｢Floor 43rd - Crystal Floor｣
Two months have passed, over four months now.
Yuichi moved fast in a hallway that was illuminating by the crystal stones around. He does a maneuver where he runs to the wall and jumps high as he's attacking a monster he encounters that takes the appearance of the crystal stone.
He quickly sliced up the crystal monsters with his platinum sword and turned it into tiny fragments.
｢You have slain 1 Crystal Diamante｣
｢You have earned Solo EXP 55000｣
｢Level up+｣
｢Current Level: 39｣
｢EXP Progression: 12266/148200｣
Easily defeated because of his improvement and also the monsters were over level 35, already gaping the experience point system.
He quickly dashed through as there was another crystal monster that shoots a projectile of shards, akin to the boss but less powerful.
Because the enemy was airborne, Yuichi takes on position and shifts his body as he's going to make an opposite vertical sweep with his sword, channeling his power and sending a sharp gust into the crystal monster.
｢Wind Slash｣
Without a moment, the monster got obliterated into oblivion, clattering its crystal remains into the ground.
｢You have slain 1 Crystal Harp｣
｢You have earned Solo EXP 52000｣
｢EXP Progression: 64266/148200｣
Yuichi quickly glanced around to see if there were any remaining enemies left in the vicinity, but it was evident it was quieter now. He could still feel their presence but they are far away from his location so it should be fine for him.
'It's been six months now thanks to this system who tells me how many days I have been in this world. I've been improving a lot since.'
He honed his shoulder to check his physique has also changed a lot, from a delicate to a chiseled form. No wonder why he's been thinking about his improvement lately.
Other than his muscles, his whole body has also changed. Yuichi's former height was around 5.7 feet or 173 centimeters long and you could say he was just some average Japanese person, but now he is taller and more buff.
His height is now 6.3 feet or 192 centimeters long and was more handsome than modest. His hair has been growing a lot too as it was long as it can measure to his shoulder. Not only that but also his unkept beard has been growing that he could be assumed as an old man if it's not for his chiseled body.
He was completely shirtless as though he fought a lot of monsters that caused his clothes to get ripped apart. But Yuichi still has a dignity of embarrassment as he prioritizes his bottom part to get covered with just some spare clothes. He looks like Tarzan if that makes sense.
Yuichi did think about crafting new clothes on the Blueprint section as he does have the ingredients he needs for the recipe, but just as he also thought before, he wouldn't dare to wear new clothes without getting a shower first.
Yuichi leisurely walks and crouches down as he gets the loot from the crystal monster he just defeated. Abrubtly, a crystal monster appeared out of nowhere and was about to tackle Yuichi.
Fortunately for him, a vine swiftly propelled into the crystal monster and instantly slain it with one hit.
Yuichi looked at his behind and saw a little girl slowly approaching his location and he smiled a bit, a smile of relief and reliability.
"Thank you, Lumiella," he said to her.
Lumiella smiled back and made a gesture some sort of showing her expression to him that tells she's welcome to help him at any time.
Although he had been ignoring this change, Lumiella is becoming more reliable as a companion now for him. A mushroom girl that can harness the power of summon and can one shot any weak monster is enough for Yuichi to be careless sometimes, a connection of reliability.
Days have passed. Yuichi and Lumiella continue their journey in the depth of the dungeon, though, it was kinda boring.
In the stone of crystals, Yuichi kneels to the ground and gently hovers his hand to the crystal stone in front, his reflection can be seen on the stone. He gazed at it for a moment and stood up, pointing it as if he were ordering someone to break it.
And yes, he told Lumiella to break it with her piercing vine summon. Lumiella nodded and pointed her hands at the stone, pinpointing it before summoning a thin yet sharp vine, rapidly propelling into the stone and it broke the stone into many fragments.
With fragments of the crystal stone falling out to the ground, Yuichi grabs them one by one and gets them inside his inventory. He then turned around to Lumiella and gave her a thumbs-up gesture.
"Nice."
It was at this point that their journey seemed to be less thrilling than before. They haven't encountered any monsters for the past few days and they just keep walking and advancing to the depth of the dungeon.
While exploring the dungeon together, they came across various kinds of stuff in the dungeon like seeing a beautiful sight of crystals on a specific spot they found before leaving or seeing another magical pond of mana water.
It was time after time for like another few days. No suspenseful actions and thrillers happened just yet.
It was like they were just strolling the dungeon without any danger for a while, seeing more stuff they could find on the crystal floors.
'Feels blunt about this...'
***
Fire cackling on a makeshift campfire, a dimly lit sight on the crystal floor.
Lumiella lies down and sleeps while entirely covered with a large sheet of fabric, deeply sleeping right beside the campfire.
Fungi generally prefer moderate temperatures, but it depends on the specific species. Some fungi thrive in cooler temperatures, while others prefer warmer environments.
