DPSHealer

Chapter 202 - Silver Bows (Thank you for your support, Benjamin Black!)

“... Why would they capture your grandmother?”

We began to move toward where Clarice’s brother was supposed to work. Not acting the way the enemy is expecting me to act was the best option at the moment, but I couldn’t help but feel the growing frustration getting strong inside me.

I couldn’t remember many times where I got this angry… I was pretty forgiving, to say the least, even more so toward kids. I just wanted to live a calm second life since I didn’t even know how I died the first time. Having a second chance and taking the first chance most seemed quite hypocritical.

At the same time, I had a lot of knowledge of Earth. Thanks to that, I knew that fighting left and right and leaving a trail of blood would never end well. Still, I also knew that letting others do what they want and not making them pay for their actions wouldn’t well for me either.

“My guess is that she was sending reports to my brother to make him aware that I was doing fine. The moment their ambush failed, and we escaped alive, their plan must have started to fall apart. They were planning to kill you, capture me and my grandma, and then work behind the scenes to achieve whatever their goal is.”

It made sense… When the people that work behind the scenes start to move, they often have a lot of plans and they put all of them into action when they make their big moves. Those guys usually see themselves as so smart that they come up with those stupidly large and elaborate plans, but they didn’t realize that if a single piece doesn’t fall in its place, then everything falls apart.

I let out a sigh, since this was the type of people I was dealing with. There wasn’t much point in worrying about that… I just had to prepare, so I just kept making decay bolts.

“You are starting to look a bit pale… perhaps you should stop with that.”

The clerk was in front of us, so he didn’t know what I was doing, even though he could smell the blood in the air. He tried to look over his shoulder for a bit, but then he stopped when he saw my death glare for an instant.

Clarice had a point. I was getting impatient and then was getting weakened in order to make more decay bolts. Still, I could use a blood siphon on this guy and recover all my health and blood in a few seconds. Still, when I raised my hand, Clarice grabbed my right shoulder.

“... Don’t do it.”

I let out a sigh. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to use my heritage if I could avoid it, but I wasn’t thinking that much at the moment. I took some deep breaths to calm down…

I knew that Clarice was being cautious of me because of my heritage, showing her that I was willing to go that far would only show what she feared. It was better to leave that kind of action as a last resort.

There were other things that I could do to prepare for any battle, making scrolls or amulets were examples of it. I felt bad for Clarice, but I ended up making a lot of Great Fireball scrolls. If I end up fighting with the enemies, I want to take down as many of them as possible. If the fire burns some trees, I could always use the excuse that I wasn’t the one who started the fight.

In any case, we had to keep moving for the rest of the day and through the night before we reached the town where Clarice’s brother was supposed to be. The place was quite big, but not very different from the others. The only difference was that it was where the headquarters of the Silver Bows were located.

From a distance, I could see that the building was primarily made of pale, finely polished wood reinforced with slender beams of silver metal, which gives it its name. Its roof was arched and covered in overlapping wooden shingles that resembled the scales of a dragon, with silver inlays shimmering subtly in the sunlight. Even the wood seemed glowing, but it was probably because it was magical.

Vines of ivy climb up the walls, carefully maintained to enhance the building’s natural appearance rather than obscure it. Small gardens filled with vibrant, flowering plants surround the headquarters, giving it a tranquil yet vigilant aura. That was quite the odd combination, but it suited the Elves.

A large, silver-etched symbol of a bow and arrow hangs above the main entrance, serving as the organization’s emblem. This symbol is a silent warning to any who might consider crossing the Silver Bows’ interests.

The clerk couldn’t help but gulp while looking at it… it looked like he was heading straight and alone into the enemy territory. He was sweating bullets and about to faint since we didn’t stop once we started to move.

“A lot of the guys here indeed have silver bows, huh? Did they get them ready for me or something?”

“No, that is their main weapon. They always carry them to show whom they work for.”

A lot of people recognized Clarice, and they even nodded at her. It looked like I wouldn’t be stopped as long as I was with her, but they didn’t show very amicable looks at me. It looked like I might have to deal with them once I split up with Clarice.

The only problem was that they looked even more skilled than her, so I would have trouble… I didn’t have much experience fighting against archers, after all. I didn’t know if those bows were magical, but if they also had arrows made of silver or the bows granted them those extra effects, then even a scratch would put me in a bind.

Once we reached the front of the building, we jumped from the horses and then put them in a nearby stable that also served as part of the Silver Bows headquarters. After that, we got inside the building. 

Upon entering, we were greeted by a spacious hall with high ceilings, supported by gracefully curved wooden beams. Sunlight came through tall windows made of translucent crystal, filling the palace with a soft, ethereal glow. The floors were made of polished wood, with intricate patterns of silver and green inlaid to represent forests and the unity of nature.

“We have an armory here, training grounds, private chambers, council room and a main hall as well.”

It appears you have visited here several times while people anticipated your joining this group.

“You are right.”

I wondered for a moment if Clarice changed her mind because she didn’t want to be ordered around by her older brother, who she didn’t get along with very well. Regardless, I had more important things to worry about.

The headquarters exuded a calm yet commanding presence. The air inside carried the faint scent of pine and fresh earth, adding to the connection with nature that the elves cherish. Though it appears welcoming, subtle enchantments ensure that only those with permission can enter certain areas, and a constant watch is maintained by sharp-eyed members stationed at key points.

Eventually, we reached the place where the leader of the organization worked. It didn’t have guards there, but I could sense something in the air. When Clarice touched the door, a barrier was lifted for a short while and that was what made me feel like that.

Clarice opened the door and didn’t wait to be called… Thanks to that, we were received with a frown by another annoyingly handsome elf guy. Although he was supposed to be seventy years old, he didn’t look older than twenty.

‘What was his name again? Arslan?’

Arslan bore an uncanny resemblance to Clarice, almost as if they had been crafted from the same mold. His blonde hair shimmered like strands of gold, perfectly framing a face that was frustratingly flawless. Light green eyes, clear and piercing, seemed to cut right through me, and his sculpted features could have graced a marble statue. Yet that perfection only deepened my irritation.

He was glaring at me, intense and unyielding, as if he had the authority to pass judgment. It wasn’t just his looks that grated on my nerves; it was the way his gaze mirrored Rowan’s: sharp, condescending, and unapologetic. The kind of glare that made me instinctively want to add some imperfections to his face, if only to level the playing field a bit.

“Clarice… as usual, you come and go as you please without showing any respect for your older brother. You even brought some suspicious people to my room. What would you do if they tried to assassinate me?”

“Cut the crap. That crazy woman did something again. She has grandma and a companion of my friend here.”

“... She wouldn’t do that… she isn’t that insane. I am sure we have some misunderstandings here.”

“What do you know about what had happened at the border?”

“About the black bow archer and his unknown ally? I suspected that they were imposters trying to gain fame, but it looks like… they were you two, huh?”

“We were doing that to help with my investigation, since you are so useless. After the second attack, we were ambushed by four units of the unseen arrow. The dwarves were ready to attack us as well, and we barely escaped. When we returned home, grandma was no longer at home and this guy can confirm that. Your annoying friend is at it again… or maybe you are the one who made her do this.”

Crazy friend… that made me realize that I was missing some important pieces of information. Arslan studied with his sister for a while… It looked like he didn’t think that she would come up with some crazy story to waste his time.

“We know that you wouldn’t mind if a war with dwarves started now, but we will only be exposing ourselves. Your allies are too unhinged… Perhaps you don’t even have as much information as you imagine. Unless you bought my allies in my unit as well.”

“I didn’t do such a thing, but if they took grandma without causing destruction, perhaps that woman indeed bought her… Still, she wouldn’t do anything to our esteemed grandmother, you can rest assured.”

“I don’t care. You will help us solve this issue right now peacefully, or we will solve it very non-peacefully. You choose.”

Chapter 201 - Forceful (Thank you for your support, j3t!)

“This direction is…”

Clarice looked a bit more tense mid morning when she said that… I didn’t realize the direction we were heading before, but it looked like based on the position of the sun, we were heading Northeast… toward the central part of the Aeloria Dominion.

Clarice was pretty sure that the families that had any influence in the central parts of the Aeloria Dominion were all under the control of her brother. Although there were some overbearing ones that would underestimate him thanks to his age, they wouldn’t do something so reckless and risk opposing him.

In any case, soon enough, we reached the next town and things got a bit more complicated. We had to change our clothes since we couldn’t go look like members of the unseen arrow. As if that wasn’t annoying enough, the last traces of Glacien ended up where the marks of a carriage started.

“She can no longer make any marks, and that will be the case for a while… It is rare to see carriages here. Can you handle this?”

“... No problem.”

We headed to the area where the signs of the carriage came from and soon we found another important looking tree with a shop at the base. Some people were around, but they were acting odd. They looked interested in the stuff being sold there, but they weren’t showing any signs of wanting to buy anything.

‘Fake customers, huh? I didn’t think that I would see this kind of stuff in this world. To think that even Elves would want to scam other Elves.’

“Excuse me, I want to know who the owner of the carriage here is, and I want to know where it headed.”

“... The owner isn’t around and I am not allowed to give this kind of information.”

The shop clerk was a man who had sharp features. He still had the handsomeness of a male elf, but he had a bit of a pointy face, too. That made me think that it was his shrewdness or something taking physical form.

In any case, he studied us with a bit of disdain in his face and voice, so perhaps it was from there my annoyance came from.

“We have some serious business with him and we believe that he helped move some people that are important to us, so we need this information right now.”

“I already said that I am not allowed to answer anything.”

Clarice began to look annoyed, but she couldn’t do much since the mood of the fake clients got serious as well. As expected, they worked for this guy and this guy’s boss as well. In any case, Clarice couldn’t give up that easily, so she began to bite her lips.

The clerk looked amused, but soon the expression changed when he noticed my gaze and my eyes. I was holding my chin, wondering how to handle this. I could just wait a bit and capture this guy at night and force him to speak, I could also use my camouflage gear to make most of those guys disappear in order to avoid escalating the problem, or I could give zero fucks and then save time by doing what had to be done. I decided to use the third option.

“Ah…”

Clarice didn’t have time to do anything… Before anyone could see what I had in store for them, I used rapid fire and arcane arrows. I fired shocking arrows on the legs of all the elves around and made them fall on their butts while groaning in pain. I nocked and pointed one at the head of the clerk and he began to sweat cold immediately. 

“If I ask those questions again, will I receive a different answer?”

The clerk didn’t say anything, but he raised his arms, showing that he was surrendering. I wanted answers, though. Not that. I pulled the bowstring a bit more and then he began to shake uncontrollably.

“Don’t kill him… if you are willing to take it this far, then we can just bring him with us and then force him to take us to where his boss is. I have an idea of who she might be.”

“Good idea. We can’t afford to let him lie to us. If he lies or wastes our time, he will get an arrow in each limb. Now move.”

“... She was heading to Castellana! I swear! I am not lying.”

I looked at Clarice and she nodded. For some reason, she didn’t believe that he was lying, but I wanted more countermeasures against trouble. 

“You will lead the path.”

“But I am not lying! That is where our leader’s base of operation is!”

“I don’t care. Lead the way. Find some horses for us.”

After hesitating for a bit, the clerk decided to move when he heard the sound of the bowstrings reaching the limits of their elasticity. We were causing a lot of commotion here, but I didn’t care. Soon, the clerk resigned and then left the shop to guide us. Before following him, I turned around.

“This time, I only shoot my arrows to stop you guys from moving, but if you guys try to follow us or cause any trouble, I will shoot my arrows and make sure that you won’t have the chance to do anything anymore in your lives… choose well.”

Soon enough, we headed to a stable where we got some horses. There were no guards there… It looked like thievery wasn’t a thing around these parts.

Eventually, we left the town. I was a bit surprised that no one tried to stop us, but few people in the area had their weapons with them and they also recognized the clerk, so they probably thought that it wouldn’t be a good idea to get involved.

“Hey, sorry about all this… I will make things right now matter what this time around.”

Clarice hadn’t been using my name in a while. She was smart enough to do that in order to avoid further complications. I didn’t know if that really mattered at the moment, since I was already acting pretty harshly.

Considering how things ended the last time, I wondered how far her determination would take her. She can be pretty stubborn at times, so it was hard to say.

“No worries. We all agreed to this. While it was our plan that made this somehow possible to happen, this kind of thing tends to happen to me as well, so I am not surprised. Still, I need to warn you to prepare yourself. If things get troublesome, I will solve them with brute strength. I won’t take any chances if there is a possibility that something might happen to Glacien.”

Clarice just silently nodded. It was hard to say if I was going too far for Glacien. She technically was just an animal, after all. Was it logical to start a conflict over a single animal? For me, it sure was. 

An animal or not, Glacien was my ally, the only being right now that I could trust that it wouldn’t turn on me no matter what. Part of it was because of my skill, another part that made me think that was the fact that even against some crazy odds, she fought alongside me.

In any case, I had to solve things fast now before more humans get involved. I didn’t know if Rayner was back home, but I was certain that Jacques and Gerard were… if they heard that I am causing trouble here. They will come to protect the honor of the family or some shit. They were that predictable.

Just to be safe, I ended dropping some of my blood in my bolts and made some decay bolts. I had a decent supply of them since I made them daily, but I only made a certain amount to avoid worsening my fighting condition. 

This time, I wouldn’t have to worry about that since I was going to use everything that I had in my arsenal… even my vampiric powers.

In any case, we had to travel for a couple of hours before we reached our destination… even from a distance, I was able to tell that we were in a bind. The towns in the Elven territory weren’t known exactly for having guards, but I could see a bunch of guys patrolling the area. Clarice signaled for me to slow down… and the clerk began to sweat cold.

“It looks like they had enough time to prepare the defenses against us since their attack failed… we can’t risk invading the town without starting a huge fight.”

“That really isn’t a big concern, is it? I can explode a bunch of them at a time.”

“The moment you start that, they will spread the information that you went berserk here for no reason. All the families around will be mobilized to hunt you, and you won’t have the chance to defend or justify yourself.”

I guess I could consider the cunning that comes with the long life of Elves. Still, it was a fairly simple plan. Not that I still cared that much about it… the only problem was that I didn’t know if they would keep Glacien alive if I went on a rampage. If they are willing to take hostages, they will go to even greater lengths to cause me all the grief possible.

“Let’s make a detour and talk to my brother. Once he hears about this, he won’t stand still and let people target our family. With his influence, he can pressure them enough to give up on this and free grandma and Glacien.”

That seemed like the best option to avoid risks. However, her brother had no reason to do anything for Glacien… someone in such a high position wouldn’t do anything that would cause him trouble to help an unknown person, even more so an unknown animal.

While I wouldn’t be satisfied with a peaceful solution here… I needed first and foremost to make sure that Glacien would be perfectly fine no matter what and then only after that, I would make my point and use those guys as an example to all those who are planning or want to mess with me.

“Trust me. My brother won’t lose the chance of making me owe him a few favors. In order for that to happen, he will go to great lengths to make sure that things will go as we want… he might as well even crush these guys afterwards for this whole incident.”

Chapter 200 - Red Eyes (Thank you for your support, Thomas Allard!)

Clarice made up her mind and then she grabbed a pair of curved knives from under her clothes. They looked pretty sick, but I wasn’t confident in her combat skills at close range.

“Use my bow instead. If you break it, then you will have to pay for it.”

I tossed the bow to her and then grabbed my short swords. While I could do my best and bombard them with Mystic Barrage, it was better not to show my best cards at the very beginning of a fight… still, that might as well be the best option, given how many enemies are around.

“You should try to remain camouflaged. I think that they know who I am and they won’t try to kill me that easily.”

“What if they are working for someone who hates your family?”

“... I will take my chances.”

I didn’t want to take my chances. That was why I was planning to kill everyone. Her idea wasn’t half bad. Splitting the focus of the enemies into two areas was better than one.

I put a mana core into my belt and then a bunch of magic smoke bombs hit the ground. The smoke began to spread around and soon enveloped us. When the smoke dissipated, only Clarice could be seen.

The enemies looked around in confusion in search of me, but soon their attention was taken by Clarice when she summoned some arrows and fired at them. She was surprised at how light the bow felt and how fast the arrows flew at the enemies. Two of them were hit in the chest and soon the other spread around… Clarice looked a bit shaken for a moment, but soon she hardened her expression.

The enemies moved around enough to give her a hard time choosing a target, but as soon as the two of them stopped in the middle of a tree branch, they trembled when they felt the burning pain on their backs…. When they turned around, they saw two green spheres in the air glaring at them coldly.

You received 1855 experience points.

You received 1855 experience points.

When the others noticed what had happened, they pointed their bows and fired a barrage of arrows at them, but I used the bodies as a shield and prevented all the attacks. When they began to surround me, I put another mana core on my belt and then the amulet created a bunch of magic smoke bombs.

The enemies kept firing arrows in the middle of the smoke screen, but they could tell that they had hit nothing and when the smoke dissipated, they only found the corpses of their allies almost falling from the branches.

“Capture her first and he will be an easy target, afterwards!”

Well, that didn’t take long. As expected of wannabe assassins, they sure can make up their minds rather fast… All the assassins turned around and then jumped to gang on Clarice. She used Rapid Fire several times and then unleashed several arrows on the enemies. Still, they grabbed their knives and blocked them… Some got hit here and there, but they avoided being hit on the vitals. 

I couldn’t help but smile… they were truly not very bright. Just because they saw me giving my bow to Clarice, they thought that I didn’t have others… My hand crossbow was already loaded with five bolts and I fired them into five different enemies. 

The impacts made the bolts explode alongside the bodies of the targets… several of the enemies around were engulfed by the flames as well, but it looked like their clothes weren’t that easy to burn.

As the enemies rolled on the ground on flames, Clarice recovered from the blast of the flames… the heat was still high around her, but she endured and soon began to finish off the enemies. She hesitated a bit, but I made sure to finish off most of the enemies from my hiding spot.

You received 1855 experience points.

You received 1855 experience points.

You received 1855 experience points.

When the battle was over, I moved around fast and then recovered the bodies of the enemies… I didn’t want to let anyone guess what had happened there. It was better to keep that kind of information hidden.

“What now?”

“... Let’s return to the old home. I need to think about a few things.”

“All right, keep putting these on the amulet that I lent you. Be careful with your steps.”

We left the area in a hurry with Shadow Step amulets, but soon Clarice told me to stop since she couldn’t sense anyone following us. We still began to run at full speed ahead, though.

We moved for a couple of hours without making any talk… We all had a lot to think about it. Something was off with the Aeloria Dominion, and I wondered if the actions of the empire caused that. The empire and this land had their fair share of trouble over the years, but it was still odd… it felt like they were going to team up against the dwarves. But would that really happen?

‘It is obvious that some backstabbing is going to take place, but it looks like the elves are willing to take their chances… I can only imagine that some of the big shots of this place want the war to happen, no matter the cost. Or maybe some insurgents were acting out of their own volition.’

“I need to talk with grandma and my brother about this… they should have some ideas of what is going on.”

“You don’t think that your brother is involved?”

“No… he is a massive pain in the ass, but he is truly genuinely interested in protecting our lands. He wouldn’t risk starting a war that would destroy our forest. Even if he had a golden chance to attack the confederacy.”

I couldn’t say if Clarice’s opinion was biased or not, but at least I had to consider what she thinks… her grandmother wasn’t working with the big shots of the Aeloria Dominion any longer. She did that in the past, but she retired when the previous leader of the Silver Bows stepped away as well. Even if she had been away from the main scene, she should have some ideas about what was going on.

We had two hours before sunrise when we reached the town where I met Clarice, and soon I realized that something was off. The atmosphere was weird, too oppressive… Clarice realized that as well and raised her guard. We approached the first house above the shop and soon we confirmed that it was empty… Clarice’s grandmother was no longer there.

After looking around nervously, Clarice didn’t find any signs of battles, so she felt a bit relieved, but she knew that her grandmother wouldn’t have left the town without a good reason. In the next moment, she looked at me a bit anxiously and with a look of guilt in her face, then I immediately understood the message…

We headed to the old house in a hurry and found the place completely empty. Everything was the same as before, but there were no signs of Glacien or of battles. We went to check the rooms where Clarice’s friends were supposed to be resting, but they were all empty.

“No signs of battles… were they forced to surrender to someone or did they betray you?”

“... I can’t say for sure…”

Working with a group of people in that line of business without trusting them completely had many demerits… it was impossible to read their intentions and, thanks to it, Clarice couldn’t tell what had truly happened.

“... I am sorry, Regulus… I…”

I ignored Clarice’s words and began to focus… for situations like that, I used my paranoia to its full power. I looked around the room with a bit more attention and soon found some marks at the entrance of the floor… It was a bit damp as well.

“Glacien left without putting up a fight. I told her that if something like this were to happen, she should just do her best to leave some marks behind with frozen claws skill.

“How could she do that without being noticed?”

“I taught her in the last few months to walk with only three paws and then use the other to mark the path that she will follow. Her bracelets recover mana, so she will be able to use that skill once every two minutes, but the traces will soon vanish… let’s go. Your grandmother should be with her. They wouldn’t have taken them in the middle of the day.”

Whoever attacked them, you wouldn’t have been able to do it the previous night, since we only attacked when the sun was about to rise. Soon enough, I found another mark on the grass. There was a bit of water there and a line that Glacien created with her claws.

“Wait, I will grab my bow.”

Clarice went in a hurry to her grandmother’s home and then returned with her bow and that quiver that I was interested in. Even if the quiver was amazing, the cost of mana was pretty high. She would have to keep using the effect a bunch of times to stock enough powerful arrows.

Finding the traces of Glacien’s mark outside the town was hard… but I recalled that I had the glasses that had the Enhanced Vision effect. I also could use Hawk’s vision, making both of them feel like I was using a microscope. 

I couldn’t rush ahead, or I could make some mistakes along the way… morning was coming, so finding them before that was pretty much impossible. 

At first, Clarice tried to walk beside me, but soon she stepped away when she saw in the darkness, the color of my eyes changing from green to red now and then. I could feel that too, but at this point in time, the weird feelings that my blood usually makes me feel felt like a minor nuisance now.

I considered that something like this could happen and that is why I parted ways with Nimir when I had the chance to do what I could for him, but it looked like I forgot about that and didn’t worry too much when I tamed Glacien. She was an animal, not a person… Since I used her to fight, it was clear that eventually, she would die.

I should have accepted that when she joined me, but I still couldn’t accept someone using her to get to me for whatever reason… even if half of the forest had to be burned down, I would make those people regret their choices.

Chapter 199 - Three Sides (Thank you for your support, MagicWafflez!)

When night came, we began to move again. We didn’t find signs of the guys looking for us still in the area, but we couldn’t waste time worrying about that.

“There is a high chance that the dwarves will be ready for battle this time, so stay sharp.”

I nodded at those words. That would make things difficult for me since I didn’t have to kill any of them, nor did I want to do that. Still, those things should be pretty hard to make and they treated their creations with high regard, so I might already be their normal enemy.

When we reached the same area, but a bit further south, we confirmed that the dwarves had moved their towers a bit back in their territory. It looked like they could do that using some sort of control in the towers, since they only had five dwarves in each tower. 

I had heard that dwarves were born with a bit more strength than humans and a lot more than elves, but even that should have limitations since they preferred to fight using their machines. 

“It looks like they are underestimating your range… how far is it, actually?”

“The time I sniped that, commander, he was a bit closer than the nearest tower. My dexterity and strength have increased since then, so it should be possible to destroy it.”

“Still, I have the feeling that they got ready in some other ways aside from using the increased distance… their magic implements have a lot of uses, enough that we can’t even begin to count them.”

That only made me feel like trying to find a dwarven teacher even more… I had a lot of cards up my sleeve, but it wasn’t enough considering that I found myself pretty often in binds.

“They should have some extra layer of defenses… maybe we should head further south or north to look for towers where they won’t have those.”

“You think that this is a good idea? They will realize that we ran away from the challenge, but if we overcome it, then they will have another reason to avoid a war. They won’t know that I am not part of this land, so it will take a while until they realize that they don’t have to worry about me.”

“Hm… You might be right.”

Clarice held her chin while looking around. It looked like she didn’t know enough about the barriers to think of a better solution. I didn’t know much about them either, but I at least had some ideas.

“Do you guys always have trouble dealing with that kind of thing?”

“Those who can afford to use mithril Elven arrows and have some level of skill can easily destroy those towers, but archers of that level are rare even among us… perhaps my brother can do something with his skill alone. My grandpa certainly can. There are many stories about him defending the forest against invasions.”

Yet, someone that was useful was nowhere to be found… maybe they were taking advantage of that, but I was pretty sure that the situation was a bit more complex than just that. Putting that aside, with skill and raw power alone, I wasn’t on the level of those guys, but I could use other tricks and my tools could help with that as well.

“This will be a bit expensive, but it will probably work… I will need something in exchange for it, since your plans aren’t good enough.”

“You are finally showing your true colors… It is clear that someone of your age would only think about that… Well, if you are still dreaming about that quiver, you should give up. It is impossible.”

I furrowed my eyebrows since it seemed that the old Clarice was back, but soon her behavior returned to normal. 

“I was talking about a dungeon that will let me obtain the blacksmithing class. That will help me save time from heading into their territory to get what I need.”

“Ah, that can be arranged… I am glad that my worst fears didn’t come to life.”

I knew that she was messing with me just like before in order to not let her tension show what she was truly thinking, but it was still annoying. In any case, I decided to put my plan into action and hope that it would be enough.

When it comes to dealing with barriers, the best option was to disable them, but I couldn’t find the runes, wards or glyphs that the dwarves should have created to defend the towers. With that in mind, my only option was one rough approach.

I summoned an arrow and then turned into a freezing one… it was an odd choice, for sure. It was all part of my plan. After that, I enchanted it with Shadow Smite. I didn’t know if that would change anything, but it was worth testing.

After that, I used the usual skills to power up the arrow… and aside from those, I also used Berserk and Adrenaline Surge. My muscles that have refused to grow until now finally began to bulge as the rage and the heat inside me began to increase. Finally, I released the Power Shot…

The dark-ice arrow flew through the air, a projectile covered in shadows that shimmered with ice. It struck the invisible barrier with a sound like shattering glass muffled by a winter storm. For a fleeting moment, the barrier became visible, outlined by the collision. A pale blue light, tinged with the eerie glow of magic, rippled outward from the impact point like a stone dropped into still water.

Frost spread rapidly across the barrier’s surface from the strike zone, forming an intricate web of jagged, crystalline ice patterns that gleamed faintly. The cold mist rolled off the ice, revealing the exact contours of the barrier as a solid, impenetrable dome. Despite the apparent ferocity of the impact, the barrier remained unscathed.

Moments later, the ice began to crackle, melting into darkened rivulets of water that hissed into vapor as the magic faded. The barrier returned to its invisible state, leaving behind only a chilling reminder of its unyielding strength.

“No good, huh?”

Clarice clicked her tongue in annoyance. It looked like it looked in the wrong direction. In the next moment, I fired three arrows in quick succession. They flew in an arc toward my targets and didn’t do much aside from piercing the ground.

In the next moment, the barrier trembled and then it began to shatter like glass… while the ice was spreading, I saw exactly where it moved faster. At some spots on the ground… I concluded that the sources of the barrier were there. I didn’t know if only destroying one of them would be enough, so I went for all of them.

Once the barrier was shattered, I fired the next arrow loaded with magic scrolls of the great fireball. Even before it collided against them, the dwarves began to jump from the top of the tower. I grinned a bit, but soon Clarice grabbed me by the collar and made us jump from the tree. 

Half a second later, while we were falling, I saw a giant arrow piercing the area where we had been… the giant arrow pierced through the tree with ease and the impact made the top explode like a massive bomb had fallen in the area. The impact made my ears ring, but at least we managed to land on our feet.

