"I guess that's it for now," Stark mumbled as he killed the mini-boss and did everything that was needed to do.
[You have upgraded 'Aura Smash' to level 3!]
[You have upgraded 'Domination' to level 4!]
He used the two skill points he had that were available after reaching level 7, and then he kept going.
He of course noticed that the silver fog was gone, meaning that more people would be able to get to this area, but he didn't care, he had gotten the loot for himself.
[Current Level: Lv7]
[Experience: 6300/50000]
'My god, I wonder just how much people at the higher levels must of grinded, especially since this is a beginner level dungeon…'
At the end, Stark just wanted to get to level 10 to be able to use the necklace and to challenge the boss.
He wasn't dumb, and the fact he almost died against the mini-boss was a testament of how difficult the real boss will be.
Because even if in the end the rift had rewarded him for completing it without taking a singular hit, he had been completely forced to that with a little above 100 HP to spare.
And now… he had moved to another area, the "Advanced District" of the [City Ruins], which is a level 15 area.
[The rays of the black sun are calling your name, their cursed nature hitting harder than ever before, move fast or it will be too late]
[Enemies in this area only have one idea in mind: killing you, do not spare any of them]
'Didn't plan to do that…' Stark smiled, and as he turned the corner of a luxurious street, he found himself in front of the first group of monsters (other than the 'Feathered Scourge') he would encounter in this area.
[Name: Shadow Wolves]
[Level: 13]
[HP: 2500]
[Strength: 79]
[Stamina: 132]
[Speed: 271]
[Defense: 92]
[Skills: Shadow Bite, Quick Step, Menacing Eyes]
…
These wolves were swift and vicious, their red eyes locking onto some flesh they were eating as they bared their sharp, blackened teeth.
Their entire body was covered in a black matter that took over their furr, and Stark could only guess it was the black sun curse that changed them this much.
It was a group of six, and looking at their stats, they seemed to be extremely fast, although their strength and defense in contrast were low.
'Aura Smash…' Stark instinctively mumbled the name of the skill, and his right hand started glowing immensely again.
He threw his crimson fist at the wolves, and…
~BOOM~
"-3618!"
"-3238!"
"-2787!"
Three were killed by the attack, one was stunned and received more than half its life, and the other two… they avoided the attack.
"WAIT WHAT?" Stark had not expected them to be able to do that, but two of the shadow wolves had seen the fist coming at them, and began running towards him.
"Quick Step!"
They used that skill to immensely increase their speed, and then…
"Shadow Bite!"
The two lunged at Stark at the same time, their eyes still glowing with that red fury, and their furr's weird structure leaving dark aura behind.
But Stark remained calm.
"Focus…" he activated the skill, and suddenly he could see the wolf's movements better than before, now able to see their trajectory a few microseconds before they attacked.
And that was all that was needed for him to avoid the attack and not be instantly killed.
~Pwish~
He avoided the first wolf, and punched the second in the jaw with his aura-filled fists.
"-2162!"
It wasn't enough to kill it, but the sheer damage Stark had caused it made it so that the wolf was stunned.
"Go meet your friend," he laughed as he grabbed two of the wolf's legs while still mid-air and threw its body with incredible strength toward the other one he avoided.
"-628!"
"-1293!"
The 'Shadow Wolf' died upon impact with its companion, while the other one received more than half of its life with this strike.
It tried to launch itself at Stark again, but he just kicked it in the stomach.
"-1728!"
Now only one 'Shadow Wolf' remained, the one that was stunned and extremely injured.
Stark slowly approached it, almost walking and taking his time.
On the otherhand, the monster could see the human approach, a wide smile on his face.
"=)" Stark was only a few centimeters in front of the wolf now, able to punch it whenever he wanted.
In response, the wolf looked at the human and activated its third skill in a last ditch effort to survive.
"Menacing Eyes!" Its pupils and eyes started glowing more brightly with that crimson aura, trying to scare off Stark.
