['Quinda (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
Upon the notification, Quinda's lifeless body dissolved into light.
Djhotti let out a long sigh.
"She was a fine warrior. A pity we had to lose her so soon."
The intense energy emanating from him ceased.
He probably could no longer maintain his enchantment.
[The Flame's Blessing is no longer activated]
"Forgive me, Great Mage. That is as far as I could go."
The dwarf said apologetically.
I could hear Erlin crying in the corner of the room.
The two used to work together, so Quinda's death had to hit her hard.
"I'm so sorry, Serafina."
Trudy said to me softly.
A death of a comrade had always been a sad thing for me.
But Quinda was a raider.
She knew the risk of becoming one. I had been repeatedly trying to remind her of it.
Somehow I knew this would happen.
I had actually been preparing for this outcome ever since the girl chose to become a raider.
That was why I was able to simply nod to the Chief Instructor and immediately left the empty bed.
I went over to the Tchakran martial artists that were still fighting against the Dark Essence.
"Forgive us, Your Excellency."
Fangli said to me.
He seemed to be retaining his consciousness better than Quinda.
As I probed him with my mana, I discovered that the Dark Essence had stopped damaging his mind.
It was more like the Dark Essence could not do anything to what remained of him.
"What's to forgive? You didn't let yourself be claimed by the Dark Essence. I should applaud you instead."
I told the Tchakran.
I continued as I discovered the same state with Haoban.
"Both of you."
"The warriors of the Shining Boar have been taught to train both our body and mind, Your Excellency."
Haoban said.
The two of them were still suffering by the Dark Essence's infection.
But their minds were still very much intact, at the very least. They were only deteriorating physically.
Djhotti's enchantment earlier and our potions had brought them past the critical point.
They should survive if we continued treating them with health potion and other enhancement method.
"I don't understand this!"
Shanny suddenly stepped forward once the situation in the room settled down.
She continued as she looked over the injured members of Party 6.
"I thought the lobby is supposed to heal all wounds?"
Trudy nodded to her.
"That's right. It regenerated my entire hand when I lost it in the tenth floor."
"Then why aren't Fangli and Haoban healed yet?"
Jonah asked.
That was a good question.
It was a fundamental law of the forged land that the lobby heals all injuries and illnesses.
But that logic was shattered by today's event.
Had Master not gifted me all those books regarding the monsters of Dunia, I would had been left puzzled by this weird phenomenon.
"Perhaps the lobby does not consider them needed healing."
I voiced out.
Everyone immediately put on a frown upon my words.
I continued.
"Fangli and Haoban are currently infected with the Dark Essence. It is a parasitic substance that is very dangerous to one's body.
"The Dark Essence is quite harmless to be touched. But it's quite lethal when consumed or it enters your bloodstream.
"It has the property to deteriorate both the body and the mind. One of the deadliest natural poison there is."
Nervous murmurs echoed throughout the room.
They probably wondered the point I was trying to make.
"However, there was a rumor that a certain cult managed to harness the Dark Essence and discovered two products from the experiment.
"One of the products was the madness disease that claimed Tsuchi on the fifteenth floor."
The raiders exchanged sharp looks with each other.
They had realized I was talking about the Circle of Kali.
I continued.
"The second product being…a forbidden elixir which grants a warrior tremendous power."
The 4-stars in the room began to nod with acknowledging expressions.
"There are tales about such elixir in Tchakra. We called it Yama's Kiss."
Yuxia said.
Fangli and Haoban nodded alongside him.
"Our sect elders would frighten the junior disciples with its stories. Tales about a forbidden elixir that could grant overwhelming power or an imminent death."
"It was said that those who survived after drinking the elixir might gain great powers. But they would also sacrifice their humanity as well."
I nodded to their stories.
"There were warriors in Dunia that would turn to this cult which provides such elixir, offering themselves as the cult's slaves.
"They were willing to surrender their humanity for power. Even if that risked going mad or losing their life entirely.
"You, Tchakrans, called these warriors the Shadow Rogues."
The easterners frowned at my words.
"The Shadow Rogues are just urban legends, though. Surely there is no such thing as the forbidden elixir."
Yuxia said.
Graihan shook his head.
"I wouldn't say that, daywalker. There were rumors among the mercenaries about it. Apparently there was someone that has been hiring mercenaries to hunt monsters with Dark Essence. You've got to wonder why they would be looking for the filthy stuff in the first place."
"Graihan's right. And the fact that the lobby doesn't purge Fangli and Haoban from the Dark Essence only proved that the substance could be of some use to us."
I stated to everyone in the room.
Fangli and Haoban then exchanged a look with one another.
"Your Excellency, do you perhaps know how to harness the Dark Essence?"
The leader of Party 6 asked.
I shook my head immediately.
"If I knew how, then I would've saved Quinda. The harnessing of Dark Essence falls under dark arts. Even if I wanted to, I do not know nor have the means to learn the skill."
We would need someone from the Circle of Kali to completely treat the Tchakrans.
I highly doubted one of their witches would ever be summoned to the forged land. Not that I would readily welcome one if they actually did.
I had to learn dark arts myself.
