie questioned. "Surely, something like a menial brawl among yers wouldn''t trigger such a strong response from the kingdom..."


    "I know that but, this is Fal. The kingdom is notoriously known to punish even the smallest crime with severity like having them go through the Icy Caverns or Ruinic Legacy dungeons which are way above most if not everyone''s level of power," Kaisus stated. "Sigh... I''ve warned them multiple times but... Is Shinto the only one that can get a dent into them?"


    "I digress, Shinto hasn''t gotten a dent into them," Rie stated. "It was because of his presence that prevented Wenzhou from going wild with fights. But that''s beside the point here. this kingdom is currently facing a crisis and, you think they still have the manpower to send prisoners to those dungeons?"


    "It''s just a thought. The knight''s message was akin to that of a severe, way too over the top punishment because they somehow managed to cause a ruckus big enough to have the man himself be at the scene," Kaisus''s expression turned dreaded. "Sigh... With Hikari and Shinto gone, if we lose Bunnix and Wenzhou now, we''ll becking manpower for the raid. Three main damage dealers and one support gone to the dust."


    "Hmm... That could be a problem too," Rie calmly nodded his head. "But that''s no excuse to have you rushing in like a bull, Kaisus."


    "Why are you so calm today? Usually, when it involves cases like this, you''d be in anger because of their behaviour," Kaisus raised his brow.


    "I gave up on them," Rie sighed. "If I give them a stern lecture, they wouldn''t listen and"


    "I heard from the witnesses the fight happened because Wenzhou was drinking," Kaisus stated.


    "...he was drinking? In brought daylight? Before the raid even begun?" Rie''s veins began to bulge from his head. "Tch... Just you wait, Wenzhou! You won''t be hearing the end from me!" With his seemingly calm demeanour gone, Rie began to rush ahead of Kaisus.


    "Aha... Sorry, Rie. I don''t you to give a lecture about keeping up face right now," Kaisus coughed slightly as his footsteps fastened. Quickly, the two adventurers reached towards the knight''s quarters where the Knight of the EbonyWryn, had been standing by and waiting for them.


    ...


    "Oh? The leader and secretary of the guild, Vainblood arrived this soon?" The knight, Wryn raised his brow in amusement as he noted that Kaisus and Rie entered into the knight''s quarters. "Well... I was expecting you''re arrival ahead of the time anyways. Have a seat over by the countless empty chairs and we can have a quick chat."


    "Sir Wryn, it is an honour to meet you," Kaisus bowed. "But... Do we even have time to sit and have a quick chat? The case regarding Wenzhou and Bunnix..."


    "That doesn''t matter. I haven''t had a chance to see the man in action whose mentor spoke very highly off to me," Wryn stated calmly whilst taking a sit over the empty chairs. "So I would like to take this opportunity to know you before things get too rough. We''ve only got three days of preparation for Bareth after all. So, those prisoners who caused a ruckus can be dealt withter."


    "...Kaisus," Rie whispered over to the man beside him. "You know this guy? The Knight of the Ebony? You have connections with him??"


    "I-It''s more of an acquaintanceship than actually having connections..." Kaisus replied awkwardly. "You remember my mentor, right? She knows him quite well, so there''s that. This is my first time seeing him. Well... Technically the second time, since the first was him visiting my mentor for a quick chat."


    "...and this is the reason why you''re not bothering to keep with your status?" Rie frowned. "You..."


    "This is why I didn''t bother, really..." kaisus sighed. "We''re not meeting the queen. It was just a knight, alright? So we can act casually. I don''t get why you were so frantic about having to keep up dignity when I told you that we were meeting him..."


    "Because you never told me!" Rie grumbled.


    "Aha... I wasn''t expecting you to follow me," Kaisus sighed as he soon turned towards the knight, soon speaking out. "Ahem... Well... We''vee all the way here because of the message you sent to us and, with the way you phrased the sentence, it almost seemed as if you were about to throw them into the Icy Caverns..."


    "Oh, that? I considered something far worse," Wryn shrugged. "But in any case, that can be dealt withter. For now, since we only have limited time, why don''t we just have a small chat? I asked you here for a reason and we can get with that in a bit. But In any case... First order of business, how''s Lier?"

 Chapter 203: Fal (4)

    Chapter 203: Fal (4)


    "...Lier? My mentor?" Upon hearing the name of ''Lier'' from the mouth of Wryn, Kaisus couldn''t help but feel solemn. "...well, to say the least... I''ve no either whether she''s doing well or not," he shook his head helplessly. "I haven''t heard from Lier in years."


    "Ah... You haven''t heard from her either?" Wryn frowned.


    "Contact with her had suddenly cut off after that incident happened in that vige," he sighed. "I was helpless then. But... Even knowing my current strength, I do not know if I can even do something now."


    "Sigh... It''s unfortunate," Wryn shook his head. "I was hoping I''d hear some good news from you since you were the closest to her over the years as your her mentee, but... If even you had not heard a thing from her, I can only assume the worst."


    "Ahem... Even if things were toe to that point, I still have hope that she''s alive and well somewhere," he stated. "But... That''s beside the point right now. To hear the mention of my mentor so suddenly... Is something the matter?"


    "Ah, no, no," Wryn shook his hand. "I was just curious, that''s all. Just like you said, contact with her had suddenly cut off. I had wanted to hear the full story on that incident from Lier herself that day, but... I couldn''t reach her and now, two yearster, we''re here."


    "...Sir Wryn," Kaisus took a deep breath as he stared at the knight in front of him. "...two yearster is when you decided to contact me. I do not think this is just curiosity. Besides the reason I''m here in the first ce, can you please tell me what you want from me?"


    "...hah," Wryn sighed as he averted his gaze away from Kaisus, quickly turning towards Rie. In the next moment, with his hand moving over to the few keys and a crest on the table, he threw it over to him. "Rie, was it? Go release your guild members from their captivity and head towards the lounge area for adventurers. I hope you''d be able to stop any havoc that urs there."


    "...?" Confused at Wryn''s sudden action, Rie who had subconsciously took hold of the items turned to Kaisus with confusion. "...what about Kaisus?"


    "He stays here as I want to continue chatting with him," Wryn continued. "Now, would you please be on your way?"


    "..." Rie frowned. However, upon taking note of Kaisus''s gesture, he couldn''t help but sigh as he began leaving the premises. But, before he did so, he sent a whisper. "I''ll report to you on whatever happens regarding Bunnix and Wenzhou. But, don''t do anything stupid, alright?"


    "Thank you, Rie," Kaisus replied. "It''s just a simple discussion, nothing too much."


    "Sigh... If you say so," Rie helplessly sent his final whispers as he exited out of the room. At that moment, Wryn soon stood up from his seat.


    "Ahem, now that your secretary is gone," Wryn closed his eyes as he grabbed onto his sword. "Shall we head over to the training grounds and spar?"


    "Sir Wryn..." Kaisus was unable to tell the goals of the knight before him. It had been two years since he had heard the name ''Lier'', and two years since he had seen someone of rtion to her. "...just what do you want?"


    "Hmm... Perhaps you wish to spar out in the ins of Bareth?" Wryn thought to himself. "I don''t mind. But we can only stay at the outskirts of the area since monsters have gotten ferocious as ofte. But it''ll probably help you for knowledge in your journey to Barethter."


    "Sir Wryn! Just what is the meaning of this?" With no longer any patience, Kaisus clicked his tongue. "It''s been two years since I''vest heard contact from you. But today... Of all days for Bareth to have been awakened, you wish to have a conversation like this?"


    Two years in-game felt as if it was two years in real life. However, in actuality, it was just eight months. But, even during that time, rtionships can grow and be steeled at heart.


    "...Kaisus. Or should I call you by your noble name? Viscount Kaisus?" Wryn raised his brow. "Formally spar with me. I wish to see your current abilities."


    "..." Kaisus kept quiet as his attempts at getting a clear answer was futile. Thus, with a sigh, Kaisus uttered out. "Fine. I ept."


    "Good," he nodded his head. "Since the grounds for battle has yet decided, I will choose the Bareth''s in. I hope you brought good protective gear against the cold?"


    "...I''vee prepared," with a helpless reply, Kaisus and Wryn soon left the quarters.


    ...


    Walking through the hallways of the castle, Rie calmly made his way over towards the dungeon doors where he was greeted by the guards at the front.


    "...an adventurer?" Cautioned at the sight, the guardsman at the front held up their des at the man. "State your purpose. Why are you here wondering around? Go back to your lounge!"


    "I''vee with permission from Sir Wryn, the Knight of the Ebony to release my fellowpanions from captivity," Rie stated as he showed the two guards the crest given to him by Wryn. "Please let me in."


    "...the crest of the quarters?" the guards muttered out. "...fine. If an adventurer like you have permission, then be on your way. I hope you don''t cause any ruckus."


    "Thank you. I will make sure of that," with a nod of his head, Rie soon began walking down the staircase of the dungeon. In the next moment, upon reaching closer towards the end of the stairs, Rie''s ears slightly tingled as he heard loud shouts protruding out by the distance. "...?"


    "Hah?! Why don''t you repeat that again, you thick old man?! Is your brain also filled with brawn and no smarts?!" A female''s voice shouted out. "Clearly, if you were to punch the damn cell, you''ll end up more in trouble!"


    "Just you wait! I''ll punch a hole to your cell and you''ll be getting it from me!" A male''s voice shouted out. "Hahhh!" In the next moment, a loud noise protruded out. "Argh! This damn sturdy wall!"


    "You stupid idiot!"


    "ARGHHH! WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP?!" Another voice protruded out, however, it was a squeaky one. "What was this about having me not throw any pebbles to not make any unnecessary noise, but look at this! You''re making all the damn buzz yourselves!"


    "...sigh. These guys are still at it even though they''re locked up?" Rie raised his brow as his steps hastened. Finally, he reached towards the cells that the group had been locked up in. "Hey, you two. You best have a good exnation of the situation here."


    "Huh?!" Upon hearing Rie''s voice, Wenzhou angrily turned in the direction of it. "Who the hell dares to... R-Rie!?" At the sight of the secretary before him, Wenzhou slightly stepped back. "W-When did you get here?!"


    "The Knight of the Ebony called us here," Rie stated. "In a rush, we came here ahead of time, leaving Revelen in charge. But... It looks like it was a wasted effort honestly. Just look at you, if you were sent into the Icy Caverns, I couldn''t care less anymore."


    "Rie! You''re here! My lord and saviour!" Bunnix stated. "Listen, you have to listen to me! I''m innocent in all this, alright?! It was these two bastards that started it, and I got into this cell for nothing!"


    "Sigh... Bunnix, reports said that you wanted to further prompt the fight because you were aiming your pistols at them," Rie stated without care. "Do you want to deny that?"


    "What?! You were going to shoot me with your damn guns?" Wenzhou clicked his tongue. "Don''t take me for a fool! I knew you were arrested for good reason too!"


    "W-What? No! I wasn''t trying to add fire to the fuel! I was trying to quell it!" Bunnix cried out. "Knocking these two knuckleheads down would make everyone''s life easier!"


    "You''ll still be resorting to violence, Bunnix. And that won''t solve anything," Rie stated. "I was going to free you, but seeing as how you''re still held up in this charade, I think I''ll leave you two be in your own games."


    "R-Rie? Hey! Wait! Hear me out!" Bunnix cried out. "I swear! I was trying to quell the situation! Rie! Riea!!!"


    "Argh! Damn you, Rie!" Wenzhou clicked his tongue.


    "..." Ignoring the plead for help, Rie began walking away from the cells and headed over towards the staircase. However, just as he was about to take a step up, he heard a voice from the cell beside Bunnix''s.


    "Psst! Hey! Secretary of Vainblood!" The woman who had been a part of the reasons for the group''s arrest spoke out. "Do you mind freeing me?"


    "...you," turning towards the woman nonchntly, Rie uttered out. "You''re involved in this mess too, aren''t you?"


    "I mean, yes! But, it was that old man''s vault for initiating the fight! All I was trying to do was defend myself," she reasoned. "Unlike the bunny boy who pleads he is innocent, I plead somewhat guilty. Is that any good to set me free? I apologize for the ruckus I''ve caused for you and your guild. Honestly... This should be a matter settled for those two than the guild, isn''t it?" she rattled on.


    "Hah! Your ramblings won''t bear fruit!" Wenzhou scoffed. "You won''t be freed! You''re just as guilty as" As he was about to continue his sentence, Wenzhou''s jaw soon dropped at the sight of Rie''s actions.


    Rie made his way forward to the woman''s cell with the key in hand and opened itreleasing the girl from captivity.


    "We''re leaving. I do not care whether it''s lies or bullshit, but you best not get involved in this charade ever again," Rie stated as he soon left the premise.


    "What...? Rie! You... You... Betrayer! Utter betrayal!" Bunnix cried out. "You abandoned us for a girl?!"


    "Oi! What happened to the code, guys before hoes?! You... You!!" Wenzhou was fuming with anger.


    "Hehe~ Serve you right," the woman stuck her tongue out as she headed up the stairs which Rie had long left.


    "RIENLAA!!!!!!" the two shouted out with all their might as they were now the only ones in the dungeon.

 Chapter 204: Fal (5)

    Chapter 204: Fal (5)


    With steps leading up towards the entrance of the dungeon, Rie made his way forward as he exited out of the darkroom. Thereafter, from behind him, the woman who he had released from captivity followed from behind him.


    "..." Silent throughout the entire journey upstairs, as he exited out of the room, Rie noted that the guards that had been standing guard just a moment ago seemed to have left their post and, in ce of thema young green-haired man stood.


    "...h-huh?!" Upon noticing Rieing out from the dungeon, the young man hurriedly pointed his pike at him. With a nervous stance, he spoke out. "I-Intruder...!? Argh... On my first duty here too..." muttering out, he shook his head. "Don''t move!"


    "...a newbie knight?" Rie tilted his head with interest as he soon shook off. "Ahem... Don''t worry. I was in the dungeon with explicit permission from the Knight of the Ebony himself. So, you can be at ease."


    "A-Ah... E-Explicit permission from the Knight of the Ebony himself?" The man''s shoulder slightly rxed. "No one told me that you were visiting when it came to my shift..."


    "Hmm... Right," Rie nodded his head as he soon began to walk away. "In any case, I''ve only released one of the involved adventurers from the recent incident that urred. As for the other two, since they haven''t learnt their lessons yet, I''ll leave them be for about a day ande back for them. If possible; please inform this to Sir Wryn or the next guard on duty."


    "W-Will do!" The young knight firmly nodded his head.


    "Oh huh, a new knight?" The woman who soon exited out of the dungeon questioned. "Here I thought those two other guards would stay at their post forever."


    "U-Uh actually... We often change posts as it''s a part of our usual schedule" As the young knight muttered out, he soon slightly coughed. "Ahem... Sorry about that. I''m sprouting unnecessary things and should be going back to my duties. Please, carry on with your day."


    "It should be fine right? No one''s around besides us!" The woman stated as she patted the back of the knight. "So, rx a bit!"


    "...hey, you shouldn''t be disturbing the poor knight," Rie red at the woman.


    "Ah, right, right," the woman chuckled as she smiled at the knight. "Do your best!"


    "...t-thanks...?" The knight awkwardly stated.


    "..." Slightly annoyed by the sight of the woman whose demeanour had suddenly changed from the screamingdy in the dungeon to this, Rie sighed as he soon began walking away from the two.


    "Huh?" Taking note that Rie was leaving, the woman soon began to move as well. "Hey! Secretary of the guild, wait up!"


    ...


    Walking through the hallways of the castle, Rie and the woman slowly made their way over towards the lounge where the yers were designated to meet up upon arriving at the castle.


    "Hey, secretary of the guild!" However, during the journey therethe woman had persistently called out to Rie. "Earth to the secretary? Are you suddenly deaf?"


    "..." Throughout the entire journey, Rie''s eyebrow slightly twitched. However, he remained quiet.


    "Hey! Secretary of the guild! I''m talking to you here!" The woman cried out. "Answer me!"


    "..." Closing his eyes with a sigh, Rie soon turned towards the woman. "...what is it? It hasn''t been even for a moment since leaving the dungeon you hadn''t persistently called out to me. Is there something you need?"


    "Gosh, finally!" the woman rolled her eyes. "Here I thought you were deaf. But never mind that! You''re the secretary of the guild, right? Or have I been calling your title wrong all this time?"


    "...as if you haven''t been calling me that already," he frowned.


    "Yeah, yeah! So... I''m curious," the woman thought to herself. "Do you know what the big deal about the changes to the rankings is about? I heard Shinto'' disappeared off the chart. Will he make an appearance for this raid?"


    "...why do you think I would tell you?" Rie calmly stated. "This is private guild stuff, just because I released you from captivity over the two actual guild members doesn''t mean you have the right to ask for confidential info."


    "So that means Shinto will be at this raid?" her eyes glittered. "Damn! I can imagine all the buzz with his appearance, right now! Headlines: Shinto, the ex-first ced yer makes an appearance in the Bareht raidwhat does this mean?!"


    "Ugh... You''re somehow making me regret ever releasing you," Rie furrowed his brows as he continued along the hallway. "Before you end up making a name for yourself on my list of ''don''t talk to me'', please. Shut up."


    "Ack!?" The woman slightly stumbled back from Rie''s blunt voice. "Hey! I was just trying to make some small talk, nothing that big of a deal!"


    "Unnecessary small talk," Rie sighed. "If you want something like that, you should''ve stuck with the knight then. Or perhaps, you could have stayed in your cell arguing together with Wenzhou."


    "Eww, with that thick old man and bunny boy? Hell no! They caused a scene for nothing!" The woman stuck her tongue out in disgust. "I''d rather talk to a wall than listen to talk to a big heap of meat with no brain!"


    "There''s a wall in the cell, it is clearly calling for you," Rie stated nonchntly.


    "That is beside the point!" The woman cried out. "We''re way past that point and since you''re the only speaking human here, can''t I have a small talk with you?"


    "As I said... Unnecessary," Rie stated. "Don''t you have a guild or something? Just go to them instead of attempting to befriend me or get information out of me. Your attempts would be wasted."


    "Jeez..." the woman frowned. "At least keep up with the chat until we get to the longue? It''s freakishly long from here!"


    "Whispers exist for your benefit," Rie exined. "Whisper to your friends or something. Just because it''s a long journey doesn''t mean you have to chat to have a face-to-face chat with someone."


    "And if I say I don''t like chatting via whispers?" The woman asked.


    "Then this game isn''t for you," without any more to say, Rie walked further away from the woman. "Now... If you''ll excuse me, the lounge is just right up ahead."


    "What? Hey! Secretary!" The woman shouted out. However, there was no longer a single response from Rie. "Ugh... Are you serious? Just as I met the Qi Master Rie too..." she frowned. "Bah! Mashita will kill me!!"


    "I can hear you from your shout, you know that, right?" Rie listlessly spoke out. "It''s good to know that you''re with the Beast Master Mashita. I''ll be sure to inform my guild leader about it."


    "Wah?" The woman murmured dumbfoundedly. "Argh! Damn you, thick old man! Your stupid attitude got to me!"


    "...sigh," Rie sighed through his teeth as his footsteps finally stopped at the doors of the lounge. "Well... Now that that''s over... I can finally rx for just a" As the doors of the lounge opened, Rie was soon greeted by loud shouts which rang through the room.


    "Yoo!! Guys! I heard some news! I heard Shinto would being to Fal!" cries protruded out within the lounge.


    "What? Shinto? The Shinto!?" The yers cried out. "No way! He''s been off the radar these days!"


    "I''m serious! I''ve heard from a legit source!"


    "Being in a raid with Shinto... Is this... A dreame true?!"


    "What''s the big deal about Shinto? He''s got loads of problems. Arceus is go-to!"


    "Tch... Arceus has a lot of problems too, Kaisus is the one!"


    "Wasn''t this on the topic of Shinto? Stick with it!"


    "...???" Upon hearing the loud gossiping that had been resounding through the air as he entered the lounge, Rie''s expression grew confused. "...the hell? Grr... This woman..."


    "W-Woah there, secretary! Before you start a match with me over this, I didn''t start this!" The woman cried out. "I was just joking earlier when I was spouting those things out!"


    "...if you didn''t say it, then who did? You''ve caused an annoying mess over nothing," Rie pinched the bridge of his nose. "In just any moment now I''ll be..."


    "...hey, isn''t that Rie? Why don''t we ask him? Surely, keeping something like this as private info would be stupid!" The yers took notice of Rie as all eyes turned in his direction.


    "You''re right! Hey, Rie! O'' great Qi Master! Answer us!" The shameless yers were the first to rush forward over to Rie. "Is Shintoing or what?! Confirm please!"


    "Ugh..." Rie helplessly nced over to the crowd of lower-rank yers in front of him. "...this is annoying..."


    "Not my fault! I didn''t do this!" The woman spoke out with hands up in the air. "I''m innocent."


    "...hah, I''m leaving," Rie quickly turned around as he soon exited out of the lounge.


    "What? Hey! Rie! What is the meaning of this?!"


    "Come back here!" Although their cries were shouted out, none could even reach Rie.


    "Well okay..." The woman muttered out as she saw that Rie had left. "Ahem! Now everyone, calm down will ya?! You''re not gonna get any information if you''re gonna have this kind of attitude!"


    ...


    Whilst the raid against Bareth was in preparations, back within a dark cavernthe group which had set off to the catbs after a few days at the ins continued on through the stone grounds.


    "...are we there yet?" Yer stated. "This seems way longer than the time we went from the catbs to the cold ce..."


    "..." Rustly kept quiet throughout the journey as he finally stopped. "There. We''re here. The catbs."


    "...we''re finally here?!" With excitement, Frey''s eyes turned towards the front and, with the help of the light source given by Hikari, she noted that a giant door stood in front of the group. "We''re finally back!"

 Chapter 205: Back to the Catacombs (1)

    Chapter 205: Back to the Catbs (1)


    Stopping their footsteps at the giant door in front of them, besides the excited Frey, the rest of the group felt sceptical.


    "...did we ever pass through a door?" Raina thought to herself. "Surely... If we were to go back on our original routes, we would be back at the throne room, right?"


    "We definitely didn''t pass through a door," Ethaniel stated. "I mean, look at the size of this. It almost reminds me of the giant statue''s chamber... Or if anything, the entrance to the dens."


    "There''s an entrance to the catbs here?" Yer stared nkly at the door. "...is this a joke? Are we being led into some kind of dungeon!?"


    "Huh... You''re right! Did we even pass through a giant door?" Frey who still had the ne tilted her head. "If my memory serves me correctly... We just went to that entrance that the slime appeared out of and then we got lost! No way did we pass through some door without us noticing, right? What do you think, master?"


    "Um... I was unaware of my surroundings at that time..." Shinto awkwardly stated. "Surely you didn''t forget that I was distracted then, right...?"


    "Oh right!" Frey uttered out. "If that''s the case then... No clue."


    "How do you guys even know that we didn''t pass through a door?" Erith questioned. "If I remember correctly... Everyone was basicallyining that they couldn''t see at all."


    "Uhh..." Frey muttered out upon hearing Erith''s statement. "...we couldn''t see... So how did we know? Uhh... I don''t know! It''s just a feeling, right?"


    "Frey..." Ethaniel sighed. "Even if we couldn''t see, we should still be able to tell whether we''d pass through a door or not. After all, we didn''t open anything or even hear any mechanism of the doors opening when we ended up in the stupid snowy ins."


    "That''s true too!" Frey nodded her head. "But like... A thought just came to mind... Uh, what was it about? Oh yeah! Maybe the doors were opened back then and they''re now closed?"


    "...look," Rustly bluntly stated in Arcos. "This is the right pathway. I''m following Madam Ru''s mana this time! If we end up getting lost, again, I''m not to me."


    "...sounds quite hectic," Crowelin muttered out whilst listening in on the conversation between the group. Soon after, she began to scrutinize the patterns on the doorsquickly taking note that the patterns seemed to be familiar to her. "...hmm, what''s this?"


    "Huh? Crowelin, whatcha thinking about?" Noticing that Crowelin was in deep thought, Hikari slowly walked up towards her as she asked.


    "Ah, Hikari?" Turning around, Crowelin tilted her head. "It was just a thought but... These patterns, haven''t we seen them before?"


    "Huh?" Confused at Crowelin''s words, Hikari scrunched closer to the door as she began to look at it in detail. In the next moment, her eyes opened wide. "Hey... Isn''t this the same pattern pope Judar showed us when he gave us the quest? ''To know where the hidden vige lies, the patterns gifted by the War Angel of mes will lead you the way,'' something like that."


    "...wait, you don''t think?" Crowelin''s face turned into that of excitement. "This is the exact vige we''re looking for?"


    "Hmm... I don''t know," Hikari shook her head. "We have to head in to find out. But... I have my doubts."


    "Well, it''s worth a try," Crowelin stated as she averted her gaze away from Hikari, soon towards the group who had finally settled down and were making their way over to the door to open it. "Quick, before we somehow get lost."


    ...


    As the doors of the catbs opened, the group immediately entered into it.


    "...well, we''re back," Rustly stated. "Well... At least from what I think. This route that we took was entirely different from the one I was supposed to take you back to."


    "Jee... I wonder why," Reru scoffed. "At the very least, does anyone know which part of the catbs we''re at? Never been here before."


    "Neither have I," Erith stated.


    "I was asking this earlier... How should I know?" Yer replied.


    "...so, do we just wander the catbs?" Rustly questioned. "Beside''s our usual ces... Isn''t there a few areas the Sleras and Farchu haven''t explored?"


    "From what I''ve heard, I think so," Erith nodded his head. "Back then... Our race stood no chance against the evil that lurks deeper into the halls, so we just settled for the middle area with the entrances all sealed off with Madam Ru''s spell."


    "Wait... You guys have no idea where we''re at?!" Frey cried out. "A-And you''re saying... There''s more to this ce?! It was already a long walk from the warrior''s room to the guardian''s!"


    "It is what it is," Reru stated. "It''s not like we''re going to be heading into the unexplored areas anyways. We just need to find where we were at and then go back to the den from there."


    "Huh? We''re lost aren''t we?!" Frey continued to cry out. "What makes you think we didn''t end up into that unexplored area you''re talking about?! Like... You all don''t know where we are! This is troubling... Ahh! I don''t want to fight this soon again! Give me a break!"


    "...Frey? What''s wrong?" Raina questioned Frey. "What did the slimes say?" Besides only understand Rustly, the rest of the group could notprehend the slime''snguage. Thus, they were all reliant on Frey''s trantion.


    "it''s terrible! Ahhh!" Frey shouted out. "We might be fighting monsters again! And... It might be monsters far beyond our level, AGAIN!"


    "Ugh... Are you serious?" Ethaniel frowned. "Here I thought we''d stop doing that..."


    "OI HUMAN! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" Reru screamed in Arcos. "I LITERALLY SAID, WE WON''T BE GOING TO THE UNEXPLORED AREAS!"


    "... there are unexplored areas???" Ethaniel was filled with confusion at the mention of it by Reru.


    "Ugh..." Reru grumbled. "Can you just give the damn ne to the other humans?!"


    "No way!" Frey refused. "I have a mission to fulfil and that''s not tranting! You can speak Arcane, can''t you?! Wait, Arcane? Arca, Arcu, Aku, Arcos!" she shook her head. "You can speak it, can''t you?! Then, trante instead!"


    "You..." Annoyed by Frey, Reru was near his patience. "Grr! Just head straight and turn right every single time we see an intersection!"


    "...will that even take us back?" Raina questioned.


    "Don''t question and just do it!" Reru stated firmly. "If we''re lost, just take a left instead! We''re bound to find the den this way."


    "Wow... What a way to solve this problem," Ethaniel rolled his eyes. "Does anyone have better ideas?"


    "...hey, Zay... Is this group always this chaotic?" Hikari whispered to Shinto.


    "Honestly, this is no different from our time together as a party back then too, so..." Shinto replied. "I don''t see a problem with that. Chaos... Is alright, I guess."


    "Aha..." Hikari chuckled. "I guess you''re right."


    As the two whispered to one another, the argument continued.


    "Huh? Is one giving a better idea??" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Surely, anyone can think better than that kind of random on the spot idea, right??"


    "If you think anyone can think better than this idea, why don''t I see you giving any ideas?!"


    "Bah, I''m thinking alright?! Unlike your brainless idea!"


    "Brainless?! Youe here right now and I''ll show you brainless!" Reru leapt over towards Ethaniel.


    "You piece of..." Ethaniel frowned.


    "E-Eep!" Frey cried out. "Are you going to start a fight when we''re on the verge of encountering more high levelled enemies?!"


    "I don''t care!" The two replied as they appeared to have started a quick brawl. with their patience now thin as ice.


    "Hah..." Rustly red at the two beings of different races fighting in a fit. "You know what, let''s head straight, then turn left at any possible moments. If we''re lost we turn right instead. I don''t care, decisions final," stating out his sentence, Rustly began leaping forward.


    "...how''s that any better than Reru''s idea?" Raina blinked at the listless Rustly.


    "I don''t care, I said decisions final, leave them be," Rustly stated as he continued on.


    "Well... If we just make way through the catbs as it is, we''re bound to find somece simr, I guess," Erith shrugged as he followed behind Rustly.


    "This is...?" Frey blinked in a dumbfounded manner. "...ahh! Whatever! I just hope we can head back to the den soon! No more intense fights! I want to do quests and get better equipment!!"


    "Hah..." Shinto sighed helplessly at the situation. "What do you think?" Turning towards the rest of the bystanders, Shinto asked.


    "Meh... You guys know this ce more than us, especially those slimes, so I''ll trust them," Crowelin nodded her head.


    "I''m with Crowelin here," Hikari stated.


    "...there''s no other choice," Raina sighed. "Let''s just hope... Whatever Frey said about the monsters in those unexplored areas doesn''te true. The thought of fighting them is pain..."


    "Yeah, you''re right," Shinto said as the group began following after Rustly, quickly leaving behind Ethaniel and Reru who were long unaware of their surroundings. "Then we''re going."

 Chapter 206: Back to the Catacombs (2)

    Chapter 206: Back to the Catbs (2)


    Moments after abandoning Ethaniel and Erith to their own deeds, the rest of the group steadily made way their way through the hallways that was slightly lit up by Hikari. Although the interior was familiar to the same, it felt as if the entire area that they were in waspletely different.


    "..." As they walked, they silently observed around the around when suddenly Raina spoke up. "So... I''ve been thinking; This is definitely unfamiliar surroundings for all of us and it might be rather risky if we continue on this way..." she stated. "...can''t we head back and take another route?"


    "We''ve alreadye this far, we might as well just go on with it," Rustly uttered out. "It''s not like Madam Ru would purposefully lead us into unexplored areas for us all to be killed, right?"


    "...well I guess you''re right," Raina nodded her head. "but, I still feel as if something is off."


    "Hmm, is it?" Frey tilted her head. "I feel the normal atmosphere we experienced before! Eerie, creepy, dark, but this time with Hikari''s light!"


    "Could it just be my imagination then?" Raina muttered out. "The atmosphere is rather different from before..."


    "Hmm, whatever it is, we''ll just continue on," Rustly stated. "Turning back might cause us all a setback if we go back now."


    "Why the rush?" Frey questioned. "We''ve already been out for like three days? I dunno. But something along those lines! So, any longer wouldn''t hurt."


    "Perhaps food?" Hikari asked. "Well... For the slimes at leastI haven''t seen them eat anything since going back to the caverns, or at all in actuality."


    Back at the caverns where the group had been stuck in for the past few days, the original group before the arrival of Hikari and Crowelin had been eating the rations prepared by Greld. However, with the passing days, the food slowly dwindled. As for the slimes that were with them, none of them was seen eating at all.


    "Huh? Food?" Yer seemingly blinked. "Meh, we can survive just with water. Eating solid stuff is quite rare for us."


    "You only survive off water?" Frey raised her brow. "Howe I''ve never seen you drink any?!"


    "We do," Erith stated. "Our bodies just subconsciously drain the liquids around if it''s fresh and it just so happened that we were at a forest. So nothing much is needed to be said and done."


    "Oh, I see..." Frey nodded her head. "If you already had that much amount of water, you''re not hungry, right? If so, then why the rush again?"


    "Just continue on and stop asking questions!" Rustly clicked his tongue.


    "Okay then...?" Frey blinked at Rustly''s tone of voice. "We''ll just continue down the path..."


    "..." Taking note of the conversation that had urred between Frey and Rustly, Shinto thought to himself. "Hmm... A reason needed to rush back towards the den..." Whilst thinking to himself, he suddenly felt a silent tap from behind him. "...?" Turning back, he noted that it was Hikari, seemingly pointing towards something in front of her.


