Chapter 43: The Flux Gate III

The notification remained in front of Keane for several seconds.

[Level Up!]

[You have reached Level 10!]

Before he could think much about it, opening his system, he found that he had gained another subskill.

...

[SYSTEM]

Name: Keane

Level: 10

Class: None

EXP: [██████████]

[STATS]

Strength (STR): 99

Dexterity (DEX): 99

Constitution (CON): 99

Intelligence (INT): 99

Wisdom (WIS): 99

Charisma (CHA): 99

HP: [9902 / 9902]

MP: [9902 / 9902]

Resistances: []

[Skills]

None

[Sub Skills]

Charm (Level 10)

Seduction (Level 10)

Persuasion (Level 3)

-!NEW Perception

...

[Perception]

[Description: Enhances the user’s ability to observe, identify, and process surrounding information.]

...

’Perception?’ He thought to himself, ’and when did I get Persuasion?’ He was very confused.

His system was one of a kind, it didn’t tell him when he got EXP, it didn’t notify him when he gained a new subskill either, just randomly telling him that he was now level 10.

Looking at the new skill, he focused on it for a moment, and the information around him seemed to sharpen slightly. It wasn’t dramatic at all, he didn’t all of a sudden feel like a top detective. He didn’t suddenly gain some magical vision that revealed everything around him, but he could distinguish small details more clearly—the sound of Amda’s breathing, the slight shift of Cush’s weight, even tiny cracks running through the stone beneath his feet.

’So it’s basically an observation boost.’ He thought to himself. ’Perhaps that was what I was feeling earlier?’

That could be useful, especially at that moment where everything seemed to be going haywire.

Keane opened his status again, watching the familiar numbers appear in front of him.

Strength: 99

Dexterity: 99

Constitution: 99

Intelligence: 99

Wisdom: 99

Charisma: 99

He looked at them for a moment then a thought came to him, more out of habit than not. WHenever he opened the system, he would try to increase the numbers and fail... this time though.

Keane selected Strength and increased it, and to his surprise—

—100.

’It went up?’ Without hesitating, he continued.

101

102

103...

...147

148...

...199.

The number stopped.

Keane tried again, but nothing happened.

He checked the other attributes and found the same thing. Every stat could now reach 199, and that was the new limit.

Keane stared at the numbers, ’so that’s the next cap.’

He had reached Level 10, and the moment he did, the restriction had increased. The timing was too convenient to be a coincidence, so the mecahanism was clear.

’Every ten levels.’

If that pattern continued, Level 20 should release another increase, was what he was thinking.

He couldn’t know how much the next cap would be, but at least the basic rule was becoming clear. The system wasn’t giving him a permanent maximum of 99. It was locking his stats behind level milestones, which, while annoying, was better than the former.

’So the real growth isn’t linear.’

Keane leaned back slightly, stretching his waist.

The strange thing was that he didn’t feel much stronger.

He had more than double in every stat than before, yet his body hadn’t suddenly transformed. There was no overwhelming surge of power, no dramatic change in his senses, and nothing that made the previous 99 feel weak by comparison.

Then again, he had already been ridiculously strong before.

’Guess I’ll have to test it.’

Keane glanced toward the others. Rovan was still examining the dead Ravager while Curtis, Amda, and Cush discussed what had happened. None of them appeared to notice that he had been staring at empty air for the past few moments.

Rovan finally straightened. "We can’t linger here." He said.

"What are you thinking?" Keane asked.

"The gate has already changed once, and now we’ve encountered a boss creature where it shouldn’t be. If that thing came from deeper inside, we can’t assume the route back is still the same."

Amda nodded. "So we search for a return stone as before?"

"If we can."

Cush glanced at the dead Ravager. "And if we can’t?"

Rovan’s expression hardened. "Then we reach the heart and close the gate."

It was the obvious solution, although Keane had no particular interest in closing a dungeon for free. The Guild deliberately kept some gates open because they could continue making money from them, sending adventurers inside to harvest materials and clear monsters until the gate became too exhausted to remain profitable. This one was clearly becoming something else.

The original plan was to find a return stone, but with the changing gate, that could be next to impossible, as locations could have shifted.

Without wasting time further, they chose another passage and continued.

They hadn’t even covered far before another monster appeared.

It looked similar to the Stonebacks they’d encountered earlier, but it was considerably larger and more heavily built. Keane stepped forward before anyone else could react and struck it once, caving the beast’s head in.

The monster’s head snapped sideways, and its entire body flew across the chamber before crashing into the wall.

Keane stared at his hand, not really surprised, but amazed.

’That felt different.’

There had been more force behind the attack than he expected. He hadn’t put much effort into it, but the result was noticeably greater than before.

’199 is doing something for sure.’ He thought to himself, holding back a grin.

Behind him, Cush looked at the corpse.

"That thing was stronger than the first ones."

Rovan crouched beside it and examined the body. "In build, yes, but this one’s Peak Intermediate at least."

Keane raised an eyebrow. "Was it supposed to be here?"

"No." Rovan said as he stood. "First time seeing one in this dungeon." That was even worse.

They continued, and the problem became impossible to ignore.

Another monster appeared, then another, followed by three at once. The creatures kept getting stronger as they moved deeper. What had started as Entry level Mortal Realm monsters quickly became stronger, shifting to Peak Mortal beasts.

Eventually, something far more dangerous appeared.

They had just cut a corner, when they came face to face with a massive six-legged creature resembling a wolf. Like a crazed beast, it charged at them the moment they came into sight. Once again, like he had been doing, Keane stepped forward and struck it across the jaw. The punch sent the beast spinning through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground. It tried to move a again, but after a solid kick to its chest, it was taken care of.

Keane looked down at it, with Rovan standing beside him, his expression tightened.

"Peak Mortal."

Keane looked at him. "Just how strong will the monsters deeper be?"