Chapter 177: Third Layer

Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Third Layer

Lucian’s mental power pierced into the mind of the ground manticore.

The connection was violent like driving a spike through a wall. The manticore’s consciousness was feral, raw, a swirling mass of instinct and rage that clawed back against Lucian’s intrusion. His Mind Palace shuddered under the resistance. Mental power drained from him in visible streams — his mana core depleting alongside it, the two resources feeding the bond simultaneously.

The manticore thrashed against the blood spears pinning it to the ground. Its roars shook the crystal forest. The ground beneath it cracked.

His Mind Palace expanded. The structure within his Sea of Consciousness grew, new chambers forming, new corridors opening, a dedicated wing constructing itself in real-time to house the foreign consciousness he was binding to his own. The process was agonizing as blood trickled from his nose and his vision blurred.

Then — Click.

A link snapped into place. The manticore’s rage didn’t vanish — but it shifted. The beast’s amber eyes, previously wild with hatred and pain, focused on Lucian with recognition, submission and obedience.

Lucian collapsed.

His knees hit the crystal sand. His vision went dark at the edges. His mana was nearly empty — less than ten percent remaining. His mental power was so depleted that his Mind Palace felt hollow.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Congratulations! You have successfully tamed your first beast.

Beast: Crimson Manticore (Mid C-Rank) — Venom Variant

Bond Type: Loyalty Bond (Permanent)

The beast will obey all commands from the Host.

The beast will grow alongside the Host’s cultivation.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Congratulations!

You have ignited the 3rd Star of your Mind Palace.

New Spell Unlocked: Beast Domain.

Beast Domain — A pocket space within the Host’s Sea of Consciousness where tamed beasts can be stored, rested, and recalled at will. The space adapts to the beast’s natural habitat. Beasts inside the Beast Domain recover stamina and minor injuries over time. The Host can summon stored beasts instantaneously in combat.

Current Capacity: 3 beasts.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Rewards:

• 5,000 SC

• New items and materials for tamed beasts added to System Shop.

• Charm stat +20

Charm: 95

"Wow," Lucian lay on the crystal sand as he breathed. "I didn’t expect it to work."

He laughed with relief and disbelief. "I even managed to finally ignite the third star of my Mind Palace."

He turned his head. The manticore lay beside him, its massive crimson body still pinned by the blood spears. But its posture had changed. Its amber eyes watched him with curiosity. A crimson rune glowed on its forehead, shaped like a crescent moon interlocked with a circle. The mark of the Loyalty Bond.

Lucian reached out mentally. The link was there — a thread connecting his consciousness to the manticore’s.

"Beast Domain," he said.

The manticore dissolved into particles of crimson light that flowed upward and vanished. The beast was gone — stored within the pocket space inside his Sea of Consciousness.

Lucian pulled a recovery pill from his Shadow Storage and swallowed it. Mana flooded back into his core.

He stood and walked toward the center of the clearing.

The Vermillion Heart Lotus sat in its crack in the crystal ground, untouched by the battle. Three leaves on a thin stem, pulsing with warm crimson light. He knelt beside it and harvested it carefully, pulling it from the crystal with a gentle tug. The root system came free, trailing thin filaments of mana that dissolved in the air.

He examined it with his Mental Power. The properties were exactly as Primordial Sight had described. This was a resource that Grand Core cultivators would kill for.

He decided to take it now.

He placed the lotus on his tongue and swallowed.

The effect was immediate. Burning heat erupted from his stomach and spread through his body like liquid fire. Every muscle fiber contracted simultaneously. Every bone vibrated and his tendon stretched to its limit as his skin flushed red. Sweat poured from him, soaking through his clothes in seconds.

Lucian sat cross-legged on the crystal sand and guided the energy with his will — pushing the herb’s properties through his meridians, into his muscles, his bones, his organs. The energy tempered each cell individually — compressing muscle fibers, densifying bone structure, reinforcing tendon elasticity. The process was agonizing but controlled.

