To remain human(corrected)

--- Pov Zoe--

"Haaaa Hestia, you should have specified that he had already been healed. I brought all these potions."

"It's not my fault! I was told he'd fought a minotaur, so I assumed the worst." -She said sullenly.

'sigh'

Sighing at the goddess in front of me, I could only look at the bandaged boy who was sitting at the bed as he was flanked by Hestia and Lili.

"I'm sorry I worried you." -He told me, bowing his head.

"Don't worry, the important thing is that you're okay." -I told him smiling.

The reason I wasn't with them was that I was taking the exam to get certified as an alchemist, which I passed with flying colors.

"How did the exam go." -Lili asked.

"Very well, I am now an F master alchemist." -I said showing them the card proudly.

"Ohh! "(x3)

Each alchemist had a classification, ranging from F to S and each classification had sub-classifications, which were beginner, competent, and master. These sub-divisions were useful to see the difference in the abilities of alchemists of the same grade.

'Next time I meet Al, I have to thank him again for all the information he taught me.'

I found it strange that someone who possessed such knowledge, would live in a small village, but everyone had their reasons and if living in the village made him happy, then it was fine for me.

"Fufufu, admire the Hestia Familia, with a promising alchemist and my Bell who reached level 2 in less than two months, a true talent." -She said standing up and placing her hands on her hips.

"You reached level 2?!" -I asked surprised.

"Well it seems that the fight with the minotaur helped me a lot to grow, and my goddess, Mark took less time than me to reach level 2." -Bell said.

"But you faced a minotaur."

"And he faced a level 3 monster."

"But you're Bell. So you don't have to worry." -Hestia said with a thumbs up.

<What is that supposed to mean> -I could hear his thinking, but I could already tell from the look on his face what he was thinking.

"Maybe it's time for me to level up too." -I thought out loud.

"EH?! Can you level up too?!" -Now it was Bell's turn to be surprised.

Thanks to my skill, I was able to face several monsters that were stronger than me, so I could level up.

"Didn't I tell you? Zoe put off her leveling up several times." -Explained Hestia.

"How come you don't level up?" -Lili asked curiously.

"Let's just say that I want to level up to my full capacity." -I said, gaining Hestia's approval.

With my ability to absorb the Falna inside the magic stones from the monsters I killed, it would be a shame if I leveled up while I still had a growth rate. With several searches and my mother's help, I had discovered a monster living on the 13th floor that was said to possess the highest level of magic among level 1 monsters.

'But getting to the 13th floor is problematic, maybe I can ask Ryuu. She told me that she sometimes descended into the dungeon. With her help, I should make it before the next Denatus.' -I thought cheerfully as I resumed talking to the others.

--- Pov general ---

'The temperature is changing again.' -Down the stairs leading to the 25th floor, the temperature was becoming much cooler.

The 25th floor was the start of the Lower Floors, and due to the amount of water that was present, most of the adventurers were wearing Undeine cloaks, which made sure that the water neither soaked them nor slowed their movements, a necessary equipment for the next area.

In addition, the group's formation had changed, Mark now found himself as support along with Alicia and Elfy. The reason behind this change was due to Cruz's words. Water City had a very uncomfortable terrain for combat, both because of the size and consistency of the ground, making it difficult for a person new to this area, to combat at full potential. Also, Mark's electric magic was effective against water monsters.

'noise of water.'

Upon reaching the 25th floor, the sound of water had become loud. Just outside the entrance, there was a huge lake covered by rock bridges, while various water paths flowed from the ceiling, it looked like a real sea cave. From their position, they could see a waterfall that could rival those of Niagara in both width and height.

'I can't see the bottom.'

Slightly leaning out, he could see the waterfall flowing towards a dark precipice, while the various splashes produced by the water created a fine mist, which diminished visibility.

"Try not to lean too far out, no one knows for sure the depth it reaches." -Tsubaki joked, overtaking him.

"Don't even mess with this thing, it looks like an abyss." -He quickly moved off the edge and joined the others.

As they walked, the group's atmosphere changed. If they were more relaxed before, now they were more focused, even Elfy didn't speak.

"Are you scared?" -Mark asked her, seeing her trembling.

