ALONE
THE 125TH FLOOR:
"What do you say we befriend some of the more intelligible monsters down here? Hell, I'm confident all of these guys never even met a human before. I don't see a reason why they wouldn't be curious enough to interact with us."
"...."
"What do you mean they'll just outright kill us? You shouldn't just go around making baseless accusations like that. Don't you know it's rude to judge people by their appearances? Haven't your parents ever taught you that?"
"....."
"How dare you say they aren't people! Sure they're quite aggressive and often covered in fur or hide but I'm sure they possess emotions just as we do. And what do you mean I am your parent? I don't remember giving birth to you!"
"..."
"Ah, I apologize if I frightened you….. I really shouldn't have raised my voice like that. My, how uncharacteristic of me. If it is as you say and you are indeed my child, then let me ask you this. What is my life's greatest goal?"
"..."
"BINGO! Ah, it is just as you say. As expected of my son, no one knows me better than you! I knew you had it in you. I know, as congratulations, how about we head into town and get some ice cream, my treat!"
"..."
"Hm? What do you mean you don't want to go out today? The monsters are too close by? Oi, what are you afraid of? Together we are invincible! Be it 20 or 200, no amount of monsters are gonna kill us here today. Sure maybe tomorrow or the next day but sure as hell not today!"
"..."
"Hello? Can you hear me? Please pay attention when I am speaking to you!.... Fine, I'll just take care of them myself. You've always just been a hindrance to me anyways. Acting all high and mighty, that smug tone of yours always drives me insane."
"...."
"Heh, I hate perceptive brats like you."
Throwing the gold chained amulet imbued with a bronze crystal across the room, Ivan adorned his personal gear and transmuted himself an exit out of his safe room. He threw on his robe's hood over his helmet as he dashed through the cavern to the water source he had investigated two days prior.
Looking at the lake before him, Ivan plunged his right hand in before sparks came flying out of the water. He ignored the rustling from the bushes behind him as a large mass of ice formulated from his transmutation.
Pulling his soaked hand out of the lake, Ivan flicked it behind him and once again activated his transmutation. The flecks of water flying through the air became boiling hot as they collided into the faces of whatever was chasing him.
"WAGGGHH!"
Screams of pain emanated from behind him as he stepped foot on his little raft made of ice, allowing the current to carry it as he stood above with his arms crossed. He snickered inwardly looking at the giant crawling bats claw away at their own faces in an attempt to rid the hot water.
But even that snickering turned serious as the bats, seemingly pissed by his little prank, sprouted wings from their backs and chased after him and his raft.
Their crawling speed, sure he could handle that, Their flying speed on the other hand was something that made him sweat a little on the outside.
Seeing the three large flying bats hurling at him at ridiculous speeds, Ivan dunked his left arm into the lake and activated his transmutation circle.
WHOOSH WHOOSH
Ivan watched in amazement as the bats started doing barrel rolls and other air tricks all while avoiding his water slashes. He would clap right now if he didn't have to dodge the balls of acid they shot at him.
Dunking both of his hands into the river this time, Ivan transmuted a large wall of ice in hopes of cutting them off. And then immediately slapped his forehead the moment they just flew over it.
"C'mon guys, I'm sure we can talk this out! It's just that a friend of mine was awfully concerned with how close you guys were and–!"
SCREEEECH
His attempts to negotiate were immediately cut off as one of the bats, seemingly having enough of his attitude, released an unbearable loud screech.
But having adapted long enough on this floor, Ivan held a hand up to his ear as he formed a cone, suggesting he had a hard time hearing whatever the bat was saying to him.
"Sorry, sorry, could you say that again? My ear plugs sort of got in the way! Oh yeah, that reminds me, my roommate and I would appreciate it if you calm down the hollering late at night, it makes it really hard to get any sleep."
WHOOOSH
Ivan took a moment where one of the bats opened its mouth to shoot at him to sneak out a dagger from his satchel, then threw it at a speed that only left it half a second for it to react,
DING
As the dagger made its way inside it's mouth, the bat lost all sign of control as it fluttered wildly in the air before dropping down into the river like a rock. Seeing the perfect opportunity Ivan stuck his hand into the river and encased it in a seal of ice, leaving it to suffocate beneath the water before it inevitably melted and drowned the bat.
Then seeing the shock of the two remaining bats, Ivan took a step off the raft. Instead of sinking into the river and being carried away by the current, what appeared beneath him was a footstool of ice.
Sparks emitted from his boots as each step he took on the water formed another footstool. This scene repeated itself till he found himself right beneath the bats. Then to the bats' dismay, Ivan was propelled into the air as his footstools grew in height almost instantaneously.
Bringing him to their level.
