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Chapter 13: Breaking and Entering Dungeons

  While I flew off into a random direction, pondering on how I was supposed to waste an entire month, I had a most devious idea. 'If I can't enter any towns because of my nature, then I might as well do some dungeons.'

  I smiled to myself. Yes, it was a plan most devious. A blatant middle finger to the rules of the universe. Which I've been doing quite a lot already, but this will be my magnum opus!

  First I needed to actually use the skills I bought but haven't bothered testing. 'I need to test Repair, Harvest, and even that weird astral projection skill.' To do that, I needed some sand, a monster or something 'harvestable', and a place to do a lotus pose. Not sure if it's needed but it fits the theme. 'I also need to clean my suit. Gross.' I was reminded of just how dirty it was when my finger tips felt the dried blood in my gloves.

  I was flying for awhile but I saw something in the distance. I saw the ocean of this world. 'Nice! My luck stat is really helping me out.' Luck was proving to be my most important stat. It usually was when I played video games with the stat. I was always a luck build kinda guy.

  After a minute or so I had reached the beach. The ocean was... pretty much exactly the same as Earth. Big, blue, and beautiful. The beach had blue sand though. It made it slightly difficult to tell the difference between it and the water, but the white waves gave them away.

  I landed softly onto the sand. A seamless transition from standing on air to walking on the ground. My boots sunk into the soft sand some, which made it awkward for a bit. Either my higher agility stat or my EA skill kicked in and now I was walking around like it was perfectly flat. I even stopped sinking into the sand. 'Freaky.'

  After finding a good enough spot, I started the slow process of taking my suit off. It was the first time since I was dropped into the universe. I hadn't needed to use the bathroom, and after that first meal I hadn't felt hungry. I held my helmet in my hands, checking the visor again. The crack hadn't grown and the scratches were obviously still there. Deciding to try the repair skill later, I dropped it on the soft sand and began to remove the rest.

  It was harder than normal because the blood had dried up in the zipper and various connections. After several minutes and a few curses, I got out of it. The inside was caked in blood. I had expected the system to censor the mess, but it did not. The pj's I had forgotten about clung to my body in that gross way sweat does, except this time it was drenched in dried blood.

  "Fuck, that is so gross." I mutter as I start removing that as well. The cloth peeling away from my skin. I also ended up having to remove my underwear, so now I was standing on the beach like some pervert. Thinking quickly, as I felt uncomfortable without my suit, I tried to use my Telekinesis skill to separate the blood from my clothes. Starting with my underwear, I lifted them up in front of me and grasped the blood and cloth in two mental hands.

  Then gently started pulling them apart. I didn't want a repeat of the monster skinning incident. Thankfully, the old blood was starting to flake off in places so it was working. It would just take forever.

  "At least I got plenty of time..." I said to myself with a sigh.

  ...

  It had taken around 2 hours to clean everything. I was being very careful since I didn't want to damage anything. I wasn't sure how well the Repair skill would work after all. Once everything was clean I put my boxers back on, and my pj's. I was hovering above the sand since I didn't want to get sand on my freshly cleaned onesie. It still stunk like iron but there was nothing I could do about that. Salt water would be harmful to it, and make it smell like the ocean.

  I had my suit and helmet floating in front of me, and I was looking between the two. I had already tried to fix the suit without a skill, so I might as well try to finish the job. Putting a hand onto the chest piece and the leather I had terribly sown onto it, I used the Repair skill. Since it was a magic variant, it was technically a spell. So there was a bit of light flowing from my hand into the piece.

  With the skill came the knowledge of what it was supposed to look like in action. The Repair skill, or spell, had Mana pour out from the caster in a blue light. Which would then go into the object and resource, binding them together and eating away at the resource. It will repair the object to the perfection of the casters mental image of the item. So if they don't know what it was supposed to look like, the cost would increase tremendously as the spell would have to get the knowledge from the item itself. I don't know how that works, but it's magic so it get's a pass for being weird.

  It didn't look like blue light. My eyes widened as the same rainbow from the kaleidoscope fracture I made came from my hands. There was even some of those reality fragments that looked like glass shards with multiple colors in them floating around my hand. 'Right, I don't use Mana anymore. I get my energy from beyond the veil!'

  As the spell began to eat away at the leather, the chest of my suit started to morph into how it's supposed to look like. It's not very fast though, and I have to sit there for a good few minutes.

  While it was repairing, I started thinking about how everything reacted to me back at town. 'Were they reacting to my Energy? I do use it to fly, so can they feel it? If I walk around without using my Energy, maybe no one would have that reaction...' It might be worth a shot. I'd have to give it a try at the next town.

  Looking at the completed repair, the leather had been completely eaten away. The chest piece was almost perfectly the same as it was before. The only difference was a slight discoloration since the leather wasn't exactly the same color.

