Corruption and Realization

"What do you mean I didn't win the whole pot?"

"Well, kid you only got the 'bite the ear' thing correct. Someone else got the 'surrender by teleporting away' bet."

Somebody else interrupted us. "Can I get my winnings? Oh, hi Cadix. You're here too?"

"Wait. Sadie!" I faced the bookie. "You mean she's the other one who won?"

"Yep. Now here's your half of the pot. Now, girlie, here's yours. Now I'm gone before Kansur finds out."

And he's gone, just like that.

"So, betting on fights, huh. Shame on you."

"You're one to talk."

"Hey, this is Grandpa's bet, not mine. I'm the only one who placed it, that's all."

"Really, now."

"You can even ask him yourself." Nope, not gonna do that. I know how much your grandfather loves you and how willing he is to cover your ass. Well, it's a fine ass I'll admit.

Oh, god am I turning into someone like Sir Henry? Nope, I'm not going there.

"Cadix, you okay?"

"Oh... nothing... everything is fine... yep, all fine. Nothing to worry about."

"If you says so." Phew, that was close.

"So, what are you doing here. I thought you're still on punishment duty."

"Nope, grandpa got me off. You like to go fight more monsters."

"Well, I can. Yep, definitely. Let me get Nethrex..."

"No. Only us two, okay?"

"Okay."

Oh boy. Yep, I'm dead.

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*Somewhere Else In The Dungeon*

"My, oh my, young Cadix. Accept the truth. Unleash your true self. Embrace the lewd side."

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

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*Meanwhile in Another Part of the Dungeon

"Well, this is interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"I got 'Explosives Mastery' while playing around with those 'C4' and 'Semtex' we found. And it says that these are both highly-explosive materials. Like those bombs used by Ullen. Remember Ullen?"

Ah, Ullen. A gnome and one of our old companions. Small he may be, but he has a penchant for everything explosive. And the only one I know that has 'Explosives Expert' SubClass for Alchemist. Got killed when he blew up a large Nether monster horde while we were evacuating the capital of Elven'he Kingdom.

"Yes, I remember Ullen. I'm old, not senile. What's so good about them?"

"Like the rest of the items that came from the other world, Earth, they don't need mana. And they're quite powerful while being safe enough to travel with. You will need to deliberately set them off with specialized detonators. No accidental explosions. And they are very easy to use."

"Dat be really gud. How powerful are dey?"

"A kilo of the C4 is almost the same with Ullen's 'Blast Surprise'. The Semtex is better by a fifth or so."

"That is very powerful indeed."

"And the best part? You don't need special alchemical materials and reagents to make them. It does not mean that they're very easy to make. It means that we don't need to waste precious materials to make them."

I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that Ullen is dead. He is a very good companion and a great man all around. But his excessive use of explosives has endangered us, even almost killed us. Ullen is not the careful sort.

"So shall we head for the fourth floor?"

"We can. I'd like to learn more about this floor and the wonderful things that can be found here. But we can come back here anytime."

"Yeah, it was fun but not it be boring. Ah'm looking for shomeding that makes me work a sweat."

"I hear you, brother."

"Well, let's head down."

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I'm regretting my decision to head down here.

Yes, the monsters are more powerful. Yes, the loot is better. Yes, I can feel the challenge from facing higher-level monsters. Yes, even the peaceful monsters is a breath of fresh air.

It's not enough to not call this a... frustrating experience.

It's as if I'm back to the old third floor. You know, the maze? Yes, that's how much I want to tear my hair out due of to much much I despise that floor. You can't go through the walls. You can't dig under it. Well, you can fly over it. But good luck finding your way. Even in the air, the floor distort the space itself. You may be heading one direction, then suddenly you are heading to another.

And what is with this dungeon and Eldritch abominations?

Fucking madness. Alchemists, necromancers and flesh-shapers abound. If you think the monsters on the third floor are creepy and ugly, the ones here are down right horrifying and just terrible.

