Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power

With my Noble Vibrations completely suppressed, I just appear as a 20-meter-tall demon floating through the sky back toward the Ellipsia Citadel.

By the end of my week getting used to the sludge of corruption, I was able to push past its suppressive properties.

–

What felt like a tight, heavy lead blanket over my eyes and entire body at first, became much easier to sense through overtime, like a sea of clear gel.

While my self-regeneration and absorption true core ability were pushed to the limits in order for my body not to succumb to the pressure or poison of the sea, physical pain doesn't really bother me much anymore.

I've become quite numb to this sensation, actually, as subconsciously I know I'm nowhere near death, so the pain signals that would usually be blaring throughout my full body don't bother to go off anymore.

This is the result of the large amounts of low-quality ether flooding into my system, compounding with the memories of more and more past lives of the enemies I've killed over the last few weeks.

That Cyclops and Andras Vermillion really took a toll on my mind that I didn't realize fully until midway through this portion of training.

When adding up Drako's memories and the Goblin King as well, over 20 thousand years of life experience sit dormant in the back of my mind.

The hundreds of thousands of years worth of memories from the other Demonic Beasts around the central peak add up as well, but most of them are just mindless battles, and incoherent dark millenia filled with madness. While some battle instincts are transferred, there are not many life lessons or much useful strategic information that can be used.

So, even though the mental strain put on myself to start fresh and relearn how to control and optimize my Noble Vibrations in that clouded pool of darkness should have pushed me to the edge; It really doesn't seem that difficult with this new range of perspectives I have molding my subconscious.

Organizing my thoughts, memories, and intentions to stay on the path I've chosen was the true test while beneath that black sea.

Now, after successfully mutating my body and mind again to breathe through that disgusting waste pit and filter its toxic bits out of my being while keeping the pure ether, my own ether refinement deep within my mind grows far more efficient.

Every time more sludge came in through my pores, pure ether from my pool of stores was released subconsciously to handle the load, and while accepting new ether into my mental pool, I refined the existing stores over and over during the process.

Unknowingly, while this happened on autopilot, my mind was focused on my Noble Vibrations and controlling the broken pieces of Citadel, I was refining ether. It is not as efficient as the clear elixir Ember granted me as a gift that is still in my storage unused, this refinement is very similar.

–

While I can't test out my Noble Vibrations just yet, my ether senses have certainly improved.

I know this for a fact when I pass through the first ether surveillance bubble around the outer limits of Ellipsia.

Before, I had to focus on the strands of ether and actively think about deactivating and manipulating certain parts of the machine to float through undetected.

Now, it's even more simple than breathing.

Just the thought of altering an ether command is enough to have it done without lifting a finger or even looking its way.

When I finally touch down on the outer edge of the Citadel, I no longer have to shut off full city blocks in order to stand anonymous.

The Citadel's automatic surveillance system is far easier to manipulate now, so I don't have to resort to such crude tactics.

Instead of creating random blackouts, I continuously edit out the visuals where I walk through the streets. With a light layer of ether around my body and the simple alterations of commands imbued in millions of ether strings, not even a fluctuation can be sensed in the internal system.

Not even the demonic servants constantly monitoring every block of the Citadel know I've returned.

My perception easily reaches through the entire floating structure, and as heads turn my way while floating through the streets, I alter the visuals of what is being transmitted to the surveillance systems to make it seem as though the Lords spotting me are just going about their daily lives and not eyeing me with fear.

I am truly a ghost, and can feel every humming ether command on this Citadel ready to be altered to my wildest imagination like clay.

There is only one message I send to a single servant while slowly floating toward the central tower.

Afterward, my entire focus is on the massive structure full of ether, mana, demonic energy divine threads, unique blood-bonded teleportation systems, and a very subtle signature of my Noble Vibrations rippling through it.

While I am not exerting any Noble Vibrations out on the environment, that doesn't mean I can't receive the data from my prior work.

In fact, I'm far more sensitive to the intricacies of my craft.

A few minutes go by as I float around the tower, leaving trails of demonic energy behind while inspecting every single layer with a fully focused and refined gaze.

Knowing what I know now, I'm quite impressed by my past self just a week ago for pulling off such an extensive, intricate, and delicate craft with such little experience in massive structure manipulation.

While it would have been fine to leave it exactly how it was, I make minor tweaks all over the structure, injecting about a million low-quality ether worth of structural support and additional automation commands into the walls of the contraption to suit my professional satisfaction.

My mind scans the tower a few hundred more times while I wait high up in the sky, out of sight from any average Lords, up near the top floor with my arms crossed and a slight grin on my face in silence as the green clouds slowly pass by all around. That is, until Rukor arrives, answering my call from a moment ago.

"You're back, sir. I've completed the task of purchasing as many worlds as I could with the specifications you outlined. The entire balance has been spent, plus the additional ether collected from this week's tax collection."

