The next day.

Kang Oh visited Alaka Cave at around 4 o'clock.

He had originally planned on going early in the morning, but as soon as he logged in, he heard the Whispers of the Earth, and was forced to partake in a Guardian of the Continent Quest.

Fortunately, it didn't last too long, and he was able to finish it in about six hours.

After that, he headed straight for Alaka Cave.

The dungeon was guarded by Wakaiser, an armored wyvern.

Flap, flap!

Wakaiser flew to the top of the waterfall.

Kyaha!

Then, it welcomed him with a joyous shriek.

Wakaiser wasn't capable of speech. However, it could understand its master, and was capable of communicating with them through its body language and cries.

"Have you been doing well?" Kang Oh petted Wakaiser's helmeted head.

Wakaiser nodded its head.

"Here." Kang Oh pulled out some meat that he'd prepared beforehand. There was beef, pork, and chicken, as well as all sorts of monster meat!

Why had he prepared all of this?

If you need medicine, you go to a pharmacist. Since Sepiro was the wyvern specialist, he'd asked him for some advice before coming here.

- What do you have to do to get closer to a wyvern?

- Have you ever raised a dog before?

- No.

- It's like raising a dog. Treat it like it's part of the family, and be good to it always.

That wasn't what Kang Oh wanted to hear. Thus, he sent a follow up message.

- Is there a faster method?

- Grilled meat. Wyverns love grilled meat. If you keep giving them grilled meat, then your closeness with them will go up. You won't know what kind of meat they prefer until you give it to them in person.

- Thanks.

Kang Oh made a fire, and began grilling the meat.

Wakaiser stuck to Kang Oh's side and flared its nostrils.

"Let's try the pork first." Kang Oh threw a well roasted piece of pork into Wakaiser's mouth. It ate it in a single bite.

Kang Oh gauged Wakaiser's reaction to it, and continued to roast the meat.

It was definitely an effective way of raising a wyvern's affection towards its owner. There was a definite sign it was working at around the fourth piece of meat.

[Wakaiser loves Wakdon Meat. It is well roasted.]

[Closeness with Wakaiser has increased slightly.]

Of the countless meats he'd brought with him, Wakaiser had certain favorites. If he grilled those specific meats, then his closeness with Wakaiser would go up.

Kang Oh memorized which meats Wakaiser enjoyed the most, grilled the last piece of meat, and fed it to Wakaiser.

Burp!

Wakaiser devoured the last piece of meat, and let out a refreshing burp.

Then, it rubbed its face against Kang Oh. 'I really enjoyed it,' it seemed to say.

He could feel the coldness of Wakaiser's metal helmet against his skin.

Kang Oh petted its head, and then asked for the soul stone.

[Repel Points: 1,961]

[Maintenance Fee: 1,000]

Following the Great Change, very few people had come to the Alaka Cave.

'There's no way I can expand the dungeon... I should just save up on repel points.'

He needed at least 1,000 repel points per month in order to keep his dungeon's upgrades intact.

Kang Oh only had about 2 months worth of repel points at the moment.

He wasn't sure when the dungeon would become popular again, so he decided to save his repel points for a rainy day.

"Could you give me my rewards?"

Kyaa!

Kang Oh received his rewards, which included a small amount of gold and some wyvern materials, and then left the dungeon.

* * *

"Hi!"

"Hi, Uru."

A skilled gardener by the name of Uru was Furon Underground Cave's guardian.

Although Uru possessed no combat abilities, it could nullify any and all attacks that came its way.

However, there was an option under the Guardian Reinforcement tab that'd allow Uru to summon plants during battle.

"Hey, Uru. If I give you the ability to summon plants during battle, could you help me fight?" Kang Oh asked.

"I don't like fighting." Uru shook its head.

"I thought as much."

Kang Oh had no intention of forcing it to fight. He did, however, intend on receiving its scroll. There was no rule that stated that a guardian summoning scroll needed to be used during combat alone. He could also increase the duration of the scroll too.

