Chapter 149

  Awakening

  Rotation, that was key to any major battle like this one. Rotation, letting one or two members slink out to rest, while the rest of the Clones and Alexa herself all moments to breath. Alexa being the only living creature was the only one that needed to breath, but out of solidarity the other Clones also took moments to sit back and rest. Unlike Alexa however, the Clones used the down time to cast spells. Some cast giant war spells that fired off streams of condensed magics that detonated with Void energy at its core, thus creating bursts of explosions that were worse than anything Alexa might normally be able to weave together.

  As a result, of the coordinated attack efforts, the amount of ambient energy released into the air was increasing by leaps and bounds, causing Alexa to grow with the thrill of the hunt and power. This was also why she forced herself to take a step back and relax slightly, as she was beginning to feel the thrill of power surging through her at a rapid rate.

  During this time Alexa’s Attribute Increase title surged by leaps and bounds, going from 19 to 25.

  The increase was a bit of a misnomer, as Alexa had gained two of those titles while working with the old Crone, but had been so distracted by everything going on, that she dismissed those notifications.

  This meant that when she checked now, only after the majority of the combatants were well and truly dead, and her Clones were going about slaughtering the fallen enemies, while collecting their augmentation crystals, Alexa was in for a large surprise. As to her mind, her titles and therefore her attributes increased by sixty percent.

  For a moment, she thought that there should be something extra, having pushed her generic title so far that she was two point five times stronger by that title alone, but in the end her thoughts were unfounded. There was nothing extra given, other than more and more title increases.

  By the end of the long-drawn-out battle, Alexa had killed hundreds and thousands of orcs and elves that were armed with little more than medieval armor and weapons. In the end Alexa didn’t know if this was something that dungeons forced, not having truly advanced technical weapons and capabilities able to enter them, or if it was a matter of not needing to advance further, thanks to having everything taken care of by magic and the dungeons, but so far nothing hinted at the idea of higher technology.

  At that thought, Alexa wondered if there was a form of EMP blast that might come with the Integrations, something that continually pulsed from the dungeons that all but prevented most modern electrical systems from working properly. If that was the case, then people like Dr. Robonics, and other Supers who have a minor power in Electricity but have gone on to use those powers in ways to power and influence technology might have their careers cut short, unless they can implement a work around. Maybe create pulse resistant technology.

  Of course, these were all thoughts that only an extremely tired Alexa could think up, as most of her concentration now was being directed solely on coordinating her nearly two dozen Clones to run around wreaking havoc on the battlefield around her.

  Finally, the last enemy was slain, and Alexa sat there panting long enough for the final vestiges of energy to fill her. In her hands she already held the final crystal for the stage, one that once consumed would take her out of here. She had done a lot, managed to single-handedly take on two opposing armies and win.

  Alexa also learned a lot about Void energy, as it seemed that none of the spells used by either the elves or the orcs were able to land on her or her clones. In fact, every time a spell seemed to come close, all it took was bracing yourself with a Void laced sword blade in front of you, and you would be able to deflect or destroy an incoming spell outright.

  Void magic had truly been a game changer in this battle, and one that the now awakening soldiers would likely all be trying to figure out a work around for. That is assuming that they found out it was Void magic that she was in fact wielding. However, thinking about it, she was almost certain that a few of the higher up leaders had to be aware of what Void magic was and more importantly how it looked.

  Holding the crystal in her hand, she looked at it, and pulsed a slight twinge of mana into the stone.

  Seeing the result of her Final stage of the Trials of Ascension, Alexa couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. Looking at the skill she gained, it proved that in the future she might not be able to count on such a trick as logically speaking everyone here would not have earned this skill. A skill that was likely further enhanced by her stolen power from the Void Rats she faced not too long ago.

  With her skill unlocked, Alexa wanted to leave, she wanted so desperately to leave, but this was her last time to get her title increases before she gained her official class. Almost as if to accentuate this thought, she received her system upgrade for having completed this very dungeon.

  It was early Tuesday, judging by her mental internal clock. Not too long, in fact if there were classes being held today on campus, she would be able to return in time to get back. But she couldn’t do that to herself. She owed her future to continuing to repeat these dungeons over and over, despite how long that might take. This was literally her last time she could get her Attribute Increase title increased, after she left this dungeon, that would be it, it would never increase again. While the other Titles would be able to be increased, she would forever be stuck at a mere 250% increase. That was what went through her mind, as she strode up to the dungeon exit that appeared before her.

  “Stay.”

  Refusal ripple.

  Alexa stared at the exit for a second, wondering what had happened.

  “Dungeon, I said I would like to Stay.”

  Refusal ripple.

  Alexa didn’t know how she could discern the emotions behind the dungeon’s response but she was fairly certain that she had just been denied, not once, but twice by the dungeon.

  “Can I ask why?” Alexa asked, only now realizing that she had spoken the entire time in the Precursor Language.

  Ripple.

  “I will only understand once I go through?”

  Affirmative ripple.

