"No."
The professor's voice tore across the Multiverse. The ship that had remained in orbit around Earth 7218936289047397, known to its inhabitants as Earth 0 registered the disturbance caused by the slowly evolving Archaeology Companion. Mama Qucha turning slightly on her chair made of Light, interrupting her discussion with the Paladin God Aurelius. Deep in the bowels of a prison made of Darkness, Despair, Hatred and Malevolence a being whose eyes contained the very Cosmos looked up and frowned.
"No."
With those two short utterances, made by beings virtually on the opposite sides of the power scale, things changed. The System, famous for its hands off nature in situations where deities overstepped, responded, and the response would send ripples across the upper echelons of the Multiverse.
The Goddess Varkarakos has been stripped of her divinity
Varkarakos, the former Goddess of the Onix Trono has been censured and returned to her domain, the Netherveil under duress
Divinity is a gift of the System, know your place, petty revenge on Adventurers is beneath you
Take this as a warning to all
Reparation from the Onix Trono to the Coricancha for the assault on one of their Acolytes is requited
----------------------------------------
Alex woke, gasping and alone on the floor.
Welcome to Floor 6
Difficulty increased
Safe Zone Active for 10 minutes
09:59
09:58
09:57
“What the actual-”
Alex’s first utterance after dying was interrupted with a long scream as pain overtook him. Rolling up in a ball he sobbed and shook. Eventually he reached down and touched his chest, then looked down when he felt the hole. The left side of his chest, fight above his heart… where his heart should've been was a ragged hole that was slowly filling up. He watched in horror as bones and muscle grew from nothing until the hole was gone, the only sign that anything had happened was another silvery scar.
“What the fu-”
“Come on Till, no time for that.”
“Professor?”
“Who else?”
“How? What? Where?”
The professor sighed, pulled out her Thinking Chair and sat down.
“That’s cruel.”
Chuckling to herself she pulled the original Thinking Chair out of their combined Inventory and dropped it beside Alex.
“Get dressed and sit down. I have a lot to explain and we don’t have much time.
07:14
07:13
07:12
Alex did as he was told, working on autopilot as he replaced his jeans and shoes. Pulling his shirt out revealed that, like his chest, it too had a large hole in it. Looking up at the professor she just nodded. He pulled that shirt back into his inventory and grabbed another before taking out the Volcanic Jacket. He watched in fascination as, again like his chest, the hole was repairing itself. What started as a jacked that he could see through, soon had layers of whatever it was made of that looked like leather growing to fill the hole.
“Convenient.”
“Sit down Till.”
Again Alex did as he was told, sitting down and waiting expectantly all while his mind was in overdrive.
“I was de-”
“I know Till,” the Companion shuddered and looked away, “I know.. We never talked about what we’d do if that happened. On a positive note, you had two Respawn Tokens, you now have one. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
Alex had a hand under his shirt and he was unconsciously running it over his new scar.
“Alex!” Alex jumped and looked up. “We don’t have much time and this is important.”
“Sorry, professor.”
“You now have one Respawn Token, following?” Alex nodded. “Good. I needed to use it as Varkarakos, sorry, the Former Goddess Varkarakos who is now under Realm Arrest used her power to portal into this Multiverse Dungeon, breaching several System Accords, then, tearing up any Accords she hadn’t already bent or broken she portaled to this Floor and-” the professor shook slightly then visibly composed herself, “used Theodore’s spear of darkness, otherwise known as the The Breach Spear, to run you through. Initially your soul was-” again the professor faltered before squaring her shoulders, “your soul was initially sent to the Netherveil. Mama Qucha, Aurelius and myself have spent a considerable period of time in conference with the Onix Trono. The Vortalian’s, First Race of the Multiverse, adjudicated the rather heated discussions. As you might’ve seen the Onix Trono was sanctioned, Varkarakos was stripped of her status as a Goddess of the Chanka and the Onix Trono were forced to make amends. One of which was your soul being returned to the UpperVerse.”
