Chapter 33: The Floor By Floor Journey To The Depth Of The Earth 4
2124 Words
Entering the City of Adventurers Cleo after more than 12 hours of waiting in front of the city’s entrance, Golden Cross Elite Guard Demetri laments for his misfortune. Being sent into a tracking job to the far north by the Guild Master was bad enough. However, the worst part is that the player he’s tracking moves like a ghost.
His tracking began almost three months ago in the City of Latona, the starting city of the Six Heroes and the Phantom Hero Grimm. From there, he learned that the Phantom Hero had spent his first month working at a restaurant and attending a local dojo prior to his progress to the Forest of Illusion where the Class C+ Event Quest also known as the Amradias Incident had transpired.
Of course, finding clues from the Forest of Illusion is inapplicable since for an unknown reason, it had disappeared from the face of the earth. Therefore, his only option is to find clues within Latona, an option which was like finding a needle in a stack of hays due to the restrictions of his Life Track.
______________________________
Life Track
The clairvoyant power to track all lifeforms.
By making physical contact to any item that was once owned or held by the target, enables the Life Tracker to identify the direction of the target’s current location. Additionally, if the target is a user, the Life Tracker will receive a notification if the target is Online, Offline, or Slain.
Restrictions: If the item is just held by the target, Life Track will only activate if the target’s contact with the item had occurred within a month. On the other hand, if the item had once belonged to the target, the activation of Life Track can be viable for up to six months if the item is still unowned and three months if it’s already owned by another person.
______________________________
When he arrived in Latona, it had already been more than two months since the Phantom Hero had left the city so Demetri only had a maximum of three more weeks to find an item that once belonged to him assuming that another person had already claimed ownership over it.
With the little time that he had, it was a complete hassle. He has to infiltrate the restaurant to gather more intel, reduce his sleeping time and skip meals just to thoroughly question hundreds of users and NPCs that might have come in contact with him, and to search on every possible establishments and places that he might have visited.
Then, on the last three days before his assigned deadline, his clues led him into a miscellaneous shop near the South Gate. Where the owner, though an old man, still retains a sharp memory and clearly remembers a youth that highly resembles the description of Grimm to have visited his shop.
And though he initially refused to answer when Demetri asked what business did Grimm had conducted with him, he was immediately swayed when he offers compensation for his full cooperation. As expected, the shop owner was a greedy old fart and began spilling everything that Demetri wanted to know when money becomes involve. He said then that the young man he was looking for had two months ago offered him his three Lowest Grade Health Potions in which he purchased at a third of its original price. He clearly remembers him because despite the obnoxious offer, he still agreed to sell the potions.
Learning that, Demetri asked next if the potions are still around. The shop owner replied that he’s not certain but also stated that all of his remaining Health Potions are still displayed at the middle shelves located at the left side of his shop.
Demetri then didn’t waste any time and immediately went to those shelves to check all the remaining Lowest Grade Health Potions in display.
Ding!
______________________________
Target’s IGN: Grimm
Sex: Male
Birthplace: City of Latona, Kingdom of Komina
Avatar’s Age: 4 Months IGT/1 Month RWT
______________________________
You have made contact with a [Lowest Grade Health Potion] that once belonged to [Grimm].
-Tracking Target’s location-
-Loading…-
-SUCCESS-
Target’s Status: ONLINE
______________________________
“Yes!” Demetri exclaimed triumphantly. ‘Finally found him!’ His hard works had at last paid off.
Afterwards, a translucent yellow arrow appeared before his eyes, pointing the exact direction of his target.
Paying the old fart the money he promised for his cooperation, Demetri immediately reports his progress to the Guild Master Kratus and starts following Grimm’s trail.
But just when he thought that everything are gonna go smooth sailing, he soon experience the nightmare of tracking the elusive Phantom Hero.
Grimm’s signal first ceased at the heart of the Man-Eating Forest, one of the 10 Forbidden Areas of the Reyner Kingdom. But when he arrived on the location after so many hardships and near death experiences, the person he was looking for was nowhere at sight. However, his status clearly specifies that he’s Online but obviously, he’s not in the area that the tracking arrow indicates.
