Once the group went through the doors to head out of the circular trap room (or was it a quest room?), Mikella finally checked the prompts that were begging to be heard in her mind.
> Level up! You are now Level 48. You gain 6 free points (6 FP total).
>
> You have gained +9 STR from your class.
> You have gained +9 DEX from your class.
> You have gained +9 END from your class.
…..
> Mana Perception Level Up! It is now Level 6.
>
> You have gained +3 INT from your skill.
> You have gained +3 SPI from your skill.
…..
> Sword Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 5.
>
> You have gained +2 STR from your skill.
> You have gained +4 DEX from your skill.
…..
> Axe Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 9.
>
> You have gained + 2 STR from your skill.
> You have gained +2 END from your skill.
…..
> Spear Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 2.
>
> You have gained +2 STR from your skill.
> You have gained +1 DEX from your skill.
…..
> Bow Mastery Level up! It is now Level 4.
>
> You have gained +2 DEX from your skill.
> You have gained +2 END from your skill.
…..
> Hammer Mastery Level Up! It is now level 8.
>
> You have gained +2 STR from your skill.
> You have gained +2 END from your skill.
…..
> Heavenly Strike Level Up! It is now Level 8.
>
> Decreased stamina and mana consumption (x2).
> Increased damage (x2).
…..
> Forced Regeneration Level Up! It is now Level 6.
>
> Increase regeneration rate.
> Decrease damage needed to regenerate.
She increased not only her skill levels, but her own level as well, which was becoming a rarity after all this time. This also meant Zeke raised levels as well, as proof by Identifying him to show he was a Level 48 Runist.
But what truly fascinated her the most was the brand new General Skill she learned.
> General Skill learned: Lightning Mastery
…..
> Lightning Mastery (Uncommon), Level 1
> You have understood and accepted lightning to be part of your essence. You can conjure lightning made from your mana, controlling it with your will. Your mastery over lightning magic increases according to the level of the skill and the current Intelligence stat.
Lightning Mastery. Supposedly a mage-related skill that allowed mages to use magic, including spells that would normally take several skill slots to learn. As you keep increasing the level, you can learn different types of spells and make them stronger as well.
For someone like her, learning a magic skill like this was something she hadn’t expected to get. She figured she might have to try to get it for the sake of her attunement, but she never actually planned on getting the skill. It was something of an afterthought–but she certainly wouldn’t consider it a waste.
Though that also brought about a rather unsettling notification right afterwards.
> Your General Skill list has been filled. There are no more remaining slots to learn further General Skills.
An unfortunate, but inevitable outcome. At some point she was going to fill up her list with the rate she was learning skills, and she was glad that she at least got a skill that she never thought she could’ve learned without spending a whole crap load of time into it.
But that also meant learning any new skill, perhaps even a different weapon skill, was a no go. She was hoping that she could put in another weapon skill for the possibility of fusing the other weapon skills together, but she supposed that it was enough daydreaming for her.
She told all this to the others, getting her various responses. Zeke, obviously, was ecstatic from her learning a new magic-related skill that reflected well with her attunement. Myra and Piker, unfortunately, wasn’t seething with envy that she liked to see, realizing that it was a matter of time before Mikella ended up learning a skill that even warriors like them would have a hard time learning for their own attunements.
The Journeymen knew this was bound to happen, but Val at least showed genuine giddiness as she excitedly talked about what to do to further Mikella’s training.
It wasn’t just the Lightning Mastery skill either–she gained plenty of skill levels throughout the progress. The best part about the increases isn’t the amount of stat points, at least not anymore. After the enhanced fruits increased her stat pool even higher, she was more interested in just how adept she was in handling her skills.
Her Mana Perception leveling like crazy was also an indicator of how she managed to learn Lightning Mastery. That imagery stuff worked extremely well despite her only trying it out for a few moments. Her tactic of doing this sort of thing during a life-or-death battle paid off, and it even completed the quest in time, though it did dampen her spirit a little when she found out the lords had to come in and kill some of the lizards off since her control was, to put it lightly–pretty shitty.
Still, the notifications were proof that she was doing something right.
Everyone else also agreed that she had improved a lot more than before. Compared to ordinary experts, she was well and above them all, barely close to a Journeyman.
Though the difference between an extremely powerful Expert, and a newly born Journeyman was entirely too wide a gap to cross. At least that’s what Val warned her about in case they do face the Bastion soldiers when they get out. She wasn’t trying to put her down, but rather warn her that she needed to pull out every bit of power like she just displayed toward the lizardmen at the Journeyman soldiers, even if they are only in the low-end of level 60.
