23 - The 5th Floor (3)_Pride, Greatest of the Sins

Though I had already read about what the boss would be like, seeing him in front of me made me finally make the connection between him and the size of the halls on this floor. I had noted that the hallways were large, but I didn’t think much of it, because it was a Dungeon, and logic didn’t seem to apply much here, but now, with a skeleton twice as tall as Al wielding a sword as tall as itself, the high ceilings and wide open spaces made much more sense.

Baladan didn’t look like anything particularly special. Aside from his size and sword, he looked like a normal skeleton. However, if he were just a normal skeleton, he wouldn’t be the boss of the Dungeon. His bones were harder than steel, and we predicted that even with Al’s new, stronger ax, it would be difficult to do serious damage to the boss. The battle would be one of attrition and endurance as we whittled down the boss’s health.

As soon as we stepped into the room, the skeleton, who had been sitting in a corner, stood up and fired a spell at us. From what I could tell from [Mana Sense], it was nothing more than a simple [Magic Missile]. Al apparently came to the same conclusion, and moved to intercept it. The spell broke harmlessly upon Al’s shield, and he continued advancing forwards while Christine slipped off to the side and Pierre and I began launching our ranged attacks.

I used two [Stone Bullet]’s, and Pierre shot an aura dense arrow, but the skeleton deftly moved his sword to intercept all 3 attacks. And then shot another magic missile at us. I dodged to the side, but at the same time, I cast [Magic shield]. I was not confident in using that spell to actually defend myself, since I hadn’t gotten much chance to level it up, but this seemed like a good opportunity to do just that. To my surprise, the shield actually did manage to block the spell. It must have been due to my high [Willpower], and the recent upgrades I had just given it.

Just after that, Baladan swung his sword at Al, who had just gotten within his range. Al used the same skill I had seen him use against the globsters, amassing a huge amount of aura in his shield. The sword hit the shield, and Al slid a foot to the side, but was otherwise unharmed. As soon as the skeleton lifted the sword, Al ran forwards, brandishing his ax. He knew that if he got close enough, it would be difficult for his opponent to maneuver his sword to block his attacks. The skeleton knew this as well, and leapt backwards out of Al’s range while simultaneously using his free hand to throw up a magic shield to block mine and Pierre’s ranged attacks.

Seeing that brute force wouldn’t work well, I shifted my tactics, and started focusing on supporting the others. I cast [Blind] and [Deafen] on Baladan, hoping to hide both Al and Christine’s movements. In previous battles, we had discovered that those two spells did wonders, especially for Christine. She had a skill that gave her an immense multiplier to her damage when attacking enemies who were unaware of her presence, and a smaller multiplier to those who were aware of her presence, but didn’t see the attack coming, so when the enemy was blind and deaf, it was almost impossible not to at least get the small multiplier. And against the less intelligent foes, sometimes even the greater multiplier could be earned.

However, a split second after I cast the spells, I felt him release a wave of mana that destroyed both. Surprised, I hesitated for a moment, then recast them. He broke them again, but the spells had sufficiently distracted him, and Christine managed to slip behind him, while he didn’t appear to notice her. Al pushed forwards again, and the skeleton took another step back, right into Christine’s range. She attacked his knee, the highest point on his body that she could reach with any kind of power. The knife hit the base of the femur, but didn’t cut very deep into it. However, with [Enhanced Senses] and my high [Perception], I was able to see a few cracks grow from the wound.

The skeleton staggered, and Al pounced on him, his aura flaring as he swung his ax. Baladan opened his mouth as if in a scream, but no sound came out. Instead, a wave of mana pulsed out from his body, sending Christine stumbling backwards and stalling Al a step away. Al continued his motion, but the mana pulse gave the skeleton enough time to intercept the attack with his sword.

There was a resounding clang as the metal clashed, and then the skeleton pushed, forcing Al backwards a few steps. I cast [Blind] and [Deafen] again as Christine dashed away and Al stabilized his footing. By the time those spells were broken again, I was already casting my next spell, creating a pit right behind the skeleton and covering it with illusion.

“Push forward Al!” I shouted.

