Chapter 463 Enter Earthen Keep
Stepping through the rift in s.p.a.ce, Jack, Lorwynn, Kori found themselves in a strange place.
It was barren for as far as the eye could see but there was little to no sand. It wasn"t mountainous but smaller, crude mounds of rock dotted the area. There were no trees but there were many forms of bushes and cacti that mimicked trees. At the same time, there was no sky overhead. Instead, they saw rock jutting downward from the ceiling with some kari crystals scattered across the protrusions as dim artificial lighting.
"So he sent us straight in… I guess we don"t need to worry about resealing the tomb," joked Jack.
"Get ready," Kori spoke up. "We"ve already been spotted."
"Correction, you two have been spotted. I"ll get away while you distract everyone. But first, Lorwynn, we need to rewrite your pact. Can you keep them busy for a moment, Kori?" Jack asked as he slit his finger.
The hero and former holy champion quickly redid heir pact, allowing Lorwynn complete access to all of his earned EXP.
While they did that, Kori got a headstart on his kill count. Two basilisks with reptilian, lizard bodies and feathers of all colors had rushed the party, getting intercepted and caught off guard by Kori"s overwhelming transformation. His black, unquenchable flames covered both basilisks lost all their feathers and soon their lives while Jack finished up.
"That"s two for me," stated Kori, still keeping his flame body active. "Let"s see who can level up quicker."
"You"re on!"
Excited to know what was to come, Lorwynn covered himself in lightning and wind energy. As the next few basilisks approached the party more cautiously, they were suddenly caught off guard by Lorwynn frightening speed. Thanks to Rikko choosing him, Lorwyn managed to add a few wind buffs in place of attacks, making flight effortless for Lorwynn and allowing him to nearly match the nimble Goblin G.o.d.
In their shock, all three basilisks were slain lightning riddle them thorned vines emerged from the ground to strangle them to death.
"Well, I"ll be off," Jack stated, already invisible. "Don"t worry about how many items you use. There"s a reason I let you raid the guild vault for supplies."
"Thanks! Then we won"t ask for forgiveness later!" Kori chuckled. He couldn"t remember the last time he just let go, allowing himself to attack and burn anything and everything without a care in the world. It felt liberating as he started over on his path to ascension.
While Jack disappeared and said no more, the duo of a full-evolved h.e.l.l-flame Fox and a former champion that now had four magical affinities attracted more and more beasts as they began the harsh grind for lv. 90.
Jack kept completely silent and out of sight as he ran through the first floor. He had developed something new that made things much easier for him.
By tweaking his map tab, Jack positioned it to become his mini-map he always did. It didn"t show much, at least not until Jack cast G.o.d"s Eye. Not expecting this to happen, Jack realized that the mini-map was updated according to what Jack saw. Also, a notification popped up on his system, making Jack truly feel like a cheater.
[Would the user wish to cast G.o.d"s Eye over the map?]
[Yes or no?]
No hesitation was needed. Instantly selecting yes, Jack found himself able to see as he normally would while also keeping a thoroughly detailed view of the world and enemies around him with his revamped mini-map. Paired with his ultimate invisibility, Jack could now glide through the first floor and avoid all the mobs that would be fodder for Lorwynn and Kori.
Feeling more relaxed about the situation, Jack found a clear area far from all the mobs. The hero took a seat on the most comfortable rock he could find as he opened his skill list.
With twelve thousand five hundred and sixteen skill points, Jack took a moment to carefully choose which pa.s.sive skills needed the biggest boosts.
Even though it took Jack a few minutes, he didn"t care. What Jack wanted was to use his skill points to boost a number of skills and spells, not spend them all at once. He remembered Daruun mentioning how Jack would want as many skill points as possible after running Earthen Keep, so he wanted to keep a sizable sum for later use.
Though Jack eyed many skills and spells he could easily purchase, Jack decided not to buy anything apart from pa.s.sive skills until he knew what Daruun was warning him about.
In the end, Jack had spent a total of two thousand six hundred and forty-five skill points purely on pa.s.sive skills. Jack upgraded a total of nine pa.s.sive skills to lv. 6, which included: bow, sword, knives/daggers, physical resistance, strength, speed, hearing, perception, and stealth. He debated going higher, but the amount of skill points that would take was beyond anything Jack wanted to spend at the moment. Going from lv. 9 to the maxed lv. 10 for a single skill would cost two thousand five hundred and sixty skill points, and that didn"t include the upgrade to lv. 7, lv. 8, or lv. 9. As much as Jack liked the thought of upgrading something to the max, now wasn"t the time.
Saving nine thousand eight hundred and seventy-one skill points for later, Jack took a deep breath and resumed his journey.
Glad that his upgraded mini-map wasted little to no mana, Jack kept it active at all times while he hurried through the first floor. Due to the spell focusing on only that perimeter around Jack, it reduced the mana cost as compared to viewing the entire floor at once.
While mobs were either attracted to the raging h.e.l.l-flame Fox and overwhelming mage, Jack sneaked past the many mobs ranging from lv. 80 to lv. 83. Such would be the reality for the first few floors that originally were only lv 80 while in-game. The mission wasn"t difficult in terms of execution due to Jack"s strategy, but it would test his patience as Jack would do his best to rush across ninety-nine of the largest dungeon floors of all Kartonia.