Chapter 183: Skill Synthesis (2)

I entered Beyond's 5th floor with Loretta's encouragement. Of course, no matter who my opponent was, I didn't plan on dying to them. If my vitality hit zero in Beyond, I would have to wait a whole month before I could re-enter. If I wasted a month, it wouldn't matter how quickly I climbed the dungeon.

Loretta seemed to be taking things slowly after declaring a 2 year time period, but I was different. I couldn't just climb the dungeon for 2 years. I had to work as a Dimensional Mercenary and clear Event Dungeons when they appeared.

Even so, the bastard in front of me was just... morally wrong.

[Kuaaaaaaaaaa!]

[Ghost Orc Lord's Warcry rang out! The Ghost Orc Lord is cleansed of all negative status effects! Its attack power increases by 50% temporarily and it becomes super-armored!]

[Soul Echo activates! Ghost Orc Lord's Warcry rings out repeatedly. The Ghost Orc Lord can be affected by Warcry's effect by up to 10 times.]

A half-transparent Orc Lord floating in the air shouted. The dozens of skulls dangling on his glaive also screamed at the same time. They were precisely what increased the effect of his warcry. I could see him getting stronger right in front of my very own eyes.

"How many times do you have to multiply your strength before you're satisfied, you cowardly bastards!"

[Guooooooo!]

When I entered Beyond's 5th floor, the first thing I saw was the large hall I was currently in and this Ghost Orc Lord. It was relieving to know that I wouldn't have to spend several days exploring Beyond, but the fact that I had to face this half-spiritual half-living being was quite stressful.

[Guaaaaaang!]

"Damn it!"

Like a ghost in a horror movie, the Ghost Orc Lord blinked forward repeatedly to approach me. Every time the skulls on his glaive cut through the air, they let out ear-splitting screams, which served to stress me out even more.

"Kuk!"

I quickly rolled backward and dodged the glaive. After cutting a few strands of my hair, the glaive struck the ground, making a terrifying sound ring out. At the same time, the entire room rumbled. Feeling strange, I was about to fly up, but before I could do so, I felt my stomach churning and coughed out a mouthful of blood. I took out a potion and grit my teeth.

"So it doesn't matter whether I dodge the attack..."

Really, this boss fight couldn't be more annoying. The Ghost Orc Lord's attacks were so powerful that it was difficult to block them. Even if I dodged them, the entire room would shake and damage me. I couldn't help but praise my decision to not bring Lotte and Plene.

One could argue that I would be able to fly with Lotte and dodge the vibration attack. However, even though the hall was spacious, it wasn't large enough for Lotte to fly around freely. Peika was out of the question for the same reason.

[Guaaaaa!]

"Kuk, I was wondering when it was coming!"

Along with his cry, hundreds of grey ectoplasm arrows shot out from his body. Without a hint of hesitation, I hurriedly summoned Talaria and Sharana to fly up. Right, this bastard was the combination of dozens of Orc Lords and Wraith Queens! If they were the combination of the two, then I should have no reason to lose, I felt more at ease as I told myself this fact.

[Guaaaaaa!]

The reflective property of the walls was gone. Instead, no matter where the Ghost Orc Lord's attack hit, the room would rumble and deal damage proportional to the attack's force to whoever was touching the ground. Of course, now that I was flying, it had little meaning.

I tried to think about how I could use this property to damage the Ghost Orc Lord, but as he was flying from the very beginning, there really was nothing I could do.

The hundreds of ectoplasm arrows aimed for my life without mercy. Affected by ten stacks of warcries, even a single ectoplasm arrow dealt immense pain. I danced like a fairy to avoid the incoming ectoplasm arrows, which then struck the room's walls and exploded. Immediately, the room shook with an explosive rumble.

I ended up giving the Ghost Orc Lord an upper hand due to just how unexpected the fight had begun, but if I didn't find my rhythm fast, I would be in danger.

"Alright... Kuaaaaang!"

