Alex came to with a gasp, the air from his sharp intake grating painfully against his throat and sending him into an immediate coughing fit. Trying to sit up in the hopes that repositioning would make it easier to breathe, he found himself unable to move as even slight pressure on his arms caused them to erupt in agony. His hands felt like they’d spent a night in the River Styx, and his head wasn’t far behind. Mental Fortress was doing little to curb the torment, suggesting his suffering was all natural, though for once Alex wished that wasn’t the case. A botched mental intrusion seemed easier to fix than whatever the hell this was.
Lying back flat against the ground as he tried not to aggravate some other unknown injury, he assessed his situation. It had only been ten minutes since Alex had idiotically insisted on ignoring the skill limit to force accept Staff Mastery, and unfortunately, he’d been awake the entire time. When Alex had come to earlier, it was more regaining control of his body than consciousness as a whole. While the pain his selection caused had quickly killed his attribute high, the damage hadn’t been potent enough to knock him out. It seemed those new points weren’t just for show. So instead of a nice shock induced nap, Alex had spent the last few minutes like a passenger in his own body, unable to move as he screamed his lungs out in agony.
Manipulating his inventory so he could pour some water directly into his mouth, he scanned his surroundings with Sixth Sense. Winning a fight in his current state would be near impossible, but Alex would rather go down fighting than nursing his injuries. He’d rather run away than do either of those, however, but none were necessary as no creatures had approached due to his outburst. Lifting his arms, the action causing a jolt of pain to run through him, Alex rolled himself back slightly before forcing himself to his feet. Keeping his sensory skill at maximum range, he considered taking a potion or resting on his healing mat, but a quick check on his health value showed it unlikely to work.
His health wasn’t max, but it was up from the last time he’d checked it, making any traditional damage unlikely to be the cause. That didn’t mean his mat was out of the question entirely. The item had vastly more powerful healing abilities than any old potion, but Alex didn’t feel safe taking a prolonged rest after the commotion he’d caused. Thinking he might need to relocate while injured, he decided to take a moment to check what all this pain had earned him, desperately hoping he hadn’t just ruined everything.
***
For gaining a fundamental understanding of the axe through bloodshed, you have received the following skill: Staff Mastery (Common)
Perfect Synergy Detected -
Would you like to combine Hammer Mastery (Common), Arnis Mastery (Uncommon), and Staff Mastery (Common)? Due to perfect synergy, combined skill will result in a rise in rarity and combination of skill levels.
Potential Skill -
Name: Blunt Weapons Mastery
Rating: Uncommon
Grade: F
Level: 20
Accept (Y/N)
***
It appeared his hunch had been correct; Alex had been rather certain about skill combination patterns after Bladed Weapon’s Mastery, but this solidified his assumption. The new question was how far he could go with it, though a jolt of pain did well to postpone that thought for the future it took place in. Reading the notification over to confirm he wasn’t doubling down on his screwup, the skill’s level reminded Alex of an earlier plan. He’d wanted to level the abilities to the point they would grant him a level twenty-five ability upon fusion.
With the proposed level being only five from his goal, if he had a few more hours he might have managed it, but a bit more consideration had him wondering if failing to evolve the skill was for the best. Alex was still very much learning when it came to the system, but based on his current understanding of skill upgrades, it wouldn’t be surprising if an evolution shifted the ability away from what he was trying to create.
That begged the question of whether he should avoid upgrading any weapon skills he created, but Alex knew he didn’t have the luxury to ponder that at the moment. No matter what he decided, it wouldn’t have much of an effect in the present as the consistent pain of his over slotted appendage left him with no choice but to immediately accept. Sending a quick prayer to no one in particular, he mentally selected yes.
***
Skills Successfully Combined into: Blunt Weapons Mastery (Uncommon)
Description: The goal when undertaking any action is not simply to be sufficient, but to excel. That is to say, the purpose of wielding a bludgeon is not simply to perform violence, but to master its every capability. Gain an intrinsic understanding of impact, your every thought a validation of its force, your every movement a commemoration of its ceaseless capabilities. From a Tetsubo to a Shillelagh, learn to use any blunt weapon as if it were an extension of your body. Become one with any cudgel of choice, making all in your way regret the path that led them to you. Skill ability correlates to Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity.
***
Satisfied with the skill, Alex waited for something else. Most of it was for the pain to subside now that he technically only had two hand related skills, though a portion was in the hopes of another skill combination. It made sense to Alex that if he had a mastery skill for both bladed and blunt weapons, he would be prompted with another synergy prompt, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. While Alex was sure he’d failed to reach a perfect synergy with just the two skills, he didn’t know what would allow him to do so.
