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/Growl.../
Silver stood face to face with the Infant Dragon. The looming beast prowled in the fog, approaching without fear.
Silver took a combat stance, not undermining its power.
'... I'm still not there yet to overpower it.' He thought as he waited for it to move
'If I were to say where my strength stands, then I'm not even at the entry stage for a Level 2 adventurer. The boost from a Rank Up is simply that significant.'
'I can only barely cope with these creatures if I use all my Plasmids in conjunction with my martial arts. However, it is true that some of my "Stats" are probably higher… Maybe everything else aside from my Strength and Agility?'
'I can outrun it if I put in the effort…'
He glanced back faintly, 'But right now, I don't know where my companions are.'
He focused on the creature again, its powerful breath clearing the fog away.
'What a terrible moment for you to arrive. Or rather, the perfect time?'
Clenching his fists, Silver channeled his magic around his body, 'Limited or not, it doesn't make much of a difference.'
"ROAR!"
The Infant Dragon began its charge, and Silver wound up his right fist.
The air seemed to grow still as the fog fell around his arm… before he stepped forward.
"He told me to train my light… you'll be my first test subject." He mumbled as a smile crept up his lips
Magic twisted and turned inside his veins, his muscles moved and locked, like springs waiting to be released.
Cold air swirled around him, like steam rushing out of a chimney, cold wind flew through the gaps of his gauntlet, pushing the fog behind him away.
"ROAAAR!"
The Infant Dragon jumped, its maw wide open as it threatened to swallow him!
/Shaaa!!/
From afar, the wind seemed to gush outward, screaming in his direction… but alas, it was already too late.
Like a dark rocket taking flight, Silver stepped forward again, releasing the trapped energy within his body. He punched upward, cleaving through the fog and right into the beast's lower jaw!
/BOOM!/
"!!!"
From above, Ais saw a terrific scene… no, that wasn't the right word.
The fog dispersed in a moment as a powerful gust of wind pushed everything aside at its center, revealing the silvery forest of dead trees and white grass underneath.
Above, she witnessed with her own wind revolving around her body, the scene that reflected after.
A spire of ice burst from the ground, cleaving the ground and reaching high into the ceiling, connecting the ground with the "skies".
Inside the pillar stood the mangled corpse of the once fearsome beast, the Infant Dragon, also known as the King of the Upper Floors, the creature feared by many that ventured these caverns more than any other.
A thousand ice nails punctured from below, pinning it down within an even wider cage of ice. The deep blue tainted by red, as even that had been frozen solid.
A tomb of ice… for the king of monsters.
/Land…/
Ais landed before this massive spire, eyes wide open in disbelief and shock as her breath fogged before her.
It didn't matter that her hair was disheveled or that her mask had fallen. Her eyes fell before the sculpture of ice and its ten thousand sparkles of perfect smoothness.
Within it, even the fog seemed to have been captured, trapped inside a hundred bubbles.
"Hooo…"
Her stupor was broken by the one who defeated the dreadful beast. An adventurer she hadn't known for long, yet had already impacted her life more than many others.
If before he had yet to be more than just any other adventurer, today he cemented his position as more than a bystander. He became a figure at the back of her mind, even if she herself did not come to realize it.
Few had left such marks around her, outside her Familia, how many could she say had done the same?… How many were still alive?
As he stepped back, ice cracking from his half-frozen boots, the man coughed lightly, ice and fog escaping his helmet whenever he breathed.
"Cough… next time... cough! I won't do this inside heavy armor…" Silver mumbled as he kept coughing, straddling around
His entire armor had been encased in a layer of frost and snow, and as he took his helmet off, Ais saw snow and ice falling off from inside as if he had scooped some of it before putting his helmet on.
As they met, Ais saw his frozen face and hair, eyebrows white and dropping with icicles, together with his red lips trembling faintly as he breathed in more snow, coughing again…
"Pfft…"
And she chuckled, faintly as she put her hand before her lips.
"Cough… do I look that funny? Guess that's what I get for trying this much." Silver said as he brushed his hand across his face
Silver unstrapped his right gauntlet, letting a lot of snow fall off from inside, 'So by channeling this particular Plasmid and concentrating its power, the expected result was achieved.'
'A blast of cold turned into a pillar of ice carrying immense force. If not for the limitations of this place, perhaps that blow might've reached even further.'
'I don't feel as tired, but I'm a little affected by this… it could be the cold too. If it wasn't already obvious, this technique channels my magic directly through my body, but if I put a barrier, like this gauntlet, after my hand…'
He exhaled as he tried to heat himself from inside, 'At least a third of its force blew inside the armor. I'm lucky I didn't turn into a popsicle… I'll have to test this a bit further some other time.'
After a moment, Ais finally approached him, "Are you okay?" She asked as she brushed her hair lightly
"I'm fine, just a bit cold… and mildly embarrassed."
"Umn…"
Her lips trembled as she withheld what she wanted to ask. In the end, she offered to watch over him as he recovered.
He shook his head, "Thank you, I just need to change so I'll be fine if you allow me to."
Silver tapped the ice "wall" behind him, and a vortex gate opened as a strange scene unfolded before Ais…
From darkness to clarity, she found herself face to face with another room. A cozy room, like that of a house on the surface, appeared to her.
