Chương 40: Chapter 39

Meditation – Level 12 → Level 65 Meditation (Silver – Support Skill) – Level 26 Mana Recovery: +141% per minute while meditating Stamina Recovery: +103% per minute while meditating Once I brought Meditation to level sixty-five, I sat down and just rested. With Meditation powering up my rest, I've been punching through rooms at a staggering pace. It took me about four hours of sitting around and meditating to recoup my full mana and stamina.

I know it sounds like a lot, but when you consider it'd otherwise take a full night of rest, it's nothing. Plus, the Skill will only improve from here. The first floor has about twelve rooms and three red crystal side rooms. I'm at the last one, which is a massive array of traps that took me no longer than two minutes to deactivate. I look at the floating blades that would have followed pretty much any adventurer until they pierced their head, right in-between their eyes, with a smirk.

"It kind of feels like cheating," I smile like a fox.

"And it kind of is." With The Grimoire Extraordinaire telling me the flaws of every trap mechanism and Architect's Insight to help me visualize it, this has been the easiest clear. Trap rooms barely pose any danger to me. Monsters are still tough, but with the new levels, it's been much easier than I would have otherwise thought.

Veins of Fire – Level 84 → Level 97 Furnace Core – Level 19 → Level 49 Flameform Blueprint – Level 17 → Level 50 Infernal Thread – Level 20 → Level 60 Architect's Insight – Level 73 → Level 98 Hellspire – Level 24 → Level 74 Mana Pool – Level 94 → Level 100 Echo Pulse – Level 84 → Level 100 Infernal Architect (Platinum) – Level 17 → Level 31 Name: Jacob Cloud Class: Infernal Architect (Platinum) – Lv. 31 Core Skills: Hell's Sword – Lv. 100 (Gold – Offensive) Fire Slash – Lv.

100 (Silver – Offensive) Fire Shield – Lv. 100 (Silver – Defensive) Fire Armor – Lv. 100 (Silver – Defensive) Fire Walk – Lv. 100 (Silver – Movement) Veins of Fire – Lv. 97 (Gold – Support) The Grimoire Extraordinaire (Rainbow – Support) Class Skills: Furnace Core (Passive) – Lv. 49 Flameform Blueprint (Active) – Lv. 50 Infernal Thread (Passive) – Lv. 60 Ember Keystone (Active) – Lv. 1 Architect's Insight (Passive) – Lv. 98 Hellspire (Active) – Lv. 74 Ignition Array (Active) – Lv.

1 Attributes: Strength (STR): 58 Dexterity (DEX): 95 Endurance (END): 61 Vitality (VIT): 86 Intelligence (INT): 151 Spirit (SPI): 154 Wisdom (WIS): 121 Charisma (CHA): 18 Luck (LCK): 10 Unassigned Points: 110 Other Skills: Iron Grip Lv. 100 (Iron) Minor Endurance Lv. 100 (Iron) Minor Night Vision Lv. 32 (Iron) Echo Pulse Lv. 84 (Bronze) Minor Cookery Lv. 34 (Iron) Minor Strength Lv. 100 (Bronze) Light Lv. 67 (Bronze) Pickaxe Mastery Lv. 81 (Bronze) Minor Mineral Sense Lv. 72 (Bronze) Mana Pool Lv.

100 (Silver) Meditation Lv. 65 (Silver) The Skill that I leveled up the most was Hellspire. The reason it got so many levels is because Hell's Sword isn't damaging enough to the Glass Golems, not these Empowered ones at least. So, having to primarily rely on the same Skill over and over, part by habit and part through the Grimoire, I managed to level it up more than the others. I'm currently back in the first room where I left all my loot.

It's getting boring to ferry it back every time, but there's really no other solution. I could, theoretically, just leave it around and swipe it back on the way back from the Boss, but I can still only carry so much at once, meaning I'd still have to do a bunch of trips. This way, I get to walk around after the fights, at least. Plus, if I have to be completely honest, I feel way more comfortable meditating in the first room than close to the next. I keep getting this ominous feeling while I'm out there.

Echo Pulse in not really catching anything, but it feels like something is watching me. Anyway, there are more important things to think about. The ominous feeling never follows into the first room, meaning that whatever is after me, it cannot access this place. I look at the small mound of Skill Crystals I've accumulated. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

I have about two dozen Glass Explosions and Glass Cannons, which seem to be dropping from the Glass Golems and the traps like they're free candy. I also got two more Meditation Skill Crystals. But then, among the miscellaneous Skills, I've gotten general Skills that I didn't actually expect to drop here. I guess that Dungeons don't only drop specific Skills, but that they can spawn a lot of general ones as well. And it just happens to be the case that a few of those are perfect for me.

