Soul of the Warrior

Reivyn groaned as he rolled over and slowly stood up. His entire body ached. He felt as if his insides had shifted from the blow he took from the giant, and his entire lower body was going to be sore for several days from the stress of activating Charge in such quick succession.

Speaking of... Reivyn pulled up his notification window.

Achievement!

Manually activate one of your Class Skills.

Charge is permanently available to you regardless of Class.

It was a Skill from my own Class, so there are no additional benefits gained from manually learning the Skill. It'll also still be available to me as long as I have Fighter listed as my Secondary or Tertiary Class. The real benefit to this would be if I have a Skill in another Class that I really want, but it's locked out to me to freely choose, but I want Charge instead of whatever other Skills that Class has to offer.

I've also learned how to do it without assistance from the System. I wasn't really in a position to tell the difference in Stamina cost, but I could feel a substantial amount of energy drain as compared to the other times I've used the Skill.

Reivyn attained his feet and looked down at the armored head. It was easily three times the size of his own, and the face was forever locked into the twisted visage of hatred and agony. It had bits of rotten flesh peeling off of it in various places, and the skin looked like it was thrown over the skull instead of being an actual part of the head. Overall, it was pretty disgusting.

Reivyn bent down and inspected the giant helmet. There was no way it would be practical for Reivyn to loot it for equipment, but it might be made of a material that could be repurposed. Reivyn reached out and knocked it with his fist. It, and the head it contained, crumbled into dust.

Well there goes that idea. Is it because it's a Dungeon monster and its gear isn't actually lootable? I've never tried to take any of the gear from any of the other monsters before. Or is it because it no longer has the spark of un-life, or whatever it is, fueling it, so it turned into scrap metal?

Reivyn didn't know the answers, but either way, he wasn't going to be lugging the huge plate armor out of the Dungeon.

Reivyn glanced down at the ectoplasm that the Spectre had turned into.

It looks like glowing snot. I am not touching that. I'm not even going to try and figure out a way to store it without touching it. I don't care what benefits it could bring, someone else can get this stuff.

Reivyn shivered with disgust. He turned and walked back to the corpse of the headless giant. It was still stretched out in the position of crawling towards the head that had been knocked out of its arm.

Why did it turn so stupid there at the end? Are the head and body not in coordination with each other if separated? Was the Spectre only actually possessing the head? Either way, lucky me it happened that way.

Reivyn shook his head as he kicked the body. He wasn't entirely sure of the mechanics of looting corpses in the Dungeon, but there might be something of worth remaining after the body and gear disintegrated.

Reivyn leaned back and shielded his face by pulling the collar of his shirt up over his mouth and nose as the huge body kicked up a cloud as it turned into dust. Reivyn had no interest in having flakes of dead giant in his mouth or nose. Once it settled, Reivyn scraped his foot through the pile to see if there was anything left.

His hunch bore fruit as he felt his foot come into contact with something solid. He bent down and sifted through the dust with his hand until he spotted something shiny, and he carefully wiped it off as he picked it up to inspect it.

The object was a normal sized, golden medallion and chain with the symbol for the Church of Light inscribed on it, though it was scratched out.

Corrupted Symbol of Light

This is the mark of a Champion of Mierna, though this one has had its Light dimmed.

Helpful Hint: This is Dungeon Loot. It has no bearing on the real world, so even if you returned it to the Church of Light, it would hold no real significance to them. It wasn't owned by a person from the real world.

I noticed that the System didn't say anything about it not being a real magical item, just that the church wouldn't be looking for the knowledge of the fate of the person who once carried it. I bet if I could get the Light undimmed, or whatever, it would no longer be "Corrupted" and would have some magical properties.

Reivyn pocketed the medallion.

I don't know if there's a stigma with using one of their symbols without their permission or anything, though, and they've turned out to be pretty decent folk, all things considered. I'll take it to them and ask about it. It's no big loss if they have a problem with it.

As to the presence of this medallion down in this Dungeon, my guess would be that with whatever reality this Dungeon is pulled out of, that giant was some crusader. He got his head removed by the cultists down here for his efforts.

Reivyn looked around the large boss room. The integrity of the room was still sound despite all of the damage the giant had done to the columns - probably more decorative than supportive - but there was still a lot of rubble strewn about from the chaotic fight. Reivyn's vision landed on the raised platform with the bigger, more intricate cauldron on it, so he made his way over to it first.

