Chapter 18 - Chapter 18

9/13 15:02 (Summer, Sunset; Luna; Dungeon)

The types of Original Magic that existed in this world were only three: Magecraft, Sorcery and Druidry.

This, however, didn't mean that the relative Skills were only three, ignoring their Attributed version.

Instead, through the ages new ways to use Magic were researched and created, one of which was the Skill "Mana Shaping" and "Mana Forging" made to supplement Sorcery and "Formalcraft" to enhance Magecraft.

But this were not the only new Skills made to use Magic, what was normally called Pact Magic.

Borrowing power from other entities and similar things, like Clerics borrowing power from Gods to Cast a form of Magecraft, Paladins using Oaths to automatically Cast Holy-Attribute Sorcery on themselves, Spiritualists borrowing power from Spirits to Cast Druidry and Warlocks making a deal with various entities to Cast Spells, whether Demonic or just dangerous in most situation.

What Luna observed, however, was none of these ways to use Magic.

The "Undead Abomination" roared, a roar that caused a brief tremor in this empty dimension.

This was more similar to a combination of Magic, specifically Druidry, and Skills, similarly to a True Dragon using a Territory Skill.

This, however, was still not quite the perfect example as demostrated by what happened a little bit after the roar.

The ground under Luna rose in spikes, trying to impale her as she dodged by jumping high in the sky, her wings opened wide, watching carefully both the Monster and the area around her thanks to the Vision-Viper's many eyes.

"I see. I was wrong. This is much more complicated than that. It is not simply a combination of Druidry and Skills."

The 5 meters tall Monster before her, shaped like a pyramid of corpses, was constantly moving, with Skulls emerging from it before returning under its flesh casually and all over its body.

It roared again with some of its mouth as she launched herself to the ground, the air where she was pierced by pointy bones.

She nodded to herself, certain now.

"I see. It seems like I was quite naïve. This is not just a Skill mixed with Druidry. This is also mixed with Pact Magic. More specifically it is an explicit Pact between you and the Dungeon Core itself, isn't it? I'm impressed. Your maker was, no is, much more ingenious than I ever thought."

There was no need for any other word.

Ash-Viper opened its mouth, releasing a wave of liquid fire that rained down upon the Boss, only for it to roar causing bones to appear over it, blocking it before sharp bones appeared a couple of meters above Luna, falling on her.

She casually stepped forward, dodging them, before moving to the next step.

She could not use "Mana Shaping" to fight the Undead as its Aura would absorb a lot of Vital Mana from them, with the strenghtening of the [Curse of Fragility] and, especially, of the [Curse of Instability] rendering the situation even more dangerous, especially considering how the Cooldown of the Monster's [Cursed Amp Roar] will eventualy end.

She had terrible compatibility with this Boss when it comes to combat.

In other words, her smile grew even wider, this was the perfect opportunity for her to exceed the previous her.

She formed a Weapon in both of her hands, two long one-handed blades in her hands as she played with them casually before nodding to herself.

She swung twice, once with a combo of Techniques to maximize sharpness while sending a shockwave and the other a combo to maximize speed while sending another shockwave.

The two shockwaves fused together.

The Abomination was cut in half vertically.

She nodded, her Techniques unaffected by the Aura as she suspected.

As it repaired itself passively, she noted the speed and her smile fell into what could be called a pout.

""Undying Body" C-Rank. I see. I will find whoever designed this place and I will rip them to pieces slowly while they are still alive. This will be boring and more than anything a waste of time. At least you will be able to Restore yourself completely only once."

She Shaped a True Tower Shield in her left hand before swinging it before her, with another Combo Technique, one to impress the force of the Strike with the Hardness of the object, quite high considering her natural Control and various Skills influencing it, the other to project forward the strike itself.

As the wave of force ripped forward she followed closely behind, her two blades again in her hands.

The impact of the shockwave was enough to briefly destabilize the "Miasmic Aura" around it.

Enough for her to attack.

Her swords, Blood Forged and Mana Forged with both [Greater Self] and [Release], pierced its body deeply before violently exploding, ripping it apart from the inside.

This was only the start as her True Wings released a rain of True Knife upon its inside, Mana Forged in the same way, Knifes that exploded too, additionally damaging it before Ash-Viper released Fire upon its body, further damaging, before finding herself jumping back as it roared.

Bones pierced the place where she was before as she looked at it rapidly healing by using its Vital Energy.

She nodded to herself in satisfation, she needed to concentrate on Techniques to open it up for Spells.

But this was not enough.

Just this would not allow her to grow.

Her blades vanished into nothing and in their place, blood started to pool from her shadow, rising quickly before stopping.

She nodded to herself.

"I must give you and your master my thanks. This next move is inspired by what all of you showed me."

