Chapter 15 – What comes next.
You have leveled up x1.
Bone Shaping has leveled up x6.
Eyes of the Dead has leveled up x2.
Mana Manipulation has leveled up x8.
Mana Manipulation has evolved into Mana Mastery.
You have performed a great feat, enduring countless hours of pain and torture, breaking you down, but you have persevered. Your Trait – Determined has been upgraded to Unstoppable Will.
You have earned a new Trait – Pain Tolerance.
You have learned a new skill – Power Attack level 1.
Power Attack has been changed into Death Strike level 1.
You have learned a new skill – The Undead Elites
The Undead Elites and Horde of the Undead have merged and evolved into Hordes of The Necro-Lord.
The wave of energy coursing through Bel made him feel better for a second but when it was over, the pain and exhaustion returned.
His legs wobbled like a newborn foal; he was forced to sit down on the floor before he toppled over. The Life he stole from Crow healed his arm and physical injuries, but it did nothing for the exhaustion, no amount of stolen energy could help him. He needed food, water, and sleep, blissful sleep.
Shaking his head as he was about to drift away, he didn’t trust himself to wake up if he allowed himself to sleep now. Looking around he saw that Solomon and Ignatius were speaking to him. Their voices sounded like they were coming from far away.
Bel tried to think of something to say. Nothing came to him, he felt empty inside. Ignatius said something to Solomon who ran from the room, his long legs carrying him at an impressive speed. He returned only a few seconds later holding a cup and something wrapped in cloth.
Kneeling next to Bel he held the cup up to his lips and Bel drank. It was cold water and it tasted better than anything he had ever drunk before, the cold wet liquid soothed his parched throat. Solomon dragged the cup from his lips after a few gulps and Bel growled at him, he wanted more, he needed more. The large man held him back with ease, not even Bel’s considerable strength could budge him. Bel knew he was weak from starvation and lack of sleep but it still felt like a slap in the face, he had grown accustomed to being inhumanly strong.
Ignatius said something but Bel didn’t hear him this time either, he was trying to grab the cup from Solomons's large hands, the man was as cold as winter, but he couldn’t reach it. After putting down the cup, away from Bel, Solomon unwrapped the cloth, showing a warm drumstick from an unknown bird. Bel looked at it as saliva started to drip down his chin. Solomon refused to give the struggling man the drumstick, instead, he tore away smaller pieces of meat which he gave to Bel who devoured them in an instant.
Bel ate the drumstick and finished the cup of water and a wave of exhaustion struck him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to stay awake, not even his great willpower could help him. He fell asleep and the dreams returned.
“BEL, DESTROYER OF WORLDS, BRINGER OF THE APOCALYPSE. THY TIME WILL COME, THE WORLDS ARE CHANGING AND YOU SHALL NEVER BE FREE!”
The voices of a million screaming victims tormented him. He tried escaping, running through forests and fields covered in bodies. Steering a ship across the sea away from what was chasing him, only for the dead to swim underneath him, trying to drag him down. He ran towards a cliff, trying to outrun the dead riders chasing him, only to reach the edge and looking out, he saw the land covered in the walking dead, cities burning and oceans boiling.
He turned from the horrific images and came face to face with the corpse of Death, the man smiled at him, Bel screamed and backed away. He stepped over the edge without thinking and started to fall. A scream of terror escaped his lips as he fell, suddenly he landed in a warm bed full of pillows, warm as a mother's embrace.
He felt his heart still and the adrenaline settling, drifting away he was barely conscious, he almost missed the gentle voice of a woman.
“Sleep Belmont, dream no more this night. My brother has wronged you deeply, but then again, so have we. We have wronged you and Death both. But most of all have we wronged the people of Eshander. Take this to heart Bel. You and all the others choose which paths to walk, we only set you upon them. Now more than ever, remember, you break the System.” The soothing voice eased him into a deep sleep.
With a gasp he sat up, looking around bewildered, he saw that he was still in the torture room. Someone had taken his cloak and wrapped it around him but he still lay on the stone floor. Removing his gauntlet he ran his hand through his hair, it had grown long and unkept, and it was dirty and greasy. Feeling his face, he felt the sweat that had beaded on his forehead. He wiped the sweat from his brow and put the gauntlet back on before he tried to stand.
This time he succeeded after only two tries. His legs had grown stronger from the sleep and the nourishment. Looking around he didn’t see Solomon or Ignatius but he could feel them close by. He noticed a tray with a loaf of bread and a block of cheese, with a cup of water next to it. Without thinking he ate the food and drank the water. He didn’t care if it was put there by Death to poison him.
Someone, probably Solomon, had dragged the corpse of Crow to the side of the room. It had been deposited in a heap without any ceremony. Bel looked at the corpse for several minutes, debating internally.
