Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)
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pat.treon:/Keanu_Eugene
CHAPTER START---
Above the massive tree containing the Roc's nest on the 36th floor, Yang hovers in the air with flames keeping him aloft, arms folded as he slowly turns, tracking the massive bird monster as it flies around the perimeter of the forest preparing to rush him.
"As much as I love the practice... this is starting to get old buddy, just rush me already..." he mutters to himself as the monster begins lining up to rush him.
Unfortunately for the Trifecta, they learned quickly that Rocs only spawn every few days, at this point they're almost into their last week of the expedition, and Yangs about to hopefully collect their 4th Roc talon, and preferably, judging by the annoyed expression on his face, the final one he'd ever need to get.
There is one upside to these constant Roc fights at least, it forces him to better control and concentrate his magic.
*BOOM*
He rockets forward, facing the Roc head-on as both combatants play chicken with each other.
A massive pillar of flames behind him as he pushes more and more magic into his flight, testing his top speed more than anything else. His lips are sealed tightly as the wind slams against his face, with some focus he creates a mask of wind for the sake of not having his eyes destroyed by air resistance, a trick he's learned while pushing his speed further and further vs Rocs.
As the wind and fire swirl around him, Yang lifts his right hand in line with his shoulder, a large blast of flames is shot from his hand. Using the momentum he tumbles into a barrel roll to his left, narrowly missing the mouth of the monster as it flies past him.
Tumbling in the air he does a complete 180 before forcing more wind and fire under his feet than before, instantly halting his momentum and accelerating in the opposite direction.
In a matter of seconds, he closes in on the Roc and hovers over its back, its head looking around wildly, trying to crane its neck as it senses his magic above and behind it.
With a blast of flame from his back, he slams full-bodied into the feathers on the monster's back and grabs onto it, thick layers of wind crashing against each other as the Rocs windshield competes with the wind around his hand trying to pierce it.
After almost a minute of struggling, his hand finally sinks into the feathers and grabs hold, a pleased smile spreads across his face.
'That was faster than last time, maybe my wind isn't complete shit...' he muses while taking a knee on the creature's back.
With his left hand firmly grasping the feathers, his left knee down on the monster as it thrashes around in the air, desperate to knock him off.
He raises his right fist, a massive amount of fire and heat burst forth as the vortex of flame begins to condense onto his right arm. It shrinks further, burning even hotter as it culminates into a blinding blue fist of flame, held above his head as he stares down at the creature's back.
"PROMETHEUS STRIKE!"
His fist crashes down, the wind-enhanced fire attack crashing into and easily bypassing the monster's wind defense as its body immediately begins burning, charging his attack allowed him to gather too much firepower for this enemy to contest.
In one solid hit, a blast of flame is sent through the Roc, destroying everything, including the crystal, as it pierces a meter-wide hole through to the other side.
As the monster's body disappears below him because of the destroyed stone, the 2 ft tall object honestly being rather difficult to miss with his attack, considering where he was aiming. Yang resumes flying under his own power as he chases the falling talon, following it into the trees below.
Landing with a thud beside it, he places a hand on the item and before long, it disappears into his storage.
"I wonder how they're doing," he mutters to himself while flying off once more, toward the valley area of this floor.
---36th Floor, The Valley...
Welf Crozzo was in pain, he would rather not say it out loud but he was hurting. Glancing over his left shoulder, Thalie stands with her back against the valley wall as she watches his fight.
His nose was broken, destroyed from having his face slammed into the stone floor, his arms are numb and shaking. Blood drips from the handle of his greatsword, not from his enemy, from his fingers.
His mouth can't close properly, he's confident that his jaw is fractured, even if he wanted to ask for help, even if she would break their teams' agreement and help him, it would hurt his jaw and his pride.
Standing before him, the cause of all his pain. A small rock golem, made of hardened stone and standing 8ft tall. One arm missing and slash marks from his greatsword all across its body.
As the monster approaches, he takes one more deep breath, rushing forward on his injured legs, he gives the final clash his all.
Run. Dodge. Slash. Repeat.
