They now stood on the fifth floor faced with a different type of monster.
Webweavers.
Large cave spiders, the size of wolves with their bodies bristly covered with black hair. They wove thick sticky webs all over narrow passages that turned all of them into death traps. Their venom was slow-acting, but if it got into the bloodstream, caused a numbness that affected the whole body.
Two of them were waiting on the ceiling.
Lyra decided to test her new skill. She flexed her twin daggers and the dark aura that surrounded their blades pulsed once more before she activated the ability she loves the most.
Mirror Step.
An illusion of her remained in its place while the real one dashed forward at full speed. One swift strike and the first Webweaver’s body split in two and its ichor splattered all over the stone. It didn’t have the time to react.
The second one spat a glob of venom at the place where she had been.
Lyra had disappeared.
For the first time, it felt true fear so it tried to crawl away, but shadows suddenly wrapped around its legs, slowing it down to a crawl.
This was her newest skill Shadow Shard.
Lyra appeared behind the second Webweaver and one of her twin blades glinted once before its head rolled on the floor a second later.
She didn’t need to use any skills at all. She was overgrowing everything at this point. John was the same. He did not need to draw his scythe in this dungeon.
When the second spider disintegrated, Lyra picked up the only item that had dropped. It was the shape of an ordinary green leaf.
"This dungeon is trash," John said, voicing his thoughts for the first time since they entered the fifth floor. "No fights. I’m just here aura farming stats."
Lyra walked up beside him. "The higher-ups send people here every day to kill the monsters. Besides, there are those who have already awakened. They hide in the wild, taking down dungeons and rifts for their own ends."
John gave a curt nod, acknowledging the information, and walked on.
They reached the next floor.
The sixth floor was completely different.
Webweavers surrounded the whole level. There were at least a dozen of them clinging to the walls and ceiling, and the webs they had wove extended in all directions. It is a big problem.
It wasn’t.
"Stay there." John said.
Lyra halted at once.
John lunged forward and reached the first spider and drove his right fist straight through its abdomen. Its guts and ichor exploded all over the floor. Two more tried to leap at him at the same time. His both fists met them in mid-air and their bodies crumbled like paper.
The rest of the pack realized at once that they were dealing with something far from prey and turned to flee.
John didn’t have a problem with that.
The Soulreaper Scythe manifested in his right hand with a cold whisper and one wide, sweeping through an wide arc and all nine remaining Webweavers were cut apart. Their bodies hit the ground in pieces and began dissolving almost instantly.
A soft chime echoed in his mind.
+12 Stat Points obtained.
He poured six into Strength and the remaining six into Agility without hesitation. Then he gestured and his full status panel flared to life in front of him.
Name: John Graves
Class: Necromancer
Rank: E
Mana aptitude: 98
Strength: 42
Agility: 49
Skills:
Awaken (SSS): Resurrect any deceased being as an undead servant bound to the user’s will. The servant retains a portion of their former abilities and gains unwavering loyalty.
Summon (SS): Instantly call forth any previously awakened undead to the user’s side regardless of distance.
Death’s Grip (A):Bare-handed strikes drain a portion of the target’s life force and transfer it to the user. Especially effective against regenerating enemies.
Weapon/s: Soulreaper Scythe
Rank: Unique
Attack Power: 450
Description: This scythe is made from compressed death energy. It becomes stronger with every soul it takes. It can be manifested at will. The death energy in the scythe can be used to empower the user’s attacks.
In the corner of the chamber, Lyra was quietly fangirling. If she had a camera, she would have been recording every second for later.
Lyra Vane – POV
Lyra always wanted something more from life. At twelve years old she joined the higher-ups and began hunting people for a living. The pay was good. The work was simple. Kill the target, collect the reward, repeat.
Eventually she grew tired of it and told them she wanted out. They laughed and told her she would have to prove her strength first – against one of their strongest.
Her opponent was a demon.
Vespera Nocturne.
She was Tall and elegant with smooth pale skin with long black hair that seemed to move on its own, two short curved horns rising from her forehead and Her eyes were burning a deep crimson, dark magic clung to her like a second skin.
She is known to be specialized in advanced shadow arts that could summon thick, living tentacles that wrapped around her victims and held them in place while she toys with them.
The fight was never fair at all. Lyra lost badly and became bound to the higher-ups as little more than a tool. Vespera took particular pleasure in tormenting her, wrapping her summoned tentacles around her legs, arms. Throat, never going further than the boundaries she had set, but always making sure Lyra felt powerless.
Lyra refused to accept it and challenged Vespera to another duel, raising the stakes by saying if she won, the demon woman would never touch her again. She lost even more miserably the second time.
Having enough of losing everytime Lyra started hunting inside dungeons on her own. It was there she had learned her first two skills – Phantom Veil and Shadow Bind. She trained in secret preparing for her duel with the demon bitch.
Before she could issue the challenge, she was given a new mission. Kill the F-rank scum that had been sent into Glenwood Cavern. Once she returned, they would allow the duel.
So she followed the target into the C-rank dungeon. The plan was simple – kill his comrades first, then kill him after he had tasted real despair.
Present Day
Who would have thought that her target would become her master?
Lyra found she had no problem with it at all.
She knew exactly what she was. Used and discarded. That was why they had sent her to kill some worthless F-rank in the first place.
’They will be here in a few hours, give or take, to check whether I am alive or dead’, she thought, a spark of anger flickering behind her calm expression.
John and Lyra continued deeper until they reached the seventh and final floor.
The chamber was enormous. In the center, stood a single monster that was stitched together from every horror the dungeon had to offer.
It was about the size of a small house. Thick bark-like plates covered most of its body, the same texture as the Barkhide Wolves.
Crystalline claws jutted from its many limbs. Long spider legs sprouted from its sides and leathery bat wings stretched from its back. Moss and glowing fungal growths covered its shoulders.
The lower half of its body packed with earth and stone that constantly shifted and reformed, just like a Dirt Elemental. Multiple glowing eyes of different colors stared out from a misshapen head.
A true amalgamation of everything Glenwood Cavern could produce.
John stopped and looked at Lyra.
"Okay. It’s time, my dear Shadow Illusionist. I want you to prove to me that you are strong by defeating that monster alone. I’m not helping you. If you die, I can just summon you back."
Lyra’s lips curved into a genuine smile – the first real one she had shown since her resurrection.
"I will not let you down, Master."
___________
A/N: So if you all like my novel just add to your library an vote with your powerstones please.