11 Chapter11-Cemetery of the Deceased
John swapped his Withered Staff for the Gale Staff and equipped all his new gear.
Then, he opened his personal panel.
Name: John
Level: lv5 (Iron-tier)
Class: All-Class Magus (God-tier)
HP: 2000
MP: 3000
Attributes: Strength 54, Stamina 85, Spirit 130, Speed 58
Talent: Divine Favor Tome (SSS-level)
Skills: Spring of Soul lv10, Mana Recovery lv10, Pyrokinesis lv10, Aquakinesis lv10, Zephyr Shield lv10, Vine Thorn lv10, Wind Flow Spell (equipment)…
Equipment: Gale Staff lv5 (Bronze-tier), Giant Stone Bracelet lv5 (Bronze-tier), Hound Paw Necklace lv5 (Iron-tier), Dark Iron Beastskin Armor lv5 (Iron-tier), Dark Iron Beastskin Belt lv5 (Iron-tier)…
Looking at his panel, John lit a cigarette, his face etched with a worldly wisdom, feeling an invincible aura within the dungeon!
After a brief moment of self-admiration, John didn't linger.
He planned to probe into that Carter surname today.
After all, coming from a major imperial family, he couldn't be underestimated.
Although the Morgue Hospital wasn't far from the abandoned parking lot, it was on the other side of the Phantom Ruins.
John needed to cross the core area of the Phantom Ruins, the "Cemetery of the Deceased," to get there.
With his current strength, it shouldn't be a problem, and John was eager to check it out.
Magical power surged around John, and a blue light suddenly illuminated him.
Wind Flow Spell, activated!
John felt his body become significantly lighter, with his speed attribute reaching 75 points.
With a powerful push from his feet, he shot forward like an arrow towards the core area of the Phantom Ruins.
The scenery rapidly receded as he moved deeper into the ruins, with the surrounding buildings becoming increasingly dilapidated.
High-rises were covered in cracks and red vines, and cars were so rusted that their original shapes were indiscernible.
Along the way, whenever he encountered monsters, John would casually dispatch them with a few skills.
"-3210!"
"-3178!"
"-3017!"
...
Crimson damage numbers floated up incessantly.
Several unlucky ghouls and rotting revenants disintegrated into starlight before they could react, contributing to John's experience.
[You have slain a "ghoul lv9" and gained 943 experience points!]
[You have slain a "decayhound lv10" and gained 1953 experience points!]
[You have slain a "rotting revenant lv10" and gained 1770 experience points!]
...
The experience provided by slaying level 10 monsters was almost double that of level 9 ones.
Even though John didn't linger, his experience points soared rapidly.
Soon, John was enveloped in the glow of leveling up again!
[Your level has increased to lv6, granting you 10 free attribute points!]
[Current Level: lv6]
[Experience: 2124/41,000]
Ten minutes swiftly passed, and the effect of the Wind Flow Spell began to fade.
Simultaneously, John arrived at the core area of the Phantom Ruins, the Cemetery of the Deceased.
The area was shrouded in a layer of black mist, even the ground was black, and at a glance, it was densely populated with tombstones, most of which were in ruins, some even revealing dark coffins.
In the deepest part of the graveyard, a black church could vaguely be seen standing abruptly there, its eerie presence amplified by drifting blue ghost flames.
John slowed his pace, sensing the unusual atmosphere of this place.
Compared to the city, it was eerily quiet here, almost like a different world.
The black mist seemed capable of silencing sounds.
After John's arrival, the mist appeared to thicken.
John gradually lost sight of the path ahead, and the church vanished from his view.
"Creak! Creak! Creak!..."
A grating sound of bone friction suddenly echoed close to John's ears, seemingly emanating from a nearby tomb.
John narrowed his eyes and launched two Aquakinesis spells towards the source of the sound.
"-2779!"
"-2864!"
Two crimson numbers rose, but John immediately sensed something was amiss.
There was no system notification sound!
This meant the entity on the other side had at least around 6000 HP.
Such an HP level was impossible for a regular lv10 monster!
At that moment, John's instincts screamed a warning, and without hesitation, he retreated instantly.
The next second, a ghastly white giant bone scythe emerged from the mist, striking precisely where John had stood moments before!
"Boom!"
