Ashborn Lionheart gasped.
Air clawed down his throat like rusted nails scraping through his lungs. His lavender eyes snapped open, the star-shaped pupils flaring wide in the pitch-dark chamber. His body twitched, twitching as if electrocuted. His nerve endings were roaring with phantom pain. Blood. Thick. Celestial. And steaming. Oozed from gashes carved deep into his ribs and arms. The last memory seared into his mind like a brand. The Reaper's obsidian scythe crashing into his core... then nothing.
Now?
Now there was silence. Rotten. Heavy. And Absolute.
"Where... am I?"
He tried to rise and then collapsed. The floor beneath him was cold stone. Slick with ichor. Not just his. Something else. Something wrong. His fingers flexed, claws clinking softly against bone fragments littering the floor. A low, guttural hum throbbed through the darkness, like the tower itself was alive and breathing.
He pushed again. Slower this time. Every motion lit fireworks of agony through his spine. But he stood.
Ashborn's breath fogged the air, and faint green glyphs flickered to life across the wall before him, like veins pulsing under dead skin. A voice, mechanical and hollow,
Slithered into the silence.
"Welcome, subject #001. Cosmic class detected. SSS-Rank dungeon: [Horrorborn abyss] initialization complete."
"Objective: Climb or be consumed."
The wall peeled back like torn flesh.
A long corridor of malformed stone twisted ahead. Lined with mutated statues of screaming saints, each weeping real blood.
The sky above... no, there was no sky. Only a void, with countless eyes blinking open and closed like breathing wounds.
Ashborn's heart beat slowly now
Calculating, remembering. This isn't a realm. It's a prison.
But something more immediate disturbed him.
His swords. Excalibur and Exodus... were gone.
He clenched his fist. No system menu...? No status display? Not yet. Whatever sealed him here had disrupted his connection to the cosmic thread.
But even sealed... even wounded...
Ashborn grinned, sharp and defiant, wiping blood from his lip.
"Alright then. You want horror?"
"Let's see if your monsters can scream louder than the Reaper did."
He stepped forward and the tower groaned.
Somewhere above, something laughed.
And somewhere below, something began to crawl upward.
---
---
---
Ashborn stood alone in the corridor of nightmares, every inch of his wounded body throbbing in protest. But it wasn't paint that consumed his thoughts now it was disconnection. He couldn't feel Excalibur or Exodus. He couldn't summon his Nephilim fire. He couldn't even hear the familiar hum of the system he once nurtured like a secret garden back in the Lionheart kingdom.
His breathing slowed.
Ashborn closed his eyes.
"Think... go deeper. Where are you, old friend?"
He focused, drawing his consciousness inward. Past the shredded muscle. Past the fractured core. Past the centuries of battles and burdens. Deeper into that flickering ember buried within the soul. The place where only he could reach. A seed was planted when he was just a child, whispering dreams of supremacy and survival.
Then-
A glimmer.
A pulse.
He felt it. The system he forged. Not from divine bloodlines or royal blessing, but from sheer, relentless will.
He exhaled, and a single word passed his lips like a vow carved in stone.
"System Status"
The air bent around him. Glyphs of ancient cosmic codes shimmered to life in front of his eyes, unfolding like a living star chart. His heart thundered as he saw it. His new reality
[System Status: Ashborn Lionheart]
Designation: Cosmic Spirit (Mythforged Variant)
Race: Cosmic Spirit - former Nephilim Dragon (Lineage Sealed)
Class: Cosmic Knight
Level: 10
Core Status: Sealed
Genesis Thread: Active
System core sync: 74%
Main Affinity [Cosmic]
All Affinities [All Sealed]
Bloodline Abilities: [Nephilim Dragon Sealed]
Active Powers:
•『Genesis Thread』
Classification: Living cosmic construct.
Bound To: Ashborn Lionheart (Soul-sync confirmed)
Nature: Mythforged - Cosmic-Weave Variant.
Origin: woven from pre-creation echoes during the first mythic bloom.
Core concept: The Genesis Thread weaves together fate, memory, matter, myth, and potential. It is a living script that reshapes reality based on Ashborn's will, resolve, and inner state.
Phase ???
Phase ???
Phase ???
Phase ???
Phase ???
Phase ???
•『Cosmic power』
A vast ability allowing manipulation of the fundamental forces of reality, Energy, matter, and time-space. Grants supreme perception, near-unbreakable barriers, and devastating combat capability. Ashborn's very presence is a beacon and a threat to cosmic beings.
