Chapter 53: Chapter 45, Dungeon recluse

Chapter 45, Dungeon recluse

 

 

After having to backtrack for the second time on the 17th floor, fighting against a new horde of lizards I enter a winding corridor going back and forwards like a labyrinth. The lighting gets steadily darker and the passage narrower the further I go, the emerald crystals seemingly quickening in the frequency of pulses. When the corridor is no more than 5 meters wide I come upon another plant monster, nothing special as it’s just vines with thorns.

The further I go though and the narrower the corridor the more such plants I encounter until I can’t even see the way forward, their wriggling and agitated limbs too tightly packed together. Throwing a ball of celestial flame at the mass of monsters I continue slowly forwards, letting them burn to ashes while intermittently using my telekinesis skills to level them up, confining, crushing and blasting them when the cooldowns have passed.

Eventually I see some light shining through the remaining vines and I let my ring blade loose as it swiftly bisects the last obstructions, giving me a good look at the guardian chamber up ahead. Letting the fire burn out I slowly walk up next to the ring blade hovering at the end of the corridor, staring at the floor guardian in silence as it stares right back. I thought I’d seen the last of the horror known as [Goaters] but apparently not.

 

A brightly glowing and flickering lantern hangs in the center of the 40 meter wide, 15 meter high hemispherical dome that deviates starkly to the square and rectangular design seen previously. Water is running down cracks in the ceiling, dribbling from oversaturated moss and lichen, looking slightly greenish as the drops catch the glow from the emerald crystals, the crimson ones nowhere to be seen.

Cast into relief under the bright lantern is a 10 meter high and one meter thick woody vine, dozens of smaller vines protruding from it. The smaller vines are 8 meters long and have wicked barbs all over, ending with half a meter of bone shaped like serrated blades.

Hung from the top of the thick, woody vine is an enormous skull of a goat without horns, easily 2 meters in diameter. The unsettling, square pupil, crimson eyes and the 3 meter long split tongues with teeth are the only fleshy parts as the rest are moss covered bone. It’s like the dungeon took the worst of parts of everything and put it together.

 

 

[Deranged Liana Goater (Floor Guardian) - Level 320]

 

 

At my identification the guardian screams a high pitched and at the same time deep, guttural sound that’s loud enough to make the whole chamber tremble, the lantern flickering even more violently. The battle has begun.

 

I rush towards the guardian, the ring blade in front of me targeting the woody vine. The enormous monster bends its whole body and avoids getting struck by the ring blade, giving me an opening to throw a ball of celestial flames at its base. Swift as lightning one of the dozen serrated bone blades intercept the ball of flame, no doubt trying to disperse the flames before they reach it. The sticky flames are very annoying though and the crimson eyes brighten, as if in shock, as the golden flames quickly start creeping up the limb having tried to disperse it, refusing to go out no matter how much it’s shaken and flailed around.

Cutting the whole burning vine off with one of its own serrated blades and ducking beneath the returning ring blade, its enormous skull descends at me with enough speed that I barely manage to dodge. One of the nauseating tongues brush against my arm, cutting a few shallow lines into my flesh as the rest of the vines move in from all directions as if trying to trap me with it. I smile at that though as having its skull this close makes things easier.

Throwing another ball of celestial flames at a few of the vines for good measure, I grab the offending tongue and let the sharp teeth pierce my hand before yanking hard. The skull moves a little bit closer and ignoring the other tongues wrapping around me, shredding my flesh, I jump and twist clockwise into a spinning roundhouse kick, amplifying it with 10,000 mana worth of telekinetic force, my steel-toed boot connecting with its right side as I simultaneously activate [Defensive Ripple].

 

Cracks spread from the impact, dislodging bone shards but not breaking like I thought it would. Luckily the torn apart tongues, followed by the shockwave arrives a split second later, penetrating into the barely connected crania and breaking it apart like dry clay, flinging bone in all directions with enough force to go through a house. The skull, utterly destroyed was empty though and 4 serrated blades, now on fire, go straight for my airborne form.

Locking the kinetic mana of one of them and cutting two others off with the ring blade I divert the last one with [Telekinetic Force Manipulation], continuing my spin into a twirl before landing and somersaulting backwards. Keeping close to the burning and flailing vines trying to gore me, I let the fire do its work while I punch, kick, dodge and cut the vines apart. Staying close in the action for the fun of it and to lessen the mana drain from the celestial flames. I may have leveled [Arcane Manipulation] quite high but the mana drain over long distances is still exponentially worse.

