Soo Hyuk stared at the corpse at his feet. Its identity was the man who had tried to kill him 5 days ago, Adilo.
"So the creepy stalker came back..."
Soo Hyuk had thought that he had seen the last of him, but the stalker had managed to surprise him again.
'It was good to level up before this.'
He had resolved to level up quickly after the PK incident, so that he could be prepared for any future incidents. Looking at Adilo's body, he knew he had made the right decision. What if he was still that weak level 10 a few days ago? He didn't have Pavian with him this time. He would've died, there was no questioning it.
'Hmm, he dropped something.'
When players were killed, they dropped a random personal item, like monsters. But unlike monsters, killed players didn't display a drop window. Instead, they would actually drop the item physically near their body.
(TL: For people too used to SAO death games, killing is normal in these types of VRMMOs.)
Soo Hyuk could see a faint shine under Adilo's body. He hastily kicked the body away to reveal the item. Although it was a virtual world, Soo Hyuk was reluctant to touch a corpse with his hands.
'A ring?'
After flipping Adilo's body over, a ring appeared on the ground where his body lay. Soo Hyuk collected the ring and stored it inside his inventory to check its information.
[You have obtained the Twilight Ring.]
Soo Hyuk figured out the name of the ring through the message window.
[
Conditions: None
Special Effects:
+10 Strength
+10 Agility
+10 Stamina
+10 Wisdom
"Ohhh..."
Soo Hyuk sighed in admiration when he checked the item description. There were some decent options.
"All stats increased by 10?"
The Twilight Ring increased all basic stats by 10, so it was a 40 point increase to your total stats.
"He must've worked hard for this."
Soo Hyuk stared at Adilo's body after closing the item description. With an item this good, he couldn't possibly be a beginner. No, there was a possibility, but it was close to 0.
"Thankfully my wisdom was high enough to kill him.
After he was promoted to a Magician, his wisdom stat was upgraded so that his magic defence was proportional with his wisdom. However, he still received a massive amount of damage. Adilo definitely wasn't a beginner. After equipping the Twilight Ring, Soo Hyuk opened his status window.
Occupation: Archmage's Descendant
Level: 80 Experience: 31%
Health: 21800 Mana: 38200
Satiation: 53%
Strength: 30 (+10)
Agility: 35 (+16)
Stamina: 424 (+10)
Wisdom: 1910 (+10)
After checking his character window he thought.
'Should I start investing my stat points into wisdom?'
After 5 days of hunting, Soo Hyuk had risen from level 10 to level 80. Now when he read books, his wisdom didn't rise easily. Now he had to read 3-4 books to expect his wisdom to rise by 1 point. Was it because of his rise in levels?
'I think I have enough stamina for now.'
His total healthpool had exceeded 20,000. It was an abnormal amount of health for a Magician, especially if you considered his level. To be honest, it was a bit excessive. If one didn't consider his wisdom, they would say something was wrong with his head for investing his points like that.
'Mmm, let's invest some points into wisdom from now on.'
424 stamina was enough for now. Soo Hyuk decided to invest some points into wisdom, then he closed his status window. He then headed to the Tower of Poison.
'The problem is levelling from now on.'
Soo Hyuk hadn't even hunted all day, yet he had climbed at an unbelievable speed to level 80. His job was also the Archmage's Descendant which required 5 times more experience than normal jobs. The main reason for this speed was because he had hunted at hunting grounds which were more advanced than his level.
'But why aren't there any higher level hunting areas in Matab?'
Soo Hyuk wasn't planning to leave Matab until he had read all the books in the library, but there were no more hunting areas that could satisfy his standards. The most advanced hunting areas around Matab were the Balum Mountains. However the monsters that inhabited the the Balum Mountains were orks, ogres and trolls, which were around level 70-95..
'I can reach level 100 but...'
He could get to level 100 fairly easily, but going any further would drastically slow down his speed.
'Hmm, I think level 100 will be enough until I read all the books.'
He could also unlock his second door when he's at level 100.
'Which door should I unlock?'
His thoughts slowly transformed into which element he should unlock next. He had chosen fire as his first element. What should he choose next?
'Should I choose after looking at the conditions?'
His first door didn't have any conditions to unlock, but from the second door onwards, there were certain conditions that needed to be met in order to open them.
'Yeah, I don't know what the conditions will be.'
The conditions for the doors could be all different, so he didn't need to brood over this now. He would decide once he reached level 100.
Soo Hyuk soon arrived at the Tower of Poison. When he climbed up to the 4th floor, he could only see the woman, the man was missing. Of course, that wasn't important. He was only here to see Pavian after all.
"Is the Tower Lord in right now?"
Soo Hyuk asked the woman. It wasn't his first time asking. He would come here everyday after reading and hunting, but Pavian would sometimes be missing and he would have to wait for him.
Since he didn't want to waste time waiting, he would swap his evening reading time with the time he would spend at the Poison Tower. If Pavian wasn't there after he hunted, the Poison Tower visit would eat into his reading time. Eating into his hunting time was okay, but he couldn't waste the time he had assigned for reading.
"Yes, he is waiting in his room."
The woman answered.