“The barriers weren’t to protect the towers… it was enough time for them to pinpoint our location.”

Before long, the hustling sound of countless flying in the air began to echo in the area… I used a magic smoke bomb to make us disappear and then countless arrows fell on the spot we had been half a second before. 

Clarice opened her eyes widely when she saw the Elven arrows… something wrong was clearly going on right now. I quickly passed to her a Shadow Step amulet and then we began to dash away from the area.

“What the heck is going on, Clarice?”

“... I don’t know… but it looks like someone realized what we were going to do and planned an ambush.”

“Well, no shit.”

The question was why Elves would try to stop us… we were weakening the dwarves further, so that benefited the Aeloria Dominion. Unless a lot of them had joined the dwarves and decided to show their true allegiance, this wasn’t making any sense.

Clarice looked too confused to think clearly… she could only keep running with a complicated expression on her face. To make things worse, I soon realized that we were being chased, and the guys were pretty fast.

“We are being surrounded… It looks like they are members of the unseen arrow as well. There are more than thirty of them.”

“They are… damn. Sorry, Regulus… it looks like it isn’t just the dwarves and humans who want war.”

A war… a three-sided war. The elves’ desire for war in this situation defies logic because their land would become the only battlefield, placing them in a highly vulnerable position. Being surrounded by two powerful armies means they would face devastation from both sides, with battles likely to destroy their homes, resources, and sacred natural environments.

Even if victorious, the aftermath of war, scarred land, depleted resources, and civilian casualties would leave their society in ruins. Such destruction went against the typical Elven connection to their homeland and nature, making their willingness to jeopardize these values puzzling. Instead of achieving any tangible benefit, the war would result in irreparable losses for their people.

The Elves have more to gain from diplomacy or neutrality than from active participation in this conflict. War drains resources and weakens nations, leaving them vulnerable even if they survive the immediate threat.

‘I want to understand more of this, but it looks like we don’t have time for it.’

“A lot of people are ready to kill us, so I am not going to hold back. What are you going to do?”

“I…”

Clarice didn’t have an answer… she all could think right now was how she messed up by not reading the situation correctly. My sudden arrival put her plans in disarray and she didn’t have time to think things through. 

“Get a grip!”

“... I will help you.”

Chapter 198 - Breakthrough (Thank you for your support, Bilbo Baggins!)

“Even with a bow like that?”

“You don’t know how debuffs work, do you?”

“Debuffs? What is that?”

It seemed that the word wasn’t common here… it made sense. It was more of a gaming term, after all. 

“The negative effects that bolts enchanted with dark energy can cause. They only work on living beings, not on objects.”

Even my decay arrow only worked on living beings, but I wasn’t planning to reveal that kind of information. Still, perhaps I could find a way to destroy those towers. At least one of them before morning comes would be fine.

I sat down and then began to write down some scrolls. It would take a lot of mana, but it would do the trick. I couldn’t see anyone close to the towers, so it would be perfect. They might fall from fifty meters of height, but that wouldn’t kill the dwarves.

The skill Scroll Crafting leveled up. You received 1600 experience points.

I probably should use the other skills of that class to unlock new ones. Now that I had enough ink to last for a while, it was the best option. Making scrolls for Great Fireball was granting me a lot of experience, though. The only problem was that the other skills were a bit harder to use…

You received 80 experience points.

You received 80 experience points.

You received 80 experience points.

“All right, this should do it.”

I could see the sky on the horizon getting a bit more clear, so it looked like I pulled it off just in time. I attached them to an arrow and then got ready to unleash it. I activated the skills to power up my arrows. Shadow Mark, Precision Mark, Deadeye Focus, and Power Shot. Thanks to that, when I unleashed the arrow, it flew while making a high pitching sound.

When anyone heard the sound of the arrow, it was already too late… a magic barrier emerged the moment the arrow got too close to the tower, but it soon was dispersed when the arrow exploded. While the arrow didn’t reach the tower, the scrolls were destroyed close enough to the tower and, thanks to all the light, I could see their shape.

It was basically a building that could move… since they could add all kinds of runes and enchantments to the structure, it could move while still having a lot of resistance to attacks. Still, the Great Fireballs hit the base of the structure and then made it slowly fall backward while the metal was melting.

“All right, let’s go.”

“Wait, we need to let some people see us.”

We had to let people realize that someone with a dark bow was able to do that, but that went against every single logical thought in my mind. So, I couldn’t help but get impatient… Regardless, the impact made the dwarves in the area and nearby towers think that they were being attacked, but soon they realized that it wasn’t the case.

They found us staring coldly at the tower that was still burning and soon they grabbed a bunch of thick crossbows to attack us, but we left the area before they could hit us.

“That was very impressive… I didn’t think that anyone would use scrolls on arrows and make them explode when the attack happens.”

“If you only do what others tell you to do, you will have a safe path and can achieve as much as them. Only by trying new things you can try to achieve more.”

It made sense, but… This was particularly difficult for Clarice because, in Elven society, heritage was pretty much everything. One’s lineage and the accomplishments of their ancestors were a source of immense pride and a defining factor of their place in the world. For Clarice, the idea of stepping away from the traditions that honored and preserved her family’s legacy felt almost like betraying the very foundation of her identity.

Still, she couldn’t ignore the wisdom in the words. The notion both challenged her and offered a new perspective. It suggested that while honoring her ancestors’ achievements was important, she could truly honor them by daring to forge her own path and adding to the legacy in her unique way. It was a battle between staying true to her roots and embracing the uncertainty of growth.

She didn’t say anything after that, but I could tell that she was thinking deeply about it. That could be bad. I didn’t want to put any weird ideas in her mind. Who knows what someone like her could come up with using those words? Hopefully, nothing insane, like going on a quest to take over the world.

“How long do we have to keep moving?”

“For a few hours, just to be safe. The dwarves aren’t fast, but the other members of the unseen arrow definitely are. Why?”

“Are they close?”

“I don’t think so… they will approach with caution. Again, why?”

“I want to try something.”

We stopped moving and then landed behind a tree. After that, I began to take some pieces of leather from my magic bag and then created a tent that was big enough to fit five people. Once it was done, I attached some mana cores to the internal parts of the leather, and then soon the tent disappeared.

“What the… how did you do that? Regulus, where are you?”

“Stop shouting, just get in and don’t make any noise. I didn’t add the effects to muffle the sounds from inside the tent, so keep quiet.”

I moved the entrance and then Clarice was able to see the interior and get inside… it hadn’t changed a bit, it was just camouflaged. She soon saw the amulets on the back of the leather and understood what was going on.

“Can you erase the traces of our steps in the area? They still can find us if they began to search for us in a small area, right?”

“... Yeah.”

Clarice left the tent completely stunned and then went to erase the traces of our steps around. She also jumped to other trees ahead to make them think that we vanished far ahead. Creating a hideout hidden in plain sight was cool and all, but it was quite costly to make leather pieces that could last for that long.

Fortunately, I had the leatherworker class now, so making those faster and with higher quality would be easier. In any case, I began to make more scrolls to destroy more of those towers. If I wanted to finish things off here as soon as possible, I had to make myself known as fast as possible as well.

Clarice soon returned to rest in the corner of the tent. The place was five meters long and wide, so there was plenty of room for her to rest. I was planning to take a nap eventually as well to keep myself in tip-top condition.

“Did you learn all those things by yourself?”

“Some things I learned by accident, other things I was forced to improvise and that made me discover them.”

“Don’t you want to talk about what you have done since that time?”

I wondered if there was any point in talking about it. Still, keeping that information hidden wouldn’t change a thing. I just had to keep hidden the important details.

In the end, I revealed what I did since the time we parted ways. lying low as a fletcher, changing my identity, joining the start of the war between the humans and aquarians and then eventually finding myself in the underwater prison.

“You managed to escape that place?”

“Not on my own. Some pirates were with me. They died in the last battle, but I survived.”

Clarice studied my face and realized that asking further was not a good idea. She realized that I couldn’t have survived without fighting together with them and a lot of things should have happened along the way.

“After that, I lied low in the Skarnash Tribelands and after I finally decided to move on, the empire strikes. My timing is as bad as they can be…”

“Well, you are certainly unlucky… but at least all those situations are making you tougher. I was a bit better than you back then when it comes to archery, but now I can tell that I have been falling behind.”

“Not like you have been using your bow to take down a lot of enemies.”

“I guess the me in your head has taken a lot of lives. I only do such jobs when it is absolutely necessary and when the target deserves it.”

I wasn’t going to question her words, so I decided to stay quiet and focus on my own things. I didn’t have to make dozens of scrolls, so soon I had some time to rest. Still, it was a bit awkward to get in such a place to rest when we were alone and I had nothing to do. I could tell that Clarice was being wary of me, so I also wanted to keep my distance.

In any case, I managed to fall asleep pretty soon, but I woke up when I noticed some people moving around. They only decided to move late in the afternoon, when the forest was pretty dark and noticing them would be difficult. Still, we could easily see them through small holes in the tent that I had made for observation.

“Don’t look at them too much. They will sense you.”

“Why don’t we capture them all and force them to speak?”

“You think that you can do that?”

“I can try. It should save us a lot more time than your roundabout way of doing things.”

“I just want to avoid shedding blood needlessly.”

That was probably for the best… I decided to follow her lead for a while longer, since not doing so would only cause her problems. Causing problems for someone like her when she had family in high places would be unwise. Besides, thanks to her, I had access to dungeons and labyrinths in the Aeloria Dominion. Without her, I would have to waste a lot of time looking for it.

I felt a bit bad for being that calculating, even more so when I more or less forced her to accept my help… I had to at least work hard to make sure that she won’t face too much trouble thanks to me.

Chapter 197 - Origins (Thank you for your support, Key!)

After resting for a couple of hours in the town, we soon left in the darkness of the night. The Elven towns didn’t use much magic light to keep things well-lit in their lands. So, there weren’t many people coming and going at night.

In any case, I was worried about Glacien before, but when I found her, she seemed to be enjoying herself resting on the floor of the house. She seemed to enjoy lazing around now and then. She didn’t seem that bothered when we left again since we left her a lot of food before.

“What is the plan for tonight?”

“We are heading to the border in order to destroy some of the dwarven war towers. They have been pushing them in our territory lately, so destroying them will give us some credit and make them hesitate in their efforts to prepare for a possible war.”

“I am not going to kill anyone for you.”

“You don’t have to. You will just damage their tools of war.”

“... Did you guys at least try to talk with them?”

“It is impossible. Both sides just curse each other when we meet.”

I don’t remember hearing much about the relations of elves and dwarves before, but I didn’t think that it would be this bad. Something seemed off, though… that was why I didn’t want to do more than the necessary to lure out those involved in the incident three years ago.

This also would be a good experience to learn how others operated… I had been a bit too cautious letting others attack first after a few warnings. I had decided to change that part of my nature, but it was still hard to do a complete 180.

“To be honest, Regulus… I heard a few things about you recently. I had doubted them since they sounded crazy, but it looks like they were true given that you have Glacien with you.”

“Should we really be talking while dressing apart like this?”

“Who cares about that? This is more important… We received information about a white-haired archer killing a human commander with a single shot and then vanishing. Although the rumors said that you didn’t participate in the war after that, it is clear that you changed the flow of it.”

“Did I? As far as I know, the orcs, goblins and ogres were forced to flee from their lands. By the way, you guys even have insiders in the empire, huh? Being long-lived has its perks if you can buy people from the empire with that ease.”

“The empire almost lost that battle because of you. They were forced to retreat the port towns, until they decided to use drugs to boost their troops.”

“Drugs?”

“The kind that makes you go crazy in exchange for power. You probably don’t want to know what your brothers did under the effects of those drugs… Although they probably don’t remember much of it.”

“We were never that close, so I don’t care. Regardless, I thought that they would be more prideful than that… I guess returning home as losers would have been worse.”

“The last thing I had heard about them, I was informed that Rayner Dawnshield and his twin daughters had arrived in the Skarnash Tribelands.”

As expected, he had really come for me… that made me feel quite troubled, since it made me realize that if I make a mistake, he will cross half of the world to look for me. 

Given the type of person Rayner was, I knew he wouldn’t make the same mistake again. If he managed to find me once more, he wouldn’t risk letting me slip through his fingers. Rayner wasn’t the kind of man to take chances, not when it came to matters of this magnitude. Even as my father, he wouldn’t hesitate to lock me away, not out of cruelty, but because he’d believe it was the only way to protect me from the empire’s reach.

His logic was ruthless but effective, the kind that came from years of surviving in a world where power dictated everything. To him, keeping me confined would mean keeping me safe from the empire’s grasp, ensuring I wouldn’t become a pawn in their games or a victim. And yet, as much as he might justify it as a protective measure, the thought was just annoying. While I could imagine him going to great lengths to shield me, I couldn’t fully imagine him allowing the empire to go further, to harm me.

But that didn’t erase the cold truth: Rayner’s idea of protection was control, and in his eyes, my freedom was a risk he couldn’t afford to take. He was walking a fine line, trying to keep me alive and not cause problems for the rest of the family.

“Putting that aside, I heard what your arrow did to that commander. Do you know what that means?”

“That you are well-informed?”

“... Only vampires can make arrows like that. Not many people know that, but the big shots of all countries know it. Since you are a half-human, you were already unwelcome pretty much everywhere, but since you can make arrows like that, you will be treated even worse.”

“Same shit, different day.”

“Moreover, only vampires with a very high ranking in their society have powerful blooded enough to make those arrows. Since you only have half of their blood, this is even more impressive. Do you know who your mother is?”

“No idea. Since he had four wives already, it is hard to say what Rayner’s type is. Maybe he likes women who connect him to important places.”

High priest, powerful mage, rich merchant’s daughter, and famous noble… those were what Rayner’s wives were known for. My mother wasn’t the fifth wife, but it was clear that she was someone important among the vampires. I didn’t know much about their society aside from that they were batshit crazy.

They had a lot of factions as well, and while they haven’t been known for a while, their many organizations had been doing things for centuries, so they left their mark in history. Aside from the Forsaken, I knew about the dark covenant and the night stalkers.

The Night Stalkers are a very small group and they reject the traditional vampire hierarchy and live as outcasts and mercenaries. They believe that power is earned through strength and cunning, not through bloodlines. Their goal is to survive and thrive outside the established vampire order by taking on assassination, espionage, and mercenary work. They seek independence from the aristocratic vampires and focus on personal gain and survival. It is easier to find them because of that, but one needs a lot of connections to pull it off. 

The Crimson Covenant worships dark entities and ancient vampires that they consider gods, believing that vampires are divinely chosen to rule over all beings. They practice blood magic and rituals to gain favor from their dark gods.

Their primary goal is to gain power through blood rituals and dark magic. They seek to elevate vampires as god-like beings and bring about an age where vampires dominate both the human world and the supernatural realms. I was pretty sure that the tentacle monster that those guys used was one of those dark entities… Just by thinking about it, I felt a shiver run down my spine. No wonder people hated me so much.

“You call your father by his name…”

“We were never that close. I think that we talked like two times in nine years.”

“And he never mentioned your mother? The hero of the empire is a lot worse than I imagined…”

I couldn’t say anything in his defense since he kept me in the dark for most of the time. He also knew that I wasn’t treated well at home and my room was basically an old warehouse. Maybe he was training me to get used to my life as a half-vampire, but I also could tell that he hadsome difficult feelings about me being his son.

On one hand, my existence caused a lot of trouble for the name of the family. On the other hand, I was his connection to another unknown woman. A woman which he loved to the point of leaving behind the empire and his family for a whole year. I probably shouldn’t think like that about my mother in this world, but she should be pretty damn gorgeous to make Rayner forget the empire and his family for such a time.

“Do you want to meet her? Your mother?”

“I am not sure… if she is a control freak like Rayner, I won’t miss her that much. She also left me with him and never tried to contact me, so I am probably not very important to her.”

“Maybe she thought that you would be safer with Rayner.”

“Maybe, who knows?”

I could tell that Clarice was a bit worried about my situation, but pity was more annoying than anything. If I hadn’t had my memories from my previous life, I wouldn’t have minded it that much, but I wasn’t a helpless kid. In any case, she dropped the talk there and then we proceeded in silence to our destination.

A couple of hours later, Clarice began to slow down and then I realized that we were getting close. The atmosphere seemed a bit weird as well… There was more wind since there were few trees ahead. Soon enough, I was able to see the night sky on the horizon.

There were some fallen trees around as well, and it looked like they had been knocked down and pulled by something big… maybe a giant version of my grappling crossbow. When we found those signs, I was able to sense Clarice’s mood souring. She wasn’t much like the other elves who loved to hug their trees, but she didn’t like their forest being damaged like that, either.

“We are here.”

We stopped at the branch of one of the final trees in that part of the forest and soon I was able to see some lights ahead… after using Hawk’s vision, I was able to see the dwarven towers. They were pretty large… enough for them to have a campfire in the middle of them and since that was possible, it was obvious that the whole thing was made of metal, but light enough not to sink on the ground thanks to the square-cube law. 

“This will be hard…”

Chapter 196 - Always There(Thank you for your support, lordsenju!)

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Leatherwork, Jeweler, and Farmer.

You obtained the Leatherworker class.

You improved the Dexterity parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Master of Hides.

You unlocked the skill: Hide Treatment.

You unlocked the skill: Leather Customization.

Master of Hides: Gain additional bonus experience when crafting and enhancing leather items.

Hide Treatment: Use techniques to process and treat leather hides, enhancing their quality and properties. This skill allows you to apply special treatments that make the leather more durable, flexible, or resistant to environmental factors. Treated hides can be used to create high-quality leather armor or accessories with enhanced attributes. Cost: 05 Mana per minute.

Leather Customization: Customize leather items to fit specific needs or preferences. This skill allows you to modify leather goods, such as armor, bags, or accessories, with special features or designs. Customization can include adjustments for improved fit, added pockets, or unique patterns that enhance the item’s functionality and appearance. Cost: 07 Mana per minute.

I finally could make leather armor of decent rarity rank… I couldn’t help but sigh since my plans had been thrown off due to many circumstances around me. Still, while I had planned to obtain as much strength as possible following my original plan, I never thought that I would be this strong after five years.

‘No, my strength is still very questionable… It relies on a lot of external factors. Given how much I have suffered in recent labyrinths, I still have a long way to go.’

Besides, there was a suspicious swordsman around… one who was strong enough to defeat almost ten wannabe assassins of Clarice’s group. Well, they weren’t good at fighting as they were good at taking their targets while they weren’t aware of them, so it was hard to tell their real strength.

Regardless, I decided to return in a hurry, since I could tell that Clarice wasn’t used to how I operated. Even though she probably gained some experience making the magic ink, she doesn’t like to gain experience while grinding like me. I soon found her grumbling to herself.

“Sorry for the wait. It looks like we still have some time, but I suppose we can leave. Where can I go to make the magic ink without being bothered?”

“... We have a hideout somewhere nearby where we keep some stuff guarded. I will lead you there.”

“Why didn’t you guys use that kind of place to recover, then?”

“It isn’t suited for people to used to rest.”

I nodded, and then we left the dungeon. We had to move for a while before we reached a certain large tree. It had an entrance from above and the interior was almost completely hollow.

I thought that they had carved out the interior, but it looked like it was natural like that. It was quite convenient. It even had a bunch of rooms where gear, weapons and poisons were being stored.

We reached the bottom and soon I began to work on the process of mixing the whole thing. I made large batches of it using my cooking pot… I would have to buy a new one, but it was fine. 

‘If I were an alchemist, I would buy a cauldron and make large batches of mana potions every day. I bet that would be fun…’

My build was all weird and spread out, but I believed that I was using my cards well. Still, a bunch of ideas came to mind when it comes to alchemy… I decided to discard them, since they would only bring more trouble to my life, even if they seemed interesting.

I lost the notion of time, but I made a lot of ink. I didn’t know if it was enough to last for a few years, but it was a lot more than I ever had. When it was over, I sighed in relief and then frowned when I realized that Clarice was still around.

“I thought that you had left a long time ago.”

“As if I could leave you alone in our hideout.”

“Others aside from your unit know about this place?”

“Yes.”

That seemed like trouble… then again, they probably had some supporters that come here to restock their stuff to keep them focused on their work. Someone like Clarice’s grandma. She must know what Clarice was doing, and she seemed fine with it for some reason.

Which was odd, given that her brother was doing something that would give him a lot more recognition. Maybe she knew why Clarice was doing this.

‘Come to think of it, she should know what I am as well… but she didn’t look that bothered. Maybe with age comes a lot of wisdom and understanding. Some people would think that old folk would be only stuck in their ways, but some would quickly accept other changes as natural as the passage of time.’

“Are you done? When are you going to paint the bow?”

“Ah, I have to do that, right? Let’s see, there are some things that I want to test first.”

The bow was mainly made of bones, so perhaps it could work like the amulets too. I wasn’t planning to change its shape or draw a magic circle in it, but I was considering drawing a tattoo and seeing if that can change anything. Even if it wouldn’t, nothing would change and the bow wouldn’t be damaged.

I took a certain tool from my magic bag and filled it with the magic ink, Clarice frowned when she saw that since she had never seen something like that before.

The pen was a pretty well-made, hand-carved tool made of polished, dark walnut wood. Its surface was smooth.The top of the pen is slightly wider, tapering down to a fine tip that appears almost metallic, hinting at a coating or reinforcement to ensure precision.

The pen operates using a reservoir system embedded within the wooden body. To fill it, I had unscrew the midsection to access a small chamber designed to hold the ink. The ink is pulled through capillary action to the tip, which releases it smoothly when pressure is applied to the surface. A subtle twistable ring near the tip adjusts the flow of the ink, allowing for fine or bold lines.

I made that while I was lying low before exploring the Aeloria Dominion. I didn’t know when I would have the chance to get magic ink, but I decided to make that. It was good for manual applications and automatic ones since I could easily change the amount of ink that I was used and that would fill the space in the drawings in no time, even faster than using a brush.

Only the largest bow was big enough to sustain even the most basics of tattoos, so perhaps I was wasting time here. Regardless, once it was done, I put a mana core on the tattoo and that absorbed it. In the next moment, the bow received the extra parameter Ice Affinity (Adept) and that increased the same parameter by twenty points.

“How is that even possible?”

“Breakthroughs are made by challenging what it appears to be possible. Since the bow is made or monster parts, it would make sense that it can make it work like this.”

I also added a slot for the mana core in the middle of the tattoo, to make that work like the amulets. Still, I could tell that my high dexterity and then open helped with that. The ink was being absorbed pretty fast by the bone. I wondered if it was because I was using my mana… regardless, a lot of requirements were necessary for this to work. No wonder no one managed to pull this off until now.

It was time to paint the bow, but it looked like I would be doing a lot more than that… since the ink was being absorbed pretty fast, I wouldn’t be painting just the surface of the bow. The whole weapon will turn dark inside out thanks to it. I was fine with that since it made the bow look more impressive… I will have to keep it hidden unless when it comes time to use it, though.

It took a while for the whole thing to end. It consumed a lot of ink as well but I had enough to last me for a while.

“It should be mid afternoon already… we can’t rest that much, but we should before moving at night again. Glacien also should be hungry.”

“Perhaps I should just leave her waiting for me outside. Instead of letting her cooped in that place all the time.”

“Well, aren’t you a caring owner?”

“I treat those I can trust well.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I felt a bit of regret. They hung in the air heavier than I intended, as though I’d just openly declared that I didn’t trust Clarice. It wasn’t entirely untrue. Trust didn’t come easily to me. In fact, I’d learned long ago not to trust anyone completely, not even my own shadow. Life had taught me that even the most reliable things could let you down, and this cautious mindset had become second nature.

But Clarice wasn’t just anyone. She had proven herself time and again to be an ally, someone I could rely on when things got tough. So, while it was true that I didn’t trust her entirely, it wasn’t because of anything she’d done wrong. It was more about me and my inability to let my guard down fully. Still, I should have kept that thought to myself. Saying it out loud was a mistake, one that might make her feel unfairly judged or unappreciated, and that was the last thing I wanted.

Clarice didn’t seem that bothered by it since she also didn’t trust me completely. Unlike before, where she had no concept of personal space, now she kept her distance very clearly from me. She was probably thinking that any physical touch would awaken my thirst for blood… she didn’t know that it was always there.

Announcement

Hey, guys. Thank you for reading Labyrinth Hunter. I am just passing to inform you guys that the first book of the series was taken from all websites since I uploaded on amazon. You can find it here https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DN7STPGM

I am messed up with my schedule, so I forgot to announce this beforehand, but I won't mess up when the next book comes out. Living and learning. Have a nice day or night!

Chapter 195 - Fear of the Night (Thank you for your support, DontLook@Me!)

When night came, I had to leave Glacien nearby and then left the town using the cover of the darkness. She had a camouflage amulet with her, so I knew that she should be fine. Still, it was the first time that I left her behind for whatever reason, so I couldn’t help but worry a bit.

“These boots sure are handy…”

“We aren’t supposed to talk while we move.”

It looked like Clarice really liked to act like a proper covert operative. Still, considering her voice, she didn’t seem particularly excited or anything. Putting that aside, the boots that those guys used had a spring effect… The more strength people put on the boots, the more they could jump, so now I could leap in the air and even cross one hundred meters horizontally. I wanted to learn that enchantment.

“It looks like your strength has grown too, or is that one of the effects on the bow?”

“I thought that we were supposed to stay silent while working.”

“We are far away from the town, so it is fine.”

“The time I found you guys, you weren’t near the town and I still noticed your presence.”

“... Ugh.”

“Well, Glacien did half of the job.”

We only had to move for two hours before reaching the dungeon that Clarice mentioned. Considering that the place had the materials for the secret recipe of magic ink of her family, the place sure looked empty. No guards could be found around.

“This is a dungeon where kids usually come to train their bow skills. So it doesn’t need to be guarded.”

“Why would your family have a secret recipe for magic ink?”

“My father and mother were alchemists more than anything else, so they knew a few tricks and they taught us.”

It looked like I had touched a complicated topic, so I decided to shut up. In any case, the dungeon was nothing special. The dungeon was relatively simple, consisting of just ten floors. It housed a single species of monsters, poisonous frogs and the boss. While the lack of variety might seem uninspiring at first glance, Clarice had a different perspective.

“You could make a lot from this place. The poisonous frogs were more than just a nuisance; they were a treasure trove of opportunities for those with the right skills. Their venom could be harvested and refined into potent poisons, or even antidotes, if processed correctly. Their hides, slick yet durable, might serve as valuable crafting materials for waterproof gear or lightweight armor. Even the frogs’ meat, if handled properly, could find niche use as an ingredient for adventurers seeking to build resistance to toxins. In any case, the magic ink that we can make needs their blood and poison.”

“... You already made that?”

“A few times, yeah.”

It looked like my image of Clarice was a bit off. In any case, she didn’t have her bow with her today. She only had a belt with some throwing knives and as soon as we heard the squishing sound of a frog jumping, she threw her knife in the darkness. Before long, we heard the sound of something being hit by the knife.

When we approached the darkness, we saw the frog with a knife in its head. Clarice let out a relieved sigh and then looked very proud. It looked like she wanted to show off.

“I guess using your real bow would be too obvious, huh?”

“Indeed. Anyway, you can easily make magic circles of Apprentice rank with the magic ink that we can make from these guys. From the boss, if you are skilled enough. You can make it at the expert rank.

I should be able to make those with ease since I had been training with the amulets and with them, I couldn’t make any mistakes. In any case, Clarice took a bow from her magic bag and then began to skin the monster… she was really good at that, very proficient. In less than a moment, she was holding the body of the half meter long poison frog and letting its blood and poison fall on the bowl.

“After this, you mix it until it becomes pretty dense and you can see only a single color. If you understand it, kill some of them and return with them after you get to the first floor.”

