Aila stood anxiously in front of the Dungeon, occasionally pacing back and forth. She could still feel that someone was in the Dungeon. While she couldn’t be sure that it was in fact Alaster, she doubted anyone else would have entered the Dungeon inside a destroyed city.
All she knew, was that someone was in the Dungeon, and still alive.
So, she waited.
She had traveled to all the Necromancers she was at least on nonviolent terms with, and compiled quite an extensive host of information, all detailed extensively in a large book she would gift to Alaster. If he survived.
It had been one week since Alaster entered the Dungeon. One hundred sixty-eight hours. One hundred sixty-eight days in dungeon. A Dungeon that Alaster had not been prepared for and would take experienced Experts to conquer.
She had thought that with Richter’s and her own training, alongside his impressive power for his level, that while it would be a struggle, he would emerge victorious. And stronger for it. But that had been when the Dungeon had been bound to the world itself.
Each Dungeon was naturally bound to the world; however, a sufficiently powerful being could wrestle control from the world, assuming it themselves. If that happened, the Dungeon would not play by the rules set by the world.
The Iron Ruins Dungeon had been an A rank Dungeon, something even Experts would be forced to take seriously. Now that it was out of control, Aila shivered at the thought.
Not even she would want to challenge a Dungeon not controlled by the world. They were unpredictable. She wouldn’t even be surprised if the entire Dungeon just changed to send ten Dragons at the challengers at once.
But even if it wasn’t controlled by the world. It would still be under the influence of the System, granting Alaster EXP and Levels. And if he managed to defeat the Boss, the reward loot would match the increased difficulty.
Aila pulled out the book for the thousandth time, rubbing the cover. She had long since been powerful enough to learn that the Gods weren’t as omnipotent and all-powerful as they were told to be. But still she prayed that Alaster would be safe.
Dark clouds covered the sky, threatening to drench the world. Monster cries echoed through the destroyed city. Harsh winds screamed through the empty streets. Yet the small Elven women ignored all it. She stood silently.
She had been there for hours already, and she was prepared to stand there for hours more. But she didn’t need to.
Without warning, the Mana of the Dungeon pulsed. So dense and powerful it even blew away the pebbles and leaves. The usual black of the Dungeon’s Portal flashed a deep red. It’s usually calm surface boiling like an angry sea.
Aila was no longer able to sense someone in the Dungeon, her senses blocked. She stored the book away and prepared for anything. She had seen such an event before. A Dungeon Break. The same Dungeon Break that had destroyed this city, yet now that it was controlled by some other being, there was no telling what horrors would swarm out.
Lightning split the air in the distance, accompanied by the crack of thunder. Rain fell from the sky, hammering the world below, but Aila didn’t move, her own Mana coiling around herself, prepared for the battle ahead.
Finally, the Portal expanded, towering over the nearby buildings, signaling the imminent disaster. Yet instead of a massive Monster stepping through, only one large man exited. But the aura surrounding him was not that of a human.
Two meters tall, clad in cruel black armor, and wielding a large matching halberd. The man looked around, before his glowing red eyes locked onto Aila. She didn’t wait for him to attack first.
Disappearing from her spot, she reappeared in front of the man, her fist raised, Mana cackling around her body. She swung with all her might, splitting the stone beneath for several meters around, but the man was not there.
Aila spun around, seeing the man calmly face her, five meters away. He slammed the butt of his halberd into the stone, leaving it there before removing his helmet.
“Did I do something to piss you off Aila?” Alaster asked with a smile.
* * * * *
Alaster was exhausted from the Boss Fight, but his instincts and been honed from his time within the Dungeon. The habit of peering around every corner for a threat remained. It had saved his life countless times in the Dungeon, and now it had saved his life in the real world. He just didn’t expect the threat to be from his Magic Teacher.
Aila appeared before him once more, without any Mana pulsing around her, wrapping her arms around him. She was so small, and he was so large, she wasn’t able to wrap her hands around him completely.
“I’m so glad you made it.” she said through tears.
He chuckled, “So am I.”
The hug lasted for several minutes before she released him.
“You need a haircut. Follow me.” She ordered, walking away like nothing had happened.
