1 weeks and 0 days until invasion
I hold out my hand and my trident appears, my fingers wrapping around the blades cool metallic shaft. The prongs of the trident look slightly different now. Like the class described, the prongs are now sharp like daggers, and I could use the blade like a two sided halberd if needed, as well as an actual trident. I pause as I notice a detail I didn't before. I can change the curve of the prongs. Modifying them slightly, I add a curve to them. I hold out my blade, spin it as fast as I can, then jab forward. A sonic boom cracks the air as I thrust forward and a gust of air slams into the wall like a drill. I stare for a moment as I feel a technique forming, poking at the back of my mind, and let it form.
{Technique gained: Force drill(C)}
I grin.
“Hell yeah.”
<{0}>
‘So, um…’ I scratch the back of my head, not exactly knowing how to continue my sentence.
“Yeah…” Phoebe trails off as well, equally as unsure. We had both been dancing around the topic, as we didn’t exactly want to bring it up, but it was about time.
‘So I'm some sort of supergod?’ I say hesitantly. ‘How does that… work? Aren't only tier 5’s gods? I'm tier 2.’
“Primordial gods reincarnate after death.” Phoebe tells me, then smacks her hand onto her head, groaning. “Ugh, it all makes so much more sense now! You say you heard voices when you saved me, you have a name similar to the deity I worship, you share my last name, all of it!”
‘Me sharing your last name makes sense?’ I ask, confused.
“Oh, you wouldn't know.” she pauses, then glances around. We are in a now fairly empty park at night. People still roam about, but nobody seems to linger long, preferring the better lit parks. We sit down at a bench before she continues. “My tribe is known to be descendants of Pyronite. Distant enough that we don't have any innate divinity, only retaining red features like hair or eyes. It used to be a deep part of our history and importance, but we fused with another time a few hundred years ago, so our cultures blended and that knowledge seemed to fade. We used to just worship Pyronite, but also worship Aftermath now.”
‘Is that why your kids share red and green features?’ I ask, shifting in my chair.
“Yes. Their father had green hair and green eyes.” she says. She then sighs, seeming to deflate as she leans against the table of the marble bench.
‘You still miss him?’ I ask, resting a hand on hers.
“I do.” She says softly. “He's only been gone a while. I hadn't even had the chance to make his gravestone. It's tradition to bury our dead, then place a gravestone that the fallen's loved ones made together over the graves, with little phrases they remember them saying, or things they loved about them carved all over. A remembrance of life, rather than a mourning of death. Lord Pyronite had always said in the history books that death is not something to mourn, as it is natural, and does not greet you maliciously. All who die are embraced.”
‘Wow…’ I say. I then pause. When I spoke to Red, he said his name was Pyronite. But if I'm supposed to be Pyronite, then how is he also Pyronite? I don't have the memories of previous Pyros, so perhaps they are separate beings? Other consciousnesses? But then how could we be considered the same person? What would tie us together?
I glance down at my hand. As usual, on the bark of my right talon rests the blood red stone in the shape of a claw. My soul core, as it is called. My soul. Could that be it? Do we share a soul, but not a mind? I'm not in the right headspace to think about this more, but that feels right at the very least.
‘I think… I'm not a god. More that I'm a piece of one, if that makes any sense.’ I sigh. Again. ‘I don't want this to affect our friendship. I do want to be able to consult with you when I need to, however. Is that… still ok with you?’
“Of course it is.” she agrees immediately. “What's important out of all of this is how you are ok and everything, not me. Sure, my life has been through a loop, but I'm at least still on the same planet.”
I chuckle. ‘That's true. How about we try to go through the dungeon together? I was told I was allowed to access it, and perhaps if we enter the same session as Abhor, we could catch up with him.’
“Are you sure?” She asks, hesitant. “After…”
‘We had a chat about that.’ I say, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze before standing. ‘I don't think either of us have truly resolved the feelings within ourselves after that experience, but it's in the past now… wait, isn’t it in the future? How does that work… nevermind, you get my point.’
