Extra's Descent-Chapter 28: Preparation [4]

Swoosh- Slash-!

Swiftly dashing through the halls of the System's Dungeon, Raven quickly made work of the goblin archers.

After a week, he had finally broken through to the 2nd floor.

The dungeon's layout had significantly changed compared to the 1st floor.

If the 1st floor were narrow corridors, the 2nd floor had spacious hallways.

Not only that, but the difficulty had exponentially increased too.

It took him a total of 3 weeks to adjust and completely clear the 1st floor.

Now on the 2nd floor, there were trolls and goblins.

Swoosh- Crack!

As he dodged the troll's club, an arrow pierced through the air. But with his speed, he was able to dodge the arrow as well.

"Tsk."

He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

It was hard to penetrate through their defense, as the trolls and goblins had cooperated.

The troll would act as the main tank and damage dealer, while the goblins would provide support, shooting arrows his way.

Despite reaching level 6, and pouring his stats into the strength aptitude, a single strike wasn't enough to kill a troll.

"Their skin is way too thick."

To make things easier, Raven targeted the goblins at the back.

Swoosh- Splurt-!

With two daggers, one in each hand, Raven striked down one of the defenseless goblins.

Smash!

As soon as he did, the troll made his way to him and swung down its club.

"Haa... Haa..."

Panting heavily, Raven decided to retreat. It was too much for him at the moment, but he had already done enough.

Making his way towards an empty corridor, Raven slumped down on a wall.

He then muttered to himself,

"System."

—---------------------------

[Name: Raven Blackheart]

[Level: 6]

[EXP: 1,400/6000]

[Class: Assassin]

∟As the one who left it all behind, you have become one with chaos.

[Passive]

∟ Assassin's Rush

∟ Every step you take, your speed stats increase by 1 point, maximum 10.

[Skill Tab]

[Stats]

[Stat Points Available: 0]

∟ STR: E+ [●●○○○]

∟ MP: F [●○○○○]

∟ DEF: F+ [●○○○○]

∟ AGI: E+ [○○○○○]

∟ INT: F [●○○○○]

∟ CHARM: F [●○○○○]

[System Shop]

[System Dungeon]

[System Coins: 0]

[Quests Available: 0]

—---------------------------

—---------------------------

[Skill Tab]

∟ [Eye of Time]

∟ See the move an individual is about to take in the next second.

[Adrenaline Surge]

∟Temporarily enhances the user's speed, agility, and reflexes.

[Shadow Step]

∟ Grants the ability to teleport short distances. Can only teleport to nearby shadows.

[Vital Strike]

∟Identifies and exploits the weak points of enemies, delivering precise and lethal blows to critical areas of their anatomy.

[Contract Expertise]

∟ Enhances the user's ability to gather intel, identify targets, and enhance deduction skills.

Envenomed Mind

? Timer: 5 Minutes.

? Cooldown: 5 Hours

∟ Temporarily enhances the user's mental faculties, boosting their intelligence.

—---------------------------

Maneuvering through his system, Raven opted for the exit button.

Vooom!

Instantly, Raven materialized, falling from the ceiling, and landing on his bed.

Laying on his bed, he covered his eyes with his arm.

Then he realized...

"Ah, I have to meet up with Claire today."

Removing his arm, he reached out for the phone on the desk, placed on the side of the bed.

[2:00 PM]

"What time were we supposed to meet again...?"

It was then he noticed he had several notifications.

No, not several...

There was one... Two... Five... Ten...

Ten notifications, and all from the same person.

It was none other than–Claire Victoria, his partner for the upcoming Combat Class session.

From: Claire Victoria

1 HOUR AGO

[Hey, I'm here, where are you?]

57 MINUTES AGO

[Bastard, I told you we'd be meeting up at 1:00 pm.]

54 MINUTES AGO

[Where the fuck are you?!]

And it just went on and on...

There were several text messages from Special Force as well. But Claire was more important at the moment.

"Fuck..."

The image of an angry Claire etched on his mind.

Suddenly, he felt chills all over his body, just imagining it.

He abruptly got up, changed into cleaner clothes, and instantly left his dormitory room.

.

.

.

"So? Care to explain why you were so late?"

"..."

Claire furrowed her brows, while Raven couldn't respond.

Cold sweat started beading, dripping. But it was mostly because he was running to the coffee shop.

At least... That's what he thought.

Of course, he couldn't tell her that he was risking his life inside a dungeon.

"Haa... Whatever. I understand that we're all busy. Anyway, what do you know about Brandon?"

"Ah."

"Ah?"

He just realized why they were meeting up in the first place. To exchange information about Brandon and Amy.

"I don't know anything about him..."

"..."

When he thought about it, he realized he knew nothing about Brandon's abilities, besides the fact that he was a Lightning Attributed mage.

But at least, it was the same for Brandon–who also didn't know anything about him.

...Is what he thought.

"Okay, understandable, barely anyone knows anything about him."

At least she didn't blame him.

"I know..."

"We'll work with what we got then."

At that, Claire started talking about everything she knew about Amy.

From her Water Affinity, to her fighting style.

Raven took in every detail. He was now starting to understand why Amy was ranked 4th.

She specialized in Water Magic, but her control was second to none among the first years.

And to his surprise, Amy could somehow manipulate the weather as well–to a certain degree.

A total prodigy.

Suddenly, he felt like their chances of winning had significantly dropped.

After Claire debriefed, they decided on who would fight who.

Claire would fight Brandon, and Raven would fight Amy.

The reason for this–was because water was a complete counter to lightning.

Since water was a conduit, then the lightning would scatter around it.

Just because Claire was a Lightning Attributed Mage, didn't mean she was immune to it.

If Amy traps her in a bubble of water, then Claire wouldn't be able to use her lightning.

She would electrocute herself.

A basic law of nature.

It was a good matchup, per say. Both Claire and Brandon were Lightning Attributed Mages, it would definitely be an interesting fight.

But Raven didn't like the plan, though he didn't speak his thoughts out loud.

'I wanted to fight him...'

For some reason, he'd always seen Brandon as a rival.

It was as if they were polar opposites somehow.

He wanted to know who was stronger between them.

But in the end, the plan was set in place. He didn't want to disagree with Claire, who had brainstormed and came up with the plan way before he arrived.

Though he didn't say it, his expressions told a different story, as Claire seemingly noticed.

"You want to fight him, don't you?"

"...No?"

"Your face says otherwise."

"It's fine. We have a better chance at winning with your plan."

"Sure, but we still don't know the details of the next Combat Class session. Who knows? It might be a one on one fight, and Miss Evelyn would be the one to decide who fights who."

She had a point.

Professor Evelyn had never stated the details of the next session.

It could be a tournament type, or a simple contest of strength.

Who knows?

Disrupting their discussion, the coffee arrived–via shiftporter.

Claire immediately grabbed it, sipping on the coffee.

"You're not gonna order?"

"...I don't like coffee."

"Suit yourself."

Claire just shrugged.

Raven never understood the appeal of coffee. But his friends seemed to enjoy it a lot, especially Rachel.

"It's too bitter..."

"A sweet tooth, huh? How cute."

"..."