The Devil's Cage

The light sword from the sky split the gymnasium in half, almost breaking the land in half.

The trench caused by the light sword was over a dozen meters wide and it kept extending beyond the hundred meter range.

Sloth managed to remind the surviving crowd to move away, so when they saw the light sword in the sky, every one of them was rendered speechless. Only Sloth yawned.

"It's in the bag," Sloth said before vanishing.

When he reappeared, he was beside Kieran and was sizing up the thing the light sword had split in half.

"So this is the bastard behind all this?" Sloth asked.

"Mm," Kieran nodded, also sizing up the two wriggling blobs in surprise.

He was surprised about the thing's vitality and also its origin.

One needed to know the [Dawn Sword] that he just unleashed wasn't just charged up to rank V attack, it was the all time high rank VII!

Unlike the first time Kieran unleashed a rank VII [Dawn Sword], the reason why he could reach rank VII this time with [Dawn Sword] was because of the [Remains of Seed of Fusion] and the process was even more shocking. Kieran didn't even do anything, all he did was activate [Dawn Sword] and [Remains of Seed of Fusion] activated on it's own.

A single slash inflicted severe damage to the monster before his eyes, and at the same time it rendered his upcoming plan useless.

Kieran was fine with the current outcome, despite the [Remains of Seed of Fusion] being consumed in the process.

After all, the monster that he had sliced in half wasn't some random John Doe, it should be the one sealed in the underground kitchen and kept in the eternal burning, which was also the one the chef from [Inheritance Crystal (Damaged)] tried so hard to seal.

However, whether it was the legendary chef or anyone in Theorate, no one would have thought this monster would escape its prison and almost destroy the entire campus.

"Who are you?!"

"My body! My BODY!"

The two blobs of jelly-like item started to cry in agony.

As they cried, they wriggled towards each other, trying to fuse into one, but Kieran would not allow his enemies to do that right before his eyes.

Fuuu!

A ball of flame appeared right in front of him and another in his hand. The two balls of flame then smashed down on the wriggling blob.

Tsssss!

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

As though a chicken was thrown into boiling oil, the sizzling echoed throughout the gymnasium and cries of agony sounded uncontrollably.

"How are there such flames?"

"How can they burn my soul!?"

"Who are you?!"

The monster was screaming but Kieran did not answer.

He raised his hand, smashed two more balls of Devil Flame onto the monster, and it still wasn't the end.

Kieran had smashed more than 50 balls of Devil Flame onto the monster in the upcoming minute.

The ground melted as though he was standing on lava.

The two blobs of jelly got smaller as it was burned, crystallizing and shrinking to the size of a quail egg.

Gluttony, who was watching the scene and originally disliked the monster, started to swallow its saliva, but it knew who called the shots here, so he didn't act recklessly but looked at Kieran with puppy eyes.

Kieran thought for a while and nodded.

Undoubtedly, the monster before his eyes was definitely in the higher ranks and if it wasn't for the change of body, which resulted in a huge flaw like lowered perception. The monster wouldn't have been defeated with a single slash and it would be a prolonged battle.

According to the big city's rule, the monster would surely drop something good, but compared to Gluttony consuming it and convert it into energy for his body, the drop from the monster seemed insignificant. Kieran wasn't sure whether the item drop would match his own power system, neither could he make sure the item was clear of any kind of special prerequisite.

Rather than gambling for a high-tier item which he might not be able to use, it was more convenient for Gluttony to consume it.

After getting Kieran's nod, Gluttony cheered and jumped into the lava trench without any concern for the heat. He grabbed the two quail egg sized crystals and licked it without even sizing it up.

To Gluttony, looks were not important, taste was the only standard to measure the value of things.

"Mmmmmm."

Gluttony closed his eyes and grumbled in delight, his face looking like he was intoxicated.

The two crystals trembled.

"Spare me! I'll tell you a secret about the Mystic State…"

Crak Crak!

