Ign the distented growling of her stomach, Reeza kept a keen eye on the passersby until she sed and identified one woman in particur who was dressed quite ostentatiously.
She ko steer clear of those who might pose as easy marks but were actually the town’s guards aiming to lure out and apprehend pickpockets. But Reeza already knew what to look out for to avoid them.
Unbeknownst to her, however, was that while she was others in search of prey, a pair of tiny eyes were also her from behind a stack of old crates deeper in the alley.
Focused oarget, Reeza smoothly maneuvered through the crowd with practiced ease. In a skillful move, she discreetly lifted a substantial purse from the clueless woman’s waist bag, her face a mask of indifference, already searg for her mark.
An air of sadness surrounded Reeza, her movements detached, as if propelled by a force, a reckless spell, well beyond her trol. Like a leaf caught in an errand wind, she drifted toward a man she had chosen without care or . But it wasn’t greed or pleasure that guided her steps, but resignation.
Reeza was tired.
Years of leading a life of degeneracy had worn away at her spirit, leaving her caught in a cycle of desperation—and her desperate desire for it all to be over had robbed her of her better judgement. But the curious eyes that watched her carefully appraised the target she had singled out as her mark.
The man stood tall and imposing, his aura exuding an air of success. Yet, upon closer iion, a subtle weariness lingered in his eyes, hinting at a life filled with trials and challehere was a certain ruggedness about him that suggested a background in merary work.
Whether he was retired, undercover, or simply taking a break remained a mystery, but ohing was certain: his vigind sharpness never wavered.
Reeza, unfortunately, didn’t properly read the signs. Ensnared by her own pulsion, she moved in like a possessed corpse. And the tiny spectator took flight, abandoning its hiding spot to intervene.
The creature, akin to a yellow ary, zipped toward a nearby apple stall. The luminous bird emitted an otherworldly glow, its wings leaving a streak of goldericity in its wake, clearly far from an ordinary ary.
Just before Reeza’s hand ihe man’s sphere of dete, the mysterious bird knocked over a tower of apples that spilled over into the street. In the very instant that the man was distracted, Reeza seized the opportunity, swiftly snatg his purse and smoothly retreating from the se.
From atop a nearby roof, the ary tilted its head robotically, turquoise eyes fixed upon the pink-haired girl who seemed to have snapped out of her reckless trance.
***
The air was thick with death and the smell of copper. Free from the binds of paralysis, the Vradually pushed to its feet, a guttural growl bubbling up in its throat, and its eyes burned with a ravenous need for vengeance.
The explosion from the bined force of the Frost Prism and Frial Seed had left a gaping hole in the creature’s abdomen. But despite its iines hanging out from the wound, the beast was still i on dev them all.
As the ringing ceased in Daisuke’s ears, he could hear the hushed whispers of despair from the party. Zephyr had colpsed from exhaustion, the pup now vulnerable to an attack.
As if reading his thoughts, the Volturax’s thieapped to the side, the e’s motionless form reflected in the creature’s one remaining eye.
Daisuke’s own eyes dited in horror.
“Zephyr!” he bellowed in desperation, an arm extending for the pup. But instead of unparalleled speed, his knees buckled and his body slumped to the floor.
The ghastly sounds of rending flesh and bones followed, and Daisuke stopped breathing, a deep and dark dread unfurling in his gut. Anger awisted inside of him, fueling a monstrous urge for retribution.
Summoning the Lipanthyer’s Fang, Daisuke struggled to his feet, his expression a dark and ugly mask. Then he suddenly paled when the monster flew by him in a fsh, taking his arm and the on it possessed.
A siing chorus of screams and wailing was drowned out by a requiem of tearing flesh and crushing bones. Daisuke clutched his arm and turoward the gruesome sight, only to be met with the pierg gaze of the fiend.
Then it lu him.
Daisuke lurched forward from his moss bed, Zephyr’s name ripping from his throat in a rasp howl.
“I-It’s okay,” Milo reassured him with raised hands. “He’s fine… we’re all fine.”
Covered i, Daisuke looked around frantically to find the pup sleeping soundly o him. Then he gnced around the dimly lit chamber to find everyoaring at him in surprise.
“Did you have a bad dream?” asked Elena as she hurried to his side. “Just take a deep breath; everything’s all right.”
“Where are we?” Daisuke muttered, trying to quiet the throbbing ache in his forehead.
“Our camp oh floor,” informed Rexar with a grin. “We all decided to rest up here until you woke up.”
