"The Third Line." Lyze said as the procession finally marched up to the doorway which led down into the 37th floor. He took a deep breath as anxiety and anticipation swelled in his chest. "We're finally here. The Deep Floors."
"And where the Dungeon starts to become a whole lot more dangerous." Noir said as he put a wrinkled hand on the boy's shoulder. "You've been amazing thus far my dear boy. But I doubt you will be without difficulty in these floors now that you are upon them. In there lies monsters far more intelligent and far more innovative than all the others before."
"Right." Lyze said before he looked up at the old man. "What was your first time like?"
"It was...difficult." Noir said sheepishly. "Honestly, I underestimated exactly how different the monsters here were to the ones from the previous floors despite how much experience I'd already gained in the years I'd spent trying to get to this point. For beginners like you, this is the beginning of hell."
"You spent years in the previous floors as experience and still underestimated them?
"That is just how much more dangerous they were. Nothing can prepare you for them until you have faced them"
"Mmm." Lyze squared his shoulder as Finn finished giving his orders and the Familia changed formation, now guarding the supplies and the goods even more closely, with the weaker adventurers like Ais and the rest in the middle so they could be protected by the stronger adventurers. "Then perhaps it is time that I let go of my privileges now."
Noir cocked his head, confused at what that meant before he noticed Lyze ruffling his wings. Upon realization, Noir nodded in acknowledgement and stepped back from the boy to give him space. Lyze took a deep breath and stretched his wings out, catching the attention of the Familia as they paused to look at him. He was so eye-catching with the wings that anything he did with them was noticeable.
The wings began to disappear under a membrane of glowing golden light as they burst into showers of golden sparks while Lyze's white hair turned back to its regular black. His white clothes also glowed for a moment before they too disappeared, leaving in their place a regular tunic, a black cloak as well as pants and boots. Around his waist was his utility belt. Lyze took a deep breath as his mortality fell back upon him and the continuous flow of holy magic left his blood.
Immediately the cheery and joyful air that had previously existed around him disappeared, leaving behind the calm, serene yet brooding personality they all knew. Riveria stepped forward with a wry smile as she made an attempt at humour.
"Welcome back Lyze."
"I never left." Lyze said simply, his tone dull and formal, like the Lyze they'd always known.
"...I kind of preferred the other him." Raul whispered to Aki, who nodded as she began sweating. Goddess Lyze didn't seem to possess the will to hurt or torture her whenever she set him up or got him entangled in her mischievous shenanigans...but regular Lyze very well relished her pain.
It would be best for now if she stayed away from him.
"Not an unusual sight." Finn commented. "But most definitely a welcome one. Good to have you back."
"I never left." Lyze repeated again.
"Can you not take a joke?" Bara face-palmed.
Ais sidled up to him, to get closer to the Lyze she knew best and peered up in his face. His face turned down at her like a person with vision normally would. As she looked closely, she noticed a faint colouring on his cheeks as he was forced by something to look away from her.
Uncharacteristically she giggled and hugged him, making him release a little meep of surprise, which raised the brows of several bystanders.
"No. It is still Lyze." Ais said.
"Not in front of everyone Ais. Come on." Lyze said, this time his dull tone turned to a much more boyish one as he tried to gently pry her off.
Tsubaki sighed and shook her head while laughing.
"I guess she's the only one that can wrestle him out of that bravado and persona of his." She said to the other grown ups.
"Aye." Dain chuckled as he leaned against a cart. "Just you watch, in a few years she'll have him wrapped around her finger. They always do."
"If by 'they', you mean women in general, then yes." An Amazon said. "Who knows where we'd be if you men were left to do all the work?"
"There was a saying back where I came from." Noir stroked his beard. "Women are the true rulers of everything, because they govern those who govern everything. Or something to that effect."
"Quite accurate up to a certain point." Riveria said. "Though I'm not sure if the same could be said of my father. He always insisted that we all were to do his bidding."
"I think that was just you." Finn said. "But hey, we got you out of there didn't we? And we've been on it ever since." He then looked at the Familia again. "Okay everyone, are the torches ready?"
"Torches?" Somebody questioned. "Why do we need torches?"
