"Harf harf..."
'The tired Elf recovered a little of his breath. And then spoke:'
"Good morning Mellios. You are very punctual… As always. Did you ever miss the time in the last two weeks?"
"I don't think so?"
"..."
"Arent you the same? You are always here before me, do you love working in here that much?"
/Hahaha.../ x2
'The two laughed for a little before the elf intervened.'
"In any case, let's go over this quickly since we both have a lot of work to do."
'Loiju led Mellios to a small table on the corner of the Guild. A place where they could talk without the risk of being stopped by others.'
"So, did you do what I asked of you last time?... Why am I even asking, of course you did."
'Silver took a small fang from his backpack.'
"Hum… It's indeed a Hellhound fang. Sigh. You never cease to impress."
"With this… I think you should be able to stay on the middle floors… But only on the 13Th floor, okay! No matter how good you are, going to the Middle floors alone as a Level 1 is a little bit of a stretch."
"I am allowing you to go there because you showed me you had more than enough experience to handle the weaker monsters at the start of the Middle floor."
"But that isn't enough. Just being proficient isn't good enough. Monsters will get much more aggressive and their cooperation can kill even Level 2 parties if they aren't careful enough. You alone aren't nearly enough to fight dozens of monsters yet."
"Yeah yeah I know man."
A monster wave on the Upper floors would probably be demolished by a group of minotaurs.
That's the difference in strength between the monsters.
'The Elf looked at his lackluster adventurer. Although he is good, he needs to put some sense in his head before he tries something stupid.'
"Look, for your information, recently, there has been an increase in the number of deaths in the middle floors. So make sure to stop before diving deeper than the 13Th floor."
"Deaths? What's the cause of it?" Said Silver as he drank a little bit of the tea on the table.
"It seems a strange monster has appeared on the middle floors, some say it's an enhanced species while some say it's an Irregular, although there isn't any proper description of the monster. They just say that only blood remains from his foes."
"In any case, the Loki Familia has taken the commission to deal with it while they are on their expedition. A few others are currently investigating as well, so there shouldn't be any more victims but..."
'Silver eyes seemed to be sparkling.'
A rare monster you say? Might as well take a good look…
'This wasn't unnoticed by the Elf.'
I fucked up… I spoke too much… Look at his eyes
"Look, I don't want to sound like a nanny, but let me be straight."
"We don't know what might appear, as far as we know, it might be a normal enhanced species, or it can be a powerful Irregular."
"So please just stay away from it."
'Silver eyes didn't change in the least. But the glimmer soon dissipated.'
"I will."
"..."
'He won't' Said the almighty narrator.
Sigh…
There isn't much I can do apart from this…
"Oh yeah, you said the Loki Familia is going on another expedition, what was that all about?"
"Just more of the same, the Loki Familia has a habit of going on a raid every month or so. They even do minor expeditions from time to time."
"In fact, I think they are going today… Or is it tomorrow?"
"Their previous 2 expeditions were a major success. The Sword Princess became Level 5 and so did a few others, and in the last expedition, they trained some new blood and a few leveled up, so they think they are ready to explore deeper than the previous time."
"Which is?..."
"The 47Th floor. I mean, they are going to the 47Th floor. Their last big expedition led them to the 46Th floor."
(They stopped on the 59Th floor in the anime, so I thought it made sense for them to be on this floor by this time in the timeline.)
"In truth, their last expedition went perfectly, so I always thought they were more than ready to go deeper, but they decided to wait as always. This time, they might even go further than expected, but we can only wait and see."
"That's quite deep. I wonder what kind of monsters are there?"
"Unfortunately, that's classified information… Information related to deep monsters is normally kept a secret from other Familias; the only ones who reached that depth were the Hera and Zeus Familia after all."
"I was also curious but the executives of the Guild didn't allow me to peek...''
I knew the Guild kept such information a secret, but I wonder how they so perfectly erased all evidence off deeper areas…
There was Level 7's, 8's and 9's in those Familias; it's obvious that something as shallow as the 59Th floor isn't enough to give birth to such powerhouses.
Are they trying to make people forget about those power levels?… But why? To make people feel more safe knowing there aren't atrocities hidden deep below them?
… One day, I will fight those monsters myself and find out what it is that they are trying to hide...
'The Elf led Silver to a large wooden board and selected a few commissions, nothing too great, just things like gathering enough drop items from a specific monster and so on.
Other examples include Research of monster habits, investigating something, collecting samples from the Dungeon, mine Ores, rescuing adventurers, and so on.