Mushrooms, which are a type of fungus, typically prefer cooler temperatures. They thrive in environments with moderate temperatures ranging from around 10 to 20 degrees Celsius or 50 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
However, this can vary depending on the specific species of mushroom. Some mushrooms, like those found in tropical regions, may prefer warmer temperatures, while others may be adapted to colder climates.
In this case, Lumiella is a type of mushroom that lives in a colder environment. Maybe because the dungeon is self-explanatory, especially with the dark humid environment.
But then, If Lumiella is a cold type of mushroom then why does she lay down beside a campfire and sleep?
Perhaps she was trying to find out if there was any difference between feeling cold or warm. Nevertheless, she is deeply asleep right there.
"Mmm..."
"..." Yuichi watched her grumble while sleeping.
Yuichi sat down and explored his Status screen more as it's been a while since he had seen his Status. The last time he remembered about his Status was that he leveled up pretty well and gained new skills from his attributes.
｢Status: Yuichi Hanateru♂｣
Human ｢17｣
Level 39 ｢Galeblade Warrior｣
EXP: ｢64266/148200｣
Titles: ｢Aric's Descendants, Fungus Slayer, Toxic Disperser, Crystal Conquerer｣
Attributes: Wind ｢Intermediate｣
MANA: 600
HP: 1400
STR: 90
AGI: 70
DEF: 68
INT: 60
DEX: 15
Skill Points: ｢46｣
Skill: ｢Wind Gale Level 7, Wind Slash Level 4, Gale Fury Level 5, Sword Mastery Level 1｣
Passive: ｢Mystical Eye, Constant Hybrid Regeneration, Spatial Instinct｣
'I've gotten a little stronger than before. I've been gaining a lot of experience points lately too.' Yuichi gave a thought.
However, his curiosity grew over time. While looking at his Status, he noticed that his certain skill hasn't been touched or leveled up ever since and that is the ｢Sword Mastery｣.
He hasn't upgraded it because, throughout his almost entire journey in the dungeon, he only uses his fist and basic magic to fight the monsters.
Yuichi's face was washed with curiosity and wonder, eager to find out the verdict.
'Now that I think about it, Sword Mastery could probably be referring to your skill in swordsmanship.' He pondered.
'My ability to hold a sword is not as impressive as those samurais I have watched in a movie back then. I was trying to imitate their movements but it looks like I can't even keep up with it. Talks about "easy to look, hard to demonstrate".'
'It's amusing that characters in animes I watched before make sword fighting so easy to do like it was their daily basis. I just want to be like Kaneko Shinzaemon.'
Yuichi appeared troubled as he pondered further, eventually sighing and scratching his head as though he had made a decision.
'I guess leveling my mastery over the sword couldn't hurt more.'
He pulled out his Status and upgraded his ｢Sword Mastery｣ from 1 to 10.
｢Upgrade successfully!｣
｢Sword Mastery Level 10 ｢+9｣
｢Current Skill Points: 26｣
｢Congratulations! You have reached a requirement accordingly. You have the privilege to make your style move.｣
'Well, that's something...'
In a fantasy world of video games, being able to design your sword-style move can be helpful because it lets you adjust your fighting tactics to fit your playstyle and preferences.
With so much personalization available, you may be able to give your character a tactical advantage over opponents who stick to set patterns or standard moves. It also gives your character's development a personalized touch, which improves immersion and enjoyment in the game.
With such privilege making your sword-style move is gifted, especially for otherworldly people who possess the power of the system.
But then, Yuichi sensed something approximately 100 meters away from their location and looked to his right, seeing the shallow cavern of glittering stones in the corner of the stone wall.
To his intuition, it might be a monster that is lurking around the floor they are in. He turned his head to the sleeping Lumiella and shook her gently as he was trying to wake her up.
"Lumiella, wake up," he said and shook her.
Despite his efforts, Lumiella remained deeply asleep, much to Yuichi's surprise.
Yuichi gazed intently at Lumiella as he tried to rouse her from her slumber, but she remained fast asleep and only emitted a low grumble. Her face appeared to be etched with exhaustion as if she had been drained of all energy.
'She's deeply asleep...' Yuichi could tell from her oddly ill face.
The presence of that monster a hundred meters away still lingers around. Even after trying to wake her up, Yuichi couldn't wake her, she was deeply asleep.
With his dumbfounded face, Yuichi fixed the large fabric around Lumiella and stood up from the ground, letting her continue her slumber.
'It looks like I gotta do this on my own.' He thought and sighed.
***
｢Floor 43rd - Crystal Floor｣
Yuichi has been walking for around 15 minutes in the dungeon, a little far away from Lumiella's location.
The presence that he had detected seemed to get more nearer and vivid to feel. Judging from the presence, it looks like it came from a large monster with the mana capacity of a truckloader.
Monsters tend to show off their mana presence in their entirety of life, it's a tradition that runs through their veins. Showing off their mana presence or magic aura makes them more intimidating and powerful to show themselves that they are more monstrous than they look.
