NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42: Clearing The Dungeon
Darien staggered back because of the pain.
Clutching his chest, he tried to endure it, but it tore through his body and soul.
With vision already blurring and his strength waning, Darien managed to rip the life core away from him, ending the absorption.
He fell to one knee as the life core bounced away.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
Gulping as much air as he could, the boy couldn't believe what had happened and how he had almost been severely injured, or even killed by an absorption backlash.
It took him several seconds before he regained himself.
'Huh? How could this happen? I thought I was able to absorb all Stable-tier life cores. I even did so at Rank 0.'
'Is there a limit to it, or what…?'
Darien questioned himself as he stumbled to his feet.
[Warning! You cannot absorb any more Life Cores!]
[Restriction: Without a Life Core of your own, you cannot store additional Primordial Energy.]
[Notice: Excess Primordial Energy is leaking from your body and soul into the atmosphere.]
After reading the sudden prompts, Darien's face furrowed deeply with slight confusion. But after a while, he nodded in understanding.
'This explains it? Darn it. I thought I was immune to this as an all-caster.'
Darien asked but received no system reply.
It was clear that this was the case, which was why the third absorption had backfired.
He had absorbed as much Primordial Energy as his body could physically contain without any Life Core. If he wanted to absorb more without tearing himself apart, he would have to form a Life Core of his own.
Without it, his body was nothing more than an overflowing vessel.
And this overflowing vessel was leaking.
Without a Life Core to bind and circulate the Energy properly, the excess he had drawn in was seeping out of his body, dissipating uselessly into the atmosphere as Mana.
And since he possessed an extraordinary Flow as a Cursed Born, the leaking rate was accelerated.
[P.E: 580]
'Good grief... So, without a Life Core, this is around my max, huh?'
Darien wasn't disheartened by the revelation.
Thanks to the skill he had made, <P.E Recovery>, he couldn't truly run out of Energy unless he fired successive high-cost spells, which he currently didn't possess.
Even if he did run out of his reserves, he could simply refuel himself, though he would have to be careful not to overload as he had just experienced.
[Life Core (Lv.1) collected!]
Storing the life core, he left the scene, gliding toward the goblin village, reeking with chaos and fights.
Shrill cries and the clash of steel rang in wild disorder as Darien escaped the poison mist and arrived overhead at the goblin village.
From above, he spotted his party in the thick of battle.
As fate had it, his party mates were conquering the goblin goons, but their only predicament was the overwhelming number compared to them.
Stamina and focus were diminishing; every swing of theirs was getting slower.
The sheer numbers were putting a strain on them, and it seemed they had exhausted all the strength-boosting potions they had picked up along the way.
In the heat of the battle, Ayn used the head of his staff to cleave through the skull of another goblin before tilting his head up when he noticed an airborne apparition.
Darien was hovering above them, meaning he had survived the shamans.
Gladdened, Ayn knew they were clearing their Novice Depths today.
"Darien! Give us a hand already! This is the last tier before the boss!"
Darien smirked at Ayn's shout, crossing his arms as if he had all the time in the world.
He let the tension hang like he was weighing whether he wanted to do it or not, filling Ayn with frustration.
Eventually, he acceded.
"Whatever you say…"
Darien muttered as he tilted forward, swooping down into the chaos to end the fight.
While he descended like a hawk, the goblins looked up to see a wisp of Arcane swelling to life at his extended fingertips.
Greeeekk!! Greeekk!
The grotesque creatures shrieked and snarled at the warrior as he released shots of <Energy Bolts> at them, sharp and precise, each streak cutting through the nocturnal atmosphere.
The first bullet drilled through a goblin archer, erupting its chest in a spray of blood and flame before piercing the shield of the warrior behind it.
"Grrraaaaghhkkk—!"
Every bolt ripped through flesh and armor alike.
In gore, all goblins were dismembered, about fifteen of them sizzling once the bullets made contact.
Any stray arrow or attack was easily blocked by <Totem Bastion>, giving Darien the confidence to assault them without caution for resurgence.
[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster!]
[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster!]
[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster!] x 4.
