Mathew stood under a tree, looking up at the sleeping familiar. “Are you kidding me? Wake up you lazy piece of shit!”
Mathew’s words did nothing to wake up his familiar. He wasn’t in the mood to play games, so he simply just unsummoned Agnox, then resummoned him. Agnox appeared on the ground, asleep still.
With a swift kick to the side, Agnox woke up. “Ow!” He instantly started to fly up in the air, and had a flame in his hand ready to throw. Once he saw it was Mathew he dismissed the flames. “Boss! Wait, how are you here?”
“I walked here you idiot. Why were you asleep!”
“I can’t stay up for three days straight. You were fine.” Agnox said dismissively “Jeffery was there, plus it was americans. Nobody there was going to kill you.”
“General Payne was there!”
Agnox raised an eyebrow. “Who?”
Mathew was only getting more pissed. “The same guy who tried to kill me back at Blue Oaks? When we were at war? Ring any bells?”
“Ooooo that guy. I didn’t see him there though.”
Mathew let out a sigh of annoyance. “Whatever. Let’s just…let’s go. We need to complete a few more challenges before we leave.”
“Oh, speaking of which, I got the rewards for the boar one. No titles or anything cool. Just some materials and UC.”
Mathew waved hand, “That’s fine. We have bigger worries than rewards on this floor. We need to hike for at least five hours. Once there, we can worry about more challenges.”
“Why so far away?”
“Someone killed those three I had employed.” Mathew said, putting emphasis on the term he wanted to use, verus the reality of what they really were to him. “Not to mention Payne is here.”
“Why didn’t you just kill him? Wait till he is asleep, then a good swift slice across the neck.”
Mathew looked back at Agnox. “The thought crossed my mind, the problem is everyone else there. It was obvious people knew he wasn’t all that loyal. A woman I talked to warned me of him. That was obvious enough she knew the truth. My money is on the fact that the government needs him and his power. His class or profession must be important. There is another option, and he is fodder or an experiment. Could have him put his point into something, or learn certain techniques. Anything is possible.”
Mathew crossed his arms, “In the end, I chose not to kill him for now. I’m sure either we will meet again, or he will die before then”
“Sure thing, you are the boss, Boss.”
The three of them continued to travel for miles. With Mathew’s stats, he never felt tired nor sore from the long trek. In the past, five hours could get you under ten miles. Without a proper gauge for distance, it was hard to tell, but Mathew guesses he’s gone nearly twenty five miles, if not more.
Along the way, there was only one challenge that was found and completed by Mathew. Agnox spotted two groups, which they avoided entirely.
“We should be safe this far out.” Mathew said as he sat down. He was once again experimenting with creating a weapon with his mana. He was close. The reason he knew this was because this [Channel Mana] increased to Novice 9 just half an hour ago during his attempts.
Agnox flew off to scout out challenges to complete. Mathew was heavily invested in creating a weapon from his own mana. The longest attempt lasted ten seconds. The small dagger was a faint silver color. Mathew didn’t get a chance to even swing it before it shattered.
Mathew felt like he was missing something. That’s when an idea came to him. He quickly looked around before following through with his somewhat over taxing plan. He needed to be careful to not drain himself of resources, but if this worked…
Mathew started to form the dagger once again. He pulled mana out of his hands and shaped it just like he always had. He found it interesting the mana was colored gray. He already made a note to study if the color of one's mana meant anything.
Once the blade was mostly formed, he pushed mental energy through his arms and into the weapon. He was going to [Enforce] his creation. That’s what the Axiom was meant to do.
The blade started to glow and Mathew found the process was now extremely easier. He held his breath and focused. Soon an identical dagger to the one he typically used was sitting in his hands.
Refusing to let it break, he was careful to grab the hilt of the weapon. Ten seconds went by, and if anything, it looked even more sturdy.
Mathew swung with it twice through the air, noting how the weapon had no weight to it. Glancing at a nearby tree, Mathew wanted to test how durable it was. Stabbing at the tree, the dagger pierced down a third of the blade’s length before stopping.
