When Langa woke up the following day, he debated for a while whether to sell Psike's healing sac or use it, but in the end, he decided that there was a reason why Adtonifulmin had given it back to him. He figured he should use it before he went hunting to improve his chances against the voidents. He sat in a lotus position in his room and put the sac inside his mouth. It tasted like a really dry lemon. It was acidic on his tongue, but as soon as he swallowed it, he felt the acid seeping into him. It was refreshing as the heat spread throughout his body.

[You have swallowed a product rich in life energy and touched by a god of life. +1 VIT]

[Your skill, Regeneration (F) has increased to Beginner Level 3]

That was a great improvement for a new skill. Because Regeneration was an F-rank skill, it seemed to improve in rank faster than his other higher-ranked skills. So far, this was the first consumable that permanently increased any of his stats. It probably only worked that way because of what Adtonifulmin had done, though.

"Thank you, Lord Adtonifulmin," Langa said with a smile. It was time to begin the day's hunt in earnest now that he was feeling a little more confident.

He was finally going to do what had to be done, even though he was dreading it. His mother was dead, so he had to find a way to bury her somehow. If what Adtonifulmin said was true, then the only place that he could think of for her soul was to commit it to her ancestors. He didn't know why he was doing this to himself given that her belief in the spiritual was one of the reasons why she refused to raise a cursed child. He figured it was better to get it over with as he also needed to do a cleansing ritual to cleanse himself from the spiritual energy, umnyama, of losing a mother.

"Eish!" Langa groaned. Where the hell was he supposed to find a goat for the cleansing ritual in this world?

No matter how hard he had searched in the past few days, he couldn’t find a place that sold the live goats that he needed for his ritual, or a spiritual place suitable for him to bid his mother farewell. In desperation, he even prayed to Adtonifulmin for guidance on this matter.

To optimise his time, he did some research on the map of Risa Province, looking for places that were both spiritually rich and had nearby bodies of water close to the area where the escaped Accari Crows had been last spotted.

The voidents couldn't have gone far because the Guardians were patrolling this area heavily, and there were no teleportation wheels nearby. With fresh tracks from the campsite where he'd killed the rogue voident, he was able to track where the remaining two voidents had run off to, but the scent of life grew cold as he came to an interesting field.

Surprisingly, he found a large yellow zone close to Retessa Range with a pond that people claimed had spirits running around at night, and corrupted goat monsters grazed nearby. Had Adtonifulmin answered his prayer and led him here or was it a coincidence?

He put his hands together and closed his eyes. "Thank you for leading me here, Lord Adtonifulmin," he said. He had to believe that this was his god's doing. Wasn't that what faith was all about?

Even though there was no message from his master, he felt warmth bubbling up into him from the divine nexus, the connection the two of them shared.

He mapped out the area with the corrupted goat monsters, as it was close to where the voidents’ breath of life disappeared. The more he followed their tracks, the thinner their breath became. They must have been hiding in the yellow zone because there were no neutral or red settlements in this area that had teleportation wheels.

Langa figured that if he went to hunt the corrupted goats, the voidents would try to ambush him and he could take them out. The problem was that the corrupted level 9 goats travelled as a pack led by a level 10 corrupted goat boss monster. He could take them all out with time of course, but that would leave him vulnerable to an attack from the voidents. To take them all down at once, he would need to use either Thunderbird's Stunning Strike or his Lightning Lance.

His best option was to find someone to kill the goats for him while he dealt with the voidents.

Just when he thought he had a way forward, he noticed a path off the mountain that was brimming with life. He walked towards the mana-filled ravine cautiously, wondering if there were monsters there. To his surprise, however, he received a surprising notification when he reached it.

[Congratulations, you have found the dungeon Nitract's Ravine.]

Wow, he hadn't expected to find a dungeon while searching for voidents. Was this also Adtonifulmin's providence? He wondered if he should check it out now or if that would be him postponing what he needed to do. Would pushing back dealing with his mother's death be him avoiding confronting his past again?

But what kind of player would he be if he ignored a dungeon right in front of him?

