The tone in the carriage was light as the Princess talked about the areas we were passing and the places surrounding the kingdom. The Valen County that we just passed was one of them, and we were heading towards the Shadow Dukedom right now.
These places depended on the protection of the Kingdom's forces, and there was much tension right now as the forces of demons neared the cold lands. People from Valen County and the Shadow Dukedom that were worried enough even made their way towards the Frozen Kingdom with all of their life savings to settle down there.
"In this dukedom, they have a specialty of different types of food that are unique to their location. I think you'll find it fun to spend the night there."
The Princess seemed to have caught on to how much I enjoyed the food here, and made it so that we would spend the night enjoying the delicacies of this new location. We arrived half an hour later to the dukedom that was lined by huge walls. The procession of carriages and wagons were welcomed with enthusiasm as they saw the banner on the carriage we were in.
I could already see a huge monolith rising up in the Dukedom with [Regal Archer's Eyes], and it was more than twice as huge as the rank A dungeons I had normally seen. This was the rank S dungeon, [Waterworks] that I would dive into tomorrow. Both this one and the rank A [Floating Pentagons] had the same black color on their monoliths, not adopting any of the usual blue, orange, or red I've been used to
It was a hectic night as the merchants and guards moved around to unload a few things, and the princess was led to a manor where she would spend the night. We came to an enclosed area in the Dukedom where a small castle stood.
After the introductions with a valiant knight that had a red mohawk who was the Duke of this place, among the few words that the Princess let out, food was one of them. The Duke was surprised when he heard the request of the princess to provide her with even more different types of delicacies than the ones they had prepared, and he agreed nonetheless.
He knew the Princess preferred to spend her time alone so he didn't intrude too much, leaving after sucking up to her as much as he could. Guards were placed where they were needed as the doors to the small manor closed, and I finally lifted the effects of a few skills as well as the rank S veiled suit.
"Please help yourself, I know you must be tired from delving into the dungeon and listening to me talk the entire day."
The Princess said this as Night flashed by not too far away and took her position outside the door of the room we were in. I was courteous and allowed the Princess to sit down on the extravagant seats first before we enjoyed the delicacies of the Shadow Dukedom. It would be a nice ending to this eventful day as I waited to combine a large number of skills tomorrow.
Chapter 88 - Schemes
My morning began with abrupt knocks waking me up from the comfortable bed I was in. I didn't necessarily need sleep with my maxed rank S attributes and many skills that now became passive, but I always felt rejuvenated whenever I had a decent sleep. I groggily said come in while rising up from the bed where the silk sheets drifted down.
The door opened to a blue haired girl who seemed to have a semblance of worry on her eyes. She came to a stop as she saw my n.a.k.e.d upper half on the bed and turned away as I became surprised at this type of reaction I never would have expected from someone like her.
I equipped my body armor and asked,
"What happened?"
There shouldn't have been anything that went wrong with just a few hours passing. I was even patiently waiting to combine more skills this morning before diving in the dungeon here.
"Something that I didn't completely expect has occurred."
She turned back and spoke in a serious tone as she faced me once more.
"Before we left, I made a few Shadow Guards stay behind to monitor the forces of the Crown Prince in the case of any suspicious movements. I thought there was a possibility he might try something fishy once news of me traveling to the surrounding counties and dukedoms reached him, but I never expected him to make such a bold move."
I was up with full attention as she said this and I asked her, "What exactly did you find out?"
"The Shadow Guards followed a collection of mercenaries working under the Crown Prince as they left the Kingdom. Only the two of them followed to see if this would lead to something while others remained in the kingdom to continue monitoring. The two Shadow Guards that followed those mercenaries closely found them heading in the same direction we are."
This doesn't seem too bad? I waited for her to continue as it seemed she liked holding the best things for last.
"Among the mercenaries they observed was the figure of the woman that was with the Crown Prince a few days ago."
Now, with these words I finally became serious. An EPIC ranked individual was involved? "What's their plan here? Surely your own brother isn't sending people to take your life."
"Hah" A light laugh escaped from her lips for the first time since I met her, and she said, "It's not my life that he wants. I've seen the way he's looked at me my entire life while I grew up. He's got a twisted mind, and I don't know what plans he's created from it."
I thought about this possible new threat and my own level of power currently. Between beasts and humans, beasts of the same rank were always more powerful. Would this be applicable to the adventure that supposedly was heading towards us?
I then looked through the many skills I had brought up recently, as well as the ones ready for combination after this past night, and a smile broke out in my face.
"They won't be making a move while we're in this dukedom will they?"
"No, they will most likely put up an ambush in the snowy roads with low visibility when we leave this place."
The plan in my mind fully formed as this was confirmed. "Great. We'll head out in a few days to clash with these people. For now, let's continue to enjoy the time in this dukedom."
A few days would be enough for me to get much stronger through combinations and loot. After all of this was completed, I even had a chance to gain another EPIC ranked skill from someone that wished me harm? Haha, I couldn't wait!
