Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn opened his eyes and noticed he was surrounded by an endless expanse of darkness. His body felt heavy and weightless at the same time; it was like he had fallen into a deep abyssal ocean and continued descending further into the darkness. Vahn struggled to move his body, desperately attempting to resist falling deeper into the abyss.A powerful sensation could be felt welling up inside his chest. Heat began to expand to dissipate the cold that had been permeating throughout his body. His body almost felt like it was 'thawing' with the heat as he slowly regained the ability to move. Starting from his fingers and toes, until spreading to his arms and legs. As he regained functionality in his limbs, Vahn tried swimming upward against the pressure that had been weighing him down.The heat continued building within Vahn allowing him greater freedom of movement. His heart felt like it was pumping with a mad intensity and his chest began glowing with a crimson light. The light spread from his heart and began to extend to the rest of Vahn's body. As the intensity of the light increased, the darkness around Vahn began to lose its power to restrain him. Vahn doubled his efforts and started rising to escape the pressure.The further he moved up, the less restraint he felt against his body. An excitement began to build within Vahn as his desire for freedom grew to a breaking point. The echoes of laughter began to sound in his mind, and Vahn recognized the voice as his own. No sound came from his lips in the vast emptiness of this space, but he could feel the intent behind the laugh sounding fervently within his mind.Suddenly, the crimson light in Vahn's chest took on a golden hue as it erupted from his body. Vahn ceased his struggles and roared powerfully through the darkness. Flames emerged from his body that formed a sphere of inviolable territory that banished the encroaching darkness. The flames continued to expand until, from an outside view, Vahn's body now looked like a small sun floating through endless space.Vahn bathed in the warmth of his own flames and enjoyed the powerful feeling pulsing through his veins. From around his body, several images began to form within the domain of flames. Starting from their eyes, four creatures formed within the void and looked at the dazed human before them. Their eyes had a reverence contained within as they all lowered their heads towards the boy.Vahn looked curiously at the four creatures and understood what they represented. They were the forms of his [Rakshasa Body] and were a white-tiger, black-turtle, virmilion-bird, and azure-dragon. Each had an awe-inspiring majesty and radiated with infinite power...a power which submitted itself to Vahn. Smiling, Vahn reached out his hand to the closest creature, the white-tiger, and placed his palm on the 'king' symbol of its forehead.A powerful rumble came from the tiger's body as it opened its eyes toward Vahn. Vahn stared into the azure blue eyes and felt like its depths exceeded even the expanse of the void he had previously thought to be infinite. Within the eyes, Vahn saw life, death, wisdom, and an insurmountable pride that formed the core of the tiger's being. But, even with all these things, it still looked towards Vahn with expectation and obeisance.Vahn smiled and whispered with a powerful voice that tore through the void. No sound came from his lips, but space around was filled with a single word, almost like an irrefutable claim recognized by creation itself. "Báihǔ."'Hearing' its name, the tiger raised it's head and roared. Space around completely shattered as the darkness formed shards like broken glass that dissipated into nothingness. A white expanse began to form around the domain Vahn had established. Looking around, Vahn felt an immense pride welling up inside him as his consciousness began to fade. He looks toward the other three creatures that had the same expectation on their face as Báihǔ previously.He stared into each of their eyes in turn before his mind faded completely. The next moment, Vahn was waking up on the cold hard floor of the dungeon. All around his body there was a black, foul-smelling substance which covered the majority of his skin. Vahn's nose scrunched up after smelling the odor, so he pulled out his [Decanter of Replenishment] to clean his body.Afterward, as he was still naked, Vahn pulled out his spare equipment and adorned it on his body. He was now wearing his normal equipment as his fire-proof stuff had been incinerated by the crimson flames that had surged out of his body. He looked towards the ground where he had fallen which had now formed into a smooth, somewhat glassy, black color.("Sis, that was the third form of my [Rakshasa Body], wasn't it? Such powerful flames...") Vahn felt like the flames weren't natural as even his 'eternal flame' didn't seem to have such power.(*That is correct Vahn. The third form is that of the Zhūquè, or the vermillion-bird. It seems to enhance your bodies regeneration to an incredible extent while greatly increasing your offensive capabilities at the cost of your defense.