You have gained a level. x37

Your Mana Knight job has improved.

Mana Knight has reached the maximum level.

Unlocking Advanced job.

You have unlocked the Magic Slayer job.

You have learned the Gale Steps skill.

You have learned the Void Sword skill.

With a final, tortured cry, Nezaras expired after what to him must've seemed like an eternity of torture. In the end, Somnus did not learn anything new. It was not because he already knew everything—that was not even close to true—but simply because he didn't have much to experiment with. As far as experiments went, this was a failure.

In hindsight, Somnus should have kept Nezaras alive for when he would be able to create Magitech weapons; a test subject would be most welcome at that time.

It was not all for naught, however. Although he only gained experience for kills, his skills and Job improved independent of that; the latter only marginally so. For Jobs, killing things was still the superior approach.

The comprehension that his skill improved did not include information on whether or not he learned any new abilities, but he could tell that he did. As an example, as his Magic Eyes improved, he could see thin, glowing lines on objects and people. To Somnus, the lines appeared like cracked gla.s.s on the surface of whatever he was looking at. When he stabbed a spot where the lines converged, he nearly instantly killed Nezaras. Truly, if it were not for Arcadia's healing magic, his session with the former Heroic Summon would have been rather short.

"How could something like this happen to a Heroic Summon?" Emily sighed, unable to even look at the corpse. She had seen plenty of death around Somnus, but she could never get used to it. In a way, her mind was already numb but her body remembered. Acid swirled in her stomach at the thought of just being in the same room as Nezaras's corpse.

"He was not a Heroic Summon himself. Just a vessel. But still…" Arcadia said, shaking her head. "It goes to prove that even the greatest among us can fall." Arcadia on the other hand was used to death—body and mind. Nothing could ever outdo the feeling she had when thousands of people in the Arsalan Capital died. She felt as though her soul died that day.

Somnus did not care about the conversation between the two. Meat was meat, dead or alive. Their conduct and creed in the past did not matter to him, even in the slightest. There is nothing to gain in mourning the dead or revering the living.

Somnus had other things on his mind. He wanted to go back to the Dungeon Core to find out what benefits his two new skills provided. Although, the fact that the lower levels haven't come under the control of the Dungeon Core, which Somnus a.s.sumed would reveal itself by the layout and appearance of the dungeon changing, meant that the Core was most likely still asleep. Therefore, that left him with the only option of finding Lod and what he came here for in the first place; magical materials.

He left the priestess and the princess to argue on the life and death of Nezaras and what a great tragedy it was, and presumably to find the Chalice they were looking for, as Somnus went back the way they came.

Their voices faded in the distance, never even realizing that Somnus was leaving.

As Somnus walked into the cave-like hallways, he understood why the Reclaimers were so revered and powerful. He did not have any definitive proof that it was the doing of the [Reclaim] skill, but he suspected that was the case. He could sense the presence of treasure. He could not tell the distance or direction, but he could sense its presence, and in a way, its rarity. On top of that, he could look at the cave walls and sense what kind of materials it contained. Finally, he could accurately sense the location of magical ores, within a certain radius.

Even Somnus thought that this kind of power was absurd. But then again, Somnus also thought that Telepathy was incredibly dangerous. There were not many creatures in this world that would agree with Somnus on his seemingly arbitrary ranking of special abilities. To Somnus, however, knowing the presence of ore and treasures meant saving time—a lot of time. This time could be used on improving one's self or learning new things, perfecting tactics and strategy or a myriad of other useful things. In the long term, it was an incredibly powerful tool.

Although Somnus could not tell the location of the treasure, he was certain that with his [Magic Eyes] he would be able to see it. Powerful items are surely bound to have powerful magics on them which he would be able to see with [Spell Sight]. They might also have strong auras which he would be able to pick up with [Mana Sight] or [Flow Sense].

The first room he went into seemed to have been a miss. There was nothing in it except for a black, dog-like creature. It had thick fur and a misshapen, disproportionate body. Somnus recognized it as a Barghest. In truth, he recognized everything in this Dungeon for some reason. In his mind, he had a layout of the entire dungeon as well as the knowledge of what each creature within it was. This was not part of his skills, he was sure of that.

Somnus ignored the Barghest and was about to leave when the dog-like creature lunged at Somnus. It crossed the distance between the two in an instant, its ma.s.sive fangs clamping down on Somnus's forearm which he raised defensively.

You have taken damage. -122 HP

Somnus continued walking away, still not interested in the Barghest. It was probably not worth the effort to kill the beast, and considering that it would take only one blow, that is saying quite a lot about Somnus's disinterest.

The Barghest tried its best to dig in and resist Somnus's momentum, but it ended up being dragged behind him like nothing more than just useless ballast. Even a mindless creature like the Barghest would have its feelings hurt by something like that.

Still, the dog tried its best to be acknowledged by Somnus, thus it teared at his forearm and gnawed down against the incredibly tough skin.

