18 Day 86 - 90

- Day 86

Rou spent The morning sparring with the new recruits and it looks like he has a synthesis ability of his own, considering that strength of his seems to have jumped by a large margin since last night.

I, on the other hand, after watching the sparring for a little while, wanted to test out the new skills I synthesised last night so I left the cave and went for a bit of a wander. That's when I received word from one of my clones that I left in the underground cavern below the lake cave, that the {Cherufe} has come back. Curious about the idea of why and how it was able to come back, I headed over there immediately.

Once I arrived, I said hello to Cora and made my way down to the Cherufe's lair. Just like last time, it took a while for the creature to make its appearance and attempt to strike me from behind. I wanted to see how strong {Divinely Forged Body} is so I took the attack without defending. The Cherufe Youngling's attack landed and cracked the stone beneath us but I didn't budge, or rather, I barely even felt the attack. Without using any skills, I swung my left arm around and backhanded the creature with the goal of sending it back. What happened however, was that I decapitated the creature and sent it's head flying back into the pool of Magma while it's body turned to stone and crumbled.

I looked at my hand, surprised by the sheer level of power the new skill gave me and decided that I should probably keep it off during battles that didn't need to result in deaths. With the Cherufe soul I gained the {Gehenna Dungeon Key} skill. Following this, I heard a sound that didn't occur the last time; A soft, clicking noise that echoed throughout the cavern. The clicking intensified and when I turned to face the source, I saw that where a stone wall once stood, a large, fancy, crimson door now stands. When I get close to it, I can feel something burning in my chest as the door begins to glow before swinging open, revealing a long, dark staircase descending into the unknown.

I get the feeling that this is something big so, why don't I leave exploring this thing until I know exactly what I'm dealing with. Saying that, I return to the caves with this new information in hand. Looking around the caves now, it seems that improvements are being made to the residential area. Mainly, it's much bigger.

- Day 87

Today is the day I descend down the stairs of the {Gehenna Dungeon} as it seems to be called. I decided not to bring anyone and leave immediately if things become to much. Apparently this place was created by the {Demigod of Fire} making it an {Age of Gods} dungeon of the demigod rank, this being the lowest rank although still incredibly dangerous for anyone who enters. I asked goblin gramps about it and apparently the God rank dungeons can only be completed by groups of people at hero level. I wonder what kind of souls I'll get to eat in here?

As I finally reach an open area, it appears to be a much larger version of the cavern area, although with a few differences around the place. Stalactites and stalagmites can be seen everywhere I look, the floor is smooth but pools of Magma seem to have caused the floor to weaken in certain places, making it a hazard for those not prepared for such a thing.

As I continue walking, I come across a {Magma Slime}, which I immediately kill by dowsing it with a torrent of water using {Total Water Manipulation}. It seems that with this place being not as cramped as the last room, the heat isn't immediately evaporating the water I create. After eating its' and a few other Magma Slimes, souls, I gained the {Hot Blooded} and {Coagulate} skills.

The next monster I came across was an inferno wolf pack with fast reflexes and a penchant for setting itself on fire and trying to bite me. They managed to hit me a few times but didn't do much damage before I killed them all with a shockwave from {Lightning Manipulation}. The leader of the pack looked at me with what would be a scary look in its eyes, until I activated {Reaper's Spiritual Pressure}, paralysing it in fear so that I could walk up to it and crush it with {Calamity Insect's Grip}. It made a satisfying sound as its head popped.

I gained an increase in my {Pack Leader} and {Fire Body} skills while gaining the new skill {Infernal Howl} which increases my power as well as those nearby I consider allies. About three hours later, I'd reached the 10th floor down. In that time, I came across a multitude of enemies.

• {Firefox}, a small orange fox with two flame-tipped tails, gaining the {Fox Fire} skill.

• {Fire Elemental}, a humanoid creature made of Fire, increasing the level of {Fire Body} and {Fire Manipulation}, also gaining the {Mid-Level Summon: Elemental}.

• {HellHorse}, a black horse with a flaming mane, gaining the {BurstFire} and {Sprint} skills.

• {Cherufe} the Magma Golem-like creatures that I first discovered. I didn't gain any abilities from them but with the amount that seem to be down here, I wouldn't doubt the idea that the boss of this place is a big one, the mother.

After traversing for a while longer, I finally arrived at what seemed to be the last floor. With {Presence Erasure} active, I hide in the shadows in an attempt to get a better look at what I'll be facing. As I grew closer I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, a large torrent of Magma coming towards me. Using {High Evasion} and {Calamity Goliath's Speed}, I was able to avoid the blast as it melted a large hole into the wall where I stood only a few seconds ago.

Looking at the source, I appear to have been correct in my assumption. Having risen out from the lake of Magma nearby, an incredibly large creature made of molten rock appeared. With thin, blue tendrils of mana charging at me with a mind of their own, I was barely able to avoid each one. Knowing that if this fight went on for an extended period of time, It could become quite bad, I decided to end it quickly if I could.