•『Cosmic Energy Absorption』
Absorbs ambient cosmic energy and converts it into personal power. Strength is theoretically limitless, depending on environmental density and Ashborn's willpower.
•『Cosmic Energy Manipulation』
Channels cosmic forces to enhance physical stats, unleash high-scale energy blasts, generate barriers, and fly unaided through space or atmospheric pressure.
•『Cosmic Fusion』
Fuses abilities and elemental sources into hybrid techniques of immense potency. Capable of creating unheard-of combinations (e.g, supernova-black hole fusion strikes or divine-spirit healing constructs)
•『Cosmic Regenerative Factor』
Grants rapid healing from catastrophic wounds, regeneration of limbs/organs, and near-limitless vitality. Augmented further by his access to cosmic energy flows.
Asborn stared at the glowing display.
A hollow chuckle escaped his throat.
"So... the Nephilim Dragon is dead."
His claws curled inward.
"Fine. Then let them learn to fear what replaces him."
Behind him, the corridor began to shift. Somewhere, the tower reacted to his awakening.
Ashborn closed the status screen.
The hunt was about to begin.
---
---
---
Ashborn glanced once more through the fog-thickened silence floor.
No monsters.
No voices.
Only the slow, sickening pulse of the dungeon itself. Like a living artery of horror, throbbing beneath stone skin.
He lowered himself onto the platform, cold stone biting into the wounds along his back and arms. Crossing his legs, he exhaled sharply, setting his clawed hands in front of him. The air crackled faintly as cosmic traces coiled around his palms like unseen serpents.
Ashborn muttered under his breath, just above a whisper.
"No lineage. No weapons. No map. Just... me.:
His hand hovered, fingers twitching mid-air
"If the system's here, then it's possible..."
He closed his eyes and reached in. Not physically but cosmically into the newborn essence at the center of his being. Something had changed in the fight with the Reaper. Something that left behind a splinter. No... a seed.
"Show me. Let me feel it."
Nothing at first. Then a faint glimmer beneath his sternum. Like starlight beneath skin. His body tensed. The pulse grew stronger.
Ashborn's voice cracked into the silence.
"I don't know what you are... I don't even know if you're me anymore..."
His brows furrowed.
"But I need you. Now more than ever."
And then it began.
A radiant orb of energy materialized between his hands, weightless but dense,
Pulsing with layered frequencies no human ear could interpret. It was a brilliant white core, but within its glow swirled currents of cerulean, crimson, violet, and gold. The colors rotated like planets, drawn into invisible orbits around the core's blazing nucleus.
Runes formed on the surface etched in real-time, ancient and alien. Shifting as though written by the will of the cosmos itself. The orb spun slowly, the runes reacting to Ashborn's breathing, syncing with his soul. The moment it aligned, the surrounding air shook, vibrating like struck metal.
"This is..."
He breathed, eyes wide with something between awe and disbelief,
"My Cosmic Core."
"It's alive."
The orb floated forward and sank gently into his chest, vanishing without a wound or resistance. And immediately, a hum filled the air. Not a noise, but a presence.
The hum of command. The hum of creation. The hum of something...
Divine...
Ashborn sat still, the crystallized orb pulsing dimly in his hands like a newborn star. His breath came ragged, shoulders rising and falling under the weight of exhaustion and awe.
"I made it..." he muttered. His voice wasn't triumphant. It was reverent.
The glowing sphere hovered slightly above his palms, as if unsure whether to stay in this realm. The hum it gave off was more than sound; it was memory, presence, gravity, and in its presence, something deeper stirred in him. Something old.
His vision blurred not from fatigue, but from the sudden flood of information streaming inward from the very core of his being. His Cosmic Core, awakened fully by the successful ritual, surged like a second heartbeat in his chest.
[System notification - Cosmic Core: first phase activated]
•『Cosmic Core』
A crystallized nucleus of Cosmic Magic formed directly from Ashborn's being. It is a glowing orb of pure white light, surrounded by orbiting colors that represent various primordial energies,
Light, shadow, time, space, entropy, and genesis. The core is housed within a lattice of crystalline runes, each bearing inscriptions that react to intent and emotion. Wrapped in a golden aura, the Cosmic Core hums with power potent enough to bend the laws of physics and metaphysics.
『Cosmic core - status: stabilized』
• Core type: Mythforged Variant
• current capacity: 3%
• synchronization with host: 76%
Capabilities:
• [Core Amplification]
Enhances Ashborn's base powers, granting multiplicative returns when casting, fighting, or evolving abilities.
