-You mean this is what a dungeon looks like when it's getting born? Asked Guilda to no one in particular while looking at the pounding mass of unidentified flesh on the ground.
-Wow, that's not pretty. Said Aki from behind Guilda. Most people present were pointing something at him after he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but seeing who it was everyone decided to reserve the "miss fire" for later.
-We all said something similar the first time seeing it. Said the president.
You see, for a dungeon this big to appear fifteen minutes away from their capital's walls, obviously everyone of importance would come. Though they did try to delay Guilda, and because of that she was the forth to appear with her bodyguards.
-Mister president, this is the first time that us, the demonology tower, participate in the appraisal of the newborn dungeon. Is there something specific we should do? Besides helping in the ritual, of course. Asked Aki with a smile after all towers were present.
-This time there is no need for an appraisal ritual. Hero Ichi has received an oracle about this dungeon. We are here only to secure it's location. The president announced. -This is a Trial of gods dungeon!
While the first part of what he said shocked some representatives, the second part actually made them all flabbergasted.
I don't really have to tell you those are super rare, hard as fuck and have huge rewards inside. The important thing is that these only appear in times when heroes are needed. And they turn into easier dungeons after being cleared once, so normal strong people can get in.
This was the thing that made Aki fasten up everything he was doing and get it ready before this. He really wanted to be one of the first people to dive into the fourteen dungeons summoned for the heroes.
Thing is, all anti-heroes' dungeons are in hell, so it's safe to say they are going to stay dormant and inaccessible until a champion appears and turns it on.
Thankfully Guilda is also able to activate this dungeon. Not like she knew before Aki told her to touch it and a bright light came from it though.
After that, Aki took her hand and went inside before anyone could shout at than asking what the fuck were they doing.
They were totally on their own rights after all. There was an oracle saying this dungeon was for the champions and their comrades, which would actually include these two.
-What happened? Ichi was immediately teleported out of his training grounds by the president the moment the blinding light appeared.
-Headmaster Turley touched the dungeon spawn and it sprung to life. I couldn't see anything nor I am capable of identifying if one of then cast a spell to get in with all this mana around. Reported the old man with a cold expression.
-I shaw ask what happened to Misdaqui sama. The hero nodded and closed his eyes while trying to pray.
"Ichi kun, is there a problem with the riddle at the entrance? I am sorry, but I can't tell you about it. Nothing but that you should actively look for those and solve them."
"Misdaqui sama, It isn't me who got inside the dungeon. Would it really be impossible to get another champion inside?"
"WHAT!? What was the president doing?! Didn't you properly tell him to get them away from the dungeon?" The god was irated.
"We were in the process of telling them we didn't know when the dungeon would open, but it seems the berserker woman touched the spawn and the dungeon sprung awake. Did the demons use something to copy the Holy champion's entry or something?" Asked the worried Hero.
"What are you talking about? I told you the dungeon would open for "ANY" champion and that they shouldn't get near it or they may get in before you and the counter measure will activate, so we'd have to kill them after they get to a public area." The indignant god exclaimed.
"Yes, but what… M… Misdaqui sama, could it be that there's no difference between any champions?" Stuttered out the hero.
"Isn't that…" In his divine space, the god of magic noticed his misunderstanding. Humans like to think they're special, so when you get a select group of them, tell them their heroes and they have to fight against other humans who are trying to spread chaos through the world, of course they'd think they are the absolute good and the other side is another thing entirely.
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"... I am sorry kiddo, I totally forgot the you don't know how this works."
Don't even mention the other champions, Aki is the only fucker that simply went and experimented successfully with the soul and elemental realms till now.
…
-... A little to the left and done. UHUUU! It's a fucking spell glove of artifact grade… AND IT'S PART OF A SET!!?!!
Yeah, Aki couldn't be happier about having robbed the dungeon's first entry. This one even had a game like thingy of scaling the monster level with yours and offering danger of similar level to the floor. With that comes a corresponding amount of rewards, of course.
