NOVEL WEB Chapter 165: Xaga
[Quest: The Once Hallowed Land.]
The land you are standing on right now is called Avanheid. It was only a sanctuary made to worship the Church of Zeala. A long time ago, a poisonous serpent attacked the lands and caused it to be destroyed entirely. It was made inhabitable because no life could grow on it due to the the high toxin concentration that the serpent caused with its attacks. The only living beings that could stay on the land is called 'Xaga', the 'children' of Serpent Xenos, and a creature that has the ability to shape shift based on its knowledge. These creatures are able to survive in the lands and proves to be a threatening monster to handle. In order to venture out and meet the Boss Serpent, you are required to slay a number of Xagas and summon Xenos with its children's death toll.
Objective: Xaga 0/500.]
'Hmm? A story quest, I see.' From her experience with the System, she was able to tell that the System typically would give out two types of quests. First, just plain grinding quests. However, sometimes, it would also give her something that related to a story. Leonis' encounter didn't count because the System did not issue her a quest, but the floors inside the Tower meant that the System also paid attention to one's story.
From what she had learned, Alena did not face a story based quest in her Floor 10. Within the time that she had been out for, Alena had cleared out her milestone and found that nothing particularly special or dedicated to her was present. It was just a floor meant for monsters to live in, and did not have someone that was relevant to her laying inside.
It also had to be noted that Alena's progress was starting to pick up. From the first time she entered the Tower, where she was only able to clear out two levels before having to pull out and return, she cleared three levels on the next sitting, four floors the next time. The last floor, Floor 10, was cleared out in the final day that Aria secluded herself. Alena escaped right after that because she said that the battle was extremely tough.
She was up against a defensive minotaur, and it was hard to set up Ilyin's attacks to be able to successfully damage it. Either way, she ended up wasting all of her resources and got out alive, but it was extremely taxing and she had to rest after that. No matter what, she got out safely and got the rewards she needed from the Tower.
Alena also said that she was proclaimed to be the last <Player> who reached Floor 10 out of the seven living people. This led Aria to remember the existence of a certain young boy by the name of Yoo Jin. Another <Player>. In fact, the first one she encountered after being rebirthed to this modern era.
How was that young boy doing right now? She would have no idea. However, she thought to herself that she should check up on his condition if she had the chance to. She had separated from [Golden Insignia], but it wasn't on bad terms. They actually made a good cooperation throughout the time that she was there. She felt more comfortable staying by Alena's side, but it didn't hurt to visit them one day.
Anyway, the point was that the System had given her a story quest. Avanheid, Zeala, Xenos, and Xaga. These were all names that she was unfamiliar with, so she immediately assumed that this story originated from a civilization or world that wasn't hers. The world was wide, and there was no way for her to be able to learn about every single thing placed on top of it.
Aria thought deeply as she carefully considered the number that had been given to her. Five hundred was not a small number. However, the object of her interest was whether or not the others' kill count also contributed to her. If it did, then the job shouldn't be that hard, but if the boss could only be summoned if she herself killed these five hundred Xagas, then it would be a hassle, and frankly quite impossible in a short period of time.
She didn't know the characteristics of these Xagas yet, so she planned to scour through the dungeon and find one for her to analyze.
Reina stopped her, calling her name out. "Aria! Wait! Where are you trying to go?"
"I will go and investigate the situation to analyze whatever we might have to face against."
"This... by your attitude, are you perhaps completely unaffected by these damned gasses? Wow, that's really.. unfair." Reina complained as she held a handkerchief up to her nose, covering her smell organ to continue forth and walk down the dungeon. Looking at the nonchalant Aria who didn't even seem to possess any artifacts that helped her with poison, she was obviously taken aback and couldn't believe the convenience.
"Yeah.. Kind of. I guess you can- Let's just say that I have a particular tolerance towards this kinds of stuff. It's not really a big deal, so let's just ignore it and go straight?" Aria chuckled as she answered.
Reina shook her head at the woman's answer, taking the advice and shutting up about the peculiarity of Aria. Although Reina did complain about the overall bad condition of the dungeon, it didn't mean that she was unable to proceed. In fact, she also had a high poison tolerance. She was able to coat herself with her shadows, adding more vitality buffs to herself. An all around mage, that was who Reina was.
Obviously, the others were also strong Hunters. Although they were inconvenienced, they had their own ways to handle the chaotic situation and could proceed with no problems at all. Out of the entirety of the people, Aria, Blythe, and Cha Seol-hyun were the only ones that were able to continue without applying any external magic to themselves.
Blythe seemed to have a natural glowing aura around him that did not come from his equipment. Aria felt like it was channeled directly into his body, and probably was a part of his Main. She knew the name of his power but did not know the specifics of it, what it could do, and such. Because there was no footage of Blythe actively fighting because of the high secrecy fighting inside a dungeon provided, Aria couldn't tell his power levels.
Blythe. Hailed as the hero of South Korea. His power, which wows people with its flashy characteristics.. Was called the [King's Might]. As if directly saying that he was the King, the one who is supposed to lead everyone and shine on top, achieve all the glory, and receive the utmost love and respect from the people.
A bright light shone around him. Like the protective aura Aria once saw him enclosed in, but much more potent. It was bright to the point of blinding, and it made the others flinch for a second as Blythe unleashed the full brunt of his power, channeling it to his sword and preparing to cut down at the surrounding enemy.
With a loud war cry, the young man stabbed his sword, which was imbued with the bright golden light into the ground. A deep crevice was created in the ground, and his sword was firmly stabbed, looking as if it could be stuck and not be able to be pulled out.
The sword, however, began to create ringing waves that swept the surface around it. The ground began to shake, and ripples were made. Along with the strong vibrations, Aria began to see slimy creatures bringing a putrid smell come out of the ground, oozing out as they crawled and shifted into a basic shape.
They looked slimy, but they weren't slimes. As the System said, they were Xagas.
Aria narrowed her eyes, capturing this sight in her eyes. The hero's showcase of power was something that she absolutely couldn't miss.
With just one hit, he was able to extract these creatures out. It was a simple and effective method. Aria admitted that she would probably not be able to do it in this way with her current strength. She would have to utilize Rallaka's Earth element to decompose the structural integrity of the ground and expose the creatures.
Aria wanted to test out how she could clear the mission, but she also wanted to farm the experience and warm up a little bit. As such, she charged towards the monsters with her sword in tow, hacking down on the first creature nearest to her and waiting to see what it would do to respond to her attack.
Blythe didn't seem to show any signs of wanting to pull the sword out and just let it create more and more ruptures throughout the ground, Aria thought that he was originally only trying to make the creatures come out, but it seemed like he had other intentions.
Although Aria was beginning to combat the creature, her eyes were still kept firmly on the young man behind her with a stoic expression aimed towards his sword.