Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power

The massive shadowy figure flapping its wings in the clouds above continues to circle the battlefield, watching its subordinates surround and overwhelm us.

I'm not necessarily in any real danger; however, in my current state, I can't fly to get away from these seemingly endless hordes of blue-scaled lizards.

The best I can manage is a few steps into the air, and even then, the monsters surrounding me are far faster, so running wouldn't solve my issues.

I'm able to easily knock out every creature I hit. Whether that's making contact with their weapons or scales, every collision adds another fallen lizardman to the ground and simultaneously increases my Ether proficiency by a small amount.

While none of the hits I'm receiving help me train my healing or make any massive leaps in progress that shock my system, I'm still growing stronger.

Yet, out of the corner of my eye, I watch the lizardmen surround Ava, and one even throws an attack despite Ava threatening to drop her hammer on their fallen lord's head.

It is a surprise attack—a white wind crescent from a curved blade aimed at her back.

The Ether within it is strong, but I've come to realize while digesting the Goblin King's memories that my Ether senses are quite unique and fine tuned.

Those with normal avatars can't sense the heat coming their way instinctively, so my eyes widen when I see Ava jump up in the air to start the momentum of a backflip, throwing her hammer forward, missing the fallen lizardman's head beneath her by less than a meter.

Her aim was not to injure or even scare the lizards around her; it was to create extra momentum to throw herself upward on a gut instinct.

The white energy blade from behind skims under her feet by millimeters, then curves upward to avoid the hordes of lizardmen nearby.

While I punch three more lizardmen out cold and start running Ava's way, I watch over three dozen weapons heat up with Ether, divine energy, and mana, preparing their attacks to hit the easy target in the sky.

I'm equally shocked at her ability to dodge an attack from a being far stronger and faster than her, but simultaneously spare the lizardman's life below her while jumping up in the air with a smile on her face.

My punches speed up, and I take out ten more enemies, but I'm still over 100 meters away when she reaches the peak of her jump into the air. She is upside down gracefully finishing her whole flip, rising above the sea of lizardmen from my point of view.

The looming [1426] glowing in green circling above us dives downward, and its wings grow larger and larger in my vision.

Its pointed head, with sharp blue and black eyes, pierces out from the fog, and its wide scaled blue wings flap again as it swoops down to reveal its enormous body, stretching over double the distance between myself and Ava, covering the entire battlefield with an eerie shadow.

Right before the lizardmen below release their attack, its deep and wise-sounding voice echoes through the sea of Lords.

"Halt your attacks."

Ava falls to the rocky ground in the center of all the lizardmen as they grip their weapons but don't follow through on their attacks.

Even the lizards around me step back, uncharge their weapons, and lower their heads.

The massive creature above flies all the way overhead, and I see its clawed legs and tail trailing behind its body.

"A Blue Wyvern..." I whisper under my breath, recognizing this creature from a special floor on a labyrinth I farmed long ago.

However, this creature that is flying over me now is hundreds of meters long, far larger than any simulated wyverns I've faced. Along with that, no memories from the Goblin King ever mentioned the existence of wyverns at all... 𝘳

As these thoughts race through my mind, it continues to circle around us, and the lizardmen all back away, receding like shadowy outlines in the mist. Some of them remain visible, while others are now just out of sight.

I run over to Ava, through the dozens of lizardmen I knocked out during their attack.

She is completely fine, grabbing her hammer from the ground as I come near, and the massive wyvern circles around again to land in front of us with a resounding thud.

Its taloned feet grip deep into the loose rocky ground, one of them glowing with its world token. It brings its wings inward, making its body look far smaller once it's settled in.

The creature stares down at us with a curious gaze, and a bright orb of white translucent light erupts from its forehead.

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At first, I try to put up defenses, but it expands extremely quickly—far too fast to react to—and by the time I activate my Ether defenses, the ball has already washed through the entire battlefield, then dissipates into the air like it was never even there.

The wyvern's mouth opens again, and I hear its low and calculated voice speak once more.

"Who are you? A human with the abilities of an Elder Lord before this era... It is an impossible feat; your race cannot even reach a lifespan of 1,000 years in the higher zones."

Its sharp eyes shift and focus as if it's looking through me; yet I don't feel any hostility coming off this massive creature.

It looks like it wants to ask more questions but waits in silence, ready for me to answer.

Seconds pass, and I feel Ava moving closer to me, very confused at this turn of events and far more scared of what will happen next than I am.

This is because all of the lizardmen that litter the battlefield around us begin to wake up, stand to their feet in a groggy manner, and then bow to the wyvern.

I'm positive the attacks I sent into them should have knocked them out for hours, if not days, yet after being consumed by that pulse of Ether from the wyvern, they all are miraculously healed.

It reminds me of how Ember sometimes heals, so I don't waste any more time and reply.

"I could ask the same thing to you... That was not an avatar ability."