You have taken damage. -98 HP

It was to no avail. Somnus already entered another room, dragging the Barghest in with him. He glanced around and then focused on a chest. It didn't seem like an ordinary chest one might expect to find in a damp and disgusting cave like this. It was quite high-cla.s.s—something a n.o.ble might use.

The Barghest followed Somnus's gaze to the chest and then back to Somnus. Casually, it let go of Somnus's forearm and whined. This person… would not even acknowledge a Barghest. Despite the pain the creature inflicted and despite the interference, this person would not even retaliate or deem it worth the effort to kill the Barghest.

The Barghest did not mind death—that is what it existed for—but in a way, this was even worse than death.

Quietly, the Barghest left the room and headed into the darkness down the hallways.

Meanwhile, Somnus could not sense any mana coming from the chest, or see the effects of any spells. It most likely contained useless items, Somnus thought. He turned around and left the room.

A tiny eye appeared on the chest and it watched Somnus leave with a confused feeling in the pit of its empty stomach. This was the first time someone had actually managed to resist the urge to investigate such an attractive looking chest.

After searching dozens of rooms, Somnus came to the conclusion that finding this treasure, even with his abilities, was not going to be an easy task. He needed more workforce. Technically, he also needed a fusion reactor, high tech weapons and a sizable nuclear a.r.s.enal. Baby steps.

First, he needed to test the viability of refining material to a level satisfactory for general combat purpose. Next, he need to experiment, on a large scale, whether magic would be suitable for taking advantage of the physical phenomena that govern the world—electromagnetism, gravity, etc. Finally, he needed to figure out a way to combine the two in order to create weapons of ma.s.s destruction in a timely fas.h.i.+on.

It all came down to workforce.

Somnus stopped in his tracks. Now that he thought about it, he had workforce. In his mind, the only thing he saw as workforce were machines—drones and robotic arms. He was certain that even if he could find FOB Alpha again, the drones would not respond to his orders—he had no way to send them anyway. However, he did have a Dungeon Core as a subordinate. Everything in this Dungeon was a subordinate of the Dungeon Core. Therefore…

He had a lot of workforce.

Suddenly, he came up with an idea.

He went in the direction where he sensed magical ore. He could vaguely differentiate the valuable ores, but he could not tell specifically what each one was.

It wasn't that far away from where he was and soon enough, the sound of digging resounded through the narrowing hallways. The sound was made of claw impacts against cave walls, and various improvised digging implements, some metal, some rock.

It sounded like they were making quick progress, judging by the sound of large rocks falling on the floor after each strike.

Somnus focused on the cave wall and concentrated.

Prospecting…

Granite.

Contains traces of Gold, Iron and Cobalt.

Somnus's expectations increased considerably as he realized that they could dig that quickly through Granite.

As he rounded the corner, Somnus finally saw them.

Goblins, kobolds, orcs, an ogre and a dragon, worked together to dig through layers of hard rock sprinkled with golden glimmers of light. Somnus instantly recognized the ore within that stone: Orichalc.u.m. Extremely valuable and capable of storing large sequences of symbols and Arrays. The other attractive property of magical ore is their ability to generate and channel mana.

"Master, you are alive!" Lod suddenly spoke up, noticing Somnus's presence. "Lod was sure that master would…" the goblin licked his lips. "... would win of course!"

Somnus glanced to Lod and then back to the creatures who only paused momentarily to look back at Somnus. When they started digging again, it was faster by a considerable amount.

"Ah… did master eat evil one? Is there anything left for poor old Lod?" the goblin asked, voice dropping well below the tone of self-pity and begging. "Lod has been hungry for a long time… Lod would do anything to taste the pale leg meat of human virgin, or the tasty heart of dwarf warrior. A bit of salt here and pepper there…"

Lod continued describing in which manner he would prefer to eat all sorts of meat as Somnus went over to pick up some of the rocks that lay on the ground.

They were considerably lighter than they looked. Somnus did not have a furnace, but he was fairly sure that he could smelt this rock with magic.

"Lod always wanted to eat big evil one…" the goblin continued, his mouth watering and stomach growling. "Lod always think that evil taste sweet. Not as sweet as pure and innocent meat, though..."

"Lod," Somnus said, interrupting the goblin's tiresome rant. "I want to teach you something."

"Master…?" Lod asked warily.

Somnus focused on Lod and pressed his palm against the goblin's forehead. He always wanted to try this. In the back of his mind, he knew it was possible. Perhaps it was a form of Telepathy or something else.

To teach a Job or Skill, you and the target must be in the same Guild.

That was unexpected. Somnus closed his eyes, arranging his thoughts.

You have formed the guild: "The Reclaimers"

Somnus sniffed dismissively and focused on Lod once more.

Lod has joined your Guild.

You have successfully taught the [Reclaim] skill.

Lod blinked, tilting his head. "Master… what is a Reclaimer?"