“All right.”

It was pretty boring to get classes like that, but I wouldn’t complain since it has been a while since I had the chance to get a non-combat class. With some luck, I would get the blacksmithing class here. I had so many ideas already on how to use them that I barely could control myself not to head to the dwarven territory.

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Carpenter, Herbalist, Shadow Scriber, (Dark Scrollmaker, Mystic Tattoist, and Venom Mage).

Those things sure were happening more often, the first two options were laughable in front of the third one. That only made me confirm even more that someone or something was trying to control my fate. Still, I decided to ignore it. Fearing what might happen won’t take me anywhere. I didn’t have time to fear every single unknown possibility.

You obtained the Shadow Scriber class.

You improved the Mana Regeneration parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude Glyph Writer.

You unlocked the skill: Insidious Glyph.

Glyphs Writer: Gain bonus experience when summoning or creating runes that channel dark energy.

Insidious Glyph: Place an invisible glyph at a location. The glyph activates when an enemy crosses its boundary, unleashing shadow tendrils that immobilize the target for 5 seconds. Cost: 45 Mana.

Glyph of Sacrifice: Create and sacrifice a glyph to imbue all nearby allies with temporary power. Grants allies within a 15-meter radius +15% physical and magical damage and +5 mana regeneration per second. Cost: 30 Mana and destruction of the glyph.

My brain absorbed the knowledge and then I felt those annoying feelings again… A sense of superiority started to swell within me, making me feel above everyone else. An insatiable hunger stirred deep inside me, demanding more than I could ever eat. A fire ignited within me, intense and consuming, drawing me toward the things that I wanted. A bitter longing crept through my veins, creeping my every thought with the desire to have what was not mine.

I took several deep breaths to calm myself down… that eventually happened. Pride, gluttony, greed and lust. When I obtained those classes, I could feel myself being pulled by those desires. At first, it was only anger, or hunger, but now I was feeling more of them.

‘I can’t sense any differences in my body… probably because despite the combinations, this is a low-level class.’

Regardless, considering what I knew, this class was probably the vampiric version of a runesmith or something similar. It was quite surprising that one of those skills could be used as an area of effect support spell. In any case, I was satisfied mainly because my mana regeneration increased by twenty-five percent.

I decided to return to where I left Clarice. No more than five minutes had passed, but she still looked a bit bored. I could tell that she probably picked the herbalist class in this dungeon, but she didn’t use the skills all that much.

“Perhaps I should just hunt the monsters and store them in my magic bags to create the ink somewhere else.”

“You aren’t going to do that at my home. It will smell. This should be enough.”

“No way. I  wanted hundreds of times more magic ink. Enough to fill a bunch of barrels.”

“Are you planning to become rich by only selling scrolls?”

Clarice stood motionless, her expression a mix of shock and disbelief, as if the sheer magnitude of what I had planned had struck her like a thunderclap. It looked like she was unable to reconcile how someone could have the patience, determination, and endurance to grind through such an exhausting and meticulous process. It wasn’t just the amount of magic ink that left her astonished, it was the method behind it, the discipline required to maintain such relentless focus over an extended period.

She likely imagined the countless hours spent preparing materials, and perfecting the intricate steps needed to produce ink infused with magic. Every detail demanded a level of precision and effort that would make most people give up long before achieving even a fraction of the result. Even though the process in theory was simple enough, it was also pretty grinding for those who aren’t used to it.

“We have until morning, yes? Then I will head to the tenth floor and then return before morning comes. I will make the magic ink during the day somewhere else where no one will find me.”

Before Clarice could say anything, I left with Shadow Step. I couldn’t use the skill all the time, but I could use it after dealing with the monsters. In a place like this, getting things done in a single night was much better for efficiency, after all.

… …

While Regulus was clearing the dungeon, Clarice continued to mix the poison and blood. She was already regretting deciding to work with Regulus since she hated this kind of activity with passion. Only someone planning to sell that much ink would need that much… and enough to make from hundreds of monsters? That was simply insane.

‘He had grown a bit… before, he avoided eye contact and kept his distance all the time, but now it looks like he is no longer running away.’

All of a sudden, Clarice felt a shiver when she recalled the few times that Regulus smiled recently… Through his smile, she was able to see his fangs. He definitely didn’t have those before. 

‘He is fine… he is completely in control. He doesn’t pass the weird auras that the other vampires pass…’

Despite saying that to herself, Clarice felt shivers once more. That was one of the reasons that she didn’t think of asking Regulus for help… she didn’t know if she would be able to keep her thoughts to herself forever. She didn’t want to hurt him with any unfounded fear yet. She already wronged him once and she didn’t want to do it again.

‘He doesn’t want to talk about what he has done since then… so perhaps he already… No, even if she was a tamed beast, Glacien wouldn’t be so loyal toward him if he had truly awakened as a vampire.’

Clarice could tell that the nights working with Regulus will pretty unnerving and tiring.

Chapter 194 - Lightning Blade (Thank you for your support, Stephen Ross!)

I had planned not to hide anymore, but it looked like Clarice found value in me doing that again. In any case, she decided to give me one of their uniforms. They were basically assassin elves, but if some extra armor was added to their dark uniform, we could call bat dark elves. When I said that to her, Clarice glared at me.

“Don’t say that kind of thing to anyone, even as a joke. Most people here hate dark elves.”

I wanted to ask more about dark elves since I didn’t read anything about them, but it looked like this was a taboo of a topic, so I decided to shut up.

“Can you paint that bow black and change its shape a bit? You made that, right? It is quite impressive. I had never seen anything like that. You had more than one bow back then too. You made all of them?”

I had to wait for a while for Clarice to stop shooting at me those questions… In any case, I quickly realized what she wanted. She wanted to make me famous as an assassin with a giant dark bow. It wasn’t actually a giant, but it was bigger than the ordinary longbows.

“You want me to kill people for you with this?”

“We don’t kill everyone that causes trouble to us, you know. We scare them to death, too. We also participate in some battles on a large scale.”

“The unseen arrow is starting to look a lot more visible.”

“Very funny.”

“Anyway, why do you think that it is a good idea for me to mask myself as a member of this organization when I want to get rid of those involved in the incident the other time?”

“The organization doesn’t work like you imagine. We don’t have a boss that receives jobs that pass to us. We are divided into a bunch of units. In order to lure out the people involved and their unit, we will need this.”

“Why?”

“Sometimes, a unit fights against the other to absorb the other. You can bet that those who were willing to risk the death of Jalal’s grandmother to blame you will soon look for you if you show your skill in order to recruit you. I can tell that you have gotten a lot stronger. Although you are still quite scrawny. Thanks to that, you can pass for an elf with the uniform.”

“Your plan seems more full of flaws than anything else that I have heard coming from you.”

“Trust me, all right? Anyway, how high is your dexterity now?”

“As if I would tell you about it.”

“It looks like we need to work on our teamwork and trust. Now then… the only problem is you, Glacien. Can she stay here for a while? She will draw too much attention, and a lot of people should have seen you with her.”

“Give her plenty of meat and she will be fine.”

Clarice resumed her patting on Glacien while I put on the uniform of the unseen arrow. I began to look like a ninja since only my fingers and my eyes could be thanks to the uniform. I already could semi-teleport with Shadow Step. I could fire magic shurikens too. What else was missing? Creating copies of myself.

“Anyway, is that woman in the shop truly your grandmother? I want to buy that quiver there.”

“She isn’t going to sell that. She only puts it there to attract clients. Can you imagine how valuable a quiver like that is?”

I couldn’t, but I still wanted… Still, did I have enough money to convince an elf who was probably at least five hundred years old to sell such a magic item to me? Most likely not, even more so if she had seen only a few of those around.

“That belongs to my grandfather… he is traveling the world after spending hundreds of years as the leader of the silver bow. To make him return faster, she told him that she doesn’t return soon. She will sell his quiver.”

Was that something romantic? I could tell anymore… I spent too much time alone and worrying about my problems that my senses dulled for that kind of stuff. If this were on earth, a scrawny, tall, half-vampire would be a hit with the ladies, but everyone here either saw me as a walking abomination or they just saw me as a weird animal.

Even if she didn’t want to sell it, I could just use my knowledge and experience combined with Essence Extraction to keep the item intact and then just enchant it again after getting the knowledge of the effect… it was supposed to be a tier or two above arrow creation, so it should be pretty taxing to obtain it.

“Anyway, when are you going to explain to me what wounded you like that?”

“Right… we were doing some investigations about the conflicts on the border.”

“You guys came from the opposite direction, though.”

“Let me explain everything before you say anything… Anyway, we found some signs that humans have been contacting the dwarves before the conflicts started and in the last few weeks, some diplomats came offering assistance to help against them in exchange of a few things.”

Causing a problem and then selling the solution, it seemed like something the empire would do to achieve its goals. Putting that aside, if Clarice and her unit noticed that, why didn’t they inform the higher ups?

“Before you ask the obvious, my brother wouldn’t believe me… he also doesn’t want to risk a fight with the empire. Even if they are stirring trouble with us, as long as it isn’t so obvious, he would rather fight the dwarves. Rather, he would welcome the fight. For him, humans are doing us a favor.”

“Why?”

“You know, dwarves, they don’t care about anything else as long as they have their mines. While they have a bunch of labyrinths that grant them a lot of ores, they still look for more mines. They like efficiency quite a bit, so they destroyed some forests to build roads to transport their ores. They also took some areas from us in the past, so we have some bad blood between us.”

I tried to recall what I knew about the dwarves and their land. The knowledge that I had made sense based on what Clarice said, but it could be biased. They had two main factions. The most famous was the Forge Masters. The most skilled blacksmiths, artisans, and engineers of dwarven society belong to this faction. They are responsible for creating masterwork weapons, armor, and machinery that the dwarves are famous for. They try to buy all the mines in the world or take them over.

There was also the Arcane Order. Unlike many other races, dwarves have a unique approach to magic, often tied to the crafting of enchanted items, runes, and wards. The Arcane Order consists of runecasters, spellsmiths, and scholars of the arcane, who seek to blend magic with dwarven craftsmanship. They try to get their hands on the technology of other groups and fight those who try to copy them physically and economically. I really wanted to learn from the arcane order, but I had heard that they were a pain in the butt.

“I see… what else?”

“Everyone would welcome a war with them, but that would expose us to the empire. I don’t think that they can start another war so soon, but it is hard to say what can happen.”

“True.”

“Anyway, we went to interrogate those guys from the empire. We decided to attack them when they went to a labyrinth with their guards, but a single one of them stopped us… A single swordsman and he went easy against us. To make their group, look a lot less suspicious than they are.”

“That would make sense… they wouldn’t gain anything by killing you guys, unless they knew who you were.”

“They didn’t. I am certain.”

“In any case, can’t they use this as an excuse to team up with dwarves instead?”

“They know that we are stronger than the dwarves and that the unseen arrow isn’t an organization with a single head. So, they won’t do anything for now. Targeting them is our second option. It will make things work faster, but you don’t want to deal with them, right? Besides, I don’t want to fight that swordsman again.”

“Do you know his name?”

“No… I only know that he enchants his blade with lightning magic.”

Lightning magic… it seemed that Clarice was certain that the sword didn’t have that kind of enchantment. If that was true, then the attack power of the swordsman with magic could increase a lot according to his mana instead of the enchantment of the sword. I didn’t hear anyone who had that kind of skill… it certainly wasn’t someone connected with my family.

There was a small chance that it was Gerard. I hadn’t seen him in a while, after all. Jacques wouldn’t focus on lightning magic, he would focus on anything related to holy magic, nothing else. It was quite a curious situation.

“I don’t like how things are playing out, but I will bear with it for now… what is your plan?”

“First, let’s paint your bow to become as dark as possible. Can you change their effects to look cursed as well?”

“... I do.”

It looked like, despite the fact that she should be twenty years old, Clarice reached her edgy phase. I didn’t want to believe that all those theatrics were necessary, but I decided to follow her plan.

“We will head to a dungeon nearby to get some materials. Magic ink. You should have other uses for them. The recipe that will teach you is a secret to my family, so keep it as a real secret.”

“It will be hard to keep it hidden from my numerous friends.”

I didn’t have much use for magic ink, aside from making the tattoos. I had been neglecting those skills because of my lack of magic ink and the situations I was put in, but it would be a good idea to stock it a few hundred liters.

“By the way, what about your allies?”

“They will need to rest for a few days, so don’t worry about them.”

Chapter 193 - Loose Ends (Thank you for your support, mak!)

While I wanted to avoid trouble, I realized that avoiding all of them was useless. On the other hand, I could at least choose my poison, the type that I could endure and get something in exchange.

Clarice and whatever she was doing was the type of poison that I could accept. She had knowledge about the land that I needed and the location of the dungeons and labyrinths as well.

“Hey, Grandma. We are going to the old home, okay?”

“Are you bringing another boy to the old house? How many of them have been this week already?”

“Grandma…”

It looked like Clarice’s grandma was another one who tends to say a lot of nonsensical things. I sure hoped that this was a joke, or my image of the Elves would only keep plummeting. 

In any case, I wondered if that lady was the wife of the previous leader of the silver bows. I still recall that Clarice mentioned something like that before…

“He is over seventy already. He has some skills, but he only got that position because our grandfather decided to retire. Before you think of anything, I am seventeen only.”

I wondered why I still could recall all those details… In any case, we climbed stairs close to the tree and I frowned when the steps only appeared when we approached and they looked like they were made of magic too. Still, it was quite firm.

Before long, we reached the third house in the tree. There were some others above, but this one looked quite old and like it hadn’t been reformed in a while. Considering that they didn’t even put a proper staircase on the tree, it looked like they wouldn’t do the reforms there either.

Putting that aside, this was the house that Glacien glared at that time… I wondered if she smelled the blood or something.

The interior of the house was a bit simple, but it was quite large. There were three floors with a large living room standing right in front of the entrance.

“My allies are hurt too, so they are resting in the other rooms. I would guess that you don’t want to talk or meet with them, right? They don’t want to meet anyone either.”

“Allies? Not friends?”

“We have our town goals unseen now. While my unit is a bit different from the others, we still share some similarities with the others… We will do our best to achieve the success of our missions, even if we have to sacrifice our allies. So, turning them into friends isn’t something we usually do.”

“What a charming group.”

Clarice’s wry smile was a rare sight, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes, leaving it more of a tight, uneasy expression than a genuine sign of a good mood. It was an unfamiliar gesture for someone so typically bright, and it spoke volumes about the turmoil she was experiencing. The smile wasn’t one of humor, but of weary acknowledgment, of the recognition of just how tangled her life had become. For someone who had always been happy-go-lucky, this small break in her behavior was clear was significant.

Being part of the underworld group tied to the Aeloria Dominion was far from a straightforward allegiance. It was a life where loyalty was demanded at every turn, but it came at the cost of personal freedom and peace of mind. The Aeloria Dominion, with its unyielding ambition and ruthless tactics, had a far-reaching influence, and its demands on Clarice were no less relentless. As a member of this faction, she was probably tasked with carrying out operations that required her to abandon her morals, making her complicit in actions that weighed heavily on her conscience.

Clarice pointed to a chair and then I sat down on it. While they loved their trees, they still could make that much with smaller fallen branches. The chair looked like it had been made like that.

“So, what have you been doing since the last time?”

I crossed my arms and then stayed quiet, I let the silence shimmer a bit more until Clarice got tired of it. Rather, she felt quite uncomfortable.

“Geeez, you are no fun. Once I returned home after that incident, I went to talk with my brother about what happened, but he denied his involvement. I thought at first that he was playing dumb, but he wouldn’t keep that charade for this long if he was indeed involved.”

“What about that guy who showed up inside the dungeon that time?”

“I tried to investigate him, but I didn’t find any piece of useful information.”

I didn’t know the guy’s name, and honestly, if I had ever heard it, it had long since slipped my mind. All I knew was that he was standing there, spouting a bunch of nonsense I couldn’t care less about. His words were empty, just noise, and I could tell he was trying to put on some kind of show. But then, without warning, he locked eyes with me and shot me a glare, one that felt like it could burn through steel. That’s when things shifted.

Clarice, who had been calm and composed up until that moment, suddenly snapped. Her expression hardened, her usual cool demeanor replaced by a fierce anger I’d never seen before. It was like a switch had been flipped. His confidence crumbled in an instant, and he turned tail and ran, clearly having been cowed by something far more powerful than his bravado. That was the only time I’d ever seen Clarice truly angry, and it left me with a lingering impression that there was far more to her than I’d ever known.

“Is he disposing of the people who had information about him or someone else doing that for him?”

“They wouldn’t go as far as killing Elves for that. We wouldn’t kill our own kin. We would buy their silence instead.”

“How virtuous of you guys.”

Clarice shrugged. Sure, it was better than killing those who could snick on them, but it was the kind of thing that it was pretty underhanded. Clarice should be used to this kind of thing happening around these parts.

“My guess is that those people gained some important positions in our society… but too many exchanges of personnel happened in the last few years, so I couldn’t check all of them. My best bet would be to look for the culprit and then force them to ask the details. I have been doing this for one year.”

“Sorry to say this, but it looks like you aren’t that skilled at it. Besides, you joining this group would make your intentions pretty obvious.”

“While that is true, everyone working here has their own goals, they wouldn’t mind if a few people kill each other.”

It looked like Clarice joined a pretty nasty organization out of guilt about what happened the last time… I didn’t blame her, but she still blamed herself. In that sense, she wasn’t very bright. Still, she had a connection with Jalal's grandmother, so perhaps she was doing this more out of anger than guilt.

“Speaking of which, were you part of the group that had eight people crossing the forest southeast of here two days ago at night?”

“How do you know… I had a feeling that someone was watching us at some point, but the others didn’t believe me… it looks like you make good use of the stealth skills that you learned in that labyrinth.”

“You smelled like blood back then. Did you fail trying to kill someone?” 

“Something like that. Do you really want to know and risk getting involved in a big mess?”

“I would rather not, but… I have learned that what happens once happens twice. Someone from here caused me a lot of trouble before and I want to tie those loose ends before moving on. I also want some pieces of information and you can give me a lot of it.”

“What about your plans of lying low? I can understand now why you were so secretive back then.”

“I am still secretive. I am just not going to hide anymore. At least  not like before, I will lure out all the rats that might aim for my life and then dispose of them in order to save time.”

Clarice studied me carefully, her eyes sharp and focused. She wasn’t quite convinced, not entirely sure if I was telling the whole truth. Her eyes analyzed every word I said, as if weighing my sincerity against something deeper, something she might’ve known that I didn’t. I could feel the tension in the air, the quiet judgment behind her serious expression. It was clear she wasn’t going to let me off the hook so easily.

I didn’t want to get involved with the Aeloria Dominion. In fact, every part of me recoiled at the thought of being connected to them even for a bit. But the truth was, they had already gotten involved with me. They’d left their mark on my life in ways I couldn’t ignore, and now, their influence was like a shadow I couldn’t shake off. What they had done to me, it still haunted me. Someone had to pay for that. There was no way I could let them get away with it.

The thought of Jalal’s Grandmother lingered in my mind. I still didn’t know if she had recovered from the damage the attack had caused, or if she even had a chance. It was a painful uncertainty that troubled me. I couldn’t afford to sit idly by while those who had caused us trouble remained untouched, especially when it felt like the Aeloria Dominion had their fingers in every pie, pulling strings behind the scenes.

“I am not sure if I like your idea… I can share some intel with you, but only if you guarantee to me that you won’t cause more trouble than necessary.”

“That will depend if those involved won’t cause me a lot of trouble. If they don’t resist that much, then they can die without causing trouble to everyone else.”

Clarice sighed and then went silent for a while… She looked at the bow on my back and then nodded to herself.

“I guess we can do something about this…”

Chapter 192 - Not Her (Thank you for your support, Good Nasty!)

I wondered if those guys were after me… I didn’t do anything yet to be wanted in this land… aside from walking around despite not being an elf. Regardless, they were dark clothes that also made them look like ninjas ready to cut the throat of someone, but thanks to their slim build and the shape of their hoods, I was able to tell that they were elves.

‘They would have emitted a lot more bloodlust if they were looking for me… they didn’t look bothered either if they had noticed that they lost my trail.’

I had been doing some training to avoid leaving footsteps behind. That was quite fun, too. I did that on the sand of the beach of the coast… the trick was to walk using the tip of my feet. It hurt quite a bit after doing that for a while. Glacien was naturally skilled at doing that since she was a born predator.

Putting that aside… I was heading in the same direction as those guys, so my terrible luck strikes again. Time to take a roundabout way to another town. Missing the next few ones was also a good idea. 

I began to head south first after a while and I did that for a whole day before turning east again… I was going to great lengths to avoid trouble. That would be enough to make me not hesitate when the time comes. Even after all that, people still come after me to cause trouble, then they will end up with arrows up their asses.

I walked for another day without approaching any town just to be sure… thanks to that, I reached another town that looked fine and people looked at me like I was a rare animal once more. Still, they didn’t chase me away, so it was fine.

“Grrr... grrr...”

“What is wrong, girl?”

Glacien suddenly looked annoyed while glaring at one tree. I didn’t think that one tree looked weird in any shape. When I checked Glacien’s gaze, she looked to be looking at one particular house above a shop.

“Behave. We don’t want to draw attention here.”

I decided to avoid that tree, but I still looked in the direction of it to see the product there and my eyes opened wide when I saw a certain thing there.

Phantom Quiver (Legendary)

Enchantment Slots - Spectral Arrow (Absolute): Generates real arrows when the quiver is empty, ensuring the user never runs out of ammunition. Wooden Arrows: 10 MP, Iron Arrows: 20 MP, Silver Arrows: 40 MP, Glass Arrows: 80 MP, Steel Arrows: 160 MP, Quartz Arrows: 320 MP, Mithril Arrows: 640 MP

Homing Shot: Arrows fired from this quiver gain the ability to home in on their target, ignoring obstacles for a short distance.

Durability: 05/05

It was an amazing quiver… good enough that made me question why it was being sold, and it even made me consider heading to the shop and bargain for it, even though I had the feeling that I shouldn’t go there.

In the end, curiosity got the better of me and then I headed to the shop. I was surprised to see an elven lady that seemed to be quite old… she should be very old given that she had wrinkles and looked tired as well. She made me recall the old lady, Jalal’s grandmother… I never had the chance to ask her name.

Speaking of which, this old lady seemed a bit familiar as well. Her golden blond hair had a lot of white in it, but her green eyes, the shape of her face and her ears, made her look very familiar.

In the next moment, all my instincts warned me of the danger, even though the old elf lady welcomed me with a warm smile.

“Welcome. How can I help you?”

“... I am just passing by.”

I turned around and decided to leave in a hurry, without letting people know that. It was quite hard to do that with slow steps… All of a sudden, I figured I dropped from the sky and was right in front of me. It was a young woman wearing light clothes that usually elves wear when they are using their bows. She had a serious expression on her face and she had a longbow on her hand as well, but at least she didn’t nock an arrow yet.

For some reason, Glacien didn’t react to the sudden arrival of this person… Maybe it was because she didn’t attack first, or maybe it was because her left arm was covered in blood bandages. Regardless, it was clearly Clarice… she looked a bit more mature after three years, but it was definitely her.

“You are… Clive, aren’t you? Or should I call you… Reg. Reg… Rectangular Gus? That is your human name, right?”

“Never heard of it. Now, if you excuse me, I have piano lessons waiting for me.”

“Just kidding, I know that you are Regulus. You aren’t hiding your white hair anymore. It has been a while.”

“You got the wrong person, young lady.”

“You can’t fool my Elven eyes, and what do we have here? What a cute Glacierborn Predator. What is her name?”

I tried to ignore her, but Glacien wasn’t following me. She was enjoying being patted by Clarice… I was betrayed, even by my own pet, who wasn’t supposed to betray me in any circumstances. Here starts my journey as a solo labyrinth explorer, through and through…

Putting that aside, that sure was a mouthful race name. It would be tough for Glacien if she were to hear that all the time.

“Sorry for scaring you. I just heard that an unknown creature was in the town, and when you looked at our base, I got a bit worked up. When you came to the shop and soon left, I decided to get rid of my doubts by checking on you.”

“I see. Sorry to have bothered you.”

“Hm? Aren’t you going to keep denying your identity?”

“Too much of a hassle, and I really don’t care if you know who I am or not.”

“So mean! Aren’t we best friends? Well, perhaps not… since the last time we saw each other, my inaction made you leave the town as the culprit of a crime that you didn’t commit.”

“I really didn’t care back then and I don’t care now. I care that you are holding back my ally against my will. Are we going to have a problem here?”

“No, but she is so fluffy. Can I enjoy this bliss for a while longer?”

“No.”

I was doing my best not to spoil Glacien. She was also an ally that could die at any moment, after all. I would do my best to avoid that, but things can happen… that was one of the reasons that I didn’t want to get overly attached to her. If she dies, I might soon follow if I get too distressed.

“Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“None of your business.”

“Hahaha, you are as harsh as ever. Well, I am glad that you are doing fine despite everything. Well, I am not sure if I am in a position to warn you of anything, but you probably shouldn’t head to the dwarven territory. We are a bit at odds with each other thanks to some problems at the border. They might mistake you for an elf.”

I let out a long sigh. My luck was really terrible. Perhaps all those problems in my life were just things that were bound to happen, and fate was a force that couldn’t be ignored in this world.

In any case, Clarice looked a bit different from I remember. She was a lot more pushy… Considering the bloody bandage on her arm, it looked like she was up to something dangerous and she didn’t want to get me involved since she still feels bad for what happened the last time.

“All right, have a nice day and a safe journey.”

Clarice let Glacien go and then turned around, but Glacien betrayed me again and then stopped Clarice in her tracks… Before long, she turned to look at me. 

“Chi-chi-chi!”

“Sorry, your language suddenly looks a lot harder to understand than before. Let’s get going. Clarice must have a lot to do as well. Like bothering people on the streets, bothering people on the streets, and bothering people on the streets.”

“Hahaha, don’t ever change, Regulus. It is alright, girl. Follow your master. Can you at least tell me her name?”

“... Glacien.”

“Alright, go. Glacien. Don’t let him wait. You should know by now that he isn’t very patient, caring, humble, or charming. But you should know that he should know that he has at least one redeeming quality, buried deep down and almost drowning under all that grumpiness.”

Glacien whimpered a bit and then looked at me. I wonder if it was some kind of animal instinct that made her act like she wanted to help someone in trouble. Nimir also acted like that, even though I was quite certain that their actions were completely illogical. 

Glacien returned to me and then Clarice waved at us. Before long, she turned around and began to leave. Still, she soon turned around and then approached to whisper something.

“By the way, if you ever find a group of people covered in dark cloaks, just use my name, alright?”

“So… you were part of that group, the unseen arrow, huh? Even despite what they did before?”

“You got it all wrong. I am just trying to find the person who did that to Jalal’s grandma. I confronted my brother about it, but…”

Clarice showed a nervous expression as she glanced around, her eyes darting to the corners of the streets as if checking for possible observers. Her gaze lingered on the shopkeeper, the woman whose features had a striking resemblance to her own. The shape of her jaw, the curve of her nose. There was little doubt in my  mind that they were related. 

Still, the resemblance didn’t matter right now. The shopkeeper’s wary demeanor and Clarice’s own actions told me this wasn’t the time or place to discuss the unseen arrow. She pressed her lips together and then hesitated for a short while.

“Where can we talk about this?”

Chapter 191 - Mediators and Ninjas (Thank you for your support, Iron Sighted!)

I decided to head north one more time to gather intel and then moved toward the West since less troublesome people would be there. Even though the border was also in that direction with the Iron Wrought Confederacy, the dwarven territory.

