The First Archmage

Another month has come and gone, and it’s finally time for the team to meet back up. I’m far, far more powerful than I was before, despite not having allowed a single Level for Mage until the last six days, bringing it up to Level 24 and stopping it there. It takes me a trip and a half for a Tier I Class, three trips for a Tier II Class, and six days for a Tier III Class, to bring them from Level 1 to Level 25.

At the start of the month, anyway. By the end of the month…

Yeah, right. Like I’d take that long to do something I now see as trivial.

I can probably handle the Dragon on my own. It likely won’t be as fast as the Scaled Wyvern, but I can still probably handle it on my own, so on my way back up to the Guild, I gain the last Mage Level.

“Hey, Kayla,” I greet the usual Guild Elf.

“Going to update your stats again, since it’s been a month?” She sighs.

“Yeah,” I answer. “I want to head down to the Final Floor and battle the Final Boss. I need to kill a Dragon for my Advancement Quest for Mage. That, and solo a Tier III Dungeon. I have to solo the Dragon, too, mind you, it’s just finding a Tier III Dungeon isn’t easy.”

“Do you really think you can handle a Dragon by yourself?” She holds out my tablet, and I place my hand on it and push in a little Mana. “It’s a far different creature from a… seriously, Gavin? Why do I even bother questioning you? You’re qualified to go all the way down to… it says Floor 100.”

“That’s the Final Floor,” I confirm. “Has a Dragon as the Final Boss.”

“I’m not sure if you’d be able to kill it or not,” she says. “It simply says you’re qualified to go down that far. Generally, that means in a team. But I don’t think there’s anyone who could actually survive that deep, other than you,” she sighs. “How many Tier IV Classes do you have?”

“Two,” I answer. “I have a Tier III Primary, a Tier II Primary, two Tier IV Secondary, a Tier II Secondary, and three Tier III Secondaries.”

“How many are at Level 25?”

“All of them.”

“That explains the combined Level of 600,” She sighs. “Is Advancing your Species really that hard? You haven’t done it yet, despite being at Level 25 Human for more than a month.”

“For the particular Advancement I want to do,” I say. “I have to completely clear a Dungeon that no one has completely cleared before, and I have to do it alone. There aren’t any of those around here.”

“Ah,” she says. “Well, I do know where a Tier III Dungeon is located, and can tell you for two hundred thousand krat.”

I pay the fee, and she gives me the location.

“I can get there in a day,” I say. “Thanks.”

I leave and make my way to a restaurant, then meet up with my team after, and let them know I’m ready to Advance to Archmage.

“However,” I say. “That would require us staying a few more days. I’ll rest for two days in the Dungeon going up and coming back, each – once at Floor 60, and once at Floor 96, to make sure I’m rested enough for the Dragon. Then another two days for the Tier III Dungeon, which I can handle on my own, as it seems it’s simply combat and mazes,” this continent is a huge fan of those. “So it’d be another week or so.”

“That’s fine,” Michael stretches. “We can train or rest for another week, then share our advances after that. I will admit, I am kind of nervous to see your stats.”

“So am I,” Eli nods.

“Same,” Dylan says, having actually learned some of Karus, but still doesn’t have the Skill for it.

“I am, however, a bit confused,” Michael looks at me. “From what I overheard at the Guild, you have two Tier IV Secondary Classes, but you’ve yet to take on another Primary Class. Don’t you have four slots? You’re about to open up a fifth slot for it.”

“Yeah,” I nod. “I’m waiting for another Mythical Class to appear for me to take. I’ve decided that all of my Primary Classes will be Mythical Classes. Sure, I could probably Advance something like Thief to something powerful at Tier IV in a week or so, but I find myself a little bit spoiled in the regard for Classes. That, and I find this a nice way to cap how many Classes I can take on. I’m currently limited to seven Secondary Classes, though I only have six right now.”

“Leader’s Mythical?”

“It’s rare,” I shake my head. “But it can only be taken as a Primary Class, sort of like Royal and King. So I’m making that an exception to the Mythical-only Primary Classes.”

Leader Class has been transformed into Leader of Magic Class!

Leader of Magic grants the same bonuses as Leader, no adjustments made

Leader of Magic (Mythical): Someone who has proven his worth as a leader and in magic, combining the two to prove a formidable diplomatic foe

Uh… thanks? I’m not sure how I actually qualify for that, but that’s nice to know.

“You look baffled,” Michael comments.

