Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 251

Chapter 251

During his exploration of the fourth floor, Jake occasionally came across various weapons stashed away in chests. He never bothered to pick them up, though, as his natural weapons were much more powerful.

Some of the weapons he stumbled upon had indented slots for gemstones. Over his time in the dungeon, he had gathered a diverse collection of gemstones, stashing them all away in his Inventory. He had never inserted them into the weapons he found, as he saw no point in doing so.

However, he had a feeling he might find a more interesting use for them later, so he kept all the gemstones he found in his Inventory. Now came the moment to put some of those gemstones to use.

It was not the use he had hoped to find for them, though. He knew that once he inserted a gemstone into a weapon, it would be impossible to remove. Fortunately, he only needed four weapons, leaving him with plenty of gemstones for future use, whatever that might be.

One by one, he retrieved four different weapons: a mace, a battleaxe, a shortsword, and a hammer. The mace had a ruby-shaped slot, the battleaxe had a topaz-shaped one, the shortsword had a slot for an amber, and the hammer had one for a sapphire. Jake retrieved the necessary gemstones from his Inventory and inserted them into the weapons’ slots.

Now, the mace could deal Fire damage, the battleaxe delivered Frost damage, the shortsword unleashed Explosive damage, and the hammer produced Shock damage. As for Acid, since he had the Acidic Spit ability at his disposal, he didn’t need to insert a gemstone that granted this type of damage into another weapon.

Grabbing the enhanced weapons, Jake made his way back to the temple. Upon entering and crossing the anteroom, he found himself in the main chamber. He immediately noticed that the symbol he had previously activated on the arch of the portal had faded. As he had suspected, the puzzle was time-sensitive, meaning he had to kill the five ash imps, who were still circling the chamber, within a certain time frame.

For the next several minutes, Jake was busy slaying the ash imps using various types of elemental damage. Unfortunately, while his weapons could deal elemental damage, they didn’t do so with every strike. Each weapon had a certain chance of inflicting elemental damage, and since the ash imps were quite weak, often dying from the first or second hit, this task dragged on longer than expected.

He would snag an ash imp with his grappling hook while grabbing one of the four weapons with his other hand. Then, he would rush toward a magical symbol representing the corresponding elemental damage. He would strike the creature repeatedly with the weapon until he either dealt elemental damage or the creature succumbed to regular damage. If the latter occurred, a rift gate would open in the air, allowing a new ash imp to emerge.

It was quite a tiresome task, but eventually, he managed to kill each ash imp with elemental damage, activating five arcane symbols on the arch. The portal’s shimmering surface filled the inside of the structure. The puzzle was solved, so no more ash imps materialized. The fourth floor was now fully complete, and the way to the final one lay open before him.

However, before entering the portal to be teleported to the final level, where a dungeon boss awaited his arrival, he needed to do one last thing. After evolving into Stage 3, Jake had leveled up several times but hadn’t allocated the earned skill points yet. It was time to do it.

He had leveled up six times from 112 to 118, earning a total of 30 skill points. Checking his stats, he noticed that many of his skills and abilities had reached 100% and were ready to evolve into the next ranks. 

Claws: Rank III (100%)

Swords: Rank III (100%)

Bladed Tentacles: Rank III (100%)

Smashfists: Rank III (100%)

Gravity Leap: Rank II (100%)

Acidic Spit: Rank II (100%)

Spikes: Rank I (100%)

Serpentine Form: Rank I (100%)

Enhanced Senses: Rank III (100%)

Enhanced Agility: Rank III (100%)

Enhanced Intelligence: Rank III (100%)

Enhanced Reflexes: Rank III (100%)

Enhanced Strength: Rank III (100%)

Enhanced Regeneration: Rank III (100%)

Feral Instincts: Rank III (100%)

Enhanced Durability: Rank III (100%)

Adaptive Armor: Rank I (100%)

Chainsaw Arms: Rank I (100%)

Drill Gauntlets: Rank I (100%)

Grappling Hook Arm: Rank I (100%)

He allocated a skill point to each of these skills and abilities, advancing them to the next ranks. Since Chainsaw Arms, Drill Gauntlets, and Grappling Hook Arm reached Rank II, new upgrades were unlocked for each. He checked them out.

Chainsaw Arms: Rank II (0%) (Upgrades: 1 of 5) (Epic)

1. Quick Charge: Already Owned
2. Longer Reach: Extends the reach of your chainsaw blades. Cost: 1 SP

Drill Gauntlets: Rank II (0%) (Upgrades: 1 of 5) (Epic)

1. Enhanced Reach: Already Owned
2. Quick Charge: Decreases the time needed to morph your hands into drills. Cost: 1 SP

Grappling Hook Arm: Rank II (0%) (Upgrades: 1 of 5) (Epic)

1. Extended Range: Already Owned
2. Quick Charge: Decreases the time needed to morph your arm into a grappling hook. Cost: 1 SP

He spent three more skill points to purchase these upgrades and allocated the rest of his skill points to his attributes.

Body: 140 → 141

Mind: 130 → 131

Magick: 175 → 180

He approached the portal. As soon as he got closer, a system message appeared in his mind. 

Congratulations on finishing the four floors! All that remains is the fight with the dungeon boss on the fifth, arena-like floor. The fight will be the hardest challenge you’ve dealt with so far. Once you enter the portal to the final floor, the only way out of the dungeon will be by defeating the boss. If you are not feeling up to it, you can leave the dungeon now, keeping all the rewards you’ve earned so far, including those for completing this floor. What would you like to do? 

[Proceed] [Leave Dungeon]

Jake was aware that after finishing a floor, he could choose to leave the dungeon while keeping all the rewards he had earned up to that point. However, the thought of leaving the dungeon without fully completing it never occurred to him, as he was determined to collect every reward the dungeon had to offer.

It was the very first time the dungeon explicitly asked him if he wanted to leave. This clearly indicated that the fight with the final boss would be extremely difficult. He wasn’t going to back down, though. 

Choosing the proceeding option, he stepped into the portal. A review of his recent achievements flashed through his mind.

>>> Completion Status <<<

Time Taken: 12 hours 39 minutes

Enemies Killed: 100%

Mini-Bosses Defeated: 1 out of 1

Floor Completion Rate: 100%

Reward for Completing the Fourth Floor: Rotary Blade Launcher (An Epic Ability)

Choose Your Reward for 100% Completion:

1. 500,000 XP
2. 150,000 MP
3. 200,000 EP

He gained another Epic ability called Rotary Blade Launcher. However, he wasn’t sure if he would have the opportunity to purchase the ability during the boss fight. He figured he would likely have to wait until after leaving the dungeon to check it out.

He also recalled that all the rewards for the previous floors were Epic abilities. For completing the final floor, however, he would be rewarded with a Legendary ability, which filled him with excitement. 

After finishing reviewing the information, Jake opted to take the EP reward once more. Immediately afterward, he was teleported to the final floor of the dungeon, where the boss fight awaited him.