Chapter 26 - Dungeon(4)
Heyo. How's everyone doing?
I've been looking over the stats for the book and from what I'm seeing, most of you like interactions between different characters rather than fighting.
______________________________
"What... What are you doing?" My words are slow, my mind not fully comprehending the pain of a lost limb. There is a small trail of blood flowing down my lip. I feel the corners of my vision slowly darkening.
"I really am sorry Seth. I tried to find another way but... this is the only way to get what I want."
What does he want from me?! I have nothing to give him even when I die!
He must have seen my expression because-
[Seth!! Stall for time. I'm trying to reset everything in your body to save you!]
I don't think I have much-
[Shut the fuck up! Stall for time and let me handle the rest!! Got it?!!]
...
"My family has a prophecy. This specific dungeon is home to a secret technique that will help us take over the world. The only way to obtain this is by killing your team on the last floor after the dungeon is conquered. All of them have to be there and no one can die on the lower floors. It's only when they succeeded that they found out another condition. It has to be someone you're close to... a friend if you will."
"Why are y- cough -" A bit of blood falls to the floor. My vision is smaller now, I can only see the upper body of Ray, and everything around him is blurry or black.
[Almost there!!]
"Why am I telling you this? It's simple. It will mean nothing to someone who is dead and-"
[NOW!!!]
Boooom! Woosh!
I feel my vision slowly coming back—my left arm twitches, the same arm that was blown off.
Eva! What happened?! I can't-
[Ugh. It's fine now. Hah, I can't believe I did that. Goodbye Seth]
What? Oi! What are you saying? What do you mean goodbye?!
[...]
Hey... Eva... Eva...
"C'mon Eva. You can't do this to me. You're stuck with me, you can't just leave." Tears flow down my eyes as I hear nothing coming from the Ai within me.
"No. No. No. I refuse. You aren't allowed to leave me. You can't. You can't."
Nothing. I hear nothing as I keep calling her name. Nothing. She's... She's gone.
I'm ugly crying now. The tears mix with snot and form a river below me. Why? How could she just-
'Oh, Honey. Come here!' My physical body doesn't move but I feel myself being enveloped by someone. 'It's fine. It's fine. You're going to be okay.'
The hands running through my hair would be soothing in any other situation.
'No! She, she- She's gone!! Eva left! She just-'
'She didn't leave you. She... how do I say this? She destroyed herself to save you. Oh gosh, that doesn't sound any better!'
'But... but why?! Why did she do it for me?!'
'I forget some of the heroes are still children. You haven't experienced the world. Eva has lived for eons. She knows you can do more than she ever would be able to
'I can't!! I'm nothing without her!!'
'Open the system you have and read the last message she left'
'Last message?'
I open the system and look through everything.
===============
Name: Seth
Title: THE GLORY OF INARI
Level: 19
Experience: 0/59 000
Ability: Passive Collector - Allows the user to passively absorb 0.02 stats from the surroundings every hour. STR/DEX/CON/INT/WIS/CHR/MANA/HPREGEN/MPREGEN
Currency: 0
Guild ID - 0 credits
Savings - 0 credits
Status: Physical: Weakened/Mental: Unstable
Health Points: [10/10]
Mana Points: [10/10]
Strength: [-70]
Dexterity: [-70]
Constitution: [-70]
Intelligence: [-70]
Wisdom: [-70]
Charisma: [-70]
Mana: [-70]
SP: [0]
Skills:
[Combat - Due to having multiple skills related to close combat weapons an enhanced skill which allows you to wield all types of weapons in close combat has been created. 6/10]
[Ranged Combat - Due to having multiple skills related to ranged combat weapons an enhanced skill which allows you to wield all types of weapons in ranged combat has been created. 3/10]
[Cooking - You have been able to cook for yourself and only been poisoned a few times. 6/10]
[Survival - You can create a fire, hunt for food, etc. 4/10]
[Reading - You read and understand fast. 5/10]
[Comprehension - You can understand difficult concepts which are foreign to your previous self. 6/10]
[Parkour - You move weird. 3/10]
[Emotionless - You are able to control your emotional state and be eternally calm. 4/10]
[Mana Manipulation - You are able to circulate mana within your body to create various effects. Potency of these effects increase along with proficiency of this skill. 1/10.
