Landing softly, Shiro breath out a wave of cold mist as the snowfall lightened up before stopping completely.
[MP: 3400/9300]
Her MP usage wasn't too extreme as the main catalyst for the blizzard was her passive Cold Aura.
As a seasoned veteran in combat, she could control the amount of bloodlust she exhibited. By pushing the limit of her bloodthirst, she could actively freeze her surroundings without using MP and instead, make it more efficient to use her Ice magic.
Kicking the fragments of the chest away, Shiro was disappointed that there were no mana stone to harvest.
"[Collect]"
"Oh my, well isn't this something..." Shiro muttered seeing the loot.
It wasn't that the loot was bountiful. It was just a single key.
[Tier 2 Trial Key]
A key to access the Tier 2 trial – [Silvermoon Keep]
Recommended Level: 40
This was a concept Shiro was unfamiliar with. There had never been a mention or a rumour about Trial Key's back in her previous life. An unfamiliar concept means undiscovered adventurers.
And undiscovered adventures mean undiscovered opportunities.
Storing the key away in her inventory, Shiro had a smile plastered on her face as just thinking about the mystery of this key made her giddy.
"With that being said, I should probably enter when I'm level 45 or something." Shiro muttered since the recommended level could potentially mean the minimum level needed to survive. Barely.
Looking around as she now had the time to inspect her surroundings in much greater detail, Shiro saw that there was another room connected to the room she was in.
Walking through the crack in the walls to reach the room, she saw the location update once more.
[Trickster's Abode]
"Trickster's Abode? The thing had a house?!" Shiro muttered.
Walking through the cave walls, she eventually found the abode as she was surprised at what she saw.
A clear stream circled a small island in the centre of the cave. From the island, a simple wooden bridge was present to connect the tunnel and the island together.
A single lone cabin stood atop the island as it gave Shiro a feeling of loneliness.
Illuminated by glowing stalactites, the scenery almost looked mystic.
Walking over, Shiro came up to the door of the cabin.
'The cabin seems to have been here for a long time…' Shiro thought seeing all of the dust that had gathered over time.
Opening the door, Shiro coughed slightly from all the dust.
The interior was simple. A bookshelf and a rocking chair. Besides the rocking chair, was a small table.
A decorated book laid on top of the table as it seemed like a grimoire of sorts. A grimoire was a book that contains a skill and most often than none, a tale.
Picking up the book, Shiro opened it to give it a quick read.
[Grimoire of the Broken]
In life, I was a genius. A master of disguise.
There was no one who I couldn't fool.
Yet, because of this talent, I had lost sight of myself. Trapped in a myriad of personalities that had become too real for me to forget.
In my struggle of multiple personalities, someone gave me light. No matter the personality, she accepted them.
Only one thing became a common factor amongst my thoughts. My love for her.
But who knew she was the princess of the royal family?
Her family hated me, who was but a trickster, a clown suffering from his own talents.
Afraid that their daughter was tricked by me, they interrogated me.
Oh, how laughable. My talent who broke me internally was fixed by her. Yet, it was her family who broke me once more.
Same question different answers.
That was the interrogation in its simplest form. No personality agreed with the other as the answers I gave was nothing but a jumbled mess.
Disgusted with me, they banished me to this Dungeon without her knowledge. She must think I abandoned her…
Trapped in a dungeon that she doesn't even know existed; I wait for my time to come.
To whoever reads this, I hope that you may find it in you fulfil a dead man's wish and pass on my message to my love.
There is only one thing in my life that will never change. My love for you.
The Trickster, The Broken
Saul Rundall
"…" Shiro was speechless.
'First of all, who the hell do you want me to pass this message too?! I don't know her name, I don't know her rough location nor do I know about why the hell this still exists?!' Shiro thought to herself.
When a Dungeon resets, a total wipe should occur. Monster's, items, everything. So for this place to exist was strange in and of itself.
And to top it all off, this Saul Rundall gave her a wild goose chase, he never once mentioned the name of that princess.
"Everyone has a love story or two, but I'm afraid you won't get your wish." Shiro apologised as she flipped to the end of the book.
[Learn Talent: Trickster?]
"A talent?" Shiro muttered. She was somewhat expecting a skill but not a talent. The difference between a talent and a skill was the talent being more natural, more powerful and more efficient.
It requires less MP and it gives you a title. Naturally, there are double sided talents like what Saul Rundall had suggested in his tale.
Shiro could guess that the Trickster talent would develop a split personality should one abuse it too much.