“The System decided to upgrade Leader to Leader of Magic,” I say. “Which is apparently a Mythical Class.”

That was me.

“Oh,” I say. “That was Nies who did it. Why, exactly, did you do that?”

You killed a Scaled Wyvern with magic after commanding people who had no affiliation to you, and they listened. You kind of earned that. So I upgraded you because you really do deserve it, even though it’s a month late. I also gave you random extra LIF, just because. I’m not sure if you noticed.

“Yes, I did,” I say. “Why did you do that?”

To bribe you into offering up more food when you finally make it to one of my temples with an intact altar.

“Is that even allowed?”

No, but I did it anyway.

“What did Nies do?” Eli asks.

“He was being him,” I answer. “He’s trying to bribe me into putting more food on the altar when I finally get to one of his temples. The rest of the day, I’m going to be stocking up on food and resting, for my trip down to Floor 100, though I’m also going to leave the next couple of days, take care of that Dungeon, first.”

They nod, then we finish up eating and chatting, and we split up. I do my shopping and put everything into my ring, then make my way back to the house to turn in for the night. In the morning, I head out to the Dungeon, which is filled with goblins, kobolds, and spiders (Michael is officially over his fear of them and it’s now a mutual dislike).

On a hunch, I access the Dungeon Core, and discover that I can remove a Tier II Class up to Level 25 from it, and promptly remove Mystic Gladiator. I can also use this interface to simply reapply any Class I’ve already gained access to, as well as accept any Advancement Quest, regardless of Rank.

That’s actually really useful. A Tier IV Dungeon’s Dungeon Core will probably enable me to remove Tier III Classes, meaning I could bring any Class up to Tier III Level 25, then remove it, and keep doing that until I have the perfect combination to unlock Legendary Classes and beyond.

That done, I return to the entrance and make my way back to town, then to the Dungeon. When I enter the Guild, I notice a heavy presence of Tier II Adventurers, most of whom know about my power from the Scaled Wyvern, but there are some I’ve never seen before.

“Who do you think you are, kid?” A trio of burly Adventurers approach me, along with five magician Adventurers in their party, two roguelike ones, and one I think is a healer, but mostly because I’m not bothering to actually pull up their windows. “Claiming to be able to kill a Dragon? Hah! As if! How’d you fool the tablets?”

“Please move out of my way,” I say. “You’re blocking the path to the entrance of the Dungeon, and I’d rather not kill someone before I make the journey down.”

“Sir,” one of the mages begins to say.

“No,” the man who spoke originally interrupts him. “I want the brat to tell me how he fooled the tablets, and why he thinks he can get away with claiming to be able to kill a Dragon.”

“There were more than thirty witnesses,” I say. “To me killing a Scaled Wyvern on Floor 47. There is a Dragon on Floor 100, and I’m going to kill it. Final chance to move before I do something drastic.”

“Why do you believe you can spread this-” he cuts off as the air takes on the violet hue that denotes the presence of my Mana Presence.

I leverage enough of my Mana Pool to drop every person in here to the ground, only the strong able to only go down to their knees.

“Let me make something clear,” I say. “I have a combined Level of 600, and two Tier IV Classes. I am the most powerful Adventurer you will ever meet. I am the Hero of Nies, the God of Blood Oaths, and unlike your god, mine actually talks with me. I have spoken with a variety of Divine Beings, and even a being who can command the Divine. You are nothing more than a pest to me. When I say move, you hurry. I am going to kill the Dragon on the Final Floor, no matter how many attempts it takes me. Once I do, I will reach the Fourth Tier of my first Primary Class, a Mythical Class in the line of Wizard, Advancing Mage to Archmage. Now move, before I decide to kill you to be done with the problem.”

I release my Skill, and he doesn’t move.

“NOW!” I roar, and he – and his party – scramble out of my way.

I walk towards the Dungeon, and begin the trek down to the Final Floor, a trip that takes me three days to manage.

When I finally enter Floor 100, I am met with the peak of a mountain, thirteen pillars in a circle around me. The fwooing of wings through air fills the air, and I turn to face the Dragon.

Scales as red as blood, and eyes to match. The beast’s head is as tall as I am, and the sheer magic and Mana radiating from it is immense.

This is a creature of intelligence, its eyes tell me. And it’s a creature with OFV unlocked as well, to have Mana radiating around it.

“Hello.”

The Dragon halts its descent and stares at me.