[The Diverse Vodun Pantheon god: Xêbioso; Vodun of Thunder and Speed, wonders if you would be willing to test your speed for him, perhaps you may receive his favour once again.]

That was a strange thing to say since the Vodun hadn't communicated much with Langa since he'd turned down his Sponsorship Challenge. Since he was an African god, Langa wanted him to remain on his side so he could give him some divine skills later.

"Is there something special about this dungeon? Do you want me to complete it?" he asked, but the Vodun did not respond. Ugh, gods could be so fickle.

Langa found a secluded rock and sat down, searching the Dent for any information about this dungeon. If it was something he could clear in a day, then he would do it.

*

Nitract’s Ravine was located inside a small narrow steep-sided valley. If he had accepted Xebioso's Sponsorship Challenge, then this was where his trial would have been held. Unlike Adtonifulmin, Xebioso was also a god of speed, so Langa wondered if he would have passed it. Doing the dungeon without a quest would not yield as much as it would had he been given a quest. Still, he was sure this would get his blood pumping and perhaps earn him something he could sell.

He'd been interested in clearing it once he found out that it was a timed dungeon. The time limit to clear it was an hour.

When Langa stood in front of the dungeon he saw a wooden door in front of him and on it was the name of the dungeon as well as a list of the top three completion times.

[Nitract's Ravine: Fastest completion times

1. Farina D. Philanez Gouas- 22 minutes (Level 12) - A-Rank

2. Perinda Housci - 23 minutes 11 seconds - (Level 11) - S-Rank

3. ??? (The Artist) -23 minutes 15 seconds. - (level 12 - A-Rank]

He frowned when he saw a detestable name on the list. It made sense, though, Perinda had moved very fast when Langa encountered him. Even if he didn’t break the record, Langa wanted to knock Perinda out of second place. With a confident smirk on his face, he tightened his grip on his spear and prepared himself to enter the dungeon. The dungeon information read as follows:

Nitract’s Ravine

Unclaimable

Dungeon Level:

10

Dungeon Rank:

Trial

Dungeon Type:

Timed

Dungeon Restrictions:

Dungeon Areas are restricted to only players who have never completed this dungeon before

Party Members:

Min 1, Max 1

Party Member Levels:

Min 10, Max 12

Remaining Full Delves:

Infinite

Available Boss Respawns:

N/A

Once he opened the door, he received a prompt.

[Welcome to Nitract’s Ravine.

Before you enter, a system contract must be signed.

No filming is allowed inside the dungeon.

The details of this trial may not be discussed in the presence of anyone who has not taken part in the trial.

You have 60 minutes to complete all 5 Trials without dying.

Accept Conditions: Y/N?]

“Yes, I accept,” Langa said impatiently. He was itching to complete this dungeon as it was going to be his first time attack dungeon.

There was a timer at the edge of Langa’s vision, counting down from 60 minutes. If there were five trials, he wanted to break the record, and that meant he was aiming for 20 minutes. He would have four minutes to complete each Trial. A notification appeared in front of him as he opened the door to start the first trial.

[Welcome to Nitract’s First Trial (⅕).

Trial 1: Lurking Shadows.

Rules:

No Active Skills may be used.

Goal: Reach the end of the path without dying]

A dark path waited for him beyond the door and the first thing he saw was the thick black fog obscuring his view. The end of the path was not hard to miss, it was the only light in this place, marked by a red glowing sign that read: FINISH LINE.

He knew that he was not alone because he could hear shrieks and agonised voices from the shadows moving within the black fog. Long black nails caught him in the arms, nearly tearing his armour, but before another shadow creature could sink its teeth into his shoulder, Langa darted away.

This had to be the creepiest challenge he had ever faced. The silhouettes of tall, shadowy and stealthy wolves with long tails and sharp claws stalked him from the darkness. There were many of them, so he equipped his Avatar title so he could sense them coming. He began to fight back with Tonare, and sensing their presence was honestly not too hard as they howled every time he struck them. The problem was that Tonare just went through the creatures without causing damage unless he infused his mana into the glaive.

