“Ian, that way!”
As soon as they entered the dungeon, Fiolan immediately pointed in the direction where the Sanctum of the Forlan Hero was.
The entrance of the dungeon had a canyon-like vibe, with towering cliffs on either side.
Ian nodded his head.
“Okay!”
And firstly, he summoned just one of his Familiars.
He wasn’t planning on summoning his other Familiars until he reached the sanctum.
This was because if Halli used his ‘Guardian of the Wind’ skill, none of his other Familiars would be able to keep up with Halli’s speed.
Ian was planning on getting on Halli’s back and summoning all his Familiars once he reached the sanctum.
Fiolan also prepared for combat while reminding him of the content she was well-informed on.
“In a moment, Ice Gargoyles will start pouring out from either side. Ice Trolls will appear from the front.”
At her warning, Ian nodded his head and called Halli.
“Halli, come here!”
Grr-!
And Ian got on Halli’s back.
“Fiolan, first, just stay there, and once I arrive there first, catch up using your Spatial Movement skill.”
The Spatial Movement skill was a compulsory Magician skill that could be obtained with contributions at the Tower of Magicians, and allowed them to teleport to one party member.
It was a skill with a low mana consumption, but as it required a long casting time of 5 seconds, it was also a skill that was hard to use during combat.
However, as she would be waiting at the dungeon entrance where there were no monsters and then using it, it was possible enough.
Fiolan asked with a slightly worried expression.
“Do you think you’ll be able to get through to the sanctum alone?”
Ian ran forward as he shouted with a confident voice.
“Absolutely!”
Fiolan’s worry was obvious.
This was because, no matter how exceptional Ian was, this was his first time in this dungeon.
However, it wasn’t like Ian’s confidence had no ground either.
Quite a lot of monsters were pouring down into the canyon, but as they were all Ice Gargoyles or Trolls that were only about lv 90-100, they were monsters that he had caught until he was sick of them in the northern continent when he was around lv 90.
And if it was Halli’s Inherent Ability, it was nothing to leave those monsters in the dirt.
‘Speaking of which, Halli’s not even at lv 90, but his Agility is higher than Ly’s. Since there is a two-level rank difference between them, their stat difference is definitely big.’
Halli’s Agility boasted an outstanding value of over 1300 already.
It was a value that was unequalled when compared to the Ice Trolls and Gargoyles, which were Common-rank monsters.
As Ice Trolls began to block Ian’s way, he quickly let out a command to Halli.
“Halli, Guardian of the Wind!”
Roar-!
Along with Halli’s large roar that shook the valley of the dungeon, a white ray of light wrapped around Halli’s four legs.
• Familiar ‘Halli’ has used the skill ‘Guardian of the Wind’.
• Familiar ‘Halli’s Agility will increase as much as the total value of the rest of his combat stats.
• Familiar ‘Halli’s Agility will increase by 4484 for 2 minutes.
Combined with the Agility he already had, it was an unbelievable stat value that was close to 6000.
Ian firmly grabbed onto Halli’s back.
It was time to break through.
“Halli, just ignore everything for now, and run to there!”
Grr-!
With Ian on his back, Halli’s body truly began to move like the wind.
The Trolls, whose movements were slow enough as it was, were unable to even swing their clubs before Halli passed by them, and they stood there, watching with a dazed expression.
And Fiolan, who watched from the back, wore a dumbfounded expression.
This was because Halli’s movements were overwhelmingly faster than any monster that she had ever seen before.
Ta-Tat-!
Meanwhile, Ian, who was on Halli’s back, felt like he was basically on a rollercoaster.
Halli’s incredible speed was one, but when he moved in a zigzag between the monsters, Ian felt that he could even get motion sickness.
Ian slightly glanced back.
And while looking at the number of monsters that multiplied as time passed, he thought.
‘The quantity will pile up incredibly if we run to the sanctum without catching even one, but…’
He was confident that he could wipe them in one go with Abyss Hole and Breath, as well as the powerful AoE damage that the Breath of Lava dealt.
And as there was also the presence of Fiolan, who could command numerous high-level AoE magic skills, he wasn’t worried that there would be a lack of damage.
Thump-!
Halli’s hind legs kicked away a giant boulder and he leaped through the air.
At the sudden direction change, Ian felt a cold sweat drip down his back.
‘Euk, let’s just focus on trying not to fall off his back for now.’
Thanks to his monster-like Agility, Halli moved as if he was flying through the sky.
Although there was almost a 10-metre difference between the two walls of the canyon, Halli’s jumping abilities were outrageous enough to let him run to the other wall in one leap.
Ian needed to focus completely on not falling off of Halli’s back.
‘Whew, since Halli’s running at full speed, it’s seriously fearsome.’
Shortly after.
The 2-minute duration period of the ‘Guardian of the Wind’ skill, which felt long, ended.
And the movement speed of Halli, whose Agility stat had returned to its original value, had slowed down a lot.
However, as they had already left most of the monsters in the dirt, it didn’t matter.
Ian had a moment to catch his breath.
“Over there!”
And shortly after, Ian was able to arrive at the Sanctum of the Forlan Hero.
The time it took Ian to break through the canyon was just little over 3 minutes.
He immediately sent a party message.
• Ian: Fiolan, come now!
• Fiolan: Alright!
Along with her response, a vortex of grey light started to squirm on Ian’s right.
Fiolan’s Spatial Movement casting had begun.
Without delay, Ian summoned all of the rest of his Familiars.
Of course, he excluded Pin, who he wasn’t leveling as his Potential wasn’t completely filled yet.
