The Grave King's Blessing

"Boss, what did you choose?"

Malu looked at the three blessings that appeared in front of her, feeling a little undecided, and turned to look at Leon.

Leon didn't speak, but silently shook his head.

His expression looked somewhat unnatural, as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't, wanted to be serious but couldn't hold it in, wanted to blame himself for doing something wrong but also felt like he hadn't done anything wrong.

God knows why one person can have so many emotions on their face.

Malu ultimately chose the [Miasma Mist], which leaves a black mist in place when dodging, confident that she wouldn't be poisoned and lose her chance.

Te Er chose the blessing called "Rolling Wheels," which greatly increases the impact and damage when he curls up into a ball and rolls.

It seems that everyone may receive the same blessing repeatedly.

Delu stood silently in front of the tombstone for a long time because he realized that everything he had farmed seemed useless.

[Farewell Gift: After death, your body will continue to move for a few seconds thanks to the Grave King's blessing, before exploding.]

[Death Anthem: After you die, your comrades will rise up in despair because of your death]

[Death Row Inmate: Upon death, a bone prison is generated to imprison the creature that killed you.]

Am I really going to die today?

Delu felt like he was about to have a heart attack from anger, so he finally chose to sing Death Anthem.

Once everyone had chosen to bestow their blessings, the tombstone ceased to respond to any external stimuli. At the same time, the teleportation chest at the end of the room was unsealed.

"Does this mean we have to use Teleportation Trap to reach the next area?"

Leon was pondering the reason for this design. The tombstone mentioned that the spacetime in this area was chaotic, which was why there was no way to go and the only way to teleport was through treasure chests?

That's a perfectly valid oversight!

Jia Paer suddenly slashed with his sword, instantly splitting open a crack in the wall, revealing a bottomless darkness behind the fissure.

He picked up a pebble and threw it, but he didn't hear it land for a long time. It seemed that the pebble had disappeared without a trace after being thrown into the darkness.

"Teacher!" Leon rushed over, worried that something might have gone wrong, but thankfully nothing happened.

"I thought there would be Hidden paths," Jia Paer shook his head. "The whole way I've heard you guys talking about hidden doors that appear when you chop something down."

Along the way, the Strategy Team did indeed keep exchanging information about the Zane Dungeon, sharing everything, big and small.

In reality, everyone knew this information; it was just being told to Jia Paer. After all, you can't just tell someone directly, "Old man, your ideas are outdated. Come and see how to conquer the new era dungeons!"

If you talk to the Sword Saint like that, it's a bit like something out of a TV show, although Jia Paer probably won't care and will just think the kid has a personality.

"Oh, that?" Leon felt he needed to explain to the teacher later that hidden doors weren't everywhere.

Jia Paer saw through the other's thoughts and said, "I was just looking for an excuse to practice. Did you really think I didn't know anything?"

Judging from his expression, it's really hard to say whether he understands it or not.

The teleportation chest was opened again, and this time everyone was teleported to a room that looked exactly the same as before, but this time, there were monsters inside.

The most common thing these monsters have in common is that they are all skeletons!

Whether they were attached to wheels, draped in rags and wielding scythes, or wearing armor and carrying Greatsword, their equipment differed, but they were all just skeletons.

At a glance, there are over a hundred of them!

A fierce battle broke out immediately.

Have you ever seen dozens of Skeleton Warrior leap high into the air at the same time and unleash a Power Chop Mountain?

The Strategy Team has already seen it, and it can only be described as quite spectacular.

Everyone quickly dodged, Delu once again erected his magical barrier, which always shattered whenever he appeared, enveloping everyone inside. However, Jia Paer voluntarily stepped out of the barrier.

He stood motionless, one hand gripping the scabbard but not drawing it, and closed his eyes as if falling into a deep sleep under the monster's onslaught.

Although he hadn't drawn his sword yet, his sharp aura was already evident, and his sword strikes seemed to soar into the sky.

He received knowledge about the "sword" from the dead. The blessing of the Tomb King was indeed miraculous. Even the Sword Saint was able to make a breakthrough. He now felt that there was nothing he could not cut down.

This feeling is so captivating, even if the price is death if you get touched.

The monsters automatically avoided Jia Paer and attacked the others who seemed easier to handle, with several Ghrū wheels charging towards the magic barrier.

Someone witnessed these monsters when they went berserk in the Zane Dungeon. Their impact was ridiculously strong and unreasonable. If they hit a magic barrier, it would probably shatter!

"I'll do it!"

Te Er stepped forward and sat down heavily on the ground, shrinking his strong and muscular body into a ball.

This is a fighting stance of extremely high purity!

"Kick me!" he shouted, and Leon hesitated for a moment before unleashing a powerful shot!

The [Rolling Wheels] talent was triggered, and Te Er rolled faster and faster until he collided head-on with the Wheel Skeleton!

The ground was littered with fragments of a skeleton; the Wheel Skeleton had lost its struggle with Te Er!

But where is Tel?

"Help! I'm stuck!"

Because the impact was so strong, he couldn't stop at all, and half of his body was embedded in the wall.

If it had taken another step forward, it would probably have ended up with the same fate as that pebble.

"It's a bit too much for my eyes," Malu, turning her head away.

To summarize Te Er's current state, it can be roughly described as follows:

Non-human, restraint, wall buttocks. jpg

"We'll come to rescue you later!" Malu shouted, and together with everyone else, they fought the monster.

