One With The Abyss

I could feel the power awakening within me, and at the same time my aura stirred; but I was too tired to care.

My consciousness slipped and I allowed myself to fall into a deep slumber. With [Superior Regeneration] I didn't have to worry about any injuries I had and just enjoyed sleeping in the dusty safe zone of this dungeon.

I slept a dreamless night and awoke to a series of system messages. I appreciated my new system, it offered abilities that the old one didn't; ones that properly synergised to my abilities. Take [Abyss] for an example, it held 7 gates, but it also told me the powers each gate granted - though this did not include the locked gates.

[Abyss]

[You are the Abyss. All time, space and matter converge upon you. Existence begins and ends within your being. Open the gates and all will be within your grasp]

[Creation (1/1)]

[Talent Absorption]

[Abyssal Cultivation]

[Formless (0/1)]

[???]

[Weightless (0/1)]

[???]

[Timeless (0/1)]

[???]

[Dominion (0/1)]

[???]

[Void (0/1)]

[???]

[Eternal (0/1)]

[???]

While I could only see the abilities I had unlocked, it was still more than what the old system could do; take [Shapeshifting] for example.

[Shapeshifting (8/9)]

[Freely alter your form into the shape you desire; in order to grasp what it is you deserve]

[Transformation]

[Free-Form]

[Biological Index]

[Biological Index] just opened up a list of every race I had used my absorption ability.

I could now see exactly what the ability did, now I understood why I could change into anything I used [Absorption] on; the [Biological Index]. I had thought it had been the result of my [Absorption], a random synergy between the 2 abilities; but perhaps not. It seemed the [Shapeshifting] ability was already capable of this already and the slime I had gotten the ability from likely had a skill that would do what my [Abyss] talent did. 

Knowing how my abilities worked really helped me in improving them.

Anyway, having awoken I could see that one of my oldest talents had finally activated, more than that it also seemed to have stimulated my aura which now looked closer to completion. It was great, I now had my soul weapon and was close to unlocking my aura!

I looked over the system messages I had gotten from awakening my soul weapon.

[Talent: <Soul Weapon (0/9)> has awoken]

[Talent: <Soul Weapon (0/9)>, has become Talent: <Avarice (1/9)>]

"Avarice..." I muttered, "What the hell does that mean?"

"Just look over the talent and see what it says, since the name has changed, the description definitely will have as well." Abby was as rational as always.

[Avarice (1/9)]

[The deepest region of your soul has manifested in order to grant: <Avarice>]

[Indestructible]

[Weapon Summoning]

[All-Master]

[Shapeshift]

[Assimilate]

"Hmm." I look over the abilities of what the talent did. For starters the first 2 abilities seemed like something all soul weapons would be granted; the first massively improved the durability of the weapon, but did not make it actually indestructible, despite the name. What it did was make it very hard to damage and should it be destroyed, the weapon will return to my soul and reform, allowing me to use it again.

The second ability was another average ability, it allowed me to summon my weapon from and return my weapon to the soul. Rather simple.

The next 3 were a little stranger, [All-Master] explained it granted me mastery over all types of weapons; this then worked with the [Shapeshifting] ability that went along with both my talent in shaping my body, but also said it could become other types of weapons.

It fit in line with all weapon talents I had shoved inside of it. The last one was the most abnormal.

[Assimilate] said it allowed me to absorb weapons into my soul weapon, that was it. I didn't know what that really meant for me, but it seemed to fit in line with the [Shapeshift] ability it held.

"Well... No point speculating, just gotta summon it." I muttered, Abby agreed.

As I summoned it a wave of energy rushed over me, then it began gathering in a single place: The nub that was once my arm. (A/N: yeah its this one)

I looked down and saw as black goo began growing from the end of my arm, it swirled around and glowed with purple lights that looked like veins along my entire arm. I had lost it from above my elbow and now it was returning; I didn't really know if this was good or not.

When I first lost it, I had to get used to the disbalance that it caused. I could have used [Shapeshifting] to give myself an arm, but by the time I had enough energy to keep that up consistently I had gotten used to the way I had to move in order to exist without a second arm.

