12 First Dive (2)

Question.

What level would Phryne be at this point in time?

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(General POV)

Riveria watched on as Lyze engaged the Hellhound whom appeared to be no more than 'a rabid dog with a bad temper in his eyes'. Every time it would charge at the boy, Lyze would just hop over it at the last second, enraging the beast even further.

"You should be killing it you know." Riveria said.

"I know. But I want to see why you guys call it a Hellhound. Surely it can't just be because it spews fire from its mouth?"

"That is supposed to be the reason why."

After another jump, Lyze landed near her facing the Hellhound as it snarled at being toyed with and dug the ground with its foot ready to pounce again.

"But its flame looks so weak. For what reason does that justify having 'hell' in its name?"

"Because Hellhounds are infamous for the amount of adventurers they kill in the middle floors with their magical flames. Ideally a level one should not be here. You however appear to be an exception..." Riveria sighed.

"I can't imagine those adventurers were very strong then." Lyze muttered.

"That is what is called arrogance young man. I vouch that you allow those flames hit you and you will realize why they are so deadly to level ones and twos."

"...Okay then." Lyze said as he stepped forward and dropped his defences.

Riveria gaped at his audacity.

"WAIT! I didn't mean that-"

But it was already too late. A barrage of hot flames rocketed towards the boy and engulfed him completely. Riveria could only stare in shock at such a reckless move. Immediately the fear of his death bloomed in her heart and the Hellhound seemed to grunt oddly, as if chuckling at finally managing to catch the boy who had been making a mockery of him earlier.

"Lyze..." Riveria breathed.

"Pathetic." came his voice which surprised her and the monster equally.

The flames were violently expunged revealing Lyze standing there unharmed with his arms folded.

"That is the flame you are so famous for? I am unimpressed." he said flatly. He lifted his hand and lightning poured forth from it, striking the hound and electrocuting it to death.

Riveria walked forward and pulled harshly on his hair.

"OW! Why?" he said as he rubbed his head. The strength of a level five was nothing to laugh at.

"That was an incredibly stupid thing to do!"

"But I told you the flames were too weak. See, it didn't do anything to me."

"But what if it had? You cannot do such mindless things here in the dungeon simply because you want to test a monsters abilities."

"I get that. But I am a master of elemental magic, I knew those flames were not enough to harm me."

"And that is another area of you that I'm going to have to study." Riveria held her face. "A human able to conjure elements without magic circles or chants. How exactly is that possible?"

"Hm? I just envision what I want to cast and that's it."

"That's it? What do you mean 'that's it'. Magic is an extensive and gruelling subject that takes elves years of academic study to be able to wield, none without magic circles or the need for an appropriate chant. How exactly have you managed to accomplish something like that with no obvious academic background on the subject?"

"Because my master taught me."

"Really? And what else exactly did he teach you?"

"Well he taught me that chants are more of a detriment to a mage than it is weapon."

"Chants are what help a mage envision their spells better. How are they a detriment?"

"That was precisely the reason why. Chants are meant to help with envisioning but they are time consuming. I could kill a mage in the fraction of the time they take to chant. Concurrent chanting is something else. But my master's reasoning was that why focus on chanting instead of training the mind to help with conjuring spells."

"And how did that go?"

"I simply have to imagine a flame in as much detail as possible while channelling magical energy and it appears, like so." A flame danced on the palm of his hand.

Riveria tried doing the same, closing her eyes and picturing a bright flame. But nothing happened.

"It's not working for me."

"It takes time. It also depends on how you imagine your flame to be."

"How you imagine it? What other way could you perceive fire?"

Lyze folded his arms and thought for a moment.

"Well when I started out, I used to imagine a log fire, focusing on the amount of wood it took to fuel it. The more wood I imagined putting in, the brighter and more powerful the flames I expected them to be. Depending on that image, my fire magic became more powerful."

