CHAPTER 81.

Amber stared at the object within, it was a large greatsword as well, rivaling the size of the Cursewelder. However, that was as far as appearance similarities went, this sword was… moving. It had tendrils coming out of its spine, and aside from its sharp edge it had a black mass covering the rest of the blade. One that seemed to almost be pulsating as if it were alive.

But that wasn’t the thing that shocked her the most, but rather it was the Appraisal result.

[Relic Grade ⁠— Sword of the Depths ⁠— Ancient Quality

This is a sword forged out of the spoils of a great enemy, born from the mana of the Great Dungeon of Torl. This sword bears the enchantments of:

Abyssal Blade: This blade bears the Curse of the Abyss, which will exacerbate any curse that a being is bearing and exacerbate curses on its user, on demons it will melt their flesh.

Ability: Silver Flame Edge: At the cost of your mana Silver Flames will ignite on the sword’s edge, increasing its sharpness three-fold.

Ability: Self-repair: At the cost of your mana Sword of the Depths will be repaired from any damage.]

It was most certainly not a Cursewelder, but it was an amazing sword nonetheless. Its ability, Silver Flame Edge was nothing short of great, and there was also the fact that it had the Curse of the Abyss⁠— while it most certainly wouldn’t do anywhere near as much damage as Abyssal Blast, it would most certainly be a great enhancement to the strength of the curses that Cursewelder has.

That said, Amber couldn’t really tell what value was assigned to Curse of the Abyss in terms of “exacerbating other curses”, how much it exacerbated them by⁠— and maybe she didn’t want to know. For now, she was happy with what she could glean about the System due to her Essence.

With a smile, Amber picked up the Sword of the Depths and immediately held it along with Cursewelder, and after a moment, she channeled her mana.

[ Two out of five swords have been absorbed.

Cursewelder has absorbed the Sword of Depths and now has the ability: Silver Flame Edge.

The Self-repair enhancement of the Sword of Depths enters a dormant state.

Cursewelder now wields the Curse of the Abyss. ]

Amber smiled as the sword disintegrated and absorbed. Finally, she took a deep breath and scanned the surroundings making sure she wasn’t missing anything. And thankfully, she wasn’t. However, there was still blue and silver fire burning in different parts of the surroundings. And for a moment, Amber couldn’t help but be captivated, or shocked.

As far as she could see there was some form of fire, the once colorful cave was devoid of crystals and instead it was all replaced with long rifts that cut through the space, littered debris, and charred walls. In her surroundings, there was not a single thing that wasn’t destroyed or damaged from the fight.

Simply looking up, she could see various floors of the Grand Dungeon, and there was even a hole that went to a floor down below. It had straight edges, meaning it had been cut right out from the lasers. Amber did wish that the Sword of the Depths had a better Flamethrower skill or that laser skill, but she was already happy enough as is.

“Still…” Amber stared at the surroundings. “I really did survive all of this, huh?”

For a moment she forgot all about her class advancement, simply in awe of her feat, but it didn’t last long. Soon enough the feeling of excitement came back, and for good reason. She had gotten a brand new Legacy Branch, a new Class, and Essence skills along with all of that.

Inexorable Will, and Aspect of Crimson.

Plus, the Essence skills she had properly learned.

Advanced Blue Fire Creation, and Primordial Blazing Bolt.

Amber couldn’t wait, so with a small smile, she ran off.

Maybe I can deal with the people of the camp now.

She didn’t pay attention to her speed, or rather decided to not pay attention to it, but she was definitely much faster, and for good reason. She had gotten well over a hundred points in dexterity⁠— which granted, dexterity didn’t exactly mean agility in terms of word, but as far as the System was concerned⁠ it did.

Amber grinned as she passed by the different rooms she and the Abyssal Briroar had fought through, a good chunk of the floor had been turned into a battle-zone after all. But eventually, she made it out of all of that and⁠— blinked.

She saw multiple dead monsters right outside, all of them cut in half cleanly and burnt to death. They had been hit by the Abyssal Briroar.

“Huh.”