    "Hey, Zay!" Btedly noticing Hikari''s whisper, Shinto quickly turned his attention over to it. "The reason as to why he''s rushing... You think it might be rted to that ''illness'' he said he had?"


    "Huh... It could possibly be it?" Shinto replied.


    "Right? And on that note... What do we do about that quest?" Hikari asked. "If we don''t ept it, Rustly will do everything on his own and it might lead to bad things... And on another note, even if we ept it, we''ll be left in the dark."


    "..." Shinto was in deep thought as he averted his gaze over to the details of the quest, [ For the Unbloomed of a Curse ]. "...well, even if we go about it rationally and ignore the quest rewardsif this curse were to take hold of Rustly, we''d be watching someone die before us. Do we really want that?"


    "Well... You''re right," Hikari silently pouted. "But... Do we really help someone who might mean us harm? Well in a way... Think of it as: ''Will helping him bite us back?''"


    "Perhaps that would be the case with a noble or a typical human being... But this is a slime we''re talking about, well to be precise: Sentient monsters," Shinto stated.


    "Sentient mobs..." Hikari continued her whisper. "They usually despise humans as much as every other race like the elves and merfolks. But ignoring that note, having Rustly keep us in the dark like that may very well lead us into something way out of our league, especially yours. Just look at the difficulty! It''s ranked SS."


    "Hmm..." Still, in deep thought, Shinto continued. "The unbloomed flower of Myriad, if it''s that difficult of a flower to bloom, then... I guess there''s that. But," he firmly turned to Hikari. "We''ll never know its true difficulty unless we actually try it, right? The quest penalty for failure is the destruction of all quests rting to the catbs. It''s not as if we''ll have our skills locked, levels lowered or heck even have it reset."


    "..." Hikari thought to herself as she considered Shinto''s points. "...well, I guess there''s that. Are we Are you going to take a risk like that? Well... With your circumstance, perhaps so. But..."


    "...yes, I''m going to take the risk," Shinto firmly responded. "Of course, you''re going to be a part of this, right?"


    "Hah... I guess that''s very like you," Hikari chuckled. "Well, if you''re really keen on this, then... As your temporary carry, I''ll help!"


    "Aha thanks, Hikari," Shinto smiled.


    "But... You know I can''t stay with your group for that long, right?" Hikari sighed. "If your initial goal of staying away from the rankers was so that you won''t be bothered, me being here might very well be a hinder to you. Despite that, you''re still going to risk having other rankers finding you and bombarding you with questions?" she continued. "Then there''s the other problem. If I stick around for much longer than intended, the rest of your group might find it suspicious. After literally you just said that you''re not Shinto."


    Shinto closed his eyes. "Your points might be true... But, that''s for future me to handle I guess. For now, I don''t mind having you around."


    "Hehe~ Just like old times huh? The old questing party!" Hikari smiled. "Well... if you ignore that three other yers are missing of course."


    "Yeah... For that, I''m not really ready," Shinto sighed.


    "Well there''s that," Hikari nodded her head. "In any case... A thought just came to mind and..." As she was about to continue on with her whisper, a loud roar soon rang through the catbs.


    "OI! THE HELL?! YOU ALL LEFT ME ALONE?!" Along with the loud roar, rushing footsteps soon followed.


    "Eeep!" Frey slightly jumped back from the sudden roar. "E-Ethaniel?" Turning to the direction of the sound, she noted that it was a blonde-haired man whose sword was tightly held in hand, as if ready to strike at the foes in front. "I-Is he going to kill us?!"


    "It looks like Reru is too?" From the side of Ethaniel, Reru was rushing towards the group as well. "...will they actually kill us?"


    "Meh, just leave them be," Rustly listlessly stated. "Oh, we''re at an intersection, okay we''re turning left now."


    "Yikes... Rustly doesn''t have a care in the world..." Erith muttered out.


    "What''s up with him?" Yer questioned.


    "Oh, you''re so going to get it!" With his sword in hand, Ethaniel leapt forward as he swung it over towards the slime upfront. However, Ethaniel''s de suddenly stopped as he then moved one of his hands over to the slime, soon grabbing hold of Rustly. "The hell! Why did you leave me alone?!"


    "...I didn''t leave you alone," Rustly stated. "You had Reru forpany."


    "I don''t care about that guy!" As he shouted out, Ethaniel angrily turned towards the rest of the group. "Ugh... Seriously... You guys..."


    "Eh... Not my problem you fought," Rustly sighed. "Also... Could you put me down now? I don''t want to waste time. I want to finally go back to the den..."


    "Is that all you care about?" Ethaniel frowned in annoyance.


    "Yes."


    "Rustly!!" Ethaniel angrily shook Rustly. However, thetter was unfazed.


    "You done yet?" Rustly listlessly stated.


    "...?" Ethaniel raised his brow in confusion at Rustly''s sudden uncaring demeanour. In the next moment, he soon let go of the slime. "Tch... What''s up with you?"


    "Alright, taking the left side now!" Rustly continued on as he began to make his way towards the left hall. "If you don''t want to be left behind again, let''s pick up the ck."


    "Ugh..." Ethaniel frowned as he turned towards the rest of the group. "What''s up now?"


    "I don''t know," Raina shrugged. "Let''s just, discuss thister. Probably when we reach the den?"


    "Seems like Rustly realllyyy wants to go back, huh?" Frey uttered out. "I guess we shouldn''t be wasting time..."


    "Let''s continue on," Shinto sighed as the rest of the group followed along the path.


    "Huh? Hey!" Ethaniel cried out. "What''s up with all this??"

 Chapter 207: Back to the Catacombs (3)

    Chapter 207: Back to the Catbs (3)


    Rushing through the darkened hallways, Frey, who was at the forefront of the group, swiftly threw a fist out into the darkness. In turn, her attacksnded on a dark figure among the shadows.


    "Hyahh!" she shouted out. "And... Take this!"


    [ Brawler Skill - Frontal Collision ]


    "...g..ah..." Muttering out in a distorted and iprehensible voice, the figure that Frey hadnded her hit on slowly disappeared away.


    "...phew! One down and..." Upon noting that the figure had turned into grey-ash, Frey nced around the area as she then saw that the rest of the group were still fighting against the unknown type of monsters.


    "Ugh... Why the hell are there suddenly so many of them?!" Ethaniel cried out as his sword swung in ateral direction, quickly striking down the few amounts of mobs in front of him. "So tedious... Just give me a break!"


    "A break?" Reru clicked his tongue as he shed at the monsters around him. "Clear out the damn wave of monsters and follow my lead if you want a damn break! Clearly, turning left at every intersection isn''t cutting it!"


    "What are you trying to tell me here?" Rustly frowned. "If we took the right path back then, we''d have found more of these guys!"


    "H-Hey... You two..." Hikari muttered out. "How about discussing this after the fight? We''re tight on the numbers as it is..."


    Before the fight had urred, the group had wandered off through the catbs like normal. However, as they took a turn through the few intersections that they had passed, figures of the shadow began to appear out of nowhere, soon initiating attacks against them.


    "Where the hell did theye from?" Crowelin gritted her teeth as she swung her hammer down to the ground, greatly disrupting the earth''s bnce. In the next moment, from behind her, a ball of fire rushed towards the darkened figures that dispersed away like the wind as it touched them.


    "I don''t know..." Raina frowned. "And it seems that they''re rather persistent withing back over and over..."


    "I''ve never seen these guys in all my years of living!" Yer cried out. "Just who are these guys? Have theye to invade our homes?!"


    No matter how many times the group had killed the foes in front of them, the mobs continued to return over and over as if nothing had happened. Even if they were easy to kill and their movements were dull, with the sheer amount of monsters that appeared before them, it wasn''t easy to escape.


    "M-Master... I''ve never seen anything like this while we were here!" Kon uttered out. "What do we do? If we continue on like this... Our resources will be drained!"


    "For monsters to suddenly appear out of nowhere like this..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he cast out his basic attacks over to the mobs, steadily conserving his resources while he was at it. "...do we just stop fighting and make a run for it?"


    With the same situation as the endless amounts of rats that appeared when they first arrivedIt felt as if it was the same circumstance. However, unlike the brutal and powerful Farchu, these mobs were extremely weak in strength yet durable. Not to mention, they could return from the dead like it was nothing.


    "Run? Against foes like this?" Reru scoffed. "These guys only know how to revive! Are you saying you''re struggling against mobs like this?"


    "I-I mean, Reru... If you noticed," Erith stated. "It''s not a matter of struggle or not... It''s a matter of overwhelming numbers. Though not as much as the Farchu, it is still somewhat of a precedent that they''re blocking our way."


    "Meh... There''s got to a way to just destroy them all and done with it," Reru seemingly shrugged. "There should be the main body to all this... Or the main controller of these lifeless guys."


    "And where would that be?" Frey questioned as her fist struck at the foes in a frenzy. "All I see is darkness and darkness, one-two too many monsters and... More darkness!"


    "...the main body should be somewhere," Shinto nced around the area with his enhanced vision. However, from the end of his sight and his surroundings, there wearn''t any signs of a being that would be called the ''main body''. it was the same for whether or not there would be a puppeteer pulling the strings of the mobs among the crowd. "...none in sight."


    "Like I said, darkness and darkness!" Frey cried out. "What''s worse than having monsters way over your level? Having monsters below your level but are overwhelming you with numbers!"


    "Bah... There''s no time!" Rustly clicked his tongue. "Ignore what Reru says. We''re running! These guys don''t do anything to us, so there''s no harm in just charging through them!"


    "H-Hey! Rustly! Didn''t you hear what Erith said?" Frey inquired.


    "Just st through them or something! I don''t know! Do something!" Rustly replied.


    "Um..." Raina muttered out. "I could possibly make a path for us but... I don''t have enough firepower to blow through to the end."


    "Who says you''ll be doing it alone?" Shinto asked. "I still have my skills ready for use. If ites to that, then I''ll help, though we''ll only be able to create a small interval for escape."


    "Whatever''s good right now!" Raina stated.


    "Right," Shinto nodded his head. "Ethaniel, Frey and the rest can divert aggro away for us, so we can have an easier time to attack."


    "Ahem... You have another person that can help you!" Hikari stated as she pointed over towards Crowelin who had been distracted in preventing the mobs from reaching towards the group. "If Crowelin joins you two, the firepower would be enough to not only push them back but to disrupt their bnce."


    "You say that but..." Shinto uttered out in reply as he turned to the focused Crowelin. "If we have her help us, Frey, Ethaniel and the slimes won''t be able to keep up with these numbers."


    "I can help with that," Hikari stated as her staff slowly waved around. "Go grab Crowelin and I''ll start with my skill!"


    "...if you say so," Shinto nodded his head as his eyes moved towards Crowelin. In the next moment, he shot out a skill towards her[ Mark of Umbra ], in turn, making her feel a sudden warmth from the shadows.


    "...?" As it was the first time that Shinto had used the skill on her, Crowelin was taken aback by the feeling. Quickly, she turned towards the back of her. "H-Hikari? Why did you use your skill" Soon stopping at her sentence midway, she noted that the warmth came from Shinto instead. "...oh?"


    "Help us out here by disrupting their bnce," Shinto calmly stated as he turned back towards the front of him. "Raina, we can begin."


    "Right... I''m on it!" Raina nodded her head as her''s and Shinto''s staff protruded forward. Meanwhile, Crowelin rushed forward towards the mobs and began to initiate her skills.


    ...


    "Alright... I''ll start too," While the group began their chants against the immortal monsters, Hikari who was in the middle of the group raised her staff high up into the air. "O'' light of Raphael, the one who shines down upon us..." muttering out her chants, a bright light began to flicker around. "Cast upon judgement into light!"


    [ White Priest Skill - Holy Light - Judging Rays ]


    Upon the end of her chant, the surrounding area began to dimly light up. At that moment, small sparks of light began raining down onto the enemies making their way forward over towards the group.


    "...ga...h?" The monsters curiously looked up into the sky as they saw light shining down upon them. In the next moment, the mobs suddenly stood in ce as their bodies slowly dispersed away.


    [ Holy Light - Judging Rays ] [ 240 MP ] [ Cooldown: 4 Minutes ]


    Calling upon the holy light, the white priest rains down a rain of holiness onto their enemies. At the same time, dealing weak light magic damage equal to 45% over the next 10 seconds.


    If the target is considered/judged as [Evil] or above, the enemies will also have their light RES lowered by 10% during the duration of the skill.


    ...


    "Hyaahh!!" Frey continued to throw her fists at the enemy, quickly pushing them back. Meanwhile, Ethaniel and the rest of the slimes were attacking against the mobs when suddenly, a loud shout rang through the area.


    "Everyone! Get ready!" As Shinto''s voice resounded, a me filled with divinity shot forward towards the front area of the mobs, quickly turning all of the monsters into grey-ash. At the same time, the grounds of the catbs began to heavily shake.


    "Move, move!" Crowelin shouted out as her hammer continuously attacked the ground.


    "...on it!" Frey and the rest who had been fighting quickly jumped back as they hurriedly made their way over towards the passage created by Shinto and Raina, thus they sessfully escaped from the predicament.

 Chapter 208: Back to the Catacombs (4)

    Chapter 208: Back to the Catbs (4)


    "Hah... Hah..." Letting out a tired breath as they sessfully rushed out of the situation without any troubles, the group quickly began looking around the area to see where they were.


    "Okay, so we ran quite a distance!" Frey stated. "Now... Where are we?"


    "Do you think I know anymore?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "Just continue going forward with the directions I gave!" Rustly stated. "We''re bound to reach back to the Den soon!"


    "Taking left constantly won''t do us any good!" Reru clicked his tongue. "We''re going to end up more lost than ever! It''s better to take the next turn right!"


    "Ugh... I don''t see you having any better ideas! Yours is basically the opposite of mine!" Rustly frowned. "If we take left, it''ll give us much more higher chances for us to head back unlike taking right!"


    "What bullshit? The den should be on the right! Do you not know the map structure?" Reru scoffed.


    "I can sense Madam Ru''s mana from the other end!"


    "Rustly, listen! I''m telling you, it''s right!"


    "Reru! I can sense that it''s left!"


    "So, like," Raina muttered out as she noted the deterring atmosphere in the area. "...what do we do? Our two main guides around the catbs is in a heated debate over... Routes?"


    "Man... These guys are going at it hard, huh?" Frey sighed. "What''s up with that? Why do they have to argue?"


    With the way things were from earlier to now, the tension between Rustly and Reru only grew. Thus, with the outbreak of the argument between the two slimes, the group could only helplessly standby as witnesses without being able to do anything.


    "Ugh... This is annoying," Ethaniel frowned. "Can anyone NOW tell me what the hell''s been going on here? What''s up with these guys bickering at each other with more underlying tones?"


    "We''re as clueless as you," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "Thing''s suddenly turned out to be like this throughout our entire journey. I can''t really say much on the situation."


    "Seriously?" he sighed. "Then, can''t we simply kick those two out as our guides and drag the OTHER two slimes who are with us?"


    "...us?" Yer blinked in a dumbfounded manner.


    "I mean, you are the only other slimes in the room!" Frey stated. "So can you?"


    "...well," Erith muttered out. "I''m just a castle guard whose rarely gone too far from the castle. Meanwhile... Minister Yer is the prime minister, so... He wouldn''t be navigating through the catbs as well," he reasoned. "Reru and Rustly who are both often out and about are the best guides. I''m afraid, my knowledge besides the few rumours of the unexplored areas isn''t really that helpful."


    "So, it''s up to the arguing Reru and Rustly to continue guiding us?" Frey frowned. "How are we supposed to follow them back to the den where in the end, we might end up more lost than ever?!"


    "This is quite the problem..." Kon muttered out. "What do we do?"


    "Sigh..." Shinto sighed helplessly. "We''re surely back into the catbs, but where exactly are we is extremely vague. For all we know, we may as well have stepped foot into the unexplored areas as prove of the monsters that had appeared earlier."


    "Do we convince Rustly and Reru to turn back then?" Raina asked. "Perhaps force might be necessary?"


    "Even if we turn back now, it would rather be useless," he shook his head. "Not only do we have to go through the effort of mowing through the immortal mobs again, we''ll have to retrace our steps which may take a lot of time seeing as how we found quite a lot of intersections to get to this point."


    "Wow... This feels almost like an actual catbs!" Frey cried out.


    "...because it is," Ethaniel red at Frey. "Ahem. With all this being an issue, what are you trying to suggest here? Continue getting lost?"


    "...perhaps?" Shinto coughed. "If either of the two slimes are right and we follow one of them, we could possibly go back to the den without any moreplications. But if either of the two slimes are as wrong as wrong can be, then..." he sighed. "We might have to wee the fact that we''ll suffer for a bit more longer."


    "Are you kidding me?!" Frey cried out. "No, no! There has to be another way, right? Right?! I don''t want to fight more monsters than I have to! Give me and my nearly broken equipment a break!"


    "Another problem..." Ethaniel furrowed his brow. To make matters worse with getting lost in the catbs, the group''s equipment were starting wear off. If they continue fighting any longer, they''ll end up breaking everything, leaving only their default outfits on them. "...but this won''t solve anything! What the hell are we supposed to do now? With a useless guide, no clues on where to go, mysterious immortal enemiesAt this point, I would have preferred staying in the Bareth''s in and making way towards the nearest kingdom."


    "And then risk getting arrested?" Shinto sighed. It seems that with every decision the group made, the situation would turn out for the worse. "...yeah, our options are surelycking."


    "..." As Hikari and Crowelin listened in on the conversation between the original group, she quickly took a step forward towards the arguing slimes. In the next moment, the two picked up the slimes up respectively.


    "Left! Stop arguin" As Rustly and Reru were suddenly lifted off the ground, they words cut short as they now hurriedly began moving in a frantic manner. "Ack- What? Hey! What are you doing!?"


    "I should be asking you the same thing," Hikari pouted. "Just what are you doing?"


    "Well, I was discussing with this damn slime in front of me before you interrupted??" Reru clicked his tongue. "Now, put me down!"


    "No," Crowelin frowned. "Not until you admit that you have no idea what you''re talking about. Left and Right? That seems rather random and a ''I don''t care, I just want out already'' sort of mindset."


    "What?" Reru frowned. "Who are you to say that?! I clearly know where we''re going! Unlike Rustly here!"


    "Huh?! I literally told you, it''s left! You''re constantly saying, right, right, right, right," he repeated. "But taking that turn will just take us no where! Madam Ru''s magic is over at the left area!"


    "And I''m saying that it wouldn''t make sense! If we take a right turn, we will all"


    "Oh will you guys just shut up?!" Frey cried out. "Whether taking left or right is the correct option, you two arguing won''t help us at all in this situation! We''ve literally been stuck in a loop for about an hour now, justpromise or something so we can get out of it!"


    "..." The two slime''s kept quiet.


    "If it''s really right, then why is it hard for the other to agree?" Frey pouted. "The same goes for if it''s really left!"


    "W-Well that''s because"


    "Because you''re trying to hide the fact that you have no idea how to get back?" Shinto uttered out. "If we continuously take a single path, we''ll inevitable end up to where we started."


    "No, I literally said, I can sense Madam Ru''s aura! And"


    "And what?" Shinto continued to interrupt the slimes. "Just because you''re able to sense her aura... I doubt you can properly grasp the direct flow given the way you are right now."


    "..." Rustly kept quiet. "Then... If you all aren''t going believe me or Reru, then what? Go back and find the other passageway?"


    "No," Shinto shook his head. "As we discussed, that''s not a good option. Then only thing we can do is..." he turned towards Frey to continue.


    "is to instead, go left and then right! We''re gonna go zigzags instead of circles!" Frey proudly stated.


    "...how''s that going to help us in this situation?" Reru red the Frey.


    "Better than your previous idea," Ethaniel shrugged. "Unless you can think up on a way to head back to the den without all thisplications of uncertainty, this is our best bet if we don''t want to go in loops."


    "Ugh..." Reru frowned.


    "Sigh... Whatever! Just go with this!" Rustly conceded. "I''m sure we''re near the den anyways. We just have to find the proper route..."


    "A lot of trial and errors if we want to do that," Shinto sighed. "But, it is what it is. I just want to go back at this point."


    "Perhaps if we get closer to the vige, then Reru can sense the aura much more urately," Hikari stated. "So it wouldn''t hurt to walk aimlessly for a bit."


    "Yeah," Shinto nodded his head. "If we do end uping back to the starting point, let''s use our inventory items as a marker. For example; leaving the monster drops every intersection we pass."


    "Sounds like a n!" Frey excitedly nodded her head. "Now then... Can we continue get on with the road? I have a good feeling this time!"


    "Bah..." Without another word from the slimes, the two followed after the group.

 Chapter 209: Back to the Catacombs (5)

    Chapter 209: Back to the Catbs (5)


    Within the library of a quiet castle, an old man was seen searching through the rows upon rows of books within the area. Step by step, he scrutinized every book within the vicinity.


    "...hah," the old man by the name of Renryth, with wrinkles all over his face at the indication of the passing time burdening himhis tired eyes nced around the books as he sighed. "...there are no more archives of the ming Pendant? Did Sanke take all of it?"


    Days had passed since the day of his death via the fiery mes. Since then, normality was never the same. With the curse gone, the slimes celebrated. However, for Renrythhe had only been stuck within the library searching through every nitpick of books possible.


    "Ugh..." Renryth pressed the bridge of his nose in slight frustration. "Where did all the records go? Has it all been destroyed or something?" he grumbled under his breath. "Argh... If I don''t find the records soon... Then"


    "Then, you won''t be able to uncover the truth of the incident that day, yes?" A woman''s voice protruded out from behind the old man, quickly cutting his words short.


    "...!" Taken aback by the voice, Renryth hurriedly turned towards the back of himnoting that it was Madam Ru who had taken upon her time to visit him. "M-Madam Ru? What brings you here? Aren''t you busy as it is?"


    "It is so that I am busy," Madam Ru sighed with a tired breath. "But... I''m not here as a guest, insteadI''m here on business."


    "Ah... I see," Renryth nodded his head. "Then, how may I help you?"


    "If you''re not too busy, I''d like for you to use your magic to sense whether or not Rustly and the others are within the catbs," Madam Ru shook her body in helplessness.


    "They''re still not back yet?" Renryth thought to himself. "Hah... Rustly should be able to take everyone back safely if he follows the routes properly. But... With how he acted back then..."


    "His demeanour is the same as your current one, Renryth." Madam Ru leapt forward towards the old man. "You grieve the loss of Sanke... But, it seems that Rustly may have taken it too far."


    "...what?" Renryth raised his brow in confusion.


    "That doesn''t matter," Madam Ru coughed. "Anyways... Can you please use magic sense now?"


    "Ah right... Sure thing," Renryth muttered out as his eyes soon closed. In the next moment, whilst chanting out a spell into the areasmall magic particles appeared around him. At that second, the particles dispersed away as his eyes opened with shock. "They''re... Here? But... Why do I sense Bareth''s presence...? W-What?"


    "Bareth? Hmm... That doesn''t matter," seemingly unfazed by the information, Madam Ru continued. "Where are they exactly?"


    "It seems to be that they''re lost..." Renryth answered. "And... For their exact location, I think it''s much deeper into the catbs. The forbidden areas? Perhaps the outeryers at best. Where the immortal shades slumber."


    "Oh, dear... The area where the immortal shades slumber...?" Madam Ru worryingly uttered out. "To get to such an area... Just how on earth?"


    "...I''ve no idea," the man shook his head without another word as he ced the book that he took out from the shelf back into its spot. Moments after, he turned towards Madam Ru. "Now, what do we do? Do we fetch them?"


    "It''s already been three days, we shouldn''t dy it anymore," Madam Ru stated. "Come, if they''re in the outer sections of the forbidden area, then I know a shortcut through the passageway."


    ...


    Rushing through the dark catbs, Shinto and the rest of the group hurried down the hallways in a frenzy. With weapons in hand, the party seemed to be running away from something.


    "Ahh!" Frey cried out. "When did those monsters appeared?! Why are they suddenly so aggressive?!"


    "The hell am I supposed to know?!" Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "These guys just appeared from the ground and attacked us! Not only that, just from one damn attack, my health became half!"


    "Can this be over with, please?!" Frey frowned. "Why do we gotta suffer like this!"


    "I don''t know, you tell me!" With his sword tightly gripped within his hand, Ethaniel swiftly shed at the appearance of the dark figure by the side of him.


    "G...a...h" Uttering out with a distorted voice, the dark figure persistently pressed forward. "Be...with...us..."


    "Ugh... These guys," Crowelin frowned as her hammer swayed down to the ground, quickly causing a quick shake onto the earth around them. "Not only do they have more damage... But they''re more than durable! This is..."


    "Higher tiered monsters?" Hikari questioned. "What level is this dungeon?"


    "Well by estimation earlier... We were encountering level 20 to 30 levelled mobs... But," Raina uttered out whilst she cast out a me spell from the tip of her staff. "...the enemies we fought were rats and skeletons. Nothing like that resembles these kinds of enemies at all!"


    "If what the slimes said was true..." Shinto waved his staff around, quickly striking at the nearby enemies via his basic attacks. "Then, we''re either too deep into the unexplored area or there might''ve been a change of environment with the defeat of Sanke."


    At times, if a disaster was to be defeated, it would normally progress the game and story further. However, on that note, monsters within certain areas would grow much powerful than before and may out level yers of the original area by arge gap.


    "The defeat of Sanke did this!?" Frey cried out as she punched at the monster in front of her. "Ahh! When can this be over?!"


    "Over when we finally get to the damn den!" Reru frowned. "And... This is going to be hell."


    "See, even your suggestion didn''t work!" Rustly clicked his tongue.


    "Better than yours, we''ve at least made somewhat of a progress by going zigzags!" Ethaniel scoffed.


    "Guys... Now''s not the time to argue," Shinto sighed as his staff moved over towards his group that was gathered in the middle. In the next moment, a cloud of ck smoke appeared around them. "If none of you wants to die, then cooperate."


    "Ugh... What do you think we''re doing?!" Reru roared as he shed at the figures in front of him with all his might. However, despite thatthe monsters returned back to their original form like it was nothing.


    "A-Arguing, probably?" Raina muttered out as her staff bolted out a fireball into the area. "I don''t see anything rted to cooperation..."


    "Argh! Just shut it!" Ethaniel frowned.


    "This is going to hell," Yer mumbled. "Why is everything suddenly so dysfunctional?"


    "I don''t know, maybe it''s because we need a break! A proper one!" Frey tiredly muttered out. "I''m so going to binge eat at Greld''s after this! I''m hungry!"


    "That is if we escape..." Kon sighed.


    "K-Kon... Don''t make things worse as it is," Shinto muttered out.


    "I can see that everyone needs a break after all this," Hikari shook her head helplessly whilst focusing her energy on healing up her allies. "With all these consecutive battles, it''s not really that good for everyone''s stamina and mind..."


    "..." Shinto kept quiet as he listened to Hikari. There were many cases of burn-out from battle when one chooses to fight battles back-to-back without delving into the other leisure features. Though at times it couldn''t be helped as with the situation the group was currently in but at others. somepletely just leave the game out of thinking that it was a chore. "I guess..."


    "Someone! O'' lord or saviour!" Frey seemingly prayed. "Save us and let us live another day to get a break!"


    "I think Frey''s gone mad..." Raina coughed.


    "I-It can''t be helped..." Shinto helplessly replied. "B-But... Let''s try to push forward."


    "O'' lord! Please just bring someone to wipe out this entire horde so we can go back!" Frey continued to pray, much harder than ever. "Someone! Anyone! I''m tireeeddd!"


    "Argh... So this is the situation you guys were all in?" A woman''s voice protruded out. "Well... You did well to withstand it." In the next moment, a pir of water soon arose magically from the ground, quickly sweeping away all the mobs that the group were fighting with earlier like it was nothing.


    "Huh...?" Frey muttered out dumbfoundedly. "Were... Were my prayers heard?!"


    "Winds of the hurricane, I call upon you. Destroy the immortal and destroy the shade," following up with the woman''s voice, a man soon stepped forward. "...Windy Rage - Skyhigh!"


    [ Windstorm Mage - Windy Rage - Skyhigh ]


    With all the mobs that were grouped together due to the waves of water, the hurricane dived straight into the monster''s core and swiftly tore them apart, leaving nothing but ashes on the ground.


    "Thank you, Lord! Oh, thank you!" Frey cheered. "Now... Who did you send!?"


    "Frey..." The group worryingly nced over to Frey who seems to still be praying. However, they soon averted their gaze over to the two figures that had appeared.


    "M-Madam Ru...? R-Renryth...?" Rustly muttered out in shock at the sight of the two.

 Chapter 210: Back to the Catacombs (6)

    Chapter 210: Back to the Catbs (6)


    Steadily making their way through the quiet catbs, Shinto and the rest of the group were now headed for the Slera''s den without any more dy.


    "...phew. Thank god Renryth and Madam Ru came to us in the nick of time..." Raina sighed with a breath of relief. "If it wearn''t for theming... We might as well have just given up going back."


    "...yeah," Shinto sighed. "Wepletely rerouted our paths since we were heading deeper into the unexplored areas... Which may have exined the growingly powerful enemies."


    "Bah... We wouldn''t have gone deeper if it wearn''t for the argument between Rustly and Reru," Ethaniel scoffed. "I mean, all we needed to do was take a simple right at the first intersection and"


    As Ethaniel was about to continue his sentence, his mouth quickly shut closed. "...oh? All we needed to do was take a simple ''right''? Jee. I wonder. Who. Suggested. THAT?" In the next moment, he began feeling a murderous aura from behind him.


    "...u-uh," Ethaniel gulped slightly. "Well..."


    "...good luck getting out of this one," Rustly uttered out as he leapt ahead of the group, quickly heading towards Madam Ru and Renryth who were upfront.


    "H-Hey...! This is your fault too" Ethaniel''s eyes shook as he then felt a pat on his back.


    "Sorry, Ethan... But," Raina awkwardlyughed. "...maybe let''s not challenge the guides ever again if we have no better idea?"


    "Y-Yeah! Let''s not do that again?" Kon whimpered.


    "Raina... Kon..." Ethaniel muttered out as he noted that a sword was pointed at his back.


    "Die," Reru stated without sympathy.


    "Hey! Wait! Wait!" Ethaniel stumbled back in a dumbfounded manner. "Listen...! "


    "DIE!" Reru shouted out in anger as he swung his sword at Ethaniel.


    "How long till we get there?" Frey questioned in a tired tone whilst ignoring the ongoing struggle between Reru and Ethaniel from behind her. "Just thinking about all the leisure food I get to eat when I get back to town... Mmm! I want to head to Greld''s straightaway! We can do that, right? After all... We''re released from that instance dungeon message thingy or something."


    "Well, yes... We can do that," Shinto nodded his head. "But... You know, we haven''t gotten our rewards?"


    "Huh? Rewards?" Frey nkly stared at Shinto for a few seconds as a realization came upon her. "Ah...! The rewards for clearing this dungeon?!"


    "Yeah," Shinto nodded his head. He recalled that there was a message among the spam of divinity notifications that he had gotten previously. That specific message was rted to that of ''reward for the dungeon clearance'', much as most other dungeons.


    "Oh right... There was something like that, huh?" Raina thought to herself. "I wonder what the rewards would be?" With the snowball of a situation they had experienced before, rewards were the least of the concerns. For one, they had already been given certain items when they fought against Sanke.


    "...no idea," Shinto shrugged. "If anything... I just want a break from battle." Though what he had experienced for the past few days wasn''t as bad as his solo days against certain dungeons or bosses, he still wanted to take things easy to prevent burnout again.


    "A break, yeah!" Ethaniel shouted out from behind them. "Do you mind helping!? I''m at my limit and this guy really wants to kill me! Ack... Hey! Aren''t you tired too?!"


    "I wouldn''t be this tired if it wasn''t because of you!" Reru roared as his sword continued to manoeuvre around.


    "..." Shinto turned back to watch the scene, seeing that Reru was one-sidedly backing Ethaniel to a corner, though somehow managing to also keep up with the pace of the group. "Nah, you can handle it just fine," after a long deep thought, Shinto averted his attention away from the sight.


    "Hey! HEY!" Ethaniel cried out. "Don''t- Ack!"


    "You have time to avert your attention elsewhere, so I guess I''ll pick up the ck," Reru stated as his movements became faster. "I won''t stop until we reach the catbs. I''ll make you suffer!"


    "Reru! The hell!" Ethaniel tirelessly fended off against the attacks with his sword. Though with every new strike he defended against, his movements became dull. "Give me a break will you?!"


    "..." The entire group kept quiet throughout the journey.


    "Ahem..." With a sigh, Shinto hurriedly walked up towards Madam Ru and Renryth. "It''s been a few days since the entire incident happened... But, is there a rundown on the situation back at the den?"


