Quest Cleared
Ayaan stood up groggily.
He tried to calm himself down and locked his gaze on the Abyssal guardian. The sight sent chills down his spine. At this moment, the Abyssal Guardian is trying to reshape its body, and for some reason unlike before, its speed of regeneration increased by a lot.
However, no matter how much it tried, it wasn't able to reshape the flesh properly. That glowing sphere in the middle of its body is still being exposed.
And the more it failed in covering it up, the brighter the sphere became. At the same time, it absorbed the surrounding water and merged it with its flesh, trying to cover it up.
Even though water is covering up the sphere, it is not making it invisible to the eyes. Water is transparent after all and it seemed like the Abyssal guardian was not satisfied with it. As for why Ayaan felt a sense of crisis from it…
As it absorbed more and more water, its body became bigger.
Soon, it became more than fifteen feet tall. Apart from the initial sense of threat, Ayaan's mind slowly grew calmer. He didn't feel as tense as much. Because while he triggered this weird phenomenon by attacking this creature, there is something else that became clear.
'That sphere. That's the weakness'
He is sure of it. The moment the sphere was exposed, the Abyssal guardian went into this rageful state, and that sudden water bullet attack also came from that sphere.
His gut which is rarely wrong, is telling him that as long as he finishes off that sphere, the guardian will go down.
Its first, direct, and obvious weakness. Of course, reaching that sphere, through the layers and layers of watery body is a whole different thing for him to figure out.
Of course, the Abyssal guardian is not stupid enough to just keep on growing while ignoring Ayaan and giving him enough time to organize his thoughts.
*POOF* *POOF*
The water bullets, multiple at a time flew towards Ayaan.
Ayaan who regained clarity and control over his body, dodged the attacks as he ran around. He aimed at the sphere and fired a water bullet of his own. But…
The water bullet just hit the watery body of the Abyssal guardian and disappeared into it. It almost looked like Ayaan generously donated to increase the size of the Abyssal Guardian.
Just one test and he is sure. The water bullet is of no use here. The attacks kept on coming, but Abyssal Guardian didn't stop growing. Soon, the overflowed water in the cave is emptied the guardian is dipping into the lake.
Its absorption rate is almost the same as the rate at which the waterfall is filling the lake. Not letting it overflow.
Soon, the Abyssal guardian grew big enough to almost reach Ayaan with just its body size. At that moment, it stopped throwing water bullets and instead just started expanding towards him. Ayaan looked around, and the cave which was already a bit small to begin with, became smaller.
There were a couple of exits, but as soon as he ran towards them, the translucent barrier enveloped it. Not letting him thrown. The only way Ayaan saw… is up the cliff.
Once that thought came, he didn't hesitate for a second, he leaped over with all his strength, jumped almost fifteen feet high, and held on to a protrusion of rock. He climbed up like a monkey. Almost like climbing up is the same as walking for him.
Then he started running. He looked ahead to check the surroundings. The only thing remarkable here is the tall and steep cliff on top of the central stream pathway, that leads outside this cave network.
He did get an idea, but before he could even move.
*SWOOSH*
A huge stream of water hit him on the back.
[HP-10]
His body was sent flying and he crashed against the cave wall beside the central stream.
*COUGH* *COUGH*
Ayaan coughed out loud as he tried to stand up again. As he opened his eyes, he saw the incoming stream of water once again.
*BAM*
[HP-10]
This time, he braced for impact and the only thing that resulted was that he managed to stay standing. He still lost the HP. But that was enough because he managed to see the Abyssal guardian that came up.
Or rather, it grew up. It seemed to have merged with the waterfall and its body and sphere just moved up along with it. It is attached to the stream and the cliff edge, slowly inching towards Ayaan.
While it is doing so, it started throwing massive jets of water at him, trying to kill him.
Ayaan was determined to not get hit the third time.
'Frog King's Stomp'
MP-5
He jumped with all his might, hoping to reach as high as possible and when he did, he stabbed the Black Alloy Sword into the wall directly. He is almost a hundred feet high up. Hanging on to the wall. He looked at the cave and then at the opening above him.
In a way, this place is shaped like a volcano and right now is close to its mouth, below is the Abyssal Guardian that is looking at him, its sphere glowing brighter than ever.
Ayaan put the Black Alloy sword in the inventory and climbed up even more, he reached the mouth, but the barrier didn't allow him to go past it. He is at the highest point that he could reach.
*SWOOSH*
A jet of water was aimed at him, but it didn't have the same momentum as it came close to him. Ayaan moved to the side, keeping his grip tightened against the rocky protrusions.
He looked at the Abyssal guardian that was still growing and even completely blocked the entrance of the cave paths.
His fatigue is mounting slowly and his lungs are still hurting from the previous he took. His HP is down to its last twenty points. Two more hits and he will be done for. He groped around the wall with his feet to find a protrusion that gave him enough footing to stand just for a moment.
After he stood on it, he took a deep breath…
He then slipped down, and held on that protrusion, hanging by it instead of standing on it. He swung his body and kicked the wall, positioning his head downward towards the Abyssal Guardian.
'Frog King's Stomp'
He kicked the wall and launched himself towards the Abyssal Guardian.
*WOOSH*
The air whistled past his eyes, his eyes were determined and full of focus. This is the answer he obtained. And it didn't take long.
When he shot the water bullet, he knew why it didn't penetrate. What it lacked is the momentum. Its momentum is not enough to let the water bullet create an impact on the watery body of the Guardian. Even though both the bullet and the body being made of the same material had an impact, the momentum could have easily overcome it by at least a small margin.
