The moment is instantly ruined by the quest rewards all but flattening us to the ground.
Under normal circumstances I’d be happy to be snuggled up to a beautiful woman, but once again, I experience a pressure on my very existence, more intense than anything I’ve ever felt before. The wave of mana that slams into me is magnitudes more dense than when I completed my first dungeon.
Last time, I was bowled over by a mix of pain and pleasure, but this time my vision almost whites out entirely from the sensations flowing through my… everything. Sure, my soul feels like it’s being compressed in a lemon squeezer, while also somehow getting the best ethereal massage ever.
Beneath me, Arabella moans. Part gasp, part appreciative groan, and all accidental. It’s intimate and alluring in a way that makes my face burn, though I also feel embarrassed on her behalf.
My mind is pulled from the gutters when the wave of mana grows even more oppressive, and it quickly becomes too much to handle. I shift focus to my notices and trying not to pass out.
You have leveled up! X5
Stats gained:
+10 Strength
+25 Constitution
+25 Dexterity
+20 Intelligence
+45 Wisdom
+10 Charisma
+50 free stat points
I use Total Suppression to dull the pain as best I can, and the pressure on my soul slowly subsides, my vision slowly returning to normal. As it does, I quickly look over my stats and spend some of the heaps of points I’d just earned.
With 71 into Strength and 45 into Charisma, I bring them to the 500 point milestone. The rest, a whopping total of 14 points, I throw into Wisdom. I figure that, at this point, nothing will be able to out-scale my Wisdom growth.
Each point put into Wisdom is actually two and a half points, thanks to Manaborn. With my mana regen directly contributing to keeping myself and others alive, I figure it can’t hurt to finally start intentionally leaning into it.
Congratulations!
You have reached the second milestone (500) in the Strength stat.
Your body is supernaturally strong naturally conforming your musculature into your ideal physique.
You are able to bend the laws of magic through sheer physical prowess to a lesser degree, allowing you to physically interact with spells dependent on your Strength.
Tingles spread all throughout my body, but only for a few brief moments. When it’s done, my mind immediately jumps to the image of grabbing a fireball and crushing it with my bare hands.
This is going to be so badass!
Congratulations!
You have reached the second milestone (500) in the Charisma stat.
Your eyes convey an almost magnetic charm that intensifies your social abilities.
Your presence commands respect, granting you an almost palpable aura of authority.
That… well, I don’t actually know what to think about that. I’m sure it’ll come in handy though, given how amazing Charisma has been thus far.
Aura, though? Does it mean a literal kind, or the metaphorical kind?
I’ll have to test it a bit to see what it actually means for me.
With a quick activation of a supercharged All For One, the improvements to my status bring a unrestrained grin to my face.
Status
Name: Emilia
Race: Faefox
Age: 20
Level: 63
Health: 32,680 -> 34,620
Health Regen: 11,768 -> 12,617 per minute
Mana: 450,156 -> 478,653
Stored: 900,312 -> 957,306
Mana Regen: 3.7m -> 4.17m per minute
Stats:
Strength: 380 -> 500 (1,812)
Constitution: 726 -> 769 (2,788)
Dexterity: 1237 -> 1,299 (4,710)
Intelligence: 950 -> 989 (3,586)
Wisdom: 5,627 -> 5,983 (21,689)
Charisma: 412 -> 500 (1,815)
Available Stat Points: 0
Titles:
System Waker
Dungeon Pioneer
The First
Weave Walker
What’s Death?