Phoebe chuckles as we begin to walk. “Yes, I do.” She nods. “Let's go catch up to our lizard friend.”
<{0}>
“How far did this kid get?” Phoebe mutters as she dries out her hair with fire magic. “I hated that.”
‘I had hoped he hadn't made it to the water level.’ I agree. ‘It's good for experience, however. I'm level 61. You?’
“94.” She agrees. “I've never leveled so fast in my life.” She scratches at her neck, where the slave collar had once been. Aftermath had removed it from her, then given her a card that, when pressed to her children's collars, made them fall off as well. She still had that card.
‘He did seem determined to grind, so I suppose him getting so far is not necessarily a surprise.’ I say, standing from the chair. The rest room is quite nice. It seems that every room resets itself once per day. ‘Did you meet that girl who seems to like him?’
“Evelyn, right? Yeah, I met her. I also met her mother, Rosaline. I liked her.” Phoebe says. “Though I believe she is from Camica.”
‘What makes you think that?’ I ask.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
“Her soul weapon was heavily augmented. I watched her perform target practice with the bow. She hit 400 targets in under 10 seconds with that thing.”
‘An augmented bow?’ I think for a second before nodding. ‘Like a mechanical bow but with the mechanical part dialed up to a hundred.’ I push myself up and stretch my wings out. I’m glad to not have to stay in my human form. Despite not having this form for long, it feels more comfortable to me than my human form. Wings are better than no wings, I’d like to say.
‘Ready to get going again?’
“Yes. Let’s go.” Her spear appears in our hands, and at that we make our way to the next floor.
<{0}>
{Level up}
{Level 80 -> 81}
I unsummon and resummon my trident, allowing the guts and blood coating it to fall to the floor, left behind. I had originally worried about what would happen to my soul if the stuff was brought in with my soul weapon. Luckily, anything attached tends to get left behind. I would not want to know what would happen if poison elemental goo got into my soul.
I stop at the exit of the 48th floor and pause, taking a moment to focus on my internal clock. I’ve been down here for a long time, haven’t I? Or up here? The dungeon is in the branches of the tree smashed down into a subspace, so technically it's up?
As of now, there are 3 days until the invasion. I am only level 81. I’m not leveling fast enough. I glare down at my bladed trident for a while, before sighing. I know what I'm going to have to do, but I've got 2 more days of leveling until-
I whip my head around as I hear footsteps from behind me. I've killed all the monsters, so… people?
“Hello?” I call back, waiting for a moment then hearing 2 replies, one vocal and the other mental.
“Abhor? Is that you?”
‘Finally! You've been mowing through this dungeon, haven't you? The last 7 floors we have been through have been empty.’
I lean against the wall as they approach and smile as they come into view.
“Hey Pyro, come looking for me?” I ask, chuckling.
‘thought we should get some grinding done as well.’ Pyro says, smiling. They stop in front of me, unsummoning their weapons as they reach me. I let my trident vanish.
“So, how has grinding been?” Phoebe asks me. She seems slightly tense as she glances between the two of us. Not that me and Pyro aren't a little nervous around each other, but we have at least grown mostly comfortable around each other. The “forgive and forget” philosophy lives on, I suppose.
“It's been going along, I suppose.” I say, waving a clawed hand from side to side before sighing. “Gets boring though. Nothing has been able to actually challenge me. Max stats for my tier just isn't something normal creatures even theoretically get without some amount of divinity.”
‘I found the same thing.’ Pyro agrees.
“I believe that I would have struggled without Pyro.” Phoebe admits, then sighs. “I'm skilled in fighting humanoids and intelligent beings. I have a lot of skill and combat training. However, when fighting monsters without intelligence, raw power and raw skill tend to balance out far more, with raw power tending to trump it.”
“Makes sense, I think.” I say, then glance forward. “Want to head out with me? Got 2 more floors left before it's done.”
‘Sure.’ Pyro agrees, soon joined by Phoebe.
“I was hesitant before, but with you guys, we might be able to beat the hidden boss if we fight together.” I say after a moments thought. “You in for it?”