[Talent: Trickster]
All disguise, misdirection and stealth related skills are 70% more effective.
Title: Trickster
Passive – Perfect Actor
Act in the manner of anyone, fictional or real, without flaws.
Curse: Broken
Over time, Perfect Actor would develop a split personality inside you.
"Not worth it." Shiro concluded. Recycling the book, Shiro scanned the books on the bookshelf.
However, she sighed in disappointment when she realised they had nothing important.
Walking out of the cabin, she made her way back to the obelisk.
'I guess in the end, it was an ok trip.' Shiro thought as her best harvest was probably the key to the [Silvermoon Keep].
Tapping the second floor on the obelisk, her body was teleported away.
*CLANG CLANG!
The moment she was teleported, Shiro felt killing intent and summoned her two daggers.
Looking above her, she could see two ants with blades for arms.
"Wow, so hasty to kill me so soon." Shiro grinned at the challenge.
Quickly ducking, Shiro avoided another blade as the three blades above her head clashed with one another.
Her mind worked quickly as she put strength into her arms and pushed the ants up ever so slightly so she could roll out of danger.
Rolling on the ground slightly, she did a flip as she flung her daggers towards the three ants.
*BOOM!
The dagger froze all three ants but Shiro kept a serious face on.
Kicking her body off the ground slightly, she twisted mid-air so that she was parallel to the ground.
*PHEW PHEW!
Two blades cut above and below her. If she stayed still, the blades would have hit her head and legs.
Reaching out to touch the flat sides of the blades, Shiro froze the Ants just before she landed once more.
In that short exchange, Shiro had managed to freeze 5 Ants.
"Damn, you guys are relentless." Shiro commented as she shattered the ice and killed all 5 ants.
"And then I'm left with the rest of you." Shiro said, turning around to an army of floating eyes crawling towards her.
[Bladed Frag Ant Drone LVL 24]
[Bladed Frag Ant Drone LVL 23]
[Bladed Frag Ant Drone LVL 25]
…
Cracking her neck slightly, Shiro made an Ice spear as she crouched down.
"Fuuu…." Breathing out slightly, the temperature around her began to drop.
Digging her feet into the ground, Shiro sprinted towards the army of ants.
*KRRRRR!
The ants cried on in return as started to skitter towards her.
Stepping down as hard as she could, Shiro build up for force and momentum as she threw the spear as hard as she could.
Flicking her fingers, the spear broke apart mid-air.
"Break!" Shiro shouted as each of the pieces exploded into pillars that crushed several ants.
The ants became enraged as Shiro only grinned.
Sliding across the ground, she erected two ice blocks and sent them forward.
*BOOM BOOM
Ants could be seen flying through the air from the force of the collision.
'Not enough, faster, more efficient, more ruthless.' Shiro thought in her mind as she still wasn't fighting to her full capacity.
The shorter arm reach, the weaker muscles, the height and the stamina. Everything was a factor that she needed to get used to or else she can kiss full body control goodbye.
Bending her body backwards, she evaded two blades as both her hands touched the floor.
When her hands came into contact with the floor, two ice spikes shot up piercing the ants.
Putting strength into her arms, Shiro flipped backwards and slid across the ground.
There was a trail of ice wherever she touched as she could be seen gathering mana in her palms.
*BOOM!!!
Spontaneous explosions rang out with ice spikes shooting out from every direction and skewered the ants.
"An army is fine. But you're not going to overwhelm me that easily." Shiro grinned seeing the destruction that laid before her.
Clutching her fists, all of the ice shattered killing a majority of the ants. There were quite a few left over but it was just a matter of time before they all become her loot.
…
[Name: Shiro
Race: Snow Girl (Evolution Criteria yet to be met)
Level: 24
Class: Snow Girl★, Nanomancer
HP: 5650/7300
MP: 2800/11,300
STR: 45 -> 55(+35)
VIT: 50 -> 60 (+60)
INT: 130 (+100)
AGI: 100 (+45)
DEX: 60 (+30)
DEF: 10 (+65)
Unassigned Points: 0
Balance: 231,900 USD
Equipment (Tap to Display)
Skills –
Snow Girl ★:
Tier 2 Ice magic, Passive Regeneration, Blessed by Ice, Snow Magic, Faded Snow Movement, Cold Aura.
Nanomancer:
Dagger Creation, Nano Tech Engineering Tier 1, Sword Creation.
Other:
Mini-map, Inspection, Disguise, Harden (Equipment), Lesser Fear (Equipment), Sensory (Equipment).]
