Subterranean dungeon entrance
In a fsh of light, Martyn, Amber, and Jade had left the 10th floor.
"Man, spatial magic of checkpoints are so convenient." Matryn smiled.
“We can finally become C-rank adventurers!” Jade jumped.
Amber giggled, “I think this is cause for celebration,” she said, her eyes nding firmly on Martyn.
Just a probe through their bond, Martyn understood what she meant, even feeling an equal level of desire from Jade.
With the time of year and his birthday coming soon, it became a little overwhelming not to give in to his desire right then and there, but he held himself back.
“Let’s “celebrate soon. How about we visit the isnd?” Martyn asked.
At that point, Amber’s desire turned to enthusiasm. “That’s right! Let’s hold back the celebration!” she said with excited glee.
“Damn, I wasn’t expecting such a quick change.” Martyn said, ‘Wait, am I competing with a floating isnd?”
Jade giggled, and Amber flushed, “There's no competition; I'm gd we finally get to explore it.”
“I know,” Martyn kissed Amber, “I’m happy for you. Also, did you read my mind?”
Martyn asked, and Amber giggled, giving a light peck on the cheek.
“Come on, guys, let's get our badges upgraded!” Jade said, pulling Martyn to the city.
The walk to the guild was uneventful except for mild teasing between them; once they entered the guild hall, they were met with fewer people inside.
‘Makes sense; winter brings less activity.’ Martyn nodded.
They ran into Liz at the reception.
“Oh hey guys,” the healer girl smiled at them, “I’m surprised you haven’t taken a break from adventuring. If you're looking for quests, there are barely any up there with winter and all.” She said.
“That’s true, but we’re here to promote ourselves to C-rank,” Amber said with a proud smile.
“Oh my god, congratutions!” Liz beamed, “If only we could also get there; we’ve been having trouble fighting and had to use an escape stone.”
“Really? How’s Cory taking it?” Martyn asked.
“Well, he’s busy training in the arena, and Axel’s been scouring the forest with blindfolds on.” Liz sighed.
“Damn, sounds like a skill issue,” Jade commented.
Martyn snorted, and Amber nudged Jade; Liz looked off into space. “Yeah, and I’ve been doing missions with the church to build up my connection to the goddess. Also, shut up.”
Martyn chuckled; it was the first time he’d heard her talk so casually, ‘I guess they’ve become close.’
“Anyways, I don’t want to waste your time; have a great day.”
“We can hang out for a bit; all you need are our badges, right?” Jade asked.
Martyn nodded, and Amber and Jade gave him their badges, and they left with Liz, promising to meet up at the inn ter.
Heading up, Martyn greeted the elf and offered the badges showing proof they entered the tenth floor; becoming C rank was simple.
“Congratutions, adventurer! From this point on, you and your party are officially C-ranks. There are two things I must inform you about if you can spare a moment.” He said.
Martyn nodded.
“From this point onwards, just entering the following floors will not permit you to become B or A ranks; you must also compete in a battle with one of our corresponding adventurers of said rank or choose to fight our training golems to ensure you are capable of facing threats of said rank.”
“This is because from this point on, you will be facing monsters less in quantity but more in quality; as such, we believe it's best to also include promotion battles.”
Martyn nodded and thanked him for the information. He left the building with a proud smile.
‘I’m finally C-rank; I can stand in front of the orphanage confidently now. Then again, the gold should’ve been more than enough. I hope everyone’s alright.’
His mind wandered as he went through the snow paths to his next destination. The city hall.
It was a grand building; walking in, the strong smell of books hit him: ‘I feel like I’m in a grand library.’ He hummed.
Inside he followed the queues and eventually got to where he wanted to. Martyn sat down in the comfortable chair, in a bck shirt and dark jeans.
Across from him was a man in a tan suit, humming while going through various files.
