Surviving the Dungeon with an EX-Rank Trait

I sat down for a moment, feeling drained, and gazed at the corpse of Grielops.

Gray and black.

Probably the former is a characteristic and the latter an item, right?

⋯Hah.

Seeing that black light made me sigh unconsciously.

“Bad luck. To resurrect something that was already caught and make it tedious… What? What’s Chaos property got to do with anything?”

There should be a limit to how much trouble one can force themselves into.

Didn’t I just get dumped somewhere on the third floor instead of the first?

And now this guy, with a sword stuck in his heart, received Chaos property damage and suddenly had some epiphany?

What kind of situation will explode next, I wonder?

“How strong does Chaos have to get for the bad luck trait to disappear? ‘Unmatched bloodside effects’? How am I supposed to match those levels?”

[Chaos says that for now, the only way is to keep growing steadily and gradually achieve accomplishments in the Labyrinth.]

That’s such a cliché answer.

So basically just keep at it, work hard, and keep entering the Labyrinth, huh?

If taking down Grielops counts as an accomplishment, then I guess that’s something, right?

[Chaos is sorry for not being able to present a clear solution and feels gloomy.]

“Well, it can’t be helped. Just lamenting and feeling wronged won’t change anything. Chaos suits a brighter demeanor rather than being gloomy. So, might as well encourage me with a smile.”

[Chaos beams and says they’ll always cheer for me.]

In the distance, Yeriell came running towards me, her worried expression breaking into speech.

“Wow! Look at your armor! It’s all damaged! Are you okay? You did get healed earlier, but… don’t you think you should drink a potion or two?”

“Nah. Even though it looks like this on the outside, I had the effect of a C-grade potion before, and my armor’s quality is pretty good too. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry so much.”

“Thank goodness for that… Ugh, what a mess.”

I simply shrugged my shoulders.

“As long as no one’s hurt, it’s all good. We should finish gathering and get out of this cave soon.”

Lumia suggested we search this hidden space we were in first.

“I agree. Let’s search this place and then check the treasure chest outside before we follow the markings we engraved to escape.”

“Sure, I’ll check over there first.”

“Then I’ll check that way!”

Yeriell and Lumia began searching in different directions to see if anything was around.

“Um, big guy. Can I help too? If you don’t trust me, I can just stay here.”

‘Why does he keep calling me big guy when he looks about the same age?’

I turned to Jacob and asked.

“Why do you keep calling me big guy? …No, irrespective of age, we’re not on those terms where we should be all chummy, right?”

This guy casually calls me big guy even after I was about to let him die.

“Why not just call me by my name instead?”

“Um, haha. Is it about the age? Even though our first meeting was the worst, still, we’ve shared life and death together, haven’t we?”

Jacob chuckled awkwardly as he wiped his nose.

“You probably don’t know how impressed I was watching you fight that crazy beast! You were just badass!”

I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

What if this ends up making him think I’m a hero while I was keeping him alive for my gain…?

I felt a bit guilty towards Jacob, who was smiling cheerily.

“Alright. I did start talking informally, and if you feel comfortable with that, go ahead and call me whatever.”

“Hehe. Yes! I’ll lend a hand over there too.”

Jacob nodded and went off to help.

While everyone was busy finding tasks, I couldn’t just sit still.

First, let’s focus on that trait.

“Absorb.”

Woooooong.

[The power is activated.]

[You have acquired the trait Magic Affinity.]

────

[Magic Affinity (B)] [P]

The memory predator Grielops had fed on the knowledge and experience embedded in an adventurer’s corpse to acquire this trait.

You become more adept at controlling the flow of magic, operation speed increases, and regeneration ability improves.

The effects are simple but outstanding.

You can grow by steadily handling magic.

─While controlling the flow of magic within your body, you gain enhanced mastery through corrections.
─You receive corrections while using magic, allowing subsequent actions to follow slightly faster.
─The regeneration rate of magic increases slightly.
─Affinity towards magical beings increases slightly.

────

“!!”

What the—? Wow.

‘Wait, it’s B-grade?’

Thinking back, there were indeed some adventurers from the low floors who had traits above B-grade.

Sorry for pulling memories from dead folks, but… Scarlet’s Emophilia was B-grade too, wasn’t it?

I can’t fathom what kind of adventurer Grielops preyed on to acquire this, but it’s a major boon for me.

I had no idea what to expect with so many traits.

And to get something among the impressive 11 positive traits…

Thank goodness it wasn’t the disgusting capability of memory predation that I’d have to make awkward hunched poses with; this suits my fighting style perfectly.

‘For sure, something’s different.’

As soon as I acquired the trait, I felt a change from within my body.

It felt like the blocked blood vessels were opened up, maybe?

Of course, it had already been optimized by the Heart of the Chaos Dragon.

Let’s just say something feels refreshing, and the flow of magic seems to have improved a bit.

Fwooosh!

One more thing. The color of my magic has changed. Or rather, it’s finally revealing its true color because of the trait.

‘Gray…?’

Normally it was colorless and formless, and when I used too much, it shone briefly in blue.

Focusing on my hands, I noticed the magic, which appeared grayish, was a mix of black and white that flashed and vanished in an instant.

Could this gray color be due to having my body altered by the Chaos Heart?

Well, the improved regeneration option might not mean much, but hey, good is still good, right?

“Alright, only the items are left now.”

I reached out to touch the black light.

‘A book?’

As the light faded, it revealed a book with a black cover.

It was somewhat different from Heins’ Terra Codex.

────

[Book of Avaricious Darkness] (C)

The peculiar Grielops, who had gained forbidden knowledge through parchment inscribed with gold, was an exceptionally intelligent variant.

