ALL NOVEL Chapter 63: The Trial's Dungeon
As the party headed deeper into the dungeon, they soon encountered some monsters. Unlike the undead skeletons from outside, this dungeon was filled with different types of undead which were ghosts and wraiths.
"Hehe, it's just some undead, time to eat my scythe you stupid ghosts!" Maria rushed forward and began trying to slice up the monsters in front of her.
When she slashed down on the Lv. 35 Ghost Soldier, her weapon only passed through the monster and struck the floor.
"Eh?"
"Mistress, get back!" Ash rushed forward and immediately pulled Maria back and got struck by the Ghost Soldier's attack.
"Hey, how come my attack didn't work?"
"Mistress, these ghosts are astral beings, you can't attack them using physical attacks. You must use energy attacks or magic spells to hurt them," Ash patiently explained.
"Well, why didn't you say so, stupid?"
"...M-Mistress..."
Ash had no time to feel sorry for himself because the Ghost Soldier had locked its aggro onto him and began its attack. Maria stepped back and began casting her [Fire] spell. Once it was complete, she switched her Calamity back into its ax-form and tossed the spell into the air before batting it towards the Ghost Soldier.
The attack struck accurately on the monster and immediately depleted half of its HP.
"Oh yay~!"
Ash quickly finished it off with one of his Spells. The party continued into the dungeon and numerous amounts of ghost-type monsters blocked their way and obstructed them for continuing forward.
Maria continued using her spells to attack and quickly take down the ghosts attacking them. She would occasionally change her Calamity into its scythe form and send a [Calamity Cleave] at the monsters and clear up the way forward. She remembered a little bit late that one of her weapon's forms was a scythe and it was magic-based.
Maria would switch her weapon's form whenever her skill was off cooldown and fire it off before changing it back and batting her [Fire] spells at the ghosts with her weapon whenever it was off cooldown while cycling through [Ruin], [Smite], [Earth Shock] and [Terra Lance] in turns.
"I could become a good baseball player if I keep this up~" Maria said in a sing-song voice as she continued to slowly delve deeper into the dungeon.
Seeing their master having the time of her life, Ash and Lilah kept to the back and only assisted her whenever too many monsters had gathered together.
The dungeon's structure was pretty straightforward, there were only a few twists and turns on the way with the occasional branching pathways that led to a dead end. If they happened to go down a path that led to a dead-end, all they had to do was go back and take the other path.
The only problem was the numerous monsters that would flood the tunnels whenever they had to turn back. It was already grueling enough the deeper into the dungeon, so it was frustrating whenever they came upon a dead-end and had to turn back.
Maria's only respite was that at the end of the pathways which lead to dead ends were treasure chests that had some really good items in them.
"Agh! Another stupid dead-end!!!" Maria screeched in anger. She stomped her way over to the gold-colored treasure chest and kicked it open in annoyance.
"Hmph!"
"..."
"...Master's irritated..." Lilah said worriedly.
"Well, those ghosts keep coming to harass us with their screeches and moaning..." Ash replied.
"Now master's screeching just like those ghosts..."
"...the young Mistress is easily irritable."
"I wanna get out of here quickly... those ghosts are getting to me as well..."
"I agree, so let's help her out now. We've let the Mistress have her fun, now we should just get out of here before she gets too irritated and starts taking it out on us!"
"You mean, on you~" Lilah smirked teasingly.
"..." Ash only responded sullenly with a [Blood Wave]. He easily cleared out a huge amount of ghosts and this caused Maria's eyes to brighten.
"Ash, you're pretty useful!"
"M-Mistress...wasn't I always useful?"
"Let's go, Lilah~"
"Yes, Master!"
Being blatantly ignored by his Mistress, Ash could only dejectedly chase after the girl and the fairy.
Maria quickly rushed forward in the empty pathway but it didn't take long before more ghosts once more filled up the path ahead. Listening to the ghosts' screeches and wails was torturing to her ears and she couldn't help but screech and wail back at the monsters.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Maria screamed out in annoyance, "How do you like it if I screeched at you?! SHUT UP ALREADY!!!"
Maria slashed out with another [Calamity Cleave] and cleared the path ahead. She had learned something handy with her numerous usage of the skill. After sending out a dark energy wave, she was able to withhold her second energy wave for 5 seconds after sending the first wave out before her skill was canceled because she didn't use her next slash.
By abusing this mechanic, Maria was able to clear larger hordes of ghosts and cover more ground. She used the 5-second intervals to dash forward using her wings before slashing out with another energy wave until she used up all 3 of her slashes.
However, the stupid monsters still didn't let up, and their wailing and screeching only added to Maria's stress levels.
"Ash, I no longer want to hear those monsters' incessant wailing... do something about it!" Maria yelled in frustration.
"...This'll deplete a lot of my HP, Mistress."
"I don't care! Just get the job done. I'm through with these stupid ghosts!"
Ash helplessly obeyed his mistress' orders and began repeatedly using his Blood Magic on the monsters. His HP bar was moving up and down like a roller coaster. Whenever he used a spell, it took away a portion of his HP, but as he killed more and more monsters, his HP would immediately be restored due to his [Vampiric Aura] passive skill.
Maria followed after Ash from the back and would occasionally send a [Calamity Cleave] or one of her spells to assist him.
"Master, while Ash is dealing with the ghosts, I think we should check our loot?" Lilah suggested while she sat relaxingly on Maria's shoulder and swung her two little legs back and forth.
"Oh yeah, that's a good idea. [Inventory]"
Maria quickly sorted out her inventory and was a little bit surprised at the items she got from the chests she opened while inside this dungeon.
