Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power

We walk the border for hours, stopping to absorb piles of 4th class Ether Stones that litter the landscape outside the border of this mining zone.

We cover tens of kilometers of ground, curving around the outside of the zone, and with every stone I absorb, the process of pulling in ether gets faster and easier.

While collecting stones, I practice activating my footsteps, and occasionally, between absorption sessions, I ask Ava to hit me with her hammer.

However, my healing speed and summoning proficiency have grown so drastically over these last 24 hours that her highest power attack just leaves a tingling sensation for fractions of a second.

While I estimate my ether stores have grown to about 15.0 Low Quality Ether, the growth I've shown since we stopped sparring is far more than just 3x.

Even though Ava has drained a similar amount of Ether as me, her Avatar's settings seem to be holding her back from progressing like I am. They're naturally hard-capped.

I have no good way to practice further, so I focus on just collecting as much Ether as possible.

She speaks up after a while.

"This is about the time the Lord comes back every month. We should head back to base camp. I have enough to satisfy our squad's mining quota and can pay off 150 years' worth of exile contract time with the Ether we've managed to gather. In just a few weeks, my entire lifetime quota could be filled."

I do some quick calculations after her statement but see a smile on her face as she looks up to the sky while I reply.

"You were exiled down here to work for over a thousand years...?"

She sighs and looks back at me.

"Yes. My contract has roughly 1200 years remaining. Even for an Ascended, that's basically a full life. But in the end, my world will be safe and free. That is our duty as Lords, isn't it?"

I look down at my palm with a glowing [1], feel the planet floating in a black void in the depths of my mind, and reply.

"Yes, that is our duty."

Then, we leave the border and head back into the center of the mining zone, passing abandoned pits left and right.

My senses of our surroundings have increased drastically. While my visibility through the green divine fog is the same—100-200 meters at most—my Ether senses have increased over tenfold. I can sense the dimly glowing 5th class Ether Stones all around us for about a kilometer on all sides.

I can feel a grouping of beings with very low ether stores clustered together as we walk for about 20 minutes, paired with Ava speaking up.

"All right, we're almost here. I doubt any of them have ever seen a human before, other than in dungeons on their old worlds... So, just don't frighten them. I'll approach first."

I chuckle under my breath, trying to imagine what a dungeon with humans as the monsters would look like, but nod and reply while taking a step back.

"Sure, take the lead."

We walk forward into the mist, and I let Ava move farther and farther ahead until she disappears. All I can hear are her footsteps, and I use my ether sense to tell where she is.

Her voice calls out.

"I'm back, and there's no need to worry about your contracts expiring. We've met this month's quota just in time!"

The warm blobs of ether clumped together move toward the Hobgoblin holding her hammer over her shoulder. High-pitched and coarse voices, much like the two goblins I met by chance before, reply to her.

"Ms. Ava! We were worried! Troy said you fought a human!"

"Ms. Ava! You're back!"

"Really? The quota is really met? We won't be punished again?"

"Ms. Ava! Ms. Ava!"

More and more voices ring out from roughly two dozen goblins less than half Ava's size. I lose track of them all as Ava bends down and greets each one personally.

Her reassuring words calm the goblins, but she doesn't mention me at all. So I stop moving forward, standing behind a pile of black rocks less than 300 meters away.

As I concentrate, I can vaguely make out green dome-like structures in rows in the fog. There are over 50 of them, all symmetrical, and they resemble the coloring and texture of the Citadel's buildings I glimpsed before falling down here.

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My guess is they are some kind of shelter for the mining workers, but there are far more domes than miners.

The group of goblins backs up from Ava, and she turns around in the direction we came.

"Now, there's a reason we managed to meet our quota this month, and that's because we got some help from—"

Her words cut off mid-sentence, and at the same time, I feel the ground start to vibrate.

Slow crashing sounds echo from the distance, and Ava's tone changes completely. She looks in my direction, her eyes widening. I take it to mean me meeting the goblins is no longer part of the plan.

Ava looks back down and speaks firmly.

"The Lord is coming... Get in position. I'll do the talking, like usual."

The goblins stiffen with fear, but in seconds they scatter, standing in front of various domes with arms at their sides and eyes staring at the ground.

Ava swings her hammer down from her shoulder, letting it thud to the ground by her side. She waits in the center of the base camp as the footsteps grow louder.

A burning-hot ether source sets off alarms in my psyche as the approaching Lord enters my ether senses. However, I cannot see its makeup; the dense green clouds block any mana perception skills.

Coming forward now would only make things worse. I watch from the shadows behind a pile of mined Ether Stones as the figure gets closer.

While the goblins tremble with fear, I am not scared. Instead, I feel curious and excited to see what makes these pounding footsteps and to learn more about these exile mines.

