15 FOURTEEN
"Here lies Lily, the Hunter who lost her life prematurely and unjustly."
Rio read the words with a pained expression. There was no denying it now.
"Axel Martinz has returned as an evil spirit."
His words made everyone stiff. They all knew about the only E-ranker in the town... And back in their younger days, they had all harassed the young man one way or another.
All of them except for the guild master were assaulted with shame and fear.
"G-guild master, I don't think we should go any further. Let's return to the town and get more Hunters to help..."
One of them suggested and soon, all of them agreed.
But...
"No, we'll continue forward. We need to put the spirit down before it becomes more powerful or possesses a higher-ranked monster."
Rio's words were perfectly reasonable. Rather, it was the best path to choose.
But none of the party members felt that way. Even so, they couldn't just outright go against his words.
"Let's go."
And that acted as the signal.
All of them, despite their fear, hardened themselves for the worst and marched on. They were professional hunters, the cream of the crop.
They knew not to let their personal feelings affect their missions.
The hunters marched forward through the forest.
--------------------------------
"How dare you point your sword at the queen?!"
The Kobold Queen screeched as Yurei's sword pierced her chest. Behind the two of them, a bloodbath was taking place.
The Queen jumped back a few steps. She coughed up blood and staggered unsteadily on her feet. Yurei didn't want to let her compose herself, so he pressed on.
"Haha! Die! Die! Die!"
Yurei laughed like an intoxicated madman as he let out a few sharp thrusts.
Thanks to him possessing and attacking other Kobolds without constraints, the feast that was taking place inside the Kobold Queen's chambers had turned into an all-out fight to the death. And taking the chance, he had attacked the Kobold Queen by possessing one of her guards.
"You bastard! Die!"
One of the guards finally came to its senses and tried to attack Yurei from behind. The spirit simply left the possessed body and took over another guard, letting his former body get skewered.
"Fool!"
The Kobold Queen watched her assailant get pierced by the sword with a smile. But the next moment, she coughed up more blood.
"Haha, did you really think you can take me down that easily?! [Sword Dash]!"
Another guard of hers had turned coats and had attacked her in the back.
The Kobold Queen's strength was in numbers. Unlike the Goblin Lord, she was weak by herself.
The monster's body exploded as Yurei's sword hit her back. Blood and entrails covered the whole area for a few moments before evaporating and disappearing into thin air.
The Kobolds around the queen stopped fighting immediately and turned towards Yurei.
"Oh... Shit."
He had totally forgotten about those guys.
"H-he... He killed the queen!"
"What a bastard!"
"Kill him!"
"Skin him alive!"
"Tear him apart!"
The angry Kobolds rushed towards him like a wave. Finding no other option, Yurei quickly left the body and hovered in the air.
The unfortunate kobold, whose body the spirit was possessing a mere moment ago, was shredded to pieces by the mob.
And while Yurei watched it, several pieces of information appeared in his mind.
[Floor boss of the fourth floor has been defeated. You have gained 50,000 XP]
[Due to the quest changes, the difficulty of the floor boss was higher than usual. You have gained an extra 20,000 XP]
[The quest {Evolution II} has been completed. You have gained 50,000 XP]
[The quest {Evolution II} completion rewards have been granted. Your level has increased by 10, while your understanding rate has increased by 40%.]
[You have gained 2 items from the Fifth Floor Boss, Kobold Queen]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[...]
[Congratulations, your Understanding Rate has reached 100%! You have evolved into a new body type!]
[Your actions so far have granted you a fearless demeanour and a cold heart. Your body has become a {Fledgling True Spirit}. All of your levels have been reset. Your stats have been changed to match your new body]
[You have gained 1 new unique skill]
[You have become a D-rank {Vengeful Spirit}]
[Two new quests have been added!]
Yurei couldn't move from his spot as the sudden changes took place.
His spiritual body suddenly started emitting a dark light. His aura changed so suddenly that even the Kobolds, who had no skills to see through his invisibility, noticed something was wrong and ran out of the room.
"M-my body... It's materializing... !"
His spiritual body, which had been a hazy white silhouette so far, turned pitch black. He could now see his body clearly and feel his surroundings.
His vision cleared up and became stronger. He could now see even the smallest details on a small pebble up to a certain distance!
Finally, a dark-red fire surrounded his body and started burning dimly.
Soon, the transformation was completed and he could move again.
"C-can I touch something now... ?"
Trembling, Yurei descended to the ground and tried to pick up a sword.
His body had materialized, so he should be able to pick it up. But...
His hand passed through the object and "hit" the floor. The results didn't disappoint him at all.
