Rina sat daintily on the back of a beast resembling a large lizard that was more than twice her size. It sn.a.k.e.d along the sandy desert with gusto, its tongue flicking out to assess the area around it.
The Pyromancer was currently traveling through the Dune Lands Field Zone, which was an area that was hard to access unless one knew the specific means to enter and traverse it. Naturally, a living cheat like Draco has passed this very information to Rina and the other core members.
More than 3 days had passed since she cleared out the Mirage Cloud Field Zone using Supernova, and her long journey had brought her to the next destination on her list.
When Rina was a little into the Field Zone, she felt the earth tremble as small whirlpools formed in the fine sediments. Out of these holes came brown colored scorpions with double barbed stingers, their bodies the size of a large dog.
｢Name: Sand Scorpion – Private Rank monster
Level: 34
HP: 1,100/1,100｣
Since she was on the outskirts, the monsters that showed up were naturally the bottom feeders who existed to give players a crash course introduction on what awaited them.
Rina got down from her lizard mount and dusted herself off. Despite being surrounded by more than a dozen Sand Scorpions, she looked unbothered. Surprisingly, her lizard mount also seemed unmoved, and was idly observing the area with a bored expression.
The Sand Scorpions had little in the way of intelligence, but scorn and disdain were not that hard to understand. As such, they screeched in a strange frequency and rushed at her with their claws at the ready.
Rina simply began casting the Supernova skill. Whoever said that one had to be in the center of the Field Zone to use it? As long as one was within the demarcated area that was a part of the Field Zone's territory, that was enough to get the job done.
The only reason she even came this far in was because she was too lazy to rush into the Field Zone to kill the stragglers. After all, Dune Lands Field Zone was much larger and much more of a pain to traverse than the Mirage Cloud Field Zone, especially with Update 1 out and limiting one's stamina.
Since the skill had a one-minute cast time, Little Blaze came out and defended Rina's body. Unlike the Feral Cloud race from the Mirage Cloud Field Zone who were able to sense that Rina's actions would be catastrophic, these Sand Scorpions had poor senses.
Their little beady black eyes couldn't see much, as their kind relied on the tremors made by living beings on the ground to chase and hunt prey. As such, the giant sun that was growing in size in the sky was totally lost on them.
As beings of a desert area, the heat from the Supernova didn't alert them to anything. With the real sun beating on their carapaces every day for their entire lives, they had become extremely resistant to heat.
As such, when the calamity fell, they were still stupidly trying to poke their stingers into a bloody Fire Elemental that had no flesh and blood… sigh.
BOOM!
The whole area shook as the sun connected with the earth, creating a large explosion that ripped apart almost every living thing in the area zone to pieces. Only Rina, her Fire Elemental and the lizard mount were left unscathed, as well as one other entity in a different location.
Just as she was about to move out to clear the rest of the monsters, Rina saw a screen pop up before her.
｢System to Player Announcement
Your Special Rank Title, Queen of Death, has activated and reset all your cooldowns!｣
Rina was surprised and thrilled. This was the first time it had done so, as the meager 5% chance per kill was not enough to grant her all the world's luck. Not to mention that her luck stat was pretty abysmal anyway. After all, what did a Pyromancer need luck for?
The 5% chance per kill did not refer to each and every monster killed. The system did not differentiate between a single target attack that killed one monster and an area of effect skill which could kill hundreds if not thousands. Both counted as one attack, so it was similar to rolling a 20-sided die and hoping for the best.
Rina smiled and jumped onto the back of the giant lizard, and her party zoomed off at a scary pace that was four times faster than before. Rina still sat languidly on its back, as if the undulations from its body did nothing to her at all. Every now and then they came upon some loot which Little Blaze picked up for her.
Any of the surviving monsters were grasping at straws after the Supernova bombardment. Like a tyrant, Rina fired out fireballs atop her mounts and killed those poor creatures with a few attacks. At best, their HP had fallen down to 20%, but that was only the case for a minority. Most had between 5-10% HP left before Rina found them and sent them to the afterlife.
Rina distinctly understood that Area Zone large-scale skills/spells were truly overpowered. One could harvest a ton of exp every three days and climb faster than other players, as if one were sitting on a rocket.
But then again, was that really so surprising? The prerequisite was to have a top-tier Legendary item, which also had an active skill that covered an entire Area Zone. These kinds of items, even Hidden Powers might not dare to claim that they had one.
Only a freakish beast like Draco could take them out like they were lumps from his brain tumor.
Rina leisurely spent almost 4 hours touring the Field Zone this way. This led her deeper and deeper into the Field Zone, which meant that the monsters were becoming stronger and stronger.
She came across many Specialist and Sergeant Rank Sand Scorpions which had bigger claws and sharper stingers. These ones weren't as badly hurt as those from the outskirts.
This was to be expected, as Rina's base damage wasn't too outrageous. She had only dealt such abhorrent damage in the Emergency Quest because she was loaded with so many buffs from Sublime Notion, Warm Spring, Rambunctious Buttlover and the other clerics that she became a monster.