With {Synthesis}, I combined {Inner Mana Manipulation}, {Mana Operation}, {Spirit Energy Projection} and {Mana Projection} to create {Perfect Mana Control} then, Using the rank 3 chaos spell <Severence>, Enhanced with my multitude of jobs and {Staff of Greater Corruption}, the Spell launched was...unfamiliar.

A black and orange flash filled the sparse cavern and the whole room rumbled. My sight was only blocked by the flash for less than a second but when I could see again, it felt like I missed the battle of the century. The large Cherufe has vanished completely, leaving in is wake, a path of destruction that had carved its way through the underground for what seemed like miles. The lave lake has been split in half along the path and all that remains from the creature is the large red soul that wistfully floats towards me, being absorbed into my body the moment it touches me.

This mixture of skills...I'm actually a little scared of myself right now. In my past world, I could never have dreamed to obtain such overpowering abilities but here, at only 87 days old, I've done just that.

{Cleared the boss of Demigod class, Age of Gods Dungeon, Gehenna}

{Cleared with achievements <Solo Kill> <Time Limit> <Total Destruction> <One-Hit Kill> <Overkill> and earned:}

{One Who Burns Brightest} {Cherufe Slayer} {Master Cherufe Exterminator} {Magma Bonded} {Ash Breath} {Behemoth's Strength} {Behemoth's Durability} {Mana Tendril} {Lava Manipulation}

{Items Earned:}

{Tendril Blade: A strange, light blue blade able to take the form of a sword, whip or cat-o-ninetails. It is capable of draining the mana of foes to the point of Debilitating Mana Exhaustion - Ancient Class}

{Volcanic Shard: a lance made of dense volcanic rock with the ability to cause eruptions of lava from the ground or wounds inflicted - Ancient Class}

Quite the haul if I do say so myself. The Tendril Blade though...it seems that it works the same as the mana tendrils that the boss had, which makes me extremely grateful for my speed and evasion abilities.

After returning to the caves, I'm greeted by a few of my subordinates who seem to have noticed my leap in strength, as well as Sei who appears to have felt the large amount of mana and scolded me for doing something that risky. I spent the night with her to make up for it.

- Day 88

Rou, Redhead and quite a few others have begun work on a farm using seeds that Rou seems to have gathered yesterday while I beat the dungeon. Different priorities I guess. Seeing this as a chance to get things done, I invited the whole group to come with me today.

Sei, Fu, Dou, Lisbeth, Sigul, Cilia, Hazuki the Weretiger woman and her two compatriots, the Tigerman Ven and the Dullahan Rinbo. I've decided to bring this group to the Gehenna Dungeon by making a new, hidden entrance with {True Earth Manipulation} and {Disguise} to dig a tunnel to the cavern and make the entrance look like a simple boulder.

When we reach the door, everyone is startled but become even more so when they see that I have the key to the door. It swings open once more and everyone other than me enters cautiously while I stroll in, looking forward to the progress they might make within this place.

Since this is their first time facing creatures that manipulate fire to such an extent, everyone other than Rinbo, who has blue flame coming from where his head would normally be, struggled to fight in the beginning.

By the time we made it to the half way point it was the end of the day and I'd say that they've made quite the improvement in both their own skills and in their teamwork. We decided to call it there today and complete it another time. On the way back, the three former slaves requested to join my division which is what I hoped for after all so I accepted, replacing their collars with my own. I informed them that I would remove them after a little while and they didn't seem to mind.

When we returned, the farm seems to be going in full force. Apparently this has something to do with them planting Spirit Stones beneath the earth and the fact that Redhead's {Job:Farmer} is level 48. Emery informed me that Redhead enjoyed being the one to order Rou around and, I'll be honest, I'm a little upset that I missed it.

Golem Results: 2 Bone Goliaths, 20 Clay Golems.

Synthesis Results:

{Improved Physical Damage Reduction} + {Physical Damage Reduction} + {High Pain Resistance} = {Extreme Pain Tolerance}

- Day 89

Today, a few of the temporary troops decided to begin the trek back to their homes after earning enough money. They were sent on their way on the condition that they do not speak about Parabellum, being told about the humans that died of mysterious causes a while ago. Around 36 of the human noblemen were sent back to their forces after being indoctrinated as Mi's slaves.

Naturally, Hazuki, Rinbo and Ven chose to continue serving me which earned a smile from me but I can tell that they really just want to head back into the dungeon. This is fine too since I don't really want a subordinate that doesn't wish to improve themselves, though I don't think that will be a problem with these three.

With that said, we went back into the dungeon and completed two more floors before I received a communication from the Elf Chief about something called the Soul Banquet. I got excited for a moment but apparently it's just a celebration for the dead and a way for their souls to pass on. At first, I wasn't going to go but since Sigul and Cilia wanted to go, I changed my mind.

