Whoosh!
Kieran stepped to the side and nearly cleaved the Conjured Deterrent's arm off with a sharp downward slash, but in the next instant, it began regenerating like a lizard regrowing its limbs.
Not only did Kieran's attack not inflict any damage upon the Conjured Deterrent, but Kieran also sensed a mystical connection with the environment that neutralized the damage to its body.
'It's not impervious to damage. It's more like dealing with Bracca. The damage will only begin to exhibit signs of effectiveness after reaching a certain threshold. Unfortunately…'
Kieran suspected the Conjured Deterrents damage absorption threshold exceeded how much damage he could inflict by normal means.
Furthermore, Kieran also speculated that destroying these Conjured Deterrents required more than physical damage. The environment served as their advantage.
'If the Wykins truly made these… then there should be some sort of ward responsible for powering their creation. Until I can locate that, I'll be fighting a losing battle,' Kieran thought.
Suddenly, Kieran narrowed his eyes and executed an Accel Shift to change his position quickly. The Conjured Deterrent's hands expanded into a shape that resembled a large hammer and impacted the ground.
Bang!
The Conjured Deterrent naturally missed Kieran despite its higher level, but Kieran couldn't overlook the effects of its attack. The marsh floor moved towards him like a tide of murky water.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Kieran continued to move about, avoiding damage from the marsh tide that admittedly seemed to follow his every move.
After realizing this aspect, Kieran examined his surroundings for a culprit. Surely the floor wasn't conscious, capable of mirroring his actions. There had to be a medium responsible for this outcome.
Though Kieran tried to locate the source, he couldn't do so exclusively. The longer he remained in the area, the more the Conjured Deterrents spawned, soon reaching a number significant enough to form an encirclement.
'Oh? So that's how we're going to play it?' Kieran inwardly remarked.
After realizing his options were limited, Kieran conjured an orb of blood and manipulated it until he felt it was sufficient. A moment later, he placed his hand on the floor.
"Blood Pulse!"
The marsh floor erupted, but at that moment, Kieran jumped and created a temporary blood platform under his right foot.
"Grand Stomp!"
Swoosh!
Kieran soared into the air, gaining a bird's eye view of his battlefield without moving so far that his vision was further obscured by denser murky fog. While in this position, Kieran noticed an unusual glow in the marsh floor not too far from where the Conjured Deterrents spawned.
"Found you!" Kieran said to himself.
Before falling to the ground, Kieran recalled his insight gained during the Gladiator's Coliseum and extended his hand. Amidst his fight against Bracca, Kieran comprehended how to wield his vitality to create an independent blood sword.
For now, he could only unleash one skill through the blood sword, and it was Seethe Burst. But despite its mediocre base damage, Seethe Burst became one of, if not Kieran's favorite skill due to its impact, practicality, and two-stage burst damage.
There was the stabbing effect, but there was the even more impressive blast. A large amount of blood began to coagulate before Kieran's palm, turning into a solid blood sword with a viscous exterior.
Anger flashed in Kieran's eyes for a second as he fed it to Blood Mania's Source Rune in his mind. The blood sword immediately doubled in size, but Kieran wasn't done. He also supplied additional Blood Strengthening to make it stable.
Once Kieran felt it was ready and began to descend, he withdrew his hand and spun in the air so the bottom of his foot lined up with the underside of the blood sword's pommel.
"Grand Stomp!"
BOOM!
The blood sword ripped through the air at a speed that broke the sound barrier and caused a slight wind backlash.
Less than a second later, the blood sword punctured the mystical light on the ground, which released a cracking noise, and shook the ground with a frightening explosion.
After successfully shattering this mystical node, Kieran sensed the Conjured Deterrent's presence reduced by a great amount. However, Kieran understood that the destroyed node was only one of the nodes scattered throughout the Shrouded Valley.
It was the one responsible for his current location and did not affect whatever Conjured Deterrents appeared deeper within the valley.
Nevertheless, it made it easier for Kieran.
Upon returning to the ground, Kieran moved Crimson Ashrune forward and cut a thin red line across the air.
A tide of vitality gushed out from this cut, which doubled as one of Kieran's new ways to unleash a Crimson Current without being grounded in a single position.
As the Crimson Current deluged the area, Kieran clenched his fist.
"Blood Bind!"
The same vitality pooled into the Crimson Current morphed into thick chains after its initial impact.
