Chapter 290

| Congratulations, you have Cleared the Nineteenth Floor. Would you like to continue to the Twentieth Floor or Save and Exit?|

[Mother fucker, no more goblins, please, no more goblins.] Brance muttered as he tried to catch his breath and examined his resource stats.

[PFFT HAHAHAHA! You do realize you just triggered a red flag, right, Brancie?] Cynrik chuckled as he heard his brother’s complaining.

[Oh fuck off. I hope your bitch ass has to deal with those little shits on the Twentieth Floor.] Clicking his tongue and sitting up, Brance sighed as he noticed his MP had dropped below 20 percent because of his use of [Swords Of Judgement.]

[Bah, I’m not like you, though. Your first mistake was not going after what you suspected to be the healer first. You know better than to leave those guys alive. To begin with, what were you even thinking by ignoring it?] Cynrik curiously asked.

[What do you expect? When I can kill everything with a single hit, it doesn’t make any sense to waste time on a healer. It’s a useless role right now. I’d definitely nail the healer if we were in the Second Obelisk. But that’s only because I don’t expect to one shot every Tier-2 being I face. Thus, singling out the healer is the right play.] Shrugging his shoulders as he spoke, Brance released his greatsword and allowed it to clatter onto the ground beside him.

[You aren’t wrong, but still, better safe than sorry. How are your resource stats looking?] Cynrik asked as he rested his head against the wall and stared off into space absent-mindedly.

[Not great; all the pacing and holding back I did has pretty much gone out the window. An opportunity presented itself after I dismembered one of the Hobgoblins, and using the severed limb to knock down the Mages and Transmogrifier, I capitalized on their confusion. I used [Swords Of Judgement], burning way more Mp than I wanted before the Twenty-first Floor. As it stands, I’m running on 18 percent MP and only 30 percent STAM.]

[I’m in a similar boat. But then again, I’ve been using only Affinity skills until that last fight with the Nagas, where I resorted to this shitty bronze shortsword and dagger. Luckily I earned that new Title earlier, so my MP is regenerating pretty fast. But still, I need a break if I’m going to advance comfortably.]

Just as the words left Cynrik’s head and entered the mind link, a notification from the Obelisk appeared.

|You have been inactive for longer than five minutes; if you do not choose to continue, your progress will be saved, and you will be forced to exit the Trial.|

|Would you like to continue to the Twentieth Floor (Y/N)?|

[Tsk, well, that solves that. Brancie, you’ve got five minutes to rest; after that, you get forced out for inactivity. I’m moving up to the next floor; catch your breath and don’t get kicked.] Sighing ruefully since he still hadn’t fully recovered, Cynrik, although disheartened, clicked the “Yes” button and felt the familiar sensation of teleporting.

[Gotcha; I’ll let the timer run down before moving.] Brance replied as he continued to lay sprawled out on the ground like a starfish.

Meanwhile, as Brance was resting, Cynrik touched down on the next floor.

|Current Floor: Twenty.|

|Your first opponent will appear in One Minute; please prepare yourself for combat. Would you like to spawn your opponent early (Y/N)?|

Sniffling to clear his sinuses, Cynrik rubbed his nose and chose to go ahead with the Trial instead of taking the full minute break.

|Now Summoning Twentieth Floor Opponents, 10 Tier-1 Level 19 Hobgoblins.|

[….fuck. Me and my big god damn mouth!] Cynrik spat as he instantly activated [Spectre Concealment] and observed the ten hulking masses of orange muscles.

[Hm? What’s wrong? Oh, HAHAHA, DID YOU GET GOBLINS? See, Cyn; this is why you shouldn’t haze me so often. Clearly, the universe is out to get back at you for making fun of my poor performance.] Cackling like a mad man, Brance held his stomach as he felt redeemed for allowing the Transmogrifier to survive so long.

[Che, bite me, you had a timer before the hobbies downgraded back to gobbies, yet my lucky ass gets to fight not three but ten fucking Hobgoblins. How is that even FAIR?] Sneaking around the pack of confused creatures, who were looking around for their opponent, Cynrik activated [Mana Sight] and willed his [Detect Weakness] to boot up.

Within half a second, his vision was covered with thin red lines leading to dozens of small lazer pointer-like red dots covering specific areas on the Hobgoblins’ bodies.

[And do you know what, Brancie, there is a HUGE difference between me, an Assassin, and you, a neutered Paladin fighting against these things.] Cynrik sneered as he unsheathed both his blades and stalked forward under cover of his stealth skill.

[Oh? What would that be, hm? Let me guess; you can go all sneaky-sneak, stabby-stab.] Wearing a deadpan expression, Brance mocked his brother and looked at the ceiling, where he imagined Cynrik was.

