บท 16: [Hundred Blade Frag Ant]
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!!!'
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