NOVPUBAs soon as Logan stepped out of the dungeon's teleportation gate, the air of the outer plaza greeted him.
Adventurers were already lining up nearby—geared up and ready to descend. A few paused as he emerged, eyes widening at the sight of the massive beasts behind him. Gaia's heavy steps cracked the pavement, while Stormwing's feathers still flickered with leftover static. Elarion moved with quiet grace, but all attention was on the injured drake limping in the rear.
Wyver's wing was bent slightly, his aerial control compromised. While Logan had already used Healing Light and bandaged the major damage, it wasn't enough. Kryst would need to finish the regeneration process when they returned to the biodome.
"Not exactly the heroic image I wanted," Logan muttered.
He was about to head toward the guild to offload the spoils—his storage device filled with countless loot and enhancement stones—when a divine pulse echoed in his mind.
A system message.
[First Hero to transcend and reach Level 81: Lisa Stella.]
Logan stopped mid-step.
"…Ah, damn it. Lisa beat me to it again."
He sighed, shaking his head with a half-smile. "I knew I wouldn't be first, but I was still holding out hope…"
Even so, he couldn't help but feel a spark of pride. Lisa had completed her trial—and now, she wasn't just a healer anymore.
Logan quickly summoned her updated status through their bond.
────────→←────────
────→←────
Attributes:
Strength: 89 Agility: 78 Dexterity: 73 Constitution: 91 Intelligence: 134 Charisma: 105
────→←────
[Skills:]
Healing Light (Enhanced): Greater divine energy heals major wounds and neutralizes strong poisons or afflictions.
Barrier of Light (Advanced): Reinforced holy barrier now capable of withstanding siege-tier magic and redirecting a portion of absorbed energy.
Divine Purification: Dispels high-level curses and magical bindings across multiple targets.
Sacred Sanctuary (Greater): Creates an empowered healing and safety zone that grants increased regeneration, elemental resistance, and weakens nearby undead and demons.
Celestial Blessing: Significantly boosts party attributes (Str, Int, Con) and grants bonus healing amplification for a limited time.
Seraphic Resurrection: Revives a fallen ally with 60% health and temporary invulnerability for 10 seconds. (Limit 0/1)
Radiant Aura: Constantly regenerates minor health for all allies within a 20-meter radius. Scales with intelligence.
Holy Nova (Enhanced): A burst of divine energy deals radiant damage to enemies and revitalizes nearby allies, it can now be split into various points of light that once converged deal massive damage.
New* Radiant Spear of Judgment: Summons a massive spear of divine light that descends from the sky, impaling and purging a target area. Deals massive damage to dark-aligned or corrupted enemies and dispels enemy buffs in the radius. When equipped with a spear type weapon, the spear's attacks are enhanced for a total of five attacks after this skill is used, causing light damage in an AOE area around the wielder.
New* Wings of the Valkyrie: Enhances Lisa's flight speed and grants aerial battle mobility as it adds two more pair of powerful angelic wings. While active, her light magic gains additional range and power.
New* Guardian's Descent: Calls down a shielded pillar of light that blocks incoming attacks. Can be targeted on self or ally; explodes on break, stunning nearby enemies.
New* Ardent Retribution: Channels Lisa's divine fury into a single target strike. If an ally falls in battle nearby, this ability becomes empowered—dealing bonus damage and restoring mana to allies.
────→←────
[Abilities:]
Divine Presence (Advanced): Greater passive aura that steadily heals allies and suppresses unholy influences within 30 meters. Light element attacks deal more damage while active.
Angelic Wings (Perfected): Grants flight, increased reaction speed, and aura-based morale boost to allies. While airborne, Lisa becomes partially ethereal, reducing physical damage taken by 20%.
New – Sanctified Will: Lisa can now resist mental manipulation, charm, fear, and confusion-type effects. Allies within 10 meters also gain partial resistance.
New – Lightborn Authority: Lisa can issue a single Command of Light per day, empowering an ally's next attack or ability with guaranteed success and piercing divine damage, regardless of enemy defense.
────→←────
[Experience Points (XP): 43290 / 96300]
────→←────
Logan studied Lisa's updated skill list closely, his gaze lingering on a few standout improvements. Several of the abilities had clearly evolved beyond their original purpose. Holy Nova had received a full overhaul—it was now far more versatile than before. But what truly caught his attention was Angelic Wings.
"Four wings now, huh…" he muttered, raising a brow. "She will start to look more like a proper angel than a battle priestess."
He nodded to himself, impressed.
"Pretty good skills."
With a flick of his fingers, he closed the status panel and extended his arm, locking on to the nearest knight on duty.
"You there. Come here for a moment."
The knight, dressed in polished steel armor with a sigil bearing the kingdom's crest, approached swiftly and dropped to one knee. "Yes, Your Majesty? What do you require?"
"I need to test something." Logan gestured toward Wyver, who still stood awkwardly with his damaged wing folded tight against his side. "Where are the injured adventurers? If there are any nearby, bring them here, I will heal them."
The knight blinked, caught off guard. "The injured? I believe they're resting inside the Adventurer's Guild, sir. I can fetch them if that's your wish?"
"It is," Logan confirmed with a firm nod. "Bring them to the square. I don't want to waste mana later—I'll heal them all at once."
The knight stood, saluted, and hurried off.
Logan turned and walked toward the entrance of the guild, the heavy wooden doors swinging open with a low creak. Inside, a warm breeze greeted him—heated by torchlight and reinforced insulation. The interior buzzed with voices, footsteps, and various enchantments and devices that help hasten the work.
A receptionist was already waiting by the front desk, her sea-blue hair tied into twin braids and a faint aura of water elemental blessing.
"Welcome back, Your Majesty we have been notified that you had entered," she said politely, standing as he approached. "If you're here to log your process you can start by passing your ring we will do the rest."
Logan handed it over without a word, already filling out the quick form listing the floors he had cleared and notable enemies encountered. He didn't bother with unnecessary detail—just enough to trigger the reward calculations.
The woman raised her eyebrows as she read the list.
"Queen Bee... hidden boss slime… Floor 84 already?" Her tone shifted into awe. "Most heroes need four or five runs before they see a named spawn, let alone two. This is a rare report."
Logan shrugged. "Good timing, I guess, plus the dungeon might know who has been feeding it mana crystals."
"Yes well we'll begin evaluating the contents. Would you like us to send the final sale total to your account, or return the raw items?"
"Sell anything that isn't magical or rare. As for the rest pass it to hero Ruben he will know what to do with it."
"Understood, sir." She gave a short bow, then gestured for a nearby attendant to begin scanning the ring's internal contents.
Logan tapped the desk lightly, glancing toward the entrance where he expected the injured to begin arriving soon. His eyes shifted to the mana pool at his core—still nearly full after having drank mana water and a few light and darkness crystals.
