Chapter 61: Trafford (1/2)
Rakna pushed himself forward with another Artzpul while pondering, 'This method of flying is costly but at least, I don't have to show my wings for it.'
As he was thinking that, his HL ringed again and connected a call like last time. ”Finished?” Rakna asked immediately.
”Yeah,” Allan responded with a grunt. ”It was annoying as heck, to be honest. Basically, when we entered the ruins, a horde of level ten monsters spawned and attacked us. At first, it was relatively easy but it went downhill pretty fast. They would always come back and with an even higher level.”
”Indeed. Additionally, it was impossible for us to leave the area,” Nyx added.
”There wasn't any prompt for you to decide if you wanted to continue or not?” Rakna inquired.
”No,” Flavia answered. ”But I think you'll understand why if I tell you that, at some point, every monster was level 17 and we couldn't go for any longer. When that happened, and Allan was about to get mortally wounded, they all suddenly disappeared without leaving a trace.”
”I see…” Rakna squinted. ”In other words, this challenge you went through is a sheer survival game and it stops whenever you fail to be able to go on.”
”Yes, that's what we thought as well and that's what our AIs told us. But they also said that there were different types of ruins.”
”Did you get anything after the challenge ended?”
”Yep,” Allan chirped merrily. ”We each got 5 000 Talys, several Items, and a few skill cards. I'm not going to lie, while it was annoying, it was profitable.”
”What level have you reached?”
”Oh, well, cuz we partied again, we leveled up quite efficiently and now I'm level 15 while Nyx and teach are level 16.”
”So, you're lagging behind, huh?”
”Hey! Not my fault! I'll remind you that my void magic isn't really being useful right now while these two cheats kill on sight; literally. I did my job as a vanguard or else we would have been done in way earlier.”
”What about you, Rakna?” Flavia followed up. ”How did it go on your side?”
”I cleared the Dungeon three times. Each time in a different difficulty that was proposed to me. I got a lot of Items from it, so I'll give some to you. As for my level… I'm close to hitting 20 and Pronos is about to hit 17.”
”Ha! See, I told you!” Allan exclaimed and the girls stayed silent.
”Told what?” Rakna asked back.
”We made a bet on how far ahead of us you'd be. I said 20, teach said 18, and Nyx said you'd be the same as us. Now, girls, I want my one hundred Talys.”
”I admit I severely underestimated how much experience a Dungeon could give,” Nyx sighed.
”And I shouldn't have believed for even a second that Rakna would do less,” Flavia said with an equally defeated tone.
”Hahaha!” And Allan merely laughed like a kid who had gotten enough money to buy candies.
Rakna listened on with a complicated expression. Should he praise Allan for having that much faith in his abilities or rebuff them for betting on his person?
”…Nyx is right though,” he then said, catching their attention. ”It wasn't the Dungeon that gave me the lead. I was level 16 when I entered it.”
”Huh? Wait, wait, wait, that doesn't make sense,” Allan uttered. ”When we called you, you said you had just found the Dungeon and that was not even half an hour after we separated from the Battle Trial. What did you do to increase your level like that?”
”Remember the two dinosaurs we saw fighting?”
”I do? Why…? No! Don't tell you did what I think you di-”
”I killed them both.”
”…”
”…”
”…you know what, girls. Keep your Talys. This bet was flawed since the very beginning.”
”I agree.”
”Same.”
Rakna resisted the urge to roll his eyes. ”In any case, I'm on my way to the station. Are you guys coming as well, or not?”
”You're going back to Black Steel already?”
”Yes. I want to go to the Pavilion and see if I can sort the Items I got. Then, I'll take a look at the second half of the Pavilion and meet up with Gray.”
”I don't mind going back,” Flavia said. ”I've had to use my telekinesis a lot more than my magic. I would like to rest, to be honest.”
”I also am tired from trying to manipulate Aeter,” Nyx supplemented.
”Well, let's switch situations then. You guys can leave first. I want to reach level 16 before going back,” Allan declared.
”Understood. Nyx, Flavia, if you want to come back with me, I'll be at the station in a few minutes.”
”We'll be there,” Nyx said and the call ended.
Rakna tapped twice on his temple to make the clock of his HL appear. He then looked at the map and at the small icon representing the train. Apparently, Black Steel's Spear would stop by every half an hour, and the next one was in ten minutes.
Five minutes later, he reached the station and saw Nyx and Flavia leaning against the wall of the station. They also seemed to notice him as he cut off his cloak's gliding ability. He free-fell and with one last Artzpul, a counter-force blew the dust on the ground and allowed him to land softly.
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❮◈❯ Artzpul has leveled up! x2 ❮◈❯