 Knowing my luck, I could tell that something was bound to happen if I headed north, so I hesitated if I should press on. Still, if something were to happen, I figured out that it would be better to happen as soon as possible instead of letting the anxiety keep bothering me.

‘I am not that deep into their territory, so it is fine. Probably, hopefully.’

When I reached the next town, I was surprised since not many people were looking at me. They looked at me for a moment and then turned around and then began to talk about the same things as they were before. Thanks to my Enhanced Hearing magic implement, I could tell what they were talking about.

“Are they sure about that? It is something that we never did before. It is also something that our ancestors would find preposterous.”

“They can’t be ignored, so the silver bows are handling them and trying not to let them exercise their influence too much here. They are doing a lot of things recently, but at least it doesn’t look like they are plotting something against us.”

That talk seemed really interesting. I wanted to pay more attention to it, but I had to keep moving, otherwise, I would draw unnecessary attention to myself.

I checked some shops in the area, but aside from the Effects that increased the level of skills, I didn’t find anything else. I sighed and then turned to the side, only to see Glacien in a good mood while being patted in the head by some kids who were laughing. She seemed to be in a good mood.

‘Wait, are they even kids? For all that I know, they could be two hundred years old.’

They certainly were behaving like kids, even though I didn’t know how it worked the aging process of Elves. If they behaved like that, they were probably kids.

I decided to move to the next shop when I then noticed that the largest tree of the town even had an elevator made of wood. It was a bit rustic, but it seemed sturdy enough and it also moved pretty fast. I didn’t see those before, but perhaps it made sense since that tree was the largest one that I found so far.

‘Crap…’

I turned around and then headed to the closest shop in a hurry… I did that as soon as my eyes caught the sight of some humans in the elevators. Things were starting to make sense now…

I didn’t think that those guys saw me. They were too busy talking with some Elves in the elevator. The Elves were also wearing some fancy clothes, not the type people would wear for everyday activities… probably some of the top dogs of the town.

‘I guess that is why people aren’t fussing over me… humans are here, so a weird-looking elf wouldn’t draw much attention. Anyway, what are they doing here?’

I didn’t recognize the humans. One was pretty tall and thin while the other was short and chunky. When the elevator landed, I could see some armored knights waiting for them. Those two must have come here to negotiate something.

Based on what I heard earlier, it looked like the empire was already trying to exercise the influence that they gained after taking over the Skarnash Tribelands. They worked fast, but considering that they don’t live as long as the Elves, that made a lot of sense.

‘I guess that they don’t want to fight the Elves yet, so they are planning to turn them into allies and then use their forces to increase the influence of the empire even more. Still, what would they offer to the Elves in exchange for it?’

The labyrinth where I got the feathers seemed like something that they would want, but the labyrinth will probably not work for a while. It will require a lot of mana to restore the whole place back to normal, so the humans didn’t know what they could offer them yet. As far as I knew, I was pretty sure that this labyrinth wasn’t something the humans knew of. So, they definitely didn’t consider offering it as a bargaining chip.

In any case, knowing my luck, I imagined that those guys would come in my direction, but they headed toward the West instead. They soon got in a carriage and then headed further west. 

‘I was planning to go there first… I guess I will have to change my plans. Regardless, I didn’t see others like them in the south, so I guess from here on out, it is the territory of the big shot Elves.’

Those two were probably going to talk with other big shots. I was curious to know what they were planning, but I wasn’t foolish enough to get involved. I just shrugged and then decided to go on my merry way. I was still going to head toward the West, but I had to avoid those even more massive trees that should keep me in the clear.

“I think we should be ahead of them just in case to avoid trouble. What do you think, girl?”

“Awooo, awooo!”

“We can also slow down and then wait for them to leave the areas ahead of us. That seems a lot safer, right?”

“Grrrrr…”

“Don’t grrrr me. The smart man runs away from the trouble, or do you want to end up being chased by an abyssal worm again?”

Glacien didn’t complain after that. She had grown stronger, but not that strong to let it go to her head. Speaking of which, I had grown stronger too, but I still couldn’t feel it.

Name: Regulus Dawnshield

Race: Dhampir

Health: 310/310 (0/3200)

Regen: 1.3 per hour (0/1000) (1.3)

Mana: 330/330 (0/3100) (1.1)

Regen: 12.0 per minute (0/7600) (1.6)

Stamina: 380/380 (0/3500) (1.1)

Regen: 13.0 per minute (0/10.100) (1.3)

Strength: 100 + 180 (0/5100) (2.0)

Magic: 66 (0/6100) (1.1)

Dexterity: 253 (0/5600) (4.6x)

Spirit: 21 (0/2200)

Endurance: 30 (0/3100) (1.1)

Attack Speed: + 98% (0/7700) (1.3)

Movement Speed: 15.1 (0/7600) (1.3)

Stamina Conservation: 2.2 (0/20.000) (1.1)

Fire Affinity: 30 (0/3100)

Ice Affinity: 15 (0/1600)

Traits: Minor Weakness to Sunlight, Minor Sensitivity to Holy Magic, Minor Aversion to Silver

Classes: Ranger, Pathfinder, Dark Scrollmaker, Mystic Tattoist, Demon Hunter, Dreadful Enchanter, Shadow Assassin, Merchant, Poison Crafter, Smith, Weaponsmith, Sharpshooter, Pyromancer, Dark Paladin, Arcane Archer, Shadow Archer, Barbarian, Lord of War, Bowman, Warblade, Beastmaster, Pirate, Venom Mage Blood Mage, Cryomancer

Aptitudes: Wilderness Survival, Never Lost, Magical Scroll Creator, Arcane Artist, Hunter’s Resolve, Malevolent Artifice, Way of Shadows, Master of Trade, Venomous Engineer, Master of Forging, Master of Blades, Master of Precision, Heat Master, Silent Observation, Dark Retribution, Mystic Marksman, Shadow Archery, Rage Unleashed, Battlefield Presence, Ranged Skill, Relentless Assault, Animal Empathy, Captain of the High Seas, Toxic Knowledge, Blood Rain, Frost Wielder

Experience: 2388

The numbers certainly increased, but since all the crazy situations and the difficult battles that I faced until now, I couldn’t see myself as that strong yet. 

I didn’t consider just defeating the enemies with a single attack being strong, but being able to press on no matter what on one’s path also showed a high level of mental strength. I didn’t have that much yet… I still complained a lot.

In any case, I decided to move very slowly to the next town. I even decided to camp for the first time since I began to move, just to kill time.

Some guys who didn’t know how to read the mood went to look for me, but I avoided them with my camouflage and new cloak. Glacien also helped by not making a lot of noise.

‘At least they look like ordinary guys, not the type who would look for a chance to stab you in the back. The fact that Glacien did not react to them is also proof enough.’

I decided to spend three days just relaxing and making some arrows… I could summon them with mana, sure, but having a stock that didn’t rely on my mana pool was still reassuring. This much free time would have been better spent making amulets, but I decided to draw the blueprints to make them as small as possible. I was also working on something that would be very useful for when I have the chance to do some actual blacksmithing.

“All right, let’s go.”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

I was starting to look pretty suspicious since I always decided to start moving again when it was night, but it was pretty calming to do things like that. Walking with Glacien at night where only the sound of grass could be heard or the wind. It was like I didn’t have to worry about anything else.

Glacien wasn’t as nocturnal as me, but she seemed fine moving at night as well. In any case, it seemed that I picked a bad night to move… I didn’t feel anything odd during the other nights, but there was a certain weird air in the area.

“Can you sense something, Glacien?”

“Awooo?”

“No? Is it my impression then? Maybe I developed some spidey senses for trouble while I wasn’t aware… in my case, they would be half-bat senses, right?”

“Awooo?”

“You should work on your sense of humor.”

I decided to equip my camouflage amulet and make Glacien equip one as well. The darkness of the night would serve as a cloak, so no one would be able to blame us with proof that we were acting shady.

Still, soon enough, Glacien bit my shirt slightly and began to pull me to a nearby tree. It looked like she noticed something. A few seconds later, I was able to hear the sound of steps coming from above. We hid behind the closest tree, and then the sound of footsteps approached.

Before long, we found some shadows jumping from tree branch to tree branch. They looked like certain types of ninja… Regardless, they smelled like blood.

Chapter 190 - Trading (Thank you for your support, Jan!)

It didn’t take long for the guys there to notice me… I just entered the town without a care and they looked at me while frowning.

‘All right, they aren’t grabbing stones to throw at me. It is a good start.’

I looked somewhat like them, but all the elves around had blond golden hair. I heard of snow elves, but I didn’t hear if they lived among ordinary elves or if they had white hair, for that matter.

Pretty much everyone stopped to stare at me, but at least they didn’t do anything else. It looked like I had a skewed sense when it comes to first impressions. Still, soon enough, I realized that instead of looking at me, they were looking more at my bow. I had changed one of its enchantments to Misinformation, so they couldn’t tell its effects or that I could combine their enchantments slots.

‘Maybe I can use this.’

I looked for some shops and soon found them at the base of those large trees. I didn’t know that much about Elves to guess if that was true, but I imagined that the shop would belong to the family that lived in that house. I would guess that they had the same ancestor or something.

“Hello, I want to trade some materials for items. Are you interested in it?”

The elf looked like a guy in his mid twenties, but it was hard to say his actual age given that he was an elf. In any case, I showed him the feathers of the blizzard birds, so he stopped to think for a moment before deciding anything.

This kind of material couldn’t be found in the Aeloria Dominion… probably, and those feathers could make some amazing arrows as well. I made some of them and I guaranteed the quality.

“I can offer one Terra coin for each of them.”

“I don’t want to sell it. I want to trade them for magic weapons. Let’s see… I offer one hundred of these for that cloak over there.”

Hunter’s Cloak (Rare)

Enchantment Slots: Mist Veil - Allows the user to blend into natural the environments shrouding them in a light fog that muffles sounds and conceals movement. Increases the level of camouflage by fifteen.

Scent Ward - Masks the wearer’s scent, making it harder for animals or trackers to sense them.

Durability: 20/20

“Deal!”

I passed the feathers to the elf and then checked his remaining merchandise. It looked like they would do anything as long as they could get materials to make decent bows and arrows.

Traveler’s Compass (Uncommon)

Enchantment Slots: Pathfinder Charm - Points with accuracy toward the user’s intended destination, even through magical interference. Increases the level of pathfinding skill by twenty.

Durability: 10/10

It looked like this type of item that granted extra levels for skills was common around these parts. I had no idea how to make them, though. Perhaps I needed to get more enchanting classes.

Oceanheart Pendant (Rare)

Enchantment Slots: Aqua Breather - Allows the use to breathe underwater for extended periods based on their spirit and endurance.

Tidal Push - Creates a burst of water pressure to repel nearby threats.

Durability: 10/10

I traded them with my blizzard bird feathers… The final one would have come in handy while I was in the Skarnash Tribelands. Regardless, at least I could use the enchantment now instead of using tricks that could be easily dealt with.

“Well, thank you for making business with me.”

“Wait, where did you get these? The monsters that have those feathers are hard to find.”

I couldn’t say that I came from the Skarnash Tribelands, that would be traces of my movements. Although walking around while showing my white hair was already doing that. 

“I found it in the North, while I was crossing the Aesira Empire.”

“The harpies, huh… it isn’t that far, but…”

I felt bad for lying to the man, but it couldn’t be helped. I soon left the area while he was lost in thought to avoid problems. I checked some other shops in the area, but the magic items that they were mainly bows and arrows with extra effects instead of enchantments. I wanted to learn those two, but I failed countless times, even when I tried to use Essence Extraction on the items that had those. My guess is that those extra effects, while not impossible to learn, they mainly came from the materials.

The town wasn’t that big, so I crossed it after just two hours and left the area and didn’t hesitate in using Essence Extraction and obtaining the knowledge of the enchantments.

You received 40 experience points.

You received 40 experience points.

You received 40 experience points.

I more or less could understand how the enchantments worked… the ones that increased levels of skills needed to be at a certain level from the enchanter to be able to apply them. Probably at very high levels, maybe over fifty, that would make them able to understand how to add those extra effects to other items.

‘I never noticed that, but I guess my understanding of the skills increases alongside their power and effectiveness.’

I stopped to think about Arcane Arrow. It was bread and butter when it comes to fighting and now I could tell how my mana transformed to alter the nature of the attacks. When it comes to the explosive arrows, mana is agitated to create heat, raising the temperature of the arrowhead and the surrounding air. The conversion process ignites the mana, forming flames and a layer of incandescent energy around the arrowhead.

For the freezing arrows, mana is manipulated to absorb heat energy from the surrounding environment, lowering the arrow’s temperature. This creates a layer of frost and crystalline ice on the arrowhead.

For the shocking arrows, mana is converted into electrical energy by inducing rapid oscillations within the mana flow, creating charged particles. This produces a crackling electric field around the arrowhead.

Those effects become more noticeable with the magic of the caster and the level of the skill. Despite all this knowledge, I still could control my mana directly to do the same thing, though. 

‘It is quite an interesting concept.’

It would be even more interesting if that let me use the same magic as myself. Maybe I wasn’t skilled enough for magic, or maybe the system was limiting that. Regardless, I learned a few things in exchange for just a few materials, and that was enough for now.

“Wait here, girl.”

Once we left the town behind and I confirmed that no one was following us, I climbed on the tallest trees behind and then checked the area ahead for the location of other massive trees like that. Considering that I walked during the whole day, perhaps I should take a break since I spent the entire night walking, but it was better to stop only when I get really tired… I was getting used to that, skipping some nights of sleep, even though it wasn’t my intention.

‘There is also a chance that my nocturnal nature is getting stronger with my powers. Putting that aside, I can see a bunch of those massive trees. They have a lot more towns than I had expected.’

I had heard that despite being long-lived, the elves don’t increase in numbers that much. Since they can live tens of times more than humans, their instincts to multiply and increase the next generation is a lot more dulled, apparently.

Regardless, it seemed fair to assume that in the area, I would only find elves of lower ranks in their society… They looked at me with curiosity, but they didn’t emit any ill intent. Probably because they assumed that I was one of them, but with an unusual hair color.

They also didn’t pay much attention to Glacien… which was odd, given that she wasn’t an animal that you could find around these parts. Now that I think about it, showing her around will also make people think that I have been in the Skarnash Tribelands.

‘Oh, well… no point in worrying too much about this.’

I jumped from the one hundred meters tall tree and then landed on the ground, my legs shocked a bit thanks to the impact. My endurance had increased to a certain amount, but not enough for that kind of fall, apparently. Fortunately, my health was high enough to only lose twenty points of health.

“I guess fall damage is a thing in this world… in all worlds, it only makes sense. Let’s go, girl.”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

Glacien was going to get hungry soon and, along her size, her appetite also grew. We could hear the chirping sounds of birds, but nothing any big that would fit her immense appetite.

I should buy some food in the next town… speaking of the next destination, I should avoid the eastern border and the central parts of the Aeloria Dominion. Those were the areas where the chance of me meeting Clarice would be higher. The odds were low, but the odds of thinking going bad every single time in my life were also low, but they always turn out like that, in the end.

‘The key to avoid trouble is to not get involved in whatever happens around me… I also need to be pretty silent in case people come to cause trouble. Getting rid of the evidence of fights will come in handy too… I am actually thinking like a criminal, huh?’

In any case, I managed to visit two other towns without being bothered. Things were going smoothly enough to make me raise my guard. I wondered if I had arrived at a bad time again in this place.

Moonshadow Bow (Rare)

Enchantment Slots: Silent Flight - Arrows fired from this bow are nearly invisible, decreasing the chance that enemies will notice them before impact.

Lunar Precision - Increases the accuracy of arrows, especially in low-light conditions or during the night, and grants bonus damage to critical hits of thirty percent.

Durability: 25/25

Eagle’s Talon Arrow (Epic)

Enchantment Slots: Sharp Precision - Increases the damage and critical hit chance when shooting at long range, mimicking the keen eyesight of an eagle.

Talon’s Grip - The arrow’s sharp tip can pierce even the toughest armor, allowing it to deal significant damage to heavily armored enemies. Ignores endurance of target by ten points.

Durability: 02/02

I found two nice items in the next town and managed to trade them with the people there, but as I went deeper into their territory, people started to look a lot less welcoming. It seemed that I truly had to avoid the central parts of the Aeloria Dominion.

Chapter 189 - A Troublesome Place (Thank you for your support, Harvey!)

Two months had passed since I left the Skarnash Tribelands. I headed north toward the Aeloria Dominion…

It was the kind of place I wanted to avoid, since most elves were pretty annoying. I knew of one that could be more unnerving than a pain in the butt, but I figured out that I could explore their dungeons and labyrinths for a while and see what I was missing.

“I guess it is time to move again. What do you think, girl?”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

“When am I going to unlock the skill of speaking with animals?”

Tame Beast reached level seven… it was getting pretty slow since I only had a single tamed creature. In any case, Glacien began to grow quite a lot once I began to increase her endurance for some reason. Before, she was like thirty centimeters tall while sitting, but now she was almost one meter tall, it didn’t make any sense.

I decided to take some time off because I wanted to train Glacien to feel the traces of people approaching. She was pretty good from the beginning, but as she grew bigger and I increased her dexterity a bit, she became even better.

In any case, I also used that time to make sure that I would have an improved gear. I improved my diving suit and made it a lot lighter as well. The magic bags with air worked, but I would be done if they got damaged, so I had to find another solution for it.

I also improved my grappling crossbow. It had a range of one hundred meters now and I could attack to the body of my bow instead of keep exchanging between them all the time. Regardless, we decided to camp on the coast of the Aeloria Dominion for a while since the elves stayed on guard once they heard about the ships from the Skarnash Tribelands.

Finding food wasn’t a problem thanks to Glacien. She could swim and with her new class, she could catch fish rather easy.

Winter Revenant: Frozen Resolve - Gain experience when using ice magic and slowing down the movements of the target. The more they slow down, the more experience you will gain.

Parameter: Endurance/Spirit - Increases your physical and magical defense by one point per level.

Active Skills - Frost Arrow: Fire a frost arrow able to slow down the target and freeze them and damage their stamina by the same value of the damage caused.. Cost: 25 Mana

Winter’s Grasp: Call forth tendrils of frost from the ground to immobilize enemies in a 5-meter radius for 3 seconds. Enemies remain slowed by 30% for 10 seconds after the effect ends. Cost: 35 Mana.

“I am quite tired of fish… even if it tastes good, the fish here are too salty and dry. I am also tired of thinking and since those guys are no longer watching the coast that much, we can’t train escaping from their tracking skills anymore, right?”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“Well now… how should we proceed here?”

I didn’t know much about the Aeloria Dominion, aside from what I heard from the books and what Clarice told me. They had the Silver Bow, a faction rooted in the belief that elves should remain a pure and insular society, free from the influence or presence of non-elves. They view their race as superior, with a unique culture and history that must be preserved at all costs.

The primary objective of the Silver Bow is to expel all non-elves from their lands. This banishment is driven by a sense of superiority and the desire to remain untouched by outside influences.

There was also the Unseen Arrow, unlike the Silver Bow, which operates in the open and pursues its goals through overt actions. The Unseen Arrow works in the shadows. They believe that elves must protect their interests by any means necessary, even if it involves assassination, sabotage, or other forms of covert warfare. While they share a sense of Elven superiority, they are less concerned with isolation and more focused on eliminating anyone or anything that threatens the prosperity of their race.

‘I already had a problem with the Unseen Arrow. They tried to blame me for the accident that happened with Jalal’ grandmother. I didn’t want to repay them for trying to screw with me at that time… but maybe it is time for some retribution? Moreover, simply by being present, I was defying the wishes of the Silver Bows, making both organizations my adversaries.

My policy now was an arrow for an arrow… this was only possible on these lands since everyone used bows, though. At first, I thought that my awakening made me more violent, but after staying here for two months, I confirmed that it couldn’t be true. While I felt a lot of thirst and hunger mainly at first, I could satisfy that thirst with water and food.

What had changed in me wasn’t my awakened blood, but my intolerance against people that wanted to really screw with me… In any case, I went to check my reflection on the crystalline waters and then smiled.

‘If it weren’t for my dazzling smile, I could pass for an elf. I am not annoyingly handsome as them, but my smile reveals my fangs, even opening my mouth a bit reveals them. I have to keep my mouth shut pretty often or at least make sure that no one will find me.’

When night came, I decided to move with Glacien. I still hadn’t decided where I would go from here… my first goal was just to make a map of this land or find one. I was really itching to go to the dwarven territory and learn how to forge stuff. They had tons of dungeons with mining spots on them as well, after all.

‘The elves here should have some of the materials that the dwarfs obtain, but I couldn’t buy anything without showing who I am… Well, I can, but I don’t want to hide my face anymore.’

I wouldn’t have to worry about that if I looked for Clarice and used her to buy those things, but the idea alone sent shivers down my spine. She was just too troublesome… not worth the hassle.

I hadn’t fallen enough to consider stealing from people… but I wondered if it was considered stealing if I took an item and left the money in its place while I was using camouflage. Well, if most elves are like Clarice, my current level of camouflage might not be enough.

While I was thinking about that, I lost the notion of how many kilometers I had crossed… I was hoping to find some sources of light, but there were no openings in the forest… everything was completely dark thanks to it.

“What do you think, Glacien? Can you find traces where most people head from here?”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

“All right then, lead the way. We have to confirm things in this place sooner or later. If the people here see me as an enemy, I will just avoid them and explore their dungeons and labyrinths without asking for permission. If they aren’t that unreasonable, I will ask for permission.”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

Clarice was an oddball, but perhaps there were people like her around. As long as they weren’t as troublesome, it should be fine… that made me recall what she told me about Elven society.

“I don’t take pride in this, but we have this tiered system going on for us. It goes from tenth class to first class. The families receive their rank based on their accomplishments and those who are just born receive those titles too. If compared to human society… I guess the tenth to the sixth class families would be low nobility and the fifth to the first class would be high nobility.”

Perhaps those in the lower nobility won’t be complete assholes… those guys should leave close to the border and the coast, so I should find them soon enough.

“Awooo! Awooo!”

When morning came, Glacien finally broke her silence. I thought that she was lost and we were walking in circles, but soon I was able to see an elf town in the distance. 

‘What the heck…’

As I noticed the elf town, I couldn’t help but gawk at the sight ahead me. The houses weren’t just built near the trees, they spiraled around them like an intricate staircase, hugging the massive trunks with purpose. Each dwelling was a blend of natural and crafted beauty, seamlessly merging into the bark as if they had always been a part of the forest.

I had seen some colossal trees along the way, but these were simply insane. Their sheer size left me speechless, fifty meters thick at least, with their crowns soaring hundreds of meters into the sky, vanishing into a sea of green. These titanic trees were more than just nature’s giants; they were the very heart of the town, supporting homes, bridges, and platforms that connected the Elven community like an organic labyrinth. It was as though the forest itself had decided to host the elves, wrapping its limbs around them in an embrace.

The thought hit me hard, this wasn’t just a town. It was a testament to the elves’ deep bond with nature, where even the most massive forces of the wild were shaped into homes with care and reverence.

‘Maybe they worship those massive trees to the point of making them a sanctuary connected to their homes.’

I guess that it will be easier to find the towns if I look for those colossal trees. I would bet that their materials would make for excellent bows, perhaps Mythic or above rarity rank. I knew it better than seriously considering that, though. No need to give more ammo for any potential enemies to use against me.

“Sorry for doubting you, girl. Your senses are as good as ever. Anyway, what do you think I should do? The place doesn’t have any guards since they don’t expect visitors, but waltzing around there was bound to cause problems, right?”

“... Awooo! Awooo!”

“I guess even you can’t be uncertain at times.”

I couldn’t leave my decision making in Glacier’s paws, so I decided to just walk toward the town and whatever happens, happens. Eventually, they will understand that I had the chance to cause a lot more destruction in their forests, but I avoided that. Hopefully, that will be enough to convince them that I come in peace.

Chapter 188 - Alone (Thank you for your support, T!)

Fifteen minutes later, the ship had anchored and the fleet following them soon got ready to do the same. Right in front of the ship, Rayner, Lizzie, and Linnet found Ulric and Remi waiting for them.

“Thank you for coming so fast, Commander.”

Ulric saluted and then said that. He looked as serious as ever, but Remi looked pretty relaxed. His confidence was already high, but it looked like he got even more confident thanks to this war.

Rayner nodded and then went silent for a moment wondering what he should do. He wanted to ask about Regulus first and foremost, but he was the new commander of the area, so he had to put his family’s matters away for now.

“Where is your current field commander?”

“He asked us to wait for you here and guide you when you are ready to meet him.”

“We are ready.”

“Are you sure about that? The shorties should be pretty tired from being on a ship for so long. They don’t have beds like the one’s back home, after all.”

The twins glared at Remi and stuck their tongue at him, since Rayner couldn’t see them doing that. Regardless, Rayner didn’t have to say anything and soon they began to move while the reinforcement army would follow them later. It looked like they wouldn’t have to fight, so there was no need to hurry.

“Report.”

Once they all got in the carriage, Rayner asked for that. The vehicle hadn’t even begun to move yet. He was direct as ever. In the end, Ulric began to give the details about the battle and how they managed to gain terrain on the first week, but then as if he had brought them a wave of really bad luck, they began to lose the battles after Regulus showed up once and then showed up again and then sniped their commander.

“Describe the attack and the wound.”

Ulric flinched for a moment when he heard about it… even now, he wasn’t certain if it was true. But that was the port that all the other armies received from the remaining commanders.

“According to what we have heard, the arrow created a hole after passing through the body of the commander. The armor and the wound had a wound in the shape of a perfect circle. Almost like…”

“Almost like the arrow had ignored all the defenses of the target.”

Ulric nodded. Everyone looked surprised since they never heard of something like that, but it was clear that Rayner had vast amounts of experience, so it wasn’t surprising.

“Do you know what was the reason for the wound to be like that, Father?”

Remi’s smile finally vanished, and then he asked that. It wasn’t long after Regulus attacked him that he had killed their commander. Rumors said that he had come out from a labyrinth, but even if he had gained a powerful skill, it wouldn’t have come that powerful at level one.

“... I can’t say for sure yet. More importantly, this report is missing a lot of details. Regulus wounded Remi and then disappeared, only to attack the commander and then disappear again. Once and for all, this time?”

“Yes… we found no signs of him and that is what we know about his involvement. After that, we were backed away to the port towns and fought for a while without making any progress, but eventually, after killing some of the chieftains, we were able to turn the tables on them. We kept pushing the tribelands further into their territory until we conquered pretty much all of their towns. A few tens of thousands of them escaped by boat with their pirate ships.”

Rayner studied Ulric for a while until beads of sweat began to show up on his son’s face… It seemed a very short report that he was told to give it to his father for whatever reason, but that didn’t matter. He could always ask for the real report directly from the source… his son was following orders, orders that forced him to tell half-truths.

Rayner reached the same conclusion as his kids… Regulus has been traveling around the world exploring dungeons and labyrinths to gain power. He heard a few things about him before, some suspicious sightings, but in all of them, Regulus was using a disguise. It was the first time now that he showed up without trying to hide anything. That was confusing… it wasn’t like he dropped his guard to be found. He acted in a way to make sure that everyone would understand that he was no longer planning to hide who he was.

“There is one more piece of information that we received recently.”

“What is it? Few people found signs of an ice phoenix flying to the sky and that was supposed to be the final guardian of the hardest labyrinth in this land. When the area was explored by our soldiers, they found signs of a battle taking place outside. Some giant ice pillars smashed the bodies of some… beings that we couldn’t pinpoint what they exactly were, but there are signs that they could be vampires… although the type that would be considered failures by some vampires.”

“The forsaken? They wouldn’t come here without a reason… and it would be too soon for them to hear news about…”

Rayner began to connect the dots. He found it weird that he wasn’t called to join this war when he had more experience than most in fighting against orcs, goblins, and ogres. The empire was up to their underhanded tactics and if they had involved him, they wouldn’t have had the chance to use those.

