Chapter 42, Impromptu shelter

Standing up and stretching I remember the ring blade as it smoothly moves to its designated spot behind my back. I’d forgotten I had it floating next to me when I selected the new class but it seems like the skill holding it up didn’t change in function, only name and power.

Moving the ring blade about I’m amazed by the increased speed and control I can exert without using more mana than I usually do. The 250% increase in efficiency and control isn’t just for show. Disassembling the weapon and moving the eight separate ring sections around in the air, I'm thrilled with how easy it is compared to before. I might even be able to start using these axe-looking blades in battle with a little more practice.

Moving them to a loose ring behind my back I start walking down the stairwell to the 15th floor, needing 10 revolutions according to my approximation before I reach the end. Stepping through the entryway I look around curiously but don’t spot any great change except, perhaps a small increase in width. Taking one of the two corridors leading forwards I start walking.

I can hear clattering of what sounds like bones after only having taken a dozen steps, my glowing eyes soon illuminating five monsters coming into view from around a bend in the corridor up ahead. It’s an evolution of the bone lizards no doubt as they look almost the same, only a tiny bit larger and crawling on the ceiling, walls and floor. I suppose the horrible clattering is a result of their increased mobility. Their eyes also glow with a soft, white luster giving their location away. There must be some sort of reason for this outside of aesthetics but I can’t think of one.

[Clattering Climber Sceloporus - Level 222]

The reassembled ring blade cuts through the first and third monster as I kick the second lizard moving on the floor in the face, applying 1000 mana worth of telekinetic force and marveling at the result. The increased control and efficiency makes it easy to impart the force straight towards its brain, cracking the cranium like an egg and sending mush flying through the openings.

Ding! You have slain [Clattering Climber Sceloporus - Level 222]. Experience awarded.

Ding! You have slain [Clattering Climber Sceloporus - Level 224]. Bonus experience awarded.

Ding! You have slain [Clattering Climber Sceloporus - Level 227]. Bonus experience awarded.

The fourth lizard lunges at me from the wall on my left, opening its maw sporting a row of sharp looking teeth. Receiving an uppercut that blasts it into the ceiling, instantly killing it and dislodging the last lizard who’d been preparing to drop down at me, I kick both the dead carcass and the still living lizard in a roundhouse kick with enough telekinetic force to instantly obliterate both, making the corridor tremble from their impact against the wall.

Ding! You have slain [Clattering Climber Sceloporus - Level 220]. Experience awarded.

Ding! You have slain [Clattering Climber Sceloporus - Level 221]. Experience awarded.

It was an excessive amount of force, obviously, but I grin fiercely at the result before suddenly being accosted by a plant monster from behind which I’m certain wasn't there a few seconds ago. With my sensors picking up on its movements however, I have no trouble dodging the thick, thorny vines.

Splitting the blade into the smaller sections I manipulate each one to go after a separate vines, cutting eight of them off in one swift strike and only leaving one sad, flailing vine intact. Throwing a ball of celestial flames at the bulbous body in its center I give the flames a quick burst of power and incinerate everything. There was no reason for finishing it off with fire except as revenge for its startling appearance out of nowhere.

Ding! You have slain [Spontaneous Surprise Strangler - Level 215]. Experience awarded.

“I seriously hope that name doesn’t imply what I think it does.”

“With our history with plant monsters I’m sure it’s exactly as you fear, Zel.”

I scowl at the pile of ash. If these things appear out of nowhere in the middle of difficult battles they could swiftly make a manageable situation insanely dangerous. It’s a really nasty move by the dungeon. Sighing, I kick the ash into a cloud before continuing on my way.

The first chamber has eighteen lizards, surprising me with the amount provided this early on the floor. It’s nothing to complain about though and I eagerly set to cutting, carving, smashing and cracking them apart. Spinning on my heel and kicking a skull to scrap, I transfer the rotation into a spinning backflip, delivering a right hook and kick while airborne to two lizards falling from the ceiling.

Landing on a lizard's back I launch myself towards one crawling on the wall, cracking my springboard in half before landing feet first on my target. Once again launching myself, lizard innards and bone smearing the wall, I land in the midst of five of them, killing two with my impact before the ring blade cuts the third one apart. I’m about to kick the fourth one to death but abort the motion as I swiftly jump upwards, narrowly avoiding two vines having struck at my legs from nowhere.

Growling slightly in annoyance at the plant appearing out of thin air I throw a ball of celestial flames at it, letting its shrieks of pain be an instrument to complement the percussion of breaking bone as I kill the remaining lizards. The plant lets out a final, slightly louder cry as I obliterate the last lizard, ending the atrocious music. I fucking hate plant monsters.

My ring blade carves through strangler after strangler as I smash apart one lizard after another, dashing or jumping in all directions as I try avoiding the nine curse beams flying at me from three different directions. I’d gotten quite a shock when entering the 8th chamber, prepared to kill the forty or so lizards but immediately getting trapped as the three connected corridors slammed shut, sealing me in.

