In the distance was a colossal structure that resembled a sand castle. It was made up of various types of corals, sturdy underwater plants, and many unknown materials. It did not appear to be as luxurious as the palace located within Amaharpe, however, it held onto its very own rustic and elegant charm.
〈System Alert: You have entered the region «Great Sea Palace Outer Layer»〉
Izroth was currently positioned on top of some kind of underwater cliff. However, he could not move forward any further as the system boundary was set in place.
While the colossal sand castle structure was the first thing that grabbed Izroth's attention, it was not the only thing. There were a total of four layers surrounding the sea palace.
The outer layer, which was the layer that Izroth had been dropped off into by that large metallic door, was the layer positioned furthest from the sea palace. There were two middle layers and then the final layer which encircled the sea palace itself.
Each layer was surrounded by a gigantic bubble. It seemed to be a barrier of sorts that prevented the layers from interacting with one another.
'It looks as though the system does not want me to just swim over freely. Could it be that I have to break through all four layers to complete this dungeon?'
Izroth furrowed his brows as he thought about his current situation. It did not make any sense. This was only a low-leveled dungeon, it should not require so much effort just to clear it.
After thinking for a few moments, something suddenly dawned on Izroth. He realized that he may not have to journey through all of these layers in one go. The set up of this dungeon reminded him of some classic MMORPGs.
'Of course... If that was the case then everything would make sense. There's a good chance that the Sea Palace Graveyard is not just one dungeon alone.'
In some classic MMORPGs, some dungeons were linked together and at the same time, split up into different parts. But certain parts would not be accessible until one reached a higher level and they located the entrance. Of course this was just a theory of Izroth's, however, it would explain many of the unanswered questions he asked himself.
There was even the possibility that in the future this could lead to something far more rewarding than a mere dungeon... A Raid!
Though, the chances were unlikely when Izroth really thought about it. After all, what are the chances that he would come across such a huge discovery? But, everything seemed to be pointing in a favorable direction.
'Forget it. I'll get the answers when I reach the end. For now, I should just deal with the things as they come.'
Located not too far from Izroth was a water slide similar to the one he traveled down after defeating Calder. The only difference was that this water slide was much shorter and Izroth could clearly see the bottom part of it.
Since the water slide was the only visible way out of this area, Izroth decided to head down. It took less than ten seconds for him to reach the bottom end of the water slide.
When Izroth reached the bottom, there were two mermen that closely resembled the Sea Palace Guard's Izroth had previously encountered. However, these mermen looked much more intimidating and released a battle-hardened aura.
Instead of the bronze tridents that the Sea Palace Guards used, these mermen were holding onto a silver trident. The silver trident was releasing a faint glowing yellow energy that was comparable to the one Calder used in his fight against Izroth. But, the energy the weapons released was much less threatening than that of Calder's weapon.
Izroth examined the mermen that were around 20 meters away from him, standing guard by in front of an entryway the led into the next area. Right now, Izroth had returned to the water environment. This meant that there was pretty much an absolute guarantee that those mermen would receive an agility boost.
Name: Sea Palace Imperial Guard(Elite)
Level: 23
HP: 15,000 (100%)
There were no objects to lead them around or any obstacles that would hinder their speed. It was an open room with only one way in and one way out.
'The two guards are too close to each other to fight one at a time. I'll have to be a bit careful during this fight. Even with the effect of the Hellfire Crafted Oblivion Chest, it's still highly likely that their base speed will be faster than my own.'
With the Hellfire Rampage passive skill that was attached to his Hellfire Crafted Oblivion Chest, as long as he kept attacking within 3 seconds, he would be able to maintain its total agility boost of 100. Izroth was confident that with the 100 agility added on to his 300 agility, it should be enough to retaliate and react properly.
After all, even if he could see the attacks coming thanks to his heightened senses, it was useless if the enemy was too fast for him to react the attack. 400 agility should allow him to receive little to no damage without the use of Lightning Field or Flickering Steps skills.
Izroth unsheathed his Blade of Lightning. There were little crackles of lightning flowing throughout the entire blade. Now that he thought about it, he was quite lucky to receive a lightning based weapon and that the closest dungeon was filled with water-type monsters.
Izroth swiftly moved forward and when he was around 15 meters away, the two Sea Palace Imperial Guards noticed his presence.
"It's a surface dweller! Stop right there!" Both of the Sea Palace Imperial Guards swam forward at an incredible speed. Just as Izroth thought, the two of them were naturally faster than him while inside of a body of water.
One of the Sea Palace Imperial Guards swung outward with their silver trident, releasing a powerful wave of yellow energy. The energy appeared to create a concentrated and pressurized wave of water that looked as if it could slash through solid objects without much resistance.
