So it turns out that when I said unknown, apparently what I meant was completely and utterly known. This hallway was entirely too fucking long. I was planning on waiting until I found a good spot to rest to check my notifications, but I didn’t think I was going to find one anytime soon.
*Ding* Congratulations, You have learned your first spell: Basic Telekinesis. Most have to meditate on their elements for hours to learn even a mediocre spell, but you… you know what? You get it at this point. Blah blah blah, cheater whatever. I’m not even surprised anymore. You need to find something to do, other than being an affront to hard work. I’m going to get bored
Yeah well, it’s not like I’m doing it on purpose. Iva has given me so much shit over being overpowered, yet they are the one that gave me increased learning speed and left me in the fucking Void for eons. This is one hundred percent on them. Whatever, I was not going to try to comprehend the will of a being that’s bigger than a star by magnitudes. I needed to do something productive instead of arguing with someone who likes to see me agitated. Time to move, I want to get out of this dungeon.
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The hallway extended for what felt like miles. The only difference was the amount of doors showing up, and how often they were opened. The malformed imps I ran into were no longer a challenge, after all, they all do the same opening move. Sometime later, I noticed a pattern in how the monsters spawned. The rooms with imps in them would have charred door frames. There was something else I wasn’t noticing too, I was sure of it. The charred doorways were a good first clue, but there had to be more going on. Something didn’t feel right.
Passing one of the doorways, I decide that I would try this one without void reinforcement maxed out. I enter the room, and as normal the malformed imp turns to look at me. It pauses so it can hauntingly look into my eyes like all the rest have. At this point, I think it’s supposed to be an intimidation tactic, or maybe a try at pity to lower my guard. That may have worked the first time, but this is not my first rodeo any longer. Even as it launches itself forward to gut me, I am already dodging back, sword in hand. With 5x reinforcement off, it’s harder to follow, but I’ve done this enough times now that it’s practically muscle memory. Unfortunately, those muscles are accustomed to fighting five times faster, so I only barely managed to dodge its second attempt at great bodily harm.
However, even as I felt the tips of its fiery claws nearly graze my eyes, I did not panic. It has a short moment after springing forward where it’s vulnerable, and I need to take advantage of that. On its fourth pass at my neck, I bend my spine slightly backward, wasting as little movement as I can. By the time it lands, I am already moving towards it, and before it can turn around to try and turn me into glorified ground beef, I slash horizontally and decapitate it. This is a very important step, as if you miss this it will become much more dangerous. You know, the fire body and all that.
After the fight, I collect its core using Basic Telekinesis. I eventually tried seeing if its viscera had any special properties as its ash does, but it's most likely that the fire-form is what gives the ash its mystical properties. According to Examine, its body is ‘completely mundane’, with no special alchemical characteristics. It did say it was edible though, and I regret that I had to take note of that. Just in case.
Walking down the hallway, I began checking every door religiously, if they weren’t charred I would stop paying attention to them. During this, I amassed quite a few cores, but I decided to use them later. Something about these endless halls began to feel eerie, and I didn’t feel safe enough to let my guard down for even a few minutes. This hall feels… more imposing? No, imposing isn’t the right word. Is it getting bigger? The hall does seem larger than before, but I can’t be sure if I’m imagining it or not.
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I’m sure of it now, the hall is getting bigger. I started checking the number of marble tiles there were in between both walls. Each tile is roughly three by three feet, and there were five between the walls. Now there are six. The hall went from fifteen to eighteen feet, and if I wasn’t counting the fucking tiles I would never have noticed.
I've been walking for about six hours, and I was able to ignore it before, but I’m so hungry. I don’t know how long that meditation session with Valin was, but I suspect it was a bit longer than I previously thought. God, I feel light-headed.
I… I did something I’m not necessarily proud of, but I am not hungry anymore, so that’s good news I suppose. Did you know demons taste spicy? I didn’t. I also learned a new spell. Very useful for cooking, and also very pretty. Blue flames are incredibly charming.
New Spell Acquired! You have gained: Basic Pyromancy(H).
