LIGHTNOVELONLINE Interlude - Stone Cloud Peak Dungeon
Interlude – Stone Cloud Peak Dungeon
Naha prowled through the shadow thrown by the peak of the mountain. She was just beneath the peak, on a large plateau where the final boss of this dungeon perched most of the time. The dragon was large, at least twice her base form’s height and four times that as long. It was a lesser dragon, which didn’t mean that it was weak, only that it wasn’t as smart as its more powerful kin. But, a dragon was a dragon, and it still satisfied Zach’s quest condition.
She walked on all four of her Shadowstalker form’s legs. The reason why she used this one was simple. It was large, and powerful, but she used it because it made her Of Night Walk and Shadow Strikegreater. It was a form of the Shadowstalker, a tier 10 monster that had fur that leaked shadow. It was a quadruped resembling cat-like monster. In this form she had sharp claws and a short snout filled with teeth made for tearing flesh. Her Primal Form perk allowed one unique trait of the original monster to be retained in her form. Since monsters had their own framework system it wasn’t quite a perk, but something in that vein. She had to kill a lot of Shadowstalker’s to get what she wanted though, since the trait that would be retained was always random. But her skill combined with Silent Hunter, ShadowCamouflage and Shadowstalking Chimera perks along with the shadowy fur, it meant that this form was nearly undetectable. She had also used her Mold Power to shift her inner workings and adjust her stats, focusing more on strength and dexterity.
Her monster form was powerful. She had a lot of perks that passively boosted her stats when she was using her shapeshifting perks or abilities too. She had leveled all the way to 359 over the last three years, but her skills were what made her truly dangerous. She had achieved eight tier 6, and one tier 8, it meant that her power was technically on the thirteenth tier of power—though, since most of it came from tier 6 skills, she couldn’t quite measure up to some on the same tier.
She watched the battle on the plateau from the shadows, waiting for her time to join it. Through her True Link—Zacharia Gardner, she could feel the flow of the battle, so she knew that the time was soon. She felt… anxious, as she always did when they did this.
“Careful,” Illuiy’s voice spoke inside her head. “You don’t want to jump in too soon.”
She knew that, of course. They had researched and tested the limits of Zach’s quest fully over the last few years. They knew exactly how much they could push it. It wouldn’t count if they fought in a group larger than five, or if Zach didn’t do at least 80% of the damage to the monster and his teammates were more than three tiers of power more powerful than the monster. Fortunately, they hadn’t yet found a dragon type monster that was lower than tier 12, so they didn’t need to worry about that.
So, Naha waited and watched as Zach fought. The dragon was gray in color, with rough scales and wings stretching from its back. It was also a stone dragon, which fulfilled the elemental part of the quest’s conditions. The ground was shaking as Zach soared through the air around it, his blade and sword hitting the monster’s tough scales.
He had done some damage, his attacks had managed to get through and cut the skin beneath. Dark blood was leaking out of the monster, splattering on the stone below. Zach’s green metal armor was glowing with arrays that did various things aside from providing protection, like letting him regenerate stamina at a higher rate. Despite that, she knew that he wouldn’t last for much longer. He had physical wings on his back from his ability, but she knew that they weren’t nearly as good as those of a natural flyer. And more often than not Zach had to rely on his wind based perks to augment his flight since they didn’t allow him to fly that fast or maneuver that much. Which why she knew that he was tiring himself out. He had fifteen seconds in the air before needing to come down and wait for his cooldown. The battle had already been going on for several minutes, enough that he had been able to use his wings four times. It was obvious, despite him being able to avoid the monster, that he was slowing down, and that it was only a matter of time before it managed to land a lucky blow.
Zach was doing a good job of dodging them in the air, as the dragon created them around its head. Its roar sounded like two pieces of rock grinding against one another, rough and loud.
She saw Zach twist in the air and kick off one of the spikes that flew at him flying further away from the dragon, then chains sprung from his outstretched fist wrapping themselves around the dragon’s wing and tangling it up, making it start to tumble toward the ground just as Zach’s wings winked out. He was pulled down along with the dragon, spikes forming and flying in his direction as they fell. Zach flashed forward, his weapons slashing all around him as he used his [Planar Whirling Wing]. His blades did physical damage, but he also had his Hunger blade form, which sapped the dragon’s stats and increased his own. It was why he had been able to keep up despite tiring himself, the monster was getting weaker.
