BOOM! BAM!
KRIEEEEKK!
Sylvia and her men were like a group of heroes saving the day.
They came in and took over the dominance of the battle. With the Elemental Gun in hand, they easily slaughtered the tritons without sweat on their faces. With just one finger pull, dozens of sea monsters screamed in fear.
Boom! Boom!
Boos!
KRIIIEEEK!
The sea monsters were hysterical as bursts of fire and lightning hunted them down. They ran around in fear as if the flames were predators about to devour them. And they were not wrong. Most were burnt and writhing on the floor.
Meanwhile, the tritons that managed to escape the flames saved themselves by jumping into the water.
The awakeners were dumbfounded. They saw Sylvia and her men getting rid of dozens of monsters like they were getting rid of pests. Even they had to expend extra energy and full strength to surpass the tritons. It made them feel useless.
"Whoaaa!"
"Who are they? Isn't that the expensive 'artificial arcana'?"
"Damn, the battle is faster thanks to them."
Whispers were heard in the middle of the battle. They started talking about the Rays of Hope either positively or negatively. Some thought they were helpful, and some thought they were just showing off.
However, they thought Sylvia and her party could be this strong because of the Elemental Gun.
"This is our chance! Kill those damn monsters!"
The Rays of Hope accelerated the battle pace, and awakeners took advantage of the situation to finish off as many tritons as possible. These monsters were basically monster cores in the flesh. They did not let a single one escape.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
Arggghhh!
The awakeners chased after the fleeing tritons and plunged their swords into their hearts. They then intercepted the ship's side, preventing the monsters from jumping into the water.
Seeing the other awakeners trying to take advantage of the opportunity, Akio clicked his tongue.
"Oi! They're taking our prey! Our ration of monster cores could be reduced because of them!" The oriental man shouted at Sylvia.
And the red-haired woman stopped shooting at the target momentarily, observing the situation. She then responded to Akio. "Guys, stop using the Elemental Gun. Grab your swords and kill the tritons with your hands."
"Ay! Ay!" Akio replied excitedly.
The man sheathed his Elemental Gun and darted forward before the other member could react. He jumped in the middle of a horde of blue-skinned monsters.
"Get ready, because I'll be worse than them."
The tritons surrounding him frowned. As if they seemed to understand his words.
He drew the sword sheathed on his back. It glowed red in the moonlight, and the monsters watching it showed fear. Smirking for a moment, Akio swung his sword while twisting his body.
SWWWUUSSS!
Slash! Slash! Slash!
KRIIIEEEEEKKKK
Green blood spurted out along with the flesh. Akio spun like a tornado, killing dozens of tritons in seconds. The monsters' screams of pain echoed through the air.
[2585 damage!]
[2358 damage!]
[2867 damage!]
"What the fuck!"
Suddenly, Akio stopped spinning.
He dropped his jaw as a notification popped up in front of his face. A damage indicator appeared every time he landed a sword on an enemy. This had never happened before.
While Akio was still glued to the notification, two tritons sneaked up from behind. They were about to kill him.
"Kraaawrk!" The monster screamed.
As the two monsters hovered over Akio, a large man landed and stomped on them.
Splat!
They were split in two.
"Hey, idiot! Why are you daydreaming in the middle of battle? Have you lost your mind, huh?"
The voice jolted Akio. He realized someone was standing behind him. "Sorry, Michael. Suddenly I got bunch of notification. It's weird."
Michael sighed. "It's one of the features your weapon gives you. Klaus told us about it long ago. Did you forget it?"
"Ah, I remember it," Akio nodded his head.
Mors Industries was not just limited to producing artificial arcana. They also applied the technology to weapons and equipment to help users know their capacity.
The data would later be sent to Mors Industries' corporate system. They would use this data to develop new products and monitor all awakeners who buy the company's products.
In other words, they were collecting data on their customers.
"Watch out! Stay in formation! Don't be too aggressive and keep your position!"
The battle was nearing its end, but Sylvia and her men were fighting even more ferociously.
The red-haired woman replaced Justin, who couldn't lead the battle due to seasickness. She took out the enemy in the front row while still organizing the formation of her men.
The casters and supports had a large mana capacity, firing Elemental Guns with fire or lightning, and the fighters aggressively killed the tritons.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Krieek!
Sylvia, with her iron gauntlet, punched every monster in front of her. She crushed the heads of the tritons without any hesitation despite the blood staining her face.
"Forward! Attack me! Attack me!"
Performing his role as a tank, Michael hurled taunts at the tritons, drawing their attention to attack him. The sea monsters attacked him simultaneously, but he knocked away every triton that landed on him.
Sush! Sush! Sush!
"Give me some space, you idiot!"
On the other side, Joanna and her ilk cared for the injured awakeners. She deftly handled the patients. When her hands flashed a green light, the gaping wounds or bruises on the skin's surface healed.
"Quickly bring them here!"
Swush! "Come on!"
Swush! "Get out of the way, idiot. You just scratched your finger. Go back to fighting!"
