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[Chapter Size: 3531 Words]
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The group of Astraea Familia girls, Light and Airmid descended into the eighth floor of the dungeon.
The walls on the Eighth Floor were brown in color, with moss growing on it, as compared to the light green colored wall of the previous floor.
Even the ceiling above their heads had almost tripled in height, reaching nearly 10 meters as compared to the 3- 4 meters before.
The size of the rooms had also doubled along with the spawn rate of the monsters.
As soon as the group entered the first room walking down the stairs from the 7th floor, they came across a group of ten rabbits with horns on their foreheads, needle rabbits, a type of monster spawned from the eighth floor.
These needle rabbits may look harmless and similar to normal rabbits from some distance, but looking at their red eyes and the harsh sound they made when they spotted adventurers was anything but similar to normal rabbits.
"Girls, the same formation again, me and Lion will handle the monsters at the front. Kaguya will handle the monsters at the back, bringing up the rear. The rest of you, protect Light and Airmid and deal with any monster that slips past or spawns nearby."
Alise addressed the Astraea Familia, giving instructions on what to do; before the monsters noticed them.
"Lion, ready to go?"
Alise turned towards Ryu, and without waiting for a reply from the elf wearing a mask standing next to her and sped towards the needle rabbits which were now screeching and rushing at them with their eyes gleaming red and the horns on their heads aimed at the two girls.
But even before the first needle rabbit could attack, it was cleanly sliced in half by Alise's sword, the two halves of the monsters falling down on either side of her sword.
The rest of the monsters did not fare any better, as the base stats of the two girls attacking them was more than enough to steam roll a group of monsters even on the 25th floor without much difficulty.
...
'Hmm, didn't come across any infant dragon even on the twelfth floor, looks like I can't get any specific info about it other than it may be a rare monster with a longer spawn interval.'
I thought while picking up magic stones dropped from a group of Silverbacks.
About six to seven hours had gone by and we were now on the 12th floor, the last of the upper floors.
The bag I was carrying was now filled with a variety of magic stones from the floor we had passed through.
The magic stones I was picking up were from a group of silverbacks that had attacked us from the rear, only to be cut down by Kaguya's two swords.
...
After resting for 20 minutes, we headed down the 13th floor, also known as the Middle Floors, where the minimum requirement to enter was to be a Level 2.
The floors 13 to 17 were called 'The Cave Labyrinth' and the entrance to the 13th floor was the called the First Line.
The walls here looked like different shaped blocks of bedrock put together in a random manner.
And the light was dimmer compared to the twelfth floor which was brighter but covered in dense mist.
"Just a minute, everyone, the guild has given jackets made of salamander wool for these floors."
Just as the group was about to descend the stairs, I remember the salamander wool jackets.
While asking Cyrus (the guild member who Light met first) about the items given by the guild, he had specially reminded me that they had given Salamander jackets for The Cave Labyrinth (Floor 13 - 17) and Undine Jackets for The Water City (Floor 25- 27).
"Haha, Light, we won't need them, I'll show you a special shortcut of the Astraea Familia, it was found by Ryu here."
Alise saying that lead us to a small hole of about three-to-four-meter diameter, in a corner of the 13th floor.
"This elf here had fallen down this hole when we were fighting a group of monsters here, giving us all a fright."
Kaguya continued the explanation, making the ears of Ryu turn red.
"Tada, this is a direct express route to the 'Big Wall of Grief' on the 17th Floor. We just need to be careful of any monsters while descending down or if monsters are already present near the exit."
Alise continued her words not paying attention to Kaguya and Ryu who were now bickering with each other.
Alise then looked towards Airmid, picked the girl and then jumped down.
Looking down, the hole was almost like a large vent, with no openings and only a single way down into the darkness.
I could see Alise use the jagged rocks on the sides as a makeshift surface, jumping down from one jagged surface to another.
Airmid, held in Alise's hand showed no reaction, it looked like she had already experienced this before.
Within a few seconds both had disappeared down the darkness of the vent.
As the others also started to follow Alise, I felt someone behind me.
"Kaguya, stop, I don't need your help, I have some rope in the bag which I can use to go down."
Turning around and looking at Kaguya, who had stopped her arguing with Ryu and was now standing behind me, I quickly held up my hands stopping her.
