Alan stood before the branching pathway. To his left was the now-empty corridor that once contained the Flans. Glancing at the path to his right, the strange new sense he could feel thrumming in his head seemed to increase in tempo. Unfortunately, Alan recalled having seen booby traps halfway down that same pathway.
So we're just gonna keep pretending? Alan's subconscious demanded. Alan glanced around nervously, his forehead creased with concern. Was he losing his mind already? Had fear and stress already fractured his psyche? We're not even going to entertain the fact that an ArchDaemon just gave us like, possibly the world's best Title?
Alan closed his eyes and rubbed his hands around his now mostly-bald head, trying to massage the unwanted thoughts away.
His attempts were to no avail. Alan's subconscious continued to belittle him, obviously fed up with being ignored.
Or more importantly WHY? Why the FUCK would ANYBODY want to help you?!? The SYSTEM doesn't even want to help you. Much less an ARCHDAEMON OF WHATTHEFUCKEVER A SUNDERED PLANE IS!!! Oh! So you know what a Garthaniel is?! Because I sure as fuck don't! Why are you not panicking Alan? I think you've lost it bud.
"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO!!" Alan roared out, unable to contain himself for another second. "I'm doing my best here man..." Alan choked back a sob, the gravity of his situation draped around his shoulders. It was now threatening to drag him down into the boundless depths of despair.
He needed to get a grasp on his emotions, before it was too late. Alan took several deep breaths and began to charge up a [Healing Fog]. Only once he'd been embraced in refreshing mist did Alan attempt to assuage his inner worries. Let's just take this one step at a time, he started.
It's true, I know. I have no idea what's going on, or what I've somehow managed to get caught up in. But PANICKING isn't going to accomplish anything. Sure the Title changed our Fire Mana somehow, but is that really a bad thing? It was pretty damned impressive if you ask me. Sure, it could be some sort of bait-and-swap trap tactic, but what could an ArchDaemon possibly have to gain from me? I'm nobody... It's already done, so can we just...not do this right now? I'll be careful, test out the new Spells, and go from there.
Though a tenuous truce may have been brokered, Alan knew his subconscious wasn't satisfied because he himself wasn't satisfied. He had a strong feeling this wasn't the end of their inner dialogue, but with no way left to him but forward, Alan advanced.
The sight of such an obviously trapped passage had been discouraging to say the least. His lack of confidence ended with him placing that entire section of the Dungeon off for later. Now wishing he would've sucked it up and dealt with the traps earlier, he carefully peeked around the corner and activated [Trap Detection].
Peering down the hall, just the sight of the devices embedded in the walls set off an anxious buzz in his mind. "At least I know my [Trap Detection] Skill works," Alan complained, still studying the traps from a distance.
Metallic devices were embedded directly into the stone, one on either side of the passage. There wasn't any way for Alan to bypass the strange devices, as this was the only other path he knew of that would take him deeper into the dungeon.
Ready to put his new Skills and Spells to work, Alan activated his [Dual-casting] Skill, and called up two [Spectral Firebolt]s. He took aim at the blatantly obvious traps and stepped lazily around the corner. By now his Spells had materialized, and his first Impression was one of uncertainty. For some reason, he found it hard to look away.
Well.. here goes nothing! Alan thought, tearing his gaze form the fire. Without further delay, he released his otherworldly missiles of hazy green flame. The Spells immediately hurtled off toward their individual targets.
"Eat this!" Alan exclaimed, watching as his Spells collided with the walls, striking both traps simultaneously. The resulting detonations discharged an impressive shockwave which forced him to take a step back. Alan's eyes widened in amazement when the ghostly missiles incinerated the traps, leaving behind deep, scorching grooves in the solid stone.
Remarkable! Your Spell (U)[Spectral Firebolt] has grown to Level 2!
Alan dismissed the notification, choosing instead to watch as the flames slowly died out. He was caught by surprise when the smoking grooves left by his Spells began to heal. Swiftly filling in with pristine, unmarked stone.
Half expecting the destroyed traps to respawn as well, Alan hurried down the corridor.
As he neared the once scorched walls, Alan activated [Trap Detection], and glanced from side to side. Feeling no response from his Skill, he grew confident that the traps had been destroyed, leaving this corridor entirely empty.
