Alright, let’s try this… he thought as he squinted at the closest skeleton warrior. Do I have to say it? Or can I just think [Identify]—
And there was a flash of a blue screen right before his eyes. He nearly recoiled, not expecting it to just appear like that.
[Skeleton Warrior - Level 17]
So that’s how [Identify] works, huh? Michael nodded to himself, before his gaze darted to the remaining two skeleton warriors, one after another.
[Skeleton Warrior - Level 14]
[Skeleton Warrior - Level 13]
Unlike all his other Skills which had given his mana core a burden, Michael didn’t feel even slightly phased by using [Identify]. Which made sense, considering that it was a General Skill that had been given to him as soon as this Multiversal System finished its integration of Earth.
Honestly, Michael would have tested [Identify] out sooner, but he had been busy… with trying to not die.
Now though?
A savage grin spread across the young man’s face as he stepped forward. The skeleton warriors immediately glanced back, taking notice of him.
Now, Michael was confident that he could survive this dungeon. That was why he took bigger risks.
“Sup,” he said as he cracked a fist. “You look rattled to see me—”
He cringed when the words left his mouth. Yeah, I think I will stick to not doing one-liners, he reprimanded himself as the undead wordlessly rushed him.
In response, Michael simply activated his [Physical Overdrive] and charged straight into the group of skeletons. It was a short scuffle. They cut his arms open, and in response, he punched their skulls off with ease. Only the first skeleton warrior even put up a fight. But all it took was a single [Weaker Lifedrain]-infused punch, and it was nothing more than a pile of bones on the ground like the others.
And once the battle was over, Michael sat down and used [Mana Meditation] to recover his mana, before setting out to explore more of the labyrinth once more.
***
But while the undead in this floor of the pyramid were no longer as much of a threat to Michael, that didn’t mean there weren’t other dangers to him that he wasn’t prepared for.
It happened right after he took down a group of half a dozen or so skeleton archers. He had finished recovering his mana and healing himself, when he accidentally stepped on a tripwire. Now, he should have known that there were traps scattered throughout this labyrinth, considering it was a dungeon.
Unfortunately, he had let his guard down, because he had been taking things too easy since his Class evolution.
And that was how he was struck by a venom-tipped arrow that he should have easily been able to avoid.
“Fuck, that’s annoying…” he sighed as he lay there, feeling the venom course through him.
Fortunately, it was only a minor wound, and he could stop the venom from spreading by healing himself. So all he could do was constantly heal himself as he waited for the effects of the venom to dissipate.
Which, eventually, it did. But not without the young man being in constant pain during the entire duration of the venom’s effects. And when the venom’s effects finally came to an end, he was rewarded with two notifications.
*ding!*
General Skill Learned: [Lesser Toxin Resistance]
*ding!*
General Skill [Lesser Pain Tolerance] has reached Level 3!
“Oh, nice.”
***
Michael’s plan to make his way out of the labyrinth involved marking the areas he had already been to with X’s on the walls which he carved out using the blades of the skeleton warriors, all the while keeping to his right. But while he had hoped that he would have been able to quickly find his way to the exit, it seemed this maze was far bigger than he thought, with even more surprises he wasn’t prepared for.
Fortunately, this was a good surprise for once.
“What’s this?” Michael blinked as he stared at the wooden box that was waiting for him at the end of the dark hallway.
He thought it would be just another dead-end in this maze of corridors and roaming undead. However, there was actually a reward waiting for him here, for exploring every nook and cranny of this maze.
“A chest, huh? Didn’t realize there was treasure in here. Although, I guess that makes sense, since this is a dungeon…”
Michael muttered to himself as he walked up to it. But he made sure to take extra precautions, just in case the area was trapped. When he was certain there was no traps there, he opened the chest and saw what was inside.
[Mana Potion - G-Grade]
[Mana Potion - G-Grade]
[Mana Potion - G-Grade]
“Three mana potions, and—” Michael narrowed his eyes as he saw both a small bag and a staff with a skull mixed with the vials of blue liquids.
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[Staff of Taming - F-Grade]
[Bag of Holding - F-Grade]
“A Staff of Taming?” The young man raised a curious brow. He could infer what that did based on its name alone, but he wondered just how effective it actually was. “And a Bag of Holding. I assume this will let me store items with ease, which is exactly what I needed right now.”
Michael opened the Bag of Holding to store his mana potions and the Staff of Taming, but then he paused when he saw what was already inside. There were… coins.
Hundreds of them. Tiny white coins, each about the size of a penny. He held one up and used [Identify] on it, only to blink.
[Credit - A coin used for the exchange of goods and services in the Multiversal System.]
“That’s… interesting, huh?”
Michael had questions. He always had questions. Unfortunately, he wasn’t going to get any answers as long as he was trapped in this dungeon. So he just put away his items into the Bag of Holding and moved on.
As expected, the Bag of Holding easily stored the mana potions and the Staff of Taming, despite the items looking like they could barely fit within. It was probably a result of some kind of spatial magic effect— Michael didn’t question it.
He was just glad that the Bag of Holding also weighed a fraction of what it should as he carried it over his shoulder and started back the way he came, leaving the dead-end behind.
***
“A stairway?”
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of running into dead-ends and patrols of skeletons, Michael found something different. But it wasn’t the salvation he hoped, because…
“It’s going up,” Michael whispered as he stared into the darkness of the ascending staircase.
He wasn’t sure what was waiting for him up there, but he wasn’t planning on checking it out just yet.
