The way Adam moves in the battlefield is highly reminiscent of a certain spinning cartoon character.
Where he goes, monsters die in a blaze of spinning blades of fire.
At this point, he is dealing damage equal to what an entire team of players is capable of inflicting. It is no exaggeration to say that Adam is a one-man army fighting alongside an actual army of players.
While most are awestruck by his blinding performance, there were those who are starting to put two and two together as to who he is.
A player that came out of nowhere and gave precious potions like they were candies.
A player dealing twice as much damage as everyone else.
A player who is casting spells twice as fast as everyone else.
And there is someone who’s level is 60- nearly double that of the average level of the currently present player… could it be-
“I think that’s the top player!”
“That’s him! It has to be!”
“I think you’re right. Only someone with a high level can do what he does.”
“Is that what a Level 60 can do?”
“He’s already at that high level, while the rest of the rankers just reached level 40.”
Of course, Adam knows his actions will gain everyone’s attention.
They can speculate all they want, but they cannot interfere due to being tied up with the remaining horde. Although Adam is making it seem easy to devastate dozens after dozens of monsters, the same feat cannot be duplicated by the other players.
To top it all, Adam deliberately taunted all the remaining boss-level monsters and lured them to where the players were.
They have to give it their all by relying on their numbers and teamwork to prevail.
He then quickly drank an invisibility potion so he can lose aggro and go to where the lesser mobs are.
This is to ensure that Adam can quickly dispatch the lower level enemies and meet the number of sacrifices required to unseal the exit.
He glanced at the array on the wall. To anyone else, the engravings are just a complicated design with no discernible meaning. But Adam recognized it for what it was.
Rune Tracings, or magic in written form.
Translating its meaning is relatively easy for Adam who had the class Rune Tracer as his third and final class in his first life.
It states that approximately 3000 sacrifices are required before it is unsealed.
Adam decided to turn things up to eleven. His damage output far already outclasses everyone but he still has several items useful in clearing monsters; scrolls, grenades, utility potions, etc.
What Adam has been keeping for several days, now he’s using it like there’s no tomorrow.
Paralytic Gas! Poison Flask!
Hallucinogenic Gas! Fire Grenade!
Scroll of Binding!
Concentrated Oil! Fire Grenade!
Proximity Mines!
He decided to minimize using spells for now as doing so would mean depleting his mana pool; he has already drank a few mana potions and is bound to reach the maximum dosage before he experiences side effects.
Luckily, his Toxic Resistance trait, which grants 10% resistance to harmful effects of substances, somewhat delays this. It means he can drink a few more bottles of potions than the rest of the players before he experiences toxification due to potion overdose.
The only spell he uses sporadically is Fire Enchantment. And when he does, it is to great effect.
Slash! Thrust!
Despite not having any sword special skills, he is dealing more damage than an actual swordsman. His damage output far outclasses what the other players can do.
Approximately 2000 monsters to go…
While Adam is dispatching monsters after monsters, he’s still throwing smoke bombs to increase the concealment it’s giving him. By now, only rangers and scout classes can perceive his exact location- if they can afford to focus on him, that is.
And even they won’t have a clear idea on what he’s doing anymore.
The other players have also started to fight with much enthusiasm. Seeing a top player eliminate dozens upon dozens of monsters with ease gave them the much needed extra motivation.
Just as they were regretting not grinding in the catacombs like the other players, here comes the top ranker to their rescue. In fact, many have forgotten that they were even waiting for reinforcements.
Now, they feel like they can take care of the monsters by themselves.
No, they want to. They have to.
Approximately 1000 monsters to go…
Whenever his mana regenerates to a decent amount, he would dish out Fireballs and Firebolt in enemies already soaked with oil to maximize the damage over time and AoE.
His notification is also on fire; countless messages of the monsters he had slain and the essence he absorbed is a near constant reminder that what he’s doing is making a huge dent in the monster’s number.
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
A quick glance at his accumulated essence and he can tell that it’s enough to level up at least 5 more times. Even though the monster levels are relatively low, their numbers more than make up for it. So the essence yield is nothing to scoff at.
Plus, since Adam is pretty much one-shotting most groups of monsters, the essence going to him is in full with little to no share to other players.
And then, finally, the necessary sacrifice has been reached.
Ding!
[System Notification: The necessary number of sacrifices has been made. The exit has been opened.]
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Even without the notification, Adam knew the array had been activated.
The massive wall made up of countless bricks that until then had seemingly been nothing but a mere wall, lit up and started to move, brick by brick. First in small window-sized sections, then in door sized spaces, until finally several people walking side by side can walk through it.
And slowly, it turned into a great archway.
Yet no one but Adam has noticed it.
First, it was the system notification that drew most of everyone's attention.
Second, the smoke has become so thick and spread so widely that the moving wall has remained largely concealed- much less the array that lit up.
Third, just because the sacrifice required has been met doesn’t mean the monsters have all been eliminated. On the contrary, the fight is as intense as it ever was due to the remaining monsters being slightly higher leveled than the rest of the mob.
With this, he concluded his participation in the battle and drank a Potion of Haste and Potion of Invisibility.
Ding!
[You have reached the maximum dosage for potion usage. Further intake might result in unknown side effects.]
At this point, Adam’s supply had been mostly depleted but it was well worth it. He went through the archway even before anyone noticed that the wall itself is the exit.
After the archway, Adam found himself facing the bottommost step of a great spiral staircase leading to the upper floors of the Forgotten Temple.
This staircase will lead the players to the upper floors of the temple to clear the quest.