Panting slightly, Shiro sat down. She had finally killed the entire horde after much difficulty due to the strain they placed on her stamina.
However, her troubles were rewarded with a level up and her MP passing the 10,000 threshold.
Just seeing the 5-digit MP count made her smile with glee as she was a step closer to regaining her former strength. When she does, she can explore this unknown world without much trouble.
As a result of the 5-digit MP count, Shiro had managed to unlock her Sword Creation for the Nanomancer class. The damage value of the sword would be much higher than the daggers, but she would no longer have the option in throwing the weapon as a catalyst.
However, it was ok because it made up for her less than desired close quarts combat power.
Switching between dagger and sword will help cover both long and short range.
The final benefit she got from the horde was equipment. Replacing some of her old equipment, Shiro gained a new skill from the new replacements.
[Sensory – Passive]
Natural senses are heightened slightly.
It wasn't a massive boost, but it was welcomed since it helped her perceive her surroundings better.
Shiro waited for her HP and MP to completely recover before she started to make her way towards the obelisk.
A few Bladed Frag Ant Drones wanted to ambush her but failed. They were, in essence, cannon fodder. Without a giant army to swarm the person, they were easy to kill.
Naturally, this was what Shiro thinks. Most parties needed at least a healer to help them kill a [Bladed Frag Ant Drone]. This was attributed to the fact that their instincts and body control paled in comparison to Shiro.
Ignoring the fact that her strength was limited, her control and instincts were the finest even amongst veterans of combat.
Funnily enough, the closer she went towards the obelisk, the fewer times she got ambushed.
It was weird since the Dungeon ecosystem was mostly correct 9 times out of 10. For an anomaly like this to happen must mean the obelisk guardian is that of a foreign species or that it cannibalises which inflicts fear towards the drone.
From what she read about this Dungeon; The obelisk guardian was a boss called [Hundred Blade Frag Ant]. Since it's the same species it the most likely situation was cannibalism.
*Crrrrrrrrr….
The scraping of the blades against the ground could be heard faintly as Shiro knew she was getting close.
Stepping forward slowly, she observed the [Hundred Blade Frag Ant]
[Hundred Blade Frag Ant LVL 25 – Elite]
HP:80,000/80,000
MP: 20,000/20,000
As its name suggested, it looked as if it had a hundred blades acting as legs. Measuring 8 meters long and only 1 meter tall. It was armoured with void black chitin with two short antennas and a visible jaw.
"…"
'Ant my ass! It's a god damn giant millipede!!!'
'Ant my ass! It's a god damn giant millipede!!!' Shiro thought cursing at the misleading name of the monster.
'No wonder the ants weren't as common closer to the obelisk. There's another species guarding it that's why!'
Millipedes were different to centipedes. While some may get the two mixed up, there are a few distinct differences.
First off, the Millipede have very short antennae compared to the Centipede. The physiology of a centipede is flatter compared to a Millipede which supported a more rounded chitin armour.
The centipede's legs are positioned outwards like a razor blade while the millipede's legs are tucked under its body.
In addition to this, the centipede was limited to a single pair of legs per segment of its body.
This is where this huge Millipede earned the name Hundred Blades. Unlike a centipede, the millipede has two pairs of legs per segment. Not only this, each segment is relatively smaller than the centipede's segments.
With each of the legs being composed of a razor sharp blade, Shiro shivered slightly just thinking about getting caught in those legs. Even with her MP and attack, the millipede would just wear her down in a battle of attrition.
'Millipede millipede… They are scavengers that are classed as herbivores. Yet obviously, this one wants to chew on meat.' Shiro thought seeing the 'Ant' move around.
'Since I can't base it on the normal standards, I'll learn as I fight.' She concluded.
Preparing herself so that her concentration was at its best. Shiro created two daggers for now.
When testing the capabilities of an enemy, one must be between the fine line of the danger zone and the safety zone.
Too far into the danger zone without sufficient understanding can be highly fatal. Yet, staying in the safety zone will restrain the knowledge you receive. Therefore, one must dance around these two zones carefully to get the maximum benefit.
'First, concussive shock. Test the reaction when robbed of its sensory.' Shiro thought as she dashed towards the millipede.
Twirling the blade by the handle, she threw it towards the short antennas. The speed was decreased dramatically as most of the force was focused on making it spin through the air.
The millipede raised its head as the daggers bounced on both antennas.
*CRR!
Freezing the antennas, Shiro jumped backwards immediately seeing the desired effect.
