…
You have Respawned
Anton came back to himself as soon as he solidified and quickly looked around. Instead of a vast cavern with a crater in it from a fireball exploding, he stood in a fifty-foot square marble room. In the center of the room stood a black and white marble pedestal, adorned with a bowling ball-sized sphere of white marble, its surface streaked with green and fiery red. It also seemed to be pulsing slowly. Behind him was a doorless doorway with a portal of darkness in it. Opposite the portal was a closed double door.
Anton stood beside the Pedestal, opened his Notifications, and scrolled back up to right before his death notification.
Error! Current Psychic Energy does not meet the minimum required to cast Master-Ranked Fireball.
Psychic Energy Reservoir tapped.
100,000 of 100,000 Psychic Energy spent: Master Rank Fireball cast
Fireball Explodes for 100,000 points of damage
You have killed 10,963 goblins.
You have destroyed 99% of Dungeon 001ALABORG
You have Died
Experience and SYSTEM Rewards withheld due to death.
Conviction awards to you have been withheld due to death.
Conviction has been awarded to the Hidden Goddess, Keres, as normal.
Congratulations! You have earned the Goblin Slayer VIII through Goblin Slayer X Titles. +50% Intimidation against Goblins. +10 Damage when attacking Goblins.
136,000 Bonus XP awarded.
XP Banked.
Congratulations! You have earned the title “Augmented Cores.”
Augmented Cores
You channeled far more psychic energy through your body and core than your body could handle. Doing so forced energy through the channels that would one day hold your cores, causing them to expand and burn out like a fuse just before you died.
The ability Immortal has rebuilt you to that physical configuration. Your energy channels have remained expanded.
Normally, the three cores that an individual ranks up require a single core. Each Core requires ten shards of the new rank to form and either initial slot or evolve. You forced Master-ranked energy through the energy channels of three nonexistent cores. You have permanently damaged and expanded the locations where your Primary, Evolutionary, and Class Cores would reside within your Soul Space.
You are changed thusly.
Instead of one core per slot, you now require the equivalent of six cores to energize each core location fully. While this requirement may slow down progression, it should be noted that the limit of one core per slot only allowed ten shards to be combined, which limited possible core upgrades and perks that could be unlocked to ten. With six cores, up to sixty shard combinations for each Core location are now possible. This will allow for unique class, evolution, and core perks.
Additionally, all Core bonuses will be six times their normal values. As an example, when the Common Primary Core is fully slotted at the Common Rank, all attributes will receive +60 attributes instead of +10; at Uncommon, +600 instead of +100; at the Rare Rank, +6,000 instead of + 1,000; and so on at every additional rank.
This is true for your Primary, Evolutionary and Class Cores.
Congratulations! You have earned the Title “Big Bada Boom.”
Big Bada Boom
In one explosive attack, you destroyed more than 10,000 beings and yourself, on purpose.
Your spell, Fireball, has evolved. The cost to cast this spell has been reduced by one rank.
Modified Casting Cost 10,000 Psychic Energy
Range: 100,000 Feet (18.9 Miles)
Damage at epicenter: 100,000
Warning! This spell will inflict damage, which reduces the further away from the epicenter out to 24.8 miles, where the damage stepped down to one point of damage.
Congratulations! You have earned the Title “Fons Genesis Knowledge.”
Fons Genesis
At the End of the 9th Iteration, the Labyrinth folded in upon itself as the primary consciousness created this seed before transcending and leaving physical existence behind.
Typically, the seed is laid within the first Dungeon of the new iteration and waits to be ignited. When the Dungeon reaches a certain point, those within it will “accidentally” free the seed, which will attach itself to the Dungeon and eventually absorb it as it forms a symbiotic attachment to the first Dungeon of the iteration. That first dungeon will lay the foundation for the Labyrinth.
That did not happen
The attached Dungeon has been completely absorbed by the initial Dungeon and incorporated into the first entrance to the Labyrinth.
A link between Labyrinth Genesis information and yourself was briefly established. A basic description of all known creatures and spells has been imparted to you. This information will allow you to recognize most creatures on sight, as well as their typical rank and well-known strengths and weaknesses. Please note that there are an infinite number of monster types within the multiverse, and the imparted knowledge given to you is not a substitute for Perception, Analysis, identification skills, and/or spells. A creature you recognize might not display the strengths and weaknesses you expect.
Additionally, this is an Iteration and system first. All monetary rewards for killing monsters within the Labyrinth are doubled.
