Hazel hurled her Baneful Sickle into a horde of Fractured humans, slaughtering them in an instant. Moments later, she watched their bodies burst into purple fragments before scattering in the air.
[Level 3 Fractured Human has been defeated!]
[Level 1 Fractured Human has been defeated!]
[Level 2 Fractured Human has been defeated!]
[Level 2 Fractured Human has been defeated!]
[Level 3 Fractured Human has been defeated!]
More Fractured appeared, however, refilling the spots where the previous purple-cracked undead stood before. Hazel was annoyed by this and fired a barrage of mana bolts into the horde, killing them one by one.
“If it’s this difficult to take down a small horde of Fractured like this, something tells me that the sea of Fractured will be even worse.” The mage grumbled while moving away from the horde she was attacking.
“Well, we still have plenty of time to prepare and get stronger,” Astrid noted while firing a couple of arrows into the crowd of Fractured. “So, we should use the time we have and make the most of it. And if it’s impossible to deal with the sea of Fractured, we could always just fly over them and enter the building.”
Hazel looked over at Astrid with a cocked brow. “Did you forget the part about the flying Fractured monsters as well?”
The dark elf shrugged. “It wouldn’t be our first time fighting flying monsters. Besides, if we enter the building fast enough, those things won’t be much of a problem either.”
“Yeah, you’re not wrong.”
While the Flying Fractured posed as much of a threat as the shambling sea of Fractured humans; they were also just as avoidable if Hazel and the others were smart about it. Of course, fighting them would also benefit the group since they could get stronger as well. But, by the time they attempt to fight the flying ones, they would likely be wasting time on them when they could be using that time to deal with the Boss.
But that was a problem for later. At the moment, Hazel and the others needed to focus on leveling up more.
At the moment, everyone’s level was either at level ten or above it. Despite that, Hazel knew that they weren’t ready to face off against a Boss. Sensing the Boss’s presence inside the building from before proved that. Which was why they needed to get stronger. And fast.
There were only two and a half weeks left before they completed the thirty-day objective for the Dungeon. If they didn’t gain enough levels before the final days arrived, they might not be able to complete the objective of defeating a sub-boss.
And while that was fine, since they could still return home after the thirty days were over, Hazel would feel a bit disappointed not being able to get the rewards from defeating a boss.
As Hazel and Astrid talked, Nycteris was in the background mowing down the Fractured humans that tried to get to the players. The player duo could hear the Nightwing bat screeching as he slashed the Fractured into pieces while also ripping them apart with his teeth.
They didn’t even need to see the fight to know Nycteris was showing no mercy toward the Fractured. It was almost to the point where Hazel felt pity for them. Almost, anyway.
One of the Fractured managed to shamble away from Nycteris as it made its way over to Hazel and Astrid. However, it was soon stopped in its tracks when Hazel fired a lone mana bolt through its skull, making it explode into purple fragments.
[Level 3 Fractured Human has been defeated!]
[You have leveled up! You are now Level 15!]
[Second Marker has been met! New skills available!]
Hazel’s eyes widened at the sudden panels before her eyes as a wide grin was plastered on her face.
“Alright, I made it to level 15! And I reached the second Marker!”
“Wait, are you serious?!” Astrid questioned with a hint of excitement in her voice.
Hazel nodded. “Yeah. It seems that reaching level fifteen allowed me to achieve the second marker. Now I get to obtain a new skill!”
Hazel had been curious regarding the requirements for obtaining her second marker. She received the first one when she reached level five. Her initial thought was that she would obtain a marker every five levels, but that was proven false when nothing happened after reaching level ten.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
But now, at level fifteen, she reached the marker. So, did that mean that the level requirement doubles with every marker obtained? Like it starts at Level 5, then Level 15, then Level 30, and so on?
She’d have to find out once she reached Level 30 to see if her new theory was correct. Until then, though, she should focus on which new skill she should obtain.
[Current Skills Available for Player to Determine Path]
Rank 1
The caster is given the ability to drain the life force of other living beings, stealing their essence to replenish their health and mana.
Rank 1
A spell that allows the user to conjure Aether, an element that was theorized to be derived from the heavenly realm itself, and deliver a devastating strike to their enemies. The cooldown is fifteen seconds.
