The 17th Floor, the "Floor of the Giant," was a vast, desolate arena of grey stone and oppressive shadows. In the center stood the Great Wall of Sigh, a vertical cliff face of jagged obsidian that had stood for eons. It was silent, save for the low, rhythmic thrum of the Dungeon’s heart.

  Then, the wall breathed.

  A massive crack spidered across the obsidian. Dust and boulders tumbled as a gargantuan hand, three times the size of a human, clawed its way out of the rock. The Goliath, the Floor Boss of the 17th, was birthing itself.

  Nyt stood five hundred meters away, a small, solitary figure in a tattered lab coat. He wasn't reaching for a sword. He was adjusting the dials on his First Paradigm gauntlet while his Hermes Module hissed, venting the last remnants of heat from his descent.

  "Minerva," Nyt whispered, his eyes locked on the seventy-foot giant emerging from the wall. "Initiate Boss-Encounter Protocol. Sync the Mechanical Core to the Goliath’s vocal frequency. I want to cancel out its roar before the sonic shockwave hits my eardrums."

  “Acknowledged. Mapping the Goliath’s structural weaknesses. Administrator, reminder: Your mana reserves are at 24%. This engagement requires a 94% accuracy rate to maintain kinetic sustainability.”

  "Higher than my usual grades," Nyt smirked. "Let’s begin the trial."

  Halfway across the floor, the massive stone doors leading from the 16th Floor creaked open. The Loki Familia expedition team, nearly a hundred strong poured into the arena. They were heading for the 18th Floor safety zone to establish their forward base.

  "Hold!" Finn Deimne’s voice rang out, his hand shooting up. "The Goliath has spawned early."

  "Tch, just our luck," Bete Loga growled, his hand on his hip. "Let’s just kill it and move on. I don't want to spend all day—"

  "Wait," Ais Wallenstein said, her voice unusually sharp. She was staring past the giant.

  The elites of the Loki Familia Finn, Riveria, Tiona, Tione, and Bete—all followed her gaze. They saw the Goliath, its roar silenced by a strange, shimmering ripple in the air. And then they saw the boy.

  "Is that... the Artificer?" Tiona gasped, her eyes widening. "He's actually doing it! He's fighting that big guy alone!"

  "He’s Level 1," Riveria whispered, her staff clutched tight. "Finn, we have to intervene. He’ll be crushed in seconds."

  "No," Finn said, his golden eyes narrow and focused. "Look at his stance. He isn't afraid. He’s... measuring it."

  The Goliath roared again, a sound that should have shattered the bones of anyone standing near it. But as the soundwave traveled toward Nyt, he held up his gauntlet. A blue geometric grid flickered into existence in the air.

  "Event Horizon: Phase-Cancellation," Nyt commanded.

  The roar hit the grid and simply... vanished. The silence that followed was more terrifying than the noise. Nyt didn't wait. He 'Blinked.'

  Snap.

  He appeared directly in front of the Goliath’s massive left knee. The giant swung a hand the size of a carriage, a blow that could level a building. Nyt didn't dodge. He used the Hermes Module to step into the "Zero-Space" between the giant’s fingers.

  "Kinetic Anchor: Siphon," Nyt said.

  As the giant's hand passed over him, the Phase-Steel on Nyt's boots glowed. He wasn't just dodging the force; he was stealing it. The wind-pressure and the sheer momentum of the Goliath’s swing were sucked into the Mechanical Core, charging Nyt’s mana-batteries back to 40%.

  "What is he doing?!" Bete shouted from the sidelines. "He’s just standing there! Is he suicidal?"

  "He's absorbing the impact," Ais said, her eyes not leaving Nyt for a second. "He’s using the Goliath’s own strength to fuel himself."

  Nyt slammed his fist into the Goliath’s kneecap.

  "Morphic State: Pile-Driver."

  The gauntlet elongated, a heavy tungsten spike driving forward with the force of a hydraulic press, powered by the very kinetic energy Nyt had just stolen.

  CRACK.

  The Goliath’s massive leg buckled. The stone-like flesh shattered. The giant let out a pained, guttural groan, falling to one knee.

  "Calculations confirmed," Nyt muttered, sliding backward as the giant tried to crush him with its torso. "The Goliath's regeneration is tied to the mana-flow in its chest cavity. Minerva, highlight the primary node."

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  “Node identified. Administrator, the Loki Familia is watching. Your 'Event Horizon' output is being analyzed by the High Elf.”

  "Let her watch," Nyt said. "Maybe she’ll learn something about efficiency."

  Nyt began a high-speed orbital dash around the fallen giant. He was moving so fast he appeared as a continuous ring of blue light circling the Goliath’s waist. From the outside, it looked like a glowing blue nebula had trapped the monster.

  "Riveria," Finn whispered. "Can you read that magic?"

  "It’s... it isn't magic," the High Elf replied, her voice trembling. "He's folding the dimensions. He's creating a localized gravity well. Finn, if he closes that circle, the spatial pressure will—"

  "Aetheric Blueprint: Convergence!" Nyt’s voice echoed through the floor.

  The ring of blue light snapped shut. The space around the Goliath’s midsection contracted violently. The giant’s skin began to tear, not from a blade, but from the fact that the space it occupied was suddenly smaller than its body.

