Day 19

Fu was gone, and that gave me time to rest against a tree and catch my breath. My knees, elbows, and wrists ached from the sheer force placed on them by using so many skills together. Regeneration had healed them, but my brain hadn't caught up to the fact. While my joints were no longer inflamed, the signals still traveled to my brain, telling me they were.

My Mapping skill wasn't wrong; the boss arena was the web-covered trees up ahead, and the great spider Rong Da waited for me there. The way the threads of silk clung to the trees, I was certain a windstorm would just exhaust me with little to show for it. Either the dungeon was getting wise to my tricks, or Rong Da paid attention.

I could feel my heartbeat erratically, and my veins pulse against my skin. Fighting my way through the town the way I did came at a price. A smarter man would retreat and count their chickens. Thoughts of what to do about future tamers came to mind.

There had to be roosters with the Psychic or Telepathy skill to pass on. High Willpower monsters were the hardest to control with tamer skills. Most intermediate tamers wouldn't try to take my chickens or Gwen if their levels were high enough. In less than 6 months, I could have a generation of tamer, skill-resistant monsters to work for me.

My bottom line hadn't changed since I thought up a way to win against the tamers. A telepathic hivemind with me at the center could work maybe something closer to a nationalistic ideal rather than an overmind. All we needed was to make it too much trouble for the tamers to bother with. Having a town with hundreds of members would be a good start. Once I was out of debt, my privilege would increase allowing me to buy items from the shop that would help start a hamlet.

It was naive, and I knew it. The greater defense against the tamers was Rasputin itself. While there were powerful monsters in the territory, no one wanted to settle. Despite having monsters at their command, tamers seemed to prefer modern conveniences rather than dropping feces in the woods. Only the strong ones would normally come this way in search of wild dungeons. Most of them didn't live long enough to be a problem, or they became so strong the league eagerly gave them official positions.

Once upon a time, I wouldn't have thought the way I did. I wanted to believe that the league was good and gave official positions to the powerful tamers because they earned them. The more I looked at the situation, the more I understood it was an appeasement to the people with small armies at their command. We were supposed to be a republic after we cast down the nobles, but since the old countries of Weston became the Weston League, I knew better. We were a society filled with petty warlords that could at any time wipe out towns if they weren't given their way.

I might not have a personal army, but I was becoming like them, a petty warlord. By my own power, I sacked a town held by rank 2 monsters. We should be comparable; they had skills and attributes similar to mine. Even without attributes in physical or mind totaling 500, it felt like I was touching on rank 3. Reaching that kind of power shouldn't work, but my skills kept my body going far beyond what it should be able to handle. Some skills I didn't think I was using came into play, helping me avoid the worst of the consequences of my actions and granting me a little more power.

Telekinesis was playing its part despite my lack of experience. The effects were slight, but the skill reached synergizing with Lingering Will. When I wasn't careful, and I let my Willpower slip, I saw things, images of powerful Psychic monsters. They whispered things I couldn't understand with my waking mind. My subconscious heard them, and the pressure on my joints from hard turns lessened.

I gripped my head and let my stress fall away. There would be no going into the dungeon tomorrow. I knew that for a fact, there was too much to do, and I needed time to explore my skills. Telekinesis wasn't supposed to be passive, but Lingering Will had shown it the way, and I had a feeling my class would ensure I had a large payout in skill levels.

Leaving with all my cash and prizes would be the wise thing to do. I stood up slowly and felt my knees bend without any pain signals. I couldn't tell if it was because they stopped or my Telepathy stopped them. Maybe my Regeneration halted them, or Berserk was blocking them out.

Within a dungeon, skills couldn't gain levels, and attributes couldn't increase due to skills. Only through class leveling could I gain attributes in a dungeon. Exceptions included safe zones, items, and legendary skills.

