Jay exited the tent early the next morning. He was half disappointed when there wasn’t a fresh box of charged guns, but when he thought about it, he wasn’t surprised. The people who’d charged them were dead, after all. He made his way up to the wall and searched for any remaining weapons. He walked across a few limbs and blood stains with no intact bodies in sight. His lips tugged and began curving upward. He stopped dead in his tracks.

  You sure I can just pull that chip out now, Lan? I won’t die in here, right?

  “You could, but it wouldn’t do anything. At this point, death in this place will fully restore your body. That includes installed cyberware. It would just be back in your head when you wake up outside.”

  Jay let out a long sigh and thought about cursing. I just need to make it to Level 25.

  He picked up a few discarded weapons that still had some charge and slung them across his back. He didn’t care if he probably wouldn’t survive this next part, and that it wouldn’t mean a thing at the end of the day. He was going to make those bastards hurt. That probably wouldn’t make him feel better, but it was the only distraction he had, at the moment.

  As the countdown reached two minutes remaining, Jay jumped down from the wall and began making his way toward the pyramid. The pulse came, and he drew two of the electrified knives out as he continued moving forward. It didn’t take long before the wave was upon him. Even the light of the pyramid was quickly blocked out as the creatures on all sides surrounded him. Claws raked from above, and mandibles snapped from in front of him.

  Jay pushed his armor to a 50% split and cleaved through the creatures as if they weren't even there. He felt energy rush into the armor with every kill, empowering it as he continued forward. It wasn’t long until he made it to the base of the pyramid, leaving a trail of carnage in his wake. He pushed through the strange opening and into a large room filled with the creatures. He prepared to meet their assault, but none came. As soon as he crossed the threshold, they just stopped and stared at him.

  He kept his guard up, waiting for the creatures to make a move, when a sparking noise filled the room. A man entered from the other side. At least, it had seemed like a man, until Jay got a closer look. Glowing red eyes covered his head, and metallic cables ran from the back of his skull down and through the rest of his body. He was covered from head to toe in the same metallic armor as the other creatures, but his chin and mouth were left exposed. The man smiled, revealing a row of sharpened yellow teeth, each coming to a metal point. His frame was extremely gaunt despite the armored plates, and it was hard to tell if there was anything below the armor. Jay readied himself as the man spread his thin arms out wide.

  “Welcome, warrior. It is impressive that you made it this far, but I’m afraid the path ends here for you. Don’t fret, however. I will make sure my brethren do not feast on your bones, in honor of your accomplishment.

  Jay tried to yell, “Go fuck yourself!” but his implant wasn’t having that. Instead, “That’s very kind, thank you!” was what actually came out.

  Jay sighed and used Investigate on the creature before bursting into motion with a devilish grin on his face as fear spiked through his heart.

  Solinoid Node: Claricon the Starving - Level 25

  This is a system-created entity.

  The Solinoid Node, as the system called him, was nine levels above him. Even worse than that, the man had ascended past the next barrier. Sweat ran down Jay’s face as he gripped the blood-covered knives harder. It looked like a vein might burst from how hard he was clenching the weapons when he finally calmed and let them drop to the ground. In less than an instant, he switched his armor fully to buffing his speed and power, and pushed his Empowerment to full blast. He pulled the four weapons from his back and fired all of them as quickly as he could, draining them in seconds and sending Claricon stumbling back. The transfigured elf let out a scream of pain as smoke began to pour from his armor. All around the room, the sound of metal mandibles clicking together began echoing. None of the creatures moved, and they stopped as a hunting laugh echoed from the smoking man.

  “That actually hurt. Impressive.” He looked up at every glowing red eye, swiveling to focus on Jay. “I will enjoy feasting on you with my brethren.”

  In a blink, the man was directly in front of Jay. Even with all his Empowerment and all his upgrades, the fight only lasted a second. The first strike removed the left half of his torso. The second severed his right leg, and the third sent his head tumbling. He found himself standing at the bottom of the stairwell that he had entered less than a moment later. He collapsed to one knee, panting and grasping at where his neck had been severed. Lan had been absolutely correct. That was not a pleasant experience, and he never wanted to repeat it again. It took him several moments before he was finally able to settle his heart enough to stand.

  “You handled that better than I would have thought.”

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Oh, yeah?

  “Yeah, most people take days to come to terms with the fact that they would have died, and most of them aren't the same after. Color me impressed. Also, you actually managed to injure that thing, which is another accomplishment.”

  It seemed like the system agreed with her statement, as his notifications for clearing the dungeon began rolling in.