Since he was a warrior through and through, he would rather fight the enemy directly, but it looked like some people who had the ears of the emperor decided to involve other factions to make their job a lot easier. His mood dropped instantly and his kids couldn’t help but flinch in response.

Rayner let out a sigh to calm himself down… Around six weeks had passed since Regulus had been spotted and if he was smart enough to be found until now, he should have left the land already. That was disappointing, but at least his two other sons were fine. Perhaps too fine, considering that they had to kill hundreds of enemies to survive.

‘I am getting old and sentimental. I don’t think that he was captured by the Forsaken. The involvement of the labyrinth guardian confirms it. Although I have no idea how he made such a creature leave the labyrinth…’

It was a bit perplexing that Regulus was able to clear labyrinths that had fifty floors at his age, but Rayner knew that even half vampires had some tricks up his sleeve… depending on how many labyrinths he had cleaned, perhaps he should have awakened some of his powers. Considering who his mother was, that should be quite the card in his hands.

‘If he has awakened too many of them, he will leave a trail of people that he will bite… I don’t think that he will kill them, but he has been too cautious as of late to take his chances. I need to keep an eye on Jacques.’

A few days later, Rayner had the chance to question the other commanders about the details of the battles that he wanted, but it was clear that they all were hiding something. The soldiers were also dead set in, keeping their mouths closed. 

Rayner knew that unless he had experienced some close to death situations, Regulus’ involvement should have ended when Remi challenged him. He only hurt Remi’s leg, and he gave a fair warning to all the others just because they were on his path to another labyrinth.

A few days later, Rayner went to check the labyrinth mentioned and his kids followed him… they found the holes left by the giant ice pillars, but aside from a few signs of battles here and there, nothing could be found.

“To which direction did the ships escaped?”

“Northwest, I believe… do you think that Regulus would have left with them, father?”

Ulric found that hard to believe, but he decided to ask, anyway.

“It would be too obvious… your mindset is probably similar to his. What would you think if you were in his position?”

“... Probably head to one of the most hard to expect places. Perhaps not back to the empire, though.”

“You are right. He wouldn’t.”

Rayner expected that his other kids would ask his opinion, but they looked a bit annoyed thanks to the extra focus that they had to endure, thanks to Regulus. He had some responsibility toward Regulus, but he had over them as well… If Regulus was determined to stay alone, Rayner wouldn’t be able to find him, so he had no other choice to change his focus.

“Let’s return… this area is too cold.”

The atmosphere shifted noticeably after Rayner’s words, as if a storm had passed, leaving behind a calm but much enjoyable peace. The tension that had gripped his children finally began to ease, their shoulders relaxing and their guarded expressions softening. It was as though the mention of Regulus could now be set aside, if only for a while. For the first time in days, they allowed themselves to breathe freely.

Rayner, however, couldn’t ignore the flicker of unease that lingered in the eyes of his two sons. He could tell they were still hiding something, their occasional glances at one another speaking volumes of a shared secret they weren’t ready to voice. But Rayner decided not to press them. He knew better than anyone the weight of things unsaid. After all, he had his own burdens to carry, his own truths tucked carefully away in the depths of his mind, hidden from his family.

Perhaps it was better this way, he thought. They all had their walls, their private spaces where they kept the things they weren’t ready to share. It wasn’t trust in the purest sense, but it was enough to hold them together, at least for now.

After he thought of that, Rayner looked over his shoulders and then saw pieces of ships floating in the cold ocean. They seemed to be masts and sails of ships. He was satisfied knowing that despite his situation, Regulus didn’t join the Forsaken. He found himself a lot of time alone back at home, and it looked like he was planning to stay that way.

Chapter 187 - Arrival (Thank you for your support, Passing Reader!)

An orb of light flew toward me and Glacien. I readied my guard and tried to cut down the orb, but nothing happened. To think that this kind of thing could happen…

You obtained the Cryomancer class.

You unlocked the Ice Affinity parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Frost Wielder.

You unlocked the skill: Glacial Shard.

You unlocked the skill: Frost Wield.

Frost Wielder: Gain 1 point of experience for every second you slow down a target with ice magic.

Glacial Shard: Conjure a sharp shard of ice and launch it at your target. The shard deals damage equal to your magic and has a chance to freeze the target in place for 2 seconds, reducing their movement speed by 30% if they are not fully frozen. The frozen target takes additional damage from subsequent ice attacks. Cost: 20 Mana.

Frost Wind: Release a burst of freezing energy around you, dealing damage equal to your magic and creating a chilling effect that slows all nearby enemies by 40% for 6 seconds. Enemies caught in the frost wind have their attack speed reduced by 20% and have a chance of being frozen for 1 second. Cost: 50 Mana.

I finally unlocked ice affinity, but at this point in time, it was useless in such an environment… I soon checked Glacien’s parameters as well, and it looked like more than a few things changed as well.

Name: Glacien

Race: Glacierborn Predator

Health: 100/100

Regen: 0.1 per hour 

Mana: 100/100

Regen: 0.1 per minute 

Stamina: 100/100

Regen: 0.1 per minute 

Strength: 12 (0/1300)

Magic: 15 (0/1600)

Dexterity: 05 (0/600)

Spirit: 12 (0/1200) 1.1

Endurance: 05 (0/600) (1.1)

Movement Speed: 10.0 

Ice Affinity: 12 (0/1300)

Traits: Iceborne Prowess, Frost Aura, Minor Vulnerability to Fire, Enhanced Cold Resistance, 

Classes: Beast of the North, Elemental Predator, Frost Guardian, Icebound Stalker, Winter Revenant

Aptitudes: Arctic Camouflage, Cold-Weather Adaptation, Predator’s Focus, Frost Manipulation, Apex Instincts, Pack Tactics, Frozen Resolve

Experience: 15.000

‘She got multipliers for spirit and endurance… a new aptitude and a new class as well. I have to check the class later.’

“This should do it. A final piece of warning. Those types of people don’t take any chances. The moment they decided to attack you with the worm, they prepared to fail as well, so your business with them won’t end here.”

“I figured as much.”

“Well then, we probably won’t meet again.”

The ice phoenix took flight with a swing flap of its wings and then flew to the clouds with insane speed. 

“Squeak! Squeak!”

It looked like Glacien was saying goodbye… as usual. I don’t get how she can make so many types of sounds. I wondered if I could have tamed the ice phoenix after becoming free from the labyrinth. But then Glacien looked at me with suspicion in her eyes.

“The more allies, the better, right? Even more so the ones who are bound to my will. At this point in time, I might as well make friends and force them to sign magic contracts with me as well.”

I decided to put those thoughts away and then head to the area where I found the ships of those cloaked guys. Soon enough, I confirmed that they were no longer there… some of them left to warn their allies about my existence, apparently.

‘I guess I will have to leave this place… too many people already know about my existence here.’

At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me if Rayner had learned about my existence here and was on the way as well… while I was considering those thoughts, I saw something in the corner of my eyes. When I checked the direction with Hawk’s Vision, I confirmed that it was a pirate ship.

‘What the heck…’

The ship was filled with people… like really crowded. There were at least two hundred people on them. They should be refugees, and that would mean that they were abandoning their land. Soon enough, more and more ships began to head to the Northwest.

In that direction, they would probably reach the Felyndor, the beastkin realm. It looked like despite their numbers, they lost the war… and if they were already in this area, the empire should be securing the other towns right at the moment. Another reason to bail.

‘Felyndor has those kinds of factions as well. Some of them even sell their own as slaves, so I wonder if they will be welcomed. Regardless, I have my own problems to worry about, like where I should go.’

My eyelids were getting heavier and heavier by the minute, so I had to make my choice as soon as possible. Nimir was in that land, but I probably shouldn’t find him. I shouldn’t look for Vincent either… My vampiric powers are awakening and I need to learn how I can control them.

My other options were to return to the human territory and lie low for a while or head to the Aeloria Dominion. I can also just cross those places and head to the dwarven territory, and Talymor kingdom. Toward West was the place where those cloaked guys came from. Perhaps a lot of vampires were there, so it was no good.

Further East, while crossing weeks and weeks in the ocean, I would reach the Blazoria enclave… a mountainous land filled with volcanos. Aside from people that have bodies that can burn like fire, further I can find the Saurian Confederacy and the lizard people that live there.

I had a lot of options, but heading east would mean crossing the Aquarian kingdom territory, or at least the area where they were most active. Heading south was hard to go since I had not a single idea of what I would find there.

“What do you think, Glacien?”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“Good choice, all right then… let’s go.”

… …

Two months had passed since the departure of Ulric and Remi to the Skarnash Tribelands for the war of conquest of those lands. And one month had passed since they asked for reinforcements and some news arrived to the empire as well.

The moment he heard both of this news, Rayner decided to move and offer himself to lead the expedition. The heads of the empire soon agreed to that, since they knew how Rayner could work to the bone when the honor of his family was involved.

“Papa, don’t frown all the time. You will get wrinkles.”

“Yeah, you are too handsome to get wrinkles yet.”

Rayner kept staring at the horizon with a serious face, but his serious face soon crumbled when he heard that kind of thing. He heard some chuckles coming from behind and when he glared at the crew members, they just turned around and pretended like nothing had happened.

Rayner preferred if he had come alone… Jacques couldn’t come since he was getting even more into hunting vampires as of late. Gerald had no interest in joining battles that were in the middle, so Rayner assumed that he would come alone. Still, much to his surprise, his youngest daughters, the twins Lizzie and Linnet. 

Over the years, Rayner let his kids see him working a bunch of times, but since those were in the magic academy, they didn’t have many chances to do so… this was their first chance and while he tried to refuse at first, he eventually gave up when he saw the tears in their eyes.

Speaking of which, Regulus never saw him working either… he imagined that the kid would spend the rest of his days in that mansion since he rarely left, but he never imagined that he would try to fake his death at the age of nine and escape the mansion. He also had no idea how he ended up here, but based on the rumors, it looked like he wasn’t living with the orcs, goblins, and ogres… they looked as confused as the humans when he interfered in the war.

Regardless, a battlefield wasn’t a place that he wanted to bring his daughters to see as fresh as they were from the academy, but it was better than letting them go alone and gain experience while he couldn’t supervise them.

“... I am the commander of this expedition, so for as long as that is true, you two should refer to me as such.”

“Here we go again.”

“You don’t have to get embarrassed, papa.”

Rayner didn’t have siblings. He was the only son of his father and he lost him when he was ten, so he didn’t know much about how kids interacted with their parents, even more so when it comes to girls. He was fairly certain that their mothers had taught those two some unnecessary things in order to get him on his good side. While they didn’t pass certain limits, it also felt too calculating.

“It looks like we finally arrived, papa.”

“I wonder if we will find those two in one piece or in several of them.”

Rayner sighed… fighting armies and giant monsters was easier than dealing with his daughter. They were twins and worked well together, but they still behaved like water and oil.

After squinting his eyes, Rayner was able to see that the port town looked fine… there were some buildings that had been destroyed, but there were no signs of smoke or of recent battles. That was very different from the last report he had heard of.

‘The report said that they were on their last legs after losing sixty percent of their force. Losing thirty percent in less than ten days would already be a disastrous outcome, so they didn’t turn things around using ordinary means.’

Rayner knew very well that the type of people who would sign for this type of job wouldn’t back down that easily and would rather die than return as failures, but he felt like sighing when he considered that his two sons could be like that. Still, his thoughts vanished from his might when he noticed them moving around in the port town together and giving some orders to other knights that were supposed to be a bit older.

“I can see them.”

“I can see them as well… It looks like they are in one piece. I guess this war was too easy for them and they remain as idiots.”

Chapter 186 - Will (Thank you for your support, Dylan Patrick Barnes!)

“Damn it! This is what I get from teaming up with a bird!”

I used my grappling crossbow to move to the wall and from there, I saw the chamber collapsing. The area around where the ice phoenix attacked was completely compromised, but it looked like the areas close to the walls were a bit safer. Still, with that much water falling, it probably won’t remain like that forever.

‘Just what the hell happened here?’

I never heard of a dungeon boss acting this erratically, so I was truly astonished. Still, I didn’t have time for that. I began to take a new piece of gear from my magic bag because I am the type that learns from the lessons that I survive.

I grabbed my clumsy version of a diving suit, a bulky creation crafted with the idea of enabling me to move in the crushing depths. It wasn’t sleek or sophisticated, but it was made from tough monster leather, which gave it a decent level of resistance. 

However, it was far from perfect. The sheer size of the suit made movement awkward, and it had its flaws. The biggest issue was the helmet; I didn’t have glass with me, so I used the crystal parts of the monsters I face here. Still, it was better than nothing, and it gave me at least a fighting chance to explore the depths.

“Get in, Glacien. This will be one hell of an exit.”

I made this soon after I found Glacien, so it was big enough for her to fit on the head part of the suit. The issue of air was a bit of a problem. The best idea that I was able to come off was by attaching an empty magic bag on the back of the suit. Those could store air as well, so it was my only source of oxygen.

Regardless, soon enough, we had the suit on and then we saw that abyssal worm still sucking everything around. Thanks to that, it was draining a lot of the water in the area, but it didn’t look like it was planning to stop anytime soon.

“Its insides will freeze, but who knows when? I should speed up the process a bit.”

I fired some freezing bolts near the area of the mouth of the monster and the water being absorbed began to freeze inside the monster. Still, I soon had to stop that because all the water around began to freeze… a cold air coming from above also began to drop all the temperature in the water.

The Giant worm also suddenly stopped sucking all the water and stopped moving altogether, much to my surprise. As if that wasn’t enough, the creature began to turn into ashes.

You received 100.000 experience points.

“What the heck…”

I had no idea how the water froze enough for the interior of the monster to freeze it and kill it, but soon a certain hypothesis came to mind. 

In any case, the chamber began to fill with water pretty fast and I decided to move. We fell back on the water and then let the current pull toward the corridor. I swam a bit to avoid hitting everything on the way or being pushed toward the walls and ceiling, but I needed training to use the suit better.

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“As far as I know, cats or Sabertooth tigers aren’t good swimmers, so don’t complain.”

I tried to reach the area where the water had reached inside the labyrinth, but it looked like I wasn’t fast enough. I probably should add some magic propulsion system in the suit. I probably should make a system where I could reload mana cores with ease and make the whole thing enhanced with enchantments. I didn’t do any of that since I didn’t think that I would be in such a dire situation so soon.

As I crossed the labyrinth’s floors, the rising water seemed to do half the work for me, effortlessly lifting me toward the exit. Yet, amidst the continuous splashing and the echoing sounds of the water movements, I couldn’t help but notice the eerie absence of monsters. Floor after floor, the corridors remained silent, devoid of the usual lurking monsters.

I considered the oddity, and one thought crossed my mind. It had to be because the final boss had abandoned the labyrinth. Its departure seemed to have thrown everything into disarray, disrupting the natural order of the place. Without the boss to maintain its grip on this domain, the labyrinth itself had stopped working as it should, leaving me with an unimpeded path to freedom.

Before we finally could reach the final parts that the water had reached in the labyrinth, we had to cross the fifth and fourth section of the labyrinth while underwater. Somehow, the magic bag granted us enough air for those five hours.

Still, as soon as I found the area ahead that wasn’t flooded, I jumped from the water using my grappling crossbow and then began to run after taking out my suit. Even out of water, the monsters weren’t coming, so the issue was really with the dungeon boss.

There was nothing left of the abyssal worm, not a single fragment of its monstrous body, not even the faintest trace of its presence. The grotesque, otherworldly flesh that had once filled the air with a sickening, oppressive aura had dissolved completely into nothingness. It was as if the creature had never been there, its colossal form and terrifying power wiped clean from existence.

With its vanishing act, the atmosphere had changed drastically. The suffocating heaviness that had seemed to seep into every corner of the labyrinth was gone, leaving behind a space that felt strangely empty. The eerie silence that followed wasn’t just the absence of the worm, it was the void left by the unnatural tension it had created.

Yet, the world around me was still unnatural and unpredictable, but at least the abyssal worm was gone, leaving me with one less nightmare to contend with.

A couple of hours later, we finally reached the end of the labyrinth… and soon confirmed my guess. In front of us, we could see a giant ice phoenix standing in front of the entrance of the dungeon and on the sides, we also could see some giant ice pillars tainted with blood at their bases… those cloaked guys had been smashed by the ice pillars.

Still, I didn’t expect the boss to still be around… it almost felt like the creature was waiting for me. That would be a problem since it looked much stronger than an ordinary final boss of a fifth floor labyrinth.

“You have survived.”

I furrowed my eyebrows when I heard the voice of the ice phoenix. The voice of the ice phoenix resonated with an undeniable weight, each word imbued with a power that demanded attention. There was a certain regal authority in its tone, as though it carried the wisdom of ages and the power of a being far above mortal comprehension. It wasn’t just the depth or the clarity of its voice, it was the way it seemed to echo in the very air, leaving no room for doubt or defiance.

“While we were enemies before, we fought together that abomination. So, it wasn’t courteous of me to destroy the labyrinth and almost kill you in the process. I apologize for that, but I didn’t have any other choice. Something like this had to be destroyed.”

“I am not interested in hearing excuses. What do you want now? Fight me?”

That was insane. My chances of winning were low, I was tired, not thinking clearly and I had used a bunch of my resources and the enemy had gotten stronger. It was because of all that I couldn’t use my head clearly… I really want to lash out at something, anything… no matter the cost.

“My job as the guardian of the labyrinth ended when I left it. Another ice phoenix will soon take my place. I am no longer an entity that is tied to this place.”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“Ah, yes… We are a bit similar, but I gained more wisdom enough to use proper words to convey my thoughts after eating part of the labyrinth. Those crystals weren’t supposed to be eaten, but the will of the labyrinth allowed me not to die after absorbing all that energy.”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“No, you can’t do the same. You will definitely die. Follow your natural path and you will eventually obtain the power that you desire.”

“Awooo…”

It was weird to be ignored in this conversation, but at least I found someone that could use proper words and that could understand Glacien’s words. I could only guess what she wanted to say most of the time, and I was pretty sure that even my general ideas were pretty off the mark.

“You, half-vampire. Don’t you have any questions?”

“I have, but why would you answer them?”

“To make up for almost killing you with my escape.”

I just wanted the parts of the boss. It would make for great materials for a new bow. Still, while the creature almost killed me, I couldn’t complain since it did something that I couldn’t and that made me escape from the abyssal worm.

“You mentioned something about the will of the labyrinth.”

“Although half of you belong to an ancient and knowledgeable race, it seems that you don’t share their wisdom. Labyrinths and dungeons are similar to living beings. While they don’t have proper bodies and a single consciousness, they emerge when the spiritual energy of many beings gather in a single spot. Those many consciousnesses decided to grant me power to preserve the labyrinth and destroy that abomination.”

It seemed that my guess was correct… The mechanical behavior of labyrinths was thanks to the will of many spirits, or the residual energy left by them reaching a common ground or something.

“Then why do the dungeons and labyrinths grant us power when we conquer them in parts?”

“That is… something you shouldn’t know yet.”

“Tch, already reached a limitation, huh? You sure are keeping your word.”

“My apologies. Since it looks like you want to ask some questions that shouldn’t be answered lightly, I will reward you two with the power bestowed on me by the labyrinth. You won’t have choices like the labyrinths grant, but this still should make up for it.

Chapter 185 - Here We Go Again (Thank you for your support, Clinton Hudson!)

After another part of the monster's head disintegrated, the ice phoenix launched a barrage of ice arrows and made them rain down on the interior of the monster’s mouth. I could see from outside that the arrows were freezing the skin outside, but even that wasn’t enough. Soon enough, the most expelled those from its mouth.

‘It can do even that…’

The monster charged at me again… my plan was to destroy the body of the thing until I could reach those guys outside, but that wasn’t feasible anymore. If the boss could leave the chamber, that would be another matter, but it couldn’t.

It had been five days since the monster was summoned… I would guess that those guys were still outside waiting for the news that I was killed or eaten by the monster. Now that I could think clearly, this creature probably was being used to capture me, at least based on what that guy killed said. Still, that also wasn’t an option for me.

The monster soon reached me and tried to devour me, but I recovered the hook of my crossbow and then jumped away in the distance. 

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“Sorry, Glacien. We don’t have time for talking…”

Still, soon I came to learn that Glacien wasn’t talking with me… she was looking at the ice phoenix. I wondered how that was possible, how animals could talk with monsters. Still, it looked like the ice phoenix understood the message since it was looking at Glacien.

In the next moment, when I landed on the ground and then monster moved toward me, the ice phoenix began to clap its wings and then a blast of frozen wind stopped the abyssal worm… the body of the monster began to freeze and while the creature trembled to free itself, the air also entered its mouth, so it froze the monster on both sides.

Little by little, the creature stopped moving and then it began to freeze all over. It looked like Glacien told the boss to send a bunch of cold air inside the monster… since the environment was covered in ice, freezing the interior would make the creature unable to free itself, but it was very unlikely that the boss could keep using that magic until the whole body of the beast freezes.

‘Is this my cue? What can I do here?’

I didn’t know what I could do… the best option would be to prevent the monster from growing further by absorbing the mana of the monsters in the labyrinth, but that was something beyond me.

I could drain its mana and its health with my bow and vampiric powers, but for how long could I keep that up? I decided to test if that could work and unleashed a barrage of silver arrows at the monster’s body. Since they were non-elemental attacks, I didn’t use extra mana, and I recovered a lot more, in fact. When my mana was full, I used the skill blood siphon… I could do that from any distance, apparently. I had yet to discover its limits, but that was hard given the location.

The area that I targeted began to disintegrate and soon was frozen by the boss… it looked like we could seal that part of the monster’s body, but it wasn’t enough to cause more damage than the beast could recover energy.

‘Damn… is nothing good? What about poison?’

Even if I could take my time to fill the entire body of the monster with poison, I wouldn’t be able to recover fully without using my bow, and if I used it, the body would fall apart. We reached a very annoying stalemate. Still, the ice phoenix kept using its cold wind to freeze the entire body of the monster.

“Unless you have infinite mana, you will never freeze the monster to death…”

Perhaps I could use Mystic Link and make the boss use my mana and then I enter the mouth of the beast as it freezes, but then I would freeze as well. I felt like I was walking in circles. This thing was clearly on the level of that kraken, so perhaps I wasn’t strong enough to solo a boss of that level… No, I certainly wasn’t.

I didn’t know what I could do to kill the beast, but I at least could use Demon’s Snare and make it level up. That should make sure that the beast won’t try anything for a while and I will make the skill drain a lot more mana. 

That came right in the right time because the ice phoenix soon stopped flapping its wings and then moved to the ground to rest. The ice phoenix had its head lowered and tucked close to its body. Its wings dropped slightly instead of being held tightly against its sides. The bird’s eyes were half-closed and lacked their usual alert sparkle.

‘That should have been a powerful skill that drained a lot of mana… now what?’

Soon enough, the abyssal worm would be free again, and who knows if the same trick would work again. 

“Mew, mew, mew!”

Glacien tried to talk with the bird once more, but she was completely ignored. It looked like she was asking for a harder job coming from the boss, but even a boss of a labyrinth like this had limits.

Before long, the giant monster began to shake again, and the frozen parts began to fall apart with pieces of the monster and everything. A few hundred meters of frozen worm came to the boss chamber, but soon the beast was back and the boss was still completely without mana. I considered for a moment killing the beast in hopes of making it return with full mana, but would that plan work more than once even if it was feasible?

While I was questioning myself, I saw the ice phoenix turning around and running away… I was baffled. Even bosses had some survival instincts, but I didn’t think that it would be that cowardly. 

I lowered my stance and then fired explosive bolts at the enemy and when I had some extra mana, I used Demon’s Snare to keep the beast in its place. I could do that much at least… Even if I didn’t have a solution, I could struggle until the very end. I wouldn’t become a monster’s snack without giving it a hard time.

‘I guess I will just destroy this entire place and hope that the collapse will bury the worm alive… I had enough mana cores to destroy the whole chamber. If I am lucky enough, it will cause a chain reaction and make the whole area fall on us. In the worst-case scenario, I will be buried alive. In the best-case scenario, I will have to keep digging for a while.’

While I was stealing myself to do what had to be done. I noticed that the ice phoenix was still doing something. When I looked over my shoulder for a moment, I saw the monster eating the crystals in the walls… I figured that they were indeed made of mana, but would that make the boss recover that much energy so fast? 

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“What now?”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“... Do you want me to cover for that guy? What for?”

“Chi-chi-chi!”

“Yep, still don’t get it… we will have to level up our communication, Glacien.”

I had no idea what the boss was doing, but the creature bought some time before for me, so I could buy some time for them. Labyrinth monsters, they all could tell that this worm was a far worse threat than me here, so perhaps I could count on them.

I kept exploding the head of the monster nonstop, but eventually, the beast got tired of that and soon began to change its tactics. It began to suck all the air in the chamber… pieces of the crystals began to fall to its mouth too.

‘Will it recover its mana even more?’

I kept firing explosive arrows to counter the sucking power of the monster, but the creature ate my arrows and kept doing that even when they exploded inside its mouth… I had no idea what had changed, but my explosive arrows lost a lot of power. As if that wasn’t enough, Glacien and I began to be pulled by the suction of the beast as well.

I used the Great Fireball in front of the mouth of the beast and the explosion stopped the suction for a moment. Half of the mouth was burned, but soon it was restored and the monster did the same thing. At least I was able to put some distance between us…

“If you want to eat something, then eat this!”

I put Glacien behind my head and then used the grappling crossbow to connect my belt to the ground… in the next moment, I stabbed an arrow on my wrist and then droplets of blood began to flow toward the beast.

Soon enough, the monster began to convulse, but it kept sucking all the surrounding air. I let the blood flow until it reached the halfway point of my health and then I started to get dizzy. Losing blood after several days without sleeping wasn’t a good experience.

‘Well, I tried my hardest… it is time for an explosion.’

I hoped that at least Glacien would be able to escape this. She was unlucky to be found by me when I needed to test my beastmaster skills. In any case, I grabbed my magic bags filled with mana cores and got ready to throw them inside the mouth of the monster, but before I could do that, I heard a screeching scream coming from behind.

It looked like the ice phoenix was done eating the walls of the labyrinth. I sure hoped that he had a secret technique, but I doubted that it would be strong enough to decimate the annoying worm. When I looked at the boss, I frowned since the beast was even bigger than before… like three times bigger. If it had gotten three times stronger, then it should have become strong enough to even cause trouble to the final boss of a one hundred floor labyrinth.

The monster began to fly low but soon changed directions and then began to fly upward and began to spin as well… the beak of the boss reached the ceiling of the chamber and began to pierce it… the monster soon covered itself in ice magic to gain more power and soon reached the other side… before long, a lot of water began to fall on the chamber and the ceiling began to give in.

Chapter 184 - End of the Line (Thank you for your support, Shirley Woodard!)

The monster soon recovered from the surprise attack and got enraged enough to gain speed for a while. I stopped using Blood Siphon… it worked, but I couldn’t stop even that beast while it was relatively calm, much less an enraged one.

I took another deep breath and then readied myself… Slowly; I let the monster get close to me. Glacien began to shiver thanks to the ominous aura that was approaching us. Still, I tossed her in the distance when the time came… the huge maw opened to chew me as a whole, but then I used a Crimson Burst…

Blood left pretty much all the pores of my body and then flew in all directions. Despite that, I didn’t feel any pain, just a slight discomfort of suddenly getting weaker since my health dropped.

The creature stopped when my blood touched the interior of its mouth. In the next moment, the head of the monster began to disintegrate without any resistance… it felt like the creature had turned into sand or something.

