《Conquest》 Prologue Soul crystals, they were the first miracle that came out of the mystical dungeons. They were the thing that allowed you the right to the dungeon, giving you various magical skills and power. However such things don¡¯t come easily because the 2 auctions houses hold majority of the market share to these crystals. Of course it meant they would be extremely expensive for your average joe. That said, gray crystals or unknown crystals aren¡¯t that useful enough that any merchants would profit over. This was because what they gave was often trashy skills, all with a rank cap of Uncommon. Furthermore, as a new delver you only had 3 slots to work with. Taking one up so uselessly meant a huge detriment to your chance of getting stronger. But it didn¡¯t matter to him, if he didn¡¯t do it he would die soon and a shit life was better than none. What horrible predicament that he had to shoulder with the cost of failing being death? Well that was easy to answer, his mother caught the eye of some influential dude from the greats. So she took his younger sister away leaving him and his father alone, with a massive debt on them. That was when he was 7, and 2 year later his father died working himself to death trying to pay the debt his mother incurred. So he was left with just the keepsake grey crystal his father left for him and a 5 million crons debt. He picked the crystal personally on his 8th birthday, and his father taking off 7 million from their debt before he died. He was 1 week behind his schedule of paying at least a 100,000 crons to his debtor or die trying, having finally run out of the funds his father saved.Stolen story; please report. Also, like hell he would let the efforts of his father¡¯s work go down the drain while his mother lived a life of luxury. He had a responsibility to uphold and a revenge to serve, fuck the opinions of others. He lost the privilege give a shit about others when they landed in this shitty state anyway. Throwing the crystal into his mouth, he felt it turn into a cool liquid before running down his throat and dissolving away.
You have gained a new skill - (Unique) Mana construct
The text box was quickly replaced by another one as soon as he finished reading it.
Mana Construct Rank: Unique Level: 1/10 (0/100) Creates a mana construct that can be used to perform various tasks. Will obey creator completely. Cost: 50 mana Construct types: Worker Duration: Until dispelled
Well he heard of this skill and it was also one of the worst skills you could get from a gray. But who cares, he could now enter the dungeon and begin the grind to power. Even with this disadvantage, he was no greenhorn when it came to dungeon diving because his father was one himself. This was the only advantage he had against his mother and sister and it was one he was going to use as best as he could to catch up. So without further ado, he donned the garbs of his father before trudging towards his only hope of salvation, the dungeon. 1.Dive Walking across the streets wearing the equipment his father used to wear, it drew a couple glances but everyone turned away shortly. They all knew who he was and his story so no one was surprised when he was going off the the dungeons today. The city they were in was called Arient and it was ruled by the Enveyr family along with the dungeon. There were a few guards standing around the dungeon entrance who looked up at him as he walked towards the entrance. He felt a breeze overcome his body before one of the guards snickered openly at him, clearly aware of his awakening skill. The rest weren¡¯t so much better off in hiding their expressions but that was probably a spell or magitech scanner, he would remember the experience well. As he walked down the broad stairways down, he was met with a underground area half as big as the city above him. This was the hub, his future home for the next couple months unless he wasn¡¯t in the dungeons. But for now it was time to actually enter the real dungeon, kill some mobs and get filthy rich. Sword drawn, he stepped past the dungeon gateway and into the dungeon. A faint musky smell permeated the air as Ad found himself in the middle of a small clearing with a few corridors in front of him. The walls were slightly damp with sparsely dotted lumen crystals emitting a bluish light, just enough for him to see his surroundings. Lowering his posture he started stalking along the corridor, in search of his first goblin. This wasn¡¯t his first time here but it was his first time hunting, his father had taught him everything he knew before he died. So he was very clear what kind of monsters laid in this area of the dungeon. There were always a few portal spots unique to all the species in the current floor. They would always lead to the same biome with the same monsters and the one he had exited from was a goblin biome. He had come to know almost everything there was to know about the first 2 floors of the dungeons due to his father. If he couldn¡¯t even break past these 2 floors, then he could just suicide since he was so useless. Spotting the familiar lumps of flesh that the goblins had when they were hunched over, he slowly sneaked forward to prepare for a sneak attack. As he got close enough for his comfort, he sprang into action, tearing the goblins head cleanly off its neck Blue blood flew into the air spraying across the cave walls as the other goblin still around rose up in shock, screeching madly at him. But it had only started reaching for the spear lying on the ground when a blade found itself lodged into its nape, choking on its own blood as it tried screaming out its death throes. ¡°That¡¯s 2.¡± He said to himself, panting heavily even though he had only swung his sword twice. All monsters in dungeons had cores inside them when they died, the most common ones were mana cores. They were in the shape of a diamond with 2 longer ends and a circular indent in the middle. They usually glowed a dim blue, glowing brighter the stronger the monster was. Since goblins were a rank 0 monster, the glow was very dim but they still went for 1k crons each. When a monster died, if they didn¡¯t have have any gatherable parts they would disintegrate into dust after a while. The only gatherable part a goblin had were their forefinger which goes for 120 crons without a gathering skill. His goal was at least 15 cores per day to use to pay for his debts, the rest would be used to improve himself. Which was why he had prepared a bag for something like this, well his father prepared it for him. Ripping the lodged blade from the goblin¡¯s neck, he quickly moved to harvest whatever he could before leaving the scene. A few hours passed without him noticing as he netted 11 cores by the time he was finally ready to take a rest. Walking to the nearest cleared area he had been, he sat down to review his past few hours of work. 11 R0 cores, 22 goblin fingers and a crystal ball that he had no idea of it¡¯s use. He got it on his 9th kill when the corpse distingerated before he could harvest it, leaving the crystal ball behind. The goblins here were a bit more sparse than he liked so he couldn¡¯t get as much as he wanted. He would get it appraised later but he wanted to check his mana construct and status first. ¡°Status.¡±
Name: Aiden Smith (17) Skills 1/3
Race: Human (M) Level: 2 (20 / 100)
Hp: 84/120 (0.39/hr) Mp: 120 (6.4/hr)
Class: -
Stats: [AP: 3] [SP: 0] STR: 13 DEX: 16 SPI: 9 CON: 12 INT: 12 LCK: 4/10 WILL: 12
Skills:
Mana Construct Lvl 1: 0/100 Summons: 1 Cost: 50 Dura: - CD: -
So it was 2 casts at full mana and 5 hrs to his next cast before he was totally out, another 19+ hour before he was fully topped up again. Taking a rest would increase that regen rate exponentially but there wouldn¡¯t be time for that here. Putting 3 points into Int it was now time to summon his first worker. ¡°Summon worker.¡± He said while pointing forward. He felt an icy rush from his core rapidly coursing into his outstretched fingers before being pushed out. A blue blob of liquid dropping on the floor before it morphed into a human form rapidly. A dark blue human standing in front of him holding nothing at all, just quietly awaiting his orders. He wanted to check it¡¯s status though but he didn¡¯t have a appraisal skill, which was a problem he needed to solve soon. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Name: - Skills: -
Race: Worker Construct Level: 1/10 (0 / 100)
Hp: 40 Mp: -
Class: Worker
Stats: [AP: 0] STR: 10 DEX: 15 SPI: - CON: 10 INT: - LCK: - WILL: -
Worker: A class that grants user improved proficiency in the use of all tools related to construction. All construction skills gain +10% xp gain. Has a fixed amount of hp that cannot be raised.
