10,000-Year-Old Lightning Fruit

"Two down, eight to go," Karsha muttered, glancing at the book in his hand. He felt a sense of relief, knowing that the Shadow Guards were handling the Old Man's mission. Consulting the map, Karsha discovered that the Amber Ambusher and Auric Blade monster snakes were located in the Thunder Peak section of the forest. Confident in his decision, he had assigned the Shadow Guards to deal with them.

Karsha had three main objectives. First, he aimed to kill as many different breeds of snakes as possible to absorb their venom, bloodline, and blood essence. Second, he sought to locate the pieces of the Book of Annihilation, a task he had accomplished within an hour. Finally, he planned to deepen his understanding of the sword and integrate as many skills into his domain as possible, while enhancing their ratings to higher levels.

His goal was to elevate his skills to at least an 'S' rating before the crucial day arrived. With the Shadow Guards assisting him in farming skill points, he intended to acquire no fewer than Tier 7 skills for battle. The higher the tier, the greater the damage output.

Once he had assembled all the pieces of the Book of Annihilation, the real mission would begin. With the book's guidance, he could discern the weaknesses of his targets and determine the most effective strategies.

According to Sun Tzu, "It is better to know thyself and know thy enemy." Understanding his enemy's capabilities would help Karsha adapt his tactics. Compared to the overlords, Karsha was weak. These behemoths had the power to level entire kingdoms.

Without any information, Karsha would be squashed like a bug before he even faced them. However, with the Book of Annihilation, he could level the playing field to a ratio of 30:70. He would still be outmatched, but armed with knowledge of their weaknesses, he might just manage to survive.

"Tsk, the Shadow Guards sure like to show off. But I can't blame them; they just want to impress me," Karsha said, glancing at the dozens of messages from kills made by the Shadow Guards. They had taken down Tier 6 monsters and even some mutants.

"Well, color me impressed. I hope the drops increase as well. We have less than a day here, so let's make it count," Karsha said. Like a ghost, he blinked into the shadows and started heading toward a group of Tier 5 and four Tier 6 Auric Blade monster snakes.

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"That will be the last of them," Killian said, slamming the butt edge of his shield onto the head of the Tier 6 monster snake. As a shield bearer with a body-enhancing attribute, his current form was that of a 3-meter-tall, handsome demon, rather than his usual 2-meter-tall, bulky, handsome snake man.

His muscles expanded and contracted as he lifted and slammed his massive shield. "Alida, handle the venom. Your fire can neutralize almost any venom," Dhaka instructed. The F-cup archeress removed her dagger and began extracting the venom into the vials Karsha had given them.

"I found another five orbs. I guess we're luckier than Karsha... I mean, the Annihilator," Ayarr said, her face flushing red with embarrassment.

"Don't be embarrassed, Ayarr. He already told us to call him by his name. No need to have that tomato face," Dhaka joked. Despite his words, they found it difficult to address Karsha by his real name. It wasn't their fault; they had grown up hearing legends about the Annihilator. Meeting him in person, even though he still had a long way to go, made it hard for them to use his human name.

"That will be the tenth one. We have to gather more," Tifa, the mage, said, her voice filled with childlike excitement. Her happiness since learning that the Annihilator had helped wake them from a 45-year poisoned sleep hadn't waned.

A naturally cheerful lady, Tifa found joy in even the smallest things. "Let's kill more. Since we've secured more than enough venom from both Amber Ambusher and Auric Blade monster snakes, we can now expand the hunt to other breeds," she added. The group nodded in agreement and began heading further into the valley.

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Meanwhile, Karsha arrived a few meters from the dozen snake monsters. Instead of deploying his domain, he sensed something was off and decided to investigate first before attacking.

Using his blink skill, he moved from one shadow to the next, approaching the monsters cautiously. The closer he got, the more ominous the vibe he felt.

"What's that?" Karsha muttered under his breath as he gazed at a tree bathed in lightning. "No, I'm out of here." Below the tree, two Tier 6 Dark Mutant snake monsters were sleeping.

Surrounding the two mutants were twelve Tier 5 monster snakes and two additional Tier 6 monster snakes. "This is suicide. I'm out of here," Karsha repeated, but before he could blink away, the system notification window appeared.

