…
Seoyeon continued sprinting through the research complex, making his way through overgrown, dusty hallways with glass ceilings, the dim sunlight from the gray skies seeping in ever so slightly, illuminating his path with sunrays.
Augheria followed closely behind him, its earthy footsteps trudging through the leaves and grass crawling all over the concrete floor and walls.
Large, bright, pink flowers were scattered all over the vines and wood within the facility, a sight for sore eyes in a facility composed mostly of greenery and gray concrete.
Leaves rustled as Seoyeon eventually left the hallways, finding himself in the central courtyard of the research complex. The garden at the middle housed the device needed to complete the main objective of the dungeon.
A bright green ray of light pierced through the heavens, illuminating the surroundings—beaming through the skies—as it let out a quiet hum.
The ground was covered with foliage and wilted leaves as the orange maple trees all around the courtyard swayed with the breeze.
Seoyeon's long hair started blowing in the winds too,
"Come here, Augheria."
Augheria approached him and jumped atop his arms as Seoyeon reached out to the little leaf spirit.
*Peko Paka!* It yelped, smiling gleefully.
Seoyeon—wary of his surroundings—glanced occasionally at the many entrances leading to the courtyard, watching for any sign of movement.
The device in the center was a geometrical chamber with an open door—allowing Augheria in.
Augheria got off Seoyeon's hand and looked at Seoyeon, "Go." He said.
The little spirit nodded and jumped into the chamber, the door then closed as the little spirit smiled at Seoyeon and waved, before the glass fogged up, blocking Seoyeon's view.
Then, the chamber started blaring alarms as it went red,
[Mana Absorption Device initiated]
[Survive for 5 minutes]
Seoyeon felt an immense pressure as waves of mana were sucked into the device, feeding Augheria within it with the required amount of mana to accelerate the spirit's evolution into an elder spirit.
However, that wasn't the only thing Seoyeon felt, as the ground rumbled with footsteps and war drums.
War cries could be heard all around him as large, brutish, muscular orcs, wielding maces, clubs, and swords all entered the courtyard.
Seoyeon turned around to face the orcs with the device behind him,
[
Indicators appeared all around him—guiding Seoyeon to the weak spots of every orc.
He readied his dagger once more as it glistened under the light of the device behind him.
"Agh… It's always a dagger. I want to use a scythe later on… Still, this is enough I guess…"
He smirked,
…
"Call me… The Lord of the Daggers!"
…
The statement echoed throughout the empty halls of the research facility… Seoyeon cringed as he let out a wheeze, "Why'd I say that…"
He laughed,
"I told Roderick that jokes were for the appropriate situations only… Now that I've dealt with the hardest step—securing Augheria's evolution into an elder spirit—you all should be a piece of cake."
…
"Still…" His face grew stern as he stood firmly, gazing into the eyes of an orc wielding a huge metal greatsword.
…
He dashed forwards,
"Let's get serious."
*Swish* A clean cut through the orc's neck instantly killed it.
*Raagh!* *Kuagh!* The other orcs yelled out as they surrounded Seoyeon.
Seoyeon got up and lunged at another orc, slicing through its torso and jumping off of its body, immediately connecting another attack on another orc.
He sliced the orc's head clean off—before the head could even drop to the ground—he immediately jumped onto another orc.
*Slash* A simple, clean cut split the orc in half vertically as blood got onto Seoyeon's face.
He glanced at a reflection of himself on a piece of shattered glass from the research facility,
An individual with long eyelashes, long, black hair, black eyes—with a white pattern on his right eye—wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks, with his face and clothes covered and soaked in blood.
"Right, that's me." He said, taking a momentary pause.
"This isn't Earth anymore…"
"I'm no longer the player; MinusXjun11… I'm Han Seoyeon."
…
From the reflection, he saw an orc attempting to catch him off-guard by striking behind him.
*Swoosh* He cut the orc's hand off as it yelled out,
*Kuagh!* The orc backed away.
