〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have defeated «Sea Palace Guard»〉

〈System Alert: You have been awarded 2,880 EXP〉

〈System Alert: You have been awarded 2,880 EXP from the skill «Equalizer»〉

〈System Alert...

Izroth earned a total of 17,280 EXP from the three Sea Palace Guards. He leveled up one time and was not too far off from leveling up again. He also received 4 silver and 95 bronze coins. The other loot that dropped were five additional Merfolk Scales, which gave Izroth six in total.

As Izroth continued on the pathway, it became so narrow that only one person would be able to walk on the path. Which means that if an entire party was walking on this pathway, they would have to do so in a straight line. Though for some reason, there were no longer any Sea Palace Guards coming towards him.

'Strange... Why did they all suddenly stop swimming up here?' As Izroth took one more step forward, his foot felt as if it were sinking into a body of water.

He immediately halted his steps and moved his foot back a full step. His first thought was that he stepped into the body of water by accident, however, with the control he had over his body such a mistake as highly unlikely.

Izroth reached his hand out and touched the air before him. As he did so, his hand sunk into the space in front of him. The feeling was the same as his foot from earlier and it felt as though his hand was sinking into a body of water.

'It's similar to the time I entered into the «Lake of Tears», except it feels more like water instead of lead.'

Izroth stepped forward moving his entire body into the area in front of him. When he arrived at the other side, it was not like traveling through a layer of space.

Instead, it was similar to jumping into a lake or river and when you reached the bottom you would not touch the bottom surface. It was as if when you were about to reach the bottom the world around you would be flipped upside down and before you knew it, you were back at the surface.

〈System Alert: You have entered the region «Great Kashysh Sea»〉

When Izroth entered into the Great Kashysh Sea, he was surprisingly standing atop a vast sea, walking on the water as if it were solid ground. There was no end in sight, no matter which direction Izroth looked in.

'How unusual.' Izroth glanced down at his feet and observed the constant movement of the water. There were numerous unique structures underneath the water that was filled with a great variety of different colors.

It resembled a magnificent coral reef with many species of small fish swimming around all throughout it. There were signs of civilization everywhere within the coral reef. Small structures that appeared to be naturally shaped by the sea itself were spread out within the coral reef.

These small structures were the equivalent of village huts. Although Izroth could not see what was on the inside of them due to their ceiling like constructs, he would occasionally see creatures swimming in and out of the structures.

Izroth took a few steps forward and soon enough, a net-like barrier appeared before him. This meant that Izroth had run into the zone boundary and could not travel any further.

'Do I just dive down?' Izroth tapped his foot against the surface of the water, however, nothing happened. His body would not sink into the sea no matter how much force he exerted.

While there were multiple pathways when he first entered into the Sea Palace Graveyard, they all ultimately converged at the same point. So no matter what path someone chose, in the end, that person would end up on the same narrow pathway that Izroth traveled on to get here.

Izroth did not believe that the game would have this area here for no reason and so there must have been something he was missing.

He then remembered the item he received from eliminating the Sea Palace Guards earlier, the Merfolk Scale. Izroth had not checked the benefits the item provided since he wanted to focus on leveling up and would sort out the loot later. However, now was a better time than any as it may be the key to continuing onward.

Izroth removed one of the Merfolk Scales from his inventory and examined it.

Name: Merfolk Scale(Reageant)

Rank: None

Usage: A single scale belonging to a Merfolk that releases a fishy smelling special chemical when heated to a high temperature. The effects of this special chemical are unknown, but it is thought to give the user a stronger affinity with water-based techniques. This scale can also be placed, in its natural state, on one's skin to grant them the ability to enter the Underwater World and breathe freely underwater until they exit from the Underwater World.

'It seems I should at least spare a glance at the items I receive from now on.' Izroth set the Merfolk Scale onto his left hand. The moment he did that, Izroth's body began to sink slowly into the sea beneath him.

In less than five seconds, Izroth's body was completely submerged underneath the water's surface. He was now in an entirely different world from the one outside the Sea Palace Graveyard.

Strangely enough, his actions did not feel at all impeded by the water. While it took a bit of getting used to, the movement felt fairly simple and would not give players who did not know how to swim a hard time. This may have been due to the system making it easier for players to adjust to being within this type of environment.

The closest area to Izroth was the coral reef he spotted from above. Izroth started swimming in its direction and the closer he moved to the reef, the more clearly he was able to the perceive creatures located there.

There were a few that resembled the Sea Palace Guards from earlier, however, they appeared harmless and held onto no weapons.

There were also multiple fish-type monsters swimming back and forth. They were at least six meters long and possessed a similar build to a great white shark. One major difference was that their skin was deep blue in color with yellow markings placed in certain areas.

