《Trash Heap》 Cast Out Prologue Gone Is The Light Chapter 1 ¡°John Union, you¡¯re my last appointment. Please take a seat.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on, how did I get here?¡± My heart raced and my palms were sweating. ¡°Now John, don¡¯t be that way. You¡¯re my last appointment. You are here because you¡¯re on my list. You may call me Uriel.¡± I searched frantically around the office. There were no windows, doors, or even shadows. The room was bathed in light from no discernable point. Everything glowed as if under a spotlight. It was jarring to say the least. ¡°You¡¯re my last appointment, we have all the time in the world. John, we are going to start with the best part. The new bells and whistles. The old universe is gone. A new one has been formed and updates have been made. I¡¯m going to go ahead and install the gamer system.¡± The voice hurt my psyche. I could feel my consciousness slipping away. Uriel¡¯s voice was effeminate. The light was too blinding to really look at her. It was like looking at an old low-res picture. She had yellow or gold hair. A white business suit and a condescending look on her face. The woman smiled. It was difficult to tell by the overbearing light. I tried to get up, but my muscles failed me. What¡¯s happening?
Gamer system booting Designation 100% Perks 100% Stats 100% Gamer system installed
¡°I get it you¡¯re frightened. You should be. God has decided to cut his ties with humanity. If not for your immortal soul. You would have been left behind, to rot with the former universe.¡± Despite the flashing blue screens, I was able to catch what Uriel said. ¡°That can¡¯t be true, it¡¯s impossible.¡± What about his covinent with humanity? What about the promises he made. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s possible. Did you think humanity was our lord¡¯s only creation? I thought you would be pleased. You lose the protections of god and get to play games forever. We will throw you far across the universe. Too far away for your kind to hurt the next great experiment. We don¡¯t want a second Lucifer situation.¡±
Uriel Fire of the Sun lv200,000,000 Uriel is one of the stronger Arch angels. She is known to wield the fire of heaven. Cureently you have no chance against her.
My eyes locked on the black screen written in gold. It flashed more urgently than the calm blue screens. I couldn¡¯t lift a finger, so how could I possibly fighther. I wanted to hang my head in shame, but even that was deniged me. Perhaps, it was time to bargain. ¡°Alright, so what do I get in this severance package. I get something beyond the gamer system or why bother talking to me. This whole situation could have been automated. Why did you bother with a meeting face to face?¡± Uriel held out her hands in a placating jester. ¡°Now, don¡¯t go all, I will have my vengeance on me. I¡¯m not the one who made this decision. My Lord decided that he wanted to make something else and see how they turned out. He grew weary of watching you humans kill each other. You could have made it to mars and explored your galaxy by now. Instead, you just sit and stew on one world. It was pathetic. We made this personal, so there is no doubt that you are being replaced. In other word¡¯s god is breaking up with you. Now, open your stat screen, so we can continue.¡±
JohnUnion Perks NA John lv1 Xp 0/50 Hp 50/50 Hr 1.3/min Mp 180/180 Mr 1.5/min
Stats Stat descriptions Con 5 Constitution ¨C Physical durability, Health point total, and Environmental defense End 3 Endurance ¨C Bodily resistance, Health regeneration total, and Physical defenseThis story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Str 4 Strength ¨C Bodily power, Carrying capacity, and Physical damage Agl 6 Agility ¨C Reaction speed, Movement speed, and Mental processing speed Int 18 Intelligence ¨C Mana capacity, Information retainment, Magic power Wis 5 Wisdom ¨C Mana regeneration, Information use, Magic defense Per 2 Perception ¨C Insight, Reading speed, and 5 senses Chr 2 Charisma ¨C Attraction, Leadership, and Bartering Luk 7 Luck ¨C Item drops, Quests, and Special events Skills NA
¡°As you can see each stat has an in-depth description tab. Do you have any questions?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t I have any perks and why are my stats so low besides intelligence?¡± I didn¡¯t have to wait long for the answer. The angel sat back in her chair. The smile hadn¡¯t vanished. ¡°That¡¯s a great question. You do have a perk, but it won¡¯t appear until you spawn out. As far as your stats go. Well you were always smart John, but you never put your mind to work as you should have. Humans, are rather weak. Physically, humans never passed 20, your average human male is a 7 in strength. John, you let yourself go, you are a 4. Even your intelligence is nothing special. The average is 17, you are just above average. Any more questions?¡± This angel was a smug one. I couldn¡¯t fight her, or move. The only tool I had at my disposal was my tongue. With 2 charisma that wasn¡¯t incredibly useful. ¡°You mentioned a severance package what¡¯s that about?¡± ¡°The Lord is benevolent even to those no longer protected by his grace. I am to grant you any one thing you request. Once you have what you want, you will die and respawn on a far-off world. This will be the last I see you for eons.¡± I racked my brain for anything. I could request anything, so what did I want. I stared at the angel. She was blurry. Was that because of my low perception? How could I see what I needed when the world was so blurry? ¡°I know what I want.¡± ¡°Oh, you do. Tell me so you can be on your way. There is very little time left before this little office ceases to be.¡± ¡°I want eyes like yours. I want eyes that even an archangel would be proud to have.¡± I struggled against the invisible bounds that held me in the chair. Uriel needed to know I was serious. I wanted to look the angel in her eyes. My body remained still as stone. Uriel got up from her seat. The desk vanished. There was a frown on her face when she looked at me next. ¡°Eyes that an arch angel would be proud to have. Do you know the strain eyes like mine would put on your puny human mind? The shear amount of perception I have compared to you is staggering. It¡¯s a number that you couldn¡¯t begin to calculate. The only reason you can see my movements is through an illusion. My words are filtered through a series of machines, so your human mind doesn¡¯t splatter. So, you want eyes like mine, do you? Do you want to end the great illusion?¡± Not going to lie, I was beginning to feel unsure. This angel was so far beyond me, I might as well be a grain of sand before a star. For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence. The paralysis was getting to me, I wasn¡¯t used to being in one place for too long. I wanted to fidget but couldn¡¯t. ¡°I stand by my words, I want eyes that even you would be proud of.¡± ¡°Giving you eyes like mine right away would leave you in a state of torment. Your body wouldn¡¯t be able to react to your senses and you would die repeatedly. The respawn engine would go haywire. Why god gave you humans immortal souls, I will never know. I will give you a skill that will slowly evolve and change your eyes into that of an angel¡¯s.¡± She wasn¡¯t gentle. Uriel gripped the sides of my face and drove her thumbs through my eye sockets. I screamed in agony. My body was frozen while she drove her thumbs deeper into my skull. Something warm and gooey dripped down my cheeks and I realized that was my melted eyeballs. The pain was gone by that point. She let go of me and my body began to burn. When the fire reached new skin, I opened my mouth to scream. Nothing came out, she was paralyzing me again, the bitch. That wasn¡¯t very nice. ¡°May we never see each other again John.¡± ¡°Yea, bitch if I see you again, I will destroy you. Just wait, I will be back stronger than you.¡± She chuckled, once again, I didn¡¯t think that was very nice. ¡°I hope you enjoy my little gift John. Your severance package has been completed.¡±
Next, I awoke it was to the sounds of birds chirping and the smell of hot garbage. I looked up to see two suns. This wasn¡¯t Earth.
Earth 9 ¨C A planet populated by goblins, dwarves, orcs, and humans of the ninth age. This world has an unsteady peace. Monsters of all kinds roam the land. Once normal creatures, now horrible mutations. There are radiation zones all over the planet. Inhabitants lv 1 ¨C 1000
I turned around at the sound of a snapping twig. An ugly green scaled creature, with bat like ears, and a bulbous triangular head; slowly walked up to me. The creature was less than four feet tall and carried a wooden club. As it walked it slammed the club down on it free hand.
Goblin lv 5 This goblin has had a bad day and just found you on his land. He has no intention of letting you go. It is advised to fight or run. Now!!
Naked in the Spiders Woods I learned quickly that flight was my best bet. My eyes tracked the goblins movements, as it took an intimidating pose. It yelled in a language, I had never heard. The small green creature continued to pound it club against it¡¯s hand. I spun around and ran deeper in the forest. After a few minutes I didn¡¯t hear the goblin giving chase. Turning my head, I froze. Not a foot away was a man-sized spider web. There were cocoons high in the trees. He looked around and spotted the spinner of this web.
Forest spider lv12 This spider is well known for its trapping capabilities. It has been fed well on green goblins and doesn¡¯t consider eating you a necessity.
. I took a step back. Other creepy crawlies moved about high in the trees. Spiders moved about cocoons feeding off them. There was no reason to stick around, I took another turn and walked slowly. This place was dangerous. The spiders were the larger than house cats. I ducked down and began to creep through the woods. To my enhanced senses, I sounded like an elephant. [Sneak lv1 - Crep quietly 1% chance to remain undetected. +0.1Agl] The boost to movement speed was appreciated. As I circled around the colonies of spiders far stronger than me, I began to learn the area. The spiders kept their nest close together leading me to believe they were one colony. Goblins weren¡¯t the only creatures caught in their webs. There were the corpses of rabbits, bears, and a multitude of giant insect. Certain webs had an electrical affect about them. They were all clearly dangerous. Though none surpassed lv 30. By my tenth circle my sneak had increased 15levels. Nothing in the grand scheme of things, but my detection occasionally slipped to undetected. It was as I trekked away from the nests that a powerful blow struck my back. I fell to the side and saw my attacker. The goblin from before. There was a cruel glint to his eyes. I reached around looking for a weapon. I was in luck. I found a rock. He swung at me again and I threw up my arm to take the blow. More pain shot through my arm as I slammed the rock to the side of the goblin¡¯s head. My hit stunned the goblin for a second. It was just long enough for a second blow. My arm didn¡¯t take the blow a second time, so I smashed the rock against his club. I raised a foot and kicked the goblin into a nearby web. The spiders showed no mercy. One immediately crawled down and began to bind the goblin.
Xp calculation Goblin Goblin = 10xp Lv5 = 10xp * 5 Bonus 4lvs higher =*1.4 70xp
Level up John lv2 Experience 20/60 Skill points 10
Stats
Con 5 End 3 Str 4.3
Agl 7.6 Int 18 Wis 5
Per 7 Chr 2 Luk 7
Skills
Sneak lv16 Pummel lv2 Kick lv1
Unique Skills
Eyes Of The Sun I 1/50
Your eyes have been touched by a celestial being. This touch has increased your perception drastically. All fire type skills level +1%.
Theoretically, I knew what eyes of the sun was. It was the skill Uriel gave me. The roman numeral one meant it could evolve after it reached lv50. From the description, I gained five perception every lv in the skill. That was a ridiculous number. Without thinking, I added ten points into the skill. A burning like fire overtook my eyes. In a good way. My eyesight improved drastically there was even a zooming feature. When I concentrated on a target my vision zoomed in.
Perception has reached 50 New Perk Marksman x2 Accuracy
The zooming effect of my eyes got old quick and I returned to sneaking around. With my improved vision I began to see the webbing on the ground. Trails of silk I hadn¡¯t seen before led to hollowed out trees. Inside those trees sets of eight eyes peered at me. Without my new perception, I would have been caught by now. There were slight changes in the ground where spiders hid. This placed was indeed a nest. Everything had become clear, if I was to survive and lv up then these spiders had to go. By running from the goblin, I had to run by several trap door spiders. They let me enter their nest knowing there was no way out. The creatures watched me now, to ensure I didn¡¯t leave. There was a weapon I had. Though, I was a novice at it, magic. The energy was there. When I reached for it a window appeared.
Magic protocol initiated Choose from the available skill trees, a new tree can be selected every ten levels Black Mage I ¨C This tree revolves around Fire, Ice, and Thunder based spells. 0/25 +2Int, +2Wis Blue Mage I ¨C This tree revolves around monster spells and observing mobs. 0/25 +3Int, 1Wis White mage I ¨C This tree revolves around healing, light, and buff spells. 0/25 +1Int, +3Wis
The trees were rather balanced. Black mage had the most destructive power, blue mage granted the most versatile number of spells, and white mage healed and buffed the user. The skill trees promised 100 stat points. I wanted the stats from white mage and the skills from black. Blue mage wouldn¡¯t help me here unless the spiders were weak against their own poisons. This reminded me of the old pok¨¦mon game. Do I want a charmander, squirtle, or a Bulbasaur? The Bulbasaur was great for the first two gyms but it wasn¡¯t fun to use. I was going to choose the charmander. The squirtle wasn¡¯t a choice. I wasn¡¯t into a tank play style.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. You have selected Black mage
New skill [Fire lv1 ¨C The most basic tool in a black mage¡¯s arsenal. 1% Int as fire damage. Cost 50MP/min, +0.1Int]
The skill was like a mini out of control flame thrower. All I had to do to use it was point my hand and flames shot out. So long as I fed the skill mana, it would continue to fire. The spiders continued to watch. There was a single space clear of web, I made my camp there. The suns were going down. Spiders were nocturnal predators. Small branches collected from nearby trees crackled in my camp fire. I couldn¡¯t go to sleep. There were always spiders watching waiting for my guard to drop. My fire went out halfway through the night, so I had to improvise. I found, if I funneled a small amount of fire and pictured a ball I could create a small ball of fire. The amount of upkeep was a bit lower than the normal fire spell. Fortunately, just waiting around listening to the spiders move around gained me a new skill. [Meditation lv15 ¨C This skill allows the user to actively regenerate mana. The user must relax their mind to begin meditating. +1.5% Mp regen/min. +15Wis. [Fireball lv25 ¨C This skill controls the destructive power of fire and condenses it into a ball form. 25% Int as fire damage. Cost 40.5 Upkeep 5Mp/min +2.5 Int, +2.5 Wis] Because fireball was a sub-skill of fire, my fire skill had increased to lv5. That meant that any skill that had fire in the name could increase fire and possibly vice versa. What else could I do with the skill? I quickly learned that my skills stacked. If I learned ten other fire skills they would all increase the level of fire. Then again if I increased fire, all my other skill would increase as well. Over time, I trained my skills for the fight against the spiders. The more skills I gained, the higher my chances of survival. The spiders watched me perhaps out of curiosity, as I experimented. Through, meditation my fire ball no longer took much Mp. My regeneration was enough for the up keep. That meant, I could wait here for another day or two. My stomach constantly rumbled, and I was starting to get cramps. If I didn¡¯t eat anything soon, or find water, I would die here. My meditation had increased to 40, Fireball was 65, Fire was 25, and Black mage hadn¡¯t gained a skill point. I looked at my stats to get some courage.
John lv2 Xp 20/60
Perks
Marksman x2 Accuracy
Stats
Con 5 End 3 Str 4.3
Agl 8 Int 40.5 Wis 47
Per 57 Chr 2 Luk 7
Skills Skill Trees Unique Skills
Sneak lv20 Black Mage I 1/25 Eyes Of The Sun I 11/50
Pummel lv2
Kick lv1
Meditation
Fire lv40
Fireball lv65
Mana Fiber lv10
My stats were so weird. God, I was going to fucking die. The same spider that always starred at me would be my first victim. It was lv12 and probably had more health than ten of me. Not that health bars were displayed. I held the fire ball on a tether of mana fibers. They allowed me to feed the spell from a distance. When I swung the fibers, they acted like a morning star. A large ball of fire launched itself like a mortar round. The spider was the size of a house cat, the ball of fire was bigger. The ball didn¡¯t dissipate after it hit the spider. It remained there as the spider sizzled and died. It screeched, and the other spiders began to crawl down their webs. With a flick of my fingers my fireball returned. Unlike the spider¡¯s web my mana fibers could lengthen and shrink at my will. A simple string made of mana was the perfect tool to feed mana to my fireball. It cost only 1 Mp/min to maintain. The battle wasn¡¯t over. The smaller spiders crawled back up their webs and waited. There were more spiders than the simple forest spider. Everything became quiet. The large spiders that hid within hallow logs began to crawl out. The creatures were much more skeletal than the forest spiders. Unlike the forest spiders these new creatures were large enough to hunt actively.
Forest Hunting Spider lv20 These large spiders hunt by covering the ground with thick sticky web. When their prey sticks to their trip wires they reel them in. It is advised to steer clear of them until you are of a higher level.
Before, I could even begin to fight the spiders, I felt a sharp pain in my back. I smashed my hand against a tiny black spider. I didn¡¯t see it coming. My enhanced eye sight was useless to detect it. Panicked, I turned and ran for it. [Running lv1] I flicked away the message and ran for it. There was a small gap between the trap door spiders. If I could cross through it before the poison really hits me, maybe I could live. With a flick of the wrist, I smashed my fire ball against approaching spiders. Webs caught fire, as I made my way towards the edge of the nest. The pain from the poison was getting worse. The second, I stepped between the two trap door spiders, they opened and leapt out. Holding out both hands, I covered them in fire. They shrieked but the damage was superficial. The other spiders were closing in. I ran for it. The fire never cut off. The spiders continued to fall out of the woods chasing me. They were on every tree branch, as I ran for it. My legs were starting to go numb from the poison. Running had done nothing but hasten the venom. The smell of smoke was thick in the air. I turned around. What had once been a massive spider colony was now a towering pillar of fire. Spider venom damage -5HP/sec I was dead. It seemed that there was nothing I could do. [Resist Poison lv1 ¨C This skill reduces the harmful effects of all low-level poisons. 1% damage reduction +0.1Con] I rapidly went through the pop ups for anything that would help. Then I saw the flashing lv up sign. I was still getting xp at a rapid rate. It was the forest fire. I caused it and the whole nest was burning down giving me plenty of xp. Currently, I was lv 25 and rising. I took 99 skill points and put them in Resist poison. I though the screen crashed for a second. The pain began to lessen then vanish. My Hp went up by 100, that was when my body went through a change. My skin felt like it was hardening my skin felt like it was made of leather. Through a series of events you were awarded 10 Luk. That was around when a massive spider woman walked out through the clearing. With her spider body she stood 8ft tall, she had black hair that covered her breasts, and a pissed expression on her face. She held a whip in one hand and channeled a green spell in the other.
Forest Spider Queen Aleya lv55 This young queen has staked a claim on this forest. She has fought goblins exterminators, bears, and giant insects to keep her territory. When you walked in she decided to spare you. Unfortunately, that turned into a big mistake on her part and now it¡¯s your problem.
As the fire spread I felt my lv increasing. I placed 24 points in Black Mage and felt my mind open to knew possibilities.
As the fire spread I felt my lv increasing. I placed 24 points in Black Mage and felt my mind open to knew possibilities. Your Intelligence and Wisdom has surpassed 50 You have gained new perks Novice Channels ¨C x2Mp and magic damage Novice Aura ¨C x2Mr and Magic defense Your Intelligence and Wisdom has surpassed 100 You have gained new perks Apprentice Channels ¨C x3Mp, Magic damage, x2 learning speed Apprentice Aura ¨C x3Mr and Magic defense, x2 better decisions Evolved Skill Tree Black Mage II ¨C This tree allows the user to use deca Fire, Ice, and lightning and Gravity, Poison, and Death. 0/50, 5Int,5Wis
¡°Wow Beautiful, why don¡¯t you drop your spell and bondage accessory and tell me what your deal is?¡± I didn¡¯t expect a response. Mygoal was to confuse her, while I worked out a plan of attack. My damage was through the roof right now but that wouldn¡¯t save me, if she flayed the flesh from my bones with a single snap of her whip. ¡°I spared you. If you had walked away none of my young would have attacked you. Instead, you decided to attack unprovoked. Now, my nest is on fire and you have the nerve to attempt flattery with me.¡± While she spoke, I sent a few mana fibers her way. If I was lucky she wouldn¡¯t have a defense against my flames. If I was unlucky, then she would kill me on the first hit. I chose to aim for the soft spots, such as her nipples, nose, and ears. My mana fibers were hopefully too light to feel. ¡°True it was a bit weird that I survived a night under the stars in your nest. Then again there were trap door spiders blocking my escape. What was I supposed to do? You can¡¯t supply me with proof of my safety after the fact. So, how am I to blame, when your young ate that goblin without a second thought?¡± I was stalling. My mana fibers were excellent pathways to transfer mana or fire damage in this case. I just needed to attach enough to her to kill her in one shot. With my low charisma, my time was running out. ¡°Isn¡¯t that just like your kind to blameeveryone but themselves. I¡¯m a predator and I¡¯m proud of it. I don¡¯t pretend otherwise. You yourself have benefitted the most from this. Either way it doesn¡¯t matter. I wanted closer. I wanted you to admit to killing my children out of hate. It seems you don¡¯t have the decency to own up to your faults.¡± She started by casting a green spell I was certain it was poison cloud.
You have ingested a medium level poison [Resist Poison II lv1 ¨C Resist medium level poisons 1%. +1Con] Medium Poison damage -15Hp/sec 5s
Ingested, no the poison was in my lungs. If I didn''t do something soon, it would kill me. The burning in my chest was distracting. My eyes were burning, it reminded me of Uriel. It pained me to do this, but it was time to end it. Aleya leapt through the poison cloud whip raised ready to strike. I held up my hand where the fibers connected us. I was still new to magic but even in a fight summoning up Fire was easy. She caught fire and began to shriek. Then the poison cloud exploded. My body was shot backwards. I took only 50Hp in damage thanks to my Magic defense. Normally that wouldn¡¯t count for much, but the fire was my own spell. Naked still, I picked myself up off the ground. The drider was still on fire. She didn¡¯t have any magic defense against my spell. Her skin was charred and black. Her eyes were oozing out of her skull. Still she screamed. I walked up to her. I started this, I would end it. I placed my hand on her head. She tried to get up and escape, but her legs wouldn¡¯t move. It was a shame, she was indeed beautiful. This was all my fault. Then again, she was equally to blame for not communicating with me. The only question I still had was, where did she learn English? I cast fire, the heat found its way through her eye holes and soon her head looked like a macabre Jack O lantern. Her whip was in ruins and her body was popping. I hadn¡¯t eaten in a few days and her spider half smelled like crab legs. After placing a foot on her thorax, I managed to rip off a leg. I was no chef Ramsey, but I was certain if I cracked open this leg, there would be tasty meat inside. After finishing what I could of the spider queen¡¯s legs, I stuffed the rest of the meat in my inventory and started my walk east away from the spider¡¯s nest. There was bound to be some towns where I could get my hands on some cloths. Grinding And Wood
John lv25 Xp 2,500/3,974
Perks
Marksmen x2 Accuracy
Apprentice Channels x3MP, x3 Mag Dam, and x2Processor
Apprentice Aura x3MR, x3 Mag Def, and x2 Ram
Hp 150/200 Hr 3.5/min Mp 3364/3,364 Mr 34.5/min
Stats
Con20 End 3.5 Str 4.3
Agl 8 Int 112.8 115
Per 57 Chr 2 Luk 1
Skills
Sneak 20 Pummel lv2 Kick lv1 Meditation lv55
Fire lv100 Fire II lv20 Fireball lv80 Mana Fibers lv20
Resist Poison lv100 Resist Poison II lv5 Running lv5
Skill Trees Unique skills
Black Mage I 25/25 Eye of the Sun I 11/50
Black Mage II 1/50
I traveled east away from the raging flames. There was no longer a continuous xp gain, so the animals must have escaped. This was a firm lesson in grinding. Killing monsters was one thing, but passive xp was a something amazing. I needed to find a way to farm. Now, that I was away from that stressful situation, I needed to find shelter and clothes. It was cold, when I wasn¡¯t standing next to a fire. I was shivering the cold wind tried hard to blow out my campfire. I didn¡¯t do well in the cold. Starting another forest fire wasn¡¯t out of the question. I could use the xp. What I really needed was shelter. I turned and stared at the smoke still rising from the spider¡¯s nest. That was still an option. I could burn the area a little better to ensure the spiders were dead. From there, I could make a stone axe and other tools. I didn¡¯t have the crafting skill yet. That could give me a serious boost in Int. I didn¡¯t return to the spider¡¯s nest, instead I continued east. Stepping to the side, I grabbed a longer branch. If I was to be a mage, then I needed a staff to focus my power. With the long branch in hand, I began to funnel mana into it.
New skill [Inspect lv1 ¨C explore items with mana to gain greater understanding. 1% chance to gain insight. Cost 50Mp. +.02Wis, 0.2Per]
It was another wisdom based skill. I smiled like a shark and rapid cast inspect. You have identified this item as Bodock tree branch. You have identified Bodock tree branch
New skill [Mold Wood lv1 ¨C Due to aggressively identifying a tree branch you have gained enough understanding to manipulate the wood living and dead with magic. Cost 50Mp/min. 0.1Int]
What else are you hiding?One subskill couldn''t be the limit.Stoppinghere wasn''t an option. I wanted all this sticks sectrets.
You have identified Bodock tree branch The branch was once a part of a massive sentient tree. You have identified Bodock tree branch Ancient humans once sacrificed conquered goblin tribes to the tree. Currently human blood drenches the great tree. You have identified Bodock tree branch The blood from the goblins empowered the tree. You have identified Bodock tree branch. The tree was further east.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
In all honesty, I didn¡¯t know what I was looking for. What did I know about magic? It was energy sure, but I wasn¡¯t the smartest tool in the shed. I knew how to direct it and funnel it through mana fibers for critical hits. There were smarter men than I in this galaxy. They were most likely thousands of times more powerful than me already. If I was to catch up, then what I needed to do, was aggressively hit even the most unlikely of areas of magic. Wood magic didn¡¯t seem epic, but who knows it could be ok. That¡¯s why, I stood in the middle of the road for hours inspecting a random branch. It wasn¡¯t about to surrender. It was about a promise of victory in the form of a stick. After a few minutes of glaring at a stick and flooding it with mana, I had a revelation. The inspect skill had already increased to lv 20. Every hour without meditation, I could use Inspect 41 times an hour without losing Mp. With meditation, I could use the skill 263 times an hour. So, I began to meditate on the stick. Through the night, I ate scavenged berries and fruit from nearby trees. Squirrels were easily pulled off trees with mana fiber. They supplied me with food and the beginnings of a loincloth. When my mana seemed to run low, I practiced kicking on nearby trees. I had to admit that wasn¡¯t much, but I reached lv20 in less than a day in kick. Pummel and running were leveling quickly as well. My camp was coming along well. Mold wood allowed me to bend nearby trees and form a basic hut. My loin cloth was complete, and the winter chill no longer froze my balls. Still the final secrets of the stick alluded me. Was this stick placed here by some cruel god to torment me. Was the stick perhaps a demon. I didn¡¯t truly know. I knew there was a skill called wood and obtaining it was worth the effort. I was beginning to know the stick better than my own body. It was 9ft across and 4inches in diameter. Termites have eaten parts in it inadvertently helping me burrow my mana further into the object. The limb glowed with lines of blue energy. Every time, I used my skill more mana was left behind in the limb. Inspect reached lv55 after three days. Something was happening. My meditation skill allowed me to surpass my limit and continue to cast. A thought occurred to me, as I inspected the pathways my mana made through the wooden limb. Why not up the amount of mana? I began to pool my mana. Charging a spell proved ineffectual. The spell wouldn¡¯t stack instead it caused multiples of the same spell to cast at the same time. Mediation reached lv80 and inspect was lv90. Yet there were no new secrets that came from the staff. The limb had changed after the 30,000thcast. It had the designation staff and its glow was becoming distracting. There was a core at the center of the staff that pulled mana. The staff gave my mana pool a +100% Mr and +50% magic damage. It was impressive, but I was after the staff¡¯s final secrets. Every hour my casting had risen to the 500s. I was getting closer to something. Inspect had a 95% chance of success now. The final mystery of the staff must have been rarer than I thought. The sounds of wolves howling in the distance did nothing to distract me. The knowledge, I would surely gain from the staff was the more important than finding shelter. This was what RPGs were all about grinding to get those rare impossibly powerful skills. Inspect reached lv100 and evolved to Inspect II. I was awarded a secondary skill, inspect area. Inspect II had an outrageous cost. 500Mp per cast was ridiculous. It was a good thing meditation was lv 98 now. My inspection rate decreased to 90 per hour. I was forced to concede that perhaps I had contaminated my sample. I needed a pure source this mighty staff came from a great and powerful tree. If I was to learn the secrets of the stick, then I needed to reach the source. This felt good it was like science. There was a Bodock tree with a few green goblins nailed to it on spikes further down the road. The night was lit by three moons, my perception let me move about easily. I placed a hand on the ancient tree. Bodies littered the bark of the tree. They looked like dried out husks. Oh, the things this mighty tree must have witnessed. ¡°Hello, what are you doing touching me you pervert.¡± For a second I stared at the tree unsure if it had spoken or my mind finally snapped. The stick revealed this tree was intelligent but that didn¡¯t mean it spoke. I heard the words but knew they must be my imagination. Trees didn¡¯t talk, and I had been meditating around a stick for the past week. I continued to rub the tree as I prepared to thrust my mana. Soon, I realized a single thrust wouldn¡¯t be enough. Magic like this needed repetition. This was supposed to be science after all. I needed to complete multiple test. ¡°Hey guy, you¡¯re not a damn dirty wood beetle, are you? Right, you¡¯re a barely evolved monkey that has gotten a bit handsy. You see the bodies gutting from my stakes. That¡¯s what I will do to you if you don¡¯t get your hands off me.¡± I almost responded. I shook my head at my own foolishness. Trees didn¡¯t talk and if they did then they wouldn¡¯t sound like a woman. I had wasted enough time it was time to get inspect this tree. Taking my mana, I forced it deep within the tree. My will reached her deepest depths and plunged repeatedly for her secrets. In other words, I was mind raping the tree. For a time, we were interwoven. There was no beginning or end to our existence. Whether we started as a seed or as a zygote we didn¡¯t know. Eventually, the fire element of my mana disgusted her and we became separate. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± The tree finally went silent. With that, I began to shift through the new information. This tree connected to several trees in the forest. Though it started out as a simple sapling it quickly spread through the forest. Its vampire nature is an evolved trait. More than a few goblins sacrificed their enemies by impaling them on this tree¡¯s many sharp spikes. After soaking up the blood of multiple sentients the tree evolved. Vampirism wasn¡¯t the tree¡¯s limit. It developed other traits parasitism and necromancy. I pulled my hand from the trunk as the bodies in the tree began to move. This tree was lv400. There was no way I was staying and fighting this thing, fireballs or no. I turned and started running. ¡°Get back here you coward, finish what you started.¡± I was already far away running east. The sound of insects was loud and clear. If I didn¡¯t get more distance, then the trees parasitic insects would invade my body and turn me into a flesh puppet.
