182: The Augury Tower (9) 182: The Augury Tower (9) It was inside a closed-off compartnt of the tent and guarded by two Gremlin watchguards, but taking care of them quietly was no problem, particularly with the noise reduction from Sneak.
I had already confird it over the past days, but these guys’ instincts and senses were nothing like the Protagonist’s harem from the Beast Tar Contract, or even mine now that I had Heightened Senses, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone noticing.
Swiftly after dispatching the guards, I entered the room and took the relic, depositing it in Storage without hesitation.
‘Finally…’ Letting out a deep sigh of relief, I had successfully completed the first part of the Objective, but I still couldn’t let my guard down.
There was the rest of the Objective to go, and I had less than two days to complete it.
Fortunately, I had been making sure to update the map every ti I let a Gremlin lead closer to their settlent, aning I knew roughly how far away I was from the starting temple, and more importantly, in what direction.
‘They ended up taking in a different direction from before, so it shouldn’t take as long to get back if I just go in a straight line.’ Because I had wasted so much ti just exploring aimlessly and dealing with the constant harassnt squads sent after , I now had to move faster than I would have liked, but there wasn’t anything I could do but deal with it.
At the very least, I figured if I ignore all distractions and head right back to the temple as soon as possible, I should still be able to make it before the Ti Limit runs out.
‘I’m not sure if the relic would stay in Storage even after I failed the Objective, but I don’t really want to risk finding out.’ That was another thing that occurred to , but because I already knew spatial storage magic like the Storage system wasn’t sothing unique to even on Earth, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be the case.
What’s more, although I personally didn’t believe it to be the case, it’s true that there was certainly a chance for the layout of the whole jungle to shift and change once the Objective was failed.
In that case, then not only would I lose the relic in my possession, but I would also need to spend over a day trailing Gremlins to locate their camp again before returning.
It wasn’t a super long ti, but now that my goal was to ascend the Tower as fast as possible to catch up with the Frontliners, any unnecessarily wasted ti was a hindrance.
‘With that said, I should probably get going quickly.’ Sneaking back out the way I ca, I successfully managed to exit the camp without alerting any Gremlins of my presence.
‘Good…
This stealth really is powerful.’ Recalling back to when I wanted to purchase so armour, eventually landing on the Draconic Shadow with the Librarian’s recomndation, I rembered focusing primarily on the protective aspect of the set, but now that enough ti has passed, I was truly beginning to appreciate just how useful the other aspects were proving, too.
Physical Regeneration Enhancent and Superior Presence Concealnt were two properties I was relieved to have access to, and not only that, but the Weight Reduction Enhancent property I forgot about was also great, allowing to move and act without draining as much stamina and energy.
They were all boons that allowed to get away with things ordinary Challengers wouldn’t, at least those who didn’t possess similar abilities from their Awakening.
I was only belatedly realising it, but I was already far stronger, and infinitely more capable than I was when I first killed the Hero, not to ntion the fact I hadn’t even been able to raise my physical standards beyond a regular human level yet.
‘And it’ll only get better from here…’ Feeling a smirk arise on my face behind the Villain’s Vizard, I ducked my head and booked it the mont I escaped the Gremlins’ base.
On my way back to the ancient temple, I was actually able to travel a bit faster now that there was no need to moderate my speed, aning I was able to return quicker than I first imagined.
Or well, I thought so―until I realised there was more of a need to take frequent breaks than I expected.
Travelling faster ant running out of stamina faster, and that ant I needed to rest more to recover.
Fortunately, because I knew roughly where I was going, I could pace myself without the worry that I might not make it in ti, and not only that, but I needn’t concern myself with the possibility of Gremlins chasing after ―even if they did, there was nothing they could do to stop .
Incidentally, the reason I wouldn’t use Sneak was the sa for why I didn’t use it to wait them out instead of hunting them down until now.
In short, because I still needed to go around and find the relic anyway, they would quickly locate no matter what I did, so waiting for them to give up finding was a waste of ti.
However, now that it didn’t matter even if they did find , I could move as I pleased.
I managed to arrive at the ancient temple by the end of the day.
My pace must have been faster than I thought even with the occasional breaks, perhaps a result of being invigorated by the idea that I’d be able to finally be done with this damn jungle.
Promptly diving through the temple’s top entrance the mont I arrived, I rushed through the various corridors and down multiple sets of broken stairs, brushing past the many old statues that were weathered away by ti and nature, soon arriving at the lowest level, the room I first spawned in.
As the altar at the end of the room appeared in my eyes, I clenched my fists, briskly approaching it.
Without hesitation, I summoned the stone orb from Storage, placing it carefully atop the altar right away.
Because the top of the altar possessed an indent in the shape of the bowl, the relic fit perfectly, as if it was always ant to be there from the beginning.
As expected, a notification appeared.
[Objective Complete] However, rather than celebrating, my first thought was that sothing was strange.
‘Usually, doesn’t it say ‘Floor Cleared’…?’ Before I had ti to even question the sudden change, more popped up.
[New Objective: Escape the ancient temple] [Ti Limit: 5 Minutes] “…What?” At that mont, the world around began to shake.
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