Sol was in a good mood as he and Amber raced through the dungeon. Not only did they finally encounter a Shadow Amalgamation, he finally got a long desired skill.
[Magic Resistance] Lv 4: Reduces magical damage by 20%.
'I'm a step closer to completing [Invincible Body]! I also got two other good skills.'
[Life Perception] Lv 3: Able to perceive the energy of life in all living beings within a 15-meter radius.
[Shadow Hands] Lv 7: Create and control shadows in the form of hands. They can stretch and attack as an extension of your body. Mana cost varies.
'[Life Perception] is absolutely useless in this dungeon because all the enemies lack life, but it can help with covering the gaps with [Mana Perception]. [Shadow Hands] is more versatile and is a great new way to attack.'
Sol had realized that [Mana Perception] didn't work all the time. Sometimes the person had too little mana to really see them through the sea of ambient mana, or they were able to disguise it to a certain degree, like Amber when she went invisible. Sol hoped that [Life Perception] could compensate for that flaw.
You have slain a Lv 80 Animated Armor! Gained 702,000 Exp (260%)
You have slain a Lv 80 Spectre! Gained 702,000 Exp (260%)
The normal enemies still posed no trouble for the duo as they sped through the vast floor. In only 8 hours after entering the floor, they had already arrived at the exit and set up camp for the night.
While Sol made dinner, he was troubled over his increasing curiosity.
'During the fight, Amber completely turned into sand and even became a huge pillar that could hold off the Shadow Amalgamation. Should I ask about her skills?'
Sol was really curious regarding her talents and the skills that allow her to perform such feats. He also knew if he asked she would even let him use [Analysis] on her, but he felt like he would be taking advantage of her condition if he did.
While turning some meats on a grill, he mumbled to himself, "Am I overthinking it?"
"Always."
"Yeah, you're prob- WHAT?"
Sol spun around to see Amber right behind him, watching him cook the meat. He didn't notice she was behind him the entire time, silently learning how he cooked meats.
"Was… that a joke?"
"Yes."
It took Sol a moment to process her joke, but he soon began to laugh.
"Hahahaha! You're probably right."
Sol wasn't laughing at the joke because the joke was hilarious. The reason he was laughing was that this was the first joke Amber ever made, and it made him extremely happy.
'Every day she breaks a little bit more out of her shell.'
The shell being the powerful mental manipulation and brainwashing she was put under.
"Hah… I'll stop overthinking and ask you then. Can I see your status page? I can show you mine as well; I'm just very curious about your recent abilities."
Amber didn't answer but instead reached for her hand and removed a ring before handing it over to Sol.
"This is…"
Obscurer's Ring
Rare
Skills:
[Status Deception] Lv 7, [Obfuscation] Lv 2
Sol asked once more, "Are you sure?"
Sharing one's status was a big deal. It was akin to sharing one's deepest secrets, which was why most rarely shared those details unless they had to. Even parties that have worked together for years would never share the exact details of their status page.
Amber's red eyes looked directly at Sol's eyes, and with confidence, she stated, "I trust you."
The two continued to stare at each other for almost a minute until Sol heard the sizzling sound of meat, pulling him back to reality. Quickly flipping the meat, Sol responded back.
"The trust you place in me… I promise I won't let you down."
Name: Amber
Race: Human
Talents: [Hidden Blade], [Sand Body], [Sand Queen]
Level: 74
HP: 850
MP: 550
Str: 100
Vit: 60 (+25)
Agi: 125 (+45)
Int: 30
Wis: 40 (+15)
Talent Skills:
[Distort Weapon] Lv Max, [Sand Incarnate] Lv 1, [Will of the Sand] Lv 3
Passive Skills:
[Muffled Movements] Lv EX, [Counter] Lv 6, [Intermediate Dagger Mastery] Lv 9, [Intermediate Throwing] Lv 4, [Enhanced Reflexes] Lv 6, [Agility Up] Lv 9, [Vitality Up] Lv 5, [Wisdom Up] Lv 3, [Sand Sense] Lv 5
Active Skills:
[Ground Shrink] Lv 5, [Blurring Speed] Lv 8, [Invisibility] Lv 8, [Debilitating Strike] Lv 8, [Cross Slash] Lv 7, [Disarm] Lv 9, [Assassinate] Lv 4, [Flurry of Blows] Lv 7, [Sand Geyser] Lv 2, [Sand Manipulation] Lv 1
"[Sand Queen]?!"
Sol had never heard of that talent before, but that wasn't what surprised him. There were countless talents in the world, and no one was expected to know even the most obscure talents except for scholars of that field. Even though Sol had never heard of the talent, there were some ways to tell the rarity of a talent based on their names.
Rarer talents tended to sound grander or more impressive than lower rarity talents. Amber's talent had the word queen in its name, similar to other legendary talents. As far as Sol knew, there were no talents below legendary that had words like queen, king, and saint in their name.
Amber simply nodded to Sol's surprise like it was a simple matter. Her own perspective was abnormal towards owning a legendary talent because she didn't really know how rare and special they were. She was taught that legendary skills were stronger than normal, but that was the extent of her knowledge. Cane at the time didn't think that information was worth teaching her.
She also only recently obtained it when she became level 60 and had yet to develop any of the skills she now had access to. Because the duo had been racing through the dungeon and focusing on leveling over skills, Amber had mostly been using skills she was used to over the new skills.
Sol plated the meats on the side and turned back to Amber and removed his Deceiver's Earring.
"I know you don't have [Analysis], so you can't see my status page, but it's only fair I reciprocate the trust you placed in me. One of the adventurers had this in their spatial ring; use it on me."
Sol handed over a small white marble.
Status Eye
Common
Skill:
[Single Use Analysis] Lv 3
Status Eyes were expensive tools that some adventurers kept with them in case they encountered an enemy they had never seen before. Sol initially planned on selling this as it was useless to them with him having [Analysis], but he felt it would be better used this way.
Amber received the Status Eye and looked at Sol, who was smiling patiently as he waited for her to use it.
Crack!
The marble cracked and shattered into tiny particles. Sol was sure it worked as he could see Amber's eyes moving as she read his status page.