"Hey, Carl! Why do you have such stinky feet?" I said.
Miner Carl, the mini-boss of the dungeon, stopped mining and turned around to face me. "Because I have foot fungus!" He rushed at Abigail and me with a crazy look in his eyes.
Abigail trapped him in a bubble that he struck with his pick axe. The bubble didn't pop. I summoned 5 bone swords to stab and slash at him repeatedly. My attacks could travel through the bubble but enemy attacks couldn't.
In just a few seconds he was dead. Carl's disembodied head rolled on the floor past me, glaring at me. Next up was the boss, the crystal canine.
When we entered the chamber, the canine was asleep, just like the first time. Before it could wake up, I summoned a giant spike and stabbed it in the neck. The canine yelped in pain.
I summoned a new giant spike and stabbed it in the neck again and again. The canine bled out in seconds and didn't get up. We looked around the chamber and found the crystal reward chest again.
I wanted to destroy it so that no one could use the crystals. I summoned a giant spike and smashed it into the chest, destroying it and most of the crystals inside. A few intact crystals went flying but not many.
[You have performed a good act! You are rewarded with the Crystal Breaker ability]
[Crystal Breaker: Shatter crystals with a touch and deal increased damage to crystal-based or corrupted enemies. Greater damage the higher the corruption]
I removed the Crystal Canine's core and gave it to Abigail. "I don't need it. I can feel myself growing stronger by the minute."
"Thanks! I can tell you're getting stronger too. Every time I look at you, your muscles are bigger and more defined," she said.
"That's a good thing, right?" I said.
"It's a great thing! I love it! You're getting taller too," she said.
"Good?" I said.
"Don't worry! It's good!" She said.
"Good," I said, smiling.
Abigail popped the boss's core. It was a strength core. She flexed her skinny noodle arms and went, "Rawr. I'm so strong and scary."
"Yes, you are," I said. I patted her head and she pretended to try to bite me. I laughed. I loved her quirky personality. I kissed her.
"Want to go again?" She said.
"I hope you'd say that," I said.
We exited the dungeon and then went right back in. We annihilated our way down to Carl's room.
"Hey, Carl! What's your middle name?" I said. I was trying to amuse myself.
"Eustace!" He yelled as he rushed at me.
He was intercepted by a bubble that trapped his body. I summoned 6 spears and shot them through his body multiple times until his head lolled and he fell to the ground.
[You have leveled up your healing grimoire to level 6!]
'You forgot again.'
[Yes. But you didn't need it!]
'That's true. Ok, so what did I get?'
[You gained Advanced Healing, Group Healing, Advanced Diagnosis, Advanced Status Relief, Intermediate Detoxification, and Enhanced Regeneration]
[Advanced Healing: Can heal fatal wounds, reattach limbs, and heal complex bone fractures]
[Group Healing: Can heal a group of people within a 3-meter radius]
[Advanced Diagnosis: Can diagnose complex diseases and conditions]
[Advanced Status Relief: Can alleviate up to moderate status ailments such as moderate pain, migraines, cramps, stomach upset, indigestion, acid reflux, fatigue and exhaustion, and allergic reactions]
[Intermediate Detoxification: Can remove common toxins and poisons from the body such as alcohol, food poisoning, basic venoms, and environmental toxins]
[Enhanced Regeneration: Can regenerate moderate personal injuries like broken bones, cuts, and stab wounds]
'Holy shit! That's a lot of abilities in a short time.'
[It is, but you have to remember that having N-rank potential means you gain experience 10 times faster than C-rank. Your experience gain speed is absurd. Even Abigail, who has SS-rank potential (a 1 in 1,000 rarity), gains experience more than 3 times slower than you]
'Doesn't that mean I'm basically unbeatable? Where's the fun in that?'
