(This chapter was uploaded on Saturday 9/December/2023 8:00 PM, timezone GMT+3)
('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the notes at the end of the chapter.
"..." small moment of silence
"Talking"
"He-" Someone was interrupted.
'Thinking'
[Skills' names, chanting, spell keys and spells' names]
(PoV)
(Line Break)
(Nephelont's PoV)
Day 7, 5:00 PM.
One little step for a dragon, a huge leap for dragon kind!
"BAAA!!" Of course, monsters had to ruin my celebratory speech.
'There is no one who listens to your speech, physical body'
Lo... it's not time for that now.
'Blunt attacks like balled fists and slaps would work better here'
Well, let's try what Hunter said. Let's try to slap one and...
...
... its body shattered away.
I may have used too much strength there.
'That was definitely too much strength'
Yeah, Allen. I think I might try to lower the amount of energy I spend on hitting them.
For now, let's slap the rest out of existence.
As I'm done talking with my instincts, time resumes moving normally.
By now, seven of the monsters that look like floating skulls came closer. They are in range to attack.
The two closest to me got a tail swipe and were slammed to the wall. They turned to dust.
The other five are relatively the same distance away from me. Should I burn them? Let's burn them.
I breathe fire upon them and... Ew! They were whole skeletons under some cloaking fur! It's a disgusting show of their lack of skill! How they only left the head visible!
They should have at least perfected their cloaking fur, so it covers the head, too, before trying to kill others. Not that they were going to succeed with their screams.
*Crack* Fire made their bones start cracking here and there. It was even easier to break them like that.
And just like that I have slain yet another monster speci-...
What was that feeling? It felt like possible threats were around.
'Be aware, the tunnels around you are occupied by an organized group of monsters'
Are you sure, Hunter?
'Yes'
Well, nothing better than burning some of them first.
"AWWOOO!!"
Was that a howl just now? Are they communicating? Monsters are?
'They do'
Then we need to deal with them before they can decipher a way to deal with me.
As one sprints at me, coming out from the darkness of a tunnel, I look to a different one and throw fire their way.
"*Yelp*!" "*Yelp*!" "*Yelp*!"
There were about three in that tunnel alone, huh? For how long did they surround me?
Anyway, the one that sprinted at me first got angrier that their little plan failed and-
"AAAWWWWWWOOOO!!!"
-it howled for the others to come out.
Fine then, I will play unfair. Sticking to the wall, where you can't reach me is an easy soluti-
No, not really. That one is a big green monster. Somehow, it feels like kin. But a monster is a monster. I need to pounce at it before it has the time to do much.
I activate my invisibility and throw myself at its neck. I enlarge my body as I get in range to bite it. Its entire head fits inside my mouth as I chomp its head off.
"RROOOAARR!! It's my victory!" For some reason, the howling monsters ran away after they took in the fact I defeated that big one. Something tells me they will come back with a bigger force. And it's going to be annoying.
'Physical body, you had many chances to restore the link. Why did you not?'
You see, Lo, I wanted to see if I could go to the surface, where less monsters and those who hunt them exist. I hope they exist in less numbers like I just assumed.
Oh, look, muscular monsters with horns have come. Let's squash them, as they look strong enough to cause trouble.
There are around ten- no, nine of them. I cut the first while invisible, as I didn't turn it off yet.
The others looked around for the threat but didn't find me. Of course, I'm unseen.
I take out another one who wasn't being watched by the others.
I keep picking them out like that until the last two run away in fear of an unseen enemy.
Invisibility's such a cheat, isn't it?
'It is, physical body. You cannot attack an enemy you do not locate. Throwing attacks at random, in the hopes that one reaches said enemy, is not something many beings can afford to do'
Thanks for the lesson, Lo.
I ate their magic stones next, and the result was a bit more apparent. The monsters here could give me a feeling of danger, and their magic stones gave me a lot more energy expansion compared to before.
I will need to stop going lower than this. Any lower, and I may encounter a monster that will be the end of my adventure.
Allen, can we start repairing my link with them? I want to do that if I could.
'Positive. However, you are required to stay still approximately for two hours. Invisibility will consume more energy than we can afford to spend, and the restoration process will be halted inappropriately. It is highly advised to gather more energy. The amount to hide for 4 hours and a half should suffice'
We should aim for that, then.
"AWWOOOO!!!" Damn you! How quick is that?
I think they did, as they entered the room and started surrounding me. There were so many howling monsters that I couldn't take a step without squashing one.
(AN: I want you to imagine the room's size, considering it is in the 37th, and then fill it to the brim with Loup Garou)
I regret turning off my invisibility.
As one tried to grab onto one of my larger scales, I changed my size to a size too small for it to hold onto and flew up. I simply burn them all while flying.