Combat Class: Bloodwind Mystic (L)
Active Skills:
Bloodmist Fist
Blood Burst
Scarlet Barrier
Hemokinesis
Passive Skills:
Body of Scarlet Skies
Bloodwind Resilience
Bloodwind Harmony
Bloodwind Essence (Ev)
Profession Class: Dungeoneer (E)
Passive Skills:
Sense Danger
Dungeoneer’s Insight
Seeker’s Survival (Ev)
Relic Whisperer
Unique Class: First Arcanist (L)
Active Skills:
All For One (Ev)
Arcane Strike
Mana Surge
Arcane Regulation
Passive Skills:
Mind, Body, Soul
Arcane Body
Arcane Pugilism
Arcane Infusion
General Skills -
Manaborn
Fae Ferocity
Magic Resistant
Total Suppression
Meditation
Intimidation
Persuasion
Deception
Etiquette
Dancing
Fire Resistance (8/30)
Poison Resistance (19/30)
“Ahem.”
Arabella is giving me a narrow eyed stare, but I pretend to not notice. She’d started squirming a little once the System stopped bombarding us with mana, but I ignored it while finishing up with my Status.
Currently, I’m sprawled over Arabella with my head comfortably resting on her chest.
I let out a contented sigh and snuggle in a bit more.
“Surely you don’t intend to remain glued to me?” she asks in a tone so icy it sends a shiver straight into my tail.
“But you’re so comfy…” I whine.
She pinches one of my ears and twists. Hard.
“Ow, ow, ow, okay! I give! I’m going!”
If that’s only two percent of the pain, how freaking hard did she twist?!
She mutters darkly about beastkins and personal space for a moment, and once we’re up, I pout at her.
“Yes, yes, pout as you like, little fox. Your ears may be endearing, but that won’t work—”
“Aw! You think I'm endearing?” I interrupt, batting my lashes.
She gives me a baleful glare, one of her brows twitching dangerously.
“Sorry, sorry,” I say through a barely restrained giggle and hold my hands up in surrender.
When she doesn't say anything, I drop all of the joking for a moment. “Look... before the quest rewards kicked in, I wanted to thank you. For everything.”
Her gaze softens immediately, then looks away, suddenly sheepish.
“What I did does not require thanks. I only did what was right. Anyone even halfway decent would do the same.”
“But it wasn’t just ‘anyone’. It was you,” I lower my voice and grab her hands, giving them a little squeeze.
When she turns to look at me, I meet her gaze head on, hoping she can feel my sincerity. “You did more for me than you probably know. I owe you a debt I don’t even know if I can repay, Arabella.”
Then she breaks eye contact again, her cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink. Still, she does her best to remain stoic as ever, despite her obvious discomfort with my honesty.
“Yes, well," she starts, gently pulling her hands from mine, "be that as it may, I’m curious about something. Why is this dungeon so focused on you?”
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
For a moment, I’m tempted to pretend I know nothing, given… everything. It’s easy enough to figure out that there’s more to me than meets the eye, and that'll only be doubly true once she learns about Kiri.
I immediately discard the idea of hiding the truth from her, though. She has more than proven herself to me, and she knows more about me than anyone but Cari.
If I can’t trust her after what we just went through, then I don’t think I can trust anyone. And while that may end up being the case, I'd rather hope for the best.
So I shrug, then honestly say, “I think I made a deal with a demi-goddess.”
Her eyes snap back to me, gaze intensely focused. “What, exactly, do you mean?”
“Well, when the Update happened, I got some pretty interesting powers. One of those abilities apparently made someone feel indebted to me, and they reached out to return the favor. I think this is it,” I finish, motioning the area around us.
My eyes settle on the tombstone as I do, and I scoot closer to lean on it.
Looking back to Arabella, I find her deep in thought. She notices me looking and asks another question.
“Who is this demi-goddess?”
“Well, I don’t know if she’s actually a demi-god, it just felt like that when I met her. Actually, I don’t think ‘met’ is the right word, it’s more like I felt her, weird as that—”
“Focus, please,” she commands.
I flush a little at the reprimand, but quickly recover. “Kiri, the Sixth. You remember the world notices?” She nods to the question, so I continue. “Well, she’s the one who teamed up with Morena to reintroduce extinct sapient beings to the world. No idea how that’s working out, but yeah. That Kiri.”
