Floor 2: ???
Biome: Mirrorbone hollows - an underground cavern of mirrored crystal spires and bone growths that reflect distorted versions of oneself. Echoes lie. Sight betrays. Thought attracts predators.
---
---
---
Ashborn exhaled, vapor curling from his mouth like smoke in slow motion. The fen had gone still. Unnaturally quiet, the tension diffusing like the last breath of a predator after the hunt.
He gripped Aetherion, its surface humming with post-combat feedback. Not just a sword... a language of violence written in cosmic dialects. But his hand trembled.
"That's it? I thought there were more coming up?"
"...No, too easy. Something's wrong."
His words faded into the mist, unanswered. He whispered:
"System Status"
Name: Ashborn Lionheart
Race: Cosmic Spirit (Mythforged Variant)
Class: Cosmic Knight
Level:11
EXP: 1,450 / 2,400
System integrity: 62% (Warning: core seal active - instability detected)
Stamina: 500/1,200
Mana: 3,000/5,000
Health 800/2,000
Weapon equipped: Aetherion [level 1 - 3% Growth]
Status Debuffs:
• Fragments drain (Genesis sync overload) - magic costs are increased by 20% until rest.)
•
Pulse Reverb - after effects from unstable Transcendental Shift use. Vision occasionally fractures.
• Mental Echo - You hear your own thoughts as distorted whispers.
---
---
---
"Still bleeding from the inside. Barely keeping my threads together."
He fell to one knee. The Pulse Reverb struck again. His face stared back from the swamp water, grinning with jagged teeth. Not real. Not yet. The dungeon wanted him to break before Floor 10.
---
---
---
[Floor 2: Mirrorbone hollows - Now Entering...]
"Tch... good. I need something real."
Aetherion flared in his hand, its edge reflecting his fractured self as the environment warped,
Floor 2 monsters
Low-Rank
• Prism Rats - Crystal-bodied rodents that create afterimages when struck. Often swarm.
• Chime-Tongues - blind creatures that echo-locate with chiming laughter. Resistant to light-based attacks.
Mid-Rank
• Spinal Threshers - lanky humanoids with exposed nerve-spines that crack the air with whip-like tailbones. Highly aggressive.
• Refraction Drones - Floating shards that fire illusion beams and confuse the sense of direction.
High-Rank Mini-boss
• Sunder-Mirror Avatar - A warped reflection of Ashborn's conjured by the dungeon, containing 30% of his stats and a corrupted mimic of Aetherion
> Boss will spawn after a 90% enemy clear rate
Dungeon modifier - "Self Doubt Resonance"
All of Ashborn's hesitation, missteps, and doubts will subtly empower the Sunder-Mirror and weaken his offensive efficiency. Aetherion may misalign if cosmic intent falters.
Post-Floor 1 technique development:
Despite being battered, Ashborn focused inward.
"Cosmic Trace stacks memory..."
"Memory Sigil stores a perfect swing..."
[New Technique Formed: Echo Vein Spiral]
Type: Experimental Technique
Effect: If three Cosmic Trace stacks are active on a target, and Memory Sigil is charged, Ashborn may perform a chained strike with 1.5x attack range and embedded spatial bleed effects.
Drawback: Incomplete Form. Causes recoil damage to Ashborn's nerves unless mastered.
> Nerve backlash: 12% HP lost on activation
> Cooldown: 2 minutes
---
Ashborn whispered
"Alright. Floor two... let's bleed."
---
Ashborn dragged his feet through the food-veiled threshold in his boots. The moss-streaked steps hummed like a heartbeat, leading downward into a glass-and-bone cavern that pulsed with soft, taunting echoes.
Aetherion shifted slightly in his hand. Heavier. It almost felt like it was the incoming lie.
"Let's see what breaks first. Me, or this place."
His [Cosmic Regenerative Factor] flickered. Muscle fibers stitched together sluggishly, leaving faint glowing scars. Not fast enough for a real recovery, but it dulled the aches enough to fight.
---
---
---
Entering Floor 2: [Dungeon Modifier - Self-doubt Resonance] Active
"All lies begin with a reflection."
Ashborn stepped into the Mirrorbone hollows.
Jagged crystal trees, like fractured cathedral glass, spiraled upward. From every angle. Ashborn saw himself. Weak. Strong. Younger. Older. Dead. Crowned. Forgotten. All versions... watching.
Wave 1: Prism Rats - 8 Units
The first monsters struck without warning.
Low-Rank: Prism Rats erupted from a mirrored crevice. Chittering in dissonant static, each leaving behind glowing afterimages when slashed.
Ashborn's first swing misses. He sliced an illusion. Aetherion buzzed irritably in response.
"Tch. Light echoes."