"Have you not done any research? That is a shameful lack of initiative." Riveria glared at the rookie who said it. "The light level of the 37th floor is extremely low, and it becomes very difficult to see. The only ones who are best at navigating these floors without the help of a light source are dwarves and above all Pallums, races that can naturally see in the dark."
"The darkness also provides good cover for ambushes from monsters." Finn said as he educated those who had never come down to this level before. Of course, none of this was news to Lyze (who had finally managed to get Ais to release him), as he had done plenty of research by reading first-hand witness accounts from other adventurers, asking Rose at the guild for all the information she could give on these floors, while also asking Ottar about these floors.
Of course Ottar barely considered these levels as worth his time anymore besides Udaeus, the monster rex who dwelt in the Throne room.
The 37th floors was quite an interesting place. Besides the fact that the whole floor was big enough to fit all of Orario in it, it was actually portioned out by five huge circular walls. Lyze remembered Bell Cranel likening the place to a cake in a box, which he himself considered an inaccurate statement.
In Lyze's opinion, the first level of the Deep Floors was more akin to that of an onion, in that the outer most rings were the longest rings, and the thickness of each onion ring as you came closer to the centre represented the space in those walls. The floors was divided into five parts. The Beast's Room, the Soldier's Room, the Warrior Room, the Knight's Room and the Throne Room.
The Beast and Soldier Rooms represented the outer most layers of an onion. The Warrior Room represented the middle layers of the onion which tended be quite thick compared to other layers, fittingly so as it was the largest room. And then the Knight's Room represented the inner-most rings of the onion before the Throne Room marked itself as the centre point, the spawn-place of the Monster Rex and the entrance to the 38th Floor.
"Get your tinderboxes ready lads." Gareth said. "We're lighting them up as soon as we go in."
"Actually, may I interject here Captain?" Lyze requested.
"You may." Finn said though he folded his arms. "For what reason?"
"I came prepared for these floors." Lyze said as he snapped open one of the pouches on his belt. "Before we embarked on these expeditions, I was playing around with magic items."
"Magic items?" Riveria questioned with a little hardness to her tone. "What kind?"
"Nothing dangerous." Lyze said. "More like items of practicality, such as these!" Lyze held up what looked to everyone to be a marble.
This was actually the result of his meddling with the Incantation Orbs replicas from Britannia. Lyze had finally managed to perfect it by using only the most necessary amounts of magic in the reformed monster cores, allowing allocation for different amounts of energy to fulfil the specific purpose of the spell engraved on the orbs.
He had decided not to call them 'Spell Spheres' and opted to go with the original name instead.
"They...look like monster cores." Tsubaki said as she took a closer look. "Is that what they are?"
"Kind of." Lyze said. "Hear me out. We use monster crystals in all of our industries right? Because they are a source of magical energy we can harvest and manipulate to our desires given what they are intended for. Well I thought, why don't we just create lesser versions of the manufactured products for ourselves instead of all the machinery and hours of alchemy needed to make lamps with monster core?. Why not just engrave a spell on a rune to produce light? Like so."
Lyze lifted up the Orb with the spell engraved on it in paint that he'd made from unicorn blood which he'd gone to strenuous measures to source. In fact, Freya had been the one who had told him which people to get it from during one of their chats.
"{Lumos}" He chanted not caring for the stolen phrase as the Orb began to glow very brightly like a torch. It's light illuminated the already dark doorway of the entrance to the 37th floor. "See? We don't have to waste oil and rags, and we can use the torches for warmth when we get to the colder parts of the dungeon. Win-win for all of us right?"
"Indeed." Finn said as he walked over. He held his hand out for the Orb which Lyze gladly placed in the Pallums Palm. Finn then began descending down the stairs, the light levels instantly beginning to drop dramatically as he went deeper. But to Finn's pleasant surprise, the orb illuminated the walls and the ceiling with powerful undisturbed light, with no flickering shadows such as the ones that the torches would give off. He returned to the top of the stairs and nodded approvingly at Lyze. "What an ingenious idea. How many have you made?"
Lyze responded by grabbing a small bag from his hammer-space, the contents jingling like marbles. "Enough for everybody to carry one in their pocket though I think it unnecessary since those Orbs will last a long time."
