Chapter 38: 36 – Slow Growth to OP

As I sit there, just staring at the dead dragon, I can't help but think how great of a team I have, as well as how lucky we were.

If it was able to take flight, that could have been the end. I might have been able to catch it with air jumps, but if it flew towards the girls, they would have to immediately retreat. Sara's shot really saved us there.

And Ailine getting a bolt in an area she hit before? Honestly, with those two shots I'm not sure how much was luck and how much was skill.

The real reason we were able to even fight the dragon was Navi's enchantments. From everything on my armor, the ballistae, bolts, javelin, hammer, and grenades. If we didn't have those, we couldn't have won. I can really see how King Rory failed to beat the dragon. I don't know if they challenged it again after that diary was written, but even if they did, they didn't beat it. 

With the explosive enchantments that Tavelstein had, they would make great fireballs and are awesome at exploding into a lot of fire. Against the majority of enemies, that's enough. Although, compared to Navi's? It's a Bic lighter vs a blowtorch.

Even if they brought a ballista. If it didn't have all the enchantments ours did with upgraded tech on it, there wasn't any way it was piercing those scales. Even ours just barely was strong enough and it was mostly due to the explosion that some scales were removed, making way for more damage.

Even when I smashed its feet. I just barely made a hole big enough to shove a grenade in. That was with all the power I swung with and the enchantments on the hammer. Without both of those? No way to breach it. 

None of this is even mentioning the fire. I could tell the entire area around the dragon fire, and even outside the direct fire, would have killed someone just by taking a breath. Having the armor actually hold like we hoped was amazing. However, it was close. With the AC enchantment, air tight enchantment, and the vacuum seal, it still got warm inside my armor. Just how hot must that fire be to brute force that much through the magic and amateur scientific defense? There's no way someone without this armor survives. Even Sara with the less enchanted version may not have survived.

Ultimately, the dragon's size was a hindrance to itself. It couldn't bite or swipe at me effectively. If it was half the size with similar defense, I would probably be dead. Even when it tried to slam into me. I was just barely able to get the teleportation to work in time. Navi and Ailine know how to teleport, but we don't really use it because of the mana cost and difficulty to get the needed image. That's part of the reason I'm sitting on my ass right now.

That really was one hell of a fight.

Since it's still too hot to really take my armor off, I decide to see what my upgraded appraisal says about my new title and hope that whatever dungeon nonsense that knows when we're done with monsters and dissolves them, lets the dragon stay. I really want a taste.

Dragon Slayer - User gains a passive intimidation towards all dragon or draconic monsters. Decreases intimidation or fear User receives from all enemies. Intensity for both is based on CHR. 

That could have been helpful to have before the fight. Honestly, I don't plan to challenge a dragon anytime soon, but it still fucking intimidated me. I've been increasing my CHR in recent levels. In battle, it can give allies a boost or more faith in me. Outside of battle it makes me more persuasive when I want to be. Since now I have people to lead, it can go well with me as a tank or a ruler. But it isn't like I can say 'fire is cold' and people would believe me. More like 'trust me, I know you can do xyz.'

This fight also pushed me over to level 71, so I look at my stats for where to best use my stat points.

=====

Name: Dalia Midnight
Race: Vampire (Progenitor)

Level: 71
EXP: 7,621,831/8,250,000

HP: 793/820
MP: 6,316/2,897,422

Stats:
STR: 42
STM: 30
AGI: 36
DEX: 28
INT: 37
WIS: 37
CHR: 30

Stat points: 2

Skills above level 20:
Heightened Senses 42, Sense Presence 35, Mana Control 48, Fire Magic 40, Water Magic 34, Earth Magic 43, Air Magic 42, Dark Magic 46, Time-Space Magic 32, Arcane Magic 32, Increased Reflexes 43, Stealth 40, Assassination 29, Hide Presence 38, Spears 25, Swords 44, Shields 35, Increased Power 22, Increased Endurance 24

Unique Skills:
Nightstalker (Vampire), EXP Absorption (Vampire), Language Mastery

Titles:
Last of their Kind
Blessed by the God of Order
Blessed by the Goddess of Chaos
Queen of the Vampires
Dungeon Master (Tutorial Dungeon)
Dragon Slayer

=====

Looking at my stats, I go ahead and put them into DEX. This'll probably be my last level for a while. I doubt I'll have the desire to fight a dragon like this again. 

Finally, I feel like my armor has cooled enough to take off my helmet. I'm glad the dragon is still here. I really wonder how its blood tastes. Thanks, weird dungeon logic.

