[Ding! You have defeated Lightbringer Wolf, Elyon and Caleora, gaining 500,000,000 experience points!]
Ding! Ding!
[Your level has increased to level 300… 301… 302… 303… 304!]
[Level: 304 (6,834,821/112,000,000)]
Every single level added a staggering 2 million experience points between each level now.
And of course, Alex had finally reached level 300.
Ding!
[You have completed the SSS-Level Grand Mage Student Task: Reach level 300]
[Return to Arceus.]
“Took you long enough,” Artemis appeared again, seemingly having been watching from above.
No matter how much Alex looked at it, it was extremely weird for an angel to watch a human kill three of its companions and do nothing about it.
Was he bound by a contract to Arceus, or did he just respect him so much he was willing to betray all of his tribe?
“Now that you’re done, I can finally take a break,” Artemis was ready to leave, “I believe you’ll be able to find a way out thanks to that spatial ability of yours.”
“Wait!” but Alex held him off for a few seconds.
“Hm?”
“Do you…” he got ready to speak, “Have any idea where the [Annihilation Crucifix] is?”
He was truly adamant on defeating the [Undead Lord] and acquiring Undead Land, no matter what.
The more the game went on, the more stats the enemies would have, making it increasingly difficult to defeat them even with his extracted attributes.
That is why he planned to get ready and acquire at least one or two [Forbidden] and [Ultimate] spells.
But the moment he uttered the name of the item he wanted, Artemis’ figure blurred, appearing right in front of Alex, a blade touching his neck.
The angel had been so fast Alex didn’t even have the time to see how he did that.
“Never ever talk about that again, kid,” Artemis’ aura flared around him before finally calming down, “And anyway, you won’t be able to get it, it’s protected by the [Divine Order of Angels], don’t try anything reckless.”
With that, Artemis spun in place before disappearing.
“…” Alex was shocked, to say the least, but now he knew that the crucifix was most likely here.
He couldn’t defeat most of the powerful angels, but level 500’s should be easy to be dealt with right now.
And speaking about dealing with angels, he turned back to see the bodies of Elyon and Caleora.
Unfortunately, no matter how strong an NPC is, it is still considered as only one normal entity though and not a boss like those [Shadow Dire Wolves].
Thanks to Alex’s luck though, he still managed to get an extraction prompt.
And this time, he decided to select the other option he wanted.
Ding!
[You have extracted “Angel Wing” (Divine)]
[Description: A single wing from an angel. Useless on its own as angels require two wings to fly. Cannot be utilized by other races.]
“If I can find a way to… never mind, I’ll think about that later,” Alex mumbled.
In Universal Descent, “Human” was obviously not the only race/bloodline that players could acquire.
Whether it was Demon, Orc, Fox, Spirit and even Angel, by doing some very specific things and increasing your reputation with those races, you could be able to acquire their bloodlines.
In that regard, items like the [Angel Wing] could only be utilized by that specific race.
And now you might ask: what will Alex choose?
Well… even he didn’t know!
It all depended, and getting accepted into a specific bloodline was extremely difficult.
[Angel Tribe Reputation: -100]
Back in the novice village, silver-skins wouldn’t kill you simply for having this number, but for any other race, they would attack you on sight.
Increasing his reputation with the angel tribe was now unlikely, even Artemis not regarding him high as he was simply following Arceus’ orders.
With that done, though, Alex decided it was time to head back.
“World Map,” he called out as it appeared before him, and then he teleported to [Arceus’ Chamber].
…
Fwish!
Alex hit solid ground only a few seconds after teleporting.
“So you’re back, and I see you in fact completed your quest,” Arceus didn’t even glance at Alex, “Well, I wouldn’t expect anything less, if you had died it would have just meant you weren’t worthy.”
For some reason, Alex felt like Arceus was giving him impossibly difficult tasks just to get rid of him, and then act like he expected all of it once the boy came back.
It had been around a week since he had been given this task, and based on the timeline of the game, there were only 2 to 3 weeks before the academy’s entrance examination.
“Here,” Arceus took a book out of one of his bookshelves, throwing it toward Alex, “Never did this before, but I guess I’m supposed to reward you for your hard work…?”
Arceus truly looked inexperienced, and so he simply threw one reward he thought was appropriate.
Alex grabbed the book in midair, glancing at it using his [Cursed Eyes of the King].
[Volcanic Lance (Legendary Skill)]
“…!” Alex’s eyes widened, he didn’t expect to get a legendary skill already.
“I only have 5 of those books, so I guess the further you go in your training, the greater the skills you’ll acquire,” Arceus shrugged, though he did smirk, “Of course, I’ll have you fully master each of these skills before moving, though.”
Alex noticed that Arceus stopped what he was doing to talk, meaning that he was actually enjoying being a teacher, if not just a little bit.
Though of course, the Grand Mage would never admit it.
“By the way,” Alex sat on one of the chairs available, “Why do you never leave this place?”
Alex knew of the Grand Mages as powerhouses beyond the concept of tiers, but even then, it was weird.
Whether they joined the good or evil side, Alex still knew of them as they showed themselves.
But what about Arceus?
Did he maybe not tell his real name or show his real appearance? That was possible but unlikely as every Grand Mage boasted of their achievements every time.
“Maybe you can’t?” Alex tilted his head.
“…” as a response, Arceus smirked, “Of course I can leave, it is my domain, I just do not bother to except if truly needed, nothing can reach me in here, and I wouldn’t even know if the world was on the verge of collapse thanks to all my seals.”
And that explained why he never showed himself when the gods descended and wars happened: he simply didn’t know.
Arceus was… possibly the weirdest Grand Mage of them all.
And Alex could only wonder what his true intentions were.
Ding!
[Your reputation with Arceus has risen by 5.]
At least that was a good start, though it would be difficult to gain his favors.
If he needed to increase his reputation 5 points at a time, it would possibly take months if not years, but in the end it was worth it.
Having favorability with NPCs was amazing, but a Grand Mage was a whole other deal.
If even one of them joined humanity’s side, then it would completely turn the tides of a battle.