Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power

Ember speaks up in the silence of the lobby, still crossing his arms and looking up at the arrogant purple-horned demon that just accepted his duel without knowing the terms.

"How about we go all or nothing? You put up all the planets you've come to sell..."

Ember's gaze shifts to the black-horned demon, then he holds up both of their escrow accounts.

"That means your planets too."

He flips the holograms around for the demons and all spectators to see:

[2914 5th Class Worlds] - [4371.0 Low Quality Ether Offer][1.5 Average Per World]

[821 4th Class Worlds] - [7389.0 Low Quality Ether Offer][9.0 Average Per World]

[49 3rd Class Worlds] - [0.0 Low Quality Ether Offer][0.0 Average Per World]

These are the offers made by the sales clerks earlier, already at market price. If purchased, the Ogre Conglomeration wouldn't even be making a profit. It would be a break-even deal to appease the demons.

"In exchange, I have the Ogre Conglomeration put up the Ether you've claimed your planets are worth. 5 Ether each for the 5th Class, 25 each for the 4th, and 200 each for the 3rd Class worlds... A total of..."

He pauses as he mentally calculates the price, and the room sees how absurd their price difference is.

"44,895 Low Quality Ether. That's a solid yearly quarter's worth of profits for this entire trade center. If you win our duel, this is the price we'll pay to purchase your worthless worlds."

He looks Myron in the eyes, pulling a third escrow status device from the sales clerk's counter and draining company funds on hand to fill it up to the desired amount.

"Is this the kind of duel you're willing to accept? We have plenty of open rooms on our top floor to have the match right now."

Myron laughs so loud that some of the nearby 3rd Class clients fall to their knees, and even a few 2nd Class Ogres become lightheaded at the scene playing out.

Randel and Syl come briskly walking over to stand behind Ember, and Syl whispers in his ear.

"We cannot protect you in a duel... and our company funds..."

All of the sales reps look even more nervous than the customers in the lobby, but Ember murmurs back with a confident undertone.

"You trust in Torvak, don't you? I was delegated to this position to bring you all out of the hole you're in. Don't worry. If I'm injured, you're not to blame."

Myron finally looks down and speaks back after his arrogant laughs have finished.

"Deal. Let's head up to the duel rooms right now. You stupid human, now I can shatter that avatar of yours with no repercussions from the overseer, and profit while doing so. You decided this fate for yourself."

–

His laughs continue all the way up to the top floor, and crowds of people hear it echoing through the levels.

Many customers nervously spread the word, some even leaving the shopping center, which only makes more people interested all over the Volterra District.

"A human challenged a demon to a duel..."

"They're betting with the Ogre Conglomeration's funds!"

"A 5th Class dares to step foot in this district?"

"It's real, at the trade palace!"

"It's an open market; their duels are visible to the public."

"Do you think this is related to the Citadel Lord's duel against the Blue Ogre leader last week?"

"No... it's probably just a delusional human that ascended and believes they're an invincible god."

"Who cares, this is going to be a good one to watch!"

These whispers spread like wildfire all over the shopping district, prompting hundreds of thousands of interested Lords to gather, packing the building.

Security has to begin limiting the number of Lords allowed on the top floor by the time the two demons, Ember, and four Red Ogres stand in front of one of the dueling rooms Ember passed by when he first entered the building.

The two sales workers from the bottom floor hold the worlds and Ether, typing on a control panel at the front of the dueling room.

Ember stands between his bodyguards while the two demons stare down at them.

Myron can't help but continue laughing and spewing insults, while his more logical counterpart quietly assesses the situation.

Over ten thousand spectators are watching them on this massive floor alone, and hundreds of thousands await the duel's live feed to update on the lower floors so they can see what's going on.

As it is, none of this makes any sense; and despite Myron's lack of critical thinking, he is more adept in every way than this small, feeble human before him.

Ember speaks up again in a confident voice directed at Myron, but Leonard inwardly flinches at the possible implications.

"Shall we set some ground rules? Fighting a basic avatar like mine with your Premium skin would be unfair, don't you think?"

Myron smirks and looks down, crossing his arms to mimic Ember's stance.

"What? You trying to back out now? We already have half the district watching. Are you saying the Ogre Conglomeration hires managers who go back on their word once the stakes are high?"

He laughs, while Leonard lets out a sigh, beginning to believe he might just be overly cautious.