“You’re an esteemed space mage, and you’ve recently become C rank. With your title and rank, it's easy for you to purchase your piece of nd, but a floating isnd? The ws we have are based on the archipego, as flying ships and owned floating isnds are common there; there won't be any issue around you purchasing or making your own. You’ll just need to submit these pnning applications.”
The man said, passing over a few sheets to Martyn, who quickly skimmed over them. The meeting continued as he went to find out everything needed to make his floating isnd and the rules surrounding it.
Martyn left the city hall with a pn. ‘I’ve got the magic, we’ve got the gold, and Jade as our bcksmith should make it possible.’
All that was left on his schedule was to visit the space mage tower.
Muddy Boots Inn
Martyn rexed in the warm room, sinking his head into the bed; Amber and Jade y down at his sides as above them floated a map.
“So this map is of the entire isnd?” Amber brushed Martyn's tail.
“Yeah, Donald said they were thorough with it: golems, hunters, and scouts; they made monster territories and spaces we should avoid,” Martyn said.
“Cool, so when can we get on and venture about before they start tearing the isnd and building whatever they want?” Jade asked.
“Construction begins in a month; he said we can visit at any time, so it's up to us,” Martyn said.
“Then can we go right away?” Amber asked with hope in her eyes.
“Sure thing, but first it’s lunchtime,” Martyn said, squeezing both girls by the hip, before getting out of bed.
With a wave of mana, he opened the window and pulled out cooking utensils from his inventory.
“What are you going to make us today, master chef?” Jade asked, sitting up on the bed.
“I call a dragon Wellington,” Martyn said as he began to pull out the materials from his inventory; he remembered this process with extreme accuracy.
The process with the aid of magical fre was quite simple; he made an act of it in front of the girls, seasoning the cuts of dragon meat with salt and pepper.
Amber's eyes y on the dragon meat; she felt something inside her stir as the smell of it reached her nose. She would’ve had no issue eating it raw but held herself back.
With the snap of his fingers, his magic hands wrapped the meats in pastry and cooked them in a barrier, heating the bubbles like an oven.
“In ten minutes, dies, our meals will be ready.” Martyn finished with a bow.
Ooes left them as they cpped like high members of society. In the ten minutes leading up to their meal, Martyn pulled out a dining table and chair from his inventory, setting everything down.
Aside from the Wellington, there were sides and starters, pasta with dragon meatballs, and garlic bread. The room changes; the trio sat down at the candlelit table, ready to dig in.
They thanked each other for the meal and dug in, starting with the Wellington, which was divine.
‘Damn, I’m good.' Martyn rexed into his chair, his ears flopping back and forth as he savoured the meat, his tail swaying lightly side by side.
“Mn~” Jade moaned with a mouthful, her goblin ears perking up.
Amber was silent, but her tail swished back and forth, which was enough for Martyn. As they ate in the loving moment, one by one, prompts appeared to them.
[You have consumed the flesh of a dragon; the energy and power of the super lifeform pour into your vitality and enrich your spirit; all attributes have increased by 3.]
Martyn felt the warm heat wash over him; a hot breath left him as he felt his everything refine and his mana pool increase. Then Jade gave a simir reaction, and stly, Amber.
[Martyn, Level 2 (2,201/2,700), Css: Monster Tamer, Points: 0, Titles: (C) Adventurer, Bookworm…(3)]
? [Mana: 816/816] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 31] [Vitality: 32] [Arcana: 34] [Psyche: 33]
[Amber, Level 2 (2,154/2,700), Css: Knight, Points: 0, Titles: Leviathan Descent, Bonded, (C) Adventurer... (1)]
? [Mana: 816/816] [Strength: 32] [Agility: 30] [Vitality: 29] [Arcana: 34] [Psyche: 31]
[Jade, Level 2 (2,058/2,700), Css: Bcksmith, Points: 0, Title: Artisan, Bonded, (C) Adventurer...(1)]
? [Mana: 900/900] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 30] [Vitality: 30] [Arcana: 36] [Psyche: 30]
Even after receiving their bonus, they still dined together. Amber, however, was multitasking, as in front of her a multiple prompt appeared.