Although they were all commissions for the Upper floors.
There was also a board dedicated to the Middle floors and one for the Lower floors, there was even one for the Deep floors. But there weren't any adventurers there.'
"Although you can handle yourself against some monsters on the Middle floors, I won't give you a commission until you either Level up or find a party, sorry for that man, Guild rules."
"It's fine. Not like I am desperate for money."
"..."
Shouldn't you be saying that you are going to look for a team?! It's already time!
"Isn't it time for you to find a supporter? They don't need to be strong, they only need to be good enough to help you and increase your efficiency."
"... I like fighting solo..."
I can collect anything with a combination of telekinesis and the inventory anyway… What do I need a supporter for? A pet?
'Silver suddenly remembered Lili and her catgirl form.'
… She isn't that far away from being a pet, to be honest...
"Not that again… Sigh. If you ever change your opinion, I can introduce you to some trustworthy supporters. There are many recruits looking for parties these days."
"Sure, I will! Don't worry Loiju, I will look for possible candidates to form a party, but it might take a while."
'The Elf eyes opened wide and lifted his arms to the air.'
"By the sacred tree!"
"..."
Is there a need to act like that?
'While the Elf was singing prayers, Silver sneakily left the Guild.'
'When he left, the Elf stopped and looked in the direction Silver had left. He looked rather downcast.'
"What's the face Loiju?... Ah, I see. Did you send another adventurer to the Middle floors? Be positive! They will return safely!" Said a feminine voice on the side.
'It was a girl with pink hair and short stature.'
"Sending your adventurer to dangerous places is always hard, even more so when they are your friend. If they don't come back..." Said Loiju
It's the same as sending a friend to die.
/Slap!/
'The girl slapped Loiju's back'
"Don't worry! Don't you like to brag about how reliable your adventurer is? Trust him!"
"... Sigh. You are right. I will trust my adventurer."
"Good!... Now! I also trust you! So please help me with these papers… WAIT!"
'Loiju ran away before she finished her phrase. He liked to work, but only when he was being paid.
He is a proud Elf! He doesn't do community work!'
…
"Harf… Phew. That was some good training. You can die now."
"Mu?"
/Splurt!/
'The fallen Minotaur's head was suddenly penetrated by an ice shard.'
/Poof!/
'After killing the minotaur, Silver sat at a rock and rested.'
'He picked a green potion in a very small flask and drank it, it was a strong antidote.'
"This tastes horrible… But it works I guess."
'He had just finished one of his "training" sessions.'
'This one was dedicated towards Agility.'
'It consisted of him going into a secluded area in the Middle floors. Finding a minotaur, and running in circles with it while under the effects of debilitating poisons.'
'Is It crazy? A little. Effective? Very much so.'
'Although it is a controlled situation, Silver is under immense danger as a minotaur isn't a slow nor weak monster. It's one of the strongest monsters in the Middle floors.'
'And Silver is under the effect of poisons to boot. This couldn't be more dangerous.
It would be a catastrophe for anyone if the Dungeon suddenly decided to spawn more monsters. But for Silver, it's not that dangerous since he can always leave.'
"Minotaurs are very fast. but they are rather dumb. If you are too far away and if they are provoked enough, they will initiate a charge."
"They become much faster during a charge but they lose a lot of control. So the only thing you need to do is dodge at the last moment. Even a Level 1 can do it."
"By the time the Minotaur recovers and starts running after me again, I am already gone. So they charge again. Rinse and repeat."
Most of the time, it's the Minotaur that gets tired first, since I have access to potions and items.
"Enough training, time to do some commissions and investigate what is going on in here."
I definitely noticed a decrease in adventurer activities recently. They must be scared of whatever is happening on these floors.
"Normally I would find one from time to time, but ever since I came here today I didn't find even one party."
'Silver made his way to the Upper floors, but he stopped when he smelled something unusual.'
"This smell… Blood?"
The smell of blood isn't rare in the Dungeon, but it is normally cleaned fairly quickly due to the Dungeon absorbing the blood and refreshing the air.
At least this is how it works on the Middle floors and above, the condition can get quite extreme in deeper floors such as the lava plains, cold plains, sand land...
'Silver soon found the source.'
"..."
'There were a few corpses on the ground, a fierce fight seemed to have happened here.'
'Silver immediately became invisible and used Muffle on himself. He also used detection methods to see if there was any hidden enemy. But he didn't notice anything.'
'So he went to check on these people.'
"... They were killed by multiple slashes… This is not caused by Claws as the damage is too clean."