The voice from the crystal stopped as it was crushed by Gluttony's chomp.

Gluttony munched the two crystals and swallowed it. Once the crystal bits entered Gluttony's stomach, it was absorbed.

They were transformed into the purest of energy and divided into 5 portions for Cardinal Sins, Dawn, Plague, Devil and Saint Thorn!

All five of the Origin Forces increased faster than anything before and when it reached a certain limit…

KABOOM!

Kieran felt like he had heard an explosion in his head.

It was an explosion and also an ascension, meaning level up!

Huu!

The fire in his head jumped and grew almost twice its original size.

From a little spark of flame, it grew into a blazing one and it burned brighter and hotter than before.

The darkness and chaos around the flame became anxious but they couldn't do anything, the fire burned away the darkness and chaos quicker than ever.

[Absorbed and converted a large amount of special energy, Spirit V- → V]

…

Even without the notifications in his vision, when the fire in his mind grew twice the size, Kieran already felt the changes.

Although it was just a minor rank bump up, Kieran felt like it was a kind of qualitative change, savouring the moments with his newly changed body.

Under the light from the divine fire, everything in his body was revealed: the skin, the muscles, the blood and the marrows.

The mystical runes on his veins and bones were glowing in a lively manner each time he breathed and his blood circulated.

The runes had never been so clear before. Kieran could even use his current level of [Mystical Knowledge] to slightly decipher the runes.

After slightly decipher the runes, he knew as time passed, each time his blood flowed through his veins, the mystical runes would slightly alter his blood.

It would be a very slow process, even slower than Dawn and Plague force, but the good thing was that it would be quiet and required nothing; as long as the runes were in his body, the alteration would not stop.

As long as he had enough time, the blood would ultimately change his roots, which was his bone marrow.

When the changes happened to his bone marrow, his body would surely go through a drastic change again, thus boosting him to a whole new level.

"Too bad the time required is too long," Kieran sighed.

What he lacked was time, such slow changes would not be his final choice.

Of course, he wouldn't do anything to stop it.

What he sought was a faster and safer way to reach the new level, like…

Kieran saw Gluttony, who looked satisfied, but then he started to search for more things in the area to put in his mouth. Kieran closed his eyes again.

Huu!

A deep breath later, Kieran heard noises.

The noises were from Professor Tyrese, Leonard, the First Seats, the students, and the security guards, who were all looking at him.

Without even looking at them or telling them apart, the moment Kieran heard their voices, he knew what they were saying, as though every one of them were talking to Kieran one on one.

It was magical.

"As I expected, Intuition and Spirit match well together," Kieran thought.

At first, he had a hunch that Intuition and Spirit seemed to work together closely.

Although Intuition directly affected vision and hearing, once Spirit was added into the equation, Intuition would evolve from the simple body reflex to supernatural instinct.

As Kieran's Intuition and Spirit got higher, his guess was verified, especially after Spirit reached rank V. He could already see the blurry danger that his Intuition sensed.

It was blurry and shallow, but the danger really did exist, like this particular moment!

Kieran looked down at his right hand, under the glove where the Witch's Gift was at. The tattoo changed from a clear image to a blurry one, the freaky smiley face emanating danger.

"The Witch?" Kieran muttered in his heart.

He had never before felt the existence of the Witch as clear as this moment.

Even though he had never seen her before, this tattoo, this Witch's Gift, was like a vengeful spirit haunting him endlessly.

[Eliminated Sly Eater, main mission completed in advance!]

[Player will leave the dungeon in 10 seconds]

[Please take whatever items you wish to keep with you.]

[Note: Any items that exceed the maximum weight will be discarded!]

…

Kieran was used to the 'sudden ambush' of the system, so ashe simply tidied up his things and went over to grab that big claypot.

That unusual flame that appeared above the main ring died off after Bolt brought Smith away.

[Single player dungeon: Meaning of Eat]

[Dungeon Difficulty: 8th dungeon]

[Detected player suffered unfair treatment, adjusting 8th dungeon difficulty to 2nd dungeon difficulty.]