[Congratulations! You have completed a hidden achievement!]
[Within 5 days of being transferred to Eioth; with an F-Rank Tool, slice through 15 critical spots belonging to a D-Rank or above monster]
…
[You have unlocked the skill:
[
A powerful force of mana surrounded Seoyeon's dagger. After all, sword auras worked on most melee weapons.
Seoyeon lunged forwards towards the orc whose hand he cut off—finally finishing the job, and then setting his sights on an orc elder nearby.
He dashed towards the orc elder as it instinctively backed away out of fear.
Seoyeon shouted with an absolute conviction in his voice,
"...I'm the one who conquered the Horizon Tower's 100th floor…"
*Swing* A clean cut through the orc elder made it collapse to the ground.
"..And I'm the one who'll conquer it again." He continued, as the other orcs backed away in fear.
Another orc elder approached—wielding an iron mace in hand—Seoyeon dodged its attack as it slammed the heavy mace into the ground, sending dirt and debris flying.
The orc looked up, blinded by the sun, looking at Seoyeon's silhouette in the air.
"Haaaagh!" Seoyeon yelled as he swung at the orc elder.
It parried his attack with its mace as sparks went everywhere. The orc elder followed up with a swing of its mace as Seoyeon ducked under and countered with a swing at the monster.
*Swoosh* The dagger sliced through its arm.
*Kaaagh!* It yelled out in pain as Seoyeon grabbed his dagger and pierced through its head, facing the other orcs, covered in their brethren's blood.
An orc king—an orc wielding a powerful greatsword and a silver crown approached, its tusks sharper than a wolf's fang, its massive body covered in scars.
The orc king walked to Seoyeon, shaking the facility with every step it made.
Suddenly,
[Mana absorption completed.]
…
A bright glow emanated from behind Seoyeon as the orc king seemed to have had a glint of hope in its eyes, kneeling.
Seoyeon turned around,
From the device, a large tree spirit emerged, Augheria, who had now undergone an evolution to an elder spirit, expressed its gratitude to Seoyeon.
Seeing the dead bodies of the orcs on the ground, Augheria felt pain, but knew Seoyeon was simply defending himself.
"Human… Thank you." It said,
Augheria approached Seoyeon and knelt down to talk with Seoyeon at eye-level.
It extended its wood hands out—gesturing for a handshake—as Seoyeon took its hand. Its grip was firm and heavy, as it smiled at Seoyeon.
Augheria let go and stood up, facing the orcs, before glancing back at Seoyeon.
"We will now return to the forest. Thank you."
Seoyeon smiled as Augheria and the orcs got up and started heading out of the courtyard, going past the main gate, and leaving the facility—back into the rainforest outside of the facility perimeters.
As a calming peace washed over the courtyard, in another part of the research complex,
Gorou, Alice, and Fritz received a system notification,
[You have successfully conquered the
They all smiled, along with the previous team members that entered the dungeon before them.
"Looks like they're done wrapping things up on their end too." Gorou said as he chuckled.
"Follow me, everyone!" Fritz yelled out to the previous team members as they formed a single file line headed for the dungeon portal.
Meanwhile,
Roderick stood atop the bodies of three dead orcs as the system notification appeared, prompting him to laugh.
"So that's why the orcs started leaving. Nice job, Seoyeon." He smiled.
…
Seoyeon—breathless and exhausted—rested on the foliage on the ground of the courtyard.
He sighed,
"There's still something I need in this dungeon."
Seoyeon stood up and started walking through the hallways of the facility once more.
A melancholic ambience washed over him as the sunrays illuminated the dimly lit corridors—the faint dust particles visible through every window,
"Withering Moon's ambience has always been top-notch… It's still so surreal actually being in these dungeons myself."
Eventually, he reached a room severely overgrown, foliage and plants everywhere, and in the center of it all was a large golden flower.
The flower petals opened up as Seoyeon approached, revealing a golden, prismatic structure, with geometrical shapes and fractal-like patterns around it.