[You activated Frozen Roar! All enemies in the battlefield freeze in place. All allies temporarily become super-armored and have all abilities increased by 50%. Your chance of landing critical hits double when fighting enemies affected by Frozen Roar.]

A freezing energy descended in the hall. The ectoplasm arrows flying toward me slowed down, and frost appeared on the Ghost Orc Lord's half-transparent body. Using Sharana's power, I detonated the ectoplasm arrows one by one and thought about what Floor Master skills to use.

Unfortunately, without enough space to even fly around on Peika, there was no way I could use Gigant Time. I also couldn't use Gaia Buster, as it would strike the entire room with too great a force.

"In that case... Kuk. Ruyue!"

[Got it!]

The Ghost Orc Lord had already broken out of the ice. I tried to tie him down again with Ruyue's power, but it was not enough. In the end, I stopped thinking and tightened my grip on my spear.

"As if I only fought with Floor Master skills! Prepare to die!"

I charged toward the Ghost Orc Lord, as I poured more mana into Ruyue and told her to restrain the Ghost Orc Lord more. At the same time, I drank a Mana Potion and formed chaos flames on my spear. The Ghost Orc Lord let out a horrifying scream as if he wanted to kill me with his scream alone.

[Guaaaaaaaaaa!]

"I don't have the time to be wasting here, you ghost orc!"

I dodged his slow-moving glaive and thrust my spear toward his waist area. He may have a spiritual body, but he couldn't dodge my chaos flames. Although the ice restraining his movements completely melted away, he was affected by inextinguishable black flames in exchange.

Maddened by the flames, the Ghost Orc Lord shot out more ectoplasm arrows and launched aura waves by swinging his glaive. The room shook endlessly, damaging me while I was still flying. Although the vibrations came from the walls, the sheer force had even spread through the air. Things couldn't continue like this. The ectoplasm arrows seemed to be shot towards me almost infinitely, and I couldn't continue to let it happen.

"Kuuk... First, I'll get rid of this vibration. Ruyue, go back for now!"

When Ruyue left, the Ghost Orc Lord went wild with joy. He charged toward me and swung his giant glaive like a scythe.

I shouted.

"Kuaaaaaaang!"

[You used Crimson Roar. Everything blazes in flames.]

In terms of visuals, nothing could come close to this skill. The entire space blazed and dealt critical fire damage to all targets other than me! The Ghost Orc Lord's painful scream was especially memorable. The chaos flames expanded their territory as if the blazing space was their home.

[Guaaaaaang!]

At that moment, the Ghost Orc Lord threw his glaive at me. It seemed even the blazing space couldn't stop the super-armored state. I sent an aura imbued with chaos flame flying toward him and dodged the glaive. The glaive then struck the ground. The entire room rumbled from the shock. That was the end. I sighed in relief.

"So it really was effective."

Even the words I just said disappeared after a weak vibration. It was impossible to turn the space into a complete vacuum, but it seemed what I planned worked.

Mechanical waves could not travel without a medium. As Crimson Roar burnt up all the air when it activated, vibrations became unable to travel through the air. Of course, this put me in a tough spot as well. Even though I was a level 56 explorer, I couldn't last long in a space without air.

[Peika, let's go all out!]

[Got it, Master!]

I raised my spear and held my breath. I concentrated my strength on one point and charged towards the Ghost Orc Lord with Peika.

"Take this and die! Heroic Strike!"

The Ghost Orc Lord also let out a hearty scream and charged toward me. Well, since I couldn't hear him, I only assumed he did.

Plus, his annoying horror movie-like blink skill was active again. If I didn't focus, I would lose a limb in an instant. I had to land dozens of attacks, but my opponent only had to land one to fatally wound me. Now, there was no air to breathe either. Really, nothing was going my way.

There was nothing more terrifying than fighting a super-armored enemy, but I smiled. A warrior shined when he fought with his life on the line, and a warrior shined the most when he overcame everything and came out victorious!