  "Oh good. I really hope there's blue lines in my visor. That would be awesome." I muttered dryly.

  With a sigh I collected some of the blue sand and began the process on the visor. This time I imagined the sand being heated to such extremes that it melted into glass. Then I imagined the molten glass perfectly filling the crack and scratches.

  It took significantly longer this time, but the visor was also fixed. Thankfully the blue sand didn't leave blue marks. The scratches and the crack were gone. Replaced with barely noticeable clear glass. It was hard to even find the clear lines due to the golden tint. With a pleased smile I put the suit back on. My view no longer obstructed by the blemishes.

  "Alright, that's one skill down. Time to Harvest something." For the Harvest skill, I had chosen the physical variant. The idea of having near perfect resources was really appealing. When I thought about it, everything was a harvestable resource. If you had something that needed dirt, then dirt was a resource. From farmland to mud pies. As long as you could think of something to be used for another, then the skill told you how to harvest it. With limits of course. The physical variant needed tools to be used as required, which I'm hoping I can substitute with my Telekinesis.

  As I started looking around for something to harvest, just walking around since I hardly walked anymore, I thought about something else. 'I had gone about the same speed as something re-entering the atmosphere back home. Shouldn't I have burnt up into nothing?'

  Just another one of those "I should be dead already" thoughts. It was weird though. I needed to know, so I could go that fast again willingly. 'Was it my Telekinesis? No it couldn't have been...'

  I put the thoughts away. It probably didn't matter all that much. Something had protected me in some way and that's that. I can figure it out later when I know I won't be turned into goo when I fly.

  Not sure what to really use the Harvest skill on since I didn't need anything right now, I just let it fill my head with idea's on how to harvest anything I looked at. Flowers, trees, sand, water, and even air. It had some funny ideas for harvesting air. It told me to just use an air tight bag, swing it around and then close it mid swing. I mean, it would work sure, but it was dumb.

  Now all I had to test was the Eldritch Astral Projection. When I thought about it, something seemed... interesting.

  "System, can I use skills while astral projecting?" I asked the air, knowing the system would hear me.

  "Yes."

  "What happens if I get attacked while projecting?"

  "If you are attacked you will return to your body forcefully. That is unlikely unless your enemies can detect you. 87% of the known species cannot detect projections." The system helpfully informs me.

  'Holy shit I could go full poltergeist on them.' Now I just needed to test the distance. So I plopped my happy ass down onto the beach and activated the skill. My expectations, like usual, were subverted when I was instantly booted from my body.

  I had expected to need a trance or something. Nope. I just went 'poof', now I'm a ghost. Looking around, everything had a strange tint to it. The colors were back, but this time they were everywhere. Like I had entered a separate plane of existence that overlaps mine.

  "Eldritch shenanigans..." I muttered and my voice sounded weird as well. It was hard to describe. It was like I was speaking through glass, but the thickness varied randomly.

  I moved my legs to walk around but all I did was walk in place. 'Right. No friction if I can just phase through walls.' I willed myself forward and I floated along. I turned around and looked at my body. I had tried to do a lotus position, but my suit was limiting. I had also fallen over like I was asleep. Looking down at my incorporeal body, I was wearing my space suit. Except, I could see better than I could with the helmet. It was still there, since I could see an outline of it in my vison, but I could see out of it like I wasn't wearing one at all. My body also moved like I wasn't restricted by any clothing at all.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  I started floating around. Going as far out as I could before being stopped by an invisible wall. Floating along the edge, I found out it was a perfect sphere with my true body in the center. I was 100 feet from my body when I hit the edge.

  "Local journeys indeed." I scoffed at the somewhat low range of the skill.

  I still had 8 skill points, and I wanted to test something before committing them to the plan I was forming. With a testing thought, I cancelled the skill while away from my body. I rubber banded back into my body in a split second. My eyes popping open instantly. 'There was a short delay there. Probably based on distance.' I'd have to remember that.

  My goal was to find a Dungeon. Preferably one not above level 30 but I'd take any of them really. Even the level 140 Dungeon. So I started flying around. I did have an impulse to dive into the ocean, to scrounge around on the ocean floor for a dungeon, but then I remembered that dungeons increase the level of monsters around it. The sky dungeon didn't have any local monsters so it was safe, but the ocean was full of critters. Even if my EA skill could probably make me adapt to the depths quickly, I don't want to fuck with something like that.

  Then again... undersea battles were pretty cool...

  ...

  I was 'swimming' pretty deep in the water. My EA skill allowing me to breathe without air. The deeper I went the darker it got, but my skill was adapting my eyes faster than the darkness could blind me. I could see far into the waters. It had started normal with the blue fuzz in the distance. Then my skill made it so I could see just like it was land. There was nothing around me. I could some fish far away, but I didn't care about that.