She didn’t think about that, but based on all the lacerations around, she could only assume that hundreds of monsters died, however, didn’t dwell on it too much. Instead she set off again.

* * *

And five minutes of running later, the deaths stopped and as she rounded a corner, a shriek came. One belonging to a monster. Amber grinned as a Darkness Velstalker emerged from the corner. And it wasn’t exactly weak either.

[Darkness Velstalker. Lvl. 170]

It was the perfect starting target for her, that said, Amber wasn’t all too sure what she wanted to test.

“I wonder…”

And the Darkness Velstalker screeched, pouncing at her with a burst of speed. Amber stepped to the side as a slash of darkness passed, hitting the wall behind her and tearing it apart. Amber placed a hand on her chin, she could test any of her Essence skills, but…

The Darkness Velstalker roared and did a cross-slash as Amber ducked beneath both blades.

“Wouldn’t it be more interesting to start with the skills?”

She smiled seeing the entry of Inexorable Momentum. It was…

[⁠Inexorable Momentum 4th Rank ⁠— level 4.

You’ve taken momentum to the next level reaching the level of Inexorable. Now, you are always in momentum, curses that affect you are affected by this momentum. Increasing momentum no longer consumes stamina, but has a time limit of twenty minutes per twoo hours. This skill increases your stats by 300% (75% before Class bonus)

2nd Rank ⁠— You can consume stamina to increase your stats up to 400% (100% before class bonus).

3rd Rank ⁠— Curses applied will now build up momentum during battle, allowing up to a 200% increase in strength, (50% before class bonus).

4th Rank ⁠— Inexorable Skills will now build up momentum during battle, allowing up to a 200% increase in strength, (50% before class bonus).

Disgusting. The build up for the 3rd and 4th rank was a grand total of 5 minutes, and now she was permanently physically enhanced, all while being able to make herself stronger on demand.

Amber laughed as she punched. She felt her fist crack through the jaw of the Darkness Velstalker and the monster went crashing against a wall. With an explosion the stone shattered, and at that moment Amber knew that she was at the peak of her life. And the fact that it only went up from here was…

Amazing.

And Inexorable Momentum wasn’t the only great skill, Inexorable Body was nothing short of amazing as well.

[Inexorable Body 4th Rank ⁠— level 4

You’ve embodied the path of a Cused Chosen Berserker and now have become an Inexorable existence. Your body is more receptive to curses. Pain becomes trivial and your body is 200% stronger, (50% before class bonus).

2nd Rank ⁠— Your body has an inexorable constitution making it 100% tougher. You can consume mana to increase this to 200%.

3rd Rank ⁠— Expended resources, whether it be mana, stamina, Primordial Power or something else, are reduced by one third.

4th Rank ⁠— Your body remembers the attacks of an enemy, same attacks lose 30% effectiveness each time they are made.

That said. Amber immediately used her new-found connection to the System to reset the pain reception on Inexorable Body to mirror Cursed Supreme Berserker's Body, not feeling pain was for weaklings after all.

The Darkness Velstalker screeched and threw spikes of darkness, and Amber ate them all. They dug well into her body and broke through her armor, however she didn’t move. Instead she tilted her head at the angry monster.

“You are either weak or my skills are just that good.”

Her voice seemed to further anger it as it pounced upon her.

“Though I guess you’re just that weak.”

And she uppercutted. She hit the monster on the chin as its claws dug into her armored shoulders, and the velociraptor⁠— hit the ceiling with a loud bang. Rocks fell down, along with the angry and disoriented monster. Honestly, the fact that the Fireblessed Velstalker and the Darkness Velstalker were both of the same species was disappointing.

At least the Fireblessed would have been able to entertain her.

The monster shook its head and recovered its bearings, but it was too late. Amber swung with all of her strength and she felt its snout crack, then with Cursed Stomp, she prevented it from fully flying away, causing it to be stunned in its spot. And Amber grinned, she teleported with the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash, and balling both of her hands together she⁠—

Slammed.

A loud bang resounded as the back of the monster was shattered, it hit the ground with an explosion of blood. There was no way it was going to be able to get up from that.

[You have defeated a [Darkness Velstalker. Lvl. 170].]

