Killing a Dungeon. Invade it, go through room after room, defeat the final boss, crush the Core. While you have hundreds of similar novels with this very plot, I found my own slice of reality to be very different. First, there were no rooms. Only a large swath of grasslands surrounding a lake of pitch-black water. Two, there was no structure.
There was a "boss" but it was just whichever monster happened to grow stronger than the others. Once it stopped existing, another creature would come and rise to the top among the other contenders. The monsters fought among themselves when things got too crowded but were as happy to avoid each other if not.
Only when things got really crowded did they burst out. This phenomenon, known as Dungeon Break, was very rare and most often artificially triggered by sentient creatures.
Third, there was no Dungeon Core. Unless Bit or other deities have been installing them left and right, I knew only one artificial Dungeon that had it. Therefore, how would I go around killing this Dungeon? The first step, obviously, was to kill all monsters.
I landed next to the lake, letting Vanagon and Alfondric out of the item box. The former king of Saegalla, a now-forgotten kingdom in the forests between Windemere and Leondirac [1]. He'd sheltered the Queen of Windemere and I mercilessly wiped the Kingdom of fervent Bundeus believers from the map. He agreed to serve me in exchange for his life back. He became a silk-folk in exchange for his son's safety. Prince Gorgie grew in Windemere but by the time he came of age, his kingdom was no more. He lived in Lorna and Eric's court in comfort until the day he died.
Vanagon and Alfondric were key to Windemere's prosperity. The two were skilled leaders and administrators. I thought Vanagon had perished in Kel'Caldor's attack but I was mistaken. He had his soul stolen by that insane Headmaster. Too bad he didn't have his grandfather with them. McCalister was a cunning and charismatic spellcaster, one that figured me out on his own and almost enticed me into working for him. My only saving grace was Lakerta's ridiculously high spiritual Attributes.
"Just stand there looking beautiful, gentlemen. I need to level up your bodies and yourselves too," I told them before I unleashed hell... (maybe heaven?) upon the undead.
> Light Elemental
>
> Royal Aura
>
> Eldritch Presence
>
> Spectral Diplomacy (social traits affect undead, +72 to charisma)
>
> Center Stage (allies cannot be attacked)
>
> Diva's Presence (creatures not engaged in combat must win a Charisma test or stop and watch)
>
> Roar of the Crowd (Those watching and not fighting grant 1/10 of their resource regeneration)
I may be low-leveled but my Perks were all top-grade. I refrained from using the Manastorm as I wanted the extra resource regeneration. With that, I rained down {Force Javelin} one after the other on the undead creatures that entered my tripartite weakening aura and still could move. Those were the really dangerous ones. Because I was close to leveling up and undead kills granted me a favored enemy Exp bonus, I killed the small fry paralyzed on the floor first. I had to save the big ones to kill after my rank-up.
The dwarves stationed at the inner keep raised the alarm but I knew none of them would come this deep into the Dungeon to investigate. I broke through the second tier, ranking up my Class and Species.
> You are about to rank-up. Your unallocated Exp will be divided by 10,000. Confirm?
I had nothing to do with it. Go ahead.
> Your species ranked up into Half-Kitsune Stoneborn (rare, rank 2)
>
> Due to your Royal status, you gain +1 to all Attributes.
>
> Your progression is:
>
> 1 Attribute point at every level.
>
> 1 Endurance every even level.
>
> 1 Mind, Dexterity, Luck, and Willpower alternating every level.
>
> 1 Strength, Charisma, Soul, and Magic alternating every level.
>
> 11 HP and 6 Energy per level.
>
> 1 Perk every even level and another Perk at levels 10 and 20.
> Your Class ranked up into Master Crafter (5-fused, Ultra-Rare++, rank 2).
>
> Your progression is:
>
> 1 Strength, Willpower every odd level.
>
> 1 Endurance, Magic every even level.
>
> 1 Willpower, Dexterity, Mind, and Luck, alternating every level.
