'I feel like we made a mistake me.'

'I concur.'

"Hey Kyoku? What do you need the gem for?"

I laughed a bit. "Oh it's actually crystallized mana! So I was going to use it to help feed 2 of the spirit embryos!"

She nodded. "Ah... so it's fire mana? Crystallized mana is rare, and considering the spears effect, it makes sense it would need such a focus. You used monster parts rather than crystallized mana as the power source for the whip though..."

I nodded with a chuckle. "Exactly. This little thing is fire mana crystallized around a piece of light mana, allowing it to absorb light and make it fire. I'm going to split the essence into the two respective elements using trans.m.u.tation, and feed it to this." I finished by poking the Spirit Vessel at my hip.

I cradled the still-sharp and spear-tip shaped crystal in both hands, and focused my mana into it, feeding both light and fire energies to make it as full as I could.

***

Crystallized Mana:

Fire: 150/150/Light: 50/50

***

Then I drew my mana apart in either hand, the crystal melting and flowing to follow the mana, until I had a red gem in one hand, and a golden gem only 1/3 the size of the red one in the other.

'Nice, now...'

I took both into one hand to unsheathe the vessel, and lay it across my knees as I sat down in the room we were in. After scanning the area one last time and getting the research-me to keep an "eye" out for anything, I lay both gems against the bronze, or yang side, of the blade.

'Alright... do your thing.'

I watched as the gems visibly sank into the bronze, as it took on a s.h.i.+nier, brighter quality.

'...that's interesting.'

I reached my soul into there, looking about.

'The Fire one seems about ready to hatch. Let's feed it's soul a bit more before it does though.'

I caressed the egg of flame I could see the soul-realm within the blade, noting the golden egg looked brighter as well, and turning to observe the others progression.

'Hmm... poison is strongest other than fire, followed by light and ice. Light is slightly ahead of ice, but not by too much... wind and water are most definitely the weakest.'

I got up from my sitting position, satisfied. Soon my fire spirit would hatch, and I'd be able to use free-flowing fire magic as well!

Cause to be honest, Shade has already made Dark magic the most easily adaptable thing in my life. You realize I've made like 3 new dark-type spell structures thanks to him? He's great!

We continued forging onwards, dodging patrols and climbing out a window once to crawl along the wall to another window.

Finally we were heading down more stairs, below the buildings, into the rocks they were built upon.

It looked kinda like a mine, with lanterns hung from wooden beams set up to hold the tunnel up.

I surrounded us in the silence spell and in darkness to make us less noticeable(thanks Shade!), and we eventually came to an opening.

We were a bit down from the fortress, and at an exit point of the mine/tunnels, with a stone outcropping that naturally formed spreading from here to another tunnel in the 2nd part of the fortress.

'It looks natural, but it's too well-placed... guaranteed the Dungeon made it that way.'

We walked across, and continued sneaking deeper into the underground of the... wait based on how my Dungeon lays itself out in 'floors', would that mean we went from floor 1 to floor 2?

As we headed deeper and deeper, heat began to rise up into our faces, the faint ringing of steel just barely audible.

Finally we turned a corner, and a sliding door was just ahead, which I slowly pulled aside to see the blacksmithing ghost within.

'Finally!'

I walked into the room, and he got up from his project, turning to me as if he could sense me just as well as I had been sensing him.

"Ah. I didn't expect you to come this far. Hmm... interesting."

I let out a long breath. "You, Sir, are a d.i.c.k. You are the most irritating Dungeon Boss imaginable. Pa.s.s me on the test, let me out, and I'll come back for you later!"

I yelled the last bit in annoyed rage, but he just shot me a condescending look.

"Who says I'm the boss of this Dungeon? I'm a prisoner who's forced to make weapons for the monsters here. I, in trade, get to uphold my position as guardian and this Dungeon sustains me."

'...wha?'

"You... aren't in charge?"

