Name: Jacob Cloud

Class: Infernal Architect (Platinum) – Lv. 9

Core Skills:

Hell's Sword – Lv. 100 (Gold – Offensive)

Fire Slash – Lv. 100 (Silver – Offensive)

Fire Shield – Lv. 100 (Silver – Defensive)

Fire Armor – Lv. 100 (Silver – Defensive)

Fire Walk – Lv. 100 (Silver – Movement)

Veins of Fire – Lv. 82 (Gold – Support)

The Grimoire Extraordinaire (Rainbow – Support)

Class Skills:

Furnace Core (Passive) – Lv. 7

Flameform Blueprint (Active) – Lv. 4

Infernal Thread (Passive) – Lv. 7

Ember Keystone (Active) – Lv. 1

Architect's Insight (Passive) – Lv. 1

Hellspire (Active) – Lv. 1

Ignition Array (Active) – Lv. 1

Attributes:

Strength (STR): 36

Dexterity (DEX): 51

Endurance (END): 39

Vitality (VIT): 42

Intelligence (INT): 63

Spirit (SPI): 66

Wisdom (WIS): 55

Charisma (CHA): 18

Luck (LCK): 10

Other Skills:

Iron Grip Lv. 100 (Iron)

Minor Endurance Lv. 100 (Iron)

Minor Night Vision Lv. 32 (Iron)

Minor Vibration Sense Lv. 100 (Iron)

Minor Cookery Lv. 34 (Iron)

Minor Strength Lv. 100 (Bronze)

Light Lv. 67 (Bronze)

Pickaxe Mastery Lv. 81 (Bronze)

Minor Mineral Sense Lv. 72 (Bronze)

Mana Pool Lv. 94 (Silver)

The reason I'm staring at my status is because, by chance, I just got a very interesting loot when I deactivated the trap array. Once I severed the lines between the cores, I excavated them from the glass with Hell's Sword, using it as a pick to destroy the glass that was encasing them.

And, amazingly enough, the floor at the very center of the room bubbled up a Skill Crystal.

Now, I was very well aware of the possibility of finding something useful for myself, but the fact that the very first drop I get is something I could immediately use… that wasn't very likely.

Not that I'm complaining, I think to myself.

I examine the Skill Crystal again with the Grimoire.

Echo Pulse (Bronze – Sensory Skill)

Echo Pulse will substitute Minor Vibration Sense if you absorb it!

Sends a mana pulse through the environment, revealing all physical structures, moving creatures, active traps, and hidden objects within range. The pulse returns a real-time "live map" of your immediate surroundings for a short time. Resolution and detail scale with Skill Level.

Pulse Range: 1 m

Mana Cost: 40 MP

Active Duration: 2 s

Mapping Speed: 1 pulse/sec

I once again get the offer to accept the Skill.

Would you like to absorb Echo Pulse?

This is not just any Bronze Skill Crystal, this is a direct evolution to Minor Vibration Sense. The fact that it can replace Minor Vibration Sense should be seen as a massive plus, too! When someone brings a Skill to level one hundred, the next step is to try and evolve it. Usually, nobles are content to have a Skill at level eighty before acquiring the next step in its evolution line.

The reason why basically no one brings a Skill to level one hundred is that the last twenty levels are a much higher mountain to climb than any of the levels coming before! But, the reason nobles acquire Iron or Bronze Skills to level up in the first place is that when you get the next in its evolution line, you can get massive advantages and upgrades to its base stats!

But this is not the only reason I'm so excited. I could have found Vibration Sense, the most common evolution of Minor Vibration Sense, at pretty much any market. It's a rather common Skill for miners to have, too, despite the fact that it's a Bronze Skill. The reason for its cheap price, among other things, is that it's extremely hard to master. Without the Grimoire, I would have probably never leveled it beyond level forty in its Iron form in my entire lifetime.

"Yes, absorb!"

The crystal slowly merges into my hand.

You have absorbed Echo Pulse.

Echo Pulse (Bronze – Sensory Skill)

I absorb the crystal. Immediately, the Skill floods my senses. As I activate it, a web of faint vibrations fans out from my feet and fingertips, mapping the chamber in blinding clarity.

Echo Pulse has replaced Minor Vibration Sense.

Echo Pulse has absorbed Minor Vibration Sense.

[Echo Pulse – Bronze Rank – Lv. 1]

Sensory Skill – Evolution of Minor Vibration Sense

Pulse Range: 1 m → 4 m

Mana Cost: 40 MP → 26 MP

Active Duration: 2 s → 4 s

Resolution: Low → High

Mapping Speed: 1 pulse/sec → 2 pulses/sec

Passive Sensitivity: None → Detects faint vibrations even without active use

Special Effect: When fused from a maxed Minor Vibration Sense, the Skill passively filters ambient noise and focuses only on potential threats, giving real-time overlays of moving hazards, hidden objects, or changing trap states.

Stolen novel; please report.