‘What the heck…’

It was a too easy ending for a beast like that… It couldn’t end conveniently like that… my guess was right. After the body of the beast disintegrated for one hundred meters, it began to regenerate. The monster began to hit its body against the walls, ceiling and the floor.

“RUMMMMLLLLL!”

The shout coming from the monster made my eardrums shake… blood began to fall from my ears, even though I closed them. I got dizzy for a moment, but soon recovered. The monster began to charge even faster than before, and soon I resumed my run. Glacien looked at me with a suspicious look, but I just shrugged.

“I had to at least try—”

Defeating the previous boss had been too easy and since I got carried away, it looked like my karma had gone down somehow and I ended up with more problems than solutions after picking a new class.

At least I confirmed that my magic power was able to destroy a huge part of the monster and stop its advance. However, it wasn’t enough and I actually had to use my final trump card. To lure the worm to the boss chamber and hope that the boss will focus on this thing instead of focusing on me. Then, with some luck, we will be able to make the beast die, somehow.

It was a reckless plan, but I hadn’t any better ideas. The other ideas that I had were pretty much suicidal… More blizzard birds emerged in the distance to block my path, but once they saw the enraged worm, they turned around to fly away, once again, they only made my job of hunting them easy.

Although it was a bit costly in terms of mana cores, I decided to use my bike to move and then fire arrows at the monster… I still could make Arcane Arrow grow in strength and as long I could keep weakening the monster, anything would help.

Active Skills - Arcane Arrow Lv 26: Enchant an arrow with magical energy, causing it to deal additional elemental damage based on your choice (fire, frost, lightning) upon impact. This skill also has a chance to inflict a status effect, such as burning, freezing, or shocking the target for 10 seconds. Cost: 50 Mana.

I got up on the bike, using one foot to support myself, and another to adjust the direction of the vehicle… in the next moment, I aimed an arrow at the head of that massive insanity and then activated the usual skills to power up the arrow. 

I used the shock arrow this time to check something, and the projectile flew while zapping the air and making the sound of a giant airplane taking flight as well. The projectile pierced the bottom of the mouth of the monster and then shocked it for three seconds. The impact also created a large hole in it, but it didn’t nothing else.

‘Damned beast… where in the heck did those retards find this monster?’

I tried frost arrows to slow down the beast too, but without ice affinity, I couldn’t do much… I could enchant things to increase the power of ice affinity, but I didn’t have the time to make anything in that situation. I barely could focus, after all, thanks to that gross atmosphere.

In the end, I returned to exploding the head of the monster to slow it down as much as possible… I also had to deal with the blizzard birds emerging in the distance, so I couldn’t relax even for a moment.

You received 110 experience points.

You received 110 experience points.

‘At least this will guarantee that my magic will increase to high levels before we find the final boss chamber.’

Getting the old mana cores to fuel my bike while I stored the new ones on my magic bags was how I used my free time between attacks. I also decided to change the effects of the rest of my gear to increase my magic power or decrease the spirit of the enemies with the Dread Enchantments. Aside from that, I had no idea what I should do.

At least I had a lot of time to think and consider that I should become a lot more ruthless… picking fight with enemies and then showing some mercy to them after trying to understand their position wasn’t helpful, it never worked and it only caused more trouble. Besides, I was just a single person. I couldn’t think that pitying anyone would change things… even trying to help them or show them another way was already too much, considering what I had to deal with daily.

‘Is this a decision based on my experience or thanks to the changes inside me?’

I couldn’t tell. There was also the possibility that I was too stressed thanks to the situation. Once all this was over, I had to calm down and collect my thoughts. It was clear that something in my way of acting wasn’t working, and I had to find what it was.

The next four hours passed very slowly. Aside from the number of blizzard birds showing and flying away, nothing really happened. Arcane Arrow reached level thirty, and I figured out that spawning them like that was the same as usual training with them without a target… unless something was killed, the real experience wouldn’t be granted to the skill.

I looked behind and then saw the monster charging faster than the bike could move, but I was able to slow it down with some explosive arrows. Eventually, I was able to see the boss chamber in the other direction. It looked like the end of the line finally arrived. It was impossible to delay things any further.

“Let’s do this… I am tired of this nonsense.”

I stopped attacking the work and then stored away my bike when I was in front of the chamber. In the next moment, I waited until the monster was ready to smash me against the stone door, then I kicked the entrance and used Shadow Step to head further into the labyrinth.

When I got into the chamber, I found a large place that was as big as the final chamber of that underwater labyrinth. It was like a cave entirely made of crystal… everything was glowing beautifully, but soon everything began to crack when the abyssal worm got inside and began to wreck its body around.

In the middle of the chamber, an imposing block of crystalline ice dominated the space, radiating a frosty aura that made the air bitterly cold. Countless jagged ice spears jutted out from the surface, glinting dangerously as they refracted the faint light, casting patterns of blue and white across the walls. 

Encased deep within the frozen mass was a colossal ice phoenix, its majestic form frozen in a moment of stillness.

All of a sudden, the ice began to crack with a series of sharp, echoing snaps. Lines of fracture spread across the block, light pulsing within them like veins, carrying life back into the phoenix. With a deafening shatter, the ice burst outward, the shards and spears flying in all directions before dissipating into fine mist.

The ice phoenix emerged, its crystalline feathers glowing with brilliance. Its piercing, ice-blue eyes glowed with an ancient power, and as it spread its wings wide, a chilling wind swept through the chamber. The once-static entity had come alive, its regal presence exuding both beauty and menace, as if the very essence of winter had taken form before them.

The creature looked at me, very annoyed, but soon focused its eyes on the abyssal worm.

“Can’t say that I am sorry. You can vent your frustrations on me once we are done with this freak. Deal?”

The ice phoenix screeched, but I didn’t know if that was in response to my words or anything else. Regardless, the creature soon began to fire a barrage of ice spears at the monster. The ice spears pierced the flesh of the worm and reached all the way to the other side. While it froze some of the area on the flesh of the beast, the creature soon freed itself and began to move toward us.

I vanished using my camouflage amulet and then began to move its head from one side to the other in confusion. Before long, the part of the body that had entered the chamber stopped moving as the base of the body inside the chamber broke apart thanks to a single explosive arrow. 

I left my camouflage thanks to my attack and then saw the remaining part of the monster fall on the ground and then turn into ashes, but soon the mouth regenerated beyond the spot I had attacked and then entered the chamber again. While it didn’t have eyes, it pointed at me and moved in my direction as well.

I fired an explosive arrow inside the monster’s mouth and then made another part fall off and turn into ashes, but soon it was regenerated again.

‘It is so mind-numbingly annoying…’

The ice phoenix joined the fray again and fired a blast of cold ice at the monster’s wound to stop the healing process… I had already tried to do that, but if fire couldn’t do much, ice couldn’t do it either. Before long, the frozen wounds began to convulse as the new flesh emerged and broke it apart from the ice.

Chapter 183 - Blood (Thank you for your support, Ian Finerfrock!)

I confirmed that the combined bow worked… but despite the materials and the fact that the new longbow was of the Epic Rank, it only added two extra slots to the new combined bow… it was the limit of cheating combination.

‘If the highest rarity bow gives four slots, the others will give one slot less, it seems…’

Titan Triple Glacic Bow (Legendary)

Enchantment Slots: Mana Drain (Adept) (03)–Restores your mana when hitting a target. You can recover mana equal to twenty percent of the damage caused. Critical strikes increase mana gain to 40%.

Arrow Creation (Adept) (03) - You can summon arrows made of wood for five points of mana, iron for ten points of mana, or silver for twenty points of mana. The arrows can last for 45 minutes.

Magic Force (Expert) - Increases the wearer’s magic by forty points per level.

Magic Force (Expert) -  Increases the wearer’s magic by forty points per level.

Magic Force (Expert) -  Increases the wearer’s magic by forty points per level.

Bonus Effects: Homing Shot - Causes arrows to adjust their trajectory to track a target, with reduced accuracy over long distances.

Pierce - Ignores forty points of the endurance of the target when hitting them.

Spectral Bond - Mark an enemy with a spirit tether, allowing allies to deal increased damage to that target while the mark lasts. It lasts for five seconds, making the target suffer ten percent more damage per effect stacked.

Troll’s Strength: Decreases by half the costs of skills when using this weapon.

Attack: 120

 Durability: 120/200

Aside from increasing fifty points in durability, the bow gained thirty points in attack and also gained Troll’s Strength… it was simply amazing the final effect. I could use bow skills now at half of their original cost. I could do that deadly combination three times in a row, at least now… 

“Hehehe. Nice. All that hard work paid off.”

I stopped using the camouflage amulet, and then the boss finally saw me. The creature soon swung its sword to kill me in a blast of frost, but I fired an explosive arrow and completely blocked it.

‘The area of the explosion increased to a ten meters radius… good, very good. My bow is essentially a rocket launcher that doesn’t need to be reloaded as long as it hits a target now.’

The blast of the attack pushed the enemy away as the ice began to melt around the area. The creature soon realized that it was in a bind. I was in a bind as well. This wasn’t my real strength, it was a combination of my knowledge, skills and my own strength. So, I couldn’t get carried away.

I also had to run away from the abyssal worm, so I soon resumed my focus… It was time to dispose of the monster in front of me and get the heck away from the boss’ chamber.

The Frozen Skeleton soon grabbed its shield and then assumed a cautious stance, but I charged toward the creature and then unleashed an explosive arrow. The monster raised its shield to block the attack, and it pulled off… its shield wasn’t merely made of ice, apparently.

Still, I used Shadow Step to the side and then attacked the monster from the side. The creature raised its sword to chop down the arrow, but the explosion sent the creature spiraling in the air toward the closest wall. 

The wall cracked, and the monster began to fall after sinking it deep, but more and more explosive arrows hit the creature. Despite my high attack power, the monster was able to last for quite a while.

I was winning with ease, but soon I panicked when the attacks coming from the previous floor were starting to make the ceiling crack. I had to hurry up… the common limitations of a labyrinth was something that this kind of worm could easily ignore, given enough time.

“Just die already!”

I used my extra mana to use Fireball. A large explosion made the entire chamber warm up… since my bow increased my magic, that spell also got insanely powerful. I used Power Shot, Shadow Mark, Precision Mark and Deadeye Focus… after two shots like that, the monster eventually cracked.

Before the creature could fall on the ground, I charged toward it and then got its armor and gear before running away with all my might to the next floor. 

You received 25.000 experience points.

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Shadow Crusader, (Barbarian, Dark Paladin and Warblade), Dreadful Enchanter, and Sorcerer (Blood Mage).

It had to be a bad joke in this kind of situation… First I get three bad choices in a row, then nothing bad, then three bad choices again. I wanted to laugh because if I didn’t, I would probably cry. Moreover, thanks to the worm, I had to make my decision in the split second.

You obtained the Blood Mage class.

You improved the Health Regeneration parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Blood Rain.

You unlocked the skill: Blood Siphon.

You unlocked the skill: Crimson Burst.

Blood Rain: Gain 1 point of experience for each successful blood spell cast. Spells that use your own health or the health of enemies provide additional experience based on the amount of health sacrificed.

Blood Siphon: Drain the life force of a target, dealing damage over time and healing yourself for a portion of the damage dealt. The amount of life drained increases with your magic, power and spirit. If the target’s health falls below 20% during the drain, the healing effect is doubled. When your health is full, the blood restores your stamina with an extra of 100%. Cost: 50 mana per second.

Crimson Burst: Sacrifice a portion of your own health to create a powerful explosion of blood magic around you, dealing area damage to nearby enemies. The damage dealt is based on the amount of health sacrificed and your magic, and enemies hit by the burst are afflicted with a bleeding debuff that deals additional damage over time. Cost: 30% of your current health.

A large explosion came from the entrance of the chamber and then the worm came furiously at me… it was moving at least double of the speed before. It could actually reach me with my current movement speed…

‘Damn it!’

I jumped to the staircase and then spun in the air and fired three explosive arrows at its head… An area of five meters around the head turned into a crisp and then disintegrated like ashes. I smiled, but then the head immediately regenerated.

My luck was beyond terrible… I picked the Blood Mage class thinking that it would increase my magic, but it didn’t do that and it increased my vampiric powers. When I landed on the next floor, I could feel my eyes burning and my teeth hurting like hell… I didn’t want to check them, but I could tell what was happening.

‘Damn it…’

When things started to go well for me, something like that had to happen and then make a complete 180… Complaining was useless, so I just kept dashing to the end of the labyrinth. My vision got red like the color of my eyes had become like that too, and then the thirst came stronger than ever. I tried not to look at Glacien because I didn’t know what I would do.

An explosion happened behind me and the worm showed up, destroying the walls and it moved toward me like it was very hungry as well. As if that wasn’t enough, the new enemies showed up to block my path. Flying ice monsters…

Their name was Blizzard Bird, majestic and terrifying looking creatures that embodied the fierce power of winter storms. These large avian beings have a wingspan of 15 feet, with feathers that glow in shades of icy blue, mimicking the swirling snow of a blizzard. Their plumage was thick and layered, resembling frosted feathers and snowflakes, allowing them to endure the harshest of cold climates. 

Their heads were crowned with a crest of spiked, frost-covered feathers that resemble a frozen crown. Piercing, glowing, icy blue eyes stand out against their pale feathers, radiating an intense glow. Their beaks are long and sharp, like jagged shards of ice, capable of raking through even the toughest prey.

I didn’t have time to be mesmerized by their appearance and soon fired explosive arrows at them… but they reacted in time to fire ice spears and stop my attacks. Using two arcane arrows per target would make my mana drain essentially useless, but it was better than letting them be eaten by the monster.

The creatures lost their focus when they saw the massive worm approaching, they even began to flap their wings and move away in the opposite direction… It looked like even those kinds of monsters could understand that dying by the maw of that beast was worse than real death. Unfortunately for them, I still attacked them and then used the mana recovered to use Shadow Step. I also grabbed their bodies when they fell and stored away, not like I thought that I could use them to survive in this labyrinth.

‘Should I attack this thing to make it waste mana or should I use Shadow Step to reach the final boss faster?’

It was a tough call to make… turning around to look at the thing made me feel shivers, but letting the beast gain even more energy was the same as asking to be eaten sooner or later. The downside of this was the fact that the battle wouldn’t end anytime soon… I would have to keep running and exhausting myself.

I looked at my new skills once and then hesitated in considering them… if I had to test their effectiveness against this thing, it had to be now. I pointed my hand and the enemy and then used Blood Siphon… I felt my vision turning red again and then the beast began to shake as blood left its body… I didn’t want to drink the blood of that thing, it was just too repulsive. 

Fortunately, I confirmed that I didn’t have to drink it, it was just absorbed by my body. Still, my body began to heat up thanks to that.

‘Damn it… it looks like when my health is full, the blood restores my stamina, then why is the skill only consuming half of the mana that it was supposed to?’

There was only one exploration for that… it was because of my vampire heritage…

Chapter 182 - Titan Bow (Thank you for your support, Slothy!)

You obtained the Shadow Assassin class.

You improved the Attack Speed parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Way of Shadows.

You unlocked the skill: Fireball.

You unlocked the skill: Wind Shuriken.

Way of Shadows: Gain bonus points of experience for every successful attack from stealth. 

Great Fireball - Launch a small ball of fire toward a target, dealing explosive fire damage upon impact. This attack has a chance to burn enemies, dealing additional damage over time. Cost: 50 Mana.

Wind Shuriken: You can summon and fire wind shurikens at the enemy based on the level of the skill. Each shuriken deals dexterity and magic-based wind damage and has a high chance to stagger or knock back enemies. Cost: 15 Mana per shuriken.

It wasn’t the first time that something like that happened. I noticed it a bunch of times already… This world had a bunch of similarities with the lore from certain types of things on Earth. Still, to think that I would improve the ninja class and then be able to use the Great Fireball was a bit…

“Instead of Shadow Assassin, calling this a magic assassin would make more sense.”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“You think so too? Well, at least this gives me some ideas.”

I began to work on dismantling the boss… this time around, I should work fast since I wanted those materials ready as soon as possible. The creature was quite big, so it took a while to do that, but after three hours, the job was done. All the parts had been carefully separated and I couldn’t sense the area trembling yet.

‘I guess I put some distance from that thing, but I can’t relax yet.’

It was time to head to the fourth section of the labyrinth. The environment changed a bit… Now I could feel my body shivering thanks to the cold. At the same time, Glacien looked pretty refreshed. 

I felt like sighing even more when some ice coffins emerged from the ground and then a pair of ice skeletons emerged from it… surprisingly enough, they were fully armored and even had shields and swords made of ice. Their jaws clacked as they charged toward me and swung down their swords.

Still, in the next moment, they were engulfed by my Great Fireball and as the magic projectile flew to the distance, only two mana cores ended up falling from it after a couple of meters.

‘I guess my fire magic is reaching an entire new height.’

I didn’t have to worry even against enemies of this level, but I wouldn’t be able to recover mana while using that kind of skill, so I had to change my strategy a bit. In any case, I took my bike and then began to drive after putting some mana cores on it. I was considering improving my bow to gain some extra enchantment slots. If it worked with two, it should work with three, but I had to be certain about it before making anything to increase my magic power.

Enchantments that increase magic power are a preferable option to using a Fire Affinity enchantment when the material originates from an ice monster.

My first idea was to add another balanced short bow and then change the position of the first to make them take the form of an X. That would give the balance of power and stability for the whole thing. It would grant four extra enchantment slots as well, but would that be enough? It seemed too simple.

I already had the strength to push the bow to its full potential, so the question was the magic effects of my Arcane Arrows. The new materials weren’t on the same level as of the monster that I had used to create my main bow, so perhaps the compatibility would be poor thanks to it.

I had no idea how to improve the bow itself for now, so I decided to focus on crafting new quivers using the leather of the monster. I need to be able to summon better arrows that will last longer, after all. I didn’t think that I would be able to summon anything like the Elven arrows, but any upgrade aside from the silver arrows would be welcome.

I didn’t have to waste time gathering materials from the ice skeletons, so that helped a fair bit. It made me gain time and focus only on that project, but my mind kept wandering back to how to improve the bow. Thanks to that, the quivers didn’t come at good enough quality.

‘I guess I should focus on this first… I still have some of the cobwebs of the boss spider. Perhaps I can use it instead of my old bowstring. It should be better with some adjustments.’

I began to work on that and after a couple of hours, I attached the new bowstrings and then made the power of the bow increase from 80 to 90. That kind of upgrade was indeed possible, and it opened new doors for me.

I decided to improve the limbs of the bow by attaching bone parts that seemed like bracelets on both sides… I even made them so that I could stock them on both sides like screw nuts, but it didn’t work. When I enchanted them, it didn’t change a thing. I also tried to make an amulet with that format… It took me hours to do that, but it didn’t work either. While the bow was made of bones, it wasn’t alive.

After failing that much, the best option seemed to be to turn the bow into an amulet as well. It would receive some power ups as long as it had a mana core stored in it. Still, that could damage the whole structure and make it fall apart a lot faster.

When I reached the 37th floor, I suddenly had an idea… I didn’t know if it would work since I would have to turn my main bow into a support one. The whole thing would be too big as well, but it would be a good idea to improve late if it worked. 

I recalled that in the past, some people used crossbows with multiple bowstrings. They were designed to increase firepower, versatility, and efficiency in unique ways. They typically have more than one string and include multiple limbs, allowing them to hold and shoot multiple bolts or increase the overall strength of a single shot.

The mechanism works by drawing and releasing these strings either simultaneously or in rapid succession. By utilizing multiple bowstrings, the crossbow can generate more force, allowing for a more powerful shot. Some designs may even feature independent draw systems, where each string is drawn and released separately, offering additional flexibility to the user in choosing which shot to take. This setup can enhance the velocity, range, or power of the crossbow’s bolts, or even allow multiple bolts to be shot at once, depending on the configuration.

I wanted to use something similar on my bow… it was a bit different since bows were usually used to be held vertically, but the idea itself wasn’t so bad. Using the largest bone of the four armed trolls, I created a very large long bow. I took my time, though, to make the surface completely even and without instability. 

I even ignored the boss’ chamber and then sat down to continue the process… some skeletons came to get in my way, but I got rid of them pretty quickly. Aside from the limbs, the bow also needed to completely be combined with the other two bows, so I created some holes in the middle of the body… the arrows would pass through the largest hole too, but the others would work to connect my main bow with the new one.

For that to work as intended, I also had to add some cylindrical holes in the main bow and on the short one as well. I also had to make some screws with bones that would connect all of them. It looked like a mess since I didn’t make some blueprints for it, but as I began to mount the whole thing, it began to look promising. 

Still, just when I began to finish the whole process, Glacien began to growl in annoyance and I felt the ground shaking as well.

‘Damn… I lost the notion of time. That thing is already close by?’

The boss chamber will close when I began to fight the boss, but with a monster like that coming, it was hard to say if the blockade would hold up, even if it lasts for that long, I would guess that the monster would store a lot of energy to suddenly grow and come at me a lot faster once the blockades disappear.

I got inside the boss’ chamber in a hurry and then used my camouflage amulet. Soon enough, the boss emerged from a large coffin made of ice… it was a three meters tall ice skeleton also wearing full plate armor made of something like sapphire. The creature had a big ass sword on its hand and a tower ice shield on its back…

I completely ignored it and kept focusing on mounting my bow. The boss suddenly looked around confused… the entrance and exit of the chamber closed it. It could feel my presence too, but it couldn’t see me. For a while, it didn’t do anything, but soon began to fire blasts of cold energy in all directions.

The attacks made the chamber quake and covered some parts in dozens of meters of ice, but I ignored it since it didn’t hit me… eventually, some large impacts began to come from outside as well… the abyssal worm had finally caught up with me.

The boss approached the entrance of the chamber wondering if I was there. Much to my surprise, I saw the creature stepping away from it, as if it could sense the danger that the abyssal worm offered. I had no idea how that was possible… I didn’t think that monsters spawned in labyrinths were brain dead, but I didn’t expect that they would act like that… fearful.

In any case, the arrival of the monster gave me a few seconds… the seconds that I needed to finish the project. The hardest part was to make the three bowstrings usable, it wasn’t supposed to work given that the bodies of the bows were supposed to get in the way, but thanks to the shooting slots that I added on each bow, and the fact that they combined thanks to the screws almost perfectly, the three bowstrings were practically over each other…

Chapter 181 - Three Paths

The sound of electricity echoed in the area as six frost trolls were shocked to death after getting their throats pierced by my arrows. I had aimed for their heads every single time to make them suffer less, but they were quick to protect their heads, but not so quick to protect their necks.

A lot of steam left their bodies while being shocked for three seconds… but then they eventually fell dead on the ice. Glacien stepped up and then chopped off their limbs with my short sword in her mouth. Her strength reached a point where she could do that. Still, while I tried to dismantle those parts as much as possible and as fast as possible, I was unable to clear that much space in my magic bags.

“It isn’t like I am wasting time doing that, but…”

It was rough. I wanted to stick around to my plan but I couldn’t help but think of some other possibilities to improve it. That was a good and a bad habit. Trying too much to improve a single plan or project would make me slow down on others that could show more benefits.

In any case, it couldn’t be helped, given the circumstances. Once Glacien finished her task, we moved on and my mind wandered to the war outside. I wondered if it was still going… the humans had invested a lot in this war, so they couldn’t return home empty-handed, even more so after I claimed the life of one of their commanders.

‘I hope those two are fine… they aren’t kids anymore, so I really shouldn’t worry about them. Considering what they are doing for the empire, they might deserve some nasty stuff happening to them. Still…’

I shook those thoughts out of my mind. I didn’t want to waste time dealing with that kind of thought. From my perspective, what they were doing for the empire was morally reprehensible, but if they didn’t do that, then their family would suffer as they would lose their standing in the empire. In the best-case scenario, they would lose a lot of influence, and in the worst, even the rest of the family would turn their backs on them.

That was why I didn’t want to serve the empire. From the very beginning, I knew that becoming a tool for others wasn’t an option. Killing others in the name of an emperor that I never saw or for an empire that seems as a mere pawn was nonsensical.

While I was thinking about that, we reached the next boss’ room. We turned around to confirm that the aura from the abyssal worm was still far and I couldn’t sense the trembling, either.

“I have been here for two days already… my condition will slowly get worse from the third day onward… I guess I’ll rest for a minute or two using my bike while I ride it. That should help a bit.”

Sleeping for several hours straight is better than sleeping in short bursts because it allows the body to complete full sleep cycles, which are crucial for physical restoration, mental health, and cognitive function. 

Short bursts of sleep often do not let one reach the deeper, restorative stages of sleep, resulting in incomplete recovery and diminished cognitive performance. Additionally, uninterrupted sleep aligns with one’s circadian rhythm, the body’s natural clock.

Fragmented sleep disrupts these processes, leading to issues like increased stress, weakened immunity, and impaired metabolism due to hormonal imbalances. Without sufficient deep sleep, my body misses out on crucial cell repair and muscle regeneration, while inadequate sleep hampers my ability to learn, focus, and manage emotions. I already experienced similar things here.

Then again, I didn’t have a normal human body anymore. Even the human bodies of this world had the potential to become a lot stronger than the ones compared to Earth, as long as people put in enough effort, that is.

“Even though we have the meditation amulets, we still need to rest eventually… but I can tell that we are getting tired a lot later than before. At least I am, right?”

Glacien let out a yawn. She had already slept a few times in the labyrinth. That was one of the reasons why I was using shocking arrows instead of the explosive ones.

Regardless, it was time to face the next boss… this one should be tougher than the ordinary third boss of a labyrinth, given that the labyrinth spawned groups of at least two instead of one at a time.

I tried to think of the explanations for that, but I didn’t have enough intel to come up with a decent theory, so I put it aside in order to focus on the issue at hand.

We reached the boss chamber. Weirdly enough, the place was filled with some small hills covered in ice. In the middle of the chamber, there was the tallest hill, and the boss was there as well. The creature was standing right above it and let out a roar when it found us. 

The chamber trembled thanks to the powerful roar, but I didn’t let that intimidate me. What intimidated me was the appearance of the boss.

The four-armed troll ahead had grotesque form impossible to ignore. Its thick, leathery skin, mottled in shades of light blue and white, reminded me of an ancient stone covered in ice. Every movement of its massive body revealed rippling muscles beneath the hide, each of its four powerful arms looking capable of crushing boulders or tearing through armor. Those hands, gnarled and tipped with claws, flexed menacingly, as if eager to grab, rip, or destroy anything in their path.

Its face was quite scary, broad and savage, with tusk-like teeth jutting out from a heavy jaw and a flattened nose that gave it an almost animalistic appearance. Its small, glowing eyes burned like embers, staring at me with cruel intelligence. Greasy, tangled hair hung around its shoulders.

 The monster jumped in the air and then began to fall, ready to smash me with its four arms. I used Mystic Barrage and fired a quick sequence of arrows that exploded and delayed the fall of the monster a bit, but soon I kicked the ground and moved away from the spot.

In the next moment, the beast hammered down its four arms and then hit the ground with them. A large crater appeared thanks to the impact, and cracks began to move in all directions like spider webs on the ground.

“I guess draconic labyrinths have different difficulty levels as well.”

The creature turned around to face me and then raised a chunk of ice from the ground when I fired an explosive arrow toward it. The other arrows wounded the legs of the monster a bit, so it didn’t want to suffer that much again.

The ice chunk shook thanks to the explosive arrow, but it endured the attack. Still, the explosion heated up the area in a six meters radius, so even the monster got annoyed at the heat. Increasing my magic and fire affinity helped me that much.

The monster charged while using the chunk of ice as a shield and soon threw it at me. A single shadow step in the last moment let me escape the attack and the beast hit nothing. When it got confused, I fired an explosive arrow at its head and then the explosion made the monster roar in anger again.

