Within a new day, the white haired halberdier had completely recovered from her injuries. With the sluggish opening of her green eyes, her body left the bed and she leisurely dressed the sports clothing she used for the usual six in the morning running routine.
After styling her long straight hair in a ponytail, Cho Jae-Hwa proceeded to leave the inn she currently resided in and start running towards south this time.
At this point of her routine, the south section of Carsenia was the only one remaining, where several clinics, drugstores and other types of medicine stores were located along with the cathedral.
To her surprise, compared to the other stores and population, most of the businesses were either opened or opening and there were also people, residents of the dungeon, running along the street like her.
The only difference, however, is that none seemed interested in talking to her, not even greeting her back when she politely said good morning to any passing jogger.
Although she didn't want to believe it to be possible, the rumor about Jae-Hwa being associated with the assassin clan Howling Den was spreading quickly across the city and since she was the only woman with white hair to fit the description, it would only be natural for them to believe and fear her.
According to Hyeong Hae, the older residents that still remember stories from their parents or grandparents spread the word, telling everyone about the atrocities they did, be it to players or not.
In response, groups and clans that were centered in the second domain started searching through the entirety of the city.
Late at night, just before she could enter the inn to go sleep, Jae-Hwa was stopped by many representatives of different groups and it took almost half an hour to clean her name.
It was bothersome, tiring, but unless she moved to the next city, there would be no end of it. Thankfully, though, after the commotion that happened just after she escaped from their hideout, none of the real members should follow her to Carsenia or the second domain, so in exchange for being safe, she had to put with endless interrogations.
The only way she could feel at ease was in her morning runs, especially since the streets are somewhat cleaner and more beautiful with flowers and greenery if compared to the other sides.
Every house had a wooden frame with some more rustic and medieval structure while adorning at least a vase with red or blue flowers and tons of clovers and grass, even having some sprouting from the stone bricks in the path.
The houses, lamps, overall everything around Carsenia is being decorated with lights and flowers as Christmas became near.
It was the twentieth of December, so it was only natural, although she didn't expect this holiday to also be celebrated in the dungeon.
Not only that, but there were several stray cats and dogs strolling freely through the street and houses, most likely being fed by the people due to how round and well kept most of them looked.
Despite the wish of wanting to take one home for herself, she couldn't exactly do it because of her dangerous traveling... And because she also didn't know if cats could be teleported.
"Alright, it's over!"
Reaching the end of her run, Jae-Hwa sat on one of the metallic benches of the central plaza, resting her body like there was no tomorrow.
—ACTIVITY TRACKING————————
TIME RAN: 0h39m47s
DISTANCE RAN: 12km
STEPS & CALORIES BURNED: 12727 steps & 705 calories
Despite keeping her spartan routine, the fact that she kept doing it thoroughly every day benefited her body.
Her legs trembled less than in the start, although they still hurt hellishly, but her breathing also became more controlled, which let her reduce her time significantly.
In the middle of her resting, a cat jumps to her lap, meowing with delight and purring for attention as it rubbed onto her shirt and thighs.
Having black fur all over and only some white on its paws, Jae-Hwa decided to call the male cat Mittens, a company that has been with her for two days, if counting today.
"Hi there Mittens. Do you want a sardine? You want it, don't you?"
Grabbing the attention of her little mischievous partner, Jae-Hwa takes out from her inventory a pack of ten dry sardines she bought for five credits the night before and gives one of them to the little feline.
"You are quite scrawny compared to your friends, huh? Why aren't they feeding you? Or maybe it's the stronger cats that tske it away from you? Just like me..."
As time passed while resting and playing, thirty minutes have gone through without the halberdier noticing.
As she says goodbye to the stray cat after leaving the last sardine in its mouth, Jae-Hwa heads to the bathhouse, takes a lengthy bath alone and then enters the portal to the second domain, Herbal Graveyard.
As clarity overtook her sight, the grasslands where death walked on foot welcomed her.
This is the third time she teleported to this place, but the beauty of such a simple scenery and the freedom it allowed her were enough to relax her mind.
With a set objective in her mind, Jae-Hwa closes her green pearly eyes, turning pale as her expression stiffens and she exhales loudly to become concentrated.
"Now for the birds..."
She searched around the sky, looking for any indication of red fire flying over her.
To her luck, a flock with five of them was flying in the distance.
As she materialized to her right hand one of the nearly broken metal knives, her eyes squint in order to analyze the enemy, but probably due to her bad luck, nothing appeared.
"So if the target is too far away, I can't know the information..."
From the ground, she rubbed her shoes on the grass and picked up a small rock, balancing her body to remain as stable as possible.
