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[NB] 28. Servant of the Void
🕑 Added 2022-09-18 00:43:19 +0000 UTCGetting to feel superior to a dragon wasn't an everyday occurrence. So as Alice dumped her remaining eight unspent points into her CON stat, bringing it up to an impressive eighty-six, she felt better than ever. She had debated focusing on a few other stats with her unspent points. But, right now, she needed a solid body to deal with the current circumstances.
Strength? She was riding a freaking dragon. Dexterity? She didn't use a bow or practise calligraphy. Intelligence defined the size of her mana pool and a few other factors. But she was currently in a Grand Dungeon. The amount of mana circulating in the air was almost intoxicating, so she could replenish her mana pool quickly. Even with her slinging spells left and right on the first floor, she hadn't run into any issues due to her high INT and WIS stats. 'I gain two points in them with every level up anyway, but maybe I should stop investing in CON for now. Especially since infusing more mana into my spells makes them stronger, having a higher mana pool is important for a mage.'
Alice wasn't controlling the dragon she was currently seated on, so she had plenty of time to think and plan. Keeping her legs around its neck, she laid back and stared up. The dragon's scales were cold against her bare skin and incredibly hard; letting out a forced breath, she squinted but even with [Mana Sight], she couldn't see the top of the tower. Just an endless spiral of crystal blue stairs around a central void. 'I should find this sight amazing, but perhaps I have become numb over the last few days? My life has become truly ridiculous, huh?' A smile emerged as she thought about the crazy stuff she had done. 'I threw a fucking fireball at a dragon's eye, and it hit!' The memory still made her giddy.
"We have reached the next floor." The Lord's ancient voice caught her attention. The gravity behind his words sent goosebumps down her spine. It was like a god had descended and was speaking into her brain. "The floor's contents, monsters, treasures, do not matter. We have one objective. Reach the next tower as fast as possible. As we travel, I will raise those I kill and have them relay anything valuable, including food, to us as we dive deeper. If you need to sleep or anything else, let me know."
Alice felt warm knowing the Lord was thinking about her. Although the words sounded a little cold, his heart was in the right place... assuming he even had one.
They picked up the pace.
The black zombie dragon soared straight through an open door at the tower's base and out into a dark wasteland. The wind whipped through her hair as they flew overhead. Down below was a graveyard filled with skeletons that wandered aimlessly. Some held chipped swords in their skeletal hands, and others wore tin hats on their smooth skulls.
Alice straightened up. She wasn't sure why but she felt more powerful than before.
"Dark attribute mana," Genus remarked from the side with a scowl. "Rancid stuff to cultivate with."
"So it seems..." Alice used [Mana Sight], and sure enough, the place was drowning in the stuff. "I can see why dragons hate coming down here."
Alice opened up her palm and summoned a [Fireball]. She also coated her hand in a [Mana Shield]. Both appeared normal, but when Alice upped the power... the [Mana Shield] solidified, and the [Fireball] became a meter in width. If Alice hadn't jerked her head back and thrown up a [Mana Shield] around her entire body, she would have suffered from nasty burns. Alice freaked out and threw it away as if the [Fireball] was a massive spider that had materialized on her palm.
The orb of hellish purple flames descended like a doomsday bomb. Hundreds of skeletons looked up and dumbly raised their swords as judgment fell upon them. Alice blinked in confusion as the [Fireball] acted strangely. Not only did it produce no light, but it splashed out when it hit the floor, spreading like a virus among the skeletons. Despite its size, the initial impact only affected a handful of them. But, within minutes, a mile radius was ablaze with purple hellfire as skeletons melted into puddles of liquid bone.
Genus gave her a side look. "Quite the spell you have there. It seems to lack the initial punch of a [Fireball], but that spreading effect is rather impressive. Perfect for burning these low-level cretins to the afterlife."
"Yea, true-"
[Level up!]
[New Class Options Available]
The sudden notification startled Alice. She ignored Genus and the destruction below and summoned her status page.
[Name: Alice]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 50] (level up!)
[STR: 68, DEX: 80, CON: 87, INT: 144, WIS: 136]
[Unspent points: 1]
(Slave)
[Blessing: Darkness]
[Class: PENDING]
[Sub Class: Apprentice Merchant]
[Divine Mission: None]
[Skills]
[...]
[Class Skills]
[Stealth II]
[Fireball VII] (level up! x4)
[Ice Bolt V] (level up! x5)
[Mana Shield V] (level up! x5)
[Float III] (level up! x3)
[Mana Sight II] (level up! x1)
[Telekinesis I] (New!)
[Lightning Strike I] (New!)
[Sub Class Skills]
[Fast Counting I]
[Identify I]
"I finally hit level fifty. Why is my class pending?" Alice poked the screen, and although her finger went right through the floating blue screen, a new one appeared.
