Chapter 29 Back To Grinding Again

To put it mildly, we know very few facts about the origins of dungeons and labyrinths. Even in today's society, it remains a popular topic. However, what we can infer is that it is a place that was not intended for humanity or any surface dwellers for that matter.

Scientists and scholars alike have gone as far as to hypothesize that dungeons are designed to keep out surface dwellers.

Numerous pieces of evidence support this claim. For instance, as surface dwellers descend deeper within the dungeons and the mana levels rise dramatically, over time they'd contract an illness called 'Mana sickness'.

It is a disease contracted from being exposed to too much mana. You see, the internal systems of surface dwellers aren't built to handle mass amounts of mana.

This illness has been one of the leading causes of death for a great number of delvers throughout history. Fortunately, due to modern society's advancements, the illness is far less lethal than it used to be.

Not to mention the effects the dungeon has on the body of a surface dweller as they attempt to ascend out of the dungeon. These effects have been dubbed by scientists 'Defects of Ascension'.

The deeper one goes within the dungeon, the more harsh and lethal the Defects of Ascension are. Modern society once again discovered ways to escape such defects, inventing Ascent cures to halt the minor effects they cause.

As well as creating portals deeper within the dungeon to prevent the more serious defects, allowing individuals to return to the surface without ascending the dungeon directly.

Yet the monsters that inhabit the dungeons are immune to such issues. It has been tested and confirmed that monsters that inhabit or once inhabited the dungeon are immune to the Defects of Ascension and Mana sickness.

This has resulted in a number of theories, like perhaps the dungeons and labyrinths are actually hiding something that surface dwellers aren't supposed to find out. This would explain why it tries to keep invaders out, and when invaders have already made it deep within it tries to keep them escaping out with the Defects of Ascension.

Excerpt from "Conspiracies of The Lands Below", Chapter 18. By Elton Dunne, Chronicler & Wiseman of the Council, Asrich.

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On the first stratum, hidden by the ginormous trees of the forest expanse, inside a dark cave, one could find a large reptile laying curled up on a bed of soft grass and leaves. The creature had cyan-green scales, with six thick legs. Small white horns pultruded from its head.

Without warning, the long and muscular tail swayed gently. Opening his eyes, Ethoss flicked his tongue, tasting the air. The air was humid and had a funky taste, yet, he had gotten used to the odor after being in this cave for the last couple of days. He blinked his eyes a couple of times, adjusting his vision as he fully woke up. He then let out a low hiss that midway merged with his yarn.

After a few stretches Ethoss sat up in a proper position, but he didn't move. Instead, he pulled up the menu in his mind.

Name: Ethoss

Level: 3(Red Core)

Strength: 60

Toughness: 55

Cunning: 50

Will: 27

HP: 50/50

MP: 32/32

Skills[Attack]: Lethal Venomous Bite level(II) 1, Reinforced Tail Whip(II) level 1, Claw Swipe level 4

Skills[Support]: Rapid Dash(II) level 1, Deep Night Vision(II) level 2, Discoloration Camouflage(II) level 1, Dig level 3, Mana Manipulation level 4

Mutations: Unmasked Jacobson's organ +5, Legs +3, Eyes +3, Scales +3, Claws +3, Teeth +3, Fire Gland +3

Species: Draco Aeternus Lacerta(Male)

Biomass: 6

Skill Point: 2

Ethoss could get one of his mutations to +4 with the amount of biomass he had right now, however, upgrading one of his mutations by so little wouldn't really do him any good so he decided to continue saving. Once he had amassed enough to get his mutation to +5 he would then use his biomass.

The same went with his skill points, he was close to getting his Claw Swipe skill to level 5 and was working on getting Mana Manipulation to level 5 so he wanted to have skill points ready for their upgrades.

Closing his menu he stood up on his feet and began walking to the exit of the cave. As he made it to the exit, the view of the green lushes trees became visible, not only trees but large bushes and mushrooms as well.

He flicked his tongue out of habit, picking up on the femoral pheromones that he left around the vicinity of the cave. All Lacerta species had a way of communication, either with interspecies or not.

Due to the Aeternus Lacerta species having a very sensitive sense of smell they used a chemical communication called femoral pheromones. Which was a way for the reptiles to mark their territory and/or communicate with another of their species.

He had laid his own markings around the cave he gained after killing all the goblins within it, essentially claiming the territory as his own. Tasting the air, he could sense how weak his marking had gotten after these past couple of days, it was time for him to go around and lay down his markings again.

Ethoss immediately dashed away, heading to the edge of his territory, he had planned to expand his territory soon but now wasn't the time, he still had to worry about growing stronger. Immediately after making it to the edge of his territory, he started to drag his back legs or the lower half of his body against a surface he was walking across.

As he moved he excreted his femoral pheromones. These chemicals were different enough that other lizards that detected the chemicals could determine whether the individual that produced the chemical was familiar or not, much like how a human knew whether they've met a person before

based on unique facial characteristics.

What he stated as he excreted his marking basically was "This is my territory, do not enter!". It was a warning and a threat for any of his kind that thought they could enter or claim any territory of his. Additionally, although other monsters couldn't understand what his pheromones meant, it still made them aware of his presence through the odor of the excrement. This was the Aeternus Lacerta's way of telling off monsters of other species and of his own at the same time.

Ethoss quickly finished up his routine of laying down his markings then moved on his way toward the lake. Getting his Mana Manipulation to level 5 was still one of his main priorities, he had gotten a new maximum of 50 mana now so his grinding would surely be much more efficient than before.