Then three evolved scorpions had dropped from holes opening in the ceiling, each placed in a separate corner. They looked the same as before except for the darker hue to their scales and the two extra segmented tails, giving it triple the chance of hitting something with its curses.

[Tripletail Hex Luridea - Level 237]

I’d barely managed to react to the sudden changes before four stranglers burst out from random places on the floor, walls and ceiling, leading to the situation I now find myself in.

Turning a lizard brain to mush I dive towards the next one, my ring blade passing beneath me on its path towards the next strangler. To my annoyance they refuse to stop popping up out of nowhere and I have no choice other than to continuously cut them down, giving the scorpions free reign with their curses.

Having my ring blade preoccupied I fling a ball of celestial flames at the closest scorpion, detonating it in its face and burning its eyes out as I continue dodging vines, curses and lizard teeth. When I’m absolutely sure that it's completely blind I dash towards the next one, sliding on the mossy floor beneath 4 vines stretching down from the ceiling as I lob the next ball of flames.

I succeed in blinding that scorpion as well but soon realize that blinding the trigger-happy monsters might have been one of my dumbest ideas yet. Not being able to see me they decide to start firing curses in every direction without rhyme or reason, removing my advantage of knowing where they’re aiming. The last scorpion is still trying to hit me but it might as well be blasting off in every direction like the other two as I can’t spare it another thought, trying to dodge the random beams going everywhere and nowhere.

My heart is beating madly as my focus becomes razor sharp, not caring about anything other than the immediate moment, not planning any efficient way of clearing the chamber and not even caring about the massive mana expenditure. The only thing that matters is dodging and kicking, dodging and punching, dodging and dodging before doging yet again.

My attention is split between sensing my immediate surroundings, cutting down vines with my ring blade and killing every lizard coming close enough on its own free will. The sensors over my whole body flickering in and out of focus like the lanterns hanging from the ceiling, constantly adapting the gathered information to not miss anything. I struggle towards the closest scorpion with all of this occupying every last drop of mental strength available to me.

It’s not enough.

I see it coming a split second before it hits me in the back, having no opportunity to dodge, not because of inattentiveness but simply as a result from my lack of reaction speed and already being committed to dodging three other threats at this very moment. The curse goes straight into me before detonating, not physically damaging me but spreading a shockwave of curse mana outwards, reaching far throughout my body. It’s a lot worse than the previous time I was hit.

I instantly lose any need for my distorted vision, closing my eyes and instead focusing all my attention on the sensors all over my body. Even they’re affected by the curse though and I only manage to continue a few more seconds before another beam hits me in my leg.

Fuck. What should I do? There’s no way I’m able to take all three of them out if I have to get close to them in this state. Think. THINK. There must be something I can do, anything. My mind is racing, different ideas being conjured before immediately getting discarded. As the third curse beam hits me I realize I’ll have to rely on my ring blade to take them out, there’s just no other way.

Dropping down and curling into a ball I stop cutting off the constantly respawning plant monsters, almost immediately getting snared in a multitude of vines trying to strangle me to death. The sheer number of vines pulling and squeezing from every direction imaginable threatens to crush me into paste and would have succeeded if I hadn’t pushed against all of them with telekinetic force, rapidly draining my reserves but keeping me alive. They at least keep the lizards away from me which I had counted on.

The other half of my focus is entirely on the ring blade as it flies straight at the scorpions, cutting the tails cleanly off the scorpion still having eyes before going for the other two blinded ones’ tails. When no longer having to fear an even worsening situation with more curses I move on to the lizards. Disassembling the ring blade I push past my previous limits with telekinesis as a fury of eight blade sections move wildly through the room, looking like a whirlwind of blood and viscera as each one splits necks, pierces spines and indiscriminately dismember limbs.

I paint the chamber red, taking around ten seconds to exterminate every lizard and even getting a few good hits in on two of the scorpions, crippling their movements. My mind is burdened by the strain caused by the mental effort but I don’t let up as the ring sections simultaneously kill all four plant monsters before shredding the constricting cocoon of vines I’d been forced into. I don’t know if killing all the lizards or killing all four plant monsters at once did the trick but they don’t ímmediately respawn.

I end the battle by assembling the ring blade, lightening the burden on my mind, before cutting deep into the face of all three scorpions, only killing one immediately but leaving the other two on death's door. Giving the ring blade an extra forceful spin, dislodging the remaining gore and returning it to a pristine, white ring with golden light burning within and marking the edges of each section, I move it towards me. It hovers over the pile of sliced apart vines while spinning lazily, my body still lying prone and hidden underneath all of them.

My mind slowly relaxes and I feel the adrenaline ebbing away, giving room for relief to wash over me. That had been an insanely dangerous trap and it would have killed me without the upgrades I’d gotten from selecting a new class. Crazy how fast this dungeon went from being boringly easy to a deathtrap.

I’m not sure how long I just lay there but eventually the three corridors sealing this chamber open back up. I don’t move though, just continuing to relax in the damp and prickly bed, thorns piercing my flesh but no blood leaking as Ari’s long since sealed the wounds. I’m sure that the floor guardian isn’t far ahead and taking my time to de-stress like this before facing it seems like a good idea.