Grimoire Extraordinaire Addendum:

Echo Pulse, when used in conjunction with Architect's Insight, automatically highlights all flaw zones and stress fractures in both natural and artificial structures within its range.

The moment the crystal melts into my palm, I feel the difference. The pulse isn't a trickle of feedback through my soles anymore. It's a full-body wave—mana rolls out from my feet, my hands, even my chest, and the world explodes into structure. Every crack in the glass, every shifting flake of dust, every hidden seam lights up like a constellation map behind my eyes.

This is insane. I could sweep this entire floor's traps blindfolded if I spent enough Mana—at least if every trap room was like this one.

Whatever, it's time to move forward. This was just the beginning.

* * *

The safe corridor ends in a yawning doorway. Runes the size of my torso crawl along the arch, flickering from blue to violet with every pulse of mana leaking from the walls. This is the main progression—the direct route, not a side room.

I try to scan for danger the way I used to—with my ears, with Minor Vibration Sense, even with plain old instinct. It's not enough. The noise is overwhelming, too many crossed signals, every tile here ready to turn me into slag.

Time to see if Echo Pulse is worth the hype.

I grip my palm and pour mana through the new Skill, letting the wave roll outward.

The world snaps into clarity for four meters.

A web of hard-edged detail fills my mind—every crack in the floor, every hidden vein, every charged circuit—like I'm staring through the ground itself. For those four meters around me, I can see the traps and their power lines, perfect and sharp.

It's great.

But it's not enough.

The room is huge. Most of the array lies beyond my reach, and the deadliest signals hum just outside the edge of my vision. I can map the nearest threats, pick out the first circuits and cracks, but I can't trace the whole array, and I can't see how the trap's going to react when I move.

[Grimoire Extraordinaire: Glass Crucible Laser Array]

Flaw summary:

Seven primary pulse lines feed the central disk. Overload or sever two simultaneously, and the whole array dumps its mana harmlessly into the walls.

Three stabilizer pillars in the corners act as relays. If you shatter the right one, the backup circuit will try to compensate—that's when the main flaw opens up.

The floor's left edge, where two veins cross, is a false safe zone. Step there and every trap fires at once.

So, the Grimoire's telling me what to hit, but my senses can't pinpoint which relay is weakest. My Echo Pulse is good, but the resolution drops on anything more than four meters away. If I just guess, I'll blow myself up.

good. But it's not enough.

Before I can complain, the Grimoire hits me with a list:

[Echo Pulse – Bronze Rank – Lv. 1]

Top Three Flaws (by signal weakness):

Pulse Decay Loop – Mana flow loses cohesion halfway through expansion, causing the scan to drop off hard beyond four meters.

Suggested fix: Route mana through the Median Sole Veins, not the outer foot. Compress the initial pulse tighter before release. That should boost range and reduce signal loss.

Ghost Feedback – Residual mana lingers after each pulse, cluttering the map with echoes from old objects and false positives.

Suggested fix: Finish the cast with a sharp contraction through the Lower Tibia Channel. This will flush excess mana and clean up the overlay.

Overlapping Interference – The pulse frequency is too broad. Signals from strong enchantments bleed together, masking the real flaws and danger zones.

Suggested fix: Breathe out fully before activation and channel a portion of mana through the Heart Veins as a stabilizer. This will tune the frequency narrower and help isolate real threats from ambient noise.

I follow the instructions, shifting my stance, squeezing the mana into my Median Sole Veins and timing the cast with a full exhale. I finish with a snap through my lower tibia, like slamming a door.

Echo Pulse – Level 1 → Level 13

[Echo Pulse – Bronze Rank – Lv. 13]

Sensory Skill – Evolution of Minor Vibration Sense

Pulse Range: 4 m → 8 m

Mana Cost: 26 MP → 24 MP

Active Duration: 4 s → 5 s

Mapping Speed: 2 pulses/sec → 3 pulses/sec

The next Echo Pulse fires out harder—snaps to eight meters. The map sharpens. The echoes fade. I can finally see the shape of one quarter of the room, not just the fragments near my boots.

A clean overlay appears—primary trap circuits, structural flaws, mana lines all burning in high relief.

I grin.

"Alright," I mutter. "One level at the time. Now, let's fix the other flaws…"

* * *

Three hours had passed since Jacob Cloud—better known to most as the former Bocaj Duolc, the criminal protected by Sir Renquell in person during his execution—had entered the Smoldering Glass Crucible. The projection of the Dungeon Map, suspended overhead, still cycled in slow pulses of blue and red.

The crowd, at first packed wall to wall with gamblers and voyeurs, had thinned to a loose gathering of regulars and a few diehards clinging to the hope of a sudden grisly death.

Guildmaster Dorn, who started the morning perched like a hawk beneath the halo, now leaned back against the nearest pillar, boredom seeping into his face. His voice, sharp at the beginning, had faded to a dry mutter as the novelty wore off.

