Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power

Although the surveillance systems are shut down wherever I travel, I make no effort to conceal my presence as I float down the middle of the enormous streets.

While I could use my stealth skill, or fly higher or faster to go unseen, I take my time, leaving trails of demonic energy in my wake to fly through the citizens of the Ellipsia Citadel's home districts like a victory lap.

The ominous power outages wherever I travel make my presence even more intimidating.

I feel some strong Lords share hints of killing intent, but no one dares to outwardly show it with their actions or facial expressions.

Those that cannot mask their feelings toward the demons, I feel moving away from my path once they see me in their district. With it; Faint outlines of mana, divine threads, and ether streams are visible to my Noble Eyes as they adjust to my environment even more. What I witness are avatar's private transmissions being sent all over the Citadel gossiping about my actions.

More cautious and frightened Lords stop all business and personal matters at once to kneel, floating in the air, or even buy fast travel orbs to get down to ground level to show their respect.

Many shiver with fear even thousands of kilometers away. Although I'm suppressing most of my aura, the Noble Vibrations can be instinctually felt by all lower races.

The further I travel from the center of the Citadel, the weaker the average Lords are.

While near the central tower, there were many 2nd Class Lords, with a large amount holding over 100 worlds. As I move even 10 blocks away, many more 4th and 3rd Class Lords with a single-digit amount of worlds become the norm.

They're all frozen in fear. When I enter their district, all business ceases, and not a single one misses the opportunity to get down on their knees and worship the god their instincts are screaming at them to praise.

Some even pass out, or grow cold and shiver, losing touch with reality. Even though I fully seal my mana control and divine pressure from seeping out, the Noble Vibrations alone are intense enough to make 4th and 5th Class Lords go braindead in my presence, losing sight and hearing until I completely pass their district by a few hundred kilometers.

It is extremely strange... even more so that they are unaffected by the attack once I leave their general vicinity. It's as if an illusion has passed.

No mental or physical damage remains after the fact. Many weaker lords don't even remember or understand what has just happened.

It makes what I was hoping to do both much harder and easier than expected.

–

This is because the outer ring of the Citadel is where I sensed the presence of humans all the way from inside the central tower.

It is a small grouping of buildings right on the edge of the circular city in the sky, called the Maple District with only four small towers housing this lower race.

Well, it is small by the standards of the Ellipsia Citadel.

Each of the buildings is still multiple kilometers wide and tall; however, they are just barely larger than some of the most massive towers back on the human world.

From the scans I make, I sense roughly 60,000 humans total on this Citadel.

One of their towers is strictly made for housing, with large suites for long-term stays. Another two towers are trading grounds where worlds, mana, ether, and dungeon contracts are bought and sold. Many of these trading hubs have empty rooms and small businesses used for socializing. Lastly, there is a tower filled with training and dueling rooms.

However, the transactions that are processed in such facilities for an entire year would not amount to the profits generated on a single floor in the Ogre Conglomeration's Trade Palace in a single day.

From what I managed to scan from the center of the Citadel, almost every single Lord in this small district is between level 250 and 750.

The average Lord has 0 worlds, while some of the business owners manage to have high single-digit amounts.

All of the neighboring districts this far out basically follow the same patterns. They have a few towers each and conduct small scale business.

Goblin districts, slime towers, wolfmen training facilities, trolls, kobolds, and countless other 4th and 5th Class races line the outer ring with only the green clouds beyond.

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While here and there, a random 2nd or 3rd Class Lord is sprinkled in among them, it's clear these are anomalies, exceptions to the rules.

It reminds me of the memories I absorbed from the Goblin King.

Even though it came from a 2nd Class world, it was held back by its inferior race and was forced to live in the outer rings of the Citadel in small districts like this, getting by on small-scale deals with other Lords that sometimes never see a full 1.0 Low-Quality Ether in their Avatar's bank in their entire lives.

A large number of the races here on the outer ring have higher populations down in the exile zones than they do up here on the Citadel itself.

–

Though, this opportunity for cheap labor isn't what brought me all the way out here.

My attention is split between the top floor within one of the Trading Towers in the human district, and one of the lower floors of one of the training rooms.

There are four human Lords present on this Citadel with the craftsmanship skill. I intended to pay a hefty sum in order to upgrade my own skill up to [Divine Grade] and save some proficiency points.

However, when I walk into their small block, not a single human stays conscious.

My towering 20-meter tall Noble Demonic Form floats through their streets, and it's as if the humans in this district are blacking out with the Citadel itself.