*)Vahn nodded, he had noticed that the fractures in his arms had been rapidly regenerating during his fall. Now, his body was completely uninjured and he even felt a powerful energy coursing through his veins. Curious, Vahn inspected his body using his mental energies and found the source of the new energy. The golden colored 'eternal flame' in his chest now had a crimson hue to it and burned with a much greater intensity than before.The 'eternal flame' seemed to notice his presence as it began to dance around excitedly with unbound jubilation. Vahn could feel a 'happiness' coming from the flame as it seemed to be thanking him. Vahn smiled, imaging happy feelings of his own, and directed them towards the 'eternal flame' to let it know he was also happy seeing its change.---Vahn was now on the 14th floor with no easy way to progress. He now had just 300OP left to spend before he would exceed the quest limitation. As he had entered the dungeon with the intent of completing the quest, Vahn didn't want to turn back after his first major setback. Now that he had avoided the danger, he felt it would be a waste to return empty-handed.Van began to weigh the benefits of advancing and retreating. If he pressed forward he would be able to gain a larger amount of OP from stronger monsters, but there was an obvious risk factor involved. Retreating would allow him to inform the Guild of the existence of the Juggernaut, but it would also draw a lot of attention to himself as the person who submitted the information. Even Vahn couldn't imagine how a Level 2 would have been able to survive after encountering such a monstrosity...While he was stuck trying to make a decision, Vahn decided to inspect his own stats. He had experienced a great amount of danger and managed to survive against the odds. With his new [Rakshasa Body] transformation, it was very likely the skill had increased as well.-------------------------------------------------------------------------[[Stats]]Name: [Vahn Mason]Age: 14Race: Human, *sealed*Parameter: [Danmachi: 1-4]-Level:2(2)-Power:1001+(E498)-&gt;(C609)-Endurance:1108+(C665)-&gt;(S914)-Dexterity:887+(F372)-&gt;(E470)-Agility:940+(E449)-&gt;(D551)-Magic:1611+(B750)-&gt;(S949)Total:5547+(2734)-&gt;(3393)Soul Strength: Tier 2 (Hero Soul)[Karma]: 1,022[OP]: 182,037[Valis]: 171,630-------------------------------------------------------------------------[OP]Spent: 99,700/100,000Sure enough, exposing oneself to danger and surviving had a large influence on his growth. He still had a long way to go, but Vahn was grateful that he had at least obtained something for his troubles. If only he had been able to kill the Juggernaut somehow...Vahn shook his head as the thought entered his mind. The Juggernaut was far stronger than even Tsubaki; the fact that he was even able to wound it was almost unbelievable.Thinking back to the incident, Vahn was very satisfied with the outcome. [Call of the Reaper] was far stronger than the expected, and even the Juggernauts enhanced senses weren't able to detect the arrow before it was too late. If he had been stronger and possessed enough energy to charge that arrow, it was possible Vahn would have been able to kill the beast before it was even aware of what happened. That [Yi] arrow had a terrifying power, and Vahn knew he hadn't even scratched the surface of its full potential. The fact it cost 5x more than his [Runic Tamahagane Blade: A] was enough to indicate how powerful it was.A thought suddenly occurred and Vahn asked Sis to display the arrows information. Since he had purchased it, even though he hadn't inspected it at the time, he should still be able to access information related to the arrow. Sure enough, an information window appeared in his vision and Vahn read the details of the arrow.---[Yi]Rank:S-SSSSlots:0P.Atk:0M.Atk:0Use: Energy can be infused in this godly arrow to create the depiction of 10 Suns. Each Sun increases the Physical and Magical attack by 1000 points. Further channeling energy into the arrow will extinguish the suns and increase the arrows might. P.Atk/M.Atk + 10,000(number of suns extinguished). This arrow is restricted by the worlds 'laws' and cannot exceed the strength of four suns.---The stats of the arrow were incredible, and given the 300% damage increase from his [Call of the Reaper], Vahn must have hit the Juggernaut with an attack ranging between 20-25k total power. He was able to infer this due to the fact he had almost extinguished a single sun by about 70%. If he had been able to channel just a bit more energy, Vahn believed he might have been able to kill the Juggernaut if he was lucky...Vahn decided that once he finished his weapon quest, he would purchase several [Yi] for emergency situations. Unlike other arrows, they seemed to be single use but Vahn couldn't help but respect the awesome scene he had observed earlier. That single arrow managed to severely wound a creature near Level 7 even though Vahn was currently only Level 2.As he continued to inspect his stats and items, Vahn noticed a peculiarity in his skill section. His [Rakshasa Body] had increased from F to E, but there was new information listed within the description that caught Vahn's attention.---[Rakshasa Body]Rank: Innate, (F) *Innate skills cannot be identified. Attempts to do so will result in a backlash.*[Passive]: Provides a large increase to pain resistance. Allows the body to disperse internal forces. Increases bodies natural regeneration by a moderate amount.[Active]: Increases power and endurance based on damage received. Moderate stamina consumption.