Peter had now probably attempted to access the oasis’ water over a dozen times in the last 4 days, but even with the [Bronze] rank titan never being present, the sheer number of enemies that always sat around the oasis had proven an almost impossible barrier for Peter to overcome.
Furthermore, with each level that he gained on the monsters he killed, the less potent rewards that he had received per kill, and thus his fast-tracking of his upgrades had also diminished significantly – forcing him to need to kill more and more monsters with each attempt.
Yet, Peter had no choice but to succeed now, as the newest system prompt he had received all but confirmed that his little rejuvenation trick had run out of uses for now and that was all the system prompts he needed to know it was time to get serious.
You have levelled up!
Reward:
* +15 HP
* +15 MP
* Your HP and MP have been restored!
* +3 Skill Points
* You have attained the [Copper+] rank!
* Note: You will be unable to level further until you attain the [Bronze] system rank.
* Each level you earned retroactively provided +15 HP and MP, not 10.
Peter felt his entire body flooded with new life, and his mana pool inflated significantly inside him, as the effects of this level-up became realised.
Katie had told him some information about what it was like to reach the peak of any rank, but she had definitely not mentioned that one received a retroactive increase to HP and MP. That was a downright ridiculous bonus.
And if one got such an incredible increase upon reaching the peak of [Copper] rank, what kind of retroactive bonus would one receive upon ascending from the [Copper] rank to the [Bronze] rank.
The thought alone was enough to almost tempt Peter into wanting to fight with the [Bronze] rank monster himself, so as to ascend, but he tempered such thoughts with the harsh but true reality that he would almost certainly die if he attempted to fight that thing one on one.
He had grown stronger, no doubt, but not so strong that he could take on a beast a whole rank above his by himself.
With a sigh, he dismissed the prompt and continued making plans for his next – hopefully successful – attack on the oasis. This time, however, there was a sense of urgency about his planning, as if he wasted too much time planning – he’d end up losing his ability to utilise his full strength due to dehydration. It really was a do-or-die affair, and Peter wouldn’t let himself die.
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Peter put his fear, anxiety, and nervousness away as he prepared to finally take on the avian domination of the oasis and win for once.
Despite it being close to dusk, and some Baby Furies already sleeping, it seemed that the avian monsters had wizened to his attack strategy and a barebones guard and watcher schedule seemed to have been implemented by the emu-like monsters.
Peter grinned at the absurdity of the situation, then readied a [Mana Bolt] with his right hand. Sustaining the bolt, and not firing it yet, Peter crept close to a pack of unsuspecting Furies and then unleashed a bolt at them whilst also pretending to run in the opposite direction of the oasis as he had done many times before.
His bolt’s power had improved significantly upon reaching level 5, meaning that when it struck the earth, every Baby Fury within a 5m radius instantly died, and every Baby Fury within a 10m radius was somehow injured by the blast.
In reaction to the blast, about a dozen furies began circling the perimeter of the oasis whilst running at their top speed, and with each lap they expanded the circle in which they were running – they were definitely looking for Peter.
Peter smirked as he slowly crept onto the open shore of the oasis and began lobbing [Mana Bolt] after [Mana Bolt] at groups of somehow still resting Baby Furies and killing many of them without that much effort in the least.
Peter just about managed to move his leg out of the way of a kick from a previously unseen Fury – thanks singularly to his [Foresight] skill. However, even knowing the future doesn’t help if you are not able to do anything about it, as was proved by the Baby Fury then proceeding to launch an attack that Peter was unable to dodge as the monster was just far too close.
Peter heard his ribs crack as he took a Fury foot to the chest, and he was sent flying towards the lake at the centre of the oasis. However, though he was in excruciating pain, Peter forced himself to focus through sheer willpower upon crashing into the ground once again and then he managed to cast [Mana Bolt] in time to prevent a number of Baby Furies from attempting to finish him off.
However, his mana pool was quickly diminishing, and the covert aspect of his plan completely fell apart as the Baby Furies who had just seconds ago been running around the perimeter searching for him once again returned to the oasis area and began charging at his helpless prone body.
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Knowing that he couldn’t run, and that if he stayed where he was, he would almost certainly die, Peter gritted his teeth as he desperately began to crawl towards the lake.
He heard the heavy thuds of avian hooves thumping against the sand all around him, but he kept on pushing himself forward despite the fact he knew he was all but screwed regardless of whether he reached the lake or not.
However, if he was going to die, he would do it whilst technically achieving the goal he had set for himself.
Yet, upon successfully entering the water, Peter felt a cold so low and biting envelop his entire body that he began to panic. With desperate and painful leg movements, alongside some assistance with arm flailing, Peter managed to keep his head above the water – though he did take a bold swig of the oasis’ water.
