Chapter Thirty-One


    When Ambrose entered the dungeon, a notification popped up.


    [Welcome to the “Pharaohs Pyramid.” Find The Djinn’s Heart.]


    He dismissed the notification and took in his surroundings, which were a whole lot of nothing. All around him was a sea of sand and rock. There were no trees or mountains that he could see, nothing but sand. A wind picked up the grains, blowing them against his flesh.


    He was D-Grade, but even with that, the sand still bothered him a bit. For now, he used [Infernal Aegis] to protect himself from the mini sand storm. It was just a trickle of mana, but over time, it would add up if he wasn’t careful.


    Sighing, he picked a direction and then began walking. As he did, he manifested Noelle, giving her time to roam. The Arcane White Tiger rubbed her furry cheek against his palm, chuffed, and frolicked in the sand some ways ahead of him.


    As he walked, he tended to his advancement. Fifteen levels meant a whopping one hundred and twenty points for him to spend on his stats. To get an idea of where he wanted to put them, he brought them up.


    [Constitution: 255


    Strength: 255


    Intellect: 267


    Wisdom: 268


    Willpower: 284]


    I spoke in jest before, but your strength does need shoring up hatchling.


    Akaroth was correct. First, he brought constitution and strength to two-hundred and eighty. That was twenty-five points a piece for a total of fifty points. That was nearly half the points he had to spend. He had seventy points left. Thirteen points went into intellect, and twelve went into wisdom.


    That was twenty-five points spent for forty-five left. He stroked his beard and wanted to make sure his core had more mana; he plopped the sixteen points needed to bring his willpower to three hundred. With his final points, he put ten into constitution and strength and the final nine into intellect.


    Advancement seen to, he thought about what he needed to do here in this dungeon. Looking around, there was just nothing. What he needed was a way to track his progress. He could easily find himself looping around with no idea of where he was if he wasn’t careful.


    The best way he could do that was with landmarks.


    He paused, and Noelle’s ears flicked up as he bent down. She bounded over to him, cocking her head. Ambrose began to push sand together in a massive mound. He sent an image to Noelle of her using her lightning on the mound.


    She blinked pale blue eyes at him but did as he said. Just as he thought, the lightning turned the mound into fulgurite with a crackling sound. It was noticeable but not from afar. He piled more and more sand atop the fulgurite mound, having Noelle do the same. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Before long, he had a tower slightly taller than him built entirely of fulgurite. He would have preferred to be able to see it from way afar, but he didn’t have any way to get up higher. Using Akaroth, he scratched in the best approximation of a one he could manage.


    That went on for a long time. Every so often, he’d make another tower of fulgurite. During this period, he let his skill go, choosing instead to deal with the sand without it. He had no idea what he was looking for, but at this point, he would settle for anything. Anything at all.


    Eventually, he did come back around to his first fulgurite tower. He gritted his teeth, sucking a breath through his nose. Slowly, he let it out, draining the frustration with it.


    Thinking there must be something hidden, something he couldn’t see, he used his eyepatch of true sight and swept it around the area. Almost as if to mock him, a portion of the sand in a wide area around the fulgurite tower vanished, revealing a staircase of sandstone leading downward.


    He threw his head back and laughed, his body shaking with mirth.


    You have found the scales in the clouds, hatchling.


    He brushed off the dragon’s words. He’d been wandering for hours upon hours by now, and all I had to do was use my eyepatch. It just reaffirmed that one needed to stop to think and use everything available to him before moving on.


    As he descended the steps, he came before a massive dais, stone doors behind it. On the dais was a large sphynx.


    The creature''s creepy face, with the golden furred body of a lion and the wings of an eagle, the sphinx eyed him with huge green eyes. He used a [Retributions Gaze] on the creature.


    [Pharaoh’s Sphinx Level 175]: Sphinx’s are often the guardians of sacred temples. Each holds a code of offering riddles before devouring any who get their questions wrong.]


    Ambrose unmanifested Noelle, who settled around him. A purr emanated from the sphinx in a rumble.


    “Ah, a visitor to the Pharaohs temple. If you wish to enter unchallenged, you must answer my riddle’s three, adventurer.”


    He thought about it for a moment. Truth was, he already felt delayed. This whole venture was something he wanted to square away as quickly as possible, not spend all of his time-solving riddles he couldn’t be sure he would know the answer to. If he got it wrong, the sphinx would try to eat him regardless.


    Summoning Akaroth through his dimension, he infused it with [Hellfire Manipulation] and threw it hard at the sphinx. Perhaps it was the surprise of the attack, or maybe the ferocity of it did it. Either way, Akaroth, blazing with sanguine eldritch flame, cut through the Sphinx’s neck like it was butter.


    In a burst of viscera, the head plopped to the ground like a falling apple with a sickening squelch. It rolled slightly to the side as the body twitched for a second before it fell to the side like a toppling sand tower, wings still undulating.


    [You have defeated a Sphinx Level 175. You have earned increased experience for defeating a foe beyond your level. You have advanced to level 166.]


    Ambrose nodded and quickly assigned the points. One went into intellect, bringing it to two hundred and ninety. The last seven went into wisdom. The doors beyond the dais where the now dead sphinx lay, ground open to reveal an utterly dark room beyond.


    Ambrose didn’t feel bad about killing the sphinx. Likely, he would have had to fight the creature no matter what. He wasn’t very good with riddles, even if he could work them out. Plus, the monster was a dungeon creature. The System would bring it back, if not here, elsewhere.


    A decisive blow, I approve.


    Ambrose rolled his eye. Of course she did.


    Before he could enter the utter blackness of the room beyond, a notification appeared before him.


    [Go straight no matter what.]


    He paused, reading the System’s message a second time. It must be a part of the dungeon. A little more warily, he eyed the now ominous darkness. There was nothing for it but to press on. With a tight grip on Akaroth, he stepped into the next room, the darkness eagerly swallowing him whole.