Zogarth
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Chapter 1248 - A Stealthy Opportunity
🕑 Added 2025-11-10 12:15:42 +0000 UTCJake stood with his arms crossed and watched as Casper started setting up for his magic. He spent a little while placing stakes in a large circular pattern, and once he was satisfied, he began pulling Construction Golems.
He shot out stake after stake and purposefully flared his aura in an attempt to bait them towards him. It took him a little while as Minaga had spread out the B-grades a lot, but eventually, he had all thirty-two remaining golems hot on his ass.
This period also allowed Casper to show off that, defensively, he wasn’t all too shabby. Sure, he was not anywhere near Jake’s level, but he did a pretty good job dodging and blocking all the incoming attacks, avoiding taking any damage despite the many enemies chasing after him. Alright, technically, he didn’t do it alone but had help from Lyra coming out and blocking a few incoming attacks, but Jake let that slide.
Jake couldn’t help but smile as he watched Casper weave between the golems as he tried to get them all into the pre-prepared area he had set up earlier. The coordination between him and Lyra was absolutely seamless; whenever Casper seemed even slightly overwhelmed, Lyra would step in at the perfect moment, her presence like a ghostly guardian angel by his side. Sure, while Casper certainly still had room for improvement, his growth was undeniable, and his resourcefulness in combat was impressive. Especially his curse magic was far more versatile than anything Jake could do.
Soon enough, Casper got the golems to the right area, and Jake knew his time was also about to come. All the stakes of curse energy had disappeared after Casper placed them, but now that the golems were all within the area, they were revealed once more as the Risen unleashed his magic.
Curse energy revolved around him as it mixed with something else. It wasn’t quite space magic, but it was close. The entire area warped as the stakes erupted with power, and Casper unleashed the ritual.
Walls of pure darkness formed between the many stakes in the ground, drawing a circle as all the golems were stuck in the middle. The circle was several hundred meters across and had more than two hundred stakes making up its edges. The ground was entirely black, and while the walls weren’t very tall and even translucent, Jake had a strong feeling that trying to get above them wasn’t an option.
It all looked very impressive, but Jake wasn’t quite sure what Casper was doing would work as three golems were nearly upon him.
That’s when he made a hand motion and clasped his palms together. Jake’s eyes opened wide as he saw walls of darkness erupt all over the interior of the circle. Lines were drawn between all the stakes making up the perimeter, forming walls between them, creating a nightmarish crisscross of shadow walls throughout the large circle.
The golems were stuck, unable to move forward or back as the labyrinth of shadows pressed in from all sides, creating small sections, each holding only one golem except for one place where there were two. Every attempt the golems made to force their way through was met with resistance, as the dark curse barriers absorbed their attacks and seemingly absorbed the energy. Upon closer inspection, Jake was pretty certain the energy was redirected toward the stakes lining the perimeter, meaning while the walls appeared impenetrable, they would eventually falter.
For a moment, the only sounds were the muffled thuds of metal limbs hitting the seemingly indestructible curse barriers and the faint hum of magic vibrating in the air. That’s when it was time for Jake to start doing his job.
From Jake’s vantage point, he released the first attack as an Arcane Powershot swept across the landscape, leaving a wake of destruction as it passed. When it encountered the formation of walls created by Casper, rather than meeting resistance, the barriers dimmed, allowing the arrow to pass straight through and into one of the Construction Golems.
It was blasted to pieces instantly, sending metal flying that, surprisingly, passed harmlessly through all the other curse walls surrounding it. Jake’s sudden attack didn’t even get a reaction out of the other golems, who just continued trying to escape. In fact, a few only seemed to realize something had even happened when they were struck by a random piece of broken golem.
That’s when Jake realized something else scary about the formation Casper had set up. While to Jake the walls were see-through and didn’t look that durable or thick, the golems were likely seeing and experiencing something far different.
Chances were, from the golem’s perspective, they were all trapped in small rooms of complete darkness, unaware of anything going on around them, as all they could do was try to break down the walls surrounding them.
All they could do was struggle in the dark until it was their turn for Jake to make them a target. This also explained why Jake got full benefit from Stealth Attack with every attack while standing there and shooting Arcane Powershot after Arcane Powershot.
To ensure he took them all down quickly, Jake had activated Arcane Awakening on the offensive 50%, as while he didn’t see a need to go all-out, he still wanted a bit more damage than the stable 30% could offer, as he wasn’t using Protean Arrows.