“Not as strong as my actual blades, but this could work. Now, how do I use this in battle? I can summon weapons to my hands already.”
The first idea was expendable throwing weapons. He wouldn’t need to worry about his limit of three bound weapons to summon to his hand. His main three, [Doozkora’s Rod], [Quiq’s Spear], and his bleeding dagger were what he used the most currently.
However, using [Mana Bolt] was his main ranged attack. Did he pick a bad upgrade that was useless to him?
Mathew shook his head. If anything he learned was that nothing was useless, it just didn’t have a purpose yet.
His old [Negotiation] skill became the start of his growth in power by turning into [Contest]. He just needed to find a way to implement the ability to create mana weapons properly.
He spent another hour creating different weapons. He soon learned creating bladed and piercing weapons came easier to him. Meanwhile anything like a hammer or large axes was nearly impossible even with the help of [Bolster]
Night soon came after, with Agnox not finding any challenges nearby. They ate packed food, and slept on a rotating shift between the two of them. Jeffery was on the same shift as Agnox, since the wolf wasn’t fully trusted to stay focused by Mathew.
The next day, Mathew stood with a stretch. “We need to find a floor boss and defeat it sooner than later. Before then, I want to try and progress my Novice ranked powers. Including my Axioms.”
Agnox let out a whistle. “How do you plan on doing that?”
“When [Resistance] was upgraded, I used it that was both different, and intended for it. The other three should be along the same line. With practice and constantly using them I should get at least [Piercing] upgraded soon.”
Mathew really wanted to find another Dungeon to tear through using his Axiom on his newly created mana weapons. However, the only one they found was already being delved by another group.
Day five of being inside the World Dungeon was coming to an end, and Mathew had little to show for it. During their hikes, he spent time trying to get attacked by wildlife to progress his Ability quest and acquire [Mana Shield].
As of now, he was only 30 more attacks away from completion. Each time he used either [Resistance] or [Bolster] when attacked. Feeling out the difference between the two Axioms.
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What he soon realized was that [Bolster] wasn’t as defensive as he thought it was. It was actually more like [Enforce]. It worked to improve his physical prowess, both defensively and offensively. He was sturdier and could take attacks, yes.
Yet, he almost moved faster. When he attacked with his spear, and used the Axiom on himself, he was able to tear through the boar's bones way easier. It now made sense why it gave Vitality and Strength instead of Endurance or something else.
Mathew felt more and more confident with himself and his abilities. It was on the morning of the seventh day he found a Dungeon to complete that wasn’t being used by another group. It was a panther dungeon.
Just like the boar one, packs of panthers roamed inside. Mathew was going to clear it out himself, using only his mana weapons, Axioms, and two other novice techniques. If he needed to use something else, then he would. Yet, this was the best practicing grounds he will ever find.
Mathew still couldn’t use two Axioms at the same time, but that would come in time. His [Trinity’s Manual] talked about doing so multiple times. He assumed he either needed to get them to higher ranks, or get stronger himself.
Agnox and Jeffery found a spot to observe. Mathew doubted he would be knocked out again, but he was still in a contract with people. His biggest worry was Bob. He doubted the necromancer would betray him, but if he tried to overpower the contract now with his weakened soul then he had nothing to fight back with.
Mathew needed to complete this World Dungeon and continue to grow stronger. Maybe even find an Earth dungeon to complete Gaia’s quest. That was the only part left to complete it. If he could talk to her, maybe she could help fix his soul, even if it meant bargaining with a God.
Two gray daggers appeared in Mathew’s hands. He didn’t need to use [Enforce] to create them anymore, but they wouldn’t last longer than a single attack without the Axiom empowering them. For now, he had them layered in [Piercing].
Mathew started to clear out the dungeon, killing panthers back to back. If a single thrown blade didn’t kill them, then a follow up thrust from another surely did. Several times he was attacked from behind by the dark furred predators.