Well it was nice to know that he didn¡¯t any skills to appraise the status of his workers but he still needed a appraisal skill soon. Anyway this sumon wasn¡¯t going to be any good except as a meatshield or construction worker. The walls started groaning softly causing Ad to jump up surprised, kicking the crystal ball away accidently. ¡°Ah shit, pick that up for me.¡± He said before turning his attention back to the cave walls that were now sinking inwards. This was a clear sign of monsters respawning soon in which case was goblins, he just didn''t know how many. ¡°Graa!¡± The goblins screeched loudly at him. Stepping forward, he slid his blade across it¡¯s neck before pivoting around to the other goblins around him. Other than the one he just killed there where 5 other goblins left, which means 6 cores for him, wonderful. ¡°HAA!¡± Screaming himself, Aiden charged forward with his sword raised, clashing against the 5 newborn goblins. 10 minutes later, Aiden dropped his ass to the ground completely exhausted from the fight. Fighting 5 goblins face on was still too hard on him as he was left with only 43 hp after the fight. However it was all worth it because one of them dropped a skill crystal, he didn¡¯t know what skill but it was a skill crystal alright. His other worker had somehow disappeared along with the crystal ball, maybe it died to the goblins. He was too lazy to pick everything up so he went for the lazy path, summoning another worker to grab all the cores for him. Most of their bodies were too destroyed to harvest so they disintegrated into dust as soon as the cores were plucked out of their bodies. Putting the 5 cores and skill crystal into his pack, he slowly made his way back to the hub with the worker in tow. He would see if he could come back down again after taking a reset and selling his shit. But for now he stepped past the purplish portal and back into civilisation. Wincing slightly at the sudden change in lighting he slowly stumbled towards a nearby alchemy shop. Finding one he entered it and walked towards the relatively empty desk where an elf was manning. ¡° Ah welcome to Ericsons Services, how may I be of service?¡± The man said brightly. ¡°Selling magic cores and goblin fingers.¡± Ad replied succinctly. ¡°Alright then let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got.¡± Nodding, Ad dumped all the cores he had along with the goblin fingers on the table. ¡°Wow, this is a pretty decent haul for your first dive. The cores would be 16000 crons, as for the fingers they would be 2640, I¡¯ll put it as 2700 alright.¡± The elf said, impressed. ¡°Thanks. Do you know where the nearest appraisal is?¡± ¡° Oh I can do that too, you got a crystal drop on the first floor?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Huh thats pretty lucky, most people don¡¯t see any drops until the 7th floor. Well let¡¯s have a look at it then.¡± Nodding again, he handed the orange crystal over to the elf who then casted some sort of appraisal spell over it. ¡°Skill crystal - Gathering, Tier 1, Level 1. Not bad, are you selling it?¡± ¡°...I¡¯ll keep it for now.¡± He would need a skill like that in the future since his plans were all for going solo. Thanking the elf again he quickly left for the marketplace, he had 3.7k crons to spend and he needed a class and skills. He already knew the build he wanted, summoner and sorcerer for his 2 main class and alchemist as his profession. Each main class gave 1 extra skill slot every 5 level and every 10 level he gets 2 new slots, every 5 level gives him one free skill point that had a few useful uses. A profession would get him 1 skill slot per 10 level which in total may seem like a lot but it isn¡¯t. If it was just active skills then yes, but utility skills also took skill slots, only passive don¡¯t take slots. Anyway he would need, Meditate, Fireball, Shadow Strike, summon familiar or skeleton and Magic circuits to complete his early build. Sorcerer class crystal was first on the list which took 1000 crons, he then went for Shadow Strike and Magic circuits. This dropped him to a measly 200 crons which was just enough for a night in a cheap inn. He wanted Fireball first but that would mean he was left with no money to buy anything else. Well he would earn more eventually but it was time to use these crystals. Finding a room in a cheap Inn was easy enough as he got it in a few minutes of bargaining with the innkeeper. Throwing both crystals in his mouth, he felt the same cold liquid flow down his throat before disappearing.
You have gained a new Class: Sorcerer R0 You have gained a new Skill: Shadow Strike R0 You have gained a new Skill: Magic Circuits R0
Sorcerer (Common) Rank 0 1/10 (0 / 100) The sorcerer is the master of magic, wieding it with absolute control to lay waste to his enemies. +1 INT +1 SPI per level 10% xp gain with magic spells.
Shadow Strike (Common) Rank 0 1/10 (0 / 100) Requirement: Dagger, Shortsword Gather the power of shadows and strike your enemies with a deadly strike. Sneak attacks deal 4x damage. Back attacks deal 1.5x damage. Will dismember limbs. +2 Slash Cost: 5 Mana Cooldown: 7¡¯s
Magic Circuits (Common, Passive) Rank 0 1/10 (0 / 100) Your body has been remodeled to use magic much better now. Max mana +10% Control +10%
Name: Aiden Smith (17) Skills 2/4 (3)
Race: Human (M) Level: 2 (20 / 100)
Hp: 52/120 (0.39/hr) Mp: 160 (8.2/hr)
Class: Sorcerer(1)
Stats: [AP: 0] [SP: 0] STR: 13 DEX: 16 SPI: 10 CON: 12 INT: 16 LCK: 4/10 WILL: 12
Skills:
Mana Construct 1/10 (0/100) Summons: 1 Cost: 50 Dura: - CD: -
Shadow Strike 1/10 (0/100) +2 Slash Cost: 5 Dura: - CD: 7¡¯s
Magic Circuits 1/10 (0/100) Passive
It wasn¡¯t amazing but he was getting there alright, it won¡¯t be long till he stood at the top of the word. 2.Up and into the fire Waking up refreshed, he was more than ready to tackle the dungeons again, no breakfast for him since he had no money now. All of it was used to rent a day here and unless he could get more than a dozen cores, he would be sleeping on the streets tonight. He also need to buy a whetting stone to maintain his blade, a staff eventually for his class since he was going the path of magic. The guards at the dungeon gate had changed from yesterday¡¯s group which was normal. After letting them scan his status he was allowed passage into the dungeon. Today¡¯s course being slimes and more slimes or he could leave now and wait out the 4 hour reset timer. He didn¡¯t have a single spell in his skill list which wasn¡¯t the end of the world but got pretty close. His only option was to cover his blade with a sheet of mana and try to aim for the slime cores. Well it wasn¡¯t like he never saw how to manual skill before, his father was too poor to buy a lot of the skill crystals he needed. So the only option was to copy the effects of a skill using your own body and inspiration and not with the help of the system. It was going to be hard as hell to copy the skill Mana Skin and even harder to maintain throughout battle. But he did learn Magic Circuits so the additional 10% control was really going to help him out here. Slimes had 2 attack patterns only which was to shoot a tentacle at you or try to digest you inside its body. It was only of the worst ways to die because slime bodies were just acidic enough to kill you but very slowly and painfully. Which was why he had to cover his sword with a mana coating otherwise it would be corroded by the acid and become useless. Well that was it for the planning, worse comes to worst, he would just leave the dungeon and wait out the 4 hour reset timer. The only benefit going for him was that slimes don¡¯t fight back unless they were hungry or being attacked. So if he could land a nice first hit on their core, it would be a instant kill for him. A good thing they also spawned in large numbers, meaning he would have a lot more cash if he did it right. The first group of slimes already in sight as he left the safety of the dungeon portal, and with a glowing blue sword, he set out to kill some slimes. His high DEX just making the job easier for him as he was able to follow the erratic movements of the slime cores easily. Within an hour, he had gotten over 30 cores which was already more than his first day. He didn¡¯t have to take as many breaks as he needed like yesterday since all he had to do here was to intercept the path of the moving slime core. Also due the ease of cutting down these slimes, he found it really easy to focus on the constant image of a mana coating around his sword. A nice little benefit was that he had already gained 2 spirit for manual skilling, and he didn¡¯t need to keep wasting mana to recast it. Which was the benefits of Manual skilling, it had all of the skill effects and not all of the costs needed. Mana skin requires a upkeep of 30 max mana to keep up but here, he just needed to spend 30 mana for the same constant effect. The reason why there wasn¡¯t lot more people use manual skilling was because the skill effects depended on how much you knew about the skill. The stronger a skill, the more complicated the activation process usually is which means it was much harder to master manually. The short break over, time to get back to working for a living. He didn¡¯t know how long he had been here or how many slimes since he had already stopped counting. The cores in his bag was rising steadily so he was definitely killing a lot of slimes for the effort he had to put in. Of course, it wasn¡¯t like he was a machine or anything, he still needed to take a rest every now and then to check if he could still go on.
