The Fourtieth

The kobold started to channel mana around itself but I didn't go in for a strike on it since there might be a trap waiting for me. I started to prepare myself by channeling wind and death attributed mana around me and enchanted myself. The kobold however moved so fast that not even my mana detection could see it coming and I was struck deep into the ground causing a crater while I spitted out blood. I was about to see death before I even completed the first room. NO, I will not fail here, if I fail now I will bring disgrace to the clan and the lord himself. I will also not be able to fulfill my duty in protecting his children! I stood up with all of my might and used my trump card to hopefully take it down.

"If you think that's enough to kill me you have another thing coming! Let me show you a true Nightmare, Spectral Severment!" When I used the skill I literally sliced it's soul in half making it's eyes go blank and end it's life. Before I blacked out a screen popped up and stopped me.

[Requirements have been met to evolve monster class to the next level. Evolving into Advanced Ninja Rat in ten seconds. Evolution will fully restore the user.]

My eyes went wide as I saw that screen before I passed out and awaited my new form. When I woke up it seemed like only a few minutes had passed but I felt completely refreshed. When I looked at myself I didn't seem visibly different but my stats improved drastically and I gained a new skill.

[True Assassination Lv1: Allows the user to have a chance to completely one shot an enemy when attacking them while undetected with the exception of gods or beings of a higher power. Chance increases with higher levels.]

This is a truly powerful skill but sadly if the first room tells me anything it won't be very useful for this floor. However when I looked at my sneak skill I stood corrected because it became conceal which allows me to remove my presence completely unless the enemy has a superior detection skill. I decided to try it out and see if I could hide from the enemies on this floor. As I reached the next room I finally got the opportunity to take in my surroundings and look around for a bit before continuing. I was surrounded by a beautiful looking forest with lush green trees and a giant stream going across it. I didn't spend long taking it all in however because I needed to clear this floor so that I can continue on with my assignment.

From that moment I continued on without many problems that day since the whole floor only had kobods on it and the boss wasn't even as strong as that kobold king in the first room. When I finished the room I was teleported to where the Lord's daughter would be training so I just hid myself as I observed her take on a giant wolf. After she finished fighting it I went out of the dungeon to where the mirror golems were staying to observe them as well. One thing about the golems however is that none of them mimicked me and when I asked about it I was told that my existence changes so drastically that not even the Lord's mirror golems can mimic me at their current level. It may be possible in the future though. However I believe that the Lord did that on purpose to show that fighting myself will not push me as far as fighting enemies that are geared against me. Although that may be me just thinking too hard about it again.

Time went on like that for a while as I continued to constantly clear floor after floor each day while watching over the Lord's children and the mirror golems while still being able to eat breakfast and dinner. After Nora was introduced and the day finally came for the Lord to announce the beginning of the tournament I was excited for whatever he made to fight me as I jumped out of a shadow which surprised a few of the mirror golems but they weren't visibly fazed. Before the Lord made the announcement I noticed something hiding from everyone so I put my guard up but quickly released it when I realized it wasn't a mirror golem but a new type of golem created by the Lord, that I didn't recognize, and I couldn't appraise it at all.

[POV Change To Nemesis]

I had all of my subordinates and the mirror golems take seats in the spectators area while I thought about how to spice up the tournament. I didn't want it to be just a fight between two of them. I need it to be where they feel like their life depends on each moment of the fight. While I was thinking I was just standing in the center of the colosseum with my arms crossed. After a few moments an idea hit me that just might work.

"Before I announce what the first match will be, I would like to add a little incentive to the table to give all of you a little push. Whoever wins this tournament can freely spend a whole day with me without any interruption from somebody else. I will also cater to almost anything that person asks no matter how difficult!"

After I had said that every last one of them were screaming for joy for a moment before looking at each other. When they started their staring contest all of them were emanating a powerful aura to each other. Even Adela and Celeste weren't wimping out of this one. Those two probably have had the hardest time with their training because they had to break the level limit even if they had a skill to help, it was still difficult for them to break their own limits. The two of them didn't just fight each other in a sparring match each day, they also went dungeon diving on the lower levels so that they could try and catch up to the rest of the clan. However over time there was something I found out about the slave crest on their arms that blew my mind.