She scrutinizes me, as if checking for some kind of tell that might prove me to be lying. Then she narrows her eyes.
“I know of her. Why would she owe you anything? Who are you, really?” she asks.
I wince and look away. “I, uh, don’t want to answer that yet.”
She outright glares at me this time.
“Do you often deny royalty?”
I shrug again. “Can’t say I’ve had many opportunities.”
She glares at me for a moment, then her lips curl into a smirk. “Some knight you are.”
That pulls a bark of laughter from me.
“On another note, I’m shocked that the Etheron Empire is responsible for the loss of the foxkin people,” she says offhandedly, trying to shift topics.
I freeze at her mention of the Empire.
The memories I’d locked away years ago, both good and bad, are back. Despite that, I don’t feel the need to push them away at all. It still feels like there’s a void in my heart, but it’s not debilitating anymore.
I can actually acknowledge it and look deeper. What I see makes my claws flex as a deep, rumbling growl shatters the quiet of the forest around us.
I gained an incredibly important bit of information. How the attackers looked. They all wore dark uniforms, each having the exact same emblem somewhere on their gear.
A dark, eclipsed sun with jagged rays clawing outward, like spears piercing the heavens.
The emblem of the Etheron Empire. I hadn’t known that before the terrorist attacks in Bephis. More accurately, I only learned that once Scruffy tried to recruit Cari and I to help him in dealing with them.
“I’m not,” I snarl. “I’ve seen firsthand what they're willing to do.”
Before, I avoided the politics of it all. There’s no way I can do that anymore. They are solely responsible for what happened to my family. And I will never forgive them. My claws dig into the flesh of my palms with ease, drawing blood.
I’d never had a real target for my vengeance. Now I do.
I’ll have to get in touch with Scruffy. Guess we'll find a way to work together after all...
“So you have…” she taps her chin with a delicate finger. “I will see what I can learn once we get out of here. There are still some strings I can pull.”
Her immediately jumping to find a way to help somehow calms me down, and I take a deep breath and relax my claws.
Then I let it out in a huff. “I’ll see what I can do, too. I had a chance to get involved, but I avoided it because I hate politics… now I don’t think I can.”
She just lets out an affirmative “Mhm,” before pulling out her strange compass and wandering a few steps away as she fiddles with it.
“Oh, yeah! That reminds me, what ever happened to the rings in the rewards?” I say, quickly looking around.
All I see is the door leading out of the dungeon not far behind my Mom’s tombstone.
“You’re wearing it,” she says absently, waving her free hand at me. Snugly fit over the glove on her ring finger is an ornate ring. “They seem to have automatically equipped. Probably soulbound or something.”
Her eyes never leave the compass, though. It starts to glow with mana ever so slightly, its needle trembling as it shifts around. I don’t know how she gets it to work, or how it works at all for that matter, but whatever she’s doing seems to take a lot of her focus.
As she said, it’s on my ring finger on my left hand. I use Relic Whisperer the moment I do.
Ring of Remembrance
Legendary, Soulbound
This item is a gift from Kiri, the Sixth, and is meant to represent the connection, trust, and memories shared with the other wearer.
This ring is one of a paired soul-bonded set, and their true strength only emerges when both are worn.
Enchantments:
Perfect Mana Transfer
This item can transfer any quantity of mana from the wearer to its counterpart, regardless of location.
Perfect Match
This item takes on any appearance that best suites the wearer, as long as it still appears as a ring.
Perfect Sense Bond
With a moderate mana investment, this item can locate its counterpart from anywhere.
Perfect Self Repair
This item cannot be permanently destroyed.
“Gods and hells!”
My outburst snaps Arabella out of whatever she was doing with her compass, and I immediately wave her over.
She quirks a perfectly sculpted brow at me.
“Let me see the ring! Yours, I mean. Let me analyze it,” I rush out, waving more insistently.