‘Hidden boss?’ Pyro asks. ‘I didn't know there was one.’
“Yeah. A Blood drakon, I think. It's a low-end tier 3 monster.”
‘Sounds interesting. Though I do have to ask what a drakon is. I haven't encountered many monsters yet.’ Pyro says, a little sheepishly.
“They're basically monsterified versions of dragons.” I explain to them. “Most dragons would be offended to be compared to a drakon, but I honestly don't care. They have the same shape as dragons, though bulkier and dumber. This one can use any blood it sheds, as well as any blood we shed, as a weapon. Having mutated blood maked attacks with it have whatever affects it has.”
“That's not good.” Phoebe mutters, frowning. “We both have mutated blood. Mine for fire mana and Pyros for Death mana.”
“Ouch, that's some scary synergy. Pyro, don't bleed, ok?”
‘That was the plan, yes.’ Pyro nods. ‘So. Ready to go?’
“Yep! 49th floor, here we come!”
<{0}>
“Dodge, dodge, dodge!” Phoebe shouts as a stone fist slams into my side, slamming me into the wall and causing a few blood vessels to burst. A bolt of fire slams into the golem’s head, sliding off with little effect. Pyro attempts to slash down with a sickle, but it barely sinks an inch in before he void-steps away to avoid a counterattack of earth spikes. I land on my feet, rolling my shoulders from the attack. Size affects strength, so even though its strength is equal to Pyros, it hurts a fuck-tonne more.
“Your attacks aren't working. Use more blunt attacks!” I shout to them as I launch a force drill at its chest. The attack is majorly effective, drilling 2 feet into the chest of the 40 foot tall stone golem. I leap back again to avoid the shockingly fast fist.
‘I don't have any blunt attacks!’ Pyro says back, his voice ringing in my mind with annoyance.
“Neither!” Phoebe says, frowning.
“Phoebe, you know a few ice attacks, right? Use those!” I shout to her, then to Pyro I shout “Death mana! Even Golems are alive, so use those!”
A barrage of ice spears slam into the golems legs, freezing into it on impact. I put another drill into its left arm as Pyro puts a Death mana bolt in its head. The damage is immediate, and from there it's just cleaning up.
“Next time, we will make a plan.” I groan out, flopping down onto the sand. The room is a large cavern with a sandy floor.
“Agreed.” Phoebe says, leaning against the wall, her spear dangling listlessly from her hand.
‘So. Where did you get that kind of mind for combat?’ Pyro asks me, making his way over to us. He is by far the least damaged of us. ‘You were a lot better than when we fought.’ He winces at his own words, but I get what his intentions are.
“When I have time to think, I can plan.” I say. “At least when I'm in a group. I'm good at battle tactics, and I'm good against monsters I know. I used to find golems really cool, so I would read a lot about them when I was little. One of the few things I have lots of info on, like some bug monsters. But when I fought you, I didn't really get to plan. I had a few chances to, but I was distracted each time. Also, you were just more skilled in a humanoid body than I was, even if my skills with magic were far higher. Unless I knew all your abilities, I don't think I could win.”
‘I think you could have.’ Pyro chips in, holding out a hand. I accept his hand, letting him pull me up. ‘You've got years with the system on me. Phoebe can beat me with raw skill alone.’
“Yeah, I guess thats true…” I mutter, then sigh. “Honestly, I don't want to really be doing any of this. I enjoy training and practicing with magic, but I also enjoy baking and swimming and all sorts of other stuff. I need a break, but I have to keep going. I need to get stronger. The level 100 class evolution will give me just the boost I need to help fight this off, or at least assist.”
“You do know what burnout is, right?” Phoebe asks me as we prepare for the 50th and final floor.
“My intelligence Stat is 150. I do not get burnout from just 10 days of work. It'd take a month for that.” I shrug, unsummoning my trident and stretching. “But I understand your point. I'm going to rest after the hidden boss and our looting.”
‘Looting?’ Pyro asks, turning to me in curiosity as we reach the large steel doors to the final floor.
