Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power C.510

The energy blade that leaves my sword collides with the diamond armor, and at the same moment, I dungeon walk far away, over a kilometer back to where I spawned into this boss room.

I do this for two reasons. The first is completely instinctive; there is no reason for me to stay up close any longer than I have to when I'm facing an opponent with unknown tactics at close range.

The second is that the ground beneath my feet turned into hundreds of needle-shaped spears all covered in golden light the moment the monster's eyes met mine.

It used telekinesis to shoot them upward, and if I stayed any longer, they would have all collided with my Soul Energy barrier as well.

There's an explosion of red and golden light in the distance as these attacks collide.

The concentrated slash makes it through the mountain hermit's outer layer of golden shielding and even cracks its diamond armor, but to my surprise, it doesn't make it all the way through before my attack dissipates into the air and is eaten up by the golden energy that seeps out from the monster's core.

As collateral damage, the entire top quarter of the mountain is decimated by the extreme release of power. Hundreds of meters of dungeon mass are destroyed and sent flying into the air, being melted and incinerated into pure mana.

My opponent stands on top of the rubble, reforming its diamond armor and letting the golden light around it reform as if nothing has happened at all.

I had the advantage on every front during that attack.

The element of surprise, using my full power, and even making the environment for my strike optimal.

All it managed to do was drain about 10% of its HP using lifesteal while mildly irritating it by damaging its ultimate ranked-up defense form.

Other than this, I'm back to square one.

Rocks and trees coated in golden light rain from the sky again as the horned creature raises its staff high up on the mountain and stares down at me with an unfazed expression in its dark eyes.

This doesn't stop me from dodging the incoming attacks by a hair, then activating stealth and dungeon walking in mid-swing to attack it again.

With an expanding aura of lifesteal, plunderer, intimidation, and confusion all infused with Soul Energy radiating out from my core, I send another attack off at the beast.

Its life energy is drained away, taking another 8% of its HP before I release the red slash from my sword.

Just like before, its head immediately turns to its blind spot, but this time it swings its weapon coated with golden energy back at my sword slash.

I dungeon walk away from the danger zone as the silver-bladed edge of its battle-staff takes my attack on at point-blank range.

From the bottom of the mountain, two clashing auras of energy erupt again.

I expect the remaining top of the mountain to be blown to bits, just like last time, but something different happens.

There's a loud roar and pulse of golden light through the entire boss room as the mountain hermit dispels my attack, making the two energies explode in the air with equal force.

I dungeon walk to another portion of the room to escape the incoming raining debris controlled by telekinesis, teleporting around the dungeon a few times before attempting my close-range attack again.

This time, before I can even release the entire energy attack from my sword, the monster's uniquely shaped weapon comes rocketing my way and collides with the edge of my flaming blade.

My mental attacks seem to not affect it at all anymore, and my lifesteal hardly drained away more than 5% more HP this time around.

Its reaction time is only getting faster, and I can't break through its ranked-up defenses no matter how hard I try without increasing my base mana and Qi control, or bringing allies to this boss room to borrow theirs using my ranked-up buff.

The longer I drag this battle out, the fewer chances I'll have to catch it off guard.

As our blades collide, and a murderous wave of Soul Energy ripples out from both of our bodies, I decide to attempt to use another one of my unique skills.

I dungeon walk to its left shoulder, not even attempting to win our sword exchange, and place a hand covered in a large amount of my soul energy onto its diamond-coated muscles.

Instantly, the monster turns its gaze again, swinging the sharp tip of its staff my way, but I whisper under my breath while activating a skill and feeling immense pain fill my body as I do.

"Equivalent Exchange." 𝘧𝓻ℯ𝑒𝑤𝓮𝒷𝓷𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝓬𝓸𝓂

Bright white light covers both of our bodies as I sacrifice 80% of my total HP in a single shared attack.

Equivalent Exchange is a skill I stole from another hunter back during the C-Class exams. I don't often use it, because to damage opponents with it, I have to severely injure myself as well. It is risky, painful, and needs skin-to-skin contact to activate.

