Man, Galin wasn’t joking about making some nice things for us. Liam thought to himself as he walked the dark roads of the Tutorial Area.
Galin had shown both he and Alicia how to make a Neurotic Toxin called Staticbolt Paralytic toxin. The Quality of the toxin was average, hence why there was no weak or minor in front of the name.
Using several vials of the Weak Liquified Lightning Mana Extracts in the mix, Galin was able to mix them together to bring the quality from Weak to Average. Something Liam did not know was possible.
He also added some toxins from a creature called a Staticbolt Wasp. A creature that apparently injects a paralyzing poison into their targets to try and paralyze them so the rest of the swarm could finish off their prey.
If you stab, slice or inject this Staticbolt Paralytic Toxin on a target it courses through the target’s blood stream and slowly makes the target feel numb around the area the poison was applied at while it spreads. Shortly after the poison spreads throughout the limb it becomes paralyzed for ten minutes or until the target can get the toxin cleansed.
This poison only spreads out on the limb it was applied to. If you want to make their entire body paralyzed you’d have to inject it around the heart or have them ingest it. If you can’t do that then the user would have to attack each limb separately.
The other item he made was a Chemicalized Creation called Magnetic Shockwave. Just like with the Weak Liquified Lightning Mana Extracts, Galin mixed and created Average Quality Liquified Gravity Extracts.
He also added some other ingredients Liam couldn’t recognize and wasn’t able to assess. This shocked both he and Alicia and asked Galin about it but were only told that they wouldn’t be able to get information on these ingredients since they were from higher leveled dungeons.
Even though Liam wasn’t happy to hear that he still watched Galin go through several different processes making this one item. Each one of these steps he took to make this Chemicalized Creation were over Liam’s head. However, it still fascinated him as he watched Galin make this concoction.
When he was finished, Galin had explained to them that the Magnetic Shockwave created a black ball that expands making a gravitational pull within a twenty-five yard radius, pulling all that is within to the center. After a few seconds of pulling in the targets, the expanded black ball would compress within itself before suddenly exploding, sending out a ring with arcs of Lightning jumping around each target within the blast radius as well as bolts continuously shooting outwards from the center doing massive damage.
To add on to the Lightning damage, if anything survives from the lightning storm, a massive gravity debuff is placed on the targets. This debuff is similar to the Gravitational Force Increase, but four times stronger. On top of that, there was a twenty-five percent chance a Paralyze Debuff would be placed on the target for thirty seconds.
Galin had made four medium sized vials of the Staticbolt Paralytic Toxin and three medium sized vials of Magnetic Shockwave for each of them.
Even though the creations were too high of a level for them to learn how to make right now, there were no restrictions on them to use the items.
That part really confused Liam, but he wasn’t going to question it.
Galin said that these were an added gift he was going to give them for being his apprentices while in the Tutorial Area.
Both Alicia and Liam were glad to accept them.
Alicia was happy to not only get the new and powerful Toxin, but also something to help solidify what she was going to specialize in.
As for Liam, he felt that he now had a better idea where he was leaning to.
If Chemicalized Creations can create something like that and its only at the Average quality… Liam thought to himself as he grinned. Then I wonder what it would be like at a higher quality. Man, I really want to learn how to make Chemicalized Creations now.
Getting those new items from him wasn’t the only thing that put Liam in a good mood. His control over Lightning Mana had rose to level eight while his Gravity Mana reached level seven.
And because he made all those weak mana extracts, his level in Mana Extraction reached level eighteen. Even though it didn’t do much to level his Alchemy any higher since it was at a standstill at level nineteen thanks to his regular Extract category.
“Hm…,” Liam began to mutter to himself. “Maybe I should just do a bunch of different extracts and get it to level twenty already. Just to get it over with already. Or maybe I should just get my Mana Extraction to level twenty since it helps me level my control over different mana types.”
While Liam was contemplating this, he was unaware of someone approaching him from behind with a hand reaching out. Right before the hand gripped his shoulder, Liam’s danger sense flared up, causing him to turn his head around to see a cloaked figure.
Reacting on instinct without thinking, Liam activated his Shadow Step. The hand that went to grab him raked down into a puff of black smoke.
A dagger appeared across the area where the figure’s throat would be.
The figure let out a strange laugh as their body vibrated. “A bit jumpy aren’t we?” The voice of the figure indicated it was a man.
Liam’s eyes narrowed as he questioned, “Anyone would be jumpy when they feel danger. Especially when someone approaches them from behind and tries to grab them.”
The man let out another laugh before coughing.
As the man started coughing, Liam got a whiff of something foul and disgusting. The smell reminded him of a rotted corpse.
Confused at first, Liam tried to remember where he had smelled this scent before. However, as soon as he remembered where he had come across this smell the man stated, “I am so happy that I was right about you. That shadow ability of yours proves you are connected to them. And having their blood is the key I need to reach my goal.”
Liam went to jump back away from the hooded man, but failed to move. He looked down to see his feet were planted to the ground due to some spell he didn’t see be casted.
Panicking a bit, Liam tried to yank himself free, but was unsuccessful in doing so. He went to yell out as loud as he could but before he could, he felt a powerful force suddenly hit him in the stomach.