As they reached the ground, she saw him blink away before he hit the ground, the dragon couldn’t stop itself, and so it hit the ground with a resounding crack. Everything shook, and Naha readied herself, her right paw tensing as she prepared Illuiy who was in a form of a clawed gauntlet, sheeting her forms already formidable claws. It had taken some getting use to running around in a four-legged form, especially with something like that attached to her limb. Her increased bond with her awakened weapon had resulted in it being able to take more forms, not a big change, but a significant one for her now.
Zach dashed toward the dragon as soon as he came out of his blink, and she saw the flash that announce him using his Hunger blade’s ability to increase his stats just as she felt her own stats increase through their True Link. He switched his blade to Venom blade and stabbed it through the hole in between the stunned dragon’s scales, right through its shoulder. She saw his blade blur and knew that he had used his |Rending Strikes|skill, as he hit it several times in the same spot. It wasn’t the first time that he had hit it with the Venom blade, and she knew that it all added up, making the monster weaker. It roared in pain and anger, then slammed its claws against the ground, spikes made of stone shot out of it seeking to impale Zach. He stepped to the side with |Spatial Evade| evading one, but then more started coming out and he blinked away.
Naha grimaced as that was his last blink for this fight. They needed to bring this to a close quickly. Their plan was for her to come in at the end, so that they don’t risk her doing more damage than she was supposed to. But she was also supposed to jump in if he couldn’t handle his opponent and risked death. The dragon pushed itself back to its feet, spikes made out of stone appearing around its head and flying at Zach. She saw him evade, but he was slowing down, one had nearly hit him. Dashing forward, he pulled his blade back behind his opposite hip, then as the dragon snapped forward with its open jaws he slashed forward.
Naha saw a white crescent fly forward quickly, it couldn’t travel far, but it was enough. It passed through the dragon’s neck harmlessly and then Zach jumped to the side to dodge. As the dragon’s head hit the ground, she saw the spike above it crumble mid being formed. The |Sealing Crescent Slash| had sealed its power, not for long, barely a second, but it was enough.
Zach’s blade was sheathed with crackling lighting and he dashed forward. As the dragon recovered, he shouted in its direction, sending a blast of concussive energy that weakened the area around it and staggered it long enough for him to get close. His blade stabbed into the dragon’s open wound, cutting and widening it even as he unleashed his {Lightning Strike}. The dragon visibly shook from the attack, its claw swiping at Zach and forcing him back as it tried to get away. Then, it turned suddenly, its tail lashed out and caught Zach unprepared, the blunt rock like tip of it smashed into his chest and sent him flying back.
Naha jumped forward immediately. With her Of Night Walk and Shadow Strikesshe surged out of the shadows, still undetectable. She focused her mind and activated both her Powerful Strike and Primal Strike, making her next attack deal 8x normal damage, then she used her |Perfect Unseen Stab|. Her attack had gone undetected, which triggered her Shadow Stab perk, increasing the damage by an additional 200%. Her right claw, sheathed with Illuiy in his claw gauntlet form, slid straight through the scales on the dragon’s neck. She twisted in the air as he rent half of its neck apart, landing with all of her limbs on it and digging in deep. Dark blood flowed freely all over her, and the dragon roared. She had opened up a large gash on the side of its neck, had cut important arteries. The dragon was dead, but it wouldn’t go down immediately.
It was buckling, trying to throw her off, but she used [Primal Bite] and chomped down on its neck, holding on as it tried to throw her away.
Then Zach came back, wings on his back beat once and sent him flying toward the dragon’s face. His Ethereal sword stabbed through one of its eyes and he used it as leverage to wrap his legs around the dragon’s head and neck. She saw spikes made out of stone form above them, clearly intended to pierce them from above. But then Zach raised his blade intent on stabbing through the gap between the scales.
Then, the dragon’s body trembled, and a moment later Naha was thrown off painfully. She hit the ground before she even realized what had happened. She glanced down her body and saw a hundred wounds, with tiny sharp things impaling her. Over to the side she saw Zach in a similar state, his armor filled with shards that had punched the metal. She saw the dragon in the middle, glaring at them, its body was bare, without any scales protecting it. She realized that it had somehow sent all of its scales in an area attack.
It roared again, and she saw stone filling up the wound on its neck, stopping the blood flow. Spikes formed around it, and she jumped away with |Perfect Shadow Disengage| her form becoming a shadow that surged away.
Zach did the same with his |Spatial Evade|. They avoided the attack, and then Zach pointed his blade at the dragon, activating his Venom Burst. The dragon staggered as the venom inside of it was consumed and it suffered critical damage. It lost its footing and slumped to the ground. Zach dashed forward and then dismissed his Ethereal Sword. As soon as it was gone, he reached out with that hand, looking as if he was grasping at something, then he pulled.