Darien's party had to halt while he swept the village.
Catching their breath, they watched the display of the goblins imploding under the merciless barrage.
At the end, all that was left were scorched husks of the monsters.
Darien had slain every single one left without losing an ounce of stamina. Ayn and the others couldn't believe their eyes.
"Now… this looks a little more manageable, doesn't it?" Darien asked them as he descended.
Landing, smoke curled from the battlefield, and silence followed.
[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster! You get 250 XP!]
[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster! You get 260 XP!] x14
[Knight Rank: Intermediate 7240/15000]
'Hmm… why does it look like my growth requires more XP?'
Darien thought as he studied the inspection panel of his party mates while they stared at him.
All of them were already at Apprentice level of Rank 1, which was reasonable since it was the next stage right after Novice.
But being Intermediate, just two levels higher, Darien couldn't help but feel that his 100x XP skill wasn't serving him as well as he wanted.
Perhaps his special talent—skill making—was interfering, causing him to require more experience to level up compared to other average talents.
If that was the case, then Darien was definitely looking forward to increasing the nature of both his 10x SP and 100x XP skills.
"Look at you. Dropping in all dramatic like you are our hero."
Ayn remarked at Darien as the other party members lowered their weapons to get some brief rest.
Scratching the back of his neck, Darien wanted to say he technically was their hero, but he chose to swallow his words.
"We could've handled it, you know. Might've taken a bit longer, but we would've managed. Right, guys?"
The others joined Darien in scratching the back of their necks, acting as if they didn't hear Ayn.
It was a bit bizarre how he was castigating Darien's help when he was literally the one who had directly asked for aid.
"...can't deny he cleared half the mess in seconds."
Jakob muttered.
[You can retrieve:]
[Rusted Dagger (Common) x6 Crude Arrow (Common) x2 Copper Fragments (Common) x5 Tunic Armor (Common) x2 Goblin Saliva Vial (Common) x3 Skill Book (1-star)]
Darien tilted his chin toward the ground, where the system prompt was glimmering faintly. He gestured toward it for all to see.
"Anyway, some good things dropped. As promised, I won't take a share. You guys can have it all."
The others looked down at the loot, seeing just how satisfactory it was, just as he said.
With all these, they wouldn't run out of money as they had once feared as Queen's Reach freshers.
But the party was just stupefied by how casually Darien was refusing to take his share of the loot. Even the 1-star all-class skill <Strength Frenzy> didn't catch his eye?
For young warriors like them, that was the kind of drop you'd fight tooth and nail for. Some parties even stayed in dungeons for hours arguing over loot, ending up killing themselves.
And yet Darien stood there, dusting off his hands as if the matter was beneath him.
"...You're not even tempted?"
Ayn's eyes narrowed slightly.
Darien only shrugged.
"I've got what I need."
His casual answer made them wonder how strong he was.
Even Jakob, who had been quick to crouch by the loot, found himself glancing back at Darien's silver hair.
The way he'd obliterated the goblin horde in seconds… the way he dismissed rewards that should've mattered to them…
As they tried to grasp the scale of his power, Darien dropped a bombshell.
"You lot don't look a hundred percent. May I solo the boss? I get the Life Core, as agreed."
Bowen and Ramsey exchanged glances, each seeing a reflection of their own exhaustion. Ayn wanted to deny it, but Darien had spat the truth—they weren't at their best.
From what he had shown so far, there was no doubt he was capable of handling the boss alone, just as he claimed.
Still, Ayn didn't want to lose the party's powerhouse over a whimsically uttered statement.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. I can take him."
After a long pause, Ayn finally nodded, a reluctant respect in his voice.
"Fine… if you say so. But don't underestimate him either."
Darien grinned, satisfied with their smooth cooperation.
Sharing a boss with his party wasn't daring at all, so he was grateful they agreed.
As he floated away from the village, the others stood still, watching him until he entered the shimmering threshold of the magical door.
[You have entered BOSS CHAMBER of Rank 1 Dungeon: Novice Depths]
Once he appeared, Darien lifted a hand, discharging one burst of <Solar Purge>.