He shifted grip, letting Aetherion fall into a Reverse Blade Arc, clipping one rat clean through the core. [Cosmic trace] applied.
The next three rushed.
He spun, kicked one into a mirror (It shattered, but showed nothing behind it), and skewered two in one sweep. Each kill gave a jolt of +50XP, and his system chirped faintly
But...
You feel yourself slipping.
The floor's Resonance is growing.
The afterimages grew faster. One of the rats bit his ankle, hard. Blood pooled.
"Just die already-!"
He stomped it, then incinerated the rest in a wild, mana-costly [Reality Shear], slicing the false floor beneath them and watching their bodies fall into unreality.
+200 XP earned
[System]: Mid-Floor clearance threshold met
---
---
Wave 2: Chime-Tongues & Spinal Threshers
The next wave began subtly.
Chime-Tongues descended from the ceiling, chiming softly. Then all sound stopped.
Ashborn turned. And they were already crawling on the walls. Their laughter turned into frequencies that made his eyes twitch.
"Too fast. Too close."
He flung Aetherion like a spear [Transcendental Shift - Spear mode], losing 25MP. Piercing three through the torso as they screeched and collapsed. But-
Behind him, a Spinal Thresher uncoiled from the ceiling bones, its nerve-like spine whipping across Ashborn's back.
SLASH-!
HP: -42
Stamina: -20
Ashborn spun, fists flaring with unstable cosmic energy. The Thresher smiled with no lips.
"Can't see me in a mirror you don't believe in."
Aetherion reformed mid-air into Blade Mode.
Ashborn blinked. His vision fractured. Pulse Reverb triggered. He saw the Threshers' reflection just slightly delayed. [Cosmic Trace] marked it twice.
He swung.
[Memory Sigil: activated.]
The stored perfect strike erupted as a silver arc. And he shouted:
"ECHO VEIN SPIRAL!"
The blade tore through the brain in an angular spiral, shredding the Thresher through its nervous system.
CRACK-SSSHH!
+300XP
Recoil damage: -36 HP
He fell to one knee, nose bleeding.
"Worth it."
---
---
Final encounter: High-Rank Mini-boss - Sunder-Mirror Avatar
HP remaining: 15%
Mana: 100/5,000
Cosmic core sync: Flickering...
"Only one left."
The walls began to pulse, distorting. A great mirror rose from the earth. Then, it bled.
From the blood, Ashborn's reflection walked out. Same face. Same eyes. Same weapon. But wrong.
Name: Sunder-Mirror Avatar
Type: High-Rank mirror entity - Dungeon-forged
Level: 10 (30% stat sync)
Traits: anti-pattern combat, doubt amplification, Reality lag.
"I'm what you'll become if you fail. Let's make that inevitable."
The corrupted clone blurred. Attacking first with a near-perfect sweep of Aetherion. Ashborn barely blocked, the clash sending static through his system.
CLANG-! HP: -28
ashborn retaliated with a mid-line thrust, only to be mirrored and countered perfectly.
"You're still guessing. I'm you... without the fear."
Ashborn grinned through blood
"You're me without the spine."
Ashborn purposely faked a stumble, allowing the Sunder-Mirror to overcommit. The clone raised its Aetherion, charging its version of memory sigil.
Too slow.
Ashborn triggered his [Cosmic Trace] x3 - stacking as he dodged.
Then. One final strike.
"ECHO VEIN SPIRAL!"
Aetherion warped into an elegant helix of cosmic strain. Piercing the Sunder-Mirror in its chest. The clone screamed as its structure unraveled,
Shattering like a dropped crown of glass.
+1,000XP
[System notification: floor 2 - complete]
Reward: memory sigil fragment - can be socketed into Aetherion.
Passive Unlocked: Phantom imprint
(Low-grade clone memory available)
Ashborn exhaled, body aching.
"Floor two. Barely survived... but this weapon... this system..."
Aetherion pulsed gently, then whispered.
'Next Floor awaits, cosmic knight.'
---
---
---
Floor 3
Setting: Between Floors - Temporal Rift Chamber.
Ashborn's footsteps dragged across the glassbone floor. Blood traced a sluggish line from his calf, dripping onto shimmering crystal as he finally reached the inter-floor node: a slowly spinning Temporal Rift Gate, rimmed with blue-gold sigils that pulsed like a slowing heartbeat.
His breath hitched.
Aetherion pulsed softly in his grip, its cosmic alloy humming in unstable intervals. Like a heartbeat out of sync.
"Don't black out yet. Just a little more..."
Ashborn collapsed to one knee as soon as he passed through the gate. The atmosphere shifted. Gravity dropped. Air thinned.
The interdimensional rest chamber between Floors 2 and 3 was silent. A gravity-neutral dome filled with stardust fog, bioluminescent veins on the floor faintly forming celestial constellations.
