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  "Holy sh*t." Seeing the messages from the system, Adam involuntarily said.

  The skill aside, Just the reward of the bonus stat points gave him 20 levels worth of stats. Then there was the bonus exp. Although he didn't really use many manipulation skills, at least for now, it was still an amazing bonus.

  'I should probably put it to use and not let it go to waste. Then there's the new skill. With this it should help me be a close quarter's combat type. But what's this Legacy thing?'

  'More censored stuff. Seems Legacies are quite the powerful stuff to have,the bonus stats are way out of the league of normal perks. Too bad mine is a magic and trickery based one. I have no idea how to use a mage properly in games, much less now in real life. I'll have to find some way to use my mana for close combat. It's a larger value than SP after all, It should have some use. Now let's see what this stuff is.'Adam said.

  Taking up the old book, he Observed it.

  " Whoaaaaa!" Super surprised, Adam exclaimed involuntarily.

  Holding up the book, he studied it well.

  'How does it work?, do I just open it ?

  Seeing the notification, Adam looked curiously at the message. Raising his hand, he pressed the 'Yes' button.

  Looking in astonishment, Adam watched as the book started to disintegrate into particles and flying into his body. Suddenly, a flood of information seemed to be implanted into his head. Methods of circulating and releasing mana started being understood in his mind. After a while, the tide receded, and he felt his head clear up. Shaking his head to clear away the momentary dizziness, Adam checked his status, verifying it's presence on his skill tab.

  'This is awesome. Skills can be acquired with Books?, I better read some books and see if I can gain anything.' Adam said.

  'Ok then, let's find this dungeon crystal and go home.'

  Confirming all his gains, Adam stood up, collected the loot, then set off to try to find a way out. Practicing casting mana shield as a way to make use of his MP and train the usable skill at the same time, Adam searched. Not knowing what he was looking for, and without any prompts from the system, not that he hadn't asked it, it proved to be an exercise in futility, as the forest was simply too big for him to hope to find it.

  'How the h*ll am I gonna find this thing? wait, I feel like I might've made a mistake. I asked the system the exact location of the crystal, but I should've asked something more general instead.'

  Thinking this, Adam then rephrased his question. He then asked.

  "Where is the dungeon crystal usually located in a dungeon."

  'Yup, that was the problem. I should ask general questions like this more often. Now, how do I find the center?'

  With no knowledge of forest navigation, Adam was still stuck. Even with the possible location of the dungeon crystal now known,he still had no way of getting to it as he was currently lost.

  'Wait, I'm complicating things too much. If I wanna find the source, why don't I just follow the breadcrumbs?' Getting an Idea, Adam went back into hiding again, turning off mana shield to prevent any noises. Sneaking through the forest, his blue eyes wandered back and forth. Finally, he spotted what he was looking for. A group of goblins were wandering around, warily searching around, as if afraid some huge monster was going to pounce and devour them all, although that wouldn't be too far from the truth.

  Stalking the group for a while, he slowly discovered the perimeter they were moving around. Not one to leave any easy exp. behind, Adam engaged them. With powerful skills in his arsenal, he employed them all in disposing off the group, no longer interested in combat training. Retracing their steps after killing them all quietly, He went deeper in the circle. After a while, he found another group, also patrolling. Using the same method as before, he entered even deeper, gradually getting used to signs of their presence and more capable of finding them, his experience also ticking up, albeit very very little, gaining only half of the usual for killing a goblin.After a while...

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  'Well these seem quite useful.' Adam thought, watching the skill immediately begin to gain experience as he continued to track the trail of the goblins and taking them out as quietly as possible. With the boss and the strongest minion dead, he didn't fear anything as he got closer and closer to the center of the dungeon, a cold and focused gaze in his eyes as feet silently stalked through the forest, his stealth, movement technique and tracking skills increasing in level quickly, followed by his combat skills which he already had some proficiency in also increasing little by little. There was no other thought in his mind, only freedom, freedom from this hellish and almost fatal event.

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  After a few hours of this constant stalking and killing, he saw the messages informing him of skill level ups, a Level Up message, and a message he'd not seen before.

  "A title huh? I was wondering when that would show up." Adam said, no trace of emotion, his face devoid of all emotion.

  After mechanically killing so many monsters, he had watched that brief moment between it's life and it disappearing into smoke. The pain and despair on their faces as death slowly laid it's icy hand on them, the cries of grief and loss he heard from their comrades, as well as the fear on their faces as he had turned to them to continue the slaughter, he had slowly become numb to it all emotion, distancing himself from his actions in a bid to cope with these mixed feelings he'd have. Putting only the thought of going home in his mind, he forced himself to continue, knowing not doing this could lead to trouble if he was later ambushed because he left some roaming around due to pity or hesitation. Trusting [The Gamer's Mind] to keep him focused and mentally healthy, he had thrown all morals aside for now, looking at it all as just a game, and continued to kill and kill, eventually leveling up, and gaining this title.