“The nightmare’s avric began, “but it looks like you slipped right bato another one.”
Daisuke held his gaze. “Does that mean…”
“It does,” Finnian crified as he sharpened his sword using a small whetstone.
“We mao salvage the tail you severed, but the rest of the body retty much blown to smithereens,” said Lyanna as she gestured to the nearby appendage. “You pretty much defeated the boss on your own, so everyone agreed you should have dibs oail.”
“I’m sorry—looks like I went a bit overboard,” Daisuke apologized as he gently stroked Zephyr’s body.
“Mhmm,” Milo shook his head in denial. “It wouldn’t be right for us to be disgruntled when we owe you our lives.”
Elena nodded with a smile. “He’s right; we would have died many times over if you weren’t here fighting alongside us. Thank you for everything.”
Everyone heaved a grateful smile.
Daisuke smiled back, which also seemed like a taunt. “Don’t thank me just yet; we still have 9 more floors to go before we’re officially free of this pce.”
Everyone b the thought of that, and Daisuke grinned pyfully. Theook a moment to recall the final moments of the battle with the Volturax irospect.
During the whirlwind of activity, while he was defeating the monster’s underlings, Daisuke vaguely remembered leveling up, which was the requirement for equipping the new leather boots he had received.
After that, he o activate the option lio the boots, but it was a gamble. Aside from the low activation probability, acc to the equipment’s description, Haste would only activate if Daisuke or a party member used a speed-type skill.
Zephyr currently had a speed-type skill active, but he was a panion. Would he be regarded as a party member by the System? The fact that everyone was still alive was the answer.
[Swift Leather Boots]
[Rank: Rare
Type: Footwear | Light Armor
Durability: 53/53 | Physical Defense: 9 | Magical Defense: 16 | Movement Speed: +10% | Evasion Rate: +10
Finely-crafted leather boots that bestow the wearer with exceptional speed and agility, allowing them to dart through challenges with grad swiftness.
When a speed-type skill is activated, either by you or a party member, there is a ce of activating the Haste skill, granting a 30-sed burst of heightened speed.
?? Agility +3
?? Int +5
?? ce ering Haste 10%
ditions of Use: Lvl 21+ | Strength 70+ | Stamina 50+]
After st the Volturax’s tail, Daisuke opened his Status Window to assess what had ged after the heart-wreng battle with the toughest foe yet.
[Name: Haxks
Species: Human
Level: 23 | EXP: 12,385/82,656 (14.98%)
Css: None
Affiliation: Adventures’ Guild | Merts’ Guild
Title: Lone Wolf, Pathfinder, Unwavering Spirit, genial Denizen, Master of Divi, Devoted Hunter
HP: 2883/2883 | MP: 380/380
Strength: 62 (+18) | Stamina: 96 (+12) | Agility: 105 (+35) | Intelligence: 26 (+9) | Dexterity: 20 (+35) | posure: 14 | Indomitable: 8
Stat Points: 30
Active Skills:
?? Eye of Verity
?? §??? @%&?
?? Alchemy
?? Intimidate
?? Magic Missile
?? Magic s
?? Impeccable Parry
Passive Skills:
?? Αφιν?τη’s Blessing
?? Novice Dagger Mastery
?? Novice Polearm Mastery
?? Novice Archery Mastery
Gold: 18.7]
[Name: Zephyr
Level: 17 | EXP: 31,783/45,156 (70.38%)
Race: Divi
Species: Wolf
HP: 3106/3106 | MP: 650/650 | Attack: 234 | Defense: 112 | Satiety: 24/100 | Loyalty: 42/100
Strength: 87 (+30) | stitution: 65 (+30) | Agility: 90 (+30) | Intelligence: 79 (+30) | Dexterity: 52 (+30) | Ce: 29 (+30)
Stat Points: 0]
Daisuke cupped his in thought. Given the size of the party, I'm surprised I mao gain 2 whole levels, he mused. Zephyr gained 5. But I suppose that only goes to shoecial monsters give a substantial amount of EXP, and Zephyr and I did deal more damage than everyone else.
With a mere mental and, he summoned his iory and sorted it by ‘newly acquired’. It didn't take long for him to notice that one of his daggers had, unfortunately, reached the end of its lifespan.
[Broken Crude Bonepick]
[Rank: Normal
Type: Dagger
Melee Attack Power: 16~20 | Durability: 0/46
A crude on resembling a dagger, crafted from the bones of an ill-fated goblin. Although not designed for sshing attacks, it excels at pierg strikes and carries a ce of inflig the ?Bleed? Status oarget.