  Alexa stared at the portal exit, wondering if she had gone crazy. She was tired, near constant fighting for hours was exhausting, even with being infused with the magical equivalent of energy drinks and sugar only went so far for her. Now she was at the point where she was exhausted. While it had been therapeutic to do something normal, to keep her mind away from what happened to her father, she still had been close to exhausted when she entered the ninth stage.

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  She had been so tired that she almost fell for the Old Crone’s bit, lulling you in with kindness, before finally striking out with a task that would forever taint you in some unforgivable way. The entire process had been fine, but there had been something about the way she all but forced Alexa to take on the demon soul.

  Alexa still didn’t know what happened, or what would have happened if she had done as the old Crone commanded, but she was certain that nothing good would come from such an act.

  Realizing that there was nothing else Alexa could do, she nodded in acceptance of her fate and entered the dungeon.

  At that, Alexa nodded in understanding. She had known that the demon was somehow trapped there, and not a true part of the dungeon, meaning that when she got rid of the demon she forever changed the purpose of the dungeon. Even the two armies being present to continually seal away the demon were now redundant according to the dungeon, which is likely why Alexa was denied the ability to Stay. At least, that is what Alexa inferred from that statement.

  Alexa wanted to ask about the completion bonus for having a Perfect Run, but stopped herself, as that would appear greedy. Not that she wasn’t at this very moment ruled by her bedraggled emotions and very prone to experiencing full emotions, like greed, but her rational mind told her that such a statement would be bad, and Alexa despite wanting to press on, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat relieved that the decision about whether to continue or not was denied to her.

  Level 38, that was exceptionally high, given that she had only really been leveling her class for the past two months or so. Especially considering most people went years with only gaining one or two levels at a time. Her parents had been different, as they had been the only registered Supers for the tri-state area, meaning they were called in for all levels of dungeon clearing and purging. Along with subjugating any and all supers who turned evil.

  To Alexa this was a very interesting choice, as it sparked the question how many magical classes were available. As for the ability to be an Immortal, that was intriguing, but ultimately it was something that she dismissed as she didn’t put too much of an emphasis on living too far in the future. She knew her future, the old Crone all but noted it, as a Chosen One, she was bound to die young and alone. What good was being able to live forever if you were dead. Also, Alexa got the idea that it wasn’t true immortality, and by that she meant being able to regenerate herself from a single cell. Instead, it felt more like the Immortality ascribed to older mages anyways, the fac that their magic is able to sustain their aging bodies, despite their bodies slowly decaying around them. It was interesting, but there was also the fact that with all types of magic she would awaken both Necromancy and Death magic, two forms of magic that she never wanted to go near personally. Because of that, this option was out.

  This seemed like a great support type class, unfortunately to use this one properly would mean playing defense, gaining ground and then desperately running it up to maintain control over the area. While there were definite uses for this type of class, ultimately Alexa did not see this as being a truly great class for her. She would need to be one of the people going out into the enemy lines, as she would not order people to do something that she herself wouldn’t be willing to do, and this class meant she would relegate herself to strictly being support. For that, this class was out.

  Now this seemed like a jack-of-all type class, and almost came across as being the exact opposite of her currently slotted class. In fact, had this been her Slotted class all along, she had no doubt that this would be the one she would keep. Yet, there was just too much of a gap in power between this one, and her slotted class. Right now, she was looking at an additional 37 levels, which was nearly two months’ worth of constant grinding of dungeons and battles to get to the same level. In the end, Alexa realized that there were just over five weeks until the Integration would happen, and even if she wanted to start over again, the odds of being able to get this class up to her current level was too much of a hurdle to complete. For that, Alexa also felt she would have to pass up this class as well.

  This was by far the toughest choice to turn down, as this class above all others called out to her. Yet, despite all her trying the selection seemed to be glitched for lack of a better word, as there were no details, and even the way it was highlighted was different than others, as if it had never been able to be up to her as a choice. Seeing the option, or rather, the lack of an option made her feel sad. While she ultimately would go with her Absorber class, if only for the fact that it offered growth at a rate that was exponentially more powerful than basic classes, while also allowing her to still grow. To put it in perspective, all the experience she gained towards her Absorber class was the equivalent of 266 levels of a basic class. But the amount of Attributes she would be able to improve her would be the same as being a level 300 basic class wielder. While being a level 300 would be impressive, it would ultimately be limited as there would be almost no way she could continue to improve herself.

  No, pragmatically keeping her Absorber class was the only logical choice, and as much as she hated to admit it, Alexa had only gotten this far by listening to her rational mind. That was the same mind that told her to press on, repeating dungeons over and over again, all led to this moment, right here. This moment was a little bittersweet, as she would have loved to have told her father about her accomplishment, well her and Luke both could go together and declare their capabilities.

  Letting out a deep breath, she made her choice.

  While she had been somewhat angry that while having five options available to her, she could only really choose from four, but it was what it was. Also, she likely would have still made the same choice, regardless of the number of choices available to her.

  An option came up to confirm, but that was automatically chosen by Alexa, and nearly dismissed as soon as it came up. Alexa was tired, and she just wanted to get home and rest.

  That was, she wanted to get home and rest, until she saw the next system message that came up.

  At that, Alexa’s sleep deprived mind came up with but one word to summarize the momentous occasion.

  “What?”