One Body: 1/30 (52%) tolerance to pain. You can sense severe injuries on the body with modest accuracy. Derivations: Advanced One Body, Troll Flesh, Regeneration

 

It was a concise explanation, but it had a deep meaning. I felt the effect of the skill immediately. It wasn’t like I could document each injury that I had, and there were still quite a few that my natural regeneration hadn’t touched, but I could generally sense where they were and how severe they were. I assumed greater accuracy would come with a higher level in the skill, though even now, combined with my newly targeted healing spell, I could foresee a spike in my emergency healing capabilities. I was going for a build that would allow me to survive as long as possible and making sure I was fit enough to run away when needed was a big part of that. The system was stingy on health regeneration, and without a dedicated healer, I needed to compensate with my own skills.

Once again, I looked over my skill sheet to see the changes that had been made over the past two floors. On the eleventh floor, I killed hundreds of enemies, but the skill gains were all rather small compared to the fight I just experienced. It just went to show how important challenging yourself was for growth; getting stuck repeating the same exercises would just lead to stagnation.

Most notably, my cryokinesis had leveled up a full six points and was well over halfway to the max. I needed to start considering a larger use of its ability to jump the gap to level 50. Possibly getting to visit Norr once again when I reached the max was an appealing idea. Lone wanderer had also managed to increase, though I largely contributed that to exploring new floors by myself rather than fighting enemies solo.

The biggest changes had come within my combat skills, notably Light Armor Mastery and Parry. I had taken enough damage in my fight with the Royal Warrior to grant the armor skill, and I was excited to see its potential. The sound that light armor would make was already low, but if that was completely removed and the skill was combined with stealth, it would make me much harder to notice. I hadn’t planned on going the stealth route, but it seems like I was forced to as a consequence of relentless solo play.

To me, Parry was the more interesting of the two. I hadn’t looked at Swordsmanship either, and the 50% reduction in stamina use that they would grant at the max level would complement each other and increase my sustainability in combat. My athletics skill already reduced the expenditure of stamina during running, jumping, flying, or other physical activities, and getting that reduction applied to combat seemed like a good idea. I thought it curious that I had yet to receive a stamina reduction in unarmed combat as well, but I also had no advanced unarmed combat forms. Luna might know what’s up.

Hey Luna? Why have I gotten an advanced form of swordsmanship, while I have yet to get an advanced form of unarmed combat? Is there a reason?

Oh, that’s easy. When you got your combat arts, they were originally based on unarmed combat, right?

Yeah, I guess. Why would that matter?

Well, you can’t have two skills giving you the same abilities at the same time. While you can certainly apply your combat arts to using sword skills, they were originally intended to be used with unarmed combat. When you max them out, it’s possible you’d get an upgraded version of unarmed combat, but it’s equally likely that you would need to get one through a class due to specializing in specific forms.

The reason you have more advanced swordsmanship right now is that it’s only the general forms, nothing notable or special. If you were ever trained in a sword style, that would usurp the skill unless you abandoned it completely.

So, to gain Advanced Unarmed Combat, I would need to give up my current combat arts, then?

Yep, that’s right.

Yeah, not worth it.

With that answered, I focused back on my new skills. Next up was Parry. Parrying was not a new practice for me and considering the frequency I tried to use my sword to redirect attacks while leveling Beginner Swordsmanship, it probably required the third-tier skill Swordsmanship to unlock in the first place. It was also important to note that both of my combat arts were still in their first iteration. If unarmed combat was the prerequisite, then both arts were the second skills in their tree. Perhaps if I upgraded them, I could get a stamina reduction for their use.

Now that I had checked over the skill sheet, it was time to get down to brass tacks. The strength that I brought to the table to fight that Royal Warrior was not enough. I nearly died and wouldn’t have the safety that Survivor provided until 24 hours passed. I needed to kill 100 enemies on the twelfth floor, and I doubted that any one of them would be weaker than the Royal Warrior I already fought. I needed to train up a bit, and because I had jumped the gun and ran into this floor unprepared, I was forced to do it here. The entry hall was most likely devoid of enemies intentionally, so I would be training right here.