Silver stepped inside with little fear, putting his gauntlets on a table before sitting down and pulling his greaves out, "Look at all this snow…" He complained as he took off his armor
With telekinesis, he pulled away the straps and bindings on his armor, before walking out to the side in his under armor, "Give me a minute to put on something proper, I can't go adventuring like this."
"Okay?…"
'What am I even looking at?' She thought as she looked around
It was a simple living room. A large central table, a hanger near the door, a large chandelier on the ceiling and even a kitchen to her right.
At the end of the room, the ground caved in slightly to reveal a small fireplace area with a few couches surrounding it.
She also noticed the window to her left and a door, but from the looks of it, those didn't lead anywhere either…
As for Silver, he walked upstairs, leaving her all alone on the first floor…
'… Does he carry a home with him at all times?' She thought amidst her own disbelief
"Okay, I'm back." Silver returned almost immediately, this time wearing simple leather armor that didn't restrict him much
He had a few metal plates surrounding his body, around his calves, arms, and chest. It was the standard combat equipment that was both light and decent, focusing mostly on maneuverability, the kind of thing Ais wore and preferred over all other equipment.
"Ah… that was… fast."
"I usually have everything ready for action. It's the minimum I can do."
That wasn't what Ais meant, but she didn't pry. Instead, she looked around even more…
"Do you like the place?"
"I… I didn't mean to pry."
He smirked as he walked to the side, opening a cupboard in the kitchen, "It's nothing, since we're here waiting, ask away."
"Well…"
'What do I ask first? Should I ask about this place? His fight?…'
Amidst her turbulent thoughts, a single one came to reality, "What is this place?"
Silver walked past her, tapping the table on the center as he did so, "This is one of the rooms I maintain with my magic."
"Truth be told, until recently, I never had the need to keep things divided, but in the last week or so, I made some changes to make the place more accessible."
"It's just a small place for me to rest. I didn't have the need for one before, but I thought proper to get hold of one for this expedition."
"Get one? Is this…"
"This is a house, yes." He said as he confirmed her suspicions, "A small house, but I bought it for around half a million Valis at the edge of the city?… Well… it's not there anymore."
"Ah…"
The mere thought of an entire house vanishing from the streets was thought-provoking enough, but the way he spoke about it so casually almost made her believe it was the right course of action…
'He took an entire house… and placed it inside his magic?' The very idea did not seem to click inside her head.
It made her remember what Finn told her once, about how much space he truly had.
'Wouldn't he eventually be able to transfer entire armies anywhere in the Dungeon in utter safety and in record times? There's nothing he can't take and deliver…'
Ais understood, even if faintly, the reasons Finn put so much faith in his abilities. Even if he wasn't there yet, one day, Silver's abilities would become essential to any Familia, not just theirs.
'Has Finn realized the extent of this magic? Has he seen something even further?… I'll ask him about it later.'
"Do you like hot chocolate?"
"Yes?"
Ais replied almost instinctively, the words didn't quite connect well in her head.
When she entered the Dungeon, especially in the middle of nowhere between safe zones, she became an entirely different person, so the question alone did not seem to bode well in her wired head, jumping in and out between her synapses as she tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Right now, the Ais from the surface was being forced into the Ais of the Dungeon, and both of them were confused on what to do.
Perhaps Silver's casual mannerisms helped her get her bearings, as she at least followed his conversation...
"Sugar?"
"… Yes?"
"Great."
/Clack…/
The sound of the cupboard closing woke Ais up. Her eyes drawn to Silver as he put some water on a magic heater, boiling the water as he prepared other ingredients.
"… Isn't it tiring?" She asked shyly as she approached him, still somewhat apprehensive of the place
She didn't know why. Perhaps after growing used to the constant danger and blood thirst of the Dungeon, such a soothing place seemed too alien for her… too dangerous even.
She had grown accustomed to not trusting anything once she stepped through those stairs. The calmer and prettier something was, the greater the danger it held in its depths…
"Tiring? You mean maintaining this place?… Certainly." He said as he opened another cupboard
"That said, the worst part is keeping this place open. Once I close the door, the Mind drain becomes imperceptible… then again, we'll end up suffocating if we stay in this closed space for long."
Ais looked around. Was this the reason everything felt off? Were her danger senses trying to warn her of the subtle danger looming in this room?
"Shouldn't we leave then?"
"Does a fish die the moment its taken out of the water? We can stay here for a long time before danger comes… and even in the worst scenario, all you have to do is force the door open and this space will shatter."
"This is just a small box separated from the world, push the boundaries too much and it'll crack… don't try it though. If you destabilize this space, everything will be thrown upside down." He laughed as he finished brewing the hot chocolate
"There you go, a hot chocolate sweetened slightly. Feel free to add more sugar or something else if you feel like it. I added a little bit of milk if you don't mind, I think it tastes better that way."
'I heard there are unique chocolate beans deeper down... should I check out for those?'
Ais looked at her mug and the steaming hot chocolate as if she were looking at some ephemeral item or divine artifact.
'How did I end up with chocolate mug in the Dungeon?'
/Creak…/
As she was distracted, Silver stepped out with his mug in hand, taking a seat outside near his ice sculpture as he pulled a wooden chair from the room.
/Sip…/
"Nothing beats a mug of hot chocolate on a cold winter day." He said with a smile as snow fell around him
He turned to face her as she stood at the door, "Care to take a seat?"
