On the eastern coast, reefs loomed here and there. This was the place where the raging waves pushed us and destroyed our boat.
«We are here.»
The half-submerged sandy beach was full of monsters. The representative sea monsters of the sixth floor were Ranemut Warriors and Shamans. The Shell Horns spat poison from a distance. The Garbels had the unique characteristic of multiplying up to three times when killed.
«Bjorn, I'll help too». Ainar stepped forward, expressing concern about the number of monsters that numbered in the hundreds.
Just watch, will you?
«It is not necessary.»
«That? But...»
No buts. Come to think of it, I have never taught it to you after getting this essence.
«Don't worry. I can do this alone». I held my mace and posed like a batter with a baseball bat. «Erwen».
«Yes, what will we do this time?»
«Wind.»
I took out the Elemental Barbarian (Wind).
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has launched Elementalization.]
A biting wind enveloped my body and began to swirl around my skin.
[The spirit of the wind lives in your body. All damage taken is adjusted by dodging. Damage taken from magic is doubled. You have received a bonus against penetration and cuts. Agility stats have increased significantly].
The effect of this mode was simple. Your movement became faster and allowed you to adopt the role of dodger tank. For a damageer, it simply increased your DPS a lot. Of course, the important part was elsewhere.
[The range of all attacks triples.]
This was the most important characteristic of Eli Barbaro (Wind). When this mode came out, normal hits were replaced by splash damage. Simply put, it meant that even a Forceful Weapon Warrior like me could perform a powerful attack.
«Kweeeek!» Feeling an unusual impulse, the monsters around me went into a frenzy and began to pounce on me, but I held my position and waited for the right moment. There was no need to brandish it twice, right? A single blow was enough.
Transcendence.
The moment I considered that a sufficient number had gathered, I immediately used Transcendence.
[You have launched Balancing.]
Just as an expert swordsman drew and brandished his sword, I brandished my mace in a controlled manner.
¡Wiiip! ¡Whooooom!
Simultaneously with the sound of the wind blowing, the mace in my hand lengthened like a Yeoui Staff and increased in size in proportion. This was the effect of Transcendental Swing with its tripled range, and the reason why meaningless plays became possible towards the last half of Dungeon and Stone. The damage of most of them multiplied.
¡Kwaaaaaaclaim!
Ugh, that's amazing.
When I finished Swing, I checked my surroundings with satisfaction.
Yes, here it is.
There was no monster standing.
«Bjorn! How did you do it? Show me too!»
«Ask Erwen to do it for you next time, too.»
«Can I do it while Erwen is there?»
«Yes, something similar, at least», I half responded to Ainar, who was impressed by my new link, before looking towards the seashore. Thanks to that effective blow, most of the monsters on the beach had been cleaned.
«Lord, the waves! The waves are receding!»
While we waited for a while on the empty shore, the waves rose like a tsunami.
[The first Sea Fury has begun.]
This effect occurred when the middle boss of the first wave appeared.
«Mermaid! It's the Mermaid Queen!» Priestess Ersina shouted at the monster that was riding the waves. As an explorer who had been active on the sixth floor for a long time, it seemed like she knew this monster as well. «Why is there a rank 4 monster here on this island?»
Why do you think that? Because one of you lit up the event.
«Everyone, get behind me. Erwen, prepare to fight.»
«Okay.»
«And what about me? Should I keep looking?»
«For now. I'll call you if necessary, so wait».
«Okay!»
After another simple formation maintenance, the mermaid queen was finally in front of us. «Kyaaaaah!» With a pretty face and unmatched sound, she stabbed the trident in her hand forward.
¡Bang!
Being a rank 4 monster, even the normal blow was quite strong. But there was another reason why it was rank 4.
[The Mermaid Queen has cast the Song of the Sea. Your stats have decreased.]
He had an aura that reduced statistics in proportion to exposure time.
[The Mermaid Queen has launched Vortex.]
Furthermore, every time this monster launched a normal blow, it spit out a vortex that stole a certain amount of MP each time.
[The Mermaid Queen has launched Loyalty Test.]
Every time the cooldown was reached, it summoned rank 5 monsters, and not just one or two, but dozens at a time.
He is the typical shaman-type boss monster.
As expected, it wouldn't have been an easy fight... if we hadn't met right here, of course.
«¡Behell-aaaaaahhhhh!»
The Mermaid Queen's difficulty lay in quantity. Originally, it was normal to have hundreds of mermaids guarding your side. However, she was alone at the time she arrived on the island. Of course, it had the characteristic of self-proliferating if left alone.
I have not come here in vain.
To defeat her before she became raid boss, I stopped looking for my clanmates to come here.
«I-I'll help, so give me a gun! A rank 4 monster is impossible on your own». I assumed we weren't trustworthy when I heard this suggestion from Nebarce, but I just filtered it through the other ear.
The same thing happened to Ainar. «What are you saying!? Bjorn is a great warrior!»
«Big or not, that's not a monster that three people can kill in their o-»
«Bjorn, can I rip this guy's mouth off?»
«If he speaks badly again.»
«Okay!»
Ainar's threat must have been the key because Nebarce closed his mouth. Thanks to that, I focused solely on the fight. The battle was taking place only with this trio: a priestess who was synonymous with healings and blessings, a spirit archer, and a barbarian tank. Despite everything, the fight against the boss went smoothly, and rightly so, because it still had a damage dealer, a tank, and a healer.