Because it was dead.

She still had Inexorable Manipulation to test, but now… she didn’t really have a monster to test it? It seemed that her battle with the Abyssal Briroar had basically killed everything in the close vicinity and scared off the monsters that were still alive⁠—

And roars entered her ears.

Amber turned as she saw two more Darkness Velstalkers, both of them were a nice level as well.

[Darkness Velstalker. Lvl. 169]

[Darkness Velstalker. Lvl. 169]

The sight made her happy. Amber readied her fists, it was odd and also nostalgic. She couldn’t exactly use the Cursewelder to understand her strength, unless she used it like a stick and hit things with its blunt side, but even with that, it wouldn’t be as effective ⁠— in her opinion anyway.

And more importantly, it was a great way to truly understand how far she had come from the beginning. She did wish to get to fight those stone golems again, but unfortunately these monsters had to do.

The Darkness Velstalkers immediately screeched at her and charged. All while Amber thought about her new skill, Inexorable Manipulation was…

[Inexorable Manipulation 4th Rank ⁠— level 1.

You’ve been fighting with curses with a very long time and have learned to control them. Now, they submit to your will and will act as you desire. Now, curses are 200% stronger. This skill is intrinsic to you and does not consume mana.

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2nd Rank ⁠— You can now project the curses you bear.

3rd Rank ⁠— You can manipulate other people’s curses.

4th Rank ⁠— You can fuse now temporarily fuse curses together, causing new effects.]

It was slightly odd. It had gotten a considerable upgrade from Curse Manipulation, and the 3rd Rank-turned-2nd Rank, was now better than what it had previously been. However, the 4th Rank⁠— she could sort of understand how it worked. However, there was only one way to truly find out.

The first Darkness Velstalker swiped with darkness, and Amber side-stepped. The strike missed.

Might as well go all in⁠. Amber smiled, thinking about all her curses⁠— the Curse of Consuming Flames, Curse of Laceration, Curse of Demonic Blood, Curse of the Abyss, and Curse of Weakness ⁠— and she was thinking of them as a single entity. All to use it on her next attack.

The Darkness Velstalker screeched, swiping with its tail that was full of spikes of darkness, its speed was enhanced but it was all the same to Amber.

She ducked under it and whispered, pointing her finger.

“Flamethrower.”

Purple Flames engulfed the monster as it screeched, the Darkness Velstalker immediately reeled back as it was lit ablaze— its body was filled with superficial cuts, the monster seemed to be trembling, and its blood was melting to the incredibly abrasive flames.

Amber smirked as second Darkness Velstalker let out a deep hiss, and with it, she felt danger for the first time since starting this battle. Amber craned her head only to see darkness. A wall of darkness coming her way, one that seemed to twist and turn, and in response, she used her Essence. It now interacted with System skills, so⁠—

Fulminating Slash!

The white slash pierced through the veil and it hit⁠— an explosion of purple engulfed the second Darkness Velstalker and she smiled as the monster screeched. She could also modify the Fulminating Slash to use the much stronger blue fire and have it still take upon the effects of the curses.

Amber smiled as the two monsters struggled, wrapped by the purple flames before they finally, growled⁠— both of the monsters were enveloped by an armor of darkness, one that took the burning purple flames for them as their suffering finally stopped. And Amber in response, smiled. She pointed her open palm at the monsters⁠— which technically were bearing curses and⁠, she clutched hand.

The fires burned with even more vigor as they growled in pain, and she blinked.

“That wasn’t as strong as I thought it would be.”

The two monsters screeched and rushed at her, and Amber grinned before more roars echoed. She saw a dozen monsters round the corner, and she paused.

[Grand Crystal Tigri. Lvl. 172]

[Darkness Velstalker. Lvl. 165]

[Metamorphic Bear. Lvl. 168]

[Naraka Cerotidae. Lvl. 167]

…

“Great! And I was concerned about running out of targets!”

Amber laughed as the two Darkness Velstalkers swiped at her, all while the other monsters charged. She welcomed this, she still had so much stuff to test out. Aspect of Crimson was essentially a passive Essence skill that applied the Legacy Branch skills into her Essence ⁠attacks ⁠— the ones that could be applied ⁠— while also just giving them all a uniform boost.