"…"
No matter how much she tried, Ais could not comprehend what she was seeing… so in the end, like him, she took a seat beside him… and enjoyed her hot chocolate.
/Shua…/
And not for long, as soon after, more joined their little break.
…
Bete stopped running, pausing before the bizarre object in his sight.
"What the hell?"
/Swoosh!/
Immediately after, Tione and Tiona approached from the fog, looking up in both curiosity and confusion.
"I saw it from afar, but I still don't get it. Who froze this lizard?"
/Clack Clack.../
Tiona touched the ice pillar, knocking on it as she walked around it, "It's thoroughly frozen…"
"Can you be anymore obvious?"
"Rude!"
After their momentary daze, they finally found who they were looking for.
/Clack…/
"I win, again. You're terrible at this."
"Mnnn!!"
""…""
Silver and Ais sat against each other with a small table between them.
On the table, a small set of wooden discs remained on a sectioned circular board… albeit only those of a single color remained.
Ais looked down with an intense and frustrated expression. Unbeknownst to her, her mask had fallen long ago, although neither of the two paid it any heed.
Holding one of the pieces, Silver played around with it as if it was a coin, "Strategy is more than just a brawl."
"It does help if you can just bash your head and be done with it, but what happens if the wall is too hard, or it has thorns?"
"…"
"Then you just get injured instead… want to go again? Applying the mind is good exercise."
"I won't lose this time." She spoke with determination as she grabbed her pieces again
Silver snickered as he snapped his fingers, organizing his half of the board in a moment, "If only I could match your enthusiasm… the result is nothing but predetermined."
"#!!"
Ais displayed as much frustration as her face could allow it. She puffed her cheeks and clamped her pieces down hard, almost shattering the board each time she did so.
Whenever she raised her head to face him, all she saw was his smug smile as he waited for her. It reminded her of Loki and the others when she was younger and threw a fit.
She hated it!
'I'll show him… I'll win this time! I'll use… strategy!'
Ais did not know at the time… she would lose within thirty moves yet again.
"Ais? What are you doing?… And who is this guy?" Tione asked as she approached her
Silver looked at her as if he was looking at an alien, "Really?"
"This voice is… familiar." She teased while still confused about the situation
Her sister approached them with Bete in tow, still as shocked at the situation as before. He kept looking between them and the pilar, trying to put the pieces together inside his mind like Ais and the board.
Unlike the others, however, he seemed to have started to put two and two together… and the truth he was arriving at wasn't quite realistic…
"We're playing Checkers, ever heard of it? One of the many games the Gods gave us… or so they say." Silver added as he watched Ais pout
Silver rested his right elbow on the table as he brushed his hair aside, "That said, I wanted to play something more complicated, but she couldn't handle it."
"Mnnn!!"
Ais puffed her cheeks harder, but her gaze remained on the board.
This amount of emotion was already unexpected, Tione and Tiona had only ever seen her act like this when Loki stole a bag of potato pops from her in the past…
The more her expression twisted, the funnier Silver thought all of this was, but he kept quiet nonetheless, letting her make her "decisive" move…
"… Why are the two of you playing Checkers in the middle of the Dungeon?" Tiona finally asked as her expression fell
/Clack!/
Ais made her move… She eagerly waited for Silver's response, but all she saw was disappointment as he gazed down at the board dismissively.
"Is this your play? I'll let you re-do it if you want."
"!"
Ais was caught by surprise at his lack of care. 'Impossible!' She thought as she looked at the table again, reviewing her last four games in which she was beaten to a pulp every time.
"When you fight, don't you usually try to predict what the enemy will do ahead? Try to apply the same principle here."
She touched one of her temples, her eyes closing as if in pain, "Mnn… I'm trying…"
In the end, Ais moved her pieces again, and Silver sighed, "Very well."
'She's too imprisonable. Her move was by no means bad… though I wonder what she was thinking about when she made her move.'
'She lets herself be moved around in subjects she's not too familiar with. Even in our faint conversation, she has barely retorted… or is this just how she is?'
/Clack!/
Silver acted on the board without much thought, or so it looked to Ais.
"I'm done."
"…"
As Ais was once again devoured by her thoughts, Bete stepped forward, his patience stretched beyond its limits, "Did you do this?" He asked Silver as he crossed his arms
"You mean the frozen Infant Dragon? Yes, I did. Could anyone else have done it?"
"Certainly not her." He said as he looked at Ais, but she didn't pay it any attention
"… Impossible. An Infant Dragon isn't the kind of monster the likes of you can take down!"
Albeit immeasurably rude, neither Tione nor Tiona rejected his comments… and Ais was too focused on the board to care.
Silver snickered at his words, "You know that is a lie."
Bete's forehead tensed, "What…?"
"If someone has the experience and the right equipment, its more than doable to solo hunt all monsters on the Upper Floors even as a Low Class."
"And I haven't even mentioned magic and other factors." He added with a smirk as he looked straight into Bete's eyes
"And besides… just because you couldn't do it, it doesn't mean others won't be able to do the same."
"THE FUCK YOU JUST SAID?!"
/Slam!/
Bete kicked his table, throwing all the pieces into the sky as Ais held her piece.
She looked at the table in cold silence, "I was about to make my move…"
"SAY THAT AGAIN!"