Ember shakes his head and smirks back.

"No, of course not. If anything, this shows that even the 1st Class Vermillion Demons are willing to pick on 5th Class basic avatar prey because that's all they're good for. Even their Noble Citadel Lord picks on the 2nd and 1st Class Lords below him. Surely the other four Great Families don't stoop this low to build their fortunes..."

He pauses while the crowd gasps at his words but continues as Myron begins to boil with rage.

"Then again, you're right. I'm just a human. I couldn't have been there when your family was established in this Realm. You must have all fought with nobility and pride back then, and now you just pick on the weak for fun. That must be it."

Myron erupts with a demonic presence filled with white wisps of Ether.

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"Do not drag our family name with false allegations just because you want to save your own life and company's fortune!"

Ember shrugs, even as 2nd Class Lords fall to their knees around them, and replies while the demon gets close to his face.

"I never said I wanted to drop out of the duel. I just believe we should fight on more equal footing. It would be a proper duel and prove to all watching that you're not just picking on a weak human with a lower-grade avatar."

There are loud dings that echo through the room as the sales workers link the escrow accounts to the dueling room, showing the pool of thousands of worlds and Ether floating together. All that's left is for the two competitors to scan their status in and choose the duel settings.

Ember points to the large holographic censor in front of the 50-meter-tall dueling room doors.

"Let's forget about our physical forms. We can just buy new avatars if they're crushed. Reaction speed and physical power are all a matter of how much you can purchase. A true Lord's strength is shown through their mind, right?"

Both demons' eyes widen as they realize what this human is proposing.

Myron replies, "You want to do a mental pressure duel? No avatar damage allowed? Just when I thought a human couldn't become any dumber... You—"

He laughs so loudly, the room feels like it's shaking as he walks over to the scanning panel and continues, "Deal. Bring it on. Easiest Ether I'll ever make, and you'll be lucky if you can recover from this in your entire measly lifetime!"

The doors open with another ding as Myron selects his challenge details and walks through.

Not another word is said in the entire room as Ember walks in after him, standing still while the scanner ripples through him with an intense green divine light. Questions ring in his ears that he mentally answers to confirm all his challenge settings match what his opponent has chosen.

Another loud chime echoes through the room as Ember walks forward into the open doors.

"Duel Initiated. Full Palace Visual Access Available," echoes through the shopping center's systems, and a crystal-clear holographic display of the massive white room the two stand in is now transmitted to the center of every floor of the building.

Duels are initiated here a few times a day, usually to settle small price disputes. The option to open up the spectator view is available on every floor, but it usually doesn't draw such a crowd.

Avatars in the Upper Realm are costly, but for wealthy Lords, especially those who spend their time in world trade centers like this one, even a Premium Avatar could be just a fraction of the cost of an entire trade deal.

They only cost a few dozen Low Quality Ether. Even some 3rd Class Lords can afford Premium Avatars if they work for a few decades, or drain enough of their home planet's resources.

So, a battle to the death over a few hundred Ether is common; after the duel, any damage dealt can be fixed by purchasing another Premium Avatar.

However, mental duels are a taboo that have aged out of style long ago. It is known that this is just a cruel way to torture a weaker opponent and might as well be akin to fighting in the Lower Realm with such crude tactics.

Unlike physical avatar replacements, one can't simply replace a mind that is bound to a soul.

–

Ember stands at the back of his side of the room, still keeping his arms crossed and looking up at the demon about 200 meters away while it speaks to the crowd watching them.

"This is what you get when you go against the Vermillion Family. This human challenged us on behalf of the Ogre Conglomeration. I've been gracious enough to offer an avatar duel, but he insists on a battle of the mind. Misinformation is not tolerated, and the stupidity of humans will be shown again today. Please, everyone, enjoy the show."

While all the Lords piling into the shopping center would love to see their oppressors get crushed, they know that won't happen. It is clear as day that the odds are well-stacked against this human. Even the distribution of prizes floating above the hologram is clearly unbalanced.

Everyone can sift through the planets up for bid and see that anything of value has already been drained from these worlds.

It's clear this is a public humiliation, just to rub it in the district's face after their Blue Ogre leader was beaten badly last week.

Yet, no one can look away.

The red-haired human watches the demon with indifferent eyes, withstanding its pressure while it rants and flings insults his way.