He swings his blade faster and faster as he chips away at the monster. Had he begun this fight at his peak, there wouldn't this much of a problem at all, but unfortunately, that's what makes this floor a wall that stops those who aren't ready for the next steps down into the dungeon.
Relentless enemies, faster-spawning, one long corridor built for combat. The ultimate meatgrinder as Yang would call it. And Welf is once again understanding what it felt like facing something that you normally should be able to overcome, but while you're running on fumes.
*CLANG!*
His blade shatters the left knee of the golem, causing it to drop into a kneeling position, lopsided as it is, its left arm and leg now missing.
Knowing the crystal is 9 inches deep in the middle of its chest, clearly the easiest route, easier than piercing through the foot and a half of rock that would mean going through its bulkier back.
Circling around the monster, Welf drives his greatsword forward with both his hands, bloodied and wrecked as they are, thrusting the point of the blade into the chest of the monster, only for it to reach up and grab the blade before he can make it to the crystal, easily outmuscling his tired body.
"UGH!" he grunts while releasing the blade, not having the strength to compete in a tug of war with his opponent.
"Mmm," he groans while backing up rapidly, the monster slowly making to pull the blade out of its chest.
With one final sprint, he dashes forward and jumps into a dropkick, parallel to the floor he lands both his feet onto the back of his blade. The flat portion just under the hands, allowing both his feet to impact with the weapon.
*CRACK*
The monsters' crystal is pierced and it falls apart, causing the sword to drop onto the floor beside Welf's feet as he lays prone. Looking to his right as he lays on the ground, he sees Yang has now joined Thalie in observing his fight, how long has he been there, he doesn't know, far too focused on his opponent to notice.
As Yang walks over, he casually withdraws a potion from his storage, with a weak hand Welf points toward his own face, a silent instruction for applying the potion.
Pouring some of the potion onto his face before allowing him to drink the rest, Welf can now speak without pain.
"Argh, my arms and legs need healing, other than that, I need a damn nap..." he groans out while Yang takes out another potion to begin healing him.
Arriving back at camp a few hours later, Welf immediately gets washed up and lays down in the tent for a nap. Repairs and Ingots can wait until tomorrow he said as he easily goes to sleep.
The following morning, sitting, or laying in Welf's case, Tsubaki had the Status Snitch in hand, ready to update everyones' statuses.
As the drop falls onto his back, she immediately goes to her notes and matches the numbers and letters to scribble down his stats.
"Hmm, this training thing's been working, all above B, get your feat and you should be able to level up, or you can just do what Yang does and overload the Falna and force a level up," she says with a shrug.
"I don't think that's normal, I'd rather just get it out of the way now so we can go deeper in the dungeon without me being dead weight..." He says with a small frown.
"Can't go without you so stop being such a downer, your whole thing is wanting to make stuff anyway so you don't need to be keeping up with this weirdo," Thalie says while gesturing to Yang.
"Well that's one way to put it I guess, but yeah that's basically how it is," Yang agrees with a shrug.
"Alright, miracle boy, your turn," Tsubaki says while pointing at the sleeping bag for him to lay down.
Laying down shirtless on his sleeping bag, Tsubaki leans over and pours one drop of the liquid onto his back, taking notes as soon as the Falna appears as quickly as she can before it disappears.
"Ok, as expected pretty much you're a freak, some SS and some S..." She says while shooting him a glare.
"Hey it's not like I chose to be a weirdo, jeez," he grumbles.
"Yeah well seems like all three of you are ready to level up, just need your feats," Tsubaki says while handing the item back to Yang for safekeeping.
"Mmm, I'm not gonna do that just yet, my stats aren't where I want them to be," Thalie says with a look of deep thought on her face.
"That's fine, just keep it in mind," Tsubaki says while making her way out of the tent.
"Well, sounds like we're adventure hunting people, hope you're ready," Yang says with a manic grin.
"Ugh, I really don't like when he gets like this..." Welf mutters, laying back down to rest his still sore body a bit.
"Yeah but can't argue with the results right," Thalie says with a shrug before leaving the tent.
END CHAPTER---