“The UpperVerse?”
“The plane of existence occupied by living beings in the Multiverse. The Netherveil is one of the many realms of the UnderVerse.”
“If Varkarakos did,” Alex waved a hand, “all that shit to get me, why was it a concession to have me released from…”
“The Netherveil. Because,” the professor wouldn’t meet his eyes and awkwardly cleared her throat. “Because they’d started,” she paused, “working on your soul.”
“What does that mean?”
“Till, can we not? It was bad, worse than bad.”
“I need to know, professor.”
“Necromancer’s of the Netherveil had started flaying your soul. Using the powers gifted to them by Varkarakos they were shredding you from existence.”
“Oh. That’s… I don’t even know.”
“Paladin’s from the Order of Light have been repairing your soul for days.”
“Days?”
“Till, you died six days ago. This body was put in stasis by the System while your case, or rather, Varkarakos’ case was assessed.”
“So much time wasted.” Alex shook himself and stood. “What now?”
03:27
03:26
03:25
“Now? We get back to work. We have two Floors to clear and then, the Information Broker. After that, you promised Archaeology.”
Alex smiled and nodded.
“So nothing has changed?”
“That’s a different question. There have been a couple of changes. You’re more immune to Necromantic Abilities for one. Another,” the professor extended a hand, a gesture that Alex mirrored and two items appeared on his outstretched palm.
Item Received:
Level 100 Class Upgrade Token x 1
This Token allows an Adventurer to increase the tier of their class. This can be done at level 100
Increasing the tier of your Class allows access to higher level Abilities, if a level 50 Upgrade wasn’t completed, this Upgrade will enhance and improve existing Skills and Abilities
Companion Enhancement Matrix x 1
This Matrix allows a Companion with a specific calling to be enhanced to surpass it’s original programming
Specific enhancement modes are provided separately
WARNING: Once completed, this action cannot be undone
WARNING: This cannot be completed while in an Instance
“Professor…”
“I know Till.”
"You're handling this better than I expected."
Alex sat down and looked at the ground.
"I'm handling it better than I thought I would. It's…" Alex closed his eyes and leaned back, "Inner Fire. I can feel it reacting and… it's like it stabilises my emotions."
"Interesting. Emotion stability isn't something that generally comes up with you."
"That's fair. Anything else?"
"Onix Trono lost a lot out of this. They also needed to give up those two items which Mama asked for specifically. She asked for more but the Vortalian weren't to be swayed. These two items though."
"Getting you upgraded will be a massive increase to what we can do."
"The Class Upgrade will make you exponentially more powerful. You didn't manage to acquire an Upgrade for level 50."
"I didn't even think about it."
"Anything else?"
"The Vortalian?"
"Not important right now. After we finish the Dungeon."
Alex stood and threw his Thinking Chair to the professor.
"Any tips for this floor?"
"None, I wasn't shown anything inside the Dungeon after you…"
Alex waved a hand.
"Don't worry about it."
"Oh, your self healing has been improved. Your soul was bathed in Healing Light, one of the side effects."
"Any other side effects?"
"Nope."
"That was suspiciously quick."
"It's fine. You're just a magnet for Demonic and Necromantic entities right now and… forever."
"Forever?"
00:02
00:01
00:00
Floor 6
Difficulty increased
Safe Zone Deactivated
0/81 Enemies Defeated
Fight!
"Yip. Good luck."
"Good luck? That's comforting."
Alex turned to see a flood of armoured creatures moving in his direction the looked down at the professor still sitting in her chair. Smiling he walked forwards, the Volcanic Axe appearing in his right hand. His Chain of Woe appeared coiling slowly around his arm, over his hand and down to the ground which smoked and pitted when the chain rested on it. Alex smiled, showing far too many teeth then hefted the axe.