Their razor sharp teeth were being clearly displayed like a warning sign to prevent anyone or anything from approaching too close. Their beady looking eyes were red in color and those razor-sharp fins attached to the side of their bodies looked as if it could cut through solid stone.

Name: Yellow-Razored Kryrco Shark(Elite)

Level: 20

HP: 10,000 (100%)

Izroth understood that eventually, he would come across this situation. Once monsters reached level 20, all their stats with the exception of HP, and skills would no longer show up for the player. This was because the system stopped holding the player's hand around this point in time.

This was common knowledge that players were capable of discovering in any beginners guide online released by beta testers.

Izroth was venturing into the unknown and therefore, he decided now was a perfect time to use the stat points and skill points he'd been saving thus far.

At the moment, Izroth had a total of 12 stat points and 4 skill points that were just sitting there unused. This early into the game, stat points were extremely important in how they were divided and so players had to be careful of using them incorrectly.

For example, even though Halls was a tank, he put too many stat points into his defensive stats and could barely deal any damage. However, Mick who Izroth met back in Opal Town put too many stat points into his attack stat and lacked a proper defense.

It was important to find a certain balance this early on as it affected how efficient you would be in leveling up and advancing faster into the game.

Izroth was confident in his ability to accurately read the moves of his opponents. Therefore, he was not too worried about his defensive stat and would let the equipment he obtained cover that part for him.

The main reason he invested more points into his HP was due to certain skills that may be unavoidable such as most sound based skills.

There were also times where he would have to deal with skills similar to that enraged instant cast Firestorm ability he ran into against the final boss of the dungeon Goblin's Paradise.

Izroth already knew what kind of combat style suited him. It was one with accurate, fast and deadly blows that would eradicate his target before they could even register what hit them. Power and speed!

Izroth put two points into his HP, five points into his attack and the last remaining five points into his agility. With his skill points, Izroth placed one point into the skill First Baneful Sword: Destruction maxing out its level at long last.

Skill Name: First Baneful Sword: Destruction

Skill Creator: Izroth

Skill Level: MAXED

Skill Rank: A

Active: Deals 400% of user Attack as damage. Has a very high chance of causing the 'Fear' effect in those it targets.

Description: A sword filled with a concentrated amount of destruction. Beware! A single strike of this sword technique can destroy those who stand in its way! This strike is not its full potential.

Special Effect: This skill can be used without a sword. If this skill kills its target, the cooldown on this skill will be reset.

Cooldown: 1 minute 30 seconds

The first difference Izroth noticed was the fact that he could now use First Baneful Sword: Destruction without a sword and not have to pay the price of having its damage reduced.

'I wonder...' Izroth had an interesting theory that he would definitely test at some point during this dungeon run.

After thinking it over for a bit, Izroth decided to invest two skill points in the skill Phantom Strike. Even though it was only a B-ranked skill, it was a move Izroth used quite often when it was available.

Another reason was that the S-ranked skills that he learned did not accept skill points. Instead, the skills required Izroth to use them in battle in order to increase their levels.

Skill Name: Phantom Strike

Skill Creator: Izroth

Skill Level: MAXED

Skill Rank: B

Active: A three-strike sword skill that deals 50% of the user attack as damage on the first strike and 100% of the user attack as damage on the second strike, and 150% of the user attack as damage on the third strike.

Description: Two swords closely follows the other, like a phantom striking unexpectedly. If you try to follow this sword with your eyes, you may be able to avoid the first strike, but the second and third will not miss.

Cooldown: 1 minute

Although the cooldown on the skill remained the same, Izroth gained an additional sword strikes. This would assist in him stacking Lightning Charges quicker in single opponent battles.

When Izroth finished spending his points, he then turned his attention to the nearest Yellow-Razored Kryrco Shark and started swimming towards it.

'If it's anything like the Sea Palace Guard, then it should have its agility increased by a certain amount while inside a body of water. If that's the case, I can expect for its speed to most likely exceed mine while I'm within this Underwater World.'

When Izroth was about 18 meters away from the Yellow-Razored Kryrco Shark, its menacing red eyes locked onto him.

With a great burst of speed, it shot directly at Izroth like an arrow leaving its string with its blade-like fin seemingly ready to cut through anything that it touched. Its speed was definitely greater than that of the Sea Palace Guard.

Izroth unsheathed his Blade of Lightning and decided to parry the incoming blade-like fin. He wanted to have a good grasp on how powerful the attack of this monster was and with his HP, he was unafraid of dying so quickly.

«Parried»

-258

He was knocked back slightly from the impact of the Yellow-Razored Kryrco Shark's attack.

'It has an attack of at least 500. I suppose it's only natural for a level 20 elite monster.'

Now that Izroth had a general idea of its attack power, he would not take damage again so easily.