Upon defeating the 30th Floor Guardian, we hastily descend to the next floor. Contrast to the gloomy and dark Graveyard Floors of the 21st to the 29th, the 31st Floor was a wide and grassy plain, like the surface above this dungeon.
"The area is a lot cleaner than the ones below and has the strongest monsters lurking. Let's Level up on these floors first before facing the Guardian."
"I understand, Sister. Monsters of several types are filling these floors. It's worth spending our time on and also serves as training."
The 31st through 39th Floor are called Plain Floors. Just as the name stated, these floors were all flat with little hills.
The plains covered a significantly smaller area than the Surface Floor and the Safe Areas, with a four-kilometer radius. Sieged by pitch-black stone walls of a height of two kilometers with a transparent membrane that prevents literally anything from escaping.
Not all areas are only covered with grass. Small clusters of trees are also scattered throughout the plains like dots if seen from a bird's-eye view. Since it's autumn this season and the season outside is the same as in the dungeon, the grass and the tree leaves are changing their shades.
"There are many flying monsters here. Also walking ones." I muttered seeing the monsters dominating this area.
The monsters infesting the Plain Floors had a diverse variety. Their Levels range from Level 131 to Level 239. Means monsters of C-rank by Guild's tier list. When I said diverse, it included the one flying toward us.
"A monster is already welcoming our arrival."
"Then let's give it a heartwarming appreciation, Raphael."
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Race: Hippogriff
Condition: Normal
LV: 210
MP: 2000
STR: 4700
DEF: 3000
MAG: 1800
MDEF: 2500
AGI: 5000
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Hippogriffs are C-ranked monsters that had the head and lower body of a horse, the front limbs of a bird's talon, and a pair of falcon wings. It had an average wing span of fifteen feet and light bones for faster flight speed.
When it gains many levels, the Hippogriff will evolve into an A-ranked Hieracosphinx, a step below the legendary S-ranked Griffon.
The Hippogriff flew at us straight and half sonic. Sister readied her blue naked blade and pointed it at the flying horse-falcon. Sister then charged forward to meet the Hippogriff.
Upon reaching the right timing, Sister thrust her katana, aiming at the monster. The horse didn't even decrease its flying speed. In an instant, the blade pierced the flesh of the horse's chest and went straight to its heart.
"Neighhhhh!" The horse yelled an agonizing cry that echoed throughout the Floor.
The Hippogriff stopped by the sword and met the green earth. Sister wasn't even knocked back by the impact because she was already strong in the first place.
"Now the others are welcoming us, too. Around a hundred or more. They must have heard the horse."
"Good… Let's start the banquet." She declared while pulling out her blade.
◆◇◆
"Graaahh!"
"Lightning Bolt."
Yellow streaks of lightning are writhing all over my left palm as if it's alive. A beat later, a single streak of lightning released from one of them and struck at the azure bipedal dinosaur.
The Level 4 Lightning Magic spell instantly spread throughout the body of a 12-foot long C-ranked Raptor. It electrified for several seconds before it collapsed on the ground.
"Pinnnggg!"
"Water Jet." I recite the name of the spell as I am pointing a finger at a group of flying opponents.
A small magic circle, around six inches in diameter, appeared at the tip of my left index finger. Then ultra-speed water gushed forth from the magic circle and spouted into the very sky.
I waved my left arm leftward and cleanly sliced all six 15-foot wingspan C-ranked Great Eagles in one swipe. Level 6 Water Jet is a jet of water with a pressure surpassing 200,000 psi. That pressure could easily cut off a thick layer of steel.
"Yes. Finally, a Level up."
After killing more than a hundred monsters, I finally gained a Level. Even with a blessing, I'm still having a hard time gaining EXP. The higher the Level, the harder it is to level up.
I wiped off my forehead sweat before looking for my sister on my Omnidirectional Perception. I instantly cast "Warp." to her as I pointed out her exact location.
"Folded Slash."
"Mooo—!"
As I went to her location, she used a Sword Art technique and gracefully slashed her blade six times, decapitating six C-ranked bison-like Bicorn.
"That's my beloved sister."
"I gained four. How about you?"
"Five."
"The number of monsters?"
"We killed too much. The respawn rate of this floor cannot catch up with our pace. We better get to another floor."
We've been on a killing spree for more than an hour. We already one-sidedly slaughtered hundreds, or probably a thousand, of monsters non-stop until it affected this floor's monster respawn rate. Right now, there are less than a hundred entities on this floor.
"Indeed. Let's clean up the mess on this floor first."
"I'll take care of that issue, Sis."
Given that we're inside a dungeon, an isolated space, I've been able to perform my abilities with almost no restriction.
I widened the coverage of my Omnidirectional Perception to the point where I overwhelmed the entire floor. Within my range, I identified and pinpointed the location of each monster's corpse.