"Alright everyone. Should we have a meal?" I said.

Ailine and Sara come up as well and we all three find a spot and bite in. Rich in flavor but smooth and refreshing too. Hands down, this is the best monster blood I have ever tasted. For how tough it was, it better fucking be.

Once we get our fill, we watch it dissolve. Left in its place is the monster core, and a large pile of leather, scales, teeth, and claws. Taking our spoils, we all walk up to the golden core room door.

"What do you think is inside?" Ailine asked.

"Not sure. Hopefully something fucking worth it." I turn towards the Fairypedia. "Navi, any idea if beating a dungeon for the first time gets you anything?"

She goes into thought for a moment. "From what I know, the couple that the vampires beat for the first time all had things like weapons, armor, or items tailored to the participants. It really seems to be anything! The more floors, the better the rewards."

I shrug. "No point delaying any longer then."

Pushing the door open, we saw the large dungeon core in a pedestal in the back of the room. In front of it was an ornate, stereotypical treasure chest with a paper sitting on top.

"Well, let's see what this says first," I said as I grabbed the paper and read it out loud.

Dalia, Navi, Ailine, and Sara! Congratulations on beating the Abyssal Dungeon! That was an awesome fight, too. Order and I were cheering so hard! Normally these end of dungeon letters have to be more godly, but we're friends, so thanks for not making us write something embarrassingly poetic!

Anytime someone beats a reset dungeon, they're due a reward from us based on the difficulty setting of that dungeon. The Tutorial Dungeon we were able to skip since those kids left you stuff. By skipping it, we can help you more here where it's really worth it! Yay, skirting the rules!

Your ingenuity really surprised us! Mixing that many things into your armor was a great way to go. We had waited for Rory and his friends to try to come up with creative solutions, but after a third loss to the dragon with barely injuring it, he essentially gave up on attempting the fight again and just used the dungeon as it was. It was really quite disappointing. The gifts from dungeons aren't insignificant, and they may have been able to push back against the church with it. In fact, some of the things you'll get were what we originally wanted to give those kids.

Anyway! The loot! It's awesome, if we do say so ourselves! You four beat the last undefeated dungeon, and the hardest one on Erald. The reason we needed you to beat this before going on to do your other tasks is that we wanted to support you as much as we could, but our hands were tied. However, by getting such an achievement, we are obligated to give you good stuff! Gods'll make it rain dolla billz!

Let's get to it! First up, the four of you now have a unique skill. It's called [equip] and does pretty much what you think! The skill itself will hold sets of armor, clothes, or weapons that can be 'equipped' in an instant. Similar to taking things out of storage, only being able to take it out already on yourselves! Pretty handy! Unfortunately, no light beam censoring effects or magical girl transformation sequences. Order said that was going too far. Boo.

Next! We really love that armor you made! Such creativity in making it for the situation. However, it's pretty heavy and not created for combat against people. Using the armor you created as inspiration, we made you each a set out of true dragon material, mixed with mithril, and added our own enchantments onto it! We kept the look pretty similar, just jazzed it up a bit! Armor sets along these lines were going to be rewards for those kids that could have really helped them. Even so, this is what you deserve for persevering and problem solving! You don't know how long I've wanted to give out sets like this! Sorry if it feels like we just one-upped you, but hey! We're gods. So, sorry, not sorry. Enjoy!

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Performance wise, it's top notch! As far as restricting your movements, it's about like wearing a leather jacket and pants. Yes, more restrictive than being naked, but minimally! Thanks for being races that will never outgrow your current forms! Auto-resizing armor sucks to make, and you saved us some work so we could pack more into these. Compared to the armor you created, it weighs about 1/10th of it. Navi, don't try to figure out the weight mechanics we use on the Godswords, weapons, or this armor. You won't figure it out~! 

The physical and magical defense using the enchantments or without is also superior to your model! In addition to defensive enchantments, it has offensive enchantments to make you a bit faster and stronger. You can even pierce dragon scales with your sword when they're activated! Wowza! 

Each of the four sets will handle dragon fire and keep you from cooking inside, and the helmet has a couple nifty tricks! Without needing your rebreather, the entire suit and helmet will be waterproof and act as a breathing and climate control system. It also has a megaphone function on it for your voice to reach far and wide when you want it to. The face shields are fully tinted from the outside and better protected against light magic and sneaky flash attacks while not tinting your actual vision. 

