Lars was currently in front of a challenge. A gigantic humanoid monster; the Goliath.
Using the least amount of augments possible, he was basically naked.
The fur of the barbarian was his only protection. And it was for richocets and pebbles that will be flying around.
The scythes on his arms were longer, for the larger monster in front of him.
And that was about it. Sporting the stats of an average level 3, he was going to fight a floor boss; a monster rex.
"It's said to be level 4 in strength, let's see how this guy holds up to the green dragon." Lars looked at it coldly.
The goliath roared as it sprinted at him. It was definitely fast due to its size. But it had a trade-off.
And it wasn't as agile or dexterous as a normal level 4 adventurer.
Lars rolled to the side and the ground cratered as the goliath's fist crashed at his previous location.
"What a dangerous guy you are. Too bad I don't have a sling." Lars snorted and he used the opening it gave.
He went between its legs and the monster raised its foot, intent on stomping him into a paste.
Lars clung to its other foot and he used the husk of the needle rabbits as pile drivers on the back of its heel.
The goliath roared in pain, having a stick pierce through your heel hurts like a bitch.
And he left it there, inhibiting the mobility of the goliath. Its left feet was definitely hurting.
"Did you like it?" Lars backed off and he smirked at the goliath. It glared at him hatefully.
Its red eyes glowed brightly and it released a roar that shook the whole 17th floor.
Monsters also started to trickle in from the entrances that leads to the wall of sorrow.
The place where the monster rex spawns. "Guhahaha! Yes! Call more exp!" Lars charged at the hordes of ligerfangs and minotaurs.
With his scythes, he felt like a monster hunter as he swung them around like dual blades.
Lars turned into a meat grinder as he waited for the monsters to come at him.
The light scythes on his arms made of hard crystal basically weighed like nothing to him.
Lars then looked above as a shadow loomed over him.
"A boulder? What are you? A tank?" Lars rolled to the side and he dodged the boulder that the goliath threw.
"Come and have it you prick!" Lars sprinted towards the monster rex and it stomped on the ground in frustration and fury.
Like someone trying to kill a cockroach, it rampaged around and the whole floor was trembling.
Lars used the clouds of dust as cover and he waited for a chance. "An opening!" He suddenly appeared behind the goliath.
The little adventurer sliced its achilles tendon with a precision strike and the goliath kneeled down due to its calf muscle suddenly getting pulled.
He wasn't done though, he cocked his arm back as he stabbed another tusk on its left achilles heel with his completely natural pile bunker.
Unable to stand up, the goliath roared and it tried to struck him with its fists.
Creating craters all around the perimeter. "Now, to do this resident evil 4 style."
He jumped on its back and he ran towards its neck.
Lars stabbed it with a tusk and he used them as handles to hold on.
But he didn't expect it to lift itself with its muscular arms and used its momentum to crash down on its back.
"Shit..." Lars was in midair and he couldn't change his trajectory. A breath attack would take too long.
He turned around and poisonous spines appeared on his back. With a resounding boom, he was flattened to the ground.
The goliath slowly lifted itself with its arms, but it suddenly felt a stabbing pain inside of it.
The pain was too much and it started thrashing around. It even began to punch its midsection.
And after a few seconds, a hole opened up on its abdomen.
Lars burrowed through its back and he wreaked havoc inside of it.
He was chewing some chunks of meat and he had a wide smile on his face.
"You taste like black pork, exquisite." Lars gulped and the Goliath was bleeding out due to the immense internal hemorrhage.
"Let's test this out, ahem." Lars combined the ability of the bad bats and the goliath's intimidating roar that was its ability.
The whole floor shook from the vibrations and it was like a roar of victory of another predator who prevailed.
Lars then ran at it like a savage beast and cut off all of its tendons and ligaments.
The weakened goliath yelped as the damage accumulated on it. "Let me savor you well, thanks for the food."
He went ham on the monster rex as he began to pick it clean, even crunching on its hard bones.
And when he finished with one of its legs. The goliath couldn't take it anymore as it died.
"Hmmm, at least it isn't wiggling around anymore." Lars feasted like a starving beast.
He ate the goliath deliciously until nothing but its hair was left. And it took him a solid hour of doing so.
Storing the large magic stone it had, Lars had a satisfied expression on his face as his muscles started bulge a bit.
He just had a quality meal, and his body responded in kind. Making his skin harder, his muscles stronger, bigger.
Lars' skeleton turned metallic and his sinew were like steel wires.
His bulging muscles compacted and his weight skyrocketed as he put on more dense muscle.
The weight of his whole body doubling after his changes finished.
"Fuuu~ that was nice~" Lars finally found the best way to exploit his skill, Gula.
And it isn't by eating magic stones and drop items. It's by devouring them whole in their peak.
"I feel like a physical cultivator." Lars shuddered as he thought about the murderhobos.
And as he slicked back his hair that was covered with blood, he suddenly met eyes with a more yellowish gold.
(Pic)
"Ahhh, hi?" Lars waved awkwardly as he started sweating, thinking if the girl saw him remold his body as he evolved.