"Fractal-like patterns…" Seoyeon muttered to himself, it was a common adjective in most item descriptions in Withering Moon, detailing the game's unique attention to surreality.
He touched the prismatic structure as golden particles swirled all around him, forming a whirlwind as he absorbed it through his right index finger, a surge of power flowed through him.
[You have acquired the A-Class Item:
[Gift of the Springs]
[Details:]
[Rank: A-Class]
[Description: A fragment of the primordial tree spirit, Yggdrasil's soul. Can be used to create powerful equipment with skilled craftsmanship.]
…
[A bonus reward has been given to the player who contributed the most:
…
[You have acquired the E-Class Skill:
"Yes!" Seoyeon clenched his fist in excitement.
[Perfect Woodworking, Level 1]
[Details]
[Rank: E-Class]
[Description: Allows the user to finely carve and handle wood with the expertise of an adept craftsman.]
Visions of his past experiences within Withering Moon all flashed around him, memories racing through his thoughts, one word at a time. Millions of seconds of gameplay rushing in like instinctive thoughts, synchronizing to his very bodily functions, as if his gamesense was just as critical to his survival as his heartbeats and breathing.
A flurry of experiences rushing into his mind, competing to become the next scene that flashes in his vision.
…
He coughs slightly, covering his head with his hands.
…
"I have everything I need to begin." He says, laughing to himself.
"I sound psychotic right now, Ahem." Seoyeon stepped back, realizing just how much he'd missed this feeling of analytical worry in the earlier stages of Withering Moon.
He thought to himself,
"Perfect Woodworking… It's a skill most players would overlook, in fact, despite being an E-Class skill, it is still super rare, because not many players choose it as a skill when given the choice, and most players choose to sacrifice it in some form or another to evolve their other skills or stats…"
"However, what most people see as a trash skill, is in fact needed to create one of the strongest weapons in the early-game."
Seoyeon's laugh could be heard echoing throughout the derelict facility,
"If only they had just read the lore books… Or studied the game a bit more…"
He opened his interface,
[Han Seoyeon]
[Level 11]
[Skills: Eye of Criticality (NO LVL), Perfect Woodworking LVL 1]
[Stats: Agility (Evasion) 14, Luck 12, Strength 14, Dexterity 12, Speed 12, Vitality 12, Mana 12]
"From level 8 to level 11… I gained some levels."
He made several taps on the interface, allocating his stat points.
[Stats: Agility (Evasion) 15, Luck 12, Strength 16, Dexterity 14, Speed 13, Vitality 12, Mana 13]
Then,
"Let me allocate every last bit of XP I have into Perfect Woodworking… SSS-Class Credit Card can be leveled up later on."
[Would you like to allocate available XP to
[Yes]
…
[Perfect Woodworking]
[Level 6]
"Nice. Since Perfect Woodworking is only an E-Class skill, XP points level it up faster than with higher ranked skills."
"Now… Assuming they've all already left, it should've now been 10 minutes since I was left alone in this dungeon… It's time for them to come out."
Suddenly,
[It has been 10 minutes since the dungeon's marked closure, you are the last to leave the dungeon.]
[This dungeon's exclusive dungeon spirits are surrounding you.]
Seoyeon could hear whispers around him,
"Sa… Sacr-... Sacrifice…"
He thought to himself,
"The Marauder's Path dungeon, a very lucky find, it would normally be in higher tier areas though… So why is it in the Veilon Hills… An area for low level newbies? Whatever…"
"This dungeon is extremely valuable because the actual location of the dungeon is near the Aurorion forest, known for the spirits living within it such as Augheria."
"However, a more important type of spirit lives within this forest—and by extension, within this dungeon."
"According to a book that was given to me as a quest reward from way back then… These spirits only come to players who are alone in a dungeon that has already been cleared 10 minutes prior."
[The Skill Spirits demand a sacrifice.]