[You have consumed the blood of your ancestors; the leviathan blood within you stirs, awakened by the bloodline of its ancient brothers.]
[This reaction has opened the evolutionary pathway to a leviathan-Kin and further into the dragon subcss leviathan. The blood within you requires more ancient mana or blood to consume to fully awaken. In its current state, it is awake and stirring beneath your skin, marking your presence around other dragons or ancient species. Once fully awakened, evolution will commence immediately. Bloodline: 12%
‘I can’t believe it.’ Amber was at a loss for words; as she ate, she saw the bloodline meter rise slowly. By the time they were finished, it had reached 17%.
She could become a dragon-kin, well, a leviathan-kin; her people always regarded dragons as god-like beings and their descendants, dragonkin, to be on par with angels.
Her first instinct was to tell Martyn about this, but then she paused; this would only increase if she ate more dragon meat, and they had plenty, so it wouldn’t be an issue, but as the thought of evolving dawned on her, her mind wandered.
Amber wanted to abuse the system.
She kept on eating as if nothing had occurred while her mind worked ying out the groundwork.
‘We have one of the two C rank cores I need to become a lizard girl, and this bloodline will make me evolve instantly without any, so why not evolve into a lizard girl first?’ Amber thought.
She probed the system reading further into her prompts and understood the bloodline would remain the same regardless.
Amber found a way to abuse the system.
It was simple: first, evolve into a lizard-kin and from there on into a leviathan-kin. It was two level-ups, one after the other.
This meant many things.
‘I’ll finally be stronger than Martyn and more than strong enough to protect him!’ Amber thought with a happy smile.
‘Wow, I can feel the positivity from our bond; is my cooking that great?’ Martyn felt proud of himself.
“You know what, girls? I’ll make some more. How about that?” Martyn asked.
“Go for it!” Jade gave a thumbs up.
“Save some for the future, though, darling; we should keep as much as we can for important celebrations,” Amber smiled.
“You got it!” Martyn said with more energy.
‘It's so great she wants to savour as much as we can.’ He had the wrong idea.
‘I’ll soon be stronger than Martyn.’ Amber hummed happily in thought as she watched her panther-kin partner's back as he cooked another set of meals; a sultry gaze filled her eyes. This would be her surprise gift for his birthday, a night he wouldn’t forget.
Floating isnd
The icy winds howled as the trio arrived at the base of an anchor; above them, the floating isnd and the rge chains swung cnking in the distance.
“So you want to explore the isnd already?” Kallie stood on a ptform surrounded by a small camp of knights.
“Yep, we’re all geared up and ready to go!” Amber said, buzzing in pce.
The elf chuckled with a nod, gncing at Martyn, “Then be careful, of course, all of you. Just step on the ptform, and it’ll take you all up there.”
They understood and did so; the ptform beneath them lit up and carried them up, faster than before.
“Whoa, hihi,” Jade giggled nervously, grabbing Martyn by the hand.
He squeezed back as they rose further and faster.
Amber smiled at the two of them before looking out at the growing height of the ndscape, the dungeon, and the mountain in the distance.
At a certain point, she uncontrolbly gulped as the ptform entered the isnd's mana bubble.
“It’s happening again. I don't know what it is, but something feels off, not in the dangerous sense but more like caution.” Amber said to Martyn.
“Should we go back?” Martyn asked her.
Amber furrowed her brows before shaking her head. “Let’s keep going; the feeling isn’t overwhelming, and besides, I want to explore.”
Soon enough they reached the isnd; before stepping on, the trio felt the immediate difference.
“The cold doesn’t enter the isnd?” Jade said, hovering her palm over her enchantments, destroying them, and doing the same to Martyn and Amber.
They stepped onto the isnd together. “Must be the titan’s mana,” Martyn mumbled.
“It’s like a jungle,” Amber commented.
