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With Lucian's current strength, circulating the planet's True Ether was highly unlikely to succeed. Even if he could absorb ambient magicules from the planet, the utilization rate would be abysmally low, rendering the effort aningless.
However, circulating his own internal ether—converting ntal energy into magic, magic into magicules, and magicules back into ntal energy—was an entirely different story. By establishing this infinite conversion loop, the utilization and conversion rates would hit a perfect 100%. More importantly, it was theoretically possible.
Ideally, this process needed to be entirely passive. If successful, it would drastically skyrocket Lucian's magical sustainability.
To put it into perspective, for this specific Dungeon dive, Lucian had stockpiled over a week's worth of mana. Yet, after defeating a single Infant Dragon, he had already burned through thirty percent of his reserves.
Even if the [Ether Circulation] process took ti to complete a full loop, it would spare him the miserable chore of constantly running back and forth to his battery beast to recharge. Running out of mana mid-dive was simply too humiliating to accept.
Actual combat truly is the greatest catalyst for inspiration, Lucian sighed in appreciation.
He continued his descent into the deeper floors, encountering no further Infant Dragons along the way. While the Infant Dragon was considered the unofficial Floor Boss of the 12th Floor, it wasn't a true Monster Rex—just an exceptionally lethal regular mob. Because of this, it wasn't a unique spawn; a typical floor layout maintained roughly four to six of them at any given ti.
For standard adventurers, encountering the first dragon-type monster in the Dungeon was a brutal rite of passage. If an average party ran into one, it usually spelled absolute disaster.
The Middle Floors... it's noticeably darker down here, Lucian observed. The ambient light had dimd significantly.
Unbothered by the gloom, Lucian pressed forward until he finally crossed paths with the native monsters of the Middle Floors.
It was a pack of Al-miraj. They were roughly the sa size as Goblins, wielding crude, natural stone axes, and looked exactly like bipedal rabbits with a single horn protruding from their heads. What made them truly dangerous was their pack ntality and blinding agility. When swarming, their localized threat level was officially classified as Level 2.
This ant they possessed a genuine chance of killing a Level 2 adventurer. Even if a leveled-up adventurer boasted stats far exceeding standard monsters, the sheer chaos of the Middle Floors ant that flipping a careless mistake into a fatal disaster was always a possibility.
"Ti to properly field-test my magic beasts," Lucian murmured.
[Annihilation Maker] carried a steep mana cost. However, by running the spell through the pre-established frawork of [Rule Creation], Lucian could summon highly specific, pre-configured units at a fraction of the cost.
"[Xuan Yong Soldiers!]"
As the command left his lips, heavily armored humanoid figures forged from dark steel materialized around him.
Clang! The heavy boots of the steel soldiers struck the dungeon floor.
While they looked exactly like human warriors clad in heavy armor, they were entirely artificial magic beasts spawned for temporary combat. Two vanguards, four frontline fighters, three archers, and one mage. A perfectly balanced squad of ten soldiers instantly ford a protective periter around Lucian.
"[Engage!]" Lucian commanded flatly.
"Hah!!" The Xuan Yong soldiers roared in unison, their imposing aura surging.
Squeak~ The Al-Mi'raj launched themselves into the air, initiating a vicious diving assault, only to smash violently against the towering greatshields of the vanguard.
"[Volley!]" A hail of arrows snapped from the bowstrings, effortlessly piercing the airborne rabbits. Simultaneously, the frontline fighters flanked from both sides, their blades flashing in the dim light.
In a matter of seconds, the Xuan Yong soldiers completely shattered the monster formation, systematically exterminating every last Al-miraj.
"Not bad. It seems I have a bit of talent for military formations." Lucian nodded in deep satisfaction.
If he had spawned beasts that looked like actual monsters, he ran the risk of friendly fire or terrifying other adventurers. But the Xuan Yong soldiers were explicitly humanoid, heavily armored, and structurally sound. Better yet, they allowed Lucian to play the role of a grand general, translating all his armchair-tactician knowledge into actual, lethal force.
It was so damn satisfying!
