[Quest Updated]
[Fighting the Corruption III]
Defeat the Newborn Spirit of Decay and cleanse the source of the corruption.
Reward: Uncommon Body
It happened again. The damn System changed the objective again. Even though he felt cheated out of his reward yet again, Magnus could only shake his fist at the ceiling and make rude gestures. That reward better be good or he’ll show the System. Someday. He was still mumbling to himself about the world's unfairness when he noticed another notification. Pouting, he addressed it not really hoping for anything good.
[The Royal Guard – Second boss of the Rotten Grove has been defeated.]
[Distributing rewards. Rewards increased due to solo clear.]
After blinking, a chest appeared right in front of Magnus’ prone form smelling of delicious loot. His [Living Breastplate] he got thanks to the last chest proved to be quite the lifesaver, softening the Royal Guard’s charge. Hopefully, the System wouldn’t cheat him again and give him something useless. Feeling his heart beating from the anticipation, he opened the reward chest. A single silver ring inset with a colorless with a transparent gem sat beside three vials of a bright red liquid. Not hesitating, he quickly used [Identify] and was quite disappointed at first.
[Ring of Clearsight – Uncommon] – Tier 0
+ 4 to Perception. Additionally enhances all of the user’s sensory Skills.
The disappointment quickly got replaced by contentment as he realized what that really meant. That Stat Boost seemed small when he compared it to his admittedly bloated Endurance but in reality, it doubled his current Perception – one of his forgotten Stats. Frankly, all of his Stats except Endurance, Will, and maybe Vitality were lagging behind quite a bit. He would have to take measures to prevent Endurance from completely eclipsing his other Stats. Though it would sure as hell be useful knowing what some of the Stats did. Might and Aura being some of the worst offenders in the case of clarity for completely different reasons. Might was too vague for its own good and Aura meant absolutely nothing to Magnus. Maybe the people on the surface knew more about what the individual Stats did. Humanity seeks to understand things to an almost unhealthy degree, after all. Soon enough he would be out of here and the first thing he would do would be to find a soft bed and sleep for like three days. The few days he spent here felt more like months. But that was probably a result of having to be on edge for most of the time. Either way, he just had to survive one more fight and he could leave the dungeon. Unless the System cheats him again. He still wasn’t over the constantly changing Quest.
Stopping his thoughts from wandering too far into hypotheticals, Magnus instead more closely examined the ring. It looked like a completely average albeit well-made silver ring. The outstanding piece was the gray, almost colorless gem sitting in it. While it wasn’t the most striking gem due to its coloring it exuded a sense of mystery, like it wasn’t just a simple jewel. It was drawing his gaze in with its weight like the Sun which outshone everything around it. With his attention completely on the gem, he blinked and he was somewhere else. Magnus was floating around in a completely white expanse. Looking around, he saw no irregularities in the white screen covering everything, so he instead examined himself and he found something disturbing. He was see-through, his normally tan skin faded, almost as if it wasn’t here but instead was a projection. That made him realize that in reality he wasn’t truly here but that this was another vision. But what was its purpose? There was only white nothingness everywhere he looked and that hardly seemed like something anyone would want to show him.
They didn’t let him wait for too long as it turned out. When Magnus turned around in another attempt to find anything in the monotone void, he was startled. Alarmed and confused, he realized something was tugging at his waist. A pretty big difference from the absolute void of sensation. Looking down only puzzled him even more as he saw the red rope tied tightly around his waist. Examining it more closely he saw as the tentacle split and continue somewhere else into the void. He followed the brown branch with his gaze until he saw it. A swirling mass of something. Was it ropes? Snakes? It seemed to have no concrete form, not even a color. Just looking at it hurt his head. Impossibly far yet he could feel it right next to him. Millions of connections split out from the swirling ball into the white void. The connections in turn split off more and more like the branches of a tree. Perfect spheres littered the branches like fruits, full of glittering lights and beautiful images.
Suddenly, he was back in reality, holding the plain ring in the palm of his hand. Looking into the gem again showed him nothing. The pull drawing him to look into was also gone. The list of questions only grew longer and the answers were nowhere to be found. Magnus sighed. No time to just sit here and think about what he saw. As far as he knew it was just a one-time occurrence and nothing to worry about. Even if it indeed meant something, what could he do? That thing felt stronger than both Hostyr and the dragon in his previous vision. Just trying to remember it made his head feel like bursting. Shaking his head to clear it, he put on the ring and immediately felt the difference. A slight headache made itself known but it quickly subsided as he adjusted to his better senses. And the difference was clear, there was no denying that. His vision didn’t quite double or anything but even now, in the dim light of the cavern he could see pretty far even with the mana that provided the light mostly drained by the spirit. It wasn’t looking like that would be the case for too long considering that the ever-present light was slowly getting brighter during the time he sat here. Either way, there wasn’t time to just sit around so he identified one of the three bottles still sitting in the chest.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
[Lesser Health Potion] – Tier 0
Upon consumption, heals the drinker’s injuries. Healing effectiveness when consuming more in a short amount of time.
