———————————————————————————————————————————————————
[The wolf mother’s invasion had been repelled!]
[Rewards calculation in progress, the system will notify you once it is ready.]
Laying on the floor, I watched the sun peering through the clouds above. The darkness from the previous night gradually waned, and along with it, my Ally of darkness buff.
As the weakness took over me, I yawned for the first time since… well, I don’t know. Days seemed to have blended with one another since I was trapped inside that dungeon. I’ve been involved in so much life-ending events that all the mundane stuff felt so distant.
The temporary lull in the air allowed me to open my status page. I was happy with the gains I got from Ariandel’s kill :
Player : Zane Black
Race : [G - HUMAN]
Level : 23
Health : 542/670
Stamina : 341/670
Mana : 240/240 [48/ 48 stored]
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
ATTRIBUTES
Physical [29] :
[Strength] - 70 [base : 29] [sub + achv :23] [equipment :10] [bonus 1% : 1]
[lone wolf 10% : 7]
[Dexterity] - 87 [base : 29] [sub + achv :38] [equipment : 7] [bonus 6% : 5]
[lone wolf 10% : 8]
[Constitution] - 62 [base : 29] [sub + achv : 21] [equipment :5] [bonus 1% : 1]
[lone wolf 10% : 6]
Mind [3] :
[Intelligence] - 19 [base : 3] [sub + achv : 13] [equipment :0] [bonus 1% : 1]
[lone wolf 10% : 2]
[Willpower] - 14 [base : 3] [sub + achv : 3] [equipment :5] [bonus 1% : 1]
[lone wolf 10% : 2]
[Capacity] - 19 [base : 3] [sub + achv : 13] [equipment :0] [bonus 6% : 1]
[lone wolf 10% : 2]
[Free Main Attribute points : 3 ]
[Free Sub Attribute points : 3 ]
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
Classes:
[The coveted Shadow - epic (13)]
Skills :
[Daggers mastery - novice(6)] [Spear mastery - intermediate(6)] [Sword mastery - Novice(5)] [Dark arsenal - intermediate (4)] [Shadow step - epic] [Death siphon] [Death resistance - novice (1)] [Empowered throw] [Ally of Darkness]
Skill modifiers :
[Dark arsenal] - [First strike]
Achievements :
[Death’s door(2)] [Big game hunter] [The first of many] [the trial seeker] [Mark of the elite] [The Dungeon Runner] [Lone wolf]
Affinities :
Shadow (G) - Dark arsenal (1/1) slots.
Talents :
[Innate sensory] [Deathborne] [Mana cells]
My status page was getting somewhat unruly and hard to read. There was just too much information crammed in it.
With the buffs from Lone wolf and Ally of darkness, I shouldn’t be lacking in any of my physical stats. I felt that now is the best time to focus on my mana and willpower, so I allocated all of my main attributes into those stats respectively.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
I smiled when the cheers from the crowd inside of the barren walls reached my ears.
It was during that moment that I had to think about my future with these people. While cooperation was necessary during the defense, what should I do with those people after this? I said that I preferred to do things alone to them before, which they understood, but there was no denying that working together was the key to our survival today.
Because no matter how strong I was, I couldn’t deal with the entire wave on my own. My skills were best at dealing with a single opponent, not a fuck ton of wolves that weren’t even aiming for me in the first place.
So… Do I stick with them? Or do I stay as a unit and clear the other dungeons as quickly as I could?
Unfortunately, with my newly gained achievement, my skill-set that were majorly favoring a lone wolf style were amplified even further towards that direction. It might seem weird that I said that, but I had to consider the difference in the preferred fighting environment between me and the others.
First, I’m strongest when my surroundings are at its darkest. Meaning that most normal players wouldn’t even be able to see when I fight in a spot where I had the most advantage in. Which brings me to my second point; If they bring a source of light with them, my ally of darkness will become useless. Julie’s spells were the clearest example, I didn’t see my system page when she casted her fireball, but I was quite sure that I was only a few steps closer away from having my buffs turned off.
Well, the next reason simply came to preference. I just… liked to fight alone. Having others to think about only complicates the decision making that I had to do. My skills weren’t suited to protect or coordinate with what the others might do either.
I was used to fighting for myself. Fighting for the survival of my other party members, on the other hand, was a different story.
Groaning, I summoned every single inch of my will as I stood up. For now, I’d consider working with them if another event like the invasion happened again. It wasn’t like I didn’t like those people either, Reghan, Julie, and the others might felt like they were difficult to get along with initially, but they had to be tough to survive until today.
The crowds were still cheering as I strode past them, reaching the wrecked podium somewhat leisurely. None of them paid much attention to me as I approached Reghan and Julie’s party, surprised to see that Julie was huddling with the rest of her party members, relieved that everyone was alright.
