The dungeon was a hidden one and the level was indeed high, however, it didn’t go down for too many floors.
The fifth floor was the lowest floor and the monster levels were only at 125 which was a bit disappointing to Sky. Thankfully the double EXP bonus was doing its work and she was able to level up to 130 and by the end of the dungeon when they finally defeated the final boss, her EXP bar was half-filled.
It was a shame that there weren’t more floors or else she might just catch up to the rank 1 on the level leaderboards.
“That was a fun run, Sky. Thanks!” One of the party members said.
As usual, her damage output topped their party’s Damage Rankings. It couldn’t be helped since her hidden class and ascended race was really compatible and complemented each other’s strengths.
Dual-wielding spears weren’t something normal players or even hidden class players would be able to do since spears were two-handed weapons. Of course, it was different for the short spears but long spears like what Sky used were generally all 2-handed weapons.
Thankfully for her, her ascended class gave her an extra pair of arms so she could dual-wield two-handed weapons without receiving any penalty. UT allowed quite a lot of freedom that people could dual-wield two-handed weapons.
The only problem would be the penalty they received for doing so but Sky’s ascended race erased that penalty for her.
Even after they completed the dungeon, the team continued hunting in the dungeon until the bonuses expired. The monsters on the first floor respawned just as the team made it down to the fifth floor and defeated the monster and when they cleared the first floor, the second-floor monsters respawned and the cycle continued just like that.
It was probably on their fifth dive rotation when a unique event quest suddenly popped up.
Quest notification! Quest Name: Stranger's Demise
Type: Random Event
Description: You have killed the Wandering Crustacean King for the fifth time! The Stranger's Curse has been evoked!
Objective: Defeat all enemies or face the curse’s [Imprisonment] punishment (1/10)
Reward: Level: +1, Skill: [Dual-Wield], Skill: [Artic Stream], Unique Class: [Blademaster], 20,000 Gold
“Wait, what the hell is this?!”
*DING*
For the duration of the quest, EXP gain increases by 500 percent
“...”
“...”
It was such a coincidence that the quest arrived just as the previous EXP and Drop rate bonuses disappeared. Some of the Normal Dungeons did have this kind of mechanic that just loved screwing over the players.
If the penalty to this dungeon wasn’t so severe, the team would probably just walk out of this place but the [Imprisonment] punishment or curse was quite unpleasant.
There was already a list of curses or statuses that the UT community had compiled on the game’s forum and the list ranked the worst curses and statuses in order. [Imprisonment] was within the top 10 of the worst curses possible because the curse prevented the afflicted player or players from escaping a certain region until the curse was lifted.
In this case, it was probably the cave. Not only that but it prevented any EXP gain and the hunger status would slowly fall until eventually, you would die of hunger. However, when you respawned, you’d be back in the same place you died in with the [Imprisonment] curse still not lifted.
The only way to lift this curse was to fulfill the issued quest. When the team saw this they all sighed.
“Well...we aren’t going to win against Sky so let’s just get this over with. Sky, make sure you pick up our things and head back to the city. You’ll have to swim there since once I die, the ship will immediately start sailing back to the city without waiting for you,” Cap said after he took note of the quest.
“Alright,” Sky said with a shrug.
“I hate these stupid curses. I knew there was bound to be one but I didn’t think it would be the [Imprisonment] curse. Why couldn’t we get a [Bounty] curse instead or a [Frog] curse? I’d like to see how it is to play as a frog for a few days…” B said with a disheartened sigh.
He walked over to Sky and raised his arms, “Get on with it, Sky.”
“Mhm.”
Sky remorselessly stabbed B in the chest and waited for his HP bar to deplete to zero. In the meantime, B was playing around and acting like he was dying.
“Gah, no...Sky...how could you―”
“Oh shut up, B. You want me to spawn-kill you later when you revive?” Jin hissed.
“You’re such a party-pooper.”
“And you’re such a drama queen!”
“Hey―”
Before B could say anything else, his HP bar was emptied and his corpse slumped onto the ground.
“Finally, that idiot’s dead. Well, it’s my turn now.”
Sky scratched her head and picked up the piece of equipment B dropped before she stabbed her spear through her bestie’s chest.
“...”
“...Should I scream for you, Sky?” Jin teased after she saw her friend’s awkward look.
“Maybe?”
