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The Archmage Ascendant, Double-A to some, Yholl Tristrus as he once was known – sat on the balcony of his enormous castle in the once-capital city of Nihil’s Hold. Now his personal, luxurious estate, he looked out over the floating map in front of him. The past few days had been very excellent, and day 4 was coming to a close. With the rate this is going, I would imagine 2 more days at the most.
He picked up his glass of wine, swirled it, and took a sip. A System notification popped up in his vision.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Thellor’s Tomb has been conquered.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Unsurprising, he thought. I wonder how many died attempting it? Waving his hand, he muttered a Skill, “Scrying Senses.”
His vision was transported across the world to the tomb, and down the tunnel of the gauntlet. He saw the minotaur, slain…but only the minotaur’s blood was present. There was no other type of blood present. Strange, it should have killed at least a few Aspirants. He went forward and saw the tomb undisturbed. And they didn’t try to plunder his tomb?
This didn’t make sense. No one should have been able to traverse the gauntlet on their first attempt, and without injury. Did a non-Tier 2 get past somehow? Slip inside past my protections. He cackled, no. No, of course not! I rule this world, no one can break my strictures.
An enormous explosion noise echoed down to where his senses were present. Oooh, I wonder what that was? He flew his vision towards the magical shockwaves rippling across the landscape, and came across one of these new humans, carrying a rabbit-person on his back out of one of the lava tubes. Ah, let’s just check how many dungeon cor-
He stopped as his vision pierced the backpack, tuned to dungeon cores. 53! How? What?! How many other Aspirants has he slain? Chronovision. He saw the history of this individual going back…what? He can’t have just appeared! Some type of obfuscation? He could see the figure having slain two enemies and rescued the rabbit-person. But then he vanished. He…must have a Skill that enables him to completely remove himself from reality?
Switching over, he sped his vision to the Eastern cave tile – the first one to get rapidly cleared ahead of the rest, and activated Chronovision again. He saw the figure entering the cave complex, followed the replay – at a rapidly-sped-up pace – and witnessed him claiming The World Pillar for geomancy. And then he cleared all of the Complexes in the tile? The man vanished once more, and moving to the glacier tile, Yholl saw him claim that World Pillar as well.
He rapidly went from location to location. He can turn himself invisible, undetectable, and untraceable. Some type of Skill I’ve never heard of. Must be a new Class. Back at his body, he shook his head, and his projected sense flew out to the individual once more. And now he’s flying! That’s not allowed by the laws of real- oh, no. It’s not flight. Just an intriguing use of a slow-fall Skill. Huh. The individual looked back at his sensor – somehow spotting it – and vanished once more.
He withdrew to his body and chuckled as he took a sip of his wine. “This is turning out to be quite the interesting Dungeon Run. I’ve never had an Aspirant or Ascendant gather that many cores…who is this person?”
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“The sensor is still up there,” Jace muttered. He was in mid-air, and was looking back to check on Priam, when he saw an odd, floating face. Immediately, he had activated Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3) on both himself and Priam.
“That was probably Yholl. A spell – so, a Skill, now – that he used to project his senses.”
“So, he is tracking us,” Jace stated.
“He probably was notified when you cleared that crypt-gauntlet thing.”
Jace felt a moment of panic, “Could he…do you think he knows we have half of his soul-thingy?”
“Doubtful. The rock itself has no properties that magic vision such as what that sensor is capable of could have seen. Only when both halves are combined. That will get his attention.”
Jace felt relief, “Good. One more dungeon for the volcano tile, and then I say we beeline it for the desert tile.” Looking up in the sky, he kicked off the ground again and used another Dark Energy Mine, “How late is it?”
“The day is close to ending. Day 4.”
Jace looked down at the map as he grappled to an outcropping of rock and passed over a lava channel; the boiling, bubbling rivulet pouring over the landscape like a river. Most of the Complexes are being cleared quickly. I doubt it’ll last another 6 days before all the cores are gathered.
“Have you thought about how you will confront him?” Ollie asked.
“Well, I’m going to turn in these dungeon cores, get my reward. And then, when we are saying our goodbyes and getting ready to leave – activate the cloak, break the soul-thingy, and then kill him.”
“And you are sure of your conviction?”
Jace nodded as he touched down outside a lava tube. Finding a hidden crevice in the rocks, he shoved Priam inside and left his bag next to the bunny-boy – so that he would know he had not been abandoned.
He drew his blade and infused it with the Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], and his Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3). “He pushed his own people out of this world and killed his best friend. He deserves death. Plus, it will let the people who lived here come back if they want to.”
Ollie scratched the top of his head, “Good. Keep doing good stuff for The Cosmic System.”
Jace smirked and nodded.
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I may not be able to see you, but I can guess that you will be heading to the last volcano-tile dungeon. Yholl cackled with delight as he clapped his hands and one of his enchanted wine glasses refilled itself. He was watching through his sensors from the center of the chamber. All around the exterior of the room, there were dark, black balls of goop.
Deathslimes. The most potent of the normally weak slime grouping of creatures.
He watched eagerly, time to see what this invisible person can do.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
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<<<<<>>>>>
[Warning! You are about to enter a Complex!]
[This location has been marked by The Cosmic System as Tier 3.]
[Number of foes to clear out: 50.]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest: Slay the Deathslimes.]
