The messages were a lot to take in, coming at him one after the other, barely giving him time to process the information. As he was going over them in his head one stuck out like a sore thumb. What the fuck did the System mean ‘Unlocked achievement: Solo Clear’? He didn’t clear the dungeon solo. Without Susan he would be dead. So now the System wouldn’t even acknowledge her presence? And what was up with that error message. Fucking piece of shit System.

Levi tried to calm himself down. He shouldn’t let himself get upset, but damnit it was hard not to, and he wasn’t sure there was a lot he could do about it. But as he looked back over his messages, he realized maybe there was.

[Unlocked skill: Meditation! This skill allows for increased ease when meditating while also making meditation more efficient, with increased gains in the recovery of body and mind. This skill is associated with: Willpower.]

He then sat down and activated his new skill. He had a raging headache, and his body was in pretty crappy shape. He needed to take some time to recover.

An unknown amount of time later Levi came out from his meditation session refreshed. His body was still sore, but his headache was gone, and overall he felt much better, ready to take another look at the slew of notifications and powerups he had received. But even before that there was something else he felt calling him: loot.

He reached down in front of him and tentatively grabbed the crystal, the only thing left of the dungeon core. He half expected it to blow up, one last fuck you from the dungeon. But it remained inert, and soon the notification he was waiting for appeared in his head.

[Congratulations! You have obtained a Skill Enhancement Crystal! Skill Enhancement Crystals can be used to enhance one skill.]

Levi laughed out loud. He had been expecting another Skill Crystal. And while that would certainly be powerful, he knew which one he wanted right now. It was a no brainer. Aecylic Empowerment was powerful, almost too powerful, especially since it appeared to have saved his life somehow, defeating the boss through some mysterious means not communicated to him in the skill description. After the fight it also felt drained, his pool of energy diminished. He could still feel it, but he knew he couldn’t activate the skill right now. His best guess was because he had emptied his pool of Aecylic Energy in that last attack. Enhancing the skill would hopefully help him reset it so he could use it again.

With a moment of concentration, he activated his new crystal, feeling a rush of new power and information flow into him.

[Upgraded skill: Aecylic Empowerment! This skill allows for Aecylic Energy, a form of mana unique to the Aer, to be channeled to empower the body. The aura created by Aecylic Empowerment can also be shattered, creating shards of Aecylic Energy that can be shot forward, severely damaging anything hit. This skill is associated with: Willpower, Willpower, Willpower, Attunement, Attunement, Attunement, Aecylic Energy, Aecylic Energy.]

This was it. This was what he needed. Aecylic Empowerment had been powerful before, but he hadn’t felt that extra edge, that something truly special. Now it was almost a completely different skill, the extra information and stat associations pushing it to the next level. Levi could feel his understanding of Aecylic Energy expanding, growing to meet his new skill. His pool of Aecylic Energy also replenished, allowing him to activate Aecylic Empowerment, helping soothe his sore body.

There were two big things about the skill upgrade. The first was the extra stat association with Aecylic Energy. He was starting to realize how valuable his unlocked stats were. This extra association meant his Aecylic Energy stat almost doubled. It couldn’t be stressed enough how big that was. It not only gave him more energy to work with, but also allowed him more freedom and ability to manipulate that energy and empower himself. Combined with the increase in information he was getting from the improved skill make him feel almost invincible, although he still didn’t think he could defeat the armadillo boss if he faced it head on.

That was where the second change came in. He had been using Aecylic Empowerment as a normal empowering skill, but it could do so much more. The new description confirmed what Levi had previously suspected: that Aecylic Energy was a form of mana. And that it was from some race called the Aer. He wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, exactly, but thinking about it brought up an image in his head of some sort of featherless pterodactyl type creature. And the skill description now explained how he had previously defeated the dungeon boss.

When using Aecylic Empowerment, he could spread a sky-blue aura into his surroundings. This aura wasn’t just for show and was an actual physical representation of his power. He could then shatter this aura and shoot the shards at his enemies. He wasn’t sure how powerful it really was, but judging from before, very. The only problem was he couldn’t abuse it, as it was more of a last resort.

Aecylic Energy was extremely potent, but when he used it normally, he wasn’t actually using much up, only cycling it through his body. Projecting it externally though and firing it at an enemy used up all the energy involved; he wouldn’t get it back until many days later as it slowly regenerated. But as a lifesaving measure it was exactly what he needed, a finishing move to overcome otherwise impossible challenges.

That didn’t explain why he could use that ability before, but that knowledge was actually covered by the part of the skill that talked about the Aer. With the improved skill came more knowledge, and part of that was knowledge about how the Aer manipulated Aecylic Energy, information relevant to his situation before. Information about an Aer coming of age ceremony.

Aer weren’t born being able to manipulate Aecylic Energy. They started with a small pool of it, and as they matured, their bodies would adapt to the latent power within them. Eventually, they would release that power all at once, finally allowing them access to their species innate abilities. That was basically what Levi had done when he killed the boss; he had unleashed the latent energy within his body.

His situation was a bit unique, which helped contribute to the fortuitous timing. He started off with a skill to manipulate Aecylic Energy, so he already knew how to use it without his body needing to adapt to it. His skill allowed him to use an energy which his body wasn’t really ready for, which was part of what made it so difficult to use. By the time he had gained a few more points in Aecylic Energy and his body was able to undergo the awakening ceremony that all Aer did to use their latent energy, he was already used to using his skill to limit the Aecylic Energy he took in as a safety measure. Aecylic Empowerment had allowed him to utilize the energy in the first place, but it had also limited him, restraining the flow of energy to pre-awakening levels.

