Amaryllis woke up and stretched. Her mind took in her surroundings. She was at the guild headquarters in the capital but something was wrong. There was something tugging her mind and heart. The pixie fluttered around until she got herself a cup of invigorating tea. The bitter brew always helped her focus. After she finished it, she looked inward. Her Skill was tingling, a warning that something she knew would come to pass happened. Suspecting what it was, she cast a spell.
"[Clairvoyance]!"
Her vision zoomed over the countryside, going past Honeywitch and into the mountain valley connecting Bast to Coriander. There she found what she expected to find but didn't knew until she saw it. Visions and prophecies were weird like that. It was like a ghost at the corner of one's eyes, when you look straight at them they vanish. or those little floating hairs inside one's eyes.
The Dire Warg's Forest of Rot had overflown, just as she predicted. Nero. She hoped he was okay and she knew how to check, but she kept watching the horde of monsters run as dawn broke and a new day was born. Dungeon monsters go toward the nearest concentration of people after an overflow. In this case, they ran toward the castle. She followed the monsters up as they split, half going toward Coriander's army and another half climbing the ramp leading to the castle.
The knights weren't there. The minotaur king's castle was soon overrun by the diseased and rotting monsters, all the soldiers inside perished to the horde. On Coriander's side, things were even worse. A huge battle killed most of the people in there and the monsters pounced on the few soldiers that were busy looting the destroyed campsite. The horde didn't even stop. A few monsters remained behind to devour the dead while the main force ran after the routed army and into Coriander.
Amaryllis sighed. That put an end on Corianders' aspirations of conquest and vengeance, as it would take months to properly clear the thousands of monsters now haunting the pass. Why was that overflow so bad? She only knew there would be one and Nero was the trigger, but she couldn't suspect it would be that bad.
She flew down to her office and called Alma. She tasked the kitsune receptionist with drafting dozens of Adventurer requests. She needed to scout the region, delve the Dungeon to assess its threat, bring its grade back to a manageable level, erect fortifications, and hunt the monsters from the overflow before they tainted the valley with their Essence and transformed the valley into wildlands.
Not that Coriander and Bast would trade with each other anytime soon.
The guild master had a ton of work to do and then she would travel to Honeywitch, to oversee things from there.
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Altia woke up screaming in the middle of the night, throwing everyone in their house out of their beds as if an anthill was kicked. Crystal was the first to reach her since the nereid's bedroom was literally the next door.
"What happened?" Crystal asked.
"Nero is wounded. He was... fighting."
Rhynne and Byron entered next. "Nero?" his mother asked.
"I had a dream. I saw Nero. He was fighting someone," Altia said. "A leonal. Tall, golden mane, a lean and agile body."
Crystal went pale. "No. No. Not Tyre! Anyone but him!"
Knazer and Fotia were enjoying their day off at their parents' home that night.
"How bad are his wounds?" Byron asked. "Can you see anything else?"
Altia wiped her tears. "No. I can't see it anymore. But I can feel him. He's still fighting. Healing and fighting."
"It can't be Tyre then. That man is a monster and focused everything on Agility," Crystal said.
"He's alive. Whoever he's fighting will feel sorry for facing my kid," Byron said proudly.
The sun was about to rise. The family stood together, supporting Altia as she read Nero's health. They were eagerly waiting for Nero's return.
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The Royal surveyor walked into the crown prince's breakfast. "Milord, I have dire news."
Prince Aslanbek Alexander wiped his muzzle and nodded. "Speak freely."
"A new Dungeon appeared in our realm," The surveyor said. "I don't know where, though. It seems to be somewhere in Honeywitch."
Aslanbek cursed. "Damn. What is that stupid brother of mine doing?" He slammed the table, spilling some tea on the white cloth. He flagged one of his attendants. "Get me updated information regarding my brother and the siege of that castle he bought."
A messenger entered the room as Aslanbek's servants left. "Your Royal Highness. News from the Adventurer's Guild."
"Speak. What else can happen today?"
"They report that a rank III Dungeon had an overflow. Estimated numbers nearing ten thousand. They ran into the valley and destroyed both armies. Prince Tyre's whereabouts are unknown but the report affirms the castle was taken by the monsters. The valley is classified as a yellow zone. Monster levels around thirty to forty."