A moment later the air right beneath the dragon exploded as he used his Forceful Rift and blasted open a weakened spot in space, creating a rift to the air and wind plane. The maelstrom of air ripped out just next to the dragon.
Naha was always surprised when she saw it used that way. Many would consider air to be weak, yet… the storms that air and wind were capable off were astounding. This high up, the plane was probably a mix of air and wind, perhaps some stone or rock, as the ground shook from the rift opening. The power of the storm of air cut the now unprotected dragon apart, the blast of wind sending even Naha rolling across the ground, despite most of it being absorbed by the dragon.
Pieces of the dragon boss rained down all around them along with droplets of black blood. Naha could feel Zach through their link, so she didn’t worry about him. Instead, she just shifted back to her base form and remained on the ground, covered in blood as she gathered her breath.
A while later, they were sitting in a clear part of the plateau, washing themselves with water from a barrel that they had brought with them to the dungeon. They had learned a lot during the last six months since they had arrived at the Island of the Dungeons. One had to be prepared to dungeon dive or climb in this case.
As they washed in silence, she looked over the edge, at the sights around them. They appeared to be on top of an impossibly tall mountain, surrounded by forest. It was not the landscape of the Island of the Dungeons, but just some illusion unique to this dungeon. She didn’t know if it was real, but she knew that they couldn’t go there. The limits of the dungeon were just a short distance around the mountain itself, a solid and invisible wall kept them from getting out. The Stone Cloud Peak Dungeon was a closed type, or rather a respawning dungeon. The two of them had been lucky to have been able to enter it, since only a few teams could enter at the same time. Though each would have their own instance of the dungeon, so they couldn’t interfere with one another.
The fact that their team of two had managed to get in was a testament to the state of things here. She knew from her past that entrances were tightly regulated by the Adventurers Guild. But… since that night three years ago everything had changed. The leader of the Adventurers Guild was dead, and his son—Heor Darkhoof, the Beloved of the Sun and the second in line to lead it—had disappeared, some said seeking revenge for his family’s deaths.
Regardless, the guild had collapsed into various factions, each seeking to gain more influence. The Wardens Guild was technically a part of the Adventurers Guild. Which was why they were allowed access. The Wardens were one of the few factions that had managed to remain more or less whole. There were issues, of course, they had lost their leader. But… there had been more than enough work for them in the core as wars broke out. Wars inevitably allowed criminals a wider reign, and everyone had wanted Warden services, well, most of them.
And Zach and Naha were those of the few more visible wardens now. The adventurers on the island wanted to gain the support of the Wardens, and so they… courted them. Naha didn’t complain, though she knew Zach had some hang-ups about using them, she had none.
Zach and Naha had spent most of the first two years on assignments, fighting daily, sometimes hunting down several bounties each day. Both of them had achieved the Master titles and had earned the right to do as they pleased. As soon as they had been able to, they had headed here, seeking to help Zach finish his quest.
She glanced at him as he washed. She knew that he felt like she had left him behind, because she had advanced, while he hadn’t. It wasn’t that he couldn’t, over the last three years he had unlocked a few class evolutions for himself. But he didn’t want to pick any of them. She understood that sentiment, he wanted to follow his own path, and he didn’t feel like any of his choices really fit him.
One of them was a Warden Master class, a faction specific class that would make him a better warden. And the other was a Dark Portal Master, the class that he had gained after shutting down the portal that spanned the distance across the known world.
But, in the end it was his choice, and she wouldn’t press him on it.
“What is it?” Zach said, startling her. She realized that she had gotten lost in thought and hadn’t seen him notice her looking.
“Nothing, just thinking,” she said. The dragon’s death had counted toward his quest, which meant that he was one dragon away from finishing it. Unfortunately, finding dragons that they could take on was hard, which was why they had come here.
“About what?” Zach asked.
“Nothing, everything,” she shrugged. She started walking over to him, her new base body was the same height as he was, female and more powerful than any other of her normal forms. It was a result of her Unique Form perk. It had allowed her to fashion a unique body for herself from all of her available forms. It was a mix of many races, but the baseline was human/demasi. Her skin color was pale pink, like that of her Quell form and she had a tail and two sets of horns on her head. Her teeth and eyes were ravzor allowing her to tear flesh and to see better in the dark. Her face was human, along with most of her torso and waist area. Her hands and legs were those of a drake with black scales and sharp claws at the ends of her fingers. She was muscled, imposing, she always felt powerful in this form. But the best part of it was that Zach liked it, not that he had ever had any problems with any of her forms. It made her happy to know that no matter what skin she wore, he would still love her.