Al responded by doing exactly that, pushing into range once again, hoping to get him to take a step back. Baladan took a step back, his foot going straight towards the pit I had created and… he didn’t fall. He stood on top of the illusory ground as if it were real. Using [Mana Sense], I detected a pure mana structure very similar to a [Magic Shield] just under his foot. The skeleton’s mouth opened and quivered in what I assumed was laughter as he swung his sword down at Al and cast a spell at Pierre and I.

This time, the spell was shaped like a blade, and moved very similarly to the aura blades that Alyona had used against me in my rank-up examination. I erected another [Magic Shield], pouring in as much mana as I could to block spell. My shield shuddered, but ultimately held, and it was my turn to laugh.

“Ha!” I said as I started casting my next spell.

This time, I used [Spectacle] and above my head I started gathering a massive illusory wheel of fire. As I did this, I also prepared a stone bullet off to the side, using [Invisibility] to hide it. Using 3 spells at once was taxing, but I did my best to hide that fact, and smiled confidently, as the skeleton shifted his focus to me.

After gradually increasing the intensity of both the illusory wheel of fire and the [Stone Bullet], I turned the wheel of fire into a beam aimed straight at the giant skeleton’s face. The skeleton raised his sword to block the spell, and at the same time cast a [Magic Shield] in front of him to defend against what he apparently thought was a powerful fire spell. The false fire dissipated as soon as it hit, and the skeleton dropped his defenses in confusion, just in time to be hit in the face by my [Stone Bullet].

After taking the time to pack as much mana into the stone as I possibly could, the bullet did the first serious damage to the skeleton. It hit his head with enough force to send his jaw flying, and forced him to stagger a few steps. My three teammates took this opportunity to attack. Pierre sent a blunt tipped arrow packed with aura at what remained of Baladan’s skull while Al and Christine dashed forwards from either side of their giant target.

Pierre’s arrow hit his cheekbone and created a spider web of cracks around the empty eye socket. Christine’s attack hit almost the exact same spot as her first attack, and a small piece of bone went flying and the cracks extended even further up the bone. Al’s attack, on the other hand, was aimed at the other leg, and completely broke through the skeleton’s bone, and severed its entire lower leg.

The giant toppled and fell over completely, landing on its back. As soon as it hit the ground, I immediately started trying to manipulate the earth to wrap around his ribcage and hold him down. His mana fought off my attempts, making them futile, but forcing him to focus on my magic meant he couldn’t erect any more shields to defend against the blows now raining down on him from Al and Christine.

Without the multiplier, Christine’s attacks were not very strong, so she focused on his already cracked face while Al swung at whatever he could reach. The skeleton tried frantically to defend against Al’s attacks using only its sword, but after losing 3 ribs and receiving a cut to his face, he gave up on defending without magic. He stopped fighting my attempts to wrap earth around his bones and erected a shield above him, causing Al’s next attack to bounce off harmlessly.

He then sent out a pulse of mana, breaking the weak earthen bonds I had been growing around him and started to sit down, but a well placed arrow from Pierre hit him squarely in the nose and sent him back to the ground. He struggled for a few more seconds until Al landed a strike on his arm, half severing it from his body. Seeing that the end was near, Baladan stopped trying to defend and started gathering mana above him with his free hand as Al raised his ax to deliver the finishing blow. The ax cleaved through his neck just as he released his final spell, aimed directly at me. It was another blade spell, so I erected a shield in front of me to block it, and started checking my notifications.

You have defeated Baladan, Master of the Halls of Abomination

Congratulations! You have cleared the Halls of Abomination!

User lvl 31 -> lvl 33

[Sole Survivor] lvl 31 -> lvl 33

124 stat points available.

Before I could finish reading, however, time seemed to slow as I felt my shield break. I closed the window in surprise, to see the mana blade rapidly approaching. I started to cast [Blink] to teleport out of the way, but before the spell could be completed, the blade reached me, disrupting the spatial mana I had been gathering and canceling the spell. The went into my stomach, just below my belly button, and then kept going until it emerged from my back. For a moment, there was nothing. Then, agony filled my brain pushing all other thoughts aside as I toppled backwards, in more pieces than I should have been.