"Skill Spirits, they are fragments of the souls of powerful creatures and beasts that once lived in these lands…"
"Ever since their death and transformation into spirits, often because of their soul shattering, preventing them from becoming elder spirits…"
"They roam the land for players, demanding you to sacrifice a skill or an item in exchange for one of their own skills from their previous life before being a spirit."
"The Skill Spirits think that player skills or items will help them achieve something new, getting closer to having their identity once more… But it won't help them whatsoever."
Seoyeon smiled,
"It will help me though."
A Skill Spirit—in the form of a glowing white orb, surrounded by a concentration of bizarre patterns and spirals, approached him.
Seoyeon manifested the SSS-Class Credit Card within his palm.
"How about you feast on this?" He said to the spirit.
The spirit reacted strongly, trembling in excitement as it munched on the SSS-Class Credit Card.
The card began glitching out, and fracturing…
[Skill Spirit is consuming item: SSS-Class Credit Card]
"They are called skill spirits because they give you skills equal to the rank of the item or skill you offer them."
…
[The Skill Spirit is overjoyed with the item you have offered.]
Seoyeon smirked, "Really, now? …Then please, give me something good." He said, looking at the Skill Spirit happily biting away at the SSS-Class Credit Card.
…
[The Skill Spirit has given you a skill of equal or slightly lesser value!]
…
Another system window appeared in front of Seoyeon…
The system window's message left him speechless and in awe,
"Well… Isn't this just my lucky day?" He said with an extremely happy and content look.
…
[You have acquired the S-Class Skill:
"Voidstar… So this skill spirit used to be a void dragon in its past life…"
Seoyeon laughed and thought to himself,
"Voidstar—it is one of the most unique attack spells in the game. A lot of spells in Withering Moon follow the basic elements, wind, fire, earth, water, and some even follow more complicated elements such as love, nature, life, death, etc…
However, Voidstar was a spell which was extremely unique, controlling an element that isn't even an element…"
[Voidstar]
[Details:]
[Rank: S-Class]
[Description: An attack spell which allows the user to control the void and form powerful, rudimentary black holes and void manifestations.]
Seoyeon extended his arm out and watched his hand closely,
[
A pitch black singularity formed in the palm of his hand as an orange light and aura surrounded it, whirling around the singularity and his hand.
The reflection of the void shone in his pupils as he grinned ear to ear.
The singularity let out a faint screeching and humming, creating sounds beyond this world, and wrapping Seoyeon's arm with an orange and dark aura.
The bright glow lit up the room.
"Skill Spirits are extremely sensitive to players, they can tell if a player has already interacted with another Skill Spirit and will avoid those players, opting to approach players who've never made an offer to a Skill Spirit before…"
"However, I don't need another Skill Spirit to approach me, this is already awesome!"
[SSS-Class Item:
He looked back at the Skill Spirit which was now done happily munching on the SSS-Class Credit Card.
It glanced at Seoyeon and smiled happily, content with the trade they made.
He simply smiled back as both the Skill Spirit and him waved each other goodbye as Seoyeon walked out of the room.
The Skill Spirit eventually faded away,
"Thank you, void dragon." Seoyeon said while smiling.
[Disclaimer! SSS-Class Credit Card can no longer be detected within the player's vicinity.]
[Warning! SSS-Class Credit Card is bound to the player, it will return to the player if it can not be detected in the vicinity.]
[Warning! SSS-Class Credit Card has been destroyed! This action is not permissible according to the item's limitations!]
[SSS-Class Credit Card will be returned to the player's inventory.]
Seoyeon simply smiled as he walked out of the dungeon's labyrinth-like hallways and back to the entrance portal.
He walked into the entrance portal, emerging out from the other side and back outside of the dungeon.
Roderick, Gorou, Alice, Fritz, and other players looked at him as he walked out of the dungeon's gate. The dull skies of Veilon Hills washed light all over him, as the faint breeze swayed the blades of grass on the ground.
[You have acquired an SSS-Class Item:
…
Seoyeon smiled,
"I'll make good use of this new skill."