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38.19% Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power / Chapter 275: Chapter 275

Kapitel 275: Chapter 275

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 dungeons and learn more about the world.

Now, getting involved with these organizations has proven to be much more trouble than good.

I've grown exponentially, have teleportation access to the Vice City labyrinth, and wield more than enough skills to blend in wherever I need to.

Whether it's finding a home in Solara, or venturing out to one of the other regions other than Vice, they all seem much more pleasing than working like a blind slave moving forward.

I take in a deep breath and talk to myself again.

"No more following orders... and no more helping the weak... someone always takes advantage of my kindness."

Sometimes I forget why I started all of this.

I just wanted to get stronger and have fun doing it. This isn't to help people, I'm here to help myself. I only got involved with the Association because I had to. Look what that's led me to. Handcuffed in the basement of some rival organization's lair.

Or even worse, this could be the Association's doing. There's definitely of chance I was betrayed by that grey-haired regional director.

Whatever the truth is, I'll figure it out in time. Now, all signs point to getting the hell out of here and not looking back.

"But how...?"

Sitting in silence, I try to activate my magic again. I scroll down every skill on my list and not a single one activates. Each time I try, not even a hint of magic is produced. My natural mana stores have been drained to 0 and these cuffs are blocking off any ability to wield or gather in more from around me.

It feels like an invisible veil has been cast over my skin, blocking me from sensing or using mana.

"Breaking out with magic is not going to be an easy option..."

Next on my possibilities list is just sitting here and taking the beating for 14 days until my real body heals itself and wakes up. That woman says she'll kill me if I don't cooperate, but she wouldn't have gone through all this trouble to keep me alive and give me time to think if that was the case.

Little does she know, killing me is my most sought-after option. I shrug.

"I guess I'll wait."

That's exactly what I do.

An hour passes, and nothing happens at all. The room stays silent, and my mind keeps wandering to try and piece together where that woman could possibly be from.

None of the clues given so far make any sense, and thinking about it more is just making my head hurt.

Another hour goes by.

The pain from the knives in my hands hurts, but the fact that this flesh is a meaningless clone mentally dulls the pain.

Two more long hours slowly pass.

Footsteps come by my door, but trail away as fast as they came, leaving me in silence again.

"Looks like she really meant it. I'll be alone here for quite a while."

I'll have to do something productive to pass my time. There must be something I can work on that won't waste these 14 days of waiting. I let out a sigh.

"There's only one skill I haven't tried yet."

The reasoning behind this is that it backfired horribly the last time I tried.

Demonic Energy Manipulation.

There isn't a drop of magic running through my veins, so if there was ever a time to practice, it'd be now...

I take a deep breath and then activate the skill. Instantly my vision goes black and white, just like it did back in the Boss Room. Back then, I could see and sense particles of black energy floating around the air very clearly. Now, I don't sense any at all.

The only things perceivable to me while using this skill are my two Demon's Cores, and the thin pathways leading from my fingertips through my arms and to my chest. The same paths leave my chest and are used to distribute this energy to my brain, back to my arms, and down my legs.

These are the same pathways used for mana manipulation, but I don't often think about it much. Wielding magic is easier to use instinctually than focusing on the exact position of the individual particles.

Maybe learning how these pathways work would help me improve in the future.

"Or right now..."

I get the faint sensation of Demonic Energy far up above me. It's difficult to picture the exact distance, but it seems to be over 500 meters away up and to my left side.

It's the only hint of energy I can sense, so I latch onto it and pull it closer.

At first, my weak pull hardly moves it, but the closer it gets the faster I'm able to reel it in. The tiny wisp of black energy is minuscule compared to the amount I was wielding in the boss room. It'd take a few thousand of these strands to stack up to that energy I was handling earlier.

It makes sense. I'm not even in a dungeon. There's hardly any natural mana out in the real world, so I'm lucky to have found any Demonic Energy at all.

Its origins and exact properties are still a mystery to me, but I assume this must be some residue from the collapse. Or possibly just natural demonic energy floating in the world.

Either way, I'll absorb it soon.

It takes nearly 5 minutes, but the small black cloud of twisting matter finally enters the room. It slides through the ceiling without any resistance and seeps right into my fingertips.

I grit my teeth as it feels exactly the same as it did before. The sensation of boiling water makes its way through my veins and slowly flows toward my cores. The last time I tried this, I only had one core, the Greater Demons. This time, I have two.

Although they're technically imitations, they work exactly as they should. The larger Arch Demon's core takes dominance and filters the dark-colored energy. The moment it hits the small black orb in my chest, the cool feeling of fresh natural flowing water pours out the other side.

It starts to spread all throughout my body and I stop to think.

There are still small amounts of residue from the hot raw energy creeping toward the core. The bulk of it is cool and flows easily. The refined energy is much easier to control, It's also what I used to attack the Demon.

If I were to expel this now, the trace amounts of hotter raw residue would definitely still be in my wrists and arms leading up to my chest.

A grin of satisfaction and realization crosses my mind...