And that was great, in fact it meant that Crimson Sense was now even better at detecting movements⁠—

She ducked.

It also meant that, Crimson Fuel provided a much stronger boost to her strength.

Amber one of the Darkness Velstalkers with a loud boom, as one of the Grand Crystal Tigris jumped on her.

She stepped to the side with lightning speed, all because Crimson Break had become even better.

But Aspect of Crimson wasn’t the only thing she had acquired. No, it was one of four things, the next one was Inexorable Will, and it was an odd skill. Amber enhanced her body with Essence.

It was odd because all it took was the power of belief and suddenly⁠—

The Darkness Velstalkers sent a wave of darkness, the rhinoceroses shot a deluge of flames, the Metamorphic Bears clawed at the air sending waves of sharpess, and the Grand Crystal Tigris shot crystals⁠— and Amber was hit all of them.

An explosion engulfed her and⁠— she was mostly unharmed.

⁠— suddenly you became a lot harder to kill. Of course, the skill was far from omnipotent, it just made her a lot more durable towards things she wasn’t phased by, while at the same time just providing some level of physical increases even without it. Though, if that had been all, it wouldn’t have been worthy of mention.

No, Inexorable Will did more than that. In fact, if she forced it enough she could⁠—

She glared at a Darkness Velstalker that was jumping on her and it froze mid-air, all because of her skill. A dozen more attacks were hurled at her and Amber was barely fazed by it all. Instead, she simply smiled as she ducked⁠— she liked her Class Advancement, but she didn’t want to face-tank absolutely everything since it seemed dumb to her. However, the main thing with Inexorable Will was that it affected the world around her.

She weaved inbetween the attacks, and some were slightly redirected, causing them to miss. Of course, she couldn’t do anything insane⁠— specially because its effectiveness depended on what she was trying to exert it on, but it was a great tool.

Amber laughed as she reached her hand into the air and pulled. The Cursewelder was basically unsheathed⁠— gradually teleported out of her storage ring⁠⁠— all while she ignited it with silver⁠⁠, blue and purple flames.

The Darkness Velstalker missed its attack and Amber slashed⁠— a flash of light passed and the monster was cleaved in half. Then, the Grand Abyssal Tigri pounced on her and she slashed again, this time accompanied with Fulminating Slash.

She cut the monster in half as a flash of light passed into behind and exploded with a burst of blue, wrecking havoc on some of the monsters. But in spite of that, she was swarmed. While she could’ve taken care of everything slowly and whittled all of the monsters down, she didn’t want that.

After all, there was a skill left to test to see how it had changed after her advancements.

Amber reached into the air as a streak of blue appeared, and then she used the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash.

She appeared far from all the monsters and, pulled⁠— the bow of blue flames had already been made. The arrow was too. Blue energy gathered from the air increasing the strength of the fire, and her blue core was burning in a much brighter manner as it supplied the necessary Essence to fully unleash the destructive potential of her skill.

In a mere two seconds she filled it to the max, and all the monsters were rushing towards her, but it didn’t matter.

Primordial Blazing Bolt⁠—

Amber loosed the blue arrow, three-quarters of her Essence reserve were taken in a single moment and then, it hit.

A blue explosion with hints of purple engulfed everything. Breaking through the ceiling, the ground, and the pillars in the surrounding. It was like a geyser bursting, but it was gradually expanding, and Amber watched the notifications come.

[You have defeated a [Darkness Velstalker. Lvl. 169].]

[You have defeated a [Grand Crystal Tigri. Lvl. 172].]

[You have defeated a [Metamorphic Bear. Lvl. 168].]

[You have defeated a [Naraka Cerotidae. Lvl. 167].]

…

[Inexorable Manipulation has leveled up from 4th Rank level 2 to 4th Rank level 3.]

[Crimson Sense has leveled up from level 8 to 9.]

[Crimson Destruction has leveled up from level 7 to 8.]

[Crimson Break has leveled up from level 5 to 6.]

[Elemental Resistance has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 2.]

