Unprecedented Changes
The two were surprisingly compatible with each other. Ciel ignored all the bugs and spiders that were in the coffin and widened his arms to grab all the treasures in it before dashing for the exit; Brendel lunged to another side, dodging a slab of rock that fell onto where he was a moment ago and landed right next to the pile of bones that rested on the coffin.
He was still coughing sand when he noticed the Cards of Fates next to the skeleton. The sand upon his head began to fall, almost burying the cards. As he swiped his hands towards them, he failed to notice the two gleaming eyes that shone from the sockets of the skull. The skeleton stood up and clenched around his neck.
Brendel was shocked. Don’t even mention an ordinary skeleton, Brendel did not even pay attention to the lowest-ranked Skeletal Troopers within the ranks of the Madara army. However, if Brendel were to hesitate a moment in this situation, he would be buried under several thousand tons of rock.
It was right at this moment when a bright Fire Arrow brushed past his face and landed on the claws of the skeleton with a ‘thud’. Sparks sprayed everywhere and Brendel could feel his hair curling up under the heat. However, the attack crushed the bones and with just a slight tug, Brendel freed his hand and grabbed the Cards. As he ran, he could hear the loud rumbling behind him and when he looked, he saw that a quarter of the cavern had collapsed, the sand almost burying the altar in the center.
Brendel’s back was wet from cold sweat. He looked back to find his savior, the one who shot that arrow in that exact moment. Even back when this was a game, this was not a common sight. Although he recalled that the Elementalists under Ciel were not large in numbers, he could not figure out the ident.i.ty of the said person.
As he turned back to look, he did not expect the sight before him. Right at the entrance of the tomb, Romaine waved an index finger at him. And at the tip was a small blaze! She wore a smug expression on her face and was about to say something. Then she was pulled away by the female mercenary commander.
“When did she learn magic!?!”
She had quite the talent. To have made such an accurate shot, not even those high-leveled players could manage that!
But he immediately came up with a scarier thought. It might be that she never really aimed, and that her luck enabled her to make that ‘stray shot’. [T/L Note: Dude, she saved you. Why complain!]
Brendel shivered. The more he pondered about the girl’s carefree personality, this seemed to be more likely than her being a pro mage. He decided to not let her use magic, or there would be no saying when he will be toasted by a fireball in the future.
By then, not many people were left at the place. Most had retreated. Brendel signaled to the remaining people to hurry their exit, while he tailed them from behind as well. The others saw that their lord had escaped peril and retreated as well. But at that unexpected moment, Brendel could hear an odd yet clear noise coming from behind him.
“Kachak!”
His primate instinct warned like a buzzing alarm as he felt the hairs behind his back stood. He leaped to the side on reflex. An iridescent spike flew past the spot he was on a second ago. If he had not leaped just a while ago, the spike would have left a gaping hole within his chest.
When he turned back to look, he saw a crystalline creature gleaming with various lights climbing out of the coffin. Atop its semi-translucent skin was a long robe. It was about five feet tall and had a muscular torso. However, it lacked a brain. Brendel estimated that, if this being had a neck or head, he would be on the larger side when compared to normal Aouine civilians.
Despite being made entirely of crystal, its movements were not rigid. Brendel estimated that his opponent had about seventy ability points in its Agility stat, and that was half of what he had. However, the spike just now had broken the sonic barrier, which made him fearful for a moment. Its Attack stat and its independence from elements made it on the same level on Veronica. It was a strength attribute monster.
And it specialised in long-ranged attacks.
Brendel’s heart sank. The data made him recall something.
He could clearly recall the latest update that came out right before he came to this world, ‘Gaia Reawakens’. There was no introduction to it as usual, but after the War for the Sage Tablet, The Extermination of The Chief Warg Hati and the Battle of Madara and Farnezain, everyone’s focus was on the deathmatch between the two camps of players.
The battle he had at the Orkash Mountain Ranges then was no more than just the tip of the iceberg when compared with the scale of the war.
The battle was basically one to scavenge resources, at an uncharted territory that was found by some adventurers. To this day, Brendel can still remember the rumours of new species of monsters sp.a.w.ning in the area.
The Crystal Wights.
It was a living being with several hundred times the health of humans while having powerful Spirit abilities as well.
But why did it appear here? Wasn’t it going to appear 100 years later? In the uncharted Trentheim? Not here, within the protection of Mother Marsha!
Unless it’s not a creature formed from Chaos??!
Brendel was uncertain whether Vaude had such a creature a hundred years ago, especially at Aouine. But if it did, the game’s developer updated it too slowly. This phase was still part of the first update anyway. Along with that doubt, Brendel pulled out his sword as the Crystalline monster raised its hands to summon another spike.
In a blink, Brendel saw the trajectory of the projectile and smashed it to smitten. His hands felt numb from the impact. Although not using the Berserk skill of the Dragon of Darkness and the Enhancement Crystal might be the cause, it is no doubt that the monster posed a threat.
This monster’s Attack power is indeed comparable to Veronica’s, meaning it should be around level 40.
Brendel felt unease. Under normal circ.u.mstances, he would be elated. Despite having obtained the battle rewards, BOSS level monsters contain a lot of experience points, plus BOSS monsters usually carry around unique alchemy materials that cannot normally be found. But now, the tomb was shaking violently and could crumble at any moment. Also, it seemed that his opponent was not planning to escape.
The monster had a high Attack power, and it was agile as well. To spend all his energy to finish it off, Brendel might not have enough strength to escape. Despite him having an overwhelming advantage over Debilitating spells, it would take longer than a few minutes to finish the monster off.
Especially when the monster looked pretty intelligent as well.
“Let’s not play now. If you do, we might be crushed here, you know?” He spoke to his opponent, while slowly backing off in the meantime. Seeing that the entrance was so close to his eyes, Brendel breathed out a sigh of relief. But never did he expect the monster to leap at him.
“s.h.i.t!”
Brendel activated the Dash skill and his body morphed into a comet that shot for the exit. The monster seemed to have predicted that, stopped and gave a trembling roar. The entire cavern shook. The exit flashed in white light, and a wall of thick crystals immediately conjured over it.
His heart sank. It seemed that if he wanted to leave this place, he would have to deal with the monster first. He silently cursed and turned to look at it. He did not expect to see the monster staring back at him as well.
Brendel was sure the monster was looking at him. Although it had no eyes nor a head, his instinct told him that he was being watched. After that, he immediately climbed onto the coffin and leap down it.
And he was gone entirely.
Brendel was sure that the depth of the coffin could not contain the entire being, but he gasped after thinking for a moment, “There’s a secret pa.s.sage!”
Brendel knew the intentions of the monster: It was to bury him in the cavern. But of course, it was not his first time meeting such a cunning BOSS. To mess with him, did it think that Brendel was a newbie?