Chapter 604: The Abyssal Mask |
Luke kept diving deeper. Reaching into his pocket dimension, he pulled out the reward he had received for visiting the Abyssal Zone.
[Abyssal Zone Mask (Epic)]
Description: A mask granted to one brave enough not only to enter the Abyssal Zone, but to cross paths with one of the horrors that dwell there and return alive. Few survive an encounter with a mythical being, and you proved yourself capable of doing exactly that.
Enchantments: [Underwater Breathing (Rare)], [Underwater Speech (Rare)], [Accelerated Swimming (Rare)], [Pressure Protection (Epic)]
Information: Rarity: Epic Core: E Type: Equipment Requirement: Level 70+.
[Underwater Breathing (Rare)]: While wearing this mask, you can breathe underwater.
[Underwater Speech (Rare)]: While wearing this mask, you can speak normally, and the sound of your voice will not be distorted by the water.
[Accelerated Swimming (Rare)]: While this mask is equipped, you naturally swim faster, and even heavy armor will not hinder your movement in the water, granting you full swimming efficiency.
[Pressure Protection (Epic)]: The deeper you go, the more your body normally needs mana and stamina to withstand the pressure. While wearing this mask, you are completely protected from the crushing force of deep water.
At least winning that island challenge helped by unlocking those exclusive missions. If I finish them, I can probably earn other items. But I’m guessing the Abyssal Zone mission gave the best reward, since no sane person would ever want to go there. I only managed it through luck... or bad luck.
He lowered the assassin mask that had been letting him breathe underwater and replaced it with the Abyssal Zone mask. It was made of dark gray wood. The shape was strange, almost like a face. It reminded him of masks he had seen in museums, relics from ancient civilizations. There were no straps to secure it. The moment Luke brought it near, the mask latched onto his face by itself.
“It worked.” His voice came out perfectly normal, even underwater.
He kept swimming. It felt much better now, as if his body had suddenly become lighter. Luke continued toward the Halo he had used to reach that area, staying as deep as possible as a precaution in case someone tried to follow him.
“You have my sincere thanks, Luke Moon,” Cadmus said. “I would have hated being swallowed by a leviathan.”
Luke had escaped at the last possible second, not long after grabbing the shark’s core. Of the leviathan itself, he had seen almost nothing, only an immense silhouette. Not enough to understand its full size, and nowhere near enough to know what it truly looked like. The moment he came through the Halo portal, he had gone straight after the Marine Artifacts within reach.
“Why did you give those artifacts to Triss?” Artemis asked.
“My mother is out there. So are the others. If there’s even a small chance I can send help their way... then at least I did my part.”
Saying the name Elizabeth Moon felt strange. Knowing she was alive, and here in Sunken Realms with him, filled him with worry, and with doubt too. He was already beginning to accept that there was a very real chance the woman he found would not be the same Elizabeth Moon he had once known.
She lived with me for five years and disappeared for fifteen... why?
Pushing those thoughts aside, Luke approached the Halo he had used to reach that area, but did not step through. Instead, he dove farther down. This part of the ocean was made up of mountain-like ridges and massive trees stretching all the way into the deep. Luke slipped into a small hollow in one of the trees and sat down. He was going to rest. And do one more thing.
A half-destroyed octopus appeared in front of him. The Spectral Beast was still rebuilding. Luke could barely summon it in that condition without it collapsing back into the core. He pulled a core from storage and tossed it to the creature.
“Eat.”
The octopus swallowed it and vanished back into his soul. The Spectral Beast’s [Form Devourer] skill activated. Inside Luke’s soul, the capital was recreated once more. He started moving through it, searching for the shark.
“I hope too much time hasn’t passed.”
Now he understood the beast-absorption process inside the core better than before. If too much time passed after a beast died, [Form Devourer] would no longer work. Even if the core had been stored in his pocket dimension where time was frozen, it still had to be recent.
Maybe it has something to do with a remnant of the beast’s soul still lingering in the core.