I nod, opening up the side of the private top floors.

"Very good."

We walk right through the corridors to the same private trading room from a week ago, and the worlds his team of servants collected while I was training are transferred directly to my world token with a long series of light dings in my inner ear.

The number on my palm beneath my concealment ticks upward quickly until it stops on a final reading of [294,552].

"Nearly two hundred thousand new worlds, not bad..." I murmur out loud for the servant to hear that I am pleased with the results.

109,272 of these new worlds are 5th Class, while 58,045 are 4th Class. Lastly, 21,086 are 3rd Class Worlds.

While their average system users' levels don't compare to the strong 1st Class Worlds I looted from Andras and the Demonic Cyclops, the pure quantity far surpasses this level disparity.

A large number of the 2nd Class and above worlds I inherited from these kills were infected by demons or long dead and abandoned. While the beasts on these worlds are abnormally strong, some averaging over level 1000 for a total population, having such superpowers on a chaotic world leads to not many demonic beasts left.

Like Kelfar, for example, there were no more than 50,000 living beasts on that world, despite it being technically 1st Class and over seven times the size of the human world.

In the [106,149] worlds I had prior, over half were useless, while many of the remaining that were mana-based were already on the verge of population collapse from the Demon's neglect.

There are many strong worlds too—over 30,000 very active, friendly, mana-based worlds that have made good use of the World Wide Connectivity System. By no means is it a small amount; it's just very clear that this collection of worlds was optimized by the demons to create avatar buffs rather than focus on individual system users on these planets.@@novelbin@@

In total, that gave roughly 16 trillion links of loyalty.

Now, with an additional 188,403 worlds, nearly tripling the connected worlds to the World Wide Connectivity System, the total links of loyalty have skyrocketed to 157 trillion.

My links of loyalty have increased by almost ten times, and I feel my borrowed stats increase by over triple instantly.

I turn to Rukor.

"How much Ether do you think it would cost to buy three-quarters of a million more worlds, just like these?"

He thinks for a moment, then replies.

"Four to five million low-quality ether... Well, maybe double that to be safe. We would have to get far more aggressive in order to get this many from the current market. Even spending the full million you advised was tough to do in only a week. Many of the Lower Class Lords don't have more than one world. It is much harder to get good deals on home worlds, as there is a sentimental attachment. Many of the worlds we purchased this week were on the side markets, from Lords that have died long ago."

I nod back, only placing 1 million more low-quality ether into the trading chamber while thinking of a far better way to get this many worlds without breaking the bank.

While I could do more, having the remaining 27.8953 million low-quality ether in my mental pool feels far more valuable for my final stage of training than it would to get a few extra worlds at overinflated prices.

"Then forget about the home worlds. Just continue purchasing from the same side markets you did to get your current haul. High populations are all I care for. Good work, I'll be back in three days."

He accepts the new capital, and we both leave the tower moments later.

The servant heads straight down the side of the building to regroup with the team he was leading, and I watch dozens of ether channels between them send messages and begin dividing up the ether while making a game plan to buy more worlds.

I, on the other hand, make my way straight toward the High Orc Tower to complete my final task.

By now, my body is starting to heat up slightly, and a ringing in my ears paired with a slight pressure in my mind begins to show signs of the suppression technique starting to take its toll.

This is similar to the last time when I was a quarter way around the Citadel. My mental capacities are starting to be affected, but I still have plenty of time and energy to spare before it gets too bad.

–

Meanwhile, in the Lower Realm, a series of very productive events have occurred over the last seven days.

The meticulous process of the two Generals asserting dominance over the Relic Class Soul Weapons that used to be Kings of this Demonic World takes place.

It costs an exuberant amount of low-quality ether, divine threads, and Soul Energy, along with over 24 hours of focused cultivation to complete the bond for both of them.

The walls of the cultivation moon bases take a beating, as the Noble radiation and Berserker's Crimson aura from even the dead soul weapons still decays through over 31 walls in Raven's chamber, and 30 in Arie's even when he tries to keep as much contained as possible with his spirit arms.

Alveron reloads the chambers with divine threads two times each, as it is quite the extensive process, filtering their own soul energy through the weapons and using their greater forms to withstand the pressure of the radiation from within the blades and bow, filtering through their own blood to make the bond.

Fighting against the dead Kings is not as life-endangering as the actual battles themselves, but they sure are stubborn and have strong wills that fight back even after death to be tamed and bonded with.

Afterward, the two cultivate in peace to heal up from the fatigue of a successful Relic Class Soul Weapon bond. Upon success, the weapons compact down to the size of the wielder's soul.

So, in their base forms, the black weapons are no more than two meters long, but while activating their greater battle forms, the Soul Weapons can grow as large as the user's form desires.

Arie focuses mainly on getting used to this new refined ether in his system, continuing to filter out small impurities of leftover Qi and concentrated essence from weaker, less pure beasts.

