I stood before her, bleeding and sweating, my gaze locked on the silver-haired girl who had appeared out of nowhere in front of me. Her light from her summoning circle still lingered, causing wispy sparks to dance across the floor.
She was tall and calm, with her long silver locks brushing past her armor. Her pale blue eyes glowed softly in the dark of the dungeon, bright and. strangely at peace.
For a moment, or at least two seconds, I simply gazed at her, half-expecting she might pop into nothingness.
"U-uh…" I stuttered at last. "Who… are you precisely?"
The girl blinked, then crouched slightly, one hand pressed against her chest in a smooth motion.
"My name is Seris," she said in quiet but firm tone. "Level 40 Swordmaster. I am your summoned servant."
I blinked again. "Level 40?"
She nodded.
I quickly opened my system window and clicked on her icon — a glistening sword emblem next to my status window. Her profile spread before me.
[Servant Information]
Name: Seris
Rank: 4★
Level: 40
Class: Swordmaster
Skills: Lightning Step, Blade Resonance, Sword Aura
Loyalty: 100
Equipment: Mythril Edge (Unique)
"Four-star servant." I muttered, still stunned. "You're telling me I summoned a rare unit on my first summon."
Seris tilted her head to one side. "Is that. good, Master?
I almost laughed out loud. "It's terrific! Usually you're grinding and wasting rolls on something like you!"
She looked at me, clearly baffled by the gacha speak phenomenon, but I didn't care. For the first time since I entered this abyss, I was lucky.
"Well, Seris," I gasped, still trying to wrap my head around what had just occurred, "I'm Yuta. It appears that I am here in this dungeon until I kill a hundred floors.".
Seris placed a hand on the hilt of her sword. "Then I will see that you live, Master Yuta."
Her words were firm, yet the tone was suffocating enough to tighten my chest. No one ever said that to me before.
I couldn't reply any more as the air around us started to distort. The ground creaked and began to glow with radiant red runes.
[Warning: Floor Master Chamber Activated.]
I widened my eyes. "Oh, come on! Now?!"
Thunder boomed in the dungeon. The walls curved and remolded so that we were in a colossal arena. Black rock pillars surrounded us, and at the middle was something even bigger and uglier than the goblins I had fought previously.
It was a minimum of three meters tall—bulging muscles, tusks curled upward, pulsating green-colored veins. Its eyes glared at me with raw hatred.
[Floor Master: Homo Goblin — Lv.25]
My knees almost gave out. "Level 25?! You're kidding, right?!"
I still wouldn't stand a chance, even if I was at maximum power.
I glanced over at Seris, who hadn't flinched. Her expression was an unreadable mask, as smooth as a lake prior to a storm.
"Seris…" I hesitated. "You can do this, can't you?"
She smiled weakly. "Of course, Master."
And then, without another word, she drew her sword.
The sound was almost-musical—metal singing its way through the air. Her sword glowed silver, delicate arcs of blue lightning dancing along its blade.
The Homo Goblin roared and rushed, the earth trembling beneath its feet.
But Seris… she didn't move.
Not until the last moment.
Then she was gone.
One blink—and she was out of my line of vision.
A second later, a shaft of blue light cut through the air, followed by a deafening crack.
The goblin stumbled, its chest bulging with blood from a wide gash. I watched her shift hardly at all, just glimpses of silver and light.
"She's fast…" I breathed, watching.
Seris appeared behind the beast, sword at her hip. "You rely on brute power," she breathed, her tone almost filled with compassion. "That won't get you anywhere."
The goblin bellowed again, swinging its massive club blindly with rage. Seris flowed like water—sliding aside, her feet barely touching the ground. Every motion was smooth, precise.
She attacked again. Lightning danced behind her blade as she sprang upward, striking across the monster's chest.
[Skill Used: Lightning Step]
A flash of electricity from her sword, and the beast stumbled backward, its body twisting in a rasping scream.
I could barely keep up with what I was seeing. It was like watching a high-speed movie action scene—only it was real.
The Homo Goblin tried to raise its club for another blow, but Seris was already overhead, descending like a shooting star.
[Skill Used: Blade Resonance]
Her sword blazed with eye-searing light, and in a single swift stroke, she cut down.
Slash.
The creature froze, eyes open wide.
A thin line of light cut through its body, from shoulder to waist. Then, slowly, agonizingly, its form split in two—blood spraying out across the broken arena floor.
The giant fell with a deafening crash.
[Floor Master Defeated.]
[Floor 1 Cleared.]
[Rewards: 100 Dungeon Coins, +2 Player Levels, +1 Servant Level.]
The glowing text appeared before my eyes, ringing with a cheerful chime.
I stood there, amazed.
Seris descended elegantly, hardly breaking a sweat at all. She swooshed her sword once, sending blood droplets flying in every direction before stowing it away. She then faced me and bowed slightly.
"The Floor Master has been eliminated, Master Yuta."
I gazed for another moment before laughing weakly. "Eliminated? You just blew the guy to smithereens!"
She tilted her head, a bit of confusion on her face. "Was that… not satisfactory?"
I tossed up my hands. "No, no, it was perfect! Better than perfect! You just saved my life!"
A hesitant smile played on her mouth, and she nodded.
"Then I am glad."
The system beeped once again.
[Player Yuta — Level 1 → 3]
[Current Coins: 110]
[Servant Seris — Level 40 → 41]
I glared at the notifications in shock. Two levels like that. I did feel stronger—like my body was lighter, my injuries less paining.
"So this is. leveling up," I growled. "Guess I'll take it."
Seris gazed at me curiously. "You look. relieved."
"I am," I confessed. "For a little while there, I thought I was going to die before I even knew what this place was."
She smiled slightly. "You fought well for one who was not trained."
I grinned. "You mean one who was freaking out and had a rock in hand?"
She blinked, surprised that this was supposed to be funny, which made me laugh all the more.
Once the laughter had died away, I looked around. Arena floor was once more covered in a glow of red runes, distortion in the air.
[Proceed to Floor 2?]
A countdown hung over the portal.
Guess we're heading out, I said, turning to her. "You set, Seris?"
She nodded once. "Always."
As the glow of the portal became brighter, I glanced back at the line of her profile once more.
A four-star, level forty Swordmaster. Cold, loyal, and extremely deadly.
And she called me Master.
"Hey, Seris," I said as light swallowed us up. "Why do you do that?
She rolled her head ever so slightly, her hair of silver catching the light. "Because the summoning bond declares you master. Until this dungeon's conclusion—or my own demise—I will fight for you."
There was no hesitation in her words. Only resolve.
I swallowed. "That's. a lot of trust to place in someone you've just met."
She forced a weak smile. "Perhaps the gacha gods bless you more than you can know."
I blinked. "Wait—you're aware of gacha?"
"Not much," she said, for the first time her voice teasing. "Enough to know that luck is a valuable thing. Do not waste it."
I did not have time to speak before the portal enveloped us both in searing white.
The last I recall was her standing by my side, sword aloft, eyes steady and resolute.
And for the first time since I had been in this world, I felt no loneliness.
[Entering Floor 2: The Forest of Whispers.]
The voice boomed faintly as light drove away the darkness.
Whatever was to come, I had Seris.
And that, at least for the moment, was enough.