Riveria lowered her own hand and listened intently. She'd never heard of such a casting method in her life. Although, as simple and logical it sounded, she wasn't able to do it and she was an infamous mage.

"That certainly is a unique way of doing it. Are you sure that it is not in part due to your congenital magic?"

"I guess it could be. If you can't do the same as mage at your level...then I guess that casting method might be unique to me."

"And yet your master provided you with so much direction on it. He must be an exceptionally knowledgeable man." Riveria said, once again subtly prodding at the subject of this mysterious person Lyze seemed to refer to.

Had he been lying, Loki would have called him out on it, so he was telling the truth. But what was more surprising was Lyze's attitude to the subject. He scoffed and turned away from her.

"That part would certainly be true. He's also a selfish bastard who does things without caring for consequences."

"For somebody that equipped you with so much knowledge to defend yourself, you appear to be rather resentful."

"I have my reasons Riveria. Please don't ask me anything more." he said quietly.

"Of course." Riveria said, although her curiosity had not been sated.

This child had performed far more than anything a new adventurer should be capable of. A couple floors back, they come across a Silverback. Expecting that this monster could be a little more powerful and something that would take longer for Lyze to take care of, she instructed him on facing it with his sword.

But disregarding her instructions, he instead rushed forward and ducked and the monster's grabs. Sliding through its legs, he'd hopped on its back, climbed up to its head and gouged out its eyes with his bare hands.

The monster flailed around and swinging its arms madly in pain at being blinded in such a viscous manner. Lyze had jumped of its back and waited for it to regain its bearings. Once it had, it used its sense of smell to seek out the boy and roared in his direction.

Expecting him to draw his sword out this time, she'd waited to see if he would make that move. But instead he conjured an icicle that looked deathly sharp even from the distance she was standing at. With a full swing of his arm, he'd thrown it like a spear down the monster's throat as it roared at him.

She watched slightly disturbed as it clutched its throat while stream of blood began pouring out if its mouth. It thrashed around in the floor while suffocating before Lyze jumped in the air and landed by punching down on its throat. It jerked for a moment before going still and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The experience was jarring for sure. She'd seen cruel ways of executing a monster but that had not been something a little boy would do. As if to explain his actions, he'd told her 'It doesn't matter how powerful a monster is for as long as it has need to breathe, then it can die via simple methods instead of cutting it down and expending the extra effort.'

Lyze's mind seemed to operate differently than other adventures. Of course, his strange abilities were what seemed to afford him the opportunity to think how he did.

Because he'd drawn his sword for the first time when they found a Wyvern a few minutes after killing the Silverback. Instead of rushing towards the beast and trying to cut it down like she'd seen other adventurers do, he'd instead slashed the air with his sword and she watched a powerful shock wave rush towards the airborne monster.

Instead of killing it then and there as she'd expected him to do, he'd instead been focused on taking its wings out. One wing was nearly severed completely hanging on by a shred of skin. Having lost the ability to fly, the creature free fell to the ground in a daze.

And that had been the moment Lyze was truly waiting for because as soon as it landed, he jumped on to its neck and and thrust the blade of his sword in to the back of the creatures head. It didn't go in completely at first and but enough for the wyvern to start kicking and throwing its head around to knock the boy off.

Lyze held on fast however and and slammed a fist down on the handle of the sword, finally piercing the skin and reaching something he called 'the brainstem'. Invoking what she had though was lightning magic, he shouted 'Lightning King Iron Hammer' and sent arcs of lightning coursing throughout the inside of the monster's body.

The wyvern spasmed violently for a few seconds before it exploded into a puff of smoke. Talking to him afterwards revealed it had not been magic but a sub ability of one of his subsidiary skills, 'Thunderbolt'. The strange way in which his Falna operated seemed to be the prime reason why he was so exceptional at killing monsters that should have been above his level.

"Say Lyze, do you have experience fighting monsters by any chance?"

