Chapter 104 - A-G 22097 Part 6

Cynrik only stayed in his [Shadow Leap] for a short time after talking with Brance. His next move was to double-check his DMG loadout one last time before moving out and sweeping through the remaining three mischiefs of Fanged Rats. Without having to worry about the others or holding back, it took him less than 15 minutes to clear through them like a chaotic storm filled with flames and darkness.

After the battle with Ragnar, Cynrik was aware of what he lacked in combat and took this time to work through his skills by stringing together combinations formed of fire and shadows. This process saw the birth of his fourth Fusion skill [BlackFire Sewing], which in a sense was just coating the previously formed shadow tendrils with a layer of Fire Mana.

He was able to manifest this Fusion solely due to having maxed out the points on [Shadow Sewing], and to say he was pleased with the end result was an understatement. In its base form, the shadow tendrils had an innately low attack power, but with the addition of his BlackFire, the amount of damage he could do spiked significantly. If a numerical attack value were added to the tendrils, each would be roughly at 100, yet once coated in flames, it would soar to around 500. This was, in a sense, a five times increase in the maximum damage output he could do. The only downside was how his new skill would eat up much MP.

Standing in the final cavern, surrounded by the corpses of the last batch of rats he needed to kill, Cynrik had Tobs unleash all the notifications she had been suppressing by an earlier request.

- Instance Quest, First Alpha Egress Dive-

-You have entered the Green Alpha Egress "A-G-22097", and the exit has been sealed. The only way to leave is to complete this quest. You will have 24 hours to do so. The quest requirements will not be shared between the party members, and you must meet them to achieve the Clear Status.

-Kill 25 Tier-1 Packhounds- (0/25)

-Kill 25 Tier-1 Fanged Rats- (38/25) (Complete)

-Defeat the boss Kobold Shaman.- (0/1)

-Once you complete the above tasks, you will be allowed to either Exit the Instance or continue to the next level of the dungeon.-

-You have killed 32 Brown Fanged Rats.-

-You have killed 6 Grey Fanged Rats.-

-You have received 256,000 XP.-

-You have received  21 AGI and 15 DEX.-

-You have located and extracted 35 Affinitiless Codexes.-

-You have located and extracted 3 Earth Affinity Codexes.-

-You have located and extracted Sliver of Skill (19).-

"Tsk," Cynrik clicked his tongue in disappointment when he saw how little XP he netted from clearing out three dens. He had already assumed it was going to hurt his XP wallet, clearing out the mobs without his brother nearby, and seeing the low 256k XP made him shake his head. If Brance had been nearby, Cynrik would have walked away with half a million XP, but now he could only shuffle his way towards the Packhounds in sadness.

{I can feel your gloomy attitude from all the way over here; what's wrong?} As if having a sixth sense specifically detecting his older brother's mood, Brance chirped into the mind link curiously.

{Grinding with XP share turned off is like tryina play on Hell mode. At this rate, you'll be so far ahead of me that it'll take ages to catch up. TSK, WOE IS MEEE, how could I have been forsaken like this, sniffle?}

Cynrik waves his arms around dramatically as he walked through the winding tunnels towards the first den of Packhounds.

{…, soooo now a bad time to tell you Gabby and Benny are gunna pass you too orrrrr?}

{FUCK OFF!}

In the cave outside the Boss room, Brance chuckled to himself while teasing Cynrik. He hadn't been lying earlier. Since they had both been grouped with Brance throughout the duration of their Egress Dive, the two had gotten significant gains from killing the rats and hounds. By tagging along and helping out with Brance's kills, they had successfully hopped on the XP Bus that Brance was driving and earned their way all the way up to 17th Prestige, leaving them only needing 450k XP before they would hit the cap of 20.

Unfortunately, instead of celebrating this achievement, they had been shrouded with sadness over the whole Cynrik situation and had basically ignored the XP and stats they'd obtained by killing over a hundred creatures. Hearing that Cynrik was doing better and being talked at by Brance, the Sanford siblings had set about distributing their stats and getting ready for their breakthroughs to Tier-1.

So while Cynrik was prepping to wipe out a den of hounds, Brance was going over step by step with Gabby and Benny about the whole Evolution process.

