Vol 2 Chapter 6 (1/2)

The Caretaker's Spirit

”Snake, pack them up”

When Ark pointed to the iteue and sed it all The trash piles that were swept in with the torrent were fairly profitable Various kinds of seaweed, Merpeople items, recovery potions, Pearls and other rando he had completely emptied in Nodelesse had become quite hefty

An exceptional a the pile of junk, but now, even if 5 or 6 of the dungeon's monsters rushed him, he could easily defeat them

The advantage of a Dark Walker's Dark attribute was the stat increases, which allowed hiher level than he actually was, and thanks to it, he could gain additional EXP froher than himself with the same amount of effort The applied additional EXP was 10 per 5 levels The e, 10 levels higher

The additional EXP was a whopping 20! To maximize the effect, Ark only slept for 2 hours a day and worked hard to level up Thanks to this, Ark's level increased by another 10 in a week

”Status ”

Character Name

Ark

Race

Human

Alignment

Good +50

Fame

520

Level

62

Profession

Dark Walker

title

Cat Knight, Caretaker

Health

1,305

Mana

730 (+100)

Spiritual Power

100

Strength

176

Agility

196 (+17)

Stamina

246

Wisdom

25

Intelligence

141

Luck

41

Flexibility

14

Art of Communication

18

Affection

18

Special Stat: Knowledge of Ancient Relics

35

Equipment Effects

Black Bear Mouse Leather Arility 2, Frost Resistance +20

Cat Paws: Attack Speed +10, Agility +15, Critical Hit Rate +10

Crystal Golem's Head: Mana +100

All abilities will increase by 20 in the dark

You have the ability to hide in the darkness (Duration tiet into combat)

Resistance Fear, Darkness, Blind, and Charm spells is increased by 50

You can bring out the true abilities from all types of tools

Thanks to steadily raising his Stamina, his Health was now over 1,300 With the 100 additional Mana froh to use Dark Blade 8 times consecutively if he didn't use his Familiars

Since his level passed 60, his hunting efficiency decreased because he was no longer able to receive 10 additional EXP

”I didn't notice when the bonus was there, but when it disappeared, it doesn't see Well, sinceis al the quest”

He still hadn't found a clue about the quest

The White Whale's sto passageas straight for the most part, but if he strayed a little it soon becaled, and there were places looking exactly alike no matter where he went Some areas activated traps such as acid one from the stomach

At first, everything was interesting, but after a week had passed, the dungeon covered in dark red flesh began to be stifling and suffocating

'Anyway, I need to find the place where I can end the quest'

Ark walked forward

Ark could approxiuess where the place related to the quest was located

He had thoroughly coh the lair for a week, but the sole place Ark hadn't gone to was the lair of the Great Worms

Ark had avoided fights with the worms to the best of his ability so far But now, Ark was also level 62 With the additional bonus of the darkness attribute, he was at a level where he can soht them

Ark passed through the narrow passageway and came to a wide area In a plaza-like space covered in red

Ark took out his pot, boiled soup, and drank it

Spicy Flavor Seafood Soup

Health +100, Attack and Defense increased by 20 for 30 minutes

The Seafood Soup, which could only bereached Intermediate, had the best effects out of all the food Ark learned In addition, it didn't have the aftereffects that norood effects But it required relatively rare seaweed and shellfish, so he couldn't eat it often

Energy rose after drinking the soup After also feeding Skull, he lured the worms one by one

Even though he'd raised his level and was even enjoying the effects of the soup, the wor as ever

If Dedric would turn into a bat and draw its attention, it'd bedifficult ene a help Dedric had been But no rettable it was, he had no desire to use a Familiar ouldn't listen Dedric still needed to have his behavior corrected

'Although its stats grew a lot while Dedric is being locked up'

Skull had non to level 20, but its usefulness was still much lower compared to Dedric Its movements were slower than Dedric, and it often ran about in confusion when the battle started because it wasn't s places, such as Wisdom or Luck, so its Stamina was low If the opponent was the worm, it'd be hard for Skull to withstand one or two hits

However, Skull had endless loyalty

When Ark was in the worst-case scenario, Skull died for him without hesitation Users actually don't feel pain when taking a hit However, it was set so NPCs or monsters felt pain equal to reality and possessed fear of death

It was the sa beaten up by Ark and suffering But no matter hoell trained the pet or Familiar was, there were almost no cases where they would die in their master's place

It was only possible because Skull was dull and had strong loyalty

'Skull is my additional health'

Skull's real role was to die for Ark in the worst situation

Skull also understood its role If Ark's Health fell below 10, Skull went in front of hinificantly by the Indo, Ark let loose a Counter Attack or Dark Blade at the worm and killed it