This did mean that Jake didn’t consistently one-shot anymore, but he did finish them off fast, often within three arrows max, with the subsequent follow-up attacks not necessarily being Arcane Powershots. It definitely also helped that the golems were trapped in a domain full of curse energy that seemingly lowered their defenses a little.
Being allowed to simply shoot like this, unleashing Stealth Attack after Stealth Attack, Jake really began to get a better feel for the skill and get in tune with it. Enough for him to actively think about it as he focused on the sensation.
It wasn’t something Jake had been planning, but when inspiration struck and the opportunity arose, Jake jumped at it. Jake focused on the sensation of Stealth Attack activating, trying to hold on to it as best he could with every shot.
How long had it been since he’d upgraded it last? It was before Nevermore... no, before Jake even reached C-grade. It was a long-ass time to not get the skill upgraded, though Jake hadn’t exactly worked on getting an upgrade either.
What he had done instead was unconsciously improve his understanding and application of the skill. This understanding now surfaced as Jake used the skill over and over again, improving ever so slightly with every hit.
When only ten golems were left, Jake felt as if he’d grasped onto something. After landing another Stealth Attack, he tried to hold on to the concept that increased his damage, but it was fleeting and disappeared.
With seven remaining, he grasped onto it for the faintest of moments, but it slipped away once more. At five, Jake once more felt oh-so-close.
Jake didn’t even think about his dwindling number of attempts as he fully focused his mind. He purposefully didn’t finish the golems off in one shot anymore but wanted a few follow-up attacks to try to fully consolidate what he was hoping to achieve.
Finally, with only two Construction Golems left, Jake got it. He landed a Stealth Attack, dealing massive damage, and right as whatever concept increased the damage of his attack was about to slip away, Jake grasped onto it tightly and infused it into the next arrow he shot. He had only managed to hold on to it for a mere moment and shoot one additional arrow... but it was enough.
This second arrow also struck for additional damage. A lot less than the first one, true, but the mere fact that it had worked was more than good enough as he grinned. Happy as a clam, especially after confirming the system notification, Jake didn’t bother playing with the final golem as he finished it off in a single blow.
Lowering his bow, Jake was about to check his system notifications when he was distracted by what Casper was doing. In his state of focus, Jake had kind of forgotten about the Risen and the formation, and only now did he see that the poor guy had gone through quite a struggle.
More than half of the wooden stakes making up the perimeter of the formation were broken, and Casper looked a little haggard as he stopped his magic, making the makeshift prison of cursed energy and what Jake suspected to be dungeon magic disappear.
He looked a little annoyed as he waved his hand and collected the remaining wooden stakes. From the looks of it, these weren’t easily conjured stakes but items Casper had to prepare beforehand, so having so many broken likely sucked, and they would take a while to replace.
With the stakes collected, Casper made his way back to Jake, throwing the hunter a curious look.
“I’m confused here,” Casper said once he got back to Jake. “At first, you were killing them pretty quickly, which was nice. But then, much to my dismay, about halfway through, you suddenly got slow as fuck, taking so long between every shot for seemingly no reason. Moreover, you took more shots to kill them. So, I guessed you were running out of juice or something, but then, right at the end, you shoot an arrow that’s some-fucking-how stronger than nearly all those prior. Now, I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I’m beginning to suspect we weren’t quite on the same page about you killing them as quickly as possible, despite that being the original agreement. Would I be right to suspect you were perhaps a tiny bit distracted?”
The way Casper asked the question made it pretty damn evident he knew Jake’s head hadn’t been entirely in the game, and honestly, all Jake could do was scratch the back of his head and apologize.
“Sorry?” Jake said, a tiny bit embarrassed. “I kind of did get a little distracted with a moment of inspiration... and in my defense, wasn’t part of this trip for me to take inspiration from you? Which I totally just did!”
“I’m pretty confident you didn’t get inspiration from my fusion of dungeon and curse magic,” Casper muttered, shaking his head. “But did you get a skill upgrade?”
Jake nodded. “Yep.”
“A good one?”
“Let me check, gimme two seconds,” Jake said, finally opening the notifications he’d stopped himself from seeing earlier.
[Superior Stealth Attack (Rare)] – The strongest blow is the one not seen coming before it is too late. Increase the power of the first attack made on an otherwise unaware foe. Has a brief grace period between the foe being aware and the effect still triggering, as long as the foe is still not conscious of the hunter’s position or the nature of the attack. Adds a bonus to the effects of Superior Stealth Attack, dependent on the nature of the attack. This effect is further improved by the level of Unseen Arcane Hunter.