[Actiive]: Allows the user to instantly activate awakened forms.Awakening: [???]0%,[???]10%,[???]31%,[Báihǔ]100%---Vahn was surprised at the vast improvement, but considering it was an [Innate] skill, it wasn't that difficult to imagine it had limitless potential. If Vahn had to wait until he was near death to make use of the skill it wouldn't be very helpful. Now that he could activate it whenever he wanted, it would greatly enhance his combat capabilities.Focusing his mind, Vahn began channeling energy into his body. He could feel a burning sensation on his back and could hear a word whispering within his mind. The sensation in his back began to grow as the voice repeated the word over and over. Vahn understood he had to repeat the name, so he muttered, "Báihǔ".The moment the word left his lips, his forearms and legs immediately grew a flawless white fur with black stripes. Unlike the previous off-white color, it was now an unblemished and pure white with a stark and beautiful black color. The claws on his hands seemed far more powerful and the muscles in his body felt both taut and stringy at the same time. Vahn felt like his body was full of explosive power, and he tested it out by launching himself forward.The ground shattered at Vahn's feet as he moved nearly three times his original speed and almost crashed into the wall 20m opposite of his starting position. Using his enhanced senses and flexibility, Vahn bent his body like a bow and sprung off the wall leaving indentations where his feet had landed. He spun several times in the air before landing nimbly back on his feet.Vahn was amazed at his own acrobatic display, as he had never really been focused on agility as much as his other stats. The light feeling of his body and the flexibility of his bones left him in shock. If he could sustain this form whenever he pleased, Vahn felt like even most Level 3s wouldn't be able to fight against him.With an idea popping up in his mind, Vahn smiled while channeling his [Will of the Emperor]. He infused flame elemental energy into the domain and began absorbing it in large quantities into his body. The stark white hair on his body began to glow with a golden luster as the palms and claws of his hands began to radiate with an intense heat. Vahn took a deep breath and adapted to the enhancement of his body and senses.He suddenly opened his eyes before kicking away from the ground with his maximum strength. Vahn could feel his body pass through some kind of membrane as the air exploded around his body. Using his fierce momentum, Vahn smashed his fist into the hard bedrock walls. A powerful energy erupted from his body and channeled itself into the wall where, nearly an entire second later, it exploded.The explosion caused the wall to fissure with a web-like pattern as the ceiling above gave in after losing its support. Vahn jumped backward and waited for the dust to settle before staring into the empty space beyond the wall he had just destroyed. With his perception, he had been able to sense a corridor parallel to the one he was currently in, and now Vahn was able to spread his senses into the now open room.Several monsters, including Hell Hound and Almiraj, were startled by the sudden collapse of the wall and stared with red eyes towards the intruder. Seeing Vahn emerge from the hole, they immediately began attacking. Vahn smiled and spread both arms wide as if he were accepting their challenge. The aura radiating from his body caused his hair to dance in the wind created by his domain as he bent forward and dashed towards the monsters with his bare hands.After a few minutes, Vahn had cleared the entire room and earned 611 OP for his efforts. He smiled and stared towards the ceiling before shaking his head. Now was not the time to retreat, instead, Vahn decided to venture further into the dungeon and continue towards the 18th floor. He would be able to rest there before working on completing his quest. Doing so would allow him to increase his strength even further, and he could use the time to work on awakening his other forms. If Vahn could get to the point where he could channel the flames of the vermillion-bird, he felt like there were few things that could stall his progress in the future.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Dump : Dump','Maybe it's not a phase','Milan's Intuition','RIP Hephaestus')

Vahn continued to make his way through the 14th floor while familiarizing himself with his Báihǔ form. Using it in conjunction with [Will of the Emperor] increased his perception and awareness to incredible levels. Vahn couldn't just 'sense' things within the domain, he could smell, hear, and see things far more clearly than before. Instead of the passive stance, Vahn always assumed in fights, where he would dodge and evade enemies while countering, now he was aggressively fighting the enemies with his bare hands.With the 'burning' attribute and his absorption of flame elements, Vahn was able to deal debilitating blows to monsters. It was a very weird sensation to feel bones breaking and watching as monsters were deformed under the power of his blows. With his enhanced vision, Vahn was even able to experience a moment where he punched a monster and was able to actually see the shockwave pass through its body in slow motion.Most of the monsters he encountered were the Hell Hounds and Almiraj he had grown accustomed to fighting, but after