The unique skill exploded through my body and various connections to my mobs. Dark flames covered my body, I could feel a hunger from them. That hunger was a part of me now. The white sea serpents on this floor and the hades umbrella on the 5th floor worked as an overflow for my new power. Several sea serpents burned to death as my mobs adapted to my mana. Their mana flowed to the rest strengthening them. 1/5th of my sea serpents survived. None of them were below level 80 now.
“John are you alright?” Eric yelled. I looked up to see the tank of team pump and dump. He stood a mighty figure. His steel mail gleamed in the artificial light produced by the dungeon. His blond hair fell out of his helmet wet with sweat.
The others looked no better. Fighting in this place was rough. Living on a ship for nearly 3 weeks was rough on everyone.
Phil walked over in a coat filled with holes and opened the chest. The chest opened, armor, weapons, silver coins, and skill books appeared in my inventory. I could only guess that the others received the same treatment.
“My god this is a powerful dungeon.” Jim said. I looked over and raised an eyebrow.
“Most dungeons spit their treasure out or let adventurers pick among the loot. This dungeon can directly give us what we earned. Only high-level dungeons can do that. I just thought it was worthy of comment.” Jim said.
Sea Serpent Helm – A helmet crafted from steel and sea serpent scales. Phys Def 1000. +5000HP, +25% water aura requirement lv90.
Sea Serpent Chest Plate – A chest plate crafted from steel and sea serpent scales. Phys Def +1,500 +7,500HP, +50% Water Aura, requirement lv90
Sea Serpent Gauntlets – A set of gauntlets crafted from steel and sea serpent scales. Phys Def +500, +5000HP, +25% Water Aura, requirement lv90
Sea Serpent Slacks – A set of Slacks crafted from steel mesh and sea serpent scales. Phys Def +1,500, +5000HP, +50% Water Aura, requirement lv90
Sea Serpent Boots – A set of Boots Crafted from steel and sea serpent scales. Phys Def +500, +5000HP, +25% Water Aura, requirement lv90
I equipped the armor and felt the increase in defense. “My god you look like a merman.” Sasha said. I looked over at the siren. She whistled a tune when my staring made her feel awkward.
The armor covered everything except my elbows and neck. The slacks went midway and had some handy suspenders. If I was below my current level the armor would have felt too heavy and the scales would scrape against my skin.
I pulled a robe from my inventory, I crafted it from hades umbrella leaves. The leaves and vines wrapped snuggly around my neck and waste. As I finished decking myself out in armor the others put on their new armor. Eric had a heavier version of my armor.
Two handed Axe of Despair – This weapon is made of sea serpent scales and steel infused with water and dark mana stones. +1000-1,250Phys damage, Inflicts Soaked debuff, Requirement lv100
Phil equipped a shot gun that sparked randomly. We were more powerful than ever and ready for the next floor. I walked up to our ship. The vessel had carried us through the sea and slew a large amount of our enemies. It deserved to become a mob.
I pulled a small mana stone and decided to conduct and experiment. Using my massive supply of mana, I began to funnel my mana in the stone. The stone promptly exploded in my hand. I heard Greg chuckle behind me.
“Yea, most mages make that mistake. To inject pure mana into something you need to use a pure mana skill. That is impossible to free cast. Your mana isn’t pure, it has a vast quantity of different elements fused with it. That is why you look the way you do. Your mana influences your body.” I raised an eyebrow.
“Then why don’t you guys look altered?” I asked.
Phil laughed. “Sorry, we would but we consume mana stones that counter the mana we use. Your too far gone for that.” I shrugged. I liked the way I turned out.
I took out another stone from my inventory and placed it in the boat. My mold wood skill pulled the stone to the center. Mana naturally accumulated by our experiences in the boat slowly began to infuse the stone. The stone didn’t crack like when I infused my mana. That was probably for the best.
The sirens followed behind Eric and I the others stood behind the sirens. If something was strong enough to kill Eric and I then none of the others would survive anyway.
We stepped out on the floor.
Tomb stones lined a single massive hill. There was nothing else around for miles. A large moon shined pale light on the graveyard. The air whistled stealing away at our heat and leaving behind a sense of unease.