Plus, he knew exactly how to increase his closeness with Uru.

"Here, I brought a gift for you." Kang Oh pulled out multiple seeds from plants that'd appeared via the Great Change.

"Wow, I've never seen these before." Uru beamed. "Thanks!"

[Closeness with the plant lover, Uru, has increased slightly.]

[Closeness with the plant lover, Uru, has increased slightly.]

...

Presents were the best way to increase his closeness with both Uru and Wakaiser.

"Could you give me my rewards now?"

"Sure."

A dirt bowl, which contained the dungeon rewards, rose from the ground. It also contained the Gold Bean, a necessary component for the legendary potion, Elixium!

"Then I'll get going now. Have fun," Kang Oh said.

However, Uru was so busy planting the new seeds that it didn't reply back.

Kang Oh grinned and stood atop the transfer magic circle.

* * *

Kang Oh gave Man Bok the Gold Bean, and asked him to create another Elixium via his Alchemist contact. He also asked him to provide him with meat that Wakaiser enjoyed, as well as new plant seeds.

"Leave it to me."

"Thank you. Then, if you'll excuse me."

"Take care." Man Bok waved his hand, his face as kind as ever.

Kang Oh left Gold Dragon, and then pulled out a piece of dried paper from his chest.

'Finally!'

It was time to explore the new high difficulty dungeons that came about via the Great Change.

- Alpatra Plateau!

- Phalces Nest!

- Whispering Wind Cliff!

- Red Desert!

...

'The Whispering Wind Cliff is the closest.'

Through the Great Change, the ground had split, creating a steep cliff in its wake. The dungeon resided within that opening.

Kang Oh used an intercity transfer gate to travel to the city closest to the dungeon.

Sometime later...

The Bagot Plains.

Kang Oh reached his destination. It was as if a Giant had swung their sword, cutting through the ground and leaving a giant scar in its place.

Kang Oh followed the cliff.

'It's over there.'

There was a pin deeply embedded in the ground. A spider web, or multiple of them layered together, was connected to it, which went all the way down to the cliff.

Blue Sky!

It was Arth's greatest team of explorers, and was led by Marco, an individual he'd once competed against in a TV program.

They had seen flying monsters within the cliff, so they believed there was something inside of it.

Thus, they had set up a T-pin, as well as a 'rope' that allowed them to go down the cliff. Ultimately, they found a new dungeon.

After that, Blue Sky informed the playerbase that this dungeon was called 'Whispering Wind Cliff'.

They also warned them that the dungeon was so perilous that even they weren't able to reach the end of it.

Blue Sky was even kind enough to leave the T-pin and the rope they'd used here for other players.

'Thanks, Marco.' Kang Oh briefly recalled Marco's handsome face, and then grabbed onto the rope and climbed down.

A short while later, Kang Oh discovered the entrance to a cave at around the midway point of the cliff.

According to Blue Sky, there were plenty of flying monsters inside of the cave, and the dungeon's entrance existed at the end of it.

Gyaahk!

Once he entered the cave, he was attacked by monsters with two pairs of wings. They used their mouths to unleash sound waves at him.

"Shut up!" Kang Oh drew Demon Sword Ubist using Switch and then swung it.

Slash!

Swish.

The monsters were cut in half.

After that, a multitude of flying monsters came flying at him from within.

Demon's Descent!

Tasha and Sara appeared wearing the clothes they always wore (a red dress and white fur clothes respectively).

The three quickly dealt with the monsters, and headed for the end of the cave.

A short while later...

They were face-to-face with the dungeon's entrance: a tightly shut double door.

Kang Oh forcefully pushed open the doors.

[Entering the dungeon, Whispering Wind Cliff.]

The configuration of the dungeon was quite bizarre.

It was a downward spiraling road.

What if you fell off the path?

Then you would fall into the unending abyss.

Fortunately, the path was illuminated by dim light. Of course, the light was so weak that everything but the path was completely obscured in darkness.