Making some distance and letting the ring blade pass me at high speeds, heading straight for the root of the woody, central vine I dodge another thrust from a serrated blade before the impact. I don’t actually manage to cut cleanly through even with that high of a speed, showcasing the insane sturdiness of the monster. It’s no problem though.

Pulling the ring blade back and dodging two more attempts at my life, I lunge towards the central vine, sliding beneath two burning vines before kicking off the ground into a sideways twirl getting me between two serrated blades.

Passing the serrated blades gets me in perfect position and I kick with all the strength I can currently muster just above the deep cut. There’s a crack like thunder, my bones rattling from the impact before the 15,000 mana’s worth of telekinetic force amplify the strength to even greater height, the woody wine splintering into hundreds of shards.

Serrated blades and burning vines whip past me, some slicing or tearing me and one even severing my hand as the central vine and all its connected parts thunder into the wall next to the pieces of cranium.

 

 

Ding! You have slain [Deranged Liana Goater (Floor Guardian) - Level 320]. Bonus experience awarded.

Ding! You have cleared the 17th floor of the Grizklesat dungeon.

Ding! You have cleared the Grizklesat dungeon. Bonus experience awarded.

 

 

Cutting the power to the flames and regenerating my hand, testing it by opening and closing it a few times, I start walking towards the carcass. It was quite an intense battle but still a little too easy for a climatic finish in my opinion. It might just have been a bad matchup for the guardian though as I’m not sure how many people could solo kill it as quickly as I just did when below level 300.

“It feels good to be done, doesn’t it, Zel?”

“It does. This dungeon was strange with all the plant monsters, scaly beasts and other horrors. We had been warned that we’d meet a lot of monsters on every floor but this was more than I could have ever expected and I suppose their quality suffered for the added quantity.”

Searching through the carcasss I find the monster core at the top of the woody vine, encased protectively in bone where the skull must have been fastened. It’s an ugly thing, translucent brown with streaks of green mixed in and one small speck of glowing, muddied crimson in the center. I add it to my collection all the same as it’s the first Grade 3 monster core I’ve gotten.

“Look around and see if there’s some sort of reward chest anywhere.”

I do as Ari says and eventually find a tiny silver chest covered with moss hidden behind an outcropping of stones. I open the lid showcasing three gold coins and an armband of silver. I store the gold and curiously pick up the armband, identifying it.

 

 

[Enchanted Silver Armband]

 

 

Not much to go on. Should I put it on or wait until I can have it appraised in the capital? There shouldn’t be any risk with using an item provided by the dungeon…

“We can wait.”

Ari says, obviously thinking along the same lines.

I’m really curious about its effects but listening to the voice of reason is the smart choice. Storing it and standing up I walk towards the double doors having opened on the opposite side of the chamber from where I entered.

I know this is supposed to be the last floor but it's still jarring to walk through those doors and not arrive in a stairwell as I’ve come to expect. Instead I arrive in a small rectangular chamber with no other exit.

The walls are covered with abstract depictions of all kinds of animals and monsters like before but there’s no moss or cracks running through them here. The whole chamber is in fact spotless and almost completely bare, the only thing in here being a rune inscripted, circular plate of some bronze metallic alloy in the center of the floor and a lantern on a stone plinth in the corner.

“Um…-”

I look around hesitantly.

“-Do we just step onto this platform to get back to the surface, Ari?”

“Yup. It should power up on its own, no need to do anything.”

Walking towards the runic spatial transporter, or whatever it’s called, I pause before stepping on to it, looking around for a target before just deciding to keep my head pointed forwards when speaking out loud.

“Thank you, Grizklesat! I had a good time. Bye!”

 

Taking the last step and entering the middle of the circular plate I watch the runes flicker to life, hypnotically twirling around before space distorts, cradling me, crushing me and then releasing me, no longer being in the same chamber.

The place I’m in is also spotless but there’s no circular plate beneath my feet, only stone. I stand there for about five seconds, a bit disoriented, before there’s a sound of stone grinding against stone, the wall in front of me slowly sliding upwards and revealing a corridor going straight forwards.

Walking out of it I understand where I am as there’s a staircase leading up to my left at the start of the corridor, the staircase I’d walked down when first entering the dungeon. With another grinding noise behind me the chamber closes itself off and I look around for another few seconds, just taking in the vast difference in decor between the 1st and 17th floor. I’m about to start walking up the staircase when Ari reminds me of my manners.