"So I can't touch weapons, is that it?"
Yurei quickly understood what had happened and looked at a nearby chair. He approached the object and tried to pick it up... And it worked!
The chair was rough and made by an amateur craftsman, but the feeling of wood and rocks felt extremely pleasant in Yurei's hand.
"It has been so long since I touched something!"
Yurei was ecstatic as he placed the chair back on the ground. Still happy, he decided to check his stats.
And...
[
Name: Yurei
Title: Monster Tamer
Class: Vengeful Spirit
Body type: Fledgling True Spirit
Rank: D
Level: 0 (0.0%)
HP: 1000
MP: 10,000
ATK: 0 / STA: infinite / DEF: 300 (magical), 300 (physical) / DEX: 900 / STR: 0
Unique Skills: 5
Acquired Skills: 3
Rank skills: 0
Ultimate Skills: 0
Understanding Of Body: 0%
]
"My level has dropped to zero-"
He didn't lose any skills nor did he lose any stats, but he still felt a bit pissed at the "zero" beside his level counter.
"Ugh... Whatever. Let's check the inventory... I think I never checked the items I got from the Goblin Lord..."
[
Available items (8/100):
1. { Priestess's Robes (Rare) }
2. { Cursed Sword Of Spite (Rare) }
3. { Elven Bow Of A Lovely Maiden (Rare) }
4. { Goblin Lord's Staff (Common) }
5. { Goblin Lord's helmet (Common) }
6. { Goblin Lord's Cape (Common) }
7. { Kobold Queen's Tears (Rare) }
8. { Kobold Queen's Whiskers (Common) }
]
"What? All of them are junk... !"
All the items, except the Kobold Queen's Tears, belonged to the common category. Their stats were bad, they didn't have any special abilities and some of them had an ATK stat of 5-10!
They were unusable, no matter how Yurei sliced them.
"Well... Let's just check the only rare item..."
[
7. { Kobold Queen's Tears (Rare) }:
Durability: 1/1
Tears shed by the Kobold Queen after her soldiers betrayed her. It contains a massive amount of grief and anger. It contains the final wish of her heart, which is to separate friends from foes.
*Consuming the tear will let you read the minds of the people surrounding you for 5 minutes.
*Can be diluted with water and replenished up to five times, but each time the number of minutes available will decrease by one.
*Replenished: 0/5
]
"Amazing... Though I don't think I have a use for it yet. Well, it'll stay in my inventory I guess."
Yurei was about to close his inventory, but a sudden thought stopped him.
"It's hard to use it from my mind... Can I also materialize the system?"
As soon as he thought that, a transparent screen appeared in front of him.
It was a triangular shimmering screen with all the information he needed.
"Status."
"Items."
"Skills."
"Quests."
All the screens opened one after another, appearing all around him. Yurei smiled and nodded.
This was more convenient than summoning the information in his mind. As he had thought, seeing the information was better.
And if he needed to, he could always revert back to the old style.
"Now then... What about the skill I gained?"
He looked at the skill tab and checked the new skill.
[
5. { Materialize }:
Cooldown: None
As a {Fledgling True Spirit}, you can materialize your body at will. When materialized, you can interact with the objects and people around you and cause changes in the world.
*When materialized, the skill {Predation} will be automatically applied to people you determine as foes. You can apply the skill by touching them.
*When materialized, the skill {Heal} will be automatically applied to people you determine as allies. You can apply the skill by touching them.
*You can not use {Possession} when materialized.
*You can not use weapons when materialized.
*This skill consumes no MP
]
"Ah... As expected. Well, the fact that [Predation] and [Heal] can be used when materialized is a plus point. What about the new quests?"
His eyes hovered on the quest tab this time... And he soon frowned.
[
3. { Atonement I (Hidden Quest/ Mandatory) }:
Time Limit: Until the Hunters escape from the dungeon
Your enemies have stumbled upon your corpse and have decided to hunt you down. It is time to strike fear into their hearts and show them your true wrath.
Become the hunter you always deserved to be, and hunt your prey. They shall atone for their sins with their lives.
Clear Conditions: Kill all the Hunters coming after you (0/9) and leave one to spread the news of your wrath.
Clear Rewards: level + 10; New Stat Unlock {Fear}
Failure Conditions: Let more than one Hunter escape; dying
Failure Penalty: A larger force shall be after you to hunt you down, one skill will be removed randomly
]
"Wait... Isn't this quest just telling me to write my death warrant either way?"
Yurei rubbed his temples and sighed. He quickly glanced over the other quest and closed the screen.
The second quest wasn't mandatory just yet.
