Author's Note: Sorry I'm late. Work was hard. Now that I've gotten a little accustomed to it, I should be able to release more frequently. Ah who am I kidding? You know that game Cookie Clickers? Well I found the game. I thought that I had only played for around 2 hours, and suddenly 2 weeks had flown by. How the hell did I even survive?

This chapter is over 5000 words.

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Null gives a few test shots of his needle launchers after Cici finishes buffing him. The scorpion didn't even bother to move. As expected, the needles bounce off of his exoskeleton. Null then readies his crossbow. When Null fires his crossbow, there's a loud chink sound, and the arrow gets repelled. There's a white mark on the exoskeleton where the arrow hit, but other than that, the scorpion is completely unharmed.

Null has a dejected look thinking, 'The crossbow has never failed to at least injure an enemy. This is the first time that this has happened.'

Cici is thinking the same thing. “This is the first time that I've seen your crossbow fail. I really hope you have something to deal with that. Would Art Materialization work?”

“I could kill it with Art Materialization, but how many levels would I have to sacrifice to do that? Every time I had used Art Materialization, it was because there were so many enemies, that I could mostly get my levels back. That won't work this time. I would win, but it would be a Pyrrhic victory.”

While they were talking, the scorpion was coming closer. Luckily it was slow, but to Null and Cici, the scorpion looked as if it was a slow moving tank ready to mow them down.

Cici tells Null, “I have a method of dealing with it, though it will really burn through my mana.”

“What?”

“I can manipulate the buffs I put on you in real time. Depending on what you will do, I can make it so that either you get a boost in intelligence and wisdom, or solely get a super boost in wisdom.”

“If you could do that then why didn't you in the first place?”

“Because its burns through my mana too quickly! Didn't you hear me!? Every time I had buffed you, I ended up buffing you in intelligence and wisdom, and left you be! To constantly be switching to how much of a buff you get it what will take a lot of mana!”

“How will you manipulate the buffs with those long ass chants?”

“The lengthy chants are for initiating the techniques. Once I got the chants for intelligence and wisdom down, I can turn them off and on at will.”

“Okay. Start moving. The scorpion is starting to get close.” Null says to Cici.

They start running to another spot.

Cici then says, “This is the plan then. When you're fighting hand to hand or maneuvering, your buffs will be in both intelligence and wisdom. When you're about to toss out bombs, your buffs will be in wisdom. The needles and crossbow will be tricky, because the poison effects will depend on your wisdom stat while the firing of the weapon will depend on your manipulation for dexterity. When you're about to fire your needles or crossbow, I will buff you solely in wisdom. You will then manipulate your mana for dexterity. Remember that when I'm putting your boost solely in wisdom, your mana will return to what it was before I started buffing you. Your wisdom will have more than 3x your original amount while your mana will be where it was before I buffed you. You will burn through your mana 3x as fast during this, so try not to manipulate your mana for too long.”

“Got it.”

Null is about to run out. The scorpion is getting to close. If Null doesn't hurry up, Cici will be in danger.

Null runs towards the scorpion to see what it will do. When it got close, it's tail suddenly attacked him. It was so fast that Null only had time to deflect it slightly. The tail scraped against his side, piercing through his armor. Null managed to mitigate the damage done to him by a lot, but that single attack took off a third of his health. Even though Cici instantly refilled Null's health, his expression still turned ugly.

'I don't think anything I have will be able to harm it too much. Let's think. What do I know about scorpions? Well first, their eyesight is poor in light. Second, since scorpions are arthropods, they rely on diffusion to get oxygen from the air. This scorpion's eyesight doesn't seem to be that bad, and something this huge will not solely rely on diffusion. I was only separated by a meter before it attacked. Is that it's visual range? I don't have enough time to make a painting for Art is Feeling.'

Null rushed forward. He had a general plan ready.

He threw his bombs. The second the bombs left his hand, Cici put all of Null's buffs solely into wisdom. This made the strength of the bombs double even further. She then immediately put the buffs back into intelligence. Only a cleric of high skill would be capable of that. If the timing were off by even a little, it would fail.

'I will have to get used to fighting alone again when separated from the cleric. She is far too skilled.' Null thinks to himself.

