After helping out Arcelia by giving her a warm bed in the [Fox Tribe Village], Alex could do nothing more for her.
He was out of his league when it came to soul curses, and only another [Grand Mage] could possibly remove it.
Basically, there was no way for him to do that right now.
And so, just like that, a few days passed.
There was nothing else for him to do besides wait to see if Arcelia could wake up, and the blood moon event was still taking place, so there was nothing else to do.
Soon enough, players would be strong enough to pass the level 100 area that was blocking their path to the level 3 city: Star City.
Much like player and monster ranks, every city ranges from level 1 to level 5, displaying how powerful it is.
Star City would be the most important city until now, in fact, more important than some of the level 4 and 5 cities that would come next.
Slowly, the world of [Universal Descent] was opening up, the only thing separating the players and the world being their levels and strength.
He would obviously go to [Star City] before anyone else since he could do it, but he wanted to relax for a bit.
He could take a 1-week break, couldn’t he?
During that week, he simply stayed around the [Fox Tribe Village], ordering his [Undead] army to go into the [Mystical Forest] to kill monsters repeatedly. freewebnvel.coɱ
He did that until he was able to acquire 50 Magic Crystals, which she didn’t take long since he had already got some from his expedition to the [Mystical Temple] and leftovers from before.
Ding!
[You have created “S-Level Magic Crystal (Mythical)”]
Ding!
[You have enhanced “S-Level Magic Crystal (Mythical)”]
[New Artifact Item: “Max Out Magic Crystal”]
“Here, eat this,” he called out to Alphox, who ate the Magic Crystal.
[Your favorability with Alphox has increased!]
[Alphox has reached level 500.]
Alphox went through a sudden transformation, his body growing larger than it was, and his scale sturdier and more elegant.
“That’s not your full size?!” Alex was shocked, seeing the dragon grow.
“Are you kidding,” Alphox laughed, “Primordial dragons grow much larger than that!”
“Damn,” he didn’t expect that, but as long as the dragon got stronger then it was mine.
But now, Alex was facing a new problem.
[Your pet cannot get stronger from eating “Magic Crystals” anymore.]
A pet wasn’t supposed to grow so much in such a short amount of time, since “Max Out Magic Crystals” were extremely rare under normal circumstances.
Meaning that every time a pet reaches level 500, which was enormous, they became useless.
Now Alex and Alphox himself would need to find another way to level up.
“How do you usually do to level up?” Alex asked the dragon.
“Well, normally a Primordial Dragon isn’t supposed to die, but I was betrayed by the others and killed,” Alphox started, “But before I became a primordial dragon, I remember having to fight and kill other dragons, all other monsters wouldn’t give me any experience.”
“Okay,” Alex understood now how to help Alphox grow stronger.
If he remembered correctly, there was a [Dragon Clan] as well as a [Dragon Empire].
But another notification came to interrupt him:
[Alphox has gained a new skill:]
[Abyssal Dive: Alphox soars into the sky, gathering shadow energy before diving at high speed. Upon impact, deals massive shadow and physical damage in a 50-meter radius, stunning enemies close for 5 seconds.]
“Not bad,” Alex muttered, impressed. “This puts you even closer to being overpowered!”
“Hah!” Alphox let out a small laugh, “Human I am already overpowered, just not as much as I previously was, but it will come in due time.”
Alex could feel that Alphox was getting more comfortable around him, and it felt great to know he was doing a good enough job to have a Primordial Dragon not instantly reduce him to ashes.
Alphox returned to his [Pet Space], and so Alex was left with everything he needed to do.
During his small break, he also managed to use [Skill Evolution] twice, enhancing his [Crimson Spike] to Max-Tier.
Alex activated [Skill Evolution] on
Crimson Spike
. Crimson energy swirled around the skill icon, signifying its transformation.
Ding!
[You have enhanced Crimson Spike (Advanced).]
[It has evolved to Crimson Impaler (High-Tier).]
[Crimson Impaler: Summons an enormous crimson spike that pierces the target, dealing 50,000 damage. Consumes 20,000 mana. Cooldown: 5 seconds.]
Impressed but eager for more, Alex initiated the final upgrade 3 days after that.
Crimson energy erupted as the skill ascended to its ultimate form.
Ding!
[You have enhanced Crimson Impaler (High-Tier).]
[It has evolved to Crimson Cataclysm (Max-Tier).]
[Crimson Cataclysm: Many massive crimson spikes (12-18 and changes every time) erupt from the ground in a 20-meter radius, impaling all enemies within. Each spike deals 30,000 damage. Consumes 150,000 mana. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]
“Wow!” even a skill that was usually not that good compared to others was suddenly transformed after the upgrades!
The 12-18 refers to the fact that each time the skill is cast, the amount of spikes that erupt from the ground is picked from this range.
It would cost him 75,000 mana to cast it because of the mana reduction, meaning that he was just within the range to do it!
And if each spike hits a target, he could do 360,000 damage, all the way up to 540,000!
But of course, it didn’t mean that Alex slacked off during his break, letting his undead do all the work: he was also training with Alera to wield his [Blood Arts].
In that small week, not only had he reached level 141, with that coming a fair amount of stats thanks to the [Extraction] talent, but he had also gained a new perk for his [Arts]!
It appeared to him after he thought of a way to distract Alera, since her skills were just too overwhelming, his undead not even able to reach her.
She could throw dozens upon dozens of ice spikes with no cooldown, it just wasn’t fair.
And so, as one of the spikes grazed his shoulders, he suddenly had a bright idea: what if he had a way to distract her?
“Come on…” he mumbled, twisting the blood that came out of him into a human shape.
At first, it didn’t look like anything, forcing Alex to use a huge amount of bloods to create it, but as his creation was finished, it suddenly opened its eyes, which were completely white.
Its body was made out of the crimson liquid, and it could move at Alex’s command.
Ding!
[Blood Arts Perk #2: Blood Clones.]
[Summon clones of yourself made out of blood to distract enemies and help with other things, though do note that the clone only copies your agility, it cannot attack currently.]
And of course, with that enhancement in blood mastery came another notification.
Ding!
[You have displayed incredible mastery of the “Blood Arts”!]
[Your Blood Arts Mastery has been raised from “Low” to “Average”.]
With that, he grew a little stronger.
But even after that week passed, Arcelia didn’t wake up, and her pet dragon, Eleonora, didn’t appear either.
“She’s really sick,” Alera sighed, “But I’m sure she’ll wake up at some point, though you’ll need to be careful because of the curse.”
“Do you know what the curse does?” his [Cursed Eyes of the King] informed him it was a [Soul Curse], but not what it did.
“No idea, but we’ll have to consult.”
Other than that, everything seemed to go well.
“I’ll go to Bell City for a bit,” he informed everyone, and they all nodded, Alice deciding to come with him.
They wanted to check out some shops and restaurants, and maybe go through the area that would allow him to access [Star City].
They looked around the city for a few hours after that, enjoying the calm and peace, even though players would shout Alex’s ID every few seconds.
And so, right as the two of them were about to leave, heading toward the next part of the map of [Universal Descent], Alex suddenly heard a voice in his head.
“Huh?” he was confused, but then remembered that Lilith had in fact put him into communication with her and Alera through her necklace before.
“What’s happening?” Alice questioned, confused why Alex stopped.
Lilith did that in case any danger happened while he wasn’t in the village.
And it seemed like she had done the right thing, because the message that appeared before Alex sent a chill down his spine.
“T-There’s three orcs outside the barrier! Please help!” Lilith’s voice rang in his head.