I pop my neck while a glowing red symbol on the back wall causes the floor to open. A 5 foot wide sliding stone door opens, revealing a staircase leading downward. Vex and I look at each other before walking down the staircase.
After several minutes we arrive at a large circular room, carved out of the very ground itself. A beast with 6 legs floats in the middle of the room. Black spines and scales cover its skin as it twitches and opens its eyes.
[Level 555]
[Oblivion Beast]
As it unwinds and stretches, we see it's about 30 feet wide. The beast takes up a good chunk of the 200 foot wide room. It hisses and growls angrily. The room starts growing very cold, to the point we can see our breath in the air.
"This one looks interesting."
Vex mumbles as he takes a deep breath and readies himself.
"Dante, let's see how much stronger this thing is than the boss was."
Vex says as I nod and ready my sword. As I blink, the beast is in front of me swinging its large claws down towards me. I narrowly dodge the first paw, but the second and third on the left side of its body scratch me.
[-2,500,000 HP]
[+52,500 HP]
As I stumble back, it swiftly contorts it's body and attempts to scratch me again. Before I can react, Vex slams his sword through its jaw. It howls out in pain and slaps Vex with its tail, sending him about 40 feet away.
"Skill: Flurry X42!"
I slash wildly against its face and neck, blood splattering and covering the floor. It screeches and jumps to the ceiling, sticking like a spider. I watch as its scales and spikes fall off, revealing pitch black skin with white markings.
"[Field of Anger 5], [Field of Life 5], [Bloody Wraith 5], [Wrath 5]."
[All Stats Increased 5X]
[Regeneration Increased 5X]
[Speed and Strength Increased 20X]
[Strength Increased 10X]
[30 Seconds Until Buffs Wear Off]
I take a deep breath and lunge towards it. In mid-air, while leaping towards it, the creature vanishes. Before I can react, it kicks me over to Vex.
[-350,000 HP]
[+262,500 HP]
As I land, I jam my Bloodstone dagger into the ground, stopping myself from sliding. I see Vex stand up and look at the beast.
"This thing is crazy."
He says while whispering further to himself. I nod.
"But I think its strength got lowered when its spines and scales fell off. Its last hit was still powerful, but not as bad as it was before."
I reply as Vex pops his neck. The beast lands softly and immediately dashes towards us, moving faster than either of us can keep up with. I swing wildly, but it easily weaves and contorts around my blades, kicking me back against the wall.
[26 Seconds Until Buffs Wear Off]
[-300,000 HP]
[+262,500 HP]
I grit my teeth, tasting blood in my mouth and feeling sweat roll down my cheek. I see shadows envelop Vex's body as he quickly looks to me.
"Dante, leave this to me. I've been meaning to test this out, this just seems like a good test subject."
He says while nodding his head towards the door. I begrudgingly nod back and dash towards the door. As the beast appears in front of me, Vex appears beside it and grabs its throat. I see his eyes are dark blue with blue streaks running down his face. His skin is pitch black, and so are his clothes. A constant black mist rolls off of his skin as he pulls the beast back.
I continue to dash up the stairs as I feel the entire stone structure shaking. As I emerge back at the boss room, I quickly leave and look back. The stone dome shakes and cracks wildly as black energy starts ripping through the ground. I watch in concern as the entire structure crumbles in on itself and falls into a pit.
I quickly run to the edge and look around.
"Vex! VEX!?"
I shout while looking around frantically.
"Yo?"
I hear him behind me. As I spin around I see him shirtless with no damage to his body at all.
"What was that?"
I ask as he scratches his beard and closes his eyes.
"Well, the short version is that I increased all my stats by one-thousand times."
I stare at him for a moment before laughing.
"Man, not sure why I was worried. Should've known you would be fine. So, you killed it?"
I ask as he looks at the pit.
"I'd hope so, but I haven't received a notification yet."
He says as I sigh.
"Well, should we go back down ther-"
[Hidden Boss Slain!]
We stare at the notification for a moment before we both burst out laughing. Vex joking speaks up.
"Guess it got crushed to death."
He turns around and starts walking towards the portal. I disable my buffs and follow behind him. After several minutes we arrive back at the portal. As we leave, we see everyone standing exactly where they were when we left.
"Hey guys."
I say as I stretch, the portal cracking and popping behind me. I walk over to everyone as they stare passed me. As I look back, I see Vex enter the portal again. Before I can speak up he re-emerges.
[Mini-Boss Slain!]
[Mini-Boss Slain!]
[Mini-Boss Slain!]
[Mini-Boss Slain!]
[Boss Slain!]
[Hidden Boss Slain!]
As I stare at the notifications as Vex laughs.
"This is getting easier and easier."
He says loudly as Azeroth and Blank laugh.
I see Warren staring wide eyed at his notifications. As he starts to move, the portal cracks and pops once more. I look back to see Vex jump back into the portal. In 1 second he appears again, smiling widely.
[Mini-Boss Slain!]
[Mini-Boss Slain!]
[Mini-Boss Slain!]
[Mini-Boss Slain!]
[Boss Slain!]
[Hidden Boss Slain!]
"I can do this all day!"
He shouts, obviously very proud in his abilities. I laugh as Warren chuckles to himself. I see a tear roll down his cheek as he presses something in his notifications.
[+151,857,000,000,000,000,000,000 Exp Gained!]
[+30,000 Attribute Points Gained!]
[10+ Levels Gained!]
I almost choke when I see the experience gained. I stare at it blankly for a moment before quickly opening my stats.
Name: Dante Fenrix
Age: 19
Level: 562
[Stats]
HP: 38,136,000
Strength: 103,920
Agility: 21,710
Reflexes 21,710
Speed: 66,050
Constitution: 21,000
Intelligence: 1,320
Exp: 152,864,253,515,890,046,276,620
Exp to Next Level: 180,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Attribute Points Available: 113,200
I smile while thinking for a second, then quickly allocate points.
50,000 into strength. 20,000 into agility and reflexes. 23,200 into constitution.
Name: Dante Fenrix
Age: 19
Level: 562
[Stats]
HP: 38,136,000
Strength: 153,920
Agility: 41,710
Reflexes 41,710
Speed: 91,050
Constitution: 44,200
Intelligence: 1,320
Exp: 152,864,253,515,890,046,276,620
Exp to Next Level: 180,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
I smile as I feel a burning feeling in my left hand. I look down and notice the thorn tattoo has grown even more, only inches from the palm of my hand now.