After all, he wanted to leave this pyramid, not delve even deeper into it. Perhaps, one day, he would return and explore the rest of the dungeon. But that was not what he wanted to do right now.
***
*ding!*
You have slain a [Skeleton Archer - Level 18] - Experience is awarded!
*ding!*
You have slain a [Skeleton Archer - Level 15] - Experience is awarded!
*ding!*
You have slain a [Skeleton Archer - Level 19] - Experience is awarded!
…
*ding!*
You have reached Level 19!
+2 Class Skill Point
*ding!*
You have reached Level 20!
+2 Class Skill Point
*ding!*
You have reached Level 21!
+2 Class Skill Point
*ding!*
General Skill [Lesser Pain Tolerance] has reached Level 4!
*ding!*
General Skill [Lesser Toxin Resistance] has reached Level 2!
*ding!*
General Skill [Lesser Toxin Resistance] has reached Level 3!
Status:
Michael Ark
Level 21
Mana Rank F
Race: Human
Titles: None
Title Skills: None
General Skill:
- [Identify] - Level 1 (MAX)
- [Lesser Pain Tolerance] - Level 4
- [Lesser Toxin Resistance] - Level 3
Class: [Battle Healer]
Class Skills (4/5):
- [Lesser Heal] - Level 10 (MAX)
- [Weaker Lifedrain] - Level 7
- [Physical Overdrive] - Level 7
- [Mana Meditation] - Level 5 (MAX)
- N/A
Class Skill Points: 0
How long had it been since Michael found himself here in this dungeon? He didn’t know for sure. It could have only been three days. Or maybe it could have been a week. Maybe it had even been multiple weeks.
Perhaps even a month?
No— it couldn’t have been a month. That was not possible. Even without any way to tell the time of day, he was certain the most amount of time that could have passed was two weeks.
And he could only make the inference based on his sleep cycle— by counting how frequently he needed to sleep.
But due to his… predicament. He couldn’t get a full night’s rest at any point since he found himself here in this dungeon. After all, if a skeleton warrior found him while he was in deep sleep, he would be killed.
So he had to survive through multiple short naps a day— each one lasting perhaps an hour or so each. Based on how many naps he had taken in total, he assumed that it was most likely that he had been trapped here for five or six days.
Depending on how long he passed in and out of consciousness after his first battle with the skeleton archer.
But there was a problem with this estimation. For one, he didn’t actually know how long each nap lasted. Perhaps they could have only been fifteen to thirty minutes at most. Michael wasn’t sure.
But for another? As he leveled up more and more, he felt like he had more… energy. Like he could stay awake for longer than before. While he still needed sleep, he didn’t think he felt as tired as he should have with as little sleep as he was getting.
Especially when he was using [Mana Meditation] to rest. It almost felt like he could stay awake for longer— like [Mana Meditation] also functioned like a power nap.
Anyway, whether it was only three days or two weeks, it was clear that Michael wasn’t just surviving here in this dungeon, he was thriving.
The skeletons he ran into no longer caused him any trouble, which also meant that his leveling progress had stalled, since not a single one of them was Level 20 or above, while he was now Level 21. And Michael now knew of pretty much every type of trap that was here in this maze, so he never fell for them any longer.
Although, perhaps it was out of sheer boredom, he still let himself get lightly struck by the venom-tipped arrows to level up his [Lesser Toxin Resistance] and his [Lesser Pain Tolerance]. It hurt— it wasn’t a nice feeling. But it was almost as if he was addicted to the pain.
Or rather… it wasn’t the pain. It was the progress. It was the thrill of knowing that he was getting stronger, so he could survive even better.
Of course, while he thrived in some ways, there were other problems which Michael was facing— two things which he couldn’t avoid, even if he got stronger with every level up he gained. And that was…
Grrrrrk!
Michael rubbed his stomach as it groaned loudly, before coughing as he licked his dry lips.
He was starving, and he was severely dehydrated.
There were the occasional drops of water that fell from the ceiling, which was how he was able to partially quench his thirst. But that was only enough to keep him alive. It didn’t mean he wasn’t still extremely thirsty.
Nor was that able to satiate his ravenous hunger.
After all, there was literally nothing for him to eat here in this labyrinth. There were only the bones of skeletons and… himself.
If Michael was being honest with himself, he was seriously considering cutting out a large chunk of his skin and eating it to stave off his hunger. He could just heal himself back up like nothing happened, and nobody would know.
The only reason he hadn’t done just that was because… it was technically cannibalism? And he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be a cannibal.
Even if he was just trying to survive.
Anyway, Michael was starting to think that he might have to resort to this extreme course of action, before he finally found what he was certain was his way out of the labyrinth.
Coming to a halt, he stared at a staircase that was waiting just ahead of him. He rubbed his eyes a few times, thinking he was just imagining it. But it didn’t go away when he looked back up.
A staircase? And it’s going down— The young man perked up in excitement.
Instantly, he threw caution into the wind and sprinted straight down the stairway, hoping to finally make his exit from this pyramid.
To finally see the light of day again.
And to eat some real fucking food.
But right as he reached the bottom of the steps, entering a much more brightly-illuminated crypt-like room, he heard a scream echo from up ahead. A young woman’s voice, crying out in terror.
Michael’s eyes flickered when he heard that. There’s… someone else here in the dungeon? No—
Quickly dismissing the excited thoughts on the prospect of finally running into someone else after what felt like forever, he immediately rushed in the direction of the voice, getting ready to throw himself into battle.