Feeling a bit jealous knowing how easy the class quest that these younger adventurers would have to face compared to the one that waited for him after he reached level 99, Verdell found his thoughts momentarily wandering away from the battle around him-
Thud~
Something that ended up costing him dearly, as one of the swamp monkeys managed to take advantage of his momentary distraction to close the distance and outright throw itself into him as it was cut down by another adventurer in the process. Knocking the smaller dwarf to the ground in the process, as the swamp monkey wasn’t exactly small by any means and could even by considered a head taller than him.
Pain...
Only able to think one simple word to describe what he was feeling as he lay on the wet muddy ground while the other adventurers around him kept fighting, Verdell found himself somewhat unwilling to get up again. Knowing that he would just end up having to fight back against a seemingly endless swarm of swamp monkeys that increased in size with each one of them he killed.
Of course, this kind of thought didn’t last long and was at most a fleeting one that was quickly brushed aside by his will to survive, as he jumped back on his feet the next second and once again began utilizing his fire magic to help the other adventurers locked in battle...
Fwooooosh-!
Only this time around, he decided to utilize one of his more complicated spells that took far more effort to use, a giant ring of fire that directly surrounded the entire group and the land they were standing on while at the same time also forcing back the swamp monkeys.
"I hate this spell..." But only a second after surrounding his teammates with a ring of fire, Verdell found himself collapsing onto the ground out of exhaustion, the ring of fire spell having drained all his mana, which was the main reason he didn’t want to use it unless absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, looking at how exhausted everyone else was and knowing that it would be impossible for everyone to fend off the swamp monkeys for much longer without casualties emerging, he forced himself to use this spell to buy everyone a bit of time and potentially even scaring off the swamp monkeys in the process.
[*Ding* Reached level 99]
Unexpectedly, as he collapsed to the ground from exhaustion and was about to focus all his attention on trying to recover as much strength as possible before the ring of fire disappeared and the swamp monkeys attacked again, a notification appeared in front of his eyes. Announcing to him that the ring of fire had killed enough swamp monkeys to push him past level 98 and into level 99. Officially reaching the final level before level 100 and unlocking the class quest he would have to complete before he could reach level 100.
Great as this was and overjoyed as he might have been under normal circumstances, he couldn’t exactly summon any form of excitement at finally taking this step and reaching the very pinnacle of the A Rank, just a single step away from the S Rank.
After all, his life was still very much in danger and from what little knowledge he had about the class quest he would have to undertake to reach the S Rank, it wouldn’t be anything simple that would allow him to instantly reach the S Rank and increase the chances of him and his teammates making it through their current situation.
Still, out of curiosity and knowing that taking a quick look at what class quest he had ended up with wouldn’t slow down his mana recovery speed, he still decided to check out the class quest he would have to complete before he would be able to reach level 100. Part of him also feeling hopeful that he would end up like one those legendary lucky individuals who ended up with class quest to the S Rank that could be easily passed through with little to no effort...
[Trial of the Dragon Seeker]
[You have been chosen by the Dragon Seeker to fulfill his lifelong wish to find a dragon and befriend it. The dragon can’t be a juvenile or young dragon. Complete this simple wish and the path forward will be clear.]
[Befriend a dragon: 0/1]
[Pet a dragon: 0/1]
[Ride a dragon: 1/1 (Complete)]
Reading through the class quest he would have to complete to reach the S Rank, Verdell could not help silently closing his eyes as he sunk back into the with a look of helplessness plastered all over his face.
Not only was the class quest he found himself having to accomplish not a simple one that he would be able to breeze through with little to no effort, but it instead turned out to be amongst the most difficult class quests he had ever heard about.
The trial of the Dragon Seeker wasn’t an unknown class quest, as he himself had heard about it from others, but those who faced this class quest were normally S Rank Adventurers seeking to reach an even higher level. The few times it had emerged as a class quest for A Rank Adventurers, those adventurers had mostly given up on future advancement and decided to retire instead of risking their lives trying to complete it.
After all, befriending a dragon is already a close to impossible task, let alone allow you to pet or ride it.
Some had attempted catching a dragon and forcibly clearing the class quest, but this proved impossible as dragons were amongst the most stubborn of monsters and were considered impossible to tame. Completing the riding and petting part of the quest might be possible through force, but the befriending part of it remained impossible to most, with only a rare few individuals ever being recorded as having cleared this unique and close to impossible class quest.
Faced with this kind of class quest, even if he had already managed to complete part of it through sheer coincidence, left Verdell feeling like the world around him was already about to collapse. After all, he understood very well that even if he managed to successfully survive and escape from the fifth floor of the dungeon, there was little chance of him succeeding in overcoming the class quest that now stood before him like an insurmountable mountain.
He did of course think about Scaly, as it was clear from the completed part of the class quest that she fit into the criteria of dragon that could be befriended to complete the class quest, but considering the countless adventurers seeking to obtain the dragon slayer title chasing after her along with him currently being stuck on the fifth floor of the dungeon, he wasn’t exactly hopeful about overcoming his class quest.
"Are you okay? That ring of fire... Did you overexert yourself?" Maybe having sensed the somewhat depressing mood around him, one of the adventurers sitting down next to him to recover her strength as well while the fire ring was still around gently nudging his shoulder before asking him in a somewhat worried tone.
"No... Just exhausted as I burnt through all my mana creating it..." Smiling somewhat awkwardly in response, Verdell quickly brushed it off before he focused his attention back on recovering his mana in preparation for the time when the ring of flames guarding all of them fizzled out.
Giving him a somewhat worried look in response, the other party ultimately just nodded her head before she too focused on recovering as much strength as she could with the time that the ring of fire had bought them.
Like this, a tense half hour flew by with no one saying anything as everyone focused on recovering as much strength as possible in preparation for what they were going to face once their protection disappeared-
Fwooosh~
But, as the flames ran out of mana to fuel them and vanished into thin air, the swamp monkeys that everyone had expected to jump forward to once again attacked them, were gone.
The entire situation caught everyone off guard and made them worried that a stronger monster might have appeared and scared off the swamp monkeys, but as another half hour flew by without another powerful monster emerging to attack them, everyone began to relax as they realized that the swamp monkeys had truly left.
Concluding that they had either been scared away by the fire ring or some other powerful monster that happened to pass by without targeting them.
No matter what the true situation was, it was great for them, as they no longer had to face off against an endless swarm of swamp monkeys.
The only problem that remained was that they weren’t any closer to finding a path to the fourth floor of the dungeon and out of the fifth floor of the dungeon. Meaning their aimless search for such a path through the deadly fifth floor would have to continue after they fully recovered their strength...