One of his plans had been to stockpile lots of different beast cores for different situations. Apparently that would not work. It had to be something he had killed recently.
Luke searched the capital for the megalodon. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I think that bastard got lucky and spawned in the river.”
He had killed the octopus quickly, with the creature collapsing outside the water. The shark had gotten luckier than that and appeared in the river instead.
“At the very least, I should’ve picked the new skill,” Luke muttered as he walked along the riverbank.
Focusing for a moment, he opened his system screen outside the soul-space.
“It worked.”
When he killed the shark, his [Demonic Predator] class had reached level eighty-five. He tapped the skill notification, and five options appeared.
[Serpent’s Run (Ultra-Rare)]: The assassin learns to move with the fluidity and explosive momentum of a striking serpent, performing rapid, silent bursts ideal for escape or stealthy engagement. Movement takes the form of a low, swift sprint, ready to strike in the next instant. This skill gains a small speed bonus based on Endurance and Agility.
Something tells me this would pair insanely well with Crimson Fang.
[Assassin’s Theft (Uncommon)]: Trained beyond direct combat, the assassin masters the art of stealing unnoticed. Allows the user to steal, plant, or remove items from a target without perceptible movement, even at close range. A skill born from the synergy between [Assassin’s Tracking] and [Advanced Stealth].
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Steal?
It was useful. He knew that. Just not here, not in a place where he needed to survive the ocean and the monsters living in it.
If the system ever lets me choose old skills again, this one actually seems useful in the long run.
[Knife Storm (Epic)]: Sometimes, one knife is not enough. When a blade is thrown, it splits into eight projectiles in midair, each retaining the original impact force and inheriting 50% of the magical effects applied to the main knife. A single throw can kill, but many transform the attack into a true rain of death. This skill gains a small power bonus based on Dexterity and Lethality.
One knife becomes eight?
He read it again.
What’s the mana cost on something like that? Because this sounds absurd.
He imagined throwing a knife charged with [Shadow Mana Explosion]. Each fragment would drop to half power, sure. But there would be eight of them. And any power he infused into the original blade would replicate across the split.
A real rain of death. Yeah. No kidding.
[Smoke Bomb (Uncommon)]: The assassin knows that a distraction can decide a battle. Creates a small black sphere that, when thrown, releases dense smoke that blocks vision and confuses the senses, perfect for escape, repositioning, or setting up an ambush. As it evolves, the smoke may manifest additional effects.
That one’s useful too. But not truly useful here.
He dismissed it immediately. When he reached the last option, though, he hesitated.
[Demonic Predator’s Bite (Epic)]: When blades and claws are not enough, fangs take over. The Demonic Predator attacks like a beast, sinking its teeth into the enemy in a brutal, savage strike. The bite deals heavy physical damage and gains bonus scaling from Strength and Toughness.
Two Epic skills.
Luke stared at the interface.
[You have acquired the Class Skill: Knife Storm]
That one was going to be extremely useful. He conjured a black knife and glanced at his [Tamn Rift Bracers].
That was insanely useful against the shark.
He summoned another knife and pressed it against the underside of the bracer. The blade locked into place, fitted neatly against it. Luke raised his arm and aimed. It worked almost like a wrist-mounted crossbow. He poured stamina into the knife, and suddenly the bracer launched it.
This is way more efficient than throwing by hand. Normally I have to make the full arm motion. In terms of speed, this wins easily. A very nice ace to keep hidden.
And he could still use his skills on the knife without needing to touch it directly. He reloaded both bracers.
***
Luke spent an entire day fighting the shark in the kingdom of his soul. He had to wear it down little by little, because the monster had gotten smarter. It stayed near the bottom of the river running through the capital and moved through the water at frightening speed. Luke had to rely on [Predator’s Mark] to keep hunting it. Going into the river after that thing meant entering its territory. But he managed it.
When he returned through the Halo, he came out near the Beacon. And found a surprise waiting for him. There were people there. On the small stone islet where the Beacon stood, he saw a few rafts and a group camped around them. Luke stopped on top of a rock.
Did they activate the Beacon?
