Level 1 Fallen

Chapter 179: Dark Dragon Unit

It was nearly an hour later when the team of new recruits returned. During this time, I had heard a commotion from the other side of the camp. As expected, the Light side had also launched their own rescue mission as Diane and the others were on their way back. However, perhaps because of Diane’s own distraction previously, they hadn’t deployed enough high-level combatants to recover their captured troops.

This immediately gave us a rather severe advantage, because the Dark side had completely recovered their own forces, whereas the Light side wouldn’t receive such a chance again for at least two more days.

Upon their return, the entire group was called back to the command tent, where I was summoned as well. When we entered, I saw the same group of high-ranking officials that were previously there, though they were no longer standing around a battle map. Instead, they stood on either side of Dylon, who greeted us with a warm smile.

“Very good work today,” he began, eyes sweeping over Diane and the rest of the group. “As promised, I will now issue rewards based on your mission’s results. First, to Lady Kagemura and the brave new recruits. I will be forming an official unit with your team, titled the Dark Dragon Unit. Your main focus will be high-level combat and supporting other units with your draconic forms.”

Immediately, the recruits’ expressions lit up, their eyes going wide. Out of curiosity, I appraised one of them, noting that his level had increased by fifty compared to when I first met him. My eyes widened at this as well, wondering if this dungeon held a secret for Fallen to level up. If so, that would overturn everything that I knew about being a Fallen, so much that I would have to make this place a regular hunting ground.

However, I would soon get my answer, as Dylon then turned to face me. “As for you, Sir Advent. In recognition of your excellent work in training this new unit, I would grant you two options for your reward. With the first option, I will recruit a new batch of students for you to train, further increasing the strength of the army.”

“And with the second option, I would offer you the leadership position of this new Dark Dragon Unit, where you would actively be sent into the field. The choice is yours.” As soon as he finished speaking, a window appeared in front of me.

Instructor Role promotion opportunity! Choose one of the following rewards:

Continue working as an Instructor,  and receive +5 slots for Skill Synthesis.

OR

Become the Dark Dragon Commander, and earn credits through live combat. Effective Level +100.

Note: Effective level resets with the dungeon.

I see, so that’s what the Instructor role is really for, I thought to myself, looking over the rewards. I can create my own elite squad through Skill Synthesis, but can only train them in skills based on those that I know. Once I have a squad that I am satisfied with, and if they perform well, the Instructor will be given the chance to personally lead them.

Moreover, Micah said that promotions are carried over between dungeon resets. In the future, if either Diane or I participate in this dungeon, it would be forced to remake the Dark Dragon Unit in order to preserve our promotion. Theoretically, if more Fallen trainers entered this dungeon, especially those with an abundance of skills, they could completely skew the balance of this dungeon by cultivating a large number of elite squads.

For the most part, those future plans did not concern me, though it was valuable information to pass on to Diane’s friends after the dungeon ended. What concerned me right now was whether or not to train more students. However, from what I could see, there was no practical benefit in doing so, not unless I was simply dissatisfied with my first group.

Unfortunately, the level increase was not something that would carry over after we left. In my opinion, it was merely a boon that would let someone typically around level three hundred increase their power to level four hundred. For me, since my stat buffs were flat increases and not percentile, I was sadly not going to feel any type of truly insane boost.

Still, I bowed towards Dylon, nodding my head in acceptance. “I would be happy to lead the Dark Dragon Unit, sir.”

Dylon seemed pleased by that, and I felt the rush of power filling my body. “Very good! In that case, all of you can go and rest for now. I am sure that I will have a new mission for you soon.”

Successfully promoted to Dark Dragon Commander!

We all left the camp, with the recruits eagerly saying how they were going to go upgrade their equipment. Only Diane lagged behind with me, glancing up out of the corner of her eye. “It seems the Instructor role can’t be taken lightly,” she muttered, and I had to agree.

“Just to be clear, what rewards did you receive with your promotion?” I asked curiously, earning a raised brow from her.

“All it said was how my duties would be redefined. I assume any reward would wait until the end of the dungeon. I… take it that wasn’t the case for you?”

Hearing her question, I looked around briefly, before typing out a message to her containing the full details of my promotion. When she read the level increase, she was visibly shocked, though immediately disappointed at the realization that the buff would only apply while inside the dungeon. “I see… speaking of which, Skill Synthesis?”

My lips pursed, and I shared the details of the skills that I had created with her. “Most likely, all of these skills will appear as rewards for our unit at the end of the dungeon. It wouldn’t make sense if they didn’t for you, who was in the same unit as the one that created the skills.”