[Physical Resistance has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 2.]

[Magical Resistance has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 2.]

[You have reached level 158. 10 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

[You have reached level 159. 10 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

She had only gotten two level ups, but that was fine. Amber smiled as the explosion began to disperse, lava dripping from the ceiling as the surroundings burned with blue fire. It wasn’t exactly a skill she could use whenever she pleased⁠— since based on her guesses, she could only use it twice a day based on Essence regeneration, but it was great.

Amber nodded to herself.

“I can most definitely take on that camp with the monsters, even without this. And there is also the fact that…”

She took a look at the remaining Essence and took it upon her core, gathering it for her next core level up— but it also had the side-effect of regenerating some of her personal Essence. If she engaged against the camp, based on the sheer volume of monsters she’d most definitely be able to use Primordial Blazing Bolt again, if it came down to it.

Amber cracked her neck, and used all body enhancements at her disposition including God’s Physique before setting off.

* * *

On the entirety of the floor that contained the Abyssal Briroar there was not a single monster remaining, on the floor above aside from dead monsters and things killed from the aftermath, there was not a single soul either.

Amber arrived at the camp floor, which had the same result, she even saw a few dead mages from the aftermath of their battle. Some had been burned and others cut in half, and some small amount of monsters had suffered the same result.

And eventually, she arrived at the place where it all began, but even though she was tense at first, Amber ended up with a frown.

She knelt down touching charred wood, one that had long run cold. Aside from waste in the form of cloth or other stuff, there was no trace that it could’ve been a camp.

“They’ve left…”

Amber’s heart skipped a beat as she realized what that represented.

She looked up.

“They’re going towards the city now.”

She immediately unfolded her map, and took a breath.

“No matter, I just have to get there faster.”

And once again, she set off. This time intending to stop the impending city invasion.

[Name: Amber | Level: 159 | Title: Demonkiller

Class: Cursed Inexorable Berserker | Unspent Stat Points: 0

Legacy Branch: Crimson Nexus

Stats:

Vitality: 850

Strength: 800

Dexterity: 750

Endurance: 305

Intelligence: 303

Wisdom: 470

Free Core Skill Slots: 0 | Core Skills:

[Curse Reignition - 4th Rank Lvl. 3], [Quick Dash - 4th Rank Lvl. 3], [General Weapon Mastery - 3rd Rank Lvl. 10], [Inexorable Momentum - 4th Rank Lvl. 4], [Inexorable Body - Lvl. 4th Rank Lvl. 4], [Cursed Stomp - 3rd Rank Lvl. 10], [Recovery of Curses - 4th Rank Lvl. 3], [Curse Battery - 4th Rank Lvl. 3], [Cursed Rage Synergy - 4th Rank Lvl. 2], [Inexorable Manipulation - 4th Rank Lvl. 3]

Legacy Branch Skills:

[Crimson Fervor - 2nd Rank Lvl. 2], [Crimson Fuel - 2nd Rank Lvl. 2], [Crimson Venom. Lvl. 10], [Crimson Sense. Lvl. 9], [Crimson Destruction. Lvl. 8], [Crimson Break. Lvl. 6]

General Skills:

[Supernatural Nullification], [Abyssal Blast], [Appraisal. Lvl. 3], [Toxin Resistance ⁠- 3rd Rank Lvl. 8], [Elemental Resistance - 4th Rank Lvl. 2], [Physical Resistance - Lvl. 4th Rank Lvl. 2], [Magical Resistance - 4th Rank Lvl. 2], [Sharp Instincts - 4th Rank Lvl. 3], [Quick Recovery - 2nd Rank Lvl. 6].]

* * *

Cecile looked at the bright blue sky.

“How long has she been gone?” she wondered outloud. “Two weeks?”

It was hard to imagine, that she had traveled with Amber for so long only for the woman to essentially disappear on the first day and never be heard of again. But that was literally what happened! It irritated her, and for the first week or so she struggled to get any sleep being skeptical that the plague was gone.

