Chapter 8: The Second Dungeon Trial (½)
It was early morning, a few minutes before six, and Damien sat on his bed with the magical book in his hands.
"Still no passage," he sighed, finding no way to return to the dungeon.
At first, he thought he wouldn't go there again. He had already received enough gifts to earn power and respect.
But he knew he could gain much more—and much faster. Besides, he felt obliged to return. He didn't know what the demons might do if he didn't.
The only problem was that he couldn't find a passage to the dungeon. All he could see were his stats and abilities.
[Name: Damien Butler]
[Class: Warlock]
[Race: Human]
[Charisma*: 16 (15+1)]
[Constitution*: 15 (14+1)]
[Dexterity*: 15 (14+1)]
[Wisdom: 13 (12+1)]
[Intelligence: 11 (10+1)]
[Strength: 9 (8+1)]
[Points: 0]
[Patrons(+): 9th Demon: King Paimon]
[Description: Warlock with high charisma and potential.]
The items he had received by extending the Patron column were gone—he'd already sold them for money.
So, all he could do was wait for the clock to hit six. If he had one guess, it was that the passage would appear then.
He hoped he wouldn't have to go to the library and sit in the sixth chair of the sixth table.
'Maybe I should be sitting there,' he sighed, but he wanted to test the theory. 'I should be able to visit the dungeon from anywhere once I'm selected as the contractor, right?'
Once again, he sighed.
'By that logic, shouldn't I be able to go there at any moment?'
He felt foolish, wasting time here, and finally decided to rush toward the library.
"Please open again…" he muttered, staring at the book, flipping to the magical page, and slipping on his shoes—ready to head to the library.
But luckily, as the clock struck six, something magical happened.
[Would you like to visit the dungeon?]
The book asked, precisely at six in the morning when most people were still asleep.
As for Damien, he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Without hesitation, he immediately chose to enter.
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Take me there!"
He was nervous, very much so, but he was also thrilled. Visiting the dungeon filled him with a rush.
It was different—horrifying and grotesque. He remembered the goblins he had killed, but also how the dungeon held no distinction between purebloods and mudbloods. Everyone had to fight to survive—everyone was equal.
That equality, along with the treasures and powers, drew him to the dungeon. So, when he lost his senses and everything went dark, he wasn't as confused or uncertain as before.
Instead, when darkness enveloped him, he felt a sense of fulfillment.
His body warmed, and his mind went blank. He couldn't figure out how the teleportation worked, but he knew this magic was far different from apparition or the floo network.
But one thing was certain: he didn't enjoy the sensation of his head splitting open upon arrival in the dungeon.
'Ugh, this pain just keeps getting worse!'
The pain had been mild last time; now, it was intense. He hoped he could handle it better next time.
'Something's different,' he thought, realizing the cold, hard floor he'd expected was replaced by a soft, mushy ground beneath him.
As his teleportation completed and his vision adjusted, he finally opened his eyes and instantly, annoyance turned to disgust.
"Is that an earthworm?" He wrinkled his nose, spotting one writhing just beneath the moist ground. "Ugh."
Disgusted by the mud clinging to him, he pushed himself up.
"What even is this?" he murmured, realizing he was in a tiny, vine-covered space with barely enough room to roll around.
In the midst of the mud and vines, a faint smell invaded his senses.
"That… smells familiar," he muttered, looking around, though he saw nothing of note. He stepped forward, pushing through the muddy ground and parting the veil of vines.
"Oh… damn."
The sight left him speechless.
"That's… the ocean."
As far as he could see, except for the land he stood on, there wasn't a single visible stretch of ground.
The familiar smell was unmistakable—the ocean, or more specifically…
"Are those flying fish?"
Countless small fish leaped out of the water, gliding hundreds of feet with each jump. These were flying fish, able to propel themselves through the air using the pressure they built underwater, aided by their large pectoral fins.
But that wasn't even the real issue. The real problem lay elsewhere.
"Oh my god!"
When the fish leaped above the water, massive shadows swooped down from the sky and snatched them away.
"Those are…"
Mutated, gigantic eagles, tearing the fish apart mid-air.
'Why is there an ocean inside a dungeon?' he thought, horrified by the enormous, flesh-eating mutants. If not for the vine veil shielding him, they would have attacked him too.
'This must be magical,' he deduced. 'It can't be possible that those eagles wouldn't notice me due to some simple vines.'
The vines hid him, but with their keen eyesight, the eagles should have noticed any movement. Perhaps the ample food supply of fish, or their disinterest in a strange veil, kept them focused.
One thing was clear: this was another test.
'The sky is fake, the sun is dimmer than the real one, the eagles are mutants, and there seems to be no escape.'
Anxiously, he searched for the book, feeling around the mud before spotting it next to a nearby plant.
'There it is…'
Quickly, he grabbed the book and began flipping through the pages, desperately looking for an escape.
