A bit later than usual, I was just occupied with some other things.
Anyway, this chapter is big, 4K words long.
Enjoy.
(PS: There may be more errors than normal, that's because I edited this chapter with music blasting in my ears, so I didn't quite focus like I usually do)
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'Like the wind, Silver hastily made his way across the floors of the Dungeon…'
'Everything on his way, be it monster or material, was properly taken care of.'
"Sigh..."
'Stuffing a large bag worth of materials, knowing full well its contents were worth tens of millions made him realize full well the difference between adventurers.'
'Even if a party tries their best in the Upper floors, being very efficient, just how much will they make?'
'50 thousand at most...'
'In here, you only need a struck of luck and you can find something worth one million...'
'Of course, just as their pay is larger, their expenses are equally as high, if there's someone buying Under Coral for 2 Million each, there's someone paying 6 Million for a Knife made with it.'
'That's how the market went...'
'But without further ado, his first stop was of course...'
/28th floor…/
/Step…/
"A new record."
'After descending a large staircase, he arrived at a massive open area.'
'Not as big as the 18th floor, but big enough to house a large town.'
'The ceiling was mostly made of blue stone like the floors before it, full of glowing rocks similar to the crystals on the 18th floor, regulating day and night in this place deep underground.'
'The ground was mostly sand, but there were many rocky areas, and if someone really wanted to, the sand didn't go that deep, so it was simple to clear an area.'
'There aren't that many trees all around, the only ones here look like distorted coral as if Silver had just stepped into the floor of the Ocean.'
'But there were many large rocks, and these same rocks when carved, together with the additional materials collected from the Second area that encompasses the 29th to the 32nd floors, were used and reformed into many facilities such as houses, inns, and more.'
'Of course, they're all extremely expensive, even more so than Rivira, but surprisingly enough, people don't complain.'
'Why? Because different from Rivira, the prices here are much fairer.'
'While Rivira is a safe zone on the 18th floor, this is the safe zone on the 28th floor.'
'When taking an overall look, both the Service X Danger and the Quality X Price ratios are better than what Rivira has.'
'There is a reason why Rivira is said to be full of scammers.'
'All of this worked together to form quite the unusual place.'
'Like Rivira, this town existed for many decades, albeit even then, it was not as famous as the latter, for obvious reasons.'
"Now that I think about it, I have never visited Rivira…" Silver said as he scratched his neck
I said I would visit it with her… But in the end, I never did...
There was never a reason to go there, I don't need to rest in the Dungeon at all.
And now, I'll once again go past this one since there's no point for me to resupply.
"Sigh, I need to stick more to my promises."
After all of this is over, I'll bring Haruhime, I'm sure she would like.
Who knows, perhaps I can even bring Hestia as well...
Although it's strictly prohibited for Gods to enter the Dungeon, some do break the rules, and as long as they don't release their divinity, the Dungeon would normally be incapable of noticing it.
But would she remain put and not cause trouble?
Hm...
'Without looking back and thinking of some pretty dangerous things, Silver went to the next floor.'
…
/Sometime later.../
/29th floor…/
'As he said before, this was the start of a new zone.'
'It was very similar to a swamp, tall trees with long roots that went above ground, and murky brownish-black water that went all the way to one's knees...'
'The worst nightmare of any Pallum, as the water could often surpass their waist...'
/SPLURT!/
'Without mercy, Silver trampled on the giant crocodilian monster that tried to ambush him from the shallow waters, making its body split apart like minced meat.'
"Why are they all so damn sticky?" He said with some disgust
'He raised his foot from the minced body of the reptilian creature, shaking it.'
'In fact, if you were to look around, you would see that the water that surrounded him was died red with blood.'
'The trees around him were full of meat pieces and intestines as if decorated for some macabre festival.'
'And behind Silver, the bodies of at least 30 more such monsters laid there, half floating in the dirty water…'
'After gathering enough Data, with a serious expression, he started his assessment of this new monster.'
"Mid Level 3 at most, very hard scales, very agile despite its chubby look, especially so in water, Level 4 in speed, decently strong as well."
If it stays motionless, it would look no different from a log.
'He crouched near the body, grabbing its legs...'