Still, with her various damages and multipliers, she dealt 200,000 damage as a base, with an extra 200,000 from her Queen of Death title.
Still, it was much better now, thanks to the upgradable Epic item that the system had awarded her after the Emergency Quest.
｢Brooch of Magic – Ornamental Item
Rank: Epic
Passive 1 – Amplification: This item increases the wearer's magical damage by 50%.
Active 1 – Coagulate: Activating this skill allows the user to freeze the Worldly Energy of a small area for 1 minute. Cooldown: 1 day.
Further abilities can be unlocked by sacrificing experience points. 0% of 30,000% needed to upgrade to Legendary Rank｣
This item greatly suited her as Rina was all for dealing damage through spells and skills. As such, even these higher-class monsters were soon wobbling about while screeching in agony.
There was a 99,9999% chance that being hit by a giant sun must have hurt like hell, so one should not blame them for screaming like wimps after being hit further.
Rina snorted with disdain and put them out of their misery quickly, all the while racking up experience points. She made sure to funnel it all into Flamesear, bringing it to 12,645% from 11,975%. This naturally pleased Rina, but she couldn't help but smile bitterly at the end.
Mirage Cloud Field Zone's demolition had brought her more than two times this amount of experience. However, one could not compare the Cloud Race - no matter how feral they had become - to the measly Sand Scorpions of the Dune Lands Field Zone.
When Rina was sure that she had cleared every monster, her face became solemn and she got off the lizard mount. From her inventory came a few buff potions that Draco had instructed her to take in preparation, which was why she gulped them down without hesitation.
After all, Draco had already told her what would happen after she cleared every monster in the Field Zone. She began casting Supernova once again, as every second was important in order to get it out quicker.
｢System to Local Area Announcement
The Scorpion King has been awoken from his slumber due to the deaths of his children! The Scorpion King has entered a berserk state!｣
The earth shook and cracked apart, allowing multitudes of desert sand to fall into an ever-widening pit which was within eyesight of Rina. Even worse, a gigantic claw struck out from the pit, blowing volumes of the sediment away and forcibly widening the hole.
Following this, another claw came out and pushed the earth apart, allowing a huge scorpion with a brownish-red shell to crawl out of the ground. It was easily the size of a high-end company's office, towering over the masses like a true king.
｢Name: Scorpion King – Captain Rank monster
Level: 50
HP: 650,000/650,000｣
When it settled down, it screeched so loudly that a sandstorm was whipped up, blocking the sun and smothering the world around it.
The Scorpion King had sensed the presence of two lifeforms, and turned to glare at Rina and her lizard mount with red eyes. When it saw her, it instinctively knew that she was the cause of its children's deaths.
KILL!
It lost all rationality as it skittered towards her at a speed so fast that it looked like it was teleporting. It screeched while rushing at them, its large claw raised up as if to use the momentum to smash them into paste when it arrived.
Rina began to sweat as she called out her Fire Elemental to stall the monster for a few more seconds. As she had started casting long before the announcement sounded, she had gotten a great headstart on the activation of the skill.
Not to mention that the Scorpion King had wasted a few seconds screeching and posing, so all of that helped Rina achieve her goal much faster than she anticipated.
The Fire Elemental directly rushed up to the Scorpion King and combusted itself, causing an explosion on the level of a big rocket against the body of the Scorpion King. Not only was it halted and blown backward due to the shockwave of the explosion, but it was also even slightly damaged.
-25,000!
This was a surprisingly small amount, but then again this was a Captain Rank monster 20 levels above the Elemental. Even if it was harmed by such meager tricks, it was still too hard to say that one could vanquish it.
Naturally, the boss monster was further enraged by this insolent attack, so it used a skill to punish Rina.
｢Sand Wave – Active skill
Effect: Send out a wave of hot sand that deals 70% earth damage over an area of 300 yards.
Cooldown: 20 seconds｣
The attack was like watching immobile sand turn into waves on the sea as it cascaded towards Rina. Her face became pained, as Little Blaze had been heavily damaged by that explosion, meaning it would take more than a week to recover.
On top of that, this boss still had the energy to cast skills! Draco had warned her that this monster was a tough one, and Rina had believed him. She had prepared accordingly, it was only… she was extremely reluctant to use her trump card.
This materialistic woman would have much preferred to hoard it for later, however, with her Flame Elemental out of commission and her lizard mount being the supportive type that could only transport people, she had no choice.
"Little Lizzie, do it now!" Rina commanded the lizard.
The giant lizard acknowledged her words and spat out something that it had been carrying in its mouth all this while. It was a small orb-like item that radiated death and destruction.
That's right, it was an Evil Bead! This was an item that would be the bane of all players, since it could destroy their Immortal Spirit and cripple their accounts.
Rina was extremely unwilling to use this on a monster, but she had no choice. She absolutely had to delay it for a little longer, and this was the best option.
