"ATTACK THEM!!!"
Balance shouted loudly, giving orders to his Golems.
The golems began to attack the other council members with slow but consistent movements. The council members began to defend themselves and attack back, but the golems, made of earth and stone, were too large and heavy for them to withstand.
The council members' shield walls cracked!
The council members who had been attacking began to scatter in panic, their screams and cries for help scattered everywhere. In the commotion and dust storm, I quietly went to the next floor with silent steps.
After stepping onto the 16th floor, I leaned against a shady tree, exhausted.
"That was crazy," I said, laughing at myself.
Kruuuuk~
"Is it lunchtime already?"
Balance took out the instant noodles he had bought before going to the city.
He then took out some sticks and water he had collected earlier, made a lighter, placed the water container on the stove, and lit the fire using the lighter he had made earlier. While waiting for the water to boil, he prepared the cup noodles he had brought.
He opened the cup lid, poured in the wet seasoning while singing one of Mirie Hatsukoi's songs titled Alice And Red Hood, then cut some of the sausages he had brought to use as toppings.
The water began to bubble and smoke, a sign that it had boiled.
Balance carefully poured the hot water into the cup noodles.
The steam with the scent of the noodle seasoning spread throughout the forest, attracting the monsters to him.
Balance began to eat the noodles he had made with great relish.
"Um, I knew it would taste really good. The spiciness is just a side note that makes the flavor pop, with real meat as a topping. It's worth the slightly high price. I don't feel like I wasted my money buying it! They should mass produce this!" said Balance happily.
He continued eating happily, finishing the noodles down to the last drop of broth, then placing the cup in the trash section of his inventory.
He then tidied up all his food supplies.
When he was done, he looked behind him and found many eyes watching him from the darkness hidden behind bushes and trees.
Floors 11 to 20 were forest-themed with many swamps, unlike floors 1 to 10, which had a forest theme with grasslands spreading around.
My instincts told me that I had to run away from here!
I slowly prepared to run without making them panic.
Then I ran with all my might, while being chased by the maggot-shaped monsters.
At that moment, I created several ants from the shadows around me, making them like the ants I fought at the beginning.
"Creations!!!"
The ants began to form from under my feet.
Their legs began to form, then their tails, and finally I managed to create six ants.
The ants then moved quickly and immediately bit the maggots very quickly and brutally, like a polar bear eating its prey. The situation made me a little nauseous. "Where did I just eat again?"
I turned my body away to avoid feeling nauseous, but the sound they made was still disgusting. I had to endure it! The noodles I just ate were more expensive and rarer! I had to endure it!
Their sounds began to fade. Were they done?
I turned around to check, and yes, the disgusting maggot-infested carcass was scattered everywhere, making me truly nauseous. I brushed away the shadow ants and slowly left the area to protect my stomach.
But it would probably be even more nauseating there, because it seemed like the boss on this floor was a giant fly.
It was better not to think about it; I was already too nauseous!
After feeling far away from the previous location, I sat down for a moment to calm my body.
My breath was labored, my heart was pounding, my stomach hurt, I really had to stop for a moment!
I leaned my hands on the tree next to me, then slowly sat down leaning against the tree, after that I took out some aromatherapy oil to relieve my nausea.
I thought to myself, is this what people feel when they're drunk driving? I've never been drunk before, but it turns out it feels really bad!
After about two hours, I felt my stomach starting to feel better.
I couldn't stay still any longer! No matter how disgusting it was there...
I would face it!
I entered the cave of the fly monster's nest with a slightly unpleasant feeling.
There, I smelled the foul odor of various carcasses, felt the mud and sticky slime on my shoes, the ground, even the walls, and saw piles of maggots in various corners of the nest.
The carcasses they collected must be from monsters that the council has already defeated, so all the dead monsters will be placed here, right? And don't tell me this slime is on the first floor again?
I tried to forget all that and focus on defeating the queen fly.
Isn't it better to do it quickly? The sooner I defeat her, the sooner I can leave this place!
I made more ants, about 20 this time, which used up almost half of my mana!
But that didn't matter! The important thing was to get away from this disgusting floor quickly!
I started sweating as I continued to create an army of ants, my mana rapidly depleting.