“What the hell? There’s a guy here!” one of them shouted.
There were seven in total. They jumped to their feet fast. One of them carried a large crossbow. The man conjured a purple bolt crackling with electricity.
“Have any of you placed artifacts into that Beacon yet, or cleared it?” Luke asked.
“We’re the ones asking questions here,” one of the men snapped.
“Yeah. Hand over your items. That mask on your face is weird as hell, but it looks magical. And if you’ve got an artifact, give that to us too!”
Luke let out a slow breath.
“If he tries anything, shoot to kill,” one of them said.
“But he might have a storage item.”
“I’m not risking getting hurt in this ocean hell without healing potions. Are you?” the man shot back harshly, then looked at Luke again. “No funny business. Hand over your items and—”
Luke raised his hand. The bracer fired a knife into the sky at blinding speed.
“Shoot! He did something!”
A bolt flew at Luke, and he dropped backward into the water.
“That was easy.”
“The bastard died in one shot.”
“N-no. I didn’t get a kill confirmation.”
[Telekinetic Impulse activated]
The knife came plunging back down from the sky, glowing white.
“What the hell is that...?”
[Knife Storm activated]
The blade split into eight.
“Shit!” one of them yelled as he saw the eight white streaks descending.
Then they detonated with [Shadow Mana Explosion].
[You have slain a Human - Lvl 66 (Lightning Caster - Lvl 52 / Squire - Lvl 23 / Clay Sculptor - Lvl 78)]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]
[You have slain a Human - Lvl 46 (Silent Thief Apprentice - Lvl 31 / Scrap Scavenger - Lvl 62)]
[+1 Soul Fragment acquired]
Your second class [Arcane Witch] has reached Level 70! (+12 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +7 Perception, +6 Willpower, +5 Agility, +3 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +10 Free Points.)
[You have acquired a Class Skill]
The others jumped into the water, but parts of the explosion and chunks of rock hit them on the way down.
“I told you! That bastard was trying something. We should’ve killed him immediately!”
“My leg!” someone screamed.
“Who’s still alive?!”
“Did we lose anyone?”
“There’s half a fucking torso floating here, so yeah, obviously someone died!”
“Did we kill the knife guy or not?”
“I saw something!” one of them shouted. “Shit, I saw it!”
“Saw what?! Where?!”
“Under—”
He never got to finish. A massive shark burst out of the water with its jaws wide open.
“No! No!”
The shark hit one of them first, biting down and devouring him in a spray of blood. Then it went for the next. The others tried to swim back, but the shark was faster. It bit through them with ruthless force, teeth shredding flesh under sheer speed and crushing power. The water turned red.
Luke rose from the sea whistling. “That was a pretty good debut, shark.”
The Spectral Beast bared its teeth in what looked almost like a grin. The shark was a little smaller than the real megalodon, but still terrifying enough to freeze the blood of anyone who saw it.
“In this form, your name is Spielberg.”
The shark bobbed as if agreeing, then snapped up a floating piece of leg, chewing it to pulp before swallowing.
“You really are hungry, Spielberg.”
The shark nodded again, grinning with those rows of jagged teeth. Luke dismissed the beast back into his core. When he reached the Beacon, a notification appeared.
Deposit artifacts into the Beacon? [YES / NO]
He pulled out the artifacts one by one and placed them into the Beacon. Each one was instantly absorbed into the giant cube.
Marine Artifacts: 1/10 Marine Artifacts: 2/10 Marine Artifacts: 3/10 ... Marine Artifacts: 10/10
The cube emitted a sound. Then, like a Rubik’s Cube twisting itself apart and back together, it began to reshape.
Do you wish to enter the Beacon Challenge dungeon?
(Warning): Once inside the dungeon, you may only leave by completing the challenge.
Luke pressed “Yes.”
The cube flared with light. He felt his body being pulled forward, then swallowed into the glow.
[Starting Beacon Challenge!]
[A Sea Guardian is present in this challenge!]
Sea Guardian? What the hell is that?
[Good luck!]
