NOVPUBFree Stat Points: 48 → 0
Strength: 55 (+50) → 70 (+50)
Agility: 55 (+50) → 88 (+50)
With his stats now readjusted, he was ready to go. In fact, he already felt faster and more agile—even his dexterity had increased drastically.
It felt weird starting from scratch like this, but with each stat gain, he was getting closer and closer to his previous power.
Though I’m still way too off... Neraxis sighed. To reach my SSS- powers, I’d need my stats to be in the couple-thousand range, and I really doubt I’d get there before I find a way out.
He had been thinking of this floor since he got here. And to clear it, all one needed to do was find an obelisk and teleport out.
If that was the only prerequisite, then he was sure that was that.
But I have no clue where any of the obelisks are. Though they’re hard to miss from what I read.
Giant spires stretching into the sky. They resembled Dreamspire itself, but obelisks were just slightly smaller.
Nonetheless, Neraxis proceeded to simply scour the forest, as he had nothing better to do.
Elena and the rest were still likely in the floating city, and he had more than a few hours of time. He was bored, and he wanted levels.
Yet as he jumped from branch to branch, something out of the ordinary caught his attention.
Below him were several dozen corpses—each one with their heart carved out.
Humans. I think? Neraxis pondered as he went ahead and got a closer look.
The moment he rolled the first body over, his eyes widened.
He might not have the greatest of memory, however, the one he had just rolled over, he definitely recognized.
It was one of the people who were present at the Eternal Night ritual gathering earlier.
This is a captain, and these are the lackeys from what I can tell, Neraxis thought and inspected the rest.
All the bodies belonged to the Eternal Night, and for once, they actually didn’t come back from the dead.
There was likely some requirement preventing resurrection, but he ignored it for the moment as he proceeded to investigate the surroundings instead.
There weren’t any claw marks. And there certainly weren’t any signs of resistance. It almost seemed like they had arrived, and then they were killed.
But aside from the leader, Valthor, and maybe a few others, Neraxis had no idea who could’ve been responsible for something like this.
The Eternal Sin himself? Nah, no way. He wouldn’t be so... subtle.
But since Neraxis had no leads to go on, he decided to at the very least try to guess the order in which they were killed.
They were killed not too long ago, so their blood was not yet cold. As a result, he could deduce a few things with his vampirism.
The one responsible started at the western side, and the last kill happened on the east.
Therefore, since Neraxis had gotten his objective cut out for him, he proceeded to head east.
He jumped from tree to tree, and yet, there wasn’t even a single track, almost as if no one had actually come this way.
But Neraxis knew for a fact that whoever this was, they were incredibly skilled—maybe even more than he was.
This little excursion continued for several minutes, which eventually stretched into half an hour.
His time was running low, as he knew the floating city would depart soon. However, just as he was about to retreat, he finally noticed another trace.
There was a faint, extremely small campfire on the ground below him. Smoke was rising, and normally, he wouldn’t have been able to see this had he not hesitated.
So that person camped here. Okay... progress is progress, Neraxis thought with a chuckle. I really should get a hobby or something. This isn’t like me.
Chasing potentially dangerous people... he couldn’t say it didn’t excite him, though.
The stronger the people he fought, the stronger he could get himself.
The same applied both inside and outside the tower.
Though... I wonder how Evangeline is doing?
[Hehe... I’m fine,] Evangeline chimed in, surprising him.
Were you listening to my thoughts? Neraxis asked, puzzled. I thought you were busy with the beginning floors.
[They don’t require that much effort, Neraxis,] Evangeline replied. [Also, your thoughts are like a podcast. I listen to them when I’m bored. Also, you like to narrate the fights inside your mind, so I can tell exactly what’s going on too. It’s pretty fun.]
You’re really bored, aren’t you? Neraxis sighed. What’s your progress like?
[Floor 8. I’m nearly there, just dealing with the annoying stuff for now,] Evangeline said plainly. [Also, we’ll need to get you out of there quick, since god knows when the next invaders will come.]
I know... Neraxis trailed off as he suddenly ducked.
It was an instinctual reaction, and when he finally realized what had happened, he noticed the entire tree behind him had been decimated.
In the very middle of the stem, he saw a dagger embedded. It didn’t belong to Celina, and it definitely didn’t belong to anyone he knew.
Not directly at least.
Neraxis readjusted his posture and glanced toward where the attack had come from. However, he couldn’t see anyone.
Hiding...? Seriously? Neraxis thought, rolling his eyes. Gotta go, Evangeline. I’m being attacked.
[Don’t get hurt,] Evangeline added. With that, Neraxis summoned his Arksteel sword.
He waited and waited for an attack to arrive. And finally, after a couple more moments, he heard a distant chime, followed by a bright glint flying toward him.
Neraxis didn’t hesitate to raise his sword as he redirected yet another dagger upward, and then, he dashed toward where the attack had come from.
Unlike the last attack where he was a bit too slow to react, this time, he could hear the rustling of the bushes and even faint footsteps.
Therefore, Neraxis steeled his gaze and picked up his pace.
I wonder... who are you?
