Episode(73) A great find!
SOVEREIGN OF DEATH~(73)
Crack!
There wasn't even a single hint of hesitation in his movements.
In one single step, the ground at his feet sunk deep echoing a crack.
Shuu!
Nagisa moved swiftly vanishing like a blur instantly reappearing behind the monster.
The monster had no time to react at all. Its body couldn't respond to the speed let alone its eyes.
[Awfully weak for such a sneaky bastard-]
A cold voice echoed.
Standing behind the monster, blood trickled down his sword unto the cold dungeon floor.
Nagisa shook off the blade once, then with a practiced spin of the blade he sheathed the sword in a swift motion.
Sheathing the sword in the middle of a fight was foolish, one that would have any normal person pay for their arrogance.
However for Nagisa, the battle had already concluded.
Along with the 'click' of his sword fully entering its scabbard, the monster that stood unmoving behind him soon began to fall apart into several pieces.
As if it had been through a laser field, its entire body fell apart making mushy wet plopping sounds as they hit the ground the ground.
[Well, at least it was a nice enough stretch after a fine nap]
Since he entered this dungeon, naps were a luxury he didn't always have time for.
He usually took naps in variations and cycles and just like now, he would either have to be on high alert or be interrupted leaving him with only one or two hours of rest.
At first he didn't mind because he planned to breeze through this dungeon with all his might.
However he realized after time passed that he might not make it out of here even with a year's worth of time in his arsenal so he opted for a more leisurely approach.
That was why he'd risk falling asleep so defenselessly in this damned place.
[Well either way]
He stretched, glanced around the large but empty passage before releasing another satisfied yawn.
[I'd better get going]
Having rested enough, he felt as if he could go for another 48hrs before he face exhaustion once again.
'Maybe I should speed run the next couple floors-'
While he walked down the passage, he unconsciously thought about his location.
The corridor was empty and vast, lined with bricks like a game dungeon.
When the concept was wolves it was a cave, now that its trolls it's a proper dungeon.
'There's no consistency'
So it had nothing to do with the type of monster, just what floor you were on.
He was now on the 34th floor, although it was mere speculation he felt like his analysis wasn't incorrect.
Well, it might be the 33rd or even 35ft floor but even then he'd only be wrong by one floor.
It's just a single floor, didn't we all get a incorrect mental calculation at one point in life?
In any case, this was his current status-
[Kanata Nagisa - (Lv.70)]
[Class– Ruler of Death]
[Trait – Art of Death(EX-2), Master(EX), Reluctant(EX), Soul Exploitation(EX)]
[Mana–19,000]
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[Perception(SS-)] [Swordplay(SS+)] [Martial Arts(S+)] [Kanata Footwork(SS)] [Body Control(SS)] [Oneness(A+)] [Mana UP(A)] [Mana Manipulation(A)] [Item Creation(B)] [Shadow Manipulation(B)] [Self Heal(B+)]
All the fighting he did seemed to have allowed most of his skills to level up, which was a huge bonus especially in this situation.
Perception and Body control both made it to (S) rank.
Perhaps this was why he felt more sensitive to his surroundings and his control over his body was much more precise than ever before.
It wasn't like he felt particularly lighter, but just as how there would be a delay between thoughts and movements or the body not moving how the mind wanted.
Such limitations seemed almost non-existent now.
Even before he already had such a high degree of control over his own body but, with this he felt he could draw out more strength from his techniques!
Additionally, Mana manipulation had become (A) rank!
It seemed he was also quite suited to using magic.
Well, it should have been obvious since his original class had been [Necromancer] a magic related class but, this just made it all the more clearer.
It might also be because he'd use Mana whenever he was bored causing its level to increase quickly.
What really surprised him was shadow manipulation.
The skill seemed to increase without him doing much of anything at all.
His affinity with shadow attribute must be higher than he expected.
Even so he still had yet to figure out any way to gain offensive skills using shadow magic so there was still that.
He could easily manipulate shadow but for now it seemed to just be a shadow unable to physically cause much damage aside from grabbing stuff and throwing them around.
When he actively tried to attack the shadow would just disperse by itself.
Perhaps his level was still too low or his understanding of the shadow concept just wasn't enough yet.
At any rate-
His self-healing skill was still (B+) rank which was a bit disappointing but because he rarely ever got hurt he didn't care much that it was so low.