It shouldn’t be due to the number of abilities, since he’d combined Acting and Deception, but that had been a different skill type, so he couldn’t even be sure of that. Seeing that a conclusion with his limited information would be pointless, Alex sent a line to Lord’s Confidence to see if it could figure out the most likely scenarios.
As the skill began to process in the background, Alex found the pain to have greatly subsided. What had once felt like his hands priming to explode, had now dulled to a constant but fading ache. Neither limb had ever shown any signs of physical damage, leaving his eyes as an unhelpful indicator, but as the seconds passed, Alex could tell the difference in actions. With a portion of his focus remaining on Sixth Sense he kept an eye out for hostiles, while working motion back into his hands. By the minute mark he could open and close the appendage without whimpering, and after another few he was shaking the lingering pain from his body entirely. Just as the positive chemicals that came with success coursed through him, Alex saw he still had an unread notification, this one a short message he’d missed in all the chaos after landing.
***
You have exited the Hive Type Dungeon: Rebos Hill.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
You have entered a Subterranean Stronghold Type Dungeon: Kidree Mines.
***
Rather than despair, or even worry really, the notification made him laugh, a bit of hysteria likely bleeding through. Sure it was concerning, but the way Alex saw it, not anymore so than anything else he’d been dealing with. He’d neither failed his current quest, nor been presented with another, and he still knew how to get back to the original dungeon. If he thought about it like that, nothing had changed. The part that had made him laugh was a memory from the conversation he’d had with Dora nearly a week ago. She’d explicitly warned him not only against dungeons, but specifically underground dungeons; and here he was in a dungeon inside a dungeon.
He'd thought she’s meant something like the ant hill, considering how deep underground it spanned. The lower levels of the creatures compared to his expectations after Theodora’s words had been one of the reasons Alex had decided to take on the challenge. But it seemed subterranean was a category of its own, and while he had still believed taking on the Rebos was the correct choice, he’d somehow ended up in the wrong place anyway. Alex knew he’d been pretty fast and loose with most suggestions since arriving, but one of the few times he wasn’t trying to, he ended up defying it perfectly.
Wondering what the golden eyed girl would think if she could see him. Then tangentially considering calling out her name to test her bloodline ability, Alex laughed a bit more at the thought before deciding against it. While it would be funny if it worked, he knew an unnecessary risk when he saw one. Yawning with an accompanying stretch, Alex pulled out a dagger and tested his grip on the weapon before exiting the room. He didn’t plan to go too far. The Rebos Hill had enough prolonged stretches of open tunnel that Alex wouldn’t have been surprised if this space had similar, but after making such a commotion, it felt wise to at least do a bit of scouting.
After fifteen minutes of leisurely exploration, he was ready to turn back. The tunnels had been barren to both his normal and skill related senses, which was a little disappointing, but probably also for the best. The day would end up being a waste if he couldn’t climb back up before the reset, but a safe tunnel was preferable to a lethal monster den. As he was walking back, this time closer to the wall opposite of when he’d left, Alex spotted the arm of a creature near the edge of Sixth Sense. The distance and barriers that separated them, made the person appear as nothing more than a blob in his ability’s field, but he had enough experience at this point to recognize the motions for what they were.
As quickly as they’d appeared, the person exited his range, leaving Alex to make a choice. He was still ten minutes out from his landing spot, with a significant amount of space and wall separating him from the nearest living being. It was beyond unlikely these specific creatures made their way over to him, but getting information on his dungeonmates before they tried to ambush him was a rare opportunity for Alex. Unsure if potential boredom or logic made the final decision, he settled on taking the risk and dropped into Soul Sight to find a path to his target.
While he flew over to see what he was trying to get to, it took a half an hour more of searching before he found the most direct path to the creatures, and they were most definitely creatures. Alex having switched away from mentally referring to them as people shortly after getting a look at the scene. The creature’s themselves were beasts. About three to four feet tall bipeds with leathery lizard like skin and a reptilian snout. Their appearance was jarring to his earthly human sensibilities, though having met Graham Alex was a bit less prejudice on that end. It was their actions which made him refer to them as such, as the pair he’d first spotted were actively tormenting someone.
Even with the relatively civilized, if crude, setup of the torture room, Alex might have chalked it up to mindless violence. Not all beasts held intelligence, his encounters with the Rebos had proven that time and time again, but during one of his visits Comprehend had begun translating some of their language. Suffice it to say, the creatures were being intentional in their actions.
