Abel had just logged back into the NeuroNex and was about to click on the Realm Quest portal when he saw the forum notification flashing on his virtual screen.
'What is it now…'
He had a feeling it would be Sstar considering she was the only one that could message him, he still had the messaging function disabled after all. He was proven right when he clicked on the private thread between them.
"Hello~
I just reached the State of Branagh and I'm so lost! Do you happen to know what this NPC is called? Does she have a specific job here or something?"
Abel let out a sigh before he started writing out a reply. If he had known this girl would be so chatty and ask so many things then he wouldn't have offered to give her some information as thanks. He should have just thanked her and be done with it.
Though she did give him a warning ahead of time about the whole broadcast thing and he wasn't the type to say something and simply not follow through with it so he sucked it up and told her what he knew.
"The NPC is a female that belongs to the state, I don't know her name but she should be known by a title. Ask around about Lady Reverie, she should be a Legend by now if she's still alive because the old record about her stated she was at the fifth tier. This was around 250 years ago in the game's timeline so if she hadn't advanced by now then she should have run out of lifespan. Even if she's already dead, there should be a biography about her life and advancement in the city library or perhaps in some Historiarchs records somewhere in the state. Good luck."
He quickly closed up the forum and clicked on the Realm Quest portal. If this girl was online then she would reply pretty quick, he didn't want to take the chance and logged in right away.
Whooooosh
Abel found himself back in the dungeon and went right back into leveling. He had learned his earlier lesson with the axe so this time, he stuck with using his sword. He would jot down the paths taken and battle any monsters he came across. It wasn't until he came upon a small crevice in the walls when he found something interesting, it actually held a treasure chest!
Unlike the trap chest in the last dungeon, this was a genuine treasure chest. It was obvious enough from the silver and gold filigree adorned on its wooden casing. It was also emanating a soft luminescent greenish glow indicating that it wasn't really part of the dungeon but a treasure chest for players to find.
These types of treasure chests wouldn't always refresh with the dungeon and they would pop up from time to time in random places. Luckily, this one didn't require a key to unlock and seemed to open up without any requirements. Abel stepped forward and opened up its lid, excited at what he'll find inside.
'Please be a blueprint or a necklace or a ring… just don't be a useless item please.'
What Abel found in the chest was something he hadn't expected. It wasn't a weapon or blueprint but an accessory. It wasn't a traditional accessory like a necklace, belt or ring but a face mask instead.
The mask wasn't wooden like the cheap one he had stuffed in his bag. It looked to be crafted from some type of leather, it reminded him of a dolphins' skin and would cover his lower face when worn. It didn't have any embellishments except for 3 diagonal openings on each side reminiscent of fish gills but other than that, it was a mundane and greyish without anything special.
"Inspect"
*Ding*
[Nereid's Breathing Mask]
A magical mask that filters oxygen from the surrounding water, allowing the wearer to breathe comfortably underwater. Made from the skin of a Nereid, an ethereal creature born from the sea.
'What a great piece of equipment! It would make exploring underwater much easier, even though fighting underwater would still be very difficult…'
Abel widened his eyes as he read the masks ability, to allow someone to perpetually stay underwater opened up so many avenues. He recalled those radiant pearls that could be found in the waters of this region, they were hidden within the reefs. He could easily go diving for them and make a killing by selling it to the local nobility.
The mask could also allow him to get away from pursuit by diving underwater and swimming away from whoever was chasing him. Although the prerequisite was having a body of water nearby but the world was filled with rivers, lakes and oceans in many different areas. These were just some of the options opened up by this mask!
'I probably got this as a first discoverers reward… even if this chest shows up again in this dungeon, I doubt it'll have such a great thing inside it.'
After putting away his recent finding, he carried on his path and paid special attention to any crevices that seemed to hold something extra. He noticed the chest because of its glow which prompted him to look deeper into the opening. There might be other things hidden between the walls and passageways that he would regret missing out on.
He continued hunting down whatever monsters he came across, only deviating if he came across a gathering of more than 1 Crabby Scuttler. It seemed like the first level only had Lobster Clawguards and Crabby Scuttlers because those were the only two types he came across but Abel wasn't dissatisfied in the least. They gave generous EXP and he could take them down on his own so he was happy with the current situation.
Eventually, he found the path leading to the second floor and made quick work of the 4 Lobster Clawguards in the room. This monster type was much easier to handle, even if it was a group of them together. While the battle still took a lot of time, that was solely due to their defensive skills that made killing them more time consuming.
'Should I head down or continue clearing this floor… let me take a look, if the monsters are too difficult to handle on my own then I'll come up and clear out this floor. I might even be able to level up.'
After thinking things over, he decided to take a look at the second level. The monster levels shouldn't jump up dramatically even if he descended a level so there was a good probability of being able to continue the hunt and gain even more EXP.
He slowly walked down the slope, surrounded by jutting corals and eventually came down to the next level. He instantly spotted a new monster type, it didn't look like a crab, lobster or any other crustacean that Abel knew of. It seemed to be made completely out of coral, having both a lobster's claws and a crab's legs. Standing at an impressive 2 meters tall and more than double the size in width, it was quite large to say the least.
The exoskeleton was a splendid blend of vibrant coral types including shades of red, orange and pink, while its 8 legs were elongated and protected with its own coral armor, resting on fine and sharp pointy edges. But the most spectacular aspect had to be its compound eyes. Its multifaceted eyes had a mesmerizing, jewel-like quality and emitted a faint, otherworldly luminescence that added a mystical aura to the creature.
'I hope I can deal with this, Harmonic Breath is out of cooldown so that's good. Alright, let's see what this thing is…'
"Inspect"
*Ding*
[Coralcarapace Sentinel] (Normal Monster)
Level: 16
Attack: 99-105
Defense: 105
HP: 1,350/1,350
Skills: Carapace Barricade ???, Razorcurrent Dash ???
