by Yoo Seong
Although Ark’s level was 16, he was enjoying the effect of actually being level 25. In addition, Dream Weaver Debra’s attribute was a Magician. Since a Magician was only able to block spells, it was no different from an ordinary Gremlin boss. As a boss, even if it were a Gremlin with enhanced abilities, Ark could definitely fight it by himself.
Ark’s excitement grew anyways.
His body was as light as a feather and it wasn’t that bothersome to swing the sword.
Even then, Ark continued and pressed against Debra. Every time he struck a red point, its life dropped bit by bit. After 10 minutes had passed, Debra’s body turned red.
It had fallen into critical condition!
Of course, no matter how highly skilled he was, Ark couldn’t avoid all the attacks. He would occasionally suffer an attack, and his Health would be cut down to half. The mana that had reached rock bottom was completely restored again with his skill use.
Ark’s eyes flashed.
“Spirit of the Cat!”
The sharp yowl pierced right through Debra’s body.
Once again, its movements was slowed as it convulsed. Ark bent his body low to avoid the flying front paw and struck its leg. The leg broke without resistance, and Debra toppled to one side.
Ark thrust his sword downwards towards Debra’s completely exposed throat.
“This is your end, Debra!”
- You have struck a fatal blow!
As the sword pierced the vocal cords, Debra, who received extreme damage, quivered violently. Its tongue stuck and lolled out. Debra and the illusion Debra had made gradually faded and completely disappeared.
‘I defeated it!’
Although the true body’s skill level was no different than the Demon Mouse, Debra was an extremely high level boss monster.
Actually, this ruin was already a place open to the public. However, no one had been able to take down Debra. First of all, the reason was that it was impossible to break Debra’s illusion without the slate.
That was why the quest had specified that only a Cat Knight could do it.
Anyways, his level went up by 3 in a single burst with Debra’s defeat.
And as a message that he had completed the ‘Defeat Dream Weaver Debra’ quest popped up, he gained yet another level, bringing him up to level 20.
“We finally had our revenge against Debra. You are now our hero! This is a small token of our sincerity.”
Hassan approached him and extended gloves covered with shaggy fur that went up to the elbow.
The Meow and the cats shouted as they pranced about.
Within this scene that lacked any tension, Ark smiled bitterly and examined his booty.
A mantle from which dark red light flowed was lying where the illusion had disappeared, and there was a jewel-encrusted hand mirror and an orb of five colors lying in the place where Debra had been.
“Information window!”
Cat Paw (rare)
Armor/Weapon Type
Leather Gloves, Knuckle
Defense
30
Durability
50/50
Attack
9~15
Weight
5
Usage Restriction
Cat Knight Exclusive
It is the armor-and-weapon that Hassan, the elder of the Meow, gave to you. Usually it is soft like a normal glove, but during fighting, sharp claws spring out. Simply wearing it can give you the same agility and sharpness as a cat.Option: Attack speed increases by 10%, agility increases by 15. Fatal blow rate increases by 10%.
Blood-Red Mantle of Dreams (Rare)
Armor Type
Mantle
Defense
70
Durability
50/50
Weight
10
Usage Restriction
Level 20
A cursed mantle made by weaving the nightmares of many people, even the wearer will receive the curse — consciousness will grow dim, movement will be slowed. In exchange, once per day, you can turn the strength of the curse on your enemy and make it dream nightmares.Option: All stats -15Special Option: You can use the strength of illusion once per day to wrap your body and recover your health to 100%, and give you the state of invincibility for 10 seconds (only useable at night).
Five-Colored Orb: The Orb filled with a part of Hero Maban’s strength.
Jewel Hand Mirror: Starting item for a level 40 quest.
‘I’ve hit jackpot!’
It appeared that defeating Debra had been a quest where it was possible to obtain a profession exclusive item. Even so, that he had gotten the Mantle was an enormous harvest.
He had obtained a rare item in the New World when it had only started its service for two months was like picking a star from the sky.
Unfortunately, there was the bad point of the cut stats, considering the special option, it seemed like it would have enormous value.
He had finally received the reward of rewards.
‘On top of that, now the quest where I just have to report in is left.’
The quest he’d gotten from Haverstein would be completed if he just left the ruin now.
‘Before that, there’s something I’ve gotta do first.’
Ark quickly grasped the Five-colored Orb and raised it to close to his forehead. In the next moment, light of five colors surged out from the Orb and enveloped Ark.
Character Name
Ark
Race
Human
Alignment
None
Fame
300
Level
20
Profession
Dark Walker
Title
Mouse Master, Cat Knight
Health
470 (+100)
Mana
170 (+100)
Spiritual Power
0 (+100)
Strength
79 (+5)
Agility
89 (+17)
Stamina
89 (+5)
Wisdom
18 (+5)
Intelligence
29 (+5)
Luck
19 (+15)
Special stat: Knowledge of Ancient Relics
10
Equipment Effects
Sharply Shining Sword: Attack speed +5
Black Bear Mouse Leather Armor: Agility +2, Cold Resistance +20
All abilities are increased by 20% in the dark.
