Kae

Dungeon Diver CH256

The green dark-skinned creature flaps its wings and soars down towards me. Its red demonic eyes are shining through the mist.

With the face of a rabid dog mixed with a mutant goblin, its jagged white teeth shine in contrast against the hazy green dungeon background.

I’ve never seen a creature like this.

“It’s a Gargoyle.”

My eyes dart across its status, trying to piece together any extra information it’ll give me.

At first glance, it looks quick and agi...

Dungeon Diver CH255

The shockwave of the massive Boss’ corpse hitting the ground has blown most of the purple fog away revealing my 3 teammates as they make their descent.

Maria and Aire are bloodied and bruised, but the green circle of light that encapsulates them all slowly makes every wound on their body disappear before they meet the ground.

The Serpent dropped 3 scales, but also… an item I wasn’t sure could even drop.

The blue text in my mind’s eye won’t go away now that I’ve l...

Dungeon Diver CH254

As the thin layer of purple fog sweeps over us, I feel the special grade perk of my self-regeneration skill activate.

Poison Resistance.

My MP is being actively drained as the poison from the fog seeps into my body and becomes instantly nullified before damaging my HP bar.

The mana all around me is more than enough to counteract the slow drain. My only concern is my teammates.

They don’t all have easy ways to counteract an ability like this.

I yell out.

�...

Dungeon Diver CH253

We slowly walk forward while activating our skills.

The white, green, blue, and red lights shine through the grey mana-imbued fog until we’re completely engulfed.

White transfer magic blinds me as I push my perception skills to their limits.

What Lydia said stuck out to me. Special Bosses are much more intelligent than most, it’s best to stay on guard even if I’m clearly strong enough to defeat it.

If this is going to be a brand new Floor Boss, I’d like to find...

Dungeon Diver CH252

The 6 of us walk out into the rocky dungeon under the grey sky. Rolling brown hills and valleys fill our vision as far as the eye can see.

About 3km away, I can sense a few groups of monsters clumped together. Some even occasionally disappear from my radar.

The Solaran Hunters must be here fending off monsters waiting for our Labyrinth Ascent.

Lydia takes the lead and Fisher follows right behind her. I don’t mind. This climb will be fast.

The fighting won’t get ser...

Dungeon Diver CH251

A friendly-looking guard, just above level 300 with a body-hardening skill in a full suit of C-Class grade armor waves us down from almost 10 meters away.

Lydia raises her gaze to meet his as the man yells out.

“You all made it back just in time, and you’ve brought reinforcements. Even better.”

She crosses her arms as we all approach and then comes to a halt right beneath the bold black lettering of the sign spelling out [Restricted].

“Yes, we have made it back...

Dungeon Diver CH250

“Yes, there’s a lot to explain. We have a difficult mission ahead of us. Now, I’m feeling much more confident about our odds of success.”

The long white hair of the new mysterious Ice-Mage blows back and forth in the weak breeze as she looks off into the city.

It’s in the exact same direction I’ve been probing out ever since I stepped out of that training chamber.

The exact direction where I can feel a dense area of dungeon portals all covered up by dense layers ...

Dungeon Diver CH249

Black, red, pink, and golden aura fill the room.

The green restoration magic blends with the blue swirling residue to combine with my own aura and make a light purple glow resonate through the entire training room.

The entire facility shakes and trembles under the intense pressure of over 100 million MP flowing through it, but it holds together.

An hour passes…

I feel like the power coursing through my veins is on a level incomparable to my prior strength.

*Cli...

Dungeon Diver CH248

We approach the silver towers as the morning sun reflects golden light onto our approaching camels.

This city looks a lot more developed than any of the other smaller towns we’ve been through in the Dark Continent so far.

If I had to guess, it looks like tens of thousands of people could easily be housed here.

With high rises of apartments in residential areas, shops indoors and outdoors selling hunter’s gear as well as basic necessities that un-leveled villagers can use...

Dungeon Diver CH247

Leaving the setting sun behind, I drift off to sleep as Ember gracefully glides above the desert.

The cool breeze and the dark night sky slowly calm the adrenaline pumping through my blood post-battle. All I can dream about are the new power-ups coming soon and the labyrinth break in Solara that’s giving people so much trouble.

The only logical explanation is that the two Elites sent to take care of it were not strong enough to face off against a ranked-up boss alone.