As she stopped next to him, he put his hand around her lower back and pulled her close. “Are you sure about that,” he whispered against her lips.
She smiled at him. “It wasn’t important,” she said. And he leaned down for a kiss.
She sighed into it, felling the tension inside her body leaking away. Most of the side effects of her madness had gone away. But still, after battle, after moments of intense fighting, she felt stressed, agitated. Sometimes, far less often now, she would still feel the need to tear into something, but her class evolutions had led her away from that. Her current class was that of a Primal Metamorph, so she got the urge to change to become something else and new. Which was why she tried to get new forms as often as possible.
Still, as they kissed roughly, she felt herself calming down. The two of them knew exactly how to deal with her now. The loot from the dungeon was forgotten as they laid down on the cold stone. It would still be there after, for now, she needed her urges to be satiated.
Name
Nahamassa Plainrunner
Race
Ravzor (Great Plain - Iteration 5)
Titles
Adventurer
Hunted more than 100 monsters
+5 to all stats, 5 000 Essence
Hero of Promise
Save more than 10 people with a single action
+5 to all stats, 5 000 Essence
First to Ten
First person in the world to reach level Ten
+10% to all stats, 10 000 Essence
One Against Many
Fight against more than 10 opponents and win
+5 to all stats, 5 000 Essence
Beloved
Loved by more than half of a world’s population
+50 to all stats, 100 000 Essence
True Understanding VIII
Evolve a skill to tier 6(8 skills evolved to 6th tier)
+20 to all stats, 20 000 Greater Essence(per tier 6 skill)
Lord
Reach Lord Realm
+5 to all stats, 500 Greater Essence
Murderer
Murder more than 10 people that you had no connection and that wished you no harm outside of war or feud setting
+2 to all stats, 10 Greater Essence
Cannibal
Kill more than 5000 people of your own race for their Essence
+10 to all stats, 50 Greater Essence
Torturer
Torture a person for more than three months
+2 to all stats, 500 Essence
Class Evolution V
Evolved your class for the fifth time.
+60 to all stats, 50 Greater Essence
Bloody Hands
Murder more than 100 people that you had no connection and that wished you no harm outside of war or feud setting
+10 to all stats, 10 000 Greater Essence
Burglar
Steal more than 10 items that you have no right to
+2 to all stats, 10 Greater Essence
Cruel Mind
Torment more than 100 people that you had no connection and that wished you no harm outside of war or feud setting
+10 to all stats, 5000 Greater Essence
Thief
Steal more than 100 items that you have no right to
+15 to all stats, 1000 Greater Essence
Skill Lord
Three skills evolved to tier 6 (8 skills evolved to tier 6)
For every 3 skills evolved to tier 6 gain 2% to all stats
+4% to all stats
Apprentice Bounty Hunter: Wardens
Complete 10 faction bounties for people no more than two tiers of power below you.
+5 to all stats,1000 Greater Essence
Alchemical Tester
Use more than 10 alchemical concoctions to improve yourself
+2 to intelligence, 500 Essence
Beyond Understanding II
Focus and specialize your understanding of a tier 6 skill. (2 skills)
+250 to all stats, 100 000 Greater Essence (per focused skill)
Combined Understanding I
Combine two of your tier 7 skills. (4 skill)
+50 to all stats, 100 000 Greater Essence, -1 skill slot,
(per tier 8 skill)
Master Bounty Hunter: Warden
Complete 200 faction tasks that are no more than two tiers of power below you in difficulty.
+100 to all stats,100 000 Greater Essence
PERKS
Hunter's Nose (Class Perk)
Five times per day magnify your sense of smell by a factor of ten.
Greater Partial Shift (Class Perk)
Change a body part into a different shape. Can only shift into shapes of animals that you have personally killed. Can sustain three changes at the same time. Shape change lasts for twenty minutes.
Silent Hunter (Class Perk)
Your movements don’t disrupt the air around you, making you nearly silent. Strength of effect depends on dexterity stat.
Shifting and Malleable (Bond Perk)
As long as you are bonded with Greed and Change, you are no longer affected by stat imbalance or sickness.
Hunter’s Stamina (Class Perk)
+40% to stamina pool.
Greater Devour Life (Class Perk)
Executing attack. Once per year kill a person to steal one fifth of their remaining life, and add it to your own. Works of people up to two tiers of power above you.
Greater Form Shift (Class Perk)
Devour a part of any type of corpse and gain its form. You can completely shift into that form and stay in it indefinitely if it is a chosen form, if it is an animal form it will last as long as you have mental stamina. You retain all your stats and powers. Your full screen will change to reflect the identity of your new form. You may have 8 forms saved at a time. Adding a new form beyond the last slot will destroy the oldest form.
