10 Chapter 10

(A/N: Slightly bigger chapter than usual today)

I woke up early as was now a part of my normal daily routine. I was happy to be back in a comfortable bed, but I mourned for my wallet. Nevertheless, I rose out of bed and used Clean Wash before getting changed into my clothes and armor. After that, I ate a meager breakfast and quickly exited the house, ready to go deep into the dungeon with the aid of my new Spatial Storage Art. I realized that I may be a bit cocky right now and unprepared, but I figured it would be okay to throw caution to the wind just this once.

I quickly strode along the streets I had taken previously to get to the guild so that I could start to memorize the streets to reach the dungeon more efficiently. I had my old worn sword strapped proudly to my waist and my armor was freshly cleaned due to my clothes evidently being included in Clean Wash's effects. I tested it right before leaving the house and was more than happy with the results. As I walked I contentedly looked around at the city and people around me, finding myself more and more pleased with my transmigration every day.

The novelty of being dropped into a world where the literal gods walk among humans hadn't worn off yet. Same with the medieval-ish buildings and styles I saw on display all around me. There being other races beyond just human beings was also intriguing, though I was more or less adjusted to the presence of demi-humans by now due to Naaza being one herself. Pallums, Elves, Dark Elves, and Dwarfs to name a few still were largely foreign to me due to me not socializing much.

Eventually, I stopped in front of the gate that led down to the entrance to the dungeon without even realizing it and prepared myself to enter. I quickly looked up to the sky which still had traces of the early rays of dawn on it and smiled. I was ready for a full day of fighting and hopefully improvement in front of me. With that done I descended the many steps down to the first floor of the dungeon. Instead of walking into a side passage, I decided that I would follow the wide path down toward the lower upper floors to fight some stronger monsters.

I encounter very few goblins and kobolds due to the high traffic in this specific area on the first floor. Any monster I did encounter fell quickly under my blade. I continued to train only my swordsmanship and not use my skills or Arts to try and become a master, or at least a passable swordsman sooner. Also, I don't want to just rely only on my Skill and Art spam and let my physical abilities develop as well. I will try to balance pure physical combat with my Arts and Skills so that I can have a good base for my future growth.

I decided that I would also work to max out my stats before each level-up. I have a feeling that with all my gifts it will be extremely hard to get through the levels sooner rather than later. By the time I reach level 6 or 7, I fear that there may not be a challenge in this world great enough to push me to the next level, but that is a bridge that I'll have to cross when I get there. For now, though I will just grind out money and stats to improve myself, then probably start working on summoning magic.

I walked through the first few levels of the dungeon until I reached the eighth floor. I stood at the entrance to the largest room I had seen so far in the dungeon. The room was bathed in the soft green light that shone from the walls and ceiling. The body of a dismembered War Shadow lay at my feet. I wiped a bit of sweat from my brow as I briefly caught my breath before entering the room. There was definitely a noticeable increase in the strength of the monsters the further down you go. The time between monster spawns was also decreasing the more I ventured down and it was becoming slightly difficult to keep up with only my swordsmanship.

I reached down and ripped the stone from the monster's corpse and dropped it into my Spatial Storage as I began to walk into the room. Before I could take many steps I stopped and listened intently. As I strained my senses I thought I could hear the sound of metal clashing against metal from up ahead. At first, I thought it was just another group ahead of me fighting some monsters, but some instinct inside me told me that it wasn't. That sound wasn't exactly like that of the other groups I had passed who were fighting monsters.

I hesitated and wondered if I should just turn back now or continue on. In the end, it was curiosity that won me over and compelled me to keep walking. I kept low and tried to keep myself as inconspicuous as possible as I approached I was able to plainly hear the sounds of a battle between two human parties. I peeked around a boulder I was hidden behind and watched the conclusion of the battle.

A man and a woman stood above the fallen figures of another party clearly worn out and tired after their battle. Six corpses lay scattered in various stages of ripped apart around the two as the final, seventh member of the opposite part lay gasping on the floor, missing a leg. It was a man in cheap armor, clinging on to an obviously brand-new sword. I was too far away to hear the conversation, but it ended with the woman putting a spear into the downed man's neck. The woman's body seemed to glow slightly as she delivered the final blow, but I was unable to tell due to the lighting.

Her companion then reached down and grabbed the sword. As he did so I inspected the duo. It was clear that they had just fought a 2 v 7 and won. That meant they were probably level 2s minimum. I wasn't 100% sure what happened, but it definitely looked like they wiped out a party of level 1s just to get that new sword. I tried to stealthily get the hell out of there, but the man whipped his head around just as I was exposed when moving from cover to cover.

He called out to the woman and charged at me instantly. I swore quietly to myself as I backed up and drew my sword, preparing silently for the onslaught. The woman also began to charge, backing up the man as he quickly approached, his newly acquired sword gleaming in the low light. I knew that in order to survive this battle against two level 2s, even if they are tired, I will have to go all out.

