Magnus woke up feeling better than ever despite the hard cold floor that was his bed. His whole body felt refreshed and his mind sharp. Taking a deep breath, he noticed a change in the cave air. A subtle yet sharp smell filled his nose. Not taking any chances, he used [Mana Perception] and a familiar green glow he came to associate with rot filled his vision. It was quite a stark difference to how the cave was during his fight with the Spirit of Decay when next to no mana was present. As he looked around the room, his eyes got drawn to the dark green drop of blood floating in the middle of the room. It shone like a lighthouse to his [Mana Perception], the closer the mana got to it the brighter it shined. While the Spirit was down here it must have been trying to siphon its power to itself leaving free of the green mana.

  Turning off [Mana Perception], Magnus focused inward and felt as the noxious mana in the air tried to wriggle inside of him along with something else. Something suspiciously close to the energy that the Spirit delivered with its attacks. Closing his eyes, he felt tendrils of the energy sneak into his body to try and break it down. Curiously, he didn’t just feel it inside his body but also on his skin. It felt sluggish however, unlike his own energy churning inside him. He knew it, it was the power he obtained during the fight, working to protect him even while he was asleep. Without it, he suspected he would already be dead, rotten from the inside. Instinctively, Magnus tried to move the energy only for it to not budge even a little. He strained and strained until it gave way to his will and something cracked. Magnus had zero idea how he knew that crack was something in his soul but the burning feeling spreading through it served as a nice clue. There was nothing he could do but brunt the pain and let it wash away. The pain felt profoundly different to the usual cuts and scrapes he got. It was worse, deeper. At least with physical injuries he knew that they would heal but this was something completely new to him.

  Thankfully, the pain subsided into a dull ache in only just a minute or two. Sitting up with a groan. When he saw that he didn’t manage to somehow turn off its automatic defenses preventing him from becoming a piece of bread left inside the pantry for too long, he let out a relief. It seemed like the control he felt when he first got the power was gone, leaving him with just a passive form of whatever this new energy was. All the pain was not for nothing though as he clearly felt the energy give way and move before the heat spread throughout his soul meaning that probably just have to train. With time, hopefully his control over his new power would return to how it was when he first got it.

  Magnus wouldn’t just go and train with his soul in the state it was in so instead he reached for the chest that contained his rewards before dealing with the elephant in the room. The elephant being the drop of blood from a dragon that made flesh melt from your bones if you got close too close to it. Expecting nothing from the loot chest he opened twice before, Magnus was surprised when a horrible screeching sound assaulted his mind. Luckily, it was over before it began and a notification popped into his mind instead.

  [TAMPERING DETECTED]

  [Crucial quest item has been destroyed. A better alternative item has been provided. Sincere apologies for any inconvenience brought about by this situation.]

  “What the hell!” Magnus exclaimed aloud.

  Disturbed more so with the tone of the message than with the fact that the thing that controlled for what he knew the whole universe, Magnus just shrugged. Whatever was going on was clearly above his paygrade and he had loot to unbox. Taking the surprisingly light chest into his lap, he threw open the latch, looked inside and immediately used [Identify] on the wooden mace that rested on the bottom of the chest. It didn’t look like anything special, instead seeming just like a piece of a branch torn off a tree its description dispelled his worries.

  [Living Mace – Rare] – Tier 0

  Carefully grown and nurtured by the True Ent lifesmiths, this weapon’s appearance belies its durability and its capacity to devastate its opponents. This mace has the ability to regenerate when absorbing mana.

  While the System said that the thing that was inside the chest before was supposed to be crucial for the Quest, Magnus was not overly disappointed by the mace either. Pulling the mace out of the chest, he pushed the chest out of his lap and it disappeared without a sound. After all of the wandering the caves with only a basic knife, he finally had a real magical weapon. While he would have preferred something like a sword, it wasn’t like he was trained in using it. His childhood dream of becoming a knight and protecting people in need was not so easily pushed away however.

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  Taking a few test swing with the mace he found its weight just perfect and he slowly grew used to it. It was simple and that he could appreciate. With the future uncertain, he would take simple over having to train in using a sword. Making a last swing, Magnus nodded and realized he had nowhere to put it. Scratching his head he thought about how to store the mace while walking. While he had the option of just lugging it around in his hand, he suspected it would quickly grow tiresome. When he was preparing to do just that, he heard the sound of wood creaking and a slight pressure on the left side of his abdomen. Getting an idea, Magnus brought over his mace next to where the pressure was and the breastplate grew to hold the weapon in place. Just how alive was the [Living Breastplate]? Hopefully it didn’t feel pain when Magnus got thrown around the place.

