Experience for development Jobs has reached multiple breaking points.
[Star Idol]: Lv. 0 -> Lv. 25 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 3 Lv. 6
[Fire Mage]: Lv. 3 -> Lv. 30 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 8 Lv. 7
[Tyrant Hatchling]: Lv. 6 -> Lv. 25 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 6 Lv. 16
Evolution Points: 24/30
Prestige requirement achieved! Job max level has increased. Experienced accumulation and reward quality increased.
[Fire Mage] Max level -> 35
You may spend your prestige points when you are ready
Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Idol Lv. 6] [Mana Eyes Lv. 8] [Draconic Aura Lv. 5] [Scale Manipulation Lv. 5] gained
Good Morning, to those in Anko-Nazta’s Inkoran-Tazul! Regardless of where you are or who you are, the Origin Gods wish all of you a fine WaterDay. Today marks the beginning of the first Event Quest after the implementation of the unique Job System. Participation in the rank A dungeon [Manethala’s Nest] …
[Various Spell Buffs] [Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Major)] [Music Resonation] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
Yikes. Big yikes.
Morphtronic Shiegydios: A golem specially made by a dungeon to act as its core boss. With a flexible frame made from many pieces, its mana allows it to assume various forms to decimate any opposition. Its main form allows it to act as a siege engine, able to break down any wall or gate with its giant horns. Created in the form of a bipedal earth drake, its specialized front arms allows it to punch, grab, and smash to dissuade both monster and humanoid enemies. Extremely high vitality but crippling low wisdom. Rank B
Race: Morphtronic Shiegydios Level: 40
Health: 30000
Vitality: 10000
Wisdom: 500
This wasn’t the 25th floor, this was only the 20th. This was not the end boss, this was just a mid-boss, a floor guardian. Yes, this monster with health and vitality far higher than mine was just a mid-boss. Talk about an unfair dungeon, really.
From the look of the System message, the 10th of AutumnSun had finally arrived, meaning the Event Quest had officially begun and my friends were probably already in their dungeon by now. I wished them good luck and hoped to see them again … Strangely, I had more faith in their survival than mine at this point.
This boss seemed easy, right? Just use magic, it had 500 wisdom, probably lower than most rank Ds. Since Vifi’Yok recovered, she should have been able to use her lightning magic again to supplement my own arsenal. Well, there was one major issue.
During this battle, an anti-elemental magic field will be deployed, reducing all elemental damage from spells, runes, enchantments, and abilities to zero. Neutral mana attacks and any non-elemental damage sources will work as normal
That was the big problem.
“Guuuuuhn!” The golem roared as it detected Tatsuya, Kyouya, and me in my dragon form. The entrance we came through closed right up, blocking our way back.
The golem’s mechanical pieces rattled and clanged around as rammed their thick, developed arms on the ground, pointing a trio of triceratops-like horns in our direction. In the position of a sprinter on the starting position, the front horn of the monster snapped down, turning into a spear with a loud metal clunk!
Crap! Humanize!
[Humanize (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
As I noticed the backside of the golem transform into a cylinder, reminding me a bit too much of a cannon, my [Foresight] and [Danger Perception] activated, prompting me to turn back into my dragonewt form from my dragon self. Using my smaller frame, I slipped right under the monster’s horns with the boys. As we ran for it, Tatsuya noted how it was turning around to follow us.
Drifting like a car, the beast swerved around this dome-like chamber, redirecting its charge trajectory. I cast [Hydra] to act as our shield, while Kyouya created a black wall with his armor before I healed him. The room said we couldn’t deal damage from elemental magic, but unlike the anti-magic area we encountered in the monster room, this room's gimmick was far less dangerous.
With Kyouya’s wall blocking the monster’s sight, we managed to dodge out of the way as it rammed right into it, landing into my trap with the [Hydra], constricting its movement. Although it couldn’t deal any damage with its flame, the acidic toxins I planted in the corrosive slime of my spell was causing the beast’s body to sizzle.
Undeterred by the pain, the mid-boss lit up before it blew up like a bomb, sending the peices of both my [Hydra]’s and its own body flying across the room. However, the boss' parts reversed course and returned to the blast's epicenter, reforming itself back into its previous form before it began punching the ground. The boys and I kept dodging before I found a moment to cast [Terra Wall], tripping it before I used [Humanize], once again.