I flashed my golden Evil Eyes and thrust out my spear, filled with chaos flames and Heroic Aura. The spear shot past the Ghost Orc Lord's glaive and pierced his side.

[Kuaaaaaa!]

"Cry louder, you pig ghost!"

I shouted to encourage myself and thrust forward again. The chaos flames devoured his entire body.

*

[You cleared Beyond's 5th floor. You obtained the qualification to challenge the First Dungeon's 56th floor.]

[You obtained 5 bonus stats. Your maximum HP and MP increase by 2%.]

[Experience has been added to skills you frequently used to progress through Beyond's 5th floor.]

[You defeated Beyond's 1st Floor Master, Ghost Orc Lord, alone! You obtained the title, 'Ghost Orc Lord Slayer.' All stats increase by 1.]

[Choose your reward.]

[1. Echo Ring]

If you're only going to display one item on the list, don't tell me to choose! Even as I complained, I quickly picked the reward and ran out of Beyond. After all, even I couldn't stay without air for long.

"Puha!"

The moment I arrived at the Floor Shop, I took in a deep breath and breathed out. Loretta looked at me with widened eyes.

"Shin-nim, you succeeded!?"

"Huu, huu... Of course."

"You're really rewriting history."

"That's not true. I didn't get the first reward."

I responded as I looked at Echo Ring, a metallic ring with a transparent jewel. Loretta retorted.

"Shin-nim, Beyond's explorers are all people who defeated Floor Masters alone. Shin-nim is the newest Beyond explorer. Did you really think that the first reward for Beyond's 1st Floor Master would be untouched?"

"Kuhum..."

"Although there are only three left now, there were other Beyond explorers in the past. Of course, most of them are now..."

"It's fine, Loretta."

A heavy silence flowed between us. Loretta made an awkward smile and turned away. This woman still couldn't fully believe in me. She was constantly trying to create a 'reason to run.' Though I knew she was doing it for me, it wasn't of any help to me now.

Of course, since Loretta would probably get sad if I said anything, I decided to just look at Echo Ring's option.

[Echo Ring (Unique)

Durability - 230/230

Equipment Requirement - None

Option - Doubles the effect of all roar type skills.]

"Oooh."

Although it didn't raise my stats, it was a perfect item that was practically made for me. As if it was waiting the entire time, it came out right after I obtained Frozen Roar! Of course, it also represented the property that Beyond's 1st through 5th floors had. I immediately took off my gauntlet and put the ring on my finger.

Loretta slowly approached me as she studied my expression. She was indeed too cute.

"D-Did you get a good item, Shin-nim?"

"Yeah, it's a fantastic item, enough to reduce Loretta's worries."

"Stupid, I'd be worried even if you're armed with a holysword... hiing."

A bitter smile appeared on my face as I thought about the Luka continent's Hero. Right, I shouldn't get arrogant. People much stronger than me fell helplessly in front of their 'enemies.' I couldn't be happy with just clearing Beyond's 5th floor.

As if to distance myself from Loretta, who was getting dangerously close, I escaped the Floor Shop.

"Alright, Loretta, I'll be going straight to the 56th floor then!"

"Eh!? No, stay with me a bit more!"

"I don't have any time to waste!"

"Shi, Shin-nim! B-Before that!"

"See you on the 56th Floor Shop!"

Loretta shouted louder.

"Before that, buy a Magic Detector! It's 150,000 gold!"

"... I'll take one."

Apparently, the 56th floor had mimics and golems, which were only detectable by using the Magic Detector.

... If you're just going to sell me an item, don't make the atmosphere all weird!

Author's note:

I researched the part about waves and vibration, but as I'm a liberal arts major, forgive me if I got something wrong.

Don't worry, Author. You just said "waves", which I changed to mechanical waves. Mechanical waves need a medium, electromagnetic waves don't! (please forgive me if I'm wrong)