The calm returned on the face of the Princess as she saw my own face that had no worry, and nodded her affirmation. "You plan to head to the dungeon now?"
"As soon as we grab some food, it's going to be a grueling few days of grinding for me."
"Grinding?"
The term threw her off and I told her not to worry as we stepped out. The plan would be simple for the next few days. Constantly grind and combine skills while gaining new ones from this rank S dungeon, [Waterworks].
This would actually be the first S rank dungeon I dive in, as all the ones I came across previously had dungeon breaks right after. After grabbing some food, I covertly made my way over to the dark monolith. The hazy doorways were striking, the blackness inviting and drawing you in. Without wasting a minute, I entered my first rank S dungeon in this world.
[Waterworks] was a particularly interesting dungeon, as the first floor I appeared in had a few patches of land, with water surrounding the floor for more than 2 times. My [Regal Archer's Eyes] that could see triple the distance that [Eagle's Eye] could observed many movements on the water below.
ZOOM!
Without a second passing, monsters flew out of the water with sparkling sharp teeth spread wide open to take a bite out of my figure standing on the small path of land. The beasts looked completely the same as sharks, just four meters large, but with the addition of wide wings on its sides.
These were the famous monsters in this dungeon called [Winged Shark]. They could stay in the water as well as the air, and terrorized any adventures that were not prepared.
I had the goal of focusing on raising my rank S offensive skills as well as the rank of my one and only summon currently, so I began with those skills. With the shining of the circular rune, the ugly Abomination came out with a loud scream as always.
The [Winged Shark]s in the air found their
small wings ripped apart as something much larger than them began to move. [Saint's Return] was casted next as the figure of a golden saint with white hair appeared behind me. The hazy figure had a stern look on his face as white rays of light shot down towards me and the Virulent Abomination.
The light brought about an invigorating feeling to my body as I felt energized and like nothing could possibly hurt me. The summon that had begun battling with the flying sharks found many parts of its body that were injured closing up quickly as it moved even faster.
The next skills I began casting were [Volcanic Eruption] and [Rage of the Thunder Monarch], I was excited to cast these even more as they would be reaching 100 proficiency in an hour or so.
The first floor of this dungeon was cleared like this. The sharks were very aggressive and always dashed out of the water to attack. Even if they didn't though, the constant thunder that rained down in the water as well as the molten flames and gaseous heat made it easy to take all of them down.
The moment any of them died, [Profane Eruption] came to play to cause even more mayhem. The [Waterworks] dungeon had 50 total floors, with the first 25 holding countless variations of [Winged Shark]s and the latter 25 holding the last boss room as well as another species of monsters.
The fact that there were so many floors that provided a ton of monsters made the usage of [Profane Eruption] shoot through the roof and cause the proficiency to visibly rise over time. Hours passed by like this as I enjoyed the rising of numbers and combining of skills while terrorizing new species of monsters.
Chapter 89 - Fast paced power ups
Halfway through the 10th floor of [Waterworks], [Volcanic Eruption] and [Rage of the Thunder Monarch] finally hit 100, and I was able to put the two skills in the [Skill Combination] tab that shone blue.
The product of these two was the rank S+ skill, [Devastation- The sky cracks as destructive lightning and flames from the depths of an unknown dimension search for your enemies.]
The first trial of this skill was particularly eye opening. The moment it was casted, it seemed like the sky was unzipped as roiling thick ropes of purple lightning and red flames spread out to every single [Winged Shark] in the air, as well as the ones hidden below in the water.
The destructive combination of lightning and heavy flames seemed as if they had their own consciousness as they searched for and blasted apart any beast they pierced into. 10 seconds, that was how long the skill lasted, but also the amount of time that cleared out the entirety of [Winged Shark]s in our surroundings, leaving the Virulent Summon standing blankly in the air looking for more enemies.
The advent of [Devastation] made my attacks overcome the efficiency of the fast moving summon for the first time since it appeared, increasing the rate we progressed through the dungeon.
On the 25th floor, the rank A skills that had been active all this time finally reached the requirements and were combined.
[Steeled Muscles] and [Hardened Bones] went together to provide [Man of Steel]. [Wind Armor] and [Frigid Armament] produced the colorful [Dual Element Armor]. [Metal Scales] and [Yeti's Fur] produced [Beastial Hide]. [Tanzanite Skin] and [Earth Armor] went ahead to produce [Protection of the Earth].
This gave me four new rank A+ defensive skills that had their power nearing rank S, giving me even more confidence of having a sturdy enough defense to withstand attacks of someone of the EPIC rank. I would still continue to over prepare though, as nothing wrong would come out from that.
After passing through the 25th floor, we came across another type of monster in this dungeon. This time they were the terrifying combination of a humanoid fish, the famous [Siren]s. They had n.a.k.e.d upper bodies where voluptuous masses of flesh were flinging around as their lower bodies were made of hard green scales.
They had powerful attacks shooting out from their mouths as deadly soundwaves and poison continued to flyout as they moved across the water. Well, they still didn't stand a chance against the Virulent Abomination that ripped them apart without reservation, as well as [Devastation] that searched out for them even when they dived underwater.
