The next morning after breakfast, as soon as Michael finished saying his goodbyes under the girls' worried eyes, a dark-red portal appeared near the pavilion in the garden, surprising everyone.
Rolling his eyes, the Necromancer realized his 'bus' arrived, so he comforted the eight women and calmly stepped into it.
Finding himself in the middle of a strange dark field covered with glittering dots here and there, the man's expression finally changed. It wasn't as if he wasn't worried—in fact, he was terrified.
However, showing it on his face to the worried people he cared about would do more harm than good, so he kept it hidden. Now, his emotions were clearly showing as he tried to calm his wildly beating heart.
He inspected his surroundings as soon as his mental state was somewhat pacified. He had never been into space before, but he firmly believed he was traveling through space now.
The glittering dots of different colors he kept seeing in the distance were akin to stars he had previously seen in Sci-Fi movies during inter-stellar travels. Another strange thing was that while he could hear and feel his heartbeat, he couldn't open his mouth to talk, breathe, or sense anything else around him.
Unable to do much, he could only patiently wait as he kept 'shuttling through space,' as he believed. After an unknown period passed, a large gash in the dark field surrounding him appeared, and his body was sucked in.
Then, before he could mentally react, he was smashed onto solid ground, creating a deep pit and a dust cloud around him.
Looking curiously around him, he saw endless plains and blue skies. Nothing similar to what he envisioned for the Burning Hells domain. If anything, it wasn't that different from the Sanctuary.
But his facial expression changed immediately, and he felt immense pressure weighing on him. Turning his head to look behind him, he noticed multiple presences approaching his location.
Furthermore, try as he may, he wasn't able to summon his minions. It felt as if his connection to them was being interfered with, and the Skeletons themselves were reluctant to join him in this place.
"Fuck me sideways! Sanctuary, did you fucking drop me into the enemy camp and throw me to the wolves? How the fuck am I supposed to deal with THAT!?"
He received no answer, but his complaints automatically stopped as the large 'crowd' entered his field of vision.
Many humanoid monsters he identified as demons were excitedly charging at him. Unresigned, he took out his sword and shield, prepared to at least make a last stand.
Then, under his shocked gaze, the demons stopped about a hundred meters away and began taking out tools and meat prepared to cook.
Some of those higher on the social chain even had their subordinates bring out fancy chairs for them to sit in and calmly enjoyed being fanned and hand-fed delicacies.
Seeing the incomprehensible scene, the Necromancer was dumbfounded. This 'spectacle' continued for over fifteen minutes, in which the Wanderer acted like an animal in the circus, being gawked and pointed at by the spectators.
Then, the entire demonic cohort stood up and bowed randomly. Somewhere in the past ten seconds or so, a taller demon appeared and stood at 'the seat of honor' in front of the crowd.
Checking the new spectator, Michael realized it should be a devil noble. Undecided if he should approach or not, he saw the devil wave his hand, and nine other 'thrones' similar to his appeared.
Then, the wait continued, with nine other devils joining the show over the course of the next hour.
It goes without saying, but if he had been a normal human, a small pool would have formed under the Necromancer's feet from all the nervous sweating he'd been doing.
[ Attention!
The testing of the first Nightmare Dungeon held in the Burning Hells is about to commence.
All invited spectators have arrived.
The participants have arrived.
The challenger has arrived.
Generating the Dungeon in accordance with the rules previously agreed upon.
Generating the nomological field to stop possible outside interference.
Generating the spectating screen for the audience.
Selecting a Dungeon field based on audience recommendations. Beginning the vote. ]
The first two things that appeared were a giant dome covering the small field between the Wanderer and the 'audience' comprised of the devils and their demon underlings, as well as a fully dark portal from which a locked gate descended.
Curious about the gate first, he carefully scrutinized it and realized it was covered in demonic carvings and pictographs he couldn't understand.
If one thing stood out was the keyhole and the lack of handles.
