Danger Sense was blaring.
[ !!!! ]
It seemed like they were right about them using their brain. With a smirk, Izik activated his teleport much to the monster's confusion. Materializing on top of the horrid creature, Izik tightened his hold on his dagger before landing a lethal blow on its face. The Guide jammed the blade on the Hearing Plague's forehead making it shriek in pain, flailing beneath him.
"Urrrkkkkk!"
Izik gritted his teeth, jamming the knife deeper with twice the strength he's using now. The monster let out pained screams before finally hacking one last time, its arms falling lifelessly on the ground. Pulling the dagger off with dark liquid dripping off its blade, Izik dashed to the next Plague.
The next Plague was immersed in its prayer. Its appearance was similar to the first two only this time its mouth was sewn shut.
"Less noise," Izik threw his daggers to the Speaking Plague who caught it in its morphed hands. A smirk painted Izik's lips as the Heavenly Fire consumed the chain, devouring the Speaking Plague with him.
Izik had a theory that the Heavenly Fire was beyond effective with the monsters of Lovelia. And it probably has to do with the fact that they're demons and his element was obviously something holy.
The monster staggered backward, flailing its hands trying to kill the fire that was burning its body. Izik lurched forward, landing a kick on its body. The Speaking Plague was thrown, rolling on the ground before finally disintegrating into ashes and embers.
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[ 🆙 LEVEL UP! ]
[ You have reached Level 11 ]
[ Strength +1 ]
[ Speed +1 ]
[ Agility +1 ]
[ Intelligence +1 ]
[ Dexterity +1 ]
[ Vitality +1 ]
[ Weapon Mastery +1 ]
[ Magical Abilities +1 ]
.
.
"That used to be plus 2," Izik twitched his lips, feeling a bit of dismay. With adrenaline still coursing his veins, Izik moved to the next target.
.
.
[ Attribute Points +2 ]
[ Primal Instinct +1 ]
[ Danger Sense +1 ]
[ Basic Combat Skills +1 ]
[ Dagger Mastery +1 ]
.
.
At least, he still got 2 attribute points as he leveled up.
"The Heavenly Fire works too well in this dungeon," He noted as the ground began to shake. Turning to the dome, he smiled. Aleksi must have been trying to break away from the dome. The ground trembled and cracks started showing up.
Izik was quick to throw his daggers at the monster he saw. With how big its nose was and how huge the golden ring pierced on its side, he could guess that this was the Scent Plague.
The Monster avoided the attack, suddenly appearing behind Izik. With Danger Sense warning him and his agility leveling up, Izik managed to dodge its claw that tried to rip him apart.
Landing on the heel of his feet, Izik gathered his daggers back into his hands. Letting them go, he gripped the chains, spinning them around. He was about to launch them at the monster when his nose caught a familiar scent. It stumped him, freezing on his spot.
Suddenly, nostalgia hit him hard and in the blink of an eye he found himself back at his home, trapped in his younger body. The soft rays of the sun flooding the room and a face he hasn't seen in years turned to him.
[ !!!! ]
"Izik," a sweet voice called to him.
[ HEAVENLY BODY is activated! ]
It had been so many years that he forgot what it sounded like. His stomach churned at the scent and memory of his mother. As his jaw went rigged, Izik was quick to bite his lower lip hard until the taste of rust burst in his mouth. He stopped himself from breathing. Stopped himself from inhaling the scent. He didn't even want to think what would have happened if he doesn't have Heavenly Body.
When his mind cleared out, Izik threw his daggers at the monster, effectively capturing it. The monster morphed, doubling in size. It struggled against the chains wrapped around its body.
As it Scent Plague tugged the chains, trying its best to get away from them, Izik thought about how it felt surreal. Standing in the dungeon and managing to kill monsters. Using weapons and experiencing the way mana flows and how it allowed him to wield such powers.
Never in his wildest dream did he think that it was possible but there he was fighting a monster.
Golden eyes darted on the monster as the Heavenly Fire incinerated the Scent Plague. The monster tried to fight back, tried to break away from the chains as it cried in agony but all its efforts were futile when it turned to nothing but ashes and floating embers.
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[ 🆙 LEVEL UP! ]
[ You have reached Level 12 ]
[ Strength +1 ]
[ Speed +1 ]
[ Agility +1 ]
[ Intelligence +1 ]
[ Dexterity +1 ]
[ Vitality +1 ]
[ Weapon Mastery +1 ]
[ Magical Abilities +1 ]
.
.
The dome shattered. Loud sounds of glass shattering rang all over the place. Izik turned to see his guild mates slumping on the ground, breathing heavily. Aleksi had his knuckle against the ground. Izik was staring at the huge crater he created in disbelief while Ryo cleaned the blades of his swords with one strong swipe.
Was it really that easy to defeat the Plague?