This monster has more HP than me, but this should bring its total remaining health down very low, my hopes being close to 5% remaining, and give me enough remaining health to the point where if I'm hit with debris at an expected rate while fleeing, I'll still have health left over while I heal.

I let out a scream, and it synchronizes with the mountain hermit's roar as life energy in the form of HP on both of our statuses is drained away.

The moment I feel it happening, I activate my dungeon walker skill and teleport to the furthest point away from the source as I can.

Golden needles of dungeon mass come up from the ground and rip through my feet and legs as I do, but this is within my expectations.

The flashes of light cease as I instantly activate my self-regeneration skills to heal my wounds and drink mythic grade regen potions to bring my own HP back up to full while dungeon walking around the outer ring of the boss room, hundreds of meters away each blip every few tenths of a second.

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My attack worked.

I can hear the agony, anger, and drops of fear in the mountain hermit's roars as it mercilessly attacks me all throughout the dungeon using its telekinesis skill to the absolute limit.

A golden orb of light grows on top of the mountain, and mass from the boss room dungeon is being ripped to shreds and used to fuel its attacks.

The mountain range turns to unrecognizable piles of rubble as I teleport through its violent display of raw mental strength and soul energy.

A few times I get in close enough to attempt to see if any system text shows up for me to steal its skills, but it never does.

However, there is blood gushing from its diamond body, showing signs that my equivalent exchange did severe damage. Its ultimate defense move won't regenerate the next time it's damaged and its Soul Energy is unpredictably pulsing and wavering as it reaches its output limit.

This is borrowed power after all. It is not endlessly able to regenerate. If it is used too rashly, the end of the supply will come eventually.

Even so, it isn't withering away. If anything, the candle is burning even brighter before it goes out.

I need to be even more careful now than ever, but I'm sure this is the end if I can string the fight on a little longer.

In between my dungeon walks and continuous dodges of attacks, I send out dark and dense crescents of soul energy toward the creature whenever I get close enough in range.

It doesn't hesitate to block them over and over, but the rate of its attacks slows every time it has to block.

This gives me enough time to dungeon walk even closer in and activate my lifesteal skill.

Every few attacks I throw, I manage to break through its growing golden aura and drain another 1-2% HP.

It realizes what is happening, but can do nothing to stop it other than pushing its Soul Energy limit even further.

The density of its golden aura looks and feels to me, just like the time I witnessed Maria use up all of her Red Hydra's buff before she awakened her own Soul Energy.

It's going to go all out. Whatever is about to come out of this creature is not something I want to be in the way of.

As it reaches its limit, I manage one last ranged lifesteal attack and see a series of blue text boxes pop up over its head.

[Select 1 Option]

Telekinesis [Mythic Grade]

Body Hardening [Mythic Grade]

At the same time, the golden aura that surrounds the monster in a dome shape instantly collapses in on itself and condenses entirely into its weapon, channeled into the short blade at its tip.

My eyes open wide as all of the controlled mass in the dungeon falls to the floor, and all of the power it has remaining comes out in a single golden energy slash rocketing straight toward me.

I dungeon walk away to the far side of the dungeon to escape its path, but the moment I do, the highly concentrated light changes direction and curves toward me at speeds that are only increasing.

I dodge it and teleport around the boss room multiple times, but it only gets closer and faster.

Mythic Grade telekinesis allows this monster to alter and manipulate its own energy attacks with impressive accuracy, I want this skill so I can do the same.

The thought of dungeon walking away and leaving this boss room entirely crosses my mind. That would certainly lead me to safety, but would only give this monster more time to prepare for my return.

This last resort attack would gain even more power, and even worse, the boss could find a way to heal before I steal its skills or land the final blow.

I need to figure out something here and now, so I stop in place and think of a new strategy.

"Let's end this."

I begin dungeon walking around in a less erratic, more predictable pattern, but still add in random jumps here and there. I have it get used to my slower dodging patterns, making it seem like I'm getting tired and my reaction time is slowing.

Instead of trying to fully avoid the crescent of golden light, I begin to let it gain on me each time, as if I'm the one in trouble here.

While doing so, I keep a close eye on the monster atop what's left of the mountain it stood on before, and keep my vision locked on the blue text that still hovers above its head.