The fairy set even helps to protect your wings a bit! If you put the armor on 'normally' then nothing happens. Yet, if you 'equip' the fairy armor, it'll also cover the costa of your wings! The rest of the wing will then have an enchantment to cover them with a magic made defense from the costa. Not as strong as the actual armor between it, but will still let your wings do their thing. 

Truly, we may~ have gone a bit overboard on this, but it was so fun making it! We had already planned on mithril/dragon armor for beating this dungeon a long long long time ago. We just infringed on your style and ideas to make these sets. I think you'll love the look and performance! Anastasia will no doubt say you look like a demon lord again! Hahaha! 

Dalia, this is also a bit of our way to say sorry and thank you for spending so long growing and preparing for something we dragged you into. And also, sorry for any unexpected trouble you may find in the near future. It's partly a preemptive apology. We truly are thankful to you for helping us out on this. If we can spoil you and your team when you've rightfully earned your accolades, then so be it.

Next! Weapons! Sara, you will have a mithril spear. It can't be a 'Godspear' because it doesn't have a title or user lock, but it's quality is right there! Giving out something with those locks was just enough to tip our interference over the edge and get noticed by someone we don't want to. Like Dalia and her sword, when your enchantments are activated, you can pierce dragon scales as well! Don't worry, your armors have repositories for cores to supplement your magic, but don't slack on your training, Sara! Even if you weren't born with talent in the types, you can still get your max MP to a level to use the armor effectively.

Ailine! You have a new bow! You're still using that child's old one, so you're way overdue. The bow you'll receive will channel your magic much easier, allowing you to create magical arrows easier, hit harder, and be more accurate. The bow and the string are both as resilient as mithril weapons, so don't worry about even dragon fire hurting them. I would recommend creating some arrows fully out of that alloy, BTW. With all the enchantments on the bow and using those arrows, you can even punch into dragon scales like your awesome ballista! Not deeply, just like the other mithril weapons, but a puncture is a puncture!

Navi! You already have a sword, so instead you'll get a wand! Compared to even your sword, it will channel magic better, and can even be used in making your enchantments, thereby making them easier and more powerful!

Dalia! You have your sword, so you'll get a mithril/scale shield! Lighter, stronger, and better protection than your current one. The motif on it is also copied from your flag/standard! Your little Anastasia is going to think you're so cool!

Last but not least, is a request/gift from us! The other races know of the existence of real dragons from the couple failed attempts on that floor. Even though the vampires didn't communicate much, books on monsters were still spread over centuries. However, like on Earth, they're viewed as monsters of legend and nobody alive has ever seen them. Besides you four, of course. A few people even claim to have 'sightings' of dragons, like people did with Bigfoot!

The reason why nobody has ever seen one is because it was never launched outside of the dungeon! We imagined dragons on Erald as a monster culling monster. Something that would keep populations down and be the ultimate top of the food chain. However, with how smart the pattern would end up being, if they wanted to destroy cities or countries, well, you know how hard they are to kill. Ultimately we put introducing them on hold as there was never a way to allow them to keep their instincts and intelligence while also not turning that indiscriminately against the different races.

But you Earthers are different! You even befriended a hippogryph! Not as a master/slave or owner/pet, but as a friend! We'd like all of you to do the same with this one. The egg will hatch in a month, and grow incredibly fast into a young adult, but then that increased growth will slow dramatically. You don't even have to use it to fight. Just raise it so it won't go full murder-hobo on the races, please! JSYK, dragons will all be parthenogenetic, so one dragon can make more dragons, but with about a couple centuries or more between eggs. 

That's all the loot! Hope you like it! A final piece of advice, Dalia. You're not wrong in your thoughts on the next steps to take, but know one will be significantly easier than the other. Apologies in advance. You're all currently the highest level mortals with the best gear. Killing anyone, even an entire race, won't be too difficult! You've graduated from the 'slow growth at start' trope to the 'overpowered protagonist' trope! Yay! 

As you thought, just killing those at the top won't fix the system and would make many frightened of your power in a bad way. My advice would be to travel on the road you're thinking of, even if it would be harder. Don't become overconfident or conceited. You're all very powerful, but can still die.

Because you would find out eventually and were going to make it anyway, let us help you with this last thing too. From the north side of the castle to the entrance of the dungeon, these are the directions. It is 232.35 degrees northwest and down at a 2.72 degree angle. The tunnel will be a bit over thirteen miles when done. You can try to dig it yourself, but having some help wouldn't be bad. Wink, wink.