[Time Limit: N/A]
[Reward: Epic (Skill Evolution) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“Deathslimes?” Jace asked as his eyes caught the slight, magical hue outlining the various goopy, black spheres on the ceiling.
“They cause instant necrosis upon contact with flesh. It won’t be able to get through your armor from single contact – but sustained contact they will eat through it. Your Anathema Arm is safe from them.”
Jace grinned, “I’ve got an idea.” He ran over to one of the slimes, punched it with the Anathema left arm, and thought hard about what he wanted. Get rid of this magic.
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Yholl spit out his wine, “What?!” His Deathslimes. His beautiful, wonderful, dastardly creatures that should have killed dozens of Aspirants were popping like balloons. “That’s not even how slimes die! They fizzle away to nothingness! You can’t just…treat them like that! They are supposed to split apart when killed! Doubling their numbers!” He was tapping his foot back at his body out of a nervous habit.
He racked his brain for every spell he knew, every single variant of every type of Skill at his disposal. Every single tome locked away in his memories for easy recollection…and he came up with nothing. “How are you doing this!”
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Jace was laughing with delight as he cleared the room with incredible ease. One at a time, each slime he touched would pop. “This Anathema Arm just is not fair on a magic world.”
“What do you expect? It is from a Tier 8, high-magic world that had both gods and World Pillar equivalents.”
The thrill of just punching over and over and watching these supposedly dangerous creatures just get utterly obliterated was pumping adrenaline through Jace’s body. Was every fight this easy and I just did things the hard way? Every one of the things I’ve fought is a magical creature. “Ollie? Could I have just…done this to everything?”
“Nope! These are purely magical constructs. That is why it is working so well.”
Good, so I wasn’t wasting my time and risking my neck. He finished popping the spheres of goop, the pillar rose up, and Ollie dusted the corpses as Jace collected the orb. 54, and the volcano tile is done.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Stardust Acquired: 500]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest Completed: Slay the Deathslimes.]
[Time Limit: N/A]
[Reward: Epic (Skill Evolution) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“Can you siphon off 250 Stardust for Priam?”
“I’ll set it off to the side,” Ollie replied.
Jace walked out and got to Priam – who was still covered in the slight-purple hue of his Cloak. Jace felt tired; not extremely so but taking a nap would be nice. He hoisted up the bunny-boy, latched him onto his back between the backpack and him, and launched up with another Dark Energy Mine.
“I’m skipping the mountains and going right for that desert,” Jace stated as he flew through the sky – not bothering to re-anchor himself. Go far, go fast. He had maybe 3 minutes left before his Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3) would tap him dry and he’d pass out.
“You won’t be able to get all the way there,” Ollie commented. “Just get into that mountain tile. We can find a cave and set up the tent.”
Jace nodded and felt the Mine’s effect begin to fade. Reactivating the skill just before they would have landed, he came to a gentle stop and used his grapnel to pull himself amongst the rocks. “Find me a cave?” he asked as his energy continued to drain away, and he felt extremely sluggish.
Ollie flew out from his neck and pointed, “There.”
Jace followed the instructions and found a twenty-foot-deep cave with a turn in the center – perfect for preventing line of sight. Setting up the tent, he rolled Priam in – who was still fast asleep – and sealed up the entrance. “I don’t like not setting watch,” Jace muttered as he dropped the Cloak.
Ollie frowned, “Not much choice. At least we didn’t see the sensor following us. No way it can find us now!”
“Hope you’re right,” Jace muttered as he ripped open a portion of rations, scarfed it down, and chased it with some water before laying down on his bedroll.
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“Ah, lost him, wherever he went.” Yholl took a sip from his new glass of wine – a Riesling – and let out a satisfied breath. “Well, it matters little. The more dungeon cores they gather, the more power I gain.”
One of the truths of Nihilethelea is that dungeon cores were like the ‘magic sweat’ of the world. They formed over a duration of ten years, and never more than 500 of them. Hence this Dungeon Run.
Giving out a Legendary rarity Boon? Paltry in comparison to the raw, magical power that Yholl could siphon from the cores. The number of spells he could spontaneously learn and suddenly be capable of utilizing. Only his race could do so; so none of these outsiders were able to do what he could.
Not even The Cosmic System was privy to the information, as prior to becoming an Ascendant he had gathered them all with his then-friend, and wiped the memory of what these dungeon cores could do from his people’s collective thoughts.
And…since it was his world now, he would never have competition for them. Never again. Over the coming centuries, he would eventually have access to every Skill that could be comprehended…well, every spell that could be translated to a Skill.
He would get all the dungeon cores with no effort. They were normally a pain to gather, as a person had to clear out dungeons that spontaneously manifested around the dungeon cores. A natural, almost biological defense mechanism that the world itself enacted.
Instead, he got these dumb Aspirants to do it for him.
Oh sure, in prior years he had allowed Ascendants; but that made things too quick. No. He needed to be entertained as well. And this would provide years of entertainment, going over all of the magically recorded information with his plethora of sensors in the sky. The only reason he did not use it to track this interesting, invisible man is because it was not able to be sped up – they had to be watched in real time.
He drained the glass of wine and beckoned over another from his floating decanter. Bring me my dungeon cores. My unwilling servants. Bring me those beautiful pearls of power!