Thud-!
As Ddukdae was summoned, a heavy, loud noise rang through the dungeon, enough to shake the whole place.
Ian turned his attention towards the canyon where he had just escaped from.
Tons of monsters that chased Ian in the canyon were pouring out from there.
While looking at the tons of Trolls and Gargoyles that endlessly poured out of the narrow canyon like a swarm of ants, Ian let out a command to Ddukdae.
“Ddukdae, Abyss Hole!”
Geu-reu-reuk- Thud- Thud-
Ddukdae, who moved his body about four to five steps forward, spread both his hands out towards the canyon.
And a large vortex started to rage in front of him.
Whoong-!
It was incredibly excellent timing and position.
From the 20-metre range forward, it perfectly blocked the entrance of the canyon, and all the monsters that escaped the canyon were tied down by Abyss Hole.
Ian let out a shout of delight at Ddukdae’s Abyss Hole, which had went through more elaborately than he was expecting.
His commands continued.
“Lake, Breath!”
As it was a hunting pattern they had always done, Lake positioned and prepared himself beforehand before letting out his flames without hesitation.
Hwaaak-!
And Fiolan, who had used her Spatial Movement skill before Ian realized and had flown over behind him, quickly casted a skill as well.
“Frozen… Hell!”
Bang- Ba-ba-ba-ba-bang-!
Excellent timing, as well as a picture-perfect connection of skills!
Along with Fiolan’s AoE magic that boasted a force similar to Breath, and with Abyss Hole’s shock wave spreading out, there was no way that the monsters, which were only lv 90-100, could withstand the damage.
Jju-ju-jung-!
On top of that, thanks to the freezing status condition effect of Frozen Hell, a top-class Ice magic skill, the few remaining monsters were tied down to the spot.
And those monsters were up to Ly and Halli.
An exclamation left Fiolan’s lips.
“Wow… Ian, this is crazy.”
She was unable to close her gaping mouth.
It took around 10 minutes to arrive at the Sanctum of the Forlan Hero through the original method.
However, it hadn’t even been 5 minutes since the two people had entered the dungeon.
A happy smile hung from Ian’s mouth as well.
“Hoo-hoo, but this time we were a bit lucky. Ddukdae’s Abyss Hole went in absolutely perfectly.”
However, Ian was confident that he could draw the same picture with skill and not luck starting from the second time unless he successfully perfected it like this.
And within the time that the two people shared a short conversation, the dungeon’s second phase began.
Whoong-!
The Sanctum of the Hero shone in a blue light.
“Ian, prepare yourself!”
“Alright.”
Shortly after, five caves made up of ice that surrounded the Sanctum of the Hero let out a boom as they began to open.
Geu-geu-geung- Geu-geu-geu-geung-!
Ian turned his attention to Fiolan as he asked her a question.
“Fiolan, you had the Glacial Curtain skill, right?”
Glacial Curtain was a skill that created a cold protective layer within a fixed range, but as its cooldown time was incredibly long, it was a minor skill that a lot of users didn’t use.
However, Ian had seen Fiolan use the Glacial Curtain often before he reset, which is why he asked.
Fiolan nodded her head and responded.
“Yes, I have it. But I haven’t used it much after hitting lv 90, so its Proficiency is low.”
And immediately understanding Ian’s intention, she added on.
“If I was to cover this sanctum, then I think it should be able to last around 3-4 minutes.”
3-4 minutes was a prediction that Fiolan made from the experience she gained while clearing dungeons.
As Ian was thinking that even if the Glacial Curtain lasted about 2 minutes that would be enough, his face brightened.
“Okay, that would be enough!”
Ian, who finished speaking, let out a command to Ddukdae.
“Ddukdae, stay as close to the sanctum as possible and protect it, alright?”
Geu-reuk- Geu-reuk-
The cooldown time was 5 minutes for Ddukdae’s Abyss Hole skill.
Ian was planning on gathering as many monsters as he could while buying time until then.
‘Since the cooldown time on Lake’s Breath is 30 minutes, it will be a little hard to use it until we’re almost at the end…’
After gathering as many monsters as possible and tying them down with Abyss Hole, they needed to deal as much damage as they could with Current Proliferation and Lake’s Passive Skill, Breath of Lava.
‘I’m sure Fiolan will take care of any leftover damage needed.’
If they could just buy enough time for Fiolan to cast about two to three AoE skills, they could expect AoE damage that would be more powerful than Lake’s Breath.
Ian assigned a cave each to Ly and Halli, while he ran to the closest door with Lake.
Then just the two southern caves remained.
Ian turned his attention back to Fiolan.
“Fiolan, please take care of just those two caves with Ddukdae!”
Fiolan asked back.
“We just need to buy some time, right?”
“Yes, save your AoE skills, and just drag out the time with mainly slowing skills!”
“Okay!”
It had been a while since hunting like this, but as Fiolan had worked with Ian a ton, they were able to figure out what they each wanted with even just simple conversations.
Like that, the second phase began proceeding smoothly as well.
‘It probably won’t be easy shortening the time during the third phase and the boss phase.’
Ian’s current hunting method was specialized to AoE group-hunting.
Because of that, parts where he needed to face a lot of monsters like this was more favourable, and reducing the time as much as possible here was a must.
‘If I also raise Pin well, it will definitely be a sight to see.’
Pin’s ‘Crush’ skill, which was stronger than Lake’s Breath skill, and only had a cooldown time of 10 minutes.
He was sure that he would be able to reduce the time even more if he had that skill.
