Strapped to the gurney was a malformed creature, covered in overflowing tumors. It was roaring and struggling as waves of pain washed over the deformed body, the tumors rapidly pulsing and growing until- The beast turned into dust.
Another adventurer had died. Another drug failed. Another step closer to his goal. It didn't matter; adventurers would keep coming, and there were always more subjects to experiment on. Working as a dungeon boss was simply perfect for his goals.
There were so many disposable test subjects, and all he had to do was use the failed experiments to collect them for him. There had been fewer recently, but he could wait. He had time. In the dungeon, he wouldn't die, and he wouldn't age.
It was almost a perfect eternal life, so close to his dream. However, he couldn't leave the dungeon. To experience this eternal existence, he was confined to this small, cramped place. However, if his experiments finally succeeded, he could turn himself into an undying being, without giving up his fleshly body and becoming an undead.
Progress was slow, but what did speed mean compared to eternity? If he could endure this, there was no point in becoming immortal in the first place. At some point, somewhere in the future-
"I will become an undying being! Unaging, everlasting!" he exclaimed with an insane cackle.
BOOM!
His manic laughter was rudely interrupted by the doors of the boss room flying open and crashing into the walls. Did another subject deliver itself to his doorsteps? or was it a strong one, here to steal his subjects again?
He looked to the entrance and blinked in confusion. Nobody. The entrance was empty. Who had kicked open his doors? There was NO way this was the wind. Maybe his opponent was invisible- The moment the thought came to his mind, he cast a barrier around himself, but he was too late. As the membrane rose, he felt a cold touch on his throat.
"Fucking trash, wasting my time with this crappy dungeon. You want to be unaging and everlasting? Don't worry, I will make sure you will," he heard a whisper. It was the last thing he ever heard in this life. It was a curse, but it also sounded like a promise.
Sound vanished. Light vanished. All senses vanished. He was embraced by a freezing cold darkness, and all he felt was a soul-chilling emptiness. In the moment of his death, the manic smile on his lips finally softened.
...
With this, the boss of "The Dark Mage's Laboratory" was gone, once and for all. Although it was the only soul he had gotten in this place, it made the trip almost worth it.
The soul of a twisted dark elf wizard who stepped on dark and misleading paths to reach his goal of eternal life. Contains 95% of his skills and memories. Trait: Dark Scion >
The lv.80 boss actually gave him an epic-rated, massive soul. The first and only one he had gotten today. That it contained his ego was sub-optimal, but that could be fixed later. Having finished checking his loot, he turned to the room.
Looking at the room full of gurneys with mutated adventurers strapped to them and various alchemical setups, Seth realized that the dark elf wizard was like a low-tier trash version of a Maestro.
The kind of untalented quack a demonic Maestro would not even use for errands. Blinded by dangerous half-knowledge and twisted beliefs, carrying out experiments and research far away from sense or the scientific method.
He glanced at the monstrosities strapped to the gurneys. With a wave of his hand, all the captured adventurers turned to ashes, to be revived at the adventurer guild, without these horrid deformations. However, no one would be able to take away their knowledge of what happened to them here.
He suddenly heard the notification of his third new title in a single day. This time it was actually a good one. Although he was not a dedicated healer, his Golden Fleece had powerful healing spells. It would work on himself, but an increase of 10% when healing his allies would have a tremendous effect.
And no, there was no information about this in the ledger he got from the adventurer guild. It was not uncommon for people to keep the acquisition method for titles hidden, to monopolize the effects, and protect their advantage. Not very nice, but understandable.
In the end, this dungeon was still better off than the others. Although the boss was gone, it still had the meat puppets. A little bummed but slightly appeased, Seth finally left the last dungeon of the day.
The haul for today was 1080 souls of medium size, a couple of big ones from elites, a couple of rare ones from bosses, and the one massive soul from the boss he just harvested. Together with the remaining caster souls he had gotten from Tano'Mol, originally for Monique's armor, he had 1200 souls to refine for Cade's.
Only the The Spirit Blacksmith intended to slap the Generic Automaton Circuit of Hephaestus onto the soul. This way, the dark elf would be conscious but unable to interact with anything as an item. The golem ego would be the driver while Telur would be forced to watch from the backseat, for eternity.
An eternal, unaging existence, just like he wanted. Although that meant he couldn't place an additional enchantment on the soul, the automaton ego itself was also quite good. As a supportive item ego, it would be able to manage and cast the skills of the wizard and other item abilities, taking some pressure off Cade.
She already had so many skills; if she had to sift through and adopt the skills of the mage into her own skill set, she might actually get weaker, not stronger. This way, she could leave it to the absolutely obedient ego. At least it had a much smaller chance of going berserk than someone like Telur Ulva with his manic ego.
Still invisible, he returned to the staircase, where he informed the guard about the adventurers and the boss. He didn't mention that the boss wouldn't respawn. Otherwise, he would have to reveal his power, and they may charge him for the beasts he permanently killed.
They would find out soon enough, but at that time, he could simply deny that it was him. For now, he returned to Minas Mar. The day was not young anymore, but there was enough time for him to set up the soul refinery and work a little on the blueprint for the Sky Dragon Heart Scale Armor of Cade.
This way, his forced outing ended with a couple of new titles, a couple of ruined dungeons, and enough materials to finally start with the last project for setting off to the Voracious Cloud Continent.
...
---Minas Mar---
Since the guardian tree covered Delta, the climate had become very mild, rarely being overly warm or cold. Today, the bright sun was shining, and cafés all around had prepared their outside tables. This specific one was run by Minas Mar and served all affiliated members for free.
"Hannibal, are you looking forward to returning to the continent?" Nam asked the other cultivator as he placed down their coffee and sat down at his table. Hannibal Cho and a couple of other cultivators had also been hired by Minas Mar after the tournament, though their conditions vastly differed from Dowloon's or Nam's.
Task predominant task was to act as guides for Minas Mar's teams, once they entered the continent. Although they had other allies in the XiGuang Province, those had already openly shown their allegiance, and using their people as guides could have revealed their operations.
The people chosen after the Tournament had been thoroughly checked to make sure they had no deeper affiliation to any of the prominent factions in the province. With some disguising, nobody would look twice at them leading a group of people.
"Quite neutral, actually. It's not like I have a place to return," the wandering cultivator said as he accepted his cup. he took an appreciative sip before speaking. " I will really miss this. When are we setting off again?" he asked the handsome sword cultivator
The foot fist and the sword bearer had befriended each other over the past months, so Cho knew about Nam's original issue. However, since the Tower Master helped him, Nam was able to go around without covering his face, exposing an exceptionally handsome face.
"We should have another hour," Nam answered and took a sip of the hot, dark liquid.
For someone used to water and tea, the drinks of Urth were a system shock at first, but most cultivators fell in love with the hot bitterness of coffee after a while.
"Then we should hurry, I guess? Good thing I already stocked up a little. If you crave a coffee, just ask me," the other offered jokingly. Over the past days, he had thought of all the things he wouldn't be able to get, once they were back on the continen,t and made sure to prepare.