[Kuekue, Teehe Haha.] Bursting into motion, Cynrik arrived at the first unsuspecting enemy, circled behind it, bounced off his toes, and ran up the tall four-meter creature’s back. Tapping the tip of his foot on its shoulder, Cynrik spun like a top and slashed through the back of the Hobgoblin’s neck, triggering his [Backstab] passive and instantly beheading it. Just before it shattered into particles, Cynrik finished his spin by whipping his right leg, using the centripetal force from his spin, and kicking the headless creature with all his might. The strength of his attack flung the corpse into the tightly packed group of enemies, sending them sprawling like bowling pins.

|You have successfully Killed a Level 19, Tier-1 Virtual Hobgoblin.|

|You have received 5 Obelisk Kill Points.|

|You have received a 1000 Essence, XP Crystal.|

|You have received 3 Merit Points.|

‘hup, that’s two attacks,’ landing lightly and still under cover of his stealth skill, Cynrik rushed toward the enemies in the most unfavorable positions. As a result of the corpse acting as a four-meter meat wrecking ball, the Hobgoblins closest to the impact point all fell to the ground, ending up on their backs or hands and knees, making them easy targets to pick off.

This was precisely what Cynrik did; within five seconds, moving like a phantom, he went from one downed opponent to the next, instantly killing them. By the time his stealth skill wore off, he had already wiped out half of the original ten Hobgoblins before disengaging from combat and waiting for his cooldown to wear off. Moving as swiftly as possible, Cynrik channeled the ambient Dark Mana around his body, making him a bit harder to see in the dark room, and ran to the darkest corner, where he could hide in plain sight.

[Heyyy~ Brancie.] Cynrik said with a smirk as he watched the startled and confused Hobgoblins struggle to figure out what the hell just happened and how half of their allies instantly died.

[Sigh, what Cynrik?] Rolling his eyes and sitting up, Brance replied.

[Didn’t you say you had to face three hobbies?]

[Yes, Cynrik, three.] Brance responded expressionlessly, already realizing where his brother was going with this thought chain.

[Hm, I see, I see. So what you are saying is, you struggled to deal with three of these brainless muscle pumpkins when I killed five in the span of like 10-15 seconds. KUEKUE!] Crossing his arms and looking at the cooldown counter, which still had another minute and 22 seconds left, Cynrik cockily said while waving his head side to side.

[I hope you get fucking killed by one of them. Fuck off!] Brance shouted angrily. He had wasted so many resource points dealing with the hulking opponents, but they weren’t even the primary source of his aggravation in that battle. Instead, it was the combination of Mage’s hurling fireballs, and the pumpkin-colored behemoths, that caused him so much trouble.

[Nah, not today, little brother. Anywho, the class breakdown for the grouping is similar to what you had, seven warriors, two mages, and a one-off random class. In my case, I think it was a shaman, emphasis on WAS. That was the first one I took out. Next was the two Mages; using the headless body of the Shaman, which I turned into a wrecking ball, I downed them and two warriors, which were dispatched within a few seconds.]

[So basically, all I’ve got left is five warriors, who are pitifully slow compared to the great and mighty ME, and my 689 AGI.] While he was filling Brance in and boasting at the same time, Cynrik’s eyes never left the pack of five Hobgoblins as they separated and, while hunching over, began searching every nook and cranny for him.

[Lucky you, asshole, so what, are you just standing in a dark corner like a broody anti-hero cockily watching the enemies search for any trace of you?] Crossing his arms over his chest and smugly looking at the corner of the ceiling, Brance called Cynrik out on what he predicted his brother was doing, unknowingly hitting the nail on the head.

[….] Hearing Brance’s remark, Cynrik’s body stiffened, and his face contorted as he looked around anxiously to see if his brother was spying on his every action.

[How?] Cynrik started to say, but when he did, one of the Hobgoblins Roared and pointed in his direction, alerting the other four of his location.

[Oh, I don’t know, maybe I’ve known you for two whole lifetimes and know exactly how you react in nearly any situation. Right now, I bet you just got spotted, and the rest of the foes are pointing at you while you stand there with a confused expression on your face.]

“GROAAA, ROAHHH” The lead warrior shouted as he organized its remaining allies to mount an attack on Cynrik.

[Are you fucking spying on me, Brance, there is no fucking way you are that accurate, not even I can pull that kind of bullshit off, and we both know how spot on my predictions can be.] Pushing off the wall and spinning his dagger and short sword in fluid patterns, Cynrik clicked his tongue and snarled at the five incoming Hobgoblins.

[No, I am not. I simply just know how you will react. With your personality, you sadistically enjoy watching your opponents act in a flustered manner. As such, it’s evident that the first thing you would do after losing the cover of your stealth skills is to find the darkest corner and wait for your cooldown so that you can again use the skill and pick off some of the remaining foes. You have ALWAYS been like that.]

[Hell, I bet even Benny or Gabby could call you out in the same way. You seem to forget we have spent our entire lives together. We know you and your idiotic patterns and habits.] Rolling his eyes, Brance continued waiting for the timer to show up, which would force him to move to the next floor.

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