The shadow wolves started howling and clinging to him, their sharp teeth on his skin as they crawled over him like bugs. Langa shuddered, trying to throw them off, but more and more of them joined the others, slowly sucking away his health and preventing him from moving. He tried to Flash Step away, but the skill refused to activate. Right, no active skills could be used in this trial.

He decided to literally shake them off and used his high agility to spin in one place over and over again at an alarmingly fast speed, and the shadow wolves couldn't hold on to him. Even when he consciously stopped spinning, his body spun out of control until the momentum was gone. Oh man, he was dizzy as fuck as he started running towards the finish line again.

Three wolves stood on two feet in front of him as he neared the halfway point, blades in their hands. Langa had no idea how they were able to swing them, they were wolves for fuck's sake. His quick reflexes allowed him to fend off two of the creatures with Tonare as he blocked their razor-sharp blades. The third moved swiftly and stabbed him in the back while Langa was dealing with the other two. Shit, an unnatural pain erupted in there, and before he could move, he felt the shadow wolf's mouth on him sucking away the blood that flowed from his back.

"Fuck you!" Langa pivoted on his right leg, using his Legacy of The Tonare Thunderbird skill to bring the lightning-infused blade of the glave right into the wolf's neck. He started to run once again, but dozens of blade-wielding shadow wolves stood in his path. But Langa was not one to back down from a challenge. He did not want to use up his attribute on the first trial as he wasn't sure if he would be able to use it again.

Fuck. If he wanted to escape, he had no choice but to use his jacket’s Distortion Skill. While invisible, he took out the lightning mana core on which the magic circle for Lightning Lance was inscribed. He then infused the mana into the magic circle slowly and carefully. His Casting Speed was terrible, and it took him almost twenty seconds just to cast the spell, but it was worth it.

He felt his mana leave him and converge in the air to form a large spear, almost five metres long. With time he knew he could control the length. Since this was the first time he’d used it in a real battle, the lightning lance looked unstable and he held on to his faith desperately to try and control it. The lance released a discharge of electricity, heating the air around Langa and creating a shock wave as lightning struck the shadows and obliterated the entire landscape.

With nothing standing in his way, Langa tried to run towards the finish line but he felt dizzy and nauseous as he staggered to the ground. Shit, he was entering mana exhaustion, and he hastily drank a mana potion. Since it was a regular potion, not a lightning mana potion, he only received half the mana it contained. He had to convert 50 Stamina to 5 Mana, an incredible waste, but at least he no longer felt like he was about to faint. He could not use his health as he had lost a lot of it from the fucking shadows sucking the life out of him.

With his mana slightly replenished, he finally made his way to the finish line. The glowing red sign was attached to a long wooden door and when Langa touched it, he received a notification.

[Congratulations! You have passed Nitract’s First Trial

Time remaining: 55 minutes: 38 seconds

.

Open the door to begin the second trial.]

It had taken him 4 minutes and 22 seconds to complete the first trial. Shit, he was already running behind his goal. He hastily opened the door to the second trial.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

[Welcome to Nitract’s Second Trial (2/5).]

[Trial 2: Bridge of Light

Rules:

No Divine Skills may be used.

Nothing may be consumed.

Goal: Reach the end of the path without dying]

In the empty darkness stood a long bridge made of light, Langa eyed the seemingly sturdy structure with caution. He could see a red glowing sign that read: FINISH LINE in the distance, and to reach it, he had to cross the bridge. There were many paths on the bridge, each separated by hedges with white leaves and branches and all of them seemed to lead to the finish line. Langa tried to sense any life around him, any monsters, but there was nothing.

This was either the easiest or the trickiest trial, so he decided to take the straight path, running straight towards the glowing sign. He should have made it in less than 30 seconds, but even after a minute, he was still running, the destination distance not changing. Frowning, he looked back, to see how much distance he had travelled, only to find that he was back at the beginning of the path.

That was weird, so for his second try, he chose the left path, and it wound around, turning into a maze and for over a minute he kept going in circles until he found himself back at the beginning.