Silver stood at his seat with a plain expression. He raised his hand, causing the board and the pieces to fly back before them, but sighed as he looked at the table.
"I liked that table."
He got up from his seat, calm as ever, "Strength is a subjective matter."
He walked past Bete and the other, standing before the pillar.
"I'll say it again." He said as he turned to face Bete, "Just because you can't imagine it, it doesn't mean its impossible."
"Stop limiting yourself by a lacking imagination."
He wound up his fist, channeling power onto his hand once more.
/Shine…/
"!"
'This light again.'
Ais saw the sparkling light ignite within Silver's arm once more. It grew brighter and brighter as he stepped closer to the pillar.
This time, the air blew outward, as if an invisible current was pushing against it, clearing the entire area as a dome of fog formed around them.
'This time, no holding back. Within the confines of what I can show…'
'I'll throw them a spectacle!'
Silver punched forward! His muscles tensed beyond their limits, his muscles and flesh enhanced underneath his skin, his adrenaline at its maximum, the very air making way for him stride!
/BOOM!/
""!!""
Silver punched the pillar, causing a massive explosion of ice and snow to echo throughout the cavern!
/FLASH!/
A wave of invisible energy pierced through the air, drilling a cylindrical hole in the fog as the ground, trees, boulders, and everything in its path were overturned! As if an invisible creature had charged through!
All the way to the nearest Dungeon's wall, where a crater shattered its outermost layer, leaving cracks that went all the way to the ceiling!
Power far beyond what a Level 1 could display, even with magic. Silver obliterated everything before him, leaving nothing but a carved-out earth in his fist's wake.
'Phew...'
The utmost display of telekinesis he could throw out, condensed in one direction, powered by the Hero's strike, Afterglow!
As he pulled back his hand, faint smoke still lingered on his skin, and amidst the pain ravaging through his overtaxed body, all Silver did was smile.
'To extend the reach and unleash an even more devastating blow… indeed, it's a level of amplification far beyond my means.' He thought as he shook his right hand faintly
Before he turned back, he posed a little while everyone was still looking at him. Whether or not they realized what he was doing, it didn't matter.
For while the others looked ahead with trembling eyes and disbelief, he opened the vortex leading inside his private space and stepped through, leaving only a wooden door encased in dark fog behind.
""…""
"… Did I just see something unbelievable?" Tiona asked as she raised her finger, still mildly shaken, "Wake me up with a pinch."
/Pinch.../
"GYAAAA! I didn't mean it literally!"
Tione bit her lips as she pulled her hand, "I'm as perplexed as you are. When we were Level 1, no, even at Level 2… it would've taken us out."
"You're joking… I don't think anyone back then could've taken this and still walked after. I know I wouldn't."
"…"
Bete did not say a thing, his eyes open wide as if he had seen a ghost... For a moment, he even forgot how to breathe.
/Creak…/
Meanwhile, Silver stepped out of the door with a potion bottle in hand, gulping it down before throwing the empty bottle away.
"I hate their taste…" Then he noticed the gazes, "What? Is there something on my face."
Tione crossed her arms, "Stop being cheeky." She said with a look that demanded answers, and it didn't look like she was ready to hear no for an answer.
"How did you do that?"
"I just punched forward with my magic, what else do you want me to say?"
"... You're right. I'm being unreasonable."
"Again." Tiona added on the side as she looked away
"#! You're asking for it."
"Hehe…"
"Dammit…" Bete muttered as he clenched a shard of glass on the ground, "How did you do it? Are all of your Basic Abilities S Rank?!"
Silver rolled his eyes and shrugged, "Is the value displayed on one's back all there is to one's ability? Is that all it is to you?"
"Answer the damn question!"
"This isn't just about that. Strength comes in many forms, both figuratively and literally. Knowing how to apply your strengths goes a long way in making whatever numbers you have on your blessing matter."
He reached for the crater he left behind, taking out the sole item still unscathed, a single tooth, "And yes, all of my Basic Abilities are S Rank."
'This is more believable than saying they're not S Rank. I can't hide my strength anyway… not something this excessive at least.'
'I'm fully aware of the ridiculousness of my circumstances.'
""!!""
Ais stepped forward, clenching his hands. She almost seemed to beg, "Tell me… how did you grow this strong this quickly?"
Silver felt pity for the girl, half knowing the reasons behind her plight. However, he put her hand down.
"There is nothing quick about my strength. My Basic Abilities might've risen faster than others, but the reason they became such to begin with is from the many years I put in to make it possible."
He glanced at the Amazons, "I can't say I've lived a brutal life full of strife, but I won't undermine the training I had."
"… I can teach you how I train. I doubt it'll make a difference for someone of your level, but its all I can do."
He smiled, looking at the mark on her chin, "At least now, you seem to understand a bit more about my previous words."
"Eh?"
It was then, after all this time, that Ais realized that her mask had come undone, exposing the marks on her face.
Her face reddened ever so slightly as she slowly pulled her mask up… "Forget what you saw."
"Ha! There's nothing there to be embarrassed about! When it was my turn, I could barely even walk in public without a hood on…"
He glanced at her as she tried to hide, "A potion might be too ineffective, but a potent enough healing spell will fix your wounds."
"…"
"That said…" Silver continued as he looked into the distance, "Perhaps we should leave such talks for another time."