Time slowed in here. But only for him...
---
---
He let go of Aetherion
It didn't clatter. It floated, rotating slowly in the zero-gravity field beside him. Silver-blue cracks lined the blade's core. Remnants of the overload Cosmic Trace spiral attack. The hilt was scorched, his hand still wrapped in burned skin and leaking light.
Ashborn tore a strip from his tunic, and slowly wrapped it around the hilt, and muttered
"Need a proper grip layer. Or gloves that don't melt."
[Cosmic Regenerative Factor] activated at reduced efficiency. The pain stayed, but the bleeding stopped. Muscle reknit. Bones aligned with quiet snaps. But deep tissue damage. Specially around his ribs and spine still throbbed.
He exhaled long..
---
---
---
[System notification!]
[Passive Unlocked: Phantom imprint - fragmented memory clone can be absorbed or refined]
Ashborn tilted his head. He held his hand above the Aetherion edge and felt the echo. A mirrored phantom form of Sunder-Mirror Avatar flickering like smoke behind him. The system offered a prompt.
[Would you like to integrate Phantom Imprint into Aetherion (1% stat echo)?]
Ashborn clicked his tongue.
"No clones. Not yet. I don't need a me that's faster at dying."
He dismissed the prompt.
Weapon analysis - Aetherion, Cosmic Relic (Mythforged Variant)
Floating before him, Aetherion dimmed slightly. Then rotate itself blade-first as if in salute. Ashborn reached out, fingers tracing the fractures across its blade.
It whispered in a voice too ancient to be language. Emotion. Pressure. Depth.
The sigil core near its hilt pulsed once.
Weapon status: 78% stability
Suggested action: Fragment socket installation - "Mirror Sigil fragment" available.
Estimated effect: +10% parry sync, +1 Illusion Layer vs Predictive attacks.
Ashborn squinted. Then sighed.
"Fine. Slot it on."
The Mirror Sigil hovered and gently slid into a cut groove near the base of the blade. Immediately, the sword shivered. It's reflection duplicates slightly across its edge like a ripple in a still pond.
[Aetherion upgrade: Mirage Layer Passive added]
---
---
---
Ashborn leaned back, letting gravity vanish.
He floated there. Arms spread, half-asleep, half-listening. The silence in this place was loud. It reminded him of being flung through the cosmos without a body. Just a concept of fear drifting through space.
"I almost died on floor 2. Hell... I should have died."
He clenched his jaw.
"But I didn't. So I keep going. Crawl until I stand. Stand until I fly."
---
---
---
Time resumed. The node flared.
The next set of stairs uncoiled from beneath the celestial floor. Narrow obsidian plates leading downward through a spiral of shadow and violet lightning. The fog ahead vibrated with deep-throated growls and dripping metal.
Ashborn gripped Aetherion, stood upright, still bruised, still bleeding in parts, but eyes locked forward.
"System"
"Enable combat suppression mode: Low pulse."
A red sigil lit briefly above his heart. He didn't want to alert whatever was listening on the next floor.
[FLOOR 3: "The Maw That Eats Silence"]
Dungeon midfier: stealth reversal - all noise is amplified.
Boss signature detected - "Bell-Jaw houndpack"
Ashborn descended alone. Every breath is now an explosion of sound. Even the flex of his fingers echoed like thunder.
Aetherion buzzed a quiet warning.
"No more talking. No more footsteps. The hounds hear everything."
Ashborn took one step into the darkness.
---
---
---
Ashborn descended into madness.
Every step he took echoed like a war drum through the tunnels. The stairs behind him folded into the wall like teeth closing over a tongue.
The air tastes like iron and echo.
He crouched, Aetherion dimmed to avoid light pulses, and crept forward through the starlit corridor. But even his breath triggered distant howls.
"System..." he whispered and the word exploded like a thunderclap.
[Warning - Dungeon modifier active: STEALTH REVERSAL]
All ambient sounds are magnified 400% silence is punished. Movement triggers predator tracking.
---
---
---
Ashborn saw them in the distance: twenty meters ahead, a pack of twisted Bone-hounds with chimes embedded into their ribcages. The chimes were fused into flesh. Small, silver bells hanging from strands of muscle.
No eyes. No ears. Just bone... and bells.
One turned.
Its bell jingled. Just once...
[DUNGEON ALERT: HOUND AGGRO DETECTED - 5 UNITS]
"Tch."
Ashborn braced. Aetherion hissed to life.
The first hound lunged, mouth unhinging vertically. Its jaw expanding like an iron maiden, bells rattling with sound that shredded silence.
Ashborn sidestepped. Not with grace. Just instinct. His right shoulder burned as its claw scraped his pauldron.