Then, turning to look at the 'audience,' he saw them gesturing at the dome 'protecting' him from outside interference, on which ten different images popped up.
Realizing that the Sanctuary was using the protection dome as a cinema screen, Michael felt even more like a monkey in a petting zoo.
Try as he may, he couldn't see what the images were, so he could only patiently wait until a verdict was reached.
Ten small green bars appeared next to the Dungeon 'choices,' and each rose based on how the demons voted.
After a verdict was reached, a small video was played to the audience, probably showing snippets of what the Dungeon was like on the inside. On Michael's end, he could see moving images but wasn't able to decipher anything from them.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Rather than that, he was more interested in the notification showing on his side of the screen.
[ Rewarding the challenger with a Nightmare Sigil.
Please read the following description before entering the Nightmare Dungeon.
Nightmare Sigils are divided into tiers. These tiers determine the level and difficulty of the Dungeon. The monster level in a particular Dungeon is the sum of the Tier of a Dungeon and your World Tier (locked temporarily at 3) plus the Dungeon's base difficulty (50).
Furthermore, the 100 tiers are divided into two groups: Sacred and Ancestral.
These are sigil types you can use on World Tier 3 and World Tier 4.
*Tiers 1-10 (Sacred, World Tier 3): 12 revives and 3 affixes (1 positive, 2 negative), monsters level 54-63
*Tiers 11-20 (Sacred, World Tier 3): 12 revives and 4 affixes (1 positive, 3 negative), monsters level 64-73
*Tiers 21+ (Ancestral, World Tier 4): 4 revives and 5 affixes (1 positive, 4 negative), monsters level 75-154
As the Dungeon tier increases, it becomes more challenging but offers greater rewards. Higher tiers provide higher-level items and more Glyph XP, which is crucial for the Paragon Board.
On the other hand, as mentioned above, tiers also affect the number of affixes and revives that a Sigil has.
The tables below list all positive and negative affixes.
POSITIVE SIGIL AFFIXES
*Quick Killer
Magic: Killing a monster grants 1.0% Attack and Move Speed. Stacking up to 10%.
Rare: Killing a monster grants 1.5% Attack and Move Speed. Stacking up to 15%.
Legendary: Killing a monster grants a 2.0% Attack and Move Speed. Stacking up to 20%.
*Reduce Cooldowns on Kill
Magic: Killing a monster reduces your cooldowns by 0.15 seconds.
Rare: Killing a monster reduces your cooldowns by 0.2 seconds.
Legendary: Killing a monster reduces your cooldowns by 0.25 seconds.
*Battle Hardened
Magic: Gain a 4% damage reduction for every 10% Health you are missing.
Rare: Gain a 5% damage reduction for every 10% Health you are missing.
Legendary: Gain a 6% damage reduction for every 10% Health you are missing.
*Poisonous Evade
Using Evade leaves a pool of Poison behind that damages enemies.
*Nudging Evade
Using Evade pushes enemies back.
*Fire Damage
Magic: You deal 5% more Fire damage.
Rare: You deal 10% more Fire damage.
Legendary: You deal 15% more Fire damage.
*Frost Damage
Magic: You deal 5% more Frost damage.
Rare: You deal 10% more Frost damage.
Legendary: You deal 15% more Frost damage.
*Gold Find
Magic: You find 10% more gold.
Rare: You find 20% more gold.
Legendary: You find 30% more gold.
*Increased Critical Strike
Magic: Your Critical Strike chance is increased by 3%.
Rare: Your Critical Strike chance is increased by 6%.
Legendary: Your Critical Strike chance is increased by 9%.
*Increased Healing
Magic: Your Healing Received is increased by 5%.
Rare: Your Healing Received is increased by 10%.
Legendary: Your Healing Received is increased by 15%.
*Lightning Damage
Magic: You deal 5% more Lightning damage.
Rare: You deal 10% more Lightning damage.
Legendary: You deal 15% more Lightning damage.
*Magic Find
You find more items from enemies.
