"Huh?" Lila, who was crouching to pick up the loot, thought Kael was talking to her and glanced over her shoulder.
But Kael was looking at a different patch of grass entirely.
Hiding in the brush, Solrin’s heart skipped a beat. He found ?
But as a veteran lurker, he wasn't so noob who'd be baited so easily. No way. He's bluffing. That guy from Earthside must get ambushed all the ti. He’s just trying to spook people into revealing themselves.
Convinced of his theory, Solrin remained perfectly still.
Kael had hoped to ask the scout a few questions, but seeing the lack of cooperation, he closed the distance in a single bound. He reached the patch of grass, scattering a handful of fine powder from a pouch.
[Fluorescent Dust]:
Has a chance to reveal stealthed units. Success rate depends on the level difference between the users and the rank of the stealth skill.
The shimring dust hung in the air, slowly coalescing around the shape of a man: a Rogue, staring blankly at Kael.
Caught, the Rogue spun around to flee, simultaneously pulling a [Shadowlt Potion] from his belt to re-enter stealth. He was fast, Kael had to give him that.
Kael shook his head and raised his bow.
[Phantom Barrage].
-80,422
It was an instant kill.
"Grass is for archers, not rogues," Kael muttered, not giving the corpse a second glance.
From the mont he’d entered the Hidden Realm, Kael knew he’d have to deal with House Myrden. He could have gone on the offensive to hunt them down, but the realm was massive. Wasting ti to clear them out was inefficient, especially since they had plenty of scrolls to just re-enter a couple of hours later. It was better to stick to his own plan.
Seeing the damage number pop up in the distance, Lila instantly understood what had happened. She walked over to Kael’s side.
"What's the plan?" she asked.
"Ignore them. We're here to secure control of the Hidden Realm."
"Control? You an by killing the Ant Queen?"
Kael shook his head. "We'll see. Since this place is Tydrisa’s Quarry, there must be a way to stabilize it and prevent it from collapsing. Let's explore first."
"Right." Lila didn't press further. She knew a lot about Hidden Realms. Back on her ho server, players had successfully cleared three of them. Her own team had cleared two, and Draevan had cleared the third in a joint operation with Caleb.
She'd also read up on the clears. Nearly all Hidden Realms were either sealed off or simply collapsed after the final boss was defeated.
Only the Land of the Behemoth remained accessible. And that was only because Kael had found the Behemoth's corpse and, with Apollo's help, used it to anchor the dinsion. This place, Tydrisa’s Quarry, had to have a similar secret—a thod far more complex than simply killing the queen.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Let's go," Kael said. "House Myrden isn't strong enough to pose a threat to the main nest. We don't need to worry about them."
"Okay."
They set off again. Along the way, they eliminated three more squads of Carrion Ants and one of Leafcutter Ants, a haul that yielded two Ascendant items and seven gems. Thanks to their incredibly high Luck stats, one of the drops was a god-tier single-stat piece. It was warrior-specific, boasting 1000 Strength—a full 30% higher than the typical Ascendant item's values. Kael gave it to Lila imdiately.
Normally, gear of the sa level and quality had similar stat budgets. A level 30 Ascendant item, for example, would typically have a total of 500-600 points spread across the five core stats.
But high Luck could dramatically inflate those numbers, pushing them past 1,000. Conversely, if Luck is negative, the values may fall below the average. Luck could also affect the type of gear that drops based on the party's composition: a party with more mages would see more Intellect and Spirit items, while a warrior-heavy group would find more Strength and Stamina gear.
A truly god-tier item wasn't about having the highest total points, but about having the perfect allocation. A level 30 Ascendant heavy armor with 600 points split between Intellect, Spirit, and Agility was vendor trash, since no class that used those stats could even wear heavy armor. But if those 600 points were allocated to Strength and Stamina, it was a solid piece.
The true jackpot was getting all 600 points dumped into a single, perfect stat. 600 Strength for a DPS warrior, or 600 Stamina for a tank—that was the dream.
The new ring Lila got was exactly that.
[Ascendant Ring of the Leafcutter's Strength]: Level 30
Strength 795
[Passive]: 20% chance to deal 150% critical damage.
A level 30 Ascendant ring with a single, massive Strength roll and a critical damage proc. While 150% wasn't a huge crit modifier, with Lila's attack power already north of 25,000, it ant an extra 12,000 damage whenever it triggered. It was a significant boost to her overall DPS.
After a few more minutes of walking, the landscape opened up. A 500-yard square clearing appeared in the middle of the dense grassland, and at its center was the mouth of a cave just tall enough for a person to enter.
Lila's face lit up. "Is that the entrance to the nest? Should we charge in?"
Kael shook his head. "I don't think so. If it were the main entrance, it would be crawling with ants."
"Good point... So what's in there?"
"Let's wait," Kael said, sitting down on the ground without further explanation.
Lila remained standing, hefting Dragonbane as she cautiously approached the cave entrance. It was completely dark inside. She leaned forward, trying to peer into the darkness, but was imdiately hit with a system notification.
System: You have entered the lair of [Norlun] and are affected by the [Tydrisa curse]. Your health will decrease by 1% per second.
A bright red "-900" popped up over her head, and she scrambled back in alarm. At that rate, she’d be dead in under two minutes without even seeing what hit her. What a nasty curse.
Annoyed at being rebuffed so easily, Lila scowled. When that thing, Norlun, whatever it is, cos out, I'm going to kick its ass!
Putting her frustration aside, she took note of the system ssage and walked back to Kael. "There's a crazy curse in there called the Tydrisa curse. It drains 1% of your health every second."
"Yeah. I saw it online. So House Myrden guys tried to go in."
"So you already did your howork."
Kael didn't answer. He had, but his information ca from more than just a few forum posts.
They waited for nearly half an hour before a sound echoed from the cave. Lila held her breath, peering at the entrance. A creature with a long, pointed head erged from the darkness.
An anteater.
[Norlun (Lord-tier)]: Level 35
HP: 61,000,000
Physical Attack: 16,200
Physical Defense: 12,200
Magical Defense: 6,200
[Devour]: Has a chance to instantly consu ant-type enemies.
With a physical defense of 12,200, it was a wall that no normal player could hope to damage. Lila raised her weapon again, readying herself for the boss fight. But before charging in, she glanced back at Kael.
He wasn't looking at her, or at the boss. He was looking toward the tall grass on the far side of the clearing.
Lila followed his gaze and saw it too—the rustling, the faint sounds of movent. They had a lot of company.
So they’re finally making their move.
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