  I wanted to go deeper. I was deathly afraid of the ocean back home. Now though, now I didn't care. This was a thrill. I had ideas I wanted to test on the deep sea monsters. I wanted a fight. So I kept going deeper and deeper. My suit was of course air tight, so I didn't get wet. I might smell like the sea when I'm done though. I could worry about finding a laundromat later. I had an impulse to fulfil.

  I eventually found the ocean floor. I haven't found anything monstrous or any dungeons yet. My space suit was made for the void, so I was pretty surprised it was holding up so well down here. 'Why had they made them so sturdy? Or was it a skill?'

  "System, do I have a skill keeping my suit from being crushed?"

  "Your Environmental Adaptation skill is now level 12. At level 5 it begins to affect equipment. At level 10 it effects your soul. You had somewhat skipped a few steps with your Mana Core, but now you are truly in the realm of Soul Cultivation."

  'It was level 2 when "the incident" happened though?' There was something weird about that whole incident. Something else caught my attention before I could actually ask about it.

  "Soul Cultivation? What, is the main goal to eventually become some immortal that defies the heavens?" That sounded like some Xianxia or Wuxia cultivator bullshit.

  "That is half correct. While the goal is indeed to become immortal and increase in power, the main goal is to become a god. There is no recorded 'Heavens' to defy. The system has looked for such a place, but the planes that match the description do not have control over the lower planes. No one has ever achieved that status, as everyone capable of following that path dies. With a sample pool of 3 trillion individuals who started the path, 100% of them have perished. Even with the systems help and guidance, Soul Cultivation has yet to lead to success. The only reason the system hasn't removed all knowledge and patched it out of the universe is because of the power it provides. It is also entertaining to some."

  'Right. The system was made to entertain or something.' I don't really care all that much for this "Soul Cultivation" business, but if it's from my EA skill it'll likely happen automatically when my soul is exposed to a harsh environment. It also turns out that my suit can adapt now too.

  I was pretty happy about that while using my Telekinesis to move me around at the sea bed. The water was providing much more resistance than the air, and it was making me slower than normal. I was still really fucking fast, just not anywhere close to my regular speed.

  While looking for a Dungeon to fuck up, I tried to calculate just how fast I could fly if I really pushed it. 'With 120 Energy put into it, I can reach mach 1 instantly. After about 10 seconds I reach mach 2, after another 10 and I reach mach 3. So I increase it by a mach every 10 seconds of prolonged input. Is there a limit?' I had no idea. Anytime I found a speed I liked I just stopped accelerating. Should I try and see if there is?

  Probably not. Even with 12 energy, I was able to reach a few thousand miles per hour. It took several hours, but I had reached it. It's a safe bet that there's no limit. As I pondered it, my insane luck kicked in yet again and I could see a structure in the watery horizon. Before I could get much closer, a gargantuan shape came into view from the Dungeon. It dwarfed the Dungeon. If my guess was right, it was a Kraken.

  A Kraken with... a cats head.

  "What the hell?" I muttered as I stared at it. It had a pale white body, with something that looked like purple veins spreading over it's tentacles. It hadn't seen me yet, as it was likely pitch black down here but my magically enhanced eyes treated it like mid day. Like usual, I couldn't see it's level. It was really annoying me that everyone else seemed able to see levels but I couldn't.

  "System, why can't I see levels?" I asked, my voice sounding pretty loud in my helmet. I continued to stare at the strange Cat-Kraken. The cat part was the furless kind, and the whiskers moved like they were tentacles. They probably were. It was really gross to look at.

  "When a being reaches level 5, they will automatically receive the ability to read levels. If something is 20 levels higher than the user, the level becomes unreadable. When it's unreadable, the only indicator of it's level is a color assigned to the tag. Green is 20-40 levels higher. Yellow is 40-80. Red is 80-160. Black is 160+."

  I wasn't really listening since about half way through the systems speech, it finally noticed me. It was approaching quickly but I was just barely faster than it. The monster must have been at least 150 feet long, and about 70 feet wide.

  I had called it a Kraken, but it looked more like a squid now that I could see it clearer. As it tried to eat me. 'Oh well.'

  Testing a thought I had earlier, I used my Telekinesis on some of the water around me. Grabbing a random amount in a massive mental hand. I couldn't really see anything since it was water, but I felt it. So I morphed it into the feeling of a spear, or something more like a skewed cube. A point stretch out like a giant arrow. That's what it kind of felt like anyway. As I dodged one of the tentacles again, I put some Energy into the water spear, sending it toward the Cat-Squid. I didn't see it move, but I felt the water being displaced as it was thrust forward.