[Humanize (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
“Enjoy the show!” I shouted before I activated my [Aerokinesis] and readied [Draconic Roar]. “Is this the fated battle, the light shines ♫
It’s blinding my sight ♫
But I’ve gotta hold on, the stage calls ♫
The cries of a thousand, the flames of war will descend ♫”
My empowered voice blasted the creature away with a sonic attack. When I checked on it with [Mana Eyes], I confirmed it could take damage from my audio-based attacks, as they were technically elementless.
With [The Will to Fight and Survive] boosting everybody’s stamina regeneration, the boys went into action as they executed their part in this plan. I technically could have played a second song now that my [Star Idol] had [Musical Renaissance Diva]—allowing two spell songs to apply their effect simultaneously—but I didn't have another song to help out with.
The best second song would be [The Heir of Hope], which provided everybody with a 10% boost in their stats and a shield, but it also applied the holy element to everybody’s physical attacks. As the rules of the room mentioned, ANY elemental attacks would have their damage reduced to zero. I would effectively cripple the boys’ attack with it. [Prayer]’s 30% boost with [Blessing of the Goddess (Major)] would have to be good enough.
As the beast pushed itself up and turned one of its arm into a large shield to block my sonic attack, Tatsuya began to physically morph into a werewolf, letting loose an ear-splitting howl. Now covered with black fur, razor-sharp claws, and a ferocious look, he ingested three fulinoe leaves and activated [All-In].
“Going for strength now! Boost me!” Tatsuya stopped a bit away from the monster, readying his spear.
The boss, probably with its skills, noticed Kyouya's continued approach, prompting the monster to turn one of its arm into a cannon. Just like the monster room golem, it began shooting mana blasts at the boys, but Kyouya once again used his unique Skill to produce protective walls.
Unlike the monster room, though, I could still cast spells so I overlapped three [Sacred Field] over the boys, giving them some healing-over-time as this was happening. Kyouya was even using some holy flame grenades as burst heals to top himself up instead of using up our few remaining potions.
With his shadow armor, he was protected from the explosion, allowing him to stand his ground and continue creating more walls while I kept the boss mostly preoccupied with my voice. Still, the golem managed to push back, eventually running into the ideal spot for Tatsuya to [Dragoon Jump] into the air and [Dragoon Dive] right into the back of the golem with [All-In].
With all the buffs and [Prayer], his total strength skyrocketed to the point the golem was pushed back by a level 94 human. Somebody this guardian floor boss shouldn’t even consider a threat!
Still, it wasn’t a killing blow due to the monster's higher defence, but that was okay! With all of this happening, it gave my [Hydra] just enough time to regenerate and grab its legs, pulling it closer to me. The golem fell onto its back with Tatsuya jumping off it just in time. However, instead of helplessly accepting its death, the thing morphed its hands into two hooks which it used to anchor itself on to the ground.
Once again, the mechanical parts of this clearly stone golem began to loosen, escaping my slime golem. With its split body, it turned one part into a large cannon and readied a mana blast at us. The boys ran back to me as I poured my mana into the ground in front of me, leaving a magic circle there.
The boys gulped as the cannon continued charging powers while my hydra kept the golem’s other half from joining its cannon side. With a bellowing, ear-splitting sound, the mana cannon shot its blast at us, signaling our plan’s last stage!
“Warp Point: Entry!” I shouted, opening a portal in front of me that led back to a room on the 19th floor of the dungeon where I had [Warp Point: Exit] placed.
With a wide grin, the boys and I watched as the blast entered the portal, probably blowing up the room inside and releasing a massive shockwave, one which didn’t affect us as we were on the other side of the portal! Instead, the golem was caught by its own backblast, causing it to crash against the wall.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
However, this wasn’t all. There was a very good reason why Vifi’Yok and Rajah weren’t here in this room with us, and it wasn’t due to us getting lost or separated. I had a map, for goodness sake. They were just hanging back for this very moment. This moment of our plan we made during our scouting!
“Mreeeeewww!” Rajah roared as he jumped out of the shadow with Vifi’Yok on his back, holding onto my spear.
“The crack I made! That’s where the mana core is!” Tatsuya shouted, pointing at a small loose part on the golem cannon.
Vifi’Yok didn’t respond back as she readied to jump off Rajah. My battle cat used [Dark Tendrils] from the shadow cast by the golem’s frame due to the light from [Sacred Field]. Just like Saori, he sling shotted himself forward, allowing Vifi’Yok to jump off him and ram my spear right into where the core was, pinning it into the wall.
“Guururaaaaahhhh!!!” The golem roared out as its core broke, causing its pieces to rattle like crazy, looking like the thing was about to explode.
