Kae

Dungeon Diver CH286

“Alright, let’s get down to business.”

After a nice meal and a hot shower, we are all aware that the nightmare of captivity and torture is over. Our new mission is to piece together every bit of information we have to save our friend.

After my initial statement breaking our food coma, all eyes are on me.

I look around the room a few times, then activate my newest skill.

“Hush”

A near-invisible grey orb of energy expands from my index finger and surround...

Dungeon Diver CH285

“It’s not urgent, but we have some work to do. We’ll save Lydia in 3 days.”

The meeting at sunrise in 3 days is supposed to take place at an observatory by the Abyss. This is where I’ll be able to find this mysterious Boss, as well as a new hidden variable. A craftsman capable of making mind-reading items.

The exact location of this hideout is still unknown, but at least we have a reference and some very solid clues. We may be in a rush to get information, but the immedi...

Dungeon Diver CH284

She triggered a death switch…

That red button activated a security precaution to destroy evidence and trap any intruders inside if their room is compromised.

I’ve got to give this woman credit, she caught onto the situation pretty quickly and reacted in a professional and timely manner.

Nevertheless, I have to focus and get as much gear as I can. Then, get out of here.

My eyes dart to the other side of the wooden desk to see a bundle of mana crystals and two piles ...

Dungeon Diver CH283

The silver doors slowly open and I walk through as the woman’s voice from the black box stops.

The buzzing sound of ambient mana surrounding me is very loud. It only gets more violent the deeper I walk through. A glowing white light distorted the air in front of me, but using my perception skills I can tell there's a room just 5 meters ahead.

There’s another odd barrier that connects the 3rd door to the room before me, but I sense no ill-intent or power-draining abilities atta...

Dungeon Diver CH282

I do another quick scan to find that including the floor we stand on, there are only 3 more to the surface.

Just as Chester said, there’s only one hunter of any power level even close to ours in the immediate vicinity.

Considering this… another issue comes to mind.

The numbered badges on the agents that I’ve been killing have only been rising. The last one on the floor below was number 3. If this were to follow any ordinary pattern, there should be at least 2 more left...

Dungeon Diver CH281

Chester makes a quick glance at each of us. I’m fully on board with following him for my own selfish reasons, but I’m unsure exactly what my teammates think of him.

“I’ll accept your help, but I will have a few questions for you once we make it out of here.”

I give him a nod, he returns one. Then, I shift my gaze to my teammates to see their reactions. To my surprise, most of them are hardly paying attention to our deal at all.

They’re all more worried about gett...

Dungeon Diver CH280

Despite the happy sounds of my teammates unlocking their cuffs and slicing through the metal bars of the cell behind me, there’s still a major issue to still be solved.

Lydia is missing.

The other presence on this floor that was masked by the cuffs happened to be this bald and bearded old man, not the white-haired katana-wielding mage I expected to see.

My mind races and I activate my enemy detection skill along with my other perception perks to scope out the floors above ...

Dungeon Diver CH279

My footsteps echo in the hallway and the flickering yellow lights above mask the grime that covers the grey walls, ceiling, and floor.

There are metal doors every 10 to 15 meters that lead into similar-sized rooms, but the long curved hallway seems to go on forever as I make my way forward. My enemy detection skill only shows one other person on this floor and they are still rather far away at the end of the hall.

It’s a level 202 with a swordsmanship skill as well as that same ...

Dungeon Diver CH278

It all happens in an instant.

I shoot a thin black blade of refined energy from the tips of my fingers out of my bloodied right hand. It flies up in the air, heading straight for her left shoulder.

The woman's expression changes to disbelief, and she activates her mana shielding before the collision. She's an elite-level hunter, so even when completely caught off guard her shielding activates for protection.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to her, this is the worst move the blond...

Dungeon Diver CH277

“Rise and Shine. Today’s the day you spill it.”

The woman comes in with her usual food, water, and torture weapons wanting to know more about the Demon and the Dragon I fought. She’s much more straight-faced today and doesn't fold under any of my initial questions or tauntings.

I lose a lot of blood from deep lashes and she even tries cutting my fingers rather than just the nails.

Her newest method is a torch soaked with a flammable substance that she continuously us...

Dungeon Diver CH276

As my eyes adjust to the dim yellow light again after a long night of rest the metal door at the back of the room swings open.

