The dripping of water could be heard from far away. It sounds like musical notes. And it adds to the eeriness of this cave.
The temperature of the cave is damp and moss is formed around the cave walls. Green moss on a background of blue.
It was a weird sight….and at the same time surreal. Sina looks around with trepidation. This is not her specialty.
Making pills, making potions, comprehending pill recipes, creating magical pill now that is her forte.
Entering a cave which promise you that you will be fighting some frightening beast and killing hordes of monster…..now that is surely not her style.
Ad that certainly did not fit with her personality.
But she did find grouping with Azief is one of the wisest decision she has ever made in her life and that is saying something.
Not to mention there is also Loki. That guy always had a knack of extricating himself from dangerous situation.
Sofia on the other hand look around the caves with vigilance. Looking at the back of Azief which always seems to grow bigger and bigger until she find herself felling left out.
The difference of power between them has widened again.
It almost seems like whatever she does….she would never surpassed him and that leaves a bitter aftertaste in her feelings.
Azief on the other hand focused on the dripping water….the slowly dripping water from the stalagmite dropping to the cave floor…like a rhythmic beatings of a xylophone.
The sound was like a music to his ears.
But that is what makes him feel weird. There is no other sound other than the sound of the dripping water.
How could that be possible?
This is after all a dungeon. How could he with his superior divine sense could not find any sign of life at all?
Now that is a peculiarity. Loki on the other hand smiles as he could not help but grinning like an idiot.
In his heart he wanted to see the famous Universe Orb.
He did not know much about this dungeon since it will be destroyed when one conquers it and will randomly appears in any part of the world.
But the Prince once told him that he had to pay a large price to get to the Universe Orb and he did not get the Universe Orb early.
On the contrary he got the Universe Orb when he finished escaping from the World Government First meeting.
But now that Loki changes thing, it seems that Lord Shadow did not yet get his invitation to go to the first meeting of the World government influential people.
But the cave is more important not to mention it is a good place to gain more EXP
They are inside the cave right now and the moment they enter the cave they were greeted with some notification by the world orb
AS THE FIRST DISCOVERER OF THE EXCLUSIVE DUNGEON THE GROUP WILL BE REWARDED WITH DOUBLE EXPERIENCE
THE POSSIBILITY OF DROPPING RARE ITEMS MULTIPLIED
FAME INCREASED BY 1000
Azief and his group look at each other with dumbfounded expression.
So there is this kind of benefit too.
Azief didn’t know.
But then thinking of the triple double experience because he was the first one to enter level 40 and double experience from this rewards this means his rate of gathering EXP is right now is five times larger and he still didn’t level up before.
That alone almost makes him cry
It is true that the higher the level, the higher the requirements.
‘What now?’ Loki ask as he looked at the cave.
Azief look forward and sees the darkness in front of him and his eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness.
Opening his bag of holding he gives every one of his group a torch and light it up with a lighter.
‘We move forward’ he declared and he walk in front without a torch.
His eyes could see through the darkness and his divine sense would inform him if anything ever pop out.
Sina was looking back and front with her eyes looking left and right, and she is very cautious. Holding the dagger while wearing a white robe she looks very funny.
But Sofia is also vigilant.
After all, this cave is not like a normal cave. It’s blue. Blue like an ocean. The walls, the floors, the roof.
All of it is blue in colour. It was weird.
Comparing this too a normal cave it was like someone painted the color blue in all the surfaces of the cave.
Azief also recognizes this peculiarity. But he didn’t know what it means.
We walk forward he said as he lead them in front.
Sofia follows from behind, her bows is ready to shoot. Sina also looks around. After making sure nothing is following them she follows the group again.
Loki on the other hand inspect the caves. He is awed. This is the cave where the Prince found the universe Orb.
To be honest, Loki didn’t know that much about the Universe orb. Only that the Prince once had it and with it he gained many benefits from it.
But this is the first time he sees this cave. Loki was about to marvel a bit more of the scenery and maybe trying to find any hidden doors when suddenly the group stops.
Loki looks in front and sees that Azief is signaling everyone to stop moving. It seems he has senses something
Sofia come closer and whispers.
‘What?’
‘There is movement.’ He said when suddenly he creased his eyebrows and said
‘They’re attacking!’ Then about a dozen of frog jumped towards them.
What is more bizarre is that they are blue in color and they appear from the ground like they were born from the ground.
One might think it is easy to fight with a frog but not when the frog is the size of a dog. And it is disgusting.
With warts around its body and its croaking sound…the girls quickly shows their dislike of fighting such monster.
But they did not panicked.
After all they did fight a hordes of dogs and everyone has grown stronger than before and their battle sense could be said improved a lot better than before.
Azief quickly uses his blade to make a slashing arc full of his attributes, and it created a force that could be seen with the naked eye, a slashing aura of black coming toward the frog, and the moment it hits the frogs they exploded into tiny pieces.
Azief could clearly feel this monster is an Extraordinary rank monster.
He quickly warn his group
‘Be careful! This monster is an Extraordinary rank monster. They all heard his warning and prepare themselves.
Sofia is handling herself pretty well.
