Chapter 161. Speed-running three Dungeons

With his mind replaying the fight against the Woodsman, Michael took the Waypoint to Yelesna.

Looking at the Murmuring Cache in his inventory, he sighed and decided to get some Whispering Keys from the Purveyor of Curiosities in Kyovashad after he returned today.

Opening the MAP to set a tracker to Dead Man's Dredge, the Necromancer noticed that Yelesna also had a Purveyor.

'Was it Rodyar? I remember him being in the Inn...'

Entering the Inn, he met the man and spent 60 Obols to purchase three Whispering Keys from him.

Michael already knew the location of two such chests in the wilderness, and he could go today after wrapping up the Dungeons if it wasn't too late. 

The Obols in his possession dropped to 450 and then replenished to 500/515 after opening the Murmuring Cache.

He also got an extra Rare wand, which he didn't pay much attention to, as he headed to the Dead Man's Dredge.

Passing by the location where he previously saw a man being fully flayed during the Unyeliding Flesh Quest, he was happy to see the body and the pillars missing.

'So many Ghouls... Looks like the local authorities were right. No matter how many you kill, more take their place. Yelesna is infested with them.'

Passing by one group after another, the rabid Ghouls would chase his horse for ten or so meters until they gave up due to the speed difference.

After half an hour, he reached a large cave entrance, which was the Dungeon. Michael entered without hesitation.

'Let's see... Reaping... what a beautiful name for a location, Sanctuary. You'll do amazing in tourism later...'

[ Dungeon Quest issued - Dead Man's Dredge

Objective: Collect Animus from the Animus Carriers. ]

Figuring out those things should be Elites, the Necromancer advanced cautiously while he inspected his surroundings.

As the intel suggested, the monsters inside this Dungeon were Ghouls, Revenants, Blood Mages, and other forms of undead. 

The first Elite, which was also an Animus Carrier, was pretty close to the entrance and dropped three balls of Animus after its demise. 

'Should be five of these fuckers in total I have to kill. Let's pick up the pace.'

The second and the third were also Revenants with a single modifier, so they didn't pose much of a challenge.

A single Volkdak also joined the fight, surprising Michael. 

'Looks like the intel is incomplete. Worgen on top of the undead isn't much of an issue, but it is always better to err on the cautious side.' 

Surprisingly enough, that was the only Worgen Michael found until the last Animus Carrier fell. 

Walking to the Urn in front of a door blocked by red mist, the Necromancer touched it and deposited all the collected Animus.

The red mist blocking his advance dissipated, and he realized it should be a Trap Room next, based on the active traps he could see ahead.

It was the case, but the monsters ambushing him and his minions were too little to be an issue. In the end, his Reapers and Cold Mages took care of all of them as Michael activated the magic levers that opened the passage forward.

[ Dungeon Quest update - Dead Man's Dredge

Objective: Travel to Slaughter. ]

'...what... creative naming... This Dungeon feels too easy for the ridiculous naming it has.'

Traveling to the next location, the Quest changed, and so did Michael's expression.

[ Dungeon Quest update - Dead Man's Dredge

Objective: Free the prisoners (0/9). ]

Without hesitation, he rushed forward with his minions, and sure enough, they saw a man surrounded by Wargs and Volkdaks. 

Using his Golem's taunt, he grouped up the creatures and killed them quickly, after which he untied the man.

According to him, he was a villager from Yelesna. 

'Shit... what now!? I can't send him back to the city alone, as he'll get eaten alive by the ghouls outside. I can't leave him be either, in case one of the monsters I missed kills him.'

Without a better option, Michael took the man with him while searching for the others.

Unfortunately, the next 'prisoner' he found was already dead. His heart was ripped out, and his corpse desiccated. It was obvious that his blood was drained.

As the villager beside him whimpered, Michael picked up a note, which probably was something related to the truth behind this Dungeon.

[I have come to be in the service for my master. He has promised me both life and blood, resilience as the world crumbles. I crave such stability, such... STRENGHT!

