Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

Chapter 73: Dungeon Visitors [4 Reviews Bonus Chapter]

Without wasting time, Uhtred, along with Zara following behind him, headed straight for Floor 1, using the direct passage function he had just gained to cut across the floors instead of traveling from one floor to the next.

The Floor 20 barrier, which usually led to Floor 19 above, took them directly to Floor 1 instead.

The moment the familiar expanse of Floor 1 opened up to his vision, Uhtred’s eyes focused directly on the positions of Diya, Minh Quan, and Dennis.

He fully expected them to be in danger, seeing as his new interface had depicted the newcomers who entered the dungeon as intruders.

But contrary to his expectation, he saw no form of violence at all.

Of course, he could see the newcomers — the intruders his dungeon interface had shown. They were right there with Dennis, Diya, and Minh Quan, but instead of a fight, they were engaged in a verbal spar, hot words flying about.

They were a large group of people, about twenty-ish in total, their levels hovering between Level 3 and Level 5. Surprisingly, there were no Level 2s in their midst at all.

In fact, one of them sat at Level 7 under the scrutiny of Uhtred’s inspect skill.

”Oh?” Uhtred hummed under his breath in surprise, but showed no reaction on his face as he strode forward.

The eyes of the whole group turned to him, noticing the two figures coming from the deeper parts of the floor.

”Is that him?” an obviously fiery-headed individual among the group snapped, nodding in Uhtred’s direction.

Dennis, who was doing most of the talking — since Diya was barely able to stand, resting against the dungeon wall with her tired eyes closed — turned to see Uhtred walking toward them. An obvious relief immediately colored the scholar’s face.

”What’s going on here?”

Uhtred took control of the situation, leveling a gaze at the group as they focused their attention fully on him. The same fiery individual who had spoken earlier snapped again:

”What’s going on here?” the man repeated Uhtred’s words, as if in disbelief that Uhtred would ask such a question at all.

”You know exactly what is going on here! What the hell are you doing with our regional dungeon? You’re trying to claim control of it for yourself alone?!”

Uhtred frowned. How did they know with such specificity that he had attempted to take control of the dungeon?

Before Uhtred could begin to analyze the situation, the Level 7 individual he had spotted earlier stepped forward from the rest, clearing his throat lightly.

”What my colleague means to say is that we need some transparency about your attempt to take control of the dungeon,” he stretched his hand forward for a handshake. ”Name’s Max. Max Wagner.”

Uhtred stretched his hand forward, clasping the guy’s hand in a firm handshake. From one glance alone, he could already tell that the guy was very different from Scorpion and the goons he had encountered when he first got to his sector back then.

Perhaps it was a result of his high perception that he could pick up on certain visual and bodily cues more adeptly than before. It was why he was able to know that this guy wasn’t a threat... not physically, at least.

His demeanor was forthright, and Uhtred could read an ease and charisma about him. He had an air that made people naturally gravitate toward him.

Uhtred could clearly see it in the way the rest of the group looked at the guy. He was their leader, and they were proud to have him as their leader.

Max Wagner held Uhtred’s hand in the handshake no longer than necessary before dropping his arm. His eyes held Uhtred’s the whole time, easy and steady as he spoke, trying to reason with him.

”A few of us, not just me, but others in my sector and even some from other sectors,” Max glanced back at some specific individuals, ”received a quest notice from the System about our regional dungeon being attempted to be taken over...”

Max stared at Uhtred, who remained unmoved, simply staring right back.

”You can imagine our surprise and urgency. It wasn’t long ago that everyone received that ominous global quest pitting us against prehistoric variants of humans, and now there was suddenly a regional dungeon we never knew anything about being attempted to be taken over...?”

He paused, and his meaning was clear. They had all been put to a fright. The term ”regional dungeon” sounded very important, and after they had received the quest, the description of what exactly a regional dungeon was had been explained within the System prompt.

They found out that it was a larger dungeon, much larger than the simple five-floor dungeons within their various sectors.

This regional dungeon had 20 floors and catered to the entire region, a group of sectors within a wide area. It was a node, a congregation point, something that was supposed to be a resource for the general regional population.

They had thought the worst and imagined it had something to do with the ancient variants trying to take control of the dungeon.

With urgency, they had begun their journey to this location, the System even charting the path to the dungeon itself for them.

Upon getting here, however, they came to find out that the dungeon had already been claimed by this dark-haired young fellow with a dangerous-looking battle-axe resting casually on his shoulder, along with what looked to be his crew:

A blue-eyed girl standing slightly to his side, behind him, observing all of them with a lazy, flat, emotionless look that unnerved whoever met her gaze.

And the rest, who looked way less dangerous but still had an air of professionalism about them that made Max slightly vigilant.

These were not a regular group of people, but Max’s duty here was to his group and the vision he was working toward.

He spoke, seeing understanding flicker in Uhtred’s eyes.

”We received a notice right before we entered the dungeon that it had been taken over. But the quest is still running. The System has not deemed our quest a failure yet...”

He paused, his meaning obvious.

”Which means there’s still a way for you to make the situation right for everyone. It means we can convince you to relinquish control of the dungeon for everyone else to also have access...”

”Relinquish?” Uhtred couldn’t help but snort.

”Is the word too direct?” Max Wagner smiled in response, then shrugged.

”It is simply the truth. This is a public resource you are trying to hoard. Relinquishing control is the only option for you here. We cannot accommodate the possibility of you keeping some control of it. That would be accepting that you are in the right, at least in a way.”

His words received hollers of approval from the group behind him. Voices of assent and jeers of moral superiority resounded from their ranks as Max raised a palm, trying to calm them down.

Uhtred simply stared at the whole lot of them with a plain smile on his lips.

”Ah, is that so? Well, since I’ve done the hard work to claim the dungeon, you also have to do some work to take it from me,” he shrugged casually.

”If you want the dungeon, you can simply come and get it... I’m right here, aren’t I?”