Accelerator was walking through the thick fog that enveloped the surroundings. When he reached a small, dilapidated wooden door, he stopped. A rundown two-story wooden house appeared before him. With a light wave of his hand, a sword cane materialized in his hand.
"The fog covers knowledge and truth. Disperse and reveal the hidden to your master. Noc Hdadh gu Soilleir."
The door gradually revealed a straight path. He walked through as the door slowly closed behind him. Darkness enveloped the path. Accelerator tapped his staff lightly, and light burst forth in a blinding flash. Before him stood a typical modern mansion, and he quietly entered.
"Welcome, Master."
"Qliphap, how is the kid?"
"Currently, she's sleeping soundly in her room. Hehe, nothing happened while you were out."
"Sorry about that, Qliphap. The gods can see through lies, and some can even see through meticulous disguises. It's not that I doubt your magic, but caution is better. Next time, I'll take you with me."
Accelerator replied to Qliphap.
"..."
"What's wrong, Qliphap?"
"Nehehe... It's just that I'm still not used to your apologies. You've changed so much over the past eight years. You seem more pleasant and adorable. "
Accelerator tightly grasped her wagging tail.
"Ahhh, Master. This is the Master I know."
"Tch, don't talk about that. Take these." He said, handing her two bags.
"What is it, Master?"
"Jagamarukun and fruit juice. I thought you'd prefer them over my coffee."
"Nehehe... I like anything you give me. Thank you, Master." Qliphap took the items and happily consumed them.
His house wasn't too modern; it resembled Yomikawa's old apartment more. It gave him a sense of familiarity that he had left behind when he went to prison. Accelerator gently opened the bedroom door, filled with plants and children's toys. A little girl with silver hair was gently breathing in her sleep.
"Ayla, wake up."
Accelerator sat beside the bed and gently shook the girl. He wasn't the best at waking others, as he usually woke up later than everyone else in his old house. Fortunately, the girl woke up after a long yawn.
"Uwu, hello Accelerator."
The girl, about eight years old, had long hair falling over her shoulders, eyes as blue as the sea, and an adorable face.
"What's the matter?"
"You've been sleeping since we returned to the city, so I brought some food for you. Chloe prepared it carefully."
"Um, thank you... Chloe? Is that mom? Did you meet mom?"
"Yes, I did. From tomorrow, I'll be going out, so you'll stay at her place, okay?"
"Okay. Is mom alright?"
"She's fine. You'll know more after visiting her tomorrow. Now eat up. And remember to take a bath before going to bed."
"Uhmm," she replied, filling her mouth with mushroom soup and bread.
Accelerator wasn't the best caregiver. In fact, he was quite bad at it, but fortunately, the children he knew were somewhat self-reliant. Moreover, he had Qliphap's help in this matter.
Leaving the room, Accelerator went to the living room. In this world, there were no TVs or many other entertainment tools, so in his spare time, he often researched technologies he could create with magic stones. This mini military headset was one of his research projects, designed to make communication in dungeons easier, regardless of distance. It didn't use waves or magic but operated through quantum entanglement.
Drafting manuscripts and projects in both science and magic had become his routine since becoming the city chairman.
"Tomorrow, I'll register at the Guild. Then, I'll find them." Flipping through designs like "A.A.A," "Magnum Opus," "Kefitzat Haderech," he took out the blueprint of a necklace.
"This seems good."
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The house had become noisy early in the morning due to the excitement of a child. The exuberance of youth made Accelerator feel uneasy.
"Miss, please calm down. If we arrive too early, the restaurant will not be open yet."
"I know, Qliphap. But I'm so excited. I don't even know what clothes to choose." Although she had rummaged through her wardrobe, she still couldn't decide on an outfit. Her wardrobe wasn't extensive, with only three or four different outfits. After some thought, she decided to wear a white shirt with a light blue long skirt.
"Hey, Accelerator."
Ayla ran over to him.
"Do I look okay?"
"It doesn't look bad." He glanced at the watch on his wrist. "It's almost time for us to leave. But before that..." He took out a small wooden box and handed it to Ayla.
"When you go out, I can't protect you all the time. This will protect you and help you in the future."
The girl accepted the box and opened it. Inside was a dark gray necklace with a blue gem containing an hourglass.
"It's beautiful. Can I keep it?"
"Yes. It's for you. Try it on."
Ayla quickly took the necklace out of the box and put it around her neck. Watching the gem reflect the sunlight, she joyfully danced around the house. After a while, she stopped and stood properly in front of him.
"Thank you, Dad."
It hit him hard, but he tried not to show any change in his expression.
"Nehehe... Master, you're embarrassed. Whenever this happens, you freeze up. Ahhh..."
Accelerator lightly tapped her on the head, not wanting the child to witness anything inappropriate.