And what's up with those Sparkling Vampires.

"Kill them! KILL THEM NOW!!!" Henry teleported in while screaming that.

"Raging Inferno!"

"Oh, thank god. I thought I god rid of all of them. Fucking mutated spawners. How the hell they were able to slip through the Dungeon's ability to see everything inside? I think I know who to blame."

"What's so bad about sparkly vampires. They're pretty good looking for blood suckers."

"Because vampires should not (bleep) sparkle. They shouldn't be pretty boy toys that can attract lots of girls to themselves. Die (bleep) bishounen, just (bleep) die!"

"Hmm, someone's quite angry about them."

"They (bleep) represent every (bleep) thing wrong from my worlds. Waste of space, time, and resources. Contributing nothing but broken dreams and pregnant girls. Their only goal is to look good and have every girl that they can get their hands on. Not to mention the fucking thots."

"What are these 'thots' you are talking of?"

"Never mind about them. Next time you see a sparkly vampire, do me a favor and kill them, please. You'll do everyone a great service, not just me or the Dungeon itself. And you'll thank me later when we prevent broken hearts in our impressionable kids."

"Yes. Oh, right. Henry, we would like to discuss things with you and the Dungeon about providing us with many things that we found on both this and the third floor."

"Maybe later, after you finish this floor, sounds good? We already know what you want to discuss with us. We're still deliberating on the plan of action. And I'm still waiting for His reply. (Bleep) (bleep), where is He when you really need His help and guidance."

"Very well. Later then."

"Yep. See you later." And Henry warps out.

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*A Couple of Hours Later*

"Dat be de last of dem."

"Finally. That is quite annoying. Especially that Mad Scientist. He ruined my precious tunic."

"Hah, serves ye roight. Wjhy ye be wearing shuch fine clodes in de dunjun? Ye know dat dunjuns be a shitty place."

"Hmph, you don't know fine clothing if it hits you in the face. And you know I'm very good at dodging things."

"Den why did ye not dujd it?

"Because he sprayed it on the entire room at once! There was no way to know or even dodge that."

"Enough, both of you. You always act children when you're both near to each other. Jaku, found something special?"

"Look at this. A Reward Crystal. The description state that all that participants in the mini-boss battle must all touch the crystal at the same time to get their rewards."

"Hmm, what could the rewards be?"

"We don't know."

"Den let's get te it and be done wid it."

We all touched the Reward Crystal.

"Wow, that's a quite a lot of goodies."

"Indeed."

"De dunjun is very gud wid us roight. He even gave us EXP, not dat we be needing it. Let me check. Status."

And Grumman froze.

"Grumman, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Dat... dat can't be... no.... guys, check ye Status, quick!"

"Status."

Name: Marius Trellen

Race: Human

Title: The Doom (+63 more available)

Class: Warblade (Subclass: Martial Warblade)

Mage (Subclass: Magus)

Level: 100 (Martial Warblade)

100 (Magus)

EXP (Experience): 15000/150000000 (Martial Warblade)

15000/150000000 (Magus)

HP (Hit Points): 25320/25320

MP (Mana Points): 17735/17933

AP (Aura Points): 12648/13198

Attributes:

STR (Strength): 968

CON (Constitution): 920

AGI (Agility): 743

DEX (Dexterity): 692

INT (Intelligence): 931

WIS (Wisdom): 756

PER (Perception): 847

CHA (Charisma): 553

SPI (Spirit): 926

Blessings: none

Curses: The Doom (New Description Available)

Status Effects: .....

What the.... How? HOW!!!?

The EXP bonus. Oh.

Does this mean LVL100 is no the highest level one can achieve?

Why? How?

I got to talk with Henry and his benefactor, fast.

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*Somewhere In The Vast, Immeasurable Nothingness Of The Void

"NOW, THE GAME IS AFOOT. YOUR MOVE, USURPERS."