Do you want to enter the Cluster Dungeon, Extreme Mode? Y/N

  Warning: The Dungeon will be sealed until completion. An extra layer of interdimensional wrapping has been added. Moving from one floor to the next through the intermediate level is restricted.

  “Yes.” Stepping into the portal, Rowan entered The Space, starting his Cold Breeze AoE, pushing it as far as possible for ten seconds as he ran forward, taking in the view. The first Dungeon’s unique floor was immense. It reproduced exactly the valley outside, tree for tree and rock for rock, going up the mountain. Stopping after a mile, he hid behind a rock formation, exited The Space, and analyzed what his Sonar had revealed on his targeting interface made by Cora.

  There were a hundred Elementals inside the Floor, tagged with different colors. Red for fire, brown for earth, blue for water, and gray for metal. The fire elementals looked more like lava, the water ones like giant slimes from the Animes, the earth ones like the standard golems, and the metal were identical to the robots they had fought in the Shore dungeon.

  Divided into groups of four, half behind fortifications on the upper side of the valley and the rest patrolling, Rowan’s foes offered cover to each other. It was an organization with an order of magnitude over simple constructs. At the highest peak was the entrance to the next dungeon.

  His presence was undetected, but his entrance hadn’t gone unnoticed; since the Dungeon had been sealed, there must’ve been some sort of notification. A few hundred yards away, two groups were firing randomly in the snow, thinking, for good reason, that Rowan had a camouflaging skill. Extracting a small drone, he pushed a button and threw it in the air. It flew up, releasing a loud message with Cora’s voice:

  “Elementals, we know you can understand us. We have no quarrel with you. Please stand down, and you’ll serve your remaining time in an Awakened Town by doing public service.”

  The drone was downed in no time with bursts of gunfire, fire, or ice. Now, the Elementals patrols started to walk in more random patterns, and Rowan’s screen showed cones of red emanating from the groups; they had some sort of a radar of their own.

  Very well, if you don’t want to play nice… Entering The Space again, he ran toward the closest three groups, releasing special land mines filled with high-explosives. The mines exploded when he left them behind, and he flew to the upper right ridge. The enemy was converging their fire toward the explosions, so he took a moment to inspect the damage, returning to the real dimension.

  A gray dot was marked with an X, a kill, and so did a brown one, two foes down. The two Elemental groups had converged, though, and as the metal golems fired bursts of gunfire around, the Fire, Earth, and Water elementals touched their limbs. That move was imitated by other groups. Plumes of smoke began floating down the valley, colored in a greenish hue. He noticed the Water Elementals retreated first from the combination, looking diminished.

  The fire melts the water and the earth, combining into a sort of gas… It’s bet it’s toxic.

  His armor had a built-in gas mask, so he didn’t worry too much about the poisonous cloud. Entering the in-between, he flew west, exited ten yards from a cluster of two patrolling groups and a defensive formation, and released his R?svelg: Snowstorm in a conic pattern at full force, adding Darkness.

  Rowan had tried before the new element. So far, the experiments showed Darkness added some CC, like disorientation or veiled him in shadows. This time, though, the effect was much more spectacular. Patches of black blobs flew out, floating on the cold wind, smashing against the elementals’ heads like they had an auto-pilot. The elementals were trashing their limbs, clawing at their eyes, and the blobs were clawing back.

  You have discovered the spell Black Cat. You can shape your Darkness element into a feline form, directly attacking your foes’ sensors. It will inflict blindness and confusion, depending on your enemies' levels and resistance. Training this skill will allow you to summon one or more such constructs ON for defense, offense, or entertainment. One skill point has been deducted from your stash.

  Note: Discovering skills through practice reduces the SkP cost to one, no matter the original cost.

  The fuck? Never mind… I guess the rules are different at max level… Anyway, let’s not complain. Cats are cute enough.

  Inspecting the results of his attack gave positive feedback. The closest Elementals were blown to pieces along their earthworks. The second group was projected over the third, with the Water and the Lava elementals frozen solid and the Metal and Earth ones moving much slower and shooting at each other.

  Works better than the explosives.

  Next, he threw in a Flamethrower, a fire aspect he had spent his Skill Point to buy, directly on top of the interlaced Elementals, and a flurry of Forest Fire on the flanks of the valley, starting as many fires as possible, and re-entered The Space. A few machine gun shots had clipped his feet just before, and that part of the armor was now blinking red on his helmet’s virtual screen, and his HP was down to 90%.

  That packs some force… Can’t let them hit me.

  His Mana Pool was down to two-thirds. Staying in the in-between consumed five Mana per second, but his Mana regeneration, at 0.48 MP/second, meant he could stay in The Space some more time if needed. Abandoning the math, Rowane activated his thrusters. He returned to the normal world, flying over the valley, firing rockets and unleashing more Forest Fire, keeping an evasive flight pattern and adding an Elemental Shield over himself.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Soon, the fire covered both sides of the Valley. The Water Elementals were panicking and running away from the heat. Rowan aimed a Snowstorm adorned with patches of cats toward a bunch of Lava elementals, which were susceptible to cold, and solidified a few before being forced to enter the safety of The Space again.

  The Metal Golems, the robots, were the cleverest, moving around to avoid the fire or taking cover from the Snowstorm while firing at him. His helm’s screen showed his armor blinking orange, and he felt pain in his ribs, his HP at 60%. A Health potion, a nano-bot repair kit for the Armor, and a Combat Heal were in order. And maybe a change of strategy.

  Let’s try the rebar attack to clear a fort, then use it against the others. Before Rowan had the chance to implement his plan, a notification came.

  The surviving Elementals are surrendering. The System offers assistance: Do you wish to instruct them to go to your domain, Asgard Forest Reservation, and wait for further instructions? Y/N

  “Yes.”