Aslanbek pointed at the surveyor. "Confirm that information through independent sources. Make sure you scry Coriander's army as well. If the valley is really taken by monsters and became a yellow zone, at least we won't have to deal with the nereid's fish breath. Make sure this information reaches the ambassadors of our friendly neighbors. Let's see if they try to invade us now."
"As you wish, milord," The surveyor left the room.
Aslanbek stood up. "Get my cloak. I need to talk to my father."
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Nero barely dodged another attack from the Dungeon boss. Tyre roared in frustration at having his prey stolen yet again. While the boss bellowed, Nero summoned and quaffed another healing potion. He thought Tyre would be easy but was sorely mistaken. Lulled into a false sense of safety by his improved Attributes, Nero didn't prepare for the fight as he should. Tire looked at the minnid and snarled.
"I'm going to kill you and then be set free," He snarled and rubbed his left forearm, conspicuously free of any gadget. "You stole my Class, my advancement. You're going to pay for this."
Nero ejected the [Archer] Class and quickly inserted the orange [Rogue] in its place. He filed the idea of an automated card switcher for later. "You're a monster, Tyre. If you get out, you'll be hunted. And I won't let you. I'm a [Dungeon Keeper] now. You're a [Dungeon Keeper] now. It is my duty to kill you, that's what my Class is telling me."
Tyre roared and Nero flinched. It must be some kind of fear-based attack. The minnid let his instincts take over and bolted for the tall grass of the boss area. Once out of sight, he skulked away. Tyre was weaker than before his imprisonment, bound by the Dungeon's level rules. Nero doubted he had eight hundred points of Perception, the bare minimum necessary to find him.
"Where are you!" He shouted and swiped at the grass.
The golden blades bent and swished as his paws moved, refusing to break or be cut. Tyre couldn't be considered people anymore. He didn't have hands, only oversized lion paws. His form was hunched and it lost the lean build. His hips were wider and the digitigrade legs now had wide haunches like those seen in animals, not the almost erect ones found on people. He looked like a cross between a beast-folk person and a lion. Feral. Monstrous.
And naked.
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Nero circled around and positioned himself behind the mutated Tyre. His intellect decreased and Nero felt he would devolve even more as he was killed and respawned. The real Tyre was gone, devoured by the Dungeon. What was in front of him was an Essence construct imbued with a fragment of the former prince's mind. But one thing remained true. It had anatomical weak points. One of them presented itself to Nero. Shoving his male pride aside, he aimed his rifle and took the shot. His [Rogue] build had no offensive ability, but the combination of two bonus traits compensated for that. He waited the activation time for [Mithril Fortress], something that he would have to do every time he switched back to [Rogue]. As he suffered no movement penalties from his Skills, the effect lasted until he dismissed or removed the Class card.
> [Rogue] - When attacking a target unaware of you, add your Agility to the damage and ignore 25% of their defenses.
>
> [Skulls & Daggers] - If you attack an unaware enemy, add your Perception to the accuracy of your attack and multiply your damage by [ 1 + square.root(Agility) * 20% ].
His modified Agility of 414 gave him a 500% damage multiplier. That was almost as good as ten stages of [Empower Attack] sans the defense-piercing bonus. But it was good enough to damage what he was aiming at. Nero's shot struck Tyre on the scent glands. Actually a little below. The prince's crown jewels became a frozen splatter of gore along with the rest of his rearguard.
Tyre shouted and leaped forward. Nero used his greatly enhanced speed and charged at the fleeing boss, turning his bayonet on and stabbing him as he caught up to the boss. Impaled, Tyre's lower back muscles were shredded and his hump lost motion as Nero severed the base of his spine by pulling the clockwork bayonet up.
"Ha! Ugh! Bastard!" Tyre whimpered, grunted, and cursed.
Nero activated stealth and walked around. Tyre could only crawl and would soon die from the bleeding.
"See you soon, Tyre. Farming you is going to be a pleasure."
Nero shot its ear, blowing the head. Tyre dissolved into motes of Anima and Nero's Arbitrium lit up.