When too many were surrounding him, he controlled how many attacked him with [Frostrim Chains]. He soon realized he couldn’t have more than one instance of this ability active at a time.
That made things very difficult, but he could handle three on his own using the restrictive power. Any more than four at a time he was forced to kill one off with [Mana Bolt].
He danced from fight to fight. Leaving behind blood and fur. Mathew knew it was the sheer level and stat difference, but he was fighting with only a portion of his true power. If he was using his bolts combined with his axioms, he wouldn’t even be breathing heavily.
Soon, Mathew found the boss for the dungeon. A large six legged panther was laying ontop of a large rock all by itself. Mathew’s mind was abuzz. He could kill it easily. He’s killed nearly fifty panthers, and knew the best place to strike.
Mathew would need to be precise with his attacks and faster than the giant panther. He created a spear and empowered it with [Piercing]. “A surprise attack, then slow it down with the chains. Whittle it down till it’s dead.”
He pulled back with the spear, and launched it forward. It whistled through the air. Halfway there, the Panther’s eyes went wide, and it rolled to the side, barely getting nicked by the spear.
“Damn it, too slow!”
Mathew watched as the Panther blurred toward him. He raised his hands and blocked the rake of claws. Already feeling the strain from using too much mental energy today. He looked around to find the panther, but found nothing near him.
“Where the hell did it go?”
Mathew felt pain across his back as the Panther left another mark on his body. “Fucker, stand still!” He sent chains after the creature, but they never reached it.
“It's fast! Faster than I am. Yet, that means it’s defjensively weak. I just need to hit it once with a solid attack.”
He almost was about to use [Mana Bolt] but stopped himself. “No, I can do this. It’s only Beginner rank at the best.”
He was ready for the next attack, the beast whizzed toward him. Mathew couldn’t dodge, he was simply too slow even with [Bolster]. Luckily he could take the attacks without too much worry.
If Mathew could set up a ritual, he knew this would be easier. With the ability to accelerate himself, he could keep up with the beast. He just needed a way to be faster. A way to track the fast moving boss.
Mathew gritted his teeth, but realized he could try something else. His head started to tingle as his eyes took on a silver hue.
The blur of a beast solidified. The movements were easier to follow. Mathew dropped down just as a meaty paw sailed by where his head was.
He jumped back to his feet and created another spear. “I can see you now.”
Mathew watched the panther continue to run around. He waited. There was no use chasing the creature. It would come to him eventually. It was simply a waiting game. Would his mental energy run out first, or would the panther tire out first?
It didn’t take long to find out the truth. The Panther pounced forward. Mathew stepped closer with his spear raised up. Just as he was sure his attack would land, the silver in his eyes went away, and was imbued into his spear.
Flesh separated as the weapon pierced into the panther. Yet Mathew wasn’t unscathed. Claws raked across his shoulders, leaving more red lines across his body.
The spear shattered, and the panther tumbled across the ground. Mathew didn’t waste another moment. He charged toward the six legged boss and created a dagger. He thrusted downward, killing the beast.
Mathew smiled as he dismissed the rewards. He completed it alone, and thus the rewards were excellent.
“Woo, way to go Boss! I thought you were going to wrap the panther up in chains, but instead you got faster. How did you do it?”
Glancing down at the Panther, Mathew was tempted to keep the body, but decided not to. “I infused an Axiom with my sight specifically. I needed a way to track its movements better.”
They soon left the Dungeon and found a place to rest while Agnox continued to scout for more challenges. It was midday when a blue screen appeared in front of Mathew, causing him to worry what this World Quest really held for both him and humanity.
Area Quest: Sleepless Nights
As it has been one week inside the World Quest, it is time to see how many of you are really strong enough to be here. Once sunsets, there will be twelve hours of unending enemies attacking you all. Survive and live to tell the tale.
You will be unable to use your tokens to leave the dungeon once night falls. The only way through is to survive. Find others, or forge your own path alone.
The only reward is satisfaction of victory.