Chapter 76: Ancient Summoner (1)

TL: Haku

Editor: Hungry Panda

There was no time limit to finish the quest, but there was also not a lot of information given to Ian in order to carry out the quest.

'In the end, I need to just go at it myself.'

Although it was a quest that didn't have a time limit, the fact that the reward will change depending on the clear rank meant that there was a high chance that the Soul Stone of the monster that Ian found was related to the clear rank and the reward.

'I should gather the Soul Stones of the monster that looks the strongest in this field.'

The drop method of a monster's Soul Stone was incredibly simple, as expected.

The ancient monsters that appeared in the field all had a ghost-like form, and the method was that once a relevant monster was hunted, a piece of that monster's Soul Stone would drop.

Simply put, to just carry out the quest quickly, it meant that the weakest-looking monster in the field just needed to be constantly hunted and that monster's Soul Stone pieces needed to be gathered as quickly as possible before returning.

'There's no way that's happening.'

However, there was no way Ian's greed would permit that.

'Since I also got the first discoverer's buff for ten days, I should comb through the whole map completely.'

After examining the monsters that appeared in the field, it was composed of monsters that were 3-5 levels higher than the dungeon he needed to carry out his previous quest in.

'If the monsters at the field's entrance are around this rate… Then that means the Boss-rank monsters could be over lv 100…'

If that was the case, then a strong opponent for even Ian could appear.

'Since it's already like this, I'll level-up!'

As if he was sweeping the yard with a broom, Ian gathered all of the monsters from corner-to-corner starting from the entrance of the map, and he got down to search for the strongest monster in this field.

"Herz! The community bulletin board is in an uproar right now, have you seen it by any chance?"

While seeing Fiolan, who hastily ran to the base, Herz wore a quizzical expression.

This was because it hadn't been 15 minutes since Fiolan logged off, saying she would eat before coming back.

"Have you already finished eating?"

"No, I went into the community and was so surprised that I logged back on."

Herz's two eyes slightly rounded.

"Huh? What happened? I've just been diligently hunting, so I haven't been able to check the community…"

Fiolan, who took a moment to catch her breath, opened her mouth again.

"The northern expedition of the t.i.tan guild found a new map called the 'Forlan Basin', and a time attack dungeon was discovered here."

"Huh?"

As time attack dungeons universally existed in other normal games, there was nothing new about the method of these dungeons.

However, as it was the first time that a time attack dungeon was discovered in Kailran, that was the reason why Herz was surprised.

"There's two dungeons that were discovered in the basin, the level limit for one of them is 100, while the other seems to be 120."

At her words, Herz was delighted.

"Oh-ho, so our guildmates could go into the one with the lv-100 limit and attack it?"

Fiolan nodded her head.

"Yes. I also thought it was possible, which is why I came running as soon as I heard the news."

Herz momentarily thought about it.

"Hmm, then should we first push off the Public Safety task and go attack the dungeon? What do you think, Fiolan?"

"I think it would be best if just you and I go together first. The rest will remain at the base."

At the unexpected words, Herz was slightly taken aback.

"Huh? What are we going to do with just the two of us when it's a dungeon attack?"

"That… Apparently, the entrance limit for the dungeon is 2, strangely enough. The lv 120 dungeon is a 3-4-person dungeon, and the lv 100 dungeon is a 2-person dungeon."

"Ah…"

If that was the case, then Fiolan's suggestion made sense.

The highest-level user currently in the guild was Fiolan, who had reached lv 110 before they knew it, while for the other high-rank guild members' levels, it was a situation where they were around the same level as Herz.

The cla.s.s that best fit well with Fiolan, a Magician, in a 2-person party would be Knight, and since Herz was also the guild master, it was the wisest decision for the two to go into the dungeon first in addition to the two bringing back more information.

"We don't even know what kind of dungeon it is yet, so wouldn't it be too big of a risk for all of our guild members to gather there?"

Herz nodded his head in agreement.

"You're right, Fiolan. Just the two of us will go first."

"Shall we go right now?"

At impatient Fiolan's words, Herz laughed and shook his head.

