"SpartanDonkey's tip about the light sure did come in handy," I said, holding a torch high to light my way. It would've been annoying if I came here, found out that I needed a torch, and had to go back into the village to buy one.

I was traversing the network of caves running below the village to find Luminescent Borples for Healer Gula's quest.

With no experience in caving, this was initially a novel experience for me until the monotone, and dim surroundings took over. Long stretches of boring rocks and earth dampened my enthusiasm for exploring. The Scholar's Lodge, a Mardukryon underground settlement partially destroyed during the Great Quake, was far more interesting as it had plenty of rooms, items, and curious carvings. I wanted to explore that place instead, but I had many quests lined up.

Golden crystals were surprisingly lacking in this place, so I had the torch to beat back the darkness. The Mardukryons had probably collected the golden crystals found in the shallower tunnels long ago, so there was none now. What remained was a gloomy tunnel that was no different from any in the real world.

Actually, I didn't need a torch if the lighting was the only problem. [Greater Pyro Shell] could also illuminate my path.

My shell was now at level three after I used my two free Lesser Skill Points up on it—I previously removed its LSPs, transferring them to my debuff skills, when I changed into my Totem Juggling build. Now, I was building my tankiness back up.

Lvl. 3 Greater Pyro Shell: Glorious blessings of the ancestors coat you with a formidable barrier of protective flames that boosts your defenses and absorbs (67% of incoming damage) up to the amount of Ancestral Shroud/Energy spent to summon it added by (19% of Armor). When the barrier expires or is depleted, the damage absorbed is dealt to nearby enemies.

Grants: +175 Armor

Cost: 22% of Max Ancestral Shroud for Mardukryon; 15% of Max Energy for other Races

Duration: 17 Seconds

Cooldown: 7 Seconds

But the torch wasn't only for illumination.

Here they are again. The lonely clip-clopping of my hooves on the hard rock was joined by furious chattering sounds.

I used [Greater Pyro Shell] and [Healing Touch] to see better what was up ahead; the latter's Heal over Time effect also produced a green glow with each pulse.

Lvl. 2 Healing Touch: Use a touch of your revitalizing Ancestral Flames to heal yourself or an ally for (200 + (Vigor x 1.5) + 4% Ancestral Shroud) Health Points, and grant the target a buff that heals by the same value over 10 seconds. (Heal buff does not stack for a target.)

Generate for target: 1 Rejuvenation Charge

Cost: 25 Ancestral Shroud

Cooldown: 3 Seconds

A small group of angry [Lvl 11 Borples] blocked my path. They were tiny mushroom people, about the height of my knee, with hollowed-out eyes and little mouths that constantly grumbled gibberish.

Turning their attention to me, their murmurings became screeches. Flailing their fingerless arms, they surged forward—they were aggressive mobs, attacking anyone near them without provocation.

I was ready for them. Not to fight, but to drive these annoying fuckers away.

Waving the flaming brand I held made the smattering of Borples scurry into cracks along the walls. The fire that was made with a special powder I bought from the merchant pointed out by SpartanDonkey frightened them. Small humanoid mushrooms fleeing away from me was a comical sight.

To be fair, these were simple matters I could've learned on my own. But SpartanDonkey did save me a bit of time and spared me the inconvenience.

I was looking for Luminescent Borples, not these normal ones.

I did try fighting a bunch of these guys a while ago. Killing monsters to level up while completing a quest sounded like hitting two birds with one stone. But it turned out I was better off not bothering this pesky bird if I only wanted the other.

For one, Borples’ stubby punches inflicted a slow status and also occasionally stunned me for half a second at a time. They couldn’t kill me, of course. My insane health regeneration courtesy of my Invigorated Pygmy set ensured that. But man, was it annoying to move at a snail’s pace while flinching whenever their mini stun procced.

And they could also heal each other; it took some time for my retribution damage to kill them. It would've been faster if I used [Gnawing Rot] to shred their Armor, but that would mean I had to stop moving.

They were more trouble than they were worth in Essence. Killing them only slowed me down, finding their glowing brethren. I wanted to complete as many quests for Healer Gula as possible before I logged out and began my day.

I was going to personally fetch Mum and Sawyer, my youngest sister, from the airport later. Herald Stone, the Dutiful Son and Caring Brother—my actual traits and not a mere aspect.

"Hey! You there." A thrashing Borple squeezed itself between two rocks. "Have you seen a glow-in-the-dark version of you?"

A low growl was the only thing I received in response before the Borple flattened itself and slotted through a crack like an envelope going into a mailbox.

"Where the hell are they?" I continued down the tunnel, hastening my trot into a gallop.

One would expect that it would be easy to find a glowing monster in the darkness, but it had already been several minutes, and I was yet to run into any. The [Tattered Map] only told me I had to look around here, but 'here' was a vast place wider than the village!

Completing Healer Gula's request wasn't originally at the top of my things to do.

I had a long list of ongoing side quests—I hadn't even touched the main quest of finding the lost Mardukryon tribes that Chief Nogras entrusted to me. I figured that I'd build a good relationship with the NPCs first by fulfilling their requests before interrogating them about the main quest.