'It was a good thing I bought the rope on that day, and even bought the biggest length I could find. Thank you myself from the past.'
By some stroke of luck, I had brought the rope while buying my spare swords.
I'm not sure what material the rope was made of, but the diameter of it was not bigger than a pen, but it has enough strength to not tear even when I used my entire strength.
Acting like I was searching in the bag, I transferred the rope from my inventory to the bag.
Taking it out, I showed it Kaguya and asked her to go down and check if the length was enough.
"Sure, I'll pull it after reaching down. If there is no reaction after a minute, it means that the rope is not long enough."
Looking a bit disappointed fir some reason, she took the rope I handed her and jumped down in a manner similar to Alise, taking foothold on the rocks.
A few ten seconds later, I felt a pull on the rope I was holding.
'Looks like it's long enough.'
Quickly tying the one end of the rope to a nearby rock and making sure it was tied strong enough, I started my descent down.
The last two Ryu and Neze seeing me go down, they also followed me and jumped. And also overtook me in a flash.
Descending down and placing my feet on the rocks on the wall, I wanted to try something.
My magic Float's description only said that I could be one meter on the ground.
It did not mention any directions only mentioning ground.
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Magic: Float.
A downgraded variation of the grand flight magic, allows the users to float up to a meter on the ground.
The upward floating limit is fixed to a limit of 1 meter from the ground.
Cost 50 mana / second
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I wanted to test if I could use my magic by thinking that the vertical wall against me as the ground and if I can successfully make my magic work in that case.
Standing perpendicular against the vertical wall with the help of the rope, I activated my magic.
For a moment nothing changed, then a strange sensation passed through me.
Now it felt like I was not standing with the support of the rope but was standing on normal ground, I slowly left the rope in my hand but did not fall.
I was still standing straight against the wall.
Immediately opening the system screen, I wanted to see if any changes or anything had been updated about the Float Magic.
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Magic: Float.
A downgraded variation of the grand flight magic, allows the ability holder to float up to a meter on the ground.
Whatever surface the ability holder is standing on is defined as the ground (New!)
The upward floating limit is fixed to a limit of 1 meter from the ground.
Cost 50 mana / second
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A new point had been added in the description, with the rest being the same.
'umu, umu, so the abilities which I have can have more uses than what is given in the description, and whenever I find out about it, it gets added to the description.'
I was overjoyed that I had found something new about my abilities, that is, they could be upgraded or they were not fully explored.
I stopped wasting time and started running across the vertical surface.
A few minutes later, I was able to see the opening at the other end.
Picking up the rope near my legs, I deactivated my magic and climbed down.
As soon as I exited through the opening, I heard loud roars and shouting, as if a group of adventurers were fighting against a monster.
Looking ahead I saw the rest of the group were also looking in the direction where the noises were coming from.
"Let's go. "
Seeing me come down, Alise looked at me, and then gave a command to move in the direction the noises were coming from.
Pulling the rope I was still holding, with all my strength, it quickly came free.
Storing the rope in the bag, I quickly caught up with them.
Feeling the sounds of noises getting closer, I followed the others into where the noises was coming from, the room with the Big Wall of Grief.
Entering into the massive room that was the spawn point of the Monster Rex of the 17th floor, Goliath, the first thing that came into my view me was a massive humanoid monster of about nine to ten meters tall standing in the middle of the room.
Instead of the usual grey skin and height of about 7 meters, this skin of this monster had an even darker shade of grey and it was bigger in size.
[ A / N : A mutated level 5, not a black monster. ]
Standing opposite the humanoid monster were two groups of adventurers one lead by a gray-haired werewolf, with 5-6 others behind him.
The other group of adventurers were from the Dionysus Familia, the group of twenty people whom I had seen earlier in the plaza.
It was evident that the two groups were not faring well against the monsters, seeing the state of their injuries.
They were bleeding all over, a few of them even limping.
"Maryuu, Airmid, go and heal them. It looks like the Vidar and the Dionysus Familia's are on their last legs. We can't waste a single moment, let's go, be quick."
"Lyra, Ryu, Kaguya, get ready to distract the Goliath's attention and allow them to heal."