A system's voice rings through the competitors' ears, audible to the entire World Trading Center as well.

[60-Second Duel - Unlimited Rounds - Mental Battle]

"Round 1 will begin in 10... 9... 8..."

The room erupts into even more conversation, and the demon continues yelling insults, ignoring the human below him and speaking directly to the crowd.

"You will all witness what life will be like under our new rule. All of you lower lifeforms believe you're special... outliers in our society of Lords... you are merely inferior beings. Just a single digit number of demons is powerful enough to control billions on this Citadel!"

It laughs louder as Ember stares forward with a bored look, and the counter keeps dropping.

Outside the dueling area's doors, Leonard stares at the hologram with a clenched jaw but an outwardly indifferent expression.

All his logical senses tell him this will be a blowout. There's no way this human can win. This is just another day in the life—gaining resources and controlling the masses. There is still a fraction of doubt that lingers in his mind, but Myron is a battle hungry 1st Class Demon. His mental resilience can even stand up against Noble Demons for a few minutes in practice spars.

No matter how strong this human's trump card may be, it won't matter.

Even the sales workers know this much Ether lost will be a big hit to their company branch. An even bigger hit will be psychological once the public sees their defiance against the Citadel Lords' men.

All the workers are sweating, trying to keep the public from going too crazy. The two taking it the worst stand less than 20 meters away from Leonard.

Randel and Syl both look so pale, they're almost pink.

Despite Ember's words about trusting in Torvak's choices, they can't bear to watch the client they've been tasked to protect be mentally tortured in front of their entire company. It will surely damage their reputation as bodyguards, but challenging the demons to stop this is out of the realm of possibilities.

"3... 2... 1... 0..."

At the end of the countdown, the entire shopping center goes quiet, waiting to see how fast this human will fall on his face with a mutilated mind.

"Round 1 of the Duel Now Begins. You have 60 seconds..."

This is all the system says before Myron lets out a murderous roar, taking the opportunity to show off by unsealing his 1st Class Bloodline and growing his avatar to over 100 meters in height.

His eyes burst with white light, and all the stored Ether within his body begins to ripple out in waves.

Any physical use of mana, demonic energy, qi, or even divine threads are physical forces that can damage an avatar.

Pure Ether, however, can be limited by using the Avatar's system to only target a user's mind and soul. The first to give up or become unable to select "Yes" to move on to the next round will be declared the loser.

Waves of Ether blast through the room, their physical manifestations displayed holographically so the crowds can visualize what is happening before them.

Ember doesn't move. Arms crossed, breathing steady, and eyes locked on the massive demon, he takes the attack head-on.

From the depths of his mind, he summons Ether that has been lying stagnant, unused for millennia, and not even properly filtered to be used in this body and era of reincarnation.

Even so, just trace amounts are more than enough to open storage portals, heal incurable wounds, and brace for mental attacks in the Lower Realm that shouldn't be possible to block. Some latent essence is summoned to shield his conscious mind from the barrage of pure filtered Upper Realm Ether attacking his psyche.

The dense, warm pressure covers his mind and holds his soul tight, while his indifferent expression to the outside world causes the crowds to break their silence and begin erupting with cheers and yells throughout the entire shopping center.

After just a few seconds, the fact that the human's eyes haven't glossed over or his avatar fallen to the floor infuriates the demon even more.

"Not possible! This must be a rigged dueling room!"

It yells and continues letting out immense amounts of mental pressure, while Leonard watches the hologram show the building pressure inside Ember's head, visualizing for the outside world how much force he is withstanding.

Once the pressure readings shift from defense to offense, Leonard's eyes widen further as he realizes his intuition was correct all along. He shouts words, "Forfeit! Leave the duel now!" but they go unheard within the chamber. By the time it's too late, the pressure within Ember erupts in a single, focused beam.

The instant it collides with the unsealed demon's forehead, it's as if his mind is placed on pause.

A mental flash of blinding white light and overwhelming ringing washes over his conscious mind.

There isn't even time to react or brace for impact.

The demon's mind simply stops processing thoughts, and its avatar falls backward, slamming rigidly against the back wall of the dueling room before tumbling to the floor.

As visuals of the demon's aura of mental pressure cease, and Ember's attack proves far too fast for many to track, Ember still doesn't budge.

He watches the demon fall to the floor while the timer for the round continues to count down.