"Hope the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave isn’t too brutal," Marcus muttered under his breath.

His two Sea Demon Souls surged forward first, drawing the attention of the nearby Earth-Wind Spirits exactly as planned. The floating monsters turned instantly toward the provocation, storms gathering around their translucent bodies. That was all the opening Marcus needed. He and Pebble advanced together, charging straight into combat without hesitation.

"Hundred Phantom Strike!"

Their voices overlapped perfectly. Twin Corpse Demon Dark Soul Swords flared with black radiance, dark souls swirling around the blades like living shadows. In the next instant, countless phantom slashes erupted outward, crashing into the Earth-Wind Spirits with heavy, echoing impacts.

-8400, -8500, -8600

-4300, -4100, -4200

Massive damage numbers burst into the air. Pebble did not land a critical hit this time, but combined with the earlier damage dealt by Marcus’s pets, the Earth-Wind Spirits could not endure the assault. They shrieked miserably as their health emptied, their bodies unraveling into strands of black wind that scattered through the cavern.

"Awesome!"

Marcus watched them dissolve, satisfaction swelling in his chest. The faint black breezes faded into the darkness of the Mystic Turtle’s Tomb, leaving behind only silence and drifting particles of light.

"Damn right..."

He had waited a long time for this. The last encounter still lingered in his memory, when these same monsters had ambushed him and forced him into retreat before he even understood what was happening. Ever since then, revenge had been simmering quietly in the back of his mind.

Now, once he closed the distance, they stood no chance.

Metallic clinks sounded as equipment dropped onto the ground, but Marcus did not immediately move to collect it. Several Earth-Wind Spirits hovered just beyond his attack range, still battering his Sea Demon Souls with storm magic. Without wasting time, he and Pebble stepped forward together.

The moment the monsters drifted into range, Marcus swung again.

"Hundred Phantom Strike!"

Heavy impacts rang out. This time both he and Pebble triggered critical hits. The result was immediate annihilation. The remaining Earth-Wind Spirits shattered into drifting black currents before they could even react.

"Go back where you came from."

Watching the last of them vanish, Marcus felt deeply satisfied. With his current strength, fighting dozens of ordinary players at once no longer felt unrealistic.

Only then did he turn back toward the dropped equipment.

And immediately frowned.

For Liam Windrunner’s trial, he had prepared excessively. Over a hundred Super Health Potions brewed by Alana filled his inventory, and combined with the loot he had gathered during days of grinding on the second level, his backpack was nearly full. Even with the Ring of Greed multiplying his storage capacity fivefold and granting two hundred fifty slots, space had become painfully limited.

Now he was forced to ignore mediocre drops and only pick up gear with excellent attributes.

He could not discard the Super Health Potions. The monsters below Level 50 were already dangerous enough, and he had no idea what awaited deeper inside the tomb. Survival came first.

Still, leaving valuable Level 40 to 50 Blue equipment behind felt like physical pain.

"Not cool," he muttered.

Unable to vent his frustration elsewhere, Marcus redirected it toward the monsters ahead. After collecting what he could, he pushed forward along the wide tunnel of the third level, cutting down every Earth-Wind Spirit that crossed his path.

After about ten minutes of steady advancement, the environment began to change.

The cave walls became riddled with countless black holes, each roughly the size of a dinner plate. Without warning, violent gusts of black wind would erupt from them.

When one struck him, icy cold pierced through his armor. His movement slowed sharply, and nearly two hundred points of Health vanished in an instant, far more damage than most Earth-Wind Spirits could inflict directly.

"So these storms are leaking out of the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave..."

Marcus rubbed his temple. If these were merely stray winds, what would the cave itself be like? Would the storms intensify the closer he approached?

He was still studying the strange openings when shadows flickered beside his Sea Demon Souls.

Several dark figures materialized abruptly, blades already descending.

-150, -130, -120, -300

The attackers struck rapidly, their silhouettes barely visible before disappearing again. At the same time, sharp cries echoed through the cavern. Six nearby Earth-Wind Spirits reacted immediately, drifting toward the commotion and unleashing overlapping wind storms.

An ambush. New enemies.

Fortunately, Frosty Mockery, the Sea Demon Souls’ taunt skill, had pulled the monsters’ aggression onto them instead of Marcus. Otherwise, he would have taken the opening strike himself.

"Attack!"

Goldie, Lyanna, and Camillo reacted instantly, spells flashing across the battlefield as Marcus activated Insight and rushed forward with Pebble.

—

Earth-Wind Twin Sting Ghost

Level 53 | Health: 18,000

Once corpses scattered across the third level, these beings had mutated under the influence of the violent cold storms pouring from the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave, evolving into stealth assassins that moved through invisible currents of wind.

Passive: Dark Wind Body. Partially immune to physical damage. Extremely fast movement and attack speed.

Skills:

Intermediate Stealth. Can freely turn invisible. Cooldown: 20 seconds.

Cold Sting. Rapid sword attacks infused with freezing wind, high critical rate.

Scout. Detects enemies and summons nearby monsters to assist.

—

Marcus clicked his tongue.

Partially immune to physical attacks was bad news for a melee fighter. Combined with floating Earth-Wind Spirits attacking from above, this monster combination was clearly designed to overwhelm careless players.

But moments later, huge damage numbers changed his mood entirely.

