The Dungeon Raid Pt5

When the others finally caught up a few moments later, I said nothing except to pass them both a crystalline sword blank. Summoned from the blue came Melpomene's voice which I could tell from the surprise on their faces they could hear. I myself was surprised by this turn of events.

[Private Crafting Challenge: Elite Dungeon Hammer has begun]

[The first Imperial's Divine Designer has issued a Player Versus Player challenge to the top clans present in Lost Divinity Underworld. All participants will have crafting parameters equal to the Divine Designer. All participants will have only 30min to make an aesthetically pleasing (Longsword) with a minimum PATK of 130. The challenge will begin after the Divine Designer has set the bar]

[Rewards: 1st- Title Top Dungeon Hammer; +10% Dungeon Loot. 2nd- Title Elite Dungeon Hammer; +5% Dungeon Loot. 3rd- Elite Dungeon Hammer Title]

[Divine Designer has 10min to set the bar]

Ten fucking minutes?!

Turning my back to the others to keep them from seeing me sweat, I hurriedly start the transmutation process on the two-inch thick crystalline bar. Shaping and distributing the weight downward while using material enchantments to set the structures as I go, I create thirty inches of tapering blade that was two-inches broad above the simple cross guard and a quarter of an inch thick all the way through.

The guard itself was of simple design with upward ends for parrying away blocked attacks with some simply filigree strokes on the front and back sides reaching out from the blade. The grip was ergonomic with simple gridding on the sides and dips for finger grips on the front. Since all of the weapon's weight had been distributed into the handle the, guard, hilt, and pommel were all fairly thick.

Once the shaping was done, I set the edge by using small charges of raw kinetic energy along the sides of the spine and setting them off to created knapped edges like flint or glass blades. Using a few more smaller charges around the peaks of the initial knapped edges, I give the weapon dispersed sets of three serrations at intervals up and down both edges of the of the otherwise razor-like sword.

The tapering triangular point itself was left untouched except for a single knap at the bases of its tapering that made the point evener smaller and sharper than the transmutation and material enchantments. Next, I decided to spend my time experimenting by using the crystalline soul substance itself as a mana crystal and fueling all of my remaining mana into the sword.

Once I was down to just two hundred mana, I conform the magic into a Spirit Slash and 'store' it in the sword the way I would Flash Step in a mana crystal. Lo and behold, I made some success.

[Successfully Crafted: Chaos Spirit Slasher]

[+5000XP]

[+5000 Expert Enchanting XP]

[Successfully Created Skill Enchantment: Spirit Slash]

[+1000XP]

[+1000 Expert Enchanting XP]

[Expert Enchanting Leveled]

[+200XP]

My quick yet costly creation had a domineering name that matched its vicious qualities. The blessing itself had taken on a two-stage effect like the others, damage to undead and a random perk, but the perk for this sword was an increased critical chance. Like the other swords I made with magical means, it also had the innate Conductivity ability that increased magical effect and output.

However, this particular sword had a second innate perk called Letting which was a ten-percent chance to cause one percent of bleeding damage over three seconds with every strike which could stack up to five times. Aside from this, the PATK value was equal to Hauntings but the differently colored MATK value was two-twenty. In other hands, this was a level one-twenty-five sword based on the new damage to level restrictions but the perks alone made the sword's restriction to other players level one-thirty-five.

I was not even level one hundred yet but I was pretty damn sure the levels after it would be comparable in value to one hundred thousand experience! My current level alone required seventy-five thousand to go from ninety to ninety-one!

Since I still had more than two minutes left, I searched through my clan store until I find the numerous monster materials and products I had placed inside before entering the dungeon, I withdraw a single warrior imp's core and use it on Chaos Spirit Slasher. The sword gained a '+10%' affinity with 'Darkness' that converted dark elemental energies into Spirit Slash energy.

A low leveled monster's core gave this blessed weapon self-sustainability! I had only put a few of different cores in the clan store and the material itself was darkness relevant so it was the first likely choice I found. However, I doubted the others could replicate such an inheritance on their weapon without connecting such obscure dots.

Once the sword was considered finished by somebody else' standards, it rose up from my hands and stood point-up in the air where the others could see it and its golden Legendary name.

[You have 30s to begin]

As soon as Melpomene's voice was heard, the others set right to work. Unlike me, though, they did not take the time to make privacy for themselves but instead boldly set to work with their magic and even some tools in Mistress' case. It looked like a large bluish gold jewelry hammer, produced from somewhere in her hair behind her ear.

Donna simply held her sword blank with either end resting on either hand and her eyes closed as if in deep meditation. Little Thirteen used a more physical form of magical shaping and transmutation, using his thumb in lieu of a hammer to knap or even smear the surface of the weapon. Despite the pure magical form or versatility of Donna or Thirteen's methods, I had the highest hopes for Mistress's craft.

She was using not only proper tools and her own magic but the tool itself shone with a soft rosy gold light every time it struck the forming weapon. No matter the actual skill of the others, her work would obviously be boosted and even have added perks from the effects of her jeweling hammer.

As expected, it did not actually take long for the others to complete their works. After less than twenty minutes, one by one, each of their swords were taken from them and raised into the air for display. Mine was made quicker and simpler than the others, so I felt it was fair that mine did not have the same details or designs as the others.

Donna had copied my filigree and took it to the next level, tracing up the sides of the sword's spine in shimmery magical strokes that glowed with an orange-red elemental energy. The sword itself had a PATK of one-thirty and MATK of one-eighty with the same conduction perk and two-stage enchantment as the others except that hers was named 'Burning Chaos' and had a two-part fire enchantment.

