As we traveled, I continued to absorb the Death and Soul energy to protect the others from corrosion. We finally neared the base of the mountain just before dawn, we set up camp and kept a sharp eye out as we rested to be in top shape for the attack on the Dungeon of the Demon King within the mountain, of which the Lich was a mid- level boss only 25 floors down. 25 floors would already be massive and this was only 1/4 of the total floors of the dungeon, there were 3 Demon Generals to defeat before descending into the 100th floor, where the Demon King himself resided. My eyes sparked with energy. 'I will win this time,' I vowed silently as I stared at the Dungeon I would soon monopolize and obtain everything from. The entrance was within a large cave that we were camped in front of, I called Leo and Jarex over.
"This is the Demon King's Dungeon. I know I didn't tell you much, Leo, but this is the first dungeon discovered in the world and we found it." Leo's jaw dropped for a moment before he closed his mouth and just nodded numbly.
"Xero is on the 25th floor, his army will fill the floors above, we have to complete this mission as quickly as possible. I fear the princess won't have much time once we begin the assault, I estimate maybe 24 hours if we're lucky. But we don't need to worry about the Princess with the healers on hand at the castle. I need to test my abilities so I'll take the vanguard, I want you both leading our small amount of troops behind me. Every creature in this dungeon must die so you should work together when needed, do not underestimate that Lich under any circumstances, it has many powerful spells." They both nodded and gathered the others together to explain the plan, with that out of the way we were able to quickly ready ourselves and move to the entrance of the unclaimed dungeon.
As we reached a large cave entrance carved into the mountain a notification appeared.
[Portal to Dungeon of the Demon King found!]
[Congratulations for being the first Player to discover a Dungeon!]
[Congratulations for being the first Player to discover a World Level Dungeon!]
[Would you like to hid the information in the announcement? Y/N]
"Hide it, for now."
The announcement rang out and had everyone online, in game and the real world, reeling and speculating about who was finding so many good things so quickly...
I was also surprised myself, I was Tier 0, Level 75, only 25 levels from the class advancement quest and I didn't even have a class yet! That meant when I did get a class, I will already be at a level to immediately advance and boost my strength. There is the Soul Dragon class reward for the Empire Quest, but I knew that class because of the previous person who completed the quest. It was about 2 years after the game launched before someone figured it out and it wasn't done at Tier 0 either. I was definitely making some moves by doing this now, but it couldn't be helped. Most of the pieces of the Legacy I needed to find were scattered throughout the floors of this Dungeon. The class was a powerful summoning class that could summon Dragon type creatures to fight for me, which is very helpful. It also had powerful self-buff skills and very powerful healing and group support. It was a perfect support class and great for a Dragon to have. I would be able to summon Dragon spirits and create and army of Dragons.
Of course, I also had other plans and that's where my past life knowledge came in handy. I knew of an item that would allow a person to gain an entire second class. It was extremely hard to get, but I knew of a few high level quests that rewarded them and they changed everything when their effect was discovered. Why only master one power when, as a Paragon, I could master as many as I could absorb and gain.
After preparing for a bit, everyone was ready to enter the Dungeon. I added everyone to a raid party and directly chose to enter the dungeon. We were going for stealth so we had prepared the necessary scrolls, potions and items to complete this quest quickly and with, hopefully, no loss of life on our side. We all drank Invincibility potions that lasted for 24 hours. these potions were of Legendary quality and SS grade. Next we cast mass stealth skills on all of us to make us undetectable, as well as, buffing every party member's stats by 200% with a Legendary spell scroll.
With all buffs in place we immediately entered the Dungeon and swiftly traveled, undetected, down to the 25th floor and where Xero's lair resided. As we approached the entrance to Xero's lair, I breathed out, focusing Origin Energy into my movements as I began detecting the magical traps in front of us. We continued forward, avoiding all the traps until we reached the Anti-chamber to the boss room where Xero was staying. We split up at that point, as I went to the Lich's Arcane Laboratory and found the Phylactery protected behind a magic barrier of considerable strength. Luckily, Xero still hadn't fused his Phylactery to his body, that would have made him many times more powerful and difficult to deal with. I covered my hand and arm in a mixture of Death and Origin Energy and reached for the crystal behind the barrier.
There was some resistance for about 10 seconds before the barrier shattered and I grabbed the Phylactery.
[Warning! Incoming Soul Attack!]
[Attack resisted, no side effects!]
[You have gained possession of Xero, the Dragon Lich's Phylactery!]
[Xero, the Dragon Lich's Phylactery]
[Grade: SSS]
[Rank: Ancient]
[Description: The Phylactery of the Dragon Lich, Xero. A once great Dragon Mage that was betrayed and cursed with a mortal Human body. In search of revenge, Xero became a Lich and formed this Phylactery to hold his soul and power.]
[Note: You may use your will to attempt to dominate and gain control of the Lich through his Phylactery. Or you could destroy it and kill the Lich. Or you could absorb the Soul of the Lich.]
Because of my Soul and Death Magic, I was given the option to absorb the Lich's soul. Which I immediately did. Soul Energy directly passed System restrictions and could forcefully raise your Tier and Level. No matter what level you were, if you had never undergone a class change quest, you would be considered Tier 0. Even if I absorbed enough Soul Energy to reach Tier 10, if I didn't have a class, I was still Tier 0. As soon as I do a Class change my Tier would reset to 1 and my level would become Level 1 of Tier 1. But the stat and Skill points I get aren't reset.
[You have absorbed the soul of Tier: 8, Level: 99 Myth Boss Xero, the Dragon Lich]
[You have leveled up to Tier 8, Level 50!]
[+1,000 to all stats!]
[+250 Skill Points!]
[+10,500 free Stats!]
I ignored the notifications and only focused on the immediate 1,000 to all stats, getting quickly used to the upgrade. I would assess everything once I was back in the city. I left the Lab and moved toward the Treasury when a notification appeared again.
[You have absorbed the Soul of Xero, the Dragon Lich and killed him!]
[Task Complete: Kill Xero, the Dragon Lich!]
[Congratulations, you are the first Paragon to kill a Tier 8 Boss!]
[Congratulations, you have gained the Title, Soul Eater, from devouring the soul of a powerful being!]
[Soul Eater:]
[Grade: SSS]
[Description: You have discovered the way of devouring souls and absorbing their energy for growth. Whenever you kill an enemy, there will be a soul left that you can absorb for an additional 150% XP]
[Would you like to hide your information in the announcement? Y/N]
"No, it's time to generate a buzz." As I spoke, the announcement rang and the world wondered who this Enigma was and how he could kill a Tier 8 Lich after the game's launch just 12 hours ago?