Fourth floor was different. Jack could feel it the moment he set foot on it, the air around him charged with a whole new type of energy. What had been neutral and slightly chaotic beforehand, now turned aggressive, prickly and not the least bit subtle. Jack's spirit sense could not envelop the whole floor either, only covering about half of it. It was split in two parts, approximately cut in half for each, with a wall entirely formed of tentacles that separated the two.

  The wall was a mass of wriggling, writhing and altogether a sight quite disturbing on its own, held together by another, clearly much more powerful in nature, force. How else could a construction of what was essentially a colossal amount of eldritch worm like entities dragged and seemingly fused together be kept together? And there, in what seemed to be the center of the violet eldritch tentacle wall, a rather imposing gate stood, crafted of ivory white and bony substance, as though a maw of some unseen and unrecognizable horror awaiting the mad men willing to jump straight down into its gullet for a chance of riches and power.

  "What's waiting for me on the other side?" Jack hummed as he drew closer and closer, his senses sharp and focused. It was places like this that always held some sort of secret- be it an ambush, a boss battle, or perhaps a treasure room, filled with riches and all other manner of good stuff. The gate, as if sensing his approach, seemingly grinned, its jaw like doors slowly parting, though behind it nothing but pure, impenetrable darkness awaited, once again preventing Jack's spirit senses from penetrating inside and betraying the contents found there.

  "Going in blind I see." Jack snickered, not the least bit derailed or alarmed. He had gone through one too many battles balancing on the deaths blade's edge to be flustered, as well as armed to the teeth with skill, experience and understanding. "Well then, entertain me." he added, his two handed sword drawn and held firmly in his grip as he stepped inside.

  One moment was all it took for everything to change. A single blink and one would have missed the moment they were transported to an entirely different place, seemingly teleported the moment they stepped through that ivory gate. Jack stood on a rooftop, in he far end of what was incredibly large ballroom of sorts. The edge was decorated with all manner of stone statues that seemingly stood vigil over both the rooftop itself, as well as the surrounding airspace, as though ready to come alive the second any too daring an adventurer or mage tried to fly by in search of riches or knowledge.

  Seats were then arranged closer, as though preparing for an audience, awaiting some sort of a spectacle happening at the center of the room. Each seat was made from stone- carefully cut from a rather large piece of carefully chosen piece of rock, each one evidently different in their shades or patterns, adorned with precious gems and metals. The man who created this place had put in quite the effort in making sure nothing but his event would be the talking point of the world around him once it had passed.

  Finally, Jack's attention was drawn towards the very center of the rooftop, at least in importance, since the large throne that could be seen was moved a fair distance away from the entry point Jack found himself on. There, on an even larger and accordingly more decorated throne sat a dried up and twisted body, seemingly all signs of life having left it for who knows how long. Certainly longer than anyone involved in the while process ever would be.

  And yet, despite its withered, dried up form, two, sickly green flames flickered in those empty eye sockets, seemingly becoming brighter and brighter ever since Jack stepped inside of its arena. With a rather subdued, but still present nonetheless, flash of light, the body began to move as cracking of bones unmowed for who knows how long stirred it awake. A withered body slowly rose to its feet, supporting the body through what seemed pure magic, for there was neither flesh nor muscle to do the work. Then, as though on a que, black, sludge like goo began to seep out from the bones, covering them in the process, wrapping around the remains of the owner of this place like some sort of an intelligent, liquid like swarm of insects, all guided by a greater force and purpose.

  Once the bones were covered completely, the liquid solidified, becoming the flesh and muscles that the body lacked, as well as a set of grotesque, spiky and ever so impractical armour. Truly, what manifested before Jack's eyes was more in place in some edgy teenager costume party than in actual combat. To each their own, Jack supposed. Pitch black in colour, it seemed as though this new form of it was absorbing light of its surroundings, making everything seem just a bit dimmer in comparison to before. For what purpose, Jack did not know, nor did he cared all that much right now. He would no doubt learn of its purpose sooner or later. Right now, his attention was locked on the boss monster and the two other shapes that had begun to form nearby- clearly, the boss did not like to play fair, summoning aid for his own side.

  The two forming entities resembled the central one with insane similarities, so much so that Jack could not, even with his own incredibly developed senses, tell them apart from one another- at least not by the usual metrics of human senses. It was here that his extraordinary high spirit came into play, detecting the slightest difference in their individual forms in that realm of perception. It was true that they looked somewhat similar even there, but that similarity ended once one had Spirit high enough and had a bit of an experience dealing with eldritch entities, for unlike the original one, the two copies lacked the decisive marker that distinguished them as such.

