Day 18

The sun had crested behind the tree line when I stepped out of the dungeon. Notifications and adjustments hit me one after the other with constant chimes. Once they finished several notifications merged into a single document informing me of the gains I obtained within the dungeon. I felt it then as the power restraining all gains outside of levels no longer restricted me. A whirlwind of conflicting feelings, odd sensations, and pulsing muscles stole my breath.

While gains could be made within dungeons, their effects didn't truly activate until an adventurer left. Not all dungeons were so restrictive, but those were the general rules expected in dungeons.

My lungs felt like they were burning as I struggled to get enough air in them to keep standing through the changes. I felt so different. As my muscles bulged and my vision changed, a grin appeared on my face. This wasn't just a small jump; I could feel a major change happening, like I crossed a milestone. The only comparison I could think of would be ranking up for monsters. Mia once described what her pseudo rank up from 0 to 1 and what I felt from my attribute gains through Training was similar.

Slowly, breathing became easier as my body adjusted to the new normal, and all the skills I gained folded their knowledge into me. There was so much I had gotten wrong about attributes that I hadn't thought to ask. From this latest dungeon drive, my intelligence increased, and I realized it affected my ability to process skill information. My Wisdom was so low, along with my charisma. While I wanted a willpower build, neglecting every attribute would be a mistake.

"If being a normal human was impossible, then I would be a superhuman," I said.

Humans who gained too many attributes that made them a danger to the public were known in polite society as superhumans. In reality, they were treated as human monsters, beings too much for the weak, extremely specialized populace. Most of the time, they were mages or those with special battle classes. They had an easier time finding permanent items to increase their attributes in dungeons and used them to equalize them.

Using Training to equalize attributes was unheard of. It was a skill with slow returns and was hard on the body. Without Regeneration, it would have destroyed me; without Adapt, it would have hardly leveled, and without Berserk, I couldn't have forced myself to empower it. This wasn't an unknown or special combination, but humans don't use it. No one wants to accidentally mow down a crowd while playing Monster on the go on their phone.

Someone with 25 attributes across the board would barely feel human. 50, and everyone around someone like that would feel like balloons full of blood, ready to burst at the slightest touch.

That's why what I'm doing would be foolish if I had any hope of returning to polite society.

Ping!

+2 Constitution, +3 Strength, +2 Dexterity,

+1 Agility, +3 Perception, +1 Willpower,

+2 Focus, +1 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom.

Dungeon Manager lvl20, Berserk lvl31, Training lvl35,

Regeneration lvl30, Adapt lvl35, Lingering Will lvl30,

Gemini Waltz lvl25, Gemini Blitz lvl15, Blitz Kick lvl11,

Crow Step lvl25, Final Blow lvl22, Fell Wind lvl35,

Cosmic Tempo lvl18, First Strike lvl16, Bond lvl11,

Fell Whirlwind lvl20, Mapping lvl11.

Skill Points: 165

Skill Trees

Monster Management 0/500

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Baron of Cyclones 0/300

Embers of Fallen Heroes I 56/250

Lord of Squalls 0/200

Black Rage II 0/100

Blue Moon 0/100

Black Wings 0/75

Final Impact 0/50

Way of the Homestead 0/50

Alter of Change 0/50

Resistance is Elemental 0/50

The key to moving forward seemed to be gaining more skills. If Blue Moon was what I thought it was, then it was exactly what I needed. Alter of Change came from Training and would definitely help me gain attributes faster.

For normal monsters and people with classes, skill trees were hard to finish out, and few people completed even 10 in their lifetimes. Most people specialize to avoid becoming completely inhuman. I was special.

To my shame and utter joy, I was on the right track finally to break free.

Blue Moon 100/100

+6 Willpower

+9 Wisdom

New Skill Tree

Blue Moon II 0/150

Words tumbled out of my mouth before I could control them. "Wyrm anal ulcers, Oni blue thumb, and bleeding vampire tumors. Blue Moon wasn't a series, cheater." Wind blasted dirt up all around me as I struggled to contain myself.

