[You have slain "Ghoul lv11", gained 1500EXP!]
[You have slain "Flesh Monster lv10", gained 1350EXP!]
Stark kept advancing through the level 10 area, able to kill most of the monsters in one hit, only the 'flesh monsters' posed a challenge, their sturdy bodies requiring three strikes to take them down due to their massive 2000HP pool.
He hadn't had the opportunity to use [Aura Smash] yet since most enemies came alone, and he felt like it was a waste of time to try something that could reveal his location.
It wasn't long until he found an opportunity though, because as he began turning the corner of a seemingly empty street, he saw a hord of monsters, at least ten of them, just grouping around, looking at the sky, specifically at the Black Sun.
'…' Stark stared at the lot.
"Aura Smash, activate!"
One of his hands began glowing with a crimson aura, brighter than it ever had been before.
'Looks like using this skills makes it so that most of my aura focus's on this hand…' he analyzed the skill as he used it, thinking about its weaknesses as using too much aura meant he was left defenseless if anything happened, his aura wasn't infinite after all.
Luckily, it wasn't the case this time, and so he was able to test out his ability.
Closing one of his eyes for precision, he adjusted his hand to aim in the middle of the hord of monsters.
And although it took him some time since it was his first time using it, he finally unleashed his skill.
He threw a punch, and a giant crimson fist of aura flew out of his hand, aimed towards the monsters.
It followed a trajectory Stark perfectly calculated, and after a few seconds, the aura impacted with the group of monsters, falling in the middle of them as they were all watching the sky.
~BOOM~
A massive explosion of aura hit the monsters, and the damage numbers appeared soon enough.
"-1938!"
"-1648!"
"-1293!"
The closer they were to the middle, the more damage they received, and by the end of the explosion, only one monster remained: a ghoul that had been a bit farther from the group.
It was looking at its dead companions, confused as to how all of them died in an instant, but unable to move as it was stunned.
[HP: 539/1350]
[Status Effect: Stun]
It also received a fair amount of damage, so it only took Stark one simple punch for the Ghoul to fall to the ground.
"Jackpot," Stark thought to himself, impressed with the power of his new skill.
"Aura Smash" was indeed a game-changer, allowing him to attack massive groups of monsters and also be allowed to use it from afar, although it did take him awhile to aim.
Maybe it would become even stronger when his domination skill and aura would level up, but until then, he was satisfied.
[You have slain three "Ghouls lv11", gained 4500EXP!]
[You have slain four "Decaying Corpses lv10", gained 4400EXP!]
[You have slain two "Black Priests lv12", gained 3500EXP!]
[Experience: 15800/25000]
'Hehe~' he was secretly proud of himself for that, wouldn't anyone be after growing stronger, but of course he didn't let it show on the outside, although there was nobody around.
He kept going after that.
But after focusing his attention far into the street ahead, he saw something weird: there was a giant fire burning.
'Huh?'
He approached it cautiously, not knowing what to expect. The fire was so large that it lit up the entire street, casting a warm and safe glow upon the surroundings, different from the darkness.
'A bonfire…?' he made sense of what it was when he was close enough.
But his view wasn't his only sense that was being triggered right now, his ears too.
He heard a faint music, and a voice singing in the direction of the bonfire?
'Humans? Are these guys dumb, they are going to attract monsters!' he began running in the direction of the bonfire, it was only a kilometer in front of him, so not that far.
[You have slain a "Ghoul lv11", gained 1500EXP!]
[You have slain a "Shadow Figure lv10", gained 1300EXP!]
On his way, he had to kill some monsters, but they didn't even put a dent on him.
He was now only 100 meters away from the bonfire.
~Laling Lalang~
The music intensified as he approached, now able to hear another person sing alongside it.
"And when the fire of your heart burns~ Nothing will be left for them to take~"
Only 50 meters.
"The light at the end is growing~ And it transcends everything I know~"
As he approached the 10 meters mark, the heat from the roaring bonfire licked at Stark's skin.
He could feel the warmth enveloping him, creating a sense of safety and comfort that he had not felt in a long time.
And suddenly, as if entering a different realm, Stark felt at ease for the first time.
"Oy~ Looks like someone else joined us!" one of the boys sitting on the ground next to the bonfire called out with a smile.
His short brown hair was ruffled and a scar adorned his right eye. In his hands, he held a yukulele which he had been playing to lift the mood.
Beside him sat another boy with black hair and a blank expression. He had been singing along with an unchanging expression this whole time, his magic staff resting beside him.
"Didn't expect someone else to come here so soon, and alone at that!" the yukulele player nodded in agreement, almost as if he was acknowledging Stark's strength.
"What is this…?" Stark asked, confused, he had felt a shiver run down his spine once he approached the bonfire, a feeling of safety taking over him.
"Hm… it's weird that you don't know, but I might as well use my knowledge to help ya~" the brown-haired man got up and brushed off the dirt from his ass , then pointed at the bonfire, "This thing is the halfway point of the rift, it serves as a landmark."
"Hm," Stark nodded.
"But that's not all," he smiled, "You see that sun above you right?"
"The Black Sun?"
"Yep yep," he nodded, "The more you stay under it, the more cursed you are."
And just as he said, when Stark thought about the black sun curse, a panel appeared in front of him.
[Black Sun Curse: 74%]
But right as he saw that…
[Black Sun Curse: 73%]
'It's going down?'
"The bonfire allows you to remove the black sun curse from your body, that's why the two of us are waiting!"
"Oh well… I hope you don't mind if I join you then," Stark kneeled down to sit on the ground, then quickly noticed that there were several monsters beside them, so he immediately got up and prepared himself to fight.
"They won't attack, they can't attack when you are near the bonfire…" the black-haired boy spoke for the first time.
"What's your name by the way," the yukulele player asked.