And just when that question filled his brain, the ground trembled. They all turned their head at the shrine as it began to shake. Summoning the Heavenly Fire, Izik held it above their heads to light up the whole island. The shrine started to crack, the flowers and the candles falling off. Bright lights were escaping through the cracks until it finally burst. Huge chunks of rocks flew everywhere. Kameron was quick on his feet to put out a shield, protecting everyone.
Their eyes landed on a floating monster made of indescribable form. It only has one eye, and rows of sharp fangs decorating its huge mouth. Its body was filled with spikes while its huge claws dangle.
Izik activated Perspective.
.
.
[ 🔎 PLAGUE ]
[ → A mini-boss that haunted one of the islands of Lovelia. ]
[ Class: Demon
Level: 60
Size: Large
Element: Dark
Special Ability: Sense Depravation ]
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.
"Look at that ugly thing," Smythe clicked her tongue. Assuming a stance, she added. "We all better get to working because I don't want to stare at that thing for a second longer." Pillars of water shoot up, attacking the monster from behind. Plague managed to dodge. The whole team began to work, launching attack after attack at the monster.
Izik inwardly cursed as a window popped up.
.
.
[ 📣 EVENT ]
[ You only have 10 minutes to complete the event ]
[ EXIT × ]
.
.
Does it really have to pressure him like that?
Throwing his daggers, he managed to wrap the chains around the huge body of the plague as he kept it in place. Aleksi summoned giant spikes from the ground and directed them to the monster. The spikes buried themselves in the monster. Without its other parts, the Plague monster was a lot weaker in head-on combat. It's biggest trick was using the dome which could guarantee death if everyone was caught in it.
Urgggkkkkk!!!
To put it out of its misery, Izik called for the Heavenly Fire. It burned fiercely and somehow was more destructive than how he had been using it earlier. In seconds, the Plague burned into nothing but ashes, scattered by the winds.
.
.
[ 📣 EVENT ]
[ Congratulations!
You successfully finished the event!
Here's your reward:
— 500 Gold Coins
— PASSIVE SKILL: Sword Mastery
]
[ CLAIM REWARDS → ]
.
.
Izik dismissed the window while the team gathered together. At the defeat of the Plague, gold coins rain down together with valuable pieces of jewelry. There were also three potions that help lift curses. And one low-level artifact that helps prevents being cursed.
Before they got inside the dungeon, they all agreed to use Quinlan's subspace, or the small dimension that summoning-type Hunters can use to store their things. Izik frowned at the sight of Atticus swallowing everything up.
"Augh, Quil," Smythe shuddered and Quinlan only offered his signature smile. Turned out Atticus was a subspace.
Another window popped up.
.
.
[ 🆙 LEVEL UP! ]
[ You have reached Level 13 ]
[ Strength +1 ]
[ Speed +1 ]
[ Agility +1 ]
[ Intelligence +1 ]
[ Dexterity +1 ]
[ Vitality +1 ]
[ Weapon Mastery +1 ]
[ Magical Abilities +1 ]
.
.
He was itching to check his stats and distribute the attribute points that he managed to gather. As far as he could remember, all his passive skills were about to reach the maximum level except for the new one which was Sword Mastery. A smile tainted his lips thinking that it will make him effectively use Rakon. He wasn't really planning on using it in this dungeon unless he had to but knowing that he got the new passive skill increased his confidence in using the weapon.
"God, I am tired," Smythe complained, cranking her neck. "Having all your senses snatched like that was no fucking fun."
"For real, I would have to be more careful with my eyes," Kameron groaned. Quinlan was surprisingly relaxed and he doesn't seem to bother. Izik wondered how long did it take him to master that kind of composure and why did he even master such a thing in the first place.
"Thank you Ryo and Error," Aleksi turned to the two members. Ryo only nodded, Izik followed. "As tiring as that, we would have to continue."
"Copy, Guild Master!" Smythe cheerfully replied.
And on cue, Aleksi retaliated, "It's Aleksi!"
"Let's go," Kameron started walking while they all followed. "That's two islands out of six and we still haven't been to the main island."
"It's the one after the next island." Quinlan joined the conversation.
"How long do you think we have to stay here?" Kameron turned to Aleksi.
"If we manage to not run into huge trouble, I think around 8 hours," Aleksi replied.
"Being here is already a trouble," Smythe snorted.
They crossed the next bridge while the others were laughing and making jokes. Aleksi was loudly talking about some things while Smythe and Kameron were happy to indulge him. Since they're generally the quiet ones, Izik walked with Quinlan and Ryo.
They stopped in the middle of the island, it wasn't as big as the previous one. It was a decent size that held some garden beds, a playground, and a single establishment.
"Is this a school?" Kameron asked.
They were then surrounded by the sounds of giggling children. The hair on their nape stood. Smythe spat out another complaint on why she strongly disliked dungeons that were infested by demon-type monsters.
[ !!!! ]
Before Izik could warn everyone, they found themselves falling into the void.