Chapter 203: A Few Days Of Dungeon Diving Later

-----

“GROOOAAR!”

RUMBLE!

The dying cry of an A-Rank Venomous Wyvern King echoed within the Dungeon’s caves as its gigantic body collapsed above the floor, blood coming from its open jaws. Its eyes rolled, quickly turning deep red.

[You have slain the Dungeon Boss of the {A Rank Dungeon: Venomous Reptilian Caves}!]

[The Dungeon has begun to collapse; please retreat while there’s time.]

[A {Dungeon Boss Treasure Chest} has appeared!]

POOF!

At the same time as the giant wyvern died, a huge silver-colored treasure chest appeared in front of it. My brother smiled, sighing in relief while being covered with blood. His eyes glowed bright red. He was in his zone, now happy and, at the same time, thrilled. He was a beast that enjoyed fighting, hunting, and bloodshed a lot. I blame Fenrir for turning him into this.

“Ugh, this is the third dungeon we come to; can we stop now?” I asked him with a slightly tired expression.

“Ah? Oh, yeah. I guess it should be getting darker outside.” My brother nodded. “You can take the body and the treasure chest, Anna. Everything’s for you today.”

Before this dungeon, we also visited two other Dungeons with Baihe and my brother. The first one was a C-Rank Dungeon compatible with Baihe named Snowman’s Castle. Which was a castle made of ice filled with Snowmen Monsters and the Snow Queen as the boss, also made of snow.

We steamrolled through it in just an hour, and Baihe got a lot of valuable monster cores to absorb, which were very compatible with her, so their chances of giving her power were quite high. She got stronger, without a doubt.

And then the second dungeon we visited was the B-Rank Dungeon named Lizardman King’s Jungle, full of barbarian lizardmen that used weapons and armor and had a giant king. It didn’t take too long to beat either, if it wasn’t because the jungle interior was incredibly vast, and we got lost for a few hours. And it stank there, and there were annoying mosquitoes too!

And now in this damned cave, it was so labyrinthine, and we never could find the boss; it was so hidden away! But yeah, he did let me get all the monster corpses and the treasure chests, so I am quite thankful for being spoon-fed by my big brother.

“With what we have, you should be able to get stronger with the Monster Cores, Anna.” He said. “I couldn’t find any light attribute dungeon, sadly, but you got demonic powers, too, right? And also poison or something; I remember hearing you talk about it once. So make sure to absorb these to get a bit stronger.”

“Okay, big brother, I get it…” He obviously didn’t know I could level up. But the Boss Cores were still useful to me, so I happily took them. I can either turn them into equipment materials or absorb them to get one of their skills or two. And some bonus stats.

After storing the Silver-colored Dungeon Chest, we walked outside of the dungeon, the sun was slowly setting down. We were in the middle of the Abandoned Ruined Lands surrounding Stronghold City. Baihe was with us, though she had been sleeping on Snow’s back for a while now.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you have fun?” My brother wondered.

“I mean, yeah.” I said. “It was partially alright, but this is not really my idea of a relaxing day with my brother. Next time I am picking the activities.”

“Perhaps I didn’t think this through. I really thought this was ideal; you would get stronger and also gain valuable experience in fighting…” He sighed.

“Look, we could have gone to watch a movie instead? And then eat outside? Like, come on!” I said. “Don’t tell me you bring Henrietta to dungeons too?”

“Sometimes but… Yeah, we do that stuff too. But you’re my sister, not her, so it's different.” He said.

"Okay, maybe you’re right. Next time, let’s go to some amusement park. I want to go to all the attractions and eat greasy food, and I’ll bring my friends.” I smiled.

“Alright, deal. But make sure to absorb the monster cores…” He said.

“Okay, okay, I will! Jesus.” I shrugged.

We made our way back to the city without any problems for once, and then we walked back home. On the way back, Baihe woke up, and she talked about various Chinese food recipes. She talked so much about that that we ended up going to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. After eating so much, we came back with bloated bellies.

“Phew, at least the dinner was nice!” I sighed in relief, resting on the couch and checking my inventory.

“Anyways, those three were the recent dungeon gates that haven’t been completed yet, so we won’t be going on any for a while, I believe.” My brother said. “I just wanted to complete those before anybody else got to them.”

“It’s okay~ After that feast, you’re forgiven of all your sins, big brother.” I patted my belly.

“Ah, I’m so tired…” Baihe fell asleep on the couch right next to me, resting her head over my thighs. I let her be, caressing her hair as I looked at my inventory. My brother went to take a shower.

