Babel Tower loomed over Orario, its gleaming facade casting long shadows across the city. For the gods, it was a testament to their dominion. For adventurers, it was the gateway to fortune—or oblivion.
At its entrance, Felis adjusted the straps of his timeworn leather armor. His fingers curled around the hilt of his sword, feeling the worn grip beneath his palm. The blade bore nicks from countless battles, but it remained serviceable—for now.
His tail swayed lazily, betraying the anticipation thrumming in his veins. A slow breath, steadying. "Alright… Let's begin."
---
Descending into the Dungeon, its familiar dampness and silence wrapped around him.
The upper floors barely registered as a challenge.
Goblins lunged; they were already dead before their blades left the air. Kobolds snapped their jaws; their heads hit the ground an instant later. Even War Shadows, infamous for their sneak attacks, failed to so much as graze him. Felis moved through them like a shadow himself—dodging, weaving, countering. His blade carved arcs of silver through the dim corridors, and each flicker of steel ended with black ash dissolving into nothingness.
He didn't even bother picking up the drop items. These floors were nothing but warm-up stretches.
Then, as he stepped onto the 7th Floor, the air shifted. The Dungeon's presence pressed in, more alive, more aware.
Here, monsters hunted in packs.
His ears twitched. Footsteps—several.
A guttural growl echoed from a tunnel ahead.
Felis's ears twitched. "Five… no, six. Lizardmen."
A heartbeat later, they emerged from the shadows—red-scaled humanoids, brandishing crude stone weapons. Their slitted eyes gleamed with the malice of predators.
One stepped forward, hissing. It charged.
Felis didn't retreat.
He moved.
A single step—then he blurred forward, so fast the Lizardman barely had time to flinch. His sword flashed once. The beast froze mid-step, its stone blade still raised—before its torso split apart in a diagonal slash. Black ash swallowed what was left.
The remaining Lizardmen hesitated. They weren't used to being outmatched.
Felis tilted his head. "Well?"
They rushed him together.
He disappeared.
No—he had simply moved so fast their eyes hadn't followed. By the time they realized, he was already behind one, his sword carving through its back.
Another swung its weapon wildly. Felis tilted his body just enough—the blade whistled past his ear, harmless. A counter-slash. Another enemy gone.
The last three tried to surround him. But it was a bad move.
Felis crouched low—then launched upward, flipping over them. His tail twisted mid-air, adjusting his trajectory. He landed in a perfect crouch behind them.
Three blades swung toward him.
He wasn't there anymore.
In the space of a breath, three more corpses collapsed into ash.
'They weren't slow. I was just faster.'
---
By the 12th Floor, monsters were no longer weak.
Orcs—massive brutes with raw, unrelenting power—prowled here. They were nothing like the nimble Lizardmen. They didn't hunt; they charged.
And they were big.
One roared and rushed forward, its club raised high.
Felis didn't move until the last moment.
Then, like the wind, he shifted.
The Orc's club came crashing down—but Felis had already stepped around its side. The force of the impact split the floor apart behind him. Debris flew. Dust exploded.
Before the creature could recover, his sword plunged into its exposed ribs. A guttural cry—then black ash swallowed its form.
Another Orc—behind him. It swung before it should've even known he was there.
His tail bristled. Reflex kicked in.
Felis twisted his body with inhuman grace, the club passing by so close that it tore the edge of his sleeve. He flipped over its arm—sword flashing—and landed behind the beast as it crumbled into nothing.
His foot barely even touched the ground before he was already moving again.
Felis exhaled, his body hummed—not with exhaustion, but with the subtle relief of Numen Aquae mending the strain.
Not enough to replace rest. But enough to keep moving.
---
On the 13th floor
The stench of burnt stone filled the air.
Hellhounds.
Their growls reverberated through the tunnels, red eyes burning with malice. One inhaled, embers flickering at the edges of its maw—
Felis struck first.
