World Awakening: The Legendary Player-Chapter 128: Illusion Magic

They found a mostly intact building to rest in. Nox sat on the floor, leaning against a dusty shelf of expired canned goods, while Serian and Mela kept watch by the shattered front window. The quiet after the chaos was almost deafening.

Just as he was about to doze off, a clean blue window popped into his vision.

[Rewards for Dungeon Event: Wave 1 have been calculated.]

[It is highly recommended that Player Nox formalize his party structure.]

[Party System Benefits: Shared EXP gain within a certain radius, party-wide buff skills, and access to future party-exclusive quests.]

[Forming a party will significantly increase the growth rate of all members.]

He read the message, his brow furrowing.

’Shared EXP? So if I kill something, they get a cut? That sounds like a ripoff.’

He looked over at the two elves. Mela was glaring out at the empty street, her posture rigid. Serian looked tired, but she was alert, her sword resting in her lap. He thought about it for another second. The old him would have told the System to shove it. But now...

’Ah, whatever. It’ll make them stronger faster. And stronger party members are less likely to get themselves killed and waste my time.’

"Hey," he called out, his voice making them both jump. "You two. I need you to do something."

Mela turned, her hand already on her pouch of needles. "What are you scheming now, human?"

"I am forming a party," he stated, getting to his feet. "You’re in. I need you to accept the invitation."

Serian looked at him, her head tilted. "A party? I believed we were already a party."

"No, this is an official thing," he explained, waving a hand vaguely at the air in front of him. "It’s a pact. From my sponsor. It links us, shares some of the blessings. We all get stronger, faster. Just say yes."

Mela looked deeply suspicious. "And what do you gain from this, human? Why would you share your power with us?"

"Because it’s more efficient this way," he said, the lie tasting like the truth. "Stronger allies means I don’t have to do everything myself. It’s just a pragmatic decision."

He sent the invitations, a simple mental command.

Serian nodded almost immediately. "I accept."

Mela hesitated for a long moment, her eyes narrowed as she tried to find the trick. Finally, with a frustrated sigh, she gave a stiff nod. "Fine. But if this is some kind of human curse, I will make you regret it."

Two more windows appeared in his vision, bright and final.

[Serian Feselian has joined your party!]

[Mela has joined your party!]

A new tab opened in his interface, showing the full party list.

[PARTY]

[Nox (Leader) - Lvl 35]

[Serian Feselian - Lvl 70]

[Mela - Lvl 50]

[Yeda - Lvl 23]

[Kendra - Lvl 20]

[Vasa - Lvl 19]

He stared at the last three names, his brain short-circuiting for a second. The numbers weren’t right.

’Wait, what? Level 20? Level 23?’ He remembered them being barely level 11 when he’d last checked. The jump was huge. He had expected them to be stronger, sure, but not this much stronger.

’They haven’t just been sitting around building a clubhouse,’ he felt genuine shock running through him. ’Those idiots have been fighting. A lot.’ He felt proud, really proud.

He dismissed the window, a small, unreadable smirk on his face. The game was getting more interesting than he thought.

The effect was immediate.

"What was that?!" Mela jerked back, her hand flying to her chest. A faint, silvery aura pulsed around her for a second before vanishing. "I feel... stronger. My senses are sharper."

Serian also looked at her own hands in surprise. "My mana, it feels deeper. More potent." She looked at Nox, her eyes wide with a question he had no intention of answering honestly. "Nox, this ’pact’ of yours..."

"Just a party buff," he said with a shrug, enjoying their confusion. "Told you it was a good idea. Now you can keep up without whining."

Mela looked like she was about to argue, but she could not deny the new strength flowing through her veins. She just settled for glaring at him.

He ignored them and turned his attention to his real reward. The dungeon mission was still active, but the side-quest of surviving the horde was complete.

’Okay, system. Pay up.’

A new series of windows appeared.

[You have received the reward for clearing the Sub-Objective: Zombie wave.]

[Reward: Phylactery Fragment.]

[This fragment contains a fraction of the Lich King’s power. It can be consumed or used in crafting.]