>
> 1 Perk every even level
>
> 10 HP and 8 Energy per level.
>
> You gained 1 technical proficiency
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Another proficiency slot, that was rare but not unexpected. The Attribute spread was crap for a Class with this rarity, but it was a skill-based one.
I put all my Attribute points from the last four levels in Magic. It was the one I needed the most at the moment.
Back to killing the zombified and ghoulified animals, this Dungeon spawned. I could understand why nobody wanted to kill things here. Who needs a rotten bear pelt? Or a hunk of poisoned, shriveled boar meat? Mummified venison, anyone? The only advantage here was the insane damage I could cause on the undead with all my Perks, like {Truesilver Hero}'s four-times damage multiplier.
With their Attributes plummeting from my Auras and their resources going along as well, it was almost effortless to kill them. The lowered Exp-to-level ratio also helped. My next level was only one million points away now. Time to go wild.
> Rondo (Select one spell for the main theme, alternate casting with other spells. Theme: Explosive Fireball)
>
> Staccato (Repeat the same individual spell-song several times in rapid sequence)
The rondo was a hard spell-song to keep because I had to get inventive with the secondary spells that would become the couplet of the theme. Every time I went back from the main theme, I had to get a different spell and a different melodic and rhythmic pattern to contrast with the main theme. Then back to the main spell-song, in this case, Explosive Fireball, only to delve into a new counterpoint. The advantage was enormous. Each spell after the first gained a cumulative fifty percent increase in power, but I couldn't repeat a secondary spell.
If the shining creature in the middle of the Dungeon didn't draw the guards' attention, the fireballs certainly did. I went around the lake, singing in ultrasonic frequencies because I didn't want anyone to hear me. Fireball, Ice dart, Fireball x2, Force Javelin, Fireball x3, Aqua bolt, Fireball x4, Earth spike, Fireball x5, Lightning arc, Fireball x6, Wind blade, Fireball x7, Dark scythe, Fireball x8 and I quit. Nothing else to kill with area spells on this side of the Dungeon. And I had a bigger fish to fry.
The current boss of the Dungeon, an extremely muscular elk ghoul that grew thick scabs all over its body until it looked like a rhinoceros' plates, stared at me from the edge of my auras. He seemed to be drinking the brackish water at the center of the Dungeon placidly,
> Level 154 Armored Ghoulish Elk Charger
Damn, four levels too low. The elk raised its head and flared its milky eyes at me, huffing a cloud of poisonous gas. The next moment, it was dashing at me as {Prescience V} gave me the exact location it would strike almost a second ahead. It also told me of all the little pointy sticks of death in the elk's head that would gladly skewer me if I didn't dodge by a large amount.
> Flash Blink Step.
I moved behind and above it, by jumping up during the brief moment I spent in the Ethereal. With the Unicorn King's spear in my hand, I skewered its back. The spear and its phantom clone ignited with Dragonfire.
> Triple Strike (Only two, actually. Low Proficiency).
>
> A Capella (+53 Strength)
>
> Champion's Challenge
>
> You stabbed Armored Ghoulish Elk Charger for 80M HP of piercing damage (Base 134 (-40 protection) x3.12 Strength x5.36 Skill x3,12 Backstab x4 Unicorn x2 Argent Spirit x1.5 Favored Enemy x3 Mana Strike x2 Blood Sacrifice x3 Flash Step x3 Arcane Smite x3 Champion x0.4 Armor (halved))
>
> You stabbed Armored Ghoulish Elk Charger for 115M HP of piercing damage (Base 165 (-30 protection) x852.019.5 modifiers)
>
> Dragonfire burns on your target.
The dry hide of the armored elk burned like gasoline-soaked paper. I jumped away from the blazing monster as it finished its charge tumbling out of sheer momentum, leaving a trail of small patches of burning flesh along the way. It reminded me of the time machine from the movie Back to the Future.