I could go to her, but… I want to be near Mom's grave for at least a little longer.
She seems to understand that, but she still gives me an incredibly potent eye-roll. When she holds her hand up for me to see the ring, I analyze it with Relic Whisperer.
Ring of Remembrance
Legendary, Soulbound
This item is a gift from Kiri, the Sixth, and is meant to represent the connection, trust, and memories shared with the other wearer.
This ring is one of a paired soul-bonded set, and their true strength only emerges when both are worn.
Enchantments:
Perfect Mana Transfer
This item can transfer any quantity of mana from the wearer to its counterpart, regardless of location.
Perfect Match
This item takes on any appearance that best suites the wearer, as long as it still appears as a ring.
Perfect Sense Bond
With a moderate mana investment, this item can locate its counterpart from anywhere.
Perfect Self Repair
This item cannot be permanently destroyed.
It's the exact same.
“Well? Your smile's giving you away. Out with it,” she huffs.
Instead of answering, I share the information and wait with a smile. As I’d hoped, her eyes widen with surprise.
What I didn't expect was for tears that start to falling from her eyes.
The way she clutches her hand to her chest, as if she’s afraid it might suddenly vanish makes my stomach tighten.
I reach out hesitantly. “Hey, hey it’s okay. What’s wrong?”
She wipes her tears away quickly and waves me off. “No, it’s nothing. Thank you for showing me.”
I keep looking at her with concern, but when it becomes clear that she doesn’t want to elaborate, I try to shift the topic.
“Actually, can I look at that compass too? I’ve been wanting to know what it does for a while now.”
She hesitates only for a moment before holding it out.
Bluebell’s Pathfinder
Ascended, Soulbound
Enchantments:
Unknown
“Didn’t see anything, did you?” she asks, her composure quickly recovered now that I’m the one with a look of shock on my face.
I can’t help but to connect the dots at this point. With the dungeon being, apparently, made by Kiri herself, and called “Bluebell’s Recompense”, then this device being the thing that led us here…
Is Kiri actually Bluebell? The Bluebell, from the fairytale?
If so… well, honestly, I don’t know what to think of that. The idea that the hero from the stories I read to give myself hope is actually real and somehow helping me...
Maybe I can ask for an autograph?
At the same time, Kiri may only be connected to the story somehow, or maybe even just a big fan of the fairytale itself. And with her apparent ability to make literal dungeons...
Well, I can’t know for sure without asking, but things are beginning to point in an interesting direction.
These realizations are accompanied by a pang of regret at the loss of my copy of Omen of a Bluebell. All of my notes, scribbles, hopes, and dreams were stored inside its covers, between every margin I could find.
I let the feeling wash over me.
I’d put it well and truly behind me while inside my first dungeon, though I have to admit I wasn’t expecting the story to make this kind of a comeback.
“Yeah, not much. Just the name and its tags,” I say, shrugging. “Thanks for letting me look. That said—”
Suddenly, I’m interrupted by a subtle vibration from my Starlight Bangle. It’s not uncomfortable, but it’s definitely damn near impossible to ignore given how sensitive my ears are.
Thankfully, I know exactly what the cause is.
Cari and I tested Tella’s Twinpages a couple of times, both in and out of storage, and we found that they work either way. However, a bonus feature of the Message enchantment is that they also alert the owner.
Outside of storage, it was a tiny little tinkle of a bell, similar to a doorbell ringing after entering a shop.
Inside the storage was different. As it couldn’t produce any sound, it somehow made my Starlight Bangle itself vibrate in order to alert me of a message.
I quickly summon the tiny notebook, and it plops into my lap. The moment it settles, it flips open of its own accord, revealing a page filled with Cari’s elegant writing.
“Where are you? Are you safe? Train is moving, but we can’t find you. Everyone is safe, attackers ran off into the tunnels. Please answer soon.”
I groan.
She’s so going to kill me.