He twisted mid-air-
[Reality Shear - ACTIVATE]
Aetherion roared to life. The blade flared blue-violet. He slashed across the creature's midsection. Not flesh, but intention. And the creature collapsed, its form unraveling like data being deleted.
[+580 XP - High-Rank variant: bell-jaw Vanguard]
"One down."
---
---
---
The remaining hounds didn't charge. They split. Two sprinted along the walls, claws dragging sparks, while one vanished into the ceiling.
"Coordinated bastards..."
Ashborn spun, focused on breath control. But every gasp, every shift, echoed off the bone walls.
Suddenly, a hound dropped from the ceiling behind him.
Too late.
It latched onto his back. Bit into his left trap. Bells screamed directly into his ear.
Ashborn staggered-
"Transcendental Shift: SPEAR MODE!"
Aetherion morphed mid-fall, elongating into a celestial glaive. He rolled forward, dragging the hound with him, then speared it backward into the wall.
[Cosmic Trace - 2 stacks]
[+280 XP - Mid-Rank variant]
He collapsed to a knee, ribs throbbing.
[HP: 61/2,000]
He retreated into a ruined stone crypt, breathing heavily, ears ringing.
"System. Battle map overlay, ten seconds."
A red hologram projected. Three units still circling, one large signature approaching.
---
Aetherion pulsed.
Ashborn extended the spear, embedded it into the ground, and concentrated.
[Memory Sigil - CHARGE STARTED]
The moment the hounds struck, two from opposite ends. Ashborn unleashed the stored Phantom strike.
"Release."
The memory flash exploded outward. Aetherion returned to blade form mid-swing, slicing through the air with such force that it rippled the walls. One hound vaporized. The second stumble, stunned.
[+1,800 XP - High-Rank variant]
Ashborn stepped forward, drove his foot through the stunned hound's neck.
"Die-"
[+500 XP - Mid-Rank variant]
[LEVEL UP]
Ashborn Lionheart - level 12
HP, SP, MP fully restored. Stat points +3. New trait slot unlocked.
---
---
---
The alpha emerges.
A deep sound shook the tunnel.
Far ahead, the walls split. A singular, massive bell lowered from the ceiling. It's a clapper a jawbone fused into metal.
Beneath it crawled a monstrous hybrid: a Bell-Jaw the size of a troll twelve legs. Dozens of bells fused across its spine. Its mouth never closed.
[FLOOR BOSS - "WRETCHED CHIMEWOLF"]
HP: ??? | RANK: HIGH
---
---
---
Ashborn advances slowly.
"Transcendental Shift: Bow mode"
Aetherion morphed into a six-limbed cosmic bow, orbiting gravitational strands.
He fired a cosmic bolt. Missed. The wretched Chimewolf didn't dodge. It absorbed the bolt with its open mouth and screamed, vibrating the walls.
Ashborn's skin split open from the resonance.
"No magic attacks then. You eat energy."
He closed the gap but each step made a BELL detonate in his head. Bleeding from his nose now. He sprinted.
[Reality Shear - 50% Charge]
Too slow.
He dived. Sliding under the boss swing, Aetherion returns to blade form mid-roll.
SLASH!
Aetherion cut its throat.
Not the flesh, but the intention of its next action.
The boss twitched.
"Now-"
Ashborn jammed the blade upward, forcing it through the roof of the creature's maw. With one brutal scream, he activated.
[Cosmic Trace - MAX STACK]
The hound's flesh unraveled from the inside out. Bones turned to sand. Its bells shattered like glass.
Floor 3 cleared
[+1,000 XP - Boss kill]
[FLOOR BOSS - WRETCHED CHIMEWOLF" TERMINATED]
[Item drop: Echo Core Relic Shard (x1)]
[System fragment: "sonar compression field" skill Unlocked]
LEVEL UP!
Ashborn Lionheart - Level 13
Stat Points +3 | Skill slot +1 | Trait path: "sonar predator" optional
Ashborn collapsed again, shoulders rising and falling.
He looked at Aetherion.
"You held together."
He smiled, tired. The blood dried across his cheek.
Then stood.
"Floor 4. Let's see if it tries harder"
---
---
---
Floor 3.5 - "Echoes between heartbeats"
Location: Sealed Refuge Node - Floor 3.5
Time elapsed since boss kill: 8 minutes
---
---
Ashborn slid down the stone wall of the sanctuary chamber. The only place within the horror tower where his breath didn't feel like a curse.
A pulse of golden-blue light flickered from the floor glyphs. He didn't know how the dungeon built this safe zone. Just that it existed... for now.
"Alright."
He tapped his wrist.
[SYSTEM MENU - ACCESS GRANTED]
[Level: 13 | Core sync: 75.3% | HP: 2,000/2,000 | SP: 1,200/1,200 | MP: 5,000/5,000]
[Unallocated Stat Points: 6]
[Trait Slot: Sona compression field]
[Relic: Echo Core Shard - Inactive]
[Trait selection - Internal Reflection]
He scrolled past flashy options. Nothing passive, nothing based on full energy control.