an hour of travel Vahn finally encountered something new. It was a giant boar monster that was slightly more than 2m tall. It looked to weight around 1000kg and left tracks inside the hard floor as it rushed towards Vahn. Vahn recognized the creature as a Battle Boar which was known for their explosive rushes and incredibly durable skin.Unfortunately for the boar, it wasn't able to change directions quickly when it was charging. Vahn was able to leap over the Battle Boar and get behind it. As it tried to change direction and charge again, Vahn attacked its unguarded flank with his strongest punch. His fist sunk into the hard flesh and a burning smell began to spread in the air, but that was the extent of the damage. Vahn jumped back as the boar tried to maul him with its large tusks.It was no wonder the compendium said that Battle Boars were known for their durability. When Vahn's fist had collided with its side, it almost felt like the shockwave, he had grown used to feeling, was dispersed. He assumed the boar had some kind of natural ability to repel/disperse shocks similar to his [Rakshasa Body] passive. The boar madly charged towards Vahn with a red gleam in its eyes as it spewed drool all over the place in its rage.Vahn side-stepped the boar, and instead of punching, he lashed out with his super-heated claws. One of the changes brought about by his Báihǔ form was a set of razor-sharp claws that extended nearly 5cm from each finger. Combining their sharpness with the flame elemental attacks made them able to easily rend through flesh. As his fingers swept across the side of the boar, they sunk deep into the thick hide and left cauterized wounds in their wake.The Battle Boar flinched at the pain, the gleam in its eyes intensifying, as it continued to attack without hesitation. Vahn noticed that the longer he fought the beast, the larger it became and the more ferocious its attacks. The blackish-brown skin of the boar had started to take on a red hue and Vahn noticed steam began to erupt from its nostrils with each breath.As it began its charge, Vahn sighed before taking out his [Runic Tamahagane Blade]. It was very difficult to kill the boar using just his hands because it was resistant to strikes and his claws couldn't cut deeply enough into the flesh to cause any serious damages. Readying his sword, Vahn also charged towards the enraged beast with a fearless expression.The Battle Boar roared loudly as it accepted the challenge of the boy before it. It increased its pace and intended to tear Vahn apart using its massive tusks. The two forms, one large boar, and one small boy, continued to charge at each other without any hesitation. Just as they were about to cross paths, Vahn planted his left foot into the ground at a sidewards angle before twisting his waist and turning his back toward the Battle Boar.The boar intended to run right through his defenseless body, but just as it was about to make contact, Vahn kicked the ground and did a backflip over the charging beast. The boar tilted its head slightly to stare at the figure above its head who returned his gaze with a confident expression. While Vahn was in the air, he swapped out his sword for his bow and loosed an arrow into the exposed eye that was glaring at him.Jerking its head sideways from the painful impact, the boar lost control of its charge and skid across the bedrock wall. Its tusks carved through the hard surface and slowed its momentum. With the arrow still lodged in its eye, it turned towards the boy to continue its charge. However, no matter where the boar looked, it couldn't find any traces of the boy's presence.Even in its enraged state, the boar was still capable of thinking and it was confused at how the enemy it had been fighting suddenly vanished. Suddenly, a painful sensation came from the side of its body where it had been blinded. Its head rolled from its body and it could see the form of its enemy holding a glowing golden blade next to its body that was still standing in its place.Before the Battle Boar lost consciousness for the last time, it saw the boy look towards it with a mocking expression on his face. Vahn had seen the boar hadn't died instantly, so he smiled towards the head that now lay on the ground. He had used the blind spot created when he shot out the boar's eye to create an opening to behead the creature. Though Vahn felt a little guilty at exploiting its weakness, he had no obligation to fight fairly against monsters that were trying to kill him. Even ones that seemed to mindlessly charge forward and fight their enemies directly.Vahn removed the core from the boar's 'corpse' as both the head and body began to dissolve into dust. He noticed there was a strange pelt that had been left behind that looked similar to the boar's hide. Thinking it could be a good material to make armor in the future, Vahn ended up keeping it in his inventory instead of exchanging it for OP. A master smith like Tsubaki or Hephaestus would be able to bring out the inherent qualities of such a material and Vahn would be able to possess the same shock-resistant functions as the boar possessed in life.This was one of the first fights that Vahn actually enjoyed to this extent. The boar wasn't an easy opponent he could simply vanquish with a single strike like the Hell Hounds and Almiraj that endlessly pestered him. He had to use all of his skills