Layla's Test

[ The next Test will be a One-Horned Gazelle.]

'This one is pretty fast. Let's get it for now.' Layla thought.

She held Great Snake's Dagger in her right hand while her left hand was free.

A screen appeared in front of her.

[The Everlasting Winter is cheering you on.]

"You think she's going to take this one?" Adam asked.

"Maybe. It fits her style. It's also super cute. Although, if only the bones come back it wouldn't be that cute." Salma said while laughing.

They weren't worried one bit about Layla.

Her Ice Magic could freeze the monsters and give her time to escape if she needed to. Plus, she was the fastest in the group. Which meant that being faster than the enemies would not be a big deal for her.

[5 seconds left.]

Layla ran towards the center of the room.

Once the monster appeared, she was right in front of it.

Layla extended her left arm towards the One-Horned Gazelle's side.

'Death's Mark, was it?' She thought as she pushed the monster away.

A blue skull appeared on its side right where Layla had touched it.

The light One-Horned Gazelle was launched away.

[You have used your Skill Death's Mark on another being.]

[290 Mana Points have been consumed.]

[The Ritual has begun.]

[The Marked Monster will be marked for the next hour.]

Layla jumped back right after marking the monster and jumped back.

She felt a slight burn on her left fist and checked her hand.

A blue skull was on her fist. She was marked, just like the monster.

"What happens if I don't beat the monster in the next hour?"

[Not beating the Marked Monster during the Ritual's Time Limit translates to the Ritual's failure. The marks will disappear.]

'Alright. Still, 290 Mana Points for a weak monster like this one...' Layla thought as she watched the monster stand back up.

The One-Horned Gazelle sprinted towards her with its horn forward.

The dark-haired Layla was fast enough to step sideways at the last moment and stab the monster on its side.

Her Dagger's blade, which was a big fang, penetrated the One-Horned Gazelle's body and left a hole in it.

The monster cried in pain and tried jumping away, but the damage was too much and it fell to the ground.

[Congratulations! You have passed Test Number 3.]

[The Marked Monster has perished.]

[The Ritual was a success.]

[The monster's remains will now fight by your side.]

[The Revived Monster will be half as strong as the original.]

'Wait, half? How weak will it be then?'

Suddenly, a shadow swallowed the monster's corpse.

Once the shadow disappeared, only bones remained.

[The One-Horned Gazelle's Skeleton will fight by your side.]

The monster's skeleton stood up. Its hollow eyes were shining blue.

'It still has its horn. But its Stats are half the original one. I guess that makes sense since it lost its muscles, organs and stuff.'

"Sit." Layla said.

The Revived Monster sat down.

"Stand."

It stood up.

'It really listens to me...' Layla thought.

She remembered Adam and Salma in the corner and turned to look at them.

The two were laughing out loud.

She chuckled and turned back towards the skeleton.

'I guess I was treating it like a dog.'

"So you need Experience Points to become stronger? That's not going to be possible in this Dungeon. You can go back." Layla said.

The blue light that shined inside the monster's hollow eyes disappeared and its body fell to the ground.

[You have returned a Revived Monster to the dead.]

A second later, the immobile skeleton disappeared.

...

[10 seconds left.]

'Alright. This bear is tough to fight in close quarters.' Layla thought as she looked at her new Revived Monster.

It was a Grey Wolf's Skeleton.

She had tried using her Death's Mark Skill on other monsters, but she couldn't even though her Mana Points were at full.

'I can only get [F+] monster with the amount of Mana I have. There is no Time Limit, nor is there a limit to how many Familiars I can get. Which means that I can only obtain many weak monsters. I'll need more Mana Points in the future.'

Her Necromancer Title allowed her to make an army for monsters, but there were conditions. She needed to be strong enough to beat the monster herself, but she also needed to have enough Mana Points to mark it. Even though the Revived Monsters were in a Weakened State at first, it still demanded a lot of Mana to use the Skill.

[5 seconds left.]

Layla took out her Paralysing Spear and moved it around with two hands.

'This feels right.'

"Hey. Same as before. You stay in front of it. Grab its attention. You don't have to attack. I'll attack from the sides and the back." Layla said as she stepped back.

The Revived Monster looked at her before turning towards the bright light that appeared at the center of the room.

[Congratulations! You have passed Test Number 8.]

"How come you guys are going through these so easily? I got injured during this fight. The Troll hit me if I remember correctly and the Fire Lion burned my hand." Adam said.