He needed pragmatism.
"I'm bleeding in every fight. I can't keep brute-forcing this."
He selected:
[Trait acquired: "Damage Delay"]
"Minor wounds are staggered for 6 seconds. Enables counterplay before trauma registers."
Ashborn nodded to himself. That six-second gap was small. But in this dungeon, survival was always measured in moments.
[Echo Core Shard - Analysis & Insertion]
The shard pulsed, silver-veined and bone-white, the memory of the Wretched Chimewolf's death still embedded in its aura.
"Let's see what you were hiding..."
He held it to the Aetherion surface. The blade shimmered, a pulse of ancient sonar vibrations coursing along its edge.
[ECHO CORE FUSION INITIATED]
Relic Skill Unlocked: "Vibrating Pulse"
Passive: Attacks send micro-vibrations into struck targets.
Effect: Slight disruption to regenerative monsters and resonance-based enemies.
Bonus: Tracks hidden enemies via faint echo-lag within 10 meters.
"That... could've helped twenty minutes ago."
Still, he didn't complain. Aetherion now thrummed more subtly in his grip, its edge whispering through the air like sona instead of cleaving through it.
[Skill Customization - "Sona Compression Field"]
A new button pulsed in his menu.
[Skill Slot - Equip now?]
He previewed it:
Sonar Compression Field
Type: Active | Cost: 40 MP | Cooldown: 45s
Description: Create a compressed dome of pressure waves centered on the user. Muffles enemy echolocation, confuses stealth units, and slows projectiles within range.
Ashborn narrowed his eyes.
"This isn't offensive. This is terrain control."
He equipped it.
[Sonar Compression Field - Bound to Left-Hand pulse Sigil]
Ashborn rolled his shoulders and took a knee. Focused on breath. Not power. The difference was starting to matter.
---
---
---
[Stat Allocation - Purposeful Spread]
He distributed his points:
• +2 to speed (For better reaction time)
• +2 to spirit (to enhance cosmic energy control)
• +2 to dexterity (to improve blade accuracy and movement flow)
His body adjusted slightly. Not a surge but a shift. Muscle feedback was tighter. Reflexes flickered just a hair faster.
---
---
---
Ashborn tapped Aetherion flat.
"I'm not a brawler. Not yet."
He reviews footage from Floor 3 via System Replay. Watched how often he left his guard open, how poorly he used his environment.
"Gotta treat this like a strategy sim. Not an anime fight."
His back still aches, but he stood.
The sanctuary doors opened silently. No fanfare. Just a breath of new air that stank of rust and ruin.
"Alright Floor 4. Let's if you like sonar..."
He stepped forward, calm, conscious.
The ascent into survival was no longer accidental...
---
---
---
Race: Cosmic Spirit (Mythforged Variant)
Title: Wielder of Genesis Thread | Tower Challenger – Solo Path
Class: Cosmic Knight
Level: 18
Ascension Tier: Sealed Core – High Grade
Core Sync: 78.2%
Genesis Thread Resonance: Stable
Floor: 10
STATS
Strength: 100
Speed: 97
Durability: 90
Dexterity: 87
Agility: 90
Intellect: 85
Spirit: 97
Luck: 50
Charisma: 50
Unspent Stat Points: 0
EXP Needed for next level: 2,450
[Cosmic Abilities & Skills]
•『Genesis Thread』
Classification: Living cosmic construct.
Bound To: Ashborn Lionheart (Soul-sync confirmed)
Nature: Mythforged - Cosmic-Weave Variant.
Origin: woven from pre-creation echoes during the first mythic bloom.
Core concept: The Genesis Thread weaves together fate, memory, matter, myth, and potential. It is a living script that reshapes reality based on Ashborn's will, resolve, and inner state.
Phase ???
Phase ???
Phase ???
Phase ???
Phase ???
Phase ???
•『Cosmic power』
A vast ability allowing manipulation of the fundamental forces of reality, Energy, matter, and time-space. Grants supreme perception, near-unbreakable barriers, and devastating combat capability. Ashborn's very presence is a beacon and a threat to cosmic beings.
•『Cosmic Energy Absorption』
Absorbs ambient cosmic energy and converts it into personal power. Strength is theoretically limitless, depending on environmental density and Ashborn's willpower.
•『Cosmic Energy Manipulation』
Channels cosmic forces to enhance physical stats, unleash high-scale energy blasts, generate barriers, and fly unaided through space or atmospheric pressure.