In that moment, he was back to square one but fortunately it hasn’t been a month since Grimm left that place. So by touching the ground where he’s supposed to be located, he was able to obtain a new lead.
But the same thing keeps on repeating on the succeeding locations. Just like in the Man-Eating Forest, the tracking arrow pinpoints him into a location where he’s clearly not present anymore and the Life Track triggering process must be repeated again to obtain an updated direction.
POISON TOAD SWAMP
REQUIEM GRASS FIELD
ROCK ORCS VILLAGE
Through the several weeks of following his trail with the hopes of finally finding him, he was directed to these dangerous areas where he barely escapes with his life before his Life Track finally brought him to the City of Adventurers.
Weary and frustrated, Demetri continues to follow the lead of the Tracking Arrow. Hopefully, he won’t end up in an empty location this time. But even if he does, at least as a consolation he’s inside a civilized city and not in a monster filled area.
And if this still results into a failure, he made a firm decision that he will stop. The Guild Master can punish him all he wants afterwards but he will definitely stop. He will put this assignment on-hold and he will refrain from logging in for a few days. He’s sleepy. He’s tired. He deserves some rest!
TADUM!
And then the Life Track alerted him that he’d now reached his destination. But just like his previous tracking attempts, he once again stood in an empty location where the person he was looking for is nowhere in sight.
Demetri’s head hanged. ‘Alright! That’s it! I’m leaving!’ He exclaimed inwardly and prepares to logout.
But before he could do so, the Life Track shows him a new notification that didn’t appear during the previous failed tracking attempts.
______________________________
You have reached the location of your Target!
However, his exact whereabouts is not in the same surface to where you stood.
______________________________
Demetri tilted his head, utterly lost on the vague explanation but was shortly enlightened when the Tracking Arrow appears before him again and pointed downward.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
In the depths of the City of Cleo, two figures could be seen squaring off against each other. One was a monster, the gatekeeper protecting the edge of the Third Floor. He’s a humanoid reptile type with a body trained for combat underneath his heavy gears and armors, a lizard’s head, scales, a tail, a massive halberd meant for destruction, and a height of 20 meters that greatly towers its adversary.
Overall, he’s a presence that utterly exclaims ‘I am unbreakable’ which is not an exaggeration considering that he’s the Level 290 Boss Monster from the Komodo Dragma race, Third Floor Gourmet Guardian, Sanzard.
And then the other figure is none other than Wilhelm.
Two months and eight hell-like floors later, he’s now nearing the end of his underground expedition after overcoming several trials and combats where in the process had also strengthened and brought him closer to the power that he desires for himself.
Gripping his swords, Wilhelm motioned to step forward. In response, Sanzard instantly swung its halberd in an unimaginable speed.
CRACK! KABLANG!
The might unleashed by Sanzard’s halberd collapsed the cave floor, leaving a wide crater as an aftermath.
However, Wilhelm’s figure is no longer there.
Doppelwalk Activated!
Even before the attack, he had already activated his Doppelwalk beforehand and moved forward. And once in position, he controlled his clone to make a move, luring Sanzard into initiating the first strike.
And then…
SLASH! SSAAAKKKK!
A single yell and a strike. Wilhelm appeared behind Sanzard’s back, delivering a backstabbing blow with his Crescent Rime Blade.
______________________________
+You dealt a Critical Damage.
+Bonus Effect, Backstab [Deal an additional 200% damage].
+Double Damage was activated and inflicted a Colossal Damage.
+Your Target is deeply wounded, [Bleeding Status for 3 minutes].
______________________________
The s***h left behind a bright red trail that dyed the Third Floor Guardian’s heavy armor with blood.
Afterwards, he lifted his Separator above his head and its blade shone with bright silver light. A trigger that summoned eight astral swords that forms into a pair of wings behind Wilhelm’s back.
“Nine Headed Naga Strike!” He declared and unleashes the second s***h which also prompted the astral swords to scatter and simultaneously attack Sanzard.
SLASH! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
SSAAAAKKKKKK!!!
Blades piercing through the flesh, scales tearing apart, and bloods gushing out, with a deafening bellow of agony, Sanzard collapsed to the ground. However, Wilhelm succession of attacks didn’t end there. With gravity pulling him down towards the immobilized Floor Guardian, he pointed his swords downward to deliver the next and probably the final blows.