"Well... Better luck next time!" Salma said joyfully.

[Your Sponsor says that Incarnation Adam is jealous.]

"He is! Hahaha!" She shouted.

"He is what?" He asked.

"Oh... I was talking to my Sponsor..."

"He? Are you talking about me?"

[ The next Test will be a Fire Lion.]

"This is the one that attacks from far away, huh? It also has that barrier..." Layla muttered as she stepped towards the center of the room.

"Hey, Wolf. We attack right when it appears."

"Did she just call him Wolf?" Salma asked.

"I don't think she named him Wolf, she probably won't keep him anyways." Adam answered.

The Fire Lion appeared in front of Layla and her Revived Monster, both moved towards it right away to attack.

Layla, who was much faster, managed to stab its stomach twice using her Paralysing Spear before it could jump back.

The Revived Monster was too slow and missed it.

As the Fire Lion's stomach started bleeding, it used its barrier to protect itself.

Layla lowered her body towards the ground and touched it with her left hand while holding the spear with her other hand.

A trail of ice appeared on the ground and led to the Fire Lion.

In an instant, an Ice Spike was formed in front of it.

The monster stood proudly behind its barrier but, to its shock, the Ice Spike penetrated the barrier and pierced its body.

'I didn't use all my Mana Points for no reason. Fire is a bad match, but my Mana Stat is now at 42.' Layla thought with a smirk.

"So cooool..." Salma and Adam muttered.

...

[The next Test will be one Frost Cheetah.]

'Cheetahs are faster than leopards, right? This one might be annoying. It'll probably faster than an Agile Leopard and be able to use Ice Magic like me. Salma blew it up with one Fire Arrow, so that didn't help learn more about it haha...' Layla thought.

'I guess I'll summon four Skeletons, even though that uses up all my Mana Points.'

Four shadows appeared on the ground in front of Layla and Skeletons appeared from them.

Layla armed each Skeleton with an Iron Sword.

"Alright. Four armed Skeletons and a Wolf Skeleton. Should be okay." She muttered.

Layla drank Mana Potions while waiting for her opponent.

[10 seconds left.]

'It's a Frost Cheetah, so my Frost Dagger weapon won't be any good. Might as well have a reach advantage.' She thought as she took out her Paralyzing Spear from her Storage.

[5 seconds left.]

"You guys stand closer to the center."

Her five underlings were about 5 meters away from the center of the room.

A bright light appeared.

The Frost Cheetah stood tall, ready to jump towards the first target it could see.

It looked like a normal cheetah, except that its yellow pelt was white as snow instead of the usual yellow.

'Its weakpoints are the neck, the stomach and that particular spot on its right side...'

Thanks to her "Weakness Exploit" Skill, she could see the monster's weakpoints.

As soon as it appeared, the armed Skeletons ran towards it and swung their Iron Swords.

The Grey Wolf's Skeleton jumped towards it to bite the Frost Cheetah's neck.

But the monster was too fast. It jumped sideways to dodge the Skeletons' attacks and it bit the Grey Wolf's Skeleton's.

[Your Revived Monster has returned to the dead.]

Layla received this message as her weapon was about to penetrate the Frost Cheetah's side.

The monster noticed the attack at the last moment and jumped back.

She could only graze its pelt.

The monster stared at Layla and roared ferociously.

'It is faster than me...'

Layla sprinted towards the monster and thrust her weapon towards its body multiple times, but not one attack made the monster bleed.

It either moved its body nimbly or deflected the attack with its paws.

She could only graze it from time to time, but that was what Layla had expected.

'Perfect.'

While the monster was busy deflecting dodging Layla's attacks, her Skeletons had positioned themselves around the monster.

She continued attacking when the Skeletons swung their swords.

Once one attack connected and made it bleed, the Frost Cheetah cried in pain and used its forelegs to jump above Layla.

Once it landed behind her, the monster opened its mouth.

A cold breath started oozing out of its mouth.

Layla, who had already extended her weapon towards the monster, saw the tip of the blade freeze.

She immediately retracted her weapon while ordering her Skeletons to approach the monster from different sides.

While the Skeletons sprinted towards the monster from all sides, six Ice Spikes were formed and floated above Layla.

She watched the monster and her Skeletons carefully.

Once a Skeleton arrived next to the Frost Cheetah, it turned its head and directed the freezing breath towards the Skeleton.