Yet as he took his first step forward, he found himself immediately proven wrong. An unnoticed trap hidden under the sand reacted to his presence and activated. Launching Alan head first into the ceiling. His [Aqua Shield] cracked like an egg, his unprotected skull following closely behind.
A nauseating Crunch could be felt as something in his neck snapped under the pressure. Alan was left Paralysed and unable to respond as gravity kicked in. Sending him falling back to the trapped floor.
WARNING! You have been afflicted with the (Paralysis) Debuff. You are unable to move for the duration of Debuff. Duration: 30 seconds
He found himself motionless on his back, staring up at the now bloodstained ceiling. Before he had an opportunity to acknowledge the incoming notification, the trap reactivated. Flinging him back into the ceiling.
Unable to move due to the (Paralysis) Debuff, he hit the roof at an awkward angle, smashing his shoulder out of place, and grinding his face along the stone. Falling sideways, Alan landed on his injured shoulder and tumbled just out of the traps range of effect.
"Pox ridden traps" Alan groaned, spitting sand from his mouth. Sprawled out on the floor, he was unable to do anything other than plot revenge on the hidden trap while waiting for the System to heal his (Paralysis) debuff.
A sharp pain in his neck, followed by an abrupt tingling in his toes were the signal to the end of his Paralysis.
Remarkable! Your Skill (C)[Shock Resistance] has grown to Level 2!
A wrenching Pop in his shoulder was a painful reminder his body still needed time to heal. Alan struggled to get to his feet. Once standing, he walked to the far end of the corridor and turned around, swaying in place and nearly falling down. Alan leaned his shoulder against the wall, determined to make good on his promise to destroy the hidden trap. Alan aimed at the trapped section of floor, activated [Dual-casting] and called up another round of [Spectral Firebolt]s.
Releasing the Spells, Alan studied the effects closely. As the bolts of green flame penetrated the ground and exploded, they formed a shallow crater. Melting sand was sent flying in all directions. Not yet satisfied, and with [Dual-casting] still active, Alan approached the smoking crater and cast a pair of [Water Jet]s directly into the hole.
The torrents of water struck the glowing, molten sand, erupting into a thick plume of steam. The sand was made to rapidly cool. The sound of cracking glass could be heard as the mist started to disperse. A glittering layer of shattered glass slowly revealed itself resting atop the previously hidden stone floor.
Activating [Trap Detection] and examining the now exposed floor uncovered no sign of the most likely completely vaporized trap. Satisfied, Alan exited the now trap-less corridor, and before even reaching the end of the hall, he heard the muffled shuffling of something disturbing the sand somewhere ahead of him. A sharp left turn led to another pair of Flans lounging in the middle of a short hallway.
Retreating back around the corner unseen, Alan gave himself the necessary time to refresh his cooldown's. The moment he regained the ability, Alan cast [Healing Fog] to boost the regeneration of his energy pools. Enveloped in his Spell, Alan had a sudden idea and cast [Water Jet] on the ceiling above him, using the sudden downpour of water to create a makeshift shower.
Running his hands across his smooth bald head, Alan was forced to admit that although his wounds had long since healed, his hair had never recovered. He sighed in frustration. While scrubbing the charring from his leather armor, he realized that he was going to need to find replacement gear soon.
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The remnants of the front of his tutorial gear looked like cooked strips of hide and charcoal. Leaving him uncomfortably exposed down stairs. Once he'd tied up the strips of his pants to better cover himself, Alan glanced at his Equipment tab. He was astounded to see that he still hadn't lost the Stat bonuses from his mostly toasted leathers.
As soon as his energy pools returned to one hundred percent, Alan recast his [Aqua shield] and received a long overdue notification.
Remarkable! Your Spell (C)[Aqua Shield] has grown to Level 2!
Alan activated [Examine]. Feeling more than prepared, he stepped around the corner and carefully approached the Flans
Lvl 8 Juvenile Desert Flan Hp: 325/325
Not impressed in the slightest with the details given to him by his [Examine] Skill, Alan instead activated [Tenacious Concentration]. He immediately became fully concentrated on the enemies shuffling around the corridor. Locked on to his targets, Alan cast [Spectral Plasma Storm], loosing his newest spell upon the unsuspecting creatures.
The Flans and the majority of the corridor instantly became engulfed in a roaring whirlwind of phantasmic plasma. Like magical mortars, Alan saw cones of green energy bombarding the ground. Simultaneously, crackling bolts of violet energy repeatedly zapped the defenseless Flans. Howling winds stirred up the surrounding sand and added the stinging particles to the raging storm.