Diane browsed the skills intently, before locking onto the Shadow Lord skill. Her eyes seemed to shine for just a moment before she controlled her expression. “I’ll need to get some more skill demotion books, it looks like,” she muttered to herself, clenching her fists. “My Chosen very much wants that skill.”

“I’m not really sure how it will differ from Dark Intent, but I’m sure it has its own specialty. Speaking of, how did you do that dragon thing? I didn’t think that you could combine that many runes at once.”

Diane puffed her chest out proudly, her hands on her hips. “I upgraded Rune Writer to Ritualist. Now, I can properly combine a bunch of runes to make big effects. Though, if I want them to be powerful, I need a lot of prep time. The dragon was just for show, with a bit of mana drain.”

“That makes sense. From what I could tell, your opponent’s grandmaster skill should have been the evolved version of Light Intent. However, because it has such insane mana burden, he could only use it in limited bursts, showing that he didn’t have the raw stats to wield it freely.”

Listening to my conjecture, Diane couldn’t help but smirk. “From my understanding, most grandmasters don’t have the ability to spam their big skills. Now, let’s go. We should be able to get special equipment now that we’ve been promoted.”

I blinked at that, before following behind Diane. To me, equipment had become largely secondary. I only really used it for the enchantment slots, which further boosted my stats. If I did need a weapon, I could create something with either Shadow Arsenal-X or one of my projection skills. Thus, I hadn’t even considered getting the equipment from the army.

Diane led me towards the quartermaster, where the other recruits had just finished their shopping. Everyone’s equipment had completely evolved, taking on a more draconic appearance that made me question how such gear was prepared so quickly. However, Diane answered my question before I could even ask it. It’s probably a setting of the dungeon, since we don’t have several days to wait for a customized piece of equipment.

As she sent that message, she stepped forward, and the quartermaster greeted her with a warm smile. The quartermaster of the Dark camp was a bald man packed with thick muscles, standing over six feet tall. “If it isn’t Lady Kagemura, and Sir Advent as well. I’ve heard about your promotions. Are you here for your new equipment?”

Diane nodded her head silently, and so I followed along. The man chuckled, swiping his hand, and a message appeared in front of me.

Received Dungeon-exclusive item: Dark Dragon Armor (Medium)

Received Dungeon-exclusive item: Dark Dragon Leggings (Medium)

Received Dungeon-exclusive item: Dark Dragon Helm (Medium)

Received Dungeon-exclusive item: Dark Dragon Boots (Medium)

Received Dungeon-exclusive item: Dark Dragon Gloves (Medium)

Received Dungeon-exclusive item: Dark Dragon Cape

“As I recall, you use a short sword and a dagger, Lady Kagemura,” the quartermaster continued, presenting Diane with a pair of pitch-black blades, one shorter than the other. Both blades had draconic patterns etched into the hilt and guard. “As for you, Sir Advent, I’m afraid I’m not familiar with your weapon of choice.”

“I’ve practiced with several weapons. My most proficient weapons would either be a bow or a longsword,” I explained, having to actually look at my skill list to remember how high my proficiencies were.

However, the quartermaster readily accepted this, producing a bow similar to what the two archers had, as well as a longsword that matched the warriors. “A pretty standard combination,” he said, handing the weapons over as Diane changed her equipment. Her hood now looked like a dragon’s jaw, a scale pattern embroidered into her robe and cape, and claws on her boots and bracers.

With a sigh, I changed into my own draconic armor, knowing that it was all part of the role. Now, it was just a matter of waiting for our next mission. In the meantime, my new unit walked through the camp, heading to an array of tents that had just been assembled, surrounded by a series of banners displaying black dragons.

I could see several players looking at us in confusion, with Micah among them. His eyes locked questioningly onto Diane, and I saw her fingers rapidly typing on an invisible screen, no doubt to give him an update on how this had all happened.

After this reset, I was sure that the local ruler would call in some support from whatever faction he belonged to, getting NPC trainers into the dungeon in order to bring it more permanently under their control. Doing so would open up a wealth of skills and resources for their people that they could harvest weekly, until the Light side caught on and began doing the same. That is, if there was a proper Fallen faction supporting the Light side.

I entered the tent that had been assigned to me, sitting cross-legged and beginning my simulated training again while waiting for orders. Now that the dungeon’s first main phase had ended, the battles would only get more intense for everyone involved.