Chapter 17: Victory

'What in the..?' Aria frowned.

Sadly, she was also rendered unable to move.

She could only use her eyes to try and decipher the situation.

'Stopping time is impossible. Not even I can do it!' Aria was indignant over the events.

'What do I do here?' Aria debated.

Before long, a notification came from the System, giving her a new information to focus on.

[Skill obtained: [Hymn of Life].]

Aria widened her eyes when she saw the notification.

Along with it, time started to flow once more.

The Ogre's stone was already halfway to its destination.

She didn't have an analysing skill, so she wasn't even able to know the specifications of the skill.

But everything that happened pointed to her wanting to trigger the skill.

"[Hymn of Life]!!" She shouted.

[Skill [Hymn of Life] activated. One fatal blow will unconditionally be absorbed by the skill.]

[Cost: Complete vulnerability for three hours. Detail: <Player>'s health will stay at 100. <Player>'s mana will stay at 0.]

The ogre's stone landed on her and pierced her body.

At that moment, she could feel every single fiber of her body tingling in shock. Her eyes widened, looking at her abdomen that was shredded by the large stone. Her lower half was severed from her top half. It was firmly lodged in her.

A gruesome scene.

After a few seconds, there was still no pain. Just an absurd amount of energy that began pouring out like a waterfall.

A bundle of bright light radiated from within her body. The bundle broke into strings of the same light, enveloping her like a cocoon and shutting her off from the world.

Inside the bundle, she felt herself be 'repaired'. Like time was turning itself back. Resetting her condition to before the stone cut her in two. Her body parts were mended back together.

Her mana depleted down to 0. Her health also went down. In the blink of an eye, the red indicator for her health had settled itself nice and snugly on the number 100.

The Ogre was in the verge of death even before he threw the stone.

That was his last attempt at harming the two intruders who came into his lair.

He saw Aria, who looked close to death after his attack landed. He thought that he had successfully won over at least one life. It drew out a maniacal laughter from him, who bent over his back to roar once more before it swayed from left to right from all the pain that weighed in on him.

The ogre's last struggle ended as he was taken out by the bleeding effect.

He collapsed on the ground and made a heavy sound.

The System notification quickly popped up, signifying his death.

[Level C Red Ogre <Mad> successfully killed.]

[Experience points increased by 60000.]

[Level increased by 1.]

[Status points restored.]

[Dungeon Clear: Red Ogre (83% damage dealt)

Clear Conditions: Dungeon Boss Red Ogre (1/1).

-Since the dungeon was cleared by two individuals, the basic rewards will be shared accordingly to their contribution percentage.

-Since the <Player> contributed more than 50% damage to the dungeon, the rune will go to them. The <Player> may choose to share the items if needed.

-Since the <Player> contributed more than 50% damage to the boss, the items will go to them. The <Player> may choose to share the items if needed.

Completion Rewards: [C-ranked Dungeon Rune], [Halvargg (Longsword)], 20.000 SP, 15000 EXP, +10 Status Points.]

[Level increased by 1.]

'Again with the SP.' Aria hadn't found out how to use the so called System points yet.

She allocated the newly obtained status points and proceeded to check the details.

Aria Schreiner | Lv.15

Title:

- [Player]

Job:

- [Adapter] | Stage 2

EXP: 25893/75840

HP : 100/3025

MP : 0/355

System Points(SP) : 20.000

Strength: 33

Vitality: 25

Agility: 25

Intelligence: 32

Dexterity: 25

Remaining status points: 10 (+10)

Skill:

[Tempered Body Lv. MAX]

[Hymn of Life Lv.-]

'..It's over.' The skill [Hymn of Life] covered her ass, but still made her feel like she was just thrown off a cliff and was miraculously saved by an unknown entity.

The strings of energy embraced her. It was warm and comfortable.

Like she died for one second and was brought back to life right away.

Her health and mana took a nosedive as a result, but her life was saved.

Three hours.

The vulnerability effect would stay for three hours.

Even the level up didn't make the number rise back.

As the skill said, she was vulnerable to literally anything at this point. Her body felt as weak as a newborn baby, which was obviously not a good sign at all.

'Scary.' Aria frowned.

If the Ogre still lived on, even a stray pebble from him would kill her. She was sluggish all over, she couldn't think very well. Not to mention the 0 mana.

Two notifications rang after that, but she wasn't in the prime condition to think about it.

[You are able to conquer this dungeon.]

[You are able to absorb its core.]

"Huh?" The System was yet again giving her sudden announcements without attaching proper knowledge.

She didn't know what the two options meant.

It really brought her to wonder and doubt her own intelligence. Was she supposed to understand this?

"Conquer seems too troublesome for now... Let's try absorbing the core first." Aria mumbled tiredly.

[Choice confirmed.]

As she said that, the 'rune' that Yoo Jin mentioned before appeared before her. It was in the shape of an odd keystone, which had engravings on it and shone with a warm purple light.

The rune approached Aria and stopped before her.

Then, the System rang once more.

[Absorbing the core of a low tier C rank Dungeon.]

[Obtained a new Skill: <Scarlet Vines>.]

"..!" Aria was surprised.

A new skill was obtained just like that.

'So I'm not getting the rune, but instead, I'm turning it into a skill directly?' Aria was amazed.

She had heard from Yoo Jin that runes only served as temporary power for those who had it. So far, only a few people have managed to incorporate the rune into their attire. For now, most people had to bring it everywhere with them, which was rather impractical.

As for her, she absorbed the rune itself. Instead of borrowing the power invested in the rune, she took it all.

The power was inside her now.

If this was the case, then she could grow so much more than her peers.