Level 1 Fallen

Diane’s shadow power had consumed even the bodies on the ground, preventing me from training my Corpse Collector skill with this batch of monsters. However, we still had quite a bit of dungeon left to go, and the monsters in the second island had noticed the disturbance, already flying over.

Diane’s brand lit up once again, and she reverted to her halfling form, looking around with an impressed expression at the level of destruction her Chosen had unleashed while she was gone. Still, she didn’t have much time to admire the devastation as stone feathers flew in from above, crashing into a hastily erected barrier of energy.

Now that I knew that both Diane and Bella could effectively kill the monsters within the dungeon, I started pulling back on how much I intervened, focusing on defense. If either of the two looked like they were going to be overrun, then I would step in. Otherwise, I observed the battlefield while hidden with Beyond the Veil, simply defending them from unseen attacks.

Admittedly, this did slow down our conquest of the dungeon considerably, but it maximized the amount of experience the two could earn. Now that we had settled on farming this dungeon, this first run was important. After this run, the mob density would be far lower, lowering how much we could benefit with each attempt.

By the time we were clearing up the second island, the sky was beginning to darken. Diane’s time had expired for the day, so her Chosen was forced to take over for the rest of the run. Thankfully, she didn’t resort to any more of those big attacks that cleared out an entire island, though she still proved to be an effective fighter. Her body tore through the flocks of Stone Rocs, shadow blades swirling around her body.

The skills offered by this dungeon were… not very helpful. We managed to each get a skill book from the chests of the third and final island, but they were for either the Feather Arrow or Stone Throw skill. Even if I were to evolve Stone Throw to its grandmaster level, it didn’t sound like a very impressive skill to focus on.

Once we left the dungeon, I teleported the three of us back to the palace at Fallcry to turn in for the night. However, a message appeared in the corner of my vision after I parted ways with Bella and Diane. Opening the message and reading through it, I found that it was from the Questing King.

Apologies, Sir Advent, but do you have a moment to talk? I have something rather important to discuss with you.

Wondering what he could have to talk to me about, I soon responded. I’m free for the moment. Is this about that ambush in your puppet dungeon?

Hmm? Oh, no, I have confirmed that the ones responsible for that were the Nine Suns Guild, and I am handling their punishment myself. I saw no need to trouble you with that.

As I was thinking what else there could be, he sent another message. I heard that you were caught in a malevolent dungeon trap just earlier in a level-locked dungeon? Is that true?

Perking a brow, I typed out my reply. Yeah? Why? I had never even considered the Questing King to be a possible perpetrator behind the dungeon incident, since his area of activity is so vastly removed from Athua.

I believe you may have fallen victim to a modified dungeon of my own design. Please note, first and foremost, I did not create this dungeon with any malicious intent. I just want to make that clear. I received a request for a specific type of dungeon, and thought that it would be interesting, so I designed it on behalf of the client.

My eyes went wide at this surprise confession. I was in that dungeon myself. What type of request could have possibly seemed ‘reasonable’ to make something like that?

As I said, the design was modified. Originally, the quest asked for it to be a Rookie Trial dungeon. New players could navigate through a twisting maze filled with higher level golems. If anyone made it to the end, they would be presented with a gauntlet to truly test their abilities.

From what my sources have told me, you encountered some kind of trait nullification mechanic. I can assure you that I never added this. I don’t even know if that is an option with my level of Labyrinth Master. I can only assume that there was some hidden item that projected the effect.

Normally, there was supposed to be a leaderboard, counting points for each golem kill. This would let players see who the greatest rising star was among the rookies. Someone must have used the master key included with the dungeon to bypass the level restriction and install the trap at its center.

So, the dungeon had never been made for a Fallen in the first place? It was designed for rookie Players to test themselves? I suppose with ten-star traits, that wasn’t impossible, and each Player would only have a single attempt at the dungeon before their level was too high to enter again.

As for whether or not Daichi was being honest, I was inclined to believe him. The League of Assassins had only just begun its investigation. If he was already aware they were investigating, he must have had contacts in the league itself. Those same contacts would have been able to hide his involvement, but he came forward to inform me himself.

How did you make a dungeon on an entirely different continent? I couldn’t help but ask this question, as it was the main reason I had never suspected him.

