Evan agreed with the turtle proposition and awaited another stream of notifications.

Congratulations! You have bonded with Earthen drake(lvl26) You have 2 bonding slots left.

Congratulations! Due to your bond with Earthen drake(lvl26), you are immune to his attacks.

Would you like to name 'Earthen drake(lvl26)?

[.......... Say.... what do you want your new name to be turtle?]

[ What is name?]

[It's something I can recognize you by, a word that refers to you. So you should choose a name you like.]

The turtle looked at Evan like he had just had an epiphany. He opens hit mouth wide and roared.

[I LIKE BERRIES!!!!]

Evan chuckled at the turtle's simplicity.

[Yes I know you like berries, but that's not really badass enough for a baby dragon. Maybe something to do with earth? Like 'brick' for example, or 'rock']

The truck sized turtle looked at Evan accusingly, and whimpered.

[I no like those words...., I not brig!]

Evan, tired of the turtle's antics, decided to show tough love in that moment.

['Brig' it is then.]

"System, confirm name 'Brig' for the earthen drake."

Your bond has been named 'Brig'.

The turtle evidently got the notification as well, seeing as how it turned to Evan, and looked at him as if he had just been tortured.

[Nooooo!!! Why you do this?! I want name 'berries'!!]

[Sorry pal, you can't name yourself after something sweet when you're supposed to become the royal dragon of my soon to be kingdom. It won't leave a good impression! Plus, why 'berries' and not berry? That doesn't make any sense.]

The turtle grunted. It looked at Evan smugly.

[Only thing better than one berry...... is two berries.]

The turtle looked at Evan like a disappointed parent, thinking he had just shown Evan his superior intelligence and taste. Evan just sighed, and handed the turtle the basket of monster berries.

[Just eat, you overgrown boulder]

[Finally!]

The turtle started digging in, not sparing Evan another glance. Evan watched on as the turtle seemed to regain its energy with each bite. After a good 30 seconds all the berries were gone, and the turtle looked ready to run a marathon.

How high are brig's stats anyways? He's level 26 and looks like he could smash a house with a single charge.

Error! Due to your limited inspect level, you can only see limited information on your bonded familiar.

Brig lvl 26 Species Earthen drake (Earth-fire hybrid) Passive skills Earthen body(lvl~) Molten core(lvl~) Active skills

Lighten weight(lvl4) Impact charge (lvl8)

Earthen spike-rupture(lvl3) Fire breath(lvl1)

Huh. I can't see his stats, but his skills sound pretty strong. Impact charge and spike-rupture are probably evolved skills as well. I wonder what those passive skills do...

After Brig had finished his first breakfast in a week, he buried himself into the ground, right in front of the cave entrance.

It's about time I go hunting, but Brig is sleeping right now, and I need some reliable attacks before I even think of going out there again.

Evan returned to his mana spring, and started experimenting with mana, in the hopes of gaining new skills, and leveling old ones. His first experiment was to create a magic missile of some kind. His mana pulse was useful to stun enemies, but didn't do enough damage to actually make a difference. Brig, for example, was probably completely immune to it at his level. Since Evan could only gain levels by killing enemies stronger than himself, he was going to need a powerful piercing attack. He tried gathering mana into a cluster, and forming a little spear with. After that he would launch it at the wall, gradually cutting chunks out of the stone. He repeated this process until he received a notification.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill mana bolt(lvl1)

Mana bolt(lvl~) (active)

Effects: Shoot a concentrated cluster of mana. Power depends on the level and stats of the caster. All mana stats and general lvl count are gathered and then tripled, which translates into Dp. {(5 + 4.3 + 1 + 1.6) x 3 = 35.7 Dp.}

Casting this spell costs 10 mana.

This skill cannot evolve. It can be transmuted however, to contain different elements. This spell can gain additional properties, depending on the attunement and understanding of the caster. Mana cost increase in both cases, but so does damage in some.

The mana bolt spell is an anomaly among spells. Rather than having set rules and limits, this spell changes depending on who uses it. Some arch mages are said to be able to level mountains with this one spell. Each qualified mage has a specific version and form of mana bolt, which represents them as a mage. It counts as both our proof of identity as well as proof of skill. This is why within our alliance, the mana bolt skill represents your status in society. ~Alabaster kemro, professor at the AcMA school for aspiring mages and magicians.

There it is! A spell I will be able to rely on in the future! This spell would definitely be able to break Brig's defense. With this, killing higher leveled creatures is no longer a pipe dream. Now I just need a charge skill to dodge and attack, a shield skill and a physical attack-skill, for creatures with high magic defense, like that bedbug from before.

Also, didn't I gain another corrupted skill point after evolving because of my title? I'll cash that in at the end.