She opened her arms wide as if she wanted to embrace this whole dimension before she made her order.

Most of the Black Blood fell leaving behind only a 10 meters large Magical Circle made of her blood.

The Monster flinched back in a mix between surprise and appriention at it.

"I learned this from you. "Formalcraft", the Skill the two Liches used to change the parameters of Magecraft. This is my version."

She had finished one of the books on "No-Attribute Magecraft" while she was on the ship, but she never planned on using it.

After all, even if it was versatile it had terribly low efficiency and efficacy before any other element, in attacks, defences and even in support when alone.

This however was not a problem anymore.

By using "Formalcraft" and the circle of blood, she could surpass this limit.

"[Awaken]! [Greater Self]!"

Her Unique Arma, Sorcerous Armor of the Singolarity, fully manifested and Awakened, while her whole being was brought to beyond her limit.

She exchanged complexity for pure destructive power, enough to completely destroy her target even with its Aura while the Blood Circle, made of her own incredibly high quality Black Blood, her Vital Mana and her various Skills boosted the Spell to beyond its limit.

Around her Magical Circle, another Manifested itself, this time with a range of 20 meters, before nine additional identical copies were made behind it, linking them together in a single Magical Circle, what she made to use Formalcraft.

"[Roaring Destruction]!"

The Spell was Casted.

Sound was overwhelmed by an overwhelming silence.

A wave of absolute violence ravaged everything before her, destroying everything within its way.

It had no color.

It was a wave of nothing destroying everything before her.

Silence stretched on as the greater abomination of the two simply laughed in joy while breathing hard, well more than half of her Vital Mana spent in an instant.

Red light shone before her as the Abomination reappeared in a flash of Vital Energy, whole and with all of its abilities reset to the start.

It roared and she winced slightly as the Curses on her were strenghtened again as its Cooldown was restored by the activation of "Undying Body"'s effect gained at C-Rank.

A complete Resurrection with a Cooldown of 24 hours.

That was the ability gained with C-Rank in "Undying Body".

She smiled satisfied before looking at it again.

She had no more need for its existence.

Her Tail detached from her, fusing temporarily with Ash-Viper.

It hissed as multiple Magical Circles made out of her Black Blood made themselves known before its mouth, not to release destruction upon this Fake World, but to amplify the power of the following attack.

"This is my compliment to you for this fight. [Magnificent Ray]."

Attack that consisted of a concentrated beam of fire at incredible temperature which, upon passing the circle, grew to 5 meters in range, reducing the Boss to ash as it exploded in a wave of extreme heat on contact with it.

Silence stretched on as her Familiars returned to within her shadow and her True Shapes were reabsorbed by her as two gates appeared before her, one leading to the next floor and one leading to the exit.

She had no Vital Mana left, to the point that she was barely able to stand in place, even after reabsorbing her Shapes.

However, the battle was over and her price was before her.

Beyond the two Gates, another object manifested itself before her, a crystal that shone slightly in all colors made entirely out of Magicules.

She grabbed it satisfied, before shattering it in her hands, absorbing its power quickly and efficiently, gaining Magicules and increasing her potential.

This was, however, the reward for beating this Floor Boss for the first time.

The second and beyond would have no prize.

Said reward consisted of Magicules and an increase in Potential.

Potential that allowed her to gain two new Ability Skills and to grow massively.

*Luna gained 10.000 Magicules.

*Luna gained the Ability Skill "No Attribute Magecraft".

*Luna gained the Ability Skill "Formalcraft".

*Luna's Innate Skill "Authority: Vital Mana" D-Rank Expands.

*Luna's Innate Skill "Blood Gift" D-Rank, Innate Skill "Vampirism" C-Rank, "Blood Forging" D-Rank and Innate Skill "Black Blood Manipulation" D-Rank Fused together into "Authority: Black Blood" E-Rank.

But the most important gain was one that could not be quantified.

Time.

She gained 10 days on her temporary lifespan.

Thing that was priceless for her as she was.

She was, after all, still a fleeting dream so long as she remained at D-Rank.

She turned around and left the Dungeon.

She was confident in her own capabilities, but confidence is not stupidity.

As she was now, continuing would be the high of foolishness.

As she entered the Gate to exit, she found herself back at just before the gate of the Dungeon, her Curses dissipating on their own.

Before she almost faceplanted on the ground because of sheer exhaustion, dragging herself to a tree to rest against.

If she was at full power with no Curses on her right now, with both "No Attribute Magecraft" and "Formalcraft", the slight increase in Mana and Vital Energy caused by the condensation of Magicules within "Blood Gift" and her Control over Energy, she could use [Roaring Destruction] twice before dropping to the ground, completely unconscious and with the stress of the Spell on her body causing her to lose at least 7 days from her lifespan.