"Let's just say that this area is not my favorite and the next and the next..." -As she spoke, she became more and more depressed.

Obviously, for a fire mage, this was an unfavorable zone, and being a level 3, the next zones would far exceed her strength.

"You, on the other hand, seem pretty calm." -She said. She had seen Mark show little change in his expression and wondered if he wasn't afraid.

"If I wasn't afraid of a place with so many difficulties, I would be crazy. I just try to use fear as a means of survival, without it overwhelming me." -Mark replied, carefully checking the various pools of water.

By now the corruption had diminished enough and he had resumed the feeling of fear, although he now saw it more objectively. If there were any good things about corruption, it was the improved processing of the brain and the understanding of feelings.

Losing a feeling and then getting it back allowed Mark to be able to understand it better, being able to deal with them more easily. It would be a lie if he wasn't afraid at the moment, the area he was walking in was dangerous even for level 4, and even if he was stronger than a level 2, he wasn't so cocky as to think he was unstoppable.

"Haaa... I wish I had an ounce of your confidence." -Elfy sighed.

"Mastering fear without the latter dominating you, interesting words." -Alicia said.

'Craa!' 'Craa!'

"Harpies! You three handle the ones in the air, the ones approaching are mine." -Cruz said, as he got into position with the spear.

Meanwhile, Elfy had already started chanting her magic, while Alicia shot her arrows towards the monsters.

"flashbang"

Casting his magic, some of the harpies were blinded and fell to the ground, being handled by Cruz, while the more distant ones were just annoyed by it and moved away.

The reason he used 'flashbang' was for an efficiency reason. Harpies moved very fast and hitting them was rather complicated, so it was more convenient to blind them.

Harpies were like those described in mythology, with the physique of a woman, their arms and legs replaced by the wings and legs of an eagle. You might think that some adventurers would have a hard time killing such human-like monsters, but when you looked into their eyes filled with anger and desire to kill, those feelings would quickly disappear.

'Craa!

Turning their gaze towards Mark, who was considered the most dangerous threat, the harpy quickly flapped their wings, flinging their razor-sharp feathers.

"Not good." -Seeing the shower of feathers coming towards him, he grabbed Elfy's collar and jumped back several times, managing to dodge most of them, but some had hit his legs, leaving some cuts on his armor.

'I have to thank Tsubaki .' -Thanks to the armor, the feathers hadn't hit his skin, but they had come close.

'If I had been caught off guard, with the speed they were traveling, I would have been hit harder.'

With that realization, he put down Elfy and threw 'flashbangs' again, at the monsters that had approached to perform their attack, finishing off the remaining monsters.

Seeing that no monsters were coming, Mark was able to relax again.

"Ouch." -Hearing a painful voice from Elfy, he turned around to see her with a harpy feather stuck in her shoulder, as blood flowed gently down her thin arm.

"It hurts, I'd better take it out now, hmf!"

Squeezing the feather, she ripped it from her shoulder, releasing a soft cry, then put a potion on the wound, closing it shortly after.

"Anyway, I was pretty unlucky. I have you to thank Mark, without you it would have been complicated.... Mark?" -Seeing that Mark wasn't answering, she called him again.

"O-Oh ok." -Mark was feeling quite complicated about the situation.

With the fact of the corruption, his humanity tended to diminish and because of that, he had made himself some moral lines he didn't want to exceed. One of them was: if he had a chance to save someone and it didn't cause him any problems he would do it.

He had already changed a lot, at the very least he wanted to meet Selene again as a human, not as a monster with no feelings.

Even so, he still believed she was criticizing him for not protecting her properly or something, he didn't expect a thank you. In his world, it wasn't strange to be judged by someone if you didn't protect them properly, even if it wasn't your responsibility.

[The host must understand that this is no longer his old world. Here people fight every day and develop a sense of sympathy towards the people who help them. So comparing them with people, who for the most part live in favorable conditions, makes no sense].

'You're not wrong, but you have to understand my point of view as well. I spent 25 years in that world and only two months in this one, so behaviors or habits that I found normal there, seem strange here and vice versa.' -Mark replied, starting to walk.

"As I suspected Mark, you are a good person." -Seeing Efly nod at her own words, Mark almost tripped over himself.