While Deathmatch, Leon frequently reached for his lower back, wanting to pull out something, but he managed to restrain himself.

It wasn't that he didn't want to throw that thing, but he had a question in his mind: could Skeleton Monster also be poisoned?

Probably not.

"Delu," he gestured to Delu, who understood and cast several low-level slow spells on a group of monsters, slowing them down for only a few seconds.

But this also puts the monster in a negative state!

Leon's spirits lifted, and he suddenly felt an inexhaustible strength in his body. He grabbed his sword and charged in, unleashing his full power.

When everyone had killed about half of the monsters and were starting to show signs of fatigue, Jia Paer finally stepped in and swiftly finished off the remaining monsters.

You have successfully passed the test left by those who served the Tomb King; it is time to face the true abyss.

This time they gained another human being. Does that mean they gain a human being every time they defeat a monster in the room?

An altar suddenly appeared in the huge room, and when you approached it, it would display whether you wanted to offer your humanity in exchange for a blessing.

Strange, isn't that a tombstone?

But what follows is the familiar process: offer your humanity and choose one of the three blessings.

"Huh?"

When the three blessings appeared before him, Leon uttered a sound of doubt.

Each blessing will have an icon at the end.

When you first choose to bestow a blessing, all the blessing backgrounds are pitch black with white text on a black background, and the icon at the end is a skull squeezed together, which seems to represent the Tomb King.

However, when I chose to grant a blessing a second time, a different icon appeared.

[Sunlight Protection: Receive the sun's blessing, strengthen your body, and reduce the damage you suffer]

[Skeleton Leap: Gain the jumping ability of Skeleton Warrior]

[Negative Harvest: When you inflict a negative status effect on your enemy, your morale and combat effectiveness will be boosted.]

The last two are both Tomb King icons, but the first one has a completely different style, with a glittering gold background and a familiar icon for Leon at the end.

It's the Sun Emblem!

Could this be a blessing from Gwyn?

So it turns out that this place isn't just blessed by Tomb King Nit.

However, the last blessing was exactly the same as the one he chose last time. Why would there be a blessing with the same content? Could there be a problem?

No, no, there must be a deeper meaning behind the appearance of something like this in the Zane Dungeon; it's definitely something I haven't thought of yet.

Unbeknownst to him, Leon had successfully manipulated himself.

He hesitated between the Sunlight Protection and the Negative Harvest. On the one hand, he had a good impression of Gwyn and everything related to him; on the other hand, he was really curious about what the effect would be if he chose the same blessing.

After much hesitation, he silently apologized to the sun and chose to Negative Harvest.

The blessing from the Tomb King has been enhanced.

It turns out that choosing the same blessing can grant a boost!

This is amazing. Could it be a new mechanism derived from the Zane Dungeon? I've never heard of anything like it before. No dungeon in history has ever had anything like it.

You, Sain, have truly surprised me.

Jia Paer's new blessing is called "Hell Sword," which, simply put, allows his slashes to ignore enemy defenses and deal true damage directly. The cost is a significantly increased rate at which abnormal statuses accumulate.

The stronger the blessing, the more likely it is to have various negative effects; I don't know why.

After everyone had exchanged their blessings, they faced a dilemma when it was time to move on to the next room.

Because three treasure chests appeared in front of them.

Three!?

So how should they choose? What can be guaranteed is that no matter what they choose, most of them will regret not choosing other treasure chests.

On a normal day, they might split into two groups to satisfy their desire for exploration.

After all, they don't necessarily have to complete the game in one life. Every exploration is preparation for the final goal, and the more information they can know, the better.

Of course, it's mostly out of curiosity. Adventurers are a group of people who, in order to satisfy their curiosity, will muster the courage to peep at dragons mating with hares.

But Jia Paer is here, it's better to listen to his opinion.

"I want this,"

Jia Paer chose the leftmost treasure chest, but just as everyone was about to follow, he waved his hand.

"Choose according to your own ideas; blindly following me is not a good thing."

"But teacher..."

"Go ahead, I can see your strong curiosity," Jia Paer said with a smile, much like a kind and understanding old man. "Choose your own path, and I also want to explore it on my own."

No, that's not what I meant.

Leon thought to himself, "I'd like to curry favor with you, sir."

But now that things have come to this, how could I possibly say those words?

"Break up?"

"Point!"

After some deliberation, Leon and Delu chose the middle treasure chest, while Te Er and Malu chose the remaining one.

"In the eyes of those bards who specialize in singing horror songs, our splitting up would be like courting death," Malu joked.

Te Er spread his hands and said, "Exploring the unknown is what adventurers should be doing."

Moreover, they are all quite strong; even if they were separated, each of them could be equivalent to a Bronze Rank squad.

It's impossible for him to die that quickly, don't worry.

The teleportation chest was opened, and Leon closed his eyes, waiting for the next scene to begin.

However, the next scene never came.

[You travel through chaotic time and space, and inadvertently catch a glimpse of a fragment of a past era:]

In a space filled with a sticky, slimy substance, you see a giant black dragon devouring the darkness on the ground, but its opinion of this prey is unclear.

It noticed you, a flash of madness crossing its eyes. The dragon, who called itself Midir, extended an invitation to you, its last vestige of reason making it do so.

"Would you like to try a bite?"

Option 1: Accept the invitation and devour the darkness.

Option 2: Politely refuse and leave the area.

[Option 3: Kick Midir and say to him, "Please stop eating junk food!"]