“Luci what is this floor?” I whispered too low for even adventurer ears to hear.
“Oh, John this is one of my favorites. This is the floor of fallen adventures. Any who failed to pass the floors behind you I can spawn here. I have it set to seven matches of seven. So, you and your party will have to fight 42 adventurers. Have fun, I will kick back and eat my imaginary popcorn. Oh, can’t you hear the imaginary crunch.” As she spoke I did hear the crunch of popcorn and I could smell butter. I found the scent flowing from black roses that littered the area.
Black Rose lv80
They feed on unsuspecting adventurers infesting them with pollen. This causes adventurers to hallucinate while the pollen germinates. The adventurer will journey from rose to rose collecting pollen, before they explode releasing a concoction to pollenate all the black roses in an area.
Curious to see what would happen to me, I lowered myself and took a good whiff of the rose. The rose promptly sprayed me with yellow pollen.
New skill
Resist Hallucinogen lv20 – This skill allows the user to resist the effects of hallucinogens. +20% resistance. +0.1End.
The wood mana in my body absorbed the pollen. I could recreate the black roses now. Wood aura appeared around my body and the flowers grew larger around me. They seemed to dance at my presence.
“John stop playing with the flowers and come on we have to climb the hill to get to the next floor.” Jim yelled. The rogue was waiting for me.
“Hey, you should probably tell the others not to smell the flower. The spit acid.” Jim nodded and ran over to the group.
As we approached the hill our first opponents emerged from their graves. They wore rotten and rusty gear. Some were mages, rogues, and warriors.
“I got this, guys.” I said.
The rogues nocked bows ready to fire and the mages began to bring up their staves to cast spells. The warriors buffed themselves and began to charge. I held my battle axe of despair in one hand despite the two-handed warning. In my off hand I let six small fire balls form and rotate around my palm. I could force mana into them and launch a fully powered fireball without the normal start up time.
Before I reached the tanks, I fired off three of my fireballs catching the enemy mages off guard. Black flames exploded behind the tanks, causing one to stumble and his shield dropped out of optimal position. I activated mana burst and charge, my axe moved with more speed and power than the first tank could react to. My axe lodged in his throat.
I let go of the axe it was stuck between the first tank’s helm and breastplate. My staff appeared in my hand from the inventory. An arrow struck me in the shoulder, I moved my staff and caught the fireballs before they could fall. Two more arrows lodged in my breastplate. The armor held as I turned my attention to the other tank.
He had his hammer back seconds away from smashing my head in. Mana burst brought me inside his swing I placed my staff at his chin and detonated a fireball. An explosion lit my vision and black and crimson. Half of my armor’s durability took a hit. The arrows were on fire from the heat.
My staff glowed with lines of blue and black mana veins. One of the mages got back up, just as multiple arrows lodged in my leg. I managed to catch myself with my staff. I took a mighty breath and felt for the skill sonic voice, I gained from the sirens. I mixed it with hades umbrella seeds, fire burn, and thunder II thrust. I felt the sides of my mouth split as I used a combination of several skills. My lungs burned as more mana went into the spells.
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The mage cast a barrage of ice shards. They lodged into my chest and one penetrated my thigh. I opened my mouth and a beam of black energy fired out.
This energy was raw. As I focused on multiple skills they seemed to meld together into an amalgamation of destructive mana.
New Signature skill
Usurper’s Breath lv1 – A skill created by John Union. This skill is an amalgamation of what skills you’ve learned in the form of a breath attack. This skill can only level by self-discovery. Cost 50k/sec Mag Dam 100%Int + 100%Wis +10Int, +10Wis
My face was never the same. Not only that, but my helmet was destroyed by the force of my attack. The graves and parts of the ground shattered. Runes glowed, some were glowing white. The two mage zombies and the rogues were ash. I felt my level increase to 120. A part of my face split permanently. It was my mouth it opened all the way to my jaw line now. My chin grew a bit and my head sported tiny pinpricks that were more than likely horns.
“My god John, did you just vaporize them?” Jim said.
I pulled the arrow from my shoulder and cast heal on it. Greg did me a solid and took the arrows out of my leg as I worked on my chest. The ground burst and more adventurers appeared. They looked to be of all walks of life. Some wore armor that must have been expensive at one time. Others were in rags with little more than a staff to their name. Phil stepped forward.