Skull also barely endured one or two hits

If the critical hit or Dark Blade missed by some chance, then Skull would be inevitably force recalled However, thanks to the experience Ark had gained underwater, the precision of his techniques had risen enormously and skill failure was very low

The first time is always difficult

'The wor attack power, but its attack method is a repetition of a simple pattern'

After killing a feorainst the first two, but as he kept fighting, he had more Health left Later, he was able to ith at least 30 Health left

'If the as not a large monster, I could probably defeat two of them at once'

A large monster had the ability to cancel h probability If not for it , it would be possible to fight several of them with consecutive kicks and sword strikes, similar to what he did with the Crabs or Sharkmen

Using the same method, all the wor

”You did well”

As Ark patted his head, Skull rolled around to show its happiness Skull became a more praiseworthy rascal in Ark's eyes

Even though he'd almost died a few times, if Ark patted it on the head once, it'd be colared at Skull with a nasty look It was so he'd found out just recently, but since Snake thought of Ark as its parent, it was especially prone to jealousy If Ark favored another Farow sulky, wrap itself around Ark, and behave annoyingly

Well, though he'd gotten used to it now so it didn't bother him as much

In any case, after clearing the woran to really explore Once he went to the opposite side, the entire space reverberated, going boom, boom

”It's the sound of a heartbeat Is Gallic's heart on the other side?”

Just then, Snake suddenly teared up and spat soh

It was the Compass of the Sea Emperor

The coht to match the sound of the heartbeat Because of it, it seemed like Snake couldn't endure it and spat it out

”This is definitely the place where the quest will be solved But where exactly do I need to go?”

No matter which direction he looked they were all blocked Then all of a sudden, the passage from the crystal pillar came to mind

If you want to see me then close both of your eyes

'If there's some kind of trick here, then it's definitely the hint'

Ark stood still and closed his eyes

As he did so, the sound ringing through the whole space gradually died down Then at some point, the sound focused in one direction As if the handsound, it vibrated to one side

'Is it this way? But it's blocked'

Ark placed his hand on the wall and moved Then the wall shrank away as if it was surprised and a path appeared

It was also the sa the path, he closed his eyes and stretched his hand towards the direction of the sound whenever he reached a dead-end Then a path appeared on its own After walking for a few ht came to view

In the center stood a stone statue in hument looked like it had been split somewhere, it had an aura so black that he could visually confir emitted

”Found it This is definitely the item she held and disappeared!”

When Ark quickly reached out towards the stone fragment—

The stone statue's eyes flashed as it raised its head and let out a piercing scream

”KYAAAAAA!”

”Eh, hat?”

Spiderweb-like cracks spread on the stone statue Then, as if it were erupting, it scattered all around and the sight of a jet-black figure eed As a whole, it looked siht in the Shadow Forest

It had an enorh to completely fill the space A demon with its eyes covered by a black cloth and draped in a blacksnakes Completely black, even the skin was as cracked as an old tree was black

- Boss monster Adelaine has appeared!

Quest has been updated

The Guardian Deity of the Merpeople, Gallic → Encroaching Darkness

At the end of your exploration of White Whale; Gallic's stomach, you have finally arrived at the destination The source of the strength that filled Gallic's stomach with darkness and revived monsters as undead was at its heart

It's certain the darkness caused Gallic to lose hisAdelaine, born from the root of darkness, and return Gallic to normal

Difficulty: +E

The quest was updated with the warning e

The difficulty was a whopping +E!

'To think there'd be a boss monster even inside a whale's stomach!'

Suddenly, the drooping hair spread out like tentacles and closed in to attack Ark

Ark quickly moved his feet to avoid a tentacle He blocked it as if it were a Jellyfish's tentacle

An electrifying fear scintillated through hih he'd blocked it, his Health went down by 200

”Eyes of the Cat!”

Adelaine's health and level came up

It was a monstrous 100 level boss monster

Warning bells of an i crisis flashed across inside Ark's head

”No way, I can't ith ain!”

If you don't want to die, you have to accurately estith in an exchange of blows

Once the fight with the enemy started, it wouldn't be easy to escape Since one would have to take da aith back turned If one felt he had to run, the secret to surviving was to escape with a little extra Health left

There was the definite level difference, but more importantly, if he suffered a chain attack from many tentacles, he'd only be able to endure for a few seconds

Ark shouted as he spun around, ”Skull, stop him!”

Po!