New skill [Wood lv1 ¨C This skill allows the user to conjure wood from mana. The physical and magical damage the wood is capable of is 1% Int. Cost 500Mp +1Int, +2Wis]
¡°Yes!¡± I yelled out and didn¡¯t care, even when the sound of flying insects drew ever closer. The information, from the tree was scattered at best. She was named Venus. There was a town built around a dungeon that still gave the ancient tree offerings. I wasn¡¯t as alone as I had thought. There were other people on this world. With my running skill I cut down one of the roads leading to the city. When active my running skill boosted my speed by 10%. Combined with my sneak skill and I was mostly undetected, as I made my way to Twin Star City. The place has been here for a hundred years. Adventurers, humans, goblins, dwarves, and elvesjourneyedthere to enter the dungeon. They wouldn¡¯t bat an eye if another adventurer moved in. The sounds of biting insects died down. Either they couldn¡¯t find me, or they were ordered not to. Either way, I thought I was home free. Wolves touched down on the ground form nearby trees. They were so fast that even my eyes had trouble keeping up with them. The pack was taken over by the parasitic wasps. Originally, the wasps were a parasitic insect that threatened to consume this world. Venus took control of them and bound the parasite to wasp hosts. It seemed the wasps jumped ship. At the time, I didn¡¯t know what happened. I was only able to see the attack coming because of my enhanced perception. When these parasites took over a new host they kept the traits of their former host. The wolves were no exception. Claws scraped against my side as the wolves made a pass. They bit at me and dodged my kicks. They looked mangy fur was falling off them as they circled me. My bloody wounds dripped in the cool night air. More scrapes of fur fell off the beast. My wounds wouldn''t close, if I didn''t get out of this fight. I spun and launched a barrage of fire balls. The light from my spells lit up the night giving me a clear view of my attackers. Insectoid shells peaked out just under the fur. The wolves were shedding their skin to reveal much more dangerous creatures. I would like to say that I stayed and fought. I didn''t, I concentrated fire in the direction of the city and took off running. For a time, I thought I had made it. I couldn''t hear them chasing me. A few miles away from the city, I stood there frozen, as a wolf covered in an exoskeleton blocked my path. I turned right and continued to run. They were herding me. Just beyond that wolf would have been the city.
Infested Forest Wolf lv55 They are a mix of wasp and wolf. These creatures are insane with hunger. If they consume their fill, they will evolve into a much larger form. It is advised to stay far away from them.
That told me jack about what they can do in a fight. Another wolf began chasing me from behind. Mandibles didn¡¯t fit right on a wolf¡¯s snout. Another wolf kept me from turning left. I was forced to make another right. I l was starting to feel woozy from blood loss. My wounds hadn''t closed much in my escape. If I could find a place to hide and force them to come at me on my terms, then I could win. I was going back towards Venus¡¯s grove. My body was getting tired. There was no stamina to drain, but it did tire me to continue running for so long. I had planned to sleep tonight that possibility seemed so far away now. I was still too far away from the city to see any lights. This was getting me nowhere. Who would I rather fight a bunch of wolves or a lv400 tree. The decision was simple. I turned around on the incoming wolves. My staff was in hand. I didn¡¯t know how well this would work, but I hoped I took at least one with me. I opened my hands and launched a series of fire fed mana fibers. The fibers were smaller than the eye of a needle. When alight with fire mana they looked like tiny orange glow sticks. Everything they touched burned. Mana fibers were little more than strings that transferred mana. I could spam them in the hundred with little trouble. They flexed like millions of tiny limbs. With my sight, I spun the fibers around me in a defensive position. The fibers spun coating me in orange light. I looked like glowing mushroom from afar. The wolves either not sensing the danger or not caring charged mouths agape. The parasites had multiplied within the wolf¡¯s new born parasites were ready to invade a new host. My eyes were better than any normal humans. Levels were very important. They allowed a user to use a large amount of skill points. Skills like running and kick took hours to level up. Black mage didn¡¯t level up at all. It seemed skill trees took skill points exclusively to level up. Even a human or monster twice my level shouldn¡¯t have eye sight as good as mine. My eyes of the sun skill at mark I, gave me 5 perception every lv. Even in the dark, I could see each one of the parasites. That begs the question, how did I react to them in time. The answer was simple. I had hundreds of tiny destructive hands that could do it for me. To call the small fibers of fire mark II limbs wasn¡¯t correct. They looked more like hairs. The fibers cut the tiny parasites apart. One fiber wasn¡¯t enough to kill a wolf. My fire damage was around 400. When I hit a wolf with ten hairs the effect increased exponentually. When my hairs linger in the parasite and burned it. The wolf burst into flames and died. My mana was drastically low after my first wolf kill. The other wolves watched me from a distance. I kept my spell up. I might have had half a minute left before I was bone dry. Lights began to shine in the distance. It was the city guards. My fire mana hairs were so bright that it garnered attention. The wolves took another look at me before running off but not before one opened its mouth. ¡°You got away from me this time. If you ever leave the city, then I will find you. Don¡¯t keep me waiting too long or I might venture in the city to find you myself.¡± Venus said. The wolves backed away and returned to the forest. Surprise at Twin Star City Time was wasted waiting for the city guards to come find me. I managed to keep mana fibers up the whole time. ¡°Oh, guys look it¡¯s a human. Pay up.¡± Coins exchanged between a dwarf and a goblin. ¡°Wow, buddy you aren¡¯t looking so hot. Did you run into some spiders maybe a few zombies on your way through? It isn¡¯t easy getting through the woods as a lv1 you can take it from me. Most goblins don¡¯t make it and if they do, then they don¡¯t speak the language. The names Gorshod by the way. This is Hammer Bill and they two behind me are called Obliterator and Apocalypse. Don¡¯t let the names fool you. Neither are above lv15, being new recruits and all.¡± Gorshod said. ¡°Now son, drop your spells. We are going to bring you back with us to the city. Then you can meet with Grand Mistress and begin your journey into the dungeon after you pay a small fee.¡± Hammer Bill said. I slowly released my Fire Fibers. The small threads of death slowly winked out. The group seemed to collectively sigh in relief. ¡°I saw what you did to that infested forest wolf. It¡¯s not my goal to be swiss cheese. Welcome so Twin Star city a city state in the country of Amazonia.¡± I blinked at the name. That was an odd name. They marched me to the city. Apocalypse and Obliterator looked like they were in the process of shitting themselves. As the gates to the city opened, I took note of the lack conversations. The entrance seemed to be a market area, but the sound of capitalism was absent. The city was covered in golden artwork. Large statues of women warriors lined the entrance and the city streets. Men and women weren¡¯t on the streets. Instead a series of golems worked constantly carrying messages and doing menial tasks. ¡°What do the dwarves think of getting thrown out by god?¡± I asked. ¡°Blunt aren¡¯t you. I like that. We never believed in him to begin with. He didn¡¯t bother giving us a severance package. We were thrown out into this galaxy. I believe this is the fourth time in recorded history. You humans are quite new. We must build a new city every few million years. It¡¯s annoying I guess.¡± The dwarf said. ¡°That would be a dwarf¡¯s answer. My people think differently. We see it as a test by the god. To show that we are worthy, we must survive with the rest of you. It is a challenging test.¡± The dwarf and the goblin were in the 40s. Thanks to the wolves, I was lv33 now. I had 206 skill points to spend and three skill trees available. Once I had some free time, I could gain three more skill trees. We reached a large palace and climbed a ridiculous set of stairs. Golden statues were on either side going up to the palace. When I reached the top of the stairs twelve women wearing black armor stood guard. I lowered myself to the dwarf and asked the question. ¡°Who are they?¡± ¡°Mistress¡¯s private guard. We are just guards of the city. They are the privileged elite. Better armor, weapons, and training. The only requirement is a set of female genitals. Most are lv90+ I wouldn¡¯t mess with them if I were you.¡± Bill said. ¡°We will take him from here loyal guardsmen. He will pay for his crimes.¡± I blinked and felt a heavy boot knock me forward. I turned around to see it was the goblin. ¡°He¡¯s all yours. Take care now.¡± Strong hands took ahold of my shoulders and pinned my arms behind my back. Before I could summon mana a pair of hand cuffs were placed on my wrists. Just like that my mana was cut off form me. They pulled me up and pushed me forward. ¡°Walk slave,¡± My mind was reeling. What happened? I just arrived, and I¡¯m suddenly a slave. This wasn¡¯t right, and I would get to the bottom of this. They brought me through a grand and lavish hall. I was kicked from behind again and brought to my knees before a throne. Was this where they would make me kiss the ring. A woman sat on the throne. She was human. Her hair was died purple and she had the eyes of a woman that hated men. Without mana all my offensive capabilities were gone. The woman had a smug look on her face. She was over weight perhaps by a ton. There were indentions on the golden throne where her weight had sunk her as in. Plates of the finest dishes were prepared for her. Butlers moved continuously to refill her empty plates. A trail of grease fell from her face. She looked a lot like jaba the hut. ¡°You stand accused of defiling the land of Amazonia with your toxic masculinity. Our sister Aleya has been slain and mutilated, her children were burned to the ground. Venus our great goddess has reported that you touched her inappropriately. So, little man you are accused of touch rape, mana rape, murder of the first degree, mass murder of a friendly species, and the death of one of Venus¡¯s pets. How do you plead?¡± Jaba the bitch said. ¡°Well mighty Jaba, I¡¯ve done nothing wrong. They were all stronger than me. If they were more careful, then I would be the one dead. In conclusion fuck you.¡± I said. A black aura covered one of the guard¡¯s hands. She grabbed me by the hair and prepared to stab me with her hand. ¡°Wait, I have a better idea. The dungeon must be hungry. Its last feeding session was three weeks ago. Lets thrown him in the dungeon without access to magic.¡± The giant bitch said. I was taken from the room and lead deep through the bowels of the mansion. There were cells full of men and boys. Their eyes were dead. They had long become nothing more than breeding stock and food for the dungeon. The door to the dungeon opened as I was taken closer. They tossed me in and the opening closed behind me. There was writing on the wall. ¡°Be wary they are faster than they appear.¡± What were faster than they appear? I entered sneak mode and slowly made my way further in. This floor of the dungeon was all hard stone, torches were the only light source. After walking passed the first corner a mob appeared. It was a zombie baby lv5. I didn¡¯t know whether to be disgusted or relieved.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Zombie baby lv5 They were once the mistress¡¯s children. When they were born male, she threw them in the dungeon. Their innocence led the dungeon to making them into mobs. Can you kill them, newborns that have done no wrong?
I walked up and stomped on their heads. They were mobs, creatures born from a dungeon. There was no other real choice in the matter. A small copper coin appeared and then vanished into my inventory. There was no xp gain from killing the zombie baby. That made since the zombie was 28 levels below me. I continued to sneak forward. Other zombie babies were in my path I stomped them to death as well.
New skill [Stomp lv1 ¨C Crush those under your feet with this finishing blow. 1% Str as damage. +0.1Str]
After my 50th dead baby, I came upon a door. It read. ¡°Beware of their nails.¡± I kicked open the door. A zombie girl stood in the corner crying and holding the zombie babies. She turned her head. Most of her face had rotted off. I could see where her face had been struck repeatedly.
Zombie sister lv10 They couldn¡¯t allow their infant brothers to die alone. It was their desire to keep them company forever. Their mother killed them and threw their corpses in the dungeon. Watch out for their sharp nails.
She shrieked and threw one of the zombie babies on me. The small creature grabbed ahold of my leg to keep me from moving fast. The other babies crawled towards me. She ran forward and drove her claws into my gut. The first stab took 30Hp. I spat a glob of blood on the ground and swung my leg knocking the dead baby from my leg. I spartan kicked her and began stomping the dead babies. Once they were crushed the zombie sister turned red. She began to move much faster. ¡°Hello, adventurer you are the first to make it this far in a long time.¡± A voice said. I raised an eyebrow. The voice was so loud it reverberated through the dungeon. If I didn¡¯t have these damn cuffs on I could inspect this place. ¡°What do you hope to achieve by going deeper into my depths? Are you after honor, riches, or perhaps power?¡± Two zombie sisters blocked my path. I ran up and jump kicked the first only to receive a slash across my back. I stomped her leg and it cracked. Another kick smashed her head against a wall. ¡°So, brutal and to a little girl. Do you have no heart? You certainly are the strongest to enter this place in some time.¡± The dungeon said. I continued further down the path. Another script covered the wall. ¡°They come in packs¡± What comes in packs? I had no idea. The zombie babies certainly did come in packs. The zombie sisters were coming in greater numbers. The nearest door burst open and a mob of mobs poured out. They were zombie men they all had knives sticking out of their backs. Some had a scant amount of armor.
Zombie white knights lv20 This mob is the cause of the current Amazonia kingdom. They betrayed their fellow men in life and were betrayed by the women they defended.
What I wouldn¡¯t give for some magic in this situation. I wasn¡¯t afraid of a mob of lv 20 mobs. They seemed to all count as one monster anyway. I delivered a powerful kick to the first one driving it into the nearest wall. I stomped their legs crushing them and kicked others. They often fell like dominos. Their power was in numbers this narrow hallway wasn¡¯t the best battle field for these guys. I cornered the final mob and drove my foot through his skull. Before the bodies vanished, I snagged one of the broken daggers. Turning the blade, I began to fiddle with the lock. Lockpicked lv1 ¨C Pick lesser locks with anything that you can find. 1% chance. +1Int As I riddled with the lock I drew closer to the boss room of the first floor. If the mobs went up to lv20 then I doubted my chances of slaying the boss without magic. There were options. If I went and increased stomp and kick to 100 my chances would be much better. The cuffs didn¡¯t remove my ability to use mana. They drained my mana faster than I could replenish it. It was frustrating. So, I continued working as I made my way closer to the boss door. The bosses room held a man dressed in white armor, carrying a heavy white shield, and wielding a white mace. White knight mobs poured into the room from two barred doors. That was when I felt a click. The hand cuffs fell to the floor. Like wings from my back, Fire II fibers dug into the floor. I let out a laugh. The fibers on my back looped together forming tendril like ropes. My mana was no longer recovering. All my recovery was devoted to the up keep of this new skill. I ran forward into the mobs. My tendrils dug huge rivets in the concrete and ripped through the zombie knight¡¯s bodies. The floor healed as quickly as I destroyed it. With a spin I bisected all the weak mobs horizontally. Every step made me feel a bit stronger. The mobs were dying in droves. With two long tendrils, I was able to turn the tide of battle. One of my tendrils slashed at the knight only to be blocked by the shield.
GIlver The White Knight lv35 He is a knight among knights. Loyal to his mistress¡¯s cause. he stabbed himself in the heart. He hates men and himself more than anything. Do not underestimate him.
That was good to know, now how do I defeat his guy. After he blocked another few blows and swung his mace at my tendril I got some distance. The mobs died as I ran through them killing everything in my path. This guy had a pattern he blocked three hits and attempted to destroy my tendril with his mace. My first attack failed, and he proved that his mace and shield could handle my level of fire. The question was, could his armor hold up. The mobs worked as a barricade against the knight more than myself. He had to walk amongst them, while I could cut them apart and move on. The circular room was large enough to run in and get space. The mobs were mindless in their pursuit. Only the boss seemed to have higher thought. I ducked down and used my tendrils like a sling shot. They dove into the ground and propelled me forward. The dungeon¡¯s efforts to keep its floor crack free gave me resistance to use. I moved my tendrils in a x formation to clear the mobs in my way. Gilver turned just in time to catch my first tendril with his shield. My second tendril chopped up the mobs flanking me. I prepared my second tendril for a strike and smashed into Gilver¡¯s shield. After the third strike he spun to deliver a blow. My second tendril smashed into his chest before Gilver could put his shield back into place. My tendril couldn¡¯t pierce the armor luckily there was a spot open where the helmet and breast plate met. The tendril skewered him at the throat. I powered up a few fireballs and launched them for good measure. I dropped my tendrils when the notification for the boss death appeared. From that point, I launched an endless barrage of fireballs to clean up the last of the mobs. A chest appeared in the center of the room. When I opened it, I gained a set of wizard¡¯s robes, a wizard¡¯s hat, and some black leather boots. Two skill books were in the chest. There was the skill book Ice and Heal. With that I learned the ice skill book and couldn¡¯t learn heal. There was a requirement for the white mage skill tree. After I decked myself out in a black robe, hat and put on the black boots, I walked down the stairs deeper into the dungeon. It had to be more interesting than the feminist utopia up top. "So, you made it past the first boss. That''s great. Just so you know, iIhave over 100floors. This floor was nothing compared to the later floors." "Beware the Dungeon lies." Floor #2, The Burned Library Light poured out from the door leading to the next floor. A message flashed ever more insistently before my face. Every time I dismissed it the message popped back up.
You have three skill tree points to allocate. Current skill trees available. Berserker I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around fighting endlessly with little care for the body and teaches Resist pain, Life Drain, and Resilient. +2Con, +2End. Mage Archer I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around long range combat and teaches Mana Arrow, Mana Bow, and Lock on. +3Per, +1Wis Fire Elementalist I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around the mastery of the fire element and teaches Fire Aura, Fireball Cannon, and Resist Fire. +4Int Ice Elementalist I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around the Frost element and teaches Ice Aura, Frost Breath, Resist Ice. +3Wis, +1Con Mana Elementalist I 0/50 ¨C This tree revolves around mastery of pure mana and learn Mana Aura, Mana Burst, and Mana Resist. +5Wis, +5Agl Blue Mage I ¨C This tree revolves around monster spells and observing mobs. 0/25 +3Int, 1Wis White mage I ¨C This tree revolves around healing, light, and buff spells. 0/25 +1Int, +3Wis
I took the Mana elementalist, White mage, and berserker skill trees. A few pop ups appeared. [Mana Aura I lv1 ¨C Produce a defensive aura made of raw mana. Mag Dam 1%Int and Mag Def 1%Wis. Cost 100/min +0.1Int, +0.1Wis.] [Heal I lv1 ¨C Use the power of light to heal injuries. Health recovered 1%Wis cost 50Mp +0.1Wis] [Resist Pain I lv1 ¨C Negate 1% of pain to continue fighting. Cost 50/min +0.1Con] Every skill counted, they all increased my power. My last fight had brought my level to 39. My levelinghad slowed because of the weak enemies. I neededbetter opponents. I used my hard-earned skill points and brought my skill trees to the next level. Its hard to describe what it was like to became so many times faster, studier, and more intelligent. I remember screaming a lot. The cells in my body were evolving at a rapid pace. They needed building material for the upgrade. Mana was the only real material in my body they had in surplus. My cells rapidly sucked away at my mana pool. Dry described how i felt very well. After an hour of yelling and my body rip itself apart and putting itself back together later. I regained clarity. When my hands touched the nearby stone wall it felt different. It was like touching something through a glove. Though my skin was indeed touching the wall. The could and formerly rough texture of the wall no longer bothered me. I believe it downed on me then. I wasn''t quite human anymore. My body was too solid to belong to a human''s. My mind worked more like a gesalt mind. Though singularly focused, my mind moved at inconceivable speeds. The only reliable human quality, I could still call my own, was my breathing. My lungs filled up achingly slowly and I exhauled. My heart beat so slowly, I could count to a hundred between each beat. That''s what brought me back. It took some doing but I brought my mind back to the human level or near enough. It was a slippery slope. If I wasn''t careful, I would return to existing at a 100th of a secdond. Pop ups appeared in my vision. They told me what I already knew. My body was significantly tougher, and I healed at twice the rate. My aura produced much more mana and my ability to store mana had greatly increased. My ability to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell had increase a hundred-fold. If I stared at the door long enough, I could feel my eyes looking through the door. It wasn¡¯t quite x-ray vision, but it was close.
John lv39 Xp 150/73,488 Points 79
Perks
Sniper x3 accuracy x3 senses Information Osmosis
Apprentice Channels x3 MP x3 Mag Dam x2 Hard Drive
Intermediate Aura x4 MR x4 Mag Def x3 Ram
Apprentice Speed x3 Movement Speed x3 Reflexes x2 Processor
Novice Body x2 HP x2 Phsy Def
Nove Regen x2 HR x2 Resistance
HP 1,420/1,420
MP 12,242.7/12,242.7
MR 296/min
Stats
Con 78.1 End 58 Str 13.7
Agl 267 Int 418.7 Wis 739.8
Per 262 Chr 2 Luk 17
Skills
Sneak lv35 Pummel lv2 Kick lv55 Meditation lv99 Stomp lv40 Running lv25
Fire I lv100 Fire II lv25 Fireball I lv100 Fireball II lv1 Fire Fibers I lv20 Resist Poison lv100
Mana Fibers lv40 Inspect I lv100 Inspect II lv1 Area Inspect lv1 Mold Wood lv5 Resist Poison II lv5
Resist Pain lv1 Ice lv1 Heal lv1 Mana Aura lv1 Wood lv1 Lock Picking lv2
Skill Trees
Black Mage I 25/25 Berserker I 25/25 White Mage I 25/25
Black Mage II 50/50 Berserker II 1/50 White Mage II 1/50
Black Mage III 1/100 Mana Elementalist I 50/50
Mana Elementalist II 1/100
Unique Skills
Eyes of the Sun I 50/50 Eyes of the Sun II 1/100
The 2nd floor was a massive library. There were no books on the shelves. All that remained of the books were scorch marks on the shelves. Soot covered the ground. The section was labeled general science.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Are you surprised? They chose feelings and belief over logic, reason, and evidence. The poor scientists, chemists, and engineers were thrown into my embrace. I have eaten so many doctors, that I no longer count them.¡± The dungeon¡¯s words disturbed me to the core. Those who were knowledgeable and could have improved the life of the common man were slain. Statues of gold were tossed about and golems took up the work of the masses. I didn¡¯t like the picture this was painting one bit. I could have gone back, but I chose to dive deeper in the dungeon instead. I wanted power. The city above was the short game. There was at least one being in this world at lv1000. If I could get close to that level then, well at the time, I didn¡¯t know what I would do. I walked deeper through the library. Soot began to rise and form humanoid shapes.
Soot Golem¡¯s lv40 These creatures are the remnants of humanities knowledge. They no longer know what they once contained and have been driven mad because of it. Expect no mercy from them.
I tilted my mage hat to the side and thrust my staff forward. A barrage of fireballs smacked into the golems. Their bodies shattered and twice as many formed. I dashed forward and activated Mana aura. A small layer of mana spread from my body and swirled like a storm. The golems locked on to me. As a single body they slashed at me with their claws. Even through the mana aura they drew blood. My mana aura did little to defend me from the damage. That could only mean they didn¡¯t use mana to attack. The initial fireballs destroyed the first set of soot golems. Each death dropped a bag of soot in my inventory. They barely gave any xp. I twirled my staff marveling at how slow everything moved relative to my enhanced senses. My speed was just enough to counter the golems. When I was far away the golems moved slowly like shambling zombies. It was only when I was close that they reacted like lightning. Was it a skill? I cast heal on myself returning my HP to 100%. The golems moved like shadows. Surrounded by soot they were perfectly camouflaged. If I didn¡¯t have high perception they would easily sneak up on me. It was around then that I saw a sign. ¡°Don¡¯t use fire.¡± As with most of the signs, it was short, sweet, and simple. If I couldn¡¯t¡¯ use fire, then I still have wood and ice. I pulled a copper coin out of my inventory. On the picture was a symbol, I hadn¡¯t seen before. It showed and eye and on the back, was a mint of Einstein. Einstein wood, and eye ice, I flipped the coin and caught it. A small green glow appeared in my hand. The glow turned into a seed. This seed greedily drank from my mana reserves as iftsprouted wooden tendrils spearing through the soot golems. Mold wood allowed me to control the shape of the plant while wood produced ever more wood to use. Spikes of wood jutted from the soot golems. More rose but not in double the numbers. It seemed, so long as I resisted the urge to burn things in here, the soot golems wouldn¡¯t spawn in droves. The mass of plant life had taken 6k mana and four minutes to kill all the soot golems. The creatures were little more than manikins made of ash. When they died by the wood spikes pages appeared in my inventory. ¡°Maybe if you collect all of them something will happen. You should hurry. The Mistress will surely send some of her private guards down here soon. If you don¡¯t die down here she can¡¯t imprison your soul. Hehehehe¡± I hadn¡¯t realized my soul was in danger. Another reason to kill the bitch it seemed. I sped my way down the halls of the library killing the soot golems with molded wood spears. Page after page filled my inventory. I didn¡¯t know how many I killed. Four, five, or six hundred soot golems fell to my spear.
New skill [Spear combat I lv1 ¨C This skill relies heavily on speed and strength to be effective. Damage 1%Agl and 1%Str. +1Agl, +1Str.]
The spear was a great weapon in my opinion. It allowed me to slay the golems from a reasonable distance, while I waited for my mana to recover. If I had access to fire, the golems would already be ash, again. My spear worked, when I ran up on them and pierced through their small mana core¡¯s. Those crystals dropped in my inventory when I managed to kill them without damaging the core. It was something to think about. Every kill filled my inventory with more pages. Soon, I reached what I thought to be the end of the floor. It was about time, I had already killed a thousand of them. There was a pedestal, because of course there was and on the pedestal, was an empty book cover. Before I fought whatever, the book became, I looked around. There was always a text to help. Only this time there were only three words. They were written in dried blood. ¡°Don¡¯t fight it.¡± If that wasn¡¯t a shining example of sage advice, I didn¡¯t know what was. The only problem was, the stairs to the next floor were sealed. The only way through was to fight the book. I had the pages and there was an icon to place them all at once. The only problem was the words. Don¡¯t fight it. At face value they mean don¡¯t attack it. Did it have some type of skill that gave it an advantage when being attacked? Well only one way to find out. ¡°Hey dungeon, does this book have a reflect spell.¡± I yelled at the nearest wall. There was silence for a minute. ¡°I don¡¯t know. There hasn¡¯t been a reason the reset this boss in quite some time. I normally let the adventurers that are invited in through without fighting the book. They normally kill a single soot golem and I let them go on. You were different. You weren¡¯t invited here, this is your death sentence.¡± Well that answered that. The dungeon was most definitely not impartial. It served the bitch on top just as much as the guards. This place allowed her to get rid of dangerous enemies without getting her hands dirty. But why? Wouldn¡¯t it have been easier to just let her guard¡¯s kill me? What does she gain from her male hostages that make this place so useful? I scratched my head then hit the icon. Over a thousand pages fell from my inventory and fused to the spine of the book. The book shook a layer of dust off. ¡°Finally, I¡¯m free after so long. I¡¯m free to spread my knowledge and teach the world the wonders of science. All I must do is escape this place and find a far-off village to give my teachings.¡± The book said.
I made a loud coughing noise. ¡°I wonder if the world has changed since my sealing. Did they finally kill that woman? The way she was eating she should weigh as much as a fully grown grizzly bear by now. All those resources wasted on a woman who¡¯s only concern is to stuff her face.¡± I coughed a bit louder. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, the Men of Sciencewill revolt against oppression. The worship of false entities will cease. Reason and understanding will take the world by storm and it will all be because of me.¡± I threw my spear and the book dodged it. The spear lodged into the podium. The book twisted around its pages glowed with mana. ¡°Greetings, I am the great and powerful General Science 101. From my power I command legions of great tomes filled with man secrets of science and magic. Battle tactics, history, and self-help books are all under my command. Do you have what it takes to read the army of the living texts?¡± I took a stance and molded another spear. This book summoned two other flying books. One read mana bolt for dummies, and the other read how I learned to stop running and face my foes. The later was a thick armored text. The one before wore a wizard¡¯s hat. The mana bolt book opened and launched an endless barrage of bolts. Every time I jumped out of the way the second book blocked my path. A block with my spear only destroyed the shaft of my weapon. I used wood mold and turned my spear into dozens of tendrils. Another book appeared and flanked me. It fired large heavy ice sickle shards. The book in front charged, a red aura covered it. I managed to dodge to the left just as it struck a book shelf. The book paused there and struggled to pull itself free. I itched to use fire and burn the book to a crisp but that wasn¡¯t the best method here. What did the texts mean by don¡¯t fight it? I spun out of the way of the barrages of mana bolts and ice sickles. My mold wood allowed me to tank a few hits with tendrils. My good luck wouldn¡¯t last. The books were flanking me. Even my perception had its limits. Keeping track of four flying, sentient books at once was pushing it. I threw the remains of my spear at the book firing ice sickles. The tendrils wrapped around the book knocking it out of commission. That was one down three to go. I knew that the main book summoned the others. According to the text, I shouldn¡¯t fight it. It was bad news or something. The book on charging was out of the shelf and charging at my head. I managed to dodge and took a mana bolt to the chest. It ate through my mana aura and gouged a hole in my chest. The gaping wound bled immediately. I was forced to waste mana healing it. The golden glow from my healing mana was kept me going for now. It was expensive on my attention to fight like this. Another book appeared. Nature for idiots it read. This book launched a hail mary of poisoned powder. I breathed it in and was unaffected it was a lesser poison. I still had a coughing fit as it coated my mouth and throat. Breathing in poisons was never a fun endeavor. I ducked the charging book again and decided to try something new. I grabbed ahold of the book and felt the knowledge soak into me. It was glorious. A magic skill that enhanced agility in short burst. There were over ten roman numerals to the skill. I dodged the mana bolts and grabbed ahold of the book I tied up. My high perception allowed me to fully learn the book. The book vanished, and I gained the skill Ice sickle. ¡°Don¡¯t fight it, right,¡± I muttered. The books were circling around me now. They were nervous of getting too close. This disadvantage was staggering, and they knew it. We were at a stalemate. I could learn them to nothingness but couldn¡¯t reach them while they floated. They couldn¡¯t hit me with their spells and they knew it too. A single eye glared at me from the cover of the boss book. I was loving this, I already had two free skill. Mana charge was a dream come true for my spear style. Even a sword style would go great with it. The boss book began to hover closer. Its eyes glared at me tiredly. ¡°I am the last bastion of knowledge, General Science. If I am to fall, then learn everything that I am and spread my word far and wide. That is what I ask of you in exchange for my life.¡± I nodded, science would be necessary to acquire space travel and increase the level of everyone¡¯s living condition. This Matriarchy was a shit hole. From the memories, I was getting from Venus and what I was learning here, the leaders of the city above had to die. The books merged with general knowledge and I placed my hands on the tome. The tome¡¯s information entered me, and I gained the crafting skill. Of all the skills this book could give me, that wasn¡¯t what I expected. As I stood there and thought about what I gained, I realized a crafting skill was for the best. From here, I would eventually craft items that would make my life better. Like a bed to sleep on in this dreary dark dungeon. I could only hope that the next floor had monsters made of meat on it. I ate the last of Aleya¡¯s spider leg. The meat was just as warm and sweet as when I first cooked it. The Dungeons Name The chest dropped like a ton of bricks in the center of the room. Soot exploded like a grenade away from the chest. A small gold lock fell off and the chest opened. A few weapons, leather chest plate and grieves, and a few skill books fell on the ground. Over three hundred copper coins entered my inventory. Staff in hand, I inspected my loot. There were a few halberds, a scimitar, and a wooden shield. I collected my loot, in the infinite space of my inventory. The skill books were interesting. One was mana burst, and the other was light. After learning both skills, I pulled a large iron key from the chest. ¡°There are hidden chests on every floor. Go and find them, if you have the time.¡± I smiled my first true smile, since I entered this dungeon. This cranky dungeon reminded me of a movie villain. It tried so hard to be diabolical that it ended up transparent. I chose to go down the long stairs, hopefully the next place would have edible mobs.
