Chapter 28

Level Up Heresy Inquisitor – Episode 28 (28/227)

Episode 28: Quest in (5)

“Now, all that’s left is here.”

“Well then, let’s do one final check.”

Eil and Lisa stood in front of the massive stone door speaking.

Compared to other areas, this entrance was unusually large, and the number of monsters guarding it was significant.

Structurally, it looked like a prime spot for a boss monster.

And more importantly, they had invested quite a bit of time clearing out every single monster from the first and second floors without leaving any behind. Now, the only place left was this one.

“Hooora!”

Eil plopped down first and started making a campfire.

Though he sat casually, the large torches on either side of the entrance burned brightly, creating an oddly cozy atmosphere.

With the dungeon thieves already wiped out, there was no worry about ambushes.

Of course, there was still the possibility that the boss monster beyond the stone door might come out and attack them, but given how quiet it remained despite their noisy battle with the thieves, it seemed external sounds didn’t penetrate inside.

“Phew, I haven’t done such a forced march in ages, and I’m beat. If we take down this boss, I’ll probably hit level 20… How about you, Eil?”

“I’m nearing the end of level 14. Looks like we’ll level up together.”

After cleaning out the entire dungeon, Eil’s experience bar was filled to the brim, just shy of the next level.

Unlike the early levels where leveling was easy, Eil had long passed that stage, yet gaining so much experience in such a short time without completing quests or raids or engaging in PK was certainly encouraging.

Moreover, thinking about his upcoming third basic skill, ‘Sacred Flame,’ made him eager to defeat this boss and reach level 15.

Gurrrr!

But suddenly, an embarrassing sound came from their stomachs, causing both of them to exchange awkward smiles.

“Now that I think about it, we’ve been hunting nonstop and my sense of fullness has bottomed out.”

“I have some meat, so I’ll cook it for you.”

Eil rummaged through his inventory looking for rabbit meat as he spoke.

They had cleared the entire dungeon without rest, so their sense of fullness had dropped dangerously low. Skipping another meal could result in the hunger debuff, which would hinder their fight against the boss monster.

“No, let me cook!”

Lisa suddenly volunteered enthusiastically.

Caught off guard, Eil nodded, watching as she hummed while preparing the food.

‘Cooking, huh…’

Clearly, there were no proper tools or ingredients around here.

Low-level players without cooking ranks usually just grilled whatever meat they found or ate bread, and Eil wasn’t much different.

But as she pulled out ingredients and surprisingly advanced cooking tools one by one, Eil stared at her in amazement.

Effortlessly handling the preparation and cooking, she handed over a bowl of soup.

It looked extremely plain, raising doubts whether it could satisfy their depleted hunger.

“Not complaining, but… will this be enough?”

“Don’t worry, just try it.”

Lisa smiled as she said this.

Eil hesitantly took a sip of the soup, and his eyes widened instantly.

It tasted as amazing—if not better—than the food they’d eaten in the restaurant district of Quinnze Blonde.

But what surprised him most was something else.

[Your Strength stat has temporarily increased slightly!]

A system message appeared before him.

In Warode, cooking—like other content—could provide temporary buffs similar to doping potions when the food was completed.

However, reaching the level required to achieve this was both difficult and time-consuming.

The benefits gained compared to the effort put in were minimal, and since most players preferred using doping potions, cooking didn’t receive much attention.

Still, if one accepted the trade-off, it was undoubtedly helpful.

“By the way, what’s your cooking level?”

“Hmm, I reached Rank 4 recently.”

Lisa answered nonchalantly.

Eil was astonished.

“What? That’s not a level you can reach in a day or two…”

Rank 4 in cooking?

Before entering the dungeon, he was already impressed that her alchemy was at Rank 2, but Rank 4 was unheard of.

For someone who was only level 19 to have achieved such ranks was rare even among dedicated cooking players.

Yet considering her past as a Ranker and her extraordinary combat skills, he never imagined she’d focus on lifestyle skills.

“Well… originally, I didn’t plan to level up by hunting like this. After starting Warode, I focused solely on improving these skills. And I did progress relatively quickly.”

Lisa shrugged as she continued.

Cooking, alchemy, tailoring, fishing, smelting, trading…

She claimed her combined rank across all life skills exceeded 14, showing just how deeply she had delved into these areas.

“Surprising. I assumed Rankers would only focus on combat. Your delay in joining Warode also suggests you aren’t particularly interested in becoming a Ranker again. Is there any reason for that?”

“Hmm, that’s… probably not something I should talk about here. Sorry.”

“Oh, no! I shouldn’t have asked.” As Lisa bowed to apologize, Eil quickly waved his hands.

“Hmm, hmm…”

An awkward silence fell between them as they silently sipped the soup.

* * *

Clunk! Creak!

