Rise of the Deathbound Knight: A LitRPG Apocalypse, page 15
“Truly, the Dungeons are the best place to grow in power.”
Chapter 35
A Big Fan
Happy to have defeated the Leech King and even added his spirit to her arsenal, Emma returned her attention to the remaining half of the floor. Stepping forward confidently onto a long, straight corridor, she approached the third cluster flight of tomes at a brisk walk. Surprisingly, their magic began to manifest when she was less than halfway toward them, considerably further back than in either of her previous encounters. Once again forming a single large construct, black ink coalesced into a spectacle of red and white, angled precisely forty-five degrees to her right.
A Big Fan - Level 1
“A fan?” Emma tilted her head before stabbing Epitaph deep into the floor in front of her.
Even with her blade as a secure handle for her two-handed death grip (pun intended), Emma barely avoided being blown off the platform by the monstrous gust generated by the fan’s first flap.
“That would’ve been a humiliating way to go.” Emma groused, analyzing her opponent as she hung on for dear life behind Epitaph, continually buffeted by gusts of wind. “Let’s see here: a single wave at a time, in two second intervals?”
Timing the fan’s movements until she had the motions memorized, Emma took the next lull between waves to hop forward, repositioning ahead of her blade such that the next blow sent her into Epitaph instead of hanging on behind it, thereby gaining a meter or so of distance toward her assailant. In the next lull, Epitaph was withdrawn and repositioned ahead of her yet again; in this way, Emma managed to progress at a snail’s pace, using Epitaph as a portable handhold and crawling to make each inch count, until she came within striking distance of the fan nearly five minutes later.
“Whoever designed this Dungeon has a devious streak,” Emma complained, as she cut the fan to ribbons before it could blow again.
A Big Fan defeated!
50 EXP gained.
Level Up!
Emma Knight - Level 7 Revenant
Race: Undead {LOCKED}
Alignment: True Neutral
Anima: 400
EXP: 1115/1500
Die by the Sword is in effect, re-calibrating skill selection!
Seven is the number!
Choose one of the following three Weapon Enhancements for Epitaph:
Weeping Scar: Wounds caused by this blade inflict periodic poison damage until they are healed.
Searing Enigma: Those who view this blade are assailed with eldritch knowledge, disrupting the focus of the strong and driving the weak to madness.
Spirit Severing: Consume intangible aspects of those that are slain. +10% EXP gained for killing with this blade.
“Interesting,” Emma hummed, not quite as excited as she’d been previously despite the obvious power in the selection—in large part due to the short duration between her recent level ups.
“Definitely not the one for bonus experience gained; I’m already growing at a very generous pace. Maybe it would be more useful later down the line? But no, there’s no point betting a selection on circumstances that might never become relevant.”
Emma shook her head, dismissing the supposedly ‘optimal’ choice to consider more frontloaded rewards.
“Hmm. Honestly, Searing Enigma is probably the strongest, but quite frankly, that description worries me. If there’s no off-switch, I’ll never be able to show Epitaph around friendlies any more, or they won’t remain friendly for long. Is that going to be an issue?”
At present, yes. Further modifications may mitigate or resolve this concern.
“Weeping Scar it is then.” Emma grimaced. “Not the most exciting effect all told, but a consistent one with good synergy for my existing skill set; between that and my healing I can outlast almost any opponent.”
Weapon Enhancement - Weeping Scar selected!
Epitaph didn’t look any different after receiving the upgrade, nor was there any tangible sensation upon her soul this time around. Despite that, Emma’s trusty status updates had yet to lie to her even once, so she decided to leave testing aside in favor of proceeding toward the final challenge of the floor. The last few floating books paid her no mind as she arrived, not even when Emma was directly below them, staring up at them and waiting for a reaction.
What are you looking at? - Level 9
“Eh?” Emma blinked, squinting as she read a second time to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
Yeah, I’m talking to you! - Level 9
“What’s wrong with this description? System, are you bugging out on me, or did April Fool’s day come early?”
Amogus - Level 9
Annoyed, Emma almost swung at the nearest book before halting the motion midway, getting a funny feeling about the situation. The books themselves remained in place, declining to follow her as she backed up quite some distance away before calling on her captive boss for the first time. Despite her lingering worries, the floor was more than able to hold the Leech King’s weight, showing no signs of strain as it manifested; now tinged a spectral blue but otherwise identical to the boss Emma had fought against not long ago.
Hit me with your best shot! - Level 9
“Yeah, that’s beyond suspicious,” Emma deadpanned. “Big guy, go eat those books for breakfast.”
Obeying her command, the Leech King darted forward with deceptive swiftness, lunging at the final approach and swallowing the entire cluster whole in a single gulp. He then exploded, bits of gore coating the entire platform, with yet more falling into the mists below.
1/1 The Leech King - Level 8 (Cooldown: 1 hour)
“Yeah, that’s about what I expected.” Emma sighed. “Out of curiosity, how many people have actually fallen for that?”
