Chapter 354: Reaching Rank 3
After reluctantly accepting Alex’s explanation, the Headmaster asked another question.
"How long do you plan to stay here?" Professor Rowan asked.
"Actually, we’re conducting a very important experiment right now, Headmaster," Alex replied solemnly.
"An experiment? What kind of experiment?"
"My club is trying to test how strong this magical formation is in warding off the Undead. As you can see, it instantly annihilates Rank 2 Monsters, while Rank 3 Monsters and above are seriously weakened.
"I believe it can also reduce the strength of Rank 5 Monsters by half, but we still need to see if it will really work. You see, our Club goes on some expeditions, and there’s always a chance that we might encounter Undead Monsters during our explorations.
"As such, I have deemed it prudent to test how well this kind of formation works on Higher-Ranking Undead. When we determine the limit of the formation, we will be able to assess when we should run away or stay put."
Alex was so passionate that even the Headmaster was starting to believe him. In fact, the results spoke for themselves. The formation was indeed very effective against Rank 2 Monsters.
As for Rank 3, even a simple slap would be enough to kill those monsters since they could barely hang on after encountering the formation. Rank 4 Monsters were also seriously affected. Even though they could survive the formation, they were at most as powerful as Rank 1 Monsters.
The ancient runes that Nessia had learned from the Codex of Eternal Weave were far more effective than any runes known to scholars at the present time.
"So you plan to stay here until the formation loses its effect?" Professor Rowan inquired.
"Yes, Headmaster," Alex answered without hesitation.
Of course, he had no plans of telling Professor Rowan that he was waiting until he became a Rank 3 Oathkeeper.
If the Headmaster had known what Alex was thinking, he would have already dragged the young man out of the dungeon by force!
’I’m very close to reaching Rank 3.’ Alex clenched his fists. ’There’s no way I’m leaving now!’
Fortunately, the Headmaster was also very curious about the formation and went to talk to Nessia.
Since she had the highest score in the Solo Rankings, it was very obvious that she was the one responsible for the magical formation protecting everyone from the Undead Monsters.
Even the students and Professors watching the projection in the academy finally took notice of Nessia. Some even thought about how beneficial it would be to befriend her.
Alex was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. At least the Headmaster seemed to agree with letting them continue their so-called experiment.
The Rank 4 Death Knight had finally made its appearance, but it was easily defeated by Chuck and Dim Dim, who worked together to whack its head.
It was then that everyone truly understood how powerful Nessia’s formation was.
Their teeth itched when they saw how her formation reduced a Rank 4 Boss Monster to something so easily defeated by a few hits from Dim Dim’s Toy Hammer.
The Rank 3 Zombie Knights that had reached the First Floor didn’t pose a threat at all either. They all perished without much fuss, further boosting Alex’s experience gain.
Since these experience points were shared between his party members, all of them greatly benefited from it.
Just like Alex, Renard was also very close to reaching Rank 3, except he was a Berserker Juggernaut.
An hour later, Alex finally saw the notification that he had been waiting for.
———
< Congratulations! >
< You are now a Rank 3 Oathkeeper! >
< Rewards >
— 10,000 Arcana Points.
— Your Magic Stat will increase by 200 Points.
— You have unlocked the Skills, Mana Heart Oath [EX], Spike Shield [EX], Mirror Shield [EX]
———
< Mana Hearth Oath [EX] >
— Passive Skill
— Increase Mana Regeneration by 150%
— Once the Oathkeeper reaches Rank 4, the Mana Regeneration of this skill will increase to 300%
———
< Spike Shield [EX] >
— Active Skill
— Create spikes on your shield that deals 100% of your Strength Stat.
— If this skill is active when you use Shield Bash or Shield Charge, the damage is increased to 300%.
— The spikes will be destroyed after three uses. You can cast it once more when that happens.
— Once the Oathkeeper reaches Rank 4 the spikes on your shield would deal 200% damage to your Strength Stat.
———
< Mirror Shield [EX] >
— Active Skill
— This skill will reflect any magical spells or attacks that are Rank 1 spells and below back to their casters. (Example: Magic Bullets).
— Once the Oathkeeper reaches Rank 4, this skill will reflect Rank 2 spells and below back to their casters.
———
’Wow!’ Alex was quite surprised by the rewards.
Truth be told, he felt very limited by his Magic Stat since he would only get one point in magic for every three points in intelligence.
It wasn’t very cost-effective for him to dump stats in Intelligence because he wasn’t born with Magic Affinity.
However, now that he has an additional 200 Magic Points, as well as a skill that passively increased his mana regeneration, he would be able to utilize his skills better.
Also, since his reflection ability didn’t work against magical attacks, getting the Mirror Shield [EX] was a very lucky coincidence.
He had actually planned to buy the skill, Mirror Shield [EX], with the Super Rare Skill Book he had acquired. With this, he could choose another useful skill.
Last but not least was the Spike Shield [EX].
This was a skill that Alex had also longed for—he could just imagine coating his shield with steel spikes, then using it to bash people!
Yep, that would definitely hurt!
It would also increase the damage output of his Shield Charge, making it a very scary skill to possess.
’A Rank 3 Oathkeeper is no joke!’ Alex thought.
The young man was extremely happy with his new set of skills, which made him more confident in facing future challenges he could not avoid.
Now that he had accomplished his goal, he told his club members that it was finally time to leave, which made Professor Rowan and the Student Councillors sigh in relief.
"All of you, exit the dungeon and look for the other professors," Professor Rowan instructed. "I’ll deal with this Dungeon Outbreak so it will not endanger anyone anymore."
Since the students were leaving, there was no longer any need for him to hold back in cleaning up the monsters that were still heading to the surface.
Rank 4 Monsters didn’t pose a threat to most people, but Monsters that were Rank 6 and higher were a problem.
Although Professor Rowan still had his doubts about the whole situation, he had to deal with the Dungeon Outbreak first before anyone else got hurt.