Mixed Blessing System

More than a day passed in the blink of an eye...

In the last few hours inside the labyrinth, Lothur and the demon had traversed three entire corridors, finally reaching the fourth corridor, where they were at the moment.

On their journey to this place, they encountered dead-end paths six times. On each of these occasions, one had to fight hard to get rid of his opponents, while the other suffered a little more.

The difficulty they had in each encounter with strange labyrinth beings was initially the same as that which Lothur had faced after merging those earth beings earlier. Still, the difficulty gradually increased with each level.

However, not on all of these occasions did Lothur encounter enemies protecting items of value. On three occasions, he and the demon only had to fight and suffer against opponents who had nothing of use to them.

On the other occasions when they defeated their opponents, Lothur got three items, two of them of quasi-Gold-grade and one of Silver-grade classification.

One of the quasi-Gold-grade items was a sword capable of creating spiritual blows compatible with the water element. The other of the same quality was a beast bone, which, according to the system, could be an ingredient to produce items with an affinity for the earth element.

Such a thing could be used for pill production, blacksmithing artifacts, or even formations.

Finally, the last item was a red crystal with something called fire essence.

Lothur had not used any of these items so far. He kept all of them in his spatial ring to understand how to use them later.

But still, he was pleased that he had gotten more items in this labyrinth.

The labyrinth was huge, and each level of it had several dead ends, where most of the problems, like the ones Lothur had already encountered in this place, were.

Attacks could also happen on the correct paths and on the way to dead ends. Because of this, many items from this labyrinth had not yet been collected, even considering how long it had existed and how many beings had passed through it.

But some dead ends had already been searched, as in the case of the three places where Lothur and the demon only fought without getting items as prizes.

And so, when it was morning over the Immortals Well, Lothur and the demon were sitting around a fire inside that labyrinth, in one of the corridors of the fourth level of the place.

This place strangely replicated the surface illumination but without vegetation or bodies of water to keep the temperature stable. Because of this, the temperature there had significantly varied in the last few hours, forcing Lothur to build a fire to warm his water that had frozen in the morning.

As he watched his metal bottle being heated by the fire in front of him, Lothur noted his improvements in the last 24 hours.

[Name: Lothur Ritter]

[Physique: what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger]

[Bloodline: Life Devourer]

[Cultivation: level 13]

[STR: 79.8 -> 88.3]

[CON: 303.7 -> 308.9]

[DEX: 74.7 -> 85.8]

[AGI: 87.9 -> 94.2]

[INT: 102.7]

[PER: 144.1]

[WIL: 102.1 ->103]

[EVF: 0]

'I have improved my strength significantly in the last day...' Lothur had a focused look on his face, not expressing his personal satisfaction but also showing that his situation was not bad.

'No wonder that eagle said I could be able to get home sooner if I could get in here!'

'Actually, the benefits of this place are so intense for 2nd stage cultivators that my speed will increase enough for me to return home in time!'

But while thinking about that, Lothur looked at the demon and checked its status, just so he could keep up to date on that creature's strengths.

[Unknown Monarch Demon]

[Cultivation: level 11]

[STR: 71.9 -> 73.1]

[CON: 86.6 -> 89.2]

[DEX: 73.5 -> 75.5]

[AGI: 77.9 -> 80]

[SOU: ???]

Lothur's eyes narrowed when he saw this. 'This creature has either found some way to get stronger or hasn't yet received the full benefits of having ingested the three medicines.'

'Whatever...'

'It's under control. As long as it does not exceed the limit of my abilities, I will let it continue to improve its strength.' Lothur drank the water that had finally melted, while that creature ate some banana peels.

'Damn it!'

'I can't feel the strength of that damned thing, but I fear his cultivation speed is greater than mine!' That blue being thought about it until it heard noises coming from the beginning of the corridor they had just finished a few minutes ago.

The two then looked in the direction of that corridor. They saw several beasts coming, with the yellow crocodile and the level 16 lizard leading the group.

"Oh? Have you gotten here already?" The crocodile asked loudly to Lothur, feeling that it would lose its bet with the lizard at its side.

"It looks like they'll be able to make it to the fifth corridor..." That creature looked at the yellow being beside it and made a strange expression that was supposed to be a smile.

"Uh? Will you want to fight again?" Lothur looked at those beings and asked.

The crocodile then said. "No, not today. We've done enough before, so let's leave it for the future."

"Same for me. You have already proven yourself to us, so we don't need to keep wasting time on this." The lizard said to Lothur, surprising this young man.

"Is that so? And what are you going to do now?"

"The same as you, I suppose. Challenge the next level of the labyrinth." The lizard said, curious to see if Lothur could reach the sixth level.

The fifth level was already within Lothur and the demon's reach, so that beast did not doubt that they would achieve that feat only conquered by Transcendent beasts.

"By the way, what took you so long? Haven't you come here before?" Lothur asked, not understanding why it would take such strong beings like them so long to reach him.

The crocodile answered him. "That's because this labyrinth is special. When you enter it once, even if you already know the right path, you are forced to follow the same path as your first attempt. But not only that, you must fight the same challenges as before, only on an even higher level."

The lizard added to its companion's line. "Because of this, in addition to having gone through as many difficulties as you have, we are forced not to get new resources until we can overcome our previous limits."

"Is that so?" Lothur was surprised to hear that. 'But come to think of it, that makes sense. After all, this place must have been built to train cultivators...'

On that account, it was almost impossible for a being who performed poorly their first time there to make it beyond the fifth level of the labyrinth!

"But the next level changes everything." The crocodile said. "In the fifth corridor, you have to face some scary beings capable of merging all the powers of those individuals you fought against in the first corridors."

"That changes everything in battles!"

Every being has its weaknesses. So by merging several strengths, it could become easier for an organism to hit a weak point of its opponent.

So that was the labyrinth level that even the strongest beasts in the area could not overcome!

...