I thought about this for more than I should, but no matter what I think I can do, I don't have the skill or experience to just hit a moving target on my first try.
As she follows the direction her thoughts led, her left hand raises unconsciously and using all of her strength, throws it against one of the birds made of fire.
"If I can just throw off your balance mid-air, then...!"
As one of the leading birds flinches in their route and stops, surprised about what just happened, Jae-Hwa quickly throws the knife against its body, made of pure flames that swayed around as if it actually had a body.
Considering that she relies purely on luck, it was fortunate as the discardable blade goes through the body of her foe and rips the connection of its wings to the body, destroying the throwing knife in the process and causing the
"...Then, I can at least bring you down!"
—ENEMY———————————————
ENEMY NAME: Firelight Bird
HEALTH: 33/50
SKILLS:
"Hmm... The skill seems dangerous if the fire also comes attached, but overall doesn't seem that dangerous."
After equipping her weapon, the halberd's axe head comes down into the enemy and quickly cuts it in half, transforming it into particles of light and dust after being defeated.
—CONGRATULATIONS————————
+ 14 EXP
CREDITS: +7
DROPPED ITEM(S): Fire Feather x1
As the enemies circled around, seeking vengeance, the halberdier stores her weapon back into the inventory and takes out another throwing knife.
Temperature rising around her, the grass under her feet slowly burns away as the waves of heat are not only visible but start creating some sort of vortex.
Cho Jae-Hwa's strategy was quite simple: until she was good enough to hit the birds with just the knives she had, she would pick rocks and throw them to stop their movements in surprise, but that did not account for what the enemy could or would do.
So, to stop whatever was happening as fast as possible, she picked up another rock from the ground and threw at one of the birds which promptly stopped not one but two foes as the one behind was flying too close for its wellbeing.
With a swift throw, she managed to graze the both of them and disrupt their wings.
The moment they were close enough for her polearm to reach, she thrusted her spear head upwards and skewered them into experience points.
"Two left."
Frightened, the remaining Firelight Birds attempted to escape, only to be stopped by a knife that nearly defeathered them, had it been some millimeters closer.
The enemy did the mistake of turning their backs, something that should not be done to someone as strong as Jae-Hwa, an actual threat that was targeting specifically them.
As the enemy opened their wings, fiery feathers poured down from them like rain.
From the moment they reached the ground to the next batch of feathers, there were some seconds that made it possible to evade. Each
If it were more than two, it would be harder or perhaps even impossible to evade, but with this much, Jae-Hwa had enough time to attack and evade while not hindered by the weight of her halberd.
While the spins and sudden movements she had to take to evade caused some dizziness, she still arranged time to throw a knife.
After her fourth attempt, she finally managed to hit the body of the monster fowl and bring it to the ground.
Weapon in hand, running towards the enemy, she performs a full horizontal circle with her polearm, using the momentum of the rotation to slash the enemy diagonally as it was trying to run away with its wings damaged.
Enraged, the remaining lone
"For this I don't need to waste knives. Thanks."
With a grin, Jae-Hwa brought her weapon high up in the sky, barely holding it to the start of the pole. With a slight swing that places it behind her, she pushes her halberd forward and chops the bird and chunks of the ground in half.
Just before the monster vanishes, some tiny tentacles made of energy just like the fire that shaped its body wriggle, stretching, trying to connect to the other side of severed body.
"Ah, you still have one health point left... I swear, this system can be the weirdest thing ever sometimes."
As annoyed and sick she was upon seeing this scenery, she still stomped her foot on it and let the monster burst into dust.
<70/210 EXP>
"Hmm, they don't give as much experience as I expected, but they are also easier to defeat, so I guess it compensates..."
Her thoughts run deep into her mind, but not for long as she decides to keep on searching for more of them. However, as soon as she starts to turn her back, the sound of a crow echoes, carried by a strong wind.
"Is it the rare one!?"
To her surprise, instead of being her objective, it was a flame that suddenly ignited with its red color. This was in the same location as where the monster was recently slayed, which only progressed to the next that followed and also ignited themselves.
Before she could react properly, all five of the flames were lit and slowly merged into one large blue flame that seemed like it would burn endlessly. Despite all assumptions she could make, however, they didn't emit any heat, nor did they burn her.
Rare monsters have different conditions to appear, so this must be the one for the birds.
"Then, I have to kill more of them until it becomes these balls of fire, huh? Let's just hope they don't extinguish. Now if only there were more of them..."
From the created fire, the embers that romantically flowed upwards to the sky wavered as from within it there were more of them being created, leaving the flame as if it was an egg.