The sheer force of the punch this man had thrown made Liam lose all the wind he had, causing him to gasp for air. As Liam tried sucking in some air, another hard punch hit the back of his head, causing his vision to blur before he passed out.
Liam’s consciousness slowly came too as he felt his head swaying back and forth. He couldn’t remember what had happened as his vision swam. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but there was one thing he was able to notice and that was he was moving.
From the angle his disoriented sight was able to pick up on, he was able to tell he wasn’t moving on his own. He was being carried over someone’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
He tried not to stir while he tried to reorient himself, but due to the pounding in his head he was having a hard time with that.
Since he was having a hard time, he decided to try and take note of where he was. The ground looked familiar to him. He tried to remember where he had seen the road design and remembered that it was the road from the Tutorial Area town.
Liam decided that was a good sign. If he was still in the Tutorial Area then he wasn’t out for long.
As Liam was thinking things over, his vision was starting to correct itself. As it did this he picked up on something he didn’t catch when he first looked around. This road was in Tutorial Area, but it was the road that lead to the Dungeon Portals.
Why are we heading to the Dungeon Portals? There’s nothing special over there. Why would this man take me…Oh shit. Liam thought as he realized that this man was taking him to the Black Dungeon.
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Before Liam could do something, the man suddenly stopped as a voice called out, “You do realize that what you are doing can get you killed right on the spot. Don’t you?”
This voice was familiar to Liam as he recognized it. However, it also confused Liam.
What is she doing here? Liam thought as he felt the man turn to face the woman.
The man clicked his tongue before stating with some disgust in his tone. “I’m shocked to hear that coming from someone who despised those sent to the Black Tutorial Dungeon.” He then slowly turned to face the woman who was walking up the path he had come from. “Nalia.”
Nalia narrowed her eyes at the hooded man. “As much as I do hate those sent to that Tutorial Dungeon, I do have a duty as an Overseer to protect the newly migrated people while they are here.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” the man said with a wicked laugh before going into a coughing fit.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nalia questioned.
The man calmed himself as he stopped his coughing fit and continued, “Isn’t an Overseer supposed to be impartial and not bias?”
Nalia waved a hand in front of her as she said, “If you’re implying that whole beast kin supremacy bullshit then stop. Those kind of mundane concerns are beneath me.”
“Are you sure about that? I’m pretty sure you were going on a tangent the other day about this one being some half bred fake Arcadian?” The man recalled.
“Contrary to what you or that boy may think, I was just heated in the moment and threw that out there,” Nalia stated. “My issues with that boy are different, however, no matter how much he irks me, I cannot let you simply kidnap him and do whatever you want with him. He will be judged for his sins, but not by you.”
Liam felt the man’s body tense as he inquired, “You know what he is?”
“My Matron has informed me, yes,” Nalia informed. “However, I have to ask how you figured out what he is?”
“I had my suspicions, but after tonight it was made apparent that I was right,” the man sated. “Just like the other three I had my eyes on.”
“Other three?” Nalia questioned, taken aback by what he said. “There were three others I was unaware about?”
“If your Matron Deity told you about him then she should have known about the other three?” The man stated with a bit of confusion. “You should have noticed yourself as well especially since one of them was very obvious about it.”
Nalia’s brows furrowed as she stared at the hooded man. “I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing.”
“Are you saying I know something about four people you and your Goddess do not?” The man questioned with a smile.
Nalia glowered as she narrowed her eyes at him. “You speak blasphemy Necromancer. There is nothing my Matron Deity wouldn’t know and cannot see.”
“And yet I know something you and she do not,” the man gloated. “And since you know something that makes you hate him that means he is worth more than I knew.”
“I don’t know what you have planned or why you need him, but I will not let you have your way,” Nalia growled as she took a step forward, mana starting to channel over her body.
“I don’t think you have any authority over me nor the ability to stop me,” the man stated before suddenly spinning around and running towards the multi-colored portal.
Nalia whipped out her wand and pointed it in the direction of the man and swiftly chanted, “Rock Barrier!”
A giant slab of earth suddenly shot up in front of the man causing him to crash right into it.
Liam’s body flung backwards with the momentum. His head whiplashed backwards and smacked hard against the wall, causing him to lose consciousness once more as he fell face first towards the ground.
Liam let out a groan as he came back to his senses.
He pushed himself up and was suddenly jolted awake, making him wide eyed as a loud thunderous crack boomed while a swiftly flash of light brightened the area.
His eyes widened at the scene playing before him.
Spread out throughout the area were several copies of Nalia that were fighting armored skeletons that looked a lot like the Elite Skeleton Soldiers he had fought against in the Askith Pharaoh Mummy Lord room.
The copies of Nalia each shot out different elemental spells as the skeletons withstood the powerful hits or crumbled under the pressure.
Liam understood that each spell the copies released were high leveled spells as he watched the power build up within each copy before they were released.
Liam looked at the skeletons. He could tell how tough they were not from how they were able to take the spells that were thrown at them, but by the armor and aura they exuded.