While on the third path, his attention was drawn by what sounded like the crying of a child and he quickly ran towards the sound. A reed cradle sat on the ground, a human baby lying inside it, crying. Why would there be a baby in a dungeon, he wondered worriedly as he bent down to pick it up. But his hand only touched the air, and there was no cradle or baby, instead, when he looked up, he was back at the beginning of the path.

“Fuck!” Langa cursed, realising what was going on. Shit. He realised that illusions masked the true path, and one wrong step could spell disaster for him. This was a problem because of how low Langa’s mental resistance was, he couldn't tell the difference between what was real and what wasn't, which would slow him down.

He wasn't going to make it in time if he wasted time on a trial he had no hope of passing. He had to think of a way to bypass this trial completely. He took a deep breath; he could see the finish line from here, so he would create his own path.

If he activated his attribute and set the finish line as his destination, his velocity would make a path for him, untouched by illusion. Langa closed his eyes and started jumping up and down in place in order to increase his heartbeat. The faster his heart beat, the slower his perception of time would be, and the faster he would be able to move.

He jogged in one place, wasting his stamina until he felt that his heart was beating faster than normal. It wasn't drastically fast, so the time would not be slowed all that much, but he activated his attribute and chose the finish line as his direction. 50% of his total stamina was consumed, and his velocity propelled him forward in a straight line.

Finally, he reached the finish line, crashing straight through the bright sign. However, when he knelt on the ground in exhaustion, his stamina was nearly depleted, something heavy crashed into him and he fell completely into the ground.

[Congratulations! You have passed Nitract’s Second Trial

Time remaining: 53 minutes, 02 seconds

.

The third trial has begun.]

[Welcome to Nitract’s Third Trial (3/5).]

[Trial 3:

Rules:

No Divine Skills or Weapons/Items may be used

Nothing may be consumed.

Goal: Reach the end of the path without dying]

What the fuck? He barely had a moment to process this as a massive, heavy foot headed straight for his face and he rolled away as the impact hit the hard ground with a force that vibrated through his body. He quickly stood up and readied Tonare. His stamina was just above 7%, and if he let it drop any further, he would go under the stamina debuff.

He looked up to see what had attacked him and to his horror, it was a bull monster with spiral horns and black fanged teeth. It was a vorwig and there was a whole herd of them stomping hungrily towards him, blocking the way to the finish line.

Before the vorwigs could reach him, Langa dashed past them without engaging, leaving them dazed. Fire jutted out from the monsters’ mouths and it was all Langa could do to dodge and sidestep forward. It didn't help that there were large rocks littering the land and he had to move through them too.

He ran in zig-zag between the monsters, and it was good for practising his acceleration and deceleration. The more he alternated between running fast and stopping suddenly, the better he became at stopping without skidding forward. The vorwigs were big and strong, but could barely touch him with his speed. He saw the end of the line as the land sloped downwards.

As he ran down the slope, the vorwings started sending the massive boulders hurtling towards him downhill. He could have gone around them, but that would slow his time, so he jumped over them. One by one, he ran, jumping over a boulder in front of him. Langa's agility was put to the test as he moved between the boulders.

It felt like he was running the hurdles, just with deadly beasts chasing him without a weapon.

The finish line this time glowed red below, so he had to get down there. “Leap of faith,” he muttered as he sprinted towards the edge of the cliff, his muscles tense. When he reached the edge, Langa pushed off with all his might, reached the end of the lane, and jumped down into the chasm below.

He landed on top of the door with the glowing FINISH LINE sign and his landing was surprisingly not painful.

[Congratulations! You have passed Nitract’s Third Trial

Time remaining: 49 minutes, 11 seconds

.

The fourth trial will begin when you open the door.]

Langa was close to breaking the record, so he didn't allow himself time to catch his breath or rest. He opened the door to the next trial.

[Welcome to Nitract’s Fourth Trial (4/5).]

[Trial 4: Trial by the Arcane

Rules:

No Active or Divine Skills may be used.

Goal: Reach the end of the path without dying]

He stepped into what looked like an underground lake frozen in ice. Stone walls surrounded him on all sides, with multiple magic circles inscribed on them. Langa’s breath hitched. The only light he could see was a door written in glowing red letters about 500 metres away, [FINISH LINE].