The ability to hide your body in the dark has formed (duration time 10 minutes. Cancelled if you start fighting).
Resistance horror, darkness, blinding, and charm spells is increased by 50%.
You can bring out the true abilities from all types of tools.
You have learned a new Profession skill.Dark Blade (Beginner, Active): Assimilate your sword with the darkness and deal your opponent a delightful blow. A sword assimilated with the darkness ignores all physical defenses.Critical hit chance, critical hit attack power 150%. Ignores defense. Mana consumption: 100 (There is a 1% chance of an instant kill if you use Dark Blade on an enemy in critical condition affected by Eyes of the Cat.)
You have learned a new Profession skill.Summon Demon (Beginner, Active): You can summon up to three minor demons that wander the world between Middle Earth and Hell. The summoned creature are currently each at level 1, and consumes the user’s mana. If a summoned dies and is forcibly deported back to its world, you will suffer a blow equal to 50% of the summon’s max Health and cannot resummon for 24 hours.Spiritual Consumption: 100
« o »
“From Father…!”
The boy clutched the Blood-stained Silver Necklace tightly.
Ark watched the sight with sad eyes.
After overthrowing Debra, Ark gathered the survivors of the Sylphid Knights, who had been scattered in the ruin, and returned to Jackson Castle. Then, he pulled out the silver necklace for the fifteen year old son of Haverstein.<
br />
The boy that was to become lord after Haverstein did not show any tears. He only gazed at the necklace with bloodshot eyes and his throat just quivered a few times.
He was a strong boy.
“Ark, did Father pass away honorably?”
“Yes, he was more courageous than anyone, and was also a person who truly loved his son.”
“… Thank you.”
The young Lord nodded his head and looked at Ark.
“Ark, you nursed Father throughout the exploration of the ruin, watched over Father’s death, and relayed the silver necklace to me in order to honor your promise with Father. Also, with surprising bravery you defeated Debra and saved my life. This accomplishment cannot be expressed in words and cannot be repaid with any amount of reward.”
‘That’s right. He knows it well.’
Ark put on a pleased smile and nodded.
The young Lord fiercely shook his head.
“But I will not give you any reward!”
‘What? This, this little! What nonsense did he spout just now?’
“That Father entrusted you with the Blood-stained Silver Necklace means that he thought of you as a true friend! I dare not dirty that relationship with a material reward. I believe he would have definitely thought of you this way.”
Ark shook his head as if he’d gone mad. But even though it was Ark, he couldn’t just say ‘That’s not true. I like a material reward’ to a young Lord to whom Ark had delivered news of his father’s death. Ark tried his hardest to put on an awkward smile.
“Yes… well… even so…”
“Ark, a friend of my Father is also a friend of mine. Although there is nothing I can give, I give this vow to you here and now. If there is ever a time when you need my strength, I will rush over even to the end of the continent without hesitation!”
“Ah, yes… thank you.”
‘He’s saying he won’t give me anything in the end! He’s just making up for it with his mouth!’
Ark nodded with an expression that looked like he was about to cry.
The difficulty was a whopping +E. Of course, though he had solved it on the side with the profession-changing quest! He’d even received experience and his level had gone up by 1! Even so! He couldn’t receive even a whit of reward for a quest of that difficulty even though he’d completed it. What kind of crappy nonsense was this!
He felt as if he’d been scammed.
However, he couldn’t just go into a rage when the young Lord had declared his speech that passionately.
‘Unbelievable, you call it friendship? Whether it’s father or son, they’re too rigid…’ Ark grumbled as he trudged out of the castle.
In the end, he hadn’t fished out even 1 copper. Still, he wasn’t in a bad enough mood to spew his anger.
Rather, should he call it a cleansing feeling?
“ATTENTION!”
As he passed the area of the door, he heard a booming command. Ark raised his head in alarm to find scores of soldiers even decked out in their uniforms lined up on the castle gate.
As Ark wondered what the hell was going on, the General of Defense Cross yelled out a command as he nodded slightly.
“SALUTE!”
The soldiers pulled out their swords and raised them to the sky.
Ark stood there with a momentarily perplexed expression before he suddenly felt a gaze directed at him and raised his eyes to the castle rampart.
In the window, the young Lord was watching him with a glowing face and a gentle smile. His eyes said a lot. Ark watched the young Lord for a moment and shook his head from side to side.
“I knew it, this game’s NPCs are all too rigid.”
A bitter smile appeared on Ark’s face as he passed through the soldiers.
The sunlight shining on the rim of his ears was warm, and the gentle wind refreshed him.