“Ahhh…” Jin gave a deadpanned ‘cry’ before her HP bar also emptied.
The rest of the players lined up to die as well but some were a bit unwilling. The rewards were a unique class, a few skill books, and even a level. However, since Cap had already spoken up first and said that Sky would do the honors of completing this quest―not to everyone’s surprise since the girl could just kill everyone there if she wanted to, no contest―but when it was time for him to step forward to die, he suddenly pulled out his sword and tried to stab Sky.
“Hey, Cap, what the hell?”
Sky blocked the cutlass aiming at her chest with a sweep of her spear and quickly backed off.
“Tch, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
“What’s the meaning of this, Cap?”
Cap looked at her and shrugged before saying, “Well...this was supposed to be the last time I dungeon with the dudes and dudettes. So I thought that this would be a great time to just leave.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve finally gotten a recruitment offer from the Atlantis Guild. So I thought that bringing a unique class change card to them would probably be good to boost my position there.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Sky only grimaced and sighed at his words.
“...Hahh...another betrayal?”
“Oh, come on, Sky. We’re just playing a game. No need to be so severe.”
“I don’t like traitors…” Sky quipped. “What about the rest of the gang?”
“Well, I don’t really care. It was fun being a pirate with you guys but all good things must come to an end.”
Sky shook her head at his words, “You could just walk away on a good note...why are you doing this?”
“It wouldn’t be a pirate-like thing to do, now would it?”
“You’re still going on about that?”
“I gotta play the part, you know~”
“Well, you do you...but did you think you’ll come out on top against me?”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“You won’t have any chance.”
Sky didn’t waste any more words and threw her spear, stabbing it right into the ceiling of the dungeon just above where Cap was standing.
“[Thunder Punishment].”
She activated her skill and a lightning field appeared around Cap who was immediately electrocuted since they were underwater.
*DING*
You have killed the last enemy. [Imprisonment] curse has been lifted.
*DING*
+20,000 Gold
“...”
“...”
“...”
Sky waited and waited but there was no further prompt for the other rewards that were promised.
“...What the hell?”
She frowned heavily for a moment before she began swimming towards the entrance of the dungeon. The fight with Cap was severely anti-climactic. Sky always did think the man was not right in the end and he really wasn’t.
The way he died was just too pitiful and she didn’t even have the heart to report what happened earlier to her friends and the rest of the Strawhat Marauders.
“Man...what an embarrassing battle…”
Sky hated traitors, but earlier, everything felt like a joke to her. Cap wasn’t really her friend and whenever she joined them, she always felt the person stare at her differently. It wasn’t a gaze of secret affection or lust, but something slimier.
“It was envy...hmm, I can’t understand why. He’s also got a hidden class.”
Sky shrugged and began swimming back to the city. She loved moving underwater because to her, it felt like she was flying. She could have just used a teleportation scroll but those things were precious and she didn’t have many of them.
It took her nearly an hour to get back to the city and once she got back she immediately returned her friends and party members’ lost equipment. When she got to Cap she just silently handed the boots he lost and walked away.
“Hey, what about the quest reward?” Cap suddenly asked.
“I only got the 20,000 gold reward. The other rewards were fake.”
“Hah? I doubt that, I bet you’re just trying to keep it all for yourself!”
Seeing Cap suddenly act out like this, everyone was puzzled. They knew Sky’s character despite not always working with her so everyone was shocked that Cap would lash out at her like this.
“I already divided 2000 gold to everyone earlier. It was split evenly. I’m too bored to explain myself to anyone here if they think I’m lying. Heh, even if I was lying, what can any of you do?”
“Hey, Sky...you don’t have to be like that, we get it. Why all the hostility?” B jumped in and said, trying to diffuse the tension that was building up.
“...I’ll be going now. If any of you think that I actually took the extra rewards, you know where to find me.”
“...”
Jin and B turned to her and looked back at their crewmates before eventually chasing after her.
The other party members just looked back at her, all puzzled and confused. They turned to look at their Captain who looked just a tad bit furious. They didn’t know what happened after they had all been sent back to the city but Cap was feeling a little bit humiliated because Sky took him out with a single spell.
It was Sky’s only ultimate skill and the only magic spell that actually had a long casting range. Though it did need a catalyst to activate. It was another reason why Sky chose the spear as a weapon since it was easy to throw.