While they gushed about her increase in power, the hall seemed to slowly change towards a longer passageway, as though they were entering further into the strange temple-like theme going on here. The brasiers began appearing as they were lit with an orange tinted flame, lighting the hall.
With the hall being the way it was, it wasn’t possible for lizards to ambush them, so their footsteps took over the serene silence they were finally able to achieve.
Soon enough they entered through another set of doors, this time it displayed a large chamber that could fit an entire city block.
Of course, that was all turned moot when a gust of chilling air swept through them. It was a cold that seeped deep into their bones as a shiver ran down through her body.
“Jesus Christ, it’s cold!” Mikella said, rubbing her arms already. Even if she had leather armor covering every facet of her skin, the cold air still managed to get through to her.
Myra looked worse off, her teeth chattered from the intense cold. She kept rubbing her arms like Mikella did, and she even noticed that she was using a bit of her Fire mana to warm her up as trails of steam started bellowing out of her.
Her breath became visible vapor as the chamber looked oddly normal, like they entered into one of the inner rooms of the temples. While statues hung about here and there, they didn't show any sign of history, as though they were placed there randomly.
This tower had no history, being just recently born, so she didn’t expect anything valuable to be here, at least historically.
“Why is it so cold here?” Zeke asked, his own breath visible from the intense cold. “I didn’t even feel a thing before we opened the doors.”
“Probably the effect of the tower,” Cloud surmised. “I can’t help but keep thinking that this tower is trying to push the otherworlders to be prepared for everything. Zeke, Mikella–any thoughts on what to expect?”
“A boss, most likely,” Mikella answered with ease.
“B-But I don’t see anything,” Myra said, her teeth still shattering as her Fire Mana was just slowly warming her up. It wouldn’t be good to overdo it and drain her mana.
“We gotta go further in,” Zeke said, moving forward.
The group did exactly that, looking over at the inside. The floor was made up of marvel tiles that were literally coated in frost. Piker didn’t seem to mind the cold at all as he strutted forward, but he kept pace with everyone else.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
It made sense considering his attunement. As for Myra, her steps were slow but stable. She was slowly getting used to it, but Mikella winced after seeing Myra keep trying to warm herself up. It must be some sort of a side effect for focusing on an element, then being in an area that was opposite of that element.
That normally wouldn’t matter at all if she was stronger than the area itself. But it was clear that this would be a tough battle, even for the Journeymen as their faces were hard and stern.
A few minutes of walking through this large chamber, noticing more of the temple’s structures that seemed to be haphazardly placed around, the group came to a halt. So far, there was nothing around.
“Strange… it should’ve popped up by now,” Zeke said, keeping his head on a swivel as he surveyed the area. “I wonder what’s up.”
“Maybe it’s not here,” Myra offered. She stopped shattering, which was a blessing, but she still had her arms covered with her hands. “It’s not like everything’s the same, right?”
“Maybe, but that makes me worried,” Zeke said, adding to Mikella’s own concern. “We’ve been here for a while now. Sure, it was shorter than our run, but we had it easy with our own skills. But then…”
“Zeke,” Val spoke quietly. “I hear something.”
That immediately got everyone’s attention as Val’s eyes turned sharp, her sword brandished in recognition of an enemy. There, a small gust wheeled in through the area, leaving the others to shiver involuntarily.
Mikella already had her sword up, and Zeke was ready to prop a barrier at a moment’s notice. But nobody was able to predict what was gonna happen next.
Zeke’s chest exploded in a burst of blood, his eyes widening as something suddenly appeared right behind him. He coughed up blood which splattered over his chin as he looked down to find a long blade stabbing right through him.
Before Mikella could even comprehend what just happened, Zeke’’s body was thrown aside as the creature pulled the blade out of him and kicked him to the curve. It blasted Zeke a long distance away, landing straight to a large column of marvel that stood in his path.
“Zeke!”
Mikella shouted, her vision entirely filled with Zeke’s reddish blood. Then she saw nothing but red as she pounced at the creature that slithered across the field of blood.
She swung her sword to the side, but before she even swung, the figure just disappeared. The heavy sword swing left an exertion of force that left a large diagonal cut at one of the nearby columns, but it never caught the enemy.
“Ambush!” Piker shouted. “Healer down!”
“Keep your defense high!” Zacharia shouted as Cloud and Val already went over to Zeke’s side.
Mikella stayed, her face riddled with anger and fear. She wanted to go over where Zeke was, but she knew there wasn’t anything she could do. Her mind became blank as she thought of nothing but to try and find this slithery bastard that did this to him.
It’s fine. Zeke’s tough. I can attest to that.