?? ce ering Bleed 15%
ditions of Use: Lvl 1+ | Strength 1+ | Stamina 1+]
What a shame, Daisuke murmured ruefully. But it really goes to show that I o upgrade my equipment pronto. At level 23, I shouldn't be wielding a level 1 dagger to front a level 30 Dungeon Boss. I'd be a ughing stock if news of this got out on the unity boards.
[Lightning Bead x5]
[Bramble Seed x6]
[Mana Crystal (1.5lb)]
[Reinfort Tablet x4]
[Small HP Recovery Potion x3]
[Small MP Recovery Potion x4]
[Volturax Fang x2]
[Volturax Tail x1]
[Lightning Bead]
[Damage: 2,500
Deals fixed Lightning Damage to the target upon impact. The electrical charge may leap to up to 7 nearby enemies, with a 75% ce of indug ?Paralysis? and a 45% ce of causing the ?Burn? Status.]
[Bramble Seed]
[Damage: 150
Vicious thorned vines, unleashed from the Bramble Seed, tinuously inflict fixed Physical Damage per sed on ensargets. Adversaries caught within the vines’ AoE also suffer harm. There’s a 35% ce of causing ?Bleed? and a 12% ce of indug ?Poison? among those ensnared.]
[Poison Status]
[Swiftly deteriorates red blood cells, sapping the target’s Strength and Stamina by 25%. Health dimi a rate of 0.2% per sed over 90 seds. Duration also be depe on the level and grade of the on or skill used to apply the status effect, as well as the target’s level of resistance.]
he utilities on these are just as impressive as the Frost Prism and Frial Seeds, but the fixed damage is greater. I guess that’s because they’re drops from a far stronger monster.
[Reinfort Tablet]
[When Cedric Osercival passed away, he took the hidden knowledge of alchemy to the grave with him, sparking a frenzy among alchemists worldwide. Eager to uh the secrets and stake their cim to fame and fortuhese alchemists pursued the faint trails left by Cedric.
Though they never fully unraveled the mysteries, their tireless pursuits yielded an ued bounty: the means to elevate the reinfort level of ons and imbue them with magical properties.
Item Effect:
Increases the reinfort level of a on by oier.]
Whoa~ I didn’t expee across on enha materials this early in the game, Daisuke mused with a smile. But iing Reinfort Tablets into low-level ons would be a plete waste. Waiting until I get my hands on the Luck Stat would also help in bang the odds since reinfort is pretty much like pying the lottery.
Since babies outgrow their clothes quickly, parents are careful not to overspend on them. Simirly, Daisuke chose to preserve the Reinfort Tablets. Leveling up was retively easy at this point, and sidering the regur switg of ons and equipment, saving these resources seemed like the wisest choice.
[Volturax Fang]
[The sharp e teeth extracted from the Volturax. Handling them requires utmost care due to their lethal sharpness. Suitable for f into equipment or trading with merts.]
[Volturax Tail]
[The tail harvested from the Volturax. Its weight is primarily trated in the mace-like tip. While robust, its flexibility renders it a potent on for the monster. Ideal for crafting specialized equipment or trade with merts.]
Cleave mentiohat I should be mindful about selling off monster materials sihey could be fed into useful equipment, so I’ll just hang on to these until I visit a bcksmith. Also, Daisuke pted as he accessed his skills.
[Impeccable Parry]
[Rank: Epic
Cssification: Active Skill
Lvl: 1
Proficy: 4%
In the hands of a true on’s master, the enemy’s attacks bee a vas waiting to be shaped.
Skill Effect:
?? While wielding a on, you have the ability to parry an enemy’s Physical Attack if performed at the right instant.
In the rare instahat damage is received, it first depletes your Stamina and Mana. Only when both resources are exhausted will your HP be affected.
Mana Cost: None
Skill Duration: 1 Sed
Skill Cooldown: 30 Seds]
I never really got a ce to evaluate this skill. On the surface, it appears almost like a cheat, but there are two major fws—the primary one being the challenging nature of exeg the parry itself. Without specialized bat skills or an uanding of the oppo’s martial arts, pinpointing the precise moment to execute the parry would be nearly impossible.
The sed disadvantage is that parrying an attack that surpasses your ability to ralize could drain your eamina and mana reserves, pretty much leaving you with a one-way ticket to hell.
