章 23: Victory

[The boss of the Dungeon has been defeated, and the Gate has been opened for you. You may leave at any time.]

Dismissing the notifications, Zane reached out with his hand, and attempted to consume Dante's evaporating energy using 'Devour'. Unfortunately, resurrecting him as a Servant was out of the question, since Titan-class was higher than Monarch, which was what Zane could handle at the moment.

Immediately, the black energy in the air changed trajectory and began flowing into his palm rather than rise towards the air, and Zane relished as both his mana and health began to rapidly regenerate.

It was an addictive feeling that he could never get old of despite having used it so many times already—and seconds later, a System message appeared before his eyes.

[Dante, the Dishonored — Devoured.]

[Eye of the Abyss — Skill Obtained!]

'Eye of the Abyss, huh… I suppose that's the laser eye Dante had,' Zane thought, smiling deviously. 'No doubt, the version I inherited would be weaker since my eye isn't that big, but it'll be just as deadly, I'm sure.'

To test, he tried to use the skill by thinking of the skill's name in his head, but to his surprise, nothing happened. After reading the details of the ability, however, it made sense.

[Eye of the Abyss]

[Type: Passive]

[Tier: S]

[A special skill that transforms one of the wielder's eyes to that of a Abyssal demon. Passively increases the wielder's bond with the Abyss, allowing them to perceive things that normal people cannot, such as people's auras and hidden clues in the world. When mana is actively channeled into the eye, unleash a destructive beam of annihilating violet energy taken directly from the Abyss itself.]

'I see… so I don't have to think the name, but rather simply pour mana into the eye for the laser to work. This aura and hidden clues ability, though… is quite interesting.'

At that moment, Dahrka re-appeared by Zane's side through teleportation, and knelt down with one knee on the floor as he awaited further orders. Zane, however, noticing that one of his arms were missing, narrowed his eyes.

"… You're hurt. Did the laser hit you?"

<…>

Dahrka, like always, did not speak nor move. It was as if he was trying to say the injury did not bother him, and that it was not a cause for concern. Zane, however, was worried. How did his Servants heal, anyway? Did they just automatically regenerate on their own overtime, or did Zane have to do something?

'Hm…'

After some thought, he decided to give it a try. Holding out his hand where Dahrka's missing arm was, Zane began pouring mana into the Servant. Slowly but surely, the fallen paladin's arm began regrowing from his shoulder, until a whole arm was completed once more. Dahrka, perhaps a bit confused, hesitantly tried to move it, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked.

'So… summoning them doesn't take any mana, but healing them does, huh? Duly noted,' Zane thought silently. 'By the same logic, should they run out of mana, I would have to replenish them with my own as well… hm. Looks like my INT stat, governing my total mana capacity as well as mana regeneration, will be a level-up priority.'

Dahrka's eyes beneath his hood blinked a few times—it was almost cute. But then, noticing Zane's stare, he quickly shut his eyes and bowed in gratitude. Smiling at the sight, Zane dismissed the Servant with a wave of his hand, and the fallen paladin returned to his shadow along with Azakiel.

"Awr~!"

Suddenly, Scarlet—now fully healed—nudged Zane from the side, and pointed at the decorated coffin that had spawned a few meters away. Zane, seeing this, smiled and rubbed its head.

"Yeah, yeah… you want to see what's inside too, huh? Alright, alright."

Slowly, Zane made his way over to the coffin, and took off the lid while Scarlet watched with its head lifted high, wings flapping with excitement.

Inside lay two items—one was a folded-up scroll, while the other seemed to be a key. There was no treasure apart from that, and no gold either. Zane didn't exactly recognize either object, but he had a faint idea of what they were.

'Could it be…?'

Zane, narrowing his eyes, carefully unrolled the scroll in his hands. As soon as he did so, however, the scripture suddenly began dissipating into white light, and the energy particles flowed into his body as if he'd used Devour.

[Abyssal Dagger Art — Skill Obtained!]

'Hmph… as expected. A weapon art. But to think I comprehended it instantly…'

Normally, to learn and master weapon arts, one had to spend a lot of time reading through its scripture and delving deep into its mysteries. But Zane, just by unfolding it, had achieved enlightenment and received the skill in his System.

'Is this another power of Devour, perhaps?'

That seemed to be the only explanation. To test, he opened his System to see what the new skill he obtained did, and sure enough—his guess had been correct.

[Abyssal Dagger Art]

[Type: Active]

[Tier: S]

[A weapon art for Daggers users. A long-forbidden technique, the name of it was uttered only in hushed tones for eons. The cryptic Eldritch forces of the dark Abyss channel and harness themselves into a Dagger user's weapon, embodying themselves in five horrifying movements that rework the fabric of reality. The original creator of art is said to be a powerful ancient figure, but his identity and current whereabouts have both been lost to time, just like the technique itself.]

'An S-tier technique… why are such rare items being found inside such a low-rank Dungeon?'

Yes, the Dungeon was said to have 'abnormal energy signatures' when Zane was first informed of it by Leo, but he never expected to find such high-grade treasures here. Feeling a faint heat coming from his cloak's inner pocket, Zane pulled out the object inside—the cube that had been both transformed into a fountain of blood and an incubator earlier. Now, the purple light that lined its seams were glowing far brighter than before, almost as if the device was… 'active'.

'Hm…'

Using [Eye of the Abyss], Zane could now see some ancient characters on the cube's surface, one on each of the four tiles on each face. They glowed purple just like the seams, but he couldn't understand what the glyphs meant. They looked like they were part of an ancient, long-lost language… but the fact that it reacted with the [Eye of the Abyss] must mean that it had something to do with—well, the Abyss.

And if that was the case, then… [Abyssal Dagger Art], Abyss… it couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

According to modern scientists, Dungeons were small worlds originally created inside the Abyss, which were then linked to the human world. The Day of Ruination occurred when the energy inside the Abyss became too much for the dimension to handle, and parts of it tore into Earth. All this was simply speculation, but after seeing this, Zane found himself believing it a bit more.

Ultimately, Zane's goal was to exterminate every last Dungeon in the world—destroy these cruel, harsh places, these places that took his best friend from him. He knew it was impossible since Dungeons continued appearing everyday, but… if he could discover the truth that lay inside this… 'Abyss', perhaps he could find a way to stop them from appearing any more.

With that in mind, Zane stowed the cube away, as the lights on it dimmed down a bit. Then, taking out his daggers, he could already feel a distinct difference just by holding them, now that he'd obtained the [Abyssal Dagger Art]. There seemed to be a faint, metallic iridescent aura emitting from the daggers' blades when he held them, odd yet captivating. It was the color of the Abyss—ever-changing, ever-growing.

And for some odd reason, in his head, he just knew. The name of the first move of the [Abyssal Dagger Art], and how to use it. Reaching out with one of his daggers, he cut the air in front of him—a seemingly useless action with no target, but in reality, that was just the first step.

'Abyssal Dagger Art, Form One: Blade's Reach.'

As soon as those words flashed across Zane's mind, the statue several meters in front of him was suddenly split right down the middle, the two halves falling to each side and shattering on the floor. Scarlet, seeing this, ran over and looked around in confusion with widened eyes for a good minute, curiously wondering what just happened.

"Awr…?"

But Zane merely smiled, and stowed his daggers away to his belt hidden beneath his dark cloak. He only had access to the first form right now, but since there were five forms in total, he expected to unlock more as he used the skill more and leveled it up.

'Now, all that's left is to figure out what this key is…'

That's right. The other item he'd obtained in the lootbox, apart from the weapon art.

Zane, holding the key tightly, used his System to appraise the item—a feature that all Systems had, not just Zane's. curiously peered close as it wanted to know what the object was as well, and a few seconds later, a hologram displaying the information the two were looking for appeared.

[Secret Dungeon Key]

[Rarity: D-Rank]

[Type: Quest Item]

[Description: A key that can be used to unlock a D-Rank Secret Dungeon.]

'A Secret Dungeon…? Interesting…' Zane thought. Secret Dungeons referred to Dungeons that had not opened in the real world yet through a Gate, and could only be accessed with a key. In other words, only one person could enter them, and was a highly-sought after object amongst confident Hunters since it meant they would be able to have all the EXP and Monster Cores to themselves.

'But if this thing is a Quest Item, then… where is the Quest for it?'

As if on cue, another notification appeared the moment after, listing out the quest details and rewards. It would seem that the requirement to unlock this was to appraise the item.

[Notice]

[You have met all the requirements to activate the Side Quest: Multiclass Hunter I]

[Objective: Defeat the boss and conquer the Secret Dungeon hidden within the Yongen-Jaya subway station.]

[Reward: 10 SP, 50 Bloodrunes, Class Selection]

At this, Zane lifted an eyebrow. "Oh…? Another class selection?"

Normally, after choosing one's first class at Level 10, the next class selection would be Level 25, and would have a few subclasses depending on which first main class they chose. But even then, it would be only 'changing' their previous class, not having multiple classes like this quest seemed to imply.

'Yongen-Jaya, huh… that's quite close to where I live,' Zane thought, narrowing his eyes. 'Looks like I'll be checking this out once I get back, but before that… I should probably complete the other quest I have on hand.'

Glancing around at all the mutilated corpses in the room from when he'd first arrived in the Dungeon, Zane clenched his fists.