—————————Atlas—————————
The only ability he gained from the Warlock Class was "Bind Demonic Familiar." From what he could glimpse from his implanted memories the ability would let him contract a demon in the way summoners and dungeon lords do with just any creature but the connection to the demon would be far stronger, problem was there were no wandering demons he knew of so he'd have to get one straight from the source, but that brought up another problem, how would he get a demon from hell? He knew warlocks had familiars but demons? If they had demons then surely they'd be ostracized despite their overwhelming power… well he'd have to group himself with them, he was now a warlock and if he gained a demon he'd likely be double ostracized, hated even… but the people he had surrounded himself with likely wouldn't care. "Character Sheet!" He commanded bringing up a blue transparent screen made from what he assumed to be essence. It displayed his stats and abilities but there was a second he was most excited for. Usually you'd need to see a specific diviner to get your character sheet but due to the dungeon system, Sui and anyone he allowed could view the sheets for any and every thing in the dungeon, including themselves. He found a second labeled essence and mentally expanded it. "Recent essence gain: 524, total essence available to spend: 613." It took about 100 essence to rank up to Iron so he ranked up all his classes to iron aside from siphoner as no matter how much essence he put into the class it wouldn't rank up. This left him with about 400 essence left which he used to upgrade his warlock and cryomancer class to bronze. Having absorbed so much high grade mana his body had adapted but something told him even if it hadn't he'd have been fine. His mind filled with the knowledge of the advanced Cryomancer abilities, for instance, he could now create detailed structures and an Ice valley which slowed the rate and speed of anything that entered. As for his warlock abilities his mind expanded as his limbs became more dexterous, he gained two abilities, War Casting, increased the range and potency of any spell that larger than 2 meters by 2 meters by about 50%. He also Gained Holy and Unholy casting, allowing him to enhance a spell's potency by 25% while applying either holy or dark mana to a spell.
Shuichi did the same ranking up his Summoner class once to iron and then once again to bronze. Shuichi smirked, "Well what's the plan?"
Atlas crossed his arms, "They are probably going to be around bronze to silver rank with the strongest being gold. I'm not sure off we'll be able to take them as we are now…"
Sui interjected, "Well… what if we turned the Auction house into a dungeon, I had the ability to earlier but that was the core meant for my enemies at the school, but with Torui's core we can set up an new one. Even if we fail to beat them, after the dungeon is set up we can dismantle them with ease or even seal the place off while saving the slaves."
Atlas turned to Sui in shock, "you planned to turn an entire school into your dungeon?"
He took a defensive stance before Sui continued, "As you can see not all monsters are evil, we weren't evil when they attacked us, we had already given up and shut ourselves in within Magnus's primary dungeon. Monsters are just outcasts, for one I've never enslaved anyone and don't plan to. We could make a place for them to stay together there, monster and humans."
Shuichi sighed, "just don't involve me… We should get a ride to the Auction house, we need to end this now before the sun rises, we have to make it to the entrance exams and sign ups."
Atlas looked at him confused, "I never heard about any exams. What do we have to do?"
"They just ask for one or two of your classes, test them, then test you as a mage/fighter. They don't know what your future occupation will be but might makes right in this world, so they teach that no matter what."
Atlas shrugged as Sui brought up a good question, "So then how am I supposed to fake a class?"
Saphra looked at Sui indignantly, "you're really gonna help them with all of this? I won't go, I'm not risking my life for these people especially not someone who would kill his own."
Shuichi shrugged and began meditating, "I'm going to gather and mold some silver mana in preparation, if you want to fake a class it's not hard, just know about the class you're mimicking, the school doesn't care what your class actually is, just what you can do."
Nui shrugged, "hmm? You do understand that even if we had tried to save him he'd at best be a a mangled corpse regardless. Plus he's still alive even if it's not his own body, you haven't lost what he brought it's just transformed slightly."
She huffed and puffed, "look I'm still not going but if you're still gonna go be careful."
Zena walked up behind Saphra, "Careful indeed, I'll have the spider queen give you a ride to the edge of our dungeon perimeter but once the new dungeon is set she will aid you."
Saphra jumped as Atlas looked Zena up and down, "What's your mana level, like the rank and color?"
She smirked, "I'm not much of a mage and being a super human vampire allows for me to not have to rely on it so much so I could only say I'm around mid Gold."
