3

Are these waves as endless as they seem? Are these caves and caverns as maze like as my senses are telling me? Doesn't it seem like I have to many senses, and that they are way to powerful? After some pondering I decide to start advancing, to grind and explore, so as to try and not get lost I visualize the cave based on all the data my senses were providing, and begin to advance down the tunnel to the left. At the very moment I leave the intersection the voice informs, “Skill acquired. Mental map. Skill pending. Navigation.” I notice this particular instance because it arrives with a strange occurrence involving me suddenly seeing a semitransparent three dimensional model of everything, including moving goblins within a fairly vast radius from myself, I was also seeing normally at the same time. It was kind of distracting at first, but it quickly proved to be a phenomenal skill. Everything within range of my senses was neatly appraised and this allows me to plot my path through this vast and complex goblin maze. It also proves quite helpful in combat and exploring because I always knew what was around me and what it was doing.

While slaughtering my way around I notice some items laying around down dead end tunnels or in small rooms but I don't really have time or means to carry them. Because of this I learn that as long as I am aware of something in my range and I want it, the shadows will consume it for me putting it into storage. This just happens, it is automatic.

This place has nothing even close to intelligent design. I've been wandering for several hours all while perpetuating a seemingly endless massacre through one tunnel after another, the map helped so I didn't get lost or waste time repeating already explored tunnels devoid of even bodies or blood to prove my passage. I believe that some how every thing in this maze is endlessly spawned some how, as there is no end them. They seem to gradually grow more powerful as time passes. Eventually I come to a large yet crowded cavern, this cavern also contains the fist variant, it was a goblin ranger using a sling to hurl exploding bullets. When I kill it after chasing it around while the standard goblins swarm me to slow me down I can finally begin to see an end to the hoard. More importantly the voice decreed, “Goblin ranger consumed. Items acquired. Area cleared.”

Once I finished off all the goblins I proceed along a long empty tunnel that leads me to an intersection occupied by a group of two normal goblins and one ranger. Again I face an endless hoard and again I massacre my way through it. This time the final cavern has two variants, a ranger and a goblin shaman throwing buffs and DE-buffs with an occasional fire ball or magic bolt. They all die and I move on, the next area introduces the goblin mage spamming spells as fast as it can, the next the goblin berserker a faster stronger fighter, after that a goblin assassin with sneak attacks and poison. Each area always incorporates the previous areas boss type and is larger than the ones before it. The next area is simply enormous and I have no idea how many goblins I murder before I reach the boss cavern, in point of fact this boss cavern had quiet a few bosses in it. They all averaged about ten levels higher than any other goblins I had thus far encountered. There were two shamans, three rangers, two mages, four berserkers, three assassins, and one king. The king is just a combination of the rest. I hit them with my breath as soon as I enter the cavern filling more than half of it, almost all of them had their levels drop catastrophically or simply die instantly the survivors all died a second later when to my surprise they are suddenly impaled by their own shadows before being quickly consumed by them as the voice declared, “Skill acquired. Shadow pales.” It then continued, “Area cleared. Dominion cleared. Reward acquired.”

At this point with no immediate enemies I ponder how to retrieve things from shadow storage, sadly the voice intoned, “Menu restricted until mission completion.” What mission? “Mission 2: Make your way to the surface. Completion required to lift menu restrictions.” Well I didn't expect an answer but hey lets keep moving forward. I look at the map as I go and wow, this goblin maze is massive, I've been slaughtering my way through it for almost nine days. Thankfully I am in the tunnel to the surface.

With a grin on my face I am off to see the world beyond these caves, the tunnel was long and steep, luckily there seemed to be steps carved into the floor uneven though they may be. Four hours later the tunnel leveled out, one hundred yards after that the cave opened onto a view of a forest covered valley a midst what seemed to be a mountain range. The second my steps bring me outside I hear the chime and the voice, “mission complete. Experience threshold exceeded. Level increased. Level limit exceeded. Skill acquired. Passive scanning. Skill acquired. Shadow crafting. Menu available.”