And so Evan continued practicing his mana, trying to develop new skills. He tried punching the wall for a physical attack skill, but found that his lumpy arms were only able to slam down. So he practiced raising his bulky, heavy arms and slammed the ground over and over again. After switching his methods for both skills several times, he gained two of the three skills he was hoping for.

Congratulations! You have learned skill Metal slam(lvl1)

Congratulations! You have learned skill Mana bubble(lvl1)

Metal slam(lvl1) (active)

Effects: Slam down with your bulky metal body. This attack deals a base 25 Dp, and adds damage based on momentum and body weight, as well as the weight of the target, which lowers Dp in turn. (Max 40 Dp)

This skill uses 30 Sp per use.

This skill can evolve after user trains skill to (lvl10) Note: This skill can only gain exp in battle.

Some heavier monsters gain the slam skill. The most dangerous variant of the skill tree is the metal slam skill path. Metal slam deals more damage, partly because of the base skill damage and partly because of the weight of most metal type monsters. The biggest problem, however, are the sharp edges that some metal monsters attach or grow on their body. With those, they will quite literally cut through flesh and bone. Luckily metal monsters are rare and slow. Other than the armorling race, wihch is comprised mostly out of hermits and small tribes, you probably won't come across any on the first and second layer. Thank god armorlings don't like conquest, or the surface, for that matter. ~A comprehensive thesis on skill evolution, by Arthur swatsun, independent underground city of Layura (first layer)

Mana bubble(lvl1) (active)

Effects: This spell raises a pure-mana shield around the caster. The barrier gives a flat 10 Dp reduction to physical attacks, and a flat 15 Dp reduction to any mana based spells or attacks.

Physical and mana Dp reduction increases by 1 and 2 per lvl, respectively. (lvl 10 -> 20 and 35 Dp reduction)

This spell can evolve at lvl 10, if the caster has a high enough attunement stat, and understanding of mana.

Mana bubble is another standard skill you will need to learn if you want to survive in the dungeon. It's an advantage we have over the monsters, since most of them don't have access to mana in the first place, let alone shield spells. As humanoids, we might be much weaker than monsters in almost every category, except for knowledge and unity. Monsters don't share, which is why we aren't dead yet. ~Royal mage at the Berni royal court, Mitro.

3 down, one to go. A charge skill is all that's left. I guess now would be the time to use my corrupted skill point, and hope for a charge or dodge skill.

Would you like to use corrupted skill point? YES/NO

Calculating random corrupted skill....

Congratulations! You have learned skill corrupted vertigo(lvl~).

Corrupted vertigo(lvl~) (passive)

Effects: All corruption in the surroundings gathers around you and releases a corrupted pressure on both friend and foe, lowering their stats.

This skill does not directly deal damage.

The lower down you go in the dungeon, the farther you stats will fall. This is because of the dense miasma of corruption which permeates the air down there. Legends state that the corruption both originates from and gathers around the legendary corrupted behemoths. I don't know if humanity will ever be strong enough to face such a creature. Jus the corruption alone is enough to kill a lvl 250 arch mage due to stats being lowered beyond 0.~A recollection of history: Dungeon crusades throughout history, and why most of them failed. (author unknown)

Would you like to slot Corrupted vertigo(lvl~) instead of skill corrupted breath(lvl1)?

Fuck no! It's cool that corrupted vertigo is a passive skill, but why would I switch out a skill that deals damage for one that doesn't? And let's not forget about Brig. If I lower his stats in a fight he might die from his intelligence going in the red! Poor sod....

Possible skill combination detected! Would you like to combine Skill Corrupted vertigo(lvl~)and skill corrupted breath(lvl1)? YES/NO

"........."

Should I? What if I gain another no-damage skill? Still...... a combination of the two coul amplify the quality of the skill, and it's not like corrupted breath is THAT good, other than in drawn out fights. Let's just do it.....

Congratulations! The skill Corrupt Crash(lvl1) has been formed.

Corrupted crash(lvl1)

Effects: User charges in a direction, gathering corruption in the process. The moment user craches into something, a blast of corruption will erupt. This skill has a 3 hour cooldown, and uses 5 Hp per use. If the skill is used before the end of the cooldown is activated, this skill uses double the required Hp(10), and resets the cooldown. The next consecutive use doubles the Hp use again(20), and so on and so forth.

This skill deals a flat 30 base physical damage, with added damage for momentum upon crash (up to an extra 20 Dp). Minimum and maximum damage increase by 2 each skill level up.

This skill deals corruption damage in an aoe blast based on amount absorbed during charge (up to 35 Dp) and inflicts the corrupted ailment for a certain amount of time after eruption. (duration ailment depends on corruption absorbed during charge, up to 1 hour) Maximum corrupted Dp dealt increases by 1 each skill level up, while the required absorbed corruption for max damage decreases by 1% per skill level up.

