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"That was an absolute grind..." Lucian sighed, imdiately allocating the hard-earned stat point directly into Endurance.
Endurance dictated both physical defense and raw stamina. The forr increased his margin of error, while the latter exponentially extended his operational upti in a chaotic warzone.
Even though [Ransotengai] puppeted his movents, he was operating on a dual-core system, aning his physical stamina was still draining. The true horror of [Ransotengai] was that even if his stamina hit absolute zero, the mana strings would forcibly puppeteer his paralyzed muscles, functioning as the ultimate combat continuation protocol.
The Falna tracked five base stats: Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Agility, and Magic. Each stat possessed a theoretical hard cap of 999 points (S-Rank), totaling 4,995 points. When factoring in unlisted attributes like his HP pool and MP limits, maxing out just Level 1 would require a truly apocalyptic body count.
But again, stat points were purely a supplentary bonus. He wasn't relying solely on the system; his baseline stats were still increasing naturally through standard combat exertion. Furthermore, Level 1 was the foundational phase—the most critical period for hoarding a massive tactical advantage. He didn't care if the grind took slightly longer; centing an unbreakable foundation was paramount.
Lucian slaughtered his way down to the 12th Floor, accumulating a grand total of 3 stat points. And here, he finally crossed paths with a genuine threat: the Infant Dragon.
Armored in crimson scales and glaring with bloodshot, draconian eyes, it stood at roughly the sa height as an Orc, but the combat paraters of the two species existed in entirely different dinsions.
"[tal Affinity: Pierce!]"
A heavily compressed air bullet slamd directly into the Infant Dragon's skull. It generated a sharp, tallic Clang, sounding exactly like a rock bouncing off a solid steel wall.
The strike worked, but just barely. It was just strong enough to breach its natural armor and inflict localized pain, instantly driving the beast into a berserk fury. Locking its sights on Lucian, the Infant Dragon dropped its head and initiated a terrifying, high-speed charge.
Its massive, tank-like chassis generated devastating kinetic force. Against an average party of four to six Lower-Class adventurers, this single, unavoidable rush would guarantee an instant team wipe.
"[Three Secrets: Cloud Soaring]."
Lucian effortlessly defied gravity, pivoting off the rushing dragon's skull to vault high into the air. He tapped his toe against the cavern wall and casually stood perpendicular to the ground.
The Infant Dragon. Officially classified as the unofficial Floor Boss of the 12th Floor. Its combat output completely outclasses standard Lower-Class adventurers, Lucian recalled from the Guild's database.
Floor Bosses, known as 'Monster Rex', were the apex predators of the labyrinth. Ever since Ouranos began suppressing the Dungeon with his divine will, these massive anomalies spawned roughly every 10 floors, usually guarding the entrance to a subsequent Safe Zone. Because the Upper Floors were too close to the surface—and thus heavily saturated by Ouranos's divine aura—they couldn't physically generate a true Monster Rex. However, the Infant Dragon's lethality was more than sufficient to act as a surrogate gatekeeper.
Of course, this classification only applied to average adventurers. A seven-year-old Ais Wallenstein could butcher an Infant Dragon with only mild exertion. But for anyone lacking absolute top-tier talent or maxed-out Level 1 stats, rely surviving an encounter with one was an achievent.
My arm-blade probably won't pierce that armor either, Lucian analyzed, detaching himself from the wall.
Millennia before hitting the floor, he triggered [Cloud Soaring], stalling his montum for a fraction of a second to land without a sound.
Guess it's ti to test the final trump card.
His combat doctrine was split into three layers: [Ransotengai] operated as his combat engine, the [Three Secrets and Five thods] dictated his tactical engagent style, and the final skill was an absolute override that violently escalated his threat level to an entirely new dinsion.
"[Glory Manifestation]."