Alaster dismissed his weapon and armor, following behind.
‘Is she your mate?’
The sudden absurd question made Alaster stumble. Aila looked back concerned.
“Are you ok?”
Alaster laughed it off, “Yeah, just a bit tired. A proper bed would be nice.”
‘No Bel! She is my Magic Teacher. I’m pretty sure she is several hundred years old.’
‘I would suggest not asking.’
‘So, the rule of asking women their age transcends Species.’
‘Most yes. The Colgars took pride in their age. It meant they had emerged victorious from many battles, slain many foes.’
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Alaster followed Aila into a still standing building. The only apparent damage being a small broken window. There she summoned a stool and motioned for him to sit, which he obeyed.
She stood behind him, with a pair of scissors and began to cut away this long hair. In the Dungeon, he had not the time nor the care to trim his hair. In several months, it had grown long, prompting him to tie it back in a low ponytail, where he could ignore it.
Alaster calmly sat there, just enjoying not having soul deprived Devils constantly attacking him. Aila occasionally asked how he wanted it. She was quite proficient, and in just twenty minutes, it was trimmed similar to Belgroth’s hair, simply shorter.
‘Really?’ The Demon asked.
‘It looked nice, would be out of the way during a fight, and even better, I don’t have to do anything with it.’ Alaster reasoned.
“Thanks, Aila.”
“It’s no problem. But what happened in the Dungeon?” Aila asked, summoning two lounge chairs, and sitting down in one.
Alaster sat in the other, and began recounting his tale, leaving out the parts about Belgroth. The Demon had been adamant about remaining unknown. Especially to a Species of People who slaughtered his own.
It took several hours as the storm raged outside. When he finished, he leaned back, exhaustion beginning to take hold.
“What was the boss reward?” Aila asked.
“A Mana Core.” he said tiredly.
“Must be powerful. I’ll take a look at it later. But for now, sleep.” The Elvish woman summoned a small bed, which Alaster collapsed onto, asleep before he hit the mattress.
Aila chuckled as she looked at him fondly, before summoning a blanket over him and leaving the room.
When Alaster awoke, it was bright out, but he was feeling much better. Even if his Health and Mana were both full, it would still take a few more days to properly recover, spending nearly half a year in a Dungeon much higher Level than he was.
Speaking of, he had Leveled up extensively, and now had access to an Expert Class.
[Class: Death Knight
Level: 59<65
EXP: 89%<36%
Health: 1,590/1,590<1,680/1,680
Health Regeneration: 68/min<72/min
Mana: 1,435/1,435<1,600/1,600
Mana Regeneration: 70/min<72/min
Bloodline: Demonic Blood
Abilities: Striker Type, AOE Type, Minion Type, General Type
Passives: Pain Tolerance, Blunt Resistance, Regeneration, Magic Resistance
Bonuses: Horde, Death Pact, Soul Domain, Split Mind, Swap, Soul Seal, Blood Price, Dead Embrace, Last Stand, Imbuement, Blood Aura, Reaper, Fine Control, Dark Sight
Stats:
Strength: 235<247 Wisdom*: 350<368
Dexterity: 216<243 Intelligence*: 267<300
Constitution*: 298<316 Free Points: 0]
Alaster’s growth had been immense, not just in Class Levels, but in Abilities Levels, and his skill in using them. Now, he could raise seventy-six Custom Undead. Including forty-one Summoned Undead. Of those, he could now summon two Sergeants, each capable of directly commanding ten summoned Undead each. And a Lieutenant, who could command two Sergeants.
That was not including the Horde Undead, of which he could now normally raise one hundred forty-four, or three hundred sixty if he was meditating. The horde Undead were also much faster and stronger before. Now, Alaster suspected that three Horde Undead could a standard Adept. Of course, that was reliant on the corpse used to raise the Horde Undead.
Belgroth had been pushing Alaster to use Abilities he otherwise didn’t use, or didn’t use enough, or with enough skill. Such as [Meditation], despite being a cornerstone of Alaster’s strength, according to Belgroth, even children should be able to move casually while keeping [Meditation] active.
