A few minutes later…
Kieran led Khaos deeper into the Mad Alchemist's Hidden Laboratory, where the vile stench permeating the atmosphere grew denser. It had even reached a point where most of the players were forced to cover their mouths to stop their urge to wretch.
In contrast, Kieran turned toward Sera and nodded faintly. Seeing that, she walked up beside him and lifted her staff, emanating a pleasant breeze of unusually refreshing air.
"Sense Refreshment!"
"Dispel!"
Sera activated two skills in quick succession.
The first skill refreshed everyone's senses, making them feel incredibly light and unburdened by the nauseating smells. If not for her actions, clearing the dungeon could become somewhat tricky.
As Kieran recalled the atmosphere of the Mad Alchemist's Hidden Laboratory, he had Sera prepare more than just potions to deal with the issues that may arise within the run.
In this case, he also had her prepare skills that could dispel unusual statuses, as well as had her obtain one of the Cleric's less favorable skills.
Not many Clerics sacrificed SP to obtain Sense Refreshment because it seemed completely useless. In fact, most elites would feel that players should be capable of adapting to any situation no matter the circumstance.
To them, a skill such as Sense Refreshment was seen as a waste.
Fortunately, Kieran wasn't plagued by this narcissistic way of thinking. While confidence in one's self was allowed, one became a fool the moment they allowed their confidence to turn into unsightly pride.
Pride, as one of the most egregious sins responsible for the downfall of many, could turn a certainty into an impossible dream.
Once Sera used Sense Refreshment and Dispel in conjunction, Kieran thought about the enhanced version of this skill. 'It may be costly, but having Sera learn Area Purification in the future will be beneficial. It'll reduce the need for higher Abnormal Status Resist.'
Similar to Hidden Attributes, Hidden Status also existed. Among those Hidden Statuses, there was an ability known as Abnormal Status Resistance. The higher this number, the more difficult it was for abnormal statuses to afflict the player.
Of course, aside from the Resist stat, there were also passive resistance abilities that could either be acquired by chance or could appear as a result of one's class.
For example, as an Ancient Defender, Bastion gained Poison, Burn, Freeze, and Petrification Resistance.
Compared to his initial Guardian Knight class, the Ancient Defender was a godly class. Of course, like any other class, Bastion's class had its weaknesses.
However, those weaknesses weren't a game-changer for Bastion. In fact, the weaknesses didn't feel like one to him.
Why? Because it enabled him to wield Kieran's teachings on a more skillful level. After all, there was a reason his armor shattered during his Class Change.
As an Ancient Defender, he couldn't just wear any type of armor. He required a set of armor that could feed off his Will without adding any weight to his body.
When Bastion thought back to the magnificent set of armor Galvan donned, which flowed with oppressive yet resilient energy, he understood what he was searching for.
All of a sudden, Kieran raised his hand and closed his fist, stopping everyone's advance. His True Unveiling Eyes then flashed with a mystical piercing light, puncturing the darkness like a hot knife through butter.
'Darkness Stones?' Kieran muttered to himself, noticing large black orbs embedded in the walls above their heads.
There was no pattern to their structure because they weren't aligned in a formation.
Instead, the Darkness Stones had one function, which was to absorb all sources of nearby light. This included the Illumination Spell that Alice and the other Mages cast.
Because they had entered the Hell Mode version of the Mad Alchemist's Hidden Laboratory, resisting the environment of the dungeon was essentially impossible.
Clearing this part of the dungeon would be impossible without a person on the team with excellent ocular abilities.
Though, aside from Kieran, there was one other individual—Sora.
Due to her Archer class, she possessed a set of passives that increased her eyesight and enhanced her ocular circumference based on her current Perception.
Aside from these two, the rest within the part would struggle.
Of course, a thought rose in Kieran's mind. 'I could try shattering the stones, but that's provided I can get close enough. Well, I doubt they'll let me.'
Kieran lowered his gaze to a swarm of enemies that pounded the ground with their unusual bodies. Unlike the earlier Incomplete Homunculi, these enemies seemed like a fusion of anthropomorphic creatures with humans, albeit poorly done.
As a result, their innards spilled out from the evidently poor stitching. However, their eyes, which seem to be blinded most of the time, gave off the feeling it could peer through anything.
「 Lv.53 Incomplete Experiment: Modified Homunculus (Champion)
Beast, Humanoid, Experimental Lifeform
Health: 11,700,000/11,700,000, (100%) 」
「 Lv.54 Incomplete Experiment: Modified Homunculus (Champion)
Beast, Humanoid, Experimental Lifeform
Health: 12,600,000/12,600,000, (100%) 」
'As I've suspected. More Champion Monsters. Running into Elites in this mode is super rare, and even if you do, they're nothing like the ones you'd face outside.'