’A snack? Don’t mind if I do.’ He consumed it without a second thought.

[You have consumed the Phylactery Fragment.]

[Your affinity with Corrupted Mana has slightly increased.]

[Endurance has permanently increased by 10.]

He felt a cold, pleasant energy wash through him, settling deep in his bones. It felt good. He then focused on the main prize, the Unique Skill Box.

’Alright, show me the good stuff.’

[Unique Skill Box opened!]

[Congratulations! You have acquired two new skills!]

[Skill Acquired: Chains of the Abyss (Active) - Lvl 1]

[Description: Summon chains forged from void energy to bind a target. The strength and number of chains scale with the user’s Strength and mana control. Can be broken by overwhelming force.]

[Skill Acquired: Void Eater’s Gauntlets (Passive) - Lvl 1]

[Description: A passive enchantment for gauntlet-type weapons. Each successful blow landed on an enemy has a chance to siphon a small amount of their life force, restoring the user’s HP and Stamina.]

A vicious grin spread across his face. ’Chains and lifesteal? Hell. Yes. This is perfect.’ The frustration from the earlier fights, the feeling of running out of gas, started to fade. Now he had a way to stay in the fight longer, and a way to control the battlefield. This was a game-changer.

He felt a new energy humming through him, a desire to try out his new toys. He pushed himself to his feet and looked over at the two elves, who were still trying to make sense of their sudden power-up.

"Party time’s over," he announced, cracking his knuckles. He pointed a thumb toward the distant, ominous spire. "Let’s go kill a king."

They walked toward the tower for three hours, killing any zombies they found along the way. The process was simple, Nox would punch a hole through them with his gauntlets, Serian would slice them cleanly with her sword, and Mela would riddle them with needles from a distance.

The EXP was shared among them, which Nox found surprisingly efficient. Mela did not complain about the shared rewards, a fact Nox found even more surprising.

After a while, Serian, huffing, stopped. "Hey, is it just me, or is that thing getting further away?"

Nox stopped and squinted. The massive, dark spire did seem to be the same distance away as it was an hour ago. Maybe even further.

Mela also stopped, her eyes narrowing. "She is correct. The distance is not decreasing. This is some kind of illusion magic."

"Tch, so the dungeon is playing tricks on us," he grumbled. ’What a waste of time. I hate walking in circles.’

"So what is the plan, ’leader’?" Mela’s tone was full of sarcasm. "Are you going to punch the air until the illusion breaks?"

He ignored her. ’This is a pain in the ass. Why can’t anything be simple?’

’System, what the hell is going on? Why can’t we get to the tower?’

[The path to the Lich King’s Spire is sealed by a barrier of illusion. The barrier can only be dispelled by fulfilling a prerequisite condition.]

’A condition? What is this, a video game?’ He already knew the answer to that. ’Okay, so what’s the condition? Where do we have to go?’

[The source of the illusion is a subordinate commander, the "Grave Lord," who resides in the "Sunken Mausoleum" beneath the city. Defeating the Grave Lord and destroying his "Orb of Illusions" will dispel the barrier.]

The System helpfully provided a new marker on his internal map, pointing toward a large, collapsed section of the city that looked like a sinkhole. ’Great. A dungeon inside a dungeon. It’s dungeon-ception.’

He turned back to the two elves, who were watching him expectantly.

"Okay, I’ve got a new plan," he announced. "The tower’s a fake. A trick. We can’t get to it yet."

Mela crossed her arms. "And how did you come to this sudden realization, human? Did the wind whisper it to you?"

"My sponsor told me," he said flatly, not even bothering to make the lie sound convincing. "There’s another boss we have to kill first. Some ’Grave Lord’ guy in an underground tomb. We kill him, we break his magic toy, and the path to the real tower opens up."

Serian nodded. "It makes sense. A powerful spell would require a source. If we destroy the source, the spell will fail."

"This is ridiculous," Mela muttered, but she did not argue further. She had no better plan. "Fine. Where is this boss?"

He pointed toward a sinkhole. "That way. Looks like we’re going spelunking."

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