"Well... I can manipulate the dimensional doors a bit? But no, I'm not in charge." He kinda seemed to rest his chin in his hand, stroking his beard as he thought about it.

"Anyways, yeah. Sure, you pa.s.s kid. Nice to see that the last of us has got some fire in it belly. Hope you do come back and beat the dragon who IS the actual Dungeon boss to death."

'...that thing in the Serpent cave was a dragon?!'

He waved his hand, and I felt the s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+ft at the door, turning back to see the exit to go further up the mountain.

"That's... it?"

He nodded. "What, did you expect some final battle? I'm a blacksmith, not a warrior. Go."

I... feel really weird about this!

This came out of nowhere!

"Ah wait a moment."

I turned to look at this guy again. What the heck is going on now?

"What's family mean to you?"

I just rolled my eyes at him. "No one can ever give a definitive answer, as language will change and family is often used based on one's own heart. There is no form of measurement between the hearts of people, and therefore no answer can be given."

He nodded and reached out to his shelf, grabbing something to throw at me.

I caught it reflexively, and looked down to see a strange flask in hand...?

It was a iron cylinder with a screwed on cap, that felt lighter than it should be, but still decently heavy.

"Go on before the Dungeon notices yeh."

And with that accented sentence, we practically got shoved out of the dungeon, back on the path to the 4th test.

After taking a few steps, we all stopped as if by a signal and looked back at the desolate building of the 3rd test.

"...that was weird."

"Mm-hmm."

And with that agreement, we continued on up the mountain.

We reached the 4th test no problem, and I noted that about 15 steps away from the test is when s.p.a.ce stopped being restricted, in other words, we had truly left the Dungeon's territory.

"...why was the Dungeon at that test?" Luna finally asked, clearly confused."

"I don't think it was. I think the Dungeon grew within this mountain, and the 3rd test is just a part that comes close enough to the Dungeon to be absorbed, as it is sunken into the face of the mountain a bit. The rest are wider-out from the center until the top of course."

I was only guessing, but there was probably an entrance elsewhere that was its 'true' entrance.

"That... makes sense."

I looked at Shade, watching as he zipped about, filled with curiosity as he brushed against the gra.s.s and touched seemingly everything in sight.

"He seems to like it outside." Luna noted, a small grin overtaking her face as she said so.

"Yep! He's positively thrumming with happiness right now." I added that on, and we watched with some amus.e.m.e.nt as he continued acting that way all the way until the 4th test.

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'__st of Co_ba_'

...if that says test of combat I'm going to laugh. I've been fighting this entire d.a.m.n time, so it would be so redundant if-of course it is. Of course it is.

I gave a soft cry. "Why... why more fighting? I'm tired!" Luna nodded a bit limply, as all of us didn't want to get dragged into yet another fight to 'prove ourselves' after that Dungeon earlier.

Eventually I forced one foot in front of the other, and walked into the room.

As the room changed into a tatami mat filled dojo, I sighed. "I'm getting mannequin flashbacks."

Fenrir gave an "Agreed."

Well... what next?

A ghost of a man in his 30's formed, looked at me, and full on just had his expression go blank.

He paled a bit and simply said "d.a.m.n. Just... d.a.m.n kid."

'...h.e.l.lo? What? I'm confused.'

"Usually this is a test where you try to beat someone in your job cla.s.s of a previous generation, or gain their approval..."

Ah that would be interesting, yes.

"But you have a unique cla.s.s. And have been battling all the way up here already I can see."

He shot a look at the few, but large bloodstains scattered on me.

I raised a hand. "Does that mean you are NOT about to beat me half-to-death?"

He nodded, seemingly still in shock. "What the heck... what kinda fighting do you even do...?"

I just kinda shrugged. "h.e.l.l if I know man! I just keep adjusting to each new situation. Sometimes it's music, sometimes it's battle. It's a work in progress at best."

He shook his head. "Alrighty... I guess you pa.s.s. I just need you to show me something that proves you have a understanding of your own mentality and capabilities. As far as I'm concerned, you took your test of combs down there, so show me a result."