The short-haired blond walks in with two new silver daggers on her thighs and a leather pouch over her shoulder that seems to be some variation of an item box. She sports a wide grin, showing off her annoyingly symmetric pearly white teeth.

The woman takes a few steps forward and then reaches into the item box to pull out a small wooden stool, a long leath...

Dungeon Diver CH275

My eyes dart around the small room looking for any possible ways to break free, or even narrow down where I’ve been taken.

Nothing appears after minutes of searching. I’m really just stuck in a bland empty room.

One thing I know for sure, once I get out here I’m not going back to the Association with open arms. This is all their fault. Withholding information and giving constant orders for worthless store credits was what I needed to do to get access to more powerful dungeon...

Dungeon Diver CH274

A tall woman in dark clothing walks out from the shadows in the back of the room. Her voice echos as she gets closer and my eyes slowly adjust to the dim yellow-tinted lighting coming from a single flickering bulb.

Short blond hair hardly reaches her shoulders but covers her face enough so that shadows hide all of her defining features.

The woman wears a tight black combat suit with silver daggers, and assorted magical items on her midsection and tied around both thighs.

I g...

Dungeon Diver CH273

It’s a very odd feeling… Looking at my own body lying asleep on the rocky floor.

I peer down at my wrists and see that the sparks have completely stopped for this body too. However, I feel completely normal.

I open my item storage, and all of my items are there. Including the exact sword and dagger on the floor by my feet. I’m level 462… and my mana control is much lower than it was moments ago. Even so, it's still much higher than it was before I ranked up.

These it...

Dungeon Diver CH272

After what feels like a hot sword thrust through my chest and an electric shock rippling through my body, I hit the ground struggling to breathe.

Shock and confusion fill my mind as the room’s colors fade to black and white again.

“W-What’s going on…?”

The last few seconds of this battle are mostly a blur, but I’m positive I won.

I defeated the Arch Demon, and it told me everything I wanted to know. This doesn't make any sense.

Actually, now that I ha...

Dungeon Diver CH271

My Demonic Energy Manipulation skill activates and I feel all the tension and mana fatigue soreness in my body completely disappear.

Actually, all feeling in my body dissipates completely. My perception of reality shifts, making the world around me move much slower than the thoughts in my brain race to piece together this new puzzle.

The blue ice turns white from my point of view, and all the color is sapped from my vision.

The furious mutilated Arch Demon is running my way ...

Dungeon Diver CH270

After our blades collide, we’re both sent flying back as energy is expelled. A series of attacks follow at blindingly fast speeds.

Air-stepping through the sky, all that can be seen from a distance are flashes of red, black, and white light colliding as pulses of energy come out from the impossibly loud metallic clangs.

We both go into full battle mode. Each of us is solely focused on destroying the other completely at any moment of weakness.

Every time I gain a tiny bit o...

Dungeon Diver CH269

“It’s time to Rank Up.”

A glowing blue text floats in front of my eyes after 3 level-up notifications bring me well past the level 500 threshold.

__________________________

[Rank Up]

[YES][NO]

__________________________

I choose [YES].

Time feels as if it temporarily stops around me the moment I make this decision.

The two other ice lizards still come at us from above on both sides, but so much slower than before.

My breathing is lou...

Dungeon Diver CH268

My blades summoned from fire and wind explode into magnificent balls of man-imbued flames. The white and black blades intertwine with Ember’s magic and cover the Silver Dragon, outer shell completely.

It stays silent, unharmed by the blast and waiting for us my make another move. My best guess is it's plotting to finally counter when we do. The Dragon studied our movements, flight patterns, and attack styles while taking damage just to get the upper hand.

“I knew it wasn’t g...

Dungeon Diver CH267

The attacks of fire and mana-imbued Ice collide, shaking the entire Boss Room. Shockwaves of pure mana pulse from the collision as a wall of ice is summoned many times larger than the dragon I shot at.

An adjacent wall of flames is produced as Embers fire spreads over the blast radius.

My wind and fire attacks hit straight on and ring out in an ear-shattering collision.

They pause in mid-air letting out the head-spinning reverberations followed by the sound of a loud crack.<...

Dungeon Diver CH266

There isn't a single snowflake out of place in this vast whiteness.