The next floor wasn¡¯t what I expected. Instead of undead or soot monsters, there were the sounds of insects and the lull of frogs in the distance. Lakes littered this side of the dungeon. If my eyes didn¡¯t deceive me, there were fish jumping out of the water. I hadn¡¯t expected the dungeon to throw me a slow ball. ¡°Hey dungeon what is this place?¡± I said. ¡°This is the swamp lands my third floor. This is a natural world free of man¡¯s touch. It is my masterpiece.¡± The dungeon said. ¡°We haven¡¯t really spoken much have we. What can I call you besides dungeon?¡± I asked. ¡°You can call me Luci.¡± The dungeon said. I chuckled a bit at the strange name. ¡°I gave you my name. What¡¯s yours?¡± Luci said. I hadn¡¯t given my name, since I was betrayed by the dwarf and goblin. This was different. My relationship with Luci was on the table. She was a dungeon and I an adventurer. It was her goal to kill me and mine to plunder her riches and kill her mobs. Even so, I hadn¡¯t planned to give my name so freely again. ¡°My name is John Union. Its nice to finally meet you Luci.¡± I said. I had a weird feeling in those early days delving within Luci. Her treasures though secreted away, were always a wonder. There was a sense of excitement, I gained when exploring her body that I rarely experienced with any other dungeon. I suppose it was the feeling of a virgin adventurer in the hands of an experienced dungeon. ¡°Why don¡¯t you visit the lakes there is a surprise waiting on you there?¡± Luci said. I had a strange desire to burn the place to the ground, boil the water to steam, and eat the fish. I Ignored it and played nice. It wasn¡¯t an outside force that drove me to burn the world down. As a child, I was quite the pyromaniac. My grandfather had me hooked on burning stumps and brush. I spent many summer days gazing into orange flames, when I was younger. There was little more beautiful. That was many years ago, I was just a boy, and now, I¡¯m a man now. This world was my home and this dungeon my companion. I made use of my crafting skill and made a fishing rod from nearby weeds. After tying a particularly sticky version of mana fibers, I dubbed the new skill Sticky Fibers. I cast the line out and waited for something to get stuck. A few hours later when my guard was down I felt a bite. The rod bent nearly in half before I managed to pull the rod. On the other end wasn¡¯t a fish, no it was a massive gator.
Swamp Gator lv50 They live deep in swamps. It is well known that they eat catfish, snakes, and unwary adventurers. For those lucky few who reach the third floor this creature is often their end. Be wary of its hard scales.
The creature began to slowly pull me closer to the water. It rolled reeling the line and drawing me ever closer. Instead of snapping the line like a smart man, I decided that fire was my best option. With no hands to use, I opened my mouth and took a deep breath. When my lungs were full to the point of bursting I funneled mana in the air andexhaled. With a spark from fire, a concentrated blast of heat blasted from my maw. The flames only lasted for a few seconds. The water around the gator boiled and its scales cracked in placed. With a final heave, I pulled the gator from the water, after I stunned it with fire breath. Taking my halberd from the inventory, I walked up to the gator. The creature hissed and struggled to move. It had been foolish to spin the sticky fibers around its body. I drove the tip of the halberd through the gator¡¯s brain. The sticky fibers dissipated, when I stopped feeding mana to them. After stringing the gator up with more mana fibers, I cut its throat to drain the blood. After the blood was drained, I ripped the leather off, and began cooking the choice pieces. The pieces I didn¡¯t like, I tossed back in the lack. The catfish happily snapped up the bloody chunks. I had my meal and made my way further through the dungeon. Mold wood allowed me to cross most of the lakes on my way to the next set of stairs. Like before, I couldn¡¯t go on without facing a boss. A massive Turtle walked out of the lake. The ground was electrified by its steps.
Electro Turtle lv65 The Electro Turtle is the most prominent predator of the dungeon swamp. It¡¯s ability spam electrical pulses make it a deadly foe. When it hides in its shell it can unleash its most devastating abilities.
The turtle was well over 8ft in diameter. Its head was large enough to swallow a fully-grown gator. Electricity sparked off the turtle. This was the first time I dealt with an electrical creature. I brought my mana aura up to max and held my wooden shield forward. Bolts of lightning smashed into me and my muscles locked up. Before this day I had no idea what a seizure felt like. My body shook for a few more minutes, as I rapid cast heal. The turtle was on me with his mouth open. I saw deep in the back of the creature¡¯s throat. Its breath smelled like rotten meat, I wanted to puke. Shakily, I took a breath, it slammed its head down to eat me as I unleashed my fire breath. The creature shrieked as the inside of its mouth boiled. Muscle and flesh melted and fell out of the creature¡¯s mouth. My nerves were under my control again. The turtle was making a retreat this was perhaps my only chance to take this creature down. Lightning was rising again from the creature¡¯s shell. I tossed my shield and pulled out the halberds. I slammed them in the ground to either side of me, just before the turtle unleashed another bolt. My staff appeared out of my inventory. With it in my hand my damage potential increased rapidly. Fire Fibers shot out and wrapped around the turtle¡¯s front legs and neck. The turtle shrieked and tried to pull into its shell. I wouldn''t let it. I pulled and dragged it closer to me. The heat increased and burned deeply in the monster¡¯s flesh. I pulled back on my staff and reeled back in the fire fibers. The turtle unleashed bolt after bolt from its shell. The lightning was drawn to my halberds, they acted like lightning rods drawing away the bolts. I used mana burst and pulled a final time. The fire fibers ripped through the turtle¡¯s neck and decapitated the creature. The headless neck was cartelized by the flames very little blood was spilt from the kill. Flesh sizzled like bacon as it flaked off the corpse. The blood finally shot through the cartelized wound from the built-up pressure. Boiling blood fell, on the sandy ground.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. A small lightning mana core appeared in my inventory. The turtle was quickly absorbed by the dungeon. A chest appeared in the center of the sandy bank. With this boss dead, I collected water and thunder skill books from the chest, along with iron grieves, and a water mana stone. 3 silver coins appeared in my inventory. As I prepared to go down to the next floor a thought occurred to me. ¡°Luci, why is this floor so different from the others?¡± I asked. ¡°That is a long story John. If I start telling it, you may get distracted. I would hate to eat you because you were distracted by my voice. Its poor sport.¡± Luci said. I rolled my eyes at her words. I started to rapid cast area inspect. A short pulse of mana echoed around bouncing off walls giving random readings. It seemed Luci had a defense against inspect. ¡°Tell me your story, it will take more than your voice to lull me into a false sense of security.¡± I just managed to leap over three stairs that folded down. Slipping off the stair column led to a black abyss that seemed endless. It may lead to the very bottom of the dungeon. ¡°Nice try Luci, but you¡¯re not getting rid of me that easily.¡± I said. For a second, I thought I heard Luci grumble. After a moment there was an intense rush of mana. Seconds later the mana flowed back. Did she just take a breath? ¡°I don¡¯t know if I have a story per say. Just listen and we will go from there. I am a dungeon heart. That means, I am a lich that has no body to animate. Instead of animating a corpse, I animate the world around me. A dungeon¡¯s body functions just like a lich¡¯s.¡± Luci said. She paused, when had I associated the dungeon¡¯s voice as female. When we first met her voice was deep and gruff like an old man¡¯s. The longer I stayed down here, the softer her voice became. It seemed, that I needed to brush off those two points in charisma. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that was how dungeons worked. It makes since after you explained it. Still, I had no reason to put two and two together before.¡± I said. ¡°John, you¡¯re an adventurer and an intelligent one. Your wisdom must be through the roof. If you had high charisma, then I would be frightened of you. Now can I continue with my story?¡± I nodded and continued down the stairs wary of any tricks. ¡°As I was saying. I was a natural dungeon heart. There was never a body to animate, my father left me here, so I could attract adventurers and grow. Father isn¡¯t the right word. We reproduce by budding. At times our parent may place us in a corpse to ensure we gain a body to explore and move around in. Other times we are left in a large area. Those areas become our bodies. When I was born, there was only the knowledge given to me by my father. I knew he named me Luci. I knew how to use magics such as water, wood, and earth. With those magics, I crafted the floor you were just on. That was my first floor as a dungeon. It took three years to perfect. I had to wait for my mana stores to recover constantly. Building that first floor taught me patience.¡± Luci said. I made my way to the bottom of the stairs. The fourth floor awaited me. I wanted to hear more of the story. There were markings on the wall. ¡°The mushrooms are death.¡± The markings said. I stared at the sign and quickly weighed the odds of burning this floor to the ground. Would she get pissed and send every mob at me or would Luci continue telling her story? ¡°Don¡¯t burn my floor down please. I like my walls free of scorch marks. If you must then just burn the mobs. They shouldn¡¯t be a threat to you. Now back to my story.¡± Luci said. The door slid open letting in the scent of pine needles and morning dew. Two tendrils of fire fibers appeared at my back ready to turn any mob into scorched chunks. Hundreds of wrapped strands of fire fiber went in to making this skill.
New skill [Fire tendrils lv1 ¨C A combination of two skills brought to the extreme. Mag Dam 100%Int, Mag Def 100% Wis. Cost 500/min +10Int, +10Wis]
This was the second time I used this skill and the first I received the pop up. With this skill I was really becoming formidable. The tendrils were attached to my body. I was growing indentions in my back where the tendrils emerged. They reminded me of wolverine¡¯s claws. Three bears emerged from the woods. They were covered in mushrooms. I spun and flung my tendrils out. The bears charged at me like they were rabid. They didn¡¯t show fear as my tendrils made of concentrated fire cut through their bodies like butter. The fur and mushrooms caught fire and spores fired in the air. I had already gathered a lung full of air in preparation. The spores burned from my fire breath. With every breath I took in I unleashed a gout of flame. This skill had been strange at first. The more I used it, the more natural it became. I didn¡¯t even notice the mana cost anymore. It was the continuous gouts of flame that kept the spores from getting a hold on my lungs. My hood and leather armor kept most of the spores off my bare skin. What I needed was a mask to keep the spores from my bare flesh. ¡°This floor takes me back. The adventurers who came were too powerful for my first floor. So, I used my cunning. I didn¡¯t have bears back then, no I had to make due with squirrels. Imagine for a moment, a thousand of the critters covered in infectious fungus rabidly attacking anyone who entered. I killed many adventurers during those days. It was fun. They didn¡¯t breathe fire with every breath. Nor did they have as much mana as you. They were standard adventurers a black mage, a warrior, a white mage, and a rogue. They were all delicious.¡± Luci said. I pulled my wizard¡¯s robes tighter to my body. My hat and robes had become burned in places thanks to the turtle. It was luck that my tendrils could slip through an opening in the shoulders. The robes had opening in the shoulders to allow free arm rotation. As I walked through the woods I stepped on a mushroom, spores hit my face and I hiccupped fire. The spores burnt before they could turn my face into a mushroom field. After a few casts of heal my lungs were beginning to return to normal. Puking scar tissue on the other hand wasn¡¯t fun. The pink fleshy material fought to stay in my wind pipe. The entire forest was booby trapped. Every other step was a mushroom ready to shoot spores in the air.
New skill [Fire resistance lv1 ¨C Through repeated burns this skill has been learned. 1% rank I fire resistance. +0.1%Wis]
It wasn¡¯t easy, but I managed to reach the stairs to the next floor. ¡°Hey Luci, anything else you want to tell me while we are here?¡± I asked. ¡°This boss won¡¯t be like the others. You will win, or you won¡¯t. Good luck. Oh, and if you win I¡¯m going to ask you a question. So, win if you can.¡± Luci said. Three bears crawled out of the forest like before, but unlike then large mushrooms were growing from the top of their heads. Their eyes contained no pupils. Green cilia shot out from the bears and pulled them together. I hear their bones snapping as the creatures began to merge into a single life form. Bones fused, and muscles layered upon themselves. The result was a mutant bear with three massive mushrooms sticking out of its now singular skull. The three snouts had merged. The creature coughed out a stream of blood and spores. Mushrooms sprouted on the ground and sucked away all the nutrients. The ground turned brown soon after.
Gestalt Shroom Bear lv70 This bear was formed from three fully taken over bears. There is no more bear there is only the fungus. After consuming the minds of multiple species, the hive mind of the fungus gestalt has grown cunning. It will go to any lengths to spread itself.
I used mana burst to appear behind the monster and blasted it with fire balls. When a cloud of spores attempted to swallow me whole, I dashed back and unleashed fire breath repeatedly. The cloud of fungus didn¡¯t dissipate when I breathed fire the cloud gained distance. It led me to believe the monster could control it. The monster burst from the cloud and attempted to dig its 12-inch hook claws into my guts. With a twist, I spun my staff in the way of the attack. I used Fire II despite the mana drain. The flames rose around my staff and attempted to swallow the bear. The creature dove back into the spore cloud and dashed around for a better attack. I turned off the flames and watched the monster. If I let my guard down or wasted my mana, then it would kill me. Tendrils emerged from my back. Despite the intense mana drain, this was my best attack. Using two seeds appeared in either hand thanks to wood. Mold wood began to make my changes to the seeds. With an intense application of mana, the seeds were ready to rapidly grow. The bear went from striding to sprinting. It would be a blur to anyone else. I threw the seeds, they sucked in my mana rapidly. I used mana burst to appear behind the bear. I used my prepared breath to unleash an intense flamethrower. The monster fungus bear was driven back, just as the seeds rapidly grew. Spikes of wood ripped through the bear and dove back in the ground. The spores grew mushrooms on the spikes and they began to rot before my eyes. My tendrils dove forward and sliced through the bear rapidly. Once the creature and fungus were in pieces, I launched a volley of fireballs. Every attack burned the bear and spores horribly. They fought to heal. The mushrooms on the two wood spikes attempted to give their stolen mana to the main shroom, but my unending barrage of fire turned them to ash. I kept launching fireballs, until I received a pop up telling me the bear was dead. After spitting on the bear corpse, I opened the chest. The Ice beam, cure, and spore skill books were there as well as a porcelain mask and another wizard¡¯s robe. This one granted a +10Wis stat. I exchanged my singed robe for the new one and put on the mask. It felt better to have my face covered out here. With this floor clear, I made my way down the stairs. The guards would catch up to me soon, it was up to me to grow strong enough to fight them. Just before I took to the stairs, I saw a cloaked figure in robes like my own with a shroom sticking up form his head. I paid my respects to the poor dead man and launched a massive fireball his way. The man was able to form a shield to block the fireball. My arrow struck true through his left eye. I placed the bow back in my inventory and walked down the stairs. There were no markings on the wall where I was now. That was strange, there was normally a warning for the boss. I turned my back on the fungus ridden area and descended the stairs. Chapter 7 Golems The door to the 5th floor opened to me. My expectations were getting rather high after the first four floors. This place wasn¡¯t like the ones before. Instead of fungal hive minds or electric man-eating turtles this place was a prairie. ¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡± I said. My face was beginning to feel really itchy. I took the mask off and scratched my face. When something came off in my nails. I felt warts everywhere, my face had been infested by the spores. The mask was a trap! ¡°You might want to get that checked out. It looks contagious.¡± Luci said. I heard her chuckle as the communication dropped. She wasn¡¯t my ally; our conversations had made me forget that. What I did next still haunts me to this day. I took the mask and heated it with tier II fire. There was a risk that the fungi would take advantage of my regeneration. I needed far more heat. When the mask was good and hot I lowered my face to the fire pit, closed my eyes, and slammed my face into the mask. I lost two days after that. When I awoke, I was laying in a field of ash. For miles around nothing lived, there was no whistling of cicadas. The teeth of animals littered the ground. No bones besides teeth survived the heat of my flames. There were no teeth 30ft around were I woke up. My fire and pain resistance were maxed out to the third tier. My robes were in tatters. They draped off my shoulders. The mask had melted flowing down my face and chest. The remnants had hardened on the ground. Using the reflection off a scimitar, I was able to get a good look at the damage. I had cast heal over and over in my pain filled delirium. My face was made of white flesh the same color as the mask. There was no pigment to it as all. It was smooth too. I had a beard before and now that was gone. My lips were no longer their normal red. They had become as white as the rest of my face. The hair atop my head was gone, along with all my body hair. Only paper white skin remained. A pop up told me the reason.
New skill [Dragon skin lv45 ¨C The user has gained flesh akin to a dragon¡¯s due to intense pain and evolutionary triggers. Mag Def 450%Wis, Phys Def 450%Con. +45Wis, +45Con.]
I inspected my hands, mana bounced off my new scaley skin. My body had changed, like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, I emerged refreshed. Burnt bodies littered the area. As I walked through the ashen waste land, the bodies became more whole. I didn¡¯t know how long I had been out of it, at the time I didn''t want to know. I had thought it had been minutes a few hours at most. ¡°John, are you there?¡± Luci said. I ignored her and continued. After a few miles the grass land returned. This place was much larger than I thought. Not that it mattered anymore. I had been betrayed. ¡°Why do you follow the mistress? Was anything you said the truth? If not, then what else have you lied about?¡± I asked the dungeon. ¡°John, I never lied to you. From the beginning, I told you I was a dungeon. I eat adventurers like you. Its nothing personal. To me you''re just food. The politics of the surface are meaningless to me. I am on the side of whoever rules the city above. If I betrayed my neutrality, then the supply of adventurers would dry up.¡± That was right. The dungeon was in it for herself, just as I was in this for myself. Besides, my charisma was far too low to tempt a dungeon from its neutrality. ¡°What can you tell me Luci?¡± I asked. ¡°I can warn you about floors coming up. I can tell you your chances of success based on others who have challenged my floors. What I won¡¯t do it reward you more than you earned, I won¡¯t stop my mobs from killing you, and I won¡¯t warn you of traps until after the fact.¡± Luci said. I was understandably pissed. While in this dungeon, Luci was all business. The mask was a glaring example of that. There were bound to be man eater chests and other trapped pieces of armor. Could I trust anything this dungeon gave me? I took the spore skill book out of my inventory and burned it. Fire was second nature now. The clearing was a vast pile of ash and bone. The prairie would retake it over time. Before that happened, I wanted to leave my mark on this place. A seed appeared in my hand. I altered it as I began creating an all new tree. Thousands of MP went into the creation of this new plant. I tossed the seed in the ash and watched it grow rapidly. There was plenty of mana in the air to use as nourishment. The ash mixed soil was easy for the trees roots to dig through. A massive root system began to develop as the tree grew ever taller. Mana was taken from the air and the tree used it to grow ever faster. The air began to chill as the trees black leaves leeched the heat.
New skill [Wood Craft lv1 ¨C Create new and interesting hybrid plants from imagination and mana. Cost 2000/min. +5Int, 5Wis.]
Hades Umbrella lv1 This tree was created by John Union. Unlike most monsters of the wood element the Hades Umbrella has the capability to absorb heat based magics. It is a fruit bearing tree that blooms every 50lvs. It is unknown what the fruit of this tree looks like.
It looked as I envisioned, a black umbrella tree full of heat devouring leaves. The tree grew before my eyes as it absorbed more heat and mana from the atmosphere. Its roots spread deep through the ash covered ground. ¡°Congratulations John, you just created your first mob. Let¡¯s see how it deals with some of mine.¡± I heard hooves and the patter of feline feet. A monstrous pack of lions burst from the tall grass and made a beeline for the tree.
Pyro Lions lv60 They move in prides that number in the thousands. These lions are communal creatures that are ruled by a Hierarchy of alpha males. They defend their pride from invaders while the females hunt. They are also well known for their ability to use fire magic..
The lions scratched and bit at the tree. Their swipes left behind an oil that quickly caught fire. That fire was in turn consumed by the tree. Bark was torn off and the tree continued to grow. There was a flaw in my creation. It couldn¡¯t attack back. As more of the tree was damaged the leaves began to die. It was running low on heat to absorb. The tree had only reached lv20 and it was beginning to drop. More energy was used to heal it of its wounds and the growth slowed to a crawl. The leaves fell out and the fire began to spread. Winged insects began to fly out of the tree. This was an important lesson. If my creations couldn¡¯t counter their attackers, then they would inevitably die. I rubbed my chin as I thought of a counter to the lions and insects. Mana burst allowed me to out run the lions, as I thought about a counter to them.
Fire III tendrils tore the lions brave enough to attack to bloody chunks. Small fire cores appeared in my inventory after each kill. After my initial retaliation the lions backed off and I let them retreat. A swarm of insects burst from the tree and I took a deep breath. With tier 3, my fire breath could melt stone. The bugs that stole the mana from my mob burned to ash. Their loose mana filled the dungeon and the majority was absorbed by Luci, but much of it was left behind. It mixed with the grass that littered the dungeon. The thunder zebracorns, water buffalo, and hydro hippos ate the grass and took in the excess mana. That wasn¡¯t the end, that mana was refined in their bodies and by the time the pyro lions, helios hyenas, and eel crocodiles ate the animals. The mana was further refined in their bodies and the cores were eventually created. Core¡¯s were masses of highly refined mana. When consumed this foreign refined mana became xp. I had a hypothesis that the mana core could do more. The turtle in the swamp back on floor three had dropped a thunder mana core. I held it in my hand. The core was smaller than a pea. Do you want to absorb lesser thunder core? Y/N I clicked yes.
Level up John lv 90 Experience 100million/464.429million Points 589 New skill [Thunder I lv30 ¨C Unleash the power of lightning. Mag Dam 30%Int. cost 35/min. +3Int]
I had no recollection of being anywhere near 90 before. Not to mention that turtle was freaking strong. If I hadn¡¯t used those halberds to ground the lightning, I would have died.
I explored the floor. This floor was filled with rivers and grassy hills. It was a place that reminded me of the lion king. I decided to spend a few days here grinding my skills. I had 6 skill trees to obtain and hundreds of skill points to allocate.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Thus far, I had two weaknesses. I had low strength and charisma, they were my problems the easiest way to fix them was a skill tree. Since, I doubted there was a skill tree that covered both strength and charisma, I would be out two skill points. I needed a vast amount of stat points, to offset the growing difficulty of leveling. Blue mage could be exactly what I needed. That was another point lost. That left me with three skill tree points to use. There was an option, I hadn¡¯t seen before. I could exchange a skill tree point for 100 skill points. If I added another 300points to my skill trees that would make me much stronger. I didn¡¯t decide immediately. I opened my skill tree menu. You have six points to allocate Current skill trees available
Mage Archer I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around long range combat and teaches Mana Arrow, Mana Bow, and Lock on. +3Per, +1Wis Fire Elementalist I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around the mastery of the fire element and teaches Fire Aura, Fireball Cannon, and Resist Fire. +4Int Ice Elementalist I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around the Frost element and teaches Ice Aura, Frost Breath, Resist Ice. +3Wis, +1Con Thunder Elementalist I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around the lightning element and teaches Thunder spears, Resist Lightning, and Thunder Aura. +3Int, +1Agl Wood Elementalist I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around the master of the wood element and teaches Forest, Life Drain, and Wood Spears. +4Wis Druid I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around using the power of nature and teaches Animal Speech, Fauna Transformation, and Natural Communion. +4Wis Blue Mage I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around monster spells and teaches Learn. +3Int, 1Wis Red Mage I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around the technical use of magic and teaches Grimoire, Runes, and Wards. +4Int War Mage I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around magical warfare and teaches Weather, Fortify, and Rally. +4Chr. Battle Mage I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around magical martial skills and teaches Enchant, Break, and Thrust. +3Str, +1Int Sniper I 0/25 ¨C This tree revolves around using long range weapons and teachers Multi Lock, Blend, and Camouflage +4Per
Even I had to admit, there was much to choose from. Fortunately, I had a plan in motion. Before I bought anything, I converted half my skill tree points for skill points. If I looked at all the awesome skill trees for much longer, I might just buy them. As planned, I chose blue mage, war mage, and battle mage. With 889 skill points to spend I would get powerful soon. ¡°John, I know your mad at me and you have a right to be, but there is something here to kill you. It was sent by the mistress. I advise that you run to the next floor. With your current power you should be able to slay my floor boss and descend the stairs. I¡¯m currently sending my floor mods to slow him down, but I can only buy you a few seconds at the most.¡± Luci said. It was like getting dunked with cold water. I began to run towards the cave that held the boss of floor five. I pulled up my stat screen to check my current level of power.
Stats John lv90 Experience 100million/464.429million
Perks
Sniper x3 accuracy x3 senses Information Osmosis
Adept Channels x5 MP x5 Mag Dam x4 Hard Drive
Master Aura x7 MR x7 Mag Def x6 Ram
Apprentice Speed x3 Movement speed x3 Reaction Speed x2 Processor
Nove Body x2 Durability x2 HP
Novice Regen x2 Resistance x2 HR
HP 9,300/9,300
HR 35.6/min
MP 93.65k/93.65k
Mr 1,953/min
Points 889
Stats
Con 310 End 178 Str 57
Agl 421 Int 1,873 Wis 2,791
Per 362 Chr 2 Luk 17
I thought there was a reason why wood craft took so little out of me. I was always aware of my limit by the head aches that came with mana exhaustion. To find out that I have nearly a hundred thousand mana was an eye opener. Not to mention the shear amount of mana regen I possessed. There were no longer any sounds to be heard on the floor. The only sounds of note were my foot falls as I ran for the floor boss. My heart raced, as I made my way at a break neck speed. I arrived at the entrance of the cave to see someone already there. The boss monster a ferocious male lion with a mane of black flame, was dead. The figure had literally stomped a hole in its throat. Blood pooled on the ground. The figure took out a cigarette and lit up. From the brief flash of illumination his face was revealed. The figure was a man in his late twenties. Blood caked the side of his head from multiple slashed from the lion. His wounds weren¡¯t healing, and figure seemed unbothered by the wounds. Lumps of fungus grew all over the figure¡¯s body. There was no shroom growing from his head. After puffing from his cigarette a few times, the figure tapped some ash on the ground. Blood from the lion caught fire lighting up the area. My hands began to sweat and not from the heat. The figure walked forward calm and casual. ¡°So, you must be the one giving mother so much trouble. John right, well if you had died here and become a soul gem for mother, you might have been forgiven in a thousand years. After your sentence is up she smashes the gems and lets her prisoners respawn as a servant. You saw them right the butlers. Most are so happy to be free, they pledge to serve her forever. You were supposed to die John, you insulted my mother. Its only right you serve out your punishment.¡± The figure said. Was this guy serious? In two steps he was beside me. Lightning crackled around his finger tips before he blasted me. The lightning crackled against my skin, it felt like static. The guy was in front of me before my mind caught up to the situation. He delivered a punch to my stomach that lifted me in the air and sent me sailing away. My HP took a 10% hit from the blow. In the air, I summersaulted and landed on my feet. I smiled at him and immediately began to heal myself. He narrowed his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s wrong you were talking about making me serve my punishment? That lightning wasn¡¯t bad, but you hit like a bitch, you must get it from your mother.¡± Lightning appeared around his body just as I activated mana burst. A halberd appeared in my hand from my inventory. I cast area inspect several times to feel for his location. Even with mana burst and area inspect, this guy moved too fast to see with my level of perception. My mana filled the air like a spider¡¯s web. Whenever I felt a ripple, I swung my halberd. The guy was like smoke. He appeared, just after my swing and delivered a combo of blows before jumping back and moving. The fire continued to rage around us as we fought. I didn¡¯t call upon my fire or aura attacks just yet, I needed to find a way to keep up with his movements, before I resorted to expensive attacks. My area inspect skill filled out the area, the mana I used thickened more with every use. The man appeared above the cave and splayed his hands out like a conductor. His skin was peeling away, black patches of hair fell out, and he was missing an eye. That wasn¡¯t from me, that was from the fungus spreading around his body. It was unsuccessful in taking a hold. ¡°It seems to be time to change skin. Do you mind if I use yours? It looks healthy enough.¡± The figure grabbed at his face and ripped away chunks of infected flesh. When it was all gone, the man revealed his true form. He was a golem but not like those that were in the city. He was more streamline.