The path to the boss arena was littered with dried-out husks covered loosely in spider silk. Maneaters watched me slipping down from their webs and giggling in the darkness. There were many faces, but none looked the same. Bodies cried out overhead while the monsters fed on their struggling prey. A body fell, struggling in front of me, and the maneaters watched in amusement. My blade flashed from its sheath, and I saw the red pulsing wound from one of their bites on a chimera rabbit. Skin bloated like a water balloon and her eyes were swollen shut. An oozing wound covered her side, where she had been fed upon multiple times, deflating her stomach.

"Our venom dissolves everything, even the bones, eventually. All that is left are husks. That is your fate, brave man. Poor you, coming into our nest and watching us feed such a degenerate. Don't bother asking to be food; your actions have spoken to us like the words of a poet."

"You like poetry." My chainswords revved in anticipation. "Roses are red. Violets are blue. You will wish you were dead. My chainswords are going inside you."

Fell energy encircled my body, black as pitch lining a small field of Telekinesis. It had happened following Lingering Will. The two forces were too synergistic; when I used one, the other followed, and controlling fell energy grew easier with time. It was an invigorating feeling to see the faces of the maneaters light up and show their surprise before I moved into Gemini Waltz.

My body moved in a dance; my chainswords were my partners, and they flashed, cleaving through the bodies of spider monsters with glee as I danced down the road leading to the boss arena. Any maneaters that approached were turned into meat slurry as I searched for balance in my skills.

I let the memories of monsters trickle into my waking mind as Gemini Waltz, Lingering Will, and Telekinesis mixed in ways they were never designed to. Gemini Waltz came from a monster that craved aristocratic prestige, a crow monster of the 3rd rank learning the dances of high society. They used shadow and light to cast illusions while dancing around opponents.

Telekinesis belonged to a powerful fox monster that craved new knowledge and searched for it using their psychic might to defeat their enemies. Despite the nature of foxes, the ones in my inherited memories acted more like ogres wielding clubs than sneaky foxes. Lingering Will came from a skill tree, but it wasn't exempt from images filtering in my mind; they were of long-dead monsters clinging to life through unfinished business. Over time, their bodies animated something that reminded them of their past to drive them into the future. Each set of memories was different yet the skills synergized in such a way, taking pieces of each origin and forming it into something new.

My blade cut through the last spider, and I wasn't breathing hard. I couldn't feel even the slightest ache from my joints. Despite moving faster than normal, I didn't feel an ache from behind my right eye. My skills hadn't increased at all I knew that for a fact, then what changed?

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It was a question that eluded me as I made my way into the arena, where larger bodies spun in dark silver webs.

"My children failed to guard me. There are few from that generation left to take their punishment. I will have to eat from the one after theirs to replace the fats I'm about to burn." Massive yellow eyes burned through the darkness as I approached a monster at the very edge of ranking up. Telepathic tendrils pushed against my mind but failed to find purchase against the fell energy surrounding me. "What is that expression you're wearing? I haven't seen it like before." Rong Da said.

The wind picked up far easier to wield with the amount of psychic energy my Telekinesis produced. Even Rong Da's Telepathy produced a little psychic energy to help me along. No skills interfered with my efforts, so I blatantly took control of the fell energy and started off with some light breezes from Fell Wind. Before the monster revealed itself, I knew it had a Willpower attribute strong enough to ignore the primary effect of Fell Wind. Even the chimera rabbit mid-boss slowed down her attacks when under its effect.

"Answer me, human."

"Oh, you know what I am; that's interesting. I didn't think the dungeon gave you that kind of information."

Silver threads fired into fully formed nets, racing after me at incredible speeds. I moved, and trapdoors opened, revealing massive maneater spiders. My blades flashed, cutting off their limbs the moment they moved into my 5ft telepathic range. They were slowed by my Fell Wind when they exposed themselves to the open air, slowing them down long enough to notice them and swing in time with Gemini Waltz.

The long nose of the boss slid into view under what little sunlight entered the through silver spider silk and long dead trees. A white face larger than any I had ever seen with the fangs of a spider sticking between red-painted lips. Multiple eyes covered her head, glowing yellow and reflecting the low sunlight streaming into the arena. Atrophied insect wings stretched out behind her head along with the limbs of mantises. Her cheeks bulged, and I felt a massive tongue stick to my chest.