Alaster had reached that point near the end of the Dungeon, being able to casually run and jump over obstacles while keeping the Ability active, but Belgroth wasn’t satisfied. After all, children could do that, and Alaster wasn’t a child anymore. To Belgroth, Alaster should be capable of maintaining [Meditation] even during battle.
Another Ability was [Mana Manipulation]. Acroding to Belgroth, Alaster relied on the System to do his magic for him, which Alaster admitted. Under Bel’s guidance, Alaster had begun training his control over Mana. Now he was able to combine the Mana of similar Spells.
Such as the Bolts. Now, he could combine Fire Mana into his [Necrotic Bolts] to make them more powerful and corrosive. Or, he could combine Earth Mana, making the [Necrotic Bolts] have more of a physical impact. Currently the Earth infused [Necrotic Bolts] hit with the power of a standard arrow.
However, the change that Alaster was most focused on, was to [Raise Undead]. He could now implant souls into his Undead. Which he had begun doing, using the previously unused, [Soul Seal] Bonus, to capture the souls.
The captured souls were interesting. Belgroth said that they were only fragments of a fragment due to them being from the Dungeon monsters. But even that was enough to give his Custom Undead much higher intelligence and skill. They were now able to command themselves during battle, seeing obvious weak points, reinforcing areas that needed help, and learn from their opponents.
Alaster didn’t need to command them so intensely. However, they were unable to command the Summoned Undead, or the other Custom Undead. But one thing Alaster was quite happy about, was that even upon destruction, so long as even a small piece of bone remained, the soul remained attached.
All his Custom Undead, excluding the Stallion, currently had the soul fragments of the Devils within. Alaster had attempted to put a Devil soul into the Stallion, but it was rejected. Just bounced away and faded into nothingness.
Belgroth said that due to the form the Stallion took, it would require the soul of an animal, the closer the soul matched the form of the Undead, the better. So Alaster supposed he needed to go kill a horse. Not a happy venture. Alaster quite liked horses.
Perhaps the most impactful change, at least over time, was his [Soul Domain]. Belgroth had actually been impressed that the boy had access to his own soul. The Demon cautioned being very careful what he allowed inside, as any object within would have slight effects on Alaster as a whole.
However, Alaster currently only used it to store his Undead, which Belgroth confirmed would not have any effects due to the Undead already being a part of his soul, even when they were merged with soul fragments.
Belgroth said that being able to access your own soul was a great boon. Not only did it make it much easier to create drastic changes to the person itself, if desired, but it could also serve as a personal storage and as a last resort, fortress.
The Demon said that Alaster could build inside his soul, possibly creating an entire settlement if he so desired. And once he achieved truly sentient Undead, they could ‘live’, build, craft, and even train within. However, currently, his Undead were not sentient and would simply stand there like statues until summoned.
But the final change, which Alaster was quite proud of, was his brand new Spell.
[Mana Tendril
Level 2: 23%
Form Mana into a Physical Tendril
Max Tendril: 1
Max Length: 1 Meter
Mana Cost: 100/min]
Since fighting the Wolves in the Dungeon, Alaster had been working on this Ability. It had finally been registered by the System a few days before the Boss Fight. However, the tendril was very fragile. Even just running his own hand through it was enough to break it. It felt like gentle water and was even more easily broken.
However, Alaster could just imagine attacking and defending with multiple tendrils. Alaster did notice that depending on the type of Mana used, affected the tendril. Necrotic Mana made it faster, like a dropped pebble. Fire Mana made it stronger, capable of lifting the book of Classes, barely. And Earth Mana made it more durable, feeling more like loose sand.
But Alaster wasn’t able to use more than one Type at a time. The tendril originated from the small of Alaster’s back. The color of the thing tendril changed slightly depending on the Type of Mana used, but the tendril was sickly green, and would only be slightly tinged by the other Types.
It would be a long time until Alaster could use the Spell in combat, but the young man was excited for such a time.
Among all the changes, Alaster was feeling a bit overwhelmed. They had come about so quickly, just one after another. Of course, he had attempted to use them and grow accustomed to them while inside the Dungeon. But he had been so busy killing several hundred Devils that many of them still felt foreign to him.
And he was only about to make it worse by changing his Adept Class for an Expert Class.