The conversation with my aunt hadn’t gone as well as it could have.
She’s surprisingly overprotective towards me, even though today had been the first time we’ve ever met.
Basically, she would allow me to enter the dungeon. However, I would have to be back every three days, with no exception. That way she would know I’m completely safe. I would also have to give her reports on my level progress, so she would know which class to enroll me in as a student, since the school has minimum requirements for each of them.
I would have to negotiate for more days later on though, as I start moving further down the labyrinth. Until then, I’ll do what Aunt Aspasia wants me to. I’m not going to accomplish anything at the moment by fighting against her on the small things like this.
So, that’s how I was able to enter the elven capital’s dungeon the very next day. Aunt Aspasia nearly made me bring along an escort group, but I talked her down, citing the fact that none of them would really protect a demon elf hybrid, and that I had done well on my own for a long time now as the reasons why it didn’t matter.
The entrance to the dungeon was through an ancient and broken building, through the basement. One of the basement walls had been partially knocked down, opening up into a dark tunnel. Inside the upper floors of the old house, adventurers, guild administrators, member of the royal guards, and others gathered, patiently waiting their turn to enter the dungeon. Thankfully, I was able to bypass the line due to my aunt’s imperial permit. With it, I would be able to travel the entire empire mostly unopposed, though I still got those looks from the elves—who could tell my heritage, and the humans—who typically despised demons, due to their constant warfare.
Inside, the tunnel was slightly sloped downwards, and went on for a while. When I looked back, even though the tunnel felt completely straight, I couldn't see the light from the entrance any more. Eventually, I have to light a small fireball, and set it to hover a set distance from me, due to the depth held by the darkness here. Normally, I would be able to see perfectly fine in the dark, due to my demon heritage, but I can’t seem to here.
The rough tunnel ceiling was completely block, from the successive generations of elven adventurers diving in, touches in hand giving of small amounts of smoke.
Oddly enough, you didn’t have to worry about depleting the oxygen supplies in dungeons and labyrinths, no matter where you go. Some have forests set in certain levels, though even those without them have never seemed to have anyone die due to oxygen deprivation. I personally think it's one of the unique quirks of the dungeons and labyrinths. There’s no need to worry about asphyxiation when there are monsters about, and all that.
Eventually, after a seemingly impossible length of time, the tunnel reached a few branches, turning into it’s first floor. I could hear distant sounds of combat reverberating off the narrow dungeon corridors, and the shuffle of nearby monsters.
I picked one of the branches randomly, and head further into the dungeon.
The first room in the dungeon was considerably wider than the tunnel that led into it, and was occupied by four beetles, their armored shells reflected some of the light given off by my ball of fire, and their mandibles clicking at the scent of new prey having entered. My fireball quickly split in two, one portion continuing to float by my side, and the other rocketing into one of the beetles, right where the head joined the main body. The fireball seemed to take on mass for a split second as it burrowed into the beetle, and exploded. I cursed, and threw up a shield, blocking the vicious goo that had been a large beetle a second ago. I always seem to forget how much of a mess blowing things up can be, especially in close quarters like dungeons.
Instead of using fire on the other three beetles, I conjured some thin ice needles from the ambient moisture in the air, and shot for the weak points of the beetles. While I could penetrate any part of them, getting through the armored shells takes more mana than doing otherwise, and it’s not advisable to use up all your mana on the first few levels of dungeons and labyrinths. Even the little uses can quickly add up.
Many of the rooms in the dungeon were like this, with various enemies, and sometimes little treasure chests with the current copper, silver and gold standards in them, and occasionally little vials full of liquids of indeterminate effects. There were healing vials, mana restoring vials, poison vials, paralysis vials, and the rare ‘joke’ vial. Of course, there’s more money per chest the further down you go, and the effects of the vials become greater.
It almost shouldn’t have to be said that it’s not a good idea to drink from the vials without having first brought them to someone who could tell with absolute certainty what’s inside. There have been many cases where someone drinks what they think is a health restoring potion, only to find that they’ve chugged down a potent poison instead.
The enemies inside the first floor of the dungeon were comparable to those who had been found on the fifteenth floor of the labyrinth I had been to a few months prior, with about the same resilience, though their attacks were a fair bit weaker.
This was due to this dungeon’s classification as a tier six dungeon.
Well, let me start by explaining the classifications in the first place.
Basically, the strength of a dungeon or labyrinth are based off of the strength of the monsters found within, and scaled to the hardest labyrinth anybody’s ever found, which was classified as a tier fifteen, by the way.
Most dungeons are tier one or two, with a few threes and fours not being particularly rare. Most of these have had modest sized towns or cities built on top of them.
Labyrinths are much the same, but considered to always be one full tier higher than their actual classification, due to their nature. A tier one labyrinth is comparable to a tier two dungeon, and so on.
The labyrinth in the other city had been classified as a tier three, making it comparable to a tier four dungeon.
The dungeon I’m in right now is classified as a tier six, which while it may only be two tiers harder than the other labyrinth, the rate of difficulty increases exponentially. Which is to say that it should be much harder the further down I go.
Perfect for me to power level in, then.
I took my time on the first floor, getting myself comfortable with fighting again, after having spent a few months silently tracking down swords and working on my smithing skills.