Dirt flew as a half-meter wide crater instantly appeared where John had just been standing!
At the same time, the creature that had taken two hits from John's skills revealed itself!
It was a humanoid monster, naked from the waist up, headless, with grey-white skin and bulging muscles.
Standing three meters tall, it wielded a two-meter-long bone scythe, a terrifying sight.
Name: Decapitating Specter (Elite)
Level: lv10
HP: 12000
Strength: 252
Stamina: 90
Defense: 178
Speed: 30
Skills: Decapitate, Sweep, Combo Slash
Seeing John dodge its attack, the Decapitating Specter's abdomen split open to reveal a horrifyingly large mouth, emitting a terrifying roar.
"Roar!!!"
Simultaneously, it swung its massive blade, slashing viciously towards John's neck!
Decapitate!
With a calm gaze, John enveloped himself in a Zephyr Shield, swiftly shifting his position.
The giant blade grazed his nose but failed to inflict any harm.
At the same time, a flash of green light vanished from John's staff.
Vine Thorn!
A thorn-covered vine burst from the ground behind the Decapitating Specter, piercing through its body and leaving a ghastly wound!
"-3819!"
Foul-smelling black blood flowed freely as the Decapitating Specter howled in agony, its bone scythe wildly slashing at John.
Combo Slash!
With the Zephyr Shield's protection, John moved like a phantom, continuously dodging.
The Decapitating Specter couldn't touch him at all, only able to roar in frustration.
Flames ignited in John's hands, quickly transforming into a giant fire serpent that slammed into the Decapitating Specter!
"-2735!"
The fire serpent exploded, sending the three-meter-tall Decapitating Specter flying several meters, crashing through several tombstones before collapsing to the ground with a thunderous fall.
[You have slain "Decapitating Specter lv10 (Elite)" and gained 7300 experience points!]
[Current Level: lv6]
[Experience: 23,000/41,000]
Watching the Decapitating Specter's body slowly dissipate, John exhaled deeply.
This elite monster was indeed challenging to kill, but the experience it provided was substantial.
If he could encounter a few more like it, he figured he'd level up again soon.
Picking up the materials dropped by the Decapitating Specter, John pressed on.
The Cemetery of the Deceased, true to its name as the core area of the Phantom Ruins, was teeming with monsters, far more than the outer areas.
Almost every few steps, he would encounter one, mostly level 10 creatures, with a significantly higher probability of encountering elite monsters.
After encountering two more Decapitating Specters and a Gravekeeper and defeating them, John successfully leveled up to 7.
To John's delight, the last Gravekeeper even dropped a magus skill scroll.
[Item]: Skill Book
[Skill]: Ice Spear
[Level]: lv5
[Tier]: Basic skill
[Class]: Ice-based magus, Frostweaver...
This was a pleasant surprise indeed.
Skill books were much rarer than equipment, extremely scarce.
Even a basic skill book like this one could fetch around 600,000 federal coins on the market, and more powerful skills could command even higher prices, often being priceless.
Naturally, John had no intention of selling this skill book.
As an All-Class Magus capable of learning any magical class skill, the idea of selling such a valuable resource was unthinkable.
John decisively unrolled the skill scroll.
As he did, a stream of light emerged from the scroll, merging into his body.
Simultaneously, a new skill appeared on his panel: [Ice Spear], and it was at its maximum level, level 10.
[Ice Spear lv10 (MAX)]
[Type]: Basic Skill (Active)
[Description]: Upon using this skill, you can conjure an ice spear, dealing 4,100 points of magic damage to the target. There's a 30% chance of putting the target into a frozen state for 3 seconds. The cooldown time is 60 seconds, consuming 100 MP.
A blue glow gathered around John's staff, as frost coalesced, forming a gigantic ice spear, three meters long, hovering in front of him.
With a mere thought, John sent the ice spear soaring, cutting through the air with a tremendous whoosh, aimed at a skeleton that had just crawled out of a grave.
The level 10 skeleton, having just risen from its grave, looked up only to be greeted by the massive ice spear, exuding a chilling aura, flying straight towards it.
"Boom!"
The skeleton was instantly pierced by the ice spear, which then suddenly exploded, freezing the skeleton on the spot and turning it into a sculpture of ice.
"-4061!"
An instant kill!