"Qliphap, disappear until I call for you."
"Yes, Master. Goodbye, Ayla."
"Goodbye, Auntie." Qliphap gave a gentle smile before vanishing.
"Ayla, let's go."
"Yes."
The girl tightly held his hand, and they left.
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Early morning at the Hostess of Fertility was quite relaxed, with the girls cleaning tables and preparing food for the afternoon.
"Hey, it looks like Chloe is looking fresh today."
"That's right. Let me ask her. Hey, Chloe, what's making you so happy today?"
"That's a secret. You'll find out soon enough, meow."
Ding – ding. The sound of the doorbell rang, and Chloe quickly ran downstairs.
"I'm terribly sorry, but we're not open yet. Could you please come back in a few hours?"
"Myan, Mia's place isn't open yet."
"Sorry for the intrusion, but I'm not a customer. I need to meet Chloe Rollo. Is she here?"
Footsteps quickly echoed from the stairs. A black figure swiftly approached the door.
"That's me. You arrived earlier than I expected."
"Well, that's because someone was really eager for this meeting."
His arm guided a child hiding behind him. Ayla timidly stepped forward from behind him. Her eyes widened as she saw Chloe. Then, like a rocket, she launched herself at the cat girl with the strength of a level 2 adventurer.
"Mom!"
The shout froze all the maids, including Syr, who had just stepped out. Chloe perfectly caught Ayla and nuzzled her cheek.
"Hello, my little Ayla. It's been so long. Mommy missed you."
"Uwu. I missed you too, Mommy."
"Wait a minute... Chloe, do you have a child?"
"Well, in a way, yes."
"So, is that man over there your husband?"
"No, wait, you misunderstand, meow."
"Chloe's all grown up. I thought she was still young. I didn't expect this. You've really matured," Syr said sadly, wiping tears from her face with a handkerchief.
"Stop it, Syr. Don't tease me like that. It's not funny."
"I thought I was more mature than Chloe, nyan. But you've already got a husband and a child? I'm really inferior, nyannn."
"Wait, Anya, listen to me, meow."
"You don't need to explain. We understand."
"A musclehead like you wouldn't understand anything. Ryuu, the voice of reason, help me, meow."
Chloe looked pleadingly at the elf, but she coldly turned away. It seemed Ryuu didn't want to get involved in this mess.
Chloe turned to Accelerator for help, but he just smirked as he sipped the coffee he'd gotten from the elf at five times the usual price.
'It's good.'
"Wait a minute. Let me spread the word to everyone, nyan."
"You all need to stop. The child is not mine, meow."
Chloe shouted to stop the chaos. Then the sound of sobbing echoed. She looked down to see Ayla crying.
"Wait, don't cry. Mommy didn't mean it that way. There, there, don't cry, Ayla." The girl's cries filled the inn that morning.
'What a wonderful way to start the day.'
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.
After some explanation, things finally settled down.
"So you found the girl during a slave trade and rescued her. She had a strange illness that no doctor in Orario could cure. Accelerator took her out of Orario for treatment, and you decided to stay here, right?"
"I have a question. Why didn't you go with him to help the girl? It would have been okay, right?"
"Honestly, I don't know why I made that decision, meow. At that time, I thought I'd just be a burden to him, so I decided to stay. Part of me was also scared of what I'd see and face. I really don't remember clearly. Everything was so confusing then."
"But now everything is fine, and the girl doesn't blame you, right, nyan?"
"Yes, thank you, meow."
"Chloe, can you tell us more about him? Even though we know he's your friend, I can't help but feel uneasy. His demeanor is restrained, but his gaze still sends chills down my spine."
"Don't be too curious, Syr. I really don't know much about him, but I assure you he's a good person."
"Even though you say you don't like him, your actions suggest otherwise."
"It's not like that, meow. Stop jumping to conclusions."
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Accelerator was looking after Ayla while Chloe was sorting out misunderstandings with her friends. But the noise from the kitchen indicated it wasn't very effective.
"Ayla, don't be mad at Chloe. She didn't mean it that way."
"I understand, but I was really sad then. Mom was the first person I remembered after those terrible days. I don't remember who I am. My first memory is escaping from the kidnappers..."
The girl rarely talked about herself, so this surprised him. Children in this world often grew up very quickly. It was similar to Academy City, something he wanted to change.
"I'll forgive Mom. So don't worry."
'I was so lost in thought that I didn't hear what she was saying.'
"I'm not worried," he responded shortly.
"When you're deep in thought, you frown and zone out. Lying is not good, Accelerator. Promise me you won't lie again."
He swore he could hear Qliphap's giggles from above. It reminded him of the times Last Order would act all grown-up with him. If it were back then, he would have told the kid to shut up.