“Out!” I hadn’t expected this to happen, but it was convenient I had a portal open. The five of us quickly escaped through the portal before I closed it.
“… That could have been easier if your sister was around,” Vifi’Yok complained. “We wouldn’t have to plan all of this for that long.”
“Oh shut it,” I threw a donut towards her, causing her smug face to brighten up before she devoured it.
Well, that was how this boss should be handled when the dungeon was a pure mess of unfairness. I mean, come on, 10000 vitality? Good thing a golem’s weakness was their mana core, similar to a slime, otherwise this would have been pretty impossible.
Acid to weaken armor, Tatsuya to land a singular attack to crack the defenses open after I located its mana core, and Kyouya keeping everything stable with his walls. Then, just use Vifi’Yok stats as a level 150 demonkin of wrath soldier to end the thing outright. That strategy was easy enough to pull off.
----------------------------------------
Experience for development Jobs has reached multiple breaking points.
[Star Idol]: Lv. 6 -> Lv. 25 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 4 Lv. 24
[Fire Mage]: Lv. 7 -> Lv. 35 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 9 Lv. 20
[Tyrant Hatchling]: Lv. 16 -> Lv. 25 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 7 Lv. 15
Evolution Points: 27/30
Prestige requirement achieved! Job max level has increased. Experienced accumulation and reward quality increased.
[Star Idol] Max Level-> 30
[Tyrant Hatchling] Max Level -> 30
[Star Idol] Prestige Points: 4
[Fire Mage] Prestige Points: 4
[Tyrant Hatchling] Prestige Points: 7
You may spend your prestige points when you are ready
“…” The five of us, Rajah included, could only stare into the chest left behind by the guardian boss. It was in pristine condition, unaffected by the explosion of the boss unlike the rest of the room, which looked like it had expanded a bit if you ignored how much rubble there was on the ground. The place looked like a landfill.
We all sighed as I picked the one item inside it: a stick.
Wooden stick: A stick from a normal tree
“The fact it emphasized the ‘normal’ part really makes it feel like its mocking us.” Tatsuya glowered at the thing before I threw it away like any other piece of trash.
“Something is seriously wrong with this dungeon,” Kyouya expressed. His eyes were twitching like crazy, looking annoyed at the effort he put it into killing this thing, only for our reward to be some miscellaneous throwaway.
“You should have realized this the moment the dungeon master placed a trap in front of the path to the fifth floor.” Vifi’Yok shook her head, looking actually mad at this feeling of being scammed. “State-owned dungeons—whether managed by humans, dwarves, or demonkins—are structured to make your adventurer feel ‘welcomed.’ Not too hard, good rewards, and a decent challenge for the rank.”
“… This is the last straw.”
Would the Ankoran King want to kill me? If you thought about it logically, probably no, as the dwarves were not only allied to Kargryx but the King knew my mother was around. She might be asleep, but if he were to send me into my death, his realm probably wouldn’t last long after she woke up. She was a rank SS, after all.
There was a difference of being put in my place due to my lack of political power and wanting to kill me, but that was probably something Mom would only chastise them for. Meaning, the Ankoran King couldn’t have known this when he sent me deep down to this hellhold. He probably didn’t even expect the dragonslayers, since the report never noted them.
Sooo … what were the other options for whatever's going on here?
“Dungeon master killed and the core overtaken, or the dungeon master is going rogue?” I suggested, at least that was all that my imagination could come up with, considering the rules I knew. Tatsuya, Kyouya, and Rajah agreed while Vifi’Yok just stayed silent. “… No suggestions?”
She looked me in the eyes, the brightness from before having vanished from her irises. “Does it matter? Regardless of whatever the situation is, we need to proceed forward. Set a trap for the dragonslayers, kill them, and then speak with those students. That’s your plan, right? If you’re so scared of the dungeon core, then just avoid it and we’ll be good.”
I frowned before sighing, realizing her mood probably dropped after the disappointing treasure chest rewards. I pulled out a sugar-glazed donut, dangling it in front of Vifi’Yok as she jerked back. Her eyes were fixed on it.
One of the lessons Klea’Hatma taught me had finally become useful, and that was the fact demonkins of wrath were pretty emotional beings. To the point they had an entire “low emotional potential,” or L.E.P for short, where they turn depressed. By increasing their emotions, they become stronger, but if it was too low then you get this grouchy, bull-headed demonkin girl here.