Adam has seen most of the loot available and he’s not particularly inclined to ransack each room- especially with several hundred players right behind him.
Besides, it is only a matter of time before the players notice the now fully opened archway and reach the obvious conclusion that the staircase will lead them out of the temple.
He pulled out one more item that he has yet to use since looting it in the hidden room.
Grappling Crossbow (Rare)
Type: Specialized Crossbow
Damage: 30
Weight: 15
Durability: 50/50
Requirements: 20 Strength
Description: A crossbow-like device armed with special, reusable bolts. These bolts are designed with claws meant for dragging or grasping higher platforms. If aimed at a higher platform, and the hook connected successfully, the user can then be pulled with relative ease.
Details: Uses 10 MP per second.
By Adam’s estimation, he has about 30 minutes minimum and an hour at best before the players can clear the rest of the monster and have a clear way to the archway.
If taken into consideration that the players are exhausted from the fight, wary of entering a new area that just opened, and that some are still waiting for their allies from the catacombs to get to this location, it is more realistic to conclude that he has about 2 hours worth of headstart.
However, there will always be daredevils who would risk it all to try and get ahead of everybody else.
Sure enough, he can see several players trying to make a beeline to the archway. Most are killed by monsters that they chose to ignore, but eventually, some are bound to get lucky.
He then aimed his Grappling Crossbow to what he estimates is the 7th floor.
The Forgotten Temple has 9 floors, with the lowest being the Chamber of Sacrifice. He intends to put several floors worth of distance between himself and the rest of the players.
Thud! Vrrrrrng!
The hook hit a stable looking platform. He then activated the button that would lift him up.
-10 MP, -20 MP, -30 MP…
It took about 10 seconds before he reached the floor he aimed at. That was over 100 MP cost to put him several floors above the other players. It was well worth it.
Of course, the rest of the floors also have monsters guarding various rooms with loot. But with his level, they are of little challenge and not worth hunting anymore.
Just to be certain, Adam made a quick check on a few rooms on the 7th floor. After that, he confirmed that there’s nothing worth looting.
Although the items can fetch a decent price, it is far better to leave it to slow players down who will inevitably take the time to inspect and claim the items for themselves.
He then used the crossbow again to get to the 5th floor; he had absolutely no intention of walking through the spiral staircase whatsoever.
“If there are items here that are valuable, then the one who finds it deserves to keep it.”
At this point, Adam is more concerned about being the first to leave the temple than to loot the remaining floors. He is trying to recall if there’s any item of note in the temple that he can take.
For better or for worse, nothing remarkable comes to mind.
Considering that he had looted a hidden room with enough equipment and items to supply over 200 players, secured the mentorship of a blacksmith grandmaster, had access to quality ingredients for potion making, has a quest to hunt for rare ores in a place definitely filled with valuable materials, the loot on the upper floor just pales in comparison.
One player’s undesired loot is another’s treasure.
He concluded that the various items in the upper floors were meant to be a replacement for the old ones that the players had been using up until this point.
The ones who get ahead of the others will have the opportunity to replace their gears with slightly better ones. Then the second group of players can choose from the leftovers of the first group. Then the third group can pick from the leftovers of the second group.
And so on, and so forth. It is a cycle of passing over one’s old items to the next group.
Thus, there is nothing more for Adam to gain here. He aimed his crossbow to the next floor.
***
“Everyone, stay cautious and prepare for battle.” Tyler reminded his group.
“By now, the players in the chamber would have been wiped out. It is up to us now. Think of all the essence and loot we can gain.”
They are now near the Chamber of Sacrifice and are expecting to meet the horde of monsters at any moment.
Tyler’s issue is echoed by the leaders of the other catacomb players.
“Prepare battle formations!”
“Rangers and scouts proceed ahead and give us a heads up on the situation.”
“Tank group, to the front!”
“Clerics, prepare your buffs.”
The corresponding members did as instructed. The same set of orders are being issued by the other guild captains and team leaders.
It shows that the majority of the players in the catacombs are of a different breed than the rest.
Not long after, the scouts who were ordered to investigate ahead came back bearing news.
“What!? You mean the players are still fighting?”
“And they’re actually winning?”
Tyler thought his scout was joking but when it became apparent that the scouts of the other groups relayed the same information, his denial was replaced with confusion.
‘Even at their level and numbers, the battle would be a tough fight. How did a much weaker and less organized group of players hold out this long?’
He exchanged glances with the other leaders. Their looks confirm that he’s not the only one confused with the situation.
“We won’t know anything by standing here. Maxima, march!”
“Hao-Wei won’t lose in field battles. Let’s go!”
“Dark Sun, let’s show the world what we’re made of!”
“Magick Maidens, let us prove that we are not just pretty faces. Show our fans how good we are!”
It didn’t take long for the catacomb players to reach the chamber. And what they witnessed astounded them all.
They initially assumed that the players in the chamber would not stand a chance, but here they are fighting against the monsters.
Was the number of enemies reported wrong? They thought they’d be facing around ten-thousand monsters, but they see only around two-thousand, at the most.
The report stated that about a thousand players from levels 25 to 35 are putting up a losing fight against ten thousand monsters. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would know that they wouldn’t have lasted long. Yet-
Wait.
Level 25? Level 35?
The players fighting in the chamber are in their level 40s!
There isn’t much difference in level than what they originally thought.
“You there! Explain what’s going on!” a captain from another guild called over one of his members who was part of the chamber players.
The member he called stepped away from the fight and started explaining what happened.
The catacomb players were surprised at what they heard.
“Eh!?”
“A single player turned the tide of the battle?”