"Yes I do actually. My master used to release them on me I had to kill them to survive. It cost me a lot blood and no small amount of my sanity, but in time I learned general weaknesses and habits and learned to apply them to any monster nearest in appearance."

Riveria nodded. If Lyze had previous experiences from killing surface monsters, then it would make sense why he took to killing them down here in the dungeon so well.

"I see. You have not had a normal childhood at all have you?"

"No. Definitely not."

"Then answer me this Lyze. Why are you so fixated on fighting then? It is clear to that the skills you have hones are a result of strenuous training. The swordsmanship you display as well as the calculated thinking you possess only come about as a result of harsh training and drive for more strength. What is your aim in all this?"

Lyze looked at her.

"It's a bit early to be asking me a question like that is it not?"

"It is a question one must ask themselves at some point in this career. And the answer is something we can use to help you. So what is yours?"

Lyze stood silently for for a bit, unsure of what to say.

"I...I just have a need to become strong. I can't tell you why though."

"Why not?"

"I'm not comfortable sharing that with you yet. I'm not ready to just pour my heart out."

Riveria held his shoulder. It slightly annoyed her that she could not make eye contact with him as the blindfold got in the way. The eyes always conveyed a person's inner thoughts and intentions after all.

"Well you are a part of the family now. It's okay if you don't want to tell us now. But just know that we are here for you to hear you out."

Lyze stared at her in confusion.

"What?" she asked.

"I just thought you'd push on the subject a little more."

"Don't worry." Riveria smiled. "You are not the first in the Familia to have a troubled past. We won't harass you on the subject. But you must make sure that you have a clear goal yourself. Those who have come into the dungeon for the sake of power alone have not left alive."

Lyze smiled at her, partly for her sincerity and partly out of relief that he would not have reveal his secret at any point soon.

The wall near them suddenly exploded outwards as a brown furred creature pushed through. It stood at three metres tall and had the head of a bull while holding a sword that looked to be made of bone.

It shook itself and scan its surroundings with its glowing red eyes before locking onto the two adventurers, snarling as drool dripped from its jaws. With heavy footfalls, it slowly began stalking towards them, its sword held at the ready.

"This is the monster I wanted you to fight, the minotaur."

Lyze stared it down as the floor began to shake a little from its footsteps.

"That thing looks really tough. Are you sure that is something I should be facing right now?"

"To be honest no. I've broken a lot of norms by bringing you this deep into the dungeon on your first day as a level one no less. However time and time again you've demonstrated strength and abilities above your level. So I deemed it fitting that a proper level two monster such as this was what you needed to feel the strain of a fight."

"It does look tough. Any tips before I engage it?" Lyze said as he pulled out Libur.

"Its hide is tough and not easily pierced. Its strength stats is at peak level two, a nightmare to anybody not strong enough to face it. When it comes to fighting skills, mediocre. But with your current reach, it should provide that bit more of a challenge."

"I'm not going to be short for long!" huffed Lyze as he approached the beast. "I'll grow up and be even taller than you someday."

"Sure."

"Just you wait!" Lyze called back to her as the monster finally reached him and stared down from its great height. "Alright big guy, show me the beef in ya."

The minotaur narrowed its eyes before roaring loudly, the sound of its howl echoing throughout the long hallway they were in. The air shook under the weight of its voice but Lyze held firm.

Usually the howl of a minotaur froze a low-level adventurer with fear. But not Lyze, for he was quite obviously above such a rung in the power ladder. Riveria took note of this and stood back to watch how this fight would playout.

The minotaur swung down, sparing no bit of its strength in the attack. For the first time Lyze was caught off guard at the speed of such a heavy creature. Just in time he managed to lift Libur up and block the weapon in its hand, sparks flying off from the collision of the blades as the two struggled for dominance.

Lyze grit his teeth and held on to Libur with both hands, noticing annoyedly that the minotaur was using only one hand. He was too small at the moment to do the same.