The corruption ailment deals 0.01% of Hp as Dp, per second. (1 hour ailment -> deals 36% of targets Hp as Dp, regardless of level)

This skill can be evolved at skill lvl 20.

If mana is the voice of the world, then corruption are it's true thoughts. ~????????, ???????, buried continent.

Skill Corrupted crash has been slotted automatically.

Yesssss! Exactly what I wanted! Now my skill set is complete for the next little while. I'm starting to become more of a demon king than an actual king though. I guess that's the last of my worries right now. Let's go wake brig and take these skills for a spin in the woods outside of my home base.

Evan found his round, rocky friend where he left him, and woke him up by using metal slam on the ground in front of him. A boom resounded and a half a second later Brig woke up, rose out of the ground looking for his attacker. After seeing Evan, he calmed down, and scolded him for scaring him.

[You no make joke while Brig sleep, you big meanie!]

[How do I wake you up then? By just waiting?]

Brig fell deep in thought for moment; or at least as deep as you would expect from him. After a few moments he looked at Evan greedily.

[Just bring berry for brig, and brig will no sleep more.]

[You greedy bastard! Although I guess I don't hate it. I am a generous king, after all!]

Brig looked at Evan and sighed. He confirmed Evan's statement sarcastically.

[Yes, yes, you king of country with only you and Brig.]

Evan looked at brig with a blank stare.

[..........]

Brig returned the gesture, stifling a rough laugh.

[.......... hurhur....mmmpff]

[You're laughing at your own joke, dumbass?]

Almost not being able to hold it in, Brig tried to explain it away.

[Nonono, Brig has big burp!]

Evan decided not to prod him further, scared of another 3 minute long whine for berries.

[Whatever, I don't need your sas Brig, you'll see. Let's go hunting first. Do you know any good hunting spots in the forest?]

Brig looked at Evan excitedly.

[Hunting for berries?]

[No, for monsters, to get levels.]

Brig looked defeated, but continued anyway.

[Oh. If you looking for meanies that bother Brig sometimes, there is green monkeys with fake trees near waterfall, and lizards with sticks in swamp. Also one strong dog with two heads near black hill. Brig is stronger though.]

[Green monkeys? You mean goblins? Let's start with those. Brig, lead me to the green monkeys first.]

And so Brig and Evan headed for the goblin encampment. 30 minutes later, they arrived at a clearing. There was a waterfall going down from one of the cliffs surrounding the valley. The waterfall was long, but not a lot of water was falling down, which meant the goblin huts could stay standing along the bank. Brig looked at Evan, and gestured in the direction of the goblin huts with his head.

[Look, there, fake trees.]

Evan looked over and saw what he meant. A green little dwarf with a large nose, chin and ears walked out, evidently a goblin.

Goblin warrior(lvl8)

[Yes, those are fake trees, Brig. Didn't you have a fire breath attack? Can you burn their huts down to start? That will draw them here, then we can kill them in one fell swoop.]

Brig did as told and used his Fire breath(lvl1) skill. What surprised Evan though, was that no fire came out. Instead, Brig positioned his head upward, and shot out three steaming balls of lava at three separate houses. His aim was perfect, and the resident goblins almost immediately perished.

Congratulations! Your bonded creature Brig has slain Goblin worker(lvl4) You have been awarded 0 Exp.

Congratulations! Your bonded creature Brig has slain Goblin cook(lvl3) You have been awarded 0 Exp.

Congratulations! Your bonded creature Brig has slain Goblin child(lvl1) You have been awarded 0 Exp.

Congratulations! Your bonded creature Brig has slain Goblin warrior(lvl9) You have been awarded 123 Exp.

Congratulations! Your bonded creature Brig has slain Goblin woodcutter(lvl5) You have been awarded 0 Exp.

Congratulations! Your bonded creature Brig has slain Goblin ranger(lvl11) You have been awarded 193 Exp.

Congratulations! Your bonded creature Brig has slain Goblin worker (lvl4) You have been awarded 0 Exp.

............

Evan gained quite a bit of exp from that one volley.

[Brig, who taught you to aim so well?]

[Brig mom teach Brig. She very big and strong. She tell brig to grow big and strong before going back down.]

Huh, I guess Brig's mom lives further in the dungeon then. She must be ridiculously strong, I should treat Brig well, so his mom doesn't take revenge.

A crowd of goblin warriors was already starting to form. Warriors, archers and even a larger, stronger looking goblin was amongst the pack. Evan guessed he was the chieftain.

'Corrupted Crash!'

Evan charged forward, black and green lines of corruption gathering around him like a swarm, before slamming into the troupe. The corrupted discharge erupted, like an explosion of flame and black steam, charring several weaker goblins black.

