CHAPTER 95: INTRUDER

The guard stretched out his right arm to the side, and within seconds, the spear lodged in the door’s surface flew straight back into his hand. He started walking toward Shaan, swinging his spear with purpose.

"D-damn it. I have to beat him."

Shaan pushed himself up, ready to launch a counterattack. But the guard wasted no time and hurled the spear straight at him. Shaan quickly rolled to the side and dodged it just in time.

"Damn it! It was so close." Shaan let out a deep breath. "I have no idea what would’ve happened if that spear had hit me."

[Shaan!] Robin slowly stood up from the pile of crystal shards that had buried him. [This guard is tough. We need to come up with a way to take him down.]

"Yes, but- Oh, crap!"

The guard dashed forward at high speed, unleashing a flurry of punches at Shaan. Shaan blocked each strike using both of his short swords. Darn it, this guard’s strength surpasses the red-robed guardian.

’I must power up if I want to beat this creature. I must!’

[Aspira Ignis’ ability successfully activated.]

[Aspira Ignis’s remaining power effect: 39 percent.]

’I must fully utilize Aspira Ignis’s ability before it runs out.’

Shaan pushed the guard with all his might and immediately counterattacked the guard. He swung his sword quickly at the guard’s head, but the guard jumped and managed to avoid his attack.

’Argh, damn it!’ Shaan grumbled in annoyance. ’This guard’s movements are very fast, and I don’t expect him to be able to dodge my attacks at all.’

[Shaan, be careful. This guard’s movements are very fast, and we have to be careful.]"

"Yes, I know. The only way to keep up with him is to increase my speed."

[The effect of Aspira Ignis’s power remains 32 percent.]

In just a matter of seconds, Shaan could feel the flow of mana rushing from his body. He focused all his mana into his legs and instantly increased his speed to twice as fast as before.

’Cling! Cling!’

Shaan managed to deflect all of the officer’s attacks and at least began to match his speed. He then launched his counterattacks continuously until the guards’ defenses began to weaken.

’Good, eat this bastard!’

[Aspira Ignis’s remaining power effect: 28 percent]

Shaan poured all his strength into one powerful strike, breaking through the guard’s defenses at last. He followed up with a rapid flurry from both of his short swords, cutting deep into the guard’s body.

Shaan unleashed all his power and delivered a crushing punch toward the guard, finally breaking through his defense. Without hesitation, he swung his dual short swords so fast that the guard’s body was wounded.

"Robin Hood, now use your explosive quiver!"

Hearing Shaan’s command, Robin Hood swiftly drew his bow, and his arrow shot rapidly toward the guard. In an instant, the arrow exploded right in front of the guard, sending him flying backward with great force until his body slammed into one of the sharp ends of the giant manacite crystal nearby."

[You kill 1x Homonculi guard.]

[You get x1 Homoncrys] i

[Your bond increases by +1]i

"Wait, my bond only increases by +1?" Shaan shook his head. ’Jeez, b-but how come? Seriously, this thing is so strong that I almost died,’ Shaan scratched his head in annoyance. "I’ll try to get the information about why my bond only increased by 1."

[Killing a homunculus or an artificial creature grants little to no bond. This happens because artificial beings created through alchemy or magic lack a full soul or natural spiritual connection, so the bond formed is minimal or even nonexistent.]

’Not at all?’ Shaan paused for a moment. ’Oh, it seems I ’m lucky enough to get an extra bond,’

he smiled. ’Now it’s time to see an explanation of Homoncrys.’

[Homoncrys: Homoncrys is a synthetic crystal created through a high-level alchemy process. This crystal is not only an energy source, but also an artificial soul that allows the homunculus to think, move, and obey orders. Its color is often described as a dimly-lit purplish blue, with veins of gold in it. Homoncrys have a low market value at all and are only used to enhance certain items."]

’Oh, so actually indirectly killing a homonculus doesn’t have enough impact to be significant.’ Shaan stroked his chin. ’I see.’

[Shaan!] Robin Hood ran over to him. [Hey, that was a very good combination of attacks. We can defeat that bastard easily.]

"That’s right, I agree with what you’re saying." Shaan nodded his head. "But we can’t rest on our laurels just yet; we need to leave this place before the other Homonculi guards show up and catch us."

[I get it.]

They both quickly walked over to the door and tried to push it with all their might. Slowly, the door finally opened, revealing a path that led somewhere. However, the path was very dark, and Shaan himself could not see his surroundings properly.

"Okay, now all I need to do is walk very slowly and steadily," Shaan said, slowly touching one of his feet to the ground. "I just want to make sure that up ahead, there won’t be any holes or anything like that that could make me fall for-"

As soon as his foot touched the ground, a faint blue light appeared ahead of him. Strangely, more blue lights lit up one after another, rapidly approaching Shaan, until he could see the area around him.

’What is that light?’

At first, Shaan had no idea where the blue light was coming from, but when he decided to get closer to the blue light, he finally knew that it was coming from the manacite crystal on the ground.

[Hey, look at that. At least now we can see the passage better.]

"That’s right, and I ’m just curious where this passage ends."

[Then, we should follow it,] Robin Hood said enthusiastically. [Come on, we have to keep moving.]

Without lingering, they continued to follow the path until they finally saw a circular room with a hole in the center like a giant ring. Surrounding the room was nothing but a series of stone steps that curved around the shape of the room.

"Robin Hood, I’m sure we’ll be able to get out of-"

’BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!’

’Warning. Intruders detected in the underground mine area. I repeat, an intruder was detected in the territory of the underground mine. All guards must capture the intruder right now!’

"Oh, no, no. This is serious." Shaan’s face paled, a tense look on his face. "Robin Hood, we need to get out of here before we get caught right now!"