"Alright. I promise I won't lie again."
"Accelerator, well done. Ayla is proud of you." He swore he wasn't the least bit annoyed. NOT IN THE LEAST.
"Pfff. Looks like you two had an interesting conversation." Syr emerged from the kitchen with Chloe, whose face was bright red.
"Hello. This is the first time we've formally met. My name is Syr."
"Accelerator."
"We understand a bit about your situation. In short, you want us to take care of the girl, right?"
"Yes."
"That'll be fine as long as you meet the following conditions: First, you have to pay for her upbringing. That's your responsibility. Second, you have to visit her often and never abandon her. Finally, you have to go out with Chloe every weekend."
"Wait. What's with that last condition, meow?"
"Don't say anything, Chloe. You have no say in this matter."
"I also don't agree with the last condition. Is it really necessary?"
"Necessary or not doesn't matter. Only if you accept it will we take care of the girl. Are you planning to leave a child home alone all day? If so, you're terrible."
Leaving children at home was quite normal in the city. Moreover, he had Qliphap to take care of her. But compared to leaving her here...
"Dad, I want to stay here with Mom." Ayla tugged at his sleeve, giving him puppy eyes. He sighed. This kid was doing it on purpose. She only called him Dad when she was happy or really wanted something. Normally, he would refuse, but this time, it wasn't effective.
"Alright, I accept."
"Wait."
"I told you not to speak, Chloe. Besides, you have something to resolve with the girl, right?"
Ayla turned away from Chloe when mentioned. Chloe moved away from Syr to the girl.
"Ayla, I'm sorry about earlier. You'll always be my daughter. I know you'll still be mad at me, but I want you to have this."
Chloe took out a small pouch and handed it to Ayla. The girl's eyes widened at its contents.
"Cookies." She ate them with a happy face. "Thank you, Mommy."
"As long as you're happy, it's good."
Ayla munched on the cookies, deep in thought. Then her eyes lit up with an idea.
"Mom, I'll forgive you if you kiss Dad. Ouch..." Having had enough antics for the day, he karate-chopped her head. The girl becoming a little devil was definitely related to Qliphap. He'd question the demon later.
"Don't tease Chloe, Ayla. It's late; I'm heading to the guild now. Don't spoil her too much."
"Don't worry. I'll put her to work here. Are you going to the guild to enter the dungeon?"
"Yes. Any problem?"
"No. Just make sure you come back."
"Don't worry about that."
He left the inn after saying goodbye. A white figure darted toward him. Dodging it by a hair's breadth, he quickly steadied himself and looked at what almost hit him. It was the rabbit boy from yesterday, seemingly rushing here.
"Sorry. I just increased my stats, so I couldn't control my speed."
"It's fine."
"Oh, you're the person from yesterday. I'm really sorry for causing you such a huge misunderstanding." The boy bowed deeply.
"You don't have to. It wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself."
"Thank you."
"I see you're heading to this tavern. It's not open yet."
"Oh. I wanted to thank the people who helped me yesterday, so I came here."
"Then go ahead. The place is quite lenient about that. If that's all, I'll be off."
"Thank you for your help yesterday. My name is Bell Cranell. What's yours?"
"Accelerator. That's all." With that, he quickly left.
"Accelerator. What a strange name." Bell muttered as he opened the tavern door.
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He was now in the Guild's lobby, which was not as grand and impressive as he had imagined. Approaching the reception desk, a pink-haired girl quickly ran over to him.
"Sir, what can I help you with today?"
"I want to register as an adventurer."
"Can you please fill out this form?" After a few clumsy moments, she produced a crumpled piece of paper and placed it on the table.
"Sorry about that. Teehee," the girl said, lightly tapping her head and sticking out her tongue. She seemed a bit silly. Looking down at the paper, it was a basic information form asking for name, age, familia affiliation, background information, etc. He filled out the necessary details and handed the form back to the girl.
"Let's see, your name is Accelerator, 24 years old. Wow, you look younger than I expected. Are you half-elf?"
"No."
"Don't be so cold. I was just kidding. You live in Orario and haven't joined any Familia, with the rest of the details left blank. Wait a moment." She quickly ran inside. Looking around, he saw a few people registering at other desks. The Guild essentially acted as a broker and was responsible for communicating with adventurers. Placing the Guild far from the tower was also a way to protect its members from unruly adventurers who had just returned.
It seemed the clumsy girl was back.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I've been assigned as your advisor. Could you have a little chat with me?"
"No problem."
"Then let's go into this meeting booth."
He followed her into a small room, sitting down and looking around.
'It seems this room is designed to be soundproof.'
"These small meeting booths are where adventurers can have private conversations with their advisors without anyone else hearing. Would you like some tea?"
"No. Can we start now?"
