Frostfire Legacy

Chapter 179: Dungeon's Depths

Aster paused, wondering if he should waste his wish and the chance to ask further questions for just a single answer. His expression kept changing, showing the inner turmoil he was experiencing.

[If you refuse, remember that you can never ask the same question later. If you want an answer for this one, now's your only chance.] As if reading his mind, Nefra quickly clarified.

Hearing this, Aster could only sigh. "Alright. I want the answer in exchange for my wish and the right to ask questions!"

[Wise choice. After all, the solution to your question isn't something you'll chance upon randomly.]

Nefra raised her two hands, showing one finger on her right, and three on her left.

[It's simple. You just need to clear all 1,625 floors of all the God's Thirteen Dungeons.]

She exclaimed with a little playful tone.

Aster was confused, however. He read from the cube's data that there were only 1,600 floors for the God's Thirteen Dungeons. Furthermore, since the "last cleared floor" concept applies to all the God's Thirteen Dungeons equally, it was practically just clearing one dungeon, and clearing the rest at the same time.

[I know what you're thinking, but your assumption is wrong.] Nefra smiled.

[The top floor one could skip to is the 1,600th. The 25 floors above that only open to those with a special bloodline, or who possess a certain item.]

She then waved her hand, summoning a glowing fragment in her hands.

[And since you can't do anything about your bloodline, I'll be giving you this item. It's called a God's Fragment, and it will allow you entry to the last 25 floors of the dungeons.]

The fragment flew over to Aster, before suddenly entering his body through the center of his chest. He was scared for a moment, thinking that it would hurt him, but it simply disappeared as if nothing happened.

[I'm not giving it to you, of course. A God's fragment is too precious for that. Instead, I'm lending it to you. If you die, the fragment will return to me automatically, so don't worry.]

Aster patted his chest, wondering where the fragment went, before staring at Nefra and asking.

"Since you're lending it to me, there must be some interest I'd have to pay for, right? What do you want?"

Nefra laughed as if truly delighted by Aster's question. After she calmed down, she began to explain further.

[Don't worry, young man. I won't take your soul as collateral or anything. You bringing my God's Fragment around is already enough as payment for me.]

"..."

Aster realized immediately what she meant.

Nefra didn't give him the fragment out of goodwill, but rather, because she had something to gain from doing so. What that was—he wasn't sure yet, but he should figure it out later.

Aster sighed. "Win-win, huh?"

[Exactly.]

Right after saying that, her body started to glow, gradually disappearing as particles of golden light.

[Oh, it looks like my time's up. Take my fragment and reach the deepest depths of the dungeon, the Dungeon Master's room. The answer to all your questions should be there.]

Without even waiting for them to say goodbye, the giant mummy Pharaoh disappeared, leaving the place completely silent and devoid of life. If not for the weapons in Kali and Tina's hands, they would've wondered if everything was just an illusion.

'1,600 floors, and 25 extra floors...' Aster gripped his hand, wondering how long such an endeavor would take. "If only there was a shortcut."

After Nefra disappeared, Aster and the rest checked the room just in case there was something they could sell off anywhere. However, they weren't so lucky. Other than the gigantic sarcophagus where Nefra emerged from, there's nothing else left in there.

Still, thinking about their gains, they already got more than their money's worth.

Having nothing left to do, and with no more passages to explore, they returned to the surface. It would be much later when Aster would learn the implication of holding a God's Fragment and realize what it truly was.

---

On their way back, they all tried out the skills they received. Cassy's revive, of course, didn't have a chance to shine. Still, she decided to explain the cost of the skill to everyone else.

"After I use Revive, I would be unable to use any other skills for 1 hour. Furthermore, I can only use it once a day, and it could only be applied to someone who died within five minutes."

It was a skill that had heavy compensation! But knowing that Cassy could revive one of them once a day would at least give them some peace of mind during battles. Especially to the tanks, Tina and Liz, who face the biggest risk when fighting.

"As for my new skill, Life Plunder..."

The next one to explain their new skill was Aster.

It passively converts a part of the EXP that one gains into an extra lifespan. To make it simple, it was about 0.1 seconds for a level 1, or about 5 seconds for a level 10 monster.

"The efficiency is too low..." That's all he could say.

It was a good way to increase his lifespan, but to earn some sizable amount, he would first need to reach higher floors. A level 100 monster should give him about 4 minutes or so for each kill, while a level 1,000 would give him around 20 minutes per kill!

If he plans to stay on a floor with only level 10 monsters, then he'd need to kill over 17,000 monsters a day just to offset his spent time. It was impossible!

The last one to test her new skill was Liz. However, her skills were performing just as their explanations were. There's no secret at all that needed verification!

"HAAAP!" Find more chapters on mvl

*BOOM!*

But as expected, the potential of Vengeance Burst after using up Invulnerability and Guardian's Embrace was high. In one attack, Liz killed all the monsters around, and even cleared a path through the forest ahead of them!

"This... we should be careful of friendly fire."

If Liz used it and there happened to be another party ahead of them, then... Only a gruesome end awaited them.

After verifying their skills, they slowly headed for the entrance. Their current hunting style was a little different than usual, however.

"There's some more over here!"

With Aster's level being 41, he was practically untouchable by monsters on the fifth floor. With his sword, he would strip goblins and wolves of their four limbs, before letting the girls kill them one by one behind him.

It was an efficient hunting method, ensuring safe and equal distribution of EXP among everyone... But it pricks their conscience!