First things first, I needed a pool of water. It would increase my regeneration to an absurd degree and would allow me to practice stamina intensive combat abilities, Storm Command, and Cryokinesis with ease. That being said, to do so I needed to make a hole in the ground first. I reached into my monster bag and took out the clubs I got from the Guardian of Strength. Raising it high above my head, I used all of my power to bring it down, when suddenly the world faded to black.

When my sight returned, I was once again back in the hub!

Happy Tuesday! The weekly randomization of corridors has started, so you have been ejected to the Hub.   Ms. Gale, if you would please not destroy my floors, I would be grateful. Because you are my very first delver, I have added a small recreation room and training space for you by the entrance to the twelfth floor.   I have thoroughly enjoyed watching you fight your way through my dungeon.   Best Wishes,   H.R.H Queen Elizabeth Cunningham, Mother of Spiders, Administrator under Labyrinth

 

Luna, is this legit? Can I trust it?

Well, if she can control the monsters in the dungeon, reshuffle around the corridors, and can observe you at all times, killing you probably isn’t that big of a stretch. You did tell me about the monster in the abyss on the third floor, right? I’m sure she could have just dropped it on you whenever she wanted, so yeah. It’s probably true for the simple reason that this queen has no reason to lie.

That being said, it’s still a risk. The choice is up to you.

Looking back at the floors of the dungeon, I could see that Luna was probably correct. The Queen was the kind of person to warn adventurers of dangers and place a convenient store in her levels. It was still a bit of a gamble, but I was willing to take that bet because if the worst happened, I would just be in the same boat as before. I would, however, be flying back to the guild to inform Cindy about what I was doing, and to grab enough food for at least two weeks. Better safe than sorry. I had no idea how long I would need to train to cap off my class skills, but I wanted to do what I could.

I left the dungeon and took to the sky, making a quick round trip to the Garcia’s store, with a stop into Cindy’s office to let her know what’s up. She was concerned when she saw my injured appearance, but I assured her that I was fine and that I was trying to increase my constitution through natural regeneration of health. She seemed reluctant to agree with me over it but eventually consented. She also informed me that Kaitlyn had started on the tutorial of the Temple of the Orb Weaver Queen two days ago and had yet to return, so she was likely in a similar situation as myself.  I was a bit embarrassed after leaving upon realizing I forgot to unequip my new leather armor. With its shiny black coloring and deep-cut cleavage, it was a bit out of my comfort zone. It explained all of the looks I was getting, though my high charisma probably helped as well. My only saving grace was that Taylor hadn’t seen me. The teasing after that would have been unbearable. Before long I was back at the gate, an extra satchel of food and some clothes tucked under my arm, the traces of an embarrassed blush quickly fading with the promise of training on the horizon.

I rushed through the hub and back into the twelfth floor. The entrance was almost identical to what it was before, though now, on the left wall, instead of a tapestry there was a rather large door, complete with a sign declaring, “Rest Stop”.

The door opened smoothly on freshly oiled hinges, revealing an elaborate central hub, complete with a grindstone, hammer and anvil, and a large central table. The décor was identical to that outside, with a red and gold motif. From the central chamber, there were three doors. One opened up revealing a sleeping room, complete with two dozen bunk beds, the next had an elaborate bathroom and hot spring, with a similar recovery enchantment to that of the fifth floor, and the last was a rather large training space, complete with targets and dummies. It was, quite frankly, far more impressive than I thought it would be. By the door was a sign-in sheet complete with a note section, rather expected in a dungeon like this, and before I left, I would make sure to give this place the best dang review I possibly could. 5/5 stars on yelp.

I dropped my bags off on the table in the central hub and moved to the training room. My arts used to be the deciding factor in my combat skills, but they had started to lag behind Swordsmanship. It wasn’t that their additional bonuses didn’t matter anymore. The bleed increases from Art of the Blizzard made attacks to critical locations far more lethal, and the Lightning Step increased my mobility and burst attack potential to the extreme. The problem was that the actual moves, arguably the most important part of the skills, no longer worked for the stronger monsters. I could outmaneuver the second-generation spiders with ease, but for the stronger variants? I was stuck.