The scorpion's tail rapidly intersected all the bombs. Thanks to Cici buffing Null solely in wisdom in that split second, it actually looked like it made a tiny dent into its health. He once again ran forward while it was still dazed with that bomb attack, throwing more bombs at it.

The scorpion, seemingly stunned, aimed its tail at the bombs and fired off its acid from its stinger. Null manipulated his mana for dexterity and got out of the way, dashing to the side. The bombs that he threw didn't even make it to the scorpion. The bombs melted down in less than a second. When Cici saw how fast the bombs had melted, she immediately took cover behind a boulder.

'What corrosive acid. I don't think even the cleric's healing could keep up with that corrosive speed. To rush in would be suicide. Lets see how much acid it contains.' Null thought.

Null takes out more bombs and starts running around the scorpion in a circle. The thing is, only a few of them were true bombs. Most of them were empty bomb cases.

'Looks like the tail is a bit slower in attacking from its sides.'

About 20 seconds in, the acid stops firing.

'Now!' Null starts running forward.

He unravels and raises the crossbow. The instant he raised it, Cici put his buffs into wisdom. Null fires the crossbow, and Cici returns the buffs into intelligence. It landed on its underside. This time the crossbow was powerful enough to penetrate the exoskeleton, but it still didn't do much damage.

'Well, at least I know I can hurt it now.'

15 seconds after the scorpion had stopped firing the acid, it starts again.

Null rapidly moves out the way. He throws out a smoke bomb. Null thinks that if it can't see him, it can't accurately attack, but he was wrong. When that smoke came up, the scorpion raised his head, and spat out a wide jet of acid. Null stopped in his tracks and retreated.

'What can I do?' Null frustrated thinks.

'It can spit acid from its mouth and its tail? There must be something that can break this deadlock.'

The scorpion, seeing Null run away, turns and starts heading towards Cici. Her constantly manipulating Null's buffs caught the scorpion's attention.

'As much as I want to see her killed, I still need her alive for now.'

Null rushed forward and took out a bunch of cluster bombs. Since the scorpion's attention was on Cici, his tail didn't defend. As soon as they left Null's hand, Cici put Null's buffs into wisdom which caused even further damage. It looked like it hurt it a lot, and it took out a bit more health. This caused the scorpion to once again start chasing after Null.

“Null, I'm now out of mana. You'll have to do this on your own for a while.”

She takes out a large amount of mana potions and starts drinking it. That's one of the weaknesses of clerics. They can refill health and endurance, but they cannot refill mana.

'Damn. I've done all this and I have only taken off less than a tenth of its health. That exoskeleton is too tough. The last attack I did took off the most. The worst part is that I don't have enough bombs left to take out the remaining health. I might have to rely on Art Materialization. That's a last resort though. I only have so many levels left to give.'

The scorpion once again fires it's acid from its tail. Null keeps moving out the way.

'What can I do? What's the weaknesses of scorpions again? Bright light, and they need to breathe through their skin, but I've already determined something of that size cannot solely rely on breathing through diffusion alone. Does this mean that this game doesn't care about the physics of giant insect growth? No. Everything I've read ensures that aside from the addition of mana, the laws of physics are consistent. Even the magical laws here are consistent. If that's the case, then how could this scorpion grow to such a large size? Wait. Maybe...'

Null manipulates his mana in order to sense what's inside the scorpion. When his mana reaches it, he has a eureka moment.

'I knew it! It's the mana that allows the monsters to grow so big! The mana's movements inside the body nourishes the body in place of oxygen. In humans, the mana heart is in the center of the chest and is small. If you get rid of the mana heart, humans will look exactly the same, but the scorpion's mana heart looks like it covers half of its midsection. I've also noticed that the larger the creature is to its real life counter part, the larger the mana heart will be! I now know how to beat it! I still need to deal with that tail though.'

Due to figuring out the weakness of the scorpion, 10% extra damage done to scorpion. The scorpion's weakness will be marked in red.

'Good. This means that my hypothesis was right.'

“When your mana finishes refilling let me know. For now, I'm going to deal with that annoying tail.”

“How are you going to do that?”