"Fiolan, you need to eat before we go."

"Euh… That's true."

After checking the time momentarily, Fiolan opened her mouth again.

"Let's meet at Forlan Basin in 30 minutes, Herz. There's probably dungeon battle videos up in the community by now, so I think it will be a good idea to watch the videos as well before going."

"Okay, sounds good. Then, I'll see you in a bit."

The 'Time Traveler' t.i.tle that Ian received from first discovering the Arnovil Plateau was quite useful.

'As a matter of fact, the Master of Hunting t.i.tle was losing a lot of its effectiveness, so this is definitely better.'

The effect of the Time Traveler t.i.tle was 'the cooldown time of all skills will be reduced by 15%'.

The 'when facing high-level opponents, all combat stats will increase by 5%' effect, and the 'EXP increase' effect that were attached to the existing Master of Hunting t.i.tle were also definitely good.

However, because his dependence on his Familiars during battle increased the higher the level he reached, it was a situation where the 5% combat stat increase for his character didn't really mean much, and since it was impossible to hunt opponents that had a significant level difference from him now, the EXP increase effect was also insignificant.

On the other hand, the cooldown time of all skills being reduced by 15% was incredibly useful.

Of course, it would be useful for the new skills he gained as a lv 90, but as the cycle of his pre-existing skills would also be one tempo faster, he would surely be able to feel that his hunting speed had increased.

Ian, who had enjoyed hunting for a couple days like that using the new t.i.tle and the first discoverer's buff, had leveled-up by 2 before he realized, and had reached lv 96.

'As expected, the first discoverer's buff is like honey.'

He had fully gathered the Soul Stone pieces for three different kinds of ancient monsters, but Ian had no intentions to return to clear his quest.

It was now time for him to hunt the monster that he had kept his eyes on.

"Hoo, shall we slowly go down the cliff now?"

The field that Ian discovered, Arnovil Plateau, was divided into two large parts.

With the location where the portal first opened as a reference point, south of it was the hilly section where around lv 95-98 monsters appeared. To the north, down the cliff, the monsters of the lowland were composed of monsters that were over lv 100.

"Ly, do you see that one?"

Grr- Grr-!

Downward of the cliff, a Heroic-rank monster could be seen at a distance.

As the distance was far, the monster's name and level couldn't be checked, but even from the far distance, the aura that seeped out from the large, tiger-like form let Ian know that it was a strong monster.

"We could probably beat that one now, right?"

In return, Ly howled energetically towards the air.

Awhoooo-!

And as if he was saying he wouldn't lose, Lake, who was beside him, let out a bright red breath towards the air as well.

Hwa-reu-reuk-!

It was a situation where Lake, who would be the very first to hit lv 100 amongst Ian's family soon, had an Offensive Power that was close to almost 2,500.

'Speaking of which, I think it's about time for our Ly and Bbookbbook to evolve now…'

It had been a long time since he had made their Potential reach 100.

However, whatever condition needed to be met in order to evolve, whether it be not high enough of a level or something else, the two had no thoughts to evolve.

'Well, since the two still do their own part well enough.'

Ly was still doing the part of a proper single-target dealer with his high Agility and Offensive Power, while Bbookbbook was being incredibly useful ever since his Link skill was gained.

As Bbookbbook always maintained Vitality that was close to 100% thanks to his abnormally high Defensive Power, whenever there was a dangerous situation, if Ian activated his Link skill, Bbookbbook carried out a potion-like role as he recovered 50% of their Vitality immediately.

The damage dispersion effect was just an addition.

"Guys, let's go down."

Accompanied by his Familiars that made him feel rea.s.sured even just by looking at them, Ian slowly headed down to the lower side of the cliff.

'Since I haven't fought with any of the monsters that appear here yet, let's get accustomed first.'

After Possessing Clopia, Ian used his a.s.similation skill on Ly.

As he did so, Ian's body grew and changed into a werewolf-like outer appearance.

'As expected, I think using the a.s.similation skill on Ly in terms of my outer appearance and other reasons was a good idea.'