But…
[The 'fear' effect cannot be applied to someone with the 'domination' class]
And so Stark just stood there, unaffected.
"Aoohhwh~" the wolf growled, now able to move its mouth since the stun effect was going away, and it roughly translated to "Ah, shit…"
"-2719!"
Stark kicked it in the face, and it died.
[You have slain six "Shadow Wolves lv13", gained 14400EXP!]
'Holy!' Stark was bewildered, he had gotten so much EXP on these enemies even though he just took most of them by surprise.
[Experience: 20700/50000]
'The amount needed each level keeps getting bigger and bigger, I wonder just how much do I need to grind for level 10…'
There was only one more area to go through after the advanced district before eventually reaching the boss of the rift, and Stark could confidently confirm that he was probably the most advanced person inside the dungeon as beside Kent and Bill, who had stayed behind, he met no one else.
He checked the wolves' bodies for anything, but unfortunately, no piece of equipment had dropped, after all, these things were pretty rare.
'What about that black sun curse…?' he wondered as he continued walking in the direction he was following.
[Black Sun Curse: 48%]
'Holy shit, it's growing faster than before, although not unexpected…'
…
[You have slain 'Scorthed Businessman lvl14', gained 2100 EXP!]
[You have slain 'Underground Parasite lvl12', gained 1750 EXP!]
[You have slain 'Mother Bird lvl14', gained 2500 EXP!]
…
[Your level has increased to level 8, granting you one skill point and boost in stats]
[Experience: 1793/60000]
…
[Your level has increased to level 9, granting you one skill point and boost in stats]
[Experience: 5720/75000]
…
'Phew… took me at least an hour to level up, killing this many monsters is beginning to be easy, although it takes time,' Stark wiped the sweat off his forehead as he looked at his status window, many monster corpses around him.
[Level:] 9
[Health:] 118/950
[Bloodline:] Human
[Class:] Domination
[Info about class:] The first Domination Trial is coming REALLY soon, be ready, you will suffer.
[Talent:] Chosen one
[Attributes:] Strength 42; Speed 54; Mind/Soul 61; Stamina 81; Defense 68
[Skills:] Spatial Inventory; Class Wheel; Perception; Domination lv4; Focus lv3; Aura Smash lv4
…
'Hm… I guess it's better than last time,' he smiled.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
Most people were now inside the [City Ruins] rift, fighting their way through the level 5 area.
"WATCH OUT!"
"HELP ME OUT HERE!"
People could only form parties of 5 inside the rift, and after doing so, they would be allowed to share experience points between each other as long as they participated in the kill, making it safer to level up.
No one could really know what the hell was happening further inside the rift, so everyone just focused on themselves.
"Where is that Stark fucker?" Daniel entered the rift 45 minutes after Stark, rushing his way through the level 5 area and reaching the level 10 one with his squad.
"We saw him enter the rift at the beginning, so he should be here…" one of Daniel's companions spoke, a spear in his hand as he was also part of the warrior class.
"HAHAHA~ That fucker got lucky yesterday, and now he is probably already dead!" Daniel nodded, as for him (and probably most people), it was impossible for Stark to get past the first area, "He probably became one of those monsters!"
"-728! -827!" he eliminated a monster that came his way, then looked around him, noticing all the other people that were fighting.
Lana on the otherhand was also in the level 10 area, currently extremely close to Daniel's group as they were right next to her.
'So annoying…' she groaned while shooting two arrows to kill a monster nearby.
Instinctively, Daniel looked to his right as he saw the high amount of damage being dealt by Lana, and noticed her blonde-hair, beautiful face, and spectacular body.
Nobody knew it, but Daniel had a massive obsession over Lana, always trying to please her and approach her, but she would always reject him.
After all, Lana was used to such attempts from men who thought they had a chance with her.
"Hey Lana-" he tried to approach her, but sensing his presence, Lana immediately began running, acting like she spotted another monster, "Oh… well i'm sure she'll succumb at one point or another!"
