87 Man's romance(corrected)

The next day, Mark woke up full of energy and decided that he wanted to make the most of the fact that he had woken up early. He headed to a desolate area of the 18th floor, which was surrounded by trees, and after making sure that no one was present, he began his training.

At the moment he wanted to pay attention to two things, the first was magic and the second was the aura. His mastery with the sword had increased because of his clash with the spartoi, and training with the aura required using it as much as possible, so what required the most concentration was magic.

During his battles, he noticed several problems with his magic that he wanted to solve as soon as possible. Therefore he began the first experiment, which was to create several magic circles at once. It required a high level of multitasking, but thanks to the effects that the corruption of 'golem heart' had caused, it was not a problem for Mark.

"Seriously, why didn't I think of this earlier?" -Shaking his head wryly, he looked carefully at the three magic circles in front of his hand.

Although the number was not much and the fact that they were all the same spell, it did not give Mark any problem. He felt that as a first attempt it was more than satisfactory, plus he knew that in the future he could improve.

The second experiment he did was to create a magic that was able to move as he wanted, similar to 'arcus ray' of Lefiya. The goal of the magic was to be able to chase the opponent or catch him off guard.

In words, it sounded simple, but there was one problem in particular and that was how the spells were cast. Lefiya's magic could chase the target thanks to the magic chant, instead, Mark had to constantly change the magic circle, to manage the movements of the magic, without it collapsing.

It was complicated; there were times when the magic lost power, while at others he was forced to lower the speed to control it better. He had to make several attempts that all resulted in failures, but he was beginning to get used to it. The mistakes he made were fewer and fewer, but it was still not suitable for use in combat.

The third experiment was to create magic circles away from his body, which turned out to be a complete failure. He was able to make them in any position as long as they were near his body, otherwise, it would be impossible to control the Falna.

"Maybe the problem is not me, but more my mastery with 'Falna manipulation.'"-Massaging his forehead, which had begun to hurt, was all he could think of.

[As a theory it's most likely right. Then again, you would become the wizards' worst enemy if you were able to control the Falna away from you].

The Guide's words had caught his attention, but since he did not yet have enough experience, he could only put it aside. The rest of the morning, he spent it training his aura and thinking about new magic he had in mind for some time but did not yet know how to accomplish.

"Maybe I should ask Aiz, she's the only one I know who has that kind of magic." -In fact, the magic Mark had in mind was support magic.

Just as Aiz was able to use the wind to accelerate her movements, he wanted to do a similar thing with electricity. Obviously, Aiz was using wind to decrease her friction with the air and reduce her weight, but doing such a thing with electricity was impossible; if he did something wrong, there was a risk that the electricity would cause him to go into cardiac arrest.

"The road ahead of me seems to have no end." -With several goals accomplished and others still far off, Mark concluded his morning workout.

Returning toward camp, he pondered how to spend the day. Since it was the day of the ascent, he didn't want to waste too much energy, so he would just ask Aiz for advice.

Upon arriving at the camp, he looked around for Aiz, but she didn't seem to be there, so he walked among the various tents thinking he would meet her, instead he met Bell who was organizing his equipment.

"Morning Bell, by any chance have you seen Aiz?"

"Hi Mark, actually she and the other girls went somewhere, but I don't know exactly."

"Looks like I was unlucky then." -Mark said with a sigh.

"Oya oya, who knew I would meet the two stars of the moment together."

Hearing an unfamiliar voice, Mark turned to see who it was and had to admit that the man in front of him could be called a real lady killer, the only thing that penalized him, was how his inquiring gaze, was analyzing Mark's body.

"...God Hermes?" -Perplexed Mark asked.

"Oh! The fact that you know me means you know about my fearless exploits." -Said Hermes smugly.

"No, your image is put in the book where the most problematic gods of Orario are written." -Mark's scornful words, destroyed Hermes' happy expression.

"More like I wonder why a god is in the dungeon, I thought you weren't allowed to enter." -Mark asked confused.