Reghan shot an appreciative glance as the cheers continued, “You killed her on your own? That’s impressive, Zane.” His eyes then scanned me from the top of my head to my feet, “I can tell that it wasn’t an easy fight.”
I couldn’t even muster speaking another sentence back. He was right, it was tough, and… there was nothing more that I could add to it.
“I wonder what kind of rewards we would get. e’ll have to deal with the sharing of the colony chest…” The grin from his lips disappeared as he thought about the possible headache that was about to greet us, “I guess we’ll think about it when the time comes… Until then, we have some time to relax.”
“Are you sticking with your plans?” Julie’s voice rang from behind me, “Going on another adventure outside?”
Her party were chatting away as the three of us gathered into a more secluded area.
“I plan to deal with the second dungeon on my own.” I flatly told them about my plans for the next few days, “While working together is great, my skills are best utilized when I am alone.”
Julie and Reghan shared a look. This wasn’t a surprising news for them, but they still hoped that I would change my decision. They took a few seconds to gather their own thoughts, and Reghan was the first to speak.
“I would be lying if I said that I don’t appreciate your strength here, but we all make our own decisions. You’re welcome to return anytime you wish… As long as we remained alive, that is.”
Julie smirked, “It’s a shame, but hey, you didn’t say that to ask for our permission, you just wanted to tell us your plans. And… if our survival hinged on your presence alone, then frankly, we don’t deserve to live in the first place.”
They each stared at the gate in silence. The thoughts about our future still weighed heavily in their minds.
“Three more dungeons, and this gate will open.” Reghan muttered, “What do you think lies behind that door? Is it just a way for us to leave this place, or…”
“You’re thinking of another boss?” Julie’s voice interrupted Reghan’s speech. “At that point, we should be strong enough to deal with it. Since Zane’s dealing with the second one, I think we need to find the other two as quickly as we can. You know, just in case.”
She was right. The biggest danger of prolonging our stay wasn’t the wolves outside the gates. No, it was the possibility of another invasion happening. The first wave was barely do-able. We would be wiped if the second one brought even stronger enemies here.
Reghan nodded, but his next sentence was said to keep our expectations low, “We shouldn’t rush the dungeons if we’re not ready. God knows what lied inside those places. Zane, can you tell us a little about the dungeon that you cleared?”
“Tzatch’s tomb?” I was surprised that he came out with that question out of nowhere. “Wow… Let me see…”
Their gazes were locked onto me as I pinched my forehead, “Well, it had a strong connection to the death and light affinity… There was this poison that you get when you touch one of the orbs that was emanating this sort of dark haze; it drains your health every second.”
I continued reliving the memories of the dungeon. The fights, The zombies, the palace and the boss that lied within, then the rewards and the key. I didn’t say anything about Yael’s appearance, though. He was an enigma, and the less anyone else knew about him, the better. A mystery like that could draw a few eyes to search for him.
Reghan and Julie’s faces were aghast at my stories. Did they think that the dungeon was an easy fight? I nearly died there, multiple times, even.
Shaking her head, Julie finally spoke after a few seconds of thinking, “Wow, I expected it to be hard, but for the dungeon to be that perilous…”
As the cheers quieted down, Reghan turned towards the crowd behind us.
“I’ll focus on strengthening the others, and delegating some of us to scout further ahead. This whole dungeon clearing thing sounds interesting, but we have other things to worry about.”
Julie clapped her hands. “So, that’s it, we’re set? Once the rewards are distributed, I will leave with my party.”
[Rewards calculation completed.]
The sudden message from the system took our attention away from our conversation. Reghan and Julie immediately stared at the invisible box that was in front of them.
[Player with the highest contribution in the defense : Julie Williams. 5000 bonus contribution points awarded. A seperate reward will be given once Julie Williams accesses the pylon.]
“Wow… Me?” She was visibly surprised that her name was mentioned. I didn’t find the revelation to be unexpected since she was the one who killed most of the wolves out there with her area spells, which proved to be essential in our defense.
[Player who dealt most damage to Ariandel : Zane Black (100 %). 3000 contribution points awarded. A seperate reward will be given once Zane Black accesses the pylon.]
Next, it was my turn. None of them were surprised by the news about the boss kill.
[Player who tanked the most damage from the wave : Reghan Morris(14.42%). 2500 contribution points awarded. A seperate reward will be given once Reghan Morris accesses the pylon.]
Now this one came out of nowhere and Reghan felt the same way too. “Really? I was rewarded for taking damage?”
[The rankings of the players who contributed the most will be listed once players accesses the pylon. Additional rewards and points will be distributed once the players do so.]
[Overall defense rating : B.]
B? That’s… low. But I suppose I should’ve expected it. We lost some guys here and there, and the majority of us weren’t even fighting most of the time.
[Colony chest inbound in 2 minutes. Chest will spawn beside the pylon, and only the sector administrator can access and distribute it.]
A sigh left Reghan’s mouth when that prompt came.