Ray took some time to rest after his ordeals in the fleshy dungeon. That was a horrible name to call it, but the System’s name for his experiences over the last few hours was definitely not as elegant.
He was enthralled by what he had received, however. Well, apart from the fact he was missing only fifty Essence from a level up, but he was trying not to be hung up about it.
In the list of rewards where it said he had earned a new Tower Node, it really was a new one. He still retained control over his other Fleshcrafter Tower Node. Basically, Ray now had two of them.
He had discovered that interesting tidbit when he had bemoaned the fact that he’d been forced to leave behind the Tower Node in the same spot he had killed the Sylvan. But then, a quick focus had summoned it right next to him. Not just one. Two of them. That was when the dungeon clearing reward had made sense.
He had been awarded a different Fleshcrafter Tower node that existed on the Second Floor.
Ray wasn’t sure why he hadn’t considered that there would be more Tower Nodes across the Tower from the same Paragon. It opened up a lot of interesting possibilities.
For now, though, he focused on the power of the Tower Nodes before him. Twice the Nodes meant twice the power of the associated Paragon in his grasp, right? Although, that didn’t seem to be the case when he used Channel Prayer via Primal Spiritcraft. It still showed him only the three same abilities he had seen before, with no changes at all.
Both the Tower Nodes’ descriptions were exactly the same too. The same information that he could modify and manipulate the flesh of either himself or of any targets in his vicinity.
Hmm. There was something he would need to test once he moved on to his next monstrous encounter.
Ray also tested the Gravity Boots. They were pair of white, knee-high boots that worked exactly as their name suggested. He could stand horizontally on tree trunks, at an angle on sloped debris, even upside-down on branches that could bear his weight..
Basically, all surfaces were his for standing upon, regardless of how gravity was supposed to act.
An even more curious fact was that the original gravity just didn’t work while he was wearing the boots. It was natural to think that, while his boots attached his feet horizontally to a tree trunk, the rest of his body would sway and bend due to the real gravity still acting downwards. But that didn’t happen with the Gravity Boots on.
It was as though the very plane of gravity affecting Ray was stuck to the sole of the new boots, always only affecting him in the direction of the surface his feet rested upon.
A neat little pair of boots, no doubt. Too bad their utility didn’t come close to overtaking the usefulness of the Drakescale Boots. Ray was not discarding free Knowledge gain—and thus Intellect and spell power gain—with every kill.
Ray also assigned his latest True Mana Tier point to Mottling Spiritguard, taking the spell to Tier 4. It was his lowest Tier ability, and he didn’t want it to languish behind the rest.
Lastly, Ray focused on the dungeon itself. Or what remained of it.
The whole structure was just gone. That enormous monster hadn’t been able to swallow everything, of course, but the majority of everything Ray had gone through was eradicated. All that was left was that huge sinkhole, thought that too was covered up by a mound of rubble and earth.
Ray didn’t care. He flew up with Soaring Wings and decided he was killing that giant flesh monster no matter what.
Alright, fine. Maybe not no matter what. He wasn’t that stupidly stubborn. But expending three True Mana shards to see if he could destroy that thing wouldn’t be awful. Maybe four. He had gained enough to spare a few extra, right? Ray could afford to splurge a little.
He created several of the Greater Windbane Maws. His mind actually began hurting once more, and he received the warning that he was crossing the limit of his Intellect Tier. But Ray didn’t care. He crafted a couple of the draconic maws on his hands using Primal Spiritcraft, then used it even on the Soulstrike arms as well.
All in all, Ray had about a dozen of maws active. So many that he had to use a True Mana shard just to top himself back up.
Then he fired all the maws at the same time.
The debris mound exploded, as did what felt like the inside of Ray’s head. A symphony of splitting thoughts, fleeing consciousness, and horrendous bursts of chaotic fire on the ground all screamed out at him. He almost fell from where he was floating thanks to Soaring Wings.