"Half-meter-long claws and its tail is full of sharpened scales, one hit could cut a normal man into pieces... Even a Level 2 adventurer would be minced."
"Sharp teeth, but they're meant to shatter bones than cut meat and… Wow! A drop!"
'And just like that, he grabbed the green shiny scale on the ground and left, continuing his adventure, ignoring the rest around him with a pleased expression.'
"..."
'But after a few minutes, he came back with a dark expression because he forgot to collect his loot...'
…
/30th floor…/
'With a large frown and an angry expression, Silver raised his hands, boiling the water around him… Saying, "This is annoying" as he saw a few dark figures move in the murky waters...'
/SPLAT!/
'Silver moved his hand sideways, increasing the gravity in front of him by several times, making the ground cave in and the water splash to the sides as if a barrier had been deployed there.'
/KYYY!/
'When he did that, a large group of black serpentine creatures appeared, being squashed against the ground into black puddles!'
'They were leeches, each the size of his arm! Some even bigger!'
'His expression distorted, normally, he didn't really care about gore or the look of the creatures in the Dungeon, but he had developed a particular hate of these small "critters" when one of them bit his toes when he wasn't paying attention.'
'Remember that Silver wasn't really wearing any protective gear, simply a black boot so his feet wouldn't get wet, not that it mattered as he could easily dry them, but his boot could've very well have been made from a sturdier material.'
'The pain still haunts him...'
"Disgusting."
A single drop of blood and these guys will come swarming from who knows where.
They come in packs of hundreds like the Iguazu, an awful monster through and through.
If you let even one bite you, it's over, they'll suck you dry within a second, I'm not kidding...
It isn't pleasant.
They can also jump out of the water.
(Image)
"They are a good source of money regardless, since monsters drop more loot the deeper you go, so at least 1 in 4 will drop something apart from their Magic Stones…"
'His expression distorted as he felt the water tremble around him, he exclaimed in disbelief, "More?!" as he clenched his teeth and hands in anger.'
Give me a break!
Alright, I've had enough.
Even if I have to tire myself a bit...
/Crackle.../
'Silver's eyes started to burn as red flames danced around his body…'
'His arms started to turn black as his muscles carbonized, showing his black and charred skeleton underneath it!'
'This went all the way to his legs, even affecting part of his chest!'
'As his legs burned, he started to levitate above the ground.'
"Just leave me alone already." He exclaimed as he pointed down
/BURN!/
'Like a volcano erupting, the entire area in a 10M radius of him was immediately reduced to cinders.'
'He didn't move, allowing the flames of destruction to cover his entire body.'
/SPLASH!/
'It didn't take long for the water to move back, leaving only the charred trees as evidence of what had happened here.'
/Fwoosh.../
"..."
'Silver remained there, in the sky, watching with a tensed forehead, his veins bulging out as his body went back to normal.'
'He turned to look at the side, seeing a small black mass approaching him…'
"These aren't the Lower floors for nothing, monsters will never give you peace…"
'His expression twisted towards a mad smile.'
"But that was why I came here..."
Isn't that so?
/Spark.../
/Freeze.../
'An ice spear slowly condensed on his right hand together with a red spark of light in the form of a star as he turned his body mid-air to face the incoming beasts.'
…
/31st floor/
/ROARRRR/
'With a mighty roar, a tyrannically large, 9M tall bear creature swung its meaty and deformed paws towards Silver.'
(Image?)
"HAA!"
'Exclaiming loudly, Silver punched upwards without fear against the monstrous creatures several times his own size.'
'His fist was akin to a pebble for this beast.'
/BAM!/
'The hand and the paw collided, causing the nearby shallow water to shoot up!'
/GRR!/
'The bear took a step back, in the middle of its hand, a hole could be seen, leaking blood into the murky water.'
'Seeing its reaction, Silver taunted as he kicked the ground, causing it to crack:'
"What is it big guy? Expected me to get squashed?"
/SMACK!/
/ROOOOAAAAR?!/
'Silver kicked the bear's face, sending it rolling back.'
"... Not enough?"
This big guy should be… Mid-Level 4? What was the name of this monster again?...
Ursas Boxer?
Such an awful name... I'm sure this name was given by the Gods...
"Still..."