'Phew'
Soo Hyuk sighed in relief. He then followed the woman to Pavian's room.
'Hmm?'
Soo Hyuk tilted his head in confusion when he arrived outside Pavian's room. The man who was missing previously was standing outside the room as well.
"Is the master still not finished?"
The woman asked the man.
"He hasn't"
The woman then turned to Soo Hyuk with an embarrassed expression and said,
"Could you please wait a bit? It won't take long."
"Sure."
Soo Hyuk replied while nodding.
A few minutes later...
The door to Pavian's room opened and a woman wearing a red robe came out. Soo Hyuk met eyes with the woman.
"Is it him?"
The woman asked while staring at Soo Hyuk. The question wasn't aimed at him though. The man who was originally waiting outside replied with a slight bow,
"Yes."
Soo Hyuk thought when he observed his attitude.
'She must be someone important.'
The man was a high ranking Magician who was respected by others around him. But he was extremely respectful to the woman in red.
"Let's meet again next time!"
The woman exclaimed.
"...Ah, yes."
Soo Hyuk faltered slightly at the woman's sudden shout.
"Soo Hyuk-nim has come."
"Come in!"
Hearing Pavian's voice, Soo Hyuk snapped out of his thoughts and entered the room.
* * *
"So you haven't told him anything?"
"No, I've told him everything, except the part about becoming my successor. I think it's too early for that."
Pavian replied to Berenice's question.
"He has enormous talent, but he wouldn't be able to bloom properly if I appoint him my successor straight away."
After explaining how problematic it would be if Soo Hyuk wasn't able to grow enough to lead the tower, Berenice finally nodded her head in understanding.
"But why do you want to see me?"
Berenice cut straight to the point. The Poison Tower Lord had called the Flame Tower Lord for a talk. Berenice knew it was about the immeasurable talent, but she didn't know the exact reason.
"You said you were going to talk about the immeasurable talent with me."
Berenice wouldn't have gone if Pavian summoned her for an insignificant reason, but if it was about the immeasurable talent, she was full of curiosity.
"I want to ask something first."
Pavian replied in response to Berenice's words. He had also been curious about this for a long time.
"Why did you help me?"
"Oh, it's obviously because..."
Berenice suddenly trailed off.
"I have to tell the truth, right?"
Berenice asked with a refined smile.
"Is the reason what I'm thinking it to be?"
Pavian asked back.
"Yes, probably..."
Berenice replied after switching to an extremely wide smile.
"I see."
Pavian said as he nodded slowly.
"Did you call me because of this?"
Berenice asked Pavian.
"Well, that and a few other things."
Pavian stopped nodding and cut straight to the point.
"You see, I sent someone to protect him in case of incidents..."
The talk continued for a long time.
"Then I'll see you next time."
Berenice stood up after the long talk ended.
"Yeah, I'll see you soon."
The talk had proceeded in a positive direction. With a cheerful smile, Pavian sent Berenice off.
Then Berenice opened the door and walked out of the room.
"...?"
Berenice suddenly stopped outside the room and stared at something. Pavian scratched his head in confusion.
'What's she doing?'
As he was wondering what had happened, his assistant's voice sounded.
"Soo Hyuk-nim has come."
'Ah...'
Now he knew why Berenice had stopped. Pavian grinned widely and shouted,
"Come in!"
* * *
'It's paralysis again.'
The poison that Pavian had prepared today was a paralysis poison.
[You have been infused with Pavian's mana.]
[You are now paralysed for 27 minutes.]
'Haa, how good would it be if it was paralysis everyday.'
Soo Hyuk thought as he stared at the message window. Pavian had prepared many different kinds of poison. So far, he had suffered through bleeding, paralysis, freezing and blindness but he knew there were many more kinds.
Soo Hyuk was most fond of being paralysed. It took the shortest time out of all of the different kinds of poison.
[You have been infused with Pavian's mana.]
[You are now paralysed for 1 minute.]
The messages kept appearing and his eventually the duration of the paralysis was reduced to 1 minute. After he regained control over his body, Soo Hyuk checked his quest window.
[The 30-Day Endeavor.]
You, who lacks poison resistance! Pavian will boost your immunity. Take Pavian's poison once a day!
[Take Pavian's Special Poison: 5 / 30 ]
[Quest Reward: Title – Poison Maestro]
'Haa...'
Soo Hyuk sighed at the fact he would have to come here for 25 more consecutive days.
'Well, he said he would teach me magic when we finished.'
Pavian had said two days ago, that the reason he was strengthening his poison resistance was so that he could teach him magic. Soo Hyuk closed his quest window and asked Pavian.
"Will you be here tomorrow?"
Soo Hyuk was planning to avoid the times Pavian would be elsewhere.
"Yes, for the time being."
"Then I'll come again tomorrow."
Soo Hyuk stood up at Pavian's answer and bade him farewell.
'I can hunt for 4 hours.'
Soo Hyuk decided when he checked the time. There was still 4 hours until his log out time.
'How many levels can I climb?'
Soo Hyuk wondered as he made his way towards the Balum Mountains. He could see his level rising continuously. But he wouldn't be able to get far.