In truth, from the moment Somnus disappeared from the FOB to when he awakened in the Dungeon, two weeks had pa.s.sed. In this timespan, thanks to the power of instantaneous long-range communication that Telepathy provides, word had spread like wildfire.

The King of Arsalan was dead, killed by Astoria. His only heir was also killed during the tragic event known as the "Vanis.h.i.+ng Anomaly". Countless souls disappeared in an instant from the capital of Arsalan, which was then called "Argentum" for its silver spires constructed eons ago, yet when people came to investigate they found it to be intact and populated. However, old acquaintances and relatives had disappeared, and in their stead, strangers inhabited the houses. It was as if the entire population of the city had been replaced.

When asked about the death of their King, the people of Argentum had only this to say: "Sleep never dies, because even Death must sleep." They did not call their city "Argentum" anymore, instead they called it "Insomnia".

At the same time, the existence of Somnus became known—not as a flesh and blood human—but as an ancient weapon of ma.s.s destruction; something the previous civilizations must have created. They likened the machine's silver skin to the same silver that the spires in former Argentum were made of. The existence of Somnus did not terrify the Midland Empire as much as the possibility that the Herald of the Destroyer would be unleashed upon the world due to the death of a King. Because of this, the Empress had ordered the Archlector of the Human Triarchy, and the Sword of the Divine, to prepare countermeasures. With the help of the two remaining Human G.o.ds, the Archlector and the Sword of the Divine awakened the ancient guardian of the Empire. Its name was "Seraph", and the Archlector said that the name meant "The Blazing One".

The absence of Heptia raised suspicion during the Awakening Ceremony and when pressed for answers, the Conclave of Imperial Astral Mages confirmed that Heptia's star had fallen and that another one had ascended into the Heavens. Heptia was dead and another G.o.d joined the Human Pantheon.

In Astoria, panic reigned due to the disappearance of Somnus. They were on the verge of all out war with the surrounding Kingdoms due to the murder of King Finian; they had thought that Somnus would protect them, but now he was gone. They walked the length and breadth of the deserted FOB but there was no sign of the "Golem". All that was left was the advanced technology that he left behind…

But it was not all bad news. The Adventurers, remnants of the old Reclaimers, also saw the rise of new stars, two of which ascended to the ranks of the Heroes and had been made Champions of the Triarchy. With the existence of two new Heroes, new dungeons had appeared, offering the world access to new Divine and Ancient Treasures, as well as opportunities to rapidly increase their levels. New "super"-guilds had been formed to take advantage of this.

However, strangely enough, the Conclave of Imperial Astral Mages claims that there currently exist three Human Heroes—one of which was not registered with the Adventurers.

The world had never been more dangerous, but the tenacity of the people—not just the Humans, but the elves and other demi-humans—has seemingly risen to the challenge.

< true="" divination!="">

Status

Name Somnus

Level 47

Race Machine G.o.d

Cla.s.s Hero

t.i.tle

G.o.d-Slaying Machine

Health 4450/4450

Mana 14330/18600

Attributes

Physical 499

Magical 611

Mental 168

Technical 299

Spiritual 0

Skills

Name Rank Specials

Magic Eyes [Element Sight] • [Mana Sight] • [Spell Sight]

Magic Capacity B+ [High Magic Capacity] • [Fast Magic Recovery] • [Greater Realize Area]

Spell Destruction C- [Magic Symbol Destruction] • [Magic Symbol Alteration]

Magic Comprehension B [Spell a.n.a.lyze] • [Symbol a.n.a.lyze]

Magic Power [Magic Penetration] • [Magic Rewrite] • [Magic Compression] • [Fast Realize]

Mana Manipulation C+ [Flow Sense] • [Mana Compression] • [Mana Generation]

Swordmaster B- [Agility] • [Dexterity] • [Counterattack Specialist] • [Destructive Blows] • [Discern Weakness]

Magic Theory D+ [Fast Cast] • [Sequence Cast]

Name Level Mastery

Mana Knight 32 62%

"Rest denied," Somnus said with a monotone voice. "Continue activity: Summon."

The Dungeon Core had been summoning monsters non-stop for two days now. The only time it had to rest was when Somnus ate or slept. The Dungeon Core even had to create the food and water for them.

"Somnus, you haven't gained a level or improved your mastery in a while," Arcadia said.

"So?" Somnus asked, glancing to the Priestess.

"It means you out-level the monsters so badly, you are just wasting your efforts," Arcadia explained.

Somnus lowered his beam sword. Ever since he started improving his Mana Knight job, he had learned how to further optimize the weapon. [Mana Compression] allowed him to get rid of the [Ether Fusion] and [Mana Amplification] symbols—the mana he generated was simply far more potent. The first time he tried recasting his [Beam Weapon] spell, it still had all the symbols; the result was absolute carnage. Not only did he nearly lose his fingers when he tried grabbing the weapon, but his fortification spells couldn't contain the mana beam, sending ribbons of mana torrents gouging into the walls and floor.

Further optimizations came in the form of [Sequence Cast] which allowed him to cast a spell before the last one was complete. This eliminated the necessity of having magic symbols on the first spell circle, that relate it to the second spell circle. He was casting two different spells, instead of one spell with two magic circles. This simplified things greatly.