As I fell, I saw Al’s face morph from an expression of triumph to one of horror, and I heard someone scream my name. I do not remember hitting the ground, but the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground, unable to comprehend the pain I was in. I felt someone touching my head, and I heard voices around me, but I could not tell what they said. I laid like this for what felt like eternity, but in reality was probably less than a minute and then slowly, my senses began to return to me.

The first thing I noticed was a series of dings. With ever ding, my mind became slightly clearer, and the pain became somewhat duller. I started to be able to make out the voices around me.

“Lucy! Stay with me! Don’t die!”

Ding

“Don’t give up!”

Ding

“We can- we can still save you!”

Ding

I felt someone pry my mouth open and then a lukewarm liquid go down my throat.

Ding

“Swallow it! Please!”

Ding

I swallowed the liquid, and thought I felt a bit better.

Then, a blue screen in front of me suddenly came into focus.

You have acquired the skill [Pain Nullification]

[Pain Nullification] lvl 1 -> lvl 2

[Pain Nullification] lvl 2 -> lvl 3

[Pain Nullification] lvl 3 -> lvl 4

[Pain Nullification] lvl 4 -> lvl 5

[Pain Nullification] lvl 5 -> lvl 6

[Pain Nullification] lvl 6 -> lvl 7

[Pain Nullification] lvl 7 -> lvl 8

[Pain Nullification] lvl 8 -> lvl 9

[Pain Nullification] lvl 9 -> lvl 10

As soon as the skill hit level 10, the world suddenly came back into focus much more clearly. I was lying on my back, and Christine was kneeling over me, her trembling fingers holding an empty potion bottle. Pierre was next to her, handing her another, full potion bottle.

“Ch-” I started to say.

“Shhhh,” she said. “Don’t worry. Just- just stay calm. You-you’ll be fine.”

She avoided my eyes as she said this, but I was too delirious to think too deeply about what that meant.

Ding

[Pain Nullification] lvl 10 -> lvl 11

[Perseverance] has activated! You are in grave danger!

“She’s still bleeding,” I heard Al say in a panicked voice from somewhere in front of me. “Why isn’t the bleeding stopping? You gave her the right potion, right?”

I lifted my head slightly to see him, and saw him standing by my legs a few feet away from the place where my torso suddenly ended.

“Yes!” said Pierre. “Of course I did. I gave her the one that stops the bleeding. I don’t know why it’s not stopping either.”

“M-my legs…” I said weakly.

Christine put her hand on my forehead, gently forcing it back to the ground.

“Shhhh. Don’t worry,” she said. “We-we’ll get you fixed up, so don’t worry about it. Just stay calm, and don’t give up.”

Ding

[Pain Nullification] lvl 11 -> lvl 12

“She’s still bleeding!” said Al. “I- I don’t think she’s gonna make it!”

“Al!” said Pierre. “Calm down!”

“No,” I said, my head slightly clearer. “Bring me… legs.”

“Don’t worry about your legs. Just-” Christine’s voice broke. “Just stay strong.” There were tears rolling down her cheeks as she poured the second potion down my throat.

Ding

[Pain Nullification] lvl 12 -> lvl 13

“I have… healing… skill,” I said. “Bring… legs.”

Christine’s eyes widened. “Al! Slide her legs over here!”

Al frantically rushed to obey her, and slid my legs over and put them so that they lined up with my truncated torso. As soon as they were nearby, I tried as hard as I could with my pain-dulled mind to focus on pouring my mana into [Rapid Regeneration]. I felt my [MP] drain even faster than what [Perseverance] was already doing to it, but the pain started to lessen, and I was able to feel myself heal.

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The three adventures looked on in silence and awe as my flesh knit itself back together. After a few minutes, [Perseverance] finally deactivated, and I saw my [HP] start to increase on my HUD. A few minutes later, feeling began to return to my lower half. I did not, however, heal myself fully all at once. When my [HP] was about a quarter full, I stopped the healing process. I was no longer in danger, and my [MP] was now dangerously low, as was my Life Energy.