> Compatible Boss Anima detected. Grade orange. Energy absorbed above the threshold. Processing upgrade. Weighing Attribute strain.
>
> For defeating a foe eighty-five times your level, you gained +12 Vigor
"Twelve? The expected amount was twelve," Nero mused. "The lioness' Accolade was also doubled. Why is that? Do all my Accolades also double in this Dungeon? Not likely. [Dungeon Keepers] would be too strong. No. Not many would survive farming their Dungeons. The Accolades from the knights granted one point for every fifty levels. If that's true, then the boss' Accolade multiplied both factors. Well, there's only one way to find out."
Nero collected the drops. An Essence crystal worth 72,250 Essence, a rank X Anima crystal that was worth a few million in the market but he would save for either Crystal or Altia, the [Egress] card he expected, and a card. Orange equipment.
> [Leonal Honor Armor] - orange equipment - Armor - Requires leonal race. Requires level 80. Strength +150. Vigor +150. Endurance +100. Agility +200.
>
> +5 Strength
>
> +5 Vigor
>
> +10 Endurance
>
> +10 Agility
>
> +5 Dexterity
>
> "Uphold honor in all endeavors and respect the weak - King Asad Alexander I of Bast"
>
> Armor Rating: 15
>
> Special: This armor increases your Charisma by 20% of your Agility.
>
> Special: This armor increases your armor rating by ( square.root(Endurance) ].
"Daamn," Nero groaned. "I bet it looks like exactly like Tyre's armor."
Nero stored the card and drank another healing potion. It was time to farm the Dungeon. Once he was rested and healed, he used a [Egress] card in tandem with his [Dungeon Breaker] Skill and returned to the entrance. He found the next lioness prowling through the grass and used [Skull & Dagger] to hide. The headshot killed the monster at once. He collected the crystal and compared it. The level dropped to fifty-four, indicating the Dungeon lost some energy.
Of all the Class builds in Nero's arsenal, the orange [Rogue] was unsurprisingly the best-suited for this delve. The first zone had the prowling lionesses, ambush speed hunters. For their level, they had weak defenses if not for their dodge. Hitting one on the ground was almost impossible for him. The trick was to shoot them while they pounced but then you forfeit your own dodge. No. The best way was to stalk the stalker and finish the lionesses with a headshot. They moved slowly through the grass, making them easy targets if you could sneak upon them.
The grass was actually taller than he remembered making it. It completely covered his head even if he stood on his toes. This first zone had the lionesses and was about half a mile thick. Nero thought of burning the grass but shoot the idea because of their behavior. The lionesses attacked and pounced any perceived movement, be it another lioness or Nero. He too had to move slowly because his stealth did nothing to the basic fact he needed to part the grass to move around. If he burned down the grass, all the lions of the first zone would converge on him at once. Lions were pack hunters and he was sure they would cooperate to destroy their prey.
All he could do was to slowly stalk and kill the females hunting for prey next to the Dungeon's entrance. Nero pondered on how much Tyre's influence changed the Dungeon. Who decided there should be lionesses prowling next to the entrance? Tyre? The sentient Dungeon that never spoke again?
Too many mysteries for a research assistant's mind. While he hunted, Nero thought about the trio of professors at the Lyceum. How were they? Had Glom reached home safely?
Nero hunted lionesses and returned to the clearing, turning on [Zone of Peace] to block respawns. Now he understood a bit more of the Dungeon's mechanics. The Dungeon respawned monsters in an attempt to burn energy and lower the chance of a flood. All of them were prisons! The [Dungeon Keeper] had the ability to enter the Dungeon from anywhere not as a perk but as a duty. He had to clear the Dungeon regularly and make sure to keep it contained. Was once every hundred days enough? The Goblin's Den next to his home village flooded about as often than that, but then again not many Dungeons had a dozen deaths every two months.
He slept in the clearing when the sun went down and woke with the dawn. At least for once a Dungeon that wasn't all gloomy and dark. Nero snapped back his prized [Rogue] build, activated [Mithril Fortress], and stalked the stalkers. Once he was sure no lionesses remained in the first zone, he moved to the next.