Truly… it wasn’t a bad feeling.
Users gathered from the valley to sightsee this rare event.
* * *
1. Gremlins are small and often extremely ugly in appearance. They are known for their propensity for mischievous acts.
FAMILIARS
* * *
“Damn it.”
He subconsciously swore out loud.
In conclusion, the job change was a mistake.
Ark disliked hunting in a party. There wasn’t a single person he could trust, and their attitudes could change over a single valuable magic item, leading to an argument. He found these sorts of situations repulsive. Rather than suffering from such mess, he was far more comfortable hunting alone, even if it was a little more difficult.
This was the reason why Ark preferred a combat-relation profession.
Thieves who stab their enemies’ weak point, or Magicians who boast of having power to deal a one hit fatal blow weren’t bad either. However, these professions could only genuinely shine in parties.
On the other hand, although Warriors weren’t all that special, and didn’t particularly have any exceptional skill, they had high Stamina and Defense. That wasn’t all — they also received bonus bag space and in addition, they had resistance to all sorts of ailments. Thus, it wasn’t wrong to say they were professions perfect for soloing.
But the profession ‘Dark Walker’ was closer to a Thief than a Warrior.
Dark Walker, one who walks the night. He should have guessed when he heard the name.
It was a matter of fact that the profession’s bonus stats focused on, Agility, Intelligence, and Luck. But even then, all the additional stats were evenly matched to a Thief’s.
No, it’d be better to be a regular Thief. If you debate about it, a Thief is a combat-related profession. If you look at the Summoning skill, or the Intelligence stat bonuses, it seems like this profession included a Magician’s traits to some degree.
‘Agility is fine, since it influences critical hits, attack speed, and evasion rate, but Intelligence and Luck? In the end, it’s unclear whether it’s a Thief-related or Magician-related profession, or maybe even a Cleric.’
Hybrid-characters. They sound good and all, but in reality, it just means they were neither one, nor the other.
With the additional stats totalled to 60, he had gained a bonus amount doubled that of a standard job-change for a normal profession.
There was nothing problematic stat-wise. However, there were a lot of cases where stat bonuses added by a job change influenced the profession’s ability as a whole. This meant that whether he liked it or not, he would have to diligently raise those three stats…
‘And whose fault is it? The one who jumped the fence after hearing of a hidden profession was me. It was my mistake.’
He let out a stifled sigh.
But what could he do about the profession he had already chosen?
Similar to how he was mice hunting in Harun, if Ark focused on one thing, he had the propensity to obstinately dig his heels in. Be as it may, he was quick to give up if he thought he couldn’t do anything about the situation.
At this moment, the situation was exactly the same. In any case, he couldn’t turn back time even if he regretted it. So he thought he should make the best out of the current mishap to try and understand the Dark Walker profession and its special characteristics, and quickly adapt to it with the best of his abilities.
‘No, it’s still a hidden profession. It’s because I’ve been thinking about being Warrior too much. It’s probably not all that bad. If I nurture the profession’s advantages, I’m sure I’ll find more good points. Okay, calm down and examine it carefully. First of all, it seems fundamentally similar to a Thief. Summoning is definitely one of this profession’s unique point. In other words, the profession’s nature will be decided depending on how Summoning is used, right?’
Anyhow, he could summon up to three Demons that he could handle at will.
‘If I use these guys, won’t I be able to hunt solo?’
“Summon Demon.”
Ark welled with expectatio
n and called out the Summon skill, spending the newly formed Spiritual Power points. However, as soon as he examined the Familiar he summoned, the speck of expectation in his heart crumbled to bits.
‘Wha-what is this. This is?’
The summoned Familiar appeared with a blinding flash was just a skull.
The Skull briefly checked its surroundings with eyes of hazy light. It discovered Ark and chattered its teeth together, making a clattering sound.
Ark hastily opened the information window.
Nameless Dead Man’s Skull
The skull of a low-class dead man that had been wandering in the Netherworld. There is nothing special about it. However, it holds unwavering loyalty for the master who saved it from the Netherworld.
Race
Undead
Alignment
Dark
Class
—
Health
50
Loyalty
200
Strength
10
Agility
10
Stamina
10
Wisdom
0
Intelligence
0
Luck
0
In other words, apart from its loyalty, it was a bloke no different from a pebble on the roadside.
“Are you kidding me? If it doesn’t have an ability, it should at least have been pretty.”
He exploded in anger, but the Skull simply tumbled around. Ark grinded his teeth as he restored his Spiritual Power and called out the two remaining Familiars.
Hatred-Bearing Bat
A low-class Bat ostracized in the Netherworld. Having suffered rejection for a long time, it bears frustration and hatred towards the world. Because of its hatred, it cannot be completely loyal to its master. To expect its loyalty, you must first gain its trust.