If you find strange words in this chapter, it's entirely my fault. When I was writing these chapters, I was reading Lord of the Rings. The thing is, I wrote down the words I found there, memorized them, and decided to use them in this fic.
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The fifth floor had become routine. I advanced with the chain sword at the ready, and with the chains extended, I maneuvered them like a fool to cut the monsters that leaped at me from every corner. Not forgetting the most important thing: collecting their Magic Stones.
My experience bar was nearly full. Just a bit more, and I'd break through to the next level. Level 6... Not bad for someone who barely survived the first floor raid not too long ago.
But now I faced the stairs leading down to the sixth floor. And, as always, the question was: Keep going or turn around and rest? My legs were beginning to protest, and my shoulders were tense from swinging the sword for so long. I could go back, yes, relax a bit and eat something.
"Bah, what's the point of unlocking the Apotheosis mission if I'm just going to be lazy?"
That's bad. People say humans are creatures that get used to things too quickly. And they're right. I'd gotten used to my life until this week. To be honest, a part of me missed it―just farming enough to get food for the day. But now that the mission was no longer holding me back, I should be more proactive than ever.
I drew in a deep breath and made my way down the stairs.
The moment I stepped onto the sixth floor, my breath mingled with the cold air. On the previous floors, monsters always their presence known―either through growls or by charging directly at me. But the sixth floor was eerily silent. My footsteps echoed, each one amplified by the echoes bouncing off the walls.
And then, after a few heartbeats, the silence shattered. A dull thud, like a hammer striking stone. My footfalls ceased. A lost miner?
No, that made no sense. After scrutinizing the twin corridors that yawned in the walls like hungry maws, I crept toward the source of the clamor. The sound swelled with each step until I finally beheld it: the wall before me bulged, hairline fractures spreading across its surface like a spider's web.
And then something dark and lithe peeked through the fissures. A razor-sharp, obsidian hand clawed at the walls as if trying to break its own prison. The dungeon was in labor.
Monsters born from the dungeon. This living labyrinth was like a mother spewing her children right at us, the trespadsers. As adventurers, we were naught but playthings for its newborn creatures. It was a merciless cycle: they were born, they battled, they died... and the dungeon birthed them anew.
The wall finally yielded with a dry snap. Rubble tumbled to the floor, and with it, the creature freshly born. Its wiry, black body slumped amidst the debris, but it tarried not. It rose swiftly, tottering at first, like a babe learning to walk, until its star-shaped eyes blazed with an icy radiance.
What loomed before me was a War Shadow, one of the monsters that only appeared on the 6th floor. Its talons gleamed with the same intensity as its gaze, as if poised to leap and tear me to pieces.
"Okay, buddy. Let's see if I can reach that level 6 with your head."
As if affronted by my taunt, the War Shadow hurtled at me like a wraith in the darkness. Silent, fast. Its elongated, slender arms, tipped with three razor-keen claws, cut through the air with an almost visible glow. I scarcely had time to react as the first talon lashed at my head. Arching back at the last instant, I felt the air displaced by the blades whisper just above my nose.
But the second strike eluded my sight.
The claw crashed into my flank, hard. A searing pain lanced through my side, as if I skewered by a spear. I reeled backward. The system flickered before my eyes, coldly informed me:
-25 HP
I looked down. My flesh bore showed no sign of the gash. Only my shirt, now tattered and dangling like a beggar's rags. Not a single drop of blood in sight.
"Well, that was disappointing." I waved dismissively at the monster, but it clearly failed to grasp my mockery.
That attack, which had actually been powerful, hadn't hurt me much. Just a nick on my flank. And mercifully, it missed any vital spots. War Shadows were known as "newbie killers". Alongside the Killer Ants, this type of monster had killed more novice adventurers than any other creature in the Upper Floors. Small wonder. They were swift, stealthy, and lethal.
I opted against unfurling my chain sword this time. The passageway was too narrow, and if I extended it now, it would hinder rather than help―akin to shouting, "Look here, I'm defenseless. Kill me." So I kept it compact, almost like a miniature scythe. At close quarters, it was more akin to a lethal dagger.
The monster lashed out again. Its lengthy limbs extended so rapidly and silently that they seemed to meld perfectly with the surroundings. I twisted my body into a position where I could not dodge the third blow. The strike hit me and took 75 HP.
Novice adventurers had no business venturing to the sixth floor, let alone solo. Level 1s should travel in groups and boast at least G rank basic abilities if they hoped to survive here.
I, a lone adventurer, decided to defy this rule.
My own Stats barely met that threshold, by a hair's breadth. Sure, I could bolster my Stats with the bonus points gleaned from leveling up, but... Logic said that meeting the bare minimum sufficed, yet I believed un something else: the best way to hone one's battle skills was to face a foe that outmatched you.
The War Shadow hurled its assault directly at my vital spots. But in the darkness, I tracked its movements with wary eyes. I evaded the deadlier strikes with precision, while allowing the weaker blows to hit me in the arms or legs. I couldn't dodge everything, so it was wiser to let the less perilous hits take my HP.
Since I had no fighting experience, I would at least do enough to learn.
Every move I made, each dodge or punch I threw, I felt my actions were clumsy and often wasted. Yet, recognizing my own blunders meant I had a chance to mend them.
I spied its next talon hurtling toward my throat. I hefted my chainsword to parry the blow, the blades echoin through the air. I seized the moment of contact. I unchained the sword. The chain lashed out, coiling around its arm. Before the War Shadow could react, I wrenched hard. The claw was snared. In one fluid motion, I raised the curved blade and brought it crashing down on its limb. The edge cleaved through the strange texture, and the monster's arm thudded to the ground.
The monster recoiled, its shadowy form staggering on its legs. Not a whimper escaped its body, even after its arm was severed. Of course, how could it howl without a mouth? The most disturbing thing of these war shadows was their silence. You could wound them, maim them, reduce them to pieces, and they'd persist in their onslaught without a murmur, as if pain didn't exist for them.
It paid no heed to its missing limb. It hurled itself at me anew, its remaining talon gleaming with the sharp sheen of a knife. I retreated a pace, halting in a stance where the claw hovered mere hairsbreadths from my nose, even feeling the wind brush against my face. Too close. Far too near.
"You're not learning, buddy..."
I mirrored my earlier move. I unfurled the chain sword and swiftly ensnared its remaining arm. This time, I didn't trouble myself with severing it. The monster was already enfeebled enough. With its lone claw trapped, the monster thrashed, but found itself immobilized.
Seizing its fleeting vulnerability, I plunged my curved blade straight into its skull. There was no resistance. The edge punctured its head like a ripe melon with that damp, muffled sound. From the right side of its cranium to the left, the metal tip jutted out the opposite side.
The War Shadow's form went rigid for a moment, as if its system was struggling to comprehend what had just transpired. Then it collapsed with a final twitch.
A system screen immediately appeared in my fielf of vision.
―Enemy defeated: War Shadow
―Experience gained: +10 Exp
---
[Experience Progress]
―Current level: 5
―Exp: 600 / 600
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―Congratulations, you have reached level 6!―
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[Level Bonus]
― HP: +100
― MP: +50
― Stats Increase: +5 to all stats
― Stat Points gained: +5
---
[Progress to next level]
―Exp: 0 / 700
---
The experience bar filled completely, and I felt an electric jolt run through my body. I had leveled up. Muscles that had been aching from the fight were refreshed, as if all discomfort had been removed. Sure, reaching a new level was great, but what really ignited that spark of excitement in my chest was what I saw next to the corpse of the War Shadow.
***
Should I go back to using the words from previous chapters, or keep it that way?
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