Jay started as Diamond appeared in his room without a warning, Amon summoning a sword for him to swing at Diamond's head. His attack missed as Diamond stepped to the side. "Please don't teleport into my room in the middle of the night," Jay said with an annoyed tone.

Diamond raised his hands. "Hey, I can't exactly walk in by the front door, can I? I can't be seen here."

Jay begrudgingly nodded. "Fine. Where are we going?"

Diamond raised his hand, forming a portal. "A dungeon. It's just level fifty. You'll be fine."

Jay stepped through the portal, Diamond following. "I have a feeling I'm not supposed to be in a level fifty dungeon at level one. Besides, what is a dungeon?"

"Dungeons are... parasites. They feed on the world's energy and use it to kill people, to get even more energy. If we don't kill all the monsters in a dungeon every once in while, it'll release a massive wave of monsters after they build up for a while."

Jay nodded. "So, why am I, a level one, going into a level fifty dungeon?"

Diamond chuckled. "You're not normal, kid. You fight like you're centuries old, and your abilities far outstrip what any of the other students can do. Granted, I expect it to take more for you to level than other people, just because your abilities are strong. I level half as quickly as others, personally. This is why I brought you here. You can take the monsters, and you'll level faster because of it. And we need our Onyx to be as strong as possible when we fight the Metallics."

Jay looked forward at the landscape in front of them. A cave led downwards into darkness, a mountain sitting atop it. "This is the dungeon?"

Diamond nodded. "I'll wait here. Clear it, then come out."

Jay stepped forward into the darkness, Amon generating twin shortswords for him. He walked in silence for quite a while. So, where are all the supposed monsters?, Amon asked.

Why would I know? Maybe the dungeon's broken?

Look, Diamond would probably know if that was the case, wouldn't he?

True.

Jay suddenly received a message, the blue text popping up in front of his face.

You have entered the Corrupted Dungeon of Bugs - level 80. Prepare.

For fighting at a 79 level deficit, you gain 1000% extra experience.

You get to choose which classes to funnel your experience to.

Jay sighed. Level eighty. Diamond had messed up, big time. He wasn't going to turn back now, though. He turned on his Eyes of the Collector, looking around.

Bugs apparently made the collection.

Jay saw a single bug, hanging on the cave roof, ready to drop. It's concealment was almost perfect, but by sheer chance, it had moved, letting his eyes pick up on its presence.

If there's one, there's more.

Yeah, probably.

Jay launched a water bullet at the creature. It hit the hard shell, causing absolutely no damage. Knowing it was found out, the massive creature dropped to the floor.

It was a centipede with a black carapace and brown mandibles. It didn't seem to have eyes. Jay watched its back curl up. His eyes widened.

Why is it a fusion of a scorpion and a centipede?

Ask whoever created the dungeon.

Jay leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding the stinger, which crushed the spot he had just stood on. There were pincers on the scorpion as well, though farther to the sides than the mandibles. The Centiscorp skittered around on the legs of a centipede, and had a long body, as a centipede did, but it also had pincers, a stinger, and a black carapace.

Jay swung his sword at the Centiscorp's side, earning a small crack. He sighed. This would take a while. The creature turned, slashing at him with a pincer. He ducked under it, stabbing with his sword, which flowed into a spear. It shot true, directly at where its eyes should be, puncturing its skin and cutting through a little bit of its flesh. Jay summoned his Seasonal Embrace, giving himself the power of summer. His spear shot in a tiny bit more, but Jay had to dodge almost immediately to avoid the Centiscorp's stinger. He left his spear in the wound, watching it liquify and flow towards him.

What if you knock a chunk of rock off the ceiling?

Jay looked up. The ceiling had a couple massive stalactites. And how do you propose I knock them down? I would need to break through a massive amount of rock to make one fall.

I dunno. That's your problem!

Very helpful advice.

He dodges another blow, swinging a newly created sword at the crack he'd created earlier. It grew slightly larger. Jay Thoughtcleaved the area, causing even more damage to the spot. Jay rained down attacks for the brief moment he had, almost breaking open the carapace. The Centiscorp turned to face him once again, and Jay avoided another sting. He used his Flowering Domain, summoning a flower with vines strong enough to rip apart the broken carapace. The Centiscorp staggered towards it, the flower suddenly exploding with strength, its vines opening Jay a hole in the monster's carapace.

Jay Summoned the Ocean, making a deadly jellyfish appear right next to the open wound. It's poison coursed into the Centiscorp, which slowly got weaker. It raised its stinger for another strike, but collapsed instead, its stinger landing on its head, shattering it. A power entered Jay, filling his body, and he felt he could direct it to any of his classes. After a moment of deliberation, he shoved just enough to get his Collector class to level ten, and enough to get his Deep Walker class to the same level. He evenly divided the rest of the experience between the two classes, though it wasn't enough for another level.

Your Collector class has unlocked a new ability: Collect Their Strength

Collect Their Weakness:

Slowly make your opponent weaker. Each hit increases their weakness. The weakness has a cap.

Scales using Dexterity.

Your Deep Walker class has unlocked a new ability: Deep Armor

Deep Armor:

Summon a set of armor forged out of the watery depths.