    "Ah... What happened after you left?" Renryth uttered out with a sigh. "...nothing much really. The Sleras celebrated that they were free from worry, the Farchu were free from the mind control and his majesty..."


    "...what about the king?" Shinto raised his brow.


    "We found him in front of the pedestal of where the pendant was originally at," Madam Ru stated. "Unconcious."


    "...what?!" Frey cried out. "The king was knocked out unconscious?! By who? Wait... Was it Sanke?!"


    "I guess it would''ve been him since he was the one who took the pendant," Raina stated. "Was the king harmed in any way?"


    "...no," Renryth answered. "Well... Not in any physical way, but, his majesty has yet woken up. Perhaps it could''ve been due to Sanke or... Other reasons."


    "It''s definitely other reasons!" Rustly stated. "Sanke wouldn''t directly harm-"


    "...you were saying, Rustly?" Madam Ru asked. "What was this about Sanke?"


    "...Sanke?" Hikari whispered over towards Shinto. "Was he the boss of this dungeon? Well... Instance dungeon if I recall what Frey mentioned."


    "Yeah. The boss that we failed to kill," Shinto answered.


    "W-What...? So... He''s still alive?"


    "No, not exactly... Well, I''m not too sure really," Shinto sighed. "Thest I saw of him was within mes. He killed himself, or so I thought."


    "...that''s just...?" Hikari blinked in confusion.


    "...well, there''s that," Shinto answered. "I don''t know much of the circumstance here. Since... Besides the whole ''this guy is bad and we have to help the people'', I don''t know anything else about these slimes. No information was mentioned in regards to the rtion between Sanke and Rustly, or even how they knew to speak Arcos, to begin with."


    "Hmm... So everything was kept in the dark?" Hikari asked. "If that''s so... Then that might make the quest even harder..."


    "Sigh... For time being, let''s just head back to the den or even back to town to continue discussing this," Shinto calmly replied. "In any case... It seems we might be getting our answers regarding Sanke here. Or... I hope so."


    "...what was this about Sanke?" Rustly repeated the question. "I-It''s nothing... I''m just still... Caught up with his death, that''s all..."


    "Hmm... Is that really all there is to it?" Madam Ru pressed on the topic.


    "...y-yes!" Rustly answered. "I wanted to save Sanke... Which is why I brought the humans. So... Seeing as how the efforts when fluke..."


    "Madam Ru, give Rustly a break," Renryth stated. "Neither they nor the outsiders have gotten proper rest since that day."


    "...sigh," Madam Ru sighed. "If that''s the case then... I''ll cut Rustly some ck. However," she turned to Rustly with an annoyed look. "Don''t ever take a detour like that ever again, will you? Going all the way to the Bareth''s in like this and lowering my barrier distortion..."


    "...what?" Renryth''s eyes slightly shook. "Bareth ins... You went there?!"


    "E-Eep!" Rustly slightly stumbled back. "R-Renryth... It''s not what you''re thinking..."


    "You..." he frowned. "You heard the stories from us, didn''t you? That ce is as dangerous as it gets especially during the winter or when you stumble upon her ruins...Yet, you still went there? Nheless, bringing the entire group along? Unprepared for the cold?!"


    "W-Well..."


    "You brought Erith and Minister Yer along too..." Renryth frowned. "What is this all about? Were you just asking to be killed? Seeing as how you have the presence of Bareth on you... You didn''t do that, did you?"


    "N-No! Not at all!" Rustly cried out. "I-I wouldn''t dare..."


    "Hah... I''m growing with time..." Renryth sighed as he shook his head helplessly. "Why did you go there?"


    "I was just..."


    "Now, now Renryth," Madam Ru calmly stated. "Give Rustly a break. Even if it would be a small one."


    "Hah... you''re right," Renryth ced pressed his finger on the bridge of his nose. "Ugh... Let''s just head back. Everyone''s tired, and we''ve got some things to discuss after your rest."


    "Y-Yeah..." Rustly muttered out. "Ahem... I can see the Slera''s Den door from here. I''ll go on ahead now..."


    "Right..." Madam Ru seemingly nodded her head as she turned to look at the still inbat Ethaniel and Reru. "You two, you can stop now. You can fightter when you''ve given the poor human a chance to get a breather."


    "...we''re already here?" Reru scoffed. "Hmph... Watch yourself, human."


    "Hah... hah..." Ethaniel tiredly breathed out. "It''s over...? Hah... I hate you..."


    "Don''t worry, I hate you too, so nothing special," Reru kept his sword away as he soon leapt forward over to the rest of the group.


    As they reached towards the doors of the Slera''s Den, the group noted that the original countless amounts of slimes that were originally on the outskirts were gone.


    "...oh? Everyone''s gone?" Raina questioned.


    "With the curse gone," Madam Ru stated. "The cursed Slera''s out here were allowed to go back in on the king''s orders."


    "...how long has it been since theyst left the ce?" Shinto questioned.


    "Not too long actually," Renryth stated. "Since... It''s only was recent since Sanke..."


    "Enough talk!" Rustly cried out. "I''m heading in now," as his body jiggled, the doors of the Slera''s Den opened wide. In the next moment, the group was greeted by the sight of a lively vige with much more slime on the street than before.

 Chapter 211: Back to the Catacombs (7)

    Chapter 211: Back to the Catbs (7)


    Countless slimes roamed around the streets of the den, going about with their lives. The gloomy atmosphere from before had disappeared away and it was instead reced by a peaceful and calming one. With the curse gone, it seemed that everything had gone back to normal.


    "Wow... This ce feels totally different..." Raina muttered out in amazement whilst ncing around the area. "Within three days... Everything just went back to normal like that?"


    "Well... The Sleras are free-spirited beings, so it''s only natural that things will go back to normal as if nothing happened," Madam Ru calmly stated whilst she leapt forward through the streets. "Nowe, with everything wrapped up and done... You should rest by at the castle''s quartersunless you prefer the inn?"


    "Anything will do," Shinto stated. "But... I''ve got a question before that."


    "...what is it?" Madam Ru stopped at her steps as she turned around to Shinto. "Is there a problem?"


    "You said that everything went back to normal as if nothing happened but..." he thought to himself. "...are they ignorant of the king''satose state?"


    "Well... Thing''s are back to normal for the normal slimes," Madam Ru averted gaze away from Shinto as she continued walking. "As for within the castle... Well, you''ll see for yourself."


    "...that sounds like a bad omen," Raina uttered out.


    "Isn''t it really a bad omen?" Frey shivered at the thought.


    "Meh... Just get moving," Ethaniel said in azy tone. "We''ve been gone for three days, and you guys wanted a break... So, should we really be worrying about that?"


    "You''re not worried we might get dragged into another ordeal?" Raina tilted her head. "Just a few moments ago... You wereining about wanting to take a break too."


    "...do you think I have the energy to spare thinking about it? I just want to do something leisure in this game that is unrted tobat for the time being," Ethaniel scoffed. "What better than to head out and go equipment shopping? Or heck... Even justbat against lower levelled enemies would do."


    "But isn''t that justbat-rted stuff?" Raina blinked at Ethaniel''s line of thought. "Though... In any case, you won''t be able to do that if we end up in another ordeal... Are you really sure you''re not worried?"


    "Bah... I''m not repeating myself," Ethaniel sighed as he walked on ahead of the group. "See you at the castle. Or maybe in Parm... I don''t know. Depends on whatever we''re doing before dispersing."


    "...hah," Shinto sighed helplessly at Ethaniel''s demeanour. "To do something leisure that doesn''t involvebat... Well, I guess I''ve got one," Shinto turned towards the worn-down equipment on him and then to Hikari and Crowelin who were seemingly ncing around the vige in astonishment.


    "H-Hikari..." Crowelin muttered out. "Did you get the notification...?"


    "...I did," Hikari stated. "But this is..."


    "So following Shinto was the right thing!" Crowelin cheered. "Our goal back in Fal wasn''t in vain after all!"


    "Yeah... But..." Hikari was about to continue on with her sentence as she was quickly interrupted by the excited Crowelin.


    "Hold on! Shinto''s whispering to me regarding this, give me a sec," Crowelin quickly turned her attention over to her messages. In the next moment, she replied. "Yeah, this is apparently the vige. Who knew that a coincidence woulde after coincidences..."


    "Oh? Really?" Shinto replied. "Well, that''s good. Are you going to follow us to the castle or..."


    "Yea-" As she was continuing to send out whispers over to Shinto, Hikari hurriedly interjected.


    "Crowelin! Listen!" Hikari muttered out in a hushed voice. "Go read the quest we got right after that!"


    "...huh?" Crowelin blinked in a dumbfounded manner at Hikari. "...another quest?" As her eyes turned towards the notification window, it soon widened. "...t-this is..."


    "That''s what I''ve been trying to say!" Hikari pouted as she turned towards Shinto who had stopped at his footsteps in the confusion of Crowelin''s sudden interjected reply. With him slowly turning towards the two girls with brows raised, Crowelin coughed as she sent him a whisper. "Ahem... Sorry about that Zay... We seemed to have gotten another quest here... So, we might need to part ways for a bit during your visit to the castle."


    "...oh," Shinto nodded his head as he turned back towards his front. "If that''s so, then... No biggie. We can meet up here in the Townsquare when we leave for Parm. Or... Do you want to lie low?"


    "Anything will do!" Hikari whispered. "I''ll see you soon," ending the whisper, Hikari turned towards Crowelin. "Now... About this quest..."


    "Didn''t Shinto solve the problem already? About a curse here?" Crowelin raised her brow in confusion. "Why on earth did we get something like this?"


    [ Doer of Evil ]


    Difficulty: A+


    Defeat the evil being who brought about the curse of the dead. He who aims for the sacred artefact must be defeated before the Night of Stars.


    Quest Condition: The sealing or death of the evildoer.


    Quest Rewards: Good Will +10, Holy Hail Potions 10x, Star of Eden Ticket (Temp.), Level +1


    Quest Failure: Audience of Eden Ticket (Temp.)


    ...


    "Perhaps it''s something else..." Hikari stated. "But... The details are way too vague."


    "Sigh... Why did I do this for the Star of Eden Ticket..." Crowelin shook her head. "Ahem! Let''s get right to it. We''ve got about a month or two in real life, right?"


    "Seeing as how it took a week to find this ce..." Hikari sighed. "Well, let''s just head to the unexplored areas for a bit and check things out there. There must be a clue to this."


    "...we''re going back there?" Crowelin frowned. "Well... Anything for this ticket!"


    ...


    As the gates of the castle opened wide, the slimes from the group who were upfront led the rest of the party through the halls. Upon entering the castle, they were greeted by a quiet and eerie atmosphereseemingly much worse than before.


    "...this is definitely a bad omen," Frey shivered. "We''re not going to be... The task to do something again, are we?"


    "Discussions rting to this is forter, for now..." Madam Ru turned towards Renryth. "Renryth, please take the humans to suitable sleeping quarters for them to rest. As for the rest of you..." Moments after giving out her orders, she turned to look at the slimes. "Follow me."


    "...right," Renryth nodded his head as he wasted no time in making his way through the hallway. "The quarters are this way."


    "...this is so much different inparison to the outside," Raina uttered out as the group followed after Renryth. "The king being in aatose state can''t be the only reason for this, right?"


    "...well there are other reasons. However... That doesn''t concern you as much," Renryth shook his head. "You''ve already helped us enough by forcing Sanke out of his quarters to the throne room. We handled the rest."


    "I don''t understand..." Kon tilted his head. "Isn''t Sanke like... Bad? You asked us to defeat him... But you say ''forcing Sanke out of his quarters''? I''m confused..."


    "..." Renryth kept quiet as he continued down the hall.


    "You never did give us any sort of context to all this," Shinto sighed. "We were just caught up in the storm, I guess?"


    "Well technically speaking... This was the guy who brought us here!" Frey stated. "Renryth was the one who I escorted here and then got the key as a reward... So um... An exnation is needed?"


    "You guys are seriously asking for more weight..." Ethanielzily stated. "Are we here in the quarters yet?"


    "...yes, it''s in this room," Renryth stated whilst gesturing over to the few rooms by the hallway. "...I''ll be going now. Just rest for the day."


    "Hey! An exnation?" Frey pouted. "Don''t leave us hanging like that!"


    "...just rest for the day, alright?"


    "He''s really avoiding the question, huh?" Raina sighed.


    "..." Shinto who had been deep in thought throughout the entire journey here, took a deep breath as he turned towards Renryth with a firm look. "...Renryth, I think if you wanted us to help, you would exin things, even if it was vague," he continued. "But... Seeing as how you and everyone else covered up a lot of the story and made it ambiguous..."


    Shinto''s eyes turned into a re as his sentence continued. "That makes me think that there''s a very important piece that you all are purposefully keeping us in the dark for. I don''t mean the goals of Sanke, the usage of the pendant or heck... Why there are humans here. But... There seems more to it than just Rustly visiting an abandoned vige because he was curious."


    "Yeah!" Frey nodded her head. "What gives?!"


    "Although we''re tired... I don''t think it''s right to just keep us in the dark like that after all that we''ve been through," Raina stated. "There''s also the mes of Etheral that was said to defeat Sanke... Or even the items that he gave us. All of this just doesn''t make sense."


    "..." Renryth kept quiet throughout the interrogation. "Do you really want to know?"


    "...yes," the four including Kon nodded their head.


    "Bah!" Ethaniel scoffed. "You''re just going to drag me into this aren''t you?"


    "...sigh," Renryth shook his head helplessly. "This old man who is growing with time... I guess I should just get this off my chest before it bes unbearable. Follow me into your quarters, we have... A long night to discuss this."

 Chapter 212: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (1)

    Chapter 212: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (1)


    The cold blooms into the eternal winter, blossoming out of the barrennds of the snow-covered ins. There, a young woman walked ever so lonely through the fields with only a single sword in hand, frozen at its core.


    "Hah... Hah..." As her breath hushed through the clouds of ice, she continued to press forward. "Everyone... Please... Survive..." Muttering out under her breath as if it was herst words, the young woman''s movement slowly stopped as the world around her began ckening into darkness.


    ...


    Was this fate? Or was it the upbringing of my own decisions?


    Time and time again, I had desperately attempted to find the path that I had set off to take.


    To see what I was meant for, in this lonesome world called barren.


    Yet... Was it all for nought?


    The ties that I''ve made... Everything was but futile in the means of judgement.


    ...


    <strong>-[ (Side Story) Barren Lands of Winter Surgence ]-</strong>


    ...


    The Barren Lands, Bareth''s inSnowy Hills Outskirts [ Day / Clear ].


    The evening sun shone down deep into the forest as the hail cleared away in the sky. On the pathways of the in, a young womanid down on the snowy hills as she was seemingly asleep.


    "..."


    With her eyes soundly closed and her bodyying rest against the snowy grounds, a figure of a man silently approached from behind the sleeping woman. In the next moment, picking up a small handful of snow from the ground, the man swiftly threw down the chunk of snow onto her face, abruptly waking her up.


    "...a-ack!" With the sudden snow falling on top of her, the woman''s body frantically moved upwards, thus lifting herself off the ground. Soon after, the woman angrily turned around as she red at the one who threw the snowball at her. "Renryth! What was that for?!"


    "You were so soundly asleep, I couldn''t bear the thought of kicking you," the grey-haired man who was dressed in a robe, Renrythspoke out nonchntly. "So I decided to make a snowball and drop it down on you to wake you up."


    "S-Seriously...?" The woman coughed whilst proceeding to wipe away the remaining snow off of her face. "Ahem... Anyways, why did you wake me up? You interrupted my perfectly needed sleep!"


    "Eh... You sleep too much," Renryth shrugged. "But in any case... Sanke''s done with resources gathering for the day. So, it''s time for you to use up all that saved up energy into cooking whatever he gathered for rations."


    "Huh... He''s done already?" Stretching her body as if to rid away from the fatigue, the woman began to let out a tired yawn. "Well... If that''s the case, then I''ll get right to it!"


    "Hurry it up before Sanke ends upining that you''re slow," Renryth sighed through his breath whilst noting that the woman was beginning to make her way into the woods. "...hah. Honestly, how do you have so much energy after being on the run these days? Being soid back and free..." Shaking his head, Renryth''s gaze soon fell onto the snowy clouds, cleared from the haze. "Sigh. Well, that''s Lier for you. Even after that event a few days ago... You still find it easy to keep going forward."


    ...


    Three days? Or was it four? We''ve been on the run ever since the cold struck our old vige. Terror... Defeat... Abandonment. Who wouldn''t be faced with such emotions when one saw that their hometown was destroyed in under one night?


    I sure wouldn''t.


    But... She was different. Lierthe Knight of Shimmering Winter.


    Even after witnessing all that first-hand at the frontal lines of battleYour carefree spirit never fails me. I just didn''t understand at that time. For why did you bring this upon yourself? The pain and suffering... Which led to the incidents today.


    ...


    The Barren Lands, Bareth''s inPinewood Forest [ Day / Clear ].


    "Mhm~" Skipping through the dirt paths of the forest, Lier steadily made her way over towards the small camp that was set up by Renryth and Sanke. "I wonder what I should cook this time around? Fish? Nah... They might get sick of it. Boar meat tendered by berries? Hmm... That sounds nice! Though... Did Sanke even hunt a boar?"


    Continuing down the pathway, Lier, who only had a inmoners shirt and with a sheath by her side, abruptly stopped at her footsteps. "...?" Slowly moving her hands over to the hilt of her sword, she muttered out. "Who goes there?" Her free-spirited attitude soon turned into that of a serious one upon hearing the rustle from the bushes nearby. "Monsters of Twilight? No... They would have jumped at me by now. Then who...?"


    With the course of her attention going towards the bushes, Lier slowly made her way over to it. Step by step, she slowly reached towards the shrub-covered in snow, prepared to attack at any time.


    "..." Her left hand that was free moved over to the bush upon reaching towards it. With a sword ready to strike at her opponents, she peeked through the bush. "...!" However, what greeted her wasn''t that of a monster.


    "...help..." In front of the woman, was a young girl, perhaps a childsitting helplessly by the grounds. Seemingly bruised and injured, the child with white-silver hair could be seen in tears. "Someone... Please..."


    "..." With her shoulders slightly rxed, Lier hurried over towards the child. "Hey! Are you alright?!"


    "H-Huh?" Still, in tears, the child looked over towards the direction of the sound, noting that a white-silver haired woman much as herself was rushing towards her. "M-Mommy...? Wahh...!!"


    "A-Ack... I''m not your mommy..." Lier coughed as she proceeded to check the wounds of the child. "Damn... The injuries are bad..." Her face grew dire as she noticed that the bloodied wounds ranging from blue-ck to open injuries were all over her hands and legs. Unbeknowst to her, she theorised that it could''ve been a monster attack. "Hey... Calm down for a bit, alright? I''ll get you treated and" as she wanted to continue her sentence, it was soon cut short.


    "Grr..." From the nearby area, a loud growl could be heard resounding through the forest. "...prey...must..."


    "Ugh... Are you serious?" Lier stood up with an annoyed tone of voice whilst unsheathing her sword. Tinted in holy light and seemingly steeled upon the finest ore in thend, it was a beautiful and elegant de. However, with her shabby appearanceit was none tooplimentary. "...Twilight monsters at this time... I guess that''s where you got that wounds from."


    "M-Mama..." The child gripped onto the legs of Lier.


    "..." With a sigh, the woman prepared herself in a battle-ready position. "My armour is back at the camp... But it''s fine. These guys seem to be on the lower spectrum of the Twilight Race," muttering out in thought, the howls of the wolves grew louder as the mobs revealed themselves. "One, two... Ten wolves? And..."


    <strong><em>Ting...</em></strong>


    Behind the corrupted wolves were that of purple ice elementals. It seemed that there was about six of them.


    "...ice elementals too," she frowned. "This... I-Isn''t going to be easy..."


    "Prey..." With a small mumble among the twilight monsters, they leapt forward as they charged over towards Lier in a frenzy. In the next moment, as they closed the distance between Liershe hurriedly swung her sword in a circle, swiftly pushing the monsters back.


    "...hah." Soon after, letting out a deep breath, Lier protruded out her sword in the sky. "In means of the shimmering winter... Dance by my palms in the snowy battlefields" Chanting out a spell from the tip of her des, the monsters heeded no patience as they continued to rush forward through the snow paved grounds. "My arts that is colder than ice,e forth!"


    [ Lier''s Sword Technique - Icy Confinement ]


    With icy spikes suddenly protruding out from the ground, the tall and sharp icicles pierced through the monsters that were frantically making towards her. In the next momentLier followed it up with another skill.


    [ Lier''s Sword Technique - Dance of Hail ]


    Waving her sword in a smooth yet skilled movement, her sword meticulous struck at each monster respectively, as if they were hit by a hail storm. Secondster, she dealt the final blows against the first few waves of mobs without injuries.


    "Phew... The first wave is done, but..." Noting that the pierced monsters had turned into grey-ash, Lier now averted her gaze to the rest of the iing monsters. "There''s still a lot left..."


    Lier had only dealt against two or four monsters with two skills. It seemed that she was in for a long battle if she hoped to end it without any wounds inflicted by the twilight monsters.


    "...if I had brought my armour I could be a bit more reckless..." She wascking sustain now as she didn''t have any sort of defences besides hermoner''s clothing. Why hadn''t she brought one with her? it was on the line of leisure training for her. "Ah... That doesn''t matter right now. Focus Lier!" Despite being in the deep forest known to be infested with monsters, she knew how to defend herself with a sword even without armour. But, never would she have expected a situation like this.


    "...Lier!" A loud shout protruded out from the distance as Lier shed at an enemy. "O'' gale, move forth!" following that, a small windy breeze rushed forward towards the enemies aiming for a pincer attack on the woman.


    "...Renryth?" Noting the too familiar wind, Lier''s worries turned into that of a smile. "You''re here!"

 Chapter 213: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (2)

    Chapter 213: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (2)


    "Hah... Hah..." A pant could be hearding from Renryth whilst he continued to cast out his spells. "...just what is the meaning of this? Why are there so much"


    "Now''s not the time!" Lier stated as her de protruded out forwardsoon shing at another foe and turning them to grey-ash. "Let''s wrap things up here before anything else!"


    "I hope you have a good exnation for this," shaking his head in a tired motion, Renryth began to chant out a spell. "The breeze that blows of thend... Come!"


    [ Windstorm Mage - Breath of Winds ]


    [ Breath of Winds Lv. 3 ] [ 200 MP ] [ Cooldown: 2 Minutes ]


    With the power of the winds by the side of the Windstorm Mage, allies within the surrounding area of a 3m radius will have their Speed increased by 12% for 20 seconds whilst having their health recover by 50% of the user''s magic.


    ...


    "Ah? Thanks for the agility boost, Renryth!" Lier happily shouted out as her movements became more precise and quicker. "Hah...!" Swinging her sword in an arc, the woman shed at the mobs around the area, forcing them back to a corner.


    Following up with her attacksRenryth soon sent out a storm of sharp winds over to the corned monsters, thus turning them to grey ash in the next moment.


    "...prey..." With theirsts word uttered out into the distant winds, the monsters were now cleared out of the area.


    "Phew. That''s done!" Lier stretched her arms whilst she sheathed her sword. Moments after, her head now turned to Renryth who was madly making his way over to Lier. "Now then... Thanks for the help back there, Renryth. If you hadn''t been there, it might have taken albeit much longer."


    "Now can you exin what this was all about?" Renryth raised his brow. "For twilight monsters to be here... Has the attackers... Huh?" his words fumbled as he noted a small child was desperately clinging onto Lier. "...who is this?"


    "M-Mama... Is he... Good?" The child mumbled.


    "She... Well," Lier thought to herself as she looked for the right words to exin. "To put it simply, I found her wounded and well... This happened."


    "...so you found her stranded here?" Renryth calmly closed his eyes. "I see. Her parents might''ve..."


    "..." Lier solemnly bit her lips as she silently nced at the sobbing girl. With a gentle pat on her head, Lier slowly calmed the kid down. "What do we do about her? She''s wounded and..."


    "For now... We should head back to the campsite first. If there were plenty of twilight monsters here..." he nced around the area cautiously. "Who says there wouldn''t be more of them? We can ask the kid questionster. Right now, let''s guarantee our safety."


    ...


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood ForestCampsite [ Day / Clear ].


    Upon taking the kid back with them to the campsite that was nearby the hills in which Lier had slept, the group was immediately greeted by the sight of a young man with ck hair as he angrily stormed his way towards the group.


    "Lier! Were you dozing off that much? Why the heck were you" Stopping at his sentence mid-way, Sanke turned towards the child that was hiding shyly behind the legs of Lier. "A kid...?"


    "M-Mama... This guy... Scary..." The child uttered out.


    "S-Scary?!" Sanke cried out as his face soon became flustered at a sudden realization. "Wait... Mama?! Lier... You have a kid!?"


    "What? No, no! I''m a single woman who''s in her thirties!" Lier hurriedly replied. "We just happen to find this girl or wellI found this girl surrounded by twilight monsters. Did you think I''d just leave her alone like that?"


    "You were fighting against monsters without your armour?" Sanke raised his brow. "What were you thinking?! Especially if it was twilight monsters..."


    "Ahem... If I hadn''t been there in the nick of time, Lier would''ve probably been in big trouble," he coughed.


    "Ugh, you guys..." Lier red at the two men as she sighed. "I can handle myself, alright? Renryth being there just sped up the process. I can do against fights even without my armour for protection. I won''t get hurt."


    "Sure... You may be the great Knight of Shimmering Winter, the all-powerful knight of Fal on par with Ebony, but you''re at your weakest state right now," Sanke shook his head helplessly. "Don''t overexert yourself, will you?"


    "Sanke... I told you, it''s nothing," Lier stated firmly. "You''re making a big fuss over nothing."


    Sanke frowned at Lier''s reply. "I''m making a big fuss over nothing? Lier you" as he was about to interject into her reasoning, his sentence was soon cut short by the small mumbles of the child behind Lier.


    "...mama... hungry..." The child pulled on Lier''s pants whilst muttering out. "Food..."


    "Sigh... We can talk about thister, Sanke," Lier stated as she turned to nce around the area of the campsite set up by Renryth and Sanke so that the group had a ce to sleep in for the night. "Ahem... Now, where are the gathered resources? I''ll cook up dinner, now!"


    "Hah... Whatever," Sanke replied with a sigh. "The ingredients are over by the tent. I managed to find some wild animals around, so make something good, will you? It''s been a while since we had any meat."


    "Oh really? That''s great!" Lier sped her hands happily. "I''ll get right on to it, so keep your hunger at bay for at least an hour and a half or so! I''ll be finished making a delicious dinner then!"


    "An hour and a half? That''s way too long..." he red at the back of Lier, however, he couldn''t really beining. At the very least, they could still eat. "Sigh... I''ll just take a rest in the tent then if we''re waiting for that long."


    "Mama..." The kid uttered out with a slightly trembling voice, contemting on whether or not she should follow after Lier.


    "...Sanke, who says you''re going to get a rest?" Renryth folded his arms. "You have someone to watch over."


    "W-What?" Sanke blinked in a dumbfounded manner at Renryth''s words. "You''re asking me to watch over her? No this is..."


    "...just about any time now, Lier will be calling for me to light up the firewood and to help her with the cooking," Renryth shrugged. "So, my hands won''t be free to watch over her. And besides, she''s wounded so it''s best you help treat her wounds since you''re most suited for it."


    "Renryth..." As Sanke was about to continue on, a loud shout protruded out by the distance.


    "Renryth! I need you!" Lier shouted out. "Come over here!"


    "See, I told you," Renryth nodded his head as he patted Sanke''s shoulder. "Anyways, good luck with this."


    "Hey, Renryth!" he cried out to the old man, however, his voice didn''t reach him. "Ugh... Seriously?" Now being left alone in the campsite with the kid, his attention turned towards her. "...hey kid. You must be pretty tired, right? You can rest by the tent while I treat your..."


    "No... Tents are scary..." The kid answered. "The big bad wolf might blow it away!"


    "..." he sighed. "I assure you... There''s no big bad wolf here... Just go take a rest in the"


    "No! Big bad wolf is scary! Then there''s the cold witch..." her voice trembled. "Then... A kid who hates everyone... I''m scared..."


    "Hah..." Sanke continued to let out a sigh as he hesitated to move his hand over to the kid. With a deep breath, the man ced his hand onto the kid''s headpatting her. "It''s alright. I''ll be there to fend off against those baddies. So, just be at ease."


    "R-Really...?" The kid muttered out.


    "Of course," he nodded his head. "Now, let''s go, shall we?"


    "O-Okay...!"


    ...


    CampsiteSanke''s Tent [ Day / Clear ].


    With the sess of convincing the girl to rest, Sanke hurriedly took the kid over to his tent. In the next moment, he tucked the girl away into bed.


    "Mr... Are you sure there won''t be any big bad wolf?" she mumbled out.


    "Yeah, nothing will happen. Don''t worry about it," Sanke reassured. "Just rest for a bit before dinner," patting on the kid''s head, his eyes now searched around the tent. "Now... Where are the herbal and medical bags I''ve brought..."


    "H-Herbal and medical bags...? Isn''t that... Bad?"


    "No. It''s to treat your wounds," Sanke answered as he noted the bag by the corner of the tent. "Ah. There it is," reaching out towards ithe soon opened up the bag and took out a small red potion and a few bandages. "Show me where your wounds are, I''ll treat it now."


    "Mmm... I-If you say so..." The girl bit her lips as if hesitant. However, she obediently revealed the wounds on her legs. But, in the next moment, the kid soon took off her ragged clothing which slightly made Sanke''s vision shake in shock. "Here are the wounds..."


    "T-This is...?" Ignoring the fact that the kid had taken off everything on her, his mouth opened wide in shock at the sight of something else. "Kid... These aren''t just monster wounds... Now is it?"


    On the body of the kid, not only were there open wounds everywhereThere were countless bruises and scars on her body. As if she had beenshed out on many times.

 Chapter 214: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (3)

    Chapter 214: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (3)


    "...u-um, u-um..." her words fumbled out as she saw the looks of confusion on Sanke. "T-These are all from those big bad wolves..." she replied with a hesitant voice.


    "..." Sanke''s mouth shut closed as his hands that held onto the red potions and bandages silently moved towards the child. "Drink this and then turn around, I''ll begin treating it now."


    "A-Alright..." The kid took a deep breath as if still hesitant as she turned around to allow for Sanke to ce the bandages onto her body.


    ...


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood ForestCampsite [ Evening ].


    "...hah, that took much longer than I expected..." Exiting out of his tent, Sanke uttered out with a tired yawn as he turned to nce around the surrounding area of the campsite. "To think she had that many wounds... Was it really all those twilight monsters that did that to her?"


    "Sanke?" Whilst the man in question was deep in thought, a female''s voice protruded out. "What are you doing just standing by at the tent? Where''s the child?"


    "Huh?" Snapping back into reality, Sanke averted his gaze over towards the distance where he noted that Lier was slowly making her way towards him. "...oh Lier. The kid''s asleep, her mind calmed down after all those wounds were treated."


    "Phew, that''s a relieve!" Lier smiled. "Anyhow... Sorry about leaving the caretaking job abruptly to you, Sanke. If I hadn''t had to cook, I would''ve been the one to treat her wounds."


    "Eh... It''s no problem," Sanke nonchntly shrugged. "Neither of us knows how to cook so even if you ended up taking care of the kiddinner would be charcoaled meat."


    "Aha! That''s true. You''re both horrible cooks," Lier chuckled. "Even back when in the vige we Ahem... Sorry."


    "...it''s fine," Sanke calmly closed his eyes. "We were helpless that time. Even your apprentice..."


    "Hah... Although I know him for about a good year or so? He felt like some younger brother, y''know?" Lier solemnly looked up towards the evening skies. "I hope he''s safe and sound, we were separated at the end."


    "He should in any case. He''s an adventurer after all," Sanke nodded his head. "Though... You really do get attached to people that easily, huh?"


    "Huh? What do you mean by that?" Lier coughed. "I''m attached to my apprentice because I knew him for a year or so... What do you mean ''that easily''?"


    "No..." Sanke sighed. "It was just that... How you both met with each other, it was a funny sight. Especially when a few of hispanions had tried to stop himthough it was inevitable."


    "E-Enough of that..." she coughed. "Let''s get to a different topic. How are the wounds of the child?"


    "...ah. About that," Sanke''s voice slightly stuttered. "...those wounds... How many monsters were you fighting against when you found her?"


    "About 12 to 16? There were quite a number of them, that''s for sure," Lier stated. "What about it?"