to come out on top and it took a great deal more effort than most of his fights. Vahn began to hope there would be similar situations in the future as he turned towards the corridor and delved deeper into the 14th floor.By the time Vahn reached the stairs more than five hours had passed. Combining this with the amount of time he spent on the 13th floor and passed out on the 14th floor, it was now nearly 8 PM. Though Vahn wasn't really tired, since the 'eternal flame' seemed to be providing him with excess amounts of energy, he decided to take a break. He sat down and reviewed his spoils and progress.Each Hell Hound, even though they weren't that strong, gave Vahn around 23-27OP each. The Almiraj, though they were harder to deal with than the Hell Hounds, only gave a pitiable 18-20OP each. The good thing about both was they were incredibly common, so Vahn had been able to earn a total of 14,779 in his five-hour stint. His total OP was brought up to 196,816 and he was getting increasingly closer to obtaining a fifth of the required amount for his quest.Vahn pulled out the large core he had obtained from the Battle Boar. So far he had kept both the core and the pelt, as he felt it was a shame to turn it into OP for now. Generally speaking, the magic core obtained from a monster was the optimal catalyst for the forging of weapons and armors. Since Vahn wanted to use the hide, he decided to hold onto the core for now even though it should be worth a few hundred points.Staring into the purple-blue crystalline structure, Vahn was captivated by the swirling energies contained within. He always found magic cores to be interesting, and higher grade cores like this one were even beautiful to look at. They were like dark gems that sparkled with light at their cores, and Vahn had thought about crafting accessories or imbuing them into weapons as decorations.Vahn continued admiring the stone before placing it back into his inventory. He shouldn't be wasting too much time focusing on other things while he was still in the dungeon. Once he got to Riviria he would have time to consider his options and make further plans. For now, Vahn pulled out some food and ate a hearty meal. Afterward, he wiped down his body using a sponge and water from his canteen. He couldn't do much to clean his clothing, but it was better than nothing.Once he had finished his preparations, it was now close to 9 PM, but as Vahn wasn't tired he decided to press onward. Entering into his Báihǔ form, Vahn crossed the threshold into the 15th floor. This was one of the floors he looked forward to the most and was also the reason he didn't feel like resting just yet. Vahn could feel anticipation building in him as he walked down the corridor towards his first room.Entering the room, Vahn could feel the blood begin to boil in his veins. Standing near the center of the 30m wide room was a pair of monsters that he had been wanting to fight for a long time. They were Minotaurs, and they stood around 2-3m each with massive and muscular builds. They each had fierce looking bull heads and large bristled manes that reached around their head and covered their necks and shoulders. They stood on two powerful hooved legs and the larger of the two even carried with it a broken sword that was full of nicks and chips.The moment he entered the room, both Minotaurs immediately noticed him and began to amble towards him menacingly. They each had vicious expressions as they groaned while emitting waves of hot air and steam. Vahn got into his battle stance after putting away his sword. He intended to fight them unarmed unless it was too difficult, as using a sword would give him too much of an advantage given his current parameters. Minotaurs might be a major threat to most Level 2's, but Vahn's enhancements from his Báihǔ form and [Will of the Emperor] gave him stats that would easily rival a Level 3.A golden aura danced around Vahn as he dashed towards the closest Minotaur. It used its broken sword and tried to attack, but Vahn accelerated at the last moment before dashing cleanly through its open legs. As he passed, Vahn used his claws to sever the femoral arteries on both legs. The Minotaur fell forward in pain as buckets of blood began to pour out of the exposed veins. It was unable to support itself without leaning against the blade.Vahn continued his charge towards the unarmed second Minotaur. It tried using its powerful arms to smash at the nimble Vahn. Vahn broke his own momentum by kicking the ground outside the range of the Minotaur's attack. Its fists slammed heavy into the ground and caused cracks in the bedrock, but Vahn ignored the attack as he had already launched himself towards the Minotaur's face.Using his super-heated claws, Vahn grabbed the head of the Minotaur as he pressed both of his thumbs deep into the eye-sockets of the monster. As it tried to grab him in its blind flurry, Vahn kicked off with force and broke both collarbones of the Minotaur as he vaulted backward in the air before landing back on his feet.The first Minotaur stared at Vahn as it waited for its wounds to recover while the second was blindly flailing its dangling arms around. At one point it collided with its larger companion and brought both of them to the ground. As the Minotaur had dropped the sword, Vahn recovered it into his inventory before equipping it. He inspected the badly