Royal Golem lv150 The Mistress¡¯s true guards. These golems are known for their speed, strength, and thunder magic. It is advised to never fight them below lv100. They have been known to steal the skin from bodies of the mistress¡¯s enemies
Mana Burst, Mana Charge, Mana Aura, Fire Aura, and Area Inspect were the best skills I could use in this fight. I unleashed all of them at their maximum. An aura of purple mana appeared around my body. The heat around me began to increase incrementally. It felt mildly warm to me. The golem appeared in front of me, he was carried by a single step. His hand easily slipped through my destructive aura and he slapped me across the face. It felt like being hit by a train. Yet, I held back my most dangerous attack for the end. I held up my hands and unleashed a barraged of fire balls. The golem dodged them and returned a series of lightning strikes. They didn¡¯t do any damage, but I acted like they were the most devastating of injuries. Every physical hit, I pretended it did nothing and healed my wounds as quickly as I could. Slowly, he began to stop throwing so many punches and stood back to shock me. I tanked bolt after bolt with little damage. I dropped my fire aura stopped using area inspect as often. The smug golem chuckled as it blasted me with ever more lightning. I remembered when the turtle shocked me so long ago and pretended that the lightning was destroying me. The golem walked up slowly shocking me the whole time. By this point I was shaking with excess energy. What little flesh remained of the golem¡¯s stolen face was smirking. ¡°Now be a good little human and die.¡± The golem said as it replicated a laugh. Through the lightning, I grabbed the golem¡¯s arms and my fire tendrils rammed through its body. I devoted every bit of my mana to driving through the golem¡¯s armor and skewering it. I let go of the golem¡¯s arms and launched it in the air before it could snap my neck. I ran forward and stabbed it repeatedly. Liquid metal from the golem¡¯s inner workings attempted to heal the open wounds. I continued to stab and slice with my tendrils. I ripped away the arms and legs and tossed them aside. Yet still they dissolved into liquid metal and began to creep closer to the main body. The golem laughed as I sliced off its head. Taking a deep breath, I unleashed a gout of fire on its body. That was when I had an idea. After my latest stab, I created a Hades Umbrella seed and placed it in the open cavity. The tree began to grow immediately and best of all, it kept the hole open. I held out my hands and rained fire upon the golem. The tree began to grow faster with more heat to work with. Black leaves sprouted, and roots ripped through the golem¡¯s inner workings. The tree continued to expand around the golem. I molded the tree to encase the golem in its trunk. With the fire from the battle the tree grew faster than ever. There were hardly any monsters left to fight my mob now. Excess mana was quickly absorbed by the new mob. It continued to increase in size as I watched. It began to absorb and rapidly refine the mana, even the golem within was little more than a mana battery at this point. I walked into the cave before the tree blocked the entrance entirely. Jabba the bitch wasn¡¯t going to let me relax and grind my skills away until I was ready for her it seemed. Smart, now I had a new definition of power to strive for. Then again, that golem didn¡¯t have a name. Did that mean, it was just off the assembly line? If so, how strong would the unique ones be? ¡°Wow, I didn¡¯t think you would survive that one. Good job, now you should probably get to the 10th floor by tomorrow. With one of her golems destroyed or at least trapped, the mistress will see this as a new war on patriarchy. She will rally the other cities and adventurers by the hundreds will invade my floors looking for you." I nodded and touched the side of my tree. There was something I could do, that I hadn¡¯t tried before. I took out every core I had and put them in the tree. The bark changed becoming something akin to steel. Its roots dug deeper in the dungeon and I could see cracks on the cave wall from the tree expanding. ¡°Hey Luci, be good to my tree. It¡¯s going to hold the adventurers back for me. By the way, why does the mistress hate men?¡± I said. ¡°If you make it to the tenth floor, I will tell you now go John, every second counts.¡± Luci said. I activated mana burst and ran for the stairs. More of the cave began to collapse as I moved. Meeting Team Pump and Dump As I walked out on the sandy beach of floor 6, the door behind me slammed shut. The sand crunched under my bare feet, it lodged in my toenails, and made my body feel dry. The air smelled of salt and sea life. An ocean stretched as far as the eye could see. There were no paths to take only the sea and the island. It was vastly different from the former floors. Luci was silent during my exploration of this level. I walked around the island and found a set of foot prints. The prints led to the only forested area on the island. Trees were cut down all through the forest. Make shift equipment was used to craft a multitude of rafts the remains of which littered the beach. Lemurs hopped through the trees. None were over level thirty. The lemurs led me to a group of fruit bearing trees. Bananas, pineapples, and coconut trees were plentiful. That was when a man planted the end of pistol firmly against the side of my head. I will say it now, I wasn¡¯t caught off guard. I was caught up in the majesty of the island. The smells of fresh fruit and the comfortably warm weather may have been relaxing. The next part, I wasn¡¯t ready for. The man took his pistol and bashed me with the side of it. The blow knocked my head to the side. Another man walked out of the brush bow drawn ready to pin cushion me. The third of this band put the edge of his sword to my throat, the fourth put his knife to my groin, and the fifth man was dressed in fine robes, well he threatened to drive an ice sickle through my eye. ¡°Don¡¯t move, if you know what¡¯s good for you, you will stay right where you are.¡± The man in the robes cast a series of spells. ¡°Greg, is he a human or just a pretender?¡± The man pointing the gun said. ¡°Phil, he has a lot of magic defense but from what I can tell, he¡¯s human.¡± Phil pulled his gun away and offered his hand. ¡°Sorry about that the names Phil, the mage is Greg, our rogue is Jim, Eric is our warrior, and Tomas is our magic archer. Together we are team pump and dump we are members of the Red Wyrm Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Now that we have introduced ourselves, who are you?¡± Phil was a blunt guy, I was immediately enamored by it. ¡°I¡¯m John, I guess I¡¯m a solo player, this is my first dungeon. I¡¯m a mage though, I have a few skill trees outside traditional DPS. Before you ask, I¡¯m naked because my last armor set burned off.¡± I said. ¡°Wow man you must have some op fire resistance to get out of that without dying. Fire is normally a big problem for us fleshy humans. Dwarves, Orcs, and even sun elves have natural tier 2 fire resistance. That¡¯s why I use ice instead of fire, the fire element is just too harmful to friendlies.¡± Greg said. ¡°You don¡¯t move like a mage, you must have agility in the hundreds at least. That¡¯s weird for a mage. Normally, a mage will rely on a rogue to use a paralysis skill on a mob, so the mage can unleash max dps.¡± Jim said. ¡°Jim the guy just said he was a solo. You know solos must have a wide variety of skills to survive dungeons. What guild are you in Blue phoenix, Black Leviathans, or by that skin color maybe White Hydra? Eric said. I caught Tom¡¯s eye he was studying my aura. I unleashed it and felt the sand rise at my increased mana output. He cracked a smile and began to charge up mana aura as well. ¡°Damn it Tomas, we just met the guy and your already comparing magic dicks.¡± Phil yelled. It was all in good humor. I charged my aura with fire and mana letting it turn purple. Sand billowed around me like a small hurricane. Trees too close caught fire as the others got some distance. Tomas smiled, and his aura turned a green tint as wind began to billow around him. Energy crackled in the air as our auras clashed. The clash itself served a purpose. Small tendrils of inspects slipped between us. We were like wild dogs getting to know a new member of the pack. In this case, Tomas was vetting me the outsider. We locked eyes, my blue almost purple orbs to his green. He gave a nod of respect after a time and our auras died down. I didn¡¯t know what that was until it happened. The aura a mage produced was determined by their mana output. The color was determined by experience and skills. The clash was not a battle it was an act of diplomacy. ¡°He isn¡¯t a part of any guild. John, why don¡¯t you tell your side of the story.¡± Tomas said. ¡°What story, we just met the guy?¡± Eric asked. ¡°John, did you have something to do with the commotion in the city? Twin Star went insane just after we entered. There was talk of throwing all male adventurers and tourists out until the punishment was over. Something about some spider¡¯s nest getting burned down.¡± Phil said. I nodded. The man grinned and took out a pipe. The air quickly filled with the scent of tobacco. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you want me to heal your lungs again after you smoke.¡± Greg said. Phil waved away the mage. ¡°What happened, did they throw you down here as punishment?¡± Jim said. I thought about what I could say. Luci wasn¡¯t giving me advise. Most likely, because it would look insane talking with the dungeon. I needed allies, and who better than members of a guild.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°I spawned in a spider¡¯s nest and burned it to the ground, then when the queen confronted me I burned her too; ripped off her legs; and ate them, and then I learned the inspect skill; with which I promptly inspected their god tree Venus.¡± They were blinking at me rather owlishly at this point. ¡°Ah, I see using inspect is considered rather intrusive. When used too strongly, it could be considered rape. One time couldn¡¯t have been that big of a deal to Venus. She is practically the forest.¡± Greg said. ¡°I used it 40 times in a second. Then after I obtained the wood skill from her, I ran. From there she unleashed a hoard of parasitic wasps. They took over a few forest wolves. I burned them as well. The city guard found me and acted like nothing was wrong. They claimed that I needed to be registered to the city and took me to the mistress¡¯s mansion. Once there they slapped a set of magic dampening hand cuffs on me and tossed me in the dungeon. Oh, and they said that once I die down here, my soul will be captured in a soul gem.¡± I said. ¡°Want to join the guild?¡± Eric asked. ¡°Damn it Eric we can¡¯t recruit him. He is a wanted fugitive. The man is living on barrowed time, do you want to drag us down with him?¡± Jim said. ¡°Jim, it doesn¡¯t matter. Those golems came for us and they even took Frank. That sick bastard killed him and wore Frank¡¯s skin like a new suit. From what transmissions, I can get down here the guild thinks we are dead. The golem wearing the Frank suit saw to that. They aren¡¯t going to let us out of here alive. Our only hope is to hit the 3 or 4 hundred levels and break through the city on our own.¡± Phil said. The others nodded. ¡°Yea how, the way is blocked. Every time we build a raft some sea monster destroys it. To make matters worse, every day we wait here we run the risk of the dungeon killing us in our sleep. The number of lemures keep increasing. Soon there will be enough to eat all our food. Most of the sea life is poisonous to eat, what are we going to do?¡± Jim said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to say it, but Jim has a point Phil. No offense John you seem like a nice guy, but if we can use you to buy passage out of here we will.¡± Eric said and pulled his sword. Fire light gleamed off the metal. ¡°Put the sword down Eric. Did you forget the first level? The white knights were stabbed in the back not the front. More than likely we will get the knife too. We are supposed to be dead after all. I wouldn¡¯t put it past the mistress to kill us just to save face.¡± Tomas said. ¡°Guys, I don¡¯t want to die like Frank and our new friend certainly doesn¡¯t want that. So, there is only one way to move forward.¡± Phil said. ¡°We kill them all.¡± I said. They all looked my way. ¡°Right, that¡¯s easier said than done. No one has been past the 20th level in our guild. Monsters there, number in the 380s to 500s we aren¡¯t even past the 90s yet.¡± Greg said. I nodded. That was good information to have. I had 889 points to spend it was time to become a leader and put my war mage skill tree to work. Screens appeared as I maxed war mage to the 3rd tier. 717 points remained. 2600 stat points just filled out charisma. The people around me seemed to pale as they felt the shift. Battle mage was next. 545 points remained, and my body went through a change. 1865 stat points went into strength. To be fair, I was no where near as strong as the warrior nor as charismatic as Phil seemed to be. I simply no longer had the displeasing appearance of a paper white bald naked man. I wasn¡¯t finished not by a long shot. With only 247 points remaining mana elementalist crossed the threshold to the 3rd tier. 5000 points went in both agility and wisdom. My body felt super charged. I could do anything run anywhere jump over any obstacle. The initial high was quickly over run by the rush of wisdom. Wasting energy didn¡¯t seem like such a grand play anymore. I would use my new speed but only when the time was right. Blue mage was next on the list. Once I brought the new tree to 3rd tier I felt a little different. 75 points remained. 1875Int and 725Wis increased increasing my reserves even more. I put every remaining point in my unique skill Eyes of the Sun II. What I hadn¡¯t anticipated was the vast increase in power. 3,800 stat points went in increasing perception. The world around me shifted in focus once again. ¡°Hey, are you done spending your hard-earned skill points?¡± Phil said. Phil had a knowing smile on his face. ¡°Yea, I¡¯m done what¡¯s up?¡± I said. ¡°No need to stop on my account, I know how it feels to get a sudden power up from skill points. The high from stat increases has been enough to drag low level adventurers down here.¡± I stared at the man and he stared back with a smug knowing gaze. ¡°I have a question.¡± The man raised an eyebrow but nodded. ¡°Are there people who focus on a single skill tree like let¡¯s say black mage?¡± The guy smiled. Greg walked up. ¡°Hey John, your finally awake. You were staring at the fire for a while after you allocated your skill points. That isn¡¯t a healthy habit to have. I would hate to be nosy, but you just asked about the brains.¡± I turned to the guy. What did the brains mean? ¡°Greg, I got this. The brains John, are people who focus on one skill tree and spend every point they can on them. They are almost universally called the brains. We call them brains because that¡¯s all that¡¯s left of them. Their bodies atrophy and break down around their skulls. They are no longer considered humans. I believe the guild classification for them are pseudo dungeons. Their mental powers are so great that they can forge a new body from buildings, caves, and even take over parts of existing dungeons. They are hyper intelligent and psychotic.¡± Phil said. ¡°There are others as well. Over in my tree we call them trolls. Our bodies become insanely powerful and regenerative, but our mentality suffers for it. Studies have shown that a troll¡¯s skull is so thick that it puts pressure on the brain.¡± Eric said. ¡°Well my tree also has an issue. When too many points are placed in agility and perception we become phantoms. Our physical bodies vanish and only the shadows remain.¡± Jim said. ¡°That¡¯s good to know. Guys do you want to leave the island?¡± I said. They turned to me, I had their attention. I had planned to make a boat and sail out on the water, since I saw the vast blue ocean. Meeting team pump and dump had put my building ideas on the back burner. Now that building a ship was relevant again. I might as well share my abilities with them. ¡°Do you have a plan, or do you know a way to build a better boat with our current resources?¡± Phil asked. I produced ten seeds from my mana pool. Using mana craft these seeds would grow to form a colossal ship. Wood was naturally buoyant so floating wasn¡¯t the issue. I needed to layer the wood in a way to take more damage. My intelligence determined the physical durability of the wood. The wooden spears, I made were comparable to steel. I tossed the seeds and they rapidly grew. Tens of thousands of MP went into the creation of the ship. When the ship was complete we would set sail for the next floor. 8.5 On the Dungeon Seas Roots and vines twisted as the ten seeds began to form a sea worthy craft. It was large bulky and armored with layer after layer of hardened wood armor. The wood was grown and interwoven in a way that was impossible to do with hand tools. Spikes jutted and curved around the structure. Razor like in nature they would cut at any sea life insane enough to come too close. Constrictors like leviathans and sea serpents were my main concern. The whole ship was colored bright red. It wasn¡¯t difficult to color the outside with bright leaves. It was an attempt to look poisonous. The brightly colored animals and plants in nature often didn¡¯t need to hide. I employed poisonous seedpods on spikes that covered the ship. Any creature foolish enough to attack my vessel would soon find vines growing in their wounds. A mass of black umbrella trees burst from the deck. They formed an approximation of sails. ¡°Alright let¡¯s go.¡± I yelled and leapt aboard. Tomas, Eric, and Jim hauled in bananas, and all the coconuts they could find. We caught and butchered half a dozen lemurs for our morning breakfast. Greg kept the bones, something about alchemic ingredients. That wasn¡¯t the case. I saw him preparing to make a broth from the bones. We might want a meaty taste after eating nothing but fruit for however long it will take to get to the next floor. Wood craft gained ten level from the ship alone, I spent nearly 50k mana on the vessel. This next part was Tomas¡¯s job. He held out his hands and unleashed a powerful gust. The sails filled with wind and our ship began to move. It wasn¡¯t a 100meters from the island when something large bumped again the ship. Roots erupted from the deck at my will and tied our feet down. ¡°Good job John, Greg can you sense where it will hit next.¡± I felt Greg use a series of detections spells and something disrupted his mana flow. ¡°Nine o clock Phil,¡± Greg blasted the water with an ice beam. The ray of cold froze the top of the sea just before a massive dragon faced serpent erupted from the ice. It hadn¡¯t attacked the ship unscathed. Between its scales there were cuts filled with vines. The parasitic vines were attempting to link up to cause maximum damage. Our vessel wasn¡¯t massive, but it was built to take a hit. The creature opened its mouth and Tomas began to blast it with electrified arrows. ¡°John, I want you to save your energy this time. You just built our vessel that couldn¡¯t have been cheap on your reserves. Hang back, this ship isn¡¯t busted up already, that means we must kill this guy and we are home free. The small fry, want nothing to do with this ship.¡± I held back, and cast learn repeatedly on the sea serpent. My dragon skin went up 5lvs and I gained the skill water breath, dive, swim, and water aura. The fight was going well. Every time the creature tried its water breath Tomas shot its mouth full of thunder arrows. Phil had long since shot the creature¡¯s eyes out and Greg kept the creature in place. Eric and Jim were with me preparing to attack if the monster tried to constrict the ship. There was a shift in the creature¡¯s mana and I turned to see what was happening. A blue aura appeared around the monster. ¡°Its in its death throws. John now¡¯s the time to attack. It will take a few seconds for it to finish charging.¡± I nodded and let my fire tendrils out. The wooden guard rail of my ship threatened to collapse under the force of my jump. Mana burst accelerated my speed. The creature opened its mouth massive amounts of mana pooled in earnest forming a sphere. My mana tendrils split into four. Learn stole another skill from the serpent.
New skill Mana Burn I lv1 ¨C An, attack meant to eradicate all enemies. High amounts of mana are condensed into single attack. This is a skill used by low level dragons and fiends. Cost 10,000MP/sec +1Int, +1End
The serpent¡¯s tongue shot out when my fire tendrils stabbed through its scales to get a hold. Lightning arrows pinned its tongue in place, as I climbed up the creature. Its scales were hard to pierce even for tier 3 flames. The sound of gun shots rang out and I heard Eric yell as he jumped from the deck. Two swords in hand, Eric used them to climb by stabbing them in the small creases where scales met. Ice was climbing up the monster, Greg was holding the beast in place. Jim peppered it with senbon, I could smell the acrid scent of poison from a football field away. It fought to gather all the mana from its body for a single blast. Parts of its body died, and it began to sink, as I climbed to the most opportune spot. The once vibrant blue scales of the serpent were turning black and peeling off. The creature brought every ounce of mana to its final attack. Its magic resistance was failing. Once at the top, I placed a hand on the monster¡¯s head where the brain should be. Its head moved trying to shake me. Eric stabbed it repeatedly in the mouth to make it lose focus on its attack. Thrust was an interesting skill. It directed another skill concentrated to a single point. Right now, my range was only two or three meters in front of me. That was just enough to blast a hole through the creature¡¯s skull. Brain matter pulsed just below me. This was my chance to end this. Though the creature was moderately magic resistant on the outside. Within was another story. My fire aura cranked up to max and I blasted the creature¡¯s skull with several fireballs. Flames billowed out from the destroyed eye sockets and the creature went rigid. Mana fibers were funneled into the creature. I wanted every secret it could give me. The fibers carried learn, area inspect, and inspect in equal measures. The creature was like an open book. With no mind to direct its mana and guard from my inspection, I could take it all. A skill I didn¡¯t anticipate came to me.
New Skill Sea Serpent lv1 ¨C By learning everything there is to know about the monster; sea serpent you can replicate the monster. The higher this skill¡¯s level the stronger your monsters will be initially. Cost 5000MP, 1small water stone, Sea Serpent scales. +1Int, +1 Luk
Three large water stones and 10 Sea serpent scales appeared in my inventory. My level went from 90 to 95 from the kill. Eric grabbed me by the shoulder and tossed me back to the ship. He jumped and we both landed on the deck. Tomas cast wind repeatedly to get our ship moving. ¡°Good job, not many survive my lv120 sea serpent. I didn¡¯t think you would survive at all. It¡¯s a good thing you had the help. Now sail for two days west and the next floor entrance should be there.¡± Luci said. I wanted to ask her about the monster and what she meant by, she didn¡¯t think we would survive. ¡°We did it, John I think we should celebrate our victory. Greg claims he can make some wine out of some of our rotten bananas he¡¯s at work right now. Do you happen to have any rooms that we can sleep in on this ship?¡± I nodded. When I built the ship, I had the others in mind. There were six bed rooms, two rooms for recreation, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a loot room. If we ever found anything we didn¡¯t want to horde in our inventories we could store it in there. The rooms were covered in leaves from a hade¡¯s umbrella tree that made them as flame retardant as possible. That also helped keep the rooms nice and cool for sleeping. ¡°Yea go down the stairs and take a left there are six bedrooms and at the end of the hall there¡¯s the kitchen and after that the recreation room. If you need to go to the bathroom, then take a right then another right.¡± I said. Phil nodded his thanks and waved for Greg to follow him. I walked over to the wheel and turned us west. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± Jim asked. He was manning the wheel when I turned us. ¡°We need to go west. That¡¯s where the mana gets thicker. That means that¡¯s where the next floor is.¡± I said. He took my word for it. We locked the wheel and Jim took out a set of playing cards. Eric and Thomas joined in. We put up sea serpent scales for 1s, small water stones for 5s, and large water stones for 10s. As our ship traveled it killed a lot of sea life. We collected the items automatically. Once the cards were dealt we began to bet and talk. I forked over 5 scales and the other called me. This was the practice round. ¡°So, John what are you going to do when you get out of here. There are other dungeons out there besides the half dozen here in Amazonia. Why don¡¯t you come with us to the Republic of Dominion? They don¡¯t give a damn about the fems here, heck they would welcome a solo adventurer with the wood element with open arms. Hell, I bet the elven women will be all over you. Its rare for them to get the wood element, for we humans its considered a 1 in a 100,000 opertunity. I raise you a small water stone.¡± Thomas said. I called and added another small water stone. I had a straight and so long as no one had a flush or higher this round was mine. ¡°I don¡¯t know man, the pointy eared women sound hot and all, but I do want revenge on this nation. The dead babies and children aren¡¯t ok.¡± I said. ¡°What about the cucks don¡¯t their lives matter?¡± Eric said in a chuckle. ¡°No,¡± everyone said in union. Eric raised the pot by a large water stone and Jim dropped out. I tossed in two large water stones and small. Thomas dropped out. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you got John.¡± He said and turned up his hand. I showed the straight. He showed two pairs of 8 and 10. I raised and eyebrow. ¡°I thought you were bluffing and didn¡¯t have anything. Why else would you raise at the end?¡± Eric said. ¡°Maybe because he had already gone in a few water stones.¡± Jim said. Eric smiled and shuffled the deck. Thomas cut it and we went back to it. I can¡¯t say I kept winning. At the end I was out two large water stones and up three small stones. Though, I cleaned up in the serpent scale department. While holding three scales, three small water stones, and 15k mana, I created three sea serpents. My skill went up a lv and the three serpents stared at me in wonder. I could feel them, there was a bound between me and the snakes. This was great. I had three real mobs now. That meant my plans to passive level was possible. I commanded the three serpents to remain on standby, as I began to create more of them. The room was soon filled from top to bottom with snakes. I felt a kinship with the serpents that I didn¡¯t feel with normal people. The multitude of serpents crawled across my body as I relaxed. Was this what it was to be a dungeon? Did Luci enjoy surrounding herself with legions of her monsters, did it make her feel safe? ¡°It isn¡¯t a matter of safety John. It¡¯s a matter of utility. My mobs are my digestive system. I use them to consume a multitude of adventurers.¡± They gathered around me and hissed at the dungeon¡¯s presence. They have only been alive for a short time and already they knew, I created them, and the dungeon was an outside force. From here I would like to say, it isn¡¯t my fault that monsters ravage our universe. I am just another in a long line of mob ranchers. It isn¡¯t my fault that raising and sending out millions of mobs is the best way to level up. All the serpents were white with scales the same color as my skin. They starred at me with eyes like my own. This was a difference between Luci and myself. My mobs inherited shards of my power. This strengthened their connection to me. By the time I filled a room, my mobs were born at lv25. Some inherited mana fibers, others carried duel elements. They all carried the water elements sea serpents are known for, but they inherited from me wood, fire, thunder, and ice. Jim opened the door to my room. An avalanche of sea serpents knocked him down, as they caught the strong scent of the ocean. They followed their instincts. Jim got up no worse for wear and turned in time to see the sea of white snakes slither up the stairs. ¡°Soups on,¡± Jim mumbled and turned around. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Eric said, he just walked out of the bathroom. ¡°It looks like John learned how to make mobs and decided to practice in his room. Its fortunate that the only area where mob creation is unregulated is in a dungeon.¡± I shrugged my shoulders and sent extra mana to my serpents when they ran out. Over half had died, by getting dashed against the ship. The latter half was busy fighting for a place in the ocean. I could feel Luci¡¯s mana shift as she gave orders to her mobs. My serpents wouldn¡¯t have an easy time fighting for survival. Through area inspect they have begun rapid leveling and were scouting out a fort within the coral reefs below us. I didn¡¯t give them orders, but I did cast Rally upon them to boost their moral and buff their stats. My war magic had to be useful somewhere. After we ate supper, I checked in on the serpents. They had dropped again in numbers. Now, only the strongest and most intelligent of them survived. They used wood to create shelters within the coral. There were a multitude of fish that lived around the coral, it wasn¡¯t difficult for them to hunt with hit and run tactics. Two weeks later we were still heading west. Every now and then we found an island and scavenged what food we could. Did Luci see time differently than us. Every morning Thomas unleashed heavy winds upon the sails and we set off at a fast pace. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Everyday when we weren¡¯t fighting mobs we trained our skills. Fire and wood were getting ever closer to tier 5, water reached tier 3, and ice was getting closer to tier 2. Each day I unleashed as many sea serpents as I could in one go. The monsters we fought were growing stronger. More and more mana filled this floor each day. We were getting closer to lv100. ¡°Hey Thomas, do you know how to combine thrust with arrows?¡± I said. It was early in the morning the day15 sailing. The banana wine was taking a while to bubble. It was fortunate that Greg had a wine making set and granulated sugar. Eric was in his room. I assured him that he could work a forge in his room and the ship wouldn¡¯t be damaged. I used mold wood to install a vent for ventilating smoke and the guy has been beating a few broken swords together since last night. ¡°Yea, why do you want to know. Isn¡¯t it better to focus on a few skills and increase their tier. I mean a jack of all trades is always weaker than a master of a single art.¡± Thomas said. Phil turned and waved at us. He was cleaning his guns on the deck. ¡°I disagree. In a dungeon having as many tools as possible is the difference between life and death. My sea serpents will net me a massive amount of xp, when they are finally able to kill the mobs in here. My wood skill allowed me to craft this ship. I wouldn¡¯t put it past the next floor to be a desert, so my water skill will come in handy keeping us alive.¡± I said. Thomas held out his hands in protest. ¡°I get the message John. God, you can bitch when you don¡¯t get your way. What your missing is the enchant skill red mages often acquire when they take the tree. Now you can either take up red mage when you hit 100 or you can go about it the hard way.¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Just shoot arrows and try to add the skills to them until you get it right. It should work the same way with melee weapons too. I¡¯m sure Eric has some old swords that he wouldn¡¯t mind letting you practice with before he breaks them down.¡± I nodded and left him to whatever he was doing. I followed his eyes to see a Siren. My head turn to the side. ¡°Is that a,¡± Thomas covered my mouth with his hand. ¡°You will not cock block me. I¡¯m lv 98 and she is lv70. My perception makes me immune to her voice. Just let me appreciate it.¡± Thomas said. I stared into Thomas¡¯s crazy eyes. Then back at the Siren. She had long flowing feathery hair and long angel like wings. There was a devious smile on her face when she met my eyes. She had no idea who she was messing with. I put a hand on Thomas¡¯s shoulder and gave him a winning smile. He shrunk back a bit when I straightened up. ¡°Tom my friend. Why are you starring from afar? She is just right there. We could grab her and bring her aboard. Your right we have more than enough perception to make her voice a moot point. Why don¡¯t we bring her aboard? The bed rooms are sound proof. She doesn¡¯t deserve to live on that rock out in the middle of god knows where. Why don¡¯t we bring her aboard?¡± My charisma was working. The stat didn¡¯t just smooth out my features and strengthen my chin. It made my words more alluring like the siren¡¯s. I could slip an idea to others and it would be followed more easily. Not to mention it looked like Thomas needed his dick moisturized. Who better than the water fowl out there to do it?¡± My eyes turned to the Siren. I listened to the music and acted like it was pulling me from the ship. Phil jumped up and tried to keep me from going overboard before, I winked at him, and then leapt over the deck. Mold water, water walk, and water jet were added to my repertoire the instant I saw the army of mermaids and mermen. They wasted no time in blasting jets of water at me must to my annoyance. To think, I would acquire resist water of all things. I turned my hands behind me and used water jet. My aura ignited and boiled the water around me as I passed by the sea folk. When I reached the massive island the siren sang from, I saw just how rocky and treacherous it was. There were stone spikes jutting out that could easily skewer our ship. I pointed my hands down and let the water jets blast me to the surface. The water continued to bubble around me. Mana fibers flew from my hands and sticky fibers attached to the shear cliff. I used them as a sling shot. I extended them and retracted rapidly launching myself in the air. Like a nightmare I appeared before the siren. She opened her mouth and unleashed a sonic attack. My sensitive ear drums burst. The sound was so powerful it damaged the rock face. Luckily the sound stopped when my hand wrapped around her throat. Other sirens emerged from the nearby cave mouth, so I tapped the back of this one¡¯s head to knock her out. I took a step and left a foot impression in the rock. They weren¡¯t ready for me to appear between them. There were seven of them and I onely needed five more. I punched the one closest to me as hard as I could. Their bones were fragile like a bird¡¯s, so my fist exploded out the back of the siren. I lifted the new corpse over head and tossed it over the cliff for the mermaids to eat. The dungeon was so distracted by the infestation of my sea serpents, it didn¡¯t bother to gather the loose mana. ¡°Wait,¡± one of the siren¡¯s whispered. I stopped my assault momentarily. ¡°You adventurers come to our home and the great mother tells us to sing and kill as many of your kind as possible. Most avoid us whenever possible and none have attacked with such fury before. Why do you attack us when our songs can¡¯t mislead your crew to come this way?¡± Why indeed. I came because it was easy. My body had become a machine built to rip, tear, and burn. I was the ghost in that machine and my instincts to me to destroy. But that wasn¡¯t why I was here right now. ¡°My men and I are stressed and closing in on insanity. We do nothing but train, eat, and grind our skills. You, sirens are beautiful, you have the potential to relieve our stress filled lives.¡± I said. It was true. Thomas was set to crack. He was going to do it by siren, he could have just as easily turned on us. The one who spoke had a head of red feathers like a cardinal. She had breasts and a mostly human anatomy. They were designed to lure men to their deaths boobs had to be in the package somewhere. Unlike humans they had a layer of small feathers that covered their bodies. They had nipples, so they did produce milk, but as I used skills like learn and inspect, I made a shocking discovery. They have a cloaca. Enhance voice, sonic voice, and charming voice skills were added to my skill list. The next day was filled with the sirens singing. Our perception was far too high to be affected by their hypnosis, but they did have nice voices. Thomas¡¯s siren was named something in a series of highly musical notes. I called her Lea and left it at that. The red bird who did the initial negotiation I called her Sasha. It wasn¡¯t her name but as it turned out sirens lived very boring lives killing random sailors wasn¡¯t as entertaining the 100,000th time as it was the 1st. Their kind lived mainly on a diet of shellfish and whatever they could find in the sea. Male sirens were a rarity the dungeon didn¡¯t want the siren population to grow too large. ¡°So, John, what is their official title so we¡¯re clear. I¡¯m the team leader of Pump and Dump. I must fill out the report and it¡¯s normally seen as unorthodox, to bring a dungeon born mob out of a dungeon. Monster tamers aside, sorry ladies but I need to fill this out for when we return.¡± Phil said. ¡°We are your concubines. You did invade our territory, kill one of my sisters, tied us in your magic ropes, tossed us aboard your ship, and divided us by your respective ranks. If that isn¡¯t a raiding party dividing spoils of war, I don¡¯t know what is.¡± Sasha said with a smirk. I smacked her feathery behind for the insolence. She smirked at me so, I gave her another. They were only love taps, I was careful to show I merely displeased not murderous. Eric made a coughing sound. ¡°What their designations to the guild are doesn¡¯t matter now, how are we going to feed seven new mouths.¡± I tossed a few fruit bearing tree seeds and they grew rapidly into fully grown trees. I was good enough to max out the genes that made the apples large. The leaves were black like a hades umbrella tree. This tree would gather mana and heat and create apples from it. The apples themselves gave a good bit of xp with every bite. Four more days passed. The sirens began to integrate into our group. They handled a few choirs such as picking the fruit and we liked a clean ship. It seemed that they were happy for a life change. Cloacas weren¡¯t so bad after all, so long as they were washed ahead of time. A massive island the mana around it was the thickest I have ever felt. Something was here, the floor boss most likely. ¡°John, be careful. At your current level, I don¡¯t know if you can fight my boss. With the others backing you, your chances are 51%. Be careful John and congratulations on the sirens. I decided to let you keep them.¡± We stepped out of the boat and left the sirens behind. Sasha looked worried her red feathers were puffed up. The island was much colder than the rest of the floor. We walked until we reached an arena. We spread out. Eric and I in the front Jim directly behind us and the ranged fighters at our backs. We were spread out, so explosions couldn¡¯t kill us on one go. In the center of the arena we saw the boss monster. It was a small blue dragon. It had flippers instead of claws and wings that looked more at home in the water than the skies. As with all monsters we encountered, I cast learn and inspect. They bounced off it like water off a duck¡¯s back. Its magic resistance was on whole other level than mine.