"I didn't start it but I can tell you how it ends. I didn't get sad, I got even. So on the weekends-"
"It's a Tuesday."
"They're song lyrics."
"Then don't change them. Respect Mother."
"I don't dress for friends. Lately I've been dressing for revenge. Molten Fortress, Volcanic Fury, Primal Fury!"
The new armour slammed into place, lifting him off the ground, the axe now looked like it was a one handed weapon and considering the state of his soul, Alex looked Demonic. Lava spilled from the joints of the armour and smoke coiled up from the eye holes in the Fortress.
"You're totally fine, I don't know why Mama and Aurelius were worried."
Alex turned back, the plates of rock grating across the ground.
"They were worried?"
"Why is your voice louder? Your soul was flayed in the UnderVerse Till, of course they were worried. We all were, the fact that you aren't… actually it's kind of on brand for you. Move."
Alex dodged to the side as Abominations assaulted him from all sides.
"Abominations? That's… actually a let down."
"Just kill them, this Dungeon has taken forever."
"I'm actually feeling pretty fresh."
"Your soul just spent a couple of days at a Healing Spa in a Divine Realm, of course you feel fresh. Till, come on."
With a sigh that sounded more like a scream coming through the armours helm Alex swung his left arm, releasing more of the Chain, then he tugged his arm to the left to drag the length of lava-hot metal through the enemies around him.
"Abominations," he muttered.
Swinging down he embedded the head of the axe in the ground where it created a Firestorm that spread around him, then pressing his hands together he pulled apart two chains which he spun in a circle around himself.
"Flame Whirlwind."
With the heated metal moving so quickly it counted as a melee weapon so he sped up, tearing through the basic enemies, dragging the storm into his whirlwind of metal and fire. As the last of the enemies does he released his armour to feel the heat of his flames against his skin.
"You used the armour so you could aggressively growl a Taylor Swift song didn't you?"
"Maybe…"
The professor shook her head.
"You risked Bloodlust… for Abominations?"
"It looked cool." Alex pulled the axe from the ground with a smile. "Plus, I needed to vent a little."
Floor 6
80/81 Enemies Defeated
Fight!
"This floor has been a let down."
Alex watched as his Smouldering Embers reduced the remains of the Abominations to an oily sludge.
"Don't complain, you did have to be tortured to get here."
"Soul flaying does sound bad."
"You don't remember any of it?"
Alex shifted slightly and shrugged. The professor just watched until she appeared to come to a decision and turned away.
"Come out Floor Boss, come outtttt."
"Do you think that will-"
Alex staggered back as pain tore through his back.
"What was-"
Alex staggered as pain flared from his right leg.
"Son of a-"
Alex collapsed as he felt something slash against his face.
Rolling onto his side Alex reached up and brushed his fingers against his cheek, they came away bloody. Grimacing, he reached down to his left thigh, his jeans were torn and judging by the wet stain he had either wet himself, or he was bleeding freely. The situation was confirmed on his HUD and again by his red fingers.
"Did you see the… whatever it was?"
"Flashes. They're very quick."
"You just had to mention Mikasa. I can't die again… not something I ever thought I'd say."
"Wrong, you can die again."
"Fine. I mean, I don't want to use my last Respawn Token."
"You need to say what you mean, Till. I can't be expected to know what you mean all the time."
Alex sighed and grimaced in pain.
"Fine."
Alex froze as he heard a scuffing noise, he strained his hearing and tried not to move.
"Till, you need to see this."
"Shhhh, I'm playing dead."
"Then you're terrible at it," said a voice that Alex recognised but couldn't place.
Shaking his head Alex levered himself to his knees, then slowly got to his feet with a pained grunt.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Heal yourself, at least make this interesting."
Alex looked up but couldn't see the speaker, a section of the room was coated in thick shadow, shapes could be seen moving within.
"Who are you?"
"Never mind that, Alex. Heal yourself."
