The tunnel descended sharply at a thirty-degree incline, spiraling deeper into the dark bowels of the earth.
As the last traces of surface light vanished completely, the narrow basalt corridor expanded into an immense subterranean chamber.
High above the vaulted ceiling, clusters of bioluminescent fungi cast an eerie, pale-cyan radiance over a grim landscape.
The ground beneath their boots was not stone, but a thick, crunching carpet of bleached skeletal remains—the piled bones of surface beasts and unfortunate adventurers dragged into the abyss over centuries.
Dense, steel-like webs draped between towering stalagmites, throbbing with the unnatural crimson mana that pulsed from the dungeon’s depths.
”An Arachnid-type spawning layer,” Rosalina observed, her voice echoing softly across the cavernous expanse.
She stepped carefully, her boot crushing a brittle ribcage beneath her heel.
“The Church didn’t just activate this dungeon; they altered its ecology.
This level of mana density belongs on the twentieth floor, not the first.”
”They’re forcing the dungeon to bypass its natural maturation stages,” Nyxara added, her violet eyes scanning the shadow-drenched ceiling.
“By flooding the upper layers with artificial dark mana, every creature born here is a mutated variant.”
Screeech!
A high-pitched, ear-splitting shriek pierced the heavy air.
From the high vault of the rock ceiling, dozens of glowing red eyes snapped open in the darkness.
Down the thick webbing slithered a horde of massive, armored monstrosities—Dread-Fangs.
Each spider was the size of a carriage, covered in jagged obsidian carapaces and sporting razor-sharp pedipalps dripping with sizzling, green corrosive acid.
Behind them, perched atop a massive mound of webbed cocoon corpses, a swollen shadow shifted: the Floor Boss, a Calamity Weaver, pulsing with volatile Level 40-equivalent mana.
Rosalina’s hand instinctively reached for her focus gem, her Nature Mana flaring.
“There are at least fifty of them…
and that central beast’s carapace is reinforced with earth-elemental mana!”
”Stay your hand, Rosalina,” Barn instructed calmly.
He stepped to the front, his hands remaining loosely tucked into his shadow-black coat.
His active power profile remained clamped down, registering as a modest High-tier presence, yet his mind operated with the cold, absolute precision of a master.
’Let’s see…’ Barn analyzed, his [All-Know] ability dissecting the approaching horde in a microsecond.
‘To shatter these carapaces without using high-tier spell arrays, I need to manipulate the spatial friction of the ambient air.’
He considered it, but there was something else he wanted to try instead.
As the lead Dread-Fang leaped from the ceiling, its massive, acid-dripping fangs aimed directly for his head, Barn didn’t dodge.
He simply took a half-step sideways, extending his right index finger.
He didn’t chant, draw an elemental circle, or cast a standard spell.
Instead, he channeled his suppressed mana into a hyper-condensed point at the tip of his finger, applying the fundamental principles of his newly acquired [The Mage] class—understanding, modifying, and bending raw mana at its basic structure.
[Condense Aura Ray]
Fwipp!
A microscopic, invisible stream of compressed force shot forward.
It passed straight through the Dread-Fang’s hardened obsidian forehead without making a sound, piercing its internal core matrix clean through.
The massive beast froze mid-air, its glowing red eyes dimming instantly as its lifeless, multi-ton body crashed onto the bone-covered floor, sliding to a dead halt at Barn’s boots.
Rosalina gasped, her brown eyes widening in sheer disbelief. This story is hosted at g.com.
“No incantation…
no elemental array…
what was that magic?!”
”It wasn’t a pre-made spell,” Nyxara murmured, her breath catching as she watched Barn move.
“He didn’t use a recipe.
He just…
condensed his Aura and fired it like a Magic Knight.”
Screeech!
Enraged by the death of their kin, the remaining forty-nine Dread-Fangs and the colossal Calamity Weaver swarmed down the walls—a rushing wave of chitin, venom, and death.
Barn’s lips curled into a faint, dangerous smirk.
