Denizens of the Labyrinth

At any given moment, the spectre of death loomed over him, yet the intoxicating thrill propelled him forward. The battlefield lay in ruins, a graveyard for both Master Seekers and Dragons. Standing alone amidst the carnage, he assessed the heavy toll he had paid. Barely managing to stand upright, his body was a mosaic of shattered bones and torn flesh. The wounds inflicted in this battle surpassed any he had endured before, and uncertainty lingered about the possibility of victory.

This marked the farthest he had ever reached on the highest floor ever completed. Here, on the precipice of conquering the elusive hundredth floor, he vowed to emerge victorious. The Ancient High Dragon, grievously wounded, acknowledged its imminent demise. A wing slashed and broken; a sacrifice paid with another master’s life. His thoughts lingered on her as he pledged to conquer the floor for all the fallen. The dragon, grounded with a maimed wing, could not escape this time. The toll was high – almost five Masters lost to create the opening for the decisive blow.

The Master tier seekers who had ascended with him lay scattered, their bodies testament to the relentless clash between men and dragons. She, the formidable foe, fixed her gaze on him with sheer devastation. The Dragon's roar echoed, a lesser person might have succumbed to deafness, but he endured, comparing it to body tempering.

His Mana was dwindling, what he had thought to be a once-bottomless ocean reduced to a mere trickle above his navel. Facing a calamity unprecedented, he braced for the impending attack.

Starfall

He declared and the sky filled with swords crafted from his Mana. Thousands of blades rained down on the wounded dragon, disrupting its planned assault. A brilliant beam of pure Mana obliterated the landscape, reducing mountains to rubble.

Sensing the urgency, he vanished and reappeared above the dragon, a mastered movement technique. From this vantage point, he unleashed another volley of Mana swords, relentlessly battering the dragon until its once majestic form was reduced to near pulp. The dragon, in a last act of defiance, lunged at him, attempting to bite him in half. His Mana exhausted; he felt the onset of white out – a sign of complete depletion. Summoning a restorative elixir from his storage ring, he gulped it down, replenishing only a fraction of his Mana.

Biting his lip, he drew blood, channelling his life essence into his palm to form Mana. With nothing left, he prepared his final move.

Rend

A small bead of volatile power coalesced and struck the dragon, causing its head to collapse. Victory, albeit at the cost of utter exhaustion, was his. The system blinked to life, announcing his triumph over the Calamity and the completion of the hundredth floor. As the dragon's body disappeared, the system initiated a Monarch Tier Tribulation, presenting him with the option to accept or decline.

TRAIT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED!

CHILD OF THE DAO!

…

Choosing to accept, he was engulfed in excruciating pain. The thunderbolts above him heralded the Monarch Tier Tribulation, a journey into the unknown that might just claim his life. Laughing mirthlessly, he embraced the challenge, determined to explore this uncharted territory.

CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE OVERCOMER...

YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE IMPOSSIBLE

YOU HAVE QUELLED THE UNQUENCHED CALAMITY!

…

YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE HUNDREDTH FLOOR!!

A BORN TRAIT HAS BEEN GIVEN; CHILD OF THE DAO

MONARCH TIER TRIBULATION BEGUN;

WILL YOU ACCEPT?

Yes. Yes, he would. What was a Monarch? The pain writhed through his body as the inky thunderbolts descended, a new sort of tier tribulation then.