Despite the direct impact, the monster still could fight… its thick fur and muscular build certainly was something else. Against this kind of opponent, blunt damage was a better option, but as an archer, I was lacking in that aspect.

The enemy surprised me when I took a moment to think… it punched the ground and then a bunch of small ice chunks were raised in the air. The beast fired them at me by punching them with all its might.

A collection of high pitching sounds echoed in the area, but they hit nothing since I used Shadow Step again on the other side. I probably could take a hit or two of those, but I couldn’t take chances while Glacien was on my shoulders. While one might consider that she was slowing me down, I would rather think that she made my perfectionist mentality reach another level. The situation also forced me to focus more since my life wasn’t the only one on the line here.

The beast kept using the same attack method to reach me, but I avoided them all. Eventually, I got tired of that and then used my shock arrows on the monster. A single one didn’t make much effect. But a barrage of them that shocked the enemy for several seconds eventually paralyzed the beast on the spot. 

Eventually, I was forced to stop when my attacks no longer were restoring my mana… it looked like I drained most of the boss mana at this point. So, it was time to end this… I used Shadow Mark, Precision Mark, Deadeye Focus and Power Shot before unleashing a decay arrow.

The creature had enough time to raise its four arms and then create a large meat shield to block the arrow, but my attack, just as it did with the commander, pierced the four arms leaving a wide circle in them before reaching the creature’s head. That combination was truly fearsome. It never failed until now… I guess I was jinxing myself by thinking of this.

You received 5500 experience points.

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Barbarian (Pugilist), Ninja (Shadow Assassin), and Ranger (Sentinel).

I wondered if the system was messing with me… in the previous choice, I could only pick classes that would awaken further my vampiric powers, but now none of the types came. Perhaps that made my karma become positive again since I had all those classes and improving them again would make them grant me an improved version.

‘All the options aren’t half bad… but I don’t think that any of them will increase my magic power. If I remember right, the Barbarian class increases my strength, the Ranger class increases my stamina pool, and the Ninja class grants me attack speed, their evolutions should do the same…’

It was a really hard choice to make, so I couldn’t help but hesitate.

Chapter 180 - Second Thoughts (Thank you for your support, Sean Graham!)

“Are we really going to do this?”

“If you are worried about your father, then you shouldn’t worry too much. It will be much worse for the family’s name if we return as losers, even though we had the support of the Aquarians after all those negotiations.”

Ulric and Remi returned to their tents while carrying those bottles. It was said that the potion was supposed to at least double all of their parameters, including their health, mana, and stamina regeneration. So, they would be at least two times more effective against the enemies.

Ulric wasn’t convinced… he was certain that the word of the usage of that potion wouldn’t leave the area, no one wanted to be known for using that kind of drug, but he had the feeling that sooner than later, everyone will learn the truth and the shame will be worse.

That wasn’t all. The drug was supposed to have some serious effects aside from making them stronger. It would make them lose their reason against the people that they hated the most after using them. It was said that it completely unlocks any inhibitions that a person might have thanks to their morals.

Ulric truly feared the kind of person he would become under the effects of the drug. Him and Remi had managed to cover for each other while fighting in this war, but it was hard to believe that they would continue to do that… even though they probably won’t need to support each other if they use the drug.

“If we don’t use it, the others will accomplish a lot more than us. We are more skilled than even those ten years older, but taking down the clan leaders is a lot harder than expected. Once we begin to do that, the flow of the battle will fall in our laps.”

“That is very unlikely. Their followers will only get more enraged and fight even more without caring for their lives. Besides, it is a waste of time to think that we should focus on gaining merits in this war. We already learned a lot and got plenty stronger. We just need to use this experience to improve our progress from here on out.”

“Do you think that battles like this happen left and right? We can’t waste this chance. Not to mention, the alliance with the Aquarians that was restored will soon break apart if we don’t achieve our goals and then they will return to destroy our ports and fleet.”

Ulric couldn’t say anything in response… his brother had a point. Part of the reason for the alliance was to free the Great Sea from the pirates that mainly came from this land. Somehow, they were convinced that the pirates were the cause of the disappearance of the Aquarians… even though such a statement came from the former prisoners, it was rather odd. Even more so when the empire granted the heads of the humans involved when they refused so much in the past.

Ulric believed that someone told some allies and probably brainwashed the prisoners somehow, but he would never say that outloud since it would portray the empire in a really bad image.

“The commanders should have expected that something like this could happen and brought a large cargo of those potions in case of emergency. I want to finish this in a single day. I don’t want to get addicted to this. Besides, defeating Regulus after using this more than once won’t satisfy me.”

Ulric didn’t feel that relieved, he just stared at his brother thinking that he at least hadn’t sunk so far to the point that he would think of using such a drug to defeat Regulus… things wouldn’t end just in a defeat either, it would end much worse.

After letting out a sigh, he couldn’t help but start to understand his father’s behavior a bit more. After experiencing shit like this time and time again, it was normal for a person to feel like brooding all the time. At least he was present enough as much as possible in the lives of his children. Considering that he rarely said no to them, it felt like he was trying to make up for something for them.

“I am going to take some time off after all this… this much fighting. While so many of our allies are being killed, it isn’t worth anything.”

“You should know why all of this started… Thanks to his interference, thousands of our allies died.”

“Regulus wouldn’t have targeted a single person without a reason… if he truly wanted to make an enemy out of us, he would have joined the clans.”

“You keep making excuses for him and that is starting to piss me off.”

“I am just stating facts. Someone here has to keep their head cool. Even the commander is acting weird with all those murmurs of his…”

After that, both of them went silent for a while and rested until they were called. Another army of enemies was marching toward the port town, despite having cannons on their side; the knights couldn’t use them effectively enough to completely destroy the clans. Some warriors could even punch and block the cannonballs entirely. If only they had that oil… things would have been different, but they wouldn’t use those when the Aquarians were nearby.

Before long, the second unit reunited in front of the port town… they only had thirty members left, but at least they had all the other units in the area ready to deploy as well. It looked like some of them also received the potions.

Ulric shook his head when he saw his brother drinking the whole potion at once and then throwing the bottle on the ground. He was really serious about this… he wouldn’t allow himself to return home a coward or a failure.

In the end, Ulric did the same and the others soon followed them… before long, they felt something in their stomach burning, and then heat began to spread around to the rest of their bodies… anger began to boil inside them, alongside a sense of superiority that started to swell within,  and an insatiable hunger stirred deep inside…

Before long, everyone unsheathed their weapons and then began to march toward the army that was approaching them. They were outnumbered three to one, so marching without a care in the world or without the use of basic tactics seemed like a very stupid idea.

Before long, they began to run toward their enemies instead. The orcs, goblins and ogres soon realized that something was off… the humans had bloodshot eyes and were shouting like enraged beasts. Still, they weren’t the type to run away from a direct confrontation either. So soon they prepared themselves to receive the humans.

Soon both sides clashed and then the sound of metal colliding and flesh being cut apart began to echo like rain. Remi wasn’t even thinking. He just had this amazing sensation passing through his entire body making him feel like he was invincible.

When the first ogre showed up in front of him, he trusted his spear forward with all his might. The ogre raised his arms to block the attack with a cross guard, but both forearms were pierced by the spear.

Remi pushed the enemy to the side and found it easy to do so, despite the fact that the enemy was several times larger than him. While the ogre was stumbling to the side. Remi kicked him in the face and then pulled his spear before stabbing him in the right eye, making the weapon reach the other side of the skull.

The enemy fell on the ground, but then Remi jumped and then smashed the head of the fallen enemy with his knee… he would have attacked the rest of the body if he hadn’t noticed another ogre approaching him. This one had metallic gloves protecting his fists, but soon they began to attack each other… sparks fell in all directions, but Remi didn’t fall back or was pushed away. He kept fighting with a grin on his face. 

Eventually, he stepped forward and then swung down his spear after avoiding a punch. In the next moment, the left arm of the ogre fell on the ground and blood began to gush from the wound. While the ogre was in pain, Remi hit the head of the target with the butt of his spear… he could have finished him off a long time ago with the tip of the weapon, but he wasn’t thinking about the remaining enemies, he was only enjoying the prey in front of him.

Ulric wasn’t in a much different position, but his cautious nature still could be seen even in his fighting style… for one, he avoided the ogres and for other, he chopped off the arms of the enemies first before going for the kill.

His vision was completely blurred and he could only see his allies as shadows facing his real targets… he looked around with his eyes wide open and with the gaze of a predator looking for his next prey.

When he found his next target, he didn’t hesitate in swinging down his sword and then cleaving the arm of the target from the fists down to the elbow. The absolute pain made the orc shout in agony, but soon Ulric beheaded him, ending his suffering.

From the walls of the port town, the commander of that group nodded in satisfaction… everyone had used the potions and that made them become absolute forces of nature. Hundreds of enemies had been disposed of already, and they didn’t lose anyone after several minutes. For the next day, they wouldn’t stop and would keep hunting for enemies no matter what. Now his job was to only control all that rage and ferocity while hoping that the other armies were doing the same.

After ten minutes, the battle was over and then the commander saw the knights using their weapons to destroy the bodies of the enemies around. Still, soon they felt his approach and then felt his will as well somehow and before long, they sensed his orders… like mad dogs that acted like zombies, they began to march to the enemy’s camp. They already knew where their new targets would be found and they couldn’t wait for the next hunt.

Chapter 179 - Mist (Thank you for your support, Grish99!)

We reached the boss chamber and then saw a large ice slime breaking from a massive block of ice… The creature immediately began to roll toward us while firing a barrage of ice bullets. Impressively enough, they all came from the same angle and toward my head, but that only helped me since I fired an explosive arrow that exploded and the blast pushed away half of the bullets.

After the smoke and steam spread around, the monster kept coming at me, but it hit nothing since I had used Shadow Step to move to the side and then resumed my attack.

Explosive arrows were fired toward the side of the beast, but the creature summoned several ice walls to block them… all of them were destroyed after the first explosion and soon the creature began to lose pieces of its body with the next explosions on it.

‘The arrows aren’t piercing the body… it is completely made of ice, apparently…’

The wounds I created were essentially holes in its body, and they were closed in as the monster decreased in size, but the parts that were blown away quickly began to move back to it.

‘That kind of mechanic, huh? Well, it is flawed.’

The pieces tried to return to the body, but the continuous explosions made the heat in the area increase and soon those pieces began to evaporate as they got closer. The monster tried to use Ice Spears against my arrows, but I could fire my projectiles faster, so they didn’t help all that much. My physical strength also made the arrows have more power than them.

Before long, the monster had completely evaporated… at the last moment, it tried to explode and wound me with ice shards, but Glacien used her Ice Fortress and protected me. I could have blocked the attacks with Fire Wall, but she was probably trying to show that she had my back and she probably wanted more experience, too.

“Smart. A bit too cunning, perhaps.”

You received 1100 experience points.

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Acolyte (Dark Acolyte), Paladin (Cursed Paladin), and Mage (Venom Mage).

I wanted to facepalm so badly… It finally happened. The chance was a bit more than three percent, but it should be really close to fifty percent, considering my luck. Now, I literally had to pick my poison. 

‘Well, it can’t be helped… if I have to make a choice, I should make one that agrees with my current skills and classes. Even if my vampiric hunger keeps growing, then I just have to learn to control it.’

You obtained the Venom Mage class.

You improved the Magic parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Toxic Knowledge.

You unlocked the skill: Venom Bolt.

You unlocked the skill: Miasma Cloud.

Toxic Knowledge: Gain 1 point of experience per second for every enemy afflicted by your poison magic when the poison successfully deals with damage.

Venom Bolt: Fire a bolt of magical venom at an enemy, dealing poison damage over 10 seconds. Each tick of poison reduces the target’s defense by 2%. The damage is based on your magic and the level of the skill. Cost: 40 Mana.

Miasma Cloud: Summon a cloud of toxic gas in a targeted area, poisoning all enemies within it. The miasma lingers for 10 seconds, dealing poison damage and reducing their movement speed by 30%. Cost: 100 mana.

The skills were close to useless considering my current goal, but at least it indeed increased my magic. However, that wasn’t the real problem… The problem was what I felt after it. The hunger returned at full power, which made my body flinch when I looked at Glacien. She looked at me like she had suddenly become an enemy and even jumped away from my shoulder.

In the next moment, the hunger weakened, but then something else came. A heavy weight settled over me, sapping my will to move, to think, to act on anything at all. At the same time, I felt my hands turning lighter, my whole body did… in the next moment, I saw my body turning into mist for a moment, before I returned to normal.

“Damn it…”

It was really happening. At this point in time, awakening my vampiric side was pretty much unavoidable. My only option was to stop exploring labyrinths, but that would be insane. I checked my body again and confirmed that I was fine. When I looked at Glacien, she looked more confused than anything.

“Sorry, girl. Just fighting my inner demons…”

I tried to recall the feeling that made me turn into mist for a moment, and then soon felt my body getting quite sluggish. Still, I realized that I was floating in the air instead of stepping on it. My mana began to decrease by ten points per second. Then, I returned to normal.

‘I can avoid attacks like this, but that annoying feeling is quite troublesome… I feel more hungry, but not exactly for blood.’

I slapped my cheeks to change my mood… right now, the abyssal worm was a lot more dangerous than my vampiric powers, so soon I began to dash to the next section and Glacien jumped on my shoulders. She got some experience, but it was unlikely that she would be useful in the next section.

Much to my disappointment, the corridor indeed got larger when I reached the next section and with that, new enemies appeared as well… Frost Trolls. A pair of them freed themselves in an ice column that was close to the wall. Their arrival also made some ice stalactites fall from the ceiling.

Frost Trolls were hulking, monstrous creatures, exuding an aura of strength and cold menace. Standing at 15 feet tall, their bodies were heavily built with thick layers of muscle encased in icy blue skin, as if they were carved from ice itself. Their skin glistens with frost, and jagged icicles protrude from their backs, shoulders, and limbs, giving them a fearsome and jagged silhouette.

Their faces were brutish and fearsome, with sunken, glowing pale blue eyes that pierce through the mist surrounding them. They have broad, flat noses and wide mouths filled with jagged, frost-covered teeth. A thick mane of white or gray fur runs down their necks and backs, providing insulation against the cold and further enhancing their imposing appearance. Their large hands end in claw-like fingers, coated in ice, capable of rendering through stone and flesh alike.

“You can’t fight them, not even in your dreams yet, Glacien.”

It wasn’t the first time I had seen trolls, but it was the first time I had seen that variation. The other time, I only saw one at a time as well. 

In any case, since I wanted their materials, I used the shocking arrows on them. That made me waste some extra seconds, but I couldn’t get everything I wanted all the time. 

Those guys were quite a bit, so I couldn’t get all the parts. I wouldn’t have the chance to dismantle whole bodies either, so I just got their arms.

‘Hopefully, the bodies won’t make that annoying worm grow faster.’

I started to run as fast as possible, wondering if I should start using the parts of the monsters… the boss' parts seemed like the best options. All the decent gear that I had came from them.

I guessed that I could even just make some half-assed spears. The explosive types would do the job… if anything, I can just turn them into freezing spears and make them slow down the massive worm. Perhaps the shocking ones would actually do that job better… but it was also hard to say if the beast wouldn’t just eat them instead of letting them activate, then they touched the weapons.

‘... I should make an amulet for the arcane arrow. That way, I will have more mana to summon more arrows and fire them faster than well. Perhaps increasing my attacking speed isn’t a terrible idea. Still, I should stick to the plan that has the highest chances of working.

… …

While Regulus was lost in thought, dealing with the many issues before him, the human army’s hold on the Skarnash Tribelands had deteriorated drastically. The fierce and unrelenting assault from the clans, coupled with the treacherous terrain that favored their enemies, had forced the humans to retreat further and further. Now, their presence in the region had been reduced to a handful of port towns clinging to the edges of the coastline.

Even this fragile hold was maintained only through the assistance of the Aquarians. With their mastery over magic, the Aquarians had transformed the ports into formidable bastions. Without their help, the port towns would have long fallen to the relentless assaults of the Skarnash tribes.

Ulric and Remi were in the tent of their commander alongside some other knights that survived until now. More than sixty percent of their army had been destroyed until now, and everyone was looking for someone to vent their frustration. It was simply impossible to accept that Regulus could have changed the flow of the battle by himself, but the moment he attacked, things changed for the worse on their side. As such, everyone was already blaming him… everyone except the remaining commanders.

“Where are they… they should have arrived by now… unless they found him…”

The commander muttered those words, and that only made the young knights get more confused. They didn’t know that the empire had leaked information about their attack to the underworld in order to make some other factions invade the Skarnash Tribelands from other points.

“We can no longer lose any more terrain… the higher ups will be sending reinforcements soon, so will endure this no matter what. All of you will be granted the right to use this.”

The commander took a box under the table that had the map of the Skarnash Tribelands and then showed a couple of purple bottles. With a single glance, everyone was able to tell that those were some potent drugs. Highly addictive and that can break the body of someone from the inside out.

“I am not going to force you, but we can’t return home without results.”

Everyone looked at each other for a moment. This kind of drug was supposed to be forbidden thanks to the materials involved in their creation. Still, they all got a bottle each since they wouldn’t be able to leave with shame if they returned home like that.

Chapter 178 - One Plan (Thank you for your support, DisgruntledTittle!)

I decimated the ice slimes along the way, and then set up magic traps with the extra mana that I had. That should slow down the progression of the giant worm. If my guess was right, it was using mana to regenerate that fast instead of having such an insane amount of health regeneration.

‘All of a sudden, the idea of using everything in my reach instead of just focusing on just using my strength and dexterity to reach my goals is a lot less bothersome… I am really influenced by the environment.’

Glacien looked a bit less bothered as we moved away from the beast. I felt bad for her since thanks to me taming her, she ended up in this kind of situation. She could still be in that dark forest instead of being here with me, almost becoming a snack from a giant worm who left the weirdest hole in the world.

I decided to use my legs to move instead of anything else. I might need the mana cores at the last moment and I would regret using them just to move a bit faster on my bike. Perhaps it was about time to expand my vehicle and turn it into a tank that can endure even the attacks of that grotesque monster. I was probably skipping some steps, but I definitely needed something like that in the future.

‘Well, making a tank should be a lot more feasible than making a rail gun in this world.’

I decided to put those plans aside and then focus on the ones ahead… I wasn’t sure yet if the monsters in the labyrinth still could spawn while that freak was inside. If that is possible, the monster will get a lot of manas and expand once every day, when it crushes the bosses to death.

Even if it had to cover the whole boss chamber, the creature won’t give them the chance to escape and use them as fuel. With that in mind, I began to wonder what would happen if they were to summon something like that in any country… unless the beast was stopped soon, it would eventually reach a certain size and become essentially impossible to kill.

‘I guess that I jinxed myself when I considered looking for the vampires in order to unlock an epic quest line… I learned my lesson.’

Eventually, we reached the fourth floor of the second section and then, after increasing her strength a bunch of times, Glacien was able to hold one of my short swords in her mouth. She used that to slice one of the ice slimes after every battle. It looked like she wanted to give me a hand, even though I was perfectly fine disposing of monsters of that level, even if they came in droves.

If my guess was right, the monster’s expansion would increase a lot once it reaches the final parts of each section since it would absorb more mana from the monsters. So, I had to put quite the distance between us… I wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon.

‘Another grinding session where I don’t have a choice but to do my best to survive against all the odds, huh? Great…’

Name: Regulus Dawnshield

Race: Dhampir

Health: 310/310 (0/3200)

Regen: 1.1 per hour (0/1000) (1.1)

Mana: 330/330 (0/3100) (1.1)

Regen: 12.0 per minute (0/7600) (1.6)

Stamina: 380/380 (0/3500) (1.1)

Regen: 9.8 per minute (0/7600) (1.3)

Strength: 100 + 180 (0/5100) (2.0)

Magic: 25 (0/2600)

Dexterity: 253 (0/5600) (4.6x)

Spirit: 21 (0/2200)

Endurance: 30 (0/3100) (1.1)

Attack Speed: + 84% (0/7700) (1.1)

Movement Speed: 13.1 (0/6100) (1.3)

Stamina Conservation: 1.1 (0/10.000) (1.1)

Fire Affinity: 20 (0/2100)

Traits: Minor Weakness to Sunlight, Minor Sensitivity to Holy Magic, Minor Aversion to Silver

Classes: Ranger, Pathfinder, Dark Scrollmaker, Mystic Tattoist, Demon Hunter, Dreadful Enchanter, Ninja, Merchant, Poison Crafter, Smith, Weaponsmith, Sharpshooter, Pyromancer, Dark Paladin, Arcane Archer, Shadow Archer, Barbarian, Lord of War, Bowman, Warblade, Beastmaster, Pirate, 

Aptitudes: Wilderness Survival, Never Lost, Magical Scroll Creator, Arcane Artist, Hunter’s Resolve, Malevolent Artifice, Master of Trade, Venomous Engineer, Master of Forging, Master of Blades, Shadow Mastery, Master of Precision, Heat Master, Silent Observation, Dark Retribution, Mystic Marksman, Shadow Archery, Rage Unleashed, Battlefield Presence, Ranged Skill, Relentless Assault, Animal Empathy, Captain of the High Seas

Experience: 4599

I decided to check my parameters to make my choices with more caution… every single parameter increased now could decide my fate. Considering the insane ability to regenerate the monster that was only going to increase as it goes deeper into the dungeon, attack speed seemed the best option, but even with that amount I couldn’t do much before, it will become even more useless at the end of the labyrinth.

‘I don’t have to worry about mana thanks to the effects of the bow… mana drain will work until the bow breaks, and I can repair it two more times, restoring half of its durability. Still, even with that much, I can’t imagine myself destroying the monster. I need more than this.’

I needed extra damage… Perhaps burning or poison damage would do the trick. Now and then, I pierce my hands with a bolt and then use a Poison Tipped Bolt to create decay bolts. Still, they will be better used against the core of the beast, which was beyond my reach. Perhaps if the monster could digest a lot of my blood… but that would be a massive gambit since I would get weaker afterwards.

It was hard to imagine that anything that isn’t a vampire would be good against the decay bolts… if they were useful even against them, then I would be able to tell that my mother in this world shouldn’t be a low level vampire. Considering the other wives that Rayner had, I would imagine that he would choose a high class gothic vampire.

‘Well, my image of him is rather skewed.’

After thinking for a while… I couldn’t find any easy solution to that kind of problem. The best solution seemed to be to keep increasing my attack power, both physical and magical, and hope that I would be able to spam arrows that would burn everything within the reach of a corridor. At least a couple of meters… It was feasible, but quite hard to achieve.

Magic Trap Set Lv 09: Lay a hidden magic trap on the ground that snares or damages the first enemy that steps on it. The trap’s effectiveness increases with your dexterity.
Cost: 50 mana.

It was almost reaching level ten… should I keep using it for a while in order to get a new skill or should I focus already on my new strategy? I didn’t know the answer yet, but I had to make it as soon as possible.

‘I can’t leave my survival to fate, so I will focus on the new plan.’

Without hesitation, I used the experience points I had to increase my magic and my fire affinity. At the same time, when the monsters arrived, I exploded them with explosive arrows, after enchanting the summoned ones with Arcane Arrow. The skill was already at level twelve, so it wouldn’t grant me a new skill, but at least it would make the explosive arrows stronger. Alongside my magic and fire affinity, perhaps I could reach my goal of exploding the monster like that.

It was going to be a very long process, but I didn’t care… I would exterminate an abyssal monster and gain a shit ton of experience. That was what it matters.

“Things will get pretty hot, Glacien. So, hang in there.”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

For a kitten, she sure was understanding. Or at least I wanted to believe that she understood my reasoning. My Arcane Arrows had the power to burn everything in a five meters radius as they were right now. The corridors around were four times larger than that and as we go deeper into the dungeon, they will become even larger.

I still had my scorching bow, but the power barely increased when compared to my new one… it also couldn’t help me recover mana, so it was another reason not to use it.

I didn’t have any more materials for that fire labyrinth, so I couldn’t use the right materials for it, but I was still planning to use the materials of the bosses to make items to increase my fire affinity. Perhaps Ice's affinity with my frozen arrows could freeze the monster, but it would take another attack to deal enough damage to destroy a single area… I didn’t have time for that.

I just had this amazing idea… frost bombs. Filling my magic bags with enough water and then throwing them inside the monster and hitting the magic bags with a frost arrow. It would make the beast get stuck with an ice block inside it. Still, it probably wouldn’t work since the monster had a body big enough to crush it… it didn’t even have a nose necessary to breathe, so it couldn’t suffocate either.

‘Finally, I don’t have time to fill a magic bag with water here. Let’s focus on this plan like there is no other option. If it works and I survive, I will have attained a power level that will make conquering labyrinths a lot easier and even disposing of multiple enemies at the same time.’

It was also the best option for my future… Still, knowing my luck, after this labyrinth, I should vanish from the area, otherwise the enemies will keep coming with no end in sight.

Before long, I came to a stop when I found the entrance to the boss chamber… It was time to face another challenge and get a power up. I wasn’t even thinking of the possibility of losing. My target was a much bigger fish, after all. Still, I sure hoped that I would get the chance to upgrade my magic or fire affinity. I couldn’t help but regret a bit not picking some more magic classes along the way… then again, that was only being missed now and my plans worked until now. I can complain if I die in the end and If I have the chance to do so.

Chapter 177 Abyssal Worm - (Thank you for your support, Just Some Guy With A Mustage!)

In the end, it didn’t take long for me to regret my choice of not dealing with the cloaked guys as soon as possible… a lot more often than before, Glacien began to growl in the direction we came from. The time between those also decreased a lot. Before long, I started to feel it… the ominous aura approaching.

‘They are up to something really nasty… what now?’

It felt like if I tried to ignore the problem and keep going deeper into the labyrinth, I would regret it even more. I couldn’t understand anymore people trying to play the role of a hero… I was just trying to help people a bit in memory of Zyra and her crew, but look at where that put me? Being targeted by guys who probably worship Cthulhu or something similar.

They should know by now that their allies had died and now they were using all the means necessary to get me. While I was thinking about that, I eventually noticed… the labyrinth shaking a bit.

“What the heck…”

Glacien suddenly jumped on my shoulder and began to tremble a bit while trying to get ready for a fight… she was still a kitten, so while she showed some courage against the boss, it looked like the threat this time was on another level.

I decided to wait and see this time what I was dealing with, and it didn’t take long for that to happen. A large shadow approached in the distance, and soon I opened my eyes widely. It was the large mouth of a dark purple worm, and it was large enough to completely cover the corridor.

“What the heck is that?”

The creature didn’t have eyes or anything else… It made me recall the tentacle monster and it was moving relatively slowly, but now and then, its movement speed would increase.

I immediately jumped backward and then fired some explosive arrows inside the mouth… but I didn’t hear the sound of explosions until several seconds later… it looked  like there was nothing inside the beast.

Still, I managed to recover some mana during the attacks, and the speed of the monster slowed down.

“Damn, it looks like they aren’t wasting time now…”

I began to dash in the opposite direction to gain time and some room. Soon enough, some ice slimes showed up, but then I destroyed them. Still, at such a moment, the monster suddenly sped up for a couple of meters.

“Wait… don’t tell me.”

Usually, dungeons and labyrinths make the monsters spawn in the same areas or at the same time. So, a certain possibility came to mind… What if in the other parts of the dungeon, the monsters were still spawning and the monster was absorbing them to grow like that? This thing clearly wasn’t something normal… 

“What the heck did those idiots summon to get me?”

I had no idea, but I wouldn’t go down or be captured that easily. The idea of holding back or considering my pride vanished from my mind and soon I turned around after equipping some items to slightly change my build.

In the next moment, I used Mystic Barrage on the mouth of the work. Massive explosions began to take place and destroy the flesh of the monster… pieces of flesh flew away in all directions and after they touched the ground, they evaporated.