/Growl…/
All around them, monsters slowly crawled towards them…
"Odd. I assumed no monsters were spawning because I had damaged the cavern enough… but seeing them here and the damage the Dungeon has yet to heal, I assume the monsters weren't approaching merely because of the Infant Dragon's corpse." He pointed out as he looked around
Tiona charged forward, "Less talking, more fighting! I want to hear the rest of it!"
"I…"
Before Silver could finish, all the executives had run ahead to wipe out the monsters.
In the blink of an eye, the cavern had been cast into silence once more.
"Now then, where were we?" Tione asked as she wiped the blood off her cheek
"Haha…"
'These guys are scary.'
…
Around half an hour later, Gareth reached the entrance to the 13th Floor.
Bete stood on a rock with his legs crossed, "You're late, old man." He said as his ears twitched, listening to his footsteps in the mist.
"On the contrary, I'm quite early. I had to slow down a bit, otherwise we wouldn't be clearing the way."
Gareth stopped next to Bete, looking around for the others, as his sword landed on the ground with a loud /Thud!/ "Then? Where's the others?"
"Playing house over there." He said as he pointed to a door in the middle of the fields
"… It seems quite a bit happened in my absence. I'll go call them, get ready to resume."
Gareth walked past him, "No rushing ahead this time."
"Humph."
Gareth glanced at him, noticing how pensive and upset Bete seemed, but did not pry into it for now.
'What's up with him this time? We barely even started.'
Instead, he walked to the door, noticing the environment, 'Why's there so much ice and water lying around? Did the boy do this?'
His eyes glanced at the crater within the mist… 'Who did this?'
/Knock…/
He knocked on the wooden door, and soon after, Silver opened it.
"Mister Gareth?"
He looked at Silver, and then tilted his head to look behind him, "It's you, and I see the others are with you as well."
Tiona's voice echoed from within, and soon enough, she appeared with a bag of cookies in her hands.
"Is it time for us to go?"
"Mnmn… go-uh?"
Tione followed her sister, looking at Ais as she ate a potato pop, "Don't speak with your mouth full, Ais…"
"Seems like you're well-rested. I have some questions, but they can all be asked some other time."
Gareth stepped back as he placed his blade on the ground, "Is everyone ready?"
"Let's just get this over with." Bete said as he jumped from his rock, making his way down to the next floor
"What's up with him this time?"
Tiona scratched her left cheek in mild understanding, "It's complicated…"
"He deserves it." Tione added as she crossed her arms
"Hm…"
That only seemed to make Gareth more curious, but in the end, he followed after the werewolf with nothing more to say.
The First String continued on its expedition!
…
"…"
""…""
The group made its way silently through the 13th Floor, stepping through the converging entrance of the Middle Floors… the First Line.
The ground, ceiling, and walls changed, becoming wholly composed of dense bedrock, the kind often seen around the 11th and 12th Floors.
As the air grew moist and the natural light dimmer, they made their first official steps into the first section of the Middle Floors, the Cave Labyrinth.
The stalactites and stalagmites connected the ground and ceiling in exotic shapes, and at no moment was there true silence, as at any moment, he could hear the faint echoes of water splashing around… or something worse prowling beyond.
The cries of monsters and beasts rang in the Dungeon, the unique shapes of these caverns transmitting their cries all around for hundreds, if not thousands of meters on…
Sometimes, it was even possible to hear the echoes of blades clashing and stone cracking, to which the experienced adventurers would stop to listen, often ignoring and continuing their march.
It was up to Bete, the one with the greatest hearing of them all, to identify these sounds and tell for certain how close and eventually, how viable it was for them to pursue them.
/Silence…/
This time, there was no more dilly dally and chit-chat. They got together, Bete at the front, followed by Ais and the twins in a triangle formation, with Gareth right before Silver, this time with his axe in his hand after Silver promptly gave it back to him.
With more room to fight, there was no need to constrain him anymore.
That said, looking at their awkward movements, at least to everyone minus Gareth, Silver could tell what was going on inside their heads.
'They're taking this quite seriously.'
He looked away, not worried in the slightest, 'There's little need to fear, anyway.'
While it's true that the layout of the Middle Floors is more complex and monsters spawn at a faster rate, the monsters on the 13th and 14th Floors are not much different from the ones on the 12th Floor in terms of strength.
Only from the 15th Floor onward, monsters categorized as Level 2 individually, such as Minotaurs, would begin to appear. If anything of the sort appears before that mark, then its most likely an irregularity.
/SLASH!/
/SPLURGE!/
Despite the "strength" of these monsters or their increased numbers, often coming in the dozens at a time, Silver barely saw any live creature as he followed them.
With Bete at the front, usually one room or cavern ahead, all Silver could detect were the faint cries of monsters as he slaughtered his way through whatever spawned ahead... almost too eagerly even.
The carvings on the walls, made with his dagger, marked the path and secured it, as when damaged, the Dungeon put priority over healing itself over spawning more monsters.
Even if anything appeared directly ahead or behind, they would be swiftly taken care of by the others.
Their low numbers surprised Silver, as it seemed the Dungeon itself wasn't very keen on creating monsters for them to confront, almost as if aware that doing so was a futile effort.
That way, they soon found themselves out of the First Line and into the brunt of the 13th Floor.