"You've got quite a bit of muscle on you I'll give you that." He muttered out through his clenched teeth. "But it is nothing compared to my master's, or mine for that matter!" Lyze pushed upwards with more of his strength and the minotaur stumbled back a little.

Enraged at being shoved back by such a diminutive child and with its sword arm not in the right place, the monster clenched its other fist and rushed forward intending to smash its fist into the boys face.

Lyze leant out of the way as the punch smashed into the ground and and broke off a few rocks. Using this chance, he slashed that arm with Libur, cutting in deep into the flesh and making the minotaur howl in pain and rage.

It stepped backwards a little bit and held its trembling arm, clenching that arm's fist tight while gritting its teeth as it tried to bear with the pain.

"Tch, that attack was meant to cut off your entire arm. Guess you are a tough one." Lyze said as he held Libur aloft, waiting for the creature to attack again.

Like a mindless beast, it charged again and swung its sword sideways this time. Lyze could see the air pressure created by that swing and knew it would not be a good idea to step away. So he bent his body backwards enough for the weapon to swing by above him. Placing his hands on the floor, he kicked upwards with both his feet, smashing his soles into the chin of the minotaur.

While it jarred the beast's face, the minotaur bared with it and used the momentum of the previous swing to bring it round and over its head for a vertical downwards slash, intending to cleave Lyze in two. Lyze rolled out of the way as the weapon cut into the rock and hopped to his feet.

Jumping at the monster from the side, he kneed it in the side of its face harshly, breaking off a few of its teeth. Spinning around in the air, he slashed outwards with Libur and took out the monster's left eye. In a reflex, the minotaur kicked out with its leg.

Lyze could not evade that as he was mid-air and Libur was extended too far outwards to execute a Full Counter in time. He took that foot right to the stomach and was sent careening backwards into the rock face, embedding deep in it. With the wind knocked out of him, he stilled for a bit in shock as he coughed out a few drops of blood.

"Lyze!" Riveria exclaimed with her staff at the ready to intervene. "Are you okay?"

Expecting a response and for him to quit after being so violently booted into the wall, she was shocked he smiled a full tooth smile despite his teeth being stained with blood.

"Yeeeeaaaaah...that's what I'm looking for." He rasped out before he vaulted out of the hole in the wall and rushed the minotaur before it could gain its bearings.

With a piercing move, he lodged Libur into the wrist of its sword hand and violently twisted, nearly tearing the hand right off its arm. The minotaur was forced to drop its weapon and stumbled back screaming in its guttural voice as it clutched at the near stump its hand was left in with its other injured arm that was pouring blood from the wound further up near its elbow.

Lyze persisted however and continuously slashed at it, cutting deep wounds into the monsters abdominals and its chest. Trying to lung forwards and swing its fist outwardly in an attempt to sweep the boy off its feet, Lyze simply ducked under and slid through its legs as he'd done with the silver back.

Riveria had not lost sight of him at all and stared in amazement as the entire length of Libur's blade was suddenly coated in bright orange flames. Using the flaming sword, Lyze slashed once down the minotaur's spine, filling the air with the smell of cooked meat.

The minotaur straightened its back ram rod straight with its head thrown back as it howled even louder. Lyze literally kicked the thing in its ass and sent it tumbling forwards onto its face. Lyze sniffed the air and his stomach rumbled a little.

'Smells like premium wagyu. Its been a while since I had one.' he thought hungrily.

"Hey Riveria. Can you eat monsters by any chance?"

She stared at him in shock and slight disgust.

"Why would you?"

"Well a minotaur is technically a cow right, at least in part. Does it not stand to reason that it could be edible?"

"THAT is what you think of in the middle of a fight?"

"I just love steak, that's all." Lyze shrugged. Riveria shook her head in exasperation before deciding to actually answer the ridiculous question.

"I don't know, maybe? I've never tried."

