All Good Novel
Chapter 934: Peak of the Shadow Plane
Chapter 934: Peak of the Shadow Plane
After Valyr had obliterated the Shadow Canine in a similar way to how he turned the Shadow Boar into a mist of blood and flesh, it went without saying that Noel's doubts had thoroughly disappeared at that point.
With how Valyr still had the ability to deal over a million damage on an opponent that was not only Mythic Elite in tier, but was also two class ranks higher than him, the old man truly believed that he was more than capable of fighting Shadow Rabbits without any problem.
'Of course, the outcome would not be so one-sided if he didn't use that unique ranged weapon of his to fight it, but he would still win nevertheless,' thought Noel to himself, eying the arquebus the young man held.
Having seen its jaw-dropping performance against both the Shadow Boar and the Shadow Canine, the old man gradually became curious as to where its limits were.
With that, as the young man was looking through the notifications he received from turning the Shadow Canine into crimson mist, Noel mustered up the courage and asked Valyr if he could try using the arquebus.
Naturally, the young man allowed the old man to try it out.
Closing his notification screen, Valyr soon explained the concept of the arquebus to the old man, from the mechanics that made the high damage possible, to how one would use it to deal damage to an enemy.
While explaining the arquebus to Noel, the young man brought out the pistol he forged from his spatial bracelet.
After that, he used it to demonstrate to Noel how to arm and fire the arquebus, causing a couple of loud explosions to resound throughout the forest soon after.
Feeling the immense energy that was fired out of the arquebus' barrel, Noel's eyes widened in surprise, now getting a better understanding of how Valyr was able to deal so much damage.
Of course, the old man also looked at it from another perspective, his thoughts unsurprisingly similar to Julian from some time ago.
'With how it's less reliant on the user's strength to deal a massive amount of damage... wouldn't this see great use in the battlefield?'
With the thought lingering in his mind, Noel decided to look for a few beasts to try the arquebus on, leaving the young man no choice but to follow behind him.
Eventually, after roaming the Shadow Plane once more for an hour straight, the two eventually came across a Shadow Bird spanning over four meters in size, its strength
seemingly near the peak of Rank 5.
Understanding Noel's intentions, Valyr thoroughly instructed the old man on how he could make the most out of the arquebus.
Because of that, a few minutes later, the old man had allowed a massive amount of energy to accumulate within the arquebus, causing it to passively exude an incredibly ferocious aura.
By the time he felt as if the arquebus was near the precipice of bursting out, Noel proceeded to cast one of the weaker stat-boosting skills in his arsenal before unleashing the power of his Intent.
Whoosh!
Attracting the attention of the Shadow Bird with a bit of his Abyssal Energy, the old man was immediately able to force the beast's attention towards him as he soon pulled on the arquebus' trigger.
"[Grand Burst]!"
Bang!
In less than an instant, a dark blue beam shot out of the arquebus, the beam containing all of the energy Noel had put into the attack he prepared.
Fwoosh!
'-1,425,310!!!'
Unsurprisingly, Noel was able to unleash a devastating amount of damage, especially after the young man suggested him to aim for the bird's head.
Because of that, he was greeted by the sight of a dark red number spanning seven figures, leaving him at an utter loss for words.
Blankly staring at the spot where the Shadow Bird had turned into crimson mist, Noel eventually turned to look at Valyr and gave back the arquebus.
Then, with eyes glistening with both excitement and expectation, he then made a surprising request to the young man.
"Could you forge an arquebus like this for me?" asked Noel, the adrenaline brought about by the high damage still coursing through his veins. "I'll make sure that your efforts would be well-paid."
"...Aren't you a spearman, though?" Getting over the brief shock he received from the request, Valyr was eventually able to reply back. "Wouldn't it be better if I were to forge you a spear instead, Elder Noel?"
"I already own a fine spear." Noel shook his head. "However, just because I'm a spearman doesn't mean I'll limit myself to just the spear."
"The battlefield is indiscriminate in who it kills," continued the man, his tone solemn. "Just because you remain loyal to a specific weapon doesn't mean your chances of returning from the battlefield would remain high."
"Only by making full use of all that is available to you would you be able to do so."
"Frankly, the power of that arquebus is more than enough to be considered a life-saving treasure on the battlefield."
Though he wasn't expecting to be given advice he'd already learned from the battlefield in his past life, the old man's words still resonated with him, prompting Valyr to go silent as he eventually nodded.
"Alright," said the young man, causing Noel to brightly smile. "I'll forge an arquebus for you once we get back, Elder Noel."
Having made a promise to the old man that would only be fulfilled after they left the Shadow Plane, Valyr and Noel soon continued on their journey of finding beasts to kill once they were done on their detour.
With Valyr's capabilities more than proven at this point, Noel decided to only have the young man fight against the elite predators of the Shadow Plane, with the Shadow Canine being considered the lowest he could go.
Because of that, the two had spent many hours finding one that fit the criteria, a Shadow Feline that looked to be slumbering in the center of a large clearing.