All that fighting and training made Mikella realize that while Zeke was a support mage, he was a tough guy to take down. He had Pain Resistance, which upped his Endurance, and he had been physically training. Even after having his chest exploding like that could not keep him down. So the least she could do is to tear off the bastard’s head that did this to him.
Her eyes flared with Dragon Eyes to find the creature appearing once again. This time, Piker appeared behind Myra, right where the creature was heading to, and swung right back at it.
The creature blocked Piker’s strike with its sword and backed off, finally revealing its form.
It was… smaller than what Mikella expected. Rather than being a large creature like the wyvern in their first tower, this creature was slim and lean. There was clear muscle tone within its scaled skin, wearing pronounced armor that looked like it could be metal, but was seamless that perfectly welded to its body.
It carried a long blade. It was even longer than its own body, making it seem extremely unwieldy. However, another look revealed that the upper parts of the blade was coated in ice, or rather, completely formed in ice.
It was a lizard creature, but it looked more human than monster, its head still appearing like a lizard, but everything about it, even its eyes, seemed unnaturally human.
She flared Identify, startled at the result.
Lizardman of the Blizzard, Level 81
Holy shit, level 81?
It was certainly higher than any of the creatures she saw so far. It was definitely reaching up to the higher realms of Journeyman. But that wasn’t the worst part.
While the other monsters at that rank were simplistic in nature, this boss clearly wasn’t. It felt like it was born for battle, and not just to survive–but to challenge itself against stronger foes. It covered its shortcomings as it glared at the group with its blue eyes.
Then it turned its head, facing towards another direction. Where Zeke was.
Mikella stopped thinking. “It’s going after Zeke again!”
Everyone charged the moment they realized what it was planning. How the lizardman knew of Zeke’s value trumped Mikella, but all she knew is that Zeke was in further danger.
It might be due to them being otherworlders, and after that missed swing Mikella did, it was proof that Zeke was the ‘weaker’ of the two, hence going after the weaker otherworlder made sense.
But it all turned moot when the lizardman was pushed back by none other than Val who thrusted her sword forward. It made the air quake at her thrust, but the lizardman had an impossible speed that made it disappear in a flash of cold vapor.
“Damn it!” Myra cursed. “The thing’s fast!”
“Val, how’s Zeke?” Mikella still kept her eyes peeled at her surroundings. “Is he–”
“He’s alright, Cloud’s taking care of him,” Val said, also looking out of her surroundings. “Zeke’s quite the toughie. Unfortunately, Cloud, Zacharia, and Zeke are facing a bunch of creatures that suddenly burst through the opening of this room.”
Mikella widened at the realization. The Experts were dumbfounded that more enemies were found right after completing that mini-quest. While they thought there were more than they expected, Mikella remembered the same thing happening after they defeated the wyvern. More knights appeared from the lava chasm that they escaped from, which honestly shouldn’t make any sense.
But once again, the tower makes it known that it was not a normal dungeon. Not in the slightest.
But now that the fear of Zeke’s unknown state was gone, only anger filled her chest as electricity covered her entire body. Her recently gained Lightning Mastery made itself known in her body, her attunement going along with it swimmingly. It sparked, causing the entire chamber to light up from her flashes.
She can’t make any use of it now in its current level, but she was never much of a mage to deal with. Right now, she’ll use the added skill power into her attunement, making it stronger than before.
Now that she caught wind of how it looked and how it moved, she was able to tell where it could land at the very least. But just when she was about to turn after the air coiled behind her, Myra shouted out in alarm.
She turned back to find Myra grimacing, her forearm slashed to near ribbons with blood oozing out like a faucet.
“Son of a bitch!” Myra shouted, her body blazing with fire. “I’ll kill it!”
The flames coalesced and coiled around Myra, and with surprising control as it avoided the others around her. The flames eased the shivering winds for a while, but the creature didn't abate.
A large gust of freezing air soon swallowed the flames whole, eradicating the flames in an instant and leaving Myra gaping in shock.
“Mikella, west!”
Hearing the code, Mikella turned to her left and immediately batted away the longsword aiming for her neck with her blade. She twisted the sword around and swiped at the creature.
The boss retaliated, using its tail to actually push the flat side of the blade away and leaping backwards to avoid another strike. Mikella growled before the creature as it disappeared in a heartbeat, vaporized into a cloud of cold vapor.
“It keeps disappearing,” Val stated, showing a calm stance. It looked like she was still leaving the fight mostly to the Experts, not trying to take the XP away. But her sword remained adamant in her hands. “I’m betting it’s a skill based on the cold. Piker?”