[Congratulations! Please pick your next class...]
[Generating Options...]
[Archmage(Common)]
[Princess of Purple Flames(Rare)]
[Apostle of Darkness(Rare)]
[Servant of the Void(Legendary)]
Alice browsed the options in awe. Of course, she had heard of Archmages before. They were unthinkably powerful and had the wealth to match; they often frequented her father's auctions and were always good customers. Only now, with the option in front of her, did the ridiculousness of today set in. 'Those Archmages were all old and established names. Some even had bards singing their legends in the taverns. Yet I became one in a single day?' It was a hard truth to swallow, but Alice knew she couldn't get complacent. A Lord so mighty he could slay two senior dragons in mere minutes was running away. The threat she faced was so grand that fifty levels wouldn't cut it.
"Heh. Archmages are considered (Common)." Alice chuckled to herself. It was like being told kings were commoners or dragons were frogs. Archmages had been on par with the more powerful Delvers in her mind, but now they had fallen a peg or two.
"Next floor, here we go," Genus said, and Alice swiped the screen to the side. Sure enough, a tower of pristine white bone shrouded in a dense black mana shield dominated her view. 'That was fast... unless I was so distracted I didn't notice the time fly by.' The group didn't even take a moment to pause as they flew through the entrance. Suddenly, a mighty force pressed down and compelled her dragon mount to walk on its legs. 'Dungeons sure are weird...'
"We will keep going for at least another ten or so hours. Let's try and reach the fifth floor by then." The Lord's voice boomed through the staircase, and the shadowy avatar standing effortlessly on Genus's back turned to her. "Will that be fine?"
Alice nodded and replied, "I dumped a lot into my CON stat. I should be good for another day or two without sleep."
"Good. Let me know if you need anything else."
"Will do." The conversation died out, so Alice returned to her blue screens. She poked the screen, but nothing happened. 'Cheap system won't give me more details unless I pick the class?' Alice grumbled to herself as she mulled over the options. Archmage was obviously out of the runnings as it was a common ranked class, and Alice wanted to rule the world. How could she do that with a common class? She needed something to put her ahead of the competition. 'I have a unique opportunity here, thanks to the Lord. Not everyone gets to slay dragons as their first ever kill and leisurely conquer a Grand Dungeon atop a pet dragon. I need to stay useful to him...'
With Archmage crossed off, she had three choices remaining.
[Princess of Purple Flames(Rare)]
[Apostle of Darkness(Rare)]
[Servant of the Void(Legendary)]
"Princess... I like the sound of that." Alice stroked her chin. "With how the class is phrased, it should focus on fire magic. My purple flames were impressively effective, but specializing in fire magic is risky, especially with dragons being my immediate threat. Although my unique trait [True Damage] does make the class sound terrifying..." Alice thought back on the description of Black Mages, and she could imagine razing cities with an Archmage level [Fireball] that ignored magical defences.
"Genus," Alice asked the golden dragon that plodded down the stairs beside her.
"Hm?" The dragon turned its titanic head to look at Alice. She felt tiny with those rainbow eyes that shifted with different colours staring at her.
"Without your mana shield, could you survive an empowered version of the [Fireball] I used earlier?"
Genus grinned, showing off his razor-sharp teeth the size of her and snorted. "We are practically born from fire. Even without my mana shield, my scales would protect me. That pathetic fire could only harm me if you threw it in my eye."
"What about down your throat?"
"Silly question, I breathe fire..."
Alice felt stupid, so she returned to her screens and ignored the chuckling dragon. 'Princess of Purple Flames is a no go then. Sad. The name was so enticing.'
That left her with two options. [Apostle of Darkness(Rare)]
and [Servant of the Void(Legendary)]
'Apostle of Darkness rubs me all the wrong ways.' Although Alice enjoyed the powers her blessing had provided her, the class definitely wasn't worth being sold off as a slave and leaving behind her life in Eshnar. 'The Spirit of Darkness has done nothing for me all this time, no matter how much I prayed.' And she had fucking prayed her heart out. Every single day she sat in that shaking wooden carriage, praying to the goddess that had driven her to that state for anything... even just a loaf of bread to sate her hunger. But she had been ignored, cast away like some sick joke while she knew of heroes that received divine weapons or god-given skills from their patron spirits.
That left her with one final option. Servant of the Void, a legendary class. One she had never heard of, just like all legendary classes. They were unique and specialized for a destined person. 'The question is why? What relationship do I have with the void of all things, and why would I become its servant?'
"But if there's one thing I know... it's that classes evolve as you level them. Today's servant is tomorrow's master..." Alice raised her finger and hesitated before making her choice.
She pressed her option, and everything changed.