Each successful strike burned its target for fifty points as long as the sword had energy and critical hits had a ten-percent chance to set the target completely ablaze for ten seconds with the same fire damage each second. That was DOT equal to the Virulent Souls All-Tox I made early in Winter Wood.

Little Thirteen's sword was much simpler in design but dramatic in effect. His PATK was one-thirty like Donna's but the MATK somehow came out to two hundred. Unlike Donna's fire applications, Little Thirteen had used a simpler Arc Cutter type of enchantment. His enchantment had a fifteen-percent chance to simply trigger an Arc Cutter worth one hundred electrical damage which would stun an opponent for three seconds.

His sword had earned itself the name 'Crippling Chaos Slasher'.

On top of these, it even had a monster core's inherited perk of plus-ten-percent critical chance. Donna's sword and Thirteen's sword both came out with only shimmering purple quasi-legendary names, which was honestly surprising in that they did not come out fully legendary like mine. However, unlike my sword, their weapons only had one innate quality and the level restriction was one one-twenty-five.

Mistress' sword, on the other hand, came out as a more dramatic fashion of my own with a single fully serrated edge at the front and a smooth razor for a back edge. The guard above the hilt was a thick round plate but in its top and the hilt itself had a grip pattern like scales and the pommel itself was in the shape of a dragon. Even though the sword itself was only a few inches broad in the flats, its spines were lined with stretched out wing-like engravings whose inner space was etched with more scale-work like the wings of a dragon.

The sword itself had a solid gold name of 'Overwhelming Chaos Spirit'. Its physical and magical attack values were one-fifty and two hundred and the sword had three innate qualities. Not only did it have the conducting perk and the same bleed damage from front-edge attacks as my sword but it even had a speed perk of increasing the user's movement speed by ten percent. To top it off, she had managed a three-stage blessing quality which was better than my own one again and even used a monster core that gave the sword '+5% Life Steal from attack damage'.

She beat me! I knew it, as soon as I actually compared to other players my work would be shit! Why would you do this to me, Melpomene?!

Her level restriction was even the same one-thirty-five as mine.

[Stop crying, the only reason their effects are even at that level is because they were risen to your parameters. Mistress is the only one with upgraded crafting skills, the other two only have basic Blacksmithing and Enchanting. Stop being shameful and get back to work]

Nodding my head wordlessly, I turn back to the others to see them receiving reward notifications with Mistress' being the largest and most plentiful to show she achieved first place. "Alright! Like I said, I'll reward you all based on how you did. Mistress did the best, then Mr. Thirteen, then Ms. Donna. On top of your crafting titles and rewards, you will receive one blessed sword blank to do your best and recreate your last weapons for yourselves."

Not only did I produce three sword blanks from my arms, I also pushed out one cubic yard of black crystalline material from my torso. This cubic yard was for Mistress while I made a two-foot square that was three feet tall for Little Thirteen and then a one-square foot size cubic rectangle for Donna.

Passing these out with the sword blanks, I say, "For Donna, one hundred more arrows. For Little Thirteen, three hundred arrows. For the first place winner, as many as a thousand arrows. Use these wisely, I don't want to see anyone else among my associates being called bullies. I, as a single person, can be a bully. Your groups and the rest of my clan, not so much."

Turning away without waiting for any arguments, I add, "Assemble your people out front and prepare to march, we need to strike while the iron is still hot!"

My loud voice attracted a great deal of attention from the surrounding people and skeletons. Everybody was looking in the direction of our quiet corner with either unreadable skeletal faces or living faces of conflicted emotions. As I was walking out, though, the undead gathered around suddenly emptied and raised their hands while dozens of whispery voices that sent chills down my spine filled my head.

They were cheering and clasping arms with one another at the information that we were going on the offensive. This show of camaraderie and joy was infectious. Soon, one of the players unleashed a single whooping word into the air that all the other living people present responded to with cheers of their own, "LOOT!"

Walking out of the entrance hall through a spreading wave of this noise and activity felt like walking down an award aisle after achieving gold or platinum in life accomplishments. I felt like a super star being adored by crazed fans as well as an old general declaring the end of a war just as it started. This was one of those moments the average person hopes and prays for in their lifetime.

Because Hauntings was currently out of commission due to its growth or evolution, I had no choice but to fashion a new primary for myself. This was fairly easily resolved simply by making a staff, the only other advanced weapon mastery at my disposal. The staff itself was simple an octagonal crystalline pole as long as I was tall and weighing around fifteen pounds.

Its PATK upon creation was the same one-ten as the assault spear shafts I spent hours making. After restructuring it with material enchantments, though, its damage went up to one-thirty and it developed an equal MATK value. Since this was a staff and had acquired the conduction quality, I once against used the staff as a mana crystal and spent a long time slowly channeling my mana and its constant regen into the staff in the form of dark elemental energy.

After the staff itself had accumulated over ten thousand MP worth of mana, I sealed the enchantment with Shadowmancy. However, unlike my golem that had acquired Shadowmancy itself the staff had acquired a kind of three-part augmentation. Each attack had a sure chance of triggering an effect, but there were three different effects that did either slow-debuff, heavy knockback, or ate at an opponent's PATK like acid.

If I actively channeled magic, though, I could cast a Shadow Ball that did fifty damage and one random side-effect. Each physical strike effect cost one hundred of the staff's overall ten thousand MP- much less than I had actually put in it- but the Shadow Ball came at the cost of my own MP.

A simple imp warrior core later and the staff could sustain itself off of our current enemies.

Whistling normally to my friends in the bottom of the pond who were refining mana solely through breathing techniques and were safe to disturb, I call out, "Hope you guys have made great gains from this. We're about to go take a fort! You've got five minutes for an equipment check and then meet me on the wall."

*