Once he returned to the surface and perfected the [Ether Circulation] passive, he would finalize the rule set for the Xuan Yong Legion. At that point, he could effortlessly summon a battalion of a hundred soldiers. The entire Dungeon would literally beco his personal military training ground.
"[Advance,]" Lucian ordered, fully embracing his role as commander as they pushed deeper into the labyrinth.
He soon reached the 15th Floor, where he was imdiately ambushed. A herd of massive, bovine monstrosities charged out from a side tunnel—Minotaurs.
Minotaurs boasted terrifying raw strength and endurance, officially sitting at a Level 2 threat rating. According to the Guild's internal trics, they were universally recognized as the most lethal standard mobs in the Middle Floors.
"[Shield Wall!]" "Hah!" The vanguard soldiers slamd their greatshields into the ground, but the sheer kinetic force of the charging Minotaurs sent them flying several ters backward, instantly shattering the defensive formation.
"Looks like they need a Super Armor buff." Lucian's mouth twitched, though he didn't panic.
Watching the massive beasts barrel toward him, Lucian calmly issued a new order. "[Cleave.]"
The Xuan Yong fighters swung their heavy broadswords, striking the Minotaurs. However, unlike the fragile rabbits, their blades glanced off the Minotaurs' thick, leathery hides with dull thuds, barely leaving a scratch.
The archers unleashed a volley, but the arrows failed to penetrate the dense muscle. Even the mage's concentrated fire spell only managed to incinerate the three vanguard Minotaurs spearheading the charge. To Lucian, those three were essentially a suicide squad.
"Guess I'll have to do it myself."
Lucian dismissed the Xuan Yong soldiers. Instantly, the pitch-black arm-blade materialized from his coat. Simultaneously, a dark, dense layer of cursed energy coated both his arms, acting as a heavy enchantnt.
"[Localized Glory Manifestation]."
"[Wood Affinity: Bend]."
"[Three Secrets: Cloud Soaring]."
In the blink of an eye, Lucian's body violently twisted, utilizing the rotational montum to spin like a terrifying buzzsaw. He cleanly bisected a charging Minotaur at the waist without losing a shred of montum.
Thrusting, slashing, parrying—he seamlessly danced through the horde, his footwork perfectly evading every desperate swing the Minotaurs threw at him.
In terms of pure technique, Lucian's mastery as a magic swordsman had completely eclipsed the theoretical ceiling of mortal martial arts. Even Finn Deimne, the legendary tactician of the Loki Familia who had spent decades mastering his spear, would have been left utterly dumbfounded by movents that fundantally defied the laws of biochanics.
In barely sixty seconds, Lucian had slaughtered over twenty Minotaurs.
As the cavern fell silent, he stood among the dissolving corpses and fell into deep thought.
I got ambushed.
While [Ransotengai] granted him a top-down omniscient perspective, the actual radius of that vision was far too limited. When the Minotaurs charged out of the fog, Lucian had the reaction ti to adjust, but his summoned soldiers couldn't adapt fast enough.
If he had detected the herd earlier, he could have easily summoned two more squads of heavy infantry and safely absorbed the charge. Alternatively, he could have manually micro-managed their formation. Instead, he had been forced to step in and clean up the ss himself.
I'm missing a real-ti strategy perspective.
As his combat experience grew, a new, massive blueprint began forming in his mind.
What if he could replicate the UI of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne? A full-map perspective, a functional minimap, and an intuitive color-coding system—red for enemies, blue for allies, gray for neutral entities. Furthermore, if the system could actively scan for rare crafting resources, it would instantly downgrade the Dungeon's difficulty from 'Hell' to 'Tutorial'.
Full-map vision, minimap, resource scanning, faction tracking, party managent.
He could integrate his three existing utility skills directly into this overarching system. The only question was exactly how many foundational rules he needed to write to stabilize such a colossal UI frawork.
Wait... isn't this technically a form of blacksmithing? Lucian suddenly realized that his mindset aligned perfectly with the Hephaestus Familia. While they used hamrs and furnaces to forge physical weapons, he used magic and rules to forge the ultimate [Ga Board].
. . .
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