  Level 13 Dungeon Completed

  Points: 203,420

  Available Rewards:

  Random skill: 12,000 points

  Random Uncommon skill: 150,000 points

  Upgrade Scroll: 100,000 points

  Spirit Pool Increase Scroll: +1 pool size pre 1,000 points

  Stat Increase Potion: 50,000 points

  …

  The list continued on, showing items ranging from weapons to basic first aid equipment. Jay took a few moments to deliberate with Lan, and he ended up deciding on two items: the Uncommon skill, and something called a 4x4 internal space, which had cost 50,000 points. He ended up using the last few thousand points to get two health injectors. They were far worse than the ones he had gotten from his loot box, but they were still better than his Regeneration. He was tired of walking around with his legs torn to Hell. Whatever was happening with this system stuff was definitely crazy, though. The wound he had received just days before was already completely healed. The days in the dungeon had been slightly shorter than they normally were--around eighteen hours in total. In less than two days, he had gone from a gnarly wound to a small scar. It was crazy to behold.

  **New title received: Dungeon Diver**

  **New title received: Usurper**

  He ignored the two titles for now, instead focusing on the rewards he had just chosen. The first opened a screen that flashed through several options before coming to rest on a skill.

  **Skill Gained: Counterspell (Level - 1) - Uncommon**

  “You lucky motherfucker,” Lan scoffed.

  What, is that one good?

  “Yes, Jay, that one is good. It lets you expend a large amount of Spirit to counteract an opponent's spell. It’s one of the few ways someone with a martial focus can shut down a spellcaster from a distance, and it's normally tedious as fuck to get.”

  Huh, neat. Are casters supposed to be common? I don’t think I've really met one yet.

  “They are, and you have met four. Regina and the guy that teleported you, that Isabela woman, and, as weird as it may sound, Jett.”

  You're not seriously trying to tell me Jett is a caster, are you?

  “He is, Jay. Maybe not the fireball-shooting wizard you're thinking of, but he is a caster. You remember that class I told you not to pick? Ordainer?”

  Don’t tell me…

  “Yep, that crazy son of a bitch that you made friends with picked a class that put him in direct conflict with a goddess.”

  Huh. Honestly, that's not as surprising as I would have thought. So, that makes him a caster?

  “Yep. You remember those gauntlets he has?”

  Yeah.

  “Those aren't actually an item. They’re a manifestation of his will using mana.”

  Can I do that too?

  “Yes, technically, but you're gonna have to do the hard work of creating a mana pool and linking your will to it. Both processes I wouldn’t recommend attempting until getting half your body blown off is more of an inconvenience than a death sentence.”

  Jay nodded while slowly rebuilding his armor as he moved onto his next reward. It was a small box that absorbed itself into his body as soon as he touched it. The process surprised him, and he let out a yelp.

  Lan, what the fuck?

  “Calm down. You should have just had a new option that looks kinda like a backpack pop up on your interface. Click on it.”

  He did as she said, and in a small space, a four-foot by four-foot cube materialized. Jay poked at it and found the option to place any object he had on him into the space. He tested it by putting one of the injectors he had just gotten inside and found that he could remove it or return it at a moment's notice. Smiling, he placed everything he had on him except his clothing and wristband into the space. He continued constructing his armor as he did so, but stopped and dispelled the sheath and holster he had made for his weapons before continuing. There wasn’t any reason to keep them out now.

  Okay, that's amazing.

  “It’s a little slow, all things considered. Must have been made by a shitty craftsman.”

  Slow? Jay shook his head as he nearly instantly pulled his pistol out, placed it back in, and pulled it out again.

  “Yeah, it is a bit slow, but that won’t matter until a point where you should already have a better one.”

  How the fuck can you call that slow?

  “Your perception of time will speed up as you gain more points in Reflexes, Jay. I have seen planet-destroying fights start and finish quicker than you can pull out your pistol.”

  What the fuck?

  “Eh, it doesn’t matter. That’s a problem for ?you in the far, far future. For now, it will suit you perfectly.”

  Uh, sure.

  He adjusted his calculations of how strong Lan was after that conversation. He’d known she was strong, but that just seemed insane. It didn’t really change anything, though. So he pushed it from his mind for the moment. He finished constructing his armor and began ascending the staircase. The sun shone down the hole in the ground. He assumed it was probably around noon on the eighth day after the announcement. He was going to have to confirm that later, but it matched up with the amount of time he’d supposedly spent in that dungeon.

  He shielded his eyes as he finally made it to the surface, remembering just how bright the sun was after four days of darkness. He took in a deep breath as he took the final step, and--

  BOOM!