The growth was soon done and what was now my right arm caused a grin to spread across my face.

"This is fucking sick..." I chuckled, I could completely control it, clenching and unclenching my fist. I could turn it and twist it at will. There wasn't even the slightest delay, it was like a real arm.

It was completely black, it shone like sleek black metal. It reminded me of the arm of a knight's armour with all the jagged parts and sharp looking metal. Despite having looked like goo forming earlier it was as hard as steel now, underneath the metallic shell was the glowing purple lines that ran along my arm. The fingers ended in small but sharp claws, enough to rip a person to pieces if I wanted.

It really was cool. And as it reached its full form I gained more comprehension of each of its abilities; and my grin widened even further than before, I even had to use shapeshifting to properly convey my happiness with a grin.

I pulled from my bag the sword I had gotten from the 10th floor boss: [Crimson Infamy]

I placed it in my right hand and activated [Assimilate]. The metal of the hand stretched and enveloped the weapon before sucking it entirely inside of it. I liked how the arm would shift between metal and goo at will. Soon the weapon disappeared and new information appeared in my mind.

I acted upon that information and again goo from my hand and formed into the exact same sword I had taken from the Black Knight.

What was strange to me was that the arm itself was not what changed, rather the weapon seemed to just form in my hand. The formed weapon had all the abilities that the sword had before, it was literally perfect, even if it had lost the red colour it had before, instead looking more like my new arm.

Now with a better understanding of what I could do I got to work.

I pulled out each of the weapons I had taken from the past 29 floors and began adding them into the arm, massively upgrading its capabilities.

I went through all the axes, spear, whips, shields, swords and even the few scythes I had gotten. I had acquired a lot of weapons as rewards, but also as drops and items from the extra chests I had discovered on my way down.

Then I got to the 3 items I had gotten from the 29th floor:

[Shani's Scimitars]

[Weapon of an Anubis General. Allows the user to gracefully dance like a mster blade-dancer]

[Nephilia's Scythe]

[Weapon of an Anubis general. Allows the user to freely change the trajectory of the scythe blade]

[Blank Mask]

[A blank mask that will shape itself to the user's needs and desires]

The weapons had great abilities and I was happy to know Avarice could also create dual weapons like Shani's Scimitars

The mask was a weird one, I had not really noticed how it was completely empty, just a blank white slate.

I decided to place it on my face to see what happened; I felt something change but I couldn't see anything through the mask until my vision changed and it looked like here was nothing on my face, it was only by pulling it off that I could tell it was there.

When I had it in my hands again it was completely different.

It was entirely black, with a pair of horns extending from the forehead. 

There were 2 other details on the mask. It looked like a child had taken a crayon and scrawled all over it, but no matter how much I rubbed it did not come off.

What was on the mask were 2 purple scribbles in the shape and place of eyes, the drawing of a mouth was a scribbled line. It was a very crude drawing but I quite liked it and since I did not feel any discomfort I decided to keep it on.

And so I did.

"Okay, onto the next floor!" I cheered, "This time I'll only use my soul weapon!"

I laughed all the way down the stairs, realising just how well the creepy drawings on the mask fit as I did so.

I found myself at the 30th floor door and opened it to peek inside before the fight actually started, I was quite shocked by what I saw.

[Fire Drake]

[Lesser Draconian beast with a fire affinity. Burning hot and dangerous]

"My first dragon-type..." I grin, my first time fighting any kind of dragon monster, surely it would be powerful.

The beast was about what you would expect; large as a bus, covered in shiny red scale and large, powerful claws. It had a long tail with spikes growing along both its tail and back. The drake had 4 limbs with wings growing from its front 2, when it opened its mouth I could see the dangerous and bloody teeth that stayed hidden inside.

I felt no fear and made my way into the floor; I grinned behind the mask as the monster raised its head and glared at me. 

I accelerated immediately and formed a blade in may hand, the drake, who hadn't expected such speed, reared back in an attempt to dodge, but my sword cut through the scales and created a giant gash.

The monster roared in pain as I laughed at it, it swung its tail which I easily jumped over then opened its mouth to blast me with fire.

