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Chapter 52: Purple Moon
🕑 Added 2025-02-24 07:07:52 +0000 UTCThe sun began to set as James ate his dinner. As he prepared himself for bed, the purple moon began to rise. When the purple light shone on the group, a system message flashed before them.
[Very weak Life Drain activated. Survivors are advised to take shelter. As long as survivors are in direct contact with the moonlight, the drain will be activated, draining their strength and eventually killing them.
Time until unconsciousness: 2 hours.
Time until death: 4 hours.]
“That’s new,” James muttered. He felt his body ever so slightly sluggish when the moon shone upon him. He quickly grabbed his luggage, intending to flee to a nearby rock and take shelter before Kaina warned them.
“Something is coming!” Kaina, who was on the first night shift duty, exclaimed.
James looked at the flying imps that had been harassing them earlier. Their black bodies emitted a purple glow.
James readied his crossbow. A golden glow fought off the darkness of the purple moon. It penetrated the imp, leaving a hole in its torso. James breathed a sigh of relief when he knew his skills still worked. The imp was still killable.
Kaina turned toward the group in a daze, wondering why they were in such a hurry. Anderson quickly came to her aid and enveloped her inside his cloak. Using the cloak as if they were ponchos and umbrellas, the three amateurs shouted to James.
“James! We need to take cover!”
“Then find one! I will follow you after killing these bitches!” James loaded another arrow and put one in its mouth, injecting it with poison.
James was getting overconfident. Since he could kill the imp, he thought it was merely immune to the moonlight. The imp got closer, and through its mouth, purple flames came forth.
James was slow to react. He thought he was safe since he had fire immunity. But once he saw the flame had an unusual color, he leaped to one side. A part of his lower torso was hit by the flame. A system message denoting that he had a status debuff was shown.
[You were hit by an astral flame. Your magic will be decreased by 20, and mana will be decreased by 100 for every second you were hit apart from the initial hit. The effect continues indefinitely under the Astral Moon and will be removed after an hour when not under the moonlight. You will be rendered unconscious if your mana and magic reach 0.]
“Fuck!” James fired his crossbow, killing another imp. He then drew his axe and used his Boomerang skill to kill the last imp that was preparing another one of its breath attacks. When he looked back, he found them not too far away—less than a hundred meters beside a cliff and a rock.
They chose to stay there and weather the storm. By extending James’ cloak between the rock and the cliff, they managed to block the moonlight, turning his cloak into both a roof and a door. As soon as its light no longer reached them, their complexion improved. James ran toward them and inserted himself. His massive body made the small space even more cramped. The pitch-black darkness strangely felt comforting to James. He could feel his powers returning.
[Time until Astral Flame dissipates: 59 minutes.]
“This thing is getting crazier and crazier by the second. What if we are attacked in this state? We can last only for half an hour,” Anderson complained. He was sluggish and panicked.
“This is a special floor. That means we shouldn't go out at night,” Kaina said calmly. She then recalled her experience in the dungeon trial. “The third floor of the dungeon trials I conquered with Kouki was similar. We needed to battle inside water. To do that, we scoured the dungeon to find a Water Breathing earring. I suspect this floor is similar. We need to find some kind of device to nullify the moonlight or avoid fighting after sunset altogether.”
“If we are attacked, then I will handle them. I can last for two hours out there,” James said. He frowned. Why were they given a shorter time than him? Was it because James had a higher level?
“So, there were Water Breathing earrings inside that floor, huh? I didn't know,” James muttered. James wondered how ordinary survivors would tackle that floor without Chimera skills. Apparently, the system didn't give them impossible tasks.
As the group rested, a rumble from beneath the mountain sent tremors in their wake. An enormous rock floated from the chasm, bridging the two cliffs that had blocked James' travel earlier. James cursed as he saw the bridge. The distance between the two cliffs was about 300 meters. James could cross it in under a minute. However, what about the others? Unlike James, they only had 30 minutes under the moonlight due to their lower stats.
“Look at those floating stones. I am going to get across. You should follow behind," James rallied his comrades. Again, Anderson protested.
“That's too reckless. What if there are enemies? The floating stones might not even be stable?”
“This is the only way to get to the boss. You may stay here if you wish. You can take the cloak, but I will need your clothes in return.”
“Can we wait until sunrise?”
“I think those floating rocks will sink again into the cliff once the moonlight is gone. James is right. We need to take this opportunity to cross. Once we cross the cliff, we can take shelter until sunrise,” Sanders nodded. Knowing that James was on their side, he had gotten braver. Moreover, the journey to the otherworldly adventure excited him.
“But what about Kaina?”
“Ah, I am fine. I will come. I am the same level as you guys,” Kaina said confidently. James took a good look at her. She didn't seem out of breath and was calm.