Finally, [Mana Generation] allowed him to understand and extract mana from the environment itself, instead of Ether, thus completely eliminating the Ether collection and trans.m.u.tation symbols, but it only worked in areas where the concentration of mana was high enough.

In the end, the beam weapon he had after two days of optimization was orders of magnitude more powerful than what he initially possessed. If he was to strike his old cha.s.sis with this blade, he wasn't sure if the Delta Superalloy would be able to withstand it.

"Provide solution," Somnus said coldly. The way he looked at Arcadia was not the way someone looks at a person expecting answers—but rather, the way they would look at a walking bag of experience points.

Arcadia took a step backwards, and licked her lips. "Perhaps the monsters in the lower dungeon are more powerful. Lod and the others haven't returned yet, maybe we should investigate?"

Somnus sniffed dismissively and then looked at the Core. "Summon stronger levelling device."

Indeed, to Somnus, living things were just that; devices that increase his level when he kills them. It was not that different from "a certain arrangement of carbon molecules and some other stuff."

< don't="" have="" enough="" mana.=""> the Dungeon Core replied.

Somnus scowled. "How do I give you more mana?"

Arcadia shook her head, "You can't do that, Somnus."

"Define reason."

"I-I don't know. You just can't," Arcadia replied. "It is not possible."

Somnus tilted his head at Arcadia and then focused on Emily, as if expecting an answer from her.

"Uhhh…" Emily bit down on her lower lip and didn't dare to meet Somnus' gaze. "W-well, the Dungeon Core was a Heroic Dungeon Core once, right? I am guessing it is not anymore if it tops out at summoning level 30 monsters… right? Maybe if we help it regain the lower levels, it will upgrade again."

Somnus straightened up when he heard those words and then contemplated the Dungeon Core. Of course, he had no intention of going down to the lower levels to help the Dungeon Core. That is not how this relations.h.i.+p worked. The Core worked for Somnus, not the other way around.

"State malfunction," Somnus ordered the Dungeon Core.

< don't="" have="" enough="" mana.=""> the Dungeon Core replied, same as before.

"Figures," Emily said. "Dungeon Cores are, after all, just big mana reactors. They can't output more mana than they can generate. It's not like they have a mana capacity like we do, they just what's in the en—what are you doing?"

As Emily was speaking, Somnus had an idea. Of course they are just mana reactors! Maybe he can't give it more mana, but he certainly can improve its ability to generate mana. Unlike an actual living being, Dungeon Cores are fundamentally inanimate objects with a sentience. It is a bit more complicated than that, surely, but the principle should be true. Somnus may not be able to increase a living thing's ability to generate mana, but he certainly can do that for objects.

Arcadia understood what Somnus was about to do when she saw him studying the Magic Formations on the Dungeon Core; of course, she could not see them, but she knew that Somnus could.

"Perhaps that is how Heptia did it as well," Arcadia said absent-mindedly. "Could it be that you are reliving Heptia's legend?"

Emily still did not understand what Arcadia was talking about and watched Somnus curiously.

In the heart of the Dungeon Core, there were several Magic Formations which governed the flow of mana through the Dungeon Core. Somnus hadn't noticed them before, but with his new [Flow Sense] skill he was able to see it. To him, it appeared like the blood flowing through veins. He could see mana before with [Mana Sight], but he could not see the direction of the flow. It wasn't like a liquid, it was more like electricity, flowing between different potentials. He always thought that magic and the symbols were like printed circuit boards, and now that a.n.a.logy didn't seem too far from the truth.

At the very core of the Dungeon Core's heart was the generator. Like Somnus' beam sword, it did not transform ether into mana, but rather, it drew mana from the environment itself. It was quite efficient, compared to Somnus' beam sword and he learned quite a bit studying the Formation—although, it may have been an Array instead.

The difference between Formations and Arrays was that Arrays had the magic circle contained within the object. Formations on the other hand were imprinted on the object after the magic circle was empowered by the user. In other words, Arrays were enchantments inscribed or painted onto an object and then activated, while Formations were the effect of the spell created without a physical magic circle.

Arrays were useful because they were not limited by the user's Realize Area—the ability to store magic symbols in a non-physical Magic Circle—they were only limited by the object's ability to store them.

To alter an Array, one had to modify the actual magic circle inscribed on it. Unless they had [Magic Rewrite] which allowed one to alter active spells by casting another one on top of the previous one.

[Magic Rewrite] wasn't a common skill, but it wasn't rare either. About one out of five mages learned [Magic Rewrite] at some point and it was mainly used for countermagic. To use it the way Somnus did was only possible because of his [Magic Eyes] ability.

Suddenly, the Dungeon Core floated off the ground, recasting its [Levitation] spell. It burned brighter than before—much brighter—and the intensity of mana in the environment increased by several orders of magnitude as made evident by the manbeam sword in Somnus' hand also brightening up and pouring a beam that was like an unstoppable torrent of blue plasmfire.

A symbol appeared on the sh.e.l.l of the Dungeon Core as the damage visible on its surface mended in the span of a second.

Arcadia recognized the symbol. "... It is a Heroic Dungeon Core…"

You have unlocked the Mana Technician Job!

Your Mana Manipulation skill has improved.

You have learned the Reclaim skill.

You have learned the Trans.m.u.tation skill.

Achievement earned: Become a Reclaimer

Perk received: Reclaimer's Fortune