There are no signs of bites and tearing normally caused by monsters such as a Hellhound.
"It was a fight between adventures… Or a monster wielding a sharp blade."
"Hum… A Cristal Mantis? No… That doesn't create these patterns."
"Their loot… Where is their bag?... Was it taken?"
Was it a robbery?
'He looked around and didn't notice anything.'
"So this narrows it down to a person, huh. Unless… It was a Xenos. But that's unlikely, they live deeper than just this if I am not mistaken. And they normally avoid adventurers at all costs."
This is probably something apart from the events happening recently, but I can't exclude that possibility yet.
"The place is really bloody, meaning these guys lost a lot of blood during the fight… Or they hurt the monster a few times."
'He analyzed the area for a little bit more and arrived at a conclusion.'
"When the Dungeon devours their bodies… Yup, this will become just like what Loiju described."
They were killed recently… I was too late to see the monster/perpetrator… And to save a few lives.
'Silver turned around and continued on his way.'
Rest in...
'But he stopped mid-way.'
"Hum… I could try reading their hieroglyphs..."
I asked Hestia to teach me how to read. Although I can't read most since it's been only two weeks, I can at least make sense of their Level.
'Silver went to one of the adventurers, one that was upside down.'
Sorry for this friend.
/RIIP/
'He ripped his clothes, revealing the man's back.'
'There was a symbol he didn't recognize, it was a strange horse galloping on a plate.'
"... Level… 3? Shiiiiit! What the fuck killed you all my dudes?!"
"He doesn't seem that hurt, he most likely managed to fend off against the monster but was eventually overwhelmed and hit with a single critical strike right in the neck."
So the monster is around this Level of power… High Level 3? If only I could read these guys' stats…
"But I can use some trickery hehe..."
Since every stat has a letter to classify it, as long as I find it, I can easily determine the range of his stats!
"Let's see… Strength is at G, Vitality H, Dexterity G, Agility H, Magic I"
"He should have been a Recent Level 3. Not a newbie, but certainly not a veteran."
It depends on his skills and other factors… He could have been a Level 3 for years and only had those stats.
Not really an average Level 3, something below that.
"But this is good, it means the monster isn't that much stronger. Wasn't there a reward for this kind of info? Let's read their names and bring them back to the Guild."
"And of course..."
/KATCHIN!/
'Silver took a nice photo of the man's back with his portable camera, showing all of his stats.'
'He proceeded to do the same for each member, finally, he buried their corpses with stone manipulation.'
'Ever since his stats increased and with all of his training, his abilities are slowly getting stronger and more viable for combat.'
"Phew. That was hard. May you all rest in peace."
/Step step.../
'It seemed Silver took a little too long in this place and now others had arrived'
"... I smell blood." Said one of the 5 adventurers, it was a tall weretiger
(Tiger man… Cute tiger ears and tail, normally more muscular than a cat person.)
"Looking at the surroundings, there must've been a fight in here recently. Look at those marks on the ground." Said a Chienthrope girl.
(Dog people, includes all breeds.)
"Look! There are some mounds there… They are graves..." Said the third member, a tiny pallum girl with a cute magical witch hat.
"..." Reveal yourself! Said the fourth member, a girl with blue hair.
'The entire team of 5 went into formation, the tall and strong weretiger on the front, the Chienthrope girl on the left and Asfi on the right, while the wizard Loli stayed on the middle.
And lastly, the tall elf with the nice hat stayed at the back with his bow.'
"..."
'Silver stepped out from behind a rock. What? He wasn't going to deactivate stealth in front of those guys.'
"It's a misunderstanding..." He said.
'Asfi expression changed considerably while the other four gripped their weapons tightly.'
Why is he here? Isn't he a Level 1 adventurer?
'Asfi went through many theories in her head, but she eventually decided to just ask.'
'But she was beaten by someone else:'
"Who are you and why are you here?" Asked the tall Weretiger.
"... I am an adventurer from a small Familia, I came here to make some money, just like you 5, I smelt blood and found the bodies of the adventurers, so I buried them."
'The Waretiger didn't believe that.'
"... Your hands are too clean."
Fuuuck… I used Rock manipulation and telekinesis… I never touched them…
"I washed my hands"
"..." x5
"#!... You must think I am some kind of idiot..." The weretiger was getting angry.
Urg… Fighting a beast-man wouldn't be a good idea right now, and this guy looks strong.
(This is real life, so the mc may take a while to recognize some characters, even more, when they were actually minor characters.)
