Chapter 861: Nevermore: One Last Floor

Chapter 861: Nevermore: One Last Floor

Jake had no idea how many of the damn imps he had killed before they stopped coming. The demon captains who had once led the army of small-winged casters had long been slain, but that didnt mean the swarm didnt prove a challenge simply due to their sheer numbers.

His body was covered in burns and wounds by the time they were all dead, as it had simply been impossible to avoid every attack. His party members werent in a much better condition, as they had been fighting at other entrances to the large cavern they found themselves within.

Luckily, before more demons could arrive, Dina made her way over. A soothing green aura washed over him as several small plants grew in his vicinity, making Jake nod at her in recognition. Thanks.

No problem, she responded with a smile. Are there more coming from this way?

Doesnt look like it, Jake responded as he released a Pulse of Perception. Not from any of the other tunnels either.

Alright, we should be safe to regroup, then, Dina said. You may also need to have your Golden Mark reapplied in case something does happen.

True, Jake nodded with a sigh. These demons had been a bloody nightmare in that regard. They kept using dispelling magic and disrupting mana, which resulted in them removing the Golden Marks over and over again.

When they made it back to the center of the cavern, Jake also finally dropped his boosting skill as he sat down exhausted. The other three were already there, also recovering from the ongoing fight. Entering meditation, Jake felt Dina reestablish her restorative domain around them. This made Jake not only recover his resources and heal faster, but it also allowed the period of weakness to go away faster.

Which was needed in case more demons came back. Jake had quite a few complaints about floor seventy-nine, but a lack of enemies most certainly wasnt one of them. In fact, it was nearly the opposite, as there were pretty much only enemies who stuck together in huge swarms.

The fact that the last objective of this floor was to defend the giant crystal within this particular mountain didnt help either, as it just resulted in all the enemies funneling to them. The only semi-good part was that the long and narrow tunnels allowed their party to not get easily surrounded.

While meditating, Jake checked his system notifications, pleased to see he had gained another level from the fight. The first in a while, as the period of faster leveling from the Challenge Dungeons was well and truly done already, at least when it came to his class. Not that Jake was complaining. The gains had been pretty damn good over the last few years, and he was even getting pretty close to yet another skill selection.

*DING! Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizons Edge] has reached level 284 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points*

*DING! Race: [Human (C)] has reached level 273 - Stat points allocated, +45 Free Points*

It had been a bit over ten years since they were all done with their Challenge Dungeons, and Jake had evidently gained quite a few levels during this period if he said so himself. In fact, it had been even faster than after he just reached C-grade. The reason for this was primarily the fact that they had met rather strong enemies on every single floor, unlike when they first entered and had to grind through a lot of easy floors. Especially the bosses had been tough, and on floor seventy-five, they had faced one of those event bosses. That had been the strongest opponent they had encountered throughout Nevermore thus far, being a level 325 variant with respectable power.

The fight had been pretty damn long, but it did help that Jake had significantly weakened it with his opening shot from stealth. In the end, the Sword Saint ended up using two Glimpses of Spring, leaving him weakened for a while, with both Sylphie and Jake also overusing their boosting skills. Dina and the Fallen King had been a bit better off, but that was mainly because the fucker had ignored the Fallen King for the most part, as it had been borderline immune to soul attacks, making the Unique Lifeform the smallest threat.

Dina had been fine just because of her many defensive means. She was naturally still tired afterward, having used her most powerful skills too, but as a healer, she was naturally good at making sure she wouldnt be the one in most need of healing and recovery after a long fight.

In summary, the event boss on floor seventy-five had been strong to the level where they had to use everything in their arsenal, save for their most powerful trump cards that would leave them incapacitated for a longer period, with potentially permanent consequences. That is to say, the Sword Saint didnt have to fully use his transcendence, the Fallen King didnt have to use his unique skill, and Jake didnt have to pull out some weird Bloodline bullshit out of his ass. But it had gotten a bit close to comfort.

Anyway, from there, the next few floors had been pretty straightforward, with just a lot of fighting and a lot of levels.