Finally, you are granted 10 Skill Slots.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the Perk “Labyrinth Walker.”
Labyrinth Walker
The SYSTEM and the Labyrinth have recognized you as the initiator of its creation within the 10th Iteration. As such, you are granted the ability to fast travel when within the Labyrinth once per day.
Once per day, you and up to four party members may teleport to any Labyrinth Node that you have unlocked.
Anton closed his notifications and smiled. The titles were good, and more Skill Slots were always welcome. Anton guessed it was time to see what he could do with this Labyrinth. He walked over to a bowling-ball-sized green and red marble sphere and placed his hand on it.
You have discovered Labyrinth Node 1.
With the Perk “Labyrinth Walker,” you may return to this Node from anywhere within the Labyrinth Node once per day.
WARNING! There is currently only one Labyrinth Node
WARNING! The Labyrinth is undergoing the Initial Labyrinth Genesis.
This Node Room is the only room presently available within the Labyrinth. Labyrinth Entry is currently prohibited and will not be available for 10 days.
ERROR! Beings are not allowed within the Labyrinth Node Room during the Initial Labyrinth Genesis. You will be teleported outside the entry portal momentarily.
You may return once the Initial Labyrinth Genesis has been completed.
The world shifted, and Anton found himself standing before a portal at the bottom of the tunnel he’d walked down to enter the Dungeon. There was a qualitative change to the tunnel. It was no longer a natural cave tunnel. Now it was lined with bricks and stairs and even had some magical torches set in the wall that provided light so that Anton could see easily as he made his way toward the surface. There was no blood or sign of fighting anywhere; everything looked pristine and felt new.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As he made his way to the surface, he found that a stone building and a set of closed double doors covered the hole he’d descended into. The inside kind of reminded Anton of one of the above-ground burial structures you’d find in one of the older cemeteries, a mausoleum. As he came up to the door, he heard some scratching and some clicks and then listened to a feminine voice curse under her breath, “Damn It!”
There was someone outside the door, and they spoke common. From his side of the door, he saw that there was a latch for a lock. He thought about opening the doors but then decided it would be best to announce himself first.
“Outside the door. Can you hear me?” Anton called out.
“Did you all hear that?” a muffled male voice asked.
“Of course, I heard the voice, you dunce; I’m sitting right here,” The first female voice hissed back quickly.
“Yes, we hear you. Who are you?” a different male voice with a hint of authority in it called back.
Anton considered how to answer and then decided to be honest as he said, “My Name’s Anton. I’m a traveler. I came upon a dungeon that had decided to metamorphose into something else. Something knocked me out, and I just woke up.”
“Can you open the door from your side?” The authoritative male asked.
“Of course,” Anton said as he unlocked the door and opened it. As he was about to step out, a short female elf tried to slip in and bounced off an invisible barrier that was extended across the door.
As her eyes glazed over like she was looking at a notification she cursed, “Shit, what does it mean we can’t enter for almost ten days? That’s horseshit!” Then her eyes glanced at Anton, and she asked, “Why are you naked?”
Anton sighed; he’d forgotten that he was completely naked. With a thought, he pulled clothes from his Portable Exchange and equipped his underwear, socks, jeans, a black t-shirt, and sneakers.
“Um, okay,” the woman said quickly.
The people behind the woman, which consisted of quite the crowd of humans and a couple other races like dwarves, elves, and gnomes, looked on from behind a line that had been set up twenty feet back from the mausoleum-type building that was sitting in the middle of the road Anton had entered the town on.
A human in plate armor called out, “Eris, what happened?”
“I bounced off a SYSTEM blasted force field, that’s what happened. This Dungeon is converting into a Labyrinth or something. What the hell is a labyrinth?
“No idea.” The man in plate armor shifted his gaze to Anton. “You did say your name was Anton, correct?”
Anton nodded. “I did.”
“Well, Anton, we’ve been fighting a horde of Goblins that seemed to originate from the dungeon you’re now standing in front of. Did you see any goblins within the structure?”
“Not after I woke up. They were there before I was knocked unconscious, though,” Anton said truthfully.
Eris looked at Anton quizzically, “No offense intended. How are you not dead?”
Anton laughed. "That's a long story, and we just met." Now, sir knight or paladin, may I step out, or are we going to have issues?”