[HP]:

768/3000

[MP]:

245/6000

[AP]:

3000/3000

[Life Energy]:

9/100

[Pawn of the Gods] enemies remaining

5/6

I used what little [MP] I had bring some of the monster blood I was storing in my [Inventory] into my mouth and swallowed it. The adventurers looked at me, still not speaking as I did so. I’m not sure if they recognized what it was that I drank, or if they thought it was just some kind of special potion. Once I had drank as much as I could, and my Life Energy was fully replenished, I was feeling much better. I was still far from recovered, but I was well outside the danger zone.

“I need to meditate to recover my [MP],” I said softly. “Don’t worry. I’m not dying anymore. Just give me a little while, and I’ll be good as new.”

Christine and the others nodded, and then backed up a few feet while I fell into [Meditation]. It was difficult to ignore the pain, but it got easier over time as [Pain Nullification] continued to level up. After half an hour, I judged that I had enough [MP] to fully heal myself, and switched over from [Meditation] to [Rapid Regeneration]. My calculations were almost perfect, and I was left with less than a hundred [MP] when I my [HP] was fully recovered.

No longer in pain, I returned to meditation so that I could raise my [MP] high enough that I could reactivate [Imitate Life]. Another half hour later, I had enough that I felt comfortable getting up. The three adventurers had been mostly silent while I recovered, occasionally whispering worriedly, and they were still standing nervously nearby when I finished. I considered just sitting up and telling them that I was feeling better, but then I had a better idea.

I wrapped some mana around myself, activating [Telekinesis] to slowly lift my now-whole body off the ground and slowly rotate myself upwards until I was upright again. I then released [Telekinesis] and dropped an inch to the ground and spread my arms and smiled widely at my companions.

“Ta-da!” I said.

As soon as I spoke, they immediately rushed me and wrapped me up in a tight hug. Christine reached me first, then Pierre, and then Al wrapped us all up, and squeezed tightly enough that I began to worry about Christine and Pierre’s ability to breath.

“Lucy!” said Al with tears flowing freely down his face. “I thought- I thought you were dead!”

“I can’t believe you’re alive!” said Christine, also crying.

“Ah, it’d take more than that to take me out,” I said, still smiling while I returned their hugs.

“That’s a hell of a healing skill you’ve got there,” said Pierre as he pulled away, trying to maintain a straight face. “And a hell of a lot of [Willpower] to stay conscious to be able to use it.”

“My class isn’t actually a mage class,” I explained. “It’s a survival one. All my magic skills are ones I learned separately.”

“A survival focused class?” said Christine, still clinging to me. “Is that where your self-healing skill came from?”

“Yes,” I lied.

“Is that why-” Al sniffled, “Is that why you were so confident in letting Alyona impale you during your rank-up examination?”

“Yes.”

“Ha!” said Pierre. “That explains things”

“I’m so happy you’re alive,” said Al.

“I am too,” I responded. “Now, can you guys get off of me? You don’t want to suffocate me just after I almost died, right?”

Al and Christine quickly let go, muttering apologies, which caused me to laugh.

“Are you really fully healed?” asked Christine.

“Yep,” I said, pulling my shirt open along the cut so they could see the place where I had been cut.

Realizing it was still covered in dry blood, I used [Water Jet], with a little help from [Hemokinesis], to clean myself a bit and show them my unmarred midriff.

“Not even a scar…” muttered Pierre. “That’s insane.”

“What was that potion you drank?” asked Al. “The one you got from your inventory.”

“Oh. That’s a secret,” I said.

“And that’s all I had. I don’t have anymore,” I quickly added.

Pierre looked at me suspiciously, but didn’t say anything.

“Now, I think I’m going to wash up and change my clothes right now. I hope you don’t mind.”

Without waiting for an answer, I started casting [Earthen Wall] in a circle around me, that also conveniently contained all my blood that had spilled on the ground.

“Yeah, sure, take your time,” said Christine as she and Al took a few more steps back.