A flash of movement—his sword slashed across its throat before it could exhale. Blood spurted, flames dying in its throat.
The others hesitated. Then they attacked.
Felis darted between them, every step calculated. He wasn't just dodging—he was already in position to strike before their attacks finished. Claws grazed empty air, fangs snapped at shadows—he was always a step ahead.
One Hellhound leapt, jaws wide.
He twisted mid-air, sword cleaving through its skull. By the time he landed, the beast was already gone—nothing but drifting ash.
---
By the 16th Floor, every monster was lethal.
Especially Minotaurs.
Towering over three meters tall, their sheer strength alone could crush lesser adventurers.
The cavern trembled beneath heavy footfalls.
Minotaurs.
Their hulking forms emerged from the shadows, muscle and fury wrapped in crimson hide. Stone blades—massive, crude, deadly—rested in their grips.
It exhaled through flared nostrils, gripping a massive stone blade in both hands. Its muscles tensed.
Then it charged.
Felis didn't move.
Not yet.
The Minotaur closed the distance in seconds. Its blade swung down—a strike meant to cleave him in two.
Felis moved a fraction of a second before it did.
To any other adventurer, the Minotaur would seem impossibly fast for its size. But to Felis?
"It was slow."
Felis stepped sideways—not dodging, but flowing past it like water. The blade smashed into the ground, sending cracks splintering through the stone.
By the time its blade descended with crushing force, he had already stepped past it. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the cavern floor—rock cracked, stone dust exploded outward.
Felis, untouched, stood at its flank.
His sword lashed out—but the beast turned, intercepting with a backswing.
Clang!
Blade met blade, sparks flying. The Minotaur pushed.
Felis flicked his tail.
He twisted mid-parry, sliding beneath the Minotaur's arm—his blade cutting into its exposed ribs.
The Minotaur roared in fury. It lashed out blindly.
Felis ducked. The next attack was coming before the first was even finished.
A stomp. A backswing. A clawed fist.
He dodged them all
His sword carved into the beast's side, cutting deep. But the Minotaur didn't fall.
It turned, furious, swinging wide.
He dropped low, twisting his entire body into a rising slash. Blade flashing in a silver arc—The Minotaur's throat opened. It staggered.
Felis's golden eyes gleamed. 'One more strike.'
He pushed off the ground, rolling past its legs—then shot forward, sword aimed for its spine.
The Minotaur reared, roaring its final challenge—
A sharp thrust. Steel pierced through its back, straight to the heart. The beast groaned, stumbled—then collapsed into black ash.
Felis exhaled, standing over the remains. His pulse was steady. His body thrummed with readiness.
Each floor tested him more than the last.
But he was keeping up.
---
Finally he arrives in 17th floor.
The air felt… different here.
The cavern stretched vast and empty, battle scars marking the ground like ancient wounds. Felis's ears twitched, but there was no sound. No monster.
No Goliath.
He sighed, sheathing his sword. "Seems I'm ahead of schedule."
The silence was unsettling. Like the Dungeon itself was holding its breath.
With one last glance around the cavern, he turned—heading toward Rivira, the 18th Floor safe zone.
The 18th Floor awaited.
---
Stepping onto the 18th Floor felt like emerging into another world.
Gone were the damp stone corridors and the suffocating air of the lower floors. Instead, a vast underground expanse stretched before Felis. Towering trees swayed in a wind that shouldn't exist, their emerald leaves bathed in soft golden light—not from the sun, but from countless glowing crystals embedded in the cavern's ceiling. Massive stalactites, their tips glimmering, loomed like frozen daggers in the sky.
A gentle breeze carried the crisp scent of fresh water, a stark contrast to the metallic tang of blood and dust he had left behind.
'Every time I read about it, I thought people were exaggerating. But… damn.'
Rivira, the adventurer's paradise.