  The Goliath shrieked, its massive hands clawing at the empty air as its ribs began to cave in under the pressure of the vacuum.

  "Tiona, Tione," Finn ordered. "Get ready to move in if he fails. That level of power... a Level 1 body can't sustain that."

  Finn was right. Nyt’s vision was blurring. His nose began to bleed, the sheer mental strain of calculating four-dimensional coordinates in real-time threatening to fry his brain.

  [Warning: Mechanical Core at 110% capacity. Physical frame suffering micro-fractures. Suggesting immediate withdrawal.]

  "Negative," Nyt spat, blood staining his teeth. "This is the 'Great Feat,' Minerva. If I back down now, I'm just a scholar playing at being a hero. We finish the debug."

  The Goliath, driven by the Dungeon's instinct to survive, underwent a sudden mutation. Its skin turned a deep, obsidian black, and its eyes flared with a hellish red light. It forced itself to stand, breaking through Nyt’s spatial cage by sheer, raw Divine-will.

  It raised both fists, preparing for a "Grand Slam" that would turn the entire floor into a crater.

  "He's in trouble!" Tiona cried, reaching for her Urga.

  "No," Ais said, stepping forward. "Look at his hand."

  Nyt wasn't running. He was reaching into the Void-Gate. But he wasn't pulling out a weapon. He was pulling out the Vitreous Cobalt shards he had saved. He crushed them in his palm, letting the dust swirl into the spatial field of his gauntlet.

  "Minerva... give me everything. Every scrap of mana, every stored joule of kinetic force. Overclock the Deus Ex Machina."

  “Administrator... this will result in a 99% mana-depletion. Are you certain?”

  "Execute."

  Nyt’s boots ignited. He didn't blink this time; he flew. He soared straight into the air, toward the Goliath’s face. The giant’s fists came down, but Nyt was faster. He moved through the "Zero-Space" between the falling fists, appearing inches from the Goliath’s forehead.

  "This is for the 'Insufficient' rating," Nyt hissed.

  He slammed his palm against the Goliath’s head.

  "SINGULARITY FORGE: EVENT HORIZON!"

  A sphere of absolute blackness appeared at the point of impact. It was a microscopic black hole, held stable for a single nanosecond by Nyt’s will.

  The sound was like a vacuum being unsealed. The Goliath didn't die; it was consumed. Its head, its shoulders, and its massive chest were pulled into the singularity. The rest of its body turned to ash instantly, the Magic Stone at its core shattered by the gravitational shear.

  The shockwave sent Nyt flying backward like a ragdoll.

  Nyt hit the ground hard, rolling across the grey stone before coming to a stop near the feet of the Loki Familia. His lab coat was in shreds, his gauntlet was sparking, and his eyes were glazed.

  The Goliath was gone. In its place was a massive pile of ash and a rare drop: the Goliath’s Greatskin.

  The clearing was silent. The hundred adventurers of the Loki expedition stood frozen, staring at the boy who had just deleted a Floor Boss.

  Finn Deimne walked forward, stopping a few feet from Nyt. He looked at the smoking remains of the giant, then down at the boy. "Level 1... he said he was Level 1."

  "Finn," Riveria whispered, her eyes fixed on Nyt's back.

  The lab coat was torn open, exposing Nyt’s back. The Falna was glowing with a blinding, transcendent gold light. The text was shifting, rewriting itself in real-time.

  [Great Feat: Recognized.]

  [The Singularity has eclipsed the Giant.]

  [Level Up: Enabled.]

  "He’s leveling up," Ais said, her golden eyes filled with a strange, shimmering respect. "Right here... after a fight like that."

  Nyt pushed himself up on one trembling arm. He looked at the Loki Familia, then at his own hands. He could feel it—the expansion of his soul, the "Vessel" of his body becoming larger, stronger, more efficient.

  "Minerva..." Nyt croaked.

  “Status: Level 2 reached. All parameters have been reset to I-0, but the 'Base' has been increased by 200%. We have successfully 'Patched' the hardware, Administrator.”

  Nyt looked up at Ais. "Efficiency... improved," he managed to say before his eyes rolled back and he slumped into the dirt.

  "Bete, Tiona, Tione secure the perimeter!" Finn commanded, snapping out of his shock. "Riveria, check his vitals. He’s a member of the Hephaestus Familia; we cannot let him die here."

  Riveria knelt beside Nyt, her hands glowing with healing magic. "His mana channels are scorched, and he has several hairline fractures... but he’s alive. The device on his body is already stabilizing his pulse. It’s... it’s like his body is repairing itself like a machine."

  Ais stood over them, looking down at Nyt. She reached down and picked up his cracked monocle, which had fallen into the dust. She wiped it clean and tucked it into his pocket.

  "He's not a hero," Ais said softly, remembering his words. "He's an Artificer."

  "Whatever he is," Finn said, looking at the Great Wall of Grief, "Orario isn't ready for him. A Level 1 soloing a Goliath... the Guild is going to have a heart attack."

  "Let's get him to the 18th Floor," Riveria said. "He needs a bed. And when he wakes up, I have a thousand questions about that 'Event Horizon' of his."

  As the Loki Familia picked up the unconscious Artificer and continued their expedition, Nyt’s Mechanical Core gave a final, satisfied hum. The first "Debug" of the Dungeon’s bosses was complete.

  The era of the Level 2 Artificer had begun.