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Chapter 37: Artifact
"Good chance!"
Aiden immediately seized the opportunity, charging back into the enemy formation. His longsword danced, coordinating with Tifa's fist wind to begin the final harvest. With the assistance of Hyacine's powerful healing and crowd control, the remaining monsters were soon cleared out.
The battle ended, and tranquility returned to the cave.
"Phew... that saved us."
Tifa leaned against the wall, panting lightly. "Hyacine, your magic is amazing. Not only can it heal, but it can also attack."
"Hehe, it's all Little Ica's credit!"
Hyacine smiled and hugged the returning Pegasus, nuzzling it affectionately. "I'm just a logistics officer responsible for keeping the mood up."
"You're doing a lot more than just keeping the mood up," Aiden said as he walked over, rotating his now-healed left shoulder, praising her sincerely. "You're practically the lifeline of our Familia."
"Indeed." Robin nodded with a smile, looking at Hyacine with appreciation in her eyes. "With Miss Hyacine here, we can execute our tactics much more boldly."
The Focalors Familia, after welcoming this healing angel named Hyacine, had finally placed the last piece of the puzzle, becoming a complete team with offensive and defensive capabilities, as well as extreme endurance.
After a short rest in the cave, Aiden led his companions back. Leaving the dungeon's noise behind, the four dragged their tired but satisfied bodies out of Babel Tower just as dusk fell. However, the place they returned to was no longer their initial residence. With the addition of Hyacine, the Familia's membership had increased to five (including the main goddess Furina), making the original room feel crowded and inconvenient. So, with Eina's help, they rented a detached three-story house in the 7th District as the new base for the Focalors Familia.
The new home was spacious and bright, filled with the faint scent of wood and fresh paint. This made Furina exceptionally satisfied; she had even already designated a room on the top floor as her exclusive private chamber.
Back in the new home, after taking off their heavy equipment, everyone truly relaxed. Tifa consciously went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, while Robin began sorting the spoils of this adventure. Aiden sat on the soft sofa in the living room, his mind racing as he recalled today's battle.
Their exploration progress had steadily pushed to the 12th Floor. Further down lay the "Middle Floors," where the environment and monster strength would change drastically. But even at the end of the Upper Floors, Level 2 monsters had started to appear. The Kairagi: Fiery Might that had easily knocked him back and injured him was undoubtedly a Level 2 humanoid monster. Otherwise, with Aiden's currently solid ability scores, he wouldn't have been repelled so easily. Moreover, Aiden found that he encountered these powerful Kairagi quite frequently, while other adventurers seemed to rarely run into them.
This could be considered a good thing. Given the general strength of Upper Floor adventurers, if they frequently encountered such monsters, few would likely make it back to the surface alive. This was undoubtedly the influence of his skill, [Abyss Gazed Back]. He was like a magnet, attracting the Dungeon to breed more dangerous and "abnormal" existences right in front of him.
However, although the Kairagi: Fiery Might was tough, the item it dropped gave Aiden a huge surprise. He took an item out of the pouch at his waist. It wasn't a Magic Stone, nor was it a monster material. It was a peculiarly shaped flower that seemed to be condensed from stardust and glimmering light.
[Artifact: Adventurer's Flower]
This was the information visible to adventurers. This item, called an "Artifact," was obviously not a product of this world, but one of the "possibilities" brought about by his special skill. He tried wearing it on his chest, and a gentle power immediately flowed from the flower into his body. He could clearly feel that his vitality and durability had received a small but definite boost. The value of a treasure that could directly enhance an adventurer's strength was countless times higher than ordinary drops. If it were put on the market, it would likely drive all the Familias crazy. But the drop rate of these Artifacts was simply too low. Since arriving on the 12th Floor, he had killed no less than ten Kairagi, yet he had only obtained this single "Adventurer's Flower."
After a sumptuous dinner came the long-awaited Status Update session. After a week of high-intensity exploration, everyone's growth was visible to the naked eye. Furina excitedly took out the parchment used for recording and, as per custom, had the members enter the room one by one.
Name: Tifa Lockhart
Race: Human
Level: Lv.1
Basic Abilities:
• Strength: I-50 → F-350 (+300)
• Endurance: I-10 → H-110 (+100)
• Dexterity: I-32 → F-300 (+268)
• Agility: I-30 → F-350 (+320)
• Magic: I-28 → H-163 (+135)
Tifa's growth was as stable and efficient as ever. As a melee martial artist, her Strength, Dexterity, and Agility stats had received massive boosts.
Name: Robin
Race: Human
Level: Lv.1
Basic Abilities:
• Strength: I-21 → H-111 (+90)
• Endurance: I-28 → H-103 (+75)
• Dexterity: G-105 → F-356 (+251)
• Agility: G-160 → E-460 (+300)
• Magic: E-480 → A-890 (+410)
Robin's growth leaned more toward Magic; her Magic stat was already implicitly touching the edge of S-rank.
Name: Hyacine
Race: Human
Level: Lv.1
Basic Abilities:
• Strength: I-0 → I-20 (+20)
• Endurance: I-0 → I-32 (+32)
• Dexterity: I-0 → I-65 (+65)
• Agility: I-0 → I-75 (+75)
• Magic: I-0 → H-102 (+102)
Development Abilities:
• Abnormal Resistance: I
• Healing: I
Magic:
[We Who Fly Into the Dawn]
• Type: Life Summoning Magic · Medium-Long Chant
• Effect: Summons a lifeform from memory, the Pegasus "Little Ica." Little Ica's presence provides a continuous buff named [Rain Clears to Sun] to all teammates. Under this state, all members slowly recover vitality and stamina, and gain extremely high resistance to poison, curses, and other abnormal statuses. Additionally, under Hyacine's guidance, Little Ica can perform powerful instant healing on targets or manipulate wind elements for combat and crowd control.
• Chant: "Listen, to the whispers woven at the break of dawn and dusk—Oh spirit, gentle as ever within the rift of memories, please, once again, for me, for us, send down the cleansing rain, and hold up that clear sky!"
Skills:
[Dawn That Heals the World]
• Type: Passive Skill
• Effect: As long as Hyacine is in the party, provides a boost to the "Endurance" basic ability of herself and all teammates, and increases everyone's vitality and mental recovery speed. Automatically acquires the Development Ability [Healing].
[Rain Clears to Sun]
• Type: Passive Skill
• Effect: Increases resistance to all abnormal statuses for herself and all teammates, accelerates stamina and mental recovery. Automatically acquires the Development Ability [Abnormal Resistance].
[Mana Burst (Wind)]
• Type: Active Skill
• Effect: Able to convert her own magic power into pure wind element for release. Can be used for attack, defense, or support. When healing companions, wind elements can also be integrated into the healing process to accelerate recovery.
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