I had expected the fire and tried manipulating it in order to bend it around me, I felt my will grasp onto it, but then it slipped through and began burning me. When the stream of fire ended I was a charred mass of flesh, thankfully this was healed with superior regeneration.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of fire I healed much slower. But since the drake was not that smart it had thought it had already won and so I layed there, waiting to fully heal; I laid on the floor naked as the drake looked baffled at me still being alive. My clothes were slowly returning as I stood back up.

"That hurt like hell." I yelled as I lifted my arm and slashed down again. While the drake was still confused I inflicted yet another huge injury, this would be good.

As it screamed and writhed around in pain I grabbed ahold of it - choosing to do so with my new arm as a test - and began absorbing the power within it. 

[Fire Affinity (7/7)]

[Attune yourself to the burning depths of fire, have it bend to your will]

"Looks like I've evened the playing field." I mock, fusing the affinity with my mage skill; then something new appears as my mage skill reaches 6/6, "Or perhaps not."

A devilish smirk appears, the drake returning to its feet to glare with a renewed level of hatred.

I had said I would only use my soul weapon in this fight, but I doubt anyone could pass up on this chance. 

The drake opened its mouth in order to attack once again, it enveloped me in flames assuming the attack would play out exactly as it had before. But not this time!

The fire blast away from me, I could see the drake's shocked eyes as it lost control of the fire it had spewed, but more so the shock was directed at the bolt of electricity that had built up in my hand.

Crackling energy gathered like Zeus's Thunderbolt in my hand and an luminescent, yellow streak flew from me and crashed into the drake with explosive force. Even with its massive body it was forced off its feet and blasted into the wall of the 30th floor.

It was in a daze and I looked over my energy drain.

"Damn that was a lot!" I exclaimed, not having expected the attack to be as draining as before.

"Well that was a big attack." Abby reminded me, I realised she was right, but it was still more than what a large ice attack would have taken. Of course it also displayed excessive amounts of power.

"Let's finish this then." I mutter, walking over to the still dazed drake. 

I stood right before it and began changing the shape of my arm, like before it turned into goo and took on the shape of a humongous lance. Then I drove it through the skull of the drake, killing it in a bloody mess of brain matter.

[You have killed a lesser draconic beast: <+Lesser Dragon Slayer>]

[Lesser Dragon Slayer]

[Proof you have defeated a lesser dragon. Increase damage when fighting lesser draconic monsters]

"That was easier than I expected, even if I did kind of cheat." I laugh, looking over the items I got from the boss drop, "The title's a nice touch as well."

It was 3 as usual, a mana stone, a key and a large lump of meat.

The mana stone was not what I had expected though:

[Fire Core]

[Advanced Mana stone, infused and refined with elemental mana: Fire Mana]

Looking at this I can tell it would be a useful crafting item, but I lacked any crafting abilities. Though there may be some lifestyle abilities in the gremlin mansion, if I were to find a cook or carpenter version. Whatever, I was fine with eating the meat I lightly cooked with fire magic, honestly they were delicious; Abby said monters with high internal mana (high levels) tasted better, especially dragons, making me quite excited for the next item.

[Drake Meat]

[High quality meat sourced from a fire drake. An incredibly valuable item]

My mouth watered, especially after everything Abby had told me about dragon meat and its incredible taste.

The last item was about as I had expected it, except now it was orange. I suppose they couldn't use another red one, but again it did look more like the writer hadn't planned out this aspect of their dungeon.

It was shaped in the image of a drake's head and gave the usual explanation.

[31st Floor Key]

[Opens the door to the 31st floor waiting room. Necessary to open both the31st and 100th floor]

I had 3 of these now and couldn't wait to see what was on the 100th floor, that I needed 9 keys to open it.

"This is only more proof that this place is a prison and not a dungeon." Abby added, I just ignored her as I made my way over to the chest to get the item from within it.

[Fire Dragon Sceptre]

[Large sceptre created from draconic materials. Largely empowers fire magic when used]

"Oh that's pretty good." I say admiring the item as it becomes one with my soul weapon, "Let's see what the rest of the dungeon has to offer!"

And again I headed deeper into the dungeon.