“I won’t stoop to his level. Not even he deserves that... Or rather, I am not the one to give him that punishment. I hope that whatever place the Eternal Rest is, I hope he gets his due.” Bel walked over to the corpse and used Summon Lesser Undead on the corpse; the casting was almost instantaneous with his new Mana Mastery. The corpse’s eyes started to glow with that green flame and the thing stood up.
Undead Summoner - (Healthy) level 27
The thing was strong, stronger than anything he had summoned before, and it also only took five spots in the pool. But Bel didn’t use the skill to bring back Crow, instead, he looked at the emotionless stare of that hated man. Letting go of his anger was hard, but it was the first step. As he let go, he deactivated the skill, and the zombie crumbled into dust, taking the corpse of the Necromancer with it, back to wherever place these creatures came from.
Bel looked at the rapidly vanishing dust and spat to the side.
“I hope you suffer as greatly as your victims have.”
Turning, he looked around the room for anything out of the ordinary. The room looked just as it had before, the only difference was that the dungeon core was not in the corner anymore. Frowning, Bel walked towards the door. He opened it and found a short corridor ending in another door. Moving forward and opening the other door, he soon entered a larger room.
This room seemed to be a cozy study, complete with a large bed, a desk full of books, and a great fireplace, in which a fire burned, with a large armchair in front of it. At the desk Solomon stood, trying to write with a quill comically small in his head, while Ignatius was hovering next to him, berating the man.
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“No, no, small is spelled with two l’s. I said the mana needed to circulate the core twice, not the mana needs to be circumcised twice.” The skull's voice was exasperated like he had been correcting the large man many times before.
“Sorry, Ign. Writing’s not my best talent.” Solomon answered unperturbed by the skulls berating.
“I see that and nothing will ever make me forget how true those words are. Hurry up now, we need to finish this for the Master before he wakes up. We have much to do before we can escape this place.” Ignatius said.
“What are you two doing?” Bel asked. His appearance went unnoticed by the two undead. Solomon flinched so hard he knocked over the inkwell spilling ink all over the notes. Causing Ignatius to scream in frustration, causing another wave of insults towards the draugr.
“Good morning, Master. We were just collecting and catling the books of the bad Master for you. He had a lot of words written down.” Solomon said with a smile, ignoring the angry burning skull.
“Cataloging you imbecile. Greetings Master. I hope you slept well. How do you feel now?” Ignatius hovered in between Bel and Solomon, causing the latter to lean to the side to see.
“Thank you both. I’m better now, still hungry and a little tired, but it feels like I've slept for a week at least.” Bel said as he moved over to the desk, looking at all the books. He realized he couldn’t read a single word; it was not in any alphabet he recognized.
“Not that long, Master. I believe you’ve slept for about 48 hours, give or take a few minutes.” Ignatius said as he bobbed up and down.
Bel stared at the skull with a surprised look. But he couldn’t say that he was surprised.
“That’s good to know. Have you been doing this the entire time?” He nodded toward the notes and books. There were several hundred neatly folded pieces of paper together with about a dozen books.
“This and a few other things. We’ve tried to get you a tutorial into the system and the world outside this dungeon. We’ve collected the best books for this task as well as written down my thoughts and ideas. Solomon supplied the hands and writing... barely.” Ignatius's tone was neutral.
“Yeah, that part was awful! But we did other things that were a little funnier. We gathered all of Bad Master’s loot over there, and we collected the dungeon core as well, to stop it from trying to kill you!” Solomon sounded much happier than Ignatius.
“Great, thank you, Solomon.” The large man beamed like a child getting praised. Bel felt a sudden ache in his chest, for the man. How much had this man endured both in life and in death to be so happy, getting a little praise from a man several hundred years his junior?
Moving over to the corner of the room he saw a small pile of items. The first thing that stood out was a wicked-looking helmet. It was a strange style of helmet, like a great helm with horns, it looked evil in a way he couldn’t describe like he was staring at the face of a monster. The black and green coloring told him without a doubt what it was. He identified it anyways, to be sure.
Helmet of the Necro-Lord
Putting the helmet aside he checked the rest of the items. There was a shield that belonged to the same set. It was dark black with green borders and the motif on the front was a burning skull. The thing was incredibly light and flexible.
Shield of the Necro-Lord
Bel was surprised, he thought there wouldn’t be more items in the set. But he realized that was naïve, for all he knew, there could be a nail-clipper of the necro-lord out there.
The last few items were less majestic than the first two. One satchel contained a book called – Fireball Tin Rank. A note was pinned on it, it said. “This is a skill book.” Helpful as ever Solomon, Bel thought.
The other contained three blood-red potions in those classic potion glass containers, Florence flasks as they were called. The potions were labeled as tin-ranked healing draughts. Identify confirmed that as well.
Healing Draught - (Potent) Tin Ranked
Identify has leveled up x1.