•『Cosmic Fusion』
Fuses abilities and elemental sources into hybrid techniques of immense potency. Capable of creating unheard-of combinations (e.g, supernova-black hole fusion strikes or divine-spirit healing constructs)
•『Cosmic Regenerative Factor』
Grants rapid healing from catastrophic wounds, regeneration of limbs/organs, and near-limitless vitality. Augmented further by his access to cosmic energy flows.
• 『Cosmic Pulse Scan (New)』 Allows limited scanning of the surrounding environment using pulse echoes; capable of detecting nearby entities, energy signatures, and spatial distortions.
TRAITS
• [Damage Delay] (New)
Minor wounds staggered by 6 seconds before applying damage. Enables limited counterplay.
• [Unstable Genesis Surge]
Chance of power spike at near-death. High risk.
• [Partial Resistance - Madness Pulse]
(Floor 3 boss)
Reduces sanity drain from auditory-based horror effects by 20%.
---
---
---
Relic - Aetherion [Level 3] - Legendary Proto-Conceptual Blade.
Form options: Blade | Bow | Staff | Spear.
Weight: Variable - syncs with cosmic pulse.
Current XP: 64% to Level 4
Relic abilities:
• [Reality Shear]
Cleaves through magical constructs, time folds, and dimensional defenses.
• [Cosmic Trace]
Leaves unravel energy behind each swing (3 stacks max).
• [Transcendental Shift]
Shift forms mid-battle (3 sec Cooldown).
• [Memory Sigil]
Stores a single full-powered strike. 30s charge time.
• [vibrational pulse (Echo core upgrade)]
Passive sonar effect reveals stealth enemies and weak points. Slightly disrupts regeneration.
[Active Combat Skills]
• [Sonar Compression Field]
Pulse dome that slows projectiles and obscures.
Echolocation. 40 MP. 45s CD.
• [Void Thread Lunge (Unlocked Floor 7)]
Dash attack using Genesis matter.
Ignores 30% of armor. 25 SP.
• [Radiant Sever (Unlocked Floor 9 Elite)
Aetherion erupts with condensed light after a 2-strike combo, burning a clean line forward. 55 MP. 30s CD.
---
---
---
FLOOR 4 - "Silkskin Blight Nest"
Enemies:
Low-Rank: Blightlings (Spidery humanoids, weak but fast)
Mid-Rank: Fungal weblords (release confusion gas)
High-Rank: Matron of mold (parasitic queen with regenerative pods)
Strategy:
Ashborn used [Cosmic Trace] to trap the fast-moving Blightlings.
Silence weblords with sonae compression field, using confusion gas against them.
Defeated the matron with [Reality Shear] through its spore sacs. Gained 1 level.
Level Up > 14
Trait Boost: improve status resistance (temporary)
---
---
Floor 5 - "Gallows labyrinth"
Low-Rank: Hollowed binders (Gaunt humanoids with nooses)
Mid-Rank: reaping shadows (ambush-based illusion creatures)
High-Rank: The hangman's Choir (Singing specters)
Strategy
Relied on Echo Core sonar to counter illusions.
Sliced through spiritual tethers with Transcendental Spear Form.
The Choir was finished using Memory Sigil with Reality Shear charged strike.
Level Up → 15
Reward: Partial Madness Resistance Trait
---
FLOOR 6 – "Grinderfield Expanse"
Enemies:
Low-rank: Steelborers (insect-like, drill-limbs)
Mid-rank: Goremaws (acidic breath beasts)
High rank: Burrow Horror (mimics terrain, hides underground)
Strategy:
Used Void Thread Lunge to strike during Burrow Horror's emergence.
Utilized staff-form Aetherion for ranged attacks vs Goremaws.
Relied on high DEX and Speed gains from prior fights.
Level Up → 16
Echo Core Fragment obtained – installed in Aetherion for improved feedback sense.
---
FLOOR 7 – "Vascular Garden"
Enemies:
Low-rank: Vein Creep Vines
Mid-rank: Bleeding Roses (explosive bloom attacks)
High rank: Crimson Heartwood (sentient bleeding tree)
Strategy:
Set fire using Genesis Matter manipulation to destabilize the terrain.
Used Radiant Sever to burn plant matter cleanly.
Defeated Crimson Heartwood with a precise combo finisher through its cracked bark.
Level Up → 17
Skill Gained: Void Thread Lunge
Trait Option Unlocked (Chose none yet – reserved)
---
FLOOR 8 – "Abyssal Mawlight"
Enemies:
Low-rank: Maw Larvae (blind, sense through vibration)
Mid-rank: Whisper Eels (levitating, scream-based disruption)
High rank: Terror Mawling (massive subterranean predator)
Strategy:
Neutralized eels with Sonar Field and baited them into Mawling's path.
Blinded monster turned into an accidental AoE ally.
Lured the Terror Mawling into swallowing a volatile Genesis crystal, detonated with blade-form Aetherion inside its gut.