Having cleared nine floors he counted this one as pretty much already completed in just around ten years was pretty fucking good if Jake said so himself. But it had come at the sacrifice of some things. They had taken no breaks and even purposefully avoided the city floor after floor seventy-five. For some reason, Jake had a feeling going there wouldn't be a good idea, and his party had no reason to disagree as they hurried onwards.

The lack of breaks also resulted in a lack of focus on professions. As they kept up a constant tempo, Jake barely did any alchemy at all during this last decade. He did do a bit to keep them restocked on potions, elixirs, and his own poisons, but a lot of it had taken place within time dilation as the Sword Saint sometimes set up small time chambers for them to more quickly get through timed events.

Due to this, despite the boost in momentum from the Challenge Dungeons, Jake had only gained a total of three levels in his profession in an entire decade. That was less than one every three years and just around a third of the levels he had gained from popping in and saying hello to a bunch of Primordials having a streaming party. Looking back at his notifications, it wasnt even as if he was close to another level, as his last one was half a year ago.

Soon enough, the crystal fully matured as a light beam shot into the air. The entire mountain began to break apart as all its mana was sucked in, and they witnessed the birth of a powerful natural treasure. It was an impressive one for sure, not that their party was sticking around to admire it. They couldnt even steal it, so what was the point?

A few seconds passed before two elementals teleported down to them, both of them powerful B-grade variants with sapience. They thanked the party for defending the crystal before taking it away, and with that done and dusted, a few notifications popped up.

Seventy-ninth floor completed. 15800 Nevermore Points earned.

With the notifications also came a door, standing right where the crystal had been. There was no need to delay as they all entered the in-between room, and just as they did, Jake turned to the old man.

How long do we have left? Jake asked him. As someone Blessed by Aeon, he was surely the best at keeping track of time, right?

The Sword Saint considered for a moment before answering. Can you allow me to fully Identify you?

Sure? Jake said as he let the old man use his identity on Jake. He clearly used it on all the others, too, before answering.

Ten months, twenty-three days, and twenty-two hours, the Sword Saint said after a bit. That is when Sylphie will be forced out of Nevermore. The rest of us are all within a day of that. This discrepancy is likely caused by the Challenge Dungeons and how the time distortion in those may vary slightly.

Jake stared at the old man a bit, wondering how the hell he hadnt known the old man could see time stuff when using Identify. Then again, maybe it was something new? In either case, Jake decided to do as the Sword Saint had done, as he identified everyone in the party. Jake himself was level 273, which was pretty good, in his opinion, but his leveling speed looked horrible compared to both the Fallen King and Sylphie.

[Fallen King lvl 281]

[Juvenile Sylphian Hawk lvl 287]

As monsters, they were natural cheats and tended to level faster than enlightened races. Sylphie was even more of a special case as she was still naturally growing. Still, it sucked to lose to them. But hey, at least Jake did beat both Dina and the Sword Saint when it came to leveling.

[Dryad lvl 270]

[Human lvl 272]

Alright, the margin with the Sword Saint was a bit low with only one level, but a level was a level. Dina was the slowest of them, which wasnt that surprising. Her race levels were slow because she was a Dryad, a long-lived creature who also grew naturally, albeit at a far slower pace. One of her racial skills literally allowed her to merge with a powerful tree and sleep within it for potentially thousands of years to get a few levels. It wasnt something she planned on doing, but that it was an option at all felt silly to Jake, even if Dina was half-plant.

Ten months and change is not a long time the Fallen King commented.

Neither is it a little, the Sword Saint said.

It should be enough, Dina said with confidence.

Ree! Sylphie agreed.

Jake also nodded. They should have enough for one more floor, though that would definitely be their last. Jakes mission wouldnt just be to beat it, though.

Were going for the event boss, right? Jake just wanted to make sure.

His party looked at him as if his question wasnt even worth answering, making Jake smile. Then lets get a move on already. One more floor of Nevermore to go so lets make it a real banger.