Null chose not to answer, and took out some wire attached to throwing knives. He once again goes forward to attack. He takes out more throwing knives and throws them at the scorpion. The scorpion once again fires off its acid at the knives. Null smirks.

'It's a good thing everything I had thrown before was explosive in nature. Now its cautious.'

The scorpion spared no expense. Everything that came close was instantly melted. Null moved out the way as well, to not get hit by it. As soon as the 30 second firing period for the scorpion was over, Null rushed forward. Null went towards the side of the scorpion. Even though the scorpion's tail can fire acid all around it, the scorpion's mouth can only face forward. The scorpion is slow when it comes to turning its body, so Null doesn't have to worry about acid coming from its mouth when attacking its side.

He then threw all the cluster bombs he could muster. The scorpion hissed and was visibly injured.

“Null, I'm good to go! Go for it!”

He threw the wires that were attached to the knives at its tail. He then threw heavy metallic balls at the knives which hammered the knives inside the wall.

Null jumped forward, firing the crossbow towards its midsection. Thanks to the bombs from before along with Cici buffing his wisdom while firing the arrow, the arrow penetrated the scorpion's exoskeleton deeply. Null then jumped towards the skeleton while spinning in mid air. The scorpion seeing Null practically flying towards it attempts to grab it with its pincers. Null barely makes it through them. He then makes it towards the wall that the scorpion's tail is attached to, and starts running up it. The scorpion tries to move its tail, but it now feels that the tail cannot move. It didn't notice it while it was being attacked by the bombs. The tail starts trying to dig out the wall.

When Null makes it to a certain height, he suddenly dashes downward towards the arrow he embedded inside the scorpion. The tail finally frees itself, and starts chasing after Null. The tail is moving downward faster than Null can fall. The tail stabs at Null's backside, but thankfully, the 15 second rest period for the scorpion's tail isn't over, so it can't inject its acid. Null grunts from the pain while pouring all the mana he can muster into his right leg, which empties his remaining mana.

He stomps on the arrow creating a massive shock wave. What Null was aiming for from the start was attacking the midsection with a mana attack. If it was just a normal attack on the midsection, the scorpion would have been hurt, but would've still been able to fight, but the mana heart isn't something that can be touched with normal means. What Null did was a mana attack. Null threw the scorpion's mana system out of wack. The mana system which delivered mana to its cells stopped working properly. The scorpion had no choice but to fall to the ground. It had no control over its limbs. It's like it was suffocating. It became very sluggish trying to fight back, but it was no use. Soon enough, Null leisurely killed the scorpion.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

Null looks at his palm, opening and closing it. Then pours mana into it.

He thinks, 'I can use this style of attack later. If I can attack the mana heart with an attack of mana, I can win a lot more easily.'

Cici runs over excited saying, “We killed the scorpion, and you didn't even have to use Art Materialization! Even impressive is that we beat it with only 2 people who haven't even reached level 250! Null, you are truly abnormal.”

The drops fell to the floor, but Null wasn't worried about that for the moment. He and Cici went towards the downed man covered in purple spots.

Cici says, “It's amazing! He ran through all this way by himself, fighting through monsters, all while having Plague's disease! It took the scorpion to finally down him, and he still isn't dead! This guy practically isn't human!”

Null then injected him with the antidote. With that done, they moved to gather the drops. Cici got a ring that can help amplify her healing power. Null got some extra set of clothes. Clothing is one of the few things that he cannot create nor repair, so for Null, its good to have a few extra pairs of clothes.

Null goes into a corner on the other side and sits. Cici then goes next to the downed man, hastening his recovery. She heals him, gives him soup, and tends to his wounds.

'I hardly have any more bombs left. I'll save them for when we reach the boss.' Null thinks.

Soon enough, they start relaxing in their respective spots. Null takes out paper trying to figure out how to level up calligraphy and painting. Cici is humming a song while typing messages in the chat rooms.

Around 3 hours pass. The downed man suddenly jolts up. From the looks of it, he's still too weak to do anything. He looks to be in his 30's and has an athletic build of a sprinter. His hair was short and he sported a goatee. His equipment was dazzling and expensive looking. Even when weak, his stern looks make him looks like someone you don't want to mess with.