The fix? Donuts, sweets, and pastries. In the few days we’ve spent together getting through this dungeon, I’ve learned just how much she loved bread, even the plain kind. In addition, she hated fish, as in if she had something better to eat, she would throw it all away. She once told me she hated wasting food due to having to live as a street urchin when she was younger, but due to her hometown’s abundance of fish, to the point they would rot from oversupply, she wouldn’t eat them freely.
“… You do this too often, and people will start biting your hand,” she said before snatching the donut away. Her eyes regained some radiance and I saw her fangs and claws grow in size, a sign her [Excited] levels increased.
The boys and I watched her as she devoured the piece of pastry like some starving lion before she began to lick her lips and fingers. I watched her finish before asking a different question, “… You really can’t use your demonkin abilities, huh? That was a perfect moment to use it to ensure you kill it. Even if we hit its weak spot, that’s still 10000 Vitality to work through.”
I inspected my glaive. There was no damage on it, courtesy of Grimnir’s craftsmanship, but I was still a bit worried.
“Two points: the polearm is well-made, to the point a former Warbringer like me wants to keep it as a personal weapon, and secondly, skills. Skills matter a lot, as you should know.” Vifi’Yok sighed, but looked more enervated compared to before. Her face was emoting more, showcasing how troubled she was on the matter. “As I said before, it’s the price I paid for surviving your last attack. [Original Sin: Satanael] prevents a deathblow, but at the cost of my ability to go over 15% in any of my emotions.”
“Meaning you can’t use your lightning arms or conjure up your elemental weapons,” Tatsuya ended her sentence, since she gave us a quick summary of her situation to make sure we understood her strengths.
At best when she gets 15% in [Excited] [Anger] and [Fear], she will manifest her demonkin horns, tails, and a few other, minor features, but that was about it. She was extremely weakened compared to when I fought her. I initially thought it was just a temporary thing, but it seems that it was permanent. Simply the cost of using an [Original Sin] ability. A Faustian deal, in other words.
After we settled things here, we entered the next floor, where we found another change in scenery. This time the decrepit ruins setting was completely gone, instead replaced by just an earthen cave. As in, it was your stock-standard cave you could find anywhere; boring and uninspired, really, but fitting for the continued theme of this dungeon. The first floors looked beautiful but old, while the deeper you went, the more the ruins were being overtaken by nature and looked like some horror crypt.
Without the shining runes on the walls, this cave was consumed by complete darkness. Like the void, it was impossible for anybody to see in here without [Night Vision]. For the boys, I had to light up my catalyst.
[“Mrew. Master, I can smell something sweet nearby. Do you want me to lead?”] Rajah suggested, to which I agreed. According to the map, this zone of the dungeon was a “quality over quantity” area, where the number of rank Ds and Cs dropped significantly and you could only find rank Bs.
As we followed my virigress, the sweet scent Rajah mentioned became noticeable. When we stopped in front of the room, we all grimaced as we saw the source of it: a fruit situated on a piece of land in a room full of traps.
I sighed and cast [Wrap Point: Entry] and [Warp Point: Exit], using the portal for a short distance teleportation to avoid everything to snatch the fruit. We appraised it.
Sweet Tofel: A toffel which emits a sweet scent but is actually poisonous. Do not eat
“…”
Correction, it was a vegetable, not a fruit. With that done, we threw the piece of junk away before going towards a safe spot the map showed us. We avoided any potential threats on the way, but strangely, there was barely anything here. As in, I couldn’t find any enemies with [Detection Sensor]. Weird, but also unnerving.
“Uhm, you guys think whoever is doing all this is planning something? Couldn’t they just summon a bunch of monsters to attack us if they don’t want us to reach the core?” Kyouya asked, so I put on some music for him to listen to calm his mind.
“Dungeons have resources, too,” Vifi’Yok began. “The more you want to add a new floor or monster, or even a trick room, you need to spend mana. However, you have a finite amount since you need new mana to come in from the outside. You know, dungeon mana decomposes dead adventurers for more mana. It’s how a dungeon grows. It can’t spam monsters, otherwise it would eat through everything.”
“Well, good thing we saved up on using spells with the last guardian boss. We also couldn’t use any spells on the monster room boss, so that probably spoiled things for whoever is managing this place,” I concluded. “Well, whatever. I say we can deal with it later, so let’s take a break. I want to take a look at our loot now that we know the 20th floor is a dud.”
“Woo!” Tatsuya cheered.
We saved this fun part for now since it was just more fun to gather everything and compare it. Why do it individually, when we could just have an appraisal session with everything at once!