“Zel, we should clean up a little.”

“Oh, yeah.”

I’m absolutely filthy.

I disperse everything, even my daggers as I let Ari do a deep and vigorous scrub before getting it all back on. Giving the ring blade one hard spin, casting away the last of the blood on it, I tie up my hair and lower the glow of my eyes to something more reasonable when around people. I look as good as when I entered the dungeon, maybe even better with the exotic weapon hovering behind my back.

“What do you say? Satisfied?”

She just rolls her eyes and I smirk, starting the short climb towards the surface.

 

---

“You’re alive?!”

She stares, dumbfounded, before blinking and continuing.

“I was sure you’d died since you’d not been seen for two months.”

I smile at the Adventurers’ Guild representative who I’d met before entering, enjoying the genuine surprise on her face.

“Sure am. Say, am I imagining things or are there a lot less tents perched here?”

I look around curiously, the cloudless night with its bright moon and stars shining down upon a much diminished crowd of tents, if my memory isn't faulty.

“What? Yes, of course everyone is… Right, you wouldn’t know, unless you met someone in the dungeon who told you?”

“Um. I haven’t met anyone in, um, over 7 weeks, I think…”

She stares. I stare back. She starts blinking slowly. I blink rapidly, breaking the odd stalemate.

“Seriously?!”

 

I nod meekly, feeling oddly embarrassed from the look she’s giving me, part disbelief, part pity and part suspicion. She then finally takes note of my ring blade, having somehow glossed over the new addition in the initial surprise.

“What’s that? You didn’t have something like this when you went down, did you? How does it stay still like that in the air, rotating? What is it made of? Why is it glowing like that?”

“...It’s my weapon. No, I didn’t have it when we last met. Now, can you tell me why there’s so few people here?”

She coughs awkwardly at her sudden outburst of questions, finally answering.

“Well, they’re all to the west of the capital, fighting the invasion. At least those of higher levels. The ones remaining here are mostly under level 100. Some might also have left the kingdom, thinking the battle a lost cause without even having seen the frontlines.”

I process the information, feeling that something doesn’t add up. Then an answer hits me.

“Has the invasion already moved out of the Rhodolite Peaks mountain range?”

“How did you know that it came from the Rhodolite Peaks?”

“Never mind that, please just answer.”

 

She shakes her head slightly, clearly mystified by my claims of not having met anyone and then suddenly knowing about the invasion's origin.

“Birch fell about 3 weeks ago, apparently all the inhabitants turned into monsters or something. We haven’t gotten any specific information on the invasions movements but it has been stated that it is a losing battle. I received the last missive from the Adventurers’ Guild three days ago, stating that the payment for adventurer postings related to the invasion has increased yet again.”

“Birch has fallen… And they’re increasing the amount they’re willing to pay…”

“Yes. This all points towards them starting to get desperate.”

I chew slightly on my lower lip, deep in thought. I might have to leave the kingdom sooner than I’d initially planned but I still have to return to the capital with the gathered materials for the postings to complete them. If I’d spent all that time harvesting venom sacks for no reason I'd be pissed.

“Thanks for telling me, you’ve given me much to think about.”

“No problem. Are you thinking of heading to the capital?”

I raise an eyebrow but still choose to nod in confirmation. Why is my destination any of her business?

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“Could you deliver this letter to the guild? I’m not sure when the next courier will come here and this is rather urgent. Nothing official, mind you. It’s a personal matter but the guild will be able to sort it out. I just need someone to deliver it.”

She shuffles anxiously, looking around as if searching for something before summoning a magically sealed letter, protective runes practically covering the whole surface and brimming with power. A personal letter that needs this much security?? She’s probably hiding something but whatever. She did provide me with information and I’ll have to rush there to not risk arriving too late anyway. Repaying her with a simple delivery isn’t an issue.

“Alright. I’ll just give this to the clerk and it will all sort itself out?”

 

I take the letter, the paper feeling as expensive as it looks.

“Yes. Thank you so much. I’d started entertaining the idea of just abandoning my post here to deliver it myself. I’ll owe you a great debt for completing this task for me. If you get one of the clerks to sign a paper that states that you delivered it safely you can bring the proof back to me and I’ll pay you 50 gold for your troubles. Just, hurry. Please?”

