Taking a deep breath, Val decided to test out the power of his newly acquired item.
He willed the Labyrinth Heart to deactivate the labyrinth, and instantly, the labyrinth vanished into thin air as if it had never existed. At the same time, the thick forest that had previously been out of his reach as he was trapped in the labyrinth appeared before him.
Immediately, a series of system notifications popped up in front of him.
[You’ve completed the goals of the first layer of the level 2 dungeon.]
[You have advanced to the second and last layer of the level 2 dungeon.] 𝚘𝓋𝔩xt.𝑐𝒐𝚖
[Goals to complete this stage will now be issued.]
[Goal no.1) Destroy the Hive.]
[Worker bees killed: 0/25] [Queen bee killed: 0/1]
[Goal no.2) Obtain and destroy the Dungeon Core.]
“No rest for the wicked, huh?” Val muttered to himself.
The new tasks were clear, but first, he needed to locate the bees.
He scanned his surroundings, eyes sharp and alert.
He was in the center of a clearing. Around him were towering trees that sparkled with a neon blue bioluminescent glow. Interspersed amongst the trees were strange, mushroom-like plants that released a constant stream of green fumes.
‘I have never seen such weird and exotic trees and plants.’
‘Maybe they are dangerous.’
‘Let’s find out.’
Val observed them closely, and the detect trait was activated.
Immediately, he realized that the glowing trees were harmless, but the mushrooms weren’t.
Inhaling a large amount of the green fumes they were puffing out could induce hallucinations.
Even a Half-human and a half-devil like him wasn’t immune to this stuff!
“I better stay clear of these mushrooms,” he said to himself.
To his disappointment, he wasn’t able to see through them. His heavenly eye had deactivated – it seemed the ability had a time limit.
Val blinked, and in the next moment, he reactivated his heavenly eye at the cost of a few units of his soul power.
Regaining the power to see through obstacles, he peered again at his surroundings. This time, he could see through all the obstacles around him, the trees and the mushrooms seemed transparent. His gaze pierced through everything until it landed on a worker bee on patrol.
The bee was massive, at least a meter tall, with a sharp stinger that curved like a shiv sword.
Val’s eyebrow raised as he saw it weaving through the trees, flying straight towards him.
He cast ‘Detect’ on the bee.
Immediately, a semi-transparent screen containing its stats popped up.
[Name: Worker Bee
Danger Level: 2
Speed: 25
Strength: 28
Stamina: 35]
With its danger level being only 2, it was essentially no threat to him. He could effortlessly vanquish it in a single shot. To Val, it was more of a treat than a threat. After all, killing it would grant him EXP and potentially even some stat-enhancing cores!
Val expressionlessly watched the bee hurtle towards him and muttered, “Ignorance truly breeds fearlessness.”
The phrase aptly described the bee’s situation – like a moth to a flame, it was racing towards its own doom, unaware of the danger it was in. If it knew how strong Val was, it wouldn’t have dared to confront him alone!
Like a cat watching a mouse scamper into its trap, Val waited for the bee to draw closer to him.
The bee lunged at Val, its stinger aimed straight at him. The attack was lightning fast, something most Level 2-3 bloodline users of the warrior class would not be able to dodge. The stinger would penetrate their flesh, delivering a painful, paralyzing venom that would leave them unable to move and completely at the mercy of the bee who would eat them alive.
Val, however, was superior to a beginner-stage warrior in terms of both stats and skills. His power level already rivaled intermediate-stage bloodline users.
Even without activating Blood Rush or Titan’s reinforcement, Val was faster than the bee!
He moved with such speed that the bee didn’t notice him stepping aside, avoiding its stinger.
Bam!
Before it could react, Val landed a swift elbow on its face, sending it crashing onto the ground and leaving it momentarily concussed.
With a quick move of his free hand, Val grabbed its wing. He hoisted the bee upward, then swung his sword and cleanly severed the wings from its body. The wings were the most sensitive part of these creatures. Getting them chopped off their back was akin to a man being castrated with a sword.
Val’s brutal act left the bee a shrieking mess on the ground. The bee writhed in excruciating pain, a pain so intense it overshadowed all other senses.
Val had no interest in watching it suffer. He drove his sword into the bee’s back, the sharp blade piercing through its body and emerging from its open mouth.
Immediately, a notification rang in his mind.
[Ding! You’ve defeated a level 2.4 dungeon monster. You get +240 EXP.]
“Drink up, Aquarius,” he told his cursed sword, allowing it to consume the bee’s blood.
[System Notification: Aquarius’s Rage Meter is now full.]
[The skill ‘Crimson Slash’ is now useable!]
‘With this skill, the inevitable battle with the Queen and the worker bees will be so much easier,’ Val thought.
Val observed the bee corpse, now entirely drained of blood by Aquarius. When he focused his gaze, he was able to see through the body and look into its interior. He hoped to find cores, but to his disappointment, there was none.
Right after, Val cast the Corpse Sacrifice skill on the bloodless corpse of the bee and created a new Level 0 undead servant.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Suddenly, Val’s ears twitched as he picked up a distant buzzing sound.
‘Where is this sound coming from?’
Looking up, he saw a swarm of bees, the entire colony, charging out from behind the glowing trees and darting towards him. Their eyes were bloodshot, filled with an intense hatred. If looks could kill, Val would already be minced meat.