“I got this one. You boys just relax.” Phil said. He tipped his hat and dashed forward in a blur.
My wounds healed quickly. They only brought me down to half health. Phil made quick work of them. His guns were the ideal weapon against zombies. Every bullet fired faster than the zombies could react. The mana enhanced rounds tore through the armor of the zombies dropping them instantly. He fired his shot gun into the tanks shields shattering them.
We climbed higher up the hill slaying the adventurers that failed to reach this floor. Then we reached the top of the hill. Tom slew the last group with a barrage of lightning arrows. He really was the best against multiple enemies.
At last we were at the top. A single figure stepped in front of the door. The figure was covered in chains and had a scythe in hand. The chains jingled as the figure dropped the cloak’s hood. It revealed a man with a smile on his face. He twirled his scythe like a toy. The blade scraped against the concrete of the hill top and made sparks.
“You can call me Davis the reaper. I am the final boss for the 7th floor.” A black aura surrounded him and shrunk to a thin layer. His every step turned the surface of rock he stepped upon to sand.
Davis Reaper lv100
This being is a high undead. As a reaper he holds the power over entropy. His aura ages everything around him to dust. Though this skill is normal for reapers it is in no way to be underestimated. This skill can slay enemies hundreds of levels higher than the reaper. Beware his scythe it will deal damage that will not heal.
A smile lit up my face. This would be a challenging fight. I copied the style of my foe. My aura exploded as a black and red sheen before tightly surrounding me. It felt different holding my power so close. I felt faster stronger. My muscles expanded without using mana charge. It was a revelation.
“I developed this skill while fighting adventurers like you. I started out as a common undead, I died on the first floor. Now look at me. This dungeon has allowed me to surpass my limits and become somebody. Why don’t you let me kill you, so you can become one with the dungeon?” Davis said.
“How about no.” I said.
“Oh, come on guy, I saw how much you love to fight. You can join me on this hill. We can go to the brothel on the 40th floor together and buy a few succubi for the night. I’m sure you’ve earned quite a few silver, getting it up here. Come on man be a pal.” Davis said.
“Man, I will make it there on my own. Let’s fight already.” I said.
“Alright, the dungeon has me ask a question of those who make it here. Answering it determines if you can go up or you fight me. The Sirens don’t count so don’t worry. Now, the question is what are you after from the dungeon?” Davis said.
“Alright you guy in the cowboy hat.” Davis said.
“I want the power to provide for my family and keep my team safe.” Phil said without missing a beat. Davis nodded and pointed to the stairs. Phil yanked his siren along and they began to make their way up.
“You the one with the bow.” I didn’t know what to say. I had entered the dungeon, because I was forced in. That didn’t seem like a good answer to me. So, why am I here fighting hard and training every day?
“I’m here to get stronger and return to my mother’s house in Amazonia without shame.” Tomas said. Davis nodded and let him through.
“Rogue one go.” Davis said. The entropy was working on the stone more sand was collecting. I kept thinking but all I could feel was anger. It bubbled up and I held it in. My anger was attached to the flames and thunder the flowed through my body. That was why fire was so easy for me. My rage fueled it. This was a great breakthrough, I concluded but not the answer. So, why did I continue instead of just raising my sneak skill, leaving the dungeon, and city. There was always the United Dominion.
“I want to prove myself to the guild, that I was worth taking in. I was a homeless man living out of my car before this. I gambled my life away and this new world is my chance to be better.” Jim said. I didn’t know that about him. No, I never paid him that much attention. When I saw him on the next floor, I would make things right.
“Your story brings a tear to this undead’s eye, you may go forward and prove your worth. Wizard your next.” Davis said. Greg stepped forward. I still had no idea what to say. I worked at a gas station for most of my life. I paid my rent and stayed a cut above homelessness. I never lived up to my potential. That wasn’t it though. I wanted more, my potential was exponentially more than in the old world.
“My story is simple, I joined the guild make use of my chemistry and cooking skills. I’m here to make sure these knuckle heads don’t die because they eat something poisonous or run out of food. I guess, I’m dedicated to helping my guild that’s why I entered the dungeon.” Greg said.