Name: Aiden Smith (17) Level: 2 (94 / 100)
Hp: 74/120 (0.39/hr) Mp: 103/160 (8.2/hr)
Well he could definitely use a health potion just in case, but he would just have to make do. The stairs up the second floor was just right around the corner, if it was still a slime biome then he wouldn¡¯t mind going further. If not he could check the place out before leaving if he couldn¡¯t deal with the monsters, he did earn quite a lot in the few hours he was here. Making up his mind, he quickly ascended the flight of stairs to a bigger corridor that opened up to a brightly lit cavern. It was still a slime biome with lots of slimes laying limp all over the place. They were probably stronger than the slimes in the first floor but until the 3rd floor, slimes were still passive monsters. Of course it only applied for normal slimes, elite slimes were much different as they were just like any other monsters. With a little bit of luck though, he wouldn¡¯t meet once since the were still very rare on the second floor. Raising his sword, he resumed swinging it across the bodies of the slimes around him. It was a really boring experience despite being easy money. He was still at the age where he had those unrealistic dreams and goals after all, dungeoning should at least be more exciting than playing whack a mole. A blistering heat suddenly flushed the entire cavern causing Ad to raise his head in terror. A blazing inferno roaring towards him and he knew he would definitely die he was hit by that. Rolling to the side, the inferno went straight through where he was previously standing at but otherwise he was safe. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Well mostly, the back of his shirt had been completely burned through leaving a massive charred hole. He lost 20 hp just from being grazed by that spell which did confirm his previous doubt that it was a insta kill. But in front of him was a fire slime, probably a maxed level elite fire slime. They had 2 attacks, spitting out a large fireball at him or the inferno just now. Both were capable of killing hi in 1 hit, the fireball had a 10 second cooldown while the inferno had 15. It¡¯s body was also way too hot for a flimsy mana coating to protect his sword without melting into a pile of scrap. But he couldn¡¯t run away because his escape was blown up by the previous attack. The other exit was right behind the fire slime which by the way was starting up another inferno or maybe it was a fireball. Either one was just as deadly, but there was no way out except to fight. But if he destroyed it¡¯s core, the slime would die just like any other slime, he just had to not get hit once. He would need to use a shadow strike every time he attack otherwise the blade would melt, which was not what the skill was meant to do in the first place. But beggars can¡¯t be choosers, he would have to attack the moment it spat out it¡¯s next spell. Luckily he didn¡¯t need to wait long as the fire slime burped out a fireball almost half a meter lage. Charging towards the blob of red liquid, he wanted to attack the core but the slime jumped into the air causing him to miss. He had to roll out of the way just as the slime slammed back onto the ground. Glowing crimson red, fire exploded from its body, aimed right at him. ¡°Mana construct!¡± he screamed instinctively. The worker lasted a single second before melting away but it was just enough time for him to escape the spell range. Then before his very eyes, the slime started contorting and bubbling rapidly before splitting into 2 smaller pieces. ¡°Fuck,, body double?¡± Ad screamed in frustration. Body double on a slime was so broken, now it had 2 lives instead of one. Why did he have such a shitty luck, and curse his damn mouth for asking for something more adventurous. Each body would inherit half of its strength which means one slime could use fireball and the other one could use firestorm. Their physical strength didn''t matter since it was a fire slime. It was really the worst situation for him, he had to deal with 2 different directions of attack and try not to get digested. He also had 1 more core he needed to destroy before he would win. All he had was a shortsword and about a 100 over mana, against 2 elite monster. Wonderful odds he had and while he was busy trying to come up with a plan, the 2 slimes weren¡¯t idlying away. Jumping and spewing flames at him in sync with each other, it made his job way harder than it already was. So much so that he had to expend another worker to dodge a otherwise deadly attack. However not all was bad since even monsters had a limit to their mana pool, he just needed to keep this up for another hour and they would dry up. But Ad was already tired from his previous exodus, he could only keep this up for so much longer. And with the exhaustion catching up to him, he was already being grazed by more attacks that he would¡¯ve liked. So he came up with a very reckless plan, one that would probably kill him if he failed. As the next slime jumped at him after another fireball instead of running away, he stood there with his sword pointed up. That¡¯s right, he was going to let slime ram itself into his sword and pray he had enough mana to keep up a full body coat. Why you ask? That¡¯s because he was just a tiny bit off from the next level and levelling up meant he would be fully recovered. And as the slimed dropped onto him, he entered a world of pain where everything around him was just lava. He couldn¡¯t open his eyes or mouth even to scream out in pain because if he did, he would die even faster. All he could do was swing his sword as fast as possible, randomly trying to hit the core. He could feel his mana rapidly draining away, soon to be his health if he didn''t kill this fucker fast enough. But it seemed that Lady luck had finally chosen to smile on him as his blade found purchase. His level up came, fully recovering him and finally giving him some breather. There was still one blob but that one was squirming in pain currently, good for him. ¡°Put all points into spirit.¡± Because he had another dumb plan in mind. Spirit dealt with control, willpower and mental resistance, actually the last 2 was pretty similar. Anyway, he was going to dump as much mana as he could in his sword and then throw it all out. His sword wasn¡¯t mana conductive meaning he had to mana coat it to prevent the sword from breaking. He also had to coat himself in mana because the slime was sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to let him charge up his dumb attack. So while the slime was still down, he had to infuse his sword with as much mana as possible. Raising the sword into the air with both hands, he directed all his mana into the blade. One half into the sword itself and a quarter into the mana coat, forming a extremely delicate balance between exploding on him or on the slime. About half way there, the slime finally noticed the human acting extremely weird, but it felt a dangerous aura from it. So as both fighters charged their own attacks, ironically they both finished casting at the same time. A torrent of flames blasting out from the slime, twice as big as the previous iterations. ¡°Exx-CALIBURST!¡± Ad screamed out in righteous fury, subconsciously stealing a iconic attack name from his world. The cavern shook heavily as both energies collided for a single moment before the shining blade of light broke through. But Ad was not left unscathed, as the firestorm had continued forward even after being split into half. He could only call up another mana construct with the last dregs of mana he had in him before passing out cold. The elite slimes was dead and he had won, but he was already unconscious and left at the mercy of the slimes around him. Slimes who survived the explosion and were now seeking revenge, at him. ¡°Lightning Chain.¡± A soft voice said from the shadows, causing lightning to arc from her fingers. The slimes were killed instantly leaving behind a puddle of goo and magic cores. ¡°He¡¯s definitely cute right Elin?¡± She called out to the walls. ¡°Uhuh, you have good eyes as always Mia. Looks like the evo-crystal actually found someone decent for once.¡± ¡°We still can¡¯t show ourselves to him until he reaches the 20th floor. We¡¯ll have to wait a bit longer, before we can meet him officially.¡± ¡°Ahh, damn rules I already can¡¯t wait to make him ours.¡± Elin moaned. ¡°He might turn out to be a failure too.¡± ¡°Oh duh, we¡¯ll just kill him and reset if he¡¯s so useless. It''s not like we¡¯ve never done this before.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to do that this time. He definitely the real deal.¡± she sad, pointing at Ad who had streams of green light covering him. ¡°OH! Now I just can¡¯t bear to wait, can¡¯t we just mark him nowww?¡± ¡°You know what happens if we do that. Stop whining will you, he¡¯d probably reach the 20th floor faster than most people.¡± ¡°Buut it¡¯s not fast enough.¡± Elin knew that Mia was right but it was so long since they found a decent candidate. ¡°You¡¯re not the only impatient one, now help me carry him back to the hub.¡± ¡°Ohh, now that''s rare.¡± She cried in glee. They 2 females picked up everything on the floor along with Ad before disappearing from the dungeon. 3. Awaken He found himself floating amongst a inky darkness, unable to do anything. He was sure he killed the fire slime but he didn''t know if he was still alive. Maybe he died, so he was now in this limbo with no way out. He could hear 2 faint voice talking though, one regal but sweet and the other sultry and mature. He couldn¡¯t hear what they were talking about but he felt like it was something about him. Light streamed into the the darkness, the light distorted from the darkness rippling like water. A comforting warmth overcame his body causing him to slowly sink into a half conscious state. It was only a long time later that he finally woke up, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling feeling extremely lethargic. ¡°Ugh¡­where am I?¡± ¡°You¡¯re in a hospital of course. Now if you don¡¯t mind feel free to leave as soon as possible, you¡¯re pretty healthy as you are.¡± A nurse said to him, nonchalantly. ¡°Wait, what about the fees, and who brought me here?¡± Ad asked, confused as hell. ¡°Ah no need to worry about that, the fees for healing you was already paid by the girls that brought you here 2 days ago. Your stuff are on the table over there.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, they also said that if you wanted to repay them then climb to the 20th floor. That¡¯s about them I guess, now get moving.¡± She said while shooing him out of the bed. Stumbling out of the hospital after changing back into his own clothes, all the cores he hunted were still there including 2 R1 cores and a crystal or 2 in the bag. Probably from the 2 elite slimes he killed, they were at least generous in the loot they gave considering he almost died to them. Well he had to sell these cores first and appraise whatever crystals he got from the fight. ¡°Welcome to ericson¡¯s Services, how may I- Ah it¡¯s you again, so you were still alive.¡± ¡°I¡¯m selling cores, and appraisal for skill crystals.¡± ¡°Alright, just give me a moment.¡± He said as he started counting out the magic cores. ¡°Oh! A R1 core, you actually met a elite, no wonder you were gone for so long. Well there¡¯s about 43 R0¡¯s and 2 R1¡¯s so that''s 56,000. Now for your crystals¡­ well colour me surprised, that¡¯s a Firestorm crystal and a Body double skill crystal. Your first appraisal was free as our company has stated, but after that it costs 100 crons. I''ll take that off your sales, is that fine?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± There was no free lunch in this world after all. The crystals while amazing finds, felt extremely ironic considering these 2 spells were what caused him to almost die. But Firestorm was a good skill, so he was going to use that. As for body double, he was still unsure as to what he wanted to do with it. Leaving the shop, he went back to the inn he was staying at first, renting out another week. He wanted to check his status first before anything else. ¡°Status.¡±
Name: Aiden Smith (17) Skills 3/4 (4)
Race: Awakened Human (M) Level: 4 (8 / 100)
Hp: 170 (0.49/hr) Mp: 240 (12.7/hr)
Class: Sealmaster(2)
Stats: [AP: 0] [SP: 0] STR: 18 DEX: 21 SPI: 25 CON: 17 INT: 27 LCK: 4/10 WILL: 17
Skills:
Mana Construct 1/10 (40/100) Summons: Worker Cost: 50 Dura: - CD: -
Shadow Strike 4/10 (12/100) +2 Slash Cost: 5 Dura: - CD: 6.5¡¯s
Magic Circuits 3/10 (32/100) Passive
Create Seal 1/10 (0/100) Seals: 0 Cost: 20 Dura: - CD: -
He didn¡¯t know what to say right now, in fact he was totally speechless how his stats had suddenly shot up so much. His race had changed somewhat and so did his class, it was now sealmaster, whatever that was. All his stats except luck got a +5 increase while intelligence and spirit received 3 and 2 extra stats respectively. He had to check everything that was new.
