Chapter 108: Activating the Token
For the first time, Gabriel’s calm façade broke when he realized how dangerously close the approaching voices and footsteps were.
However, he only panicked for a split second because [Undying Will] activated automatically, calming him down and letting him think properly.
With movements filled with purpose, Gabriel extracted Darius’s corpse. He didn’t go for Vera—not only was she weaker, she was also not on his side.
When he was done, he fled to a nearby bush. With his insane stats, he easily escaped the scene just as the group of adventurers arrived.
And immediately, their expressions darkened when they saw the gruesome murder scene.
But such sights were rather common in dungeons, so they weren’t too shocked. What left them uncomfortable was how the killer had executed the murder.
"Isn’t that Darius and Vera?" an adventurer exclaimed in shock.
The others took a closer look, and their expressions paled.
"It’s truly him."
"Oh shit, oh shit, this is bad."
Among the group of adventurers that had gathered, there were Alice, Sophie, and Cassie.
Just like the others, they had been attracted by the noise and rushed over since it was the same direction Gabriel had gone.
"Who are they?" Cassie inquired, eyes narrowed as she noticed the overly panicked reaction of the adventurers.
"Rich kids," Alice replied, stepping forward to get a closer look. "Darius is a member of the Graves family. The girl is his third cousin."
"Graves family?" Cassie’s eyes widened.
Sophie’s expression twisted as well. She knew the Graves family very well—they even had ties with the royal family.
However, because of how large the family was, she didn’t know these two personally.
"One thing I’m certain of is that the Graves family won’t let this slide," Alice frowned as she walked forward. "The Adventure Guild is here. Everyone, step back."
When they heard this, the people surrounding the corpses all shifted back.
Alice retrieved a roll of tape from her inventory and cordoned off the area.
As she looked at the corpses—especially the manner in which Darius was split—she couldn’t help but recall the incident in the wilderness as well.
’Is this supposed to be a coincidence?’ her eyes flashed, and only one face appeared in her mind.
Just then, they heard sounds coming from above. All eyes turned toward the direction and saw a fat youth descending from the tree.
"Heok!" The youth’s eyes widened in shock.
The last thing he expected to see was his party members cut into pieces. Out of shock, he fainted—fortunately, he was caught by a bulky-looking adventurer before he could hit the ground.
"He’s definitely not the one," Alice said. "Anyway, wake him up. Maybe he saw something."
---
Only after Gabriel had gone deep into the forest and was confident no one was following him did he stop.
As if he hadn’t just killed two humans, he calmly sat on a fallen tree and summoned the skill scroll he had extracted from Darius.
[Decay Touch LV.1]
[Rarity: Elite]
[Description: Upon direct contact, the user’s touch unleashes a necrotic force that rapidly decays organic material. Targets struck may begin to crumble into dust over the next 3 seconds. Instantly kills weak or low-end enemies. Stronger foes resist full decay but still take severe damage over time Cooldown: 45 seconds. MP Cost: 40]
’So that’s why he took off his gloves,’ murmured Gabriel as he looked at the description with sparkling eyes.
His current skill slots were 9/10, and if he learned this, he wouldn’t be able to learn any more skills until he completed his first advancement quest.
However, Gabriel didn’t care. The skill was simply too good to leave rotting in his inventory.
’Besides, I can always use fusion to merge skills later on, creating space for more.’
With this thought, he quickly learned the skill.
Afterward, Gabriel went to look for monsters to hunt.
Though the Monkey Paradise dungeon had been around for a couple of years now, because the boss monster was preserved, monsters spawned frequently.
It didn’t take long before he saw a red-furred monkey eating a banana greedily. As soon as it sensed his presence, the monkey glared at him and pounced forward fiercely.
SLAP!
Gabriel casually slapped the ugly creature, sending its body flying through the air like a rag doll.
He walked to the monkey and touched it, activating his new skill.
Right before his eyes, he saw the creature wither—first losing its red fur, then flesh, then bone—until it eventually turned into dust. The only thing left was the gleaming monster core.
He stored it with a satisfied look on his face.
This skill was very similar to the aftereffects of his Extraction Talent, however, its results were much more immediate.
His Decay Touch didn’t only work on beasts—it worked on virtually anything!
By the time the skill reached its full potential, not even enemy walls reinforced with alloy and other sturdy materials could stop him.
Attracted by the sound, a few more red monkeys soon appeared on the scene.
"Dark Flame Orb! Decay!"
The pack of monkeys was effortlessly killed.
For the next hour, all he did was hunt monsters, slowly stacking his EP and Experimentation Points.
Still, most of the monsters in the outer area were weak.
---
Meanwhile, back at the crime scene, most of the adventurers were still gathered around the corpses.
A message had been sent to the Graves family, and they had dispatched a representative.
"I want this dungeon entrance searched thoroughly! Bring the culprits of this murder to me!" the representative—who happened to be a distant uncle of Darius—ordered with a furious expression on his face.
"Yes, sir!" the personal henchmen of the Graves family all echoed and dashed toward different parts of the dungeon.
A brief look of concern flashed through Alice’s eyes.
’Gabriel... was it really you?’ she thought with a frown.
Suddenly, a violent burst of coughing attracted everyone’s attention, and all eyes turned toward the Vex—the only survivor.
He was finally awake.
---
After a while of hunting monsters, Gabriel had increased his total EP to 150 and his level by one. But he realized that if he continued at this pace, he’d need to hunt until nightfall before leveling up again.
"I guess it’s finally time to use it," he mumbled as he retrieved the token Garfield had gifted him.
He wished to activate it, and when he did, space began to distort and warp around him before a gate appeared.
Without a moment of hesitation, he dashed into the gate—and it snapped shut behind him.