The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 3 - Chapter 33 - The System's Secrets Grow

                                                                                        Wolf

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                                                        Item | Uthrok’s Armaments | Tier 5

This item is not attainable outside of the mini boss chest of the mini boss: Uthrok.

Uthrok’s Armaments belonged to the Desert Champion mini boss known as Uthrok. These armaments are always coated in a volatile, acid-like sand that can corrode anything below Tier 5. They give a low physical and magical resistance, along with a 10% increase in the wearer’s physical and magical resistance.

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I got the mini boss’s Tier 5 drop? That’s not bad.

Although it’s of no use to me as is, since my current armaments are a lot better.

Suddenly, another menu appears in front of my face; one that the audience can’t see due to it being a private status menu.

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System Favor: Uthrok was once a great figure within the Salascion Empire in the distant galaxy known as The Blue. The galaxy itself was initiated into the System about seven centuries ago, and the empire was focused on the sand-covered world known as Salas.

At one point, due to a major tragedy on the planet that wiped out the empire, Uthrok was killed and then later resurrected as an undead, only to be killed again.

Since then, the System has made a copy of him from his time as an unintelligent undead and placed him as a mini boss for the forty-first floor of the 84th Administrator Dungeon Run.

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Wait… what?

The mini boss was a copy of a real person?

I stare at the menu for a few seconds before it vanishes along with the first menu and a smaller version of the armaments the champion was wearing appears above the chest.

Ignoring the armaments for a moment, I lower my head to look at the ground as I contemplate the information that the System just gave me. Or to be more specific, the revelation that came along with the information.

Does that mean that all of the named monsters within the dungeon are just copies of people – or monsters – from outside of the dungeon? Or does it just do this for some of the named monsters?

And if it does copy them, does the System only copy them from dead people, or could it copy a living person as well, and place the copy into the dungeon as a monster?

Not to mention, how the hell does the System copy a person and place the copy inside of the dungeon in the first place?!

It’s like it’s just copy and pasting people!

I rub my eyes with a sigh.

Just what is the System anyways…?

Several seconds pass by with the only noise being that of the still-roaring audience before I begin to feel a slight pulling sensation. When I open my eyes again to look in the direction that the sensation is trying to bring me, I find the guardian staring directly at me before looking at the armaments floating above the chest.

Oh, yeah.

I turn to the chest and place the armaments into my inventory before immediately feeling the sensation strengthen as I begin to float through the air out of the arena pit.

Surprisingly, the guardian floats me directly through the guarded tunnel towards the door before gently placing me down right in front of the door.

I guess the exit is probably beyond this door then…

After sending a quick glance towards the two guardians standing at the entrance to the tunnel, I reach out and open the door, revealing a large room. The room itself looks like some sort of common room, with a bar, a bartender, and several tables made out of sandstone scattered throughout the room. Meanwhile, at the other end of the room where a backdoor would normally be, is a floor exit.

Although what makes the room really bizarre is the fact that all of the patrons are desert gladiators, and that isn’t even considering the damned bartender…

                                                <-=|> System Bartender | Level 1000 <|=->

What the hell?

Why is there an overpowered bartender?

The bartender looks up towards me from his place behind the bar, pausing his cleaning of the glass in his hand as he gives me a nod before going back to cleaning the glass again. He has a simple black tuxedo, like what someone back on Earth would wear to a casino, with two purplish black horns growing out of his head, and pitch black eyes.

I gape at the bartender before shaking my head.

It’s probably for the best that I don’t question it.

A bell suddenly rings from the counter before the bartender looks up at one of the various monsters in the room and points at the door behind me. The gladiator just nods its head and, puts down the drink it was having, and begins walking towards the arena.

Okay, I have no idea what’s going on anymore.

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                                                                               Arcadian Live

Mikaela chuckles at the sight currently displayed on the forerunner screen.

Wolf stares blankly at the bar for several seconds with his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide before he shakes his head again and begins to walk through the room towards the door, ignoring all of the monsters and the bar itself.

“It’s always great to see the Competitors’ reactions to the floors like this one,” Mikaela says, still chuckling as laughter runs throughout the audience.

Niklai – who had stopped paying attention to his own screen, just like many of the other commentators did the moment Wolf entered the bar – watches Wolf’s screen with a grin and says, “The System certainly has a flare for the dramatics.”

The joke causes another round of laughter to spread throughout the stadium.

Meanwhile, Wolf can be seen reaching towards the exit on the screen before touching it and vanishing in a flash of green light that draws the attention of all of the monsters within the room. Soon afterwards, the screen shifts to show Wolf appearing in the entrance hall of a slightly different-looking arena. The arena has the same general structure, with a slightly different material being used to make it. Instead of the normal, orangish brown sand compacted into the sandstone making up the structure, it is a reddish-orange sand, giving the arena a darker and bloodier look to it than the last one.

The laughter finally begins to slow to a crawl as Wolf approaches the two System Guardians at the entrance to the bleachers.

Just like with the last floor, as soon as Wolf steps close enough to the guardians, they both begin slamming their staffs against the floor and walls before a large menu appears in between them, with only a few small changes since the last floor.

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                                                                    Welcome to the Arena!

If you break any of the following rules, the guardians will be forced to deal with you:

1. Do not attack any members of the arena audiences, whether they be monsters or Competitors

2. Speak with a guardian to sign up for a challenge

3. Wait for your turn, and you will be placed into the arena for your challenges

Competitors are allowed to leave the arenas but be warned that the monsters outside of the arena are all incredibly powerful.

There are teleporters that lead from one arena to another, and to unlock access to them, one must complete the default arena challenge.

To unlock the exit to the next floor, a Competitor must complete the two-star ranked challenge in one of the arenas.

The teleporter behind you will send you to the arena hub, where you will be able to go to any specific arena that you have cleared the default challenge of before.

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“Interesting,” Mikaela says, rubbing the slight stubble on his chin with his brows furrowed in interest, “if my guess is correct, then each floor will likely have a more difficult star ranked challenge than the last. Either that, or the Competitors will have to clear multiple star ranked challenges to unlock the exit.”

Naeris Shobalar – the dark elf commentator currently commentating Adriana’s screen – turns his head to look at the host and asks with a frown, “Do you mean that they might have to fight every star ranked challenge from the previous floors to reach the new one on each floor?”

The dark elf has dark purple eyes, pure black hair, and sharply pointed ears, with a black and white robe on over his thin frame.

“It’s possible,” Mikaela says, still rubbing his chin, “but I think it’s more likely that it will use the past challenges without the mini boss of the floor.”

The frown fades from Naeris’s face as he nods towards Mikaela and returns his focus to the elven Competitor’s screen.

Meanwhile, Mikaela’s brows continue to furrow as he watches Wolf as he looks off to the side with an unfocused gaze, as if he were reading a menu despite the menu that’s visible to the audience being in between the two guardians.

‘Could he have that skill…? Or is he just messing with his status?” Mikaela thinks to himself, not mentioning his suspicions out loud.

At the same time, a frown begins to grow on Wolf’s face.

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