I know there are other hidden rooms attached to the boss room, but I'll check that out after I verify what's in the pot. Might be an undamaged Experience Crystal.

He reached the cauldron and peered down inside of it. Instead of a shiny crystal or bubbling brew, there were instead some dried out plants sitting in the bottom of the cauldron.

So it's reagents? That's the reward for the boss room? Reivyn frowned as he looked at the different plants, but he froze as he spotted what looked like a blood red root. It appeared to be a ginseng, but all thoughts of trying to figure out what it was fled his brain as soon as he saw it.

A ravening hunger assaulted him, but it came from his heart, and not his stomach. Without even thinking about it, his body moved all on its own, and he snatched it up and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed a couple of times, and it seemed to dissolve into pure energy as it reached his throat.

What the hell am I doing?! Reivyn came out of his fugue state and nearly panicked as he mentally inspected himself. He couldn't sense anything amiss, but he did feel a burning course through his veins. It wasn't uncomfortable, though, and it actually made him feel quite energetic.

The hunger came from my heart, which is the core of my bloodline, so let's see what's up with that first. He pulled up his Bloodline from his Status page.

Bloodline: Unknown 2,781,681/10,000,000

Wow, that little root gave me 250,000 Experience worth towards my Bloodline! So upgrading the Bloodline isn't an exclusive ability that I have, just the fact that I can drain Experience directly into it. It seems that root was a key component in an alchemy recipe for something to increase one's Bloodline.

My guess is that spike in hunger and uncontrollable urge came about because I have my siphon running in the background. I previously got Stat gains for every 100,000 Experience I dumped into my Bloodline. Does that still apply from using a natural treasure? He pulled up his full Status.

Status Name: Reivyn Class: Fighter Lvl 30 Age: 10 Health: 1,497/2,000 Stamina: 2,234/3,800 Mana: 318/1,670 Physical Stats Mental Stats STR: 186 INT: 179 VIT: 206 MAG: 179 DEX: 186 CLA: 115 CHA: 34 PER: 132 LUK: 40 Bloodline: Unknown 2,781,681/10,000,000 Experience: 0/3,000

Reivyn noticed his Health, Stamina, and Mana first.

Wow, this is the most I've ever suffered from a single fight before. Sure, Ren did more percentage damage to me, but that one attack from the boss did more than the entire ordeal with Ren. I've already recovered a lot of my Stamina after resting, and it's still just over 50%. My mana expenditure was also getting into dangerous territory.

Reivyn moved his sight down to take in his Stats.

Yup, I gained six to all my regular Stats and two in Charisma and Luck. So natural treasures are another source of upgrading my Bloodline, and that includes all aspects associated with it. I bet that was another thing my parents would have told me once we got to the Capital or before I headed off toward a higher Tier Region. Mother did say that natural treasures were extremely rare in Tier 1 Regions.

Then that begs the question: where did this one come from? These guys probably migrated to this mountain range, and they're not actually natives. Unless this Region was once a higher Tier many, many years ago. Doesn't really matter, though.

Reivyn carefully extracted the remaining reagents. He didn't know if it was a quirk of the Dungeon, System, or whatever, but they weren't aged at all, and they were all perfectly capable of still being used. He had no idea what any of them did, though. He threw an Inspect at one of the plants as he put them away.

Sparkle Grass

Useful for Alchemy Helpful Hint: A higher Alchemy Skill is required to know more.

Helpful Hint indeed.

Done with his task, Reivyn clapped his hands together as he turned and faced the direction Melissa had said the sealed rooms were located. He walked up to the wall on the right side of the entrance, and he quickly spotted the location where there was obviously a room bricked up. The color and shape of the bricks were slightly different than the rest of the bricks that made up the room.

I can see why they didn't notice it before. Unless one looks right at it, it's easy to miss, but if you do look right at it, and not just over it, it's pretty easy to see.

Reivyn didn't have any tools or weapons designed for the job of smashing through a brick wall, but that didn't stop him. He formed a sledgehammer with an earth element head. With his knowledge of the mana braids and increased Skill, it was a much sturdier object than he had previously been able to make, though it did cost a substantially larger amount of mana.

