Free Web NovelChapter 36: Prologue to the Spire War
Cohen stood once again in Ashfield—the vast underground plain.
Ash drifted endlessly from the high ceiling, but here in the first zone, it fell like a light drizzle, barely brushing past his ankles.
’Too bad I’ll only be earning 75% of the original EXP I’m supposed to get. Oh well.’
The Dungeon system had made him choose to do this Dungeon alone, leaving Hide and Bobby in the Baptised World.
On one of his fingers was the common-tier accessory he had received from the guild, its effect passive and, honestly, barely noticeable.
He was rarely injured in hunts, and when he did get injured, he had potions on standby.
And today was no exception.
He had multiple uncommon-tier mana and body recovery potions stored in a one-time-use spatial ring prepared by Farid.
Cohen let them invest more in these types of potions, leaving out enhancements because he believed those two were more needed.
Farid was dead-set on supporting Cohen in growing stronger.
’If I’m not doing it myself, I might as well make my future kids call him godfather.’
He laughed his joke as he willed his status screen to appear.
- - - - -
Name: Cohen Bennett
Level: 13 [3,987/16,900 EXP]
Stats:
[Strength: 36+]
[Agility: 40+]
[Endurance: 38+]
[Intelligence: 75+]
[Mana: 750/750]
[Stat Points: 13]
[NP: 1605]
[Baptised: 32]
[Event: 1]
- - - - -
’Although the progress is slow, the Primordials must be feasting a lot where they are.’
Appreciating how their growth was pushing his level, he went in with stat distribution.
[Agility: 40 → 43]
[Endurance: 38 → 40]
[Intelligence: 75 → 80]
[Strength: 36 → 39]
Cohen allocated his stats, ready to go all in.
He set his gaze in the dark ashy planes with rams seated in the ash. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
’Remember, Cohen. Don’t concentrate on just killing. Leveling up is not your only priority,’ he said to himself.
He needed to get used to the new skill before the war started.
Cohen rolled his neck once and started walking.
The moment he stepped fully into the open, the ash shifted.
Movement answered his presence.
Four Rams prowled out of the ash, Level 9 each.
Barely strong enough to serve as test dummies.
Cohen raised his right hand.
"Stellar Javelin."
A bright and long spear of pure silver-white light condensed in his palm.
’This is drinking mana!’
He tried to reduce the mana being fed to it to a thin stream of mana.
The javelin stayed small, no longer than a short sword, but perfectly formed.
He hurled it.
The spear tore through the cavern and punched straight through the lead ram’s skull with a detonation.
Half its body dissolved into glittering fragments of flesh and light.
Cohen frowned.
"That should have taken out all three."
He tried again on the next ram, pushing more mana this time.
The javelin doubled in length, then tripled.
It became a massive lance of blazing silver, almost too bright to look at. When he threw it, the spear roared through the air like a comet.
It skewered two rams at once and kept going, slamming into the far wall and carving a smoking trench through solid rock.
Cohen shrugged, ignoring the incoming Rams.
"Manipulating it is that easy..."
Size was directly tied to raw mana output.
The more he poured in, the bigger and more destructive the javelin became. Simple. Brutal. Effective.
He formed a third one, trying something different this time—concentrating the same amount of mana into a thinner, denser shape.
He wanted a needle, not a lance. Something that would pierce instead of explode.
The javelin fought him. It wanted to spread, to shine, to be big.
Forcing it tighter felt like trying to squeeze water into a diamond.
The javelin flickered, warped, and finally shattered in his hand before he could even throw it.
Pain lanced up his arm from the feedback.
"Damn it."
As he hissed, more Rams had caught up to him.
He swiftly unsheathed the two daggers at his waist, darting through the seven approaching Rams like remnant lightning crackling across the floor.
In a couple of seconds, there was nothing but corpses around him.
More rounds of Rams were approaching where he stood.
But he was focused on making the spear like needles and tried twice more.
Same result.
Cohen stood still for a moment, staring at the fading motes of silver light drifting from his palm.
’I can’t change the concept of the skill. It’s Stellar Javelin and not needle after all. I guess I can only control the mana input to influence the explosion ability.’
He exhaled.
"That’s progress."
Cohen spent the rest of the evening clearing both Level 1 dungeons in the Underworld, then pushed into Palegrove—the Level 2 Dungeon—making it to the second zone alone.
The remainder of the Level 2 Dungeon was cleared with Bobby, Hide, and Blight, who had crossed the Gate of Baptised Cohen left open in the Wild to reach him. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
- - - - -
Later at night.
In one of the inns of the city.
A couple of Awakened who had joined the Outliers to hunt while telling others about it.
"It was one of the most productive hunts I’ve been on. I almost leveled up twice today!"
"Tsk. I wish I had joined. Now, I’ll have to compete with a lot of people to scrap kills tomorrow."
"I don’t blame you for not coming. Who would believe a new Awakened not only found a monster hub, but also mapped out a safe route there? If not for Max, I wouldn’t even go!"
"But I wonder how that guy found it though."
"Isn’t it obvious? He has awakened something strong!"
"That isn’t enough to explain it. I know he’s a tamer, but is that enough to carry him."
"I hear he’s not just a tamer. They say he’s a summoner, that’s why he has those special beasts! And also, during the hunt, there had been several sightings of a flying monster and a rumor is going around that it’s his!"
"What the fuck..."
The heated conversation spread, shifting from Cohen to Dax, Maya, and Stein’s party.
This was a topic that was hot around the city at that moment.
Just when the prime of the night was reached, a loud alarm ran across the city.
[Warning! Warning!
[All civilians are to avoid the eastern district and make way to the center of the city! There is a Dungeon release!
[Awakened within the city, deploy to hunt.]
[This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill!]
And so, one of the events that marked the beginning of a new period began.
- - - - -
Cohen was in Farid’s personal office, sprawled on the couch as he rested.
His closed eyes faced the ceiling, his perception of gray catching the frantic movements of Farid’s underlings.
’It has begun,’ he thought, before hearing a ding.
- - - - -
Event Type: Personal
Title: I Made Another Mistake - Primordial
Description: Yet another apology from me. Stein, the guy that I had to unfortunately give my Red energy to, has embraced it completely despite my warnings. I need you to handle him.
Objectives: Reap Stein of his Red Energy.
Progress: 0%
Rewards: Itarim’s Fangs
- - - - -
At the moment Cohen finished reading, Farid walked into the office.
"Look who’s here, Cohen."
Ceha looked at Cohen and immediately asked, "...What’s wrong?"
Cohen’s dark gaze locked with Farid, who sensed the upcoming tension.
"I think there’s an unexpected development."
