[Chapter Size: 1849 Words.]
Lucius POV
Dungeon, twenty-sixth Floor.
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"Marie! Wait!" I shouted.
The "Monster" that was returning to swim into the depths of the streams stopped at that moment, and she looked at me bewildered.
"Do you know Marie?!" She said quite surprised, referring to herself in the third person.
'Man, how am I going to explain to her how I know about the existence of xenos and her own name? If it were anyone else, it would have raised suspicions and doubts, but I believe I can approach her in this way. She was quite naive, anyway,' I thought as I analyzed the curiosity of the mermaid.
"Yes, Marie. My name is Lucius Drakenar, and this is Riekling," I said my name and introduced my goblin. The atronach was no longer summoned, as I had already completed the 200-hour usage mission. So, I only summon it when I need to divert the attention of my enemies now.
"Heee!" Riekling greeted her. He seemed a bit happy with the strange monster companion.
Marie, on the other hand, was also enchanted, not just because this human was not aggressive towards her and even kind, but there was another monster with him as a companion.
"You know Marie! But I don't know him. Is he a xeno too!? I don't remember Lyd talking about one of the xenos walking with a human!" Marie asked, pointing to my friend. I smiled at her question and said,
"No, he's not. But he's as intelligent as one. Unfortunately, he doesn't speak." I said.
"Really? That's strange..." she spoke, and I saw Marie looking at my food after diverting her gaze.
I sighed at that and invited her to eat as well.
"Come, Marie, I'll give you food. I won't hurt you," I said, and she looked at me happily, not hesitating to approach me.
I shook my head at this, as she was more naive than I imagined. I just waited for any suspicion from a human trying to get close to her.
She should be quite cautious, but since I knew her name and had Riekling as a partner, it must have made it easier for her to trust me to the point of becoming so naive. I knew I shouldn't use her innocence in this way, but I wanted to have my contact with the xenos as soon as possible, as it would be quite useful.
She quickly swam close to us and jumped out of the water onto me with her naked body using the strength of her tail, grabbing me.
"Thank you!" She shouted in the air with joy while I had to hold her by the arms.
I picked her up and put her in a chair that I conjured with the creation spell and served a plate.
She attacked the food, ignoring all the utensils while grabbing a sautéed steak with her hands.
"Hmmmm tasty!" She said, taking a bite of the grilled meat and some fruit.
"Eat as much as you want," I said smiling. The female xeno in front of me was just a little girl after all.
"But I'm in debt. I thought xenos would survive only with magic stones, not caring about physiological food," I said as I stared at her.
"Hmmmmmm, hmmmmmm, hmmm!" She said.
"Eat first, then answer me."
"Hmmmm, ah! Marie doesn't know, but Marie has never eaten something so delicious and fragrant! Marie wants more!!"
"As I said, eat as much as you want," I said and resumed eating, not caring that she would consume most of the food, especially Riekling's portion, but my companion didn't seem to mind.
After a while, Marie was satisfied.
"Hmm, Lucius! How do you know Marie? I don't smell the scent of anyone I know on you..." She said thoughtfully while eating some other fruits.
'Only now she decided to ask this question...' I thought with a strained smile.
"Well, it's a long story, someday I'll tell you, maybe. But I want you not to trust anyone as you did with me," I admonished her. I know I'm being hypocritical here, but I also know that no one will act like I am and probably try to capture her.
I want contact with the xenos not because I want to make them my enemies, as there are many more benefits to being their friends. Besides being sincere and kind creatures by nature, they can help on the lower floors, not to mention their knowledge of safe zones that no one else has discovered!
"But Lucius is not bad!" She protested after hearing my little sermon.
"I know, but one should not trust only appearances, little Marie. I believe that only I will treat you this way; all the others will attack you as enemies and try to capture you." I said
Bell will be your friend too, but that's only after the events that happen after Wiene is born.
"Anyway, do you know a safe zone on this floor? I need to rest a bit, but I always wake up to kill some monster when it approaches my little camp when Riekling wakes me up to warn about the enemy..." I asked her.
"Marie will show a safe place, yes!" She affirmed, and I smiled. Unfortunately, as a Mermaid, she needs water to move, so she is the only one who cannot be with the xenos. Unfortunately, she is trapped on these floors.