But things are starting to get interesting.
There is a reason why they say that after the 29th floor, monsters Level 2 adventurers cannot kill start to appear.
This guy is a tad bit above that as well... And I've killed 9 already.
"They are pretty common in these waters..."
Kind of wanted to say that...
/THUM!/
/ROARRRR!/
"?..."
'Upon recovering its wits, the bear raised its mighty paws and hit the ground, sending Silver into the air with its shockwave!'
/BAAAAAM!/
'Its paws crashed against the ground like a comet hitting the earth...'
'Many trees were immediately uprooted as the rocks beneath them shattered under its mighty power!'
"..."
'Time seemed to slow down, with Silver starting at this chaotically yet beautiful scene of the world ending around him as he 'flew' in the air.'
'Time slowed so much in fact, he could clearly see the shockwave traveling from the bear's attack.'
'But in truth, he hadn't used any ability, this was simply his normal perception caused by him focusing.'
'Yet, suddenly, Silver blurted out a single word, "!Wow…" as he saw something unexpected.'
This bear…
'In a surprising turn of events, right after it hit the ground before the shockwave even had time to travel a third of the way to Silver, the bear's eyes turned red as its anger reached the peak.'
'Its paws dug onto the ground, pushing itself forward.'
'Rushing with its 4 limbs in a feat of speed that made even Silver in awe.'
'The bear was so fast that from its perspective, the water and the rocks in the air became still…'
'In the blink of an eye, the bear broke through the shockwave it had previously caused.'
'All of this was caught by Silver's eyes.'
It's faster than the Iguazu… A bit faster.
How fast is this? Twice the speed of sound? Thrice?
Whatever, come...!
/FWOSH!/
'It swung its paws once more, trying to split Silver apart!'
'But it only cut… Air.'
"A shame friend." Silver replied as he reappeared beneath the bear, his finger upward, pointing towards... The sky?
'He shrugged and said:'
"I can teleport and fly."
'It seemed he was a bit faster, or so he wanted to say, but in the end, he felt embarrassed to say more cheesy words.'
/SPLURT!/
'His finger suddenly parted open in two, and he pointed it at the bear's head.'
'Like a railgun, a highly concentrated beam of light was released from within it, penetrating the bear, opening a clear hole through it…'
'But no blood spilled, because everything had been carbonized.'
/Splash!/
'Silver landed on the ground...'
"My High Magic Stat is starting to show itself if I raise one or two more Levels..."
/POOF!/
'The bear turned into ash, exploding into ash...'
/BAM!/
'At the same time, the shockwave arrived, pushing all of the ash onto Silver with extreme momentum!'
"COUGH! Motherfucker!"
"Some got into my ass!" He said as he shook his boots and pants
'Truly...'
'This bear, it may not have caused him any damage, but it managed to give him trouble...'
…
/32nd floor…/
/Smack!/
"Yup, no more swamp, I guess this is it." He said as he kicked a rock into the horizon
"I won't miss it."
The last zone of the Lower floors, the Dinassaur zone!
'In front of Silver was a large valley.'
'And he was sure this place could house Orario without any problem.'
'If he were to count the caverns within the Dungeon's walls and beneath the ground, the total area would've likely been even bigger.'
'Perhaps he could even add Melen here as well... Don't hold him onto this...'
"The 18th floor could already house Orario, albeit with quite little space left, so the 32nd floor being able to do so is nothing impressive."
"But honestly, this wasn't the case for the floors between the 19th and 31st... I wonder why."
By the time I reach the 70th floor, how large would it be?
Big enough to encompass all the way to Rakia in the extreme North? That's a few thousand Km... And that's a conservative estimation.
Would the 90th floor be large enough to house the entire Continent? I think that's too much...
And if so, what sort of monsters would be there?
'Silver raised his index finger to his chin as he started to think.'
Typically, the size of the floors is deeply tied to the strength of the monsters within them.
Simply put -> Big floors -> "Stronk" monsters that need space to fight properly
This can be simply because they're big, like the Amphisbaena that takes most of the 27th floor, or simply due to a destruction factor.
"If it was to be that big… Then following the 12-floor rule, the 90th floor would be in the middle of the 8th zone."