I know I only fought them like... twice, but this is getting boring, very quickly. They should have a singular strong enemy for me to fight.
Oh, they just turned to dust. I should go over and eat the stones.
I gorged on the bland stones as I needed to increase the time I could spend invisible.
Allen, how long can I remain invisible after eating these stones?
'You could remain invisible for a duration between 2.2-2.3 hours'
That's still lacking. I will increase that as I go through the floor.
I went to the next room through one of the tunnels. It was occupied by some globes of living liquid. How is that possible? Wait a minute! Those are purple stones in the middle of every one of them! Those are monsters!
I tried to grab one with my hand, a yellow one, but my hand felt a stinging pain.
"OW!" I threw the blob away.
What is it with this thing?
'It started melting you away'
That's scary, Allen. And as such, I will just scorch them. Arson might be the answer to most of the monsters I have seen up to now on this floor.
'Do not make it a habit. Relying on one method for everything will rust your skills over time'
So, what do you suggest, Arsalan?
'Use your body to directly attack them with physical force after getting their weaknesses from Hunter'
"AAAA!!" I spun around in place to throw a blob away. It seems that while I was talking to my instincts, a blob found its way to my tail by dropping from the ceiling.
Anyway, why do I feel danger from abo- Oh, no... oh, Hestia... TORCH THEM ALIVE!!
BURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURN....
...
Have they been burned? All of them?
'All'
But who is this Hestia I thought of?
'We have no recollection of such a person, physical body'
Allen doesn't have a recollection of her, huh? I don't even know why the name strikes me as a woman's name.
Forget it. We should go to the next room.
In the next room I found three of that green kin monster hanging on different walls. I, of course, entered the room invisible and toke two out. I want to take on the last one in a frontal fight.
'LIKE HELL!'
Marthanóir complains again, perfect.
'SHUT UP AND TAKE IT MORE SAFELY!'
Not this time, Marthanóir. I wan-'This one can poison you. I can just feel it being able to'
I see, I see. I will take it out like the others. Aaand, it's done. Happy?
'Very'
And there he goes. Right, can I get closer to the center of this floor? From the structure of the rooms, it looks like a maze of sorts. Mazes have good things in store at the center.
'They also have a guardian guarding said good things at the center'
Allen, you didn't need to ruin my fantasy. Or rather, Lo, don't hide behind Allen's voice. Will you?
'I simply brought you back to reality. Do you think you can locate the center?'
The rooms were connected with paths that slightly curved to the right. That means the center is to a sharper turn to the right than the hallways are. Unless, of course, whatever built this maze made it so the curves don't point you to the center in an obvious way.
For now, I will follow the paths the rooms naturally have.
As I walked through the room, I got bored. I decided that I want to fly. Walking is too slow for my little patience.
I spread my wings and flew between the rooms, searching for something new to fight. I hoped I will find something that can be a good match without Marthanóir grumbling again.
'WHAT DID YOU THINK OF ME YOU BRAT!'
SHUT UP ALREADY!
Oh, new monsters.
'DON'T IGNORE ME!'
Yeah, whatever.
The new monster was a human-sized monster with bulging muscles and two large and curved horns, black skin, red hair, and yellow eyes.
Didn't I see this one some minutes ago? And look over there, one is looking my way. It gives me a bad vibe.
"OOOOOOOUUUUUUU!!!" That was definitely a gathering call.
I am becoming a habitual arsonist by torching yet another group of small fries.
Now, let's wait as the others head to this room. I want to see just how many are there?
...
Okay, that's way too many. Just like the howlers, these ones also filled the room.
Embrace arson! Or not.
Anyway, how much time do you estimate now?
'About 2.7-2.9 hours'
'Hide' Marthanóir said. 'I feel like they are life-threatening to you'
"Was it really okay to leave that newbie to go to the surface? You know we were reduced to a few members since that incident over 20 years ago. Losing our members when we are still low on numbers isn't ideal"
"Like I care. He can go and decide to die on his own"
A man and a woman were talking about someone going to the surface to die.
"We will need to train what little forces we have for now, though. All for the revival of the great Evilus"
"For Evilus"
That sounds like a cultish thing to say. I feel the urge to kill them for some reason.
I dive at the woman and bite her in half. She tried to react when she heard the almost unheard noise of the wind being pushed away by my scales, but that failed. I spit the bit half on the man before he gets out of the shock of his companion being cut in half and flying mid-air. He couldn't see me and was looking around after I moved away silently.
"SHOW YOURSELF! FIEND!"
Yeah, stupid. Do you think I will reveal myself if you were a threat strong enough that Marthanóir said it gravely serious?
The man was warily looking around and trying to locate me. He fails to see me in front of him.
The problem now is he will notice my every movement as he is alert to me being invisible.
