Arcadia— Heroes Of Relics
Updates every 10:00PM UTC+7 Centuries ago, a mysterious meteor descended upon the Earth. Instead of wiping all life forms on the planet, it terraformed the Earth, transforming both living and non-living things alike. This event was called the Great Meteor Fall. Monsters and Beasts appeared and proliferated on the land, causing a shift to the ordinary lifestyle people once knew. Humans also underwent changes thanks to the meteor. Some were granted supernatural powers, and some were granted strength. With these changes, mankind concluded that life will never be the same. The rise of adventurers and guilds was only a few things brought about by the change. Those who wielded great power became prominent figures. But this was just the beginning. The ground zero of the meteor, where it descended, became the territory of a powerful entity known as the Dark One. No one knew where he came from, but rumors said he was inside the meteor when it landed. The energy levels in ground zero were so potent that an average human wouldn't be able to survive it. As such, only high-ranking adventurers could enter it with great difficulty and survive. However, no one came close to the fortress of the dark One, built on top of the meteor itself. As years passed, the monsters and beasts became more powerful, and the adventurers struggled to keep up. But there was no real threat. The Dark One didn't seem to care for Earth's inhabitants, or maybe he was in deep slumber, awaiting his awakening before he invaded Earth. It was foretold, however, that the Dark One was close to awakening, and the powerful monsters and beasts were a clear sign of it. Backed into a corner, the countries were forced to rely on forbidden technology to combat the upcoming invasion. Messing with the space-time continuum, mankind was able to summon influential and powerful people from the past. They became known as Heroes of Relics. These heroes partied up and became Earth's last line of defense against the oncoming invasion. Albrecht Stein was part of the Heroes of Relics. However, he was kicked out of the party since they no longer needed a porter. His only particular skill was spatial storage space, and he was just an additional headcount, so they kicked him out. Just like the other Heroes, he was transported to the future with the sole purpose of defeating the Dark One. But now that his purpose was gone, he decided to live a quiet life in the countryside. That is until the final countdown was issued, and the world's destruction drew near.
A Surprise Dungeon Boss
For a split second, Albrecht was relieved that everyone was still alive. They arrived just in time, and as an added bonus, there's a possibility that he'd be able to get additional rewards, provided that no one dies on his watch.
[Skill 'Chronos Reversion' activated]
While the skill quickly drained his Zecian Aura, Albrecht didn't hesitate to use it so he could rescue Yulie and her party members— Craig Herculean (Tanker), Garam Filrith (Mage), and Lance Jacalope (DPS).
It took him four trips to get all of them to safety, making sure that they won't be affected by the whiplash since he was moving back and forth at insane speeds.
[Ghost Metal Knight (C-Rank)— born from the contrition and regrets of knights who died on the battlefield. They are the incarnation of sadness and regret and are especially sturdy. A Ghost Metal Knight could be defeated by stabbing the core in the chest.
Skills: Berserk Mode (A-Rank), Slash (F-Rank), Taunt (F-Rank), See more...
Level: 45
Stats: See more... ]
Back there, Yulie Rosethorn had thought that she was going to die. But before she lost consciousness, she noticed Albrecht's presence, and it gave her a sliver of hope.
Her Zecian Aura was completely depleted, but she managed to force a smile on her face before she completely lost consciousness. She muttered a soft thank you before fainting.
"Leave the rest to me," Albrecht muttered. Thanks to the System, he thought of a dozen ideas on how he'd deal with the Ghost Metal Knights.
However, dealing with the was one thing, and keeping everyone safe was another. If there were no people around him, he might have a chance at conquering the entire dungeon no holds barred.
There was a good chance that he might not survive though, since this was a B-Rank Dungeon.
"Asvi, take everyone out of here," Albrecht called out of nowhere.
At first, Asvi Winefield thought that he was kidding, but after seeing his serious expression, he realized that such wasn't the case.
"No, I'm going to help you." Asvi steeled his resolve. He had already pushed himself to enter the B-Rank Dungeon. There was no way he was going back now.
"Let us help you, Albrecht-san," Lucius Harvesta said, trying to hide the unease in his voice. "I'm sure we can win if we have the numbers."
It wasn't just Asvi and Lucius who decided to stay. In fact, everyone there was more than eager enough to join him in clearing the dungeon. Only Yulie couldn't voice her opinion since she already exhausted herself.