In the same moment, I close my eyes, trying not to forget the imagery I just witnessed, and ball up Ether that I would normally use to probe my surroundings, focusing it in a small orb within my consciousness.

Then, I release it, showing a much smaller ball of white light erupt from my mind and cover the battlefield.

It certainly isn't as strong as the wyvern's, and is missing the healing properties it infused. However, I manage to send a pulse of Ether perception out over 500 meters in all directions, increasing my senses by over two times and heightening its depth by a large degree.

I sense dozens of 4th Class Ether stones in the rocks around and over 250 lizardmen within my immediate perception.

Their Ether glows hot in my senses as bright as day; however, it is exactly the same in every one of them.

Systematic, machine-like, all stored like identical data in the avatars they wear.

My senses even pulse through Ava, as she's the closest to me, and I sense all of the Ether stores within her avatar.

It is hot and strong, yet it is all in its physical base form, like the basic attacking and blocking maneuvers.

None of the lizardmen or Ava have any condensed, translucent mental Ether within their bodies. In fact, they don't have any Ether within their true beings at all. It all floats within this artifact that is here in place of their bodies and isn't even theirs to begin with. It's like a piece of gear they're temporarily using, giving them quick fixes of power but ultimately stunting their long-term growth.

My mind is being blown at this realization while simultaneously looking into the massive wyvern's being that glows with an immense amount of both physical and mental Ether. It has an avatar, but I can tell there is a great separation between its true mind and the mana and divine energy that tethers it to this physical plane.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I can't see too deeply, as I only let out a single pulse of perception, and the feedback I get is far too bright and convoluted. It looks similar to the first time I looked into Ember's body within the throne while using my Ether senses for the first time.

The wyvern's eyes shift again, and it speaks in the same calm tone.

"We both may have secrets to hide, but I must know one thing. Are you aligned with the Demons?"

My heart rate speeds up at this question, but I reply quite quickly and honestly.

"Considering I had to kill one that was trying to take over my world to get here, and they kicked me out of their citadel before I even stepped foot on it, I'd say we're not on good terms."

The wyvern doesn't move, but its gaze stays locked on us as it thinks over my words.

We're at quite the stalemate here. Both of us know that this wyvern is stronger physically, but it witnessed me take its underlings' attacks head-on without flinching or receiving a scratch, and the probing it did earlier most likely revealed the fact that I have a Demon Lord's Core in my chest.

Given the memories from the Goblin King about the demons' overwhelming rule of the citadel above us, I can infer this creature doesn't want to risk offending them even if there is a small chance I'm one of their servants.

However, there is much that I don't know. No memories of these so-called Elder Lords before this era come to mind, as the Goblin King must not have been old enough to hear of this name; it never even knew wyverns existed.

I try to take advantage of this gap in knowledge while respecting its power.

"We do not want any trouble. I had no knowledge that you owned these plots. My partner and I were just trying to make it to the access point before it closed—and well, that may not be possible now, but we don't want to fight."

The wyvern doesn't take as long as it usually does to reply.

"I thank you for sparing the lives of my subjects. However, I do not believe your words, and I cannot let you leave my land. A human like you with such power logically should not exist. My belief is you are a demon in disguise, and you have violated the terms of our agreement."

Its eyes focus more, and I start to see Ether glow around its body. It speaks again.

"I have intel that a new Noble Demon is arriving this month. It is not impossible that this is a plot to plant the seeds of our extinction once and for all. So, I will ask you to prove you are truly against them, or you shall never leave this plot alive."

–

Simultaneously, above, in the meeting of Elder Warlords of the Ellipsia Citadel, eyes widen after Ember's question about the wyverns that have gone missing.

No one replies for a full ten seconds.

Even Torvak, beside him in the room, starts to sweat. However, as no one else wants to speak, he is the one who breaks the silence.

"The Vermillion Family... 12,000 years ago... its family head made its footing to be declared the 5th Great Family by exterminating the Wyvern Clan. They were the ones with control of the Grand Citadel after all. It's only natural their remaining troops went into hiding."

The room goes silent, and Asic, the High Orc, adds to Torvak's point with a saddened nod.

"I haven't received a transmission from them in over 10,000 years. Last I heard, the last Red Wyvern was publicly executed in the Grand Citadel 6,000 years back."

The Berserker Giant King still keeps its battle-hungry grin, but undertones of anger can be heard as it swings its blades in the hologram and replies to Asic.

"I got to fight a Bronze Wyvern 8,000 years back in the battle tournament; but yeah, they're as good as gone. I'm sure many are in hiding still, but the Citadel surveillance would surely pick up on their presence the moment they showed themselves in public..."

Ember stays silent for a moment after this information comes to light, but behind his eyes, an even mix of fury and excitement stirs. Finally, all of the puzzle pieces of this zone of this upper realm's fall from its former grace fit together in his mind.