Ari eventually breaks the silence.

“That was intense, huh?”

I merely send her the equivalent of a groan in response, not having the energy to communicate with words. Ari sends gentle and calming waves back and we continue to just exist for a moment longer without speaking before she breaks the silence yet again.

“Notifications?”

“Ughh, alright.”

Ding! You have slain [Spontaneous Surprise Strangler - Level 215]. Experience awarded.

…

Ding! You have slain [Tripletail Hex Luridea - Level 239]. Experience awarded.

Ding! [Arcane Telekineticist] has leveled from [13] to [37]. +[120 AP]

Ding! [Arcane Telekineticist] has new skills available [1].

Ding! General skill [Identify] has leveled from [60] to [61].

Ding! General skill [Aerial Acrobatics] has leveled from [84] to [92].

Ding! General skill [Running] has leveled from [122] to [125].

Ding! General skill [Sprinting] has leveled from [134] to [141].

Ding! General skill [Jumping] has leveled from [159] to [172].

Ding! General skill [Dodging] has leveled from [273] to [298].

Ding! General skill [Unarmed] has leveled from [197] to [224].

Ding! General skill [Arcane Spatial Ring] has leveled from [153] to [158].

Ding! Skill [Sensors] has leveled from [316] to [347].

Ding! Skill [Passive Power] has leveled from [562] to [568].

Ding! Skill [Arcane Manipulation] has leveled from [633] to [656].

Ding! Skill [Capacitor] has leveled from [380] to [391].

Ding! Skill [External Modules] has leveled from [279] to [298].

Ding! Skill [Power Profiler] has leveled from [118] to [128].

Ding! Skill [Telekinetic Force Manipulation] has leveled from [300] to [339].

Ding! Resistance [Curse Magic Resistance] has increased from [107] to [120].

“Can we hide all notifications for [Running], [Sprinting] and [Jumping] from now onwards, Ari? [Dodging] might still be interesting to see the growth of but we haven’t specifically focused on leveling any of the other three general skills ever since we were stuck in the core chamber. They just slowly increase like our [Multitasking] general skill does.”

“Um. Sure, Zel. What should we do with our 120 attribute points? Everything into wisdom before reaching 1000 and splitting it evenly between wisdom and intelligence like we planned?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Ari’s silent for a moment, deliberating our options before slowly speaking up.

“I think getting wisdom to 1000 is something we should do but I’m not sure about the remaining AP. Having more mana regeneration and capacity is always useful but we need something else more urgently if we want to fix a glaring weakness that became obvious in this battle.”

I need a few seconds before catching on.

“Reaction speed.”

“Yes. We can probably improve our mana-nerve immensely when overhauling our body but I still think we should increase our agility. We rely on regenerating any damage we sustain, that’s true, but attacks we can’t regenerate like the scorpions’ curses have to be dodged, blocked or resisted somehow. Being able to dodge the truly dangerous stuff will most likely save us in the future.”

“True and having more agility will also increase our speed, giving us more opportunities to deal out damage. It’s a smart choice. Let’s put everything remaining into agility, Ari.”

Ding! Attribute [Wisdom] has been increased from [945] to [1000].

Ding! Attribute [Agility] has been increased from [110] to [175].

Attribute Points: [0]

Strength: [110] -50%

Constitution: [110] -50%

Vitality: [110] -50%

Agility: [175] -50%

Dexterity: [110] -50%

Intelligence: [163] +400%

Wisdom: [1000] +395%

Mana: [8150 / 8150]

Capacitor: [31,866 / 31,866]

Mana regen: [4950] / Minute

“We might as well take a look at our new class skill while we rest some more.”

“Sure.”

-[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 - [339]

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Available skills [1]

[Point Compression]

Apply between [500] & [500 + Skill Level * 20] mana of telekinetic force towards a single point, affecting mass within a maximum radius of [0.25 + (Skill Level / 100)] meters. Cooldown [10 / ((Skill Level + 9) / 10)] seconds.

I just stare at it, trying to figure out what end result of all that math would be before Ari interrupts my train of thought.

“This skill sounds awesome, Zel! Don’t you agree?”

“Hold on, I haven’t figured out what it all means yet. Care to explain for the less mathematically inclined?”

Ari snorts in amusement.

“Alright. It’s basically a skill that will push the mass located in a sphere towards the sphere’s center. Both the power and size of the sphere can be increased when leveling the skill. With a skill level of 1 it will use 500 mana to compress everything in a 0.5 meter wide sphere. We can probably make the affected volume even smaller but I don’t see why we should.”

“I see. That does sound really useful. We could probably just crush the skull of any creature if we get this to a high enough level.”

“Exactly! I vote that we accept this skill.”

I can’t help but roll my eyes at her.

“Of course we’ll accept it, Ari.”

Ding! [Arcane Telekineticist] has gained skill [Point Compression].

Skills:

-Telekinetic Force Manipulation - [339]

-Point Compression - [1]

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I’m about to test the new skill on a dead carcass lying a couple meters away but stop myself when I suddenly hear voices.