Raven feels very hot, as in the beginning of her soul energy fusion process with the swords, bits of the crimson aura from within these blades cycled through her body.

As the process continued, it disappeared, but the presence of a shadow of its aura is still deep within the blades, and now within Raven's psyche as well.

When slipping away into her stealth dimension, the lingering presence of this hot aura disappears, and her mind is at peace; but when she comes back to the physical world, it feels like the remnants of that aura are here, lingering.

She tries to tap into this power, but every time she actively thinks about it, it seems harder to manifest or find in the depths of her mind.

It doesn't feel dangerous, to her at least. If anything, she knows that it is her power, but it just feels like an itch she wants to scratch but can't find where it is...

So, instead, Raven uses the rest of her time back in the cultivation chamber gathering up more yellow divine threads. This is to saturate her blades and resaturate the last bit of her core that she sacrificed in order to win her battle against this king.

–

Down below on the Demonic World, the commanders search every single crater from Arie and Raven's battles, collecting corpses and artifacts.

They even go back and double-check the other two-thirds of the world to see if they missed any artifacts or lingering demonic beasts.

However, Abby stays by the throne.

She doesn't dare to touch it again, or even scan it from afar, as she knows very well cyan divine threads are a threat that not even the Rising Emperor has faced yet...

Messing with a power like this is a death wish.

Though, the thousands of Wyvern and Demon skeletons that surround this throne are a different matter.

Alveron and Monk both want to take the bones and soul weapons apart piece by piece to dissect any and all meaning out of them, but as Abby continues to float around this battle frozen in time, she continues to get more and more flashbacks of the real battle that took place here.

It's very strange.

The images of Wyverns and Demons fighting aren't even from the eyes of the Wyvern she talked with in the desert.

These scenes are from all the way across the world and through the eyes of many of the fighters on this battlefield right now.

No one else but she can come this close to the decaying noble bones, and she knows that she'll soon leave this world, so the healer does something unexpected.

She grabs her glowing green staff and borrows the item storage skill from the Rising Emperor to amplify its range and ability.

A massive ring-shaped storage portal appears beneath the entire battlefield and allows all of the radiation-emitting statues of a frozen war in the past to fall into a true state of suspended animation within her system.

She allows the World Wide Connectivity system to store these artifacts as individual items and sends the data to Alveron, Monk, and Bri; but insists that she holds onto the true artifacts for safekeeping.

Following this event, Abby returns to her cultivation moon base too.

Though, not much cultivation is really done...

She just sits in the center of the yellow room with her eyes closed, letting the black staff slowly spin around her, with a look on her face as though she's in deep thought.

–

Meanwhile, Maria's cultivation chamber has been restocked with divine fragments three more times in the last seven days.

None of the footage sending messages back to the moon base has been able to properly send any usable information back.

The size of the corrupted portions of the files grows, as all the energy readings around her divine core and soul energy core send back nonsensical data that doesn't add up.

Temperatures in her chamber have dropped down to levels that should only be possible in deep space, and a royal blue aura has begun to glow around the outside of her body.

She is pulling a full 4% of stats and emitting a terrifyingly strong mana control radiation signature.

It has consistently been fracturing 4-5 walls out that have had to be constantly rehealed. However, with Arie's aura reaching 26 walls out, and the soul weapons bonding fracturing over 30 walls for both Arie and Raven, these single-digit numbers don't seem like much.

Her divine core has not shown any signs of collapsing.

Everyone has trust in her that she knows what she's doing, but one would expect the process to move along much faster than this...

Maria hasn't even activated her 3rd Ranked Up Buff to aid in the process like she said she would.

If it's taking three months to gather these threads and it hasn't even compressed her True Core yet, then it is an even greater mystery how she'll saturate it in time...

–

While it seems another day will go by with no more clues or progress in Maria's cultivation, a series of notifications ring in everyone's ears within the various moon bases.

It's the new addition of 188,403 worlds to the World Wide Connectivity System, and over a hundred trillion new links of loyalty boosting the amount of borrowed stats available to the Rising Emperor, and of course, in turn, the generals.

With the flood of new and confused system users being added to the forums and markets, everyone borrowing stats gets an instant rise in power by over three times.

The surveillance panels of the cultivation base holding Maria start to light up with many colorful warnings, as the flow of divine threads becomes extremely chaotic, suddenly being pulled inward toward the blue ice mage faster than they're being circulated through the chamber.

Simultaneously, the mana control aura in the room from her natural existence triples in strength, which in turn is multiplied by the divine threads tethering her to reality.

More and more walls begin to shake and fracture as her aura expands, and the gravity she exerts on the base around her continues to increase.

Her burst makes it out to the 21st wall, and the center chamber she sits in now begins to freeze solid making it harder to inject fresh divine threads into the middle room. Alveron frantically triggers system commands to restock the base with another load of divine fragments even though the last restock was less than 12 hours ago.