At first it tasted like normal water, but then it seemed to almost explode in his mouth – filling it with immense magical power. Peter did his best to swallow, but no matter how hard he tried, the water or mana or whatever just seemed endless.
He felt himself begin to drown as his lungs were filled with an endless stream of water, and his mind began to also feel submerged.
Time, place, identity, all such things became utterly meaningless as everything turned black, and Peter began to fall into the bottomless depths of the oasis’ lake.
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When Peter awoke again, the world around him was black, and he felt a monumental pressure pressing down on him. Yet, he didn’t feel threatened, nor did he feel as though he should be concerned – it was as if his entire mind was just… at ease.
He was confused, certainly, but that confusion was cleared up somewhat when he focused on a number of strange flashing system prompts that had appeared in the top right corner of his vision.
CONGRATULATIONS!
You have claimed the Hidden Dungeon Treasure: [Font of Water Affinity]!
Treasure Absorbed: [Font of Water Affinity]
Treasure Grade: [B]
Treasure Description: Before there was land, there was but an endless sea and from the depths came all life that now dares to exist. This font allows you to receive a strong Water Magic Affinity, and water related traits, making you understand this fundamental element of the universe.
* Note: The grade of both the traits and affinity you receive will depend on your already existing affinities and traits as well as your current [Luck] stat.
Reward(s) Received:
* [Basic] Affinity: Water – Grade: [D]
* Trait: [C] – Amphibious – Description: You can live, breathe, and move underwater with 25% of your land-based ability.
* Trait: [E] – Baptised – Description: For every hour that you are submerged in water, you have a 95% chance to regenerate 5% of your Max total HP until fully healed.
Peter felt a slight tug pull at his lips. Had upgrading his luck stat really led to this much of a difference?
Previously he had seemed to go from worse situation to worse situation, barely managing to survive. But now that he had a pretty decent [Luck] stat, Peter almost felt as though his life had taken a complete 180 thanks to this raid dungeon.
Peter let a smile form on his face and then, with a strong push against the lakebed, he surged upwards – and, to his great surprise, he emerged only a couple of seconds later.
All around him, there were obvious signs that the lake had retreated significantly in the last few days. Now, it was probably only about a fifth of its original size, and judging by the dozens of dried-up corpses of Baby Furies that surrounded him – this reduction in the quantity of water had hit the monsters pretty hard.
Peter wondered why all of a sudden the lake had started receding, but quickly guessed as to why – he had taken the treasure, which meant the water was no longer flooded with mana, and thus no longer protected against the heat from the sun.
Peter almost felt a little bad for what he had done but realised that he may have single handedly caused the raid dungeon’s monsters to start to die out in the thousands and thus instead of feeling bad, he felt… pride swell up in his chest.
He had not only done what he had planned to do – drink from the oasis – he had also, very unintentionally, managed to find and absorb a hidden dungeon treasure.
He almost pumped his fist in celebration of his incredible change in circumstances, but then a massive thud coming from the shore of the oasis quickly made Peter reconsider celebrating.
Fear swelled up within him as he turned his head, and sure enough, the goliath that was the [Bronze] rank monster stood right there on the shore – killing intent radiating off its entire body, with all of it focused intensely on Peter.
In short, he was fucked.
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Katie stood atop the walls – using her advanced perception skills to try and scout out whether or not any waves were going to come today.
“No sign of them today either, huh?” A familiar woman’s voice said from behind her.
“Nope. Something is definitely not right Liz.” Katie responded, making sure to use the name that the woman found most embarrassing for her – who looked like a teenager – to call her.
However, instead of complaining, Liz simply sighed and said with no hint of happiness in her voice at all, “A search party it will be then.”
Katie nodded at the woman’s words, and then added, “We should only send the best – I think you should know better than anyone bar me by now just how good most of this party are at fucking up.”
Liz sighed again and nodded, before she proposed a party – more to herself than to Katie, but still, aloud, “So that’s you, Jared, Patrick, Frank, and Joe.”
Katie frowned at the inclusion of that guy named Jared in the group, as ever since she had shown off some of her powers a few days ago – the man had looked at her with barely concealed murderous intention.
He must have sussed out who she was from seeing her fight against one of the waves and he thus likely wanted revenge for what had happened back at Jeremy Foram’s place.
She had to admit, the man was definitely one of the best fighters in the whole raid party and he clearly knew what he was doing and didn’t often make stupid decisions.
Though, of course, she was still pretty confident that she could beat him in a fight as that was precisely what she had done the last time they’d faced each other in combat at the slaver’s shop.
Katie simply smiled as she recalled ending that bastard slaver’s life, before shaking her head clear of thoughts and replying to the frantic, paranoid Liz.
“No there isn’t a monster wave coming. I was just spacing out for a bit. Alright?”
Liz sighed a sigh of relief, before muttering under her breath, “Monster.”
Which only caused Katie to smirk in response.