Before I could swing, I was in the monster's mouth. Luckily, my foot found a groove in the teeth at my feet, locking me in place. Rong Da's teeth came down as mucus blasted my body. My left hand rose the meet my foe. Sparks flew into the darkness, revealing teeth aplenty lining the inner layers of the Chimera Maneater's throat. Small organs with tiny eyes at their stalks stretched out from between teeth in her hard palate. They locked onto me before tentacles emerged as I struggled to hold the monster's teeth at bay.

The biting force of the monster made my knees wobble and my elbow shake. Sparks lighting up the darkness were all I had to see as I slashed at the tentacles, aiming to take my weapons away. Rong Da's head shook as I felt my blade sink into a tooth, spraying bone chips out its exhaust. The tongue rose behind the tentacles and smashed into me. My body slammed into a silver spider web before pulling back until my fell energy control failed. I adjusted my control and leaned forward in the same motion, feeling a heavy thrum over my right eye.

Adhesives were dangerous when I couldn't turn or remove the connection at will. If my skin touched one of those silver webs, I would leave the flesh behind.

"What is that expression? Why won't it leave?"

The boss monster's lips frowned into a snarl, exposing lines on the monster's cheeks. I held my chainswords out wide facing down. The tongue lashed out, and it hit an afterimage, and my blades caught its side as I cut from side to side, and I ran its length. Rong Da screeched, and I shifted to deflect the monster's scythe arms. A massive spider leg lashed out, pointed like a spear.

I felt the blow stab into my shoulder and out the other side. My blade slashed on instinct, cutting the limb at the joint and spraying me with vicious, hot green blood. I popped the top and took my health potion immediately. Regeneration worked with it to heal the fist-sized hole in my shoulder. I grabbed the limb and pulled it slowly out of me while dodging Rong Da's attacks.

Afterimages swallowed 3 consecutive blows, and she missed others thanks to Gemini Blitz.

"Why won't it go away?"

"You know they have creams for that," I said.

Rong Da spat a wad of boiling blood at me that turned into crystalline spears. When I ducked under the first attack, she spat 12 more in an instant. One of them hit my side, slicing through my breastplate like it wasn't there. I threw my blade in rage, and it flew true.

Throughout the entire fight, telepathic probes were launched one after the other in rapid succession, searching for any sign of weakness. The seemingly miniscule effort slowed her down enough to be caught off guard.

Her right eye, larger than my body, took the blade before she could blink. Flesh poured out of the boss monster's eye as she gouged at her face with her spear-like legs and scythe arms. I had thrown that weapon true, and its rotary saw naturally pushed it forward.

The screaming continued until the monster gave up on stopping the blade lost in its body and focused its attention on me. I clicked off my remaining blade and sheathed it.

"Get that look off your face."

"Rong Da, I regret having to kill you to get what I need. If you asked nicely, I would get my chainsword out of your eye."

"Are you bargaining for me to let you go after what you've done?" Rong Da asked.

All around the arena, the wind picked up heavier than I had managed before. I understood how to use Fell Wind and Fell Cyclone better than before. Resources were required for the skills to work to the fullness of their potential. Between my constant Telekinesis, Telepathy, and Rong Da's Telepathy, there was plenty of fuel. She had tried to kill me quickly, there was no doubt about it, but her constant telepathic attacks had altered the timetable.

"There is an Easton quote I love. You have eyes but can't see Mt. Tai. The only way I could have lost was if you killed me about 10 seconds ago."

A cyclone began spinning, starting small with low winds surrounding the entire boss arena. The spider shot forward at blinding speeds, but I let the wind take me lightening my body with Crow Step. Afterimages were destroyed as the wind picked up. As if she couldn't control herself, she continued bombarding me with telepathic attacks. The wind picked up, accelerating while I flew with it.