Runic Formula: ⊛⌽≎(1)˚≎1085⊉║⍔
Cost: 30vp/s
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I don’t know how long I’ve been walking. It feels like the dungeon is trying to wear me down. Valin is concerned that I won’t take a break, but he doesn’t get it. I’m being watched. The pain from being out of balance isn’t helping either, reinforcing myself constantly is a good way to level up apparently. Eventually, I passed another doorway, not surprising as that seems to be the only thing in this godforsaken place, but this one was different. The doorframe wasn’t charred, it was… soggy? The moment I made the connection, I realized I had passed several wet doors, though this was the first open one, I think. In a panic, I turned around to… nothing. This place is making me paranoid.
Or so I thought. I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and without a thought, I dive forward. I feel a slight blast of wind graze the back of my neck, as I barely make it out of the way. I quickly turn around once more, but there’s nothing in front of me! I unsheath my sword and put my head on a swivel, but once again I don’t notice anything until it’s nearly too late. This time, Valin is the one who alerts me to the shifting air currents that suggest a moving entity behind me. I dodge forwards, but this time I feel more in control, now that there's a way to detect this mysterious enemy.
I stand in the middle of the hall, waiting. I can’t attack first because of its apparent invisibility. This time, I feel the movement of air currents behind me and attack first with a quick turn that leads into a horizontal slash. In front of me was a patch of bleeding air. With my great intelligence, I put together that air doesn’t bleed normally, and attacked the, now partly visible, target. I slashed at it with an overhead chop that it barely avoided, still taking a slight cut to its… abdomen?
It scrambled back to try and gain distance, but I didn’t let it escape. Following it with great vigor, I continued to slash at it from all angles, while the beast panicked and tried to look for an escape route. Eventually, it couldn’t dodge fast enough, and I got its entire arm! Oh goddamn it! It’s another fucking imp! I’d recognize that scrawny, claw-tipped arm anywhere, even if it didn’t have the fiery pattern.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Lacking an arm, sensing my distraction, and noticing that escape wasn’t an option, the imp decided now was the best time to try and kill me. And the method it chose was to… spring itself at me. The attack I’d seen twenty times now. Needless to say, the moment it left its feet, I stepped to the right and slashed at it as it passed me, completely bisecting it. After it landed I gave it a quick stab to the brain to make sure it wouldn’t pull any sudden magical upgrades out of its ass. Rule one: Don’t expect a cornered opponent to give up, especially not in a fucking dungeon. I'm Not making that mistake again.
Inspecting the demon, I noticed a few immediate differences. For one, its body was put together considerably better. It had digitigrade legs that were lean and muscular, and arms that, while long, were not freakishly so. Overall looked like a demonic, small, and very deadly person. Except for its face. Its face was the same. It just had a clear, gel-like membrane covering its sockets, instead of fiery embers within them. Oh well, inspecting it can only take me so far.
‘Examine’
You have found a Vapor Imp
Vapor Imps are famed for being one of the stealthiest low-level creatures around, only beaten out by creatures with the refraction affinity. They are not completely invisible, but unless you have senses that can detect heat, they might as well be. Some high-level individuals claim that they can see a slight shimmer where these imps are, but they are so far above you that you shouldn’t even try to emulate them. Or do, maybe Valin can pull a spell out of his ass to save the day for you. God forbid you find a solution for once.
I’m seriously starting to get sick of Iva’s shit. Are they in a mood or something? I'm half convinced this ancient fucking Voidborn is bipolar. Whatever, nothing can be done about it. For now. I haven’t forgotten what Valin is, or what he’s capable of. What I’m capable of. I just need to get stronger, and then maybe I can put them in their place. That is a dream for another day, though, and I need to get moving once again.
The hallway has expanded once again. It is now twenty-four feet wide. The doors are ever more common. Now appearing every ten feet, almost always already opened, meaning that if I walk past the inhabitants will take offense and try to rip my throat out. How nice. The pain from being imbalanced is starting to get too much, so I need to absorb the Cores I’ve collected. First, I want to find a safe place to do so. I decided on a cleared-out Malformed Imp room.
