The Duskshell was just one of the enemies that Ray could fight. One he could do so multiple times too.

But there were other mirrors within the training crystal. Other reflections storing other memories. Monsters like the Viledrake and even the Spirespine, situations like that of the dungeon where he had to defeat a siege. Even enemies like that asshole Derrick Orden and the two Floor Lords he had beaten so far.

Now those were some fun ones to replay. Ray hadn’t realized just how exhilarated those moments had felt to him back then.

A part of him even wondered what it would have been like if he had died. Kredevel had said he would simply be kicked out and he’d have the opportunity to try again. But he also wouldn’t be receiving any Essence for the fight at all if he lost.

The problem with the crystal was that it cracked no matter what. Regardless of whether the user was successful in combat or not, the mirrors started fracturing. He found he could repeat a battle only once before the respective reflection broke entirely, making it impossible to access that fight again.

So, Ray had treated each battle as its own thing, determined to win just as he had done in truth. He couldn’t let any of it go to waste.

Of course, after the first victory, he had exited the training crystal and informed his two companions that everything was fine. There were no issues with them being human. If they were lucky. Still. They decided that they’d take turns, and at least one of them would remain outside, sort of standing on guard duty, while the other two used the crystals.

By the time Ray was done, he had gained another level. He was getting close to that level fifty benchmark he was looking forward to.

[Level Up!]

Reward

* +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.

* 1 Spell Synthesis Point

Essence to Level 49: 6,650/221,200

Interestingly, he didn’t gain any Knowledge reputation when refighting his old enemies. He supposed it made sense. These were all old foes. He wasn’t really gaining any new knowledge by battling against them again. Even if his boots were supposed to give him Knowledge Reputation after every successful defeat of a foe.

Ah, well.

The extra ten stats went to Vitality as normal. Ray wasn’t sure where to use the Spell Synthesis Point yet. He understood that he had some spells he wasn’t using much. Although, depending on the situation, they would be useful.

Maybe he’d decide after their upcoming dungeon.

“Can’t wait for my Class Evolution,” he said to the others as they walked to the dungeon island the next day. They had been careful about noting the time and location of where the island would be docked for them to board. “Can’t be that far off now.”

“You guys are still waiting for your second Class Evolution?” Marcus asked.

Ray stared at him. “You didn’t mention you already got your second Class Evolution.”

“I already said I had an Epic Class, didn’t I?”

Ray already had an Epic rarity Class. But that was after only one Class Evolution. Maybe the offerings were different for different people, depending on what they had done and faced. “Yeah, well, I got an Epic rarity Class from just one Class Evolution. So don’t mind me and my silly assumptions.”

Marcus stared at him for a bit. “Show off.”

“That’s enough about Class Evolutions, you nerds,” Gritty said. “I’m more curious about the dungeon we’re heading to. Sridayne never got back to you on what it might be?”

Ray shook his head. “Nope. There’s an extra level of restriction for that kind of information. At least she was able to find some intel on the people who are attending it.”

He had already mentioned that to them, though, so he didn’t bother expanding on it. They would only find out who their fellow competitors were when they reached the dungeon island itself.

Nevertheless, Sridayne had been able to dig up some information on who among the spectators were attending a Tier 25 dungeon in person. Apparently, there was a small group who had close ties to the Third Floor Lord. Ray and his team would do best to be careful.

They reached the dock location in time. Crossing the bridge of floating stones led them to waiting behind a team of three Sylvans who were registering before their turn came.

Registration was much smoother than last time. They were already official tournament competitors now.

The only other team to register was a duo of Ryous who came in a little late. But them being late allowed Ray to meet up with Sridayne and Vyournel at one corner of the dungeon island.

“Another mountain, huh?” Gritty asked, staring at the large rocky mound with tunnels at the base that formed the dungeon openings they were to use.

“I still haven’t been able to dig up any real information on the dungeon,” Sridayne said a little apologetically.

“We tried our best, though,” Vyournel said.

“That we did. And now that we know who your competitors are, we can find out more.”