With another pained grunt Alex reached into his Inventory and removed his last Rejuvenation Elixir. With a groan followed by a rustle the voice in the shadows spoke again.
"No. Bloody hell, I thought you were smart. You can't use one of them, well, you can, but what a waste. A fucking Rejuvenation Elixir and he goes to use it without thinking. Idiot."
Alex replaced the Elixir and stood there watching the shadows and listening to the dripping noise his blood was making as it fell to the ground from his various wounds. Looking at his HUD he watched as his health ticked up over 44%, the angry image of his body showed multiple large red areas which was concerning. He flinched as a small vial flew from the shadows, before he could reach out the professor moved forwards and took it into their Inventory.
Item Received:
Healing Vial
Restore Health Based on the severity of your wounds up to 80% of total health
Return vial to Alchemist Guild for 1 C-Grade Credit
Don't Litter the Multiverse
"Don't litter?"
"The Guild took a hit a few years back when Adventurers were recorded dropping vials on the ground during an advertising campaign. It was looked into and vials were turning up everywhere. The Guild implemented a rather aggressive recycling initiative which if I'm honest, has cleaned areas up pretty well."
"A Multiverse Recycling Initiative?"
"Yip."
Alex sculled the potion then looked down at the empty vial
"That's… actually tasty. The Elixir isn't bad, but I wouldn't call it nice."
"It's my own recipe."
"You can make potions?"
"Alchemy has its perks."
"I can see that."
Alex threw the vial into the shadows and waited for the sound of it hitting the ground but it didn't come.
"So, what's so special about you Alex? Why was I offered an obscene number of Credits to be a Floor Boss in this Dungeon?"
"Me? Nothing."
The voice in the shadows laughed softly.
"Nothing. Guess you have something in common with all of my usual contract targets after all."
"I honestly have no idea who you are, or why someone would pay you to be here. Unless it was the Onix Trono?"
"Them?" The voice in the shadows laughed again. "No, this was a sham religious group."
"The Church of Morris?"
"That's the one."
"They're part of the Onix Trono."
"Damn it. That’s good to know though, information is power. The Chanka's knew I'd say no, I always reject Pantheon hits. Too much blow back."
"Hits?"
"Assassinations."
"Oh. Well, this just took a turn."
"You're on one of the final floors in a Multiverse Dungeon Tower, surely you didn't expect a chef or an Accountant."
"True… I guess that explains the shadows."
"The Level 100 Class Upgrade changed my rather lacklustre Assassin Class to something more specialised."
"Till, the voice."
"Hmmmm?"
"You don't recognise it?"
"I do… but I can't place it."
"Till-"
The shadows darkened then pulled back into the body of a diminutive man in grey clothing that seemed to shift and roil around his body.
Alex went white and he fell to his knees.
"No. No. No. No! No! No!"
By the end of it he was screaming at the heavens, with clenched fists and equal parts fury and pain in his eyes.
"Alex?"
"Till, it isn't him."
"Who is it then?"
"Till. Take a breath and Scan him."
Name: Ben de'Vries
Floor 6 Boss
Race: Human (Earth 79)
Class: Chosen of Shadow
Title: Hidden
Core Pantheon: n/a
Guild(s): Alchemists Guild [Leader], Assassin's Guild [Redacted]
Level: 106
"Same name, different Earth."
"Different Ben."
"How did you know?"
"Till, he couldn't be the Ben we knew. You know why."
Alex nodded slowly then looked up at the confused Assassin then shook his head.
"You know what this means don't you, professor?"
"About Maddy?"
Alex just nodded.
"I do, Till."
"This is going to be hard."
"You know what this means?"
"The Onix Trono is fighting dirty so I need to tear the Throne to the ground and destroy the Chankan Pantheon."
"Till, they're Deities."
"Yip."
With that Alex put one hand on the ground and pushed himself up to his feet, leaving a small crater of fire where his hand had been. Looking up again Ben saw that Alex's eyes were now pools of fire.
