I make sure to reactivate my Rising Emperor's domain buff and give Abby Absorption to aid her in farming MCP and more temporary skills as we travel higher up the Labyrinth.
The level 623 Ice wielding Serpent King Boss is taken out in a single blow.
[Level Up]
I gain a single level, bringing me to 609. The excited look on Abby's face shows she gained a level too.
We're teleported into the next dungeon, and the scenery isn't like anything I've ever seen before.
The ground is fairly even, but colored a pale red. There are some large structures in the distance that block off areas, making it seem as if there's only one path to travel in this dungeon. There are no trees or plants in sight, just the crimson-colored stone. It's almost pink, but is dark enough to contrast with the white sky and radiates just enough mana to give an eerie feeling.
As I take a step forward, I feel the grip on the bottom of my boots is more secure than ever. It feels like I'm on a track field, ready to sprint. The floor is covered in tiny little bumps, and the further we walk in, the more odd this place becomes.
Approaching the first large rock structure, I can see multiple pathways that go right through it, twisting and turning, but all making it to the same endpoint on the other side.
There's even the faint pathway of a trail going around the rocks, looking as if all of this is man-made.
I activate my enemy detection skill and get to the bottom of this mystery in an instant.
In the entire dungeon, there are no more than 10 monsters in total, and they seem to be traveling in groups, and at speeds faster than any creature I've detected before.
"Get ready to fight.... And go all out. These ones are fast..."
There's silence in the air, but Abby does as I say, getting her earth magic ready, glowing light green while looking around the dungeon with a curious gaze.
"Any second now... two of them are coming our way."
Another half a second passes, then the ground below our feet begins to vibrate and make a rumbling noise.
Then, from seemingly nowhere, two bright white flashes of light come from two separate paths in the rock structure ahead of us.
Abby's aura flashes from green to red as she immediately activates her red hydra's buff.
I erupt into flames, activating every single one of my stat-boosting buffs to get a similar effect. It's not until the two creatures are less than 20 meters away with their silver long swords drawn that I get a good look at them.
They're very humanoid-looking beasts with light red skin that is just a faint shade darker than the rocks and dungeon around us. Standing at roughly my height, but not wearing any clothes or armor. They have no eyes, no mouths, and no distinguishing body features. They're just a pair of arms, legs, and blank faces; carrying long swords. Both are level 630 with two skills, Legendary Grade Swordsmanship and Legendary Grade Extreme Speed.
They don't make a sound and sprint toward us without any warning or emotion in their steps.
As they get even closer, the white aura around them shifts to red, and I witness both of their ranked-up buffs [Crimson Speed] activate, doubling their momentum.
Both Abby and I run forward the instant they emerge from the rock formation and the clash of intense buffs, mana shielding, ranked-up skills, and my own wave of Qi imbued in my blade commences.
I feel my wave disintegrate the faceless monster before me, and feel Abby's Hydra buff do the same to the one she was facing to my side.
However, this doesn't stop the eruption of built-up power that follows. Fire, rock, mana, and blood from our enemies are released, blowing us backward in the blast.This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
A warm green glow of energy from Abby heals my fatigue from the attack, and a dense layer of mana shielding around both of us easily protects us from the blast.
[Level Up]
[Use Absorption]
Skill: Extreme Speed [Legendary Grade]
[YES] [NO]
[Use Absorption]
MCP: 1,521,890
[YES] [NO]
I choose yes on both options, bringing my level to 611 and obtaining a new skill.
As the dust clears and Abby's restoration magic fades, I walk over to the place where the item drops will be.
"That was a bit overkill, don't you think?"
Abby follows and replies.
"Can never be too safe."
She pulls up her status, activating the copied extreme speed buff from the mobs we just defeated, and zips around the rock formation in a flash of white light. When she comes back, she deactivates it with an astonished look on her face.
"125% speed buff huh? It drained my MP dry in under 2 seconds, but still, that's a pretty neat skill."
She drinks an MP potion from her storage while the two monsters dissolve back into the dungeon at our feet, dropping two mana crystals along with one tiny red stone thats leaking a small amount of white energy.
My eyes narrow as I pick it up.
[Crimson Speed Shard][+80% Speed]
I toss it into my item storage. It has a similar buff percentage as my boots but isn't quite wearable.
