Confusion
Thuds echoed from every angle as beasts hoarded around the small group of humans, monster and humans corpses riddled the cave only the few strong members were still living. Even though they were exhausted they still had a bit of work to do the count down was coming to an end and they were on the verge of success.
'[0:53]'
The group gathered their mana and prepared for the last wave, John hefted his sword for the last time and charged through the beast hoard. He cut down the first beast easily and quickly sliced into the second, and explosion rang out behind him as the numerous magical attacks raged through the beasts.
The guards fought to the best of their abilities, but even so they could feel their power was dwindling and that their stamina was running low. Even so they knew that everything rested on their shoulders and that if they quit now, not only they would die but so many weak innocent people would also die.
The men began sacrificing their physical condition to fight the beasts and to get this wave over so they could have some rest and be closer to the end. Finally they had beat the wave and they had suffered an enormous amount of damage.
[0:30]
'[The timer will be paused and a three minute break will be provided before the boss monster is summoned ]'
The men read this message and all breathed a slight sigh of relief as they started to consume their healing drugs and re-equip their equipment with new and unbroken or damaged weapons, and new armors. Even John was happy that he finally got some rest and spent the time trying to adapt to his power better. As the three minutes were coming to an end he felt that his power had rose by a decent margin and he could tell that all the other guards were ready. As they stood together they finally saw their break period come to an end, getting into their battle stance they felt more prepared than they has ever been.
'[The final challenge will now commence, the boss monster has been summoned]'
A massive beast exploded from the floor as they stood there, its power was overwhelming and the felt suffocated and frozen in fear. When it had fully emerged from the portal it stood still for a while, luring them in a sense of security. Since they believed all its power was based on defense and began attacking it. With all of their attacks managing to inflict some damage the men began to feel overconfident. Even though john was also attacking, he felt like something was off as the look in the beasts eyes was that of a noble, it was looking down on them. then suddenly when they had inflicted damage on a certain level the beats attacked. Its claw shot out and punctured though one of the guards chest killing him on the spot. The beast began rampaging and slaughtering everyone, it moved like lightning as it began moving through the guards.
Even at the back of the group John also eventually had succumbed to the insane power of the creature laying on his stomach with a hole in his chest he thought back and felt contempt that he at least was able to do something fun before he died.
He felt a strain on his soul right as he was going into the light, he thought that it was over, but apparently the world had a different plan for him. When John opened his eyes, the hole in his chest was healed and he was in a foreign place. He was in a large enclosed room several dozen miles in diameter, the room seemed to emulate a forest. Trees dotted the landscape, and a large winding river carved throughout the length of the room.
He was in a clearing surrounded by countless other lost souls, he felt dread when that familiar ding echoed in his mind.
'[Welcome to the beginner dungeon the tower of trials, all stats reset to level one. Power restriction active, progress through the dungeons difficulties to reclaim your original strength and become stronger.]'
Dread washed over him, the same shit repeated again and again, one step forward two steps back. He had only just begun and was already back to where he started, he felt immensely unsatisfied and annoyed.
'[Say status to check your ability and talents]'
Sighing to himself he checked his status just like he had when he had started out in the new world prior. "Status". He said it not believing anything important had happened.
_________________
Name: John largens
Class: Necromancer(draconic knight restricted due too race)
Lv: 1(Exp: 0/50)
Hp: 20/20
Title: [Restricted: Draconic abomination]
Race: Hybrid[Restricted: Phantasmal colossal drake]
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Energy: 20/20
Mana: 20/20
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 20
Speed: 20
Black star: Tier 1 initial(necrotic gas)
Skills:
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- Summon low tier undead(active)lv: 1: Summon a minion of the dead to fight for you. Requires one small corpse. 10 energy.
- Deaths embrace(passive)lv: 1: Control and contain one skeleton in your mana core(black star).
- Death aura(restricted due too level)
•Unlock conditions(level 5)
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It looked like he had gotten a complete reboot back to the start, but it seemed as though the tower couldn't contain his personally created organ or change his race or title only restrict them from him. It seemed as though his black star had been altered though as he no longer had access to his flames, leaving him with only the necromancy powers he obtained.
He began pondering what he was going to do in this new place, but it seemed like the choice to isolate the players from each other was already made. As soon as someone had tried teaming up with another person everything went into chaos as another message was sent out to everyone there.
'[Parties are not allowed in the first dungeon, you must survive on your own]'
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Quest: Beat the first dungeon to advance to the rest area. Press the start button on the quest to begin.
{Start}
John had thought every thing was going a bit smoothly for the survivors, and felt relieved that the beast had reared its ugly head. He knew that the system still had some secrets in store, but felt ready to finally embrace the challenges ahead.
'If I wait any longer I might miss out on an advantage given to those who go first'. Stealing his nerves John pressed the system tab allowing for transport to the dungeon. He was ready to begin the challenge.
John's body lit up briefly as he went though the process he knew too well, the space around him distorted and he was transported to the dungeon.
The calmer more aware of the survivors trapped in the room noticed John's move and mimicked him while others continued freaking out. As the minutes ticked by and more people left a timer had popped up on the quest tab along with a notification.
'[Those who are too scared to embark on their own will be forcibly transported at the timers end and will receive a penalty]'
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On his throne a man watched several towers on numerous floating screens, a system overlay floated in front of him as he input strange symbols to varying degrees of responses.
Leaning back against the cushion the man chuckled as the first few brave souls had began their journeys. Grabbing the chalice place next to his throne the man swirled the contents and took a large drink, right as the cup left his lips and began it's decent back towards the arm rest, several servants rushed up from his sides and immediately topped the chalice back up.