“You recognize any of them?” Ray asked.

“I do. The Ryous team who came after you are familiar to me. I have seen them in a different dungeon.”

She went on to explain what she remembered of their abilities and what they had done. Ray and the others listened attentively. It was quite helpful. They wouldn’t be surprised when they eventually faced down their opponents inside the dungeon.

Though, he had to wonder if other teams had different sources of intel to bypass the fact that they all had Amulets of Blindness now. Of course, some of them might just have seen the tournament recordings and gotten a good understanding that way.

Essentially, there was no way to truly hide one’s capabilities after the first dungeon foray.

Sridayne also pointed out the group in the audience who were affiliated with the Floor Lord. A gaggle of Sylvans in expensive looking robes were eyeing everyone with interest. It didn’t look like they had their eye particularly on Ray more than anyone else, but it wouldn’t be to their benefit to ignore the potential threat they posed.

“What about the Sylvan team?” Gritty asked. “Know anything about them?”

“I do not.” Sridayne frowned at the trio. “I do not recall seeing them on any of the recordings I personally have viewed. I assume you have not caught them in any recordings either.”

“Uh…”

“No,” Ray said quickly. “Nope. We didn’t see them in any of the recordings we looked at either. Very strange, yeah.”

In truth, they hadn’t checked many recordings yet. Two things had deprioritized it. There hadn’t been a ton of time and there were so many competitors, it would be difficult to remember the specifics of every single one of them.

Nevertheless, Ray resolved to hunt down recordings of the more successful ones like Sameer’s group and take a look. Once he was done winning this dungeon.

“We’ll just have to be careful about them,” Marcus said.

Ray nodded.

It wasn’t long before a tournament official announced that it was time. The competing teams were to select and head towards one of the available tunnel openings. The goal was the same as ever. Find and collect the treasure, which was most likely in the final dungeon boss room. Simple enough. Straightforward.

The snags would be the other competing teams trying to stop each other and be the first to get to the treasure. Considering this was “only” a Tier 25 dungeon, it was accepted that whoever reached the boss room first would basically win the whole thing.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

In other words, they’d need to be fast.

[Primordial Gauge—Dungeon]

Records of the Ancients [Tier 25]

Stories from time immemorial, when language and culture were barely comprehensible concepts, are passed down via only one means. It is this means that come to life and seek to safeguard not just the records of the past, but the treasures it held as well. Prove your ability to defeat the guardians of ancient times and seek the treasure at the end.

Huh. That was a strange description. Stories could only be passed down one way, according to this dungeon, and that was the key to what they’d be facing. Well, Ray supposed he’d be seeing soon enough.

With Gritty and Marcus on either side of him, Ray walked into the dungeon’s dark passageways.

The tunnel widened within a couple of minutes, forming a long, wide chamber that slowly angled upwards. Ray had to once again summon up his Viledrake tail with Molten Mana to conjure up enough light to see.

“These walls…” Marcus said.

“Did you guys see the dungeon description?” Ray asked.

“Oh, yeah. Makes sense now.”

“So, what?” Gritty peered at the various scribbles and smudges on the walls. “The ancient records are just writings on the wall? Old writings? I’m not sure how these are supposed to form guardians against anything.”

Ray had already started hypothesizing how, but their answer arrived within another few minutes. The writings on the wall soon progressed to pictures instead. Paintings.

Art that came to life.

All three of them froze when they saw the first instance. Five paintings, done crudely in the fashion of cave paintings back on Earth, ripped free from the walls to stand before the tournament competitors.

“It’s starting to make a whole lot of sense to me now,” Marcus said.

Ray could only nod. The art was turning into some strange, augmented reality type situation. All this while, everything he had seen and faced had been real. Creatures he could believe existed because they had fur, scales, claws, and whatnot that looked solid and tangible.

These ones coming to life before him made him feel as though he was Michael Jordan in Space Jam.

“Are we actually about to fight three-dimensional paintings?” Marcus asked.

“They don’t look like they’re here for a friendly chat,” Ray said.

