Temperant Dungeon (1)

"Ugh… my eyes hurt,"

The walk to the phone store was quite short, and not even a few minutes later, I came out with a new one.

Resetting my contacts would probably be the best idea, so I quickly followed through with that before picking up some more supplies with the rest of my remaining money.

"Hello, ma'am. Is there anything specific you're looking for today?" One of the employees asked as I walked through the door to the closest magic item shop I could find.

Before, I would receive free equipment and supplies from the guild, but now, I didn't have such luxuries.

"A full set of light armor. Something I can move in relatively easily and then… hmm… get me a magic staff and a pair of cheap daggers,"

"With pleasure," The man politely bowed before running off.

I took this time to look around the store some more and pick up a few smaller pieces of equipment that might come in handy inside the dungeon.

Within an hour, I was out of the store with my light armor already equipped and my magic staff being firmly gripped within the center of my palm.

The pair of daggers that I requested were slung across both sides of my waist, while the rings that I had bought were already wrapping around my fingers.

"These should come in handy," I muttered as I squeezed my palm tightly and set off for the best dungeon I could find at my level.

A simple undead D-rank dungeon with skeletons probably around the same evolution as me was perfect for everything I had set up.

It was towards the edge of the city, so the walk was a bit boring, but upon arriving, I couldn't help the smile that soon streaked across my face.

"Heh… how nostalgic,"

I walked through the crowd of merchants attempting to buy things off of the adventurers, swiftly leaving the surrounding dungeons.

For a merchant, this place was practically a gold mine as it was a hub for multiple other dungeons that spread out from the paths neatly laid out.

The nostalgic smell of gold lingered in the air, and the fresh scent of monster flesh made my nose tingle with happiness.

"It's truly been a while since I've gone on such a stress-free mission," I muttered, but as if the gods were to curse me, a string of notifications appeared in front of me, and I audibly groaned with a sense of disappointment washing through me.

[A Side Quest has been revealed]

.

[Side Quest: Clear The Dungeon of Fallen Soldiers]

[Description: Seeing as how you are eager to grow your power once more, the system has presented you with a path towards easy power. Upon completing this mission and clearing your desired dungeon, you'll be granted something that shall allow you to meet somebody familiar.]

[Reward: Skill Book - Angel's Blessing]

[Penalty Upon Failure: All Stats Are Cut In Half]

[Time Left: One Month]

.

The one month presented to me was more like three months since time is slowed down by quite a lot while within a dungeon.

So, I had nothing really to stress about, but that description for the side quest made a drop of sweat slide down my face.

"I'll just ignore it for now. No need to worry about something inevitable," I muttered to myself before entering the dungeon all alone.

The long stone hallway that greeted me was pretty normal at first, but once the walls and ceiling were beginning to grow bones along them, I felt a chilly sensation get shot down my spine.

It was a presence that made even my artificial flesh tremble with fear… but this was just an act, as a D-rank dungeon was unable to produce such a monster.

I felt no such thing as fear or nervousness, and to solidify my point, fear-related skills would definitely affect artificial flesh or things similar to that.

"Seems a skeleton shaman is close by… That shouldn't be too much trouble,"

The farther I walked down the hallway, the more bones began to sprout from the walls like parasitic plants nesting their way into the firm and sturdy hallway.

And eventually, I reached the hive of the dungeon: a large- no, completely gargantuan cavern with graves and black soil scattered across the entire otherworldly dimension.

As I gripped the magical staff in my hand, I steeled my mind and let out a long breath to try and calm my eyes which felt as if they were getting pounded by hammers.

"Okay… It should be… around… here… [Conjure of Darkness]," I muttered before raising my staff into the air and conjuring a black ball of darkness.

It swirled at the tip of my magical wooden stick, and just as my enemy attempted to escape, I sent the ball of darkness flying straight at the back of the skeleton's head.

As the ball of darkness reached its max output, power, and capacity, I muttered yet another skill that made the skeleton before me completely hopeless.

"[Darkness Manipulation],"

VWOOM… CRACK

The ball shot straight through the head of the skeleton, immediately killing it and granting me a few needed experience points.

[10 XP]

Just behind the floating panel, I noticed the graves all around the dungeon begin to crack and twist, slowly revealing the boney and horribly rotting corpses beneath them.

I was calm. Way too calm for such events to be unfolded before my eyes.

"Ugh… This is too easy," I chuckled before slamming the bottom of my staff on the ground, causing a blast of ethereal-blue aura to erupt from beneath me.

The aura slowly gathered at the tip of my staff, and as the first wave of undead slowly approached me, I couldn't help but let out an ear-to-ear grin.

"[Soul Eater],"

The aura finished gathering at the tip of my staff, and a pair of loose jaws hung open, hungry for anything.

Its drool melted the floor below, and its overflowing desire for something to devour spread to my own soul, nearly devouring me.

CRACK