Taking a deep breath, I hefted the filled pouch, smiling.
I had been farming this floor for an hour now, and I knew that if I stayed any longer I ran the risk of the dungeon retaliating against me by spawning in a horde.
Tying the pouch around my waist, I smiled at the weight. The amount of Valis I would get after I left the dungeon...
Feeling giddy, I made my way to the next floor, where significantly harder enemies started appearing.
The Hard Armored, a large armadillo creature with a shell that feels like it's made from steel, however due to that the fleshy spots are extremely soft. It knows that, and utilizes its hard shell to avoid damage, as well as to deal damage. After all, with a shell that hard...
Silverbacks, which was exactly what you would imagine. A giant, silver monkey that had immense arm strength and was quite agile for it's large frame. Additionally, it had tough skin, so even if you managed to hit it, you needed a lot of power to damage it.
Lastly, the Infant Dragon. It was five feet tall and thirteen feet long. Not only was it a physical powerhouse, it was also a monster that could spew magic flames. It was the unofficial floor boss of both floors 11 and 12.
Walking down the ramp, I passed a few adventurers, some going down with me and some coming up. They ignored me, and I ignored them, but I made sure to keep an eye on them, to make sure they wouldn't try anything while we were down here.
Moving in the opposite direction as them, I started slowly exploring the floor.
Unlike the previous floor, the fog here was much thicker, and the grass longer. There was more risk on this floor, not only from the new monsters but also from how the previous monsters, the Imps and Bad Bats were capable of utilizing the grass to ambush unprepared adventurers.
Slowly walking around, I listened for rustling in the grass or for the sound of monsters spawning.
It only took a few moments, but I heard the familiar pop, however it was much louder than before.
Narrowing my eyes, I readied my spear and slowly made my way towards the sound.
Cresting the hill, I saw the familiar form of a Hard Armored. The dark grey shell was rough, a few spiky protrusions scattered on it. Seeing the glowing ruby eyes looking straight at me, I smiled.
Seeing it draw it's body closer together, I looked for any potential joints or exposed flesh to target. As it started slowly approaching me, my smile widened when I saw that there were two spots I could target.
Both the front right elbow and the stomach were exposed. The way the Hard Armored was walking opened those spots up, though the stomach would only be accessible if I got close and stabbed my spear as far as possible.
Meeting the monster, I swayed out of the way of its powerful swipe, sending a jab towards the inside of its arm.
Grunting, the monster moved back a few steps, looking at me warily. I had scored a shallow gash in a sensitive spot.
Watching it's movements, I waited for it to start moving towards me again before I lanced my spear forwards, towards it's stomach. A long fight was something I wanted to avoid with any monster, but especially Hard Armored. They had incredible stamina, and when paired with how little damage they took, they were a monster that killed many adventurers, from rookies to veterans.
Feeling my spear tip pierce flesh, I pushed deeper, earning a sequel from the Hard Armored. It struggled, but I swayed away from its arms, before it dissipated into dust.
I picked up the crystal, looking at it. It was a bit smaller than my palm, and was a deep purple with small specks of gold in the center. Smiling down at it, I placed it in a new pouch. I had two pouches left, with the previous one being filled with the smaller crystals of the monsters from the first ten floors.
Looking around, I made sure to keep my senses spread to pick up any signs of potential ambush, either from other adventurers or from monsters.
Hearing nothing, I picked a direction and started walking.
Sadly, the rest of my time on Floor 11 was spent killing Orcs, Imps, and Bad Bats. Only one more Hard Armored spawned, and I dispatched it much in the same way that I dispatched the first one.
Hefting the two full pouches, and feeling the few crystals in my last remaining pouch, I grinned.
Retying them onto my waist, I made my way to the ramp leading down to the next floor. Even though I could stay up here, I just wanted to say that I have, yet again, 'conquered' the Upper Floors yet again.
As I made my way down the ramp, I looked over the heavy fog and rolling forests of Floor 12.
The earthy smell, with slight undertones of moss and decay.
Looking around, I saw a few flashes of magic, as well as the shouts and growls of various fights.
Making my way to the base of the ramp, I rested my spear over my shoulder, just taking in the atmosphere of the floor. Yet again picking a direction, I enjoyed my stroll through the floor, killing the Orcs, Imps, and Bad Bats that spawned quickly.