A torrent of pitch-black energy erupted from his core, violently materializing into the colossal upper torso of a dark giant that completely engulfed him. The phantom titan stood nearly six ters tall, its head practically scraping the cavern ceiling. Its hulking, heavily armored chassis was slightly rounded, and its arms terminated at the elbows—where massive, terrifyingly sharp executioner blades replaced the forearms and hands.
Forged from the materialized concepts of 'Curse' and 'Steel', the visual impact of the spell was utterly apocalyptic. It functioned as a colossal, external cha suit. Not only did it grant Lucian an overwhelming mass advantage, but the very nature of its dark energy made its re presence a lethal hazard.
"[Cleave!]" Lucian swung his arm.
The black giant mirrored his movent perfectly. In a blinding flash, the colossal arm-blade effortlessly bisected the charging Infant Dragon at the waist.
Boom! The kinetic follow-through shattered the surrounding cavern walls.
It one-shot an Infant Dragon. This output is easily Level 3 tier, Lucian hypothesized. If I hyper-compress my mana into the strike, I could probably push it to Level 4.
Level 5 was a realm of gods he couldn't simulate yet. While the skill was absurdly destructive, the mana cost was astronomical. A single full-scale manifestation instantly flatlined his entire internal mana reserve. Even while simultaneously siphoning energy from his external battery, he could maintain the giant for a maximum of three minutes. In a high-intensity firefight, that tir would plumt drastically. If he compressed his mana to boost the damage output, his entire tank would run dry in ten seconds flat. Every incrental upgrade in damage demanded an exponentially scaling mana tax.
Glory Manifestation is strictly a tactical nuke. Until my base MP pool expands, I need a far more economical combat loop.
For example... chaining Cloud Soaring for speed, Wood Affinity: Bend for raw strength, and restricting Glory Manifestation to a localized weapon enchantnt. That combo would still effortlessly butcher an Infant Dragon, operating at roughly a Level 2 combat tier.
Having successfully stress-tested his ultimate, Lucian accessed his system and manually patched in a 'localized manifestation' protocol for the skill. He then canceled the spell. The massive black titan imdiately dissolved, rapidly breaking down into a dense cloud of ambient magicules.
Speaking of magicules... Riveria Ljos Alf, the 'Nine Hell' of the Loki Familia, has a unique magic called Fairy Ring. It allows her to absorb the ambient magicules consud by her allies' spells and instantly convert them back into pure mind energy.
When an adventurer casts a spell, their ntal energy is converted into magic. Once the spell concludes, it destabilizes and breaks down into raw magicules, dispersing into the environnt to be reabsorbed by nature. While an adventurer's internal fuel was strictly ntal energy (Mind), standard environntal magicules absolutely existed. The issue was that human biology lacked the organs to store raw magicules directly; they required a conversion process. Mind to Magic, Magic to Magicules.
Monsters operated inversely. Their entire biological frawork was powered by magic stones, which were essentially hyper-condensed batteries of raw magicules. Spirits, on the other hand, were lifeforms birthed directly from raw magicules.
Spirits were categorized into Lower World Spirits and Heaven Spirits. The legendary entities frequently referenced in the Heroic Epics were almost exclusively Great Spirits that had descended from Heaven, boasting apocalyptic power levels even among the gods. In the mortal realm, standard elves and spirits were inherently magical races, a relatively common sight in Orario, particularly the gem-obsessed Gnos. The highly sought-after material known as Undine Cloth was exclusively woven by these Lower World spirits.
Technically speaking, Lucian's custom-engineered Sli Armant operated on the exact sa biological principles as a Spirit.
Collecting the dispersed magicules from the battlefield, forcefully converting them back into ntal energy, and recycling them infinitely... That's a brilliant concept.
A torrent of inspiration flooded Lucian's mind.
Co to think of it, Tiamat, the Goddess of Creation from the Fate universe, essentially operated on the sa principle. She possessed a localized infinite mana loop by perpetually recycling the True Ether of the Earth's Genesis. It wasn't raw consumption; it was a perfect, closed-loop recycling system.
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