Loki slipped out of the gate and took the hardpan track north, keeping the sun on his left as the wind pushed a steady hiss of grit along the ground. He let his pace settle into something he could hold for a long time and kept his eyes moving.
'I was so caught up with evolution points that I totally forgot about the temples, ' Loki thought.
The Temple of Faith was a special type of dungeon that showed up in some newbie areas. Most dungeons tried to hide, but this one sat out in the open like it was daring people to try it. From what he remembered, nobody cleared a temple for months in his last life because the difficulty was ridiculous, so he figured he had time to take it easy.
On the way, he passed a trio of newbies kiting a chittering [Stoneback — Crude — Lv.3]; their healer puffing behind them while a weak spark twitched out of a wand. A little farther on, two shield users [Sand Wisp — Uncommon — Lv. 4] until it shredded into light, and they whooped and clacked gauntlets together.
Off the path, a pack of [Glass Jackals — Uncommon — Lv. 5] slipped out of a dune cut and broke a four-man line. One man stumbled, and a jackal took his throat instantly. The man bled for a few seconds before popping to light. Another froze and ate a lunge straight to the chest; light again. The last two ran in opposite directions, shouting each other's names until the wind took it.
Scenes like that repeated every few minutes, little wins and hard wipes strung along the path.
"There it is", he said, standing at the lip of the shallow bowl.
The Temple of Faith sat half sunk in sand, a ruined rectangle of stone in plain sight. A dark entrance yawned at the center, wide enough for three men. A short run of cracked steps led down to it. On either side, pillars stood in a broken row. Some leaned, some were snapped at the middle, and a few were buried to the knee in drifts. Carvings had been eaten by wind, but the shape still held.
Loki reached the entrance, and a panel appeared in front of him.
[Show your Strength and Prove your Faith to receive Unique Rewards.]
'This will be a first clear for me,' he thought, and felt the small kick of excitement
He opened his panel and dropped the four new points into AGI.
[Alias: Loki]
[Class: GODSLAYER]
[Level: 6]
— Life Essence —
[TLE: 7,438]
[NTLE: 8,519]
— Core Attributes —
[Strength: 28](15 base +3 class +10 weapon)
[Constitution: 45](15 base +2 class +10 coat +3 gauntlets +5 boots +10 weapon)
[Agility: 64](15 base +10 class +34 allocated +5 hood)
[Intelligence: 18](15 base +3 class)
— Special Stats —
[Critical Rate: +25%]
[Critical Damage: +300%]
[Stealth: +1]
[Aether: 0]
— Points —
[Free Attribute Points: 0](total FAP spent = 34, all to Agility)
[Evolution Points: 1]
[Reputation Points: 12]
— Battle Status —
[Health: 450](10 × CON)
[Physical Attack: 113](28 STR + [85 weapon])
[Physical Defense: 223](20 base +80 coat +30 trousers +36 hood +25 gauntlets +32 boots)
[All Elemental Resistances: 50](15 base +35 Equipment)
— Equipment —
[Carmine Twin Charge — Epic (Twin Daggers)]: +85 ATK, +10 STR, +10 CON(Req. STR 20, Lv 5; Assassin/Warrior)
• [Oxheart (Active)]: Double STR and CON for 3 s. CD: 60 s
[Carmine Ironhide Coat — Epic]: +80 DEF, +15 All RES, +10 CON(Warrior/Assassin, Lv 5+)
[Hemal Grip Gauntlets — Epic]: +25 DEF, +5 All RES, +3 CON(Warrior/Assassin, Lv 5+)
[Gold-Hoof Boots — Epic]: +32 DEF, +5 All RES, +5 CON(Warrior/Assassin, Lv 5+)
[Forest Stalker Trousers — Rare]: +30 DEF, +5 All RES(Assassin, Lv 4+)
[Trash-King's Nightveil — Epic]: +36 DEF, +5 All RES, +5 AGI(Assassin, Lv 5+)
[Storage Ring — Epic]: Holds up to 80 items
— Class Passives —
• Passive 1: Acquire Critical Rate stat (+25%).
• Passive 2: Acquire Critical Damage stat (+300%).
• Passive 3: Acquire Stealth stat (+1).
• Passive 4:+10% damage vs anything with "God" in its name.
• Passive 5:First attack after breaking stealth deals double damage.