Awakened Human (M) Rank 2 Having received a evolution crystal, your body has evolved to be one step closer to becoming the strongest. +5 to all stats. Levelling up grants 5 AP instead of 3 AP.
Sealmaster (Unique) Rank 2 1/10 (0 / 100) The Sealmaster is one who can become an army of his own,capable turning even living beings into a seal with enough power. They will never be bound by the common restrictions anyone else has. +3 INT, +2SPI per level
Create Seal (Unique) Rank 3 1/10 (0 / 100) Creates a seal to hold either a skill, class or an object. Skills sealed can still be used normally, they do take up skill slots. Sealed skills require close contact or melee range to be used. You cannot seal a passive skill or unique skills. Class seals can be assimilated into Sealmaster class for experience. Can also be used to transfer a class between 2 parties. Sealed objects are required to be unsealed before they can be used. Sealed objects do not have weight. All seals require a upkeep of 20 maximum mana.
The only crystal he came upon that could be a evolution crystal was that orb that he lost in the fight against the goblins. But it didn¡¯t awaken him or anything when he got it, only now after the fight with the elite slimes. So either it had a requirement before he could awaken or it was something else entirely, maybe it was the people that saved him who did this. Which just means he had 1 more reason to keep going up even after he paid his debt off.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Because one, the main compound where the great his mother clung onto was at the 22nd floor. Two, going up meant he had more chance of getting stronger and earning money faser. Finally 3, it was to meet his saviours. With this sudden change of luck, he was now even more determined to exact his revenge. First though, he had to test this Create Seal skill he had. Throwing the Firestorm crystal into his mouth, he ignored all the text boxes before activating the Create Seal skill. A small white ring floated above his hand, waiting for him to do something. ¡°Umm, seal Firestorm?¡± The seal trembled slightly before morphing into a red circle with a flame symbol in the middle.
Fire Seal (Unique) Rank - 1/1 A seal that expels a stream of fire in front of it, it can be fine tuned into a lasting effect or used as a single shot. Can be set on any surface in contact with your body or at a very close range around you. Can be used alongside other Seals. Cost: 5 mana Duration: Until dispelled/Activated Seal trigger:Blast
Seeing it work just like how it should be, Ad couldn¡¯t help grow excited as he quickly made another seal for Shadow strike. This time, it retained its colour but had a dagger symbol in the middle before disappearing once he clenched his fist around it.
Boost Seal (Unique) Rank - 1/1 A seal that doubles the strength of your next attack or skill that is attached to the seal. Can be used alongside other Seals. Cost: 5 mana Duration: Until dispelled/ activated Seal trigger: Boost
The result was not what he expected but this was perhaps for the best, since it was now a very general skill that could be applied anywhere. But now it was time to spend his money so he could get stronger, with 34000 crons in hand, he could get a lot of skills he needed. He had kept 20000 crons for his debt today since he did earn so much, although he had to double down on the grind since he missed 2 days. His sorcerer class was eaten up which was a bummer, his Sealmaster did level because of it. But now he wasn¡¯t sure what class and skills he wanted now, the sealing of his 2 skills seems to have some changes to their skill effect. So he probably wasn¡¯t going to seal any utility skills except for maybe a few exceptions. He did need a second class though, to maximize his skill slots and bonus stats he would get from them. He just didn¡¯t know what class to go for now in order to complement his sealmaster class. It was pretty clear that he could just get a strong summoning spell and then seal the monster he summoned. Or just get a tame skill so he could seal wild monsters, a pretty decent idea also. The main focus of his bonus stats seemed to be going into his mental stats, so people were probably going to think of him as a mage. Detection skills cannot not get the exact stats a person had but only the highest 2 stats a person has. Even if the third stat was lower by 1 point, it would not show up on the other person¡¯s detect skill. With the potential of the seals, he was probably going to become an all rounder type of fighter. So his best bet right now was to get a melee class, a taming skill, detection skills and melee skills. He also needed a new sword now that his old one was just a lump of scrap metal now. First on the list was detection skills there were a few choices, Appraisal, Detect, Inspect, Analyze and Revelation. He was just going to buy all five and turn them into seals because each one usually had special kink the other skills didn¡¯t have. Maybe it would have a surprise for him if he sealed all the skills into 1 seal, or if he could even do something like that. That cost him 4300 crons. His next purchase was the taming skill along with a cooking skill because why buy food if he could cook his own meal. This took 1940 crons and he still had 27760 crons to work with. Now there were tons of melee classes he could choose from with a lot of different focuses. He didn¡¯t want to rush his choice even if he could extract the class if it wasn¡¯t good later on.
Warrior - R1 1200 A warrior is one who stands at the forefront of battle, wielding his greatsword to mow down his enemies.
Paladin - R1 1800 A paladin is one who stands amongst his brethren, healing and protecting them while slaying all who dares attack them.
Blade Dancer - R1 1700 A blade dancer is one who dances between the blades of his enemies, taking down foes with grace and agility.
Berserker - R1 2000 A berserker is one that thrives in the battlefield, his injuries only seek to fuel his thirst for more violence and blood.
None of these class were really what he wanted, and they were only weak rank 1 classes to boot. He could afford way better than this with the amount of money he had now. ¡°Show me the melee classes between the 15-20000 crons range please.¡± He still had to save some money for skills. ¡°Sure, hold on sir.¡±
Blademaster - R3 17500 The Blademaster is the advancement of a samurai, wielding only the sword with impeccable grace and power to cut down his enemies.The blademaster is the advancement of the samurai, but now wielding the sword with an impeccable grace and power to cut down his enemies.
Magic Blade - R4 19550 The fusion of magic and swords, the magic blade is one who wrecks havoc in the backlines of the enemies. Dealing massive burst damage before slipping away.The magic blade is the fusion between magic and swords. Wielding both with ease, he has the most versatile style of all. Be wary of the tricks he can pull.
Weaponmaster - R4 20500 The weaponmaster is one who has mastered the use of all weapons he have put his hands on.The weaponmaster is a master of countless weapons, capable of using each with the same proficiency as any other weapon.
Dragoon - R3 15500 The dragoon is the advancement of a warrior, choosing the path of a dragon rider eventually. He wields a great spear in hand to strike down his enemies.The dragoon is the advancement of a warrior who has chosen the path to become a dragon rider. But until he finds his rode, he will crush his obstacles with a great spear in hand.
Shadow Dancer - R4 21000 The shadow dancer is the fusion of a blade dancer and a assassin, they slip the the shadows, laying waste to all around them in an inhumane grace.The shadow dancer is the fusion of a assassin and a blade dancer. Now with twice the deadliness
There were a few more choices but these were the ones he could afford and for now, they seemed decent enough. There was hardly any other choice other than the blademaster, because he didn¡¯t need more magic, or more versatility or a dragon, or to become a assassin. Well maybe he did want a dragon, that would be pretty cool to have if he could get one. As soon as he got his crystal handed to him, he used it on himself immediately.
Blademaster (Uncommon) Rank 3 1/10 (0 / 100) The Blademaster is the advancement of a samurai, wielding only the sword with impeccable grace and power to cut down his enemies.The blademaster is the advancement of the samurai, but now wielding the sword with an impeccable grace and power to cut down his enemies. +3 STR, +2DEX +20% xp gain for all double handed longswords.
This gave him a extra skill slot, putting him up to 5 total slots with 3 free slots, it was starting to be pretty decent in terms of his stat gains. But there was still a few things more to buy with a much smaller budget of 10,260 crons. While he was scrolling down the class list though, he did come across a pretty good profession class.