  As soon as the two shades- that's how Jack decided to classify them- were formed, they immediately launched his way, brandishing their clawed arms at him, both aiming straight at his vitals with deadly intent. Jack leaned back to dodge the first set of claws coming for his throat, using his sword to block and deflect the other aiming for his side, only to realize that the two shades packed quite the punch, his initial plan to counterattack thwarted.

  With no other options, he moved back and to a side, creating a larger zone for him to move in, creating a distance between himself and the tentacle wall/ closed gate now, all while avoiding repeated direct clashes against his current foes, and while keeping track of the main one. For the time being, it remained where it had originally been, likely watching and learning from his moves. A smart tactic, Jack had to admit- use two of your summons to adapt to your opponents rhythm and style, then once you have it figured out, jump into the fray to deliver the heavy hitting and critically dangerous finishers.

  A delicate dance of savage, almost mindless claw attacks and somewhat graceful, fluid even, bending of a human body persisted for several minutes, with Jack actually being pushed back for the whole time, his muscles changing from strained as he deflected where he had no other choice but, to relaxed and almost languid, his body apparently pushed to its limit. And while true that Jack was indeed being pushed around, it was not to the point where he was beginning to worry all that much. On the contrary, his other- abyss dwelling and conquering- side awakened, sharpening his being into one made for pure persistence, To win at all costs and survive the day, no matter the odds and opposition.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  As minutes drew by, reaching half an hour of active and heavy combat, his muscles began to ache, complaining at the exertion he was putting them through, but his mind- sharper than ever- noticed several inconsistencies he had been searching for. He had, after some fifteen minutes of combat- noticed a rather peculiar issue with the shades he was fighting. There was no actual control behind them. Given a simple order, one that most likely involved his death in some gruesome fashion, they were moving on pure, predatory instinct, much like the one ordinary dungeon monsters were controlled by, making them predictable and rather simple. Secondly, the main body still remained in the same place it had been at from the very beginning, not an inkling of it taking any action had been seen. If anything, Jack was beginning to suspect it was either too preoccupied with supplying energy to the two shades, or playing possum to catch him off guard when he went in for what was supposed an easy kill on an otherwise debilitated opponent.

  However, it was not all bad news for Jack either, for while it did not seem his opponent was doing any learning, he himself was not above such means as his understanding of the two shades and their movement patterns finally complete enough to begin the next phase of the fight. He had no plans to go in on the main body as of yet, too many possible pitfalls in such a path, but he could begin to set things up for the grand finale.

  Sweat poured down his face and neck, his muscles strained and pushed close to their limit, as Jack changed his stance mid jump, then, once landed, he changed up his game, suddenly whirling in the complete opposite direction as he dodged another set of incoming attacks, followed by his first proper counter attack, delivering a mighty slash- powered by both plenty of Jack's own might and the force of his torque- to one of the shades knee, cleaving into it nice and deep, almost severing the leg in question entirely.

  That's another thing Jack had noticed about these shades- they did not regenerate. What damage was delivered, would remain there. It was not to say that the main body could not summon more, but he had a rather strong feeling it would not be the case. That said, taking the shade out immediately did propose more risk than forth, especially if there was some sort of a failsafe in the main eldritch entities pocket.

  That was another thing Jack had realized as the fight went on. There was no man inside those bones, not even a remnant of a soul of one. No, what Jack was dealing with was an echo of eldritch, formed on a recording of the original mans essence- acting on instinct and example of the original host. No learning capacity it was then, earning a smile from Jack at the realization. Still, extreme caution and slow approach was still the only correct choice, dragging out the fight more than Jack would like.

  Finally, after nearly an hour of high intensity battle, he got to put his plan in motion. With another, precise and well timed counter, he cleanly severed boths legs of the shade not yet damaged, and like a loaded spring released, shot towards the main body, his mana roaring to life, engulfing body in an extremely thin layer empowering him even further than his bodily might ever could, while at the same time coating his swords edge as well, making its already unreasonable sharpness even higher.

  In a blink of an eye he was next to the main body, his weapon singing as it was slashed several times, catching its target in a perfect combo attack in that split second, all while the floor burst into radiant light- a circle drawn during the fight revealing itself. Jack had created a rather rudimentary, though still perfectly operational formation as he danced around the boss arena along with the two shades, all so he could ensure a perfect kill.

