Alexia

Turns out that it wasn’t the fortress belonging to the dungeon’s boss. So over the course of the next several days, I continue hunting foxkin and gradually level up all the way till I reach about level 450. At which point I obtain another skill. One that I’ve been awaiting for a very long time now.

A skill that lets me create a portal.

Of course, it’s kind of useless right now since it would take up an active skill slot, and I don’t have the free slots necessary to use one on a skill that isn’t combat related right about now. But I can still use the skill to teach myself how to create a portal myself in the future. When I’m proficient enough in energy manipulation to do so.

Speaking of energy manipulation…

I glance at the bat on my right shoulder as I continue walking through the current fortress. Which is the seventh fortress yet, with one following right after another each time. And while there are bosses in the fortresses, they aren’t the dungeon’s main boss.

But the dungeon boss aside right now, quantum pops has been unusually silent ever since that whole revelation about him still not having a successor. Something he even asked for the Ruler’s confirmation on at one point and got it.

If it weren’t for the fact that he forced me into becoming a quantum reaper in the first place, I’d pity him. As things stand though, he brought this onto himself. And at the end of the day, I did still technically benefit from it, considering the power a quantum reaper has.

I mostly just don’t like that I didn’t have a choice in the matter.

That’s water under the bridge now though. He got his punishment, in a way. Since he still has to do what he was avoiding doing.

So I’m fine now. I only want to punch him a tiny bit now instead of wanting to punch him a lot like I used to.

The quantum pops in question still remains completely silent, proving just how affected he is by the revelation from before.

Hmm. I’m honestly not used to him not responding to my thoughts.

It’s kinda weird.

Then again, this is how it should be. My thoughts are for me alone, not for some random guy claiming to be my father.

I close my eyes as I walk through the fortress before mentally going through the normal process to create strings of my energy to connect with the energy around me. Then I begin going through the processes that the Architect taught me before he went mute.

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First up, an anti-magic bullet.

I quickly form the thing before opening my eyes and holding it above my hand. The bullet is only barely visible in the mortal realm, appearing as nothing more than a tiny little spot in the air that once in a while glitches out. Nothing more.

Which makes for a really good stealth attack, ignoring that this bullet is so weak that the only thing it can break is structures of mana and energy.

It can’t actually scratch a person.

As for trying to figure out how to do my skills with energy manipulation… yeah, I haven’t made any progress in that.

I glance at the bat again before looking forward at my anti-magic bullet with a sigh.

This… is starting to get awkward. And it’s hurting my progress in energy manipulation.

The only thing I’ve figured out how to do since the anti-magic bullet is how to power my skills with energy outside of my own body. Which, while it’s incredibly useful, isn’t really to the point that I can use it in the middle of a battle yet.

It takes me several seconds just for a single point of soul’s worth of energy. Which is… not exactly very efficient.

I open my eyes again and continue moving through the fortress, only to pause when a System Notification appears in my vision.

Legendary Feat – Hero of Cataclysm

Isabella d'Aragon has become the first user within the System to kill ten Cataclysm Class monsters!

Wait… what?

Hero?

What’s this about?

“Oh, guess I should’ve expected that one to be the first to reach that point,” the Architect says out of nowhere, startling me in the process with his sudden return to the living.

What do you mean? Why is she a hero for this?

Also, is she just going around hunting the Cataclysm Monsters in each Block?

“The Cataclysm Class monsters are the accumulation of the excess mana dumped from this artificial set of dimensions into the old mortal dimension that you used to live in before the Reset. They're then teleported back here so that they don't end up destroying the old dimension and breaking out into this one all at once after building up a lot of numbers,” the Architect explains. “So the only way for your dimension to stay safe is for the mortals to deal with those Cataclysm Class monsters themselves.”

Huh.

So what you’re saying is that instead of the dungeon stampedes we used to get before the Reset, you just replaced them with the Cataclysm Monsters instead?

“In a way, yes,” he says with a nod of his head from my shoulder. Although he’s starting to sound tense again. As if whatever snapped him out of his funk is coming back.

I wait a few seconds for another response, but he doesn’t say anything.

And he’s back to being a mute again.

Well then.

Actually, now that I think about it, hunting Cataclysm Class monsters might not be a bad idea after I reach Tier 4. Considering that I don’t have anything else to do while searching for Tier 4 dungeons.

It’ll probably take me quite a while to find a Tier 4 dungeon after all, considering just how rare they are. I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes over a year for the first one to spawn.

Which is going to be a pain.

I frown at the thought before shaking my head and continuing forward, deeper into the fortress I’m currently in.

Before I worry about Tier 4 dungeons, I need to get to Tier 4 first. And before I can do that, I need to finish this dungeon. And to complete whatever requirements I’m given afterwards.

So time to go back to fighting illusion foxes.