Nero took notes every time he paused to rest. The guild paid handsomely for new Dungeon information and he intended to cash in on it, or just give it as a gift to Amaryllis. He understood some of her actions now. Like making a point of visiting Hye-Sung's shop with him. Did she know of count Honeywitch's betrayal? The fact was the pixie made a point to drive into that shopkeeper's head that Nero was Amaryllis's godson. How had that helped him in his tenure at the castle? A lot, probably. Ignoring some salty elf captain for a while, all the others treated him better than what a level zero could expect. Tyre didn't abuse his power until the very end when he was desperate. Without Nero, his sneak attack would never succeed.
It was all over now. Both the prince and Coriander's ambitions along with the first zone as well. Nero named it the "Golden Grassland" and the monster the "Prowling Lionesses". Not the best flair but accurate to a fault. Maybe he should go for the alliteration and call them "Lurking Lionesses". It happened a lot with monsters' names, didn't it? Creepy Crawlers, Stomping Shamblers, Thorn Trippers. Yes, "Lurking Lionesses" it was. Keeping with tradition was important.
Onward to the second zone. The grass here was knee-high but acacia trees dotted the landscape and the lower hanging branches blocked visibility. It was home to another kind of feline predator, the "Lightning Leopard". A ranged spellcaster cat. Nero would rather wrestle with the lionesses than fight these guys. Not only they were fast but all of their attacks dealt lightning damage. And the cherry on top was that they were healed by lightning. Nero had a hard time getting past them with his [Archer] build as a third of his overall damage was negated and healed another third.
Not as much with his [Rogue] build. Setting his Willpower to a flat ten (twelve with [Mithril Fortress]) made the lightning damage negligible. Nero found a leopard lazying around on the acacia branches and sniped it from afar. The three lit up in a flash of lightning as the startled monster burst his energy around, unaware of the attack's direction. The surprise gave Nero enough time to stealth again. Another shot and the monster vanished in a poof of white motes of light.
Two other leopards jumped down from the same tree, roaring at their surroundings in an attempt to scare their prey. They shot weak bolts of lightning around, igniting the grass. Fortunately it wasn't dry and the fires died before they could spread.
Nero took his time to line up his shot with the monster's eye at an angle that would go straight into the brain. One thing he learned was that aiming for the center of the head had the protection of the skull but less chance of the shot grazing the target. A minute later, the monster put its head in the right spot, and Nero took the shot. Patience paid as the monster didn't even whimper. It started to dissolve into Anima almost immediately.
The other one, however, found Nero. It growled and raised its heckles, bolts of lightning surging up its dotted fur and gathering at its nape. Nero shot it twice but the monster didn't need to remain completely still while it charged its attack and dodged the shots as Nero's attacks without stealth were pitifully weak compared to the level sixty-something monster.
He paid the fifteen points of Essence to shift his buckler into a bigger pavise, hiding behind and shoving it to the ground in hopes it would ground the lightning. The bolt struck moments later, surging through the metal and the owner of the shield in equal amounts. He gritted his teeth, learning firsthand what it felt like to be at the receiving end of a lightning shot. For two long seconds Nero's body seized, unable to move or think. Then the leopard was on him.
Crackling with electricity, the leopard's claws swiped toward Nero. He removed his bulky shield from the ground and bashed the monster, earning another jolt for his troubles. His heart pounded in a crazy rhythm. as he held his rifle with one hand and turned on the bayonet, using the weapon as one would a short spear.
Nero stabbed and slashed, in an effort to keep the monster away from him. It was really bad luck to find a tree with three of them on it. The leopard struck his arm and he almost dropped the rifle. Nero used his shield and rifle to his advantage, making the most of his bigger reach to try and keep the big cat away from him.
It became a battle of attrition. The leopard wouldn't run away and Nero couldn't get a solid hit as the feline jumped away from the bayonet. In the end the side with healing potions won. Nero collected his drops and paused to assess his stocks. He was running low on potions. It meant he had to step up his game and start hunting as an assassin would. Strike and hide. Don't stop to gawk at your achievements. make sure it is clear before getting the drops. Stealth at every opportunity. The monsters were strong and he would be toast if it weren't for his doubled Attributes.