"Of course she will, any girl would dream of being with you, the Pridel family name is extremely famous after all," one of Daniel's companions reassured him, making him grin.
And it was at this exact moment that Stark defeated the mini-boss.
Suddenly, everyone stopped, a golden panel appearing in front of them.
[The mini-boss 'Feathered Scourge' was defeated by REDACTED, you can now advance further inside the dungeon!]
Daniel, Lana, and everyone else that were inside the dungeon read the text with shocked eyes.
'Already?!' was what they all thought, after all even their teachers predicted it would take at least five hours before the mini-boss was defeated, and yet in less than an hour it was already down?
"Probably some powerful group that rushed through the dungeon?"
"Maybe it's a hidden high-ranked classifier!"
"Or one of the solo players that went first…"
Such theories appeared among all classifiers that were still fairly at the start or almost middle point of the dungeon.
But what they all knew was that: whoever had defeated the scourge must be pretty damn strong.
This is how dungeons in this world work, once an achievement is made, it is broadcasted for everyone to know, except they wouldn't know the identity of who did it.
Only Kent and Bill, who were two of those 'strong solo players' were aware of the identity of the mini-boss killer, but even they believed that Stark was actually named 'Stalk' since he lied to them.
And just like this, the stage was set, and people began fighting through the monsters faster in hope of reaching the level 15 area and fight the boss too, also they needed to take advantage of such an opportunity to level up.
***
Stark, unaware of the panel that informed everyone of what he did, continued walking through the 'Advanced District'.
And soon enough… he found himself in front of the last area of the dungeon.
'Oh yeah, before I forget…' he mumbled, checking out his available skill points.
[Skill Points: 1 Available]
'Almost forgot to use it, better be safe than sorry…'
[You have upgraded 'Domination' to level 5!]
His domination skill was now at the half-way point as the limit for skills was level 10 (at least until the user leveled up enough, and then the limit would increase, or by using an item)
And that meant…
'Huh?' his body was suddenly being surrounded by a crimson aura, it was not only around his hands and feet anymore, but also his head, torso, legs…
[You have gone far and upgraded the domination skill, your aura was massively increased as a reward, and you are now capable of using it around your body as a sort of protective shield.]
'Holy shit!' Stark smiled, his HP was extremely low, and his journey since the beginning was a giant 'NO HIT' challenge since even one attack would kill him.
And now…
"Can I actually absorb some damage now?" he wondered, eager to use that new ability of his, but also knowing that he couldn't take any risks, "Welp… i'll see when the time is right."
He took a step forward, and now was in the final area of the rift.
[Entered level 15 area, "City Outskirts"]
The atmosphere switched completely, it was already dark and twisted in the 'Advanced District', but the last area was on another level.
The buildings were replaced by shaby old houses, menacing eyes could be seen from every broken window, and the air was thick with tension.
[The Black Sun has noticed and acknowledged you, it will now try everything in its power to stop you, classifier, good luck]
The panel was dark, mimicking the sinister darkness of the empty streets.
[Current Level: Lv9]
[Experience: 12810/75000]
'If this is a beginner level dungeon, I wonder just how bad the higher level ones are, people in this world must have a thick skull…' he said that, but in the end still began walking through the dark outskirts of the [City Ruins].
As he navigated the desolate streets, Stark's acute perception picked up on subtle movements in the shadows.
Yet even noticing all these creatures and eyes on him, nothing came out of a corner to stop him or attack him… for now.
And right after taking another step… another unexpected panel came interrupting Stark in his journey.
[Black Sun Curse: 90%]
[WARNING! GET TO A BONFIRE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! THE DARKNESS IS CONSUMING YOU]
'…' Stark sighed, the curse percentage had gone up so fast he didn't even take the time to check, and now he was at great risk of being turned into one of these… things.
Going backward was not a solid option either since he would probably be infected before it happened.
So his only choice… was to keep going forward, speedrunning his way through the monsters that would try to kill him.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
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