Together they marched in Amber, leading the group with the map in hand; Martyn was more than happy following behind her and Jade watching their asses sway while walking.
Keeping out of the dangerous zones, we stopped by a few waterfalls, sitting down to have a small picnic in a cavern that led to the centre of the isnd.
“Whoa,” Martyn awed as they passed through a thicket of bushes, stumbling upon a beautiful sight.
Fluorescent crystals of various colours stuck out of lumps of earth. Amber put the map away, touching one and pushing it, making it float in the air.
Jade followed suit but hopped on one of the floating lumps; she giggled as it bounced up and down with her. Amber seeing her followed suit, and Martyn behind.
The lumps only rose to the height of the trees, however, but it was still fun for them, even becoming a game of tag.
“Wait, no magic!” Jade said quickly, hopping away from Martyn.
Martyn’s tail flicked, and he followed right after her; he jumped, grabbing a crystal and propelling himself forward.
“Gravity in this area’s quite weak; I wonder what these crystals are. Maybe condensed gravity mana crystals?’ Martyn didn’t ponder for long, however.
Jade giggled, nding on another lump before turning back, not finding Martyn, “Huh?”
“Wow!” She squealed, and Martyn grabbed her by the side, pulling her in a tight hug as they spun through the air.
“Tag, you’re it.” The panther-kin chuckled, kissing her before using her as a base to jump off from.
“Hey!” She protested before catching herself.
Jade gnced around, spotting Amber, but she was moving too fluidly in the environment with the use of her tail as an extra limb, giggling to herself.
‘Why are these guys so acrobatic? It's not fair!?’ Jade stood up.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the isnd, making sure to stay away from any troubles. They had a great time and saw some interesting sights, a reverse waterfall.
A chasm filled with the same glowing crystals and more. Before they knew it, the night was about to fall, and they went back home.
“They said three weeks before they begin construction on the isnd, right?” Amber asked.
“Yeah.” Martyn nodded.
“Then we can hop on as much as we want until then?” Amber asked.
“We are not pying tag again,” Jade mumbled.
“I don’t see why not.” Martyn nodded.
“Great!” Amber hugged Martyn. “Then tomorrow let's dive into the tenth floor and use that final C-rank core I need to evolve.” She whispered in his ear.
“Ahem, yes, ma’am!”
LesserCodex
[Martyn, Level 2 (2,201/2,700), Css: Monster Tamer, Points: 0, Titles: (C) Adventurer, Bookworm…(3)]
? [Mana: 816/816] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 31] [Vitality: 32] [Arcana: 34] [Psyche: 33]
? [Skills: Mana Veins (4) Agility (6) Muscurity (4) Swordsmanship (4) Basic Magic (5) Strong Mind (6) Soulbond (3) Monsterous Talent (3) Biology (3) Appraisal (3) Cooking (4) Fast Healing (2) Spatial Awareness (4) Inventory (4) Extrasensory (2) Space magic (3) Iron gut (1)]
[Amber, Level 2 (2,154/2,700), Css: Knight, Points: 0, Titles: Leviathan Descent, Bonded, (C) Adventurer... (1)]
? [Mana: 816/816] [Strength: 32] [Agility: 30] [Vitality: 29] [Arcana: 34] [Psyche: 31]
? [Skills: Mana Veins (4) Tough Scales (5) Fast Healing (4) Spear and Shield Mastery (4) Focused Mind (3) Water Magic (4) Linguistic (4) Physicality (3) Extrasensory (4)]
[Jade, Level 2 (2,058/2,700), Css: Bcksmith, Points: 0, Title: Artisan, Bonded, (C) Adventurer...(1)]
? [Mana: 900/900] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 30] [Vitality: 30] [Arcana: 36] [Psyche: 30]
? [Skills: Mana Veins (5) Tough Body (4) Iron Gut (5) Tinkering (3) Archery (2) Enchantment (2) Fire Magic (3)]
[colpse]
