Chapter 49: The Longest Stretch

A sword aura flew towards a mob of Zombie monsters, dissecting them in two. However, under the illumination of the lightning, one could see that only half of the zombies were killed. The other half quickly took the lead to attack, and even more monsters joined them.

Eventually, the sword aura attack was rendered useless. The amount of monsters crawling towards them was enormous. Witnessing this battle, Max felt his confidence in reaching even the tenth village become a far-fetched dream.

Max wanted Ewan to join the team to support and accelerate their advance. However, without him, Max would easily be attacked by the monsters. His current skill, [Heavenly Cleave], did not possess enough power to destroy a single Zombie monster. The creatures in this village were already above Level 85, far stronger than the Zombies they had faced on the previous level.

Thus, Max needed Ewan; otherwise, he would be dead. Yet, seeing the current battle, his hope faltered. He needed to help them somehow. Since combat assistance was not working, he could at least try helping them passively.

[Paradise Field]

Description: Creates a sacred field around the user that continuously restores the health of all allied targets within its area for a limited duration.

[Paradise Field] was one of his Healer Class Inborn Skill. According to its description, it could restore the health of his allies. He had never used or even practiced this skill, but that did not matter. If he did not try to use this skill to help the party now, then what was the use of having it?

Quickly, he placed both hands before him, palms facing down, and activated the skill. With a clicking sensation, the skill came alive, and its skill proficiency increased by two. Immediately, everyone's body was shrouded by a dark green energy, replenishing their Mana and Stamina.

The party members, engaged in their own grueling battle, suddenly felt this change and were taken aback. Their movements slowed for a fraction of a second. However, in the next second, they understood the situation and continued the battle.

Max did not know how much Mana and Stamina they were recovering from the Skill applied to them, but he did not care. As long as it helped even by two percent, it was enough of a contribution from his side. Thus, all he wanted to do was concentrate on his Mana Channeling and sustain the skill for as long as possible.

Unbeknownst to Max, the skill worked greatly on the party members. In addition to Candice's skill, everyone's Mana recovery doubled, and their Stamina doubled as well. With this change, their attack speed and power increased manifold.

Earlier, they had attacked the mob in a calculated manner. They had to advance at a constant speed while spending as little Mana as possible. This was because they had to face this same intense battle across over five villages, spanning a distance of at least two kilometers. Thus, this was not a desperate battle where they had to kill every monster, but rather a calculated battle where they simply had to cross the path.

This technique was not devised by this party, but was used by the party who conquered this Dungeon over 25 years ago. It was a well-known tactic that this party had practiced for a very long time before coming here. However, practicing outside of the Dungeon and battling in a real scenario always differed. Thus, even though the party followed the successful tactic, it soon became difficult to achieve the same results as the party from 25 years ago.

Currently, their moving speed was very slow, and the monsters attacking them increased with every passing second. In order to succeed with this tactic, they had to follow fixed attacks and reserve their Mana. It was not as if they were struggling to fend off the Zombie monsters; they could attack fiercely and abolish them by expending much more Mana on each strike. However, if they did so, they would eventually be engulfed by the monsters and fail the Quest.

Once again, that did not work. Attacking with a calculated tactic felt wrong when more and more monsters appeared. Adrien even thought that the technique used by the old party seemed outdated, and that the Dungeon's attack pattern had increased manifold over the years.

Even before they crossed the first of the five villages, they felt they had spent much more Mana and Stamina. If they continued with the same tactic, they would only cross three villages before depleting all their Mana, getting tired, and falling to the ground. Just as they were in great stress over how they would cross the last two villages with drained Mana, they suddenly felt something engulf their bodies.

With shock and bewilderment on their faces, they searched for the source of this healing skill. They were not foreign to these kinds of wide-party healing skills. However, the only question was that Candice did not possess any skill that could be used on the entire party.

That was when Max came to mind. He was indeed hired for his Superior skill that could help them in the Boss Battle, but that did not mean he only had one Superior skill. Upon realizing this, they quickly regained their confidence, certain that they would cross the last two villages with the support they had.

With Max's skill continuously supporting them, the party moved at a calculated speed without making any extra attacks or extra steps. Soon, they crossed the first village and entered the second village's perimeter. As expected, they faced the same amount of monsters; they did not even get a moment to breathe.

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However, this scenario was a known one, so they were not surprised as they moved at a constant speed. Max was using the skill with utmost concentration. His full focus was on his Mana Channeling, since he knew he was protected by a strong person.

Surprisingly, the skill proficiency of [Paradise Field] increased by 3. Currently, it was at 5%, which was a real growth. As the saying goes, 'The heavier the hammer, the harder the blade.' The more pressure he endured while trying to spend as little Mana as possible, the more his proficiency would increase.

This quick jump in Skill proficiency sent Max to cloud nine. Now, his number one objective was not to help the party, but to increase the Skill Proficiency of the skill. The question was, would he achieve 100% proficiency by the time they crossed the final village? With that thought, Max put an extra 10% concentration 110% on his Mana Channeling and kept the Skill applied to everyone, including Candice.