    "12 to 16...?" Sanke raised his brow. "That amount isn''t enough for wounds to be inflicted like that..."


    "Sanke...?" Lier questioned as she saw the sight of his worried face. "Is something the matter?"


    "...the number of wounds that were on the child''s body," he took a deep breath. "it was inhumane. Bruises, scars, all of them were seen on the kid," he exined. "Though... From the looks of it, the only wounds that appeared to be inflicted by typical twilight monsters would be her around her bottom area. Whilst the rest... It seemed to be from abuse."


    "...abuse?" Lier''s eyes shook. "That is..." unable to speak of the matter, Lier quickly turned to another question. "What did she say about the wounds?"


    "The wounds?" Soon shaking his head helplessly, he replied. "She said that a ''big bad wolf'' did that to her... And she had been repeating that same word over the few conversations I''ve had with her."


    "Hmm... I see," Lier nodded her head. "Maybe it''s not just the twilight"


    "Hey, Lier!" As she was about to continue her sentence, a loud shout protruded out by the distance. "Are you trying to make the food burnt or something?!"


    "A-Ack! I''ve stayed for too long," Lier coughed. "Ahem... We can talk about thister! I need to hurry back to set up the food for us." Moments after she had said so, her legs began moving through the campsitehurriedly making their way over to Renryth.


    "Hah..." Sanke pinched the bridge of his nose. "For someone older than me to be like that... Sigh..." With a helpless sigh, Sanke soon heard a voice from behind him.


    "Mister...?" The kid''s voice softly rang out. "I-is something wrong?"


    "...ah?" Taken aback by the sudden voice, Sanke turned around as he noted that the child had woken up. "...you''re awake? Did our conversation wake you up? Sorry."


    "M-Mister..." she mumbled out as she fidgeted with her fingers. "Y-You''re not going to abandon me, are you...? Please don''t... Please..." With tears suddenly falling down from her eyes, Sanke was suddenly stumped with what to do.


    "...h-hey! Kid... What the?" Sanke uttered out with confusion. Even though he was speaking with Lier in regards to the topic of the kid, there wasn''t any sort of room for a misunderstanding of leaving her. "It''s nothing of that sort... So why?"


    "...sniff, R-Really...?" The child looked at Sanke with a solemn look. "Is it really...?"


    "E-Err..." Sanke muttered out with unsureness as he only walked up towards her. In the next moment, his head gently patted on the girl''s head. "Yes... So, just... Calm down will you?"


    "I-Is it...?" The kid slowly calmed down with every pat on her head.


    Unbeknowst to him on what had gone on within the kid''s head. However, with her manner of attitude, it was obvious that she had gone through a lot. Perhaps she had a sudden nightmare or perhaps not. But, Sanke by instinct went tofort her.


    "There, there..." Sanke gently caressed her head. "Ahem... The food should be ready... So why don''t we head there, now?"


    "M-Mama''s done with the food?" Upon hearing the word ''food'' from Sanke, her stomach growled. "Mm... W-Would it really be alright...? To eat..."


    "Don''t worry about it, let''s go," Sanke gestured over to the child as he turned around towards the direction of where Lier left. "Just follow behind me."


    ...


    As the two slowly made their way over to Lier and Renryth who were by the corner of the campsite, the two noted that Lier was frantically struggling to get the food ready whilst seemingly maintaining the fire that was ring out of control.


    "E-Eeek! How did the fire get this out of control?!" Lier cried out. "Renryth!"


    "W-What do you mean?! I just set the fire and the usual limiter for meat!" Renryth cried out. "How was I supposed to know you''d leave the food cooking alone like that??"


    "R-Renryth! We''re cooking out in the wild!" she shouted out. "That amount of fire without any sort of magic control technology... We might as well start a forest fire!"


    "Ack... Lier... You should''ve specified!"


    "Ahh!"


    "U-Ugh... You guys..." Sanke helplessly nced at the chaotic situation before him. With a step forward over to the ring me, he muttered out a chant. "Sigh... Before me, I wished for tranquillityarts of calmness, the breath of water."


    [ Meister Arts - Breath of Water ]


    With a flow of water gently releasing from the palm of his hands, the water surrounded the ring me. In turn, the fire calmed down.


    "A-Ah... It''s calmed down..." Lier coughed. "It''s great having mages on the team, huh...?"


    "Lier..." Sanke red at the out of breath woman. "You should''ve called me, you know that right?"


    "Look, everything was in a jumble of mess, alright?" Lier pouted. "I-In any case... The foods ready..." moving her hands over to the burnt meat, she sighed. "...w-well... perhaps... We should just eat the berries I prepared?"


    "All my hunting efforts... For nothing," Sanke blinked in a tired manner.


    "S-Sorry about that..." Lier slowly walked over towards the bowl of berries that she had prepared earlier whilst cooking the meat. "...anyway let''s just dig in."


    ...


    After a while of fumbling around, the group finally settled in a corner as they had the food in front of them. Burnt boar meat, berry sauce and a bowl of unused berries. That was the dinner for them tonight.


    "...yikes, it''s really burnt," Sanke blinked in a dumbfounded manner. "That''s just a shame..."


    "Argh! Just eat the meat will you?!" Lier pouted. "You have no right toin when our food source is scarce as it is!"


    "Hah..." Sanke sighed as he took a bite out of the meat. "You''re right... I''ve no right toin."


    "Mm..." Hesitant to take a bite out of the charcoaled meat, the kid slowly ced the small bit of meat cut off by Lier into her mouth. With a single chew, the kid''s eyes brightened. "D-Delicious...!"


    "D-Delicious...?" Renryth coughed at the kid''s reaction. "Well... Whatever. Hey, kid. I haven''t asked this earlier, but... What''s your name?"


    "H-Huh?" Turning towards Renryth in a confused manner, she tilted her head whilst stuffing the meat into her mouth like a squirrel. "It''s N-Nicole..."

 Chapter 215: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (4)

    Chapter 215: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (4)


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood ForestCampsite [ Morning / Hazy ].


    "...yawn," waking up from his tent the night after the group had dinner, the young man, Sanke slowly made his way out of the tent in a tired manner. "...another day, I live through to see a new blue sky... Huh?"


    Still, with drowsy eyes, Sanke solemnly turned to look at the hazy skies of the ins.


    "Well... Not exactly blue skies since it''s been snow and snow... But the point is still there I guess," muttering out to himself, he subconsciously rubbed his eyes whilst attempting to rid away from "Ahem... Whatever. I guess I should start packing up ahead of the others to be on the move again..."


    Quietly making through the morning snow that filled the grounds of the campsite, his eyes turned towards the area where they had dinnerst night and, with his steps suddenly stopping, he was reminded of the events that had urred the day before.


    "..."


    ...


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood ForestCampsite [ Evening / Previous Day ].


    "Nicole, huh?" Hearing the reply from the child, Lier slowly moved her hands over to the kid. With a smile, she gently patted her head. "That''s nice~! Nicole''s a beautiful namepared to something like ''Lier'', who even thought about that? I could have used something like Armanda, or Catherine! Cooler sounding names!"


    "What?" Renryth red at Lier. "How could you not like something like Lier? ''Leer'' sounds nice!"


    "People could think that Lier could be pronounced Liar!" Lier pouted. "That kind of misunderstanding... It hurts! Not a cool name!"


    "Mm..." Nicole seemingly pouted. "Mama Lier... It''s a nice name!"


    "Huh?" Lier turned over towards Nicole in a dumbfounded manner. "N-Nice?"


    "Yeah! Very nice! Sounds cool!" she excitedly stated.


    "Well... I think Lier''s a beautiful and cool name too," Sanke mumbled out with his hand tightly blocking his mouth.


    "Huh? What was that?" Renryth slightly smirked. "Could you repeat yourself, Sanke?"


    "A-Ahem... Enough of that! Why did the topic suddenly turn to that of Lier''s name?!" Sanke grumbled. "Wearn''t we talking about Nicole??"


    "Mama Lier and Papa Sanke!" Nicole jumped over towards the two staggered people in front of her and hugged them.


    "C-Cough... That''s out of the blue to say..." Sanke averted his gaze away in awkwardness. "Wearn''t we like having dinner or something?"


    "Meh, you said the food was burnt, so would you have even eaten all of it?" Lier red at Sanke. "You might as well regain all your energy with this precious hug!"


    "...sigh," Sanke uttered out with a sigh. "Well... I guess the hug is pretty nice..."


    "Ahem... I hate to parade down on your get-together, but..." Renryth sighed. "...leaving things on this note may rather be albeit more difficult for us in the long term? We don''t know the girl enough to trust her."


    "Mm..." Nicole''s grip on the two tightened as she heard Renryth. "I-If... I-If I answer your questions... I-I won''t be abandoned, right...?"


    "Nicole...?" Lier tilted her head as she confusingly looked at the child, who appeared to have tears in her eyes.


    "I-I''ll try to answer..." Nicole mumbled out. "B-But... I don''t think I can answer much... My memory is all fuzzy..."


    "Hey, hey..." Renryth coughed. "I didn''t mean to make you cry..."


    "But you did, Renryth," Lier red at the old man.


    "Hah..." The old man scratched the back of his head in helplessness. "Let''s just take it easy and ask questions that you can answer, alright? If you can''t answer, then you just say you don''t remember."


    "M-Mm... Alright," the girl nodded her head obediently.


    ...


    "Hah..." Returning back to the current point of time, Sanke helplessly shook his head. "To think that the child couldn''t answer anything..."


    With the number of questions that the party had asked the little girl, not one was answered in a proper manner. Nitpickity questions regarding her situation led to the remembrance of a hazy void in her memory. Questions of her past led to that of a shaking child as if wanting to run away from everything.


    The only thing she could''ve truly answered was her name.


    "..." As if deep in thought of the manner, he calmly closed his eyes whilst recollecting on the little information he had gotten about her. "Found in a forest surrounded by monsters... Wounds that hinted of abuse... A fear of abandonment... It''s all rather too easy to decipher... Huh?"


    By natural assumption, one would be able to think that way. The girl ran away and was suddenly surrounded by monsters within a forest. If the group had been mere travellers on an expedition to explore unknownnds, they might''ve believed such a case.


    However, that was not the case. For Sanke and the rest, they were locals of thend of Fal, or to be precisethend of Bareth. They knew very well that the only human civilization on thend was from the vige of Cruwanski. For them not being able to recognize a person from such an enclosedmunity, meant that she wasn''t from there and neither were the perpetrators of her suffering.


    "...where could she hade from?" he didn''t know how to answer such a question if even the person questioned could not answer. "Hah... Perhaps Renryth was right in that regard..."


    "Perhaps I was right to what?" A male''s voice protruded out from behind Sanke.


    "A-Ah?" Caught by surprise by the old man''s voice, Sanke turned his head over to Renryth with a slight cough. "When did you get here, Renryth?"


    "I just woke up and saw that you were in deep thought," he shrugged. "Did you think I''d have let up the opportunity to bother you?"


    "Seriously?" Sanke helplessly questioned. "Well, you came just at the right time I guess. What do you think aboutst night? Nicole, I mean."


    "Ah, Nicole?" Renryth thought to himself. "Well... First of all, for me... She''s quite suspicious. I''m not sure about you two seeing as how you''ve grown attached to her in such a short period of timebut, for her to not be able to remember anything and to be found in the middle of the ins like this... That just calls for bad omens by my book," he exined. "Though in that regard... I''m surprised you''ve grown awfully attached to a kid like her actually. Is it because of Lier? You don''t usually open yourself up like that to be others."


    "True... But I''m not too sure on that," he shook his head. "She just... Seems like someone who I can open up to. In a sense of having a feeling to protect, I guess?" he tilted his head in unsureness. "But... Whatever. I''m suspicious of her too, or perhaps I should say curious? Though that doesn''t matter. It''s more on her origins than her motives anyway."


    "Hmm... I see," Renryth nodded his head. "Perhaps the way you''re so open to her could be because Nicole herself reminds you as if that was a child version of Lier."


    "W-What...?" Sanke raised his brow in confusion. "No... That isn''t the reason..."


    "For Lier''s reason, it could be usible," Renryth chuckled. "But... Anyway, don''t think too much in that regard. You should just pack up everything on the campsite so we can immediately continue on with our journey to Fal when Lier and Nicole wake up. It''s still a long way to go, but we can decide on what to do with Nicole when we get there."


    "Right... I shouldn''t think too much on it," he shook his head, ridding of the thought. "I''ll get to it then."


    "Good," Renryth nodded his head. "I''ll see if I can find some berries around for on the go."


    "..." Upon noting that Renryth had gone away, Sanke solemnly looked back towards the tent. "...was it really something she couldn''t remember?" Whilst having the conversation with Renryth, a sudden thought came to his mind. "A big bad wolf... A child that hates everything and a cold witch... Why does it seem like she knows this all too well?"


    He had initially brushed it off as some imagination in which was caused by her abuse. But Sanke was being wishful at that point. The words from Nicole that described the three aforementioned beings, might have something to do with Nicole''s reason for appearing in the forest.


    However, Sanke didn''t have any concrete evidence for the belief. Thus, he was stuck in a loop.


    "Hah..." Shaking his head once again to rid of the thought, Sanke''s body soon stretched as he let out a yawn in the next moment. "...well, I''ll think about thister. I shouldn''t waste time since I''ve got work to do. Dying it would make things much worse."


    With a firm nod, he began making his way over to the group''s luggage to begin packing up.


    ...


    "..." From the distance of Sanke, a small figure appeared behind the tree. With lifeless eyes and a tired look on his face, he eyed the campsite, especially the tent where Lier and the kid was sleeping in. "...target lock. Child of ice... Mom wants you back this instant so we can y."


    Muttering out in a lifeless voice, he soon disappeared into the deep forest.

 Chapter 216: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (5)

    Chapter 216: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (5)


    The Barren Lands, Bareth''s inPinewood Forest [ Day / Hazy ].


    With the hands of afternoon striking at the clock, the group that had just left the campsite steadily made their way through the dirt paths of the forest.


    "...mm," whilst they were silently walking after leaving only but the grounds of thend behind at the campsite area, Nicole couldn''t help but ask a question. "...where are we going?"


    "Hmm?" With the silence of the group breaking, Lier turned towards Nicole with a smile. "We''re going to the kingdom of Fal."


    "The kingdom of Fal...?" Nicole mumbled out in confusion. "Why are we going there? Is it where your home is?"


    "..." The group kept quiet as they heard Nicole''s question.


    "Aha... Home?" Lier chuckled. "I guess... You could put it like that. We''re going home, or well... To put it bluntly, it''s to seek out a new ce for us to call home."


    "Huh...? What does that mean?"


    "...Lier?" Sanke slightly scrunched over to her ear as he whispered. "Aren''t you touching on a touchy topic here...? To casually say this is just..."


    "It''s fine, Sanke," Lier reassured Sanke. "What we''re doing now is heading to Fal. That''s our main priority. What I''m exining now is just telling her the location we''re heading to. I won''t mention anything that would make us... Upset."


    "Upset...? That''s not what I mean," he shook his head. "What I''m trying to say is... To tell her about something like this... I don''t think it''s right..."


    "Is it?" she tilted her head. "I don''t see anything wrong with telling where we''re going and why. She is, after all,ing with us for the journey. So leaving her out of this would seem more foreboding, y''know?"


    "..." Hearing the reasoning from Lier, Sanke thought to himself. "...right. It does seem foreboding, I guess..." he sighed. "But... Of all people to casually say it as if nothing had happened... It''s not as if you''re able to hide your sadness," thinking to himself, he soon heard the continuation of the little girl''s inquiries.


    "So um..." Nicole muttered out. "...what do you mean by finding a new home? What happened to your old one?"


    "Ah..." A solemn look appeared on Lier''s expression.


    "...I knew it," Sanke bit his lips at her expression. "Just mentioning where we''re going and why would lead to a conversation like this... Even for a kid..." pondering on the matter, his attention soon turned towards Nicole. "Hey... Nicole, you shouldn''t"


    "Something happened back at the vige. Somethingplicated... So we''re running away," As Sanke was about to continue his sentence, Lier quickly interrupted. "That''s all you should know really! We''re finding a new home because of that."


    "Mm... Alright," Nicole nodded her head. "So... It''s running away..."


    "..." Sanke inwardly sighed. "Complicated yeah... But admitting to the fact that we''re running away..."


    The situation back in the vige of Cruwanski was truthfullyplicated by their book. It wasn''t a lie to say that they were running away. Perhaps more or so, if one would have seen events that had unfolded, the term ''running away'' wouldn''t be the right way to describe it.


    Then what would have been the correct term?


    They were running away from responsibility.


    ...


    "...sigh," Sanke sighed to himself as he solemnly looked towards Lier and Nicole who were conversing with one another together. "They really do look the same, huh? Well... On the note of Nicole almost resembling that of a child version of Lier."


    The simrities between the two were prevalent. With nearly the same kind of facial expression under the pretence of being in the same mood, the near-identical hair colour and the fact that somewhat of Nicole''s aura reminded him of LierHe couldn''t just brush off Renryth''s words when they were now directly facing one another.


    "..." his thoughts seemingly went elsewhere as his footsteps stopped abruptly. "...responsibility and care... Would things have been different if... I had been much stronger then?" pondering on it, his thoughts soon cut short as he heard a sudden man''s voice from behind him.


    "Hey, Sanke. What are you thinking right now?" The voice, Renryth, spoke out. "You suddenly stopped walking. Are you trying to make them worry about you?"


    "Ah...!" Upon realizing he had pondered for too long, he let out a slight cough. "...ahem. Sorry, I got ahead of myself there."


    "...hah, just continue walking whilst being in deep thought if you must," Renryth pushed the young man in front of him. "If your pace suddenly slows down, we won''t reach Fal any time soon. So if we want to get there within the next two days, hurry it up!"


    "Right, right..." Sanke continued to cough out slightly. "To Fal, it is, I guess. But..." Despite being forcibly pushed to the front by Renryth, Sanke''s head turned to face the old man with a solemn and sad expression. "...what do we even do at Fal? The vige is already..."


    "Hah... There''s nothing we can do in actuality," Renryth bluntly spoke out. "Nothing can return them from the dead. But, it''s not the end of it. We''re still alive and surviving in these damned barrennds. So... If you want to see tomorrow again, continue forward. I guess that''s what Lier would do... To carry on the Legacy of the Divinity Knight at the chapel."


    "...I guess," Sanke slowly broke eye contact with Renryth as he turned away from him. "That''s her own goal, I guess. The legacy of the Divinity Knight... Protector swore to watch over the sealed Bareth... I know what troubles she has but..."


    "But...?" Renryth raised his brow. "If it''s in regards to your own goals, you have one, don''t you? You''ve always been boasting it to me back then."


    "Right... My own goals," Sanke muttered out. "A foolish one at that..."


    ...


    A goal that was out of the league for Sanke. It was but a pipe dream.


    Even for him to reach out into the distance, he was just a watcher by.


    His goal? A foolish one.


    To be the best and to surpass strength, was but now a long distant dream for him.


    Now... He was just left with the regret of the past.


    ...


    "..." Sanke shook his head as he rid himself of the thought. "Whatever... I guess I''ll try to think up a new goal. Hah... What should it be?" he thought to himself as he turned towards Lier, and then to Nicole. "Perhaps..." he considered, however, he sighed. "Bah... I have more than enough time to think about this. Why am I even worrying over this as if everything will end tomorrow?"


    Scratching his head in frustration, he took a deep breath as he continued on with his usual pace down the dirt path. Whilst he was in deep thought, Lier and Nicole had conversed about many things.


    "Aha..." Lier chuckled. "That''s that. I guess his training that time led him to a disaster just waiting to happen. If you were there... You''d probably have snorted at Kaisus''s dumbfounded face."


    "Hmm... Training..." Nicole tilted her head. "Is it... Really a good thing? Back then... The big bad wolf said something about training... I didn''t like it... I never liked it..."


    "Huh?" Hearing Nicole''s shaky voice, Lier worryingly tilted her head. "Do you remember something?"


    "Ah... N-No... It''s nothing..." Nicole slightly clenched her hand with her nails slightly digging into her skin. "Mm..."


    "Hey... Nicole? Are you alright?" Noticing the child''s weird demeanour, Lier turned to look at her actions. In the next moment, her hands moved over towards Nicole''s arm in a hurrysoon grabbing onto it and pulling it up to her face. "Your palms are bleeding..."


    "Huh?" Hearing the word ''bleeding'' from Lier, Sanke hurried towards the two. "What''s wrong? Are her wounds acting up again? Let''s stop and I can treat"


    "No... Papa, mama..." Nicole mumbled out. "It''s alright... I identally cut myself with my nail... T-That''s all..."


    "..." Lier was speechless at her reason. "...I didn''t notice you had such long nails earlier... We should cut them. If you keep them long like that, you may end up hurting yourself even more."


    "A-Ah...!" Nicole slightly stumbled back. "No... Anything but that... Don''t cut it... It helps..."


    "N-Nicole...?" Lier''s eyes suddenly opened wide in worry as she hurriedly grabbed hold of Lier. "Nicole! Are you alright?!"


    "...no..." In the next moment, sudden tears streamed down her face. "Anything but that... I need... It helps... Bring me to peace..."


    "Nicole..." Sanke sentimentally looked towards Nicole. "...show me your hands, I''ll treat it. If you leave it like that while out in the cold, it''ll only get worse."


    "Sniff... Y-You won''t... Cut it... Right?" Nicole muttered out. "I don''t... Want that..."


    "...it''s your own choice to keep your nails as it is," he nodded his head. "You just have to avoid getting hurt, alright?"


    "A-Alright..." she nodded her head meekly.


    "Good," with small bandages in his hand and a potion in hand, Sanke slowly bent towards the ground as he slowly poured down green lotion onto her hand. In the next moment, he tightly wrapped the bandage around the palm of the kid. "There... That should be done. What about your other wounds? Let me check on them."


    "My other wounds...?" she mumbled out. "N-No... It''s fine..."


    "Is something the matter, Nicole?" Sanke tilted his head.


    "U-Um..." Nicole bit her lips slightly. "It''s all fine now... Don''t worry about it..."


    "Sigh... Seeing as how we''re in for a sudden stop, let''s just take a small break here before continuing on, shall we?" Renryth asked.

 Chapter 217: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (6)

    Chapter 217: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (6)


    After stopping at their footsteps to take a quick rest by the trees of the forest, the group silently sat by at their luggage whilst Nicole was curled up in a ball. Beside her, Sanke had an annoyed expression on his face.


    "Hey..." Sanke frowned. "Can''t you just show your wounds fromst time? I want to rece the bandages now that we''re resting."


    "No... It''s fine," Nicole muttered out. "It''s still clean... You don''t have to waste resources on me..."


    "Whether it''s clean or not, bandages should be reced every day," Sanke clicked his tongue. "otherwise, your wounds would be more likely to be infected. It''s already bad as it is with them all over your body... If you leave them as it is..."


    "I..."


    "..." Sanke turned towards Lier. "Do you mind?"


    "Yeah... Sanke''s right!" she nodded her head. "We''ve got to rece your bandages. If you leave it like that... You''ll be more or less visiting the church! It costs money and well... We''re um... Slightly broke..."


    "...Lier," he sighed. "Is that all the reasons you cane up with? If anything, that seems like an excuse for"


    "ahem. Maybe it''s because you''re ufortable with Sanke or Renryth being here? Do you want me to rece them for you instead?" Lier pointed over towards the tree as she interrupted Sanke. "Come over there and I''ll help"


    "I''m good..." Nicole bit her lips. "My wounds are fine. Mama, papa! If anything, I''ve recovered! You don''t need to worry! I just... Need a little break..."


    "..." Lier helplessly turned towards Sanke with a dumfounded expression. "What do we do...?"


    "Hah... What can we do?" Sanke furrowed his brow whilst soon whispering over to Lier. "Do you want to use force or something? I mean... That''s an option I guess if it the end justify the means," he shrugged. "Not wanting to change bandages, perhaps out of fear of being hurt, just harms her in the long run. So we best do it now if you want."


    "Using force when she''s in this state..." Lier sighed. "Let''s not, alright? Well... Give it a day before we decide that. Leaving the bandages on for one day should be fine..."


    "Lier..." Sanke helplessly blinked at the woman in front of him. "If it were normal wounds... I would have agreed... But, those wounds aren''t those you''d find from someone barely getting out of a battlefield. It''s far worse. I know because I was the one who bandaged her up."


    "Still, using force cannot be an option," Lier shook her head.


    "It was just one of the possibilities," he continued to sigh. "This wouldn''t be a problem if I could just change her bandages... But, why is she so reluctant on showing her them all of a sudden? Wounds like that don''t recover overnight."


    "Then, let''s give it half a day, shall we?" she suggested. "She''s maybe just scared from just remembering something... So, she''ll probably open upter down during the day," nodding her head, she stood up from the ground. "Ahem... In any case, let''s continue with the journey."


    "Already?" Sanke raised his brow as he sighed. In the next moment, he turned his head over to the child, who was silently fiddling with her fingers. "...sigh. If you say so."


    ...


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood Forest??? [ Day / Hazy ].


    "...location. Check," hidden deep within the forest, a young child stood ever so lonely from the distance to the group who were beginning to continue down the dirt paths. "...stupid wolf, when can we start?"


    "You dare call me stupid wolf?!" An angered growl could be heard in reply.


    "If you''re not ''stupid wolf'', then exin," he frowned. "Why did you sent an entire pack of your kind over to me? White with fur, uncorrupted by twilight and that stupid scent you always give, are you lying to me? Should I tell mom that you''ve been a bad dog?"


    With his small hands moving over to the back of him, a pack of struggling wolves desperately cried out with small howls. Their limbs were all pinned to the ground by ice.


    "Is this your idea on keeping me entertained?" his expression continued to sour. "Don''t treat me like some happy child! I''m big enough for mom to send me out to missions!"


    "Grr... You dare ce me into the same group as those creatures? Those wolves would never be like me!" the deep voice angrily resounded through his ear. "If you wearn''t so preciously kept by the witch''s side, I would''ve given you a stern disciplined!"


    "Do you think care? That''s no fun," he scoffed. "You should stop it really. It might bite you at your tail if you''re not careful. Not that you''re already keeping your tail between your leg for letting the child go."


    "Hah, you brat..."


    "Hmph. Mom''s a kind person, she let you off with a day of surviving the blizzard in your human form," he stated. "If you were like those hopeless other servants, then you''d be stone-cold ice. Very fun toys to y with, to be honest."


    "Crazy brat..." the voice mumbled.


    "Some mutt wishes to continue speaking like that?" he smirked. "Why don''t you save your energy for when she gets back?"


    "Ugh. Just get on with the stupid n already," the voice scoffed. "They''re getting pretty hungry to get out to start hunting. You''re only just dying the inevitable."


    "Mommy said to be kind to those who helped Nicole," the child uttered out with an innocent smile. "Of course, I must follow her wishes! So, small dogs, bad. Stupid big dog should only be the oneing"


    "Grr... Just one day I''ll..."


    "Stupid big dog should now keep their mouth shut," the child stated. "We shall continue pursuing them."


    ...


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood ForestCampsite [ Evening / Slight Hail ].


    As the evening sunset slowly fell by the horizon, the clouds darkened as a short hail befell upon thends. However, with the help of Renryth''s barrier around the campsite which they had set up for the night, the small hail was nothing.


    "...well, that''s some pretty good luck that we''re only getting a small hail, huh?" Lier stated as she turned to look up towards the protective barrier casted out by Renryth.


    "...good luck?" Renryth whose been tightly holding onto his staff the entire time blinked slightly. "...if this hail bes any stronger orsts the entire night, I won''t be getting any shut-eye."


    "I don''t think we have anything to worry about for tonight," Sanke stated whilst scrutinizing the surrounding area. "The hail should stop pretty soon, so you can still get a good night''s rest."


    "Well... If you say so," Renryth sighed. "Anyway, how''s the kid?"


    "The kid? Well... She''s still refusing to show her wounds," Sanke sighed. "I''m considering to use force at this point if it means to keep her at a healthy state. But... Lier''s not budging at all. So she''s handling the matter."


    "Well just trust her for now," Renryth stated. "Anyhow, do you mind giving me a bit of your magic to lessen the burden on this barrier? The more energy I save up for the long-running night, then I won''t be as tired."


    "Seriously? I literally just said..."


    "Can never be too sure, right?" Renryth chuckled.


    "Sigh..." Helpless, Sanke walked up towards Renryth.


    ...


    Whilst Renryth and Sanke were busying with the barrier, Lier on the other hand had been attempting to convince the child to allow for her to change her bandages.


    "Come on, Nicole! Pretty please?" Lier begged.


    "I told you... It''s fine..." Nicole stated. "My bandages are clean and..."


    "Then at least show me that your bandages are clean," she stated as she interrupted Nicole. "If you do that, then I won''t bother you anymore about this."


    "Mm..." Hesitant, Nicole shook her head. "No... I''m telling you, it''s fine... I don''t need for it to be reced... Really!"


    "...d-do it for mummy...?" Lier muttered out in an embarrassed tone. "Please...?"


    Nicole was slightly shocked at the words that were uttered out by Lier. In the next moment, the child pulled up her shirt as she showed it towards the woman in front of her. "Okay... if mama says so..." with a dejected voice, the bandages were now revealed for Lier to see. "...I told you... The bandages are clean... So..."


    "..." Lier calmly turned to look at the girl''s body that was filled with bandages. "I guess it''s clean... But..." moving her hands over to the child''s body, she slightly touched the bandaged area. "It''s a little loose. Let me just adjust it and..." as she was about to tighten the bandage, Lier''s eyes opened wide in shock. "Nicole...?"


    "...!!" Upon noticing what Lier had seen on her body, Nicole desperately moved away from Lier. "No... It''s not what you think...!"


    "Nicole..." she stood up as she walked over towards the shivering child. "Your wounds... Where are they? From what Sanke had described earlier... You should have marks everywhere beneath your bandages... But..."


    "M-Mama..." Slight tears began appearing in her eyes, slowly clouding her vision. "I-It''s not what you think... These wounds aren''t... I-I..."


    "Nicole?" Lier questioned.


    "Don''t... I don''t want... To be called a monster... No..." Nicole began shaking her head in fear as she soon pushed Lier''s hand away. In the next moment, she began curling up into a ball. "...mama... please..."


    "N-Nicole...?" Confused at the child''s sudden behaviour, Lier was stumped.


    "Lier?" In a rushed voice, Sanke hurriedly ran over towards the two. "What''s going on here?!"

 Chapter 218: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (7)

    Chapter 218: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (7)


    "Ah, Sanke!" Lier cried out. "Help me out here, will you?! Nicole suddenly became like this and..."


    "Please... Don''t call... me a monster..." Nicole whimpered. "Papa... Mama..."


    "Urk... This is...?" Sanke questioned as he scrutinized Nicole''s shaky body. Soon after, he turned towards Lier. "What caused this?"


    "I don''t know..." Lier muttered out. "She started acting like this when... When I saw what''s hidden below her bandages..."


    "Her wounds? Did it get worse?" at the realization of Lier''s words, Sanke hurriedly turned around and locked eyes onto the luggage area. In the next moment, he began to scurry over towards the area.


    "Sanke, wait!" However, just before he did so, Lier tightly held onto Sanke''s hand, preventing him from moving away. "It''s not that her wounds worsened... It''s that it disappeared entirely."


    "...what?" Sanke stopped at his footsteps as he averted his gaze over to Lier with a confused expression. "...wounds like that... Disappeared entirely?"


    "No... Please don''t talk about it...!" Nicole cried out. "It''s nothing like that... I-I''m not a monster... Really... Really!!" As she continued to shout out in a loud voice, the sounds of the wind began to cry out in the air. Following that, cracks began to appear from the barrier Renryth had put up.


    "...?!" Noticing the sudden cracks at the barrier, Sanke''s and Lier''s eyes opened widely, "...hey, Renryth!" In the next moment, Sanke turned in the direction of Renryth. "What''s going on? Is your magic suddenly weakening?!"


    "Ugh... The wind''s suddenly got stronger..." Renryth clicked his tongue in reply. "If it increases any more... The barrier will break and... Argh...!"


    "Damn it... At such a time like this?" Sanke frowned. "Lier, you keep Nicole at bay. I''ll help Renryth out."


    "Right," Lier nodded her head as she now turned towards the crying child. "Nicole, please calm down..."


    "You''ll call me a monster..." Nicole frantically shook her head. "Please... Please..." As she continued to repeat to herself, the winds began to grow uncontrobly. Not only that, the atmosphere from within the barrier began growing icy cold.


    "...Nicole..." Biting her lips, Lier took a deep breath as she leapt towards Nicole. In the next momentshe hugged the child tightly. "It''s okay... Calm down. We won''t call you a monster. So... Please, calm down."