Ben took a step back.
"Alex?"
"Ben, this isn't your fault and I'm sorry you got suckered in, but you have two options; surrender or burn."
"Alex, you're level 52 and I'm 106. My Class is at its maximum tier."
"Yes."
Alex started walking towards the Assassin.
"Alex, that's 54 levels of Attributes and a Class Upgrade."
"Ben. You're a Multiverse variant of my best friend. Someone who I heard burn to death while I couldn't help. The Chanka's put you here to break me. They've more than likely done the same with my partner who died the same way. They. Will. Not! Break! Me!"
Flames spread out from Alex's body, then pulled back and climbed his body.
"Alex. You can't… how are you controlling your element like that?"
Inner Fire has breached a threshold
Direct Fire Damage increased
Indirect Fire Damage and Fire Damage over Time increased
Fire Resistance II Increased To 11
Inner Fire changed to Inner Fire II
Alex's Incan armour formed on his body out of the twisting flames before sinking into him again.
"What was that?"
You are being Scanned
"Coricancha… I should've known. One of Viracocha's?"
Alex's magic pulsed and the inferno around him grew.
"Fuck! This is happening then. I won't hold back."
Ben brought his hands up and crouched slightly. Shadows emerged from his body and coalesced around him as plates of armour. A dagger appeared in each hand, silver hilts with glowing black blades. Ben's eyes shifted to a smoky black before a hood covered his head and obscured his features.
"Molten Fortress, Volcanic Fury."
The fire coursing over and around his body solidified into the plates of magma rock and the fire in his eyes grew brighter. With that Alex ran at Ben, the Juggernaut Ability activated and he caught the Assassin by surprise. With a grunt Ben disappeared in an explosion of shadow just before Alex collided with the wall. With the grating sound of rock grinding against rock he pulled himself free, the corner of his mind not consumed by anger and fire watched as the Dungeon repaired the damage to the wall.
"You can't hit me if you can't see me Alex."
"Flame Manipulation."
Alex's axe appeared in his right hand and the Chains of Woe uncoiled down his left arm. Again the fire around him increased in heat and rose higher, then with a rushing noise his axe fully ignited, the fire within the porous rock was released and burnt with a blue intensity and drops of lava fell to the ground leaving pools of molten Dungeon floor in his wake.
"Ifrit…" a voice whispered from the shadows.
Alex swung his improved axe into the floor opening a large wound in the Dungeon, a blue tinted Firestorm sprung up around him.
"Flame Manipulation."
With a wave of his left hand the storm spread out around him, increasing in speed and intensity, pushing back the shadows that had been growing. With a stamp of his Fortressed foot the Smouldering Embers beneath him spread further and burnt hotter. Lastly he threw his axe.
"Blazing Hurl!"
The axe flew horizontally, cleaving through the loving shadow until it slammed into a wall, with a jerk of his right arm the axe tore free and flew back to him, again slicing through the shadows, burning a hole into the darkness.
"What are you?"
"Till, don't-"
"Fire."
"At least you didn't say, 'Vengeance' or something overly edgy. You could've gone a little more aggressive."
"Professor, can you not?"
"Right, right. Middle of a fight. But still, just because his element is shadow doesn't mean you can't be a little dark."
"I… I'll work on it."
"Good, other than that, do your thing."
Alex sighed, the noise that came through the Fortress surpassed the professor's expectations.
"Good. Very Sith Lord, That'll do it. His feeble skills are no match for the Dark… no, that won't work. Keep going, I need to brush up on my Emperor."
With a shake of his head Alex threw himself into the shadow.
"Flame Whirlwind!"
Again his fire burnt away at the shadow, pushing the Assassin further back. The blue of his fire blending with the white and yellow to give Ben the image of drowning in fire. Alex roared and his flames grew hotter and the flames from below came up even higher.