Bronze Grip (Bronze) Intermediate Endurance (Bronze) Intermediate Strength (Silver) I quickly absorb all three. Bronze Grip has replaced Iron Grip. Intermediate Endurance has replaced Minor Endurance. Intermediate Strength has replaced Minor Strength. I check the list of my Skills once again. Other Skills: Minor Night Vision Lv. 32 (Iron) Echo Pulse Lv. 84 (Bronze) Minor Cookery Lv. 34 (Iron) Light Lv. 67 (Bronze) Pickaxe Mastery Lv. 81 (Bronze) Minor Mineral Sense Lv. 72 (Bronze) Mana Pool Lv.

100 (Silver) Meditation Lv. 65 (Silver) Bronze Grip Lv. 1 (Bronze) Intermediate Endurance Lv. 1 (Bronze) Intermediate Strength Lv. 1 (Silver) The second floor is going to be even easier. I step through the portal onto the second floor, bracing for another furnace blast. Instead, the air chills. Vapor clings to my skin, curling low around my boots. The light changes—no more direct sunlamps or burning reflections. Instead, the world takes on a cold, bluish tint.

The glass here is different: less warped, more transparent, almost like sheets of ice fused into the walls. The passage opens into a broad antechamber. The silence feels wrong. I take a slow breath, pulse Echo Pulse, and let the wave fan out through the floor. Shapes emerge in the mist. At first I think it's more golems, but their silhouettes are smaller, faster. Dozens of lean, low-to-the-ground figures prowl at the edge of my perception, tails sweeping glass dust with their claws tapping on the hard floor.

[Glass Hounds – Level 20] They're everywhere. Each one is a wolf built from panels of smoky glass, joints thin as razor wire, teeth and claws diamond-bright. They pad back and forth, tongues of blue-white flame flickering behind their translucent ribs. Behind them, deeper in the chamber, hulking figures stand in silent ranks—Glass Golems, even bigger than the ones from the previous floor, their eyes burning with a cold light.

Why would the Dungeon throw a bunch of Level 20 Glass Hounds in with Empowered Golems that could crush them just by tripping over them? Doesn't make sense. I check the Grimoire for clues. [Grimoire Extraordinaire – Analyze: Glass Hound] A spread of flaws and notes rolls across my vision. Glass Hound (Bronze – Monster) – Level 20 Major Weaknesses: Jaw Connection: Mandible plates connected by a single mana joint; strong enough for a bite, but a precise strike can shatter the whole jaw.

Neck Vein Junction: Exposed mana filament just below the jaw; break it, the head falls off. Leg Sheath: Rear legs only half-shielded; a heavy blow can snap them clean. Core Stability: Core floats free, only anchored at two points. High impact or a blast Skill can jostle it loose—instant kill. Optic Vein Clusters: Eyes transmit mana directly; blinding the hound for a second overloads their senses and leaves them stunned. Tail Spike: Fragile. If snapped, they lose balance and coordination.

Secondary Weaknesses: Flammable. Low resistance to fire-based Skills. Sensitive to vibration; high-pitched sounds can scramble their senses. Slow recovery if knocked prone. I scroll through the list. Compared to the golems, which barely had one or two flaws, these things are walking collections of vulnerabilities. I'm confused. Why would the Dungeon, the Crucible, an Elite Dungeon no less, give me weaker monsters to deal with? I shrug and summon two Hell's Sword, one per hand.

Then, I decide that, you know what, let the Skill do the dirty work. And I let the swords levitate and shoot toward the monsters. By the time the second day of Jacob's Dungeon run rolls around, the Adventurers' Guild doesn't look anything like it did when he first went in. The place has turned into a half-carnival, half-stakeout.

The crowd isn't just gamblers and haters anymore—it's merchants, old men with their grandkids, cooks with trays of food, even half a dozen off-duty guards, all taking turns staring up at the Dungeon Map. Guildmaster Dorn sets up a sort of command post under the halo, flanked by clerks scribbling bets and a couple of junior scribes noting anything unusual. He gnaws on a greasy strip of roast lamb and waves it for emphasis as he talks.