With a deep resounding chuckle the man swiped his hand in the air causing numerous more screens to pop up as he began to design the stage for the amazing show he knew would soon come.
One screen stood out among the others as unlike most it was enhanced and enlarged, the image was of a man with a look of determination standing before a beast.
"Show me what made that knuckle head dragon choose you as his champion". The expression on the man's face was excessive and full of fervor as he watched the man know as John start in his tower.
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As John came too, he noticed new notifications had popped on the overlay in the corner of his vision, he looked at the notifications quickly as he formulated a plan.
'[As you are the first person to begin their challenge the tower administrator has began watching you]'
'[The tutorial level has been updated from the lowest grade to the next grade, your rewards will be enhanced slightly]'
[Stats restricted until tutorial ends]
Looking around he noticed that he had been transported into a cave, the air was dusty and dank. There was only one path to go down, and immediately behind him was a wall. The sound of dripping water could be heard but the echos made it hard to decern where it was coming from.
After looking at his surroundings and making sure he was secure he checked the quest to see the clear conditions.
'[Quest clear conditions]'
• Survive for three days and reach the breach point at the end of the dungeon. Starter weapon is provided in the inventory, but food and water must be secured by the player.
Shock filled his face when he open the inventory, they had provide him with a magicians staff.
'[Weak staff of mana]'
Tier: Beginner
Description: This staff is the weakest tool a magic class could use, it allows access to a initial tier spell without learning it.
Mana bolt: 1 damage, cost 3 mana(15 foot range)
He decided to start after looking over the items description, he felt please with the weapon. Holding the staff in his hand he couldn't help but reminisce to when he had first arrived on this world. Putting these feelings aside he focuses entirely on the task as he ventured forward in the cave.
For a while the walls were completely bare, with only a few chips or cracks periodically. He began hearing scratching and crunching ahead of him after walking for about two minutes. Holding himself close to the wall and he began sneaking to see what was the first creature he would face.
He peaked around the corner and saw it, in a open cavern barely lit by the luminous moss and rocks scattered about was a beast. It had a large nest made of some type of foliage, and rocks. Huge boulders were scattered around the cavern and it seemed like it had chosen that spot for the protection from several angles, leaving only the front open.
The creature had its back faced towards him, the ground around it was filthy and the creature had splattered blood on the walls and floor around it as it chewed on the corpse of the same animal.
John was too far to tell what it was and creeped forward, the animals nest was surrounded by several skulls, pieces of skin and dried blood. John dashed to hide behind one of the many boulders scattered near its nest, and was finally able to see what it was.
It was a huge rat that was the size of a medium dog, it's razor sharp claws and two prominent fangs were ripping apart the caracas of another albeit smaller rat. It had a thick pink tail and filthy brown moss covered pelt.
As he crept forward, he was finally able to analyze it.
'[Mutant cave rat]'
Level: 2
Hp: 3/3
Attacks
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Scratch: 2 bleed damage(0.7 over three seconds)(stackable)
Bite: 4 pierce damage(goes through one layer of armor)
(Poison attribute all attacks +0.2 poison damage over three seconds and weakens muscles till the end of combat)
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This rat has adapted over dozens of generations to living in caves, its pelt is filthy and covered in a poisonous moss. Due to eating and being covered in this moss, it's attacks have gained the poison attribute.
Looking at the beast John could tell that it was fast, it's legs bulged with muscles and it must have been moderately strong due to beating its own without losing any health. He guessed that with each level it's got bigger and stronger, due to the dead rat being smaller than the one in front of him.
John made sure that the rat was still eating and crept closer too the rat, the battle would be easier if he was able to get a good surprise attack in. Readying his staff once he was in range, he aimed for a leg shot hoping to at least cripple it.
Concentrating, John felt his mana enter the staff and fired it when he was locked on target. A blue bolt of energy shot out and punctured through the rats thigh, piercing through the bone.
[-1 health]
The rat whipped around and charged recklessly toward him. The rat was very slow as it ran with only three legs, it's other dragging on the ground. John stood his ground as he gathered his mana again. The rat was five feet away when around bolt zipped out piercing it right through the eye.
[-1 health]
The bolt had hit its brain, but didn't kill it. It writhed for a moment before continuing its charge. The rat was too close to charge another mana bolt, so John clubbed it in the side of the head with all his strength.
[-0.2 health]
The rats head jerked back as he swung for another blow. His attack hadn't stopped the rat, it's claw sliced into his leg causing blood to gush out.
[You've been inflicted by poison, - 30% attack]
[-0.9 Hp]x3
His leg felt on fire as the poison worked into his body, taking his health down. As the rat lunged back in for a bite this time, John bashed upward at the bottom of its head, hearing a crack from its jaw. The beast had its head flung back once more, but to a lesser degree of success.
[-0.2 health]
Barely avoiding being punctured with the immensely sharp fangs, John retreated till his back was at one of the boulders. Now that he had fewer angles for the beast to attack from, a confidence had risen back from inside of him.
The rat was gravely injured and seemed to be barely holding it all together, it's jaw had fractured on one side, which limited the rats attack potential. Once more when it charged in he swung the staff, and clobbered if right in the head once more.
[-0.2 health]
With the rat being in a state of confusion once more, he scaled the steep Boulder behind him. The rat scratched towards his leg once more, but he narrowly moved his foot in the right time. Finally he charged the bolt and fired at its head once more, the bolt went through its skull and destroyed its brain finally killing it once and for all.
[-1 health]
'[You have killed the enemy, 'mutated cave rat'. You have received 15 exp]'
Exp: 15/50
He had killed the first creature of the tower and prepared himself to delve deeper into it.