"MID GOLD!?!" Everyone shouted in surprise, Atlas paused before clearing his throat, "mind if I absorbed some gold and silver mana then? Not much more than my maximum mana just enough that I'll be able to use a few advanced spells in a pinch."
She shrugged, "go ahead, I have much more mana that you so it won't hider me at all." Atlas began absorbing her mana, "Could you also send out spiderlings to find the slaves we rescued and offer them a place to stay within the dungeon… if they don't want to say here I'm sure we could make them a place to stay nearby."
When both he and Shuichi were done Shuichi went up to a spider princess, "I would like to contract you." He formed a transparent blue screen before her that seemed to have the contract details which he generalized aloud, "5% of my and and essence goes to you, in exchange you will provide me fair service whenever I summon you as long as it isn't durning eating or meetings. I will never place you in lethal danger but that being said you are expected to always give it your all."
The prince tilted her head in confusion, "okay? I accept."
"To finalize I'll need a name."
She smiles spreading her mandibles wide, "ALLISORA!" She clicked.
Sui turned, "alright well, who's ready to ride a spider queen?"
"ME!" Nui shouted.
That straddled her back and she began to move faster than the wind as the trees and bushes of the forest moved aside for its Dungeon Boss.
They rode the back of the massive spider queen arriving at the Auction house but what they saw put Atlas on edge. Outside they saw patrols of 3 walking around the building and 4 guards stationed at every door, Nui shrugged, "Increased security, doesn't seem like a problem."
Shuichi slid off the Vampire Spider Queen's massive back, "it isn't, use your minions to dig out pit falls bellow them."
Sui shrugged and did so causing the guards to systematically fall into pits that cover them from their boot soles to their top lip. Shuichi and Atlas ran around them freezing and stunning them in ways to incapacitate them. They moved on to the front door followed by Spider Knights and spiderlings. Atlas kicked it open and was greeted by 6 guards, one was the cloaked figure from before, all of them displaying visible silver auras. Only the cloaked figure exuded one that was above low silver, they were so fresh he could nearly see the bronze in their silver. The guards surrounded a maelstrom of slaves and slavers, the slavers committing horrible lewd and violent acts upon them. Releasing almost half of his gold mana in one shot he cast a field of ice only catching the Slavers, "Stop!" Spiders began to flood in. At the top of the grand stair case behind the maelstrom stood a man in gold, white, and black.
He wore a tunic with a white dress shirt and embroidered vest. His voice dropped with sarcasm as it boomed, "Didn't like the show?" He cackled like a mad man, "Well, I can provide a better one… let me tell you what's going to happen… you'll come here to me and give yourself up and I'll kill your friends for wasting my time but I won't kill you unless-"
"I refuse!" Atlas took a defiant step forward before he launched himself up an forward with a pillar of ice, all the way up to the top of the steps passed all the guards. Shuichi at the same time fired a bolt of silver mana lightning blasting the cloaked figure down a hall before running down the hall after him. The guards turned to face Shuichi as Nui and Sui ran away down one of the other halls. The guards quickly turned back to them and began to chase them down the hall. Atlas stated the man down but the slave master didn't make a move, in fact he slumped his shoulders as if he were relaxed, like he didn't care. Atlas charged him activating blade fist but but several chains rushes in from around the room blocking and shredding his blade like a chain saw. Atlas jumped back but the chains attempted to wrap around him. He formed a pillar of ice below him and the chains crashed into it shredding it apart. Not expecting them to grip so hard they'd break the pillar he didn't steady himself in time before it crumpled causing him to fall to the side. He activated his improved reflexes to get a good look at his situation and the hall they were in. White tiled floors, a massive golden chandelier, and about 12 chains bolted to the different corners of the room with runes and symbols all over them.
Atlas was no runecaster but he knew that rune technology typically needed a mana based power source, so attempting to disrupt them he shot out 12 bolts of ice from all over his body crashing into the base for all the chains. The slave master grined, "smart… but you didn't think that was their only power source, those bolts are simply chargers to connect them to an external power source." Suddenly Atlas was wrapped up. If the power source wasn't there and these chains felt full of mana then it could only mean that the mana was in the chains themselves. Atlas began absorbing mana from each chain wrapped around him as the man called the bundle of chains over. A rune lit up on the chains as he spoke to Atlas, "What are your classes?"