"You seem to be in a hurry. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Misha Flott, 19 years old, and I'm your current advisor."
"My name is Accelerator."
"First, you really don't have any falna and haven't joined any familia?"
"No, that was confirmed by the Ganesha Familia at the gate of Orario. You can check their records from about a day ago."
"Alright, so Accelerator, why do you want to go to the dungeon?"
"I intend to research and study the monsters in the dungeon."
"That's a noble thought. Not many adventurers think like that. If that's the case, you plan to explore the deeper levels, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I advise you to join a familia and receive a falna. It will give you the strength to venture deeper into the dungeon."
"I'll consider it."
"Hey, that tone, you don't really intend to join, do you? I hope you'll seriously consider this. If you want to explore the dungeon today, I suggest you only venture to the 1st floor."
"Alright."
"It seems I can't stop you. Could you tell me what skills you have?"
"Isn't that a private question?"
"No. This question is completely necessary. Knowing the capabilities of an adventurer allows us to provide the best advice."
He doubted that was truly necessary given the look on her face.
"So please, can you share a bit more about yourself?"
The "showing the adventurer's capabilities" was entirely her doing. With that pleading look and puppy eyes, she probably guessed he had skills before joining a familia based on his demeanor. People like that were extremely rare, so her curiosity was reasonable. He didn't mind refreshing his knowledge a bit.
Accelerator extended his hand, and the air currents in the room converged to a point, creating a small whirlwind. Misha looked at it with wide eyes.
"Non-chant magic."
He maintained the whirlwind for a moment before crushing it in his palm.
"Is that enough?"
It took Misha a moment to recover.
"Oh, that's fine. With skills like that, you could easily join one of the major familias. Should I introduce you to..."
"Stop there. I currently have no intention of joining any familia."
"Hey, joining a major familia has a lot of benefits, both in terms of resources and deep floor exploration. For now, I recommend you only explore up to the 3rd floor; deeper floors are very dangerous."
"Thank you. Can we end this little chat now?"
"You're really in a hurry. That's fine, but remember you can always rely on your talented advisor."
"I will. Goodbye."
With that, he stood up and left the room. Misha stayed behind, still shocked by the meeting. Essentially, a human using magic without a falna was very rare, a skill usually belonging to elves. She had just found an unpolished gem who, if developed, could become a top adventurer.
'He's so arrogant. I hope he doesn't recklessly venture into the deep floors. Many adventurers die because of their arrogance.'
Now, she had to verify if he truly hadn't joined any familia. If he lied about his level, she would have to fine him a sum of money.
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Inside Babel, it was indeed very spacious, with wide corridors bustling with hundreds of adventurers constantly entering and exiting the dungeon floors. The security here was really lax. He guessed that no one cared if someone without a falna wanted to commit suicide in the dungeon.
The entrance to the dungeon was located on the first basement level of Babel. In the middle of the room was a ten-meter-long hole leading directly into the dungeon. Inside the circular room, there were many evenly spaced columns, and above was a beautiful painting of a blue sky, resembling the real sky. Along the circle were gently spiraling staircases descending into the dungeon.
Descending into the dungeon, his senses immediately sharpened. He felt that this place was "alive." The faint but clear flow of energy through the walls was evident to his vector perception. Walking along the light blue walls, he sensed the energy currents converging at certain points.
'If I'm correct.' The walls at points where a large amount of energy converged started to crack, and from there emerged Kobolds or Goblins. A total of nearly five surrounded him.
He lightly kicked a stone at his feet, and it quickly flew off, blowing off a kobold's head. The remaining three immediately jumped at him, but a gust of wind tore their bodies apart, extracting their magic stones. The last one, frightened, began to retreat.
'It seems the monsters have the instincts of living creatures.'
With a slight flick of his wrist, he activated his magical bracelet, causing a sword cane to materialize in his hand. He inserted the magic stone he had just collected into the sword cane and activated a basic telekinesis spell, directly extracting the magic stone from the goblin's body, causing it to turn to dust.
This was a new way of using his powers since becoming the chairman of Academy City. Accelerator would no longer use the terrifying power he contained; instead, he used a minimal amount of power to enhance all his other abilities. He had to admit that this had harmed him in the battle with HT. Trismegistus. But limiting his power allowed him to develop in many aspects he didn't even know he possessed. It also made finding a way to return home easier (something his immense power had no effect on).
When the magic stone flew out of the kobold's head, he noticed a remaining claw. It contained more mana than usual, so it still existed after the monster disappeared.
"Just like a game, huh."
Glancing at his watch, it seemed to be almost noon, and he decided to speed up his dungeon exploration. Rushing through the floors while slaughtering monsters with vector manipulation and collecting magic stones and drop items with magic. By the end of the 5th floor, he could see a group of adventurers fighting various monsters. They seemed fine, so he drew a tarot card.
