Chapter 95 - 80th Round (1)
Chapter 95 – 80th Round (1)
“Ice Ball! Ice Bolt!. Multiple Ice Arrow!”
Puck! Puck! Puck!
“Kuuuuuuuuuuek!”
Instead of spamming all sorts of skills on cooldown, I just used these three level 3 skills which had almost no cooldown because I wanted to avoid the possible situation where I could not use a long cooldown AOE skill when I really needed it. Of course, I thought I would not face this kind of situation.
Even though they were only level 3 skills, they were more than enough, for I not had only
the trait of ‘Ice Man’, but also a 9% increase in both damage and combat power for all ice-type skills simply by staying on the ice land.
In fact, before coming to the arena, I spent several days enhancing the top legend grade Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit rings, earrings, and necklaces to +3 enhancement. Although this alone tremendously increased my power, I had one more item; namely, the legendary grade Brave Fighter’s Bracelet that increased combat power by 10% in the arena.
This was a level 300 only quest, but the place where I am now is an arena, so I received the 10% increase in combat power.
That’s why these skills that were only level 3 were more than enough for me even though they were single target skills.
For me, even a 1% increase in damage or combat power including attack power and defense was significant. Moreover, the current bonus was almost 30% in terms of attack power, even excluding the ‘Iceman’ trait.
Perhaps that was why I only needed seconds, not minutes to clear the rounds even though I was already into the 30th round.
[You have cleared the 30th round.
-Clear time: 7 seconds.
-Grade: SSS
The 31st round begins in 10 seconds.]
“Wow! I’m really strong.”
Of course, I knew this because I had already achieved level 300 during the 3rd Closed Beta of ‘Forgotten Legend’.
I was at least dozens of times as strong as I was back then.
Except for the myth grade weapons that I can’t equip yet, every item I wear now is of the legendary grade.
Anyway, I walked onto the Ice Field I created and fired those level 3 single target skills with less than a 10-second cooldown at the monsters that appeared in this round.
This time I also used the Ice Spear recently upgraded to level 4.
Ten minutes later I was almost into the 40th round which signaled the start of the hardest rounds for Path A, Path B, and Path C. I thought I knew from my first-hand experience why they regarded it as the start of the hardest rounds.
Starting from the 40th round, not only were the monsters that appeared stronger than those of the previous rounds but the number of monsters also drastically increased.
“Pouring Hailstones! Ice Ball! Multiple Ice Arrow!”
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.
Puck! Puck! Puck!
“Kuuuuuuuuuuek!”
Starting with the 40th round, I used the same level 3 skills but also mixed one of Pouring Hailstone, Ice Prison and Ice Blast combination or Ice Storm in each round. Since I was much stronger than before, these skills were enough at this point because in combination with Ice Field, most of the monsters were killed without even being able to approach me.
Of course, long-range monsters also appeared, and these monsters attacked me on the spot without needing to approach me.
However, I did not use Ice Shield or any other defense because I didn’t have to.
Anyway, after clearing a few rounds like that, I cleared the 44th round which was the previous highest achieved round of Path C.
[You have cleared the 44th round.
-Clear time: 31 seconds.
-Grade: SSS
The 45th round begins in 10 seconds.]
From now on I was going to set a new record, but I was not excited because I had no difficulty reaching this round, and honestly, it was easier than I thought.
Of course, I understood why because this was a level 300 only quest.
In other words, since only those who were level 300 could challenge this quest, it was probably designed for typical level 300 users only.
Therefore, there were about three ways that one could reach a high round.
First, one could encounter the path that best matches their preferences among the three paths. Second and third, one could use powerful skills and items as best as they possibly can.
In my case, I didn’t really have a preference. As for items, I had only legendary grade items due to my family’s help. As for skills, mine were overwhelming, so I didn’t feel any need for extra skills.
I know that I should feel ashamed for including myself in the level 300 category when I possessed such fantastic items and skills.
Anyway, I tried hard not to become complacent from the current ease at which I was clearing rounds because I was determined to finish the Path, regardless of whether there was a final round or not. And I was even more motivated by my greed for the rewards than by my desire to advertise the name Asirante.
Although I knew for sure that I had more items and skills than anyone else, I wanted more.
30 minutes later I finished the rounds in the 40s. Soon I was done with the 50th, and even the 65th round I was now onto.
“Kuuuuuuuuuuuh!”
Large monsters were usually relatively stronger. As if to prove this theory, large monsters began to appear from the 60th round. They got close to me by just moving four or five steps.
While facing me from a close distance, these monsters struck me with powerful attacks using the sticks in their hands.
Normally a general wizard would have to avoid such an attack or use shield-type magic, for they would obviously suffer a lot of damage even if they weren’t killed in a single stroke.
But as for me? I didn’t need to avoid or defend against their attack.
But I did anyway because I had recently learned something along with Ice Storm that was useful in these types of situations.
I shouted Immediately, “Blink.”
Bang!
The monsters threw the sticks at the place where I was standing a moment ago.
Of course, I had already left that place.
I fired Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows into the back of the giant monsters clearly visible to my eyes. The monsters had already been hit by one AOE skill and several single target skills.
When I relentlessly attacked them with further skills, they helplessly collapsed.
“Great, Blink!”
Of course, my agility was not bad.
I was certain that no wizard that prioritized Intellect had more than 1300 agility.
Of course, this meant nothing compared to the Blink skill that could teleport one instantly.
The only regret I had with Blink was that I could not use it often because of its long cooldown.
Besides, since Blink was not an Ice-type magic, the IceMan trait did not apply to it.
As a result, I had no choice but to be affected by its normal cooldown.
Of course, my Willpower stat was high, which let me have shorter cooldowns compared to others.
Anyway, using Blink several times in an instant would be unbalanced, so I didn’t think about it anymore, and refocused myself because my goal was not to simply clear all rounds, but also to keep my SSS rating until the end.
30 minutes later my clearing time gradually increased.
As the rounds continued, the time required to clear them gradually increased from 1 minute to 2 minutes to 3 minutes and more because it took me longer to get rid of the monsters.
So, I tried my best to increase my attack power by even a little by using an Ice Weapon.
In particular, after the 70th round, monsters with unusual strength began to appear as if to gatekeep the future rounds. Among them were twin monsters.
When I killed one of the twins, it was instantly resurrected by the other.
I was a little embarrassed because it took me a few tries to notice that I had to kill the twin monsters at the same time to clear the round.
So, I used single target skills at both the twin monsters along with Ice Storm and Pouring Hailstones to get rid of them.
Obviously, it took me more time to clear these rounds compared to the previous ones, but I still received SSS ratings.
And the moment I cleared the 79th round, a message rang.
It was different from the usual message that congratulated me for clearing the 79th round and announced the beginning of the next round in 10 seconds.
[You have cleared the 79th round.
-Clear time: 6 minutes 51 seconds.
-Grade: SSS
The 80th round begins in 10 seconds.]
[The 80th round is the final round, so monsters that are more powerful than those in the previous rounds will appear.]
“Oh, I have finally reached the final round now…”
In fact, I saw no end of the rounds even when I reached the 70th round after clearing the 40th, 50th and 60th rounds.
So, I felt very refreshed upon hearing the word ‘final round’ in the message.
Of course, I pushed aside my sentimental feelings because I intended to finish the final round with an SSS rating just like the previous 79 rounds.
Moreover, I would feel good about this quest when I recalled it later if I finished the final round successfully.