  'They don't really look like they give much benefits, so I won't really focus on getting them for now. Now, I should be close to the center. Most of the monster's I've face have been rare types, that must mean the mana here is a lot more concentrated to sustain them. I can go home soon.' Adam thought.

  Carrying on, he continued to track and approach the center. Finally, after a few more engagements with monsters, he had reached the center. Passing through really dense vegetation and trees which were quite a bit bigger than what he'd seen when he'd first entered the dungeon, he came to a clearing.In it's center, was a large crystal embedded in the center of a large tree, shining with a light blue radiance. With large roots piercing into the earth, faint blue lines pulsing occasionally could be seen on leading from the roots to the crystal. Looking quite holy, Adam however felt a very sinister aura from it.

  'This must be the dungeon crystal. If I smash it I'll finally be able to go home.' Looking closely at the crystal, he Observed it to verify his suspicions.

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  The core of a Dungeon, which steals the mana from the **** and supplies it to everything inside the dungeon. It has no attacking capabilities, and relies solely on the Boss of the dungeon to defend it.

  Destroying the crystal will lead to the dungeons collapse.

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  With a determined look on his face, Adam thought as he approached it . As he got closer and closer, he could feel a sort of panic and rejection from the crystal; It seemed to start flashing faster and faster, somehow calling for aid. Looking at all this unconcernedly, he came closer as he said..

  "If you're looking for someone to help you, you're not gonna find any. I killed most of the monsters in here, and the ones I didn't manage to kill are only alive because they're too far away. It's just me and you here."

  Reaching the crystal and clenching his fist as he readied his combat skills, he spoke again.

  " Although, If I think about it, I should really thank you. Even though this dungeon tried to kill me with everything it's got, it ended up helping me quite a lot. I've grown quite a bit in just this one day I've been here, and it's not really something I could have gained just by staying in some park and swinging my fists. So, allow me to thank you for this unforgettable experience you've given me, and use the teachings I've learned in here against you. In this place, it's eat or be eaten, and I'm the one who's gonna have the last bite."

  Showing a sadistic smile; the first emotion he'd shown in hours, he threw back his hand, gathering every bit of strength he had, and punched with all his might.

  All his combat skills activated, his fist struck true with a fearsome might, crashing hard into the crystal with a loud noise. However, it seems that it was not enough, as only a few small cracks were seen, and the destruction that he had envisioned had not occurred. However, this seemed to excite him more, as the smile on his face deepened, craziness flashing through his eyes before coolness took over again.

  "Yeah, I didn't think it would be that easy. However, what has been easy in this place? I've suffered for so long just for this moment, and I'm going to enjoy it. I'm gonna beat you until you break into f**king pieces you piece of sh*t."

  Continuing to ram his fists against the crystal, Adam spoke out these words. Appearing to have found an outlet, he unleashed all the pain and mental stress he'd suffered in this dungeon. Hitting it again and again, he used up over 80 % of his SP. Not caring, he stopped utilizing skills, and continued pounding on it, lost in the satisfaction of destroying his adversary that had trapped him in this hell, with almost certain chance of death had he not struggled with all his might, with his bare hands. Finally, he saw the cracks spread to the whole crystal, and the light weaken a lot. Gathering up the last of his SP, he activated his combat skills again for the last time, and striking at the crystal with all the strength he had fought with his life to gain, exhaustion flooding him. Appearing to have reached it's limit, the crystal could not bear the powerful attack, and with a loud shattering noise, broke into pieces, releasing a wave of mana.

  Not expecting this, the surprised Adam was hit by this wave and blown back, landing on his back hard and losing some HP in the process. Not seeming to care however, the smile remained still on his fact, not sadistic this time, but peaceful, satisfied.

  " I... I did it." He muttered

  " I did it. I can go home. I can see my mum again. I can be free."

  Filled with so many emotions and somehow impossibly cool-headed, the young adult Adam was finally free of this nightmare.

  Closing his eyes after seeing this message, Adam waited calmly with a peaceful expression on his face, as a light slowly enveloped him, and then, he vanished

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  Inside an alleyway, 8 o'clock in the evening.

  8 hours after Adam had mysteriously vanished inside the dungeon, causing the gang members chasing him to lose him and later leave, he appeared again. Seemingly popping into existence in the alley, he continued to lie down as his SP slowly recovered. As he looked into the night sky, which seemed so beautiful despite the lack of stars decorating it, Adam said..

  "I'm .... home."

  And so, the dungeon was cleared, and the ordeal passed.