She sounds a bit desperate, her fidgeting getting worse. 50 gold? That’s one urgent and important “personal” letter.

“I’ll just grab something to eat before setting out.”

Saying our goodbyes, she returns to standing vigil over the entrance, looking oddly relieved, as I walk towards the inn. It’s not as loud and festive as when I passed two months ago but I suppose everyone is a little on edge right now. It suits me perfectly though as I honestly just want to eat and drink something. It’s been literal months since I last did either.

 

I approach the counter, ignoring the looks cast my way and the dampening in volume, hushed whispers that I still am able to hear thanks to the improvements made to my senses coming from different directions. Some of them commenting on my appearance, a few questioning the purpose of my ring blade and some asking around if anyone has seen me before. The volume soon picks back up however, everyone getting back to their previous conversations as the squat, middle aged female innkeeper speaks up.

“Welcome! What can I do for you?”

“I’ll have whatever meal you’re serving today and an ale.”

“1 silver or two grade 0 monster cores. Coming right up.”

I had no idea one could use monster cores to pay here but I suppose it makes sense when located just outside the dungeon. I pay her in silver though as I’ve already thrown out all my grade 0 cores, seeing no use in taking up the storage space with inferior loot.

Half a minute later a bowl of steaming potato and leek soup with half a loaf of bread and a mug of ale is placed before me. Moving it all with telekinesis I walk through the warm, cozy room filled with talk and laughter, heading towards the corner nearest the fireplace and sitting down on an empty table as I immediately start greedily slurping the stew down.

It’s really, really good and I soon finish it all, signaling to the innkeeper for more before paying and digging in again. I take my time enjoying it fully this time though, slowly chewing the slightly stale bread dipped in the stew as I eavesdrop on the conversations going on around the common room.

There’s unfortunately nothing of importance or relevance being discussed. They talk about their glorious dungeon delves, share jokes and stories, gossiping about small things or just tipsily flirt with each other. One group seems to be planning a foursome, good for them.

“We should get going, Zel. We can shop for food in the capital and fuck after we’ve been paid.”

 

Listening to my other half I stand up and walk out of the inn, looking up at the stars for a few seconds before I start running down the road taking me back to the capital. I soon pass my previous maximum running speed and continue running even faster, eventually reaching speeds that force me to stop accelerating as the winding forest path has me making dents in the packed earth just to stay on it and not crash into a tree or bush.

Exiting the forest only a few hours later I continue running east towards the capital, the open plains giving me the chance to push myself even harder. I laugh in delight as I speed along the path, moonlight above and the wind rushing past me.

“Should we check our notifications? We haven’t done that in a while.”

“I’d almost forgotten, Ari. I wonder what level we’re at now.”

 

 

Ding! You have slain [Swarm Stalker Sceloporus - Level 281]. Experience awarded.
…
Ding! You have slain [Deranged Liana Goater (Floor Guardian) - Level 320]. Bonus experience awarded.

Ding! [Arcane Telekineticist] has leveled from [73] to [98]. +[125 AP]

Ding! [Arcane Telekineticist] has new skills available [2].

Ding! General skill [Identify] has leveled from [63] to [64].

Ding! General skill [Aerial Acrobatics] has leveled from [102] to [111].

Ding! General skill [Dodging] has leveled from [321] to [328].

Ding! General skill [Unarmed] has leveled from [245] to [256].

Ding! General skill [Arcane Spatial Ring] has leveled from [183] to [186].

Ding! General skill [Gorging] has leveled from [1] to [2].

Ding! Skill [Sensors] has leveled from [390] to [402].

Ding! Skill [Passive Power] has leveled from [599] to [606].

Ding! Skill [Arcane Manipulation] has leveled from [721] to [737].

Ding! Skill [Capacitor] has leveled from [450] to [459].

Ding! Skill [External Modules] has leveled from [328] to [337].

Ding! Skill [Power Profiler] has leveled from [163] to [170].

Ding! Skill [Telekinetic Force Manipulation] has leveled from [384] to [398].

Ding! Skill [Point Compression] has leveled from [37] to [53].

Ding! Skill [Kinetic Lock] has leveled from [26] to [41].

Ding! Skill [Defensive Ripple] has leveled from [2] to [18].

 

 

“Nooo! We were that close to reaching the threshold?? Fuck!”

