Rewards

[ Congratulations, you have completed Stage-1 with overwhelming results. ]

[ You have completed the Primary Objective: Defeat Heracles (1/1) ]

[ You have completed the Hidden Objective: Defeat Heracles before he uses 3 or more labors (1/1) ]

[ You are the first person to complete Stage-1 ]

When the hall started disappearing, Hepius shouted. {Child, bring the corpse of Cerberus with you! Hurry!}

Noah dashed toward the Cerberus corpse and held it. He didn't know if this was the correct way, but from Hepius' tone it seemed urgent.

The hall gradually crumbled away.

Noah found himself in a large cave. Behind him was the door through which he entered, and another door appeared in front of him. The corpse of Cerberus was also next to him.

The presence of a new door suggested that Noah wasn't out yet. However, his attention wasn't on the new door at this moment.

[ You have received 'Robe of Protection' for completing the Primary Objective ]

[ You have received 'Training Chamber' for completing the Hidden Objective. You will also receive additional stats. Strength +10. Movement Speed +5. Endurance +5 ]

[ You have received Skill 'Undeath' for being the first one to clear Stage-1 ]

[ You have received Fragment (1/13) ]

[ Congratulations, for your overwhelming performance you have gained a Random Box ]

A golden robe appeared around Noah, which fit him perfectly. At the same time, a small silver cube landed on the ground.

Noah read their descriptions and couldn't help but be amazed.

—

Robe of Protection

Rating: Uncommon

Item Description: A useful item for Support classes. It might be more useful than you think.

Effects: Can block one fatal attack from anyone below Level 100 per 60 days, Defense +1000

—

Training Chamber

Rating: Uncommon (Growth)

Item Description: This cube carries a separate dimension inside itself. It is possible to increase its level and unlock more functions.

Effect: Level 1 – Gravity Chamber

—

Undeath (Active-type)

Rating: Rare

Requirements: Can only be used on the inhabitants of Pantheon Dungeon.

Skill Effect: You can fuse two dead souls which have been killed by you. The resulting soul will carry a portion of abilities from both parents' souls.

Remaining Uses: 3

—

Fragment

Rating: ???

Requirements: ???

Item Description: ???

Collected: 1 (Hades Fragment)

—

Random Box

Rating: Uncommon

Item Description: Gives item, skill, ability, curse, or buff randomly. There is no guarantee that what comes out of this box will help you. It can also harm or possibly kill you.

—

The item ratings were similar to Class ratings.

The lowest was Free, Uncommon and then Rare.

Free rating items could be found easily. Uncommon were scarce. If one was to draw from a gacha of 10,000 items, the chance of obtaining a Free rating item were 80% while having Uncommon rating were less than 5%.

As for Rare rating items, the chances were not even 0.1%.

{The rewards are generous.} Even Hepius acknowledged the worth of rewards.

Robe of Protection granted a defense of 1000. In other words, any attack below 1000 Attack Power wouldn't harm Noah anymore. Even if the attack had surpassed the defense, its Attack Power would be reduced by 1000.

However, its true prize was the ability to block a fatal attack from anyone up to Level 100 which was peak Tier 1. Not to mention, it wasn't a one-time use item.

This robe alone was worth the risk of fighting against a Level 40 Boss Monster.

Noah put aside the Training Chamber and Random Box for now and used Undeath.

"Undeath"

[ Please Select Souls for Fusion ]

"Heracles and Cerberus"

[ Checking compatibility. Please wait. ]

Two orbs appeared above Noah's palm.

Watching them circling each other, he sighed. "Of course, it won't work. Fusing two Dungeon Bosses will make the skill too Overpowered. The best I can hope for is that it works with at least one Dungeon Boss…"

[ Ding! The Souls are compatible. Beginning Soul Fusion. ]

"Eh?"

{Huh?}

Noah and Hepius were baffled. The duo watched with a blank expression as the two souls merged and formed a black egg, releasing a strange dark aura.

[ Time Remaining until the birth of New Soul: 3 Months ]

Noah regained his composure easily. He turned to look at the next door.

Suddenly, Hepius interrupted.

{Dear child, thou art within the confines of a Dungeon. Forsooth, if my discernment serves me well, this is a Dungeon of the highest difficulty, an Asura-ranked Dungeon.}

{Thou art also the very first to embark upon this perilous Dungeon. This, in turn, elevates the difficulty by several magnitudes.}

{It would be most prudent to abstain from venturing into the second stage for now, and instead focus on training. }

{Ordinarily, Dungeons are classified into three levels of difficulty: Normal, Hard, and Hell. However, to gain entry into an Asura-ranked Dungeon…}

Hepuis stopped speaking and stared at Noah.

{Child, what art thou doing?}

Noah was… sleeping.

A vein throbbed on Hepius' forehead. He was explaining an important topic, and yet Noah wasn't paying attention.

{Sigh, I should let him sleep.}

Noah had gone through too much.

It was a miracle that Noah was fighting stronger enemies without trying to run away. Hepius understood Noah needed time to pull himself together.

***

<Hepius' POV>

As I watched the child sleeping peacefully, I couldn't help but lament.

He was putting on a brave front. But to me, who could see his soul, it was clear. He was on the verge of breaking apart.

His soul was shattering. The only reason the child hadn't died permanently yet was his unbreakable will, which kept his broken soul from falling apart.

Should I tell him?

Will he be able to maintain his grit if he knows the truth about Legendary Classes?

Every Legendary Class has two names. Their fabled name, which was known to all, and their Cursed true name.

Cursed Classes

That was the true face of every legendary class.

{Haaah…}

I couldn't help but sigh.

The more I watched this child, the more confused I became.

What drove him to continue fighting? No one could move without a goal. Especially someone like him who endured the hell of life and death.

What were his thoughts when he fought Heracles without ascertaining his abilities?

And…

'Why are you not blaming me?'

Had I not killed him, his hell would've never started.

I watched him as he had struggled, fought, begged, cried, despaired, and finally accepted his hell.

It was perfectly normal to be crushed under that weight.

Yet, the child stood back on his leg.

His will was extraordinary. No, even in the eons I had seen, his will was stronger than anyone else.

Whoosh!

My ears perked as I suddenly heard something.

Through the darkness, several nagas were coming out. These monsters had been lying in ambush, waiting for the child to let his guard down.

I was invisible to anyone but the child. So, they weren't aware of me.

The Nagas slithered at a frightening pace and attacked the child. They moved silently yet with a terrifying accuracy in this dark cave.

And….

"Inverse Sage Heal."

A sudden voice echoed, soon followed by the noise of corpses hitting the ground.

The twenty Nagas died without knowing the cause of their death.

By the time the last Naga fell, the child was back to his sleep.

***

<Noah's POV>

Noah woke up three days later.

He jumped to his feet like a spring and drew his sword. As he scouted his surroundings, he belatedly realized there was no longer a need to do this anymore.

A helpless sigh escaped his lips. It was a force of habit to be ready for combat at every moment. Even if he was asleep.

Thud!

Noah's feet hit one of the Naga corpses.

As he saw them, he shook his head. "At least have a stealth skill, if you want to ambush me."

Through his thousands of deaths, Noah acquired two skills that made ambushing him nearly impossible.

[ Detect(Passive): Detect every hostile lifeform in a 10-meter radius. ]

[ Sixth Sense(Passive): Alerts you of the fatal attacks targeting you. ]

Noah stretched and turned to face Hepius.

"It's time we settle our business."

{...I see. Dost thou want to kill me for what I had done to thee?}

Hepius sighed. Just like he had thought, Noah hadn't forgiven him.