That was actually quite easy. There are a few different ways to finalize a dungeon with the Labyrinth Master skill. First, you can submit it to the system to enter circulation normally. Second, you can construct the dungeon on the spot using available materials. Third, you can construct the dungeon in a prepared state. This still consumes the materials, but the dungeon presents itself as a small, black cube until it is activated. I mailed this cube to the requester, and they presumably did the rest.

This part I could be fairly certain was true. He knew that I had a construction skill, so it was only a matter of time before I obtained the Labyrinth Master skill myself and could confirm his words. However, looking at his story, that meant that someone had contacted him with the idea for this Rookie Trial dungeon and intentionally altered it to create a trait farm.

Was the person that requested the dungeon Yashima? Given that Yashima was the one that was the most involved with the dungeon’s activity, he was the most likely suspect.

However, Daichi’s words quickly denied this. Yashima? I don’t know any Player by that name. No, the player who asked for this is called Yatagarasu. He’s a famous player from my country that received a ten-star trait known as Invincible Under Heaven. It makes it so he can’t take any damage when fighting beneath an open sky. Last I’d heard, he was appointed as a Grand Duke of Athua.

Okay, that trait just sounded like it was plain cheating. Unable to take damage while outdoors? Sure, it wouldn’t do much in most dungeons, but he could dominate nearly any monster field and grind experience without concern.

Also, the connection could easily be seen between Yatagarasu and Athua now. If he was a Grand Duke, the royal family of Athua would surely entrust him with important missions. As for Yashima, he was somewhere between a useful pawn and an unfortunate scapegoat.

I thanked Daichi for the information, before forwarding the tip to Wisteria. Whether it was truly Athua’s royal family that asked for this or Yatagarasu moving on his own, they would be able to find out without too much trouble now that they had a place to start.

The next morning, I shared the news over breakfast with both Bella and Diane, who seemed equally surprised as I was that Daichi had come forward himself to resolve the matter about the previous dungeon. When Diane heard the name Yatagarasu, she pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I can see why he would target you, if it’s him…”

“Why? I don’t think I ever crossed paths with this guy,” I pointed out while eating. “Is it because of his trait or something?”

“That’s right,” Diane answered with a firm nod. “His positive trait, like the Questing King reported, is Invincible Under Heaven. However, his negative trait is Heaven’s Scorn. Both are ten-star traits that only activate beneath an open sky. The first one makes it so that he can’t take any damage, but the second makes him unable to use his mana. While he’s invincible, he can’t use any skills or enchantments, making him a walking target.”

My eyes widened at that. “Yeah… that’s arguably even worse than my own negative. And if he had my positive trait, it would essentially nullify his negative. He’d be invincible and unstoppable.”

“But wait,” Bella blinked. “If he can’t use any of his skills at the same time as his invincibility, how did he get promoted to the rank of Grand Duke? He shouldn’t have been able to level up so effectively and earn their recognition if he couldn’t fight properly.”

“I’ve seen videos of him fighting,” Diane answered after finishing her food. “He’s pretty skilled with a sword, even without skills. Not enough to qualify as a high-ranking player with just that, though. He probably did some scheming with court politics. You said that you sent the League of Assassins the information, right? They’ll probably dig into how he got his position too, so we just need to wait for their report.”

Bella and I both nodded in agreement at that. There was no point in speculating about this matter anymore. Once we heard back from the League, that’s when it would be time to plan our next move.

For now, it was time to get ready for another day in the dungeon at the Sunset Isles. The three of us gathered what we needed and returned to the dungeon. Sure enough, the mobs were far less sparse than before, with only a few birds flying through the sky or nesting on the tops of trees. Compared with how they were practically crammed together just one day earlier, the difference was night and day.

And with that difference, I felt very little need to get personally involved with the fight, supporting the two from the rear. Truthfully, I had wanted to try to teach Diane the Ancient Shifter skill. If she was able to use it like I planned to, she could still incorporate the bulk of her shadow powers into her fighting style without turning into a giant dragon.

Unfortunately, I could tell by how quickly that skill leveled up that it likely burned through mana rapidly. Even if I did teach it to Diane, she’d only be able to keep it active for a few seconds before burning out. Nowhere near enough time to make it practical for that combination in combat.

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