Chapter 464: Petrified Power

<Quest completed!>

<Your pending application has been handed over as per the reward.>

<Congratulations! Your application has been approved!>

<[Dungeon Master] Emblem officially acquired.>

<100 Dungeon Points have been received.>

<Warning: It is advised that you complete the included tutorial package before establishing your dungeon. You will receive additional Dungeon Points for completing each step.>

<Additional Warning: Please set aside sufficient time before initiating the tutorial. For more information, please interact with the Dungeon CUBE using the authority provided by your Emblem.>

Well, that's finally taken care of.

I nodded in satisfaction at reading the multiple pings that had gone off as soon as the last remaining piece of the shadow octopus was petrified. I had been extremely annoyed by the sudden emergency quest, but Unc offered to waive my pending application to Gramps as the reward.

I had to come up with an excuse and leave Keldenar, Luther, and Vee behind, promising to return as soon as I sorted out this emergency. Thankfully, neither adventurer stopped me, and Vee said she'd handle the details in my absence.

Hopefully she came up with a good excuse; otherwise I'll just have to say something came up with the elves.

In my opinion, the timing couldn't have been worse, and even though I had finally gotten what I wanted, I was a tiny bit annoyed. I had plenty of free time to spare before agreeing to go to Keaburg, and now I couldn't try out my dungeon stuff until it was complete.

I wonder what the tutorial is like… It says it will give me more points, so that's something to look forward to! I always like getting more points.

With that, I looked over what I'd received from defeating the monster, since the quest wasn't my only gain.

<Umbralisk LV 50; Gloomweaver LV 63 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Prismatic) is now LV 32.>

<13 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Riftmancer is now LV 31.>

<22 Skill Points are now available.>

Oh wow, he was worth a ton of experience! That's three race levels and a class level. That's more than I got from the medusa, who was a legendary monster!

I was understandably confused, but I could speculate on two answers to what just happened. The medusa, despite all its prestige, was only a minion of the labyrinth, so maybe its rewards were diminished. Of course I was taking into account that we were part of a party, but with all the experience-boosting shenanigans going on, that felt like a small part of it. If anything, with the party bonus experience, I might have even received more than what the medusa was actually worth.

The other possibility was that the shadow octopus had a ton of deeds behind its name, which is why it was worth so much experience. It was a former [Dungeon Master], after all, so it must have accomplished a lot, and as the one who usurped and slayed it, I gained tremendous benefits.

I just didn't expect it to go down so easily to petrification… That medusa was scarier than I imagined, or is it because I'm using an uncapped version of the trait?

I was much stronger than when we last fought, and my knowledge of [Dimension Magic] had greatly improved. Not only that, but without the protection afforded to him by his dungeon, he was basically a sitting duck to be teleported around. Previously, high-speed, high-evasion enemies were always a nightmare for me to deal with, but now I was quite literally the bane of their existence.

I wonder who deserves the most credit for this overwhelming victory: [Coordicore], [Dimensional Praxis], or [Spatial Erosion]? It's hard to decide, and when I saw who it was, I certainly expected him to put up more of a fight… I didn't even get a chance to use Nu and my rift!

I teleported the giant stone eyeball to me, and couldn't resist licking my lips. Before, I couldn't eat this dangerous monster or claim its profile because it was insubstantial, but now that it's petrified, I could dig in!

The taste will probably be ruined, but as long as I get the profile, I don't care!

My torso opened up like a maw and swallowed the stone fragment of the monster whole, and I promptly began to eat it. As I suspected, the quality of the meal had been drastically reduced in its stone form, which was something I'd need to take into account when I used this ability in the future. However, none of that mattered as I received the prompt I had been waiting for.

<Profile [Cephalopod] updated.>

Another rare profile to my collection! And my first real shadow monster! Hopefully, with your abilities, I can now counter any future enemies that try to hide in the shadows.

"Um… Thank you?" a metallic voice rang out.

"Leon?"

"Yes."

I nodded and connected us with [Telepathy] to make things easier. "Looks like you're quite the trouble magnet. First the mermen and now a former dungeon master."

"I wasn't trying to… If anything, I was hoping to be as inconspicuous as possible."

"Well, thanks to your hijinks, I got what I wanted out of Unc, so your banishment is over. You're welcome to return to the island, if you wish."

"Honestly, that's not the worst idea… It's clear the world has it out to get me. And I'm sure things have been utterly chaotic in my absence."

I didn't have the heart to tell him that things were running perfectly fine without him. In fact, with Vee wanting to get some golem workers, it was going to be even better than before. So, to not hurt his feelings, I just nodded.

"Ha! I knew those goblins needed me. Those rascals get into all sorts of mischief without the proper guidance."

Not really… Yuzz has been doing a spectacular job.

"By the way, who is Gloto? This question has been burning in my mind since you first said it."

"Oh. I didn't know what his actual name was, but he called himself the Great Lord of the Ocean. So, GLOTO."

"I see… Well, hopefully this Gloto is taken care of permanently?"

"Yup. Turned to stone and eaten," I said, returning to my usual elven appearance. "Anyway, I need to get back before they start worrying about me. Do you need a lift back to the island?"

"I… Actually yes, I wouldn't want to be attacked again on my return."

It seemed that this recent attack had really spooked the crab, as whatever bravado he had when he left was shaken. He exited the remains of his mini fortress and sighed, waiting for me to send him home.