Within my little room of privacy, the first thing I did was use [Hemokinesis] to get all my blood off the ground and out of my clothes and place it into [Greater Inventory]. I had already filled up with the monster blood earlier, but my blood tasted better than monster blood, so it would be better to keep it for later than leave it. Then, I stripped out of my clothes and changed to a nearly identical set of clean, and unsliced clothes. As I put my new mask on, I realized that they had lowered the old one to feed me whatever potions they had given me, and that I had smiled widely at them without using [Disguise] to hide my teeth.

It would probably be fine though. They were too busy worrying about how I had just been cut in half to pay attention to my teeth. It might raise other questions though. I had claimed to wear a mask to hide scars, but they had gotten a clear view of my face, and how it had no scars, or even pimples. Hopefully they wouldn’t think too deeply about it. If they did, it would be a pain to deal with it later.

After I had changed, I did one last check to make sure I had gotten all of my blood, then lowered the walls back down, and returned the earth to its originally flat and unbloodstained form.

While I was changing, the other three had taken the time to finally take care of themselves. I found them all meditating to recover their aura when I was done. Once they finished, we double checked all our belongings, put Baladan’s sword into [Greater Inventory], and then Christine interacted with a window that only we could see, and we found ourselves back in the first hallway by the Dungeon entrance.

The three adventurers didn’t say too much on the way back. They mostly just continued to talk about my near-death, and glanced at me in awe. Pierre, however, seemed to be thinking deeply about something. His attitude combined with the suspicious look he had given me earlier made me think that he might have noticed my teeth. I would have to deal with that later.

It was just after noon when we emerged, so the city was bustling when we got back through the gates. We decided to part ways, and head back to our respective inns so that we could clean up and rest. We would need to meet back up again later to divide up the loot, but we wanted to have a chance to clean up, so we planned to meet at their inn a few hours later, after we had gotten clean.

“I’ll explain things in a bit more detail later, so don’t go jumping to any crazy conclusions,” I said before we parted, eying Pierre.

They nodded, and Al assured me that he would never do such a thing. We waved goodbye to them, then went to the bathhouse I had found before and got a room for a few hours. In that time, I looked over my stat sheet and the upgrades I had gotten, allocated my stats, and when I was finished, I made my way over to their inn.

From the inn, we went to the Adventurer’s guild to report our success, then went over to a merchant who was interested in monster parts and corpses to sell our loot. Items in [Greater Inventory] did not feel the flow of time. At least, not in the same way that we did. So the corpses that I had collected on the first day of the dive were just as fresh as the ones from the last day.

Because we had managed to gather so much, we each happily left the shop with nearly a hundred gold apiece. On the street, Al and Christine started to say goodbye, but Pierre interrupted them.

“No, no, hold on,” he said with a serious expression on his face. “You said that you would give us a more detailed explanation. I’d like to hear that.”

I looked at him coolly for a few seconds, then sighed. “Alright fine. Follow me,” I said before starting to walk away.

“Where are we going?” asked Christine.

“I need to consult with Anatoly before I tell you anything, so we’re going to the bookstore.”

And here are all the tables, since I didn't find a place to fit them into the story conveniently:

Name:

Lucille

Age:

Sex:

Race:

[Vampire]

Class:

[Sole Survivor] lvl 33

Level:

HP:

3000/3000

MP:

3589/6000

AP:

3000/3000

Status Effects:

[Adventurer], [Pawn of the Gods], [Undead]

Passive Skills:

[Dark Vision] lvl MAX

[Perseverance] lvl MAX

[Pride] lvl MAX

[Vampiric Superiority] lvl MAX

[Rapid Regeneration] lvl 31

[Imitate Life] lv 30

[Enhanced Senses] lvl 29

[Detection] lvl 27

[Pain Nullification] lvl 21

[Dagger Mastery] lvl 18

[Fire Resistance] lvl 2

Active Skills:

[Meditate] lvl 31

[Sprint] lvl 26

[Stealth] lvl 25

[Pickpocket] lvl 17

[Inventory] lvl 16

[Pick Lock] lvl 16

[Appraise] lvl 11

[Deceive] lvl 9

[Charm] lvl 7

[Persuade] lvl 7

[Magic]

Stats:

Available Points: 4

23 - The 5th Floor (3)

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