[Primordial Gauge—Dungeon Obstacle]

Painted Guardian

Art is just another record of history, informed and created as an expression of the people of the times. Recognizing this, the ancients informed their paintings—their records—with their intent and will. Their desire to safeguard what they believed could not be surrendered to mere anyone. And so, the paintings guard the path. Defeat the guardians to shift the paint.

“Very helpful,” Ray muttered.

What was more helpful was observing the forms the paintings were taking. At least they weren’t turning out to be abstract monstrosities.

One was a giant ox, easily capable of fighting off a tank. Another was a huge bird, black-feathered and more than big enough to carry the ox in its talons. Two were some sort of jungle cats, sabre-toothed and sporting spiky manes with fur the colour of blood.

The last was a dinosaur. There was no question about. It was basically a miniature T-rex, kind of like the Raptors that the Everstead used to ride on back on the Second Floor.

“I got this,” Ray said before stepping forward. Gritty and Marcus stayed back.

He summoned up several constructs with Lifeblood Soulform, giving life to three flying draconic maws. They rushed forward. One took on the big bird, while the other two attacked the giant cats.

That left the dinosaur and the ox for Ray. Fine by him.

Primal Spiritcraft called up two more draconic maws, though they were strapped to his arm this time. He fired off quick lasering blasts, but both his enemies dodged rapidly.

Ray had to blink. How were they both that fast? He could see the dinosaur moving quickly. It was said their top speed could rival ostriches, if not exceed them. But the ox too? Oh yes, these were not regular old representations of what the ancient people might have experienced.

Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard next. Both monsters had rushed at him, but the sudden appearance of the sparking chaos orbs halted them. The spheres spun around him to create a perfect shield of chaos.

The momentary pause his spheres had caused was perfect. Because that afforded Ray the opportunity to cast Spiritscourge Chain. At Tier 6, the spell was more than strong enough to latch onto all five of his enemies around him, though the constant motion made it harder to land on the two big cats. That was fine. Ray had hit three of the monsters, which was enough for now.

“Let’s try this again,” he said, before firing off the compressed chaotic flame breaths again.

They might have dodged those even after not getting a proper look through the revolving barricade of chaotic spheres. But what they couldn’t dodge as well were the spheres themselves. Just as the monsters evaded the fire, Ray sent out all his spinning chaos orbs at his targets. Both the ox and the dino were hammered by half-dozen Spiritguard orbs at once.

The hit was enough to cause a miniature explosion on either side of Ray. He stepped back, making sure both his targets were in his field of view.

Even better, Spiritscourge Chain ensured that the damage inflicted on his primary targets transferred to the chained target as well. A little explosion burst on the bird as well, and it uttered a shrieking squawk as it fell. The construct engaging it charged at the falling monster with its maw full of burning, chaotic flames.

But then, the smoke cleared. Ray blinked. His Spiritguard orbs hadn’t had that much of an impact on the monsters. Apart from some scratches and missing bits, both the ox and the dinosaur were more or less fine.

He cursed. Were they so strong that the current Tier of his spells wouldn’t leave much of a dent on them?

Or maybe that was just their nature as so-called guardians of this place. An enduring durability. An inorganic durability, perfect for resisting the effects of chaos that affected life.

These things weren’t living after all.

With a small roar, the dinosaur came hurtling towards Ray, its jaws opened wide to snap him in two. Once again, he had to remark just how fast the thing was. It was all he could do to evade with the help of Soaring Wings. But that was exactly what his opponent was hoping.

“Watch out!” Marcus yelled.

The dinosaur had purposefully made Ray evade so that the onrushing ox would have an easier time goring him. Interesting how these guardians were smart about working together.

Ray, of course, went unharmed. Spectral Step took him behind the Windbane head fighting against the bird. That monster squawked in surprise at Ray’s sudden appearance. It could do nothing when Ray pointed both arms at the bird and blasted it in the face with twin lasering streaks of compressed chaos flames.

Where the two blasts met, a furious explosion sent both Ray and his construct flying backwards. They recovered their momentum quickly.