(The dots keep popping up. It's getting annoying.)
After the last dot popped up on my radar, I am getting ready for the next step.
"Inventory."
Under the cold corpses, a pitch-black disk appeared and slowly swallowed hundreds of dead bodies. The dots gradually disappeared from my radar until the last one vanished after a couple of seconds.
"Done."
"It really is convenient to have that skill. It's the combination of Inventory and your Unique Skill, right?"
"Yes."
"If you're done, let's go."
After that, we continue to slay monsters to Level up the lower floors. We spent another hour farming our massive source of EXP until we got down to the 40th Floor.
◆◇◆
"So, a Raptor Lord is the Domain Guardian of this Floor, huh. It's so eye-catching."
"First time seeing one. Seems larger and stronger than a Tyrant Lizard."
After annihilating an indefinite amount of monsters in the plains, we hastily entered the 40th Floor Guardian Room. Upon laying our gaze on the monster inside, we couldn't help but feel amazed at its majestic appearance.
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Race: Raptor Lord
Title: Unnamed Dungeon 40th Floor Domain Guardian
Condition: Dormant
LV: 400
MP: 3400
STR: 10400
DEF: 5000
MAG: 2800
MDEF: 6800
AGI: 10000
Racial Skill: Kin Command, Dragon Scales
Extra Skill: Intimidation
Skill: Claw Attack, Bite, Enhanced Senses, Detection, Danger Detection, Growl, Power Limbs, Weakness Finder, Concealment, Soundless, Thought Acceleration
Magic Skill: [Elemental Magic: Wind: 3, Fire: 2]
Resistance: Pain Resistance, Physical Attack Resistance, Magic Attack Resistance, Temperature Resistance, Fear Resistance, Hunger Nullification
Blessings: Dungeon Monster
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A-ranked Raptor Lord, a superior evolution of the Raptors that we fought above. A bipedal monster with radiant turquoise blue scales. It had a long snout like a crocodile and a length of twelve meters. But for me…
(It looks like a sailless spinosaurus!)
Thud.
After the doors of the four hundred by four hundred meter room shut, the sharp amber eyes of the raptor unfolded. Seeing us as its prey, it immediately engaged itself towards us with an intent to kill.
"Haa!"
Suddenly, Sister jumped into place and fluidly twisted her slender body counterclockwise. At the perfect time, the rushing raptor flew for several meters upon taking the powerful kick from my sister.
"What hard scales." Sister commented after she landed.
"It's probably the Dragon Scales."
After a second, the raptor stood up as if nothing had happened. The area where the kick of Sister landed visibly thickens and radiates a pale glow. Indicating the activation of its Racial Skill, Dragon Scales.
"Let me try its tolerance. Level 4: Flame Pillar."
With a snap of my fingers, a huge scarlet magic circle suddenly appeared under the confused raptor. Without a word, vivid flames bathed the raptor whole.
"Grraaww!"
The raptor screamed in pain as it was engulfed in extreme heat, but it was just the start. Seconds later, the raptor gradually adapted to the heat and overcame the hell.
After the flames subdued, the raptor stood in place with sizzle all over its blue body. Dragon Scales not only thicken the defenses but also reduce the damage taken, both physically and magically.
"Grrraww!"
With a deafening cry, the raptor charged at us at high speed with its enhanced legs. We responded by unsheathing our blades and also charging the running raptor.
"Lightning Blade."
"Thermal Blade."
We activated our respective magic blade spells in unison to transform our blades into magic swords. Yellow flickering lightning enveloped Sister's Raven Blue while blazing flames on my katana named Sanguine Lotus.
"Grraaaaawww!"
We slashed our blades on each of its thick hind limbs as we met. Our blades pierced its tough scales and even scraped its bones. Its wounds instantly burned and charred as they met our scorching blades.
The raptor turned around, opened its mouth, and attacked me with its Bite Skill. I evade its super-fast snap with minimal effort, as I have a faster AGI stat than it. But solo fighting isn't the Raptors' forte at all.
The Raptors specialty was teamwork. With a superior leader, like this Raptor Lord or even the B-ranked Greater Raptor, Raptors could easily hunt down their prey, even if it had a higher ranking than its predators.
(If it had Summoning Skill like the Lich before, it could have summoned its cronies and made this landslide fight more exciting.)
Distracted, the Raptor didn't even notice Sister's dazzling blade coming straight at its neck. It activates Dragon Scales on its neck, but the quality of our blades is already enough to slice it without using any technique.
Thud.
With a dull sound, the fight had already been concluded.
"Let's call it a day after we receive our rewards and mark a spot on the next floor."
"Indeed. Mobilizing my body that much really wears me out."
I stored the raptor and the unique-grade item, Magic bag, in my storage. We went home after I made a step on the 41st floor and planned our activities for the next few days.