*Lightning Caller
You occasionally call down lightning strikes that damage nearby enemies.
*Physical Damage
Magic: You deal 5% more Physical damage.
Rare: You deal 10% more Physical damage.
Legendary: You deal 15% more Physical damage.
*Poison Damage
Magic: You deal 5% more Poison damage.
Rare: You deal 10% more Poison damage.
Legendary: You deal 15% more Poison damage.
*Shadow Damage
Magic: You deal 5% more Shadow damage.
Rare: You deal 10% more Shadow damage.
Legendary: You deal 15% more Shadow damage.
*Control Impaired Explosions
Being hit by Control Impairing Effects creates an explosion around you.
*Thorns
Magic: Your Thorns are increased by 112.
Rare: Your Thorns are increased by 249.
Legendary: Your Thorns are increased by 491. ]
After taking a moment to read through all the details, Michael's face changed several times. This was especially so after reading about the monsters' levels.
Based on his low-level math skills, if the base difficulty of a Dungeon was 50, his World Tier was temporarily stuck at Nightmare - meaning World Tier 3 - and whatever Tier the Nightmare Dungeon was, he would face at least Level 54 monsters.
Before checking the Negative Affix table, he quickly inspected the Nightmare Sigil he was handed, praying it would be of the lowest possible level.
[ Vault of Ink Nightmare Sigil
Sacred Nightmare Sigil
Tier 10
--------------
Transform the Dungeon the Sigil is being used on into a Nightmare Dungeon.
*Vault of Ink in The Gatehall
*Revives Allowed: 12
*Monster Level: 63
--------------
Dungeon Affixes
Positive
*Increased Healing
Your Healing Received is increased by 5%.
Negative
*Drifting Shade
Drifting Shade chases Wanderers. Upon reaching them, it explodes for heavy damage and creates a Nightmare Field that Dazes victims.
*Monster Burning Damage
Monsters deal an additional 15% of their Physical damage dealt as Burning over 5 seconds. ]
His face morphed into a grimace after reading the Negative Affixes. Not only would the monsters he would face - probably demons - deal 15% more Physical and Burning damage, but he would constantly have to keep an eye on this bullshit Drifting Shade.
Suddenly, the loud cheers turned into jeers, forcing the Necromancer to turn and look at the demonic spectating crowd.
Seeing the large grins on their faces, as well as the unkind smiles on the ten devil nobles, he knew that something was wrong.
[ Attention!
The devil nobility is using their rights to increase the difficulty of the Nightmare Dungeon.
The devil nobility agreed to pay an exorbitant price to increase and modify the affixes.
The normal experience gained from killing monsters in the Nightmare Dungeons will be decreased significantly.
The number of Negative Affixes will be increased by two.
To offset this, the number of Positive Affixes will be increased by one.
The number of revives is decreased to six.
To compensate for this, the quality and quantity of the loot have significantly increased.
The challenger can choose to abort the Nightmare Dungeon exploration if he wishes to.
Warning!
Is strongly advised to agree to the changes, as the resources gained by agreeing to the challenge are sufficient to directly implement the Regional Progression to all Wanderers above Level 50 in the Sanctuary. ]
Looking in shock at the vicious demons who directly flipped the table instead of sitting down for negotiations, Michael felt like turning tail and running.
To begin with, the fact that he had 12 revives opportunities scared the shit out of him. It meant the difficulty was high enough that one might have to revive more than ten times before completing the Dungeon exploration.
Now that it was cut in half, he sincerely didn't wish to continue. Furthermore, the experience he would gain toward his Level progression was decreased by 90%. A whole fucking 90%!
It was ridiculous.
Even more so, it was incredibly annoying. The Necromancer couldn't understand the language the demons were speaking, but he could clearly understand that they were taunting him.
He wasn't stupid enough to fall for such a childish trick, but the Sanctuary advised that the rewards were worth the risk.
Taking a deep breath to calm down, he quickly checked the remaining messages about the Negative Affixes before he made his decision.