"Then... Sasha, can you take Yulie out of here? It's up to you if you want to return here or not, but I'll make sure that not a single Ghost Metal Knight would pour out of this dungeon."
At this point, the Ghost Metal Knights were already nearing them. They had talked long enough for the horde to approach the Zecian Portal.
It was now or never.
"Everyone, you know what to do," Albrecht called out. "I'll take the lead."
Since these were two groups, he knew that he didn't have to go out of his way to tell them what to do. All of them were Gold-Rank Adventurers so they have quite an experience with clearing dungeons.
Initially, he wanted them to retreat so he'd be sure to get the additional rewards. But they were insistent on joining him and he felt bad about turning them down.
There was the cliche route of telling them that they'd get in the way, or that they'd just be a burden. Albrecht didn't want to go that route.
Additionally, he'd have his work cut out for him if they dealt with other Ghost Metal Knights. He won't have to risk his life.
A group of Ghost Metal Knights lifted their axes on top of Albrecht before they brought them down.
[Skill 'Snowman Summoning' activated]
[Skill 'Song of Winter' activated]
[Skill: Snowman Summoning (B-Rank)— Summons an army of snowmen from snow. The amount of summons depended on the amount of Zecian Aura the skill user has.]
[Song of Winter (S-Rank)— a song sung by the winter faeries. Imbued in it is the blessing of winter, giving the user a boost to his ice skills by 30%. Grants complete nullification to the cold. Grants 60% movement speed in negative degrees temperature.]
It wasn't that cold, but the little boost in speed gave Albrecht the edge. He also used the skill 'Snowman Summoning' to summon a couple of snowmen. At his current level, he could only summon ten of them, and he had to continuously feed them Zecian Aura so they won't dissipate into thin air.
[Skill 'Causality Slash' activated]
Causality Slash is the ultimate form of Spatial Slash, and while it consumed more Zecian Aura, it gave Albrecht an easier time to cut through the Ghost Metal Knights' armor.
Fwip~!
Slash!
Slash!
With the movement akin to an agile speedster, Albrecht darted here and there, aiming at the chest of the Ghost Metal Knight closest to him. He commended his snowman summons to cover his blind spots so he didn't have to worry about getting attacked by surprise.
While the snowman summons were squishy and were easily destroyed, they did their job of covering for Albrecht.
It was an efficient method of eliminating Ghost Metal Knights, but it did exhaust Albrecht's aura severely.
Asvi and the others, who were safely holding their own against the Ghost Metal Knights, were surprised at how fast Albrecht was killing the C-Rank Monsters.
All of them didn't want to get outshone by one person, so they diligently worked harder, hacking and slashing at the Ghost Metal Knights while keeping them at bay.
[Ghost Metal Knight eliminated]
[Ghost Metal Knight eliminated]
[Ghost Metal Knight eliminated]
The number of windows appearing in front of Albrecht almost impeded his vision, but it didn't distract him. He was eliminating the Ghost Metal Knights at such a good pace, and at this rate, they might even conquer the B-Rank Dungeon without difficulty at all.
[Ghost Metal Knights killed 1229/3000]
—
A wave of relief washed over the group as the number of the Ghost Metal Knights consistently decreased. For a moment, they forgot that they were actually in a B-Rank Dungeon, not a C-Rank Dungeon.
There was a sudden drop in temperature, and then the two locked doors on the far end of the dungeon opened.
The first thought that came to everyone's mind was that the dungeon boss was about to come out, and they were this close to conquering the B-Rank Dungeon.
All of them felt the same sentiment, except for Albrecht.
As the gigantic concrete doors slowly opened, Albrecht felt goosebumps all over his body, as if his entire body was warning him of the looming danger that lurked behind the two doors.
[Ghost Metal Knight Commander (B-Rank) has appeared]
[Ghost Metal Frost Knight (A-Rank) has appeared]
Everyone felt the air choking them up. Their wave of relief was washed and replaced with a feeling of grief and despair.
There was not one, but two dungeon bosses!
The System didn't even bother updating Albrecht haha~ or maybe this was the first time it happened? o_o
A GIFT is something that should not be taken back. Once you give a gift, it's not yours to take no matter how SENTIMENTAL it was for you. :)
Just a reminder that y'all reader's gifts are much appreciated, and that once you gimme your power stones, you have to continue giving them to me hehhehhe!
Now gimme power stones uwu