We arrived after Rou and those he brought with him. Cilia went to speak with the other elves while Sigul remained by my side. We enjoyed the festivities and I heard many stories about the deceased. At one point, Cilia pointed to me while speaking with a group of female elves and they giggled for a bit before realising I was looking at them. I payed it no mind though as the final part of the day, a dance performed by a rather beautiful elven woman that seemed to whisk the souls of the dead into the sky. I'll be honest, it took every ounce of my being, plus the combined efforts of Cilia and Sigul, not to leap up and eat the fleeing feast of souls. When we returned that night, Cilia joined me for a pleasant encounter.

Synthesis Results: {Clear Mind} + {Parallel Thinking} = {Perfect Parallel Thinking}

- Day 90

The mine is running out of Spirit Stones. According to Returner, the stones were present in the first place since the spirits favoured Velvet. Now, with him gone and Returner in the form she's in now, there aren't many spirits hanging around anymore. That's when I got an idea worth trying.

I used {Spirit Caller} in an attempt to call back the spirits that left or bring in new ones and according to Returner, it worked, to a certain extent. Spirits of Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, Light and Dark have apparently flown through the caves. After a few days, Spirit Stones will become available again, however there won't be anything like the amount from before. Within a week, I'd need to call them again and after a while, they may simply get bored of me.

While Rou took a page out of my book and created something out of the bones of his skeletons, appearing to be some kind of carriage, I took the others back to the Gehenna Dungeon.

We made it to the last floor but left it there since everyone appears to be rather exhausted. The fact that they were able to make it this far against the sheer amount of Cherufe Younglings is rather impressive. Dou, Sei and Hazuki did the best while Cilia and Fu lagged behind a little because of the heat and the straight forward nature of the enemies. Sei didn't struggle much with that since her amount of mana and powerful spells made up for it.

When we returned, I learned of Rou's plan to visit a human settlement soon and use the human girls to spread the word about the Parabellum mercenaries, which ticked me off when Emery said that if I didn't want her around anymore that I should have at least told her myself. I assured her that I had no idea what was going through Rou's head and that I would talk to him right away, after reassuring her that I had no intention of "throwing her away" as she put it.

- Day 90 Side Story - Sigul

Today was exhausting but I still had some energy to spare so I decided to see how rusty and Rubellia, the red headed adventurer, are doing with their training.

When I got there, it looked like Rubellia was distracted by something and when rusty confirmed this, she told him about Rou's plan. While I understood the need for a group to get it's name known, it seems that he didn't explain everything properly so I stepped in.

[Sigul] "You know, If Emery is a part of this plan, I don't see him throwing you all out."

[Rubellia] "Huh? Sigul, you were listening?"

[Rusty] "That makes sense. The blacksmith girl is with the Ghoul isn't she? That'd cause some problems."

[Rubellia] "O-oh..."

Rubellia seemed to see a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel at that revelation.

[Sigul] "After all, If he did, this place would be under new leadership."

[Rubellia] "Wait, what?"

[Sigul] "it's obvious, isn't it? My master is many times more powerful than Rou."

[Rubellia] "th-that's not true!"

As our discussion began to get heated, an explosive sound echoed from within the caves.

- Day 90 - Kei

I found Rou and spoke to him about his little plan, which resulted in him trying to lord his title as leader over me like it actually meant something. I responded by challenging him to a special rules match.

The rules were as follows:

1) One attack each.

2) can't avoid, only block

3) if you block with an attack, it's counted as your one.

4) No killing.

He agreed and smiled at me maliciously; a smile that I returned.

We made our way to the back of the cave and created a large, arena style area that might be able to withstand an attack from each of us.

[Rou] "How about we make this a little more interesting?"

[Kei] "I'm listening."

[Rou] "If you lose, you'll equip a slave collar and serve me as I see fit.

This damn bastard is way too cocky.

[Kei] "Fine. What do I get if I win?"

[Rou] "hmph, what do you want?"

[Kei] "hmmm, alright. If I win, I want total freedom for myself and my group."

[Rou] "Deal."

We smiled viciously at each other from opposite sides of the underground arena and took our stances. Rou made his move first, charging forward with his {Exoskeleton}, a stag beetle armour, equipped and lands a powerful punch on my defences. It seems that he's put his {Synthesis} skill to good work. His punch was able to send me flying back into the wall, breaking both of my arms. {Extreme Regeneration} took over quickly though and resulted in a flabbergasted look on the idiot's face.

For my attack, I decided to use a bit more of my power. With {Behemoth's Strength}, {Divinely Forged Body} and {Exoskeleton: Calamity Insect's Carapace} active, I use {Calamity Goliath's Speed} to shoot towards Rou and combine {Invisible Strike} and {Sundering Strike} to deliver an extremely fast and powerful punch to his stomach. The attack shakes the cave as it connects before blasting the poor bastard through the wall and out the other side of the mountain into the forest.

Phew, I got to do two-no three things within the span of a few minutes. I got to prove that I'm the strongest in the cave, beat the prideful shit known as Rou, and show everyone that you don't fuck with my people. Especially my lovers.