  With his new loot done he moved on to his 4 free Stat Points. Satisfied with his Endurance for now, he decided to put half into Vitality to round the Stat to 10 and the other half into Strength to make the best use of his new weapon. One day, he would get his other Stats to the same level as the others but he would stick to what felt right for the moment.

  With all of that done he finally regarded the notification he suppressed for a while now.

  [Quest Updated]

  Cleanse the source of the corruption.

  Reward: Uncommon Body

  Hopefully it would be the last time Quest updated and the reward would be worth it. Seeing no point in just waiting around, Magnus pulled out the [Diluted Essence of the Moon] and used [Identify] on it again.

  [Diluted Essence of the Moon]

  Distilled from the moonlight of the Prime Moon ?!?&!!#!# during its last quarter. While heavily diluted, the content of this vial still nevertheless possesses extreme purifying properties, able to cleanse even the most deep-rooted corruption. This particular vial will disappear if brought out of the dungeon Rotten Grove.

  The key to finally getting out of this dungeon were the extreme purifying properties inside this bottle. Nodding, he clutched the vial full of shining silver liquid in his hand and started marching into the middle of the cave.

  As he got closer and closer the tendrils trying to wriggle their way inside of him grew more and frantic, seeming as if they were alive. His new power got rid of all of them but it had to work noticeably harder for it. It had no problems keeping the invading energy at bay until he came just a few meters away from the drop. The verdant energy inside him kept most of the hostile power outside but even it had its limit when he was this close to its source. Nevertheless, he had to finally destroy the corruption and complete the Quest. Considering all he did to get to this point a little more pain wouldn’t kill him. Probably.

  Gritting his teeth he pushed and walked even as the pain escalated. By the time he was finally next to the drop he was full of the vile energy like a sponge. While walking he tried to leverage more of his own power but it was mostly for naught with his soul aching. Struggling to move anything as he felt some of skin flake off from the necrosis, he reached for the cork of the vial. Just before he managed to get it open the giant glob of blood lurched and threw itself at his face. Surprised by liquid moving like a living thing, he nearly spilt the silver fluid inside the bottle. The dragon’s blood coated all of his face and he felt it flow into his mouth and nose, burning more than moonshine as it scorched his insides. Magnus felt the flesh it touched decay in seconds. Panicking, he did the only thing that came to mind and threw back the vial of silver liquid like a shot.

  If the blood burned like moonshine the essence of the moon burned like battery acid as it went through his esophagus. The decayed flesh it touched immediately broke down and he started coughing out black ooze. Magnus’ na?ve hopes it wasn’t possible for it to get worse were shattered when the two opposing energies met in his stomach and exploded in a flash of pain and the blood fled out of his stomach. He let out a scream as the dragon’s blood moved through his body as if trying to escape. The essence chased after it, scorching the flesh it touched leaving it burned but purified. This went on for a good half hour as the blood slowly lost its mass. Throughout it all Magnus continued screaming, his increased regeneration making sure his throat never felt raw.

  When the moon essence finally cleansed all of the decayed flesh it settled down in the middle of Magnus’ body around his core and the sweet notification finally unveiled itself in his mind.

  [Quest Completed]

  Cleanse the source of the corruption.

  Reward: Uncommon Body

  [Accept Reward?]

  Magnus however was in no state to even regard the question, as he just laid on the ground and bled black ooze out of his every orifice.

  [Due to special circumstances, the reward has been automatically accepted.]

  As the System itself descended, the moon essence nestled next to his core flashed out and flooded his body, not scorching him this time but soothing his wounds and his mind.

  [Anomaly detected. Upgrading quest reward.]

  An image of unfathomably big tangle of color-changing strands entered his mind and one of the smaller strands went closer to him. Knowing he couldn’t do anything about it he just relaxed and let it touch his arm. The strand snaked down his arm and back again until it enveloped all of his body and all sensation cut off. If he could feel anything right now, he would have felt his whole being stripped away and remade into something stronger, something more. Not able to do anything but wait, Magnus relaxed in the darkness.