Mina finally felt the life of the last weakling on the first floor fade. The phantom looked human, but the ghastly visage and nasty glare helped with wanting them gone.
Now staring at the door holding the first boss, Mina sighed out softly. She pulled her hair back and stared at her friends, all of which hadn't been injured even slightly.
"So the boss... think we should use the experience now?"
Mina got a mass of simultaneous nods, even ones from Chisana and Suriza. They had woken, a startling appearance change from the two of them.
Chisana had grown nearly twice her tiny size, her body elongating mostly and her eyes grew some. They were bright red, though light still hurt them heavily. She had become a Lower Demon Imp, though her bat wings were all she had for arms.
Suriza elongated and thickened, no longer being seen as a baby creature. Due to her Gigas trait, she had grown substantially. Her voice was more feminine as well. Bright yellow eyes gleamed in the shadows as she slithered around. She was now a Lesser Lamian Cobra. This excited her, telling her where she would go sometime soon.
"Alright, let's get our experience."
[Chisana Lvl Up. 15/15 Exp. ?/--
Suriza Lvl Up. 15/15 Exp. ?/--]
Mina was stunned. The two had not only reached level cap again, but they couldn't even see the current stored experience.
[Inferna Lvl Up. 20/20 Exp. ?/--
Asahi Lvl Up. 27/40
Fubuki Lvl Up. 23/50]
'Alright, hid the experience values since that's a lot of useless numbers. Hehe... oh boy.'
[Astral Body Lvl Up. 30/30
Sword Body Lvl Up. 35/50]
"Eh? I capped out... really? I know there were hundreds of enemies, but really? Should I go ahead and use [Devour] as well?"
Mina opened her inventory, her eyes locking on the insane number of cores she had collected. Besides that, she had earned some crystals and ores from the room clears. The rest of the group had gotten various stat enhancements, although Melody had gotten her spear itself buffed.
"I regret nothing... but uh... let me be careful."
Mina began to use [Devour], slowly feeding her core materials. She started with two separate chunks of ore.
[Successfully devoured two ores.
Obsidian Ore- + 40 Defense.
Red Iron Ore- + 13 Speed.
Sword Body Lvl Up. 36/50]
"Hah. My first stat bonuses! And that is a ton of defense... tough ass ore."
Mina fed her core crystals next. She held two of them as well.
[Successfully devoured two crystals.
Hypercharged Soul Crystal- +5% Element Guard.
Refined Flame Crystal- + 17% Fire Guard.
Sword Body Lvl Up. 40/50
Guards-
Fire Guard: 22.3%
Earth Guard: 5.4%
Wind Guard: 5.18%
Water Guard: 6.35%
Lightning Guard: 11.3%
Dark Guard: 5%
Light Guard: 5%]
Mina tapped her core, feeling somewhat full.
"I'll deal with the rest later. I overdid it once... and it was dangerous."
Staring back towards the last door, Mina smiled softly.
"This fight could actually be hard... you all ready?"
Mina turned around, shocked at the sleeping beasts around her.
"Melody?"
She shrugged and sat between Fubuki and Inferna.
"Nap time, Master? They worked hard, did they not?"
"Don't count yourself out. You did amazingly, especially with the help navigating. We may have gotten lost without you, though I'm curious about the chests. Was it the loot chests?"
Melody shook her head.
"They seemed to have been removed in place of these loot chests. They're even better though, especially providing these incredible buffs."
Mina nodded, handing her Sword Body over to Melody.
"I'll take a nap too. It should be safe for now, but I have faith in you. Wake Fubuki if you need help with anything, she's not gonna evolve anytime soon."
Mina faded from view, giving one last smile over to Melody. Unknown to Mina, Melody was vibrating with excitement.
"Hehe. She trusts me!"
-
Back within the strange dimensional area, Mina floated around waiting for Kat's voice. After a while, she got impatient and sighed softly.
"Kat? Are you here?"
Mina frowned, hearing no response. Looking down, she pouted slightly wanting to talk to Kat again.
"Guess I'll just finish my evolution and leave."
[You are ready to evolve once more. Make your choice.
-Divine Fairy
--Gain a physical body. Sword Body fuses into your Astral Body.
-Divine Sword Spirit
--Same as current power, just stronger with greater abilities.
-Val-error-
--Astral Body becomes tougher and grows physical. Sword Body core toughens. Lose immunity to physical attacks, but resist them. Defense and Resistance stats become available.]
"Error? What the hell is that supposed to be? And my core will toughen? Ugh... I'm gonna regret this. Third choice...?"
[You have chosen Val-error-! Evolving now.]
Mina felt a strange influx of energy. It wasn't painful, nor was it violent. The energy was almost soothing, a warm smile spreading on her lips.
"This feels like Kat holding me. Hehe... I wish she was here."
"She's not coming. Nor will she be coming to see you ever again."
An old man had appeared near Mina. His beard was long and his faced aged, but his eyes instantly put Mina on guard. Unable to see her new look, Mina stepped back.
"And who exactly are you?"
The old man smiled, his teeth nastier than expected.
"They call me Vex, the Great God of Divinity. I'm also the one that has chosen the Great God of Creation as my bride. She's chosen to say goodbye, however... not at this time."
Mina's hands balled into fists, her eyes grew sharp and she clenched her teeth.
"What did you say? You're taking Kat from me?"
An annoyed, strained smile spread across Mina's lips. She began to walk towards Vex, her hand suddenly coated in a deep, Dark energy.
"Girl, you are no more than a flea to me-"
Mina cut him off, her blade erupting from her hand. Vex stared down, the blade shoved deep into his gut. Coughing out something almost tar like, Vex smiled grimly.
"You think you're so smart. Would I really be this weak, especially appearing directly in front of you like this? I altered your reality to realize my dream for a reason! I won't die so easily without making her mine!"
Mina looked into his eyes. For the first time, she felt extreme hatred. Lashing out, her fist collided with his face.
"Agh! What is with you bitches and punching me in the face!?"
Mina tore her blade from his gut, a dark miasma escaping his body.
"You bastard... get bent."
Her hand gleamed with a divine light, shoving it deep inside his body it erupted. The phantom faded, leaving Mina alone in the strange dimensional zone. She fell to her knees, tears in her eyes.
"Kat... where are you?"
--
Thank you,
JScott and croix!