"So, we really are doing this, then?" Sighed Elicia, as we entered the Dungeon, shuddering slightly.
Fuck, it's cold in here.
It's the complete opposite of my last Dungeon, which was basically a sweltering desert. This one's a lot more frosty.
There was a layer of snow on the ground, though it wasn't as thick as the sand in that last Dungeon. The walls and ceiling were coated in a layer of ice, with several icicles across the ceiling.
The hoodie I picked is too thin, but fortunately, I've got a thicker one in one of the new sets of gear I bought.
As we began making our way into the Dungeon, I started to chant to open the slot in Treasury where I'd stored the hoodie-...
"Wait, hold on. Are you going to fight unarmed?" Suddenly spoke up Elicia with a frown.
Oh, right, guess I should equip myself before we run into the Monsters.
"No, of course not," I replied, taking off my hoodie before opening Treasury and swapping it for the thicker one, putting it on before taking out Desecrator and manifesting a copy of my gun.
"What the...?" She blurted out in disbelief, the others staring at me too, perplexed looks on their faces.
The gun came with a holster, which I latched to the left side of my belt, before swinging my blade across a couple of times.
"Uh...where did those come from?" Inquired Will, a bemused look on his face.
"That's a nice blade, did you get it recently? The gun's new too, you didn't have that during your final exam," Remarked Ferna curiously.
"Yeah, figured I'd widen my range of options a bit."
"W-Wait, hold on...are we just going to move past the fact that he pulled all those out of thin air?" Spoke up Elicia incredulously.
Hm, in hindsight, maybe I should've equipped myself ahead of time.
"Yeah, I say we do," I nodded, before continuing to head forward.
The others followed after me, not saying anything, but I could feel their stares boring into my back. I have no intention of holding back today, it's high time I fight freely and use my Skills without worrying about hiding anything.
"I sense six presences up ahead, fifty meters!" Called out Will, before adding, "Oh, wait, would you prefer that I didn't use my detection?"
"Hm...no, this much is fine. Thanks, I appreciate it," I called back, spinning my blade around a couple of times in anticipation.
It wasn't long before the Monsters came into sight, sharp, threatening snarls ringing out as they spotted us.
Goblins, huh?
This might be a good opportunity to test out my other Envy Skill. Steal was a massive game changer against the Greater Demon, so let's see how the other one does.
I strolled forward as the Goblins continued to growl and snarl, before sprinting towards me, rushing in wildly. As they closed in on me, a smirk spread out across my lips as I chanted...
"
A wave of energy erupted around me as I activated the Skill, the Goblins coming to an abrupt halt as they ran right into the wave.
They were quiet for a moment, before they began trembling in fear, terrified looks on their faces.
Nice, looks like it-...
Suddenly, the Goblins spun around and began to run away, crying out in terror as they raced away from me.
Wait, no.
"Shit," I muttered, sprinting forward as I drew out my gun and took aim, pulling the trigger before an excruciating screech of pain rang out as the Mana Bullet struck one of the Goblins' back.
It fell over and hit the snow with a thud, struggling to get back onto its feet before collapsing as I closed in on it and whipped my blade across, slicing through the nape of its neck and killing it.
"
Nice, they're showing no signs of breaking free of the effect anytime soon. Still, the effect won't last forever, so I should hurry up and kill them while I can.
I jogged over, before using Drain to consume their Mana, then rolled them over and sliced their chests open, taking out their Cores and using Devour to eat up their bodies.
I went back towards the first one I'd killed, swallowing up its corpse with Devour before stretching my arms up as I deactivated the Skill.
Okay, note to self, gotta be careful about how I use Spite.
It casts a wave of energy that cuts the stats of everyone who gets hit by it by twenty-five percent, that debuff lasts for five minutes. It also weakens the targets' willpower, essentially drawing out their cowardice.
That's why they ran away from me, though that effect is less effective on targets with strong willpower, or those that are significantly more powerful than I am.
The twenty-five percent decrease to all stats affects any target though, unless they have a resistance or immunity to status effects.
In reference to the passive Skills of Combatant-type Hunters, it's about half as effective on those with the High Status Effect Resistance Skill, and completely ineffective on those with the Status Effect Immunity Skill.
However, the Mid and Low Status Effect Resistance Skills aren't strong enough to even slightly weaken the effect. The same applies to Command, Lethargy, Slumber, Arouse and also my second Lust Skill.
I can cast Arouse on others, but it only has the aphrodisiac effect on them, it doesn't give them the twenty percent stat boost that I get when I use it on myself.
Lethargy did kinda work on Ariella the first time I sparred against her, despite her possessing Status Effect Immunity, but that was only because her Power Level was still relatively low back then, so that passive Skill wasn't in effect to its full extent.
I then glanced back as the others approached, a dumbfounded look on Elicia's face. Will looked pretty stunned too...even though he already knew the situation, guess it's not the same as actually seeing me in action.
Lector and Ferna looked a lot less surprised, but they weren't completely unruffled either, Ferna a bit less so than Lector.
Well, I am a lot faster and stronger than I was during my first raid that Lector supervised, and this is the first time I've openly used Command during a raid, and the first time using Spite, period.
"What...? How...? I have so many questions!" Elicia blurted out in bewilderment.