Cici hurriedly tells him, “Sir, you can't just get up all of a sudden! Your wounds haven't healed!”

“Plague! Your day of reckoning has come!” He yells out to no one in particular.

The man limps while running towards the door leading further into the dungeon. Null throws some bolas at the man's legs which causes him to trip and fall face first onto the ground. He grunts in pain and finally notices that he isn't alone. He gives them a wary look.

“Are you two minions of Plague?” He asks hostile towards them.

“I'm no one's minion.” Null answers.

“No, we're not.” Cici says.

“Then why are you trying to stop me?”

Null walks over to the downed man. “I have just healed you, with a potion that took me 12 days to make with little rest. If you want to run off to your death, that's fine by me, but you will have to pay the difference either with money, bartering, or cooperation.”

“...You found a cure for Plague's poison?” The man asks surprised.

“Good. Now we're getting somewhere. Yes I did. Now are you going to work together with us until we kill Plague, or are we going to have to get in each others' way?”

The guy nods and says, “First, let me introduce myself. My name is Swordedge, a level 266 swordsman from Qasburg Kingdom's capital. We came here to deal with Plague. At first Loretalon was adamant about finding a cure before we fought Plague, but seeing all the people dying before me, I couldn't wait any longer, so I looked everywhere and eventually found the cave. It was covered with the poison, but I would not fall before taking Plague's head!”

Null, impressed, thinks, 'He made it all the way here while being poisoned, and he managed to survive this long. Not bad.'

“So where do we go from here?” Cici asks.

Null says, “If Swordedge is here, then that must mean the monsters up ahead will be even stronger. My poison is reaching the limits on what I can affect adequately, and my bomb count is dangerously low.”

“And you wanted to do this dungeon by yourself.” Cici quips.

Null ignores her comment.

Swordedge then asks, “Are the villagers cured?”

“Yes. After he found the cure, we distributed the recipe to other alchemists to make.” Cici says.

This causes Swordedge to calm down.

He says, “Since you say the villagers have been cured, I'm in no rush. Let's recuperate before we head out.”

“That's fine by me.” Says Cici.

Swordedge looks around asks, “Are you two the only ones here?”

“Yup yup! It was very difficult getting this far with just us. This guy here was more difficult to deal with than the monsters.” Cici says with a sigh showing off her exhaustion.

Null just keeps ignoring her.

“Just the two of you!?” Swordedge responds shocked. It's one thing for him to make it this far. After all, he's a level 266 speed type swordsman with his sword mastery at intermediate, but these people don't even look that strong. One has the gear of a cleric while the other is an alchemist supposedly with the gear of an assassin. It should be impossible getting this far with just them unless they are high leveled.

“What are your levels if you don't mind telling?” Swordedge asks curious.

“I'm level 241. Null, what's your level?”

“205.” Null says.

“Impossible! Do you take me for a fool!?” Swordedge glares at them both. “Even a 100 warriors of my level would find it near impossible to go through here! The only reason I was able to is because of my powerful equipment, my intermediate swordsman mastery, and my constant running! I'm also a speed type swordsman, so I avoided the fights mostly by running away! You would have me believe that with just a level 241 cleric and a level 205 alchemist, you could make it this far!?”

Cici at first was shocked that he got so angry, but then she understood. If someone had told her that a level 241 cleric and a level 205 alchemist conquered a C-ranked dungeon by themselves, she would be offended that the person would take her for a fool.

Cici then says, “Actually, Null here is a librarian, not an alchemist. Don't worry. I made the same mistake too.”

“...”

Cici giggles at the dumb look Swordedge is making while Null couldn't care less with what's going on between them. He walks off into a corner and takes out a charcoal stick and paper and starts drawing.

“Okay. I think I get it.” Swordedge says while laughing.

“Get what?” Cici asks.

“The Qasburg force must be hiding. Those jokers! Most of those muscle headed idiots love pranking as much as they love fighting and drinking. A lot of them have disdain for non warrior classes. Are they forcing you into their pranks?” Swordedge asks.

'Whew! Looks like my decision to do this dungeon with the cleric was the slightly better choice. I don't think I could handle those people. I've never been good with jock types.' Null thinks while drawing a picture of a dove.

