The Seventh Floor

Rey descended from the top of the ceiling with grace.

His feet slowly neared the ground as he controlled his descent through the [Flight] Skill, ensuring he did not repeat the same mistake as last time.

As soon as he landed, he activated [Danger Sense] and [Combat Application]—both of which were C-Tier Skills.

Thanks to their average Tier, they did not consume much Mana, so he was operating on budget.

'Let's see just how many Skills I can use in this round.' Rey smiled as he maintained the [Flight] Skill.

His feet did not touch the ground, and he slowly advanced through the Seventh Floor like a floating specter.

His eyes were glowing brilliantly while his muscle-toned body was shrouded by the surrounding darkness.

This didn't last very long, though.

"[Perception]. [Farsight]."

Neither of these two Skills were specifically for Night Vision, but they had their uses

[Perception] improved all his sensory abilities, while [Farsight] allowed him a long and wide range of vision.

The latter Skill was very limited due to the current darkness, but Rey was not worried at all.

'I can see a little, and that's all that matters.'

He had to consider situations where he couldn't fight in very bright areas.

This could serve as training for such scenarios.

'This is strange, though. Why is this place dark? Shouldn't there be Mana Crystals here..?'

As he proceeded, looking around him as he observed the walls and ceiling, these thoughts crossed his mind.

If there were Mana Crystals, he would have even sensed them at this point.

"Hm."

Rey decided to closely approach the walls, and that was when his senses picked them up—the minerals here that replaced the Mana Stones.

"These are…!" His eyes widened slightly as he placed his hand on one of the pointy rocks that covered the wall's surface.

"Orichalcum… I see now."

Orichalcum were high-quality minerals that were known to be incredibly Mana Resistant, so they were very useful for defense.

These minerals were usually harvested to make weapons that could be used to directly counter incredibly powerful Magic Users or those who had Skills that produced Mana-Based attacks.

It had the opposite effect of Mythril, which actually enabled more Mana Flow and sometimes amplified the quality.

'I learned all of this in the library. The rest of them don't know what they're missing out on…'

The moment Rey thought about the library, he remembered a face that made him smile a little.

'Ah, what are you doing, Rey? Now isn't the time to get distracted.'

He had work to do, and that was all that mattered.

'If the Monsters here use these Minerals, it's possible that a lot of my Skills won't be as effective.'

Skills ran on Mana, but there were certain Skills that utilized Mana externally.

Those were the kind Rey was referring to.

'I have one saving grace, though. These are raw Orichalcum ores…'

Usually, minerals were processed in the Refinery in order to bring out their full potential.

Using Orichalcum as it was meant the users had to put up with a lot of its impurities, which meant its Mana Dampening qualities were limited.

Rey liked that.

So far, he had yet to encounter any monsters. That meant they did not build their civilization close to the entrance.

Perhaps they were simply not expecting an intruder, or they were powerful enough to fend them off.

Either way, Rey kept advancing, keeping note of his surroundings while all his senses were heightened.

"Let's see what they… hmm…? What's this?"

Rey's [Danger Sense] began to tingle, and the direction that seemed to radiate the most danger seemed to be up ahead.

Right now he was walking in what seemed like a long passageway, but there appeared to be a clearing just about a hundred meters from his position.

It probably led to a large expanse, considering the proposed topography of the Floor.

'I see. So that's where they all are.' Rey grinned.

It seemed the Monsters he was about to fight had more sense than he initially expected.

Rey's grin grew even broader as he floated forward, expecting a treat.

"GRAAAA!!"

"GRUUU!!"

Two dark green creatures suddenly jumped out of nowhere and rushed at him.

'An ambush, huh?' Rey thought as he watched them occupy both his left and right flank.

They had sharpened weapons carved from the Orichalcum, both in the form of long spears for better reach.

Their dark slimy skin and their muscular build made Rey recognize them very easily.

'Hobgoblins…'

He had read that the Second Floor was populated by Goblins before they were subjugated, so it made sense for their evolved versions to be down here.

Hobgoblins were naturally bigger, stronger, and smarter than regular Goblins. They also had areas of specializations—like humans had Classes—and from the looks of the two who approached him, both seemed to be warriors.

'Orichalcum armor too…? Impressive.'

It was pretty rudimentary and downright primitive, but Rey could not deny that they were far more innovative than the monsters from above.

Their eyes had evolved to the darkness, and their fluid motion made it clear they were aiming for his vitals.

These were trained Hobs, and if they were using Orichalcum weapons, it was possible for them to pierce his defense.

… Well, depending on the defense.

"[Force]." Rey whispered under his breath.

~VWOOOOOMMM!!!~

Both Hobgoblins were forcibly stopped midair, and before they could say anything, their bodies were sent flying backwards.

It was an almighty push that they could not resist.

~BOOM!~

They crashed upon the stone walls that they sprang out from, completely stunned by the damage they had just received from an invisible force.

"Ahh… did I kill them?" Rey muttered to himself as he watched blood drip from their unconscious bodies.

'No. They're not dead. They're quite resilient. I guess the armor paid off, after all.'

However, they were already weakened by the hit they received.

Rey decided it was probably best to finish them off with his next move.

"[Heat Vision]."

Instantly, his eyes began to glow red and a beam of hot light appeared from within it.

~VWUUUSHH!~

As he floated in the air, he sent the straight line of hot energy towards the helpless Hobgoblins, finishing them off in a flash.

'Haha! I always wanted to try this at least once!'

The person he got the [Heat Vision] Skill from also had [Icy Breath], [Flight], [Super Strength] and [Super Speed] as Skills.

It felt like the guy was going for a certain kind of build, but Rey didn't judge at all.

'It's pretty cool.'

Once he identified that the Goblins were dead, he burned them up using [Fire Ball] and took their Monster Core.

'I doubt I'd gain much experience from them. I guess I'll have to kill a bunch of them to gain a chance at Leveling Up…'

There was a good thing about Goblins, though. Hob or not, these creatures moved as a large group.

Their reproduction rate was also insane.

'Finding their hive means there's lots of them waiting for me here…'

And that meant tons of EXP!

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

Honestly, your comments and power stones encourage me to keep going.

For those who aren't sending those my way, please do so!

It really goes a long way!