It was so dark that he was beginning to feel trapped inside these walls and before the claustrophobia could hit him, he stepped onto the thin ice. As soon as he took that step, the magic circles began to glow and shoot something towards him. But Langa had already ducked, continuing his run. He needed to reach the end as soon as possible before he began to feel suffocated.

The bolts he had dodged landed on the ice, causing it to explode, and water came rushing up to the surface.

“Shit!” Langa cursed. Now he was running even more out of time as, if the ice broke, he would fall into the freezing lake and die since he could not swim.

This time when the ten magic bolts shot towards him, he was quick on his feet, dodging the bolts and using Tonare to block a few of them, sending them back towards the wall of rock, but some still sank into the ice, the water coming up nearly unbalancing him as he once more ran as fast as he could, one of the bolts struck his arm, and pain exploded inside the muscle as the bolt tore his skin open with no regard for his armour. He would have screamed if he didn’t have to use the other hand to block more bolts as he continued running. With each step, he tried to be faster than the released bolts, but it seemed as if more were released whenever he took a step.

Panting, he came to a standstill as what looked like thirty bolts raced through the air towards him, his heart pumping furiously, he gripped Tonare only slightly wincing as he lifted his injured but slowly regenerating arm. He took the defensive stance of Legacy of The Tonare Thunderbird’s Spearmanship and spun the glaive with both hands as the Legacy had taught him. Thanks to the skill’s Intermediate rank, the gust of wind he generated with how fast he was spinning the glaive knocked more than twenty of the bolts off course, but unfortunately, two bolts struck him, one on the leg and two on the abdomen.

He lost his balance and fell into the lake. The wash of cold water nearly made him freeze, but he let go of Tonare, leaving it on the surface and held onto the the barely stable block of ice closest to him. Frostbite clawed at his fingers, and he forced himself up, kicking his numb legs in the water to remain stable as he slowly pushed his upper body onto the slippery ice, he could not do it quickly for fear that his weight would break the ice.

Shaking like a leaf, he finally managed to pull himself up. He quickly moved up to a more stable patch of ice, hoping to catch his breath, but of course, the bolts started again.

His speed was powered by his agility, and he was much slower now that the cold was in his bones. As more bolts rained down on him, Langa remained composed, deflecting them with his spearmanship skill. All the magic circles lit up and, Langa leapt forward like a fucking cheetah, dodging and deflecting the bolts.

Once he was within 50 metres of the end, Langa damned it all to hell and with one more burst of speed, he sped towards the finish line, the ice cracking behind him.

[Congratulations! You have passed Nitract’s Fourth Trial

Time remaining: 41minutes: 46 seconds

.

Open the door to begin the final trial.]

“I fucking hate the cold! I have never seen snow in my fucking life!” he screamed in anger, still shaking. Did ice resistance fall under water resistance, fire resistance or physical body resistance? With how little he seemed to be safe, he was inclined to believe it was water resistance because his whole body was trembling as he sat down, trying to let himself dry.

He had already spent 18 minutes before he got here. He doubted that he was going to make it in time to beat Perinda’s 23 minutes once he opened the door to the final challenge.

[Welcome to Nitract’s Final Trial (5/5).]

[Final Trial:

Rules:

No passive, active or divine skills may be used in this Challenge. No attribute may be used. This Challenge is a test of the player’s balance and reflexes.

Goal: Reach the second mountain alive.]

He was in a new land again. Two large mountains were in front of him, separated by a distance of roughly 250 metres. It was a distance he could walk in less than three minutes or run in less than 20 seconds normally. Now, however, there was one tiny problem. The only thing connecting the two mountains was a thin tightrope.

The narrow strip of rope was plagued by a storm. The wind was violent and deadly as it filled the air. Rain poured down from the sky above, shaking the trees all over the two mountains.

Langa looked down below, he could see very little in the thick white mist, but he could hear the howls of beasts, the hissing of predators and the pained screams of death. He did not activate his Avatar title because, even without it, he could feel the dangerous life below.