Three hours passed.

The burning faded as the energy settled. Lucian opened his eyes and exhaled slowly. His body felt like someone had taken his physical form and compressed it into a tighter, more efficient version of itself.

[Status Update — Physical Stats]

Strength: 450 → 560

Agility: 300 → 375

Dexterity: 250 → 310

Durability: 450 → 560

Constitution: 400 → 500

Perception: 300

Charm: 95

Lucian stood as he stretched testing the new density of his muscles. The difference was staggering. His Strength alone had jumped by over a hundred points. He clenched his fist and felt the power coiled beneath his skin.

He walked toward the edge of the crystal forest where a doorway had appeared — an archway carved into the crystal wall, its edges glowing faintly blue. Layer 2 was cleared.

He paused before stepping through.

"System. Are all C-Rank dungeons and above layered like this one?"

The small white figure materialized beside him. It tilted its head.

"No. Layered dungeons like this one are actually quite rare. Most dungeons are single-environment spaces — one biome, one core, one exit. Layered dungeons feature progressive environments with increasing difficulty. They’re considered premium training grounds."

"Who designed the key that created this dungeon?"

The system was quiet for a moment.

"The system may be in charge of the dungeon key’s growth and distribution. But the system is not the admin."

Lucian frowned. "Who’s the admin?"

The system shrugged. Then it dissolved, vanishing from sight without another word.

Lucian snorted. His mind drifted to the figure on the throne — the shrouded silhouette he’d encountered when his bloodline evolved past 80%.

"It’s not yet time." The words echoed in his memory with the same weight they’d carried then.

Was that figure the admin? The one who had bonded the system to him in the first place?

He shook his head. All things would reveal themselves in time.

He stepped through the doorway.

The environment changed instantly.

The crystal forest vanished.

Lucian stood on a plain.

Flat, open grassland stretched in every direction — but the grass wasn’t green. It was grey. Pale, lifeless grey, like ash covering a battlefield. The sky above was also grey, casting everything in a monochrome wash that made distance impossible to judge.

At the center of the plain stood a tree.

It was enormous — a hundred meters tall, its trunk wide enough to be a building. Its branches spread in every direction, heavy with fruits that glowed a vivid, impossible green against the grey landscape. The fruits pulsed with mana.

But beneath the tree was a figure.

His eyes widened. Not a beast. A person. Or what was left of one.

A skeleton.

Humanoid. Sitting cross-legged at the base of the trunk, draped in the rotted remnants of dark robes. A massive black great sword covered in runes that glowed with a sickly dark light lay across its lap. The skeleton’s skull was tilted forward, jaw closed, eye sockets empty.

Lucian’s Primordial Sight activated.

[Primordial Sight Analysis]

Target: Undead Cultivator

Realm: Mid Grand Core (Death Attribute)

Status: Dormant

An undead cultivator — someone who had died inside this dungeon and been reanimated by death energy. Mid Grand Core Realm.

The skeleton opened its eyes.

Two points of dark light ignited in the empty sockets. A wild, suffocating aura of death exploded from the skeleton’s body, washing across the plain like a tidal wave of cold. The grey grass withered further, turning black and crumbling to dust. The temperature plummeted.

The skeleton raised one hand. A beam of dark energy shot upward from its body into the grey sky. BOOM. The sky cracked. Dark energy spread from the impact point, racing outward in concentric rings, forming a dome that descended around Lucian and the skeleton forming a sealed dark space. The world outside the dome vanished — replaced by absolute darkness. Lucian and the skeleton were the only things that existed within this space.

He raised his hand and fired a Light Bolt at the dome. FWEEESH. The bolt struck the dark barrier. A crack formed and sealed itself instantly. The dome repaired faster than he could damage it.

Lucian turned to the skeleton. His hand found Aethon’s hilt as a frown appeared on his face.