More importantly, the clearing dust revealed that Ray’s direct blow had done some good damage. He smiled. Just what he had been looking for. Mottling Spiritguard just didn’t have the oomph behind it to seriously hurt inorganic matter.

But a detonating, point-blank blast from his Windbane maws sure did the trick.

Still. These things were resilient. The bird was still functioning, even if it was heavily damaged.

That was fine. Ray’s construct could easily handle it now. Even better, the sheer damage he had dealt to the bird had transmitted to the others as well. They had staggered back despite being nowhere near the explosion, and as such, had been unable to take advantage of Ray being flung back.

Instead, it was Ray himself hurrying in to end them. He knew now they weren’t impervious. They just needed a stronger hit.

They rushed at each other. Ray charging at the duo of the ox and the dinosaur as they dashed at him. A few moments before imminent collision, Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard again. Sure that they would remain mostly unaffected, the monsters charged through the minefield of sparking spheres.

Except, they hadn’t counted on Ray disappearing to reappear behind them with Spectral Step. The two draconic maws at the end of his arms were already primed. As soon as Ray was in position, he fired.

The monsters still tried to dodge. They also had greater durability than the bird to take advantage of, tanking through the explosion where the chaotic breaths met.

But the force was still enough. With Spiritscourge Chain building up the damage from before, that final combination of attacks did the trick. Both the ox and the dinosaur began to crumble, falling apart into shapeless chunks that turned to dust.

The remaining two guardians, the two big cats, were moments away from dying too. They had been able to withstand the onslaught from the constructs they were facing as things remained mostly evenly matched. They could tank through the flames, after all.

But the tables had turned when the third construct had joined after the bird’s fall. Especially since all the constructs had learned to rely on direct attacks instead of just the flames.

In no time, the tunnel was free of any pesky monsters.

[Enemy Defeated—Painted Guardian]

Tier 22 Monster: Painted Guardian [Level 52] x5

Essence: +57,200

Knowledge: +15

True Mana Restored: +5,720

Essence to Level 49: 63,850/221,200

Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,527/3,500

“Whew,” Ray said. “All done.”

Gritty shook her head. “Took you long enough.”

“Hey, I didn’t see you helping.”

“I got this,” she said, miming Ray’s voice.

“I do not sound like that.” He turned to see Marcus staring at the floor where the dust was all that remained of the monsters. “You alright?”

“Hmm?” Marcus looked up. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I just… couldn’t have handled all those monsters on my own the way you did. And you did that without even hitting your second Class Evolution.” He shook his head. “Regardless of your level, you’re really strong, huh?”

Ray thought for a moment. He supposed most people probably didn’t have magic boots that gave them a boost to their primary stat upon killing a foe. His Intellect was likely a lot higher than was normal for his level. “I might be, yeah.”

They got moving.

The Dungeon Obstacle had mentioned something about the path opening up once the guardians were beaten, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Ray spotted the tunnel ending at a stretch of wall covered with more scribbles.

“That should be open right?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah…”

They got a little closer, which turned out to be all they needed to do. The scribbles started shifting. The words and the paint came alive. Ray tensed, only thinking of more Painted Guardians coming in to kill them, but the change was a lot different than expected.

The painting formed the opening in the tunnel they needed to take. It was like the direction they had to go into was being drawn into existence.

“We’re totally in a cartoon dungeon,” Ray muttered.

Gritty snorted, then walked forward, leading the way. “Come on, Roadrunner.”

Ray sighed. “Wingman was bad enough.”

Gritty laughed. Marcus followed in close.

They soon arrived at a large, long chamber that the painted tunnel opened up into. Ray was expecting a new Dungeon Obstacle to pop up. What they got instead was more Painted Guardians arriving from a different tunnel.

It wasn’t just the guardians that made Ray frown, though. There was a Ryous along with them. Almost like a competitor was working alongside the guardians.

“Take care of the guardians, will you?” Ray told his comrades. He remembered the tips Sridayne had provided them. “Let me handle our new friend there.”