So as the man got within striking range and readied a blow that would split my head in two I launched a fireball at point-blank range. I could see the shock in his eyes as he tried to dodge, but failed. He probably assumed that I would be easy pickings since I am clearly only a level 1. The fireball exploded on contact, engulfing the man. As I was about to strike with another Art a fist cloaked in fire sped out of the mass of flames, impacting my chest. I felt my ribs shatter from the blow as I was launched back.

It seemed that the punch was all the man had left in him because he began to scream as he hurridly tried to put out the flames. He fell to the ground and began to rapidly roll all while his screams echoed off the walls of the room. I didn't have any more time to watch the fate of the man as a knife embedded itself into my side. I released a scream of my own as I turned just in time to roll out of the way of the woman's downward strike.

As the woman landed above me I raised my hand, another fireball igniting above my palm, except the woman moved faster than me, releasing her spear and pulling out a knife. I looked out dumbly at the stump where my hand used to be and screamed. I barely felt it as the woman quickly stabbed me three times in quick succession in my chest, neck, and stomach before stabbing me one last time in the eye. I fell back to the ground, unable to breathe through the pain, staring up at the woman with one eye who smiled cruelly down at me and licked my blood off her knife.

My shock quickly gave way to rage, deep-seated rage that I had never felt before in my life nor knew I was even capable of feeling. I felt cheated, this was supposed to be my adventure, and these people aren't even real. They exist for my entertainment and they DARE TO RAISE THEIR HANDS AGAINST ME, I CAN'T DIE, THIS IS MY WORLD. My entire body felt like it had lava flowing through its veins and arteries. I released a breath that superheated the air around me, but I was barely hanging onto consciousness as new waves of rage washed over me.

I couldn't feel pain anymore as I rose, causing the woman to turn in surprise, but this time she was too late to react. A fireball filled with everything I had left roared to life in my hand. This fireball was easily double the size of my previous one. The air seemed to warp and scream as the fireball sped toward the woman. Despite being caught flat-footed by me getting up she was more ready when facing the fireball, but that didn't mean she was able to completely avoid it.

Her flesh seared as she managed to dodge the majority of the fireball, but one of her arms was caught by the outermost layer of the fireball, causing the limb to blacken. The woman clutched her arm and screamed as she fell to a knee, cradling her now useless arm. As she did so I roared and used Haki, slamming the entirety of my aura into her. She buckled slightly under the pressure, but it didn't stop her from throwing a knife.

The knife whistled through the air and struck the neck of the downed man who had managed to survive the fireball. His eyes widened briefly as he died by his own partner's hands. As he died the woman's body glowed slightly and I could see that some of her burns faded. It wasn't enough to heal her arm, but the damage now seemed to be contained and bothering her less. After that she rose quickly, swinging her spear with superhuman speed, smashing part of the shaft into me. I was sent skidding on the floor once more as I felt more bones break, but I was unable to feel the pain of the blow.

She held the spear in one good hand as she performed a series of stabs and slashes, still deadly despite her wounds. I used my sword to match her blows until one attack managed to slip past my defense. I saw the victorious smile emerge on her face as she went in for the kill, only to get blocked by my Magic Aura Shield. As her spear was frozen, stuck against my shield I wrapped my sword in massive amounts of Aura before slashing forward. The woman let go of her spear and leaped backward, but my attack wasn't limited only to the reach of my sword.

A deadly crescent of energy ripped from my blade and hit the woman square in the back. She cried out as the attack landed and she smashed into the ground. She tried to rise and draw another knife, but my blade pierced through her back, embedding itself in one of her lungs. She wheezed wetly as blood soaked her lips, turning her head to look at me. I took no chances and smashed her head into the rough stone floor of the dungeon over and over again until nothing was left but a bloody pulp. Even then I made sure to stab her dozens of times over before my rage was slightly abated.

I sighed when I retrieved my sword from the woman's corpse as I finally came down from the rage and adrenalin of the battle. I didn't take any of the loot from the battle due to the possibility of it being traced back to me and focused only on dragging myself out of the dungeon. I did notice the new power in my steps and the fact that my eye and other wounds had recovered somewhat at an unknown time during the battle.

Looking at my status and found a new skill there, but was unable to bring myself to feel any emotion other than exhaustion.

Unique Skill: Death Defiant

- Sword Master

- Increased Physical Attack

- Ultraspeed Regeneration

- All Attributes Resistance

- Pain Nullification

- Sixth Sense

- - - (Chapter End) - - -

A/N: I have changed my mind about the love interest. I will let you all vote on it.

1. Ais

2. Airmid (Healer in Dian Cecht Familia)

3. Cassandra (Apollo Familia formerly and in Miach's Familia currently in cannon)