Chương 215

The eighth island was the exact opposite of the previous island. It was a massive, dark cavern that smelled like wet dirt and old blood.

"The Swarm of the Deep," High Priestess Neria explained softly.

"Millions of tiny beasts live in this dark. They will try to strip the flesh from your bones. You only need to hold your ground and survive for one hour to prove your worth."

"I am not going in there," Kratos huffed way to the back of the boat, keeping his paws completely dry.

"Bugs get stuck in my teeth."

"Good call," Rudra agreed.

"Take a nap. I'll be back." He walked into the dark cavern. [You have entered the Eighth Trial of the Orca Archipelago!] The floor of the room looked like it was moving. It was completely covered in tiny, clicking, armored parasites. They were the size of rats, and there were easily hundreds of thousands of them pouring out of the walls. [Deep-Sea Micro-Parasite Lv. 250] [Deep-Sea Micro-Parasite Lv. 250] They immediately noticed him. A literal wave of clicking bugs rushed toward the door. Rudra frowned. Level 250.

They were completely useless for leveling up since the level difference between them would reduce the exp he would get from hunting them. Even killing thousands of them at once wouldn't move his experience bar by 1%. A timer appeared in his vision. [01: 00: 00] [00: 59: 59].. He just had to survive for an hour. But Rudra planned on staying here for a couple of days so that he can farm some skill experience, stats gains and finally exceed the limit of these trials in the same way as the previous one.

He also planned to activate his [Legendary Sage's Eyes] to see if he can copy some skills that can provide some stats as well. Rudra tapped his staff on the ground. A translucent blue bubble wrapped around him. [Mumud's Mana Shield]. The bugs crashed into him. They started biting and scratching at the shield, trying to chew their way through. Rudra swung his staff. He didn't use any active staff skill since just his basic attacks were enough to one-shot these bugs. He just fell into a steady, boring rhythm.

Swing left. Swing right. Step back. Thrust. His [Saint's Momentum] triggered, slowly speeding up his attacks. Every time a bug managed to nip his shield, his lifesteal and mana-drain skills instantly topped him right back off. He became a completely self-sustaining blender. Outside, the sun went down. Kratos slept on the boat. Thalassa paced the beach. Inside the cave, Rudra just kept swinging. One hour passed. The door unlocked, but Rudra didn't leave. He kept his feet planted and kept crushing bugs.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Three actual days passed in a blur of grey ash and clicking noises. He didn't even pay attention to the game anymore. He just zoned out, letting his muscle memory do the work while he thought about what to cook for dinner. Then, a red light flashed aggressively in his vision. [You have reached your maximum daily connection limit. Please log out to rest.] [Forced logout in 5... 4...]"Ah, right," Rudra grunted.

His vision went black. He woke up in his VR capsule in Chennai. He climbed out, feeling totally stiff from the marathon session. He ate a quick dinner, drank a ton of water, and slept for a couple of hours again. The next day, he logged back in. He materialized right back in the center of the eighth temple. The room was totally quiet. The bugs were gone. The trial had recognized his clear condition while he was logged out. [You have cleared the Eighth Trial.] [You have exceeded the limits of the trial by fighting the endless swarm for 3 days!] [As a reward, All Stats +30!] [Reward: Recipe: [Abyssal Broth]] [The Champion's Rite] [Progress: 8 / 15 Temples Cleared] Rudra stretched his arms, hearing his back pop. He happily accepted the bonus stats. Pushing himself through the boring grind was always worth it. He walked over to the stone pedestal in the center of the room and picked up the recipe scroll.

[Recipe: Abyssal Broth] [Rating: Unique] [A highly complex base soup. Boiling ingredients in this broth will greatly multiply their natural effects. Tastes faintly of the deep sea.]"Nice," Rudra said, tossing it into his inventory. He walked out of the dark cave. The bright sunlight made him blink. Kratos was waiting by the boat, looking incredibly grumpy.

"You vanished. Again."

"Well I need to become strong enough, so that I can stay as your guardian, right," Rudra said smoothly, walking up to the lion who was mumbling something about "still like" and "weak".

"But I did find a great recipe inside. I'll make you a huge dinner tonight." Kratos immediately perked up, his tail swishing.

"Beef?"

"Sure, beef," Rudra laughed as he then took out his heavy iron cauldron. He set it down on the dry sand near the boat and gathered some driftwood to start a fire. He poured fresh water into the pot and activated his new [Abyssal Broth] recipe. He tossed in a handful of deep-sea salt, some crushed coral-pepper, and thick, heavy cuts of premium beef he had stored in his inventory. While the stew simmered and the rich, savory smell filled the beach, Rudra opened his skill window.

Staring at millions of bugs for three days straight had triggered his [Legendary Sage's Eyes] quite a few times. He scrolled through the new additions and sighed. [Chitinous Mandible Bite (Lv. 1)] [Rare] [Bite the target with razor-sharp mandibles to shred physical armor. - Physical Defense of the target decreases by 5%. - Skill Usage Conditions: Have a Parasite-based Anatomy - Resource Consumption: 100 Mana. - Skill Cooldown: 5 minutes.] [Hive Mind Coordination (Lv. 1)] [Epic / Passive] [Share sensory information with nearby allies of the same species. - Agility and Evasion increase by 15% when near swarm members. - Skill Usage Conditions: Have a Parasite-based Anatomy] [Exoskeleton Molt (Lv. 1)] [Rare] [Shed your outer shell to instantly remove a physical debuff. - Removes one slowing or binding effect. - Skill Usage Conditions: Have a Parasite-based Anatomy - Resource Consumption: 300 Mana. - Skill Cooldown: 2 hours.]