"Something to look into after then." Lyze mumbled as he readies his blade once again. He'd kicked the minotaur back to its weapon and it was now standing while holding it in its good left arm.

It roared louder than ever before before rushing Lyze madly and swinging downwards with all the strength it could muster. Lyze smiled and simply sliced outwardly a little and a bell chime could be heard.

The attack was redirected back at the minotaur and sliced off the entire right arm at the shoulder. It fell to its knees thrashing its head around in agony. It looked down to se Lyze right in its face and stopped its roaring momentarily at being startled.

"It's okay." Lyze patted its cheek gently. "I've been there before."

The minotaur's brow twitched in fury as it snarled, dropping equal bits of slobber and blood from its mouth now filled with jagged teeth stumps. Lyze smiled softly like a parent comforting a child before slapping the minotaur hard n the place where he'd been patting it. The minotaur careened into the same rock face it had kicked Lyze into before. Lyze looked down at his hand and flexed his fingers.

"I feel physically stronger for some reason Riveria. Any ideas why?"

"You may be already raising your strength stats in this fight since its included more physical attacks than magic ones." she reasoned.

"Cool. Time to finish this then." He zoned in on the minotaur as it sat up deliriously. Launching forwards, he stabbed the flaming sword into its throat and held on as the minotaur held his arm with its good one in a tight grip in a feeble attempt to stop him.

Lyze just steeled his face and his will and violently jerked the sword round a little destroying and burning everything in its neck before harshly pulling the sword out. The minotaur coughed up more blood before its chin dropped to its chest and it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Silence reigned a little as the core tinkered on the floor and came to rest at Lyze's feet. He breathed a little heavily as he looked to his companion for an assessment. She clapped her hands slightly as she approached him.

"Well done Lyze. As I expected, that monster was a clear challenge for you but you still did better than I thought you would."

"Thank you."

"I'll heal you up now." She said holding her staff aloft as she saw the blood dripping down his chin.

"Not necessary." He said holding a hand in front of her before putting his other hand to his face. Riveria watched in amazement as his hand lit up with a bright light and she felt a comforting warmth emanate from him. The scuffs and scratches as well as the blood completely disappeared from his face and arms as his breathing became more relaxed.

"You know healing magic as well?"

"My own but yes. I can heal myself as well using what I call 'Light magic'."

"Just how many magical abilities do you have?"

"More than you realize and what's more, I'm still learning."

Riveria stilled in awe before gesturing to the flaming Libur in his grip.

"Does your sword happen to be a magic sword?" she asked.

"No." Lyze replied as he held it up and examined it. "I just covered it in fire magic."

"With no chants?"

"None at all."

"Are you sure it was not concurrent chanting?"

"Positive." He replied.

Riveria was blown away once again at his casual use of strange magic again. No circles in sight, no chants being uttered. Just the mystical force of nature, the threads of creation being moved however he wanted them to move on his simple whims alone.

"Incredible." She breathed. "I hope I can study this with you in more depth sometime soon Lyze."

"Sure can. You really like magic don't you?"

"Of course. It is my passion. How do you expect me to resist when something so foreign yet so wonderful is performed before my very eyes?"

"I don't expect you two. It's just that I find it funny you are impressed by simple magic like this."

"Simple? You mean you can do more?"

"For me to know, you to find out." He said cheekily before they heard a rumble further up the large corridor and saw three more minotaurs spawn from the walls. "Oh, more of them spawned."

"The further we go in, the tougher they become. Are you up for the challenge?"

"Heck yeah!"

Lyze pumped more Mind into the flaming sword and dashed towards the brutes brandishing his sword with a war cry as he immediately jumped up and lobbed the head off of one.

"His strength stats have increased again." Riveria sighed as she followed.

In her excitement about his magic and his rapid growth, she did something completely out of her character and that was to not realize where they were headed, the two of them.

The 17th floor.

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Read ahead on my P@treon:

P@treon/ Vulkizaro_Zoromi