“There's 2 loot rooms. If we go into the room at the 50th floor we get that loot. There'd better loot after the hidden boss though. Stuff like coins, armor and enchanted tools. Maybe even a few spell scrolls.”
“Sounds lucrative. We are both lacking in money here, so that is a good idea.” Phoebe says, flicking the stone dust and dirt off her spear and burning off what won't just fall off of it.
“You could've asked me for some coin if you needed it.” I say, pressing a talon against the door but not yet pushing it open.
“We wouldn't ask that of you.” Phebe says immediately, shaking her head.
‘What do you do for work?’ Pyro asks curiously.
“I help manage the church's treasury. It turns out that money smarts isn't a requirement to join the church, so there was little staff working on finances and things. I fit in with that quite well and get paid 2 gold a day for it.”
“2 gold a day is a fair sum. You're lucky to have such a well paying job.” Phoebe comments, and I smile.
‘Alright, enough about how poor we are and how poor you aren't. What do you know about the final boss?’
“That it's a cerberus, for one.” I say. “Its body is impervious while it's side heads are still alive. The side heads are water and fire while the main head is earth. The main head is extremely durable, more so than the golem we just fought.”
‘Sounds pleasant.’ Pyro remarks flatly, turning to the door. ‘I'll go for the water head if you go for the fire head, Phoebe. Abhor, wait until the attack. Then you hit it with the strongest attack you have. After that, we euthanize the pup.’
“Simple, but effective.” I grin. “Let's do it. Time to put a bad dog down.”
Name:Pyro Akabis
Level:65/150
Age:16
Titles:Cold-blooded, Enigma, Broken, DEATH, Other-worlder
Soul weapon: Six fingers of Infinity
Strength:172.5
Durability:150
Speed:150
Stamina:150
Intelligence:150
Essence: 33001
Class:Reaper of Creation
Species:BlightBane Demidragon[2/5]
Skills: Greater Enhanced Strength(Medium)Rare, Mind mana Manipulation(Medium)Rare, Death mana bolt(Medium)Rare, Sickle swap(Medium)Rare, Reaper’s boost(High)Epic, breath of inevitability(High)Rare, Demishift(low)Rare, Kings vault(High)Rare
Techniques: Creation mana manipulation(E), Mind mana manipulation(D), Sicklemancer arts(C), Death mana manipulation(D), Creation mana construct(D), Potential(???)
Mutations: blood of the fallen(B), Heart of Creation(B), Black thread eyes (A)
...
Name:Snowstorm
Level:51/150
Age:16
Titles:Frostbreaker, knowledgeer, study master, FREEZE, Tier 2 evolution, Humanify, magic prodigy
Strength:150
Durability:150
Speed:150
Stamina:150
Intelligence:180
Essence:1,009
Class:Frostbane boxer(Epic)
Soul weapon:Frostbane gauntlets
Species:Frostwing demi-wyvern
Skills: Heat vision(low)Uncommon, Overwhelming intelligence(High)Epic, Enhanced knowledge intake(medium)Uncommon, cold barrier(high)epic, memory of the glaciers(high)Epic, swimming(low)Common, split thought(Low)Rare, body temperature reduction(Medium)Uncommon, ice mana manipulation(medium)Rare, Mind magic affinity(Medium)Uncommon, heat shift foundation(Low)Uncommon, Herald of the ice age[Species max]Epic+
Techniques:Swimming(D), Mana manipulation(C), Mind mana manipulation(D), Ice mana manipulation(C), Mana claws(C), Ice spear(C), Iceout(D), Icicle hail(D), Mind bridge(D), Ice mana barrier(C), Heat shift(D), Mana bolt(D), Mana sense(D), Mind mana manipulation(D), Illusion mana manipulation(E)
Mutations: Knowledge intake stomach(B), Multi-Mind system(A)
Spells: Freeze water(Lesser), Frostfield(Lesser), coldsnap(Lesser), amnesia(Lesser), Frost spikes(Lesser), frostzone(Average)