I lead the golden crescent closer and closer to the mountain, allowing it to gain even more control over its movements while pretending to slow my own.

Once less than 50 meters in front of it, I set out to finish it.

I activate all of my mental attacks again, activating confusion, intimidation, flash to send bright lights in the air, blast and screech to create explosions and loud noises, then phantom step imbued with soul energy to create fake copies of my greater form appear in front of it.

At the same time, I activate stealth with my real body and dungeon walk behind it while clicking on the status notifications before me, choosing to absorb mythic grade body hardening, and watching the white, blue, and red light surround its body.

I'm less than 5 meters away from its back.

Throughout all of the confusion, the monster is caught off guard momentarily and only aims for the immediate threats in front of it, slicing through the phantom images that have jumped off in opposite directions out from the white blasts.

Meanwhile, red soul energy surrounds its diamond body while the majority of its offensive soul energy is trapped in its attack. No needles or projectiles come at me, and I have time to concentrate.

Before it realizes what has happened, it's too late.

I feel a skill orb fall into my storage, and see the golden blade of light coming straight for me.

I wait until the last second to dungeon walk away again, and the highly charged soul energy collides with the monster's own diamond armor.

It cracks, just like it did when I attacked it before, but this time shatters open, leaving a large gap in its armor as golden energy and diamond flakes explode into the air as the attack dissipates, creating an opening that I couldn't physically manage to do myself.

I quickly dungeon walk back in at this opportunity and shove my blade through the opening in its defenses, releasing a wave of soul energy imbued fire into the monster's heart from within, burning away all of its remaining golden energy. It begins to shrink back into its human form before my eyes and I hear it speak words for the first time since I entered this floor.

"After so many years... I'm free... Thank- y-you."

The golden collar around its neck fully dissolves as my red soul energy engulfs it entirely.

Dinging sounds out in my inner ear.

[Level Up] x72

[Use Absorption]

Skill: Telekinesis [Mythic Grade]

[YES][NO]

[Use Absorption]

MCP: 577,904,310

[YES][NO]

I press [YES] accepting everything, upgrading my telekinesis skill, and watch my level rise to 2271.

Adrenaline is pumping through my veins and my aura is burning so hot that the mountain beneath my feet is melting away every second I stay powered up in my ranked-up form.

I take a few deep breaths to conceptualize this whole situation. I allow the half-human half-rhinoceros corpse that hasn't reverted fully back to its lesser form fall into my item storage before it dissolves.

It's final words are confusing.

There is even a faint smile across its face as it falls inside despite the massive bloody hole in its chest.

Just like I did with the lightning wolf on the 40th floor, I want to stall the transportation magic and activation of the 44th floor until later.

I barely got away with that victory.

It was stronger than me on all fronts. Every stat point was higher, I'm sure it had me beat on pure numbers alone.

Its ranked-up defenses were only destroyed by its own final attack.

Even its borrowed Soul Energy was basically on par with mine.

I defeated this monster with strategy, and my abundance of skills and fight knowledge.

This was only possible because I had time to prepare these moves.

Moving up a floor to fight something 500 levels higher won't be easy... Just based on what I've fought so far, it could be stronger than the Lich King I fought just the other day.

I stare out at the decimated mountain range after this battle, then teleport back to the lower floors of the dungeon to continue farming for the night and think over the fights I've been in today to assess what my next moves will be.

While these thoughts settle in my mind, I continue to farm fire stones every 30 minutes on the dot. During my downtime, I test out my new telekinesis skill upgrade too, mastering the same technique I saw on floor 43, manipulating the movement and speed of my energy blade attacks.

The image of the floor boss monster's calm smile and final words replay in my head as I train.

While getting used to this ability, I also set off to use my new absorption perk to collect skill orbs from all kinds of monsters on the various floors of the labyrinth, dungeons from Vice City, Solara, my hometown, and even the canyon of dungeons too.

It seems this process is very replicable from the fights I've had so far. There are a lot more tests I'd like to do, so once the sun comes up and I can find people that will be able to take these [Skill Orb] consumables, I believe my army will grow far stronger.