Crack!

  A sharp crack rang out, and a damage number of 425 floated up above Yukina's head.

  With a Mage's naturally frail constitution, Yukina couldn't withstand the hit at all, her HP dropping to critical levels in an instant. She scrambled backward, chugging a health potion while letting out a soft gasp and raising her staff, a blazing red Flame Shield blooming around her body.

  It was only then that Kiriya got a clear look at the monster that had ambushed Yukina, a Shadow Wraith Assassin.

  He couldn't see the monster's exact stats, but the sudden tension on Yukina's face was more than enough to tell him its attack power was nothing to scoff at.

  Yukina sidestepped to put distance between herself and the Shadow Wraith Assassin, casting an instant Ice Spike. Frost wrapped around the assassin's body in an instant, its movement speed plummeting. It could only swing its dagger wildly in vain, unable to get within arm's reach of Yukina at all.

  Kiriya followed up at once, loosing a Frost Arrow. With the double slow effect, the Shadow Wraith Assassin was completely rooted in place. Mere seconds later, it was pummeled to the ground by a barrage of Fireballs from Yukina, dropping a pile of silver coins.

  Kiriya bent down to scoop up the silver coins from the ground, saying offhandedly in warning. "The mobs here pop up out of nowhere, Yukina. Keep that Flame Shield up at all times."

  Yukina pouted, a look of exasperation on her face. "I can't. The Flame Shield burns through mana way too fast. It chews through an entire 500 MP potion every minute."

  Kiriya smiled, soothing her. "It's fine, just keep it up. If you die and lose a level, it'll cost you way more in the long run. Don't worry, I've got a full stock of mana potions on me too. We've got more than enough supplies."

  A bright smile spread across Yukina's face at once. "Alright then!"

  The faint glow of the Flame Shield stayed lit around Yukina, and Kiriya let out a quiet breath of relief.

  Even if the Shadow Wraith Assassins had brutal attack power, they could never one-shot him. At Level 27 now, his HP was nearly 1000 points, giving him more than enough room for error.

  The first floor of the Skeleton Cave only held two types of mobs, Shadow Wraith Warriors and Shadow Wraith Assassins. They lurked hidden in the darkness, only revealing themselves when a player drew near, which caused the pair a fair bit of trouble.

  Kiriya mulled it over silently. As a leather-clad Archer, he was already finding this tricky. A Berserker in a full set of Bronze-Tier plate armor would have around 350 Defense, and would take no more than 150 damage per hit from a Shadow Wraith Warrior's 320 max attack.

  Even so, with their brutal combined damage output, clearing the first floor still went incredibly smoothly.

  As they stared at the scattered monster remains across the floor, Kiriya's experience bar skyrocketed, pushing him straight to Level 28. Yukina also finally broke past Level 30, advancing to Level 31, her eyes crinkling with joy.

  Staring at the dark stone stairs leading down to the second floor, Yukina gave Kiriya's arm a light nudge and said softly. "Kiriya, you go first."

  Kiriya had no reason to refuse, of course. The woman before him was not only his direct superior but also the young mistress of Blue Star Group. If he offended her, this brand-new job of his would likely go up in smoke.

  He stepped forward to the stone stairs, carefully making his way down, with Yukina following close behind, her small, pale hand lightly clutching his arm.

  A faint flutter stirred in Kiriya's chest, and he thought to himself in amazement. How is it that this adorable, sweet girl is the number one female mage in Eternal Art Online? It's insane. All the male Mage players out there are fucking useless.

  Clack!

  Kiriya's boot hit the stone floor of the Skeleton Cave's second floor, and faint light bloomed around them at once.

  The spacious hall was packed with mobs. Unlike the stealth mechanics of the first floor, this level still held the same mix of Shadow Wraith Warriors and Shadow Wraith Assassins, but their levels had jumped drastically to 36. Yukina could just barely make out their stats, and Kiriya knew full well that by the third floor, the two of them would be flying blind.

  Kiriya carefully loosed an Armor-Piercing Arrow, pulling a single Shadow Wraith Warrior toward them.

  Yukina immediately followed up with an Ice Spike to slow it, then unleashed a barrage of Fireballs. More often than not, the Shadow Wraith Warrior was already dead at their feet before it could even get close.

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  Now and then, Yukina would misjudge a target and pull two mobs at once. The pair would scramble to chug potions and reposition, but they always managed to take the mobs down without any major mishaps in the end.

  Before long, the two had fallen into a steady rhythm, able to lock onto the same target with perfect precision without exchanging a single word.

  The Level 36 mobs gave an incredible amount of EXP, and their experience bars climbed steadily. Yukina smiled and said. "If we clear out every last mob on this floor, I should hit Level 32 easily."

  Kiriya teased her. "Take it easy, don't level up too fast. I don't wanna be left in the dust."

  Yukina giggled softly. "You've got the Silver-Tier Bow of Glory and Armor-Piercing Arrows. You could solo grind here all by yourself if you wanted. If anything, I should be worried about you leaving me in the dust."

  "We can just grind together from now on." Kiriya smiled, and Yukina nodded slightly in agreement.

  Just then, another Shadow Wraith Warrior came charging toward them, its heavy sword scraping along the ground with a menacing roar.