"Was I wrong..? But the color is still red, instead of being blue..."
Before noticing the problem she was getting in, Jae-Hwa simply counted how many of the birds were being created. Five, seven, it was a total of ten that were now circling her in the sky, as if asking for a challenge.
For protection, the halberdier coated herself with the
She swiftly threw one of the broken throwing knives, grazing one of her foes to bring it down towards ground level and switched to her halberd to finish it off, all without the enemy knowing her location.
In response, as another enemy is taken down through the same method and converted into experience, the remaining eight foes circle a wide area around them and the halberd user's cover is immediately buste, being now trapped inside of the heated vortex.
The range of the Firelight Birds shrinks and four of them hover below the rotating group, spewing out their feathers.
This is quite tiring... I can handle the heat, but I can't keep dodging all the time. If I touch the borders of the vortex, it feels like I will get burned, so it's a hard pass! I'm gonna have to suffer some damage if I want to get out.
Storing her weapon in the inventory, she takes out two knives, crumbling already due to the heat and starts throwing them against the birds that were using their skill and bothering her with the feathers.
After grazing three of them and performing a clean cut in the fourth's wing while only using five knives, she takes out her weapon and performs an overhead full circle slash, triggering a strange feeling deep in her body.
This felt stronger than usual... How strange, the only time it was like was when I unlocked Haste—!
Before Jae-Hwa's thoughts could keep up, the vengeful enemies switched to their skills and unleashed a rapid fire of their flaming feathers while still doing circles in the air.
"That's unfair, damnit—! No, Haste is still in effect, I'm sure I can test their patience!"
Surely enough, after a minute of just dodging, the first
With such a direct opponent, she easily took out one of the knives and threw it against what should be the forehead of the fiery enemy, severing the body in half with barely a strand keeping it together. After stomping it with her foot to finish it, the other foes dived down as well side-by-side, enraged by the disrespect in battle.
Using all the time in the world in her favor, she stabbed them with the remaining knives and stomped them to death.
With a hundred and forty seven health remaining, all her enemies were defeated a notice panel appeared in front of her.
—CONGRATULATIONS————————
+ 140 EXP
CREDITS: +28
DROPPED ITEM(S): Fire Feather x6, Soul in a Bottle (Weak) x3
—LEVEL UP—————————————
"Mhm, I was already expecting this much. The amount of credits was a nice extra though."
While she checked the rewards, a trembling below her feet started abruptly, developing into a weak earthquake.
The sky darkened and strongs winds blew her garb away with a lot of force as the caws of an ominous crow with a pitch lower than it should be echo.
"It's coming!"
The fires lit themselves once again on what should be the corpses and merged into two more giant orbs of energy. On the left was the first blue orb of fire created and on the right was another of the same color. The only difference was that on the middle the orb was white instead of blue.
The grass beneath them became cinders although no heat was being emanted from it and they merged one last time.
From the flame that lasted, several tiny ravens of white energy with top hats of blue fire were being generated, croaking as they hovered around the amalgamation of flames.
Creating its own vortex that sucked some of the minions in mercilessly, a giant crow, two times taller than her, gains form.
The body was made of flames with a blueish-white hue, each feather at least half her height, while the face had a darker tone and then shape of a plague doctor expelling energy from the eyes.
On what should be a feathery head, it was covered by a tattered top hat with the top open sideways where embers flowed upwards to the sky.
—ENEMY———————————————
ENEMY NAME: Flamewisp Crow
HEALTH: 120/120
SKILLS:
"Hey there, nice to meet you, mr. Rare. Or is it miss?"
The darkened day causes Jae-Hwa's eyes to stand out more than usual outside in the open day, showing her pale glow with the intent to battle, followed by a smile.
"Whatever it is, it won't matter. In the end, rare or not, you are just a big fat bird made of fire, not that different from the others!"
As if studying her, the crow did not attack, nor run away, just simply moved its head and crooked it sideways as if it was question who she was and what was happening.
The eyes were devoid of emotion, as per usual with these monsters, but were wandering enough to convey that it was interested.
Cho Jae-Hwa, with her halberd ready behind her back, spins it around now that the monster was close enough and takes a step back only to push the back spike of her weapon into her foe's head with more strength.
Hurt and surprised, the hat of the creature implodes and causes dark smoke to be expelled from it and cover her vision.
"Now that's not so good, okay? Your friends were too respectful of battle, but it seems like you allow dirty tricks to happen. That's bad."
Flying high up in the sky, the rare monster caws and flaps his flaming wings with a lot of strength, enough to disperse the smoke.