He looked away in defiance but his head turned back and began speaking, "Brawler!" Atlas began to freak out, if this man knew his value he'd surely be captured but even more pertinent, if he knew his classes he may be able to strategize against them. Atlas suddenly realized something, "Cryomancer." He could pick the order, he already knew he was a Cryomancer and Brawler he use two techniques that weren't rare among those classes, but he might be able to hide two of his classes, he had almost drained the chains so he'd only have to give one more up before he was done and finding this loop hole he could pick, "Warlock!" The chains fell before Atlas threw out another blade fist, the Slave Master's eyes widened in fear and he leapt back thickening his aura. Atlas's blade fist met the thick golden aura and slowed like molasses as it made contact with his skin, "Stop!" His class lit up and Atlas stopped in his tracks long enough for the slave master to push him over and run. Atlas struggled to his great before firing an ice bolt at the man. He yanks a wand free from his waist band and created an ice wall to absorb the ice and grow, but stopping to protect himself allowed Atlas to catch up hopping over the wall and kicking the Slave master back. He stood and fired a bolt of ice at Atlas which he absorbed. "Damnit." Desperation and frustration filling his voice, "COMMAND XETA B!" The tiles all lit up different colors and the one Atlas was on was still white, electricity sparked through his system causing him to stumble but he had been through worse. "Disorient!" Suddenly everything was upside down, disoriented Atlas fell another tile, a black one. He felt the necrotic mana trying to kill him slowly and began absorbing, but the mana was killing him as much it was refilling his reserves. He stopped and blasted the necrotic mana with ice mana outward destroying all of the tiles nearby Atlas giving him some breathing room but the Slave master hadn't stayed idle forming many icicles, fire balls, and lightning balls in air. He'd launched the storm of attacks at Atlas and he grit his teeth.
—————————Sui—————————
Sui and Nui ran down the hall passing many rooms making it to some steps. He sat down and pulled out Torui's core, he spread his aura through it allowing him to feel everything going on in the Auction house. He felt Shuichi and Atlas locked in combat and the guards on their tail. He started searching for a source of mana that would be large enough to help set up a dungeon. He couldn't feel any religious influences in the area so it was uncontested meaning they'd have no problem setting up a dungeon as long as there was mana for it. He felt a dense source of mana, but it was up the stairs down the hall to the left, in the Slave Master's office. They ran up the stairs to the door and tried to open it but it was locked, it was no matter, both Sui and Nui fired Eldridge flames at the door blowing it off it's hinges. They quickly searched the room but couldn't find anything in a glance, but a glance to Nui was now like using night vision binoculars that had a slow motion function. Dungeon lords worked differently than attuned as they didn't get specific tailored abilities at each rank, in fact they had no ranks and their mana reflected the color of their burning eyes at all times. To grow stronger they used essence to buy abilities, unlike classes there was no peaceful way to rank them up unless you could find an essence crystal mine which were far more rare than their mana crystal counter parts. Sui and bought Rutherford's Endurance and Fiendish Vigor. Rutherford's endurance allotted it's users extreme pain tolerance and survival allowing it's user to survive lethal wounds and effects for extended periods of time while fiendish vigor filled its user with a demonic stamina and vitality allowing them to take more punishment and give more. Nui on the other hand bought the stalker eyes trait and a trait that took most of his essence, Demon host activation. Using his stalker eyes he could see further, faster, and he could see mana in more detail than before. They rushed into the room and he took out the core trying to find where in the room had the most mana. Swinging the core wildly it responded to a box on the slave master's cluttered desk. He pride the box open with his raw strength tapping into his fiendish vigor. It popped revealing a mana crystal, one so large without becoming a core could only mean it was artificial… Sui paused, "artificial mana crystals?" Mana crystals are rocks made of dense crystallized mana usually found in dungeons and near lay lines, powerful invisible rivers of mana that flow through out the planet. He crushed it filling his body and the room with mana. Before it could escape he started forming the dungeon.
The guards made it to the room their blades already drawn. "Give is the dungeon core and come willingly, the boss will pay double for a dungeon lord." One of the guards said in a deep rough voice. Another feminine yet firm voice spoke up through an armored visor.
Sui took one look at them and then the core, "Never!" He placed the core in his mouth dramatically emphasizing the task and ate the core, too hard to chew attempted to swallow it. He choked, the guards looked to each other confused and alarmed. Nui for his part also looked confused, he knew what it could do and knew that Sui knew that and yet here he was attempting to eat it. Eventually he got it down after it scratched up his throat, his endurance allowing him to take the pain. When it entered his belly and his acids began to Bible he felt something strange, something being shoved into his mind haphazardly as he felt his mana and mind grow.