  Yukina's Ice Spike struck it dead in the chest, and Kiriya's Armor-Piercing Arrows slammed into it one after another, dealing massive burst damage.

  Before the Shadow Wraith Warrior could even reach them, it let out a low guttural roar and collapsed into a pile of shattered bones, dropping a handful of silver coins and a piece of plate armor.

  Kiriya snatched up the armor at once and checked its stats.

  [Vengeance Chest guard] (Bronze-Tier · Plate Armor)

  Defense: 72

  Strength: +8

  Required Level: 30

  Unidentified

  Yukina leaned in for a look and gasped in amazement. "Wow, that defense is insane! Once it's identified, it might even break 100 points!"

  Kiriya nodded with a smile and immediately opened a trade window, placing the armor inside. But Yukina canceled the trade in a split second, smiling. "What am I gonna do with plate armor? I'm a Mage."

  "I'm an Archer, I can't wear this either," Kiriya said with a sigh.

  Yukina's eyes lit up with a mischievous glint, and she smiled. "Then we'll hold onto it for now. Once we get back to town and identify it, if the defense is over 100, it's mine. If not, it's yours. Fair enough?"

  Kiriya was lost for words, thinking to himself dryly. Lina's older sister was just like her, impossible to read.

  He said nothing more, tucking the armor straight into his inventory.

  There were a little over 500 mobs total on the second floor. Even with how fast the two of them were killing them, it would still take two or three hours to clear the whole floor. To make matters worse, the mobs were packed tight around the entrance to the third floor. There was no way forward without killing every last one of them.

  Thankfully, the mobs here had a slow respawn rate, roughly once every six hours, which gave the pair a chance to catch their breath. Otherwise, they'd be killing nonstop with no end in sight. That said, grinding nonstop wasn't the worst thing in the world. Not only did it give massive EXP, but there was also a chance to drop high-level gear.

  The only downside was the abysmally low gear drop rate. The Level 36 mobs were 8 levels higher than Kiriya, and after killing hundreds of them, this single Bronze-Tier piece was the only drop they'd gotten. If they'd been killing mobs at their own level, they probably wouldn't have gotten even this.

  Even so, the value of this Level 30 Bronze-Tier piece was immeasurable. At this stage of the game, most Level 30 players were still wearing Black Iron-Tier gear around Level 15. Getting their hands on Level 30 Bronze-Tier gear was next to impossible, save for elite players like Yukina.

  Kiriya wondered silently. Her full Flame Set was probably obtained through a rare stroke of luck, just like his own gear.

  Before long, the pair had cleared out the last few mobs on the second floor.

  Kiriya hit Level 29 just as he'd hoped, his experience bar sitting at 50%. Yukina advanced to Level 32, but she admitted frankly that even if they cleared the first and second floors all over again, it probably wouldn't be enough to push her to Level 33.

  Kiriya couldn't help but sigh. Leveling up in the late game really did get harder and harder.

  Next up was exploring the third floor. The Skeleton Cave had five floors total, and the pair had already explored two-fifths of it.

  The moment they stepped into the third floor, Kiriya froze. There were no Shadow Wraith Warriors or Shadow Wraith Assassins here. In their place stood a horde of Shadow Wraith Archers, each wielding a longbow.

  He couldn't see the mobs' levels at all, estimating they were at least Level 38, and they had an absurdly long aggro range. The moment the pair showed themselves, they'd drawn the aggro of at least five Shadow Wraith Archers.

  Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

  A rapid succession of arrows sliced through the air, and Kiriya's HP dropped by over 300 points in an instant. Thankfully, the attack power of a single arrow wasn't overly brutal, but being focused fired by multiple mobs at once would still be impossible to withstand.

  Yukina was in just as bad a spot. She'd been targeted by two Shadow Wraith Archers, their arrows slamming into her Flame Shield with sharp ricocheting cracks. The shield was already on the verge of breaking, and her HP had plummeted by half in seconds, putting her in a critical situation.

  Kiriya quickly loosed a Frost Arrow, slowing the Shadow Wraith Archers' attack speed.

  Meanwhile, Yukina began a long cast, and blazing light erupted around her as a rain of fire fell from the sky, landing perfectly at the feet of the five Shadow Wraith Archers. Roaring flames ignited at once, and damage numbers floated up continuously above the archers' heads, dropping them all to half health in the blink of an eye.

  "This Sea of Flames is insane!" Yukina said with a grin. The skill she was using was none other than the AOE skill book Kiriya had given her earlier.

  The beginner rank Sea of Flames only lasted around 10 seconds, so Yukina immediately began casting it again. Finally, amid the wall of fire, the five Shadow Wraith Archers let out a series of shrill death cries and collapsed to the ground, dropping a pile of silver coins as their bodies went still.

  Sadly, there was no way to grab the silver coins. A huge horde of Shadow Wraith Archers waited not far away, and anyone who drew near would be shot full of holes before they could take a single step.

  Yukina sighed with a regretful smile. "What a waste."

  Kiriya nodded in agreement. "Staying alive is what matters. The mobs on this third floor are way too strong. We're gonna struggle to kill them even if we try."

  "Yeah." Yukina nodded softly.

  Just then, voices suddenly echoed in from outside the cave.

  Yukina shot Kiriya a surprised look, her expression turning wary as she whispered. "Kiriya, other players are coming!"