"What the hell is that rat waiting for?" he muttered to himself, glancing at the slow-moving green dot on the projection above. "He got lucky clearing that first room. Nobody in their right mind lingers that long unless they're pissing themselves. Probably stepped on a trap, lost his nerve, and is praying for a way out."

The last crowd of gamblers had trickled away twenty minutes ago, grumbling about odds and wasted time.

Sir Greyson and Felisia remained at a table near the side wall, trays of cold food and half-finished drinks between them. Felisia tapped her cup, jaw tight with nerves, while Greyson kept one eye on the map and the other on Dorn.

A single junior scribe swept the betting slips from a side table, yawning as he did. A pair of older adventurers traded stories, one eye on the Dungeon Map in case a fatality finally flashed across the display.

Dorn straightened, stretching out his back. "Clerk!" he barked, waving at the scribe. "Go fetch me something to eat, will you? If I'm going to watch a no-name rat fumble in a deathtrap, I'll do it with a full stomach."

The clerk started to nod, but his head snapped up when a shout rang from the other side of the hall.

"It's moving!"

Every head still in the Guild turned toward the Dungeon Map.

Dorn grinned, sudden animation returning to his features. "Finally," he drawled, striding back beneath the halo. "The boy either found his courage or just triggered a trap. My money's on the latter."

Three adventurers crowded together near the stairs, their voices rising in a chorus of casual malice.

"There we go," the first one said, flicking a silver coin in his palm. "About time he got what's coming to him. What's the over-under on vaporization?"

"Please, if he's lucky, it'll be fast," the second added, snorting. "Big trap room like that? A guy with a hundred levels on his shoulders could get a mortal wound there. The brat'll be lucky if they find bones."

The third, a heavyset man with a bandaged hand, smirked.

"Maybe he's just looking for the safest corner to cry in. Should've brought a change of pants instead of a sword."

Dorn chuckled, loud enough for the hall to hear. "You boys know the fastest clear ever recorded for that trap room? Half an hour. Platinum Knight, burned the circuits down in thirty minutes, sweating like a pig. That's the record. Everyone else takes longer or loses a limb."

He jabbed a finger at the map as the green dot started crawling again, the red room flickering with activated runes.

"Jacob Cloud cleared the first red chamber by luck," Dorn announced, voice raised for effect. "No way he pulls it off again. He'll die in there—just wait. Any minute now, the whole room will light up. Even if he's half as clever as his fan club claims, it'll end the same way for him as it does for every other Bronze upstart. He fluked the first one, but this is where he folds."

Felisia didn't move from her seat, but her fingers dug into her sleeves. Sir Greyson arched an eyebrow, stone-faced.

Two minutes ticked by. The green dot shifted. The room dimmed—the traps had been deactivated.

The map pulsed blue, then went still.

​​A hush fell. Even the clerk stopped sweeping.

Dorn's face froze mid-smirk. "No. That's—no. There's no way. That room's been untouched since the last Guild sweep. He must've found a bypass. Or the array shorted."

One of the adventurers snickered.

"Bypassed my ass. Maybe the traps ran out of juice."

The heavyset adventurer frowned.

"Those arrays draw from the Crucible's main core. No way. They could roast half the city if they let loose."

The scribe by the table cleared his throat.

"Sir, he's… moving into the second main room, another trap room."

Guildmaster Dorn straightens.

"How is he not dead yet?" the man mutters under his breath.

Felisia watches the halo, lips pressed thin. Sir Greyson doesn't bother with his tea now. He sits forward, knuckles white on the table.

A few of the diehards drift closer, suddenly interested again.

Dorn glances at the map as the green dot edges into the second trap room, another detour loaded with red markers.

"Give it a moment and he'll die. There's no way he clears this one by luck too. This one is more powerful—more dangerous."

Someone in the back scoffs. "Maybe he's got a rabbit's foot up his ass."

The scribe swallows, eyes flicking between the map and Dorn. "He's stopped. Looks like he's… doing something at the north wall."

Dorn waves it off. "If he's checking for secret doors, he'll set off the array twice as fast. Those panels haven't been triggered since before I joined the Guild."

Half a minute crawls by. On the projection, rune clusters start to flash—first yellow, then red, then white-hot as mana surges in the circuits.

"He's done," Dorn declares, already smug again. "That's the entire wall array activating. We'll see smoke in a second—"

But the next instant, the lights on the halo flicker, and all the red markers snuff out in sequence. The room dims.

Silence. Someone drops a cup in the back and nobody even curses.

Sir Greyson exhales. Felisia just stares, her nails biting into her arm.

One of the adventurers mutters, "That shouldn't be possible."

But even Dorn can't hide his nerves now.

"Alright, fine, he survived two rooms. Next is a monster chamber." He forces a grin and addresses the few left in the hall. "The glass golems in there killed a Silver guy last year. Bet he doesn't last ten seconds…"

However, this time, not even Guildmaster Dorn sounded that convinced.

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