As quickly as she could react, Jae-Hwa sends one of the good metal knives against its left wing, hitting it in the center. Now that there weren't any more of the disposable, she had to use what Reggie crafted, not that she would miss against such a large target.
In rage, the crow mimics some words using its deep distorted voice.
[—Wisp!]
The same was followed by the minions around Jae-Hwa as they mocked and repeated their leader's words until the temperature started rising once more.
Under her feet was something akin to a magic circle, however, instead of a star, it had the Corvus constellation being formed using fire and ash.
The skill
HEALTH: 147 ›› 145 ›› 141 ...
Under normal circumstances this wouldn't bother me, but... I have to finish this fast.
With an angry sigh, Jae-Hwa stored her weapon and materialized metal knives in both hands.
While enduring the burning sensation that tingles her skin, she throws the blades towards the wings, causing a line to rupture and connect the holes it creates as they pierce the flaming nerves of the monster.
Overwhelmed with fury, the
Even if she wished to escape the corvus circle, it blocked her body whenever she tried to jump out of it. Thankfully, she thought of a way to defeat it.
Closing the deal, Jae-Hwa takes out two nanite knives and sends them towards the foe's wing once again. Since the material was of better quality or because it was stronger, it ruptured larger holes in it, which caused the wind and the monster's stability to finally bring it to the ground.
As her hands move with the symbol of a cross on top of the enemy's body, she slams the enemy's body with her halberd, causing the wing and a chunk of its fiery body to be detached painfully.
[P—Pain. W—w—W—Why?]
The creature squealed and cracked its deep voice like a robot, unable to understand what was happening.
"Why? Isn't it obvious? You're too valuable for your own good, so I came to relieve you of your future pain."
ENEMY HEALTH: 76/120
The dying flames in the giant bird's plague doctor ghostly mask lit up the girl's fervent emeralds, looking at it as if she was far superior.
Holding her weapon down horizontally, she closes her eyes, exhaling for moment to leave the crow in awe. That sensation from, she had to feel it in her veins again, replicate the same conditions.
Even then, though she wasn't able to do it perfectly the same, it was enough.
Balancing the halberd, rotating her whole body clockwise, a silver light invades her body's outline, then filling her eyes with a metallic hue unknowingly, much like her weapon.
This is it! This moment!
She pushed forward and her body did the rest, rampaging the blade of the halberd's axe diagonally until it created a crescent shape with the leftover light and cut the other remaining wing cleanly.
ENEMY HEALTH: 38/120
—NEW ACTIVE SKILL—————————
SKILL NAME: Crescent Cleaver
ENERGY REQUIRED: 10 Energy
DESCRIPTION: This attack does 200% damage and applies a
While using this skill, the user becomes vulnerable to attacks and every direct damage received is at 200%.
[Rep—p—plica!]
The creature wailed in pain as its body contorts and shortly after explodes into tiny flames that resemble the minion ravens with a top hat.
"It separated itself!? Wait... Then if it joins with the others, it will recover health! I'm already entering the danger zone, so I can't really afford it to heal!"
HEALTH: 109/170
ENERGY: 18/50
With only eighteen energy left, there wasn't much she could do, but there was a way.
Until now, the birds stopped after being, so with that in mind, Jae-Hwa sends multiple daggers in the little critters' directions, causing them to flinch in response to the imminent danger.
Once she had them all somewhat lined up, the halberdier held the shaft of her weapon horizontally, with her left hand in the upper section and down its start with her right hand.
Preparing for what's to come, she rotates back her body slowly and along with the metallic orange energy emanating from her body due to
"Crescent Cleaver!"
The minions, whether original or belonging to the rare monster, finally explode into particles of light and dust like fireworks.
"First solo rare monster... Defeated."
With a smile in her face of contempt, she slowly walks back to the portal for the day while reading her rewards.
—CONGRATULATIONS————————
+ 270 EXP <200 EXP + 70 EXP>
CREDITS: +47
DROPPED ITEM(S): Flame Feather x5, Wisp Earrings, Soul in a Bottle (Intermediate) x1, Ignis Fatuus
—LEVEL UP—————————————
"I feel like I've finally taken a step forward."
—CURRENT STATS——————————
PLAYER NAME: CHO JAE-HWA // LEVEL: 8 <0/360 EXP>
BLESSING: Phantasmagoria
TITLE: Giant Slayer
HEALTH: 76/180
DAMAGE: 49 (+28) // DEFENSE: 41 (+15) // ENERGY: 3/55
WEAPON: Ceremonial Nanite Halberd
ARMOR: Reinforced Hunter's Garb
ACTIVE SKILLS:
PASSIVE SKILLS:
CREDITS: 128