Unfortunately, there was no 'Return' choice like he'd hoped.
"Do I have to complete this trial?" he wondered aloud.
He recalled that the 'Return' option only became available after he'd cleared the first dungeon trial and met with Paimon. Here, though, he hadn't even seen the Demon, so he understood there wouldn't be a 'Return' option until he completed the trial.
"What is the trial?" he asked himself, and the answer seemed simple.
"That land…" He poked his head out again and, in the far corner, barely visible, was a gloomy-looking island. He guessed that the only way to complete the trial was by making an escape to that island.
But that raised another question.
"How do I reach it?"
There was no bridge, no landmass connecting to the island. Instead, it was all water, filled with flying fish and carnivorous birds.
"I don't know how to fly, and even if I did, I'd most certainly be eaten by those eagles."
Nor did he know any spell capable of killing all the eagles or transporting him there. His powers from Paimon only enhanced his affinity and efficiency with certain elements, making his spellcasting easier and stronger — but they hadn't granted him any new spells or knowledge.
Now he was stuck, alone on a muddy patch with only a small tree and his book.
"Wait."
He paused, stopping where he stood, forcing his mind to stop overthinking.
'Did I see something in my status when I opened it before?'
When he checked it at Hogwarts, there had been nothing new. But he recalled that while searching for the 'Return' option, he'd overlooked something that hadn't been there previously.
Recalling this, he feverishly flipped through the pages and found something intriguing.
"That wasn't there before."
His eyes were fixed on the pages, amazed to see a certain symbol beside three stats:
[Charisma*: 16 (15+1)]
[Constitution*: 15 (14+1)]
[Dexterity*: 15 (14+1)]
Next to Charisma, Constitution, and Dexterity, there were three unexplained star marks.
"What are these?" he murmured, tracing his finger over the markings, which seemed to initiate something.
"Huh?"
The three words began to glow gold, and within seconds, the glow materialized into golden ink that flowed down the page, positioning itself between [Points] and [Patrons(+)].
"What's happening?"
That question was soon answered as the golden ink started forming letters, which slowly turned black like the rest of the ink.
The letters read—
[Abilities]
Not [Patron Abilities], but abilities — meaning ones that belonged to him alone, independent of any patron blessings.
Soon, that empty Ability slot began to fill with three particular abilities.
While focused on the Ability section, he also noticed new words appearing at the end of the page.
[You have reached the first threshold of 15 points in Charisma, Constitution, and Dexterity: First Threshold abilities released!]
[1st Charisma Threshold Surpassed: Ability Acquired: Fallen's Grace]
[Fallen's Grace: Has a 10% chance of causing the opponent to miss, even if the opponent uses guaranteed-hit enhancers.]
[1st Constitution Threshold Surpassed: Ability Acquired: Iron Clad]
[Iron Clad: Has a 10% chance of deflecting an attack, regardless of its power (not applicable to demon attacks).]
[1st Dexterity Threshold Surpassed: Ability Acquired: Feline's Escape]
[Feline's Escape: Enables passage through small crevices by shifting bones and organs without damage, as long as the crevice can accommodate the size of the head.]
Damien was stunned by these abilities.
[Abilities: Fallen's Grace, Iron Clad, Feline's Escape]
Though he disliked the low probability of the first two abilities, the possibility of blocking attacks from someone as powerful as Dumbledore seemed surreal.
And Feline's Escape was remarkably useful. If he found himself cornered, he could escape, leaving his enemies trapped.
The only downside?
"None of these help my current situation!" he groaned.
There were no cracks or crevices he could use here, and he had no chance against those eagles to test out Fallen's Grace or Iron Clad.
What he needed was an escape method.
This was an escape trial, not a combat one. He was certain of that.
While brainstorming escape strategies, he thought of countless impractical ideas:
He considered poisoning the fish to kill the eagles — but he had no poison.
He thought of electrocuting the water — but the eagles didn't even touch it.
He imagined jumping up to fight the eagles, but quickly abandoned the idea after considering their sheer numbers.
All this left him feeling stuck and empty-headed.
"How do I escape this?" he felt both helpless and trapped.
There was no path forward, nor could he go back.
"I'm stuck in this damned mud with nothing but an accursed tree and some vines—"
A tree.
And some vines.
"Vines that make me invisible to the eagles…"
It wasn't that the eagles ignored him; every time he poked his head out, they'd try diving toward him. But whenever he emerged with his head covered in vines, the eagles seemed to overlook him.
These weren't ordinary vines.
These were enchanted, magical vines.
"Am I an idiot?"
In his desperation, he'd overlooked the simplest way to cross water.
A boat.
And he had just the materials for it.
"I'm definitely an idiot."
Sighing aloud, he looked at the small tree growing out of the mud.
"Maybe you're not as useless as I thought, little guy."
Placing his hand on the tree, he knew exactly what to do and how to escape the eagles.
All he could hope for now?
Was that nothing unexpected happened.