Swish.

Wind blew from someplace else. At the same time, they heard whispers in their ear.

"Come in."

"What!?" Tasha angrily fiddled with her ear.

"That's how it's supposed to be," Kang Oh said.

That's why it was called the Wind Whispering Cliff!

Tasha furrowed her brow.

Kang Oh grinned and took another step forward. However, he suddenly received a system message.

[You have taken your first step inside a dungeon you've never been to before.]

[You have acquired Sara's Collectible.]

"Nice."

'Where did this come from all of a sudden!?'

Kang Oh passed the sapphire colored cube to Sara.

Two identical cubes popped out of her chest. Then, the three cubes began spinning around her.

[You have collected three of Sara's Collectibles. Sara and the Ice Demon Sword have evolved.]

At some point, the three cubes fused together into a sapphire the size of one's fist.

Then, it began to spin around Sara like a satellite orbiting around a planet.

Sara softly moved her hand.

The sapphire flew exactly where she had pointed.

Whir!

The sapphire unleashed a blue cold beam. The place it'd hit was instantly frozen solid.

"Hoh."

'That sapphire looks quite useful.'

Kang Oh was curious as to how Demon Sword Sarahoff had changed.

"Turn back into a sword."

Kang Oh held his purple longsword and looked over its information.

[Ice Demon Sword Sarahoff (+1)]

A once in a lifetime masterpiece created by Hoffman! You would be hard pressed to find a finer blade than this.

The blade is made up of the mysterious alloy, Halium, and various dragon materials were used to create the hilt.

Halium makes the blade extremely light, yet tough. At the same time, the blade is unbelievably sharp.

Hoffman's desire for revenge is contained within this sword. When you face Inarius, a latent ability will activate.

Ice Queen Saila, otherwise known as the Northern Disaster, is sealed within. Sealing a demon within a demon sword crafted by a Master Blacksmith has resulted in something extraordinary.

The demon sword has retained its abilities, and has gained the demon's power on top of that!

Untradeable. Upon death, there is a high chance that the demon sword will drop, or that you become a monster under the demon's control for 24 hours.

+ Absolute Destruction: Anything that clashes with this blade will break. This includes weapons, armor, tough scales, and even bone! The object in question will eventually break, depending on how tough it is.

+ Damage Amplification: Always increases the damage you deal to your enemy. At minimum, increases damage by 1.5 times, and at maximum, increases it by 3 times. Will stack with critical hits!

+ Frost Demon's Domain: Lowers the temperature of anyone within a 10 meter vicinity of the demon sword. This lowers their abilities, and also inflicts frostbite or freezes them.

+ Ring of Frost: Unleashes a cold wave that affects anyone within a 5 meter radius. Freezes targets up to a maximum of 30 seconds. Attacking enemies afflicted with the 'Frozen' status ailment will cause them to take more damage. Cooldown: 10 minutes. MP Cost: 5,000.

+ Sara's Collectible: If you explore a new area, kill a new monster, or complete a difficult quest, then there is a low chance that you will obtain Sara's Collectible. If you collect enough of this, then the sword will evolve. Next evolution: 0/9 collectibles.

Rank: SS.

Abilities: Attack Power 1300, Main Stats +60.

Minimum Requirements: Clear the Trial of the Demon Sword.

Ring of Frost.

The fact that its cooldown was 10 whole minutes meant that it was on the same level as 'Abyss Predator' or 'Dragon's Fury'.

How powerful would it turn out to be?

This dungeon would prove to be the ultimate test.

"Let's go, Tasha." Kang Oh went down the spiral road with Demon Sword Ubist in his right hand, and Demon Sword Sarahoff in his left.

Tasha quietly followed him with red energy gathered in both of her hands.

A short while later...

Flap, flap, flap!

He could hear countless wings flapping from within the darkness.

"C'mon!" Kang Oh raised both of his demon swords and yelled confidently.

'Come here and have a taste of Sarahoff's new ability!'