I made sure [Spatial Erosion] was active and targeting him, since his shell still contained plenty of dungeon brick in its makeup. At the same time, I worked together with my [Coordicore] to send him on his way. It strained me a bit, but since he wasn't resisting, it eventually took hold, and he vanished from the spot.

I messaged Sylbera to welcome him, then prepared for my own departure. I needed to make several jumps to obscure my location, as I was still concerned about being traced back, especially with my destination being right back into Keaburg.

With my restrictions almost entirely removed, I teleported around, going from Glimmerock to outside the frozen labyrinth and even to the wasteland of the demonic prison. While I did this, I also settled my curiosity by looking through the newly acquired info in my [Cephalopod] profile, and boy, there was a lot.

I ignored most of the more mundane traits that just improved strength, suction, beak, or grew more tentacles and quickly looked for juicier traits. Apparently, advanced cephalopod monsters had access to a wide variety of things, including various forms of regeneration and even a way to manipulate severed limbs. All of that would've been extremely tantalizing before I got [Slime Puppetry], but I hadn't even looked into its unique shadow traits.

This was the jackpot, and its final Umbralisk evolution had honestly too many traits: [Shadow Siphon], [Nightmare Ink], [Shadowmeld], [Umbral Physiology], [Tenebrous Dominion], and [Living Darkness].

I wanted to know what I now had as options, so I quickly read through them and summarized them. [Shadow Siphon] let it eat shadows to heal itself, but it could also be used as raw fuel for [Umbral Magic]. [Nightmare Ink] let it spew clouds of almost impenetrable darkness, though I wondered why what was clearly an octopus had a squid ability.

[Shadowmeld] let it merge into shadows to either hide or even perform short teleportations between shadows. This must have been how it had originally fled, and without my newfound dimensional superiority, it might have done so again. [Umbral Physiology] was interesting, as it let it turn its body into shadow, which is how it avoided most attacks. The caveat was that it also took on all the weaknesses of shadows, which is why my [Lightbombs] were so deadly.

[Tenebrous Dominion] was honestly a combination of the previous two traits, since it let the monster fuse with its own shadow and dominate any surrounding shadows, turning them into its personal domain. From there, they were easier to manipulate while also empowering shadows and darkness. Finally, there was [Living Darkness], which was how it created all its minions to attack me. I had thought they might've been dungeon spawns, but now it was clear they came from this ability.

I don't really need more minions, but the other side of this ability is interesting.

[Living Darkness] also let the user split off its actual shadow to create a more powerful minion. The shadow on its own could take physical form and even use most of its owner's traits. The obvious downside to this was that you'd lose access to the powerful [Tenebrous Dominion], which needed you to fuse with your shadow, which was why GLOTO never used it.

Looking at these abilities, I think I like [Living Darkness] and [Umbral Physiology] the most. Sending my own shadow to attack is pretty cool, and [Umbral Physiology] would let it manifest to damage non-shadows. Of course, the real benefit would be sending my shadow to attack other shadows, but I could do that too if I used [Umbral Physiology] on myself.

Of course, the real answer would be to petrify any shadowy creatures and eat their statues, but I liked this as an alternative. For all I knew, I'd run into something immune to the overpowered affliction and be forced to duke it out with my shadow.

I also looked at [Shadow Siphon] again and sighed. It was too bad I didn't have [Trait Deconstruction], as this might have let me create a fake umbral affinity. Of course I'd try to force something to work, but unless I could somehow crack a fake affinity, it would be a very poor imitation at best.

Well, even if it sucks, it could still be fun, and that's really all that matters. Besides, who knows, maybe I can collect affinities through ascensions after my final evolution? It feels shockingly close.

With my trail thoroughly obscured, I prepared to reenter the guildmaster's room, and after double-checking that I wasn't dripping wet or anything like that, I cracked open a hole and stepped through. My sudden reappearance made Luther nearly jump out of his seat, though Keldenar took it much better.

"I warned you she was coming," Vee said, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't think you meant right this second," Luther replied, clutching his chest.

Shit… I hope I didn't give the old guy a heart attack.

Thankfully, Luther seemed to calm down after drinking some water. "I'm suddenly realizing why nobody admits to having [Dimension Magic]. I certainly didn't expect you to reappear straight in my office..."

"Sorry, I was worried about leaving Vee on her own, and I promised to be back as soon as possible."

"Well, you came back sooner than I thought. Was the trouble handled?" Keldenar asked.

"It was just a small pest attacking a friend, but it's been taken care of."

"You even gained a level," Keldenar noted.

"Small bonus," I said with a smile.

"I can certainly see why Keldenar said you'd be a massive asset. To think you could resolve a catastrophe and be back in time for tea…" Luther said, still looking slightly shocked.

I nodded, since it would be worthwhile as long as I wasn't busy.

"You'll be happy to know everything is pretty much sorted on our side," Vee replied.

"Excellent. I look forward to it."

And then I can get home and see about this dungeon tutorial! No, wait… I promised to see my old friends. Ugh! I swear I need two of me; no wonder [Split Personality] came with so many warning labels. The temptation to make another me is too much.

But I managed to hold back. I was strictly adhering to the limitation I had set for myself to avoid any unforeseen circumstances. By making sure the skill never affected me personally, I didn't have to worry about losing myself or negatively influencing my personality. Besides, even though I really wanted to see the dungeon stuff, I did want to see my old friends just as much.