• [Cosmic Spellcasting]
Enables unique spell formations derived from raw intent, emotion, and conceptual logic rather than traditional incantations.
• [Reality-Weaving]
Ashborn can now create or rewrite localized physics within short radii (e.g., increasing gravity, reversing inertia, rewriting momentum flow).
• [Overdrive Mode]
Under extreme duress, the core can enter an Overdrive state, drastically enhancing all stats, but at a high strain cost.
• [Soul Sync]
The core evolves as Ashborn does. It is not static and will gain new functions as he grows.
Ashborn blinked. A tide of meanings flooded him not words, but instinctual understanding. He knew what the core was now. Not just a battery. Not just a relic. It was a living matrix of creation potential, a forge made from stellar law and chaos-wrought myth.
"The Cosmic Core... It's not just power."
His eyes narrowed, the twin star galaxies within now rolling with cosmic currents.
"It's a will. A bridge between thought and existence."
He lowered the orb onto the platform. It hivered obediently at knee-height, rotating slowly. Ashborn extended his palm again. And the orb pulsed in response, synchronizing with his aura, feeding him knowledge directly through resonance.
[COSMIC CORE FUNCTIONS - CURRENTLY AVAILABLE]:
• [Absorb Cosmic Radiation]
Can continuously gather ambient cosmic or stellar energy, converting it into stabilized usable energy without external catalysts.
• [ Shape and Create Matter]
Four-step method (Gather "Shape "Energize " imbue), can craft raw materials, weapons, armor, tools, and constructs out of cosmic particles.
• [Core Infusion]
Can store created matter into the core and resummon at will, acting as a spatial inventory.
• [Cosmic Pulse Scan]
Allows limited scanning of the surrounding environment using pulse echoes; capable of detecting nearby entities, energy signatures, and spatial distortions.
• [Genesis Thread Link]
Direct connection to Ashborn's origin potential; acts as a limiter and catalyst depending on emotional stability and resonance level.
His fingers twitched, already sensing the Genesis Thread subtly wrapping around his spine. Like a safety net or a leash.
Ashborn smirked slightly.
"So... it's a cage and a key."
He stood slowly, letting the orb float to his shoulder like a silent companion. The winds of the horror dungeon shifted again. Distant shrieks, warped echoes, the creaking heartbeat of the tower itself. Still hungry still watching.
Ashborn turned toward the dark corridor leading deeper.
"Fine. I'll keep listening." He muttered.
"But I'll do more than that now..."
His hand clenched, not in fear, but in new conviction.
"I'll shape what comes next."
And as he walked forward, the Cosmic Core dimmed slightly behind him. Then flared in approval. The dungeon was no longer just a prison. It was a forge. And Ashborn Lionheart had begun to mold the cosmos.
---
---
---
Ashborn's hand hovered before him, fingers splayed wide. His breathing was deep and steady, but every motion trembled with hesitation.
"Cosmic radiation... is a form of electromagnetic radiation that originates from distant cosmic sources," he muttered aloud, repeating the long-forgotten lesson like an incantation. "It can have powerful effects on matter... and even be used to create it, under the right circumstances."
His left hand slowly closed into a fist, knuckles creaking under the weight of the raw potential that built around him. In his core, the cosmic core hummed louder, resonating with the stellar light above. His gaze grew glassy as something clicked in his memory. A ripple in time surged forth.
---
[Flashback - 400 years ago | the Royal library]
Queen Ashley Lionheart, radiant in a shimmering robe of starlight threads. Stood before a young ashborn who was sprawled lazily over a throne-sized cushion, balancing a fruit on his nose.
"Matter isn't just conjured from nothing little starlight,"
She said with a teasing smile, flicking a book toward his chest.
"You gather the universe's breath... You shape its chaos... You command it with your spark. Four steps. Memorize them or you'll blow your face off."
Ashborn groaned and rolled over.
"Can't I just punch things until they exist?"
Her fingers sparked with cosmic symbols.
"One day... You'll wish you listened."
---
---
---
[Present]
Ashborn's eyes reopened, glowing with twin galaxies.
"Step One: Gather Cosmic radiation"
He exhaled. Slowly, deliberately, he extended both arms outward. His palms faced the sky. Around him, the stars pulsed brighter, responding.
From every direction, strands of invisible cosmic radiation. Ancient, deadly, and divine, they began spiraling in toward him. Thin arcs of golden-blue lighting snaked around his arms. His skin glowed faintly, hair lifting as if underwater.