But it worked. Flaming debris went flying everywhere. Ray watched with wild eyes as the sinkhole opened up, revealing the opening that led to the monster underneath. It also let the stench rise back up, but he was getting used to it.
Hmm, that might actually not be a great thing.
A part of Ray was tempted to descend and use Primordial Gauge on that thing. He would love to see just how strong that monster was supposed to be.
But he would be finding out soon enough anyway.
Ray used another True Mana shard. All those maws firing at once had very rapidly depleted his True Mana reserves. It was actually a little frightening how quickly they had consumed Mana, and also a little relieving that he had been able to break through with the True Mana he had in total. Definitely wouldn’t have been possible without breaking the first shard.
But now, Ray was ready once more.
So was the monster, it seemed. Another heavy groan emanated from below, a rumbling roar that once again began pulling Ray towards that enormous maw. Not just him alone, of course. All his constructs were being dragged into the huge hole.
All the better for them. With another application of will, Ray and his draconic maws once again all fired their laser breaths.
A dozen jets of chaotic fire entered the lightless abyss. A dozen streams of power that all crashed into one another in the centre of the enormous flesh monster. Ray was shaking as he fired the compressed flames from both his arms, barely holding onto consciousness as his head felt like it was being pulled apart.
He was just thankful that he was able to see just what the ultimate reaction was.
The explosion that occurred within the huge monster sent up a volcanic eruption of chaotic flames. A bunch of the constructs were struck by the rising, corrupting column. Ray himself was burned by the edge too. It was hard to evade in his state.
Thankfully, he still flew backwards and avoided the worst of the blasts. Plus, the loss of several of the constructs helped remove the splitting headache.
Ray regained enough consciousness to send in some Recovery to fix his wounds. Though, sadly, there was no fixing his Shaper Raiment.
[Enemy Defeated—Arch Flesh Elemental]
Tier 10 Monster: Arch Flesh Elemental [Level 30] x1
Essence: +3,000
Knowledge: +3
True Mana Restored: +300
[Level Up!]
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Reward
* +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
* 1 True Mana Tier Point
Essence to Level 27: 2,950/45,300
Knowledge to next Threshold: 846/1,000
Ah, there it was. The level up he had been looking for. Ray had hit two levels in one dungeon. He considered that a pretty great return.
Too bad there were no more dungeons on Cliff Three. In fact, from everything he had heard about the Second Floor, it seemed there just weren’t as many dungeons or even explorable areas as there had been on the First Floor.
Although, he now had to consider just how much of what he had been told was true, and what was false. The Sylvan in the dungeon had complained that the people Ray had interacted with were “fake Denizens”. Ray wasn’t truly sure what that meant, and he cursed the fact that the dungeon’s collapse had interrupted his interrogation.
But one was thing was for sure—he would be a fool to trust everything he had been told.
Primordial Gauge alerted him that his chaperone wasn’t far away. Sighing, Ray composed himself before meeting the fellow.
“Did you find everything you sought?” the guard asked as he appeared on his raptor, leading Ray’s dinosaur by the reins. “The documents, especially?”
He nodded. “Yeah, got everything. Let’s go meet Lord Caleb.”
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Ray didn’t stick around long with Caleb. He just handed off some of what he had recovered, alleging that most of the rest had been too destroyed to bother bringing.
They didn’t know he was keeping some of them for his own purposes.
They asked him to rest for the day, but he was a little too keyed up. Rest would be good. But his body was screaming at him to keep going, to keep advancing. He still hadn’t received a new spell via levelling up. It had been so frequent before his class evolution, and he had learned after a little inquiring that it was very common to receive fewer abilities at higher level ranges.
Ray had no business wanting to be common or normal, though. He wanted to accelerate his growth, if possible, and part of that growth was acquiring better and better option.
The class evolution into Spirit Carver had already showcased just how much variety he could add to his build, especially in a utility sense. He wanted more of that. More abilities that could complement what he already possessed. Surely those wouldn’t be too hard to come by.
