The Primal Hunter

After Jake had killed the Warden, the demons more or less fell apart, and it was just a cleanup from there. A few of them had tried to get to the prisoners during the attack, but Dina’s bark-covered roots had completely stopped all their attempts.

Jake joined the others in killing, and in the end, they finished off every single demon, with not a single prisoner dying. To make things even better, Jake got an unexpected level upon killing one of the last Torturers still left alive.

*’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 211 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points*

As for the progress of saved prisoners, it turned out that despite saving everyone, they had not yet completed the bonus objective of saving at least 25% of the prisoners.

Current progress: Prisoners freed (20%).

This was honestly expected as Jake saw far more rooms ahead of them in this linear part of the labyrinth. In fact, he had a strong feeling there was more than five total, which he sure wouldn’t complain about. Nevermore had so far not really been that interesting in the combat department, outside of maybe the bout with the Demon Lord, but the Warden had been decent in Jake’s mind, and even the average demon enemy on this floor could pose a danger if he let his guard down. It was a great change of pace from walking through hallways with no real danger – outside of the traps that Jake easily led them around.

Of course, some parts of Minaga’s Labyrinth remained the same. Such as their host’s commentary and the utterly outrageous “people” they could meet and talk to. The leader of the saved prisoners in this room was a prime example.

“Thank you, heroes, for saving us from the demons. After we heard of the return of the evil Demon Lord Gubrothas, we feared all was lost and had resigned ourselves to our fates. Now that you have shown up, we have hope once more,” the old man that looked a bit too much like the Old Royal Mage said as he bowed to them. “Please do your utmost to bring justice to us all and continue on your honorous quest. We shall stay here and rebuild that which was lost.”

Jake and company had gathered all the prisoners they had saved after Dina led down her vines, and one of the only C-grades among them seemed to suddenly come alive and told them this. To the cheers of exactly two-hundred prisoners, they moved towards the next room.

Before they even entered it, Minaga spoke, clearly not caring that much about his earlier ruse of never talking while they were inside rooms.

“Managing to free all the prisoners so easily while not truly facing any difficulties dealing with your foes… impressive indeed! Now, the difficulty will increase slightly with each coming room, so do not be so sure you will be able to use the same strategy twice in a row!”

Upon entering the second room and scouting it, Jake turned to Dina. “We are using the exact same strategy two times in a row.”

The room was nearly identical to the first one except for a change in layout, a few higher-leveled demons around, and a Warden one level higher than the last one. They did an exact repeat of the strategy from the last room, and it went off just like before. Almost a bit too much like before, considering the words of the second old man representing the saved prisoners.

“Thank you, brave heroes, for saving us from the demons. After the return of the evil Demon Lord Gubrothas, we all feared that we were doomed and had resigned ourselves to our fates. Now that you have shown up, we can hope for a better future once more. Please do your utmost to restore justice and continue on your valiant quest. We shall stay here and rebuild.”

Bonus Objective Completed: Save at least 25% of the prisoners. 200 Nevermore Points earned.

Current progress: Prisoners freed (40%).

next hallway,

tell me you outsourced whatever

what they say! It is entirely caused by you, and I am sure they are genuinely

Jake called him

that doesn’t mean I just decided what they say. Now, this may get a bit philosophical, but hear me out. Normal creatures in the multiverse are born without purpose, even those we usually say have one. Many would argue something like a True Royal is born with the purpose of ruling their Lineage, but that is strictly incorrect. It is just the most obvious Path to them. If they so wished, they could choose to break that Path entirely and actively go against it. Their Records allow it, and they have the ability to do whatever

and allowing everyone to find their own Paths. However, these creatures in

I am sure you all know, then in natural dungeons, it is possible to actually bring out the creatures, though only one version can exist in the real world. However, that isn’t true for many dungeons created by dungeon engineers, as the dungeon is inherently tied to them. Unless the creature in question was brought from the outside and into the dungeon, that is, but in most cases, only an Image of the creature is made while doing this, with the true version persisting in the world outside. Ah, by the way, funny fact, if you take the Image of a creature that is already dead in the real world outside of a dungeon, it will instantly die. Actually, not that funny of a fact on second thought… anyway, my point is that nearly all the creatures you encounter within Nevermore are made entirely for Nevermore, never existed in the real world, and are all purpose-built for the dungeon. Anything they say or do is done with a purpose, but that purpose is never their own – only the wish of their creator. In summary, even if they do possess free will and have free thoughts, it is useless to them, so their way of speaking is only made with purpose,

expected,” Jake muttered as he and the others stopped before the hallway leading into

and continue onwards after the thirty-fifth floor. However, if they are under the illusion of free will till then, they would be quite handy helpers, especially the Knight of Light’s Dawn and Old Royal Mage. Oh, you just reminded me there was also an interesting demon prince that entered with a party and ended up with the Demon Lord joining him, so I had to adapt the scenario quite a bit moving forward… nothing for you guys to worry about, though. You are experiencing the vanilla quest. Well, if we ignore the fact you ignore all my storytelling and just brute-force through everything while cheesing every

about it as they entered the third room, where they would use

but think about certain someone really good at manipulating

thought… Ell’Hakan could manipulate emotions, and seeing as Minaga already seemed friendly towards everyone who entered the dungeon and his seemingly near-omnipotent ability to affect the dungeon as he desired, could Ell’Hakan convince Minaga to help? Could he make Minaga

had a Bloodline, so his ability would still work. Seeing as Minaga seemed aware of what was happening even in other versions of the floors,

for someone with a Bloodline to influence

by infuriatingly so ruining all exploration aspects of my labyrinth, then

with a Bloodline focused on manipulating others would be able to influence you. Especially considering the fact you show up in front of us at the

it is funny that you would ask. If you are worried about what I think you are worried about, then don’t. You are talking to Minaga here; who

insane and unstable Unique Lifeform who likes to create dungeons while constantly

“You’re goddamn right.”

members Yip of Yore had introduced to him. While he was generally satisfied with them, especially the Saintess from the Holy Church, then he still had a gnawing feeling. In all honesty, neither he nor Yip had expected the Chosen of the Malefic Viper to get a good party

was not something even his Bloodline could overcome. He had managed to convince it to work with them, but in the end, the Devourer had always seen itself as superior, which was also why Ell’Hakan had been fine with

task at hand. Shortly after entering the floor, the

floor of

objective: Reach the end of

Bonus objectives: N/A

End

events, achievements, or objectives may be hidden

Current Nevermore Points: 14930