Greater Reflex (Class Perk)
Your reflexes are enhanced by 100%, speed of response equal to twice your dexterity.
Powerful Strike (Class Perk)
Once per combat your next attack deals 3x damage.
Rapid Regeneration (Class Perk)
Once per combat, increase your body’s regeneration by a factor of ten.
Shadow Step (Skill Perk)
Your My Shadow, As Night Itself allows for blending in shadows. Five times per battle, and unlimited outside of it, you may step through one shadow and come out through another as long as the distance is no longer than ten meters.
+10% to dexterity
Shadow Stab (Skill Perk)
Your MyWay, In the Shadows allows for attacking from shadows. All attacks made from the shadows while undetected deal 200% damage.
+10% to strength.
Mold Power (Class Perk)
Once per day you may shift the inner workings of your flesh in such a manner that you are able to move your stats around. You can only move your base stats.
Flesheater (Class Perk)
Eating raw meat heals you, and you gain 500% increased benefits from eating high tiered meat.
Primal Strength (Class Perk)
Increase your strength by 15% (Stacking up to 3 times for partial shifts) when you have a partial or full shift active that is based on a monster form.
Primal Blow (Class Perk)
One per combat your next attack deals 5x damage.
Primal Form (Class Perk)
Gain plus 25% to stats when you shift into a monster form. Your monster forms will retain 1 unique trait that the original possessed.
Primal Channel (Class Perk)
Once per combat you may channel the power of one of your forms while in another form.
Shadow Camouflage (Class Perk)
Any Shadow related form you have, is harder to detect.
Shadow Fighting (Skill Perk)
Your Of Night and Shadow Strikes infuses the way you fight. Fighting in darkness increases all of your stats by 15%. +15% to dexterity
Chimeric Resistance (Class Perk)
Your body becomes resistant to all kinds of poison, venom, and disease type Essences. Current resistance = 45%
Unique Form (Class Perk)
You can shape a unique form by taking parts of any of your currently available forms. This form doesn't count toward your maximum and becomes your baseline form.
Shadowstalking Chimera (Class Perk)
Any forms or shapes that come from monsters that had Shadow related Essence are 20% more effective.
Primal Metamorphosis (Class Perk)
You can shape a unique monster form based on the monsters that you have killed. This form will retain all the unique traits that the originals possessed. This form's stats will vary depending on the final form, but the final stats will not be higher than your total stats combined, the only thing that can be different is stat allocation. The form last for one hour or until your mental stamina is drained.
Shifters Resiliance (Class Perk)
While any type of shifting power is active, gain +20% to your vitality and endurance.
True Link - Zacharia Gardner (Class Perk)
Allows you to make a link with Zacharia Gardner, and enter a Linked State. While in the Linked State you gain awareness of Zacharia Gardner and you gain a bonus of 5% his stats added to your own. Allows for the activation of True Link perks. Picking this perk will make it impossible for any other mind linking perks with other living beings or contract perks to be learned. Depth of awareness depends on your bond with Zacharia Gardner.
True Link - Soul Resistance (Class Perk)
Through your link with Zacharia Gardner you gain 80% of his soul damage resistance.
Class
Primal Metamorph ( M )
Level
359
Combat Ability
Primal Bite
Movement Ability
Primal Charge
Support Ability
Greater Metamorphosis
Additional Ability
Primal Mind
Additional Ability
Primal Strike
Passive Skills
Active Skills
Perfect Danger Sense
Perfect Lacerate
Of Night Walk and Shadow Strike
Perfect Imitation
Mind Resistance >> Greater Mind Resistance >> Clear Mind >> Greater Clear Mind >> Stalwart Mind
Perfect Spatial Step
Night Eyes >> Greater Night Eyes >> Night Vision >> Greater Night Vision >> Drakness Sight
Meditation >> Enhanced Meditation >> Focused Meditation >> Greater Focused Meditation >> Singular Mantra
Trained Body >> Greater Trained Body >> Flexible Trained Body >> Greater Flexible Trained Body >> Adaptable Trained Body
Perfect Unseen Stab
Power Sense >> Enhanced Power Sense >> Insightful Sense >> Greater Insightful Sense >> Capability Awareness
Perfect Shadow Disengage
Weakness Sense >> Greater Weakness Sense >> Vulnerability Sense >> Enhanced Vulnerability Sense >> Fatal Flaw Sense
Strength
2126
Dexterity
2091
Vitality
2649
Endurance
1406
Intelligence
1860
Wisdom
2013