The entire reason for Hell Mode was to plunge players into a situation that could only be described as hell. This was naturally achieved by altering the terrain inside the dungeon, while also obscuring the power of every monster found inside the dungeon.
As a result, if one found an Elite inside Hell Mode, it wouldn't be odd if it was comparable to a Special Elite Field Monster found within the various leveling fields.
With that, Kieran lifted his blade and looked at his skill menu to see what remained on cooldown. Similar to the Incomplete Homunculi, these Modified Homunculi exhibited signs of hardened skin.
'Sanguinem Tempest is on cooldown, and so is Blood Pulse. I suppose it wouldn't be a bad time to push those skills to their limit,' Kieran thought.
After his training with Scar and his participation in the Gladiator's Coliseum, several of Kieran's skills stood at the precipice of evolution in terms of reaching a milestone. While he wasn't sure that they'd change in essence, Kieran did understand that they'd grow much stronger.
Among said skills, Wrath Eruption, Seethe Burst, and Blood Wave, which all held a second identity as his go-to skills, were the closest to experiencing a level-up.
Coupled with their considerably low cooldown period, it was understandable why Kieran chose to work on these first.
"We'll work together to mow down the enemies. This isn't a stage where we can move carelessly. Most of you maintain zero visibility in this setting, so you'll have to rely upon my orders to operate. Is that understood?" Kieran voiced.
"Understood," Bastion immediately answered.
"You've got it, boss. I'll follow you," Nemean similarly replied.
"Do you even need to ask? If not you, who else would we listen to?" Alice said in response, her tone coming off as somewhat teasing.
Everyone looked at her wordlessly for a while but thought nothing of it as Sera's reply echoed soon after. "I will always follow your lead."
As Kieran heard their replies, he smiled, paying close attention to Sera's words. "No, you won't. There'll come a time when you'll rely upon your instincts to act. By then, all of you will likely hold my complete faith."
Whoosh!
After speaking, Kieran initiated the combat by instantaneously conjuring six large Blood Waves. However, contrary to how he used to unleash them, they remained around his body, appearing as six slender blood arms capable of slicing things apart.
'There's little to no difference in the principles of controlling Mana and Mystic Energy to do my bidding. Understanding this has led me to slowly migrate from relying upon my skills' descriptions and the soft limits of the skills' Source Runes,' Kieran thought.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The darkness was momentarily cut apart by a flash of crimson light when Kieran waved his arm, unleashing three of the Blood Waves simultaneously.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"There are three enemies on your right, lightly wounded. Everyone, focus on those enemies as I hold off the others," Kieran directed.
Right after giving his order, Kieran swept his hand forward in an arc-shaped path, making Crimson Ashrune thrum as it rotated before his body.
Before unleashing his Seethe Burst that continued to collect energy and momentum, Kieran twirled his fingers, quickly creating a blood ribbon around the blade.
Shnk!
"Seethe Burst!"
With great force, Kieran whipped his arm and discharged Crimson Ashrune like a chained harpoon, which stabbed forward and dragged many Modified Homunculi along with it.
"As I said, you won't be getting past me."
BOOOM!
At that moment, the volatile Seethe Burst thrummed, releasing a horrifying explosion powerful enough to create a small crater in the ground. All of the monsters hit by this attack suffered damage equal to at least 25% of their Health Bar, 40% if it turned out to be a Critical Hit.
The party ignored the thunderous noise despite the darkness that currently consumed them. However, Sora's reaction was different from the rest, her pupils contracting and trembling.
Her initial thought was that Kieran's earlier attack was something that could rarely be unleashed due to a long cooldown period. However, the current situation made her believe otherwise.
An alarming question crept into her mind. 'No way... is it possible that all of his skills are capable of such destructive power? In that case, is Skill Rank not a limitation for Aatrox?'
Of course, Sora would never know the number of damage modifiers that applied when Kieran attacked. There were simply too many odds working in his favor for him to be compared to normal people.
Though, to make matters worse, his Seethe Burst wasn't even the most terrifying attack!
Bang!
Kieran leapt in the air with explosive power and tugged on the blood ribbon, pulling Crimson Ashrune towards him.
Once he spurred its returning motion, Kieran spun and performed an aerial flair that made the blood ribbon overlap, coil, and revolve through the air, creating a ravishing crimson gleam in the darkness.
Silence ensued before being followed by a thunderous explosion that rocked the entire room.
BOOOOOM!
