Eliana's nightmare

'It seems like I don't know my character well...'

"Kyaaa, no! Get away! Get away from me! Noooo!!"

Eliana screamed so loud it attracted the monster's attention.

The reason? A small spider that just jumped onto her shoulders.

After that scream, the massive ones appeared, causing Eliana's face to darken.

Her legs trembled greatly to the point she stumbled when trying to flee.

Faced with dozens of monstrous-sized spider monsters, Niveus and Alphonso gritted their teeth.

'Huff... I feel ashamed as a creator...'

They started moving and searching the branching paths for the core ten minutes ago.

Since the intent was to clear the Monolith, they made sure to avoid unnecessary battles, making them navigate through a path without monsters.

Thanks to Alphonso, navigating in the Monolith became much easier.

In RPG terms, Forte is just another name for classes or specializations. Then, Boons are equivalent to exclusive skills, a dormant power that awaits to be awakened each time a character passes certain thresholds and advances to the next tier of their chosen path. Meanwhile, Perks are skills that a character gains through their skill trees; unlocking a Perk requires Feat Points, which a Beaconer can obtain by achieving a certain achievement when doing their Ascension Trance.

Feats, skills, or expertise someone has before they awaken and receive a Beacon are converting into Redux Skills. They can also get a Redux Skill even after awakening by learning the skill manually.

Basically, this category is a self-learn Perk. While there are no problems with pre-Redux Skills, it's a known information that post-Redux Skills have many restrictions; among them is the difficulty to have the Beacon registers it as a Redux Skill.

As they walked, Niveus glanced at Alphonso, checking his BR with Nono's help.

Alphonso's Forte was [Light Owl]. That explained why he wasn't fond of the dark; it was an opposing attribute of his.

And since Perks and Boons would always relate to one Forte, Alphonso had a few skills that seemed linked to [Light Owl], among them was the Perk [Light Marking].

It allowed him to survey or observe the area around him momentarily as long it was exposed to the light. If he marked something while in an observation state, it would be followed by a light trail effect for a day, which only he could see.

'It's the first time I've seen a spy that can be effective only in daylight.'

Although the cave was dark and lacked a light source, the fact that Alphonso could navigate through this place like walking in the park must mean that somewhere in this cave, there was a light source.

'Or the surrounding area around the core is actually open space, exposed to the light, then he just needs to mark the core and follow the spotlight.'

Looking at how easily they located the core and navigated through the branching paths, it seemed like the mission would end sooner than they thought without even breaking a sweat.

However, as if someone didn't want them to clear the Monolith so quickly, they had to be stopped by just a mere spider that jumped on a person with arachnophobia.

That led to the current situation.

Grinding his teeth, Niveus grabbed his sword.

With a burst of speed, he dashed forward, closing the distance between himself and the monstrous creatures.

The first spider-like monster lunged at him, its grotesque mandibles snapping, but Niveus was faster. His sword sliced through the air, the blade cutting cleanly through the monster's head, killing it.

Niveus didn't pause after the first kill. In this dark, twisted cavern with oddly large space tunnels, the skittering sounds seemed to echo from every direction.

He didn't bother calling for help from his companions—he knew better.

Alphonso's light element abilities might have helped in another situation, but here, in the pitch-black labyrinth of tunnels, his experience in combat made him more of a liability, especially against multiple large-sized monsters.

And Eliana—Niveus glanced at her briefly—was paralyzed by her deepest fear, her eyes wide, and her vision blurred as the monsters emerged from the shadow. Trying to calm her down amid battle would be harder than fighting off the monsters themselves.

The next monster lunged at him, its long, spindly legs reaching out to catch him.

Niveus ducked out, spinning on his heel and driving his sword upward into its soft underbelly.

The monster shrieked a high-pitched, unnatural sound that echoed through the cavern. With a swift motion, Niveus pulled his blade free, the black ichor of the beast splattering across the cold stone floor.

Not giving him time to rest, another monster was already leaping toward him.

Niveus sidestepped, twisting his body and swinging his sword down in a powerful arc, severing one of its legs.

The spider-like monster staggered, and Niveus took the opportunity to drive his sword through its head, ending its life in one clean strike.

Even as he fought, he was aware and could afford to check on Alphonso and Eliana behind him.

"Hey!" Niveus shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. "There's no monster in the path you will take, right? Then go head there first, and bring Eliana with you!"

"Don't make me have to carry your remains to the commander."

Niveus grinned, his golden eyes glinting beneath his mask. "I won't let you touch my remains if that were happening. Don't worry, I'll finish this quickly."

Reluctantly nodding, Alphonso turned and gently grabbed Eliana's arm.

She flinched at his touch, her body still trembling, but Alphonso's firm grip and calm words began to pull her back to reality. He was smooth with words and so whatever; one of the reasons why Niveus told him to leave first and entrusted Eliana to him.

Slowly, she allowed him to guide her away from the battle, their figures disappearing into the dark tunnel ahead.

Niveus watched them go briefly, making sure they were out of sight before returning his focus to the fight.

More creatures had emerged from the shadows, their eyes glowing like malicious embers in the dark.

He took a deep breath, steadying himself.

"We've already wasted enough time here," he muttered to himself. "Time to end this."

Fwoosh!

After he spoke, the fire orb above him flickered and went out.

"Eh?"