Their eyes gloss over, and many fall to the floor or freeze in place. So, I forcefully activate the Ether commands to open their buildings and invite myself in.

From the reactions of the other districts I've walked through, as their Lords wake up completely fine, I decide it won't harm these three craftsmen either if I'm this close to them.

They all have default basic grade avatars. A short freckled man with bright red hair, a tall bald and lanky man with a grey mustache, and a middle-aged woman with blonde hair slicked back like she's in the military all sit at work desks with unfinished soul weapons and dungeon contracts in front of them.

These three are anomalies in this district, from 3rd Class Worlds, with levels between 1500 and 4000. They have [Mythic Grade] versions of the Craftsmanship skill that allows them to do this intricate work, and provide resources for pretty much the entire Maple District.

Their exact age, history for how they got here, and reason for not working for one of the higher races deeper into the Citadel is unknown at first glance. My best guess is they feel loyal to their home world's race, and wish to keep the economy moving and provide jobs.

None of the memories from any Lord I've absorbed yet have ever encountered them in the past.

All three, however, are slumped over, with lost control of their bodies, and when I scan their status again to double-check I've found the correct Lords, a few old memories come back to me from my home world.

Their systems seem to be hiding.

Like the blue text is hidden behind a black void.

It reminds me of a reaction my own system had long ago when I touched a strange black stone that was able to store large amounts of Qi. Once when I was betrayed by the Association for the first time, and a second when introduced to Qi inside Monks temple in Sector 1's Valor city.

The reaction it initially had with me was that all mana-based system commands were greyed out and foreign to my mind.

The sensation happening now is slightly different, as I'm not making direct contact with them, but it is strangely identical when looking at it from the outside view.

My Noble Vibrations are acting just like Originator artifacts; shutting down use of the system to those it comes in contact with.

–

While I could easily bring one of them down below the 5% HP threshold and steal a skill orb right now, it seems these three are some of the greatest profit bringers of this entire district.

No one else is capable of interacting with dungeon contracts or the delicate creation of Soul Weapons.

It's safe to say if I were to selfishly take one of their skills, the human population in the upper realm would dwindle even more.

So, instead, I use the same concentrated black beam from my fingertip to leave a message on the floor between them, leaving them unharmed. Once I'm able to safely deactivate my Noble Form, I'd like to make contact with them and learn more about how they ascended as Lords.

I leave this room and fly to the training tower right beside it.

A muscular man tightly holds a heavily used soul sword, with markings on its status that make me certain that one of the three craftsmen from the building beside him made it. He lies unconscious on the floor with flickering training holograms all around him.

He too holds a craftsmanship skill, but the man's level is below 500, and his skill isn't even upgraded once. It's clear that it is not of much use to him here in the Upper Realm.

I witnessed him training relentlessly when I put out a scan of the Citadel, and from the [0] on his palm, and the relative strength of him versus other 5th Class Lords around these parts, I make my assumptions.

In a single movement, I use a very precise application of [Equivalent Exchange] and use my [Absorption] skill's perk to drain this skill from his status.

The familiar orb that is created is now tinted green as I pull it from his being. Then, I carefully use my purple barrier to allow an orb with [Mythic Grade][Swordsmanship] imbued within it out.

Then, I leave the orb on the floor beside him, covered in a protective layer of green divine threads that will dissipate upon consumption.

Lastly, I write another message into the floor for him to see as well.

–

I waste no time activating my stealth skill and shadow-step through the Citadel back to the central tower in fractions of a second now that I've gathered what I need.

My first action once I step back inside the tower is opening up the prison of non-compliant servants and pulling the first one out that yells a hateful word.

Instead of killing it on the spot, I forcefully feed it the skill orb I've commandeered, then shatter its mind and core once I watch its system update.

[Use Absorption]

Skill: Craftsmanship

Upgrade: Divine Grade

[YES][NO]

Upon choosing yes, a new rush of notifications and panels add to the already complex mythic grade interface I was using before. Not only have I gained the upgraded version of this skill, but my True Core has created a unique ability out of it as well.

This makes it impossible to hold back a smile.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Though, outwardly, it looks like the Noble Demon Lord that has taken over the Citadel is grinning and looking down into the dark prison, searching for its next victim.

This prompts a few dozen more servants to surrender and kneel, but I have more on my mind than just this.

The blueprints for a machine to assimilate beings from the Lower to Upper Realm were merely a theory in my mind before. Now, with a whole new perspective on what's possible to craft, it's just a matter of time and gathering the materials.