“By the way,” Gavric began, ying out a colle of items o Daisuke. “These are the items we looted from the Dungeon Boss. Since you’re pretty much our leader, we all agreed to let you decide what to do with them.”
“Leader?” Daisuke’s expression turo a surprised frown.
“Yes, of course,” Gavrisisted. “o be modest.”
Looking around, Daisuke was met with a chorus of thumbs up and smiles from the party. For a fleeting moment, he recalled his former role as leader of the children ba Dusthaven. But before the bitter parts of that memory surfaced, he halted his reminisg and redirected his attention toward the items.
[Small HP Recovery Potion x4]
[Small MP Recovery Potion x6]
[Volturax’s Mana Core (2.3lbs)]
[Dreadthorn Mace]
[Rank: Normal
[Type: Mace
Melee Attack Power: 88~99 | Durability: 83/83 | Attack Speed: -27%
A menag on with a reputation for unleashing sheer devastation otlefield. Adorned with cruel, razor-sharp spikes, it is a symbol of brute ford merciless destru.
?? Strength +8
?? Knockback ce +38%
?? ce ering Bleed 15%
ditions of Use: Lvl 21+ | Strength 55+ | Stamina 35+]
[Aur]
[Rating: Normal
Durability: 6/6 | Magical Defense: +4.7% | Magical & Physical Bance: +4.9%
An amulet fed from the crystallized tears of a benevolent spirit. It shimmers with an otherworldly radiance.
?? Int +6
?? Mana +100
ditions of Use: Lvl 18+]
[Mystic Headband]
[Rating: Rare
Type: Headgear
Durability: 53/53 | Physical Defense: 9 | Magical Defense: 15
Crafted by temple sages, it els the wearer’s inner serenity, amplifyial acuity for precise and agile bat.
?? Attack Speed +22%
?? Accuracy +45%
ditions of Use: Lvl 21+]
“All right, here’s what we’ll do,” Daisuke began, “most of the potions will go to the healer and mage sihe main damage dealer and healer are vital to the party’s lifeline.”
Without hesitation, Elena and Milo approached to graciously receive their allocated share of potions.
“Gavric, Finnian, and Milo,” Daisuke tinued, “this is for you. Aside from the fact that you guys missed out on a gift oh floor, these items will plement your abilities: a mace will help Gavric to crush enemies when a sword doesn’t work; a ring, like Elena’s, to boost Milo’s mana; and a headband to enhance Finnian’s swordsmanship.”
“I krusting this to you was the right call,” Gavric boasted.
Finnian, the aloof member of the party, fshed a posed smile. Meanwhile, Milo held the ring up to the glowing fungi, appreciating its blue monoatic design, which caught Elena's eye with a hint of envy.
Daisuke paused to examihe Volturax's Mana Core, noting its size that was roughly that of a football. Uhe Mana Crystals and cores from other dungeon mobs, the Mana Cores from Dungeon Bosses were rger, denser, and had a distinct pinkish hue. They emitted a brilliant sheen, indig their superior quality.
While an average Mana Crystal fetched 90 silver per ouhose from Hidden Dungeons anded a higher price of 135 silver per ounce. However, Mana Cores from Dungeon Bosses were valued at a staggering 150 gold per ounce, showg their rarity and desirability. As for Mana Cores from Hidden Dungeon Bosses, their value soared to an astonishing 350 gold per ou was no surprise, sidering the ridiculous challenge of actually log and clearing Hidden Dungeons.
“As for the Volturax’s Mana Core,” Daisuke said, handing the crystal k over to Gavric, “I’ll leave you in charge of selling it to the guild and dividing the proceeds evenly among yourselves once we get out of here.”
"Wait—what?" Rexar excimed in surprise. "D-Do you even know the market price for Dungeon Boss Mana Cores?"
Milo and Elena stood by in stunned silence.
"I don't think it's fair for you to shortge yourself like this," Finnian decred firmly.
"I couldn't agree more," Lyanna chimed in. "If I'm not mistaken, that Mana Core should fetch at least a hundred gold per ounce. You deserve your fair share."
Daisuke smiled gratefully, somehow finding so their argument. "I appreciate your hoy and sideration, but this is my decision. Please, respect it."
Relutly, the party ceded to his wishes.
"And what about you?" Gavriquired, his brow furrowed with .
"Don't worry about me," Daisuke assured him. "My priority right now is tthen all of you on the remaining floors of this dungeon."
