Chương 202

Chief Thalassa just shook his head. The scarred warrior still looked like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. A man who had just spent three days in a terrifying death trap and then cooked a steak on the beach looked completely contrasting to the Champion he envisioned.

"Follow us, Challenger," High Priestess Neria said softly. A serene smile played on her lips. She turned her armored Divine Orca around in the surf. Thalassa grunted and guided his own mount to follow her. Rudra walked along the shoreline, his boots splashing in the shallow surf, while Kratos stayed on the dry sand, purposefully avoiding the incoming waves.

"Try not to step on any crabs," Kratos advised, carefully placing his massive paws between the jagged rocks.

"They pinch."

"You're a divine lion," Rudra laughed, looking back at the divine beast.

"A crab isn't going to hurt you."

"It's the principle of the thing," Kratos huffed, shaking his golden mane.

"I am a creature of dignity. I do not get pinched." They walked for about twenty minutes down the coastline. The sandy beach slowly turned into a jagged, colorful coral reef. The water here was incredibly clear and shallow, barely reaching Rudra's ankles. Brightly colored fish darted between the rocks. Neria stopped her mount. She pointed her smooth wooden staff at a narrow, twisting opening in the coral wall.

"This is the Second Trial," Neria said.

"The Evasive Reef."

"Looks dangerous," Rudra noted, leaning close to inspect the bright pink coral.

"It is highly volatile," Neria warned. Her voice lost its serene tone, turning deadly serious.

"The coral breathes a pressurized, explosive gas. A single clumsy strike, a heavy footstep, or a wide swing of your weapon will trigger a chain reaction. The entire reef will detonate. You must navigate the maze and defeat the swarms inside with as much restraint as possible." Thalassa gripped his spear tightly.

"Brute force will only get you killed here, mainlander. You cannot just bash your way through. If you swing that heavy staff of yours without thinking, you will bury yourself under a million tons of rock." Rudra rolled his shoulders, loosening his neck. He understood the assignment.

"Control. Got it." He walked into the maze. [You have entered the Second Trial of the Orca Archipelago!] Kratos stayed behind on the beach, loudly complaining about the smell of the coral and refusing to go anywhere near the narrow tunnel. The path inside was incredibly tight. The bright pink and yellow coral walls practically brushed against Rudra's shoulders. The water was only up to his calves, but the footing was uneven, slick with algae and moss.

Rudra felt the title [Seeker of the Drowned Truths] activate as he felt his stats increase by 10%. And just to be safe, Rudra activated the skill [Mumud's Weapon Enchant] as well so that his base damage would be strong enough.

"[Legendary Sage's Eyes]," Rudra activated the skill softly. His vision shifted instantly. The world became vibrantly colorful and overlaid with deep, scrolling magical data. Bright, glowing lines of mana lit up the coral walls. He could clearly see the volatile, pulsing red veins of the explosive coral beating like a heart. He could even see the faint, invisible clouds of toxic gas leaking from the microscopic pores in the rock. Stolen story; please report.

He saw exactly where it was safe to step, and where a single pound of pressure would cause an explosion. [Understanding of the explosive coral structure is increasing...] [Understanding: 45%...] [Understanding: 80%...] [Understanding has reached 100%.] [You have acquired the Blueprint: Volatile Coral Veins (Epic)!]"Nice," Rudra grinned. Free loot before the fight even started was always a good sign. A shadow suddenly darted across the water ahead of him. A swarm of Reef-Hunters rushed out from a side tunnel.

They were small, jagged fish with muscular, frog-like legs. They were about the size of dogs, and they looked incredibly mean. [Reef-Hunter Lv. 300] [Reef-Hunter Lv. 300] [Reef-Hunter Lv. 300] They bounced rapidly off the safe sections of the coral walls, ricocheting toward him in a frantic, unpredictable pattern. They weren't just attacking blindly. They were intentionally trying to bait him into a wide, panicked swing. They wanted him to hit the walls. Rudra didn't take the bait. He didn't swing Extortion.

He held the heavy black staff tight against his side, keeping his elbows tucked in. A Reef-Hunter lunged right at his face, its jagged jaws snapping shut. [Freely Move]. Rudra activated his dash skill. The skill let him automatically avoid all non-targeted attacks. He slipped right through the middle of the swarm, his body sliding perfectly between the snapping jaws and the explosive coral walls. He moved like a ghost. He stopped right in front of a monster. He didn't use a sweeping attack.

He jabbed the blunt end of his staff straight forward, striking exactly like a pool cue. [Super Sensitivity detects a fatal weak point behind the monster's left gill!] Guided by his [Legendary Sage's Eyes] and the helpful system prompt, he drove the staff precisely into the glowing weak spot. Thwack. [Critical Damage!] [You have dealt 152, 900 damage to the target!] It was a short, clean, isolated strike enhanced by his [Mumud's Weapon Enchant], Critical Damage and his absurd stats.

The blunt force cracked the monster's skull perfectly without releasing any splash damage. It popped into grey ash. The swarm turned around. They realized he wasn't going to hit the walls. They rushed him from behind, swarming his legs. Rudra didn't panic. He just played a very fast, very dangerous game of whack-a-mole. He jabbed. He poked. He stepped lightly, making sure his heavy boots only landed on the safe spots highlighted by his [Legendary Sage's Eyes].

He didn't use any momentum-building combos to stack his damage. Targeting their exact weak points ensured that he hit the critical hit every single time, ensuring every short jab was a guaranteed one-hit kill. Another Reef-Hunter lunged at his knee. Rudra snapped the butt of his staff down. [Critical Damage!] [You have dealt 151, 200 damage to the target!] The monster shattered into ashs.

"One, two, three," Rudra muttered, falling into a quiet, focused rhythm. A fish launched itself wildly, missing Rudra entirely and flying straight toward a glowing red vein of explosive coral. If it hit, the maze would blow. Rudra's reflexes flared. He lunged forward, catching the monster mid-air with his bare hand. He squeezed, crushing its windpipe, and tossed the ash safely into the water. He cleared the first hallway in exactly three minutes. He moved through the rest of the maze.

It was tedious, and it required total focus, but it wasn't hard. Whenever a large group tried to corner him in a tight spot, he just used [Freely Move] to dash behind them and poked them in the back of the head. Two hours later, the narrow coral walls finally opened up. He stepped into a wide, safe room at the very center of the reef. The explosive coral stopped entirely. A simple stone pedestal sat in the middle of a dry patch of white sand.