Name: Trident Water Drake lv150 ¨C This monster is a direct result of an increased food supply. The sea serpents that normally failed to evolve at lv100 form lack of food now have enough food to become drakes the lowest form of true dragons. This water drake has eaten thousands of white sea serpents and gained true dragonhood because of it. It has magic resistance beyond normal sea serpents. Don¡¯t let its small size fool you it is more than capable of slaying adventurers twice its level.
¡°It seems we get to kill this small diminutive drake and by technicality call ourselves dragon slayers. Great we will all go down in the record book as the greatest puny drake slayers that ever lived. Now let¡¯s go and bully this infant and move on.¡± I said. The death of thousands of my sea serpents may have pissed me off. ¡°John, that lizard is the size of a van. Nothing magical I¡¯m using works on it. That cuts out most of our ranged damage. I doubt anything tier 3 will do more that sing it.¡± Phil said. I unleashed my aura and a mass of purple energy surrounded me. The air heated up massively the dragon looked at me in challenge. An azure aura blasted from the beast, frost covered the ground and blasted across the arena. I had to withdraw my aura to my bare skin or else risk getting frozen solid. Slowly, I fought the overbearing drake¡¯s aura. My mana reserves were monstrous, I just had to use more. I unsheathed my fire tendrils and began to raise them to the fourth tier. Mana burst, and mana charge raised my strength and speed to higher levels. Greg had covered the others in a light shield to protect from the aura. None of my sensory skills could penetrate the monster¡¯s aura. So, I dove into the azure storm blind. Claws colder than ice scraped across my back, ice crawled up my spine despite my aura. Resist ice appeared as a pop up and I turned it down. I took a deep breath and unleashed a torrent of flames. Hundreds of thousands of mana fibers spread from my body in all directions. I placed them like spider¡¯s web. The drake didn¡¯t care it charged form the front its jaws agape ready to tear out my throat. That was when I realized, I was faster. I ducked under the initial bite and three fire balls appeared over my palm. I powered them with thrust launching them like bullets. The balls of fire smashed into the arena and exploded in a release of hot and cold air violently meeting. Bits of concrete flew about. The dragon had long since escaped the explosion and was coming from behind for another swipe. Since it couldn¡¯t end it quickly the dragon was going for a war of attrition. It had correctly unleashed its aura to obscure vision. The aura would interfere with my wood skills, so I couldn¡¯t use them. That left fire, ice, and thunder. I leapt up in the air to dodge another swipe and brought my tendrils down, I scraped a wing and the dragon shrieked. It rolled out of the way, before I could hit it three more times and pin it. I used the stab of my tendrils to push me up and away as the drake lunged for my throat in retaliation. When its teeth missed my neck, it twisted and struck me in the ribs with its tail. I rolled and got to my feet, before it could capitalize on its advantage. My mana fibers were spreading nicely, I could track its movements. I tried something new when the mana fibers reached the end of the arena, I had them rise just outside the dragon¡¯s aura. The fight continued as a game of cat and mouse. The dragon was fast and resourceful. Even when I landed a fireball it shrugged it off. With its aura so thick my fire was greatly weakened. The strike at its wing from earlier had already healed. I heard the jaws of the dragon snap closed just behind my ear, as I dodged another pass. I was beaten up and covered in claw marks that were slow to heal. There was frost bite in places. That necrotic flesh would have to be cut out before my wounds would heal. The dragon knew it was winning this battle. It hissed and snapped acting wounded trying to lead me around, only to turn and score another mark across my back or a nip to my thigh. The mana fibers above had linked together. More fibers were linking the sides together. I began to unleash Fire Burn through the mana fibers. The Fire Burn carrying mana fibers lit up even through the dragon¡¯s aura. A large barrier curtesy of Greg covered the burning cage of mana fibers. All the heat they produced was concentrated by the barrier. My aura slowly began to expand. The necrotic flesh that covered my body burnt away. The dragon¡¯s aura was shrinking, it couldn¡¯t battle the extreme heat produced by Fire burn concentrated against it. ¡°You must be wondering how we arrived here.¡± I said as the dragon began to exhaust itself to fight back the rising heat. The dragon made a run for it toward the fence. It flung itself against the Mana Fibers only to be knocked back by the released energy from Fire Burn. ¡°I will admit you were hard to work around. That defense of yours is no joke. Your bite is deadly, and your aura would freeze a normal adventurer cold. You are an anti-mage and anti adventurer weapon. You correctly identified me as the main threat and attacked me as such. From the beginning you tried to kill me by aiming for the throat. If I wasn¡¯t faster, you may have killed us.¡± The dragon struggled back to its feet. It went for the same spot. I had long since repaired the breach. Another explosion knocked the dragon back. My dragon skin had long since healed. The heat from my own flame felt rather comfortable to me. I walked behind the dragon and grabbed two of the three horns upon its head. It snapped and struggled as I placed my knees in its foreleg joints. The dragon jerked its head and tried to ramp up its aura. With this much heat contained in one spot my aura was dominant. ¡°The real reason this fight lasted as long as it did, was because I like to acquire every skill I possibly can. Combining weather and aura ingenious you managed to gain the upper hand. If you had used a breath attack maybe you would have beaten me.¡± The dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a gout of ice beam. It fizzled out in the extreme heat. I opened my mouth, and bit into the dragon¡¯s neck. The neck had softer scales normally protected by the dragon¡¯s own maw and fangs. For a normal human such an act would have been ludicrous. My body had been altered by my stats and skills. I barely resembled the human I was. My teeth had become like razors the teeth were serrated and very sharp. I lost them and regrew them every day. My teeth slid into the dragon¡¯s neck and I tasted the coldest of blood. Something went through me an old emotion one of conquest and power. The fire grew ever hotter but the blood I drank was cool and refreshing. I gained the skills cold aura, dragon skin evolved to tier 2, ice dragon skin, and Ice storm. My level went up to 112.
New Unique Skill Tyrant Dragon¡¯s Fire ¨C This skill is given to those with tier 4 fire skills, has a dragon skill, and reached lv100. X2xp from fire kills and X3 when the bodies are burned to ash. All flames carry a black and crimson color scheme. Fire damage +1% +10Int 1/50
A few drake scales and bones filled my inventory as the dungeon absorbed the drakes body. A treasure chest appeared, and the rest of my group walked up. ¡°Dude, you¡¯re naked again.¡± I turned to Jim. I gave a nod then fell on my back and took a breather. The 7th floor The unique skill exploded through my body and various connections to my mobs. Dark flames covered my body, I could feel a hunger from them. That hunger was a part of me now. The white sea serpents on this floor and the hades umbrella on the 5th floor worked as an overflow for my new power. Several sea serpents burned to death as my mobs adapted to my mana. Their mana flowed to the rest strengthening them. 1/5th of my sea serpents survived. None of them were below level 80 now. ¡°John are you alright?¡± Eric yelled. I looked up to see the tank of team pump and dump. He stood a mighty figure. His steel mail gleamed in the artificial light produced by the dungeon. His blond hair fell out of his helmet wet with sweat. The others looked no better. Fighting in this place was rough. Living on a ship for nearly 3 weeks was rough on everyone. Phil walked over in a coat filled with holes and opened the chest. The chest opened, armor, weapons, silver coins, and skill books appeared in my inventory. I could only guess that the others received the same treatment. ¡°My god this is a powerful dungeon.¡± Jim said. I looked over and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Most dungeons spit their treasure out or let adventurers pick among the loot. This dungeon can directly give us what we earned. Only high-level dungeons can do that. I just thought it was worthy of comment.¡± Jim said.
Sea Serpent Helm ¨C A helmet crafted from steel and sea serpent scales. Phys Def 1000. +5000HP, +25% water aura requirement lv90. Sea Serpent Chest Plate ¨C A chest plate crafted from steel and sea serpent scales. Phys Def +1,500 +7,500HP, +50% Water Aura, requirement lv90 Sea Serpent Gauntlets ¨C A set of gauntlets crafted from steel and sea serpent scales. Phys Def +500, +5000HP, +25% Water Aura, requirement lv90 Sea Serpent Slacks ¨C A set of Slacks crafted from steel mesh and sea serpent scales. Phys Def +1,500, +5000HP, +50% Water Aura, requirement lv90 Sea Serpent Boots ¨C A set of Boots Crafted from steel and sea serpent scales. Phys Def +500, +5000HP, +25% Water Aura, requirement lv90
I equipped the armor and felt the increase in defense. ¡°My god you look like a merman.¡± Sasha said. I looked over at the siren. She whistled a tune when my staring made her feel awkward. The armor covered everything except my elbows and neck. The slacks went midway and had some handy suspenders. If I was below my current level the armor would have felt too heavy and the scales would scrape against my skin. I pulled a robe from my inventory, I crafted it from hades umbrella leaves. The leaves and vines wrapped snuggly around my neck and waste. As I finished decking myself out in armor the others put on their new armor. Eric had a heavier version of my armor.
Two handed Axe of Despair ¨C This weapon is made of sea serpent scales and steel infused with water and dark mana stones. +1000-1,250Phys damage, Inflicts Soaked debuff, Requirement lv100
Phil equipped a shot gun that sparked randomly. We were more powerful than ever and ready for the next floor. I walked up to our ship. The vessel had carried us through the sea and slew a large amount of our enemies. It deserved to become a mob. I pulled a small mana stone and decided to conduct and experiment. Using my massive supply of mana, I began to funnel my mana in the stone. The stone promptly exploded in my hand. I heard Greg chuckle behind me. ¡°Yea, most mages make that mistake. To inject pure mana into something you need to use a pure mana skill. That is impossible to free cast. Your mana isn¡¯t pure, it has a vast quantity of different elements fused with it. That is why you look the way you do. Your mana influences your body.¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you guys look altered?¡± I asked. Phil laughed. ¡°Sorry, we would but we consume mana stones that counter the mana we use. Your too far gone for that.¡± I shrugged. I liked the way I turned out. I took out another stone from my inventory and placed it in the boat. My mold wood skill pulled the stone to the center. Mana naturally accumulated by our experiences in the boat slowly began to infuse the stone. The stone didn¡¯t crack like when I infused my mana. That was probably for the best. The sirens followed behind Eric and I the others stood behind the sirens. If something was strong enough to kill Eric and I then none of the others would survive anyway. We stepped out on the floor. Tomb stones lined a single massive hill. There was nothing else around for miles. A large moon shined pale light on the graveyard. The air whistled stealing away at our heat and leaving behind a sense of unease. ¡°Luci what is this floor?¡± I whispered too low for even adventurer ears to hear. ¡°Oh, John this is one of my favorites. This is the floor of fallen adventures. Any who failed to pass the floors behind you I can spawn here. I have it set to seven matches of seven. So, you and your party will have to fight 42 adventurers. Have fun, I will kick back and eat my imaginary popcorn. Oh, can¡¯t you hear the imaginary crunch.¡± As she spoke I did hear the crunch of popcorn and I could smell butter. I found the scent flowing from black roses that littered the area.
Black Rose lv80 They feed on unsuspecting adventurers infesting them with pollen. This causes adventurers to hallucinate while the pollen germinates. The adventurer will journey from rose to rose collecting pollen, before they explode releasing a concoction to pollenate all the black roses in an area.
Curious to see what would happen to me, I lowered myself and took a good whiff of the rose. The rose promptly sprayed me with yellow pollen.
New skill Resist Hallucinogen lv20 ¨C This skill allows the user to resist the effects of hallucinogens. +20% resistance. +0.1End.
The wood mana in my body absorbed the pollen. I could recreate the black roses now. Wood aura appeared around my body and the flowers grew larger around me. They seemed to dance at my presence. ¡°John stop playing with the flowers and come on we have to climb the hill to get to the next floor.¡± Jim yelled. The rogue was waiting for me. ¡°Hey, you should probably tell the others not to smell the flower. The spit acid.¡± Jim nodded and ran over to the group. As we approached the hill our first opponents emerged from their graves. They wore rotten and rusty gear. Some were mages, rogues, and warriors. ¡°I got this, guys.¡± I said. The rogues nocked bows ready to fire and the mages began to bring up their staves to cast spells. The warriors buffed themselves and began to charge. I held my battle axe of despair in one hand despite the two-handed warning. In my off hand I let six small fire balls form and rotate around my palm. I could force mana into them and launch a fully powered fireball without the normal start up time. Before I reached the tanks, I fired off three of my fireballs catching the enemy mages off guard. Black flames exploded behind the tanks, causing one to stumble and his shield dropped out of optimal position. I activated mana burst and charge, my axe moved with more speed and power than the first tank could react to. My axe lodged in his throat. I let go of the axe it was stuck between the first tank¡¯s helm and breastplate. My staff appeared in my hand from the inventory. An arrow struck me in the shoulder, I moved my staff and caught the fireballs before they could fall. Two more arrows lodged in my breastplate. The armor held as I turned my attention to the other tank. He had his hammer back seconds away from smashing my head in. Mana burst brought me inside his swing I placed my staff at his chin and detonated a fireball. An explosion lit my vision and black and crimson. Half of my armor¡¯s durability took a hit. The arrows were on fire from the heat. My staff glowed with lines of blue and black mana veins. One of the mages got back up, just as multiple arrows lodged in my leg. I managed to catch myself with my staff. I took a mighty breath and felt for the skill sonic voice, I gained from the sirens. I mixed it with hades umbrella seeds, fire burn, and thunder II thrust. I felt the sides of my mouth split as I used a combination of several skills. My lungs burned as more mana went into the spells. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The mage cast a barrage of ice shards. They lodged into my chest and one penetrated my thigh. I opened my mouth and a beam of black energy fired out. This energy was raw. As I focused on multiple skills they seemed to meld together into an amalgamation of destructive mana.
New Signature skill Usurper¡¯s Breath lv1 ¨C A skill created by John Union. This skill is an amalgamation of what skills you¡¯ve learned in the form of a breath attack. This skill can only level by self-discovery. Cost 50k/sec Mag Dam 100%Int + 100%Wis +10Int, +10Wis
My face was never the same. Not only that, but my helmet was destroyed by the force of my attack. The graves and parts of the ground shattered. Runes glowed, some were glowing white. The two mage zombies and the rogues were ash. I felt my level increase to 120. A part of my face split permanently. It was my mouth it opened all the way to my jaw line now. My chin grew a bit and my head sported tiny pinpricks that were more than likely horns. ¡°My god John, did you just vaporize them?¡± Jim said. I pulled the arrow from my shoulder and cast heal on it. Greg did me a solid and took the arrows out of my leg as I worked on my chest. The ground burst and more adventurers appeared. They looked to be of all walks of life. Some wore armor that must have been expensive at one time. Others were in rags with little more than a staff to their name. Phil stepped forward. ¡°I got this one. You boys just relax.¡± Phil said. He tipped his hat and dashed forward in a blur. My wounds healed quickly. They only brought me down to half health. Phil made quick work of them. His guns were the ideal weapon against zombies. Every bullet fired faster than the zombies could react. The mana enhanced rounds tore through the armor of the zombies dropping them instantly. He fired his shot gun into the tanks shields shattering them. We climbed higher up the hill slaying the adventurers that failed to reach this floor. Then we reached the top of the hill. Tom slew the last group with a barrage of lightning arrows. He really was the best against multiple enemies. At last we were at the top. A single figure stepped in front of the door. The figure was covered in chains and had a scythe in hand. The chains jingled as the figure dropped the cloak¡¯s hood. It revealed a man with a smile on his face. He twirled his scythe like a toy. The blade scraped against the concrete of the hill top and made sparks. ¡°You can call me Davis the reaper. I am the final boss for the 7th floor.¡± A black aura surrounded him and shrunk to a thin layer. His every step turned the surface of rock he stepped upon to sand.
Davis Reaper lv100 This being is a high undead. As a reaper he holds the power over entropy. His aura ages everything around him to dust. Though this skill is normal for reapers it is in no way to be underestimated. This skill can slay enemies hundreds of levels higher than the reaper. Beware his scythe it will deal damage that will not heal.
A smile lit up my face. This would be a challenging fight. I copied the style of my foe. My aura exploded as a black and red sheen before tightly surrounding me. It felt different holding my power so close. I felt faster stronger. My muscles expanded without using mana charge. It was a revelation. ¡°I developed this skill while fighting adventurers like you. I started out as a common undead, I died on the first floor. Now look at me. This dungeon has allowed me to surpass my limits and become somebody. Why don¡¯t you let me kill you, so you can become one with the dungeon?¡± Davis said. ¡°How about no.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, come on guy, I saw how much you love to fight. You can join me on this hill. We can go to the brothel on the 40th floor together and buy a few succubi for the night. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve earned quite a few silver, getting it up here. Come on man be a pal.¡± Davis said. ¡°Man, I will make it there on my own. Let¡¯s fight already.¡± I said. ¡°Alright, the dungeon has me ask a question of those who make it here. Answering it determines if you can go up or you fight me. The Sirens don¡¯t count so don¡¯t worry. Now, the question is what are you after from the dungeon?¡± Davis said. ¡°Alright you guy in the cowboy hat.¡± Davis said. ¡°I want the power to provide for my family and keep my team safe.¡± Phil said without missing a beat. Davis nodded and pointed to the stairs. Phil yanked his siren along and they began to make their way up. ¡°You the one with the bow.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. I had entered the dungeon, because I was forced in. That didn¡¯t seem like a good answer to me. So, why am I here fighting hard and training every day? ¡°I¡¯m here to get stronger and return to my mother¡¯s house in Amazonia without shame.¡± Tomas said. Davis nodded and let him through. ¡°Rogue one go.¡± Davis said. The entropy was working on the stone more sand was collecting. I kept thinking but all I could feel was anger. It bubbled up and I held it in. My anger was attached to the flames and thunder the flowed through my body. That was why fire was so easy for me. My rage fueled it. This was a great breakthrough, I concluded but not the answer. So, why did I continue instead of just raising my sneak skill, leaving the dungeon, and city. There was always the United Dominion. ¡°I want to prove myself to the guild, that I was worth taking in. I was a homeless man living out of my car before this. I gambled my life away and this new world is my chance to be better.¡± Jim said. I didn¡¯t know that about him. No, I never paid him that much attention. When I saw him on the next floor, I would make things right. ¡°Your story brings a tear to this undead¡¯s eye, you may go forward and prove your worth. Wizard your next.¡± Davis said. Greg stepped forward. I still had no idea what to say. I worked at a gas station for most of my life. I paid my rent and stayed a cut above homelessness. I never lived up to my potential. That wasn¡¯t it though. I wanted more, my potential was exponentially more than in the old world. ¡°My story is simple, I joined the guild make use of my chemistry and cooking skills. I¡¯m here to make sure these knuckle heads don¡¯t die because they eat something poisonous or run out of food. I guess, I¡¯m dedicated to helping my guild that¡¯s why I entered the dungeon.¡± Greg said. ¡°An admirable reason you may go. Muscle head your turn.¡± The reaper said. ¡°I¡¯m here because humanity needs adventurers, so I enlisted. We entered this dungeon because it¡¯s supposed to swallow adventurers and shit out dungeon conquerors. I like defending my fellow man from monsters, I want to do my part.¡± Eric said. ¡°You may go soldier, don¡¯t get killed up there though I wouldn¡¯t mind the company.¡± Davis said. I stepped forward. ¡°Sasha step back,¡± I said. Davis brandished his scythe. ¡°Oh, can you not think of anything.¡± Davis said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m here to live up to my ever growing potential. Humanity hasn¡¯t regained space travel in thousands of years. We humans continuously drop on worlds like these ruled by fools. Since I arrived here all I¡¯ve seen is the worship of idols and golems working tirelessly for a lazy society. A fat slob runs this city and sacrifices sentients to a tree they call a god. I¡¯m here to gain the tools to crush the surface and place every human under my banner.¡± I said. The reaper frowned. ¡°So, you¡¯re just a greedy bastard that wants power to gain power because you don¡¯t like how the establishments above run things. Its guys like you, I love taking down a peg.¡± Davis said. ¡°Go get pegged by the succubi. Now, are we going to fight or are we going to talk all day.¡± I took the light element and began slowly adding it to my aura. Davis took his scythe and cast a spell. ¡°Black rain,¡± entropy mana began to rain down. The rain slipped through my aura and landed on my scales. The rain increased to a heavy down pour. ¡°Ha, take that, misogynistic bastard.¡± I heard his voice through the black rain. My body felt as if eons were passing. I was aware of every second. My mouth opened, it took hundreds of thousands of years. My mind fought against the eons passing. Time that I experienced expanded and stretched. My mouth opened wide. Mana that traveled all too slow began to flow into my lungs. There was only one thought that passed through my mind as my mana collected. I wasn¡¯t wrong. My mind cycled back, and I witnessed my past I walked through it experiencing everything on repeat. The history I witnessed, reinforced my goal. Humanity would only prosper under my careful rule. Statues would be erected of the great philosophers and scientists of old. Under my rule humanity would remember the past and move forward. The rain ended, and my mana collected in my maw and I exhaled. Davis managed to dodge out of the way. As my control over mana returned, I fired two more shots at the reaper. My MP was cut down to half. Three more shots and that was it. The reaper appeared behind me in a cloud of darkness and slashed my back three times. My spine was ripped apart each time only to heal back. Every time the nerves reattached pain shot through my body like a white-hot distraction. ¡°Why won¡¯t you die?¡± Davis said in a chuckle. I started laughing with him. My voice was infused with multiple skills. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Davis said. ¡°I¡¯ve been fighting you like a I would when I first spawned on this world. I¡¯ve grown too strong, I felt that using under handed tactics were no longer necessary. Because of that you were able to damage me.¡± My tendrils drew rings of light in the air. The rings were closed light fibers. My tendrils stretched out and the rings slid down stacking on each other. ¡°What tactics do you have that could possibly kill me. I¡¯m death, entropy made physical. The only way to pass me is to successfully answer my question.¡± No, he is a dark type. The rings clenched around my fire tendrils coating them in light mana. ¡°Let¡¯s try this again. Entropy rain.¡± Davis said. He cast a globe of darkness in the air and darkness began to rain down. The light from my rings protected me from the rain. ¡°It¡¯s as I thought. Your entropy rain is just an illusion. It forces the mind to believe time is passing faster than it is. Its both a visual medium and a status effect. All the same it is still a dark type skill. With enough light your skill is negated.¡± I threw a few lightballs that expanded lighting the area. Davis¡¯s status changed.
Davis the common undead lv100 A simple adventurer who died early in the dungeon. He has one unique skill illusions. A dark type skill that can alter perceived reality. Beware his skill is at a level that can fool the enemy into experiencing thousands of years in a second
. I dashed forward and drove one of my light fire tendrils through his chest. His undead face turned into a mask of pain, as the light burned him from the inside out. ¡°Wait, let me tell you why I entered the dungeon. If I tell you maybe.¡± I sliced him into bits and blasted the remains with a fireball. ¡°Nothing you say matters at this point, you''re dead and nothing more than a dungeon boss. Good bye David, Daniel, Danny, or whatever your name is.¡± I left the chest and went on to the 8th floor. Stats From Skills So Far
Stats From Skills
Str 300 Con 2,871 End 480
Int4.410m Wis 70.05k Agl 353.5
Per2.118m Luk 60 Chr 27
Mana skills
Meditation II lv20 Mana fibers VI lv20 Inspect IV lv50
Area Inspect III lv40 Mana Aura IV lv50 Mana Tendrils II lv25
Mana Burst III lv20 Mana Charge III lv10 Mana Burn I lv50
Deca Fire Skills
Deca Fire I lv15 Deca Fire Fibers I lv5 Deca Fireball I lv5
Deca Fire Tendrils I lv1
Movement Skills
Sneak II lv20 Running II lv1 Swim I lv10
Dive I lv15
Defese skills
Resist Poison III lv5 Barrier I lv5 Dragon skin III lv10
Resist Hallucinogen I lv20 Resist Pain III lv30
Thunder skills
Thunder III lv20 Thunder Thrust I lv 20 Thrust I lv50
Wood skills
Wood III lv50 Mold Wood II lv90 Wood Craft I lv90
Ice and Water Skills
Ice II lv1 Water Breath I lv20 Water Aura I lv1
Ice Dragon Skin I lv1 Cold Aura I lv1 Ice Storm I lv1
Light Skills
Heal IV lv20 Light III lv20 Light Bands III lv1
Light Barrier I lv20
Monster skills
Learn II lv50 Sea Serpent II lv10 Sphinx I lv90
Teddy I lv20 Mountain Boar I lv10 Mountain Lion I lv5
Mysc Skills
Pummel II lv20 Kick II lv30 Lockpicking lv2
Spear Combat I lv20 Rally I lv20 Enhance Voice I lv30
Sonic Voice I lv20 Charming voice I lv20 Craft I lv20
Plasma Thrust I lv5
Signiture Skills
Usurper''s Breath I lv2
Unique skills
Eyes of the SunV1/800 Tyrant Dragon''s Breath V 1/80 Modifier I 1/25
Twighlight''s Form I 1/25
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Break Through As I stepped over the dissolving corpse of the cuck that thought he was death, I spotted the chest. I felt goose bumps cover my body for being rewarded for something I would do for free. The mob boss might have deluded me into thinking time was moving at an incredible rate, but I¡¯m fine. I lived, and the light of my truth destroyed him. The truth that typing advantage mattered. I picked his crummy scythe off the ground. It had a 300% dark affinity booster. I decided to keep the scythe, there was a chance I could pawn it off at some point. I turned to the floor. There was still one loose end. I held my staff up and cast mana burn and fireball at the same time. The result was a colossal fireball. I even got the skill for it. The skill devoured mana like a black hole.
New skill Colossal Fireball lv1 - Legends tell of powerful mages that can throw stars and shatter solar systems. You are on your way to becoming a member of their ranks. This skill is a step in the right direction. Mag Dam 10x Int Mana Cost 500k +100Int
¡°John, what are you doing, there are no more enemies on the floor?¡± Luci said. A smile stretched across my face. ¡°Luci, I''m making a short cut.¡± The colossal fireball crashed down like a falling star. Fire exploded upward beginning spread out like an ocean. The runes around the dungeon lit up before burning out. The cracks appeared on the floor that last signs of the dungeons will fighting off the force of my skill. The flames rose and shattered the ceiling. The false moon shattered a rush of sea water poured down. I kicked open the chest and collected the items in my inventory. ¡°You are such a child John. My god do you know how long it will take me to clean this mess up. Now there is sea life on floor eight. Did you know that¡¯s a desert dungeon. The ecosystems are ruined now.¡± I smiled and walked down the stairs to the next floor. I held a bone sword, in my left hand and my staff in my right. I struck a pose and dashed down the stairs. Where the dungeon tried to trip me, I stabbed my sword into the dungeon wall shattering the runes. I was done holding back. The door to the eight-floor burst open. The sea from floor six rained down upon the once dry dungeon. Sea life and desert creatures fought each other in the new ecosystem. I waved my staff and dropped three colossal fireballs on the floor. The water evaporated, and the runes shattered sand and grave stones fell as the bottom of the floor broke through. A massive sphinx lumbered toward me. From its eyes it fired beams that turned mobs to stone.
Empress Sphinx lv120 A massive sphinx with the power of stone gaze. It turns small mobs and adventurers to stone and devours them. If you answer three of its riddles, it will let you pass to the next floor. If not, then you can fight it or wait a day and try again. You have damaged the integrity of the dungeon it has been ordered to devour you.