He had suppressed his power to Level 51, but the gap between Level 40 and Level 50 was immense—a gulf nearly impossible to bridge without high-tier gear, specialized classes, and advanced skills, to say nothing of Barn’s transcendent World-class racial foundations.
He raised his right hand, sweeping his palm across the open air.
Guided by his knowledge, experience, and the instincts of his Magic Knight Master Class, he focused his intent.
Raw ambient mana combined with his concentrated Will and Aura gathered in his palm, shaping into a luminous Magic Sword woven from fused elemental threads—Earth, Air, Moonlight, and Dark.
’I only wanted to use a normal sword, but this will force me to continuously manage high concentration and output,’ Barn thought.
With deliberate focus, he deactivated all other active skills and passive automated controls.
Relying strictly on raw experience and muscle memory, a sudden, heavy pressure pushed down on his body and core.
’It feels like if I break concentration for a single second, I’ll burst from the inside,’ Barn thought.
He knew his body’s fail-safes and transcendent consciousness would automatically seize control if things spiraled, but holding the balance manually gave him the exact strain he was looking for.
[Original Spell: Chaos Sword]
The blade burned pitch-black at the center, holding a radiant white core laced with swirling blue and green energies, enveloped in a bright white glow.
As he swung the weapon, pressurized wind erupted outward.
An aura blade expanding fifty feet wide tore through the cavern, cleaving through stone stalagmites, dense steel-webbing, and the carapaces of thirty Dread-Fangs simultaneously!
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Ting!
Experience Acquired: +500 EXP
Ting!
Experience Acquired: +1200 EXP
Ting!
Skill Synthesized: [Creation – Lv.
1]
Skill Upgrade: [Creation – Lv.
…
Skill Upgrade: [Creation – Lv.
10 (MAX)]
Skill Synthesized: [Magic Sword]
The surviving beasts halted in sheer terror, their primitive instincts screaming at them to flee from the quiet man standing in the center of the bone field.
Even the massive Calamity Weaver recoiled, its swollen body hesitating as Barn shifted his dark eyes toward it.
Barn surged forward in a blur.
He moved like a phantom weaving between the shadows, striking every beast with lethal precision at the exact structural weak points his senses illuminated.
It was an exhibition of pure swordsmanship, dispatching each mutated arachnid with a single, decisive blow.
Rosalina and Nyxara watched the display in stunned silence.
His movements resembled an effortless dance, shifting speed instantly with flawless aura control while exerting only the precise amount of force required.
Barn cut through the horde—slash, pierce, push, slice.
Every fundamental sword art flowed naturally from his blade, executing every angle and strike in his repertoire until all the lesser monsters lay dead across the bone floor in mere minutes.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Ting!
Skill Obtained: [Basic Sword Mastery]
New Skill: [Divine Movement Art]
Skill Obtained: [Piercing Sword]
Skill Obtained: [Strong Attack]
Passive Skill Obtained: [Swift Sword]
Skill Obtained: [Knocking Strike]
Skill Obtained: [Slashing Sword]
Skill Obtained: [Power Burst]
Passive Skill Obtained: [Flow Acceleration]
Barn exhaled slowly, feeling a deep, satisfying surge of strength.
These were techniques he had always been able to execute manually, but having them registered as system skills meant his body could now perform them purely by instinct.
The internal pressure on his core lifted, the energy flowing through his pathways smoother and cleaner than before.
”Rosalina, Nyxara,” Barn called out smoothly, keeping his gaze locked on the trembling Floor Boss.
“Sorry about that—the minion horde is cleared.
The Boss’s core is unstable due to the Church’s artificial seal.
I leave the final strike to the two of you.
Show me how much your synchronized cores have improved.”
Nyxara smiled, her violet eyes flashing with lethal delight as she stepped forward beside Rosalina.
“With pleasure, Master Barn.”
Nyxara gathered condensed divine moonlight into her open palms, while Rosalina channeled her mana, shaping sharp spears of hardened rock and thick, thorny plant whips from the cavern floor, ready to bind and shatter the Calamity Weaver.