  The System has opened the Dungeon’s Exit for the Elementals and they will walk themselves to your mountain private domain. The Elementals have been instructed to refrain from violence toward other life forms. Notifications to not engage the Elementals have been sent to the local police forces and the general public.

  You have cleared the first floor (and dungeon) of the Cluster Dungeon.

  Reward 1: Piece of Information. The Elementals have a collective society with strict discipline. If surrendering is an option, destroying 25% +1 of the troops makes an Elemental army cease combat.

  Reward 2: You have earned 1 Skill Point for Soloing a Level 100 Dungeon floor, fighting against 100 Sentient opponents.

  Reward 3: You can claim the Elemental Dungeon core after you clear the Lair.

  Before going to the next floor, Rowan checked if he had a signal, and it appeared that once a floor was cleared, the Dungeon allowed communication. He sent a text to Cora detailing the information he’d found, then stepped through the portal, arriving in an empty plain, desolated, with sand, dried earth, and grass everywhere. Dead trees here and there, and no monster in sight.

  “Hm… that means some traps,” Rowan told himself, checking his fuel gauge. It was a little over half; the thrusters added to his armor were less efficient than Cora’s but suited to his needs. Nevertheless, flying was the best option. He took off and fired multiple rockets into the ground, wherever he thought enemies could lie in ambush, behind the trees, or under the sand.

  Sonar revealed his guess had been true. Skeletons hidden all around. They were not particularly tough foes but were grouped in large numbers. Rockets obliterated a group of twenty in two hits, a second likewise, for the third, he shot a rocket then landed and crushed them with his weapon, in a war hammer form. The fourth and the fifth group had joined and were running at him with awkward steps. They were no better than the skeletons in Rome’s catacombs. A short burst of Snowstorm pulverized every single one.

  You have cleared the second floor (and dungeon) of the Cluster Dungeon. 100/100 Undead Constructs destroyed. You can claim the core once you clear the Lair. The Passage to the first floor and the Exit are now open.

  Secret Secondary Mission detected. Objectives: ??? Reward: ???

  The Secondary Quest notification made him hesitate. He threw out a Cold Breeze, flying above the ground. Nothing. Then he noticed two shadows hiding behind a rock and landed.

  “Please, don’t kill us!” An elderly woman and a young man kowtowed at his feet, bowing until their heads touched the sand.

  “Hey, get up. Enough. How did you get in here… Wait. I remember you! You’re those guys who stole the Sensor from us,” Rowan frowned.

  “Please, have mercy! We had no choice. The Neeks killed us, and the Necromancer took us over… We had to obey him,” the woman kneaded her hands. “At least spare him; he’s just a kid.”

  “Stay put, and let me Inspect you,” he ordered.

  Uncommon Undead, level 20 x2

  This pair of undead had been raised within minutes of their demise. They retain 75% of their previous lives' memories, stats, and abilities.

  Note: A Miracle performed by a priest can restore them to life, at the current stats, but they’ll be stuck to the Common Classed E tier for the remainder of their lives.

  “You can act of your own will?” Rowan asked.

  “As long he’s not around us, yes. Please, let us live… We’ll hide in the forest, I swear, we’ll not hurt anyone.”

  “Can you exit the dungeon on your own?” The two nodded. “Very well… A question: why couldn’t I detect you?”

  “We retained our scouting perks,” the young man said. “Sneaking and a minor form of Stealth.”

  “Hm… Do you know of the Necromancer's plans and how many undead he took with him?”

  “He didn’t take any undead. We saw him leave with the pirates yesterday... No, sorry, it was the day before. That’s why we’re here.”

  Rowan shook his head, befuddled. “What do you mean?”

  “The pirates are friendly; they let us stay on their floor. It’s beautiful, the sea and all. After they left, the assholes moved in and kicked us out.”

  “He means the alien ship’s crew,” the woman took over. “Both they and the pirates are cat folks, but the pirates are nicer.”

  “OK, thanks for the information. Now let’s find a way to take care of you…” Taking out his phone, Rowan dialed a number. “Hi, rich guy. Sorry, forgot your name again… Stop! Don’t bother telling me your name. I don’t really care. Listen. I’m in the dungeon… Yeah, there is a signal after you clear a floor… I have two undead with me, who were killed by your people and raised by the Necromancer. They have a chance to be Rezzed… No, not in those tanks of yours; it’s complicated.

  "Look, you owe me, I was pretty nice with you, right? Get your ass in your limo or whatever, and come to the Dungeon’s entrance… Yeah, I think it’s within the area where you can move. My palls will exit in about an hour, time for the Elementals to walk away. They’re kinda dumb… I meant the elementals, sorry,” he excused himself to the two. “Take them to your hotel and give them a suit or something until I can send somebody to cure them. If something happens to them, I’ll hold you directly responsible… OK, sorry for the threat, I know it’s a decent thing to do, but there are reasons to doubt you, you know… OK, bye… What the fuck, are you all right?” The two undead were shaking with their eyes bulging out.

  “I… want to cry but can’t,” the woman explained.

  “Whatever. Move to the exit, but take care not to be seen by the Elementals. They have instructions not to attack living beings, but who knows how they’d think of you.”

  “Thank you so much…” The Mountain Guides blurted, still trying to cry and failing. Both undead awkwardly rushed to hug Rowan.

  “C’mon, guys, relax, no big deal,” he patted them on their backs, clenching his teeth. Hugging zombies was not on his top list of priorities, but sometimes taking one for the team was OK to avoid hurting people’s feelings.

  No Soldier Left Behind Secret Secondary Mission cleared. 2SkP earned.