Meanwhile, deep inside the game, Marcus stood before the entrance to the third floor of the Black Rock Spire.
Before him yawned a dark, silent abyss, its edges pulsing faintly with crimson light. He took a deep breath, steadying himself.
'Skeleton Banshee', he thought. 'Here I come.'
He stepped forward without hesitation.
"Ding! You have reached the entrance to the third floor of the Black Rock Spire. Do you wish to enter?"
"Yes."
A flash of light swallowed him whole.
When it faded, Marcus was gone, his figure consumed by the shadows of the third floor.
The moment he stepped onto the third floor of the Black Rock Spire, he was met with a sudden barrage of attacks. A squad of four Skeleton Warriors came charging at him out of the darkness.
No other players had reached this floor yet, so the entire level was still crawling with monsters. The instant Marcus crossed the threshold, the Skeletons at the entrance lunged forward without hesitation.
Fortunately, he had prepared himself before stepping through. Instead of panicking, he quickly uncorked a Medium Health Potion and gulped it down, feeling the warmth of restored health spread through him. He raised his weapon and began to counterattack.
Just as he gained momentum, another group of four Skeleton Warriors appeared from deeper inside the corridor and rushed toward him.
Frustration surged through him. He decided to go all in. Tightening his grip, he increased the speed and force of his strikes, determined to cut down the first four Skeletons before the others arrived. If all eight attacked at once, even his unusually high defense wouldn't be enough to hold out.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
After a fierce exchange, six of the eight Skeleton Warriors lay shattered on the ground. Victory was close, but Marcus's health was dropping faster than it could recover. His HP hovered just above two hundred points; far too low to survive another direct clash.
He couldn't afford to fight head-on anymore. Marcus turned and sprinted toward the staircase, retreating to the second floor.
As expected, the Skeletons didn't pursue him. Their range of influence was limited to their own floor. Once he crossed back into the second floor, the undead stopped and turned away, leaving him in peace.
Marcus took a few moments to catch his breath, waiting until his health was fully restored before heading back up. When he re-entered the third floor, only the two remaining Skeleton Warriors stood at the entrance. He dispatched them with ease and finally secured a safe foothold in the area.
The third floor's layout was surprisingly simple; a vast, dimly lit hall packed with dense clusters of Skeleton Warriors. Among them crawled strange, slug-like insects glistening with a dark, wet sheen.
Marcus narrowed his eyes and used Insight on one of them.
Bloodlust Worm: Level 28
HP: 1500
Skills: Bloodlust (absorbs the opponent's blood to restore its own health); Bloodlight (restores the health of nearby allies).
Description: Originally ordinary insects found on ancient battlefields, these creatures evolved into blood-sucking dark beings after feeding on the blood and dark energy of the fallen. They can share excess blood with their allies.
Though the Bloodlust Worm didn't look particularly dangerous, the fact that it appeared on the third floor of the Spire meant it couldn't be underestimated.
To test it, Marcus used Taunt on a squad of four Skeleton Warriors. As expected, one of the Bloodlust Worms slithered after them from behind. When the battle reached its climax and the Skeletons were about to fall, the Worm pulsed with red light, its Bloodlight skill activated, and the Skeletons' health surged back.
Marcus swore under his breath.
'So that's it.' The Bloodlust Worm was acting as their support, healing them from a distance like a player's Cleric. No wonder it wasn't strong on its own.
The problem was that the Worm always stayed far behind the Skeletons, out of easy reach. If Marcus tried to rush it, he risked attracting another nearby group, and eight Skeleton Warriors attacking at once would be suicide.
He had no choice but to endure. Fortunately, his defenses held steady, and the Worm's Bloodlight skill wasn't very powerful. Its healing could only last so long before fading out. Bit by bit, Marcus wore them down and managed to defeat the entire group; four Skeleton Warriors and one Worm, though it took much longer than he liked.
"Ding! Congratulations, player Stonehaven, you have gathered Corrupted Blood. Your Gathering skill proficiency has increased."
He glanced at the vile, pulsing drop of crimson essence left behind.
Corrupted Blood: Low-grade material. Used in crafting poisons.
Marcus grimaced. "Disgusting." The sight of it made his stomach turn, and the material itself was practically useless to him.
After a long and grueling series of fights, he finally cleared the Skeleton Warriors and Bloodlust Worms around the outer edge of the third-floor hall. Bit by bit, he pressed forward, approaching the center of the vast chamber.
At the center of the hall, Marcus caught sight of something strange. Floating above the ground was a slender, cloaked figure. Its face was hidden beneath a dark hood, and its long, tattered robe drifted as if carried by a phantom wind. The creature's movements were smooth, almost graceful. Judging by its shape, it seemed to be a woman; or at least what had once been one.
A chill crept up his spine. A female undead, floating alone in the middle of the third-floor hall... that could only mean one thing.
The Skeleton Banshee.
Before Marcus could activate Insight to confirm, a series of sharp notification sounds exploded in his ears.
Ding! Player [Name Hidden] has completed the System Unique Hidden Quest: "The Sorrow of Willow Creek," and obtained the Level 8 Pet: Twin-Winged Tiger. The Pet System is now open. Players can now obtain Pet Eggs by defeating monsters and hatch them into pets!
Ding! Player [Name Hidden] has completed the System Unique Hidden Quest: "The Sorrow of Willow Creek," and obtained the Level 8 Pet: Twin-Winged Tiger. The Pet System is now open. Players can now obtain Pet Eggs by defeating monsters and hatch them into pets!
Ding! The Pet System is now open. The Pet Leaderboard is now live!
The announcements echoed again and again, filling the entire server.
Marcus froze, blinking in disbelief. The repeated messages felt like stones thrown into a still lake, sending ripples through every player online.
Seriously? He had just been feeling proud of his progress, and now someone had already completed a hidden quest, and unlocked pets for the entire game? Not only that, they'd earned a Level 8 pet. That was outrageous.
Curious, Marcus opened the new Pet Leaderboard.
---
Pet Leaderboard:
1. Twin-Winged Tiger, Level 8, Owner: Name Hidden
---
Only one entry. A single shining name on a blank list. The Twin-Winged Tiger stood alone, proof of someone's terrifying skill and luck.
Marcus sighed and flipped through the other leaderboards out of habit. The Top Ten Experts and Wealth leaderboards hadn't changed, but the Reputation Leaderboard caught his attention immediately.
---
Reputation Leaderboard:
1. 1760, Name Hidden, Knight
2. 1430, Name Hidden, Archer
3. 610, Hexium, Sorcerer
4. 580, InfernoRider001, Fighter
5. 560, ThreeleafAxe69, Knight
6. 470, RogueTheory, Fighter
7. 460, SixWingedBoss, Fighter
8. 430, SoulfireBlade, Knight
9. 390, VioletNova, Archer
10. 350, SunShot, Archer
---
Marcus frowned. That hidden Archer in second place, this morning, their Reputation had only been a little over a thousand. Now it was fourteen hundred. A jump of four hundred points in one morning meant only one thing: a massive quest reward.
"Impressive," he muttered, feeling both admiration and a sting of envy. He had been so focused on grinding through the Spire that he'd almost forgotten how many other powerful players roamed Dominion. If he wanted to keep up, he needed to move faster.
He closed the leaderboards and finally turned his full attention back to the floating figure in the center of the hall. Activating Insight, a flood of information appeared before him.