[CH200+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

Chapter 308

Even with such increased power, the question that still runs through my mind is how are they going to handle absorbing these Soulstones? The temporary MP absorption buff potions come to mind, but even with a few hundred percent increase for just a handful of minutes, I'm not positive that'll be enough to pull it off...

It's not so much the MP itself I'm concerned about; it's the possibilities of unknowns that rub me the wrong way.

Pondering these thoughts, we make our way home to find Arie and Fisher waiting for us.

They're both standing with arms crossed and confident looks on their faces as we approach. The blue-haired swordsman is the first to speak up.

"You were right. Two guards came wandering into the Black Market's dead zone trying to tell their boss something."

He chuckles.

"We took care of them."

I pause, wondering if they killed those two...

It wouldn't be the worst option, but they never really did anything to harm us, so they don't deserve it as much as our direct captors. I shrug, but Arie interjects, rolling his eyes before we step onto the porch and walk inside.

"By 'took care of them', he means we stripped them of any identifying items, knocked them out, tied them up, and locked them in a cell down below the market. The same as they did to us. When we manage to take out their boss, maybe we'll think about questioning them further. Neither of them saw our faces, so no harm done. Mission accomplished."

I nod, a little relieved that my teammates aren't as ruthless as I had imagined, but more interested in the really important topic at hand.

We all sit around the living room as I pull out the briefcase from the auction.

"This is what I managed to buy."

With two clicks, the containment field begins to buzz in our ears and the crimson gems light up the room with a red tint. Everyone stares in awe for a moment before Chester speaks.

"Now, I believe I heard your earlier conversation correctly. You said all of you managed to absorb essence stones?"

There's a round of nods from each of us. I step back from the open case and motion for him to continue on, he knows much more than me about the stones, so it's better for him to explain.

"Well, these are Soulstones. They're quite different, but share similar properties to the items you've successfully consumed before."

Everyone gets closer to the gems, eyeballing them from close range, and Fisher even goes in to touch one. Chester urges him to stop.

"On physical contact, the process will start so be careful. Unlike consumable gems, Soulstones are a bit more volatile. Just like the Essence you all absorbed, once the process has started, it can't be stopped. You either successfully absorb the Soul Energy along with its absurd amount of mana keeping it contained, or you will give up early and only take in a fraction of the mana while losing the benefits of a soul bond taking place."

My eyebrows raise at his last statement. I've only heard of a soul bond one other time in my life; it was when I was making a pact with Ember.

However, I don't interrupt and let Chester continue.

"I'll take it most of you don't have the Appraisal skill, so I'll explain its strength and properties in full... This is a 7-piece Red Hydra Soulstone collection. Each Fragment has roughly 50 million MP, that's hundreds of times greater than the average Essence stone. If successfully bonded, each of you will receive the Red Hydra's Rage buff."

There's a long pause.

"I for one have never seen an item of this class on the market. Anything over B+ is hardly sold; it's usually kept by the hunters that farm it. However, I have seen similar lower-grade Soulstones with buffs attached. This will be of a similar nature to your ranked-up abilities. A permanent buff on your status, available to use like a skill at any time you wish. The stronger the monster's soul, the stronger the buff it gives. The stronger the buff, the harder it is to bond."

The pause continues as everyone stares down at the stones and rethinks Chester's explanation along with his implied warning. These are unknown powers with unknown buffs. Even with Abby's Restoration skill in mind, the overflowing Red Aura from the containment field still makes this seem like a gamble.

My words cut through the silence after almost half a minute goes by.

"I'll go first. I'll absorb the first stone."

____________________________

Author's Note:

If you're enjoying Dungeon Diver and want to follow Jay on his journey 20+ chapters ahead of schedule, check out the Patreon link in my profile bio.

There's custom chapter art for every new daily upload too!

Thanks for reading:)

____________________________