[CH598+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

I float over to the High Orc Tower and open up the ceiling unannounced.

The only head in the room that turns my way while I'm editing the ether commands to make an opening in the tower is Ember, but as I float down on the opposite side of the long dark room and close the ceiling, everyone else in the room turns to notice me as well.

Ava is the next to make eye contact with me, as her instincts pull her gaze my way, along with a much deeper link between us—she is my general, after all.

My eyes focus on her as well, quickly analyzing the new Avatar she's wearing.

It certainly accentuates her mature Goblin Queen physique with much greater clarity.

There isn't a hint of artificial suppression left, and I can see the perfect tethering of her ether pools lining her eyes as well as the countless green divine threads flowing from the True Core in her chest.

It's like the basic-grade avatar she had on before only showed a pixelated and limited view of her true potential and soul. Now, it's as though I'm viewing a high-definition model that moves with far more fluidity and purpose.

The small cracks that showed while she was training her ether sense, and most recently when I saw it during her rank-up from a hobgoblin, are a drop in the bucket compared to the potency of clear power and potential.

My gaze sweeps across the room to see Asic and Torvak, as their avatars are upgraded significantly as well. They have the same unsuppressed divine thread count and free-flowing ether about them. However, when my eyes fall back on Ava, she has a strange glow about her that I can't exactly put my finger on.

It feels like my third seal, which is holding back the more advanced parts of my ether senses, is limiting my ability to see what this is.

She speaks up as I touch down on the floor.

"Jay... you're back... and in your normal form..."

Asic blinks a few times, and Torvak is visibly surprised as well. Neither of them has seen me like this before, but my small human form isn't what leaves them in such a state.

I can tell they're extremely thrown off by the fact that I just snuck up on them like a ghost. Not only did I fool the Citadel's sensors, but even the senses of these two ancient First-Class Lords.

The feelings of Rukor, the Demonic Servant, flash back in my mind, as maybe the fact that I gave off no radiation or presence at all was enough to scare him like that.

So, in response to these stares, less than a tenth of a second later, I alter my energy output.

A small amount of ether, light mana control, and a normal level of green divine threads begin giving off the radiation that a basic-grade avatar would.

The fact that I'm faking this makes the two Warlords' eyes widen even more, but I just smile and calmly respond to Ava's remark.

"Indeed. I need to keep myself suppressed for the time being... You, on the other hand, have experienced quite the upgrade."

My pupils dilate as I continue to examine the intricacies of her Avatar as best I can in my current state, soon turning back to the two Warlords that made it.

"Good work."

My gaze then moves past them and to the Berserker near the back wall of the room, who is lying down in a transparent pod with his eyes closed.

He appears to be in a peaceful sleep, but I can feel another strange aura, just like Ava's, that I cannot fully analyze. However, this one does not feel sweet and inviting—it is filled with rage and danger.