The new quest I’ve got sounds worrisome. I did unlock the Pyromancer Subclass, but it doesn’t mean that I have it, and in order to get the subclass, I need to finish the quest and learn the Pyromancy Guidance which is locked behind the reward.

Thing is, I’ve never heard of a Guidance book being obtained through a Quest. You can either get lucky and get it from the Lootboxes or find it yourself out there in the wild. The latter is, of course, the best option since many of them out there are pretty damn powerful.

“Well, doesn’t change the fact that I have it now. Pyromancer is quite uncommon back then thanks to the many classes that offer a much better synergy within the party. Ahem - Sorcerer.”

In Ekolia, there is indeed a friendly fire. No pun intended, but if you got flamed from literally killing your own teammates, all the blame is on you. Even if it’s an accident.

“Let’s worry about that later. Besides, I think I’m gonna make another character and do normal mode if I were going for a team play.”

As I walk, I opened the reward I’ve got from the giant frog boss, “Or was it a toad?” shrugging, “Doesn’t matter, I guess.”

F and E Rank drops are bronze-colored cards, but for D and C, it’s silver.

‘The aesthetics really does feel… authentic.’

! {Items Unveiled}

~ {Flamberge / Rank D-Rare / Physical Attack: 230 / Magical Attack: 150 / Requirement: 140 Strength, 60 Dexterity}

~ {Black Orchid / Rank D-Rare}

~ {Alchemy Toolkit}

~ {Hunter Precision Skillbook / Rank D-Common}

~ {Heal Array Spellbook / Tier 2}

Narrowing my eyes down, ‘Hm, nothing’s decent… guess I’ll have to pick the most useful one then.’

The Heal Array Spellbook. Something about it reminds me of my favorite build back then, which I myself called the "Decayed Priest" - yes, I know just how cringy it sounds, but man... I miss it so bad. I was pretty much healing all my enemies for a minute straight and when the time comes, I was like *snap* killing them instantly.

I was going for a long game that can be ended in time which I'm sure was a playstyle that has been long lost and forgotten by people just because of the non-complexity of the modern builds have become - just talking nonsense here.

About the spell itself though, not really that mind-blowing, but it's the most serviceable out of all these options.

! {Item Received}

I took it out of the inventory and learn it on the way to Boland.

The book is quite complex, and so is the process of learning a spell in general. Usually, it would require one to take a day off from hunting, and just dedicate their time to learn the spell or skill from the book they’ve got.

Not for the genius me though.

The process of learning from a book. When someone opens the first page, the words on that page light up in orange and steadily turn to green as they read through everything. When the words become red, that means they need to retry on reading the portion that they either missed or forgotten to get a hold-off. Going straight at it, the words need to be in your head for about 2-3 minutes before you forgot them, and if it succeeded, then the words will become green and you can continue to the next paragraph.

In Realism Mode though, I don’t see the coloring. So, I can only do with gut feeling whether on all these paragraphs.

! {New Spell Learned}

~ {Heal Array / Intermediate / Create a tiny sphere of light that can be connected to another created sphere to form a healing area once fully connected / Mana Consumption: 30 / Cooldown: None / Requirement: 50 Faith}

And yep, I’m still in my prime, baby.

“Damn, the requirement is THAT high for a tier 2 spell? Alright, have it your way, System. Not that I’m complaining or whatever, but this is quite a dick move for the priest class and thank you so much for rem— ahem, what the hell am I even talking about now.”

Careful, Siola.

No one needs to know about that little secret. ‘Now then, let’s take those sliders and pull them to the side…’

==== Quick Status ====

Statistics

Name: --- / Level: 16 / Class: Mage

Primary Attributes

Max Health: 1000 | Max Mana: 7600 | Max Stamina: 1600

Health: 1000 | Mana: 7600 | Stamina: 1600

Secondary Attributes

Strength: 20 / Dexterity: 10 / Endurance: 20

Vitality: 0 / Agility: 20

Intelligence: 110 / Faith: 110 / Luck: 50

Combat

Physical Attack: 20 (+10) | 7 (+5) / Physical Defense: 0 (+10)

Magical Attack: 15 (+110) / Magical Defense: 0 (+10)

Health Regeneration: 1 / Mana Regeneration: 23 / Stamina Regeneration: 1

==== Quick Status ====

! {Arcane Progression Unlocked}

~ {Intelligence Lv. 100 Bonus: Bypass all Intelligence requirement of Expert abilities and below + Slightly increase the Efficiency and Potency of all Intelligence-based abilities}

~ {Faith Lv. 100 Bonus: Bypass all Faith requirement of Expert abilities and below + Slightly increase the Efficiency and Potency of all Faith-based abilities}

‘Looks good.’

Though, I wished the bonus would enable the bypass for the tier 5 Master spells instead. All the good stuff is in there.

...

After killing some undead frogs along the way, I met with Boland and the rest. They seem to be just chillin’ under that tree, but I can see the awful expression they make.

Boland caught me in his sights. Hurriedly coming over, “Lass, if you didn’t return even a minute later…”

“Heheh, thanks, sir Boland.”

Galliano walked towards me, “You okay?”

“Mhm, managed to get away from it after being spit out. Come on, let’s hurry and get the fuck out of here.”