Kieran's skills didn't experience much of a change, but because he grew more proficient with them, he understood how to wield them in unison to create an overwhelming flow of momentum.
Of course, some of his skills couldn't be coupled to produce this effect. For now, Kieran's specialty included Crimson Current, Blood Bind, and Wrath Eruption. The other abilities would require additional experimentation.
Kieran's damage was lackluster compared to his accomplishments during the Gladiator's Coliseum, but that was understandable. He was currently fighting against an enemy that couldn't acquire Bleed stacks.
Naturally, this meant his damage wasn't the best it could be.
However, this issue didn't worry Kieran at all. He needed to become accustomed to fighting against opponents that placed limitations on his power. It was an excellent learning experience.
'Peril Implosion, which relies heavily upon my number of Bleed stacks, is limited. Wrath Eruption is another one,' Kieran thought.
Because Blood Mania and the rest of his skill arsenal were strengthened whenever he employed it, the lower values continued to increase. But if he wanted to reach their upper values, it was impossible without his enemy first falling into a feeble state.
After restricting the Conjured Deterrents with Blood Bind, Kieran snapped his finger and shattered the chains, which created sharp glass-like fragments that lacerated everything within a 5-meter radius.
Soon enough, Kieran received a few notifications that made him nod.
〈System: You have gained 64,680 EXP.〉
〈System: You have gained 64,680 EXP.〉
〈System: You have gained 64,680 EXP.〉
〈System: You have gained 64,680 EXP.〉
…
The encirclement of Conjured Deterrents numbered more than 25 of these artificial lifeforms, so by the time Kieran defeated them, his Experience Bar increased to roughly 88%.
Considering that his level had been frozen for a few days, allowing players to begin catching up to him and his crew, Kieran was happy that these Conjured Deterrents rewarded an exceptional amount of EXP.
Though it paled to what killing the Desertborn Brigades gave him, Kieran didn't fret. Vidal, Facina, and Dusvim's rankings were higher, so the large amount of EXP was justified.
A Special Elite Monster wasn't worth mentioning in comparison, even if it was 20 levels higher.
Before moving ahead, Kieran collected the items that dropped from the Conjured Deterrents, which consisted of two things. An unknown type of dust, which Kieran found oddly familiar, and coins, Gold Coins to be exact.
'While coins are difficult to amass in large amounts due to players being limited in where they can explore, I have no such issue. My current skill repertoire and equipment allow me to defend myself to a certain degree,' Kieran thought.
Furthermore, Kieran's sights were set on the reward from Isadora. If players learned that Kieran's quest had a 100,000 Gold Coin reward, how would they react? Surely they'd team up to hunt him down and demand a portion.
Once he collected the loot, Kieran wasted no time moving deeper inside the Shrouded Valley. The deeper he traveled, the murkier the atmosphere became.
At some point, it even began to feel gloomy.
'It must be because I'm so weak. I don't recall my past visits to the Shrouded Valley feeling like this. Unless… could someone have cleared a quest back then that lightened the gloomy conditions of this area?' Kieran wondered.
It wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that players managed to repair the relationship with the Wykins within the years that the game was online during his past life.
After all, many players succeeded in becoming Enchanters, which was a direct sign that they had at least one experience with the Wykins or the Mystic Sanctum.
Unfortunately for Kieran, that was no longer his current reality.
All of a sudden, Kieran began shivering.
The air gained a chill, but it was no regular chill. It was eerie, like the sensation one experienced inside a nightmare.
〈System: You have been affected by the «Descending Mystery: Enigma Chills».〉
'Enigma Chills,' Kieran muttered in his mind.
After pausing for a moment, he looked up to realize that abnormal-colored snow had begun to fall within his vicinity, and it spanned as far as he could see.
After taking a few steps, Kieran came to an immediate halt. It wasn't a willful halt; instead, he somehow could no longer move his feet.
〈System: An outside force is forcibly targeting you. The illusion is testing your «Willpower».〉
'This so-called Enigma Chills is testing my Willpower. But if that's the case, then this isn't a physical attack.'
Upon coming to this conclusion, Kieran looked down and realized the floor had vanished, replaced by a pure white color that robbed one's depth perception.
The feeling of falling overwhelmed Kieran as he remained calm in spite of his circumstances. 'An illusion strong enough to tamper with my Willpower can only mean one thing.'
〈System: You have entered the «Enitic Valley of Illum».〉
