In a Random Island, Runeth's Pocket Dimension.
Three human-like figures stood in an open area surrounded by countless Maple trees and were panting heavily. Opposing them stood a small skeleton and an undead knight. Unlike the normal skeletons, those two skeletons' bones were dyed entirely in black and red markings, giving off an eerie feeling to the opponents.
"Aren't these two skeletons look so familiar, Nicolaus?" A woman with snow-white hair asked in a cold tone. She had hooded blue eyes, silvery-white fox ears, olive skin, a duchess nose, and a silvery-white tail. She looked around 30 years old and wore a unique black beret, a blue coat, a silk scarf, white slacks, and suede boots. She was none other than Fennelis.
Next to her was a short girl with a loose grey gown. She stood tensely and was holding a black scimitar in her tiny hands. She appeared taller than an ordinary ten-year-old kid and looked more mature.
She was none other than Umi.
Meanwhile, a tall guy with a bearded face stood on Fennelis's left side and looked slightly aged. He had long black hair, thick eyebrows, an oval face, pale skin, and deep-blue eyes.
It was Nicolaus.
"I also have the same doubt, Lady Fennelis," Nicolaus said with a weary tone and gripped his long sword tighter. It had been over six months since they separated from Abium and were going through life-and-death training in this familiar pocket dimension.
Little did they know that only a few days had passed in the outside world.
'That darned goddess!' He cursed at her inwardly.
At first, Nicolaus thought she had teleported them into the woods next to his hometown.
But he never expected that she would once again teleport them back to the pocket dimension. They didn't even get the opportunity to ask any questions to the Mischievous Goddess.
'Well, thanks to her, my warrior rank has increased at an amazing speed and almost reached peak Tier-5.' Nicolaus muttered in a gloomy tone.
In truth, he had no choice but to increase his warrior rank if he wanted to complete all these missions and leave this pocket dimension.
Shaking his head, he looked at the blue sky and tried to look at the mysterious blue screen.
Due to the artificial mini sun obstructing his sight, he barely managed to see the words written in it.
...
[Mission: Kill all the undead skeletons.
Level- 25
Success- Unknown
Failure – Death
Number of participants: 3
The number of kills: 98 Undead Knights/ 100 Undead Knights.
Time Limit: 1 month, two days, 11 hours 20 minutes.]
...
"I think these two skeletons are the last ones for completing this twenty-fifth level," Nicolaus spoke out loud and gathered a fierce wind elemental energy around his body. A second later, an invisible barrier-like shield appeared around his body and formed a forcefield-like structure.
Simultaneously, he enveloped his sword in an intermediate sword aura and took a battle position.
After six months of struggle in this dimension, he had already advanced into a peak fifth-tier warrior and was on the verge of breaking through into the next tier. Moreover, he even managed to train his sword skill to an intermediate peak level.
As he was getting ready for the showdown, Fennelis transformed into beast form and covered her claws with icy elements.
Then, she looked at her daughter and spoke in a gloomy voice.
"Umi, we need your help to hold off that small skeleton for one minute,"
"Okay. I will handle that one." Umi spoke like a mature young lady, took a step forward, and dashed forward like a flash of lighting. Within two seconds, she arrived in front of the small skeleton and thrust her curved scimitar toward its bony chest.
Meanwhile, Fennelis and Nicolaus also moved forward to confront the tall, undead knight.
Shockwaves reverberated everywhere whenever their weapons collided with the undead knights, causing the whole surroundings to shake fiercely.
Boom! Crack! Thud!
As the fight continued, Umi quietly evaded the small skeleton's attacks and finally landed a heavy kick on the skeleton's neck and completely broke it. Although her control over her strength was still lacking, her physical attribute had already reached 9, making her invincible among all First-Tier Mages!
If Abium had seen her growth by now, he might have got a heart attack.
"Mama, I broke this skeleton's head," Umi said with a mischievous grin and shifted her gaze towards their direction.
In the meantime, Fennelis and Nicolaus also blocked the two-meter tall undead knight's broad sword and parried against it. Although Fennelis was pushed back by the undead knight's powerful strikes, she didn't lose her calm. She kept using her instinct for a few seconds and deliberately let her guard down.