He locked his mana into place to continue feeding into his improvised tool, and he slammed it into the brick wall. There wasn't any support in place for the seal, and it was hollow behind it, so he easily dismantled the brick wall sealing the room. Maintaining the earth sledgehammer cost a lot less than forming a new one, so Reivyn didn't dissipate it as he entered the room.

Reivyn sighed in disappointment as he looked around. It was just a bare room with nothing in it.

I don't know if this served an actual purpose or if it's just System shenanigans for the boss fight. Whatever it originally was, it appears to just be a staging ground for an ambush now.

Reivyn exited the room and walked over to the other one. He was greeted by the exact same scene as the first one.

If there are hidden rooms here, there might be hidden rooms elsewhere. I'll check the perimeter of the rest of the room.

Reivyn carried his sledgehammer on his shoulder as he turned away from the central entrance and inspected the wall as he walked around the room. He didn't find any additional sealed rooms, but he did see an empty room that was identical to the other two.

This is probably where the Revenants dragged the goblin from. No idea about more sacrifices, though. It must have been some sort of event triggered by the System.

Reivyn continued his inspection, but he didn't find any more rooms. He reached the far end of the room, and he finally spotted an anomaly.

There was a staircase that led down further into the depths, obviously the entrance to the third floor, and sitting next to it was a chest. This chest was completely different than any of the others he had seen in the Dungeon. It was in pristine condition, and it appeared to have a faint halo of golden light emitting from it.

This must be one of the chests mentioned being a reward for defeating a boss room. Everyone said that the chances of seeing one of these were less than 1% in a resource Dungeon. The reagents in the cauldron are obviously the "resources" for this room. The Experience Crystals and Essence are the resources for the rest of the floor.

This is the actual reward for defeating the boss.

Reivyn rubbed his hands together before he lifted the lid of the chest. The halo winked out - must be there to catch the attention of whoever clears the room - and Reivyn inspected the contents of the chest. Down in the bottom of the chest, several pieces of armor lay in a neat pile.

Reivyn reached in and drew them out one at a time: A cuirass, pauldrons, vambraces, and gauntlets. They were made of a shiny, silver metal, and they had golden filigree in intricate patterns decorating it. The cuirass included the underlying leather that would cover the entire upper body and arms as one whole piece.

A full set of upper body armor. Does that mean there's a chance to find a matching set for the lower body or head? Let's Inspect it and find out exactly what it is.

Cuirass: Defender of Light

A piece of Heavy Armor infused with the Divine Protection of the Light.

STR +3

VIT +5

Provides minor protection against Evil.

1/7 Set Piece: Defender of Light

Requirements: Only denizens of the light may wear this armor. One must have never suffered Misery unless forgiven by an ordained church.

Misery is the opposite of Euphoria, so basically bad guys can't wear this armor. It doesn't say one has to be a member of a church, just if a bad guy gets forgiven, then he can also wear it. This is probably in line with the backstory, or whatever, of the giant undead guy.

Not sure what "minor protection against Evil" is exactly, but I'm sure it has something to do with the cultists and/or undead of the Dungeon.

Pauldrons: Defender of Light

A piece of Heavy Armor infused with the Divine Protection of the Light.

STR +3

VIT +5

Provides minor protection against Evil.

1/7 Set Piece: Defender of Light

Requirements: Only denizens of the light may wear this armor. One must have never suffered Misery unless forgiven by an ordained church.

Vambraces: Defender of Light

A piece of Heavy Armor infused with the Divine Protection of the Light.

DEX +3

VIT +5

Provides minor protection against Evil.

1/7 Set Piece: Defender of Light

Requirements: Only denizens of the light may wear this armor. One must have never suffered Misery unless forgiven by an ordained church.

Gauntlets: Defender of Light

A piece of Heavy Armor infused with the Divine Protection of the Light.

DEX +3

VIT +5

Provides minor protection against Evil.

1/7 Set Piece: Defender of Light

Requirements: Only denizens of the light may wear this armor. One must have never suffered Misery unless forgiven by an ordained church.

Those Stat increases may seem small on the face of it, but they add up. The four pieces of armor together grant 20 Vitality by themselves. That's several Levels' worth, and that's an increase in 200 Health and 200 Stamina. I'll need to work on my Heavy Armor Skill from scratch to get the full benefits of switching to this armor, but that shouldn't be a problem. I should go ahead and put this armor on now.