A city of stone and wood, built atop the cliffs overlooking a massive lake. Unlike the rough, temporary camps of higher floors, Rivira had real buildings—sturdy, well-constructed homes, inns, and market stalls. It wasn't just a resting place; it was a settlement, a safe haven within the Dungeon.
Felis made his way through the cobbled pathways, his ears twitching as he listened to the bustle of the marketplace.
"Fresh potions, directly from the surface!"
"Need a guide? I can show you the best spots for rare drops!"
"Heard about the party that got wiped on the 19th Floor? Brutal…"
The air was thick with the scent of cooked meat and burning herbs. Traders called out to passing adventurers, their stalls overflowing with weapons, potions, and strange Dungeon artifacts. Here, status meant nothing—only whether you had Valis to spend.
He stopped at a stall run by a scruffy-looking dwarf, eyeing the strange trinkets on display.
"Somethin' catch yer eye, cat-boy?" the dwarf grunted.
Felis smirked. "Just looking. Got anything special?"
The dwarf chuckled, reaching under the stall. He pulled out a vial of shimmering blue liquid.
"Aqua Vitae. Not just a potion—it boosts yer body's recovery. Fifty thousand Valis."
Felis whistled. That was half his entire gear budget.
"Tempting," he said, setting the vial down. "But I'll pass."
The dwarf shrugged. "Suit yerself. But don't come crawlin' back when yer bleedin' out."
Felis chuckled, waving him off as he moved on.
---
Eventually, he found himself by the lake's edge. The water was impossibly clear, reflecting the glow of the cavern ceiling like a starry night trapped beneath the surface. Small fish darted through the shallows, their scales flashing with hints of blue and silver.
Kneeling, Felis cupped a handful of water and let it slip through his fingers. Cool. Refreshing. Pure.
'Hard to believe this is inside the Dungeon.'
He sat down, stretching out his legs as he let himself relax for the first time in hours. His body wasn't sore, thanks to Numen Aquae, but the mental strain of constant battle was another story.
A soft sigh escaped his lips.
For a brief moment, he simply enjoyed the peace. No monsters, no tension—just the wind, the water, and the distant hum of Rivira behind him.
Felis leaned back against the grass, golden eyes half-lidded as he let himself breathe. The ever-present tension that coiled around his muscles like a second skin finally loosened. No monsters lurked in the shadows here. No sudden ambushes. Just the steady, rhythmic lap of the lake against the shore, the crisp mountain air filtering through the cavernous sky above.
His ears twitched at the sound of chatter from Rivira in the distance, but he paid it little mind. The town would still be there in an hour.
For now, he could afford to take his time.
A bath sounded tempting.
His tail flicked lazily against the grass before he pushed himself to his feet, stretching out his arms with a quiet groan. There had to be a good spot around here—he remembered reading something about natural hot springs on the 18th Floor.
With that thought, he grabbed his things and made his way along the lake's edge.
The farther he walked, the quieter it became. The soft rustling of unseen creatures in the underbrush, the distant cry of birds high above—though no sun reached this place, the glowing crystals embedded in the cavern ceiling gave the illusion of a perpetual dusk.
Soon, the scent of warm minerals mixed with the fresh air.
A good sign.
He followed the faint trail up a small incline, stepping through the natural rock formations until the space opened up.
A shallow pool lay nestled between smooth boulders, steam rising lazily from its surface. The water was crystal clear, the bottom lined with smooth stones that shimmered under the faint light.
Felis smirked. Jackpot.
He rolled his shoulders, setting his equipment aside. A dip in warm water after hours of fighting? That sounded perfect.
Stripping down, he stepped into the pool, a pleased sigh escaping as the warmth seeped into his skin. His tail swayed lazily beneath the surface, ears twitching at the contrast between heat and cool air.
This… was nice.
He let himself sink deeper, golden eyes slipping shut as the tension melted away.
For the first time since stepping into the Dungeon, he wasn't thinking about his next battle.