If I were to activate my magic in those same pathways while the residue is still present it would create the same chain reaction I witnessed earlier.

"It all makes sense now..."

I focus on the tiny remaining wisps of black energy to filter through my core. Within a few seconds, just over 90% of it is gone.

After a few more minutes, I've squeezed almost every last bit through.

It takes 20 full minutes to double and triple-check that every last particle has made its way through. Now, the only energy that remains in my pathways is the cool and refined version.

I think to myself again.

This energy reacted even more extreme when it hit the Demon's shielding. If my thoughts are correct, having any amount of even this refined Demonic Energy in my system when switching back to magic triggers the reaction.

I decide to release an attack.

Staring forward, I point my right index finger up in the air and let all of the power flow toward it.

Instantly, a thin line of black light flows out and shoots up about a meter into the air. Moments after it leaves my hand, it disperses and loses its tight thin shape then falls to make a miniature puddle on the silver table top in front of me. It swirls around like heavy air.

It wasn't much, and it all happened so fast.

There's no magic for it to react to, so it just sits there for a moment, not doing anything.

I stare forward at the tiny thin palm-sized puddle of spinning black energy.

The puddle starts to shrink.

It begins to evaporate.

I watch with eyes wide open in awe for a moment, then try to pull it back in toward my fingertips again with my manipulation skill/

It doesn't budge.

"So interesting..."

There's still about 10% of the refined residue still flowing around in my pathways. After careful manipulation, referencing the ways I tried to move the raw energy around, releasing the last bits of refined energy through my fingertips only takes a few minutes.

By the time every last drop is released, it all dissolves into thin air.

"I did it."

Ember said it would take extensive training to properly wield Demonic Energy and filter it through a core. He's right, but I have a loophole that will make it much easier. I'll master this new skill.

These magic-dampening cuffs are a blessing in disguise. They may seem like an effective way to trap an elite-level hunter in normal human restraints, but in reality, whoever put me here has given me a perfect training ground to perfect my Demonic Energy Manipulation.

I focus on my surroundings and search for more. Using this skill actually causes me quite a bit of fatigue, but it's combined with the fact that I'm locked to a table in a dark room without food or water.

At this rate, I'm sure I'll be fine for a few more hours of training this new skill.

A few hours pass.

I'm able to find 3 more similar-sided clouds of Demonic Energy all hovering around the same general area. Just over 500 meters away. I've come to the conclusion that I'm about 100 meters underground, and a source just under half a kilometer away leaks out a small amount of energy every 60 to 90 minutes.

I still can't tell what the source is, or why it's only coming from one direction, but that doesn't matter much to me.

All that does is I'm now able to filter through all of the raw energy in just 10 minutes and expel pure demonic energy up to about 95% on the first try. Slowly dripping the rest from my fingertips takes under 2 minutes in total on the last attempt.

This is a huge improvement from my first, but there's still a lot of work to do.

Unfortunately, I'm exhausted after a long day of training.

I deactivate my skill and rest my head on the cold hard table between my handcuffed arms.

My stomach growls and my lips are dry, but that doesn't stop me from falling asleep just minutes later.

Everything goes dark.

Time passes.

I'm not sure how many hours exactly, but it feels like almost half a day goes by before the loud sound of banging on a metal door wakes me up.

It's followed by a familiar blond woman's voice.

"Rise and shine Demon Boy! Let's see if you feel like talking today."

____________________________

Author's Note:

If you're enjoying Dungeon Diver and want to follow Jay on his journey 20+ chapters ahead of schedule, check out the Patreon link in my profile bio.

There's custom chapter art for every new daily upload too!

Thanks for reading:)

____________________________


Kapitel 276: Chapter 276

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 leather whip, and a silver key. Next, she takes out a small brown box and a crystal clear bottle of water. The scent of spices and hot food fills the air, there must be food in that box.

She places all of the assorted items on top of the small stool similar to the one I sit on at the back of the room as the door slams shut.

The blond gets close, but far enough away this time that I won't be able to reach her with my forehead. She speaks while grabbing one of her knives and twirling it around.

"How was your night? Any trouble sleeping? I bet you're feeling more talkative today, aren't you?"

She smirks, but my eyes are more lively than yesterday after the great night of rest I just woke up from.

I reply, looking at her, then moving my gaze to all of the gear she brought in.

"Just fine. What's on the menu today?"

My mouth is dry and my stomach is empty, but oddly enough it's not as extreme as I would have expected. This may be a positive side effect of using a body double skill. These clones may need less food and water to exist than a regular person, I'm not positive yet.

She replies, ripping out both of the knives from the back of my palms with her free hand in one rough motion.

"If you cooperate, maybe you'll find out. It's all yours if you talk."

The blood-soaked blades hit the ground behind her with a clang and a splash. Crimson liquid starts to leak onto the table again as she's reopened my wounds.

"Now, where were we?"

The woman looks up at the ceiling and then back to me.

"What unique skill did that Demon have, and what element did its Dragon possess?"