That's it from us! We're always watching you all. Dalia, don't think too much about the actions you see as hypocritical. It's alright and you're making us proud. Just do what you think is right. Without any large accomplishments, this is about the max we can do now. We're rooting for you! 

Fucking hell. All of this was definitely worth it. Also, just how much do they know about what goes on in my head? There was also some ominous crap in there.

Navi begins flying around erratically. "Wahoo! Dragon, get! And armor! Lia! I got cool armor too!"

"This is quite the fucking haul. Let's go ahead and take everything out!" I said.

Taking out Sara's spear, it almost would be considered a glaive or something similar. It had an elongated spearhead, and still had some curve. I could see it being useful for both stabbing or some sweeping attacks. On the butt was a sharp spike. The entire color was that same mithril silver/blue with almost a lightning pattern through it.

Ailine's bow was as large as her normal bow, but the bow itself looked like it was made of mithril. It also wasn't just a bent piece of metal. The entire bow was shaped in a way that it almost looked like it was jointed, or like it was flexing in multiple points instead of one curve, and had parts coming out of it that just screamed 'fantasy.' Really, it kind of reminded me of those fancy compound bows modern hunters used on Earth. No idea what the 'string' was made from, but certainly not just sinew and had a bit of the mithril look. She flexed the bow a couple times, and even though it just looked like a piece of mithril with the color and pattern, it smoothly bent to her will. When she released a test arrow, even I could tell how much more powerful it was.

Navi's wand was pretty simple, but it looked almost like threads of mithril thinner than hair were woven into a rope, that was then woven into a larger one, and so on until it was fairy wand size. The closer you looked at the plain wand, the more intricate you can tell it was. Really, the smallest threads I could make out were probably ropes made of even smaller strands.

My kite shield also looked great. The front looked to be a single massive dragon scale, with the same jagged rock formation texture to it. Instead of just being black, or being the blue/silver of mithril, it was an almost iridescent mix of black/blue/silver, but still with a matte finish. Like the scale itself was mixed with mithril to form the shield. It was much lighter than expected for something of its size, but by no means was it any less durable. On the face, the red stars and moon we created are emblazoned on it.

Then we got to the armor. All of us immediately took ours off and put on the new armor. Just as the letter said, it was incredibly light and didn't hamper motion. How in the world that was done, I can only say the gods did it, which in this case is very accurate. The entire color of the armor is that same iridescent blue/silver/black in a matte that my shield is. It's really hard not to just stare at the armor, because it's a color/finish that just shouldn't exist. Like seeing a brand new color you've never imagined, or seeing a small oil slick in water for the first time, it was fascinating. 

The leather inside of the armor was also soft and comfortable. Even without anything underneath, it wouldn't be uncomfortable. The armor on my hands was so intricate so as to not hamper dexterity much, that it in and of itself is a masterpiece. The pauldrons had a spot to attach a cloak, so we tried placing a shadow cloak on it, and oh man, did it look badass. The armor was still slim enough to allow us to fully pull on the cloak when needed. 

Overall, the gods really outdid themselves. I can't even imagine something looking, feeling, or performing better. Fucking awesome. Which makes me a bit apprehensive of the part about it being a pre-apology. What the fuck type of trouble is coming? Well, whatever. I'll gladly take something like this.

Taking the final item out of the chest, we look at the large egg. The shell is smooth, and colored black speckled in white. The shape also isn't like a chicken egg. Longer than thicker, it almost reminded me of a medium or long grain piece of rice. Only this was two and a half feet long.

"OMG! This is all just so cool!" Navi gushes. "I actually have armor that makes me look like a part of the team! And we got a dragon egg! Eeeeee!"

"This really is incredible. I'm excited to tell Steph about all that's happened," Sara said while admiring her spear.

"Me too," Ailine agreed. "Anastasia will love to hear about how cool her Mommy Lia was while fighting the dragon."

I chuckled. "And how awesome her Mommy Ailine, Aunt Navi, and Sara were with those ballistae."

Navi flew in front of me. "So hurry up and claim the core so we can go home! I want to see my babies! Oh, and I'll have another in just under three months too! Surprise!"

Ailine clapped and bounced a little. "Congratulations, Navi!"

"Congratulations," Sara said.

"Alright, alright. I'll go claim it, " I said while walking over to the core. "And I'm looking forward to another cute little fairy niece flying around."

Walking up to the core in the back, I take out a dagger and prick my finger, dropping the blood onto it. Finally. After ten fucking years, I got the notification we were fighting for.

Title acquired - Dungeon Master (Abyssal Dungeon)

It's almost time to make our next move.

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