"…" Stark thought for a second, giving his real name wouldn't be beneficial, especially if they knew he was THE Stark, "Stalk," he answered on a whim.
"What a weird name…" he laughed, "The name's Kent, and the gloomy guy beside me is Bill!"
And just like that, Stark sat on the ground beside the bonfire, waiting for the curse of the Black Sun to go before he could continue.
After all, Stark did not plan to stick together with anyone, he would take the boss by himself.
The blonde-haired girl that had helped Stark before had been waiting outside the city ruins for a bit, checking her surroundings and the people around as they all formed teams or sold items.
"Do you want to team with us Lana?" a group of girls, sparkles in their eyes, spoke, "We are big fans and we can be of help."
Lana dismissed them though, "Sorry, I plan to go alone."
Of course, that was a lie, she obviously had some life-saving items in hand to protect her in case of dangerous situations, so technically she wouldn't be alone, plus it would be great if she could meet someone to team up with, precisely someone that isn't annoying.
The first face that wandered in her mind as she thought of that was Stark's, but she shook it off as she knew that Stark wasn't that strong, at least not strong enough to be at her level.
And then… she entered the 'City Ruins', almost thirty minutes after Stark did, yet there were actually lots of people still outside.
As she entered the ruins, she quickly noticed the presence of the 'Black Sun' and read the panel that informed her about whatever it was doing to this place.
Lana would usually have many bodyguards surrounding her, but in this situation she categorically refused, she would need to survive on her own at one point or another, so she couldn't be protected forever was what she said to her father.
"-224!"
"-271!"
"-182!"
She saw people fight monsters, some dealing good amount of damage, while others less.
For their current level, the average damage that could be dealt was probably from 200 to 300, especially in this first dungeon, meaning it would take a few hits to kill each monster.
Lana on the other hand… She was an archer.
She pulled her bow out of her backpack, as well as some very well crafted arrows, then pointed them at two 'decaying corpses lv6' that were alone, walking towards her.
She fired two arrows at the same time, and then…
"-938! -973!"
The two monsters fell, killed by a single attack.
But it wasn't unexpected…
"Oh wow… she did 900 damage, she must be strong!"
"That's Lana Moonless after all, she has overpowered equipment…"
Lana ignored such talk, after all, she had precisely ordered her father and family to not hand her anything that would give her an advantage, instead she had just an average bow with average arrows, although with better materials.
The other reason this amount of damage wasnt surprising was because…
Lana was level 19, far exceeding the recommended level of this dungeon and most of the people in here, also she had a very good talent.
And so just like that, more and more people started pouring inside the 'City Ruins' rift, now fighting the monsters inside alongside their friends/teammates.
***
(Around the bonfire)
Kent and Bill were extremely considerate, they didn't even ask Stark about his class or about why he didn't have a weapon with him: for them, as long as you came all the way here alone, it meant that you were strong.
"Are you guys teaming?" Stark asked.
"Oh, no," Kent shook his head, "I came here around fifteen minutes ago, and only five minutes later did this guy come," he pointed at Bill.
'Doesn't that mean these guys met like ten minutes ago then immediately began singing together…?' Stark wondered, but of course didn't say that out loud.
"Then you must already be cured from the black sun curse, aren't you?" Stark continued, "Why are you here?"
Kent grinned, clearly enjoying the conversation. "Well, Stalk," he said, using Stark's made-up name, "Look to your right!"
Stark did as he was told, and in the distance he could see a wall of silver fog that took up the entire street, impossible to see beyond it.
"That's the entrance to the mini-boss area, every classifier must traverse it and defeat the monster there, whether in group or solo," Kent pointed at it, "We don't want to risk it as mini-bosses are stronger than normal enemies, so we're waiting for more people!"
Although these guys had the strength to come here all by themselves, making them almost equal to Stark in term of power, they were still not delusional enough to attempt to defeat a mini-boss by themselves.
"Hm…" Stark grinned as in comparison to them, he was actually crazy enough to take on the challenge.
[Black Sun Curse: 0%]
He was completely cured from the curse, but that's not all.
[HP: 400/400]
It seemed like the bonfire also had healing properties, allowing him to be healed.
'Almost feels like a checkpoint before a boss battle,' Stark smiled, 'Unfortunately enough for me though, there are no second chances…'
After discussing with Kent and Bill a bit more, he decided that it was time.
"I think i'll go ahead by myself," he spoke, getting up from his seat.
Kent and Bill looked at each other with widened eyes before looking back at Stark, "Are you sure? I mean, this is basically suicide…"
"I think i'll be fine, if I just sit around and wait for people to help me, then it wouldn't help me in the future, i'd rather risk my life and become stronger by myself," he shrugged as he left the bonfire space, now allowing monsters to sense and attack him.
[You have slain three "Decaying Corpses lv10", gained 3300EXP!]
[You have slain two "Cursed Hounds lv11", gained 2900EXP!]
Seeing him fight up close, Kent and Bill were surprised, they had never heard of someone fight with their fists, even alchemists needed to use potions and items to fight after all.
And yet the numbers that were displayed each time Stark hit an enemy were undeniable.
"-1927!"
[You have slain a "Ghoul lv11", gained 1500EXP]
Right as he reached the edge of the giant silver fog wall, a golden glow envelopped his body.
[Your level has increased to level 6, granting you one skill point and boost in stats]
[Experience: 1300/35000]
He was ready to enter it, but right as he was about to, he heard a voice from behind.
"GOOD LUCK!" Kent shouted, then gave him a thumbs up, "I hope to see you another time, Stalk!"
Stark grinned, he didn't know this guy either, but he couldn't deny he was interesting.
"Goodbye," he whispered before traversing the fog.
[You have entered the mini-boss area, there is no going back from here]
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Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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