[You have levelled up]
[You have levelled up]
[You have levelled up]
[You have levelled up]
"Wow, four levels in one go? Well, considering what I had to go through, it's kind of seems too little." Harold grinned like a suspicious individual and closed the status screen.
"I want to take a look at my status but I think I should rest for now." Despite not needing to rest, he was feeling quite tired.
Luckily, he had the perfect place to do so. Well, there was always the chance of his energy merging with the walls of the dungeon and leading to his untimely demise but…
"I'm already dead so no problem! Plus, I want to test something." It took a certain amount of concentration in order for Harold to slip into the walls so he wanted to see if he could find a way for him to do it subconsciously.
"Technically, ghosts don't need to sleep so theoretically, so long as a part of me is awake, I can still slip into the walls." Harold nodded as he perfected his plan and he slowly lowered his body into the floors of the dungeon.
That part went easy enough. He had plenty of practice. The main problem was that….
"Come to think of it, how does one go to sleep again?" Harold, both in his past life and the present one, was the boy who tried not to sleep, no matter the situation so he had zero experience in doing so.
"Can a ghost even sleep?" problem number two. Unfortunately, Harold did not have any convenient ghost seniors to ask that question. At the end of the day, he just decided to wing it and closed his eyes.
'Yep. Still totally awake. And tired.' Harold opened his eyes and sighed and tried to do some experiments.
[Fireball]
Harold activated the spell and felt his body go weak as a ball of flame formed in his hand. As soon as it appeared, it was immediately snuffed out by the power contained in the dungeon wall.
'From what I've observed, there seems to be no difference in the way a part of my body and a spell is constructed.' Harold gently tugged at a portion of his little finger and removed just the tip. Like the spell, it was immediately snuffed out.
"I need to analyses this in detail." Harold muttered and activated his inner scientist and looked at his body over and over.
'If my guess is right, it should be because it went out of phase with the wall.' Quickly, he identified the problem. The only thing left was to come up with a solution.
'Let's carry out an experiment.' Harold banished all thoughts of rest and sank himself into the new project he had. Over and over, he repeatedly cast the same spell, increasing his proficiency with it
….
"I guess I'm out of MP." Two hours and a lot of breaks later, Harold panted and climbed back up to the surface. Immediately after, he stopped synchronizing with the dungeon floor and sprawled out like a rag.
"I mean, even after so many experiments, I still wasn't able to do it." He had tried and after some efforts, managed to gain some control over the spell to the point he managed to keep the fireball lit for a few more seconds before the dungeon put it out.
"I can maintain control over the spell but I need to find a way to match its frequency to that of the dungeon." Harold muttered and closed his eyes.
"For now, I should just sleep." His eyelids fluttered shut and he sank into his subconsciousness. Without realizing it, he had accomplished his goal of sleep.
An unknown amount of time later, Harold groggily opened his eyes and felt an inexplicable heat on his back. As his surroundings came into focus, he discovered that he was being moved by a group of small, rodent-like creatures.
[Appraisal]
Right away, Harold decided to appraise them before making any move. He didn't get the feeling that they were that much of a threat but it never hurt to be on the same side.
[Smurfers
Strength: 5 Speed: 6: Perception: 10 Intelligence: 3 Vitality: 5
Skills: Hide Thigh-Hugging
]
'They're freaking weak!' Harold blinked repeatedly to make sure he wasn't seeing things. After confirming their true strength, he effortlessly moved his body and over half of the hundred Smurfers surrounding him dropped dead.
'Hmph! This is what you get for messing with me.' Harold finally got the chance to flex his strength and he harrumphed and floated away.
Just as he was about to leave, a thought came to him.
'Wait, ghosts are supposed to be intangible so how did they manage to touch me?' he looked and saw a golden rope was wrapped around his body.
'How did I miss that!?' In a hurry, he shook off the ropes and immediately after, a deep, booming voice appeared.
"WHO DARES TAKE MY LUNCH!?" The dungeon shook and rocks tumbled to the ground from its intensity. The voice spoke in an ancient, archaic language but Harold could still understand its meaning.
"Erm, your lunch?" The voice came with a paralyzing effect but since Harold was a ghost, its effectiveness was halved against him. Which was why he had that time to make that quip.
"HO? IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE SOMETHING SO WEAK DARED TO DEFY ME. AS A REWARD FOR ENTERTAINING THE HOUNOURED ONE, I'LL GIVE YOU A DAY'S TIME TO HIDE. TREASURE YOUR LAST MOMENTS." The voice and the pressure it brought disappeared, freeing Harold from its grip.
"Why did I have to say that? What am I, an idiot?" Harold despaired for five seconds. After that, he stood up and dashed as fast as possible.
"A day's time is more than enough for me to get out of this dungeon." From what he had heard, monsters don't usually leave their dungeon unless something special happened.
"In other words, I only have to get out of here and it's my win!" Harold phased through the walls at top speed and disappeared from the area in an instance.
….
"I SEE. SO HE'S CAPABLE OF THAT? I'VE NEVE SEEN AN ORGANISM LIKE THAT BEFORE… I'M SURE HE'D BE QUITE DELICIOUS." The voice said with a hint of amusement, its source coiling lazily around a jagged rock.
If a human were to lay eyes upon this beast, their first—and final—impression would be of its sheer size.
Enormous.
Towering.
Terrifying.
Scales cloaked its serpentine body, each one gleaming like a dark jewel in the dim light that touched them.
It had the body of a snake, the head of a deer, and four massive limbs that jutted from its sides, gripping the rocky surface like a predator at rest.
Even coiled, it rose to heights that dwarfed the tallest towers—hundreds of meters high. One could only shudder at the thought of what might happen if it chose to rise.
"WELL THEN… I SHOULD REST. A SNACK ALWAYS TASTE BETTER AFTER A LITTLE SLEEP." Its massive, slitted eyes blinked once before slowly closing.
And with that, the creature entered slumber.
A Dragon.
A Calamity.
One of the strongest lifeforms in the world—had awoken.