Rong Da fired blood crystal spears at me like artillery while I fired back with Psy Bolts. Every blast did little damage but added to the cyclone's power. The wind tore open the nest above, shattered fossilized trees, and exposed the arena to the sun. Rong Da failed to leave it. She remained as the black wind swallowed the light, and debris from the shattered trees became shrapnel.

I floated over the Cyclone as her every long-range attack was swept into it and blasted down with Psy Bolts. Even if they couldn't damage her, they helped fuel the cyclone. I felt it when she slipped and fell under the wind. She stuck her thread to the ground only for it to rip up immediately and launch into her. Fossilized wood splinters pierced her face and eyes until she was blinded completely. My head pounded from the effort to control so much Fell Wind, but I kept it up the job wasn't done.

I descended, forcing the shrapnel to avoid me as I floated in front of her. She couldn't move so tangled in her web and struggling to hold on. My chainsword revved but the sound was deafened by the wind. I held it in both hands, no longer using Gemini Waltz. The stance I used was basic and strong. Fell energy longed my blade, consuming the remaining energy in the storm. My head continued throbbing as blood seeped down my face, and the wind slowed.

"Is this why you smile so arrogantly? Was I dead before our battle began?" Rong Da asked.

"No, this was the closest battle I've ever won. You fought well and almost beat me. Let our next meeting be under happier circumstances, and be nicer to your children. They deserve a mother better than a tyrant that eats them for sport." I said.

The monster ground her teeth and tried to stand. "I won't be talked down to by an arrogant beast like you."

"I smiled because you gave me a good time. Fighting you was an experience I'm not going to forget. I know I'll be able to go to the second floor immediately, but I wouldn't mind fighting you again when you're even stronger." I said.

Black fell energy erupted along my blade and collapsed in on itself, forming triangular shards following my chainsword's revolutions. When the wind stilled, and my weapon had all the power it could withstand, I stabbed forward. A line of black appeared, making and hand-wide cut bisecting the boss monster.

I watched my chainsword, enthralled by its changed appearance. The silver metal had turned black and small triangular motes of fell energy appeared from the blade. Reality set in, and the blade returned to its silver finish.

Rong Da was dead. I knew it for sure when the edges of her body began dissolving, and the dungeon was sure I had no plans to eat it. I moved to the side of the monster where its head had been bisected and saw my other chainsword piercing a pink hunk of brain matter among white matter. Pieces of pink crystal flew into the air and fell in sparkling motes as my chainsword still struggled to kill the boss monster even after I killed it.

The boss monster hadn't been the same as the original. Proof that the dungeon had changed. I gripped the handle of my weapon and turned it off. After giving it an inspection, I found permanent changes. My headache from the battle felt a little lighter. It wasn't an enchantment; there were no runes in place or engravings. Something like radiation had entered my chainsword, changing it.

From the drops, I found two rare skill shards, a stack of Westons that I couldn't spend, and a solid black breastplate engraved to increase my Constitution by 1 for every skill with silk or spider in its name I had. I didn't have a use for it, but it would automatically resize in the dungeon. Fu could see some use in it.

Rare Skill Shards

Psychic (R)

Blood Temple (R)

Blood Temple was the skill needed to make Blood Drain usable at all. Blood skills weren't great without tons of supporting skills, monsters, and equipment. Under the right conditions, blood skills can be a nightmare. Getting enough blood skills to turn me into one was a challenge. There was probably an uncommon blood skill I was missing to complete the floor 1 set before it could start becoming useful.

Maybe there was another secret at Blood Lake. As for Psychic it was the support needed to take my Telepathy, Telekinesis, and Psy Bolts to the next level. Psychic could do all three of those skills; it even had an individual mastery along with Telepathy and Telekinesis. Basically, there was no way I would pass up two rare skills.

Ping!

New Skills

Psychic (R) lvl1

Blood Temple (R) lvl1

I had no more loose ends to tie up as I felt the portal to the 2nd floor appear. It would open anywhere on the 1st floor I wanted out of combat. It was time to be home and not be in a combat zone for a while. I snapped my fingers, and a portal back home appeared. That would be so useful.