When the frog began jumping towards her, she jumped backward, creating some distance between them and her and then she barrages them with her arrows, like an automatic machinegun.
Sina on the other hand tries to dagger one of the frog to no avail.
The frog might not have some destructive power, but its agility is off the charts. The only reason that Sofia and Azief could hit them is because of the unique power they both possess.
Azief uses a slashing arc combined with his two attributes which is very overbearing while Sofia has a large AOE range of attack.
But Sina didn’t have this kind of things.
Not to mention, she is not really a warrior or someone who is specializes in attacking.
One of the frog open its mouth and stuck out it tongue and its tongues coil around Sina as it tries to gobble her up inside its belly.
Before it could do that suddenly its tongue was cut by something. Sina then heard a whisper.
‘Retreat. I handle this. Support us from the back.’ She nodded.
Loki saved her this time and she fall back. Loki is really undetectable even by this monsters.
His ability is quite a cheat. Azief on the other hand is trying to hold this frog attack back. With the combined effort of Azief and Sofia they managed to repel the frog attack.
When the situation didn’t seem to be favourable to them, the frog began to flee and Azief did not chase.
The reason why he did not chase is because he didn’t know what else is in this cave. By the end of the battle he was panting.
The frog is not strong.
But they are fast and agile and their tongue and acid spits is really annoying. By using their tongue they tried to coil one person and eat them up.
If that is not enough, when the tongue coil around a person an effect like paralysis is triggered.
It is thanks to Loki nigh undetectability skills that he and Sofia is alright. Every time that happens, Loki would cut their tongue and move on.
They sat down for a while in the darkness of the cave. Sometimes they could hear the dripping of the water.
And he thought to himself again. Still no sound other than the dripping of water. Where is this sound coming from?
And why did his divine sense only sense the monster just right before they attacked. This place is too mysterious.
They sat down at the corner of the cave and rest themselves. They all take a little breath but they did not lower down their guard.
The monster might appear at any moment so they did not dare drop their guard down.
‘What the hell was that?’ Sofia ask as she lean herself on one of the walls. Her bow is beside her, ready to be used at a moment notice.
Azief shakes his head. He himself didn’t know what those things are. First dogs. Now frogs. He would have laughed if not for his current situation.
‘This place is weird’ Sina added.
You think? Sofia said rolling her eyes.
‘But I leveled up’ Loki said without tact. Sina just glares ta him and Loki keep smiling. He seem really happy.
Azief could not blame him. After all he level up too. Usually when he level up before he was given an increase in stats but this time he can choose another attribute again.
And he chooses life.
Why did he chooses life? One, it’s because it was listed. Second because he believes that to understand the attributes of death, he need to understand the attributes of life.
He was tempted to choose other attributes but he make his choice.
The moment he chooses the attributes of life he could feel energy coursing through his body, a new kind of vitality surging like a raging waves inside his body and was calmed down by the attribute of death.
A surging wave stop by the futility of existence. Death and life. Time and death. Time and life.
The passing of times and the cycles of life and death.
For some reason at that moment there was some trace of profound mystery embedded in his attributes and he manages to peek a glimpse.
Time. Death. Life. Void. Darkness. The proof of existence. The proof of time. The proof of life and the meaning of death.
The darkness that envelops all and death that devours all. Life that becomes the seed and the void that came after.
Life and death intertwined, fate and destiny coalesce in these interplay between life and death.
For that one moment he grasp that one intangible concept and he lost it in another second.
Five time experience over everybody else and finally he broke to level 41. One could only imagine the amount of EXP he need to gather to reach level 42.
Right now there is no one in the world that is stronger than him…..and no one stands at the peak of expert other than Azief.
The first wave might be the most catastrophic wave of all the waves but it also differentiate between the strong and the weak.
In games when you enter usually there is already someone stronger than you…but what if all of the gamers started in an equal situation.
Then the first that become the strongest will probably retain that position unless others find a way to stop that gamer.
And right now everything is smooth sailing for Azief. He got a formidable group and he himself is powerful and right now he is hunting an artifact that might give him even more power.
Sofia then ask.
‘Will you brew coffee?’ This might be a weird thing to ask in a blue cave and surrounded by mortal danger but this has already become a norm in his group.
When they make camp or stop in someplace, Azief would usually brew some coffee.
And his coffee is good.
Not to mention he has already reached expert coffee making.
His brew could be considered almost heavenly and once you taste his brew, you would surely become addicted.
Even Sina looks at him expectantly. Loki like always just look at him and waited. In his eyes, there is this kind of puzzlement.
This is because Loki could never imagine the fearsome Prince had a hobby of making coffee.
It was a peculiar habit and one that he could not believe which is why Loki always look in puzzlement every time he sees Azief brew coffee and Azief always wonder why Loki looks at him that way.
‘Now?’ Azief thinks a bit then said.
‘Not now. When we set up camp. And this place is too dangerous’ he then added after thinking carefully.
Azief has thought carefully and he conclude that this dungeon could not be easily conquered.
They must be dozens of floor before they could finish this dungeon. And this dungeon hold the Universe orb.
