The meaning of the numbers was simple: 1 for left, 2 for middle, and 3 for right.

  Just as Kael was about to enter the maze, he remembered the loot from the chest. He produced a book from his inventory and tossed it to Orion.

  "Oh, right. This is for you."

  Orion caught it. His eyes went wide with a mixture of shock and delight. It was a skill book.

  [Manual of Warding Glyphs]

  Description: Allows the user to place wards and glyphs on players and the environment.

  Requirements: 70 Intelligence, 50 Spirit

  Class Requirement: Diviner

  Skill Points Cost: 4

  "Holy crap, it's a real book on glyph magic!" Orion's excitement was palpable.

  When he'd first advanced his class, the nameless NPC Diviner had given him a single secret manual and then sent him on his way. He never imagined he'd find another skill book out in the wild. As his excitement faded, a hint of embarrassment took its place.

  "Hey, uh… you didn't get anything, but you're giving this to me first…"

  Kael just smiled. "Who said I didn't get anything? Check this out."

  He shared the details of the new skill he'd just learned.

  [Moving Shot] (Passive)

  Description: Allows the user to maintain 80% of their normal movement speed while shooting.

  Requirements: 200 Agility

  Skill Points Cost: 4

  Orion stared at the passive skill, his jaw dropping. "The archives never lie! Boss, doesn't this basically make you invincible? With your base movement speed, even at 80%, nobody can catch you!"

  Kael gave a slight shake of his head. The 20% speed reduction wasn't perfect. He'd have to find a way to upgrade the skill later to eliminate the penalty entirely.

  Besides the two skill books, the chest had also contained a level 25 legendary item and the Blademaster Class Advancement scroll, neither of which he could use.

  "Alright, let's head into the maze," Kael said, turning toward the rightmost path at the three-way fork.

  "Shouldn't we divine it first? Hey, wait for me!" Orion chirped, scurrying after him.

  If getting into Blackheart Grotto was a matter of luck for the average player, then this sublevel was their worst nightmare. A single wrong turn could loop you right back to the start. But with the Treasure Map guiding them, Kael and Orion made swift progress. Their only task was to clear out the small packs of Frost and Throwing Snowmen that patrolled the corridors.

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  Now prepared, Kael never let them get close. While Moving Shot wasn't perfect, it allowed him to kite the mobs and take them down without a scratch.

  As they reached the seventh fork, they suddenly heard voices echoing from a nearby passage.

  "Boss, they can't have gotten far! I bet we'll cut them off at the next intersection!"

  "Boss, the mobs here look like they just respawned! They must be just ahead!"

  Kael's brow furrowed. They're fast.

  Those bastards from Serpent's Coil were relentless. They must have charged in the moment the Frost Giant was down. He glanced at his skill bar; Phantom Barrage was still on cooldown and wouldn't be effective in these cramped tunnels anyway.

  Just then, Orion sidled up to him with a shit-eating grin. "Boss, I have a way to lose them."

  Kael was skeptical. "How? They've probably got a Treasure Map of their own."

  "Heh, just watch."

  Without another word, Orion walked back to the intersection they'd just come from. After a minute, Kael watched as the entrance to their corridor began to shimmer and blur. A moment later, it had reformed into a solid stone wall.

  Orion casually phased right through the "wall" and rejoined him.

  Kael pointed at the now-vanished entrance, stunned. "How… how did you do that?"

  Orion puffed out his chest, adopting an air of exaggerated wisdom. "I created a fake passage ahead of us and sealed the real one with an illusion. For the next twenty-four hours, if they follow their map, they'll get stuck in a loop that'll lead them right back to the beginning."

  “Wizard kid, huh? I had no idea you had tricks like that up your sleeve.”

  "As the archives foretold," Orion said smugly. "Master-Diviner Orion, if you please."

  Kael quickly put two and two together. It had to be the Manual of Warding Glyphs. A question nagged at him: If the Diviner class was this powerful, why had he never seen a single one on the top 100 player rankings in his past life? Did the class fall off in the late game? Or was it just that no one had figured out how to play it properly?

  He couldn't figure it out, so he pushed the thought aside. He looked at Orion. "Let's move. They'll figure it out eventually."

  They pressed on, wasting no more time. With limited materials, Orion only managed to set two more traps. The first time, he pulled the same trick, masking their path and creating a fake one. The second time, he masked the correct path and then created a new, fake opening right next to it, making the path that was supposed to be on the right appear to be in the middle.

  It was a shell game of real and fake paths, designed to keep their pursuers guessing. The effect was immediate. The voices of the Serpent's Coil members, which had been growing closer, now began to fade until they disappeared entirely. They were probably scratching their heads in some dead-end corridor.

  Half an hour later, Kael and Orion reached the end of the maze. There was no boss, only another dark staircase leading even deeper underground. They exchanged a look, nodded, and descended one after the other.

  The moment Kael’s feet touched the ground, a damage number popped over his head.

  -2138

  System: You have been hit by an Arctic Phantomfox for 2138 damage.

  A flash of white fur blurred past him.

  Kael raised his bow and fired.

  Miss!

  "What the hell?" Kael muttered in shock. It was the first time an enemy had dodged his attack with pure speed alone.

  Double Shot!

  Miss!

  -4212

  The second arrow found its mark, and the creature leaped away, giving them a chance to see it clearly.

  [Arctic Phantomfox (Boss)]: Level 28

  Description: Once a native of the snow-capped mountains, it was tamed by the hermit Faelan and now guards the Blackheart Legacy.

  HP: 2,000,000

  ATK: 3,510

  DEF: 1,650

  Evasion: 50%

  Movement Speed: 20

  This boss was Kael's perfect counter. It was just as fast as he was and had a 50% chance to evade his attacks.

  Before Kael could even catch his breath, the fox lunged again. This time, its claws were glowing with an ominous blue light.