Chapter Title: Protect the Village (1)
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There were three major events unfolding in Wizley Village. The first involved totems that drove monsters into a frenzy, sending them charging at the village. Destroying all those totems would summon the first boss monster, the Abomination, triggering the initial boss raid.
The next crisis was the monster wave. It pitted the village against hordes of attacking monsters, forcing them to hold out for as long as possible.
But there was one key twist: the assailants weren't your run-of-the-mill orcs or goblins. They were undead monsters.
'Endless waves of them,' Dante thought.
Every night, undead monsters swarmed relentlessly. The village had to endure attack after attack. Eventually, a boss monster would appear amid the onslaught. Defeating that boss marked the second boss raid.
'So many people wiped here.'
It wasn't just about taking down the boss. Players had to clear the trash mobs alongside it. And there were two critical additional conditions.
'The village can't fall completely, and Ribel can't die.'
They had to fend off the monster wave while upholding those conditions—no matter the number, quality, or duration of the waves, all of which were completely random.
'Guides said anywhere from 300 to 800 monsters per wave, lasting 3 to 6 days.'
If those numbers held true in this reality, that meant slaying at least 900 monsters at minimum—or up to 4,800 in the worst case.
In the game, Wizley Village barely scraped by using scrolls stocked with attack spells as a precaution against emergencies.
But Dante had no intention of letting that happen. He planned to handle every last monster himself.
'Experience points are meant to be hogged.'
With that in mind, Dante finished breakfast at the inn and headed to the Statue of the Goddess.
'Time to acquire all those skills.'
He'd spent the past couple of days testing skills and seeing how they worked in reality. Satisfied with his experiments, Dante now began acquiring every skill he'd set his sights on.
And he didn't stop there—he upgraded them all to the highest grade.
"That wraps it up."
After maxing his final skill, Dante stepped back from the statue and checked his skill window. He smiled at the dozens of skills listed there.
'This should be plenty.'
Not that he could use every one yet. Some still demanded more mana than he had.
Still, he'd mastered all the essentials on his list.
'Gonna take time to get comfortable with all these.'
As that thought crossed his mind, Dante first reviewed his most crucial passive skill.
⚔ SKILL INFO ⚔
Heart of Death (M) - Max Lv.
- Compresses the power of death to bolster your mana.
= Max Mana: +200%
= Mana Recovery Speed: +1,000%
This skill was off-limits to players in the game—it belonged to a boss monster. Its effects were absurdly overpowered, plain and simple.
That's why no player could learn it. But Dante? He could snag cheats like this with ease.
'Should've picked it up sooner. This thing's a monster.'
His max mana had tripled, and regeneration shot up tenfold. No passive beat this for mana management—maybe some similar skills with different flavors, but nothing better.
"Time to get ready."
Monster waves were straightforward: massive enemy swarms you wiped out. Simple quest, really.
And this wasn't a one-off for Wizley Village. More waves would hit later. This was just a tutorial of sorts—considerate devs, if you ignored the brutal difficulty.
"Dullahan Summon."
With those words, Dante invoked Multiple Summon to call forth 21 Dullahans at once. It drained every drop of his mana—a true max summon.
'Level gains helped, but that tripled mana pool made the real difference.'
Staring at his 23 Dullahans total, Dante grinned. Mana was gone, but already regenerating at a blistering pace.
'At this rate, I could hit max summons in under ten days.'
Three passives now boosted his undead summon cap: his old Aura of Death and Lord of Death, plus this new one.
⚔ SKILL INFO ⚔
Lord of the Dead (M) - Max Lv.
- King of the fallen.
= Additional Undead Summons: +300
Another player-forbidden skill, now Dante's. These passives alone let him summon 420 extra undead.
'420 Dullahans should trivialize Wizley Village's waves.'
This wave featured zombies and skeletons—weaklings, mostly. A handful of ghouls, skeleton warriors, or mages mixed in, but still pushovers.
That's why Dante stuck to Dullahans. He was confident 420 could mop up everything.
"Mr. Dante? These Dullahans out of nowhere..."
Dante smiled at Ribel's question.
"I summoned them, so no worries."
"That's not the issue. Why summon so many all of a sudden?"
"Better safe than sorry. I'll be leaving soon enough."
"Ah, right. Roads have been rough lately. I'm worried about our people returning from the city."
"They'll be fine. Didn't they go with sixty escorts?"
"Yes, I hope so. They're due back any time—it's got me anxious."
As Ribel fretted, a runner dashed up.
"Chief! The city group's back—all of them!"
Dante chuckled.
"Speak of the devil."
Ribel laughed too.
"Haha, you got that right. Let's go welcome them!"
Dante nodded and followed with his 23 Dullahans outside the wooden walls, watching the wagons approach.
The carriages looked battered. Ribel's face hardened as he waited. Once inside the village, the expedition leader approached him.
"We hit some fights on the way, Chief."
"Casualties?"
"None. Some injuries, but nothing serious—rest'll fix 'em."
Ribel sighed in relief.
"Move the wounded to my place, unload the goods. Oh, and the payment for Mr. Dante?"
The man pulled out a pouch.
"Good quality fetched a premium. Total's 120 gold."
"Nice haul."
"Lots of goods."
Ribel nodded, handed the pouch to Dante, who opened it and gave 20 gold to Ribel and the leader.
"Your commission, as discussed. Looks like you didn't take it out yet."
"No need!"
Dante shook his head.
"Take it. Makes me feel better."
The man glanced at Ribel, who nodded. He accepted gingerly.
"Buy the crew a round."
"Thank you."
"Thank you—for selling my stuff so well."
With warm farewells, villagers unloaded daily necessities for the shops. As Dante watched, Ribel approached.
"We've got a little festival tonight."
"Festival?"
"Yeah, always after a trade run. Join us?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
Words aside, Dante tensed. The festival marked the monster wave's start.
'Beat the first boss yesterday, wave tonight. Story's moving fast.'
Figuring he'd summon Liches for their AoE spells over Dullahans, Dante awaited nightfall.
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