There must be other monsters here that is more dangerous than the frogs. Of course he could give up and leave the dungeon before its too late….but the temptation of an Artifact is too great for Azief to ignore.
If only one artifact could make Loki almost a nigh undetectable master, one could only imagine what this one going to do.
Azief could not give up. He will move forward. Forward is the only way to go. Azief then get up after he finishes drinking some stamina potion.
‘We will keep going?’ Sina ask timidly. Azief think for a while and said.
‘There is no gain without some risk. The higher the risk, the greater the rewards.’ Sina sighed and Sofia only nodded.
Then out of nowhere Loki appears.
‘You sure seems enthusiastic.’ He said towards Azief.
‘Tired already?’ Azief asked with a slight smile on his face. Loki smiles confidently and answer back
‘I’m just getting started.’
‘Fine, then we will go on.’
Saying this they got up and began moving downwards toward the end of the dungeon
But for some reason Loki feel something is wrong…feeling that something is really wrong. But he keep walking following the back of the Prince.
***
ON THE FIFTH FLOOR
There was an altar in the fifth floor. On top of the altar water is dripping down, producing a rhythmic sound.
A drop for every second that passed.
Sitting on the center of that altar was an orb shining blue and inside the orbs there seem to be clouds, white clouds and world, like they were trapped inside the orb.
There are countless of world inside the orb
It emanated with ancient aura and even its undulation of energy give some profound understanding.
5 feet from the altar was a throne made of blue stones that seems to leech off the nutrient on the cave floor.
The blue color here is deep blue compared to the rest of the cave.
Sitting on that throne was something resembling a human but not. Its physical body’s look like a human but its color was blue.
It has one horn in the middle of its forehead, protruding like some deformity.
It has six arms and each arms has a saber. Each saber is powerful enough to cut steel like they are paper.
This is a Legendary rank monster. And not only a legendary rank monster but also a high level Legendary rank monster. Its level is equal to level 60.
This is different form the small fry that Azief has been killing. Too different the difference is like Heaven and Earth.
This kind of monster could wipe out hordes of zombie very easily. And this kind of monster could also kill Azief.
Surrounding the monster was a blue shield that seems to protect it even from dust. From the very beginning that it falls to earth, its mission was to protect the Universe Orb.
And since then it has been closing its eyes since nobody enters its ground.
But then its sense that there are some creature trespassing its home and send one of the lowest of it armies to probe the creature only to return to it with the news that many of the Probing army was annihilated.
And it began opening its deep blue eyes and it breathe again.
The Six Armed Asura from Retyura. Opening its eyes its bloodlust filled the fifth floor but it did not move.
To tell the truth, he cannot move. Guarding the Universe Orb was his punishment.
Fighting the Devas, he lost in the Great War between the Suras and Asuras, his rakshaksa was sealed while he was captured by The Elder of the Universe and was trapped by an ancient magic surpassing even that of his abilities and he was bonded to the Universe Orb and was tasked with its protection.
But now, humans…..humans that he has underestimated thousands of year ago…..now dare enter his zone?
He would torture them like he torture the humans in the past.
This was not the first time that the six armed Asuras spend time on Earth.
If not for the treaty between the other star system and the restriction of the Creator, all the other advanced civilization would have conquered Earth a long time ago.
At the time, he still remembers Indra and Virocana.
That was the good old days but now he became a slave toward the will of the Universe Orb and he didn’t like it.
And now…..he has a place to vent his dissatisfaction.
He waited. And as he waited….he smiles.
***
THE FOREST IN TEMERLOH.
NEAR THE PAHANG RIVER
Shinji is drinking tea in the stronghold near the river. He was escorted very politely by the authorities in this stronghold.
But nonetheless he sighed.
He did not come here to meet with some captain or low level personnel of the Malaysian Party.
He came here to invite Lord Shadow and Loki. It is reported that this Lord Shadow defeated another great monster and its battle has been described as earth shaking battle.
Not to mention he even manages to rob the entire stronghold. That feat alone is enough to alarm the other warlords of Japan.
The World Government needs people like Lord Shadow. This conviction is strengthened after Shinji himself check the site of that battle.
He almost couldn’t believe that a man is capable of making so much destruction. Holes everywhere, countless of trees were felled and the area seems like it experiences some small scale war.
‘Hah’ he sighed again as he stop sipping the tea and look at the distance and think of the task ahead.
He came here under the Shogun order to invite Lord Shadows to the first conference of the World government held in Japan.
Because of Japan lack of monster infestation, it was the perfect place to hold a talk among the great powerful men of the world. Many invitation were extended to extraordinary man all over the world.
Even though the General of the Malaysian party is quite powerful, compared to the first man that leveled up to level 30…they are nothing.
The Shogun and Shinji could feel that if they could win Lord Shadow to the World Government side, it would be beneficial in the long run.
He closes his eyes and then he makes a decision.
He had to deem his mission fail. The World Government first meeting could not be delayed because of one person and he is running out of time.
He needs to return to Kyoto and report this to the Shogun.
‘Lord Shadow…Lord Shadow’ he sighed.
‘Where the hell are you?’
***