7: Never Before

The clouds roiled, heaven thundered, and she grew three feet in height. Two more arms burst from her sides and her skin turned to hardened bark. Gnarled horns sprouted from her brow and she rolled her neck.

“!#%$*“ Boris cursed.

Jason was also surprised. Was she seriously entering the second stage that quickly!?

She spread all four of her arms and millions of sparks appeared in the air. “Come!” They all rushed into her and a putrid black aura surrounded her. She laughed, a coarse, evil sound, and stretched clawed hands towards them. Mana of many colors rushed out of Amelie and Boris and everyone but Jason. “Kya!Kya!Kya! Do you see!? Do you understand!? I am the god of this world!”

Amelie and her entire team were suddenly exhausted. This was Gaia’s real power, Absolute Domain. It was a skill that only floor bosses could wield, the power to control all mana found within their floor, even that within a hunter’s body.

Jason stared her down. This was it, the true purpose of Original Magic. His was the only mana she couldn’t steal. He stepped forward.

“All of you back off. This is my fight,” he commanded.

Gaia faltered, “Boy. What power is that?” she demanded.

“This power is beyond you. It was given to me by my master and you cannot touch it.”

She glared at him with eyes so hateful they leaked blood, venom green. She spat upon the ground, “You are his servant?” She shifted towards him and cocked her head unnaturally, “then you shall surely die!”

She shot toward him with incredible speed.

“Watch out!” Amelie shouted.

Her claws sliced through his halo. A single lock scattered while a line of blood opened up on his forehead. He flashed away. Close! Too Close!

He reformed his halo then lowered his head. She might have immense mana but she had expended an incredible amount of life force to activate Absolute Domain. This was one of the saving graces provided to hunters. He leveled his sword and steeled his will. He charged.

Blazing steel and black aura collided. It did not break. He pushed his speed to the limit. He struck thrice more. Her defense was so tough! He struck again and again and she slashed at him with ruthless precision. Her craggy face leered at him and she spat curses without end.

His muscles hurt but there was no time, not a moment to stop. He gathered mana and struck with all his might. Boom! His halo, about his sword, and her aura exploded. The aura cleared. Her arm was exposed. His hand was shaking but he gritted his teeth. Again, he struck with all his strength. Crack! A long crevasse split her arm from bicep to wrist.

He flashed back and two more arms raked through his previous position. Quickly, he tried to heal himself but she rushed after him. It was no good. He really couldn’t beat her, not like this.

He retreated again and again. He wouldn’t be able to attack until he had a chance to heal himself.

“Coward!” she roared but he just kept fleeing. Suddenly, she stopped and just stood glowering.

He could barely breath. He stood ten feet away from her, heaving like a winded dog, and yet he smiled. It was an evil expression and he lifted his free hand. In all of his fleeing he had moved beyond the ring of trees.

She screeched to rend the sky but stayed rooted. She had reached the edge of her domain and could go no further.

He laughed breathlessly. This was the first floor after all. It only made sense that the floor boss would have a fatal weakness. It was impossible for ordinary hunters, but even a single Original Magic user could beat her in time. “Come on, come and get me,” he goaded and he laughed again.

“You shameless coward!” Her rage was so great that even her barky skin bristled but he snorted. Who was shameless? She was the one who used Absolute Domain. If that wasn’t a cheat skill he didn’t know what was.

He forced more air into his lungs and actually closed his eyes. Finally, sweet healing mana flowed through his cells. They began to repair. This was the way. This was what Kyrios intended.

He looked to Amelie and smiled, “This was my plan all along,” he gloated.

She and her team had also moved beyond the trees. He noticed that her posture was tense but she slowly relaxed. “You cut it awfully close,” she rebuked and he laughed anew.

“Nah, just playing with her.”

Her entire team shook their heads and he flashed a grin, “I should get to it.”

Amelie took a step toward him, “Be careful,” she warned.

“Oh always.”

“Not really,” she murmured and he paused.

“I’ll work on it,” he agreed.

He contemplated, the glaring Gaia. He knew, she was confined to certain phrases for the purposes of the script, but confined within her was the real Gaia, screaming to be let loose once more, to wreak devastation upon the world of men.