The air rippled. Space itself warping like heat haze. His breathing hitched.
"Too much, too fast"
He focused, invoking the skill
『Cosmic Energy Absorption』
A floodgate opened. The chaotic streams of radiation were pulled in, funneled through his body. At first, they burned like liquid stars poured into muscle and bone but slowly, they began to harmonize with his cosmic core.
"Contain... don't consume,"
He growled, crouching slightly. His arms shook. Energy ran along his spine like ice and fire woven together. Veins of light crawled across his skin.
"Step Two: Shape Matter from radiation"
Ashborn lifted one hand in front of him and focused on a single thought: 'Form'
With the other, he slowly traced a spiral through the air, leaving behind a trail of glittering energy. The radiation between his palms began to condense, flickering violently.
His fingers moved like a cosmic sculptor. Slow, circular motions, as if kneading stardust into clay. But the moment he tried to force it-
BOOM!
The energy burst in his hand with a sharp crack, sending him tumbling backwards mid-air.
Ashborn coughed, smoke rising from his gloves. His cloak fluttered in the wind, burnt slightly at the hem. He stared at his hands.
"Wrong Rhythm."
He said
"I'm shaping... but not listening."
He invoked his second skill
『Cosmic Energy Manipulation』
His fingers moved again, slower this time. He swayed with the pull of the surrounding starlight, letting the radiation flow instead of forcing it.
Like a spider weaving a web. He began pulling threads of light into a spinning sphere between his palms. The structure grew unstable, chaotic, but real.
"Step Three: Energize the matter"
Sweat dripped down his temple
Ashborn gritted his teeth and channeled raw cosmic energy from his core into the sphere. The ball pulsed violently. Its light dimmed, then stabilized. The swirling mass of unstable radiation hardened, like molten metal cooling into shape.
He pressed both hands around it. A pulse of energy surged outward. A ripple that parted the grass and cracked the floating platform beneath him.
"Step Four: Imbue the matter"
Ashborn raised the object to eye level. No longer just radiation, but infused matter. It looked like a smooth crystalline orb, humming with stardust inside. With a final whisper of his will, he wrapped it in a stabilizing cocoon of his energy.
"Matter born of stars..."
He whispered and stood in silence, breathing heavily, still holding the glowing orb.
He had failed twelve times before that moment. Burnt, cracked bones. Inverted gravity zones. Unstable dark sparks. Each failure taught him how to feel the voice of the cosmos rather than dominate it.
Now, for the first time, he had shaped existence with his hands.
"I listened,"
He said softly.
[System notification]
[Would you like to name the object?]
Ashborn thought for a minute...
"Genesis Fragment"
The orb glowed brighter and brighter almost blinding Ashborn
[System update - new cosmic object identified]
[Cosmic object created]
Name:『Genesis Fragment』
Rank: ★★★★☆ (High-Tier Legendary)
Origin Type: Hand-Forged Cosmic Matter.
Core Stability: 89% - stable.
Bound Creator: Ashborn Lionheart.
Class: Proto-Creation Core.
---
Description:
A primordial shard of artificial matter created from condensed cosmic radiation, shaped by pure will and stabilized through Ashborn Lionheart's cosmic energy. A Genesis Fragment is a seed of creation, a raw, untamed spark of the universe's foundation.
Each Genesis Fragment contains quantum-crystalline threads and proto-elements that predate time itself. Its creation is considered a paradoxical feat, achievable only by a being with direct access to the universe's source code.
---
Abilities & Properties:
• [Genesis Pulse]
Emits a reality-bending pulse capable of causing minor spatial distortions. Can destabilize weak dimensional fields or reconstruct them with guidance.
Cooldown: 60 seconds.
• [Proto-Matter Bloom]
On command, the fragment blooms into any single object Ashborn imagines (non-living, inorganic, and no larger than a small house). The object lasts hour before dissolving into stardust.
Limit: 3 uses per day.
• [Quantum Resurgence]
When consumed or fused, it grants temporary cosmic regeneration and energy amplification (x2 boost to all stats for minutes).
Cooldown: 48 hours
• [Cosmic Memory Threading]
Can store a single memory, skill, or cosmic pattern. When implanted in another, it transfers the encoded data.
Currently Empty.
---
Weaknesses:
Incredibly unstable if exposed to void corruption, chaotic ether, or anti-cosmic particles.