"The Hermit hides me from the world. Grant me a moment of solitude."
Magick is considered an approach to and control over invisible forces or energies to bring about desired changes in the world. Magick can involve using rituals, symbols, and other techniques to harness and manipulate these sources of energy and is often seen as a way to align oneself with the rhythms and laws of the natural universe.
The spell just cast would allow him to pass by adventurers and monsters without being noticed or attacked, making his presence like that of a ghost.
Quickly passing by the adventurers and monsters, he reached the 6th floor of the Dungeon. The walls became paler, and the passageways turned into long, square corridors. Moving deeper inside, Accelerator suddenly bent slightly forward. A tongue shot out, breaking the wall behind him. Notably, he had turned off all vector perception around him; it was entirely due to his senses. He had started training his senses after the battle with that "lizard."
"It seems the monsters are starting to organize coordinated attacks." A large number of frogs were hiding behind the bends in the wall. It seemed it was time to review the basics.
"The four elements that make up the essence of the world. Dry + hot, your meaning is fire. Burn everything."
A wall of fire erupted, sweeping down the corridor. The long hallway became the perfect tool for the fire wall to incinerate each monster to ashes. With some vector control, he retained the magic stones since he needed a lot of them. The fire wall existed for a while before disappearing, indicating the magic stone had completely depleted its energy. A low-level magic stone couldn't withstand such a level of magic.
'I'll improve its energy reserve when I get home.'
Recharging the staff with another stone, he stepped into a perfectly square room, empty of any other features. The bright green walls looked barren and desolate, with only one entrance and exit. This room was designed to kill inexperienced rookie adventurers.
The walls cracked, and large shadows with three sharp claws like knives, War Shadows, appeared. Accelerator smiled.
'The body seems to be made of darkness. Interesting.'
He quickly rushed at one and tore its arm off. Black liquid oozed from the severed arm. Well, it seemed it wasn't truly made of darkness; its body was just dark.
Disappointed, he slammed into the wall, causing spikes to shoot out, tearing apart the War Shadows and crushing the ones about to appear.
Monsters that only used brute strength didn't interest him. Poisons, magic, pack coordination, and intellect were what he sought.
Quickly leaving the room and moving toward the 7th floor, the energy concentration seemed faster and greater, which could lead to a monster outbreak. A swarm of ants surrounding him was quickly burned to ashes, with the magic stones they carried being carried by the wind into the satchel slung across his shoulder.
The satchel contained an extremely large number of magic stones collected throughout his journey without becoming full. Spatial expansion magic had been applied to the satchel to make it much larger than it appeared. It was convenient that legends of magic bags were so plentiful that they had become less appealing.
His bracelet, however, was different. It didn't use pocket dimensions or similar space-related magic. He didn't want to risk losing items if the bracelet was destroyed. It contained small pieces of paper that recorded the "formula" or "existence information" of necessary items, similar to specimens or fossils. The bracelet could activate the formula and materialize the item within 10 meters of himself. Conveniently, it could also reverse the process, turning items back into their "formula" like pressing specimens. With this, even a large building could be reduced to fit on a blueprint.
Its weakness was that it couldn't contain items with vastly different information on the same piece of paper. If you wanted that, a "Polymerization card" was for you. Currently, it could hold up to 12 different pieces of paper. And he definitely didn't use it to store food. He didn't think eating from a piece of paper was a good idea.
'Purple Moth and Blue Papilio are interesting. The poison they emit continues to exist, but the powder on their bodies disappears with them upon death.'
Their turning to dust after the magic stone was crushed proved that monster bodies were unstable. The energy from the magic stone held their cells together. Or did the magic stone contain their soul?
Collecting their wings for potion-making, he descended to a mist-filled area. It seemed he had reached the 10th floor of the Dungeon. Thick mists covered the area, and dim light from crystals created a mysterious appearance. Fully recharging his staff, he intended to test some fog-related magic.
Entering deeper, a large orc charged at him. Quickly, he pulled the magic stone from its body with his bare hands.
'I want to test this magic in a place with many monsters. Going down to the 12th floor seems like a good idea.'
He rushed straight to the 12th floor, crushing any monsters in his way.
"Boom!" An explosion followed as he quickly broke the sound barrier. The dropped items weren't left behind; a simple spell cast on them made them follow him slowly like a flock of ducklings following their mother. If Chloe and Ayla saw this, they would laugh their heads off.
"Alright. Time to lure the monsters." Leaving behind a trail of dust, he attracted the monsters with his presence while skillfully dodging them. Monsters from the 10th and 11th floors also followed him down.
Orcs, Imps, Bats, Hard Armored, Silverbacks, and even a small dragon gathered here. The monsters surrounded him from all sides. As the dragon and the monsters prepared to attack him.A tarot card appeared in his hand—The Moon.