Their mana presence can be sensed depending on how much magic they have inside them. Weak or strong, they will always be sensed by individuals.
But a fact that we need to hear is that most of the monsters in the fantasy genre have little to no intelligence whatsoever. Some monsters are so mindless that they attack anything that they see, and some of them have little brain cells.
The disadvantage of showing off your mana presence is that you will get easily judged by someone, no matter how strong or weak you are.
That is why, some of the monsters will easily be calculated because of the mana presence they produced around them. Also, it's worth taking note that monsters don't hide their mana presence because it's their pride to show off their power.
It's also the reason why people in Eldoria know what to do when they encounter certain monsters like Slime or Shadow Wolves, only judging their mana scale and seeing if they can handle them.
Smaller or weaker monsters hide from the strongest because not only they can sense them but also they will become prey for the hunter. That is only applied to those who have intelligence of course, otherwise, it's a survival of the fittest.
Yuichi looks around while walking to detect the presence of whereabouts, but he hasn't seen any monsters. Unable to find any monsters in the vicinity, he began to get suspicious of the feeling and gradually getting alerted.
'Something's off... This feeling seems too good to be familiar.' He contemplates.
There is also another type of mana presence other than monsters. Some presence can be felt in objects that have manifested a mana power like artifacts or embedded mana weapons. They are also mana presence that is naturally produced like crystal stone.
But sometimes their mana presence can be cunning and mixed, which is a problem for those who don't have a good perception.
Yuichi has been feeling it and it was no mistake that it came from a large monster. But for some reason, he felt funny about that conclusion because due to the fact, he hadn't encountered any monsters.
Well, he hasn't encountered any monsters for sure like seven days now.
As his suspicion grew over time, he closed his eyes and focused his mind to find this odd mana aura. As he did, he found the mana's whereabouts and it was not far from him.
After some walking and finding himself in a corridor, he stopped and immediately took a step back and peered out his head from the corridor. There, he saw a large monster that was similar to a golem with a manifestation of the crystal stone standing in the dark cavern.
'I finally found you.' He thought and summoned his sword from his inventory, emanating a soft green particle on his hand.
Without hesitation, he walks out and confronts the crystal golem with his courage as he positions his sword to retaliate.
The crystal golem sensed his presence and turned around to see Yuichi with its peculiar appearance. Its presence became hostile the moment it saw a human holding a sword.
But it didn't attack immediately right after that moment. It stood there like it was silently analyzing the situation first before it would retaliate to Yuichi.
Yuichi felt odd and suspicious at this moment. He gripped his sword and pointed it towards the crystal golem as he was waiting for the moment to come.
"I will defeat you," he said in determination.
The crystal golem didn't react and stood there. For some reason, it hasn't attacked Yuichi yet.
Suddenly, Yuichi felt bizarre. While he was gazing at the crystal golem, he felt like the hostility of this monster was rapidly increasing. It's common for any monsters to be hostile. But it was different as it became the opposite of hostility.
The crystal golem's hostility gradually decreased and eventually, it became passive to Yuichi. With no intention to attack Yuichi, the crystal golem sensed that it was never a good idea to attack something far stronger than them.
Yuichi suddenly feels relaxed and lowers his sword. It was the first time that a monster felt intimidated by him. It may be because due to his level.
The golem walks forward and slowly approaches Yuichi's position. Instinctively, Yuichi raised his guard and prepared to fight the golem. But as soon as the golem was near him, it just passed by and walked away like it ignored him completely.
Yuichi was dumbfounded, even he couldn't believe what he just witnessed. He turned around and saw the golem slowly fade away in the dark cavern.
"What the hell was that?" Yuichi mumbled in confusion.
But aside from all of this, he felt a strong presence of mana and gradually turned around to see, to his much surprise, a door that was made of iron bars.
He was so confused after seeing the door in the distance, but his curiosity would lead him to play along. He starts walking and approaches the door with a puzzled expression.
As he touches the door handle, a familiar strange feeling goes through his body. It was a presence of something he had encountered before and he immediately knew what is this door all about.
"Dungeon room?" He was amused.
He found himself in a dungeon room for the second time. The system displayed a screen that showed the room's difficulty and seemed surprised.
｢Dungeon Room Difficulty: C-Rank｣
'C-Rank difficulty? That's equivalent of a level 40 monster.' He contemplates.
'But this dungeon room is a bit harder than the first dungeon room I'd encounter. Should I enter this without Lumiella this time?'
Yuichi hesitated as he gripped the door handle tightly. However, he eventually resolved his mind and turned around with a determined look.
"I'll be back soon," he said and opened the door, entering the dungeon room all by himself.
Imagine being in a dungeon room with your one and only companion, knowing that any misstep could mean the end of your journey together. That's what happened the last time he entered a room like this.