It was nearly 9 am in Veridia’s time zone and Abel had been hunting down monsters without end. He had logged off to get some sleep when he noticed his movements started to lag from mental fatigue. After getting some rest he hopped right back in and continued leveling without even exercising today.

Although he was very reluctant to waste 3 to 4 hours of double EXP just to sleep, he knew it was the more prudent choice. If he messed up and got killed instead then he would regret it even more than losing out on a temporary buff.

His updated stats with his new equipment gave him a bit more leeway when confronting these monsters that were higher leveled than himself. Though he was nearly out of healing supplies, he only had 2 more uses of the ointment as well as a single potion left.

Clang
Clang
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-73

He dodged a sweeping attack coming from the Coralcarapace Sentinel he was fighting and unleashed his own skill.

‘Ecliptic Slash’

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*Ding*

+1,050 EXP

The monsters were still giving abundant EXP considering he was 6 levels below them and the increase from the lunar bane cycle added even more EXP when it was active earlier. Just as he speculated, the Coralclaw Marauder was indeed a nocturnal monster that seemed to disappear when the sun came up, though he couldn’t understand why considering the entire dungeon was below ground.

He backed away to a region that was cleared out an hour ago and pulled out some grilled crab meat he had in his spatial bag. When his satiety was back to full, he continued eating and slowly lifted up his depleted HP to 100%. This was the location with the entrance to the third floor, he had another 30 or so minutes of double EXP and he wanted to see what type of monster he’d come across on the third level.

Although he wouldn’t be leveling up before the double EXP buff would expire, he was still curious about the next floor. He was still short 27% from another level up but his speed of progress was still supersonic in comparison to other players. The last he checked, the earliest batch of players were inching closer to tier 1 but they were still a little off.

He slowly descended down to the third level and surprisingly came across the same faint glow as the earlier treasure chest. When he took a look at the crevice, it was indeed a treasure chest and luckily this one didn’t require a key to open either. He found a beautiful looking necklace that seemed to be made out of silver surrounding a coral in the shape of a heart. The coral's hues would subtly shift, ranging from deep blue to a radiant purple and it was emanating a faint and calming glow.

 “Inspect”

[Coralheart Amulet]

Corals Blessing: Once per day, the wearer can invoke the Corals Blessing, summoning ethereal coral tendrils to briefly entangle and restrain a single opponent during combat.
Tidal Harmony: The Coralheart Amulet enhances the wearer's natural affinity with the ebb and flow of water. This connection grants a 20% boost to water-based magical spells.

Restriction: Level 15

Description: The Coralheart Amulet is an exquisite pendant crafted from a special piece of enchanted coral. It is a token of favor from benevolent sea spirits, providing protection to those who venture into the underwater realms.

‘Too bad I like my current necklace, but I can still put this up for auction I guess.’

Abel stuffed it in his spatial bag, noticing he was nearly out of space from all the loot and random stuff he had stored. He decided to sell the necklace off considering he couldn’t make much use out of it and besides, he didn’t want to give up the extra 100 HP from his current Amulet of Vital Harmony.

He carried on with care until he reached a wide-open space that held a single monster. It was huge compared to its brethren from the floors above, standing at least 3 meters in height and more than twice in width. It was obviously a crab-type monster but it seemed to be triple the size of the Crabby Scuttler.

The monsters’ exoskeleton was a blend of deep arctic blue and icy white, resembling frost reflecting sunlight. It was also adorned with sharp, protrusions like steel crafted icicles along with sturdy plates that undoubtedly provided unparalleled protection. Like most Coral Crawlers, its claws seemed to be its primary weapons, looking both colossal and formidable. Each claw was nearly the size of a Coralclaw Marauder and were tipped with razor-sharp and encrusted edges, seemingly capable of delivering devastating blows.

*gulp*

Abel gulped as he backed up, this monsters’ size seemed a bit too intimidating. Although he was curious about what it was, he had to admit he didn’t think he’d be able to take it down on his own. He suddenly stopped when it turned around and laid its frosty blue eyes on him, he didn’t dare to move but the monster didn’t give him a choice.

‘SHIT! how the hell did it pick up on my presence, all I did was gulp… is it sensitive to sound?’

Left without a choice, he reckoned he’d go all out and give it his all. He still had 1 potion on him so he wouldn’t back out now that he had no other option. Abel was actually capable of running back into the corridor before the monster could get close enough for an attack but he wanted to both test himself and make up for his earlier cowardice.

Although he was alone and there would no one that would blame him if he retreated, he knew he wouldn’t make it far in the game if he kept backing off from challenging battles. Worst case scenario would be him getting pummeled and forced to retreat but at least he could tell himself that he had tried his best. He wasn’t foolish enough to die trying to kill a random monster.

“Inspect”

[Crabominable Titanclaw] (Normal Monster)

Level: 18
Attack: 115-137
Defense: 117
HP: 1,800/1,800

Skills: Titan Crush ???, Shell Fortification ???, Temperature Manipulation ???

‘So, it picked up on my presence because of my body heat… what the hell.’

After taking a look at its stats and skills, Abel understood how this gigantic crab picked up on his presence. Thankfully, the monster wasn’t the fastest creature out there but each step from its massive 8 legs would induce a small quake in the room.

‘Serpents Dance’

He activated his movement skill and ran towards the giant crab, even when he saw it swing its massive claws towards him, he didn’t stop. He sidestepped twice, weaving through its claw attacks to get underneath the monstrosity.

