Weapons of Mass Destruction

“I thought the same.” Tess looks around and also knocks on the wall of rock, “I hoped it would be a quick expedition with decent rewards, but once again we are deep underground, surrounded by rock and darkness.”

“Are you holding up fine?”

“For me it’s not a problem, but some of the others are getting a bit nervous. Itʼs not much, but enough to influence their behavior a bit if we stay here for much longer.”

“I see, can you tell Obelia what we learned about the array? Keep the matriarchʼs interference secret for now. I will meanwhile ask for the ring from Hadwin and try to check how far the closest tunnel is.”

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Tess just nods in confirmation and leaves while I reach Hadwin who is already fully healed.

The wound on his side is gone and he even put a new shirt on.

Seeing where I look, he shakes his head, “I thought I could take it on, but I was wrong.”

“Well, his attacks were quite strong.” I decide to be nice.

“Yes, but if he was real or fought better I would’ve been dead. But no worries, I will work on it.”

I nod. Seeing Haddy complain about not being able to tank the attack of someone with an epic weapon and a much higher level reminds me how weird most of us are.

How arrogant and far-reaching. We are just a bunch of newbies who only started learning how to use our skills and mana and we want to fight much stronger opponents. And not only fight, but to win, endure their attacks, crush them. Maybe you have to be a bit crazy to end up in Hell difficulty.

“I thought of it as well, but you will probably have more luck with your higher mana,” he immediately knows what is on my mind, and after pulling it off his finger, he hands me the ring we got from the expedition to the old capital.

I examine it once more.

Darkstride Ring (epic):This ring is imbued with a dark enchantment that allows the wearer to step into the shadows and reappear a short distance away in a different shadow, effectively granting the ability to blink through shadows for a tactical advantage on the battlefield.

“You just have to hope there are some shadows in the tunnels. Iʼm not sure how well it works with pure darkness.”

Huh, thatʼs a good point. Is Hadwin maybe a bit smart? I didnʼt think of that, so maybe he is a genius?

“You are thinking something rude, arenʼt you?” he asks. He really is smart, “There might still be some mana in the lines on the tunnel walls so the shadows might be here, but you better hurry.”

“No problem, thanks.” I leave Hadwin and then use [Mana Domain] and stretch it in one direction again. Then, while using [Perception] in a similar way, I move around the rooms, close to the walls.

It takes a bit of time, but in the end, as suspected, I donʼt find any part of an unburrowed tunnel.

The ring says a short distance, but we confirmed before that the more mana you use, the longer that short distance is. So I do the same thing, just this time feed the epic ring with a lot of mana and search for shadows I could use.

In the end, I find only one, but it only feels weak, as itʼs about to disappear.

Quickly, I rush more mana through my body, and in the air in front of me, I create an anchor and feed it with enough mana to last a few minutes. Then, just in case, I create another one a bit further.

“Min-Jae, guard them for me,” I tell the Korean boy who is closest to me, and he nods.

Then I use [Regalia] to create armor around my body and strengthen my body before using the ring.

The world around me changes, and I feel my body being pulled and moved towards the shadow I targeted. The skill of the ring ignores the stone and just moves me toward the shadow where I pop out.

As suspected, itʼs one of the tunnels we used, and further behind I sense one of the marks Sophie kept leaving behind.

Immediately, I leave an anchor in the air and this one I feed with even more mana than the ones before.

Examining it for a while, I send mana towards the wall, making the lines light up. Then, to be even more sure, I create one orb and fill it with thermal energy, making it create even more shadow and be able to last hours.

Giving my surroundings one more look, I then activate the anchor and teleport back through [Tether].

The skill is currently level 9, so testing if I can teleport with people will surely make it break the bottleneck, right? So who will be my test subject and find out with me if I can transport other people?

My eyes meet those of Hadwinʼs and he seems a bit nervous out of nowhere.