    "...mmm..." Feeling the sudden warmth from Lier, the strange cold atmosphere began to drop in temperature whilst the winds began to quiet down. "I... I... I''m sorry..." However, despite the two disasters gone, Nicole was still in tears.


    "It''s okay, Nicole..." Gently patting her back to give Nicole a sense of belonging, Lier reassured the child. "You''re not a monster, Nicole. You''re you."


    "Mama..." Feeling the continuous warmth of the woman, Nicole''s eyelids slowly closed without being able to fight back. Slowly, she drifted off into slumber. "I''m... Sorry..."


    "..." Keeping quiet whilst continuing to pat on her back, silent footsteps began to closely walk from behind her.


    "Lier, is everything alright over here?" The sounds of the footstep came from Sanke, who seemed to be in a distraught demeanour.


    "Yeah... She just fell asleep," Lier nodded her head. "What happened to the barrier, is it fine?"


    "Just as suddenly the heavy winds came, the winds returned to normal," Sanke shook his head helplessly. "We''ve managed to survive for this one, but... I''ll have to keep watch for tonight in case ites back again."


    "Huh... So you two won''t be getting any sleep?" Lier asked.


    "Unfortunately," he sighed.


    "if that''s so... Then, let''s put up a rotation," Lier suggested. "That way we all can rest for a little while."


    "...are you sure?" Renryth raised his brow. "I''m fine with just staying up all night, but you..."


    "It''s fine!" Lier nodded her head.


    "..." Sanke''s eyes turned towards Nicole as he sighed. "I guess so... Then, we''ll do it."


    "Great!" Lier smiled. "For now... Let''s have you rest and I''ll"


    "Say, Lier," Sanke stated, quickly interrupting the woman. "About Nicole... She''s asleep, right? Then let me check for myself her wounds."


    ...


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood ForestCampsite [ Morning / Next Day ].


    "...mmm..." Within a small tent on the campsite area, a child slept within it. "..." With a small petite body, she moved around in the sleeping bag, as if ufortable. "Mama... Mama..." Muttering out sudden words of unease, her eyes opened wide in shock. "Mama!"


    Moving her body up in a frantic manner, Nicole soon nced around the small tent. "Mama...? D-Did you abandon me...?" at the realization of the fact that Lier was not sleeping within the tent, small tears began to fall from her eyes. "No... No...!"


    Abruptly getting out of her sleeping bag, Nicole hurriedly walked out of the tent. Greeted by the morning sun, her eyes nced around as she noticed that all the luggage was packed up and ready to go.


    "No... Please don''t... Abandon..." Her eyes continued to scrutinize the area in a frenzied state as she noticed that Lier was quietly sleeping by the trees near the campsite. "Mama... Mama!" With a sigh of relief, Nicole immediately called out to the woman as she ran over to her. Immediately after, she hugged her.


    "...!" With a sudden thud on her body, Lier''s eyes abruptly opened wide. "N-Nicole...? What''s wrong? Did something happen?"


    "Don''t abandon me... Please..." Nicole muttered out.


    "Nicole..." With a sigh, Lier began to gently pat her back to put her at ease. "There, there... You had a nightmare, huh? Come and have some berries I''ve made."


    "Mm..." Nodding her obediently, her eyes turned towards the direction of where Lier had pointed at. However, upon locking eyes over towards the campfire, her eyes suddenly shook. "A-Ah... N-No... N-No... No...!"


    "Nicole...?!"


    "W-We... We have to leave...! Now!" Shouting out in a frightened manner, Nicole pointed her finger over towards the forest area that was behind the campfire. There, a figure of a child could be seen. His expression? It was seemingly a snarky smirk. "I-If we don''t... The big bad wolf wille...!"


    "...Nicole?" Turning her head over towards the area where Nicole had pointed towards, Lier tilted her head in confusion. "...I don''t see anything?"


    "We... Have to leave, now!"


    ...


    After a while of convincing, Lier quickly took the child over towards their luggage and spoke towards Renryth and Sanke who had just gotten back from scouting the area. With words of fear from Nicole, the group hurriedly made their way out of the campsite with everything packed up.


    "...a big bad wolf?" Sanke questioned. "What do you mean, Lier?"


    "That''s what she said. If we don''t leave now, we''re going to be in danger," Lier stated whilst in deep thought. "Any ideas?"


    "...no," he shook his head. "But..." Upon pondering on the term ''big bad wolf'', he remembered the mention of it from Nicole when he first met her. "...whatever it is, stay on high alert."


    "Of course," Lier nodded her head. Though, her movements were slightly restricted due to the unwilling grip of Nicole on her legs. "...but, if we do get into battle, I won''t be able to do much since I''m going to be focused on defence."


    "Your offensive style swordsmanship would go to waste if you do that, though..." Sanke muttered out. "So, leave the defence to me if anything. You and Renryth handle the fight if it urs."


    "Really? Are you sure?" Lier tilted her head in question as she was soon stopped at her footsteps by Renryth.


    "...hey, there''s someone upfront," Renryth stated. "...a child?"


    "...!!" Nicole''s grip on Lier grew tighter, almost hurting her legs due to her long nails. "N-No..."


    "Ack...! Nicole, what''s wrong?" With a slight pain on her leg, she slightly coughed as she turned to the direction of where Renryth had pointed towards. There, she saw the sight of a ck-haired boy with red and blue eyes respectively on each side. "...huh?"


    "...another child?" Sanke raised his brow as he stepped forward to take a closer look.


    "N-No! Papa!" she shouted out. "No... He... He..."


    "...mama, papa?" The ck-haired child stepped forward with a seemingly innocent smile. "...Nicole! Mummy is looking for you! Why are you with strangers? A-Are you getting kidnapped?"


    "...this kid knows Nicole?" Renryth titled his head. "...hey, kid. Who are you?"


    "H-Huh?" The child took a step back in shock. "Mummy said not to talk to strangers..."


    "No... Don''t talk to him..." Nicole''s grip grew stronger as the conversation continued. "Run... Please run..."


    "...ack, Nicole...? What''s going on?" Lier questioned. However, with the expression on her face, it seemed that she could tell the situation. "..." With one hand keeping Nicole close and the other hand unsheathing her sword, she pointed it towards the child. "Kid... Who are you? Don''t y dumb."


    "...Lier?!" Renryth shouted out. "You''re pointing your sword at a kid?"


    "A-Ah... Bad stranger... Bad... Scary..." The child''s body shook. "W-Why are you...?"


    "...a child who hates everything," Sanke muttered out. "...I see," nodding his head, he began to silently chant out a spell as he red at the boy in front of him. "...sorry, but you''re not going to get her."


    "..." The child kept quiet as his innocent frown turned into that of an amused look. "Hah... This act was useless, huh? Thought that since you somehow opened up towards that girl, you''d be pieces of cake... But... It seems to have gotten much more interesting."


    "No child would deliberately walk up towards strangers if they think they''re kidnapping someone..." Sanke calmly spoke out. "So, exin yourself. Who are you?"


    "Me?" The child smiled. "Just a brother of that kid you have. You best give her to me or you might regret it. Mummy won''t be very happy if you refuse."


    "..." As if stern on her decision, Lier continued to point the sword at the child. "No. We''re keeping her with us."


    "Hahaha... What? You''re trying to keep someone you''ve only known for two days?" he frowned. "Jee... I thought you''d be naive, but..." he sighed. "Hey, stupid wolf,e out. Mummy said to be kind to them but... I say let''s have some fun! A kind gesture for keeping our Nicole safe for two days!"


    "N-No... Big bad wolf... No..." Shaking her head in disbelieve, a howl soon protruded out from within the forest.


    "...?!" Noticing the loud howl, Sanke and the others turned towards the direction of it. "A wolf...!?" From the bushes of the forest, a big white paw with sharp ws protruded out from it.

 Chapter 219: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (8)

    Chapter 219: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (8)


    "N-No... The big bad wolf..." Nicole muttered out as she hurriedly stepped back from the sight of the paw that was protruded out from the bush. "Please... Run, just run... He''s... He''s..."


    "Nicole, stay behind me," Lier silently red at the bush, awaiting the attack from the wolf. Preparing to cast out a skill, she entered into a battle stance. "If you want her, thene at me!"


    "Grr..." A deep growl echoed through the forest as suddenly, a humongous wolf that seemed to be that of the size of a lion appeared out of the bush. With white and grey fur around his body, a scar that was apparent on his left eye and a scowl of that anger hurriedly jumped forward towards Lier.


    "U-Ugh..." Fending off against the attack, Lier muttered out a spell as her de soon glowed a blue aura. In the next moment, small bits of frost began covering her sword. "Hahh...!"


    [ Lier''s Sword Technique - Frost Enforcement ]


    As she reflected the attacks against the wolf, Lier slightly jumped back as she tightly gripped onto her sword. With one swing, she struck at the wolf''s body with all her might.


    Then, following the sequence of attacksLier stepped forward as she hurriedly sent another strike at the wolf. With an elegant posture that seemed to be that of a dancer, Lier shed through the wolf as if it was paper.


    [ Lier''s Sword Technique - Frozen Elegance ]


    "Grr..." Taking the full blows from Lier''s attacks, the wolf clicked his tongue. "Weak... Absolutely weak!" Roaring out in a loud voice that seemingly resounded through the ins, the wolf turned towards Lier as he swung his ws at her. One time, two times, three times... The number of strikes that he was sending towards Lier seemed endless. "I''ll show you what''s strong!"


    "What...?! Why do you still have so much energy left?!" Lier slightly struggled to dodge against the wolf''s attacks. It was fast and precise. Every time she would attempt to dodge against his deadly ws, she was weed by another one. Her health couldn''t keep up. "A-Ack..."


    Lier''s technique was to slow down the movement of her enemies, whether through her skills or her precise swordsmanship. When she activates a skill, she would typically decrease her enemy''s agility by default or at times, make their movements sluggish.


    However, for this instanceit seemed that the wolf was immune.


    "Like I said... Weak!" The wolf growled in anger as raised his paw up into the air. With the countless amounts of attacks that Lier had taken, one final strike from the wolf would then seal her demise. "Face your end!"


    "N-No... Mama! No!" Nicole cried out as she saw the ongoing battle with the wolf. "Please run! Mama!"


    "Aha... Mama?" Whilst the battle had taken to the attention of the group, the child that was by the front of them effortlessly made his way towards Nicole. "Your real mama is waiting for you. Mummy would be please for today''s hunt."


    "No...!" Nicole screamed as her hands were forcefully grabbed by the child. "I don''t want to go... Not there...!"


    "...hey, kid," with a silent chant from above the two children, a ck void shot forward towards the boy that was beside Nicole. In turn, the child noticed and leapt backwards, releasing his grip from the girl. "Haven''t your mom told you not to use force to get your way?"


    "Not to use force?" the child clicked his tongue. "Hah... Mummy actually says to use force when I don''t get my way," with a smirk, the child jumped forward towards the young manSanke. "Don''t underestimate me!"


    With his heterochromatic eyes shining in a bright aura, the atmosphere around the man slowed down, as if time had stopped. In the next moment, the child that was in front of the man disappeared. Following that, time had begun to flow normally again.


    "...?!" Sanke, who was shocked at the sight turned to nce around the area to see where the child had gone to. However, he was nowhere to be found. "...no, this is..." clicking his tongue at a sudden realization, he hurriedly turned towards Nicole, where in turn, was greeted by an empty space of where she once stood. "Grr... Damnit!"


    ...


    Whilst Sanke was busy handling his own matter, Lier and the wolf was still in a fight. Though, if the fight were to continue, the winner would be obvious.


    "U-Ugh..." Lier clicked her tongue. "This strength..."


    "Hmph... For a human," the wolf appeared from behind the sluggish Lier and soon pounced at her. "You sure can take my blows well! But... That won''t allow you to survive today!"


    "Ugh... Lier, I can''t up with this!" Renryth cried out. "Everything''s going on cooldown, you need to end this, now!"


    Despite being at the end''s meet against her opponent, Lier was still able to sustain herself well thanks to the back-up from Renryth that allowed her to stay alive. As the Windstorm Mage, there were a few varieties of weak healing spells that could be used to aid an ally. Though, it couldn''t bepared to that of a priest.


    "I''m trying!" Lier shouted out as her de fended off against the ws of the wolf. "But... This guy... A wolf... But..."


    "Hmph, you don''t need to know who or what race I am since you''ll die," the wolf continued to pounce forward against Lier, dwindling down her health. "After that... I''ll deal with you," moments after he had pounced towards Lier, his gaze turned towards Renryth who was supporting Lier by the distance through the few support abilities he had.


    "U-Ugh... I''m reaching my limit," Renryth clicked his tongue. "Who knew that not getting proper rest would bite at me today..."


    "Hey, you big wolf!" Lier stated. "Who said you get to turn your attention away during battle like that?" Taking the notice to retaliate, Lier silently muttered out a spell as she swung her sword at the wolf from behind him. In the next moment, she connected another skill as she protruded out multiple spikes that entrapped the wolf within her skills. "Hahh!"


    [ Lier''s Sword Technique - Winter Cross ]


    [ Lier''s Sword Technique - Icy Confinement ]


    As she used skill after skill against the wolf, she slowly managed to back her enemy away into a corner. One strike, one swing and stream of skills at a time.


    "Y-You..." As if she was progressively gaining strength through her endless amounts of attacks, the wolf was pushed back. "How... Grr... You!"


    "Hey, you stupid wolf!" As he was in a frenzy, a child''s voice rang through his ears. "Are youing or what?! I''ve already got Nicole. You''re just wasting my precious time. I want to go home and y already!"


    "What? So easily?" he replied silently.


    "What, so easily? It''s as simple as taking away the feeling of safety from a baby," the child''s voice suddenly became uneasy. "U-Ugh... Anyway! Just get over here fast! Do you want a storm toe to you?"


    "Hmph..." The wolf sneered as he turned towards Lier and Renryth who was now inbat mode. "...I''ve had my fun. You''re lucky you survived!"


    "Hey, you...!" Lier cried out as she attempted to reach the wolf in time, however, with his fast agility and strength, the wolf hurried back into the forest, away from the group. "Ugh... He escaped."


    "That''s a good thing," Renryth sighed with relief. "If he were to keep up the pace... We''d have been in trouble."


    "No... It''s not a good thing," Lier shook her head in worry. "If he''s leaving so suddenly..." Turning towards the direction of where Sanke and Nicole were, she saw that they were nowhere to be found. "Ack... Nicole''s gone! Damnit..."


    "...where''s Sanke?" Renryth questioned. "Did he went to chase after them?"


    "Probably... We have to catch up with them, and soon," she nodded her head. "Do we follow after the wolf?"


    "No... He seems to be running away from us to cause a diversion," Renryth stated. "So... If we want to follow after them..." As he muttered out, the atmosphere around him and Lier began to turn chilly. "...ugh, another hail storm? It seems it''s going to be a fierce onepared tost night''s sudden wind. We have to hurry and find them before" as he turned his head towards Lier, he noted that Lier was extremely focused on her surrounding area,


    "a sudden storm, just likest night," Lier nodded her head. "Over there," pointing over towards the southern area of the forest, Lier soon continued. "I think I know where Sanke and Nicole went. ignore the cries of the wind, we have to hurry!"


    Without another word, Lier ran towards the area which she had pointed towards without waiting for the reply of Renryth.


    "...?!" Shocked by Lier''s sudden demeanour, Renryth cried out. "Lier! That direction is...!" Being unable toplete his sentence in time, he clicked his tongue. "Ugh... The cursed ruins by that direction... if we go there..." with aplicated expression, he shook his head abruptly as he took a step forward. Without another choice, he followed after the woman.

 Chapter 220: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (9)

    Chapter 220: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (9)


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood ForestDeep Woods [ Day / Hazy ].


    "Hah... Hah..." Rushing through the woods of the forest, a young man by the name of Sanke frantically nced around the area. "Nicole! Are you here?!" With an uneasy expression and an out of breath voice, he shouted out with all his might.


    During the fight with Lier and the wolf, Sanke took the opportunity upon himself to leave the dirt roads as he headed out to chase after Nicole and the child. He didn''t know where they went, however, he knew that they''d be making their way deep into the forest.


    "Ugh... They couldn''t have gotten far," Sanke frowned as he continued down the forest. "But... Even then... If I don''t know where they went... It''s useless."


    Stopping at his footsteps, he took a deep breath as attempted to see whether or not there were any signs of footprints on the grounds filled with snow. But, to his dismay, what subtle footprints seemed to have been tactfully covered up.


    "...argh. C''mon. Give me a sign. Anywhere... I just need..." his expression grew heavy. "...anything that can lead me to them... Huh?" as his voice slowly turned into that of surprise, Sanke''s head suddenly turned towards the direction of heavy winds progressively gaining strength by the south. "...the same thing as the one backst night? This is..." As if he knew where Nicole was now, Sanke began rushing towards the southern area of the forest.


    "Grr..." Just as he was about to move out towards the south, twilight wolves and multiple ice elementals appeared before him from that direction.


    "Damnit... Monsters? At this time?" Sanke frowned. "Ugh... I''ll need all the energy I have for that brat..."


    <em><strong>Ting...</strong></em>


    Without waiting for Sanke, the ice elementals moved forward as they sent down a storm of hail towards Sanke. Following that, the wolves all pounced towards him.


    "Argh... Whatever! I''ll just end this" Just as he was protruding out his hand forward in order to cast out a spell, a figure of a slim woman, with long hair and a cold aura to her appeared before the man.


    "My... This ce sure is crowded with plenty of monsters, huh?" Speaking out in a soft but gentle voice, the woman silently snapped her fingers as the monsters were all ced into unconsciousness. "...hmm, still weak as ever even if the poption multiplied."


    "...what?" Sanke blinked in confusion. "You are...?"


    "Oh me?" The woman averted her gaze away from the mobs as she turned to face Sanke. In the young man''s eyes, he saw the sight of a veil, seemingly to be that of a nun covering her head. Though, it wasn''t only thatthe nun''s veil also had a blusher that covered her entire face. "Hmm... Don''t you have other important things to do?"


    ...


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood Forest??? [ Day / Snowstorm ].


    "Let go!" A child''s voice screamed at the top of her lungs as following that, small bits of ice protruded out from the ground, forcing the one who had tightly held onto the silver-haired child''s hand to jump backwards. "I don''t want to go back! No more! No more!"


    "Ugh... Annoying," the child grumbled. "Do you think you have a choice? Stop whining ande back! Do you want the stupid dog toe and punish you? You best be a good girl to mummy before her wrath goes to your ''saviours''."


    "No, I don''t want that!" Nicole shouted out as the atmosphere began to grow colder. In the next moment, pirs of frost began to protrude out from the ground and strong winds began to surround the child. "If... If it means to escape from you and everyone else, I''ll... I''ll fight! Even if you..."


    "Grr... Such a nuisance," the child red at the sobbing Nicole. "Do you think I care whether you fight or not? We''ve done a test of strength countless times and..." with a silent smirk, the cold winds suddenly slowed down as suddenlythe child appeared before Nicole. "...I always win in the end."


    "...ack!" With a sudden force of magic power protruding from the side of the child, Nicole''s body was thrown down to the snow as if she was flightless weight. "No... I need... To properly use my powers this time..."


    "Hmph... Using your powers properly?" The kid smiled innocently as he walked up towards Nicole who was struggling to get up from the ground. "Useless. Don''t bother fighting. You''ll never be able to beat me even when you try to properly use your powers. So, stop being annoying already!"


    "Mm... I won''t!" Nicole cried out as a blue aura shone within her eyes. At that moment, cold winds blew past her body and over towards the child.


    "Grr... Useless!" The child angrily stated. "Just... Stop... With this annoying charade!!" Out of patience, the child ran towards Nicole. However, as he stepped forward, a pir of ice protruded out of the ground.


    "Don''te near!" Nicole shouted out. "You''ll... You''ll... Regret it!"


    "..." with a frown, the child''s fist clenched as he prepared to punch the icy pir that was blocking his way. But, as he was about to throw a punch at ita magic ball narrowly shot out towards him from the side. "...?!" Noting the attack, the child leapt backwards. "Argh! Who is it now?!"


    "Hah... Hah..." Sanke muttered out as if he was out of breath. "I... Made it in time..."


    "P-Papa... Help!" Nicole shouted out.


    "You... How did you find us?!" the child clicked his tongue. "Grr... Annoying... Annoying... Why!?" he cried out as his chromatic eyes shone. "Ugh. Just die or don''t interfere!"


    With the atmosphere around him seemingly slowing once again, the child soon appeared in front of Sanke in the next instantwith a ck aura around the kid''s arm, he threw it over towards the young man.


    "...!" Btedly noticing the assault, Sanke dodged the attack by saying to the side. "Again... That child''s power... Is it the ability to control time? No... If it was, I wouldn''t have felt the way I did earlier," muttering out to himself, Sanke prepared to initiate a skill against the kid, but, just as he did so, spears that were seemingly covered in a tint of ck swiftly pierced through his limbs. "...?!"


    "Hehehe... What got you so shocked?" The child amusingly chuckled. "Shouldn''t have been in such a deep thought," snapping his fingers as more ck spears appeared around the young man, the kid raised his hand. "Should''ve run when you got the chance. Now just die"


    "Frozen within the moonscape," as the kid was about to move his hand down inmand, a blue sh shot forward towards the child. "Dance within the hail!"


    [ Lier''s Sword Technique - sh of Hollow ]


    "...?!" With eyes opened wide at the sudden blue light, the kid quickly retracted his ck spears as he jumped back. However, as he did so, the child was greeted by a gale of wind that had shot forward from the other side. "...a pincer attack?!"


    Surprised by the two attacks, he gritted his teeth as he took one of the blows.


    "More nuisances..." coughing out in a berated voice, he red towards the side, where the abilities were shot forthnoting that Lier and Renryth were standing by. "...grr stupid wolf, can''t even get two idiots out of the way."


    "M-Mama...!" Nicole who had been forming up a defence out of ice cried out as she saw the sight of Lier through the gaps of pirs. Moments after, with a struggle to step forward, she lowered down one of the tall pirs and soon rushed over towards the woman. "Mama!!"


    "Wow, this stupid kid..." The child furrowed his brow. "I''ll end this now. I don''t want to waste time anymore before" Upon nearly ending his sentence, the temperature of the area began dropping. "Ack... No... Mummy... She''s... She''s..."


    "Hmm... A struggle, huh?" With a figure of a woman suddenly appearing in the middle of the battlefield, the cold winds around the area grew much stronger. Not only that, the temperature continued to drop rapidly. "My... All because my little child decided to y a game of tag."


    "Mama...!" Nicole''s body leapt towards Lier''s as the two hugged. But, the meeting was cut short by the growing hail storm around them.


    "Good... You''re safe," Lier nodded her head as she then averted her eyes over to the mysterious figure, simr to that of a slim woman in the middle of the area. "We should hurry out before..."


    "...hmm, it seems that this child prefers the knight over me, huh?" The woman chuckled as she steadily made her way over to Lier. "My... Could she have been mistaken?"


    "What?" Sanke''s eyes suddenly opened wide in shock at the sight of the woman. "You''re..."


    "M-Mom... W-Why are you here?" The boy''s body froze in ce.


    "Hush, my child. Let mummy handle it," with every step made forward, cial ice protruded out of the ground from around her. "Now... Nicole~ Would you care to exin?"


    "N-No... Go away... Go away..." Nicole muttered out with a shaky voice.


    "...Nicole?" Tightly gripping onto the child with one hand, Lier''s sword pointed at the woman in the other, "Hey... Stay away from her."


    "Hmph, preventing me from going to my own child? How rude," with a snap of a finger, the winds around the area began crowding. A blizzard wasing. "Let go, or everyone here gets hurt."


    "U-Ugh... You..." Lier gritted her teeth as she red at the woman. "No! She''s staying with me."


    "A-Ack... This wind..." Renryth muttered out as his voice felt distant away from Lier. "A blizzard... We have to hurry...!"


    "Staying with you?" the woman tilted her head. "Hmm... I would''ve considered it, but you''re too weak to care for her. Either way," finally reaching towards Lier, the woman gently smiled at her. "But, I thank you for caring for this child. Perhaps someday..."


    "...ugh..." As if feeling an immense pain within her, the grip around Nicole loosened. "W-What the?"


    "No... Mama! Mama!" Nicole cried out.


    "Unfortunate. But, allow me to provide you with a gift for your troubles," touching the forehead of Lier, "The gift of the snow witch."


    "...w-what...?" Powerless against the witch before her. Her presence itself was that Lier could''ve never triad against the woman before her. If she were to fight against her, Lier would die. "This is..."


    "Have fun, dear," disappearing into the distance along with the cries of a child, Lier who helplessly sat by in the middle of the ongoing storm reached out towards the back of the witch.


    "Argh... No...!" desperately attempting to stand up from the grounds, Lier limped her way through the snowy fields as she tried to catch up with the woman. However, it seemed that the blizzards were strong. It wasn''t possible for her to catch up to the witch. "Hah... Hah..."


    "Please..." muttering out with a tired breath, her vision shook. "Survive..." The young woman''s movement slowly stopped as everything around her cked out.


    ...


    Bareth''s in, Pinewood ForestDirt Paths [ Day / Clear ].


    "Hah... Hah..." With a deep breath as two men rushed out of the forest, the two safely reached towards a zone in which was untouched by the blizzard. "...hah. We''ve got out of it safely."


    "Right... But where''s Lier?" In a hurry, Sanke had rushed out of the forest in hopes that Lier was following behind them. However, she was nowhere to be seen. Realizing the fact, his fists clenched tightly. "...ugh. I should''ve made sure she was with us..."


    "The blizzard was strong. There was no way we can see our surroundings," Renryth shook his head helplessly. "We can only hope she''de back safely..."


    "For such a thing to happen..." he sighed. "...that woman, who was she?" Closing his eyes in thought, he was reminded of the woman he saw within the forest. "...her?"


    "I''ve no idea," he shook his head. "But... She''s dangerous. If we had to fight her... We''ll die."


    "That kid too... And the wolf," Sanke muttered out. "Just who are they?"


    "..." Renryth shook his head without another word.


    "Damn it..." Sanke gritted his teeth. "Nicole... We couldn''t save her," his fists continued to clench tightly as his eyes turned towards the road ahead of them. "The only thing now we can do is..." Upon gazing at the horizon, Sanke''s eyes opened wide in shock as he saw the body of a woman lying on the grounds of the dirt roads. "L-Lier?!"

 Chapter 221: Secrets to Find (1)

    Chapter 221: Secrets to Find (1)


    Silently sitting by the bedsid out across the room within the castle''s guest room, the party that had been made to stay overnight within it quietly stared at Renryth who was unfolding his side of the story.


    The story of Lier and how they arrived at the catbs.


    And the details that had arisen up to the point of the current situation.


    ...


    The Catbs, Slera''s CastleGuest Room [ Night ].


    "...and right after that," the old man who was solemnly sitting by an empty chair at the back of the room spoke out. "We ended up going to a nearby cavern from the roadside whilst waiting for Lier to wake up," he said. "And when she did... We ended uping here."


    "Huh?" Raina tilted her in question as she heard Renryth''s exnation. "...wearn''t you all headed for Fal? Howe you ended uping here all of a sudden?"


    "Well, our original goal was to head to Fal," Renryth nodded his head. "However, after going through the cavern for a bit, we ended finding ourselves in a catb. Unbeknowst to reasons why Lier had insisted on staying here after meeting with the Sleras for the first time."


    "...and you just agreed?" Ethaniel raised his brow.


    "In the first ce, the main reason we were headed for Fal was to find a ce to call home," Renryth stated. "So, with the insistence from Lier, we never really refused on staying here."


    "W-Wait... If Lier suddenly became that insistent, then what happened to Nicole?!" Frey cried out. "Have you all just given up on her?!"


    "For Nicole..." Renryth sighed solemnly. "After the initial troubles of settling in and working towards finding the location of Nicole, we were never sessful," he shook his head. "Days turned to months. Sanke and Lier both gave up after searching through the fields for so long. As for me..." one of his fists clenched whilst his other hand moved to the bridge of his eyes, covering it in shame. "Had I seen the signs earlier... Lier and Sanke wouldn''t have gone through such hardships alone..."


    "...Lier?" Whilst the group kept quiet at Renryth''s silent woes, Shinto was deep in thought upon hearing the familiar name of ''Lier'' continuously mentioned by Renryth throughout his story, thus leaving Shinto stumped. "Isn''t that... Kaisus'' mentor?"


    The name of Lier was no stranger to Shinto. As he was a close friend to Kaisus, it meant that he would know his mentor as well. Thus, to hear such a nameing from Renryth, who he had never met before, came off as unexpected for him.


    "Thest Kaisus had spoken about her was that she disappeared suddenly," Shinto pondered on the matter. "But... She was here all this time? In some catbs?" He imagined that Kaisus would be surprised at the fact. However, there was a problem. "But... If she was here, then..." with clues pointing towards a single fact, Shinto''s head turned towards Renryth. "Lier. Did she... Pass away?"


    At the firm question from Shinto, the old man kept quiet, as if hesitant to admit to a fact. However, with deep breaths, Renryth''s sad eyes turned to nce at Shinto. "Unfortunately... She was the first of us to go," he answered with reluctance. "Just about a year ago? On thementation of Nicole''s disappearance, Sanke and Rustly who had frantically run after Lier due to her disappearing away from bed witnessed the day she had turned to grey-ash," his hands formed into a fist. "I guess it was that day when Sanke decided to go after the Pendant of Purifying mes."


    "Which led to his death, huh?" Shinto continued Renryth''s sentence. "The Pendant of Purifying mes didn''t really contain that of its name but instead... It seemed to have contained demonic mes within it, isn''t that right?"


    "...that''s right," Renryth nodded his head as he soon stood up from the chair. "Sanke was consumed by the mes before we could even put it out. Neither I nor Madam Ru knew that the Sleras had been protecting something like that for all these years," shaking his head helplessly, he slowly made his way over towards the entrance of the guest room.


    "To think that the artefact that was said to revive someone was that of a lie..." Renryth''s fists continued to clench tightly. "...but that doesn''t matter anymore," he shook his head as he rid of the thought. "In any case, I''ll be taking my leave now that you all understand the story."


    "Eh...!? That''s all?!" Frey cried out. "You''re not gonna tell the story of how you got the slimes to open up to you or something?!"


    Upon hearing the sudden cries from Frey, Renryth''s footsteps stopped midway through the door. "...that''s all that''s important for you to know, really. For the matters in regards to the Sleras, why not ask Rustly or Reru? They would be a much better fit to exin."


    "Bah..." Ethaniel scruffled his hair. "Enough of the questions already, will you? Renryth''s the one having it rough, having to exin the entire thing. It''s been a long day for him, and all of us," he stated. "So, just give him a break."


    "...right, it has been a long day," Raina nodded her head as she turned to Renryth with a smile. "Take care of yourself, Renryth. Thank you for exining everything to us. I can grasp the situation better now."


    "...you''re wee, I guess," Renryth sighed as his head turned towards his front. "...have a good night''s sleep and... As for tomorrow, Madam Ru would like to see you all in the throne room. So keep that in mind," with his final words, Renryth left the premises of the guest room.


    "Okay so like... What now?" Frey blinked at the sight of Renryth already leaving the area. "Do we um... Sleep? Has it already been that long since we left the caverns?"


    "Probably..." Ethaniel shrugged. "If anything, if you want to log out of the game for a while then I guess it would be a perfect time," he stated. "Or if it''s possible, you could try to explore around the new busy town again, but I doubt anything would be opened at this time."


    "What about you?" Frey tilted her head.


    "Me? Meh. I''m just gonna sleep," Ethaniel yawned. "That stupid fight with Reru got me all exhausted... And because of you guys keeping me up all night, my energy ispletely drained."


    "Us?" Raina pouted. "Surely, you''re as interested as much as all of us, right? You were practically listening in on the entire thing when you could''ve just slept through it like Kon."


    "Kon?" Ethaniel blinked slightly as he saw that Kon was sleeping peacefully by Shinto''sp. "Eh... He''s Kon. What worries does he have? As for me, I''m only up because of this damn fear that we might end up in another situation that won''t let us get a break!"


    "...well, fortunately," Shinto calmly stated. "It seems that Renryth won''t involve us any further than this."


    "You sure? That''s pretty much jinxing it," Ethaniel scoffed. "I swear if we end up in some other quest that has us needing to explore the forbidden area because, for some godforsaken reason, secret shit happens there, then I''m not joining you."


    "Aha... You sure you won''t be joining?" Raina chuckled.