“While the Qasburg force should be on their way here, they are currently not inside the cave. It is just me and Null.” Cici says matter of factly.

“Bu-But how!?”

“Well, I have intermediate in my clerical mastery.”

“Intermediate!?” Swordedge says impressed. “Well even with that it should still be impossible for the both of you to make it this far!”

“You should ask that freak of nature that's currently hiding in the corner.” Cici says deadpanned while looking at Null.

“The librarian?”

Swordedge looks at Null's hooded expressionless face while he is drawing.

“Underhanded tactics.” Null says succinctly.

“Pretty much.” Cici agrees.

Swordedge is clearly not impressed.

'Shoddy equipment, worn out low level clothes, and no weapon currently on him. Well, librarians cant really hold weapons can they? Well, according to her, he was the one who found a cure to the disease spread by Plague, so his alchemy skills must be exceptional, but alchemy alone wouldn't get you through here. Well, if they don't want to reveal how they made it here, they don't have to.'

Swordedge then says, “Well, I suppose I should that I should thank you both for saving my life. I would like to teach you both a technique.”

Cici gets absolutely giddy. Null pauses his drawing listening in, but doesn't do anything else.

Swordedge continues. “This technique is something that any class can use. It's most useful for the warrior classes, or people proficient in close combat. The technique is called Flinch. It causes a moment's hesitation towards your opponents. Usually, you would need to reach a certain level or reach a high enough mastery in a close combat skill in order to learn it. The skill also has a special property of evolving according to the user.”

Cici pouts. “Aw. I would rather not waste the time to learn that skill. I'm a healer after all.”

“Haha! I thought you might say that.” He then looks at Null in the corner and says, “How about you Null?”

He gets up and goes to Swordedge with the same expressionless face.

“I would like to learn the skill.”

Swordedge coughs. The way Null goes around with no emotions kind of creeps Swordedge out.

“Listen carefully. This technique requires utmost concentration. Allow me to demonstrate. Get in a fighting position.”

Null nods and raises his fists. Swordedge takes out his sword and closes his eyes. He then abruptly opens them into a fierce expression and rushes forward. Null feels incomparable hesitation for a split second. Swordedge's sword presses against Null's neck. Null's eyes show shock. He couldn't do anything. Swordedge feels satisfied that he was able to get an expression on Null's face.

“Pour out your emotions while fighting as if you want to set the person on fire.”

Null does this while rushing forward.

“What was that!? I barely felt anything! Again!”

Null and Swordedge keep working at it.

“Pathetic! Again!”

“Are you even trying!? Again!”

After 4 hours, Null finally learns the skill.

You have learned the skill Flinch.

FlinchSkill typeActiveSkill ProficiencyBeginner level 1Causes the opponent to hesitate. The higher your melee ability, the more effective the skill will work. Can evolve depending on your actions.

Cost: 400 mana

“4 hours? Hmph. It usually takes around 2 hours for someone to learn the skill when I teach them. Are you all already to go?” Swordedge asks them.

“Yes! Let's hurry and beat this dungeon already!” Cici says.

Null just nods.

They soon head out. Cici and Swordedge were talking along the way. He respects a person who can reach intermediate in a class. Cici is just happy that there is finally someone who wants to talk to her.

'Finally. She stops trying to talk to me. It was good work that I saved him.' Null thinks relieved.

It didn't take long for them to meet with enemies. When they made it to an area with giant honeycombs, they knew they had to fight. The enemies that came out this time were giant bees.

“Take this!” Swordedge runs out not even waiting for the others.

“So impulsive! Ianuaria, give those who I choose the strength to move what they couldn't. Amplify strength! Ianuaria, give those who I choose the ability to move swiftly. Amplify dexterity!”

Swordedge is hit with a bathing light. His body feels lighter and stronger.

“Amazing! A cleric of such skill!”

Swordedge rushes forward, leaving a deadly streak in his wake. Everything that streak touches gets sliced into bits. Cici buffs Null afterwards, and he goes out to fight. Cici remains in the rear. After fighting for a while, a problem soon becomes apparent that Null and Cici notice, but Swordedge doesn't.

'The bees are getting more and more organized.' Null thinks.

