System Change

Derek jumped up into the air with Void Steps so he could access the dungeon orb. When he got close enough, he placed his hand on it.

Dungeon Complete…

Assigning Rewards…

Congratulations, you have received Major Health Potion.

Derek let out a sigh. Well… I guess that was to be expected. Shae said that the rewards were pretty shit. Still, there are a few potions that could come in clutch if I were to get them. Derek shrugged and stored the red vial in his storage bracelet.

Next, before leaving the dungeon, he put a shirt on and wore his low level leather armor. He also pulled his facemask out of his put it on. That way, if someone was waiting outside the dungeon, he wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb. He couldn’t imagine what reaction someone would have if they saw a half naked man pop out of a dungeon orb.

With a game plan in mind, Derek selected ‘Leave Dungeon’ from the dungeon interface, initiating a countdown. Soon, the countdown hit zero and he disappeared.

In the next instant, he was back outside. He scanned his surroundings… he was still alone. Without hesitation, he touched the dungeon orb again.

Participants: 1/5

Derek Hunt: Level 122

Please Choose an Option Below

View Dungeon

Enter Dungeon

Leave Dungeon

In one dungeon run Derek leveled 20 times, from 102 to 122. Of course, he figured the next run wouldn’t net him more than 7-12 levels because of the experience penalty he would get from already having completed the dungeon. By the time he was level 150, he most likely wouldn’t even get a level per run. Hopefully, the dungeon could last a few dozen runs and allow him to level up his Award.

Derek chose to enter the dungeon. He vanished, then reappeared in the first area safe zone. The area with the Water Golems. Also, the area he planned to spend a ton of time in. This area was the perfect place to level his Magic Resistance, Greater Meditation, Void Steps, Rejuvenation, Absolute Nullify, and Void Sense.

The golems in the area were only level 155. While they hit hard, it was something he was sure his current body could withstand easy enough if he was careful.

Derek removed his armor and shirt, even opting to store his jeans and replace them with a pair of shorts before opening the door and walking out. Instantly, he recognized all ten golems scattered around the area. For his training plan, he would begin with two golems.

He hurried to the first golem. When he got close, it roared and formed into a humanoid creature just like before. Unlike before, however, Derek didn’t wait for anything. He covered his fist in the void and attacked its core with Multi-Strike.

Instantly, the golem lost all power and fell. Derek picked the core up and blew some of the dust off before sticking it in his storage. “One down,” he said. Then, he moved to the next golem.

Soon, Derek’s was eight level 155 Water Mana Cores richer, and there were only two remaining enemies. Enemies that were still inactive because of the way he had dealt with the previous golems. Sure, it took some time because he had to wait for Multi-Strike to cooldown between kills.

Even though he could have struck near simultaneously with both fists like he had done in the boss dungeon, he chose not to. He would rather spend a little extra time to level a powerful skill like Multi-Strike.

Finally, Derek approached one of the two remaining Water Golems and drew their aggro. The golems swung their arms wide, causing Derek to leap backwards, out of their physical range. He was there to train his Magic Resistance. If he wanted to train his Physical Resistance, he would go to the Earth Golem area and have them toss rocks at him.

Eventually, Derek baited the Water Golems enough that they finally split their limbs to utilize their water jet skill.

Soon, 16 stones circled around Derek. Each emitted a blue aura as they charged. Finally, the water jets shot out at Derek.

Derek slipped into Greater Meditation and let the beams fall on him. The whole time, he kept a careful eye on his health. Eventually, when it fell below 75%, he cast Rejuvenation, then Absolute Nullify. For Absolute Nullify, he had to break his meditation as the skill required too much focus to use.

Still, the skill created enough of a gap in the damage that his natural regeneration was able to heal him back to at least 90% before his mana ran low. Once he canceled the skill, he went back into Greater Meditation and rapidly gained his mana back while slowing the depletion of his HP.

Derek kept up with this delicate balance between skills for hours, ignoring any notifications that may have popped up. He wasn’t exactly sure how long had passed, since time didn’t feel the same when he was meditating, even if he was actively doing it.

At some point, the water beams stopped. Derek raised his eyebrows as he looked around at this opponents. He shook his head. The glow from the mana core in the torso of the Water Golems had significantly dimmed.

Derek checked the system time. So… it seems the Water Golems can keep their spells up for around four hours before depleting all the mana in their mana cores. I was hoping for more than that. He thought.

The Water Golems reformed into humanoid creatures, and tried to rush him physically, but their moves were slow and clumsy. It seemed that they relied on the mana from their cores for all aspects of their attack.

He waited for half an hour before giving up on them regaining their mana. It would be faster to complete the dungeon before fighting a fresh set of Water Golems. With that decided, Derek channeled the void into his fist and hit one of them with Multi-Strike. The dim core stopped glowing altogether, and the golem fell.

He waited for the cooldown do disappear before finishing off the remaining one. The dungeon orb appeared in front of Derek, but instead of moving on to the next area, he paused to check his notifications.

He dismissed all the kill notifications and level ups. With the level 155 Water Golems only giving half the experience as they did before, and his level being higher than it was previously, he only leveled twice off of them. He now sat at level 124.

Next, he viewed his skill notifications.

Congratulations

Absolute Nullify has reached level 4

Phew… Derek sighed. After all that, Absolute Nullify only leveled twice. It’s still leveling faster than Greater Meditation, but at this rate, it’s going to slow down drastically towards the later levels. Still, Absolute Nullify was a great skill he planned to keep focusing on.

Derek dismissed the notification and moved on to the next.

Congratulations

Greater Meditation has reached level 7

Derek smiled. Getting a level in Greater Meditation already was more than he imagined he would. But, seeing how long he used it while constantly being under attack, it made sense. He moved to the next notification.

Congratulations

Magic Resistance has reached level 14

Magic Resistance finally passed his Physical Resistance. It was the main skill he wished to level in the Water Golem area. Towards the end of the ‘fight,’ the Water Golems weren’t causing as much damage as they were previously, Derek wondered if it was because of their depleting mana cores, or if it was because of the two new levels he gained. He shrugged… he would find out next round.

Currently, he wanted to know if there was a special skill he would get when Magic Resistance hit level 20. Unfortunately, he still had a long way to go before he got his answer. He moved on.

Congratulations

Multi-Strike has reached level 4

He was happy to see that. Multi-Strike would most probably level up slower than the other skills he wished to level… well… slower than everything other than Greater Meditation. He could only properly use the skill 10 times per area. I guess I could use it on the limbs of the golems instead of the cores. He shrugged. I’ll worry about that once I’m finished with everything else… He dismissed the notification.

Unfortunately, Rejuvenation didn’t level even though he used it multiple times. I bet it levels faster based on how bad the wounds are that it’s healing. He remembered how fast it leveled when he had the acid from the Acidic Ghoul eating away at his chest. Anyway, he wasn’t worried about the skill.

Next, he was happy to see that Void Sense had leveled.

Congratulations

Void Sense has reached level 7

It seems that everything really does level much faster when you’re in battle. Derek had gone around with his Void Sense turned all the way up for a while, but it leveled during his four hour long ‘fight’ with the Water Golems.

Finally, he expected to see Void Steps gaining a level, but it didn’t. He traded using Void Steps constantly for using Absolute Nullify. He would work on his Void Steps in one of the next dungeons.

Derek had used over half a day so far, and he planned to keep it up for two weeks. He promised to be back in time for the auction, so he needed to push on. He wouldn’t rest until the two weeks were up. Derek dismissed the last notification and placed his hand on the dungeon orb.