Child of the Wilderness (Rare) Rank 2 1/10 (0 / 100) Having lived for so long in the wilderness, you have become a master of survival, even thriving in the midst of the wild. You can easily cook whatever you get your hands on, make medicine to heal yourself and make and repair your own weapons. While what you can do will never be the best, it is more than enough for you to survive on without external help. +3 CON, +2 DEX. Survival Mastery - Apprentice Cooking, Apprentice Alchemy, Apprentice Blacksmithing, Apprentice Construction, Apprentice gathering. Learning a similar skill will cause the seal to be assimilated into Child of Wilderness.
The only problem was that if he bought this, he wouldn¡¯t be able to buy anything as this class costs 9500 crons. On the bright side, this class was usually quite sought after for a lot of solo players and wouldn¡¯t be up on the market for very long. He could get skills later on since they were usually in supply, and he had enough stats to go out barehanded if needed. Gritting his teeths in determination, he bought the skill and used it before he could change his mind. Getting a cheap sword with the rest of his money, he set off to the dungeons after taking one last look at his stats after all the gains he just got.
Name: Aiden Smith (17) Skills 2/5 (3)
Race: Awakened Human (M) Level: 4 (8 / 100)
Hp: 200 (4.5/hr) Mp: 230 (-40) (13.15/hr)
Class: Sealmaster(2), Blademaster(1), CoW (1)
Stats: [AP: 0] [SP: 0] STR: 21(+3) DEX: 25(+4) SPI: 25(+2) CON: 20(+3) INT: 27(+3) LCK: 4/10 WILL: 17 +20% xp to double handed longswords.
Skills:
Mana Construct 1/10 (40/100) Summons: Worker Cost: 50 Dura: - CD: -
Create Seal 1/10 (0/100) Seals: Blast, Boost Cost: 20, 5 Dura: - CD: -
Magic Circuits 3/10 (32/100) Passive
Survival Mastery 1/1 Passive
4. Conflict It was only after he went into the dungeon that he forgot that he didn¡¯t use the 5 utility skill crystals. They were still in his bag so he had to do that quick and get his skills up and ready. Luckily he remembered just when he entered the dungeon and not in the middle of a fight. He had 3 slots open so he had to first seal those 3 first, hopefully together. ¡°Create seal. Seal Detect, Analyse and Revelation.¡± The seal trembled slightly before seamlessly turning blue, with an eye symbol in the middle. Taking in the remaining 2 seals, he sealed those 2 inside the same seal again. This time the seal trembled slightly before turning white, the symbol staying the same.
Scan Seal (Unique) Rank - 5/5 A seal that displays all data that it scan, regardless of any defences protecting it. Can be used as a radar or to scan the status of an object. Can be set on any surface in contact with your body or at a very close range around you. Can be used alongside other Seals. Cost: 20 Max mana Duration: Until dispelled/Cast
Honestly it was a pretty damn great result, it could be used to scout or used to forcibly display someone else status. But now that was done, it was time to start the dungeon crawl. Today, he wanted to at least reach the 2nd floor and possibly the 3rd depending on the state of his sword by the time he reached there. It was just a cheap 500 crons weapon after all, so he also had to fight more conservatively or use his new-found seals effectively. Today, it was kobolds for the first level, the counterpart to the goblins except they could use magic. This biome is a grassland with a couple underground mines that are home to the kobold tribes. There are also horned beasts around here which the kobolds hunt for food. It was almost afternoon now so all the kobold fighters would have come out from their den in search of food by now. ¡°Scan.¡± A white ring floating beneath his fingers, sending out invisible pulses of mana to his surroundings. He could instinctively feel someone or something the moment the mana waves passed over it. There was even a detailed image of his surrounds being formed in his mind as he continued scanning his surroundings. Eventually though the map he created stopped at around 200m away from him. But in that 200 meters range, he could basically see almost everything including exactly how far he was to the next group of monsters. Even after turning off the scan, he could still see the map he created, just that it was no longer being updated. It was also very nice that turning it on constantly didn¡¯t cost any additional mana except for the 5 mana used to activate it. He could place scans everywhere so he could get a constantly updated map where he knew everything going on, which could be really strong in certain situations. But for now, he was going to conserve whatever mana he had so he would have enough to use in a fight. The closest pack to him was a 4 kobold pack 73 meters away from him, all of them using either clubs or spears. ¡°Boost¡± Activating it on his legs just as he could see the kobolds, his speed doubled in an instant. They didn¡¯t even have time to turn around before he tore a head cleanly off it¡¯s shoulder. Even Ad was surprised at the damage he dealt and the speed he had, his mind couldn¡¯t was unable to follow his body when he sprang into action. Which meant he wasted a chance to probably take another head in the time his mind was busy catching up. He definitely needed to put more points in SPI to use this effectively, otherwise this would happen again. A man once said tis, ¡° Having too much power without knowing how to use it is equal to having no power at all. It¡¯s just a liability.¡± He was inclined to agree with that right now, just doubling his speed for a single instance and he could no longer keep up. Well it seems like while these seals were amazing he wasn¡¯t, at least not yet. But he could improve and he would improve, otherwise how could he ever get the revenge he wanted. First though, he had to take out the remaining 3 kobolds before he could think about getting revenge. During the few hours he had been in the dungeon, he had experimented with his seals constantly and got a few things to show for it. First, he could place his seals anywhere and he would just know where it was even if he left it¡¯s sight. The monsters couldn¡¯t see the seals he placed but could see it when he was using it on himself. So they could be used as a trap if he could find the right skills to seal. Second, he could cast the same seal on itself multiple times, the effect would multiply by how many times it was layer and so would the mana cost. Third, he could use 2 or more different seals at once for a fusion of both effects. But this would multiply both cost against each other. For example, Boost and Scan, would double the range and accuracy of scan but cost 200 mana. He was lucky there was no monsters around him because he had dropped to the ground completely exhausted after using it. He was also lucky that he was close to levelling up then. So while he was recovered, he couldn¡¯t afford to do any more experiments in a unsafe location like in the dungeon. He could place fusion seals on surfaces just like normal seals which was something. Furthermore he could also place seals onto his sword, the effect would become something like an enchantment. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Blast placed onto the sword would make it spew flames, while boost would make the blade harder and sharper. Scan on the other hand didn¡¯t have any effect so it seems like only certain seals would work. With the all experiment he wanted to try done, it was time to move up to the third floor. As soon as he walked past the cavern though, he crossed paths with a pack of nagas. ¡°Shaa!¡± Screeching loudly, they slithered towards him with rapidly. ¡°Shit, Boost!¡± Jumping into the air, he just barely evaded the attack. ¡°Shaa!¡± The last naga changed directions almost instantly, aiming for where he was going to hand. ¡°I really need a defensive skill soon. Blast!¡± Destroying the ground, he created a large cloud of smoke blocking the naga¡¯s vision. Stuttering to a stop, it swiveled it¡¯s head rapidly trying to find the human but the dust covered the entire area, making it impossible to do. ¡°Boost.¡± Speeding forward, he sliced off it¡¯s head in one blow before stopping a few meters away from the entire exchange. ¡°Hah, looks like I¡¯m starting to get a hang of this.¡± he said, impressed at himself. ¡°Shaa!¡± The remaining 4 very angry naga¡¯s where on the assault again. ¡°Ugh shit, the battle isn¡¯t over yet.¡± He moved back into his battle stance again to meet the enemies attack. The sound of metal ringing continued for a while longer before it finally stopped as Ad came out of the fight covered in blood. ¡°Haa haa, damn just the third floor and I¡¯m already being pushed so hard. I really can¡¯t do this alone can I?¡± He had gone through another 3 packs just now and while he managed to kill all of them, he didn''t get off scot free. He only had a quarter of his health left and not much mana to spare either. He needed more skills, experience and gear if he wanted to climb solo but those things were hard to come by when he had such a debt on him. In the first place, he didn¡¯t know why he was even so against the idea of being in a party. Well he did know why, it was because of the debt he had to carry and his history with a great. Everyone knew he had to become an adventurer to pay off his debt, even the adventurers knew his face due to his father. So there were almost no parties willing to even go near him, those who did would probably want a exorbitant price in return for him being in their party. Even if he paid off his debt he still had that history with a great family, unless he bowed down to another great no one would want him. But if he did that, he would never have the chance to have his revenge. Well all this wouldn¡¯t be a problem if he got strong enough to fight alone. ¡°Oh ho, what do we have here?¡± ¡°What, tch Boost!¡± Jumping away quickly, he managed to avoid the fireball that flew towards him. ¡°Who are you!¡± He growled angrily at the group of adventurers who suddenly appeared behind him. There were a total of 7 adventurers in their group, 5 males and 2 where females. As he surveyed their entire group he found a familiar face standing amongst the 2 females. ¡°... Tiffany.¡± He growled, rage spilling out from his body endlessly. ¡°Huh, you two know each other, Tiffany?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve never met him.¡± She replied coldly, staring down at him disdainfully. ¡°Huh, alright then we don¡¯t need to hold back right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± While they were busy talking to each other as if he didn¡¯t exist, he had been stacking as many seals as he could around him. They probably would only work once, neither would his sister invite herself to hell, too bad. But at least he could take down the first few that tried to attack him, then escape. Right now he was in no shape to fight no matter how much he wanted to rip that blond head off. ¡°Blessing of the wind. Magic shield. Regeneration.¡± Buffing her teammates with 2 very useful buffs against him. Well he definitely didn¡¯t expect a bitch like her to become a priestess, what an irony. But those still won¡¯t help them survive the first salvo, he was making sure at least one of them died. ¡°Haha, you¡¯re sure on fire today aren¡¯t ya. Well with this buffs, looks like these is going to be a breeze.