"That was either a really lucky drop, or these red shards have a very high drop rate."
Abby shrugs, placing the mana crystal that dropped from her mob into her item box.
"Well, I guess we'll find out."
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[+1PP]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[+1PP]
[Level Up]
Over the next three and a half hours, we continue to roam around the red-tinted dungeon. I gain an additional 2 Proficiency Points, and my level rises to 622.
The lack of farming speed isn't because the monsters here are difficult to defeat; it's just that their spawn rate is very limited.
Once Abby and I have killed the first 10, it takes almost 45 minutes for them to spawn back in. They spawn sporadically and change positions quickly, so once one appears, it turns into a time-consuming hunt-and-kill mission.
On the bright side, the drop rate for the crimson speed fragments seems to be roughly 25%. After 40 total kills, 20 each, 10 fragments have dropped.
I turn to Abby once we clear the 4th wave, pulling out a few fragments from my storage.
"I think we're getting close to the time we have to leave. We can pick back up here tomorrow."
Simultaneously, I open my crafting status window to see what these fragments can be made into.
"Mind if I craft us some items from the loot drops? I think I can make some good speed gear with these stones."
"Go for it."
I immediately begin testing. It seems I can merge three of them together, just like the scales from the floor below.
In a flash of white light, a few of the tiny shards merge together to form a red ring.
[Enchanted Crimson Ring][+110% Speed]
"Hmm..."
I toss the ring up and down in my hand while continuing to scroll through the crafting menu and my status until I see the option to upgrade my boots.
With a grin on my face, I stack three fragments into my boots before the option goes grey. Then, another option pops up, asking which skill I'd like to imbue. I select my newest one: Extreme Speed. After choosing [YES] on all options, a flash of white light makes my whole body glow, and the fragments merge with my boots, creating a new item skill on my feet.
[Enchanted Boots of Extreme Speed] [+152% Speed]
With four fragments left in my hand, I decide to use three to make another Enchanted Crimson Ring.
"One for you."
I toss the newly crafted one to Abby, then hold the other in the air. "And one for Maria."
I throw the last leftover fragment into my item storage and do some sifting around to look for any old gear that I could swap out for better items while I'm at it. I switch out my old High Ogre King's Ring with a 60% Mental Strength Buff for the Amulet I received from the Solaran Labyrinth's Frost Dragon.
Its stats read [Platinum Amulet of Frost] [+137% Mental Strength] [+90% Ice Magic Strength].
I look down at my status, pulling out all my gear to simulate what I'd be wearing in a full-out battle, and nod with a satisfied stare.
Items Equipped: [12 Slots Available Post-Rank Up][Current Items Equipped]
Platinum Amulet of Frost [+137% Mental Strength] [+90% Ice Magic Strength]
The Behemoth's Platinum Amulet [+111% Defense]
Enchanted Boots of Extreme Speed [+152% Speed]
Enchanted Ice Serpent's Pendant [+110% Agility] [+75% Magic Resistance] [+95% Ice Magic Resistance]
Platinum Ring of The Blue Ogre King [+100% Mental Strength]
The Flame Emperor's Sword [Advanced Fire Aspect][+199% Strength][+162% Mental Strength][+104% Defense][+106% Speed][+105% Agility]
The Wind Tyrant's Dagger Set [Wind Aspect][+137% Strength][+120% Agility][+118% Mental Strength]
Berserker King's Armor Set [Blood Bonded] [+144% Defense]
Salamander King's Cloak [+80% Mental Strength] [+80% Fire Magic Resistance]
Greater Demon's Core [+50% All Stats]
Arch Demon's Core [+100% All Stats]
Midnight Dagger
"That's as good as it's going to get for now."
Abby and I Dungeon Walk back to meet Maria for a final time, and come to see she's farmed one additional Ice Element Stone. I throw it into my storage to save with the other one, and show her the new ring I crafted in return. After she happily accepts it and tests out the speed buff for a few minutes on a nearby pair of serpents, we all take out our transport crystals and crush them in our palms.
The magic brings us back to the lobby of the white-walled building, and Abby leads us to the back elevator right away.
"Come on, this way. I'll show you where the Isolation Pods are."