The plate-armored human pulled his helmet off and allowed his sandy brown hair to spill out as his green eyes locked on Anton before he laughed. “No armor, no weapons, and not an ounce of fear. I like you, Anton. My name is Galvin Drungearson. Please step out. If the danger is passed, we can retire to one of the empty town buildings to talk.” Galvin turned to a soldier behind him, “Have the men spread out and search the town. Make sure we cleared it of all the goblins. Once the city is clear of threats, have the men take the dead bodies out of the town and dig a pit. Make sure to keep the goblin corpses separated from our people; we wouldn’t want to taint their souls. We’ll give the bodies their last rights and burn them at nightfall.
“Yes, Sir!” the man called out as the groups surrounding the building Anton stood in dispersed to carry out his orders.
Anton stepped out of the building and took a look around. Here and there to the east, he could see goblin corpses spread around town. There were also a few human and demi-human bodies scattered throughout. A small group of people remained with Glavin and Eris as they led Anton toward what he could only assume had once been a salon of some sort.
“If you don’t mind me asking, where are we?” Anton asked.
“The town, the kingdom, or the continent?” Galvin asked.
“Let’s start with a simple one. What town is this?”
“You really don’t know?” Eris asked as she moved to stand beside Galvin, and an elf in blue robes walked up.
“Who’s this?” The elf asked.
“Londis, This is Anton, Anton, this is Magus Londis,” Galvin said.
“Well, Anton,” Londis began, “You are in the predominantly human town of Alifax, which a horde of goblins had recently overrun.”
“I didn’t see any other humans, elves, or any other races when I arrived. Where’d they go?”
Galvin sighed, “Some made it to the City of Benson east of here. Unfortunately, more than half were killed, as far as we can tell. By chance, do you have any idea how the goblins came to be here?”
Anton looked thoughtfully at the entrance to the soon-to-be Labyrinth before he voiced his thoughts, “Magic isn’t really my thing. If I had to guess, though, a dungeon popped into existence with far more energy than it should have had and started popping out goblins faster than it was supposed to.”
“What makes you say that?” Eris asked.
“Well, when I made it inside the dungeon, there were a lot of goblins in there and something called a seed to what this dungeon is about to become, the Labyrinth.”
“You seem to know a lot about what was in the dungeon. Are you saying you made it all the way into the dungeon without a class?” Londis asked.
“Yeah, I did. Let’s disregard that for now. You said you could tell that I don’t have a class. Is there a place where I can obtain core, evolutionary, and class shards? I want to form my Primary Core, Evolutionary Core, and pick a Class,” Anton asked.
“Well, yes,” Galvin said. “There are merchants and crafters in Bensen. The shards and cores are quite expensive, though.”
“I’m not overly concerned about credits. How far is Bensen from here?”
“Benson is the biggest city in this corner of the Empire. It serves as a hub for the surrounding farm and mining towns. It’s about 25 miles east of here. But it’s getting dark. It’ll take about 4 hours for us to get there unless we plan to ride our horses hard, which we won't be doing. Once the bodies are out of town, I’m going to have our people hunker down here for the night, and most of us will be heading back in the morning.” Galvin said.
“That’s fine. You all hunker down. I need to get this class stuff figured out, so I’m going to head to Bensen.
“You’re not going anywhere. We have questions…”
Anton raised a finger and reached out for one of the short swords on a goblin corpse with telekinesis that he activated from his bracers. Once the short sword was within range, he grabbed the blade with his left hand and the hilt with his right hand, “Galvin, you look like you have a lot to do, so I’m going to save you some time. You can’t stop me, and I don’t feel like doing the ‘You will do what I say or else’ banter, so I’ll leave you here and see you all tomorrow,” Anton said as he snapped the shortsword like a twig and exploded out of town at 300 miles per hour.
In one second, he was 440 feet away from Galvin, Eris, and Londin. By the end of the turn, he was 680 feet short of a mile away from them and more than a half mile outside of Alifax as he sped east on the road. He noticed that his sneakers had started smoking, so he willed them back into his Portable Exchange and continued east on his bare feet. His Physical Damage Resistance was more than able to deal with any rocks he might step on.
Five minutes later, he saw the gates of a much larger city with 20-foot reinforced walls in the distance. Anton slowed and began walking the last mile to the gate. As he did so, he pulled his sneakers from his inventory and let them cool off before he put them on. Anto observed multiple carts rushing to the gate. He looked around to see why they might be in a hurry and unnerved like they were. The Sun looked to be getting ready to set to the west, but it was still above the horizon. Then he heard something that sounded like a lot of sticks being run through dirt and rocks just before multiple giant centipedes exploded from the ground chasing the carts.