He decided to compromise. As the day ended, Ray opted to research his Mana Core, while leaving the rest of what he wanted to achieve for tomorrow. Caleb possessed a handful of Mana Core related literature. Unable to understand the writing, Ray managed to convince the lord to lend him one of his clerks to read it out loud.
“The Mana Core is a manifestation of the soul,” the clerk, a blonde woman who looked more like a teenager, said. She reminded Ray of interns, someone stuck doing a thankless but meaningless job that others didn’t really care about. “Um, like the soul, the Mana Core does not stick to strict definitions and is therefore boundlessly potential.”
Ray nodded sagely. “I like boundlessly potential. Does it say any specifics about what a Mana Core is capable of? You know, beyond the basics of storing and circulating Mana.”
“Oh, yes. As it is the reflection of a person’s soul, it also closely reflects that person’s Ascension Class, Vocation, and other similar matters. Even more specifically, it controls the amount and consistency of Mana conduits a person can possess, Mana-related skills that one can channel, the variants of Mana one can generate, and even the ability to control other Mana Cores.”
That last one made the girl go hushed, like it was some kind of taboo ability that most people steered clear of.
“Control other Mana Cores, you say?” Ray asked with a raised eyebrow. The girl clapped her hands over her mouth like she had let slip some dangerous secret. Ray grinned. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you told me.”
“Well, Lord Caleb did tell me to tell you everything in the Core Script, so I did…”
“And you’re doing a good job, don’t worry. Anything else interesting in there?”
The girl looked down at the pages again. “There’s a lot of stuff about imbuing different kinds of Mana and awakening your Mana Core…” She flipped a couple of the pages. “Oh, and you can also transfer Mana Cores from one person to another.”
“Is that a fatal procedure? Can someone live without their Mana Core?”
“No. Your Mana Core is your soul, right? How do you live without that?”
“Good point.”
She went on to describe a few other stuff and elaborate the various functions she had mentioned, which Ray listened to intently.
Once she was done explaining things, Ray came to the realization that hastening up his levelling wasn’t really going to help him earn new spells. She too confirmed that almost everyone’s rate of attaining new skills slowed down the more one they evolved their class.
That was slightly disappointing. Ray was still going to earn Essence as fast as he could, of course, but he would need to rely on other methods to earn new skills.
And thanks to the explanations he had received from the clerk, he was starting to figure out a way to do just that.
----------------------------------------
The next day, Ray got started on making use of all the info he had obtained after completing his tasks.
Although, the information mostly contained directives to head out and complete more tasks hidden within monster-hunting jaunts. Ray supposed he didn’t really mind as he was gaining more Essence. Still, it kind of felt a bit hypocritical. Refusing to work for Maya’s faction but now doing what this fake kingdom wanted him to.
He focused on the task ahead. The first one had been to head to a road out near the eastern end of Cliff Three. It had apparently been taken over by monsters called Vilewyrms.
Needless to say, Ray was quite intrigued. Vilewyrms sounded like they were naturally related to Viledrakes. Caleb had mentioned there were Viledrakes on higher Cliffs, so Ray was hopeful he could prep for facing down his actual target by taking on the Vilewyrms. Get a taste, so to speak.
It took him a few hours to get to the designated location on the raptor mount. Ray would once again have preferred to fly, but the guard insisted on accompanying him, and he couldn’t very well carry the fellow. So dinosaur riding it was.
The village nearby informed them the same thing Ray had learned at Caleb’s manor. Once they approached the road, the Vilewyrms ought to make themselves known.
Which proved to be true when Ray reached the centre of the highway.
Primordial Gauge acted up, informing him that there were monsters approaching. Creatures called Vilewyrms. Ray focused Primordial Gauge on one to check out its skills.