Well, my tail is free to move and would reach him. Allen, could you help me reinforce my tail to its most?
'We will'
A quick tail whip later, and that cultish person was thrown to the ground moaning in pain.
*rumble* I punched him while he was prone on the ground.
*rumble* I didn't care about him somehow staying silent.
*rumble* I just pummeled him relentlessly for no reason.
*rumble**rumble**rumble**rumble**rumble**rumble**rumble**rumble**rumble*
...
I think I should stop. The man finally feels dead, even though his body doesn't look that injured.
'Never underestimate blunt force. The blunt force from being punched shook his organs and messed their connections'
Are you sure, Arsalan?
'I am sure'
I burnt their bodies to ashes and scattered them across the room to make sure they don't just come back to life. I mean, monsters exist, okay? It wouldn't surprise me if people revive themselves.
In the next room, I saw a long monster with six glowing red eyes. I simply grabbed it by the tail and used it to slap the other monsters to death.
Wait! This feeling! Don't tell me?
As I look up, I see blobs of multiple colors again.
"ARSON!"
They were burned to death. If anything, I now knew something about myself. I hate the sticky, gooey feeling they give while in touch.
By how much this time?
'Your invisibility duration has increased to 2.9-3.1 hours'
What time is it?
Day 7, 11:42 PM.
I should go to sleep.
(Line Break)
Day 8, 4:04 AM.
"*yawn*" I yawned as I woke up.
"Awo?" Damn your existence.
I slapped the howler with all my might, pushing my weight into the hit, pulverizing it against the ground. All I see now is a splatter of blood and messed-up guts.
The sticky feeling of the mixture of the howler's insides reminded me of the blobs. I scraped it off with the dirt under my feet and burnt whatever remained on my paw.
It stung, to be burned with my own fire.
'You are not immune, physical body. Never assume immunity'
I will try what you said, Allen.
Now that the annoyance has been dealt with, should we start trying to methodically find our way to the center?
(3rd person PoV)
Nephelont woke up to a rocky morning. He started to make a mental map of the room and where the exits are. He knew which path he took to enter, so he marked it as used in his mental map.
He also recalled the paths he took to reach here and where the exits were in the previous rooms.
Nephelont noted how simple it was. The five rooms he visited only contained up to four exits. two of which did not get more than two.
He was currently in a room that had only two paths that lead into it. He used one to enter, so he chose the other one to exit.
He came to room#6. It had three exits, including the one he used to enter.
The monsters here were mostly a bunch of ridiculously buff bulls. They had large horns that were twisted on themselves horizontally. They also had a split tail ending in two blades.
'I really want that tail as a weapon, but it's too small' Nephelont envied them. His tail was pure blunt damage.
After killing the first, it turned to dust like usual. To his surprise, there was meat next to its magic stone.
'Meat!'
'Meat!'
Both Nephelont and Gourmet wanted to cook it with dragon fire and taste it. But first, there was a need to purge the rest of its kind from this room.
Day 8, 5:39 AM.
'How many can you still burn? Huh?' Gourmet was getting irritated. Nephelont almost dried up their stock of beef by burning the first few with his fire then overcooking the rest.
'It still needs even less time...' Nephelont was mentally exhausted. He started to control how intense his fire was, which tired him.
"Let's try again!" Nephelont got fired up, literally.
He tried to make BBQ one last time. It failed.
'What have I done wrong for all my attempts to fail?' Nephelont was laying limply, contemplating the small number of choices he made up to this point.
'Look at the bright side. We can taste them raw' Gourmet gave up. It was not worth losing all the meat for the possibility of a better taste.
'I guess I will have to make do with raw meat'
Nephelont stretched his hand to yet another piece of the monster's meat and put it in his mouth.
As his tongue picked up the taste, his mind went haywire over it. Something within him got reprogrammed into hunting this specific monster for its meat.
"Beef!" Although he went a 'little' crazy over eating a proper piece of meat for the first time in days, he still mapped the rooms he passed through.
(Nephelont's PoV)
Let's go through the paths that get us the closest to the center. In room#8, there is only one path I can take to a new room#9.
Room#9 looks a little different. The basic structure is the same, but that one exit is embedded in a wall that seems like polished white marble. The entire floor was made of white marble, but this one's the only polished white marble I have seen up to now.
Is room#10 where it all changes for a harder part of the maze? I vaguely remember that mazes get harder when you approach the center of them.
Let's step in for now.
(End of Chapter)
Although the next chapter is ready, I think it might be better to upload it tomorrow. A chapter/day seems a better option when compared to any random number of chapters at random days, since uploading all the chapters I have prepared will make me unable to upload one tomorrow but the day after, or the one after that.
So, expect up to chapter 12 getting uploaded across the next few days.
Have a nice day, ladies and gentlemen.