"Calm down Falgar, he is telling the truth." Said Asfi.
"But Captain..."
"It's okay, let me talk from here on out."
"..."
She is defending me? Who is this beauty?... She seems familiar.
Blue hair, glasses, those boots...
It's on the tip of my tongue...
"Would you mind answering some questions? It will be fast."
"Sure"
"Firstly, my name is Asfi Al Andromeda"
"...!"
Hermes girl!! Shit. Does that mean that guy is paying attention to this event?
Doesn't that mean that these guys… Things got complicated.
Looks like things are more dangerous than I thought.
Every time the Hermes Familia is involved, it means something big is going on.
"My name is Mellios… Mellios Silver."
'Silver was calm and maintained his Pokerface.'
"..."
He didn't have much of a reaction, he probably doesn't know me… he truly is a new adventurer.
"Alright, let's start the questions, do you know those adventures?"
'Silver shook his head'
"No"
"Did you hear or see them fighting?"
'He shook his head once more'
"I was making my way back to the Upper floors when I smelt the blood. I did not hear any sounds. The fight most likely ended as soon as I came here… That was… Around 9 minutes ago?"
"... How did you make a hole for several people in 9 minutes?"
"..."
I expected this to happen one day. Looks like I will have to reveal a little about me, else these guys are going to suspect me.
And fleeing isn't an option, they are much faster than me, I would have to teleport right in front of them. And I would most likely receive a bounty.
I am choosing the lesser of two evils.
(He could just say, 20-30 minutes ago. But that would be even more suspicious as the fight probably ended earlier than that.)
"It's easier if I show you."
'Although they couldn't see, Silver hand started to grow small rocks in its skin.'
"Open... Sesame?"
'Slowly, a hole opened on the ground near them.'
"!" x5
"Is that..." Asked Asfi
"My magic."
"..."
Was that… A short chant? It's quite different from what he used that day!
Those ice spears and that dark shadow that devoured the magic stones…
Although I didn't understand exactly how he defeated those two adventurers. If I exclude that, that's already 3 magics.
"It's not really that impressive, but I guess it's good to make some traps?" Said Silver.
"Yeah..."
'Asfi was left with her mouth open. Although he is trying to undervalue his magic, it's already incredible for it to even affect the Dungeon when he is in fact Level 1.'
"Cough! In any case, this event is over..."
"Well not really."
'Silver took out a few photos from his pocket'
"I took a look at their status before they died so I at least know who they are."
"I don't know how to read the Hieroglyphs very well, so I only know their Levels and overall stats..."
"Oh."
'Asfi was surprised, this man also knew how to read the Hieroglyphs. What a surprise. This guy is looking more and more mysterious as time passes.'
'She picked the papers thinking it was just some notes but she almost dropped them on the ground when she took a good look!'
'It was perfect … Images of the adventurers' backs! All of their statuses was bare to see!'
'How and How?!'
"... Just… Thank you. This will be very useful for our investigations." She said
Although I want to ask where this came from…
It's not the time yet.
'As for Silver, he didn't think the photos were anything special. The Gods made many interesting products, including things like plastic, so he just assumed they had made a camera at some point.'
'He was wrong.'
"If this is all, I still need to make a trip to the 12Th floor to finish some commissions."
"It's over, thank you for the cooperation. Don't worry about the investigation reward, once we go back, I will personally report about your help and you should be able to collect the reward money by tonight."
"Thanks! Good luck everyone." Said Silver as he bowed.
'He waved at them and left.'
…
"... Was this fine? I still think he is suspicious" Said the Chienthrope girl.
"It's fine, I know him." Replied Asfi.
"You do?!" Said the Chienthrope in surprise.
"I met him a while ago… Let's leave that for later. We still need to check some places and finish our patrol."
"Ok!" x4
…
'Silver made his way to the 12Th floor without much trouble, but not everyone was having as good of a time as him...'
'Deeper than the place he met with the Hermes Familia members, a group of adventurers was going through an immense hurdle...'
(On the next episode of Dragon Ball)
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Notes
There has been a lot of side development recently, and I am sorry for that. I will try my best to not make things too stretched but also not try to make them seem rushed.
My head hurts trying to think about the developments… This is by far my most complex novel yet, for now. I would say my other novel is right next to it.
It's hard to say because in here, I already have a cast and world ready, while there, I made everything on my own.
Now, for a completely different question
Do you think that Gender bender is strange?
My friend recommended me to a gender bender Novel but I don't like the genre at all.
Tell me your opnions.