Bang!
'-989,505!!!!
With the Shadow Feline being five levels higher than the Shadow Canine Valyr had killed before, the Damage Restriction System had taken greater effect, reducing the damage he dealt with arquebus to a value below one million.
But of course, such a value was still way beyond what was needed to kill the Shadow Feline, causing it to transform into a cloud of crimson mist the moment the bullet made contact with
it.
Ding!
[With a 10+ level disparity between the user and the opponent, the amount of experience obtained shall be increased by 200%.]
[You have slain a Level 95 Shadow Feline (Ancient Elite). You have gained 13,592,238 XP.]
[Your Shadow Energy has improved by 38 points.]
[You have made progress in realizing the next stage of Slayer of Ascendants (576/10,000).]
With the Shadow Canine he killed before giving him 34 points of Shadow Energy, the young
man now currently had 192 points of Shadow Energy.
Though this amount wasn't much in the grand scheme of things, the fact that Valyr had basically doubled his Shadow Energy amount just from killing three beasts prompted the old man to become curious with his methods.
Fortunately, a bit of explanation was more than enough to shake off that curiosity, with the young man using the excuse that he'd gotten the opportunity from the inheritance.
'In any case, with it scaling off Shadow Energy and with the title taking effect, I now have 240 points of Azure Energy,' thought Valyr to himself. 'One more kill is all I need to improve my
subclass.'
With that, the young man told Noel that he was ready to move on to the next beast, subtly hinting through his words that he wished to fight against a Shadow Rabbit this time around.
With how much experience the old man had accumulated at this point, Noel swiftly understood the subtle hints Valyr was conveying, prompting the two to scour a large part of the Shadow Plane for a Shadow Rabbit.
Thankfully, the few hours of scouring they did weren't in vain, with the Shadow Rabbit that appeared before him appearing to stand at what seemed to be the peak of the Shadow Plane.
"[Superior Analysis]."
Ding!
[Shadow Rabbit King (Ancient Elite)] (Level 100 | Boss)
Class: King of the Shadow Rabbits (Rare)
HP: 336,320/336,320
MP: 285,120/285,120
Attack: 5,720 - 5,720 Defense: 4,204 - 4,204
Stats: 1051 VIT, 1430 STR, 2236 AGI, 1568 DEX, 1188 INT, 1188 WIS, 927 PER, 327 LUK
Skills: [Advanced Shadow Energy Affinity], [True Shadow Rabbit Combat Arts], [Shadow Rabbit King's Movements], [Pride of the Shadow Rabbit King], and 53 other skills. Remarks: An apex predator of the Shadow Plane. A sovereign that rules over a large number of
beasts with its terrifying strength and speed.
You've finally picked on someone your own size.
Seeing as the Shadow Rabbit King was easily roaming around the vicinity with its great
agility, the young man had a feeling that he would have a difficult fight against it if he were to
face it in close combat.
'Then again, I'm just here to gain Shadow Energy.'
Arming the arquebus for what would be the final kill needed to upgrade his subclass, Valyr activated [Extended Charge] and allowed the weapon's power to accumulate as he went
through his status-boosting skills once more.
"[Truth Weaver Scripture: Tetrad]."
"[Intent of Shadow Energy]."
"[Limit Break: Second Verse]."
"[First Encore]."
"[Refined Offense Aura]."
"[Rage of the True Wyvern]."
Whoosh!
Considering that he was up against a more formidable foe this time around, the young man
did not hesitate to activate one more stat-boosting skill, understanding that even a single additional point in his Attack stat could be the dividing line between life and death.
Sensing that the arquebus was ready to fire, Valyr aimed the arquebus towards the Shadow Rabbit King's head, feeling as if he was currently in his strongest state. Then, moving a bit closer towards his opponent, the Shadow Rabbit eventually entered the
range of Valyr's curse, causing its eyes to glow crimson as it radiated greater power than
before.
Whoosh!
With its AGI being boosted even further due to the curse increasing its tier, it seemed like it was inevitable for the young man to clash against the Shadow Rabbit head-on.
But before that could even happen...
"[Grand Burst]!"
Bang!
'-821,080!!!'
The Shadow Rabbit transformed into a cloud of crimson mist, prompting a grin to creep up
onto Valyr's lips as he took a look at his newly obtained notifications.
Ding!
[With a 10+ level disparity between the user and the opponent, the amount of experience
obtained shall be increased by 200%.]
[You have slain a Level 100 Shadow Rabbit King (Divine Elite). You have gained 18,193,734
XP.]
[Your Shadow Energy has improved by 53 points.]
[You have made progress in realizing the next stage of Slayer of Ascendants (577/10,000).]
...
...
[You have complete a prerequisite quest to ascend your subclass to the next rarity.]
[Increase one's Azure Energy reserves to 250 (1/1)]
[You have completed all of the prerequisite quests needed to ascend your subclass to the next
rarity.]