Glossing over the little details so that no one would question it, I managed to avoid the topic since everyone’s state of mind is in disarray right now.

‘Gonna need to boost the morale, but I don’t know how to do that. Besides, we’re almost there already. I’m sure once we escaped, everyone would be laughing and all that.’

With Boland, me, and Galliano together. Fighting all these demonic undead is no longer a threat for us, not that it was that to begin with, it’s just that it’s become even easier now.

The path is going narrower as we went through, meaning, we’re about to reach the end of the line. Our goal is on the other side. Though, it’s not really it either.

I was right about this place being linear, but looking further out, let’s say, over the stone walls locking us in, the scale of this place might actually be bigger than I thought. Reminds me of a labyrinth.

“So, where are we going exactly?” asked Galliano.

“Secret Passage.”

“Okay, am I supposed to know what and where it is?”

“Well, um, keep this a secret, okay?” whispering, “And don’t report anything you’re about to see either.”

Nodding twice.

Pulling a thumbs-up on him, “Part of this area is actually a dungeon, and each layer of a dungeon has a teleportation device. So, I’m sure you’ve already wrapped it around your head of what I’m getting at here, no?”

Nodding, “Teleporting us outside.”

“Heh, if it’s that easy, you wouldn’t need me to do anything. Teleportation Device can only transfer us to other devices existing within the dungeon. So, we’ll be using that to get to the nearest TD from the main portal.”

“I heard there’s a powerful boss waiting at the portal.”

“Mhm, we still need to deal with that. Let’s just hope that THAT special friend of yours is not going to ruin our little tiptop here.”

Turning my head forward, we brush through the bushes and the area is getting dimmer and dimmer, “All right, we're about to be there, baby.” We strayed from the linear path and head to the darker area where it’s being blocked by the stone walls, but the thing is, we can actually climb this.

So, we did.

One by one, we assisted each other in crossing over the wall, and once we did...

“Ignition.”

*Bwoosh*

“Woah there.”

“Ahh, sorry, am I… too hot?” posing erotically.

I got no response whatsoever, not from the jackass nor Boland and the group. I mean come on, how come anyone doesn't wants a piece of this? Sure, I may not have the useless meat the common slut would flaunt around, but like, my butt, baby. They’re still bouncy, round, and—

Okay, I’ll stop.

*Step *Step *Step

*Crunch *Crunch *Crunch

I swear, the ground felt so different here than before that you can almost hear the sound of it, literally. I waved my hands and burns some of the leaves blocking our path, and cross over another wall.

Looking at Boland, he seems to be on guard about this place. I mean sure, it’s dark and dim, and sure is not the most soothing atmosphere to absorb in too, but I can almost guarantee that there is no enemy around here.

“Hm?” this time, my spidey senses tingling.

I quickly look back and scan the area, “…”

“What’s wrong, lass?”

“…”

Maybe it was just my imagination— no, hold up, ‘Hm?’ squinting my eyes at the far sight of my vision, I see... a still figure behind a tree, ‘Isn’t that… a pair of eyes?’

A bright blue color, shattered like glasses, even I myself not sure what it is, but it doesn’t seem to be moving nor blinking, ‘Hm, this is getting a bit creepy. Let’s just get out of here asap, baby. I saw nothing~’ tip-toeing ahead and speeds up my movement.

We crossed a narrow double wall and proceed to squeeze through the crack on another wall, “Here it is.”

The shortcut to get out of this place, “Come, everyone. We’re here.”

All of them passed through and then we do counting for the first time, make sure everyone is present and no one is left behind, “All right.”

Boland passed me to see the thing for himself, “Hooh, so this is the teleportation device you were talking about.”

A flat chunk of stone with purple magic words drawn on top of it, the size is big enough to fit everyone.

“How do we use it?” asked Boland.

“Well, two ways. We need to either provide a suitable offering or get someone knowledgeable and skillful enough to transport us all in.”

“What kind of offering?”

“Well, money.”

“…”

“Hehe. I’m just kidding. Obviously, even if it does ask something from us, we wouldn’t have both time and energy to spare in fulfilling them, but thankfully, you got the beautiful goddess in front of you for the second option. Now, go sit down in a circle and leave the center spot for me. You too, Galliano.”

“Just call me Galli, as all my friends do.”

“Ouch, did I just get friend-zoned?”

“Heh, already have a diamond back home, and sorry if that hurts you.”

“Oww! Okay, now sit down. We gotta hurry up, baby. I feel something choking me from behind.”

“Hm?”

“Nothing, come on.”

I don't have time to start up a drama. Plus, it's getting real uncomfortable here, and I can't quite put a finger on it.

And with that, we’re all set to go.

Using the teleportation device is actually simple when one knows what they’re doing, but it’s simply not just entering the location code or whatever. Complete visualization of the teleportation process is required.

The same as using other similar spells.

*Wooosh*

My Mana got cut in half and rapidly falling as the words within the device light up. None of these guys are actually closing their eyes though. Shoot, “I forgot to mention, please close your eyes. You really don’t want to see what is going to happen next.”

They obediently closed their eyes, even Galliano.

This party… well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a party, but… they don’t question everything I do nor how do I know about all this.

Made me chuckled a little bit, ‘Not bad at all.’

*Slap*

Tapping my hands together, “We’re riding out, boys!”

*Woooooooooooooosh*