There were materials and carcasses from the Snowmen and the Snow Queen, from the Lizardmen and the Lizardman King, and from Venomous Drakes and the Venom Wyvern. Baihe consumed the Snow Queen’s Core after I gave her a Luck buff with my hug and a nice concert with my guitar (Gram). She got some bonus stats and the new Skill [Snow Queen’s Snowmen Battalion (B)], which allowed her to summon Snowmen for battle!

With that, both of my female friends have summoning skills, so they can be more self-sufficient now. I think Baihe, as of now, could easily clear most B-Rank Dungeons without problems, though she’ll still need assistance for A-Rank Dungeons. The same goes for Annabelle and Kevin.

I took the Monster Core of the Lizardman King and of the Venom Wyvern and decided to greedily absorb both. I was taking an absolute break lately, completely obsessed with collecting a million Skills. It’s just way too much fun, even if the Status gets gigantic because of that. I don’t care! Gimme, gimme!

Both crystals, one green and the other purple, turned into energy that was completely absorbed by my body. Although I couldn’t level up right now, I felt my stats rising slightly, as well as new skills appearing. I saw a small vision while this happened. Both gigantic bosses appeared in front of me, glaring down at me and then attacking me. The same thing happened with the Abyssal Dweller Queen, and I have no idea what it means, but once they do, it all fades to black, and I get their power.

Maybe absorbing monster cores signifies something else? Maybe it means eating a part of their souls. It was never explained how the inner workings of this entire thing even worked to begin with. And now I am a bit curious. Well, the chances are usually low unless you have a lot of affinity with the monster, but thanks to my privilege that allows me to reverse my terrible luck in these situations, it becomes a guaranteed 100%!

[You have absorbed the Monster Cores of the [Lizardman King (B Rank)] and the [Venomous Wyvern King (A Rank)]!]

[You gained +1000 HP, +500 STR, VIT, AGI, INT!]

[You acquired the [Hardened Warrior Instincts (B): Lv1] and [Venom Dragon Tongue (A): Lv1] Skills!]

-----

[Hardened Warrior Instincts (B): Lv1]

[Skill EXP]: [0/3.000]

A Skill acquired by those that possess great experience in battle and have developed a powerful and hardened battle instinct.

Your Battle Instinct can be automatically activated once you unleash your Aura. When you activate it, your Focus, Thinking Speed, Reaction Speed, Mental Fortitude, Resistance to Pain, and Physical Strength and Stamina increases by +200%.

Level Bonus (1): Increases Skill Buffing Effects by +20%. Decreases Mental Damage Taken from all kinds of malicious skills, spells, or techniques by -30%.

-----

[Venom Dragon Tongue (A): Lv1]

[Skill EXP]: [0/5.000]

A Skill often acquired by draconic beings with long, deadly, and venomous tongues.

By channeling Mana into your tongue, you can extend it up to 30 meters, while secreting a myriad of deadly toxins and venoms you can easily control, transform, and spit at your foes. You can spit the venom in various ways, be it bullets, giant bubbles, smoke, or even solidified needles.

Additionally, by channeling Mana and Ki into your tongue and throat, it is possible to unleash a deadly {Venom Dragon Breath}, releasing dark green flames that can both burn and poison foes, dealing up to 500% Fire and Poison Attribute Damage on foes while ignoring 30% of their Elemental Resistances. These Venom Flames can inflict [Burning Rot], [Venomous Decay], and [Agonizing Pain] Status Effects on foes.

Level Bonus (1): Increases the Venom Dragon Tongue’s Durability, Strength, and Attack Speed by +20%, while increasing the amount it can stretch by 5 additional meters. Increases {Venom Dragon Breath} Damage by +30%.

-----

These two Skills were fairly interesting and definitely useful. The first one could help me develop my Shapeshifting abilities with much more ease, while the Venom Dragon Tongue can come in handy in any battle to surprise foes and deal explosive damage right in front of their faces.

Not only did I get this for some growth, but my Holy Nether increased by a hundred thousand after absorbing all of that energy from the monsters we slew, so I was slowly approaching the million needed to Rank Up my specialization and get even stronger.

And as for the Treasure Chests, they’re still intact—a Bronze, and two Silver colored ones. I decided to open them while lazing around as I started chewing on the Ki enhancing Pills I had yet to consume, eating all of the ones I had accumulated so far.

[You have opened the {Bronze Dungeon Boss Treasure Chest} x1!]

[You received: [Lifespan Potion (C Rank)] x1 [Health Potion (C Rank)] x10 [Snow Queen’s Ring (B Rank)] x1]

[You have opened the {Silver Dungeon Boss Treasure Chests} x1!]