Alise, first asked the two healers to go heal the injured people, then unsheathing her sword, started running towards the Goliath while asking the other three to follow her to attack the monster.
"The Goliath looks abnormal; its height is 10 meters instead of 7 meters. And its skin color is abnormal. Be careful, it may be a mutated monster."
I could hear Lyra warning the others, while following her with Ryu and Kaguya.
Neze and Iska also followed behind them with their weapons drawn, in case they needed support.
Maryuu on the other hand was running with Airmid in the direction of the two groups.
I was left behind, standing there.
I decided that instead of trying to do something and messing up, it's better to stand where I was and watch the fight between the Goliath and the Astraea girls.
...
Alise running towards the Goliath, could feel that the humanoid monster in front of her was stronger than the usual Monster Rex.
"Arga" Not taking any chances, she used her magic.
[ Agaris Alvesynth*- a type of fire enchant magic. ]
"Ryu, I'll attack from the front, you and Kaguya attract its attention. Lyra, try to cover us up."
Alise feeling the power from the fire enchantment, gave the instructions to her familia members following her and once again increased her speed.
To anyone looking from afar, they would see that flames had sprouted on Alise's hands, legs and her sword. A beautiful bright red.
"Oi bastard here."
Alise shouted at the Goliath attracting its attention and received a roar from it as an answer.
The monster now it's full attention to the flame covered girl in front of it, gave the two groups their much-needed break.
And seeing the iconic magic skill and the red hair, they let out sighs of relief, sliding to the ground.
The Goliath was surprisingly agile, even with its bigger build.
In just a second it was already in front of Alise, holding into hands together and bringing it down on her with its full force
"Ryu, Kaguya. Be careful that thing is almost a Level 5. Ryu start chanting your magic, I'll weaken it"
Rolling down backwards from under the monster's huge fists, Alice felt her strength along with her dexterity increasing by a large amount due to her skill.
[ Lubrude Bequia* - Alise's skill ]
This allowed her to deduce in a split second that the Goliath opposite her was at least a Level 5, prompting her to call out to her teammates, informing them about the monster.
While Alise rolled backwards, a figure jumped at the monster from the back, the sword in her hand piercing the monster's ankle, making it stagger.
Kaguya jumped away from the Goliath hearing Alise's words and looked at the injury from her attack, which had already started to heal.
"Alise, this bastard has a high regeneration ability, we need to bring it down with a single strong attack or in a succession of attacks before it can heal itself."
With the Goliath turned towards Kaguya, Alise hearing Kaguya words displayed another use of her magic, releasing a torrent of fire from her sword, Crimson Order, at the Goliath's exposed back.
The heat of the flames was so high that it even charred the ground black just by touching it, quickly burning the back of the monster, dealing a large amount of damage.
*Roooaaaarr*
The Goliath let out a painful roar, feeling the burning in its back.
Seeing that the monster was only burnt and was still standing after taking her attack, Alise using Fire Flash, flashed onto the back of the Goliath where the flames were still burning.
Ignoring the flames, Alise stabbed her sword into the Goliath's back, drawing out her mind to pour fire inside the Goliath through her sword, charring its insides.
"Arvana"
Then chanting her Spell Key, Alise triggered an explosion, blowing a complete see through hole from the back to the front of the Goliath.
The massive monster swayed for a moment, due to the after effects of the explosion and the hole in its body, but still did not fall to the ground.
"Calamitous Higan flowers*"
Before it could recover, Kaguya appeared next to the Goliath's legs, using her magic to create five huge blades of light.
As Kaguya made a slashing motion with her blade, the five blades of light followed her sword, cutting at the ankles of the Goliath, severing its tendons, forcing it to kneel down.
"Alise, Kaguya."
Hearing Ryu's voice both the girls jumped away, just in time to see Green Orbs of magic attacking the insides of the monster through the hole blown by Alise.
Ryu having stayed at the back to chant her magic, had finished chanting, she started attacking the kneeling Goliath with the green orbs.
[ Luminous Wind* - Ryu's magic ]
Just as Alise and Kaguya jumped away and the orbs reached the face of the Goliath, Ryu made all the orbs which had now reached the Goliath explode by her spell key, "Luvia. "
The Goliath seeing the green orbs flying at it tried to bring its hands to defend against the attack, but that was of no use, the orbs flashed a bright light for a second then erupted in a huge explosion creating a deafening sound.
