[You've stumbled upon the eggs of the Serpentine beast]
[You've received a unique quest...]
[Error! Quest can't be accepted...]
[The quest has been paused for now and will activate once you become an Ascendant... For now, you can store the eggs in your inventory]
Looking closely, he discovered the shards of an egg scattered over the area. Hold on, the beast I defeated was just a young serpent?"
Swallowing his spit, he quickly stored the eggs in his inventory.
"I thought as much." As soon as he stored the eggs in his inventory, Blake felt the ground rumbled, causing his steps to be unsteady.
"Shit! What's happening? Is the cave collapsing?!" Running past the nest, he increased his pace as debris began falling from above. Also, he noticed the room was getting filled with sand and was quickly spreading over the area.
Evading the rocks and also finding a way out, Blake found himself quickly trapped as the sand quickly rose to his knee.
"Dammit! I can't move! It seems I'm sinking into the sand. This is bad!" With his movements now restricted, he found it harder to evade the rocks and was soon getting struck.
"Arghhh!" The harder he tried, the quicker he felt his body sinking. His eyes scanned the room, searching for a possible way out. Wiping the blood dripping towards his eyes, he decided to hold tightly to a large boulder that had fallen extremely close to him.
"This won't do... I need a way out!" Ever since he woke up, he felt the effect of the toxic had increased, but thanks to his [Resilient Body] skill and also the [Damage Empowerment] skill, he could slightly neglect the feeling while moving around. But now stuck, he began to feel the numbing sensation spreading over his body.
'If I don't do something, it won't be long before I fully get paralysed.' Thinking and going through his system, he couldn't find anything that could alleviate him from his threatening situation.
He felt his grip on the boulder losing as the time ticked by. 'I wonder how many minutes are left.' Pondering for a moment he shook his head furiously. 'I need to think of a way out.' His body had sunk further during the minutes, leaving just his torso.
Using the Invisible Dash skill would be useless in this case. The sand, he felt, was extremely heavy. The Invisible Dash skill only boosts his speed and makes him invisible temporarily. There was no boost in strength or anything else.
"My grip is losing, I need to do something about that first." Accessing his inventory, he quickly brought out his newly acquired daggers.
--->Twin Slayer daggers: Forged from the scales and fangs of the great Serpentine beast. Inflicts a paralysing effect when used on target for 5 seconds.
---> Grade: Rare
--->+15% boost on critical attacks
Staring at the dagger that appeared in his hands, he let out a slight smile. Just at the hilt of the daggers, were rattling chains, which seemed to have been merged with them.
[The chain size can be adjusted depending on the user choice]
"This is great!" Stabbing the dagger on the boulder, he struggled to pull himself off but failed. Staring at the distance, his eyes caught sight of a gleaming crystal jutting out of a rock.
"Will I be able to pull it off?" He thought swinging the dagger around.
Tsk. "I can't think about failing now." Throwing the dagger, it struck the mark, twisting tightly around the crystal, and then, with all his strength he could muster, he pulled down.
'I hope the crystal holds. My weight isn't that much.' Blake thought as he pulled, feeling his body beginning to rise slowly. 'Climbing through would be better,' he thought, digging the other pair of daggers on the boulder.
Holding onto the chains, he began pulling himself upwards. Pulling further, finally, his body was pulled out from the sand and he slowly advanced through the chain.
Arriving at the other end, he quickly wrapped his fists with the chains and then punched at the wall. After a few attempts, parts of the wall crumbled, revealing a hidden passage. Blake barely had time to catch his breath before he dashed through the dimly lit corridor.
'I barely made it out,' he thought, adjusting the grip on his daggers still tethered by their chains. He could hear the occasional echoes of distant hissing and growls, which made him uneasy.
[Time left: 00 :25: 31]
"Dammit!" Increasing his pace, he finally reached the end of the passage, which opened into a massive space. The place was lit up by glowing crystals, revealing the huge creatures that slithered around. Their scales shimmered, and their eyes gleamed in a ferocious glint.
"What have I stumbled upon?" Tens of Serpentine beasts slithering around. He couldn't tell how many there were, but looking at their sizes, he knew instantly these creatures were more dangerous than the young serpent he faced before.
"Alright." With the chain daggers still in his hands, he made a quick decision. "I'll just have to make use of the environment and avoid direct confrontation. I'm pretty sure the exit is that little hole at the end of the room."
Swinging the chains in a circular motion, he gathered enough momentum before dashing forward. Leaping from the ground, he swung the chain forward, the dagger pierced into one of the crystals. Retracting the chains, he was pulled forward. He landed a few metres away from his previous position.
His actions, though, had alerted the beasts within the room. Their gaze now fixed on him. They hissed fiercely before charging at the intruder.
Swinging the daggers again, he pulled himself forward while watching the spot he once stood. The ground had been shattered with debris of rocks flying over the area.
"Dammit!" Running through, he leapt high, landing on a rugged rock. Twisting his body, he evaded a sudden green orb that slammed into the wall behind him.
SIZZLE!
Looking behind, he saw the wall slowly melting away along with sizzling sound. "Shit! This has gone harder!" For the next five minutes, Blake strained himself using all the skills he could muster to evade the beasts attacks while advancing towards the hole.
With the decision of avoiding direct confrontation and only dodging the attacks of the beasts, he managed to make it to the hole, though he wasn't unscathed. His clothes were barely covering his body with some burnt marks on him and cuts, yet he pressed on, creeping through the hole.
Finally arriving at the other side, he appeared to have gotten back to one of the paths of the labyrinth. Lying on the ground, it was then he realised how bad he was hurt. His muscles were sore, and his wounds were once again bleeding.
[You've been affected by the Serpentine poison...]
[You've been affected by the Serpentine poison...]
"How do I make it out in this state?" Groaning softly, he got off the ground and continued his journey. With each step, with each turn, he felt his vision blurring. Sometimes, he felt himself black out, yet his body kept on moving as if oblivious to the pain.
[You've been affected by the Serpentine poison...]
"You don't have to struggle this hard, Blake. You can rest now. We'll be fine... you don't have to worry about us."
Crashing to the ground, he felt a soothing feeling with a hand caressing his cheeks. "You've done enough for us... it's okay to rest now."
"Done enough? No... I haven't done anything... All I've done can't even amount to anything." Blake thought, digging his nails into the ground. "I thought... I thought maybe avoiding the tower. I would get to stay with them longer. Maybe... I was wrong..."
His eyes slowly closed as his body finally gave in to the soothing sensation. A peaceful expression settled on his face as he passed out.
[Time left: 00:09:16]