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Chapter 19: The Upper Floors
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2024-10-29 19:42:56“Are you guys rookies?” A man who entered the safe zone with his party asked Calyx.
“Yes. This is our first ascent,” Calyx helped with the treatment of those who entered with injuries. On the other hand, Dio just sat at the corner with his eyes closed.
“If you guys are still rookies, I think it would be better for you to descend with us,” the leader who introduced himself as James suggested.
“Sur--”
“If you are coming with them, I’ll be leaving you behind,” Dio cut Calyx off.
“Stop being so cold, Arkin. They were extending their help to guide us as we go lower, we should be grateful,” Calyx explained.
“I don’t need their help.” He looked at the party members one by one. There was something about them that made Dio feel uneasy.
“Rookies who insist that they don’t need help from their seniors always end up dying within the upper floors. You shouldn’t underestimate the dungeons, kid.” James gave him a proud grin. “Just accept our
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The following floors weren’t too challenging for Dio and Calyx. They spent a few hours dealing with the monsters they encounter on their journey deeper to the dungeon. Blur, on the other hand, kept his silence as he was comfortably curled on Dio’s head. “Finally, we’re moving on to the sixth floor.” Calyx threw himself on the foldable bed made of feathers when they entered the fifth floor’s safe zone. “We’ll set off after a few hours of rest.” Dio put the sleeping kitten on his lap after lighting a fire to keep them warm. “Arkin, are you not lonely?” Calyx asked out of the blue. “I don’t know. How does it feel to be lonely?” “You don’t even know what loneliness is?” The young man said in disbelief. “I forgot.” “You’re weird.” “Not as much as you.” Calyx shook his head and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, he was already in deep sleep while Dio was on guard. Dio looked around the cold room with two do
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 21: Berserk Mage
They immediately arrived at the location where Trixie’s party was fighting with a lot of chirops. Judging by the way they were catching their breath, it seemed that they were too tired to fight the monsters and it wouldn’t be long before their stamina would be depleted. “Aaaaah!” A girl screamed in fear as she ducked to avoid the chirop’s attack. “Argh!” A man groaned as his ax tried to slash the chirops in front of him but he was clawed by the chirops behind him instead. Another man was struggling to fight a few meters away from the two. By the looks of it, the man who wore a brave mask was their leader. Dio made sure that he was all healed when he raised his hand and envisioned sturdy vines spurting from the ground and piercing the flying monsters. “Vine fountain!” Spear-like vines started growing from the ground and pierced the chirops that were flying around. Since most of the monsters were skewered by the vines, those that were left alive
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 22: The Difference in Status
“Why are you guys still here?” Dio asked with an irritated expression. He was advised to recover for two weeks so he was still staying in the infirmary. However, the people who left the dungeon with him were also there tending to him though he already told them that they could go on their separate ways. “I want to explore the dungeon with you. We’re partners aren’t we?” Calyx smiled. “C-can I join your party?” Randall said as he frowned when he remembered his dead comrades. “Join our party, we will welcome the three of you,” Cyrus said. “I don’t plan on joining a party.” Dio closed his eyes and sighed. “Just go now.” “Fine, we’ll leave for now but don’t you dare ignore us if we ever see each other in the dungeon, okay?” He heard footsteps and the creak of the door being closedso he felt relieved. “You’re all I need, Blur. You won’t leave me, right?” His bond curled beside his head and the act left a smile on his f
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 23: Retention
After that encounter, Dio continued on exploring the dungeons on his own as he tried to master the skill he received after the awakening. The retention skill has the ability to take in the techniques of another person just by seeing it firsthand and make it his own. It was one of the reasons why he accepted to be an adventurer. There was no place better than the dungeon to master his newly received skill. He used his stealth as he peeked at the party who were fighting the monsters on the fifteenth floor. The party had 2 mages, 1 swordsman, 1 spearman, and 1 healer. He quietly watched them as he took in every spell that both the mages uses. “Even adventurers from other regions come here for the experience. I think I chose the best place, right Blur?” Dio brushed Blur’s fur with his fingers and his bond purred in response. When the party moved to the safe zone, Dio took the chance of being alone to test his skill. Dio stared at his hand for a while before he he
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 24: Growth Spurt
A party of adventurers seemed nervous as they entered the 22nd floor. It was dark inside and nothing could be heard. The silence was more nerve-wracking since they couldn’t tell if there were monsters around the vicinity.“Flame torch,” the mage of the party whispered and a small round flame came hovering near the mage.The party’s eyes grew wide when they saw an unexpected sight. There were monster corpses everywhere and a big black panther stood in the middle of it all. Its golden eyes turned to them and they were rooted to the ground as fear kicked in.“They’re not enemies, Blur.” A cold voice resonated and a shadow of a silhouette of a young man was slowly walking towards them.Mint-green hair and hazel eyes. He was tall enough to be compared to the men in their party but his face looked young, just around his early teens. Though he seemed young, his presence was already intimidating enough to make
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 25: Middle Floor Quest