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[Supreme Stealth Attack (Epic)] – The strongest blow is the one not seen coming before it is too late. Significantly increases the power of the first attack made on an otherwise unaware foe. Has a generous grace period between the foe being aware and the effect still triggering, as long as the foe is still not conscious of the hunter’s position or the nature of the attack. Upon successfully landing a Stealth Attack, all immediately following attacks will also experience increased damage. Adds a bonus to the effects of Supreme Stealth Attack, dependent on the nature of the attack. This effect is further improved by the level of Unseen Arcane Hunter.
Seeing the upgrade, Jake wasn’t at all surprised that this was the kind he’d gotten.
It wasn’t quite Stealth Attack of the Unseen Arcane Hunter that he’d been offered when his class reached level 290, but it was still a nice and straight upgrade. It even had the same effect of giving a damage bonus even after the initial attack, though the Unseen Arcane Hunter version worked a little differently, scaling off Perception.
Besides that, everything was just a clear upgrade, making every aspect of the skill better. It was the accumulation of decades, finally consolidated when he had this opportunity to use the skill over and over again in such quick succession.
“Hello?” Casper asked, waving his hand back and forth. “Definitely been more than two seconds.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Jake apologized again, really not used to having other people with him while hunting and getting upgrades. “Went from rare to epic, so not a massive upgrade, but still a good one.”
“Right,” Casper nodded as he put on a cheeky smile. “Guess it would be too big an expectation for you to have gained another mythical skill just like that.”
“I wouldn’t have complained if I had,” Jake joked back. “Sadly, those do not come that easily. At least not usually.”
“It’s okay, I know I should temper my expectations,” Casper chuckled, shaking his head. “And here I was hoping for someone to finally confirm if there was another rarity after mythical for us mortals to discover.”
Casper clearly said it jokingly, but Jake responded by just throwing him a look. The Risen narrowed his eyes. “Wait... oh, fuck you.”
“You can ask for details,” Jake shrugged.
“Yeah, fuck you twice, we both know that shit’s definitely considered Forbidden Knowledge,” Casper sighed.
“If it’s any consolation, whatever you did with that formation was pretty damn cool,” Jake said, being genuine. “The durability of those walls, the fact they clearly couldn’t perceive the outside world, and the fact it even slightly weakened their defenses... it was quite something.”
“I’m not going to disagree with it being awesome, but I should warn you it’s likely a lot worse than you think,” Casper said, clarifying. “The walls have incredibly high base damage reduction, meaning that they can take nearly unlimited weaker blows, but risk breaking from one singular powerful attack. In other words, it wouldn’t work on actually strong enemies, and is only good on large groups of weaker foes. This isn’t mentioning the high cost and time requirement to make those stakes, which I have to place down beforehand, by the way.”
Jake nodded along to the explanation, though he was fairly confident Casper was trying to downplay his own skills. He always downplayed his own skills, even at work pre-system, which was probably why he never got promoted despite being the best developer in the company... or he didn’t get promoted precisely because he was the best developer in the company. Either way, Casper only knew how to brag as a joke.
“Sure, that formation, but I’m sure you have plenty of other tricks in the bag,” Jake said with a smile. “Also, why do you even complain? Didn’t you just get a level from that?”
While Jake hadn’t leveled up from slaying the thirty-two Construction Golems, Casper had gained a level, meaning the system also recognized his contribution.
“I’m not complaining about gaining a level, I’m complaining about having to create another pile of Sealing Stakes later,” the Risen sighed. “They are such a pain to carve and infuse.”
“Man, I’m feeling so sorry for you,” Jake said with a deadpan expression. “Is there anything I can do to make things better for poor little Casper?”
The Risen gave Jake a glare before just smiling. “We can finally pick up some speed and get killing. I doubt I’ll get much out of Construction Golems either, so let’s find something actually interesting to fight. Hopefully, we can even encounter a pile of experience – I mean, an enemy powerful enough for some of my single-target focused curses to be relevant.”
“If not, we should file a complaint with Minaga for making the place too easy,” Jake nodded as he motioned for the two of them to enter the labyrinth proper.
“Oh, for sure, and we should leave a bad review written on a massive billboard outside the dungeon entrance,” Casper agreed, following after Jake as the two flew forward.
“By the way, the future version of this place, eh, dungeon two to four, had traps and stuff, right?” Jake asked as the two approached one of the large construction holes in the utterly massive wall of the Grand Labyrinth.