It’s a pure solid white.

I’m not even sure If I could make out that the structures in the distance as mountains unless portions of their cliff edges showed dark stone pointing up into the sky.

The sizzle of water being evaporated into steam is the only sound that reaches my ears. Everything else here is eerily silent.

Well, it’s actually not that eerie, more like peaceful silence. I’m just on e...

Dungeon Diver CH265

My vision begins to fill with the familiar white light of transfer magic bringing me to the next floor.

So many questions fill my mind as a black hallway comes into view and my feet fall onto the hard rocky ground.

I defeated that Knight with ease, but it’s only because my mana control is on par with monsters much higher than my own level. With my armor buffs and an array of skills, that level gap can be raised even more.

It was using Demonic Energy, not magic… It’s od...

Dungeon Diver CH264

I leave Lydia behind as she battles the jet-black suit of armor that spawned in moments ago.

It dives for her directly, ignoring me as I air-step away in the direction of the dungeon’s far side.

Oddly enough, over the next half an hour there isn’t a single monster that comes onto my radar. Not a single one even spawns a portal below to try and fight me.

I just fly through the sky in silence, letting the eerie silence of the grey-colored world aid in my building anticipat...

Dungeon Diver CH263

Something feels very wrong.

The jet-black magic circling the Knight’s equally dark armor sends shivers down my spine for a fraction of a second.

The more I try to use my perception skills and figure out what it is, the more it evades my All-Seeing Eye.

This energy feels like it shouldn’t even exist.

Whatever it is, It’s not made of mana…

The other half of my mind can’t stop thinking about the message I just received from the Arch Demon supposedly runnin...

Dungeon Diver CH262

We island hop above the massive crab creatures that explode from the sand below devouring every bit of sandy beach one after another. The string of islands slowly sinks into the ocean floor as we move forward.

The orange and red culprits all range from level 495 to 505.

I send an occasional flaming shot down, but Lydia doesn’t bother. I kill 3 in total, but unfortunately don’t gain any levels.

I’m sure if I stuck around and farmed here for an hour or two I’d be able ...

Dungeon Diver CH261

I choose [YES].

As the fragments of white dungeon mass collapse in on themselves, being dragged into the core and a very fast rate. I activate my Temporary Minion Perk, attempting to take control of the deceased Boss.

It takes a moment to activate as I enter a lower level. Just 20% under the max will be much easier to handle.

[Level 400]

Threads of white and pink light attach the black hole of mana to my fingertips.

Just like the times before when I used this ski...

Dungeon Diver CH260

Shimmering fragments that make up the white Ranked-UP Metal Warrior’s body reflect off each other as the ground beneath my feet gets sucked away.

A black void surrounds the entire Boss Room, and a dreadful monster’s metallic screeches ring through my ears. I try to concentrate and look for a weakness.

I’m sure I can defeat it with brute force, but figuring out how a ranked up golem like this works may help me win further fights. It’s best I study every new opponent like th...

Dungeon Diver CH259

A level 495 Metal Warrior stands over 5 meters tall, made completely out of the shards that cover the dungeon’s floor.

Its only active item is a bonded core, so my first assumption is that this monster is similar to the rock golems we faced not too long ago.

If that core is destroyed, it will most likely just re-form until the mana within it completely disperses.

As it runs closer, a white light starts to shine from its chest and I activate my All-Seeing Eye.

Sure en...

Dungeon Diver CH258

An enormous brown-skinned lizard wearing thick shining silver armor approaches in a cloud of dust from the back side of the dungeon.

On all fours, the mindless beast charges forward, waving a red tongue back and forth while letting out grunts and hisses.

Thick mana shielding surrounds its body on all sides.

It has a skill I’ve never seen before.

Of course, it’s one I want, but I’m not drawn to it immediately like the last creature we faced.

It seems my team...

Dungeon Diver CH257

The attack I sent out a moment ago was a bit too strong for this delicate dungeon to handle.

The white marble pillars of stone come crashing down towards us, breaking into massive pieces and filling the green sky with an incoming barrage of white-colored stone.

I create a layer of pink mana shielding around my body and air-step down towards my team as they all begin to activate their powers as well.

“A dome! We’ll make a dome!”

I hear Fisher yelling at us as we a...