The Evil Bead was a tiny thing, but the Scorpion King, no matter how beastly it was, realized that it had courted death this time around. It immediately tried to dodge the Evil Bead, but it was in the middle of its cast.
When the bead collided with the Captain Rank monster just as it was about to interrupt Rina's cast, the Destruction Energy from the bead engulfed it, tearing its carapace and lifeforce away like it was a weak plaster.
-445,000!
In a single hit, the monster that looked like it was about to crush her could only howl in utmost agony as it was ravaged by this refined Destruction Energy.
The prototype had been created to deal with Draco, but he had gobbled it up due to his special relationship with Destruction Energy. As such, its true power hadn't been revealed, but now it was obvious why Anan had been so sure that Draco would perish once the bead connected.
The Scorpion King could only curse Lady Luck for her abandonment as Rina's cast finished right at that moment. The giant sun fell towards its location, the heat roasting the heavily injured Scorpion King in its shell.
The Captain Rank Monster sobered up from its pain and realized that true death was imminent. Accepting that there was no way to avoid this, the beast screeched and dashed at Rina with all of its strength.
If I am to die, let us go together so that the path won't be lonely!
Rina was stunned by the monster's madness. Given the description of the Evil Bead, the soul of that monster should have been shredded to pieces inflicting so much agony to it that it wouldn't be able to react in time, but what was this? Why was it so full of vigor and malice?
When the Supernova was about to connect with the earth, the Scorpion King was already above Rina, its claw about to smash her into the earth. The giant appendage came down on her head with unparalleled power, and Rina froze as she was lost.
Right at that moment, the lizard that had been following Rina suddenly jumped in the way of the claw, aiming to take the hit for her. Rina felt her heart soften greatly, as she had only coincidentally gained this mount through a purchase outside the Dune Lands Field Zone.
Draco had suggested for her to pay that shop a visit and among all the different types it offered, this one had immediately taken a strong liking to her for reasons she couldn't imagine. And now it was unhesitatingly sacrificing its life for her! This was not normal at all, as only mounts with defensive capabilities should be able to perform such feats!
However, Rina was sure that this mount had been just a Common Rank one when she had inspected it. What exactly was going on here, then?
The claw connected with the lizard, and it was as if time had slowed down significantly. In almost play-by-play slow motion, Rina saw the lizard get split into half by that huge claw, its body offering no resistance whatsoever.
At that moment, the Supernova landed and the ensuing explosion occurred. Everything but a small space surrounding Rina was engulfed in fire, and she suddenly felt alone and sad. She sighed with regret at the death of her lizard mount, since it had risked it all to save her.
WHOOSH!
But the matter wasn't over. The claw of the Scorpion King continued on its path towards her, and she could only glimpse its beady black eyes for a split second before she was killed in a single hit.
In that split second, her lips were about to turn into a wry smile as she noticed that there was no life in the eyes of the Scorpion King. Despite all her plans, she failed to account for something as simple as physics, in that the built-up momentum of the giant Scorpion King would be boosted since the explosion occurred at its back.
Unlike the Fire Elemental's explosion which slowed it - since that attack hit the front and went against the momentum - this attack boosted its speed as it accelerated its momentum.
Rina even heard the sound of a system announcement before everything went dark and she was sent to respawn.
.............
Meanwhile, Jada and Jade were spelunking in the depths of the Reaver's Grotto. This was a land of darkness, a place where light refused to enter. Within lay hundreds of zombies, mummies, and specters.
Most of those monsters had very high physical resistance, especially specters, but they were extremely susceptible to magic damage. The Fire and Ice Twins were here on a Guild Quest, as this place offered some very useful resources for the guild.
These two went in without hesitation, Jada swaggering like a boss lady while Jade surveyed the area carefully. The two had already been bestowed with the Wand of Eternal Fire and the Wand of Eternal Frost.
That was why Jada, this troublemaker, behaved even more arrogantly than usual. She raised her nose so high that she couldn't even see in front of herself.
As such, it was no surprise that she bumped into a wall.
"Ouch!"
Jada looked so indignant that a wall would dare to ruin her groove, and her anger got the best of her. As such, she directly pointed at the wall and started insulting it.
"Shit flinging piece of granite, how dare you hit me? Did your thousand years of weathering not teach you any sense? Do you believe that I won't paint you in pink, yellow and purple colors at the same time?"
Jade looked at her twin sister and for the hundredth time, questioned whether they truly came from the same w.o.m.b. She walked over to her sister and 'gently coaxed' her.
"It's a wall, Jada. It has no consciousness, so insulting it is as effective as insulting a tree. Let's go."
Then again, Jade's way of 'soothing' someone was certainly… direct. Funny enough, in her mind, she was unbelievably kind, and she refrained from openly criticizing her sister's intelligence because they were of the same blood.
Jada, who had long since become used to her cool and blunt sister, just chuckled and followed along, once more pointing her nose up into the sky. However, she made sure that it was at a level where she could at least see the walls before her.
BAM!
"OUCH!"
Unfortunately, it did not save her from tripping over the things on the ground.
Jade sighed in defeat.