< Ding! You have discovered a 10,000 Lightning Fruit. Consuming will awaken the Lightning Element and grant the host's strength and speed >

<Ding! New Quest>

< Kill the 12 Tier 5, Tier 6, and the two Tier 6 Dark mutants and secure the lightning Fruit >

Category: Single Quest

Rating: SS (Dangerous)

Duration: 20 Minutes

Failure: The host will get a 60% debuff on all stats for 10 days and cannot absorb new Venom till the countdown is over.

< Rewards >

-- +50 to all stats

-- 3,000 Skill points

-- 5,000 years Lightning Fruit

-- Legendary Rank Technique (Lightning base)

[ Note: Kill the Mutants in close combat and get a hidden reward ]

"Damn it, why did I even come here?" Karsha cursed his luck as he gazed at the formidable line-up he had to clear in just 20 minutes.

"System, how many skill points do I have?"

[Skill Points: 3,560]

"Good, upgrade Lightning Strike, Water Domain, and Ever Freezing Ice Domain to Tier 8."

< Ding! Upgrade Successful. Skills: Lightning Strike, Water Carpet, and Ever Freezing Ice Domain have been upgraded from Tier 7 to Tier 8. Does the host wish to see the new upgrades? >

"No. Now use the rest of the points to upgrade Fire Beam."

< Ding! Upgrade successful. Fire Beam skill has been upgraded from Tier 4 to Tier 6. >

Feeling a surge of power, Karsha prepared to face the daunting challenge ahead.

With the clock ticking, Karsha made his way closer to the tree. Once he was within 100 meters, the Tier 6 mutants sensed his presence, but they were too slow. Karsha had already activated his domain and appeared beside one of the mutants with two flaming swords in hand.

He unleashed a barrage of flame attacks, sending hundreds of fiery strikes at the mutants. His three domain skill variations were activated, but there were slight changes to them.

The first variation, [Ever Freezing Water Carpet], instantly froze the Tier 5 monsters and managed to slow down the Tier 6 monsters. But that wasn't all. On the surface of the ice carpet, a greenish flame started burning.

The Tier 5 monsters, already suffering from a huge debuff, began losing HP rapidly. The green flames devoured their health at an alarming rate, indicating just how intense the fire was. Chunks of HP vanished every second, showcasing the overwhelming power of Karsha's domain attack.

The second variation, [Frozen Lightning Rain], had also transformed. Frozen shards coated with lightning continued to rain down with incredible force. Initially, the damage output wasn't significant, but now it has skyrocketed. The upgrade came from the greenish fire coating on the tips of the shards, similar to the first variation.

However, the most significant and remarkable change occurred in the third variation. Previously, the frozen lightning spears were thin and less than a meter tall. Now, they had increased in both width and length, extending a little over 2 meters with razor-sharp edges.

But the most striking aspect was that the spears, instead of being merely composed of lightning, were now engulfed in fiercely burning green flames. The ice had also transformed, appearing sturdier and almost metal-like. The Tier 5 and Tier 6 monsters stood no chance against this overwhelming power.

As Karsha targeted the Mutants, he knew facing even one under normal circumstances would be daunting. Yet, capitalizing on his domain's debuff, he continued to attack while skillfully evading their counterattacks.

"This feeling again," Karsha muttered, ten minutes into the battle, sensing the familiar sensation. "I need to understand this before the fight ends," he resolved, focusing intensely on the sensation, momentarily distracted from the damage he inflicted.

Unbeknownst to him, his attacks had grown significantly more potent. The flames emanating from his swords had intensified in temperature, leaving deep burn marks with each strike against the snakes' bodies.

After five intense minutes, the first mutant fell. However, Karsha lost in contemplation, failed to notice that his attacks had become three times stronger than before. By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, the last mutant fell just two minutes before the end of the allotted 20 minutes.

"Damn it. I was so close," Karsha cursed aloud as the sensation vanished instantly after the last mutant fell. The three variations had already dealt with the Tier 5 and Tier 6 monsters within the first 10 minutes.

A barrage of system messages continued to pop up, but he chose to ignore them, his attention fixated on the single lemon-sized fruit bathed in lightning.

< The host must secure the fruit and consume it immediately >

The system chimed in, jolting Karsha out of his frustration. With the system's guidance, he approached the tree and plucked the fruit.

"Let's get back to the safe zone first," he said, blinking into the shadows and swiftly moving back to the safe zone to consume the 10,000-year-old Lightning Fruit.