damaged blade before approaching the two disorganized monsters.Raising the sword, which had likely belonged to one of their victims, Vahn issued a silent prayer towards the unlucky fellow as he split the larger Minotaur's head. The second Minotaur kept flailing about, unable to stand back up without the use of its arms, so Vahn stabbed it through the back of the neck and brought its struggles to the end. All in all, both Minotaurs combined posed less of a threat than the Battle Boar he had fought previously.Though they had a fearsome strength that could overwhelm weaker adventurers, they lacked the mobility and durability to resist Vahn's attacks. Since they had relatively humanoid forms, they also possessed similar weaknesses and the vital spots of their bodies were easy to identify. There were few people who knew the location of major veins and arteries better than Vahn.Vahn recovered the two cores and was happy to notice they were worth 113 and 139 OP each. With a smile on his face, Vahn walked forward to find his next target. Still wielding the broken sword, Vahn had decided he would use it to slay as many Minotaurs as he could before finding a place to properly lay it to rest. Hopefully, the person that had left it behind would find some solace in the act.(A/N: Alternate Titles:'Minotaurs ain't scary','No tomatoes today','Vahn is confirmed furry at this point','Battle Boar got cheated','If Vahn is fighting through the night, doesn't that mean Hephaestus is stuck trying to sleep while his heart beats loudly/excitedly in her soul?','Agility is OP')

Vahn continued running towards the exit, but as he had spent more than two hours on the floor he was nowhere near close enough to escape his pursuer. He was now able to feel the dense structure of the dungeon tremble as dust particles began raining from the cracks in the ceiling. Vahn's mind was racing to come up with a solution, but there was nothing in his inventory that could slow the 'monster' down.All the confidence Vahn had been building in the last two months couldn't prevent his mind from collapsing due to the fear he was feeling. The closer the presence got, the more dread spread in his heart and mind as Vahn felt death inching ever closer. Vahn wasn't afraid of death itself, but he couldn't help but have regrets considering everything he would be leaving behind.Though he was still growing accustomed to this world. there were several things he had already grown attached to. The places, the people, and especially the food; all of these things were irreplaceable to the current Vahn and he feared that no matter what worlds he might visit in the future, he would never be able to reclaim what he lost by dying now. All the promises he made to the people he cared about, all the hopes they placed in him...Vahn was afraid of losing them all...As a last resort, Vahn found a large rock stratum and tried to conceal himself. He willed his domain to the smallest possible size as he wedged his body into the crevasse and infused his [Stealth] skill in an effort to hide his presence. Vahn held his breath as he felt the vibrations of the rocks against his body. Every lumbering step of the creature caused the entire floor to rumble in its wake.After twenty seconds, Vahn finally caught sight of the monster that had been pursuing him and his mind went completely blank. The 'monster' was more like a 'nightmare' in comparison to anything else he had ever seen. It had a long skeletal body more than 10m in length with several boney appendages adorned with claws that easily cut into the dense bedrock of the dungeon. Its head was a ghastly visage of a dragon's skull while its eyes seemed to be able to shatter the confidence of anyone that gazed into them.The monster that had been pursuing him was considered the most dangerous entity in the dungeon and has led to the death of thousands of adventurers since the creation of the dungeon. It was a Juggernaut, the dungeons automated defense system that spawned only when a severe amount of damage had been done to the dungeon's structure. From the moment it spawned it would slaughter every single adventurer on the floor until the dungeon had been restored.Vahn didn't know how strong the creature was, but the compendium listed it as an SS-Ranked threat even S-Ranked Familia had to seriously prepare for (A/N: Loki/Freya Familias). That meant it would be able to pose a threat to core parties that consisted almost entirely of ranked 4-6 Adventurers. And that is if they all fought it together...As Vahn was alone, encountering a Juggernaut meant certain death if he was found.The moment the Juggernaut entered the room it stopped. It used it's eerie glowing eyes to sweep the room where its 'prey' had vanished. Vahn could feel a weird sensation like some kind of filament was being spread through the air. It was probing the entire room and even began to inspect the area where Vahn was currently hidden. As the strange 'sensation' came into contact with his domain it seemed to stall and move slowly as if it was searching for something. Vahn had no idea if his domain had tipped it off, but he continued holding his breath and praying.Vahn could 'see' the invisible sensation extend tendrils that tested the area inside his domain. In the distance, he could see the Juggernaut had stopped and was staring off into space like it was lost in thought. Sweat began