Almond’s sword glinted in motion as he targeted the Tiger first as it was closer, his sword cutting in an arc as it rolled off the tiger.
His motion slowed down only a bit while it still continued, his foot pressing on the ground as he turned, his blade slicing the Lethal Fang Rabbit into two horizontally.
Lethal Fang Rabbits were one meter tall and had sharp blade-like fangs along with claws. Their Fangs were truly lethal due to the high penetration they had, capable of even piercing uncommon-grade Shields and containing a fast-acting poison that deteriorates health.
So if they jumped and drove their Fangs into an Adventurer without defensive skill, it would usually result in 100% death.
Almond was more careful of the Rabbits, but it wasn’t hard. As long as he was careful of their close-range Fang attack, he would be safe.
Everyone was in combat, using various skills and new items.
Natalia’s new wand matched perfectly with her class skills. And with the Willowbee crossbow that produces its own arrows at the cost of 10 Mana, she could easily finish off the monsters. She also had Big Slither Arrows, which were considerably powerful.
The wolves were helping her as Almond commanded them, making it easier for Natalia to maneuver and get protection.
Alfred had no difficulty fighting solo like Lily and Almond since he had a good assortment of various skills, and he used them proficiently.
Everyone was in different areas in this small forest-like cavern, thrillingly fighting against monsters and undoubtedly improving, gaining experience in their first run of Labyrinth.
Almond freely used Spirits from his Spirit Pocket since he was going to get more, and he could only keep 100.
He restored the durability of both Slither Arrows each time Natalia used them, and he also restored the durability of the Spear but didn’t use them anymore.
He also started devouring Spirits during the battle since it didn’t hinder him performance-wise, even if he used Spirit Devour during the fight. This way, he emptied more space to keep storing the Spirits.
3 x White Polan Tigers: +1 Strength, +1 Stamina, +1 Perception, +1.5 Focus.
3 x White Polan Snakes: +2 Health, +1 Perception, +1 Mana.
3 x Lethal Fang Rabbits: +1 Health, +1 Strength, +1 Focus, +1 Stamina, +0.5 Focus.
3 x White Dust Centipede: +1 Mana, +2 Health, +1 Strength.
The battle lasted for around 20 minutes as the group chugged a few Mana potions in the middle of the battle.
They didn’t exert themselves heavily in the physical area as there were no potions to recover Stamina.
But by combining steadfast and efficient physical exertion in tandem with using their skills, they could last longer in the battle while killing more monsters.
There was no need to exert 100% of physical power every second.
In total, the number of monsters killed stood at 58 as Almond acquired 58 Spirits, and this also marked the completion of Lily’s and Natalia’s first specialized class quest.
During the battle, Almond also devoured 12 Spirits of White Polan Lair’s monsters, and his Spirit Pocket was still 100/100 by the time the battle ended as he calculatingly used up the Spirits he had from previous areas for his skills and recovering items.
In the end, Almond remained at level 7, but 92% progressed toward level 8, while Lily, Natalia, and Alfred reached level 7.
After the battle was over, the group picked up some Uncommon-grade flowers and fruits from the tree. White Polan’s Lair had a good amount of resources, a perk of being a hidden area.
The first cavern had nothing, but the second and third caverns were bound to have a good amount.
From this second cavern, they got nine Uncommon-grade resources.
After scouring the forestic cavern, the group entered the second passage and sat down to recover as well as proceed in their Specialized Class Quest.
First of all, Almond added 20 Spirits in the Spirit Factory for the new production batch.
5 x White Polan Tigers.
5 x White Polan Snakes.
5 x Lethal Fang Rabbits.
5 x White Dust Centipedes.
Afterward, he looked at his specialized class panel.
[ {Prefix} Grimblade ]
[Please select a prefix out of the options given below]
[Options]
-Shadowbane
-Ironfang
-Stormborn
-Cinderborn
-Ashenvoid
-Riftveil
‘Six options…’ Almond rubbed his temples. This was going to be hard to decide. ‘Alright, let’s break this down.’
‘Shadowbane Grimblade….this would lean towards assassin side, having shadow attribute and other points complementing it.’
‘Ironfang Grimblade…Iron and Fang, hmmm, this sounds like a full assault class. I guess this would be more like a warrior.’
‘Stormborn Grimblade….considering elements, Storm would have wind, lightning, and water, and storm itself. Sounds like this class would have a bit of versatility but more on the offense side and powerful with flashy style.’
‘Cinderborn Grimblade obviously sounds like flame related. Ash, magma, flame…no doubt this sounds powerful as well.’
‘But the next two…’ Almond’s eyes glinted. ‘They are more interesting.’
‘Ashenvoid…Ashen means many things: very pale, an indication of fear or being sick, and could be related to ashes as well. Void is self-explanatory, but I can’t image how and what kind of skills this class would generate.’
‘Lastly,’ Almond looked at the last option and wryly smiled. ‘Damn this.’
‘Riftveil…Rift has multiple different meanings based on context. A crack in the ground or space and a crack in the relationship between people are two, but how does it combine with the veil?’
‘Veil can mean multiple things….first is a face-covering veil. It also symbolizes mystery and can also mean separation, like Rift. Some comics and webtoons I read in the library also describe the veil as a boundary between the physical and spiritual realm…it’s used to separate the material world from spiritual stuff.’
Almond had removed the first four options from his mind. The last two were simply too interesting, but he had to choose one.
‘What should I choose? Think, think more, and reach a conclusion…’