“Calm down, Zel. It’s not that it really matters anyway. We should probably try to level our skills a bit more before evolving our class to get as good an evolution as we can. It can wait.”

My groan of disappointment warbles as my feet slam into the ground, sounding funny enough to draw a chortle out of both Ari and I, breaking me out of my gloom.

“Alright, how about the attribute points? Where do you think we should spend them?”

“Hm. Let’s decide after we’ve checked out our new skills. We might want to base our decision on that.”

“Smart:”

 

---

-[Arcane Telekineticist]-

Combining the rare ability of telekinesis and mana without a naturally occurring elemental structure you walk a path of your own making. You can not tell where this path leads but there is surely greatness to be found when delving into the unknown. Embracing the infinite possibilities, you seek to master the essence of the intangible power you have come to rely on.

Perks:
-[Intelligence] + 100%
-[Wisdom] + 100%

Skills:
-Telekinetic Force Manipulation - [398]
-Point Compression - [53]
-Kinetic Lock - [41]
-Defensive Ripple - [18]
-Empty

 

Available skills [2]

---

 

 

[Amplified Impact]
Amplify any intentional physical impact made with your body with telekinetic force. Maximum cost [Skill Level * 100] mana. Cooldown of [5 / ((Skill Level +49) / 50)] seconds.

 

[Telekinetic Blade]
Manifest a rectangular, double edged blade of telekinetic force from the tip of your hand. Maximum cost [200 + Skill Level * 50] mana per second. Maximum blade length [8 + Skill Level / 50] centimeters. Cooldown of [10 / ((Skill Level + 49) / 50)] seconds.

 

 

“[Telekinetic Blade] sounds cool. Why would we get [Amplified Impact] though? We’ve been amplifying our attacks all this time using [Telekinetic Force Manipulation] without issue, haven't we?”

“Probably for the same reason we have the other skills, Zel. We could technically do the exact same thing [Kinetic Lock] is doing ourselves but isn’t it great to have it as a separate skill? It’s both better, more efficient and needs less mental strength.”

What Ari is saying makes sense and I hadn’t really thought about it before now. It’s true that we could probably get by with only using [Telekinetic Force Manipulation] but it would be less efficient, less powerful and more tiring than having skills for our most common uses of telekinetic force. Ari continues after I’ve digested this.

“We will have to level both skills a lot before they become powerful but I think our choice will have an impact on potential evolutions.”

“How so, Ari?”

“[Amplified Impact] clearly has a burst type cost, consuming the mana invested immediately to activate. [Telekinetic Blade] isn’t the same though as it clearly indicates the invested mana in the skill activation will have to be provided continuously.”

I see where this is going and finish the theory for her.

“[Amplified Impact] has more use for high [Intelligence] and [Telekinetic Blade] has more use for high [Wisdom]. You think our choice might affect the skill perks, I take it?”

“Correct.”

That means that we could either use our unspent attribute points on intelligence and pick the [Amplified Impact] skill, hoping for a massive boost in intelligence on the evolution or do the same with wisdom and the [Telekinetic Blade] skill, maybe reaching a milestone in mana regeneration.

I also have to consider what my other class might need the most. I’m not sure which class to evolve when both have reached level 200 but I’m sure that mana regeneration is more important for [Mana Machine]. Higher mana regeneration would give me more freedom with using celestial flames and a quicker recovery as my mana capacity growth is outpacing my regeneration.

“Considering all that I still think we should pick [Telekinetic Blade]. What about you, Ari?”

“Oh, I never said I didn’t agree. I just wanted to point out the possible ramifications of our choice.”

 

 

Ding! [Arcane Telekineticist] has gained the skill [Telekinetic Blade].

 

Skills:
-Telekinetic Force Manipulation - [398]
-Point Compression - [53]
-Kinetic Lock - [41]
-Defensive Ripple - [18]
-Telekinetic Blade - [1]

Available skills [1]

 

 

Ding! Attribute [Wisdom] has been increased from [1090] to [1215].

 

Attribute Points: [0]
Strength: [110] -50%
Constitution: [110] -50%
Vitality: [110] -50%
Agility: [175] -50%
Dexterity: [110] -50%
Intelligence: [253] +400%
Wisdom: [1215] +395%

Mana: [12,650 / 12,650]
Capacitor: [56,925 / 58,063]
Mana regen: [6014] / Minute

 

 

At least we reached over 6000 in mana regeneration. That might be the milestone we need.

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