Going over it again in a resumed manner, the difficulty of each floor goes hand to hand with its 'zone'.
Starting with its suitable level, before becoming harder as it transitions to the next zone.
The Upper floors are from the 1st to the 12th floor. Suitable for Level 1 to 2 adventurers.
The Middle floors are from the 13th to the 24th floor. Suitable for Level 2 to 3 adventurers
The Lower floors are from the 25th to the 36th floor. Suitable for Level 3 to 4 adventurers.
The Deep floors are from the 37th floor and beyond since there is no name for anything beyond that.
Of course, it's not like you need to stick with these rules.
Since the Guild uses the average as a way to measure things, if you're above average, then yes, try to go beyond... That's what you should do.
It's very normal to see Level 1 adventurers on the Middle floors, and Level 2 adventurers on the Lower floors, it's not like they can't be there.
It just means that they're likely unsuitable to deal with "Everything" those floors have to offer.
"That is just a conventional naming sense, even if the Guild says that everything beyond the 37th floor is said to be a "Deep" floor, that means nothing to the Dungeon."
Perhaps there is some sense in there.
Ouranos is the one that keeps the Dungeon in check after all.
And he is the one who made the Guild, and the Guild was the one that spread these kinds of things...
'Silver started to float in the air to scout the area, saying:'
"I think the Guild did this to protect the adventurers…"
People can be overwhelmed when given many options, sometimes ending up choosing nothing or even, entirely giving up.
That is why sometimes, having someone lead the way is good.
The reason why the Guild forces some Familias to go on expeditions… To set an example, and it's also in line with the Guild's objective of conquering the Dungeon.
Sayings that 'Humans' are social animals may be a good way to explain this.
If newbies were to go and learn that they spent 10 years only to reach the second zone, when there are in fact, 5 more, they would certainly get disheartened.
The crushing realization that they're nothing, and in no way special... It can be heavy... Not all can tolerate such feelings, much less grow.
This same reasoning can be applied to fear, most civilians would hear stories of Amphisbaena, and for them, that monster would be like, the final monster their parents would tell them about before going to sleep.
But knowing that somewhere down there are monsters that would eat it for lunch may be too much for the feeble mind of most mortals.
Especially when there are no such adventurers to protect them, heck, people already piss their pants for monsters such as the Basilisk, a Level 6 threat of the surface.
Now imagine how they would feel if they realized the Black Dragon was a thing...
Most would prefer to live in ignorance rather than to understand the truth...
That they are helpless no matter what they do.
"Anyway..."
With the current method, if adventurers spent 10 years only to reach the Middle floors, there are only the Lower and Deep floors left to go as the rest is unknown.
It's half of the way as compared to a fifth as the unknown is often not ignored.
Some would definitely continue, but those would be special, they would keep walking regardless of their surroundings, people with a strong will.
The problem is the talents that would turn their backs before they had the time to bloom, not everyone is born great, and some need time to become such.
Most Legends were like that, starting from some nameless guy in some easily forgettable place before becoming a great ruler…
The Guild doesn't want those potential talents to go away, they are already pressed with what they already have, so they need everyone they can get.
Eventually, these efforts will give birth to Heroes that can take on the Final Quest of the 3 Great Quests!
Or so they wished... Because those Heroes died.
"For me, however, the Deep floors end on floor 48."
"I like being methodic and I don't mind knowing that there are many levels above me."
Because it has the opposite effect on me.
It makes me... Want to catch up with them.
I don't have words for what would come after the Deep floors, and technically, that doesn't matter, that is why I call them Zones.
With all of this in mind, the 7th zone would end on the 84th floor, and the 8th zone would encompass from the 85th to the 96th floor.
And the ideal level for adventurers would be… Levels 8 and 9.
When I say it like this, I mean, it would be for a PARTY, not that they need to have that Level to be there.
I am 100% sure that there is no need for adventurers to go that far if they wish to raise their Levels to 8 and 9 respectively.
There are bound for many unique monsters to exist, and several Monster Rexes are going to be there, guarding the Dungeon in some dark place.
A feat worth such strength, there are many...
'Silver scratched his chin.'
"That is already entering into the realm of Legends and fables."
The strongest monster before the big three was Nidhogg.
