Chapter 146: Chapter 145: The Monster Tribe, Part I (2/2)
-…Is this alright?-
I couldn't help but think as I stared at my Stats Menu.
At what level would this Stats Menu seem normal? Is it even possible to get to that level? Even deities would think it's overpowered, and they're supposed to be the most overpowered beings out there. In short, it wasnormally impossible to have a Stats Menu like mine.
”But the important part here is that it's mine and only mine!” I was starting to become like Danhari, nervous and anxious about having such valuable treasures. ”I shouldn't be worrying about anything. I've dealt with whatever the new world threw at me so far,” I said to myself with fists clenched.
”I'll make everything mine.”
I turned to face the Pharos dungeon entrance. ”Okay. Let's do this!” I had rested long enough.
”I wonder what these crocs have in store for me.” I already heard from the Myth Guild what types of monsters awaited me in the dungeon. Inside were normal and mutated crocodile monsters with high ATT and DEF. I looked forward to facing them as they were monsters I had never encountered in the past.
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Around the same time Lee Jiwon entered the Pharos dungeon…
A group of people were gathered in a mansion in the Faroe Islands, Denmark, a place known to be a holy place for lycanthropes, or werewolves. These people were devas with pointed ears and covered in thick fur.
”The Duke hasn't been attacking us because he already found out what our plans are?”
”Yes. He has already discovered that we plan to ask Lee Jiwon for aid, and plans to consume him first before we can get to him.”
”Lee Jiwon, huh…”
”He seems to be waiting for someone strong like Lee Jiwon to enter his domain, as his Predation takes a while.”
”Lee Jiwon also has a special ability that the Duke wants to consume.”
”Will it be alright to seek his help under these circumstances? Something could happen to him because of us. It won't be a simple death, either.”
”That…may be true but…” No one could come up with an answer for Lod.
”How long has it been since the Duke used Predation last?”
”It's been a little more than four months.”
”Hmm… it's been too long. He's practically screaming to us that he's going to use it on Lee Jiwon.”
”Yes, it would seem so.”
Lod and the other commanders here had been battling against the Predator Duke for over a year now. They'd all become victims of the Predator Duke's three abilities: Predation – Digestion – Extraction. They could deal with Predation and Digestion if they were the Duke's only abilities as they don't do much other than kill their targets. However, the biggest problem was Extraction. Victims of Extraction stood to lose everything.
Extraction took away all of its victims' Stat points and skills and absorbs them into its user. The potency of this ability had a four-month cooldown, but it was still extremely harmful. Furthermore, victims of Extraction couldn't use the Sea of Reset. All they would get was a message:
==[Your abilities have been absorbed by the Predator Duke.
Until you recover your abilities, you will not be able to use the Sea of Reset.]==
The Predator Duke didn't keep the abilities he absorbed forever; he was technically borrowing them and until he returned those abilities, his victims would be unable to use the Sea of Reset. Of course, if the Predator Duke didn't want to return those abilities, he could never return them at all. In other words, the only way to recover those abilities was to kill him. All abilities he had absorbed would return to their rightful owners upon his death. But it was easier said than done.
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The Werewolf Clan was a clan made up of all devas.
Lod, the head of his family clan, obtained the Lycanthrope Lord Random Skill, which turned everyone in his family line into werewolves. Lod's clan, the Schutt van Agassi family, had a long history of 800 years behind it. The Schutt van Agassis ruled a part of Switzerland under Cheringen, but were forced out by the Habsburgs in a series of defeats, despite their fierce struggle to repel the invasion.
The van Agassis fled north to Norway, where they restored their family name and lived for centuries. Although only a fragment of their former glory, the van Agassis had become an influential power in Norwegian society.
Not long after the world changed, the entire van Agassi family had become devas and under the Lycanthrope Lord Random Skill, they all turned into werewolves.
The van Agassi family then invited all Norwegians to join their family, and after about a week, revealed to the world the birth of the Werewolf Clan. They then moved to the Faroe Islands, where more than 50,000 people once lived, but it was abandoned after the world changed and the land turned into a haven for werewolves.
The Faroe Islands weren't too small nor too big; they were the perfect home for the werewolves. The Islands even had a low, mid, and high-grade dungeon which was perfect, as Lod had an ability where he could choose one dungeon and increase all EXP gained in that dungeon by fifty percent. This ability allowed the Werewolf Clan to quickly grow stronger, and they kept that ability a secret until they could protect it from the rest of the world.
They had to, as they had a major weakness as werewolves. While they were devas from the start, they were also monsters. Should a normal deva or deity kill someone of the Werewolf Clan, they would receive a huge amount of EXP, much more than the EXP of normal monsters. There was even a chance that golden rings and items could drop from a werewolf.
On the other hand, werewolves could receive neither EXP nor golden rings and items from killing devas and deities. In the end, there was more reason for werewolves to be treated as monsters.
No, it was true that they were monsters. It no longer mattered that they had started as devas; they made the choice to become werewolves.
That was why Lod kept his abilities hidden to the world until his clan grew strong enough, but his secret had been revealed earlier than he expected, and to their worst enemy.
”Master Lod, I suggest we at least ask for help.”
”I agree. Lee Jiwon even defeated the Blood Prince, when everyone else expected him to lose.”
”We have nowhere else to turn. If we choose to do nothing, all that's left for us it to become the Duke's slaves. We should tell him everything and ask for his help.”
”Hmm…” Lod thought for a moment before making his decision. They were going to ask for Lee Jiwon's help even if he turned them down. ”Fine. If this is our last chance, then we'll have to take it. However, make sure to tell him everything. Hiding anything risks turning even Lee Jiwon into an enemy.”
”Yes, my Lord!”