The Crystal Dungeon had turned out to have roughly one thousand enemies within its massive cavern. The purple “sky”—an assortment of crystals that gave off a consistent glow—never changed. It was difficult to know how much time was passing in this place.
That was, at least, until Xavier had discovered the Dungeon Interface.
Dungeon Running Time: 55 minutes.
Users previous record: n/a
Dungeon Record: n/a
When the notification had first appeared, after he’d wondered how much time had passed in this place, he’d clapped his hands and laughed, distracting the others from their fighting.
He knew that the situation that Earth was in was incredibly serious, but he couldn’t help but enjoy what they were doing right now, even if it wasn’t him that was currently gaining levels.
It turned out that controlling the enemies was definitely a loophole when it came to powerlevelling. Whenever Xavier controlled an enemy and either made that enemy kill another, or kill themselves, he’d always gained Mastery Points for that act.
The same was true here. He gained Mastery Points whenever one of the enemies died. Controlling the crystal golems counted as contributing to the fight, just as when Siobhan used her Summon spell on one of her party members, or healed one of them, it counted as contributing.
But the split in Mastery Points was equal for everyone involved. At least, that’s what the others told him. His kills were definitely still getting nerfed by the System.
Still, even with him eating a small portion of their Mastery Points, his party was making huge progress.
The first ten enemies had taken them a long time to deal with, maybe a full minute for each one, with Howard and Justin hacking and slashing away at a Crystal Fire Golem with all their might, and Siobhan’s Divine Guardian slamming its sword into the back of the golem’s head over and over.
A minute might not seem like a long time, but with their speed being supernaturally fast, they were able to get in quite a few swings.
Then Xavier had found yet another loophole when it came to powerlevelling, something that basically made him feel as though he was completely cheating.
Well, if the System allows me to do this, then it’s not really cheating, is it?
All his allies needed to do to contribute and get Mastery Points was cause damage to the enemy. Once Xavier had discovered this, he controlled the golems, making each of them stand in a line, then he had his party members each deal a small amount of damage.
Siobhan had summoned her Divine Guardian, sending it in to deal damage for her. Apparently, it was doing wonders for the spell’s ranks.
The moment they’d each dealt damage to one of the golem’s, Xavier had used his Soul Shatter spell on one of them.
He’d finally decided which path to take the spell, choosing area-of-effect.
Xavier closed the Dungeon Interface. They hadn’t moved through The Crystal Dungeon all that fast. He’d been focusing on getting a lay of the land, identifying where all of the crystal golems would appear in the area, and filling out his mini-map.
He was glad to find that he was able to use the mini-map in the dungeon. It didn’t show anything but the dungeon itself—there were no arrows pointing toward the other dungeons, no sign of the camp they’d established with the survivors, either. Which made sense, considering they were in an entirely different instance—a pocket dimension of sorts, like the tavern and the Staging Room in the Tower of Champions.
He was glad to find that the dungeon had been relatively straight forward. No people to worry about protecting. Just seemingly mindless crystal golems to fight.
Though he did find that he wouldn’t be able to clear this dungeon with the use of a single spell. The second group of golems didn’t appear until they’d killed the first. The groups, until the last one, hadn’t been more than ten golems large, which meant when he cleared this dungeon for time, he’d have to cast at least one hundred spells.
Him and his party had taken down ninety groups, moving through the trees from one group to the next, their speed hindered only by Siobhan’s running pace—though he supposed he could have carried her, if needed, then she could have teleported the others to the next group, and the next.
Maybe on our second clear.
Finally, Xavier closed the interface, glad this dungeon would take them less than an hour to complete even at a slow pace, and looked over at the last group of enemies. They’d reached the end of the dungeon—where the purple crystal ceiling met the—and Xavier scanned the dungeon boss, which was flanked by an assortment of twenty other crystal golems.
{Crystal Elemental Golem Prime – Level 40}
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Xavier examined the golem. Its colouring was different to the others. It had four distinct sections, each limb and quarter of its torso a different colour, signifying the four elements.
Something tells me that thing can cast a different elemental spell from each of its limbs.
He hadn’t actually given the enemies a chance to cast their spells.
Time to see if we get any titles from clearing this thing.
The Crystal Elemental Golem Prime let out a deafening roar. It raised its rock-hard, jagged arms clenched its fists. Okay, maybe these beasts weren’t completely mindless after all—he could practically feel the beast’s rage, washing off it in waves.
Xavier raised his staff and cast Willpower Infusion. The beast, and all twenty others that surrounded it, instantly calmed as the purple mist entered their bodies and the Otherworldly Reaper took over their minds.
Such power I wield. Being back on Earth is going to be more fun than I thought.
Siobhan teleported Howard, Justin, and her Divine Guardian to the enemy. They swiftly made the rounds, dealing damage to each of them. Until finally, Xavier cast Soul Shatter on the beast in the middle. The dungeon boss.