Level Up → 18
Unlocked Skill: Radiant Sever
Gained Special Material: Abyssal Maw Core
---
FLOOR 9 – "Sanctum of Shattered Icons"
Enemies:
Low-rank: Icon Fragments (floating statue heads)
Mid-rank: Memoryborn Guardians (flickering knights)
High rank: The Laughing Martyr (unhinged angelic projection)
Strategy:
Used Cosmic Scan to learn enemy attack timings and mimic techniques.
Blocked incoming holy waves with Compression Field.
The final hit came from an overhead Memory Sigil slash charged while fainting weakness.
Trait Progress: Core Sync increased from 75.3% to 78.2%
Gained Relic XP: Aetherion → Level 3
---
---
---
FLOOR 10 -Boss encounter begins
Boss: Gorehowl Centipede.
• A Grotesque armored Centipede the size of a subway train, made of fused meat and machine.
• Its segments rotate with internal mouths, gnashing and grinding air like chainsaws.
• Emits vibrations that disrupt magic casting.
• Weakness: Glowing thermal sacs near read armor gaps.
Reward: 『Skill Tome: Sonic Spiral Fang 』
• A high-speed, twisting charge attack combining precision + vibration to rupture internal organs or mechanical cores.
---
---
---
The world is silent beneath the crushing pressure of the dungeon's horror-born air. Only the rhythmic hum of the giant door pulses faintly. Ashborn layered in bruises, blood, and stardust, sits calmly against the cold obsidian wall. The jagged edges of his shirt glint under flickering blue sigils etched into the stone around him. Aetherion leans beside him, resting in blade form, shimmering in sync with his heartbeat.
Ashborn exhales, calm but alert. Then flicks his finger, pulling up his system overlay with a whisper:
"System Status. Display all. Let's see what I've earned before I dance with a giant roach."
Race: Cosmic Spirit (Mythforged Variant)
Title: The lost prince | Wielder of Genesis Thread | Tower Challenger – Solo Path
Class: Cosmic Knight
Level: 18
Ascension Tier: Sealed Core – High Grade
Core Sync: 78.2%
Genesis Thread Resonance: Stable
Floor: 10
STATS
Strength: 110
Speed: 103
Durability: 100
Dexterity: 95
Agility: 95
Intellect: 85
Spirit: 197
Luck: 50
Charisma: 50
Unallocated Stat Points: 1
EXP Needed for next level: 2,450
[NEW SKILLS & REWARDS GAINED – Floors 4–9]
[Skill] – Void Thread Lunge (Floor 7 Elite Reward)
Dash forward with a Genesis-infused strike. Ignores 30% armor and leaves a vibrational rift trail. Cost: 25 SP. Cooldown: 8s.
[Skill] – Radiant Sever (Floor 9 High-Rank Reward)
The third strike of a weapon combo unleashes a condensed beam of cosmic light. Pure damage. Burns unholy, cursed, or plant-based entities. Cost: 55 MP. Cooldown: 30s
[System Upgrade] – Echo Core Installed (Aetherion Level 3)
Perks:
Passive sonar pulses every 10 seconds.
Can detect hidden enemies and weak points behind surfaces.
Slight disruption to regenerative enemies.
[Trait] – Damage Delay (Unlocked at Level 15)
Delays all non-lethal damage for 6 seconds. Allows for last-second reactions, clutch counters, or regen before full impact.
Passive.
[Trait] – Partial Madness Resistance (Floor 5: Hangman's Choir Reward)
Reduces mental damage and sanity drain from auditory or psychic attacks by 20%.
[Material Acquired] – Abyssal Maw Core (Floor 8 Reward)
Can be fused into a Relic or used for future crafting. Contains unstable internal dimensional folds.
[Pending Reward] – 『Skill Tome: Sonic Spiral Fang』 (Locked Behind Floor 10 Boss)
Twisting rapid-charge attack that rotates energy along a spiral path. Can bore through armor, flesh, or forcefields when aimed precisely.
[Relic Status] – Aetherion (Lv 3)
Next Form Unlocks at Lv.4
XP: 64%
Forms: Blade | Spear | Staff | Bow
Current Memory Sigil Stored Attack: Radiant Sever (Charged)
----
----
----
Ashborn closes the system screen. The light fades as silence returns. He cracks his neck slowly, lets his eyes rest for a few seconds, then places one hand on the hilt of Aetherion.
"Internal thermal sacs. Sonic pulses. Mech-flesh hybrid Centipede. No terrain edge, no high ground, no reset...."
"...Guess I'll carve one."
The door begins to tremble faintly. A breathless whisper crawls out from under it. A hiss of spinning metal and flesh grinding as one.
The chamber stank of rot and metal. Steam hissed from cracks in the stone as if the dungeon itself was holding its breath.