to build upon Vahn's brow as his lungs began starving for air. He managed to resist the temptation to draw breath until the point his body began to change from the pain that was beginning to build in his lungs.The tendrils continued to inspect the crevasse where Vahn was located and crept within 50cm of his position. As there was nothing else beyond his location, Vahn would be unable to flee any further into the crevasse. The only thing he could do was hope that something else drew the Juggernaut away before it found his hiding spot. By now his form had changed entirely into his white-tiger transformation as his vision began to fade. Darkness slowly crept into his sight and Vahn knew it wasn't long before he lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen...Vahn felt something 'snap' inside his mind and a powerful pulsation erupting from his chest. The 'eternal flame' began trying to nourish his body by absorbing oxygen through his pores and diffusing it into his blood, but the rate was far too slow to make a difference in the current situation. The tendrils had crept to within 20cm and the Juggernaut remained idle in the center of the room. Vahn had no hope that it would leave so he took a drastic action.Vahn equipped his bow and had Sis purchase the strongest arrow he could afford. Within his inventory, a single black arrow appeared simply called [Yi] 10,000OP. Vahn knocked the bow and began to infuse as much mana as he could into the arrow which slowly took on a golden hue displaying the relief of a man surrounded by ten suns. As Vahn channeled more of his 'source energy' into the arrow the suns began to turn black at a very slow rate. Before Vahn was able to make a single sun go dark his body was almost completely drained of energy.He loosed the arrow while willing his [Call of the Reaper] to activate. The moment the skill took affect the arrow seemed to turn invisible as it traveled silently through the air towards the Juggernauts head. Vahn's eyes tracked the arrow in slow motion as the darkness continued encroaching into his vision. The arrow passed completely unnoticed by the creature until it was mere millimeters away from striking the bone-like skull.The moment before the arrow made contact, the Juggernaut sensed the presence of death but was unable to identify the source before the arrow collided with the side of its face. A powerful energy erupted like a small sun before immediately collapsing into a gravitational well that seemed intent to devour everything around it. The Juggernaut screamed in pain as it tried to escape the pull of the miniature 'black hole'.The tendrils immediately vanished and Vahn launched himself from the crevasse. The Juggernaut saw the human and knew it was the source of its current predicament. It screamed a shriek so shrill and loud that Vahn collapsed to the ground before picking himself back up moments later. The Juggernaut was still trying to escape the effect of the arrow that seemed to warp space was around the impact area and distorted the image of its body.Vahn noticed that, even though it was unable to move, only small parts of the Juggernaut were actually being damaged. He couldn't stick around and see the outcome since, if it was not killed, he would die soon after the effect ended. Making his way towards the nearest corridor, Vahn continued to run towards the exit. It was known that a Juggernaut couldn't leave the floor it spawned on, so Vahn was determined to escape by reaching the stairs.Several loud shrieks sounded from behind and the dungeon seemed to stress from the terrifying reverberations. The walls began to distort as several monsters spawned in an effort to slow Vahn's progress. Pushing his [WIll of the Emperor] to its limits and swallowing a [Sensu Bean], Vahn began cutting his way through the crowd of monsters. As he was still in his white-tiger form, his agility was much higher than normal and he was able to evade the majority of monsters by vaulting off the walls.Suddenly, Vahn felt a powerful tremor pass through the dungeon floor which stunned both himself and the monsters. Everyone collapsed to the ground, but Vahn was able to recover before increasing his pace even further. He knew the Juggernaut had most likely escaped and he hadn't made nearly enough progress towards the stairs. It had been less than a minute since he separated from the Juggernaut, and even with his fast pace, it would quickly catch up to him.Vahn quickly looked at his quest log and noticed he had spent 99,700/100,00OP. He had less than 300OP to spend before he automatically failed his quest and lost access to his system shop for an entire year. Gritting his teeth, Vahn struggled with the idea of purchasing more [Yi] arrows to buy time or if he should leave his fate to chance and try to buy a stronger piece of equipment.His thoughts were suddenly brought to a halt as a powerful collision sounded at his back. Looking behind, Vahn could see the Juggernaut missing half its face as it stared at Vahn with absolute hatred in its eyes. Even with the severe injury, its speed wasn't reduced as it used its powerful limbs to grab the wall and lurch itself forward.Vahn was out of time. Even if he wanted to purchase an item it wouldn't change the result of the situation. Using the only option available, Vahn leaped towards the Juggernaut. Surprised that its prey would take the