He assessed one of the Skeletal creatures to see how much more powerful they were compared to the ones he had been fighting.
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“Elite Skeleton Soldier. 25,000/25,000 HP. 0/0 MP.”
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Off to the side of this battlefield were the hooded man and what Liam had figured was the real Nalia.
She must have the Field of Illusions. Maybe that’s why there are so many copies of herself. Liam thought as he got to his feet. He looked around to see if there were any openings around for him to escape, but couldn’t find one.
As he turned his head, his Danger Sense suddenly flared up across the right side, causing him to jump back as quickly as he could.
As he did this, a massive fireball the size of a small car zoomed pass his head.
Liam turned towards the direction it came from to see Nalia and the hooded man were now staring at him.
“Stay where you are!” Nalia ordered as she pointed at him.
“Yeah okay,” Liam sarcastically stated, remembering what she said earlier.
“Elite Skeleton Soldiers!” the hooded man shouted.
Each Skeletal creature swung down their swords hard enough to destroy the illusory copies of Nalia before looking at their master.
He then pointed at Liam and ordered, “Hold him down, but do not kill him!”
All of the Elite Skeleton Soldiers suddenly snapped their heads towards Liam in unison and started clattering before they advanced towards him.
Nalia clicked her tongue in annoyance before shouting out, “Ok don’t stay there kid. Run!”
“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Liam yelled back as he started to run towards an opening that appeared once when the undead creatures started moving towards him.
As he approached the area, he slid to a halt right before a sword swung down.
Liam then ducked and spun around the Skeleton to get passed him. As soon as he was about to start running away, he had to duck to miss the horizontal sword swing from that same creature.
After ducking down, Liam pushed off his back leg and made it past that creature only to stop and juke another as a skeletal hand tried to grab him.
He then jumped to his right as a third Undead creature stepped in front of him and tried to wrap its arms around him.
“I don’t remember these creatures being this fast,” Liam complained as he started zig zagging around the skeleton creatures.
What Liam didn’t realize until it was too late was the skeleton creatures led him away from the path back to the town and towards the portals.
He was able to create some distance from them when he saw the glowing colors of the portals.
He looked at them and thought of an idea.
If I can’t out maneuver them, then maybe I can escape into the Black Dungeon and wait on the first floor until all this dies down. Liam thought as he ran over to the portal.
As soon as he approached the Black Portal he placed his hand on it. He looked back really quick to see how far the creatures were. There was still some distance between him and them. As he looked back at the panel that had appeared, he pushed the first floor selection and felt his heart dropped as a red notification appeared.
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“First Floor inaccessible. Please choose another floor.”
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“What?” Liam said as he frowned. His heart pounded as it started to quicken.
He closed it and clicked the second one.
Again, another red notification appeared.
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“Second Floor inaccessible. Please choose another floor.”
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“What the fuck!” Liam shouted as panic rose within him as he heard the skeletal creatures getting closer. He tried the next floor and got the same message.
The same notification appeared for the fourth and fifth floor as well.
A mix of worry and confusion clashed with the panic as he looked at the sixth floor option.
What the fuck is going on here?! Liam thought.
He looked back at the creatures and noticed they were almost within arm’s reach as they fanned out in a half circle around him.
It was too late for him to think of any other way to get out of this situation. It was either he resolved himself to getting captured or he jumped right into the sixth floor.
He went with the latter option.
“Shit!” Liam cursed as he pushed the sixth floor option.
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“Warning! You are entering the 6th floor of the Graveyard of the Forgotten Realm solo. Do you wish to wait for the team you have previously entered the previous floors with? Yes No?”
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“No!” Liam shouted, panic escaping his lips as he frantically pushed the button mentally.
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“A message has been sent to each member of the team you have previously entered this dungeon with. Good luck.”
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As soon as Liam closed the notification, he rushed into the dungeon, barely missing the bony hands that reached out to grab him.
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Liam appeared in a wide room as he rushed out from the portal.
As soon as the last piece of his body exited, the portal disappeared.
His stomach violently lurched as liquid spewed out from his mouth.
As soon as he finished throwing up, he wiped the little bit of liquid that hung to his lips with the back of his wrist and looked at his surroundings.
Before he could take in the design of the room, he felt the gazes of monsters that resided within the room turn on him.
Two dozens of skeletal creatures were mixed with two dozen zombie like creatures.
Mixed within the crowd were a few Elite Skeleton Soldiers and Skeleton Butchers.
In the back of the crowd Liam saw six Mummy Guards.
Liam’s face turned horrified as he saw them staring at him.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Liam muttered as he switched his normal clothes for his armor and weapons.
Liam? What’s going on? Why are you here by yourself? Eri asked suddenly with a mix of worry and concern laced in her voice.
I’ll get back to you in a moment Eri. I’ve got company that are not too happy to see me at the moment. Liam replied back, trying to hold back the fear that was creeping up his spine.
He let out a long breath, resolving himself and mentally kicking himself for making the decision to jump into this floor without a proper plan.
He pulled his daggers out from the sheaths on his hips. He flexed his grip on them right before letting out a loud battle cry and rushing in towards the creatures that bolted for him as well.