"Mist covers mysteries. Hide me within your history."
"Groagh..." The monsters roared and charged at him, intending to crush the small human before them. At that moment, a strange phenomenon occurred. All attacks passed through him. The orcs' axes collided with each other, the dragon's jaws tore apart other monsters. This was the CRC magic he had tried to recreate.
Accelerator stomped towards the dragon. A mass of spikes erupted from the ground, killing it instantly. 'It's getting late. I should head back a bit early today.' He collected all the items into his bag and started to head back. Suddenly, a scream echoed from afar. Quickly arriving to check, he found the adventurer team from before had also descended to this floor. The hammer wielder had lost an arm to a Silverback, and the team looked more battered than ever. It seemed a group of monsters he had lured had split off and attacked them. This was his fault, so he would handle it now.
"Bandersnatch hidden in the mist. You have no clear form, devour your prey. Destroy my enemies."
After casting the spell, he quickly left.
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A while ago:
"Luke, step back." The captain quickly dashed forward and used his mace to crush the kobold's head. Luke swiftly moved to the right, killing the remaining goblins. Arrows flew in and finished off the lizards on the ceiling.
"Thanks, Elen."
"It's nothing. Where's Jin?"
"He's standing over there." The Asian boy, holding a kama with both hands, was staring towards the end of the hallway.
"Hey, Jin. Jin JIN!!!"
Jin snapped out of his daze at the call of his friends.
"Jin. What's wrong?"
"Did anyone else see a ghost just glide past us?" Jin said, pointing towards the end of the hallway. Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, then turned their doubtful gazes back at him.
"No, maybe I'm just hallucinating." Jin shook his head, trying to dispel the faint image in his mind.
"What should we do now, captain?"
"Perhaps we should attempt to advance to the 10th floor of the dungeon today. Does anyone object?"
No one responded; the remaining members of the team showed a determined look in their eyes.
"Let's go then." They began to move deeper into the dungeon.
The hallway on the 6th floor was completely empty, with no sign of any monsters.
"This is strange." It wasn't the first time they had passed through here, but the scene was different from what they had seen before. Everywhere was covered in a deep black. They touched the surface of the walls.
"Coal. Coal everywhere. It's like someone used fire magic to burn everything in their path."
"Even so, burning everything to the extent that there's no place without fire is irrational. Even the corners and turns haven't escaped the flames. It's absurd."
"It could be that a high-level adventurer went ahead of us and did this. Such a thing only happens when they use a magical sword."
"That makes it even less likely. They could crush all the monsters without burning down the hallway, and a magical sword capable of doing that would be extremely expensive."
"Guessing won't help. Whoever did this isn't related to us."
The captain quickly rallied his team to move forward.
"We're approaching the Shadow Wall. Everyone prepare; Luke, take the front line."
Luke nodded, gripping his shield tightly as he entered the room. The scene inside was terrifying. The entire wall where the monsters spawned had turned into jaws that swallowed them. Several War Shadows, born immediately, were trapped in stone spikes and unable to move.
"This is madness," Luke exclaimed.
The captain said nothing and immediately used his mace to kill a War Shadow trapped in the spikes.
"What are you standing there for? Kill them all."
The team snapped out of their stupor and quickly killed the monsters trapped in the spikes. Once the battle was over, the captain shouted at his team members.
"What were you all thinking? In a dungeon, losing your guard for even a second means death."
"We were just..."
"Don't make excuses. If anyone loses their composure like this in the future, I'll leave them behind and go. Understood?"
"Yes, captain."
"Alright. Elen, gather the drop items, and we'll leave immediately."
The group took a moment to rest before continuing. This was an ordinary group of adventurers in Orario. Their captain was a man in his thirties who had been stuck at level 1 for nearly a decade. The other members, around 17 years old, had only recently become adventurers. Their familia wasn't one of the large, prestigious families in the city, so it was understandable that they had been stuck at level 1 for a long time. This was their fate, those who couldn't advance no matter how hard they tried.
"Let's go." The group began to descend to the 7th floor. As the captain had thought, no monsters appeared. Someone ahead had cleared everything out.
"There probably won't be any monsters, so let's speed up. Let's go straight to the 10th floor."
"Understood."
The 10th floor appeared clearly before them. Fog covered everything, but they could still see a path crushed leading down to deeper floors.
"What should we do, captain? I doubt the one who came before us left any monsters."
"We'll go down further, up to the 12th floor at most. If there are no monsters, we'll return to the surface. Anyone opposed?"
"No."
"Let's descend quickly."
Following the crack down to the 12th floor, they stopped when dense fog covered the atmosphere.