It was time to bring them up to the max level. They were immensely powerful skills, and the fighting techniques they granted were complex and unique. I could only imagine how strong they would be seven levels later.

First up was Beginner Art of the Blizzard. I accessed the knowledge within the skill and started practicing the movements of a foot technique that would move you left and right horizontally around an opponent. The steps were complex, but with my newly increased agility and dexterity, I was able to gain the next level within two iterations of the skill. Following that foot technique was yet another, this one designed around moving in angles so that one could approach an opponent while dodging attacks. Both of these steps were unique in that they were deeply irregular, forcing you to stop and move seemingly at random. Each stop could allow you to attack, and the strange movement pattern allowed you to throw off unskilled ranged attacks with ease. This one took a while as well, but after another hour, I figured it out and advanced to level 14.

Not wanting to let up, I decided to keep working away. The level 15 skill was far more complex. This was a fighting form designed around dodging attacks from very close proximity while giving no distance. It involved ducking low while practicing the footwork of the thirteenth level and required you to bend and move in such a way that without supernatural speed and flexibility, the movement would be impossible to perform. For the first time in weeks, I actually managed to feel the strain on my muscles as they were forced into positions that they weren’t prepared for. I mastered it after another two hours, and at that point, my leg muscles were in agony and my stamina was all gone.

A quick trip to the hot spring and some body strengthening later, I was back and ready to keep working away. The 16^th, 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th levels came after another 16 hours of training, and by that time, I was ready for sleep. They too were techniques to allow dodging from extremely close proximity, and were very difficult to pull off, but would hopefully help to mitigate the damage I would take in sustained close-quarters fights. I crawled to one of the cots in the room across the central chamber, legs and abs aching in pain, and passed out as soon as my eyes closed.

When I awoke, I found myself covered up in a luxurious silk sheet. Where did this thing come from? There must be some kind of caretaker for this space that was put here. Whoever they were, they sure were nice. Thankfully, my new feathers weren’t razor sharp like my old ones and allowed me to sleep without worrying about destroying my bedding every time. I could scarcely imagine how annoying razor wings would be for sleeping, perhaps an unexpected consequence of the skill. I also opened a pleasant alert to inform me that my training had been paying off. My agility had increased by one, while my dexterity, constitution, and surprisingly charisma had increased by two each.

Today, I was planning on maxing out beginner art of the blizzard. I returned to the training room excited for what the final teaching could be. Accessing the familiar well of knowledge, I found, surprisingly, an attack form. It was a flurry of blows, accelerating the natural attack pattern of the previous forms by two times during some of the steps. This could, potentially, increase my lethality twice over, though doing so would have a steep stamina cost due to the strenuous physical activity.

This technique was insanely difficult, and it took all of the concentration I could muster to even make it through one or two sets with the changes. My stamina was draining away more than twice as fast, and I had to make several trips to the hot springs throughout the next couple of hours to replenish it. After 7 hours of practice, I finally heard the ding as the skill maxed out, and I brought up the alert.

Alert! Max Skill Level Reached!   Combat Skills: 450xp Beginner Art of the Blizzard – lvl 12 -> 20(MAX) – knowledge granted

 

Alert!   To progress your skill Beginner art of the Blizzard to the advanced form, True art of the Blizzard, you must whether the cold, surviving in below-freezing temperatures without clothing for three days.

 

That was rather unexpected. Considering the strength of the skill though, them requiring a trial to receive the next form wasn’t too farfetched.

Checking through my status, I found that the skill had vanished from the table, though with a little bit of mental prodding, I was able to bring up the description again. I could also look at all of the other maxed out skills I had. It made sense that the skill sheet shown was only populated with active skills, otherwise, it would be overwhelmingly full.  The knowledge remained though, which is really what mattered.  This gave me a bit of an idea.

Hey Luna? When does the quest system get released?

Oh, that? It will be ready to drop on Friday with the next wave. Why?