Each Genesis Fragment is unique. Duplicating one will collapse both versions.
Creation overload: Using all four abilities at once causes system fatigue and stat penalties for 24 hours.
---
---
---
The Horrorborn abyss
Dungeon entry: confirmed. Core stabilized.
Threat level: SSS-RANK. Beginning descent...
Dungeon name: The Horrorborn abyss.
"An ancient sentient tower forged by Primordial gods to test the evolution of cosmic life. It rearranges its layers with each cycle, warping logic, reality, and even memory. Once entered... There is no exit until the final floor."
Dungeon mechanics:
Total floors: 100
Theme: Evolving cosmic horror
Floor type rotation:
● odd floors: physical-biomed-based, terror zones (grave forest, blood rivers, alien ruins)
● even floors: reality distortion arenas (Upside-down gravity, time-locked zones, reverse causality, etc.)
● every 10th floor = Boss Arena
Monsters' ranking system per floor:
Monster tiers (update every 10 levels):
• low-rank monsters - fodder with Unpredictable numbers, quantity over quality.
• Mid-Rank monsters- rare per floor, stronger AI, minor energy abilities.
• High-Rank monsters - elite units, mini-boss equivalents, drop system rewards.
Boss monsters - Ruler-class horrors. Shape the entire ecosystem of their floor set.
EXP and Reward mechanics:
• Low-rank kill > 50XP
• mid-rank kill > 250XP
• High-Rank kill > 1000XP + Loot (Craft materials/system shards/skill tomes)
• Boss kill > 10,000XP + Unique artifact + dungeon recognition tier unlock.
Note: XP is dynamically modified by Ashborn's cosmic core sync rate, kill style, and emotional resonance. Killing with higher creativity or forces increases bonus multipliers.
10th floor boss list (every boss is a dungeon sovereign with lore and unique powers):
Floor 10: Gorehowl Centipede
• Type: Gigantic horror beast made of armor, meat, and rotating jaws.
• Weakness: internal thermal sacs.
• Reward: 『Skill Tome: Sonic Spiral Fang』
• Floor 20: Omen Choir
• Type: A floating cathedral of wailing masked beings that cast symphonic mind-control.
• Weakness: Silence fields disrupt their casting matrix.
• Reward: 『Relic: Bell of Unheard Songs』
• Floor 30: Pale Widow of Erosion
• Type: Trans-dimensional spider matron that devours space and time.
• Weakness: Reflected damage through ethereal strands.
• Reward: 『System Upgrade: Matter Weaving Lv. 2』
• Floor 40: The Hollow Choir King
• Type: Failed god of sound, controls echoes and resonance waves.
• Weakness: Pulse disruption via external harmonics.
• Reward: 『Cosmic Core Subroutine: Echo Forge』
• Floor 50: King of Craters (Eclipse Titan)
• Type: Planet-crushing giant bound in solar chains.
• Weakness: Strike when the solar bindings phase to the lunar mode.
• Reward: 『Weapon Blueprint: Solar Eclipsion Gauntlets』
• Floor 60: Nidus of the Voidworms
• Type: Hive-mind of spatial serpents, wraps dimensions into knots.
• Weakness: Disrupt node-beacons to separate the hive-link.
• Reward: 『Dimension Skill: Blink Overdrive』
• Floor 70: Time-Drinker Thanolith
• Type: Entity that ages your existence out of sync with your body.
• Weakness: Attacks must be made while time is reversed (paradox windows).
• Reward: 『Time Vein Core Module』
• Floor 80: Monarch of Silence and Dust
• Type: Cosmic pharaoh who mummifies concepts and words.
• Weakness: Requires conceptual resonance attacks—silence won't affect it.
• Reward: 『Genesis Relic: Ashen Crown』
• Floor 90: Eidolon Eclipse Knight
• Type: Fallen solar guardian wielding black light blades and void shields.
• Weakness: Shadow-synced weaponry needed to bypass void defense.
• Reward: 『Dual Skill: Eclipse Ascension』
• Floor 100: The Final Witness — Vur'Zhal, The God That Watches
• Type: Sentient dungeon core, firstborn of the Primordial Architect.
• Weakness: ???
• Reward: 『Cosmic Evolution Path Unlocked』 + 『Mythic System Crown』
The Spiral Crucible: Floor 1
Biome: Dusklight Fen - an endless swamp veiled in violet fog, where every ripple distorts perception.
[System notice - dungeon initiation sequence commencing...]
> objective: Clear all hostile entities on floor 1.