¡± The leader laughed loudly, unsheathing his greatsword. He really needed to buy some potions the next time, not having mana to cast skills was a damn embarrassing way to go. ¡°Blast, Double!¡± Sending it out in a thin line like a laser, it¡¯s speed and cutting power was much stronger than usual. He also couldn¡¯t do it with a normal Blast or by being boosted, so using a skill double or triple layered increased the range of things it could do. Well now wasn¡¯t the time to experiment more, first he had to make them come to him. ¡°Hmm, what that spell?¡± That was the last word he managed to speak before the orange red light took his life. ¡°Varin! You piece of shit, Kill Him!¡± The leader screamed in rage. ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell us twice, we won¡¯t make this quick boy. You¡¯ll regret ever being born.¡± Yeah well humans were petty like that, they could kill you but you couldn¡¯t fight back . Because they¡¯re the only ones that can have emotions and take revenge, but he couldn¡¯t do the same thing back to them. Well it wasn¡¯t something he needed to care about, right now it was just kill or be killed. ¡°Wait!, I see lots of weak mana signatures around him, he must have set traps around him.¡± Tiffany suddenly said here eyes glowing gold. ¡°Tch, give them another layer of Magic shield then.¡± Well that was annoying, she was able to use revelation to find his seals which means her skill level must be pretty high. Well it wasn¡¯t high enough to see anything since she thought his seals were just weak traps. Sure they were just normal seals for him, but he didn¡¯t know about the defences of his enemies. They could even kill a fully armoured rank 1 naga when caught unprepared after all. ¡°GRAA!-Help... me¡± His hand reached out of the flames before falling to the ground helplessly. ¡°Ares!¡± The group shouted in shock. ¡°...No more playtime, I¡¯ll kill you myself. Bloody Aura.¡± It felt like monstrous face stood behind him, staring at him with murder in its eyes while waves of violence spread out from him. He could feel his body trembling in fear, like he could never win against this opponent. ¡°Tch!¡± Gritting his teeths in anger, he slammed the hilt of his blade into his waist. The pain helping to clean the effects of the aura over him but it would only be momentary, until he had any confidence of winning of course. ¡°Heh, pretty clevver ain¡¯t ya, too bad the clever ones always DIE FIRST! BLOODY MASSACRE!¡± The greatsword glowed in a maniacal red light as it flew towards him. ¡°Shit.¡± He still haven¡¯t recovered from the hit he gave himself and he didn¡¯t have any mana left. The only things he had where the few seals on the floor but he was pretty sure that wasn¡¯t going to help him block this attack. So was this how he would die? He wasn¡¯t even ready to begin his trek but it was already ending. ¡°Haha, not going to happen!¡± BOOM! A cloud of dust rose from the air as two blades collided with each other, blowing him away. ¡°Beryl.¡± A soft angelic voice called out and tendrils of darkness responded, pulling him to the ground safely. ¡°Lumos Arient.¡± A sigil appeared his head, shining softly over him as he felt his body rapidly recover. ¡°HUH, Who are you guys!¡± The leader screamed in rage. ¡°Me? I¡¯m a hero of course!¡± The blonde haired boy said, smiling brightly like the sun. 5. Hero ¡°Me? I¡¯m a hero of course!¡± He boy said, smiling brightly at him. ¡°Hero? Stop joking with me and die!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you can do that though.¡± They exchanged dozens of blows in the short time they were talking before breaking away at the same time. The leader was already breathing heavily but the teenager didn¡¯t even break a sweat. It gave him a bit of time to also check out the person who just saved him. She had long raven hair reaching her waist left untied, her body was definitely curvy but it seemed like she was still growing. Her skin was just as glossy as her hair, with a pair of large purple eyes and small lips. There was no doubt that she would grow up to become a beautiful woman. Noticing his gaze she turned towards him, staring back at him coldly until he looked away. The teenager was still juking it out with the 3 other guys but it was clear that even with the extra help, they couldn¡¯t bring him down. Though they didn¡¯t look like they were intending to stop anytime, the other girl in their squad was performing some hand signs at the back. ¡°Greater Lighting bolt!¡± ¡°Physical boost, Magic shield, Magic shield.¡± ¡°Aegis, Greater Dispel.¡± Three sets of spells fell right on top of the battlefield, one of them was instantly destroyed by a greater dispel. The lightning spell landing onto a almost transparent dome covering the teenager before bouncing off completely unharmed. ¡°Haha, round 2 it is.¡± The boy said happily, charging back into the fray. ¡°Who are you guys?¡± Ad asked the woman beside him. Instead of answering him, she merely turned her eyes to his in awkward silence. This went on for a couple minutes with Ad trying his best to ignore the piercing stares she was giving. ¡°... Just another victim.¡± She said softly. ¡°Huh, sorry I didn¡¯t catch what you just sadi.¡± Ad asked, surprised. ¡°I¡¯m Ilena and he¡¯s Eren, my husband. Now keep quiet for a bit.¡± She said as she gestured a few times in the air. ¡°Glacius Everto.¡± She intoned, causing a cold mist to cling to her purple robes while a giant glacier appeared in front of her hand. She then threw the spell into the middle of the frag without warning. The only ones that noticed the glacier was the 2 girls on the other side and surprisingly, Eren. As soon as he say the glacier, he traded a few more blows before breaking away from the fight. ¡°After him!¡± The leader shouted furiously, still unaware of the incoming danger. ¡°NOO! Above you!¡± Tiffany finally managed to cry out in fear. Everyone¡¯s eyes shifted towards the sky due to her cries watching as it drew a perfect arc, crashing down onto them. A cloud of mist and ice sharpnel exploded from the point of impact, bringing an uneasy silence to the battle. The remaining 2 girls starting to become paler and paler by the minutes without any movement from their party members. ¡°Hmm, looks like they¡¯re dead huh.¡± Eren said nonchalantly. Crack...Boom! The white mist hanging around the area was blown away, showing the sorry figures of 3 bleeding adventurers.The leader had an arm around both his party member, helping them stay afloat. But his eyes were spewing fire as he stared vehemently at Eren. ¡°What? You still want more.¡± Eren mocked. ¡°Damn It! We¡¯re leaving!¡± The leader growled angrily before dragging his teammates back towards the 2 girls at the back. ¡°Well that was easy, right Ilena?¡± He grinned at her. ¡°You could¡¯ve ended the fight much earlier couldn¡¯t you.¡± ¡°And who¡¯s this guy?¡± He asked. ¡°Fertilizer.¡± ¡°What?... Really? ¡± ¡°Oi what¡¯s that supposed to mean!¡± ¡°Basically, all the strength you gained from now on would eventually become someone else''s, therefore fertilizer. But shouldn¡¯t this place a new discovery? How did they get here so fast.¡± Eren replied. ¡®Doesn¡¯t matter, you¡¯re the one that saved him, now it''s your responsibility to make him stronger.¡± Ilena said. ¡°That true, well the dungeon isn¡¯t a good place to talk, let¡¯s go back first.¡± Eren threw him over his shoulder before running towards the dungeon portal, ignoring his screams of terror completely. ***** ¡°So all the strength I have is stored inside this evolution crystal, and when I¡¯ve stored enough, someone will come and take it from me. Is that right?¡± ¡°Pretty much, oh, you also become a Heretic since they ripped everything out of you including the system. The system you¡¯re using will deem you as a dangerous subject since it would then think your strength doesn¡¯t come from it¡¯s powers.¡± Eren said nonchalantly. ¡°I have no way out?¡± ¡°Nope!¡± ¡°Fuck, then what am I supposed to do!¡± ¡°There isn¡¯t much you can do excpt quit now, get stronger than them or kill the one who¡¯s supposed to inherit your powers.¡± Ilena said. ¡°I don¡¯t think any of them can be done in such a short time, you said they could always kill me anytime they want if i wasn¡¯t getting stronger.¡± ¡°You can always sit here and just wait for death.¡± She offered. ¡°Like hell I will.¡± Shooting her down instantly. ¡°Just it¡¯s easy right, you¡¯ll follow us and we¡¯ll make you as strong as possible while you¡¯re with us. In return, you¡¯ll help us defeat the people that gave you the crystal in the first place.¡± Eren said excitedly. ¡°... You guys don¡¯t see to think of this as anything rare, have you done this before?¡± Ad asked cautiously. ¡°We did., but everyone we tried to help either died or went over the the other side.¡± ¡°And you think I can help you?¡± ¡°No. But since I saved you once, I should take responsibility and help you all the way. Besides, I¡¯m a Hero, how can I not help others in need.¡± He said as pride literally oozed out of him. With everything he just heard, he wasn¡¯t so sure if he wanted to continue climbing anymore.They might be lying of course but he still had so many things to do even with this massive threat looming over him. He couldn¡¯t just back down because he would die, he wasn¡¯t born that way. He might be betrayed by them later on or they could have just been totally lying to him so he would join their team. But he doubted that they would do that as he didn''t have any grudges with them. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He had also noticed that without a party, he couldn¡¯t continue forward unless he paid off his debts soon. There was also no way he would let others pay the loan for him because he would owe them something then. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll join.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right you will!¡± ¡°But on one condition.¡± ¡°Ehh...well let¡¯s hear it first.¡± Eren replied, visibly annoyed. Well he wouldn¡¯t blame him, he was getting a free ride already but he still wanted more. ¡°If you want me to get any skills, you must help me pay for them until I pay off my debt.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it? Oh well that¡¯s easy to do, I never intended for you to pay up anywhere haha!¡± Eren laughed, relieved that it wasn¡¯t some over the top request he had gotten the past few times. ¡°Wait you have a debt?¡± Eren asked, surprised. ¡°Why did you think I was alone then? I have a 5 million debt on my hand and a history with one of the greats. Which normal human would one me in their party.¡± He said, belittling himself. ¡°I see¡­ Well it doesn¡¯t matter now right! You have us now haha.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope so.¡± Ad mumbled quietly to himself, but nodded at Eren. ¡°If you guys are done negotiating, then we should start immediately. We don¡¯t have much time to make him stronger as usual.¡± Ilena said, bringing them back to reality. ¡°That right, well first, let¡¯s take a look at your status shall we.¡± Eren declared loudly. He had already promised to work with them, if he couldn¡¯t even show them his stats, he shouldn¡¯t have accepted their offer. Which was why he had no hesitation in displaying his status for them to see.