Taking note of this, Finn dipped his hand in and grabbed a certain amount. He then reviewed the formation and based on that, assigned certain people in the Familia to grab one. They all chanted the same word they'd heard Lyze say and watched with delight as their own orbs lit up with bright pale light. Tsubaki in the meantime came forward and knelt by Lyze.
"You wouldn't happen to be interested in telling us how you made these perfect orbs out of monster cores would you?" Tsubaki asked. "It's quite impossible to get such a perfect ball shape."
"No chance." Lyze said. "You want it, you'll have to cough up the dough for it."
"Worth a shot." Tsubaki chuckled before standing up and ruffling his hair. "Too bad you didn't pull these little miracles out when you were still in that angel form of yours. You definitely would have spilled the beans there."
"Well it's a good thing you didn't then, isn't it?"Lyze grinned before Riveria came over.
"Do please let us know when you're making magic items in the Manor please." Riveria said exasperatedly. "I know you're mature for your age but even geniuses make things explode at some point."
"Duly noted." Lyze said before he was interrupted by Finn's command to march.
The Loki Familia thumped their weapons and began descending down the steps into the darkness, with Lyze walking behind the executives as he always did. He had proven by now that he could keep up with them using his special abilities and that it would be not much problem for him to be a part of the first encounters. And so, they entered into the vast and dark halls of the White Palace, also known as the 37th Floor and the first of the Deep Floors.
---
As the Loki Familia travelled down the halls of the Beast room, one could hear the thump of several spears, axes and armoured boots as they created a beating melody to a song that Lyze was singing in the front.
"~Vows of favor or the thrill of plunder~
~Pull together for the clan and kin~
~Clank of hammers and the crash of thunder~
~Pound within~"
Lyze sang as he clapped, cupping his palms so the sound was bigger while the dwarven line behind him slammed their spears on the ground. And as the last verse left the boy's lips, they joined in the chorus that he had taught them.
"~Oh-ho-oh~
~The echoes of eternity~
~Oh-ho-oh~
~Valhalla calling me~
~Oh-ho-oh~
~To pluck the strings of destiny~
~Oh-ho-oh~
~Valhalla calling me~
~Valhalla calling me~"
Lyze continued as he transitioned to the next verse in as deep a voice he could muster while the dwarves cheered him on with the beats of their weapons and the stamps of their boots. The executives looked away from the spectacle and smiled at one another.
"Looks like he still has it, even if he is out of that form." Noir commented.
"It's quite catchy that song." Gareth said. "I'm sure Loki would have loved hearing it."
"That she would have, especially over a mug of beer and meaty dinner." Finn commented. "Alright, we're far enough in. Get ready for them to spawn."
The executives tensed as they kept their expert eyes trained on every spot they expected a monster to spawn from. Noticing this, Lyze stopped singing and in turn stopped the dwarves from banging their weapons on the ground. The whole Familia came to a halt as they now realized they'd reached a danger zone.
Sure enough, ahead of them in the dim hallways, a mound started to form in the floor and a large pair of arms pushed through. The monster's face then appeared, two large horns curling out of its head as a monster eerily reminiscent of a Minotaur except much larger pulled itself out of the ground. It turned its red eyes onto the Familia as it snarled and let out a chilling roar.
"A Barbarian." Finn said as he levelled his spear. "An unusual one to greet us first thing we come here. But no less easy to swat aside."
"Hold on Finn." Bara said as she grabbed the Pallum's spearhead. "Why don't you let the kid take him on?"
"Lyze?" Finn asked as he turned back to face the Amazon. "That's not how we do things Bara."
"Funny, I didn't say Lyze did I? It could have been any other kid. But us just smacking it aside so we can move on is not really fulfilling the point of this expedition."
"Explain." Riveria asked.
"What she means to say..." Noir interjected. "...is that we have brought a considerable amount of rookies on this expedition. Every single one of them looks up to Lyze. They are very much used to seeing us kill these monsters so it barely means anything anymore. However, if someone their age and closer to their level takes it on and perhaps even takes it down, then it would be a good morale boost right?"
"I suppose." Finn said before he looked to the boy whom he knew was listening in. "What do you say Lyze?"