He had come to a world of servos and circuits but she could still do terrible harm if released. Humans were ever so easily deceived. He rolled his neck. That wouldn’t happen. This dungeon was her last stop before final judgment.

Again, he almost pitied her. “Here we go again,” he said and he gathered mana en masse. He shot forward and around her. He slashed down hard upon her back. Boom! She stumbled forward and her aura scattered. “Lightning Burst!” he shouted. The Lightning around his sword raged. BOOM! He struck her unprotected back. It exploded in a maelstrom of lightning and wood chips.

He leapt back. She rounded on him. He spun his sword, “It’s time,” he said and they rushed together.

***

“You wretch! You wretch! I am Gaia! I am Gaia!”

Jason stood before her, his sword driven clean through her. All of her arms were gone, and half of her face burned off. She tried to collect more mana, but there was none left. She had sucked every bit from the floor. He was calm. This mana came from the dungeon core and would replenish with time but that would take several hours.

He looked into her one remaining eye. Without mana it had returned to its natural green state, though maddened with hatred. Even so, he could see beauty in it. He felt melancholy. He knew, she was once a beautiful spirit who lived in the divine realm. The quest for supremacy had led her to unfathomable evils, and now all that remained for her was eternal desolation.

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“I’m sorry,” he whispered, then lightning rushed through his blade. Her one eye went wide, her chest rumbled. Lightning burst out of her in many roaring bolts, then she exploded into a billion woody pieces. He sighed heavily. Thus ended the ancient spirit Gaia.

He felt only weary and turned to Amelie. She watched him with thoughtful eyes, then Joshua came forward.

“Well done,” he commended as he put a hand on his shoulder.

Julia also came near and inclined her head, “Thank you for freeing me.”

She held onto Joshua’s arm and Jason smiled, “Then will you be returning to Redstone?”

She squeezed his arm a little tighter and shook her head, “No, we all came here because we wanted something more. Lord Joshua is taking us to his city on the fifth floor. It is there that we will take the oath to become priestesses of Kyrios.”

This was outside of Jason’s knowledge but he supposed it made sense. The whole point of the dungeons was to give humans an upward path. Why would Joshua send the girls back to the starting village… even if they made a serious misstep along the way. “Then I’ll hope to see you there,” he said.

She nodded joyfully as did all the girls then he took the doll from his inventory. “I think you lost this along the way,” he said.

She took it and stared at its bright and smiling face. She held it close. Her eyes filled with tears, “Thank you,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome,” he said and he stepped back.

“Thank you, you’ve done well,” Joshua said and Jason inclined his head then light bloomed around him. New strength coursed through him and multiple notifications appeared.

[You leveled up!]

[Congratulations! You have completed the Floor 1 Main Scenario!]

[Attention! You have received 5 free attribute points!]

[Attention! The Main Scenario will continue.]

He had leveled up! He would have opened his status panel but multiple glowing items suddenly appeared, floating toward the ground.

Amelie approached cautiously and Joshua retreated. She eyed the luminous drops, “You really did it.”

“Did you think I would fail even with Original Magic?”

She was silent then shook her head, “To tell you the truth I did. No one has ever succeeded, so I could not believe.”

He smiled warmly, “Well, I only succeeded because everything was stacked accordingly.”

She nodded in thought then Boris stepped closer, “Boss! The drops!” he urged.

“Yes, let’s look at them,” she agreed.

They gathered round. Before them lay 8 items, gently glowing. Four items shown with golden light, and three with deep blue, indicating three rare items and four epic. These should have been the greatest treasures, but all eyes turned to one item. It was was a bronze pendant in the shape of a key, and on a golden chain. Around it was a pure white light, like pearl flecked with gold. It was the most beautiful thing Jason had ever seen.

“What grade is that?” John murmured.

Jason stared at it. There might be many things missing from his knowledge but this was not one of them. He knew this color, and yet he could hardly believe it.

He stepped forward. Carefully, he picked it up. It had a strange design. Instead of one blade it had three extending from a square head. These were not flat but octagonal and were devoid of teeth, coming to a blunt end. Beautiful silver characters ran down every side of the rightmost, while golden characters covered the middle, and pure white the left. The head itself was covered in what looked like intricate circuit pathways and the glowed many colors.