With a scream the shadow pulled back completely revealing Ben on his back, his grey clothing was burnt away in places revealing charred, blackened flesh. His left arm was gone as was his right hand.
"I submit, you monster. Finish it!"
"Till."
Alex walked towards the downed Assassin, pools of lava appearing in his wake. He stood over Ben, and just looked down at the man who had been burnt from his life. With a scream he raised his axe high and Ben closed his eyes. As he started to swing down Alex infused all of his anger, all of his hate and all of the combined and buffed power into the swing but shifted his target and spun so his axe slammed into the ground away from Ben. Screaming as he struck his Fortress fell into the great hole he'd torn into the Dungeon.
Error
Error
Multiverse Dungeon Irregularity Detected
Dungeon Torn From Instance
Resetting
Please Wait
The hole he'd opened filled with lava and flames danced across its surface. The wall in front of him tore away revealing Lost Vegas in all of its apocalyptic glory. Alex sunk to the ground and soaked in the view of his adopted home. Smiling slightly as a large blue dragon flew above the city, light from the moon lit it up revealing pools of volcanic essence contained within it’s scales. Zargath breathed out over something and smoke rose from another building, coiling into the air to match the other areas of smoke and fire scattered across the city. Sitting on the edge of the pool with his legs in the lava watching the last free member of the Draconium tear through Undead. His quiet moment was shattered by a hacking cough behind him.
"Oh shit, Ben." Alex sprung to his feet and pulled the last Rejuvenation Elixir from his Inventory. "Good thing you're such an Alchemy Elitist and didn't let me use this earlier, mate."
Ben coughed as the fluid ran down his throat, before it was all consumed Alex sprinkled some on the Assassin's stumps.
"Not an elitist, I'm the Leader of one of the best-" The man started violently coughing up blood, "Alchemy Guilds in the Multiverse."
"And the cleanest."
"Damn right." Ben looked up at Alex and smiled. "You didn't need to, I'm not sure I would've. But thank you for not killing me."
"You're an Assassin, there's no chance you'd let one of your targets live."
Ben frowned and looked off to the side.
Ben de'Vries has Forfeited the Battle
Floor 6 Complete
Loot Chest Available
"Why?"
"I'm not fighting you again. There's something wrong with you, in a good way… for you. You're too strong for someone under level 100. Your connection to Viracocha explains some of it, but there's something... It's like you have a primal connection to your element, something that shouldn't be possible till level 100 and even then, you need to fully attune to it which can take another 100 levels, at least."
"Won't the Throne come after you?"
"The Chanka’s?" Ben laughed, the saw Alex's confusion. "You're serious? You are. When did your world fully Integrate?" Ben sat up and noticed the hole in the Dungeon for the first time and his mouth dropped open. "No, it can't. How?"
Alex turned to look out over the city and shrugged.
"No idea, the Dungeon…" Alex turned to his Companion, "what do you call it Professor?"
"Glitched?"
Alex turned back to Ben who was still looking out over the city while keeping a reasonable distance from the bubbling lava.
"The Dungeon glitched."
"That shouldn't happen."
"Anyway, the Integration completed a few days ago. Just when we got to Vegas, right Professor."
"Yes."
Alex turned back to his Companion who was standing near the hole in the wall where she was pulsing various lights at it while distractedly responding to him.
"The Chanka's can retaliate as they hired me through an intermediary. Plus they're in chaos at the moment, one of their creepy death cult fuckers just got the Goddess pulled out of her, now she's sulking under Realm Arrest in her realm. Surely you got the push notification from the System."
"I saw something about it."
"So they won't be putting a godly toe out of line for a while. Plus as the Guild Leader of the Alchemy and… of the Alchemy Guild I have similar protection to a Faction Leader."
"Interesting. That gives me some info, I'm actually in here to get to an Information Broker."
Ben started laughing again, then looked apologetic.
"Let me guess, the Broker is at the top of the Tower?"