“You’re just going to be reborn an hour after I kill you,” I say. “Same exact dude you were before. Would you mind just letting me kill you?”

It roars, then breathes out fire. I summon a Magic Shield, which cracks after ten seconds of the breath. I summon up a second one, holding it behind the first, then a third, just in case. The third one cracks just as the breath runs out.

I fire off several Lightning Bolts at the Dragon as I run to the side, ducking behind a pillar just as more fire is unleashed.

Sensing the Dragon move as it burns the air around me, I summon up Magic Shields to protect myself. The Dragon flies over the pillar, flipping in the air to keep its breath on me. I move around the pillar as it does that, to give myself as little time under the flame as possible.

Timing it, I launch several Lightning Bolts at the air above me, the Dragon flying off to the side and stopping the breath to dodge them. They couldn’t have done that much damage before, if any, yet it still avoided them…

So it’s smart enough to know that repeated hits can break through its scales. It’s nice to know that I can still damage it, even if it doesn’t appear like I’m damaging it.

I run behind another pillar after firing off lightning bolts in multiple directions, and then notice the Dragon flying directly above, breathing fire down at the pillar itself, hitting all around it with its breath.

My shields weren’t even needed, because the flames hit the top of the pillar, then split into a cone around me. I am grateful for my Heat Resistance – the flames, just a foot away from me, are so hot that I can still feel the heat on my skin.

I count out the seconds as the Dragon breathes its fire, and just before I think it’s done, I fire off two dozen Lightning Bolts and launch them up. The fire fades just before the bolts pass through, and they slam into the Dragon, whose scales break.

The Dragon flies off for a few seconds, returning with its scales healed. Its Mana Pool is around ten percent lower than when we started, and I’ve already burned up twenty percent of mine, just from the Lightning Bolts and blocking its breath with my shields.

I run across the peak, and the dragon chases after me. I spin around, launching a dozen Lightning Bolts at it as it inhales for its next breath attack. It rears back, but a moment too late – some of them damaged its scales, but one hit my intended target: inside its giant maw.

The Dragon splutters and coughs, flying up into the sky, probably to recover more of its health, and I fire off more Lightning Bolts at it, then stop when it’s out of range.

Ten minutes pass before the Dragon returns, and it’s at full Mana.

The moment I heard it coming, I begin working on a new spell formed of runes I learned from my various teachers and the Grimoire.

“Chaotic energies and frozen order, come to life in a single strike, halting all within range as you ravage any you calm. A single icy blast, charged with the energy of a thousand lives – Spear of Frozen Lightning!”

A six-foot spear forms in my hands as the Dragon descends. Formed of solid, violet ice with a gold glow at its heard, violet energy sparking off the surface, the air around it cooling, an icy mist radiating around it.

Skill Gained!

(VII) Spear of Frozen Lightning 1/10: A spear formed of the chaotic energies of lightning and the frozen order of ice, this spear will freeze nigh anything it comes into contact with, while at the same time, ripping it apart with lightning.

Title Earned!

(IV) Spell Maker: One who has not only drawn from other magics, but forged his own, crafting a new spell of the highest Tier

Damn chanting time needed for this spell… and it took me 100 Mana to create, too.

I fire the Spear as the Dragon unleashes another breath, and when the spear and flames collide…

The world is filled with a brilliant white light that blinds me. I rapidly use Life Restore on my eyes until I can see again, and when I do, I find myself surrounded by ice shaped like a cone of fire. The entire peak has been filled with this, a violet light filtering in through the ice. Electricity snaps across the ice here and there, and I’m left in awe at the sheer beauty of it.

The Dragon’s dead, too.

+3 Vials of Dragon’s Blood Essence!

Mage is now Archmage!

For Advancing a Class to the next Tier, you have gained +5 to all stats!

Archmage (Mythical)(Ultimate): A true master of magic, there is nothing beyond your power. No spell is out of your reach, no magic beyond your grasp. +10 to all stats each Level, +100% to learning and Leveling all Skills, +100% to learning and Leveling all magics

Title Earned!

First Archmage: The first to have attained the Class of Archmage

Title Earned!

First Ultimate Warrior: The first to ever attain an Ultimate (Tier IV) Class

-Prerequisite met previously exempting one qualification: Primary Class Tier IV

Title Earned!

Dragonslayer: One who has slain the most mighty of foes, a Dragon

Title Earned!

First Dragonslayer: The first to ever slay the most mighty of foes, a Dragon

You know… I could probably master Archmage in two weeks, here.