Walking further, Axir soon arrived in a small hall with a mysterious giant door on the wall, shimmering with colorful magic patterns and illuminated by ghastly blue flame torches.
A dungeon entrance!
[ You have found a level 20 Elite Dungeon. +100 gold coins for finding the dungeon and +10 stat points. ]
Axir added the 10 points to Arcane.
'Let me refresh the memories of this deck.'
Axir looked at the details Blue-Eyed Enchanter deck after equipping it. He knew one card that was his favorite from this deck, but he had forgotten the rest.
[Blue-Eyed Enchanter]
Rank: Rare
Draw: 20 mana per star-quality of the card.
Epiphany: 0
- Enchanter's Gaze | 3-star
- Scream of Despair | 3-star
- Blue-Eyed Marionette | 3-star
- Siphon Chain | 4-star
'Alright.'
Axir didn't enter the dungeon right away.
He wasn't strong enough yet.
But he would become strong enough soon!
The ranks of decks were Basic, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. And Unique, which was unique to each player and had to be manifested.
Basic and Uncommon decks were not special. Those decks were not capable of triggering Epiphany.
And what was Epiphany?
Evolution of a card.
This Epiphany feature was utterly important to raise the card's power significantly, and he was going to trigger one right now.
Axir closed his eyes.
Epiphany could be triggered by two things.
One, an idea that could be actualized by the logic of that deck.
Second, resources to act as a catalyst.
'Epic or Legendary?' Axir contemplated which resource to use for the Epiphany.
After checking the attributes, he picked the one that was best for the Blue-Eyed Marionette card.
[ Starlight Dream Flower ]
For him, the most important card was Blue-Eyed Marionette, and to make it effective in this dungeon with his current stats, he had to evolve it.
[ Blue-Eyed Marionette ]
Card Quality: 3-star
Effect:
—> Monsters of the same Tier as you or lower struck by Enchanter's Gaze can be targeted by Blue-Eyed Marionette to turn them into your puppet for 10 minutes, allowing you to command them.
Axir began formulating an idea of evolution for this card. He already knew a powerful recipe of this deck, as many people had made many variations of this deck.
Usually, people first have to wield the deck and understand its core powers and theme to even have a chance to succeed.
But Axir knew everything about the Blue-Eyed Enchanter deck already from his pre-regression experience.
…
Meanwhile, Jason, Yuta, Aoi, Lexi, and Kazuo were trying to message Selena and Axir, but they didn't get any response.
But suddenly, they got Selena's message.
[ Selena: I just respawned. Where are you all? ]
Jason replied, and soon, the gang gathered.
"What is going on? Where did you two go?"
"Where's Axir?"
"You didn't even reply to our messages."
"Calm down." Selena wryly smiled." Axir and I managed to survive by a stroke of luck and Axir's quick thinking. We arrived in a cave, but a dangerous one, so I died, and Axir will also die soon, I think."
She then frowned. "But I didn't get any of your messages. Let me check."
"We sent you messages, girl." Lexi raised her eyebrows.
"Oh, it's here. Then…" Selena blinked. "Maybe that place prevents communication with other players."
"Could be, yeah." Jason nodded.
"Yo, so what do we do now?" Yuta rubbed his chin.
"Guys, look at the world chat!" Kazuo shouted. "People are getting quests from random NPCs, and some even got new cards from quests!"
"Which one? Let's go pick that quest!" Aoi's eyes shone.
"Oh, wait, it's the village chief giving quests to players. Not all players get a quest that rewards a card. It's random. But they are all 1-star cards, unlike the 2-star card Axir got from the Elite worm."
"But we should still check it out. Those cards could be useful."
Selena smiled. "Wait a bit. I am telling you first, so you don't say that I am hiding it. Axir and I found some pretty rare stuff. Epic and legendary resources of Tier-2 in a secret place."
"What?" Jason was surprised. "Where's the stuff? And where's that place?"
"It's on Axir, and that place cannot be reached by us. It was lucky we managed to get there, but he will split the loot with me." Selena chuckled. "And you all are not getting anything from it since it was us who found it. Don't beg later. But if we get more stuff later as a group, you all will get priority."
"Tsk, don't tell me you really became his girlfriend for real?" Lexi clicked her tongue.
Selena looked at Jason, who also looked at her.
"I mean, the plan was to entrap that show-off genius and then ruin him with a grand show a week later where you and I get together," Jason said, his fists clenched. "But you kissed him twice already now."
"Next, are you also going to give him your virginity?"
Pat!
A tight slap hit Jason.
Selena's eyes were cold. "I've kissed you many times before I became his fake girlfriend. And why are you worrying? All of us have been together for years, and this was our plan. But since the situation has changed, our plan will also change."
Her icy eyes became stern. "We need Axir for now. He is strong and talented. We have all seen that. The best way to go about this is to use him to the fullest, and that will only happen if he is in love with me."
"You all got it? Keep your act together."
"I am having fun, so I don't care what you do." Kazuo grinned.
"Same, same." Aoi chuckled. "Now then, can we go to the village chief?"
…
Within five minutes, Axir triggered an epiphany.
[ Ding! You have triggered an Epiphany for the card: Blue-Eyed Marionette. Make your choice. ]
Option 1.
Blue-Eyed Marionette (Inferno): Once the target is in your control, you can trigger an explosion that will consume all of the target's Mana for devastating damage from self-destruct. The higher the Mana and Arcane stat of the target, the higher the damage.
—
Option 2.
Blue-Eyed Marionette (Charm): The target doesn't need to be affected by Enchanter's Gaze to activate this card anymore. The duration of control is increased to 1 hour, and it can control the target even if they are one Tier above you. This will also work on NPCs and Players, but only if they are the same tier as you.
—
Option 3.
Blue-Eyed Marionette (Berserk): Once the target is in your control, you can make them berserk, increasing their stats by 50%.
'Awesome!' Axir grinned. 'Option 2!'
He knew Blue-Eyed Marionette had a Charm epiphany that made the control and its duration very strong, and that was exactly what he needed to clear the dungeon.
Level 1 to level 10 was considered Tier-1.
Level 11 to level 20 was Tier-2!
'Let's go.'
[ You have entered the level 20 Elite Dungeon—Murlock's Blackwater Camp. ]