“That’s kind of addictive, isn’t it?” He said out loud to no one in particular, as he saw the skill increase.
“These will probably come in handy. I wonder what they taste like.” Bel’s curiosity almost made him want to try one out right now, but common sense stopped him. These were probably very valuable, or not. Perhaps potions were a dime a dozen in this world.
“Ignatius, potions, rare or common?” He looked over his shoulder as he found ways to carry his loot.
“Very rare, Master. They are easy to make if you have the right ingredients, but the potions can only be used by the tier they are made for. Drinking a higher-ranked potion would kill you, painfully.” He hovered over next to Bel.
“Getting the ingredients isn’t always easy either. There are several ways to make a potion but the ingredients are often guarded or incorporated into monster parts. Monsters that aren't too keen on laying down to be harvested.
“That goes for most equipment such as tier-appropriate weapons and armor. You wouldn’t die from using a higher-tiered weapon but the pressure could cripple and hurt you. It’s a factor of the soul, not your levels and skills. Since tiering up affects the soul more than anything else.”
“This is good information. I’m also glad that you can talk about this stuff now.” Bel stood and walked over to the armchair next to the fireplace, he sat down. He stared into the fire, thinking about his situation and everything that had happened these few weeks.
While he sat there, Solomon approached with a cup of water and some food. Crow had a large number of supplies, he probably believed he would stay here for a while.
Bel didn’t remember much from his recent trial, only bits and pieces of pain and anguish. He was both frightened and relieved over how good he felt, and how normal he felt. He should be, or perhaps he was, in shock. Instead, he felt as fine as could be expected, he wasn’t without scars but somehow, he knew he could keep going forward, the things he had endured would only help him stay on course. He felt that he was a better man now than before. Because he would never do what Crow and Death had done.
The killing had come easy to Bel, all killing except for Crow’s. That one was the hardest, even after all Crow had done because Crow was a sentient living being, not a dungeon creature. But Crow had deserved what came to him, that thought didn’t make everything better but it sure helped. Bel knew though, that if it came to it, he would be able to take a life again. Something he never would have thought possible before.
It must have been my high willpower, Bel thought. That is probably why he felt as stable as he did. Perhaps he was completely insane, it was hard to tell from this side, but he didn’t feel any different from before.
“The System helps somewhat. Otherwise, people wouldn’t strive to grow.” Ignatius whispered. He didn’t want to disturb Bel but he could imagine what the boy was thinking.
“That explains a lot. I feel like I should be curled into a ball, weeping and crying out for my mother. But instead, I feel strong and I'm already thinking about the future. I want to leave this place, like right now.” Bel was about to rise when Ignatius interrupted him.
“Stay a while and listen, Master.” Ignatius positioned himself in front of the sitting master.
“Yes, Cain.” Bel smirked.
“I don’t get that reference.”
“Never mind.”
“As you say.” The skull cleared his throat before continuing.
“First of all, you need to secure your foundation from this dungeon. Your explosive growth will not be sustainable topside. You have had quite the privilege down here before you know what happened.” Bel frowned but didn’t interrupt him.
“Secondly, conjure and arm as many minions as you can before leaving. There is no telling what will await you when you leave. There could be Seers and Visionaries that have foretold this dungeon and your part in it. This means there could be any number of religious zealots or political parties waiting for you. Even though it's only been about a day for them.” Bel froze at that last statement.
“A day? I’ve been down here much longer than that!”
“Yes, sorry Master. I forgot to tell you that the dungeon is in another dimension like all dungeons are. Therefore, they have their own time. You have been down here almost three months now and that translates to a day at the top. That difference is unheard of which shows just how much the Dead One has interfered and how much power he has invested in this.” The skull continued.
“He will be back any day now to check on Crow’s progress and we should hopefully be gone by then. As I told you before, the Gods are not omniscient and so he probably doesn’t know what has happened here yet. He can’t directly threaten you as the Gods' own rules stop him, and them, from interfering directly. He can make your life harder by sending minions and monsters after you though. Especially here where we are so close to his power, the little that is left.” Bel thought over his words. He agreed that they needed to leave as soon as possible.
“Fine, I'll go over my status now, and then I'll start summoning. How do we leave when we’re ready?”
“You need to either conquer or kill the dungeon core, which will spawn the exit portal. Conquering it and then we can return and re-run the dungeon, but so can anyone else. Killing it gives a lot of gains immediately but removes the dungeon from the world.” Ignatius explained.
“Killing it is then.” Bel said without hesitation. No one should endure this hellhole and he never wanted to come back here again.
Focusing inwards he went over his gains, and what he saw made his jaw drop especially one line.
Hordes of The Necro-Lord (Passive) + 50 Summon Pool. Summoned minions are 5 levels higher than the summoning skill and you can equip any minion with tier-appropriate equipment.