Izroth reacted quickly and before the Sea Palace Imperial Guard unleashed their attack, he had already begun to make his move to avoid it. The skill the creature used had the same prerequisite action for its skill activation as Calder's attack did for his. So Izroth was prepared ahead of time for the incoming attack.
Miss!
Izroth waited until the two Sea Palace Imperial Guards were within 3 meters before a myriad of elusive palms shot out towards them. He aimed for their gills positioned just beneath their ribcage, however, they managed to protect their vital point which forced Izroth to adjust his attack. While his attack successfully struck, he just barely missed their vital point.
-266
-266
'Their agility is a bit higher than I expected.'
Izroth's agility increased by 20 thanks to the Hellfire Rampage skill after both of his attacks landed successfully, making his current agility 320.
The second Sea Palace Imperial Guard lashed out with his silver trident. The merman wanted to cut right through Izroth in one fell swoop. The other merman was not too far behind and had positioned himself to cut off Izroth's path of retreat.
Izroth moved his Blade of Lightning in front of his body to parry the incoming silver trident. Sparks flew when the two weapons collided against one another.
«Parried»
-289
Just as Izroth succeeded in parrying the silver trident, the other merman tried to ram into him.
Izroth launched a swift counterattack, slashing with his Blade of Lightning across the neck of the Sea Palace Imperial Guard who struck him. The merman had not yet readjusted his position after his strike which made it easier for Izroth to hit his vital point. It was also thanks to the increased agility he was constantly receiving from the Hellfire Rampage skill.
«Critical Hit»
-631
After completing his counterattack, Izroth immediately moved off to the side to evade the merman's ram. He quickly spun around, swinging his Blade of Lightning towards the same merman who just missed with his attack. There were two shadows following behind his blade aimed at the merman's gills.
'Their attacks aren't that much different from the Sea Palace Guards. However, there is more power behind them and the Sea Palace Imperial Guards have higher HP. Though, that's to be expected this deep into the dungeon.'
..
After fighting for around 30 seconds, it did not take Izroth long to adapt to the attack patterns of the Sea Palace Imperial Guards. There were no more surprises or new attacks that they used that Izroth had not already seen.
Izroth had managed to reach 10 stacks of Hellfire Rampage which boosted his agility by 100 points. Right now, his agility was at 400 which made dealing with the two sea creatures less challenging.
He pressed on with his assault and was able to eventually defeat both of the Sea Palace Imperial Guards in under two minutes. He used similar tactics as when he fought against the Yellow-Razored Kryrco Sharks, saving his First Baneful Sword: Destruction as the final attack so that he could receive the skill's cooldown timer reset.
Izroth had only been struck a total of two times throughout the entire battle. Though he was able to successfully parry the blows and did not receive any major damage.
〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have defeated «Sea Palace Imperial Guard»〉
〈System Alert: You have been awarded 6,600 EXP〉
Loot Drop:
-1 silver 85 bronze coins
〈System Alert: Congratulations...
...
The EXP was pretty decent, but as usual, the coins left something to be desired. The entryway that the two Sea Palace Imperial Guards were protecting had a thin layer of bubble-like substance protecting it. The entryway would lead one down a long hallway with a huge clear glass cylinder acting as the surrounding walls of the pathway.
When Izroth passed through the thin layer of bubble-like substance, he reached the other side and arrived inside of the pathway. To his surprise, the pathway was actually not filled up with any water.
Although players did not have their movements impeded while battling in water, it was still a weird feeling if one was not used to it. Therefore, most players would probably want to avoid underwater battles as they just felt uncomfortable compared to fighting on land.
Izroth observed the pathway and did not see any other sea creatures guarding it. He walked along the pathway until he reached the end of it. In the room at the end of the path, was a sea creature with the lower body of a human and the upper body of a barracuda. It had beady black eyes and dark scales covering its muscular legs. It was a frightening appearance.
However, this individual was someone Izroth was familiar with. It was one of the sea creatures within the throne room in the vision he saw earlier. That particular sea creature was standing next to the one called Glekan with a vicious look in his eyes the entire time.
'Another familiar face. Though it's strange that such a creature would not fight in the water... Could this sea creature be similar to Calder and change the battlefield during the middle of the fight?'
There was no platform like the time when Izroth fought against Calder. It was just a rocky ground surface that mimicked the sea floor. Izroth moved close enough to obtain more information about the boss monster.
Name: Vicious Barbados (Dungeon Boss)
Level: 23
HP: 48,000 (100%)
Izroth let out an inward sigh after seeing the dungeon boss. He was beginning to miss the system providing him with all of the creatures stats and skills before the fight began. After all, who wouldn't want such a massive advantage when it came to a boss fight?
But, Izroth was never afraid of a challenge. Even though this boss was meant for an entire group of players to overcome together, he did not believe the challenge to be above him.
Izroth did not wait any longer as he charged in with his Blade of Lightning already drawn.