“An admirable reason you may go. Muscle head your turn.” The reaper said.
“I’m here because humanity needs adventurers, so I enlisted. We entered this dungeon because it’s supposed to swallow adventurers and shit out dungeon conquerors. I like defending my fellow man from monsters, I want to do my part.” Eric said.
“You may go soldier, don’t get killed up there though I wouldn’t mind the company.” Davis said. I stepped forward.
“Sasha step back,” I said. Davis brandished his scythe.
“Oh, can you not think of anything.” Davis said with a smile.
“I’m here to live up to my ever growing potential. Humanity hasn’t regained space travel in thousands of years. We humans continuously drop on worlds like these ruled by fools. Since I arrived here all I’ve seen is the worship of idols and golems working tirelessly for a lazy society. A fat slob runs this city and sacrifices sentients to a tree they call a god. I’m here to gain the tools to crush the surface and place every human under my banner.” I said. The reaper frowned.
“So, you’re just a greedy bastard that wants power to gain power because you don’t like how the establishments above run things. Its guys like you, I love taking down a peg.” Davis said.
“Go get pegged by the succubi. Now, are we going to fight or are we going to talk all day.” I took the light element and began slowly adding it to my aura. Davis took his scythe and cast a spell.
“Black rain,” entropy mana began to rain down. The rain slipped through my aura and landed on my scales. The rain increased to a heavy down pour.
“Ha, take that, misogynistic bastard.” I heard his voice through the black rain. My body felt as if eons were passing. I was aware of every second. My mouth opened, it took hundreds of thousands of years. My mind fought against the eons passing. Time that I experienced expanded and stretched. My mouth opened wide. Mana that traveled all too slow began to flow into my lungs.
There was only one thought that passed through my mind as my mana collected. I wasn’t wrong. My mind cycled back, and I witnessed my past I walked through it experiencing everything on repeat. The history I witnessed, reinforced my goal. Humanity would only prosper under my careful rule. Statues would be erected of the great philosophers and scientists of old. Under my rule humanity would remember the past and move forward.
The rain ended, and my mana collected in my maw and I exhaled. Davis managed to dodge out of the way. As my control over mana returned, I fired two more shots at the reaper. My MP was cut down to half. Three more shots and that was it.
The reaper appeared behind me in a cloud of darkness and slashed my back three times. My spine was ripped apart each time only to heal back. Every time the nerves reattached pain shot through my body like a white-hot distraction.
“Why won’t you die?” Davis said in a chuckle. I started laughing with him. My voice was infused with multiple skills.
“What’s so funny?” Davis said.
“I’ve been fighting you like a I would when I first spawned on this world. I’ve grown too strong, I felt that using under handed tactics were no longer necessary. Because of that you were able to damage me.” My tendrils drew rings of light in the air. The rings were closed light fibers. My tendrils stretched out and the rings slid down stacking on each other.
“What tactics do you have that could possibly kill me. I’m death, entropy made physical. The only way to pass me is to successfully answer my question.” No, he is a dark type. The rings clenched around my fire tendrils coating them in light mana.
“Let’s try this again. Entropy rain.” Davis said. He cast a globe of darkness in the air and darkness began to rain down. The light from my rings protected me from the rain.
“It’s as I thought. Your entropy rain is just an illusion. It forces the mind to believe time is passing faster than it is. Its both a visual medium and a status effect. All the same it is still a dark type skill. With enough light your skill is negated.” I threw a few lightballs that expanded lighting the area.
Davis’s status changed.
Davis the common undead lv100
A simple adventurer who died early in the dungeon. He has one unique skill illusions. A dark type skill that can alter perceived reality. Beware his skill is at a level that can fool the enemy into experiencing thousands of years in a second
. I dashed forward and drove one of my light fire tendrils through his chest. His undead face turned into a mask of pain, as the light burned him from the inside out.
“Wait, let me tell you why I entered the dungeon. If I tell you maybe.” I sliced him into bits and blasted the remains with a fireball.
“Nothing you say matters at this point, you're dead and nothing more than a dungeon boss. Good bye David, Daniel, Danny, or whatever your name is.” I left the chest and went on to the 8th floor.