Lost in the effects of [Tenacious concentration] Alan watched closely as the plasma swiftly reduced their forms to nothing more than molten puddles, rippling under the gusting winds. Cores now fully exposed, Alan drew his Basilisk fang and strode forward into the plasma storm.
Embraced within the fury of his Daemonfire, Alan sensed a comfortable warmth, but no real heat. [Aqua shield] vaporized under the pressure, but as the flames licked his exposed flesh, the expected pain was replaced with an eerie contentedness. Amid the raging Spell, Alan was at peace, at least for the moment. Though immune to the heat he might've been, he quickly discovered he couldn't say the same about the rapid detonations.
The first concussive shockwave blasted him backwards, slamming him into the wall behind him. Where he was pelted with globs of molten sand. Each successive explosion crashed over his frame in another wave of sand and pressure, leaving him unable to breathe without inhaling absurd amounts of airborne grit. Bracing himself against the pressure, and lifting his arm to guard his face from the stinging particles, Alan managed to take a slow step forward. Followed soon after by another.
Before he could make it anywhere near the exposed Cores, they crumbled to dust under the force of the [Spectral plasma storm]. Delivering a energizing burst of Experience, and prompting his Kill log to flash.
Remarkable! You defeated a Lvl 8 Juvenile Desert Flan! +1024 Exp gained
Remarkable! You defeated a Lvl 8 Juvenile Desert Flan! +1024 Exp gained
Dismissing the incoming Level Up indicators, Alan waited as the Spell came to an end, disappearing as quickly as it was summoned. He inspected the blazing hot, glowing walls along entire corridor and was blown away by the sheer heat radiating throughout the passage.
Looking around at the stone floor exposed by his raging Spell, any remains of the Desert Flans had been lost. Hidden among the various chunks of glass lying around the full length of the hallway.
Surprised with the results, Alan understood a large portion of the damage most likely came from his Elemental Evolution Skill. Well, that in combination with the large boost to his mental stats provided by his Titles.
The hardened remains of the Flans sank into the ground. Without delay, the expected Loot boxes arose from the bare stone floor, hardly making a sound. Alan found himself struggling to accept such a thing as normal. "Who even knows what's normal for a dungeon?" Alan muttered, moving to claim the contents of the boxes.
One of the boxes was the usual (Basic) variety. But Alan's spirits rose when he saw that one of them was another (Common) chest. The color brought up bad memories of the one he'd found on the trapped pedestal. Opening the (Basic) chest first, the usual flash of copper-colored light preceded his rewards. From within the box he recovered another (Common) Shadow Shuriken, 250 (Copper Grade) Lotus coins, and a (Copper Grade) Tutorial Token.
After touching the top of the (Common) chest and Enduring the flash of light, Alan received 200 (Iron Grade) Lotus coins, and 2 (Iron Grade) Tutorial Tokens. "No new armor..." Alan moaned, unable to grasp the value of his recent gains.
If I don't find some new armor, I'm going to be walking around this place butt ass naked... Alan groaned out in embarrassment.
Alan discovered that he felt emboldened by his easy victory. Desperate to locate some new gear, he readjusted the burnt strips of his leather pants in an attempt to keep his sensitive bits hidden from view. He followed the corridor to its end, with the sound of his boots crushing glass his only companion. Aside from his eagerly blinking PSA Screen.
Remarkable! Your Skill (B)[Walking] has grown to Level 2!
Once again greeted with a left turn, he placed a single foot around the corner and what he saw locked him in place. He refused to move a muscle, willing himself not to tremble in terror. Halfway down this sand strewn cooridor the back half of what he could only assume was some kind of giant snake-monster slithered out of view, headed down a separate pathway branching off to the right.
Though it may have been the end if the tail, it was easily bigger around than he was, and over eight feet long. Each scale looked to be the size of his fist, and was colored to blend almost perfectly with the sand. As Alan studied the tail, he was unable to accurately determine if it was made of sand, or simply looked that way.
As the end of the snake-like creature was almost out of sight, Alan made the decision to take a risk. He took a deep breath and used [Examine] on the retreating segment of tail. His PSA flashed annoyingly, but the notification was ignored. The information he received from his examination Skill was far more important. It made him wish he hadn't bothered pausing, and had simply run away upon his first sighting the snake. He desperately hoped it wasn't able to somehow detect the activation of his Skills.