Given the silence, Silver opted to walk closer to the wall, placing his hand against it.
/Tap…/
He tapped his left hand's finger against the wall….
/Tap…/
And he did so again after a few seconds…
"Stop that. I can't fucking hear a thing!" Bete snickered as his ears kept twitching whenever Silver tapped the walls
Tione turned to face him, "What are you even doing, anyway?"
"I smell something interesting!"
Gareth turned around with an eyebrow raised, chuckling, "Now that's something I haven't seen in a few blue moons…"
"Do you know anything about this?"
"A bit indeed… He's checking for ores." Gareth pointed out as he scratched his beard, "He taps the wall and feels its vibration, identifying its composition. I used to be able to do it, but it was a skill threw away a long time ago. And to no regret."
Silver smiled, nodding at him… although there was far more to it than just that... he didn't even know Dwarves had such skills to begin with.
"What? So you can actually tell what's behind it?"
"It depends." Gareth said as he shook his head, "Back in my prime days, I could tell if it was worth mining a wall merely by its smell. After coming to the Dungeon, I lost touch with practice… the Dungeon was simply too exotic for me to understand."
"And in the end, it wasn't something I was interested in doing. I didn't come to the Dungeon just to mine ores again."
/Tap…/
As they spoke, Silver tapped the wall again, stopping as he raised an eyebrow… "There's something here."
"Already?" Tione said as her eyes opened in surprise
Tiona jumped forward, pulling her non-existent sleeves as she walked to Silver, "I'll burst it open!"
Silver stepped back, hands up as he gave way to the excited Amazon.
"Don't mind me, go ahead."
"Hey~!"
/BOOOOM!/
"…"
Silver watched in horror as the slim and petite girl slammed her fist against the wall with such force that it caused the entire cavern to quake.
Amidst the wave of dust she caused, and the subsequent coughing of everyone involved, Silver raised his hand, using telekinesis to clear the air and pull back the shattered stones, revealing a vein of red, glistening ore underneath.
"Blood Onyx, relatively rare. A fistful of it can go for around a quarter of a million Valis." Gareth said as he looked at the vein, "And there seems to be about four million Valis worth of material here."
"Really?! I didn't know making money was this easy… wait! It's all yours…"
Silver shook his head, "We can split the earnings, you did mine it for me after all."
She reached for her head, half-embarrassed, "I didn't do much… buy me a meal and I'll be happy!"
"I'd do that for free." He chuckled as he reached out for the wall
/Pull…/
/Tremble…/
Under the immense pressure of his telekinesis, the already broken wall shattered as the pieces of the vein were dragged into his inventory.
"And there it goes… one more to the list…" He said as he pulled his notebook out once again
"I've seen you writing on that, what even is that?" Tiona asked as she stepped closer to him to peek at it
"I'm keeping track of the things I'm collecting. It's important to write down everything I'm managing… Given I'm carrying a whole warehouse of items with me, some basic precautions are needed."
"And what prevents you from changing those logs?" Bete asked as his eyes narrowed
Silver shrugged, "Finn has a copy of everything I was trusted with. As for the rest… I guess it's on you guys to keep track of it if you want your part." He added with a chuckle as he closed his book.
"Tche! Keep those scraps for all I care…"
"Thanks for the tip!"
That only seemed to piss him off more…
"I won't say it like him, but I think the same way as Bete. I don't really mind what you do with this loot."
"We would've shattered most of them anyway, take it as the fee for making this less of a bore to us." Tione said as she smiled faintly
"I agree! I very much prefer to focus on punching and kicking instead of looking around for anything we left behind. On that note, thanks for the assist, -God Supporter!-" Tiona said as she raised her thumb at him
"God-Supporter?" Silver asked in confusion
"Ahh… it's what Loki said the ultimate supporter was. You kind of reminded me of that."
Silver tilted his head, "That's not a bad title."
"Don't let it get to your head." Tione said as she shook her head, "If Loki said it, then its likely a joke one way or another. She loves to pull that kind of thing."
"Are we moving, or are you lot drinking tea again?" Bete asked as he stood on the side with his arms crossed, "I don't mind stopping, but quit the chit-chat!"
"You're insufferable… well then, shall we get a move on, "God-Supporter"? Or do you need a rest?"
"I'm fine. My stamina and Mind are far from extinguishing."
Bete stepped away, "Then get a move on!"
The expedition continued.
…
Around the 15th Floor…
"… I can't hold this anymore!" Tiona exploded as she raised her arms high
She turned to Silver, walking backwards, "You said your Basic Abilities were all S Rank! How did you do it?!"
""…""
A different kind of silence took hold as she asked that, with Gareth being the only one out of the loop as he looked back in wonder.
"They're that high already?"
"Higher than you think." Silver replied with a chuckle
'Man, I wonder what faces they'd show me... maybe I should show it to Loki? That would be... a terrible idea.'
"Mark me impressed! But don't feel too compelled to answer these nosy fellas… the last thing they need is to get something else on their minds."
"Gareth! Don't tell me you aren't curious about it? If he's even telling the truth…" Tione said as her tone shifted
Though deep down, she could tell he wasn't lying.
"How can someone reasonably raise their Basic Abilities that high in such a short amount of time? How long has he been an adventurer anyway?"
Brushing his hair, Silver replied absent mindedly, "A little over a month."