[Lairin Ersina has cast Blessing of the Sun. Weaknesses of rank 5 or lower are removed and additional statistics are obtained in proportion].
The priestess dismantled the reduction of statistics at regular intervals.
¡Whiiiip!
The Vortex that stole MP when hitting could be dodged simply with controls.
It really is comfortable to have great agility.
The summoning pattern wasn't that picky either. Erwen fluttered around my head in an Elementalization state and finished them off before they reached ten.
«Behell-ahhhhh!» Since my threat level was so high, there was no point in them ignoring me and running towards the rear.
¡Crunch! ¡Crunch! ¡Crunch!
All I had to do was put on the tank/damager hat and hit the queen to end it all.
«¡Keeeeek!»
About twenty minutes had passed into the battle.
[You have defeated a Mermaid Queen. EXP +6.]
The Mermaid Queen was hit almost thirty times on the head before finally disappearing like light. The essence I expected did not appear.
If the summoner had appeared he could have sold himself for a lot of money. Oh, I guess it doesn't matter without a magician, anyway.
I erased my regrets and lowered the mace. Erwen turned off Elementalization and we both headed to where the rest of the group was.
«...And to think that three people can really catch a rank 4 monster». The priestess Ersina remained somewhat incredulous.
The same thing happened to Nebarce. «Sure, I heard you're a rank 5 scout...». Nebarce interrupted himself and looked at me strangely. «So, you were hiding your abilities...».
What was this guy saying? I laughed as soon as I heard it, but I didn't bother to explain myself.
It's curious. The classification rules on this side are super weak.
This was something I felt a lot since the game became a reality. The explorers' rankings here only represented the minimum standard. The guild only gave rankings based on the mid-range of the essence; It did not take synergy into account. Nebarce was exactly that example.
Live and go rank 4.
This guy had the badge of a rank 4 scout. Since it was from Noark, it was not a royal insignia, but it must have reached rank 4 on its own. Still, I beat him in ten seconds. Although my cultivation method was strong against people (especially long-range explorers), all that aside, he was simply weak. In fact, most of the explorers here were. Although their ranks were high, they could not perform well.
Looking back, the dragon hunter felt similar.
Having explored for a long time, his level was high and his essences were many, but that was it. His combination of essences had no basis. To be honest, I could even be called a failed character by my standards.
It felt exactly like the guys who played the game just days before considering it a flop and quitting.
More than possessing high-ranking abilities, in this game you were stronger if you had greater synergy between lower-ranking abilities. Choosing a basic skill like Gigantization and evolving it in different ways to cheat was also a staple of the game.
The person with the strongest combination was Corpse Collector.
Just as I was organizing my thoughts like that, I hurriedly turned my head in the direction of a voice. «Mr. Yandel!»
Do you? Sphere, you are ...
« ¡Raven! ¡Abman! »
«¡Sr. Patzran, está bien!»
Four men and women appeared from the forest. Ugh, now only Missha was left.
«Yandel, Erwen, Ainar. I'm glad you're safe».
«Urakburak! I'm glad you're safe, too!»
Running towards each other with happy faces and sharing a brief reunion, we quickly exchange our information with each other.
«What happened?»
«Ah, eye».
What happened to Raven was simple. She and Mr. Bear met with Patzran and his team of magicians to travel together to the center of the island. Upon arrival, she saw my note saying I was heading east and changed direction.
«But why have you arrived so late? I waited there more than two hours».
«I'm sorry. We missed so much along the way...».
The reason was really absurd. To think that not one in four people could find their way.
Well, there are two magicians. And other than using a sword, that guy doesn't seem to know much about anything else...
Mr. Bear wasn't even worth mentioning. Yes, it was natural to lose your way with these members.
«But... Miss Karlstein?»
«Not yet.»
«Excuse me? Not yet...?»
«Don't worry too much. Didn't we just meet? It will be fine somewhere on the island». I tried to stop worrying somehow and looked away.
Like our side, Patzran finished greeting his teammate, Ersina, and approached me. «I found out from Ersina what happened».
«What happened...»
«...Baronet Yandel. That you protected her all the time. Thanks.»
«We must help each other in difficult times. Anyway the blonde-no, Drous. Did you find out his identity?»
«Oh, about that... I heard it. It's hard to believe Drous was from Noark. As for that, do you mind if I confirm some things myself?». Patzran then politely asked if he could speak to Nebarce and I willingly agreed.
«Use it well and return it».
«Of course, I'll use it well».
Okay, so that's all for that part.
Hearing Patzran's conversation with Nebarce, I approached Raven and whispered softly: «Raven, you don't need to answer, just listen. Someone here has been plotting with Noark».
Someone had betrayed their team and told Amelia that they were coming to this island today, someone only Amelia knew.
«I don't think they're trying to stab us in the back even now, but let them know anyway. Let me know right away if you find anything strange». As soon as I finished speaking, Raven nodded with a stiff face. Well, then, now that the exchange of information was over, I approached the magician who was resting on the ground from exhaustion. «Hello, magician. What's your name?»
I judged that by talking to him I might discover something strange about him. Yes, that should have been the case.
«Ah, nice to meet you. I'm Aulock».
Seeing that the magician extended his hand to me with a friendly smile, I froze. The priestess Ersina, the swordsman Patzran and even the archer I did not yet know; Although I had not found out anything for sure about who the traitor could be among the many suspects, a certainty was shooting inside me.
«Hans Aulock. Feel free to call me Hans».
Understood.