Jason wondered, was this an ancient key, or a piece of technology far more advanced than anything humans could create? He glanced heavenward. There was no real incongruity, most things in the dungeons were beyond humans. Whether each item appeared high tech or ancient, they still surpassed human knowledge, with or without mana. Tentatively, he tapped.

Bezalel’s Key

Grade: Divine

Type: Pendant

+50% Strength

+100% Stamina

Active Skills

Arms of Iron: Increase Strength by 700%

Duration: 3 minutes

Cooldown: 2 hours

Bulwark of Bronze: Summon a shield of

Divine Bronze to wield in battle

Duration: 7 seconds

Cooldown: 4 Minutes

_______________________________________

A key created by the divine craftsman Bezalel.

It may be used to open Bezalel’s Labyrinth on

the second floor.

Bezalel’s Labyrinth. That was the next step in the main scenario. As for what they would find inside, he knew only of its end. Everything before that he would just have to find out.

He read the panel again and shook his head. So this was a real divine item. Only epic items and above would offer percentage based stat bonuses, thus allowing them to scale to any level. 100% in his primary stat and 50% in his secondary. These were comparable to a legendary item but its additional skills were insane.

At most a legendary item skill could increase a hunter’s primary stat by 300% for several seconds. Bezalel’s Key more than doubled that and it lasted 3 whole minutes! A legendary item would often have a lesser ability that would offer a longer boost but it still would only be a few minutes, certainly no longer than 3.

As for the Bulwark of Bronze, he could only conclude that it would be all but impervious. He had no idea just how strong Divine Bronze might be but they were in the mortal realm. He didn’t imagine anything should think of getting past him for those seven seconds he would wield it.

He finally turned. Amelie still stared at the item panel in consternation. He could understand her feelings. This was the first ever bonafide divine item ever found. She looked a little dizzy. She shook herself, “But how? From such a simple quest?”

He smiled, “It’s not the difficulty of the quest but the requirement of its completion. This quest requires divine power to complete, it only makes sense that it would yield a divine item.”

She furrowed her brow. This was antithetical to everything hunters knew about dungeons. The tougher and longer the quest, the better the drops, this was simply a fact of life.

“But in a sense, wasn’t the quest almost impossible? Only by receiving a divine blessing could it be completed, and only by dying could that blessing be received. The fact that no one has ever succeeded before is proof,” he argued.

“But what does that have to do with your own effort?”

He lifted his shoulders, “What amount of human effort could ever equal a divine item? Maybe the greatest gifts can only be received. The main scenario of each dungeon may only be completed once and only when Kyrios permits. It seems clear to me that divine items may only be received at the appointed time by those who wield his power. They will receive nothing more and nothing less,” he shrugged, “though they may certainly pile up lesser rewards by diligent effort and his great generosity.”

Everyone was silent, Amelie most of all. She even closed her eyes. She finally looked into his face, “I think you are right. According to all we have experienced, no amount of human effort will earn a divine item. The sheer ease with which you acquired one proves that they cannot be bought, only received, at least not with human ability.”

Jason nodded then contemplated the key once more. He was just about to hang it around his neck when Joshua drew near. “My commission here is finished. Don't hesitate to call on me. I'm always happy to help with quests such as this,” he said.

“Yes, thank you sir,” Jason agreed and Joshua smiled.

“Until then,” he said and without a moment’s delay he and the girls set off across the plains.

Jason was bemused. Once a quest was finished the system wasted no time. He lifted the key, everyone watched, and he slipped it over his head. Incredible strength rushed through him and he stared at his hands. With this his power had more than doubled… tripled if you considered the item skills.

Amelie watched him quietly, “I think we must travel to France tonight.”

He recovered. He smiled knowingly, “Meeting the big boss?”

“Yes, we can’t delay.” She turned towards Boris, “collect the other items, we’ll examine them later,” she ordered.

“Boss!” he objected.

“Shut up.” She turned to Jason, “Come on, there's no time to waste.”

He grew a little more serious, “Yes,” he agreed.