[Profane Eruption] caused them even more problems as the bodies of their friends exploded and left poisonous zones in the water that spread out. As they could not fly into their skies, they became even more pitiful than the [Winged Shark]s from earlier floors.
I continued to bulldoze through the dungeon in this manner, a multiple array of skills continuing to be casted as their proficiencies rose. [Summon Virulent Abomination] had already reached 100 as my fingers itched to combine it with the poisonous and powerful [Profane Eruption] the moment more bodies of dead monsters continued to appear.
I had already profaned more than a few thousand bodies just in this dungeon alone as more than 2 hours had passed while I went down [Waterworks]. The dungeons floors were extremely vast and wide, providing a vast array of monsters that made me very happy.
With a few thousand more bodies to explode until I reached floor 50, I might be able to carry out the combination of the two skills in this dungeon run.
Another two hours passed as I took out the screaming [Siren]s, and I found myself on the 50th floor where the BOSS resided. The floor was a wide expanse of water, without even a patch of land to stand on now. Adventures usually came into this dungeon equipped with information and items that either allowed them to breathe underwater or walk on it, being fully prepared for many different situations before they came in.
I went about it a whole different way by remaining in the air with the [Flight] skill that continued to show extreme usefulness even now. I watched in the air as the ugliest beast I had seen in a while showed itself.
I thought my abomination was ugly to look at, but the monstrosity rising up was something else. The BOSS of this rank S dungeon that was called [Fish Monstrosity] made its appearance. It was as its name suggested, a monstrosity made up from multiple fish that seemed to still be alive and screaming as wails came out of various parts of its body.
It's face was contorted in anger as it howled towards me, multiple water spears forming and making their way over. This beast was one that many adventures had trouble with when looking at its hard defenses and powerful water element abilities. The maxed abomination that was at the height of its power swooped down to smash into the monstrosity as their deadly battle began.
I let the water spears hone in on my position and strike my body, seeing just how effective the attacks of a peak rank S beast that needed multiple rank S adventures to take it down would stand against my many defensive skills as well as [Saint's Return] that continued to heal me and provide me resistance boosts consistently.
The water spears seemed to have struck into a muddy wall as they didn't even get near enough to dent my armor, the many defensive skills that were either layered on top of my skin or in the form of colorful barriers stopping them right in their tracks, where they then dissolved into nothingness.
I nodded in satisfaction while watching this, realizing that even if an EPIC rank were to land their attacks on me, they would at most injure me. But, let's continue acc.u.mulating more defenses!
I eagerly looked to the battle between the two ugly beasts as the Virulent Abomination seemed to have the upper hand with the constant healing and buffs from [Saint's Return]. Every single injury it suffered closed in but an instant as the [Fish Monstrosity] continued to be injured with the noxious blasts it was releasing as well as its sharp claws.
I finished the battle as I casted [Devastation] and watched the roiling thunder and flames rush out from the rift in the sky and pierce the body of the beast. Painful screams rung out as the beast withstood extreme heat and lightning, watching its body slowly become burned and destroyed.
When the 10 seconds passed, only a mess of flesh was left behind as the monstrosity screamed pitifully. The summon ended the fight by digging into its body and releasing multiple noxious blasts from within
A similar scene to when I cleared the [Floating Pentagons] f
or the first time occurred, where a flow of information in the form a skill was placed in my mind, it was quickly absorbed and transformed into a skill that appeared on my panel.
This time it was a rank S skill called [Budding Farmer- You can become the best farmer in your region. In exchange for a large amount of mana, the skill allows you to change the essence in a surrounding field to promote the extreme growth of all plants.]
...All the skills that I was receiving by clearing a dungeon for the first time in this world were non combat skills that seemed to have their own special uses. I wasn't complaining as they seemed to be very interesting skills, so I would give the first one I received, [Cook], and this one a try soon.
From the knowledge I collected so far, the perk of gaining a skill when clearing a dungeon for the first time in this world was completely random. It was a completely different system from the dungeons that the demons used to descend to my world. I would see what type of skills I would continue receiving when I clear more dungeons of this world in the future.
I went near the beast to get its loot similar to how I had been doing these past 49 floors as I collected more cores and a skill book into my [Storage Pouch]. I then rose higher and casted [Profane Eruption], watching the large body of the beast cause a heavy explosion and give the last point from 99 to 100 for the skill.
I excitedly looked at the two skills that were ready for combination as the summon was canceled and I placed [Summon Virulent Abomination] and [Profane Eruption] into the [Skill Combination] tab
The tab shone in a blue light as the process took even longer than when I combined the skills to receive [Saint's Return]. It finished in a few seconds, and the new rank S+ skill produced from this deadly combination was [Summon Plague Bearer- An abomination of extreme evil that causes deadly plagues wherever it goes. The skills Poisonous Breath and Defiler are among its tools.]
My eyes shone with this combination as I itched to restart this dungeon and see just how deadly the summon had become.
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