Sub Skills available - Enhance. Barrier. Mana Blade. Infusion. Aura. Heal. Absorb. Mana bullet. Expel
Sub Skills Learned - Absorb. Enhance]
[Bullshitter - Your lie is so natural, no different from breathing. - 2/10]
[Manipulator - You are able to convince others that you are right. Heavily relies on charisma. - 1/10]
SP : [0]
Inventory: [Unlock: Level 25]
[6/20]
Shop: [Unlock: Level 50]
System Shop:
Comfort
Sexual
Combat
Support
Academic
Magic
================================
I don't give a shit!! MOVE!!
[Ding! You defeated a monster! +15XP]
[Ding...
[Ding...
[Ding...
[Ding...
...
...
[Ding! You have defeated the Dungeon Boss! +2540 XP]
[Congratulations! You have met the requirements! Part 1/3 received! The clue to the next part will be shown when accepted.]
[Eva has used a forbidden skill! Sacrificing Skill points! Sacrificing Stat points!]
[Error! Failed. Sacrificing further Skill and Stat points!]
[Error! Failed....]
[Error! Faile...]
[Error! Fail...]
...
...
[Success... Eva sacrificed her soul to complete this request!]
[Forbidden skill changed to Kamikaze Ultimate!]
[Power reduced to activate alternate effects!]
[Vessel Restored!]
[System Restored!]
[Temporary System Shop Unlocked!]
[Eva uses the last of her power to leave a final message!]
[Hey Seth. I know, I know. Look on the bright side, I'm finally out of your head. Don't worry, I'm not angry at you. I know what it feels like to be constantly watched so I understand your frustration. I want to say a few things before I completely disappear. I know our time together was short but it was enjoyable. You aren't the best Host I've served but you are in the Top 5. You have treated me better than most would and I thank you for that.
You relied on me a lot and I adored it but you will have to learn to live without me. It'll be hard but you can adapt to it. It took a lot of power to send you this final message so I'll get to the point. I've used all your stat and skill points to help you. Your total stats will be in the negatives when I leave. It was to help you survive. My soul was sacrificed to give the other effects. It completed the skill and gave you a new body. That system of yours used the excess energy to restore itself.
Your body is a normal one, I couldn't do much more than that with the limited energy I had. You are average in every way apart from your ability. This ability of yours unlocked something when it was fully restored, look into it, it seemed interesting.
Goodbye. This is where my story ends. I've lived for eons so I'm not too sad with this ending. Your story is just beginning so live with my memory and rule the world.]
...
'Calm down!'
Everything freezes for a second before resuming. [Emotionless] starts taking over. It takes a few minutes before my cries stop and I calm myself down. I feel incomplete, there's a huge hole where Eva used to be.
I look up at Inari and she sighs. She looks at the sky for a few seconds before looking down at me with a smile.
'There's a way to get her back' Her smile is full of pity and sorrow.
'How?!'
'I assume you've received a piece of... something from the dungeon?'
I go back through the notifications I got from my system and I see it.
'Hmm. It says it's one part of three.'
'Yes. That one.' She waves her hand and a dome appears around her. The dome is white and ethereal foxes surround it. 'These pieces. There are many of them scattered around the world. It is a challenge... Not exactly a challenge but more of a hunt. The Goddesses got bored in the dimension up there so they broke one of the pillars from Olympus and sent the pieces down here.
There were millions, maybe billions of pieces from this pillar and they all flew down to Earth. We call these pieces dungeons!"
'What? No, you're telling me...'
'Yes. Dungeons are simply entertainment for the Goddesses up there. The reason I'm telling you this is... there are ways to collect these pieces. You need to truly conquer a dungeon to receive these pieces. Once a dungeon runs out of energy you will receive the pieces'
'...When High-Class adventurers or Heroes go into a lower-ranked dungeon and clear it multiple times?'
'Yes. That is an example of making a dungeon run out of energy. There are other ways but this one is the most efficient and least time-consuming. I know you have many questions but I am unable to answer them at the moment. Grow stronger and reach the level of Godhood and all answers will be given. Unfortunately, this is all the time I have. We'll see each other again. Maybe not anytime soon but we will meet.'
My eyes open and I'm staring at the floor of the dungeon.