Reivyn quickly took his battered and scarred medium armor off of his upper body. Almost all of the scarring came from repairing rips and tears in the underlying leather suffered through training, and the few dents in the metal were from the same source. Reivyn occasionally let his armor take blows from the goblins and weaker skeletons, but he mostly avoided hits to his body and intercepted attacks with his shield and weapon.

Looking at the repairs I've made on my own armor, one can tell I'm not Skilled at all in such things. I should take the time to learn, especially if I move to Heavy Armor. I also imagine these pieces would require mana work if they sustain substantial damage. More things for me to learn.

He put the new armor on, and, despite the small numbers compared to his overall Stats, Reivyn immediately felt a bit more energetic. He twisted his body to gain a feel for how he could move in it.

Despite what I thought about Heavy Armor, it doesn't really hinder my movements any more than Medium Armor, and I don't even have the Skill yet to help me properly maneuver in it. It's probably full-plate that would cause any significant restrictions, and I can't really see myself ever needing that.

Reivyn adjusted himself and resumed walking around the boss room, looking for anything else he might have missed.

It looks like this is it. I'm actually quite satisfied with the results. I wasn't expecting to get a System chest at all, so this is a nice surprise on top of everything else.

Well, Reivyn looked around before facing the entrance, no way I'm going to the third floor, so it's time to head back to the surface. I'll just pick my pack up from where I left it, grab some ores from the mine that I set aside previously, and then I'll be on my way.

Reivyn double checked to make sure he had everything. He still carried his other armor with him as it still had some value to it. Once he was sure he wasn't forgetting anything, he began his journey to the surface.

Exiting Dungeon

Calculating...

First Floor: Complete

Combat Experience: Exp +1200

Boss Defeated: Exp +1200

First Floor Completion Bonus: Exp +500

Calculating...

Second Floor: Complete

Combat Experience: Exp +15,000

Boss Defeated: Exp +30,000

Second Floor Completion Bonus: Exp +5,000

Total Experience: 52,900

Those numbers are absolutely disgusting. Fifty-two thousand total Experience for soloing the Dungeon. Thirty thousand from the second floor boss alone. That seems like a lot. That 52,900 also puts me over another Bloodline milestone.

There were more notifications to go through, so he kept mentally scrolling.

Achievement!

First Floor Completed Solo.

+1 to Physical and Mental Stats

Achievement!

Second Floor Completed Solo.

+5 to Physical and Mental Stats

Achievement!

Second Floor Hard Mode Boss Defeated.

Auxiliary Achievement: Completed Solo.

+3 to Physical and Mental Stats

+7 to Physical and Mental Stats

Achievement!

Defeat a Tier 4 Enemy while in Tier 1

+10 to All Stats

That giant undead boss was Tier 4? Considering everything was restricted on the first two floors, which made the boss both incredibly powerful but stupid at the same time, that makes sense to me.

These Stat gains are starting to eat into the requirements for my Tier 4 Class in the future. Pretty sure I've solidly eclipsed any Stat requirements for Tier 3. What do my Stats look like, now? Reivyn pulled just his Stats up from his Status page.

STR: 215 (+6) INT: 208 VIT: 235 (+20) MAG: 208 DEX: 215 (+6) CLA: 144 CHA: 45 PER: 161 LUK: 51

Even if all of those Achievements didn't lower the Stat requirements for a Rare Tier 3 Class, I would still be eligible. As it is, I'm probably close to having the required Stats for an Epic Tier 3 Class, especially if it's one that requires 200 in multiple Stats versus just one Stat.

Reivyn nodded his head as he brought his attention back to the present. He had stepped off to the side to allow traffic in or out of the Dungeon to flow unimpeded, and now it was time for him to depart. He searched the crowd of people milling about near the entrance and spotted the church's inspection team before heading over.

"I just came out of the Dungeon and need to be inspected," Reivyn volunteered. The man in charge of the priests nodded his head and motioned for Reivyn to step aside.

"Alright, empty your belongings and wait for the priest to check you over. It'll only be a minute, and we'll have you on your way." Reivyn followed the instructions. He had never noticed any of the priests confiscating anything ever taken from the Dungeon, so he didn't quite understand why they always wanted to check the packs.