Having recently been in a situation eerily similar to the one of the man currently strapped down, Alex had navigated a path over more out of emotion than anything purposeful. As the most potent of the anger subsided, he was a bit less certain he wanted to intervene. While there were only two creatures in the room, he estimated both to be over level forty, higher than most he’d been pitted against recently.
That fact could be perceived as a benefit, since Alex did need to fight higher level creatures, but he didn’t know if he wanted to get involved with another dungeon’s worth of fighting. Besides the deadline on the ant hill quest, he had the beast wave coming up, and who knew how things would go after that. Even if he denied any quest that came his way, assisting that person would make it more difficult to phase back up to the Rebos tunnels in under twenty-four hours, since they’d likely need help beyond a simple rescue.
After a minute of deliberation, Alex decided he was overcomplicating things. He couldn’t save everyone, but this issue was a bit more personal, and he could help if he wanted to. It didn’t mean he’d pick up some new tagalong, but he also didn’t have to leave them to their fate to avoid that.
The path he’d mapped out was surprisingly clear, making Alex suspicious of and oncoming ambush, but none appeared. More creatures did enter Sixth Sense as he approached, as did more interrogation rooms with subjects included, but those were all past the group he’d initially spotted. As Alex reached the final wall separating him from the dungeon proper, he took a breath to solidify his resolve, before passing the distance with Echo Relocation. Using the ability in such a manner was costly mana wise, but it was preferable to wasting another second of his very limited Planar Phase time.
The screams of the man hit him near instantly upon entering the room, the wall that had recently separated them having muted the noise entirely. For a second it felt like he was back in his cell, shackled to a stone chair while Greyson and Trevor took turns taking him to the brink of death over and over. But his mind cleared as he remembered that wasn’t the case. Those two men were dead now, and by his hand, he wasn’t nearly as weak as he had been two weeks ago. Shaking off the shock of the raw emotion, he attempted to sneak up on the creatures using his skill’s invisibility, but failed as something alerted the pair.
Watching as the torcher’s assistant moved to avoid his Thorn’s Touch empowered stab. Alex put all his weight on his leading leg and sent a sweeping kick with his trailing to break the beast’s footing. His attack worked, but he was also left scrambling for balance as the torturer turned his way and lunged, rusty blade in hand. Not willing to risk any of the myriad diseases the blade was ready to offer him, Alex burned another five hundred mana in a relocation to appear above the creature. The reptile didn’t fall for his trick, immediately turning to block the follow-up, but the axe kick he brought down easily broke the beast’s hastily formed guard.
He only managed one more kick into its midsection, unable to finish the creature off before its ally reentered the struggle. Rather than rely on any weapon, the beast came at him with claws and teeth, forcing Alex back once more lest he be reminded what it was like to live without an arm. The other recovered as its companion continued to repel the assassin; his advantage devolving as the battle turned into a two versus one. Ditching the knives for his staff, Alex threw his entire focus into rebuffing both creatures. The tenet of force held, keeping the beasts away from his vitals, but it was obvious they would soon overwhelm him eventually if something didn’t change.
Mentally scanning his list of skills, Alex considered what he could do to shift the tides, but failed to find anything certain. Hitting one of the beasts with a push kick, Alex sent mana to his cloak as it hardened against the other’s claws, before countering with a stab from his staff. The strike did little damage compared to when he’d hit the mole, but the use of his cloak had reminded him of the other gear he wore. Mentally feeling for the circlet on his head, Alex sent the mana required to activate the item’s ability and spoke into one of the creature’s mind.
To call what he did speaking would be a stretch, more accurately Alex forced a concussion grenade’s worth of noise directly into the beast’s brain, by recalling a concert where he’d been way too close to the speakers. Still, it had the intended effect, the sudden barrage shocking the creature and forcing it to stumble. Alex continued his retreat for a moment longer, kiting its companion away before teleporting back with Echo Relocation to deliver a skill imbued strike to the back of the beast’s neck.
The lizard had partially recovered by the time the blow landed, but Alex had aimed for the beast’s spine, and the spew of blood that followed the removal of his blade suggested it wouldn’t be getting back up. From there, Alex managed to finish the last creature without the use of his crown. The beast’s physical stats were obviously higher than his own but Alex had much more flexibility in terms of movement and attack methods, leaving the creature at his mercy in a direct contest.
It was only after finishing with the second, that he realized the first beast was still alive, though the severed link to its spine had already crippled the beast. Putting it out of its misery with a few swift strikes, Alex raised his gaze as he looked at the only other living person in the room.
“Hi, I’m Alex. But my friends call me Xander.”