BXBX NOVEL Chapter 167: The Search (2)
Main Quest: Defeat The Lich
Reward: 10,000 Exp]
Besides the fact that the reward was massive, Henry furrowed his brows at the lack of a description for the Quest but then, his expression became normal as he realized there was no need for more details. The Quest was pretty straightforward and he needed to get started on how to complete it.
It was then that Eloise was sent into his arms and accused him of not searching which was not entirely inaccurate even though Henry completely denied it.
But now, there was something else to consider.
All over the Chamber, Mummies rose out of Spell circles that appeared all around with no rhyme or reason. Back in the hall whose floor had been segregated into small squares, there was a symmetry to the arrival of the Mummies. Now, they were just mixed into their numbers.
NEIGH!
With a powerful whinny, Nyx was the first to act as she reared on her hind legs and struck at the head of a Mummy, eliminating it before it got the chance to act.
[Nyx has received 250 Exp]
The first kill coming so quickly did not make the situation any less bleak but everyone was spurred into action.
Andor was armed with his Shield and his Spear and with a little twirl, he slammed three Mummies away to give himself enough room to move. He charged at one of the Mummies he had knocked away and stabbed his Spear into its chest.
"Ah!" He yelled as he used Mana surged and channeled violent mana into the creature\'s chest, destroying it at once.
There was no time to rejoice at the kill because a sword came swinging at him next and, with a hard lean back and his Shield to slam away an attack from a second Mummy, Andor quickly stabbed his Spear through the head of one of the creatures that attacked him. A blast followed and the victim, now headless, hit the ground with a Thud.
Louis was close and he twirled his Staff for even longer like he was using it to keep attacks away while giving himself the time required to complete his spell chant. The moment it was complete, his Staff crackled with Lightning that moved in tendrils.
The Lightning stayed on the Staff long enough to be channeled against the chest of five Mummies. They weren\'t downed but they were knocked back a few steps for Louis to intensify the spell and strike more powerful Lightning streaks into the chest of Three of the five. Eliminating them while the other two staggered within range of Andor whose Spear was ever ready to do away with them.
After Eloise pulled herself out of his arms, Henry sent his normal Revolver into his Inventory and replaced \'The Hydra\'s Sting\' with \'Violent Retort\'.
The first two Mummies he laid his eyes on fell to precise Mana-infused Slug shots and the kills happened almost simultaneously that their rewards arrived together in a bundle.
[Kill-Reward: 400 Exp]
This reward as well as the ones the System had alerted him Nyx received told Henry these Mummies were not stronger or better than the ones they had had to fight within the Hall which was a relief. The outlook still didn\'t look all that bright if the Lich could just summon more and more of them but at least, as long as he could maintain a distance, he was confident about surviving.
The issue though was that, while he resisted being designated as the Searcher, he knew just how important it was to find the —he found it difficult to remember the name Eloise had called it so he just called it a term that was familiar to him— Anchor.
\'Anchor\'… It brought a memory of something similar to Henry\'s mind but he never could forget.
Even as he shot two more Mummies and reaped 400 Exp while putting distance between himself and the attacks of another few, Henry remember Yelena and her connection to the Hadron Mansion. How it had been her Anchor and had not just saved her from a curse but also unnaturally extended her life.
Shocking Grip!
A Mummy got close to Henry and since his gun was pointed somewhere else at the time, he extended his free hand at the creature\'s chest, channeling the crackling energy of the Lightning spell into its chest before a weapon could make contact with his body.
*Brrrzzzzztttt*
Henry felt a thrill as he watched the energy of the spell pulse powerfully into the Mummy\'s chest in a strike that slammed it away where it slid to the ground never to move again.
Twirling \'Violent Retort\' expertly, Henry turned it to a Mummy and blasted a hole through its head as notifications —spaced apart by a second or so—, rang in his head.
[Kill-Reward: 200 Exp]
[Kill-Reward: 200 Exp]
As Henry made to turn his weapon toward his next victim, he heard Nyx let out a victorious whinny at the same time he received an alert from the System to explain why she was making a sound of delight.
[Nyx has Leveled Up!]
[Nyx is now Level 11]
[Nyx\'s Hit Point Maximum increased to 185]
[Nyx\'s Mana is now 195]
[Strength: 80 ———> 85]
[Speed: 150 ———> 160]
[Stamina: 75 ———> 80]
[Nyx\'s Skill <ShadowDash> is now Lv.2]
[<Shadow Dash> effect: 30% ———> 35%]
Henry delighted in Nyx\'s Skill-Level Up most of all because her actual Level-Up was fairly common while this was incredibly rare. This was the first time it ever happened.
Despite his delight though, Henry\'s lips couldn\'t help but pull at the corners as he thought Nyx was already so speedy that any further increase just seemed like cheating but he didn\'t complain. He didn\'t even complain when Nyx coated herself in shadowy mist and began to blitz all over the Chamber colliding into Mummies. Sometimes with enough force to eliminate them.
And within the first few minutes of her Skill Level-up, she had already eliminated five. Two through collision and three through relentless stomping.
Henry didn\'t allow Nyx\'s victories to distract him from the number of Mummies around him and he had just shot and eliminated another one when he picked up his thoughts from where he had stopped after getting interrupted.
Yelena and the Lich…
Henry winced at the thought that Yelena, sweet, beautiful, and lovely in her slight innocence, could have anything in common with the Skeletal monster seated in its throne of bones. And as he shook away the similarities, his mind fell on something else.
His mind fell on the Undead Woes of the two Undead Knights that provided him his first real view of the Lich\'s face. As he brought the two visions to mind, Henry became very aware of everything the Lich had done. Every activity it had made…
And soon, only the pulsing violet thing —whose shape he had been unable to decipher— was on his mind. This was expected because it was his curiosity for where that thing had gone that inspired him to experience the second Undead Woe by stealing the Kill of an Undead Knight from Norbert\'s group.
And then Henry froze. He didn\'t even see the Mummy right in front of him because he remembered very clearly that the instruction of the Lich had been for the Knights to keep anyone from this Chamber and it had given that instruction while hiding that pulsing thing away in a contraption…
Henry looked up right as Eloise arrived and in a flow of slashes cut through the Mummy in front of him and turned around to fire a magical beam into the chest of another close by.
"Henry!" She called with urgency.
"I know where it is," Henry said in a low voice and he pointed at somewhere on the ceiling with certainty,
"It\'s there."