The ant army devoured the maggots and flies voraciously, and one of the ants with wings flew towards the location of the fly queen.
With its large, sharp pincers, it managed to tear the fly queen apart quickly and brutally.
Floor 16 was completed with my appetite greatly diminished.
The light began to move me to the 17th floor with the monster boss, Aligator Gigans.
Here, there seemed to be more water than on the previous floors. The atmosphere was... similar to a mangrove forest!
Judging from the terrain, this was going to be very tiring!
I opened my status window. My level hadn't increased...
I knew this would happen; a powerful class requires a lot of sacrifice, and I'm one of those class owners.
I carefully walked along the mangrove roots; it would be very dangerous if I slipped and fell into the water, and I also had to conserve my mana!
The alligators started attacking me from the water, continuously jumping and charging at me fiercely. I even slipped a few times because of them.
But I ignored them. I had to get to their boss to conserve my mana, but my mana continued to decrease.
Of course, I was moving with mana.
The tree roots here were large and slippery, and the small alligators kept jumping around to make me fall continuously. In addition, many branches hung down, obstructing my view.
After all that, I hid behind some bushes, and finally found the boss!
The alligator was clearly bigger than the others, and what's more... it was white!
"It's beautiful," I thought.
I then created several shadow jaguars to kill it.
I put my hands in front of me, closed my eyes, and imagined.
The light from the magic circle began to shine from my hands.
"CREATIONS!!"
Large shadow jaguars began to form, and once they were formed, they immediately ran fast to pounce on the alligators.
Followed by other jaguars, I deployed a total of 5 jaguars to defeat the boss of this floor.
Two jaguars attacked the small alligators around, and the other three attacked the boss together.
They countered each other by targeting the neck to attack, continuing like that until the alligator was exhausted.
Of course, the shadows are inanimate objects with no stamina limits; their stamina comes from me, hahaha...
My sweat began to pour down.
Come on, I can do this! Only 3 floors left!
Finally, the shadow jaguars managed to bite the neck of the white alligator boss. The shadow jaguars also twisted the white alligator until its bones broke and its body rolled violently.
The light reappeared and was ready to teleport me to the next floor, but before that, I had to ask the system.
Can I jump directly to the 20th floor?
Because my clothes really stink, and I only have less than half left.
In the plain white, empty transfer room, a blue screen appeared instantly in front of my head, with the word "Question" written in a box.
I then reached for the screen, and a holographic keyboard and blue screen appeared in front of my face.
Of course, I reflexively moved away a little because I was startled. Really! It appeared suddenly right in front of my face!
I started looking at the blue screen.
"Looks like this is a box for questions, right?" I said with a doubtful look on my face and my hand rubbing my chin.
I started typing my question, and after I typed it, the goddess's avatar appeared perfectly in front of me.
"HELLO! ^O^."
The goddess walked towards me, and I looked her up and down, then asked.
"You're still here?!"
The goddess's face immediately turned sour.
"OF COURSE! DIDN'T I TELL YOU?! YOUR JOURNEY IS STILL LONG, YOUR TUTORIAL IS STILL LONG!" said the goddess, puffing out her chest and folding her arms in front of her.
"SO NOW I WILL ANSWER YOUR STUPID QUESTION! THE ANSWER IS YES!" said the goddess, looking away.
"Really?!" said Balance excitedly.
The goddess replied in a cold (bitter) tone.
"BUT I DON'T RECOMMEND IT, ANYWAY..."
The goddess pointed to the bag Balance was carrying.
"SHOULDN'T YOU HAVE ALREADY BOUGHT THE MANNA PILLS WHEN YOU LEFT?"
Balance immediately became nervous, his body sweating, his eyes darting around with a slight tremor.
"Huh?! Mana-enhancing pills?! What are those?!" he said.
The goddess stared sharply at Balance.
"IS THAT SO? I WILL TELEPORT YOU THIS TIME! BUT HURRY UP AFTER THAT! BEFORE SOMETHING UNWANTED HAPPENS!" The goddess returned to her realm, leaving Balance teleported to the 20th floor while curled up.
"Alright." Balance said with a weary expression.
To be continued