[Not exactly. Strength and experience gain per rank is not exponential, so you still need to be careful when getting into fights. 10 C-ranks with the same experience level as you (which isn't much) and a decent amount of teamwork could overpower and defeat you]
[And since you're trying to fight over 2,000 evil people in this kingdom alone, you're going to need to power up a lot before you can accomplish your goal of eliminating all evil in this world]
'There are over 2,000 evil people in this kingdom? How did you get that number?'
[Well the percentage of evil people in this kingdom is roughly 4% and there are over 60,000 people in this kingdom. 4% of 60,000 is 2,400 people. So there are a minimum of 2,400 evil people in this kingdom to fight]
[You don't need to defeat all of them to make a huge difference in the prosperity of this kingdom and its people though. So don't be afraid to venture beyond the kingdom before you defeat them all]
'Yeah, my original goal of killing every evil person is a little unrealistic. Especially, considering how spread out people are in the outer areas.'
'I'd have to travel hundreds of miles to kill them all. What if I just resolved to destroy all evil organizations in the city and any random evil person I come across?'
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[That would still make a significant difference. That is still an admirable goal]
'Ok, good. I'm going to change my goals to that.'
[Very well]
'Let's also change it so both my grimoires gain the same amount of experience.'
[Done]
"Are you checking your status or something? You've been quiet for a while," Abigail said.
"Something like that. Due to certain circumstances, Alfinia talks to me and gives me special abilities through the adventurer interface. I call it a system. A morality system," I said.
"Interesting. I knew you had something special about you but I never thought you would be able to speak to Alfinia. It does make more sense why Alfinia labeled you an Evil Wizard though. I'm guessing you got in a fight and that was her way of punishing you?" Abigail said.
"You are very observant. Yes. She wanted to make me a tomato wizard and I said no. So she changed it to evil wizard out of spite," I said.
"I don't know how direct it is though. Sometimes it sounds like Alfinia is talking to me and sometimes it sounds like a magical artificial intelligence is talking to me."
"Hmm. Why do you call it a morality system?" She said.
"Because it rewards me for punishing evil and doing good deeds," I said.
"Oh. I'd call it a morality system too if I had that," she said laughing.
"I'm happy you agree," I said. "So, boss time?"
"Boss time!" Abigail said.
----------------------------------------
The crystal canine collapsed after the 20th giant spike I plunged into its body. Abigail had weakened it with a suffocating bubble around its head and I finished it off.
This time when the crystal chest spawned, I just put my hand into the chest and every crystal I touched shattered into useless pieces. Once I was done destroying all the crystals I got a notification.
[You have performed a good act! +50 good aura (15)]
The first time we ran the dungeon, it took us just under 2 hours. The second time it took about an hour and the third time it took 30 minutes. At this rate, we could hit the dungeon a few more times before moving on to the next task. Meeting Nico at Beer.
"Do you want to hit the dungeon a few more times?" I asked. "It's not even noon yet."
"Sure! Let's do it!" Abigail said. "And then we can run the dungeon." She winked at me.
"Don't threaten me with a good time," I said smiling.
"Oh I'll threaten you with a lot more than a good time," Abigail said, a devious smile on her face.
"What does that mean?" I said.
"You'll see," she said.
We hit the dungeon 6 more times before noon. My remarks to Carl became more and more ridiculous.
—
"Do you miss your friends?" I asked.
"Yes," Carl said with tears in his eyes.
—
"Is mining your favorite activity or something?" I asked.
"No," Carl said
"What is it?" I asked.
"Making soap!" Carl said as he swiped his pickaxe at me.
—
"What kind of soap?" I asked the next dungeon run.
"Lavender with oatmeal exfoliant," Carl said.
"Interesting. I like it," I said.
"I'm happy you appreciate my hobby!" Carl said as his pickaxe came down.
—
"Are you happy?" I asked.
"Sooo happy!" Carl said sarcastically as he attacked me.
—
"Pull my finger," I said.
"Eww, no!" Carl said attacking me.
—
"Dude, why don't you just go home?" I asked.
Carl stopped for a moment with a puzzled look on his crystal-crusted face. "I can do that?"
"Sure you can. Just go home and make soap and be happy. I'm tired of killing you," I said.