    "Yes. In the first ce, how did we even end in this situation?!" Ethaniel shouted out. "We entered into a dungeon because Frey found a key and... It led to this entire thing. Had I known it was this long and terribly tiring, I would''ve just gone out of my way to refuse!"


    "Hey! I didn''t find the key!" Frey furrowed her brows. "Renryth gave it to me! That old man who I received a quest for, gave me this key in return forpleting it!" folding her hands whilst nodding proudly, Frey showed a prideful aura towards the group.


    "How did you even get such a quest to a dungeon like this?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "I mean... You were what? 11? And this dungeon is way above our level! The quest prerequisite should be hard, right?!"


    "All I did was some escorting work to the old abandoned town area!" Frey said. "After that, I got my reward. Simple as that!"


    "S-Seriously?" Ethaniel stared at Frey with a dumbfounded expression. "Argh... Whatever! Whether it was pure luck or because of coincidence, I''m too tired to question this! I''m going to sleep!"


    "Shoo! Let me peacefully bath in my proudness for unlocking this dungeon for us! Frey humphed as she saw that Ethaniel had already lied down on the bed.


    "Aha..." Raina sighed at the scene before her. Soon, she turned towards Shinto. "What are your thoughts on this? Do you think we might end up in another sudden situation?"


    "...well," throughout the conversation amongst the group, Shinto had been in thought on the reason as to why Renryth had approached Frey. "Just as I said earlier, I doubt we''ll get more involved in this," carefully putting aside Kon, who was sleeping soundly by hisp to the bedsheets, Shinto slowly stood up from the bed. "Well... Unless we actively involve ourselves, that is."


    "Huh?" Raina tilted her head. "Where are you going?"


    "...I''ve got to return a book I took from the library," Shinto said as he took out the book: ''Spells of the Gloop'' from his inventory and showed it to Raina. "So, I''ll be leaving for a bit to return it."


    "Why not tomorrow?"


    "...I fear we might not have time," Shinto reasoned. "So now''s the best time than any, honestly."


    "... I see," nodding her head, Raina soon covered herself under the nkets. "If that''s how you want to put it, then go ahead I guess..." letting out a yawn, she slowly dozed off to sleep. "...I''ll just... head to sleep now."


    "..." Noting that Raina and Frey had drifted off to sleep, Shinto muttered out in a solemn tone. "...sorry, that''s not what I was nning to do," with a sigh, he exited out of the guest room. whilst turning off the lights.

 Chapter 222: Secrets to Find (2)

    Chapter 222: Secrets to Find (2)


    Exiting out of the guest room, Shinto now enters the hallways of the castle.


    ...


    The Catbs, Slera''s CastleHallways [ Night ].


    "...the library should be on the second floor, right?" Quietly closing the door from behind him, Shinto''s attention soon averted over to the empty halls of the castle. With a nce, he nodded his head as he began walking through the hallway. "Hmm... I hope he doesn''t go anywhere else."


    For Shinto to head to the library wasn''t for the reason of returning the book that Reru had given to him. He had full rights to keep it. Instead, his main goal was to find out the certain reason for the cause of this situation.


    He had an inky feeling on the main grounds of theory for the reason. However, he wanted to confirm it for himself.


    ...


    The Catbs, Slera''s CastleSecond Floor Hallway [ Night ].


    With steady steps making their way through the dim halls, Shinto had finally arrived in front of the library''s door. In the next moment, moving his hand forwardhe soon knocked on the door.


    "Renryth, are you in?" he asked. "There''s something I''d like to ask you in private."


    After tapping on the door twice, Shinto''s hand stopped in motion as he waited for the old man''s reply. Though, after a few seconds of calling out to himthere was no answer.


    "Renryth?" Wanting to knock on the door once again, he called out to him. "..." Though, despite doing it once more, there was no reply. "...is he not in?" he inwardly sighed. "Of course... It''s in the middle of the night and Renryth probably went back to his quarters or something. Why did I think he''d be here?"


    From what Shinto had heard from the slimes when they had first arrived at the library, the area was basically the old man''s living quarters as he had spent most of his time in close proximity to books. Thus, he had assumed that the library was where he would go after the conversation.


    "..." with a sigh, Shinto shook his head in slight disappointment as he turned his head away from the door and, with one step forwardhe was about to begin heading back to the guest room. "I''ll just try to find time tomorrow to ask then..."


    As Shinto continued to take a few steps away from the library, the doors of the room slightly opened from behind him. In the next moment, a figure of a man soon appeared out of the room.


    "...Shinto?" The old manRenryth, called out to the young man who was walking away from the door. "Is there something you need?"


    "Ah?" Abruptly turning around at his voice, Shinto blinked in a dumbfounded manner. "Sorry, did I disturb you?"


    "No. I was just a bit far away to answer," Renryth replied. "Is there something you need here?"


    "...well," seeing that Renryth had not slept yet, Shinto nodded his head as he changed his course of direction over to the library''s door. "There''s something I''d like to ask you. Something rted to that of Lier... But not really?"


    "...if it''s additional information on the entire story, I have nothing left to say," Renryth shook his head as he slowly closed the door. "If you want to know the rest of the history with the slimes, it''s best you ask either Reru or Rustly like I said. So..."


    "Wait, it''s not that," Shinto hurriedly refuted as his hands blocked the door from closing. "It''s not about the history of the slimes or about the rest of the story that you''ve kept hidden. It''s... Well, about Lier herself and... Her apprentice. Do you happen to know about him?"


    "Her apprentice?" Renryth sighed tiredly as he soon opened the door wider as if showing a gesture for Shinto to enter into the library. "Let''s talk inside shall we?"


    ...


    The Catbs, Slera''s CastleSecond Floor, Library [ Night ].


    Upon entering the room, Shinto was instantly greeted by a far messier sight of scattered papers and books all around the library. At a nce, he noted that nearly all the books were stacked upon each other unlike his previous visit herewhere everything was neatly sorted into shelves.


    "...ah, this is?" he was shocked at the sight. Something that was so clean a few days ago became a hot mess at the return of Renryth.


    "Ahem. Don''t mind the mess here, it''s been hectic for the past few days," Renryth cleared his throat as he walked over towards a study desk by the side of the room. Soon after, he sat by an empty chair. "Have a seat. Would you like some of the tea Madam Ru made for me? It''s quite good for health."


    "N-No... It''s fine," Shinto calmly rejected as he headed towards an empty seat.


    "Hmm, right. You came here for the reason of her apprentice," nodding his head, Renryth moved his hands over to an opened book that seemed to have contained research notes and began to look through it. "What do you want to know about him? Or well... Not that I would be a good fit to exin aspared to the person before me whose hispanion."


    "Ah, so you knew that I was hispanion?" Shinto tilted his head.


    "Of course. It was the main reason why I had given Frey the key," Renryth answered. "Although it did take me a while to actually recognize that you were one of hispanions. I had expected that you were a swordsman but... Never would I have known you''d be a priest, and in such a state like this too."


    "Cough... Things happened," Shinto answered helplessly. "I was a swordsman, but... Certain events led to others and I ended up like this. As for my appearance... Let''s not talk about that."


    "To hide your embarrassment I see?" Renryth chuckled. "In any case... What do you actually want to know? How I know of you or... What I was hoping to achieve by bringing you and yourpanions here?"


    "Well... Yes," he nodded his head. "I wanted to know the reasons for both."


    "..." Closing the book in front of him, Renryth''s eyes turned towards Shinto''s. "I knew of you due to a short meeting back when you visited the vige which is now abandoned. Though... I doubt you''d have remembered since, at that time, you, the priest and Lier''s apprentice were all heading back to your base."


    "Ah... You mean, that abandoned vige?" Shinto had not recognized the vige all that much. It was because he did not know the exact location that he was in at that time. To add to that, since it was a long time agohe knew nought of the current state of the vige. It was the same for Hikari. "...I see."


    "Sigh... Yes, the old vige of Crowanski," uttering out with a solemn voice, Renryth took a sip from the tea made by Madam Ru. "Due to an incident, we were forced to move. For the remaining survivors? It was only us three. Well... Now only one."


    "..." Shinto kept quiet.


    Putting down his cup, Renryth soon shook his head. "But in any case, that is not the point of the conversation, now is it?" Taking a deep breath, he continued. "Moving to a week ago to when I first saw you in the marketce in Parm, my initial thought was in disbelief to see you here. However... Knowing your history with her apprentice, I didn''t want to lose the opportunity and decided to seek you out for help."


    "But... You approached Frey instead, right?" Shinto tilted his head. "Why''s that?"


    "Well... I kind of lost you in the crowd when I was looking for you," he sighed. "Though I thankfully did manage to find Frey. And, seeing as how she was with you, I assumed that you were herpanion."


    "...I see. So that''s why you approached her instead of me," nodding his head as he finally understood how Frey had gotten an S-Ranked quest in Parm. It was merely a because of coincidence and due to Shinto''s rtion to Kaisus, it led to this string of events. "Though... Why an escort mission of all things?"


    "...cough. There was a sudden situation by the time I met up with Frey," he sighed helplessly. "I identally pissed off some nobles and I ended up getting chased. In a frenzy, I asked Frey for help and gave her the keys right after. Though... I couldn''t really exin anything by the time I escaped back into the caverns."


    "Ah... No wonder," Shinto chuckled. "I heard from Frey she was struggling against those foes. But she barely managed to do it."


    "...with my help of course," Renryth muttered out as he soon shook his head. "Ahem. But in any case, I wasn''t really expecting for you and yourpanion''s overall power to be... This weak. I had expected it to be on par with Lier''s apprentice or that priest? Though,pared to that aura you gave back then, now''s a much more different one."


    "A-As I said, things happened," Shinto inwardly sighed. "Though... Were you disappointed? Disappointed that Kaisus or Hikari wearn''t with me?"


    "Honestly speaking, I thought you would''ve been with them," he stated. "That way... I''d be killing three birds with one stone by having you guys help us, have the priest learn the arts of Etheral and... Informing Lier''s apprentice of her passing."


    "..." with a solemn smile, Shinto sighed. "...you know, Kaisus had been asking a lot about Lier in the recent months."


    "...sigh. There''s really nothing I can do," he shook his head helplessly. "Maybe you could inform him for me? After all, you two arepanions. If it''s not too troublesome for you, of course."


    "...I''ll see what I can do," Shinto nodded his head. "If anything, I''d think it would be better if you were the one to tell him personally. Not me," he stated.


    "I''m sorry, Shinto," he averted his gaze away from the young man. "After all this time, I just can''t face what''s left of Lier''s legacy."


    "...I see. Then, I''ll pass on the message when I see him, I guess," Shinto said. "Though it might take a while since I''d rather tell him face-to-face."


    "It''s fine, you can take your time," he closed his eyes sheepishly. "But... Thank you. Because of you, a burden from my heart can finally be lifted."


    "...you''re wee," he smiled gently as he soon stood up from his seat. "Now then, I''ll be taking my leave. I don''t want to overstay my wee," he slightly bowed. "Thank you for exining everything to me."


    "It''s no problem," Renryth returned the gesture. "Please get some rest for tomorrow. It''s been an exhausting day for all of us."


    "...right," nodding his head, Shinto began walking towards the entrance of the library and, just as he was about to leave the premises, his head turned towards Renryth for one final look, noting that he was back to his work in almost an instant. "...back then, it was fun, huh?" with a slight chuckle, his gaze returned to the front of him as he soon made his way back to the guest room.

 Chapter 223: Secrets to Find (3)

    Chapter 223: Secrets to Find (3)


    The Catbs, Slera''s CastleHallways [ Night ].


    Soon after leaving the library, Shinto steadily made his way down towards the first floor of the castle to head back to the guest room. However, whilst walking on the carpets of the castle, a certain thought came to mind.


    "...hmm. Although I said I would inform Kaisus, how exactly would I exin it to him?" Tilting his head at the question before him, he considered the options avable.


    If he were to tell the news of his mentor''s death, it would mean being barraged by the countless questions as to how he had found out of such details. However, that was not the problem.


    Instead, the issue was, Shinto did not know how to approach the topic,


    "Argh... This is hard," he scruffled his hair whilst pondering on the matter. "I can''t say out of nowhere that Lier had died, right? So... There has to be a better way of telling him instead of it being out of the blue."


    Shinto didn''t want to rudely utter out certain things due to it being rather sensitive. If Kaisus were to know of his mentor''s death right now, it would be unbing of Shinto for he would create a rather awkward mood with no one ready for the atmosphere. Thus, he had to find the perfect opportunity, whereinhe wouldn''t ruin any ns.


    "...perhaps I should tell Hikari about this too?" Unlike Kaisus, Hikari was much like Shinto in the fact that they knew of Kaisus''s mentor through Kaisus himself. However, wasn''t at all close to Lier. Thus, it''d make for the perfect opportunity for Shinto to discuss things with Hikari. "Since she knows of Lier too... The both of us can find some time to discuss it and to tell Kaisus at a better timing than now."


    Shinto nodded his head at the thought. "Right... That''s a good idea, I think?" Muttering out his thoughts, the young man soon stopped at his footsteps as he reached the doorstep of the guest room. "After all... It would only be natural for Hikari to" Suddenly cutting at his own words short, Shinto''s expression turned into that of confusion upon touching the handle of the door. "...huh? Did I not close this properly?"


    At the sight of the door being able to easily opened with just a slight touch, it meant that the door had not been closed properly. Thus, it made Shinto wary in caution.


    "...did someonee in whilst I was away?" He thought to himself on the matter. The possibility was there. However, he somewhat doubted it. "...no, maybe it''s just because I didn''t close it properly."


    Contrary to his thought, perhaps it was because Shinto wanted to leave the room quietly, not wanting to disturb his teammates. Consequently, he most likely had subconsciously restrained his strength when closing the door.


    "...well, whatever. It''s better I stay on guard than to rx just in case," shaking his head as he rid of the thought, Shinto took a deep breath whilst alert in caution. In the next moment, he slowly opened the door and entered the guest room.


    ...


    The Catbs, Slera''s CastleGuest Room [ Night ].


    Upon entering the room, Shinto was greeted by the dimness of the area. With all of the room''s lights turned offit was only natural for the room to be inplete darkness. However, that did not hinder Shinto at all. It was all thanks to his ss attribute, allowing him to see without needing a source of light.


    "...hmm, everything seems to be pretty alright from when I left?" tilting his head at the sight, he noted that Raina and Ethaniel were fast asleep in their beds respectively. "Though... Where''s..." However, something seemed to be amiss.


    Upon scanning the room further, he noticed that Frey, who was supposed to be in front of Shinto''s bed where Kon had been sleeping on, wasn''t here. "Frey?" Raising his brow in question, he continued to nce around the room in case he had missed her elsewhere.


    As he turned his head towards the side of him, his eyes instantly caught sight of the figure of a woman who had been silently standing beside him the entire time. With her hands up in the airShinto blinked at the sight.


    "Boo!" As the two made eye contact with one another, the womanFrey, roared out in a hushed voice. "Did I scare you?"


    "F-Frey...?" Shinto continued to blink. This time, in a dumbfounded manner. He had not noticed that Frey was beside him the entire time whence he entered the room. "...you''re not asleep yet?"


    "Nope!" Frey shook her head. "I couldn''t sleep so... I decided to wait around for your return! What took you so long anyway? Was returning a book that long of a process to do?"


    "Ah... Err," hearing the question from Frey, Shinto slightly coughed. "There was... Some slightplications here and there. So... it took quite a while."


    "Hmm... Slightplications, huh?" Frey pouted as she soon seemingly shook her head. "Ahem! Anyway, did I scare you? I did, right? Surely! After all, you had that look of surprise on you! Well... I couldn''t see it... But I know it''s there!"


    "Um... Well, it was a surprise to see you here, I guess?" Shinto said. "I expected that you were asleep... But well... that''s beside the point. Did you see anyoneing in by any chance?"


    "Hmm?" Frey tilted her head at the question. "Well... Nope! Why do you think so? Were we expecting visitors? But wait... it''s in the middle of the night! Ethaniel would get angry... But eh," she shrugged.


    "...I had some slight suspicion, but I''m d it was debunked," shaking his head in relief as he didn''t want to deal with any more sudden situationshe soon changed to a different topic. "Anyhow, you said you were waiting for me, right? Why? is there something you need?"


    "Well besides wanting to scare you..." Frey thought to herself. "I wanted to ask of you for something actually! You know all that stuff about the statues and all? The one about some Warrior and Guardian?" she asked. "I still stand by my words on that! So... Um... Could you like... Help with something?"


    "...my help?" Shinto tilted his head in slight confusion. "Well... I don''t think I can help all as much? For convincing them... There''s really not much I can do if it''s to help with the revival of the statues. After all, you''re the one speaking, not me. And as fornguage... I''ve already given you the ne, right?" he stated. "Though... It''s not like that''s needed anymore."


    "Ah, no. no!" Frey quickly interjected at Shinto''s misunderstanding. "You don''t need to help with me convincing them! I''ll do it myself!" she stated. "But... It''s just that... Err... Well... I need to get these items fixed," from her inventory, Frey took out the few pieces of equipment that the group had obtained from the statue. "So... could you help me?"


    "...ah. These items?" Shinto''s eyes averted towards the ground where Frey hadid out the items on the floor where a small gleaming blue light from Frey''s inventory screen shone at the items. "...you want me to get a cksmith for them, right?" he asked. The items that were obtained from their fight before Sanke all had amon dominator. Which was, the attribute[Broken].


    [ Broken ]


    Items that have gone through relentless usages without maintenance will receive the debuff ''Broken''.


    -Durability of the item is much easier to decrease.


    -The stats and rarity of the item are greatly lowered.


    -Certain effects will be blocked until further notice.


    *To remove [ Broken ], one must find a suitable cksmith to fix this item. (Note: This only applies to standardized/created items)


    ...


    "Yep! You said you knew a cksmith, right?" Frey''s eyes twinkled with excitement. "So I thought I''d ask you! Maybe he could fix it!"


    "...well, I did say that I knew one... But," Shinto''s eyes solemnly gazed over to his friend list, where he noted of the yer name: [ Hideo ] was offline. "...trying to fix items like this may rather be... Time-consuming. After all, it is a dungeon''s gear rather than normalized ones."


    Gears were split into two categories. Equipment that was obtained from dungeons, like Frey''s Centripedas Boots or Shinto''s Old Wood Cloak all had a certain material requirement to fix its durability. Meanwhile, standardized equipment sold typically by NPCs or created items by cksmiths could freely be fixed with just the use of an anvil and hammer.


    The disparity between the two was because of the need to learn the concept behind the equipment. For dungeon-rted ones, typical cksmiths wouldn''t know to fix it properly, thus their ss attribute offered them the ability to fix said items via materials. While for standardized equipment, they would typically be far easier to learn, thus only requiring an anvil and hammer.


    "I know it may be time-consuming... But could you at least ask them?" Frey questioned. "It''s fine if it''s a long wait... But, I just need some insurance that the items would be fixed, you know?"


    "...well, even if I ask, the cksmith that I know is quite busy as ofte," he sighed. "So, it''s all dependant on him really. Not only that... There''s the issue of collecting the needed materials..."


    "Oh... The requirements would be just materials?" Frey tilted her head. "It''s no problem! I''ll try to gather them! Even if I had to defeat a dragon!"


    "...aha, that''s quite a thing to say... But," Shinto''s expression turned into that of a serious one. "...why go through the trouble of trying to revive the statues? I mean... It seems rather... Tedious, don''t you think? For little to no benefits no less."


    "Hmm... Well, I guess I just wanted to do it?" Frey thought to herself. "It seems fun! And I also sympathize with the statues. They have it all rough here and there... And with this situation done, I thought we might give them a second chance! They shouldn''t just get destroyed like that!"


    "A second chance?" he inquired. "...but, thest I recall, the statues didn''t want to go on anymore."


    "Yeah! But, that''s because they''ve been through so much!" Frey nodded her head. "Which is why... I wanted to help them. Convince them to find a new purpose AND the slimes to help me with this."


    "..." Shinto kept quiet at her reasoning. "...hah. Well, I''ll try and ask him then. Though, I can''t guarantee that he''ll agree to it. So... Don''t get your hopes up."


    "Ahh! Thank you, Master!" Frey cheered out in a loud voice. However, upon realizing her voice had reached max volume, she hurriedly covered her mouth. "Ah, oops... I spoke too loud..."


    "Mm..." Kon muttered out whilst still in sleep. "...no... Don''t eat my cookie..."


    "Well thankfully... You didn''t seem to wake up anymore," Shinto sighed out with a sigh of relief. "But, like I said Frey. Don''t keep your hopes up. He''s busy as it is, so..." letting out a slight yawn, Shinto began to slowly make his way over to his bed, "...it might be hard to get him to help."


    "Yeah, yeah!" Frey nodded her head with a bright smile. "There''s still a chance, so I''m taking it! Ah, are you going to sleep already?"


    "Well, it''s better for me to catch some shut-eye instead of waiting around for nothing," Shinto said whilst finally reaching to his bed. In the next moment, he carefully carried the sleeping Kon and ced him to the side of the bed, thus making space for him to sleep in. "What about you? Are you going to sleep?"


    "Ah, Nah! I''m gonna log out," Frey stated as she stood by the entrance of the guestroom. "I''ve had my rest earlier and uh... Well, my daily limit thingy ising too. So, yeah!"


    "Ah... I see," nodding his head, Shinto soon lied down on the bed. "Well... Good night, Frey. See you tomorrow," with his eyes tiredly closing, he drifted off into the night. Now, Frey was the only one in the room that was awake.


    "..." Noting that Shinto had gone to sleep, Frey quietly sighed as she soon opened up her status menu. "...a reason, huh? Hmm... Maybe I should''ve said that I just like helping others find a new purpose?" she tilted her head whilst thinking about the earlier conversation. "...maybe. Yeah, maybe," biting her lips, Frey''s hand moved towards the log out button on her screen. Soon after, as she pressed on it, her body began to slowly disappear away alongside the sh of blue light.


    Frey had logged out.

 Chapter 224: Catacombs Reward (1)

    Chapter 224: Catbs'' Reward (1)


    The CatbsSlera''s Den [ Early Morning ].


    Quietly fluttering around the streets of the densmall litmus bugs spread out across the area as they lit up the vige in a bright hue, representative of the morning sun. At the same time, the slimes that had slept through the night began flooding the streets to get a jump-start of their day.


    "Gloop!"


    "Gloop~"


    Meanwhile, from the entrance of the vigetwo young women stepped into the Sleras''s Den with tired and exhausted eyes, alongside an expression of dejection.


    "...we''re back, huh?" The one who had entered into the den firstHikari, spoke out in a tired voice. "Sigh... That was such a hopeless expenditure."


    "Ugh... Did we seriously just spent six hours or so searching through the unexplored area?" From behind Hikari, the blonde-haired womanCrowelin, clicked her tongue whilst scratching her head. "All those encounters with the immortal monsters... And we found nothing! Nothing at all!"


    "Sigh... Going through all that to find zero clues," Hikari shook her head helplessly. "Well... I guess it can''t be helped. After all, we might have been searching the wrong spot the entire time."


    "I mean... True. It was by a long shot that we chose to start with the unexplored areas," Crowelin sighed. "But we couldn''t even explore all of it anyways. The further down we go, the more powerful those guys get. So maybe he was there, but we just couldn''t progress to him?"


    "Perhaps so," Hikari nodded her head. "Though... You know, for a dungeon that was said to be in the level 20 to 30 Zone, those mobs sure aren''t at all on that level."


    "Right? I think they''re maybe around ours? Or maybe even higher?" Crowelin tilted her head at the thought. "But it''s strange. Why''s the disparity so high? I mean... There have been cases of dungeons like that changing after their story arc ispleted but... It has never been that big of a jump."


    "Hmm... I don''t know. Maybe it''s because this is just a part of a bigger picture?" she tilted her head. "Just an assumption, you know. After all... Being suddenly sent here to visit a vige and then proceeding to be asked to defeat a doer of evil is quite strange considering the circumstance."


    From the moment they had stepped foot into the vige, they were instantly greeted upon by another quest. However, as vague as it wasHikari and Crowelin still managed to deduce certain clues from the events previously.


    One of them was the fact that the ''Doer of Evil'' - The one who brought the curse, was Sanke. The person who had been defeated by the group. Yet, despite thatthey had still received such a quest.


    "The quest details are as vague as ever," she frowned as she scrutinized the quest menu. "What''s this about a sacred artefact anyways?"


    ...


    [ Doer of Evil ]


    Difficulty: A+


    Defeat the evil being who brought about the curse of the dead. He who aims for the sacred artefact must be defeated before the Night of Stars.


    Quest Condition: The sealing or death of the evildoer.


    Quest Rewards: Good Will +10, Holy Hail Potions 10x, Star of Eden Ticket (Temp.), Level +1


    Quest Failure: Audience of Eden Ticket (Temp.)


    ...


    "Who knows?" Hikari shrugged. "Maybe we should ask the slimes this time? Perhaps they''ll know."


    "Should we?" Crowelin tilted her head. "I don''t know. Would they even answer us? They''ve already got their hands full with whatever''s going on currently with the king. Us asking would raise some concerns and inevitably lead to panic..."


    "Hmm... Asking them at a time like this... Yeah, not a good idea," Hikari shook her head. "Then what do we do? At one point, we might need to warn them if we can''t handle it ourselves."


    "...eh, let''s just investigate the matter a bit more before then," Crowelin nodded her head. "In any case, we''re supposed to head to the castle, right?"


    "Yep," she nodded her head. "By now... I think Shinto and the rest should be done."


    ...


    The Catbs, Slera''s CastleHallway [ Early Morning ].


    Quiet footsteps resounded through the halls of the castle as the group that had been resting in the guest room overnight swiftly exited out of the room.


    "...yawn," a young man with silver hairEthaniel, let out a loud yawn whilst Shinto and Raina followed from behind him. "...must we wake up this early? I wanted to sleep in more..."


    "Hmm... It is pretty early," Raina thought to herself. "But, the sooner we finish this, the faster we can finally get some leisure time, right?"


    "I guess so," he continued to let out a yawn. "But still. Why the heck was we called up so early? I felt like we only slept for three or so hours and that''s not enough! My stamina''s not even fully recovered."


    "Well... Actually, it was four," Shinto stated.


    "Four?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "It''s still not enough! Can''t we get five instead? Right now the time is 5 AM in-game, but why can''t it be 6?"


    "Mm... I want to continue sleeping..." Kon, who was on Shinto''s shouldermuttered out whilst rubbing his eyes. "Too early... Still need sleep..."


    "Jee, you think I don''t want to sleep either?" Ethaniel frowned at the small fox lying down on Shinto''s shoulder, seemingly attempting to sleep. "But wait... The heck?! You''re going to sleep on his shoulder?!"


    "Can I?" Kon uttered out sloppily. "I won''t make you ufortable..."


    "...well, I don''t see why not," Shinto shrugged. "Just sleep for a while I guess."


    "R-Really?!" Kon stated excitedly. "Thank you, Master!"


    "Though..." he whispered to Kon. "Why don''t you head back to the Shadow Realm if you want to rest? I''ll call for you when this is done."


    "E-Eh no way!" Kon pouted. "I like the real world''s atmosphere... It''sfy! So... Please let me stay here! I promise I won''t be trouble!"


    "I see," Shinto nodded his head.


    "What? Hey! You''re to let this guy sleep?!" Ethaniel twitched his eyes.


    "Kon might not be able to get a break after this," he calmly said. "After all, we are going out to Parm soon. So... He''ll need to hide in the shadows during that time."


    "W-What?!" Kon shouted out in a loud voice upon hearing Shinto''s reasoning. "I have to hide in the shadows?! But what about the two"


    "Ahem. Drawing unnecessary attention may bring about something bad to us if we''re not careful," Shinto said. "And besides, there''s still that Lavida ce we have to worry about."


    "Mm... Alright," Kon sighed.


    "Speaking of Lavida..." Raina thought to herself. "Were we not supposed to do something about them? We spent a literal week here. At that point... Their progress would rather be..."


    "I wasn''t exactly expecting for this to take a week," Shinto sighed. "But... I don''t necessarily think they''ll make much progress on Altric. From what I''ve heard, it''s quite a hard ce to find unless, by some miracle, you stumble upon it coincidentally."


    "So... We''re not supposed to be worried?" Raina tilted her head.


    "Not for now, at least," he said as he turned towards Ethaniel. "What do you think?"


    "Meh... I want better equipment," he answered. "What''s one week going to do anyhow?"


    "R-Right... Better equipment is of sure importance," Raina nodded her head. "Anyhow... Frey sure is taking quite some time to log in. Did something happen? By her estimations, she said she''d be running out here by now."


    "Hmm... Something must have dyed her time to log in," Shinto thought to himself. "There''s still a bit of time before we enter the throne room, so... it shouldn''t be a problem if she''s a littlete."


    "Bah... I''m not waiting anymore," Ethaniel scruffled his hair. "For all I know, it could take an hour in real life and I don''t want to wait that long anymore."


    "E-Ethaniel?" Raina blinked at his impatience, noting that Ethaniel had begun to walk further down the hallways. "Hey! What was it about wanting to sleep for an extra hour?"


    "She knows where the throne room is, so let''s just get going already!" Ethaniel reasoned. "Besides'' the sooner the better, right?"


    "Ah..." Raina sighed. "So... We''re not gonna wait, huh?"


    "Apparently..." Shinto said. "Though if you want, we can just leave him be and continue waiting."


    "Hmm..." Raina was in deep thought as she soon nodded her head. "I guess there''s no rush but" as she wanted to continue her sentence, a loud voice protruded out from the front of them.


    "You guys are waiting? No way in hell!" Ethaniel stated as he began grabbing the cors of the two. In the next moment, dragging them away. "We''re going to finish this and not dy it any longer!"


    "Ack- Hey, Ethan!" Shinto shouted out as was being dragged away through the halls. "Just wait a minute"


    "No."


    ...


    After a while, the group had all been dragged towards the front doors of the throne room.


    "Hah," Ethaniel uttered out with a sigh. "We''re finally here. Now..." he red at the two. "Go in and get it done already!"


    "S-Seriously...?" It seems that Frey had to catch up to them on her own. Thus, with a helpless sigh at the thought, Shinto stepped forward towards the door. In the next moment, the doors of the throne room soon opened, allowing them to enter.

 Chapter 225: Catacombs Reward (2)

    Chapter 225: Catbs'' Reward (2)


    The Catbs, Slera''s CastleThrone Room [ Early Morning ].


    With the doors of the Throne Room opened and the group stepping forward to head into the areaShinto and the others quickly heard the sounds of the guard''s loud roars from the side of them.


    "And so, they who have liberated our vige from the curse" In thenguage of the Slera''s, Erith along with another guard shouted out. "we wee, the heroes of the catbs!"


    Following the announcement, the group continued down the red carpetid out before themwhere they were soon greeted by the sight of Madam Ru, who was sitting on a seat beside the throne.


    "Ah, so you''ve arrived, good, good," Madam Ru slightly jiggled her body in satisfaction upon noting the arrival of the group. "Before we begin..." Soon after, she turned her head over towards the guards by the doors. "Guards, you may take your leave now."


    "A-Ah, yes, Madam!" Seemingly saluting and bowing to the madam, the two guards quickly took their leave from the throne room. Now, leaving the group together with Madam Ru and the ones beside her: Renryth, Rustly and Reru.


    "W-Wow..." Raina muttered out in amazement. "I honestly never expected for the innkeeper to hold such a high position in the castle," she said. "Is she the queen? Because typically... The queen would sit there, right?"


    "Ugh... I don''t care if she''s a queen or not," Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Can we just get this over with? Let''s end this already."


    "Jee. Why is this guy so cranky?" Kon whimpered. "Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"


    "Hey, I heard that," he red at the small fox on Shinto''s shoulder. "And for your information, I''m not cranky. I woke up on the RIGHT side of my bed, ABRUPTLY."


    "E-Eep...!" Kon''s body slightly shook. "I didn''t say anything!"


    "Ethaniel..." Shinto sighed helplessly. "...you know you dragged us all the way here, right? If that isn''t cranky"


    "Bah. So what? I''m not going to wait around for Frey who might take an hour!" he frowned. "But anyway, can we get on with this and not dy it any longer?"


    Ending the small conversation among the group, the three swiftly reached towards the front of the throne room, where the throne rested. However, empty and voided of a king, the group instead turned to the Madam, where they soon bowed to pay their respects.


    "Please raise your heads. I am not someone who is worthy of such gestures. I am but just a fill-in for his majesty," Madam Ru stated. "Ahem... Now, I hope you''ve gotten a good night''s sleep in the guest room?"


    "Yes," Shinto, who was at the forefront of the groupnodded his head. "The guest room wasfortable. However... It would''ve been great if we could have gotten a little bit more sleep in beforeing here."