Without hesitation, the millipede rolled into a ball.
'Is that all?' Shiro thought with a frown.
*KISHIN!
The millipede's blade-like legs protruded from the side of its body while the shell spiked up abnormally like a porcupine's quills.
She wasn't sure how the millipede was generating the forces for it to spin on the spot, but she knew it was preparing to go on a rampage.
Pushing her palms outwards, a ramp was created with scaffolds to support the structure.
*KRKRKRKRKRKR
The sound of blades cutting through rock could be heard as she knew it was rolling around to try hit everything due to a loss of its sensory.
'Robbing the millipede of the senses will increase fight difficulty. Patterns become random as it would try to attack anything and everything.' She thought, dismissing the daggers freezing the antennas.
The millipede continued to roll, causing Shiro to frown.
Making a spear of ice, she threw it towards the millipede hoping for it to cause some damage.
Unfortunately, the spear was smacked downwards due to the millipede's roll and crushed under its armour.
'Armour is absurdly powerful. Fighting head on is not advised.'
Remaining calm, Shiro retracted all of the Ice as she waited for the millipede to unfurl itself.
It was only after 10 minutes of rampaging did it unroll itself.
Her eyes narrowed as she peered past the tens of blade legs it had under its body.
'With the blades being mostly concentrated on its underbelly, it may be a natural defence due to its weakness.'
Raising up her arms, Shiro gritted her teeth slightly as ice started to form under the millipede.
*CCRRRR!!!
The ice raised the millipede into air little by little as it tried to claw away at the ice.
Flexing her fingers, Shiro froze the bladed legs in their place
Making a sharp ice spear, she took aim and threw the spear.
*TSSSSS!!!!
Chemicals sprayed out from under the millipede as Shiro watched all the ice melt visibly.
'It has ridiculous armour, bladed feet and chemicals…unless you try to overpower it, you won't kill it in anytime soon. And if I try to fight it in a battle of attrition, it's not worth the effort.'
"However… I want to see just how I will pry your shell open." Shiro grinned.
Electricity sparked in her hand as she started to use her new skill. Sword Creation.
Running towards the millipede before the swords even finish being crafted, Shiro stepped down hard as a pillar of ice extended out and pierced towards its legs.
Four of the millipede's legs reacted as it cut the pillar into small sections that did it no harm.
"Surprise~" Shiro appeared near the legs as they couldn't retract in time.
The sword formed fully in her hands as she twisted her body and cut the legs.
*KREEEE!!!
The millipede screamed feeling 6 of its legs cut off in one go.
"Aiya~ Just as sharp as I remembered." Shiro grinned.
The sword was a metallic black in colour, mechanical details could be seen around the guard and the hilt. It was a simple looking sword but its sharpness was something to be feared.
[Nano Craft Sword LVL 24 (Blue)]
+30 Sharpness
+25 Bleed
+10 Critical Rate
+5 Critical Damage
+30 Severing
Skill: Razor Edge
Use 400MP to gain +20% cutting strength for the next attack.
MP – 3600/4000
Quickly kicking her legs so that she flipped backwards, Shiro avoided the chemicals the millipede spat at her.
Mid flip, she sliced towards the chitin and left a slight groove.
'Hmm, seems like the best way is for me to attack the bottom.' Shiro thought, preparing herself.
Landing softly, she slammed her hands down and created a wall of ice just under the millipede raising it up into the air.
Once again, the millipede tried to use its chemicals but Shiro was way ahead of it.
Clutching her fist, the ice pillars lifting the millipede up exploded into a myriad of spikes penetrating its weak lower body.
Chemicals went everywhere as Shiro had to shift her location several times to avoid getting dowsed in corrosive liquid.
Dragging the sword on the ground, Shiro dashed towards the underbelly.
*KRRRRR!!!
The sword ripped through the soft armour with barely any resistance.
Using Faded Snow Movement, Shiro quickly avoided some of the bladed feet trying to kill her.
Twisting her body, she escaped from under the millipede.
[HP: 43,000/80,000]
Her attacks proved to be extremely effective as the health was dropping rapidly.
Sensing its doom, the millipede wanted to take her down with it.
Curling into a ball, the millipede's chitin spiked up as Shiro narrowed her eyes.
"Oh you M*******!!!" She cursed seeing the abnormal mana density.
Running would prove foolish as her defences are too weak to survive the self-destruction of a level 25 boss.
Shiro quickly dissembled her sword to regain her mana and used [Harden].
[Harden]
Harden's your skin for increased defence.