“Yes, Captain,” Piker nodded. “I’m only able to tell because of my attunement. The creature hides itself with the cold winds in the chamber, making it entirely invisible.”
“But we should spot it by now, right? It can’t just disappear anytime it wants,” Mikella called out. That was a cheating ability for sure, especially when it’s so strong and fast as well.
She won’t mention the fact that it reminded her of herself.
“Yes, at some point, it will need to fight,” Piker nodded. “The cold air is everywhere, but it also feels like it’s using it up as it does. It feels less colder now, and that’s why it snuffed out Myra’s flames. It’s trying to kill what it considers a burden before it happens.”
“Hence leaving Zeke in such a state,” Val closed her eyes for a moment. “A coward, then. Mikella, Myra–surely you won’t lose to such a creature?”
“Obviously!” Myra roared.
“I owe it for attacking Zeke,” Mikella said, her tone devoid of any emotion.
“Good. Piker, the next moment it strikes, you tell us. Focus entirely on its surroundings. Myra, when Piker calls out, summon your flames.”
Val ordered, and her words flowed to everyone with ease as Piker’s senses expanded. For a few, breathtaking seconds, nothing occurred.
Then, Piker’s eyes flashed wide. “Now! North!”
Myra whipped out a torrent of flames from every part of her exposed skin, lashing out directly towards their front. Incendiary Grasp came into being, hitting at whatever Piker pointed out.
Just as Piker predicted, a short breath of hiss echoed where the flames hit, and the lizardman pounced upwards. Its body flew as several spikes made entirely of ice, each a few inches in width and a foot in height, struck at them.
Val took her stride and struck each spike down into splinters of frost.
All the while, Mikella flew up with all her skills in motion. Kinetic Manipulation, Sword Mastery, Lightning Mastery, Dragon Eyes, Draconic Fury–All of her skills which boosted her power flared tremendously. Along with Dragon Descent and Aerial Advantage, she flew with extreme precision towards the lizardman.
Her sword glowed with the familiar feeling of Heavenly Strike, and now with its higher level and deeper understanding thanks to using it with her other weapons. It glowed with intense power, her Mana Perception viewing the amount of power rising from them all. Finally, she added in her Sword Art Thunder Strike, giving it the kinetic power and lightning that stacked on top of its already empowered state.
The sword struck true as the lizardmen had no way of returning back into whatever cold vapor it could transform into, the cold air completely desolated thanks to the lightning that became her very being. It was at such a destruction that the entire chamber became bathed in its white flash, consuming everything around her.
In a matter of seconds, Mikella landed on the ground, a smidge off kilter from her usual stance. She’s definitely gonna have to take off points for that one.
Damn, I still think I’m part of the gymnastics match, Mikella chuckled to herself, figuring that nobody would bother deducting points from her.
After all, the lizardman landed right beside her, its corpse now bisected in two as its prolonged lizard face was gaping wide in horror and shock.
> Level up! You are now Level 49. You gain 6 free points (2 FP total).
>
> You have gained +3 STR from your class.
> You have gained +3 DEX from your class.
> You have gained +3 END from your class.
System energy poured into her from the lizardman, but she also felt the strangest sense of familiarity from it just recently. She found out that it was due to the enhanced fruits she ate a while ago, feeling so similar.
Though she frowned when she noticed she only gained one simple level. And not a single skill level.
“Man, it’s gonna take forever to level up,” Mikella commented dryly as she put away the notification. Seeing only one single notification felt lacking despite the major improvements just earlier.
“Alright, I’m back!”
Zeke returned as he ran with a feral grin, but one moment after seeing the still silence that took over the battlefield for a moment left him staggering. After a second of a quick search, he deflated like a balloon.
“And… it’s over. Seriously? Damn…” Zeke said, almost befuddled at the sudden end of a fight. Then he stared wide-eyed at the floor, then at Mikella. “Holy shit, hey! Who’s hurt!?”
Not just Mikella, but Myra, Piker, and Val all looked at each other in confusion. Myra raised her hand up. “Uhh, I got hurt, but it’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad? Then explain where all this blood came from!”
Zeke pointed at the clearly large puddle of straight up blood around their feet. Myra furrowed her brows in confusion, then looked back at her arm. It was bleeding, sure, but it wasn’t as bad to leave a huge bloody puddle behind.
Then Mikella slapped her forehead in recognition. “Zeke, that’s your blood!”
“Oh…” Zeke narrowed his eyes at her, then at the amateur pond of blood. “Ooh… eh, that’s negligible.”
Mikella and Val couldn’t help but laugh as Zeke went ahead to heal up the also chuckling Myra. Piker just shook his head at the result of it all.