Additionally, while the power of this Spell would be more than enough to deeply wound if not kill outright a C-Class enemy and even a B-Class one if it were to hit, thing quite improbable, this Spell simply caused indiscriminate destruction on a too big of a range to be used outside of a Dungeon or with any allies around.

It was in all effects a situational Spell that could only be used rarely.

But she was very satisfied with it.

This was a Spell that the previous her never knew and she acquired two Skills that neither of the previous her ever obtained.

She laughed, a sound that would have without a doubt caused terror in any that heard it.

She was still quite distant from her previous self that was able to stall for 13 hours a B-Class Vampire, his 9 C-Rank Vampires, his 4 D-Rank Vampires and his Ghouls, but she will reach that level of power.

Differently to both Edgar and Azure, however she had no bias when it comes to Scarlet's ability and she could accurately judge their difference in power.

The only advantage the Half-Elf would have on her, beside Ranks and Grades, was the Innate Skill "Spirit Body".

A Skill that even now, with a Race that would grow faster and stronger, she missed dearly.

Oh well.

With time and lots of blood and fighting, she will regain it.

But not yet.

She closed her eyes, relaxing against her tree as she fell asleep for the first time, not for want, but for need.

?/? ?:? (Luna; ?)

Luna woke in a place that she was very familiar with.

She smiled as she beholded her Soul.

Soul that was quite a bit different from before.

At the center were the two her, the her made out of Energy of all colors and the her made of blood, shadows and Moonlight.

Or at least they should be there, but the situation was much different.

Both of them were clear in their form.

The Luna representing her Lunarian nature's skin was made completely out of Moonlight while the rest of her was made out of Black Blood.

The one representing her nature as a Singularity was somehow more and less similar to before, still being a chaotic mess of energy.

However, it was wielding her Unique Arma in the Awakened form and Vital Mana was perfectly controlled yet rampaging within the area around her.

Her two Authorities fused with the two Lunas within her Growth Skill.

She watched them carefully, noting how they were perfect naked copies of her except for their material composition.

"I see. Without a doubt, I am the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

She was more than able to observe her own body even through the "Singularity" her as she was more than familiar with her own body.

She observed the area around her, a slight incolor mist flowing around while a large Magic Circle covered the whole place, constantly changing shape.

Various weapons made of Energy and her three Familiars flew around the area.

She relaxed, letting the flow of her World lull her as she recovered from her lack of Energy and from exhaustion.

9/14 0:13 (Summer, Sunrise)

*Luna Gains 340+800 Magicules.

As the first rays of Sunlight illuminated the girl resting against the tree with a serene expression on her face, creating a scene fit for a painting capable to charm any that laid eyes on it, especially with the contrast with the dark cave in the back that was absorbing a small quantity of Miasma from the area around it.

Calling Luna beautiful or pretty was an immense error.

She simply had no physical flaw, with the only flaw being her twisted personality, to the point that, even when she was the 15 years old Scarlet, people would struggle to view her as a Person.

That young woman was seen in such a picturesque scene by a group of three young Adventurers that accepted a Quest to patrol a certain area of the border for any strange movements or behaviors.

They froze, not knowing what to do.

"Um, excus-" the D-Class cleric, a young man with black hair and pale skin, made to speak before being rudely interrupted by the hand of the E-Ranked Swordwoman who forcefully dragged him away.

"Shut up! Don't wake her up!" She loudly wispered, trying to not look at the young woman before them; trying and failing as her eyes, almost unwillingly could not bear to not look at her. "Just because you can seduce most women you meet, does not mean that you can lower your guard around someone you don't know!"

"I am not seducing anyone!" He rebuffed, unaware that he was. "And why should I not wake someone to ask if they are okay? It is my role. Come on, Jay, tell her I am right."

"There is waking someone and waking someone. And your role is to not step first into any potential danger without thinking or we are all dead. And Jay will tell you that I am in the right."

"Oh? At least I can look away from her without any problem, differently from someone else I know."

"What are you talking about, you pervert!"

"I am the pervert here? Do you even recognize the fact you are undressing her with your eyes, you bisexual in denial!"

"D-don't be r-ridiculous you p-pervert. I-I am… I am making sure she is unharmed! Pervert! Lechearous pervert! Corrupted priest!" The rain of flustered insults continued for a while, her face red and her voice rising because of embarassed rage. "And I am not in denial! Tell him, Jay!"

"Yeah, Jay, tell me how this bitch that spents half her time looking at girls in a way that if she was a man would get her smacked hard is not a bisexual in denial!"

The two looked to the third member of their team, their rogue, finding him completely ignoring the two of them and instead busy drawing the young woman before them.

A deadpan expression was now on their face as he continued, without any hesitation.

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