Abel barely had a chance to skim over its details before the monster came attacking. It was surprisingly fast for its bulky size, although it wasn't as fast as the Crabby Scuttler, it was much quicker than the Lobster Clawguard. Thankfully, it was still manageable but its 2 new skills were something Abel hadn't seen before.
'Caraprice Barricade sounds like a defensive skill, so I'm guessing it pulls up its defense even more than Shell Armor. But what the hell is Razorcurrent Dash, it should be an attacking skill but is it a spell or a physical attack…'
As Abel dodged a couple of jabs made his way, he thought about the monsters' skill as he tried circling around its side. This monster didn't have joints he could take advantage of in his attack so he was forced to strike at its tough armor.
-43
-45
Clang
He blocked a claw strike coming his way and tried swinging to its back when one of its legs struck him in an opportune moment.
-54
'Damn, it doesn't need all 8 legs to stay balanced. It can also attack with its legs.'
Clang
-43
Clang
-36
He blocked and struck back when an opportunity arose as he tried finding the monsters weakness. There was no way a level 16 monster would be strong in defense, attack and speed like this. Every creature would have a weakness or two, a player just had to find out what it was.
Some monster's weakness was apparent from the get go while others were much tougher. Of course, higher leveled monsters and other mythical creatures would evolve and mitigate their weaknesses but there should still be a way to take them down or else the game wouldn't be playable.
Abel kept blocking and striking whenever he could, trying to find out how to exploit the monsters' weak point but he couldn't think clearly as he was concentrating on his foot work, blocking incoming attacks and looking for opportunities to hit back. He couldn't spare the mental capacity to think over any plans.
He suddenly noticed the monsters' legs and claws shining with a blue hue and he instinctively knew it was using its skill. Its speed increased suddenly as it came flashing towards him, slashing with its 2 claws opened wide.
Clang
-79
He managed to defend against the first strike but failed to block the second, sending him flying 3 meters back while his chest stung with pin pricks from the hit. If he had taken such a strike in reality, he would have suffered a severe wound even with his armor on. Thankfully, he would barely feel a jolt of discomfort in-game otherwise he might have been paralyzed from the agony instead.
'Shit… what a tough attack to block. Even if I block one strike, I'm not fast enough to block the second.'
Fortunately, the monster didn't seem to be able to chain its attack otherwise Abel would be better off running back up to the first floor. While he managed to bring the monsters HP down to 80%, his own HP had also been brought down even more in a mere 2 strikes.
He took a deep breath as he tried getting back into his earlier tempo, slashing and striking while dodging and blocking.
Clang
-49
When he blocked another leg strike, he swung his sword in a counteroffensive but his attack came low due to his posture. He ended up striking one of its other legs and that seemed to fell the large creature as it lost balance and dropped to its side. He missed the chance to strike again but he activated ecliptic slash to at least deal some damage before it could get back up fully.
-149
'That's it… I have to strike at its legs when it attacks with its own legs. Even if it can balance itself while attacking, it can't maintain the same steadiness if I strike at its legs.'
He felt thankful for his earlier lucky strike that found its weakness because he only had to take a few more attacks from its Razorcurrent Dash skill to call it a day for good. With his newfound discovery, he changed his style and would try to circle around the monster, instigating it to attacking with its legs.
When he blocked its leg strike, he would counterattack and cause it to fall, taking the opportunity to quite literally hit it while it was down. When the monster got back up for the second time, it activated its skill once more but this time, Abel was ready for it.
'Sturdy Defense'
Clang
-65
He still couldn't block the second strike but at least his own defensive skill lessened the damage he took. It was unfortunate that Sturdy Defense had a 1-minute cooldown but with any luck, it should be ready to reuse before the monster used its skill again.
When he grinded its health down to 50%, the Coralcarapace Sentinel finally showed off its Carapace Barricade as all the different colored corals on its exoskeleton started to light up. Unlike what he expected, the monster defense didn't increase but became immune to all damage!
It broke his tempo and caused him to eat a claw strike to the face. He quickly backed up and kept dodging around while he waited for the skill to wear off. There was no way such a skill could last for long, it was definitely much shorter than Shell Armor.
Just as he expected, the flashing colors on its exoskeleton started fading after 10 seconds and he circled around to instigate it into attacking with its leg again.
Clang
-48
-43
-151
He struck out twice and once more with ecliptic slash as he backed away from the creature. Now that he understood the gist of the monsters' skill set and attacking rhythm, he slowly grinded its health down to 0 but it took close to 10 minutes. His own health was brought down to 40% in the same time and if he hadn't found the monsters weak point, then he would have definitely been forced to use up his last potion.
*Ding*
+1100 EXP
'I really need to stock up on some potions… 1.2 silver coins for a bottle of minor-grade healing potion isn't too expensive for my current earnings. I should even get some lesser-grade healing potions too, just in case.'
His own cheapness was going to be the death of him, Abel was sure of this. It was much tougher to take down the Coralcarapace Sentinel than the Crabby Scuttler but the EXP reward was worth it. He wasn't sure what kind of loot he could gain from this monster but its eyes seemed to be special. He got down to deshelling this monstrosity, eager to see what he could gain.
*Ding*
Skinning successful:
+ Luminous Eyes x1
+ Coral Claws x2
+ Coral Carapace x1
'Just as I thought, the loot for the eyes are different. The other monsters gave me Coral Eyes instead of Luminous Eyes. The other parts are the same, I guess this monster doesn't have any meat though even if it did, I'm not sure I could eat it.'
Abel packed up the loot and took out some ointment to pull up his HP. He was eager to find some more of these monsters on this level!