There was also the fact that thanks to his class, when his health reached below a certain level his restorative ability would drastically improve.
Not to mention as long as he had reluctant he could avoid death.
*Halt*
[Hm? What's this..?]
Nagisa's steps suddenly came to a pause.
While thinking he seemed to have wondered into a weird place.
Looking around, there were a lot of sparkly glowing plants and glowing trees with fruits hanging off each of them.
'Those crystals-'
Around the walls and ceiling as well, crystals glowing with a blinding yet mystifying magical light filled up the cavern.
'Wow!'
He was amazed.
Not just by the sight, the feeling these things gave him felt as if they were truly magical treasures unlike the ones he collected before.
Though magical power could be felt from the crystal ores he'd already collected, these were 10 to 20 times the waves of magic power waves blasting into the surroundings.
Curious, he touched them unconsciously as if drawn to them.
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Crystal ore formed over many years of crystallization after absorbing mana of several high class beings. One normal ether ore has at least 5000 mana inside it and weapons and armor made with this material will become high class no matter the smith's skill level.
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Fruits that restore the user's mana completely after consuming. Depending on the user's compatibility to mana their mana may even raise quite a bit.
[OOOOHHH!]
A great find!
Nagisa hadn't expected it at all but he had really found an amazing treasure.
His mana capacity was already so large.
He wasn't sure about anyone outside the dungeon but he had never truly ran out of mana so he didn't know whether it was really a lot or not.
'It's hard to tell without comparison'
Still, if he could grow his mana even more that would be most wonderful.
He wouldn't decline such a great treasure ever!
'But, it seems the mana improvement is random'
[….I'll eat these whenever I'm staved]
He decided not to immediately eat them out of greed and placed them all into his shadow storage.
Next was the crystals.
For these, Nagisa was a lot more excited than dealing with the fruits.
After all, regardless of skill all his items would come out as High ranked weapons and items.
Then, what if his level was already high enough to create high ranked weapons?
What rank would his items reach in that case?
[Better yet, what if I Synthesize them with Hopeless and nightfall]
He was unable to hold back.
The temptation and desire for his swords to become better was too much.
Nagisa grabbed a handful of small ether ores and held his sword gently.
This was a test.
It would not be funny if he tried to upgrade his weapon and it failed in the end destroying his sword.
In that case, use the smallest amount as a test and see if it works.
Without drawing it from the sheath, Nagisa held the sword as he sat in a lotus position.
In his right hand, glowing crystals pulsed mana through the surroundings emitting a myriad of colorful lights.
Even without using perception one could sense the powerful waves of mana being blasted around the area.
He took a short breath before opening his eyes.
[Art of Death.....]
As he chanted, Nagisa pictured the sword being smelted to a pool of liquid along with the crystals before eventually being fused together.
But was the process that simple?
What exactly is fusing, is it just the combination of two things?
No, he felt this answer wasn't wrong but it definitely wasn't correct either.
If you sought to fuse two incompatible materials what you end up with would be garbage.
'I don't want garbage'
What he needed was a weapon, sharp enough to cut through anything.
Tough enough to withstand any clash, a weapon that defined himself. No, it shouldn't just be a weapon but a partner to walk with him through this dungeon, no this world!
'That's why-'
Nagisa decided to break everything down, scrap the original sword and start from zero.
He imagined himself in a forge, the heat burning his face and the numbness of hitting hammer against metal.
As for fusing both materials, he had few options. Fuse the sword materials itself with the crystal or use the crystal as the core.
In the first instance, if the crystal or the original materials rejected each other his sword would either lower in tier or destroy itself all together.
In the second instance, if the core was lost then the sword would become scrap.
'No, I have other options!'
Nagisa felt as if the world was inspiring himself all of a sudden.
A scene he had seen, blurry yet somehow vivid.
A spiritual form that shouldn't have existed inside a sword.
This form was familiar, but what was it?
That's it! Its a soul, I am sure of it.
Just as he felt when he was in the world beyond, this feeling taking form was definitely a soul.
No, it couldn't be called a soul since it seemed a bit different.
'Now that you mention it, a soul for a weapon and a human might be different'
Still-
Should he do this?
If he went through with this, it wouldn't break any major world laws or something?
It would be a pain if people chased after him after he finally escaped this dungeon whenever the time came so it couldn't be helped that he hesitated.