Skull courageously leapt forward, but it was immediately recalled when it was struck by 3 tentacles Ark had lost 200 Health because of this attack, but it also bought him a few seconds

”Sorry, Skull There was no other way”

Ark held back the tears and madly ran to the exit

Now there was no choice

First he needed to get out of the exit and bide this time

It would take a long ti worms exclusively within the White Whale's Labyrinth With the darkness effect bonus, he ht Adelaine somehow

Ark dodged the lashi+ng tentacles and opened the exit by extending his hand

But while he was runningout fro behind, Ark's face paled

Adelaine screeched as it swung its tentacles towards the wall

Every time it did so, the flesh of the wall fell in clumps

The shaking of the labyrinth was due to Gallic being unable to endure the pain and ran ah time to feel sorry for Gallic's pain

Destroying the walls within on Ark Adelaine was truly the manifestation of horror itself

'Holy shi+t, it'sreally fast!'

Every tirazed the back of his head, Ark's hair stood on its end

'Daot out of the heart!”

He was mistaken Adelaine intended to follow him to no end

Ark estiantic body would be slowed down by the walls

If he took that chance to completely break away from its view and put a some hundred meters between them, the in-combat state would be cancelled Then he intended to hide with 'Stealth' But rather than breaking free, Adelaine was actually closing the distance while destroying the walls and chasing him

It was as if aup before his eyes

'Da to die like this?'

Stat loss! In addition, he had to explore the dungeon froainst a bossequipment items And monsters also picked up items if they saw them

What if he dropped Lancel's Sword and Adelaine picked it up? The result would be hi to use a crappy sword until he defeats Adelaine

'No way! Even if I die, I' to run until the very end! Let's see how far you'll follow!'

Ark ran through the heaving Gallic's stomach without rest

Just then, so flashed across his mind as he passed a fork in the path

'Wait, this way has always been… of course! Maybe with this method…?'

Ark, who had coh the labyrinth's terrain, realized a hidden method to turn the tide

'Would so like that be possible? No, whether it's possible or not isn't iht now is to bet everything on this method!'

Ark stopped abruptly and twisted his body

Adelaine quickly swung its tentacle

Ark dodged the tentacle and ran towards Adelaine Then, when he was up in front of its nose, he rolled on the ground As the tentacle grazed his side, he received enorht back

Ark sprang up and passed Adelaine, then ran in the opposite direction Then he leapt into the fork he'd passed earlier It was a plaza filled with ankle-deep water

Ark stepped over the piles of trash strewn around as he moved to the center of the plaza, then turned around Adelaine was pounding into the plaza

Ark grinned as he muttered, ”Now, let's see if I die or you die”

”KYAAAAK!”

Adelaine ran in shrieking, but stopped When its feet touched the surface, acrid smoke rose with a hiss Too late, Adelaine realized it was in sooing to let it escape for he had lured it in with such difficulty

”Getting in is easy but it's not so easy to get out Snake, shi+eld!”

As if Snake had been waiting, it spat out a tattered shi+eld

It was the crappy Shell shi+eld he'd found in a trash pile But right now, this shi+eld was his only lifeline

Ark took the shi+eld and positioned it above his head like an u at the ith his sword The space rocked wildly, closing the entrance and exit Adelaine screeched in confusion as it flailed its tentacles, but it just blocked the entrance more solidly each time it did

Simultaneously, a shower rained down from above their heads

KWAAAA!

- shi+eld's durability has dropped by 10!

- You took acid poison dae 50!

When the shower came down, it pierced holes on the shi+eld Even if a small droplet dripped onto him, his Health dropped steadily

It was an obvious result The liquid raining down like a shoas stomach acid!

The place Ark had entered was no other than Gallic's stomach

Once Ark stimulated the stomach, the surprised sphincter blocked the entrance and exit, pouring down acid

'I'll be in for it if it doesn't die Either we die together, or you die alone!'

Adelaine was directly covered in the acid shower

Its swaying mantle was covered with holes, and tentacles were also breaking off strand by strand Adelaine thrashed about madly, once its Health has decreased to about 50, it approached Ark However, with each step it took, asteam rose as Adelaine's Health dropped

It certainly wasn't a relaxing situation for Ark

”Restoration ic!”

Ark repaired the shi+eld without rest as he drank recovery potions Even so, his Health dropped steadily

'Froht patiently!'

By the time Adelaine crossed the stomach and reached Ark, it already had less than 10 of its Health left

Adelaine shrieked in rage as it raised its tattered arm

Ark used his trump card

”Summon Familiar, Dedric!”

”Ack! Ma-master?”

Dedric let out a confused screech as he was summoned

”Ma-ive”

”Shut up and do everything you can to block that guy If you do a good job then I'll forgive you!”

”Huh? Really?”

Without even knoas going on, Dedric replied with an emotional face Then he immediately turned into a Bat and rammed himself into Adelaine's face

But Dedric was forcefully recalled after just a few seconds of being baptized in acid