Mayb...

Dungeon Diver CH246

"I just need another 5 levels..."

Although a shockwave of excess magic and debris is flying my way at an alarming speed, all I can do is stare down at my status and smile.

I've gained 4 levels from the hundreds of slain mutants and another 10 levels from defeating the boss itself. This brings me up to level 495.

There are only 5 more until I hit "B-Class" eligibility. I know there's an exam available to hunters that hit level 500... but it's not brought up in the news often....

Dungeon Diver CH245

I’ve gained the upper hand.

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

To my surprise, the sound of level-up notifications rings in my ears as more and more mutants die in the burning fires below.

I’m not that much higher of a level than them, so it would make sense that killing this many would continue to raise my own.

With a bright red, white, and blue glow completely covering the sky overhead blocking the energy that once added to this Boss monster’s barrier...

Dungeon Diver CH244

"It's been a while, but it's time to upgrade another skill..."

While looking down at my status I check the proficiency points available to me.

______________________

PP: 231

______________________

We continue to fly around in circles narrowly dodging the monster’s bright blue energy attacks.

I need to make it through this monster’s defenses and take in enough mana to continue battling at a steady rate. I’ll either need to up my mana control drasticall...

Dungeon Diver CH243

“You’re right, it does have a weakness. It looks like we have an in.”

Ember’s dark flames that once engulfed the round blue sphere of mana begin to dissolve inwards. I watch the entire structure shrink. There are small explosions and it lets off white arcs of light similar to miniature sun flares.

It’s not much, but it definitely shrinks… We can work this that.

“Again. Fire at it again.”

My continuous mana output is nowhere near what Ember can produce, ...

Dungeon Diver CH242

________________________________________

[1200m]

[Lv. 559]

Active Items:

Heavy Armor Set of The Blue Ogre King [+95% Defense]

Dual Axes of The Blue Ogre King [+95% Strength]

Platinum Ring of The Blue Ogre King [+100% Mental Strength]

Active Skills:

Extreme Strength [Legendary Grade]

Body Hardening [Special Grade]

Buffs:

Ultimate Defense of The Blue Ogre King [Hidden Ability]

King’s Summoning Call

_________________...

Dungeon Diver CH241

"These are all from mutants... every last one of them. This break is completely out of control!"

Ember replies in a cheerful, satisfied tone.

"Indeed, it is."

At the moment of his reply, I can feel the ground tremble and sense 10 monsters all over level 470 running our way.

Without thinking much of it, I shovel the hundreds of shards off the rocky ground into my item storage, then air-step up onto Ember's back.

Without my perception skills right now, I'd be as go...

Dungeon Diver CH240

“Welcome back, we have some work to do.”

The black-scaled dragon comes flying out of my swirling white spatial magic portal, immediately opening his telepathic link with me.

“Good to see you again master, what a mana-rich dungeon… where could this be?”

A toothy grin forms across Ember’s face as he begins to flap his wings to hover higher up in the sky. The majestic creature begins to glow a light red tint, showing that his plunderer skill has been activated. He a...

Dungeon Diver CH239

I stare off into the thick blue fog ahead of me as we take our break after finishing the 4th 3-hour farming session.

My teammates are all waiting around nearby, eating food and getting ready for what’s to come next.

I can feel the boss room portal nearby, but there isn’t much point in venturing any closer to it right now. We’ll take that step once it’s time to leave.

In that last run, I hit level 460. The improvement in my mana control isn’t as drastic as my teamma...

Dungeon Diver CH238

The 4 of us stand in a small circle after consuming our last batch of Ogre Shards, concluding the first 3 hours of our training session.

Over 2.3 million MP each has been consumed, and I feel more energized and ready to battle than when we started.

Abby’s skill has always been a bit odd to me. It says [Restore] rather than [Heal] like many of the other healers. It may be a unique skill.

Maria hops around, glowing bright blue after we’ve all fully rested.

“I feel ...

Dungeon Diver CH237

I run down the canyon’s stone path using wind magic to accelerate my movements. High white stone walls fly by on my sides and the reading on my enemy detection skill of my teammates nearby gets closer and closer.

Soon, I see the 3 of them waiting beneath a small stone overhang on a very flat section of rocky ground. Each of the holds two glowing crystals in their open palms.

I wave while making my way over, then take the 6 base level gems from my item box as well.