His brain was filled with memories that weren't his, powers that he never learned…"Establish Permanent Dungeon Boundary Formation Yes | No?" A blue transparent screen floated in front of his face and he smirked as he mentally selected yes. Power exploded from the core within his belly filling the rest of the forest on this side of the mountain range. He shaped holes in the floor under the guards and as they noticed he removed them causing them to fall through the floor. "We completed our part, just need to wait on Atlas and Shuichi to finish up."
—————————Michael—————————
They made their way slowly through the forest, the marker didn't say exactly how far the place would be but it did say it was within the forest so it couldn't be over a day a way. While walking through the thick growth of vines and bushes he stumbled across a campfire with a girl that had pointy ears and white hair. She had beautiful blue eyes but her outfit could be called a sac at best. He held a hand up so Charli and Quentin would pause but Quentin was curious what he was looking at walking up so close he accidentally pushed Michael through a bush and into the girl's camp. She jumped up to her feet and he could feel the temperature dropping. Charli and Quentin stepped out with their hands up in a placating gesture, but suddenly Charli and Quentin were wrapped in tree branches as the girl narrowed her eyebrows attempting to see through Michael but that wasn't all, everywhere she looked on Michael began to be covered in ice. She had completely encased him before he could respond, "Who are you?"
Charli spoke up as Michael had his mouth frozen, "That is Michael Albens, a commoner who saved us. I am Charli Rutherford, this is my adoptive brother Quentin, his family adopted me several years ago. We are nobles, we only wish to find and take down this illegal slave market."
The girl's eyes beamed, "You want to fight them? I'm not sure if you'd win but I know where they are… I have some friends that will help me show, follow me." Charli smiled as the branches splintered and broke apart under the pressure of her shaped mana. Michael, for his part, melted the ice by heating his skin and protecting it from the heat using a thin layer of pure mana. They followed her to a clearing where they saw several more like her. She walked up to a woman , the woman's skin was a more grey pale while her daughter had a more brown dark skin, "this is my mom, Ramona Rogueshire and I'm Estella… Mother… I found some adventurers willing to help. If Atlas and Shuichi are out there they may come to help too. We'd need to find them first."
Charli interjected as politely as an interruption can come across as, "We actually have to get to school soon, we can only provide as much help as is possible today. If that means we can't take it down we'll just free as many as we can."
Michael looked Charli up and down, she was as elegant as he had expected a noble woman to be but she was far more giving and caring than he expected even if to her schooling was better than ending slavery. The older woman nodded before speaking to everyone, "Hello, I know of a path under the dirt roads that we can take to the cellars, we can let out as many as we can without getting caught, just need to take out the seller guards."
Everyone shrugged and nodded. "Then would you allow myself and Charlie to take the lead. With her magic she should be able to stun some long enough for me to quickly dispose of them."
They agreed before a dark skinned burly strong man ran in, the only one wearing armor, and also the only one wearing spiders, he was covered in them. "Everyone… Atlas and Shuichi have sent these spiders as a message." He held up one of the spiders that had a note stuck to its back. It shook vigorously dropping the note and the man caught it reading it allowed, "Hello, as dungeon master of this regions spider dungeon I invite you to stay. We have food, shelter, water, and clothing for you at the request of Master Atlas. He has seen to it that your stay will be made comfortable. If you do not feel safe in the main dungeon then send a message back and Atlas will work with Dungeon lord Sui in constructing homes for you nearby the dungeon. ", Everyone went silent, dungeon lords helping slaves, and the boy with a big heart they had met had really continued caring even when he didn't have to anymore. Of course Michaeland his new friends had no clue, they just heard that a dungeon lord was partnered with their friend and helping them. Michael had been in a dungeon and saw how they were designed to be a hunting ground for monsters, a dungeon lord would have to be insane to want to set one up, insane or evil, "Wait there's more." The man continued, "PS, Atlas didn't want you in danger but he is currently trying to take on the entire auction house."
Michael chuckled, "So he frees you, partners with a dungeon lord, creates some sort of dungeon and attacks the auction house, he's gotta be an interesting man, but it sounds like he'll need help who's in?"