He noticed that it's getting harder and harder to hit them. They move out of the way of the projectile path long before Null throws them. Even if its from behind, they dodge perfectly. They move far too fast, and they defend their comrades perfectly. The bees are using pheromones to communicate with each other. Its like Null is fighting a single shifting organism rather than a bunch of individual bees.

'What am I supposed to- Oh duh!' Null thinks to himself.

He once again runs towards an enemy. The enemy prepares to move out of the way. Null then uses his new technique, Flinch. The bee wanting to move, froze on the spot not knowing what's going on. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, but that was all Null needed. He shot forward, manipulating his mana for strength and cut the bee in half. Swordedge was watching Null out of the corner of his eye while he fought.

'Amazing. His skills are like that of a monks, but with better control and very little wasted mana! No wonder they were able to make it so far. Is he really a librarian?'

Thanks to Flinch, they quickly cleared the area.

Null thinks, 'I guess these types of enemies were put here so that a player who had acquired Flinch can know how to use it. How clever.'

They moved on and fought with other group of monsters. The longer they fought together, the more respect Swordedge had for Null.

It only took 5 days. They make it to a set of giant doors. Swordedge gets a serious look on his face. Cici was proud that they were able to make it this far with only three people. Null just wanted to get this quest over with so he can go back to his solitude.

Swordedge opens the door. This boss room looks a lot different from the ones Null is used to seeing. This room looks more like a laboratory with a wide open space than a dungeon fight. The place is covered in test tubes . There is someone sitting in a chair currently mixing chemicals. A foul smell is coming from the test tube he's mixing chemicals in. The person holding the test tube looks sickly, but powerful. He has a skinny frame with a slight hunchback, and is currently wearing a long purple robe. He is producing a sickly aura which makes one not want to approach.

The man looks like he's far too busy to be bothered with the likes of them.

Swordedge upon seeing him yells out, “Plague!”

Plague looks annoyed. “Plague, Plague. What a stupid nickname that the kingdom has given me. Well, they're not wrong. I sort of have gotten accustomed to the name.”

“Plague! You will answer to your crimes with your death!”

Swordedge prepares to run forward, but was stopped by Null putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Null, why are you stopping me!? We have to kill him!”

“In a minute.”

Null walks forward.

He says, “So I'm guessing you're the one called Plague?”

“Hm.” Plague nods. “It's a pretentious nickname, but it suits me. From the animal spies I've sent to monitor Panford, you must be Null, the person who found a cure to my disease.”

Null nods.

“So, since you're not blindly attacking me, there must be something that you want. Spit it out.”

Null shrugs while nodding his head saying, “Nothing really. I'm just satiating my curiosity. I always find it fascinating how people who grow up in terrible environments diverge into different paths. So what's your story?”

“It's nothing so dramatic. In the Qasburg Association of Alchemists, I was always the butt monkey. People would always laugh at my hypotheses. I was trying to find every alchemist's dream potion: Immortality.”

Null knew right then and there how the story was going to go.

“However, in order to find that elusive potion, I wanted to delve even into the forbidden potions. I decided to experiment with monsters, which then made me want to experiment with people. Apparently the Association didn't like that. They quickly had me arrested! So what if a few people died!? It was just a small price to pay for immortality! You can already guess the results. I had failed. Although I failed, I gained something far greater during my research. Ultimate poisons! With my research-”

“Alright, I've heard enough.” Null stops him. “One more question. Why did you experiment on people?” Null asks.

“Because I could! The strong can do whatever they want, while the weak can only accept that fate! You're a foreigner, but your world works exactly the same way! In any world, it is the strong person that decides the weak person's fate!” He laughs maniacally.

Null then says, “Every day I wonder if the path I have chosen was the correct one. Thanks once again for reaffirming my beliefs. People are disgusting. Nothing will change that. Enough. I want to kill you and return to my solitude.”

“Don't think you're all high and mighty because you found a cure to one of my poisons! Though that may had been the most powerful, I still have plenty of poisons within me!” A fog starts bellowing out of him.

“It's time to end this.” Null says while pulling out his weapons.

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Author's Note: The final battle and arc conclusion next chapter! Whew! I'm starting to get arc fatigue.