"Yes."
"Every time. You didn't consider climbing the outside of the Tower, breaking a window and slipping in?" Ben saw Alex's face and laughed again. "Of course you didn't. Maybe it's a Rogue thing? Just, always look at every avenue of attack. Sometimes there's an easy way."
"Climb the outside of the Tower… fuck."
"Now, open the Loot Chest. I want to see what you got for besting me."
Alex nodded and muttering about his luck walked over to the Loot Chest that seemed to be made of smoky shadows.
"It's very you," he said over his shoulder.
"That's awesome. Wish I could get some of them for the Guild."
Alex pressed his palm into the smoke.
"Screw the Guild, imagine this as a trap. Se poor bastard thinks he's stumbled onto a chest and goes to open it and 'Bam', he's poisoned."
Ben looked up at Alex with a smile then extended a fist which Alex bumped.
"Let's see…"
The smoke flowed up Alex's arm then hoped to Ben and was sucked into his body.
"That pushed me to 5% Primal Elemental Attunement, I was on 2% before. There's something different about you Till."
"Alex."
"Sorry?"
"Only the Professor calls me Till. It's a thing."
Ben nodded and looked down.
Item Received:
Volcanic Cache
Requirement - Level 50
Activate to create a piece of armour specific to your level and Class
This item will scale with your level
If you are wearing items from a Volcanic armour set the item generated will be part of that set - remove items to avoid this
"Wow, a tier set piece. I should spend more time with you. Too bad it is Volcanic specific or I might have to try to take it from you."
"It wouldn't work for you?"
"It would, but it would create something different, my set is, Shadow Dagger. It combines with my Upgraded Class."
"Interesting."
They both looked down again.
Item Received:
Unique Profession Change Token
This Token allows an Adventurer to change the chosen Unique Profession, providing access to the full list of Multiverse Professions
Changing a Unique Profession can only be done once and only with the use of this Item
This is a System created Item and can be traded
Note: Only eleven Unique Profession Change Tokens have ever been generated, this is the only one still in existence
"I said it before but I'll say it again, wow. Will you use it?"
Alex didn't even have to think.
"Not a chance. Any suggestions?"
"Ask the Broker, not only will he provide information, but he can also offer mercantile assistance, for a fee."
With money in mind they both looked down again at the small pile of Credits.
You have Received:
7x S-Grade Credits
53x A-Grade Credits
2763x B-Grade Credit
"Not a bad haul. Part of me thinks I should be worth more."
"You probably would be if I'd killed you."
"True. Tempted?"
"Nope. This is better."
"Agreed. Anyway, I should be off, potions to make, people to… you know."
"Understood. Thanks for the info mate."
Ben tilted his head to the side and looked at Alex, before looking off to the side. Alex suddenly realised that he must look the same when viewing his HUD or reading over different System screens.
Ben de'Vries has shared his Earth 79 Contact Information with you
Accept
Yes/No
Note: Accepting Contact Information will allow you to track Ben while on Earth 79 and communicate with him.
Note: Accepting Contact Information will send your Information to Ben
Alex accepted the exchange of Contact Information.
"Look me up when you're on my Earth, I'll show you around the Alchemy Guild and we can do a Dungeon together."
"Sounds good. Thanks man, this went a lot better than it could've."
"Understatement…"
"It's more than that, the Ben from my Earth was my best mate, from our first day of school. He's the only guy I've ever been able to talk with and he died a few metres from me."
"That's rough Alex. I've never known…" The Assassin seemed lost in thought, "Nope, I've never known anyone called Alex Till."
"Odd."
"Not really, anything could've happened on my Earth. It was Integrated before I was born and I spent years just working on my Alchemy instead of Adventuring."
"Have you met another Ben, another you?"
"Nope. It can happen, but the System tries to prevent it."
"What about a Maddy? Maddy Khan?"
"Maddy short for Madeline?"