He watched as the dungeon boss’s soul exploded.
This spell was different to his soul apparitions. It was all in the name. Translucent shards of broken soul shot out in every direction around the golem, going straight through every enemy around it. Dealing no physical damage, only soul damage, and leaving his allies completely unharmed, and the golems with no visible wounds—except for the ones they’d endured at the hands of his party.
God, I am so overpowered.
Soul Shatter has taken a step forward on the path!
Soul Shatter is now a Rank 25 spell.
One cannot walk backward on the path.
Xavier grinned. The ranks had slowed down after the first few, but he was glad to have gained so many already. It didn’t really make a difference in these fights—not a single one of the enemies had been able to resist his attacks, after all—but he knew it would make a difference in the future.
Congratulations! You have completed The Crystal Dungeon!
Completion Time: 57 minutes and 10 seconds.
User Record: 57 minutes and 10 seconds.
Dungeon Record: 57 minutes and 10 seconds.
A smile slipped onto Xavier’s lips as he read through the notification. There was of course no doubt that they were going to get the record for this dungeon, as they were the very first people to enter it. Still, it always felt good to get the record for something—he supposed that was his competitive streak talking.
My competitiveness has gotten me this far. Seems like I should lean into it.
Title Unlocked!
Dungeon Diver 1: You have cleared your first dungeon. Dungeons populate randomly in the Greater Universe. They are a proving ground for Denizens of all levels and grades, where they are able to prove their worth.
You have received +2 to all stats!
Xavier’s shoulders sagged as he read the number of stats he would receive from the title. It was always good to get a new title, but he’d been so spoiled that a mere plus two stats hadn’t excited him in a long while.
But there were more notifications for him to read.
Title Unlocked!
The Crystal Dungeon – First Clear: You are the first to clear The Crystal Dungeon. Gaining a first-clear title for a dungeon is incredibly coveted in the Greater Universe. Many Denizens will travel to new, burgeoning sectors and worlds in search of fresh, untouched dungeons to achieve what you have.
You have received +8 to all stats!
Xavier’s smile returned. Now that’s more like it. Plus eight was a significant boost, especially as there would be more dungeons to clear. He struggled to imagine that there would be many Denizens around on Earth who’d already reached a high enough level to be clearing dungeons like this one.
There may very well be weaker dungeons out there than this, too.
What he did find intriguing was the fact that it mentioned Denizens travelling to different worlds to find dungeons to clear… was that one of the resources that a new world offered? New, untouched dungeons, ripe with titles to be gained?
Maybe being back on Earth would offer him more progression than he’d thought.
Eagerly, he read on, glad to know that the other members of his party would be receiving all of these titles as well. He also wondered if there would be another title for clearing the dungeon solo…
Further research is required.
Title Unlocked!
The Crystal Dungeon – Record Clear - 57 min and 10 sec: You have achieved a record time for this dungeon. Dungeon records are coveted titles, with many Denizens training specifically toward the end goal of clearing dungeons. For dungeons such as this without a level maximum, it can be incredibly difficult to achieve.
This title is a Temporary Title. If your record is beaten, you will lose this title.
You have received +12 to all stats!
Xavier tapped a finger against his staff.
Level maximum?
That was a worry. Would there be dungeons on this world that had a max level cap? He supposed it wasn’t entirely fair that an E Grade like himself could enter a dungeon clearly meant for F Grades, not that he was complaining—he wanted to keep his advantage.
Xavier grinned as he saw there was still one more notification to read. This was the one he’d been waiting for—the one he’d been hoping for.
Title Unlocked!
First Dungeon of Earth: You and our party are the first Denizens to clear a dungeon on Earth. Being the first to clear a dungeon on a newly integrated world is an incredibly rare title to hold, and puts you in a league of your own.
You have received +30 to all stats!
Xavier tilted his head to the side. While plus thirty stats was great, he’d been expecting something a little more momentous than that. Then again, perhaps it was simply that his perspective was incredibly skewed, because beside him his friends were looking more excited than he’d ever seen them. Usually, he was the one to take all of the special titles for himself.
He was glad he’d taken the others along with him into this dungeon, rather than going it solo for the first clear like he did for all the tower floors. The boost his party members had just gained must be incredibly difficult to achieve for even the most exceptional of Denizens.
Xavier couldn’t help but notice the fact that the title specified that he, along with his party, was the first to clear a dungeon on Earth, not that they were the first Denizens from Earth to clear a dungeon. He’d been expecting to receive the latter type of title—the way this was worded seemed to tell him that an invader could have obtained this title.
Interesting. No wonder so many invaders are gunning for this world. There’s a lot to be gained from titles alone.
That didn’t excuse their actions, however.
He would still deal with them. Harshly.
When he finished reading the notifications, he looked to where the dead dungeon boss was. Something had materialised behind the boss as he’d been absorbed taking in his new titles—something very familiar.
Loot boxes.