“You are alone but you have more monster cores than some of the C-rank parties,” Joe said before handing him the bag of coins worth 3 million shekels for the B-class monster cores that he brought.After few months of exploring the dungeon, Dio finally finished roaming around the first thirty floors. He actually used the lower floors to practice his magic, senses, reflexes and dagger skills in order to improve. He also chose to stay in the safe zone instead of ascending to the surface and he used his time to observe other adventurers come up with new techniques.“I heard that the illegitimate Romanov cleared the whole 30thfloor alone.”“Are you serious? In his last descent, didn’t he clear the 22ndfloor too?”“That’s impossible! How could a fourteen-year-old kid clear the most difficult lower floor on his own?”The whispering adventurers continued to gossip
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 26: Devil Bunnies
“Forgive me for the late introduction. I am Amery Claire von Flavian, the third daughter of the lord of the southwest territory.” The lady curtsied gracefully. “I am Arkin, my lady.” Dio held out his hand and the lady took it with a smile. “Please allow this humble adventurer to guard you as you roam around the market.” “Thank you for granting my selfish request, Arkin.” Dio’s lips curled to form a subtle smile as he let the young lady lead the way. Amery was just a normal young noble who seemed to be amazed by the world outside their estate. Judging by her age, it seemed like Amery had not debuted in high society just yet. Dio felt conscious when he noticed that the young lady was openly staring at him as they walk towards their fourth destination. They already finished visiting a teashop, a public library, and an armor shop. Their next stop was the last one—the potions store. “Is there something on my face, my lady?” The girl frowned
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 27: Black Serpent
Dio opened his eyes and he saw himself inside a dark place on top of a flattened stone that served as a bed. Where am I?‘You lost consciousness so I had to drag you here in the safe zone,’ Blur reprimanded.He chuckled but he immediately stopped when he felt the pain near his abdomen. He tried to sit up but Blur’s paw pushed his forehead down to stop him.‘A part of your soul was sucked by the bunny so you need some time to recover. Be a good boy and don’t push yourself too hard.’He sighed as he relaxed his body. He was planning to finish the quest within 6 weeks but it seemed like he needed to spend some time for his recovery. He never thought that his fight with the devil bunny would be that bothersome. If he just knew, he would’ve been more careful.“You’re awake now?”Dio’s forehead wrinkled when he saw Calyx enter the safe zone. “What ar
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Dio pulled Lewis’ shirt when he tried to step back. He also used his dagger when Lewis tried to slash his hand and smirked. “Let’s finish this.” Lewis, with all his strength, pushed Dio away from him. He kept his distance from him since he was informed that Dio’s strength was his melee fighting, though he also needed to be wary of his casting. However, he didn’t know that the information he received was taken when Dio was still an adventurer. As a student of the academy, Dio honed his casting skills and practiced them by helping the other casters in the elite class. Dio used his vines to capture Lewis who always dodged his attacks and his attempts of getting closer. Since Lewis was naturally fast, it took him a lot of time just to catch him. He set a trap and drove him to the way he planned for him to go and there he created a pit deep enough so he wouldn’t escape. Dio held the mouth of the hole and ice spread from his hand down to where Lewis stood.
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Almost hundreds of monsters inside that dungeon surrounded Dio. Though he knew they outnumbered him, he let everyone leave him alone so that he could use his power to his heart’s content. “Bree, can I trust you to watch my back?” Dio looked around and created a plan in his head. “Sure, master!” Bree twinkled brighter in excitement. “I wish Blur was here too.” “It’s okay, Bree. Blur would assist the others at school.” Dio put his dagger back into its sheath as Bree took care of the monsters that attacked them. After he put the daggers in his space ring, Dio created an electric dagger with his right hand and an ice dagger with the left one. “Now, let’s do this.” Dio helped Bree with cleaning up the monsters. With a single slash of his dagger, the small monsters were cut in half. And since Dio embedded poisons in his daggers, those who were cut and wounded weren’t able to regenerate or heal their wounds, so they end up dying. “I like your eyes an
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 98: Excursion
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Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 96: Comfort
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“Our master’s prediction was right. He really came.” A girl wearing black revealing clothes giggled as soon as he reached the second floor. “Hey, boy, do you want to play with me?” She even licked her lips after looking at him from head to toe.He smiled seductively and let the girl touch his chest before she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Was it okay to play with a boy like me?”He scoffed internally. How could she act so shameless right after they planned to kill his sister?The girl licked her lips and looked him in the eye. His eyes never left hers and soon enough, her lips touched his and he had no choice but to open his mouth so that her tongue could have her way.They were both panting when they finished the kiss. Dio smiled and whispered, “That’s one down for me.”The girl’s eyes widen as she held her neck. She was gasping and chasing her breath but the more she struggled
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 94: An Unexpected Visit
Blur entered the slums so Dio just followed him. The people living there eyed him suspiciously because of his bloodied academy uniform, but he chose to ignore them. Nothing was more important to him than the annihilation of the people who massacred his family. As long as those people wouldn’t stop him, he wouldn’t have anything to do with them.Blur entered a dark alley and Dio moved to follow him. However, a voice of an old man was heard before he could enter the alley.“What’s the business of a young man in there?”Dio stopped in his tracks and looked at the old man who was hiding in the shadows. He smiled innocently but there was a hint of danger in his eyes. “Someone indebted to me is in there so I came to collect the payment.”“Take care. That place is dangerous.”Dio nodded and continued to walk inside. He found Blur waiting for him a few meters away and as soon as their eyes met, Blur con