They look like normal bedrooms, if maybe a bit sparse in decor. The bed was sized for a child, or maybe just a very small person. Only about four feet long, with blankets that were quilted, it reminds me of something that I can’t quite recall. I think I used to have a blanket like that. Quilted by someone very important to me. I just… can’t remember who. I just know that I miss them. I’m so tired. Maybe I should just close my eyes for a second.
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I open my eyes in the Void, or firmament in this case. The only difference is that the firmament is essentially an elemental plane made up of Void with other elements floating in it. Just a matter of definitions really. Defining the Void is a pointless endeavor anyway. It is ever-changing. Ever Creating. Ever Destroying.
I don’t know why Valin decided to bring me here, but it is very relaxing. Like a sensory deprivation tank. Whatever that is. You know, It’s really inconvenient that all the things my subconscious compares things to are also unknown. We are an inherently pattern-seeking species, but comparing an unknown to another unknown is the epitome of unhelpful.
God, it’s nice here. No wonder I wanted to go back to sleep when Iva first woke me.
Pulling me out of my relaxation, Valin decided now was the best time to show me why he brought me here. In front of me, the Void stays still, but the elemental nebulas start reversing their rotation, slowly at first, then faster and faster until they completely disappear. Did Valin just rewind the galaxy? Oh yeah, I’m in a dream, I guess it wouldn’t be too hard to do that.
Now in front of me is complete darkness. No elemental lights are illuminating the void. Valin sends me the impression that this was how things were for an inconceivably long time. This is the beginning, and it’s almost incomprehensible to look at. Not because of the darkness, but because of the stillness. Normally the Void acts like an ocean, with swirling currents constantly in motion, but not here. It's just completely and utterly still.
Then, a colorless point in space sets the Firmament alight with movement! An elemental nebula emerges from the Firmament itself! Valin informs me that this is the very first element that he created. Spacetime. Woah, wait a goddamn second, how were… when were… how did… WHAT! How did you even exist in space, if there was no space!? Valin simply stated that he hadn’t created non-existence yet, so he existed everywhere. That’s insane! I don’t know how I’m still surprised by the weird shit you show me.
Before he can show me more, I wake up on the bed, with my feet hanging off the end. That was interesting. I don’t know what that vision implies for how the universe works, but I’m excited to learn more. I have shit to do though, and I can’t spend all my time pondering the mysteries of everything.
I sat on the bed with my legs crossed and started absorbing the cores one by one. I absorbed twenty-four cores, twenty-three from the malformed, and one from the vapor. Let's see how far I’ve gotten.
‘Status’
Name: Sylen
Affinities: Void
Champion Rank (L)Novice, 6
Stage: Novice-(Low) →(Mid)
Level: Soul 5 → 9 Body 6 → 9
Resources:
Health:196/230 → 500/500
Health Regen: 28.8hp/h → 61.2hp/s
Stamina: 230/230 → 490/490
Stamina Regen: 163.2sp/m → 417.6sp/m
Void: 540/540 → 840/840
Void Regen: 4.5vp/s → 9.9vp/s
Attributes:
-Vitality: 23 → 50
-Endurance: 22 → 49
-Strength: 25 → 52
-Dexterity: 27 → 54
-Intelligence: ∞/ 54→ 84
-Wisdom: ∞/ 45 → 99
-Mastery: 27→ 42
-Perception: 28→ 43
-Charm: 48(-50%) 14 → 24
Skills:
Darksight (Legendary) (Passive)
Climbing (Basic) (Passive)
Swordsmanship (Basic) (Passive)
Void Manipulation (Advanced) (Active)
Void Reinforcement (Basic) (Active)(Passive)
Fear Resistance (Advanced) (Passive)
Examine (Basic) (Active)
Damn. That's more than double my previous stats. If I’m this strong at level nine then how strong are people at level twenty or higher? How strong is someone at level one hundred? I’m going to go ahead and assume they're at the level of 'A sneeze will turn me into dust’ and not fuck with anyone above my level. But wait, but how can I tell if someone is above my level? Maybe examine? I'll have to try it on the next imp. Maybe after another five minutes on this bed, though, it's so comfortable.