Name: Aiden Smith (17) Skills 2/5 (3)
Race: Awakened Human (M) Level: 4 (8 / 100)
Hp: 182/200 (4.5/hr + 30/hr) Mp: 192/232 (-38) (13.15/hr + 30/hr)
Class: Sealmaster(2), Blademaster(1), CoW (1)
Stats: [AP: 0] [SP: 0] STR: 21(+3) DEX: 25(+4) SPI: 25(+2) CON: 20(+3) INT: 27(+3) LCK: 4/10 WILL: 17 +20% xp to double handed longswords.
Skills:
Mana Construct 1/10 (40/100) Summons: Worker Cost: 50 Dura: - CD: -
Create Seal 2/10 (84/100) Seals: Blast, Boost Cost: 19, 5 Dura: - CD: -
Magic Circuits 4/10 (22/100) Passive
Survival Mastery 1/1 Passive
¡°As expected of a awakened being huh. Those are some decent stats you got despite being a pleb. This is easy to solve, you need lots of skills and stats, I¡¯ve had a friend with this sealmater class before. And she was very good at what she did, but you probably won¡¯t have the time to get that strong. First we¡¯ll focus on your physical abilities first, I can always give you the spells you need with the notes my friend gave me.¡± Ilena appraised. ¡°Then what do I need?¡± ¡°With the skill slots you have, let¡¯s see¡­hmm, this can work. You¡¯ll be sealing Blessing of the Wind, Quicken and Lightning speed into Accel. You need a shield too, I can provide that for you. We can have Astral bind, Entangling Roots and Slow sealed into Bind. That¡¯ll solve your control skills for now. Melee skill, let¡¯s go with Slash, Counter and Fury. Finally for passives, you¡¯ll get Mana control, One-handed Longsword Mastery and Katana Mastery. Yes, that sounds about right.¡± Ilena said. ¡°Wait wait wait, I won¡¯t be able to fight properly if you dump all these new skills onto me.¡± Ad panicked. ¡°I see, you always do it your way and end up dead before long.¡± Ilena replied coldly. ¡°Ugh... I get alright, I¡¯ll do it!¡± He grumbled. ¡°Haha, I¡¯ll get the skill crystals in a few minutes kay, don¡¯t run off while I¡¯m gone.¡± Eren said in the same upbeat tone he always had. When he said a few minutes, he had really meant a few minutes. It hasn''t even been 10 minutes before Eren was back with a bag full of skill crystals. ¡°Well then, eat up!¡± Eren smiled, pushing the entire sack of crystals at him. He stared at the bag in his hands for a minute or two before finally gathering all his courage to scoop the crystals out for consumption. A series of text boxes barraged his view as soon as the skill crystals did their work. But he had to turn two of them into seals first before checking them which was pretty easy. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± ¡°Aegis, Protection, Shield. Now seal the 3 spells, it¡¯s the same thing as sealing a skill.¡± Ilena said. ¡°Oh.¡± He replied, somewhat lost. But he did get it done just a few minutes before the spells would collapse naturally and the results were pretty spectacular.
Bind Seal (Unique) Rank - 3/3 A seal that sends a tendril of energy to hold the target in place. Can be set on any surface in contact with your body or at a very close range around you. Can be used alongside other Seals. Cost: 5 mana Duration: Until dispelled/Cast Seal trigger: Bind
Accel Seal (Unique) Rank - 3/3 A seal that doubles the speed of the target for 5 minutes. Duration can be compressed into 3 seconds for stronger effects. Can be used alongside other Seals. Cost: 5 mana Duration: 5 minutes/ 3 seconds Seal trigger: Accel
Slash (Common) Rank 2 1/10 (0 / 100) Doubles the range of your sword for a single second and deal 2x the damage. Will dismember limbs. +2 Range +2 Attack Cost: 30 mana Duration: 1 second Cooldown: 9 seconds
Counter (Uncommon) Rank 2 1/10 (0 / 100) Deflect a single attack perfectly, breaking the opponent¡¯s guard and return a attack back at the target. Cost: 20 mana Duration: 1 seconds Cooldown: 15 seconds
Fury (Uncommon) Rank 2 1/10 (0 / 100) Gains 300% attack speed for a short duration, all melee skills also receive 50% reduction to cooldown and cost. Cost: 50 mana Duration: 30 seconds Cooldown: 5 minutes
Mana control (Rare) Rank 1 1/10 (0 / 100) Grants a greater control over the flow of mana around you, allowing you to do what many others may not. +20% Control
One-handed sword Mastery (Common) Rank 1 1/10 (0 / 100) Grants a basic understanding of how to use a 1H-sword with proficiency. +20% xp gain when using 1H-sword +10% damage when using 1H-sword
Katana Mastery (Common) Rank 1 1/10 (0 / 100) Grants a basic understanding of how to use a katana with proficiency +20% xp gain when using katana¡¯s +10% damage when using katana¡¯s
Shield Seal (Unique) Rank - 3/3 Creates a 0.5m2 energy field in front of the seal, can be expanded into a 3m2 dome. Can be used alongside other Seals. Cost: 10 mana Duration: Until dispelled/Cast Seal Trigger: Shield
¡°See, it wasn¡¯t that hard right.¡± Eren said. ¡°Easy for you to say.¡± He breathed out a sigh of relief. There were records of people combusting spontaneously because they took too many skill crystals at one sitting. Luckily it didn¡¯t come down to that. ¡°If you are done we¡¯re diving back again as soon as the dungeon timer resets. You don¡¯t have time anymore.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°You do? I guess we¡¯ll see then.¡± 6. Entwining Fates ¡°I think you know this already but while we said we¡¯ll help you, it doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re gonna save your ass from everything. The whole purpose of this is so that you can protect yourself.¡± Ilena lectured him. ¡°I know.¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s get going!¡± Eren said excitedly. The party of three walked through the dungeon portal, going right back into their habitat. With the help of his two new teammates, Ad was able to focus all his attentions on getting a hang of his new skills. He still had to take care of the monsters that came his way but he was able to clean those up easily. They were already at the 3rd floor after just half an hour of fighting, all of this was only possible due to his two strong teammates. With Eren at the front blitzing through everything and Ilena providing ranged support, no monster could withstand their onslaught. ¡°Time¡¯s up, it your turn to fight Aiden.¡± Ilena said. She had given him a time limit previously for him to get used to his new skills, afterwards he would be the vanguard instead of Eren. That would continue until he could no longer fight and Eren would take over. It wasn¡¯t the most effective way but it would have to do for now. Ilena would only heal him if he was close to dying, not if he ran out of mana so he had to be conservative in his skill usage. He would like to learn that healing spell she used though, it was a pretty strong recovery spell. Right now they were facing off direwolves, who were known for their speed and power so he couldn¡¯t afford to get hit directly. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± He encouraged himself. ¡°Grr, Awoo!¡± The pack leader howled loudly, causing the wolves around it to surge forward. ¡°Boost.¡± Leaping forward, he tore off a wolf head before it could turn around. With that, he found himself in the middle of the whole pack, causing the wolves around him to stumble as they tried to turn towards him. Not missing the opportunity, he managed to take down two more before he had to dodge out of the way. But now they were all facing him in a cone shaped radius, knocked them down with a Blast before cleaning up the battlefield. ¡°Not bad for your first try but you didn¡¯t need the first boost to reach the center.¡± Eren remarked. ¡°I¡¯ll try that next time.¡± Ad replied not being offended by his advice, he was the better fighter after all. Ilena would be the one taking care of all the loot they had with her pick-up item skill and a spatial bag. Both of which were probably extremely rare or expensive to get but he wasn¡¯t going to ask where they got it unless they wanted to tell him. While they were still clearing the entire floor before going up, Ad was now forced to perform just as efficient and fast as Eren. It was definitely a tall task for him when he only had a couple minutes to familiarise with his recent power up. Sending two Slashes out to both sides and another normal swing in the middle, the direwolf leader couldn¡¯t do anything except to die.This was already their 7th pack and Ad could already feel the exhaustion creeping up on him. ¡°Tired already?