The other adventurers were shocked. How had he killed the boss in one shot?
Melissa laughed nervously, saying that he was not bad. But what exactly had he done?
He ignored her and thought that maybe the sandworm magic stone hadn't even been needed. He took the crystal. There were still two left. Then he asked Melissa if she minded if he took the minotaur stone as well.
She confusedly answered him that she did not mind. And then he immediately rushed off to the next zone, and she looked after him in shock and thought: a level 24 person killed a level 45 boss in one shot. Wasn't an Artisan supposed to be a useless class?
They reached the bottom floor proper, the Paths of the Abyss. Beyond this passage there were two more zones. In both of them, they only needed to pass the mechanisms. Then they could collect the crystals.
Melissa noted that first they needed to overcome this mechanism. The path was broken. How should they proceed?
He answered her that everything was fine. The floor was just transparent. If you walked correctly on the transparent floor, you could reach the end.
Melissa asked what would happen if you went the wrong way. He nodded toward the other adventurers. Just now, one of them had dared to step out into this abyss, but there was no floor under his feet, and he fell.
Now Melissa understood what would happen. The standard strategy was to use something like a staff to determine the position of the floor. But if Allen showed that, people would just start copying him, and everything would end badly, because everyone would be pushing.
Then Melissa thought of something and suggested that he build a bridge. He answered her that if that were possible, everyone else would have flown across the abyss long ago using flight magic or something similar. He suggested that she try using magic.
She waved her hand, but nothing happened, which made her confused.
"Magic and skills are limited here," Melissa said. Did that mean he couldn't use his skill here either?
He confirmed this, and the girl immediately became upset, realizing that they had reached a dead end. But Allen still had one way.
There were two crystals left before the middle floor, and new creations couldn't be used here — but the inventory still worked. It was enough to create the necessary things in advance.
This item fell into his hands. Melissa tilted her head to the side with interest, wondering what it was, and he answered her. These were night vision goggles, created with the help of a magical bat stone, with which he would be able to see the invisible floor.
She said that if this was true, then it was simply amazing. But when had he even had time to make such a thing?
He answered her that while she was admiring the views from the hot air balloon, he had started creating.
She was surprised. Even she didn't know all the complex mechanisms of this dungeon. What kind of person was he?
Allen put on the night vision goggles and said that this device detected infrared light. Even if the floor was invisible, it could be seen. And indeed, he saw the way. Now they could move without problems.
Melissa didn't believe him and pretended to be delighted. And then Allen suddenly picked her up, which made her very nervous. He had decided to save time, and he ran straight into the abyss.
The girl waved her arms in fear, asking him to stop, and he told her not to talk, otherwise she would bite her tongue. He advised her to relax, after which he quickly ran across the abyss, which shocked the other adventurers, because in their eyes he was running straight through thin air.
Melissa had already started crying. She kept asking him to stop, but they had long ago crossed the abyss and gone into another room.
But there, too, a riddle awaited them. Two paths.
Allen said that both paths were correct. At the very end of each, there was a crystal.
She suggested that they split up, and he asked if she was angry about something. She irritably ordered him to shut up, and he, looking her up and down with a frown, said that he would gladly split up, but he had doubts they should go separately. It would be a problem if she died, because if she died, he wouldn't be able to get information about the assassins.
They took the right path, where a pendulum trap was prepared for them.
Melissa asked, puzzled, whether they would die if they fell there. He told her that it would definitely hurt if it hit them. And when she asked what they should do, he already had an answer prepared.
It was simple. They just needed to destroy it.
He took out a rifle and started shooting, shooting down the blades. The girl noted with a smile that skills could still be used here.
"Magic, too," he added.
She also started shooting at the blades, and they quickly passed this path. Finally, they reached the room with the crystal — the Hall of Cliffs.
The crystal was at the very top of the wall. Melissa immediately looked around in search of some kind of instant death mechanism, and Allen told her to try touching the wall. As soon as she touched it, she let out a disgruntled sigh, tinged with disgust. The wall was incredibly slippery and slick, and she asked irritably whether she really had to touch it.
And then a brilliant thought popped into her head. They could climb up without touching the wall, if he used the crafting skill.
Allen smiled and noted that she was right. It seemed she had finally grasped the versatility of the Artisan class.
She immediately covered her hand in fire and told him to hurry. Was he using a balloon to climb up here?
But that wasn't the case. A balloon would be overkill for this place. He had something else on his mind. An elevator.
A platform with railings immediately appeared beneath their feet. Melissa looked around in disbelief and asked what it was. He inserted a magic stone into the slot, pressed the lift button, and told her it was called an elevator. It moved up and down and could transport people and cargo.
She was delighted with his creations, and in the blink of an eye, they were at the top. She took the crystal. There was only one left, and Allen immediately decided to go for it.
The next room was filled with poisonous swamps. Melissa asked why there was such a thing inside a castle at all, and he said that the poison here was strong. Accidentally touching it could cause a status ailment.
She looked at him with a confident smile, wondering what item he was using this time, and he, grinning smugly, launched a boat into the water.
She seemed surprised, as was usually the case, and Allen immediately understood what she was thinking. He climbed into the boat, and she asked if it wasn't supposed to be some incredible, mysterious thing like before.
He asked in response why go so far, if a simple boat would do. Let her climb in already.
She remarked that it was somehow too mundane, after which she climbed into the boat and asked where the oars were.
He told her that this was where teamwork would be needed. She would be the engine.
She didn't quite understand what that meant, but when he explained everything to her, she fired wind magic. Allen had simply decided to use her magic as a driving force. She felt a little offended and asked if that wasn't too much of a burden on her. Allen ignored her. He was currently resting.
They finally reached the other shore and obtained the third and final crystal.
Melissa said that at first she had thought it was impossible, but even with two people, it was surprisingly easy.
He told her that it was natural, because the Artisan was the strongest class. He suggested that they continue.
She thought that the strongest thing here wasn't his class, but him. They had known each other for only a short time, but now she could say for sure: this man named Allen would become an adventurer whose name would go down in history.