He was not happy to pay the bet to Felisia and Sir Greyson, but enough people bet big on Jacob failing in the first few rooms that he still managed to make money from them. He himself had refrained to bet too heavily, having a whiff, a hunch that there could have been trouble. Guildmaster Dorn, at the end of the day, had seen plenty of talent passing by the Adventurers Guild. He had immediately understood that Jacob was no ordinary kid.

However, never in his greatest fantasy he could have been convinced that he could have taken the first floor of the Smoldering Glass Crucible just like that. Sir Greyson and Felisia stand together this time, arms crossed, both tense. Felisia hasn't slept much. It shows in the way she presses her lips thin and doesn't even bother glaring at Dorn. Greyson's face looks carved from stone. Guildmaster Dorn doesn't care. He loves an audience.

He gestures at the glowing map where the green dot that is Jacob inches into a new floor, a cluster of red marks flickering ahead.

"There you go, folks," Dorn says, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"He's about to hit the second floor. This is where the fun starts. See all those small red dots?" He jabs his thumb at the edge of the projection, grinning.

"Glass Hounds. Mean little bastards. Not as strong as the golems—" he points to the four hulking red dots clustered at the back of the chamber, "—but don't let that fool you." A kid sitting on a merchant's shoulders pipes up.

"Aren't hounds easy? My cousin killed a bunch with a Fireball scroll." Guildmaster Dorn snorts.

"That's Hollow hounds. These are Crucible hounds. They don't fight like normal monsters. The hounds here act in packs, as smart as any Knight's war dog. They retreat, bait you, never let you land a clean shot until the golems move. And once the big ones start walking? The hounds circle back and hit you from every side. Classic pincers. The only reason they're even on the second floor is to trip up idiots who think they're getting a breather after the first."

Someone in the crowd, a tall adventurer with a broken nose, raises his voice.

"Why put them together at all?"

"Because it's an Elite Dungeon, genius," Dorn says, spitting a fleck of lamb bone onto the floor.

"It doesn't want you clearing it. It wants you dead. Nobody short of a first-year Ytrial recruit—a good one—is supposed to clear a floor like this solo. If you're anything short of a genius, you're lunch. Simple as that." A merchant woman grins at her friends.

"Maybe the little rat finally bit off more than he can chew." A clerk—one of the newer ones, eyes still bright—asks, "He's done more than anyone thought. You think he really dies here?" Dorn looks up at the map. The green dot—Jacob—holds at the threshold. The red dots, the hounds, drift back and forth, restless.

"The first floor could be gamed. This is going to be a test of fighting ability like nothing else. The hounds will wait him out, make him tired. The golems will start creeping in and if he makes even one mistakes, he'll be torn apart."

"He gets what he deserves," a sharp-nosed noble says.

"No one cheats death this many times."

"Watch. Even if he's clever, the moment he commits, the hounds pull back, the golems close in, and he gets pincered. No trick's going to get you through that." Felisia's jaw tightens. Greyson doesn't react. They both stare at the map. Then the map shifts. One red dot blinks out. A pause. Another goes grey. Then a third. It keeps happening. One after another, the red hounds vanish from the map, every few seconds, until there are none left in the pack. The room goes dead quiet. Guildmaster Dorn stops chewing.

"What in the—" Someone in the crowd whispers, "He's picking them off. One at a time." A scribe glances at Guildmaster Dorn, unsure.

"Sir, those hounds aren't supposed to go down like that. He's not even close to them—""Shut up," Dorn snaps, but his voice loses its swagger. Before anyone can recover, the big red dots start to shift. The golems move. The green dot—Jacob—darts through the map. Then a golem dot flickers and turns grey. Then another. And another. No one says a word. Even the loudest detractors—those who spent all morning mocking Jacob—stand in slack-jawed silence as every monster on the second floor starts dropping.

Not in a chaotic melee, not in a protracted stand-off—just steady, surgical elimination. A woman from the crowd finally breaks the silence.

"Is he… is he actually solo-clearing the Crucible?" A junior adventurer shakes his head.

"That's not possible. Even a Silver Rank Adventurer wouldn't be this swift." Guildmaster Dorn finally manages to speak.

"There's no way. The hounds alone would've overwhelmed him if the golems moved. There's no room to run, nowhere to hide—he should've been dead in the first two minutes." Sir Greyson just smiles—a thin, grim line. Felisia lets out the faintest sigh. Dorn glares at the halo, searching for an error. He finds none. There is just one green dot now, moving steadily toward the exit of the second floor. The entire Guild floor feels like it is holding its breath.

And one question starts to creep even in the greatest skeptic's mind. Is the kid actually going to clear the Smoldering Glass Crucible?