-4500, -4300, -5500, -5600

Goldie and Camillo’s magic attacks tore through the Twin Sting Ghosts far more effectively than physical attacks ever could. The ghosts clearly possessed weak magical resistance.

Good. The situation was manageable.

"Pebble, with me!"

He urged Blackie forward, charging directly toward the airborne Earth-Wind Spirits while leaving the invisible assassins to his magic-oriented pets. The Sea Demon Souls held the ghosts in place while spells rained down relentlessly.

"Hundred Phantom Strike!"

Twin slashes carved through the air. Thanks to Sanctuary Covenant reaching Level 2, Pebble mirrored Marcus’s attributes perfectly. Fighting alongside him felt like battling beside a second version of himself.

Two swift attacks were enough. The Earth-Wind Spirits collapsed one after another. When Marcus glanced back, the remaining Twin Sting Ghosts had already been eliminated by concentrated magic fire.

He had expected the combination of both monster types to be troublesome.

Instead, coordinated teamwork proved stronger.

Ahead stretched a long, dark tunnel filled with floating spirits and invisible threats. The Twin Sting Ghosts’ Scout ability meant any careless advance could trigger chain aggro from multiple groups.

Monsters beyond Level 50 were clearly no joke.

"Can’t get careless," Marcus murmured.

Still, worry never truly settled in his mind. With two Sea Demon Souls leading the advance, ambushes became opportunities instead of threats.

"Move forward."

The Sea Demon Souls recovered fully and took point. Any hidden Twin Sting Ghost revealed itself the moment Taunt activated, allowing Marcus and his pets to eliminate enemies methodically.

If he had come alone, he would have been surrounded repeatedly. Now his team was the one doing the surrounding.

Progress was slow but incredibly safe. After nearly three hours of steady advancement through the cavern, Marcus finally reached a massive dark stone door. Towering carvings of monstrous figures decorated both sides, their shapes worn smooth by time.

"The fourth level entrance?"

He examined it carefully and activated Insight.

—

Entrance to the Fourth Level of the Mystic Turtle’s Tomm. Passing through leads to the fourth level.

—

So this really was the next floor. Good to know, but not his objective.

He adjusted the teleport point of Wanderlust to this location before turning around. The Earth-Wind Spirit Cave still remained unfound, and the Seven-Colored Divine Eagle awaited somewhere on the third level.

The search began again. Three hours passed, then five... then eight.

By the eighth hour, Marcus had practically memorized every tunnel on the third level. The layout was surprisingly straightforward, lacking the maze-like complexity he expected.

Yet the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave remained nowhere to be found.

No landmarks. No unusual terrain. Nothing.

Had Liam Windrunner been mistaken? Could the cave actually be located on another floor?

Marcus reopened the quest log.

—

Find the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave on the third level of the Mystic Turtle’s Tomb and retrieve the Seven-Colored Divine Eagle.

—

The wording was unmistakable. The system did not lie.

Grinding his teeth, he continued searching.

Another three hours passed with no results. He was starting to lose patience.

"Hundred Phantom Strike!"

Frustration erupted through his attack as he cut down eight Earth-Wind Spirits at once. Their bodies dissolved into faint black breezes drifting upward through the cavern.

He was just about ready to log out and rest when something caught his attention.

"Huh?"

All eight breezes floated in the same direction.

Toward his rear.

They moved slowly and almost invisibly, blending into the dim crystal glow, the swirling wall storms, and the darkness of the cavern. Normally no player would notice them.

But eight separate currents moving identically was impossible to ignore.

"Weird..."

Curiosity replaced exhaustion. Marcus guided Blackie upward toward the cave ceiling and began observing carefully.

Soon he realized the pattern.

Every Earth-Wind Spirit he had killed along this route had produced a breeze drifting the same way. None moved forward. Every single one flowed behind him.

"There’s definitely something there."

Excitement flared instantly. He began following the drifting currents.

"Could this be connected to the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave?"

Impatience burned inside him as the breezes crawled forward at an agonizing pace.

"Hurry up already..."

Nearly an hour later, the currents finally reached their destination.

At the central junction where three tunnels met, a massive stone corner jutted outward. Above it rested an enormous black boulder.

Behind that boulder lay an opening nearly twice Marcus’s height, completely concealed from ground view. Only someone capable of flying or observing from above could ever discover it.

The drifting black breezes slipped silently into the hidden entrance.

So this was the clue.

The Four Spirits’ Guard truly hid its secrets well. Without noticing the behavior of the slain monsters, no one would ever find this place.

"The Earth-Wind Spirit Cave... has to be here."

Marcus nodded slowly.

Dominion rewarded more than luck. Observation mattered just as much. Without Liam Windrunner’s quest hint, he would never have even begun looking.

"Hyah!" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

He urged Blackie forward and led his pets into the concealed passage.

The moment they crossed the threshold, violent winds slammed into them.

-210, -220, -190

Freezing currents tore through the tunnel, dealing continuous damage and cutting his movement speed nearly in half.

"Super Health Potion!"

Marcus issued the command immediately. He, Goldie, Lyanna, and Camillo each drank a potion, restoring steady health regeneration to counter the relentless storm.

Then, fighting against the roaring winds and dragging each step forward through crushing resistance, Marcus and his companions advanced deeper into the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave.