章 23: Curiosity
Michael walked into the dungeon portal as normal, the guards stationed around it were no longer there.
The only reason they watched over Michael was that in the off chance a dungeon break were to happen, however, that was not the case.
The goblin's levels didn't change at all in the last 4 months, the highest being level 18, even then that was considered low.
Michael was able to deal with them fairly easily even without weapons, now with his new sniper rifle, he wouldn't even need to move from the portal.
He took it out of his pocket and unfolded it, the technology sure was something else.
Looking down at the village of goblins, he noticed there were not that many left, at first it seemed like they were respawning, however, the numbers were clearly much lower than before.
The dungeon has reached the end of its life, it will soon close.
'I see..well owning the dungeon for the last 4 months still brought me a nice increase in stats.' Michael shrugged and looked through his scope, finding a goblin singled out from the rest.
He pressed the trigger and saw the goblin's head blow up.
'Holy shit.. it's soundless.' Michael took a look at his sniper. The moment he pressed the trigger and fired, the goblin instantly died, no sound was heard.
You are shooting pure mana, added to the fact that you have a passive skill that increases bullet velocity, in return, it travels pretty fast.
Michael gazed at his status and saw the EXP for shooting mastery increase by 100.
'How does the damage work? I know it says my AGI x 3, however, the damage I dealt appeared to be much higher than that, even if I did hit a vital spot.' He questioned.
You deal that amount of damage if the opponent manages to somehow block your attack, if you aim for the head and it gets blocked, you would deal AGI x 5 damage. If it connects it is an instant kill.
'Does that apply to higher levels too?'
No, at some point your sniper will become useless, just use it until then.
Michael looked through his scope and began shooting the rest of the goblins 'What do you mean useless? Aren't there legendary sniper rifles? Won't they be enough?'
They will be very situational, the people over level 200 have their ways of negating those kinds of attacks.
'You keep mentioning stuff that will happen once I reach level 200, will there be a different kind of power system or something' Michael chuckled as he continued sniping the goblins.
However, he did not receive a response.
'Seriously!? Come on tell me!' Michael shouted at the system in his mind.
You are being annoying, fine.. there is a thing called a Mana Core starting from level 200.
'Mana core? Then are levels no longer a thing past level 200?' Michael was extremely confused. He believed this system and levels were something he would have all the time.
That is correct, there are stages to the mana core, however, don't worry, you will still have a status screen displaying some information, though as I said previously, levels and EXP will no longer be a thing. Don't stress about that now though, just keep doing your thing.
Michael stopped shooting the goblins and sat down, sniper by his side.
He had a lot of questions now, for example, why has no one mentioned this? Even more, where are all the level 200 individuals?
The only ones he knew were definitely above level 200 were Meph, Amanda, and Fafnir. He didn't know about any others, as if they did not exist.
Meph was sealed in a dungeon and Fafnir was greatly weakened, Amanda, however, looked completely normal, so it didn't seem like they couldn't be here.
But where was everyone else?
Michael stood up and walked out of the dungeon and went back to the academy, specifically, to the library.
The academy appeared to be completely empty, with only one or two students walking around the spacious halls, even then, they were Michael's seniors.
There were a total of 4 years, if you graduate then you get a diploma you can use in order to enter dungeons, which if Michael played his cards right, he could get permission a bit sooner.
Walking inside of the library he noticed quite a few people, however, none paid attention to Michael, only sparing him a few glances.
'It seemed even the kids knew the title of Saint was bullshit' Michael inwardly chuckled and looked around the book aisle.
He searched for books related to the awakened, Michael wanted to find out what exactly happens when you reach level 200.
However, as the minutes turned into hours, he was not able to find a single book that had what he was looking for.
'I don't understand..there are clearly awakened which are in the level 200s, why is there not a single thing written about the mana cores' Michael was beginning to get frustrated.
He wasted his time looking for books yet he was not able to find anything.
He noticed a few of his classmates sat together, one of them being Tony, who appeared to be immersed in reading.
Michael put on his saintly smile and walked toward him, he had nothing to lose from asking so he might as well do it.
"Hello Tony, what are you reading?" Michael sat right in front of him.
Tony's eyes widened slightly, then he started glaring at Michael "What do you want?"
"I am a bit curious about something, do you know what mana cores are?"
"The what cores? I don't so stop bothering me" Tony shooed him away and continued reading his book.
'Thought so' Michael stood up with a sigh and was prepared to look for a little longer.
"Why are you interested in that?" A voice resounded behind him and he turned around, meeting Kevin's suspicious gaze.
"No reason, just curious"
Kevin walked closer to Michael "You are curious about government secrets? You sure are an interesting Saint."
Michael's eyes lit up "I take it you know about it then, can you tell me?"
Though he was met with a swift refusal "Of course not" saying that, Kevin walked away.
However, Michael was not discouraged, he had his first lead. The system wouldn't tell him and he couldn't just ask Amanda as he was not allowed to contact her unless there was an emergency.
And his curiosity is certainly not an emergency.
'Can you give me a hint?'
No, also that kid was lying, even if his family did have people with mana cores, they would not share it with him, trust me on that one.
'Why? It sounded like he did know something though.'
He didn't because it's a secret, now shut up and go do something proactive.
'Right..'
Michael couldn't help his curiosity, however, he would hold it back for now. His main goal is to reach level 50 and increase the rarity of his class.
He walked out of the library, practically wasting all his time.
As he had nothing left to do he went back home, tomorrow he would be sparring.
This whole day today was a rollercoaster for Michael, first, he gets a good weapon, then finds out it will be completely useless in the future.
And then mana cores? Stages? He wanted to level up fast, however, he knew he couldn't, at least not at the current moment.
Michael decided to head back to the dungeon to continue his target practice but just as he got there he noticed a crew of people surrounding the portal.
He was a bit confused so he approached one of them "What's happening?"
The man turned around and flinched "S-Saint!"
'Fanatic number 73 found..'
At least he doesn't wish to harm you, so what if he is not alright in the head?
Michael ignored the system and asked his question again, finally snapping the man out of his trance.
"Yes Saint, the dungeon appears to be mutating" The man replied with an admiring look.
'What's that?' Michael asked the system.
Hmm, you got lucky, the dungeon's level is increasing.
Michael clenched his fists, just as he thought his progress was about to slow down, a path once again opened.
However, as he was celebrating inwardly, a sudden pressure descended.
It felt just like the dungeon collapse but it was not coming from the dungeon, instead, it was coming from behind him.
Turning around, he noticed a few people, the one who caught his eye, however, was Amanda.
It seemed the opportunity to meet her had arisen.
She cleared her throat and spoke "Everyone, get out. This is a government matter." Her voice was low, but loud enough for the people to hear it.
They all scattered, with only a few guards remaining, as well as Michael.
Amanda walked up to Michael and told him to follow her.
They approached the portal that was slightly getting bigger, its color changing rapidly.
"I am sorry but we have to take this dungeon back."
Michael was startled "What do you mean? Did you not gift it to me?"
Amanda just simply shrugged "I did, however, I did specify you were not ready for higher level dungeons."
"So what? This is still my dungeon, higher level or not" He was not backing down. On the off chance that his whining works, that's great, however, if it didn't, he at least wanted to get something out of it.
"You can have another dungeon, same level as this one, how about that?" She proposed.
All that did was earn a scoff from Michael "What am I supposed to do with a low level dungeon? I am not getting any stronger from them."
Amanda let out a sigh "I don't want the Saint to die in a puny dungeon."
"I am level 40 now, I am by no means a complete weakling" Michael protested back at her.
Turning to look at Michael, she raised her hand.
All of a sudden he found himself embedded into a wall, seemingly in an instant 'The fuck?'
In a mere moment, she managed to send him flying fast enough to not even notice the surroundings change.
She suddenly appeared in front of him and raised her hand once more, however, Michael was prepared.
He quickly pulled out his sniper and automatically unfolded it, shooting a mana bullet right into her foot.
However, just as it seemed like it was about to connect, the bullet disappeared, he didn't even feel it connect.
'How am I supposed to beat her.." Michael thought as he looked around for any openings, but was unable to find a single one.
Amanda smirked at him "So what now? You took a hit and exhausted your trump card, if I was serious you would have been dead already."
"I am known for being a bit resilient" Michael didn't give up and pointed the sniper right at her, shooting 3 bullets consecutively in 3 different spots, all aiming for the vitals.
However, just like with the previous shot, the bullets did not connect and disappeared.
"See? You are now nothing but a punching bag" With those words Amanda closed in once again, raising her hand and sending Michael flying, however this time he was able to feel the propulsion.
'Was she using gravity or some sort of magnetic manipulation, what is this?' He flashed a confused look, the system was not explaining anything either.
Michael noticed his Shield of Nourishment was about to break, so he recast it on himself, preparing for another round.
As he raised his sniper, preparing to once again attempt to shoot her, Amanda waved her hand and the sniper disappeared from his hands, landing a couple of meters from him on the ground.
"You have yet to prove me wrong, you are a healer, how do you expect to defend yourself if the situation becomes dangerous? Tell me." She shot a glare at Michael, testing his conviction.
However, he just stood there, unsure of how to reply.
Michael couldn't refute her because she was right, she might be way higher level than him, but what would happen if his sniper were to no longer work?
He was looking for answers, though none came to mind, so he just stood there, unsure of how to reply.
I will remind you in case you forgot, the system is a helping mechanism for those coming from other worlds, once they learn everything there is to learn, it will no longer be needed, think. How would the others use their skills?
The system finally spoke, advising Michael, and providing a bit of clarity.
However, as he tried weaving all kinds of spells, nothing happened, it felt like a spell was forming but it suddenly stopped. He was too reliant on the system.
He felt as if he could do it if he had more practice, however, as things currently stood, he was defenseless, just like Amanda said.
Michael looked directly into her eyes "Give me a month to prove myself, after that let's renegotiate"
He was met with a smirk "Would you ask for time during a battle too?"
Those words caught Michael off guard, though she did have a point.
Amanda stared at him, until she finally let out a small laugh "Alright alright, a month. If you can prove your skills in a month, I will let you go into higher level dungeons."
She walked up to him and gave him a piece of paper "For now, take this, it's a low level dungeon, hone your skills, I will be waiting."
Michael didn't look too disheartened, he just nodded and accepted it, however, he still had a single question he wanted to ask "What is a mana core?"
That question greatly startled Amanda as she stared back into Michael's eyes "Do not mention it in public ever, am I clear?"
"Sure, can you tell me what it is though?" He continued to pester.
However, she just shook her head "I am bound by an oath, everyone who reaches level 200 is, if I reveal that information I will die."
'Damn just what is going on in the world once you reach level 200' Michael thought and departed from his now former dungeon.
All this high level stuff, and yet he has classes tomorrow.
It was already late, so it was about time Michael headed back home, starting from tomorrow he would learn to use mana properly.
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