Although Joanna treated them with resentment, she did her job very well. Of course, this was thanks to the crystal ball Klaus had given her. This artificial arcana helped her utilize her talent efficiently.
While people fought to repel the tritons, Klaus watched everything from the ship's bridge.
"Good. You all did well. Show them the power of the Rays of Hope and the sophistication of the weapons produced by Mors Industries."
A grin bloomed on his lips.
In this orange dungeon quest mission, Klaus had two main objectives. That was to increase the popularity of the Rays of Hope among the awakeners and to show them firsthand the advantages of Mors Industries' products.
After the successful sale of the Elemental Gun, Mors Industries received new data. The majority of the buyers of its weapons were non-awakeners. The Elemental Gun's feature that allows users to use it without channeling mana makes this artificial arcana an ideal weapon.
Most awakeners still use old weapons made from Morning Star or House Blacksmith. It is evident from this search mission that there are only a few awakeners who use Elemental Gun. They still believe that Elemental Gun is only a momentary trend that will one day be replaced by something new.
Therefore, Klaus wanted to prove what they believed was wrong.
While Klaus was enjoying himself, the captain interrupted him.
"Sorry, Mister Klaus. But it looks like your man are getting worse."
Klaus furrowed his brow. And then his eyes opened to see Justin throwing up. "What the hell," Klaus muttered.
"Do you have any seasickness remedies?"
The captain weakly shook his head. "We've given you everything. But he's still sick."
Klaus sighed.
In his mind, he thought this situation like this would be very troublesome if a similar incident happened in the future. Healers could not restore Justin's condition, and ordinary medicines were too weak for awakeners.
Apart from having extraordinary physical strength, awakeners also had a strong immune systems. It was rare for an awakener to get ill. Most of them got sick due to diseases from the dungeon.
Klaus needed to find a solution to this matter.
"For now, take care of him. Make sure he doesn't vomit again if you want your platform to be clean."
The captain nodded his head. "Yeah, I see."
For now, Klaus would focus on the battle. He was still waiting for something from this battle that had yet to appear.
His eyes fell on the exotic-skinned woman fighting a group of tritons on the ship's bow with Akio and Michael. She had a katana and an Elemental Gun but still sheathed. She was using [Telekinesis] instead, throwing the tritons around her.
Seeing that scene made Klaus frustrated...
"I gave her two arcana but didn't use them at all." A sigh of exasperation escaped from Klaus.
He hoped Olivia would use katana he gave her a few minutes ago. He affixed special runes to the sword's arcana to help her overcome her problem-slaying monsters.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
In the middle of the battle, Olivia felt a vibration on her wrist. Klaus was contacting her via smartlink.
[Incoming call: Jerk Klaus.]
Hissing in annoyance, Olivia picked up the call.
"Hello what?! I'm fighting!"
"I know," Klaus replied. "Use that katana."
Oliva furrowed her brow. "What?"
"Don't ask questions. It's order. Do as I say."
Beep!
[Call ended.]
Before Olivia could answer, the call was cut off. She hissed through her teeth. She didn't like the way Klaus was acting.
Next to her was Akio. He realized something was bothering her.
"What's wrong with your face? You're tired, huh?" Akio quipped.
Olivia shook her head. "No, I'm not. Klaus told me to use the arcana he gave me."
Akio furrowed his brow. "You got one from him?"
Olivia nodded her head.
"Well, then what are you waiting for. Use your arcana. He gave you that for a reason."
Olivia was silent. Her friend's words were not wrong.
She felt disappointed because Klaus gave all the members arcana while she did not. And suddenly, the person she hated gave her an arcana at the last minute. She felt something was wrong.
But at the same time, she felt happy.
"Alright. I'll give it a try. Please cover me, Akio."
The oriental-faced man smiled. "Of course, baby." He then shouted at Michael, telling the big man to back off.
Meanwhile, Olvia drew her sword. It was black and shiny. She saw wave grooves on the edge, indicating this katana was of the highest quality.
Taking a breath, she tightly grasped the katana's hilt, gathering courage in her chest. Surprisingly, her anxiety and worry disappeared. Her feelings became extremely calm. It was something she had never felt before.
"I can do it."
She flowed mana into katana and raised it above her head. Her gaze was sharp, and confidence filled her senses. It was as if she felt no burden as she wanted to take a life.
After sighing, she wielded it.
SWOOOOSSSH!
The wind whistled. And a triton split into two.
Naturally, excitement filled her chest.
"I did it! I did it!"
Akio and Michael were stunned.
"You did it, Olivia," the big man said.
"Damn, honestly, I bet you'd fail again. Turns out I was wrong." Akio shook his head.
The girl jumped up and down with joy. Akio and Michael were also happy for her. Finally, she could kill her first monster.
However, that was just the beginning.
Amid their excitement, there was a sudden screeching sound. Then, the ship's bow began to dip into the sea, and water began to enter the deck. Instantly, panic gripped them.
"What's happening!"
"The ship sinks! The ship sink!"
"Shit!"
At that moment, the smile on Olivia's face vanished. The woman realized. She had not only managed to cut through one triton but also half the ship.
