17 The quest for water[5]

'As expected, my Agility went up.'

After the fight, his Agility went up by 1.

The more he pushed himself towards the boundary between life and death, the faster his stats will rise.

"Crush these herbs and rub them on your wounds. We leave in 5 minutes."

He took out some herbs from his storage bag and distributed a small portion to everyone.

*

After following several leads, they arrived at the Gnoll's den.

He had received a Satan's quest as popularly known to massacre the Gnoll tribe that reside here

It was a huge cave.

Clomp.

The sound of their footsteps echoed out.

There was no way to figure out how deep the cave was.

"Raise your torches and step lightly. I will lead. Steve, you bring up the back."

"Wouldn't it be better if I was at the front?"

"Don't question my orders."

"... Okay."

No matter what, they had to return by midnight.

There was no time for him to explain every detail.

After arranging everyone in a line, he headed into the cave.

Not long after, they were able to hear the cries of the Gnolls.

When he shed the torchlight around him, they were able to see approximately 300 mindless Gnolls scattered around every corner.

"Huuk!"

"Gasp!"

The two sides engaged in a tooth and nail battle.

This is how began the massacre of the Gnolls.

*

From the floor to the ceiling, it seemed to be 50 meters tall and there was a multitude of holes on the walls.

'These are the tunnels the Gnolls use to move around.'

This was the center where all the tunnels led to.

"A shrine?"

Bill softly spoke out.

His eyes fell on a certain place.

At the end of the cavern, there was a shrine.

There was a hexagram drawn in the center and statues of a goddess were spread out around it.

Although it looked old and rusted, everyone was captivated by its magnificence.

'A shrine with the statue of Cerebus huh.'

Cerberus.

A race that is only mentioned in the folk tales. It is a three-headed beast all of its head being that of a dog. It is mentioned as the ferocious dog that guards the gate to hell.

However even after humans were summoned to hell never in their existence had they met a creature that resembles a Cerberus.

It had remained a creature that resembled the only folklore.

'What do I do.'

Klautz motionlessly stared at the shrine.

The place strangely resembles some of the trial grounds he had seen back in hellfeim.

"Could it be..??"

if this was a trial then it would be a newfound treasure. No one in hellfeim knows about its existence yet and so will be the case in the future.

There would be treasures in every place such trial grounds were.

For example, on one of the trial grounds, a book was discovered.

Magicians who have read the Book of Amon gained 10 years' worth of training from simply reading the book.

Those who rigorously studied the book became Grand Magicians... The owner of the book's class was changed to the secret class 'Arch Mage' and constructed the Tower of Wisdom which allowed him to confidently place in the top 10 among humans.

Of course, he expected that this place would be as risky as the retrieval of the Book of Amon, where more than 500 people lost their lives...

'There is only one chance.'

If he fails, that was it.

After a month, they will be summoned to hellfeim.

Once they arrive in Hellfeim, they will not be able to return to the beginner's area. Also, there was no guarantee that they would be able to come back to the shrine within a month.

He was at a crossroad.

If they were successful in investigating the shrine, Klautz will have an unbelievable advantage over others. On the other hand, if he failed, he will die.

"We will go inside."

He made his decision.

Hellfeim was a place where nothing could be gained without risk.

The rewards were too tempting to just let this opportunity pass by.

<You have successfully massacred the Gnoll tribe>

<Number of Gnoll's killed>

<Greatest contributor: Klautz>

<The Satan is pleased with your actions>

<Steve Larrison and Bill Ritter would be granted the skill Gnoll's cry, E rank>

<Klautz will be granted the skill Gnoll's cry, D rank>

Skill description

Name: Gnoll's cry

Effect: All Gnolls within a 10-meter radius will be stunned for a duration dependent on the rank of the skill.

*

Rumble!

As soon as they stepped into the shrine, the ground below them shook and words appeared in front of their eyes.

<You have entered the Cradle of Satan.>

<Satan was born from malice and all things evil>

<As long as darkness engulfs the heart of men Satan shall live>

<Satan had hidden the existence of its birth>

<For everything that has born a way to die>

<To those who tread into his Cradle only their own decisions shall decide fate>

That was all that Klautz could read after which he fainted.

However, a sharp pain ran through the head of the others while they remained conscious.

<Embryonic Stem Energy of Satan is flowing into your body>

Klautz's status screen:

<Warning! >

<Race incompatible. Proceeding with forceful evolution>

<Evolution complete>

<The special stat 'Devil's Aura' has been manifested>

<Checking skill compatibility>

<The class "Spirit Conjurer" has been granted>

<The class skill "Spirit Detection" and Charm" have been created>

<You have received the weapon Tosas's Demonic Spirit>

--

Author's thoughts:

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And do drop some stones. Those stones are my salvation... my only motivation to continue writing, continue working.

And do drop some reviews to let me know if you would want me to continue with this work.

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