I was born weak into a world that has no tolerance for it, and I continue to be weak to feed my master. But I know that one day soon, I will be reborn anew, his equal and his ally and his kin. This day will come. This day will come!]

Rubbing his eyebrows, Michael continued to collect survivors. Unfortunately, only five out of the nine mentioned by the Quest were alive by the time he found them.

He didn't blame himself as most of the villagers were dead for longer than a couple of hours based on the condition he found their bodies in.

Moving their bodies into his inventory, the Necromancer continued his purge of the Dungeon. When the final survivor's corpse was collected, a long howl could be heard, and the Quest updated to slaying the Alpha.

The Alpha was an Elite Volkdak with three modifiers. It fell quickly, and he wanted to leave this place quickly. He had to escort the survivors back to Yelesna.

[Huh!? Another Wanderer?](?)

Until he met with another Wanderer. It was the second time the Dungeon instances overlapped, and Michael realized that the Sanctuary was manipulating such things from behind the scenes.

After explaining the situation to the man, he nodded and asked if he could help kill more Elites alongside each other. The Wanderer was a hunter and came here for more specimens the church requested.

Pondering for a while and looking at the scared villagers, Michael agreed. Using his minions as a wall to protect them, he joined an Event where he had to kill five Enraged Beasts.

[The beasts can't resist the scent of blood, even their own. I've enough to lure out a few. Come. Join the hunt, friend!](Hunter)

After four out of five fell in the allotted time, the Event was completed, and Michael collected another 10 Murmuring Obols and leveled up in the process.

[ Class: High Necromancer

Attack Power: 639

 Armor: 3,160

 Life: 2080

--------------

Strength: 253

Intelligence: 308

Willpower: 330

Dexterity: 307 ]

Looking at the man cutting up the Elite Volkdaks and Prowlers, he asked if he was returning to Yelesna, which the man confirmed.

Upon their arrival back to the city, they split ways.

[I didn't collect much... it won't make me rich, but it'll help. Here, that's for you.](Hunter)

With the Event completed, Michael gained more experience, some gold coins, and a Resplendent Chest, giving him enough items to fill his inventory.

Finding an item merchant in Yelesna, he sold all his stash for 277,437 gold coins, finally reaching his goal of passing a million. 1,028,954 gold coins!

'With this, I can finally buy that Ring of Communication and slowly start saving for a house. Let's get moving. I still have two more Dungeons to clear.'

Returning to Kyovashad, Michael saw it was already 12:18 PM, so he hurried to his next target—the Immortal Emanation.

On his way there, he checked his experience bar and sighed upon seeing it required 317,205 for the next level up.

Moving through the Eastern Plains, he found the entrance to the Dungeon once more and boldly stepped inside.

Seeing it named the Beaconing Labyrinth, Michael sighed and waited for the Dungeon Quest to pop up.

[ Dungeon Quest issued - Immortal Emanation

Objective: Destroy the Blood Boils (0/5). ]

With a very familiar Quest handed to him, he started the cleansing operation.

Familiar Revenants, Vampiric Bats, and the most disgusting Blood Mages joined the fray.

A Legendary item dropped ruing the third Blood Boil he destroyed from the damned Blood Mage Elite, which kept running and teleporting away.

"I thought normal Blood Mages are annoying enough, but one with a Teleporter modifier is just too much!"

The item was a Wand, but it was better to have it than not. He could salvage it for materials he would need later on.

It was annoying to deal with all the Vengeful Phantoms, Wraiths, Banshees, as well as the Revenants and Blood Mages on top of it all.

Fortunately, the fifth Blood Boil fell quickly, and with it, the Quest changed.

[ Dungeon Quest update - Immortal Emanation

Objective: Travel to the Pillar of Eternal Blood. ]

Michael didn't feel good upon seeing the mention of blood so much lately. With Menestad being surrounded by Vampiric forces on all sides and most of the Dungeons he found being infested by Blood Mages and Revenants, he could tell that something was afoot. 