Once we took our seats, Tatsuya rubbed his hands together, feeling giddy about everything, before pulling things out of his storage. Within included the contents of the level 10th floor boss room and the monster room we narrowly defeated.
Ooh, boy, 10th floor, first! Mana Eyes!
Gold ingot: An ingot made from gold. Sell it!
Five of them, too. Nice.
Gauntlets of Arm Strength: A pair of gauntlets which increase the power of melee attacks done with your hands. Low defensive values due to weak monster materials, but the skills compensate
Vitality Power: 112
Wisdom Power: 41
Skills: [Skill Usage Restriction: Arms] [All-Damage Enhancement Lv. 1] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 10] [Mana Conductor Lv. 10]
Trash.
“Oh, hey, that doesn’t look too bad!” Tatsuya noted along with Kyouya’s agreement, causing me to snap my head around to them. Unnerved by my weird look, he explained his reasoning. “[Skill Usage- Restriction] is what the Empire likes to put on their armor. The church of Aurena knight use them all the time so they can funnel better skills into the armor. Usually, they focus on either defense or skills with their armor, not both.”
Kyouya nodded his head. “Grimnir is a master smith, don’t forget that, Hestia. Most of the equipment you see on standard issue equipment is stuff like this, since most people can't afford to put a lot of monster materials in them. Once you use monster materials to enhance them, they get better!”
… Wait, this was actually standard? I was baffled at this, but then again, I rarely ever appraise a random person’s armor since it just didn’t make sense. The only times I appraised equipment was … Hold on, the only times I ever did it was on stuff made by dwarves. First in Firwood at a small dwarven smithy, and then Grimnir’s stuff.
I looked over at Vifi’Yok, wondering if she would confirm this. She looked at me, confused, before shrugging and knocking on my metal chestplate.
“This is worthy for a general. I don’t know its stats since yer [Identity Blocker] is getting in the way, but seeing it work against those dragonslayers and the golems, I can assure ya even Lord Wrath—us wrathies’ Prince of Sin and Bole’Taria’s chief of armies—would wear this. Not royal heirloom level, not yet, but close.”
“It’s only made from rank B materials,” I argued.
She shrugged. “Shows the skills of the smith.”
… I am lucky to be your friend, Grimnir. Thank you for all your work and help.
Seeing me contemplate, Tatsuya unsheathed his sword. “Don’t forget that our blades and equipment have runes on them too. Runesmiths are rarer away from Ankor-Nazta, and while many do commission them, it just makes things expensive. Having somebody like Grimnir around with Ellaine working harder and harder makes us pretty fortunate.”
I nodded my head. I got too used to Grimnir’s talents.
Let’s continue. I looked over the rest of the stuff, but nothing caught my eye. Most of the tenth floor stuff were materials we could use for smithing later, or to sell. As such, I went to the monster room stuff, which should be worthy for rank B adventurers.
And, oh, boy.
Elemental Armguard: A full-arm guard made from andurenium, euorinium, and materials from a rank A [Magic Swallowing Slime], making it light-weight and easy to use with mana. A catalyst is stored on the gauntlet, allowing a user to be designated, allowing them to control this piece with only mana. Allows users to invoke elemental weapons using their mana or enchant existing weapons. Extremely fragile and requires a second smithing session to become whole
Vitality Power: 290
Wisdom Power: 401
Owner: None
Skill: [All-Damage Reduction Lv. 1] [Elemental-Damage Increase Lv. 5] [Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 5] [Mana Conductor Lv. 10] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 10] [Arcane Conduit Lv. 1]
Enchantments: [Elemental Weapons Invoke] [Elemental Magic Absorption] [Elemental Blessing]
Scale Helmet of the Staunch Defender: A helmet made from hydra and cockatrice material, reducing damage from anti-dragon weapons and tools. This bone helmet is fortified by scales from rank B versions of these two, making them durable and resistance against any of their attacks. Due to the production of the helmet, it allows the user to use [Taunt] without the penalties. Exudes of an aura that reduces 5% damage on all allies in a party or associated with them
Vitality Power: 1009
Wisdom Power: 978
Skill: [All-Damage Reduction Lv. 1] [Inferno Resistancel Lv. 1] [Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 3] [Abnormal Status Nullification] [Mana Conductor Lv. 6] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 10] [Durability Reduction Lv. 5] [Anti-Draconic Resistance Lv. 3] [Pheromone Reduction Lv. 8] [Prime Vigor Lv. 1] [Sage’s Wisdom Lv. 1] [Taunter’s Protection] [Aura of Protection Lv. 1]>
… I can make a monster room for my subspace?