“I will join too,” Sanders chimed in.
“Alright. But we are going to be weaker there. Please help us if things get dangerous.”
“I never considered you a fighting force to begin with. Let's go.” James scoffed. His only worry was whether these guys could run to the end of the cliff. If there were monsters, James would handle them.
“Let's go!” James gave the signal. At once, Sanders took down the makeshift tent from the cloak, and the group ran toward the floating bridge. James stood at the first jump. He still had his tail if the rock couldn't hold his weight.
“Alright! It's safe! Make sure to pick a bigger rock. The small rock may not sustain your weight,” James warned the trio. Kaina immediately followed James as she hopped onto the first stone.
As they continued their platforming game, a swarm of imps came from the other side of the mountain. Over thirty of those imps brandished their spears as they flew toward James.
“Shit! I knew this would happen!” Anderson cursed.
James did not panic. This was not the first time he went against a horde. Moreover, although his magic had weakened, it was not gone. He could use his fire breath or water magic against them.
“Eat this!” James blew hard, and fire spewed out from his mouth, burning the imps before they could release their own version of fire breath. The imps turned tail, but James then threw his axe using his skill. This time, the golden boomerang bisected three imps before returning to James’s tail.
As if forgetting that the trio existed, the imps all flew toward James. James had done so much damage that he had become their primary target. A golden meteor flashed and killed another imp. In haste, James loaded his poisoned bolt and shot it toward another.
“Two down! These guys are easier than I thought,” James muttered. He was halfway across the bridge, and his team was keeping up with him.
The imps decided to fire their breaths early. The purple flame stopped James in his tracks before fading away into nothingness. Another imp also blew its flame further away.
At first, James thought they were blind or misjudged their distance. But realization soon came to him—these imps were buying time. The longer they stayed here, the worse it would get. A golden bolt hit an imp on its wing. The hellspawn fell into the abyss, but that was a mere drop in a bucket. There were over twenty imps remaining.
“System! What if they get hurt by the flame?” James asked the system. James knew they didn’t have mana since they hadn’t bought a core yet. The system answered briefly.
[In the case of manaless survivors, they will be rendered unconscious immediately.]
“Ptch! Follow me! Absolutely don't get hit by the flame!” James cursed. He threw his axe, but the imps were too far away and dodged the lightning boomerang with ease.
James resolved himself to take the risk. He made the leap onto the next platform, ignoring the flame spat by the imp. As he landed on the stone, ice spears formed around him. James cursed as it took him more than ten seconds to form these spears, but he launched them.
The imp dodged, but James ignored them and continued running toward his end goal—the other side of the bridge. The astral flame did nothing to him. Thanks to his mana core and the plundered mana core, he had magic to spare.
“Take cover!” James shouted toward the group. Unlike him, they had a shorter time. The imps had finally remembered that James was not alone, but James and the group had reached the other side. James smirked as victory was close at hand. He had more than an hour. That was enough to clear these mobs and find shelter.
“On it,” Sanders replied. Just like before, they took space between two rocks and made a makeshift shelter while James handled the approaching imps.
Half an hour later, James returned to the tent, feeling exhausted.
[Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 44. You have obtained 200 coins. Your Attacker class has leveled up to Level 17.]
[Name: James]
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 44
Coins: 600
Stats:
STR: 144 (↑3)
DEX: 138 (↑2)
MAGIC: 95 (↑3)
MANA: 940 (↑20)
Skills:
Novice Axe Mastery Level 5 (Powerstrike, V-slash, Boomerang)
Beginner Sword Mastery Level 8 (Hurricane)
Beginner Bow Mastery Level 7 (Quickshot)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1
Magic:
Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar
Class:
Attacker (Level 17) (10% bonus when attacking, STR & DEX +1 per level) (↑1)
Unique Skill - Chimera Level 2:
Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
Orc’s Left Arm (STR +10%) (Arm Slot)
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Negative Trait: Repairable, Mana -200) (Right Arm Slot)
Ratking's Legs (STR +25%) (Leg Slot)
Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing Skill, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Lung Slot)
Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
Orc’s Head (Head Slot)
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot)
Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation) (Extra Slot 2)
Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak Skill, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Skin Slot)
Kraken’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 5 meters, Negative Trait: STR -10%) (Extra Slot 3)
Rock Crab Shell (Physical Resistance +90%) (Extra Slot 4)
Land Shark's Ear (Echolocation: 10 meters) (Ear Slot)
Equipment:
Leather Armor Set (+10 DEX)
Lightning War Axe
Longsword
Crossbow (×6)
Waterspout Dagger
Mask of Identity
Leather Bag
Sphere of Fethusiane
Cloak of Dark Night
Thompson Center Contender (x2)
Frag Grenade (x1)
Flashbang (x1)