Scales using (New Hidden Stat unlocked: Constitution)

Jay fell backwards onto the ground. He didn't feel like fighting any more of those things. Wait, I gain experience too?

You gain experience?

Yep!, Amon said, sounding elated.

Did you level?

Yes. I'm only at twelve, but I got a new ability, Braided Soul. Basically, it makes your weapons stronger. Also, levels apparently give me access to shape more of your soul!

Nice! Let's go kill another one!

Yay!

That was sarcasm. I don't want to kill another one.

But you sounded so sincere...

I do that.

Diamond suddenly appeared in front of them. "What are you doing, slacker?"

Jay sighed, standing up. "Killing another one, I guess."

Yay!

Can it.

Diamond watched the kid take out a level eighty without any external aid. This kid would become a monster, though he would be lucky to get fifty levels out of this... Levels exponentially increased in power, so the kid would be able to possibly contend with a Metallic Councilor when they actually tried, if he got to fifty in all his classes. It should only take a couple monsters to do so. He watched the kid sit down and just barely stopped himself from teleporting in front of him. He deserved a bit of rest.

The kid refused to get up, sitting on the ground without a care in the world. Diamond's eyebrow twitched. Patience. The kid still didn't move. PATIENCE. The kid stayed adamantly planted on the ground. Diamond gave up trying to be patient, stepping through a portal. "What are you doing, slacker?"

He watched the kid slowly stand up. "Killing another one, I guess."

"Get to it. And fast."

The kid looked around, quickly spotting another monster. He ran at it, stabbing with a suddenly-created spear, piercing its shell and sticking a small ways into the beast. "Kid! What level are you?"

"I have ten levels in two classes."

Diamond's eyes bulged. Just twenty levels? The kid made quick work of the scorpion, presumably gaining more levels. "Kid. How many levels did you just get?"

The kid seemed to check something for a moment. "Uh. Five?"

"In total, for killing this monster," Diamond stated.

"Yeah."

Diamond teleported out of the cave before screaming into the night. He definitely didn't have anger issues. Twenty-five levels for a creature that outleveled him that much? This would be a long haul.

He kept an eye on the kid until he was certain there was no danger left to him in the cave. Stepping through another portal, he appeared at the entrance to his office. He stepped inside, sensing someone waiting for him. Diamond slipped into his chair, across from the king. "What happened?," Diamond asked.

"Millie sent a message."

Diamond grabbed the piece of paper that the king pulled out. "I'm in the Metallic Council base. I need help. The people here are planning to kill Father. They said something about a soul key with a seal. The base is in Isuen Lake," Diamond murmured to himself, reading off the message. "The high-leveled council members said they would leave after the meeting to decide what to do with me. They shouldn't be here, though the low-levels will be. That's all I can tell you."

Diamond held a finger up, to stall the king. "I'll call our newest recruit, Onyx, to help with this. I will watch over the mission and send a few other Gemstones. This, you should know, means war. They kidnapped the princess and tried to extract the soul key to open the Edict's Vault. This is not something we can let happen."

Diamond's eyes turned hard, like his namesake. They started glowing. "They will start attacking. We need to be prepared. We are at war, as of this moment."

The king nodded at the intensity of Diamond's gaze. "Get her back."

Diamond watched him step out of the room before opening a portal back to the kid's location. There was no time to waste.

"You want me to fight Metallic Councilors? Even if they're low-leveled people, it-"

"They have Millie."

"I'll go."

Jay nodded at Diamond. "I'll go now, in fact."

During his training session he had saved all of the experience he had gotten. Jay dumped it into his Weaponmaster class, increasing his level in the class to ten.

Your Weaponmaster class has unlocked a new ability: Blade

Blade:

Cut with the elements.

Options: Error, infinite

Scales with different stats, depending on the element.

Jay stood up. "Let's go now."

Diamond summoned a portal, letting Jay walk through before stepping in. They appeared standing in midair above a lake. Jay stood on some kind of platform of air next to Diamond. "The base is in there. Go."

Jay stepped to the side, falling off the platform. He didn't know whether there wasn't a platform there, or whether Diamond had dissipated it when he had stepped to the side. Looking down at the lake, Jay Summoned the Ocean, melding his domain with the water as he hit, to cushion the impact. It took a chunk of his mana, but he kept the domain active, pulling himself downward with a Hook of Thought.

He couldn't see where his hook led, but he soon saw. The bottom of the lake quickly approached, and along with it, a massive compound made of shimmering stone. Only Jay's Collector's eyes let him see through the camoflauge enchantments. He saw the doors, directly in front of him, made of stone as well. He wasn't going to pull those open quietly. Jay started swimming around the compound, his domain making it easy. It seemed like he was regenerating Mana, actually, because of how deep it was. His domain seemed to be less Mana-expensive when he was this deep. There were no other entrances to the compound.

Jay pulled himself in front of the doors. So, we're not being quiet?

I don't have the energy to spend to be quiet right now.

But you're assaulting a base. Isn't it less energy-inducing to sneak than to fight an entire base?

True, but I mean mental energy.

You'll use less Will sneaking than fighting!

...I just don't feel like being sneaky.

That makes sense, I suppose.

Jay stared down the base, ready to start his mission. "I'm coming for you, Millie."