To complete the tons of side quests in an organized manner, my system was to do all tasks in one area before moving to another, simultaneously progressing all of them instead of focusing on one.

However, the information SpartanDonkey told me made me change my plans.

He pointed me down a promising path for my plan to build around [Cleansing Flames] in tandem with [Cloak of the Plaguespreader], the latter skill allowing me to inflict any negative status I had on those attacking me.

Well...it was sort of promising.

SpartanDonkey himself wasn't confident of its viability since not too many people had tried what he suggested to me.

None that he knew of, actually.

Most Mardukryons unlocked [Friendly Fire] instead of [Cleansing Flames] for the second level of the Mardukryon Cidule. Hell, those who didn't pick [Friendly Fire] chose [Fiery War Stomp] over the skill I wanted to play with.

The handful of players who did pick [Cleansing Flames]—SpartanDonkey couldn't recall who they were—surely didn't do what he recommended to me.

He told me, "There are potions that can apply debuffs to enemies. Many players use them, mostly against bosses, because they're quite expensive to spam. Now, listen here, man. This might sound crazy, but what I'm thinking is...how about you drink those potions instead?"

"It does sound crazy," I mumbled to myself as I recalled our conversation. It was something a person who wasn’t thinking like a box could come up with. Despite my suspicions of SpartanDonkey, I was warming up to him. "Crazy…crazy enough to work—huh, what's that?"

A stout form with a neon green glow disappeared in the bend about ten meters.

I placed the cap of the torch over the flame to snuff it out; I didn't want to scare whatever it was if it turned out to be the monster I was looking for. Chattering layered on top of each other told me there were more of them.

"Four of you?" I exclaimed as I rounded the corner. "What luck! I hope this keeps up because it's boring looking for you guys."

The group of [Lvl 12 Luminescent Borples] turned to me.

Their faces contorted in rage as they attacked. With four of them punching simultaneously, they quickly broke my low-level [Greater Pyro Shell]. They had higher damage than their regular counterparts, but it didn't bother me. My super regeneration kept refilling my health bar to max after every punch they landed.

But these asshats were making me breakdance with their mini stuns! Is breakdancing still a thing nowadays?

In retaliation, I bathed them with [Gnawing Rot].

Lvl. 7 Gnawing Rot: Spread a festering miasma over a small area (maximum of four), causing any enemies entering it to lose 97 Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 545), 2% Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 10%). The effect of the decay persists for 13 seconds after leaving the area.

Cost: 85 Energy

Duration: 45 Seconds

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

My retribution damage ticked higher and higher, with their Armor going down every second. I had previously tested this skill with Kezo, and we confirmed that it could reduce Armor to negative values. It got me thinking about how negative armor would work in real life. If fully naked was zero armor, what was negative armor supposed to be?

I didn't have much time to puzzle over this crucial question because the Luminescent Borples had already died. Debuffs were incredibly powerful in a fight.

What if I drank debuff potions? My thoughts returned to SpartanDonkey's suggestion while I hunted more glowing mushroom people.

I had eaten stale bread when I first tested Mother Core Online using a human character. As a result, I had a slightly upset stomach that could scarcely be considered a nuisance. Drinking debuff potions should operate similarly, but their effects wouldn't be that mild.

It was safer to drink potions with weak debuff effects. Unfortunately, that'd also mean I'd spread only weak negative ailments to those who'd dared touch me using the [Cloak of the Plaguespreader].

Lvl. 1 Cloak of the Plaguespreader: Chosen as a servant of a sealed carrion lord, you increase your resistance to diseases while spreading them to those who dare touch you. Negative status resistance (+4%) and have a 10% chance to inflict any negative status you have to an attacker.

Cost: 20 Energy

Duration: 12 Seconds

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

No, I had to drink the most potent debuff potions and had to find a way to be resistant to their effects. SpartanDonkey had told me that I might find something from Potion Brewer Bawu.

Bawu was a disgraced Brewer because of her crazy experiments with dangerous chemicals that caused several deaths in the past.

Before the village could cast her out, she hid away in the tunnels to continue with her experiments. Only one person knew how to find her, and her area wouldn't be unlocked unless a player was told the way by Bawu's sister—Healer Gula.

Upon the mention of potions and chemicals, I commented that Luds probably had an Ocadule from her. That clown was a walking pharmacy set, his body a Christmas tree, but instead of colorful balls, flasks filled with various chemicals hung all over him.

I didn't directly ask SpartanDonkey the question because he might charge me for the answer. But I added that from the way Luds was talking, it sounded like he was a DPS instead of a debuffer, so I wasn't sure if Potion Brewer Bawu would be able to help me.

That prompted SpartanDonkey to elaborate on his advice. "Luds' bread and butter are his exploding flasks for dealing damage," he explained. "That's a different Ocadule, don't worry," he added, perhaps sensing that I had an almost irrational aversion to following whatever build Luds was using.

I encountered a few more groups of Luminescent Borples, which I quickly dispatched to complete Healer Gula's needed ingredients.

"And that's fifteen," I said, checking my inventory—time to return to the village and turn in the quest. I needed to do Healer Gula a few more favors before she'd introduce me to her recluse of a sister.