+35 DEF and -20% damage taken -20% AGI
Duration: 30 seconds.
Cooldown: 2 minutes.
A silver metallic sheen seems to cover her body as she placed her palm on the ground and used the remainder of her MP to create a giant wall of ice.
*BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!!
Layers upon layers of Ice walls shot up in front of Shiro as she quickly braced for impact.
*BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It felt like the entire Dungeon shook as Shiro was blasted backwards from the explosion. Even when her ice walls absorbed most of the impact, the force hitting her body still launched her backwards.
Rolling on the ground a few times, she made sure to use her arms to protect her head.
When she finally stopped rolling, Shiro quickly put her guard up in case any blade ants wanted to ambush her.
"Fuuu….." She sighed out seeing that there was no danger and checked her HP and MP.
[HP: 950/7300]
[MP: 80/11,300]
This was the first time her HP and MP have dropped so low in terms of the overall percentage.
Stumbling on her feet, Shiro limped towards the obelisk.
What used to be the space for a boss fight was now covered in corrosive chemicals, flesh, blades and armour.
Looking around, Shiro was sure the walls per pushed back by quite a remarkable amount as the explosion must have taken some of the cave walls with it.
It was a known fact that Dungeon walls are one of and if not THE strongest material known ever. The material scaled up in level as the higher level the Dungeon, the sturdier walls.
For the boss to be able to shave off quite a few layers of the wall, shows just how absurd that explosion was.
"[Collect]" She collected her look straight away as she knew there won't be a mana stone.
When the monster self-destructs, the mana stone was used as the source and gathering point.
Therefore, there won't even be a shard of the mana stone left.
The loot she got wasn't too bad but she had no use for any of them.
Recycling everything, Shiro sat down by a rock that wasn't coated in corrosive liquid.
Whilst waiting for her HP and MP to regen, she decided to have a look at her current food stock.
[E Rank Mana Stone x84]
[D Rank Mana Sone x40]
"40 D rank mana stones should last me a while." Shiro muttered as she laid on her back and threw an E rank mana stone for her mouth to eat.
It took her quite a while to regenerate everything as she wondered if she should stock up on some health and mana potions.
'It would probably for the best if I stocked up. At least then I can regenerate my health and mana quickly.' Shiro thought.
However, as handy as health and mana potions can get, they also have their own backlashes. Mainly due to the skill of the creator who made the potion.
Examples being low tier health and mana potions having adverse effects later along in the line.
These effects can be a decrease of total HP, slow MP recovery and so on. Only the higher quality health and mana potions provided barely any adverse effects.
'I think I'll stick to my Passive Regeneration for now.' Shiro concluded. There was another skill she would like to get, it was the top tier regeneration skill of monsters called [Cell Rebirth].
It was a skill that is both passive and active as the monster can use its own MP and exchange it for health. The known limits of this skill were the power to regrow anything that doesn't destroy over 80 to 90% of your body.
Just remembering the sight of a level 100+ monster regenerating all of its lost HP made Shiro curse at the perverted skill.
With that being said, she wanted the skill as well since it would increase her survivability by a large amount. Not only that, she was currently a monster so there may be a chance for that in the future.
Giving her body a stretch, she opened the obelisk and tapped the final floor. The boss floor.
The room was oddly shaped as it had an open sky that was sprinkled with stars. The surroundings seemed to be the ruins of an open Colosseum as Shiro spotted the boss.
The boss had an armoured body like the rest of the ants but there was one HUGE difference.
[Flying Frag Ant Queen LVL 25 – Boss]
HP: 150,000/150,000
MP: 200,000/200,000
The boss hovered in the air was the transparent wings flapped at incredible speeds.
"…" Shiro stared at the boss with a bland expression.
Flicking her finger, a huge ice spike shot up as the queen wanted to evade.
Suddenly, the tip of the spike opened up like a flower as the smaller spikes pierced the wings, suspending the queen in mid-air.
"When you expose such weak wings and stay in the same spot, you're asking to be killed." Shiro said without a smile. Her azure eyes bore into the queen's eyes as Shiro created two daggers whilst the queen seemed to be shocked.
*KSH KSH!
Slicing the wings off in a few simple movements, Shiro kicked the queen's head as she leapt off and landed softly.
Enraged, the queen's body started to enlarge as the armour became the colour of quartz with a slight rainbow pearlescent tint onto of the quartz.
From the wounds of her old wings, neon blue mana gathered together to form 2 pairs of wings.
"Much better." Shiro grinned at the feeling of challenge.
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