Nidhogg was defeated by the 6 Great Spirits in the middle of the Era of Heroes...
That was between 10 thousand and 1 thousand years ago.
"Or was it before? My knowledge of history is lacking in this regard... Doesn't matter, when it's about history tens of thousands of years ago, things start to get inconclusive and imprecise with many interpretations."
Cough! Back to Nidhogg...
It was eventually overturned by the big three.
I meet with one of the Great Spirits in a weird twist of fate, but I have no idea how strong she is.
She could very well be beyond Level 9 for all I know...
My most conservative guess is 7.
(N1)
I refuse to go below that, I think it would be too much of a disrespect for the Heroes of the past to say that the strongest monster of their Era was weak enough to be defeated by a group of Level 5 Spirits...
Just kidding.
Taking how strong the Zeus and Hera Familias were for defeating 2 of the big three…
"Would its power be around there?" He said, pensive
If so, would those deep floors be full of monsters on the same level as it?
'Silver smirked.'
"That would be pretty fun to find out…"
It even gives me the idea to go there right now, I bet that if I use everything I have, I should at least reach it…
But then again, I don't want to risk meeting some sort of crazy monster and getting vaporized before being able to do anything.
"Step by step I'll get there…"
'But his expression soured again as he let out a sigh…'
"That is what I would've liked to say..."
"Because it seems fate is asking me to hurry up."
How strong is a monster on the 90th floor? Would it be strong enough to destroy nations in a matter of minutes?... Seconds?
Riveria can cast magic that can wipe out large sections of Orario if not most of it at once and she is a Limit Magic stat Mage close to Level 7.
If we raised her Level by 1, she would be in the range expected for those Levels…
"Not quite there then, of course, I'm talking about Riveria, who is already a very destructive and power-oriented mage, an Irregular among Irregulars into consideration here."
Destruction capabilities may not be their focus, they may just have weird abilities or simply go in another direction.
An example is the Level 6 monster in the North I just talked about, the Basilisk.
It has destroyed cities and more, even causing a desert to increase in size…
But in the end, it is only Level 6 at most…
"Albeit someone has yet to take it down…"
/KAAAAAA!/
'From the sky South of Silver's current location, a flock of massive… Pterosaurs started moving in his direction, rising amidst the massive trees, casting shadows in the mountains.'
"I guess time's up, I enjoyed my time off long enough."
/Crack…/
'Silver cracked his knuckles before opening his right fist, a hole started to open on his palm…'
/CRACK!/
"!"
'But from below him a massive worm at least 10 meters wide appeared, wishing to swallow him whole!'
'So with an even large smile, he exclaimed, "Showtime!" as his body flashed in white light.'
/BOOOM!/
/Thunder.../
/Crackle!/
'For the next few hours that day, the 32nd floor's skies thundered with lightning bolts…'
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Notes
N1
I used Level 7 as the minimum for the Great Spirits because, in the most recent Danmemo episode, it was specified that Fianna, by using the Bloodfury Spear, could get to Level 5 or 6 depending on her anger.
And considering she was a great Hero of Legends, I felt the Great Spirits had to be at least a bit higher than that.
Overall, this chapter has a lot of exposition.
Most of it was merely speculation, and there weren't a lot of things that went outside of the Danmachi world formula.
The only thing that could be wrong here is the way the Dungeon builds itself, and the influence of Ouranos in it.
Since it could be technically much smaller, albeit I don't think that's the case.
I spoke about Levels, and how things could possibly go.
It may seem strange to think of floors where to hunt there, you would need a party of Level 7's, but sometimes we forget there was once such a party in the world.
Even though there was only one Level 8 and 9, there were adventurers strong enough to compete with such powerhouses, with the current Ottar likely being strong enough to face Level 9 threats.
At least like this, I set up some background for the Dungeon,
We'll see more of it, not in this Volume, but likely in the ones after.
Considering Silver will become Level 4 this Volume, in the next one, he'll take his first steps in the Deep floors, and we'll likely end the volume with him being somewhere around that.
Only in the one after we'll like take the first steps into the unknown and explore the Dungeon fully.
Albeit until then, there are many events planned, I think at least 80+ more chapters...
We'll reach there soon enough.