The other members of the party didn’t entertain Cap as a few of them already knew that he was leaving. They just didn’t know that he wanted to leave with a ‘bang’.
“Hey, what was that back there?” Jin asked.
“...Your Captain is another one of those traitors.”
“What?”
“He’s going to leave you guys and join a guild. He tried attacking me earlier when you guys all left but as you can see the results…”
“...Ah, we know about him leaving.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, he just didn’t tell us but one of our ex-crewmates told us about it.”
“Oh…”
“We were planning on leaving the crew today since all we wanted to do was clear the dungeon Cap found,” Jin explained.
“You gotta milk every last benefit before leaving, am I right?” B said with a smug smile.
“Sheesh…”
“But seriously though, what happened? Why were you and Cap so hostile with one another all of a sudden?”
Jin nodded at the question and agreed that Sky had indeed acted a bit hostile earlier.
“Hostile?” Sky asked with an innocent look.
“Others may not see it but your mood swings can’t escape my eyes, girl!” Jin said as she tapped Sky on her chest.
“He attacked me out of the blue. You know how I don’t like people trying to backstab me…”
“Ah...bad choice. He’s lucky that we’re his friends or else you would have done something even worse...so what did you do? Did you at least humiliate him? Put him in his place?”
“Killed him with a single spell. Didn’t even let him react. He put on some weird speech about going out as a pirate but it all ended with his anticlimactic death,” Sky blandly explained.
“Hah, what an idiot. If he knew your true level, he’d be shitting his pants!” B snickered before his face turned serious. “On a serious note though, did you not get the Blademaster hidden class card?”
“B, you know how I am…”
B sighed and his shoulders sagged in dejection at her words. “Ahhh, dammit. I thought it was my turn to finally get a hidden class!”
Sky let out a scoff before saying to him, “Pfft, it wouldn’t be your turn because Sky would give it to me! Ain’t that right girlfriend?”
Sky nodded at her words and said, “She’s right. The first person I’d give anything important to is obviously her before you.”
“Tch, you girls are trippin’. It’s clear that [Blademaster] is a warrior-type combat class! It’s obvious that it should go to me if you got it! J’s a mage!” B protested.
“So what? Maybe I’d like to try my hand at swinging a weapon?”
Jin and B continued arguing until they reached a diner that they frequented every time they finished a quest or expedition.
“Hey...since you guys aren’t with any crew now...wanna team up with me?” Sky suddenly asked once they seated themselves.
“Ah, finally. You’re finally inviting us to one of your awesome hunting sessions. You could have done this ages ago, Sky!” B exclaimed while happily tapping his fingers on the table.
“Well, you guys were with a crew before...but since you’re not anymore, I thought I’d bring you with me. Also, I need friends to chat with. Hunting alone is getting a bit bland now especially when all I hear are the voices of monsters every waking moment when I’m grinding for levels and quests objectives.”
“Spill it, where are you taking us?” Jin chimed in while looking at the diner’s menu.
She would always do this and she would always order the same thing.
“I’ll tell you a secret...but it stays with us. If either of you two leaks it, we’re done. Even in IRL!”
“Alright, alright. What’s so important that you’d even risk our friendship?”
“Well...you see…”
*****
Back on Vanhal, Maria and her entourage just returned after departing from Duchess Bathory’s fief.
“Ahh...finally, I’m back. Home sweet home!” Maria said after getting down from her carriage and stretching her somewhat stiff body.
“This is your home? Seems a little...lackluster…”
Maria turned her head and looked up at the tall lady standing next to Ash.
“I may be rich, but I’m not filthy rich like you. Also, I have so many things planned that I haven’t had time to remodel my castle!”
Ash quickly stepped forward and said, “I’ve already sent word back to the castle a while back and the vampire dwarves are already preparing to renovate the castle.”
“Oh? Good work, Ash. Anyway, let’s head inside. The sun feels so glaring and uncomfortable.”
Maria used to now have a problem staying outside, but after her awakening, she’s been feeling pissed off at the sun for some reason. It was too bright and too hot for her though it was still bearable.
She was just about to sit down on her throne when suddenly, a dark ray of light shot down from the heavens right in front of her.
“Hm?”
“!”
Ash and all of her guards within the castle quickly rushed into her throne room, weapons at the ready, surrounding the dark ray of light. Maria felt a familiar presence from the light and waved her hand at Ash and her guards.
“My Child...it is time.”
“...Death?”