— Skills —
[Vanish (Epic), Active — Assassin] — Enter stealth 18 s; attacking/being hit breaks stealth; +10% move speed in stealth. CD: 20 s
[Shadow Blink (Epic), Active — Assassin] — Blink to a visible shadow within 15 m; on arrival, enter stealth 3 s (breaks on attack/hit). CD: 10 s
[Poisoned Dagger (Epic), Active — Assassin] — Throw a dagger for 80 damage; apply +25% of on-hit damage as poison over 3 s. CD: 8 s
[Umbral Pulse (Epic), Active — Assassin] — Shadow burst, 8 m radius, 160 damage, stun 2 s. CD: 11 s
[Riftstep Cut (Epic), Active — Assassin] — Dash up to 12 m in a straight ~3 m wide lane, passing through enemies and dealing 84 damage to each. CD: 12 s(must have at least one valid target in range)
[Backstab (Epic), Passive — Assassin] — Attacks from behind deal +40% damage.
[Assassination (Epic), Passive — Assassin] — Deal +140% damage to targets ≤25% HP.
[Weakspot (Epic), Passive — Assassin] — Reveals weak points; hitting them deals +40% damage.
[Greed's Touch (Heroic), Active — All Classes] — Reach into a monster's (Boss/mini-Boss) Remnant (Common–Epic), Corpse (Heroic+), or Echo Scar to manifest extra drops.
• Extra Yield:+200%
• Advanced-Tier Drop Chance:80%
After making sure everything was in its place, he stepped inside.
The air changed right away, cooler and still, with a thin film of dust hanging in the beams. The first hall ran straight, with half-buried tiles and cracked steps. Pillars leaned in tired rows. Chunks of ceiling lay where they fell. Faded drawings showed kneeling figures lifting blades to a faceless sun.
Loki did not rush. He took the hall the way he took any dangerous room, steady and alert, letting his eyes trace how the light fell and where the shadows pooled, noting every exit, every piece of cover, every spot that would block line of sight. He kept moving and let the building settle around him while he watched for the first sound that meant trouble.
After a while of moving through side halls, he finally heard it—a metal scrape up ahead.
[Sanctum Knight — Rare — Lv. 5]
A tall figure in plated ivory, visor carved with a sunburst. It walked with slow, steady weight, greatsword held upright like a shrine piece.
[Votive Priest — Rare — Lv. 4]
Two robed shapes slid from a side passage, staves tight to their chests. They wore Hollow masks, incense smoke leaking from their sleeves. Thin threads of light crawled over their hands.
[Chalice Guard — Rare — Lv. 4]
A third figure followed the priests. It held a bowl-rim shield lined with brass teeth on one arm, and a one-handed leaf-bladed spear for hard jabs in close quarters. It had eyes like cloudy glass.
Loki frowned at the lineup.
'These are all Humanoid monsters, and all are even Rare tier. This won't be as easy as I thought.'
Humanoid monsters were much stronger than the beasts of the same tiers. They were smarter, more disciplined, and were even able to coordinate like a party would.
'No wonder no one was able to clear it,' he thought.
Loki was having second thoughts about clearing this right now, but decided to test his limits.
'I should be able to judge if I can clear this temple or not through this fight,' he thought, settling his stance.
[Vanish]
[Movement Speed increased by 10%]
The hall went quiet around him, and he let the timer run. 12 seconds in, his steps picked up pace—just a little faster than usual.
When he was close enough, he activated oxheart.
[Oxheart]
[STR and CON Doubled]
Power hit for three seconds. He slid past the knight's right side, close enough to brush plate, and reached the first priest.
He broke stealth with a fast X across the torso and neck.
[Critical Hit!]
[Weakspot Triggered]
[Passive 5 — First strike after breaking stealth deals double damage.]
[Damage Dealt: 1,812]
The cut took everything and more. The priest's mask split, and black blood sprayed the tiles. With a dry, broken groan, it went down and turned to light.
[Acquired 280 EXP]
[Acquired 200 TLE]
[Acquired 350 NTLE]
A black ring hit the room before anyone else could react.
[Umbral Pulse]
The knight, the guard, and the second priest took some damage and stiffened where they stood.
[Stun: 2.0 s]
With 1 second left on Oxheart, Loki used Poisoned Dagger.
[Poisoned Dagger]
The throw hit the second priest full in the face.
[Weakspot Triggered]
[Target has been Poisoned]
[Poison Tick: 16]
[Poison Tick: 16]
The green light stuck and sank. Loki was already on him, two short slashes under the ribs. The second slash triggered [Assassination], leaving the priest with a silver of HP.
As soon as the stun fell off, the guard lunged; the knight swung.
[Shadow Blink]
Loki snapped to a far column shadow and went invisible.
Behind, the poisoned priest clawed at his mask as the last tick hit.
[Poison Tick: 16]
He folded with a wet rattle and turned to light.
[Acquired 280 EXP]
[Acquired 200 TLE]
[Acquired 350 NTLE]
"Phew, Two down. Two to go", said Loki as he waited for his cooldowns hidden behind the column.