Arie is ...

Dungeon Diver CH236

__________________________

[450m]

[Lv. 478]

Active Items:

Blue Ogre’s Armor Set [+1800 Defense]

Blue Ogre’s Axe [+1550 Strength]

Active Skills:

Body Hardening

Extreme Strength

__________________________

The mutant up ahead is what I came to see.

Activating my All-Seeing Eye, the mana radiating off this new monster is almost double that of the ones that were just defeated.

I air-step faster and faster up the mountainsi...

Dungeon Diver CH235

“… We’ve stumbled into a gold mine, and we’re not going to waste this opportunity for a minute.”

We really have.

After witnessing Abby restore her exhaustion in a matter of seconds with her new legendary skill, I can’t help but feel obligated to continue training as soon as possible.

This whole mission to the dark continent has been interesting so far, but I haven’t made any real progress.

This ability to restore mana fatigue indefinitely sounds like a dr...

Dungeon Diver CH234

Two gems no more than 3 centimeters wide fall to the floor where the massive Blue Ogres were defeated.

They’re both pale white, semi-transparent, with a glossy finish, and radiate with light blue energy just like the mana shielding from the monsters that were just killed.

Instantly I activate Appraisal to see what these odd-looking gems are.

“I’ve never seen anything like this…”

__________________________

Blue Ogre’s Essence [Shard]

Blue Ogre’...

Dungeon Diver CH233

We venture up the nearest mountain, following the large mana reading focused on a single area I'm picking up on my perception skill.

All of the enemy Blue Ogres that we pass don't seem to care much for us at all. They don't turn our way when we get nearby and hardly make a sound.

My first guess is it's night. Possibly, they're sensitive to the changes in light, so they become inactive when it's dark out. Then again, there's no difference between night and day in a dungeon, so this...

Dungeon Diver CH232

Activating stealth and gripping my sword, I run straight toward the light blue monster that’s less than 200 meters away now.

My teammates have spread out on both sides of the circular sandy battlefield. High red stone walls surround the makeshift desert arena.

Fragments of golden sunlight glimmer off my fellow hunter’s weapons as they charge forward. I watch the swaying monster before glowing blue and white with an ominous, slightly confusing aura. It stares straight ahead at ...

Dungeon Diver CH231

“… They’re rumored to be Blue Ogres.”

Arie turns to me.

“Maybe they’ll put up a good fight for ya. Huh?”

I nod slowly while thinking about what these new monsters could really be like. The Director didn’t feel it necessary to mention them, confident that we’d clear it without a problem on our way to Solara, so I’ll just have to wait and see.

Before I can even look up to respond, Arie continues.

“Oh right- how was the dungeon break out here i...

Dungeon Diver CH230

“You have less than 2 days to clear the final break in Solara. If by any chance you fail, there will be a major catastrophe.”

The sick feeling in my stomach slowly fades as the conversation carries out, turning into pure anger rather than dread.

I stare at the glowing transmission tablet in Arie’s hand and clench my jaw tight. I want to give the Director a piece of my mind, but there’s no use. It’d only be detrimental to this mission and there’s no clear reason for why...

Dungeon Diver CH229

“3…”

“2…”

“1…”

I hear a nearby guard count these numbers down as I run toward the metal box in the middle of the square.

All of the villagers and merchants run in the opposite direction, following the orders of the screaming guards that are lying to them all about a collapse in their containment tech.

In reality, whatever is about to happen is all their doing. It was triggered by that small silver contraption in the hands of one of the escaping ...

Dungeon Diver CH228

I stare down at the city below, wondering how my teammates are fairing against a potential ambush.

Remembering back to when we showed the guards in the middle of town our bounty to clear the break, Issac slipped him a second piece of paper.

I grit my teeth and curse under my breath again.

“How could I have been so careless…”

Well… trusting is a better word.

How could I have been so trusting of a grunt that would turn his back on his own town’s people fo...

Dungeon Diver CH227

“What have I gotten myself into this time…”

There are 6 white walls, including the ceiling and floor all around me buzzing with the strong sensation of high-grade mana shielding in the air.

My perception skills reveal the level of shielding to be more than enough to keep most C-Class monsters at bay.

It seems as though the outside is made of a strong metal alloy while the inside is coated in dense white mana shielding. It’s similar to the kind used in the Vice City c...