But it really was gone. And now, she felt disappointed and annoyed. She was going to soon leave the city, and unfortunately, she couldn’t find a suitable adventurer to hire ⁠— or rather no one wanted to go past the Great Desert ⁠— considering her destination was a town far from the Great Desert in Cytel, it somewhat made sense.

So, instead she armed herself with extra protection that she normally didn’t carry. All because her only form of protection before that, was a true treasure she had acquired upon arriving at the Great Desert ⁠— the very same day that Amber abandoned her. While Cecile intended to sell it, she most definitely wasn’t against using it if necessary.

She shook her head. “Painful that you just left me, but I guess even if you were there…”

Amber most definitely wouldn’t be strong enough to deal with anything that required her to use the treasure.

That thought helped her a bit in some weird way, mostly because she felt like she had a chance of losing an incredible amount of money now.

Today had been a tiresome day for her, closing a deal after many hours of discussion with another merchant. Normally, she wouldn’t think so much about Amber, but this time it was niggling at her mind.

“All I need is some rest, and I’ll be fine.” She smiled, thinking of the comfort of the inn’s bed.

And that’s when she heard a growl just a few meters away from her. It was coming from one of the many pits in the ground belonging to the Grand Dungeon, but it was strange. No monsters were in the upper layers.

Cecile frowned, before approaching and peering into the darkness, simply out of morbid curiosity, and there, she saw two golden eyes open.

She shivered and pulled back as a large black feline monster covered in crystal leapt at her. It missed and hit the building instead, but for a moment she was stunned.

[Crystal Panfera. Lvl. 110]

It was weaker than Amber but it could most certainly chew her alive.

Cecile looked for guards when a chuckle reached her ears.

“Didn’t expect to run into anyone so soon.”

And from the pit a mage emerged, one that immediately raised his staff. While she didn’t understand who it was, she didn’t freeze. Instead, Cecile acted immediately, using one of her merchant skills.

“Deal.”

The mage paused for a moment, and she took the chance to run away. The mage snapped out of his stupor and the Crystal Panfera chased after her.

“Bitch!”

And a blast of fire hit behind her, Cecile was blasted forward as a barrier protected her, one of her rings flashing. She landed rolling and hurriedly got up, heading out into a plaza, and that’s when she realized⁠—

There are no guards.

There were monsters pouncing and prowling, attacking the people as chaos ensued, and Cecile sprinted into a tower building.

The feline monster chased after her, all while ignoring other things in its surroundings, which made her grit her teeth as she went further into the empty hall⁠— it was some kind of church, but there was no one.

She headed towards the corner of the room, and the monster roared. Cecile ducked as a piece of crystal was flung, hitting the stairs in front of her. She recovered and turning around she screamed⁠—

“Repulse⁠—”

A ring on her finger flashed and sent the monster flying, breaking through the pews with an explosion of wood. Using that chance, she went up the stairs. Her heart was rushing as she heard the angry growls echoing from below, but she didn’t have time to think, she only acted.

In just a few seconds she arrived to the roof in hopes of finding a guard or an adventurer, but instead she found someone.

She stepped outside and for a moment she felt lost, but as she saw dots in the horizon she paused.

It was a whole army, one that was coming towards the city, and as she squinted her eyes, she saw a flag. A flag belonging to a nation that had giving her a bad feeling she arrived at the Great Desert.

It was Ofril’s.

And they were sieging the Grand City of the Great Desert.

Then, she heard a growl and Cecile turned as the monster reached the last part of the stairwell, all while monster roars began to echo in her vicinity.

A weak smile appeared on her face. “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

And the Crystal Panfera pounced.

* * *

Zodos and Nel stood in the outer city, and they could see the army incoming.

“So, do we kill some of them? We can let loose here,” Nel said grinning.

“No,” Zodos answered simply, flipping the compass open. “It has once more picked up on that woman’s signal. We search for her during this chaos.”

Nel nodded. “It should be a lot easier considering we no longer have to keep a low profile.”

Zodos smiled. “Indeed, and remember, we obtain that cube no matter the cost.”

“No matter the cost,” Nel reaffirmed.

The two of them met gazes, and then Zodos spun around.

“Let us go then.”

He looked down at the compass.

“To find Amber.”