The new information from his skill told him that the Aer typically laid three to four eggs at a time, which would then hatch into baby Aer who would compete to reach adulthood and undergo their awakening. They had to compete because, despite his situation, Levi’s awakening hadn’t been that unusual. It was the norm that only the first Aer to reach adulthood would live, its siblings unable to survive the aftermath of its awakening. Aecylic Energy wasn’t for the weak of body or mind.

But improving his best skill wasn’t where his gains ended. Not even close. He had gained a frankly ridiculous number of stat points, such that he was almost afraid to look at his status. It was a bit overwhelming. If before he had been more than human, now he was certainly superhuman. That was something he should likely think about at some point, but that was also something for tomorrow. After destroying the dungeon core, he had realized something. This wasn’t the end. Not even close.

There were a few important bits of information he gained from his power up. One of them was the knowledge that achievements, titles, and skills could all be upgraded. His gains were not static, and his actions could greatly impact how the system rewarded him. Another thing of note was the System wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t sure why it had an error, but the fact that one existed was a big deal. But that was also something to worry about tomorrow.

The really big piece of information had to do with his Dungeon Delver achievement. It specifically mentioned him destroying the dungeon, basically confirming that the System wanted him to destroy dungeons. And Humanity’s fate was somehow connected to it all. Why else would destroying a dungeon upgrade his Human achievement? There was more going on with the System than he had originally assumed.

Levi shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Enough pontificating. Smarter people than him could think about these things. He still had more notifications to deal with. He had gained a total of three additional generic skill slots, one of which he used on Meditation, while the other two were still undecided. It was time to decide them, address his status, and get out of the dungeon.

[Available skills: Organization, Driving, Musicality, Exploration, Retreat, Berserker’s Rage, Killing Fist, Battledance, Unyielding, Aura of Slaughter, Dodge, Overcharge, Last Stand.]

He hadn’t noticed when selecting Meditation, but he now had three new options, each of which looked compelling for their own reasons. His first choice was obvious; he was going to pick Dodge. It probably wasn’t flashy, but after his last two fights he had experienced firsthand how important dodging was. He was turning into a close-range fighter, one that was more focused on dealing damage than taking it, so Dodge was exactly what he needed.

The second choice was harder. Most of the skills he wanted to take he couldn’t figure out just from the name. Unyielding and Battledance were his top two from before, but with Dodge, Battledance wasn’t quite as appealing. That left him deciding between Unyielding, Overcharge, and Last Stand, each compelling for their own reasons. After the boss fight he was still worried about his combat power so for now things like Exploration were out, even though that was likely his best utility option.

He finally decided to go with Last Stand. That one seemed the most useful based on the name, as it sounded like something that would help save his life in a critical situation.

[Unlocked skill: Dodge! This skill allows for more ease and proficiency when dodging. This skill is associated with: Agility.]

[Unlocked skill: Last Stand! When facing truly formidable odds, this skill allows for a reserve of strength to well up, allowing you to overcome previously impossible odds. This skill is associated with: Constitution, Willpower, Charisma.]

Dodge did exactly what he thought it would. Last Stand though was a little strange. He was glad he picked it, as it did seem useful, but why was it associated with Charisma? Both Constitution and Willpower he understood, they made sense. Maybe Charisma didn’t do what he thought it did?

Shaking off his musings, Levi turned to distributing his unallocated stat points. Trying to figure out the System was a fruitless endeavor. That way lay madness.

After a few minutes of deliberation, he finally just decided to allocate his stat points and be done with it. He didn’t have the luxury of knowledge. He had a rough idea of what the stats did and what he wanted out of them, so that’s what he went with.

[Name: Levi Curchman

Level: 21

Titles: System Inductee, Inheritor, Slaughterer, Pioneer

Stats:

Strength: 20 Constitution: 30 Dexterity: 20 Agility: 24

Willpower: 57 Insight: 20 Attunement: 48 Charisma: 9

Concentration: 15 Luck: 7 Aecylic Energy: 25

Skills: Concentrated Will 51, Survival 38, Improved Awareness 27, Aecylic Empowerment 52, Brawling 26, Slaughter 3, Manabody 23, Combat Sense 21, Meditation 3, Dodge 1, Last Stand 1]

His stats had ballooned, increasing at a frankly ridiculous rate. After defeating the boss he had gained over one hundred stat points. He might not have been confident facing anything above his level, but he had a hard time believing anything under was his match. His new knowledge of Aecylic Energy only backed that up.

There was only one place left to go, and after readying himself, Levi advanced around the bonfire, revealing the wall behind it, and the portal it held. He was kind of hoping for another treasure chest, but after getting loot from the dungeon core itself he wasn’t too surprised not to get anything else. His gains had already been astronomical. No need to get greedy.

A quick concentrated inspection of the portal revealed it was the way out. Levi turned back around, giving once last look at the dungeon beyond the bonfire. He would never forget his time here, but it was time to step through the portal and close this chapter of his life. It was time to move forward.

During his time in the dungeon he had debated about what to do when he got out. Part of him, and not a small part, wanted to say fuck it, and go live on his own as a hermit. Use Survival to live off the land. But that was weakness speaking. He would try one more time. Try living with people and making human connections. And if that didn’t work he would leave for good; he would just walk into the woods and never come back.

He could tell that once he stepped through the portal the dungeon would disappear, and so he sent one final prayer for Susan. He prayed she would find peace, and swore once more that he wouldn’t forget her, always keeping her memory alive. Then he turned and marched through the portal and into the world of tomorrow.