“Yeah,” Casper nodded, entering with Jake. “Though considering this version is still being built, I seriously doubt they implemented any traps yet.”
“Right,” Jake nodded. “Yeah, I guess that tracks.”
Casper was totally right; it wouldn’t make any sense for an in-construction Grand Labyrinth to already have fully functional traps, right? No, no, it really didn’t... but had something not making sense ever stopped Minaga from doing something?
No, no, it hadn’t.
Comments
Parker Bond
Boulders, and maybe a snake pit!
Chase Burleson
True, but of Jake's friends Casper spent several years around him pre system too. Remember that Casper was able to stand in front of the Blightfather and have a conversation with him. He's got pretty damn good aura resistance already
Chase Burleson
Tftc Zog!
Kt-x
Thanks for the chapter
Chloe
Tyftc
Michael Click
❤️❤️❤️
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Medicine Man
Was hoping Carmen would be first friend to realize he had sacred rarity skill. Oh well. Still, darn good addition. Muchos!
Stephen B.
Minaga is best Minaga.
Arieh Sochaczevski
Thanks for the chapter!
Ni
Hoping Jake gives Casper some good aura training. Of Jake's friends he's the one that's been around him the least
Shadowind
Tftf
Kuniku778
I need someone to do this with me, read fifteen chapters and everytime you see the word "eyes opened wide" slam a shot. XD garenteed good night with a high probabilty of a very bad morning.
Asher Mack
I think it has to do with if you're saying the subject of the forbidden knowledge exists or actually naming it and discussing it. Theoretically Jake has confirmed nothing and Casper has no details of the knowledge himself - think back to when eversmile figured out that the first sage might have existed but obviously can not prove it or learn about it verbally. Same as when villy sort of hinted there's a rarity above mythical that isn't divine but didn't say what it was or actually that it did exist. So I think you're right you can skirt around the rules but there's probably a lot of limitations within that
Christian Sullivan
Love Jake and Casper's relationship. They went from Jake giving archery tips in the tutorial and Casper shooting him with padded arrows to girlfriend bragging and hunting.
Jose Mora
Tyftc
Anakta
So Jake confirmed with a look that there were more rarities. But he could not explain more because it was forbidden knowledge. Couldn't he theoretically keep confirming stuff with "a look" if Casper kept guessing? Maybe forbidden knowledge isn't impossible to share.
KingGoomba
Well I would say Jake confirmed there is another rank and for Casper not to have that confirmation already it is obvious its considered forbidden knowledge. So for someone as smart as Casper I don't think its a leap in logic to figure that out. Everyone can guess there is a rank above mythical
Yahyo Malikov
But like most of his B grade hunts he uses it
Kristoffer
No no, the fourth wall is exclusive for Minaga
GeneticSloth
tftc!
Kirivina
You're so right Sylphie. Silly Jake not being considerate. So rude.
Xander
TFTC :) Edit: Just been reminded that the lore of this part is youre going back in time to find out why the labyrinth was contructed in the first place so that answers that: Zog, as always, ahead of dumb little me Yay finally an upgrade for stealth attack :D I am slightly confused and dont have time to go back and check right now but, is the labyrinth under construction in the conceit of the dungeon storyline? I thought it was under construction because, well its not finished yet from an external point of view not an internal one. Suggested edits: “Yeah, fuck you twice, we both know that shit’s ** considered Forbidden Knowledge,” missing "probably". Ok this ones a logic problem. Casper is complaining as though he doesnt know there is a rarity above "mythical" but this statement implies Casper knows that knowledge about it is forbidden, meaning Casper already knows there is a difficulty above "mythical". there has to be something there for there to be forbidden knowledge about it after all. "but had something not *made* sense ever stopped Minaga" should be "making"
Thenais
incoming glorious jones traps
Jason Connors
Its something socially awkward people do when they get uncomfortable. Not just the head scratch just a go to action that they have a habit of doing when they feel awkward. My sister starts running her hands through her hair anytime she gets scolded.
Asher Mack
I think he'll be fine. Jake is a once a universe if not multiverse anomaly not worth comparing against. Many gods aren't super impressive as mortals but through grit and steady improvement more than make up for it and he has an interesting path
Josie
Idk why but I love every single time Jake scratches the back of his head when he gets called out on something lol.
brjenness
dungeons and system events. probably not televised. too many sectets.
