Stepping out of the Awakeners Hotel lobby, freshly cleaned up and still buzzing from creating my class, I made a choice:
Time to go back to Ebon Veil Labyrinth.
Why?
Because now that I officially had the Obsidian Sovereign class…
I wanted to see what the hell this new body could REALLY do.
Thirty minutes later, my ride dropped me off at the entrance.
Cold morning air, dead-quiet field, the faint hum of mana drifting off the dungeon crystal.
Perfect vibe for breaking limits.
I stopped in front of the dungeon entrance and pulled up my status.
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[STATUS — KAELEN HARDERMAN]
Class: Obsidian Sovereign — Paradox Authority Core
Level: ??? (System refuses to categorize)
Vitality:∞
Focus: Boundless
Strength: SSS+ (Scaling)
Agility: SSS+
Skills:
• Genesis Singularity (Max)
• QP-Array (Max)
• Slipstream Sense
• Surface A.I.T → upgraded (Max)
• Paradox Rewrite
• Veil Step
• And more…
Notes: Your existence continues to violate system architecture.
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I cracked my neck.
"Alright… I'm definitely good."
My hand extended and pressed against the dungeon crystal—
"HEY! Look who it is—Kaelen the reject!"
Damien Pierce's voice, sounding like a wet sock full of disappointment.
I turned.
There he was with his Dollar Tree Avengers behind him—his mage, his knight, his healer, all wearing gear that looked like it was purchased off Craigslist.
Damien smirked.
Said some trash about "real awakeners" and how I should "stick to F-rank dungeons."
Before I could respond—
the teleportation grabbed me.
The world blurred.
I arrived inside Ebon Veil Labyrinth, Level 1.
I exhaled.
They're DEFINITELY following me.
Alright, time to go ghost.
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Suppressing the Monster Inside
I whispered mentally:
"System. Lower my Sovereign Presence. Put a cap on anything that screams 'this dude is not human.'"
The air shimmered faintly.
[Sovereign Presence → Minimal Output]
[Intimidation Field: OFF]
[Aura Weight: Reduced to harmless]
[Overall Threat Signature: D-rank Awakened]
Good.
Now I looked like I belonged here.
Time to move.
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Levels 1–19 — Light Work
The labyrinth greeted me with its usual purple mist and flickering lantern-shadows.
Monsters jumped, lunged, shrieked—
and died in under a second.
Every.
Single.
Encounter.
My class was moving my body like it had been training for a thousand years.
Slipstream Sense mapped enemy intent before they even committed.
Surface A.I.T painted combat paths through my mind in neon clarity.
Genesis Singularity snapped monsters out of existence like popping soap bubbles.
My body, reinforced with draconic bones, vampiric regeneration, demonic muscles, slime adaptive cells, and celestial energy pathways—
Bro…
I wasn't F-rank.
I wasn't D-rank.
I wasn't even on the damn board.
By Level 19, loot had piled so high my Spatial Inventory was beginning to feel like a warehouse-sized flex.
I stepped into the Level 19 rest area and sat down to check my gains.
Right on cue—
Damien and his Dollar Tree squad strolled in.
Loud.
Obnoxious.
Dripping cheap cologne and insecurity.
He shoved past me.
"Move, scrub. Real rankers coming through. Don't worry—we'll beat the record today. You can watch how pros do it."
I didn't even look at him.
Just murmured, "Sure. Don't trip on the stairs, champ."
He bristled but kept moving.
Good.
Now I could focus.
Inventory: stacked.
Cores: absurd.
Skill seeds: decent haul.
Everything was looking clean.
Time to hit the 20th floor.
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Level 20 — Floor Boss
The boss chamber felt different.
Thicker mana.
Resonance in the walls.
My instincts sharpened like knives.
A monstrous silhouette stepped out:
Vilebone Ravager — Peak D-rank
Massive wolf-like creature
Bone armor plates
Fangs dripping purple venom
Speed: crazy
Strength: stupid
Perfect.
I didn't attack immediately.
Instead, I tested my class:
Slowed my breathing
• Analyzed muscle tension
• Adjusted energy flow
• Adapted my stance
I let it attack first.
It roared—a low rumble I felt in my bones—and barreled toward me.
I stepped aside one inch.
Barely moved.
Its claws missed by a hair.
My body moved on instinct, guided by my hybrid physiology.
I struck the underside of its chin with a dragonbone-reinforced punch.
CRACK.
Its head snapped upward.
Before it could recover, I summoned a miniature Genesis Singularity inside its ribcage—
FWUMP.
It imploded.
Loot entered my Spatial Inventory automatically.
I smirked.
"…Yeah. I'm getting the hang of this."
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Levels 21–39 — Demon Mode
It was unfair.
I was unfair.
Monsters evaporated.
Traps got bypassed.
Ambushes failed because I always saw them coming.
Even the labyrinth itself felt like it tried to shift layouts slower around me.
I was clearing an E-rank dungeon like it was a warm-up jog.
Eventually—
I arrived at the massive door of Level 40.
Boss room.
And…
Voices.
Damien's voice.
"KEEP ATTACKING! WE GOT IT DOWN TO 20%! HIT IT HARDER!"
I closed my eyes and whispered:
"Paradox Rewrite."
My eyes burned.
Shifted.
Melted.
Reforged.
It felt like molten glass pouring through my skull, rearranging every sense I had.
Eight seconds felt like eight lifetimes.
Then—
[BOUNDLESS EYES — AWAKENED]
Capabilities:
• See through all illusions
• See through objects
• Mana-layer vision
• Heat, soul, and spirit perception
• Predictive motion tracking
• Dimensional sight
• Identify weak points
• Focus cost: none
• Passively evolves with user
I opened them.
And the world became transparent.
I looked through the boss door.
What I saw?
Shitshow.
Damien's squad was fighting a Hellcore Abomination, a peak C-rank mutated dungeon boss with:
Four arms
• A molten spine
• A furnace heart
• A roar that ruptured mana circuits
• And a second phase that made MY fight look easy
His squad was holding on—barely.
I watched for 10 minutes.
Saw them drag the boss down to 15%.
Then it happened.
The abomination's furnace core blazed bright.
It mutated mid-fight.
Peak B-rank. Twice the growth it showed me.
Damien's healer got crushed.
His mage caught in a cleaver swipe.
His knight split chest-to-shoulder.
Half his squad died instantly.
All that bravado gone.
All that trash talk dust.
Damien fell back, covered in blood, shaking.
And he did something I never thought he'd do.
He begged.
Not to me.
Not to the dungeon.
To a higher presence.
"P-Please… gods of this world… ANYONE… please… help me…"
Pathetic.
I exhaled.
Time to move.
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The Masked Savior
I summoned a Veil Mask, a dark obsidian face covering that blurred my features and suppressed my aura traces.
In my mind:
"Veil Step."
The world bent.
I flowed through the door without opening it.
Right as the abomination swung its molten cleaver downward—
I appeared between Damien and death.
My katana, Edge-Judge, materialized in my hand.
I deflected the monster's attack with a single upward slash.
CLANG—BOOM—
The impact launched the B-rank boss across the room.
Damien stared at me like he just saw God Himself pull up wearing black Air Forces.
I tilted my head at him.
And delivered the coldest line possible:
"Congrats. You get to live long enough to stay out of my way."
Then—
I turned my gaze toward the boss.
My Boundless Eyes locked onto it.
My aura sharpened.
My body shifted.
The real fight was about to start.