After I felt confident in my abilities to stay alive in the dungeon, I went down to the second floor, though the tunnel leading down that I had discovered long ago. On the way, I passed by a teleportation rune to take you back up to the surface, like had been inscribed in the labyrinth transit rooms. It’s a common feature in dungeons and labyrinths tier three and higher, due to their size and depth.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
On the second floor, I could feel some pressure from the decidedly stronger monsters, with things like slimes, undead, and various animals added to the mix. And for those who may think that slimes are weak monsters, think again. Of course, all of them also had their own weaknesses, forcing me to use magic and swordplay I might not have otherwise. I stayed away from the option of using ice magic with Twilight to flash-freeze entire rooms quickly and efficiently. It just didn’t feel very fair to me, and I wanted a challenge.
Plus, people had long ago noted that the more you struggle against an opponent, the faster you gain levels. While I could probably mitigate that speed with the raw efficiency of freezing a room and moving on, the issue of mana consumption comes up again. So I would normally engage the opponents with Twilight, and let my steel do most of the work instead of expending mana unnecessarily.
I think I was about half of the way to the third level when I encountered a small problem.
A group of elven adventurers crowded in the center of a room, having set up a field camp. They first felt the tug of my strong elven bloodline, and then froze when seeing my demonic features. The biggest among them stood up, looming toward the ceiling in comparison to my short height.
(Party Leader)“Who the hell let a damn half-blood like you live?”
He said, open malice in his voice and a dangerous light in his eyes.
One of the others in the group spoke up.
(Party Member) “Ah fuck. It’s just another monster in the dungeon, right guys?”
There were quite a few people nodding their heads at that.
Before things could progress any further, I pulled out my aunt’s Imperial Permit, which ostensibly gave me her authority.
Their eyes went wide at that, as those holding the Imperial Throne were typically admired greatly, and feared just as much—As any accomplished ruler must have happen. I’m actually a little too kind to hold a throne, or was.
Though, after the initial shock of seeing the imperial seven-headed dragon seal wore off, I found myself in the same situation as before.
(Party Member) “Bullshit. As if a halfy could get the imperial seal.”
(Party Member) “It’s probably forged. Even high ranking elves can’t get it, so why would a twerp carry it ‘round.”
(Party Member) “Hell, even were it true, wouldn’t it be our duty to cleanse the imperial family of this stain?”
They all chorused their approval of such an action, and I cringed internally, while keeping a straight faced exterior up.
I grabbed Twilight, and partially unsheathed it, showing the party that I wouldn’t be easy prey. I had hoped that they would back off at one point, but it became hopeless when I realized that they were now looking at me in the same way that I looked at the dungeon monsters—Inhuman, a beastial foe to be killed for levels.
I completely unsheathed Twilight, and activated a skill I hadn’t thought I would be using so soon. It was one of my weaker ‘trump cards’, but one that could be used as many times as I had to.
I activated the skill〖Demonic Transformation〗, and immediately changes occurred.
Stats wise, my mana doubled it’s already considerable size—At least, for my level, and it’s purity grew greater. My strength, dexterity, and health skyrocketed, tripling within a few seconds. The attacking party froze in their tracks, stunned at what was happening. While they couldn’t see the internal changes, they did see my horns growing in size, and gaining tips the color of dried blood, while it appeared that my hair began to glow softly within the cave like dungeon room, soft as moon-light. My eyes seemed to become liquid gold, burning within my sockets, while thick tribal looking tattoos appeared on the backs of my hands, and my neck. They couldn’t see that the tattoo’s also appeared on my arms, and down my back in simple and bold patterns.
My aura hit them after a moment, filled with bloodlust and power, telling them to run, and get the hell away from me.
A few tried to, though most chose instead to charge me, intent on overpowering what they thought of as a bonus floor-guardian.
I did the simple and easy thing, and poured out all the mana in my current pool, drawing it through Twilight and performing a powerful and draining freeze spell.
I spoke the spell’s activation words, and everything stopped.
(Kai) “Niflheim”
Instantly, the whole room was covered in a thick layer of ice, and as had happened with that noble’s ‘A-rank’ mage only a few months ago, even the small fire froze, and everyone else was encased in ice as solid as steel. They were still alive, and I could see their wide eyed looks of terror and hopelessness. Unfortunately for them, frostbite tends to set in quickly while encased in a mana infused prison of ice, and death follows soon after. It would still take them an hour or so to reach that point, so if anyone comes along able to free them, they would live, minus a few toes and fingers.
I crossed the room, and entered the next one, killing the monsters inside quickly. My mana was nearly depleted, and I needed to rest soon, so I forged onwards, dealing with everything in my way in the fastest possible time, before I finally reached a room I felt was safe, and deactivated〖Demonic Transformation〗. I slumped against one of the walls as fatigue from using the skill hit me, as I wasn’t used to it—I had only used it once before, right after unlocking it in a fit of pure rage and despair. I hastily set up semi-complex wards with the sliver of my remaining mana pool, meant to shield me from eyes, harm, and detection skills.
Then I slept for a day or two, before leaving the dungeon.
On my way out, I heard about a tragic event experienced by one of the newer adventurer parties. Apparently they had all been found frozen in various combat stances, dead from the cold.
I didn’t feel guilty about it. It was me or them, and I damn well wanted to live. And while some are claiming that they way they died was cruel, it was that or slowly and laboriously engage each of them in armed combat, where their numbers would have overwhelmed me eventually, and I would have died.
I’m not invincible yet.
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Author's Note:
I made a map!
Spoiler :
http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fJwfrzQa.png [http://i.imgur.com/JwfrzQa.png]