Tione's forehead tensed as she saw him acting cool... but her sister interrupted her before she could say anything:
"So? Don't leave me hanging!" Tiona demanded as she stopped before him, blocking his path
Silver raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you being too demanding? I'll report you to Finn!"
"It's just a joke…" She said as she whistled and looked away
As she stepped back, Silver looked around before saying, "… My Stats rose quickly from a combination of factors."
The moment he started explaining things, the others went quiet.
"It is already common for those with past training to show heightened growth once they become adventurers. But that alone doesn't explain it… not in a reasonable time frame."
"That said… I don't think my methods will properly satisfy you all… and neither would I like to see others copy me."
"You can leave this to me. Finn, and Riveria have already gone through all kinds of things to stop these kids from killing themselves in the Dungeon. So just get it over with so they can focus on their work again."
Silver sighed, "Very well. Let's see… when I first came to the Dungeon, I went all the way to the entrance of the 6th Floor. That was before I received my blessing."
""!""
"What? Surprised, I haven't even begun." He snickered as his ears twitched, hearing the cries of monsters from beyond their cavern
"Do you know what my deepest floor was before I received my Falna? I went all the way to the 17th Floor by myself."
"…"
Bete wanted to retort, but he kept quiet this time, his expression darkening as he looked at the hallways.
"From the moment I received my blessing onwards, I kept pushing my body and myself. I tied weights to my body, I poisoned myself, I fought barehanded, blindfolded, all to make things a little more challenging."
"The blessing rewards proportional challenges, the reason I grew this fast this quickly is that I kept defying death. It's not something I'd desire of others... there's no secret."
"… Don't let Riveria hear that. She'll scold you so much you'd wish you had died back then instead."
"Let me be clear here, I condone your actions." He said plainly, "Even one of those actions is enough to end your life, much less together."
"But your life is your own. Just remember to keep it down while you're with us, and I won't bother you. No one will."
"I had no intention of doing so from the beginning. Be it throwing my life away or pushing my way of life onto others."
"This is just how I wish to live."
"Your goddess doesn't look like the kind of person to accept such behavior."
"She isn't… she throws a fit every once in a while. Calming her down has been getting harder to be honest."
/Crunch…/
Interrupting their talk…
"ROAAARRR."
A mythical cry ran through the caverns, followed by a dozen others…
"Finally, some action. All this talk was starting to piss me off." Bete said as he clenched his fists
"Aren't you always pissed off?"
"SHUT UP!"
/STEP!/
With hulking bodies well over two meters, the dark-skinned minotaurs, covered in steel-like fur, walked from the darkness!
Their cries echoed in their ears, but everyone, including Silver, seemed unbothered by them.
In their hands, landform weapons in the shape of crooked white axes remained, some stained red…
/Fwoosh!/
But before any of them had the chance to charge, the Loki Familia's vanguard burst through them!
Cries rang with the bellowing of metal tearing flesh and stone as Silver and Gareth stood in the back, watching.
"They aren't exactly elegant."
Gareth scoffed as he smacked Silver's waist, "Don't act like that old woman now. She's the one who always complains about blood falling on her dress."
"What I find impressive is how they can get out of that mayhem unscathed… or mostly."
"You get used to it, after punching ten thousand of those things, you learn how to avoid most of the fallout."
"I see..."
/SPLATTER…/
"Or throw it elsewhere..." Gareth added as he blocked blood from splashing on him with his axe
Silver watched as blood splashed on the ground around him, but his eyes quickly moved elsewhere…
"Seems like we aren't going to just watch."
Gareth lifted his axe with ease, resting it on his shoulder, "Good, I don't like leaving it all to the young ones. Stand back…"
"Can I give it a try?"
Gareth turned his head, "You want to fight a minotaur?"
Rather then speaking, he decided to prove things with actions. Smiling, he stepped forward, an ice spear forming in his hand.
"ROAR!"
The first of the three minotaurs dashed in his direction! Its feet slammed onto the ground, shaking it as it raised its white, rocky axe!
Silver ran forward as well, his breathing steady, his right hand shone with light as the ground beneath the minotaur froze!
The beast slipped forward, and what met its body wasn't the ground but a thousand ice spikes!
/SPLAT!/
As the minotaur fell onto the barbed floor, Silver pierced the back of its head with his spear, severing its spine before tilting his head to the side, evading a swing from another minotaur!
/SLASH!/
Taking this chance, he pierced the beast's leg, snapping his spear in half and stepping back as the third minotaur slammed the ground, splitting the first minotaur's head in two!
He lifted his hand, reforming his spear of ice and throwing it forward!
/BOOM!/
The spear burst in the air, casting a thousand shards of ice onto the monsters' faces as Silver ran after them.
"GUHO!"
He wound up his fist, evading the wild swings of the second minotaur, punching its jaw! The beast spat blood into the air as its tongue was flung backwards.
Silver pulled his legs and kicked the minotaur's stomach, sending it flying back before evading the third minotaur's horizontal swipe with a jump!
/FREEZE!/
Beneath him, the whole ground froze over as a pillar of ice caught the beast's weapon, but not for long, as it soon pulled the weapon away, shattering the ice.
But that was all the time Silver needed. He formed an ice axe in his hand, delivering a fatal blow against the minotaur's neck!
"ROAAR!"
