Daru's exterior was as bland as ever.

However, deep inside, his heart raced with excitement.

There was a chance that these shardlings were of the [Unholy] attribute!

'Maybe I can also get Oni or Demon Essences from them?' He mused as he proceeded to the Actualizer Crystals.

He then picked one up.

[You have obtained 1 Actualizer Crystal.]

"I...really get all of this for free?" Daru muttered, looking around in slight disbelief.

That seemed to be the case…

'I'll take them all, then.'

Daru had long studied the purpose of these crystals.

Apparently, the more he had, the richer he would become in Neo-Earth, although everything still felt a bit surreal to him, and he still couldn't appreciate them that much.

Nonetheless, he took all of them, securing himself a good thirty-five.

There seemed to be nothing else in the chamber he was in.

Daru returned, chose another path, walked for another few minutes, and encountered a dead end.

"Sigh..."

What else could he do except return and choose another path?

The same thing happened over and over again.

He would choose a path, either arrive at a chamber with Stabber Shardlings and Actualizer Crystals or a dead end, return, then choose another path.

What he didn't expect was how deep and complex this labyrinth was.

Daru thought that he would be out by the fifth hour.

Unfortunately, it turned out he was being optimistic.

...Way too optimistic.

He remained stuck inside, repeating the same cycle over and over again.

In the morning, he would finish a two-hour lecture before continuing with a five-hour grind in the labyrinth, exiting the realm on his own.

He would then train his swordsmanship in the afternoon with Iris, before entering the realm again for an hour at night in hopes of finding his way out while taking whatever he could inside.

This went on for days, and before Daru knew it, twelve had passed.

Nonetheless, although he spent more time walking and less time fighting, his time inside wasn't fruitless, though it also couldn't be considered too fruitful…

This was what he believed, at least…

He probably wasn't the leader in terms of levels now, and had it not been for the doubled effects of the racial boosts on him, along with his extra hour every day, even the C-rankers would've probably caught up to him by now.

He walked more than he fought in the Crystalline Labyrinth, after all…

===

Passive: Tainted Enforcer

Description: Having tasted unholy blood…[Tap to expand].

Effects: Killing a Swordspawn grants a 0.1% chance to permanently gain …[Tap to expand].

Gained / Stolen attributes:

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 6

Agility: 5

Stamina: 3

Vitality: 3

Perception:2

===

Aside from gaining a total of 18 attributes at random since he entered, which was equivalent to three and a little over a half levels, he also leveled up three times.

His overall progress in the past few days was a total of six and a half levels

While this was still somewhat fast, given that it was becoming increasingly difficult to level up due to more experience points required the higher one's level was, this was far from a rate that could be considered abnormal, especially since he had a one hundred percent boost for a week.

Nonetheless, even though he was level 31 on the surface, his attributes were actually those of a level 34 bladeborn.

But levels and attributes weren't his only gains.

Aside from them, he also obtained a decent number of swordcoins, padding his reserves well, and most importantly, a total of three thousand Actualizer Crystals.

Daru knew this was a huge number.

To what exact extent was their value? He was unsure, as he hadn't studied the crystals too deeply yet.

After all, very rarely did regular swordspawns drop them. Only elites and field bosses consistently do, and even if they did, they would only do so in small amounts.

A hundred was the highest number he obtained in a single kill, and that's against his toughest fight in the realm: Lyon the Sunblade Lion King.

Daru didn't know the true worth of the crystals yet, and he didn't have the mental capacity to think about this for now, as he was still lost in the Crystalline Labyrinth.

He had to somehow find his way out first.

Meanwhile, as the weekend was passing for Daru…

…

The door of a luxurious office banged as a bald middle-aged man kicked it open.

"LUSHMANE!!! FOR THE LAST TIME, I'LL ASK YOU. WHERE. IS. OKUNI?!!!"

The bespectacled aide almost fell over while sitting on his chair in utter startlement.

Lushmane's nails had been ruined due to him constantly biting on them while thinking of an excuse, but unfortunately, before he could come up with a way to escape his boss' wrath, Baldwin was already upon him.

"S-S-Sir Baldwin!! Please calm yourself!! W-We've tried everything we can, but the guy simply vanished! Please, spare me! I've contributed a lot to the guild in the past decade! I have eleven sons and fifteen daughters, pl–"

"SHUT UP!! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A WIFE! ALSO, WHY ARE YOU MAKING IT SEEM LIKE I'M GOING TO KILL YOU?!"

"Y-You're not?"

"OF COURSE NOT, YOU USELESS SECRETARY!!" the furious guild master roared, his rage momentarily halted by violent coughing due to his overused throat.

"Hnnnghh…Fine, fine…consider yourself lucky, Lushmane. I'll give you two more weeks. If I don't have even so much as a news of where the guy is…"

"Y-Y-Yes! Please leave this to me, Sir!"

The poor secretary was naturally unsure whether he could pull it off, but what else could he do except say yes?

His boss would rip every hair out of his head if he answered otherwise.

At the very least, he got two more weeks…

***

Back at the Crystalline Labyrinth.

Daru casually chose a path again, numb to the decision. He simply continued walking in hopes of finally making it out of there.

The experience points he was gaining were now far less than ideal, and the experience points bonuses had long expired.

If he didn't get out soon, he would be thrown back to the middle of the pack from being the highest-level novice.

There was a chance he wouldn't secure another event for himself if he allowed such a thing to happen.

Fortunately, after choosing hundreds of paths to take, Daru's heart skipped a beat as he arrived at another cavern.

But this one wasn't like the first one he had found himself in multiple times during his labyrinth exploration.

It had only one path besides the one he was on, and there were massive piles of Actualizer Crystals scattered across the room.

There was also a huge crystalline crag at the center.

However, he knew all too well that claiming them wasn't so easy.

There should be Stabber Shardlings waiting for him.

Sure enough, the moment he looked up…

Daru's eyes narrowed as he spotted more than thirty of the level 33 swordspawns.

In the next moment, a faint smile emerged on his face.

'Well, isn't this quite the challenge?'

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