"I believe I have a spell that can create soap bubbles in the shop. I can make it like the mermaids in One Piece do to float and make her join the other xenos in the future. Even though she has regular visits from her companions, it is very dangerous for her to stay here alone, not to mention the loneliness," I said mentally. She's just a girl, it's a bad sight to see her here alone.
After finishing dinner, I followed Marie and killed some Sirens that flew towards us. Marie led me to a waterfall where there was a safe entrance and a large area to rest.
I thanked her for that; having a place like this would let me sleep peacefully and recover all my days here. I summoned my bed, and Marie joined me quickly too, as she had never felt something as soft in her life as a bed from the 21st century from Earth. I said I could summon another bed for her, but she found it too comfortable here with me to want to leave. So, I finally fell asleep without worrying about monsters appearing while there was a mermaid sleeping and hugging me beside me.
After a 10-hour sleep, I got up and started preparing for another day of hunting. Marie was sad that I was leaving and couldn't accompany me during the day, but it was safer to stay away from the corridors.
'I think it's time to use that random spell card,' I thought after opening the system. I clicked on the card to receive my new spell.
[Notification: You used The Random Magic Card Rank 3!]
[Illusion/Clairvoyance Spell Rank 3] (Shows the way to the current goal.)
[Acquired!]
"That's really good!" I couldn't help but celebrate as well. With this spell, I could never get lost in the dungeon again. I could even find hidden things if I concentrate and know of their existence.
For example, if I want to enter Knossos, I can use this spell, and it would lead me to the nearest key! This works for anything in my memory or that I know of the existence where I want to reach. I can have this spell as my guide; it will create a shorter light path to reach, very useful in the dungeon because I will never get lost again!
So, I spent my next 5 days around these floors, acquiring points from the system and improving my physical abilities. In magic, I've already reached SS; I'm compared to a level 4 in magical quality. In magical battle feats, I would easily fight with a level 5 if I can keep my distance from him.
"I'll be going, Marie," I said to the mermaid who was quite sad now. For some reason, no xenos appeared in the last 5 days to visit her. So, I was her company on those days when I stopped to rest and eat. She showed herself to be a very cheerful girl; I even had her wear a bra because girls can't show their bodies like that. I left plenty of leftover fruits and left Marie's safe zone after saying goodbye to the sad Mermaid.
Using my Clairvoyance, I began to take the shortest path to the surface. Everything went smoothly during this time. I didn't come across any adventurers or groups, but I heard battles in the distance and didn't approach. I didn't want contact with anyone on these floors, as it was difficult for contact and crossover between second-class adventurers, levels two, three, or even some level fours.
But that didn't last long because it was on the twenty-third floor that I came across something unexpected. I was walking with Riekling towards the stairs to the upper floors when I was approached in a clearing with a lot of vegetation since the theme of these floors was insect-like.
"Riekling, stay behind me," I said when I suddenly stopped in this clearing. Everything was very calm, but I had new abilities now that could show me things I hadn't seen before.
I acquired the spell [Alteration Spell/Detect Life/Rank 3], which helped me see hordes and dangers in my path and even behind the dungeon walls. I couldn't be ambushed using this ability, unfortunately, there is a limit too. I can't see when the dungeon spawns monsters from its walls, but still, only this way to be caught off guard by a horde of monsters.
I earned a lot of points on the twenty-sixth floor to buy these support spells. The magic stones gave me 160 points each from the twenty-sixth floor onwards, and with a nearby safe zone, thanks to Marie, I hunted many monsters between floors 26 and 27 without entering the boss zone.
Another spell I acquired during this time was [Soul Spell/Soul Trap/Rank 3], which makes my points for magic stones increase by 33% when I put a part of the monsters' souls into their own stones using the spell when I finish them up to 60 seconds after death.
Now, I was here on the thirteenth floor. Through the detection spell, I saw 10 red auras 50 meters away behind rocks and vegetation.
"Come out! I can see all 10 of you!" I said calmly, and 10 people I didn't think I would encounter today appeared.
"Long time no see, Lucius-Kun..." One of them said. I looked at these 10 people; I knew them very well since they are from my old family.
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