> For killing Level 154 Armored Ghoulish Elk Charger, you gained 10.9B Exp. (Base 1.809.387 x625 fast-learner x3,38 favored enemy x3,38 challenge x0.85 Spirit Contract)
>
> You reached Half-Kitsune Stoneborn level 13
>
> You gained 13 Attribute points.
>
> You gained 3 Strength, 3 Dexterity, 6 Endurance, 3 Mind, 3 Willpower, 3 Charisma, 3 Magic, 3 Luck, and 3 Soul,
>
> You gained 7 rank 2 species Perks.
>
> You have 3 unspent rank 1 species Perks.
>
> Ultimate Surpasser granted you 17 Attribute Points
>
> You reached Master Crafter level 13
>
> You gained 7 Strength, 3 Dexterity, 6 Endurance, 3 Willpower, 3 Charisma, 6 Magic, and 3 Luck
>
> You gained 6 rank 2 Class Perks.
>
> You have 2 unspent rank 1 Class Perks.
>
> Ultimate Surpasser granted you 17 Attribute Points
>
> You have 4 unallocated Proficiencies
>
> You have 2 unallocated Technical Proficiencies
>
> You have 1 unallocated Mystical Proficiency
There we go. The System was nagging me to spend my Proficiency picks. First, the forty-seven Attribute points I had to spend. I divided them between Charisma, Magic, and Ego. I raised Magic up to the cap, to reduce the amount of Energy required to break the damned curse. It also tipped me over the threshold for recovering some power.
> You earned the perks:
>
> * Pinnacle of Magic (very rare) All MP costs are halved. No external effects can damage or drain your MP.
> * Pinnacle of Ego (ultra-rare) Your sense of self is absolute. You are immune to any effect that manipulates your memory or takes over your control over your own mind.
Damn good to see you back on board, guys. One day, you'll never ever leave me.
But that day was not today. Today, I had to kill a Dungeon. A quick scan told me we had no undead monsters in range. Only the dwarves stationed at the fort staring at my glowing form. They were too chicken-hearted to come here to investigate.
I retrieved Alfondric and Vanagon. Their golem bodies had leveled greatly and the two were all giddy with the almost two billion Exp they gained for doing nothing but look pretty.
With no creatures in the way, I became invisible and activated the Manastorm at full power (but ignoring living creatures), and sent Pandora to soak up all the soul fragments floating around. Without them, the Dungeon couldn't spawn more creatures. If this was one of those Dungeon Core stories, some kind of powerful creature would rise from the black lake to defend the Dungeon, but there was no such thing here. This was a natural (as natural as magic went) phenomenon.
Pandora finished with the soul fragments and dove into the lake on her own. I felt it assume its aspect of void and all of the lake was sucked into itself. The loamy earth at the shores flowed into the now black Wisp and I jumped on hastily conjured Force platform. The ground kept flowing, dragging more and more earth into the sphere. The air whooshed past me as it too was vacuumed into the Void.
I sensed the dwarves running away from the keep, abandoning their posts for fear of their own lives. The crater widened as Pandora sunk into the ground, dragging more and more earth and stone into oblivion. Finally, the devastation reached the keep and I hastily threw a sheet of Force magic underneath it. The building with its walls slid over the magical plane and separated from the planet's aura. I stored it.
Now knowing how far Pandora would go, I flew around the walls, placing interlocking sections of Force underneath them. The Wisp's devastation removed the ground from underneath them and I stored the ring of walls for posterity. Without them reflecting back the magic of the Dungeon, it spread out but I sensed that it too was being drawn into the void.
A dozen minutes after she started, Pandora dismissed its aspect and floated next to me, a simple ball of light. With a thought, I asked her to stop glowing. I shifted into the Ethereal and looked into the crater. I could find no traces of the Dungeon. Mission accomplished, I guess.
All I had to do now was spend my Perks. I vowed to myself to not repeat Arista's mistakes and keep them unspent forever.
----------------------------------------
[1] Chapter 10.31 "The Wasteland King" https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/34323/in-lokis-honor/chapter/548610/life-10-chapter-31-the-wasteland-king