(Robin's POV)
Two days after exploring the Skylands, the entire group has created a head of progress on completing the castle. The entire walls have been completed, and there are now various structures that can be utilized for each profession. Denzel took some time in the forge and became in charge of making weapons. Michael holed himself up in a library to learn more fire magic. He was accompanied by a few other people. Some other members took up the some training under Seymour himself and is now brought out to missions of reconnaissance.
After his session with the other members, he noticed and called out to me for something.
"What is it Seymour?"
"Ah well, you see... Denzel and Michael went on a mining session together some time ago. The two of them ended up fighting against what you call beta testers." - Seymour
"Yeah, what about it though?"
"There was a mystery about various items which are like Zodiac signs." - Seymour
"Wasn't that in one of the history book in this virtual world?"
According to Seymour, there are various books that has upheld the history of this world. One of those books mentioned about the collection of the Zodiac artifact series. It was said that these artifacts can be absorbed into the body and will provide extreme power. Each Zodiac has a different effect but it can be game changing. So if Seymour is asking me to do this then...
"You wish to collect all thirteen?"
"Yes, if we're gonna get out of this experiment then we might as well do it the flashy way." - Seymour
I don't have any particular distrust against Seymour hogging all the Zodiacs to himself but it will be a valuable asset to have.
"Do you have any more gravitation potions remaining?" - Seymour
"Are you saying that there is one in the sky?"
"Yes, according to the books we bought some time ago. There was one that says where right above the spawn area is a sky dungeon. It is filled to the brim with monsters and is a good place to farm a huge amount of levels." - Seymour
"That's useful, so you're saying that there is a Zodiac there right?"
"Yep, and it's only a matter of time before people find out and start making raid parties..." - Seymour
"You're right... I'll set off as soon as I can."
Seymour entered the castle keep after saying his good luck towards me. I immediately moved around and brought out the remaining gravitation potions. I started running towards the spawn which is technically a long way. I ended up meeting Denzel on the way just outside the castle walls.
"Oh Robin? Setting off towards spawn?" - Denzel
"Yeah, it's somewhat a long way so I have to head there like immediately."
"Aight, you should use this then." - Denzel
Denzel took out a pair of green boots that has a pair of wings in each one.
"By any chance these boots will let me travel quick?"
"Yep, they're called Hermes Boots, there are variations to improve this pair of boots which are somewhat early to late game. It's a good mobility item if you're heading to spawn right now..." - Denzel
"Thanks, I'll be sure to repay you with something."
"If I can use it then it's great!" - Denzel
I started running towards spawn without looking back. I had thanked and waved towards Denzel before running so I already knew that he'd wave back as I ran forward.
At top speed, I had arrived to the spawn area within an hour only and took a break just to catch my breath.
I sat down on a fountain at the very center of spawn where it was announced on the start of this game. The entire area is very spacious that it could fit all players that numbered up to a hundred-thousand. There are various players around the area wandering and talking around about people or forming a party.
Looking at the situation I started to feel a little bit guilty for looking very prepared. I shrugged off my guilt and drank a gravitation potion and took off from the ground straight up to the sky.
After raising myself about seven eight kilometers, I finally arrived to the Skyland and starts gasping for air. Breathing is hard!
The oxygen is pretty minimized in this area which is very dangerous when you end up being asphyxiated...
Must deal with this quick...
I immediately went to the edge and move above the cloud. I ran out of gravity control effect and started falling down. Crap!
I drank another gravitation potion out of rush and recovered myself by breathing in as much as I can.
I had entered the room and finally prepared myself to fight as I stood right in front of the main entrance.
When I opened the door, I felt a surge of air magic hitting me back to revitalize.
So there was air? It became pretty thin again after the surge though? Maybe it'll happen again in an interval of time.
I took out the runic sword and prepared myself to slash a bunch of hostile monsters. The monsters range from harpies up to actual hostile human npcs... They are normal people but at the height of five meters. Kinda like giants except, they have large armor and large swords that could eliminate anyone with just a single swing.
I moved around to avoid the swords of two giants right in front of me. Their downward swings caused the ground to tremor, forcing me to latch on the walls instead of staying on the ground to slash them. Their armor are somewhat similar to barbarians which have thick plating and are somewhat hard to breach and focus due to the lack of oxygen.
I swung my runic sword to slash off the neck of one giant. I expended a heavy amount of effort to just slash off the head of one giant. Damnit, I think it's important to have a surge of breath when launching an attack from the front...
While contemplating on my methods of attack, one giant knelt down before exploding into particles. Multiple harpies then showed up flying downwards to strike me with their claws.
"Damnit, Beacon!"
I summoned a small artifact which generated a light that could deal some light burns towards anything. I'm completely unaffected but I then used the beacon to create searing light...
I seared the other giant while I moved my sword to block the harpies. After I seared through the giant's armor, I pierced through the body using a runic blade and killed off the other giant. When I started to catch my breath, the harpies start flying in towards me once again preparing to strike.
The beacon dispelled as if there isn't any enough mana to sustain it. I dashed to the right to dodge the three harpies while slicing one in half... Two left!
When I formed a stance, a powerful gust of wind passed through once more and have completely recovered my vitality. Wonderful, now I can fight much better.
The entire fight, I kept gasping for air in this asphyxiating space... When this heavy gust pass by, I had recovered my breath and allowed me to effortlessly kill the two harpies.
When I checked my status, I had gained a large amount of experience points and have multiple stat effects.
"Asphyxiation, and light..."
My body feels lighter knowing that I'm around sky-high. It's technically an advantage for me whenever I feel lighter in combat... I advanced to the next room and tried for various strategies against the hostile mobs within the area.
After a huge amount of time passed, I wasn't able to measure my length of visit. I had explored almost every room and collected various beautiful treasure within the mansion...
I opened the door to a large room and felt a burst of wind pass through to let me breathe again. I started to feel something different within the room as it had a dark atmosphere.
"Tall pillars, huge empty space, and no vision... Feels like a boss would pop out..."
As I moved further into the spacious room, fires started to light up and revealed a tall and beefy enemy...
"God of the skies... And an actual boss fight..."
The enemy was a giant that reached ten meters tall and wielding a gigantic battle axe. I checked the health and it seems to be very durable but it already has some health shaved off for some reason...
But such an entrance shouldn't be put to shame alright?
I prepared my runic sword as the giant brandished its axe and swung it downwards. I dodged the attack and tried to slash at the feet. The giant was wearing gold armor that's grandly designed to look like a king or an emperor. My sword simply bounced back after striking the armor which is simply telling me that it's futile.
Crap, must look for another way...
I jumped up and climbed through the giant and noticed the gaps between the armor. There are gaps in the each limb and their joints. Those are pretty thick and could be difficult to break through.
"The patterns of this giant is pretty simple... Seymour would laugh if I lose here."
I stabbed through the knee and jumped down as I pulled out the sword. I then moved around and dodged the incoming fist and used it as footing to move towards the nape.
I slashed through the neck which could be very fatal as I sliced through it very easily. I jumped down once again to check on the health and discontinuing the fight for a bit.
The giant roars and seems to have become enraged.
"Final form? Then I'll end you!"
I charged up towards the giant and dodged its ferocious attacks by swiftly evading to the sides while redirecting the attacks using the runic sword. I climbed up after dodging the axe and stabbed through the eye of the giant. The boss roared in agony before disappearing into particles and showing an item drop and a level up.
Mission Complete...