Dungeon End had crazy skill customization. Honestly, it’s probably why I stuck with it for the past ten years.

But just because there were tons of options didn’t mean they were easy to get. Actually, getting new skills was a nightmare and mostly depended on dumb luck. If luck wasn’t on your side, you’d just be struggling, sometimes without even a single new skill all the way through the mid-game. The early stages? Absolute torture.

“Ooze.”

I said the name, and this gooey, slimy blob formed in my hand—a tiny, gross green glob, barely enough to cover my palm. Thank god it didn’t smell, but the look and feel of it were nasty enough. And to think, this pathetic little blob cost me a whole mana point.

What a joke of a skill.

“Ten times. That’s it. Ten tiny blobs and then I’m out. Ten uses of…nothing.”

There are two types of skills in the game: active and passive.

Passive skills are always running. They don’t need mana, and some are always on, while others trigger under certain conditions. My Bloodzerker’s skill, Blood Rage, was a passive, always active, no mana needed—perfect. Active skills, like this worthless Ooze, actually cost mana every time you use them, and 1 mana per use is about as cheap as it gets.

Mana depends on your mentality stat.

Mine was ten, so I had equal mana points. Ten times to summon this gross little blob before my mana was toast. But when I ran out? No more uses. Mana only refills if you rest. There are no mana potions, no skills to restore it—not that I ever found any in all my years of playing, anyway.

Basically, anything that gives you more mentality points is a lifesaver since it gives you more mana. It’s why my Bloodzerker could survive so long; his skills didn’t need mana, so I could just pump up his strength instead.

"Man, why couldn’t I have gotten a skill like his again?"

So now here I was, with a skill that did nothing, stuck in a game that didn’t cut you any slack. I needed to find a way to make this weak skill worth something.

But how? There were a few ways to make crappy skills a bit better, but they either involved other skills that cost too much or came from monsters in the dungeon. There was this one monster on the early floors that sometimes dropped a poison skill, but it was rare and usually overpriced.

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And the worst part? This monster didn’t even show up until a few floors in, and I wasn’t getting that far with my setup.

With no money to buy better skills, no way to farm them, and zero gear to help, I was out of options.

“Classes!”

Classes in Dungeon End offered another way to build up your abilities. Every class came with its own talents, and some could actually make a weak skill… well, maybe less weak.

This route didn’t need extra skills right away but relied on the class system, which could be a lifesaver if done right. For example, my Bloodzerker was mostly so powerful because I paired Blood Rage with the Blood Mage class.

The Blood Mage class turned your mana into life points, plus it leeched health off enemies with each hit. Without that combo, my character would’ve probably died way earlier.

Thankfully, getting a class was simple. Right before entering the dungeon, you’d pick one. The moment you did, you’d get that class’s talents, and then you could head inside.

The tricky part? The game had hundreds of classes to pick from.

Luckily, after all these years, I’d memorized a lot of them and knew what each one offered. Picking the right class was basically make-or-break for survival. It could be the difference between life and death in the dungeon.

A few options popped into my mind right away.

Pyromancers? They’d boost fire attacks by 20%. Paladins? Good for resisting dark magic. And my personal favorite, the Harlequin, which had a once-a-day dodge skill.

But none of those were gonna work here.

I mean, what good was dodging if I didn’t plan on using Ooze to fight? Same with the Pyromancer—boosting fire skills was pointless since my ability wasn’t fire-based. And Paladins were more for tanky characters who could soak up hits, which…wasn’t me.

I needed a class that could somehow make Ooze into something I could actually use.

This was gonna take some serious thinking.

I closed my eyes, going over every class I knew, one by one, hoping to find something that might work.

Alchemist…no, mostly good for making potions, and even if Ooze counted as an ingredient, it wouldn’t be enough to make anything useful.

Berserker…no, their talent boosts damage when health drops below 50%, but I’m too weak to risk that.

Cleric…good for healing skills, but totally useless here.

Druid…boosts animal companions’ stats, but I don’t have one, so scratch that.

Elementalist…boosts elemental damage, but I don’t have any elemental skills.

Fighter…melee boost, not helpful for me.

Guardian…solid for defense, but it’s a support role, and I’m solo.

Harlequin…could dodge once a day, tempting, but that’s about it.

Ice Mage…same as Pyromancer, just with water boosts instead of fire.

Juggernaut…meant for heavy armor and high physical strength, neither of which I have.

Knight…frontline defense, and that’s not me.

Locksmith…helps with disarming traps, but considering how popular this class is, I’d never get picked over others with my limited skills.

Marksman…ranged weapons like bows, nothing that goes with Ooze.

Necromancer…

Necromancer…

Necromancer!

This…this could actually work.