"Oh. Ok. Uh, have a good one," Carl said dropping his pickaxe. He started walking down the cave tunnel we just came from.
There was a loud clink noise. "Ah fuck! I forgot I set these bear traps. Why didn't you disarm them when you came through here?"
"Sorry. We just disarm them in a straight line now. It's faster," I said.
"It's ok. I'll be fine," Carl grunted as he opened the bear trap and pulled out his leg. Then Carl walked out of the mine.
I looked at Abigail and said, "That was weird."
"You're telling me," she said.
After we defeated the crystal canine, and I destroyed the crystals in the chest, my good aura was at (315). I had gained good aura level 2 at 100 good aura and level 3 at 250 good aura. I turned on good aura level 3.
[Good Aura level 2: People are likely to see you as a good and trustworthy person]
[Good Aura level 3: People are likely to trust that you always have their best interest at heart]
The system told me that while I could display the aura of any good or dark aura level I had earned, there was a drawback. The farther away my displayed aura was from my current aura, the more mana it would drain. I thanked it for its warning and moved on.
After the last dungeon run, I checked my status. We had been popping all the cores we collected so I wanted to see what my stats were.
[Status]
[Strength: 470
Agility: 432
Stamina: 423
Intelligence: 3857
Dark Aura: 0
Good Aura: 315
Justice Points: 0
Bloodline: First of line
Class: Evil Wizard
Subclass: Bone Mage
Grimoires: Bones, Healing
Skills: Soul Inquiry, Evil Eye, Counter Evil, Auto Crit on Evil, Bonds of Loyalty, Experience Plunder, Multiplied Generosity, Emanate Good Aura (Level 1), Emanate Dark Aura (Level 1), Shared Suffering, Absolute Sincerity, Happiness Giver, Aura Manipulation]
By the time we completed the last dungeon, I was buff. Not just muscular. My muscles were huge. Normally I'd be worried, but Abigail was into it. She started calling me her "big strong man."
Meanwhile, Abigail still had dainty princess noodle arms, but she kept talking about how strong she was getting. And luckily for Abigail, I was into her dainty princess body. Not that I didn't appreciate other body types. I just thought this type looked great on her.
"So what do we do now?" Abigail said.
"Well, it's only noon, and I'm not supposed to meet with Nico until tonight. So why don't we visit Stylus early?" I said.
"That sounds agreeable," she said.
We arrived at the abandoned merchant guild hall. Stylus was waiting inside. It was rundown but functional. There was dirt everywhere but it was still furnished. There were tables and chairs. Everything we would need.
"Why so early?" Stylus said.
"There are some things I'd like to discuss. Also, we have time to kill," I said.
"He got buff in the dungeons today and he's afraid of getting too buff, so he made us stop," Abigail said.
"That's not. Whatever. We need to figure out how to find and destroy the other two branches of the Red Tail Fox Company in the city," I said.
"I don't know where they are. The only branch we had any contact with was the sales branch, and that was only through a drop-off point," Stylus said.
"They have storefronts to sell the crystals, but I don't know where their actual base is. They must resupply the stores from their base, the crystals only ever come from the base. They never go back. So there's no way to follow any one back to the base."
"What if we dropped off some crystals and followed whoever picks them up back to their base?" Abigail said.
"Wow. That's actually a great idea," I said.
"Why are you so impressed? You don't think I can come up with good ideas?" Abigail said putting her hands on her hips.
"Uh, no? I just didn't know you wanted to participate in the dismantling process," I said.
"I'm just teasing you," Abigail said.
"Oh, good. I was worried there for a second," I said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"That is an excellent idea, Abigail. I wasn't surprised though," Stylus said.
"Oh, shush, you suck up," Abigail said sticking her tongue out at Stylus.
"Is that the plan then? When is the next pick up?" I said.
"Around 4 today," Stylus said.
"That's only 3 hours from now," I said.
"Then we better get going then, right?" Abigail said.
"Right," I said.