BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

Psychically, the spears swirled before tearing toward their targets.

Darien remained where he stood as his projectiles burst out of nothing toward the monsters.

The floor rumbled as massive eruptions of flame devoured the chamber from the seven total impacts. Each detonated singly before their shockwaves collided, overlapped, and became an engulfing storm.

[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster]x43

It was exterminating. Darien had cleared the field for himself and Vynsera.

However, it was a short-lived victory, as more monsters began to take form, just as many as before, if not more, as Darien feared.

But this time, a low murmur began to echo through the chamber.

It was hauntingly eerie, a chant that sounded like a prayer and an imprecation, resonating from the obscured tope in the distance.

Glancing at each other, Vynsera and Darien exchanged nods.

No mistake, that was the Shrine Monster they had come for, and his chant meant he had woken, and this was his last tier of summoned guards.

There was no playing in this. The boy and the girl had to push beyond their limits if they were going to clear the last horde.

For Darien, <Sovereign Lance> was sufficiently destructive, so he relied on it, cascading death upon the monsters.

His cooldown on <Mythic Pyrolash> had been shortened to almost nothing by the Winged Ring he had equipped, allowing him to thrust out as many within half a second of the last.

However, Vynsera was still more seriate than him, exact in her spellcasting.

From beams to blasts, to shields, and to her sword, she eradicated her foes in a clever variety.

Darien felt slightly inept watching how his partner managed her magic.

When one of the skeletons lunged into the air toward her with glowing, corrupted claws, Darien thrust out one of his chains, puncturing the monster brutally before it could reach her.

Vynsera turned from the whisper. When she saw what Darien had done, she pursed her lips.

She could have been injured countless times over, or even dead, if not for her partner. Thankfully, she had foreseen the difficulty of this trial and convinced him to take it on with her.

'No thanks coming for me,' Vynsera thought. 'That's a partner's job.'

Her partner, however, wasn't even waiting for acknowledgment.

With a swing of his arm, Darien dragged the same chain, with the skeleton's rib attached to it, in a wiping arc.

The chamber-wide sweep splintered through more of the monsters across the chamber before Darien snapped it back.

[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster]x25

Immediately after that, it was clear that more than half of the monsters were obliterated. The chamber was just an echo of itself at this point.

Darien saw this and summoned his fiery spears once again without hesitation.

The spells erratically shot out from behind him, twisting through like springs before swooping down in succession.

Roaring explosions followed, erasing what remained of the Shrine Monster's guards.

[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster]x14

Darien didn't even feel exhausted after all that, his breathing steady and calm, contrary to the destruction.

Some warriors might need boosting and restoring potions, yet there he stood, watching the corrupted floor closely for any further signs or more monsters.

When none came, he turned his gaze to his partner, who was experiencing the flash of leveling up.

'To Ascendant level,' Darien thought.

She reminded him of his, so Darien checked his status panel.

[Mage Rank: Beginner 0/250]

[Knight Rank: Expert 113900/250000]

[HP: 420>>452]

<Stats>

[STR: 73>>74]

[AGI: 23>>24]

[DEF: 49>>55]

[VIT: 81>>86]

[STA: 80>>85]

[INT: 82>>83]

<Primordial Energy: 600>

<Skill Points: 26800>

<Innate Skill: Ancestral Weapon Ascension>

<Comprehensions: Sword Will>

<Skills: 100x SP Multiplier, Perfect Stealth, Inventory, Divine Sword Art, Critical Expose, Gravion Control, Frostfang Javelin, P.E Recovery, Solar Purge, Omnilingua, Instant Assimiliation, 100x XP Multiplier, Totem Bastion, Energy Bolts, Seismic Clutch, Abyssal Fracture, Phantom Cloning,1000% Drop Rate, Mythic Pyrolash, Sovereign Lance>

So far, Darien didn't hate himself.

This was his first time in the Primordial World, and he hadn't even gotten the chance to cultivate.

When his stomach rumbled audibly, a reminder of his very mortal needs, he sighed.

That was valid hunger after hours away from the main world. The boy couldn't wait to leave this cursed shrine and get food.

He turned when Vynsera's crunching boots drew close, her gaze sweeping over the obliterated battlefield in quiet acknowledgment.

She was just as famished as he was, but unlike Darien, she wasn't rubbing her stomach childishly.

Looking at him, Vynsera thought of inviting him for some sort of dinner, but she quickly vacuumed that idea away as one of her top worst.

A better alternative sparked in the girl's mind instantly.

"You have a skill that multiplies your kill drops?" she asked.

Darien knew, sooner or later, he would be interrogated about this, but he'd already learned to use his subclass as his excuse for basically anything.