[Primordial Gauge]
Vilewyrm [Monster] [Tier 9] [Level 23]
Children of the great Viledrakes, Vilewyrms are wingless drakes that are known to burrow into mountains and cliffs to make their homes. Abandoned caves are often the leftovers of such creatures after they have outgrown their original burrow. Younglings are known to hunt often in search of food to produce their own Mana.
Skills:
Crushing Scales [Tier 6]: Manifest hardening of scales, claws, and the rest of the body that allow them to crush through metal and rock.
Mana Breath [Tier 7]: Emit breath of pure Mana that can last for up to 3 minutes and 30 seconds at a stretch.
Rampage [Tier 7]: Pour out reserved energy to heighten all damage dealt, entering into a state of enraged aggression. At Tier 7, this skill boosts speed and all damage direct dealt by 14%.
Pack Hunt [Tier 5]: Raise all stats by 13% for every member of the species present in the vicinity.
Enhanced Charge [Tier 7]: Build up power to charge a large distance, crashing into your target. At Tier 7, this skill carries the wielder up to 14 meters.
Ray went through the skills pretty quickly. They seemed rather basic. He wondered how much better they would be for the Viledrakes.
As for the Vilewyrms, they turned out to be sedan-sized lizards that moved like Komodo dragons on four legs. Though, they were a lot faster, and looked a lot more dangerous too. Pretty wild, considering Komodo dragons freaked Ray the fuck out.
These Vilewyrms had a horned draconic head similar to the Windbanes he had killed a while back, though theirs were short, spiky, and numerous. Their scales were dirty brown, their eyes pitch black. It was the consistency of their scales that caught Ray’s attention. They seemed extra hard, gleaming just a tiny bit like they were made of newly-polished metal.
Ray’s mount growled low in its reptilian throat as the monster’s approached. He had learned how to soothe it—a little stroking under the gullet calmed it down.
He grinned at the guard. “You want a piece of them too?”
The guard wasn’t amused by Ray’s friendly demeanour. “Were you not insisting that you be the only one to handle the matter? I assume so that you can hoard all the Essence.”
“I was!” He really had done so with Caleb. No shame in admitting that. “I was just making small talk.”
“Would you not prefer making small work of the monsters instead?”
Sighing, Ray turned as the first of the Vilewyrms arrived with screeching cries. The guard was right. He’d be better off killing these things as fast as he could before moving on.
Ray wasn’t interested in letting the monsters get too close and start attacking him. As such, he created two of the flying Greater Windbane Maw constructs and sent them forth. At the same time, he created one on his arm with Primal Spiritcraft.
As his constructs went ahead and distracted the first monster, Ray fired off a laser breath from the draconic head on his arm. The laser struck hard enough to push the Vilewyrm back.
But it didn’t kill the monster.
When Ray shut off the jet stream of chaotic fire, the monster staggered in place, clearly wounded. Blood burst out through the gaps between several of its scales. Veins and arteries had overgrown through a bunch of them too. The monster wasn’t dead, though. It roared out, half in agony and half in rage.
Until the constructs shot their point-blank laser breaths too. The Vilewyrm got blasted right in its draconic face. With bursting eyeballs and tongue choking into its gullet, the monster quickly fell.
Alright, fine. So it was going to take a little more effort than Ray had thought. Big deal.
[Enemy Defeated—Arch Flesh Elemental]
Tier 9 Monster: Vilewyrm [Level 23] x1
Essence: +2,070
Knowledge: +3
True Mana Restored: +230
Essence to Level 27: 5,020/45,300
Knowledge to next Threshold: 849/1,000
Except, the problem was that there were a lot of the monsters suddenly closing in from all sides. Ah, it looked like Ray was about to have his hands full.
“I will leave you to it, then,” the guard said, leading away Ray’s raptor after he had dismounted.
Ray nodded, then focused on the onrushing monsters. “Go ahead and tell the village the road’s safe.” He grinned. “I’ll be done by the time you get there.”