[Dungeon Type: Compensation (Compensation dungeons have no sub-mission, no special ratings, special events but elimination rewards are raised]

[Main mission: Enter the school entrance exam and make it through the semester]

[Mission Completion: 100% (Rating F)]

[Mission Complete in advance: Rating F→E]

[Battle performance: Very Active (Rating E → A)]

[Exploration performance: Average]

[Player final rating: A]

[Calculating player's special dungeon reward…]

[Player's special dungeon reward as listed…]

[Points: 30,000; Skill Points: 5; Golden Skill Points: 0; Golden Attribute Points: 0]

[Acquired Key Item: New Mystic State Deduction Map]

[Acquired new Mystic State Deduction Map, special trial initiated, acquired special dungeon in advance.]

[Acquired special dungeon: Name of Eat]

…

Kieran heaved a breath of relief when he reappeared in his room in Wallway 13th.

No place made him feel safer than his old broken garage.

He carefully put down the giant claypot.

[Name: Big Battle Pot]

[Type: Wonder Item]

[Rarity: I]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: None]

[Attribute: 1. Preserve; 2. Absolute Taste]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Prerequisite: Cooking (Musou)]

[Remark: This Big Battle Pot was brought out from the Mystic State by Smith. After repairs, its rarity was lowered but still usable]

…

[Preserve: Any food placed inside the Big Battle Pot will not go bad or turn sour]

[Absolute Taste: Any food cooked by the Big Battle Pot will have a certain rate to rank up (Food's rarity cannot exceed Big Battle Pot's rarity)]

…

A very special pot.

As for what to do with it?

Kieran took out a set of kitchenware from his backpack, from the simplest knife, to a chopping board, to plates and spice boxes and the very last [Duyer's Recipe].

Since he had decided to pay for the food, Kieran did not mind making his food taste better.

After another thought, Kieran wrote down the contents that he remembered from [Index of Eat].

Although some ingredients were exclusive to the dungeon world [Meaning of Eat], it should not be a big problem when used as a reference.

Kieran then sent a message to Starbeck.

2567: There?

Starbeck: Yup, I'm baking egg tarts, coming over?

2567: Wait for me.

Starbeck: Okay.

…

After a simple message to make sure Starbeck was at home, Kieran grabbed his things and headed out, but before he pushed his door open, he frowned.

It was Wu!

Although he hadn't seen her behind the door, with his current Intuition and combined with the powerful Spirit, he could tell who it was behind the door.

Since his mind was made up, he decided not to step back. He pushed the door and went out.

Wu was still in her long gray robe, dressed like a witch.

"Is there anything?" Kieran asked first.

"Mm, but I don't think you want to talk to me now," Wu nodded.

Kieran did not deny it, as egg tarts were more important than the woman before his eyes.

"I'll wait for you at the living room at Harvest Inn," said Wu before she headed to the train station.

Kieran had planned to go to Starbeck's by train but when he saw where Wu was headed, he changed his mind and walked instead.

Standing in front of the station sign, Wu saw Kieran off before she clenched her fist and kicked the sign beside her.

Bang!

Even though she was unable to use any attacking abilities, she was able to rely on the constitution that she had built up. The kick infused with her wrath should not be underestimated.

Tsss!

After a teeth-numbing screech, the signboard fell to the ground.

The scene frightened some new players from Ro Street and scared them back inside.

Wu didn't even bat an eye, in her own world at the moment.

"That damn vixen! I'll teach you a lesson! Just you wait!"

She cursed like she was making a vicious vow but when she thought about how Starbeck saved her before, she softened down.

Though she clenched her fist again after that.

"I'll return the debt first before I teach you a lesson!"

Wu took a deep breath before boarding the train.

The train swiftly went off.

When Wallway Street quiet down, flaps of wings sounded from the sky. An eagle landed before Wallway 13th and quietly entered the void.