"I can't see the cracks anymore. That person must have stopped destroying things when they reached this floor."
"Everyone, pay attention. That person stopped at this 12th floor, which means there will be monsters around. Get into formation immediately."
Luke, holding a sword and shield, quickly stepped forward. Elen, an archer, stood in the middle with Jin covering the rear. The captain kept a close watch on both sides. It was a basic formation for fighting monsters in a large area.
'The fog here is unusually dense. I can't even see Elen's back clearly. It feels like stepping into a thick cloud.'
"BE CAREFUL."
Sensing movement through experience and instincts, the captain pushed Elen out of the way of an incoming attack.
"Bang!" A spiked ball had struck the captain. He was thrown into the air and fell hard to the ground.
"Captain!" The group shouted loudly. But Luke had no time to worry as an orc charged at him with its mace. He was completely pushed back by the sudden attack but quickly regained his footing and cut off the orc's arm. He was about to attack again when he suddenly fell to the ground.
'A bat?'
The orc kicked him in the middle, sending him flying. Jin was busy fighting the Imps, and Elen stood frozen, unprotected, as this was only her fifth exploration. She shouldn't have gone so deep with her limited experience. Now, no one could save him as a pangolin charged towards him.
"Crack." But it wasn't the sound of Luke's body being crushed. The mace struck a Hard Armored from the side, sending it flying into the armless orc.
"Damn it. That hurts, you bastard." The captain approached while blood flowed from the corners of his mouth. Swallowing a mouthful of blood, the captain threw aside his tattered armor, which no longer offered any protection. "Elen!"
The elf snapped out of her shock.
"Shoot down the bats and Imps. They're becoming more troublesome." Regaining her composure, she quickly nocked an arrow and shot down the bats hidden in the thick fog.
"Jin, fall back. Stay close together in this dense fog." The sound of swift slicing echoed; Imps were easy targets for Jin's speed. He quickly slaughtered the remaining ones and retreated to protect Elen.
"Luke, take this potion and continue fighting. We're retreating immediately. We'll all make it out alive." The captain's words motivated the team. Their fighting spirit surged, and they fought more effectively than ever. Luke discarded his heavy shield and quickly carved through two orcs with Elen's support. Jin continued to eliminate the Imps, preventing them from disturbing his teammates.
The captain smashed the head of an orc and then dodged and counterattacked accurately against the pangolin. The experience accumulated over 10 years was not just for show.
'Imp, bat, Hard Armored, Orc—what's missing?' This creature was smarter than the other monsters and had silver fur, providing perfect camouflage in the thick fog. If that's the case, it would target the most vulnerable spot.
'Elen.' Unlike the Hard Armored that initially targeted her, the Silverback would aim for the most vulnerable moment. As Elen released an arrow, three shadowy figures charged out of the dense fog. The captain pulled her away from a deadly attack, but this time, there was no protection from his armor.
"Ripping." His arm was immediately torn from his body. Gritting his teeth, he swung his mace at the passing Silverback's head, crushing it.
"Aughhh." Luke, with a shattered sword, was thrown backward and slammed into the floor. Jin was in worse shape, with a broken arm and a large cut in his chest. He staggered back, holding his broken arm. Elen, with tear-filled eyes, quickly bound the captain's severed arm with a tightly wrapped bandage to stop the bleeding.
The captain tried to stand up with his mace but collapsed immediately from blood loss. The captain was an entirely ordinary adventurer in Orario. Mediocre skills, mediocre growth potential. One of the many adventurers stuck at Level 1 in Orario. No hope of advancement no matter how hard he tried.
A large number of monsters gathered around his team. Was this his end, a talentless person in society? No.
"I WILL SURVIVE. WE WILL SURVIVE. DAMN THEM ALL."
Not this time. Not now. He had endured that period and was still standing here. He had been in much worse situations. When his former teammates died, he had still stood firm and survived. He roared and struggled to get up. This time, none of his teammates could respond. They had completely accepted their fate. He didn't care and rushed forward.
The Silverback charged at him. He dodged to the side as his mace crushed the monster's arm. The Silverback roared and swung its remaining arm at him. The direct hit sent him flying. He tried to stand, but the shockwave from a bat made him dizzy. A tiny hand pierced his heart from behind. But he didn't collapse.
It made no sense for a weak person like him to survive through the dark times. Surrounded by enemies, while his teammates were killed by suicide bombs, he still lived through those explosions.
(Death Denial: A skill that allows the user to increase all stats based on their rage and the damage they have sustained during battle. Significantly boosts recovery abilities, though wounds that would be fatal are still not healed. The more damage sustained, the higher the recovery rate. In exchange, it causes some loss of sanity and reduces excelia gain to 40%.)