Although Max tried his best, his Mana depleted at the end of the second village with only 11% Skill Proficiency. Thus, he gulped down two vials of Mana Recovery Potion, filling his reservoir once again, and started to concentrate on the Skill anew.

Meanwhile, the party's biggest issue was solved by Max's help. They constantly advanced, killing the monsters that were necessary to move forward. Everyone was in great joy, since this was the first time they were trying to cross these villages. However, the last time they did the quest, they did not even have the courage to enter Level 2. The main reason for this was their lack of the [Rings] Elixir. The secondary reason was that once someone entered Level 2 and decided to exit, they could not do so right away. Instead, they had to survive for 24 hours.

The strange part was that once they entered Level 2, they had to move forward. If not, the monsters would move towards them. Therefore, if one were to enter thinking they could lounge around for 24 hours and exit, it would not work. Staying in the same place was more dangerous than moving forward, since the monsters were spread out.

That was the main reason the party took only a few minutes of rest before moving again. That being said, the academy students started their simulation practice even before they moved to their third year. Since this Dungeon assignment was mandatory for every student, they put in extra effort to clear this Dungeon starting from the end of their second year. Even still, the students lacked the strength to clear the Dungeon, especially Level 2.

But now, Adrien and the party could see the light at the end of the tunnel. With the support of Max's skill, they would comfortably cross all the villages, eventually reaching the Temple to kill the Priest Zombie monster. Achieving this much was a great feat; just by presenting the Core of the Priest Zombie, they would elevate their names among the nobles of the Kingdom. Furthermore, their names would be discussed for a long time whenever Academy students talked about or attempted this Dungeon Quest.

With these great prospects in mind, they moved forward, finally crossing the third village. The consistency of their advance remained the same. Although they were excited about the outcome of this Dungeon Quest, they did not do anything extra, thinking that it would put their plan in peril.

They crossed the fourth village, and the battle intensity increased a fold compared to the third village. Max had to drink another round of Mana Potions. Since the party's attack pattern had doubled, he tried to expend two threads of Mana; in order to compensate, he had to expend much more Mana overall.

Honestly, Max was not worried about the battle, as all his thoughts were focused on his Skill Proficiency.

[Paradise Field] Skill Proficiency: 23%

'What an incredible growth,' Max thought. Within thirty minutes of intense battle, the constant use of his skill had yielded growth worth at least a month's amount of grueling practice.

Currently, his head was throbbing. The disadvantage of using Mana Potions consecutively was that it made one's body lose focus and become tired; these were the innate side effects of the Mana Recovery Potion.

Upon successfully exiting the fourth village, the amount of Zombie monsters gathered along the path caused Max's head to wobble. This would undoubtedly test their potency and luck.

He quickly gulped down another two vials of Mana Recovery Potion and one Stamina Potion. Upon finishing, a prickling sensation assaulted his brain, as if thousands of needles were constantly poking it.

"Everyone, one last push! Our names will be engraved in golden words. Let us battle!" Adrien delivered his final battle speech.

As he dashed forward, swinging his sword, monsters poured down on them from every direction. Everyone unleashed their ultimate skills, holding nothing back in reserve. Since this was the final stage, they had to use everything they possessed in order to succeed.

Sword auras flew in every direction, destroying everything in their path. The entire area was illuminated by pure lightning as it surged through the Zombie monsters, disintegrating their bodies into nothingness. Black arrows made of Mana rained down upon the mob. A constant energy was released from the shield, pushing the incoming horde away.

As the vanguard team pushed forward, Ewan continuously battled the monsters that targeted them from behind.

25%

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26%

…

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27%

The Skill Proficiency increased at a rate visible to the naked eye. Currently, the total number of Mana threads he was using was five, which should have depleted his Mana pool in an instant. However, every thread he created was so thin that the single thread he used when he first started practicing the [Needle and Thread] technique was equal to these five threads. Max did not currently realize how significantly the technique had advanced. His entire focus was fixed on increasing the Skill Proficiency of his new skill. It was exhilarating for him every time the percentage increased.

The battle continued without pause, and finally, they saw a light ahead of them. It was the Temple of Neri. They were almost there; all they needed was one last push. Everyone felt the exhaustion of the battle, but at the same time, they felt a profound joy. They had accomplished the impossible. It was a great achievement, and their names would certainly be written in history.

35%

The Skill Proficiency reached 35% when they pushed through the last group of monsters, stepping through the doorway and entering the temple hall. As soon as they reached the temple, everyone collapsed onto their backs on the floor. They had finally made it to the Temple. It had seemed almost impossible, but they had done it somehow.

Max himself lay face down on the floor. From his eyes to his brain, the prickling pain had increased manifold. No amount of external remedies would help him now; what he needed was natural recovery time. All he hoped was that the Boss monster would not attack them while they were in such a vulnerable state. With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.