"Hello..." She said with a blank face and they stared at each other.
__earlier__
A girl was killing time in the dungeon and she killed any monster that was in her way.
"Too weak... Not enough... When will be the next expedition?" She frowned.
"I will never grow strong in these floors, we need to go deeper...
But Riveria told me not to dive deeper than the 17th floor." The girl frowned.
She had yellowish, gold hair and her eyes were dark gold.
"Hmm?" She suddenly felt tremors. "A party is fighting the goliath?" She tilted her head.
"I should cull the monsters here then." She wanted to help them a bit.
Because the parties mostly die due to the minotaurs and ligerfangs appearing as they fought the goliath.
Getting rid of them, she let the first wave in because they were too fast.
But the others didn't made it past her as she swung her sword around with amazing speed.
"Fuuu~ it's been quiet there for some time now." She headed towards the wall of sorrow and what she saw was a boy.
Oozing with confidence and arrogance, he slicked his hair and he had an eerie smile on his face.
His golden eyes that were brighter than hers locked onto her own. "Ahhh."
"So... What's your name?" He asked her to break the ice.
"Ais... Ais Wallenstein." She introduced herself succinctly.
"Hmm, you can call me Lars. You must be strong to be here?" He asked with curiosity.
"Un, I'm level 3." She said with her blank tone and expression. And he was surprised by that.
"Level 3? Then you must be really amazing." And he meant it.
'She must be a kindred soul, a fellow grinder.' Lars nodded at her in satisfaction.
Ais then tilted her head in confusion at his gestures.
"But you must be a level 5... How can you defeat the goliath on your own?
It might be said to be a level 4, but it's a monster rex. So its difficulty is about level 5." Ais suddenly talked in long sentences.
"Ahhh, you see... I'm not level 5, at all." Lars scratched his head sheepishly.
He then bathed himself on his own flame to burn off the blood off of him. Fixing his hair, Ais saw his face.
"Un, you are handsome..." She nodded at him and she has never seen such a beautiful boy before.
"Uhh, thanks?" He didn't know what to say to that.
"You're welcome, then perhaps... Are you a Pallum who is level 6?" Ais tilted her head in confusion.
"I'm human, at least that's what I like to believe. I don't even know myself." He shrugged with a snort.
"Then what level are you?" Her head was about to start smoking due to the mental gymnastics happening in her head.
"Hmm, it's a secret?" Lars put a finger on his lips and Ais pouted at him.
"Just say you don't want to tell me." Ais got a bit angry and he chuckled.
"Well, everyone has secrets, Ais. How about you? What if I asked why you grew so strong, will you tell me?" He gave her a perspective.
And someone around his age reaching level 3? There's a certain motivation around that.
'It's impossible for a kid to get to that level without a burning desire for something.' Lars squinted his eyes.
"I... I understand, sorry for pushing." Ais bowed and he patted her head softly.
"It's fine, how about you make it up to me later? I'm from the Demeter familia, a meal at the hostess of fertility will be good enough." Lars smiled at her.
Ais put a hand on her head. 'Hmm, that felt nice...' She then nodded at him.
"I'll go ask for you in the wheat manor..." Ais then continued farming monsters.
"Hmm, what drives her? A question for another time." Lars went back to the surface.
__Twilight Manor__
Ais returned to her home and she was staring right at her reflection on a mirror.
She patted her head and she wanted to experience it again, it was... Warm.
"Ais, what's got you thinking so deeply?" Riveria, who was kind of her like foster mother put a hand on her shoulder.
"I met someone who killed the goliath on his own. He was... Nice I guess?" She tilted her head.
She wasn't sure how to describe Lars. "Nice? Wow, you don't warm up to strangers that easily."
"Un, he was covered in blood. Then when he cleaned himself by bathing in fire, his golden eyes locked onto mine." Ais described their meeting.
Riveria then thought about it and there were no 1st class adventurers that matched his description at all.
"But I offended him, I tried to ask what level he was. But he explained that everyone has secrets." Ais looked down in shame.
"Did he now?" Riveria raised a brow. Nobody ever hides their level. It was a badge of honor.
"Un, he then patted my head. It was nice... So I owe him and I'll go to the wheat manor to treat him to the hostess of fertility." Ais was determined to pay him back.
Alarm bells started ringing inside of Riveria's mind. "H-how old was he?"
"I actually thought he was a pallum, but he said he was human. And we were the same age." Ais looked at Riveria with confusion.
"A-and... What's his name?" She gulped heavily.
"Lars." Ais said and Riveria broke into a cold sweat. A bead of it formed on her brow.
"I see, then I hope you get along with him." Riveria's smile was strained, but Ais was too socially inept to notice her stress.
"Un, I want to know how he got so strong." Ais had a smidgeon of a smile on her face.
'This is bad... Ais is warming up to that dangerous kid.' Riveria frowned as she turned around.
'And isn't he supposed to be level 1? Finn already checked his profile... Demeter-sama isn't the type to scheme. Something isn't adding up here.' Riveria was getting paranoid.
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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.