    "Aha..." Madam Ru chuckled. "Well, I figured as you all may want to return to town sooner thanter, it would be best to call you here now," she said. "But... Hmm? I remember that there were four of you. Where''s the other?"


    "Ah... Well," Shinto muttered out as Madam Ru pointed out the missing Frey. "...there was a slight problem earlier in the morning. Frey had returned to the other world to handle some things and unfortunately, she has yet returned. Thus... We ended uping here first in order to prevent any dy."


    "Ah... I see," she nodded. "Well, we do have our hands full as it is with getting order back to the vige and alongside that, there''s the issue with the Farchu side too. However, that''s not what I called you here for," gesturing over towards the two slimes beside her. "I won''t keep you here for long, so"


    However, with the signal from Madam Ru, the two slimesReru and Rustly swiftly made their way forward to the group. Whilst doing so, they had brought over a few things which caught the attention of the group.


    "here are your rewards for aiding us," Madam Ru said.


    "...?" With the items allid out across the room for the eyes of the group to see, their brows raised. "T-This is...?" In front of them, the rewards were simple. Two gloves, two weapons, a key and other misceneous things which the system had notified them on.


    [ The instance dungeon ''Catbs of the Deserted Sanke'' has been distributed! ]


    [ A list of rewards has been distributed. ]


    [ Instance Dungeon Clear #1 Rewards ]


    [ Individual ]


    -Gloopius Sabre (Sword-type)


    -Gloves of the Slera


    -Sticky Gauntlet


    -Staff of Etheral me


    [ Group ]


    -Level +1


    -+10 Stat Points


    -ess to ''Forbidden Area (Level 250+)'' is now avable.


    -Title [Saviour of the Catbs]


    ...


    [ Saviour of the Catbs ]


    A title in honour of the liberators who aided in the cause to free the Slera''s and Farchu''s of their curse of control.


    *When the user is within an area ssified as [Catbs]: Curse effects inflicted by enemies onto user is decreased by 5% whilst overall stats are increased by 7.


    *The Slera and Farchu are less hostile to you and you will have an easier time interacting with them.


    ...


    "T-That''s quite a lot of rewards..." Raina muttered out. "And... We''ve also got a level and stats increase?"


    "Considering what we''ve gone through, it''s only worth it," Ethaniel nodded his head. "Now they say that four of these are individual, right? Then, I''m taking the sword no doubt."


    "Hmm, right, it is a sword," Raina nodded her head. "But... These rewards sure seem quite specific for us, isn''t it?"


    "Why yes," Madam Ru answered Raina''s question. "These items are quite specifically chosen based on what Reru, Rustly and Renryth had told me about you," she said. "So, I''ve given you those four items as thank you. And as you for your fox over there..." she shook her head helplessly whilst speaking in an ent different from just now. "Sadly, there aren''t any items that I could give. But... If he wants a ball made of slime to y around with, then he can have that."


    "...a ball?" The ck fox''s eyes shone brightly. "Can I?!" he turned towards Shinto.


    "I guess?" he blurted out.


    "Yay!" Kon cheered.


    "Jee... Wearn''t you supposed to be asleep?" Ethaniel questioned as he saw the excited Kon wagging his tail.


    "I was supposed to until you left me hanging for my life when you dragged master!" Kon grumbled. "But wait a minuteDid Madan Ru just speak gloop? And I could understand it?!"


    "Oh... You''re right," Raina tilted her head.


    "Ah, so you''ve caught on," Madam Ru stated. "Besides the items that I''ve given you, you''ve also been given the ability to speak and understand ournguage. It''s the same case for when Renryth and the other had first arrived."


    "...I see, so we''ve got that many rewards, huh?" Shinto nodded his head as he turned to look at the other notifications in front of him. "...and, it seems that Kon has received all the group rewards as well."


    [ Thenguage proficiency [Slera] and [Farchu] skills have been unlocked. ]


    [ Current level: 1 ]


    ...


    "This is our gesture of thanks to you all for helping us," Madam Ru said. "Now... As for the ball that the fox would want, It''ll have to be given at ater date since it was unpreparedbesides that, you may freely leave the vige now and return back to the surface if you''d like."


    "We''re done here?" Raina asked as she turned towards Renryth who had a solemn look on his face. "But... There is something I want to ask before we leave."


    "What?" Ethaniel frowned at Raina''s sudden question. "You don''t mean to ask..."


    "What is it?" Madam Ru interrupted Ethaniel.


    "Well... It''s kind of the troubles in regards to this situation," she asked. "For one..." As she was about to continue with her sentenceloud murmurs protruded out from behind the doors of the throne room.


    "H-Hey...! Frey, calm down a bit!" A female''s voice protruded out. "I don''t think it''s any good to just barge into a throne room like that...!"


    "No way am I waiting for them toe out!" Another voice protruded out, seemingly in anger. "Let me in, let me in!!" Following the shoutthe doors of the throne room opened widely in an abrupt manner and, standing by the entrance was a woman who was in a brawler''s attire with a tired breath.


    "Hah... Hah..." Taking a deep breath, the brawlerFrey, shouted out. "YOU GUYS! YOU GUYS ABANDONED ME?!" crying out, she stormed into the room as she then approached the group by the front.


    "F-Frey...?!" Ethaniel raised his brow at the sight of the angered Frey. However, that wasn''t the end of his confusion. Following up from behind FreyHikari and Crowelin had entered into the Throne Room as well.


    "F-Frey! Just wait a minute!" With a surprised expression, Hikari hurriedly attempted to grab onto Frey''s hand, however, she had failed to do so as she had already walked up towards the group. "A-Argh..."


    "So, tell me!" Frey pouted. "Who was the one who suggested it?!"


    "...cough," Shinto let out a slight cough at the scene before him. However, his eyes soon averted to Raina''s and they soon made eye contact. With a silent nod, the two instantly pointed over towards Ethaniel. "Him."


    "ETHANIELLL!!" Frey roared.

 Chapter 226: Catacombs Reward (3)

    Chapter 226: Catbs'' Reward (3)


    The Catbs, Slera''s CastleHallways [ Early Morning ]


    With the doors of the throne room once again opened, the group hurriedly exited out of the area with tired breath.


    "Hah..." Letting out a tired sigh upon exiting out of the throne room, Shinto turned his head towards the group whilst speaking out. "We''re finally out of there..."


    With the sudden storm that was brought up upon by Freythe group was ced into a difficult position. After all, for such a mess to happen within the throne room meant terrible things.


    "Ugh... Seriously, Frey, did you really have to do that?" Ethaniel clicked his tongue whilst scruffling his hair in a tired manner. "We were in the throne room! And well"


    "I don''t wanna hear it from you, person who left me to be weed back by no one!" Frey folded her arms as she pouted. "You deserved it!"


    "Yeah... You ruined my sleep!" Kon whimpered.


    "Argh shut it will you?!" Ethaniel grumbled. "We''re lucky as it is that Madam Ru found it amusing. Otherwise... To cause such a scene in there meant..."


    "No, no. You''re lucky that I haven''t punched you to a wall!" Frey humphed as she turned towards the rest of the group. "Ahem! So, what are the rewards?! Because a certain SOMEONE, I missed everything."


    "You didn''t get any notification when you logged in?" Shinto asked.


    "Oh, huh. notifications? Ah right!" Frey stamped her hands. "I was so caught up because a certain SOMEONE abandoned me," she frowned. "But anyways, let me check, let me check!"


    With excited eyes, Frey turned towards her notification window. Meanwhile, Raina and the rest helplessly sighed for Ethaniel.


    "...she''s never gonna let it go, huh?" Raina chuckled.


    "I guess that''s how it is," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "Though, what was the question you were about to ask Madam Ru?"


    "Ah... Well," she muttered out. "It''s regarding the overall status of this ce, I guess. Was just wondering how they were coping with the king being unconscious whilst they were getting things back to order."


    "What? Are you asking for another quest?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "No... I was just curious," Raina said. "But... I guess curiosity would kill the cat if it did lead to a quest..."


    "We can think about thister," Shinto nodded his head as his eyes turned towards Hikari and Crowelin. "For now... Should we head back to town?"


    "Finally!" Ethaniel stated in an excited voice. "Let''s not dy it any longer and" as he was about to continue on with his sentence, a loud shout protruded out from the side of him.


    "Sticky Gauntlet? Sticky Gauntlet? STICKY GAUNTLET?!" Frey shouted out in shock. "Masteerrr! Where is that item?!"


    "Ah... You mean the items we got?" Shinto raised his brow. "I think Ethaniel took them all in a rush whilst we were exiting out of the room so..."


    "...so it means Ethaniel is stealing our stuff?!" Frey red at the young man beside her. "Give it now!"


    "Jee, impatient much?" Ethaniel sighed. "I was going to give it in town, but whatever. Might as well give everyone the equipment," nodding his head, Ethaniel opened up his inventory as he took out the four items that he had kept away.


    ...


    [ Gloopius Sabre (Sword-type) ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Attack Power: 360 ~ 400


    Durability: 500/500


    *Strength +45


    *MP +150


    *Physical RES +11%


    *Poison RES +50%


    *Slow RES +35%


    *Damage against enemies inflicted by [Poison] or [Slow] will be increased by 15% and 30% respectively.


    *When a skill is activated by the user, there is a 20% chance of activating [Poison Ehance] effect on self whilst a 30% chance of activating [Slow Enhance] effect on self.


    A sword created by the famous ''Gloopius Gloop'' cksmith. He who has carved his way into the history of Slera''s has created this sword to enhance the effects of slow and poisoning capabilities.


    Condition(s): Level 45 or above, Has Passive [Sword Master (Intermediate)]


    Weight: 55


    ...


    [ Gloves of the Slera ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Defensive Power: 45


    Attack Power: 125 ~ 150


    Durability: 350/350


    *Poison RES +35%


    *Slow RES +40%


    *When attacking an enemy: Has a 20% chance of inflicting the status [Slow]


    *Poison Damage Dealt +30%


    *Poison Damage Received -20%


    *Skill [Poison Enhancement] is generated.


    *Skill [Slow Enhancement is generated.


    A glove was carefully made into existence by the Madam of the castle. Seemingly seemed to be that of silkhowever, it is made of the soft slime that makes the wearerfortable whilst also enhancing their poison effect.


    Condition(s): Level 45 or above, Has a skill that can Inflict [Poison]


    Weight: 30


    ...


    [ Sticky Gauntlet ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Defensive Power: 140


    Attack Power: 270 ~ 410


    Durability: 560/560


    *Strength +20


    *Stamina +60


    *Poison RES +40%


    *Slow RES +10%


    *Movement Speed -6%


    *When receiving damage from enemies inflicted by [Poison] or [Slow], the damage is reduced by 50%.


    A heavy gauntlet that can easily pack a punch. Although the gauntlet is made of the coating of slime, the slime is hardened and thus allows for the user to hit as if the weapon was made of steel.


    Condition(s): Level 45 or above, Minimum of 100 stamina and 50 strength.


    Weight: 80


    ...


    [ Staff of Etheral me ]


    Rarity: Epic


    Attack Power: 450 ~ 500 (4 Seconds to Cast)


    Durability: 340/340


    *Intelligence +30


    *Magic Power +12%


    *MP +135


    *Fire RES +12%


    *Fire Damage +17%


    *Damage against Wind Elementals +20%


    *Skill [Etheral Charge] is generated.


    The staff of Etheral me. Unknown of its origins, it was once held by a powerful sacred magician but now has passed down to those who have learnt the arts of me.


    Condition(s): Level 45 or above, At least has one skill from the [mes of Etheral] skill tree.


    Weight: 65


    ...


    "Oh?" Upon setting his eyes on the details of the items that were handed to him by Ethaniel, Shinto''s eyes glistened in amazement. "These items are quite good."


    By level standards, the four pieces of equipment rewarded by the quest were above average due to the stats that they gave. For one, each of the gear seemed to be focused on one main gimmick: The ability to deal increase damage to enemies afflicted by a certain element or status.


    In this case, for the three weapons besides the staff, they allpliment each other with the status of [Poison] and [Slow]. Thus, if one were to focus on inflicting status ailments against enemies, the damage dealers would be dealing high amounts of damage to add to their current one, and as for the one who would equip the gauntlet, they would be able to take far less damage due to the weapon''s attributes.


    "The gloves that I would be wearing seems to further enhance on the effect, huh?" pondering on the matter, his eyes soon averted towards the skill description that came alongside the gloves.


    [ Poison Enhancement Lv 1 ] [ 75 MP ] [ Cooldown: 3 Minutes ]


    Casting out the spell of enhancement, the user increases the poison capabilities of an ally, allowing them to have a 20% chance of inflicting the status [Poison] when attacking with basic attacks. If the user uses the skill on themselves, poison damage is increased by 10%.


    ...


    [ Slow Enhancement Lv 1 ] [ 75 MP ] [ Cooldown: 3 Minutes ]


    Casting out the spell of enhancement, the user increases the slowing capabilities of an ally, allowing them to have a 20% chance of inflicting the status [Slow] when attacking with basic attacks. If the user uses the skill on themselves, the slow effect would be enhanced by 20%.


    ...


    The skill from the gloves was two way. One could be an ally buff for allies in the front lines while the other could be a self buffing skill meant to further increase the user''s status capabilities. Fortunately for Shinto, he could use the skills both ways thanks to the fact that he has [ Sticky Grounds ], [ Poison Goo ] and [ Rainy Slime ] avable for use.


    "Mm... This is good," he nodded his head in a satisfied manner. If the monsters they fight aren''t immune to [Poison] or [Slow], it meant that it would be a far easier time to handle them.


    Whilst Shinto was deep in thought, he could still hear the loud cheers from Frey as she was in awe of the equipment that Ethaniel had passed to her. "Yay! A new weapon! But what''s up the requirements?! I''m only level 40! And... And... Oh, wait, my stats are just fine."


    "We''re not in need of this equipment yet since we''re not heading into any battles anytime soon," Shinto calmly said as he kept the gloves into his inventory. "But... We might want to level up to level 45 soon in the case we end up in another situation."


    "Huh?! So are you saying we''re going to go out on another adventure?!" Frey cried out.


    "Well, no," Shinto shook his head. "First of all, let''s just take a leisure break first. Our top priority right now is to get better equipment and supplies," he said whilst making his way down the hall. "So, shall we head to town now?"


    "Yeah, let''s go!" Frey cheered out whilst following after Shinto. Soon after, the rest of the group followed suit.

 Chapter 227: Parm (1)

    Chapter 227: Parm (1)


    The CatbsHallways [ Morning ]


    Steadily making their way through the catbs'' hallway, the group finally reached towards the middle hall where the group had originally been surrounded by the Farchu race when they had first entered the dungeon.


    "Woah! It''s been a while since west saw this ce, right?" Frey muttered out whilst being the first to reach the middle grounds of the area. "I remember that there were so many rats here! And... We ran for our lives, basically!"


    "...yeah, don''t remind me of that," Ethaniel sighed as the rest of the group entered into the middle hall. In the next moment, the man turned his head over towards the rubble that was blocking one of the passageways. "the damage is done and now the passage is permanently blocked."


    "...hmm, well not to say it''s permanently blocked," Shinto reasoned. "Rather... It''s blocked until someone decides to remove the rubble. It''s not as if we copsed the hallway."


    "Hmm, I wonder. Would the Farchu try and remove the rubble?" Raina tilted her head.


    "Would they? Meh. I don''t really care," he shrugged. "The exits just up ahead, so... Can we just continue moving?" Stating his sentence, Ethaniel began moving forward from the group. However, just as he did so, a small squeak protruded out into the area.


    "...?" Noticing the small sound by the rubble that the group had made, two rats soon hurriedly squeezed through the debris as they approached the party. "...r-rats?" the group muttered out.


    "K-Kikk!" Approaching the group, the rats continued to squeak as they soon spoke out in a distinct tone. "Heroes of the catbs, wait!" the two people of the Farchu race shouted out. "We have something to tell you before you leave!"


    "H-Huh...?" Frey muttered out in confusion upon hearing the two rats that had spoken out. "I-i can understand ratnguage? What?! is this a new feature of the ne?!" Unlike the rest of the party, Frey had yet noticed that she too had unlocked thenguage proficiency skill for the Slera''s and Farchu''snguage. "Cool! I canmunicate in the kikknguage! Or whatever you call it!"


    "...Frey," Shinto sighed whilst shaking his head helplessly. Soon after, he turned towards the rats. "...what is it? Is there something you need from us?"


    "Yes, yes!" The rats stated. "The king of the Farchu has invited you to visit! He wants to show his own gestures as well!"


    "...like, right now?" Raina blinked at the rats.


    "No, no!" The rats shook their heads. "Perhaps by the end of the week, but... We just wanted to inform you as so. There''s no rush."


    "Oh, I see..." Raima nodded her head as the rats quickly began leaving the area.


    "Now in any case... Have fun out on the surface, heroes!" The two rats shouted out. "Thank you for saving us! We are very thankful!"


    "...t-those rats," Ethaniel''s eyes twitched slightly as he saw that the rats squeezed through the rubble like it was nothing. "...OUR EFFORTS WAS IN VAIN??"


    Throughout the earlier conversation with the Farchu race, Ethaniel was only interested in the fact that the rats effortless went from point A to point B.


    "Aha..." Shinto awkwardly uttered out. "It looks like we didn''t need to worry about the rubble that we caused after all..."


    "Tch... So if they wanted to kill us, they would have done so?" he frowned. "Jeez... We were at the dungeon''s mercy this entire time..."


    "Hmm... Well, there''s still the case of when we were surrounded that time," Raina thought to herself. "but, at a certain point, the mobs never seemed to have approached us, huh?"


    "Oh, you''re right!" Frey sped her hands. "It was the reason why we managed to clear the ce unscratched!"


    "...perhaps it was all Sanke''s doing?" Raina tilted her head. "Did he had the intention to hurt us, to begin with? Or was it all a facade?"


    "From what Renryth told us... Sanke was a good guy, right?" Frey tilted his head. "So him doing all of that... What does it mean??"


    "Bah..." Ethaniel scruffled his hair. "Let''s just stop this discussion and get going. Stop dying me from going to surface..."


    "Ahem... Right, let''s just... Get going to the surface. We can discuss thister," Shinto nodded his head as he and the rest of the group hurried towards the exit by the end of the middle room.


    ...


    The Town of ParmCatbs'' Outskirts [ Morning ]


    From the staircase that led into the instance dungeon, the group slowly made their way upwards to the surfacefinally reaching the abandoned area of Parm, the northwest area of the town.


    "...phew, it looks like we made it out," with his eyes locked onto the small sunlight that was seeping through the cracks of the building, Shinto let out a sigh of relief. "Finally heading up to the surface... This is the first time we''ve seen actual sunlight in a while, huh?"


    "Mhm, mhm!" Frey nodded her head. "All that snow and darkness made me sick..."


    For the group who had been stuck in snow and darkness for a week, they were stripped of the ability to see the warm sunlight. Thus, despite only seeing the small morning sun seeping through the small cracks of the buildingit was already a refreshing sight to see.


    "Ah~ Finally, some fresh air!" Hikari said in a delighted tone. "All that snow made my insides stuffy..." she shook her head helplessly. Unlike the group that had been stuck in snow for only a week, Hikari and Crowelin had been at Bareth''s ins for two. They too were sick of the constant snowstorms.


    "Hmm, right," Raina turned towards Hikari. "Now that we''re at the surface... Are you two going to go somewhere now? After all... You were only following us because you needed a safe ce to leave the area, right?"


    "Oh~" Crowelin smiled. "Well... About that, something kind of came up so... We''re staying in the area for a bit. First of all, we''ll be visiting the town''s temple. Err... Where was it?"


    "It''s to the north of town," Shinto calmly answered.


    "Right, thanks!" Crowelin nodded her head as she grabbed onto Hikari''s hand. "Let''s go, we''ve got business to do!"


    "H-Huh? H-Hey, C-Crowelin, wait...!" Hikari, who wasn''t done taking in the fresh air was quickly dragged away by Crowelin towards the north of where Shinto had pointed and, during that second, Shinto sent out a whisper to Hikari.


    "We''ll talk about details of Rustly''s situationter," Shinto said. "For now... Just do whatever you want."


    Soon after the two girls had left, the remaining group members all looked at one another.


    "...so, what now?" Frey blinked in confusion. "Do we like... Go do our own things or do we have somewhere to go?"


    "Well... We''re currently free from any sort of quests, huh?" Raina thought to herself. "...umm, I''m not sure where to go for something that''s notbating..."


    "I dunno about you, but I''m instantly going to the marketce to restock on my equipment," Ethaniel shrugged as he began leaving the area. "If you want to follow then follow. I''m not going to spare money though."


    "Mm... Yeah, but going to the marketce instantly seems... Like something, not leisure enjoyment!" Frey shouted out. "is there anything else?"


    "Well, I''m going to see Greld first," Shinto calmly stated. "I haven''t eaten a single thing for the past few days, so if I go on any further... I''ll probably run out of stamina."


    "Ah! Greld''s ce!" she said as her stomach growled. "Oops... Now you''re making me hungry..."


    "Mm... I''m hungry too," Kon whimpered.


    "Then it''s settled?" Raina tilted her head. "Shall we go to Greld''s?"


    "Let''s go!" she said. "Time to eat some delicious food!"


    With nods from the rest of the group, they began making their way over towards the tavern. However, before they did so, Shinto quickly asked Kon to assimte into the darkness to prevent any onlookers from seeing him.


    ...


    The Town of ParmGreld''s Tavern [ Morning ]


    Within the tavern''s door, an old man paced around the room in a worried manner.


    "...where have they gone to?" The old manGreld, muttered out. "It''s been a week and they haven''te back yet..." his worry continued whilst he was walking back and forth. "Did Lavida do something to them? Argh... They have been real quiettely... It''s the new month too and..." Uttering out his woes, his sentence soon stopped mid-way.


    From the door of the tavern, the small bell at the top rang through the room. Taking notice of that, Greld''s eyes quickly shifted to the entrance where he saw that the door was slowly opening.


    "I-Is it...?!" With excitement in his eyes, he waited anticipatedly.


    "Mr Greld!" From behind the door, a female''s voice rang out. "We''re back!"


    "Ah!" His patience to wait was rewarded. At the doorstep, he was greeted by the sight of Shinto and the group. "You''re back...!"


    "Mhm~" Frey excitedly said. "N-Now um... Could you... Make something delicious to eat...?"

 Chapter 228: Parm (2)

    Chapter 228: Parm (2)


    The Town of ParmGreld''s Tavern [ Morning ]


    Quietly sitting by the table upon entering the room, Shinto and the rest of the group all awaited for the food that Greld was cooking up in the tavern''s kitchen. With them not having eaten anything good as ofte, they were starving.


    "Mm... So hungry," Frey muttered out whilst her head rested on the table. "Are we supposed to feel that much hunger in-game?"


    "Aha... It''s only natural to feel that in-game," Shinto chuckled. "Despite just being yers, we do need to eat. Though it does still makes me wonder how actually eating in this game feels ratherreal."


    For Shinto who had been ying till the first year''s game anniversary which wasing up soonhe still had yet gotten used to the fact that all of his senses in-game was real. For a virtual game, it felt almost too real.


    "Hmm true," Raina nodded her head. "I''ve only been ying this game for a few weeks or so and I can''t get used to this feeling at all..." helplessly shaking her head, her eyes turned towards Kon who was still soundly asleep on the table. "And then there''s the ability to feel anything... It''s surreal, you know?"


    As the group discussed the game''s ability to allow one to feel their senses, the doors of the kitchen soon opened as Greld exited out of it. In his hands, multiple variety dishes were within his two hands.


    "And, the food''s done!" Greld said in a delighted tone of voice whilst carefully making his way over to the group with the dishes in hand. "I hope you don''t mind, but, I''ve made quite a lot for today."


    "Ahh! The food''s done!" The mouth of Frey started drooling as sheid eyes on the food as it settled down on the table. With just a whiff of its fragrance, her stomach rumbled loudly than before.


    Who wouldn''t after looking at the delicacy before them? Tendered meat with sizzling red sauce all over its surface, fried cmari that looked to be especially crisp on its outeryer, a bowl of readily made stir-fried riceand spicy rice cakes for dessert. It was a sight to behold after a long journey.


    "G-Greld... You didn''t have to make all of this..." Shinto blinked at the number of dishes in front of him. To count, it was up to four dishes total. However, for a group of adventurers such as them, such dishes were a luxury. "Just a few light dishes would do. You do know that it''s still in the morning, right?"


    After all, to eat something like this, one would have to go to some fancy noble restaurant to eat. it wasn''t something readily avable everywhere, especially not in a tavern such as this.


    "Ahaha... I kind of got carried away..." Greld slightly coughed. "There were no customers at all and well, I couldn''t really cook as much besides for myself. So... S-Sorry if it''s too much..."


    "No, no!" Frey shook her head. "This is more than enough! Ahh! Time to dig in! Thank you for the food!" with excited eyes, she hesitated no longer as she began digging into the dishes by slicing the tendered meat as her first order of business.


    "So diligently eating like that," Raina chuckled. "But say... Do we have to pay?"


    "Ah... Err..." Greld uttered out in awkwardness. "W-Well... I do still need to pay rent for this month..."


    "...sigh," Shinto sighed as his eyes turned towards his gold count that was floating at the side of his inventory: [ 81,119 gold ]. "How much for the bill?"


    "8-800... It''s not too much, right?" Greld mumbled out. "I can discount it at 50% if you''d like if it''s too much. Ahh... I should''ve considered the situation. After all, you all are benefactors of the tavern by paying for rentstHuh? T-This is...?"


    "Here, 1,000 gold," he said whilst taking out the gold from his inventory. Soon after, he ced it onto Greld''s hand. "This should cover the initial cost plus tips."


    "Wow... 1,000 gold like it''s nothing," Raina blinked in a dumbfounded manner as she saw the sight before her. "Are you sure? Frey and me can split the bill if you''d like."


    "It''s fine," Shinto nodded his head whilst tapping his hand on Kon''s back in order to wake him up to eat. "I''ve got enough gold to suffice for until I start needing it again."


    Despite being in the ''poor range'' whenpared to other Veterans, he was still pretty well-off for the time being in his current level. In the future, obtaining equipment that would sell for a good amount of gold was easier. But by then, veteran gear would be extremely expensive. Even more expensive than the prices the scam vendor had set.


    "You got enough gold to suffice until you start needing it again?" Raina tilted her head. "How much would that be?"


    "...e-err..." Shinto blurted out with a dumbfounded expression. "Well..." Suddenly hesitant, his eyes averted elsewhere. "About that..."


    "Huh?" Frey mumbled out whilst having food in her mouth. "How much? How much?" she continued to mumble as she finally swallowed the food. "You paid for that 10k rent and then for our equipment! Just how rich are you?!"


    "...sigh," he was reluctant to show the amount of gold he had. However, he knew it would be inevitable. "Here," helplessly, he showed the number of gold he had currently totalling 80,119.


    "80k!?" The group, including Greld, shouted out. "T-This is... How did you get that amount of gold?!"


    "Of course! It''s natural that Master would be rich!" Kon proudly said.


    "...cough," closing his inventory, he was at a loss for words on how to exin. He was fortunate enough to not have the current amount of gold added together with his stash back at the guild. "...it''s kind of hard to exin."


    Shinto had been hesitant to share his amount of gold with his allies due to the reason of him being unable to exin. They were currently around the level of 40, where throughout the journey of levelling from 20 to now, he had been stuck with the group.


    "D-did you scam someone?" Greld worryingly said. "You didn''t, right? Surely..."


    "...let''s just say a friend of mine ys this game and he gave me this amount when I was starting the game," he stated. "I can''t y with him right now as he''s in an area far out of reach in my current level. So, there''s that."


    "...oh?" Frey muttered out in slight suspicion. "What level is he?"


    "Err..." His eyes averted to his friendslist. Soon after, he turned to scrutinize the yer name [ Kaisus ] who was at level 200. "He''s currently level 143."


    "Level 143?!" her eyes shone brightly. "Woah, that''s a big level jump from us!"


    "Yeah... He''s been ying for quite some time now. About a year?"


    "Woah! A year huh?" Frey''s eyes continued to shine. "Alright, I believe you! You''re not a scammer that scams people of their money! But wait" she said. "is he that cksmith?"


    "...huh?" Shinto gulped. He was digging his grave deeper. At the mention of the cksmith''s name, he turned towards Hideo''s name that was on his friend''s list. In the next moment, he opened up his profile just as he did with Kaisus. "...u-um... Well, y-yes...?" Hideo''s current level was 134.


    "..." A moment of suspicion appeared over Frey''s face, however, she soon shook her head. "So this means I get to meet your friend soon?!"


    "...I-I told you... H-He may be busy..." Shinto was struggling to continue to put up the act. His mistake, to begin with, was showing his gold amount. Did he have anything to back him up? No. "...so, it may not be able to work..."


    "Ahem... Frey, the food''s getting cold if you continue to pester Shinto like that," he sighed.


    "...I guess," Raina thought to herself in suspicion. "Ahem... In any case, while we eat this... Should we discuss what to do after?" she asked. "Perhaps we should go to the marketce and shop for equipment? Or... Go out to a short dungeon and attempt for some rare drops?"


    "...well, we can do either," Letting out a sigh as he was thankful for the fact that Raina had changed the topic, Shinto soon stated. "However... I-I can try something so we can technically cut costs."


    "Hmm? What would that be?"


    "For now... I won''t tell since I don''t know if it may work," Shinto sighed. "However, I can guarantee that if it seeds, we will have suitable equipment for the long term."


    "Oh?! Are you going to ask that cksmith now?!" Frey''s eyes shone in excitement. "I actually searched up some cksmith stuff on the inte! It''s so cool! They can make unique equipment for us if we give them materials oh and some blueprints too! Ahh! Let''s go blueprint hunting after this!"


    "W-Wait... Frey calm down for a sec..." Shinto continued to sigh. "Let me just ask him first, alright?"


    "Alright!" Frey nodded her head.


    "...phew," finally gaining peace in his space, Shinto soon averted to his friend''s list as he then tapped on the yer [ Hideo ]. In the next moment, he soon sent out a whisper. "...Hideo, are you there?"

 Chapter 229: Parm (3)

    Chapter 229: Parm (3)


    At the moment Shinto had sent out a whisper to the yer [ Hideo ]Shinto averted his gaze away from the message window and soon turned towards his yer profile. Unlike before where he only nced at his level, this time, he began scrutinizing the rest of the window in front of him.


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Hideo


    Level: 134


    Guild Affiliation: Vainblood


    Rank: 1st (cksmith Rankings)


    ss: cksmith


    Titles: [ Maker of Weapons ]


    -Comments-


    Commissions are unavable - Busy.


    ...


    "...hmm, he still has his profilements set as unavable, huh?" Shinto thought to himself whilst waiting for his reply. "So it seems he''s still caught up with guild matters and somemissions I reckon..."


    For a yer''s profile, one could customize it in a way to show off their titles or put inments as a status update. For Hideo''s case, he would typically set it as a way to indicate whether he would be avable or not.


    "Well, with the involvement of Vainblood with Bareth''s raid, I guess he wouldn''t be as free as he wants to," he shook his head helplessly. "Yeah... I should probably tell Frey that he''s unavable and shouldn''t press on further"


    Just as he was about to close Hideo''s profile and turn towards Frey, he was abruptly taken aback upon sight of a sudden response from the very person himself who had said he was busy.


    "Shinto? Yo! What''s up?" That very personwas Hideo. The first ranked cksmith in the cksmith rankings. "Is there anything you need?"


    "Ah...?" Shinto blinked in a dumbfounded manner at Hideo''s casual response. "..." Though seemingly reluctant, he took a deep breath as he replied back. "...hey Hideo, are you free right now?"


    "Hmm... Right now? Perhaps! Whatchu need? New gear?" Hideo asked. "If so, juste on by to the castle and I''ll make whatever you need. I just need the blueprints."


    "Err... That might be a problem," Shinto sighed. "But on another note, it''s not ''new gear'' that I need... It''s something for a quest. So, it might be time-consuming. With your busy schedule and all plus the fact that you have to make sure the gears of our guild members are top-notchyou have your hands full, right?"


    "No problem! Anything for you," he replied casually. "Just name it and I''ll see to it. Though... What do you mean by a problem? Is it because of raid stuff that you don''t want me to help out in personal matters? Meh... It''s fine. Juste on over here and I''ll craft whatever you need."


    "N-No... It''s not that. The problem is... You might need to head over to Parm which might cause an inconvenience for you," Shinto said helplessly. "I can''t exactly head back to Erendak with the current situation I''m in..."


