The blue eyes swarming in the shadows vanished as a bright and wide beam of purple, gold, and black exploded from the cave of light that was the dragon's mouth.

The temperature constantly shifted between freezing cold and burning hot, the lightning shining and dancing within the beam of frost-fire. The temperature reached its peak in purple and its bottom in black color.

Vesuvius watched, his two hearts pounding at the beautiful sight that was his breath.

The ray blasted straight through the swarm, pulverizing everything in its path. The black carapace, claws, and mandibles dissolved within it like paper submerged into magma as the bond between molecules and atoms shattered or changed under the constant temperature shifting.

[+800 XP]

[+1000 XP]

[+500 XP]

...

The bright light flashed as the dragon slowly moved his head, the beam cutting through the ranks of the monsters with ease. It cut the massive stalactites and engraved cracks and ravines into the black walls.

[+900 XP]

[+900 XP]

[+200 XP]

...

Vesuvius closed his eyes, watching as massive stones rained from the ceiling and the tall stone pillars collapsed, everything crashing to the ground where it shattered.

'Did I overdo it?'

He looked panicked at the ceiling momentarily, imagining it collapsing on his head. But soon, the quaking calmed down, leaving behind only the perfectly silent and dark cave, all the previously glowing crystals shattered and pulverized and the rubble piled on the ground.

'None of these were boss monsters... they are at most elites.'

Vesuvius looked at small glowing spots in the distance, 'These crystals... what are they?'

POV The Knight:

"My Lord, the mortals are gathering outside the barriers his majesty created."

The tall silhouette slowly raised from the stool, his long curled horns and reptilians eyes shining. The heavy metal armor, his volcanic armor, and his scales protected his entire body, making him into a living tank.

His long scaly tail, with metal plates protecting it, swayed as he stared at his lesser subordinate, the wyvern knight with a long, bright-red cape and long horns glowing in heat.

"Tighten the patrols, and do not let anyone slip by them."

"My Lord, but they want to speak with us..."

He grabbed his long sword and fully spread his black wings burning in the bright white fire that melted the stone under his clawed, reptile-like feet. The blazing-hot metal of his sword in his hand reassured him.

'You are my most precious!' His glowing eyes looked over the sword, its guard looking like a dragon head with red gems in its eye sockets. The long, polished blade of black metal with red and gold tint was engraved with runes that came from the head's mouth like the dragon's breath.

'The price the reaper has asked to make you stronger is a lot, but I will get it. I will harvest dead and make you stronger!'

He felt the swords slightly tremble in his grasp in affirmation and joy. He didn't know why but felt like the sword was slowly becoming more lively, the dragon's marrow used in its core giving it life.

'Even the system is saying that you are alive.'

//

Title: [Master of A Living Weapon]

Conditions: Own a living weapon

Effects: Your living weapon can level up together with you; You can feed it rare materials and enchantments to make it stronger

Effects when using your living weapon:

+50% to the speed of mastering sword-arts; +25% to effects of all sword skills and skills using your sword a medium; Increases XP gained by killing with your living weapon by 25%

//

He flapped his wings and shot straight toward the rainbow portal like a blur of darkness and fire, looking like a small black dot on the background of the spiraling and swirling rainbow mosaic.

POV Vesuvius:

The longer the dragon flew, the more he realized the absurd scale of the dungeon. His eyes moved from one glowing crystal to another, each either empty or containing a different monster frozen in its translucent prison.

He saw green humanoids, furry monkey-like creatures, and even draconic-looking beasts, all perfectly preserved and isolated from the world around them within their crystalline cells.

'It is almost as if someone or something trapped them in this crystal. Even that laughter I heard when they shattered, from where it came?'

He was a dragon, and he was sure there was no way for something to hide or sneak around him, all his mundane and magic senses and domain combining into an impervious detection network.

The dragon flapped his wings, flying deeper and deeper into the depths of the dungeon. The lighting was brighter and brighter with each cave chamber he crossed the crystals turning bigger and more numerous.

He tilted his crystal wings as he turned behind a corner and squinted his eyes as bright white light filled his vision. Soon his reverse-slitted pupils shrunk, and his vision returned to normal.

A massive lake of phosphorescing water, its surface perfectly calm even with the wind gashing with each move of the dragon's wide wings, sprawled far and wide.

'I should probably let my players try to drink it, too, see what it can do.' The dragon slowly and elegantly descended towards the liquid, his body tense and his eyes darting between corners as he scanned it for any danger.

The lake remained perfectly calm as if it didn't even care about the dragon, making his head spin at the nonsense, 'Why are you ignoring the physical effects of my wind, but the rocky ground still affects you.'

Ding!

//

Analyze result:

Material: Liquidified !#?*

Level: 150

//

The dragon softly landed next to the lake, sending tremors through the stone, yet the lake remained perfectly still as always, 'It looks like it is the same material as the crystals are made off. The system would refuse to tell me its name because it would be a spoiler, and it wants the story to move in some specific direction.'

Vesuvius stared into the liquid as he leaned over it, his long neck hanging above the weird lake. There was no reflection, which was perfectly opaque, revealing the black stone on its bottom.

The longer he looked at it, the weirder it looked. How it flowed, how it moved, and how it behaved, it was all slightly off.

'I can't tell what is wrong, but something is definitely wrong.'

He outstretched his long claw, the light reflecting within its glossy, crystal material. He lowered it towards the liquid, its tip closing to pierce its surface.

He stopped as something moved behind him, slight vibration passing through the air.

The dragon spun, his huge body moving with such a speed that it sent vortexes through the ash clouds around him.

'What is it this time?'

"My master felt your arrival, dragon! He knows on whose orders you have come!" A short humanoid figure only two meters tall slowly walked toward the dragon, their steps perfectly silent, not making any sound.

The light around them was warped and broken, making the newcomer look like a giant blur, only its pair of glowing green eyes visible.

Ding!

// New quest:

Objective: Defeat the miniboss or escape

Reward: Calculated upon the completion

//

The dragon tensed and spread his huge wings, their shadow covering everything except for the water that remained as bright as ever as if it wasn't even affected by the outside world.

'Miniboss? The question is how strong one.' He didn't move immediately, hoping that the miniboss would reveal more pieces of information that would help him explore the dungeon.

Ding!

//

Analyze result:

Name: Mehran Tarokh

Species: !#?* warped human

Occupation: NPC/Dungeon Miniboss/!#?* Knight

Level: ???

Danger level: Deadly

//

'The level gap must be massive...' Vesuvius tensed, his two hearts waking from their slumber as they pumped blood with renewed vigor.

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