[Dark Priestess' Battle Dress (0)
Rank: Epic-ranked Set Equipment (1/7)
DEF: 50
M.DEF: 250
VIT + 10
INT + 75
Restrictions: Dark Priest, Dark Priestess
Level Requirement: Lv. 35
A piece of equipment crafted solely for Death's Envoy. It changes shape per the user's preference. The equipment absorbs the aura of the deceased personally felled by the user. For every 1,000 creatures killed, the user's stats are increased by 0.1% (Max. 10%). The kill count and increased stats reset every time the equipment is upgraded, unequipped, or whenever the user enters Death's Domain.
Upgradeable: Upgrade to next Tier. Requirements: Gather 10 Devil Cores (0/10), 5 Doom Flame Phoenix Feathers (0/5), 1 High Demon's Heart (0/1), and 1 God Crystal Fragment (0/1)
Set Bonus:
1. 2 Equipment: Increases HP by 30%
2. 3 Equipment: Increases MP by 20 %
3. 4 Equipment: Acquire Passive Skill: [Unholy Aura]: Boosts All Stats of dark-aligned allies by 15% and decreases all enemy Stats by 5%.
4. 5 Equipment: ???
5. 6 Equipment: ???
6. 7 Equipment: ???
Description:
The first piece of equipment Death's Envoy can acquire when they attempt Death's Trial. If you are fated, then you will find this. If not, then it was not meant to be. A trace of the Death God's aura can be felt. While it invigorates those of the dark, it is an unpleasant feeling for those from the light.]
"The other stuffs are only miscellaneous items, equipment, and some skill books, but this one's just like the Calamity!"
Maria quickly swapped out her equipment and quickly donned the Dark Priestess' Battle Dress. She adjusted the appearance a little and made it look a little bit similar to her school's uniform except it had a darker color scheme and had some gothic motifs to it.
"Hmm~ I guess this is cute, right Lilah?"
"It's a little peculiar but it oddly fits Master to a tee," Lilah replied.
"I wonder if I can get any more of the Dark Priestess' unique equipment..."
"Anyway Master, I think you should just swap out all of your current equipment. The ones we found in the chests are much better!"
Maria nodded in agreement and began swapping out her equipment for the new ones she just got. Maria made sure to not become too preoccupied with her inventory because she didn't want to get left behind by Ash who was still rampaging around in the front with his skills.
"Master, did you check any of the skill books and find one that you like?"
"One sec, let me look through them," Maria replied after taking a short glance at Ash before she turned her attention back to her inventory.
After taking a brief look at them, Maria was a little dismayed at the fact that most of the skills were race and class-specific ones. She clicked her tongue and grumbled, "Tsk, this is supposed to be MY trial, so how come the rewards aren't favoring my class?"
Maria began to take out each skill book and thoroughly read their descriptions, she found an interesting one out of all of them. Too bad for her, she couldn't learn it.
"Aww, this one looked pretty interesting..."
[Scream of Agony Lv.1 (0/3000)
Rank: C
Let's loose a terrifying scream that damages everyone within 3 meters around the user. Deals 300+(INT x 0.3) M.DMG with a 30% chance to inflict [Fear] or [Silence] for 3 seconds.
Cooldown: 30 seconds
MP Cost: 300 MP
Restrictions: Ghost Race or Shaman-type Class]
"I've seen a few players playing as the ghost race... The only shaman-type player I know is Amanda. I guess I'll give this to her later..."
"M-Mistress..."
When Maria suddenly heard Ash's voice, she quickly turned her attention back towards the front and immediately started looking around.
She noticed that there were no longer any ghosts wailing and shrieking anymore. The area was completely silent and they had suddenly arrived at a large room with some kind of demonic altar situated in the middle that was bound by thick, black, ominous chains.
"Is this the boss room?"
Lilah flew around for a bit before returning, "It seems like it, Master. I sense a strong presence coming from the altar..."
"I believe something is sealed within that altar, my Mistress," Ash quipped up.
Maria nonchalantly walked up to the altar that was bound by chains and circled it a few times. The boss still hadn't appeared so there was only one way for it to appear. It was a little risky, but after thinking it over for a moment, Maria immediately came up with an answer.
"Hmmm... let's unseal it!"
"Master?!"
"Mistress?!"
Her two companions could only gawk incredulously at her suggestion. The being sealed within the demonic altar was sealed for very obvious reasons! What kind of fool would try and break this seal to fight with it?
"Hey, you two thought something bad about me, didn't you?!" Maria immediately glared at Lilah and Ash when she saw their dumbfounded expressions and the incredulous look on their faces.
"N-No we weren't, Master!"
"Mistress, we wouldn't dare!"
"Su~re, you totally thought that I was some kind of fool trying to unseal this thingy..."
"..."
"..."
Since the two became silent and didn't respond, Maria only harrumphed before she raised her axe high up in the air.
"Hmph, anyway, get ready for battle you two. Lilah immediately cast your debuffs on the monster when it pops out. Ash, I don't care what you use. You immediately start bombarding the sealed bastard once it pops out later, alright?"
"Yes, Master!" Lilah energetically replied.
Ash, however, responded a little hesitantly, "O-Okay, Mistress..."
Maria checked his HP and saw that it was full, but now that there were no more ghost fodders that could act as his HP bank, Ash's HP would undoubtedly deplete to dangerous levels after he used a few rounds of his skills.
"You can suck on my blood whenever your health gets too low!" Maria reluctantly said.
"R-Really? Thank you, Mistress!"
Before Ash could even rejoice at Maria's concession, the girl immediately opened up her mouth and continued saying, "You better not suck out too much! If you hinder me later, I'll cut you down as well!"
"O-Of course!"
"Alright, get ready you two!"
After making sure that both her companions were thoroughly prepared to strike, Maria applied a [Haste] buff on her entire party before she immediately swung her Calamity down onto the altar.
"Wakey, wakey~!"