Or Fangli and Haoban would remain in this incapacitated state.
With our preparation for the fourth Quintal Trial, I doubted I would find the time to learn it soon.
We simply had to take care of immediate matters first.
"What happened in the Exploration Dungeon? How did the explorers got reduced to this state?"
I asked the surviving members of Party 6.
"The Exploration Team managed to reach the furthest depth of the ruin, Your Excellency. The seventh stratum, to be exact."
Ashni said, continuing her explanation that was interrupted earlier.
Seventh stratum.
Considering how the monsters got stronger in the deeper parts of the ruin, I was not entirely surprised with what happened with Party 6.
The elderly woman continued.
"The monsters in the seventh stratum were at least level 30. They were as strong as ogres and as swift as direwolves.
"We lost half of the Exploration Team just trying to proceed to the innermost chamber of the ruin in the final stratum.
"But we made it to the end of the ruin. And that was when we found the Advent Stone…and the creature."
I had expected the most prized treasure of the ruin would be heavily guarded.
Though I did not expect it to be guarded as heavily as this.
"A large bear-like monster was guarding the Advent Stone in the deepest room, Your Excellency. Very strong. Its entire body was oozing with the Dark Essence Fangli and the others are infected with."
Halim said.
"What was its level?"
I asked.
"Around 45, I believe."
Fangli answered.
Murmurs erupted among the other raiders in the room.
We understood from the level alone that the monster they encountered was the strongest that the heroes ever faced in the forged land.
"We knew the ruin's guardian was overwhelmingly strong. So we did not try to defeat the creature and focused on obtaining the Advent Stone instead."
Fangli, the raid leader, told.
He continued.
"We divided the Exploration Team into two. The remaining members of Party 25, 26, 27, and 28 were tasked to hold off the horde of lesser monsters coming from the other part of the ruin. While Party 6 focused on seizing the artifact."
"Brother Fangli, Quinda, and I distracted the guardian so Halim and Ashni could retrieve the Advent Stone. That is why the two of them aren't infected with the Dark Essence"
Haoban told.
He went on.
"Once they managed to grab the Advent Stone, Brother Fangli, Quinda, and I had been injured by the monster and infected with the Dark Essence."
"Party 6 then immediately retreated from the seventh stratum along with the Advent Stone and what was left from the other parties."
Ashni said.
She continued.
"It was difficult getting out of the ruins after our members were injured. It took us an entire day and the lives of the rest of the Exploration Team just to trek back to the surface."
"We've run out of health potions at that point so we could not treat their wounds."
Halim said as he nodded to Fangli and Haoban.
"We bought basic health potions from the shops in the city but they did not do any good. So we just waited until our return to the lobby, hoping their wounds would get healed once we were back."
Quite a journey the Exploration Team had gone through.
And all of this trouble just so we could obtain the Advent Stone.
Just what exactly was the thing?
Why would Master want it?
How could it help us climb the tower?
"Your Excellency, what is going to happen with us now?"
Fangli suddenly called out.
He exchanged another concerned look with Haoban and continued.
"I don't think the two of us would be much use to the climb in this state."
[Fangli Sinchua (★★★) Lv.18 (Exp 8/180)]
[Class: Warrior]
[Strength: 24/48] -24
[Intelligence: 5/10] -5
[Stamina: 21/43] -22
[Agility: 19/38] -19
[Skills: Basic Swordsmanship Lv.8, Basic Dual-Swords Technique Lv.8, Switching Lv.3, Nimble Movement Lv.3, Composure Lv.3, Projectile Defense Lv.5, Insight Lv.3, Pain Resistance Lv.3]
['Fangli (★★★)' is inflicted with Dark Essence. All stats decreased by 50%.]
-
-
-
[Haoban Qiang (★★★) Lv.18 (Exp 6/180)]
[Class: Warrior]
[Strength: 23/46] -23
[Intelligence: 5/10] -5
[Stamina: 19/38] -19
[Agility: 21/43] -22
[Skills: Basic Spearmanship Lv.8, Insight Lv.4, Nimble Movement Lv.5, Composure Lv.2, Projectile Defense Lv.3, Pain Resistance Lv.3]
['Haoban (★★★)' is inflicted with Dark Essence. All stats decreased by 50%.]
Due to the Dark Essence's effect, the 3-stars' stats had been reduced.
They were as equal as a level 12 2-star at this state.
As they said, we could not rely on them climbing the tower anymore. Not until their condition was treated.
[Party 6 has been disbanded!]
Apparently Master understood this as well.
"Don't bother with the climb effort for now. Focus on recovering yourselves."
I told the injured 3-stars.
I continued as I turned to Halim and Ashni next to them.
"The same goes for you two. Master just disbanded Party 6. Stand by for further orders."
The four of them nodded obediently.
"Understood, Your Excellency."
What happened with Party 6 and the Exploration Team as a whole was definitely tragic.
But we still had other matter, bigger matter, to worry about.
[Reforming 'Third Advanced Scouts'.]
[Reforming 'Fourth Advanced Scouts'.]
The twentieth floor.
The fourth Quintal Trial was still waiting to be cleared.