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-75

As the monster tried to step back to attack him, Abel stepped forward and kept slashing with his sword. Just when he thought this monster was actually easy to kill, the giant crab actually flexed its 8 legs before jumping up!

‘Ah shit…’

Boooom

He hurriedly ran out of range but lost his balance as the ground started shaking upon its landing. Before he could get his bearings straight and stabilize his footing, he took a massive claw straight at his chest.

-68

Luckily, he had switched out his armor so not only was his defense greater but he wasn’t knocked back into the wall. Such a strike would have definitely knocked him onto a wall on the side, stunning him for a few seconds. He guessed the jump was its Titan Crush attack so he made a note to pay attention to its legs for any indication of its impending skill.

‘Harmonic Breath’

Clang

He blocked another strike and circled around, trying to get back under this huge monster. It’s single claw strike took out more than 10% of his current health, he couldn’t imagine what sort of damage he’d take from the brunt of its earlier jumping stomp.

Although he wouldn’t die from a single hit due to his current Titanheart Armors special effect, he wouldn’t survive much longer after getting flattened to a meat pancake. All it would take is a slight brush from its claws to end his current dungeon run.

-75
-73
-117

‘Ecliptic Slash’

-228

He was lucky enough to have switched out his old Flameforged Longsword with the Solar Longsword, the burn damage inflicted was more than double his old weapon and did even more damage than his regular strikes. He kept attacking at the monsters’ legs and abdomen, wary of its Titan Crush skill.

This time, he paid special attention to its legs and started darting out of range the second he noticed its legs flex in motion. He ran out of range and jumped up in the air the moment the Crabominable Titanclaw landed.

Boooom

Clang
Clang

His response was much more acceptable this time around and he managed to block its follow up strikes. He kept at it and ran under the monster’s legs to attack it once more, but he noticed his speed started to decline.

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Even though Serpents Dance had long ended, he realized his speed had been minutely affected from the start of the battle. He didn’t dare lose concentration to look at the notifications in his user interface until he got out of range from the Titan Crush and blocked the follow up attacks.

Boooom

Clang
Clang

He didn’t hurry to get under the monster but backed away slightly and paid attention to the notifications in his peripheral vision.

*Ding*

You have been affected by Temperature Manipulation:

-3% movement speed
-3% agility

Duration: 49 seconds…

You have been affected by Temperature Manipulation:

-3% movement speed
-3% agility

Duration: 99 seconds…

‘Shit shit shit… it’s slowing me down over time and its stackable. Let’s hope I can kill it before it freezes me to death.’

‘Serpents Dance’

He used his movement skill to offset his own reduction in speed and hurried back under the monster. He attacked as swiftly as possible, going so far as pulling out one of the Viper Stiletto’s from his back and slashing with both weapons.

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-55
-75
-56…

Before he darted out of range once more, he got lucky with his last dagger strike and induced the 5% chance of poison. It kept decreasing by 10 HP every 5 seconds for the next minute and although it wasn’t much, any reduction in its HP was a welcome addition.

Unfortunately, the monster’s carapace started glowing as it activated its defensive skill upon landing and increased its own defense by a ridiculous margin. Abel’s own attacks were barely doing a quarter of what they were capable of but he had no other alternative but to keep striking and darting out of range.

He’d use Ecliptic Slash whenever he could and activate Serpents Dance as soon as it came off cool down to offset his lessened agility and speed. The monster was down to just 10% in health but his own speed had reached 42% in the meantime. It seemed like the longer he stayed around the monster, the faster the debuff would stack.

-68
-70

‘I shouldn’t risk it, let’s just use the last potion!’

+200…

He started taking several attacks after the monsters use of Titans Crush, due to his lessened speed he would fail in synchronizing his own jump to offset the shaking ground. Additionally, the debuff prevented him from blocking as quickly as before and he was forced to consume his last potion as his health had dropped to 20% in the last minute.

‘I wont last if this keeps up, I need to do something…’

He was hopeful for another special effect from his Solar Longsword as that alone would drain half of its remaining HP bar. He also figured the monsters defensive skill should enter cool down soon enough, it had been active for close to 3 minutes now which was already excessive in his opinion.

Coincidentally, both of the things he was waiting on took place concurrently!

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With the last slash he gave before intending to jump out of range, the Crabominable Titanclaws defensive skill entered cooldown while his own Solar Longsword gave off a fiery strike, taking out its remaining HP.

*Ding*

+1900 EXP

This was the most EXP Abel had ever gotten from a single monster but it made sense. The Crabominable Titanclaw was 8 levels above his own while he still had 5 minutes of double EXP rewards. He was actually worried he wouldn’t be able to kill it before his double EXP buff ran out but luckily, his trusty sword came through in the end.

Although the description said it had a 5% chance of striking with fire damage, it had only activated twice during the battle but he had definitely struck it more than 40 times, especially when its overpowered defensive skill came into effect. He was simply unlucky to only have the Solar Longswords special effect occur twice but it didn’t matter anymore.

*pant* *pant*

‘That was much tougher than I thought, its damn debuff skill could stack up to 10 times!’

His own speed and agility had been reduced by 30% in the last 10 minutes of the battle, only dropping to 20% for 30 seconds whenever he activated Serpents Dance. Things became worse when Harmonic Breath entered cooldown and he lost the all-round buff to his stats. Fortunately, he managed to pull through in the end. Now it was time to skin this monster and see what sort of loot it would give!