"I can explain the reason to you." -Bell told him about the events that had happened the night before, how his goddess, along with other adventurers, including the Familia who had put them in danger, had gone down to look for them.

"Quite an exciting night."

Mark especially found it amusing that Zoe punched the captain of the Takemikazuchi Familia in the face, but since they had put them in mortal danger, it could be called more than light punishment.

"I can understand why his goddess came down, but what does that have to do with you in this situation?"-That was what Mark could not understand.

"I was simply curious." -Hermes said with an innocent smile.

'Sigh'-Mark could only sigh at the god's attitude in front of him.

"However, now that you are here, I plan to invite you and Bell to see one of the most wonderful treasures of the 18th floor." -Hermes said with the utmost seriousness.

Mark and Bell looked at each other indecisively at the god's proposal, but Mark could detect no lie in his words, and since he had nothing to do, he accepted the proposal, especially since he and Bell were curious about what treasure he was talking about.

Seeing the duo nod, Hermes smiled contentedly and began to lead the way. During the walk, Mark asked him questions about the type of treasure, whether it was a plant or a mineral, but Hermes just said to wait.

"Mark my boy, may I ask how you see me?" -Hermes suddenly asked.

"...Normal? " -Although Mark had answered, he did not understand the context of asking such a question.

"You must be wondering about the reason behind my question. Usually, the look or attitude a person has when he/she looks at a god always contains a bit of reverence, no matter how much that person may hate the god, but in your case, I don't feel anything like that, so I was wondering what kind of environment you grew up in to develop that particularity."

Seeing Hermes' inquiring smile, Mark could not help but compare it with the look Loki had whenever she looked at him, in fact, the resemblance was almost frightening but he had to admit that his words made sense.

Mark had not felt anything special when meeting a god, from his point of view they were not very different from humans, perhaps the reason could be that their divinity was blocked or simply the fact that he had met an entity that surpassed all others.

"Even if you ask me what environment I grew up in, I would say it was peaceful." -Mark said without going into specifics.

"Hmmm, I understand. Forget the serious talk, we've arrived." -With a radical change, he returned to his casual appearance.

Climbing up the trees, they positioned themselves on a branch that was covered by leaves and hanging over the void, and on Hermes' advice, they squatted down.

"You told us to follow you, but why are we climbing trees." -Bell asked unsure, thinking the god was deceiving him.

"Fufufu, don't worry, it will be worth it. Look down."(whisper)

Making space for themselves among the leaves, Mark and Bell managed to create visual space, but when they looked down at the small lake below them, it seemed as if their brains had turned off.

Mentally Mark was 25 years old and not even a virgin, but even for him, it was too much to see several wonderful-looking women bathing in a lake completely naked.

"Hermes!"(whispered)-Although he was infuriated, he couldn't shout, he didn't want to be recognized as a perverted snitch.

"So how about the best treasure in the dungeon." (whispered)-Hermes said with the most depraved smile Mark had ever seen.

"God Hermes! if they see us, we will be killed!" (whispered)-Bell said desperately, with his entire face flushed.

"You don't understand Bell, peeking is the man's romance"(whispered)-Said Hermes things if what he was doing was the right thing.

"You say man's romance huh?"(whispered)-Said Mark with a smile, which gave Hermes chills, especially after Mark grabbed his shirt collar.

"Come on Mark, we are all acculturated men here, how about we discuss it." -Hermes said, as his expression grew paler and paler thinking about what Mark was about to do.

"Discuss it in your next life, when you become a proper being." (whispered)-Looking as if he was garbage, Mark threw him toward the lake.

"Aaaaaarg!" 'splash'

"You'd better go now that there's a distraction." (whispered)-Said Mark, as he hastily retreated.

"A-AH! Yes!"

Maybe because he was still agitated or was terrified that Mark might do something similar to him, Bell stood up too quickly, causing the branch on which he was positioned to fracture, also following Hermes' fate.

"What a pity, he was still so young." -From the pitiful look on Mark's face, he was sure he would never see Bell again.