"Uhhh... I made a magic whip, got a Dark Spirit, killed a giant snake and a few Naga, made a spell able to cut s.p.a.ce... what else you want?"

"Whip? You made a magic weapon?"

Luna unlooped the whip from her waist and just held it out, uncoiled it, and then cracked it about a few times before winding it around he waist again.

He just kinda stared. "This didn't go at all how I expected..." he let out a sigh. "You pa.s.s, good luck. Your almost halfway there, and the one who holds the 9th test is our G.o.d, so you only need to pa.s.s 4 more to see him."

I blinked. "How do you know I want to-"

"I'm not stupid. You're clearly dying, from an overweight soul, which as a ghost I'd be ashamed to not notice. Additionally you're obviously the last of us, and as each of us pa.s.ses on, the rest learn all that occurred. So I know the contents of the first 2 tests for you, and can make an educated guess why the 3rd did not pa.s.s on."

After that, he just kinda gestured for me to go. Alright then!

After we left, I kept shooting glances back.

'...that was oddly way too easy. Gah, better than doing a long-a.s.s test, again, but still. Wow that went by quick.'

***

Name: Kyoku

Race: Kitsune(Foxkin)/Dungeon Construct

Cla.s.s: Dungeon Boss/Demonic Tunist

Age: 15

Strength: 12

Agility: 15

Perception: 14

Durability: 6

Soul: 24

Mana: 550/550

Mana Regeneration: 5 per Second

t.i.tles:

Favorite of the Source(Mana Regeneration Buff Effect)

Incomplete Lifeform(Slow Decay)

Spell Craftsman(Mana Structures are More Easily Comprehended)

Lord of Beasts(Beast Taming Buff)

Musician to the Dead(Undead Aggression is Less Likely)

Fox of Twilight(Light and Dark Spells Grow Faster to be Balanced)

RaIcial Talents:

Regeneration(Kitsune)

Flame Immunity(Kitsune)

Instinctual Perception(Kitsune)

Elemental Resistance(Dungeon Construct)

Cla.s.s Skills

a.n.a.lyze V [Max Until Evolution]

Elemental Resonance II [Proficiency 54%]

Spell Symphony I [Proficiency 83%]

Silk Speech I [Proficiency 38%]

Mind Puppet II [Proficiency 21%]

Crisis Detection II [Proficiency 76%]

Vital Targeting III [Proficiency 64%]

Adaptive Melee Arts II [Proficiency 84%]

Spirit Magic I [Proficiency 50%]

Spellcasting

Dark Spirit Magic I [Proficiency 62%] Tier-0

FoxFire V [Max Until Evolution] Tier-3

Freezing/Burning V [Max Until Evolution] Tier-0

Flame Weapon I [Proficiency 60%] Tier-2

Healing Light IV [Proficiency 14%] Tier-0

Healing Star IV [Proficiency 12%] Tier-1

Healing Mist I [Proficiency 74%] Tier-1

Sacred Flame III [Proficiency 22%] Tier-1

Metal Decay I [Proficiency 3%] Tier-3

Flashbang I [Proficiency 17%] Tier-1

WindBlade III [Proficiency 8%] Tier-0

Detonation II [Proficiency 38%] Tier-1

Silence I [Proficiency 2%] Tier-1

Spatial Rend I [Proficiency 7%] Tier-2

Ice Arrow II [Proficiency 3%] Tier-0

Trans.m.u.tation I [Proficiency 36%] Tier-3

Techniques

Cosmos Mana Flow IV [Proficiency 82%]

Soul-Split I [Proficiency 83%]

BloodThirst II [Proficiency 12%]

Empathy V [Max Until Evolution]

Running V [Max Until Evolution]

Dodge III [Proficiency 46%]

Spell Storage II [Proficiency 36%]

Mana Grip II [Proficiency 2%]

Cooking III [Proficiency 6%]