Chương 161

The dark, knee-deep water of the 70th Ocean God Temple smelled heavily of sulfur and rotting kelp. Rudra waded through the flooded stone corridor. He held his heavy black staff, Extortion, loosely at his side. Blue lightning sparked off the dark metal shaft, casting brief, bright flashes against the damp cave walls.

"I hate this," Kratos complained, trailing right behind him. The half-gold, half-black lion shook his back leg violently, trying to flick the cold water off his paw.

"It's just water, Kratos," Rudra said, not looking back.

"I hate being wet," Kratos grumbled, his ears flattening against his head.

"My fur is sticking to my legs. It feels gross. I'm cold. Why are all these temples filled with freezing water? Can't we find a temple in a nice, dry desert?"

"Just keep moving. We're almost done," Rudra said. Before Kratos could complain about his wet fur again, the water ten feet ahead of them started to bubble rapidly. Three massive, formless shapes rose from the murky depths. They didn't have faces. They were just swirling masses of highly pressurized, dark blue water. [Corrupted Tide Elemental (Lv. 352)] [Corrupted Tide Elemental (Lv. 352)] [Corrupted Tide Elemental (Lv. 352)]"Finally," Rudra muttered. The lead elemental lunged forward.

It threw a heavy, watery fist straight at Rudra's head. Rudra didn't even drop his relaxed posture. He just stepped slightly to the left, letting the fist sail past his ear. He casually brought Extortion around in a short, lazy sweep. Smack. The heavy dark metal slammed into the elemental's core. The physical blunt force was absurd, but the real damage came from the weapon's lightning attribute. Bright blue electricity exploded through the conductive water monster. It froze entirely stiff, paralyzed for a second.

Rudra didn't stop. He pulled the staff back an inch and thrust it forward. The second hit shattered the paralyzed monster into harmless rain. The other two elementals raised their arms. They prepared to fire jets of high-pressure water.

"Kratos, your turn," Rudra said. Kratos didn't hesitate. The cub hopped onto a dry stone pillar to keep his paws out of the water. He unhinged his jaws and activated [Mana Devourer]. As the two high-pressure water jets fired, Kratos literally sucked the spells right out of the air. The magical water funneled directly into the lion's mouth. He swallowed loudly, letting out a small, satisfied burp. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Still tastes like dirty swamp water," Kratos complained, licking his chops. Rudra laughed. He didn't give the elementals time to cast another spell. He dashed forward, splashing through the muck, and cracked both of them over the head with simple, heavy swings. They burst into puddles. It took them less than ten minutes to casually stroll through the rest of the flooded ruins. They finally reached the main chamber. It was a wide, circular room with a massive stone altar sitting in the center.

The boss of the temple was already a pile of grey ash near the stairs, having lasted exactly five seconds against Rudra's heavy staff swings. Rudra walked up the stone steps to the altar. Usually, these temples just had a small, dusty piece of parchment waiting for him. But today, the atmosphere was different. The moment Rudra stepped up to the pedestal, a deep, echoing voice vibrated through the flooded chamber. It sounded like the crashing of ocean waves.

[You reached this milestone much faster than I anticipated, human.] Rudra stopped. He looked around the empty room.

"Asterion?" [Your persistence is highly amusing,] the Ocean God's voice rumbled pleasantly. [You have cleared seventy of my forgotten trials. You have earned your reward. Take the knowledge resting before you. And since you are in such a hurry... I will save you the trouble of wandering in the dark.] A golden light flashed in front of Rudra's eyes. [The Ocean God Asterion has blessed your map!] [The exact coordinates of the remaining 43 temples have been permanently added to your system.]"Well, that saves me a lot of boat fuel," Rudra smiled.

"Thanks." [You have acquired the "Forgotten Skill Fragment"!] x 4 [The Hidden Quest 'The Legacy of the Submerged God' has been updated!] [Progress: 70 / 113 Temples Cleared] [You have reached a major milestone!] The voice faded away. The ambient sound of dripping water returned to the cave. Rudra looked down at the stone pedestal. Resting in the center was a heavy, thick book bound in dark blue leather. A rusted iron lock held the cover shut. He reached out and tapped the cover.

[Sealed Grimoire of the Deep Sage] Rating:?? An ancient grimoire containing the forgotten knowledge of the deep. Usage Effects:?? Conditions of Use:?? Weight: 15 Rudra picked up the heavy book. He didn't wait for a prompt. He grabbed the rusted iron lock with his bare hand and pulled. It clicked loudly and snapped open. Rudra manually pulled the heavy leather cover back. A blinding, brilliant mixture of gold and platinum light erupted from the pages, completely washing over the dark cave.

[The second class "Deep Sage" has been acquired.] [You are the first player to achieve two legendary classes!] [It is truly a great achievement!!] [The title 'Glimpsed the Myths' has been acquired!] Rudra had to squint against the bright light.

"A second class?" He checked the new title first. [Glimpsed the Myths] [The minimum qualification to raise your class rating to 'Myth.'] Rudra grinned. The ceiling of the game had just been raised again. He swiped the title away and pulled up his system notifications. [As a benefit of holding a second class, you will now receive 17 stat points per level up instead of 15.]"Two extra points every level," Rudra nodded.

"Fuck yeah." He eagerly opened his updated status window to see what kind of crazy new combat skills the Deep Sage class offered him.