18 Into The middle Floors.
I grabbed a lot of supplies and some good gear that Hephie gave me. She wanted to give me first-class ones. I had to talk her out of it. I would rather get wrecked with weaker equipment at the beginning. Getting carried by a good sword or armor is not something I want.
Potions are where I spent a lot of money. There were all sorts of ones, ranging from mind potions to simple stamina potions.
I thought it would be fitting as payment to get some lessons about alchemy and potion mixing from the god Miach if I give him some monster drops that were needed.
He thought otherwise. He said he will be giving me some lessons for free because I bought so much already. As a way to thank me. Much to his Familia member's frustration.
I have never seen someone turn away free money, for no reason that is.
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My descent to the 18th floor was a quick one. It was admittedly an efficient strategy for farming Excelia. But, they didn't give me that challenge they used to give me before.
On my way down, I met a couple of adventuring parties. Some of them recognised me from my activities with Tsubaki, some of them not.
I could feel a portion of them size me up, but it went away the moment they would glance at my insignia.
I reached Rivira when the crystals that simulated the outside world were dim. They now looked more like stars in the night sky. It was a very beautiful sight.
Rivira was indeed a haven for both monsters and humans. Alas, sometimes the biggest monsters are humans. While you are protected from monsters, the crime rate is something to note here. All sorts of illegal transactions are passed here, even as far as human trafficking.
The prices are utterly ridiculous, I have to thank my inventory for being able to stock up. The only way you can relax here is if you are a part of a party. Strength in numbers and all that.
Night or day makes no difference in the dungeon. It's always dark and humid.
The exit out of the 18th floor was so simple you could almost miss it. It simply leads to the 19th floor with no fanfare whatsoever.
The 19th floor was so different from what I used to. The walls, the ceiling, the alleyways. Everything was made out of wood, giving the feeling that everything was inside a huge tree.
'I guess it is called The Large Tree Labyrinth for a reason.'
Everything seemed mystical, there was radiating moss everywhere giving off blue light. Further increasing the otherworldly effect.
It would have been a shot perfect picture. If not for the monster I could see was running at me.
It was a large bear monster with some bug features. It even had Mosquito eyes. I remember reading about it in the guild encyclopedia. It was supposed to be about the same as the minotaur, except it was more agile.
[BugBear-Lvl2]
HP: 600
MP: -
The monster names are too simple at times. They do their jobs though, I guess that's something.
The monster's nails were absurdly long. While that gave it a lot more reach, it sacrificed maneuverability in exchange.
Unfortunately for it. And fortunately for me, it was not smart enough to work around that drawback.
A dodge and swing at its head were all it took.
Four BugBears spawned from the wooden dungeon walls, which was a weird thing to see for sure.
I opted to dispatch them as soon as possible. The moment I saw them form I started blasting them with some steam explosions which were enough to melt them off. With the drawback of shattering the magic stones alongside them.
The explosion sounds produced attracted more monsters, this time bugbears were not the only visitors.
There was a huge boar with some radiating dragonflies around it acting as some sort of minions. I could also see a couple of bearhugs in the near distance.
It was a pretty intimidating picture.
[BattleBoar-Lvl3]
HP:800
MP: -
The monster acting as the boss was a massive two-meter tall boar, it followed the theme of the tree labyrinth monsters so far. It had insect features as well mixed in.
[Gun Libellula-Lvl2]
HP: 300
MP: 150
True to their name, the dragonflies started shooting acid projectiles at me the moment they decided to 'aggro' on me. I couldn't help but return the gesture.
Except mine were wind balls that would disrupt them and they would be crushed under its pressure. The bats on the higher floors were so annoying, that I had to devise a strategy just for them.
It seemed to work just fine on the dragonflies as well.
The BattleBoar was the first level3 monster I faced. True to its surface counterpart, the tenancy it had was its strongest point. It was something all dungeon monsters had to some degree. They had no survival instinct on them.
Yet the BattleBoar took it to a different level.
It wasn't exactly a tough fight. I always had breathing room during it. I essentially dealt with it using just swordsmanship.
The two bugbears joined in at some point. And with the severely injured boar, it wasn't too hard dealing with the two of them as well.
There were a couple more skirmishes on the 19th floor, but there were on the same level as the previous one. Although, I noticed how the monster encounter rate was significantly more than I was used to.
It took me a sizable amount of time to find the exit to the 20th floor. The floor sizes were starting to add up, and they would only get bigger from now on.
There was no real change in esthetic between the 19th and the 20th floor. They were rocking the same Jurassic era jungle theme.
Just a few moments after my entry. I could see some classic Lizardman forming from the dungeon walls on my two sides.
'Was this just on purpose? Or was it just a coincidence they formed just as I came in?' I thought.
All in all. There were about eight of them on me.
[Lizardman-Lvl2]
HP:400
MP: -
They were humanoid lizard monsters with red scales. They spawned already carrying some sort of flower-shaped items that were used as either a make-shift club or a shield.
Their techniques were lousy at best, but they were indeed the first weapon-carrying monsters I came across.
Ironically, that only made it easier for me to kill them. It was child's play compared to my swordsmanship.
That made their openings even more apparent to me. The results were naturally a one-sided massacre.
The 20th was infested to the brim by the same Lizardman monsters.
They had the worst affinity so far with me I felt. I even went out of my way to find them and slaughter them for excelia, alongside whatever monster was with them.
I was having a good time. It seems Lady Luck decided to smile upon me because I got a decent amount of drops from them.
---------------------
[Status]:
Akagi Ken
Level:2
HP: 700--->740
MP: 390--->440
STR: 52---->58
VIT: 50---->52
DEX: 54---->56
WIS: 54---->59
Unallocated Stat points: 107
Valis: ~6mil
-Strength: C652--->S940
-Endurance: D540--->C680
-Dexterity: B704--->A850
-Agility: B704--->A850
-Magic: B742--->S980
Skills: Gamers Mind - Gamers Body - Instinct - Mind's Eye (True) - Mage.
Magic : Ele magic - Non-Ele magic - Inventory.
[One-Handed-Sword Mastery: Lvl72--->74.]
[Elemental Magic: Lvl69-->70.]
[No-Ele-Magic: Lvl42--->44]
If you feel like supporting, or reading up to 10chs ahead: patr3on.com/MunirSM