"What are you guys looking for anyway?" He finally decided to just voice the doubt.

"Cursed items. Almost everything that comes out of the Dungeon is actually fine, but some of the things found on the lower floors could be dangerous if they circulated into society unchecked. For instance there are Experience Crystals that can be found on the second floor. They contain a small bit of the corruption in them. While it's fine for you Adventurers to use them in small doses here, it could be quite problematic if someone sold a large amount in the capital and someone got corrupted without realizing it. If you guys use them here, it'll get caught and cleansed by the routine inspection," the man was quite forthcoming with information.

"Oh, so what do you do about the Crystals you find here during the inspection?" Reivyn asked.

"We offer to cleanse it for a fee."

"A fee?"

"Ten percent. One Crystal generously donated to the church for every ten crystals cleansed," the man replied. He gave Reivyn a glance out of the corner of his eye as he continued, "we don't confiscate any if you have four or less, but we keep records of individuals and their Parties, so I would advise against trying to game the system by only bringing us four at a time. If you have any, that is."

"I actually do," Reivyn said. He fished out his pouch with the crystals. He and his friends had planned on selling a majority of their share of crystals, and if it only cost one out of every ten to make them legitimate, that wasn't too bad, in his opinion.

The man's eyebrows raised in appreciation. "I see. Since you're here alone, does that mean your Party is still inside?"

"Technically, yeah," Reivyn said. "I'm not grouped up with them this time, though. I went in solo."

"Impressive," the man nodded. "Not many people are willing to explore the lower floor by themselves, and most of the ones who do are a lot older than you."

"I'm just lucky that I can use mana Skills and I have a mother with a Caster Class who could teach me," Reivyn downplayed his achievement.

"Still, you're a lot stronger than most of the people around here. That'll change once news of what can be found in the Dungeon spreads and higher Level teams make their way over, though."

"Oh, I also found this on one of the monsters," Reivyn fished out the medallion he had swiped from the giant's remains. "I didn't know if it was appropriate to keep it because of the nature of the item or not, nor if you guys could fix it."

The man took the medallion and stared at it for several long seconds. When he looked back up at Reivyn, his eyes were wide in astonishment.

"You cleared the second floor?" The man nearly stuttered.

"Oh, so you know where it's from. I'm guessing you've seen it before, then?"

"Oh, sure. The Sword-Bishop has taken a team to clear the second floor a couple of times now. It's not too hard for him to defeat three Spectres and that bumbling oaf of a Dullahan."

"'Bumbling oaf?'" Reivyn questioned with a tilt of his head.

"Yeah, you fought him. Kill the three Spectres and then this big guy stumbles over and tries to whack you with his too-big sword," the man chuckled. "Pretty easy encounter for a boss fight on the second floor, honestly."

"Yeah," Reivyn said with a cough. "Almost too easy."

Looks like I wasn't supposed to let the Spectres combine and then possess the - what did he call it? - Dullahan. I'm guessing there are varying levels of difficulty and reward based on how many Spectres possess it, and I let all three do so. No wonder it was Tier 4 and really, ridiculously strong.

"As to your question, sure, you can keep it. Fixing it up and recharging it will come at a cost, though. You'll have to speak to the Sword-Priest, Josn, to work out what that will be. You're the first person to bring us one from outside of our ranks seeking to get it fixed."

"Alright, thanks," Reivyn said as he took it back. He also handed over two of the twenty crystals he had acquired to pay for cleansing them as the priest checked him.

The man got a surprised look on his face for a moment before saying, "You're good to go. No corruption." Reivyn had already known that that was going to be the case, but he had to keep up appearances.

"Excuse me, but would you happen to be the Adventurer, Reivyn?" Another sword-priest walked up with an entourage. Reivyn frowned as he appraised them.

I don't think I've ever told any of them my name before, and why would they be looking for me? No reason to lie and possibly get on their bad side, though, so I'll see what they want.

"That's right," Reivyn nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"If you would, Sword-Priest Josn has ordered us to escort you to him," the man took a step back and gestured towards the center of the other men who had followed him. "Grab your gear, and then please come with us."

Reivyn shared a look with the other sword-priest he had been happily chatting with. The man gave a shrug, and so Reivyn grabbed his stuff and allowed himself to be "escorted" towards the church grounds.

What in the world is going on now?