“This fourth obstacle has the highest kill count for the floor, as a matter of fact,” the overseer replied, an unmistakable undercurrent of pride in her voice. “Having defeated the first three challenges, most aspirants will have internalized the idea that the books themselves are harmless, so long as they aren’t given the chance to manifest their contents. Many impatient youngsters in particular notice how ‘slow’ the last batch are at summoning, and try to interrupt the process with their attacks.”
“That’s cold,” Emma whistled. “Sure, there are some ranged attackers who’ll get away with it purely off of lack of proximity, but any melee fighter who takes that explosion is done for.”
“We are a society dedicated to the advancement of magic,” the overseer sniffed imperiously. “Hotblooded morons with swords for brains are not welcome within these hallowed halls of learning. We have standards.”
The grinding of hidden mechanisms caught Emma’s ear as the overseer’s diatribe concluded. As Emma looked on, a spiral staircase descended from on high through a hole in the roof, landing where the final books had been with a firm thud.
“Up you go then,” the overseer ordered. “By clearing the first floor, you’ve made it into the upper half of aspirants already. I’d say congratulations, but honestly, this floor has the highest rate of attrition of the first ten floors by far. Anyone can enter after all, whether they’re remotely ready for the trials or not; those who make it to the second floor often have what it takes to clear the whole lot.”
“Dragging down the average, huh?” Emma grinned, reminded of many complaints from teachers she’d heard over the years. “Sounds like education never changes, magical or otherwise.”
First floor clear!
Chapter 36
Humor Me
Emma kept her guard up as she approached the spiral staircase, generally trusting her System yet wary of the possibility for a final twist in the tale. A full minute later, as no attack proved forthcoming, she relented and began to climb, the glow from the hole in the roof intensifying with every upward step. As her head rose into the second floor, Emma paused at the sight of the open sky; the midday sun glared down at her despite the certainty that she was still inside the Dungeon. Emerging fully, she found herself in a flat grassy plain, at the center of and surrounded by four hilltops of roughly equal proportions. Upon each hill was a pillar, identical in form but distinct of color; red, yellow, blue, and black each greeting her sight in turn as Emma rotated to take in the entire tableau.
From a rough estimate, Emma conceded that the total area might just about fit inside the proportions of the tower she’d observed from afar, though that failed to explain how any of this terrain came to be. Far more worrying than the sudden change of scenery was the status message that soon followed.
Pacifism debuff applied. On this floor, you are unable to perform any act inflicting direct harm upon another. Good luck!
Besides that single message, no further instructions were issued, leaving Emma metaphorically scratching her head.
“No combat and no instructions; this is definitely a puzzle challenge of some sort. Hey, since I’m no longer in the library, can Sir Bearington come out to play?” Emma eventually asked, after quite some time spent analyzing her course of action.
“The bear? Sure, why not?” the overseer agreed easily.
Seal released. Gained companion: Sir Bearington - Level 4
Emma sidestepped as Sir Bearington appeared right over her head, the latter landing with a loud thud and a faint whine of disapproval. His mood improved quickly enough, aided by Emma scratching him behind the ears, and soon she was mounted up and ready to do a bit of exploring. Picking the hill with a red pillar by simple virtue of facing that direction as she made her choice, the duo set off for a bit of exploration. Nothing emerged to bar their path, and a few minutes later they were at the top of the hill, next to the pillar that stood just a few inches taller than Emma sitting astride Sir Bearington’s back.
As soon as they arrived, Emma’s eyes were immediately drawn to the pillar’s base, wherein a shallow groove held a button with an inscription carved below.
“Button up, let the trial begin,
Press all four to claim your win.
Knowing that bloodshed is a sin…
Why is it so hard to find something that rhymes with sin? Hold on, let me get the thesaurus…”
Emma trailed off disbelievingly, reading it again to make sure she hadn’t made a mistake somewhere.
“I think this bit’s unfinished,” Emma concluded, for the benefit of those observing her progress in the Dungeon.
“Um, oops?” a disgruntled voice replied, distinctly younger than the overseer she was used to hearing.
“Right, yes, let’s get rid of that for now, shall we? A simple placeholder will do for now; I’m sure someone can think of a better verse by the next centennial review. Time reversal.”
◆◆◆
As soon as they arrived, Emma’s eyes were immediately drawn to the pillar’s base, wherein a shallow groove held a button with an inscription carved below.
“Press a button to start the trial, press all four to reach the next floor. Test your wits, not your fists.”
“Seems straightforward enough.” Emma grunted as she observed the other three pillars, two equidistant and one significantly further afield. “Which means there’s clearly more at work here."
"Let’s see: All four pillars have different colors, so there should be different outcomes from pressing them, even if they all share a common purpose in the trial. Not sure what each color represents, and it’s hard to speculate without any hints since they could mean literally anything. Combat-wise, nobody has attacked us until now, which is definitely going to change once we start the trial by pushing a button. We can’t really fight back, so evade or misdirect, and make it to all four by any means necessary? Probably gets harder with each button we press as well, to increase the challenge the further in we get. In that case…”
Dismounting from Sir Bearington’s back, Emma waved him forward, beckoning him to sit in front of the pillar. Summoning Epitaph, Emma plunged the blade into the dirt beside the pillar.