When he told Vynsera, he wondered if she had some kind of truth detector in her head, because she frowned.

Whether or not it was a lie, the fact was that her partner had assured drops.

Vynsera wanted to take advantage of that, not maliciously, but smartly.

By keeping Darien close as a battle partner against high-ranked monsters, her efforts would never go unrewarded again, as high-ranked items would drop.

These would be items so important in the Primordial scale of things!

The only problem was figuring out what the snow-haired bastard actually wanted, because apparently, Vynsera had been a complete fool by offering him gold and tangible rewards the last time.

With the surplus of drops he consistently earned, Darien was technically a wealthy man already.

Thus, Vynsera quickly understood that whatever he sought had to be cultivation-aligned, not material.

She folded her arms.

"Let's make a new deal, Darien. With my position as the Duke's daughter, I can grant us access to exclusive dungeons, restricted trials, and rare fields. In return, I get a share of your loot. I'm humble enough to let you give me what you want."

Whoosh!

Darien's hand shot forward in a swift motion, heat rippling faintly around his wrist.

"That's brilliant, my lady," he said, initiating the shake.

Vynsera nearly ignored his hand, just as he had done to hers before, but the chants of the Forsaken Magus began swelling louder, pulling both their attention toward the mini-shrine.

Darien withdrew his hand without a word and began walking toward the tope. Vynsera followed close behind with steadier steps.

They crossed into the tope that had lost its magical barrier, the chants growing louder, like the lair was crashing down.

A blinding flash engulfed the two warriors once they stepped past the threshold.

In that moment, both saw a fleeting vision of a world's cataclysmic doom before reality snapped them back into the cold confines of what appeared to be a temple.

It was a single, hollow hall, vast and empty, filled with nothing but the deafening chant that clawed at their sanity.

At the far end stood a massive, twisted statue, like a cocoon.

Cracks began to race across its surface, stone falling until the entire statue crumbled away, revealing the Shrine Monster, unsightly and towering, fed by the essence of hundreds of slain beasts and warriors.

(Forsaken Magus)

(HP: 14000)

(Affinity: Arcane, Lightning)

(Rank 3 Plague!)

(STR: 134)

(AGI: 120)

(PER: 180)

(Skills: Decaying Air (2-Star), Venom Storm (2-Star), Ungodly Summoning (3-Star), Rotburst (1-Star), Toxic Ward (2-Star), Plague Lightning (2-Star), Eldritch Blast (2-Star), Magisteal (1-Star), Bestow Curse (1-Star), Supreme Lighning Zag (2-Star)

A low-tier Rank 3 monster… yet it was the highest Darien had ever stood against.

He had come looking for Rank 2, but fate was generous.

The Forsaken Magus towered with an HP number in the tens of thousands, far beyond what these aspirants had encountered up to this point!

Such a creature couldn't possibly be easily accessible in a place like Duskfall City, so this was clearly the aftermath of Vincent's meddling.

Vynsera didn't even have the moment to process the sight before she caught her partner in motion from the side of her eye, a grin on his face as he hurled out a blazing chain.

"Darien!"

"Are we here to stand and watch?!"

FWAAASH–SHRAAANG!

SPLURCH! SPLURCH! SPLURCH!

The deadly chain scorched through the air, but before it could meet the Forsaken Magus, it suddenly pierced through seven skeletons in a single line.

[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster]

[You slayed a Rank 1 Monster] x6

Darien's <Mythic Pyrolash> had shredded the Soul Skeletons the Forsaken Magus summoned instantly.

The Shrine Monster stood untouched, towering at four meters, its body draped in robes so ancient and shredded that they seemed woven from centuries of decay, yet dense enough to veil its true, wretched form within.

Darien turned to his partner, catching her grimace at his futile attempt.

He, however, wasn't the least bit apologetic; in his mind, at least he'd unveiled a fraction of the creature's abilities, confirming just how formidable this Forsaken Magus truly was.

"#!!!#!!!&^!!"

The same wailing chant split their ears as the Shrine Monster invoked <Decaying Air>, aimed at draining their health and stamina.

Then—

CzzKK!

A gothic staff materialized in the monster's skeletal grip, and before either warrior could brace, a deadly lightning bolt crackled from its tip.

The bolt zigzagged through the temple at them, fired without even a thrusting motion from the Magus!

BOOOOM!!

Darien and Vynsera dove aside just in time, the explosion blasting through and sending shards and corrupted mist in every direction.

They rolled to recover on opposite sides of the temple.

Darien's eyes gleamed, not with fear, but awe, as if he was seeing a deity!

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