Alex nodded.
Again Ben looked off to the side.
"No. But both of you could be there, just different. Or I could've met the Earth 79 you and you went by a different System name. Like you do, Jäger."
Alex grimaced.
"That was a bit of a mistake."
"I'll keep an eye out, always interesting to know what variants get up to. Especially one of yours."
With that Ben stood and with one last look out the hole in the Dungeon wall he turned and shadows spilled him again, this time flowing out to create a door. With a smile and a wave Ben de'Vries walked through the door and was gone. Alex flopped down on the edge of his lava pool again and looked out over the city deep in thought. Before long the professor joined him and they watched Zargath destroy Undead together.
"What's on your mind Till?"
"That fight, if he hadn't submitted or, if I hadn't lost myself to my rage-"
"And grief."
"My rage and grief, I might not've beaten him."
"I don't think you would've. There isn't anything in the information I have access to about Primal Element Attunement. But your emotion pushed you through that threshold into something new. Your axe…"
Alex clenched his right fist and the Volcanic Axe was pulled from the depths of the lava pool in front of them. The weapon was unchanged, but Alex could feel a deeper connection to it. With a thought he returned it to his Inventory.
"That's all?"
"No. Maddy will be the next Floor Boss. Not my Maddy, but another one. I don't know if I can…"
"You can and you will. She isn't the Maddy we knew. Earths are different, on Earth 79 you and Ben weren't friends, which would've meant he would've chosen a different Major and wouldn't have been in my class. Imagine-"
"Stay on topic."
"You're right. Imagine though. So the Maddy that the Chanka have presumably found will be completely different. Even if they've told her to play on your emotions and act like she knows you, this you, we both know she doesn't. It'll be your hardest fight yet, but you can do it."
Alex nodded and stood up.
"What do we do about this?"
Alex indicated the pool of lava and the hole in the Dungeon.
"That I don't know. This shouldn't have happened. It should be imposs-"
Multiverse Irregularity Rectified
Dungeon Returning To Instance
Processing
With a great lurch Lost Vegas disappeared and was replaced by a complete and fathomless darkness that pulled at Alex's soul. Thankfully the wall and floor repaired themselves and Alex was able to look away.
"That was different."
"You just stared into the Abyss. The gap between Earths where the System generates Instances."
"It was… different."
Scanning
81/81 Enemies Defeated
Leaving Floor 6
"Time to go."
"Are you ready for this?"
"No. I'm terrified."
"So am I. Did you want to use the Cache first"
Alex pulled it from his Inventory and nodded.
Activate Volcanic Cache
Yes/No
"Yes."
The gem heated up until it burst into flame. Alex held it into his hand until the gem shards fell to the ground and something appeared in the ashes..
Clark County Fire Department Volcanic 5.11 Tactical Pants
B-Grade Armour
Armour Stats:
Resistance: High
Durability: n/a
Weight: Light
+30 Strength
+50 Inner Fire
+25 Constitution
On Equip:
Item immune to fire damage
Increases Fire Damage from all attacks
Self Repairs
Volcanic Retribution Set
(3 of 5 Collected)
5 of 5 Unlocks: Legendary Ability: Fire God
“Part of me expected something more climactic. But…” Alex dropped his tattered pants that had benefited from his fire resistance but hadn’t held up perfectly and replaced them with the new tier set pants. “In the Tundra colour as well. Bonus. I was hoping for pants or a new shirt as they take the damage.”
“I would’ve said boots, your street shoes don’t have much life left in them.”
Ales looked down and nodded, accepting the professor’s point then secured the built-in belt and without a second thought he and the professor walked through the flickering wall and emerged on the other side.
Arriving on Floor 7
Scanning
0/1 Enemies Defeated
"Hello Alex."
Alex froze, the voice was the same, but it was also different. There was an undercurrent of superiority and contempt that he didn't remember.
"Maddy."
Fight!