  It bit into the beast's side, the Cat-Squid somehow sensing the attack and dodging slightly. It was a shallow cut, but it had worked. With an evil grin, I made more spears. With the increase of mental effort, I wasn't able to move quite as fast and the monster got a good smack in. I was sent twirling through the water, but I straightened myself out quickly. I had lost one of the spears, but I had 3 more.

  I put some effort into one of them and sent it toward the creature. It sensed it and moved to dodge, but I knew it would. I had positioned 2 spears on either side, making a bet it would move into one of them. I hadn't expected it to dodge upwards, making my plan moot. 'Damn!' We were dealing with 3 dimensions, not 2.

  As a plus, it hadn't noticed the 2 spears so the plan might work still. It went to attack me again, but I was careful and kept the spears on track with it. When it attacked, so did I. The spear on the right came at us both. It noticed the attack somehow, but didn't move to dodge. It committed to attacking me and my eyes went wide. I brought up my arms to block it on instinct and we traded blows.

  I was sent spinning again, and the squid cat thing got a water spear to the back. There was pink glittery goop in the water now, but my head was spinning. My regen healed up whatever it did to me instantly though, so I was once again ready to go. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face. I was having fun.

  The monster was hurt but not down, so I readied another 2 spears. It had slowed down after the blow I delivered, and it could not escape the attacks anymore. When it tried to dodge it hit one of the stationary spears, surprising it as every other spear moved in to attack it.

  The sound it made traveled through the water with a warble. I couldn't hear it, and my nose started bleeding. I felt my other face holes leaking as well. 'That was definitely sonar.' That must have been how it detected the water spears. To some degree at least. It couldn't sense the stationary spears. My EA skill took care of the sonar attack, and I was now immune to it. That didn't mean the beast stopped, but I was able to ignore it now.

  Making my way over to the monster, I forced the spears to rip into it to finish it off. It was getting harder to see with all the glitter, but it had yet to die. It was growing weaker but it wasn't out yet.

  "System, what level is this thing?" I asked, feeling a bit bad for it. Bad that I couldn't kill it very fast anyway.

  I didn't get a response. It was probably against the rules are something dumb like that. So I kept drilling into the squid until it died. My Harvest skill told me it might have a core and how to extract it. Unfortunately, I didn't have a fucking fishing boat with a massive table saw, so I couldn't really get to it.

  "But I could substitute it..." I grabbed some more water, and this time I formed it into a disk. I couldn't make any teeth since my control wasn't that good, yet. 'I'll have to put some points into Telekinesis later.' I wanted to do it now but it can wait. I might need the points for something more important soon.

  The water blade spun and I gently put it against the monsters body. It was unbelievably slow, but it cut. So I cut it. And cut it.

  ...

  I let out a sigh. It had been... I don't even know how long. There wasn't a sun or stars down here to tell the time. But I had gotten it. The massive core floated in front of me. Hell, it was nearly as tall as I was and perfectly round. The mesmerizing orb was a very pleasant orange. Like a mini sun, just without the glowing light. The inside of the orb moved with shapes like a snow globe or a magic eight ball. It was very pretty and it was well worth the effort it took to get.

  After staring at my prize for a bit, I realized I had no way to actually carry it around safely. I'd just have to use my Telekinesis. 'Worth it!' It was so, so worth it.

  Making my way to the Dungeon, it looked like an ancient civilizations ruin. There wasn't any plant life, since we were so far down, but it was covered in sand. Unlike the sky Dungeon, this one was an open concept. Since the actual dungeons entrance was at what looked like a basement entrance. Stairs leading down into darkness.

  It was the same with the sky Dungeon. I could see some into the entrance but I couldn't see that far. I had forgotten that my eyes adapt to the darkness, that I hadn't thought about the entrance blocking my view last time. Not like it mattered. I'd be seeing the inside anyway.

  Putting my hand on the gate, I got the message I wanted.

  'Oh damn. That squid thing must have been really high level.' I glanced at the giant orb next to me. 'Well... no shit.' I chuckled to myself and laid down on the ground.

  Using my EAP, Eldritch Astral Projection skill, I floated my soul over to the gate. Well, where the gate was supposed to be. There wasn't anything there here. There wasn't a Dungeon. It was just an old basement filled with sand. It was nearly completely gone, as it was mostly just sand.

  "Huh." My fragmented voice carried out as I stared at the stairs. 'Time to experiment~.'

  Using my DG skill while projecting, I put the exit inside the stairwell. Then put the entrance near my body, and cancelled the projection. I opened my eyes to see my portal next to me, and when I got up my exit point was just barely visible inside the Dungeon. With a cocky grin I walked over to the portal but then stopped, my grin faltering slightly.

  'Was I really about to try this? Anything could go wrong...' I stared at the hole in space. 'Fuck it.' I walked into the entrance. My entrance.

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