His eyes were bloodshot. He turned his head almost as if to break his own neck. He immediately crushed the head of an Imp. Tossing aside the dead creature and his tattered armor, his body was revealed to be covered in various scars. Two Silverbacks charged at him. He hurled his mace and crushed the head of one. The other struck his head with its hand.
"Crack!" It seemed like his head was fractured in several places. He didn't care, using both hands to grasp the jaw of the Silverback and tearing it apart. The sound rang out, causing him to collapse. It was quickly severed by an accurate arrow from Elen. The Orc's weapon fell upon him. With immense strength, he grabbed the weapon and thrust it into the Orc's eye. He no longer cared about efficiency.
Recovering his mace, he continued to charge at the monsters. But his swing was off due to blood loss. The skill could repair damage but could not recover the lost blood. Sensing death, he was about to close his eyes. But instead, he witnessed something even more horrifying.
The fog surrounding him seemed to have a consciousness. Sounds of tearing flesh and scratching echoed, like metal scraping a chalkboard. The monsters in front of him looked around in confusion before a massive maw devoured them. All the creatures were torn apart before vanishing into the fog. Their blood splattered onto the captain's face. He glanced around. The monsters seemed to be ripped apart by a colossal claw. Some were pierced through the air by a sharp tail. Others melted and rotted as if struck by a deadly poison.
'An invisible monster?' But his intuition and experience told him otherwise.
'No, it's the fog. The monster is the fog. It has been surrounding us all this time.' Looking at his teammates, Luke and Jin had passed out after Elen's first aid, while Elen looked on in horror at the scene before her. If the monster hadn't noticed him, he might have escaped by leaving the kids behind. And he decided.
"Elen, get up. Take Jin with you. I'll handle Luke."
"But how can we... escape from that thing?"
Frustrated, the captain grabbed her collar and banged his head against hers.
"Listen. From now on, engrave these words into your mind. Live. We will live. We will survive. Never forget it." Letting go of the elf's collar, the captain looked into the fog before him.
"Don't worry about that thing. If it wanted to kill us, we would have been dead long ago. It's highly likely that this is the work of someone who came down here before us." He lied. But this lie was necessary to boost their morale.
The elf obeyed immediately. Preparing ropes to secure the injured teammates on her back. As she secured Luke on the captain's back, she asked.
"Why did you come back to help us? You could have abandoned us and escaped from the monsters. As you said earlier..." Her voice trailed off. The captain replied.
"There are three main reasons I'm saving you. First, I promised Kami that I would survive and return with you. Second, I led you into danger. I'm responsible for saving you. Finally, I'm just a talentless guy who hasn't even reached level 2 in over 10 years. You, on the other hand, have potential. Don't let it go to waste."
She and the captain spoke while running.
"Moreover, for a kid who has only explored 7 times and can still stay calm after witnessing something so horrifying, that's unusual. You have a lot of potential, kid."
The girl blushed at the captain's words. Her heart raced, and her blood felt warmer. If looked at from outside, it would seem her head was steaming.
Running up to the third level of the dungeon, the walls began to crack, and goblins and kobolds appeared. The captain grinned widely and tightened his grip on the mace.
"Don't move too much. We're carrying injured people on our backs. Repeat what I said."
The elf took out a small dagger and held it tightly.
"Live. We will live. We will survive."
.
.
.
In the conversation between Syr and Bell.
Chloe let out a wide, ear-to-ear grin as she saw Syr chatting with a young boy. She was trying to come up with a series of pranks to play on Syr to get revenge for what happened this morning. "Nehehe... Syr, you won't escape from me this time." Lunoire sighed from behind.
Anya was covering Ayla's eyes.
"Don't be like your mother, Ayla." She whispered to the child.
"Mom is doing something bad again, isn't she?"
"Oh, you know that?" Lunoire asked curiously beside her.
"Um. Aunt Qliphap always says that my mother is a sly, wicked, perverted person and often gambles." The words fell on Chloe's ears with a thousand pounds of weight, causing her to collapse to the floor. How painful it was to have those words spoken by her own beloved child.
"And Dad says that Mom is a real shotacon pervert. She always gives presents to little boys as an excuse to touch their bodies." Her colleagues looked at her with new disdain in the corners of their eyes as one of her deepest secrets was revealed.
"But no matter how bad you are, I still love you, Mom." Ayla smiled brightly, illuminating the room. Anya hugged the child tightly. Lunoire approached Chloe and patted her shoulder. "Remember to love your child a lot. You have a wonderful daughter."
Chloe stood up, picked Ayla up, and hugged her close. Her hand gently stroked the child's hair. "Thank you." Ayla relaxed and enjoyed the hug she was receiving. 'Qliphap. Accelerator. I will definitely get my revenge on both of you.' The plan for revenge on Syr was over. A new plan for revenge had been formed.