Ivan flashed a wicked grin before pulling another item out of his satchel, this time it was a small metal ball decorated with ornate spikes. He shook the ball in his hands for a few seconds before throwing it at the bats. And without leaving behind any words, he dove into the river beneath him.
The bats lost sight of him as the moment his body hit the water he was enveloped by a thick cloud of smoke.
RATTLE RATTLE
The metal ball they had momentarily forgotten about shook the moment it was about to collide with one of them.
One of the bats screeched aloud as it tried to warn its compatriot, but alas it was to no avail as it was too late to move.
KABOOM
Rather than some gunpowder infused explosion, what came out of the ball was hundreds and thousands and needles. It spun a few times in the air as it released the needles before sinking down into the river.
But it wasn't alone as the bats that had gotten their wings pierced were helpless as they sank to the bottom of the river. Desperately clawing at the sky in an attempt to escape.
Ivan, who had just reached the shore, merely stretched his arms as he shook his body in a futile attempt to dry himself. He merely looked back at the drowning bats as he trekked back to the safe room, whistling all the way.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, how much longer do you think this'll all last…..? This adventure I mean. I don't know if I can take much more of this…"
"...."
Ivan lied on his side as he looked at the amulet that dimly flashed in response to his words.
"Mhm, you're right!" Ivan got up excitedly from his lying position. "What right do I have to complain? This is my punishment! If I die I die, ain't that right?"
"....."
Ivan looked over at the amulet expecting an answer, and just as always it dimly flashed back in response. Only this time, he couldn't understand it at all.
Excitement vanished from Ivan's face as he listlessly lied back down.
He had lost track of the time he had spent here. More precisely he willfully stopped marking the amount of days that passed. As knowing each day that passed only disheartened him even more.
For now his only goal was to keep marching forth, if he dies then he just got what's coming to him. But rather than going out by his own hands, he wanted to at least go down pursuing the dream he originally sought.
In a sense that became his last motivation.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE 145TH FLOOR:
"Hahahahaah! Ah, that's just great. Wouldn't you agree, partner?"
"..."
"What do you mean I should be a bit gentler, this bastard was going to kill us if I didn't act a bit harshly!"
"..."
"W-Well I see your point about blowing it's head off to be a bit overkill, but ain't that the better outcome than watching it shrivel to death under the effects of some poison? Even though I really wanted to see how effective those scorpion's poison from long ago would be this deep into the dungeon….."
"...raaaaaugh!"
"Ah, it moved!"
Seeing the giant roach twitch its body as it released a cry from its detached head, Ivan freaked out and directly transmuted the water within its body to blow it up from the inside out.
KABOOM!
"See, that thing would have directly attacked us after ingesting the poison! I mean….. even blowing its head off didn't end it–"
Ivan's nonchalant expression hardened instantly as he heard the sound of burrowing from beneath him. Propelling himself into the air on stilts made of earth, Ivan looked down to be greeted by another roach that had just stuck its head out from his former position.
His charged his right gauntlet before plunging down at it from above–
BZZZZZZT!
His control of the water in its body extended beyond the armor of its exoskeleton, seconds later steam radiated from its body as Ivan held its head in his palm.
But it didn't seem the onslaught had ended as the rumbling continued despite the death of what Ivan believed to be the cause.
In a sudden twist of events, another roach propelled itself from the hole Ivan was standing above and bit at his ankle.
"Argh!"
Ivan groaned in pain momentarily before the Amulet on his chest shined brightly beneath his armor.
"ROOOOOAR!!!"
A roar resounded from the Amulet as Ivan took advantage of the roach's paralyzed actions to grab it by the head, this time electing to freeze it's blood.
"Phew, thanks a lot buddy! I really owe you one after that one…" Withdrawing a vial from his satchel, Ivan doused his injury in its contents.
"..." The Amulet shined dimly in response to his words.
"Hehehehe, I don't care if that's just what friends do. You saved me from a lot more pain than I was intending to take so thanks for the help!"
Despite there not being any visible marks, Ivan still bandaged the injury anyways. To him it was a reminder of his blunders. Something he often looks at were the bandaged areas of the body during his downtime, so as to not forget his own vulnerability.
"Yosh, let's do this! Only a few more floors till the big 50! I wonder if there'll be another boss or something like that soon…."
Ivan striked a pose before making confident strides to where he believed the next floor was. Maaaa, he at least believed he'll make it there someday.
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That's a rap! Next time shall be the great reveal! Which means soon we'll be out of this damn hell hole. Not that this arc wasn't fun to write. I think I've been getting better at fight scenes but I'm not sure.
I think I'm gonna try something new next chapter.... not sure yet.
Anyways, thanks for reading. See you all next time, have a great day/night!
If you want to support me and read ahead 10-15 chapters, you can check out my p.a.t.r.e.o.n right here: https://bit.ly/ardoaleister
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