Ava stands tall, staring forward as a massive shadow emerges from the fog.

I see a wide humanoid silhouette with a rounded head, broad shoulders, and thick, muscular arms and legs, standing at least 6 meters tall. The outline of a massive battle axe is visible through the fog, resting on its shoulder. A large, spiked accessory stands out around the Lord's neck.

Even when it stops in front of Ava, towering over her at three times her height and width, she doesn't budge. But from this distance, it's still tough to make out the Lord's exact appearance.

The only additional detail I catch next is the low, resounding voice of the Lord.

"Monthly quotas are due. Pay up, or you'll be punished again."

The massive figure charges its axe with white energy, blindingly bright in my mind's eye, and swings it down to cleave through the rocks beside Ava. She doesn't flinch, simply extending her right hand with the [0] on her palm.

"It's all there. We found enough stones this month to hit the 0.1 Ether zone quota."

A grunt emanates from the massive creature as it puts out its palm to touch Ava's. I watch Ether transfer between their Avatars.

Then, the shadowy Lord speaks again in a low, echoing tone.

"Good. To hit that quota in this zone, you must have been working non-stop. As you should. You've learned from your mistakes..."

It reaches for its axe, but Ava speaks again before it grabs hold.

"I'd like to make some extra progress toward my exile contract. There was additional Ether mined this month."

The towering Lord halts, grunting again.

"How much extra?" it says, resentfully.

Ava doesn't reply for a few seconds but finally musters her words. "Fifteen Low Quality Ether..."

The Lord's hand, initially meant for the axe, moves toward Ava instead. It tightly grips her neck, lifting her into the air.

"Fifteen Low Quality Ether? I must not have heard you correctly... Please say that number again."

"Fif...teen..." Ava chokes out as the massive figure laughs in a menacing, low tone that echoes through the entire zone.

A crushing pressure radiates from its being, and while I assume it's mana or divine energy, all I see are wisps of Ether flowing out. Many of the goblins collapse, passing out from the oppressive force.

The Lord yells again, "Impossible. In a single month? I could rent this whole zone out for 3 centuries with that much Ether. You must have found a secret ether vein to keep for yourself, and have been hoarding resources for years..."

Its grip around her neck tightens further, choking off any reply.

The Lord laughs again. "I can find a new struggling world like yours on the unascended market whenever I want. These contracts last your entire lifespan because you're meant to work until you die."

Its grip tightens more as it turns to address the terrified goblins.

"You hear that? Your leader has been hoarding Ether from you this whole time. Those I killed last month didn't have to die if you just paid the full month's quota... What do you say? Should I kill her right here and now for not paying out everything she mines, as outlined in our contracts?"

My eyes widen as the warrior I trained with for days is being strangled before me with such ease.

Anger ripples through me as this hobgoblin's kind actions are twisted against her, trapping her in a contract designed to be unfulfillable. If she mines too little, she's punished; if she mines extra, these Lords must return the worlds they've stolen early.

I make the decision. Charging out from behind the rock pile, I summon Ether to coat my fists and feet in burning energy, sprinting toward the mining zone's center.

While I could leave the zone and head to the Citadel, without Ava, I wouldn't have progressed so quickly in such a short time.

Thinking of the way the goblins looked up to her moments ago and recalling the countless sparring sessions and laughs we shared over the last few days, I leap into the air, landing a searing fist into the back of the massive Lord as it displays Ava's struggling body to its underlings, spreading lies.

The impact triggers an instant defensive shield, but as with my sparring matches with Ava, it isn't fast enough, and some of the blow connects.

A loud grunt turns into a roar as the massive creature's body is sent flying forward about ten meters. Its grip on Ava loosens, and she drops to the rocky ground between two of the green domes, where goblins lie trembling in fear.

The monster spins around, yelling, "Who dares strike the Goblin King?!"

As it turns, I see features unlike any creature I've encountered in dungeons or labyrinths. With a face resembling a goblin's, the muscles of a cyclops, and the stature of an enormous berserker king, I witness what the goblin race can evolve into.

Its bulky muscles, veins, and green skin pop with bright vitality as it yells again.

"A human? In a zone this close to the Citadel? How did you infiltrate this place? Speak now and I'll make your death painless!"

Its voice rumbles through the zone, knocking out all the remaining conscious goblins with its overwhelming aura.

One of its fists instantly becomes covered in bright white light and rockets toward me, but my Ether-powered footsteps allow me to dodge just in time.

However, as I pivot to counter, I see it lunging for its axe rather than trying to grab me.

The Goblin King moves with speed and agility faster than my own. Bright white Ether glows throughout its entire avatar, making me believe it definitely could have hit me if I was its intended target.

It reveals a [166] glowing bright green on its palm as it flies by and tightly grips the massive Soul Weapon.

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