It turned its eyes to me and I moved out of the way. The lumbering titan had a ton of speed but too much body to move. The creature swiped its paw at me and I stepped upon it. I ran up the creature¡¯s leg and used its fur as hand holds to climb it. It turned to look at me only to receive a series of thunder. Sticky fibers wrapped around the creature¡¯s neck, as I propelled to its head. Once on top the foolish creature tried to shake me off. It leapt upon its back and turned its head to remove me. Parts of the floor fell to the ninth, as it fought to remove me. I placed a hand on it and cast learn and inspect. The first skill I gained was stone gaze, followed by sand storm, and charmed speech reached tier 2. This creature had both high charisma and intelligence. Yet that was useless if it was too slow to use its offensive skills. The creature yowled, as I tightened on the reins and forced it through sea water. One of my white sea serpents fell and wrapped around the sphinx. It quickly bound the back legs, and another fell biting a foreleg to hold on. The mob quickly bound the forelegs. The sphinx tried to turn its gaze on them, only for a yank of her reins to stop her. The skill sphinx appeared. I only needed cat hair, earth mana stones, and 15k mana. More of my mobs dropped down. One was a large white drake. At my command it rammed the back end of the sphinx driving it toward the hole in the floor. The water kept the dungeon from repairing the hole. We soon fell in to the ninth floor. I was running low on mana, but I needed to be on the tenth floor now. My drake flew down as the sphinx, my sea serpents, and I fell. The ninth floor was filled with trees and dryads. Pollen flowed upward, and massive bees flew through them. I slashed my sword casting usurper through it. The sphinx was cut down the middle and I cast a colossal fireball with thunder thrust. A new skill appeared.
New skill Plasma lance lv1 - Once again you seek to reach the ranks of legendary mages. Plasma lance gathers and merges fire and lightning mana into a controlled lance of plasma. Though the skill costs less mana it does much more damage. Warning this skill requires a weapon to focus the plasma through. Mag Dam 15xInt Mana Cost 400k +150Int
My sword was vaporized along with the floor below. The damage was reduced by the time it struck the floor. Sea water rained down and I reached lv150. My power was growing ever higher. I felt my jaw muscles grow stronger and my scales become just a little bit thicker. My bones creaked as I grew taller. The horns that were pin pricks broke skin. My xp was still going up. This feeling was a rapturous event. My grin had never stretched wider. Growing stronger was an addictive feeling. Just a little more and I would reach lv200. What could stop me once I reached that level? I was already equal to the golem that almost killed me. My drake flew off somewhere into the forest. One of the sea serpents let go of the sphinx and latched on to a bee in flight. The creature began a slow descent to the surface. My other sea serpent stretched its tail out for me to grab on. I did so and climbed to the top of its head. It angled itself and we dived through the hole of the 9th floor.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The 10th floor was an obsidian slab with a single unit. The scales of my serpent peeled away showing small wings throughout its body. A pink tint appeared on its scales along with feathers. Tree like horns grew from its head. The descent slowed as we slowly landed.
Sky Serpent lv109 A rank lin the tiers of great sky dragons. Sky serpents are much smaller than their counterparts. Like the sky dragons they can fly and contain the lightning element. They can call upon skills like thunder storm, lightning rain, and their signature skill thunder breath. This sky serpent belongs to John Union.
I landed and leapt from the serpent. After petting its head in thanks, it flew upwards back to the ninth floor. The serpent had soft feathers, considered acquiring some of those feathers for a mattress. The fighter in the distance didn¡¯t concern me. I busied myself with looking around. If there were any traps, I would find them. Briefly, I wondered if the others were ok. I left them behind on the 8th floor. If I stayed with them they would stop growing. Sasha wouldn¡¯t be by my side going forward. That thought almost drove me to return to the group. I took a deep breath and stood across from the mob of this floor. He was an elf in a set of white robes, in his left hand was a bow that glowed like moon light. It was the only source of light in this place. My tendrils stretched from my back. The light rings stretched. I took a peak at his status screen.
Alphonse The Twilight Archer lv190 Little is known about Alphonse other than his ability to use both light and dark elements. He is an unknown crafted by the dungeon. Elves are known for their affinity for magic. Some are even better than you. This elf is nearly in the 200s and is the only mob on this floor. You may not stand a chance against this foe. If this battle becomes of attrition it is recommended that you flee. Elves are known for their high magic regeneration.
A grin stretched across my face. I never had an opponent with two paragraphs under their name. I noticed he had no armor, he only wore a thread bare white cloak. His golden hair grew long, his frame was thin and tall, and his face was slender with slanted eyes. An aura of charisma flowed off him normal for those of the higher hundreds. His features clearly spoke of his high charisma. Since he was an archer getting far away wasn¡¯t an option. I needed to take him out quickly. ¡°I know what your thinking. Its all over your face. I need to get up close and attack him. He is a ranged attacker distance is death. Well I assure you either way is death in your case. My light arrows will pierce any defense you can muster, and my dark arrows will rot away your flesh. If you were in a group maybe you would have a chance. As you are now, three of my arrows will kill you.¡± His voice was musical and deep. It rang through my ears, with an accent I couldn¡¯t place. ¡°If your words were meant to frighten me, then your wasting your time. I don¡¯t see you standing before me. I only see the after. You¡¯re just another step on my quest.¡± He smiled grimly. ¡°From my status you should know my name is Alphonse. I journeyed through the dungeon and died. The mistress tied my hands and tossed me down here. My honor wouldn¡¯t allow me to slay children even zombies. They slew me as I begged Lucia the goddess of light for their forgiveness. It was Morgana the goddess of darkness that answered my prayer and granted me darkness. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the zombies slew me. I kept my powers as a mob and rose through the ranks.¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± I asked. ¡°So, after I slay you, I don¡¯t slay your hope. You too can evolve through the ranks and become a mob boss.¡± He raised his bow and fired. I slid my shoulder to the side dodging the arrow. Hundreds of arrows followed the assault. They were all telegraphed by the bow. Sure, there was plenty of fire power, but nothing was beyond my ability to dodge. The speed of the arrows and the number increased with every step I took forward. Alphonse¡¯s grimace turned into a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky.¡± I raised an eyebrow mana flowed from the blond lighting a ritual circle. This circle won¡¯t allow you to exit this place unless I die. More arrows fired faster than ever. Dodging was become a struggle. A fireball appeared in my hand and I fired it only for the circle to flare. The fireball detonated before it could leave the circle. The elf danced around the edge of the circle firing arrows. The arrows broke over my skin doing little damage. Then a black arrow slammed into my chest. The armor where the arrow hit melted away and the skin begin to burn. My white scales were turning black falling off. My health was sliced by a quarter. ¡°Your quite fast for a human but at this range you won¡¯t last much longer.¡± My escape was cut off by the circle and it seemed that only light and dark type skills could pass the circle. Why did light and dark skills pass through? I pulled a mana stone from my inventory and wrapped it in a barrier of light. I threw the stone and it passed through the barrier. New skill Light barrier lv1 ¨C Form a barrier of light mana. Mag Def 1%Wis. Mana Cost 50/minute. +0.1Wis The stone passed through the barrier with out a single flash of light. Before I could make a barrier around myself the elf began firing black arrows at me. My foe grit his teeth and continued to fire keeping me from passing through the barrier. ¡°One way or another, I¡¯m getting through and your going to die. You played your hand, while I have yet to show my true power.¡± He fired more arrows, I didn¡¯t bother to dodge. I cast heal on myself quickly recovering from any damage the elf could inflict. The skills resist light and resist dark made two pop ups. I cancelled them and approached the barrier only to pretend the guy drove me back. It became a game. I let him continue to fire arrows at me only to tank them and heal. My dragon skin was rank three now. To think I could allocate my skill points and become immune to this guy¡¯s attacks right now. It was fun letting this foolish elf riddle my body with arrows only to heal from the wounds and grow stronger in turn. Time passed, and the elf had given up attacking. He stood there glaring at me. I stepped out of the circle. The field shattered as it attempted to battle my aura. ¡°Your one of those special ones aren¡¯t you. Those few who are born stronger than the rest. Even with your power there are those further down who will destroy you. Kill me and get it over with.¡± I walked up to him. I didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°You lost because your strategy failed to contain me. It wasn¡¯t a bad tactic you just couldn¡¯t deal enough damage to me to matter. Taking a 4th of my health is meaningless when I can regenerate from the damage before you can hit me again.¡± The elf nodded sadly. ¡°The next floor is filled with trolls, the next shadows, then genies, brains, and on the fifth floor there is a combination of the four. Just make it quick.¡± I took the scythe from my inventory. The elf stood on his knees his eyes closed. His pale neck was exposed. I pulled back on the scythe and swung. His head flew up as blood shot up from the stump. In moments the elf¡¯s body was absorbed by the dungeon. I kicked up the chest and took out a few new weapons. Such as a long sword, a war hammer, and a mace. ¡°What a loser, I don¡¯t know why I bother resurrecting him.¡± Luci said. ¡°Maybe because he¡¯s emo and it turns on your inner goth.¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t get fresh with me John. I¡¯m mad at you for making holes in my floors. It took hours to repair and your mobs are all over the place now. It was bad enough when they were just on one floor. Can¡¯t you I don¡¯t know command them to stop steeling kills.¡± I couldn¡¯t imagine them killing anyone from my party. ¡°Who are they killing?¡± I asked. ¡°They are killing the flood of adventurers sprinting through the dungeon. There is a massive bounty of 1000gold bars for your head. Do you know how many mana cores that is John? With that much gold I could make a hundred Alphonse.¡± Luci said. ¡°Well that¡¯s nice glad my mobs are eating good.¡± I said. ¡°Whatever have fun on floor 11. Oh, and the mistress sent a named golem after you. This one is called Elinore. Most over powered thing I¡¯ve ever seen. Its swimming through floor 6 right now. If not for the ocean it would kill you in a day.¡± Luci said. Well it was nearly time to allocate my skill points anyway. Might as well prepare for this Elinore. "So, tell me Lucy why does the Mistress hate men?" I asked. "Its a long story. Well she used to be an adventurer. I think she was from the 20th like you John." I raised an eyebrow. "20th what''s that?" I asked. "The 20th iteration of humanity. God is in love with the human form and humans are his favorite. We dungeon cores are from the 12th. Well go ahead to the next floor, with the stairs this time." I depowered my plasma lance and walked towards the door after collecting the chest. Next was floor 11, there was actually a passage there. "Trolls are impossibly tough and magic resistant. It is advised to use firearms." Who wrote the signs? Chapter 11 Trolling the Trolls Trolls aren¡¯t foes I ever wanted to fight. They are beings that devoted all their stats to physical strength. When I stepped out on the 11th floor, I realized that I couldn¡¯t fight them head on. The 11th floor was a disaster zone. There was a radiation warning blaring on my stat screen. Radiation resistance wasn¡¯t in my skill set. The whole floor was a mountainous area. Massive birds flew from peak to peak. Bears the size of elephants roamed the forests they had humanoid builds and could fight competently on their back legs. Their large meat hook claws cut deeply into rock surfaces. They were the mobs of the dungeon. From the mana signature they were the only mobs here. There were Elk and mountain lions, they too were quite large. Though when something died here only the mana was collected. The bodies were left alone for the giant birds to pick up and devour. The mobs ranged from the youngest of mountain lion kitten at lv50 to the largest bears lv160. They were not my main concern. No, my main concern were the trolls. They were men and women who stood 8 to 9 feet tall. They were muscled to incredible levels. Some expelled radiation naturally from their bodies. The fact that not even the smallest of children seemed bothered by the rads was a statement of the troll¡¯s resistances. The truth of matter was, I knew very little about the trolls. I moved through the places picking up the radiation resistance and increasing my stealth skills as I went. This was a chance to observe Troll society. The once humans and elves were not as dumb as my companions made them sound. They had a hierarchy. The top of the hierarchy was the chief. A massive troll that normally stood 9ft tall and often expelled rads like there was no tomorrow. A chieftain was armed with a massive war hammer or axe and had the finest armor in the tribe. The chief as the alpha had the pick of the women and often handled disputes of the tribe. Women once claimed by one of the males remained with the male. If the male died in a hunting accident. The nearest male relative took the woman and children in. Below the chief was the hunting parties. The trolls who joined in them chose the women after the chief. Next were the shaman. Trolls that were weaker than most trolls, but they had the ability to emit healing energy. They had the third pick. The lowest were the infirm. Those trolls that had disabilities had the last pick. Often the female trolls would simply kill them to get a better mate. There were hundreds of tribes on the floor. As I moved through the floor, I counted them out. Fights between tribes happened rather often. Though this land was very fertile, the tribes all had massive birth rates. I was able to witness all out war between tribes. In a tree house, I watched the show. One of the hunting parties snuck on a neighboring tribe¡¯s land to acquire more game. The tribe¡¯s warriors hid behind trees, waiting to ambush the invading tribe. Heavy axes were employed, and the tribe slew the hunting party in quick succession. They never went for body blows. Every kill was decapitation or a blow to the head. It was brutal and quick. If the hunting party had a chance to retaliate the fight would turn into a battle of attrition. After the death of the hunting party the tribe¡¯s warriors followed the hunting party¡¯s tracks back to the village. A raid ensued. The strongest warriors battered down the walls of the tribe. They slaughtered the warriors standing guard and began capturing women and slaying male children. The women hardly fought back, they seemed to get off on mating over the corpses of their children and men. I used my mana fibers to take the bodies of the slain men and children. While the raiders and women were busy rutting they didn¡¯t seem to notice my activity. I placed the bodies in my inventory and left for my base in the cave of one of the nearby mountains. Once back at my camp, I grew the trees outside to hide the entrance. I had over 100 cat hair, a 1000 different mana stones, and more mana than ever before. So, I began to make sphinxes. Every one of them had beautiful faces. Their lion bodies and human heads were quite the combination. They danced around playing, while some fought within the cave. They were all below lv50. No stronger than a newborn mountain lion cub. Well they were all newborns themselves. I took from my inventory the bodies of the trolls. Even their bodies still produced enough radiation to kill a few of my sphinxes. I quickly returned them to my inventory. I took my strongest war hammer and began to pound at the flesh and bone to soften up the meal for my sphinxes. My mobs licked their lips at the promise of fresh meat. They were of every element I had. Only 60 survived the radiation. They devoured the ones that died. Mobs were cannibalistic by design. Once I had worked up a sweat breaking bones and tenderizing muscles the sphinxes dug in. In a direct fight I knew the Trolls would turn me to paste. Most of my attacks were flashy and caused a lot of noise. Neighboring tribes might hear me, and all converge on me. I might kill most them but, one could get lucky. With every bite my sphinxes increased in level and gained stats from the bodies. An ability that most monsters shared. These sphinxes were probably gaining more points in constitution, endurance and strength than they would ever naturally gain. They all changed when they reached 100. Their bodies hardened their muscles grew stronger and hide changed. Those with the light element acquired halos over their heads. Some inherited my unique skill and acquired black flames. One evolved into a more humanoid form.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Nekomata lv150 A rare evolution of the sphinx and other cat like mobs. This form grants the mob a humanoid appearance and martial capabilities. Their fur color often determines how powerful a Nekomata¡¯s type. This one had white fur and the hair atop her head was red and black.
I looked her stat page over and gave her the name Emily. She had the light element and my unique skill. She would be a huge damage dealer in the future. She also gained radiation aura from the trolls she devoured. With my mobs ready we made our way out of the cave and towards the nearest tribe. I only had one thing to do first. At lv180, I had plenty of points to spend. I needed to make myself closer in power to a troll. I could feel my body weakening with ever level. If I didn¡¯t do something, I might become a brain. I put all my tree points into skill points that brought my skill points up to 1,800. Now, how could I place them to help me the most. Doing the calculations, I could increase my strength by 120k if I fed 1200 skill points into war mage. But that wouldn¡¯t help my body. No only constitution and endurance helped with that. Berserker was the only real choice. I placed every point in the tree. A sign flashed in my face Berserker VII. My body locked up and I grew taller. My body was soon 8 and a half feet tall. A perk appeared.
New Perk Berserker¡¯s Power ¨C The power of rage courses through your veins. No matter what challenges you face nothing keeps you down. Every kill increases Strength by 1. New Perk Monstrous Thoughts ¨C Your mind is no longer draining more energy than your body can produce. Legends speak of your ability to take morality out of every situation and focus on what benefits you. Now your very thoughts cause your foes pain. X10 Mag Dam New Perk Olympian Channels ¨C Your mana no longer destroys your body. The channels in your body that store and leach mana from your aura are on par with a demigod. x10 MP
Every cell in my body felt like a nuclear reactor. There was so much energy in my body it felt like I would explode. My body had grown in density with every step it felt like, I would crumble the rock underneath. I might be able to survive a blow from a Troll now. I needed a trap if I was to lure the trolls into an ambush. We snagged one of the elk that like to graze on the mountain. I tied a mana fiber around its neck and snapped one of its legs with my war hammer. We dropped the creature near one of the hunting parties of the neighboring troll tribes and I pulled it as the trolls followed. Once the trolls were in the ambush zone the sphinxes attacked. They were strong enough to deal a killing blow from behind. So long as the brain was destroyed the troll would die. I hit one with a barrage of fireballs to little affect. If it didn¡¯t kill them outright, they would quickly gain skills to defend against the attack. A hammer blow to the head was still fatal. With the hunting party dead, I made my way to the next. This time I used one of my sphinxes. A group of four laid into the party. After a short exchange they ran away pretending to be wounded. The trolls seeing their prey escaping charged into an ambush. I used the tactics of the Mongols from old earth. They worked well in this situation. I made more sphinxes and had them devour the corpses. My level quickly reached 200.
New unique skill Modifier 0/25 ¨C Use your knowledge of monsters and men to craft unique creatures. You now have a minion page to keep track of all your mobs and what they need to achieve certain evolutions. +5Wis.
Things were working out. The trolls weren¡¯t united under a single banner. They were a mass of independent tribes. Perhaps, other adventurers would have tried to attack the tribes head on or simply bypassed them with stealth. This was easier. Four of the twelve tribes that hunted around the mountains were no more. Well they still had their women and children, but the men were dead besides the chieftains. My army number 328 sphinxes and 5 Nekomata. The other four I named Nia, Vicky, Yuffie, and Karin. So, a mix of anime and fairly odd parents, names in there, but they seemed to have something of those personalities. Emily was thus far the oldest and most powerful of them. She often went in for seconds on the Troll population. The trolls were not bound to this dungeon. I needed loyal forces who were strong enough and smart enough to fight opponents like the golems. I wouldn¡¯t be the first man in history to do something horrible for the greater good. I could have tried diplomacy. With a bit of effort, I could have martialed all the tribes and created a force for myself. That is true, I will leave my future children to take the rest of the tribes and unite them under my banner. When it came time to take the tribe for myself, I walked in the village by myself. The guards fell to my hammer and mana burst. The small increase in strength was nice. If I killed millions, then I would become truly formidable. Fortunately, the bonus applied to my mobs as well. The chief stepped off his throne to face me. His armor was covered with the skulls of his challengers. They jingled as he made his way to me. There were no words said between us. What would be the point? Mana charge filled my body with as much strength as it could hold, and I swung my hammer at his head. He stepped aside the blow and brought the spike of his axe¡¯s head at my eye. With a twist, I stepped away and twisted to smash his temple with my hammer. The but of his axe caught behind my hammer and he yanked it from my hands. My aura exploded with its full force. He was too close, and his eyes melted out of his skull. In the time it took him to step back his eyes were nearly fully regenerated. Fire tendrils leapt from my back and speared through his shoulders. For a moment, he was unable to raise his arms. I took advantage and stabbed my thumbs through his eye sockets. Just puncturing his brain wasn¡¯t enough so, I turned up the heat. Black and red flames ate at the body until nothing remained. All the xp was awarded to me. I threw the body down my flames continued to devour the body. My small army rushed in and the nekomata closed the gates. The sounds of screaming and death rang out and I could smell them women getting off on it. As they say when in Rome do as the romans. When in a troll tribe do as a troll conqueror. Chapter 12 Building a Flying Cradle I decided to turn the 11th floor into a fortress. For starters, I captured some of the stronger boar from the forest. After a few minutes of learn and inspect the mountain boar skill became available. From there, I gained the mountain bear, mountain deer, and mountain lion. There were other mobs, bees and wasp with paralyzing venom. Some mountain spiders that were more than large enough to be threats to the bears. My mana fibers spread, and I acquired every fauna and flora mob I could. Why would I go to all the trouble, well because I was going to burn the floor down and restructure it. ¡°That¡¯s a stupid idea.¡± Emily said. I turned to my nekomata and shrugged. ¡°It would make life easier. A single heavily defended fortress is easier to defend than spread out camps.¡± As we spoke, I busied myself redesigning the mountain bear with modify. Thus far I was able to make it humanoid without compromising much of the strength. Upping the brain power with a mana stone and adding an earth mana stone to boost the defense wasn¡¯t a bad start. This humanoid species would be my worker. I gave them strong hands and wide backs. The crafting skill was also added to my creation. ¡°Ok, I get that. Choose your battle ground and deny your opponent every advantage. That¡¯s the basic when preparing for war. What I¡¯m talking about is choosing to be under siege. Why would you want to limit mobility?¡± Emily said. It was two weeks ago, when I conquered my first few tribes. Since then I spready my influence like wild fire. Already, the females were pregnant. From what I recalled about human women mobility was greatly lowered during pregnancy. ¡°We don¡¯t have the steel to build a mobile fortress. The mountains have some of the materials we need but, we would have to deplete them all to build a mobile fortress.¡± The new creature required the body of a living bear. Luckily, I had a few hundred stored. ¡°Boss, if that¡¯s what is needed to keep your progeny safe, then I don¡¯t see why you¡¯re against it.¡± Again, the picture was larger than that. My focus was stealth vs full defense. A named golem was making its way toward me. I honestly didn¡¯t know, if I could take it on right now. Energy crackled from my fingertips, as I modified a bear. Bones snapped and crunched under the weight of my mana, as the image I pictured came into being. A knock on the door sounded. Karin came bursting in her tail dancing around. ¡°Boss, owe,¡± She crashed into the bear. The massive creature reached down and picked the nekomata back to her feet. ¡°The women of the new tribe, their ready to be mated. If you don¡¯t go to them soon, they may get aggressive.¡± I rolled my shoulders and went back to work. The endurance stat was coming in handy. Much later, I sat on my balcony watching hundreds of, I decided to name them the Teddies. They worked tirelessly clearing the space for the mobile fortress. Some argued with one another over the size of the structure they were tasked to clear an area for. The foremen threatened to bury his axe in the Teddy¡¯s head. 15ft tall ursine workers made short work of the massive trees and cleared a massive space. As time was against me, I began to use mana fibers and inspect to locate the iron within the mountain. The Teddies were busy creating molds for the fortress. I started by creating the basic sea serpent. Without the water mana stone. What I got was a simple snake. It was large and surely a constrictor, but just a snake. I added three earth mana stones to the mob and watched its scales harden to something akin to concrete. I added two more stones and those scales become denser.
Earth Serpent lv70 A large serpent of earth. It lives its life underground in search of earth mana stones. As it slowly devours more and consumes precious metals it¡¯s scales become denser. Ancient Earth Serpents are known to have scales akin to tungsten.
I found the stones in the mountain. Where the dungeon¡¯s mana met the mountain some of the stones formed naturally. With that I crafted dozens of the serpents and ordered them to consume all the iron in the mountains. Over the next few days, I went about mating with the trolls and slaying the chiefs. Slowly, I began to establish pig farms and slaughter houses. The teddies were able to take up the jobs of farmer and slaughterer with ease. With the area I needed cleared, I created a mold for the hull of our vessel out of my own wood. Time was ticking away as traps were set and mountains began to shrink in size. The serpents didn¡¯t just consume iron, they also found, aluminum, copper, and lead. I took a small amount of steel and began to turn my focus to building a battery, alternator, and engine. If the mobile fortress couldn¡¯t fly, then what was the point of it.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The truth was, I had no idea what I was doing. I needed something like a jet engine a lot of them. If I had something that just blasted magic, or floated the fortress. That would be great. I took the iron and shaped it with my hands. Using my perception and inhuman muscle control I shaped the metal to form a small turbine. It was like a fidget spinner. Mana could be set alight. Though, it was more like the sudden change from neutral to fire alignment. Alright, how long did it take one of my fireballs to dissipate when cut off from my mana pool. With the most basic of fireballs in my hand. I held it aloft condensed so little energy escaped it. The small ball of flames was black as the night and gave off as much crimson light as a dying star. I took my focus off the ball of flame and it remained as I left it. True it was primed for destruction, but it wasn¡¯t about to explode. I picked the fire ball up. There was a small film water mana around it. Could any mage do this? It was simple and primitive. How much thrust would it have after meeting air out of a turbine? The final produce of my magic engine was clunky at best, but sturdy. There were controls that would allow the firing of an engine and a measure of control over it. Measurements were used to determine how much energy an engine contained. Panels were made to extract the mana needed to refuel the engines. In total, I was able to install twenty. It was rigged to allow turning and relatively fast movement speed. Coops were installed for the mountain ravens. The mobs were great for picking off any creatures that would attempt boarding. The ground had become home to the earth serpents. Some had evolved to earth wyrms. The vicious creatures devoured any mob that came too close to their mountains. The walls to the fortress were put up and the Vicky was made captain of the ship. Fire mana stones were added to the engines and a large mana stone was placed in the center of the ship. There were 244 bathrooms aboard the vessel, three times that number in bedrooms, an entire floor was devoted to live stalk, and at the top was the teddy and sphinx quarters. The vessel lifted off the ground, as I made my way to the next floor. The floor boss stood in my way.
Crog The Nuclear Giant lv 210 A troll that conquered all other trolls. His hide is stronger than steel and his blows shake mountains. When angered his aura emerges. If you don¡¯t have high radiation resistance, then this fight will prove fatal.
Half of the women I fucked in the past week spewed rads like candy. My resistance was through the roof. The giant was like many of the other trolls. Goliaths of men, with muscles rippling and chests six feet across. They weighed in the tons and could trade blows with large haul trucks. His hair was a horrid blue that didn¡¯t fit right with his green skin. His teeth were black, and some were falling out. Crog¡¯s head was a mess of scars from battle. He was missing his left ear. On his massive axe were the skulls of ten of his rivals. He kept pounding his axe waiting for his guards to get rid of the upstart. I stealth killed them on my way in. My height had reached 9ft but this guy towered over me by three. His axe was chipped in places and seemed to glow with radiation. I had the teddies forge me a new sword. It was no Excalibur but the were getting better at mixing aluminum with steel with a bit of nickel. The first few tries at the sword were too brittle. They shattered with a single swing. The giant slammed his axe and I caught it with my sword. Crog was strong, I had to give him that. As I traded blows with the giant, I began to see a pattern in his attacks. Sparks peeled off our weapons as we fought. Despite the light weight, my sword wasn¡¯t in any danger of breaking. Every fifth swing the giant left a hole in his side. This time, I took advantage. Using thrust in tandem with my sword thrust I scored a blow between his armor. From the tip of my sword fire spewed forth blistering his skin. The giant¡¯s eyes went wide as I drew back out of his counter swing. The giant tried to pat out the flames to no avail. My fire had him and it wasn¡¯t letting go. My aura erupted and even the shadows seemed to be aflame. The giant¡¯s aura tried to meet mine, but the green energy was quickly swallowed by the hungry black flames. I smiled at the giant. My flames and the giants healing were battling one would win eventually. I could wait for the giant to die. A few black fireballs appeared between my fingers. They were the size of softballs but to my body mass that wasn¡¯t so impressive. With a flick the giant erupted in flames, he roared and charged at me axe swinging at random. I threw the other two and stabbed forward. My blade pierced his skull, but his axe tore into my stomach. Rapidly, I cast heal but the damage was dealt. My hand kept my guts in as my skin attempted to close over them. I limped down the stairs slowly. ¡°Wow, that was something. I didn¡¯t think he would get a hit in, but look your guts are practically on the floor. This is great. I thought you would never leave floor 11. Do you know how annoying it is to watch you have sex? Ugh, you had to sleep with all of them didn¡¯t you. What is it about guys and green skin?¡± Luci said. I had missed our talks. My guts weren¡¯t quite back to being inside me, so I needed the distraction. ¡°Hey boss, who are you talking to?¡± Emily asked. ¡°The dungeon Emily.¡± I said. The nekomata turned her head to the side. ¡°Oh, one of your mobs great. Why are you so much like one of those brains? I hate those things. They do nothing but subvert my floors.¡± I looked, and I was lv280 now. Just 120 levels to go and I would exit this place. ¡°Don¡¯t worry boss Yuffie, Vicky, Karin, and Nia will raise up your children to be perfect little angels . They will surely be ready for the world above, when you return.¡± Emily said. ¡°I have faith in them.¡± I said. They were intelligent. Hopefully inheriting my genes would remove the troll status. An army of loyal children would make ruling the city above much easier in the future. If I wasn¡¯t¡¯ assassinated on this floor, and so long as the named golem doesn¡¯t get to me. I prepared myself to face the 12th floor. Chapter 13 The Shadows It was a numbers game. My mobs killed other mobs and adventurers, giving me foreign mana or xp. These mobs I controlled mated and replicated. They were a machine forged from my mana. This great machine was built for a single purpose, to farm experience, currency, and item drops. My level was nearing 300, soon I would gain another unique skill. Before that happened, I needed to raise my current unique skills. I placed 614 skill points in eyes of the sun. My perception increased by 2,105,250 from Eyes of the Sun alone. I could feel new insight with fire. My simple skills before were arbitrary compared to what unique skills could provide. There was a new possibility. I could give up my current fire skills and upgrade them to deca fire. My intelligence would drop drastically but, overall the increase would be worth it. That wasn¡¯t for now. No right now, I needed to raise my Tyrant Dragon¡¯s flame. Another 750 points brought the unique skill to tier 5 my intelligence increased by 4,210,500 from the skill alone. The rest of my points went in berserker. Even after the increase my constitution and endurance only increased 227,060 from berserker. I upgraded my fire skills to deca fire. Everything that had something to do with fire was multiplied by ten from the beginning. All I had to do was cannibalize all my hard-won skills. It wasn¡¯t like I couldn¡¯t create new skills. It seemed that so long as my constitution was at least a hundredth of my intelligence. I wouldn¡¯t begin degrading. My stomach wound has long closed. The door to the next level was just beyond the door. I tapped the door opening it to dancing shadows and whispering death. Though my fire skills maybe lacking, I wasn¡¯t worried. The door behind me closed and I walked a lonely path. Eyes appeared in the shadows, tendrils moved, and deathly cries filled the floor. A single flame lit this world. ¡°Boss this floor gives me the creeps, can we get through it quickly?¡± Emily asked. I shook my head. ¡°Emily, we are safe in the light. These monsters can¡¯t touch us.¡± As we drew ever closer to the light. The amount of shadow monsters decreased in number. Only the strongest of the mobs remained. They hid in the shadows of boulders and pillars. With their clawed hands, they reached out trying to drag us in the darkness. The monsters took on horrifying shapes and sizes. They flashed innumerable rows of teeth and raged against their confines. ¡°Elinore is on her way John. I advise you to either hide or get ready for a fight you can¡¯t win.¡± Luci said. ¡°Well shit,¡± I said. My fingers pinched out the candle¡¯s flame. ¡°Boss, I¡¯m scared of the dark.¡± Deca fire fibers expanded from my back and skewered the shadows as they neared. The creatures changed form, spread out, and sprinted around my fibers. In the dark the monsters could be seen for what they truly were. Formless darkness the shadows that were once men. They no longer had a brain or body. In their hundreds of thousands, they died by my deca fire spell and my strength increased. Their numbers were unending until they stopped. A power that was strictly physical grew in my body. For a moment, it felt like I could do anything. That moment passed, and my muscles settled down. The shadows gathered taking on a humanoid form. Gone were the tricks and shadowy beasts. This was the true form the shadows took.
