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/*\
Damien exhaled as the Minotaur collapsed at his feet, its massive frame dissolving into sparks of blue light. Floor Fifteen was quiet again. Ais and Riveria had already finished off the remaining monsters, their movements crisp and efficient. They'd been clearing their way upward for nearly two hours now steady progress toward the surface.
With both women occupied checking the surroundings, Damien finally relaxed enough to let curiosity itch at him.
'Perfect time to take a look…'
He opened his status window.
After an entire D-class dungeon, the duel with Igris, the climb to Floor 18, the battle against Goliath, and now the trek back… Damien had rocketed up more than ten levels. And yet—he still felt like a level three adventurer.
'So the system uses a nonlinear power curve… I power-leveled early, but now things will probably slow down until much later. Maybe level forty or fifty is where the next huge jump starts… who knows.'
The window glowed before him.
[
Name: Damien Ardent
Job: Necromancer
Level: 23 (22,000 EXP to Next Level)
Title: Spark of the Monarch
HP: 5,000
MP: 5,700
Stats:
Strength: 45 → 56
Agility: 33 → 44 → 54
Sense: 27 → 38 → 40
Health: 36 → 47 → 50
Intelligence: 28 → 39 → 57
Available Ability Points: 33 → 0
Passive Skills:
• Tenacity
• Sacred Flame
• Demi-God of ███████
Active Skills:
• Quicksilver
• Mind's Eye
• Bloodlust
• Stealth
Class Skills:
• Shadow Preservation (20/20)
• Shadow Extraction
Authority:
• Ruler's Authority
]
He admired the boost in his stats for a moment, until a sudden realization hit him.
'Oh, right… Ruler's Authority.'
How had he forgotten something so useful? Probably the excitement of finally getting his own shadows.
Damien glanced at a small axe lying on the dungeon floor—dropped by some unfortunate adventurer who had either died or fled. He extended his hand and activated Ruler's Authority.
The axe twitched, lifted into the air, then flew straight into Damien's palm.
"Oh shit… that's nice," he muttered, grinning.
Ais had been watching. Her eyes sparkled.
"Damien uses magic? Very cool!" she said, genuinely impressed.
Riveria, however, didn't blink.
Her eyes widened slowly, intensely—like she was seeing something she should not be seeing. To others, the act might look like normal magic. But to Riveria, who had mastered every known language of magic, including the gods', what Damien just did was… impossible.
No chant.No divine presence.No magical structure.
It wasn't magic.
And it wasn't Arcanum either—she felt no divine aura. That alone terrified her more than if it was Arcanum.
"Damien…" Riveria said softly, her voice firm but strained. "That skill… it isn't magic, is it?"
Damien's eye twitched—barely. She didn't miss it.
He exhaled. "No. I don't think it is."
Admitting it wasn't easy, but lying to Riveria felt worse.
"It's… some kind of power. Authority, I guess. Something I was born with."
He paused, then added, "I wasn't planning on showing you two. I only just learned how to use it. But… well, you were standing right there. Can you keep this a secret?"
He thought of Mikoto and groaned internally.'How many people are gonna end up knowing pieces of my secrets? I need to be careful with this shit…'
Riveria regained her composure, though her eyes still glimmered with fascination and worry.
"I don't mind keeping it secret. In fact, I was going to tell you to hide that from the gods. It may resemble their Arcanum… and that could be extremely dangerous."
She adjusted her glasses slightly. "I want to study it. Properly. In my lab. Do you mind?"
Damien shrugged. "Why not? I trust you."
Ais tilted her head. "Is Damien's power special?"
Riveria nodded. "Yes. And we must not speak of it openly. I believe it's as unique as your own abilities, Ais."
"Oh… that's surprising." Ais smiled. "Well, it's Damien. Damien is full of surprises." She shot him a big thumbs-up.
Damien puffed out his chest jokingly. "Indeed I am. Impressive, aren't I?"
"Yes," she replied immediately.
Riveria cleared her throat sharply. "All right, enough. Let's keep moving. We still have a report to make on the surface."
....
The trip back to the surface was practically a stroll. With Ais and Riveria at his side, Damien barely needed to think; every angle of approach, every blind spot, every gap in his stance was covered before he even registered it. Their teamwork felt effortless—almost instinctual. Even Riveria, who was notoriously hard to impress, finally spoke up.
"I must admit, I regret that you didn't choose our familia," she said, giving him a sideways glance. "Your instincts are exceptional, and your fundamentals are solid. You could fit right in with us."
Ais nodded in agreement. "Yes… you fight very well. I was prepared to point out some mistakes for you to fix, but… I couldn't find any. You just need strength. That's all. You were almost perfect."
Damien couldn't help smiling. 'If only they saw me with the Shadow Army… wonder what they'd say then.'Out loud, he simply replied, "Thank you. I'll do my best to catch up to you, Ais."
Ais responded with a soft hum and a small nod, the kind that carried more pride than a full speech.
When they finally stepped out into the morning light, Damien realized it must've been around ten or eleven. Meaning the climb back from Floor 18 had taken them barely three or four hours. Considering he had met them around seven… that was insanely fast. Alone—without his shadows—he'd need a full day to make that trip. So Ais and Riveria together were equivalent to him and the entire Shadow Army. Maybe more.
Even more shocking, though, was what Riveria mentioned earlier: the Loki Familia's main unit had started their ascent at six. They'd reached Floor 18 in one hour—and Riveria, Gareth, and Finn hadn't even been the ones doing the fighting.
'The Loki Familia… yeah, they're a whole different kind of monster.'
Up ahead was a group of adventurers preparing for their descent. Damien recognized them immediately—Loki Familia's second string. Their leader, Anakitty Autumn, recently promoted to Level 4, stepped forward with her usual catlike chirp.
"Riveria-nya? Ais-nya? What are you doing here-nya?"
"We have a report to file at the guild," Riveria said. "Can you send someone to inform Loki? It's important. Tell her we'll be in the guild headquarters."
"Of course-nya!" Anakitty bowed, spared Damien a curious glance, and rushed back to her team.
The three continued toward the guild. As they entered, Eina turned at the sound of the doors and brightened when she saw Damien.
"Damien? Hi! Here to sell mana stones again?"
"Well, yeah, I plan to," he said. "But first, there's a dungeon report we need to file. Who do we talk to about that?"
Riveria stepped forward smoothly. "Can we speak to Royman?"
Eina stiffened like a soldier caught off guard. "M–Miss Riveria. Yes, at once. I'll notify him immediately." She bowed deeply and hurried away.
Damien raised a brow. "Damn… she was extra polite. Is that because you're a High Elf?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Riveria sighed. "Half-Elves aren't treated well in the Royal Forest. I keep telling her she doesn't need to be nervous, but she insists."
A minute later, Royman Mardeel himself appeared—the old, round-bellied elf moving faster than Damien would've expected. He bowed respectfully to Riveria the moment he reached them.
"Miss Riveria. What do we owe the honor of today's visit?"
"I'm here to make an official report on behalf of the Loki Familia…" she said, then gestured subtly toward Damien. "And the Hestia Familia as well."
"Of course," Royman said, nodding. "Let us move to my office."
/*\
If you Like this story! Check out my other story's ! Sukuna in DC! and Dragon Slayer in Marvel!
AND
If you wish to read more or simply support me just because ? than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/Riadooo"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want !