He stood at the edge of the platform, and the tightrope swayed gently in the violent breeze. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the thin wire, feeling the familiar thrill of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

As he began to walk, the rope swayed more violently than he had anticipated, causing him to wobble unsteadily. His agility kept him somewhat stable, but it was hard to move with the wind and rain fighting against his entire body. He was not going to make it on time. Should he go down and run on solid ground instead?

But he tossed out that idea the moment he looked down, where the mist was thinner. Slitted eyes looked up at him, and he saw numerous large snakes that would give an anaconda an inferiority complex watching him. With each step, he could feel the eyes of the snakes boring into him, their hunger palpable even from such a distance. Langa's heart raced in his chest as he focused all his concentration on maintaining his balance.

His hands shook as his heartbeat intensified. He was terrified, but he was also excited. His blood in his throat, the wind in his hair, and his whole body trembling, he pushed one foot in front of the other. One wrong step, and he would die. Fuck, it was so thrilling.

He knew he should walk slowly and carefully but the adrenaline in his body was taking over.

‘150 metres.’

This was the stimulation he'd been craving. He latched on to it and quickened his pace. The deities watching him thought he was insane, but Langa could feel more acutely than ever, Adtonifulmin’s excitement as he watched him eagerly putting his life on the line, almost as if he were doing it himself.

‘100 metres.’

More stimulation, Langa wanted more, so he broke into a run, fighting against the wind. One foot almost slipped and the lightning in Langa’s nerves shook him and he grinned, balancing himself as much as possible as he ran the tightrope like it was a track field. Time seemed to slow down as he inched his way along the tightrope, the snakes below now hissing and lunging towards him. With each passing second, the rope seemed to grow thinner and more fragile, threatening to snap at any moment. Langa's reflexes kicked into high gear as he quickened his pace, his muscles straining with the effort.

‘50 metres.’

But just as he neared the end, the force of his speed was too much for the thin wire.

He watched the countdown go down second by second, and Langa could feel the rope beginning to give way beneath him. He pushed himself to move even faster, his heart pounding in his ears. And then, with a loud snap, the tightrope broke, nearly sending Langa hurtling towards the ground below. To prevent this, he moved his lightning mana down to his feet, shocking them into moving, and he jumped. He leapt as high as he could into the air, knowing he was crazy for hoping to cover the 20 to 30 metres in one stride, his heart pounding in his throat.

He soared through the air like a bolt of lightning. Time seemed to slow as he extended his spear, the tip grazing the edge of the platform. He landed gracefully on solid ground with a twist, the adrenaline of the leap still coursing through his veins. He'd landed on the thorny grass of the mountain, the thorns cutting into his skin, boots skidding as they touched the ground.

He couldn't believe he fucking made it.

He laughed. It was a hysterical, insane laugh that took the air out of his lungs. He felt Adtonifulmin laughing as well, there was no message but Langa could feel that his patron deity had been watching him with worry, and he thought Langa’s final move was just as funny as he did, so he continued laughing as he lay on the ground.

Langa couldn't help but grin as he realised he had somehow stupidly overcome the challenge and the excitement of the experience still surged through him, leaving him feeling more alive than ever before. That had been fucking awesome. Were there more dungeons like this? Damn, if he could spend the rest of his life just racing through such dungeons, he would be happy. Looking around, he found himself in a brightly lit room with nothing but a stand in the middle of it, where sat the dungeon clavis and a bronze chest.

He walked towards it and touched the golden key. He wasn't sure how to clear a dungeon like this one since it wasn't a corrupted dimension, but in the end, it didn't matter because notifications filled his vision.

[CONGRATULATIONS! You have cleared the dungeon: Nitract's Ravine within the time limit.

+1000 EXP

You cleared the dungeon in 20 minutes and 02 seconds!

Clear Rank: S

+332.5 Karma]

[Uncommon Achievement! You have broken the record set by: Farina D. Philanez Gouas

+1 Skill Point]

[For your Uncommon Achievement, a system announcement will be broadcast to all the mortals on the 1st Floor as well as those alongside whom you hold the record. Would you like to change your announced name to a pseudonym or a title?]