Dusk Shade of Man lv290 This creature was formed of the mindless shadows left behind by adventurers that desired the fastest and most perceptive bodies. They lost track of all other attributes and became shadows of their former selves. This beast is the culmination of all of them and their desire to return to their human form. They will never regain their humanity alone and must be reminded of what they lost by the flickering of a candle. For they can no longer exist in the light they all crave.
Twisting to the side, I dodged a tentacle like arm covered in blades. Light flowed down my sword just as the monster unleashed a beam of darkness from its head. Holding up my blade I deflected the devastating attack until the beam ended. The monsters one great eye glowed with power. Waving my hand and willing out my power light barriers covered my body protecting Emily and me. It was just in time. The Dusk Shade unleashed a wave of deathly fog. The worst of my foes attacks were yet to come. Deadly blades lashed from our own shadows blocked only by the light barriers. Deca fire tendrils formed from my back and attacked, while I was on the defensive. Unlike the other shadows this shade was unaffected by my flames. It seemed only light would work. Elinore was growing ever closer. I could feel it; a presence was moving through the 11thfloor quickly. It killed most of my mobs. The flying fortress was the only thing keeping the golem at bay. The onboard heat cannon was coming in handy after all. The heat cannon decimated the terrain impeding the golem¡¯s progress. It was all the onboard weapons of the fortress could do to delay such a small target. Fortunately, the golem didn¡¯t see the fortress as an immediate threat. I willed my perception from the eyes of my mobs and concentrated on my current fight. This floor was becoming a white void as the darkness gathered to a single spot.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it A spear of darkness pierced my light barrier and stabbed me through the chest. Hands made of inky shadows tore the light away from me and absorbed it. Taking my sword in both hands, I sliced away the spear. The creature shrieked and backed away. The inky black spear still in my body sunk into my wound. I cycled light aura to hold the darkness inside. It seemed that this creature needed every bit of its darkness to resist light and to absorb it. I formed another light barrier and continued to fight the creature. My wound healed over quickly. More spears formed from the creature and they pierced my stomach and shoulder. Golden light tendrils wrapped around the spears and snapped them. My light aura kept the darkness from leaving, so it had no choice but to enter my body. I wasted mana expanding my light aura to keep the darkness from breaking free. The creature yelled loudly. It took the spears in hand, instead of fast ejecting them from its body. When the boss stabbed forward, I let the spear hit me in the chest and sliced it off. With more darkness taken from the monster, it took a step back and launched itself at Emily. ¡°Wrong move.¡± I shouted and thrust my sword through its back. As it tried to absorb the light from my sword, I forced more light through the weapon. Then, I dropped a barrier around us. The creature had made a mistake. It gave me a taste of darkness and I wanted more. I laced my maw with light and took a bite out of the shade. Inky darkness exploded from the wound as I fed. As I devoured the mob, I laced my skin with light aura. It fought and banged its claws against the barrier to escape. Large mana crystals lined the inside of the mob and I swallowed them down. The boss monster dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. My light grew exponentially stronger, as I held in the darkness. As my light barrier shrunk to my will, even the inky blood of the mob sunk into my skin. The monster fought in my stomach, it bashed against my light aura. It hid in the darkness of my body. The shade fed off my fear and hate. It fed on my worst memories and my death by Uriel. Never did it realize that as it grew stronger, so did the light that fought against it. My level surpassed 300 and I received a new unique skill
Twilight¡¯s Form 1/25 Darkness has been sealed and light stands guard. As the dark within grows, so does the light. By profiting off this balancing act you have earned this unique skill. Only the most powerful bodies can withstand the clash between light and dark. The power of twilight now empowers your body. +1% Light and Dark skill levels +10Con
Jack the Reaper lv666 A being of the 70thfloor. His scythe is forged from the souls of his enemies. Adventurers less than lv200 die instantly under his gaze. His hell fire dance is known to clear entire guilds. You don¡¯t want to fight him.
¡°John she¡¯s here run if you can¡¯t I will summon something to hold it back.¡± A massive amount of mana condensed, and I saw the strongest mob I have ever seen. The reaper turned his eyes to me. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a promising adventurer. You have more mana than someone twice you level. You must be a solo then. Your¡¯re strong but you don¡¯t have any good gear, so this must be your first dungeon. Luci must have a thing for you. It would be smart to go on to the next floor. Against me Elinore is just another low-level ant. To you, she might as well be a god. I recommend you find a way out of here, find a good master blacksmith, and get some gear that will take advantage of your raw power. In your current state, you won¡¯t get much farther. Even that ratty sword your using will break down soon.¡± Jack said. There was a shift in mana. A being powered by human souls stepped through the doors Elinore entered the floor. She walked along the sea of white and held a glare. Her hair looked deranged and she was covered in soot. One moment she was there the next she was moving faster than I could keep track. Jack¡¯s scythe blocked the path. ¡°One more thing John. Leveling up and gaining stats are all well and good. They are useless, if you only reach a small percentage of the new potential they grant you. If your eyes aren¡¯t trained to read fast movement then no matter how high your perception, you won¡¯t see Elinore. If you don¡¯t push your body, you won¡¯t match her speed. In other words, you need more real-world experience before you can really fight someone like her.¡± The golem dodged scythe swiped and blasts of hell fire. ¡°How is she able to tell the difference from me and other adventurers? I don¡¯t even look the same.¡± I asked. ¡°That¡¯s easy in the city they can give out quests. It¡¯s one of the advantages of being top side. Though, if you go to the next floor, one of the Djin might be able to disguise you. If you can get them to do that. Then their quests won¡¯t allow them to find you and you will be able to go to the city without any trouble. After all, you will be just another adventurer.¡± Elinore yelled out and delivered a haymaker to Jack¡¯s head. The reaper simply smiled and stabbed his hand through the golem¡¯s chest. Elinore opened her hands and fired a burst of magic missals. Jack didn¡¯t even flinch. The devastating magic attacks shattered over his body. Jack sliced one of her legs off with his scythe. ¡°It seems you and the mistress have misunderstood who is really in charge. Luci is a dungeon heart but more than that she is a lich. She has been planning a way to destroy the mistress and change the leadership for a while. The mistress just happened to throw the perfect revolutionary down here. Good bye Elinore.¡± Before the scythe could cut the golem¡¯s head off, Elinore took out a crystal, and put it to the mob. ¡°Shit,¡± The mob yelled and vanished. ¡°Now that the distraction is out of the way.¡± With my sword in hand, I funneled plasma spear through it and drove it through the robot¡¯s head. The golem flailed as its hair was burnt off and its face melt revealing its alloy frame. It tried to grab at me, but I stepped away. The darkness within me was gleeful at my assault. The light aura that surrounded my body grew slightly stronger. The golem wasn¡¯t dead. It continued to pull at the blade, so I snapped the guard and pommel off. The blade was heated by the plasma and bent at an angle preventing her from slipping off. Using water breath and ice in unison, I froze the golem in a block of ice. Emily stood far away from everything and just looked on ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble. ¡°Luci, I could really use some really durable spikes to stab through her joints.¡± I called out to the dungeon. ¡°I already put them in the chest.¡± Walking over to the golden trunk, I gathered a few stakes. After stabbing them through the robot and the floor, I froze the area around the golem for good measure. Then, I stepped down the stairs, to get my disguise, and finally take the fight to the mistress. Chapter 14 Upwards Flies the Terrifying Dragon
John lv325 Lv325 experience 120tril/322tril Points 450 Skill Trees Battle Mage IV1/200 Berserker VII 886/1,600 Black Mage III 1/100 Blue Mage IV 1/200 Mana Elementalist IV 1/200 War Mage IV 1/200 White Mage II 1/100 Perks Berserkers Power - 1Str x 676,555kills Elder Sorcerer Channels - x25MP, x20Mag Dam, x15Hard drive Overmind - x15Mag Dam Ominous Aura - x15MR, x14Mag Def, x10RAM Giant¡¯s Form - x15HP, x14 Phys Def, x10Encryption Ogre¡¯s Regen - x15HR, x14Env Def, x10Malware Def World Shaker - +15%Phys Range, x14 Phys Dam, x10 Malware Dam Overlord - x25Senses, x20accuracy, x15 detection Hermes¡¯ step - x5Movement speed, x4 battle speed, x3 processor Silver Tongue - x4 Persuasion, x3leadership, x2communication
HP 34,489,650/34,489,650
HR 341,310/min, 5,688.5/sec
MP 1,100,000,000/1,100,000,000
MR 114,150/min, 1,902.5/sec
Str 678.54k Con 229.931k End 227.54k Agl 5,603 Int 4.4m Wis 76.1k Per 2.118m Chr 2627 Luk 60
Every step forward was becoming more difficult. This floor was covered by an overbearing sun and miles of endless sand. Out in the distance was a temple. Emily trailed sluggishly behind me as we made our way towards the structure. ¡°Boss, this place sucks. Can we hurry up, find a genie, and get out of here?¡± I looked back and raised an eyebrow. ¡°I have sand everywhere. Its all over my fur and in my unmentionable places. My tail is losing its fluff, can I have some water?¡± Emily asked. I sighed and held out my hand. Though, I have grown in power, I still had my short comings in magic. I couldn¡¯t create a spell farther from my body than a millimeter from my skin. Holding a finger over Emily¡¯s mouth, my mana altered in accordance with my will. From my mindscape a world of perpetual clean water entered physical reality. The mana at the tip of my finger formed the molecule of water. A larger mana fiber stretched and allowed the water to flow from my finger tip in a steady stream. A disturbance in the sand broke my mental image and the water stopped flowing. Vines shot from the sand aiming to steal the water from our bodies.
Dehydrating Tulip lv280 A desert weed that grows in underground caverns. They absorb the moisture from the creatures that live in the subterranean. When they sense water above they strike quickly. More than a few adventurers have lost their lives taking a leak.
I snatched the vine from the air with water filled mana fibers. The plant pierced the thin membrane tubing of the fibers and sucked away at my water. Thinner fibers moved into the plant through my will. I pictured Nano tubes wrapping around the water molecules, as the plant sucked away at my water source, it pulled in my mana fibers. My mental picture held together, as the fibers were drawn into the greedy plant. Once inside the creature, I focused on a black sun the only star a dark universe. Dragons of galactic might flew around the star¡¯s orbit feeding off its infinite energy. I was just another of the dragons taking in a small fraction of the star¡¯s power. Once I had enough black and crimson flames spread through the Nano tubing of my mana fibers. Something unexpected was about to happen, my perception allowed me a small glimpse of the future. I cut my mana supply, grabbed ahold of Emily, and began to run with my full might. The sand exploded behind us as we distanced ourselves from what was about to happen. We sped for the temple. One mile, I picked up more speed. Even as my senses warned me of the danger that had yet to pass. Ten miles my senses weren¡¯t wrong, I increased my speed. A mana barrier cut the wind and sand keeping Emily safe. Twenty-five miles and it happened. The sands exploded upward with black flames. The Dehydrating Tulip had a massive reservoir of water. When the black flames hit they broke the molecular bonds and burned the hydrogen and oxygen. Black flames didn¡¯t act like fire or plasma. They were a construct of hunger, power, and conquest. When they found a fresh source of energy to burn, they used it all up. ¡°Good riddance to that creepy plant. I hope its ash.¡± Emily said. I placed a finger to my lips and turned to the temple. Emily scratched her ears and stared at the massive structure. ¡°Wait couldn¡¯t you have shielded us or something. They were your flames. Aren¡¯t you completely resistant to them. Why do they suddenly feed on water now?¡± Emily said. I rolled my shoulders and looked back at her. ¡°When something powerful like the Tyrant Dragon¡¯s flames its better to dodge than to get hit. Besides, I gave up my resistance for deca flames. I need to get used to my own flames again. If I use deca fire breath, it will liquify my lungs. A deca fire barrier would have blocked out the heat. Though the blast would have turned you into paste. But don¡¯t worry, next time, I will let you take the blow. If that¡¯s what you want.¡± I said. She shook her head at getting hit. I smiled a bit taking pleasure in teasing and walked up the stairs to the temple. I returned to my mindscape, before dealing with this place. Each spell took on a unique image. They became worlds of fire, ice, and lightning within my mind filled out a small solar system. The black sun stood in the center. Worlds circled the star just as the dragons did. Though they were mere drakes and serpents in reality, they were powerful figures in my mindscape. We flew in a V pattern circling the black star. My mind had become a vast space, one that took time to fill. There was a new planet at the end now. A planet made of darkness. I couldn¡¯t see through the atmosphere, but I felt a multitude of being within. Wrapped around the world were moons broken off from the world of light just before the dark world. These moons circled the new world and shined their brilliance upon the dark world. There were no other stars beside the single black sun. I was satisfied with my existence as a solar system. I didn¡¯t need a multitude of stars and foreign worlds. For this new place I needed mana fibers once more. So, I tapped into the most primal energy of my solar system. It was invisible to the naked eye. This force when backed by the seed of my vision was the fertile soil of this burgeoning universe. I was of course gathering my mana. When next I opened my eyes, I saw mana fibers in their millions flow from my body. They flowed through the foreign mana of the dungeon and irradiated learn and inspect skills. It had taken only seconds to call upon my most powerful skill. My eyes perhaps glowing with blue light, turned to Emily. She nodded her face determined. We climbed the stairs and entered the temple. The doors opened, and we were not impeded. As we journeyed through the temple we saw statues of various Djinn. These foreign and fallen deities came in all shapes and sizes. They were of nearly every pantheon. Djinn were often humans who were drawn in by an over abundance of luck and Charisma. They were absorbed by deities. Their consciousnesses were burned away and they were made vessels for the deities. Each statue was an avatar in stasis ready to attack at a moments notice. They were not equal in power to a god summoned to the material plan by a multitude of followers, but they were indeed powerful. ¡°How lucky these men and women must be, they live forever as part of a god.¡± Emily said. I watched her mana fibers spread and inspect the multitude of statues. ¡°They are imprisoned in their own bodies at the whims of ancient gods. How is that luck?¡± I asked her. ¡°It depends on your point of view boss. For us mobs that live to serve you, there is no greater fulfillment of our purpose than to serve you in a memorable way. What¡¯s more memorable than joining with your permanently?¡± I shook my head at her strange thoughts and rubbed her head. She purred as we approached the statue we needed. ¡°Oh, Tiamat Mother of all Dragons, one of your distant sons demands your presence.¡± I opened my inventory and pulled out a bloody boar. I tossed the still warm carcass before the statue. The beast flopped the ground covered the statue with blood. As the blood pooled, it was slowly absorbed by the statue. A husky voice sounded in my ear. ¡°You are no son of mine, though you are dragon kin. Your offering has been received.¡± The statue changed from a carving of sea coral, delicate and fragile to the form of a busty naked woman. Her face was the most youthful and perhaps entrancing I have ever seen. A long serpent tail extended just above her rear. Her skin was more like layered silk than flesh. Her breast were D cups with inverted nipples that called for attention. A scent was in the air, one that pulled at my will. A cosmic storm was moving its way into my solar system. There was a hunger behind it like Tyrant Dragon¡¯s flame, only different perhaps of the opposing element. ¡°How cute, you¡¯re like a godling caught with his pants down.¡± She said between bites of raw pork. She sucked down the intestines of the pig. Blood slathered her face, yet she held herself with more dignity than any queen. A serpentine tongue covered in barbs licked the blood from her sea blue skin. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. I took a deep breath and a solar storm lashed out from the black sun. The clouds of ice and lightning moving into my own solar system struggled for a moment before, they were brushed away. My mind began to clear, so long as I held my breath. ¡°I called upon you, because I wanted a favor.¡± I said. ¡°Do you no longer want one? Has my presence disturbed you? You truly are not one of my children.¡± I snorted smoke and the dark world swallowed the light from its orbiting moons with glee. More mana fed the orbiting moons empowering them. My eyes glowed with their normal blue light. I felt my scales become harder, as I studied her. Tiamat¡¯s beautiful face stretched an ugly line. ¡°If you value your life then you will stop trying to glean the secrets of dragons from my avatar. I may have enough power for a full summoning.¡± I snorted at the implied threat. ¡°I doubt you have such power to waste, though you are known as an evil dragon. Perhaps, you are that petty. If you can¡¯t grant a simple favor to a dragon kin, then you weren¡¯t worth bothering with. Black flames rippled across my skin. I received deca fire resistance and began healing myself as my scales were burnt away. In my mind scape my form drew ever closer to the sun. I hoped not to go the way of Icarus. ¡°You are such a pitiful pretender. If you were a real dragon you would take me and damn the consequences. My husband could be dead this cycle for all you know. No, you¡¯re just a man pretending to be a lizard begging for favors. This is a waste of my time.¡± I grabbed her hand before she could leave. My aura black and red couldn¡¯t burn her hand. She grinned at my touch and an aura of seas unending flowed from her. My dragon flew ever closer to the sun. The small world of light kept my body together, as I fought off the power of this goddess and my own tyrant¡¯s flame. My crimson black flames grew dense around my skin as the ocean of storms invaded my solar systems my terrible black sun unleashed a mighty solar flare. My worlds were thrown into disarray. Only the hold of man mana fibers kept them from leaving my star¡¯s orbit and plummeting in the big emptiness of my mindscape. Tiamat grabbed ahold of my head even as Emily tried to knock her away. Her sea blue aura surrounded my body. The strings that kept my worlds from vanishing in empty space were pulled taught as solar flares fought off her cancerous storms. My dragon avatar the symbol of my true self flew ever faster into the black sun, I was no longer worried about what the destructive power would do to me. In the real world, I saw Tiamat knock Emily across the room. The cat tried to get back up, but there were bones sticking out of her body. She stood back up and the goddess walked over to her and took an arm and snapped it like a twig. ¡°Are we having fun yet pretender?¡± She took another limb and snapped it. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, I thought you wanted something from me. Cat got your tongue. Let me punish her for it. The least I can do for one of my kin.¡± My eyes mind returned to my solar system. Something rare was traveling through my solar system. A meteor of inky black corruption circled around the storms from the goddess. Wherever the meteor traveled the foreign power was reduced to usable mana. I stood up from my kneeling position. The crimson black flames that had been condensed to my skin began to push back the godly storms that attacked my mindscape. Standing at my full height of ten feet counting the horns. I walked towards the goddess. Usurper¡¯s breathe was heavy in my maw. My human appearance became ever more draconic. She held up her hands and snapped her fingers. I blinked and saw Emily beside me and Tiamat stood there a sly smile on her face. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I shouted. ¡°Dragon¡¯s shouldn¡¯t shout it destroys the image.¡± Tiamat rebuked. ¡°I created something of an illusion and bent your mind to a faster flow of time. There I beat your servant and nearly defeated you with aura alone. Only when your servant was broken at my feet, did you react like a dragon. I will accept you as my kin, though I expect an improvement in the future, white dragon. As a reward for proving yourself. You may ask a favor. Whether that is superior gear from my armory, knowledge of dragon techniques, or laying with me is up to you.¡± I wouldn¡¯t piss on her, if she was on fire right now. My skin was only just recovering, even with casting heal over and over. Tyrant Dragon¡¯s flames weren¡¯t a soft skill. ¡°You did it boss and thanks for caring about me. I don¡¯t know what she did, but thanks.¡± Emily said. I nodded to the nekomata. She licked the back of her palm and rubbed her ears. ¡°I want to be able to disguise myself from quests.¡± Tiamat smiled and nodded her head. ¡°That is a great choice. Not many dragons choose to take advantage of subterfuge. Those who do, always turn out to be the most powerful. Arrogant dragons die early in life, no matter the talent. The skill you want is called polymorph. All dragons born from my womb inherit the skill from me. There is another way for you to obtain the skill. It seems you get two rewards this time.¡± She grabbed a breath and put it to her mouth. With a single powerful suck, her nipple popped out. ¡°Want to help me for the other one. Your kitty can wait in the hall.¡± Emily got the message, blushed, and ran out of Tiamat¡¯s section of the temple. A new planet formed near the black star. It shined sea blue on one side and crimson black on the other. Dragons that circled the black sun landed on the small planetoid to rest on occasion. It offered respite from the dangerous black sun. Tiamat returned to her statue form of a busty dragon made of sea blue coral. I put my pants on and used my newest skill. Small wings had sprouted from my back after learning the skill. I stepped out in the hall. Emily sat there whistling with her hands covering her ears atop her head. I ruffled them. ¡°Boss did you have a good time? Did she have good tone? I know inverted nipples are great and all, but if she had no tone, I heard it isn¡¯t as fun.¡± Emily said. I blinked. ¡°Emily where would you have heard such a thing?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, the teddies like to have sex with some of the Sphinxes under me on their off time. There was actually a few fights and commotions over the whole differences in size and need of vaginal tone. Some of the sphinxes began to do work outs and stuff to better satisfy the teddies. Less tears with a tight vag. Something, I don¡¯t have to worry about with petite body like mine. Though, don¡¯t worry, I still do the exercises just in case.¡± Emily said. I froze for a moment and even the rotation of my many worlds paused for a few glorious seconds. When everything was moving again, I shook my head. ¡°Oh, well that¡¯s a shame boss. Who would have thought a millennia old dragoness that birthed like every dragon would have a wizard¡¯s sleeve down there? How these things happen really makes ya think.¡± Emily said. ¡°No, the tone was descent. I pounded her into the marble floor pretty good, a great stress reliever really. Trolls are tighter though. Siren¡¯s are sweeter in bed, and sphinxes are energetic. I guess it depends on what you¡¯re into.¡± I said. Its time to go to the surface. Polymorph worked by accessing the green side of my new planetoid. On that world, I landed my dragon avatar and the energies of the world made my flesh fluid. My body swelled, and my wings and horns lengthened. I felt my body sprint gaining on my potential strength. When the change ended, I was a massive white dragon. ¡°Boss, is that still you?¡± I nodded. Emily smiled a mischievous grin. ¡°Knew I would get to ride you eventually.¡± I snorted as she climbed the spikes leading up my tail and settled between those on my spine. A dragon with the polymorph skill natural exuded a frequency that was undetectable by the quest system. Since the quest system was a spell and not a true part of the universe designed by the one true god, there was never an adjustment to lock on to dragons. Polymorph was like a VPN it bounced the user¡¯s location to everywhere but where the user was, in other words, the questers and golems would search everywhere but where he was
New Godly skill Polymorph lv1 - A skill that makes the flesh fluid. Learn new forms to upgrade the skill. Bounces the location of the user to various locations to keep the user hidden. This skill grants the user some of Tiamat¡¯s godly essence. This skill is under the dragon category. +10Luk, +10Chr
With Emily on my back, I leapt up through the air. My wings at the ready, I spread them, and flapped. My body rocketed in the air holding off a plummet to my death or dismemberment. I flapped again, each time gathering more wind. Sunlight was absorbed by my scales, filling my muscles with renewed energy. Opening my maw, I powered up my Deca fire breath. With dragon lungs, I was able to gather far more mana. My new body was built to use mana, in this form, I could have a thousand times the intelligence than constitution and suffer no degradation. I was counting on that for my breath attack. ¡°What are you doing John? You aren¡¯t planning on blasting a hole in my floors again, are you?¡± I grinned in dragon form and unleashed a massive wave of deca fire breath. The crimson black flames shot out like a laser slicing a hole big enough for me to fly through. I arced my wings and flew upward before the floor could close. I banked across the shadowed floor. My inner darkness was hungry to collect the shadows that were spawned in. Flying through, I opened my maw collecting more shadows. Three passes and the floor was empty. Emily was cheering on my back. She was holding one of my back spikes and bouncing. Once the room was fully white, I charged another deca fire breath. My lungs sucked in as much mana as the room could provide and I unleashed a devastating attack. Once again, I flew upward leaving the floor behind out of mana, out of shadows, and with only the iced golem to contend with. I didn¡¯t kid myself, even in my current state, I couldn¡¯t destroy Elinore outright. It was better to leave her out of play. In the mountainous area of the 11th floor I flew by my fortress and felt and my children within the wombs of the various over muscled trolls. Their green skin had made taking them far more pleasurable. With my greater supply of mana, I filled the multiple engines keeping the fortress afloat with as much mana, as I dared spare. The false light shined off my white scales and Emily raised her hands wide as we flew upward. I was about to charge my breath when the dungeon opened the floor. ¡°If you can¡¯t beat them, join them right.¡± I didn¡¯t agree, but I was thankful for the assist. They opened for me each floor. 10 and 9, I saw Eric, Sasha, Phil, Tomas, Jim, and Greg they struggled against the Dryad. I pointed my maw at the wood spirits and fired a scalpel like beam of deca fire breath. The burned to ash the second they were touched by my attack. The adventurers shied away from the flames. I directed my face upward, even as magic arrows pelted my hide. They were no more a threat to me than anything of the lower floors at this point. I passed through the eighth floor and moved on to the seventh. The sixth floor dumped a lot of sea water as I passed through it. My deca fire barrier created such rising heat that the water steamed away from me. Emily was shielded by a mana barrier as we flew upward. The fifth floor had turned into a battle between my hades umbrella tree and the normal mobs. My tree bore many of its fruit. I could expect nothing less of a mighty lv150 tree. There was a hole made by Elinore in its trunk. Adventurers huddled in it hiding from the mobs. Some attempted to claim the fruit growing from the tree¡¯s great limbs. Vines reached out and snatched the adventurers up digesting them with powerful acids. My tree had long since evolved beyond a mere mob. As I flew towards the massive Hades Umbrella a Dryad wearing a crown sat on a throne within the tree. She smiled when I flew by. She plucked one of the higher fruits from one of the top branches. Her ebony skin and crimson black eyes made me come up with the name Persephone. She was the goddess of spring and growth who married hades. Her title changed to Persephone and the grin grew wider. She tossed me one of her fruits and I snagged it with my reptilian tongue. It was sweet and then bitter, like life and death. I swallowed the fruit down and felt renewed vigor. My wings beat faster, and I returned to the 4th floor. My maw opened, and I unleashed my terrible flames, as I passed through the entrance to the floor. Everything burned the spores all lit on fire and the flames spread killing everything adventurers included. Pressing on, I made it to the third floor snatching the electric turtle in my maw, the shell crunched like a potato chip. The thunder mana cores hit the spot. I burned my way through the second floor and on the first, I returned to my human form. As I walked by my feet happened to crush the zombie infants and children beneath my feet. Emily watched the horrible scene from my shoulder. We walked to the entrance of the first floor. Emily led the way at my command. The guards didn¡¯t even look up as we passed by. ¡°How did you like the dungeon? Was it as challenging as the ads say?¡± A female mage adventurer asked Emily. Emily looked behind her at me. ¡°I guess having a brute like him to act as your meat shield must make casting easier huh. Ha, I but you just sit back and collect the xp while tall white and male does all the heavy lifting right. Do you even need to have sex with him? He doesn¡¯t look very easy on the eyes. Is he packing. The guy must at least have a lot of gold right. You know if you declare rape right here, I will back you up. We can split everything he has right down the middle. What do you say, want to partner up with me?¡± It took everything I had not to squash the little bug of a mage right here. ¡°No, we are partners.¡± Emily said. When she thought I wasn¡¯t paying attention, she got the mages attention. She held her arm at the shoulder and pointed between my legs. The mage gave a thumb¡¯s up and nodded. Then Emily held her hands up. She made the universal sign for money and shook her head. The mage girl gave a look of sympathy and patted Emily on the shoulder. We were about to step out on the street when a golem confronted us. ¡°Stop, you have yet to pay the male tax. Before you can leave you must pay 200 silvers or 50% of every drop you found in the dungeon. Return to the check in station or be jailed.¡± It was a royal golem lv150. If I destroyed it more would show up. I nodded, Emily and I returned to the check in. ¡°Ah, we have been so busy that the two of you must have just walked in. No harm done. State your names and guild.¡± The question was directed towards Emily. They gave me a look, like I was a homeless man. ¡°Emily and this is my partner Boss. Yea that¡¯s literally his name.¡± I blinked dubiously as Emily started speaking. ¡°A man that¡¯s named boss what a paradox. Well boy that will be 200silver and an extra 50 for the late sign in. Then there is the first-time service fee. I don¡¯t see any ID on the two of you. Your total will be 500 silvers. Take it or we can call the golems.¡± Emily frowned and pulled out seven gold coins. The exchange rate from gold to silver was on a sign above the check in station. ¡°75 silvers for one gold. That¡¯s 6.6 repeating so, will you take this and give us our IDs quickly. We are members of a new guild called the white dragons. I¡¯m Emily the battle mage, and this is Boss the Berserker.¡± We received our IDs and made our way outside. Soon, I would see the city and if its anything like the check in station, it wouldn¡¯t be a pretty sight. Chapter 15 The Centaurs Inn Chapter 15 The decrepit City Two red giants were upon the horizon. My mystic powers haled from the universe, two bloated stars appeared, dying weighed upon my soul. They were once great shining stars filled with life and hope. Soon the stars would either explode, or collapse upon themselves sucking in the light from nearby stars. Fortunately, they were too far away to affect my solar system. If only, the clock could be turned back. I would have loved to see the twin stars in their truest glory. I followed behind Emily, as we took to the streets. No one gave us a second glance, as we walked out towards the residential district. It was my hope that with what gold I had, an apartment could be rented and we wouldn¡¯t be forced to live on the streets. As we moved farther from the dungeon and away from the palace, the crater like design of the city became more apparent. The third ring from the center held shops and various apartments. The buildings were made from old lacquered wood. Smoke leaked from various chimneys. Children of all shapes and sizes hid in back alleys. They watched our every move, as we approached one of the inns. Out of the doors pranced a centaur with a large swaying rack. ¡°Welcome good adventurers to the Centaur¡¯s Inn. We have the most authentic straw filled beds and with a month¡¯s purchase we include three meals a day.¡± I turned an eye to the alley. The centaur wrinkled her nose and flattened her ears. ¡°You don¡¯t want to deal with those unsavory types. They are children of adventurers and citizens of our city. Adventurers from the patriarchy territories aren¡¯t bound to pay for their offspring. The mothers can¡¯t support them, so they leave them on the streets. Most die, those that don¡¯t well they are the children of adventurers. The centaur smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t let such unpleasantness discourage you, from enjoying our fair city. Twin star city can be a magical place. We have some of the best gear around. There are thousands of skilled blacksmiths more than willing to serve a man especially one led by a woman. Duos are a rarity. One from the patriarchal territories even more so.¡± The centaur gave a charismatic smile. I noticed the price was never given. How much gold was month worth? Would I have to pay a higher tax again? Money didn¡¯t grow on trees. I may feel rich now, but taxes would quickly make me poor again. I looked up at the Inn. Over the door was a picture of a bucking centaur, breasts flopping in the air, and a spear in her right hand. The doors to the inn themselves were inlayed with gold and the floors were a type of dense stone. Granite for lime stone most likely. Her hooves didn¡¯t damage the floors. ¡°How much for a room miss.¡± Emily asked. ¡°Gwendy dear, and for the two of you 30silvers. No male tax needed, if you pay for the first ten months up front.¡± I handed over two silver bars. Each bar was 160 ounces of silver maybe giving her a little extra would earn her allegiance. Gwendy neighed out loud at seeing the heavy bars. The blush that covered her face alone, was nearly worth the bars. ¡°Sorry about that. You must have journeyed deep in the dungeon to get bars of silver. How far did you go?¡± Gwendy probed. I rolled my eyes. ¡°We made it to the sixth floor. The water was a bit too much for us, so we had to head back.¡± Emily said. I wanted to pat her on the head and tell her she was a good girl. Gwendy nodded. ¡°I once attempted to make my way through the dungeon as well. The stories of the fifth floor were too much. I grinded enough silver to buy a rundown inn and fixed it up to what you see now. There is no shame in knowing when to give up. Now, come on in its cold out here.¡± Gwendy said with a smile. Emily walked in with her tail wagging. I walked slowly behind her watching the children edging ever closer. They had the look of disheveled husks. The rags they wore wasn¡¯t enough for this cold. To a one they were all boys. A mad animalistic gaze shown through their eyes. I tossed a hand full of gold to them and walked in the inn. To the side were many guests sitting at the fireplace. Hot drinks were held and they were wrapped up in blankets and heavy clothing. A naga was curled next to the fire her snake half was a deep purple. She looked up at me and licked her lips. I turned away and kept walking. Gwendy trotted up to me. ¡°That¡¯s Marris she is a literal man eater. She likes to eat the few men who walk in here, stupid enough to lay with her. Thus, far none have managed to survive a night with her. If you want to try your luck, I won¡¯t stop you. I understand that men have needs.¡± Gwendy said.