Centipedes? Why the hell had… one, two…When he was done counting a moment later, there were 13 centipedes. Of course, there were 13. Anton dropped his sneakers back into his inventory and exploded forward at 600 miles per hour. In one second, he covered the 880 feet and grabbed the head of the centipede, which he casually yanked off. Over the next twelve seconds, he moved and killed each centipede faster than they could react as the various people trying to get into the city fled. The soldiers drew their weapons and watched, but by the time they were ready to react, Anton had finished, and the air stank of ammonia as the fluids from the centipedes' bodies leaked out onto the ground.
Just as he was about to start patting himself on the back and check his notifications, which he’d minimized during the fight, the ground in the middle of one of the fields exploded as what he could only describe as a boss bug exploded out of the ground.
“It's a Lair Boss, here! Run!” one of the city guards called out to the civilians as he moved forward and took up a defensive stance, which the large bug ended when it charged and sent the man flying. There was a loud crash as the man slammed into the wall to the side of the gate, and the guard, still breathing, lay still.
Before the Enormous stag beetle, because that’s what it looked like with two large pincers coming out of its skull, could change targets and attack again, Anton was in front of it and standing between the pincers. Before the beetle could react, Anton brought his hand down in a quick slapping motion, which crushed the bug's head into the ground and caused it to explode. Three shards became visible where the head had been resting on the ground as the mess that was its brain and the carapace flew in all directions. Before anyone could react, Anton picked up the Uncommon Core shard, the Uncommon evolutionary beetle shard, and something called a generic uncommon class shard.
As the guards watched him, he went and checked the thirteen centipedes but only found two common core shards, one common generic class shard, and one common centipede evolutionary shard. It looked like the 10% rule, except for a boss-type creature, was a thing.
As he finished looting the corpses, Anton looked over the centipedes. The guards had taken up a defensive stance in front of the city gates. Anton put on his friendliest smile as he put his sneakers back on and walked up to the guards.
“Who, no what are you?” one of the guards asked.
Anton took a moment to look over to the man lying against the wall, still unconscious. “Well, get to that. What’s up with your friend over there? Why isn’t he up and moving yet?”
“We’ll be asking…” the guard started to say until Anton glared at him. “What I meant to say, Sir, is that he’s in his armor. With you here, we’ll have to wait to move him to the healer until we’re sure the threat to the city has passed.”
“My name is Anton. I ran into Galvin Drungearson at Alifax today. The Goblin horde has been dealt with. He told me that Bensen would have shops and crafters that might be able to sell me the equipment and supplies I need.”
“Sir Drungearson? You met him today. Alifax is at least four hours away. They didn’t head out until mid-morning. How did you get here so quickly?” One of the guards asked, although his voice died off at the end of his question.
Anton pounced on the point, “As you might have seen, I’m quick,” Anton said with a smile.
Very well, Anton. My name is Drascal. I’m the Watch Captain for this gate. Be welcome in Bensen. Please don’t make me regret allowing you entry. Also, thank you for your assistance.”
“No problem, Drascal,” Anton said as he activated his Bracers of Telekinesis and picked up the hurt guard. “I have a magic item that lets me use telekinesis. I can help you get him to the healer without further damaging him if you’d like.
Drascal smiled, “Anton, that would be most appreciated. The Healer’s Hut is located just inside the gate, approximately 100 feet down the street. Also, are you going to claim the bodies of the monsters since you killed them?”
“Nah, the city crafters can have the bodies. I only needed the cores. I don’t need the bodies yet When. And if I do, I’ll go get more,” Anton said as Drascal led him into the city with the wounded guard floating between them.
Drascal pointed to one of the younger guards, “Go let Master Lebo know about the carcasses. Let him know that thirteen common centipedes and a giant uncommon beetle corpse are right outside the city. 10% of the value to the city, the rest is his.”
“Right away,” the young guard said as he rushed off down the street.
“The healer is right over here,” Drascal said as he pointed at a small building. They walked while Anton guided the wounded guard inside. A dwarf rushed out, his hand glowing in a soft white light as he pulled out a potion and tipped it into the injured guard's mouth.
“The healer has a name, Drascal. What have you been fighting at the wall? You’re bringing me a guard with four broken ribs, a broken arm, and a crack in his skull.”