Alan wasn't even slightly confident in his odds of surviving a confrontation with this monster. Even his recently malfunctioning subconscious had fallen eerily silent.
WARNING! (Wandering Mini-boss) Discovered!
Lvl 14 Sand Naga Hp: 5100/5100
Once he finished absorbing the unsettling information, realization fully sank in. Not only was this beast a much higher level than anything he'd fought so far, but it also happened to be something called a Mini-boss. Rooted in place, Alan continued to hold his breath in fear of somehow drawing the Nagas attention.
In an attempt to distract himself from his desire to take a breath and the increasingly rapid beating of his heart, he looked over at his previously dismissed notifications.
Remarkable! Your Skill (B)[Examine] has grown to Level 4!
Remarkable! You have reached level 5! +18 free status points! Evolution to next Evolutionary Stage (F) is still available. You have 18 unallocated status points.
Remarkable! You have reached level 6! +20 free status points! Evolution to next Evolutionary Stage (F) is still available. You have 38 unallocated status points.
1185 Exp to next Level!
Frozen in fear, yet eager to put his new Status Points to work, Alan opened his Status tab. Regardless of the situation, he felt pleased by the information laid bare before his eyes.
Name: Alan Robbins
Race: Human(G) LVL 6 EXP 713/1898
Class:
Cultivation core: (dormant)
Titles: Novice Mage, Dungeon Explorer, Above Your Weight Class, Singularly Skilled, Surpassing Expectations, Peerless Mage, Prodigious Mage, Luck Of The Daemons, Unprecedented Entity,
***STATISTICS***
Hp: 1395/1395
Mp: 1732/1732
Stamina: 1426/1426
Hp Regeneration: 207 per minute
Mp Regeneration: 260 per minute
Stamina Regeneration: 217 per minute
Strength: 44 (49)+5%
Constitution: 42 (48)+5%
Vitality: 42 (43)+5%
Endurance: 42 +5%
Perception: 42 +5%
Agility: 42 (45)+5%
Dexterity: 42 (43)+5%
Intelligence: 55 +5% (+5%StEf)
Wisdom: 55 +5% (+5%StEf
Resistance: 55 +5% (+5%StEf)
Willpower: 55 +5% (+5%StEf)
Luck: 78 +5% (+10%StEf)
Unallocated Status Points: 38
*** SKILLS***
(B)[Examine] Lvl 4
(C)[Multiversal Language Comprehension] Lvl 1
(C)[Falling with Character] Lvl 1
(B)[Walking] Lvl 2
(U)[Steady Hand of the Cartographer] Lvl 1
(B)[Dagger Utilization] Lvl 2
(C)[Throw Weapon] Lvl 2
(C)[How to Take a Punch] Lvl 1
(C)[Trap Detection] Lvl 1
(C)[Enhanced Cognition] Lvl 3
(U)[Tenacious Concentration] Lvl 3
(C)[Pain Resistance] Lvl 7
(R)[Unburnt Flesh of the Impure One] Lvl 1
(C)[Shock Resistance] Lvl 1
(C)[Mana Perception] Lvl 3
(R)[Advanced Spell Alteration] Lvl 1
(C)[Dual-casting] Lvl 1
(Unique)[Daemonfire of the Impure Realm] Lvl 1
(C)[Shock Resistance] Lvl 2
(U)[Mana Regulation] Lvl 1
*** SPELLS ***
(U)[Healing Fog] Lvl 3
(B)[Water Jet] lvl 1
(B)[Lightning Strike] Lvl 2
(U)[Spectral Firebolt] Lvl 2
(B)[Banish Darkness] Lvl 1
(B)[Wind Blade] Lvl 1
(B)[Stone Skin] Lvl 1
(C)[Aqua Shield] Lvl 2
(U)[Shocking Water Cannon] Lvl 1
(R)[Spectral Plasma Storm] Lvl 1
***TECHNIQUES***
Sure, he had gained a couple of Levels. But the sheer amount of Skills aquired as a result of his Mana experimentation, along with the Stats provided by his recently earned Titles made the 38 Status Points received from Leveling Up seem like chump change in comparison.
Cackling internally, Alan inspected his Statistics, ready to begin allocating his Status Points.