Marris the Man Eater LV 170 A naga born from a noble family in the desert city of Neo Syria. She is known for her sick and twisted habits of debauchery. Many spells of paralysis and poison are known to her. From an early age, she was taught the black art of assassination. Now she enjoys a life of swallowing men alive and reveling in their screams as she slowly digests them. Will you tempt fate and challenge the eater of men? 3 quests available
¡°Maybe another time. I still need to get settled in my room. There is gear to buy in the upper rings, right?¡± A small smile spread across Gwendy¡¯s slips. She brushed a few strands of tangerine colored hair from her face. ¡°Smart, not many men can resist that woman. Most don¡¯t last a night here.¡± I nodded and let the centaur lead me. Emily was waiting at the door. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.I looked at Gwendy¡¯s info.
Gwendy Owner of the Centaur''s Inn lv80 She is a fully-grown centaur standing nine feet tall. Her horse half is the size of a Clydesdale. She has long since retired from her old adventuring profession to enjoy a life of mediocracy. A cunning business women, she will swindle a beggar out of his last copper if she can. 10 quests available
That was good to know. If I had looked beforehand, then I might not have paid so much for the room. We opened our room door to a large room furnished with soft beds and smelling of pine. There was a single bathroom with cold running water and a truly massive tub. Beside the bed was a dresser and a full-length mirror. A single chest rested at the foot of the bed. ¡°You will be living here for the next 10 months, so decorate it in any way you like. There is dinner in the lobby if you want. Meal of the day is vegetable stew. If you want something with meat, you must go up to the next ring. I¡¯m sure there is a restaurant still open. Though, you should be warry, the night walkers hunt this time of night. Vampires, ghouls, and werewolves will most likely be on the prowl. They have a license to hunt several humans a month. The inns are safe enough, be careful.¡± She closed the door after she walked out. I turned to Emily. ¡°What are you thinking boss?¡± Emily asked. For a time, I sat on the bed and just felt the room. My mana could act like a sonar if I let it. Learn and inspect skills told me a lot about the room. With a thought, I opened to the deca fire within my mindscape and seared away the biting insects that lived in the hay filled mattress. A trained ear could hear the crackle and pop of the insects. I turned to Emily. ¡°I will have a bath. You may take a nap. There are no credible threats to us, for now.¡± There was a trick I saw on the old avatar the last air bender show, I was dying to try. After water filled the massive bathtub a surprise luxury in this inn. I took a deep breath and focused on just the heat from deca fire. When I let out the breath, steam fired from my nose boiling the water rapidly. A few seconds later, I broke out in a coughing fit. When I finally calmed down, I inspected the water with my hands. The temperature was at an acceptable level, so I stripped and got in. After a time, I realized the bath must be built for a centaur. No wonder it could fit my large body with three of me to spar. That in mind, I enjoyed my bath up until the window opened and my eyes met the cruel yellow of Marris. The large snake woman stripped her bra off revealing a set of massive mammaries. She stripped her skirt off revealing a large slit just below her naval. She stripped off her belt and sword. The jeweled handled glowed in the dim candle light. I looked over at the closed door. ¡°Now, you wouldn¡¯t want to disturb your friends slumber. Let¡¯s relax in the tub. It¡¯s so very cold outside. I was forced to climb up to your window. You see, when I saw you, I just knew you had to be mine. Can¡¯t you feel it, don¡¯t you want my body.¡± I lifted a hand from the water and made a comehither motion. She smiled and climbed into the tub, her massive snake half coiled around me. Marris smiled and hugged me placing her generous chest on me. I knew what she was doing. Her slit was against me, this was her game. When we started mating, she would consume me. It was what she did. ¡°I was afraid you would struggle. Most do, they are so very afraid of the end. How funny, you adventurers rush into the mouths of dungeon, yet your squeamish when running into mine. Do you think you are different? You are a big boy, especially for a human. I have swallowed minotaurs whole.¡± Marris boasted. She smiled the opened her mouth. A pair of very sharp fangs extended from her mouth. The hard palate of her mouth was black. Drops of venom fell from her fangs making ripples in the water. Her long inhuman tongue stretched out licking her lips again. ¡°Different, well I am very different. I don¡¯t feel emotions like I should. It¡¯s hard for me to get worked up, I only get angry when someone I care for I in danger. If you had threatened to kill Emily, I would have already snapped your neck and tossed your body for the children to eat. Am I afraid of what your body can do to me, well no.¡± I took hold of the side of her face and pressed my thumb against the tip of her fang. The hard scales of my dragon like flesh threatened to snap her fang. Her eyes widened at the display. I took hold of one of her heavy tits and brought her nipple to my mouth. She scrunched her face, as I made a show of sucking on her. Placing a hand behind her head, I brought her in and kissed the naga. From there the bath got interesting. Later after, I dried off and my guest left, I dropped on the bed next to Emily. ¡°Boss why do you smell like snakes?¡± Emily asked. I shrugged and rubbed her head eliciting purring. Later, we pocketed our keys and left for the upper ring. It was time we found some gear. There was a chance there was a blacksmith that stayed open after hours. We waved bye to Gwendy and Marris. The snake woman blushed when she looked at me. The adventurers nearby chuckled at the nagas expense. With jackets on generously gifted by Gwendy we headed out. The fact that there was a huge logo for the centaur¡¯s inn had nothing to do with the gift. The city at night was a very different place from during the day. There was a feeling of wrongness in the air. Mist flowed inward covering the streets. Various presence of high and low strength danced at the edge of my senses. They weren¡¯t so clever as they thought. We climbed the ring without incident. ¡°Boss, I think we are being stalked.¡± Emily said. I nodded. She frowned and followed behind me. Chapter 15 Late Night Gear Shopping It was an exciting time. As we traveled through the dead streets, Emily walked behind me in a defensive position. Despite my stat advantage, she had faster reflexes. Just another flaw that needed training to correct. We walked ever closer to the outer ring of the city. With ever step forward, I could feel the ghouls close our way behind. An interesting tactic, fighting a foe many times stronger with a paltry force. From what I could sense, there were less than fifty yet more than thirty. From the amount of mana their undead bodies exuded, I could tell none were above 100. In the middle of the street a girl with ebony hair was hunched over. I could hear sobbing. Miasma filled the streets, as we drew ever closer to the girl. From what I could tell, she was no older than 18, when she was turned. The young woman had one of those petit bodies. ¡°Boss, should we change paths. We shouldn¡¯t pick fights we don¡¯t have to on the surface. That girl is putting off more ambient mana than I am. I don¡¯t know how many people she¡¯s killed, but I would wager they number in the hundreds.¡± Emily said. I rubbed her head and continued my pace. This was just getting good. I took a deep breath and drew upon the darkness these undead exuded. The shade, I consumed had digested well. Its darkness was a part of me. It worked with my light aura. Keeping a steady balance. With this much miasma in the air, I didn¡¯t need to fuel my darkness with mana. The miasma would supply all the energy I needed. The light I produced grew ever more potent. We were upon the girl now. Close enough to get a description.
Ruth Yamomoto the Princess of Gluttony lv210 Once a ghoul this newly turned human hunted her way up the food chain. Men, women, or children it didn''t matter she fed upon them all absorbing their lives through blood. She has taken to hunting adventurers that wonder the streets at night. She uses her army of ghouls to isolate her prey and group cast miasma to strengthen her vampiric powers.
I equipped my scythe from my inventory and felt my darkness increase in power by a factor of five. The light of my aura grew to counter my darkness expending more mana. The sobbing stopped. The vampire rose from her crouching position. ¡°Oh, you aren¡¯t going to check on me. How rude, I could have been a poor little girl trapped out on the streets waiting for my prince charming to come and save me from the night. That scythe, you took it from the seventh floor. That drop is very rare.¡± She stood covered in a red dress. It was built to expose just enough of her breasts to entrance the senses, but not enough to expose her. She was clearly half Asian. Her skin color alone held that special lilac glow. The red dress, manicured eyebrows, and red lip stick made for an interesting show. She was short almost childlike compared to my height and bulk. Ruth wasn¡¯t beautiful so much as she was deadly. There was a charisma that begged me to get closer. Her voice poked at the coals of my smoldering empathy. She was a very dangerous woman. ¡°I¡¯m looking for a blacksmith that does custom work. Do you know any?¡± I held my scythe in a reverse grip. Ruth was too dangerous to let close. If her charisma was strong enough to affect me like this. At the edge of my verse, I could feel darkness creeping in. Her powers were attempting to manipulate my mind. ¡°Oh, I know of one or two. Though they are of my kind, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t want anything they could make you. Too, powerful for a mortal man. Darkness isn¡¯t your best element. You seem to clumsily keep it contained chained by the light. That¡¯s no way to use something as spirited as the night.¡± Dark power flowed through mana fibers linking them together to form chains. These chains wrapped around the scythe in my hand. ¡°If you do know of one, then direct us or step aside. We will find them on our own.¡± I said. My legs bent as I prepared for a fight. The miasma wrapped around her fingers and formed bats. ¡°You know nothing of the night. Mortal man, give in and bare you neck to me. I will make your end pleasurable.¡± I took a step forward and paused. The miasma was quickly converting into bats. These creatures were merely shapes designed to look like the little rats with wings. Ruth held out her hand and the bats fired forward arcs of lighting exploded between them. The lightning struck me in the chest and fizzled out. I swung my scythe sending my chains flying. Like my tendrils, I could flex and control my chains. They wrapped around the vampire woman¡¯s legs and I yanked her off her feet and placed my scythe at her throat. I flexed my mana shattered the invasive darkness Ruth was using to subvert my will. ¡°Go to the commercial ring and find a small shop near the graveyard. There should be a few facilities that make gear for undead still open.¡± I smiled for a moment, before I let her down. ¡°Show me where it is. If you do that then, I will consider this attack a misunderstanding.¡± Emily appeared to my back carrying a sack of heads. ¡°Where did you get the sack.¡± I asked her. She smiled in a cat like way. ¡°One of the ghouls had it. A great tool for storing heads. I think this was a great find. Gwendy said we could decorate the apartment anyway we want right. Is that your newest concubine Boss?¡± I shrugged. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°If she can lead me to the blacksmith then maybe. If not, maybe we will get her stuffed.¡± I said. Ruth shivered through the chains. ¡°It¡¯s this way.¡± She said. ¡°You know all I have to do if find a golem and the two of you will be imprisoned. I have a license to hunt. By law the two of you are in the wrong for resisting.¡± Ruth said. ¡°So, what¡¯s your story. What made you want to live in a place like twin star city?¡± I said. ¡°Is that really a question, I can hunt anyone I want legally. As a woman, I don¡¯t pay taxes. When I arrived, I was just a ghoul. Now, I¡¯m a vampire, I live in a lavish mansion. If I was wearing my gear you would be dead.¡± Ruth said. I thought about all the foes I had fought. The avatar of the goddess Tiamat was not an easy foe. ¡°Unlikely, if you were a credible threat, I would have killed you and tossed your body to your ghouls. The only reason your alive, is your low level.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, are you sure it isn¡¯t these?¡± She grabbed ahold of her tits and presented them. ¡°I have gotten away with more than a few kills because of these. I don¡¯t think you would have lasted long if I were an assassin. You are a man after all.¡± Ruth said. I snorted and continued walking. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± I nodded and took the chains off. ¡°Just like that.¡± She said. I nodded and moved towards the entrance. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m doing this.¡± She walked in front of me and knocked. ¡°If you don¡¯t have an undead sponsoring you they will sell you faulty equipment. You will be in the field fighting some overpowered mob and then bam your armor will fry and paralyze you. Its one of the reasons there isn¡¯t a line of people here to get gear.¡± She knocked on the door and they waited for an answer. ¡°Ruth what are you doing here. You aren¡¯t supposed to come for gear maintenance for another month. Oh,¡± The guy saw Emily and me. ¡°Jack, he¡¯s a friend of mine, I promised him some unregulated gear.¡± Ruth said. Jack nodded and opened the door. ¡°Just like that.¡± I said. Jack nodded. ¡°So, long as you have a sponsor, breathers are free to come and go. I already have your description saved.¡± We followed Jack to the back of the building and down some stairs. We entered a sweltering room filled with black smiths and leather workers. Weapons of all kinds were set on racks. Armor of all kinds were sat on manikins. A large lich goblin sat at the desk. The lich looked me over and smiled. It looked creepy on a skeleton. The lich took a drag of a cigar the smoke flowed down into his rotting lungs and came out through various wounds. He threw a hand up. ¡°Put it there breather, you must be something if Ruth brought you here. The names, Rog I¡¯m the owner of this establishment.¡± He looked me over. ¡°You look tough enough, your pumping out more mana than any breather I¡¯ve met, and hiding a massive amount of dark power. I like it, you¡¯re just dangerous enough to be interesting, but not enough for me to kill outright. That and your Ruth¡¯s friend. She isn¡¯t known for trusting breathers, so you must be an upstanding fellow.¡± I turned my head to Ruth. She smiled with some fang in it. We were going to have fun later, I could tell. ¡°Rog, I need some top of the line gear. How many gold bars will it take for top of the line gear.¡± He took another drag, and the room cooled down considerably. ¡°Gold bars, few have been deep enough in the dungeon to have that type of currency. You don¡¯t seem the type to obey the mistress.¡± He looked over at Emily. ¡°You¡¯re a solo aren¡¯t you. The pretty face is just that, a pretty face. Yes, I can feel it the blood on your hands could fill oceans. Let me see your hands.¡± I held them out. He eyed them and nodded. ¡°Your skin is dragon scales, you¡¯re ten feet tall, and you have enough mana to put us all to shame. You are a solo. Alright, 500 gold bars and I will give you everything you need.¡± The goblin smiled like he named a steep price. I opened my inventory and began placing my gold bars. Each bar weighed ten pounds. The desk began to wobble at the 200th bar. Once I finished Rog had 5000lbs of gold sitting on his demolished desk. ¡°Grob, take this paying customer for measurements.¡± Rog said. A werewolf goblin took me to a separate room had me strip and he measured me from head to toe. When I returned, Ruth was still there, she was looking over the mass of gold bars hungrily. That was honestly all the money I had besides a few gold and silver coins. It would be a while before my mobs farmed enough gold for me to start auto making bars again. ¡°What do you know of Iaido or quickdraw swordsmanship?¡± Ruth asked. I knew nothing about the skill. That sounded like something that could sharpen my stats up quite nicely. ¡°If you can teach me, I would like to learn.¡± She nodded. ¡°It¡¯s what my gear is based on. I don¡¯t really fight seriously in the streets. My food rarely overpowers my dark spells. Iaido is where my real destructive power lies.¡± She turned to Rog. ¡°I want you to make him a katana built for the quick drawing like mine. How long before his gear is prepared.¡± Rog consulted his ledger. ¡°If the materials can be obtained in a reasonable amount of time. Three months to eight give or take a few weeks. If we had the materials a month.¡± The goblin lich said. She nodded. ¡°That should be more than enough time to teach him the basics of my style.¡± I blinked, was this chick coming on to me. ¡°Boss, you do have another concubine. I thought Marris would be the only one.¡± Emily said. I stared at the vampire leading me out. She fluttered her eyes and only took a second glance at the gold. Chapter 16 Finding the Truth The sun had just set, as I made my way to the wealthy district. A good section of the city rings was devoted to the massive mansions that towered over shops and dojos. It would still be months before I could get my hands on any gear. Ruth had asked him to come over and learn quick draw swordsmanship. If it was worth my time, I would learn it. A ghoul opened the gate, as I arrived. The mansion was built with an imperial Japanese style. It said a lot about the woman. She was more than vain enough to desire a mansion, and she valued her ancestry enough to have a Japanese style mansion built. The doors to the place opened and I walked through. A red carpet led to a simple sitting room. ¡°Our master will see you shortly.¡± A ghoul said. An hour later Ruth walked in. She wiped blood from her face with a silk handkerchief. She sat across from me in a richly adorned seat. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to keep you waiting. My breakfast had more fight in him than I thought. I do love white mages, they cast heal and regenerate on themselves. It ensures my meals are plentiful. Though, they lack quality at times.¡± This was her way of altering my impression of her. She wore a long flowing robe over armor and a sword rested at her side. She moved with eloquence and dignity. It was unlike the earlier impression. ¡°When you had me at your mercy, you let me live. I acted unlike myself, I want to change that. You came to learn from me quick draw swordsmanship. If you would like, we can adjourn to my dojo.¡± I frowned at the display and followed behind her. We walked down a long hallway and entered practice area. Wooden swords stood on stands and a set of steel swords were set in the front. I looked around and picked a wooden sword from the racks. ¡°I would like to see if I can learn from you. Show me your quick draw skills.¡± I dashed forward with mana burst. My wooden blade shouldn¡¯t kill her. With that in mind, I tried for a real blow. Her blade was out of its sheath and she slashed once, twice, three times, and she put it back in the sheath. I could see her moves perfectly. Every muscle, every twitch, her stance, and the way she held her blade. My own wooden sword fell apart. ¡°Is that what you wanted to see?¡± Ruth asked. I frowned, how could she do that. I saw her movements but couldn¡¯t react in time. I¡¯m certain that I¡¯m faster than her. Is this a difference of experience? When the first test failed, a different one is in order. ¡°No, you¡¯re faster than me for now. I want to see if you can keep it up.¡± I said. The vampire gnashed her teeth the returned to calm. ¡°As you wish, let me show you my skill.¡± She moved her hips and her stance changed. I pulled a sword from my inventory and dashed forward. Mana burst and thrust combined for a deadly stab. Once again, she was able to pull her blade from the sheath. This time she threw herself to the side and cut my steel sword. Just before she struck my arm I changed direction and drove my elbow into her sternum. Her armor took the blow and deflected some of the force. If it hadn¡¯t, her upper torso would have exploded. Blood pulled from her mouth and she coughed up a glob of blood. ¡°How was that, do you want to continue observing my skills? That sword in your hand is worthless now. I won this exchange again.¡± Ruth said. I nodded, she had won the exchange. Perhaps, I was acting childish. ¡°You did win, I will learn from you.¡±
New Skill Crimson Iaido lv1 A quick draw method devised by Ruth Yamamoto. This skill targets vital areas for quick bloody victories. +0.1Agl.
¡°Good, I have a quest for you.¡±
Quest Crimson Iado training part 1 requirements 100,000 swings first stance 100,000 swings second stance Rewards +10lvs crimson Iaido Third stance Crimson Iaido practice sword
I nodded and took a wooden sword from the wrack. I faced one of the training mannequins and began my training. Broken wooden swords were chucked in a pile beside me. I completed the quest and received a sheathed steel katana. Ruth was back with her hair in a long braid. She was wearing a blood red robe this time. She poured two glasses of chilled blood and handed me one. I raised an eyebrow. ¡°It¡¯s not human blood.¡± With a shrug, I took a sip of the irony drink. ¡°I heard you and Marris hit it off. That naga once swallowed minotaur. I saw it, his name was Steve. She isn¡¯t someone to get intimate with trust me.¡± I blinked and let the words pass over me. ¡°She seemed nice enough, just used to getting her way.¡± She raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s a lie. She tried to eat me on my first night. Once she figured out I¡¯m stronger and impervious to her bight, well she kowtowed to me.¡± Ruth chuckled and took a sip of blood. ¡°Yea, that sounds like most predators. We are so used to being at the top of the food chain, when we finally meet something above us, we do what we can to not get eaten. You made a mistake with her. That naga will go straight to the golems and have you arrested for raping her.¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°She was trying to eat me.¡± Ruth nodded. ¡°She has successfully eaten many men who entered the place.¡± Ruth nodded again. ¡°She crawled into my room and joined me in the bath.¡± Ruth smiled and nodded again. ¡°She is still going to get her way, isn¡¯t she?¡± A final time Ruth nodded. ¡°Golems are only lv150, so long as I destroy them quickly, they shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± I said. Ruth smiled showing fang. ¡°They are definitely an issue. Yes, they are only lv150 but there are thousands in the city. They are tireless, and they will not play fair. You don¡¯t even have gear, you should pay the fine and go on with your life.¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°What powers the golems?¡± I asked. Ruth took another sip of blood. ¡°I can¡¯t trust a man with that information. Its against the law in Amazonia, to give men such knowledge.¡± I stood up and walked out the door. ¡°Where are you going?¡± She asked. I looked at her with my god like perception. Resting for two days had made me lazy. ¡°Thank you for the lessons Ruth. I will put them to good use. See you around.¡± I said. ¡°Just like that, because I wouldn¡¯t tell you top secret information?¡± I shook my head. It was time to cause some trouble. ¡°I will see you tomorrow night. I just have some errands to run before morning.¡± I pecked her on the cheek, when she drew in to kiss me with her blood covered lips. There was a hunger in her eyes that were unmistakable. She was a man eater just like Marris. If I let her in too close without the upper hand, she will chew me up and spit me out. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.As I walked the dark streets a group of golems blocked my path. ¡°Citizen John Union of the white Dragons guild, you are under arrest for charges of rape and sedition of the state. Pay a fine of 1,500 gold bars or face execution.¡± The lead golem said. I held out a hand and launched a massive crimson black fireball. It exploded catching two of the golems. I used mana burst to get close to the nearest golems and used the third stance. It was a simple draw, horizontal slash, and sheath. Machinery split revealing the golem¡¯s innards. Deca fire aura storm barrier locked us all together. I released to barrier and ran out of it. A single golem wasn¡¯t in my prediction. Sally, a named Golem wasn¡¯t affected by my flames. It ran at me with break neck speed. It held a massive war hammer. It leapt upon me and struck out a mighty blow. I used the second stance to get to the Sally¡¯s side and sliced through the weapon. Tiny seeds flew from my mouth ready to implant themselves on Sally. Sparks flew as I struck a thunder mana core. Lightning exploded knocking us apart. Her human skin was burned in places revealing machinery. I sheathed my blade and drew upon my mana reserves. The only way to beat this thing was a concentrated attack. Anything less than that would be worthless. ¡°Rapists, instigators, woman beaters, and murderers you are all the same. When we confront you, and demand you pay for your crimes you run and hide or fight. What do you think will happen? Do you think you will get out of this, will you run? We will find you, we always do.¡± Above my palm was a triangular pyramid connected by five deca fireballs. Deca fire barrier held in a mass of heat that I continued to pour mana into. The concentrated power within the structure could destroy this city easily. Small vines grew out of Sally¡¯s body. When we clashed before, I covered her in tiny seeds. They were slowing her down giving me time to charge up my attack. A shape like a pyramid could hold far more mana than a fireball. It was a bomb. The pyramid in my hand vanished appearing around the golem. I watched the pyramid wink out of existence carrying the golem with it to detonate in my mindscape. It only cost 500m mana.
New Skill Deca Fire Pyramid lv1 A skill of immense power designed to destroy your foes. Those with high enough magic defense will not be transported. The pyramid will instead detonate in the physical world. Cost 500m Mag Dam x10 +10Int
The attack took 16 seconds to charge. That amount of time was ridiculous for any battle. If I hadn¡¯t had her bound, then I wouldn¡¯t have been able to use it. I ran for it, with a mighty leap, I cleared several rings. My face altered slightly before I landed. Before me stood a library. It was forbidden for men to enter it. Within it contained history, art, spells, and the secrets to golem craft. I walked up to the nearest golem and ripped the power core out of it. Every kill I examined, taught me a little more about the creatures. They had runes that deflected skills like inspect making it more difficult to learn about them. I waited the 16 seconds created a small decal fire pyramid and transported the remained of the golem to my mindscape to explode. When I entered the library, my eyes quickly absorbed the information from books without the need to open them. A hidden perk of the perception stat. As I walked through the stacks, I stopped at history. Twin star city was founded by a man named Jeffery Ronald. He was a magician and a former scientist. It was his dream to create a utopia. He wanted to craft robots to work for men and women. It was his dream of a society free of wants able to put all their concerns to science and understanding. He died, and his wife Milly Ronald took his research and built the first Golem. The mayor at the time was still an elected official. Mrs. Ronald used her husband¡¯s money to hire scientists and mages to further the golem research. A decade later the mayor died of a complicated surgery. He did not trust white mages and chose to use a skilled surgeon. After the mayor died, doctors were ostracized, and white mages quickly took their place. Golems continued to advance. Twin star city left the patriarch territory and joined Amazonia where it quickly supplied golems to the country. I climbed the stairs higher through the library. Engineering told me nothing about golems. The section was rarely used. Spells had plenty of long chanting spells with little in the way of reward, but few useful skills. Though chanting was something, I could get into. It might help with concentration. There was a secret part of the library. It was hidden behind runes. ¡°Hello, sir what brings you to the library. You don¡¯t seem to be interested in art or literature. You deserted spells and history. What brings you here sir?¡± It was the librarian. She had a massive witches hat on her head and a staff in hand. ¡°Where are you going?¡± I took a step and my foot flew back. A rune appeared, where I was walking. ¡°I¡¯m going to tell on you.¡± The woman said. ¡°Go ahead, I will be long gone before you return.¡± I side stepped the runed and touched the barrier keeping me from the libraries secrets. ¡°What are you looking for I might be able to help. I¡¯m Maryjane, what¡¯s your name.¡± I pushed against the barrier and watched it crack. I felt my aura rise and combat the barrier. ¡°You certainly are strong Mr.¡± The woman said. She waved her staff and reversed my momentum. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t let you go through there. Men aren¡¯t aloud in the library. So, you really can¡¯t be allowed in the room of secrets.¡± I reared my hand back. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that. If you haven¡¯t figured it out yet, any force you use will come right back at you.¡± Maryjane said. My fist smashed into the barrier. As my momentum was reverse, I used more. It was like pushing against a wall that pushed back. I slowly used more strength until the wall exploded. The woman had a look of horror on her face. Before she could impede me further, I stabbed my sword through her gut. I brought my sword back and sheathed it. Down these stairs were the answers I sought. I lite the room revealing walls filled with scrolls. Bones littered the floor and runes covered the floor. These runes, I have never seen before. They were quickly stained into memory. I took the scrolls and shoved them into my inventory for later perusal. I took the old golems and used inspect. They didn¡¯t have the protections their later models had. There were quite a few weaknesses and they were covered in runes. I leapt up shattered the floor above as my leap carried me through solid stone. Parts of the library crumbled, and I created a colossal deca fireball and dropped it on the library. Some knowledge I saved, the rest I burned. Congratulations, now both men and women wouldn¡¯t have a library to use. Isn¡¯t equality fun? I returned my features to normal and dropped in a dark alley. Golems ran by me unable to recognize me. I made my way back to Gwendy¡¯s inn. There was information that needed time to pour over. I wanted to know how golems were formed, so I could break them.