She puts a foot up on the table and continues spinning her blade, then takes out her other one. My eyes gloss over and I just stare dully ahead while replying in a monotone voice.

"It's just going to be the same as yesterday isn't it."

She angrily reacts.

"Yeah, and worse is you keep that attitude."

She points the blades to my fingers.

"We'll do one nail for every hour you don't cooperate."

She turns to the pile of gear, pointing out the whip.

"Then move to more extreme measures if you still have nothing helpful to say."

I still don't budge. I'm unsure if the fact that I know nothing that happens to this body matters is the main component of my calm attitude right now, or if this woman is just imperfect at her job... Telling your captive exactly what you're going to do to them isn't exactly prime torture tactics.

Thinking about my situation even more, with a single release of Demonic Energy while she has her shielding activated, it would most likely be more than enough to take her out. However, if pushed hard enough she'll leak information of her own. Playing along for now may be beneficial.

Returning my gaze back to her, I reply.

"Do your worst."

She does.

Five hours pass and my entire left hand's nails have been taken, but I don't react much to the pain or the situation of guaranteed demise I'm trapped in from her perspective.

Every time the woman asks what power the demon has or the element its bonded dragon wields, I continue to ignore her. Occasionally, I'll return some questions back to her.

"Who do you work for? Maybe I'd be more inclined to answer if I knew where this information was going."

All I get in response each time are slashes to the arms from her daggers and threats to take off my fingers instead of just the nails. I don't react.

Three more hours pass and I can tell she's getting much more frustrated.

After a bloody barrage of attacks followed by an indifferent dull response from me every time, I hear her curse under her breath as she paces near the back of the room.

"If only it wasn't for these cuffs, I could use mind magic on this brat. I need to figure out which one came back."

I raise an eyebrow, then show a grin. This is the first bit of emotion I've shown all day.

"Mind magic huh? Why can't you use it now? What's so special about these cuffs? Take them off, try it out."

The most interesting detail that piques my interest is her last line. She needs to figure out which one came back...? Which what? Arch Demon? Dragon Type? Or something else...

She scowls and grabs the whip at the back of the room letting out a fit of rage.

"They said you'd be a special case and not to take those cuffs off for any reason for the chance that this special investigation would all be compromised."

*Crack*

The lash hits me across the chest. Gritting my teeth and exhaling loudly I reply through the stinging sensation that rips my shirt.

I mock her words from yesterday.

"Good. Information. Keep it coming... Now we're getting somewhere."

I chuckle.

This only pisses her off more, leading to more cracks of her whip and bloody mutilation from her daggers. The remark and info gathered were worth it.

Two more hours pass, and we're both exhausted by the end of it.

Possibly her more than me. Both covered in blood and sweat, she decides to end today's session here. The one thing that irks me a bit is the satisfied look on her face.

With a smirk, the blond opens the door and turns back to me.

"Now you understand what the next few days will be like. I can do this for as long as I need to, it's best you cooperate. If not, tomorrow will be even worse."

She slams the door shut, and I let out a long sigh while placing my head down on the blood-soaked table. My entire body burns with gashes from that whip and my hands can barely move from the knife marks and lack of nails.

I take a deep breath in and out, then begin my Demonic Energy Manipulation training without a moment of hesitation.

The small trace amounts of black wisps continue to spawn every 30 minutes or so just 500 meters away. If I don't grab onto them within a few minutes of them spawning, they float away.

I manage to filter the energy 6 times this session. Even though I'm on the verge of exhaustion, it's much easier to manipulate the black matter this time around.

By the time the 3 hours of training are up, I'm able to filter the raw power through my core to 100% refined energy in under 2 minutes. Expelling it in a single thin blade-like line has become easier too. The initial expulsion uses up almost all of the energy and I can propel it all the way to the back wall of the room. It hits the metal door, but doesn't do any damage and hardly makes a sound. It still takes 15 seconds to drip out all of the remaining matter.

The refined Demonic Energy dissolves away without a trace.

"Good progress... but I need to get better."

The fatigue catches up to me, and I begin to drift off.

Before I can attempt to tamper with these cuffs or make an attack on the woman, I need to get more proficient. Plus, every day I keep her talking will potentially bring me more information. My goal is to absorb, refine, and expel Demonic Energy almost instantaneously before attempting an escape.

At first, I just thought I'd just let her kill me and forget about all of this to go rogue in silence, but the more she tortures me the more it seems she's enjoying herself. It doesn't matter if she's just a hired grunt, or doing all of this by her own free will. I'll get revenge on this woman no matter what.

My new mission is to make her suffer the same fate as she's given me, then burn the organization that trapped me here to the ground.

Everything fades to black as I fall asleep.

Many hours later, I wake up to the sound of loud metal banging and the woman's voice as she barges in through the door.

Today, I have a new plan.

____________________________

Author's Note:

If you're enjoying Dungeon Diver and want to follow Jay on his journey 20+ chapters ahead of schedule, check out the Patreon link in my profile bio.

There's custom chapter art for every new daily upload too!

Thanks for reading:)

____________________________


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