[You received: [Mana Potion (B Rank)] x10 [Attack Engravement Rune (B Rank)] x1 [Lizardman King’s Mighty Bone Spear (B Rank)] x1]

[You have opened the {Silver Dungeon Boss Treasure Chests} x1!]

[You received: [Stamina Potion (B Rank)] x10 [Speed Engravement Rune (B Rank)] x1 [Venom Wyvern King’s Scale Shield (B Rank)] x1]

A myriad of items appeared in front of me. I felt slightly cocky because I got it all from my brother, who carried me through most of it. Well, I still fought a lot of monsters and stuff, and I think I could have just completed the dungeons by myself if I wanted, but even then, he still carried me and gave me all the rewards. Might as well drink the Lifespan Potion while eating the pills.

[You have consumed the [Lifespan Potion (C Rank)] x1!]

[Your overall health has increased! You gained +300 HP and VIT, and 5 additional years of lifespan!]

[You have consumed [Ki Enhancing Pill (B Rank)] x20!]

[Your KI Stat has increased by +500!]

“And done… About these other items, what do I do with them?”

The Rune Engravement Items are one-time-use weapon enhancement items. It permanently engraves a weapon with a special Rune that enhances a certain Stat. I guess I can save them for now.

And then, in the Ring, is it all about enhancing the power of summoned snowmen? I guess it was made for Baihe then. I’ll give it to her later. And then there’s the spear and the shield! The Shield looks like a nice replacement for the Bastion Shield, which has become continuously underwhelming against stronger foes, and it’s always about to break due to its low durability.

And then the spear—I don’t wield spears. Kevin only uses his divine spear connected to his skill, so he won’t replace it. Baihe uses a special weapon spear that works better for her, so I could either sell this or... Give it to Fang Shuan? Spears made from his own body are better.

Yeah, I’ll just sell it in the Hunter Market.

For now, I just gently placed the ring on Baihe’s right hand’s middle finger while she dozed off. But due to that, she slowly woke up.

“Hmm? A-Anna?” She suddenly noticed I was placing a ring on her finger, slowly beginning to get redder. “W-What’s happening?! Are you p-proposing to me?”

"Baihe, stay still! This is a ring that’ll make your snowmen stronger.” I said. “And done! And what were you talking about?”

“A-Ah, n-nothing! Nothing at all!” She quickly moved away from me while fuming with embarrassment for some reason. “I’m going to bed, g-goodnight!” She rushed back to her bedroom.

“Oh well.”

Tomorrow’s Hilda’s visit, so we’ll get a lot of new stuff done. I will now upgrade my Physique and sleep. Once I can secure new gear and upgrade my existing one, I’ll get the next Rank Up trial done.

…

“Just what are you two doing now?” Sepa wondered, as she was looking at Fang Shuan help me set up a special Martial Domain that’ll help me absorb the compatible materials into my body and upgrade my physique.

“This is called Martial Domain.” He said. "Depending on how you set them up, they had a variety of uses and purposes within our world! Right now, we’re setting this Domain to help Master Anna absorb her Physique Materials.”

“Just what he said…” I nodded, placing more monster materials around.

“I know you’re my master, and I am nobody to say this, but why in the Purgatory from all places?” Asked Jeremias right above us. The other Death Apostles were also present, only silently watching because I didn’t allow them to speak.

“Well, we’re inside Murim’s Temple right now, so we get a big boost of Ki Regeneration. Plus that huge sun in the sky is constantly bathing me with Yang Energy and lots of sunlight essence. Perfect for my physique.” I said.

To be exact, we were above the rooftop. I had used my authority as a World Architect within my own Realm to move the Radiant Sun Treasure down. It was now only about ten meters above my head, scorchingly hot, but I could easily withstand it.

Fang Shuan finished placing all the materials as well; there were around thirty Martial Beast corpses set up, and in the center of the Domain’s Node, there were like thirty Golden Ki Pearls, ideal to channel all the energy I need.

“This should be the very last material.” I placed a bottle full of a golden liquid.

This bottle was the item the Golden Emperor, Fang Shuan, dropped once I killed him, named [Martial Soul Essence Of The Golden Emperor (S Rank)]. It contains the enormous power of his Martial Soul so it’s also going to be ideal.

“All done, Master Anna.” He said. “Shall we begin now?”

“Yes, let’s start immediately. All of you, leave now.” I told the demons, who quickly left rather reluctantly.

I sat cross-legged, channeling all my Ki and letting it out through my Physique’s Meridians, which quickly connected to the whole Domain. The sun above and all the materials harmonized into a domain of pure golden light, which my body slowly started to absorb.

FLASH!

-----