The Skeleton was completely frozen and fell to the ground, but at the same time, an Ice Spike penetrated the monster's neck.

It stopped using its breath attack and turned towards Layla.

She grabbed her Paralyzing Spear with both hands.

'Come at me.' Layla thought with a smirk.

Right away, the Frost Cheetah sprinted towards her.

It easily dodged the Skeletons on its way and the remaining approaching Ice Spikes.

'Acceleration.'

Her Skill was activated and her speed shot up.

She extended her weapon towards the monster and it penetrated its body, nevertheless, the wound was shallow.

'Even with this, the difference in speed isn't overwhelming it. I'm only a bit faster...' Layla thought as she thrust her weapon more and more towards the monster.

Multiple shallow wounds appeared on the monster's body.

Every time it stepped back, Layla stepped forwards.

Every time it stepped sideways, Layla followed it.

During the duration of her Skill, she had wounded the monster more than 15 times.

When there was only 1 second left, what Layla had been waiting for finally happened.

[The Frost Cheetah has been paralyzed.]

[The Frost Cheetah's movements will be much slower.]

A couple of seconds later...

[Congratulations! You have passed Test Number 11.]

Layla sighed deeply.

"Even though I didn't take damage, this was close. I lost the Grey Wolf's Skeleton, used up all my Mana Points and lots of Endurance Points. I also ended up using my Acceleration Skill. It can be activated every 5 minutes. The next fight starts in less than one minute and they don't get easier. It's also a flying monster since it's a Thunder Eagle..." She muttered to herself.

Layla raised her head.

"I would've like to go further than Salma, but it looks like that's it for me. Am leaving." She said out loud.

Both Salma and Adam were waving at her.

She could tell they were cheering her on.

"Can I just spectate without having to leave the Dungeon?" She asked.

[ You only need to express your desire to do so.]

[Your rewards will only be given after leaving the Dungeon.]

"That's fine. I want to spectate."

[Please enter the Spectator's Area.]

As soon as Layla entered the corner where Adam and Salma were, a screen appeared in front of them.

[One of you must exit the Spectator's Area.]

"Stats." Adam said as he walked outside the corner.

[ Stats: Strength: 65(+0)

Agility: 67(+12)

Dexterity: 25(+0)

Sense: 65(+0)

Vigor & Endurance: 42(+0)

Magic Affinity: 50(+1)

Mana: 43(+0)

Stealth: 70(+2)

Unused Stat Points: 0(-15)

]

'Adding 12 points to one Stat is no joke. Agility is now my second highest Stat.' Adam thought.

After that, he equipped all his Artefacts except his Old Assassin's Boots that he was already wearing.

He equipped his Black Cloak, his Bracelet of Chiefs and Leaders, his Monster Tamer's Bracelet, his Leader's Ring, his Leader's Gloves and his Magician's Ring.

After that, he took out both his Hero's Necklace and his Goblin Chief's Necklace.

Both turned to dust before giving birth to a new Artefact.

[Artefact: A Hero's Feathered Necklace [E+]

Part of the necklace was used by a hero long ago, part of it was used by a strong monster. . The user's Strength, Agility Dexterity and Vigor & Endurance Stat increase by 5 each.]

'The Goblin Chief's Necklace added 200 Health Points. This only adds 50 Health Points and 25 Endurance Points... Maybe I should have tried equipping two necklaces at once before I combined them...'

Adam jumped back as soon as he felt a monster's presence appear.

A monster had suddenly appeared.

'Oh... I guess I didn't notice the messages...' Adam chuckled.

Layla and Salma laughed out loud while looking at Adam who was taking his time in front of a monster.

"Light, come out and get rid of the monsters."

The Great Black Wolf appeared and took care of the small fry.

'Anyways, I think that's all the Artefacts I have except Weapons and Armor pieces.'

"Stats." He said.

[ Stats: Strength: 70(+5)

Agility: 72(+5)

Dexterity: 30(+5)

Sense: 75(+10)

Vigor & Endurance: 65(+23)

Magic Affinity: 60(+10)

Mana: 53(+10)

Stealth: 80(+10)

Unused Stat Points: 0(+0)

]

"Nice... Not one is over 100 a yet, but...." Adam muttered.

"Python, you come out too. I'll skip the next Test." He said out loud.

'Let's shoot for the 13th test... at least...'