Well, when it releases, can you also create a summary section of the skill sheet? One that shows all of your active buffs granted through skills already completed. I still have access to the old skill descriptions, but I care more about the buffs themselves than anything else.

That’s a good idea, and it shouldn’t take too long to work out. I’ll just be busy here in the background, I suppose. If you don’t mind, can you give me a little bit of quiet while I work? I don’t mean to stop thinking altogether, just try not to direct thoughts in my direction.

No problem! Thanks for the hard work.

You too.

Luna quieted down then, probably heading off to start her… reality coding? I had no idea what she was up to, but it was way over my head, and that was perfectly fine.

Next on the agenda was Beginner Art of the Lighting. Like the Beginner Art of the Blizzard, my status increases made working through the skill far simpler. It was easy to see the effect that dexterity had on movement after all of this leveling, helping to accelerate understanding and proficiency when moving the body in complex ways. I hadn’t expected the crafting stat to be such an important skill for complex combat but it turns out it was. Thinking back, I seemed to recall that sword masters and great martial artists in stories always picked up painting, or calligraphy, or woodworking, all skills that increased dexterity. Now that I could see the numbers, that finally made sense. I needed to let Donny know so he would choose some combat styles relying more on finesse, though I’d bet he was smart enough to figure it out himself.

I watched over the next few hours as the 13^th, 14^th, 15^th, and 16^th levels flew by, and after that, it was time to sleep. The 13^th specialized on a powerful rushing attack, tuning the body for a full-tilt sprint followed by a short set of deadly blows. The next levels iterated on it, teaching how to incorporate more attacks into the set and finally how to retreat quickly after the attack concluded. As I once again limped to bed, still exhausted from the training, I felt immensely satisfied. This attack would complement the final stages of the Blizzard art well, and I could already imagine a few ideas on how I could break a Royal Warrior if I encountered another one. I curled up on the cot, the idea of violent retribution against a difficult foe lulling me to a peaceful slumber.

When I woke up this time, I found a pillow and thick woven blanket, all spider-silk white, added to the ensemble. This secret caretaker was the best. I was a bit shocked I hadn’t woken up when I had been readjusted, but I wasn’t complaining. Once again, I saw a few increases in stats, one point in strength, and another two in dexterity, but that was it. I needed four more levels to max out Beginner Art of the Lightning, and I was excited to see what the final level would bring.

I walked into the training room mentally prepared for a long march to the end of the beginner art. I started working on the 17^th form. This one, though, was unique. It started to incorporate the Lightning Step skill, using small erratic hops as opposed to long stretches. It was far more difficult to do, and required a great deal of focus, but would allow immediate repositioning and pin-point dodging of attacks on approach, something that the previous footwork styles sorely lacked. Training it was deeply stamina-intensive and required far more trips to the hot spring than any training so far. Luckily, with all of my stacked buffs for regeneration, I was able to top out my stamina in only 10 minutes, so I didn’t lose too much time. As a consequence, though, my Chaos Body Strengthening had stagnated, seeing only scant use.

The 18^th form built on the previous one, adding additional strafing movements to the mix, while the 19^th added even more forward mobility, interspersing leaping jumps, rolls, and pirouette. Finally, the 20^th level was reached. This, too, was an attack. This one though focused on a single-precision hit at maximum power, positioning the bones of the legs, back, and neck in perfect alignment so that, by activating the Lightning Step and crashing into an enemy, you would not die. It was the pinnacle of the skill, and I could imagine why. Unlike my other art’s final attack, this one came far easier, only taking an hour to master, but by that time I was ready to once again call it quits for the night.

As I laid down in my comfortable silk bedding, I pulled up the final alerts.

Alert! Level Up! Max Skill Level Reached!   Combat Skills: 450xp Beginner Art of the Lighting – lvl 12 -> 20(MAX) – knowledge granted   Level Up: Level 29 -> 30 115/2983

 

Alert!   To progress your skill Beginner Art of the Lightning to the advanced form, True Art of the Lightning, you must embrace the storm, and allow yourself to be struck by lightning multiple times.

 

Yikes. Maybe Pain Nullification should have been the choice after all.