Upon seeing the opportunity, the undead knight raised its broadsword over its skull and made a slash at her head to split her body into two.
But before the sword could reach her head, crystalline ice appeared out of nowhere and covered her body like a cocoon.
A bang echoed as the undead knight's broadsword collided with the crystalline cocoon.
"Now." Fennelis's cold voice echoed everywhere the next second.
Meanwhile, Nicolaus activated his [Lightning Steps] boots, turned into a flash of lightning, and appeared behind the tall undead knight.
A moment later, he covered his long sword with an intermediate sword aura, made a slash at its neck, and swiftly decapitated its head.
Thud!
A black skull rolled on the ground the next instant, leaving a corrupted magic crystal behind.
As the headless knight stumbled and fell, Fennelis dispelled the crystal cocoon spell using her spirit power and felt a surge of ice elements entering her body.
"I think a strange change is happening inside my body. If I'm not wrong, I might unlock the third spell model in the future." She closed her eyes and soon added with a smile.
"Glad that I brought the Spirit Awakening Manuel sooner and started practicing it all day."
In truth, she had never even heard of a Beastkin unlocking the sealed spell models in her entire life and thanked the Ancient Mage from the bottom of her heart.
At that moment, Umi quickly ran towards her mother and grabbed her waist.
"You did a good job, dear." Fennelis stroked her head and then looked at the sky.
"Finally!" Nicolaus also heaved a deep sigh and looked up at the sky.
The next instant, a rune magic circle appeared under their foot, followed by spatial disturbance.
The trio disappeared from that forest a moment later and reappeared in the same core room.
"How many points do we have, Lord Runeth?" Fennelis looked around slowly and soon asked as she saw a blonde-haired man with amber eyes standing a few meters away from them.
Meanwhile, Runeth looked deeply at the trio and spoke in admiration.
"You guys are indeed pure geniuses. You've grown so much without relying on artifacts and completed this mission in six months. Brilliant."
They have been saving those points in the past months for purchasing important things here.
[The total number of points: 237,000 points (5,000 for slaying 5,000 skeleton soldiers + 20,000 for slaying 10,000 Elite Golem Soldiers + 12,000 for slaying 4,000 Orcs + 100,000 for slaying 2500 corrupted Goblin knights + 50,000 for Slaying 50 Orc Lords + 50,000 for slaying 10 Dark Knights from the undead realm.)]
"I still can't believe we manage to kill this many creatures in a short amount of time." Fennelis rubbed her eyes and slowly turned her gaze towards Runeth.
"How is my soul, Lord Runeth? Is it healed yet?"
Runeth shook his illusionary head as he heard her question and responded.
"It's not an easy matter to heal your soul from the cursed effect, young lady. Your soul is still not strong enough to go through another breakthrough." He paused for a moment, moved towards the nearby potion section, and took out one 'Low-Tier' bloodline potion from the glass with a wave of his hand.
"Drink this only when you unlock all the first-tier bloodline spells." Saying so, he tossed it towards Fennelis.
Meanwhile, Fennelis caught the potion bottle, put it in her pocket, and soon noticed 10,000 points disappeared in a blink.
"I'll do as you say." She said solemnly, shifted her gaze towards Umi, and asked.
"What about her? Can she go through another breakthrough, Lord Runeth?"
On the other hand, Runeth quietly walked towards Umi, knelt a bit, and placed his illusionary palm on her forehead.
After that, he recited a strange chant in an unknown language and closed his eyes.
A few seconds later, he opened his eyes again and frowned.
"Strange. Your daughter's spirit power has increased exponentially and even reached 100 points already. It means she has already reached the same level as a normal Official Mage. What's more shocking is her soul almost appears good as new and has less to no curse effect."
"Is it due to Goddess-"
Before Nicolaus could finish asking the question, Runeth raised his illusionary hand and cut him off.
"Don't say her name casually, young lad. They are some dangerous beings, so mortals like you should stay away from their schemes." He gave Nicolaus a warning and then added with a sigh.
"As for your question, the answer is yes. That goddess must have erased all the evil curse power from Umi's soul. Still, she has to consume the 'Mid-Tier' potion if she wants to advance to the next rank."