    "Hmm? Parm? Whatchu doing there?" Hideo questioned. "But ahh... Nevermind! Parm''s not so far from Erendak, so I can ask one of our members to escort me and then"


    "...pleasee alone," he firmly e alone? Going to Parm from Erendak without any escorts... That might be a problem. It might take longer if I don''t pass through Gaveln... And my level''s too low for that! You know I''m just some lowly cksmith!"


    For Hideo who had the cksmith ss, a production type ss in which had little to no innatebative abilities meant that he would need an escort to aid him in traversing through higher levelled areas. As an individual, it was a struggle to progress.


    "Aha... Well, there is a possibility for an escort. Though, for now... I just need your confirmation. Are you really sure you''re willing to head over here despite your busy schedule? It''s fine if you don''t want to..."


    "Meh... It''s fine, It''s fine!" Hideo continued to casually reply. "I''m free for about a few days since I''m done with mainly all my work. So it''s no problem, really."


    "Sigh... I see," Shinto nodded his head. "Well then... Prepare to leave the area and I''ll have an escort take you here. If possible though... Try not to make a scene when arriving here."


    "...huh? What''s that supposed to mean?"


    "Well to put it short" Shinto sighed. "Just don''t make yourself stand out. I''ll whisper to you the location details and we can meet there. Sorry for putting you up with this... My circumstances prevent other means."


    "I see, I see. Well, send me a whisper when you can. I''ll get my stuff ready," he said. "Anything else, in particr, you might need? It''s been a while since you''ve had maintenance on your gear, right? You need me to get them up to shape?"


    "Well... There''s something else, I guess. But... For that matter, it requires quite a lot of gear," Shinto thought to himself. "For now... Could you bring along with you these few gears? Possibly ones within the level forties or fifties zone."


    ...


    Soon after Shinto had finished up the conversation with Hideo, the young man turned towards the anxiously waiting Frey. In the next moment, he began speaking out.


    "...well, good news and bad news," Shinto said. "Which do you want to hear first?"


    "A-Ah? There''s good news and bad news?" Frey muttered out in an anxious tone. "E-Err that''s not good... Um... Let''s start with the bad news first! After all, since hearing the bad news first and then good news will lessen the worry!"


    "Right..." Shinto nodded his head as he took a deep breath. "...the bad news is that it might take a few days for the cksmith''s arrival."


    "Ah...?! That means he agreed!" Frey cheered. "Then if he agreed... Then that must be the good news, right?"


    "...Frey, let me finish," moving his hand up to interrupt Frey, he continued. "on another note beside the bad news, I''ll be busy before the cksmith''s arrival. So there''s that."


    "Hmm... Busy?" Raina tilted her head.


    "...I''ll be needing to prepare for his arrival," he sighed. "So... First of all, since we''re all taking a break herejust do whatever in the meantime. As for me... I''ll be needing to see someone for some matters."

 Chapter 230: White Priest (1)

    Chapter 230: White Priest (1)


    The Town of ParmTemple of Viera [ Morning ].


    Within the crowded halls of the temple that was filled with many yers, two young girls steadily made their way through the crowd upon entering the building. Whilst they were doing soCrowelin was busy looking around the area.


    "Dang... This ce sure is crowded, huh?" Crowelin muttered out whilst ncing over the heads of the yers. "...this is way more people than even the central temple in Valk."


    Among the masses, there were many yers who had just spawned into the world for the first time, the newbies. Meanwhile, for others, yers flocked in and out of the temple for quests and the like whilst some had just respawned from dying. It was a bustling sceneunlike the image of a quiet temple in other cities.


    "Aha... This is, after all, a hot spot for newbies toe in and go," Hikari chuckled. "Thoughpared to back then... There sure is arge influx of yers unlike when we first started out."


    "Most definitely. Spiritual Warriors has grown over the years," Crowelin nodded her head. "Did this ce expanded because of that? I remembered it was quite a small ce, but eh... Who knows? I only got a glimpse of this ce, unlike you guys who started here."


    "Where did you start in again? The vige of Tyrune?"


    "Yeah... Tyrune," she coughed. "...I don''t know why I chose to start out in a desert... My brother was way too dumbstruck when he found out the news..."


    "Aha... But it''s fine! You survived the harsh starting conditions and that is all that matters!" Hikari cheered. "But in any case, now that you''ve said that this ce has expanded... It sure is a lot bigger than before. Twice its size perhaps?" thinking to herself, her eyes turned towards the grandeur of the temple.


    Compared to before when Hikari and the rest of her friends had started out in Parmthe newly renovated Temple of Viera was far different than before. It wasn''t noticeable at first nce due to the countless yers spread across the room that had taken one''s attention, but, at a closer look at its interiorthe difference of the building was like night and day.


    Newly painted walls, a much beautiful interior and many more other luxurious furniture were a part of the new building. Upon further inspection, even the priests and holy knights who stood by at certain sections of the temple wore costly gear, a luxury for even the ones who are stationed at the temples built in cities.


    "This sure is quite a sight..." Hikari noted her surroundings. "No wonder it''s a big newbie hot spot... Parm has all these luxuries and I''m sure it''s not going to stop there."


    "Well, I guess newbie life has gotten better. But for Shinto on the other hand... That just makes his appearance much more shameful," she jokingly said. "Anyway, for real though. The change in this ce is really revolutionary in sense. I wonder what''s the reason for that. How did they even get all these funds in the first ce?"


    With the sight of priests and holy knights alike within the temple donning gear of luxury that seemingly looked far better than the ones who are stationed in the cities, suspicion arose. With the renovations and the like, where did they get all the fundings from? Surely, just from the newbies themselves wasn''t enough to make big changes.


    "Hmm... For now, let''s just do what we''re here to do instead of questioning things," Hikari calmly said. "The pope should be within the altar room, so let''s head there."


    ...


    The Town of ParmTemple of Viera, Altar Room [ Morning ].


    Moving through the crowd of yers, Hikari and Crowelin sessfully made their way towards the entrance of the altar room, where the presumed pope should be within it.


    Upon entering into the areathe bustle of the outside slowly turned into that of quiet whispers as they were greeted by the sight of arge room, where few yers reside, seemingly making their prayers.


    "...and here I thought the temples respawn area wasn''t luxurious enough," Crowelin blinked in a dumbstruck manner as she took a nce at the room. Besides the usual sight of pews lined up in rows along the nave, radiant stained ss panes reflected into the room, bringing about an elegant atmosphere. "but just look at this!"


    Not only that, by the crossing of where the Altar lieda statue of Viera stood behind it, gracing upon the room with her presence. Majestic and dignified, the goddess Viera, one who was said to bless peace and hope upon thendwas among the seven gods of the continent that the NPCs worship.


    "Shh! We''re in a ce of worship, Crowelin!" quickly hearing Crowelin''s loud roar, Hikari hurriedly hushed the woman beside her.


    "A-Ah oops," Crowelin took a deep breath as she shook her head of her initial shock. "...I''m just a little bit dumbstruck with how big this temple actually is. Just where the heck did they get all these funds from? Surely... Not by extorting people...right?"


    "Ohohoho. Who do I have the pleasure to meet with all of a sudden?" whilst the two were conversing with one another, an old man''s voice resounded through their ears. Taking note of thatthe two turned in the direction of where the voice came from, and soon saw that it was from the pope. "The white priest, Hikari and the pdin, Crowelinwhat brings you here to this temple without notice? It is an honour."


    "Ah, your holiness," in a dignified manner, Hikari and Crowelin gently bowed towards the pope who stood before them. In the next moment, the young blonde woman soon spoke out. "I apologize for theck of notice for our arrival. There were certain circumstances that brought us here. However... We came here to let you know of our arrival as we might be staying in the area for a few days for a quest of ours given to us by the Holy Order."


    "Hmm? I see I see. So you two are on a quest?" the pope nodded his head. "Please raise your heads, there is no need for thatIn fact, I should be the one greeting you with honour. It''s not every day two reputable people of the Holy Ordere to visit!" in a delighted voice, he soon began gesturing the two girls over to a room by the end of the altar room. "Now then... You''vee a long way, right? Would you like me to prepare some food for you? Perhaps I should prepare some amodations for you two as well? You''re in luck, as recentlythere''s been a striving business that has partnered with us, so I can easily get you two a room at one of the top hotels under the name of the Temple."


    "Ah... It''s fine," Hikari rejected the offer. "We came here to just pay our respects to the goddess and that''s it. For amodations... We can find some ourselves one on our ownso you do not need to burden yourselves with this."


    "Hmm, is that so? Though... It is no burden on our side. We have a friendly rtion with our partners, so it is an easy task to get you to a room," seemingly persistent, the pope continued on. "It is a five-star hotel with magnificent facilities and amodations. Surely, do you truly wish to pass up on the offer? You''re the esteemed people of the Holy Order! It would be a shame if we cannot help in any way."


    "E-Err..." As Hikari was about to raise her concerns against the persistence of the popeCrowelin hurriedly interjected.


    "your holiness, I''m actually curious! When you say, partners... Do you mean the ones that had funded this ce for renovations? My, I am quite amazed at the extravagance greeting us today!"


    "Huhu, so you''ve noticed!" the pope smiled. "Our partnersLavida has aided us so much with helping the fellow adventurers and townsfolk alike, we are truly indebted to them. If not for them, our temple would just be but a shabby cepared to the ones in the cities. Surely, we want to bring about a good image for Viera, yes?"


    "Lavida?" Crowelin tilted her head as she pondered on the name. "Hmm... I see! However, we must kindly reject as we have already had amodations and the like, but I thank you for the kind offer."


    "It is quite unfortunate," he shook his head helplessly. "But please, do enjoy your stay then. If there are any problemsdo feel free to call upon me and I will see to it."


    "Thank you, your holiness," Hikari once again bowed as she noted that the pope was now moving back into his station by the altar. Soon after, the auburn-haired woman turned towards Crowelin as she then whispered to her. "Hey, Crowelin... Was there any specific reason as to why you suddenly asked that? Interjecting me like that mid-way..."


    "Ah well... I felt that it was needed," Crowelin stated. "I mean... With him being pushy on the matter for amodations, I was just curious about the name of thepany they''re partnering with."


    "Hmm, right..." she thought to herself. "They''ve partnered with Lavida, was it? I never heard of that name at all... Just who are they? For them to fund the temple with way too many luxuries... They sure have plenty to spend, huh?"


    "It''s suspicious," Crowelin murmured to herself. "But... Let''s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? We''re only here for the quest after all and also to stick around with Shinto, right?"


    "Yeah, yeah," she sighed. "Let''s just say our prayers and be on our way to meet up with Shinto. There''s quite a lot to be done and" just as she was about to continue on with her sentence, a sudden notification soon suddenly appeared before her. "huh...?"


    [ Sunset of Justice and Redemption wishes to contact you. ]


    Before her, was but a unique message in a tinge of white, filled with an aura of holiness. The notificationwas but a rare kind. A message from the angelsspecifically, Raphael.

 Chapter 231: White Priest (2)

    Chapter 231: White Priest (2)


    The Town of ParmEast Alleyway [ Afternoon ]


    With a tired sigh, a young man who wore a shabby appearance of a leaf cloak and other misceneous itemsslowly made his way out of the tavern whilst stretching his arms.


    "...well that''s over with," letting out a yawn, Shinto slowly averted his gaze away from the unclean alleyway walls and over towards his status window, soon checking up on its details. "now then, onto the next business."


    ...


    [ yer Profile ]


    yer Name: Shinto


    Level: 43


    Rank: N/A


    ss: Shadow Diviner (???-Unknown Rarity)


    -ss Attribute-


    ...


    -Titles-


    ...


    -Stats-


    HP: 1284/1284 | MP: 1136/1136 (+20)


    Strength: 50 | Stamina: 82 (+4)


    Intelligence: 136 (+21) | Agility: 88 (+8)


    Shadow: 43 | Divinity: 29


    Wisdom: 7


    Stats Point: 121


    ...


    "...level 43 now, huh?" he continued to yawn. "Hmm... I''m cking a bit."


    From when he was in the catbs to now, Shinto had levelled up a total of 27 times from level 16. In just a week in-game since his reset, he had reached level 43. For a normal yer, this would''ve been great progress. However, for Shintobyparison to when he had first started Spiritual Warriors, this was rather slow-paced for him.


    Within the same time frame, he had reached level 60 back when he was a swordsman. Though granted, he had the help of a ss that had solo capabilitiesthus allowing him to push through each and every dungeon and quest that the game had thrown at him. Regardless of whether he was in a party or not.


    "...I''ve only done a few quests and some dungeons, so I guess that''s the reason for my slow progress," he thought to himself. "But, it''s rxing in a way."


    Reaching level 60 in a week was no easy feat for normal or casual yers. However, those that were currently on the unified rankings had reached the level easily due to theirpetitive spirit. This was the same for Shinto and the rest of his guildmates like Kaisus, Hikari and Rie.


    For them, levelling up to 60 was of high importance as all sorts of sub-sses became avable for them. At that specific level range, the game had brought much variety tobats and opened a far wider world for the users. Not only that but the [ Crystality ] game mode also was unlocked.


    But now, that sort of ''high importance'' was no longer there. He need not worry about his level nor did he had to grind in the most efficient way possible to beat others. Shinto now had a breather. Released from his wariness of the high rankings.


    "..." he closed his eyes as he thought about it further. "...why did I even aimed for the top rankings?"


    Despite being rxed and casual now, a question still gued his mindeven though reaching level 60 was of ''high importance'' judged by the meta in itself, he knew nought of the reason as to why he himself had rushed to such level.


    Was it for the benefits? For the rankings? More options? Or for the sake of it?


    He couldn''t pinpoint a reason. He had no idea why he kept his title for so long.


    ...


    In a hazy distance of the past, when Shinto was that of a swordsmanhe along with Hikari and Kaisus sauntered through the streets of a quiet city under the moonlit skies. At that point in time, Shinto and Kaisus had just reached level 60.


    "...hah, that was a tiring grind," Kaisus tiredly stretched his arms. "But, we''ve finally got to level 60! Woohoo! No more grinding!"


    "No more grinding?" Hikari thought to herself. "If you two are going to stay on the unified rankings then... Shouldn''t there be more grinding to do? After all, you and Zay are 3rd and 1st respectively!"


    "Aha... More grinding?" Shinto awkwardlyughed. "We just finished the day by reaching level 60, so give us a break will you?"


    "Yeah! Besides'' when are you going to reach 60?" Kaisus red at Hikari.


    "Soon, alright? I''m level 52 right now. Levelling up as a priest... It''s hard!" she pouted. "Especially when all the yers in the level bracket are solo yers! Jee... Maybe I should''ve gone a mage?"


    Within the game of Spiritual Warriors, there were two rankings. One for sses and the other a universal one where all yers were in, the unified rankings. To be ranked upon such rankings, one''s cement is judged upon their level and overall power in terms of progression on their own story as well as theirbative ability.


    "Well, that kind of begs the question. Why did you choose to be a priest of all the avable sses?" Kaisus asked. "Weren''t you dreaming of the day where you can shoot out explosions and explode a castle or something? This game does provide that opportunity."


    "Huh? Did I say that?" Hikari slightly blinked. "No way. Why would I say that? Are you mixing me with Sanae or something? Surely you are, right?"


    "Sanae... Well, she would be the type to want to do something like that," Shinto was deep in thought. "But... I''m pretty sure you said that about a year and a half ago. When news of the game first came out?"


    "R-Really? Maybe it was just a phase!" Hikari flusteredly said. "I don''t remember any of it!


    "Probably," Shinto shrugged. "But it''s been so long, so I''m not sure."


    "Jee! If you don''t remember, then you shouldn''t have blurted it out!" she pouted.


    "Aha... My bad," he chuckled as he then turned to Kaisus. "But for real, what now? We reached level 60 as you said and unlocked the Crystality game mode. Do we try that out tomorrow? Or do we just continue grinding to ensure our cings?"


    After the level of 60, the growth rate of a yer would slowly decline as the experience needed would be twice as muchpared to the previous level. For many, this was the first step to see who would truly take their ce in the rankings.


    "Hmm well, should we continue with being on the unified rankings?" Kaisus asked. "What do you think?"


    "...hmm...?" Shinto thought to himself at Kaisus'' words. Then, he soon replied. "Well, I guess it depends on you. I''m fine with anything."


    ...


    Quietly walking through bustling streets of Parm, Shinto who had exited out of the alleyway with only the default clothing of that of a newbie, hurriedly made his way towards the northwhere his next destination was: the Temple of Viera.


    "...Kon, just a question," he discretely muttered out whilst speaking towards Kon, who was hidden within the shadows. "...you''re race is with the alignment of darkness, right?"


    "Uhh... M-Maybe? That''s what my brother said..." at the sudden question from Shinto, Kon abruptly answered. "B-But... We''re not evil! N-Not at all! But... Why are you suddenly asking this?"


    "...well, I''m just worried for you. We''re going to a holy ce, after all," Shinto helplessly said. "So, you might want to stay around the tavern instead. I don''t want to risk you being hurt or well... Captured? The Holy Order as far as I know does not really treat the dark race well. Regardless of whether they''re good or bad."


    "W-Well, it''s fine if I just stay near you in close proximity, right? I just won''t enter the building!" Kon stated. "So I''ll be fine! Don''t worry about me, master!"


    "Well if you say so," Shinto nodded his head.


    Soon after, he and Kon reached towards therge building by the norththe holy structure built within the town of Parm, the Temple of Viera. At the sight, Shinto was slightly surprised by the grandeur of the building.


    "...what?" he raised his brow in slight confusion. "When did this ce get bigger?"


    A week ago, he wasn''t as focused on the exterior of the building as he was caught up with having to buy some gear for himself after his ss change. But now, with his focus elsewhere, he noticed the changes before him.


    "Hmm? Master, is there something wrong?" Kon asked.


    "...you know what, never mind," Shinto shook his head of the thought. "Stay outside and wait for me, alright? Don''t go too far and... Don''t get yourself caught."


    "You can count on me! Don''t worry!"


    After confirming that Kon wasn''t going to follow him into the building, Shinto soon entered the temple.


    ...


    Upon opening the doors of the holy temple, Shinto was greeted by an atmosphere, unlike that of a sacred ce. It wasn''t at all due to the noisy newbie yers that one could hear from a mile away, insteadbefore him, the pope was seemingly in a celebratory moodcausing the entire ce to be in a festive environment.


    "...a revtion! A revtion!" The pope shouted out in a drunken tone. "Oh dear White Priest, we praise you for your magnificence! The town of Parm will forever strive andthe Temple of Viera will forever remember the grace that you''ve brought upon us!"


    "...what the?" he blinked at the scene before him. "...did Ie into the right ce?"

 Chapter 232: White Priest (3)

    Chapter 232: White Priest (3)


    "Cheers for the White Priest! Cheers for the White Priest!" The crowd continued to grow wild as Shinto stood there, still bewildered by the scene before him. "A goddess in disguise! Truly!"


    "...??" With a confused expression on his face, he raised his brow in question. Shinto knew nothing of the ongoing situation at hand and helplessly witness the crazed cheers within the room. "...what the heck''s going on here?"


    Did he perhaps enter the wrong building? No way. He had made sure of where he was going before entering. The interior design of the temple was also prevalent in Shinto''s eyes, thus he knew he was at the right ce.


    "Oh, dear White Priest! What can we ever do to repay you?!" the cheers continued. "We''re blessed! Truly blessed!"


    "...uh," despite the confusion on Shinto''s face, he shook his head calmlysoon ncing around the area in the next moment. There, he noted that there were far more yers and NPCs than usual within the building. All of them seemingly crowding in front of the altar room. "Let''s see... Is there an event going on?"


    It wasn''t an umon sight to see the church''smittee hold events such as a prayer event or at times; a monster subjugation one. Though, it was never this popr and crowded.


    "Let''s see the White Priest! Where is she?" the newbies around Shinto whispered amongst one another. "She should be in the Altar Room, right? Damn. There are way too many people!"


    "...?" Overhearing the conversation from the newbies, Shinto couldn''t help but curiously turn towards them. "A White Priest..." The word ''White Priest'' had been repeated countless times throughout the time he was in the building, however, only now did he finally make a connection. Perhaps this entire scenario was caused by Hikari? "...you, just what went on here?"


    "Too many people or not, it''s worth the wait, right?" the yer answered. "I heard the blessings really good! Much more than just praying to some goddess."


    "...a blessing?" The more he overheard from the two yers, the more dumbstruck he became. "What did she actually do?"


    Thest he had heard from Hikari was that she was only going to the temple to report her''s and Crowelin''s arrival. However, for the situation to turn out like thisIt meant that something groundbreaking had urred.


    "..." Thinking to himself, Shinto sighed. "...I guess I should ask," soon, he turned towards the two newbie yers and asked. "Hey... Did something happened? What''s with all the craze around here?"


    "Hmm? Oh, you must only have just arrived?" The newbie yer turned to Shinto. "Yeah, something had happened. Something big! We''re getting a blessing that can help us hunt much faster and level up!"


    "A blessing? What kind? The one''s that the priests in the temple usually give for a small price?" Shinto questioned.


    "Well, something like that? I haven''t really seen the blessing myself, but! It''s an incredible boost!" the eyes of the yer shimmered in excitement. "I heard your monster''s damage and experience received from said monster is multiplied by two times? Or was it just a 200% increase? I don''t know! But it''s quite big."


    "Hmm, I see," Shinto nodded his head. "What caused this situation to happen though?"


    "Well, apparently, the White Priest had met an angel in this building! Which caused the streamline of events," he said. "Well... Maybe not met? The details are vague. I only heard from the pope."


    "A-Angel?" Shinto blinked in a confused manner.


    An angel was a divine entity, or in other words a race that was said to reside above the skies of the mortal realmIn legends, they were beings of divinity who would protect the likes of humanity from evil. Though at times, they would typically grace upon their blessings to temples or churches.


    Not much is known about them except for when one would hear certain chatter from among the priests. After all, no living man had actually seen an angel in person. Well, before this entire situation had urred, at least.


    "Yeah, that''s from what I heard," the newbie nodded his head. "Anyway, if you''re curious, you should check out the Altar Room!"


    "...right. Thanks for letting me know," Shinto slightly bowed his head in thanks as he noted that the two newbies had gone away and were heading towards the altar room. "Hmm... Angels, huh?"


    Upon hearing the word "Angel" from the newbiesa sudden thought appeared within his mind. "...are the Beings of Divinity... Angels?" It was in a way, hinted to him. As in loreAngels were beings of Divinity. However, Shinto couldn''t help but question the matter. He had yet gotten a single confirmation besides the constant cries of anger from the Divinity''s side. "...wait. Could this situation have happened because of me? No way. Right?"


    As his line of thought continued to ponder on the situation, countless doubts began guing his head. He was unsure of what to do. His original goal was to wait for Hikari and Crowelin to finish up with their report and then proceed to meet up with him on matters regarding Hideo.


    After all, the escort he was thinking about was those two. Though, with the circumstance as so, it might not possible anymore.


    "..." Shinto was still in deep thought as he soon shook his head. "Argh... I''ll just see for myself when I head to the Altar Room," ruffling his headShinto began making his way over towards the entrance, where countless yers stood by, attempting to force themselves in.


    "Hey, let me in! I wanna see whether this blessing is real or not!" A yer shouted out as he pushed his way forward through the yers.


    "Bro, get in line. I was here first!" Another yer clicked his tongue.


    "Ugh... I have a quest toplete! C''mon!" Soon after, a streamline of small arguments urred among the yers. "I don''t have all day! What''re the priests doing in there?"


    "A-Ahem... B-Be patient..." As Shinto continued to approach the crowdhe soon heard a familiar voice. "T-The White Priest is doing her best to grace upon her prayers to you guys, so..."


    "...so what?! Let us in!"


    "...this is way too disorderly," Shinto red at the crowd in disdain. "Why the heck are they acting so privilege?" his eyes averted away from the crowd and towards the voice out in the front. There, he saw the familiar sight of Crowelin, who was busily blocking the crowd of yers. "now then... With her right at the front, this basically confirms that it was all Hikari''s doing..."


    Though he had confirmed one of his many suspicions, there was still undoubtedly plenty more that he couldn''t find out. Unless he asked the person in question.


    "...if Crowelin''s here, then where exactly is Hikari?" ncing away from the woman fervently blocking the way of yershe soon eyed on the insides of the Alter Room. "Hikari should be... Ah!"


    As the doors of the room were wide open for all eyes to see, it didn''t take long for Shinto to find the auburn-haired woman by the distance. There, he noted that she was waving her staff like there was no tomorrowcontinually uttering out prayers for the masses within the room.


    "...by the holy lightThose who have appeared before the grace of the angel shall receive the blessing," Hikari muttered out whilst her hands tightly grasped onto her staff. "the Blessing of the Evening Sunset!"


    Within Shinto''s eyes, he saw a zing light shining down upon the yer in front of her. In the next moment, sparkles of res from the ze began swirling around the yer as it soon dispersed like it was nothing.


    "...yay!" The yer at the front cheered. "Thank you so much, White Priest!"


    "I-It''s nothing..." Hikari uttered out in seemingly a tired tone. "A-Anyways... Next!"


    "..." Witnessing the situation before him, he felt that something was off. "A wide blessing like this should be used in a wider area to cover all yers instead of just an individual... So, why?" he tilted his head. "Doing something like that would be... Extremely exhausting."


    In his initial thought for the grace of the blessinghe had the impression that Hikari would cast an area-wide version of the blessing, to save time and energy. This was far more efficient. Though, there were downsides as you would get a much lower overall percentage from the buff as it was shared among the masses.


    "Does she really want to help the newbies this much?" the more he thought about the matter, the more it didn''t make sense. With his attention focused on the crossing of the Altar Roomhe noted a peculiar person standing by the side of her. "...the pope?" As he wanted to observe the man, Shinto received a sudden whisper.


    "Z-Zay... HELP!" The whisper was from none other than Hikari.


    "...?" Shinto averted his eyes away from the pope and over to Hikari where the two soon met eyes. There, he saw the helplessness of the White Priest through her eyes.

 Chapter 233: White Priest (4)

    Chapter 233: White Priest (4)


    Moving through the forest nearby the Town of Parm, a young man scurried through the dirt paths as he held onto his staff tightly. There, he soon shot out a few basic attacks whilst kiting the monsters that had spawned within the area.


    "Kikk!" The nt-like monsters angrily shot out bullets akin to petals over to the ck-haired man, Shinto. Though despite the shots being fast-paced, Shinto had already anticipated such attacks and scrunched over to the side in the next moment.


    Soon after, he retaliated by sending out a divine light down towards the monsters.


    [ Shadow Diviner Skill - Hallowed Crest ]


    "K-Kikk!" At the collision between the light and the nts, a sound could no longer be heard from the enemies side. As the pir of light dissipated awayShinto noted as the monsters had turned into grey ash.


    [ You have defeated ''Bullet Petals''! ]


    [ You have defeated... ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 44! ]


    [ You have obtained 10 stat points. ]


    "...phew," with the monster defeated, Shinto stretched his arms in a rxed manner. "One level down and another to go."


    It had been hours since Shinto had entered the forest. And during that time, he had been leisurely training and grinding his levels. Though, his efficiency wasn''t as good as wished it''d be. After all, with his damage being on the lower side, the monsters took a much longer time to kill.


    "Hmm... If I continue at this pace, I should level up after around 47-ish more monsters? Well, that''s if I don''t share my experience points with anyone," he thought to himself as he turned his head turned over towards the direction of where a ck explosion had urred during his battle with the monsters. "And for Kon... It should be far lesser."


    While deep in thought, a ck fox soon approached the man. Then, as if he had a puffed up chest, he spoke out whilst wagging his tail excitedly. "Aha! Master! Master! I''m done with the batch of monsters you asked me to deal with! I levelled up! Isn''t that great?!"


    "Yes. Great job," Shinto smiled as he patted the eager Kon. "What''s your level right now?"


    "Hmm, level 30!" his tail continued to wag. "That''s good, right? Right?"


    "Mhm. Keep it up," he nodded his head. "I think there are a few more monsters over by the north area of the forest. So let''s head there after a quick break."


    "Alrighty!" he answered excitedly. "But, Master... I''ve got a question before that."


    "Hmm?" Shinto tilted his head. "What kind?"


    "Well, speaking of break, why are we suddenly in the forest, again?" Kon questioned. "I mean... I know it''s to train! But, aren''t we on a break? Oh, and, weren''t you going to do something? What happened in that temple?"


    "Ah... About that," Shinto helplessly sighed. "It might be a tad bit long for me to exin it, but there were certain problems that happened. So, while we''re passing the time for the situation to die downwe might as well hunt down monsters," he stated. "But, if you want to take a break, that''s fine."


    With Hikari sending out a cry for help through whispers earlier in the day, Shinto knew that the two girls were in trouble. However, with the uproar from the crowds and the ecstatic popethere was nothing he could do to help. Thus, he could only y the waiting game while waiting for Hikari and Crowelin to wrap up with the little ''event'' that they had apparently created.


    And what better than to grind to pass the time? It was a good way to kill two birds with one stone as he needed to reach level 45, where he can equip the gear obtained from the dungeon while also levelling Kon up.


    "A break? Ah! No, no! I don''t need a break!" he shook his head. "If Master wants me to train hard, then I will!"


    "Aha... Well, if you insist," Shinto chucked. "In any case, we''ll continue hunting on an individual basis. So, you don''t need to worry about me and just go all out with the monsters you find in the forest."


    Despite Shinto''sck of solo capabilities with his ss, he had topromise as it was far more efficient for Kon to gain experience on his own without his support. After all, if Shinto was alone, Kon was his main source of damage. He couldn''t rely on Kiara nor ke as the two weren''t permanent summons, unlike Kon.


    "...hmm, the enemies we''re dealing with here are within my level bracket," as he noted that Kon was lying down on the ground, Shinto stared at him whilst in thought. "But even then, despite being ten levels lower, he can easily fight off two to three enemies at the same time like it''s nothing. Though granted, they were on the easier end of the spectrum."


    Since the very start of when he had first gotten the Shadow Diviner ss, Shinto had been facing against higher levelled enemies far beyond his level standards. It was a struggle, however, in the end, he and the rest of his group members had made it through sessfully.


    So, inparison to the monsters that he and Kon were fighting now, they were nothing.


    "Huh? Master? Is something the matter?" Kon slightly whimpered as he noticed that Shinto had his eyes on him the entire time. "D-Did I do something wrong?"


    "...ah. My bad," he shook his head. "Break''s over, so let''s go to the next area."


    ...


    As the time slowly passed till the evening light seeped into the world, Shinto and Kon were still at it, grinding up their levels via fighting off all the monsters that had spawned in the forest. At this point, they seemed to have fought off more than a hundred already. Of course, in a total of both, where Kon was much more.


    "...hah," letting out a tired sigh, Shinto soon nced at his rising bar of notification.


    [ You have defeated ''Bullet Petals''! ]


    [ You have defeated ''Wild Dandelions'' ]


    [ You have defeated ''Silverfanged Wolf'' ]


    [ You have levelled up to level 46! ]


    [ You have obtained 10 stat points. ]


    "...right. That should be for the day," he nodded his head in satisfaction at his level now being at 46. Soon after, he turned towards Kon where he was still in battle. "As for Kon, looks like he''s still at it."


    "Heeyah!" Kon shouted out as he threw out a few pale mes over to the floating dandelions in the area. In the next moment, the fire began consuming them. "Take this!"


    Following that, multiple ck orbs appeared around him as he then flung it over to the monsterssealing their fate.


    "Yay! Levelled up again!" Kon cheered. "Should I do more? Uh..."


    "It''s fine Kon, that''s enough for the day," Shinto stated.


    "Ah! Master!" interrupted by Shinto, Kon turned towards him with starry eyes. "Look, look! I''m level 35 now!"


    "Oh? That fast?" he asked amusingly. "That''s quite a big progression... How many did you kill?"


    "Uh... I lost count after 50..." Kon muttered out. "Maybe 70 or so? Monsters started appearing lesser after that so..."


    "Right... We did go through quite a lot of monsters in the area today," heughed. "But it''s not enough to put a dent on the poption. So there''s that. In any case..." as he was about to open up Kon''s status window, he was quickly interrupted as the bushes around them rustled loudly.


    "...!?" Alerted by the noise, Kon and Shinto turned towards the direction of the sound. There, they saw a blonde-haired woman as well as an auburn one exiting out of the bush with tired expressions. "Ah... Crowelin? Hikari?"


    "...we...have...arrived," Hikari muttered out in a worn-out voice.


    "Jeez... What happened to you guys?" Shinto raised his brow in question upon noting that Crowelin and Hikari had arrived. However, unbeknownst to him, the two were extremely exhausted and on the verge of falling down to the ground.


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