Eblor (1)

There is a saying that goes, 'the first time is always the hardest'.

It's the same when it comes to battle.

The first time I faced the lava elemental, it took me a lot of effort to kill it, however, it was way easier when I fought it for the second time.

The third time it took half of the time of the first time, and the fourth time, I got rid of him in less than twenty seconds.

In the end, the lava elemental was strong, but its weakness was obvious. It lacked mobility.

Even though its firepower and defenses were outstanding, the fact that it was slow meant that as long as you had a method to get close to it and dealt a fatal blow, you should not have that much trouble killing it.

The proof was that even though the lava elemental became stronger as the level increased, I instead found it easier and easier to kill it.

However, the situation changed when I reached level fifty-seven.

The elemental in this level was just as slow as the others, but its firepower was on another level.

Every stream of lava it shot was so fast and accurate that it was close to hitting me a couple of times.

With its firepower, it was game over if I let an attack land on me, so it put me in a difficult situation.

And it worsened in the next two levels.

The lava elemental in level fifty-eight was way stronger, to the point that even the slightest carelessness could lead to my demise; but even then, it could not compare to the lava elemental in level fifty-nine.

In this level, the attack and defenses of the lava elemental were raised to the limits of tier five.

Every stream of lava shot by the monster was enough to turn a considerable part of the level into a burning hell. After just twenty seconds, the space I had to maneuver was reduced to just a few footholds inside the lava.

Fortunately, the training I went through in the dreamland had prepared me for situations like this. I made use of the walls, rocks, and stalagmites to move around the cave, eventually approaching the lava elemental and piercing the place where the core was located.

It took me three consecutive attacks to break through the elemental's defenses, but in the end, I managed to shatter the core.

When the figure of the elemental crumbled into fragments, I panted heavily while kneeling on one of the few footholds remaining.

"Is this level of difficulty even fair?" I murmured to myself while forcing my body to stand up.

Then, I looked to the sky, only to see that my ranking had risen to seventh place.

I was more surprised than happy.

"Damn, there are six people that managed to get through this hellish level before me!?"

The most surprising part was that three of these people were my acquittances. The first person was Sylvia, in the first place at level sixty-nine, next, it was my friend Andrew, who was in the second place after reaching level sixty-five; and finally, I was stunned to see the name of my little sister in the fifth place after having reached level sixty-two.

I was not sure how to react.

I was not surprised about Sylvia and Andrew. I mean, one of them is very mysterious and someone that the demon is wary of, and the other is a so-called 'hero' with the blessing of the world.

But what about my little sister? When did Ley become so strong?

I shook my head and stopped thinking about that. I need to focus on the next level.

I was not taken to the next level immediately, and instead, the system gave me a few seconds to rest. I made use of that time to heal my body and close my eyes briefly.

Even though I cheated and managed to find a way to heal my fatigue and wounds during the test, I can do nothing about my mental fatigue.

The last few battles were very intense, and I had to be in a completely focused state the entire time, so I really needed to take a breath.

The resting time lasted two minutes. After that, I felt my body turning into light as the scenery around me changed.

To my surprise, the next level was not in a hostile environment like the previous levels. Quite the opposite, it was in a green and vast prairie, filled with grass, flowers, and a few bushes.

The new environment surprised me slightly, however, I did not lower my guard.

I knew that my next enemy would be a tier-six monster and that it was going to be much harder to defeat than any of the previous monsters I faced.

While I was observing my surroundings cautiously, my next enemy appeared.

To my shock, what appeared in front of me was not a monster.

Instead, it was a brown-skinned woman with greenish hair, strange clothes, and a dagger in each hand.

But the most striking parts about her were her eyes and the strange patterns on her skin. Her eyes were lizard-like, with vertical pupils that gave a dangerous feeling, and her skin had patterns similar to tree bark.

Strangely, these patterns did not make her look ugly. Quite the opposite, it gave her a wild beauty that took let one breathless.

My pupils shrunk instantly.

She–

"… She is not human."

Twenty-eight years ago, the first dungeon appeared.

It caused a massive dungeon break that destroyed half a city and killed hundreds of thousands of people. However, that calamity was nothing compared to what happened twelve years later.

Sixteen years ago, when humanity was entangled in a desperate war against the dungeon monsters, they appeared.

The foreign races.

Inhabitants from other worlds who came to conquer earth.

It took them just a bit over five years to defeat most of humanity. The only reason they failed to conquer earth was due to the Protector Duke's deterrence.

And this woman is from one of these races.

The children of nature, born with outstanding mana and attuned to nature.

They are the eblors.

One of humanity's most hated enemies.