initiative to attack, the Juggernaut actually hesitated slightly. The memory of that arrow was fresh in its mind and it thought the small, insignificant creature had another trick up its sleeve.The Juggernaut used the wall as leverage to spin rapidly in the air and swipe towards Vahn with its whip-like serrated tail. Vahn drew his [Lion's Pride] and cut towards the incoming tail as he attempted to slide under the attack. The moment the blade made contact it cut several centimeters into the tail before getting caught and ripped from Vahn's hands. The winds trailing the tail left several lacerations on Vahn's arms and his body began changing into his black-turtle form as the wounds slowly started to close.Without turning his head, Vahn retrieved the now bent blade that had been lodged into the dungeon wall using his domain. He continued sprinting forward as the Juggernaut repositioned and tried to crush the now fleeing target. After Vahn failed to severe its tail, the Juggernaut believed he had no other means of resistance and attacked without further hesitation.Vahn could feel death drop from above as a shadow began to press on his position. He jumped, twisting his body in mid-air and crossing both arms that were now covered in the black scales. The spear-like claws of the Juggernaut collided with his defense and Vahn could feel both of his arms fracture from the impact. One of the claws managed to pierce his defense and penetrated his left lung and shattered several of his ribs.Carried by the force of the blow, Vahn was jettisoned towards the direction he had leaped previously. The Juggernaut noticed what he was trying to do and screeched before launching himself towards Vahn. Vahn used what remained of his strength and oriented both of his broken arms towards the Juggernaut. Lifting the middle fingers of both hands, Vahn mouthed the words through his blood-croaked mouth. 'Fuck You'With that parting gift, Vahn fell into the hole behind him. He dropped down into the darkness and saw the Juggernaut stop, unable to enter after him. It screamed at the top of its lungs and began hurling rocks towards Vahn who was quickly descending to the 14th floor. Vahn bit down on the [Senzu Bean] he had kept in his mouth and tried intercepting the rocks as his wounds rapidly healed.Each collision was like being hit by a sledgehammer as Vahn used the increased defense of his body to resist the blows. He could feel his just-healed bones begin to fracture once again as a vibrant red light began appearing from cracks in his body. Heat began to well up from within and Vahn could feel the 'eternal flame' in his chest dancing in anticipation.As he continued to fall, a rock far larger than the others fell towards him with a frightful velocity. Even if Vahn could deflect it, he would be crushed by the rock the moment he landed on the floor below. Instead of simply defending himself, Vahn punched out with all his might towards the giant boulder. The moment of collision seemed to affect the cracks that had appeared in Vahn's skin. His arms felt like they exploded as a crimson flame began to burn from his body. The powerful shockwave carried through the boulder before splintering it into smaller shards.Seeing it's final desperate attack had failed, the Juggernaut loudly screeched towards the boy that had escaped its grasp. Vahn, on the other hand, was in a daze as he stared at his body that had begun to burn with an intense flame that also incinerated all of his equipment. Feather-like flames had emerged from the cracks in his body and generated a terrible heat that had even caused the surrounding walls to heat up with a red glow.Vahn twisted his body so that he could see the approaching ground. Though there were several small rocks still following his descent, he would deal with them when the time came. As he had already fallen for several seconds, his velocity has already reached a lethal degree. Vahn trusted his instincts as he pointed both of his arms towards the approaching ground.Responding to his intent, the feathers on his body came alive and large amounts of crimson flames began to erupt from the palms of Vahn's hands. They continued forward as pillars of fire that instantly melted the bedrock surface of the dungeon floor. Vahn continued channeling the flames until his body fell into the molten pool of rock and disappeared.The pool continued to burn brighter and brighter until the yellow-orange molten rock took on a crimson hue. As the crimson glow moved further towards the edge of the pool, the heat began to spread to other rocks in the surroundings and the dungeon appeared as if it was melting before a head popped out of the surface of the pool.Vahn walked out of the molten rock bare naked and with a relieved expression on his face. He looked upwards towards the hole he had just fallen from. "One day, I will kill you and the person who created you. I will burn this dungeon to the ground and all the terrors contained within. I will burn it all."Saying his piece, Vahn turned around and started walking deeper into the 14th floor. He made it about ten steps before the flames on his body extinguished and he passed out, still naked, onto the hard floor of the dungeon.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Flame Emperor','Consecutive Close Calls','Extinguish the Sun : [Yi]','Poor Hephaestus')

Chapter 80: Benefits of Survival