> Progress: 0%
> Caution: ambient corruption levels rising.
Ashborn stumbled through the shallow, glittering muck, his tattered shirt damp with starlit rot. Crimson veins pulsed in the swamp water. Radiation echoes of monsters lurking just beyond the veil.
"No blade. No Exodus. No Excalibur. I need something... that only I can wield. Something born of me."
From his palm, a shard of impossibility pulsed, the Genesis Fragment he created from matter-reality itself. Whispering to it, binding it with thought, memory, and unshakable will, he called forth creation.
---
---
---
Name: 『Aetherion』
Class: Proto-Conceptual Blade (Legendary Relic)
Level: 1 (Growth type)
Material Composition:
- crystallized Genesis matter.
- Fused Starsteel Threads.
- Embedded Void-Inertial Core.
Length: 5'9
Weight: Variable (linked to user's Cosmic Pulse)
Bound Wielder: Ashborn Lionheart.
Description:
Aetherion is the first weapon forged from a Genesis Fragment. It is not merely a sword. It is a statement of existence. Each swing carries the potential to destabilize or affirm the structure of reality it touches. Aetherion doesn't cut materials. It cleaves through the intended state of things.
---
Abilities:.
• [Reality Shear]
Cleaves through dimensional constructs magical barriers, or time-space anomalies. Can briefly rupture an opponent's ability to maintain form.
Cooldown: 90 seconds.
• [Cosmic Trace]
Each swing leaves behind a lingering cosmic trace that unravels magic over time.
• [Transcendental Shift]
Aetherion can shift forms mid-combat: blade, bow, staff, or spear. The transition consumes a portion of Ashborn's cosmic energy.
Switch delay: 3 seconds.
• [Memory Sigil]
Stores one powerful strike in the blade's memory. It can be recharged at full power after 30 seconds of charging.
Limit: Once per combat scene.
> You have earned 2,000 EXP (first-time Genesis forge bonus)
> New skill branch unlocked: weapon style
- Reality Cleaver
Aetherion formed like a scream caught in silence, its blade shimmering with layered timelines and matter laws. As ashborn gripped it, his pulse synced with the Void-Inertial Core. The blade weighed nothing and everything.
Suddenly-
[Floor hostiles detected]
- 9x low-rank: hollow wretches
- 1x Mid-Rank: bloom-eye Gnasher
- 1x High-Rank: Eldrath-born aberration beast (Unstable)
Ashborn whirled around as shadows surged. Hollow wretches shattered humanoids stitched from bone and soul-thread-screeched in binary bursts, lunging with wild, convulsing limbs.
SLASH. SHHHING.
One movement. [Reality Shear] activated. Aetherion passed through four at once not cutting their skin, but unmaking their definition of "Existence" They collapsed mid-scream, deleted from the dungeon record.
> +200XP (4x Low-Rank kills)
> Cooldown initiated: Reality Shear - 90 sec
Ashborn pivoted. The bloom-eye Gnasher howled, its eyeball mouth launching arcane thorns. Ashborn dodged, swept Aetherion low, then upward in a wide arc. Each swing left behind trails. [Cosmic Trace] stacked like unraveling stars.
The Gnasher slowed. Its magic failing, body decaying by narrative Erosion.
> +250 xp (Mid-Rank kill)
> cosmic trace stack maxed: magic corruption achieved
But then the swamp broke.
The Eldrath-born rose from below. Its head is like a warped cathedral, six arms twitching with mirrored bone-scythes. A high-ranking monster, unstable, partially fused with dungeon energy. A minor boss in disguise.
"Abyss feeds you. I will end you!"
Ashborn activated [Transcendental Shift] blade to spear, Aetherion warped mid-motion.
He charged. Impact raw. The Eldrath-born struck with anti-matter claws, but Ashborn slid low twisted, then activated his [Memory Sigil] calling on the precise swing that ended the Gnasher.
BOOM!
Aetherion ignited with stored power. Cosmic Pulse Overdrive. The strike pierced through the beast's malformed heart.
The monster screamed without sound. Its form rippled... then shattered.
> +1000 xp (High-Rank kill)
> reward gained: [soul thread resin x3]
> Floor 1 cleared. Teleportation Enabled.
Ashborn stood silently. Aetherion pulsed in his hand. Its blade is slightly longer now, reacting to battle data.
"Aetherion... you're not just a weapon."
"You're a dialogue with the dungeon itself."
[Aetherion Growth Rate Increased - 3%]
To be continued....