/DASH!/
The second minotaur, upon witnessing its companion's death, elbowed the cavern's ground and began its charge!
That was when Gareth's eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward, fully expecting Silver to back away… but instead, he was horrified to see Silver rushing after it!
"Boy!"
He had seen others die to a minotaur's charge before. They all had, it was one of the beast's most fatal moves...
The Dwarf exclaimed loudly as the ground beneath him shattered, catching up to both of them in the blink of an eye as his feet seemed to slide on the ground.
/BOOM!/
Gareth swung his axe down, and the minotaur turned into a pool of dark mist before Silver even had the chance to react.
As his pupils dilated, Silver slowed down, coming to a stop, "Oh… that was unneeded."
"Say that again. Why were you trying to square up with a minotaur's charge? It's pure recklessness!"
"I like your spirit, but don't throw your life away, boy!"
That said, Gareth was beyond impressed at what he had just seen. Amidst his worry and frustration was a wave of awe that could not be defined. If not for his current actions, he would be praising him instead.
In just a single moment, he slew two minotaurs as if they were nothing, making him think Silver was a higher Level adventurer, but the truth was quite strange…
Seeing his gaze, Silver decided to step back this time, "Alright, I won't do it again."
"Indeed, you won't! Almost gave me a heart attack…"
/SMACK!/
But he still smacked Silver's back, "You fight well! Never saw a newbie with your combat experience, you're far better then Bete even when he joined us."
"Arg! T-Thanks…"
'He slapped me harder than those minotaurs…'
As Gareth grumbled like the dwarf he was, they turned back to see the shocked eyes of the children of the Loki Familia…
Especially Bete, whose eyes were wide open as if he had seen a corpse rise from the dead and speak. He didn't even react when Gareth seemed to mock him, his finger pointing forward as he trembled, agape.
"Wh-Wh-What..."
"That was… amazing!" Tiona claimed as she dashed to him
She grasped his arm with such force Silver felt his joints crack…
"Teach me how to fight like that! You were jumping and zooming around! I never saw such movements from a Level 1!"
Silver felt his blood rush out of his arm, his face going from red to pale in a second, "A-Arg… can't you fight like that already? I don't think… huff… I can teach you how to fight like that!" Silver claimed as he tried to hide his pain
'Is she trying to squish my arm in her chest?! It's like being pressed against a block of iron!'
"Tiona… give some room to him, or you'll end up squishing his arm like a grape." She said as she looked at her chest
"Huh?… HUH?!"
Tiona looked at her chest and then at her sister's, and her cheeks puffed hard as she let go of him.
"S-o-r-r-y." She said as she turned around, not looking apologetic at all
"Haha…"
'A reminder for my future self… never date a girl of a higher level.'
"So… are we moving?"
Gareth woke up from his thoughts, stepping forward, "Ahem… let's hit the road."
They all walked forward as Bete remained there, frozen.
Gareth stopped before him and sighed, with a small gesture, he used his axe's handle to close the werewolf's jaw before turning him around and slapping his ass.
/SLAP!/
"ARRRG! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
"Wake up, Bete. We're not sightseeing."
"I SHOULD BE THE ONE SAYING THAT!!"
"Alright, alright... Get a move on."
…
/Splat!/
As he saw them effortlessly take out another party of monsters, Silver looked at the dripping blood and was reminded of something.
"… Did you know that a minotaur's blood has unique properties?"
Tione cleaned her hands on the side, "What?"
"If you provoke a minotaur enough to the point it foams at the mouth and drain its blood, a unique kind of hormone will become present in the blood, becoming a key material in the confection of aphrodisiacs."
Albeit uninterested at first, her attention was suddenly picked, "… Really? Tell me more."
"Sis…"
"It's actually quite prized among nobility. I wager that if you drain some of it and go to certain… let's say more open-minded alchemists, they're likely able to produce such potions."
"They're likely to start appearing on shelves soon, given February is upon us."
"Interesting…"
"… Give Finn a break…" Gareth said as he exhaled loudly
"I don't intend to give him time to rest~"
As Tione's mood shifted, Gareth looked at Silver as if to say, "If Finn complains about this, it's on you."
But Silver shook his head, denying all responsibility.
The party continued, soon reaching the 17th Floor's end, the Wall of Grief.
"… When's Goliath spawning again?" Ais asked as she raised her head
Gareth slammed his axe down, turning to the wall, "Thinking about taking it down again? Leave the Excelia for our lower-ranked members."
"I wasn't thinking about that." Ais retorted before she walked away
"… What about you? What do you think of this place?"
Silver tapped his chest, "Me? It's nice, I like the colorful stones."
"A somewhat common reaction for a newcomer…" Gareth said as he scratched his chin
"Who said this was my first time? This is as deep as I've ever gone, though."
"… I should've thought that much… forget I asked."
"I appreciate the questions!"
Gareth grunted, and the party moved deeper…
Silver looked at the wall one last time before walking past it.
…
/Shua…/
The cries of birds, the sloshing of water, the glistering gleam of sunlight…
At the end of the Wall of Grief and beyond the stairwells leading down… a whole new world waited for them.
The paradise of adventurers and monsters alike, the Under Resort!
…
.
.
.
Notes
Keeping up with the character's personalities is a bit difficult, and I hope I've been faithful to the original.
Either way, peace!