Before dying, he touched upon the principles of darkness, light, and chaos through unusual interference.

Having merely barely survived as the weak, feeding on shallow knowledge and experiences from corpses, he yearned for light, thrashing about, but was met with a tragic end.

In the end, Grielops’ lamentation and desires mixed with darkness were materialized into this spellbook.

It does not get damaged by mysticism.

─Upon opening the book for the first time, if the owner’s magic is C-grade or lower, their magic level increases by two ranks for one use.
─When possessed, all attack-type black magic has increased attack power against it.
─When possessed, the duration of all curse-type black magic slightly increases.
─When possessed, the unique black magic ‘Wavy Darkness’ and ‘Avaricious Darkness’ become usable.

────

After reading the description, I thought, ‘This is definitely for Lumia.’

Now that I think about it, since our party still consists of just three members, or perhaps it’s because the circumstances that led to our party are somewhat special, we didn’t have a clear way to distribute the dropped items yet after escaping the Labyrinth.

The mid-level potion I got and the gauntlet are the same.

Whatever it is, I’ll store it in my spatial bag, using consumables when needed and ensuring the gear goes to the right person.

‘There are adventurers who resolve items being returned to a certain party member by paying them a set amount of money or holding an auction among party members… but… who knows.’

I thought our current arrangement was just appropriate since we don’t have too many party members yet.

I should hand this right over to Lumia.

Calling out to Lumia, I handed her the book.

She took it with a blank expression.

Before she could express her confusion, I launched into the explanation of the item.

“Alright! That wraps the explanation. What do you think? Pretty good, right?”

“Well, that’s true, but… can I really use it? I didn’t contribute that much in this fight. I feel bad accepting something so precious without being of help…”

Lumia seemed quite flustered, even if her face didn’t show it much.

“Isn’t it better to dispose of it and share the money we could get instead? It’s bound to be quite valuable due to its single-use options.”

“Oh come on! At a time like this, all you need to say is thank you and express that you’ll make good use of it. Right, Aren?”

“Of course. It’s far better to smile and wrap things up warmly than to refuse!”

“Why are you jumping in? For a moment there, I thought you were one of us!”

“Haha, after all, I did contribute to taking down the monster, so I think I deserve some say, right? Anyway, we’re all going to the portal together, so just consider me a temporary party member.”

“Ugh. How cheeky.”

By now, Yeriell and Jacob, who had returned, discouraged Lumia from rejecting the offer.

Once the banter concluded, I saw Lumia was convinced.

“Did you hear? Don’t even think about refusing. Just take it and get stronger so you can stay with us in the party.”

“Okay, okay! I’ll gratefully accept it.”

“What’s this? Are the two of you dating?”

Zing!

“Y-you…”

“Shutting Up!”

Jacob mimed zipping his lips.

Well, now that the most important part is settled.

“Did everyone find anything?”

“Sadly, nothing over here.”

“I found nothing either.”

“I found one! Here.”

Lumia pulled out a dark stone.

────

[Dark Stone] (D)

A crystal formed from the darkness gradually accumulating from the depths of the cave.

Due to high purity, when used for crafting non-weapon items, random black magic-related options may be added.

────

Not a piece of equipment; just a D-grade ore crystal?

While Yeriell donned a complete set of priest gear supported by Ivelyn, Lumia sported a special outfit but carried a plain staff as her weapon.

I might as well use this material to craft a weapon now. Lumia hit the jackpot.

Now that I’ve finished up here, it’s time to… Oh!

I quickly glanced at the golem.

“Oh no! Almost forgot the most important thing.”

The golem picked up the orb it had been cherishing.

Given the urgency of the situation, I hadn’t had the chance to examine the information.

‘What could be so treasured that it guarded it so desperately? Let’s take a look.’

────

[Opscuritas]

It is sealed.

────

“…?”

That’s it?

‘Oh, jeez. That’s disappointing. But since it’s sealed, I should at least take it with me.’

I shrugged and put it in my backpack.

Is there anything left now?

I slowly put Grielops’ corpse into my backpack with difficulty.

The golem… taking it all would be impossible.

Rustle. Thud.

I infused magic into my sword, cutting away a few parts, before grabbing the core that was still sparking dimly.

“Alright, let’s head out. We should quickly open the last treasure chest outside and get the heck out of this cave.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Grugggggg—

“Whoa, that startled me.”

As we all exited, the space closed automatically since there were no living beings inside.

It caught me off guard for a moment, but I shook my head and approached the last treasure chest together.

“Shall we open it?”

Looking around at each other, we opened the chest.

Clunk.

“Oooh.”

Inside were a mid-level potion, the Earth’s Fortitude I’d used during the fight with Grielops, and lastly, a scroll. Three things in total.

────

[Palm of Destruction] (D)

The usage method is to mentally designate a location within 5 meters and tear the scroll in half.

If used correctly, the rock giant will magically manifest shortly and slam its palms down on the specified location.

The strength of that strike is capable of shaking the earth momentarily.

─Any foe directly victimized by the palm’s shape, if their durability is D-grade or lower, will be stunned for a short time upon impact.
─Once the palm’s shape strikes the ground, it delivers a shockwave and momentarily staggers nearby living beings.

────

I feel like this will definitely come in handy someday.

I shoved everything into my backpack and started thinking.

I’ve got the orb and the corpse all packed away.

I checked that the light hovering above Grielops’ body was all good, completed the space search, and confirmed the treasure chest contents.

‘Finally, it’s time to escape this damn cave!’

After a moment’s rest beside the piles of opened chests.

Following the markings carefully etched into the walls, I steadily made my way towards the cave entrance.

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