"Remember to heavily invest points in whatever stats you are lacking right now; the goal is to try making them as close to your Distribution stats as possible so that you are well rounded." Brance stood in front of the other two children and spoke as a teacher. Although it had only been a few days since he and Cynrik had Evolved to Tier-1, they had spent five years at the same stage the Sanford siblings were currently at. So to say he was an expert of sorts wasn't unfounded.

"Um, Brancie, Mommy, and Papa told us to put all our points into the same stats as our Distribution; why are you saying otherwise?" Raising her hand as if in class and waiting for Brance to give her the go-ahead, Gabby asked her question innocently.

"Hm, your Mom and Dad aren't incorrect in their approach; however, what they told you is,…how do I say this… it's like the easy mode version of your stats. So you know how when Big Brother plays that action video game, he always has the setting really high because he is skilled enough to be good at the game even if he increases its difficulty."

"Unlike what everyone else we know does, Big Brother and I have a different approach to things. This has to do with the fact that we maxed out our Prestige before Evolving to the First Tier. You see, normally, when other kids reach level 10, their parents will hurry them into Evolving, thinking that it opens more doors for them. But this way of thinking is only for the "Now" and not the future."

Gabby sat quietly with her head tilted to the side in thought. She had seen firsthand just how strong Cynrik and Brance were, and since the beginning, the two had been training her and Benny to be strong, too.

"So, what your saying is you and Big Bro Cyn are thinking way ahead and preparing early on?"

Brance stepped forward and patted the little girl's head gently.

"Yep, Big Brother has a habit of trying to plan ahead so far that in his mind, we are already Tier-5 or higher. As such, he developed a training schedule for us early on so that we would be able to reach our maximum potential. So when you and Benny came to us and asked to be trained, he did the same thing for both of you. Heck, if you had to fight any of the kids from school right now, you'd beat them all up quickly. This has to do with the strict schedule he keeps us all to."

"While there is no right or wrong when it comes to picking and choosing which stats to raise, after running a lot of different ideas and researching famous people's builds, Big Brother determined that the best course of action was to keep all our stats relatively close. That's why we've always had you both keep your points in things that didn't get naturally increased. Now then, go ahead and write out your complete stat profiles for me so that I can send them over to Big Brother and keep him posted on how much you've grown over the last few hours."

Brance took out a couple of sheets of paper and pens from his inventory and handed them over to the Sanford siblings while adding one last remark. "Oh, one more thing, I'm sure you'll both get a reward for how well you've done from Big Brother."

These words made Gabby write even faster. Of course, she hoped it would be a bunch of candy or snacks. While Benny just smiled casually and started writing.

Meanwhile, in the shadows of a tunnel on the other side of the Egress, Cynrik was slinking forward, stalking the first batch of Packhounds with his [Shadow Veil] active. When the large mutated canines came into sight, he quickly used [Inspect].

-Level 16 Tier-1 Black Packhound-

-Height: 4' 08"-

-Weight: 130 lbs-

-Category: Mutated Wolf/Canine

-Threat Level = They move as a unit don't get surrounded-

-Description: Carnivorous in nature. This creature has been affected by a large source of Mana, forcing it to Evolve into the First Tier. The Packhound mutates from wolves or large dog breeds; they are cunning hunters who rarely move alone and are generally found in packs of between eight to fifteen. Due to their mutation, they have grown several times more aggressive, and their hearing and sense of smell have significantly increased as well.-

Laying on his belly and crawling slowly forward to get a better view, Cynrik's eyes flicked around the cavern, counting each of the Packhounds. Thanks to his [Mana Sight], he could locate all 10 of the creatures with relative ease. Scanning them individually and taking note that they were all level 16, Cynrik slowed his breathing and plotted his next move.

'I'll have to target them in clusters if I want to deal with them quickly. With my MP tank only half full, it's not like I can willy nilly sling tendrils and flames around, so my best course is to go with an assassination. If I move swift enough, I can potentially eliminate two at a time with my hidden blades.'

HUFF

Cynrik's eyes narrowed as one of the larger hounds in the group raised its head and looked around cautiously with its ears twitching. It sniffed the air for a moment before laying its head back down calmly and closing its eyes.

'That one must be the pack alpha; the damn thing must have caught a whiff of my sent from before I activated my Veil. Regardless, it's gunna be a pain in the ass, the instant I attack, they will turn on me as a group, and then it's a…hehe…dog fight.. MAN, I WISH BRANCE WAS HERE FOR THAT JOKE.