When he first gained the a.s.similation skill, he used it on Lake, who had the highest Offensive Power, but ever since he gained the Ancient Summoner's Staff, he always used his a.s.similation skill on Ly.

This was because the damage dealt from the magic spheres Ian shot out from his staff were proportionate to his Summoning Magic, not his Offensive Power.

He couldn't raise his Summoning Magic or Spirit Magic by using a.s.similation on his Familiars, so in that case, it was most effective to revive Ian's original fighting method by maximizing his Agility.

"Ddukdae, take the lead!"

Deu-reu-reuk-!

Ddukdae, who nodded, took the lead and headed towards the opponents.

Thud- Thud-

And whenever Ddukdae took one step, his loudly ringing footsteps always effectively grabbed the attention of the opponents.

Du-Du-Du-!

The monsters that discovered Ddukdae began to quickly approach him.

The monsters that Ian was to first face below the cliff were enormous monsters that had a pill woodlouse-like form.

'Clopsys' Spirit… As far as their appearance goes, it seems like their Defensive Power will be ma.s.sive.'

Even at first glance, the exoskeleton of the giant pill woodlice, which headed towards Ddukdae all rolled-up, looked incredibly tough.

'If it's a Defensive Power-based monster, then I could probably fight a little boldly.'

It wasn't easy to cut down the Vitality of a Defensive Power-based monster, but on the other hand, because their Offensive Power was weaker in comparison, even if they allowed some attacks, the damage wasn't that big.

As soon as Ddukdae's Abyss Hole was invoked, he immediately let out commands.

"Ly, go in and bite them as much as you want!"

Grr-!

And even without a word, Lake, who adapted to Ian's fighting style perfectly, shot out his Breath towards the pill woodlouse that were tied down by Abyss Hole.

Keu-ooooohhh-!

A blast of bright red lava that spread forward!

A cooldown time of 30 minutes could be considered a long time, but its effect was that definite.

Keu-aaaeeek-!

The pill woodlouse that received a direct hit from the breath let out a horrible shriek.

And Ian, who attentively studied the pill woodlouse, licked his lips.

"Tsk, as expected, it seems that their Defensive Power is high, as we haven't been able to cut their Vitality down to even half.'

If their Vitality had dropped below the halfway mark, then their names would have started to blink slowly, but not one of them showed that kind of sign.

'If they were the gargoyles, then they would have melted in one shot…'

He inwardly complained, but Ian's body was busily moving.

Whoong-.

A blue, magic sphere slid down Ian's staff before it was launched, and it hit the Clopsys.

Pung-!

Because Ian regained the consumed Spirit Magic when he hit with the magic b.a.l.l.s that could be used as an option for the staff, if he just made sure to hit his opponent, it was basically the same as having no consumption cost restriction.

It was an ability that could be called a basic attack in proportion to Summoning Magic, and it was also an ability that rapidly increased Ian's fighting contribution.

However, while looking at the damage value in the system message that popped up, Ian slightly frowned.

'Euh, the damage is really bad.'

When using the magic b.a.l.l.s on the monsters of the hilly section that had weaker Defensive Power, they were able to deal close to 5 thousand damage, but it was a situation where the damage had dropped to almost half the amount.

"Current Proliferation-!"

The Current Proliferation that spread out from Ian's staff was lodged exactly into the middle of the pill woodlouse and scattered.

The connection of Abyss Hole and Current Proliferation, and as Lake's AoE pa.s.sive, the Ruler of Lava effect consecutively popped up, no matter how high the Clopsys' Defensive Powers, one to two of their names started to blink.

And along with the invocation of Current Proliferation again, pieces of yellow current were sucked into Jjaekee.

It was a sign that meant that Jjaekee had gathered 1 Spirit Capacity.

'Oh, from a couple of days, it looks like Jjaekee will also be able to evolve now.'

Ian, who slightly checked Jjaekee's Spirit Capacity, wore a smile that showed his good mood.

Jjaekee's Spirit Capacity had reached 993 before he realized, and there were only 7 points left until he evolved.

The hands and feet of Ian, who felt a surge of energy, began to move even faster.