"Use my name," Langa said clearly. He wanted Perinda to know that he had personally knocked him down to third place. After the announcement, Langa received a notification stating that his Renown had increased by 2%.

[Thanks to your Uncommon Achievement, you have brought glory to the Name of your patron deity.

+5% Faith]

[The Diverse Vodun Pantheon god: Xêbioso; Vodun of Thunder and Speed, is impressed by your performance and offers you a gift.]

A small chest materialised next to the bronze one, and this one was not locked. Langa walked towards it and sheathed Tonare to free his hands. Then he opened it. Inside the chest were two items, a pair of gloves and beautiful brown spotted leather boots. He took out the items and scanned them.

[Bruhoarn Cheetahskin Boots and Glove Set

Set Rank: Rare

Gloves:

Effects: Gloves with good mana absorption. +5% improvement to mana transference (mana infusion and mana absorption)

Boots:

Effects: Skill: Jumper

The user can leap Agility/3 metres into the air without taking fall damage. Upon landing, the user gains a brief moment of increased agility, allowing for seamless transitions into combat or exploration.

Set Effect:+1 Mind, +2 Agility

Restrictions: Level 10+ and Agility 50+]

“Sweet! Thank you Vodun,” Langa said with a grin. He had been meaning to buy new boots. He quickly equipped the set. The gloves were quite comfortable, and they surprisingly melted into his skin as if they weren't there at all. The boots were a nice shade of brown that complemented his jumpsuit so that was good too.

He then picked up the locked chest and placed it inside his Feathervault Bag. He wished he was carrying the opus key and could open it now, but he didn’t like carrying it around as it was too dangerous. He would have to open it once he got back to his room.

Now that he had cleared the dungeon, Langa was teleported out and found himself back at the entrance. His name was now in first place. He hoped Perinda was pissed off.

*

It was dark when Langa finally got back to the Valley of Guardians. He went straight into his room, excited to open the chest and check the reward from the dungeon. Surely, it wasn't just experience and the boots, right? It was a shame that he had not done the dungeon as a Challenge from the Vodun, but at least he gave him the boots and gloves.

He sat on the bed and retrieved the opus key, using it to open the chest. The chest contained only one item. A single page from a book. The book was written in neat, beautiful red symbols that filled the entire page. It was in a language that Langa could not read.

[Nitract's Gift (Page 5)

Item Rank: Uncommon

Description: This is a quest item, a page from the Legendary Artefact Nitract's Book of Reflexes. It contains a clue to the location of the closest page.

Effects: After reading the page, Casting Speed +5%]

Before Langa could express his surprise, he received a quest.

NITRACT'S BOOK OF REFLEXES QUEST #1

Before his Ascension, Nitract placed a spell on the precious artefact he created but no longer had use for. He wanted it to be obtained by someone worthy of his power, thus he tore the book into fifteen pages. Since the first page was found in the 1773rd Deiwos Tower, all the pages from Nitract's Book of Reflexes will be drawn to this Tower and appear in different types of dungeons.

Quest Rank: Legendary

Quest Objectives:

-Collect the fifteen pages of Nitract's Book of Reflexes

-Bind the pages together and form the completed version of Nitract's Book of Reflexes

Time Limit: Before the other owners of the pages compile the book. Quest Limitations:

Only available to the first five players who:

- Have obtained a Clear Rank of A or above in any of Nitract's Challenge Dungeons

- Have Agility / Mind of 50 or above before level 12

-Possess at least one special stat related to Agility

- Have received the favour of a deity of speed

Progression: 1/15

Pages in possession of other players: 7/15

Unclaimed Pages present in unlocked Floors of the 1773rd Dewios Tower: 4/15

Total Pages currently unavailable: 3/15

Cautions: You are not the only player taking this quest

Quest Rewards:

Divine Skill

Failure Penalty:

-Lose all the pages obtained from Nitract's Book of Reflexes

"Awesome," Langa said with a grin, wondering when he would have time to complete this quest.

Now, he needed to get some rest so that he would be in good shape to hunt the runaway voidents and complete the cleansing ritual the following day.