The massive door opened to reveal the hidden space within.

Before entering, based on the entrance and stone gate, they thought the interior would be a small room at best—but they were wrong.

The ceiling was high, and though torches were scattered throughout the spacious interior, their light was unusually dim due to some special material.

It wasn’t bright enough to dispel the darkness settling around them.

If anything, it was darker than Hardrock Cave, where torches were scarce.

Plus, they had now stepped into the Boss Room—not just any hunting ground.

Any creature emerging from this darkness wouldn’t be surprising.

“Ugh… this is too dark.”

“Good thing we prepared the potion earlier.”

Feeling the oppressive darkness and eerie silence enveloping the room, Eil and Lisa quickly accessed their inventories.

Simultaneously, they pulled out the perfectly timed ‘Mysterious Vision Potion’ from their pouches.

Swallowing the liquid sloshing in the glass vial, the surrounding darkness became clearly visible.

“What’s that…?”

In the center of the room lay a mysterious black stone.

The object, resembling crystal, emitted an odd energy strong enough for them to feel.

“There…!”

Lisa pointed ahead, having noticed something.

Next to the large stone was a corpse slumped over—a man reduced to nothing but bones.

‘Is this guy the boss?’

A giant sword embedded in the floor nearby.

Its size suggested it wasn’t human, and the armor covering its body indicated it wasn’t an ordinary foe.

As Eil suspected, the figure slowly rose to its feet.

“Intruder…? I distinctly remember… telling them not to let anyone in…”

Rattle! Clang!

The chains binding the monster’s arms and legs to the floor were sturdy, but as the monster repeatedly yanked at them, they began snapping one by one.

Once fully upright, radiating an intimidating aura, the monster’s information appeared before Eil’s eyes.

It was GaHar, the Level 18 Boss Monster and leader of the thief gang.

‘Not Casano…?’

Eil furrowed his brow after checking the information.

Based on the system window, this wasn’t the quest target, Casano.

Perhaps defeating this boss would lead to the second appearance of the real target, or maybe Casano was waiting deeper inside.

But looking around, there was no deeper area, nor any spaces where other monsters could hide.

BOOM!

GaHar slammed his massive sword, shaking the entire room.

The monster’s eyes glowed with blue flames as it locked onto them.

Seeing the clear mark of heresy above its head, it was evident this wasn’t a good guy.

“Let’s observe its patterns first since it’s our first encounter.”

Eil quickly distanced himself from the monster.

With only two members in their party, there was no backup to rely on if they made a mistake. Rushing in recklessly could easily lead to failure.

Whoosh! Whirrr!

GaHar swung his greatsword, and the chains attached to his cuffs followed in unpredictable arcs.

KABOOM!

Eil narrowly dodged, but turning back, he sighed.

The cave floor torn apart by the chain showed just how devastating both the sword and chain attacks were.

The movements were highly irregular, and even with such wide-ranging attacks, getting hit once would likely leave no bones intact.

“Die!”

GaHar raised his greatsword high, targeting Eil.

The monster’s aggression was clearly focused on him, which, conversely, meant the healer Lisa was safe—for now.

At the exact moment GaHar brought down the heavy weapon, Eil lunged forward.

“Danger!”

Lisa gasped upon seeing this.

Charging forward during a large monster’s powerful attack was a tactic often used by skilled players, but not in this case.

Given the unpredictable area-of-effect nature of the attack, the risk was far too high.

Even if Eil’s keen eyesight allowed him to dodge the sword, avoiding the erratic chain strikes splitting in multiple directions would be impossible.

Slipping through those gaps would be pure folly, even for Eil.

But it was too late to retreat.

The sword was flying straight toward him, and judging by the trajectory, there was no way to evade.

‘Damn…’

Lisa steeled herself against the urge to look away, keeping her gaze fixed ahead.

As a healer responsible for the party’s lives, she needed to understand the combat situation better than anyone. She had to witness her ally’s death clearly.

If he somehow survived this direct hit, she’d be ready to immediately restore his health.

BOOM!

The massive sword struck the ground, kicking up dust everywhere.

But the figure GaHar aimed for—Eil—was nowhere to be seen.

“What…?”

Rare Skill: Reverse Drama.

Using the skill to position himself behind the monster, Eil now hovered right behind GaHar’s bulky form.

Spinning mid-air, Eil plunged his dagger into the beast’s neck.

[Special Effect ‘Curse’ activated!]

– Slows enemy movement and increases damage taken by 5%.

As the Rare-grade weapon, the Dagger of Lamentation, pierced through, a curse activated on GaHar.

At the exact moment the system message appeared, Eil had already switched weapons, raising his longsword high.

Thanks to the second effect of the Reverse Drama skill, Eil received a 15% speed boost.

Swoosh!

The powerfully swung longsword struck GaHar’s skull directly.