“It’s good to see you, Caleb. The Guard, Trenshen, decided to stand up to full-sized giant uncommon beetle right outside the west gate.”
The healer paused, looked at the man again, and then back to Drascal, “Do you have more wounded coming?”
Drascal smiled and motioned to Anton, “Nope, this man here, Anton, made sure the beetle met its end.
The healer turned to Anton, “Truly, by yourself?”
“I did.”
“And you don’t need healing?”
Anton smiled. “No, I’m good.”
“Very well. If the two of you are done, I need to see to Trenshen, so I’m going to ask you to leave now,” Caleb the healer said.
“As you wish, Caleb,” Drascal said as he motioned for Anton to follow him back onto the street. “Seeing as the sun will be down within the hour and you just arrived, do you have a place to stay yet?”
“Not yet,” Anton said with a smile.
“Do you have coin or SYSTEM Credit?”
“I do,” Anton answered honestly.
“Enough to spend 100 credits per night, or do you need a less reputable place to stay, which will cost about 20 credits a night?” Drascal asked.
“I can afford 100 credits per night,” Anton said.
“Very good,” Drascal said as he pointed to a two-story building across the street. Now that the building had been pointed out, it looked like a Comfort Inn he’d stayed in back on Earth. Instead of the entry being on the long side, the end of the building had a door that opened into an entryway and, if he had to guess, there was probably a hallway leading back down further into the building from the check-in counter.
I’ll go check in and get a room. If you would do me the favor of letting Sir Drungearson, or whoever he sends, know where I’m staying when they come looking for me, that would be great.
Drascal looked at Anton questioningly before he just nodded, “As you wish. Thanks again for your help today. I need to get back to the gate.
“You're quite welcome,” Anton said as Drascal turned and walked back toward the gate.
Anton crossed the street, which was only filled with animal-drawn carriages and carts. It didn’t look like cars were a thing yet. As he stepped into the hotel, a young woman smiled, “Welcome to Caroline’s Bed and Breakfast. My name is Sally. Would you like to rent a room?”
Anton smiled back, “Yes, please.”
“Very well, if you have the coin, that will be one gold and fifteen silver or 115 SYSTEM Credits a night.”
“I’ll take it,” Anton said happily.
After Sally had recorded his name, she asked Anton to touch a small black sphere. A moment later, a wooden card with his name on it appeared. It resembled a thin, wooden version of a credit card. The number 211 was also stamped in the upper right corner.
That’s your room key.” It’ll unlock your door when you hold it up to the lock, Sally said.
“Very well. Is there a tavern or pub nearby? I want to get something to drink or eat, or both. About halfway down the hall on the left, there's a set of double doors. The building thirty feet in front of you is a tavern that we are associated with. You can use the card to charge your meals to your room, or you can pay directly; it's your choice. Additionally, the stairway to the second floor is located across from that door. When you get to the second floor, turn left. Your room will be down the hall, about ten feet on the west side of the hotel.
Anton walked down the hall, turned left, stepped into a small courtyard park between the two buildings. There was another set of double doors that led into a avern full of the sounds of people talking and eating good food. Since it was just about dark, the tavern had begun to fill up.
A waitress walked over, “Hey there, if you’d like a booth or table, it’ll be a minute. If you’d like to sit at the bar, feel free to seat yourself.”
While he hadn’t actually been around people before, everyone that he’d known was gone. Either dead and buried or frozen. The fact that he was awake again was terrific, and he had a ton of credits to burn and a reason to celebrate. He was alive, on a new planet in a new iteration. The people here would probably never know why, but he could bring a little bit of joy into their life this night, and he didn’t see any reason not to.
Anton walked over to the bar and pulled the Bartender’s attention to himself, “Name Anton, How do I transfer credits to you?”
“You want to give me credits?” the Bartender asked.
“Not give you money, pay for services rendered,” Anton clarified.
“Well then, just put your hand on the Bar. The whole thing acts as an interface for me.”
Anton placed his hand on the bar and transferred 50,000 credits to the bar.
The bartender’s eyes bulged as he saw how much had been donated. “What!” What is that for?”
Anton smiled as he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, “Drinks and Meals are on me!”
The Bartender smiled and confirmed what Anton had just said, “You heard the man; drinks and meals are on him.” Enjoy!”
There was a roar of approval as everyone in the tavern cheered, and the bartender and waitresses smiled.