I glared at the slow, darkening blue sky. The system we all used was run by the grand champion, but even he had limits. He couldn't alter an already generated skill tree. I should have gotten a skill.

My kick sent a rock hurtling until it embedded itself into a tree.

15 attributes were a good haul, and I couldn't expect a blue magic skill from only 100 skill points. I knew that fundamentally, but I wanted it so bad. If I had known I wouldn't get a skill, I would have finished off Embers of Fallen Heroes.

50 points went into my next skill tree.

Alter of Change 50/50

New Skill

Skill Fusion lvl1

Description: Skills can be combined to form new skills with varying results depending on the synergy between skills. Skills fused can grow in rarity, growing in power. Higher levels will more easily fuse skills with less synergy increase rarity, and power of the new skill.

That wasn't bad. I could live with that.

"Now, what am I going to do with you."

Veronica, the chicken monster opened her eyes then and glared at me. There wasn't much more she could do bound up like she was. I could feel a bond between us but little else.

+1 Willpower

"If you don't want to speak, then you don't have to. We're almost home." It felt good to have a conversation partner again.

"What are you going to do to me?" Veronica asked.

"I'm going to feed you a steady diet perfect for producing eggs. Then, I'm going to sell them to cooks and bakers around the world. In exchange, you get to live with me, eat my food, and not get cooked in my oven. Does that sound like a good deal to you?" I felt like I trying more in this conversation than I had in a long time.

The chicken monster shivered. She was definitely stronger than me, but when our eyes met, she shivered like a leaf. I could tell from her physical attributes she should be able to wipe the floor with me. Lingering Will could only do so much.

"I will be good. What about my friends?" Veronica asked.

"There were no other survivors. But don't worry, the dungeon I found you in will surely restart the scenario when I enter next. I'll be sure to get a copy of either yourself or maybe some of your friends."

"I don't understand what that means, sir," Veronica said.

I nodded that made sense. I didn't really explain much to her, and I probably sounded like an insane person. How could I explain to someone their entire history was a fabrication by a reality-shifting hunk of quartz?

"Imagine you are a story written by a person that only exists on paper. Then, some all-powerful being decided that they wanted to act out their favorite scenes from that story. So they make you with all your memories intact and put you in a location surrounded by friends from your story. None of your life has been truly experienced; all your memories are artificial." I paused at that and looked up dungeon monster notes, only to be banned from the site without the proper privilege of certain classes. "From this point forward, everything is very real, I assure you," I said.

She continued to look at me like I had two heads.

Talking was exhausting, and being polite was even worse. I rubbed my head. No, I hadn't been polite because I messed up the most important part.

"My name is Atom Walker, and I know you are Veronica. Let's be friends. I don't have many of those."

"Apparently, neither do I."

"So another Veronica will appear with all my memories. Were there others, or am I the first?" Veronica asked.

She was adapting quickly to her new life. I hoped that was a good sign.

"Yes, as far as I know. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll have an entire legion of you soon. Dungeons normally reset after 12 hours. So I'll go in and find some friends for you tomorrow. Until then, I'm sure you will enjoy all the corn you can eat."

"I don't like corn."

I blinked, and suddenly, all my plans were ruined. What was I going to feed her if not corn?"

"You're human, right? Well, don't make that face. Not all corn is the same; maybe I'll like yours." I nodded slowly.

"What do you prefer to eat?"

"Bug monsters, I like the juicy worms the most. Do you have any of those?" I glanced around at the trees and spotted a rotten log in the distance. The wind blowing gently around me found a 6ft worm larger than my torso inside.

I opened the log with my chiansword and pulled the massive soft worm free.

A new screen appeared in my vision when I gave the massive green caterpillar to Veronica.

Bond Screen

Battle Chicken

Veronica Reputation 0/100 Neutral +20

Veronica Reputation 20/100 Acquaintance

I quickly checked for Gwen and surprisingly found her.

White Fawn

Sandy Reputation -40/100 Despised

My fists tightened, and the wind picked up. Once my debt was paid, there would be a reckoning between that tamer and me.