"I'm more than up for it." Lyze punched his palm. "Let me smash his skull in."
"Two minutes." Gareth said. "That's all you'll get."
"It's enough." Lyze acknowledged as he walked forwards, catching the attention of the younger members as they noticed him walk up to the beast alone.
As he approached, Lyze clenched his fists as silver flames coated them. Wielding the Flame of Origin again after some time made him feel like he was more attuned to it now then ever. The Barbarian looked down at Lyze as it snorted, steam coming out of its mouth as it seemingly sneered at the small human boy challenging him. It flexed its heavily muscled arm and slammed a closed fist down.
Lyze lifted an arm and intercepted it, the stone floor under his feet cracking but his legs holding firm as with pure physical strength, he held back against the surprised monster. Lyze then allowed the monster to stumble forward by bringing a halt to his resistance and then he jumped to the side, landing a clean punch to the side of its face.
The impact of the punch reverberated around the hallway as the monster's teeth flew out while the lips burst. But in the time that Lyze's fist had been connected to the monster's cheek, the Flame pulsed momentarily and entered its body, directly damaging the beast's soul. It stumbled against a wall from the thunderous punch while holding the side of its face.
While in mid-air from his jump, Lyze slipped out Geranos and slashed at the monster. A shockwave sliced a deep wound into the monster's side as it roared. Enraged, it swung around and lunged for him. Lyze twisted his body to the side and drove Hephaestus's gift into the monster's wrist as the punch brushed past his ears. He harshly twisted and the audible snap of bone preceded another roar from the monster while Lyze flipped him.
The monster's back impacted the ground harshly as the wind was knocked out of it. Lyze then grabbed it by the horns and pulled. The monster scrabbled around as it tried to grab a handhold but found it futile as Lyze began to smash it in the ground repeatedly while harshly twisting its skull around trying to snap its neck as he rag-dolled it. The rookies eyes glittered as they saw the pure physical might that their peer excluded.
The Barbarian finally managed grab Lyze's arm as it met the floor again and this time stood up while pulling the boy up as well. In eagerness to get rid of him he swung the boy at the wall. Lyze turned in the air and his feet landed on the wall, then flexed his legs as he launched himself at the monster. His fire covered fist smashed into the monster's chest, the Flame damaging the monster's soul again as it felt a severe heat burn inside its body and the force of the blow sending the monster flying into the wall.
Lyze ran towards the monster, and jumped while flipping in the air and round-house kicked it in the jaw with the back of his heel. The monster's lower jaw shattered as its face was turned sideways, a guttural roar stuck in its throat as it reflexively punched forwards catching the boy in the gut. Lyze coughed as his breath caught in his mouth as his stomach felt like a boulder was stuck into it but he forced himself to breathe in again. His feet dug ruts in the ground while the monster lumbered towards him with a clenched fist.
Lyze twirled his body on his heels as the closed fist flew past his face and he stuck Geranos into the arm and dragged it across the limb's entire length, opening up the skin and the muscles. When the dagger caught in the shoulder, Lyze hooked himself on and swung his feet up onto the monster's back. The Barbarian roared as it felt it's opponent cling to his neck, even past the burning sensation in its right arm.
It ran backwards and slammed Lyze into the wall, trying to crush him between the stone wall and its body. Lyze ignored the flaming pain on his own back and yanked the dagger out of the shoulder, and quickly drove it into the brainstem. He then channelled the Flame through the dagger into the body, this time willing the Flame to burn flesh.
The skin of the monster started to crisp as its screams became louder before silver flames burst out of its body and engulfed it in its blaze. Then the Barbarian exploded into dust as a pile of ashes still flickered with silver flame. Lyze ignored them though as he reached in and pulled out the core and held it up.
"How long was it?" He asked.
"Just ten seconds short." Finn said. "Is it just me or did it seem to grow weaker during that fight?"
"Probably." The boy shrugged. The truth was, the soul damage he'd inflicted with the Flame had weakened its combat ability by a great degree and therefore it had started slow down as well as become weaker, which was how he'd easily been able to pierce its skin with the dagger.
"Congratulations on killing your first Deep Floor monster." Finn smiled before he stuck his arm forward. "Loki Familia, onwards!"
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