Short and simple, nothing to really think about. A bag or something else to carry them would have been useful but he wasn’t the one to look the gift horse in the mouth. After tucking them as safely as he could underneath his breastplate next to the vial of moon essence, he stood up with a groan. The dull pain in his belly made standing up a hassle but he pushed through it. That was probably his ribs. They were at least bruised but he could probably get used to it eventually. There was no need to use one of the potions. Even if he seriously thought about it, the chance that he would need to use them later was too great to risk wasting even one so early. He would just have to get used to his aching ribs. Not wasting time to examine the gruesome state his former allies were in, he started shuffling over to the hole left where the pool was while groaning.
Coming up to the edge of the pool, Magnus saw the basin that previously held the liquid and another narrower pit in the middle of it. Carefully, he slid down the edges of the basin and making sure not to plunge into the who knows how deep hole, looked into it. Where Magnus expected to find only a gaping hole leading to a deep void, he found a staircase carved into the walls of the hole and of course the gaping hole in the middle. The fact that climbing down the sheer tunnel face wouldn’t be necessary made him just a bit happier. Though he would have to make sure not to trip over a loose stone a plummet down the middle. Descending down the stairs and watching his feet didn’t distract him from looking for any torches on the wall. He could still see quite well with the mana returning but a torch would be a blessing. Unfortunately, it seemed that anyone who wanted to descend this staircase needed to bring their own torch.
After a few hundred stairs the walls changed. The formerly barren rocky walls were now crisscrossed with dark green veins that pulsated every few seconds. Disturbing, to say the least. Magnus didn’t know if it was a natural attribute of the toxic mana or the spirit’s doing but he would soon find out. Thankfully, as far as he knew the vile mana was contained to just the veins on the wall instead of being everywhere in the air. The spirit wouldn’t have the chance to use the ability it previously displayed so easily and if it somehow did Magnus was ready. Not to say he wasn’t afraid of the coming fight but he wouldn’t just leave the spirit to do its own thing and amass power. Chickening out now meant would only make the fight harder and it wasn’t like retreat was an option. Cardys told him that the dungeon wouldn’t let him out until he completed it. He didn’t know why he trusted her so much but she didn’t seem the type to lie.
The tension in the air slowly increased as he descended until it peaked when he stepped down from the staircase with a clang. Surprised, he looked down and found the source of the sound. Turns out, he was standing on an old corroded metal door, its hinges completely rusted leading it to be in this state. Magnus decided to not spend too long just standing around and continued on through the doorway which the door previously occupied. To his surprise, another door awaited him beyond. Well, a gate to be more accurate. Roughly twenty meters high an ornate metal gate stood before him. Beautiful albeit terrifying images adorned both sides of the gate. A familiar dragon with its wings spread out over a hundred worlds. Its flesh melted and its wings peppered with holes. The people standing on the worlds’ surfaces were in a similar state. Their faces half bone and half skin almost as if the dragon projected its suffering on those below it. Shaking his head to get the gruesome images out of his mind, he decided to look at some less terrible parts of the gate. Squinting, Magnus could just make out a myriad of small lines snaking all along the gate’s surface. Arranged in complicated formations he got the feeling that they used to serve some purpose other than just as a decoration. If whole, the gate would undoubtedly give off a feeling of sturdiness and also serve as a warning to anyone daring enough to even think about opening it. Unfortunately, it was only what could be described as a shell of its former self with a hole right in the middle of it. Surrounded by rust, the hole didn’t look cut out nor blasted out but it looked as if something rotted a hole in the metal gate. He supposed it must be the thing formerly sealed behind it. Water could eventually break down rock after a while and this was no different. Even if the gate was sturdy, with how potent that dragon’s blood was it was only a matter of time till it broke out and called something to it such as that spirit.
It was time for hopefully the last fight of the dungeon. But before Magnus assigned the two free Stat Points from leveling up equally into Strength and Agility. He was satisfied with Endurance for now so it was time to branch out a little. Carefully he checked his breastplate for any leftover damage. Which predictably did not have any signs of the cracks it had not even an hour ago. For this fight, Magnus would finally whip out his old trusty knife. The spirit didn’t look too tough so he wasn’t afraid of his knife breaking. Checking himself one last time he stepped through the hole in the gate into the chamber beyond with resolve.