The Goliath, its body already wrecked by Alise's blast from earlier, was blown to bits, even its magic stone completely destroyed.
Only the ash was left floating in the air.
"You damn elf, that thing's magic stone would cost so much money if we sold it, and you had to go and destroyed it."
The atmosphere was immediately destroyed by Kaguya, scolding Ryu for destroying the magic stone.
"But otherwise, I couldn't have defeated it. And aren't the magic stones of Monster Rexes normally destroyed."
"Instead of thanking me for defeating the monster, you are asking me why I destroyed the magic stone."
Ryu too argued against the black-haired girl looking at her.
"You really are a dumb elf, that Monster Rex was mutated, the Guild would have definitely wanted to study its magic stone, we could have asked a fortune from the guild."
"Captain, won't you stop them?" Lyra now next to Alise asked her while looking at the two arguing against each other.
"No, Lyra, look they look like they're really close." A clueless Alise replied.
"No, we're not." Both Kaguya and Ryu replied in sync.
"It's okay, no need to prove me right. Let's go check on those the people from earlier, Maryuu and Airmid should have started healing them."
Alise gave a smile at Kaguya and Ryu and turned towards the back of the room, where a few people were lying down being healed, the rest of them crowding the area.
"Light, what are you doing there? Come on, let's check on the two groups and head down to the Under Resort (18th floor)."
Alise, from the corner of her vision, seeing the yellow-haired boy still standing at the entrance of the room, called out to him and started walking towards the people being healed.
...
*Fuuu*
I let out the breath I was holding from some time, the three of them, Alise, Kaguya and Ryu had demolished such a strong monster in just over two minutes without even letting it display any skills.
I was still recovering from the display of their abilities.
Alise's fire ability of some kind, strong enough to blow a hole through the monster.
Kaguya's huge blades of light that easily cut through the tendons of the monster's legs making it kneel.
And finally, the green orbs of Ryu, strong enough to blast the monster completely into ash.
'Damn it.' I cursed.
I was so absorbed in the fight; I had forgotten to copy those overpowered abilities using mimic.
"Light, what are you doing there? Come on, let's check on the two groups and head to the Under Resort."
Hearing Alise call me, I quickly shook of the feeling of regret, and quickly started walking towards the crowd at the side of the room.
While walking, I cheered myself up, anyway I still had time to copy those skills.
This was just the first day of the expedition, there were still six more days were left.
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If Light had a status sheet, as per his current status, his status sheet would be:
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LIGHT
LV 1
STR A850
VIT A850
DEX A850
AGI A850
MAG SS1001
Magic Crest C
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MAGIC:
Float
- can float 1m above any surface, no chant required.
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SKILLS:
Acceleration
-Increases the agility and dexterity based on the amount of mind consumed.
-No limit to the increase in Agility as long as mind is not zero.
Mimicry
-Can mimic items and abilities.
-quality of mimic items and abilities depend on the amount of mind used.
Fault Tolerance
-Can see weaknesses or weak points.
Magic Crest
-Allows you to use n number of magic's and by passes the rule of only 3 magic's.
-Acts as an archive to store all the magic's learned.
-Magic's stored in the archive do not need any chant when casting it.
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Development Abilities :
Magic Circuit: C
-Increases the amount of mind by a large amount.
-Increases the strength of any magic cast by more than half.
-Reduces the time required to cast any magic by half.
-Reduces the amount of mind required to cast any magic by half.
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A / N :
I wanted to link this dungeon expedition with the Nightmare of the 27th Floor, that only Light would stay back on the 18th Floor, but seeing that Finn and the Astraea Familia were part of the expedition and it was only about a month from the Great Feud.
After all, at least Alise and Ryu would not allow Light to stay on the 18th floor without any valid reason.
I decided to not link this arc to that incident and scrapped the drafts for that and instead added another bigger twist, won't spoil it.
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Legend [Description in Comments] :
*Agaris Alvesynth - Alise's Magic
*Lubrude Bequia - Alise's Skill
* Gokou - Kaguya's Magic
*Luminous Wind - Ryu's Magic