Rank 1
The caster is capable of summoning a cursed spear that corrupts and damages their enemies over time. The caster will be able to conjure up three cursed spears at a time or at once before initiating a ten-second cooldown to replenish each spear.
Rank 1
A spell pulled from the deepest depths of the void that allows the caster to destroy their enemies using darkness itself with a cooldown of ten seconds.
Rank 1
A spell that allows the caster to call upon a bolt of lightning, striking down any enemy they wish to target. Inflicts internal damage from the electricity coursing through their body once struck by the bolt with a cooldown of ten seconds.
Rank 1
With this spell, the caster is capable of gathering mana from within themselves and around them, condensing the mass of energy before releasing it all at once, resulting in a devastating burst of power that will blow away your foes and possibly even destroy them depending on the power. The cooldown is one minute.
Unlike before, Hazel was given more options of what spells to choose. So, she took a moment to read through them all before making a decision.
The life drain spell piqued her interest quite a bit. Not only would she drain the life force of her enemy, but she would also simultaneously be replenishing herself in the process. If she had this spell, Hazel didn’t have to worry about running out of mana. All she needed to do was find a player or monster and take their life force.
While that sounded grim, Hazel had already crossed the point of no return after killing Soren and the rest of her party. Even if they were scumbags, they were still humans, and she took their lives.
However, despite how good the spell was, she couldn’t select it for two reasons. The first reason was its current use. Much like the Raise Dead spell, Life Drain was completely useless to her due to one glaring problem; the Fractured humans.
They weren’t exactly alive and were nothing more than hollow husks of their former selves. Which meant they possessed no life force, ergo, the spell was worthless while she was stuck in this dungeon. And while she could still select the spell and simply wait until she was finally out of the dungeon, there was the other reason why she couldn’t pick it.
By selecting Life Drain, Hazel would most likely get addicted to taking the life force of players and monsters, essentially making her a life-stealing monster. While the possibility of that was low, she still couldn’t risk possessing such a spell.
As for the remaining spells, all of them were attack-oriented. And even if she went through them all, Hazel already knew which spell she wanted. It was the Cursed Spear spell. Considering her current spell arsenal, Cursed Spear fit right up her alley. That and she had been waiting to find another curse-related spell.
There was also the little feature where she could summon three cursed spears before receiving a ten-second cooldown for each spear thrown. While a bit taxing in terms of time, that in itself, was extremely valuable to Hazel.
Her other options if she didn’t decide on Cursed Spear would’ve been either Mana Burst or Aether Strike. While the one-minute cooldown was a bit of a pain, Hazel could see herself using it as a last resort type spell that could save her in the nick of time.
As for Aether strike, the concept of the spell being derived from the heavenly realm intrigued her. What exactly was this Heavenly Realm like? And why were mages capable of harnessing something from that realm? Hazel wanted to know but held back since she had a proper build going for her already.
And with her decision already made, Hazel soon selected her spell.
[You have chosen The Cursed Spear Spell!]
Hazel’s smile deepened upon reading the message. “Alright, let’s see just how strong this spell really is.”
The mage turned toward the horde, her intentions visible on her face as she stared at the group of targets before her. She then raised her spear toward the shambling Fractured and focused on summoning her cursed spear.
A moment later, a menacing violet javelin condensed of pure cursed energy manifested before the mage. It hovered in the air for a moment, waiting to be used. Hazel admired the cursed spear for a moment, mesmerized by the malicious spell.
Then, with a single thought, she willed the cursed spear forward, hurling it into the horde of Fractured humans. The spell easily tore through its targets, leaving a path of purple fragments dispersing in the air before abruptly disappearing.
Hazel witnessed the destruction created by her spear with widened eyes and a wider grin on her face.
Almost immediately after, Hazel conjured the remaining two spears, watching them materialize in a violent matter with purple ethereal wisps emitting from the spell as if they were being created from a dark and malicious force beyond her comprehension.
With the spells materialized, the mage wasted no time and hurled both of them into the horde, watching the devastation brought upon the cursed javelins. In the back, Astrid and Nycteris watched in both shock and awe at the power of Hazel’s new spell.
After hurling her final two cursed spears, she now had to wait at least thirty seconds to use all three of them again. Satisfied, she then turned around and faced her allies, her wide and menacing grin remaining on her face.
“Well, I know what I’m going to be using a lot during our little grind fest,” She beamed like a young girl that found interesting toy to use.