Chapter Ten

"So, if you could sit over here."

The Nurse was pointing at Park's bed.

~hum

[All insignia on the user's body are now hidden]

She gently unwrapped his bandages until she was done.

There were small cuts on his skin. His bandage was slightly cleaner. Less bloody than that of the other recruits. 

"I think you're good to go."

Park was out of the infirmary.

~hum

[All insignia on the user's body are now visible]

Park walked all the way to his dorm room. He was happy he was back. The past few days were heavy on him.

Sadly, they were about to become heavier.

There was a knocking on his door.

He didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Mr. Park are you there?"

Nooo?

Park opened the door.

"Get dressed and go to the field." Sheriff was quick about it

And he was gone.

And that's how Park's day was robbed.

With a sigh, he donned his uniform and was out. When he got to the field, he saw a bus.

"Get in we're gonna be late."

It was a new instructor. Red hair in a messy bun smoking a cigar with a bored look on his face.

"So today were going to take a visit to a slime dungeon and we'll have someone new joining us." he lazily said.

The recruits all looked at Park.

"Sheriff has told me great things about you."

Uh?

He did?

THAT sheriff?

"So, I hope you won't be a bother. I hate that. Oh, and my name is Ilani."

Five-star introduction.

Soon the bus was on the road. 15 minutes later they were at their destination.

"Ok when everyone gets off, you go inside the dungeon and bring me twenty slime cores, don't care what kind."

"Everyone played enough with their frequencies?" Ilani asked.

Park raised his hand.

"Our class actually didn..."

"You know what? Don't care," He sharply interjected.

"Just come back alive or something."

Park slowly lowered his hand.

He was the last to leave the bus. He took a good look at the instructor and only got an eyebrow raise and raised shoulders in return.

I guess each market has its own madman.

Park was now standing before the gate. A cool wind gushed from the other side.

"Well here goes nothing."

With this he closed his eyes and got in the gate.

He could still feel the breeze on his face. He was light. It felt like he was in the air. He heard a bird chirp past him. He could almost taste the clouds.

Clouds?

He opened his eyes. His surroundings were all white. Another bird passed him. Then he looked below.

Then he started to fall.

Panic.

Screaming.

"Remember you don't know where you will fall. So always be prepared for anything."

Was this what he meant? Literally????

He was past the clouds now, now he was quickly approaching a blue area. It was a small sea. 

With a last shout he plunged into the blue abyss.

Darkness.

~hum

[High durability has absorbed the impact]

[Blessing of the Earth Giants has absorbed the impact]

[Blessing of the Earth Giants has absorbed too much impact]

[A cooldown has been initiated]

[Congratulations]

[A new achievement!]

[Safe Landing (I) has been unlocked]

[Durability has slightly increased]

Sometime later, Park came to.

Washed up on the shore. How much time had passed?

~hum

[A New Quest has been issued]

[Absorb 10 souls]

[Difficulty: Easy]

[Rewards: Stats Increase, Attune Increase]

With a huff Park got up and dusted himself.

[A soul has been identified]

Park saw him. One of the recruits that was on the bus with him, impaled by his own design. He was of the metal element. Guess he suffered the same fate as him. Park silently approached the dying young man. A huge metal clump from the ground skewed through his neck.

All Park could hear was a gurgling sound as blood poured out from his mouth. Park held the victim's hand as the light left his eyes.

[Absorbtion will begin shortly]

A dark mass spread from Park's feet and encircled the dead body.

He was slowly pulled in along with the metal that made its way through his neck.

[1/10]

Without a sound, Park ventured into the woods.

[2/10]

[3/10]

[4/10]

[New frequency fragment acquired]

[5/10]

[New frequency fragment acquired]

[2/3 fragments of ??? frequency acquired]

[6/10]

[7/10]

[8/10]

[9/10]

He was almost complete. This batch wasn't quite the lucky one. Nine were already gone by Park's calculations. 

Or was he an omen?

While he was still walking through these woods, he saw something, or he felt it. A shadow whizzed by shaking the bushes. He was on high alert.

"Seismic sense."

[Seismic sense is now active]

Waves rippled over the surfaces that surrounded him. He could see it now.

Then it attacked.

There was a spitting sound.

"EARTH'S EMBRACE!"

Numerous little rocky hands surrounded him. They formed a whole shield around Park. 

He heard it.

Something made contact with his shield. A wet slimy sound. Then a sizzling. The attacked part broke apart and gave way to light that filled this small encasing that Park was in. The mysterious black liquid dripped in. It bubbled and popped and ate away at the ground that the liquid made contact with.

His shield could not keep up. Whatever this was. It was leagues ahead of him and if he did not figure out a way to deal with it. It wouldn't be a pretty end for Park.

But he was in a slime dungeon. When did they get this strong? Last time he checked, slimes were really loved by newbie adventurers because they were quick to hunt and posed no threat.

Well now it seems the story changed. There was something new happening. Something terrifying. Already nine souls had been claimed or maybe even more by the looks of it.

Park racked his brains on how he could defeat his mysterious new assailant. Meanwhile he was still suffering from a barrage of this melting attacks. His shield was giving up. More and more light filtered in. Until he heard it.

Syyyysssttteemmm

"System?"

~buzz

[Error]

[External interference confirmed]

[System is currently unavailable]

[Quests and Achievements will still be recorded]

[Notifications will still be active]

What did Park have at the moment?

His Earth element.

And his illusion skill.

[2/3 fragments required]

[Illusion can be used but it will have reduced efficiency]

[Do you wish to use it?]

[Y/N]

It was worth the risk. Park got into action.

[Y]

[The first sector is stirring]

The last piece of the shield fell. Park stood there unarmed. The assailant launched an attack at Park. His head was blasted to smithereens.

It was a short pause. Then the mysterious creature came to light. A black shiny gloss hopped into the open field. A slime. It walked over to Park's corpse to inspect if he was still alive. It stood over him for quite some time.

Then it stretched over him. It was ready to consume him.

"Gotcha."

"Park" crumbled to dust. The creature didn't have enough time to react.

"Earth Spike."

A sharp clump of earth shot through the creature's now thin membrane and destroyed its core.

[Poison Slime has been defeated]

[Emergency Quest has been issued]

[Kill 10 Poison Slimes]

[0/10]

Why is it saying zero?

[Since the core has been destroyed, it has been declared invalid]

What?

I almost died back there.

[Achievement Earned]

[First Kill has been unlocked]

Park had to do it better. He had to put more effort now.

[Ink has stirred awake by a frequency scent]

[Ink is eyeing the damaged core]

"Sure, you can have it."

[Core has been absorbed]

[The last fragment has been confirmed]

[The new frequency is being revealed]

[Poison frequency has been unlocked]

[Poison core has been analyzed]

[Poison Resistance has been unlocked]

[Two Resistances have been obtained]

[The requirements have been met]

[A new sector has been forged]

[Night Shade will be forged on the user's body]

Or maybe he didn't.