¡± Eren asked, slightly concerned. ¡°No, I can still keep going.¡± Ad replied calmly. With a goal in mind and a potential real threat chasing him, he found even more motivation than usual to keep fighting and getting stronger. Until he literally fell down from exhaustion, he would try his best to keep going forward. ¡°1 Slash should have been enough if you angled it at its left and your sword coming from the right. Stop being wasteful, well at least you don¡¯t repeat the same mistakes constantly.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything choosing to move forward and not make the same mistake in the next fight. They say the next pack of wolves just as the wolves noticed them so Ad couldn¡¯t start off with a preemptive strike like he liked. Well it just meant he had to be even more conservative of how he fought. Letting the direwolves come to him, he lowered his posture slightly to receive the incoming attacks. The first direwolf lunged at him it¡¯s claws shining in an ominous dark glow. He simply tilted his body to the left and angled his sword into a weak upward swing, letting the wolf¡¯s neck fall onto the blade naturally. ¡°Blast.¡± Detonating a seal on the floor creating a cloud of dust. Stepping forward, Ad moved swiftly to end the lives of the direwolves that were blinded by the dust. He had counted 7 previously and he took down six only and in this cloud of dust he was also unable to see.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Tch, Scan.¡± Activating the seal unwillingly. 18 signals popped up onto the scan including the 3 of them, a few of which were dangerously close to him. It was pretty clear now that he wasn¡¯t dealing with just a single pack of direwolves and he was totally unprepared for it. ¡°Tch, Boost, Double!¡± He blew away all the dust around him as he jumped into the air but he managed to see all of the direwolves surrounding him. He definitely wasn¡¯t going to be able to fight them all off without being extremely wasteful or extremely slow in his approach. ¡°Bind plus Blast!¡± He fired lines of flaming tendrils at the direwolves, trying to keep them contained for a few seconds. It worked better than he expected as the direwolves were still screaming in pain when he landed. He wasn¡¯t going to let this chance go to waste though, dashing forward immediately to finish the job. He was lucky that the combination worked so well that he managed to make short work of the direwolves but it won¡¯t happen twice. ¡°That was extremely lucky on your part but luck is part of a person¡¯s ability. You probably didn¡¯t need to boost twice but you¡¯re getting there, in fact I¡¯m surprised you improved so fast it''s actually scary man.¡± Eren remarked. ¡°He is an awakened human for a reason, otherwise they would have picked this method to get stronger. It¡¯s fast and risk free for them.¡± Ilena replied as she threw all the loot into her spatial bag. ¡°Can you still go on Aiden?¡± ¡°I should be fine for a few more fights.¡± Ad said after checking his status. At 64% and 43% health and mana respectively, it wasn¡¯t much but it should be enough to get them to the next floor. He found out during the previous scan that it was only a hundred or so meters away from them. ¡°Is that so? Just let¡¯s keep going then!¡± Eren replied enthusiastically as ever. ***** ¡°This is boring.¡± The woman complained. ¡°No NOO, save me!¡± The man screamed in desperation trying desperately to crawl away. A dark mass of energy dropped onto his head eradicating his entire body, leaving nothing behind. Meanwhile the woman stood atop a roof, watching the city beneath her burning to the ground. To her left, another woman dressed in a black satin robe waved her hands lazily in the air, causing waves of destruction to occur around her. Hapless citizens of the city ran amok the city, trying to do everything they could to escape their dying city. But it was a futile effort as tens of black armoured soldiers stood at all exits of the cities, cutting down anyone that dared to escape. With no way out the citizens finally fell into despair, striking out at everyone around them in madness, casing even more mayhem. But the masterminds of this masacre merely stood far away from the entire scene, watching apathetically. ¡°Hey, how many more do we have to do?¡± ¡°3. Why are you asking Elin?¡± ¡°Well it looks like our pet is being led astray by a nuisance. Really now, how can they always find us so coincidentally. We were so careful this time too.¡± She moaned. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, we¡¯ll just need to find a more obedient pet next time they can¡¯t stop us anyway. You said you had a pretty good candidate previously didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°But he¡¯s much weaker than the current one.¡± ¡°Then we just need to rip everything out from including his latent talent to make up for it.¡± ¡°Ooh so cruel, but I love it so let¡¯s do that shall we.¡± A subtle wave of energy suddenly rippled past them before continuing onwards, causing both their faces to be marred by a frown. ¡°I definitely didn¡¯t expect this how troublesome.¡± Mia frowned in displeasure. ¡°Ahh, the trouble makers are here huh, damn heretics should really just die already. Now we don¡¯t have anymore time to play around.¡± Elin clearly shared the same sentiments as her sister. ¡°Clean this place up in 15 minutes, we¡¯re leaving soon.¡± Mia said to no one in particular but the soldiers below clearly heard her orders and moved into a more active stance. ***** ¡°Achoo, ehh this is weird do I have a cold or something?¡± Rubbing his nose in mirth. ¡°Maybe someone is talking about how annoying you are.¡± A woman replied haughtily. ¡°Hahaha how can that be! I¡¯m the kindest and most merciful person out there! How can someone ever speak badly of me, they must have been praising me instead!¡± he cried out narcissitically. ¡°They should probably noticed us arriving already go find a place to set up camp, we don¡¯t have much time to hide.¡± Another male said. 9 other people walked out from the shimmering purple crack in the air, all splitting of in different directions once the order was given. Only the first 3 were left at the spot who started conversing with each other. ¡°The two groups that owns this sector is already here huh, looks like we¡¯re gonna have some fun this time too.¡± ¡°What¡¯s our goal here this time, I don¡¯t want to spend another couple centuries on the run because of this retard not doing his job.¡± The woman said angrily. ¡°Don¡¯t worry we¡¯re recruiting new members this time. The two factions being here is going to help us a lot that you won¡¯t have time to play around.¡± ¡°Ehh but that¡¯s so boring Edward, let me do something else dammit, you know I suck at this kind of stuff.¡± ¡°Not happening, you have so many quotas that you missed if you don¡¯t get at least 2 new members, you¡¯ll have to personally explain to the leader.¡± Edward replied calmly. ¡°HUH, no way in hell am I gonna do that! I¡¯m off to find new members, send me our base coordinates when you get them, later!¡± He said frantically before jumping into the air. ¡°That¡¯s new, I never saw him act like that before.¡± The woman laughed. ¡°Well you¡¯re pretty new so it''s natural you don¡¯t know their relationship, Cain is actually the leader¡¯s younger brother so you can see why he¡¯s so afraid of her.¡± Edward said with mirth. ¡°I see.¡± She replied now enlightened of their history. ¡°Hmm looks like Elric got us a pretty good location, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Roger¡± She playfully saluted him before following him into the skies. Meanwhile the main group of three were still blissfully unaware of the sudden change of their destiny. All three factions slowly moving forward with their own plans, inching closer and closer to each other. The wheels of destiny has started moving again, blood would be shed endless, heros and villians would rise and a new legend would be born from it.