'I should check with Prava about that woman... Sister Vera, if I remember correctly. That Blood Chalice. I hope it wasn't the wrong choice to hand it over to her.'

Halfway to the Pillar of Eternal Blood, the Necromancer encountered a Cursed Chest Event and made another small fortune after gaining 53,638 gold coins from it. 

Not to mention his inventory, which was almost full again from the many Rare and Magic items.

Unfortunately, this time, it seemed that he took the wrong path and ended up encountering a new type of Event called Rapture.

A disgusting construct was in the middle of the room, and Michael didn't hesitate to cast Reap on it. Apparently, whoever was inside took that personally.

[Worm! How dare you disturb us!?](?)

A large cloud of bats was released from the construct, and the Sanctuary urged him to 'delete' them before they merged. Hearing the word 'merge,' the Necromancer gulped and quickly cast multiple Corpse Explosions across the room after killing some of the bats with Reap.

Ultimately, an Elite Revenant with Vampiric and Frost modifiers came out, which was quite weak compared to the others he faced so far.

Collecting a Legendary item and five more Obols, Michael rubbed his forehead and decided to revisit the Purveyor of Curiosities soon.

After much killing and even throwing away two Magic item boxes to make room for two Rare items, Michael reached the Boss Room.

Unsurprisingly the Boss was another Blood Bishop, so the Necromancer deployed the same strategy he previously discovered of herding the fucker into a corner and bashing it to death.

There was this one time when the Boss directly bypassed his minions with its blood tentacles and wrapped themselves around him. Not only did Michael lose almost half his Life Points in a couple of seconds before using Blood Mist to escape, but he also healed the Blood Bishop around 20% of his health.

In the end, the Boss contributed another Legendary item, and he returned happily to Kyovashad to sell more items. 228,236 gold coins later, he visited Deyman to see if the new Aspect he found on the pair of pants could be imprinted on the useless ring he had.

Paying another 33,144 gold coins, he got his answer.

[ Defensive Aspect of the Protector

Legendary Aspect

508 Item Power

--------------------

Damaging an Elite grants you a Barrier absorbing up to 1,188 damage for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds.

Allowed Item types:

*Helm

*Chest Armor

*Pants

*Amulet (Power increased by 50%)

*Shield ]

Sighing in defeat, Michael checked the time and saw it was already 3:40 PM. He wasted too much time in the Immortal Emanation, so now he had to hurry up.

First, he visited the Gate to see if anything was coming out of it and collect the Silent Chest on his way there.

Much to his disappointment, after spending forty minutes searching for it, the chest was nowhere to be found. As for the Gate... it was fortunately silent.

Almost crying at the realization, he decided to vent on the monsters in the Forsaken Quarry.

Upon entering the mine-like Dungeon, the Sanctuary seemed to agree with his violent mood.

[ Dungeon Quest issued - Forsaken Quarry

Objective: Slay all enemies in the Deserted Adit. ]

Which he did. Violently.

The Ice Clan goatmen he found were quickly dispatched, and to Michael's surprise, he was able to gain Legendary gloves from one of the Elites.

There appeared to be five prisoners to be saved in this Dungeon, so Michael quickly got to it.

After saving three out of five and having them follow behind him, he continued massacring the Ice Clan goatmen. He didn't feel bad about it either, especially after seeing the corpses of the captured villages being gnawed upon.

Everything was going well. Too good, actually. The Dungeon felt like a breeze, even more so when compared to the others.

Furthermore, the feeling of dread seemed to slowly creep up his spine, sending him into full alert. 

'What the hell is happening!? The Boss Room should be further inside the mine, so there shouldn't be anything on this level that could pose a major threat. Why do I feel like I'm in mortal danger!?'

The feeling was much stronger even when compared to when he faced the Woodsman. Telling the villagers to hide behind the stalactites, the Necromancer stood in the middle of the room and carefully watched the three exits from which he could be attacked.

He didn't have to wait long...

[Ahhh... Fresh meat!]