That's how dungeons work after all. Oh, how the God of magic wishes he could intervene with the dungeon right now instead of just leaving it to a clone.
Again, rules of the world.
[Magi's hand: Once used by the current god of magic, it has been modified by many craftsman and absorbed the residual essence of many great beings. High mana conductivity. High mana storage (0/10.000). Five gem slots for up to peak class capacity. Set effect status: locked]
By the way here's a comparison to Aki's glove right now and what a combat magistrate uses as their glove in general.
[Demon's hand: Infused with the souls of many monsters and bloodied by many more. High mana conductivity. Medium mana storage (3.000/3.000). Two gem slots for up to high class capacity.]
[Magister's pride: A long time companion of a proud man who kept to this as part of him by constantly upgrading it. High mana conductivity. Medium mana storage (5.000/5.000). One gem slot for up to high class capacity.]
Depending of how you see it, either one could be better, but it is to say that Aki's monster hunter equipment isn't far behind the real high class mages.
As for these classification I keep spouting, it is quite simple really.
A mage is someone who started their path in magic but haven't really reached the right mastery in any schools or elements. Generally between level 10-200, but if you can pass the test for the title before, then you're just that much of a genius.
A magus is a great achiever in the arcane arts and has reached considerable mastery and cynergi between two schools and acquired experience in the use of the elements they are proficient at. You can be considered one after passing a test or achieving the class evolution at 200, because sometimes it doesn't happen the moment you reach the level requirement.
Magisters are the hardest to explain since there's no test for it nor a drawn out line for when you reach the level.
While you certainly aren't a Magister before level 200 nor after level 500, it's hard to know if you will even reach the required power by simply leveling up.
If you can't get to Magister, then you won't be able to get further down the line of magic and instead end up in another completely different way of using the arcane, like turning yourself into an elemental or something.
Anyway, a Magister is someone who can use the elements they are not gifted at and skilfully utilize three or more schools of spells.
Ironically, Magi are the simplest to describe. You need to use all elements with a certain degree of power and use all schools with cinergized mastery.
Does that sound like Aki? Well, good you're paying attention so far.
As you might have noticed, it is not easy to train magic by normal means, you have to be creative, precise and focused. That is why no matter how much of a genius or cheater you are, it takes time to get powerful.
People have been trying to circle that forever by now, and one of the ways they've found to getting better with certainty, is to train from the beginning with more than one element and school as the focus.
It makes it harder to progress, sure, that's why only the geniuses use such methods, but those are nothing compared to the path of a Paragon.
While the title may strike a fancy, it is one reserved for those who either have huge talent never seen before or lots of resources and an equal affinity to everything arcane related.
Guess who choose that one?
It might seem like a stupid choice, but it is also a fact that paragons can defeat opponents way higher level than themselves and are also very proficient at handling mana in general because of how they train.
Great examples of that are the highly varied monsters all around the floor, who have been defeated by the use of their opposing elements. By the way, the only reason these were left behind is because of their bad condition.
It continued like they reached the third floor. By the way, for each floor there is an increase of five levels based on the highest leveled person. For now.
-So for each wrong question we get there will be a higher difficulty in the boss in the next room? Guilda tried to assure.
-Well yeah, that or one of us has to jerk a certain number of dicks and the number of questions answered wrong would be the number elevating 2. I am more inclined to believe the first option, but otherwise the fun is all yours. Said Aki while skimming over a tablet of stone with an old language he not so coincidentally read about.
Seriously, can you believe Cleo can make potions that will temporarily make your brain keep the knowledge over a specific language after being ingested?
She wasn't the one to invent it, really. It just so happens that she is one of the few people who are resourceful enough to manufacture these. Everyone knows the recipe, but it is just not that useful unless you want to study certain old scriptures or ruins.
In which case, you guessed, the people doing it are either in the country level of power or don't have the money to buy this shit.
Aki has a whole week worth of these for ten languages. In various bottles.
You know, I'm feeling sleepy, maybe I should take a nap. This room is not that important after all.