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“Menu.” I declare and it appears like the map. Oh the options...1 personal info. 2 equipment. 3 magic. 4 inventory. 5 maps/log. 6 q&a. Well let me look at the first option first. An image of me appears on the left while details about me appear to the right.

Name: Dundee Age: <1 Level: 9999+ luck: 9 stats Hp: 2,260,348,942

Title: patron saint of blasphemy Mp: 27,074,792,260

Species: vampiric shadow dragon Sp: 1,505,099,475

Class: n/a CON: 10,035 CHA: 10,029

sub class 1: captain DEX: 10,035 INT: 10,031

sub class 2: n/a STR: 10,047 WIS: 10,026

Species trait: rapid growth, paragon, immortality, omni-spectral vision, motion sensing, thermal sensing, gravity sensing, energy sensing, supreme olfactory sensing, create spawn, summon spawn, shadow manipulation, shadow feeding, shadow shifting, shadow storage, shadow territory, territorial awareness, blood feeding, blood manipulation, blood bonding, flesh clones,reflex shifting, vampire magic proficiency, shadow magic proficiency, dragon magic proficiency, dragon breath, dragon form, flight, extreme regeneration, universal damage reduction, sleep immunity, poison immunity, death effect immunity, magic resistance, elemental resistance, physical resistance, psychic resistance, dominate mind, extreme learning, inherited memory time released or triggered

Skill: appraisal, unarmed combat mastery, mental map, shadow pales, alertness, combat reflexes,improved natural critical, indomitable will, multi-attack, tracking, instinctual attack evasion

Aura: shadow of death, blood storm, blood shadow tempest

Well I think I broke the system. Everything about my stats is well beyond anything I've encountered the goblin king was only level 470. I also have an impressive list of skills, traits, and auras but what I need to know is, what are flesh clones?

Flesh clones: automatically convert as many as 8 pieces of severed flesh into additional selves, complete with all equipment. Any exp, knowledge, skills or abilities, and items gained by the flesh clones will be returned to the original when the clones are killed, expire, or give themselves to the shadows. Flesh clones last up to one hour per level.

To craft my first set of flesh clones I promptly use the blades of my left hand to sever the fingers of my right hand into 2 pieces of flesh each. “AAAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOWWW,” it really hurts quite a lot. I soon watched my fingers grow back while my severed bits grow explosively into full size mes in only a few seconds. I then split up to begin a twenty one day systematic outward spiral of exploration and mass extermination of any and all things that choose to attack me before giving my selves to shadow, but the conditions are varied. Three clones will each practice magic focused on either vampire, shadow, or dragon as well as various other magic if we can. Two clones will practice stealth, tracking, and assassination. The final three clones will each focus on developing my species traits. And I browse the shadow storage, I probably should have done this before the flesh clones but I didn't want to wait to start exploring this world.

There is quite a lot of stuff contained in storage, most of it materials, how ever a fair bit of it is equipment. From this equipment I chose to equip a pair of storm dragon hide pants boosting my elemental resistance and DEX, a ring of sustenance so I never feel hungry of thirsty, a long bladed knife that absorbs the blood it spills and draws it from its victims in order to repair and improve itself, an outback style storm dragon hide hat that boosted CHA INT and WIS, a set of arm bands that increase critical chance and damage, and an amulet that eliminates the need for vocal, somatic, and material components to cast spells thus making it faster cheaper and easier to use magic(works for self and all avatars, clones, and familiars.

Freshly equipped, I look at the consistently expanding map and decide to try casting spells while flying. But first lets test my speed and max altitude only to find myself amazed by both exceeding my expectations, and so I begin focusing on areal maneuvers while firing of any magic I think up as fast as I can. After a about 20 hours I begin hovering while stretching out my senses, not long after the voice informs me, “Skill acquired. Active sensing. Skill acquired. Remote sensing. Conditions met. Skill acquired. Navigation.”