  The main body of his opponent had no time to react as it was both immobilized and split apart in but a blink of an eye, then, just to be sure, split into smaller parts still, in case the creature- this echo of eldritch- worked on some sort of a core. Thankfully it was not the case, as the moment Jack had split the spiked and edgy armour, and the bones that were hidden within, into ten similar sized pieces, the two shades began to melt, their bodies dissolving into the same black sludge that had formed them, creating similarly black smoke at said sludge shrank and shark until nothing was left behind.

  "Haaaa." Jack exhaled, his body finally relaxing after almost an hour of high level strain. His mind was still sharp, awaiting any sort of a follow up. It seemed that there would be none, as the system chimed in at that moment, informing him of his hard earned victory, and the spoils that came with it.

  Level up. Reached level 32. Title earned.

  Eldritch garbage disposal(legendary)- Someone who had done a great service to the world they reside in, removing a source of eldritch corruption seeping into it. For their great merit the word rewards them as such. Free attributes +10.

  "Wow. that something." Jack whistled as he read through, more than a little surprised at the generosity of the title. Extra stats were always a premium currency, and hard to get as well. Earning ten points of his own choice for a single achievement was a banger of the highest order, though once he thought a bit more on the matter, he realized that it was only fair. No matter how benign and passive- much like it had become in this place- eldritch corruption was still a ticking time bomb, growing slowly, sometimes incredibly so, but growing nonetheless. Eventually, it would draw in some actually functioning higher power of that side, eventually dooming the word to be consumed. And that, was not something any plane, no matter how young or developed, ever wanted to experience first hand.

  Jack did not have much time to bask in the glory of his freshly earned rewards, since just moments later he could feel the place slowly crumbling, folding in on itself. If he wanted to get his hands on anything of value for a scholar, he had to move fast. He had caught a way forward during the battle in the form of a small staircase in the far corner of the rooftop, hidden behind the throne that the main body had sat upon.

  Like a man possessed, he rushed forward, finding his spirit senses no longer obstructed like before, allowing him to multitask as he spread them out, searching for the faintest signs of any remaining books. He was in luck, as the area he reached soon enough seemed to have been the bedroom, combined with study, of the man who had resided here. There, on an old table, barely holding together through various, nearly spent enchantments, lay several books in a language Jack did not recognize, though it was categorized as Vervud by the system.

  Jack spent no time whatsoever to collect them all, leaving the deciphering to later, followed by a quick collection of a couple of nearby chests, one of which held several storage rings. Who knows, those too might contain something interesting, though Jack noted to create a proper containment area before he went digging through them. You never knew what could be stashed away in those.

  In just as great a pace as before, he shot back up towards the towers top floor, dashing over to one of its ledges. Once there, he gazed over, his sharp eyes searching for a certain group of people. He repeated the same action twice more as he moved onto the next side once the first one yielded no results and once the maid group was in sight, he leapt over the edge, free falling for a short while before getting to use his long since forgotten wings for one of the purposes he had made them- gliding.

  Once he landed, he was quickly surrounded by the maids, all eyes locked onto him with curiosity, though no one dared to question him. It did not last for long though, as mere moments later the tower Jack had just left could no longer maintain its hold into this world and was violently sucked back into whatever dimension the eldritch realms existed to begin with, leaving behind a purple black vortex that shrunk at an alarming rate, disappearing from existence in less than a minute.

  "That's new." Jack commented, witnessing such an occurrence for the first time ever.

  "How are we supposed to finish this dungeon I wonder?" Jack then asked, a bit miffed regarding the clear conditions. It seemed that his confusion was heard by whatever mechanism controlled the place, as moments after he had spoken, a load croak reverberated across the island, followed behind by rather loud noises as a toad, almost five times the size of the previous- bull sized ones- emerged from within the forest.

  "Aha, there you are." Jack hummed, adding "Alright. This one's all yours." he spoke, sliding back with calm as he allowed his maids and Spartacus to take point.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 32

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +14

  Attributes:

  Strength- 34 (14+7+13(gear))

  Vitality- 28 (12+8+8(gear))

  Dexterity- 29 (15+6+8(gear))

  Intelligence-20(15+ 5(gear)

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX). Destroyers presence(unique legendary).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme. Slavemaster, Eldritch garbage disposal(legendary).

  Gear: Two handed sword(t3)+ 5 str +5 vit: Armor 3str +3 vit +3 dex; Ring 1 - spatial storage, ring 2 +5int, ring 3 +5 str; amulet +5 dex.