Congratulations! You have slain goblin warrior(lvl9)! You have gained 123 exp.

Congratulations! You have slain goblin archer(lvl12)! You have gained 210 exp.

Congratulations! You have slain goblin rogue(lvl10)! You have gained 168 exp.

...........

Evan immediately raised his copper fists, and slammed down both arms on top of a stronger looking goblin. It was swatted like a fly, bones breaking and flesh rupturing. Evan threw the goblin pancake in the horde, and started his slaughter. Brig charged in with his signature impact charge, and killed even more goblins than Evan. The two rampaged, and after 10 minutes, only the goblin chieftain was left.

Hobgoblin Chieftain(lvl32)

The thing was even higher leveled than Brig. Brig was still stronger, due to his skills and constitution. Dragons were one of the only species that could fight above their level.

The chieftain was only slightly wounded, but Evan still had 40 Hp left, and Brig didn't show any signs of even being hurt.

'Mana bolt!'

A light blue ball manifested in front of Evan, and flew toward the hobgoblin at a surprising speed. The chieftain raised one of his two silver daggers, and activated a skill. The dagger seemed to be coated in a red hue. The goblin slashed at the incoming projectile, and deflected it into the ground. The chieftain seemed to be tiring out though. Evan had about 40 mana left, so this would be a battle of attrition.

[Brig, stay out of it! I want to kill this bastard on my own!]

Brig grunted, and backed up out of the fight. The goblin showed a sign of intelligence, because he seemed to understand that this fight was now a 1 v 1. He focused solely on Evan.

Evan took the initiative, and used another mana bolt. The chieftain saw it coming, and turned into green smoke, reappearing right behind Evan. The chieftain brought his knife down, and tried to find a chink in Evan's armor. Unsurprisingly, there was none. Instead, he dug his knife into the armor itself, but his attack didn't quite penetrate. Evan swung off the goblin, and raised his fist's for a metal slam. He brought them down, and even though the opponent almost dodged, he hit the shoulder of the goblin. The agile enemy chieftain backed up by using a skill which fazed him backward, and held his arm, which was now almost completely smashed off of his shoulder. The chieftain decided to let go, and let it hang there limply. He readied his knife, and prepared himself for another attack.

Evan decided to ignore the cooldown of his charge attack, and once again charged at the final goblin, with only 25 Hp remaining at this point. He slammed into the ground where the goblin had been. The chieftain had jumped up, ready to pierce down with his knife. Evan narrowly dodged to the side, losing him another 3 Hp, leaving him with 22. The goblin seemed to be aware that another corrupted crash would cost Evan 20 Hp, and bring him down to low health. The goblin used this knowledge, and kept his distance waiting to strike, thinking Evan wouldn't us it. He thought wrong, of course. Evan readied a metal slam, and the goblin used his faze dodge, to go backwards, but it was a feint, and Evan used Corrupted crash instead. The goblin, with no stamina or mana left, was crushed by the crash. Evan narrowly won, with only 2 Hp left.

Congratulations! You have slain hobgoblin chieftain(lvl32) You have earned 2160 exp.

Combat has ended. Tallying up experience points. 5431 exp total.

Congratulations! You have reached level 23! Exp 428/540 You have earned 18 skill points!

Evan was elated. This hunting session had brought him up 18 levels at once. It was a close battle, but it definitelly paid off. As Evan was thinking about what skills to upgrade soon, an aged voice came from behind the waterfall. Evan could hear it clearly despite the waterfall because of mana speak.

[What's all this ruuuckuuuus? Get off my lawn you damn kiiiids!]

The voice reminded him of his neighbor in his path. Rather than a wise voice, it sounded more like a bitter old man who had gone senile. Evan didn't know how strong his new neighbor was, but he wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks at 2 Hp. He called out.

[Uhhhhh, sorry for disturbing you sir! There were some intruders in your front yard! We were just cleaning them up.]

The voice hesitated.

[Cleaning out intruders on my lawn? You mean these green buggers don't you. Well don't just stand there, come in you dumb buffoon. That 2 Hp won't save you from the rip back home. Get in here.]

Evan didn't really want to spend the night at an old guy's house, so he played dumb.

[In where sir? I don't know where you are.]

The voice fell silent, and from behind the waterfall a glistening object appeared. It was even larger than Brig, with a platinum-like crimson sheen. As it came out further Evan noticed some familiarities. It had 2 arms with spikes on the elbows, and 5 knifelike fingers on each hand. Two legs floated beneath it. It reminded Evan of.... himself!

Cursed Omega Armorling(lvl168)

The elder armorling called out.

[In here seeeeee.... well what are you waiting for? Get over here little one!]