From the shadows emerged the Gorehowl Centipede. A mountainous Grotesque of plated armor. Slabs of twitching meat pulsing between rotating jaw rings that lined the length of its segmented body. It's dozens of blackened iron limbs scraped sparks along the obsidian floor, each joint serrated, each movement a screeching cacophony.
Ashborn stood still, fingers twitching with residual pain from earlier wounds. His system interface flickered in his periphery:
[Boss detected: Gorehowl Centipede
Weakness: Thermal Core sacs (unknown quantity)
Hazard level: Fatal
Status: Aggressive]
No flashy music. No tutorial prompt. Just a hulking abomination that wanted to tear him apart.
The Centipede didn't roar. It howled. A grinding, mechanical screech as its segmented throat twisted open with rotating saw-flesh. Its voice is like tortured turbines. Its bulk surged forward, hundreds of legs propelling it in a sideways serpentine rush.
Ashborn kicked off the ground, narrowly avoiding the frontal charge. The impact cratered the blackstone behind him, splintering molten rock upward like volcanic glass. He rolled, scanning the boss with [Cosmic scan]
Detected: internal energy surges along core vents. Estimated internal sac count: 3.
Location: cervical, Thoracic, and abdominal segments.
"Got you."
But a clean strike wouldn't be enough. Its hide was layered in shifting armor plates, self-healing with pulsing meat and constantly rotating gear-spines. Even his Energy Blade: Aetherion fang wouldn't pierce deep enough without triggering the Centipedes' auto-defense whirl.
Ashborn raised his hand and opened his inventory in a flicker of golden motes. Pulled a Shard of Echosteel. A jagged explosive spear from the previous floor. And embedded it into his gauntlet with On-the-Fly reforging. The tip twisted with radiant tension.
He spun as Gorehowl lunged again. A limb like a scythe clanged off his shoulder guard, spinning him but he caught his balance mid-air, kicked off the boss's Thoracic armor, and plunged the spear into the joint between two plates. Gorehowl reeled, thrashing and hissing steam as the Echosteel detonated inside.
[Direct internal damage detected] weak point breach: minor - heat signature increasing.
Ashborn skidded back, arm bruised, shirt burnt, breathing rough.
"Thermal sacs... overheat them. Burn the damn thing from the inside."
The centipede's body segments began spinning, generating kinetic energy, and a high-pitched whine built as its sonic spiral fang initiated. The boss's jawlines twisted into a saw-blade cyclone and launched its body forward like a drill.
Ashborn ducked, then timed a shoulder roll seconds from getting bisected. Sparks screamed around him. The force of the boss's dash carved through the floor, rapturing magma conduits beneath.
He pounced toward the molten geyser and slammed both palms into the steam.
[Cosmic Fusion: Thermal capture - active.]
His hands glowed with crimson energy. He turned and channeled the store's heat into a single strike. Not a beam. Not a flashy explosion.
A precision thrust. Targeting the abdominal segment.
"Let's make you choke on your own core."
He launched forward with a crescent kick to dislodge an armor plate, then stabbed his fist directly into the venting crack. The thermal surge cooked the internal sac. A blast of pressurized steam burst outward as the Gorehowl reeled in pain, body segments spasming violently.
Ashborn was thrown clear, tumbling across the stone. He landed on his back, coughing blood, ribs likely cracked.
[Weak point 2 - thermal sac destroyed]
[Internal pressure unstable]
The boss glowed red from the undercarriage. Its behavior changed becoming erratic, desperate, segments began rotating in reverse, limbs twitching independently.
It activated its final spiral
But Ashborn had one chance.
He reached into the Genesis thread, the system's experimental core-link interface, and dragged forward a newly forming ability shard still incomplete.
"Force it through. No time for syncing."
The shard ignited in his chest.
[New power triggered: prototype - Gravity Pulse Dive]
He surged upward, compressed the air, then crashed down like a meteor focused entirely on the neck segment.
The impact didn't just crack the armor.
It imploded the cervical sac, releasing a chain reaction down the core. The Gorehowl scream short-circuited mid-roar.
Its body twisted violently. Plates ejected. Internal sacs ruptured. A heat and gore burst like geysers through every joint.
It slumped, finally still.
Ashborn staggered to his feet, Blood-soaked and breathing hard, just as the interface pinged:
[Boss defeated: Gorehowl Centipede]
+10,000XP
You have acquired: 『Skill tome: Sonic Spiral Fang 』
Unique artifact: Gorehowl core fragment - bound to soul
Dungeon recognition Tier Unlocked:
[E-Rank Challenger]
Ashborn collapsed onto one knee, then sat back eyes staring at the steaming husk.
No cheers. No celebration.
Only the dull silence of a victory earned with grit...
To be continued....