14 Dungeon Diving

The second through fourth floors were similar to the first, except now there were dungeon lizards that I had to deal with. They would stick to the ceiling above the entrances to rooms and drop down once you entered the room. However, its ambush tactics had no effect on me due to Magic Sense being able to locate them well in advance. I would merely raise my blade whenever approaching one and use their own tactics, body weight, and gravity against them so they would impale themselves on my blade as they tried to land on my head. 

Entering the fifth floor, the dungeon's color scheme changed as the light blue transitioned into a more greenish color, and the ceiling height rose drastically. This signified the increase in difficulty within the Upper Floors. From here on out, the monsters would get stronger and more difficult to deal with. In gaming terms, the first through fourth floors of the dungeon are the tutorial levels. While it is possible to die, usually, Adventurers at least make it to the fifth or sixth floor before the mortality rate really starts to spike.

I was just here to dip my toes in the proverbial waters and was ready to retreat at the first site of real danger, but I was still confident as I breezed through the fifth floor with little difficulty. By now, I was thoroughly annoyed by the corpses that monsters left behind after their death. I was still using Flame Manipulation to incinerate the corpses, but it was far from the most cost-efficient use of my mana. While it did cost very little due to being a skill compared to magic, every little bit started to add up when I had to cremate bodies constantly.

So, while I moved through the dungeon, I used Skill Tree to try and find some skills or arts that would make the monster loot collection much smoother. The only problem with Skill Tree is that it was like a recipe book without the baking instructions. Sure, there are hints, and I am able to intuit most of what to do to gain an ability, but its main purpose is to show me what skills are out there and what subskills make them up. However, as I used the Sub-Skill more and more as I walked, I began to notice something.

"Full Counter? The All-Mighty? Limitless? The World?" I nearly shouted in shock as I used Though Acceleration at full speed to sort through the near-infinite amounts of data on skills that were available to me. "I can gain skills from outside of these two anime universes through The Voice of the World?"

Of course, there was no response since I didn't have access to an information skill like Great Sage or a Manas like Micheal or Ciel. I knew that I was able to gain more skills than what was shown inside of the show or light novels, but to think the whole aniverse's skills are open to plundering. Despite my excitement, I did notice the massive caveat right away. Just like with Creator, Degenerate, and many other skills that I knew about, the component sub-skills needed to unlock them were nearly impossible in most cases.

It would take a lot of searching to find a truly viable skill to learn, and even then, my efforts were probably still best spent on skills, magics, and arts that I did know and had a clearer idea of how to achieve within a timely manner. While it was still a vital discovery that raised a whole slew of new ideas and possibilities, my excitement was certainly dampened a bit to face the reality of the situation. For now, I turned my attention back to the dungeon as I encountered a new group of monsters just inside the entrance to the sixth floor.

I paused and analyzed the new creatures before me that I had only seen in the anime before. The Warshadows were dark humanoid monsters that looked like a 3D shadow given life. They trailed long arms with three claws sharp like knives at the ends in the place of fingers. I knew that along with the Killer Ants, it is known as "newbie killer" for putting down so many new adventurers. That reputation alone caused me to take them more seriously than I had been any other monsters thus far.

There were three of them standing nearly invisible in the corners of the room where they blended quite well with the dimmer lighting. However, they might as well have been illuminated by searchlights to my Magic Sense. I activated Aura Sword as I approached, prompting them to turn their dimly glowing red eye positioned in the center of their head toward me one at a time. Then they charged.

I had to admit that they were pretty quick as I dodged backward while blasting at the creatures with small, concentrated bursts of flame. Two dodged around to either side and lunged at me with knife claws extended, while the third took a glancing blow from the flames and let out a silent scream of agony. Ducking low, I avoided the lunges and stepped forward with a flurry of quick and deadly sword strikes that wooshed through empty air as the monsters dodged to the sides and back. 

I pushed my advance, mindful of the third that had recovered, and rushed toward me with a wild leap from the side. A wide collum of flame erased the monster as I performed a flicking gesture toward it with my off hand. There was a clink as its magic stone met the rough cavern floors. Before I could fully turn back to my two opponents, one rushed me and scored a glancing blow down my leg. I didn't even wince as the blow connected, but what did make me cringe was the blow to my ego.

"I was nicked by a mere Warshadow on the sixth floor?" I questioned rhetorically as I sent the monsters a condescending look that they neither recognized nor acknowledged.

I paused as a crimson line of blood sluggishly slid down my leg and into my boot. Sensing my distraction, the two rushed me side by side, which allowed me to turn and blast out an Aura Slash from my sword as I tried to take the remaining two out at the same time. They tried to dodge, but I had closely observed their moments in the fight so far, and Predictive Calculation allowed me to easily send my attack in a trajectory that cleaved through both monsters. They fell into pools of shadow. Each one diagonally bisected through the chest or waist respectively.

I didn't even bother to heal the minor scrape as I moved on. I planned to encounter each of the three new monsters on this floor and learn their attack patterns before heading back to the surface. I felt no need to take things too fast in the dungeon, especially with my Enhanced Growth. This trip was just to get a small taste and to identify some areas where I am currently lacking. With this in mind, I sought out the other denizens of this floor. 

The second of the three new monsters I encountered was the Frog Shooters. It, just like the Warshadow, had one central eye in its head, but the frogs were ranged combatants. They shot out their incredibly sticky tounges to trap, strangle, or draw in any adventurers caught by them. I found a small group of them hopping along one of the corridors, following the sounds made by a party in a room nearby. The other group was a few rooms off, but the noise of battle echoed loudly in the dungeon.

To start things off, I picked up a rock and tossed it, nailing one creature right in its uncomfortably oversized eye. That drew all their attention to me immediately, so the lead amphibian shot its tongue toward me. Of course, knowing to avoid the tounges, the first thing I did was let one hit me. The extreme adhesive secreted by the tongue latched onto my chest, and the frog tried to reel me in. I tried to use my body weight and strength to resist as a test, but I found myself pulled off my feet.

As I sailed toward the group, dragged by the tongue. I conjured a large ball of flame over my head and let it explode in a wave of heat and fire down and in front of me. I felt my skin begin to sear since I was not totally immune to my own skill's flames, but the damage was minimal to me while it was a critical attack on the Frogs. Their skin vented steam rapidly, and their bodies shriveled and turned to ash under the onslaught of flames.

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The MC will have access to the skills of other anime worlds, but as he said, it will be hard to get something good. I have a few ideas, though.