“See this button?” Emma pointed, getting a nod in response from her companion. “Now, tap out five seconds, one tap of your paw with each second that passes.”
Counting thousands as she’d been taught in school, Emma was gratified to see Sir Bearington’s paws tap in tandem with the beats of her voice.
“Good, you’re able to keep time. In that case, see Epitaph here? Keep watching it; the moment it disappears, count to five seconds then press that button.”
Receiving a final nod from Sir Bearington, she began the longer walk to the opposite hill with the black pillar. Arriving after traveling for approximately three times as long as the first floor took, Emma found as expected an identical button, which she followed up with a quick check on Sir Bearington, confirming that he remained at his post, waiting patiently for her signal. Raising one hand, her other right by the button, Emma called her blade back to her.
“One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five thousand,” she recited aloud at a steady pace before slamming a finger into the button at the conclusion of the final syllable as Sir Bearington did the same from afar.
All four pillars immediately erupted in light, as around them the world trembled. The earth rose around Emma’s hill, reborn and reshaped into towering golems of stone. Nearest Sir Bearington, wind funnels formed from the heavens, heralding the descent of angelic beings clad in pure white clouds. To her right, the world burned as hungry flames fed on dried grass and warm summer air, and to her left what was once a plain flooded over, a shallow lake from which bubbling behemoths emerged.
Emma had five seconds, more or less, to appreciate how her expectations were largely proven right. Then the headache hit, worse by far than anything she’d felt for many, many years now.
Mass Anima linkup detected. Emergency protocol activated; command interface initializing. Please stand by!
Chapter 37
Go Forth and Multiply
Mass Anima linkup detected. Emergency protocol activated; command interface initializing. Please stand by!
Humans were a numerous species, most of whom shared close similarities in the workings of their internal organs. Two eyes, in the front of the head, provided for all of a human’s visual needs, augmented with a pair of glasses or contact lenses when necessary; this had been the standard setup since as far back as anyone cared to remember. Strictly speaking, Emma was no longer subject to such limitations, given that her senses were merely approximations given form by the Anima that sustained her soul, but that loosening of restrictions didn’t make her sudden transition from two eyes to over two-hundred any less jarring.
Status: Confusion resisted.
Status: Insanity resisted.
Status: Fracture? Resisted.
It did blunt the side effects however, reducing the damage to ‘merely’ debilitating, soul-deep pain that left Emma on the floor, rather than the kinds of harm that usually spelled years of recovery under specialized magical care. It did nothing to solve the root problem, however, as hundreds of strands of Anima sought to connect to a single overseer who had never experienced nor prepared for anything at such a scale.
Deploying Command interface.
ERROR: Insufficient user bandwidth.
Present neural architecture is insufficient to support required upgrades.
Importing file from alternate timeline: 2077.
Denied.
Error 12: overridden by domain controller Paradox, process terminated.
Initiating contingency measures for User preservation.
Simplifying Command interface to accommodate current bandwidth.
Map unlocked!
Broadcast unlocked!
Emma blinked as the pain disappeared, so abruptly that she’d have questioned if it were ever real; had it not been for the floating map now available in the corner of her eye. Her text log had changed as well—names now visible to the left of each line indicated who had spoken, and a list of all active participants were on the right.
“That’s a lot of members,” Emma gaped as she scrolled down a list of over two-hundred names, most being combinations of their species title and a random number, with all of them united by one common factor.
Elemental - Level 100
“I already have the pacifism debuff, but I suppose the developers wanted to really drive home that I’m not supposed to fight them directly.” Emma laughed. “At least I still get experience from completing each step of the challenge.”
Earth subjugated.
100 EXP gained.
Air subjugated.
100 EXP gained.
Feeling well enough to sit back up, Emma took the time to look closely at the battle playing out below. The Water faction was clearly ascendant, as scaled horrors from below pushed forward, dousing the raging Fire one wave at a time. They were held at bay with the assistance of the Earth golems, who bodily positioned themselves to intercept the water, absorbing much of it and blunting the force of what remained. The Air elementals were avoiding combat, but a number of them hovered over the Fire, fanning it toward ever higher intensities and helping to keep it alive despite Water’s onslaught. Looking away from the chaos and back at her map, Emma found that both Earth and Air were highlighted in green, marking them as being under her command.
“All right, obvious solution first,” Emma decided. “Air elementals, one each; go and push the two remaining buttons.”
Two elementals dutifully attempted to obey her command; the first made it halfway toward the hill of Water before being shot down by pressurized bursts, the second having more luck as it crossed the domain of Fire without issue, only to vaporize the moment she began her descent toward the pillar.
“Okay then, the Fire has got to go if that’s the passive effect. How best to do that without Water becoming unstoppable, though? If Earth, Fire, and Air together are just about holding them back, then losing even one would make Water unstoppable. Unless…? Ah, I see it now.”
Realizing what she had to do, Emma lay back down on the soft grass, making the most of the current stalemate to take a nice, long nap.