Feeling the last pouch fill up, I took in a deep breath before turning back towards the ramp leading to the surface. Sadly, not everything can go smoothly.
"Hand over your valuables and we'll let you live, Ker."
Hearing a raspy voice, I looked around, seeing four men surrounding me. Raising a brow, I stayed quiet.
The one who spoke was riddled with scars, a short sword in his hand. With light armor, I guessed he was a tracker or thief.
There was a set of twins, both wielding longswords, with leather and chainmail armor.
Lastly, a large man with a large axe was grinning at me, and I recognized him as the idiot from a few days ago.
"Did you not learn your lesson?"
Hearing my cold voice, his grin widened as he said "Not even you could fight against four level twos!"
Sighing, I lowered my spear.
"Have you all not heard about the many, many idiots before you who tried something similar? This isn't my first time, y'know."
Without letting them respond, my spear flickered forwards, taking the scarred man in the abdomen. Shouting out, he dropped to the ground, trying to staunch his bleeding. Moving towards him, I kicked his head as I rushed by, breaking his nose. Swaying, I felt two daggers fly past me.
Grinning, I looked towards the twins, who were frowning at me.
"[By my Blood, By my Might], Keres Stride!"
They looked at me in fear as I started chanting, and had tried to stop me by throwing daggers and charging at me, but I avoided everything, and activated one of my two spells.
Feeling mana swirl around my legs, I grinned widely as I flickered around them, before stabbing my spear into one of the twins heart. Pulling my spear out, my grin widened as I saw part of his heart on the end of my spear, and I flicked it away.
Screaming, the remaining twin charged at me, only to be greeted by my fist as I appeared before him, sending him to the ground.
Hearing the large man behind me, I moved out of the way as his axe slammed into the remaining twin, killing him instantly.
"You are a terrible person, y'know? You attack an innocent lady, then kill your party member."
Shaking my head, I chuckled when he roared before swinging his axe again. I side stepped, before sending my spear into his right knee.
Screaming in pain, he dropped to the ground. Laughing, I placed the spear on his shoulder, looking down at him.
"This is the consequence of your own actions... I rarely go out of my way to kill people. However, it seems the rest of you have no problem going out of your way to try and kill me..."
Saying so, my smile dropped. Getting closer, I looked him in the eye, and saw his fear.
"Pl-Please... I-I didn't mean it... we weren't... weren't going to kill you..."
"Of course not... instead, you would rob me before having your way with me, passing me around like some kind of rag, before leaving me in the Dungeon. Not kill me..."
Growling, I stabbed my spear into the ground, before placing my hands on his cheeks.
Smiling at him, he gave me a shaky smile before...
Screaming.
I thrust my thumbs deep into his eyes, digging around in his skull. The jelly like sensation was disgusting, but at the same time...
My grin widened, and I felt the familiar rush spread through my body.
Chuckling, I watched as he tried to get me off him, but he simply couldn't damage me.
This was the difference between levels. Only the truly talented could cross this gap.
More than four people were needed to truly ambush me. At least they needed to attack first, before saying a word.
He grew silents, and I let him go, using his clothes to wipe the mush off my thumbs.
I turned, looking at the three other corpses.
I probably didn't need to activate Keres Stride, but the feeling of being empowered by mana was addicting, and who knows, maybe one of these idiots could get a lucky hit in...
I crouched down, looking through their corpses.
The twins had a few knives, as well as a few whetstones. The scarred man with the shortsword had 29,000 Valis, as well as a few potions and crystals.
The real kicker was the large man.
He had three pouches of crystals, as well as 50,000 Valis. On top of that, he had potions and two Orc Hides on his body.
Considering the wealth they were carrying around, I assumed they had pulled this on a few other adventurers today. Though, I was curious, so I flipped them on their backs to look at their Falnas.
Seeing the cup inside a crescent moon, I sighed. Soma Familia, a ragtag familia more focused on getting as much Valis as possible, either legally or illegally, just so they could get a sip of their God's wine.
They tended to be the people attacking me the most, seeing the solo adventurer as an easy target.
Sighing again, I started back towards the surface, looking forwards to the large payday I was about to receive.
---
I started this at like 7pm, so a little over 3 hours ago...
Why?
(American) Football is back! And my Ravens are playing! Even though it's preseason, I am SO excited that it's back, and can't wait to watch more!
Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed~
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