‘With this next attack, he’s done!’ He asserted inwardly as he activates Magnum Impact on both blades.
But when he was halfway down, something unexpectedly dire occurred.
From under the ground, the Level 225, bus sized, 10 meters long Esurient Bullworms emerged. And with a total of 10 of them, they blasted upwards like torpedoes to pincer tackle Wilhelm from all directions.
‘What the!?’ Wilhelm exclaimed with a horrified expression. ‘How the hell did this happen!?’
In that moment, Wilhelm and his real life self’s thoughts synchronized and processed all the details, analyzing and explaining everything that had transpired.
In the real world, Wilhelm’s thought process is ten times faster than an average person, a speed which he can double or even triple if he desires. However, just like his physical capabilities, they were hindered by the STAT System of the game. With inferior figures on his INT and WIS, his thinking speed is just slightly faster than a person with good memory. But when he reached Level 200 and above, a seal on his brain had been released and his thought process speeds up by several times.
So now, analyzing complex situations with hundreds of factors involved is just as natural as breathing for him.
Ding!
______________________________
Name: Sanzard
Race: Reptile*Lizard
Level: 290
Attribute: Earth*Poison
Max Health: 70,000
Weakness: Cold, Fire
Skills: *Imugi Scale (Passive), *Limb Regeneration (Passive), *Recover Health (Passive), *Noxious Breath (Active), *Cold Blooded Impact (Active), *Chilling Persuasion (Active)
______________________________
[Chilling Persuasion]
The Third Floor Guardian’s hypnotism skill which enables him to control a monster from a different species.
Restriction: The Level-Gap between the caster and the target must not be less than 50. Can only control one monster at a time.
______________________________
And the first factor that emerged from his analysis is the Chilling Persuasion, the skill that’s probably behind the ambush of the Bullworms when Sanzard was nearing his demise. He’s controlling them to protect himself and get rid of him. However, though it’s the most plausible explanation, it is still quite debatable due to that the numbers of the attacking Bullworms are ten and the Chilling Persuasion can only be used against one monster at a time.
Ding!
______________________________
You encountered the [Fanged Esurient Bullworm]
______________________________
Well, the answer to that is the shiny Bullworm with noticeable sharp teeth who’s rapidly approaching him in front.
______________________________
Name: Fanged Esurient Bullworm
Race: Worm
Level: 240
Attribute: Earth*Dark
Max Health: 50,000
Status: Bewitched
Weakness: Light
Skills: *Slimy Frame (Passive), *Regeneration (Passive), *Trigger Quake (Active), *Bullet Tackle (Active), *Bone Crusher (Active), *Earth Crawlers’ Gathering (Active)
______________________________
Yes, Sanzard might just controlling one monster but that one monster is a Special Monster with a Rally Skill. So with that kind of controlled minion at his disposal, he is able to increase his Ambush Squad from one Bullworm to ten.
‘Okay, that answers everything but I still have to figure out a way out of this,’ Wilhelm thought intently.
‘Think and calculate!’
And thus, his brain processes information in an insane speed once again.
‘Midair…damage…defense…ten attacks…two swords…skill to use…activation time…deflect and attack…deflect and defend…kick…cleave…freeze…elemental attack…freeze, cleave, defend, elemental attack!’
ANALYSIS COMPLETE!
‘Alright, I got it!’ He exclaimed and motioned to execute.
However, before he could execute his plans…
______________________________
Shadowclad Released!
______________________________
…a second unexpected occurrence transpired.
‘Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait the minute, I didn’t do that!’
Leaving Wilhelm completely lost. He could not recall releasing his Shadowclad either by accident or on purpose.
“Caw!”
But after hearing one squawk from a baby crow, Wilhelm’s confusion immediately clears. He can’t decide whether it’s a fortunate event or not. But his partner Specter, after three long months of slumber had finally awakened all while he was in the middle of a very dire and very sticky situation. And by call of instinct to protect him and himself, he released the Shadowclad that was hindering his true power and change him back to his original persona.
The Mythical Detective, Grimm!
- Writer