However, that one hit, already gave him everything he needed to know.
'Sphere is the Weakness'
'Destroy it and the Guardian is gone'
'To destroy it, need to bypass the watery body'
'I only need one thing'
'Momentum'
That led to this plan.
Ayaan positioned his hands ahead like he was taking a dive as he was about to hit the Guardian's body.
*SPLASH*
HP- 10
He felt like he was penetrating through a concrete slab. The impact shook him, but what he needed was achieved. The momentum of the descent made him go through its body and in one fell swoop, he was right in front of the Sphere, inside the Abyssal Guardian's body.
The Black Alloy sword appeared in his hand and he stabbed it with everything he got.
*CRACK*
Like a ball made of glass being it, the sphere cracked immediately.
A huge force enveloped Ayaan and the water he was in, was thrown away along with him towards the cave wall.
*BAM*
HP-5
The water around him helped him cushion the blow, but that was still a hard hit.
[██░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 10.0%
Ayaan stood up hurriedly and watched as the Abyssal Guardian's body collapse. With just one hit, its health dropped to 10 and it didn't stop there.
[█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 8.0%
[█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 6.0%
His health is dropping. The Black Alloy Sword is lodged in the sphere and it was revealed when all of its water collapsed.
The sphere is still glowing, but not as bright and it tried to move the surrounding water to create its body. But to no avail.
Ayaan stood up and with gritted teeth walked towards it.
*POOF*
The water bullet flew out of his hand and hit the sphere.
*CRACK*
It collapsed and so did he.
He fell on the floor with no reservations. He coughed up some blood that he has been holding in for a while.
A wave of relief enveloped his mind.
[Exp +100000]
[MP+10000]
Level up!
==============================
QUEST COMPLETED
==============================
Quest Name: **The Depths of Terror**
Objective Achieved:
✔ Explore at least one Stream path and eliminate all the representatives of at least one aquatic humanoid tribe. (4/1)
✔ Kill at least one of the five guards of the stream paths leading to the Abyssal Guardian Embryo. (3/1)
✔ Ensure the other aquatic humanoid tribes cannot add their essence of corruption in the lake to evolve and awaken the Abyssal guardian.
✔ Destroy the Abyssal Guardian Embryo
Rewards:
The player has cleared the quest with increased difficulty, rewards have been adjusted to match the difficulty.
- **All Stats +9**
- **Skill Acquired: Primal Awareness: Instils a deep-rooted instinct warning of danger in the player. The player can sense the approaching danger in their path, surroundings, or circumstances.
- Brookborn Shard*120
- River Serpent Poison Sac*1
- Shell of River Chuul*1
- Brineclad Lurker Essence*5
- Guardian Crap Shell*1
- Essence of Abyssal Guardian*1
- Aqua Manifest*36
- Exp+189000
- Full Recovery
==============================
Congratulations! You have successfully completed the quest.
Upcoming Quest: The Bloodied Reef (2 days to Go)
==============================
Ayaan let the familiar grey light envelop him as he regained the lost energy. He arrived on the hotel rooftop. He is still wearing the Water Serpent King Armor.
That came as a pleasant surprise. Because when he entered the quest, he wasn't wearing the armor and instead kept it in the inventory. But now that he had it on him, he figured he could take it back as well. That is one less inventory slot for him to worry about.
Ayaan went back to his room and hopped in the shower. He checked the system interface.
==============================
SYSTEM INTERFACE
==============================
Name: Ayaan Rakshit
Level: 4
Class: None
Title: None
==============================
STATS
==============================
Strength (STR): 48
Agility (AGI): 44
Endurance (END): 48
Intelligence (INT): 58
Perception (SEN): 78
Available Stat Points: 5
==============================
HEALTH & MANA
==============================
HP (Health Points): 180/180
MP (Mana Points): 150/150
==============================
EXP PROGRESS
==============================
EXP: 89072.7/ 250000
[■■■■■□□□□□□□] 35.00%
==============================
PHYSICAL STATUS
==============================
Fatigue: 0
==============================
SKILLS
==============================
Active Skills: Enhanced Aqua Respite Lv 1 | Water Bullet Lv 1(90%) | Frog King's Stomp Lv 1 (25%)
Passive Skills: Marsh Stride Lv 1| Primal Awareness Lv 1
==============================
UPCOMING QUEST
==============================
Quest 4: The Bloodied Reef (2 days to go)
==============================
The first thing he did was to open the Inventory.
==============================
INVENTORY
==============================
Slots: 11/15
-Black Iron Alloy Sword*1
- Black Iron Sword*24
- Black Iron Combat Knife*1
- Brookborn Shard*120
- Brookborn Trickster essence*5
- River Serpent Poison Sac*1
- Shell of River Chuul*1
- Brineclad Lurker Essence*5
- Guardian Crap Shell*1
- Essence of Abyssal Guardian*1
- Shell of Guardian Snail
==============================
When his gaze landed on the inventory, he was delighted, to say the least. He was worried about the inventory slots. From the first quest to the current one, what he noticed is that the variety in the drops is being increased.
The inventory slots became necessary. This time, he even had to lose the spears. Even though he is not really strapped for weapons, he is sure they would have given him some pretty penny in the system shop.
Now that these five extra slots have come, that is a timely windfall.
It's just that he didn't know how and why they came now.
Since he couldn't find the answer by pondering, he decided to just leave it aside.
Just when he was about to check the rewards and deal with the sale…
*RING*
He got a call from Raj.
A/N: Mass release will be done in two hours