If that wasn’t proof enough that this thing was some insane creature, nothing would. The progress of the beast was slowed down and I couldn’t help but smile, but soon I realized the flaw of my plan. Nothing would end unless I killed the beast or the ones who summoned it.

Name: ???

Race: ???

Health: ???

Regen: ???

Mana: ???

Regen: ???

Stamina: ???

Regen: ???

“Of course it wouldn’t work…”

At this point, I could keep draining the mana of the beast and destroy around one foot of its length per second, but if the beast already reached this far, I would have to destroy more than thirty miles of monster flesh to reach the end of the monster… my bow wouldn’t last that long.

I had to make things work better… I stopped with the Mystic Barrage and then used Infernal Bane on a single arrow and then fired it. The projectile hit the flesh of the monster and then created a large hole in it as the flesh around began to dissolve, but soon the beast began to regenerate the flesh.

“You have got to be kidding me…”

I looked down at my hand, and my breath caught at the sight of bone-like marks etched into my skin. The skill had left its mark, a very clear reminder of the cost of my vampiric heritage. My power wasn’t just hurting my target, it was hurting me, too. I could feel the subtle ache spreading from the marks, a warning that using this ability came at a steep price.

I clenched my fist, testing the sensation, and winced. If I kept relying on this, it wouldn’t be long before it wore me down entirely. The trade-off was clear: I could try to push through, but it wouldn’t work. I’d burn out faster than I could finish the fight. My options were few, and I’d have to find another way to turn this around.

“I guess this is their foolproof plan…”

I used Demon’s Snare, and the beast was stopped completely… Even if it was that strong, a skill like that was really useful against such entities.

I couldn’t destroy the whole thing using my bow, but I had other tricks. Not very safe tricks, but they could be of used to gain time against the monster. Deep down, I knew that I could use this thing to grind some levels, but also deep down, I knew that this thing had to be stopped as soon as possible. War of attrition against such unknown entities was never a good idea.

I summoned some arrows and then fired them inside the monster’s mouth at four different spots in the area. They had been enchanted with Internal Bane, so when they pierced the skin of the monster, the surrounding area began to dissolve. I fired them in the ground, walls and the ceiling, so soon I created a spot where the head of the monster was separated from the rest of its body. Thanks to that, a new mouth began to emerge on the area beyond the arrows and then the remaining head dissolved in the air.

“Much better… I just hope that my hand will endure this.”

My arrows destroyed thirty feet of the monster’s body in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t nearly enough to make my heart race, but it was progress. I was using Dread Enchantment to restore my health as well, but since the power of the Infernal Bane was highly effective on me, it even halved all my healing sources.

It should have the same effect on the beast, so I kept going… destroying large chunks of the monster’s body at a time… even though I was using my gloves, Infernal Bane still burned my right hand.

The Skill Infernal Bane leveled up. You received 500 experience points.

The Skill Demon’s Snare leveled up. You received 400 experience points.

The Skill Dread Enchantment leveled up. You received 900 experience points.

I endured the burning pain in my left hand and kept destroying the monster until I was back to the boss’ chamber. The only good thing of all that was those level ups and the fact that the beast couldn’t do anything aside from devouring everything it touched. Still, I was quickly reaching my limits.

“Damn… what now?”

My right hand was getting numb thanks to the pain and thanks to it, my accuracy was dropping. I had to find another solution for this mess. Infernal Bane already nullified all the magical defenses of the monster… Demon’s Snare was also helping me restore more mana to attack more often, but I couldn’t keep using Infernal Bane.

My options were to keep heading to the depths of the dungeon and get stronger or try to keep using my head here, but even if I could, my resources would eventually run out. I had another option… let the monster taste my blood. Just like the worm covered kraken, it should suffer with it quite a bit, but I had a bad feeling about getting inside that huge maw.

I wasn’t ready to give up just yet. Gritting my teeth, I shifted my stance, abandoning the familiar right-handed shooting position. Instead, I swapped to a left-handed stance, the motion awkward but manageable. My left hand took up the strain, and I adjusted my aim, hoping that it would hold out long enough to make a difference.

Glancing at the marks on my right hand, I could only hope it would recover before my left hand started to show the same signs of damage. Each movement felt precarious, but I wasn’t about to let the pain dictate my next move. If I could hold out a little longer, maybe I’d find an opening, something to turn the tide in my favor.

Before long, I began to shoot my arrows and soon smiled when I noticed that my aim was still as good… my insanely high dexterity came for the save once again.

I kept destroying large pieces of the monster’s body and eventually reached the next floor… I kept motivating myself imagining how much experience that freak would give me, but eventually, my arrows began to miss the target… not exactly the monster, but the spot I had aimed… both my hands were completely messed up.

“Damn it… what now?”

Perhaps I should have made a specialized bow to deal with monsters like this… then again, the same bow would hurt me quite a bit as well. It looked like I didn’t have any other choice but to start an attrition war with this beast and, given its size, it was clear who had the upper hand.

Still, all of a sudden, a certain idea began to form in my mind… perhaps not all hope was lost. With that in mind, I turned around and then headed to the depths of the labyrinth.

Chapter 176 - Synergy (Thank you for your support, otrfan59!)

The giant snow rat squeaked in pain as blood began to splash around. Glacien didn’t use any of her skills during the attack, so it looked like she was pacing herself. 

While the creature was in pain, Glacien began to run around the monster, and then charged to attack from behind. The Giant snow rat suddenly turned around to attack her and charged as well, but Glacien used Ice Shield. Thanks to the increased magic, the Ice Shield was a lot thicker than before and stopped the charge of the enemy. It also made it get dizzy thanks to the impact.

In the next moment, Glacien charged and then collided against the already damaged Ice Shield and then made it fall on the giant snow rat.

“Oh, she recalled what I told her to do before…”

I made Glacien use that strategy against two snow rats once and it looked like learning the use of that kind of tactic. The ice shield knocked down the boss and then Glacien got over the monster… before the creature could fight back, she attacked the other eye. 

The monster wasn’t that resistant. It was the first boss of the labyrinth, so it looked like this fight wouldn’t be that difficult. I made her use Beast’s Fury a few times just to be sure, but it looked like that wasn’t really necessary.

You received 200 experience points.

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Spearman, Knight, and Viking (Lord of War).

The choices weren’t as weird as before, but the fact that they all seemed like a melee class was a bit troubling. No, they definitely were melee classes.  I would guess that since there are no towns or villages in the area, conquering this labyrinth and getting these types of classes would be the final test for the warriors of the Skarnash Tribelands.

In any case, I already got the first two classes and even upgraded them, so the real option was the last one.

You obtained the Lord of War class.

You improved the Health Regeneration parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Battlefield Presence.

You unlocked the skill: Warlord’s Command.

You unlocked the skill: Heavy Strike.

Battlefield Presence: Gain 1 point of experience for every ally benefiting from your buffs during combat.

Warlord’s Command - Issue a rallying command, boosting all allies’ attack and defense by 20% for 20 seconds. Cost: 50 Stamina.

Heavy Strike: Unleash a devastating attack that deals massive damage to an enemy and reduces their defense by 25% for 10 seconds. Cost: 40 Stamina.

They weren’t half bad skills, but the title of the class was a bit weird. It was the first time I got a class with that kind of name. It made it obvious that it had some evolutions. I would bet that they would be insanely strong in the hands of the ogres given their size and defense. It would be even scarier if they could use the skill at the same time and then the effects could stack. They would be unstoppable.

“It looks like she didn’t get a class or anything else aside from a lot of experience… That would explain why animals don’t get inside dungeons or labyrinths to grow stronger. That also would explain why the wolves were defeated by her with ease.”

Animals shouldn’t be born with that many classes, unless they are magical like Glacien. So, they have fewer aptitudes and that decreases their experience gain by a large margin.

In any case, it was time to dismantle the boss… the creature had some ice claws I probably could use to make a weapon for Glacien. Even if she had her own claws, I can’t use Dreadful Enchantment on her claws directly.

Maybe I could teach her how to use a knife or dagger in her mouth. That way, I could use the enchantment, and she didn’t have to take too many risks biting her target.

“You are growing, so I guess the claws should have some room to fit you for a while… wait, aren’t you growing a little too fast?”

I should have realized this sooner, but before, Glacien was just like a small kitten, but now while standing, she was at least five centimeters taller. I knew that kittens only need three months to grow into adults, but I didn’t know much about sabertooth tigers or their magical variants.

“Maybe it is because of the increase of your parameters… Considering that, not increasing your strength would be a waste too. That will help you save mana and it will work great with Beast’s Fury, so let’s increase that equally.”

Glacien looked proud of her victory, so she was in a good mood not to think too much about my idea. Not like I was very sure of how much she could actually think.

In any case, it seems that teaching her some fighting tricks will make her learn them and use them by herself in some battles. The results still would depend on her judgment and the conditions of the fight, but knowing them was better than not knowing them.

I finished getting the claws of the monster and then I equipped them with Glacien. It was only for a test since the leather had to be tanned, but it fit on her and also was adjustable thanks to a line that I put around it.

“All right, you can use this later. Let’s get to the next section.”

I stored the rest of the body of the monster. The leather of the boss could be used to make some nice magic bags. Using that kind of leather to train for the amulets was a waste.

The second section of the dungeon didn’t look much different from the first. It still had the shape of a rough cavern covered in ice. The ground still looked like a skating rink… but it wasn’t a real problem to either of us.

Two slimes began to stir and emerge from the ice-covered ground. A faint gurgling sound accompanied their emergence as they pushed against the brittle layer of ice, shattering it into jagged fragments.

The first slime seeped upward in a slow, deliberate motion, its gelatinous body a translucent shade of icy blue. Its “skin” shimmered with frost, and tiny shards of ice floated suspended within its body, giving it the appearance of a living snow globe. Mist radiated from it in a cold aura, the chill biting at the surrounding air.

The second slime followed, its movement more fluid and chaotic. Soon, the ground returned to normal… that process of spawning creatures was truly weird. In any case, I exploded one of them with an arrow and left the other to Glacien.

You received 25 experience points.

Glacien charged, but the ice slime charged again and then slammed itself against her. Although she had gotten stronger, the slime still pushed her backward and the impact made her dizzy. The creature soon followed with an ice bullet, but I blocked the attack with an arrow and then finished off the creature with the same shot.

You received 20 experience points.

“It looks like it is too soon for you to solo one of them.”

“Rrrrrrrr...”

“Don’t complain, I don’t like it either, but results are everything.”

Putting that aside, we began to advance. The ice slimes didn’t leave anything behind, but at least finding the mana cores was easy thanks to that. We couldn’t get materials, but we could get time in return and there was nothing more valuable than that.

Thanks to that, I had the chance to have some ideas… using all the materials of this labyrinth and then trying to add an effect that agreed with everything around, I began to carve a bone bracelet for Glacien, I could already see her frowning. Unlike me, she had qualms about using that kind of thing. In any case, the final result wasn’t half bad.

Bone Bracelet (Uncommon)

Enchantment Slots: Ice Affinity (Adept) - Increases your Ice Affinity by forty points.

Durability: 10/10

Although the materials were subpar, I was able to make something pretty decent given all the materials and the enchantment that I had envisioned. Making Glacien wear two of those would make her a lot more fearsome. If only she could learn something like Ice Bullet or Ice Arrow.

I didn’t know her well-enough to be certain, but I was quite sure that she wouldn’t want to use something like a Fireball bracelet. The element also went against her nature, after all.

“Oh, well… can’t have everything we want.”

As we made our way through the labyrinth, the challenges were quite manageable. The monsters we encountered were that weak, barely posing a threat to us. Despite their lack of difficulty, there was an odd tension in the air. Every so often, Glacien would stop in her tracks, turning to growl at the darkness behind us, her icy blue eyes narrowing as if she sensed something lurking just out of sight.

Whenever that happened, an uneasy feeling crept over me, and I instinctively quickened our pace, making us forward. Yet, no matter how far we went or how much we pressed on, nothing ever came of it. The unseen presence stayed just that, unseen. Still, Glacien’s behavior kept me on edge, a clear reminder that there were still enemies looking for us.

‘Perhaps I should have dealt with them in the first section… getting the classes ahead of them gave me some advantage over them, but it looks like they didn’t care much about it.’

Those cloaked guys should have changed their strategies, but I had no idea what they were plotting. When it comes to using the labyrinths in their favor and against me, it felt like all the enemies were tens of steps ahead of me.

The only thing that didn’t put me on edge was the fact that I knew that they wanted me alive… as long as they thought like that, I could get them by surprise and find an opening. Still, the situation was far different than before… since those guys could summon those weird tentacles and I had the feeling that it was a part of a monster much more fearsome than they can ever be…

Chapter 175 - Demanding a Challenge (Thank you for your support, Kcx1!)

“All right, girl. Keep using Icerend.”

Glacien finished slashing the neck of a snow rat and with another slash, she finished another target.

You received 05 experience points.

You received 05 experience points.

She didn’t get a class on the first floor, so I wasn’t expecting that she would get any in the labyrinth. Perhaps once we clear it, but it isn’t certain. So using a single skill all the time to unlock another was the best way for her to gain more cards… although I wasn’t certain if that would work either.

“I guess they aren’t going to drown me like the empire tried… It is quite something when a group that uses tentacle monsters is less nasty than the empire.”

Still, I couldn’t drop my guard yet… until all the enemies came here inside the dungeon and then they died. I couldn’t relax.

Instead of worrying about that, I began to skin the bodies of the snow rats… I couldn’t help but think for a while about how they spawned from that ice like that and we had seen it, but they still had a proper leather and body after they died. It was the kind of thing that makes you lose when you try to understand the logic behind it.

I enchanted one of my short swords with flames and then tried to carve out a magic circle in the piece of leather that I just got. Since the weapon was burning now, the process went a lot more smoothly. Still, since I was trying to speed up the process, I could make a mistake at any moment, so I couldn’t drop my guard even for a moment.

I managed to make an amulet a bit faster. Maybe it was weird to call it like that given that it was essentially a circle made of leather. I put it on Glacien back and confirmed that both meditation effects were working. Still, I could tell that she looked troubled, since she was essentially wearing something that came from one of the enemies she had killed.

“Don’t complain. As long as it makes you fight better and offer some protection, everything else doesn’t matter.”

“Woof… woof.”

“We should be able to get better materials in the next section. I am not a fan of the idea of using rat leather, either.”

I sure hoped that the next floor would have better materials… I was just planning to use the leather of the rats for practice. I soon confirmed that the amulet using their leather only lasted half an hour and two mana cores.

Regardless, soon we reached the seventh floor and six of them began to spawn in front of us now and then. I just used Mystic Barrage to wipe almost all of them… then I used the extra mana to use Shadow Step. It will probably be a good idea to make one Shadow Step amulet for her, one that could last for quite a while.

As I was thinking about that, Glacien finished her target and then soon turned around and began to growl at me.

“What is wrong? Did you want me to leave more of them behind?”

Soon enough, I noticed that she wasn’t growling at me… she was growling at something behind me. I raised my guard and got ready to fight, but I didn’t see anything.

“Perhaps your senses are too good since I am not catching anything.”

Still, I knew it better than to ignore such an odd behavior. I trusted Glacien’s magic senses too. So, I decided to dash ahead with her and decimate the monsters along the way to gain some space against possible enemies.

“Sorry, girl. Let’s leave your grinding session for the next labyrinth when no one will be looking for me. This is rare to happen nowadays, partially because I am a guy who attracts trouble everywhere I go, but one day, for sure…”

Putting that aside, I wondered what the enemies were up to this time… Hopefully, it won’t be anything related to water, drowning or cold. In any case, I disposed of the monsters with ease while considering my next steps… The tentacle monsters’ weaknesses were the cloaked guys, but I couldn’t be certain that the same strategy would work every single time.

‘My options are to increase my attack power to make the arrows pierce deeper, or increase my magic for the explosive power to cause more damage and make the enemies suffer more damage and heal less than before. At least those two are the most simple ones.’

Arrows enchanted with holy energy were a better option, but I didn’t have that kind of enchantment… wait, I actually had them. 

Infernal Bane: Imbue your weapon with holy energy, allowing you to deal bonus damage to demonic entities. This skill increases your damage by 25% against demons for 20 seconds and also weakens their magical defenses, making them more vulnerable to your attacks. Cost: 50 Mana.

Demon’s Snare: Summon chains of binding energy that target and immobilize demonic foes. This skill traps a demon in place for 10 seconds, preventing it from attacking or casting spells. The chains also drain the target’s mana over time by the level of the skill per second. Cost: 100 Mana.

It would be amazing if I could make an amulet for each of them… the arrows would not only damage them, weaken their defenses and drain their mana. For the first time, I also considered… even if I didn’t use the amulets directly and just kept them with me, wouldn’t their effects work? It made me recall a certain dungeon crawler that became legendary. When I was a moron and didn’t know how to play, I filled my inventory with amulets and didn’t have any space to get any loot.

‘Good times. any above uncommon equipment dropped, and I was forced to teleport to the city to open some space for it. In any case, I have to draw the magic circle and then decrease its size before anything else.’

I was getting ahead of myself… before anything, I had to test the theory with other and more simple enchantments. After calming down, I soon realized that Demon’s Snare probably couldn’t work like that. It was an offensive skill, after all. Infernal Bane was another matter.

I began to draw the magic circles in my notebook. It wasn’t magic ink, so it wouldn’t change a thing. Still, while I was doing that between the battles, I couldn’t help but wonder as I recovered the bodies of the monsters… was that truly the best approach for me? Using amulets for the important things like increasing my mana and stamina regeneration was one thing, but to add extra enchantments for my equipment? I couldn’t help but consider that it was a cheap tactic… then again, I have been using that kind of tactic for a while.

‘My first goal was to make a rail gun in this world, but then along the way I was forced to become an elemental archer, since it was pretty convenient. For me to achieve my goal, I would have to focus on increasing only strength and dexterity, but that would just be satisfying my ego. I should be more pragmatic than that and use all the means necessary to survive.’

It looked like the memories of almost drowning in two labyrinths were getting too weak and I was getting relaxed… perhaps I could focus on just satisfying my ego if I only had to worry about the labyrinths, but I couldn’t.

While I was lost in thought, I reached the boss chamber and then looked around behind me once again… there was nothing there. Glacien looked a bit more relaxed, but she wasn’t as energetic as she was before.

‘I spent such a long time inside that cave, but it feels like now I didn’t think that much… Maybe it is because the world is expanding before me with more problems, or maybe I am just that easily influenced by the surroundings.

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“What is now? I am in the middle of an important brooding moment.”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“I see, I see… Can you speak more slowly, please? I am not fluent in your native tongue yet.”

Glacien jumped from my shoulder and then moved to the boss chamber before turning around to look at me.

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“What? Do you want to face it alone?”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“You are probably trying to bite more than you can chew, you know. You can’t even face four snow rats at the same time.”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

“Ah, the audacity of youth… back in my time, cats, or in your case, sabertooth tigers, would learn to walk first before trying to run. Perhaps I can let you fight the boss, but you will have to accept my magic support and my direct interference if something goes wrong. Got it?”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

I was happy that I was starting to understand Glacien better, but I also felt that I was losing my mind. Staying alone for far too long should have affected my mental health to some extent. 

In any case, seeing this world’s version of a pokemon battle will probably make me relax a bit… between dealing with people that want to hunt me down for my body parts, people who want to kill me just for the heck of it, and people that just saw me as an abnormal existence, I probably could consider myself healthier mentally than most.

We headed to the boss chamber and soon found the  place. It wasn’t that large, around one hundred meters in radius. Right in the middle of it, there was a massive ice block. It began to shake and then exploded, revealing the figure of a snow rat taller than me standing.

“Having second thoughts yet?”

“Grrr... grrr...”

Glacien ignored my words and then glared at the target… despite the difference in size, it looked like she wasn’t losing in willpower. For starters, she charged at the beast without hesitation and when the monster swung its claws at her, she used Froststep and then disappeared from the monster’s sight.

I could see it clearly, but from the monster’s perspective, it was like Glacien simply vanished or teleported elsewhere. In the next moment, Glacien appeared in front of the head of the monster and then slashed one of its eyes… making blood gush from the wound.

Chapter 174 - Merciless (Thank you for your support, Eltirno!)

In the end, I decided to increase her magic since all of her skills escalate with it, even the physical ones, since they require mana.

“All right, wait on the staircase. We should test the range of this experience sharing…”

“Chi-chi-chi!”

“I am never going to understand you if you keep changing the sounds you make. It was already hard in the first place, and it is even harder with different sounds. In any case, I turned around and then began to focus on the sounds coming from that direction. I wasn’t going to hide anymore. It was time to face the enemies directly and get them by surprise.

After half an hour, I heard the sound of their hurried footsteps… They were quite slow. Still, soon they slowed down when they found me. They raised their hands to attack, but then I fired an explosive arrow. A bunch of tentacles showed up to block the attack, and that happened. 

I saw the ice around melting and then I saw a small hole in the tentacle wall immediately healing. I squinted my eyes and then fired another explosive arrow and then another, and then another. Each shot made the area tremble and the damage on the tentacles began to pile up… I had no idea what that was, but it had mana and if it had mana, my bow could drain it.

Soon enough, the enemies realized what I was doing and then decreased the size of their defensive wall. Instead of blocking the whole corridor, they just blocked the frontal area and then sent their tentacles to attack me. I immediately attacked the breaches of their defense and then made a wave of hot air reach them. The tentacles trembled in response.

‘It feels their pain… what the heck is even that?’

I fired a bunch of other arrows, but while I caused a lot of damage at first, eventually, the tentacles began to regenerate faster. I didn’t know how, probably thanks to the mana of those guys, but it didn’t look like I was going to outlast their mana. I eventually stopped shooting and then the area grew silent.

The enemies raised their guard and then soon panicked when they saw a shadow passing on the wall on their side. As it turns out, I could also use Shadow Step when my feet were touching the walls or even the ceiling. It was a lot harder to do on the ceiling, but fairly easy on the walls.

The enemies sent their tentacles behind them, but soon enough, a barrage of arrows exploded from behind and sent them spiraling away. I was surprised to see that no one died with those attacks. Still, when they fell on the ground, I fired more of them since their weird tentacles vanished and this time, I went for the head.

You received 1500 experience points.

You received 1500 experience points.

You received 1500 experience points.

I felt a bad feeling in the back of my head as I killed them, but it didn’t make me stop. Still, I left one alive and then used Demon’s Snare. Chains of light emerged from the ground and then grabbed the limbs of the enemy and it also raised them. Their limbs began to emit smoke as if they were being burned… the figure trembled in pain and soon woke up. 

I approached the figure and moved their hood down… soon found a black-haired guy with a pale complexion. One of his eyes was red, and the other was completely white. He also had pulsating purple veins on his neck.

“I told you to leave me alone, didn’t I?”

The vampire glared at me and then opened his mouth and then fired a blast of blood toward me… I jumped to the side and then kicked him in the stomach. That closed his mouth… the chains were supposed to seal his magic, but that probably didn’t count as magic.

I decided to put some silver arrows on his legs and arms and then attach them to the ground since the chains couldn’t last forever. Still, as soon as they vanished, the guy struggled to free itself, even while blood was gushing from those spots.

I was forced to put more arrows on his body until he couldn’t move any other muscle. I wondered why he didn’t call his tentacle… maybe his body had to be in tip-top shape for that to work. My guess was that this body was being used as a vessel to summon that thing.

“Who are you guys?”

“The others will make sure to capture you and then we will have our revenge against them.”

“I can’t see how that will make your revenge better or easier… but I guess that confirms that you are part of the Forsaken.”

The enemy’s reaction to being called “Forsaken” was one of intense rage. It became clear that the term was not just a simple insult but a deeply derogatory label, one that struck at the heart of their identity. He began to struggle again, even though only his head could be moved under normal circumstances..

The word “Forsaken” likely symbolized something like abandonment, or a fall from grace, which the enemy found humiliating and enraging. It was a title they despised, one that reminded them of their shame and isolation, and the very mention of it seemed to unleash a fury as if the insult reopened old wounds. The enemy’s hatred for the term was palpable, their emotions flaring as they reacted to being reminded of a part of their history they wished to forget or deny.

“You guys tried to kill me, but I still can’t hate you guys… I could have sniped you all easily, but I avoided that, but I guess you wouldn’t want even that kind of sympathy, right?”

“Rest assured that you completed your goal… we were planning to just capture a few of the people here and take their resources that they left behind, but you are a lot more valuable than that.”

“I suppose you guys know who I am as well, but what were you plotting to use me for?”

“You will soon find out.”

In the next moment, the guy suddenly began to inflate like a balloon and his body turned purple… it looked like he was going to self-explode, but I stopped that with an arrow on his head.

You received 1500 experience points.

I let out a sigh… I had to move on. The corridor was filled with corpses now, quite the ominous sight. I wondered why those guys didn’t turn the monsters into their minions… couldn’t they do that against labyrinth monsters?

In any case, I decided to check their bodies and soon found something very disgusting about it. They indeed had some deformations, but they were quite minor… I imagined that the vampires who turned them only want vampires serving them without any physical flaws. Putting that aside, they had a weird wound on their backs that had the shape of a magic circle. The wound was quite recent…

‘Did they have something inside them that exploded when they died? Some sort of parasite?’

The magic circle didn’t have a detailed format since it exploded, creating some nasty wounds in the back of the figure. It was impossible to recognize anything aside from the round shape. They all had the same wound… so it made me wonder where they got that… it wasn’t a power that they got from clearing labyrinths. 

Maybe I had damaged the magic circle with my arrows, and that was why they were unable to summon those tentacles. This world is seriously messed up… They didn’t have any items with them, which was quite weird since I felt that they also had more access to mana thanks to the weird magic circle.

“Awooo! Awooo!”

Glacien showed up, and it didn’t look like she wanted to be in this area for long. I could understand the feeling. Understanding her words was close to impossible, but her facial expression was easy to read.

“Let’s get going. I will deal with most of the monsters, but I will leave to you. You can also look for the mana cores.”

“Chi-chi-chi!”

“Sure…”

I pretended to understand the last message and then we headed to the next floor. Perhaps I should confirm what the other enemies were doing outside… they still had twenty or so, whatever the heck they were. That made me wonder, they could have all come in a single ship, but they came in five… they probably had come with more ships in order to bring some minions or prisoners.

On the next floor, the snow rats showed up in groups of four and I disposed of three of them and then Glacien fought the remaining. Even though the beast had resistance to ice magic, Glacien still ripped apart easily thanks to extra physical damage Icerend granted.

“Maybe we should take out time and let you grow strong enough in this section until you can fight two of those at the same time… this might take some time, but it is the best option for your growth. Or maybe not giving that you gain a portion of my experience. What do you think?”

“Chi-chi-chi!”

“Chi-chi-chi, huh? I guess that makes sense.”

Maybe I would leave the labyrinth in one month and find that all the clans had been decimated or an army of all the possible enemies looking for me, but at this point in time, it was a common occurrence. Besides, I don’t think that the guy would have lied in his final moments, so perhaps I was the one in trouble.

Slowing down my plans out of gear wasn’t something that I was planning to do, so I just resumed my journey deeper into the labyrinth. As I walked, I watched Glacien working like my watchdog. She kept a certain distance and then stopped and grunted when the monsters were about to emerge… it looked like she could sense the changes of the mana in the environment as well.

That made me recall Nimir… he also had such good instincts. It probably wasn’t a good idea to compare them, though.

“If nothing happened, he must have cleared more labyrinths than me. Perhaps I should check the land of the beastkin as well soon since their labyrinths are free to be used. It makes me wonder if he has gotten stronger than me… probably not. Maybe I don’t work hard when it comes to fighting, but I certainly work smart.