Eric Shivak
TFTC
ABTelford
Enjoyable chapter, thx!
djthomp
I'm really hoping for another archery skill upgrade to include the poison effects Jake had been speculating about back after the archery training.
HoresKnight
Thoughts? Do you think the Multiverse has some sort of sports? Other than duels or tournaments like the Colosseum of mortals. Dungeon crawlers? Survival type tutorial arenas? Some form of hunting competition? Or something normal like baseball or football(soccer) but just with regulated stats?
Ben Cox
Minaga wouldn't be caught dead not doing something simply because it didn't make sense. Tyftc
Meir Banon
Tftc
Spencer Miller
This was stealth attack, that was stealth- different skills.
The Sleeping Forest
Pretty sure Jake upgraded his stealth inside never more when doing the crafting dungeon also while taking in a student so not sure how this tracks when it says he hadn’t upgraded it before never more?
joel southard
Thank you for the chapter
Victory Holcomb
Managa's Indiana Jones rolling boulder trap coming soon.
David Hall
It sucks being competent and friends with the OP protagonist, doesn't it Casper? Our undead boy needs a breakthrough, while he hasn't been described as a monster like Jake or the Sword Saint he is a Ghost King like Azal. This is the perfect chance to show off.
Matthias
Tftc
Loststar7
Happy Monday and thanks for the chapter.
Sylphie
Ree!!
Lynderyn
Flaming Jones incoming
David
Nah, if Casper can get a sacred skill it kinda undervalues Jake's accomplishment considering all that went into his meditation upgrade
Rewdan
Thanks Zogarth can’t wait to read about the Jones trap
Bryant G
System fuckery. If it were someone who didn’t know the forbidden knowledge making conjectures then the system would allow it but if it were someone who knew the forbidden knowledge trying to to lead someone to the conclusion the system would jump in. In this case Casper posed a rhetorical question and Jake threw him a look that told him he knew something Casper didn’t. Jake didn’t convey any info about whether there was or wasn’t, the info was extrapolated by Casper from a facial expression. Casper only gained confirmation that what he thought exists truly does and nothing about what that something is.
Cory S.
Thanks for the chapter
John Durrett
Tyftc If Casper manages to upgrade that last attack beyond mythical, I suspects its affects will be breaking the fourth wall. ;)
Ra
Yeah, but he might've stayed silent after.
Rick Delallata
Sweet, sounds like a very useful skill upgrade. What do we think he'll upgrade next? I think Arrows might be next
Crysus
We are finally going to se the Jones
Ra
So wait, if it was that easy to talk about Forbidden Knowledge, wouldn't somebody have written an extremely difficult to read book like "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin? It would be full of conjectures. Eg: If it were at all possible to have a grade above Mythical, it might have yada yada requirement.
Fdrugc
Tftc also i think it should have taken Jake significantly less then a second to read the upgrade.
Beemoss
Tftc
dash w
Thanks for the chappy
Ender419
Great chapter! I hope at the end of this dungeon run Jake learns more about and upgrade his curse magic while Casper learns about and obtains forbidden knowledge like a Sacred skill or something close to it. Bros got to help bros be bros!
Dan Brown
Waiting for the Jones trap
NicN
Tftc
Corvid
Minaga heard them talking smack and furiously opened the dev console to backend a patch dropping in a ton of the earth specialty, Jones traps
Daniel
It’s boulder time, haha nice touchback to previous minaga teasing.
BumAssBumAss
Finally upgraded that skill. Another thing off the b-grade check list
IntenseSushi
Tftc
Alexander C Hyde
No, no, it really didn’t... but had something not (making)made sense ever stopped Minaga from doing something?
JW Saxby
Got that too
djthomp
Nice to get a somewhat unexpected skill upgrade. You can kind of feel the influence of all that archery training with Arte's people considering that new damage bonus for immediate followup attacks.
JW Saxby
Tyftc 🍻
Mike
By memory stealth attack was last upgraded before the seat of the exalted prima simulation. Good stuff to see it upgraded. Still feels low for pre b grade but he also haven't really had the opportunity to focus on it.
Strato Junon
"Jake was pretty certain the energy was misdirected toward the stakes lining the perimeter, " Think this should be "redirected"
CT
Jones trap encounter, friday or sooner. Now that is the question
Strato Junon
Had a notification for chapter 1208 as well. Just in case you're still tracking the patreon weirdness. Tyfc
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Connor
Thanks for the chapter
C0bra$
Thank u for the story
Misa
Tftc
Yahyo Malikov
First
